The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, April 09, 2010, Image 1
Behrend THON president Molly Thomas and former president James Wolfe give Rylee Dorer a boost at University Park's 2008 THON Kanzius Cancer Research Project could win $250,000 CAROLYN ZAFFINO staff writer The Kanzius Cancer Re search Project has an exciting opportunity to win $250,000 from Pepsi, and Behrend stu dents can help them win. PepsiCo, has begun a contest called the “Pepsi Refresh Proj ect” which will give away up to 32 grahts each month. The Kanzius project has been nominated for April and people can go online and vote every day until April 30th. According to the Erie Times- News on Friday April 2, the Kanzius project was ranked 33rd. If they receive the grant, the researchers plan to hire a mo lecular biologist that specializes in cancer cell targeting and a physicist. The steps for voting are: • Go to www.refreshevery thing.com. • Click on the Health Cate gory. • Click on the $250,000 cate gory. • Scroll down to the Kanzius Cancer Research Project (You may need to click “load more”) • Click on “vote for this idea”* If you are new to the site, it will require you to register. Once registered, click the “vote for this idea” again. Culture: 2 H&SS: 6 News: 3 Science: 7 Local/National: 4 Opinion: 8,9 SGA: 5 Sports: 10-12 Rylee Dorer's fight inale. Dorer went into remission after a two-year battle with cancer. Swishes for Wishes to benefit Make-A-Wish The sth Annual Swishes for Wishes Bas ketball Game is scheduled to be on Mon day. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. in the Junker Center. This charity basketball game features our graduating seniors versus a selected group of faculty and staff players including Courtney Nagle, Ken Bauer, Jimmy Sutton, Felecia Williams and many more. All proceeds will benefit our regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in H&SS hosts career fair at McGarvey Commons There’s one for business & engineering, but not for hu manities and social sciences until now. Thanks to the hard work of multiple professors, organiza tions, and the Academic and Career Planning Center, the 2010 Government, Non-Profit, and Creative Careers fair can be considered successful. The career fair took place this past Thursday in McGar vey Commons where over 50 employers attended to repre sent the variety of jobs that are available in the career field of degrees like political science, creative writing, and psychol ogy. Many students on campus are glad that the school of H&SS was finally represented in this type of fair. “There are many opportuni ties for students in business and engineering to get jobs after graduation,” says sopho more Amber Heeter. “I understand those are the degrees that Behrend pushes to publicize most, but you can’t . f » ida y 3y/33 snow to rain CAROLYN ZAFFINO staff writer ADAM FRACASSI H&SS editor hopes of granting a wish as the RA class has done for the past seven consecutive years. While admission is free and open to the public, all of those attending are encour aged to bring a few dollars to help the cause. How might one do this? Co-coordinator and Resident Life coordinator Keith Cer roni explains, “Every attendee gets a free raffle ticket (seniors get two)...buy more raffle tickets, and help a great cause. Plus, the more tickets you buy, the better your odds are of winning some of the over Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon In McGarvey Commons students had the opportunity to explore a variety of career opportunities. forget about the humanities and social science majors ei ther. We all need jobs after graduation, too.” Faculty could also see the im portance of this fair coming to Behrend. “This is important for your future,” said political science SHAWN ANNARELLI managing editor “I am a survivor,” giggles Rylee Dorer. Her voice has a pe culiar tone, surely too mature for an eight-year old. But Rylee is just that, a mature, curiously intellectual 8-year-old cancer survivor. Two years ago, Rylee at tended her brother Corbin’s soccer game and snacked on Goldfish Rylee Dorer, while color- Behrend ing under a THON child blanket. Sud- Born: denly, she felt Oct. 1,2001 her chest Diagosed: burn, and Oct. 17, 2007 tears gradu with Non- ally crawled Hodgkins T- down her Cell cheeks. Lymphoma Amanda Remission: Dorer, Rylee’s Jan. 4, 2010 mother, had her sip some water, only to have Rylee cry desperately while her chest aches intensified. “1 began loading the kids [Rylee, Corbin and their little sister Dalaney] into the car, but Rylee was okay when we were ready to go,” Mrs. Dorer said. Despite sleeping comfortably over night, Rylee awoke the next morning with severely bloodshot eyes and abnormal breathing. The family pediatri cian prescribed her amoxicillin, but a visit two days later and a chest X-ray exposed a mass