Page 2 The Lion’s Eye March 28, 2012 Campus News Girls Write Letters for Future Generations in Honor of Girl Scout's 100th Anniversary By Michelle Varghese - Lions Eye Staff Writer- mav5127@psu.edu On Tues- day, March 13th during common hour, Dr. Guer- tin transformed the Tomezsko lounge into a place for cel- ebration of the 100th Girl Scout Anniversary. Students and staff alike were welcomed to join the celebration by creating letters that will be put in the time capsule, soon to be buried. The capsule will not be reopened for over two decades, in 2037. Some of our faculty members including Dr. Guertin took part in writing letters. Other professors included Susan Fredricks, Julie Stanton, and Sharon Manco who are all current or former Girl Scout lead- ers. They all wrote letters which explained how bring in Girl Scouts helped shape them into the people they are today and what it meant to them. For example, Dr. Guertin’s letter explained that it was her crocheting merit badge in Girl Scouts which eventually led to the inspiration of the Knittany Lion Needleworks. Many Girl Scout troops also made letters for this special event. Dr. Guertin visited some local troops., some of which came out to Brandywine Cam- pus on Monday the 12th. There were six troops from elementary school and one from middle school who participated. Each of them had a Polaroid photo taken which went into the folder which contained their let- ters. In many of the girl’s letters, they told the ‘future’ people who would dig up their capsule to come and find them. An array of questions were also asked within the letters. For example one of the girls asked if, in 25 years, people would still be saying, “Go Green”. Dr. Guertin explained how interesting it was that today’s merit badge programs include Science and Technology as well as Leadership building initiatives. This was not so when was a Girl Scout. The final resting place for the capsule has yet to be determined because of the construction currently underway on campus. For now, Dr. Guertin will keep the time capsule safe. : Egyptian Poet Recites in Lion’s Den in Honor of International Women's History Month By Katy Lola Kulakowski- Lions Eye Staff Writer- kzk5290@psu.edu International Woman’s History Month is month that highlights the contributions of women in history and modern-day society. This celebrated during March in the United States, coinciding with Interna- tional Woman’s Day on March 8. In honor of Interna- tional Woman’s History month, a free-spirited, spoken- word poet, artist from Egypt named Jinahie performed on March 14th in Brandywine’s Lion’s Den. Ntoxake Shange notes that “there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic.” With an innovative style and unique presence, the critically acclaimed Jinahie has performed on BET and in HBO’s Brave New Voices an international poet- ry competition. She brought new meaning to the word, surrender, which is tattooed to her wrist to praise an idea her grandfather taught her years before: the best way to live life is not to fight it. Jinahie introduced a new idea here at Penn State Brandywine: the pot roast poem. A pot roast poem is when people anonymously submit one or a few lines to a singular poem in cor- respondence with whoever has commented before. At the end of her performance, Jinahie read Penn State Brandywine’s poem, which was a tribute to misde- meanors and the beauty of love for one’s child. Watch- ing Jinahie perform is a heart wrenching experience, as she breaks away from the poetry clichés that often speak about the winds, the birds in the trees and the flowers. Jinahie talks about real life dramas and gives an in-depth, exclusive look into her personal story. Jinahie’s poems are a roller coaster of emo- tions, addressing teenage acne, plane turbulence, sex- ual assault and loneliness. The most gut-wrenching poem was one in which she describes her grandmoth- er’s unsolicited female circumcision or genital mu- tilation back in her homeland. Historically in Egypt, female genital mutilation is a procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non- medical reasons. But Jinahie’s underlying theme and what she proclaims to have learned in life is that: “shit happen.” This concept has helped mold Jinahie into the strong female, who is able to cope with life’s trials and tribulations such as female circumcision in such a faint-hearted way. : Jinahie defines her biggest inspiration to be strangers Jinahie declares, that these strangers she meets along her journey tell so many details about the ways of life. All in all, Jinahie seems to pull inspiration from all aspects of her life, such as her dreams and her music. She feels to be truly considered an artist, you must have the ability to find the beauty in every little thing and constantly be inspired. Years from now, Jinahie sees herself continu- ing to perform and dreams of dabbling in music. The talented poet also plays piano and the drums. She as- pires to be immersed in soul hop a sub-genre of con- temporary R&B, which fuses R&B, neo soul, and dance elements with hip hop. After talks of Christian conservatives, sugar cookies and her posse Jinahie leaves Penn State Brandywine with one belief: to fol- low your dreams. As a good friend once told her, “God didn’t give us dreams to see them, but to be them.” Guest Speaker Educates Brandywine on HIV By Kalleen McLauchlin - Lions Eye Staff Writer kmm6327@psu.edu On March 13, 2012, Shahdae Holland came to 203 Commons on our campus to talk to our students about her struggle with HIV and how she overcame it. Holland is an HIV activist who goes around to different schools telling her story. She also works in a support group, where she helps women of all ages from 18 to 75 who also have HIV. Before showing students a power point about her life, Shahdae, 26, gave us some background about the disease. When she asked what we knew about the disease, it was clear that we didn’t know much. Holland told us that HIV has been an epi- demic for over 30 years, with the first case of it being in 1981. She also said that African American women are at the highest risk for getting the disease and you can be as young as 12 and be diagnosed with HIV. There is no cure for HIV, she continued, and the disease affects the immune system, meaning that people with HIV can become sick more easily. After she gave us some quick facts about the disease, she showed us a power point of her life and told us a little bit about herself. Born April 15, 1985, to parents Will and Kathleen, Shahdae grew up in West Chester with her two sisters on her father’s side, Chantel and Chala. At the age of three, her parents broke up, and she moved to Ardmore. She attended Harrident High School, and had a big dream to become a teacher when she was older. The subject she wanted to teach the most was black history. During her senior year of high school, she learned she was pregnant with her then-boyfriend’s child. Although she was scared, she told her parents, to which her father became enraged, telling her she wouldn’t amount to anything. On August 18, 2003, Shahdae got the shock of her life. While getting a checkup, a doctor informs her she has been diagnosed with HIV and en- courages Shahdae to abort the baby. Shahdae says the doctor took “less than ten seconds” to give her this awful news. She told her family, and she admits it was the only time she saw her father cry. Shahdae decided to keep her baby, and began attending West Chester University. She had to take 16 pills a day for her HIV and had 178000 copies of the disease in her system. Shahdae says she experienced no symptoms to warn her that she had the disease. She had gotten the disease from her boyfriend, and since then, she has forgiven him. : On January 23, 2004, Shahdae welcomed a beautiful baby girl by the name of Alisha Marie Williams. On May 10, 2010, Holland graduated from Temple University. It was such a big accomplishment for her and she felt that she got her degree to show her father how far she had come. Since then, Shahdae has lived her life to the fullest and has been a spokesperson for HIV. She has helped many young men and women who have been diagnosed with the disease, and she even received an invitation to be on The Oprah Show, which she declined because she didn’t want to be seen as a victim of AIDS, rather a survivor. Now, she only takes three types of medicine a day and receives medical care at Temple. To this day, she cites her father as her biggest role model. Her father has lived with three types of cancer and crohn’s disease for over 20 years, even when, on multiple occa- sions, doctors told him he was going to die. Holland says if her father can live through cancer, she can live through HIV. She fin- ished off by reading us a poem called “The Dash”, which simply had the message that life is short and sometimes life happens, but you keep living on. Campus to host Regional Undergraduate Research Symposium From University Relations - Special to the Lion s Eye Select Penn State students will present their scholarly research at the Penn State Eastern Regional Un- dergraduate Research Symposium at the Brandywine cam- pus on Thursday, April 19. Anna N. Dhody, curator the of Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadel- phia will serve as the event’s keynote speaker. The Symposium, which is free and open to the public, provides students with a unique opportunity to showcase their work and interact with their peers and pro- fessors from within the Penn State system. Six student pre- senters will go home with top honors. During the event, which takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., a panel of judges will engage with the students to learn more about their research. At the end, they will choose six winners, three in each of the two separate categories: the arts and humanities (including behavioral sciences, business studies and economics) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). First, second and third place in each category will receive an award certificate and a prize. The student researchers will be selected from ap- proximately nine Penn State campuses. They will present their findings on posters or other exhibits that display their work to a general audience. Dhody, whose talk will begin at 1 p.m. and is sponsored by the campus’ annual Spring Lecture Series on Civic and Community Engagement, will discuss a few of the Mutter Museum’s current projects and explain how a nineteenth century museum can have twenty-first century relevance. The Mutter Museum is home to some of the most amazing human anatomical and pathological specimens in the world. It is also an active research institution, and it collaborates with researchers from all over the world in a variety of disciplines, including medicine, epidemiol- ogy, anthropology and the arts. As curator, Dhody, an ex- perienced physical and forensic anthropologist, oversees the Museum’s “disturbingly informative” collection, and works to provide a unique, informative experience for its more than 100,000 annual visitor : Dhody has curated many exhibits; including The Evolution of Birth, Reading the Dead: How Forensic Anthropologists Study Skeletons to Solve Mysteries and The Mutter Ossuary. She is also the author of “The Under- ground Crime Scene: The Use of Archaeological Excava- tion Techniques in the Recovery of Buried Crime Scene Evidence,” a manual currently used by law enforcement agencies in several countries.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers