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