BEHREND BEACON
September 10, 2010 Humanities & Social Sciences
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
Psi Chi
advances
psychology
Student group
plans service
project, psych
events at PSB
JULIA BAKER
H&SS writer • psychology
One of the various or
ganizations offered on
campus, Psi Chi, a nation
ally recognized psychology
honor society, is very pop
ular. Like most other
groups, Psi Chi has stu
dent-held positions like
president, vice president,
secretary, and treasurer.
Psi Chi is dedicated to
advancing the science of
psychology. Students are
not only involved in re
search, but they also do nu
merous activities through
out campus and around
Erie.
Some of the things they
do outside of research in
clude Habitat for Human
ity, an Alzheimer's walk,
the annual psychology pic
nic (held in the spring each
year), and a dinner for the
new inductees.
There are benefits of being
part of the organization
such as: research competi
tions, grants for research,
regional conventions, and
official recognition of the
accomplishments of the
members.
Psi Chi was founded in
1929. It's purpose is to en
courage, stimulate, and
maintain excellence in
scholarship, while advanc
ing the science of psychol
ogy.
Psi Chi has a national
service project, Food
Drives: A Psi Chi Service-
Education Project. It also
has two publications, Eye
on Psi Chi and Psi Chi
Journal of Undergraduate
Research.
In order to become a
member of the honors soci
ety, a few prerequisites are
required. They include
completion of at least 9 se
mester hours of psychol
ogy, valid registration of
either a minor or major in
psychology, and at least 5
hours of community serv
ice each semester. In addi
tion, undergraduate
students accepted into Psi
Chi must also rank in the
top 35 percentile of their
class, and earn an average
of a "B" or better in all psy
chology courses.
Psi Chi allows students
to gain advanced knowl
edge of research and re
search methods, while
interacting with other stu
dents within the psychol
ogy major. It helps students
get out of classroom-based
learning and into the re
search field of psychology.
The meetings are held on
Wednesdays at 6:30 pm
and are open to both un
dergraduate and graduate
students. If you are inter
ested in finding out more
information you can con
tact either Dr. Dawn Blasko
or Dr. Victoria Kazmerski.
You can also get informa
tion from the national web
site, http://www.psichi.org.
beacon 115&55
Staff
H&SS Editor:
Alli Heitzenrater • Creative
Writing major
H&SS Writers:
Emily Rae Brough • Creative
Writing major
Matt DeFusco • Creative
Writing major
Julia Baker • Psychology
major
Andrew Tarr • Political Sci
ence major
Brooke Bartolomeo • Com
munications major
Dr. Noyes honored with award
EMILY RAE BROUGH
writer • creative writing
Knocking on Dr. Tom
Noyes' office door, I en
countered a contradiction:
a teacher relaxing in an of
fice chair, surrounded by
organized bookcases and
clean desk space, and yet
busily checking emails, re
sponding to student con
cerns. As I enter and get
seated, he puts aside his
business and gives me his
attention. Leaning back,
he smiles and waits. .
He knows I'm here to
discuss his recent accom
plishment and yet there is
a reserve in his relaxation.
The reason is soon re
vealed - he feels humbled
and honored by an award
that came unexpectedly, al
beit with a delighted smile.
The Council of Fellows
Excellence in Teaching
Award is an award that
Penn State Behrend dis
tributed once a year to a
single member of
Behrend's faculty. The re
cipient can be from any de
partment.
In order to receive the
Four H&SS faculty promoted
Three Humanities and Social Sciences professors were tenured and one was promoted to professor.
Dr. Joshua Shaw
Doctor Joshua Shaw, Asso
ciate Professor of Philoso
phy grew up in
Connecticut. He earned his
Bachelor of Arts in philos
ophy from Bard College.
He went on to earn his
masters degree in humani
ties from the University of
Chicago and his Ph.D. from
Indiana University. Shaw
started teaching as an as
sistant professor in Fall
2004. He's published a
book on French Philoso
pher Emmanuel Levinas
along with three parts of
books, all of which are in
cluded in various volumes
of The Dictionary of Mod
ern American Philosophers.
He has also written and
four articles, mostly about
philosophy of feminism.
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"It must be awfully hard to give
teachers awards, because there are
so many good teachers both at Penn
State Behrend and in the English
and Creative Writing departments."
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CREATIVE WRITING
award, fellow instructors
and department heads put
together a board of nomi
nees and then the commit
tee awards one teacher the
award.
In the 2009/2010 aca
demic year, the honor was
awarded to Dr. Tom Noyes,
professor of english and
creative writing.
"It must be awfully hard
to give teachers awards,"
Dr. Noyes stated, "because
there are so many good
teachers both at Penn State
Behrend and in the English
and Creative Writing de
partments."
