BEHREND BEACON
September 24, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
ALLI HETIZENRATER
(litr n • creative writing
New York Times
Best Seller List:
Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Grand Design, by
Stephen Hawking and
Leonard Mlodinow
2. Crimes Against
Liberty, by David Lim
baugh
3. A Journey, by Tony
Blair
4. Sh*t My Dad Says,
by Justin Halpern
5. The Warmth of Other
Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
photo from ghead com
The Grand Design by
Stephen Hawking
Physicists Stephen
Hawking and Leonard
Mlodinow put forth a new
book, The Grand Design, in
which they propose ques
tions that question the
meaning of life and why
and how the universe
works in all the ways it
does. The questions in
clude, but are not limited
to, "why is there something
rather than nothing?" and,
"why do we exist?"
They theorize many pos
sible solutions, the major
one being that God has
nothing to do with the uni
verse being the way it is.
Another theory the duo
dive into is their "M
-The
ory." The M-Theory, how
ever, is not just one theory.
It is made up of many the
ories, each of which ob
serve a range of multiple
physical situations.
In addition, the book
questions why things in the
universe are able to coexist
simultaneously. The book
is written through terms of
science, not religion.
Hawking has written
other books, such as, A
Brief History of Time: From
the Big Bang to Black
Holes and Black Holes and
Baby Universes and Other
Essays.
Jewish physicist Mlodi
now has written and co-au
thored a number of books,
such as The Drunkard's
Walk: How Randomness
Rules Our Lives, Euclid's
Window, and a childrens'
book series, The Kids of
Einstein Elementary.
Hawking and Mlodinow
collaborated in 2005, when
they wrote, A Briefer His
tory in Time.
beacon HSU
Staff
H&SS Editor:
AIR Heitzenrater • Creative
Writing m ajor
H&SS Writers:
Emily Rae Though • Creative
Writing major
Matt DeFusco • Creative
Writing major
Julia Baker • Psychology
major
Andrew Tarr • Political Sci-
ence major
Brooke Bartolomeo • Com-
intinications major
Readers impress students at Smith Chapel
MATT DEFUSCO
rifer• creative writing
Doctor Tom Noyes' in
troduction for Professor
George Looney's reading
on Sept. 9, 2010 was per
sonal and direct. He dis
cussed Looney's new book,
Open Between Us, as being
a very personal collection
of poems that incorporates
elements of individual
growth but also themes of
societal growth within the
confines of poetic prose.
The "Us" in the title was
said to be interpreted in
various ways, but the col
lection as a whole was to
be a map" that directed
"us" to the right places.
Looney has received
many awards for his books
of poetry and received the
Undergraduate Program
Leadership Award from
Penn State in 2007. His
new collection, is a compi
lation of poems written be
tween 1983 and 1992 that
had been revised and ed
ited several times and yet
all fit together with com
mon themes.
Looney began his read
ing by reading a poem that
was inspired by Noyes'
young daughter. She asked
Looney if he would be
showing up to the baby
shower for Noyes' second
Labs offer new opportinuties for students
BROOKE BARTOLOMEO
writer • communications
This spring is expected
to mark the beginning of a
new era for the communi
cation department.
Instructors and students
alike are anticipating the
opening of two production
studios - one for radio and
the other for television,
along with a large class
room and six audio and
video editing suites.
The soon-to-be fully
equipped studios and class
room are located in the
lower east wing of Irvin
Kochel Center.
Kochel 069, previously a
seminar classroom, has
been cleared out for reno
vation. It will serve as the
television production stu
dio.
Students can rest as
sured as these huge, empty
rooms will not be bare for
long. They will soon be
The Smith Reading Series continues
EMILY RAE BROUGH
riter • c reatik ‘1 citing
The Smith Reading Se
ries continues with the poet
Nin Andrews and literary
nonfiction writer Steven
Rinella.
Nin Andrews is a native
of Virginia and received
her Bachelor of Arts from
Hamilton College and her
Master of Fine Arts from
Vermont College. She has
been the recipient of two
Ohio Arts Council grants,
won the Gerald Gable
Award for her book of po
etry, Why They Grow
Wings, and was the winner
of the Pearl Chapbook
Contest for her poetry col
lection, Spontaneous
Breasts.
Her first publication, The
Book of Orgasms, received
critical acclaim for its
humor, originality and lyri
cal composition. Other
publications include the
prose poetry collection,
Midlife Crisis with Dick and
,~, .~ ~;
~.. r ~ .~ t ; ~ ~.
•
Wri t"
" vL. 'lb a Cover neweltdry e
ou caretahwt!
To wri z terortinfibumitistil oaaddi Humanities Editor Alli HeitzenraterVit
Humanities & Social Sciences
child and Looney replied,
"unless I die". He decided
then to name the poem
"The Ghost at the Baby
Shower."
Nearly each poem was
prefaced with a description
of where Looney's inspira
tion had come from. These
were subjects such as
Michael Byers reads one of his works to Beherend Students
Richard Hugo, birds, elec
tric storms, old college
friends or the sound of rain
on sheet metal. One inspi
ration, on the other hand,
stuck out for a lot of people
in the Smith Chapel that
night. Looney decided to
read a poem that sparked
from his friend and col
league, the late Dr. Archie
Loss. The poem was first
thought of when Loss was
filled with media equip
ment that students will be
able to get their hands on.
"Students will get a
hands-on learning experi
ence," explained Kimberly
Young, professor of jour
nalism.
"Rather than just talking
about the concepts of tele
vision journalism, radio
journalism, and film, we
can actually work in the
setting."
Presently, film students
must use personal laptops
to complete projects. How
ever, once the editing suites
are available, students will
have everything they could
possibly need at their fin
gertips.
"It's a classroom that's
designed to encompass ed
iting," said Young.
However, the learning
experience for eager stu
dents need not end when
video production or radio
broadcast class is over.
Jane, which explores the
adult realities of the iconic
childhood characters Dick
and Jane, Sleeping with
Houdini, a tale of a young
girl who wishes she could
disappear, and Dear Pro
fessor: Do You Live in a
Vacuum?, a book that
transformed actual letters
to a real professor into po
etic form. Her recent
work, Southern Comforts,
was published in 2009 and
is written in the vernacular,
filled with the lively, com
mon phrases and slang.
Andrews also edited a
translated collection of po
etry by French poet Henri
Michaux, entitled, Some
one Wants to Steal My
Name. Her poetry can be
found in The Best Ameri
can Poetry 1991, 2001, and
2003. She currently lives in
Ohio, and maintains an ac
tive blog where she posts
new poetry.
Literary nonfiction
writer, Steven Rinella, is a
native of Michigan and cur-
doing a reading and
Looney heard a sentence
read that flowed like po
etry. The poem was called
"Not About Time or End
ing" and the resonance of
its words truly entered the
hearts of its listeners.
On Sept. 16, Behrend
was honored with "out of
town" writer, Michael
Byers, who read from his
recently published novel,
Percival's Planet. Profes
sor Eugene Cross, who in
troduced Byers, was one of
Byers' students when
Byers taught at the Univer
sity of Pittsburgh. Byers
now teaches at the Univer
sity of Michigan.
After being introduced,
Byers admitted that it was
The labs will be utilized for
the launching of Behrend's
Internet radio station and
eventually television pro
gramming.
"WSEE was kind enough
to donate their old news
set, which I used to anchor
at," said Young.
The lab will be complete
with a large green screen,
students can even deliver
professional-looking
weather reports.
"Students here really
want this," explained
Young. "Ever since I got
here, students have said, 'I
have to go to University
Park since I'm in broad
casting.' I think the inter
esting thing is that we're
merging all of this. Com
munication is how we
make sense of our world.
This will give students a
real valuable experience,"
Renovation of the labs is
slightly behind schedule,
but they are expected to be
rently resides in New York.
He is a correspondent for
Outside magazine, where
he's been a frequent con
tributor for the last decade.
Rinella's literary nonfiction
work can be seen in several
publications, including
Men's Journal, Field and
Stream, New York TiMes,
The New Yorker, and
American Heritage.
He also has work in two
anthologies: The Best
American Travel Writing
and The Best Food Writing.
Rinella is an outdoor en
thusiast and his first book,
The Scavenger's Guide to
Haute Cuisine, takes the
reader on a one-year jour
ney with him through
America and Canada while
he hunts, procures and pre
pares all the ingredients he
needs for a 45-course ban
quet described in master
chef Esciffuer's 1903 Le
Guide Culinaire.
Rinella's most recent
publication, American Buf
falo: In Search of a Lost
his first time in Erie and
also his first time reading
in a chapel. He joked that
it made him want to "do
something dirty."
He moved on to discuss
his new novel which was
primarily about the discov
ery of Pluto. He read a
chapter of the novel where
the protagonist, Alan Bar
ber, has an awkward con
versation with a past love
after an evening of having
drinks with peers. The di
alogue was quick and witty,
and Byers was successfully
able to portray idioms of
speech that were present
during the late 19205.
Byers' story collection,
Coast of Good Intentions,
was honored with the Sue
Kaufman Prize from the
American Academy of Arts
and Letters. In addition,
the collection was a finalist
for the PEN/Hemingway
Award. Along with these
recognitions, Byers has re
ceived the annual fiction
prize from Friends of
American Writers and was
a finalist for the Washing
ton State Book Award. His
work has been featured in
publications like The Wall
Street Journal and The
Washington Post.
ready for use by the begin
ning of the spring semester,
at the very latest.
Icon, has received numer
ous accolades and was the
2009 Sigurd E Olson Envi
ronmental Institute Nature
Writing Award Winner. In
2005, Rinella won a lottery
to hunt wild buffalo in
Alaska and he describes
his arduous journey with
humor and stark honesty.
His use of historical detail
and first-hand experience
draws the reader in and of
fers a fitting tribute to an
American icon.
The Nin Andrews poetry
Reading will be Thursday,
Sept. 30 at 6:00 p.m. in the
Smith Chapel. Steven
Rinella's literary nonfiction
Reading will be Thursday,
Oct. 14 at 6:00 p.m. Both
readings will begin with a
reception at 5:30 p.m. The
Smith Reading Series are
free and open to the public.
For more information,
please contact George
Looney.
Quoto of
tho wook:
"Whenever you feel like
criticizing any one, just
remember that all the
people in this world
haven't had the advan
tages that you've had."
-E Scott Fitzgerald
ALLI HETIZENRATER
H&SS editor• creative writing
New York Times
Best Seller List:
Hardcover Fiction:
1. Freedom, by Jonathan
Franzen
2. The Girl Who Kicked
the Hornet's Nest, by
Stieg Larsson
3. No Mercy, by Sherri
lyn Kenyon
4. Getting to Happy, by
Terry McMillan
5. The Help, by Kathryn
Stockett
photo from bloomberg.com
Freedom by Jonathan
Franzen
Johnathan Franzen's
newest novel, Freedom, is
about a couple, Walter and
Patty Berglund, who just
moved to Minnesota to
start their new life. Patty
was the kind of person
everyone wanted to know.
She was persuasive in the
community and genuinely
wanted to help other peo
ple.
Her husband, an envi
ronmental lawyer passion
ate activist, and one of the
few true family men left,
was the same kind of per
son. Together, they were
perfect parents and seem
ingly perfect people.
A few decades later, their
seemingly perfect life has
become something of a
mystery. Their teenage son
has moved out of their
home and into a Republi
can neighbor's, Walter has
taken a job with Big Coal,
an old college rival of Wal
ter's, who happens to be a
punk-rock turned alterna
tive-country musician is
back in the picture, and the
biggest question of all,
what has happened to
Patty? She is the complete
opposite of the person she
once was.
This highly-anticipated
novel combines modern
day romance with the
temptations of liberty in a
comical, yet tragic way. If
you liked Franzen's previ
ous novel, Corrections, you
can be sure to love his
newest novel in nine years.