4 I The Behrend Beacon
Sports legend
Madden retires at 73
Longtime sports broad
caster and former coach
John Madden has
announced his retirement.
Midway through his cur
rent six-year contract with
NBC's "Sunday Night
Football" program,
Madden announced that he
was retiring to spend time
with his family, including
five grandchildren.
"I'm a grinder," he said
on his Bay Area radio
show. "You just grind and
get through it and when
it's all over, you think
about it. You don't rush
into any decisions."
FRIDAY,
APRIL 17
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Comm professor to retire after almost 40 years at Behrend
By Marcus Yeagley
head copy editor
mjysol2(a psu.edu
Cathy Sargent Mester was
teaching people how to speak
eloquently long before her cur
rent students spoke their first
words.
For 38 years she has taught
public speaking classes at
Behrend. But the day she
changes her calendar to May,
she will teach her last class.
She's retiring.
Mester joined Penn State
Behrend in 1971. Since then,
she has been the chair of her
department twice (she is the
current chair), taught hun
dreds of public speech classes,
and been a cornerstone of the
School of Humanities and
Social Sciences.
Ever since high school,
Mester says she wanted to
teach people how to speak in
public. She attended
Westminster College after
graduation and then went to
grad school at Penn State's
University Park.
"In high school I got an affin
ity for the spoken word,"
Mester says. "I planned to be a
high school teacher, but a more
exciting opportunity was at the
college level."
After a year temping in
Minnesota, Mester was offered
a place at the fledgling Penn
State Behrend campus as a
speech teacher.
Getting started at
a young college
She started at Behrend the
year it started offering four
year degrees.
And there were two reasons
why she came to Erie. First, the
nature of the campus attracted
World and National News In Brief
Madden began his career
as a linebacker coach for
Oakland in 1967 and
became the head coach in
1969. He led the Raiders to
a Super Bowl victory and
retired in 1979. He began
broadcasting for CBS later
that year.
Madden was famous for
many things, including his
well-publicized fear of fly
ing, his high-volume exu
berance for the sport that
he has been a part of since
high school, and his best
selling football video game
franchise.
NBC's Cris Collinsworth
will take over for the 73-
year-old, moving from the
network's studio show.
AP
Second anniversary
of Virginia Tech
Shootings
Thursday marks the sec
ond anniversary of the
Virginia Tech shootings
that killed 33 people,
including the shooter,
SATURDAY,
APRIL 18
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Open Swim
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2 p.m. to 4 p.m
AUL B LART MALL COP
"She gave me the inspiration that if I
want to change something I just have to
try."
"I was struck by how beauti
ful [the campus] was," Mester
says.
The second reason was
because the communications
department was just beginning
to bloom.
"The chance to make a new
program was exciting," says
Mester, who personally saw
the creation of the major she
would twice chair in the future.
Mester was told that her
office was in the North
Cottage, a small structure that
used to be near the Turnbull
building.
Mester was directed to
"North Cottage - Entrance."
She says she did not know
what that meant until she
entered the building.
A lone desk was next to the
door.
Mester spent her first two
years at Behrend out in the
lobby of North Cottage. Many
visitors thought she was the
secretary.
After two years, a colleague
moved out of an office there. It
was then given to her. The new
office was an improvement but
it was also so small that she
had to scuttle sideways like a
crab to get behind her desk.
As Behrend grew, so did the
communications department.
Twenty years ago the faculty
moved to where the Health and
Wellness center is now. Ten
CAMPUS NEWS
By Mike Oake , , VVehrer, mrwso94((vpstvedu
Seung Hui-Cho.
The event was the worst
shooting in modern US his-
tory. Remembrance events
included a 3.2 mile race
and a balloon release.
Some of the victim's fam
ilies have declined to
accept settlements from
the university and have
filed lawsuits just before
the statute of limitations
expired, claiming that the
university did not do every
thing it could to stop the
attacks.
AP
Yankees open extrav
agant new stadium
for home opener
drubbing
The New York Yankees
UPCOMING EVENTS
SUNDAY,
APRIL 19
Open Swim
Dunker Center
Swimming Pool Swimming Pool
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. 12 p.m. to 2 p.m
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. 8 p.m. to 10 p.m
Protestant Campus Intramural Events
Ministry Worship Junker Center Gym 1 5 p.m. to 7 p.m
Smith Chapel & 2
4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
years later, they moved into
Kochel, where Mester now has
a full-size office.
"She makes this look easy"
Meanwhile, like the dimen
sions of Mester's office, the
student population swelled.
When she first started in 1971,
roughly 1,500 students attend
ed Behrend. Now 4,100 stu
dents walk the halls.
She has seen her department
grow rapidly over her nearly
40 years at Behrend. When the
college first started offering a
degree in communications in
1980, only three people gradu
ated. This semester, over 40
students are expected to leave
Behrend with communication
degrees.
Her number of colleagues
also increased. She was once
only one of four or five faculty
members. Now there are ten
full-time members and several
part-time professors.
Twice during this growth
period, Mester has been the
woman in charge. Early in her
career, the chair of the depart
ment stepped down. The
school then began to look for a
replacement, asking the facul
ty who was interested in taking
on the workload.
Mester was the only person
to raise her hand. She got the
job.
"I rose to this by simply vol-
opened their new stadium
this week with a home loss
to the Cleveland Indians
10-2. The game brought in
a crowd of 48,271
The $1.5 billion dollar
stadium features such
amenities as 2,500-calorie
tub of popcorn for $l2 and
rhinestone-encrusted hood
ies for $125.
"I literally can't afford to
keep warm at this game,"
fan Kelly Rutkowski said.
"Can I just tell you, this is
a sin. I'm freaking freez
ing, and there's no way I'm
spending $125 on a freak
ing sweatshirt, because
that's how this country got
into this mess."
The park also features
many unusual foods, such
as three varieties each of
MONDAY,
APRIL 20
Open Swim
Junker Center
unteering," she says.
Eventually Mester stepped
down, giving another faculty
member a go. But five years
ago she took up the job again.
"She makes it look easy,"
says Rod Troester, the commu
nications chair that preceded
Mester who will also replace
her next year. "I think she is a
great leader without trying to
be."
Rob Helm
Troester says that the
department will miss her expe
rience and presence.
"If you ask a question and
she doesn't know the answer,
she knows who to call to find
out," Troester stays. "it's hard
to replace that kind of experi-
ence."
Impacting students
Over the years, Mester has
taught hundreds of speech
classes. When she first started,
she also taught other classes
such as small group communi
cation. But teaching students
public speaking has been the
core of her academic career.
Mester has affected count
less students, many of which
heartily praise her.
"She was my mentor," says
Rob Helm, a senior majoring in
communications. "I always
went to her for academic
advisement."
Helm credits Mester with
"She makes it look easy. I think she is a
great leader without trying to be."
pears and apples, plus tan
gerines and bananas, all
available at the farmers
market near the Legends
Suite Club.
Yahoo
Garnett out for play-
The Boston Celtics will
have to make do without
Kevin "anything is possi
ble" Garnett, who is out
with an injury as the
Celtics attempt to defend
their NBA title.
Garnett was undoubtedly
one of the major factors in
Boston's run to the finals
last year, and his team
mates say he will be sorely
TUESDAY,
APRIL 21
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REED 117
getting him into Penn State
Behrend.
When Helm first applied, he
fell just short of the admissions
standards. Mester recommend
ed that he send a letter to the
dean explaining how much
Helm wanted to attend
Behrend.
It worked. Helm was accept
ed and he says he will graduate
next semester.
"She gave me the inspiration
that if I want to change some
thing I just have to try," Helm
says.
He also says that Mester has
always been a warm and wel
coming teacher.
"She always has a positive
attitude and will tell you what
you are doing wrong, but also
support you," Helm says.
Mester's last class is on May
1. But her job is not done until
June 30. Being the chair of the
department demands the extra
work.
However, when her last day
comes and goes and she is bur
dened with the demands of fill
ing her free time, Mester says
that she will miss many parts
of the job.
"Fm going to miss the con
tact with students," Mester
says. "The minute I hit [a]
class, Fm psyched. Fm ready to
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY,
APRIL 22 APRIL 23
Earth Day Event
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11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m
LEB Weekly Movie -
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9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Open Swim
Refer to Monday
A turning point
Rod Troester
Communications professor
Friday, April 17, 2009
missed
"It was heart-breaking to
me to hear the news," said
center Kendrick Perkins. "I
was expecting to see him
come out for the first
game. I guess Leon [Powe],
Baby [Glen Davis], Mikki
[Moore] and myself are
going to have to do our
jobs a lot better. A whole
lot better."
Boston coach Doc Rivers
had this to say about
Garnett's injury: "I saw
him run last week and he
looked great. This time, he
couldn't run at all. That
told you it wasn't headed
in the right direction. He'll
still get treatment and
they'll try to get him back
as soon as they can. But
common sense tells you it
hasn't healed yet so it's not
going to heal by itself."
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8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m
Jazz Ensemble
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Cathy Mester
go. It is a very energizing thing
to be around young people."
She says she will also miss
the students she has met along
the way.
"If I sat back and thought
about who I would remember,
it would be a long list," Mester
says.
But Mester has a few plans.
She says that she is going to
take a train ride to British
Columbia with her husband.
Additionally, she says she
will be able to catch up on
some hobbies she has not had
time to do lately. She wants to
take more time to sew and do
needlework. She has an
acoustic guitar she wants to
learn how to play.
All of this adds up to a great
change in her life. She plans on
doing a lot of thinking during
the summer to decide on how
to spend her newly freed time.
Mester says that is just part
of the ride of life.
"Through our lives we come
to turning points," Mester says.
And she isn't looking back.
Contributed photo