Multilingual is the Norm at Global Discussion Lunch

Posted By under Campus News

As the world is becoming more interconnected, it is becoming more important for people to understand how multilingual individuals deal with daily life. That is part of the reason for Brandywine’s global discussion.

The luncheon session included a panel of two Brandywine students and two Brandywine professors. They opened up about where they were from, and their first/native languages. The panel members then talked about how they became fluent in other languages, mainly English.

One of the faculty members, Professor Mendez-Gallardo, originates from Puerto Rico. Her first language is Spanish and her secondary language is English. It was mandatory for her to take an English class in school, much like it’s mandatory for many students in American to take a Spanish or other language class.

Professor Mendez-Gallardo describes learning a new language similar to, “being in another world.”

Professor Mendez-Gallardo also said, “when I first moved to the U.S. in 2005 I could understand English but couldn’t speak it very well.”

A student who participated on the panel was Ivy. Ivy is from Russia but moved to China and then to America. Her mother is Russian and her father is Chinese. Ivy described her multilingual experience as, “a hard transition.”

Ivy also said that among all of the languages, English might be the most complex due to the emotion that has to be put into it.

Overall, the global discussion allowed students to understand the experience of people who speak multiple languages but live in America.

This event also helped promote the global and international programs of Penn State Brandywine

Dante Laws, Djl5710@psu.edu, Lionseye Staff Writer

Brandywine Basketball takes down Wilkes Barre

Posted By under Sports

By: Margot Gargus, Lions Eye Staff Editor, mbg5317@psu.edu

Coming off a six game losing streak, Brandywine men’s basketball team seemed to be running out of luck. The players came together and fought hard to take the win with the score of 76-74, against Penn State Wilkes Barre. The team knew what they were in for going into the game however.

“That game was personal,” said leading scorer Isaiah Allford-Wilmore, “There was a lot of trash talking and we knew a lot of the players; taking that win was a must.”

Leading the Lions to victory was junior, Junior Sanchez, scoring a booming 19 points by the end of the game.

Junior said, “I knew I put in the work in the gym and I was confident in my performance. I hadn’t gotten as much time as I had hoped in the first half of the season; I just had to be patient and wait for my time.”

Building the team’s confidence on and off the court, Junior has been a leader since the beginning of the season.

“Having him out of there with me raises my intensity and he is just a fun guy to play with,” states Wilmore.

The game was a fight from start to finish but still ended close.

“It is important we focus on our fundamentals in order to cut back on these close games. The more we all focus on our own game on top of working together the less we have to worry in the end,” states freshman, Pat Gallagher.

Junior Captain, Cyrie Spencer scored 17 points against Wilkes pushing his team even closer to victory. Although the team couldn’t seem to catch a break the players never hung their heads.

“We have a lot of talent, we’ve just been having trouble finding chemistry at the end of games which has led to us blowing big leads,” Pat said.

Only two games out of the playoffs the boys are fighting with all they’ve got to get the spot they know they deserve. With the season coming to a close, make sure to come out and support Penn State Brandywine men’s basketball team as they finish the second half of the season

Track and Field comes to Brandywine

Posted By under Sports

By: Margot Gargus, Lions Eye Staff Editor, mbg5317@psu.edu

With a running start this spring, track and field is the newest sports team competing at Penn State Brandywine. Designated as club sports in 2016-17, the team could be vaulted to varsity status for 2017-18 depending on the participation numbers.

With two new coaches leading the team, Angela Fitch and Joe Frassenei, the team is ready to have a dominant first season.

With dual roles in both track and field and cross country, Fitch will serve as the head track and field coach and assistant cross country coach while Frassenei will serve as head coach of cross country and assistant coach of track and field.

Fitch brings more than a decade of coaching experience to Brandywine. As a high school coach, she led her team to states while mentoring students who earned NCAA Division I scholarships. Students can expect to learn fundamentals and techniques too, since Fitch was a USA Track & Field independent coach.

Frassenei brings more than two decades of cross country and track and field coaching experience to the team, most recently at the high school level.

