IfamitfMncon Friday, April 4, 2008 Sen. Clinton campaigns at Mercyhurst Daniel Smith/C'ONTRIBUTHD PHOTO Sen. Hillary Clinton waves to supporters at a rally at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on April 1. Clinton pledges to stop the outsourcing of jobs. Daniel Smith/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Clinton spoke in front of a crowd of about 2,500 on April 1. Behrend track and field teams succeed By Connor Sattely entertainment editor cisso6o@psu.edu When freshman Steve Monnie started receiving calls from Penn State Behrend’s track and cross country coach es this past summer, he knew that he would have a good chance of making both teams. "I wanted somewhere that 1 could run,” he recalls. "Behrend's campus was perfect for it.” For cross country, many people say it is because of the many paths through the woods and nearby gorge, that makes cross-country running an excellent experience. However, as the cross country season came to an end, Monnie realized that his spring sport would not have a place of their own . He, along with the rest of the track and field team, had no track to practice on. Instead, they made do with what ever space they could - parking lots, wood paths, some- News Opinion- Humor. Sports.. Contents ...1-2 Entertainment 4 Student Life... ..5 Music 9-10 A Penn State Behrend Student Publication By Rachel Reeves opinion editor rcrss()s7(s' psu.edu Over 3,000 people huddled in a line that stretched one football field deep into the Mercyhurst campus on Tuesday afternoon, hands crammed deep in coat pockets and heads bent into the wind. Whether they were sup porters. scoping out the competition, or merely curious, all of these people endured an hours-long wait, and secu rity that would rival that of an interna tional airport, to catch a glimpse of presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton. Erie resident and Clinton supporter, Amanda Scott, said it was well worth the wait. Even though her mind had already been made up as far as the election was concerned, she was excit ed to hear Clinton speak. “It’s not very often you get to see candidates here in Erie," she said. Behrend freshman, Jake Pusateri. was equally determined in his opposi tion of Senator Clinton. The political science major had been standing in line for an hour already. "Eve been here since 3:30 - have to see McCain’s competition." Anyone coming onto campus through the East 38th St. entrance would have had to pass through an anti-abortion picket line. Over 50 pro testers lined the sidewalk, smiling at times even just sidewalks. “I run the 800 meter and 1500 meter for Behrend,” says Monnie. “We normally practice in the parking lot by Almy or in the lower lot by science.” When asked about the conditions, Monnie began recount ing stories of bruised shins, knees and sore feet while practicing on asphalt. Freshman Steel Flynn agrees. “It’s dreadful. It’s danger ous, I’ve seen a couple people fall, there are lots of sharp turns and sometimes there’s ice on the parking lot, so you have to slow down around the turns.” The team’s coach, Greg Cooper, acknowledges the dan ger of running on parking lots. “We’ve had around five to ten injuries that made people sit out,” he said. When asked how many members of the team were injured but still run ning, he estimated the number at over half of the athletes. These sentiments echo to most members of the track team, all in a state of puzzled frustration as to why they don’t have their own practice space. Still, the track See TRACK on page 2. the passerby, waving at honking cars and holding signs that read. "Hillary: Pro-Abortion Extremist." Tim Broderick, Director of People For Life and organizer of the protest said. "[We want to) make sure that people aren't confused with Hillary's view on abor tion appearing at a Catholic institu tion." After the doors opened at 5:30 p.m.. everyone in line had to file through a security station. Keys, cameras and cell phones were allowed: personal signs and expandable umbrellas were among items that had to be disposed of. When security had screened 2.500 people, they closed the doors to the main arena and opened up an overflow room for the remaining 500. While hundreds of people were slowly filing into the Mercyhurst Athletic Center, last-minute prepara tions were being made. Secret Service made a sweep of the main room with police dogs. The traveling national press prepared laptops and cameras for the event. As seating filled up and the only space available was standing room, students shuffled for a good place in front of the stage and several small children found a tall pair of shoulders to climb onto. At 8 p.m., Pennsylvania Governor. Ed Rendell, introduced Clinton who took the stage to the theme song from Why are students on campus so politically apathetic? Read why on Page 7 See CLINTON on page 2. despite no on-campus facilities This parking lot behind the Science buidling serves as the "practice track" for the Behrend track team. Although they have no real track to practice on. the team consistently wins events SGA plans to vote new, controversial student fee By Connor Sattely entertainment editor cisso6o(o psu.edu "This could be the most important thing you could vole on dur ing your time at Penn State Behrend." Ken Miller, the Director of Student Affairs, told the Student Government Association (SGA). "It will affect every single student, and students years from now. and students years from then." Within the next few weeks, senators and student representa tives will convene to vole on a new resolution, nicknamed a "facilities” resolution, which will seek to improve Behrend's campus. Ideas include adding on to Reed Union Building, reno vating the Junker Center weight room, or even constructing a hockey rink. The funding for these projects would be added to student's tuition, the proposal suggests. An addition of $5O. $75 or $ l(X) could be added to the semester tuition of students. Ben Gilson. SGA President, says that the effect of such an addition could be more than some students may realize. "A con servative estimate." he said, "is that we could raise .$BOO,OOO in a single semester by adding $lOO [to each student's tuition.| Even if we did $5O. we'd be raising over $400,000." While much remains to be seen on who would gather opinion and appropriate the money, Gilson says that the preliminary idea is to create a committee which would deliberate on the issue. When they came up with a list of students' ideas, they would present it to the Chancellor. SGA polls, conducted mainly amongst friends, clubs and class es of its members, have brought mixed results. Christin Tripi. a sophomore senator, announced that she had polled roughly 150 people and only three were in favor of adding money to tuition. However, it was unclear whether the students disagreed on what the money could be used for or whether they w anted the addition at all. Some students argued passionately for renovations to the Junker Center's weight room. Others argued for other improve ments around eampus. Erie voters change parties before primary By Marcus Yeagley staff writer mjysOl 20 psu.edu Over 3.500 residents of Erie have changed their party affilia tion to the Democrats for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary according to numbers released by the Erie County Courthouse. Of the nearly 96.000 Democrats registered. 3.867 were either Republican. Independent or of a third party affiliation before this presidential race, according to numbers from Election Supervisor. Sharon A. Drayer of the Erie County Courthouse. Registrations were still being tallied when these statistics were received. While she could not supply specific numbers for previous pri mary seasons. Drayer stated that the number of registrations for both sides are way up, particularly for the Democrats due to the close race between Senators Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York. When asked if there w ere any other reasons for the boost in registrations, Drayer cited the resurging relevance of the Pennsylvania primary as the sole reason. As of April 2. 175,444 people were registered in Erie County. Democrats currently make up 55 percent of the registered popu lace. while Republicans are 35 percent. The remaining 10 per cent of registered voters are of third parties, such as the Constitution party, or are registered as Independents. With a total of 187 delegates. Pennsylvania is one of the last states w ith a sizable amount of delegates to relinquish. Tw enty nine of the delegates are super-delegates, the debated pledgers who get votes All you need to know about the NHL Find it all on Page 9 Vol. LIV No. XX Sec VOTE on page 2. See DEMOCRATIC on page 2.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers