BEHREND BEACON February 12 2010 Humanities & Social Sciences www.thebehrendbeacon.com Weekly Political Ticker ADAM FRACASSI IA S. ', 1 . 1 f( •pl .it timpn- Pennsylvania Representa tive John "Jack" Murtha died at age 77... former rep resentative Charlie Wilson died this week as well... Go vernor Sarah Palin spoke Monday and has been criti cized recently for the speech...Palin had written talking points on her hand that she should remem ber... White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs poked fun at her by putting notes on his hand during a press conference... President Obama met with congres sional republicans to talk about several issues ranging from health care to jobs... Governor Sarah Patin has attacked White House Chief of Staff Rahm Em manuel for his use of an of fensive word... Former State Senator Scott Brown won Massachusetts special elec tion to finish out the term of former senator Ted Kennedy... Brown is the first Republican to hold this seat in years... Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke announced on Wednesday his plan to bring back the trillions of dollars the central banking system leant to the banks. .The Eu ropean Union announced that they would be sending money to help relieve Greece of their debt...this comes as good news to the U5...10 Americans are being detained in Haiti on charges of child abduction. On This Day in History: February 12 1733: Savannah, Georgia was founded by English Colonist James Oglethorpe 1878: Frederick W. Thayer patented the baseball catcher's mask. 1892: President Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a national holiday. 1909: The National Associ ation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. 1915: The Cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C. 1924: President Calvin Coolidge gave the first presidential political speech on radio. 1973: American Prisoners of War were released for the first time during the Vietnam Conflict. 1998: U.S. Federal Judge ruled that the presidential line item veto is uncortstitu- 1999: President Clinton was acquitted by the U.S Senate on two impeach ment articles. Charges were perjury and obstruc tion of justice. 2003: The U.N. nuclear agency declared North Korea in violation of inter national treaties. Tits com plaint was sio*to the Security Council. Question and Answer with Dr. Aquila ALLI HEITZENRATER • " ( Mg Mal" Rather than adorning his of fice walls with degrees, awards, and other memorabilia, the Di rector of the School of Human ities and Social Sciences chooses to hang pictures of his favorite subject: rock 'n' roll. Aquila's office has book shelves, tightly packed with books about history and rock `n' roll music. His desk, a beautiful dark wood, is far from cluttered. With the exception of a few stacks of papers, the desk is re motely empty. In four months, that desk will be entirely empty, as Dr. Aquila plans to vacate his position at the end of the spring semester. With one of the most signifi cant positions in the university vacating, Aquila looked back over his career as the Director of Humanities and Social Sci- 9 ■ Where did you get your degrees from? My PhD. is in in American History from The Ohio State University and my B.A. is from Bowling Green [Ohio] in journalism. Did you work at Q■ other universities ■ before Penn State Behrend? A is Yes, I worked at ■ Ball State for 25 years as the Chairman of the History De partment. 9 • What were the • major duties of being the director? Provide leader • ship for pro m grams, be Gender conference returns to Erie Penn State Behrend Marketing Sarah Whitney will be leading the 2010 Gender Conference at Penn State Behrend. Professor Cross Wins Dzanc Prize ALLI HEITZENRATER H,A tiff t, Wet • ( tedtAe tittrq.; main! Eugene Cross, Humanities and Social Sciences Professor, has been awarded the third an nual Dzanc Prize. The Dzanc Prize is a $5,000 monetary prize awarded annu ally to a writer of literary fic tion. The writer must have an un finished piece of work to sub mit for review and present a Community Service Program to be administered anywhere in the country. Cross will use his prize to es tablish a year-long series of cre ative writing workshops for refugees from Nepal, Sudan and Bhutan. This will branch off of his Humanities and Social Sciences Editor Adam Fracassi • political science major Dr. Aquila has been the director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences for six years, and is set to resign from this position at the end of the Spring 2010 semester. Above, Aquila (left) with Behrend Chancellor Jack Burke (right) and Dave Christiansen, Associate Dean. responsible with faculty for tenure, teaching and making sure professors are doing they can, assessment of curriculum changes, to decide what can they can be doing to figure out what makes the program tick. The school director pro vides the leadership for the team. This is a team effort and we have a wonderful fac ulty. It's like a manager of a baseball team: the manager provides leadership but with out the team to back him up, nothing will work. It doesn't matter how good the manager is or the team is, they have to ANDREW TARR tt tact • polio( s( Jun( u maw,' The Third Annual Gender Conference will be held on April 8 and 9 at the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel here at Penn State Behrend. All creative thinkers on gen der are encouraged to submit proposals and join in for con versation an engagement. Since its creation, the Gender Conference has drawn hun dreds of participants from the Behrend community as well as participants from Gannon Uni veristy, Mercyhurst College, Edinboro University and West Virginia University. Sarah Whitney, Lecturer in English and Women's Studies and conference chair said, "our conference on gender is a forum for college students, fac ulty and the larger regional community to both present and experience thought-provoking works on issues of gender. work as a weekly "conversation partner" for English as a Sec ond Language class. Cross' work was selected out of over 100 entries. "Eugene's writing has that perfect blend of modernism and classic storytelling, is at once humorous and sexy, intel ligent and provocative, and is at the same time composed and controlled," said Steven Gillis, publisher of Dzanc Books in Michigan. "We were also very much moved by Eugene's serv ice program... All taken to gether, we at Dzanc are proud to have Eugene as our recipient of the 2009 Dzanc Prize." "I'm excited and extremely honored to have been selected for the 2009 Dzanc Prize," Cross said. "The award will Behrend work together. It's time to What will you miss step out of the manager and • the most about being onto the field. the school director? Q What made you de ll • c ide to resign from this position? A m I truly miss being in the classroom. I thought I would be able to teach more than I've been able to. I also really miss writing. I've written mul tiple books and this is a really time consuming job. "Our theme, 'Gender in the World,' can be interpreted broadly; it addresses all aspects of sexuality and gender for both men and women," she said. "We'll consider submissions of original work, including pa pers, posters, roundtable dis cussions, and creative or artistic presentations." The conference will include a presentation by Lee Ann De Reus, Penn State Altoona asso ciate professor of human devel opment and women's studies. De Reus has received many honors, including the inaugural Penn State University Spirit of Internationalization Award (2008), and the Carl Wilkens Fellowship (2009) for her work on researching and giving ac counts of genocide on women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2007, she traveled to a Su danese refugee camp in Chad, where she spoke with 25 Dar give me the opportunity to work closely with Nepalese, Bhutanese and Sudanese refugees as they write and share their amazing stories even as they continue to unfold. "I'm also deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue working on my manuscript while engaging in literary out reach with a civic- minded or ganization such as Dzanc." Currently Cross is working on his collection of short sto ries, Fires of Our Choosing. For more information about Eu gene Cross' success with this award, plans for his Commu nity Service Program, Dzanc Books, or the Dzanc Award, please visit the Dzanc Books website at http://www.dzanc books.org/front.html. eacon Humanities and Social Sciences Staff Humanities and Social Sciences Writers Andrew Tarr • political science major Alli Heitzenrater • creative writing major Lasheena Barnes • psychology major Matt Defusco • creative writing major What I'll miss is being able to help faculty and stu dents and working how I do with my staff. Much of what we accomplish is because of them. ill . Are you going back ■ to teaching after this semester? A N lam taking a year • sabbatical to furi women who survived geno cide. She co-founded the cen tral Pennsylvania chapter of the international organization Save Darfur. At Penn State, she inspires activism in her students by leading international service and study abroad trips to Tan zania and the Dominican Re public. There will also be a presenta tion of the film Out in the Si lence, a documentary about an announcement of a same sex marriage in Oil City, Pa's local newspaper and the controver sial chain of events that fol lowed it. The film was produced by Penn State and has been shown all over the nation. The Philadelphia Inquirer called it a "stunning documentary." Submission abstracts of 250 to 500 words should be e mailed as a word attachment to behrend.gender.conferencew g mail.com by Monday. Penn State Behrend Marketing Professor Eugene Cross is the winner of the 2009 Dzanc Prize travel around town. I am going to use that year to write a book about Images of the American West. I will return to full-time teaching in Fall 2011, teaching pop culture, American west and American Indians. Q. What hopes do you ■ have for the incom ing director? A -It's up to that ■ person to devise strategies. When I first came I had the chance to devise new strategies and my wish is for them too. Whoever it is, they will have the full support of the faculty and staff. 9 • What advice would MI you give to the new director? A -I'm convinced • that the new person will have plenty of advice from the fac ulty. • What will you miss • the most about being the school director? A N What I'll miss is • being able to help faculty and students and working how I do with my staff. Much of what we accomplish is because of them. Dr. Aquila has been the direc tor of the Humanities and So cial Sciences for six years. His official last day in office will be June 30th, 2010. Barring the possibility of an interim director, the new direc tor, who is yet to be determined, will not be a current member of the Penn State faculty. He or she will take office July 1, 2010. What's hot this week: Pop Chart Country Chart "The Truth" Jason Aldean Wide Open Rock Chart "Break" Three Days Grace Life Starts Now Hip Hop/R&B Chart: "It Kills Me" Melanie Fiona The Bridge Album: Need You Now Lady Antebellum "Tik Tok" Kesha Animal
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers