Month: April 2015

Building On The Pinstripes

Posted By under Sports

The Penn State Nittany Lions take the field for the first time since the epic Pinstripe Bowl victory.
By Vito Purpura, Lion’s Eye Editor, vap5077@psu.edu

Many months have passed since former walk-on Sam Ficken drilled an extra point at Yankee Stadium that gave Penn State a 31-30 overtime victory.

It was Penn State’s first bowl victory following a postseason ban. Since then some players have left for the NFL, while others have graduated and began life after football. As summer approaches, Penn State continues its preparations for next season.  One of which includes the annual Blue & White game held at Beaver Stadium.

The Blue & White game, which is essentially an overhyped practice, provides a glimpse at the team and what plays they might be running this season. Making assumptions based off of the Blue & White game is almost impossible.

“If we analyzed the Blue & White game like a normal game, then Nick Scott might be a Heisman trophy candidate,” Penn State fan John Derosier said at the annual event.

Nick Scott had an impressive day running the ball, which included a 52-yard touchdown run.

Expectations are high this year for the Penn State football team. Coming off of a New Era Pinstripe Bowl championship, they look to improve and make it to a major BCS bowl game. Now with a full year under his belt, Coach James Franklin can continue to build his ideal team. People sometimes forget that he inherited a team molded by Bill O’Brien and originally constructed by the late Joe Paterno.

As time goes on, one would hope Coach Franklin continues to excel in recruiting and build the program he has in mind. Some are still skeptical about Coach Franklin.

“Sometimes he reminds me of a guy who’s full of you know what,” Season ticket holder Jordan Gillespie on Coach Franklin.  “He talks a big game, but really all I care about is what he produces on the field. Talk doesn’t put points on the board.”

Just a short time ago, Joe Paterno was continuing his legendary coaching career, Penn State was flirting with top 25 rankings and they were still being revered as “Linebacker U”. While the name, traditions and for the most part the uniform remain the same, the Penn State football program has unfortunately lost some of its prestige. Winning fixes everything, but the question remains if James Franklin can.

The Second Chance

Posted By under Op/Ed, Sports

By: Liz Gramlich, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, eag5283@psu.edu

Frenc Baro had to leave everything behind and move to America to ensure a better life with his family, which has lead to him having the ability to go to college and receive his degree this May in information science and technology (IST) with a minor in business.

Baro was born in Albania after the fall of communism and his parents felt that the country was an unsafe place; therefore they moved to Greece in search of a better life. In Greece the economy started to decline and their education became very limited as well as their job opportunities. This would lead Baro’s family to applying for a Diversity Immigrant Visa and being chosen to come to the U.S. through this process in 2004.

At the age of 11 it became very difficult for Baro to make the transition from living in Europe to then living in America. The main reason for this was that he did not know the English language or understand the culture yet and he was now being thrown into this culture where he needed to assimilate to succeed. Baro was able take on these challenges and go on to graduate from Springfield High School and be accepted into Penn State Brandywine.

Baro choose Penn State Brandywine because the school offered the major he was interested in and he felt like Brandywine had an inviting atmosphere. Brandywine also had a soccer team; this was exciting for Baro because he has had a passion for soccer his entire life. Unfortunately Baro was injured playing soccer in the beginning of his freshman year so he was not able to play. But by the next year he was out on the field again doing what he loved. Soccer became a way for Baro to relieve the stress of school and work. Brandywine’s soccer coach, Scott Spangler influenced Baro on and off the field. When Baro played soccer for Brandywine they won back-to-back championships and Baro was chosen to be a captain of the soccer team for his senior year.

While working on his academics, Baro was thankful to go through his courses with his friends, Andrew Sinigaglio and Blendi Hasa, who were there with help and support. One thing that stood out about his educational experience was that his education involved a lot of hands on experiences and group projects that applied to work in a career setting. Baro’s advice to future students would be to make friends while you are in school because they will help you during times that you are in need of support.