Fitch looks forward to success on the track saying, “Our track/field athletes will surprise everyone this year. We have great quality athletes, so be on the lookout for great performances.”

When asking freshman Niral Patel about his expectations, he said, “I want to try and get in the best shape I can to help lead the team to as much success as possible. I am beyond excited to be able to compete on Brandywine’s first ever track team. I think the coaches are very helpful and nice people to talk to if I have any troubles involving track or school.”

Working daily in the off-season, this new team begins with its first meet, the Philadelphia Classic on March 17 & 18 at Temple University. Don’t miss the action.

Student enthusiasm and coaching experience—this sounds like the start of a good track and field experience.

Brandywine’s 50th Anniversary Preview

Posted By under Campus News

Najla King, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, nxk5136@psu.edu

With the new semester in full swing, Penn State Brandywine has many things in the coming months to celebrate. Along with a new residence hall, a student union building, and new staff members, Brandywine also celebrates their 50th anniversary as campus in the Penn State community.

To celebrate this accomplishment, the Penn State Anniversary Committee, comprised of faculty, staff and students, have been planning events since spring semester of last year.

Co-chair of the committee, and Brandywine’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Bill Tyson said, “for the 50th anniversary we tried to highlight some of our campus’ achievements while also tying in some of our history as well.”

The events started with a roller skating party in the gym for students and staff. About 300 students filled the rink and, under the lights of a disco ball, they skated to the groove of 60s, 70s, and 80s music.Some events are for students and staff, while others are open to the public and alumni.

Tyson explained, “We chose to have a roller skating party because our school started off in a building underneath a roller skating rink. In February, Black History Month, we have some alumni coming in to speak with students about what campus was like for them in the 60s and starting the Black Student League on campus.”

Merging history and current student life at Brandywine, the 50th anniversary events continue well into the fall semester until the actual fifty-year mark on September 25, 2017.Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are encouraged to come out to various events on campus each month to learn about Brandywine’s history and commemorate 50 years.

For more information on when the events are scheduled, visit Penn State Brandywine’s official Facebook page, @pennstatebrandywine, check emails from student affairs, pick up a spring 2017 calendar in the advising suite, or be on the lookout for postings around campus.

“We want our students to come out and have fun during these events but we also want them to learn a little about their campus history,” said Tyson.

Food, prizes and surprises are only a small portion of what students, staff and alumni can look forward to in the coming months leading up to Brandywine’s 50th Anniversary.

 

Speed Networking Accelerates Success

Posted By under Alumni, Campus News

By: Jennifer Lindauer, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer

On Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at the Tomezsko Lounge, Penn State Brandywine’s Office of Career Services partnered with local Penn State alumni, Blue and White Society, and the Student Government Association to host its annual “speed networking” event. Students had the opportunity to network with successful alumni, and prepare for future job interviews in a relaxed coffee shop setting.Every student had four minutes to speak with an alumni by asking them various questions about their profession. Alumni also asked students simulated interview questions. This helped students build their confidence for future job interviews. Students and alumni were also able to build connections. After speed networking, both groups had the chance to continue to network over lunch.When asked about the benefits of attending a networking event, Student Government President Neeka Pharaud, said “networking isn’t what you know but who you know and how to combine the two. When a person advances in their career, there usually was a connection that enabled them to advance, and this networking event helps students build those connections.”Sam Andricola participated in the networking event. “I enjoyed talking to the alumni because I met many different professionals from really great companies. Now I’m interested in those companies, and expanding my network.”Bobbi Caprice Penn State Brandywine’s assistant athletic director shared why it’s important for students to attend networking events.

“The speed networking event is a great way for students to get connected with our alumni. Having the largest alumni association in the country, it is important that they start making those connections as early as possible, Caprice said. “Our world is sometimes more about who you know, versus what you know. So it’s important that our students start to build valuable relationships now.”

Throughout this event students had the opportunity to create many new connections. The advice that was given, the questions that were asked, and the connections that were built helped prepare students for the next step in their lives.

Top 5 Mobile Games for Commuters

Posted By under Entertainment, Uncategorized

By: Khaleel Walker, kjm6184@psu.edu, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer

During the many hours of downtime during a long commute to school or a during study video games can provide the mental decompression a college student craves.

