SGA recommends
AMANDA LOMMOCK
College students don't nor
mally wonder about the inter
nal workings of the school or
where their money goes.
The SGA (Student Govern
ment Association) is a group of
students who work to give facts
on the goings-on of the
Behrend Campus, to come up
with a budget of campus activi
ties, and to debate many ideas
and resolutions to help the
Behrend community.
Penn State Behrend Cheerleading
Cheerleaders Jessie Love, Danielle Budziszewski, and Victoria Price competed with
the Behrend cheerleaders at Epcot in Orlando, FL over winter break.
MLK Week turnout "disappointing"
ALLY ORLANDO
netvs editor
"Penn State Behrend
takes great pride in the
Martin Luther King Jr.
events," says Andy Herrera,
Director of Educational Eq
uity and Diversity Pro
grams. "We've gotten very
good feedback from the
community. They admire
how Behrend steps up."
"I think it went very well;
there were no issues with
scheduling," says Herrera
Jim Donovan, of Rusted Root, plays drums for a small crowd
at Rhythmic Motivation.
Local/National: 3 Culture: 7
Community: 4 H&SS: 8
5 Business: 9
Showcase: 6 Sports: 10, 12
Opinion
This past week, two resolu
tions came into vote in order to
get an idea of how student gov
ernments of all the campuses of
Penn State would react and to
get a general opinion of how
the students themselves feel.
The first was a resolution rec
ommending changes to the Stu
dent Activity Fee Allocation
Committees.
The details of the bill seemed
to be opening up an unneces
sary need to vote for positions
that were already predeter
mined in the original bill, and it
qaff writer
of MLK week. "But I would
have liked to see more stu
dent involvement, espe
cially at the Jim Donovan
events. They were two won
derful programs."
"Rhythmic Motivation,"
with Jim Donovan, of
Rusted Root, brought peo
ple together and was very
therapeutic, according to
Herrera. "The point of it
was to reflect Martin Luther
King's ideals. It was a very
good message," he said. Un
fortunately, the turnout was
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creation of new I.T. fund committee
was unanimously failed in the
vote.
The second resolution con
cerned the creation of a new
committee that would be
named the Information Tech
nology Allocation Committee
(ITAC).
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very small, less than fifteen
students, which he found
disappointing.
The turnout for "Rhythm,
Race and the Transforma
tion of Fear" was also not as
much as Herrera expected.
Despite a lack of student in
volvement in this program,
he plans to talk with Resi
dence Life about including
this program in Residence
Assistant training. He be
lieves that "it could give a
great perspective of what an
international student may
go through."
However, the participa
tion is on the rise for one
event. The Campus Family
Brunch held on Monday,
Jan. 18, had the largest
turnout of students so far.
"It used to be that about
fifty faculty members would
show up and one student,"
says Herrera. He attributes
the increase in student at
tendance to the change
from breakfast at 7:00 a.m.
to brunch at 11:00 a.m., as
well as the absence of
classes on that day. "Stu
dents no longer have the ex
cuse, 'I had class.'
According to Herrera, the
biggest difference between
this year's MLK week and
years past was the coverage
of events, which he feels is
C ITALIANO
s editor
lando, FL over winter break as
the Behrend cheerleaders competed
in their first collegiate event in more
than five years.
The first Penn State Behrend co-ed
traveling cheerleading squad made its
way down south for the UCA College
Cheerleading National Champi
onships over the winter break.
This was the first time Behrend has
sent cheerleaders down to this cham
pionship in seven years and was the
only time men accompanied the team.
"Up until October, our two men (Ti.
Banas and Zachary Eritz) had never
been cheerleaders before," said coach
Elysia Tomlinson. "This was truly an
eye-opening experience for the entire
team."
Coach Tomlinson led the squad to
Disney's Wide World of Sports Arena
just outside of Orlando to compete
with top ranked teams from all over
the country.
Behrend competed in the small co
ed Division 11, which included 13
teams in the national level. The top
eight teams from that level moved on
to the finals.
"This was an opportunity for us to
show off our best stunts, cheers, danc
ing and gymnastic moves that we
have," said co-captain Danielle
Budziszewski. "Plus, with the guys we
could do a lot more impressive stuff.
Even though they had limited experi
ence, they jumped right into it."
It would handle where the I.T.
Fee would go and how it would
be spent.
ANGEL, Penn State Web-
Mail, and the wireless Internet
enjoyed across campus are
areas that benefit from this fee;
however, there is no known dol-
Short skirts
were flying high in Or-
very important. "Promoting
the events will help partici
pation and understanding,
which hopefully leads to a
better campus community."
The theme of this year's
events was "We Cannot
Walk Alone." Next year's
theme will be decided by a
committee comprised of
both faculty and students
who are scheduled to meet
in September or October.
The theme may go around a
particular event, or the
committee may decide the
theme first then plan
around it.
"We always try to make it
relevant to the times. For
example, a few years ago,
during the Gulf War, the
message was about solving
issues through love instead
of violence." Last year was
themed "Yes We Can!" in
light of the Obama speech.
The most important part
of MLK week, Herrera said,
is "the opportunity to learn
and revisit the history of the
Civil Rights Movement and
to spread the message it
self—love, community, and
togetherness.
"I hope people were able
to ponder those with the
events we provided and
continue to do so in the fu-
saturday
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lar amount for any one of these.
It would be the responsibility
of the ITAC to inform the stu
dent body what exactly they are
paying for with the I.T. Fee and
exactly how much is being put
into all the various technologi
cal aids available to the stu
dents.
The SGA unanimously voted
in favor of the creation of this
committee by the Council of
Commonwealth Student Gov
ernments.
The SGA meeting also cov
ered various council and com-
Behrend cheerleaders sadly did not
make finals, missing the score needed
to advance by a mere five points.
"We performed very well at Nation
als, but we did not make it into finals."
Tomlinson said. "Our division was ex
tremely tough, though, this year."
It was a unique experience for many
cheerleaders who made the trip, as it
was the first time many of them had
been on a plane or to Disney. Some of
them had participated in similar tour
naments in high school, but had never
competed at the collegiate level.
"A lot of us did it in high school, but
this is the first Behrend cheerleading
squad that competed," said co-captain
Emily Griffith.
This trip was much more than a
competition for most. ESPN and Var
sity TV both did separate interviews
for the team on how the squad was full
of first timers in the national competi
tion.
The event had the cheerleaders' day
planned out from start to finish and in
cluded dinner at the Rainforest Café
and at the Epcot resort. The team was
also invited to attend the Disney pa
rade.
"While it was a whirlwind experi
ence and hardly a vacation, it was a
once-in-a-lifetime experience for this
Behrend team who never would have
been able to make this happen without
the support of the Behrend student
body and the Athletic department,"
Tomlinson said.
After competing past midnight, the
Behrend squad was able to witness
many big name teams display their
finest work which included teams
such as University of Central Florida,
Kentucky and Morehead.
The competition will be on ESPN 2
in the spring, so keep an eye out for
fellow Behrend students in the coming
months.
A LOOK AT THE PAST
What was the Beacon covering this week...
Steelers prepare for Super Bowl XLIII
*4Ol
'lnterview process for
Dean of Students begins
Bongobal I
postponed
Bongoball, originally scheduled
for Saturday, Jan. 23, will be held
on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 10:30 p.m.
Molly Thomas, LEB's Executive
Director, says, "The date was
changed due to scheduling conflict.
We are expecting a large turnout
for the event.
We've received
a large
amount of re
sponses and
questions
from excited
students that
were making
teams "
Bongoball is
a mix between
paintball and
capture the
flag. The game
leaves a lot
less mess by
shooting peo
ple with Nerf
guns instead of paintball guns. The
game can be played both indoors
and outdoors.
LEB chose Bongoball because it
was a new event from Cutting Edge
Productions and it wasn't too diffi
cult to set up. It also got great re
views from other schools, such as
Central Michigan.
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mittee reports.
The Student Athletic Advi
sory Committee has raised be
tween s4oo*-$5OO in relief funds
for Haiti with three to four busi
nesses who are willing to match
what the council raises.
The Academic Affairs com
mittee has reported that the
Student Bill of Rights, which at
this time is now 75 percent
complete and should be done
by the end of the year. They
have also announced a plan to
push for a master's degree in
psychology.
RACHELLE THOMPSON
nee t cditur