2 I The Behrend Beacon
Classes are canceled
Behrend
By Ashley Bressler/Contributing
Writers
news editor/COMM 260\k
1/26/07
A massive snowstorm hit the campus
of Penn State Behrend Thursday. forcing
the cancellation of classes. Not many
employees of Behrend can specifically
recall the last time classes were can
celled because of snow. Patti McClellan,
staff assistant in the Registrar's Office.
said as best she can remember it has
been quite some time. "It's been a long
time," said McClellan. Director of
Admissions and Financial Aid. Mary
Ellen Madigan. racked her brain trying
to remember Behrend's last major storm.
"Off the top of my head I can't remem
ber, but there hasn't been many," said
Madigan. She went on to say that she
recalled a time when she first started
working at Behrend in the late 1980 s,
and another time in the mid 1990 s when
she was taking an MBA class that the
campus was closed because of snow.
According to Associate Dean, David
Christiansen, Behrend has a policy
which top administrators gathered to
discuss on Thursday. The policy
involves top administrators meeting in
severe weather situations to determine
whether or not classes should he can
celled. "The primary individuals
involved were Bob Light, John Ream.
and myself," said Christainsen.
He went on to explain that after the
group met, they called Chancellor Jack
Burke, who was off-campus, to approve
the committee's recommendation to can
cel classes. In reaching their decision.
Christainsen said many factors aside
from weather went into the decision.
"Because of snow and road conditions
and the closing of the interstate, we
decided in was in the best interest of stu
dents, including commuter students, to
cancel classes."
The Behrend maintenance crew was
hard at work all day Thursday to keep
the parking lots, roads, and sidewalks
clear and safe for all students. A Behrend
maintenance crewmember was frazzled
in the Erie snowstorm. A plow truck
driver, who was too busy to give his
name as he was trying to keep up with
his extensive schedule commented on
how overwhelming the snowstorm was
for him and his fellow crewmemhers, as
they were working non-stop since 5:30
Behrend student narrowly avoidscontinued from page 1
A few minutes later, a female passer by alerted Miller of an apparent escape
attempt by the other driver. A group of residents from the area witnessed the driver
taking off from the accident scene, only to be brought hack by an older male, who
caught the driver, and forcefully brought him back to the scene of the accident.
Moments elapsed as police, paramedics, and ambulances arrived to provide assis
tance to the injured parties. One officer informed Miller that the other driver was
being taken to the Emergency Room for minor head injuries and also for a Blood
Alcohol Test.
After almost a week of awaiting the results. Miller was notified that the other driv
er was cited for a D.U.I. Although it failed to lessen much of the damage, finding
out that alcohol was related to the accident brought Miller closure as to the cause of
the entire ordeal. Although the driver admitted to drinking only four 16-ounce beers
before the accident occurred, the amount consumed was enough to have an immedi
ate impact on his driving capabilities.
In the mid-nineties, former Supreme Court judge William Rehnquist revealed that
there are over 25,000 annual deaths from alcohol related accidents. Miller was for
tunate to not be a part of that statistic. In every state, the legal Blood Alcohol
Concentration (BAC) is .08. Research has shown that a 180-pound male can reach
this level after only four beers. Even though the driver in Miller's accident may have
thought he was capable of driving after such consumption, he was indeed intoxicat
ed.
Drivers who have a BAC of .08 or greater are 11 times more likely to get into a car
accident than someone who has consumed no alcohol at all. Miller, upon realizing
the citation for D.U.1., has a prominent sense of the affects of drunk driving. "I have
never driven drunk before," Miller says, "After the accident, 1 realized the actual
affects of it."
As long as Shane Miller keeps the picture in his possession and recalls the nearly
fatal accident, he will forever be cognizant of the affects of drunk driving. Miller also
realized that car accidents of this magnitude could happen at anytime. "Now I real-
"A traveler of taste will notice that
the wise are polite all over the
world, but the fool only at home."
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Manneri & Civility
is buried
Thursday morning. He briefly said that
all the drivers have a specific route to
1011 ow. "I'm afraid I just don't have the
time to answer any more questions," he
said.
While many Behrend students took
cover from the harsh winter weather,
others took advantage of the cancelled
classes to play in the snow. Three avid
outdoorsmen hit the slopes to sledride on
the hill behind the science complex. All
three students were thrilled with the
recent snowfall. and were excited to find
out that classes after 5:00 p.m. were can
celled. "I absolutely love this weather,"
said Albert Tackle, a freshman mechani
cal engineering major. Tackie, who is
from the Murrysville area, said he is
used to snowfall, hut not on these levels.
Tackie is an avid snowhoarder, who said
he was ready to take advantage of this
recent snowfall.
Also taking part in the fresh powder
were Mandy Daniels and John Hallagan,
both sophomore biology majors. When
asked how Daniels would feel if classes
were also cancelled tomorrow, she said,
"That would he amazing! No 8 a.m.
classes would he so exciting." On anoth
er note, Hallagan was indifferent to the
cancellation of classes saying, "I want
classes because I want to learn, but no 8
a.m.'s would he nice. - The students then
resumed their play by jumping on their
innertubes and sleds, and headed down
the hill to continue enjoying the snow.
Not all students were excited about
the snowfall, and some were even con
cerned about the conditions of the roads
more then the excitement of classes
being cancelled. When asked about the
sudden turn of events, Dave, a second
semester student said. "I think this is
great news! I'm a commuter, so I want to
he able to get home safely."
As he spoke, campus maintenance
workers suffered the frosty weather to
keep the college grounds safe. John, a
sixth semester student, expressed con
cern for the state of the campus since it
is unclear if the cancellation will he
extended into the next day. "I think
everyone's doing the best they can,"
John said.
For any future weather emergencies,
delays. or cancellations. students can
visit the Penn State Behrend website,
w.pennstatebehrend.psu.edu, and
look for announcements in the upper
right hand corner of the webpage.
-Oliver Goldsmith
when
Communication students visit dilapidated houses
snow
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 ici
cles. 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 investigations of the Erie area
done by the COMM 260 W class at
Behrend.
Throughout the spring semester, the
students of COMM 260 W, a news writ
ing 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
is declared unsafe for human occupancy or use. -
Weeks ago, the tenants were evicted from the home
Midnight Bingo causes controversy over prize selections
When sophomore psychology major Luis Fernandez attend
ed Behrend's Midnight Bingo, Saturday, Sept 2, he was hop
ing to win, and he did, but not really. Fernandez won the grand
prize of a 20" Magnavox TV with an estimated value of $BO,
but instead was awarded an Emerson Radio/CD Player with an
estimated value of $45. Fernandez is not happy with what he
says was a mistake that he is now paying for.
What Fernandez calls a mistake happened early in the
evening. Fernandez won a game of Bingo. In accordance with
the rules of the game he picked a random number out of a bas
ket. The numbers correspond to the prizes. In Fernandez's case
the corresponding number of 46 matched the grand prize.
However, Fernandez says he was told by a volunteer work
ing at the prize table that it was too early in the game to give
away the grand prize because people would leave. Fernandez
was instead offered his choice of any other prize on the table.
Fernandez says he chose the Radio/CD Player and went
back to his table. It was during intermission when Fernandez
says he felt he had been cheated and decided to ask for an
explanation. When he returned to the prize table he verified
that the TV was in fact prize number 46.
"I should have won the TV," Fernandez told a volunteer at
the table, "I had number 46. That's not fair."
It was at this point when Fernandez says a Bingo player near
the prize table stood up and said, "the TV was number 46."
Behrend responds to Virginia Tech continued from page 1
sibility of our community to look for these warning signs, and
it is our duty to help the individual(s) seek counseling or pro
fessional help when it is necessary.
While Behrend has established a post-crisis plan to help stu
dents deal with traumatic stress, some students have spoken
out in concern about what they can personally do if a life or
death situation were to happen while on campus. Sophomore
Communication student and Senat Hall Resident Assistant
Samantha Yong said she is troubled by Behrend's response pol
icy, and the personal duties Resident Assistants have to their
residents. "If something were to happen, we are not allowed to
physically step in to help. It bothers me that we have been
trained in everything from suicide counseling to roommate
conflicts, but we are not told what to do when there is a fire
drill. We just have to work on impulse, but if we aren't given
instructions for fire drills, what are we supposed to do if some
one has a gun?" said Yong. Resident Assistants at Behrend are
required to take part in hours of training for all kinds of situa
tions each year. They also role-play with mock situations,
where they are given a crisis and are expected to respond to it.
Yong said she has been trained to deal with suicide attempts,
but nothing as far as a massive school shooting that would
require her to protect all of the students on her floor.
Daley said, "It is not a matter of if it will happen. It is a mat
ter of when it will happen." In light of this statement, which
many may not want to even consider, Daley explained that
preparing for the worst may be in the long run the best. Taking
the small step to having a critical-response training session for
resident assistants, professors, faculty members and any will
ing students could potentially be the key in preparing all for a
perilous situation in the college setting and in the world outside
of Behrend. Consulting Psychiatrist at Behrend Dr. Fuat Ulus
also said that simple training techniques could make a world of
By Ashley Stanko
contributing writer
4/06/07
By Jerry Pohl
assistant humor editor
9/08/06
( I °l
:.)
The students of COMM26OW were shocked at the horrible conditions they witnessed in two homes
on East 22nd Street 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.
after destroying the neighboring house just six months prior.
The two buildings were recently sold to an Erie man, Jim
McHenry, and his business partner. McHenry said, "I didn't
know what I was getting into...my friend always has crazy
ideas." McHenry said that his friend told him of two houses
that he bought and was going to renovate and sell, and he want
ed McHenry as his partner. McHenry agreed without seeing
the property first. "I remember the first day we went
inside...the front door was boarded up so we went through the
basement." He said how the basement was sound and seemed
like it had a good foundation; it was normal. He went up the
stairs to the first floor door, opened it and he said, to say the
least, "That wasn't normal."
The player then reportedly ripped the number off of the TV,
and said to Fernandez, "you shouldn't bitch about it. You still
got free stuff."
After the confrontation, the game resumed and at the end of
the night the TV, which Fernandez says was rightfully his, was
won by another student, Freshman Mechanical Engineering
major Mike Grebiner.
As president of the Lion Ambassadors, the organization
which runs Midnight Bingo, Kate Kelecseny calls the entire
incident a "big misunderstanding."
"I had two weeks to set up the bingo through emails and via
telephone with Student Activities. Things were hectic and
busy. Inevitably, there is the chance that certain things can go
wrong," Kelecseny said. "Something was overlooked...it was
an honest mistake."
Kelecseny admits that the intention of the event is to keep
students entertained for the duration of the program. She
explained that it's common practice in Midnight Bingo to set
the number for the grand prize aside for the first 30 minutes to
keep students interested in the game and to accommodate late
arrivals. "I simply forgot to take out the number for the first 30
minutes," Kelecseny said.
There are no written policies explaining that the grand prize
cannot be won until later in the evening.
Luis Fernandez says he does not believe he should pay the
price for the mistakes of the Lion Ambassadors. He wants the
TV that he won, not the Radio/CD Player he ended up with.
Kelecseny said the Lion Ambassadors will address the matter
at their next meeting on Sept. 12.
difference in a school shooting situation. Ulus has published
the article, "Help Managers, Employees Prepare for Workplace
Violence," in Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal, (April
16-22, 2001, V 01.12, No. 15), and said the techniques he dis
cusses in the article can also be applied to the college setting.
"There have been many people frozen with fear, allowing the
gunman's shooting at them one-by-one precisely enough to kill
each target," said Ulus. "Would dead and wounded counts be
far lower if everybody knew what they needed to during the
tragedy?"
Behrend, along with most colleges and universities in the
United States, have open campus grounds, allowing anyone to
walk in. Daley said this makes security at college campuses
very difficult to enforce, but that doesn't mean the students
shouldn't know how to react just like the trained professionals.
Some of the steps Ulus suggested students take in critical situ
ations were first and foremost do not panic, and remain calm.
He also said, "Flight is the attempt to reach the closest safe area
by the fastest means. Panic, on the other hand, is just rushing
around aimlessly. The last, but not least, is begging him/her not
to harm you while you try to hide under your table. At this
point, attempting a dialogue would be pointless. Therefore,
RUN! A moving target is more difficult to hit."
According to Daley, hours of training and acts of precaution
can be made to try to assure the safety of students at a college
campus, but nothing is ever certain and anything is possible.
Ulus' research begs the question, how many school shootings
need to happen, how many people have to die before Behrend
students, professors, and faculty members are trained to phys
ically and emotionally deal with a similar situation? "It is sad.
We don't learn. We talk the talk but don't walk the walk," said
Ulus.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Continued on page 3