The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, November 18, 2005, Image 1

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THE BEHR ND BEACON
Friday, November 18, 2005
Cardboard City raises money for Second Harvest Food Bank
By Melissa Whitten
staff writer
mrv‘ 5029C@psu.edu
Where can you find a Ramen-noodle Ranch house? How
about a Cream-of-Potato palace? Although it may sound
strange, both of these and more could be found last week on
display in Bruno's. The architects of these canned goods
estates were competing
for the best canned food
sculpture in the spirit of
Hunger and
Homelessness
Awareness Week. This
was the kick-off event
of several efforts made
by Penn State Erie stu
dents, clubs and organi
zations to give to those
less fortunate. All of the
goods collected were
donated to the Second
Harvest Food Bank and
will help those needy
local families this holi
day,
In addition to the
canned goods sculpture
contest, several stu
dents, clubs and organi
zations collaborated to
create a Cardboard
City all over campus.
The constructors were to spend an entire night in their cre
ations regardless of temperature or precipitant conditions. The
Alpha Phi Omega sorority box, located to the left of the Reed
Union Building's entrance had collected nearly $7O by 5 p.m.
Tuesday evening but noticed the chilly climate endured in
doing so. Senior member Amy Sabo said that the day moved
rather slow considering she had been there since 11 a.m. Sabo
stated, "A lot of people have helped, but there are still a lot of
4 V
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on page 8
Contents
News 1-3
Editorial 4
Humor 6
Student Life 7-8
Sports 9-10
Contact Us
Newsroom:
898-6488
Fax:
898-6019
E-mail:
editorinchief@psu.edu
Our offices are located
downstairs in the Reed
Union Building.
Dobbins renovations uprooted
Dobbins Dining Hall has hopes of continuing the
exciting renovations, which will better accommodate
Behrend's students. All are aware of the escalating
prices of gas due to the hurricane damages in the Gulf,
but these natural disasters are impacting life on
Behrend's campus as well. After the hurricanes hit,
construction efforts were focused on rebuilding
homes, buildings and communities, meaning that
other areas of the governmental funding has been tem
porarily cut. Putting construction projects such as this
temporarily on hold is just a small price to pay in order
to help improve the unfortunate situation in the Gulf
area right now.
Chancellor Burke said, "The university decided to
postpone the bid, we don't know for how long, for two
reasons, one being, we don't know how much money
we will receive from the state, and two, we can only
borrow so much money at one time. We were planning
on borrowing money to do the renovations at Dobbins
but are currently past our bonding limit. So the bottom
line is the renovations have
been put on hold until the
financial situation is more
secure, and we are sure of
how much money we will
receive from the state."
The renovations were
scheduled to begin in the
spring of 2006 while class
es were still in session, and
would have been complet
ed in the fall of 2006 when
students returned from the
summer. Unfortunately,
these plans will have to be
slightly postponed until the
bid comes through,
approving the $6 million
project. Penn State Erie's
Housing and Food
Services Department has
been planning and organiz
ing the renovations for
Dobbin's Dining Hall for
the past two years, and the
staff couldn't be more
excited about the project.
Randall Geering, Director of Housing and Food
Services, said, "Good things take time, but we were
still devastated when we found out the renovations
would be delayed. Dobbins has not been updated since
1992, so it needs to be done to fully satisfy Behrend's
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
people that turn you down," as one more "sorry, not today"
walked by.
On the far right of Reed was the Matchbox Players' and the
Behrend Beacon's cardboard home, appropriately named "Ye
Olde Saloon." The Western-style room was complete with
Wanted posters, dueling music and of course, swinging saloon
doors. Passersby were asked to donate their spare money to
the cardboard invention he or she deemed the most creative.
was well worth
the results according to members. The recycled creations
were built from cardboard boxes that local businesses threw
away. All of the money collected benefited the Second
Harvest Food Bank.
By Ashlely Bressler
staff writer
arb27l@psu.edu
Many contribu
tors found the
Matchbox
Players' and the
Behrend
Beacon's home
just this as the
group turned in
$213.75 by the
end of the
night.
