Day: April 18, 2014
What’s in the name?
Have you ever wondered what happened to the name Penn State Delaware County? Or maybe you were curious as to where the name Penn State Brandywine came from and why the sudden name change?
Delaware county would be the ideal name considering the campus is located in Delaware county but there were reasons, some surprising, as to why the change was necessary.
“There were different reasons for considering a name change for the Penn State Delaware County campus, but there were three broad themes,” Bill Tyson, Brandywine’s Director of Marketing and Communications, said. “There was confusion between Penn State Delaware County and Delaware County Community College. There was a need to broaden the campus’s admissions reach beyond where it stood. There was a need to project a more collegiate image for the campus in keeping with its offering four-year degrees.”
Alternate names for Penn State Delaware county campus were narrowed down by the name
change committee to Penn State Brandywine and Penn State Media. The committee conducted a research to determine how key target groups would react to a new name both visually and by sound. Surveys were given to 20 participants from each target group consisting of campus faculty and staff, current students, the parents of current students and alumni.
Some who were surveyed felt that Brandywine was more pleasing to the eye and ear and Media
was associated with being closer to the current campus location. From the name “Media” emerged confusion as to what it exemplified. Many participants felt the name suggest that the campus was a communications college, as in “news media.”
After being asked about their perception of the two possible names, a majority said Brandywine
seemed more collegiate and representative of a university of high standards. Still, there were some survey participants who did not believe any name change was necessary.
“I, as a student, would have thought it was a division of the Delaware County Community
College.” Brandywine student Rezwana Khatun said. “The name Brandywine gives this campus its own individuality, just like the other Penn State campuses.”
Following an evaluation of the survey results and taking into considering different view points
and suggestions, the University made a final decision to change the campus name to Penn State Brandywine. The name change took effect in the fall of 2007.
Latech Murphy
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, Lnm107@psu.edu
My take: Celebration of Suds
The Atlantic City Convention Center held the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, also known as Celebration of the Suds, on April 4-5. More than 100 breweries gathered from all over the country for the two-day sold out event.
Some people attended to see the wonderful live music provided, while others wanted to sample the different types of beers and ciders available. And yet a couple people just wanted to experience something different.
“Not only was the music enjoyable, but also the whole festival was an overall great experience,” Raquel Given said. “With the stage being right in the middle and being surrounded by unlimited beer samples, I couldn’t have asked for a better time.”
I walked from the Trump Plaza where I was staying and as I was walking, I noticed huge groups of people heading toward the Atlantic City Convention Center. Many groups were dressed in themes. Many had the same t-shirts on and others wore costumes. Some of the various costumes included a beer keg, sailor, captain of a ship and German beer girls.
When I walked inside the Convention Center, I noticed something amusing: people had yarn around their necks, and around the yarn, were pretzels. I said to myself, “If I come next year I know what is going around my neck.” It was such a great idea. Why spend four dollars for a hotdog when you can bring pretzels around your neck, which also pairs really well with beer.
I noticed people were gathering around a booth after we handed in our tickets and got our IDs checked. They were handing out little plastic beer mugs that were about four ounces. Since I’ve never been to an event like this, I liked the idea.
Upon walking in, Shock Top was the first beer stand I saw. I love Shock Top Raspberry Wheat Beer so I decided to get that first. Walking around while sipping on that, there was so much to take in. From the familiar brands of beers and ciders to the local, unfamiliar brands, there was so much to try. Some of the familiar brands included Anchor Brewing, Dogfish, Flying Fish, Magic Hat, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Victory, Woodchuck Ciders, Yards and Yuengling. I sampled all of the new summer flavors some of the companies were releasing. I would have to say that my favorite that I sampled at the event and I even went back for thirds, was Woodchucks Apple Blueberry Cider.
The Saturday afternoon session featured the one band I have been very eager to see. The Dirty Heads closed out the afternoon with their reggae/hip hop vibes. I’ve been listening to them for a while now and it was my chance to finally see them live. They really put on a great show to close out the first Saturday session.
In all, it was a great, fun experience and a chance to get a huge group together to go out and try new brews that you or your friends would not normally try on a night out at the bar. I know I will definitely get a group together to go again next year.
Chelsea Ebling
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, cme5177@psu.edu
Women’s Softball Making Noise
The women’s softball team is a threat in the league — In its inaugural season.
Standing middle of the back in the league at 5-5 in conference play, Brandywine softball has really shown they are a competitive group despite boasting only 11 players and one upperclassman. However, assistant head coach Bobbi Caprice admits that the lack of players has been the biggest obstacle to overcome all season.
“The biggest challenge we have faced all season was numbers,” Caprice said. “We started off the season with 11 players, and our number one pitcher got hurt during spring training.”
Caprice also says other injuries have been problematic throughout the course of the season, but is optimistic that having a “competitive nature” will keep the team in playoff contention.
The loss of freshman starting pitcher Olivia Encarnacion was a blow to the team, according to Caprice. However, freshman captain Julia Allman believes the team was able to unveil another player’s hidden talent.
“We lost a key element from our team,” Allman said of Encarnacion. “But by Cheyanne coming in, we picked up something we didn’t expect to pick up.”
Now starting pitcher Cheyanna Murphy is a former pitcher for township softball years back, but has taken on the role of an outfielder since high school. The sophomore from Chichester has indeed been one of the biggest surprises this season, as she ranks third in the conference in strikeouts.
As it stands now, the team would have to win the rest of their league games in order to make playoffs, something Allman thinks is possible.
“I’m excited because you never know what can happen because each game is different,” said Allman. “We’re trying to get hype and make playoffs. We want to come out and surprise people, and I think we will.”
And surprising they are.
On Sunday, April 14, the team traveled to PSUAC defending champions Penn State Beaver for a double-header. In the first game, Brandywine trailed 8-6 in the final inning. It wasn’t until that last gasp to come back did the Lady Lions kick into full gear and take the lead to seal the deal with a 9-8 upset victory.
But the second of the double-header was a true thriller for the ages.
For the majority of the game, Brandywine struggled to get anything going on offense and made several errors on defense, which resulted in a nine-run deficit late in the game. With the team coming face-to-face with a true pounding (10-1 in the fifth inning), the offense was able to rally and put together three runs, cutting the lead 10-8. However, with two outs and down two runs at the bottom of the seventh inning, one of Brandywine’s finest hitters rose to the occasion.
That’s when freshman second baseman Stacey MacArthur exploded.
MacArthur bombed a grand slam over the fence, which put Brandywine on top for the first time in the final inning of play. MacArthur’s clutch hit helped put the game away, as Brandywine swept the PSUAC defending champions.
With the Lady Lions showing their competitiveness in just its first season of play, Caprice expressed her excitement for next season, as the team looks to build on this year’s production.
“We are looking forward to next year so much,” Caprice said. “The handful of recruits we have will be a big asset to the team. We are looking forward to watching our current players grow in their upcoming years as well as the new additions to the team next year.”
Amanda Congialdi
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, AMC6079@psu.edu