the Penn State-Behrend
December 10, 1987
Rewriting the Constitution
by Holly Lew
Collegian News Editor
It's the 200th anniversary of our
nation's Constitution and Penn
State Erie, the Behrcnd College has
got some new constitutional
guidelines. Guidelines?... From
Penn State Erie? These guidelines
are for the updating and rewriting
of the constitutions of the over 50
on-campus student run or
ganizations.
In addition to constitutional
guidelines, suggested by the Stu
dent Government Association
(SGA), are guidelines for both con
stitutional By-Laws and Student
Organization Registration and
Policies.
Unlike the vague University Park
guidelines previously followed, the
new ones have suggestions and ex
amples to clear up any ambiguity.
With the new guidelines, an or
ganization will be able to "better
organize and find things quicker,"
said Carl Dabler, president of the
Inter Club Council (ICC).
According to Dabler, a constitu
tion should be the "bedrock" of an
organization, defining the fun
damental elements of organiza
tional structure.
The constitutional guidelines
suggest six articles for inclusion:
Name of the organization, State
ment of purpose, Membership,
Officers (title, election and term),
Meetings, and Amendments and ef
fective date of the constitution_
The guidelines for the By-Laws
suggest 11 articles for inclusion:
Membership, Officers (duties,
And the candidates
are... ?? Uhh. Hmm
by Maria Plaza
Collegian Staff Writer
Are you registered to vote? If so, congratulations, you're a minority.
It's a fact that less than half of Americans between the ages of 18 and
24 vote, and even fewer take an active interest in decisions that shape
their lives and the country's future.
Such alarming apathy was one of the reasons behind the formation of
Behrend's new Political Awareness club. According to Kevin Trenney,
first semester Political Science major and organizer of the club, its
goals are to "promote interest in political activity" and to raise the
"level of political consciousness" of students.
Next semester, the club will sponsor a voter registration drive, which
Trenney feels is "very important." The club is also planning activities
with current events, debates, guest speakers, opinion polls and small
scale political rallies featuring candidates and representatives.
The upcoming U.S. presidential election makes the goals of the club
even more important. The club wants to inform students about the can
didates, possibly through a prospectus sheet with each candidate's
background and stand on issues.
Trenney stressed that the club will be non-partisan (not supporting a
particular party or platform.) Instead it will try to "inform students
about candidates and their party's platforms so they will vote as infor
med citizens, not simply according to family tradition. Citizens need to
realize that parties change," said Trenney. He added that the club will
try to "promote interest and inform rather than influence."
Involvement in politics, Trenney said, gives the power to correct in
justices and change things you don't like. Don't be an armchair
quarterback—Get involved."
Anyone interested in the Political Awareness Club should contact
Kevin Trenney at ext. 6524.
Following the leader
by Trinette Zawadzki
Collegian Staff Writer
Are you curious about how and
why people become involved, not
to mention become leaders? Well,
next semester, Behrend will offer
S&BS 2978, a one credit course
focusing on leadership skills
development called Student
Leadership in the Co-curriculum.
"This class is set up for any stu
dent who wants to learn about
leadership skills," said John
Downey, Assistant Dean of Student
Services and instructor of the class.
Downey hopes that the class will
teach students to get involved out-
removal, voting powers, vacancies,
election procedures), Meetings,
Dues & fees, Committees, Finan
ces, Advisor, External affiliations,
Major programming & services,
Amendments and effective date of
the By-Laws, and a miscellaneous
option.
Dabler also said that because of
the "open interpretation" of the
guidelines, they were reviewed
over five times by John Downey
(Asst. Dean of Student Services
and Advisor to ICC), Chris Reber
(Dean of Student Services), Jamie
Grimm (Asst. Dean of Student Ser
vices), Matt Farkas (SGA Presi
dent), Tom Wilkinson (TOTH
President) and others who were in
terested in getting the new
guidelines affected. '
The guidelines did not require
University Park approval. Although
UP is also working on a revision of
the old guidelines, uncertainty
about the approach to take
prompted Behrend to go ahead and
design its own set of guidelines.
Evenwhile the guidelines were
pending approval by the SGA, or
ganizations not yet chartered were
already using them because, ac
cording to Dabler, "it's helping
them to write their constitutions a
lot faster, plus it thoroughly lets
them know some of the organiza
tional structure they need within
their organization, serving a two
fold purpose."
For more information regarding
the guidelines, contact Carl Dabler
in the ICC office or call ext. 64.52.
side the classroom. "Taking this
class will let you learn more about
leadership, the Behrend campus it
self, why people get involved,... "
said Downey.
Some things that can be learned
through this class are: student
development theory,. communica
tion skills, values clarification, mul
ticultural-racism issues, dealing
with planned changes in an or
ganization, and the conflict resolu
tion.
According to Downey, "this
course will be effective, because of
presenters such as John Lilley
o le e ian
STATION ROAD, ERIE, PA 16563
-- .
Students involved in murder mystery
by Steven Lee
Contributing Writer
They're one semester closer to
graduating with honors, but what
have our 31 first Honors Program
students been doing besides earning
.eaviable CPAs? Some_ of_the inter
esting activities they've par
ticipated in are: dinner with the
Voyager Crew, talking to former
CIA Agent Peter James, a seminar
about genetic engineering, and a
trip to Buffalo.
