Friday, May 1, 2009 The Behrend Beacon | 3
Campus News
By Adam Spinelli
Fridas', Janiwr\ 23. 2009
contributing writer
alsS.Stinfn psu.edu
As Senior Political
Correspondent for CNN Roland
Martin said. "People saw today
what some dreamed would and
could never happen." Jan. 20
marked an event that Behrend stu
dents will remember for the rest
of their lives. Crowds of hundreds
gathered around TVs on campus,
joining millions of people
observing Barack Obama being
sworn in as the 44 1 * 1 president of
the United States.
Students and faculty watched in
locations around campus, includ
ing Bruno's cafe, a reserved room
in Kochel. and many computer
labs. No matter where anyone
watched Tuesday's inauguration,
the mood was the same.
'I feel proud and lucky to wit-
ness such a turning point in our
history." says freshman English
education major Carolyn Foley.
Like many other students on cam
pus. and around the world, this
was Foley's first time voting in
an election.
The mood in Bruno's was
strangely quiet on Tuesday. The
sense of community grew with
the crowds as the speech drew
closer. When Barack Obama
stepped forward to take the oath,
the crowd erupted in applause,
some cheering along with the
nearly three million in
Washington. D.C. Some nodded
solemnly as the inauguration
began, others wept, still others
chuckled softly as the Chief
Justice spoke the oath incorrectly.
As President Obama began his
UNDISCLOSED NUMBER OF RESIDENT ASSISTANTS FIRED SINCE PRE-FALL WEEK
Rachel Reeves
editor-in-chief
rcrs()s7<« psu.edu
Connor Sattely
managing editor
cisso6(K« psu.edu
Fridas', August 29, 200 S
At least six Resident
Assistants have been released
from their positions in one of the
greatest personnel disasters that
the Office of Student Affairs has
ever dealt with at Penn State
Behrend.
Throughout "pre-fall." the week
prior to Orientation reserved for
Residence Life training, at least
15 RAs out of a staff of 47 were
Sealed from left: hrin Ramsdell. 'O9 - B.S. Accounting. Krin Kennedy. 'O9 ■ B.A. Communications.
Standing from left: Benjamin Gilson. 'O9 - B.S. Business Economics. Bradley Kovulcik. 'lO B.KA
Creative Writing. Ryan Westwood, 'O9 - B.A. General Arts and Sciences.
Students fill Bruno's to share historic moment
inaugural speech, the importance
of the moment weighed heavily
on the minds of those assembled.
"I never thought that I would
see this day in my life time." says
English lecturer Mary Connertv.
"Everything has changed now.
When I was seven years old. my
mother dragged me out of bed to
see the Martin Luther King Jr.
speech. I remember that day and
feeling the atmosphere of every
one gathered. And on this day I
can feel the same thing."
Even students with little polit
ical knowledge or awareness
stopped by Bruno's Cafe to watch
the speech.
"I'm very uneducated about
politics." says Alii Heitzenrater. a
found to be in violation of their
contract, prompting the Office hf
SrudenuAffairs to actively inves
tigate the actions of their
employees. So far. buildings
known to have been affected by
the subsequent removal of RAs
include the Behrend Apartments,
at least one of the suite build
ings. and Lawrence and Ohio
Halls.
A source with close connec
tions to school administrators
spoke with the Beacon on condi
tion of anonymity. According to
their information, which has nei
ther been continued nor denied by
the Office of Student Affairs, the
ordeal began when a group of stu
dents was discovered on the roof
of a campus residence hall. After
CCass of 2007
JACumni Members
Students avwded into Bruno's to watch the inauguration of the 44th ptvsident of the United States
freshman majoring in geoscience.
"But listening to Barack Obama
really made me feel confident
about the direction our country
will be headed over the next four
Dr. Robert Sped. Associate
Director of Political Science.
organized a place for everyone to
watch the inauguration. About 50
people, around half of whom w ere
faculty, gathered to watch the
inauguration in room 60 of
Kochel. Dr. Sped says that pail
of the purpose of the meeting w as
to provide Kochel staff with a
chance to watch the speech.
Financial Aid advisor Giselle
Hudson is happy with what
Obama has done in his time
looking into the situation.
Residence Uirfd. too rcknatodsfotind
that the'offendws were their -own
RAs.
This, according to the Beacon's
anonymous source, led to the
unearthing of multiple cases of
underage drinking involving
Resident Assistants over the
course of the pre-fall week. Out
of at least fifteen RAs who had
violated their contracts, a mini
mum of six have been let go to
date, and others may be on proba
tion.
The Office of Student Affairs
would not comment on any
actions that they arc taking
beyond stating that no public
documents have been filed
through the police. This means
Tride of the Lion
before taking the presidency.
Many of the cabinet picks, like
Hill ary Clinton for Secretary of
State, have won her over to the
new president. However, she
thinks that there is still a lot of
work that needs to be dine. "He
needs to hit the street rolling."
she says. "Our government in the
past eight years has been a joke,
and we need to fix that. There
needs to be accountability every
where for everyone."
Sped says that compared to
Franklin D. Roosevelt and John
F. Kennedy. Barack Obama failed
to create an easily repeatable line
in his inaugural address. "He did-
n't want to say anything too con
troversial. but there were no lines
that thy inves.tigat.ion. I iey. _vv it hi n
the .of, the,,University.
specificaUyi Student Affairs. As a
result, the Family Educational
Right to Privacy Act protects the
students involved, so Behrend is
unable to release any identifying
information.
Ken Miller. Director of Student
Affairs, explains that this is why
the office is restricted from releas
ing information about the inves-
tigation. "Any issues concerning
student discipline is confiden
tial." he says. "We have to
respect the privacy of students."
Even current RAs soon found
that they would not be given any
information regarding the situa
tion. Associate Director of
Student Affairs Kelly Shrout says
CCass of 2008
JACumni Members
Horn left: James Woll'e. 09 B.S. Mechanical Hneiueerinp. (’assie Manelick. 09 B.S. Marketing
And_\ lams. 10 B.S. Mechanical Knginccring. 11l Bertolasio. 09 Software Hngincering. Sean
Tosaclori. 'O9 B.S Finance. Moll) Thomas. 'lO B.S Computer Science
to help people remember the
speech. It'll probably be forgot
ten in a few months."
However safe Obama's speech
was. there was one thing that was
included that not many presidents
have ever done before.
"The thing that stood out the
most to me was how Obama
reached out to other countries in
the world." Speel said. "Very lew
presidents ever do this, and it cre
ated a big appeal."
Nate Boring, the president of
College Republicans, thought
that the ceremony could bring the
nation together. "It was an excel
lent speech that summarized the
problems of the country and then
spoke of unity." he says, "in a
that stall’ meetings were held.to
announce tlfiH'things:hadxie«uned
which would "change, the
[Residence Life) family." No
names or specific details were
divulged at these meetings, for
those who came by knowledge of
the ordeal by other means, it was
made clear that they should not
share any information. One RA
said in an e-mail that he believed
he would jeopardize his job if he
were to talk about what hap
pened.
Faced with the task of replac
ing a sizable portion of their
staff, the Residence Life coordi-
nators are taming to the
Resident Assistant wait list to
till open positions. This list is
comprised of some students who
time when our country' hasn't
been the best. Obama gave a very
inspirational speech, and I'm
ready to stive him a chance."
The president of College
Democrats. Josh Snyder, was also
impressed and optimistic about
the future. "It was good." he
savs. "not his best, but I still
really liked the message. He
spoke of making sacrifices and
getting through this but the
underlying message was that we
can. We're still smart enough.
still innovative enough to get
throusth this."
had completed the three-credit
training course, but did not
secure a.position.. Due to the
size of last year's class, the wait
list will be more than deep
enough to replace those who
were let go. claims Miller.
While Residence Life will
introduce the replacement RAs
to their residents as soon as pos-
sible. a rocky transition is
inevitable for new employees.
Like RAs current!) holding a
position, the incoming RAs
will not be made aware of the
circumstances that led to their
appointment