Faculty senate
looks at cultural
diversity
page 2
The
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The Collegian Wednesday, November 1, 1989 Behrend's Weekly Newspaper Volume XXXVIII, No. 9
James Gleick: making
sense out of Chaos
by Jennifer Flanagan
for The Collegian
James Gleick; formerly a
reporter for the New_York Times,
lectured last Thursday evening as
part of the 1989-90 Speaker
Series on some of the ideas set
forth in his best selling book,
Chaos-The Making of a New
Science.
Gleick covered the points in
his book in basic terms, breaking
down concepts into simple ideas
and metaphors. When trying to
stress a particularly difficult
concept, Gleick injected a bit of
humor into his explanation to
hold the audience's attention.
Gleick's lecture attempted to
explain what the science of chaos
is and why it is so vital to
understanding not only the
Looking at the school: How does Behrend rate?
Faculty's view
of Behrend
Academics
by Lea Gotch
Collegian Staff Writer
What does the faculty here . at
Behrend really think? I recently
interviewed several faculty
members in order to find out
what they think of the students,
the quality of education, how
money is being spent, and what,
if anything, they would change if
given the chance.
The general consensus on the
student body is positive. Dr.
Diana Hume-George summed it
up when she said, "the best
students here at Behrend are as
good as any in the nation."
However, as Dr. Eva Tucker
pointed out, there is always a
certain percentage of any
freshman class that has trouble
making the transition.
Several professors expressed
the concern that students have
become too career-oriented and
the only thing that most students
are concerned about is what job
they will be able to obtain upon
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scientific world, but other areas
as well. Chaos, or complexity, as
he defined it, is, in essence, the
science that explains disorder in a
variety of different areas. It is the
kind of behavior in simple
systems that appears to be
completely random but actually
follows the laws of physics.
He illustrated these points
through a variety of examples,
concentrating on the
philosophical aspects of chaos
rather than the esoteric
mathematical and physical laws
set forth by science.
Gleick spoke about the origin
of chaos as a science, explaining
why it has only been in existence
since the mid-to-late seventies.
"Scientists see what they expect
to see," he said, and as soon as
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How students feel about Behrend
responses
Rating:
Results of Collegian Survey
Richard Marx
concert review-
I
(worst)
KEY: I Academie Faculty $0 Student Student Food
1 Programs sneis Life Programs Service
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page 9
Rainy days and Mondays.. .
Collegian Graphic/Rob' Farnham
Soccer team
concludes their
home season
story and photos
on page 10
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Students say
Behrend is
'average'
by Mark Owens
Collegian Staff Writer
A recent survey conducted by
the Collegian seems to suggest
students feel most programs at
Behrend are average or slightly
above. Students were asked to
identify areas they felt were the
strongest and weakest.
Sixty-seven percent felt
academic programs were good,
while 27. percent thought they
were average and 4 percent poor.
When asked which areas were
the strongest, 55 percent replied
that engineering and the physical
sciences were the best, with
business-related majors receiving
31 percent and liberal arts getting
15 percent.
Students felt the weakest areas
were liberal arts (76 percent),
followed by the natural sciences
(24 percent) and the physical
sciences and engineering (17
percent)•
When asked about faculty, 49
percent felt they were good while
(continued on page 4)
photo by Rick Brooks