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VOLUME XLVIX
Semester Changes
Clarified
by Kim Strong
"Changes make a college look
harder at itself," states Mr.
Robert Schenker, Registrar.
Transitions. Alterations. Con
versions. What is all this talk
about change at Behrend?
The change is University-wide
and it entails a conversion of
Penn State's term calendar to a
new semester calendar. The new
calendar will begin in the Fall of
the academic year 1983-84.
The two semesters, fall and
spring, will be fifteen weeks long
according to University Presi
dent John W. Oswald in a
newsletter titled "Semester."
This fifteen week period is actual
instruction time; registration
and orientation, final exams, and
a new Penn State addition of
"study days" supplement the fif
teen weeks of academics.
As an example, for the Fall
semester of 1983, orientation and
registration is August 22-25.
Classes begin August 26 and end
December 13. Two days of study
follow this, and final exams will
be December 16-17; 19- . 22. Two
holidays during the Fall are
Labor Day and Thanksgiving
Holiday (November 24-27).
The spring semester follows
much the same schedule with a
Spring Holiday (March 5-9)
breaking in between the beginn
ing of classes (January 16), and
the last day of finals (May 12).
Oswald feels that the fifteen
week system "reinforces the
basic, intent of the semester
calendar in extending the oppor
tunities for learning, term paper
writing, and though tful assimila
tion of knowledge . " The addition
of two study days between the
Undergrad Psychology
Conference Held At Behrend
by Chuck Becknian
"A positive experience" were
the words Dr. Paul Rosenfeld, in
structor in Psychology, used to
describe Behrend's First
Undergraduate Psychology Con
ference, held recently at the
college.
The Conference was organized
under the guise of Behrend's
Psychology Department. The
Psychology Club, a student
organization under the direction
of Club President Kathy Vickey
and faculty advisor Dr. Debra
Stein, was also "heavily involv
ed," according to Dr. Dana
Anderson, Assistant Professor of
Psychology.
The two day conference
featured events of interest to
psychology majors and non
majors. On Friday night,
November 5, •Dr. Frank An
drasik, assistant professor from
SUNY Albany spoke on the topic
"Biofeedback Treatment of Ten-
last day of classes and the first
day of finals will also benefit the
student.
But a growing concern among
students is that the seminar tran
sition will mean course changes
and credit changes in some
courses. •
For instance, incoming
freshmen are required to take
English 10 and English 20 - two
different terms in their freshman
year. Mr. Schenker of the
Records Office explains that this
will be altered next Fall. English
10 and 20 will be eliminated. In
place of these, English 15 will be
a one-semester requirement for
all incoming freshmen. Then, in
the student's sophomore year, he
will be required to take another
semester of English, but it will be
more attuned to his major.
Schenker says that no students
will lose credits in the transition.
Advisors and students will look
carefully together at courses and
bow they apply or transfer in the
semester calendar.
The -"Semester -Transition
-Handbook" (you can pick it up in
the Record's Office) offers exten
sive information on the exact
changes in major courses. This
handbook can tell you courses
that will be added, dropped, or
changed in the new system. This
handbook also lists filing
deadlines for Financial Aid.
Because the academic calen
dar will be changing, summer
term 1983 will be shortened to
eight weeks. Classes for the sum
mer term will begin June 15 and
the last day of final exams will be
August 13.
sion and Migraine Headaches."
Dr. Andra sik is one of the
leading researchers in the field of
biofeedback techniques. Biofeed
back machines, mechanisms
which register and relay changes
in body functions, have been on
the market in recent years for
home use. The approximate cost
for a biofeedback machine is
$l,OOO.
The talk by Dr. Andrasik, spon
sored by the Mary Behrend
Cultural Fund, received media
attention from two local televi
sion stations and numerous radio
stations. Reportedly, the crowd
for Andrasik's lecture of people
from the Erie community, and
the crowd was larger than any
other audience for a guest
speaker since ex-Senator George
McGovern visited campus two
years ago.
Despite the snow, Saturday
morning's events were very suc-
STATION ROAD, ERIE, PA. 16563
Federal Aid Restrictions Set
by Maryann Rizzo
Students receiving federal
financial aid may lose their
eligibility if they fail to meet the
"Satisfactory Academic Pro
gress Standard," adopted by The
Pennsylvania State University on
August 30.
Dr. John Brugel, Director of
Student Aid at University Park
announced, "The new standard
has been approved by the Presi
dent's Administrative Policy and
places Penn State in full com
pliance with federal student aid
regulations."
The standard, effective Fall
Term 1982, requires bac
calaureate degree candidates to
maintain a minimum credit level
of satisfactory progress. Full
time undergraduate students
must successfully complete 24
credits freshman year, 52
sophomore year, 84 junior year,
and 120 senior year.
Students seeking associate
degrees must also comply with
the standard. They are expected
to maintain 24 credits the first
year and 52 credits the second
year.
Gradbate students will also be
affected by the new federal pro
gress standard. Full-time
graduate students must complete
24 credits the first year, 48 the se
cond year, 72 the third year, 96
the fourth year, and thesis work
the fifth year.
Also, graduate students are re
quired to follow the established
standards of scholarship set forth
in "The Pennsylvania State
University Bulletin/Graduate
Degree Programs."
A failure to meet the minimum
credit level will result in a loss of
federal aid. Apparently, students
planning to drop courses or
cessful, according to Rosenfeld.
Following an simulated treat
ment by Dr. Andrasik and his
biofeedback machine, several
papers were presented by
Behrend students.
Mark Kremer "A Theory of il
lusion." Barbara Webster
presented "Psychological Con
cerns in an Intensive Care Unit."
Frank Condo read "Galvanic
Skin Responses as a Measure of
Emotional Reactivity."
Anthony Menditto read
"Learned Helplessness." Lisa
Lubomski presented "Attribution
Theory and Research on Rape."
Debi Bobango read the final
paper, "The Genetics of
Schizophrenia."
Papers for each group were in
troduced by Norma Nighman and
Diane Pelletier, respectively.
Faculty from Behrend and out
side colleges also read papers at
the conference. The featured
paper was presented by Dr.
William Baich of the Altoona
campus of Penn State. Also
presenting papers were Dr.
Robert Tauber, Assistant Pro
fessor of Education; and Dr. An
thony Salvia, Associate Professor
of Industrial Engineering.
withdrawing from the university
for a term will be the most af
fected by the change. For exam
ple, a full-time baccalaureate
freshman student would not be
able to drop a course in the Spr
ing, if he had only completed 23
credits. A sophomore planning to
withdraw from the university for
a term could not do so, if he would
fail to meet the minimum credit
level.
Because a failure to meet the
minimum credit level will result
in a loss of federal aid, Dean llar
shbarger advises students to
monitor their academic progress
levels.
The "Satisfactory Academic
Progress Standard" will affect
many types of federal aid. Aside
from SEOG, PELL, and PLUS,
the National Direct Student Loan,
Guaranteed Student Loan, and
Hicks Resigns S.G.A. Position
by Doug Saltzman
On December' 8, 1982, Thomas
Hicks announced his resignation
as Lower Division President of
the Student Government Associa
tion. Hicks resigned to take a
position as Resident Assistant
(R.A.) in Lawrence. The position
opened as R.A. Denny Welsh
transferred to University Park.
Hicks was elected last spring in a
close and controversial election
against Andrew Oairns and Tim
Richards. He served as Lower
Division President during the fall
term.
When asked about Hicks'
resignation, S.G.A. president Ed
McCloskey said, "Tom gave
A more relaxing form of enter
tainment resumed shortly after
lunch, when the film "Ordinary
People" was shown. The film was
chosen for its accurate depiction
of psychotherapy techniques.
Following the film, which was at
tended by 125 people, a panel
discussed the film's realism.
"All in all, I'd say that we had
between 200 to 250 at different
events," said Dr. Rosenfeld.
Asked if the Psychology
Department has plans for more
conferences, Dr. Rosenfeld said
that Penn State - Behrend will be
the site of the Undergraduate
Conference of the Western Penn
sylvania Psychology Association,
in the Spring of 1984.
Rosenfeld said that people
came to the college from other
local colleges, particularly
Fredonia, Edinboro, Shenango
Valley (Penn State) and Altoona
(Penn State) for the conference.
Rosenfeld said that students
from the local high schools also
attended the conference. He said
that he considered the con
ference, all in all, "a great boost
for our program."
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1982
College Work Study Programs
will be affected.
Previously, students were ex
pected to meet a minimum credit
level in order to obtain state
financial aid; such as PHEAA.
This requirement has not chang-_
ed. As a result, students receiv
ing federal and state aid must
maintain the minimum credit
levels to insure their eligibility
for aid in the future.
Before the adoption of the
"Satisfactory Academic Pro
gress Standard," the federal
government only required
universities and colleges to set
some type of standard and follow
it, according to Dr. John Brugel.
The old standard can be found in
the "Academic Policies and Pro
cedures for Undergraduate
Students."
Copies of the new standard
may be obtained from the Office
of Student Aid, 335 Boucke
Building at University Park.
Also, the "Satisfactory Academic
Progress Standard" will be in
cluded in the new edition of the
Penn State Student Handbook.
credibility to his position, (Lower
Division President), a quality
that lacked in the past." Mc-
Closkey went on to say that "the
hard work that Tom accomplish
ed will certainly be missed."
According to Article VIII of the
Student Government Constitu
tion, "Vacancies in the offices of
the Upper and Lower Divisions
shall be filled by a special
popular election." According to
McCloskey, a candidate must be
a full-time lst-sth term student in
good standing with the universi
ty. Interested candidates must
petition to get on the ballot.
Nomination forms requiring 50
student signatures and 3 faculty
signatures may be picked up at
the Reed Union Building Main
Desk. The special election to
replace the Lower Division Presi
dent will take place in early
January.
"The S.G.A. hopes to gain a
dedicated individual to replace
Hicks," says McCloskey.
Hicks had to resign his position
as Lower Division President to
take his Resident Assistant
position.
Merry
Christmas
from the
Collegian
Staff