news
Lilley relaxes in Lawrence lobby
by Kevin Mills
Collegian Staff Writer
In a special edition of the
Lawrence Tuesday Night Discus
sion Series on March 24, Dean
John Lilley was the featured
speaker. The atmosphere was more
reminiscent of a "Coffee With the
Provost" than the standard discus
sion. The discussion began at 7:35
in the lobby of Lawrence Hall. As
might be expected, many in-,
teresting and controversial issues
that affect faculty and staff as well
as students in the Behrend com
munity were discussed.
The talk began, as usual, with
some comments regarding the
positive things noticed by students
at Behrend. One of the students
mentioned the recent Schlafly-
Weddington debate, saying that
many students would like to see
more of this type of debate. Dean
Lilley commented, "It's (organiz
ing and promoting a debate) hard
to do, but it is very instructional."
The spring landscaping around
the campus was brought up, with
general agreement that the work
being done was pleasing. The.only
negative, or perhaps constructive,
comment was made by the Dean
himself. He said, "Perry Hall
needs more landscaping—the whole
area, front and back (of the
building)."
The Dean then touched upon the
subject of the humanities program
at Behrend, specifically the subject
of knowledge of prospective and
current Behrend students of the
availability of four-year programs
in those areas. He said that among
the many people he had talked to
about these programs, the general
consensus was that they knew that
Behrend had "a very strong faculty
in the humanties, but almost none
knew that they could stay at
Behrend the full four years."
Playwright-Scholar claims "blacks feel cheated"
by Vicki Sebring
Collegian Staff Writer
Amiri Baraka, better known to
American theatre audiences as
Leßoi Jones, shed some of his
ideas on the theme of Penn State-
Behrend's weeklong celebration,
"A Celebration of Afro-American
Culture: Here and Now," Wednes
day evening during a brief press
Faculty award nominations
now being accepted
Nomination forms for the annual Awards Convoca- Provost and Dean by April 10.
don are available in the Office of Student Affairs. Three, NoMinations for the Guy W. Wilson Award and the
different awards will be bestowed on the faculty Teaching Award can be made by any member of the stu
members of Behrend College. dent body, faculty or administration as well as an of-
The , Guy W. Wilson Award for Excellence in ficially' chartered student organization of the Behrend
Academic Advising shall be given to encourage and College.
reward excellence in academic advising by faculty at
Behrend College. The award was first presented in 1982'
to Dr. Robert P. Hostetler followed by Dr. Dana Faculty members have art opportunity to nominate
Anderson in 1983, Dr., Zachary T. Irwin in 1984, Dr. each other for the Faculty Research Award established
Richard A. Mester in 1985 and Ernest E. Fryer in 1986. by the Behrend College Council of Fellows in January;,
Norresdlyca recipient may receive this award only one 1982 to recognize the faculty member ,who, in the opi
time, and only full-time faculty are , ehgible. 'Nomina- most of hiS or her pieta, truly fills the role of an in-.
dons for the Guy W. Wilson award,inust be submitted spired, dedicated researcher at Behrend. Previous reci
te the Office. of the Provost and' Dean by April 10. pietas of the award are ineligible for a. period of three
The Behrend College Councilor FelloWs Excellence in years. Dr. Jeffery A. Wickert was the first recipient of
Teaching Award was established in May 1969 to the Faculty Research Award in 1982, followed by Dr-
recognize that faculty member who, in the opinion of Juan Fernandez-Jimenez in 1983,, Dr. Edwin C. I
students and colleagues, most truly fills the roiesof an in- Masteller in 1984, Dr. Diana Hume George hi 1985 and
spired and committed teacher. The award was first Dr. James M. Davis in 1986. Any full-time faculty
I presented to Philip K. lobst in 1970 and, mostrecently, memberof the College may nominate acolleague for the
to Dr. James A. Kurre in 1986. Last year's recipient is award. Each sponsor must :complete and submit
ineligible for a period of one year: Nominationi for the nomination forms available in the Division Offices to
Teaching Award must also be submitted.to the Office of. the Division Office of the nominee by April 8. •
Professor's article on 16th
by Tracy Moffett
Collegian Staff Writer
Adding to the list of faculty ac
complishments at Behrend is an ar
ticle written by Dr. Daniel A.
Frankforter. Entitled "Elizabeth
Bowes and John Knox—A woman
and Reformation Theology," Dr_
Frankforter's article will be
published in Church History
magazine in December of 1987.
Dr. Frankforter got the idea for
his article after coming across a
small book writtern by 16th cen
tury Reformation theologian John
Knox—a book with a "very intrigu
ing title": The First Blast of the
Trumpet Against the Monstrous
Regiment of Women. "Anything
like that, I had to read," said Dr.