There are many new games to feature, as videogames are extremely popular outlets for college-age students, but this article will address these 5 games: The Simpsons Tapped Out,

Vector, Asphalt 8, Steppy Pants, and Pokemon Go.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a free-to-play sim city mobile game in the world of the Simpsons. It includes the main characters of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa as well as their 150 cast members.The goal of this game is to rebuild a destroyed city of Springfield from the ground up. Each construction success unlocks new items and characters.

Vector is a 2D side scrolling game that focuses on Parkour. The player automatically moves to the right. As you progress through the game, the levels become more difficult to overcome. Jump over huge gaps and wall jump from building to building to reach the end of the level. Brandywine COMM student Brandon has strong opinions about this game. “This is a pretty intense game. You have to keep going or you’ll get caught. The character uses Parkour to avoid obstacles; there’s this guy chasing him and, if the character hits an object, the guy gets closer.”

Asphalt 8 is a great, arcade-style racing game that has easy-to-understand gameplay and breath-taking graphics for a mobile device. Brandywine COMM student Najla enjoys the game. “This is a fun game. The graphics look really good and has addictive gameplay. You tilt your phone to control your car. As you race, you can unlock upgrades and new vehicles through gaining experience points.” The game is trending on the App Store as of one of the top free apps.

A fun Crossy Road clone, Steppy Pants is a colorful endless runner that is enjoyable for a variety of ages.Brandywine COMM student Alyssa likes its art style. “In this game the objective is to step over the cracks. The game tracks your distance as the player continues. It’s a fun endless runner game with a color, box-like art style.” In detail, the further one can goes, the more coins earned. Those coins can be used for a lottery machine which provides outfits for the character.

Pokemon Go exploded this summer and continues to hold out onto its millions of users. Pokemon is once again a trending phenomenon due to this game. Brandywine COMM student Margot likes how clever the game is. “This is a very clever game. It entices players to go outside your house and explore! In this game, historical landmarks are used as PokéStops where you can battle other players. There are thousands of Pokémon to collect!” In addition to that, Pokemon Go uses Augmented Reality (AR) to display the much loved creatures as if they’re in the real world. Depending on your location, the types of pokemon you get varies. For example, if near a bay or the ocean, the user will likely find a water type Pokemon!

These five games will provide many hours of leisure for times when students do not want to pursue their academics. Look for more reviews in the future.

Thon Weekend begins February 17, 2017: 48 hours of fun

Posted By under Campus News, Uncategorized

By: Najla King, The Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, nxk5136@psu.edu

THON, which is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, is a year-long annual fundraising effort that benefits children and their families affected by pediatric cancer. All the money raised benefits the Four Diamonds Fund, which is an organization that supports children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

As a student among the 20 Penn State locations, THON, is one of the most recognizable organization, with the most anticipated event. This 46 hour dance marathon at University Park will be held next year, February 17-19.

This academic year, THON is back and the goals are consistent with prior years: exceeding last year’s 9.7 million dollars raised. That means more canning, more fundraising events and most important more families assisted.

During common hour, in room 101 Main, THON meets to discuss the goals of the organization, in the weeks preceding the dance marathon, and answer any questions or concerns pertaining to fundraising, goals, getting acquainted and other general meeting topics.

Each member is required to participate in canning and two other excursions that include going door-to-door within a chosen community and collecting donations, to qualify to participate in the dance-a-THON at University Park.

Also, to keep the momentum going, members are divided into smaller groups and compete against each other to bring in as much cash as they can throughout the weeks. Canning and going door-to-door are some of the major forms of fundraising strategies THON does that helps bring in the most money. This promotes safety as well, so members won’t feel obligated to fundraise or venture into different parts of the city alone.

Fundraising for this season is already underway and during the last THON meeting, officers Derek Osborn (president), Alexis Proctor (vice president), David McDermott (treasurer) and Julie Lenon (secretary) discussed these topics with participants and revealed that so far, over $5,000 has been raised by our campus alone.

The officers took turns in discussing the goals moving forward and how, “this year’s group is shattering previous records of money raised this early,” said President Derek Osborn.

Launa Andrews is a new THON member and she shared her thoughts about the progress so far.

“I always wanted to be a part of THON. At first it was mostly to dance up at U. Park for Thon weekend and experience what that’s like. Now that I’ve attending some meetings and getting more involved in the fundraising part of it, I realize I want to be apart of this organization to raise a ton of money to help these families that are struggling.  You don’t even realize how the money our campus alone is raising can help significantly, let alone all of our campuses,” she said.

As the year progresses and Thon weekend approaches, updates on money raised and families that will be assisted will continue to expand and the Brandywine students of THON will surpass goals and dance until they can’t anymore, at THON, beginning February 17.

Freshman Seminar Leads Athletes On The Right Path

Posted By under Campus News, Sports

By:  Michael Patterson, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, map6169@psu.edu

Transition from high school senior to college freshman is a difficult and daunting task for any incoming freshman. At Penn State Brandywine, Bobbi Caprice, assistant athletic director has created a process to ease the transition from high school for all Brandywine student athletes. Caprice brings freshman student athletes into seminars that give them the resources to be successful on and off the field.

The freshman student athlete seminar was built to solve many of the problems incoming freshman were facing. Freshman were experiencing various scheduling problems or they were losing financial aid because they had no awareness of their own responsibilities. Caprice set out to develop a program to eliminate these problems.

Every other Monday, PSU Brandywine student athletes come together for Caprice’s seminars. Each seminar is tailored around the current needs of the student body. In the beginning of the year, students learn about scheduling and the available resources for them on campus such as the stem lab and learning center. As the year progresses, they’ll learn good study habits to help them be successful in the classroom and financial aid information so they can be prepared for the upcoming year.

The freshman student athlete seminar is a fairly new program that has grown over the last three years. The program was two years in the making for Caprice and the Athletic department personal, but it has shown tremendous success in three short years. They are constantly changing and updating it to benefit the students.  While it was mandatory for all student athletes to participate, they found that many students were still missing these informative seminars. As Caprice states, “(The program is) troubleshooting a lot of the issues we’ve had in the past and now it’s not happening as much. Even last year, any students who have had issues they were students who missed the opportunity to participate.” This year, they’ve added the seminars as a credited courses to entice more students to participate and it has been effective.

Penn State Brandywine proves to be a campus that is looking to make its students successful. The freshman student athlete program is giving the student body a chance to learn and be prepared for all that awaits them as they enter their first year of college.

Enhancing the Student Experience at Brandywine

Posted By under About

By: Najla King and Alyssa Abbonizio, The Lion’s Eye Staff Writers

Since the groundbreaking ceremony in Spring 2016, the Brandywine community has been preparing for the arrival of the new residence hall and student union buildings, projected to open in Fall 2017. As construction continues and the structures develop, students are anxious to know the finer details of the facilities. Aliyeah Houston, a junior at Penn State Brandywine expressed her excitement for the new residence hall building.

“I’m glad we’re getting dorms. I used to live on campus at another PSU location so it brings back a lot of good memories for me. It’ll feel more like the ‘real college experience’ for students living there, which I think is needed,” she said.  

The new residence hall will be named Orchard Hall because prior to being an institution of learning, the campus land was an apple orchard.

Orchard Hall will house 254 students, two per bedroom, on three floors. Six beds will be reserved for resident assistants and two professional staff members living on campus. There will be 24 compartmentalized bathrooms on each floor and will introduce a new concept of shared bathrooms to students living in the dorms.

This facility will contain many fun living features: laundry units, with text alert options on completed loads; a variety of student lounges, areas reserved to study, quiet and general space to utilize and hangout. Van services, for transportation to various locations near campus, like the grocery store, or the mall, are planned for students without a vehicle.

In order to be become an Resident Assistant, students have to complete and pass a course offered in Spring ‘17, with a “B” or higher, to be considered. Current students can begin the residence application process on October 16 at noon, and prospective students can begin as they are accepted into Penn State. All student applicants will be picked at random to live in Orchard Hall.

Not only is Penn State Brandywine getting a residence hall, but a new student union building. Located adjacent to the Vairo Library, it will be the home of food services and include two floors of student dining, conference space, student recreation areas, the bookstore, an expanded Lion’s Den and student affairs offices.

Food services will be new to the campus and although the menu is still being created, once completed, students will be able to give feedback on the items they wish to keep, discarded and added.

Gluten free and vegetarian food options will also be available to students, and a registered dietitian will be on site. Forecasted to be a student favorite, the Shake, Bake and Brew station will feature frozen treats from Creamery’s Ice Cream, baked goods from University Park bakery and other goodies still being discussed.

New meal plan options offer a variety of choices and are available for all students to purchase.

According to Elizabeth Kearns, the director of Brandywine housing and food services, University Park will provide and deliver all food items.

The campus has decided to introduce environmentally friendly concepts with the addition of the new buildings. RHEAL, is a healthy eating program, paired with the Green to Go, reusable fill up container program will be offered to students as well. “We have a go-green reusable container for a $5 deposit; you use the container, bring it back and we give you your $5 back,” Kearns said.  

This building will also include a health and wellness center with health professionals and The addition of the student union building and Orchard Hall will enhance the student experience for returning and prospective students. With new advances and the integration of sophisticated technology, millennials will feel right at home at Brandywine.

One Day Left, Who Will Win?

Posted By under Campus News

By: Alyssa Abbonizio, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, aqa5498@psu.edu

For the first time in history, a female has won the presidential nomination and participated in a presidential debate.

Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton faced off in the first of three presidential debates on September 27, 2016. With an average of 84 million viewers making it the most watched debate in history according to Nielsen, the nominees debated on three topics: America’s direction, achieving prosperity, and securing America. The debate started out talking about jobs and how each candidate will bring back jobs to the U.S.

“We need to stop companies from leaving the United States and firing all their people,” said Trump. “We need to re-negotiate trade deals and stop countries from stealing our companies and our jobs.”

He mentioned how Carrier Air Conditioning fired 1,400 people because they’re moving their company to Mexico. He wants to bring companies that went overseas back to the United States and to get the American people their jobs back. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, wants fair trade deals and says we need a tax system that works for everyone.

“Donald’s version would give the biggest tax cuts to the top 1%,” said Clinton. “We can do more for the middle class, we can invest more in our education and our future will be better off.”

Trump rebutted with, “how will you bring back companies? Their current government is giving incentives, taking our jobs and doing things we don’t do. When we sell into Mexico, there’s a tax. When they sell into us, there’s no tax,” explained Trump.

“The recession happened because the government slashed taxes to the rich and 9 million people lost their jobs,” Clinton counter argued. “We can’t go back to the policies that failed us in the first place.”

As the debate went on, Clinton’s email scandal came up and she admitted to making a mistake saying, “There are no excuses. It was a mistake and I take responsibility for it.”

“It was not a mistake, it was done purposely,” claimed Trump. “You have your staff taking the fifth and it’s disgraceful and the Country thinks it’s disgraceful too.”

One of the biggest topics of the night was race relations. Moderator Lester Holt asked questions regarding race relations in the country, including police shooting and killing black people.

“Race remains a significant challenge in our country,” explained Clinton. “We have to restore trust between communities and police; we have to work to make sure cops are using the best training and techniques and that there well prepared to use force only when necessary.”

She’s calling for criminal justice reform and wants to tackle the plague of gun violence. On the other hand, Trump says we need law and order. He agrees with Clinton that we need better relationships between the police and community but his way around race relations is to do stop and frisk to regain law and order in the country.

“We have a situation where inner cities, blacks and Hispanics living in hell,” Trump began. “Stop and frisk worked really well in New York and brought down murders from 2,200 to 500. Communities in inner cities have been abused and used to get votes by democrats.”

Clinton rebutted his statement by saying, “Stop and frisk was found unconstitutional because it was ineffective. It didn’t do what it needed to do.”

Lester Holt ended the debate with one final question: Are you willing to accept the outcome of the election? Both candidates said they would accept the outcome and that it’s up to the people to get out and vote. So remember to vote on November 8.