Letters to the editor are welcomed and will be published as space allows. Letters must be signed, although the staff may withhold the name upon request if deemed necessary. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel, privacy and disruption of the school process, as are all contents of the paper.

Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.

Cheerleader compete to benefit cancer research

By: Jamie Pryber
Staff Writer

Cheerleading held their first competition with a special cheerleading squad November 10 at Penn State Behrend. This was the first year this competition was held.

Usually, competitions begin in December or January. This cheerleading competition was a special case to raise money for cancer research. Called "Spirit Against Cancer," it was in honor of Becky Decker Hubler, cheerleading coach at Edinboro University and dance coach for Penn State Behrend, who died last year of cancer. The GM squad who competed had to pay an entry fee, and also gathered pledges. According to Cheerleading Coach Monica Fritchman, the competition raised about $1,500 dollars.

Lore Miller, who coached the competing squad, said, "This [squad] wasn't even a regular squad. It was people who knew enough about this competition, and knew how much it meant to me...Becky was a friend...they learned the routine in two weeks." The squad consisted of 15 people: Whitney Skelton, Jess Deppen, Danielle Dunton, Courtney Behnke, Racheal Miller, Staci Stone, Megan Deppen, Meg Gomolefoff, Lindsay Rummel, Danielle Passeroti, Steff Lisowski, Colleen Brickner, Kyle Scheuer, Logan Therasse, and Eric Shuman.

This was the first time that Penn State had hosted this fundraiser, but they hope to make it an annual event. Next time, they expect to hold the competition in March, instead of November. Miller explained, "November, it's a bad time between football and basketball season." Miller also said that GM might enter again in March, if the plans to reorganize a competition work out.

There were only ten squads competing. According to Brickner, GM only had to compete against one other high school team, and our squad was awarded first place. The other eight teams were college squads, who were judged separately. Miller said that she hadn't been concerned with winning. "We did this competition for fun," she said. "We didn't care if we won, but that's always the icing on the cake."

The GM cheerleaders won't be competing again until January. They are tentatively planning on participating in competitions at places like Girard, McDowell, and in New York. Then, depending on their competition record, they may go on to nationals.