2 I The Behivnd Beacon Behrend facilitates largest New Student Orientation Welcome to 11,I 1 , -i; S M.i: III!:.' i ik'-A cnee lo cikMimicr. I lew c' ili\ and students tiv.a \ vr\> •; it M-.i i vimK and will make you feel right at family. That’s the way they became “The Behrend Bunch.” Student orientation begins Friday, September t as new students move into Hus year's Oiieiiiation ilmme is ' I lie Hehi eiid Bunch." "We always try to their home away from home, the college dorm. Excited orientation leaders will Hello Students' On behalf of the Student Government Association, we would like to welcome you to Penn State Behrend' S(iA is tin- on erning body overseeing student pro grams and affairs. We look torwuui to a year filled with many exciting oppor tunities and programs for you to get m\ n|\ ed w ith! All of our members are ded icated to making your Behrend experience the best it can be. During your stu dentship at Behrend. yam w ill be pieseiited with many new experiences. SGA is an open lorum for any student who wishes to voice a suggestion or concern about the campus ein iron mem. In 'hm way. SGA aims to make all of these new experiences positive. The campus community is designed to form around the students needs. Our goal at Behrend is to incorporate the entire student body into the all of the decisions being made on a weekly basis. SGA has nine committees that respond to all student needs. Bach committee focuses on specific Student issues such as diversity, academics and parking. SGA also oversees Behreiul's 100 r clubs and organizations on campus. These clubs are widely varied with new clubs being added every year. With so many choices. Students can easily find a club io |om. You are highly encouraged to participate within these orp.iiu/niions, involvement with these groups will bet ter your collegiate experience, ( lues losier positive diversity and strong unity among the student body lor more information w-n can sonim. l SGA at (Kl 4) SflS-bZIO or email nifs.'ol w psu.edu Have a great \ear here at I’eun Slate Belli end' Meredith Straub Student Government Avm'uuihmi President Ken Middlen nss Student Government Aswiatu-n \ nv President. 2006-2007 Chatting with the Chancellor (•ivc us a littk' background about uni l'\e been here luenu ti\e ' eat ol e hanije 1 came bore as Associate I V.ai in I '>M . | haul that position lor 20 years and l'\e been in the posin.ai I'm in mm a iittle o\er li\e years. Name three favorite tilings about Behrend People. People. People 1 think lii n me base a great faculty and staff and great students, ltd people, l iie beams oi the eampus. It's a nice place lo come to e\er\da\ and look around and he part of. People, beauty and qualits I think that e\ ei \ one here is here lo be the best they can be. I always tell people me maul to, he belter today than we were yesterday anti heller loniumm itun lod.o Those are the three things to come oft the top o| my I e. d Tell us a little hit about the ehange you'se experienced here, It's beet) transloi matioiiai. In imam mass. And not just physically but the si/e of eniollment too. W lien I tirst got here there was Behrend and Nick, tins building [(ilenluil I armiiousel. Turnbull and Erie Hall. Reed, the three traditional residence halls and Lawrence. That's what it w as. now there is I Innmiei mill and /urn and the whole complex behind that. Playing lields. Ivsebal! fields. REDC. Junker Center, Knowledge Park. Smith Chape! and lots more housing. So. yeah, it’s more than doubled in physical plans, that's for sure. So it's trans formed that way hut it's gi,,w n and we ir' o\er double what the enroll ment was when I came here but more importantly, we hare growth in quality and we're raised the standard-, so we are a much stronger insti tution. Another big change is most A the students when I came here went to University Park and |now | mo-.i don't. So that's a big change. What has been Behrend’s biggest accomplishment since you’ve been here? I think it's the quality. Yes. it s gotten bigger, but it's gotten better. I mean you can gel bigger and not get better but you can get better and not get bigger too. But I think we re done both and I think that's tes timony to everyone who work' [hcicj. 'ton know, this past year 97$ of graduating seniors said they \l recommend Behrend to a friend and that's spectacular. And that I think is one of the great accomplish ments. If a student were to go to l Diversity Park, because of its size, it may be hard for that student to get involved, tel! us about getting involved at Behrend. That's another thing that is kind ol ,i big strength here, you can sort of Orientation Edit B\ Slit undo Krause > mi ('micce' for nearly everyone pk c.m he a nerve- m "r * ** * * f ) V npi'i' 11 • ; ' mg m Behreml you will find that fac- 2006-2007 Bv Jennifer Haight nd ie 11 1 \ lire dars. I've seen a lot nicking experi- /*»s y (vS have a theme that has a message but is fun,” says Chris Fox, Coordinator of Student Involvement and Leadership Development. According to Meredith Straub, Orientation Director, Behrend has always been “one big, happy fami ly." Appropriately, when