the Penn State-Behrend
NOVEMBER 6, 1986
Dohn Harshbarger, Dean of Student Affairs
resigns
by Chip Susol
Collegian News Writer
Dohn Harshbarger, Dean of Stu
dent Affairs, officially announced
his resignation at the Student
Government Association meeting
on October 22. In an interview with
the Collegian on the following
Monday, he spoke on topics that
- ranged from his decision to resign,
the ups and downs of his former
position, as the state of Behrend
College as he has watched
it evolve for eight years. The
following are highlights from this
interview.
Collegian: When did you decide
to announce your resignation?
Harshbarger: About two weeks
ago. I've been thinking about it for
maybe a year mainly in terms
of what I was goirir to do, and did I
want to stay in this job indefinitely.
In a lot of ways I would be happy
to do that. But I also thought that I
probably ought to be looking at
different things. It would be very
easy just to stay in this (position)
Dr. Diana Hume George
awarded full professorship
by Michele Miller
Collegian Staff Writer
Dr. Diana Hume George,
previously an associate professor
of English, recently received a pro
motion to full professor of English.
This elevation brings a greater
amount of distinction among col:
leagues as well as a_ pay increase
and a responsibility to be available
to represent the college on commit
tees and for appearances.
The first female full professor at
Behrend, George was an instructor
of English from 1977-1978 at the
State University of New York, Col
lege of Fredonia. She came to
Behrend in 1978 as an assistant
professor and three years later
became an associate professor.
George received her promotion
to full professor as the result of a
nine-month process that began
with a recommendation from Ar
chie Loss, head of the division of
humanities and communications,
and the campus review committee.
The criterion for determining a
candidate's eligibility depends on
several factors, Loss explained.
The committee looks at whether
the candidates have national
recognition in their fields, how ex
tensively their work has been
published and the nature of
Ed Bailey steps down from SGA
by Craig Altmire
Collegian Staff Writer
Resident Senator Edward Bailey
resigned from his position on Oc
tober 7 because of schedule con
flicts and health reasons.
In an interview with the Col
legian, the seventh semester M.I.S.
student explained his resignation as
not one of "SGA (Student Govern
ment Association) burnout," but
of problems that he can't control.
"Burnt out? No, I have always en
joyed student programming," said
Bailey.
• 3 ii • 1 1 a Y• .
after eight years
and not look at these other things
seriously. Resigning is one way to
bring that to, a head.
Collegian: This "sink or swim"
approach to one's future seems
rather unique. Why did you decide
to handle this decision in this
manner?
Harshbarger: That is probably
my own decision making process.
If I don't set a time frame and say
I'm going to do something, par
ticulary in a personal decision like
that,...l tend not to do it. I like this
job and it's very easy, in one sense,
just to continue doing it. I really
had to set a time frame and say by
June of this year I'm going to be
somewhere else.
Collegian: Will you serve
Behrend in any other capacity until
this time?
Harshbarger: Yes, I will be for
the rest of this year. In talking with
Dr. Lilley, he thought it was best to
bring somebody else in, rather than
have a kind of "lame duck" situa
tion. At the same time, he offered
me a chance to work ...in his of
fice, to do some work with strategic
publication, and whether they have
demonstrated an above average
ability to teach. The candidates are
also measured in terms of profes
sional program appearances and
presentations, and in the amount
of consulting. that they do.
the . candidates _ala—
plication -is sent to -Dean -Lißey,
who has the power to accept or re
ject it. If he accepts the applica
tion, it is forwarded to University
Park where the reviewing process
begins again. Ultimately, the final
decision rests with the University's
president, Dr. Bryce Jordan.
George graduated from SUNY
College at Fredonia in 1971 with a
B.A. in English. She went on to
receive an M.A. in English from
the State University of New York
at Buffalo in 1977. Two years later
she received a doctorate in English
from the Center for the
Psychological Study of the Arts at
SUNY/Buffalo.
George lists her specialities as
modern poetry, creative writing,
William Blake, psychoanalytic
criticism, women's studies and
feminist criticism, seventeenth cen
tury poetry, gravestone studies and
attitudes towards death and dying.
They fit together, she said,
"(because) they all have to do with
Dr. Diana Hume-George
Electronics in Waterford conflicted
with the SGA weekly meeting time.
"I am unable to attend the
meetings and this makes me
ineffective."
His job, in the System Develop
ment Area of Elgin, is important to
him, "both monetarily and for the
experience," said Bailey.
Bailey's job is not the only thing
that keeps him busy. As president
of Alpha Phi Omega Service
Fraternity, a volunteer firefighter
for Brookside Fire Company, and
a student with an 18 credit course
load, "I have my hands full," he
STATION ROAD, ERIE, PA 16563
planning and other kinds of things.
This will also give me the chance to
be looking at things at the same
time without having to rush out
and find something.
Collegian: Do you have any
specific ideas of what you may be
doing after this?
Harshbarger: Not specifically. I
think that there are some types of
things that I'm looking at, in
cluding Student Affairs, other
kinds of higher education posi
tions, and/or maybe leaving higher
education and doing something
totally different.
Collegian: Who will take over
your former position?
Harshbarger: As far as I know, I
don't thitik that anything has really
- been decided for sure. I know that
Dr. Lilley is in the process of talk
ing to people about that...but I
don't think that any clear-cut deci
sion has been made.
In any case, in long term, they
want to bring somebody in, they
don't want that gap there.
P.J.(Brown) and Jamie (Grimm)
couldn't just take over that, plus
boundaries between concepts or
subjects that are usually considered
opposites. I attempt to bring op
posites together on some sort of
common ground." Her work in
gravestone studies, for example,
deals with the boundary between
nnri ripnth.
iShe has pu
C .--
tides, reviews and poems. One of
her books, a critical study entitled
Blake and Freud, was nominated
for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980. Cur
rently she is working on three
books, but said that keeping her
ideas separate isn't difficult.
Rather, it's relieving to work on
two or more at a time because when
she has problems with one she can
put it aside and concentrate on
another, she said.
Publications of the Modern
Language Association, The
Centenial Review, Hartford
Studies in Literature and The Jour
nal of Popular Culture are a few of
the publications for which George
is a reader. She reviews their
manuscripts to determine whether
they should be printed or not.
Her other credits include a
fellowship for research from the
American Council of Learned
Societies, a fellowship for indepen
dent study and research from the
National Endowment for the
Humanities, the Alumni Associa
tion Outstanding Achievement
Award from SUNY College at
Fredonia and honorable mention in
the Eve of St. Agnes poetry con
test. At Behrend she is associated
with Women Today and the
Roundtable Society.
George plans to continue
teaching at the college level because
"There is no place in the world like
a college campus in the fall with all
the leaves, and students returning
to start thinking again. Then in the
spring it's filled with so much
youth and new life. I like that. I
want to be around it."
As for being named Behrend's
first female full professor, George
feels a need to support other female
candidates due to the difficulties
women face in rising to the senior
ranks. This is a national problem
which is slowly changing, but one
that still needs to be addressed, she
commented.
Bailey was a resident senator last
year, and Student Programming
Council (S.P.C.) Representative to
SGA the year before last. As a
Resident Senator, Bailey planned
and implemented SGA's "Sunday
with the Times," a monthly pro
gram at which a guest speaker
would facilitate a discussion on
that day's issue of the New York
Times.
He was also active in budget
decisions made by the SGA budget
committee. "Although I was not a
member of the committee itself, I
attended meetings and helped in
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doing what they are doing. They
have to have somebody else there.
Collegian: What advice would
you give your successor from what
you have learned in performing the
duties of this posistion?
Harshbarger: This job is the kind
of job that you get a lot of satisfac
tion from, there are a lot of ups
and downs, and that's part of the
beauty of it as well as the...frustra
tion *of it. It's the nature of the
position. I like that kind of
diversity.
I think that the really exciting
thing about Behrend right now..is
that the college is evolving. Every
semester you see almost a com
pletely different kind of student
population, you see different
changes taking place throughout
the college in a positive sense. One
of the positive things that anyone
coming into this posistion will ex
perience is that kind of opportuni
ty, to deal with change and to be
developing something, not to be
dealing with a stagnant situation.
The frustration of Behrend is
that we haven't always had the
resources for all the things we
would like to do as quickly as we'd
like to do them.
Collegian: Apathy has been cited
as a major fault in today's student
population. How has it affected
Behrend?
Harshbarger: It's certainly not
unique to Behrend. I think you
find...student apathy almost
anywhere. If you read the student
newspaper at University Park,
you'll read the same things there
about student apathy that you
would here. Interestingly enough,
• though, our students tend to see
that as a totally different environ
peril. It is. but the same kinds of
_ALeas_a z iseVinre hprauso von cti I
shaveonly "x ' peicentage of
students actually involved in stu
dent organizations or student
government leadership...lt's pro
bably more obvious at a small cam
pus than it is at a large campus.
New Resident Senator elected
A new resident senator was elected at the Oct. 22, Stu
dent Government meeting. The new senator was elected
to replace Ed Bailey who submitted his letter of resigna
tion Oct 8.
Five candidates vied for the position which was won
by sophomore Jeff Letendre. The Student Government
Association (SGA) constitution states that the respon
sibilities of a Resident Senator "shall be to represent the
interests and opinions of the resident students of the col
lege at meeetings of the SGA, to serve on committees
and to assist in the general operations of the SGA and to
be voting members of the Student Senate." Marilyn
LaMore and Mike Shanshala are also Resident
Senators.
When asked why he felt the need to resign his position
Bailey said, "(It was) due to health reasons and also the
fact that my schedule is much busier than I had ever ex
pected. I couldn't go to many of the SGA meetings
because I was working. The Student Senate informally
asked me if I would step down."
Bailey has been actively involved in the SGA for the
past three and a half years. He was a Resident Senator
last year and sat on the Student Senate for one year as a
representative of the Student Programming Council.
"I feel bad that I had to step down, because I love be
ing involved in student activities, but I also realize that .
. . my schedule doesn't provide much time for active in
volvement in SGA," Bailey commented.
Keith Walston was a candidate for the position.
inside this issue...
by Barb Byers
Collegian Staff Writer
RUB Desk R0bbery............p.
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The advantage of any small cam
pus, of course, is that you have
much more of a chance to set in
volved and closer contact with
faculty, staff or other students.
Sooner or later we're going to get
to the point where students who
want to be here are here and those
who want to be at University Park
or somewhere else will be there.
But we're still in that evolutionary
process where we have a lot of
students who are here for two years
fully planning to go to University
Park after that, so their mind-set is
very transient, and very often
that's where a lot of the negative
rhetoric comes from.
That's one of the things that are
a angin,g—znore -students are stay
mg Itt.t c. As•long as you have that
element of (students) not commit
ted to Behrend, you're going to
have that kind of problem.
Collegian: Many students who
wish to get involved in student ac
"There were definite inadequacies in the Student
Senate. I felt I was qualified for the position because I
am involved in Ski Club; I really helped to turn it
around. I went to most of the SGA meetings this year
and I feel I have a good working knowledge of the
SGA," Walston commented.
Walston was disappointed with the voting process
which took place during the SGA meeting last week. "I
did not like the secret discussions that took place when
the candidates were out of the room," he said, "and
certain people's personal comments . . . were totally un
called for." Walston felt that that gave an opportunity
to bring personal conflicts onto the floor, which were
not relevant to the election.
Walston was pleased that Jeff Letendre was elected.
"The Senate wound up with a very well-qualified
Senator. I think they made a very good choice."
In addition to Walston and Letendre four other peo
ple ran for the position of Resident Senator: Holly Lew,
Heidi Gebhart, Mike Campbell and Vince Cannella.
New Resident Senator Jeff Letendre is a sophomore
majoring in business. One of the reasons he feels
qualified to hold the position is his feeling that there is
real lack of communication between the residents and
the SGA. Letendre feels he can "facilitate greater com
munication as the new Resident Senator."
Letendre is also involved as a Food and Housing
Representative for the Joint Resident Council. As Resi
dent Senator, Letendre said, "I will vote on such issues
as the allocation of money for new clubs. I will find out
the opinions of the resident students on these issues and
then will vote accordingly," Letendre said.
VOLUME XXXV NUMBER 5
Dean Dohn Harshbarger
tivities are "scared off" by the ad
ded responsibilty that is required to
make up for a largely apathetic stu
dent body. What are your views on
this problem?
Harshbarger: I think that is one
of the real fears of people who get
involved is that they don't want to
take on that added rsponsibility.
They don't realize that, in fact, it
can be a learning experience itself.
The students who suprise me the
most that way, and this is almost a
stereotype, is the business major
who is supposedly the most
pragmatically oriented and wants
to get the best job. Yet we have
more liberal arts people involved in
student leadership than we do
_business- - people. - The - practical
kinds of leadership and organiza
tional experience that - they can get
from a student organization,
they're not taking advantage of.
Photo by Paul Duda
continued on page 2