Behrend Collegian VOLUME XLVIII NO. 8 Paul Weitz, Astronaut - Alumnus Weitz Plans Behrend Visit Astronaut Paul J. Weitz will return to the Erie area for a two-day visit in April. The highlight of the visit will be a special dinner in his honor to be held at the Harbor Creek High School. The dinner will be open to the public. The Harborcreek native will- be in town on April 18 and 19, 1984, at the invitation of the Harborcreek supervisors, the Harbor Creek School District and officials of Penn State-Behrend. His visit will in clude attendance at the Harborcreek supervisors' meeting, trips to Harbor Creek elementary schools, a reunion dinner with his former high school classmates, a visit to science faculty and students at Penn State-Behrend, and the special dinner at the high school on Thursday evening. Weitz was graduated from Harbor Creek High School, where he was' valedictorian of his senior class. He received his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Penn State University and his M.S. in the same field from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. - He is married to the former Suzanne M. Berry of Harborcreek. They have two children, Matthew, 25, and Cynthia, 22. The.veteran NASA astronaut has logged 793 hours in space in two flights. He served as a pilot on Skylab 2, the first manned Skylab mission, in May and June 1973, and was spacecraft commander for the maiden voyage of Challenger in April 1983. He has been involv ed in the NASA space program since 1966. In 1973, Weitz was the first person ever awarded the Behrend Medallion. The award honors distinguished individuals who, by ser ving society and by attaining eminence in their chosen field, bring honor to themselves, to their community and to mankind. Recently, he was selected as a local hero in a reader survey conducted by the Sunday magazine, a weekly feature of the Erie (Pa.) Sunday Times- News. The homecoming dinner will be held at the Harbor Creek High School on April 19, 1984, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7.50 per person and may be obtained at the Harborcreek Municipal Building during regular business hours. For more information, contact Joe Sonney, Weitz Homecoming Celebration chairman, at 899-3171. Behrend Receives $500,000 From G.E. By Edward Mcaosky Behrend College has received a $500,000 grant from the General Electric Foundation for the_ development of a campus computer center, Provost Lilley announced recently. Carl Schlemmer, vice president and general manager of G.E.'s Transportation Systems Business Operations in Erie, presented Provost Lilley with the first of five $lOO,OOO checks. - The computer center, to be named the General Elec tric Computer Center; will be in the soon-to-be-built Hammermill Building. The center will have a direct link to the University Park mainframe computer, offering STATION ROAD, ERIE, PA. 16563 S.G.A. Elections Slated For April 3rd & 4th The Penn State-Behrend Student Government Association will hold its annual election for positions on the Student Senate with "a whole cast of can didates," according to S.G.A. President Doug Saltzman. Saltzman, who was recently a candidate for- the presidency, dropped out of the race on Wednesday, March 21. Ten positions on the 1984-85 Student Senate will be on the ballot in addition to the vice presidents of the Community Council and Joint Members Coun cil. Candidates were required to file a petition con taining 53 students and faculty signatures with the Student Government Association by March 26. Commuter and resident positions must be filled by and voted for by commuter and resident students, respectively. The constitution of the Student Gov. Assoc. re quires that all elections must be conducted by secret ballot, and that a plurality of votes is needed to be elected. As of March 26, 1984, Dann Johns and Doug Gerow were running uncontested for the top posi tions in the Student Government. If elected, Dann Johns, (4th semester, Political Science) will become president of the Student Government Assoc. and chairperson of the Student Senate. The position of .S.G.A. vice president and Student Senate vice chairperson will be filled by Doug Gerow (4th semester, Business Economics), if he is elected in the April 3 and 4 election. Gerow is currently a Com muter Senator on the Student Senate. Arden Jizmajion (6th semester, Psych) and Mark Rose (2nd semester, Pre Med) will compete for the presidency of the Commuter Council. Rose is cur rently vice president of the Council. Alex Primas (2nd semester, Engineering) is running, unopposed, for the Commuter Council position of vice president. Four Commuter Senator positions will be elected. This ballot is filled by Timothy F. Carley (2nd semester, Business Administration), Michael R. Kit chen (6th semester, General Arts and Sciences), Der rick Landers (6th semester, Business) and Barbara Jo Wetmore (4th semester, Accounting). Daniel Pontzer (2nd semester, Engineering) and Ridge Visits By Phyland Robertson "The continuing debate on the role of education in America is an appropriate one," said Rep. Thomas. J. Ridge, in an exclusive Collegian interview. "We must sit back and assess the situation. It still remains to be seen what the role should be." Ridge is the first-term Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania's 21st District, which encompasses Erie County. _ He expressed his belief that "the quality of public education in America has to improve." Toward this end, Ridge supports enlarging the size of grants students and faculty access to one of the largest com puter centers in the country. "This grant represents a noteworthy commitment and serves as recognition of Penn State-Behrend's poten tial," Schlemmer said. "The amount is highly significant, but it is what the grant represents that should make us all stand tall and be proud," said Dean Lilley. He called the grant "a real source of pride for everybody in Northwestern Pennsylvania," implying the Sunbelt and the Silicon Valley are not the only-loca tions-for 'high tech.' James R. Zaczkiewicz (4th semester, Management) are running for two Resident Senator position. The presidency of the Joint Residence Council will be filled by either Richard M Breeswine (2nd semester, Engineering) or Thomas L. Salem Jr. (2nd semester, Meteorology), who are both registered can didates for the positions. The number and.post in the J.R.C. provides the largest competition in the elec tion. Tracey C. Haller (2nd semester, Petroleum Engineering), Shannon Mayers (2nd semester, Pre- Engineering) and Benita A. Silverberg (2nd semester, LA) are running for the position of J.R.C. vice president. Candidates were briefed on election rules and pro cedures at the March 26, 1984 meeting of the S.G.A. Election co-chairpersons Thomas Hicks and Todd Kightlinger reviewed policies and answered questions that the candidates and those in attendance raised. Hicks emphasized that students must have their I.D. cards to vote. "I.D.'s will be checked at the voting booth," stated Hicks. Terms of office for all positions begin June 15, 1984 and end on May 31, 1985. ELECTED OFFICES SGA President 4 Commuter Senators SGA Vice President JRC President Commuter Council Pres. JRC Vice President Commuter Council V.P. 2 Resident Senators "I would like to see a large turn-out for the elec tions." S.G.A. President Doug Saltzman went on to say that he is "encouraged by the present amount of participation within the Student Senate. The Student Senate is the legislative body of the S.G.A., which is the governing body of the student population of the College. All Student Senators have a vote on the Senate and have the opportunity to serve on various committees of the S.G.A. These in clude: Inter-Club Council, Budget Affairs, Com munications, Student Relations and Student Services. Two additional Senate positions, Freshman Senators, will be elected in the fall semester by first and second semester -students. Behrend available for research and development projects of univer sities. "While the administration would like to restrict (this area), I think it should be expanded," said Ridge. "Colleges and univer sities are a tremendous resource and asset to our community." Ridge also expressed support for increasing the amount of aid available for students and their families. "I support increased funding in terms of guaranteed loans, grants, and work-studies," he said. "When I went to college, I had all three." He dismissed the belief that "Every year, the General Electric Foundation con siders numerous proposals for education betterment," he said. "Many of these come from some of the largest and most prestigious institutions in the country. This award •to our institution makes us especially proud, given the nature and quality of the competition for the Foundation's support." The G.E. Computer Center will be vital to the development of a Masters of Business Administration program at Behrend, which will be offered in 1985. With this MBA program, Dean Lilley said, Behrend hopes to recruit and retain the finest young persons in the region. MARCH 29, 1984 students often don't repay the loans as unsubstantiated. "Students don't forfeit on loans any more than businesses do," said Ridge. "The statistics are about the same." Addressing Behrend, Ridge finds its expansion into the technical and computer fields "exciting." He maintains that "to be employed in today's market, one must have a certain literacy with computers. Behrend has responded to the needs of the marketplace, to the realities of what's going on out there. This continued on page 3
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