Friday, November 14, 2008
Cadet for a week
A journalist chronicles his experience
documenting the extremities of what
By Connor Sattely
managing Mite'
Qiiso6o@ psu.edu
As I crawled under the electric
tape representing barbed wire,
clutching a rifle to my chest, try
ing to keep my chest flat against
the ground, I realized how crazy
of a week it had been. I had been
following the Reserve Officer
Training Corps, or ROTC, as part
of a "cadet-for-a-week" experi-
At that point, I was already
pretty exhausted. Physical train
ing on Monday, though I was told
it was an easy day, had worn me
out. Wednesday, we competed
against Gannon and Mercyhurst
in a type of army obstacle course.
That night, we practiced march
ing for the Veteran's Day Parade
on Saturday. Though it was by far
an easy week as far as their stan
dards go, I found myself exhaust
ed after only thinking about it.
It started with physical train
ing. which began on Monday at 6
a.m. and ended an hour later.
Some of the drills were familiar
to me from my experiences play
ing basketball and Tae Kwon Do:
others were brand new and did a
much better job of wearing me
down. My first surprise as we
exercised, though. was not about
the physical component it was
about the people who surrounded
These people were not super
humans. They were not robots.
Court date approaches for stu-
dent facing eight charges
continued from front page
Some students on campus are
sympathetic towards Citriniti
and hope his case won't affect
his future.
"I think everything that hap
pened was real unfortunate,"
said Kevin Dunn, a sophomore
Kinesiology " I ee l
v i er,
I feel like safety should Director of
major. "I feel bad
for him and hope be a top priority on every Student
that everything college campus, including Affa i r s .
clears up from this one. To know that "Whether it's
him in the future.
someone who has been
Hopefully this
won't affect him charged with a felony is
much." still here, on campus, is
Other students very intimidating. It's provide a safe
are unsettled by environment
allowing the opportunity for our the matter and
stu
worry that similar f or the same harm to dents."
events will take occur to someone else." Miller stated
that taking
action against students who are
either criminally charged or con
victed depends on the situation's
"substantial adverse effect."
According to Miller, a com
mittee reviews the case and
decides to take action according
ly. As of press time, Citriniti has
not been barred from campus.
"I feel like safety should be a
top priority on every college
campus, including this one,"
said a student who wished to
remain anonymous. "To know
that someone who has been
charged with a felony is still
here, on campus, is very intimi
dating. It's allowing the opportu-
The people in the ROTC class
were people I knew. They were
the girl who sat in the .back of
your economics class. They were
the two people who played fris
bee on the Reed lawn. They were
the guy who you sat next to at
Dobbins. These were normal
people. They joked around,
messed with each other, even an
hour before the sun came up.
After an hour of working out at
several stations, we split up into
two teams for a high-speed game
of flag football. A small group
went to breakfast at Dobbins
afterwards, marking about the
third time that I had eaten break
fast any earlier than noon this
year. When finished, I discovered
that, though I'm not a morning
person, the early-day workout
gave me an 'unbelievable amount
of energy throughout the rest of
the day. I Wrote' for three hours
straight, got some homework
done, and read the paper. People
complained to me about being
tired around noon and I just
laughed.
Wednesday morning, Behrend
faced off against Gannon and
Mercyhurst in a squad competi
tion. It was quickly explained to
me that I would take part in this
event. It consisted of sprinting
about a hundred yards with a
hem v medicine ball, flat and
army crawling. carrying heavy
water containers. army crawling
under "barbed wire - with rifles,
and carrying a "wounded" soldier
ROTC cadets crawling under tape representing barbed wire
nity for the same harm to occur
to someone else."
Student Affairs declined to
comment on the case, stating
they reserve the right to take dis
ciplinary action against students
on a case-by-case basis.
"We're always concerned with
our students' behavior," said
CAMPUS NEWS
on a litter. Before the event, a yelled "keep your head down,"
uniformed student turned to me but we made it through the course
and, I suppose, tried to warn me.
"This will probably burn you out
a little bit,'' he said, slightly grin
ning
Though I realized that I had, occurred to me that these stu
by far, one of the worst perform- dents, not generally regarded as a
antes on the course, it still felt sports team, were representing
like I was part of a team. Those Penn State as much as any other
who finished before others turned group of students. They cheered
back to shout words of encour- for Penn State as much as stu
agement. For me. they mainly dents did at basketball game.
4 44
ti
"thlylaritsliaM a tigicCattleks,ll
Homecoming to host many activities
continued from front page
Wednesday has many activities
including a Penn State Trivia
game which takes place at noon
in the lobby of the Reed Union
Building. Later on in the evening
there will be a tailgate before the
game, starting at 5 p.m. The
women's basketball game starts
at 6 p.m., followed by the men's
at 8 p.m., with an audience
"white out.-
Thursday is Heritage Day with
the highlight being the Trigon
Drag Show.
on campus or
off, it's our
responsibility
to ensure we
Housing problem not going away
continued from front page
Since before the task force was
formed, students had the impres
sion that they only had to worry
about code enforcement during
the usual weekly business hours.
However, now that officers are
working overtime during nights
and weekends, fewer students are
getting away with being disrup
tive. According to Franklin, this
measure has been effective in
curbing drinking and limiting
disturbances.
is an everyday life for some
Cadets being debriefed far a squad mission
as a team
Behrend won the event. mark
ing a long tradition of taking vic
tory in the squad competition. It
dodge,l4brotgp iNtres as fast as
soccer p 1444, all. 'while in Tull '
military uniforms
At the end of the event, they all
stood in rank while being
instructed for the rest of the
week. I could hardly stand, hut
tried my best to look unaffected.
At 6:30 a.m., in the freeting
November morning air, we were
dismissed and I collapsed on a
Junker Center couch where I
slept for two hours. Eventually. I
scraped myself off of the couch
long enough to make it hack to
my room and grab some break
fast.
That night. I took part in "col
orguard- practice. In high school.
colorguard meant a few girls who
walked ahead of the marching
band twirling flags. Here, it
meant two things: the colors
both military and American flags
"It was a really big hit last
year." said Wagner. "We want to
bring it back. -
There will be four drag queens
brought up from Pittsburgh for
what can be described as an inter
active fashion show. Many stu
dents are already hearing about
the many events going on this
week.
"Oh my gosh. I'm totally going
to the drag show," said freshman
and political science major,
Amber Heeter. Students are
already getting excited for the
activities.
Franklin believes that rather
than new legislation, "the issue to
address is student behavior." He
stated that rather than the majori
ty of the student population: it is
only a few that are being a nui
sance in their neighborhoods. He
cites a current case in which two
or three students are being fined
several hundred dollars for code
violation as an example of an
appropriate solution to the
increasing problems.
When asked about the potential
student overlay housing zones. in
in R. O. T C. for a week,
and the guard. or rifles, which
marched to either side of the
flags. 1 fell into step. learning
marching techniques on the go as
we drilled in Erie Hall for about
an hour. Though I had about died
from the squad competition. it
felt good to see some of the stu
dent soldiers that I had competed
with earlier. The marching cum-
ponent v fun as well -- it was
all practice for Saturday. I Ica,
told.
Veterat,tl? Parade
featured are Erie liattaliof which
included not only Behrend. hut
squads from Gannon and
Mercyhurst, all marching in a
long column. Dressed in ACT's.
or Arm \ Combat Uniforms. they
marched in columns for miles.
chanting army chants. The major
sergeant shouted out calls. and
the students responded in earnest.
Spectator's saluted as the students
walked past and N. eterans adorned
with combat medals applauded
the students as they walked by. I
followed the group as a photogra
pher. and got to watch first hand
the pride the Erie colulllun it had
in the students.
At the end of the route, the stu
dents went to the nearby Veterans
Affairs hospital, where the
spoke to the residents, \ eterans of
all of the American wars 0\ er the
past century. "Many of the \ eter-
To finish up the fun filled week
will he the faculty versus court
basketball game. featuring the
homecoming court and staff.
including Ken Miller. Director of
Student Affairs. After the game
will be what seems to he the
highlight of the week for first
semester political
science major.
Amber Weber.
"Lets go dance, - Nays Weber.
"Forget guys, lets get some shoes
and just dance the whole night...
The dance will take place at the
Junker Center from y p.m. until
12 a.m. Tickets will he available
which student rentals would. be
concentrated around the colleges
and universities in the city.
Franklin said that he didn't know
how that would help.
"I picture having the same
problem. - Franklin said. The
only difference would be who the
"complainers - are. Instead of
resolving the issue completely,
this method would shift the
impact to the residents li‘ Mg on
the perimeters of the student
housing tones.
Housing and water authority
The Behrend Beacon I 3
any tIII . OIIC to talk
t o . - the s tudents, \s ere told earlier
in the week. \ ju.t to
tel their storic. IHi 'unlit! he
)011, sOilleda . ,. ',mil its CSI'
do. - Almost all ol the \ttidents
stayed to speak to the \
somethi \\ hich the \ looked
fonvard to as a ei \ is opportunit.
For me. it \vas the end of the
eck. Beat up. sore. and e \hittist
eel from in\ week '..t• a cadet. I
was asked what I t 110110 It of the
experience. I 110\ 111 11'03, LT
fight a‘‘,l\. it burned Inc J little
hit. I told them. mid ino , ,t or
them laul2.llcil in respolNC.
In until. it \\a. a tun and \ alu-
able e perience. not only as a
journalist hut as a student. \I \
\ iew of the school and of the
world around me chan‘/ed \\ hen
surrounded h\ students \\ hose
commitments to their country
matched their commitments to
their school. The people who oti
sa\\ walking het \\ een classes \
terday \\ ere the people \\ ho faced
neark schools in pride ion their
own. The people in front of you
at the line represented sonic id .
Penn State's finest. hut also rep
resented the future of the nation -
those \\ ho \\ anted to ari..\\ er the
call of a county\ in need.
at the RUB desk in upcoming
week,. The cost is SI a couple
and 5.50 for an indi idual.
All of the actix ities are free to
students and xx ill take place start
ing next Mondax N.\ ith the scax
enger hunt. and ending next
Frida ith t h e I lomecoming
dance.
For more information on
homecoming. visit the Facehook
group - Bt.:hi - end Homecoming
2008.-
for the Erie ('it\ Council. James
"Fhompson. sas that the Lit\ is
still lookirni into 0\ ed.,' hotisin
tones an option
"Geographicall v,e're look
ing at that areas \\mild he affect
ed.- said Thompson. The cit y 's
Planning Commission is juggling
this new project along ‘‘ith the
propoed tire.-to-energ plant
"A lot i, certainl) v.oing.
Thomp,on Accordinji to the
Councilnhin. ilr, u J . ;in,hest
mune news On the subject by the
end of the month.