6 I FRIDAY, OCT. 15, 2010 Commission undecided on zoning proposal By Anita Modi COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After about an hour of discus sion, the State College Borough Planning Commission did not reach a decision on a potential new student housing unit on Beaver Ave. at its meeting last night! But members did request a draft of an ordinance to change standards for the RO zoning des ignation the same designation landowner Henry Sahakian is seeking for the 254 Beaver Ave. property. The property currently stands as an R 2 zone, meaning that it may host fraternity housing, sin gle family dwellings, elderly hous ing, churches, daycares, commu- NRT tackles power in play By Hannah Rishel COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER One set. Two actors. Three acts. No Refund Theater will tackle a small-scale play this weekend with their production of "Oleanna. - The play was per formed last night in 111 Forum and will have two more show times at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the same room. As with all NRT shows, admission is free but donations are accepted. "Oleanna" centers on two char acters: Carol, a college student, and John, her professor. The play is comprised of three acts, one for each of their encounters, all tak ing place in his office. At first John, who is preoccu pied with getting tenure and the new house he and his wife are buying, dismisses Carol's com plaints about a bad grade she received. She insists that she's done everything he's told her to do, but she doesn't understand what he's teaching and is failing the class because of it. John offers to start the class over for her through meetings in his office. Their conversation shifts from talking about the sub ject matter of the class to talking about the institution of college. He complains about the system, despite the fact that he's a profes sor. - If you hate college, then why do you teach it?" Carol asks him at the end of act one. Bise)fflal activist tackles myths By Alyssa Bender COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER "Professional bisexual" Robyn Ochs wants to eliminate the con cept of completely binary sexual orientation in American society. Ochs, whose resume includes talk shows, books, and a slew of keynote speeches, addressed myths about bisexuality in her presentation Thursday evening as part of LGBTA Student Resource Center and UPUA-sponsored National Coming Out Week. She describes varying sexual orientations as "different but not opposite." At the beginning of the event, each person shared one thing they had heard about bisexuality, and the responses were quite varied. While some had heard that bisexu ality does not exist, others had some knowledge about it on some level. Other students said they'd heard that bisexuality is a phase or some thing to get over. Ochs acknowledged that there are many negative stereotypes associated with bisexuality, such as Penn State doctoral programs excel in national rankings By Sarah Peters COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER A number of Penn State's doc toral programs were recognized as some of the best in the country in a report released by the National Research Council (NRC) Eberly College of Science Dean Daniel Larson said he was "pleased and delighted" the col lege performed so well in the rankings, which he said also have an impact on undergraduate stu dents. "It's a testimony to the quality of our faculty and students," Larson nity centers, offices, nursing homes or private schools. An unoccupied fraternity house currently occupies the site. Sahakian, the landowner and proposed developer of the site, requested the property be rezoned to allow for residential housing and commercial retail space. Though he originally pre sented an eight-story building design including 42 four-bedroom units of new student housing, the commission has since downgrad ed the plan to four floors and 26 units. The commission discussed rezoning 254 E. Beaver Ave. as RO, which would allow it to host residential and professional office space, among other uses. In the case of the Beaver Ave. property, the commission consid- Mike DiLullo (senior -supply chain), left and Hannah Cranville (senior public relations and theater) act out a scene during NRT's perform ance of "Oleanna" in the Forum on Thursday evening. In their next meeting it is revealed that Carol has gone to a "group" on campus for help and complained about John's behav ior to the tenure committee, ruin ing his chances of getting the pro motion and buying the new house. Carol's complaints about his sexist and elitist attitude lead him to his breaking point in their third and final meeting. Shade Olasimbo, a NRT mem ber who came to support the group, said that she liked how the characters evolved through the play. In the beginning of the play John has all the power because he's the authority figure and Carol is submissive, but as the play progresses the roles shift and Carol becomes the dominant one in their relationship. In the program, the cast chal lenges the audience to decide who's right: John or Carol? But Olasimbo (junior-broadcast jour nalism) said she didn't side with either character. promiscuity "People don't see real bisexuals," she said. Because of this, many people have skewed views of what it means to be bisexual, she said. Ochs defines bisexuality as being attracted to members of both genders, although not necessarily at the same time, in the same way, or to the same degree. Throughout her presentation, Ochs made jokes and sarcastic comments about the absurdity of the need to prove bisexuality, which many students found help ful. "Humor helps you connect," said attendee Julian Haas (junior-soci ology). Each attendee filled out an anonymous questionnaire, rating themselves on questions about attractions and romantic interests at various times in life. The surveys were collected and redistributed, and each person took on the identity of the person whose questionnaire they received. Students then arranged them selves based on the rankings pro vided and looked at the results. said. "Even though these are graduate programs that are being ranked, it measures the quality of the faculty and the quality of research going on, and that's also very important for the undergrad uate students," he said. Faculty research such as publications, citations and grants was a major factor in the rank ings, Regina Vasilatos-Younken, senior associate dean of The Graduate School, wrote in an e mail. "Penn State has stellar faculty who are leading their fields of study with respect to cutting-edge LOCAL ered insituting an overlay, which would allow the building to open retail businesses and restaurants on the first floor. That wouldn't normally be possible under RO zoning requirements. Ron Madrid, a commission member, suggested the overlay be mandated for all RO-designated buildings in State College to streamline the look of the bor ough. If the mandate is passed, RO property owners considering redevelopment in the future would need to consider reduced building height and commercial use on the ground floor, among other changes to the present standards, Evan Myers, Planning Commission chairman, said. The commission decided to "I ended up disliking them both," she said. "Neither of them are right." Michael Bones echoed her opinion. don't think either of them are right, but I don't think either of them are wrong either," Bones (senior-English and philosophy) said. He added the play was a very interesting portrayal of teacher student relationships and power structures. He said that it would take a little while for the message to sink in. Karen Marchuska, who did the lighting for the show, said that she doesn't know whose side to be on because every time she watches the play it changes. "Each time I watch it I listen to different parts of the dialogue, which changes my opinion," Marchuska (freshman-communi cations) said. "It definitely gets me thinking." To e-mail reporter: hmrso27@psu.edu Rainbow Roundtable President Allison Jones said the exercise was her favorite part of the program because it allowed her to see the spectrum of sexuality in a literal way. "Language isn't all-encompass ing," she said. Ochs said she thinks the prob lem lies within society's view of sex and sexuality. As a culture, Ochs said that we are both obsessed with sex and uncomfortable with it. Ochs added that the lives of members of the LGBTA communi ty are highly sexualized. "We make sense of other people based on what we know about our selves," Ochs said. At the conclusion of Ochs' speech, students agreed they learned a lot about what it means to be bisexual and that gender isn't always black and white. Bisexuality is an important sub ject to address because it isn't talked about a lot and there are negative stereotypes that need to be broken down, Jones said. To email reporter: ambsB74@psu.edu research and scholarship," VasilatosA 7 ouken wrote. "The cur rent •assessment now confirms this with 'hard data.' " She also credited Penn State's ranking to its "commitment to being a student-centered universi ty" citing grant writing work shops, a "vibrant" Graduate Student Association and a gradu ate writing center, among other assets. Unlike in its 1995 report, the NRC declined to assign a specific ranking to the programs, instead opting to assign ranges, Vasilatos- Younken wrote. draft an ordinance detailing the overlay's proposed changes to RO standards and ask for the opinions of current property owners at its next meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21. In addition to the overlay, the Planning Commission discussed a variety of incentives meant to encourage aesthetically pleasing and practical building plan in exchange for extra building spade. The RO zoning standards only allow for three-story buildings. But property developers could earn additional stories to build and lease housing units if their plans comply with certain require ments. Commission member Cynthia Carpenter suggested the commission reward developers for architectural design and green Panel discusses curbing violence The S-Plan sponsored a discussion on how stu dents can handle vio lent situations. By Micah Wintner COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Student leaders and university officials delivered a panel presen tation on violence to a crowd of about 40 students yesterday in the Thomas Building. The presentation was hosted at the S-Plan's second event of the semester titled "Crime: Peer on-peer Violence, Verdict: Guilty" S-Plan named for support, survival and success is a men toring program directed at black and Latino students. It is designed to help minority stu dents make healthy choices and adjust to college life. The panelists answered ques tions about how students can handle violent situations at col lege and in their lives. "Being the smallest minority on campus, we can't afford [vio lence]," Travis Salters (junior broadcast journalism and African and African American studies), Penn State NAACP president, told the audience. think we really need to look into our morals." Tyrone Reese, S-Plan's gradu ate assistant, gave a Power Point presentation on statistics relat ing to crime and violence. "Youth violence is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24, - Reese said. Tyrone Parham, assistant deputy of University Police Services, was also a panelist. Bystanders pose a large prob lem to violent situations, Parham told the audience. The best thing for a bystander to do is break up a Robyn Ochs delivers a presentation about bisexuality myths and reali ties in HUB Heritage Hall Thursday night. Vasilatos-Younken wrote that the high quality of Penn State's programs wasn't necessarily rec ognized in the 1995 rankings because of the methodology used and because Penn State's pro grams are continually improving. The NRC takes into account 20 factors in the ranking, such as research activity of the faculty, student support and outcomes and diversity of the academic environment, an NRC press release stated. Renata Engel, associate dean for academic programs in the College of Engineering, said she's THE DAILY' COLLEGIAN space, while Madrid suggested underground parking as an incen tive. Some members of the public were displeased with the commis sion's determination to create incentives for the property devel oper to increase student housing availability on the property. Two State College residents submitted letters to the commis sion that opposed student high rise development and condoned the student population density in the area. One resident formally voiced his concerns to the com mission. The commission awaits public reaction to the newly drafted ordi nance next week. To e-mail reporter: arms373@psu.edu "I think we really need to look into our morals." Travis Salters (junior-broadcast journalism and African and African American violent situation immediately. he said. Parham said that the black community's act ions greatly affect its reputation. "Our community is so small that one bad situation looks bad for the whole community," he said. Panelists also advised that vio lence can be avoided by staying away from certain places on cam pus at certain times. "Everyone should stay away from McDonald's at 2 , a.m.," Danny Shaha, senior director of Judicial Affairs, joked. 'Nothing good comes from McDonald's." Other panelists included Stephanie Preston, assistant director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center: Shadiyah Haines (senior-industrial engi neering, National Pan-Hellenic Council president: and Andre McLeod, coordinator of Residence Life. In response to a question on what student leaders have been doing to curb violence at Penn State, Salters said he and Haines have met for hours all week to plan a course of action to launch an anti-violence cam paign. Details of the campaign are still in the works, Salters said. Katherine Wheatle, the S- Plan's director, said she liked how the event turned out. "Between the Power Point and panelists, I'm very happy with the diverse group of staff and con crete figures we had," she said. To e-mail reporter: maws43B@psu.edu pleased each of the college's pro grams had recognized strengths, overall or in the dimensional char acteristics used in the rankings. "Certainly, I wasn't surprised to see where we showed strengths," Engel said. Engel said the report provides opportunities to see what the col lege has done since 2006, when the data was collected. "I know where we are increas ing those strengths or building upon what we already have," she said. To e-mail reporter: svpso7l@psu.edu studies)
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