4 I FRIDAY, March 18, 2005 Groups encourage break from eating meat By Jacqueline Haber COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jmhsl2@psu.edu Signs proclaiming "Kick the habit!" at the Allen Street Gates encouraged stu dents yesterday to cut meat out of their diet in honor of the Great American Meatout. "We were handing out vegan food samples ... vegan gummy bears, animal crackers, and something similar to Rice Krispies Treats," said Jessica Parry, president of Alliance for Animal Rights. The Great American Meatout, the world's largest grassroots diet educa tion campaign, was started in 1985 by Alex Hershaft, president of the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM). "There are about 1,000 of these events in communities in all 50 states," he said. Hershaft added that most events take place around March 20. "It's a symbolic day because it's the CASTING SHADOWS Kassia Pisklak/Collegian Lauren DeMoss (freshman-art education) works on a project for her ART 111 (Ideas as Objects) class in the Visual Arts Building yesterday. The class is currently working with foam to create various sculptures. Study: Hazers participate more in their community By Sarah Goldfarb COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I sbgl46@psu.edu While hazing has conventionally held a negative connotation, a recent study found that students who engage in haz ing rituals have higher participation rates in positive team-building activi ties. The study, Prevalance and Profiling: Hazing Among College Students and Points of Intervention, was released in the March-April issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior. It found that, despite its illegality in 44 states including Pennsylvania 37 percent of current undergraduate students have participated in hazing at some point of their college careers. Shelly Campo, an assistant professor at the University of lowa who conduct ed part of the study, said a correlation was found between students hazing and participating in positive team build ing activities, such as fundraising and community service. 'Although we don't want to promote hazing, the groups that participate in such activities also spend an extensive amount of time par ticipating in volunteer work and leader ship activities," she said. The study defines hazing as activities that are required for initiation or con tinued membership in an organization and may negatively impact the physical or psychological well-being of the indi- "The last non-scientific survey we conducted showed that about five percent of our population identifies with eating vegetarian or vegan food at least a majority of the week." first day of spring, a symbol of renewal Parry added that at least 15 people and new growth," Hershaft said. "But signed pledges yesterday to abstain we tell people that they can start lvege- from meat for at least one day. tarianisml anytime." Nelson-Bunge, a vegan, said she also Terri Nelson-Bunge, founder of urges others to give up meat. Humanity for Animals, hosted the edu- "I've been a vegetarian for over 20 cation campaign in State College by dis- years and a vegan for the past 10," she tributing hundreds of flyers to anyone said. "It's not hard at all. I actually have passing by, asking them to pledge their endless amounts of energy now" abstinence from meat for at least a day. Michele Newhard, a Penn State food "I've been doing Humanity for Ani- services program specialist, also advo mals for about three or four years now," cates the vegetarian food options on the she said. dining hall menus. vidual, and cause damage to others, public property, or private property "Members of the greek system, choral groups, athletic teams, it doesn't matter what sort of organization," Campo said. "Hazing exists in a lot of different places and exists anywhere where there is a sense of status that needs to be earned." Fraternity and Sorority Life Director Kevin Kerr said that although he did not know a specific number of hazing cases, he thinks the amount of hazing at Penn State is much less than the national average. "If a student or organization violates the hazing statement or the Pennsylva nia hazing law, the Office of Judicial Affairs or the State College Police will reprimand appropriately," he said. Kerr said he was not familiar with the study and was unable to comment about the increase in positive team building activ ities among students hazing. Jane Neitz, assistant director of fra ternity and sorority life, said she believes that like most other large pub lic schools, especially those in the northeast, hazing is an issue at Penn State. "We can try to educate people about both the issues surrounding the long term physical and psychological effects of being both hazed and being a hazer," she said. "But until society as a whole changes, it will be nearly impos t LOCAL Michele Newhard Penn State food services program specialist Hazing statistics Percentage of students participating in hazing activities Engaging or simulating Tied, taped up sexual acts or confined Drinking games/contests Source: American Journal of Health Behavior sible to eradicate hazing completely" Interfraternity Council (IFC) Presi dent Brian Bertges said hazing could be a problem not only in the greek com munity, but in most organizations, and is even an issue among high school stu dents. "Here at Penn State, the IFC takes hazing seriously," he said. "There are serious infractions for chapters violat ing the hazing policy" Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman said although it may be an issue among athletes at some colleges, hazing is not a problem with his soccer team. "We have extensive programs that educate athletes and make sure it does n't happen," he said. "Hazing is an issue that can really hinder any athletic program we won't allow it here." Newhard added that the growing veg etarian population has increased the demand for meatless menu options. "The last non-scientific survey we conducted showed that about five per cent of our population identifies with eating vegetarian or vegan food at least a majority of the week," she said. Parry, a vegetarian since the age of four, decided to become a vegan when she graduated high school two and a half years ago. "The food is good," she said. "Fake meats taste the same [as regular meats]." Newhard added that some vegetarian entrees are popular amongst all stu dents eating in the dining halls. "There are some crossover favorites like the Italian Spiral Primavera that non-vegetarians also like," she said. "One of my personal favorites is the multi-grain pancake for breakfast." Ed Ketz, associate professor of accounting, said the salary gap is due to the supply and demand within each college. "When a college has a large demand for professors, they are more likely to pay more to hire them," he said. "It has nothing to do with the fact