Friday, April 25, 2008 Rally on raises diversity awareness on campus By Christopher LaFuria editor-in-chief csls()os<9' psu.edu Todd Ericsson is preparing himself for the future. Ericsson, a junior, has a double major in International Business and Marketing. He knows how to handle classes and the college environment. More importantly, he knows who is around him. As a member of numerous clubs and organizations on campus. Ericsson has encountered many different people. He understands that now, and in the professional environment, he will encounter people of diverse backgrounds. That is why many students, like Ericsson, took part in a day-long celebration of diversity, packed with musicians, speakers and a Native American dancer, sponsored by the Diversity Committee of the SGA. The event, which took place on April 24, had a very specific aim. The theme of the event was “Breaking stereotypes, one at a time." and Ericsson was there to help promote this idea. "[The event] forces people to realize that they will be with more diverse people throughout their lives." said Ericsson. "This is a good way for people to learn in col lege. where they do the most learning." The event featured three different performers, including Randi Driscoll, Kevin Locke and Elaine Penn. Each per former discussed their own take on diversity and shared stories along with their craft. According to Ericsson, Behrend's campus is approxi mately nine to 11 percent diverse. Only 35 percent of the students are female. This ratio is one of the reasons Ericsson took part in the event. Singer and songwriter Randi Driscoll played songs off of her album Lucky, which was for sale at the event. In between songs about happiness, sadness and love, Driscoll spoke about how she travels the country singing and spreading hope. When asked the main reason for her performance, she simply said. "Hope." She is currently in the middle of a two-day Erie tour, in which she plays at Behrend today and also Mercyhurst and Edinboro. Some of the topics she says she discusses in her speeches include anti-hate and peace movements. She has made appearances at Make-a-Wish and other philanthrop ic events. The interaction between her and her audience is one of her favorite parts about performing. "I get a chance to talk to people and not at people,” she said. Also performing song and speeches was Elaine Penn. She took a completely different approach to her message. After introducing her cause and her message, she set up an activity involving stereotypes. She would shout out differ ent racial, gender and age stereotypes and the crowd responded by raising their hands if they thought the “fact" was true. Afterwards, she discussed how all of these News Opinion.. Humor. DcnncnD Dcncon the See RALLY on page .1 Contents ...1-3 Entertainment 4 Student Life... ..5 Music.. Hill Clinton wins Clinton’s victory in Pa., she looks to Indiana to keep her in the race for Bv Rachel Reeves opinion editor ivrsUs7o psu.edu After six long w eeks of campaign ing Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won the Pennsylvania primary. Clinton won by a larger margin than anticipated; she took 54.6 per cent while her opponent. Barack Obama (D-1L) took 45.4 percent. She won Erie decidedly with 63 per cent of the votes. Although she is well behind Obama in pledged dele gates. she hopes to sway enough superdelegales over to her side by November to secure the nomination. Student body elects campus representatives Brad Kovalcik and Erin Kennedy will serves as Behrend’s leaders next year. By Connor Sattelv entertainment editor cicsOMK' l psu.alu After three weeks of campaigning, the results arc in. as to who will be represent ing Behrend's students on the Student Government Association for next year. President and Vice-President will be Erin Kennedy and Brad Kovalcik. respectively. Both Juniors, they were the only two people to be running for the positions. Ben Gilson, who will be the outgoing President graduating this December, says that this is a rare oecur ance. "Usually we have several people running for the position." he says, "but this year it just worked out that it was only the two of them." A Penn State Behrend Student Publication With Sen. Hillary the nomination She also raised enough money in Pennsylvania to fund further cam- paigning. However, she still has a lot of work to do. especially in Indiana and North Carolina for their primaries on May 6. Obama is the favorite for the 69 delegate North Carolina, but Indiana looks like it could go either way. At this point, the primaries are more about securing the superdele gates' votes rather than the pledged delegates. Both Clinton and Obama w’ant to secure consistent wins by large margins for the remaining pri maries. While Obama has more slack in the upcoming weeks, Clinton is under more pressure to win consistently. Behrend Professor of Political Science. Dr. Robert Speel. offers his perspective. "She [Hillary| has Kovalcik. a creative writing major, says that Kennedy asked him to be her vice-president. Like many new appoint ments. Kovalcik is primarily excited about the prospects of the Student Activity Facilities Fee (SAFF) for next year. "I love Behrend." he says, "and I want to make sure it stays great and improves in the future. That's why I ran for this position." Molly Thomas, a sophomore, was elected to the position of Secretary. The position will be expected to type all min utes and send schedules. Freshman Amy Wagner will be taking the position of University Faculty Senate. The representative will be expected to go See A !EW on page We are now on the Web! Visit us online at www.thebehrendbeacon.com Pennsylvania raised plenty of money to get her through the primaries in IN. and NC, but if she loses both, her contribu tors may dry up." Obama’s cam paign, however, is financially secure for the foreseeable future. Obama will have strong support in urban areas of Indiana, especially in Chicago where he lives on the South Side with his family. Indianapolis is always expected to favor Obama. Clinton, however, will likely take the more rural areas, much like she did in Pennsylvania. Also as in Pennsylvania, the Indiana vote counts for the first time in decades. Since it is a more conser vative state, it has been especially neglected by campaigning democ rats. Lynden B. Johnson was the last democratic presidential candidate to win the general vote in Indiana. new CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Behrend students team up to take down graffiti Bv Scot! Muska managing editor snnM)X2(n psu.edu A number of Penn State Behrend students did their part to better the community by join ing forces with members of Erie's newly formed graffiti task force to clean up illegal art work on Saturday, April 19. The students and other attending volunteers painted over various graffiti artworks, also known as “tags,” that were tainting the walls of businesses on West 12th street. Their effort was part of a city-wide "Day of Caring" cleanup event that was formed to better Erie’s image. Volunteers used paint and supplies donated by Braendel Painting & Services, and owner Dennis Braendel Jr., a member of the graffiti task force, was on hand to oversee and contribute to the cleanup. "It’s a shame that people do this to someone else’s proper ty," Braendel said. "They just don't know how much money it costs home owners and business owners to get rid of it.” Braendel said that as an Erie Group calls for student rights to carry weapons on campus By Matthew Schwabenbauer assistant news editor mjssJB7(a'psu.edu Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a grassroots organization which advocates the right for students to carry firearms on college campuses. The organization formed in 2007 after the shooting at Virginia Tech, and currently has 25,000 members. "Would you rather just sit there and cower underneath a desk when someone executes you or would you rather have a chance to defend your life? That’s what it really boils down to,” said Michael Flitcraft, a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati and an organizer for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Flitcraft is licensed to carry a weapon in Ohio. As such, he Vol. LIV No. XXIII Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) waves to supporters in Philadelphia after her decisive Pennsylvania win. native it was important to him to help keep his home town clean and that he doesn't mind getting involved by donating supplies for cleanups. "We have the paint and everything that we can let vol unteers use. because this has become a huge problem." Braendel said. "It's great that people are also getting interest ed in making Erie look better, and we want to help." Braendel contributes to the task force by traveling to and providing estimates on the dam age costs of reported tags in the Erie Area. "It's really important to have Dennis working with us on this." said Erie County District Judge Tom Carney, w ho is head of the graffiti task force and w as also present at the cleanup. "We want to know how much damage these kids arc doing, so that when we catch them w e can make them pay restitution, and that will probably become a big part of our punishments. He's really helping us a lot in that respect. See STUDENTS on page .1 can carry his weapon most places in the state, but not on his campus. This is something he aims to change. “To me it makes no sense that I can defend myself legally [in the city], but I am a felon if I step on the grass [on campus).” he said. The only state that allows weapons at all of it's public uni versities is Utah. Ron Holt, a professor at Weber State University in Utah, where stu dents are permitted to carry con cealed weapons, claims arming students would prevent future school shootings. "1 see carry ing a concealed firearm as a kind of life insurance policy," said Holt. In Colorado, students are allowed to carry weapons at every university except the main campus in Boulder. See GROUP on page 2,
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