ANDREW TARR
146;_ writer • creative writing
Professor
George Looney
Professor George Looney
has been promoted to full
time professor of Creative
Writing. Looney, originally
from Cincinnati, earned his
BFA in Art from the Uni
versity of Cincinnati. He
went on to earn his MFA in
Creative Writing from
Bowling Green State Uni
versity in Ohio. He was
hired here at Behrend in
1999 as an assistant profes
sor. " What I love about
teaching literature/creative
writing is that even if
there's not a single student
in the room that gives a
damn about what I am talk
ing about I get to spend my
time talking about what I
love and what I am pas
sionate about and that is
good writing. No other jobs
allow me to do that," said
Looney.
TOM NOYES
Dr. Noyes expressed his
pleasure at being recog
nized for his contribution
while at the same time
knows that teaching re
quires continuous work.
He professed that, "I've
worked hard and think I've
become a better teacher,"
but the honor of the award
mainly served to humble
him and remind him of the
good work done by the
many teachers on campus
every year.
As he continued, Dr.
Noyes reminded me that
this is an award that is
"given by teachers to other
Professor
Craig Warren
Craig Warren, Associate
Professor of english and
creative writing is from
Springfield, Virginia, a sub
urb of Washington D.C. He
earned his Bachelors, Mas
ters, and Ph.D. all from the
University of Virginia. He
also spent a semester at
Oxford University, study
ing at Keble College. War
ren came to Behrend in
2004 as an Assistant Pro
fessor. When asked of what
he likes most about teach
ing at Behrend he replied,
"What I like most about
teaching at Behrend is the
chance to work with the
same students over the
space of several semesters
or even years. It is gratify
ing and often satisfying to
see students mature and
grow as writers and
thinkers."
teachers", and expressed
his gratitude to the instruc
tors who work at Penn
State Behrend and con
tinue to strive for excel
lence in and out of the
classroom.
As I leave Dr. Noyes' of
fice, I notice the plaque
that marks his achieve
ment. It showcases his
most recent academic ac
complishment.
Dr. Noyes truly does de
serve this award. He has
taught fourteen different
english courses at
Behrend, ranging from
basic english courses, such
as English 015 (Rhetoric
and Composition), to much
more challenging courses,
such as English 437 (The
Poet in America).
He has two published
collections; Spooky Action
at a Distance and Other
Stories and Behold Faith
and Other Stories. Of the
four faculty members to
have received awards for
the academic year, Dr.
Noyes is the only recipient
that teaches in the school
of Humanities and Social
Sciences.
Dr. Tom Noyes
Doctor Tom Noyes ex
plained, "tenure is basi
cally a commitment from
the school to the professor
to promise them their job
and freedom of speech at
the school."
Tom Noyes, Associate
Professor of creative writ
ing, is from the Buffalo
area. He earned his degree
in english and creative
writing from Houghton
College in Western New
York. He went on to earn
his masters degree in Cre
ative Writing from Wichita
State University. He stud
ied at the Ohio University
to earn his Ph.D. in litera
ture and creative writing,
and taught at Indiana State
University for three years
before coming to Behrend.
He has been teaching at
Behrend for six years.
qUeYee oc
Me t.t.)eek:
"You cannot dream
yourself into a char
acter: you must ham
mer and forge
yourself into one."
- Henry David Thoreau
MATT DEFUSCO
H&SS writer• creative writing
New York Times
Best Seller List:
Hardcover Fiction
1) The Postcard Killers,
James Patterson and
Liza Marlklund
2) The Girl Who Kicked
the Hornet's Nest, Stieg
Larsson
3) The Help, Kathryn
Stockett
4) The Cobra, Frederick
Forsyth
5) Star Island, Carl Hi-
aasen
taken from jamespatterson.com
The Postcard Killers is the
most recent New York Times
Best Seller for James Patter
son and Lize Marklund
The Postcard Killers by
James Patterson and Liza
Marraklund is a thrilling
novel concerning a mourn
ing father, Jack Kanon,
who is on a touring
through Europe after his
daughter and her boyfriend
are murdered in Rome by
the notorious "postcard
killer".
The infamous killer is
named for his trademark
act of a sending a postcard
to the local newspapers
concerning his next mur
der. By following clues and
taking action, Kanon and
his teammate, Dessie Lar
son, come closer and closer
to finding the identity of
the killer and where his
next murder will take
place.
The novel was first pub
lished in Sweden in Janu
ary 2010. The English
translation did not get re
leased until August 2010.
Liza Marklund, a
Swedish crime novelist, is
said to be the number one
best selling author in Eu
rope. It can be easily rea
soned that her experience
with European culture and
Patterson's familiarity with
American culture is what
really gave this novel its
identity and believability.
James Patterson is well
known for works such as
Along Came a Spider,
which was turned into a
major motion picture in
2001. The film starred
Monica Potter and Morgan
Freeman.
His excellent style of
writing has helped him to
sell millions of copies of his
books. He is also known
for collaborating with other
authors in order to write
his stories. He is most well
known for his on-going se
ries of thrillers that revolve
around the same protago
nist.
Patterson has also writ
ten romance novels and
many standalone novels as
well.