President's By ANTONIOS AVRAMTDIS SGA PRESIDENT AWASOIB@PSU.EDU First and foremost, I would like to formally welcome everyone back to Penn State Harrisburg. To those returning, I hope that your summer was a productive one, as well as a fun one. To those of you who are new to Penn State Harrisburg, Welcome! You will find that although the campus is undergoing some growing pains, Penn State Harrisburg has and will continue to provide everything necessary to students here that is possible, even some things that were thought to be impossible, common hour being one of them. With that having been said, SGA in conjunction with the administration has worked hard to secure common hours for (almost) everyone here at Penn State Harrisburg. Common hour(s) is the time between 12:15 and 2:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays during which no classes are being held, in order to allow for students to be involved with organizations, clubs and events here at Penn State Harrisburg, as well as guarantee some free time for other activities. A lot of work went into getting the common hour back for the Sept. 11 lost because Britt was sent to New York with the Navy to help uncover remains. And when she thinks about how the country has changed, she answers: Not much at all. "They don't give a damn about the war," she says. "Unless you have someone that is actually defending you, you don't give a damn. You're secure. You're doing your daily thing." Seven years means Kathy Agarth, who in 2001 lived in a Washington suburb and today teaches second grade at a private school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., must find a way to explain the attacks to children with no memory of it and little understanding. To these children, Sept. 11 is no different from Memorial Day. She says her students know the term "9/11" and they pray for the soldiers and may write letters to Corner the student body, and I hope that everyone is reaping the benefits. Speaking of benefits, I am confident that everyone enjoyed Finals Food hosted by SGA with help from SAF during the Spring 08 semester. Although I've never seen 60 pizza pies disappear so quickly before, lessons have been learned since last year in order to make this falls Finals food a bit smoother, as well as get more food out to everyone. , With Old business having been resolved, I would like to address changes that have taken place on campus. There are some changes that have occurred here at Penn State Harrisburg, some rather new over the summer, others lingering since last fall. Although the smoking ban was generally seen as an inconvenience, there is some news on that front. Foundations have been poured for smoking huts, which are to be erected soon, where everyone who smokes can go smoke, with these areas's being in relative close proximity to the no smoking zone. Hopefully this will mean less people need to huddle across the street from Varitan Plaza, as well as the added benefit of staying out of the elements. Other changes them this year. She does not teach it as a separate lesson. But they do ask her about it from time to time, and she chooses her words carefully: "Some men were angry at the United States. They crashed their planes into some buildings. Their actions were evil." Evil. That the word resonates in American life, and particularly in American politics, is a sign we are not too far removed from that day. It came up as a specific campaign issue just last month. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, asked: "Does evil exist? And if it does, do we ignore it? Do we negotiate with it? Do we contain it? Do we defeat it?" Sen. John McCain answered simply, "Defeat it." Sen. Barack Obama said it exists in many places, citing Darfur and child to campus include on campus housing now being considered `dry'. With that having been said, SGA is here to serve the student population, so should you have any idea's, suggestions, or questions, feel free to contact an SGA representative, whether that be a Senator or myself, and we will be more than happy to help you in any way we can. As far as SGA affairs go, we have beenratherbusy re-evaluating our constitution, taking especially long hard looks at the election code. (Those of you returning can probably guess why...) Constitutional convention meetings were held over the summer, the Judiciary and Legislative branches having 2 votes each, with the Executive having 1. That having been said, we take the constitution very seriously and are currently in the process of comparing and contrasting it to other commonwealth campuses, most notably Penn State Behrend, aka Erie. SGA would also like to focus on doing events that the student body earnestly wants, with that having been established, I would like anyone interested in giving suggestions to events to email myself or an SGA representative. abuse, and that it is "God's task" to erase it from the world. Seven years means Somerset County, Pa., where United Flight 93 went down and where, in a way, the legend of "Let's roll!" was born, is trying to figure out how to get the curious visitors who stream in from all over the country to stay awhile. County commissioners are busy with feasibility studies, zoning papers, planning committees. A national park is coming. Hundreds of thousands of people will visit. They will need restaurants, hotels, gas stations, shops. "You're here looking at the memorial. There are other opportunities," says Brian Whipkey, editor of the Somerset Daily American. "You can do whitewater rafting, you can do skiing, biking, hiking." Sept. 11 as a segue to recreation: SGA is also looking forward to working with our new and fledgling Greek Community to throw joint events. Good luck with the semester, hopefully you didn't spend as much on books as I did, and feel free to stop by How far we have come Think back to flying after Sept. 11. Right after. Think about the sheer will it took to board an airplane, what felt like to eye the other passengers, to startle at the slightest turbulence. "People were mortified," recalls Jewel Van Valin, a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines who is based in Los Angeles. "They were all hoping, 'We're not going down, are we?"' The months after the attacks were not kind to the airline industry, and about a year later, Delta opted to save a little money by replacing its linens in first class with paper trays. Van Valin decided to pass out crayons. She did this because she thought the paper trays were tacky. But after 9/11, flight attendants were also there for emotional comfort Van Valin actually held the SGA office! Contact us at awasolB@psu.edu sobbing fliers in her arms and the crayons provided a means of release. Back then they drew firefighters and flags, police officers with tears in their eyes, the skyline of New York. They drew airplanes and they wrote, "In God We Trust." Now they draw palm trees and hammocks, tropical drinks, Disney characters. They draw destinations. They draw moving on. Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat, Kelli Kennedy, Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Solvej Schou and Amy Westfeldt contributed to this report.
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