that one college is more powerful or better than anpther." In addition, the report showed that professors' salaries at each of Penn State's Commonwealth Campuses are lower than at University Park. Each Commonwealth Campus averages $95.4 million in the total sum paid to professors. J. Randall Woolridge, a member of the faculty benefits com mittee, said this was because Penn State's Commonwealth Campuses are not competing against the same schools as University Park "At University Park, our two main Web site lets students contact potential jobs It's that time of the year again, and students have already to begun to search for jobs after graduation. lb help their quest, Penn State has joined the 65 schools who can access Joboozle, a free Web site that allows students to communicate with poten tial employers. The mission of the Web site, www.joboozle.com, is to provide stu dents and employers with a more per sonalized approach to internships for the job recruiting process. "It really differentiates from other networking sites because it brings so much more personal interaction with students and employers," said Kwame Osseo-Asare, Joboozle's president of university and media relations. "You can't really get that anywhere else." The site was created by a team of six seniors from Harvard University Dart mouth University and Boston Univer sity who wanted to give students the opportunity to access more than 2,600 company profiles: The profiles include information on the history of the company and contact information of recruiters. Students also have the chance to view other interested candidates and see how they stand in relation to other students at their school and in their major. Chris Weed (senior-chemical engi neering) said the recruiting Web sites he currently uses don't offer all the services he needs. "If Joboozle helps me look for a job in a more efficient way, then I will definitely use it," he said. "Seeing other applicants will help me so I know what I'm up against." Jeremy Drey/Collegian Salaries for faculty next year set to rise By Jenna Spinelle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER jcssooo@psu.edu A report presented by the University Faculty Senate on Tuesday showed the median salary of Penn State profes sors for the 2003-04 academic year was $101,169 a number that is set to rise, Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said. The report showed a salary increase of 33.8 percent at University Park in 2003-04, which ranks Penn State's professor salaries the third highest in the Big Ten. The report showed the median salary differed significantly by college. For example, the average salary of a professor in the Smeal College of Busi ness is $140,530, while the average salary of a professor in the College of Arts and Architecture is $75,528. "The variability in faculty salaries is likely due to several interactive factors including, but not limited to mean years in rank, college discipline and departmental norms, and merit-based salary increases," the report said. Kendig said that although the amount of faculty salaries will not be determined until after Penn State's budget is finalized this summer, the amounts will most Rely increase. "Supplementing the salary pool in order to stay competitive has been one of our top priorities for years, so an increase is planned for next year," he said. By Jasmin McCannll FOR THE COLLEGIAN THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Parry said that she avoids using prod ucts tested on animals. "Paul Mitchell and Bath & Body Works products are all animal-friendly," she said, talking over shouts of "I love meat!" from a passerby. Parry said the only type of resistance she's experienced during her campaign ing are comments from passersby. "You get that a lot at these [types of events]," Parry said. Despite the outbursts, Parry and Nel son-Burge said they will be protesting in front of the Bryce Jordan Center dur ing the weekend of April 16 when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to State College. Andrea Kurzweg (senior-broadcast journalism) said she will also be protest ing the circus. "I've been a vegan for about a year and half to two years now ... I just don't think it's right for people to eat other creatures," Kurzweg said. Faculty salaries Average annual salary for professors broken down by college. '~ ° t TL~ze f ... ;;, Iyj~~ 3 v ~".k ~ _ if.:za 0 30 60 90 120 150 Salaries (Thousands of dollars) Source: Faculty Senate report competitions are Ohio State and Michi gan State, which are two very big and very powerful schools," he said. "The Commonwealth Campuses generally compete against schools in a smaller market, so they do not need to pay as much to stay competitive." Kendig said it is important for Penn State to stay competitive nationally, not only among Big Ten schools. "We try to recruit the best possible faculty from all over the country," he said. "In order to do that, we need to make sure that our salaries are com petitive with other institutions." Woolridge said it is not uncommon for faculty members to receive offers from other colleges, or for Penn State to lure professors away from compet ing institutions. He added that the State College area sometimes works as a disadvantage for professor recruitment. "There aren't very many other opportunities, especially in the business community." Jack Rayman, MBNA Career Ser vices director, said he is a bit skeptical about how successful Joboozle will be. "There are thousands of Web sites out there just like this one, and the majority of them tend to die out rather quickly," he said. "Maybe this one will be different. We will see with time how popular it becomes." Joboozle's creators said they were aggravated with what they considered "inefficient" job recruiting systems. The idea was conceived about a year ago when Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Thefacebook.com, participated in cor porate recruiting and decided he want ed to create an avenue where students and employers could interact. Osseo-Asare said there is no affilia tion between Thefacebook and Joboo zle. Currently, the most popular compa nies are those in finance and consult ing, but the team is hoping to repre sent more companies in other fields as the site becomes open to more univer sities. "Joboozle covers companies across all industries and is working to expand with media, marketing, science and technology and non-profit organiza tions," said Christopher Hill, Joboo zle's corporate relations president. Co-founder Paul Rosania created a calendar feature on the Web site that will send out e-mail reminders to stu dents about recruiting deadlines. Aaron Swartz (senior-recreation and park management) said he would not need Joboozle's resources for his job search. "In my field, getting a job is by recommendation and experience," he said. Jeremy Dray/Collegian