Chief Lewis W. Sweigart, Jr. is the new chief of Penn State Brandywine Police and Security.

Chief Sweigart attended Eastern University and graduated in 1995.  After college he went to the Allentown Police Academy where he became a Pennsylvania certified police officer otherwise known as, ACT 120.

He then worked for the Pennsylvania Boat and Fish Commission.  Later, he worked for the Pennsylvania State Parks as a seasonal state park ranger and for the Pennsylvania State Capitol police in Harrisburg.

In 2003, Chief Sweigart began his Penn State career while working as a part-time police officer for Penn State Harrisburg.  He was hired full-time and began working for Penn State Mont Alto Police in 2009.   With ten years of service working for Penn State police departments, he was hired as Chief of Police for Penn State Brandywine Safety and Police Services this year.

His duties as Chief include running the police and security division of Penn State Brandywine.  Although he is the only police officer at this moment at Penn State Brandywine, he is currently looking to hire another full-time police officer.

Chief Sweigart is also looking to hire more Penn State security.

“I want to fade-out the current Allied Barton (the private security contractors that currently work at Penn State Brandywine) and hire Penn State staff for security,” Chief Sweigart said.

A current goal for the new chief is to make the campus safer with access cards on doors for certain areas in preparation for the future residence halls.

“My goal right now is to form and build the police department and bring us into compliance,”  Chief Sweigart said.

Chief Swigart has been a field training officer, firearms instructor and Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) instructor.  His office is located on the top floor of commons if anyone has any problems or concerns.

Eric Warner

Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, ehw5023@psu.edu

Dr. Kristin Woolever started her first official day in office as the new Chancellor for Penn State Brandywine on Tuesday, February 4.

Dr. Woolever took over the position from Dr. George Franz, who served as interim chancellor after Dr. Sophia Wisniewska left Brandywine to accept a position with the University of South Florida.

After just 90 minutes into her first day on campus, Dr. Woolever spent a half hour sitting down for an interview regarding her new position.

So who is Dr. Woolever? She joins Penn State Brandywine from Arizona, where she acted as President of Prescott College. Before that, she had high leadership roles in multiple colleges and universities in New Hampshire, Washington and elsewhere. However, she grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“It feels as if I’ve come home,” Woolever said.

When asked why she chose this campus for her next career move, her answer was easy.

“It’s Penn State for heaven’s sake!” Woolever said.

While Dr. Woolever is excited to join the “We Are!” family, she also commented that she likes the fact that Brandywine is “small but not too small,” and that the campus “has the potential to really fly.”

It’s without a doubt that a campus like Brandywine needs strong leadership to help it grow.  Dr. Woolever is excited about new challenges.

“Uniting folks here in a common purpose, building a team, and moving the campus to its fullest potential,” she said are her goals.

What direction is Brandywine headed? When asked about a 5-year plan, Dr. Woolever said that she hopes to grow the enrollment to 2,000 students. She is also eager for  campus housing at Brandywine.

Perhaps just as exciting for the students will be the addition of the Student Union Building that Dr. Woolever plans on adding to the campus. This building, similar to commons, will be a larger scale version containing a new cafeteria, a game room and probably most exciting to the students who participate in the larger clubs and organizations on campus such as THON and Student Government Association (SGA), a lot more large-sized meeting rooms for students to use.

“I want this to be a campus we are really proud of,” Dr. Woolever said.

Further commenting, she said she also wants to attend a lot of the sporting events to further that pride.  Dr. Woolever seems to have the right track mind for Brandywine.

“I really look forward to making this not just a 8:30-6 p.m. campus,” she said. “I want people to be here 24/7, and participate in things and make this a home for people.”

For the vast majority of students who usually don’t know who our campus Chancellor is, you should expect that to change.

“I intend to walk around and eat in the cafeteria as much as I possibly can,” she said.  “I want to meet at least once a month with the SGA. I’m going to force the students to know who I am.”

Dr. Woolever was eager to state her enthusiasm of joining the Brandywine family and she’s focused on teamwork.  She’s already hard at work.

Rosemarie Owoc

Lion’s Eye Staff Writer

Dr. Timothy Niiler is an exciting per­son with an impressive life resume.

From the University of Delaware, he earned a Ph.D. in Biomechanics and Move­ment Sciences and a B.S. in Physics. Addi­tionally, he earned an M.A. in Astronomy from Boston University.

Dr. Niiler continues his ties with Del­aware via A.I. duPont Hospital for Children, where his research involves determining the effects of various orthopedic interventions.

Dr. Niiler is a jack of many trades here at Bran­dywine, teaching students in the fields of Physics, As­tronomy and Tai Chi. The last is a course designed to introduce students to a traditional Chinese system of personal cultivation and self-defense. Of the courses Dr. Niiler teaches, the class he enjoys teaching most is the one that is not so common – Tai Chi.

“This is the one where I am interacting with students the most,” Niiler said.

Niiler enjoys this particular course because it involves more hands-on teaching, which makes it easier to con­nect and receive feedback from his students.

“I like it the best because you can see imme­diate progress and you are able to see day-to-day im­provements,” Niiler said.

A father of an 8-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, Dr. Niiler has invested more than a decade in becoming a family man. His wife of 11 years is an in­structor as well at West Chester University. Of the many memories together, taking a trip to Spain and walking the Camino remains one of his fondest. Dr. Niiler’s life on a daily basis is generally busy and chaotic. However, being able to experience living life in another country, in a place where there are no obligations, Dr. Niiler was able to see life differently.

“You’re living day-to-day. You don’t have a calendar. When you are on the Comino…nothing.” Ni­iler said. “You’re carrying all the belongings you need. It sort of makes you wonder about all the other stuff.”

Dr. Niiler knows it is a luxury having been able to walk the Camino once, and being able to one day take another trip there is a future goal he hopes to ac­complish. But above all, having kids is his biggest ac­complishment in life.

“The fact that my kids seem to be mostly all right, I consider myself fortunate,” Niiler said.

Looking forward, Dr. Niiler not only wishes for his two children to be successful, he also hopes to improve his teachings and research.

“I want to communicate the enjoyment I find in a lot of material to students and become more of an accomplished researcher,” Niiler said.

Dr. Niiler expressed his interest in one of the more famous, motivating quotes in recent years.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond mea­sure.”

A quote meant to shed inspiration and light for people to become leaders and help those around them become leaders, Dr. Niiler certainly seems to have closely paid attention to the true meaning.

Daniel Hernandez, the intern who has been credited for saving the life of Congress­woman Gabrielle Giffords, stopped by the cam­pus on October 18 to speak to students about leading through adversity.

Hernandez began his conversation with the students by providing background about his life. He grew up in Arizona, and was born to a working class family. His mother was a Mexi­can immigrant who did not speak English well. His father was born in California.

Hernandez described his father as a, “Mexican redneck” because of his hardworking nature.

Hernandez knew from a young age that he wanted to help people; he originally thought he would do this by working in medicine, most likely as a doctor or a nurse.

After completing a high school nurs­ing course, Hernandez thought that to get into a good medical school he would need to diver­sify his resume. This was during the Presiden­tial primary races in 2008, so Hernandez joined the Hillary Clinton campaign, and made calls on the candidate’s behalf.

This was Hernandez’s first time work­ing in politics and he enjoyed working on the campaign, but took the loss hard, swearing to never work in politics again.

Two days later, Hernandez was con­tacted by people who worked for Gabrielle Gif­fords; he was initially reluctant, but accepted an internship on her campaign. This time the cam­paign was a success.

Eventually, Hernandez became an in­tern for Giffords’ office, and that is when Her­nandez’s life would change forever.

On January 8, 2011, Giffords planned to have an event in her Arizona district called Congress on Your Corner. The event was a chance for people who lived in her congressional district to come see their congresswoman in person, and get a chance to speak to her.

“[The event] was important to Gabby,” Hernandez said.

January 8, 20l1, however, would not be a normal Congress on Your Corner. Short­ly after the event started, Jared Lee Loughner opened fire on the crowd. Loughner shot the congresswoman and 18 others before he was detained. Six of those people died.

After the shooting Hernandez ran over to the congresswoman, who had been shot in the head. He tried to get her to communicate, however, she couldn’t. He asked her to squeeze his hand if she understood him. He did every­thing he knew to do to keep her conscious.

Hernandez even looked out for her publicity in this desperate time. When the EMTs got to Giffords, they had to cut away her clothes to properly treat her.

“I covered her up,” Hernandez said. “I didn’t want someone to take a picture of her like that.”

After the shooting Hernandez became somewhat of a celebrity, and honored as a hero.

Hernandez told the students that the shooting did not change his political opinions, but it did change the way he handles certain sit­uations. He said he has less animosity towards people who disagree with him now, and he ap­proaches situations more calmly.

Hernandez’s message to the students at Brandywine was an interesting one. He did not give out any direct advice, but rather, left it up to students to take what he said and apply it to their daily lives.

Keith Petersen

Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, rkp5118@psu.edu

October wrapped up Fair Trade month.  And while many people have no idea what fair trade entails, the work of some Brandywine students and facility members is hoping to change that.

Penn State Brandywine became a Fair Trade Campus on May 12, 2012.

Fair Trade is an organized social movement that intends to help producers in developing countries to make better trading conditions and promote sustainabil- ity. According to those who promote Fair Trade, goods are exactly what it says–fair.  Proponents want farmersand workers justly compensated.

