Friday, October 5, 2007 Read the first installment of the faculty forum series on page 4. Things changing on are campus. See what new improvements are coming to Dobbins on page 8. The National Hockey League season starts soon. Read the pre- view on page 9. Contents News Opinion.. Humor.... Entertainment.. Student Life Sports Contact s Newsroom 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: cslsoos@psu.edu Send us feedback! www.thebehrendbeacon.com Our offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building. DrtintilD Drilcon ...1-3 7-8 ...9-10 Behrend drivers worried after round of on-campus vandalism People who park cars on campus think their vehilces will be safe. However, vandalism seems to be on the rise By Kayla Wright staff writer kmws2os@psu.edu Most students assume that cars parked on campus will be left alone and remain safe. However, recent events have led to a contrary view. On a number of occasions, students' cars have been vandalized, lead ing some to question campus security. Students believe this wouldn't be an issue had it been put to a stop after the first time, but this vandalism has con- tinually happened on consecu tive weekends. There are several proposed solutions. Some believe that cameras should be installed, while others believe there should be more officers patrolling the campus. The most recent case of vandalism occurred in the parking lot in front of Almy Hall Sept. 22, where more than a dozen cars were report ed vandalized. The sides of cars were keyed, side-view mirrors were completely ripped off, convertibles tops were punched in and there was other damage to the bodies of cars, such as dents. Freshman Bridget Gutting was one victim. "My tail lights were kicked in and my side-view mirrors were torn off," Gutting said. This was one of the less severe cases but still it caused a great amount of problems for students whose had their cars damaged. "I was mad because it cost a lot to repair the dam ages and it took a while to get it repaired so I could n't just leave when I wanted to because my car was in the shop," Gutting said. Vandalism causes a lot of dama:e and for those that don't have com elete insur- Behrend student organizations look to raise money for the United Way Foundation By Rachel Reeves staff writer rcrsos7@psu.edu Penn State Behrend kicked off its annual United W campaign with the goal to n $50,000 from faculty, study and staff. United Way may be a mast national organization with 1,. branches spread all over country, but 98 percent of money raised by Behr' remains in Erie County to bet fit 34 local agencies. Some the names on the list may sot familiar. Erie girl and scouts, the Salvation Army, the YMCA. Others are organi, tions like the Crime Vic! Center or the local hospice benefit. Either way, all of tht agencies are an important part the local community, Behrend takes supporting tht very seriously. The students raise $2,000 the total amount. Dr Ken Mii Director of Student Affairs, says that most of the student money A sign keeps track of how much money comes out of the residence students on campus have raised. halls. Each year the halls host various fundraisers, making it a competition to see which hall turns in the most money. Popular activities A Penn State Behrend Student Publication "My were view were torn off." -Bridget Gutting Freshman ance coverage, it may cause some problems. Currently, there is only one officer that patrols the campus at night over the weekends when most of the vandalism occurs. Students say that doesn't seem to leave the environment entirely secure. "I think the school should take more measures to increase security especially on the weekends because a lot more is going on," Gutting said. Director of the Division of Student Affairs, Kenneth Miller, believes that the solution is to have more people patrolling the parking lots. He says he doesn't believe cameras should be installed because the details of the people, especially in the dark, would be too vague to determine who is committing the crime. For example, if one was to watch a tape from a camera placed in the parking lot, he may capture someone committing a crime in a Penn State baseball cap in sweat shirt. Given that the image will only be captured from above, the chances of being able to identify the perpetrator are pretty slim; most people on campus wear clothing with the Penn State logo. Others still believe that cameras are the only way to reduce the amount of vandalism occurring on cam pus. "Cameras will discourage students from vandal izing cars. If they know that they are being watched, they are less likely to commit the crime," said Freshman Susan Sherman Regardless of the stance one takes over whether cameras or more officers are required to reduce dam age, students say that some kind of action needs to be taken to avoid future vandalism of cars. tail lights kicked side mirrors include a t-shirt sale with shirts custom printed for each hall, penny wars in the lobbies, and tuck-in serv ices where residents can receive freshly grilled sand * - ,hes and a bedtime story. The rest of the $50,000 imes from faculty and staff, tther in one-time gifts or direct out of paychecks. Each person opt for an automatic deduc in each time they are paid, with earmark specifying which flcy they want their money to It can prove a bit of a chal ige to muster support for the iced Way, since it is so big and ports so many different agen "Sometimes it's hard for :ulty, students, and staff to ip their heads around this. re's nothing physical; there's telethon, no dance marathon, re's no big event," explains ller. He tries to encourage )ple to look into the United website so they can get a ter feel for where the money is ing, and see some of the more icrete changes the organiza tion has made. No one has to look further than Erie to continued on page 3 sag Speaker Series brings lively poet to campus By Liz Carey wiff vt riter eacs I psu edu Beckian Fritz Goldberg speaks to students in the Smith Chapel on Sept. 27 about her poetry. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27th the distinguished poet, Beckian Fritz Goldberg grabbed Penn State Behrend students' attention as she read segments of poems and prose from her published work. The read ing was preceded by a reception where the students where given the opportunity to sit down and talk to Goldberg. Goldberg opened with a piece of prose about when she was a child. This caught the attention of the listen ers and she continued to enthrall them with her poems about Torture Boy and Wolf Boy, who were reoccur ring characters throughout all of The Book of Accident, which she primarily read from. All of the characters where children who Goldberg explained where a mix between the child she was and the children she would have had. Although there was mandatory attendance for some English classes and all creative writing students, the room was packed with people who flocked in simply to hear her read her poetry. With a quick wit and great sense of humor she captivated the audience. Goldberg's main topics were death and sex, but she elegantly presented them in a way that was not crude or gruesome. In an interview when Goldberg was asked why she writes about death, she said, "Death is the eternal problem. I can't write without that aware ness—to me it's constant.... How can you love some thing and not mourn the fact that it's going to disap pear?" This grave outlook on life is apparent in almost all her literature, but most credit the death of her father which began her questioning physical life. "I really enjoyed the reading," says Carly Smith, a freshman Communications major. "Some parts were difficult to understand but all-in-all it was intriguing," Smith said. This seemed to be the consensus of all the students as they left Smith Chapel where the reading was held. Murmurs of her unique but intriguing style where heard throughout the foyer as students exited. On dis play outside of the chapel where copies of her books of poetry that where being sold to anyone who want them. Goldberg received her MFA from Vermont College and her MA from Arizona State University where she was mentored by Norman Dubie. She is currently directing the Creative Writing Program at Arizona State as well as continuing to publish poetry and prose. Goldberg's first book of poetry was published in 1991 and was entitled Body Betrayer, shortly after In the Badlands of Desire was published. In 1999 her second and third books, entitled Never Be the Horse and Twentieth Century Children, where published. In 2005 Lie Awake Lake was published and most recently in 2006 The Book of Accident was published. Goldberg has been honored with many awards such as The Gettysburg Review Annual Poetry Award, The Field Poetry Prize, The University of Akron Press Poetry Prize and A Pushcart Prize. She has also been anthologized in The Best American Poetry series. George Looney, series director and an associate pro fessor of English and creative writing here at Penn State Behrend said, "Beckian Fritz Goldberg is a poet who uses her language as a light on both landscapes and the bodies walking and loving and suffering and rejoicing through those landscapes." Vol. LIV No. VI
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers