&SS IL. Winner of the 2009 - 2010 Most Creative Program Award SCHOOL PAGES OF THE BEHREND BEACON a" Quote of the Week: "A serious writer is not to be con founded with a solemn writer. A senbus writer may ts a hawk or a txcard or even njay, but a solemn writer is Avays a bloody owl." -Ernest Hemmingway School to offer first annual creative writing festval & internship MATTHEW DEFUSCO teati‘e 111 !ling main, Meeting "Earth's Eye," a festival of writing in the natu ral world, will take place next year. . On Aug. 5, 2011, part of the festival will be held on campus where students will have the opportunity to hear the noted nature writer Scott Russell Saunders. Saunders will also be aid ing in the workshops that will be available for students who wish to have their writing looked at in a critical manner. Along with Saunders, the festival will host another hon ored guest who was a former editor for Sierra Magazine-- an online magazine that is concerned with the natural world and its -otection. H&SS Staff Revealing truth about history of unwed mothers KRISSY COLE Communications Ntajor "You're all here because you knew this was gonna be about sex, right?" Ann Fes sler's opening statement of her presentation, The Girls Who Went Away, provided the audience with quite a few laughs Thursday, Nov. 4 in the Reed Auditorium. Taking a look back into the 19405, 50s and 60s, Fessler discussed the research she's done and that in her book about the girls who vanished. During this time period, many young girls were sent away, often by their families, dis appearing from high school and college classrooms, all because they were pregnant and unmarried. Between 1945 and 1973, about a million and a half young women were forced to surrender their children. 60 percent of people during the 60s engaged in premarital sex due to a lack of education. "Everybody had sex, but everybody lied about it," says Fessler. Many of these girls then became pregnant, and the social conditions of this time would not accept any teenage moms. Fessler showed a preview of her "non-traditional docu- The festival spawned from a discussion between Profes sor Kim Todd and Professor George Looney about the use of Presque Isle State Park. The two believe that Pr esque Isle is a resource for students to take classes and learn about the natural world and practice writing about the environment in a creative way. "Much of the class would be field work, where the stu dents could both observe the plants and animals and prac tice writing about them," said Todd. Presque Isle was chosen because not only is it a Na tional Natural Landmark but it also serves as a favorite spot for migrating birds. In addition to observing the natural world at Pre' Miktammier H&SSfiNro mentary" that is based on her book. She interviewed 100 women who surrendered their children. The video showed multiple scenes of the struggles these women faced and voiced a lot of their sto ries. It was typical during this time period for the dat ing scene to include driving around in cars with boys and parking. The women admit ted to not knowing very much about sex education, and when they were faced with an unplanned pregnancy, the boys generally did not want to be bothered with it, fathers were furious, and mothers were beyond disapproving. One girl even said that her mom used the classic line, "What am I going to tell the neighbors?" These women were looked down upon and many of them said that they felt like they should be dead. They were told it was selfish of them to want to keep the baby be cause it would shame their family, so they were sent to charitable homes to stay until the child was born. One woman was told by the judge who gave her the papers she needed to sign in order to give up her baby that she was very courageous. The Isle, Looney suggested that it would be useful to observe the environmental surround ings on Behrend's campus. Along with the speakers and workshops, the students also have an opportunity to serve as interns for the festi val. The internship would re quire the students to publi cize the event, develop an outreach plan, and recruit participants. In return for their work they will receive free admis sion to the festival. The festival is open to the public and welcomes anyone who is interested in the natu ral world and would like an opportunity to write and have their work critiqued by ex perts in the field. Andrewkff— Jolla Baker -- whole time she was thinking that it was simply defeat. None of these women wanted to give up their ba bies for adoption, but all of them had no other choice and many were coerced into it. They were told to "shut up, get over it, and don't tell any one." The reasoning behind Fessler's interest in these women's stories is because her mother was one of them. While she was working in Baltimore at a photography gallery, she came upon a woman who looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place where she'd seen her before. "She was in my dream the night before we met," Fessler said. Although many of these women were forced to send their children to adoption agencies, there was a decline in this forceful fate after 1971 due to availability of birth control methods, families willing to help, Roe v. Wade and Eisenstadt v. Baird Su preme Court cases, and other government acts. The presentation was sponsored by the Women's Studies Minor, Theta Phi Al pha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and SAF. Communication club setting new standards for the year BROOKE BARTOLOMEO Communications major The Communication Club is undergoing some serious changes. With new leader ship, big plans are in the fu ture for the previously sta tionary club. "Prior to this year, Comm. Club hasn't done much in terms of events," says Jamie Light, President of the Communication Club. "They've discussed future plans, but never went through with many of them." As of this semester, Com munication Club has a new board of leaders and a new set of goals. "Danielle McFadden, Christian Davis, Ashley Ro drigo, and I are seeking more involvement from the student body," said Light. "There are so many things Professor lands new job ANDREW TARR Political Science Major At twenty-three, Dr. Chris Cook moved to California where he earned his M.A. in Political Science from Cali fornia State University, Los Angeles and his Ph.D in Po litical Science from the Uni versity of California, Santa Barbara. "My research was initially focused on American foreign policy and humanitarian in tervention." said cook. "Much of research has focused on Africa, so my first published article in 2007 was on Ameri can policy in the African na tion of Sierra Leone during the 19905." Cook admits that his re search interests have shifted over time, from American for eign policy to how American media covers African con flicts. "Partially, this is due to the feedback and participa tion of Behrend students in my 'Government and Politics in Africa' class," he stated. The Girls Who Went Away is a collection of stories about the struggles of women's sex and life through out history. that we want to do, such as speaker series, workshops, field trips, community ser vice, and even public rela tions projects around campus. In orvier to do thewthings-,t though, we need members." Joining is as simple as at tending the next meeting. "Wed. Nov. 17 will be our next meeting and is also our first event," said Light. "We're having Communi cation alumni from the last five years speak to members about their career paths and any advice they may have to offer." The club is not limited to communications majors. It is open to students of any major. "Naturally, most members will probably have a Commu nication major or minor," said Light. "I think, though, that any- Cook said, "I only recently was awarded this position. The founder actually read my Sierra Leone article and was impressed." From their website, APCN states, "APCN is a non-exclu sive association of scholars, professionals, and activists dedicated to constructive change and peace-building in the African World. Examples of APCN activities include producing public educational events, sponsoring research, facilitating knowledge shar ing and dissemination, skills training, and mentorship of aspiring and practicing peace builders." "I am actually going to have three articles published this year" said Cook. "The Power of Interna tional Institutions: An Exami nation of U.S. Policy towards East Timor and Kosovo in 1999." Journal of Politics and Law 3.2 (2010), "East Timor and the Power of Interna tional Commitments in the American Decision Making one could benefit from join ing this club: Communication is so crucial to succeeding in the workforce. It's hard to overestimate the importance -of these skills." r 4191 "Students will be Ws UWE these activities on their re sumes," said Light. "That's invaluable. Employers will be able to see the hands-on ex perience that students gained from the projects and events we're planning. Plus, the skills they'll gain from experi ence will make them so much more qualified to enter the workforce." However, Communication Club is still being develop ment. "This semester is a grow ing period," said Light. "We're open to any sugges tions and hope for the club to be in full-force this spring." Process." Asian Pacific: Per spectives 9.2 (2010): 43-54, and "American Policymaking in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1996-1999: the An ti-Kabila Bias and the Crush ing Neutrality of the Lusaka Accords." African and Asian Studies 9.4 (2010). "I am building a compre hensive database of films that involve or feature Africa." said Cook. "A future proj ect is to look at Hollywood's representations of Africa and whether it reinforces negative stereotypes of the continent." "So research wise I think things are looking up." said Cook "But as I mentioned I do thank the students at Beh rend for some of my inspira tion." 'Cook has had three articles published and has a new editor position for the African Peace and Conflict Network. While doing all of this, he continues to teach courses at Behrend.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers