5/11/2006 - Albright College

May 11, 2006 

 

The Albrightian 

May 11, 2006 The Voice of Albright College Since 1904 Volume 100, Issue 6 

Inside This Issue: 

Greek Week 

Pg. 4 

Q &A: 

Straylight Run 

Pg. 6 

Senior Spotlight 

Feature 

Pgs. 7-11 

Getting to Know the 

New SGA Officers 

Pg. 13 

CONTACT US: 

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Box # 867 

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P.O. Box 15234 

Reading, PA 19612 

E-MAIL 

Albrightian@alb.edu 

PHONE 

(610) 921-7558 

FAX 

(610) 921-7530 

Visit Our Web site: 

www.albright.edu/ 

albrightian 

Insufficient Adjunct Pay Continues 

at Albright, Nationwide 

by Jess Bair 


Throughout universities 

and colleges in the United 

States, including Albright College, 

adjunct professors—those 

professors who are paid on a per 

course basis—are finding that 

they cannot live on the pay of 

an adjunct income alone. 

“Right now the main 

benefit to adjunct pay lies in 

the FAFSA – helping my kids 

qualify for more financial aid in 

college,” said Marian Wolbers, 

an adjunct English and communications 

professor. “It is ironic 

to think that my graduating seniors 

will earn a higher annual 

salary at their entry-level jobs.” 

In the United States, almost 

half of those who teach 

in colleges are doing so part 

time, according to the American 

Association of University 

Professors’ (AAUP) annual report 

on the economic status of 

faculty salaries. The results of 

this study are published in the 

March-April 2006 edition of 

With the end of the semester 

fast approaching, Albright 

College has released who the 

speaker will be at this year’s 

Commencement Ceremony. 

Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, 

First Lady of the Commonwealth 

of Pennsylvania, 

has been chosen by President 

McMillan as this year’s speaker. 

McMillan said he was “delighted” 

to have her speak at this 

year’s ceremony and commented 

that she was very “interested 

in the students.” 

“She is an outstanding, talented, 

accomplished woman. 

She certainly merits that recognition 

[as speaker],” McMillan 

said. 

Judge Rendell became the 

43rd First Lady of Pennsylvania 

after her husband, Edward 

G. Rendell, was sworn in as 

Governor of Pennsylvania on 

January 21, 2003. She is a cum 

laude graduate of the University 

of Pennsylvania where she 

was also recognized as Phi Beta 

Kappa. In 1973, she received her 

Juris Doctor degree from Villanova 

University School of Law. 

During her career as a practicing 

attorney, Judge Rendell 

specialized in bankruptcy law 

Academe, the bulletin of the 

AAUP. The AAUP emphasizes 

that the adequacy of part-time 

faculty salaries affects the quality 

of education that institutions 

are able to 

provide because 

of the motivation 

that these faculty 

members have in 

response to their 

compensation. 

This includes Albright. 

Pennsylvania’s 

First Lady to Speak 

at Commencement 

by Meg Hurst 


and commercial litigation and 

was a mediator for the United 

States District Court. She was 

inducted as a judge for the 

United States District Court for 

the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 

in March 2004 and then 

promoted to the United States 

Court of Appeals for the Third 

Circuit in November 1997. She 

is the Chair of the United States 

Judicial Conference Committee 

on the Administration of the 

Bankruptcy System and serves 

on numerous Third Circuit 

committees. 

Additionally, Judge Rendell 

is a Fellow of the American 

College of Bankruptcy; an inaugural 

member and Master of 

the Villanova University School 

of Law J. Willard O’Brien Inn 

of Court; as well as a member 

of The American Law Institute, 

the Federal Judges Association, 

the American Judicature Society 

and the National Association 

of Women Judges. 

In October of 2004, Judge 

Rendell was awarded the Philadelphia 

Bar Association’s Sandra 

Day O’Connor award for 

her exceptional legal talents 

and achievements, her advocacy 

for the equal treatment of 

women in the profession and 

“That’s the issue – they 

[adjunct professors] 

don’t have fair compensation, 

but we rely 

on them tremendously. 

That’s exactly what most 

colleges do and it’s truly 

a financial issue.” 

-Ann Myers, Ph.D., member 

of the Faculty Executive 

Committee 

Continued on pg. 2... 

“One person 

living alone 

in 2003 with an 

annual income 

of $9,573 or less 

would have been classified as 

living in poverty,” according to 

the report. “Using the median 

per-course pay rate…and assuming 

an eight-course annual 

load…a part-time professor at a 

private baccalaureate college… 

would have earned between 

163 and 178 percent of it [the 

poverty level].” 

This semester there are 

approximately 70 adjunct professors 

helping to teach the 

412 classes being offered at Albright. 

Some of these adjuncts 

are teaching four courses a semester, 

which is the maximum 

amount of courses 

a full-time 

faculty member 

is allowed to 

teach, but are 

being paid much 

less than regular 

faculty receive. 

Adjuncts at 

Albright make 

about $2,200 per 

course—before 

taxes–when they 

are starting out, 

according to Wolbers. 

James Speese has been an 

adjunct professor at Albright for 

five years. He will be leaving after 

this semester to pursue a master’s 

degree at Lehigh University 

while also teaching there. Speese 

reflected on his experience as an 

adjunct at Albright as working 

for very little money, while not 

receiving the proper respect in 

terms of having an office. 

MTVU Tour 

“I don’t even know what 

to say,” Rob Lowry stated 

when asked about the biggest 

thing to hit Albright since the 

ice cream machine in the cafeteria. 

Hellogoodbye, 

Straylight 

Run, and Motion 

City Soundtrack 

came to Albright 

on April 28 as 

part of mtvU’s 

Campus Invasion 

Tour. 

The tour arrived 

here after 

hitting other select 

colleges. It 

was sponsored by 

the Student Government 

Association. 

The Campus Invasion 

Tour started early on in the 

day with the mtvU village 

where students could try their 

hand at trivia games, practice 

being a DJ and get free mtvU 

swag. During the village, Motion 

City Soundtrack was also 

available to pose for pictures 

and sign autographs. 

After the day’s festivities, 

the concert began with 

Hellogoodbye starting off the 

night. Notorious for not worrying 

about how they sound 

“Yes, I’m not getting paid 

what I’m worth; I’m not getting 

the respect that I’m worth,” 

Speese said. “I’m not sure that 

that wouldn’t be true anywhere 

else. I don’t necessarily think 

it’s an Albright issue so much as 

it is a higher education issue in 

terms of adjunct.” 

Ann Myers, Ph.D., is a fulltime 

tenured French professor at 

Albright and is a member of the 

Faculty Executive Committee, a 

group that serves as the political 

arm of the faculty and as a liaison 

between the faculty and trustees 

and between the faculty and 

the administration. She has been 

teaching at Albright for 36 years. 

Myers believes in equity and fairness 

and the ideal that if people 

are on the job then they should 

be compensated fairly, but she 

admits that this is not necessarily 

the view of all faculty. 

“I feel like equal pay for 

equal work. Not that full-time 

non-tenure faculty or adjuncts 

should have the status of ten- 

Continued on pg. 3... 

Invades Campus 

by Christiann Ryerson 


but rather whether people are 

dancing and having a fantastic 

time, the band opened up the 

show with a bang, and closed it 

with a “boom boom boom.” 

As usual for Hellogoodbye, 

costumes came out, ridiculous 

outfits were worn and dancing 

Motion City Soundtrack signs autographs during 

a meet and greet at the mtvU village 

Photo by Jackie Seigle 

was a must. The closing song, 

“Touchdown, Turnaround” 

was a hit with some special extra 

appearances and surprises, 

which set the stage for the 

rest of the bands to play. The 

synth-rockers provided the 

perfect amount of energy to 

open the show. 

Straylight Run, a group 

who did not exactly fit into the 

dance-pop of Hellogoodbye 

and Motion City Soundtrack, 

still put on a great show. 

Continued on pg. 3...


News 

News in the Brief 


Compiled by Andrew Holets 


Iranian President voices 

on various issues in 

letter to Bush 

In a letter sent to President 

Bush, Iran President, Mahmoud 

Ahmadinejad left out the 

issue of nuclear weapons development, 

but declared his belief 

that Western-style democracy 

has failed across the world. 

The letter, which is the first 

direct communication from an 

Iranian leader to an American 

president since 1979, was written 

in Farsi with an English 

translation and was released by 

United Nations diplomats. 

In his description of 

American foreign policy, Ahmadinejad 

writes, “Liberalism 

and Western style democracy 

have not been able to help realize 

the ideals of humanity.” 

President Ahmadinejad, 

who has previously questioned 

the details of the Holocaust, 

pens, “Again let us assume 

that these events are true,” describing 

the Holocaust. “Does 

that logically translate into 

the establishment of the state 

of Israel in the Middle East or 

support for such a state?” 

The letter also asks President 

Bush to return to the 

teachings of Jesus Christ in 

order to restore governmental 

values. Additionally, Mr. Ahmadinejad 

then described the 

9/11 attacks as “deplorable”, but 

asks why government officials 

that may have missed foreshadowing 

evidence have not been 

put on trial for their errors. 

The U.S. will be discussing 

Iran and its nuclear weapons 

development this week along 

with Great Britain, Germany, 

France, Russia and China. 

Head of C.I.A. steps 

down, military General 

tabbed as new director 

Porter J. Goss stepped 

down as director of the Central 

Intelligence Agency on Friday, 

leading to President Bush selecting 

General Michael V. 

Hayden his top choice for filling 

the position. Goss held the 

position for only 19 months, 

as the pressure of in-fighting 

within the intelligence community, 

classified information 

leaks and other conflicts caused 

him to step out so quickly. 

Gen. Hayden, former director 

of the National Security 

Agency, has been involved in 

the controversy over government 

eavesdropping. Democrat 

and Republican leaders, 

including Pennsylvania Senator 

Arlen Specter, have already 

voiced their concern over hiring 

a military officer to head 

the top post of the C.I.A. 

Hayden must now await 

confirmation before taking 

over. “There’s probably no post 

more important in preserving 

our security and our values as 

a people than the head of the 

Central Intelligence Agency,” 

stated Gen. Hayden at a press 

conference Monday. 

Number of homeless 

decreased in Reading 

According to a census 

conducted by a local volunteer 

group, the number of homeless 

people within the city of Reading 

has decreased by 19 percent 

within the past year. This 

group of volunteers, called The 

Coalition to End Homelessness, 

recently released census information 

regarding the number 

of Reading homeless people 

during the winter months. 

423 homeless people were 

counted during one night this 

past January—392 in shelters, 

the rest in abandoned houses or 

outdoors along the Schuylkill 

River. In addition to finding 

out important information regarding 

the physical and mental 

state of the homeless, the 

volunteer group distributed 

food, water and clothing from 

the Greater Berks Food Bank. 

The group is considering 

conducting a summer homeless 

census in order to compare 

seasonal changes. 

UK Leadership Fued 

Causes Low Support 

Senior members of British 

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s 

Labor Party tried to halt a 

damaging feud over its leadership 

on Tuesday as an opinion 

poll showed the party’s support 

slumping to a 14-year low. 

Blair, in power for nine 

years, has been under pressure 

from members of his own 

party to name a date to hand 

over the reins to finance minister 

Gordon Brown, his likely 

successor. 

Calls for Blair to leave soon 

have grown following a series 

of scandals that culminated in 

Labor taking a severe beating in 

local council elections last week. 

That prompted Blair to make a 

sweeping cabinet reshuffle. 

Blair attempted on Monday 

to end a row that threatens to 

tear the party apart, refusing to 

set a date for his departure but 

promising to give his successor 

ample time to settle in before 

a national election expected in 

2009 but due by 2010. 

Blair, who led the Labor 

Party to an unprecedented third 

successive election win last year 

despite being hurt by anger over 

the Iraq war, has pledged not to 

seek a fourth term. 

Commencement Speaker 

(Cont. from pg. 1...) 

the community, and her mentoring 

of other women within 

the legal profession. She was 

also recently asked by Sandra 

Day O’Connor to serve on the 

National Advisory Board to Reinvigorate 

Civic Education. 

Judge Rendell is a former 

Vice-Chair of the Board of 

Trustees of The Visiting Nurse 

Association of Greater Philadelphia 

and is philanthropically 

involved with many 

other charitable organizations. 

She is Chair of the Board of 

Overseers of the University of 

Pennsylvania School of Nursing, 

a member of the Board of 

Overseers of Penn Medicine, 

and a member of the Trustees 

Council of Penn Women. 

Additionally, Judge Rendell 

is the Chair of Avenue of the 

Arts, Inc., and a member of the 

board of directors of the Kimmel 

Center for the Performing 

Arts in Philadelphia. 

In her role as First Lady, 

Judge Rendell’s main goal is 

granting civic responsibility to 

children through citizenship 

and civic learning. 

Sue Perrotty, Judge Rendell’s 

Chief of Staff, graduated 

from Albright in 1975 and is an 

18-year trustee. Judge Rendell 

herself has visited Albright in 

the past, once for a statewide 

conference for women. 

According to Perrotty, 

Judge Rendell is a “civics buff” 

and her commencement address 

will most likely deal with the responsibilities 

of being a citizen, 

“learning how to live in our democracy,” 

and what the democracy 

demands from citizens. 

Judge Rendell is also interested 

in hearing what students 

feel is important. “She wants to 

know what kids might think,” 

said Perrotty. She added that 

Judge Rendell would enjoy 

having a discussion with the 

students and that “the tragedy 

is commencement isn’t a twoway 

dialogue.” 

Along with Rendell’s selection 

as Commencement speaker, 

a student has also been selected 

to address those attending the 

ceremony. Ashley Eisenhower, 

’06, has been asked to talk about 

her experience and the time 

she has spent at Albright. According 

to McMillan, in order 

for a student to speak at Commencement 

they should possess 

a positive academic profile, 

strong speaking abilities, and be 

actively involved in activities 

outside of the classroom. 

“I’m really delighted . . . 

Ashley embodies the values we 

hold dear,” McMillan said. 

The 2006 Commencement 

will take place on May 21. The 

Baccalaureate Service will be 

held on Science Field at 10 a.m., 

the Commencement Ceremony 

at 2:30 p.m. also on Science 

Field, and a President’s Reception 

at 4 p.m. in the Campus 

Center Dining Hall. This is the 

147th commencement for the 

college. Additional information 

can be found on Albright’s web 

site: www.albright.edu. 

Albright College Box # 867 • 13th & Bern Streets 

P.O. Box 15234 • Reading, PA 19612-5234 

Phone: (610) 921-7558 • Fax: (610) 921-7530 

Editor in Chief 

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Specialty Editor 

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Technical Support 

OFFICE STAFF 

Reporters 

Kristen Landis 

Jackie Seigle 

Andrew Holets 

Amy Lucas 

Meg Hurst 

Jordan Mauger 


Renée Blessington 

Jackie Seigle 



Jon Bekken 

Jordan Mauger, Jackie Seigle, Andrew Holets, Amy Lucas, Kristen Landis, 

Jessica Bair, Rachael Schwartz, Lydia Steiner, Meg Shaw, Jolynn DiIenno, 

Megan Lamiotte, Andrew Petrillo, Meg Hurst, Renée Blessington, Allyse 

Wolfinger, Jessica Bilello, Dan Orr, Christiann Ryerson, Rob Lowry, Tyler 

Travitz, Angela Sweeney, Meredith Selzer, Kory Turner and Nelson Baitzel 

The Albrightian is published at least six times a semester by the students of 

Albright College except during vacation, holidays, and examination periods. The 

publication is printed by the Susquehanna Printing Press in Ephrata, Pa. All submissions 

become property of The Albrightian, and the editors hold the copyright. 

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The Albrightian reserves the right to edit letters for length and to reject letters 

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Adjunct Professors 


ure faculty, but they should 

have equity and they should 

have a fair balance,” Myers 

said. “That’s the issue – they 

don’t have fair compensation, 

but we rely on them tremendously. 

That’s exactly what 

most colleges do and it’s truly 

a financial issue.” 

Andrea Chapdelaine, 

Ph.D., provost and vice president 

of academic affairs for 

Albright, said that adjunct 

compensation is a top priority 

for her to consider looking 

at when planning next year’s 

budget. 

“One of the most important 

investments this college 

can make with its resources is 

in the people who work here,” 

Chapdelaine said. “Compensation 

for all our employees 

is a very high priority…as we 

plan budgets. These needs, 

though, must be met while 

also trying to address other, 

sometimes conflicting priorities, 

such as striving to keep 

tuition costs down.” 

Myers, on the other hand, 

states that the College should 

not have to balance the budget 

by taking advantage of one 

part of the faculty. 

Janice Betteridge, ’07, 

an elementary education and 

English major who is also a 

work study for the graduate 

office, is familiar with many 

of the adjunct faculty in the 

English department. The 

MTVU Tour 


Ex-Taking Back Sunday 

(TBS) members John Nolan 

and Shaun Cooper, as well as 

Michelle Nolan (who 

sang the female vocals 

on TBS’ Tell All Your 

Friends), still have 

energy on stage, even 

though dancing isn’t 

quite up their alley. 

With MTV hits 

such as “Existentialism 

on Prom Night” and 

“Hands in the Sky (Big 

Shot),” old fans sang 

along, and hopefully 

some new fans were 

made during the set. 

These entertaining 

opening acts set 

the tone for the headlining 

performers, Motion 

City Soundtrack. 

Although I’m sure it 

was somebody in the 

administration part 

of Albright that told 

them about the 150th 

anniversary and inspired 

the special version 

of “Everything is 

Albright,” Motion City 

still put on a crowdpleasing 

set. 

Rob Stratton enjoyed 

Motion City the 

English department employs 

the largest amount of adjunct 

faculty on campus because of 

the need to provide so many 

sections of English 101 and 

102 for incoming freshman, 

according to Chapdelaine. 

Betteridge is concerned with 

the quality of education that 

adjunct professors may be able 

to provide based on their compensation. 

“I think that they lose motivation 

if they are constantly 

working just as hard as other 

professors but not getting enough 

out of it,” Betteridge said. “I can 

see where it would affect teaching. 

Why work hard when you 

won’t get a lot out of it?” 

Beyond the issue of adjunct 

pay is the fact that adjuncts 

are not given health 

insurance benefits. Even adjuncts 

who teach just as many 

courses as a full-time tenured 

faculty member, or more, do 

not receive equal benefits. 

Benefits that adjuncts do 

receive include a percentage 

increase in pay after accumulating 

a certain number of 

teaching-load hours, with incremental 

categories for each 

level of hours attained, according 

to Chapdelaine. The 

first increase is about $220 

more per course, according to 

Wolbers. 

A travel allowance is given 

for those living more than 30 

miles from campus, depending 

best because “they got the 

crowd really involved with 

singing along,” and later 

Above: Hellogoodbye’s lead singer, Forrest Kline, 

performs an acoustic number during the band’s set 

Below: Motion City’s Justin Pierre gets the crowd pumped 

with a revised edition of “Everything is Alright” 

Photos by Jackie Seigle 

News 

$6,000 

on the number 

of teaching-load 

$5,000 

hours they have 

in a given semester. 

There are also 

$4,000 

some tuition remission 

opportu- 

$3,000 

nities for adjuncts, 

$2,000 

their spouses and 

their dependent 

children, also depending 

on their 

$1,000 

t e a c h i n g - l o a d 

$0 

hours. 

Myers emphasized 

that the 

college should at 

least give the adjuncts 

some choice 

of health benefits. 

“We have a whole community 

here working; people are 

teaching in the classrooms and 

doing just as much,” Myers said. 

“At least give people fringe benefits, 

health benefits or let them 

be a part of our HMO, which 

they’re not. You can teach the 

equivalent of a full-time load 

and not have benefits.” 

Betteridge agreed that adjuncts 

should receive benefits 

and has been appalled by the 

rate that they are paid, which 

she learned of through her experience 

working in Masters 

Hall. She has also noticed that 

the adjuncts are not always 

given other amenities that 

they may require, such as sufficient 

office space. 

There is no particular 

met with Tony, the drummer, 

who was nice enough 

to give Stratton one of his 

drumsticks as a free 

souvenir. 

Motion City 

have always been 

known as great guys 

who put on a terrific 

live show, and 

they proved that at 

Albright, showing as 

much appreciation 

for us as we did for 

them. 

It was great to see 

something like this 

on campus instead of 

at 1402 or the Silo, 

and it was fun for all 

those who decided to 

go. The best part of 

it all was that it was 

free for Albright students, 

and having it 

on a Friday night was 

a great way to start 

the weekend. 

Hopefully there 

will be many more 

events like this in 

Albright’s future, 

as this was the perfect 

way to start the 

next 150 years at Albright. 

$2,200 

Adjunct Per-Course Starting Stipend Comparison 

$3,782 $3,782 - 2,954 

movement to do anything to 

change the adjunct situation 

one way or another, according 

to Myers. She said that the 

issue of adjunct pay came up 

as an issue when the College 

went through the process of 

hiring a new provost. 

Massive protests for a 

welcoming immigration policy, 

discussion of erecting a 

concrete border between the 

United States and Mexico and 

proposed congressional legislation 

that would make it a felony 

to enter the U.S. illegally. 

Outwardly, these sound like issues 

that may not have a large 

effect on a state like Pennsylvania—but 

that could not be 

any further from the truth. 

Even when unfamiliar 

with the city, it does not take 

long to realize that Reading’s 

population is heavily represented 

by Latinos. Although 

Latino emigration from other 

states and countries is associated 

with a decades-old trend 

dating back to the 1940’s, 

there is no question that it is 

still continuing presently. 

In fact, among 67 counties 

state-wide, 2004 statistics 

from the U.S. Census Bureau 

place Berks County in second 

for the largest Latino population. 

Additionally, with Latinos 

accounting for 54 percent 

(9,700 of 18,002) of new residents 

in Berks during the period 

of 2000-2004, the county 

also ranks third for counties 

with the highest percentage 

increase (26.7 percent) in Latino 

residents. 

Of course, these numbers 

actually represent real people, 

and it is important to apply 

these figures to the social and 

economic reality in Reading 

and the surrounding area. 

“Latinos are an asset to our 

 


“At the moment, it’s an 

ongoing issue about what direction 

we’re going to go in,” Myers 

said. “Are we going to give 

equal pay and recognize the 

work people are doing or are 

we going to just privilege the 

tenure track faculty?” 

Immigration Issues 

Hit Home for Reading 

Residents 

by Dan Orr 


$5,700 

Albright Moravian MLA 

Albright vs. Peer College vs. MLA Standard 

A comparison of the starting pay per course for adjuncts at Albright, a peer college 

of Albright (out of the peer colleges of Moravian, Elizabethtown , Juniata, Lebanon 

Valley, Susquehanna and Ursinus) and the Modern Language Association’s suggested 

minimum. Data was compiled by a group of Albright’s adjunct faculty in Dec. 2005. 

county—they are the driving 

force of agriculture,” says 

Angel Figueroa, an Albright 

alumnus and former city 

council member. Figueroa 

organized the march that 

took place on May 1, drawing 

over 3,000 Latino residents 

throughout the county to 

assemble on Fifth and Penn 

Streets to express their support 

for rights that would 

grant illegal immigrants the 

opportunity to be naturalized. 

When asked about the 

proposed congressional law, 

Figueroa added, “I don’t think 

the legislation will pass, but it 

would have a big impact on 

the manufacturing and agriculture 

industries.” 

While assessing the current 

situation of immigration, 

some also claim that it would 

be ideal to focus on the future. 

For example, the vast 

majority of the students in 

the Reading School District 

come from Latino, Spanishspeaking 

families. Naturally, 

this creates a language barrier 

in the classroom. What has 

been dubbed the English Language 

Acquisition program 

for immigrant students has 

been implemented as a result. 

Posing an important question 

for higher-education institutions, 

employers and the 

rest of the community, Mr. 

Figueroa asked, “How will we 

build a bridge?” 

In the meantime, many 

remain anxiously waiting to 

cross and assimilate the same 

way that Americans’ ancestors 

have always done in their quest 

for the American Dream.


Greek Week 06 May 

Greek Week Brings Real World Speaker 

by Renée Blessington 


Albright had another 

encounter with a MTV reality 

star. Forget Landon. This 

year’s Greek Week speaker 

was “Real World” Austin’s 

Wes. Known as the partying 

frat-boy, Wes came to Albright 

May 2 speaking about 

alcohol awareness and trying 

to improve the reputation 

his stint on the reality show 

earned him. 

“For anyone who 

watched me on the show, 

I’m probably the worse role 

model in “Real World” history,” 

said Wes. “Alcohol 

abuse is something I know 

a lot about and being on the 

show, I got to look at myself 

in another way.” 

Wes spoke to an audience 

of over 300 students that was 

mostly composed of members 

of Albright’s Greek community. 

Attending Wes’ talk was 

mandatory for all students in 

Greek life. Being a member of 

Pi Kappa Psi at Arizona State 

University, Wes said he felt 

more comfortable speaking to 

an audience that was mostly 

in fraternities or sororities 

because he felt he would be 

someone they could relate to. 

“We had mandatory 

speakers like this about two 

or three times a semester, 

but they were older and I 

would just sit there thinking 

that these people had no 

idea what they were talking 

about,” said Wes. 

He told the audience that 

he’s not going to drill into to 

them the idea that alcohol is 

bad and that they shouldn’t 

drink. Instead, he wants to 

share his experiences and how 

alcohol, and the “Real World,” 

have affected his life. 

Wes talks about his time 

on the show as a “six-month 

binge” where he drank constantly 

and was under-aged; 

being only 20 years old while 

the show was being filmed. 

“I pretty much drank 

every night without taking 

a break and it was illegal,” 

said Wes. “Now I’m legal and 

I hardly ever drink. I was a 

poor role model and that’s 

why I like being able to do 

these talks. I can give and 

give college students my age 

a better representation.” 

Wes said that being able 

to watch the episodes has 

given him a chance to see 

himself in another perspective 

and to look at himself 

in a whole new way. He 

described his typical day 

while on the show as waking 

up at five or six in the 

evening, getting dressed and 

putting on his microphone 

about two hours later, and 

then eating so he could start 

drinking. He estimated being 

sober about three hours out 

of the day. 

With the “Real World” 

Austin house being 10 minutes 

from the biggest drinking 

spot in the country, Sixth 

Street, Wes said he took advantage 

of the attention and 

free alcohol he would receive. 

He was proud to use his 

fake I.D. and is proud of the 

fact that since the show aired, 

Austin has set up a committee 

to crack down on under-aged 

drinkers trying to get into 

bars on Sixth Street. 

Wes told the audience 

about how he was so into athletics 

and working out before 

he started the show and was 

in great shape with only six 

percent body fat. While filming 

the series, however, he 

stopped working out and left 

with 25 percent body fat. 

“Alcohol did that to my 

body; it took that all away,” 

said Wes. 

Wes also realized after 

the show the negative effects 

alcohol had on relationships, 

especially the one he had 

with his girlfriend and fellow 

castmate, Johanna. He describes 

the stupid fights they 

would get in when they were 

drunk and how they would 

get jealous when one of them 

was talking to someone of the 

opposite sex. Wes said that 

alcohol completely changed 

who Johanna was and the 

show didn’t focus on the fact 

that she was an alcoholic. 

“I loved Jo to death, but 

alcohol was standing between 

us.” 

Wes said his body 

couldn’t handle alcohol anymore 

and he and Johanna 

realized that drinking had 

more negative aspects than 

positive. They both decided 

to take a five month break 

from drinking because they 

believed it was something 

they needed to do. 

“I wasn’t getting drunk 

anymore. I would go from 

being sober to throwing up. 

I was completely losing the 

social aspect of drinking.” 

Becoming a more responsible 

drinker has made it 

easier for Wes to be with Johanna 

and to live his life. He 

said that he now only drinks 

on occasion with friends 

and does not drink nearly as 

much as he did when he was 

on the show. Johanna has 

completely given up drinking 

because she realized that 

she has too much trouble setting 

limits for herself. 

After Wes’ talk, he 

opened up the floor for a 

question and answer session 

that lasted over 20 minutes 

and then hung around to take 

pictures with students. He 

answered questions about his 

time on the “Real World” and 

told the audience that he’s 

going to be the best man in 

two of his cast mates’(Danny 

and Melynda) wedding next 

Airbands: Photo Recap 

Below: Tim Boyle, Chris Diercksen, 

Andrew Holets and Dave 

Scherler of Pi Kappa Phi end their 

rendition of OK Go’s music video, 

“A Million Ways.” Their performance 

earned them first place in 

the fraternity division. 

Photos by Jackie Seigle 

summer. Wes will continue 

to tour different campuses 

before heading back to ASU 

to take summer classes in July 

(he’s technically considered a 

second semester sophomore). 

Johanna, meanwhile, is in 

Hollywood trying to capitalize 

off of her celebratory status. 

The two are still together 

and have had occassional 

wedding talks. 

Wes vs. Landon 

For the second year in a 

row, Albright’s Greek Week 

committee chose a MTV reality 

star to be their guest 

speaker. Many students who 

attended last year’s Greek 

Week speaker, “Real World” 

Philadelphia’s Landon, were 

pretty surprised by his talk. 

Expecting an anti-alcohol 

lecture, they received what 

some students called “a lesson 

on how to drink better.” 

“He was so stupid, all I 

remember him saying was to 

eat potatoes so you don’t get 

too drunk and that security 

would prefer us to drink on 

campus instead of off campus,” 

said junior Caitlin Zgura, 

sister of Alpha Delta Pi. 

“I think students were 

expecting this anti-alcohol 

talk, but what we wanted was 

an alcohol awareness talk,” 

said Sally Stetler, Albright’s 

Greek Advisor. “Landon 

certainly wasn’t the worst 

speaker we’ve ever had and 

if you listened to him, what 

he said was how it affected 

his own life.” 

Before coming to Albright, 

“Real World” Austin 

cast member Wes had spent 

a week in Los Angelos learning 

to be a better speaker and 

how to address an audience. 

“I met with speech 

coaches who help you speak 

better and write better,” said 

Wes. “We do more than alcohol 

talks, like anti-hazing 

11, 2006 

talks, but alcohol is definitely 

the most popular talk.” 

“I think we got Landon 

before he had a lot of training, 

but he really wasn’t that 

bad,” said Stetler. “Now these 

speakers [coming off of reality 

shows] are getting more 

and more training.” 

The Greek Week committee, 

responsible for getting 

the guest speaker, decided to 

go through the same booking 

agent that they used for 

Landon to get Wes. Stetler 

said that Wes was the biggest 

name speaker available that 

fit into their set budget. 

“I enjoyed Wes’ talk,” 

said junior Carissa Skavery, 

sister of Alpha Delta Pi. “I 

thought he did a better job 

than Landon when it came 

to getting his message across. 

He was a good speaker, I 

liked him.” 

“The speaker was way better 

this year, except he talked 

about his girlfriend [fellow 

cast mate Johanna] way too 

much,” said junior Bill Gusler, 

brother of Pi Kappa Phi. “It 

was worth it and better than ‘I 

got totally wasted’ like Landon 

kept saying.” 

“I thought Wes was an 

excellent speaker, he was well 

pronounced and organized 

unlike Landon,” said junior 

Matthew Scheidt, brother of 

Sigma Alpha Epsilon. “He used 

a lot more real to life experiences 

that most of the students 

in the audience could relate to 

and understand. You could tell 

he made a connection.” 

Most audience members 

agreed that Wes gave a better 

talk than Landon, but that 

doesn’t mean that Wes was 

an ideal speaker. 

“I felt his only basis for 

his talk was the insight he 

had on his girlfriend,” said junior 

Caitlin Scribner, sister of 

Sigma Kappa. “Without her he 

would have nothing to say.” 

Above: The sisters of Alpha Delta Pi perform to Destiny’s Child while 

decked out in camouflage. Their performance included a medley of 

songs, a chair routine, and even multi-colored glow sticks. They 

earned first place among the sororities. Phi Mu took the runner-up 

position in the competition. 

Above: The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi pace the stage in unison as 

part of their routine to the Backstreet Boys song “The Call.” Their 

creative performance also included a chair routine as well as a 

number of lap dances and a step routine. Their efforts earned them 

second place among the fraternities.


Sports 

 


End of the Road: A Grab Bag of Sports Thoughts 

The Sports Chair 

by Nelson Baitzel 


Since I’m new with this 

whole column writing business, 

I wasn’t sure how I was 

supposed to finish up the 

year. 

While I’ve had fun getting 

a chance to write my 

thoughts on a variety of 

sports topics, I would be the 

first to tell you that I have no 

idea what I’m doing. 

So instead of trying to 

write something significant, 

I’m just going to keep on 

doing what I know—ranting 

about whatever comes 

to mind. Unfortunately, I’ve 

been a little unfocused as of 

late so instead of one topic, 

I’m just going to throw a 

bunch out there. Alright? 

Let’s go 

One thing that 

really bothers me is 

the NBA playoffs. 

You know when 

they started? April 

22. That’s about two 

weeks ago. When 

will be the earliest 

that they could end? 

Not until somewhere 

in June. 

Most years the playoffs 

last about two months, which 

is far too long for anyone 

but the most diehard of fans. 

Personally, I wouldn’t mind 

something being done about 

it. Cutting down the amount 

of playoff teams could be one 

way. 

In theory, if four teams 

from each conference made 

the playoffs instead of eight, 

the playoffs would take one 

month instead of two. Yes, it 

would mean less revenue for 

the teams who wouldn’t be in 

the playoffs and would have 

in the old system, but the 

other option is two months 

of playoff basketball that people 

end up forgetting about. 

Again, just my opinion. 

While I’m talking about 

playoffs, I’d also be a fan 

Albright Athletes 

Receive Honors 

Albright senior Ashley 

Young (North Catasaqua, PA/ 

Catasaqua) has been named the 

Commonwealth Conference 

Pitcher of the Week for the 

week ending April 23. Young 

was 3-0 on the week, including 

two wins over conference 

rival Lebanon Valley. In the 

opener against the Dutchmen, 

Young tossed a four-hit shut 

out while striking out four. In 

game two she threw another 

complete game, this time going 

eight innings, in a 3-2 win. 

Young’s third win of the week 

came against F&M, as she gave 

up just one hit and struck out 

five in four innings of work in 

a 6-0 win. 

Albright senior Jeremy 

Speicher (Sinking Spring, PA/ 

Wilson) has been named to 

the Commonwealth Conference 

Men’s Tennis All-Conference 

First Team. It is the 

third year in a row that he 

has been named First-Team 

All-Conference. 

30 Albright studentathletes 

were named to the 

MASCAC Winter All-Academic 

Team. To qualify for 

the All-Academic Team, a 

student-athlete must be a 

member of a varsity team in 

his/her sophomore year or 

higher with a cumulative 

grade point average of 3.2 

or higher. The following Albright 

student-athletes qualified 

for the team: 

Photo by John Pankratz 

Women’s Basketball: 

Natalie Bizzarro - Junior 

Kelly Cross - Sophomore 

Jacquiline Hardwick - Soph. 

Marie Levins - Junior 

Men’s Basketball: 

John Bernat - Junior 

Trevor Deeter - Senior 

Albert Medoro - Sophomore 

Alex Schneider - Sophomore 

Lee Walter - Junior 

Women’s Indoor Track and Field 

Samantha Nimmerichter - Soph. 

Josephine Ward - Sophomore 

Rebecca White - Sophomore 

Men’s Indoor Track and Field: 

John Barkley - Sophomore 

Ricky Brown - Sophomore 

Rob Lowry - Sophomore 

Matt Yoder - Senior 

Women’s Swimming: 

Kayla Clark - Sophomore 

Samantha Frees - Junior 

Cheyenne Gehman - Soph. 

Kim Harner - Senior 

Erin Jagielski - Junior 

Brianna Linehan - Junior 

Audrey McDonough - Senior 

Cassie Ritchie - Sophomore 

Christie Strachko - Junior 

Men’s Swimming : 

Chalie Beatty - Senior 

Matthew Cribbs - Junior 

Eric Daney - Senior 

Ben Hatt - Junior 

Steve Sieller - Senior 

Provided by Albright Athletics 

of the World Series starting 

earlier. I know this just 

makes me sound more like a 

grandpa and less like a cutting 

edge sports writer, but 

I’d like to be able to see the 

end of a World Series game 

without having to stay up 

too late. A 7:00 p.m. start 

time would be perfect. That 

means games would end 

around 10:00 p.m. and the 

only reason you would be 

staying up late would be because 

the game was actually 

very exciting and went into 

extra innings. 

If I’m changing things 

about the World Series, I’m 

also taking Joe Buck out of 

the broadcasting booth. In 

all of the games I’ve watched 

announced by him, he has 

never said anything worthwhile 

concerning baseball 

or anything else. This is the 

same guy who broadcasts 

football games on Fox with 

Troy Aikman. 

Speaking of those two, 

why do they always seem to 

broadcast when either the 

Cowboys or Eagles are playing. 

I wouldn’t mind so much, 

but you can always tell which 

Albright defeated Susquehanna 

5-2 in an elimination 

game of the Commonwealth 

Conference tournament, but 

later fell to Lebanon Valley 4- 

0 to finish in third place. 

The Lady Lions see their 

season end with a 14-23 record 

on the season. Facing the tall 

order of needing to win four 

straight games to capture the 

conference title, Albright got off 

to a rough start in the opener. 

Two errors, a hot batter, and a 

double led to a pair of unearned 

Susquehanna runs as the Crusaders 

jumped to a 2-0 lead. The 

Lady Lions had just two hits 

through the first three innings, 

but exploded for five runs in 

the bottom of the fourth. 

After a sacrifice fly from 

Alex Keyes and an infield popup, 

the score was tied at two 

with two on and two outs. 

Jennifer Lynch then drilled a 

two-run triple to put Albright 

on top. Stevie Crouse singled 

home Lynch to complete the 

scoring as Albright held a 5-2 

lead heading to the fifth inning. 

That would be plenty of 

runs for Ashley Young, who 

allowed only one hit over the 

final three innings as Albright 

took the 5-2 win. Hippert and 

Crouse each had a pair of hits. 

Game two saw Lebanon 

Valley’s Jen Roberts stifle Albright 

bats for the second 

straight day. The Dutchmen 

scored a run in the first inning 

to lead 1-0, then plated three 

more runs in the bottom of the 

second to hold a 4-0 lead. 

Albright put one runner 

on base in the second, third, 

fourth, and fifth innings but 

couldn’t put anything together 

to sustain a rally. In the sixth, 

still trailing 4-0, Hippert and 

Mayes singled with two outs, 

but Roberts got Romond to fly 

out to end the inning. 

side Aikman takes in those 

games. If anything, I would 

remove those two and just 

have Tony Siragusa broadcasting 

the games instead. 

Have you been to a Reading 

Phillies game yet? You 

really should check one out. 

Tickets are cheap and you 

get to see players that might 

end up playing in Philadelphia 

before too long. If that 

doesn’t sound good, you can 

always try one of their onepound 

hamburgers. It’s called 

the Grand Slammer and it 

has two half-pound patties, 

special sauce, cheddar sauce, 

and french fries inside a sesame 

seed bun. It’s definitely 

worth trying at least once, if 

only for the fact that you can 

say that you’ve tried it. 

After one month of baseball, 

some players are doing 

great while others have 

dropped the ball. Some players 

that are playing much better 

now than they will the rest of 

the season are: Ty Wiggington 

(he’s hit more RBIs this month 

than the past two years, plus 

his name is Ty), Brad Hawpe 

(.374 batting average now 

against a career batting average 

of .262), and Mike Maroth 

(4-1 with an 1.78 ERA now, 

but this is the kid who lost 21 

games in 2003…no way he 

can keep that up). 

Who do I think will improve? 

Barry Zito (2-2 with 

a 4.63 ERA now, but he’s in 

a contract year which means 

he’s got to play well to make 

the big money), Mike Sweeney 

(.176 batting average 

now after hitting around 

.300 the past 7 years…really 

the Royals need someone to 

play well), and Barry Bonds 

(people can’t hate him if he 

isn’t playing well, and people 

love to hate him). 

So it’s official. I’ve run 

out of stuff to write. It’s a 

good thing too because I 

think anything else I write 

could be even worse. 

Thanks to anyone who 

has been reading. It’s been a 

good run. 

-Nelson Baitzel is an awardwinning 

columnist for the 

Albrightian. He would like to 

thank Jackie for letting him 

write whatever he wanted and 

Chalie for making sure what 

he wrote made any sense. 

Albright Softball Finishes 

Third in MAC Playoffs 

In the seventh Albright put 

two runners on with two outs, 

but Tara McMurtrie’s line drive 

was speared by the LVC first 

baseman to end the game and 

Albright’s title hopes. Mayes 

took the loss for the Lady Lions, 

allowing six hits and four runs. 

Crouse, Hippert, and Mayes 

each had two hits at the plate 

for Albright. 

Provided by Albright Athletics


Special Feature 

Q & A: Straylight Run 


Few individuals would 

pass on a one-way ride to stardom 

by leaving a band that 

many saw destined for greatness 

at the climax of their popularity. 

These few individuals 

are John Nolan and Shaun 

Cooper, founders of piano-pop 

quartet Straylight Run. 

At the height of their 

popularity in the underground 

punk movement 

Taking Back Sunday went on 

hiatus. Rumors spread, but 

the truth is something we 

may never know. Whatever 

it may have been, Nolan decided 

it was time to move on 

from the redundant repetition 

that had become of his 

former alma matter. Cooper 

(bassist) followed, and together 

they formed a counterpart 

to the heavy, rock 

driven TBS; a safe-haven for 

“dreamy, piano-pop.” 

Nearly three years into 

their life span, Straylight 

Run is happy where they are. 

With the rest of the lineup 

being filled by Nolan’s sister 

Michelle on piano and vocals 

(and occasionally guitar), as 

well as Will Noon (former 

Breaking Pangea drummer) 

on the kit, the band have developed 

a steady fan base on a 

catchy piano-pop full length, 

an electronic-based EP, and 

what they claim to be as a 

“moderate touring schedule.” 

I sat down with the two 

founders of the band to discuss 

the hippies of their past, their 

Rolling Stones’ like future, and 

why no one will ever make a 

documentary about them. 

JN = John Nolan 

MN= Michelle Nolan 

SC = Shaun Cooper 

by Rob Lowry 


Albrightian: How would you 

describe your band and the 

music you make? 

SC: A piano-based rock/pop 

quartet fusing drum loops and 

samples, thought-provoking 

lyrics, and catchy melodies. 

MN: (In the background.) And 

dreamy. 

SC: Yeah, and dreamy. 

Albrightian: What are some 

of your musical influences? 

SC: I think we’re all pretty 

heavily-influenced by The 

Beatles, Radiohead, Fiona 

Apple… I like The Bouncing 

Souls, The Dropkick Murphys, 

Guns ‘N Roses, and The Beach 

Boys. John likes Mogwai. 

Albrightian: What do you 

love about music? 

SC: What’s not to love? 

JN: That’s what I say. That’s 

what we all say around here. 

We just go around saying it 

over and over again to each 

other. That’s it. There’s a lot 

of things about music that’s 

great. 

SC: I think it’s something 

that’s really not easy to say, 

just something that we were 

all kind of drawn to very early 

on in life and you can’t really 

explain what you love about it. 

Some people are more drawn 

to things like art, drawing, or 

painting or something, more 

visual things. 

JN: I think that one thing 

that’s great about music, that 

all of us probably love, is… 

SC: It’s a universal language. 

JN: (Laughing) Yes. That’s 

not what I was going to say 

but I don’t disagree with 

it. Well, I guess maybe it is 

somewhat what I was going 

to say in that music is, well, 

you’re drawn to it because it 

can express things that you 

feel in a way that nothing 

else can, whether it’s music 

that you are making or even 

music that someone else has 

made that you listen to. 

Albrightian: Was there an exact 

moment in your life where 

you decided that you wanted 

to play and make music for the 

rest of your life? 

JN: There kind of was. I think 

I always knew I was going to 

since I first started playing an 

instrument. I think I realized it 

was something I really wanted 

to do but didn’t really think of 

it as something I would try and 

do until this moment where 

the band I was in during high 

school and right out 

of high school, we 

were playing this 

random show outside 

and a bunch of 

hippie kids happened 

to come by and stop 

and listen to our 

band. I guess it was 

a significant group 

of people (or at least 

back then it was) of 

probably like seven 

or eight people. All 

of them were very 

into it, but they were 

probably just stoned 

out and would have 

been psyched about anything 

that vaguely resembled music. 

When we were playing, just 

seeing them… I think it was really 

the first time I ever played 

a show and saw people respond 

positively to it. After the show 

they were just talking to us and 

they were very complimentary 

and they just seemed genuinely 

psyched about what we 

were doing. I felt like if I could 

do that as my job and even if it 

wasn’t big, if my job was going 

and playing music for people 

who were psyched about it 

I would be very happy. And 

that’s why I think I decided to 

really make the effort to make 

a career out of it. 

SC: I don’t have any stories 

nearly as good as that (Laughs). 

I didn’t do a lot with life in 

high school and stuff, and I 

stopped going to high school. 

The only thing that would 

make me happy was playing 

the bass. It was the one thing I 

could rely on. So I just knew I 

wanted to play music and also 

the same thing [as John said], 

if I knew I could do that for 

my job, that was exactly what 

I wanted because my parents 

really wanted me to do something 

[and they asked], “If 

you’re not going to school and 

who knows if you’re going 

to go to college, ideally what 

would you want to do?” Play 

the bass, somehow. 

Albrightian: What’s the 

toughest part about being a 

band who is constantly touring? 

JN: Well, being the fact that 

we’re not constantly touring, 

it’s hard to say. (Laughs). In 

every interview, either the 

person writing or the band being 

interviewed is playing up 

the fact that they’re always on 

the road. 

SC: Motion City Soundtrack 

can say that because they 

play like 340 shows a year. 

We played like 100 last year. 

It’s nothing; we can’t really 

say it’s a hardship being away 

from home so much cause we 

haven’t been away from home 

that much. 

Michelle and John Nolan of Straylight Run perform at 

the April 28 mtvU concert at Albright 


JN: And I guess that’s part of 

the thing, is even though it’s 

great to be able to go on tour 

and we love playing shows, 

there’s so much about being 

on tour that after awhile gets 

exhausting, at least for us. 

I think it’s just cause of the 

type of people we are. We just 

love to be at home so much 

and working on music and 

recording music. It’s not that 

we don’t want to do anything 

band related, it’s just that we 

like to be home when we’re 

doing things that are band 

related. We’ve actually tried 

to keep a moderate touring 

schedule and it’s worked out 

for us. I don’t know of we’ll 

be so luck to always get away 

with touring when we want to 

but we’ll see. 

Albrightian: A line from one 

of your songs, “A Slow Descent,” 

reads, “The spotlight, 

the focus on the friends and 

the feelings that made those 

stupid songs all worth singing.” 

Is it hard to constantly 

sing a song over and over again 

when it’s no longer relevant to 

you or when it has lost its personal 

meaning to you? 

JN: Yeah, definitely. The 

way that I have learned to 

deal with that is that I’ve 

found it’s almost impossible 

to write something in a moment 

that’s very much expressing 

how you feel right 

then and then find a way to 

feel the same two years, three 

years later. So I usually try to 

find the motivation and the 

meaning of it in the people 

that we’re playing for who 

are finding meaning in it and 

are responding to it. I think a 

big factor in how I feel playing 

the songs and how much I 

can feel something had to do 

with the audience and how 

they’re responding to it. 

Albrightian: Is that part of 

the reason that you change up 

some of the songs live, playing 

them acoustic or different versions 

of the song? 

JN: Yeah, but I think it’s more 

out of just getting bored of the 

repetition of playing 

the song. It doesn’t 

really change the 

meaning or help with 

singing the same thing 

over and over again 

but at least it helps 

bring a new perspective 

and something 

different to a song 

that we played 100 

times before. It’s just 

more to keep things 

interesting for us and 

hopefully the fans. 

They’ve seen us play 

the same songs a lot 

of times. 

Albrightian: What are the 

differences between playing 

in front of 800 kids who have 

come to see you on a headlining 

tour and in front of 800 

kids who came out to this 

mtvU show because it was a 

free ticket to a show? Do you 

have different expectations 

or different goals for the set 

when you’re playing to an 

audience who is familiar with 

your material as opposed to an 

audience who is hearing you 

for the first time? 

SC: We just try and bring it 

every night regardless of the 

audience because we don’t 

ever want to let anyone down 

by playing half-ass just because 

the audience isn’t into 

it. It is a lot easier on us when 

the crowd’s all there to see you 

but it’s also a fun little challenge 

when you’re playing in 

front of people who could care 

less; maybe it’s not a really fun 

challenge, but it’s a challenge 

nonetheless. 

Albrightian: What inspires 

you as musicians? 

SC: Life and all that it has to 

offer, the goods things and the 

bad things and everything inbetween. 

JN: I think that other people’s 

music also is a big thing 

that inspires us as musicians. 

We played a show with Kevin 

Devine a couple of days ago 

and just watching him play, 

I think for all of us, we were 

just blown away by it. It definitely 

inspires you to try and 

be better, to try and do what 

you do on another level. You 

don’t want to copy what other 

people do, but you want to 

do it much better than you do 

it now. 

SC: I would say [Kevin 

Devine] is one of the only 

friends of mine that when I 

see him play up on stage I’m 

literally star struck by him. 

I’m just like, “Damn! He’s so 

good.” He should be the biggest 

thing in the world. 

Albrightian: You guys are trying 

to sell yourself as a band, 

let’s say it’s “Straylight Run: The 

Movie.” What’s the tagline? 

SC: (Laughing). “We hope you 

enjoy it…” 

JN: I’m too tired to come up 

with something clever… 

SC: This question escapes me. 

JN: I think the idea of someone 

making a movie about us 

is just too baffling to comprehend. 

SC: “Wow, what boring lives 

they’ve led.” 

JN: That definitely won’t entice 

people into the theater. 

SC: I don’t know why anyone 

would ever want to document 

our ordinary lives, it’s not like 

we’re out doing drugs and 

having sex with hookers. 

JN: All the fun stuff. 

SC: It would just be us sitting 

around the bus watching 

Racheal Reye’s cooking 

shows. It’s not exactly riveting 

cinema. 

SC: No! Michelle likes it too. 

JN: They might have to spice 

up the movie with some exaggerations 

and outright lies to 

make it more interesting. 

SC: I went out to a bar last 

night for about half an hour, 

that was really something.



Jessica Bair 

English/Communications 

Hometown: Etters, PA 

After graduation plans: Find a full-time job of 

my dreams, complete a master’s and/or doctorate 

degree, play with my puppy, write novels 

that touch the world, and grow old by the sea 

with my friends and family nearby. 

Albright activities/clubs and awards: Reporter/ 

writer for the Albrightian, selected member of 

Sigma Tau Delta (the English Honors Society), 

honored as a Jacob Albright Scholar, member of 

the Dean’s List, recipient of the 2006 Edward 

Flagg and Miriam Cornelius Trayes Journalism 

Award for writing, and recipient of the 2006 Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Kelchner Memorial Prize for 

outstanding oral and written communication skills. 

What will you miss most about Albright? 

I will miss the atmosphere that surrounds Albright’s intimate community here in Reading. I’ve met so 

many open-minded, open-hearted individuals who have touched my heart and changed my life and I 

realize that such an opportunity to be surrounded by so many talented and commendable people will 

probably never come again. I’ll miss the late nights, the early mornings, the carefree moments, and 

even the stressful times. Albright has become my home and I can’t imagine what life will be like when 

I’m not here anymore. 

What is one thing you would change about Albright? 

If I could change anything about Albright, I would find away to ease the financial strains of the college. 

I would like to see more scholarship and grant opportunities, as well as more decent-paying jobs on 

campus for students. I would also like to see the classrooms and buildings on campus reflect the quality 

of education that is offered here. 

Who was you favorite professor and why? 

This is a difficult question, but if I had to choose just one I suppose I would pick Al Cacicedo, chair of 

the English department. While Al is the only English professor to give me a B (and he’s done it every 

time I’ve had him), he is also one of the most caring, passionate, and genuine instructors I have ever 

encountered. I suppose I will forgive him for the B’s in return for the lessons he has taught me and the 

admiration I have grown to feel for him. He is filled with excitement for the pieces of literature that he 

teaches to a class and is truly concerned with each and every student understanding and appreciating 

these things that he holds close to his heart. 

What advice would you give to an incoming freshman? 

Incoming freshman should realize that they are truly about to experience the most exhilarating, changing, 

and promising years of their lives. They should grasp every opportunity to grow academically, 

socially, and intellectually. 

How do you want to be remembered after you graduate? 

I want to be remembered as the quiet, but kind young woman with big ideas and an even bigger heart. 

I want to leave Albright having given the impression that I am on my way to accomplishing great 

things that will reflect well on the lessons I have been given here. 

If you had three wishes, what would they be? 

My first wish would be that my dad could be around to witness my accomplishments and appreciate 

the young woman I have become. My second wish would be for all of my friends, family, and people 

that I care about to lead fulfilling and healthy lives that are consumed with happiness, companionship, 

and love. My third and final wish would be for my puppy to be able to speak. 

If you could go back in time to when you were a freshman, what would you do differently? 

I would try to transfer to Albright sooner or just be here from the very beginning. As for going back to my 

first year at Albright, I would spend more time being active on campus (especially with the newspaper) 

and getting to know the people who are now my best friends. 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 

In 10 years, I honestly just hope to be content, satisfied, and a somewhat accomplished writer with big plans 

for the future. I’d like to be well on my way to making some kind of difference in the world – big or small. 

Nelson Baitzel 

History/Secondary Education 

Hometown: Philadelphia 

After graduation plans: Not really sure, but if 

you know about a job, I’m listening 

Albright activities/clubs: ACF, Funkamedics, 

ACCP, WXAC, Albrightian, Gospel Choir (for 

one month my sophomore year), Albright Badminton 

(for one month my senior year) 


Hmmm...probably how easy it was to get involved 

in something. I got a chance to be involved 

in a lot of different things. I worked at 

an afterschool program in Reading. I coached 

basketball at a YMCA. In addition to that, there 

were the things I did on campus. I think it’s great how Albright has so many opportunities for people 

to get involved in anything they want. 


I’d change some of the students’ attitudes about being here. A lot of people spend too much time complaining 

about being here, when in reality it’s a great opportunity to be in college. Personally, I’m very 

thankful to have had this chance. 


Definitely Dr. de Syon. He was great at finding a balance between learning the facts of history and 

having a great class discussion. The senior seminar I had with him for European History is still the best 

class I’ve ever had. 


Well, the obvious thing would be to not grab a tray when you eat in the caf. More importantly, you 

should get involved with something. The more you experience as a freshman, the easier it will be for 

you to transition into college life. 


Honestly, I don’t expect to be remembered at all and I’m cool with that. I’m more concerned with being 

the best friend I can be to the people I know than leaving some lasting legacy. 


Let’s see…my first would be for enough money to not have to worry about money at all for the rest of 

my life. I won’t put a dollar amount down, but it’ll be enough to be taken care of. Second wish? A job 

with the Philadelphia Phillies. I don’t even need a fancy one. Just something that will allow me to see 

the games. Maybe even travel with the team if I’m lucky. My third wish I think I’d give to my friend 

Hana because she would know how to use it to better the world. She’s hip to that topic. 


Nothing. Can’t live life with regrets. If you forced me to pick something, I probably would have driven 

to Philly for cheesesteaks last semester at 11p.m. with some friends of mine. I didn’t because I had class 

the next morning. 


That is an incredibly unfair question. I don’t know where I’ll be come August. I don’t even know how I 

got to be one of these Senior spotlight people. I can name a ton of people who are much, much more deserving 

than me to be spotlighted for Albright to get to know. They should be answering these questions. 

I’m just happy with the opportunities I’ve had. That being said, I’ll get off my soapbox. 

Class of 2006 

Chalie Beatty 

History/Elementary Education, Early Childhood 

Hometown: Richboro Pa 

After graduation plans: 

Staying here at Albright 

to get my masters in 

Special Education 

Albright activities/ 

clubs and awards: 

Swim Team (Captain), 

History Honor Society 

(President), Class of 

2006 Treasurer, Funkamedic 

Intramural Sport 

Franchise, Albright 

College Chest Painters 

(Albrighticus), Deans List 


The people. Everyone here is amazing! 


I would beautify and modernize the campus, it has so much potential. 


I have so many, but I would have to say Dr. Warfield. He pushed me to my academic 

limits and also I have learned so much about just life in general from him. 


Try to experience much as you can, meet as many people as possible and GET 

INVOLVED! 


As some one who lived his college experience to the fullest and simply made 

people laugh and smile. 


One- Achieve all my goals (yeah it is corny but I got to use a wish for that) 

Two- World peace 

Three- Stay in college because from what I hear the real world stinks. 

If you could go back in time to when you were a freshman, what would you 

do differently? 

Nothing, I have no regrets. 


Hopefully teaching in an early childhood autistic support classroom, and living 

by the beach so I can go the beach every day. 

Shamell Brandon 

Psychology 

Hometown: Gouldsboro, 

PA 

After graduation plans: 

attending a Psy.D program 

at Wright State 

University 

Albright activities/ 

clubs and awards: Psi 

Chi, African American 

Society, Jacob Albright 

Scholar, Joseph E Coleman 

Award, Who’s 

Who Nomination ’06, 

Thomas H. Gerstley 

Memorial Award, The Alpha Sigma Phi Award in Memory of Chris Anthony 

’03 and Andrew Snitzer, Psychology Dept Award, Dean’s Academic Achievement 

Awards 


The close proximity to friends. 


Greater retention of students from underrepresented / underprivileged populations 


Every professor, who shared a smile when they saw me on campus or enthusiastically 

asked me for my opinion in class, because they encouraged me to be 

a kind and thoughtful person. 


Ask questions. Scientists ask a lot of questions. They’re not afraid of looking 

stupid and that’s probably why they’re so smart. 


As a patient man with a lot of room for improvement, who extended kindness 

to everyone without asking for society’s approval. 


1. perfect pitch 

2. two tickets to see the Seattle Mariners win a World Series 

3. self-love for all who are without it 

If you could go back in time to when you were a freshman, what would you 

change or do differently? 

Declare a minor or a second major 


Collaborating with my friend on films, writing a book, running my psychological 

clinic, and returning from Africa



Lacey Egerton 

Child & Family Studies 

Hometown: Elkridge, MD 

After graduation plans: Loyola College M.Ed. 

School Counseling program 

Albright activities/clubs and awards: Senior Class 

President, Sigma Kappa, POPs Steering Committee, Psi 

Chi, Alpha Kappa Delta, Lab Assistant, Ambassador 


The people – almost everyone here I have a story 

with and I love that aspect of this school. I will miss 

just hanging out and swapping stories and creating 

new ones. 


The apathy – people are quick to complain and judge and yet not enough are willing to step 

and work towards the change. It doesn’t happen overnight and someone has to start it. 


Dr. Snyder (psychology) – She showed me that anything was possible, was always there 

when I needed someone to talk to and seemed to know how to bring me down when I was 

manic. Plus, she is an incredibly strong woman and I admire and aspire to that. 


Find a passion and run with it. Dedicate yourself to something on the campus – be come 

an integral part of the campus. 


Hmm… I want to remembered as that chick who was always up for a good time and who 

could turn any situation into a good time - that person who people liked being around. 

And I’d like my fellow seniors to remember me as the girl who arranged some totally 

amazing senior nights! 


1. To win some kind of lottery that would pay off my excessive student loans 

2. To find a fabulous job that involves me relocating to Italy 

3. To be ridiculously and completely happy with whatever throws at me 


Oh wow. I don’t know. I guess forgetting who my true friends were and turning my back on 

them. The plus is that we found each other again this year because life always goes full circle. 


I don’t know where I will be in 6 months, let alone 10 years. I might still be bouncing 

around, changing plans and jobs based on whatever stray thought has rooted that week. 

Or I might be settled down in the suburbs of Baltimore with my white picket fence and 2.5 

kids. Or I might be jet-setting all over the world and finally seeing all the amazing places I 

read about. One never knows with me what tomorrow is going to bring. 

Andrew 

Russell Holets 

Political Science/ 

Communications 

Hometown: Whitehall, PA 

After graduation plans: Peace Corps 

volunteer 

Albright activities/clubs: Pi Kappa 

Phi fraternity, Student Government 

Association, The Albrightian, Mane 

Men, Concert Choir, 91.3 WXAC 

FM, Pi Sigma Alpha, Sigma Tau 

Delta, POP’s, Gingrich Library 

Circulation Desk Manager, and I worked at Jake’s Place for roughly 27 days back in ’04. 

Awards: Gold A Award, David M. Cariminika Award Recipient, Keystone Press Association 

Second Place in collegiate cartoon/graphic illustration category. 


It took me all of a second to answer this question. I will miss my fraternity brothers the 

most due to my graduation from Albright College. Every one of them, past and present, has 

made an indelible impact on my life and for that I am very gracious. 


Albright needs to raise their standards for admission. 


I’ve had some wonderful professors in the political science department with emphasis on 

Dr. Hoffman, Dr. Langran, Dr. Brogan, Dr. Auerbach and the departed Dr. Lollis, all of 

whom have taught and counseled me above and beyond the expected. As for the rest of 

the faculty, Dr. Perrin is up there for his unique perspective on life, but I would have to say 

that Adlai Binger of the music department is my favorite. Without his work, my oasis-like 

experience with music would have surely halted. 


Do as many things as much as possible, but only if you do it to the best of your ability. 


As one of the few gentleman that could simultaneously be inappropriate and respectful. 


1.To never accept being content 

2. For Housing to repay me the $200 fine for having my good friend, Javier the Hamster in my 

room. He was a truly fighting survivor, but he did not cause $200 of disruption to Albright College. 

3.To actually meet a real-life Genie. 


I wouldn’t change a thing. 


I hope to be working in law or journalism with the same positive ideals and outlook on society 

as I hold currently. If this includes living in Washington, D.C., that’s fine by me. Otherwise, I 

hope to keep in touch with my stellar friends at the Albrightian and my fellow Pi Kappa Phi’s. 


Jessica S. Huber 

Elementary Education and 

Early Childhood/ Business 

Hometown: Towanda, PA 

After graduation plans: I actually plan to 

come back to Albright for the fall semester 

to complete my student teaching. 

Albright activities/clubs and awards: 

SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Council), 

ACF (Albright Christian Fellowship), RSA 

(Resident Student Association), Women’s 

Tennis Team, Jacob Albright Scholarship 


I’ll most likely miss the people I’ve met over the past four years and the experiences I’ve 

had here at Albright. 


I don’t think I can necessarily pin point one thing that I would change about Albright. 

Every school has their areas where they can improve…but, if I had to pick something, I 

would say more school pride and school spirit. 


My favorite professor is most likely Dr. Seidenstricker simply because I believe I have 

learned the most from her over the years. She has also challenged me in different areas of 

my life and hopefully prepared me for the future to the best of her ability. 


Take time to get to know people and be sure to get involved on campus. 


Well, hopefully I was a positive influence to those around me, and for those that knew me, 

I hope they remember me as someone who is honest, trustworthy, fun to be around, and 

someone they could call their friend. 


1. Travel the world 

2. Be able to sing and dance 

3. Share the love of Jesus Christ to everyone 


I don’t necessarily have anything I would change…there were probably things that I could 

have gotten more involved in instead of shying back from them. 


At this point I picture myself most likely single, with a teaching job, and living in a warm 

climate. 

Nick Loris 

Economics/Finance/ 

Political Science 

Hometown: Quakertown, PA 

After graduation plans: Graduate 

School or Position in Asset/Wealth 

Management 


Earned Dean’s List Honor each semester, 

Received Josh Laychock 

Award in Finance, Recipient of 

Warren L. Davis Scholarship – 1 of 

2 full academic scholarships awarded at Albright College, Completed Senior Thesis for 

departmental distinction, Economics Departmental Distinction Award Winner, Freshman 

Forum Mentor, Completed ACRE project and will publish paper in Issues in Political 

Economy 

Extracurricular Achievements: Four-Year Starter Men’s Soccer, Captain Men’s Soccer 

Team Junior and Senior Years, 2005 CoSIDA ESPN the Magazine’s Academic All-American 

Second Team, 2004 & 2005 CoSIDA Academic All District II College Division Men’s 

Soccer Team, Member of 2006 Varsity Tennis Team, Co-Captain of the Men’s Club Volleyball 

Team 


Friends and Faculty 


The Political Science Department, with the exception of a few things. 


Dr. Martin, Dr. Wilder, and Dr. White – when you’ve had a professor five or more times 

you learn to like them 


“Optima Dias….Prima Fuget” – meaning the best days of your life flee first or fastest, so 

live it up in these four years. 


I don’t. 

If you had three wishes what would they be? 

A freestyle battle between M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice, Erin O’ Brien to join Facebook, 

Another freestyle battle between M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice. 


Played tennis all four years 


Running the show.



Amy K. Lucas 


Hometown: Huntingdon, PA 

After graduation plans: I plan on 

working as a reporter or producer at a 

TV news station. 


Vice President of Sigma Tau Delta, 

News Editor/Writer for the Albrightian, 

SGA Representative for Chamber Choir, 

Concert Choir, Intern at WFMZ-TV 

Berks Edition, Deans List 2003-present 


I know that I will truly miss the relationships that I have made with both friends and faculty 

over the past four years. I have been honored to know some of the most genuine and caring 

people, and I will really miss everyone and the memories we shared. I think I’ll also miss 

Albright in general. It has become my second home, and it will be strange to leave that. 


I would put more emphasis on improving the academic buildings on campus. I feel like the college 

is devoting too much money to other funds. The buildings on campus need attention. 


I don’t think I have just one favorite professor. I have two. But they just so happen to be 

married. Richard and Mary Jane Androne are definitely the teachers who have made the 

most profound impression on me. They both are the most intelligent people I’ve ever 

met, and I really respect their classroom methods. 


I would tell them to live it up. They need to experience everything they can and savor 

every minute of being in college. It just goes so fast. 


I would like to be remembered as one of the only students who pursued a career in Broadcast 

Journalism. Even though there wasn’t a program here, I tried to be ambitious. 


I would wish for the world really to just live in peace, I would eliminate arrogant and demeaning 

people, and I would bring back the Wendy’s Chicken Caesar pita. 


I think I would have tried to savor college more rather than wish the time away. I just 

remember always being so excited to go home, but I should have just appreciated what 

was always around me. 


I see myself working in the television or in the magazine industry, and having a happy family. 

Jordan Mauger 


Hometown: Boyertown, PA 

After graduation plans: attaining 

an editorial position at a newspaper 

or publishing house, with graduate 

school in the future 

Activities: SGA E-board (DSA Rep), 

DSA (Treasurer), Sigma Tau Delta 

(President), P.O.P.S, Writing Center 

tutor, Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, 

The Albrightian (Student Life Editor 

and writer), Student Rep on Advancement 

Trustee Committee, Pi Kappa 

Phi, Honors Program, Freshman Forum mentor, Shirk Scholar, Jacob Albright Scholar 

Awards: Professor Clyde Harding Award for outstanding scholarship in English and 

Communications (2004, 2005), Dean’s List (all semesters), English Department Faculty 

Award (2006), The Edward Flagg and Miriam Cornelius Trayes Award for Excellence in 

Journalistic Writing (2006), Day Students Association Award (2006), Golden A (2006), 

Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities (2006) 


The people, without a doubt. I have developed such great relationships with fellow students 

and faculty alike, and I will miss seeing those people as frequently as I get to now. 

Whether we were dancing at 1402 or hanging out at someone’s apartment, there was 

always fun to be had and those times and the people I spent them with are the things 

I’ll miss the most. 


I’d make it an 8-year college so I didn’t have to leave yet. 


I’ve been very fortunate in having a multitude of wonderful professors, which I think speaks 

to the quality of the education we have received here at Albright. I’ve particularly like the 

classes I had with Mary Jane Androne and Al Cacicedo, but I thoroughly appreciate every 

single one of my professors as they have all contributed something to my education. 


I’d say get involved in student organizations, a cheesy but true piece of advice. But more 

importantly, just become connected to the Albright community somehow. It might be 

through a tight bond created with your fellow students on your dorm floor. Or maybe a 

group of fellow commuters you hang out with in the Pine Room. Regardless of how you 

become connected to Albright, it’s important to create such bonds as they will follow 

and support you throughout your four years here. 


I’d like to be remembered as someone who was true to my friends and true to myself; 

someone who was dedicated to succeeding in the classroom as well as having a “little” 

fun in those non-homework hours. 


1. To make time slow down every once (or maybe even rewind) so I could relive my 

favorite memories with an increased sense of gratitude 

2. To grant all people (including myself) a greater appreciation for life and all that it encompasses 

3. To give everyone a fourth wish 


I’m very happy with the way I’ve performed in the classroom as well as the decisions I 

have made as far as my own personal well-being. I only wish I would seen beyond only the 

academic side of Albright and further explored how much more it has to offer sooner. 


Professionally, I hope to be working at a major publishing house or nationally distributed 

magazine. I also hope to be married and have at least one child. And I hope we’re 

still having Albrightian alumni socials. 


Kristen Roehm 

International Relations/ 

Political Science 

Hometown: Manheim, PA 

After graduation plans: Getting married 

to my British hubby in June 2006 

and moving to Norfolk, England—then 

finding work! 


Study Abroad Advisor (2004-2006), 

Society for Human Rights (2004-2006), 

Senior Honors Thesis Northern Ireland 

Politics (2005-2006), Pi Sigma Alpha 

(Political Science Honors Society) (2006), Irish/American Scholars Program (2003-2004), 

Jacob Albright Scholar (2003-2006), Dean’s List Scholar (2002-2006), International Student 

Association (2002-2003; 2005-2006). 


My wonderful friends and roommate (without them, I could not have made it through these 

years!) and my co-workers in the Study Abroad Center. 


I would renovate all of the academic facilities/technology in the classrooms and invest in the library. 


Dr. Irene Langran—she has always been supportive of my academic endeavors and challenged 

me to do my best (especially with my senior honors thesis)! Thank you so much, Dr. Langran! 


Make sure you study abroad!!! I studied for my entire sophomore year outside Belfast, Northern 

Ireland. It was the best experience of my life and I would do anything to repeat that year. 


I would like to be remembered as someone who made people laugh. 

If you had three wishes (anything at all), what would they be? 

First, I would end the human rights atrocities in the world, including poverty, genocide, and 

hunger. Second, I would travel to every country in the world to learn about their cultures. 

And I would save the last wish for another time. 


I would use my Q/NQs! I didn’t use mine because I didn’t know the rules about how to use them. 


Living in England, working at a job I enjoy, and starting a family—basically enjoying life. 

Rachael Elizabeth 

Schwartz 

English / Communications 

Hometown: Ivyland, PA 

After graduation plans: Writing/editing/freelancing/etc. 

for one of the 60- 

some companies I’ve applied to, and, of 

course, learning to fly. 

Activities/Clubs: Vice president/editor/ 

contributing writer of AGON, reporter/ 

photographer for the Albrightian, secretary 

of Sigma Tau Delta, Phi Delta Sigma member, Jacob Albright Scholar, and Albright 

Admissions telephone receptionist 

Awards: Clyde Harding Award for outstanding scholarship in English and Communications, 

2005; Dean’s Academic Achievement Award, 2005, 2006; Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Kelchner 

Memorial Prize, 2006; Albrightian Award, 2006; AGON Staff Member Award, 2006; Who’s 

Who in American Colleges and Universities, 2006 


I will miss the magnolias in spring, the endearing professors, and the familiar smiles, but most 

of all, I will miss the truest friends I have ever known. My memories with them are Albright, 

and without them, I would lose a part of myself. 


Funding allocations. Albright cannot control which facilities gifts are given to, but they can 

improve ways to generate funds for dorms and other important (academic!) facilities that 

genuinely need improvement. 

Who was your favorite professor and why? 

I’m breaking the rules! I have more than one. While all of my professors have positively affected 

me in some way, Alberto Cacicedo, Teresa Gilliams and Tom Watcke have been my 

greatest sources of challenge, enjoyment, and encouragement. 


Do not hold yourself back in any way. Take risks, make a difference, and let yourself grow. 

That’s what college is for. It’s your home for the next four years—allow it to be and let it 

nurture you. 


As that slightly silly, studious gal who wore earth tones and often broke out into spontaneous 

dance (not really). To be honest, I would like to be remembered as someone who genuinely 

loved this school and did what she could to make a difference. Most importantly, though, I 

would like to be remembered as a friend. 


1. To see the entire world—and have time to explore each place 

2. To control the seasons based on my mood each day 

3. To travel back in time and relive my favorite memories 


I wouldn’t be so afraid of change. As a freshman I was so caught up in leaving what was 

familiar that I didn’t allow myself to fully enjoy my experience. If I could go back, I would 

embrace college as I do now. 


In 10 years I see myself editing/writing for a publishing company (preferably in arts and 

culture), running my own, private business (don’t ask me of what yet), being married, and 

finding a home in all that is my life.



Jacquelyn F. Seigle 

History/ Communications 

Hometown: Phoenixville, Pa. 

After graduation plans: Freelance writing for a 

daily newspaper, looking for a full-time job, making 

every excuse possible to hang out with my friends. 

Albright activities/clubs: Pi Delta Phi, Sigma Tau 

Delta, the Albrightian (Asst. Editor in Chief, Student 

Life Editor, Copy Editor, Design and Layout Editor), 

Member Lion Diplomats, WXAC DJ, AGON 

Design and Layout Editor, Jacob Albright Scholar 

Awards: The Edward Flagg & Miriam Cornelius 

Trayes Award for Excellence in Journalistic Writing, 

Editing & Photography (2004 &2006), Dean’s 

List Achievement Award (2005 & 2006), The Albrightian Award (2006), The Albrightian 

Writer of the Year Award (2006) 


I will definitely miss the people of Albright the most. I have met some of the most amazing 

people I could ever hope to meet in my lifetime. I am better because of every one of my friends 

and I am the person I am today because of them. I will carry those memories with me forever. 


I wish students took a more active role in the direction of the school. A lot of students complain 

about things, but nobody takes the initiative to change it. 


I have had many influential professors here. Dr. John Pankratz and Marian Wolbers were certainly 

among my favorites. My favorite professor though would have to be Dr. Guillame de- 

Syon. He pushed me to do better in every class I had with him. While I was annoyed at having to 

put in the extra work at the time, I see now that he really helped me realize my own potential. 


Don’t be afraid to get out there and meet people. Albright has a lot to offer if you open yourself 

up to it. Also, when the sign says “One Hour Parking Limit,” it’s true. 


As a loyal friend and someone who really cared about academics, people, and the College. I 

hope that people remember me as someone who helped them out and made them laugh, and 

of course as the girl who stuck it out until the very end…every time. 


1. That I had met TMNJ and all of my wonderful friends earlier on in my Albright career, and 

that I didn’t have to leave them. 

2. To have the ability to control time. 

3. Unlimited wishes so I could wish for world peace and lifelong health and happiness for all 

of my friends and loved ones, and anything else that should come up. 


I would have moved on campus earlier. As a commuter until my junior year, I didn’t really 

get involved on campus at all until I was an upper classman. I wish I would have been around 

more to join clubs and activities and meet more of my peers. 


I can’t even picture myself 10 days beyond graduation, so 10 years seems a bit hard to imagine. 

However, I hope to have a family and a job that makes me happy. I hope I am blessed 

enough to still have the amazing friends I have now. I can only hope that we are still having 

random rooftop gatherings and dance parties in 10 years. 

Megan Tanger 

Music Business/International Business 

Hometown: Reading, PA 

After graduation plans: Build my Mary Kay business 

and search for a job in marketing or management 

Albright activities/clubs and awards: MEISA, Phi Mu 

Fraternity, Albright String Ensemble, Phi Delta Sigma, 

Xion, Jacob Albright Scholar, Dean’s List 


The campus and community. I grew up at Albright because 

both of my parents have worked here since I can 

remember. I’ll miss the family I’ve made here and walking 

through the beautiful campus every day. 


I know it’s impossible, but I would want to change the 

rapid growth that Albright has been experiencing in the last few years. Albright was meant to 

be a small campus with a limited amount of students. It’s getting too crowded and I don’t like 

the extra buildings they’re putting up. I wish Albright could just stay the same small campus 

it’s always been. 


My favorite professor here at Albright would have to be Dr. Schott. He taught me so much 

and I still remember practically everything from his classes. He is the most understanding 

and fair professor at Albright. His classes are not easy, but he always pushed me to my fullest 

potential and for that I thank him. 


Get involved in as many things as you can because then you’ll see a whole other side to 

Albright and you’ll have so many memories through those activities. Go to all your classes 

because your parents aren’t paying thousands of dollars for you to sleep and goof off. Most 

importantly…HAVE FUN! It’s college! 


I would like to be remembered as a great student with a good attitude who was responsible, 

FUN, and the girl that always smiled at everyone! 


WOW. My first wish would have to be to not worry anymore. (I worry way too much.) My 

second wish would be to rewind time. My third wish would be a lifetime supply of chocolate. 


I would want myself to realize that I don’t need to worry so much about school or work 

because I always do fine. I would also have gotten involved in things on campus sooner. 


In 10 years I see myself in a good marriage, happy and healthy, and successful in whatever 

field I end up in. 


Tyler Travitz 

Digital Media / Sociology / 

Communications 

Hometown: Millersburg, PA 

After graduation plans: Pursue my 

M.F.A in Computer Graphics Design at 

Rochester Institute of Technology 

Albright activities/clubs and awards: Pi 

Kappa Phi, Alpha Kappa Delta, Ambassador, 

Dean’s List, Jacob Albright Scholar, 

Campus Life Council, Sociology Department 

Research Award. 


Despite it’s shortcomings at times, Albright on the whole has been a great place to learn because 

of the people here. A truly diverse, hard-working and talented student body matched 

by an equally gifted faculty mixed with a small, family-like atmosphere will make Albright 

hard to leave. 


Ideally, Albright’s social atmosphere would return to the laid back style it used to be that 

way people would be more likely to stick around on weekends. 


I had lots of favorite professors, so it’s hard to just name one. Dr. Meyers, Professor Abodalo, 

Dr. Pankratz, Dr. De Syon, Gerry Ronning, and Dr. Bellatoni all brought humor to 

the classroom and made learning fun. That said, Dr. Charles Brown has been an incredible 

advisor and a great friend. I couldn’t have been as successful as I have been without him. 


Your time at Albright goes by so quickly. Enjoy every minute you are here and take advantage 

of as many opportunities as you can. Also, avoid the ice cream machine as much 

as possible. 


I’d like people to remember that I was a member of this community who loved Albright 

and wants nothing more than to give back to Albright what it has given to me. 


For everyone to have friends and family as great as mine (Thank you Brothers and others! 

You have meant and will always mean so much to me! Pi Kappa Phi for life!), for a meaningful 

career, and to touch peoples lives and hearts in ways that they will never forget. 


I really don’t think I would change a thing, ok well maybe. Ask me… 


In ten years I hope to have a family and an established career living somewhere slightly 

warmer than PA. Hopefully my loans will be paid off too. But wherever I am, I know a 

piece of this place and the people I’ve shared my time with will surely go with me. 

Catherine Valles 

Elementary Ed./Early Childhood 

Education/Psychology 

Hometown: New Providence, NJ 

After graduation plans: I’m spending the 

next two summers and academic year taking 

classes in the 4+1 Program to earn my 

Masters Degree in Elementary Education. 


Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, Phi Delta Sigma 

Honorary Alumni Sorority, The Cue 


I think what I’ll miss the most about Albright is all the friends I’ve made throughout 

the past four years. It’s going to be hard watching everyone go their separate ways after 

spending so many memorable times together. 


If I could change one thing about Albright, it would be the perception of the Greek Community 

on campus. I feel as though a lot of times Greeks have a bad reputation, yet no one takes 

notice to all the work the different Greek organizations do for their philanthropies, locally 

and nationally. 


My favorite professor is without a doubt Dr. Siedenstricker. As a teacher and advisor she 

has constantly been a person I could turn to. She makes it her top priority to ensure that 

each of her students succeeds. Her love of teaching has indefinitely been passed on to the 

many education students who have entered her classroom. 


My advice would have to be to be yourself and have fun! College is the best four years of 

your life, so get involved and meet people before its too late and you have to grow up. Its 

true what they say, time really does fly when you have fun! 


I want to be remembered as someone who was always happy, with a smile on my face and as 

someone who was always having a good time! And of course, as the girl who loved secrets! 


That’s easy! If I could have any three wishes, I would wish to be the owner of the New 

York Giants, be next-door neighbors with Jon Bon Jovi, and have an endless supply of 

black shirts and shoes! 


I don’t think I’d change anything about my freshmen year, including my dorm building. 

Even though at the time I hated living in Walton with all girls, I made friendships there 

that I’m sure will last a lifetime. 


In ten years I plan on being an elementary school teacher back home in Jersey and having 

a husband and kids to come home to. (No dog though!) And every so often, I’ll get together 

with my sisters and we’ll sit around telling stories about all of the crazy stuff we did together 

our senior year.


After serving as acting 

vice president of academic 

affairs since 2004 Andrea E. 

Chapdelaine, Ph.D., was recently 

appointed provost and 

vice president of academic affairs 

at Albright. 

Before joining the Albright 

community, she taught 

at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, 

Ind., and at Trinity 

College in Hartford, Conn. 

Chapdelaine attained her 

bachelor’s degree in psychology 

at the University of New 

Hampshire and her master’s 

and doctoral degrees in social 

psychology at the University 

of Connecticut. 

Chapdelaine began her 

career at the college in 1998 

as assistant professor of psychology, 

was promoted to 

associate professor in 2001, 

and in 2003 became dean of 

undergraduate studies. At Albright 

she has been a part of 

the Strategic Planning Committee, 

Fine Arts Commission, 

Assessment Committee, 

Educational Technology Task 

Force, Committee on Faculty 

Evaluation and Performance 

Compensation System, as well 

as director of new faculty orientation 

and chair of the Institutional 

Review Board. 

In a recent interview 

with Chapdelaine, The Albrightian 

asked the new provost 

a few questions about 

the responsibilities of the 

position and what her plans 

Tired of walking past 

Sylvan pond on the rocky 

dusty trail? Thanks to some 

motivated seniors, the walkway 

around the pond as well 

as other walkways on campus 

will be replaced through a senior 

fundraiser known as the 

Senior Walkway Legacy. 

In the past seniors have 

chosen a variety of ways to 

leave their mark on Albright 

through fundraising. The difference 

between this year and 

the past is that this year begins 

a project that is planned 

to continue with the class of 

2007 and onward. A planning 

committee was formed, with 

Chalie Beatty and Julie Sullivan 

as co-chairs. The committee 

is working with Adam 

Wentzel of Alumni Relations. 

The goal of this fundraiser 

is to replace broken walkways 

on campus with brick 

through 100% senior participation. 

This fundraising activity 

gives seniors a way to give 

back to their school. They 

Student Life 

Chapdelaine Takes Over as Provost 

by Meg Hurst 


were for the College. 

Senior Walkway Legacy 

Program Kicks Off 

by Megan Lamiotte 


Albrightian: Why did 

choose to take on the job 

of Albright’s provost? 

Chapdelaine: As soon as I 

came to Albright, I realized I 

had found the place where I 

wanted to continue my career 

on a long-term basis. There is 

such a strong sense of community 

here, and the commitment 

to the teaching 

mission and to the students 

was unlike anything I had 

experienced before. As I took 

on increasing administrative 

responsibilities, I found 

that those responsibilities afforded 

me the opportunity 

to improve and support the 

students and the educational 

mission. Those experiences 

were deeply rewarding. The 

position of provost provides 

me the wonderful opportunity 

to serve the college as it 

moves forward in transforming 

the lives of its students 

and the larger community. 

Albrightian: What will 

your new job entail? Are 

you looking forward to 

these responsibilities? 

Chapdelaine: The job description 

has not really changed 

from the one I had before 

as acting vice president for 

academic affairs. Generally, 

I am the chief academic officer 

of the college. What that 

means is that all academic 

programs and personnel are 

my responsibility. I work 

with the faculty to maintain 

can either donate money or 

make a pledge and fulfill the 

pledge by paying later. Those 

that pledge must have their 

money in by May 31, 2007. 

Seniors who donate $100 or 

more will have their names 

engraved in the walkway. 

April 20 was the kick off 

for this project. So far 106 out 

of 364 seniors, or 29 percent 

of the senior class has donated 

money or made a pledge. As 

of Tuesday, $8,151 has either 

been donated or pledged. It is 

not too late to make a pledge 

or donation. 

On May 15, seniors are 

encouraged to “pond their 

books.” Next to the book 

buyer, a table will be set up 

and run by seniors. After 

selling its books back to the 

book buyer, the class of 2006 

will have the opportunity to 

give the money earned to the 

Senior Legacy project. It is 

not known when the walkway 

around the pond will 

be completed, but with the 

excitement built up by those 

seniors involved as well as 

Wentzel, it will be sooner 

rather than later. 

and enhance our concentrations 

and programs, oversee 

faculty development and hiring, 

and address student issues 

with regard to academic 

policies. Also, there are several 

departments that support 

our academic programs that 

Andrea Chapdelaine, Ph.D. 


are in my division, such as 

the Academic Learning Center, 

the Registrar’s Office, the 

Library and several others. I 

also oversee all academic 

events, such as convocation 

and commencement. Finally, 

I work closely with the other 

divisions of the college to enhance 

the college as a whole 

and to support the President. 

Albrightian: Do you 

feel any improvements 

need to be made at Albright? 

If so, what and how 

will you go about making 

these improvements? 

Chapdelaine: Of course, there 

are always improvements to be 

made. My driving focus is to 

build upon our strengths, 

namely the faculty and the 

education we offer. Some of 

the tasks I see myself spending 

a lot of time on in the next 

few years include the strategic 

planning process the whole 

college is undergoing at this 

time to determine a vision for 

our future and how to achieve 

that vision. Also, the faculty 

has begun to review the gen- 

Photo by Laura McLaine 

eral studies curriculum and 

I will work with the faculty 

to support and facilitate that 

process. I will continue, as 

I have been, to provide increased 

academic support, 

resources and experiential 

learning opportunities to our 

students (e.g. internships, 

study abroad, undergraduate 

research, service learning). 

In making any changes, 

it is critical to first get input 

from all affected parties. I 

always begin by gathering 

information from students, 

faculty, administration and 

staff, and other members of 

the community to develop a 

plan. That is the critical factor 

in how I work to make 

improvements. If I know 

that there is strong consensus 

for the plan, I then make 

it a priority to find the resources 

necessary to implement 

that plan, knowing 

it is best for our students. 

Albrightian: What do you 

hope to do for the college 

in the position of provost? 

Where do you see Albright in 

five years, or hope to see it? 

Chapdelaine: I am still developing 

my vision at this point 

so I am not sure I can speak 

with great detail to this or 

the next question. But when I 

look in the future, what I most 

hope for is an “engaged learning 

community.” By that I 

mean an educational environment 

in which both students 

and faculty are fully involved 

and enthused by the teachinglearning 

process. That already 

exists to a great extent on this 

campus. I would hope to bring 

that out of the classroom so 

that it pervades the entire 

campus community, where 

everyone is excited and deeply 

invested in all the wonderful 

educational opportunities Albright 

as a residential, small, 

Photo of the Week 

11 


liberal arts college can provide. 

Small liberal arts colleges 

are currently facing a crossroads 

in regard to increasingly 

constrained resources, rising 

costs, changing student demographics, 

and external demands 

for accountability. Yet, more 

than ever, the educational experiences 

offered by Albright 

are those that best prepare 

students in an increasingly 

global and complex world. 

Our continued mission must 

be to provide wide-ranging 

and effective opportunities for 

students to understand issues 

from multiple perspectives 

while exploring their interests 

and abilities in a supportive yet 

challenging environment. My 

commitment to and belief in 

the important liberal arts and 

interdisciplinary mission of 

Albright College is unwavering 

and imbued with a strong 

sense of hope for the future. 

Albrightian: Reportedly, 

approximately 10% 

of the freshman class is 

on academic probation. 

Is this true, and if so what 

are your hopes and plans for 

lowering this percentage? 

Chapdelaine: That is not true. 

As aforementioned, providing 

academic support and 

resources to both our faculty 

and students is important. For 

example, providing more resources 

to the tutoring program, 

writing center and 

advising system are areas I 

have been and will continue 

to work on in the coming 

years. Also, it is important that 

we help first year students understand 

our expectations for 

college level work. I would 

be remiss to say that although 

I do want to address this as I 

just described, I hope the students 

also have “a hope and 

plan” for being academically 

successful! 

Members of the Albrightian staff celebrate the end of a successful year.

12 


Since the spring of 2002, 

Professor James Speese has 

been working as an adjunct 

English professor for his alma 

mater, Albright College. 

Over these five years of 

experience, Speese has struggled 

and stretched himself 

thin in various employment 

opportunities in order to make 

ends meet. 

“Like anything else, it has 

had its pluses and minuses,” 

Speese said. “I would say a lot 

of the pluses involve the connection 

to the students and 

faculty and other people...I 

have a real sense of satisfaction 

with the job. Minuses, 

of course, are pay and a sense 

of being not part of it - you’re 

not ‘really’ here.” 

As an adjunct, Speese gets 

paid on a per-course basis to 

what amounts to the equivalent 

of a course overload for 

a full-time professor. Since he 

has been accumulating teaching-load 

hours for five years, 

his pay rate has been increasing 

to what he considers the 

higher end of pay for adjuncts. 

He is currently being paid 

close to $2,500 per course. 

“It’s really funny because 

full-time faculty aren’t allowed 

to teach more than four 

courses because the administration 

and the faculty recognize 

that when you teach 

more than four courses you 

Student Life 

are now diluting your courses,” 

Speese said. “And yet adjuncts 

can teach 20 if you can 

find a way to do it.” 

Speese understands that 

Albright can’t give all of the 

money to the adjuncts, but 

also realizes that 

adjuncts are not 

compensated appropriately 

for their 

work. 

“We are not 

nearly compensated 

enough, nor 

will we be, even if 

we get a thousand 

dollar raise per 

course,” Speese said. 

“It seems to me that 

there is an endemic 

institutional problem 

there with how 

colleges, not just 

Albright, use adjuncts. 

And I don’t 

know how to solve 

that without raising your tuition, 

again.” 

Speese sets himself apart 

as an adjunct in that he does 

a lot to involve himself in the 

College, such as serving as the 

volleyball coach at Albright 

and teaching extra classes to 

earn more money. He is currently 

teaching an English 

composition course at RACC 

in addition to his current load 

of four classes at Albright. 

He has also had the opportunity 

to teach classes 

beyond the standard English 

101 and 102, with an interdisciplinary 

studies course dealing 

with music criticism. 

“You’ve got tradeoffs, but 

you need the money so you 

do it. You find a way to do it 

and you’re overwhelmed and 

you’re stressed out.” 

Last year, alone, Speese 

taught approximately 11 

courses. Over the years, 

Speese has created a strategy 

as to how to make enough 

money to survive as an adjunct 

professor. This includes 

teaching four to five classes for 

the spring and fall semesters, 

teaching two interim courses, 

teaching summer courses and 

teaching courses for Albright’s 

Accelerated Degree Start Program, 

which is one night class 

a week with a relatively small 

group of adult students. How 

he handles it? 

Albright students banded 

together to clean up Albright’s 

campus on May 2 and 3. 

The Campus Beautification 

project was sponsored by 

Helping Paws. 

Together with Facilities, 

Lynn Pienson and a lot of 

support from Greek Week, 

180 Albright students and 26 

Albright staff members volunteered 

their time to help 

clean up campus for Inauguration 

weekend. 

Activities included 

mulching, planting perennials 

and annuals, weeding in 

the gardens along pathways, 

raking, watering plants (new 

and already growing) and 

cleaning up any litter along 

the pathways or in the gardens 

or bushes. 

John Wodehouse from 

Facilities was involved with 

ideas for landscaping and 

played a large part in the 

project. 

“We are already looking 

forward to eventually making 

the beautification an Albright 

College tradition,” said 


The Life of an Adjunct Professor: Jim Speese 

by Jess Bair 


Relay for Life Continues 

to Accept Donations 

by Jess Bair 


Albright College participated 

in its second Relay for 

Life event, part of the fundraising 

for the American 

Cancer Society, from 10 a.m. 

on April 21 until 10 a.m. on 

April 22 at the First Energy 

Stadium of Reading. 

While the weather proved 

to be unsatisfactory over that 

24 hour time period, the Relay 

for Life participants walked on 

without complaint. 

“The morale and mood of 

the event is so heartwarming,” 

said Erin Jagielski ’07, co-student 

advisor for the volunteer 

center. “We were there for a 

reason: to walk against cancer. 

Someone had stated during 

the relay, ‘If people can 

survive cancer, then we can 

survive a little rain.’” 

Approximately 35 teams, 

in addition to Albright’s, took 

part in this event, which was 

the Reading chapter of Relay 

for Life. Albright contributed 

a 20-member team consisting 

of students, administration, 

friends and family. 

Each member walked a 

minimum of two hours, while 

others walked up to 12 hours 

each, and at least 10 people 

were on the track at all times. 

The event was supplemented 

by music, food and 

one contest per hour, ranging 

from trivia to picking a “lucky 

duck.” The winner of each 

contest was awarded $100 to 

their team’s total. 

Albright’s team was organized 

by the volunteer center, 

which started collecting 

donations for the event in 

September 2005. The student 

advisors of the volunteer center, 

Ashley Eisenhower ’06 

and Erin Jagielski ’07, were 

largely responsible for planning 

Albright’s participation. 

“The Relay for Life is 

so much more than walking 

around a track,” Jagielski 

said. “Cancer is something 

that affects almost everyone, 

both directly and indirectly. 

The actual relay is a time 

for people to gain aware- 

Adjunct Professor Jim Speese will be leaving Albright 

to pursue his doctorate degree at Lehigh University 

ness about this disease and to 

show their support, both financially 

and spiritually, for 

those who are dealing with 

this disease.” 

At the close of the actual 

Relay for Life event, Reading’s 

chapter had raised $103,000, 

with Albright contributing 

almost $3,000, according to 

Jagielski. This already exceeds 

the chapter’s $101,000 contribution 

from last year and 

donations will continue to be 

accepted throughout the end 

of August. All donations go 

directly into cancer research, 

treatment and educational 

costs, Jagielski said. 

Next year, both Jagielski 

and Eisenhower plan on participating 

with the Relay for 

Life again. They hope to involve 

more alumni and faculty 

members so that the Albright 

team has representation from 

all departments of the college. 

Anyone interested in being 

involved with this cause 

can contact the volunteer center 

at volunteer@albright.edu 

for more information. 

“Well, it’s insane,” 

Speese said. “Why do I do it? 

One, the money. I need the 

money. Two, I manage it because 

just, you’re smart about 

what you do.” 

One way Speese is smart 

about what he does 

is by teaching three 

sections of the same 

course at once. This 

makes the class 

preparation a little 

easier, but he admits 

it “bores the hell out 

of you.” 

The one thing 

Speese consistently 

sees in his class evaluations 

is that students 

are unhappy 

with how he doesn’t 

give papers back in 

a timely manner, 

but he stresses that 

he takes the time to 

read each paper, and 

that takes a while. 

In addition to his teaching 

and coaching, Speese regularly 

writes for the Reading 

Eagle with a local music column 

and reviews of concerts. 

He writes bios for bands and 

is currently looking to finish 

his second published novel as 

a creative writer. 

“Everything I do is stuff 

that doesn’t pay very well,” 

Speese remarked. “But I like 

to do it.” 

Another issue with being 

an adjunct is the fact 

that they do not receive ben- 

efits. Speese has been without 

health insurance for the last 

several years. 

“I’m just one of millions of 

Americans who are doing it [living 

without health insurance],” 

Speese said. “It’s just a fact of 

life. I could buy my health insurance, 

but I just don’t have 

the money at this level.” 

In order to reach a higher 

level where pay may be more 

sufficiently, Speese will be 

leaving Albright at the end of 

the semester in order to pursue 

a doctorate degree with 

Lehigh University. 

“I can’t even get a master’s 

in education here without 

paying for it myself, which is 

impossible with what they’re 

paying me,” Speese said. “So I 

looked into it this year…and 

in the end Lehigh just made 

me an offer I can’t refuse.” 

Speese will be teaching at 

Lehigh, while working on his 

Ph.D., for free. He will also 

receive a stipend to support 

himself and will have health 

insurance available to him. 

His own decision to leave 

Albright is an example of what 

Speese has seen over the years 

with the college’s inability to 

retain adjunct professors in 

the English department. 

“There’s no way to retain 

them, which is really sad,” 

Speese said. “I’ve been here 

for a long time, I know the 

College very well, I’m very 

involved and they can’t retain 

me – they just can’t.” 

Project Beautifies Campus 

by Lydia Steiner 


Wodehouse. 

Student volunteer Laura 

Johnson was very happy to be 

involved in the project. “The 

campus cleanup gave me a 

chance to help out my school, 

not only to clean it up and 

give it a new and improved 

environment, but to also 

make other people aware that 

Albright is a great place.” 

You may have already 

noticed many items of interest. 

There are the new patches 

of grass planted where the 

ground had previously been 

eroded. There are the new 

flowers planted along paths, 

near the Campus Center, near 

the Center for the Arts, outside 

of Selwyn Hall, and the 

path between Alumni and 

Masters Halls. All of these 

small gardens have been 

mulched to tidy up the look. 

Of course, these are only a 

few of the numerous things 

that have been done all over 

campus. 

The Campus Beautification 

project is is likely to make 

a return next year, so watch 

for your opportunity to volunteer. 

In the meantime, there is 

currently a lot to look at.


Albrightian: Why did you decide to run 

for the position of SGA President? 

Ferraro: SGA is a great organization that 

I’ve been a part since my sophomore year 

and with the experience I have within it, 

I feel I owe it to the school to take a more 

active role. I’ve learned so much about 

Albright through SGA that I wanted to 

continue to work to improve the school. 

Student Life 

Q & A With the New SGA Officers 

Stacey Ferraro: President 

Albrightian: What skills do you possess 

that will help you in the job? 

Ferraro: I’m a good listener and I’m very 

open-minded when it comes to the ideas 

and opinions of the student body. I’m 

able to bring their ideas, concerns, and 

questions to SGA and hopefully we can 

resolve whatever issues are present on 

campus. I’m also very dedicated to what 


I do and with the help of the newly appointed officers I am very excited to see Albright 

College at its fullest potential. 

Albrightian: What do you think is the importance of SGA? 

Ferraro: I think it is important because it opens communication between the student 

body and administration. It is a good way for the students to be able to express 

any questions, concerns, or suggestions. 

Albrightian: What would you like to see in the next year as far as SGA activity? Any 

changes from this year? 

Ferraro: There’s nothing I would really change because I was fortunate enough to work 

with a great executive board that did an awesome job with their positions this past year. 

I would just like to improve upon what we’ve done in the past and grow from there. 

Albrightian: Is there a message you would like to send out to the student body? 

Ferraro: I just want all the students to know that I’m here for them and to represent 

them. If there’s a problem, I would like to know about it and I want students to know 

that I’m always willing to listen to their concerns or suggestions. As SGA executive board 

members, we are in our positions because of the students, so they need to remember that 

they have a voice through us. I also would love to see more students involved in campus 

activities. Albright is a great school and I want students to experience as much as they 

possibly can. The students here have so much potential, and I wouldn’t want to see that 

go to waste. I’m really excited for next year and I can’t wait for the semester to start. I 

think we’re going to have a lot of fun and do a fabulous job! 

Rob Intile: Treasurer 

Albrightian: Why did you decide to run for the position of SGA Treasurer? 

Intile: I served as Corresponding Secretary this year and decided I was in a good 

position to run for higher office. I also wanted this office so I could facilitate the allocation 

process better to the students. I know there is always confusion about the 

paper work, procedures, and what actually gets or can be allocated. 

Bill Gusler: Vice President 

13 


Interviews by Jordan Mauger 

Albrightian: Why did you decide to run for the position of SGA Vice President? 

Gusler: I wanted to give back to the Albright student body, and it’s a great job. I 

mean it’s going to be time consuming and I’m going to have to be committed to 

the position, but I know it’s going to be rewarding in the end. 

Albrightian: What skills do you possess that will help you in the job? 

Gusler: I have quite a bit of class officer experience: I was vice president of my 

graduating class at Sun Valley High School, I was Albright’s class of 2007 Vice 

President my freshman and sophomore years, then I moved on to be a Member 

At Large on the SGA this year. I am also the Push America chair for the Pi Kappa 

Phi fraternity, and I’ve gained a lot of communication and people skills, as well as 

a hard work ethic from all of those positions. 


Gusler: The SGA is one of the most involved organizations on Albright’s campus. 

It’s not always visible, but the majority of the time SGA has something to do with 

the activities going on. But most importantly, we act as the meeting point between 

faculty and administration and the students. 

Albrightian: What would you like to see in the next year as far as SGA 

activity? Any changes from this year? 

Gusler: It’s hard to say. This year was great as a lot of the members of SGA are 

close. We all respect each other, so it works out really well. I would like to see that 

continue. We have a lot of current SGA members graduating, so it’s going to be a 

whole new line up in the upcoming year, but I’m sure we’ll be able to click and 

work well with one another. I want the new members as well as all of the students 

to have their own opinions and ideas so that there’s mutual respect amongst us all. 

That is what we had this year, instead of a bunch of “yes men,” which is just too 

common in student organizations. 


Gusler: Thank you for electing me, congrats to all of the new and continuing members 

of SGA and class officers. And I would like to say congrats to the graduating seniors, 

and good luck with all that you do. You will be missed. As for the underclassmen, we 

have some big shoes to fill, but I’m sure that’ll be no problem at all. Later days. 

Jacqui Kappler: Recording Secretary 

Albrightian: Why did you decide to run for the position of SGA Recording Secretary? 

Kappler: I love being involved on campus and really want to make a difference for 

the other students at Albright. I love getting to interact with other student leaders 

and feeling like I’m making an impact while in college. 


Kappler: SGA is the force that combines and unites the student body and spurs 

student activity on campus. It is a communication tool that binds the faculty to the 

students. 

Albrightian: What would you like to see in the next year as far as SGA activity? 

Kappler: I would like to see increased student awareness and activity concerning SGA 

and issues affecting the campus community. I can’t wait to work on SGA next year. 

Albrightian: What do you think is the importance of SGA from your particular 

position’s point of view? 

Intile: To make sure all student organization accounts are kept up and that check 

requests are processed as soon as possible. I’m also a class officer and I know how 

frustrating it is to put in a check request and have to wait two weeks for it to be 

processed. This has gotten a lot better over the past two years, and I’d like to keep 

the check system as reliable and efficient as it is now. 

Albrightian: What would you like to see in the next year as far as SGA activity? Any 

changes from this year? 

Intile: Well this year we had a number one priority: an on-campus concert, especially 

after the fiasco with Nappy Roots…but that’s in the past. We achieved the 

goal, as everyone knows by now, with the mtvU Campus Invasion Tour. Stacey and 

I have already talked about getting MTV back with a different band next year. I can 

also see a lot of changes in what gets funded by SGA. I don’t want to give away too 

much yet, but there will be much securitization of many SGA funded items. 

Albrightian: As Treasurer, how do you plan to help facilitate the process of allocations 

for the student organizations? 

Intile: I’m going to keep clear president/treasurer workshops before allocations, and 

precise explanations of what SGA can, cannot, or will not fund. 


Intile: Don’t be afraid to come to the Sunday meetings, flag me down on campus, or 

anything like that. SGA is here for the student body and we want students to come 

to us with things they want improved or changed. It’s easy to say, “Oh someone else 

will take care of it,” but we all know that this attitude does not get anything accomplished 

and can produce even more problems. Open your mouth and get your voice 

heard! This is OUR college too! 


Kappler: I think that the student body should use its representatives as resources to 

get things done on campus. Get to know the students that represent you, come say 

“Hi,” ask questions. Every student can be involved on campus in their own way. 

Kelly Cross: Corresponding Secretary 

Albrightian: Why did you decide to run for the position of SGA Corresponding Secretary? 

Cross: I decided to run for SGA Corresponding Secretary because I wanted to be a part 

of the Student Government on campus. I wanted to have an impact on the student life 

on campus and keep it alive. Corresponding Secretary is also something that I thought 

I would enjoy thoroughly. 


Cross: SGA makes campus life. They are responsible for making the Albright student 

community tick. Without them this campus would be dead. This, my friends, is why it is 

extremely important that these students are willing to work hard and to be successful. 

Albrightian: What would you like to see in the next year as far as SGA activity? 

Cross: I would like to bring Albright College back to the days when school was about 

naptime and arts and crafts—the days when spring came around every kid was thinking 

about one thing. I’m talking about field day. I would like to have a field day in the 

spring with the izzy dizzy (spinning around on the baseball bat and running), the egg 

on the spoon race, potato sack races, water balloon tosses etc. 


Cross: Two quick things: First of all thank you Albright Community for electing me 

into the position of Corresponding Secretary; I will not let you down. Second, get 

ready to have some FUN next year! It’s show time

14 


Summer Movies 

Worth the Wait 

by Jessica Bilello 


Have no plans for the 

summer? Going to the movies 

is fun way to interact with 

some old friends, and to have 

fun night out. 

There are many movies 

coming out this summer, but 

here are five must see movies 

for the summer of 2006. 

Cars –June 9 

Starring: Owen Wilson, Paul 

Newman, Bonnie Hunt 

Synopsis: A hotshot racer 

who is only concerned about 

winning learns an important 

lesson on his way to the Piston 

Cup Championship. 

Run Time: 96 minutes 

Genre: Animated, Comedy 

Features 

Horoscopes 

by Meg Hurst 


Aries (March 21 - April 19) 

Almost time to pack up and head home. Oh, come on, seeing your parents every day for the next 

three months isn’t so bad... 

Taurus (April 20 - May 20) 

Love is in the air. But since it’s the end of the year, it’s probably best to ignore that fact and save 

it for the fall. 

Gemini (May 21 - June 20) 

For the first time all year, you’re actually going to get the chance to enjoy yourself tonight. Do it! 

Cancer (June 21 - July 22) 

Start shopping for summer vacations; even if you’re only going to Dorney Park (at least it’s somewhat 

inexpensive). 

Mission Impossible III— 

Now Playing 

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip 

Seymour Hoffman, Ving 

Rhames 

Synopsis: Tom Cruise as Special 

Agent Ethan Hunt faces 

the mission of his life in another 

action-packed Mission 

Impossible. He has to face his 

toughest villain Owen Davian 

played by Philip Seymour 

Hoffman. 


Genre: Action/Adventure 

Da Vinci Code—May 19 

Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey 

Tautou, Ian McKellen 

Synopsis: Based on the bestselling 

book written by Dan 

Brown a murder at the Louvre 

reveals a plot to uncover 

a secret. This secret has been 

protected since the days of 

Christ. 


Genre: Action/Adventure, 

Drama 

Superman Returns—June 30 

Starring: Brandon Routh, 

Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth 

Synopsis: An old enemy wants 

to destroy Superman, so he 

returns after a long absence. 

Lois Lane has moved on with 

her life, and she has managed 

to live without her superhero. 

Superman needs to defeat his 

new villain, and find a way to 

reconnect with his love. 

Run Time: N/A 


Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy 

Pirates of the Caribbean: 

Dead Man’s Chest—July 7 

Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando 

Bloom, Keira Knightley 

Synopsis: Captain Jack Sparrow 

must find away to avoid 

his fate since Davey Johns had 

come to collect a blood debt. 

This battle manages to interrupt 

some wedding plans. 

Run Time: N/A 


Comedy, Family 

Leo (July 23 - August 22) 

Stop worrying about finals already. Unless you forgot they were next week, then maybe you should 

start worrying. 

Virgo (August 23 - September 22) 

You are sunshine personified, my friend, and you’re getting on everyone’s nerves. Sit in your room 

and study . . . or just continue to aggravate everyone, which is way more fun. 

Libra (September 22 - October 22) 

Finish that last paper of the semester yet? Most likely not, but in the grand scheme of things, it 

matters little. 

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) 

Did someone say party? You’re there, and if you’re not, you should really stop being such a nerd. 

Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21) 

Moody today, aren’t we? Turn that frown upside down, have some fun, and stop being miserable; 

don’t let all that studying and work you let pile up bring you down! 

Capricorn (December 22 - January 20) 

Spend the rest of the money in your bank account; it doesn’t matter on what, just spend it all. 

That’s what a summer job is for anyway. 

Aquarius (January 21 - February 18) 

Never bathe in hot oil and Bisquick...whether that has anything to do with the year ending remains 

debatable, but it’s good advice nonetheless. 

Pisces (February 19 - March 20) 

Instead of studying for finals, go to the beach and catch some rays. The semester’s close enough to 

being over anyway. 

Sudoku 

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3 x 3 

box contains the digits 1 through 9. You can’t change the digits 

already provided in the grid. You have to work around them. 

Every puzzle has just one correct solution. 

4 

1 

6 

9 

6 8 1 

6 

6 2 

7 

2 7 

1 

9 

4 9 3 

6 

5 

5 7 1 

4 

1 3 

4 2 8 

6 1 

A Fresher 

Perspective 

by Andrew Holets 

Maybe we should 

take this slow...


Instrumental Ensemble 

Concert Wows Audience 

by Jess Bair 


Rich, bluesy notes filled 

the air at the start of the 

spring instrumental ensembles 

concert on April 29 in 

Albright College’s Memorial 

Chapel. 

Saxophones with attitude 

and rhythmical percussion 

stood out as this year’s jazz 

ensemble kicked the concert 

off with a rousing rendition 

of Richard Adler’s and Jerry 

Ross’ “Whatever Lola Wants.” 

Jazz Ensemble Director Rob 

Spence describes the piece as 

“a great swing-style song that 

fit the strengths of our band 

very nicely.” 

The ensemble also performed 

Oliver Nelson’s slower, 

more laid back “Stolen 

Moments” and Tito Puente’s 

Latin-infused “Ran Kan Kan.” 

But the show was decidedly 

stolen by the deep, 

swanky tones of vocalist 

Tonett Smith, ’08, during the 

ensemble’s version of Irving 

Mills’ and Cab Calloway’s 

“Minnie the Moocher.” 

“The idea came from 

hearing Tonett Smith sing,” 

Spence said. “She has this terrific, 

low voice and, because 

of her stage experience, I just 

thought she’d be great at this 

audience-friendly song.” 

After a seven-year hiatus, 

Albright’s Jazz Ensemble has 

been going strong for the past 

two years. Spence is looking 

forward to the bright future 

of the group, with plans 

to perform more, on and off 

campus. The group hopes to 

perform at next year’s Berks 

Jazz Fest or at Gerald Veasley’s 

Jazz Base, a nightclub in 

Reading’s Sheraton Hotel. 

Next up was the debut 

performance of Albright’s 

Percussion Ensemble, directed 

by Steven Weiser. This 

quintet performed Mitchell 

Peters’ “A La Nãnigo,” a 

1967 Latin piece featuring 

the sounds of cow bells, a 

suspended cymbal, a triangle, 

the bongos, a snare drum, 

tom-toms, a tambourine, a 

timpani, temple blocks, a bass 

drum and a wood block. 

