the Penn State-Behrend
OCTOBER 1, 1987
New generation in Student Services Staff
By Holly Lew
Collegian News Editor
Generating Involvement,
Behrend's new Dean of Students
Affairs, Chris Reber, and new
Assistant to the Dean, John
Downey, commit themselves
toward providing Student Services
with a personal touch.
• "You have a big unviersity—a
huge university—with the option
for students who want to get a
Penn State degree to go to a college
with a small-town atmosphere with
a personal touch," said Downey.
"That's why the most important
thing to me is to make sure that
every student has that personal
touch, that they see the Student
Services staff, they know who the
student leaders are, they know the
faculty member by name ..." add
ed Downey.
Why WBCR
by Maria Plaza
Collegian Staff
According to Kirk Stewart,
WBCR's general manager, the
radio station has been off the air
since a serious equipment malfunc
tion occurred late last semester.
With only a little over $2OO, the
radio club cannot afford to pur
chase replacement equipment.
There is hope in sight, though. A
local benefactor is willing to donate
the money to buy necessary new
eqUipment, but before the dona
tion is accepted, it must be approv
ed by the University. So the WBCR
staff is working to prove that the
station is a worthwhile and produc
tive organization.
Honors programs challenge
by Marjorie Suro'viec
Collegian Staff Writer
This year Penn State Erie-The
Behrend College has not only im
proved the look, of the campus but
has also improved the academic
curriculum. The Behrend College
Honors Program and the Universi
ty Scholars Program are brand new
programs designed to challenge
academically superior students.
"To qualify for the Behrend
Colleege Honors Program, a
freshman must have earned 1200
on his or her SAT or have a
predicted GPA of 3.0 or higher,"
said Mari Trenkle, Honors coor
dinator and administrative assis-
Fall graduation pomped up
by Rebecca Macey
Collegian Staff Writer
ceremony will be held in Erie Hall with all the pomp and
circumstance as traditional graduation ceremonies.
Graduates will be decked out in caps, gowns and tassles,
Due to the steadily increasing number of fall and Dr. Diana Hume-George will serve as commence
graduates, Behrend has outgrown its traditionally infor- meat speaker.
mal graduation procedure. Caps, gowns, music, corn- Dr. George-Hume, professor of English here who
mencement speaker, pomp and circumstance. This year received the Council of Fellows Excellence in Teaching
for the first time at the College, fall graduation will be award, said, "Fall graduates ought to have the same op
held in formal ceremonial style. portunity to cap off their college education with the for-
In past years, fall graduation has been somewhat "no mal ritual that spring graduates have. Although I've
frill, " and this level of informality has stirred up bad never been very comfortable with formal rituals myself,
feelings amongst many of Our past fall graduates. In a I see the symbolic value of them."
letter addressed to Andria Sullivan, former SGA This year Behrend will also have its first two MBA
secretary, a student expressed her disappointment in the graduates, adding to the special air of this occasion.
"casual dress, punch and cookies reception." "We were (The names of these students were not available at the
made to feel second-rate and as if noone wanted to put time of publication).
forth the effort to have a real ceremony after fall Keepsake regalia—caps, gowns, tassles—should be
semester, Didn't we work just as hard?" picked up in the bookstore no later than Oct. 31.
January 9, 1988 at 1 p.m., fall graduates will recieve The snow date for the fall graduation is Jan. 10, 1988
the same treatment as spring graduates do. A formal at 1 p.m.
Lotus courses to be offered
University Relations—Beginning
Oct. 8, Penn State Erie, The
Behrend College, will host Hands-
On Seminars for managers, ex
ecutives - and other high-powered
business people who 'want to find
out how the Lotus computer
package can improve productivity
and profitability.
Sponsored by the Penn State-
Behrend Division of Continuing
Education, the seminar includes an•
Introduction to Lotus 1-2-3 TM
(with sessions held Ot. 8, 15, and
22) and sessions in Advanced Lotus
Observe this open house
University Relations--Star
seekers will be treated to a decadent
supply of celestial delights on Oct. 3
at•B p.m. when the observatory at
Penn State Erie, The Behrend Col
lege opens its doors for another
Open House.
According to Dean Reber,
Behrend's "Generating Involve
ment" theme resulted from exten
Chris Reber appointed Behrend's
Dean of Student Affairs.
' A high management turnover
rate has hurt the station in the past,
says Stewart, but he has high hopes
for the future. "With new manage
ment staff and the reorganization
of WBCR, we will have a continui
ty of management policy and. pro
cedure throughout following
years," said Stewart.
If everything goes according to
plan, the station will reopen
sometime toward the end of next
semester with a new location—the
present bookstore area, which will
become available when the new
bookstore is completed.
New equipment, new manage
ment and a new location aren't
enough to satisfy the WBCR staff
though. One of their primary goals
is to have the station affiliated with
tart for academic affairs. "At the
first level of this two-tiered honors
program; freshman must maintain
a- 3.2 or greater GPA eacli
semester," added Trenkle.
"Presently we have 31 freshmen
enrolled in our program, and I am
really excited about working with
these students," said Trenkle.
The honors program is being
phased in yearly. The next step for
an honor student is to climb to the
second tier, which is the University
Scholar Program. It is possible for
freshmen this year to graduate with
an honors degree if they meet the
guidelines established by the
University.
Although the honors program
sounds like a lot of hard work, it
1-2-3 TM -(Nov. 5, 12, and 19). All
sessions will be held in the General
Electric Foundation Computer
Center located in the college's
Hammermill and Zum buildings.
Karen Cooper, an instructor of
management information , systems
in the Penn State-Behrend School
of Business, , will lead the seminars.
Cooper, formerly a staff member
of the Information Systems Group
at United States Steel's Chemicals
Division headquarters in Pitt
sburgh, Pa., holds a , master's
Dr. Robert Marande, assistant
professor of physics, will host the
free-and-open -to-the-public event,
which will feature glimpses of
.globular clusters, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune. If rain dampens the
mood, Dr. Marande will offer a
of e • ian
STATION ROAD, ERIE, PA 16563
sive studies indicating that involve
ment of students in a college 'en
vironment outside of the im
mediate classroom setting has been
shown to be positively related to
things like academic achievement,
student satisfaction with the college
experience, the likelihood of
students to complete their intended
degree program, and longer-term
career success.
Since the type of involvement
Student Services is aiming for is so
broad, some changes in focus have
been made.
Because "it requires a strong
club and organizational network,"
according to Dean Reber, and
because we have over 50 student
organizations, John Downey's
position was created. Downey
focuses on clubs and organizations,
and leadership development. He
also "equips organizations with a
major opportunity to involve
doesn't- rock
a communications class. According
to Stewart, the WBCR club plans
to remain open even if it becomes
affiliated with a class. "I have ab
solutely no intention of making it
mandatory for management per
sonnel or staff to take any com
munications course," he said. He
strongly feels, however, that sta
tiodwork should be worth credits.
Other plans include the rewriting
of WBCR's constitution with what
Stewart calls "major changes,"
and FCC licencing of all the sta
tion's deejays.
The station's expansion will pro
vide more opportunities for
students in various majors to get
involved. Stewart says the reopen
ed station will have a new manage
ment position for a marketing
also involves many social activities.
"Mini faculty seminar with topics
ranging from economics to interna
tional terrorism, off-campus plays
and meetings with famous per
sonalities are just a few of the
social activities that we are plann
ing for our honor students," said
Trenkle.
An honors program would not
be complete without faculty ad
visors. Puma Das, assistant pro
fessor of physics, advises Science
and Engineering students; Dr.
James Kurre, asst. prof. of
economics advises students in the
School of Business; Steven
DeHart, asst. prof. of German and
Humanities, advises the division of
Humanities and Social Sciences;
degree in information science from
the University of Pittsburgh. She is
currently pursuing her doctorate in
information science.
The fee for the Lotus seminars is
$125 per seminar. A special rate of
$2OO per person will be offered to
anyone registering for both the in
troductory and advanced seminars.
Advanced registration is re
quired. For more information or to
register, contact the Penn State-
Behrend Division of Continuing
Education at 898 - 6103.
star-spangled slide
and lecture
Space is limited and reservatios
are required for the open house.
For more information or to reserve
your space beneath the stars, call
898 - 6105:
students," said Dean Reber
Some other Positions developed
to generate involvement are: a full
John Downey focuses on unifying
the student organizational
network.
major.
When it returns to the air,
WBCR will carry commercials for
the first time. Its broadcast day,
says Stewart, will last from 8 a.m.
until midnight at the least, and may
last twenty-four hours if there is
sufficient staff.
Even though they're not on the
air, WBCR's staff is busy planning
fund raisers to pay for equipment
upkeep and the purchase of new
albums. The first event planned is a
lip sync contest and dance cospon
sored by Jet FM 102 which is
scheduled for Friday, Nov. 20 in
the Wintergreen Cafe. WBCR
plans to have cider sales and a
Halloween costume contest to raise
funds.
sttidents
and Michael Chiteman heads the
Division of Undergraduate Studies
(DUS). These advisors will guide
and assist the honor students
throughout their college careers.
"No longer will Behrend College
be looked upon as a feeder campus
or a stop-over on the way to
University Park," said Trenkle.
"This program attracts a better
quality of students, and the corn
munity is excited about this solid
academic program a we are here at
Penn State," said Trenkle.
For more information concern
ing the University Scholars and
Behrend College Honors pro
grams, contact Mari Trenkle at 898
- 6160. •
GE donates K.E.S.L.E.Y.
Recently Penn State Erie - The
Behrend College received a
generous donation of equipment
from the General Electric Founda
tion Cothpany. The donation con
sists of several site-of-the-art
series-one programmable control
systems.
EET instructor here, Roger A.
Kuntz used his 11 years experience
at GE to obtain the equipment for
Inside this issue. . .
Freshman Corner pg. 2
Letters to the Editor pg. 4
Music Review: R.E.M pg. 5
Reptile World pg. 8
NFL Predictions pg. 9
presentation
by Jennifer Dilettuso.
Collegian Staff Writer
time Intramural Director, Robert
Peck; a Minority Cettftseler, Vera
Lee Byrd; and a Nurse Practioner.
The Student Services staff has a
rejuvenated sense of its unique role
in the college student's educational
experience.
"We know—it's not just a hunch
-we know that it is important for
the average student io have a
wholistic kind of college ex
perience; learning happens inside
as well as outside the classroom,"
said Dean Reber. Unlike classroom
Election
The votes have been tallied and the results are in.
Inter Club Council VP - Heidi Gebhart
Student Programming Council VP - Karin Lee Shrum
Student Government Association VP - Maria Savoldi
Commuter Senators - Elizabeth Buck, Andrew Festa, Tina McGinnis,
Gerald Nicks, Matt Savacool, John Schaaf
The two new freshmen senators are Orlando Cruz and Michael Fekete.
Cruz, from Miami, FL, feels he can "make a significant impact on the
policies of the SGA. I want to get the freshman class more involved with
their government," by providing an active voice in SGA meetings. Cruz
has goals but says he needs to know what the freshmen want. He en
courages students with suggestions to talk to either himself or Fekete.
Fekete, devoting most of his time to the freshman class, said, "I'm not
on any other committes because I feel it is important to dedicate my time
to what I feel is most important so I can get the best results." Mike plans
to write a column in the Collegian to keep the freshmen informed and
involved.
To find out more details about what our student government is doing,
the senators, encourage everyone to attend the weekly SGA meetings,
which are held Wednesdays at 5:30 in Rll6.
Architects win award
by Bill Warner
Collegian Staff Writer
The architectural firm responsi
ble for the design of Penn State
Erie - The Behrend College's Ham
merill and Zurn science buildings
was honored at a recent ceremony
in Pittsburgh.
The firm of Bohlin Powell
Larkin Ciwinski received the merit
award for Achievement in Design
from the Pittsburgh chapter of the
American Institute of Architects
(AIA). The ceremonies took place
at the University of Pittsburgh May
29, 1987.
According to Richard Speicher,
president of the Erie chapter, "The
AIA is far and away he largest pro
fessional architects organization in
the country. Roughly 75. - 80. of
the professional architects in the
US are members of the AIA. The
organization takes a leadership role
in promoting the positive values of
architecture, such as environmental
responsibility and historic
preservation."
Linda Cornwell, the Associate
Director of Development and
use at Behrend. He contacted a
fellow alum, Bob Johnson, who is
an executive general managr in
Valley Forge. Through Johnson,
the K.E.S.L.E.Y. piogram was
ordered. The program consists of a
microprocessor -based computer
that controls other machines,
eliminating the need for human
supervision. GE has a six-mile long
assembly line to build dish Washers
that is completely automated. Two
supervisors test quality , and
packaging, while the new program
mable control systems complete
VOLUME XXXVI, NUMBER 2
learning, learning in what the Stu
dent Services staff calls the "co
curriculum" requires voluntary
student initiative. Student Services
provides many alternatives for lear
ning in the co-curriculum. Dean
Reber considers Behrend a "model
campus in terms of the number op
portunities we have."
Student Services, Dean Reber,
John Downey, Jamie Grimm and
P.J. Brown, is generating involve
ment to help you achieve the
ultimate educational experience.
results
by Liz Fitzgerald
Contributing Writer
University Relations, represented
Penn State-Behrend at the awards
banquet. Cornwell said that the
competition was among
Pittsburgh-based architecural
firms.
To avoid favoritism, the com
petition was judged by a panel of
out-of-town architects. The panel
viewed slides of each building in
volved in the order of their choice.
They said the winning firm was
chosen for several reasons. Its
outstanding designs as well as its
fitting buildings into landscaping
scheme and conformation with the
master plan for the campus were
among the reasons cited. The firm
was also honored with an award
for its design of a children's park in
Huntington, VA.
The Hammermill and Zurn
science buildings house the
engineering and natural sciences
labs as well as classrooms and
faculty offices. Penn State-
Behrend's General Electric Foun
dation Computer Center, which
provides students and faculty with
access to a mainframe computer
and 60 microcomputers, is located
in the Hammermillurn complex.
their assigned tasks. The unit, ap
proximately two feet in length, has
the capacity to control much more
than its larger counterparts.
This donation is especially im
portant because of a limiting
budget of $15,000 for the engineer
ing program. With repair costs and
maintainence, not much is left for
expansion.
The two uses of this equipment
will be to give students hands-on
experience with state-of-the-art
programmable controls and in
research.