If he had stayed in Albania, Baro would not have had the opportunity to succeed and earn a degree.
Baro and his immediate family had to leave everything behind including their friends and family in hopes of a better life in order to have the opportunity to accomplish their dreams. Baro states,

“If you look back at what you have done and smile, you have accomplished your goals. I am able to smile because my parents have gave me that chance in life.”

The Penn State Family

Posted By under Op/Ed

Dan Ketler, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, dmk5614@psu.edu

With graduation rapidly approaching on our beloved Penn State Brandywine campus, it is a perfect time to reflect on memories of the graduating class and to also point out notable students who made an impact here for themselves and for others around them. One Brandywine student who proved himself exceptionally worthy of being highlighted, not just for his extremely good grades and ongoing work ethic, but for his interesting story of how he attended Penn State alongside two out of three of his children. This man is none other than Mr. Stephen Braconnier.

Braconnier is a father of three: Stephen Jr., Megan and Allison Braconnier. It was during Stephen Jr.’s senior year at University Park when Braconnier decided to go back to school to obtain his degree in psychology. Interestingly enough, for personal reasons, he kept it to himself that he was attending classes regularly at Brandywine.

“I didn’t tell a single person until I completed my first semester. That was a tough secret to keep!” Braconnier stated.

In May of 2013, Braconnier’s son graduated from main campus while his daughter Megan was in her sophomore year at the University of Notre Dame. The youngest of his three children, Allie, was still in high school at the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Bryn Mawr. Allie was trying to make up her mind about which college to attend and she chose to follow in her older brother’s footsteps and enroll at Penn State University Park. Braconnier could not have been any more pleased with his family. “I recall being so proud of Stephen’s accomplishment, Allie’s decision and my personal success in my first semester. After the summer semester, my family officially had a Penn State bloodline!” Braconnier shared.

Currently, Braconnier’s daughter is finishing up her second year at main campus while Braconnier himself is getting closer to graduating. He and his daughter keep in touch quite frequently by texting and calling.
“We are both competitive, so we can’t wait to compare GPAs at the end of each semester. I currently hold a slight edge by only decimal places.” Braconnier proudly admitted.

Since he attends college full-time and works two jobs, it is difficult for Braconnier to make the trip up to University Park to visit Allie and to experience all the fun things that main campus has to offer. He hopes to be able to visit Allie in the fall as things will be winding down for him since he will be an official Penn State University graduate.

Stephen Braconnier, will join his son as the second Penn State graduate in their family. His daughter Megan will graduate this May from Notre Dame and Allie plans to graduate from University Park in 2017. What a remarkable journey it has been for the Braconnier family.

Senior Reflection: The Do’s and Don’ts of College

Posted By under Op/Ed

By: James Berridge, Lions Eye Staff Writer jrb1055@psu.edu and Paula Scott, Lions Eye Staff Editor pms5152@psu.edu

Senior year.  The time that we’ve all been looking forward to our entire college career.  I think it is safe to say that college is no easy task, and senior year is the most important of them all.  Deadlines, exams, internships, 400 level classes—worrying about all of these things is enough to make one’s head explode.  However, there are things that you can do throughout your freshman, sophomore, and junior years that might make your senior year a little less stressful.

Here are some dos and don’ts that will make your life much easier

Do- Take summer classes

Don’t- Take a year off

Taking time off from college, then going back, is one of the hardest things to do.  It’s important to stay committed to your education and finish on time.  This is also why taking summer classes may be beneficial.  By taking summer classes, you stay in the “school” mindset.  Once September rolls around, it’s not as hard to get back in the swing of things.

Do- Be organized

Don’t- Be a procrastinator

Organize your schedule early on and set aside time to be in the library. After receiving each course syllabus, highlight all the deadlines and put them into your planner. Saving all your assignments until the last minute will not only hinder your grade, but will increase your stress. The library is the best environment to be in to be the most productive. Use this resource to your advantage; become a regular.

Do- Take advantage of online classes

Don’t- Underestimate them

As a Penn State student, you can register for World Campus classes, so long as you’re taking more credits at Brandywine than you are online. Do take advantage of these courses if you need a class and they aren’t offering it at Brandywine that semester. Do not underestimate the course simply because it is online. Online classes may be more convenient but require you to be very organized and self-motivated. Yes, you don’t have to physically attend class, however, not following the syllabus and required reading can really put you behind. Just because a course is online, doesn’t mean group work is eliminated!

Do- Finish all of your gen eds before your senior year

Don’t- Wait until you senior year to take all 12 required credits of a language

Senior year is when you focus the most on your major.  Most of your classes are of the 300 and 400 level variety.  This means that these classes are the most difficult and take up a lot of your time.  It is much easier to get through senior year when you only have to focus on these classes and not worry about your gen. ed.
requirements.

Do- Manage your schedule wisely

Don’t- Take 22 or 24 credits the last semester of your senior year

It’s the hardest semester of your college career, and you’re taking well above the normal amount of credits in a semester. Not good!  It is important to finish each semester with at least 15 credits.  Although 12 credits may be considered “full-time,” it makes it very hard to graduate on time when only taking that amount.  The last thing you want is to be swamped with school work, your internship, and your personal everyday life during the most important semester of college.

Do- Take care of yourself

Don’t- Neglect your health

Nourish your body with wholesome food to fuel you through your day. Eating vending machine junk (that’s if they even work) will quickly give you energy, but will send you crashing. Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of water. We’ve all heard it…listen to it. Don’t let stress get the best of you. Exercising regularly helps reduce stress levels and keeps your body and mind healthy.

Hopefully these tips can help you through your college education.  College will be part of some of your most memorable times in life.  Have fun, meet new people, but take it seriously.  Know when assignments are due, and hand them in on time.  Make your professor’s life easier, and in return, your own.

Career Fair Provides Students with Great Opportunity

Posted By under Uncategorized

By: James Berridge, Lions Eye Staff Writer, Jrb1055@psu.edu

A lot of time during a student’s senior year is spent on job and internship searching.  Penn State Brandywine hosted its bi-semester career fair for business, communications, and information systems technology majors in order to help with just that.

The career fair on Wednesday, March 25, invited a variety of businesses in the area to join the Brandywine campus in hopes of providing students with job and internship opportunities. Students were asked to wear professional dress and come prepared, with resume in hand, so they could meet as many companies as possible in the short time allotted.

The companies that participated in the career fair included Unites States Liability Insurance, Intern U, Stratus Interactive, Pennoni Associates, Almac Group, Penn State Great Valley, Evolve IP, 101.1 More FM radio, Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry and WSFS Bank.

Internships are very important for college students. Besides the fact that most majors here at Penn State require an internship in order to graduate, they also provide the student with certain lessons that can only be learned in the professional environment. Plus, they can be a great start to a potential full time job.

“I already fulfilled my internship requirement to graduate this semester, but I view an internship as another opportunity for your career,” Paula Scott, a senior corporate communications major, said.

“The more interning you can get under your belt, the more you learn about your major and the better your resume looks.”

Scott also attended the career fair for possible job opportunities and leads.

“Most college seniors do not have a full-time job lined up for them as soon as they graduate, so career fairs are a great way to get your resume out there and get the ball rolling,” Scott said.

Attending career fairs can also be very beneficial to the companies that are looking to hire. career fairs are able to provide potential employers with a face that matches his or her resume. For this reason, it is important to dress professionally. Though career fairs are very beneficial, they can be short. It is important to have one’s resume updated, review background on companies that one wishes to visit during the fair, write a cover letter to share with potential businesses, and show confidence. A good first impression is very important.

Kate Wysocki, event coordinator and PSU Brandywine’s career counseling specialist, helped make this event happen and deserves a big “Thank you,” from all attendees of the PSU Brandywine Career Fair. It was a great success, and hopefully, it continues to gain popularity in the future.

 

Activities Of A Graduate

Posted By under Op/Ed

By: Brooke Byrne, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, bzb5183@psu.edu

The weeks leading up to the end of the semester are busy ones, especially for Rebecca Slomowitz, who is graduating this spring. Slomowitz is a psychology major here at Penn State Brandywine and, recently at the Academic Awards Convocation, she was the recipient with the most awards.

