ItariD ocneen
Friday, February 29, 2008
Viral flu
among B
By Lenny Smith
staff writer
Irsso46(s'psu.edu
Roommates learn to share a lot of things
like food, clothes and books in college.
However, this winter, two freshmen room
mates shared something neither of them
wanted. Shannon Brown and Julie Lanctot.
both from Beaver, Pa., were two of the many
students, faculty and staff members that
have come down with influenza this season.
“1 got the flu first." Brown said. “Then I
gave it to Julie."
However it didn't end there, just as Brown
was beginning to get back to normal,
Lanctot gave the flu virus right back to
Brown.
“It was awful." said Brown, who started
getting sick at the end of January. “My first
time was worse than the second time I got
it...it lasted a lot longer."
When Lanctot got the flu. "it started to get
pretty bad." she said. "I had to go to the hos
pital because it started to affect my asthma."
Brown used the services provided at the
campus Health and Wellness Center when
she got sick.
“I had started taking Mucinex when I first
got sick and they told me to keep taking it.
but they also gave me some cough medicine
“Lost Boy” of Sudan speaks at Behrend
John Bui Dau (left) and Christopher Quinn (right) speak in McGarvey Commons.
By Rachel Reeves
opinion editor
rersos7t« psu.edu
After learning about the 20 year-long civil
war in Africa, the idea of Sudan would not
let go of Christopher Quinn. So he packed
up some film equipment, raised some
money and headed off to a refugee camp in
Kenya. What he witnessed not only began
an award-winning documentary, but
changed many lives forever.
In God Grew Tired of Us. Quinn follows
the journey of the "lost boys” of Sudan;
boys who were forced to lice their homes for
neighboring countries when the civil war
came too close. In groups as large as 50 or
100. boys walked miles out of Sudan into
Ethiopia and Kenya to seek safety in refugee
camps. Mostly aged three to 13. the boys
Behrend students register to vote, get more involved in politics
By Marcus Yeagley
staff writer
mjysol2@psu.edu
Students around campus are getting more
involved with the political process due to a number
of factors surrounding the 2008 presidential race.
Spurred by either the resonating speeches of
“Change” by Democratic presidential candidate
Senator Barack Obama, the off-center but signifi
cant calls for a smaller government by the
Republican Representative Ron Paul, or the inher
ent excitement surrounding this primary season, a
greater number of college students are getting
involved earlier in the political process.
Considering that the primary season has been
extended farther out than years past due to closer
than-average contests for the political party nomi
nations, the sheer amount of exposure that Obama,
Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, and
News..
Opinion..
Humor.
cases, seventy increase
ehrend students
Contents
...1-2 Entertainment..
4 Student Life
....5 Music.
and some extra strength Ibuprofen."
Visits to Health and Wellness are on the
rise this year according to statistics provided
by Patty Pasky McMahon, Director of
Health and Wellness. The Center has seen an
increase of over 170 viral flu cases like
those of Brown and Lanctot this Feb. as
opposed to Feb. 2007.
“It's a different flu,” Pasky McMahon
said. “There are some extremely severe
cases with high fevers, sinus and ear infec
tions, and bronchitis."
“Primary prevention is the best way to
keeping yourself healthy,” Pasky McMahon
said. She recommends frequent hand wash
ing and keeping your hands away from your
eyes as the best start. Also, she reminds stu
dents to cover their mouth when they cough
or sneeze, a tip straight from elementary
school.
Brown and Lanctot, who both agreed their
room was “completely contaminated.” took
it a step further.
"We took everything out of our room and
took it home to wash it,” Brown said. “We
wiped everything down with Clorox before
we left and as soon as we got back we Lysol
ed everything.”
had to eat wild plants and mud, sometimes
drink their own urine and fend off wild ani
mals and fatal diseases. Sometimes the boys
did not even have clothes, since passing mil
itant groups would steal anything from any-
Some of the boys that survived to make it
to a refugee camp were educated, and then
sent to America. Quinn and his crew fol
lowed three of the lost boys from Kenya to
Syracuse, New York, and watched as these
strange people in a strange land tried to
make a life for themselves in just three
months.
John Bui Dau was one of those lost boys,
and with Quinn spoke to a gathering in
McGarvey Commons Thursday, Feb. 28.
Quinn spoke of the financial challenges
See “LOST” on page 2.
until very recently, Govenor Mike Huckabee, has
given students who would normally only glance it
over with glazed eyes something of depth to grapple
and take hold of.
Voter registration drives around campus are not
surprising and are expected, but the numbers of
people registering at the College Democrats table is
up from previous years.
