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
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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
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mrwso94@psu.edu
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klms323@psu.edu
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djss223@psu.edu
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bjlso37@psu.edu