Matchbox also
encountered
televised inter-
views with
CBS News and
the Penn State
Newswire as
well. An esti
mated 256 man
hours of labor
went into the
building of the
saloon, which
Continued to Page 2
larger student population." stairwell will eliminate, providing students with a
The exciting new additions to Dobbins can be safer route to classes. The main entrance to the dining
expected in the near future, and there will be a total of hall will also be changed, and will be located in the
5,000 square feet
added to the existing
hall. In the new addi
tions there will
include a "grab-n-go"
station, featuring pre
made sandwiches,
salads and soup, a
new seating area with
a fireplace and com
fortable atmosphere
for students to relax
and a coffee/cappuc
cino bar to support
those long study
hours. Another add-
on that students will benefit from is a new stair/pas
sageway connecting the upper half of campus to the
lower, Dobbins being the median. This passageway
will better facilitate the currently vacant office spaces,
which used to be the Housing offices, by adding new
public bathrooms, a conference room, a computer help
desk and a special events dining room holding up to
fifty people. The current stairway that goes from
Dobbins' loading dock to the bottom of the hill has
had some controversial safety concerns that the new
THON continues its support
By Earl Gordon
staff writer
"Together We'll Prevail." This is
the slogan for THON, which is a
fund-raising event which benefits
children with cancer. It began in 1973
and is the largest student run philan
thropy in the world. THON received
its name from it also being a dance
marathon. "It's a dance marathon
because everyone celebrates for the
money that has been raised to help
those in need," said Kenneth
Middlemiss, who is the assistant
director of THON. The marathon is
48 hours of continuous dance.
Directors of THON, Meredith
Straub and Kenneth Middlemiss
helped to raise well over $2,000 last
weekend for the Penn State Erie
chapter. Last year, Penn State raised
$4.1 million for the event. The closest
any other college came last year to
matching Penn State only made about
a tenth of our total. The money that
was made goes to the Four Diamonds
Fund, which assists the Pennsylvania
State Children's Hospital in Hershey,
Pa., and families with children suffer
ing from cancer. The goal of the Four
Diamonds Fund is to overcome child
hood cancer. No family is ever turned
down from the Four Diamonds Fund.
"Every penny that is made from
THON goes towards the kids," stated
Middlemiss. "Because I danced last
year, it has really motivated me to do
it this year."
"The university decided to post
pone the bid, we don't know for
how long, for two reasons; one
being, we don't know how much
money we will receive from the
state, and two, we can only bor
row so much money at one time."
engs(o2@psu.edu
Chancellor Burke
the newest and most appropriate machinery.
The 2-year process that took place in order to pro
vide the students of Behrend with adequate food serv
ices was not done without actual feedback from the
students themselves. There was a 4-month period in
which student organiza
tions and student employ
ees were interviewed for
Even though the
process is currently dor
mant, change will be hap
pening soon. Students,
faculty and staff can all look forward to a new and
improved Dobbin's that will provide all with the nec
essary accessibility and quality of food that has come
to be expected from the superior Penn State standards.
Vol. LIII No. 13
THON, which was supposed to he
a Greek life eveni. became an indi
vidual function due to Penn State
Behrend's size and the fact that there
are only a handful of fraternities and
sororities on campus. "Students can
go canning for THON. We secured
permits and went to the Millcreek
Mall," said Straub.
Many other THON related events
were also being held to help out,
including glow bowling, raffles and
bar nights (for those of legal age).
"It's just a great way for students to
go out and donate to a good cause."
replied Straub. The Penn State Erie
campus also has a Mini-thou in the
works for February. The Mini-thon
will be a smaller version of the dance
celebration, shortening from 48 hours
to 24 and still raising money for chil-
dren with cancer.
Penn State Erie has done a very
good job with aiding those less fortu
nate and responding to fund-raisers.
Without everyone pulling together.
nothing would be accomplished.
just wanted to say thank you to
everyone who went canning for us,"
Straub replied. "It means so much to
see students at Behrend care. It's just
amazing."
The THON meetings are held
every Friday in Reed 113. Anyone
interested in participating is more
than welcome to drop by.
area that connects the main
room of the dining hall to the
gazebo
The newly improved
Dobbins will feature a differ
ent approach to serving and
preparing the food. Preparing
each individual's food will be
done on the spot and in front
of the individual, rather then
pre-making the dishes and
using heated bins, which will
ensure the freshness of each
Dobbins meal. The kitchen
will likewise be renovated and
brought up to date with all of
their opinions on what
was missing from their
college dining experi
ences. From the labors of
this period, the directors
of the Housing and Food
Services were able to
draw a detailed layout
which included the most
popular student and staff
ideas. Al Vogan, the assis
tant director of Housing
and Food Services, said.
"The purpose of this proj
ect is to upgrade the cur
rent facilities to where it
should be for the students.
We want the students to
be comfortable and taken
care of."