According to www.fairtradeusa.org, “Fair Trade USA Fair Trade is a nonprofit organization that certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods are paid fair prices and wages.”

On campus, this Trailblazer group started from the independent study of one student, Abbey Dufoe and Associate Professor of Earth Science, Dr. Laura Guertin. It was then decided to get more students, faculty and admin­istrators involved so that the Brandywine campus could gain Fair Trade Status as a University.

Head of Fair Trade at Penn State Brandywine Christina Olear describes the work she’s most proud of when it comes to educating other students.

“The event that we are most proud of on campus was when the Trailblazers hosted an event with a speaker from Di­vine Chocolate (A Fair Trade Organization) with choco­late samples for the audience,” Olear said.

“Also, last year our two day t-shirt swap of gently worn t-shirt for brand new Fair Trade Penn State T-shirts (Alta Gracia).

We re­ceived over 237 t-shirts which were donated to those in need. We helped spread the word of Fair Trade while also helping those in our own country who are less fortunate.”

Olear says there are a number of different reasons why students, not just from Brandywine campus, but all over the nation, should get involved with this service club. She says club positively impacts the lives of others by simply choosing one product over another. Fair Trade awareness helps students to comprehend important issues happening all over the world.

“While learning more about the world, we hope to facili­tate a passion to help others and to promote gratitude for the blessings in our own lives,” Olear said.

The on-campus group hopes with Fair Trade, the money people spend on day-to-day goods can improve an entire community’s day-to-day economy. To help Penn State Brandywine with this cause, go to: www.facebook.com/ psubwfairtrade. The Penn State Trailblazers group also has a blog: pennstatebrandywinefairtrade.wordpress.com

 Victoria Marotta

Lion’s Eye Editor, vim5121@psu.edu

Last year, Brandywine THON had a very successful fundraising season raising $12,296.12 for the Four Diamonds Fund to help in the fight against pediatric cancer. However, this year after only two canning weekends and a couple events, Brandywine THON has not only met its total from last year, but also surpassed it.

Just to put this record setting year into perspective– after all three canning weekends last year, Brandywine THON had made nearly $9,000. This year, after the first canning weekend, Brandywine THON raised $8,500. The group added another $5,000 during the second weekend. Already Brandy­wine THON has raised more money than last year, with one more canning weekend to go and other events still planned.

The two Brandywine THON overall chairs are, to the least to say, thrilled about how this year is turning out so far.

“I was ecstatic,” Brandywine overall chair and Penn State ju­nior Jessica Maginnis said. “I can’t believe we are already past our total from last year and it’s only October!”

Brandywine THON’s other overall chair, senior Kayla Csizma­zia, was also very pleased with the group’s recent success.

“I was amazed because we never raised that much money be­fore in one canning weekend,” Csizmazia said.

They both attributed the early success to two main aspects: the more organized and dedicated chair committee and the amount of people who have joined this year.

“I was so excited going into this year,” Csizmazia said. “I knew that the group who was picked to lead THON was more dedicated than any other group in the past.”

The committee includes: Kevin Cardella, the canning chair; Liz Gramlich, the family relations chair; Renee Tallman, the event chair; Dan Monteverde, the finance chair; Lauren Lo­mas, the Donors and Alumni relations chair and Paul Alberici, the Public Relations chair.

Freshman like Ryan Stone has stepped up big time and will ac­tually be taking over in the spring when Csizmazia leaves and Mark Gurenlian, who has shown a lot of dedication and hopes to help with Donors and Alumni next year.

One of the most exciting and surprising aspects of this year was Brandywine THON being granted a THON family. A THON family is a family whose child has been diagnosed with some form of cancer and is partnered with the Four Diamonds Fund, which is what THON raises all its money for.

The reason this is such a big deal for Brandywine is because the group has not had a family for years. However, because of the group’s tireless work, Brandywine THON was deemed successful and passionate enough to handle being there for a family in need during this stressful time. This effort to regain a family can be attributed to one member in particular, Liz Gramlich.

After meeting the Chapman family, another Four Diamonds family who is partnered with Abington’s THON organization, Liz had an extreme desire to get Brandywine THON a family of its very own. Between multiple trips back and forth to University Park for meetings and writing a 15 page paper telling why Brandywine can handle a family because of the suc­cess in the past couple years, Gramlich was determined to get Brandywine a THON family.

And when the good news came in, she was ecstatic.

“I found out in front of the Brandywine THON organization and just started jumping up and down and was almost in tears, while screaming that we had got a family,” Gramlich said. “I was supposed to surprise our THON organization later on, but I could not contain myself. It was just so emotional and exciting. In my opinion, there is no bigger honor and privilege in THON then receiving a THON family!”

It is this kind of dedication and passion that has contributed to Brandywine THON’s success. On October 26, about 15 members went to University Park to run in THON’s annual 5K walk/run. To stand out in the crowd, Brandywine students dressed up as the “101 Dal­matians.” With all this success and the dedicated members they have assembled, Brandywine THON shows no signs of stopping.

“I hope to build a larger organization, build better relationships with the campus com­munity, and raise a great amount of money,” Maginnis said.

When THON members are asked why they do what they do, the response is always the same: FTK, THON’s motto meaning–For the Kids.

Paul Alberici

Lion’s Eye Writer, paa5102@psu.edu

This fundraising year started out with much optimism from all the members and officers in charge of Brandywine THON.

Coming off the excitement of raising more than $12,000 during the fundraising season last year, everyone was eager to get back to work. Now that THON 2014 is a little more than a week away, Brandywine THON can look back on its record-breaking 2013-14 year with much pride and satisfaction knowing that hard-work paid off. And this year so far hasn’t been short of its memorable moments for the members.

“After that first weekend when we crushed what we wanted to get, that really got the ball rolling for it to be a successful year,” Mark Gurenlian, who was also involved with Springfield High School’s mini-THON organization, said.

During the first canning weekend, Brandywine THON was able to raise more than $8,500, which is a single weekend record for Brandywine. Many THON members were blown away and morale skyrocketed.  This extraordinary amount of money raised in a single weekend has led Brandywine THON to nearly double their amount from last year at more than $22,000 as of right now.

Lexie Smith, a Brandywine freshman, was stunned during her first canning experience at people’s constant generosity.

“Every time I would get a donation, I would get goose-bumps because I realized that there are some awesome people that will give you every bit of change in their car,” Smith said.

Other members loved the whole canning experience in general, and also loved hearing the stories of alums and survivors alike.

Some members were fans of the various events that occurred this year so far. Mike Mensah enjoyed the FT5K, a 5k run up at State College.  In addition, it’s a chance to meet the THON children.

Becca Jones said her favorite event was the 100 days ‘til THON celebration, which kicks off the official countdown to the dance marathon on February 21^st to 23^rd.

“Everyone had a good time and it was fun to plan as well,”  Jones said.

She was also a part of the committee for planning Brandywine’s personal celebration, which had its own special superhero theme.

Larry Paoletti was a big fan of the Chance auction that took place back on January 19. There were a bunch of different baskets and prizes to win with a spaghetti dinner all helping raise Brandywine’s total even higher.  But the food and prizes weren’t even his favorite part.

“I was able to hear an amazing story from a family that battled through cancer,” Paoletti said.

That family he was speaking of was the Chapman family, one of the Four Diamond families; this particular family is partnered with Penn State Abington THON’s organization, but has become very close friends with Brandywine members as well. The family’s youngest daughter, Gabrielle Chapman is a cancer survivor.  Gabby, along with her family, were all in attendance at the Brandywine THON’s chance auction.

All the members who were at the event had the chance to hear Gabby’s mother tell her story about her daughter’s fight against Medullablastoma, a malignant form of brain cancer.  And thanks to the doctors at the Hershey Medical Center and volunteers who work with THON, Gabby Chapman has been cancer free for more than 7 years.

“It’s mind blowing to this day that THON gives you hope when you are at the end of your rope and hanging on for dear life,” Peg Chapman said. “I cannot imagine our lives without THON or our kids that are family now. Our lives are forever altered by this AMAZING organization.”

For many of the newer THON members they had never met a Four Diamonds family or heard their story of how cancer had affected one of their children. It was very inspiring for many of them to hear a story from one of the many people that THON is helping.

Brandywine members will be cheering on Brandywine THON’s dancer Liz Gramlich and Jason Severin who will be standing for 46 non-stop hours during the weekend.

“I am beyond excited for THON weekend! With only a few weeks left I can hardly wait to dance all weekend for the kids,” said Shannon Wright, who, like many others, has never been to THON weekend. “My sister and I are already planning our outfits and breaking in our new sneakers! This will probably be the best weekend of our lives!”

Michael Mensah will also be witnessing his first THON.

“I cannot explain to you in words how excited I am for THON weekend. I’m counting down the days,” Mensah said. “I can’t wait to just go into the BJC and just witness the atmosphere for myself.”

“I am so excited for THON this year, I have no stopped thinking and planning about it since last year, it was the most incredible experience of my life.” Said Nikki Maginnis, who is the younger sister of Brandywine THON overall, Jessica Maginnis.

The total amount raised all by all of THON last year in 2012-13 was $12.3 million, and considering the amount of work that has been put in this year just for Brandywine, it could likely be another record-breaking year.

Paul Alberici, Lions Eye staff Writer paa5102@psu.edu