2 I The Behivnd Beacon
Behrend facilitates largest New Student Orientation
Welcome to 11,I 1 , -i; S
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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
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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.