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.
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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
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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,