"For the first time since the 1984 presidential
race, the Pennsylvania Democratic primary may
matter depending on what happens March fourth,”
said Cathryn Buonocore, Vice President of the
College Democrats. “People might feel more
inclined to register because they feel that
Pennsylvania may actually make a difference.”
The College Democrats are a partisan group in
full support of Obama. They decided on their alle
giance when it became apparent that all of its mem
bers supported the Illinois Congressman. The group
A Penn State Behrend Student Publication
See FLU on page 2
Behrend THON dancers help to
smash old fundraising total
By Mark Nardo
staff writer
manso92@psu.edu
This year’s THON turned
out to be a great success and
the attempt to beat last year’s
fundraising total was met and
crushed. Over the past five
months, Penn State students
were able to raise $6.6 mil
lion for the Four Diamond
Fund, beating last year's
amount of $5.2 million.
Behrend also beat its total
from last year, over $ 12,500,
by raising over $17,500 this
year. There were many events
and fundraisers held here at
Behrend that helped raise that
money. Jimmy Z’s tavern
was a huge source of contri
butions made. Jimmy Z's
offered water pong tourna
ments and Guitar Hero tour
naments. Eastland Lanes also
contributed by having a
bowling tournament called
Bowl for the Kids. Among
these, other fundraising tac
tics took place, such as: The
24 for a Cure dance-a-thon
held in Nov.. Canning on
Peach St. door to door dona-
tions, poker tournaments,
competitions between Greek
life and sports teams and also
the selling of hot cocoa to
students waiting outside for
the Jim Gaffigan event. The
amount earned this year was
a joint effort that every Pen
Stater can take pride in
As for the first time
dancers this year from
Behrend, the experience for
them was like no other. "It
was amazing, I love the
school spirit. It makes me so
proud to be a Penn Stater."
said dancer Elton Armady. As
he claimed before, "it was the
most difficult mental and
physical battle of my life”.
Armady claimed that the first
24 hours were fairly easy to
get through, but after that he
experienced a few lows
where he had trouble staying ......
, . . THON dancers Elton Armady and Molly Thomas pose with the Nitlany Lion
awake. The moral up keep-
ers went above and beyond
and I wouldn't have made it without them", said Armady as
he explained how he kept awake and vitalized for the
whole 46 hours. Even though the 46 hours were draining,
it was an amazing experience to be part of and Armady is
already thinking about dancing for THON 2009. Molly
Thomas, on the other hand, thinks that the dancing was "a
once in a lifetime experience" for her, but she was so glad
to be a part of it. “It was the best weekend of my life, from
standing up until sitting down," said Thomas while
explaining her THON experience. She, too, also had some
lows where she thought she was going to collapse
intends to maintain the voter registration desk until
March 24, the cutoff date for voters wishing to take
part in the closed Pennsylvania primaries on April
22.
Closed primaries are ones in which only members
of the Democratic and Republican parties can vote
for their respective candidates. Open primaries,
which so far have favored Mr. Obama and Mr.
McCain, are ones that permit independent voters
and even members of the opposing party to partici
pate.
Students are not forced into signing up for the
College Democrats, or even to sign up for their
mailing list in order to register. That is only required
if students wish to take an Obama sticker, which are
of limited quantity.
The Student Government Association also held
its own voter registration drive over the course of a
few days last week. Hoping to pull in still apathetic
We are now on the Web!
Visit us online at www.thebehrendbeacon.com
*SK#dl. LIV No. XVII
"Honestly. I kept dancing." she said as she explained how
she kept awake. She also had the support from her friends
and family to keep her in spirit. Her favorite part of THON
was Family Hour. Family Hour is where all of the Four
Diamond Fund families get on stage to thank everyone and
to tell their stories of how the Fund has been such a big
help to them and to remember former children of the fund
that are no longer with us. It was a wonderful experience
for Thomas and even though she won't be back to dance,
she’ll always be involved with THON and will make the
trip down to University Park every time.
students. SGA held a raffle for a DVD player in
order to encourage registration.
Looking forward to the upcoming presidential
election in November, Student Affairs plans on
attempted to get incoming freshmen involved in the
process. They plan on making voter registration
forms a part of the package students receive upon
arriving at Behrend.
Small-scale posters have also been placed on bul
letin boards around campus in support of
Republican Ron Paul. Pamphlets about the Texas
Representative and posters advertising a speaker
from the John Birch Society who "will be address
ing political issues rarely spoken by the 'Main
Stream Media’” in his support make up the lesser
known political articles around campus. It is not
apparent who has put them up. whether student, fac
ulty, or otherwise, but it shows that there is senti
ment for the third place Republican.
at THON