As the semester winds down, Rebecca is working on finishing up work in her classes. “Before graduation, I have a few presentations left and multiple papers to finish. I have to complete a presentation on a solution to an environmental problem for my honors environmental science course with Dr. Boudreau; a paper and presentation for the developmental appropriateness project for my advanced infant development course with Dr. Zosh; and a paper focused on a cultural group or cultural traditions for my cultural anthropology course taught by Professor Bean,” Slomowitz said. In addition to this, she is also taking six independent study credits. “It has definitely been a balancing act trying to juggle my thesis work and my course work this semester, but I think I have done an OK job.”

As if all of this wasn’t enough, Slomowitz also has plenty keeping her busy outside of her classes as she finishes up work on her Schreyer Honors Thesis investigating infant working memory and whether humans and human-looking objects are special in the minds of infants. This month, her schedule includes presentations for the honors symposium, the 2015 Undergraduate Exhibition at University Park, and two more at the exhibition of Undergraduate Research Enterprise and Creative Accomplishment (EURECA) and Sigma Xi. For some, this may seem daunting, but for Rebecca, this just confirms that she is where she wants to be.

“The process of developing and completing my own study confirms my passion for research and has given me the hands-on experience that I need in order to work toward a career in research,” Slomowitz said. With all this excitement, Rebecca hopes to enjoy a few things on campus before graduation day. “I am currently working on the Honors Organic Garden with other students in Dr. Boudreau’s Honors Environmental Science class, so I’m hoping to spend more time working in the garden now that the weather is getting warmer.”

Since it was Rebecca who wrote the original proposal for the garden after going on a field trip for an honors course that was focused on sustainability, it would be an extra bonus for her to be able to see the garden as a reality. While Slomowitz is focusing all of her graduation attention on finishing up her course work, she says there are lessons she learned here at Brandywine that she will keep in mind during the next couple of weeks.

“My mentor, Dr. Jennifer Zosh, has given me many pieces of advice and has supported me immensely in preparation for leaving school. She has helped me grow as an individual and as a researcher, and words cannot describe how thankful I am for her guidance over the past year. I think my favorite piece of her advice is that I should always be kind and helpful to others, but that I should never belittle my interests or passions because of the opinions of others,” Slomowitz said.

Rebecca says that as she finishes up her time here on campus, her mentality is excitement for the new chapter in her life and aiming to emulate the enthusiasm of her mentor, Dr. Zosh, as she begins her own work as a clinical research assistant at the Center for Autism Research within the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Another successful Blue & White Game in the Books

Posted By under Uncategorized

Written by: Paul Alberici paa5102@psu.edu

68,000 fans came out to enjoy the annual Blue & White Spring Practice
68,000 fans came out to enjoy the annual Blue & White Spring Practice on Saturday April 18, 2015

It seems that no matter the weather, no matter the time of year and no matter the importance of the game, if you put the Nittany Lions on the field of Beaver Stadium, the fans will cheer them on.

That was once again proven on Saturday, April 18, as 68,000 fans watched the Nittany Lions split their squad for the Blue & Whiteintrasquad game, which had the blue squad claiming victory 17-7.

This annual practice game offers Nittany Lion fans a chance to see some of their returning stars as well as new and up-and-coming talents that they may have never heard of. This also presents an opportunity to just be at the legendary Beaver Stadium during what would normally be the off-season.

The teams are divided among first-team players wearing the blue uniforms while the second-team players don the white uniforms. The coin toss determined that the blue squad would start the game off with the ball.

On their opening drive, the blue squad was stopped on the white squad’s 37 yard-line, only to have the drive kept alive by a personal foul. This resulted in a fresh set of downs and extra 15 yards, which Akeel Lynch took full advantage of and ran for a 22-yard touchdown run to get the scoring started early in the 1st quarter. Tack on a field goal and the half would end 10-0, blue.

It really became a running back showcase between the blue squad’s senior Akeel Lynch and sophomore Nick Scott of the white squad. Lynch would finish the day with 50 total yards rushing off of nine carries, averaging about 5.6 yards per carry. However Scott had the same amount of carries and was able to gain a total of 77 yards in the game, averaging an impressive 8.6 yard per carry, including a 51-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter to finally put the white squad on the board. These two showing up big in the game is reassuring considering how inconsistent the rush was last year for the Lion’s offense.

The receivers were also getting involved in the game, mainly for the blue squad. Senior Geno Lewis caught six passes for a total of 61 yards in the game, while sophomore Saeed Blacknall caught just as many passes for 71 yards and a touchdown to show for it which would put the cap on the Blue & White game and preserve the blue squad’s victory.

Now, this game may offer the fans a chance to see their Nittany Lions in action, but it also offers the coaches to see what looks good and works as well as what needs to be worked on.

“Overall, we got we wanted to get out of it,” Head Coach James Franklin said. “We were able to mix the run and the pass.”

Upcoming junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg played the majority of the game went 17-29-1 (that interception led to the Scott touchdown in the third quarter) for a total of 180 yards.However, he was also sacked a total of 5 times throughout the game, which was the trend for most of last season with the young and injured offensive line.

“Our defensive line still holds a distinct advantage over the offensive line and that’s something we are going to continue work on through the off season,” Franklin said.

One of the biggest factors that coach Franklin thought went successfully was that they were able to have two full squads to get everybody’s reps in. This was useful in helping simulate a real life game atmosphere while also serving as a chance to see what did work.

Another aspect that was important to the game Franklin said was the emphasis on recruiting. At his press conference, Franklin even emphasized it with multiple potential recruits watching from the upper level, prompting cheers and applause.

With the overall success of the practice game and some potential recruits already signing on to join the program for their freshman season, along with full recruiting tools back once again with scholarships and the ability to compete in playoff games, it will be interesting to see what this coming season will bring for the Nittany Lions.

Students discover vast geometry in nature

Posted By under Campus News, Uncategorized , , , , ,
Penn State assistant math professor and NSF researcher, Jan Reimann
Penn State assistant math professor and NSF researcher, Jan Reimann

Written by Kahri Jones

Early Wednesday evening, students entered room 113 for the second installment of Brandywine’s 2015 Speaker Series. Students were not the only ones to occupy all seats; faculty and members of the community were also in attendance.

Jan Reimann, assistant professor of mathematics at Penn State, kicked off the lecture in continuation of the four part series of free events open to the public, and immediately admitted how amazed and delighted at the interest shown reflected by the audience turn out.
He thanked the audience for attending a math lecture on their spare time. Reimann found it remarkable because math is often intimidating and gets a bad rap. He promised he would not ask the audience to solve equations.

“There won’t be any formulas,” Reimann joked. “Everyone can enjoy math, just like everyone can enjoy music or art.”

Instead of asking to solve equations and find derivatives for functions, Reimann peaked the room’s interest by acknowledging the many patterns that appear in nature and architecture.
He explained that patterns are all throughout nature and that you just have to know how to see them. He assured the audience that through curiosity and scientific endeavor, we can learn how observe patterns around us.

Mathematicians seek to understand the world. Through harmony and chaos, the fundamental patterns of geometry, lines and circles are a global regularity. It was important for Reimann to establish a foundation for the audience understanding of how mathematicians have observed the world around us and how perceptions have developed.

Reimann took the audience on a journey through a 3,000-year-old math struggle to gain a better understanding of how we see the world today. After each definitive period of how the world perceived geometry in nature, he gave light to mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot’s discovery of fractal geometry. He noted that Mandelbrot’s findings have even benefited current computer animated graphics.

The assistant professor is a distinguished researcher in the field of science and mathematics. His research is funded by the National Science Foundation, and has brought him to many places throughout the world, including New Zealand, Chicago, California and Penn State.

When Jan Reimann is not in the Penn State classrooms as assistant professor, he is more than likely researching questions on fractal geometry or information theory and the foundations of mathematics and science. His latest research is observing a type of symmetry, self-similarity, found in particular networks such as airline traffic patterns.

2014-15 Women’s Basketball

Posted By under Sports

By: Jake Gibbons, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, jmg6173@psu.edu

The women’s basketball team, it seemed, were all but unstoppable this season, suffering a mere eight losses overall out of 26 total games. However, their impressive performance this season was halted abruptly in the PSUAC semifinals this past weekend.
The season had been going extremely well for the team before this past Sunday, with the team holding both an 18-7 win/loss record and the title of regular season champions after a victory over Penn State Schuylkill. With, that, the team garnered for themselves a healthy rest period and the home court advantage, at least until the PSUAC championship.
Come this past Sunday, however, Penn State Hazleton was able to eke out a victory in the final few minutes of the PSUAC semifinals.
As the opening neared, suspense began to build in the air around the court in what was maybe the largest crowd at a home game this season began to roll in. With the anticipation finally at a boiling point, the semifinal round began. The game’s first half saw the most intense performance we’ve yet seen this season from both sides, neither of which being able to gain a lead of more than a few points or so for the first 20 minutes of play. A strong showing from the offense coupled with two free throws and multiple back to back goals gave Brandywine a 16 point lead over Hazleton by the end of the first half.
As the game wore into the second half, Brandywine was pushing hard, and at one point had nearly 20 points over their opponents. The momentum was strong, but it eventually began to dwindle as the second half wore on, Hazleton slowly beginning to rally and chip away at our lead. Hazelton was trailing by 17 points in the final fifteen minutes of the game, but by the three minute mark they’d closed the gap considerably, eventually gaining their first lead since the first fifteen minutes of the game, now with just a minute left in play. After two pairs of free throws from Hazleton and a few missed attempts by Brandywine, the final score stood at 65-59. With that, Hazleton moved on to the championship game, leaving Brandywine to close the season out with a respectable record.
This season may not have ended well, and come next year we will lose our pair of extremely talented seniors, but, if anything, this season did prove what the team is capable of. Next season is a mystery to us now, but if this one showed us anything, we may just be able to go all the way.

The Progression of Brandywine THON

Posted By under Campus News

Liz Gramlich, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, eag5283@psu.edu

In fall of 2012 I decided to join THON at a club rush because I thought it would be a great way to meet new people and help children with cancer at the same time. Looking back I had no idea how much this organization would progress over the next three years. During fall 2012 it was a common view that the Brandywine THON organization was in the process of reconstructing itself. That year Brandywine Benefitting THON raised $12,296.12 for the kids. New Picture (6)
During fall 2013 Brandywine set out with a goal to raise more than the previous year’s total. The organization grew in membership and more fundraisers were created. By the end of that year, Brandywine was able to raise $26,251.83. This was over two times more than the previous year’s total. That year Brandywine also became number 10 of the Top 10 Commonwealth Colleges in fundraising. Seeing how much they could make a difference put a fire under Brandywine THON for the year to come.
This year when Brandywine started their fundraising season, they had more people than ever before. In their first meeting the organization had over 100 students attend. During Brandywine THON’s first canister solicitation (canning) weekend they totaled $12,136.68. This amount was only $159.05 away from their total in 2013. In addition to this, they were able to reach out to previous Brandywine Alumni for support. They held multiple fundraisers throughout the year such as: car washes, Halloween costume contests, and their annual chance auction—whichhad a great turn out. Thanks to our dedicated members, faculty, staff, alumni and donors, Brandywine THON was able to raise $40,952.11. This total was the most that Brandywine had ever raised since its founding in 2001. The total of $40,952.11 also placed Brandywine as seven in the Top Ten Commonwealth. This year THON members were truly dedicated and Brandywine Proud.
Brandywine THON gave it all that they had for the kids and made every penny that they raised count. I am truly proud of everything that they have accomplished this year. Every record by THON in previous years had been broken within the year through their hard work and dedication. Brandywine THON proved that a small group of people can make a huge impact.