CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION Bookstore renovat BY CONNOR SATTELY vditnr-in-t hit‘l Six months after the $1.5 million project to renovate parts of Reed began, Penn State Behrend students finally have what Bookstore Manager Heidi Savage calls a “real college store.” The renovation was originally in tended to essentially shear the book store in half, using the empty vertical space to create more room for offices above. In the process, the bookstore would be remodeled to increase space usage and visibility. The result is a bookstore vastly im proved in visibility and aesthetics. Though the bookstore has actually decreased in square footage, the staff Student Activities to add club coordinator position “Student Activities is looking for someone student-centered, a good work ethic, high energy” KRISTOROK Director of Student Activities index News 1 Photoßeview 2 Associated Arts 6 Collegiate Press Community 4 is able to display much more mer chandise, particularly clothing, be cause of modernized space usage and reorganization. Main features of the new bookstore include an information desk, much like at a private bookstore chain, which will allow students to direct questions away from the front register. Also, a desk is reserved for web order •Inside: See pictures of the lewly renovated bookstore. Q Online: Visit us online at www.thebehrendbeacon.com to see more photos of the Bookstore’s transformation. BY MICHAEL O. WEHRER news editor There will be a new face in the Of fice of Student Activities starting this semester. Student Activities has decided to create a student organizations and program development coordinator po sition to “Advise various student or ganizations regarding policies, procedures, budgets, etc.” and “assist in the planning and management of other student special events,” accord ing to the job description on the Registered Opinion 5 Member- Sports 7 ons fi pickups, to make fall and spring se mester book rushes easier, and less confusing. The half-year process, though, did not come without its bumps along the way. “We’ve been talking about it for years,” says Savage, “and suddenly it just happened. Moving to McGarvey was pretty rough; it was a little cramped.” Switching things back over was no easy ordeal either, she says. The staff, with help from managers of other commonwealth campuses, moved the entire bookstore into its current space in three days. As for the staff, they are just relieved that the project is over. “It’s awesome; it’s like a real college Behrend website. Director of Student Activities Kris Torok said that in the past, if a club or organization wanted to host an event, they would have to go through several steps for approval and scheduling. By creating this position, Student Activities is hoping to streamline this process and make someone available to clubs and organizations to “help the clubs in the preparation for SGA budget requests SAF proposals.” The new coordinator would also act as a resource for club advisors by pro viding training and workshops and shed over break store,” says Savage. “It’s definitely more inviting. People will enjoy it more. They’ll just feel better coming Construction over the bookstore, out of sight of shoppers, continues. The Career Development Center will share space with the Division of Un dergraduate studies in what Director of Student Affairs Ken Miller says is a “one-stop shop” for finding a career or major. Those new offices will include inter view rooms, video conferencing cen ters, several computer kiosks, and a large conference room open for use of any department or student organiza tion on-campus. Miller expects that the project will be finished by the sec ond week of September. help in other areas, said Torok, such as assisting clubs with websites, sum mer activities, and getting publicity. “Basically what we want is for each club to have a link to the club’s home page when accessing the list of clubs and organizations” Torok also wants to create a public ity center for the clubs to use. “What we envision is a place where clubs and organizations can get together and create publicity for their events.” Torok said. “Student Activities is looking for someone student centered, with a A Penn State Behn Student Publicat: STUDENT FINANCE Tuition up 3.9%since last year BY CHRISTINE NEWBY managing editor On July 17, Penn State University Board of Trustees decided to support the lower of two proposed tuition in creases, resulting in a 3.9% raise in Behrend’s tuition for lower-division Pennsylvania resi dent students in the fall 2009 se mester. The tuition in crease marks the lowest increase in Penn State’s re cent history, ac cording to the Behrend website. The increase raises tuition $226 per semester for students who have less than 59.1 credits. Chancellor Jack Burke said that the money from the tuition in crease usually go to three areas: salary increases, benefit changes, and utilities costs. “Most of the benefit changes would have come out of our budget cut,” he said. “Whether some goes into utilities, I don’t know, but no money is going into salaries.” Despite the rise in tuition cost, the incoming fresh man class has not been affected, ac cording to Burke and Director of Stu dent Affairs, Dr. Ken Miller. “I would guess we are going to be up about 1% (in freshman enrolment) and that’s about what we were trying to do,” said Burke. “We were trying to hold our enrollments. Penn State in general, is in pretty good shape. That’s because Penn State is very much in demand and has a good brand name and reputation. The other reason is that as expensive as we are as a public institution, we are still less expensive than a lot of privates.” If Penn State does not get funding from the state, there is a possibility that the tuition increase could rise in between the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semester. However, Burke and Miller both agree that the chance of that hap pening is very small. “It has never happened since See Tuition on Page 3 good work ethic and a high energy level to fill this position. We identified people we would like more info about. From there we narrow it down to who we would like to bring to campus” Torok said that the initial phone in terviews have already taken place, and she is looking to include students in the final selection committee of six to nine people. Additional reporting by Heather McGovern. Sunday 4^59 '% Mb Full Forecast: Ifcdte 2 Behrend’s Tlittion rate for freshmen and sophomores Fall 2009: $5,971 Fall 2008: $5,745 Fall 2007: $5,456 Fall 2006: $5,223 Fall 2005: $5,074 Fall 2004: $4,791 Fall 2003: $4,448 Fall 2002: $4,004 Fall 2001: $3,527 Fall 2000: $3,273 Fall 1999: $3,081 Fall 1998: $2,920