Day: March 1, 2017

What Were the Goals of the Recent Women’s March and Do You Think it was Effective?

Posted By under Campus News

Lion’s Eye Staff Writer
Lauren Tweed, lmt5428@psu.edu

“They were trying to prove that President Trump’s views on women were wrong. He is sexist, and looks at women as objects. It hasn’t had any effect yet, but with time it could open more people’s eyes and make changes.”
DAYANA MEJIA, SOPHOMORE, ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS

“I am not sure. I heard it was for women’s rights, as well as anti-Trump. I don’t really know what they were trying to do, but a lot of people came out. Nothing drastic is going to change.”
NICOLE DOYLE, JUNIOR, HDFS MAJOR

“To bring awareness to the problems with equality for women, planned parenthood, abortions, and more. Yes, it will lead to major changes. Many well-known celebrities gave speeches about it.”
MARY BOYLE, FRESHMAN, PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

“To get Donald Trump’s attention on women’s rights and how important it is. I don’t think it’s going to change much.”
JANEILLE STORA, JUNIOR, MARKETING MAJOR

“I don’t know much about the women’s march, except they fought for the rights they have fought for years, such as planned parenthood. It certainly brought awareness, considering it was a trending topic on social media. Now, whether or not it was effective on convincing other to join the cause is a question that remains to be answered.”
PATRICIA CARLOS, SOPHOMORE, COMMUNICATIONS MAJOR

 

 

Orchard Residence Hall Welcomes all Brandywine Students

Posted By under Campus News

Beginning in Fall 2017, students of Penn State Brandywine will be showing up to campus with more than just their textbooks. Next fall, the newly built residence hall will fill up with both incoming freshman and returning Brandywine students, with Elizabeth Kearns as the director of housing and food services and Iris Richardson as the interim associate director of residence life. Kearns has provided a lot of information on the residence hall and important things to know for anyone planning to apply for a room!

It was decided that the residence hall would be named Orchard Hall, in reference to the former apple orchard on which Penn State Brandywine stands. Orchard Hall will consist of traditional style rooms, housing two people per room. However, the building will consist of much more than that. In addition to these traditional style rooms, there will be laundry facilities, multiple study lounges and a full kitchen for everyone’s late night cookie baking needs!

If the cookies aren’t enticing enough, don’t worry there’s more. Many have been curious about that huge stone building being built next to Tomezsko. That building will be the new Student Union which will house student affairs’ offices, the school bookstore, the Lion’s Den and a full dining facility.

When they say a full dining facility, they don’t just mean a typical school lunch with potato chips and pizza that tastes like cardboard. This dining hall, large enough to hold 300 people, will offer a fully stocked salad bar, pizza, pasta and a deli to make a variety of sandwiches. There will even be Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream! Also, for all of the students who can barely drag themselves to a 9:00 a.m. class without a double shot caramel macchiato, don’t worry because Brandywine secured a Starbuck’s license and will have a Starbucks included right in the Student Union building!

Convinced yet? If so, apply now! The application for freshman is first-come first-serve, so find a computer quick and log into eliving.psu.edu.

“As of February 3, students still interested in a housing contract can request through eliving.psu.edu,” said Kearns.

On this site students can apply for housing that puts them on the wait list for a room. Roommates are randomly assigned and there is a process for any conflict that may arise between roommates or any other issues.

The people who will help resolve some of these conflicts and will help make Orchard Hall a great place for everyone are the resident assistants (RAs). The process to become an RA is done in two simple steps. First, fill out and submit the application that will be available starting this spring. Second, take the RA class now offered at Brandywine called Higher Education 302. Successful completion of the class and a 2.5 GPA are required elements for RAs at Orchard Hall.

There are already students who have applied and have received notice that they will be having an on-campus experience this coming fall! Don’t wait.

“As a new resident, I hope to become more involved in Brandywine’s campus because I won’t have to worry about running back and forth between home and school,” said Brooke S. Theveny, Freshman student at Penn State Brandywine.

Orchard Hall, beginning in Fall 2017 will be the place to be for all Penn State Brandywine students! The rooms are filling up quickly so if interested, follow the steps to apply now. Living in Orchard Hall will provide you with everything you need for a successful college career and give you many opportunities to be more involved in the campus community.

How do you like them apples?!

Erin Ahlefeld, Lions Eye Staff Writer, efa5068@psu.edu

Snakes, Skinks, and Lizards Invade the Lion’s Den

Posted By under Campus News, Entertainment , , ,

Autumn Simms, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, als6765@psu.edu

Putting aside their fears of reptiles, students at Penn State Brandywine got to interact with various reptiles deep within the Lion’s Den. Keith Gisser, founder of the HERPS ALIVE!! program, brought creatures of varying sizes and intimidation levels for students to learn about.

Gisser has over thirty years of experience handling reptiles and amphibians. Since 1990, HERPS ALIVE!! has been traveling to 250 colleges in 36 states educating students on reptiles in a fun interactive way. They have been to Villanova University, Temple University and Delaware Valley College to name a few places.

Students like, Antonio Nicosia, got to pet one of four tortoises.

Nicosia said, “They’re pretty awesome. This stands out to me as a semester highlight.”Several students volunteered to be draped with an eight foot five inch Albino Burmese Python named Silas. Silas weighed 40 pounds. A student, named Ameer, described the snake as “super soft, exciting, and slippery.”

Bridget O’Donnell, assistant director of student affairs, said the event was, “Educational-something different for the students.”

While assisting Gisser and O’Donnell with the python, student helper, Vince Dejohn, said, “This is something I want to do for a living.”

There were skinks (a type of lizard), corn snakes, a baby alligator, a bearded dragon and an Asian Water Monitor. All the cold-blooded reptiles appeared extremely friendly and comfortable being in the hands of curious Penn State students.

There was a 5-foot, 10-year-old Asian Water Monitor named Gator, weighing 25 pounds. Gator nestled herself like a baby on students’ shoulders.

Jake Fida said, “It was fulfilling to hold a very large lizard.” He wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Keith Gisser is also the executive director of the non-profit Herps Alive Foundation started in 2013 and dedicated to rescuing neglected and/or abused reptiles and amphibians. The volunteers of the Herps Alive Foundation rehabilitate these animals and provide a sanctuary for them until they find a new home. They emphasize the importance of educating the public about reptiles and amphibians.

Herps Alive Foundation is a member of the Northern Ohio Association of Herpetologist, U.S Association of Reptile Keepers and Zoological Association of America. They have their own website at gggreg.com/herps_alive.html and a Facebook page at Herps Alive.

 

 

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.