Also notable, and unusual, was
the "Murder Mystery Party." Plan
ned as an activity for next semester
as well, the Murder Mystery Party
involved Jamie Grimm, Assistant
Dean of Student Services, and
Coordinating your career
by Marjorie Suroviec
Collegian Staff Writer
Tami Greig, acting Career
Development and Placement Ser
vices (CDPS) Coordinator finds
that her job responsibilities include
planning career workshops,
coordinating on-campus recruit
ment and counseling students to
make their interviewing and job
skills stronger.
Greig, who has been here for
about three months, was hired as
the Coordinator to replace
Marybeth Peterson, who is on
maternity leave. Greig moved from
Boston, Massachusetts to Erie, and
with that move she brought ex
perience which includes a Masters
in Education from Harvard and ex
perience in counseling psychology.
Her education and experience
provide her with the necessary
skills for handling her respon
sibilities as acting Coordinator.
Her responsibilities include a lot
of "how to". work. Workshops such
as "How to conduct a job search"
and "How to create a resume"
cover information that is extremely
important for all students, not only
seniors, to know.
(Provost and Dean), Jack Burke
(Associate Provost) a United Way
representative and a leader from the
local community... hopefully from
the Mayor's office. And it will have
interaction exercises, making it ac
tive learning instead of passive
learning."
You can be a leader and have fun
learning to be one. This class is for
everyone, and it's easy to add to
your schedule. For further informa
tion regarding S&BS 2978, contact
John Downey at ext. 6155, or stop
up in the Office of Student Services
in the Reed Union Building.
RES
DERE
several Honor students who dressed
in early 20th Century costume and
tried to solve a murder mystery.
Next semester more co-cur
ricular activities are planned. Be
sides the Murder Mystery Party, a
trip to Toronto is hoped for.
purpose of these - activities-is
to allow the student to learn things
outside the classroom while having
fun, and according to Mari Trenkle,
coordinator of the Honors Program,
since the program is being phased
in yearly, 14 freshmen have already
been accepted for next year,
making our total of Honors
Program students 45.
"We're really pleased to see this
happen because the Honors
Program has been available at all
"It is important to know that we
don't hand out jobs. We lead to
openings and help students to
develop good working skills," said
Greig. These skills, even if not used
immediately, provide exposure to
information which will be helpful
to students in the future.
Other four-year colleges have
career placement services which
students really utilize. "Some
students don't take advantage of
our service, and that's a shame.
Eventhough students are very busy;
it would be very beneficial if they
could pick up workshop brochures
to use at a later date. It's hard to
find a job, but if students came to
the workshops now, then during the
summer when they're looking for a
job, they could bring these
materials out and study them," said
Greig.
Besides workshops being presen
ted regularly, they often feature
guest speakers who are actual
employers. "What do employers
Inside this issue. • •
Dairy Delinquency P. 3
Poetry Corner p. 4
`Cold Turkey' IL 5
Who's Who p. 6
NEM
4.Nv
t e ,,7 V . l
741:
the other campuses," said Trenkle.
Every campus has a two-tier sys
tem: a 2-year Honors Program and
a 4-year University Scholars
Program. Unfortunately, none of
our Honors students are University
Scholars.
• To" eligible,: a highse.hool
senior must. have a predicted GPA
of at least 3.25 or 1300 on the
SATs. An Honors student must take
seven honors credits per year.
Students interested in entering
the Honors Program should contact
Trenkle at the Office of Continuing
Education located just off Jordan
Road. They should then take an
Honors course to see if it is agree
able. If he or she earns a GPA of
3.5, you will be automatically in-
look for?" featured a repesentative
from the Hammermill Paper Com
pany, which Ernst Behrend helped
found.
These workshops are very useful
in preparing students for interviews
but they are not the only prepara
tion offered by the Career and
Placement Service. Interviews can
also be set up for students through
interview request forms, which are
sent to University park. When the
student qualifies for a position, an
interview date is arranged. The stu
dent then travels to UP and has his
or her screening test.
These interviews begin again in
late January. Students are allowed
to use this interviewing process at
University Park up until one semes
ter after graduation. "It would be
nice to see more involvement,"
said Greig, "because it's a great
opportunity."
"Students who don't use this
service and who don't go to the
workshops are really missing out
Volume XXXVI, No. 7
e
_
.14.1
7
vited to join the program. If you
earn a 3.65, he or she will be in
vited to join the University
Scholars Program.
There are many privileges gran
ted to Honors Program students.
They are able to register early, be
cause according-to Trenktc, — they
have to be able to build a schedule
around the Honors courses, and
since we only offer 2 or 3 Honor
courses per semester, they have to
take that course." They also have
special library privileges and spe
cial access to the computer
facilities. Finally, they may be of
fered Academic Excellence
Scholarships.
on something good. For instance, a
management student who gives us
copies of his or her resume can get
called to interviews if an employer
wants to see all the resumes of
students interested in managerial
positions," said Greig. If a student
doesn't have a resume on file, he
won't find out about that job open
ing.
To keep students informed about
job skills, the Career Development
and Placement Services also dis
tributes Careers Magazine, inter
view manuals, samples of resumes
and cover letters, and other inter
viewing necessities. Eventhough
Greig is leaving on Dec. 18, CDPS
will still be on the first floor of the
Reed union Building, across from
the bookstore.
If you are a student concerned
about your future, check out this
service so when you check out a
job, you'll be more prepared than
your competition.