¿Cuántos años tienes?
Yo tengo veinte años.

¿De dónde es tu familia?
Mi familia es de Northampton

¿Qué cursos tomas?
Yo tomo ingles, español y historia.

¿Cuál es tu carrera?
No tengo una carrera.

¿Cuál es tu color favorito?
Mi color favorito es azul y no me gusta el rosa.

¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
Mi cumpleaños es el cinco de juno.

¿Cuál es tu libro favorito?
Mi libro favorito es Harry Potter por J.K. Rowling.

¿Cuál es tu película favorita?
Mi película favorita es John Tucker Debe Morir.

¿Cuáles son tus pasatiempos favoritos?
Me gust air a Ocean City en Nueva Jersey.

¿Por qué?
Me gusta nadir en el mar y me gusta leer los libros en la playa. No me gusta hacer matemáticas. Tampoco me gustan las ratas.

¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?
Mi comida favorita es bistec y pescado.

Playing a sport at any level comes with its share of risks. A major concern when it comes to athletes is putting your health and well-being at risk as an injury can strike at any moment when preparing and participating in Sports.

Penn State Hazleton athletes have Athletic Trainer Justin Beaupre looking out for them before and after the sports season. Beaupre takes pride in what he does and does everything in his power to get athletes back into playing condition as soon as possible.

“I am a certified athletic trainer and I am responsible for all the varsity athletes,” said Beaupre. “I take care of their health care needs, their orthopedic needs, their strength and conditioning needs. If they get injured, I decide if they need to see a professional, like an orthopedic surgeon, a physical therapist or if they can do any type of therapy here at the school.”

At 28 years-old, Beaupre earned his bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training and Exercise Science from University of New England in Maine in 2007 and his masters in Health Care Administration at King’s College. In between degrees, he took the National Certification Exam and passed it, allowing him to get certified.

Beaupre often attends team practices to watch student athletes prepare for upcoming match-ups and although watching a team perform drill after drill may not be exciting, it’s a must that he be there because some of the most common injuries can happen at any instant.

“I see a lot of ankle injuries, rolled ankles, a lot of hamstring strains, quad strains because of lack of flexibility – most kids don’t want to stretch or warm up properly,” said Beaupre.

Most medical dictionaries define a sprain as an “overstretch or tear of the ligament supporting that joint.” Whereas a strain is defined as an “overstretch of the muscle or tendon.”

Either injury can result in a partial or complete tear of the ligament of muscle which could result in the injured limb or join feeling numb or buckling whenever you try to use it and immediate medical attention should be sought after.

Ankles are the most frequent victims of sprains with 85 percent of the 1 million ankle injuries suffered each year in the United States being sprains according to rightdiagnosis.com and when Beaupre sees someone go down with an ankle sprain, there are certain procedures he follows to make sure the injured party gets the right treatment.

“We evaluate the ankle and look at what the severity is,” said Beaupre. “There are different grade levels of ankle injuries and depending on the severity, whether it’s mild, they call it a tweak, or a severe injury where the athlete needs to see somebody, we decide if we do basic therapy or we can tape the ankle so it doesn’t roll.”

There are also protocols in place for other injuries as well.

“If it’s serious, such as broken leg, we do basic emergency management first, then transport them to a hospital and they’d likely end up in a cast for a while. They may end up having surgery and then we’d follow physician’s orders on whatever the progress to get them to play is,” said Beaupre. “If we can do therapy here at school that’s definitely a big benefit ‘cause it reduces health care costs for the athlete. We’re pretty well equipped and each year we buy more and more stuff to allow the kid to be able to stay here.”

With equipment lining the back wall of his office, Beaupre has the tools he needs to help athletes heal up on the Hazleton campus.

“We have two whirlpool tubs that have therapeutic benefits with hot water or cold water, depending on the injury. We have ultrasound and an electric stimulation unit which helps with pain, helps with swelling, helps with re-educating the muscle if they’ve had significant injuries. And then we have a whole host of exercise equipment.”

When the sports seasons are over, Beaupre’s work with athletes is not.

“During postseason, I offer student athletes a conditioning program to make sure they stay in shape for following year or if they’re playing two sports,” said Beaupre. “We design weightlifting and cardio programs and then we talk about the nutrition as a component of that program.”

Beaupre also adds nutritional advice telling students to avoid foods high in fat, high in trans-fats and focus more on fruits, vegetables and your whole-grains. 

The students return home, the classrooms lie dormant, expectantly waiting for the next group of students to come back. Kostos and Butler and Chestnut grow quiet and still in marked contrast to the hectic movement of the semester. That is what it is like at Penn State Hazleton during the summer.

This is true of all the student buildings on campus, save one: the library. Lisa Hartz, library staff, notes the last time the library staff, notes the last time the library was closed outside of normal hours, prior to Hurricane Sandy, was when tropical storm Lee hit back on Sept. 8.

Shannon Richie, reference librarian, recalls this past summer was the “most active” he has seen during his time on campus. Ron Harmon, library staff, echoes this sentiment saying this past summer was “busy” because library staff was trying to finish the biggest organizational project since the campus was founded in 1934.

“We’ve always moved from a smaller space to a larger one… we didn’t have to weed things out,” Harmon said.

The current library was opened in 1972, when the library moved there from the administration building. Val Lynn, head librarian, notes the physical collection had grown to 100,000 books, of which 26,000 were weeded over the summer.

About 2,000 books went to a book program that gives them to impoverished, and the remaining 26,000 were collected by a recycling company in town. Lynn said this company came and got the books.

“We didn’t have to separate the covers and slice the bindings. We only had to group them by type of book like hardcover or paperback.  These books were then recycled. Any title that was deleted can be found through the library’s growing collection of eBooks or at another campus library,” Lynn said.

Richie explains the rationale behind the selection of the 26,000 books was systematic so as to prepare for the space needed for the Knowledge Commons. Of the criteria used to select books to weed out, one was books that had sat on the shelf for a decade and not checked out. Lynn stresses that the issue was one of currency.

“We want student to have the most updated information for their courses here… which drive the size and scope of collections,” Lynn added.

It makes sense then, that faculty voices were important in the shaping of the changes at the library. Richie says that faculty reviewed their respective disciplines.

“When we didn’t have a specialist, we looked at those areas,” Richie said.

Richie recalls one such specialist was Asian Studies and Literature. Lynn said some faculty reviewed list of as many as 4,000 books and made recommendations for additions and changes.

Because Penn State is student centered, the students’ wishes were taken into consideration as central to this project.

The weeding project allowed their desires for more natural light, and more study spaces to be met.

The Knowledge Commons, the name for the updated project the library is working towards, stresses integration of computer work, technology and traditional library services.

Harmon says the library is really responsive to student needs. He says any of the 13,188 visitors to the library in October can do anything they want or need to do from using computers to consulting with library workers.

The Knowledge Commons will further this usability by incorporating more computerization, more interaction in small groups, which will be aided by collaborative work spaces according to Richie.

Upon investigation, the efforts put forth on campus were just that: campus-wide efforts, with involvement from library staff, faculty, administration, and campus staff.

Lynn recalls maintenance helped to move books and shelving and were really supportive throughout the entire process.

Lynn added the whole project came together very well.

It was serendipitous that the space needed for the Knowledge Commons was exactly the space that was cleared in the weeding project though that was not their goal from the outset, focusing instead on student needs and issues of currency.                                                   

No matter what the future holds for the library, students can be sure there will be no coral bathrooms and bright orange walls as there were 10 years ago.

For Penn Stat Hazleton, at least, the image of a dry, boring library couldn’t be farther from the truth.

When a child is born on the island of Borneo, there is a special connection between the parents and child. Someone who has not experienced parenthood can’t even hope to understand this special connection. When the child is born, whether he is a male or female, getting their ears pierced is always the first thing the parents do. What it symbolizes for them is the connection and dependence the child has on its parents. When that child grows and gets married, his or her earrings are taken out and their child eventually gets a pair. They do not wear earrings for the same purposes as Americans.

Americans get their ears pierced because it is the fashionable thing to do or in some cases, it is done out of rebellion.

Pierced earrings have been a symbol depending on where someone lives.

Eric Hong got his piercing because of his need to rebel.

“When I was younger, I saw a lot of my friends getting their ear pierced. I wanted it really badly but my mom was very traditional and didn’t let me. One of my friends said his sister knew how to do it and I got it done behind my mom’s back. I got into a bunch of trouble but I don’t regret it.”

The way these piercings have been accepted over the years compared to now have changed rapidly in America but in countries where this has been tradition for centuries, the same cannot be said.

Many teens get their ears pierced to rebel from their parents or because many of their friends are doing it.

Piercings, no matter what the reason, have become very controversial depending on the age or gender or the person who may be wearing them.

Tay Morton, 19, a sophomore at Penn State, has many ear piercings.

“I got my one ear pierced because I thought it was an interesting idea. I didn’t even tell my parents I was getting it done. They were upset for a little while but they got used to it. After I started seeing more and more people with one ear pierced it started to feel less special. I wanted to be as unique as possible and kept getting piercings. I now have multiple in each ear and I think they look great.”

Many teens are getting piercings because they are restless and like to rebel against rules their parents or guardians may set.

“I didn’t get them pierced because I wanted to rebel, I did it out of fashion. I like to be on top of what is new and acceptable, and then try to put my own twist into it,” Morton said.

Lauren Piazza has a different point of view of her earrings.

“When I was born, my parents decided to get my ears pierced. While I have come to love my earrings and have many different ones to match my outfits, sometimes it bothers me they chose for me.”

There tends to be a gender bias when it comes to ear piercings. Some people look down on men with ear piercings, even though many centuries ago, it was completely acceptable. The mold of what is acceptable is rapidly changing as time goes by. Earrings went from being accepted by all genders, not being accepted, and then back around again.

In the 1970s, earrings did not serve as a positive symbol for males. Homosexuality was a big issue among many people as it is today. Males who wore one earring were labeled homosexuals without anyone even knowing whether it was true or not. This caused false accusations among many people and was highly controversial. While this was no way to be 100 percent accurate, people who disliked the idea of homosexuality still would shun most men who had piercings.

“When I was younger, kids used to call me a homosexual all the time because of my earrings but all I had to do was ignore them. The true friends I had knew I wasn’t and that was all that mattered,” said Morton.

Piercings have meant many different things throughout time. They have been a symbol of a bond between parents and children, a symbol of fashion, a way for naïve kids to go against their parent’s strict rules, to show wealth, or foolishly used to try to label a man as homosexual.

Despite what any one person believes, the symbols of one or more ear piercings have meant many things to many civilizations. Even if you do not like earrings personally, it is impressive how such a small piece of jewelry in ones ear could mean so much to so many people around the world.

During the week there’s always something happening on campus. Clubs are holding their meetings, some classes run late into the night, and there can usually be a special guest or an event occurring somewhere to keep the students entertained.

When the weekend rolls around, something interesting takes place. The dorms are a little quieter, the music isn’t blasting as loudly, several buildings once filled to the brim with students are closed down. Hazleton would never be mistaken for the hustlin’ and bustlin’ city of New York, and the campus reflects that in the way everything seems to come to a halt when the clock hits 12 and Saturday begins.

The term ghost town never seemed more appropriate and all that’s missing is a tumbleweed aimlessly rolling down the hill.

“There’s absolutely nothing to do on campus on the weekends,” said Shakira Laing.

It’s a sentiment shared by Nicholas Gil who finds that he’s forced to keep himself occupied as the weekend drags on and the threat of being lulled into complacency lurks around every corner.

“It gets boring,” said Gil.

Students without a car and with buses not being reliable find it easy to feel stranded on the campus. To make matters worse, the cafeteria shuts down at 6:30 on weekends.

Although there is a lack of things to eat and do, one student sees it a bit differently.

“The weekend is a perfect time for me to catch up with homework that is due for the upcoming week,” said Anthony Trezza.

Many students such as Trezza realize if they wish to avoid succumbing to the monotony that comes with the weekend then they’ll have to be proactive and make things fun for themselves.

“I always find a way to keep myself occupied by finding groups of people and arranging something interesting and fun to do, said Trezza. “After my work, I enjoy rallying my friends and hanging out with them. We usually can figure something out to do quickly.”

Homework, sleeping and hanging out with friends is the weekend trifecta and for Shawn Perkiss, working out in the gym is also an option. He’s often greeted by a near empty weight room.

“It is more of your personal gym when you go,” said Perkiss.

As a Resident Assistant, Perkiss sometimes works with other RAs to put together a pleasurable experience for those who remain on campus. But it isn’t too often.

For now, Gil will have to settle with playing Xbox with friends while Laing uses the time to catch up on work and sleep, though she wishes things would get more exciting so she could welcome weekends with open arms instead of a sigh.

“The campus is very depressing on the weekends.”