the size of an egg pressing against Rylee’s trachea. Her life took a turn sharper than her chest pains. On Oct. 17, 2007, at PSU Her shev Medical Center, doctors chair Dr. Robert Speel in an e mail sent to all political science students to remind them of the fair. “Whether you are a graduat ing senior or looking for an in ternship, or just beginning to explore career options, this is important for you to attend.” .Saturday mostly sunny diagnosed Rylee with T-Cell Lymphoma, a white blood cell cancer. When the Dorers told Rylee, her first question was, “Am I going to die?,” the hard est question they’ve ever tried to answer. Mrs. Dorer says they never told her yes or no, just that she could be cured. “It was really scary,” Rylee said, as she reflected on over two years of treatments. “The worst thing was when they put tubes down my nose into my belly. It was the tape I didn’t like. The tape meant I had tubes and needles in me.” “We set out on a mission and accom plished it. She is my little hero.” Linh Nguyen THON member Around the same time that Rylee began treatments, Behrend THON members, led by then club president James Wolfe, applied to have a THON child. During Thanksgiving 2007, Wolfe and Molly Thomas, who is currently Behrend THON’s president, received let ters congratulating them on their “first child.” “I was so excited,” Wolfe said. “But I also thought, ‘Holy crap, we have a responsibility to sup port Rylee as best as we can. I wondered if we could do it.’” Wolfe contacted the Dorers and arranged to meet them at THON’s annual Family Carni val, which benefits the Four Di $l,OOO worth of prizes.” Sponsors of this event include the Senior Year Experience Committee and the 2010 RA Class. Also lending their support is the ACPC, Athletics, the Behrend Dance Team, and Behrend Cheerleaders. “The average cost of a wish is $3,400, and we are looking to raise at least that much for the eighth straight year,” Cerroni says. So please join the graduating senior bas ketball players, and selected staff mem bers, as they shoot, sink, and swish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Out of the employers that at tended, many were very excited to represent their career and career field. The representa tives from several organiza tions took the time out of their day to promote their service to students on campus. amonds Fund. It was the begin ning of a learning experience for two families soon to be one. “It was really cool to finally meet the Behrend kids," said Shannon Dorer. Rylee's father. “We were curious about what THON was, so we tried to learn a lot about them." Wolfe said the feelings were mutual and that it was amazing how proactive the family was. “When Kelly [CardosJ, lain [Keisel], and 1 met them at the carnival we were welcomed right away," Wolfe said. "We were surprised at how lively Rylee was. She ended up danc ing on stage for us and just hav ing fun. We made an immediate bond." The first get-together may have gotten THON and the Dorers familiar with each other, but the second visit gave Wolfe and Thomas a humbling, in depth look at the Dorers lives at the Hershey Medical Center. Adorned in medical gowns and masks, Wolfe said that they had a preconceived notion that they didn’t want to seem too happy walking in but were met by an upbeat family, including Rylee, despite her illness “I was excited to see them, again,” Rylee said. "We already loved each other a lot, and I think they were really great for us.” “They [THON] were a big pick me up, because those first few months were the most in tensive and the most difficult for all of us,” Mr. Dorer said. “Rylee was taking up to 12 pills a day which she could not swallow whole. Comedy club to host A.N.N.A. Shelter fundraiser CAROLYN ZAFFINO -Ult’ i\ 'lt:-I The Penn State Behrend Pub lic Relations Class is going to be holding a fundraiser for the A.N.N.A shelter at Juniors Last Laugh on April 15. Tickets are on sale now at Jr’s Last Laugh and will be Sl3 each, $6 of which will go straight to the A.N.N.A Shelter. You can call to reserve your table now and pay over the phone or at the door (up to 30 minutes before the show). “We are selling T-shirts for the shelter as well and will have a basket raffle and 50 50 at Jr's on the day of the event” said group member Toni Charnock. This event is a project for professor Ursula Davis’ PR class and will only occur this year and they will be graded on it. Junior’s Last Laugh Comedy Club will be hosting Erin Jack son from Last Comic Standing. Jr’s is located at 1402 State Street across from Calamaris, contact number for Junior's is 814-461-0911. For more information on the A.N.N.A Shelter, which is a non-profit organization, go to www.theannashelter.com. “This is a great cause and we hope to see a lot of people there!” Charnock said. / Sunday partly cloudy continued on page 3