The performance closed 

with Albright’s Concert Band, 

under the direction of Rebecca 

Butler. Their segment of 

the event heavily tied in with 

the college’s Sesquicentennial 

celebration with the running 

theme of Pennsylvania composers. 

The only exception to 

this rule was the band’s opening 

selection: Mozart’s “Overture 

to the Marriage of Figaro,” 

a piece that came out earlier 

this year in honor of Mozart’s 

250th birthday. 

“This work is typical of 

overtures for operas from the 

Classical period, with catchy 

melodies and contrasting musical 

ideas,” Butler said. “It was 

the most difficult, technically, 

for the woodwind players.” 

The group moved on to 

West Chester, Pa., with composer 

Samuel Barber’s slow, 

lyrical and musically demanding 

“Adagio.” Butler describes 

this piece as “one of the most 

emotionally intricate and 

complex works of the 20th 

century.” Next up was “Pageant,” 

a carefully crafted wind 

ensemble piece written by 

Vincent Persichetti, a native 

of Philadelphia, Pa. 

The concert band finished 

their set and brought the concert 

to a satisfying close with 

Berks County composer Monroe 

Althouse’s tribute to his 

hometown, “Old Berks.” 

A Fresher 

Perspective 


“Oh God, the Accreditation Board... 

quick with that diploma!” 

Features 

Domino Players End Season With 

Tartuffe Performance 

by Lydia Steiner 


April 27-30, Albright’s 

Domino Players performed 

their final work for the school 

year – “Tartuffe.” 

Written by Moliére in 

1664, “Tartuffe” was first performed 

in Versailles for King 

Louis XIV. Though King Louis 

was amused by the play, it 

was eventually banned by the 

courts, because they did not 

like the way it depicted religious 

authority. 

The Archbishop of 

Paris even went so far as to 

threaten excommunication to 

anyone who tried to make another 

production of the play 

in 1667. 

But in a few short years 

(by 1669), there was a turnaround, 

and the play was 

performed, with audiences 

appreciative of it. 

Tartuffe (J. Aaron Boykin) 

is an incredibly pious man. 

He’s the most holy and immaculate 

man alive, according 

to Orgon (David Darrow), 

who saved Tartuffe from destitution 

and almost certain 

death. Tartuffe comes to live 

with Orgon and his family 

—wife Elmire (Sara Marvel), 

son Damis (Mike McCarthy), 

by Meredith Selzer 


Remember the days 

when you were not allowed 

to get dirty? Well, on April 

30, approximately 64 Albright 

students were told the dirtier 

the better. Albright hosted its 

annual game of Oozeball— 

volleyball in about five to six 

inches of brown, sticky, cold 

mud. 

The tournament 

was held 

in the Woods 

pit—the area in 

front of the A 

building in Albright’s 

residential 

apartment 

complex. Teams 

were required 

to have at least 

six players, with 

a maximum of 

eight, and could 

include both 

boys and girls. 

The day 

started around 

12:30 p.m. when 

the teams began arriving. 

Food was served up courtesy 

of the Albright cafeteria 

crew. There was a variety 

of choices, everything from 

hot dogs and hamburgers to 

and daughter Mariane (Shelly 

Brown). Completely enthralled 

with Tartuffe, Orgon 

is incapable of realizing that 

the man is not as holy and pious 

as he seems—nor does he 

want to be. 

Believing himself to be 

doing good, Orgon focuses 

his whole life on Tartuffe’s 

well-being, even leaving his 

entire estate to Tartuffe. Not 

listening to the advice of his 

family, maid Dorine (Megan 

McGrath), and brother-inlaw 

Cléante (Greg Hritz), 

Orgon sets himself up to be 

betrayed by Tartuffe. 

After discovering Tartuffe’s 

treachery, Orgon believes 

all to be lost. Only with 

the help of his daughter’s female 

lover Valére (Shannon 

McBride), can he escape from 

his predicament. 

Directed by Chris Ajemian, 

the Domino Players’ production 

used a new narrative 

style in “Tartuffe”—Digital 

Video Script, or DVS. This 

is accomplished by projecting 

titles and sentences onto 

a part of the stage, to support 

the story, and impart information 

to the audience. This 

was made even more effective 

by the Venetian blinds 

that were a part of the set, 

cookies and chips. Everyone 

was advised to eat before they 

played because afterwards 

they would get mud all over 

their food—and that’s not 

very tasty. 

The games started around 

1:00 p.m. when the first two 

teams to sign up played each 

other. Each game was 20 

minutes long, and the team 

with the highest score at the 

end was named the winner. 

As the first two teams started 

playing, the commentator 

asked who would be the 

first to take a head-first dive 

into the mud. That question 

15 


separating the stage in two. 

Actors walked in from behind 

and through the sections 

of blinds, made visible 

or invisible by tilting the 

blades, or raising the whole 

blind. Props made good use 

of the stage, creating a kitchen, 

living room, dining room, 

parlor, bedroom, even a view 

of the outside looking in. 

Costumes were modern, and 

rather sleek-looking, employing 

personal wardrobes 

as well as costume pieces. 

Opening night had a 

rather large attendance, 

with the show even starting 

late to accommodate all the 

viewers. 

In addition to the regular 

concession stand, the Domino 

Players also had a silent auction, 

including gift certificates 

to local restaurants, passes 

to local attractions, a private 

photo session with Albright’s 

own John Pankratz and even 

a private voice lesson with 

Grammy Award nominee, 

Jeffrey Lentz. 

Though this was the final 

show for the Domino Players 

this school year, there is 

a whole new year quickly approaching, 

with a whole new 

line of productions to look forward 

to. Keep your eyes open! 

Getting Down and Dirty 

with Oozeball 

Members of Team Rompe show off their muddy attire after a 

round in the Oozeball pit. 


was quickly answered when 

James Nuskey, of the Blue 

Ballers, dove for a ball and 

made a point-achieving play 

for his team. 

As the day progressed, 

more teams were eliminated, 

and the final two teams 

emerged from the eight that 

started that day. The Alabama 

Black Snakes played 

the Sexual Ninjas for the 

championship 

title. As the 

game began, 

both teams were 

fired up, as they 

were competing 

teams from last 

year as well. 

The winner in 

the end was the 

Alabama Black 

Snakes, claiming 

the title for 

the second year 

in a row. 

The day 

culminated in 

lots of flirting 

between slightly 

intoxicated, 

of age, boys and girls; lots of 

dirty people, houses, and cars; 

numerous purchases of aloe 

to soothe the burnt shoulders 

of players; and a whole lot of 

fun for everyone.

16 


The discussion of a renaissance 

occurring in the Greater 

Reading area or the city of 

Reading is becoming more 

and more popular, with much 

of the discussion coming from 

politicians, businessmen and 

generally anyone that loves 

talking to an audience. 

And why not feel so optimistic 

about improvement 

to Reading? Just recently, 

our own Philadelphia Eagle-loving 

Governor Ed 

Rendell proudly announced 

the promise of $16 million 

for economic development 

for the city with $11.5 million 

more on its way. 

Commentary 

Reflections on my Albright Years 

by Jackie Seigle 


So four years at Albright. 

It has certainly gone by fast. 

In my final commentary of my 

Albrightian career, I would 

like to take the opportunity to 

share some experiences and a 

little of the wisdom I have 

gained from my time here. 

Coming into college, I was 

extremely skeptical. I didn’t 

want to leave my high school, 

or my friends at home. I chose 

Albright simply because they 

offered me the most money, 

and it was close enough for me 

to be a commuter student. I was 

not interested in getting involved, 

and I was only on campus 

for class (and I didn’t even 

make it there all the time). 

My experience definitely 

changed for the better when 

I decided to move on campus 

during my junior year. These 

past two years have taught me 

so much about myself, and 

have opened my eyes in a way 

I never thought college would 

do for me. 

I have realized that you 

have to be open to new experiences. 

You can’t write everything 

off before you even 

Reading certainly is a 

city with well-documented 

levels of economic distress 

and state funds seem like a 

great gesture of support worthy 

of starting the song “Happy 

Days are Here Again,” or 

perhaps the more appropriate 

theme of improvement in our 

times, “Ms. New Booty.” 

Hotels, movie theaters, 

parking garages and other 

projects are slated to start 

up within the next year, all 

with the hope of bringing in 

money to the city, therefore 

justifying this supposed renaissance 

of Reading. 

My apologies for standing 

in front of the money 

train, but this sort of economic 

posturing is insulting and 

ignorant to the faces of Reading 

and any socially-minded 

person. Nearly every project 

under this economic plan is 

plotted near the Penn Street 

and West Reading area. Now 

it can be said that many students 

dare not venture into 

the city because of criminal 

fear, boredom, ignorance, 

lack of transportation, etc. 

but the area of economic reception 

is already the most 

bustling and clean section of 

urban Greater Reading. 

The true problem with 

Reading is that there is an incorrect 

focus on the source of 

all of its woes. Most feel that 

Reading’s economy is poor, 

leading to high crime rates, 

leading to the trust in the solution 

of good businesses that 

will invest in the city. This 

sounds kind of like a viable 

fix, doesn’t it? Sure! Make the 

Sovereign Center sidewalk 

brighter! Give it a hotel for 

more temporary conferences 

to take place! Ignore the indescribably 

poor residents 

located throughout the city 

that don’t live near West 

try it. College is about starting 

over in a sense. You can 

be whoever you want to be, 

and make whatever you want 

to make of your time here. 

You can be the student who 

parties every night and never 

goes to class, or you can be the 

student who only studies and 

joins every club possible. My 

recommendation is to be a balanced 

mixture of both. Have 

fun, be responsible, don’t take 

anything too seriously. There 

will be drama—much like 

high school at times. Try to 

get over it, and just enjoy it. 

Make sure you really enjoy it 

too. Your time here will go by 

faster than you will be able to 

understand when your time 

comes to graduate. So savor 

every moment, whether you 

are just hanging out with your 

roommate, having adventures 

around Reading, or pulling 

an all-nighter to finish all the 

work you put off all semester. 

Just take my advice and really 

enjoy it, because you will miss 

it all when you have to leave. 

So that wraps up my personal 

advice for underclassmen. 

To move on to some 

more serious matters. There 

are certainly many issues facing 

the College right now. It is 

up to you to work and change 

these things. 

It is discouraging to hear 

so many students complain 

about the College, but never 

do anything to change the way 

things are. There are steps every 

student can take to make a 

difference, and complaining to 

your friends about everything 

you hate isn’t one of them. 

However, there are many 

professors that are always willing 

to listen to students and pass 

on valuable suggestions. There 

are committees to join, surveys 

to fill out, and meetings to attend 

where you can voice your 

opinion. The Student Government 

Association is often overlooked 

as a means to express 

your ideas, but it is a valuable 

tool that can certainly inspire 

change within the College. So 

basically, get out there and do 

something to make things better, 

instead of just talking about 

what you would change. 

Albright has great potential. 

While you will inevitably 

have some kooks now and 

again, most of the professors 

here are amazing. They are 

enthusiastic about teaching 

and willing to work with every 

single student. They care 

about the students and treat us 

as equals. There are also many 

administration members who 

are very accessible and love to 

hear student input. 

While there are many 

positive attributes, there are 

things that need to change. 

The social atmosphere is definitely 

lacking. People tend to 

stick in their groups here, and 

only hang out in those groups. 

We would have a much better 

environment if everyone 

was friendly with everyone 

on campus. We are all a family 

in a sense, and should treat 

each other as such. 

Albright also has to start 

seriously scrutinizing its finances. 

There are many financial 

issues which have been 

plaguing the College for years. 

Just take a look at the cover 

of this very issue, and you 

will see how little our valuable 

professors get paid. The 

money isn’t going where it 

needs to go. We just got a new 

stadium and are in the process 

of overhauling our fitness center, 

but what about the yetto-be-started 

science center? 

The College needs to get its 

priorities straight. It’s great if 

Reading’s Real Problems Ignored by 

Economic Promises 



A Reading resident looks over the street 

from his porch, littered with garbage. 

Photo by Andrew Holets 

A building in downtown Reading in 

need o f repair, with cracks in the walls 

and broken windows. 

Photo by Andrew Holets 

Reading! Oh, how did that 

one slip in there? Excuse my 

typing, I must be intoxicated 

with the free booze and finger 

food from a Goggleworks 

press conference. 

In all seriousness, the $27+ 

million state money will not 

help people that have piles of 

garbage on their stoops and 

doorsteps every day of the 

week. It will not replace the 

number of bail bond, barbershop 

fronts or second-hand 

furniture excuses for reputable 

businesses that litter city blocks 

for miles. Take a stroll down N. 

9th Street during the day and 

you will quickly realize that 

our America is not in much 

better social upkeep than any 

slum in South America. 

What does not kill me 

is that Gov. Rendell will get 

a lot of credit for this come 

election time. That is called 

campaign posturing, and it is 

a part of politics. The thing 

that does reek of social blindness 

is the growing belief that 

Reading is improving greatly 

because of this economic gift. 

It seems that a great amount of 

newspapers, politicians, city 

and even Albright employees 

love lauding the renewed 

sense of promise for the city 

because of economics. Please, 

if you wish to make any statement 

of improvement in any 

sense regarding the city of 

Reading, you must first take 

a 45-minute walk down N. 

9th, Buttonwood or any other 

street in Reading in its entirety, 

and then you may speak. 

We, as Albrightians, have 

enjoyed the cocoon from this 

distress for quite some time. 

We bask in our service to the 

community, all of which is 

extremely charitable; please 

do not get me wrong. But to 

think that the work is done or 

to expect a good round of applause 

every time one gives a 

few hours to the community, 

you have accepted a premature 

accomplishment. There 

is much more to do and many 

more to help. 

Do not blindly allow election-fearing 

politicians steer 

your path wrong. Walk. See 

the world for yourself with 

the knowledge that money 

is not the true stimulus for 

social optimism. Remember, 

just because a12-screen movie 

theater does not show up in 

the 900 block on N. 9th does 

not mean that it doesn’t deserve 

recognition or help. 

Now a sense of service 

is something that many Albrightians 

hold dear to their 

hearts, and it is evident by the 


we have impressive stadiums 

and gym equipment to lure 

freshman in, but what do we 

have to keep them here? We 

still have ugly dorms in desperate 

need of overhaul, and 

cramped classrooms. 

There also needs to be a 

more open dialogue between 

administrators and students. 

This is our college too, and we 

deserve to know what is going 

on. While I can see there are 

efforts being made in the current 

administration to do so, 

there is a long way to go. 

My four years at Albright 

have definitely proved to be 

the best in my life so far. I 

cannot imagine having met 

better people or made better 

friends than I have in my 

time here. I thank each and 

every one of you (and you 

know who you are). You have 

all made a greater impact on 

my life than words could ever 

say. Thanks to everyone who 

made my Albright experience 

so memorable. 

Whether or not you heed 

my advice, make your Albright 

experience one to remember. 

Best of luck! 

Jackie Seigle is a senior 

columnist for the Albrightian. 

multitude of service groups 

and volunteers at Albright, including 

those traveling to New 

Orleans in the near future. But 

after four years of classes, clubs 

and commitments, a graduating 

student may wish to take 

some pride in the variety of 

personal accomplishments 

they have accrued. Personally, 

I feel that I have done some 

good here at Albright and in 

Reading. But that would allow 

me to rest on my laurels, 

stifling further goals by focusing 

on the ones already 

accomplished or whose 

consequences not yet seen. 

I have not always been 

perfect as a student and I 

have certainly cannot claim 

complete purity of character. 

I am human and I have 

not been able to fix every 

problem or use the best 

judgment at all times or to 

all people. As I leave Albright 

College, I realize that that the 

pomp of graduation is an important, 

yet incomplete accomplishment. 

There is much 

more to do. The same can be 

said for our community. It can 

be said no what matter where 

you find yourself. There is always 

work to be done, always 

more to accomplish and always 

a way to give of yourself 

so that you may leave a path 

for those to follow unhindered 

by false hopes. There is a big 

world out there that needs our 

help. Good luck. 

Andrew Holets is a senior 

columnist for the Albrightian.

5/11/2006 - Albright College

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