"I think some students have recognized it's not a true act of hate or racism targeted towards any particular group. - several a play_ .ip _,-_ - Andres Herrera. 1 , - Courtney Mineweasl MCC Adult Advisor. los, ~.41,, ...5.4 10 44)eyt0rhan's Lacrosse play page page 1 gbt rj k bd'i ' - ,I go i `:- ;j i 3 Ka fi l LA- lif y ta ort L. ......._ Friday, April 6, 2007 Behrend faculty works towards equality By Christopher LaFuria editor in chief Since 1984, many professors and teachers have used the peer-reviewed journal Feminist Teacher as a guideline on how to fight sexism and racism in the classroom and how to promote equality among teach ers. In the journal, the writers outline cer tain behavioral and teaching tools that pro fessors and teachers can use to succeed in the workplace. More than 20 years later, Penn State Behrend has struggled with the topics outlined in the journal. While many people attend classes that are instructed by women, the number of female professors is significantly low enough to have the Behrend administration trying new tactics to create a more diverse faculty. The number of female professors in the different schools at Behrend in comparison to male professors may not seem to be rele vant to many students, but when compared on a campus-wide level, it is evident that there is a significant difference. At Behrend, there are approximately 90 male professors overall. The number of female professors in the university is approximate ly less than half that number. This figure is more startling when broken down by school. In each school, there are lecturers and instructors, which are hired on a six-year After the six years, the university selects which of these receive tenure, in which they receive permanent status with the universi ty. (Note that all statistics are estimated). In the School of Business there are approxi mately 40 male professors, about 12 of which are tenured. There are less than 10 female professors, only about three of which are tenured. In the School of Science, there are about 50 male professors, about 20 tenured. This number compares to approximately 20 female professors, less than five being tenured. The number is almost even in the Humanities and Social Sciences department, with about 50 male professors, about 20 tenured, and 34 female professors, less than five tenured. The most significant difference is in the School of Engineering. There are roughly 50 male engineering professors, about 15 of which have received tenure. There are less than five female engineering professors, none of which have tenure. It is due to these numbers that Chancellor Jack Burke and his administration are work ing towards promoting the recognition of female professors and maintaining them. The administration has taken many steps to solving the gender problem. They have Continued on page 2 0..= News Editorial Puzzle Humor Student Life.. Sports 1411.ak Newsroom 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: cslsoos@psu.edu Our offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building. SGA election results to be tallied By Theresa Di Buono This year's Student Government Association, which is the voice of the student in circular and noncir cular activities, had their elections, which went uncontested in the Secretary, Vice President and President categories for the second year in a row. This was due to the tact that both this year and last, two people dropped out each time. and Vice President and President ran on the same ticket. The current President of the SGA is Meredith Straub and the current Vice President is Ken Middlemiss. For the fall semester, SGA had only two contested races within the Senate and the University Faculty Senator (UFS). The Senate had eleven candidates running, and out of those eleven. ten are elected. Mike Sharkey/THE BEHREND BEACON groups and campaigning Attendance vi as down as more than half of the auditorium in McGarvey Commons was empty for the "Meet the Presidential online. These results will not he available ( . .. dica exert held for the SGA elections this Monday night. Presidential candidate. Ben Gilson. and Vice Presidential until Tuesday. The UFS SenatorSGA has Senate meetings candidate. Erin Kennedy p r e sented their platforms and held a question and imswer session for students. had three candidates running and out of those three. only one will be elected. There are a total of 28 students on the hoard of SGA. They include the President. Vice President, one Treasurer, twelve upper-class Senators. four freshmen Senators, one UFS, four club representatives. and four Council Representatives. Out of all these students on the board, only two are unable to vote, the President and the Treasurer. The Treasurer is unable to vote because he or she is appointed through an interview process and is not elected through votes. SGA Vice President Ken Middlemiss said. "We had a few dropouts along the way, with how hard college is, and it's hard to plan what you're going to do for the next year. In the fall we have more highly contested races than in the spring semes ter." This is due in part to the new faces here at Behrend and a willingness to get Creature Week controversy continues Penn State Behrend has moved forward from last month's "Creature Week" incident. Behrend does not take discrimination lightly and the effect of last month's "Creature Week" was no exception. Since the SGA and MCC had Diversity week, the "Creature Week" label that affected some students had faded into the background. However, an