2 I The Behrend Beacon THON holds annual 24-hour dance marathon continued from front page "24 For A Cure is a really good cause, - said Alyssa Beck, a soph omore business major. "I love helping people out, plus I'm hav ing fun.- Even though there were activi ties in place to entertain partici pants, staying up for such a long period of time is no easy task. Despite the hardship, none lost sight of their objective. "The kids we're supporting at 24 For A Cure are in pain every day," said Julie Colvin, a sopho more communications major. "So the least we can do is be in pain for 24 hours.- "Giving one day of our time is nothing compared to the struggle these kids go through their whole lives," said Amy Wagner, a soph omore majoring in science. This year's THON had over 20 dancers participating, with 20-30 "moralers" and "security" sup porting them. Moralers and secu rity help motivate the dancers through the 24 hours, and to aid in case of medical emergencies. To keep participants nourished throughout the fundraiser, food and other accommodations were donated to the event by Ricardo's and Housing and Food Services. "Housing and Food services are always a big help, - said Jim Wolfe, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. "They give us tables and always donate food." THON alumni Ken Middlemiss and THON member Dan Frankel donated food as well. Frankel's organization, ELF Entertainment, also donated MATTHEW SCHWABENBAUER / The Behrend Beacon eras one of many activities participants enjoyed at the fundraiser WHAT'S INSIDE You have to ask yourself: -.- .:~.. Intramurals offer a variety of activities for students At Behrend, intramural sports are an integral part of student life. With various activi ties from flag football to basketball and even bowling and dodgeball, there is some thing for every student. Surprise star takes on lead role in The Dispute Kylie Swanson became the lead in The Dispute when the original lead took ill during Halloween week, thus taking on the task of memorizing an entire script in less than three weeks. MATTHEW SCHWABENBAUER / The Behrend Beacon Participants of the event staved awake for 24 hours to raise money for children with pediatric cancer intlatables for the participants to "No sponsors donate money," Wolfe said. "The only donations we receive is through food. All the money raised at the event is from the students." Another way organizers of the event help the dancers through the 24 hours is by keeping them in the dark as to what times the different events would be start- "In my experience as a dancer, not knowing what times certain events start helps the 24 hours go faster," said Molly Thomas, Behrend's THON chair and an are you a metro man? A few days ago my friend noticed my new clothes I'd just purchased from Hollister. She compliment ed me on my new, stylish wardrobe and gelled hair, and followed it all up by calling me metrosexual. This statement interested me. I had never really considered myself as metro. Yes, I take pride in my appearance, wear nice clothes and bathe daily, but does that really place me in a completely different category of people? What if it does? Is that really a bad thing? Do my hygiene patterns and clothing choices make me a Metro-man? For that matter, what is the definition of a metrosexual? CAMPUS NEWS organizer of 24 For A Cure. "It's their own choice whether or not they know the times, but it helps to not know." At the end of the 24 hours, the dancers fell to the floor to take a moment to relax, followed by stretching to prevent cramped muscles. Many of the dancers were exhausted. "You need to have passion to do this," said Merve Senguler, a sophomore majoring in business administration. "Nothing but this could keep me up for 24 hours." "Basically, I'm really tired right now, exhausted; that's the only way to put it," said Mike story on page 4 story on page 8 story on page 6. Lytle, a sophomore business management major. "We raised over $l,OOO for kids at this event, and that's what it's all about. It's for the kids man, it's all for the kids." 24 For A Cure is just one of the ways THON raises money. On weekends, THON members go "canning," which is standing at street corners and high-traffic areas to ask people for donations. Last year, THON was able to raise $lB,OOO over their entire fundraising season, $BOO of that coming from 24 For A Cure. This year, they have not only improved their income from 24 For A Cure, but are gaining dona tions through canning faster than last year. "Last year we raised $3,000 over the first canning weekend," Wolfe said. "This year, we've already raised $7,000 over the same amount of time." THON has more events planned for the future, one of which is a "car smash," where participants will beat a car with a sledgehammer to raise money. Another event that is planned is to visit eight-year-old Rylee Dorer, THON's sponsor child. Rylee is one of the Four Diamonds Children, part of the Four Diamonds Fund. The Four Diamonds Fund is an organiza tion that reaches out to children being treated with pediatric can cer at Penn State Milton S. Hershey's Medical Center. The fund helps to pay treatment costs that medical insurance may not cover, and it also aids the chil dren's families with financial support. THE BEHREND BEACON Executive Board Rachel Reeves, Editor-in-Chief - rcrsos7@psu.edu Connor Sattely, Managing Editor - cisso6o@psu.edu Michelle Quail, Advertising Manager - mlqsool 0 psu.edu Kim Young, Faculty Adviser - kjyl 0 @ psu.edu Ryan P. Gallagher, News Editor rpgsoo4@psu.edu Matthew Schwabenbauer, News Editor mjss3B7 CO psu.edu Jennifer Juncosa, Perspectives Editor jdjso6l@psu.edu Nick Blake, Sports Editor npbso4l@psu.edu Christine Newby, Sports Editor censos6@psu.edu Evan Koser, Ads Editor emksllo@psu.edu Neil J. Peters, Asst Arts Editor njpsoB3@psu.edu Weather expert speaks at Behrend STRESSES THAT GLOBAL WARMING IS AN ISSUE THAT IS STILL FIXABLE Global warming expert Frederic Stoss came to the REDC to deliver his message of truth on Wednesday. Using a slideshow based off of Al Gore's book and film An Inconvenient Truth, Stoss's presentation illus trated the real danger humanity has placed itself in with addi tions of new data specific to the Great Lakes region. Trained by former Vice President Al Gore, Stoss is an Associate Librarian at the University of Buffalo. He has degrees in zoology, ecology, biology and biochemistry with over 36 years of experience in environmental work. He cur rently tours at nearly any venue, including high schools, colleges, and clubs. Spanning nearly two hours, Stoss's presentation followed the same format as a play. Containing five "acts," each segment focused on a different stage of the effects of global warming. In "Act I Scene I: The Science," Stoss introduced the audience to the concept of the greenhouse effect and how car bon emissions have an effect on the world's atmosphere. "The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the hotter it gets," Stoss said. His primary focus was on how a single degree change in tem perature can cause a catastrophic 12-degree change in the Arctic. This was followed by examples of glaciers that have been com pletely destroyed by the alter ation. The section also covered how awareness for global warm ing has increased drastically over the past ten years. Stoss implied that this increase was a direct result of Gore's book and In "Act I Scene II: Tragedy in the Commons," Stoss explained how the climate change has affected the Lake Erie region, stating that the change in climate has affected the weather patterns and contributed to the ever-low ering waterline. This decrease in water in Lake Erie has affected the shipping industry between Canada and Pennsylvania. Stoss then widened his view to the rest of the world. Using the term "environmentally stimulat ed, but socially organized catas- Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Reed Union Building 4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563 Room 10H Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814) 898-6019 Editorial Board Friday, November 7, 2008 By Neil J. Peters assistant arts editor njpsoB3@psu.edu trophe," he explained how the natural disasters of recent years are a direct result of the climate change. Then, he illustrated this point with examples of Hurricane Katrina, heat waves in Africa and Europe in 2003 and the forest fires of California - all of which have claimed countless lives and caused chaos in their perspective regions. "Act 11 Scene I: How Did We Get Here?" explained how as the climate changes, the potential for war also increases. He justi fied this concept with an exam ple of the conflict in Darfur. Stating that part of the conflict stemmed from people moving into alien territories in order to escape environmental dangers such as drought and famine, conflicts will escalate as people begin to fight over habitable land and resources. In "Act II Scene II: Who's on first?" Stoss condemned scien tists who claimed that global warming is a "theory." Using the example of tobacco compa nies in the fifties, they say that even though the climate is grow ing warmer, it is now correlated with carbon emissions. Stoss responded by saying that through sampling ice in glaciers, he can prove that global warm ing is a reality. "Act HI: Can We Fix this?" explained though global warm ing is a deadly threat, it is fix able. "If we cut off the use of carbon emitting products, the earth can still recover," he said. The earth has healed itself from worse things in the past; it can regenerate itself if humanity makes a change immediately, according to Stoss. In "Act IV: Yes, There Is Hope!" he gave an example of how the average student can fight to help save the world by listing websites for local initia tives to get involved with. Such groups were AASHE, Sea Grant, and the Greener Behrend Task Force. Stoss closed the presentation with "Act 5: You Are the Authors." He stated that the stu dents of the present are the heroes of tomorrow. Students have to power to make the changes and those they should all strive to make a positive impact on the world. Marcus Yeagley, Head Copy Editor mjysol2@psu.edu Mike Wehrer, Copy Editor mrwso94@psu.edu Jeremy Korwek, Website Editor jdksoo9@psu.edu Keegan McGregor, Photography Editor klms323@psu.edu Daniel Smith, Senior Photographer djss223@psu.edu Bethany Long, Assistant Ad Manager bjlso37@psu.edu
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