Friday, May 2, 2008
Third Eye Blind lead singer Stephan Jenkins sang to a packed house in the Junker Center.
By Lenny Smith
news editor
Irsso46@psu.edu
April 11. 2008
Penn State Behrend's Junker Center transformed
from the home of intramural sports and basketball
teams to the home of a high-energy rock concert on
Friday, April 4.
Third Eye Blind, a popular group from the 1990 s
played to a packed house full of fans of all ages
most noticeablv drunk.
Despite the condition of many of the concertgo
ers. students had a mixed reaction to the show. They
disliked a lot of things, such as the band's appear
ance, the sound system, and how long the show
was. Many agreed, however, that it was definitely
worth the $l5 admission fee.
Absent Star took the stage as the opening act
around 7:30 p.m. and played for about 45 minutes.
As the lights dimmed at 9:30 p.m.. the crowd
erupted into cheers and Third Eve Blind took the
stage to begin their nearly two hour set.
“I was really excited for the concert to start."
sophomore accounting major Adam Kaiser said.
"They are one of my favorite bands."
The band began the concert w ith a lot of songs
that were somewhat unfamiliar to the Third Eye
Blind fans.
“People were bored and wanted to leave by the
time they played any of the good songs." sopho
more speech pathology major Kayla McLauhglin
said.
The audience did hear Third Eye Blind hits such
as '‘Jumper." "How's It Going To Be" and "Semi-
Charmed Kind of Life." The audience sang along
with all of the favorite songs from the band.
As the concert progressed, security could be seen
Behrend's first administrator dies
T. Reed Ferguson gives a speech during a 1999 Alumni Reunion at Behrend
By Lenny Smith
news editor
lrsso46@psu.edu
Jan. 25, 2008
T. Reed Ferguson, the first director of Penn State
Behrend, died on Jan. 16 at Foxdale Village in State
College, Pa. He was 92.
Ferguson was involved with Penn State since his
graduation from the university in 1936. He contin
ued his graduate work at Penn State as well as
Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.
Ferguson joined the Penn State staff as an instruc
tor of the fine arts from 1942-1945 at the Pottsville
campus, which is now known as Penn State
Schuylkill. After serving as a field director with the
American Red Cross in Pearl Harbor, Ferguson was
named an assistant administrator at Schuylkill.
After the death of her husband Ernest R. Behrend
in 1940, Mary Behrend donated the couple’s 400-
acre Glenhill Farm to Penn State, which created the
Behrend Center in June of 1948. In July of that
same year, Ferguson was named the first adminis
trative head of the center.
Ferguson was the leader of Behrend until 1954
when he moved to University Park to become the
physically removing people after throwing objects
across the gym or crowd surfing over lop of peo
ple's heads before falling on a random group.
Midway through their set. lead singer Stephan
Jenkins was left on stage as he sang a slower song.
As he exited the stage, lights shined and music start
ed to play from the back of the gym. During
Jenkins’ song, the hand had moved itself to the rear
of the room to play several numbers for the fans that
weren't shoulder-to-shoulder in the front.
The hand has plans to return to the recording stu
dio to release a new album towards the end of the
year. The band played several songs that they plan
to include on their new album as a sneak peek into
the band's new style.
"The new stuff they're coming out w ith definite
ly has a different sound to it." sophomore manage
ment major Chris Behn said. "It might be something
I could get into."
However, many agreed that the acoustics of the
gym made it hard for the audience to clearly under
stand everything the band was saying.
"You really couldn't hear the singing that well."
sophomore communication arts and sciences major
Aaron Marks said. "It was mostly all music."
Fans chanted for one of their favorites. "Slow
Motion." However, the politically active band
responded to the crowd's request for the controver
sial song by saying. "NVe can't play that [song).
George Bush won't let us." The band eventually
played the song as the final encore.
At the end of the set. Jenkins began singing lyrics
in a jam session type of atmosphere. The crowd
quickly realized they were lyrics to Nelly 's "Must
Be The Money." The crowd immediately joined in
and responded to Jenkins' "Oh. w hy must I feel this
way." with "Hey. must be the money!"
director of the university’s Adult Conference
Center. He later became director of the university’s
alumni relations before he was appointed as vice
president of public affairs.
In 1988, Behrend honored its first director with
the Behrend Medallion. The Behrend Medallion is
awarded to an individual who. by serving society
and attaining eminence in the public arena, brings
honor to himself, the college community and
mankind.
In his honor, Behrend created the T. Reed
Ferguson Award, which is awarded to a junior at the
college who has demonstrated scholarship, leader
ship, and citizenship that has impacted fellow stu
dents through academics and out-of-class involve
ment. The junior must also give his or her word of
future achievement in the senior year.
Ferguson was also honored at University Park in
2003. In recognition of his years of achievement in
their senior year.
Ferguson was also honored at University Park in
2003. In recognition of his years of dedicated serv
ice, a building in the West Campus Housing
Complex was named T. Reed Ferguson Hall. The
College of Education also named Ferguson as one
of their outstanding alumnus.
TEW*
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Former Behrend student charged
child porn case
and sentenced
By Lenny Smith
news editor
lrs.So4fiCfpsu.edu
Feb. 1, 2008
Former Penn Slate Behrend
student Jonathan Demereez. 24,
was senteneed to six months to
a year in the Frie County Prison
today after being eomicted of
ehild pornography possession.
After his release from prison.
Demereez will be plaeed on
Clinton spoke in front of a crowd of about 2.500 on April 1
By Rachel Reeves
opinion editor
rcrSsoS7(o psu.cdu
April 14. 2008
Over 3.000 people huddled in a
line that stretched one football
field deep into the Mercyhurst
campus on Tuesday afternoon,
hands cramined deep in coat
pockets and heads bent into the
wind. Whether they were sup
porters. scoping out the competi
tion. or merely curious, all of
these people endured an hours
long wait, and security that
would rival that of an internation
al airport, to catch a glimpse of
presidential candidate. Senator
Hillary Clinton.
Behrend freshman. Jake
Pusateri. was equally determined
in his opposition of Senator
Clinton. The political science
major had been standing in line
for an hour already. "I've been
here since 3:30 - have to see
McCain's competition."
Housing shortage forces students to live at Days Inn
Continued from Page I.
"My first class isn’t until one
o’clock on Monday. Wednesday,
and Friday, but I still need to
wake up at six thirty to come to
the campus and do nothing.”
Cooperberg found out about
the Days Inn’s offer by contact
ing an advisor who works with
international students. The advi
sor suggested the hotel as an
alternative option to on-campus
housing. Cooperberg, who was
out of options at that point, had to
seriously consider it. The owners
of Scott Enterprises felt that since
they owned several hotels in the
area, they could accommodate
the school by providing this
option for the students. They
evaluated the cost of rooming on
campus and, considering the ben
efits of a hotel room, such as
housekeeping, amenities and
food, tried their best to create a
price which was comparable to
on-campus housing.
The resulting effect, claims
Cooperberg, is a charge of around
$l,OOO per month for a single
room, and a cost of $7OO for each
roommate for a double room. For
a double room in Lawrence.
Niagara, and Perry, the total cost
for a full semester only comes to
$1,910, equaling about $477 per
month.
So, what is Behrend doing
about the lack of space on cam
pus? Everyone has heard about
five years probation and required to register as a
sex offender.
Dcmerecz was found guilty of possessing 21
files depicting children being raped or sexually
abused on his personal computer in Oct. 2007 at a
non-jury trial
While at Behrend, Demercz was a physics major
that was very active in extra-curricular activities.
He also served as the vice-president of the gamers
club. Demerecz was scheduled to graduate in the
spring of 2007. but has not been a registered stu
dent at the college since Dec. 2006.
Alter the doors opened at 5:30
p.m.. everyone in line had to fde
through a severity station. Keys,
cameras and cell phones were
allowed: personal signs and
expandable umbrellas were
among items that had to be dis
posed 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.
W'hile hundreds of people were
slowly filing into the Mercyhurst
Athletic Center, last-minute
preparations were being made.
Secret Service made a sweep of
the main room with police dogs.
The traveling national press pre
pared laptops and cameras for the
event. As seating filled up and the
only space available was stand
ing 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.
the record-size freshman class
this year, which topped 1,000 stu
dents. Applications were up 15
percent for the fall semester and
the number of students commit
ted is up 21 percent over this time
last year. If this increasing trend
continues, there could be as many
as 1,600 freshmen in just a few
years.
Randall Geering, the Director
of Housing at Behrend. says that
the recent trend of high demand
must continue before a new resi
dence hall can be built.
“The demand for housing ebbs
and Hows." says Geering, who
has been working as the Director
of Housing since 2001. "Some
years we would have no wait list,
or less than one hundred. Other
years, like this year, we obvious
ly get more demand."
Plans are in place for another
building on campus. Tripp
Residence Hall, which was a
project planned to be constructed
with Almy and Ohio, was never
built, because its funding was
taken to renovate Perry and con
struct Senat instead. The plans,
though, are still approved - but it
would be a process of three to
five years for the entire building
to be funded, designed, contract
ed. built, and inspected.
In the meantime. University
Gates Apartments are supposedly
expanding, creating space for
around 144 new' students in
The Behrend Beacon I
t Mercyhurst
“The price of everything is
going up, and the means are not,”
she said as she began her talk
about economics in
Pennsylvania. Her outlined plan
included cutting tax benefits to
companies that outsource jobs,
making pro-American trade
agreements, and cutting special
interest corporate giveaways. A
major part of her speech centered
on the potential for renewable
energy, both to “end the addiction
on foreign oil,” and to provide
five million American jobs.
Clinton also talked about the
importance of universal health
care, creating more preschool and
early childhood programs to bet
ter prepare children for school,
and getting rid of the No Child
Left Behind program for good.
As for the war in Iraq. Senator
Clinton proposed pulling troops
out after 60 days. Just as impor
tant as bringing them home safe
ly and responsibly, she said, is to
“provide care for our troops once
they are home.”
To close her 45-minute speech,
Clinton discussed rising college
costs. When she asked the audi-
ence how many people were cur
rently paying off college debt,
almost every hand sprang into the
air. Clinton said that she believed
the government should support
America in its pursuit of higher
education. A modern-day GI Bill
was on her list of proposals,
along with direct aid grants with
minimal interest rates and cutting
debt for professionals in the
teaching and law enforcement
fields.
With "God bless Erie, and God
bless America," Clinton ended
her speech and stimulated a part
ing, roaring cheer. Most seemed
to think that the evening, long
wait included, was a valuable
experience
October of 2008
Will it be enough, though?
Tony Bruno, who took the
large part of the task in orches
trating the arrangement, says that
the hotel would need to re-evalu
ate whether it can continue with
this plan. The hotel is currently in
charge of transportation, which
proves to be a major expense
with gasoline, maintenance, and
driving wages. Bruno would like
to see more of a partnership in the
future between Scott Enterprises
and the school when it comes to
transportation expenses to bring
the kids to the school.
As were Cooperberg and
Hudson, who now have only one
trip to the campus and back. But,
as they sit in their wireless-capa
ble rooms watching free HBO on
a provided 27 inch television,
ordering a pizza from room serv
ice, things don’t seem that bad.
“I still love Penn State, regard
less of the situation,” Hudson
was eager to point out. “They’re
still number one.” Hudson plans
to get an apartment within the
next week or two.
Cooperberg has no such plans,
as when he applied to Universal
Gates Apartments he discovered
they were completely full. For
him, it seems to be his only
option to stay in the hotel, and
hope that somewhere a spot will
open for him in the spring.