creating a theme for this year’s student orientation, the staff tried to think of another big, happy be on hand to help students move in from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After moving in there are plenty of activities planned to help students become more acquainted with their new home. Orientation events are very important to incoming students because it gives students a chance to inter act with one another and hopefully make many new friends. “I like to think [that] in college there are many road blocks along the way,” says Fox. “the purpose of orientation is to help through those road blocks.” Campus tours will be held by members of the Lion Ambassadors. Student tours will leave from Senat, Perry, Lawrence and Niagara Hall lobbies every hour and will offer class schedule tours for students as well as campus tours for families. At 5:30 p.m. there will be a mandatory meeting for every new resident student in their residence hall lobby. This will help new students to meet others who live in the same dorm. The entertainment will kick off with a Residence Life Block Party themed “Friday Night Fever” beginning at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy dinner and dessert from Bruno’s Cafd in the Reed Union building followed by an interactive game show called “Thinkfast” at 8 p.m. where you could have a chance to win $2OO in cash prizes. However, the night does not end there - at 9:30 p.m. there will be a showing of the movie “Slackers” on the front lawn of the Reed Union building. On Saturday, September 2 there will be a few mandatory orientation events for new students to attend. These events will help new students to under stand some of our most important principles. The first event begins at 10:30 titled “Diversity Matters” located in Erie Hall. Here at Penn State we think highly of diversity because it allows students to enjoy a friendly environ ment. According to A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State: 1998-2003 “ discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University.” All evening Saturday there will be many more events for new students to attend including a pizza party for commuter students, an ice cream social and Justin Kredible, a comedian, as entertainment. be a big fish in a small pond. Not that we’re all that small, we’re in the middle size of colleges now. Where do you see things going with all the progress that Behrend is making? I think that we will see continued qualitative improvements. There’s a long list, people say, “well ya look great,” but we really need a fine arts facility [and many other things]. Dobbins was supposed to be done, that got pulled back. So there’s never any end of things to do. I never get bored. I wish I could get bored for a day, but there’s just never any end. The REDC, that was twenty years, I’ve been working on that. It’s like, alright, it’s done, but I’m already working on the addition to it. We’re already onto the next thing, so that’s part of the exciting part of the job. You don’t get bored, although there are days I wish I could. What has been your biggest accomplishment to Behrend? It’s always a team thing, it’s never one person. But I think I have a very good relationship with the faculty, you know, historically. That’s not to say with everybody, but I think that’s been an accomplishment. I think we have a good reputation with the university for getting the job done and I’d like to take some credit. We’re out here, we have to make sure they know we’re here. What kind of relationship do you think you have with the Behrend students? Well, you know, I was amazed at how many students at graduation in Spring [that] I knew. And then I thought, ‘well gee, maybe those were all the ones I know and I don’t know anybody else.’ But I try to get out. I’m very visible, I don’t know if you know this but I go early in the morning I go to Bruno’s. And late in the afternoon if I don’t have appointments, I will go over there and I’ll work. Nobody usually both ers me, but they can, I’m there for anybody who has a question. I do meet in the residence halls on a regular basis, we’ve called it different things, I think they call it ‘Cheesecake with the Chancellor.’ Although the first few times they’ve had it I didn’t get a piece of cheesecake, it got scarfed up. When you started, before 25 years, before 30 years, is this where you thought you would end up? I didn’t know it existed. I came from upstate New York near Syracuse. All I knew about Penn State was that they played Syracuse in football. They don’t anymore. So no, I guess when I started college I certainly didn’t think about college administration, I didn’t even know what that was. I got into teaching and I did well there I just got sort of pushed into administration and I said, ‘l’ll do it, but I’m not going do it forev er,’ and it became sort of forever. Chris Fox/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO There is sometimes a chasm between Penn State University Park and Penn State Behrend. How do you feel about that? Wow, I could write books! I try to take a positive attitude. Our biggest strength is we’re part of Penn State. Our biggest weakness is we are part of Penn State. We are part of a very big organization and that big organization brings in resources, things we wouldn’t have in many years if we were a stand alone institution. At the same time it brings, you know, we are a small college with big university rules. So I think that’s the biggest thing, trying to walk that line. If there's something that doesn’t make sense, let’s go after that, let’s try to fix it. Have you ever been to a Penn State football game? Yes. I go to at least one a year. But I’d rather watch it on television You’re the first person I’ve ever heard say that. Well you know. [lt’s] creature comforts after a while. I can sit in my lounge chair and go to my own bathroom and go to the refrigerator if I need something. I can watch the replays there. I don’t have people spilling things on me and rain hitting me, and all those other things that can happen. They’re nice to go to, I think, once in a while. You said you eat at Bruno’s, what is your favorite thing to eat there? Oh boy. What I’d like to eat and what I do eat are two different things. I’m [eating] low-carb. And I’ve lost about 30 pounds. I’d really like to eat the pizza, but I don’t. I tend to eat the cottage cheese, there’s sometimes the fried chicken things. It doesn’t have a wide variety and certainly not for someone on low-carbs, especially with the subs and sandwiches and things. I drink a lot of coffee. Way too much coffee. 1 get my card punched all the time. I get free ones. I get a cappuccino when I get the free ones. I have a system. I can fill up a card in no time at all. I’m noted for that among the staff. Any last words? It will be a very interesting year because we don’t know what the heck s going to happen. The whole geography of the campus is chang ing, parking, and we have 214 students living across the street, we don t know whether they re going to walk or ride, what they’re going to or the impact that will have. So we’re going to have what they call a certain degree of uncertainty. We don’t know where they are going to eat. And we don’t have parking ready for REDC, it’s going to be interesting, I hope people are patient. And we have a record enroll ment, it s a moving number. I have a thing 1 can track it on my com puter it will change just as you’re watching it, a little ticker. Friday, September 1, 2006 ion By Miranda Krause copy editor Starting at a new school may not only be challeng ing but also a source for anxiety as well. At Penn State Behrend, you will find a tnendly environment, with many activities and clubs to join, along with a well-equipped gym to help work out stress. When you know a few facts about college life before diving right into it, the whole transition will run much more smoothly. Many times a student will agoni/.e over w hat major to choose. Relax. You have two years to declare a major and to spend time working on your general education requirements, which will allow you to dis cover what you're best at. Also, join a club or PIG (Freshman Interest Group). Doing so can sometimes can help an undecided student find their calling. College is much different from high school and that is very important to understand. In some college classes you are given very little homework, but beware, almost everything that is turned in is graded, so it is very important to turn in assignments when they are due. In college, you have to study. Jett Barber says. "Teachers say to put in two hours of studying for every class, but I never believed it. I wish I had known that as a freshman." Take time to enjoy your first year in college. Josh Epps says. "Be sure not to overload yourself because there is plenty of time to accomplish anything that you want. I tried to take 20 credits, run track, pledge a fraternity, and work at Bruno's. That made college life hard." Use your first year w isely. If you do get overwhelmed, visit the Personal Counseling office located on the first floor in the Reed Union building. It may be a little difficult at first to talk about what may be stressing you. but you’ll find it’s much easier to tackle obstacles once you do. If you are living on campus, make sure to stop at a grocery stores every other week. Campus food is great, but you may get tired of eating the same thing over and over again. Remember to eat healthy and exercise regularly. You'll find Behrend's campus to be a great place to take daily w alks or jogs. Also, it's important that you and your roommate talk about lit tle annoyances. Be aware that your roommate is going through the same transition as you are and if troubles are not talked about right away they may become more of a problem than expected. Pat Brow n says, "What's most important is to get along with your roommate because they know where you sleep. A hostile environment is not conducive to learning, studying, etc." Remember to drink a lot of water and get plenty of sleep each night. Lise vour weekends to get together with friends and have fun. As always, remember to relax.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers