JoePa wins game 373 Tying Bobby Bowden for most career wins, Saturday: Few showers. High JoePa and company cruise over Coastal 72 ° F ’ chance of P reci P itation 30% ' I 1 rs- r> j H Sunday: Partly cloudy. High 73°F, ■ Carolina by 36 points. Read more on page /. chance of precipitation 20% Friday, September 5, 2008 Gustav inspires student interest in alternative Spring Break Bv Connor Sattelv managing editor i. psii.edu This spring, over 30 Penn State Behrend students will travel to Gulfport. MS to aeeoniplish one nohle task: change lives. In light of Hurricane Gustav and the storms soon to follow, the alternative Spring Break will continue its tradition of helping hurricane victims. Last year, stu dents who attended the weeklong trip also went to Gulfport, where relief from Katrina destruction is still sorely needed. Craig Berger, a coordinator for Residence Life, annually puts the trip together, then travels to Gulfport with the students. “We go down there to get away from Erie hut still give hack to our nation al community." says Berger. "We're inspired by the stories we hear and the dedication that people show to rebuilding their lives." Prior to the trip. Maintenance and Operations run a program for the students called “Tool Time." In the program, employees will instruct those who will travel southward in the use of basic con struction materials. Skills include dry walling, basic construction tasks, and drilling, among others. Berger says that the organization they work with. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, sends skill check sheets to make sure that each student is prepared. The trip is a university-wide project, with Penn State Behrend receiving about thirty-five to forty spots; other campuses receive less than ten or twenty. There are 32 spots for students who are interested in attending. Last year, due to the popularity of the trip, some students were turned away. This year, there is no set maximum, but Berger suggests that stu dents make their intentions known as soon as possible. There is no meeting set at this point, but Residence Life will release information as soon as they are able. For those students and faculty who went on the trip last year, they found it to be a life-changing experience. Kelly Kozlorowski was a junior at Penn State Behrend in 2007 when she was one See GUSTAV on page 2 Newsroom: 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: rcrsos7@psu.edu Our offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building. A Penn State Behrend Student Publication Behrend steps up A weekend fire leaves one student's family in critical condition; on-campus groups actively respond in multiple ways By Connor Sattelv managing editor cisso6()(f? psu.edu On the night of Saturday. August 30th. Kyle Milani knew his life would never he the same again. The Behrend freshman's home, located in Greene Township, erupted in flames following what investi- gators strongly suspect was a propane fire. His parents, who were inside the house at the time, were burned severely and ran out of the house. The family's 15-year-old daughter called the fire Students wait for traffic to hault as they attempt to cross the newly paved Jordan Road. Until this fall, the road was in serious need of renovation and students found it rough to walk this road daily. Club Rush gets students involved By Matthew Schwabenbauer college life editor mj553876" psu.edu Club Rush was this Thursday - giving Behrend’s student body a chance to learn all about the diverse organizations on campus. “It’s great to see all these freshmen coming out and learning about how to get involved on campus,” said Chris Alphen, Vice President of College Democrats. "People need to be more involved in the community and it's good that the freshman class is Visit us on the web at www. the behrend beacon.com! department: seven fire companies arrived to help fight the llames. but to no avail. An explosion rocked the house and it quickly caught fire. Kyle's mother. Cari. is a part-time professor in the Penn State Behrend nursing school. Jo Anne Carrick. the coordinator of the program, spoke to the Behrend Beacon at time of publication to give an update. "Both parents are still in critical condition, but are showing slight signs of improvement." Carrick says. Both Cari and Michael, the father, were See FUNDRAISER on page 2. showing an interest." Organizations ranged from political to educational and even recreational. Groups such as the College Democrats and College Republicans were present, as well as the Multi Cultural Council. Matchbox players and more. Student turnout for the event was good, with McGarvey Commons packed with students eager to get involved in student organizations. For an expose of all the clubs at the event, cheek out page 6. What’s inside? -Read about what Club Rush is doing on page 6 -Hear about Chris Brown’s political thoughts on page 4 -Find out what the Matchbox Players are all about on page 5 Vol. LIV No. 11l Residence halls still without RAs UNIVERSITY WILL NOT RELEASE PUBLIC STATEMENT By Rachel Reeves editor-in-chief rcrsos7(fl psu.edu Nearly two weeks after Residenee Life fired a significant portion of their Resident Assistant staff, the University still has not released a public statement or notified any of the residents affected by the change. Bill Gonda. Director of Marketing Communication at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, explains that the school could not release a statement because of con fidentiality issues. "We really don't have any thing we can say at all." he says. "We can't comment on the nature of the incident, or on those involved." Because the situation was an employment matter, there is personnel policy that forbids the university from releasing tiny information that could identify students involved. Kelly Shrout. Associate Director of Student Affairs, says that there is no public statement on the horizon, even after the issue is resolved. Faculty, students and parents will receive no information from the administra- tion at any point. "This has not disaffected students. Some students are unhappy, but life is still going on." she says, explaining that RAs are still holding programs and conducting rounds in every hall. However, there are gaps in the Resident Assistant program that cannot be overlooked by many residents. Some floors in campus residence buildings have gone one week with out an RA. The residents of these floors have not been notified about the change, or told what alternative course of action to take in case of an emergency. Rebecca Edwards and Annie Helbling of Porcupine Hall say that their entire residence building had no RA for over a week. Edwards says that she noticed the empty RA rooms a couple of days after she moved in. but was not notified by anyone from Residence Life or the administration of the change. 'Tm kind of indifferent to it." says Helbling. not noticing much of a disruption in the building. Edwards was more concerned See RA on page 2 News 1-3 Perspectives 4 Arts 5 College Life 6 Sports 7-8