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Troyers
Establish
Scholarship
A $50,000 scholarship fund
for outstanding students enrolled
or planning to enroll at Behrend
has been established by Clifford
and Louise Troyer.
The Troyers, owners of Troyer
Potato Products Inc., of nearby
Waterford, Pennsylvania,
developed the annual scholarship
for full-time students who have
achieved superior academic
records or show promise of
outstanding academic success.
First preference will be to
students who are employees or
children of employees at Troyer
Potato Products. Second
preference will be given to
students who are graduates of
Fort Leßoeuf High School.
Recipients of the scholarship
will be selected by the Penn
State-Behrend Scholarship
Committee. The number of
scholarships awarded and the
amount of each reward will also
be determined by the scholarship
committee. Each scholarship will
be awarded for one academic year,
but may be renewed for
subsequent years providing the
recipient continues to meet the
conditions of eligibility and funds
are available.
For more information about
the Troyer Scholarship, or to
make a contribution to the
scholarship fund, call 6159.
Sire to Lead
Discussion
Dr. James W. Sire, editor of
Inter Varsity Press and the author
of several books, will lead a
discussion entitled "Why Believe
Anything At All?" tonight at 8
pm in Reed 117.
Sire, who has lectured at over
one hundred colleges and
universities in the United States,
Canada, and England, will offer
an intellectual approach to
Christianity.
The Family
Dr. Geri Giebel Chavis, editor
of the anthology "Family:
Stories From the Interior," will
reveal the insights literature
offers into family relationships
during a free public lecture at
Behrend on Thursday, March 23.
Chavis' lecture, "Literature:
The Powerful Illuminator of
Family Relationships," begins at
8:15 pm in the Reed Lecture
Hall.
The "Family" anthology,
published in 1987 by Graywolf
Press, features a variety of vivid
short stories by authors ranging
from the 1900's Willa Cather to
1960's John Updike and 1970's
Libbi Miriam. The stories, which
are arranged into six sections,
focus on various aspects of
family relationships: husbands
and wives, mothers and
daughters, mothers and sons,
fathers and daughters, fathers and
sons, and siblings.
Chavis offers an insightful
Plastics Division
The Engineering Plastics
Division of Hoechst Celanese
Corporation of Chatham, New
Jersy presented $lO,OOO to
Bchrend recently to help fund the
college's $2 million
undergraduate program in plastics
engineering technology.
The Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania will match half of
the Celanese gift, awarding Penn
State Behrend an additional
$5,000.
The $lO,OOO check was
presented by Patrick M. Hughes,
senior research engineer at
Celanese, during ceremonies in
the college's plastics laboratory.
"I'm glad that we're getting a
chance to help industry in
Survey Puts Behrend's Freshman
Class in National Perspective
by James Martin
Over 90 percent of Behrend's
freshman come from
neighborhoods that are mostly
white, about 10 percent higher
than the national average. This
and other figures were the results
of a survey conducted jointly by
the American Council on
Education and the Graduate
School of Education of
California.
This past fall, 513 Behrend
freshmen participated in the
survey designed to assess the
effects of college on students.
Over 90 percent of Behrend
freshman responded to the survey.
While Behrend students
responses differ little from
national norms, there are some
exceptions. Students here appear
to be somewhat more
conservative than college students
at other campuses, with 22
introduction to the entire book,
as well as a preface to each
section. In the former, she writes:
"Readers will find here (in the
collection) works reflecting both
the negative and positive
dimensions of family life. Taken
together, these stories weave an
intricate family tapestry in which
the colors of joy and sorrow and
the threads of conflict and
reconciliation are tightly
interwoven."
A professor of English and
the chair of the Department of
English at the College of St.
Catherine St. Paul, Minn.,
Chavis received Master of Arts
degrees in both Counseling
Psychology and English
Literature and Language. She has
also earned a doctorate in English
Literature and Language.
In her introduction, Chavis
reveals the link between her two
interests -- psychology and
literature: "Vivid literary work
Pennsylvania is already a national
' leader in the plastics industry,
local companies must often seek
skilled professionals from out of
state.
percent of Behrend freshman
calling themselves conservative.
This figure represents a steady
increase here with figures rising
each of the past three years.
About 18 percent of the student
surveyed identified themselves as
being liberal.
On the list of priorities,
money rates high for this years
freshmen class. Seventy-five
percent of the freshmen class said
it was essential or very important
to be "well off" financially.
While Behrend students are
concerned with financial security,
a slightly higher percentage of
our students receive financial aid
than the national average. Over
20 percent of our students
received Pell grants, compared to
15.6 percent nationally.
As has been the case in the
past, about half of all students
rank themselves in the top 10
percent nationally in a number of
in Literature
focusing on family relationships
can indeed be an invaluable
resource for us as we seek to
learn more about the ways
families function.
Because of the diversity of her
fields and of the audience attracted
to family-oriented subjects,
Chavis designed her critically
acclaimed "Family" collection to
suit a wide variety of individuals.
"Family" focuses on two
basic themes, says Chavis:
"ambivalence and the ebb and
flow of merging and separateness
that characterize family
relationships.
"Since it is the very nature of
the modern short story to present
characters upon the brink of
change, to capture moments of
crisis and revelation in the lives
of individuals, this anthology of
25 stories is filled with the drama
of family living."
Hughes. "There's a shift from
smokestack technology to
plastics technology, and plastics
will definitely be a major
economic force in the future of
this region."
Although northwestern
And that is the problem
Behrend administrators and local
industry leaders set out to solve
when they launched Behrend's
plastics program over a year ago,
according to a college press
statement.
"The plastics engineering
program at Penn State Behrcnd
The Collegian Wednesday, March 15
Recieves Donation
fulfills a need for a local training
and resource center, and promises
to provide .new and revitalized
economic growth in our area,"
explained Behrend Provost and
Dean Dr. John Lilley, who,
along with Paul Koch, associate
professor of plastics engineering
technology, received the check
from Hughes.
"In addition to the local pool
of skilled plastics engineers our
students provide to local industry,
our faculty also contributes to
zconomic growth," said Lilley.
"They are currently developing
new products, processes and
technology that will benefit both
the local and national plastics
skill areas. Behrend's male
freshman population would
appear to be a more talented
group than the freshmen females
- or at least that's how they
perceive themselves.
Seventy percent of freshmen
males rated themselves in the top
10 percent nationally in academic
ability . Mother example: Forty
four percent of the men surveyed
rate thenmselves in the top 10
percent in terms of leadership
ability, while 35 percent of
Behrend women made the same
assertion.
Behrend women did rank
themselves higher than the men
in a few areas including how
often they felt overwhelmed and
the percentage planing to go on
to a higher education. Sixty-three
percent of surveyed women plan
to obtain an advanced degree,
compared to 50 mpercent for
men.
The Collegian
Published weekly by the students of Behrend College, Erie
Pa 16563
(814) 898-6221
Member of College Press Service
Editor.... James Martin
Assistant Editor.... Richard Cain
News Editor.... Maria Plaza
Feature Editor.... Rob Prindle
Entertainment Editors.... Nan Quatchak
and Vail Weller
Photo Editor.... Marybeth Zawistoski
Office Manager.... Tracy Starr
Business Manager.... Stan Lefes
Computer Consultant.... Tom Wilkinson
Advisor....Nancy_ McGartland
The Collegian is a student-edited newspaper
industry."
The Penn State Behrend
plastics program is one of only a
few in the nation and is designed
for junior and senior-level
engineering majors. To date, 30
students are enrolled in the
program, which stresses a hands
on approach and offers
professional accreditation.
In addition to receiving
instruction in thermoplastics and
thermosets, students must
complete a rigorous general
education in subjects such as
writing, mathematics, general
sciences, and computers.
Courtesy of the Times
Publishing Company.
To offer some support for the
high rankings Behrend students
gave themselves, 80 percent of
the surveyed freshmen reported
they had a grade average of B. or
better in high school. This figure
is up by over 14 percent from
last year.
On the down side, the national
survey results indicate some
decline in the mental health of
college freshemen. Survey results
at Behrend may indicate such a
trend but at the same time, there
has been no great increase in the
number of Behrend students who
characterize themselves as being
frequently depressed.
Information for this
article was taken from a
memorandum composed by
John P. Downey, Behrend's
coordinator of student
organizations.