4 I The Behrend Beacon Bruno's Speaker Answers "99 Questions" By Heather McGovern conitibuting writer Ilan - 15084(a psu edu "99 Questions You've Always Wanted To Ask An African American But Were Afraid For Fear That They'd Break Their Foot Off In Your A**!" is an interesting title for a Student Activity Fee (SAF) funded event held on Behrend campus: however, the title appropriately describes the event. Mark Cryer, an associate profes sor, playwright, and actor, presented his frustration towards the issue of African-American racism and other related issues through an insightful and creative performance last night. "99 Questions" sought to answer the ever-present question of race and how to interact with African- Americans. What are an African-American's life pursuits? Does any particu lar reference label such as Alpha holds By Rachel Reeves editorin-chiel rur.5057(0 psu.edu Technical difficulties could not damper a rowdy (late auction this week. For nearly an hour, cat calls and lauditer could he heard coining from McGarvey Commons during Alpha Sigma Alphas annual date auction fu ndrai ser. Each year. Alpha Sigma Alpha. a sorority at Penn State Bch rend. organizes a date auction to raise money for the S. June Smith Center. The hospital in Lancaster, Pa. works with chil dren three to 15 years of age with developmental issues. This year Alpha Sigma Alpha was able to raise 5208.26 tor the Center this The event, scheduled for 8 p.m. on Thursday night, started a few minutes late. Some chal lenges with the sound system were eventually solved with an old school boom box tucked into a corner of the stage. Extending from the stage was a catwalk. decorated with multicolored twin kle lights. Roughly 80 chairs were wrapped around the catwalk, and seating was scarce. The auction was hosted by Alex Ley, a sophomore majoring Brad Koralchik at the bidding of the sorority crowd. black, African-American, or Negro cause offense? All these questions and more were tactfully and creative ly answered throughout his theatrical presentation. Cryer addressed many of the common misconcep tions towards the African- American race such as the constant questioning of African-Americans' moral standards based on the mis takes of a minor portion. In a defining moment of truth, Cryer exclaimed, "Please don't ask me to speak for the entire race. I don't even know them all." The performance had five separate portions, each por traying a different racial issue. Cryer became a cab driver, young professional, hair dresser, average white and Langston Hughes inspired hobo. The cab driver portion reflected on the issues revolving around the "N word," as well as, the general attitude of the under-educated individual. The young professional Sigma Alpha date auction Jett Barber charms the crowd at the ASA date auction Alpha sister kept the energy high and the laughter rolling through out the entire show with her Commentary Seven brave students partici pated in the date auction. Each participant came in a "package" withanother prize. like a spa package or a gill certificate. They d tht - ' •ff CAMPUS NEWS Cryer dressed up as various characters during his performance character expressed a desire to escape the constant test of abilities, similar to a continual performance for his/her colleagues. The hair dresser character answered all of the questions dealing with hair: dreadlocks, beads, and all. The average white guy character had presented an opposing opinion on the entire racial issue by expressing the many issues "White America," which Cryer referred to asCaucasians, while Ley called out their name, major, and an interesting fact or two. Sean Tosadori was "single and ready to mingle," while Brad Kovalcik's "curly locks" were a huge selling point. Other partici pants included Jeff Barber, Bryan Monroe. Hannah White, Erick Hunziker, and Brittany Sexton. The date auction has been in the works since summer vaca tion. Shantera Hogan, a junior majoring in communications pulled the event together along with Courtney Mineweaser, a senior communications major. Both thought the night was suc cessful. It was clear that most people in attendance enjoyed the show, and there was never a dull moment. The sound system proved a challenge initially, but Hogan was glad that they "man aged to pull through with the radio.- Behrend's Greek society was widely represented at the event, with members of Alpha Sigma Tau, Theta Phi Alpha, and Kappa Delta Rho bidding. "It was a lot of fun," Tosaciori said. "The crowd was fun, and it was for a good cause." ERIK HOLMAN/Theßehrcndßcacon Americans not meeting halfway on the racial issue. The final character, a Langston Hughes inspired hobo, discussed his opin ions on electiosn and get ting a free say as well as a few other random ques tions. Cryer closed with a question and answer por tion. The traveling, one-man performance fully engaged the forty plus individuals who came to watch in Bruno's Café. During a brief segment of the per formance, Cryer called upon a volunteer from the audience to perform along side him by reading a pre pared stack of cue cards. The short skit added humor to the scene as a few of the prepared cue cards were intentionally startling. One card led the volunteer to read that his adoration of Cryer was so deep that he wanted his children to marry him. Cynara Stubbs, Coordinator of Service and Student Activities on Behrend Campus, attended Greek sororities host recruitment events By Emily Reichert contributing writer ecrso6B(a psu.edu In three weeks of activities that will continue through to next week, the sororities of Penn State 13ehrend will recruit more students. Theta Phi Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Alpha Sigma Alpha are the three sororities available to students attending Behrend. Hannah White, the publicity official for Alpha Sigma Tau, said that the first week (Jan. 12- "It's not about our numbers, it's about doing other things than class- es ...we go into the city and get involved," -Molly Bonavita 16) was used for girls to get to learn about each of the sororities to find out which one is right for them. "It's a lot like dating," White Molly Bonavita, who is in charge of publicity for all of the sororities, says that it is impor tant to find the right group African- the Mark Cryer perform- ance in Bruno's. "I would have liked to see more of the Behrend com munity here, but I do think it was good," Stubbs said. "I enjoyed it." In response to a question of her favorite part of the performance, Stubbs replied, "the minstrel show," which portrayed the because all of the girls are differ- The week of Jan. 19-23 con sisted of different themed parties. Last Tuesday, Alpha Sigma Tau hosted a game night where girls could play board games such as Cranium. On Monday, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., AST will host a craft party where they will make decorations that will be donated to local hos pitals. Bonavita says she predicts it will be successful because "what girl doesn't like to play with glitter?" According to Alpha Sigma Alpha's website, recruitment par ties are held at the beginning of each semester. Party dates for ASA are Monday and Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:30 pm in Reed 114. Theta Phi Alpha's upcoming recruitment parties are on Tuesday and Thursday from 8 to 9 p.m. in Reed 113. Recruiting members is a spe cial challenge at Behrend, White says, because "it's not really a Greek community." White and Bonavita explained that this is because good portions of stu dents transfer to main campus, and the school isn't really known for Greek life. They say that the people who do join were caught by surprise because they origi nally didn't have Greek life in mind when they came. Friday, January 23, 2009 issue of "some professional black men who have to dance and parade in front of their colleagues [in order to] show that they are good enough. He hinted on that without necessarily diving into it. It was artistically done. I can't say anything bad about [the show] at all." White says this is not a prob- "It's not about our numbers," she says. "It's about thing other things than classes ... we go into the city and get involved," Bonavita says. she says that the activities during the three-week period usu ally are planned every other night to fit into the sisters' schedules and to organize the rooms with other sororities. Competition between sorori ties doesn't really exist at Behrend, acconiing to Bonavita. "We're all Greek together, we share each others clothes and we really become like "We're all Greek together," she Once inside the sorority, "we share each others clothes and we really become like sisters," White says. As for the fraternities on cam pus, "they're like secret agents," White says. "I don't know how they get their new members." sisters." -Hannah White
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