Page 3 Toe : The Lion’s Eye April 28, 2010 Pir WAS LLB AON LAY Penn State Brandywine: It’s the Real Deal By daniel j. taylor - Lions Eye Campus Editor - djt5036@psu.edu So you’ve found Penn State Brandywine! Whether you are already a student or just prospec- tive Lion who had this paper handed to them, Penn State has surely already held some appeal for you, and it should! Penn State is an incredible institution, educating more students than any other university in the Northeastern United States and offering over 160 baccalaureate and 20 associate majors. With 20 The campus is located wonderfully, with just a half hour commute to Philadelphia, twenty min- utes to West Chester, and twenty-five minutes to the Parthenon of local shopping: the King of Prussia Mall. With over two dozen museums, nightclubs, historical buildings, and an amazing sports complex, the boun- ties of Philadelphia are not foreign to Brandywine students. Our students have the benefit of access to all mitted to diversity and extracurricular education. For instance, the Gay-Straight Alliance promotes student unity, the Society of Caribbean Americans and the Black Student League are dedicated to ensuring the spread of unity and knowledge throughout campus, and the Lion’s Eye Newspaper provides “real world,” hands-on experience in the areas of writing and busi- ness. undergraduate campuses in the Penn State system from which to choose, deciding where to start and finish one’s collegiate education can be quite daunt- ing. There are small campuses (such as Shenango or New Kensington), medium-sized campuses (such as Berks or Altoona), and of course one huge campus (University Park). In terms of nuts and bolts, Penn State Brandywine is a small-to- medium-sized campus in a suburban atmosphere. It is in the lowest tier in terms of tuition, costing approxi- mately $11,450 for in-state students and $17,460 for out-of-state students and usually has just over 1,600 registered students. Learner-teacher relationships are fostered in classes which have an average size of only 24 students and a student-to-faculty ratio of just 17.4:1. Additionally, the Brandywine campus 1s incredibly diverse, as over 23% of the student body is non-white. Nine baccalaureate degrees and three associate degrees are available to the campus’ student body. The average age of Penn State Brandywine students is 21 years old, and almost 90% of students are under 25. Compared to the other Penn State campuses, Brandywine is definitely one of the best available, with plenty of opportunities that make it unique from the rest. Although some students disdain the com- muter status of Brandywine, there is no PSU campus (including University Park) which houses a majority of its students on-campus, meaning that no matter what campus a student attends, there will be a large community of commuters. In fact, there are nine ad- ditional campuses at which 100% of the student body commutes to classes. cancer. the amenities of an urban school with the quiet and tranquility of a suburban area. Moreover, for Penn State events held at the main campus in University Park, a weekend trip is not much different than a weekend at the beach. Just three hours from State College, Penn State Brandywine students are by no means excluded from athletic events, Blue & White Weekend, or THON, the culmination of the world’s largest student-operated philanthropy which benefits research attempting to tackle the evils of childhood Penn State Brandywine students have a strong sense of pride, as reflected in their recent elec- tion of the Pride Party to lead the Student Govern- ment Association, one of several significant campus organizations. The organizations on campus are com- The students of this campus work to benefit people internationally, as well. In 2009, students and faculty teamed up in an effort to raise $7,000 to create an irriga- tion system for an Afghan village. The money raised was donated to the non-profit organization Traveling Mercies. Similarly, this year, students and faculty have come together and exceeded all goals, allowing them to donate an abundance of educational supplies to a damaged Haitian elementary school. Students at Penn State Brandywine learn more than formulas and sentence con- struction. They also learn how to function in an increasingly interwoven world by both organizing and becoming involved in efforts which uplift humanity globally. But perhaps the most beautiful thing about the Brandywine campus, excluding it’s award-winning landscaping, is the fact that every student here actually matters. The undergraduate research completed by our students has multiple outlets for display, not the least of which is EURECA (Exposition of Under- graduate Research Enterprise and Creative Accom- plishment), and the clubs and organizations on campus make real differences both on campus and in the local and not-so-local communities. The internships held by our working students can be at either small busi- nesses in Middletown and Media or in huge corpora- tions in Philadelphia. Our intramural and intra-Uni- versity athletics enable students to be leaders on the court or field and our well-organized Honors program opens up that same opportunity in the classroom. It’s hard to find a Penn State campus with as much diversity among its students, as much local appeal to its students, as much opportunity for its students, and as much appreciation of its students as is offered here, at Penn State Brandywine. SGA Election Recap By Martina Delgado - Lion's Eye Staff Writer mdd5126@psu.edu This year’s SGA elections were truly memorable in that there were many participants to run. According to Brittney Walker, there was a twenty percent voter turnout between April 13th and 15th. Scattered around campus were countless posters and signs from each running party to appeal to the voters. Debate day was held in the Lion’s Den April 12th and stu- dents filled the Den from wall to wall. A fiery debate which lasted the entirety of common hour was filled with questions by the student body. Kelly-Ann Woods, prospective president of the Melting Pot Party, pressed that her party’s diversity could appeal to all students no matter what race, religion, or gender. Kenny Peifer, prospective president of the 2013 Party, argued that his experience would benefit the student body more than the other candidates and more than the outgoing SGA. Jerry Fokas, presi- dent elect of the Pride Party, showed his Penn State pride by expressing his desires to promote the campus’ diversity amongst other PSU campuses. Athletes took a stand and asked candidates their intentions for the Athletic Department. Clubs, from THON to the Lion’s Eye, inquired about the ability for the incoming SGA party to benefit them financially. When contacted about last com- ments on the election Kelly-Ann Woods and Kenny Peifer did not respond in time for publication. Jerry Fokas expressed his appreciation for the voters’ choice. “The elections went well. There was a historic voter turnout, and each party worked very hard during the campaign process. I would like to personally thank everyone who helped the PRIDE party, and all those who took the time to vote. Now it is time to get this show on the road, and the PRIDE party is looking for individuals interested in Committee/Officer positions. Contact bmc5269@psu.edu (Bobbi Caprice) if you are interested.” In the end, April 16th it was announced by a campus wide e-mail that Jerry Fokas and the Pride Party had won the SGA elections. The new SGA is as follows: President: Jerry Fokas, Vice President: Bobbi Caprice, Secretary: Steph Tracy, and Treasurer: Vinny Gallo. The new party will be sworn in April 21st at the Leadership Recognition Night at Spm in the Lion’s Den. The Lion’s Eye would like to extend our congratulations to the Pride Party; however, not all students feel the same way. In the last minutes before print Kenny Peifer had this to say, “Ill say this from an advertising stand point the election was unfair because me and the other party didn’t have that kind of money for advertisements like the pride party did. Also I will not be apart of SGA next year even as a chair of a committee because I feel that the pride parties lack of academics on business and politics is going cause the consistency to be worse than this year. By the consistency being worse would make me look bad. I'm not trying to make myself look like a bad because the pride party is a joke [sic].”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers