February 6, 2006 The Lion's Eye Page 7 Cats Beware! The Dog is in Town By Gerry Dungan and Sharon Achilles Lion's Eye Staff Writers mdl38@psu.edu, saal 92@psu.edu Cats beware, this is the year of the dog. Penn State Delaware County's Asian Club celebrat- ed this year's Chinese New Year in the Classroom Building last week. The campus-wide event was hosted by Asian Club president, Truman Nguyen and sophomore club member Sheri Chu. "People born in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature," Chu said during the opening cer- emony. They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest and inspire other people's confidence because they know how to keep secrets." The first act in the program, the Lion dance, a cus- tomary treat, ushered in the Lunar New Year. Next, the returning Peter Tang Ensemble played traditional Chinese music to a crowd of students trickling in from the rain. Students and faculty were drawn in by the warming smell of the free Asian lunch provided by the Lion's Pit and Chu's aunt who owns a restaurant in Chinatown, as well as the engaging sounds of the Peter Tang Ensemble. "It was great, Peter Tang was hype... entertaining," said Junior Kidesti Teklegiorgis, "he was telling the crowd to clap." At one point during their performance, he invited audience members to play the traditional instruments with the ensemble. The quick pace of the event's program nearly missed a proper introduction to the next act. University of Delaware student, Minh Vu, an instructor at the American Martial Arts Institute in Delaware, performed Kung Fu katas. Although he was entertaining, he was also danger- ously close to the audience. The final leg of the program was a prize raffle that per- Peter Tang joins Truman Nguyen and Sheri Chu suaded the remaining audience to remain at the event. However, the overall attendance at this year's Chinese New Year Celebration appeared to be weak. Dr. Seonjun Kim, Advisor of the club, noted that "last year there were around 150-200 students in attendance, we will continue to grow more." Unfortunately, this year, in comparison, only 107 stu- dents attended, according to the sign in sheet. Although, Kim noted that "more Asian students from the club helped this year, more non-asian club students helped. ..like with the decorations." Still a handful of reasons for the poor attendance were given. When Nguyen was asked about the low turn out, he responded, "the rain of course," and added "there are always those who don't sign in." "A lot of people didn't show up," said Teklegiorgis, "I think that it had to do with the weather... last year it was packed." A lack of advertising and preparation were also men- tioned as for the low turn out. . The Kung Fu performance and raffle were not adver- tised. Some of the items that were given out in the raffle were Wind Chime Pagodas, gourmet chop sticks, posters of Jet Li, and Bruce Lee, Peter Tang's CD, a Hello Kitty collectable, and a "lucky" bamboo shoot. Shortly after the event the Asian Club began to make plans for remainder of the semester and next year, Kim said, "They plan to bring guest speakers from Chinatown to campus, participate with multi-cultural day, and host a campus wide poker night for their fundraising." Despite the rain and lack of preparation, "Chinese New Year is a very popular campus event ... as soon as people heard it, they came in," concluded Nguyen. Blazing Blankets Fire Up Delco Students Rt. 352 Construction Greenlighted For Community Service By Kat Specht Lions Eye Staff Writer kvs5045@psu.edu Usually, when people want to get involved with community service, they will think about going to soup kitchens, helping out at a blood drive, giving clothing and other items to Goodwill, or other common activities. Faculty, students, and community alike are coming together to participate in Project Linus by putting their fingers to the test to create blankets for children in hospitals through a club here on cam- pus called The Knittany Lion Needleworks Group. The club began in the early Spring of 2002, courtesy of the brainstorming, drive and love for needlework of Dr. Laura Guertin, the assistant professor of Earth Sciences here on campus. Diana Shorter, the campus' Student Life Specialist, joins Guertin in heading the club. Each blanket's design is unique and can take anywhere from a half an hour to a few months to make, depending on how difficult the design and how many people are working on it. The Knittany Lion Needleworks Group has kept very busy with yarn drives to gather supplies and monthly events. On Thursday, Feb. 16, they will be participating in National Make A Blanket Day on campus at 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event's theme is "Blankets on FIRE," using only yellow, red, and black yarn to honor our firefighters. They have started to make shawls, hats, and mittens as well, for the cold, bitter winter weather. Mittens are very difficult to make and more people are needed to make them. Anyone willing to help out should contact either Guertin or Shorter. "Don't be intimidated," was the advice that Shorter had for anyone that has an interest in becoming a new member to the Knittany Lion Needleworks. Don't think that you need years of experience knitting, crocheting, or sewing to be a member either. There have been numerous additions to the club that came wanting to learn how to knit and crochet, and there are always people ready to teach. For more information on The Knittany Lion Needleworks Group, you can go to Student Life or check them out on the web at: http://www .knit- tanylionneedleworks.org. After 15 Year PennDot Planning Written by Michelle Roche Lions Eye Staff Writer mcer5013@psu.edu After 15 years of planning, PennDot is finally setting up a red light at the inter- section of Old Middletown and Yearsley Mill roads. Safety, for many years, has been a major concern for students both merging onto Old Middletown and crossing it to reach Yearsley Mill. With a traffic light installment, traffic can turn and merge with greater ease, especially around rush hour. The project officially began in the fall of 2005. PennDot expects the completion of the project by October, 2006. The process to plan and carry out with the project has been a long one. "We have had to plan what construction we would want to have done and where the con- struction would take place," said Mike Murphy of PennDot. After planning, the issue needed to be discussed and agreed upon in zoning board meetings because the construction will affect utility lines that the community uses." Through the installment of the red light, Penn State hopes that the safety of the stu- dents, faculty, and staff, as well as resi- dents in the community will be improved. Lines for water and power and other utilities are in the stage of being relocated because of the construction. The campus already experienced a problem with lack of water on January 10. Students were unable to use the bathroom facilities or drink from the water fountains. Construction crews usually begin their work mid-morning and end by 6 pm at the latest. "In addition to doing utility work for this project, we also have to have lines that service the Mirmont Rehabilitation Center down the street, which is undergo- ing construction as well,” said Murphy, “Telephone poles as well as other lines need to be rearranged for the residential community," he said. To avoid the congestion when arriving and departing from school, most Penn State students are taking the back roads instead of Route 352. "I'm upset that they're doing this after I leave," says sophomore Steve Kane, who is transferring up to University Park in Fall 2006. "They kept saying that they would complete the project semester after semester for a long time and nothing has happened. : "The reconstruction with the roads has also caused my car to get a flat tire, and that is the first time that I have ever had a flat tire on the road." Dinosaur of the Month by Dr. Andrew Walter D.D.
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