Frankforter. The actual body of
the article deals with a series of let
ters between John Knox and one of
the women in his congregation,
Mrs. Elizabeth Bowes; the letters
deal with theological issues being
debated at the time. What makes
Along those same lines, the Dean
posed the question to the assembl
ed students, "How can we best tell
the story of Behrend?" This was in
regard to the image presented to in
coming students in the future.
Several points were touched upon.
The first was the fact that the new
references to the school would im
prove the overall image of the
school. This new reference is
"Penn State at Erie—The Behrend
College." This follows more close
ly the formats of such school as
"Penn State in Harrisburg—The
Capitol College."
Other ideas included promoting
the quality and availability of the
faculty, publicity of the library
building, and the mailing of issues
of the Collegian to prospective
students. A novel idea was the sug
gestion of the publication of a
special issue of the Collegian
devoted entirely to "the best of
Behrend."
The subject of tenure for
Behrend faculty was brought up to
the Dean. His response: "We're
(the administration) tough on
tenure. Fewer than 40% of our
conference
The first thing Baraka did upon
walking into the conference room
was to move the table assigned to
him closer to the reporters' table, a
signal to this author that he was
ready to talk. The well educated
man, who attended Rutgers
University, Howard University,
Columbia University and the New
Dr. Frankforter's article interesting
and challenging is this: first, only
the letters written by John Knox
have survived; those written by
Mrs. Bowes have disappeared. Se
cond, Knox's letters were not dated
and therefore are difficult to put
into chronological order.
Therefore, scholars must attempt
first to order Knox's letters, then to
reconstruct the content of Mrs.
Bowes' letters by the content on
Knox's replies.
Dr. Frankforter wrote this article
in part because, he says, scholars
"wonder what women knew about
the world around them" in the 16th
century, a time when women were
seldom formally educated and, un
til recently, were thought to know
very little about the issues of the
times. Dr. Frankforter's paper
"tries to suggest that (Bowes) knew
a great deal about the religious
issues of the time." Fli7abeth
Bowes, says Dr. Frankforter, was a
common woman, "the equivalent
of upper-middle class," and the
faculty have tenure. We demand
that our teachers be good teachers
as well as good scholars."
In addition to being an eloquent
speaker, Dean Lilley was very
engaging and receptive, . hailing
many students by name as they
walked through Lawrence Lobby
and asking them to join the group.
A good number of them did so.
Among the other topics covered:
foreign-born professors "Fifty per
cent of all the graduate students in
this country are foreign-born,"
said the Dean. "There's more to
learn from them than just the sub
ject matters they teach. I encourage
you (the students) to engage them
in conversation sometime." On a
lighter note, a student brought up
the subject of a possible etiquette
course at Behrend. "Why don't
you teach one?" asked a student of
the Dean himself. "What, on how
to hold forks?" replied Dean
Lilley. He then proceeded to point
out the differences between
"Republican" and "Democratic"
ways of knotting one's necktie, to
the surprise and enlightenment of
many.
Happy birthday, dear provost.
School, entertained questions, con
cerning the past and present ideas
of the Afro-American people.
Baraka's answers were very
blunt and to the point. Pertaining
to his views on the present condi
tion of our government, Baraka
openly stated,"l think blacks feel
cheated. If Ronald Reagan blows
up the world, its a drag...a double
century women published
evidence that she was quite
knowledgeable about the religious
issues of the time may imply that
many 16th century English and
Scottish women knew much more
about the world around them than
historians previously thought.
Dr. Frankforter has had nine
book reviews published previously
in Church History this is his first
article to be published in that
magazine. He has had thirteen ar
ticles published in other journals,
mostly of a religious, medieval,
and/or historical nature; he has
also been published in the Interna
tional Journal of Women's
Studies. He has published .a book,
A History of the Christian Move
ment: the Development of Chris
tian Institutions, which has been on
display in • the Reed Building, Se
cond Floor. He is also working on
a History text, Civilization and
Survival. He researches Medieval
Church Administration; on top of
such achievements, he is a pro
fessor of History and Religios
Studies. "An historian of ideas,"
Then, at 8:30, the fun began.
Craig Altmire carried in a large
white sheet cake with the words
"Happy Birthday Dean Lilley" on
it in blue icing. Yes, it really was
Dean Lilley's birthday (now don't
you feel bad about not sending him
a card? Shame, shame...), and it's
off the record as to how many bir
thdays the Dean has celebrated.