investigation has taken place. Behrend policy penalizes, fines and even expels students who are charged with blatant racism. Last month, there was an incident where someone created "Creature Week" cards in order to mock the Communication students visit dilapidated houses The stench of a broken home plagued by abuse, neglect and filth floods the nostrils and cramps the stomach when you walk through the shattered front door. The soles of your shoes stick to the filmy floor like the thousands of flies stick to the fly papers hanging from the ceiling like black icicles. Stains on the floors, walls and ceilings are a reminder of the waist high garbage dump this once large home has turned into. The cracks in the floor are not filled with plaster, but mold and feces. Visiting this home, located at 636 East 22 St., was one of the many investi gations of the Erie area done by the COMM 260 W class at Behrend. ...7-8 .9-10 Throughout the spring semester, the students of COMM 260 W, a news writing course taught by Professor Kim Young, have had the opportunity to visit various homeless shelters in Erie, attend an Erie City Council meeting and write their own feature stories. On March 27, the students visited a home that was once part of a thriving community but is now decaying into what the county claims an "unsuitable living space." Sophomore Courtney Mineweaser said, "I was shocked. I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was going to be that bad." When built to fit the community, the home was three stories high, with a basement, large front porch and a spacious back yard. The home still has all of these features, but now it has added an alley filled with garbage stacked tighter than a brick wall and high enough to bridge the second story window to its neighboring house across the alley. Grey and white sneakers hang from the telephone line in front of the house. The front door is decorated with a yellow sign that states, "This structure The students of COMM26OW were shocked at the horrible conditions they witnessed in two homes on East 22nd Street is declared unsafe for human occupancy or use." last week. Several tons of clothes, broken furniture, newspaper scraps and other trash were removed from the homes over the past few months. The current owner hopes to clean the houses and donate them to a local charity. Continued on page 2 A Penn State Behrend Student Publication staff writer By Adell Coleman contributing writer By Ashley Stanko contributing writer program of Diversity Week and its Culture Week pro grams. According to MCC Adult Advisor Andres Herrera, as well as the Director of Educational Equity & Diversity Programs in the Division of Student Affairs, after the "Creature Week" incident, actions have been taken. There has been an investigation involving both Mike Linder, the manager of Bruno's, and campus Police and Safety. Herrera states, "Based on student input we found out the time and date that the cards were placed. After reviewing the video, we came up empty handed, because Bruno's was too crowded during this time. So no one could be pinpointed." According to Herrera, the amount of student traffic in Bruno's makes it impossible to find the students who sp.m. "Any student with problems or concerns are encouraged to come to our meet ings and voice their opinions," said Straub. According to Straub, there are nine committees that fall under SGA which are used to work on a resolution to various concerns students may have. "We will work on a resolution, just as we did when trying to get wireless Internet in the REDC, which was a success." Student Government is your voice as a student and can be thanked for many privileges stu dents at Behrend receive. "We wanted wireless internet in the residence halls, so we passed a resolution through the Senate. which is being looked at right now. Resolutions are our way of letting faculty. staff end administrators know what the students want, - said Straub. The next edition of The Behrend Beacon will have the SGA winners posted. "It's amazing that only last year we were a rookie team with 1 rookie players and we ended up 5-3 in the league." did this. In addition to the number of students, the areas where the cards were placed are not in 'viewable' cam- era areas However, that is not all the work that has been done on campus. According to Herrera, Dr. Ken Miller, the Director of Student Affairs, and Amanda Kner, a resi dential life member, informed the residential life staff to look in the dorms and make sure there was nothing similar to the "Creature Week" cards found. As the investigation continues, some students have stated that it is not a big deal anymore. "I think some students have recognized it's not a true act of hate or racism targeted towards any particular group," Herrera Continued on page 2. Vol. LIII No. XXII involved before school gets too serious. Straub said, "I think that the elections went well this year with a lot of qualified candidates. We have a lot of new people running in the Senate who have ran before and I look forward to seeing what direction SGA takes next year. - Campaigning started the Monday after spring break, and all who were running had to declare their intent to run before spring break started Campaign guidelines are given to the candidates, which are approved by the Senate This year, SGA put a new spin on campaigning with Facebook. SGA felt that Facebook was a useful way of getting votes through creating
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