There were fourteen candles on the
cake, however. Since he was
presently recuperating from a sinus
infection, the Dean had "a sur
rogate" blow out the candles for
him after the customary "Happy
Birthday" was sung. A brief in
terlude was then enjoyed as the
students and the Dean enjoyed the
delicious cake, which was served
along with lemonade.
When the discussion resumed,
matters turned to what several
students perceived as "nastiness"
on the part of the Housing and
Registrar's Office staff members.
There was an overwhelming agree
ment that these persons dealt with
students with a lack of courtesy
and/or services in response to pro
blems students had. Dean Lilley
had two things to say in regard to
these problems mentioned. His
first suggestion was for students to
try and deal with the offenders
themselves, i.e. the staff, and if the
complaints were not remedied,
then to go ahead and alert someone
in a higher position. He said that
hostility is not the answer to hostili
ty in any case. "The students' bad
behavior, if it exists in dealing with
the staff, does not excuse bad
behavior on the part of the staff."
The discussion began to break up
at approximately 9:30, with the
Dean staying until the last possible
minute to address the individual
concerns of students who caught
him after the "official" time was
up. As always, it was a fun and
very educational experience for all
involved.
photo by Julie Clough
drag. I mean, we're just getting in
to this world and he's ready to
blow it up! "
He personified America's
tendency to close their eyes to the
important issues, like nuclear war,
as "Someone who's telling jokes so
they don't get scared in a dark
alley."
"How can we deal with existing
on this planet when we have
nuclear technology and animal
level social relations?" Baraka ask
ed earnestly.
Founder and director of the
Black Art Reperatory Theatre-
School in Harlem, Mr.
Baraka won the Obie Award in
1964 for his play "The Dut
chman." Recently he has had some
difficulty getting his works publish
ed, although there has been some
talk of filming one of his newer
plays. ,
An inspirational lecturer and
playwright during his own era, he
was asked if he felt that there was a
difference with students today.
Baraka replied,"The students to
day haven't grown up in a period
of struggle like we did, so they
think that they're entitled to get
what others have worked for."
After a slight pause, he added,
"There's a new movement in socie
ty; eyes open, fist raised, fires
burning."
So who holds the answers for the
future of our society, to secure its
existence? Mr. Baraka feels we do.
"To continue to exist we have to
come to grips with each other. We
have to treat each other as one
race."
as he calls himself, Dr. Frankforter
has been teaching since 1970, corn
ing into history by way of theology
and, before that, philosophy. Dr.
Frankforter enjoys teaching: "I
like it a lot,"he says. His contribu
tions as a professor, a writer and a
scholar add much to the
Humanities department and to
Behrend.
Dr. Daniel Frankforter
Primus captivates audience
as culture series continues
by Michele Miller
Collegian Staff Writer
Silver and gold bracelets jangled
in harmony while ivory earrings
swayed in time with the molasses
toned music of her voice. "Will
you fight for your freedom, my
brothers and sisters? Certainly, cer
tainly, Lord." This sing-song chant
echoed the frenzy of an enslaved
black congregation hundreds of
years past. Her audience remained
captivated as anthropologist Dr.
Pearl Primus-- scholar,
choreographer, dancer, teacher,
lecturer—untangled the web of
mystery associated with African
and African-American culture.
Primus, internationally recogniz
ed as the foremost authority of
African dance, spoke at Behrend
March 22 as part of a week-long
"Celebration of Afro-American
Culture" sponsored by the col
lege's Association of Black Col
legians. Her lecture focused on the
dynamic existence of African
based elements in music, theatre,
and dance from to 1600's to the
1980's.
"I welcome you to my heart."
she began in greeting. And Primus
did just that—welcomed her au
dience to the heart of her roots, her
self and her people. In school,
students are taught that black
history began in 1619 when ships
arrived in Virginia carrying the first
blacks to American shores. But
that is not true, she explained.
They came as indentured servants,
just as whites did. Not until much
later did slavery begin.
Primus' journey to discover her
true heritage was initiated in New
York. As a curious third-grader
learning about black history, she
asked the teacher "Why? Why
were the people torn away from
their homes?" Because, replied the
teacher, in Africa they did nothing
but wear leaves and dance.
"That," Primus stated, "was my
first touch. For the first time I
noticed my color....yet I never
learned to be black; I always was
black. I always felt a sense of
pride."
"I snatched at every piece of
Africa I could. A sentence here. A
word there, gleaning information
to find my legacy." Her language
of research? Dance. She calls it her
teacher, one which is "ever patient
ly revealing to me the• dignity,
beauty and strength in the cultural
heritage of my people as a vital part
of the great heritage of all
mankind."
"One cannot say 'in Africa
anything', " Primus continued.
"There are hundreds of cultures,
tongues, styles of dress. It's a land
of contrasts, where climates vary
from the scorching desert heat to
the never-ending cold of Kiliman
jaro, whose peaks are capped with
snow left over from the glacial
period. But the lifeblood coursing
Control seminar held
University Relations—" Automated SPC," a seminar designed to help
production supervisors and quality control managers understand the
benefits and problems of monitoring page data on the shop floor, will be
offered in Erie on April 6.
The seminar, sponsored by Penn State's Continuing Education Pro
gram and the Quality Control Institute, will feature instruction in the
tools of automated process control, the planning and design of a control
system, and the training of shop supervisors and operators.
William Winstandley, president of Winstandley and Associates, Inc.,
an organization specializing in the design and development of industrial
automation systems, will head the seminar, which will be held from 9:00
am until 4:00 pm at the Ramada Inn (Exit 8, Route 8 and 1-90) in Erie.
A graduate of Purdue University, Winstandley is registered as a profes
sional engineer in Ohio and Indiana. In addition to his work in consumer
relations and program management at Winstandley and Associates,
Winstandley is also a faculty member in the mechanical and industrial
technology department at the University of Dayton.
Cost for the seminar is $lO5 per person and includes the cost of instruc
tion, handout materials, refreshments and lunch. Advance registration is
requested. To register, contact Continuing Education today by calling
898-6103.
Student pockets $lOO
for computer project
University Relations—Sam Can
cilia, a sophomore at Penn State-
Behrend, earned a $lOO award for
his presentation of the engineering
use of computer graphics during an
American Society of Mechanical
Engineers competition held at Penn
State-Behrend last week.
Camilla, a mechanical engineer
ing technology major from
McKean, Pa., will represent th Erie
college when he presents his speech
at the Regional Student Conference
of the ASME, which will be held
March 27-28 at West Virginia
University.
Collegian
PAGE 3
through the veins of diversity is
dance. Dance struck a familiar
chord among Africa's many
peoples. They danced for rains,
crops, children, anger, hope,
mourning or sheer pleasure.
When blacks were cruelly
wrested from their native land,
they buried deep within their souls
all things African. This was born of
necessity, demanded in a white
world which chose to ban such un
cultured culture. And so their
dance changed as the people
adapted to new surroundings. "On
those slave ships when the people
were brought on deck to dance for
exercise, they couldn't move from
left to right, front to back. They
couldn't twist or turn, roll or tum
ble to the ground. They could only
jump up and down, up and down.
And so our dancing changed to a
movement of survival—not for
prayer or anything else, but for us.
It became a way of working out
anger against our captors."
"We are a singing people,"
Primus went on to explain. Secret
societies of blacks working for
their freedom communicated
through song. Christian themes of
the enslaved children of Israel and
Moses who led them to the Promis
ed Land became code words ap
plied to the black plight. Warnings
to stay put and instructions on how
to flee from bondage were sung us
ing tunes that seemed harmless to
and uninitiated listener. Harriet
Tubman, perhaps the best-known
black freedom fighter, led
countless slaves to the Promised
Land on the Underground
Railroad. She heard the singing in
side her soul, urging her to lead her
flock to freedom.
The result of all the forced
change is dance that's too ag
gressive. "One must go back into a
fetal memory to dance the older
dances before slavery," Primus
said. Yet still there remains a po
tent undercurrent of ancient
rhythms in today's music. To
demonstrate, Primus' son, Omri,
joined her onstage and played his
"talking drum" which in Africa is
used to send messages vast
distances from village to village.
One beat soothing, the next wildly
exhilerating, the music carried the
audience on a journey from past to
present and back again.
"So where does all this bring us
now?" someone inquired after
Primus' lecture. "I look forward to
the rising sun of our heritage."
Recently there seems to be a
resurgence of old stereotypes and
hatreds, and that shouldn't be, she
commented. "The mask has slip
ped off again, revealing much
anger. One shouldn't worry about
equal rights. Equal to whom? I've
got to be equal to me, my potential,
-not anybody else's... This is the
period of togetherness. We need to
work together for the common
good of all."
Tom Gibbs, a senior mechanical
engineering and technology major
at Penn State-Behrend, received a
second place award of $75 in the
college competition for his presen
tation of the design of a centrifugal
pump.
The competition was part of the
, first official meeting of the Penn
,State-Behrend Mechanical
,Engineering Club. During the
meeting, David Harrington, vice
- president of Region Five of the
American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, presented the club with
its official ASME charter.