THE CAPITOLIST
Vol. VIII, No. 2
Capitol Serves as Flood Center
While thousands of
Pennsylvanians were digging out
from the devastation provoked
by Hurricane Agnes' fury, more
than 100 families from the area
resided on Capitol Campus.
Norman Gautreau, Manager of
Food and Housing at the
campus, reported that instead of
the usual summer maintenance
program which ordinarily would
have been in operation, • staff
members were busy serving the
needs of the flood victims who
lived in Meade Heights and the
dormitories.
The evacuation center was
fast set into operation on June
22, shortly after Gautreau had
received appeals from Charles
Boyer, Lower Swatara Township
Commissioner, and
representatives of
the Middletown Civil Defense. He
was informed that the Lisa Lake
and other low areas in the
community were flooding badly
and space was needed for
hundreds of families.
Gautreau, although
handicapped by a limited staff,
immediately began to organize a
small core of students who had
remained on campus awaiting
graduation which had been
scheduled for June 24. These
students set up registrations,
assisted families in getting
settled in the Meade Heights
living quarters and dorms and
calmly allayed the apprehensions
of the flood victims.
Gautreau's praises for the
students were high. "These kids
worked long hard hours and
never lost their cool. One girl set
up an efficient registration
system, and worked more than
18 hours registering evacuees at
Meade Heights."
Another staff member
present when the emergency
fust arose was Jim Noon. Noon
quickly inventoried the food
supplies available and made
coffee and sandwiches for the
evacuees. A regular employee in
the dining hall, he worked
throughout the night assisted by
two car loads of graduating
seniors who had returned to
Middletown to aid during the
crisis. They ran the dining hall
operation until the food
supervisor, Frank Williams,
could, arrive the next morning.
Williams, who had been
marooned with his own flooding
probleins, arrived at 6 a.m.
Friday and started making plans
for what he recognized could be
an extended emergency.
By noon Friday, Williams had
recalled many of his regular
staff, opened the dining hall
facilities and kept them open
until late Saturday night.
"A lot of these people were in
shock," Gautreau explained,
"and we figured with the dining
hall constantly open for the first
couple of days, people would
have a place to go and talk."
"After things settled down
somewhat, we felt we could
establish regular dining hall
hours and still adequately serve
the evacuees. In the fust week of
operation, more than 15,000
meals were served in our dining
hall where we normally serve
about 4,000 meals weekly," he
continued.
The logistics of providing
emergency housing and meals to
more than 1,400 people could
be overwhelming. But Gautreau,
who had special training in
logistics management while a
member of the Canadian Air
Force, set himself up as a roving
coordinator and worked with
representatives from Civil
Defense, the Air National Guard
and groups of students and
citizen volunteers.
The Air National Guard
provided buses for transporting
the evacuees as did the local
school district. Mrs. Lilly Billy, a
regular school bus driver, gave
countless hours in shutteling
persons from one center to
another as well as in returning
them to their homes once the
floods subsided.
Residents of the area opened
their refrigerators and freezers
and helped provide food for the
evacuees.
Representatives from the
business community pitched in
also. Pantry Pride, Twin Kiss,
McDonalds and the Big M
donated thousands of dollars
worth of food, diapers, medical
supplies and paper good for use
at the center.
Fruehauf Corporation loaned
three large trailers one freezer,
one refrigerator and one dry
for food storage.
Lower Swatara Township
officials have agreed to
reimburse the University the
costs of accommodating these
people and is seeking
reimbursement also from other
communities whose residents
were housed at the campus.
The residence living staff of
the campus provided invaluable
assistance to the flood refugees
throughout the crisis. Pat
Murphy, Kathy King, Jerry
South and John Grimm directed
the relief operations over the
entire campus while Gautreau's
office implemented the
decisions. Many students, so
many that it is impossible to
mention them all, stayed
throughout the disaster, assisting
the victims.
Evacuees first came to campus
on Thursday, June 22, from the
Lisa Lake area. In Pineford
Village there was a chlorine gas
- leak, causing more evacuations
to the campus. By Friday night,
June 23, over 800 people were
staying in campus residence
areas.
Capitol came through for
these people. They were fed by
food donated by Pantry Pride,
which had three feet of water in
its store. Jerry South gathered
up sports and recreation
equipment as well as baby
necessities. Star Art Theater in
Harrisburg donated several
family-type entertainment films.
A daily Flood Hot Line was
published, chock full of
pertinent news. A day care
center was established.
The campus became an
authorized Flood Relief Center
where free clothing, bedding,
medical care and expense money
were provided. There were
numerous volunteer nurses and
other people working around the
clock to serve the flood victims.
"All The News That Fits
CAPITOL CAMPUS - MIDDLETOWN, PA
There were many interesting
sidelights to the entire situation.
For example, the flood waters
rose so rapidly that the only
possession which one man could
salvage was his pet duck. To
show that life must continue
even in the face of such a
disaster, there was a birth, a
death and a marriage during that
traumatic week. Kittens were
born, an elderly woman
unfortunately died in her sleep
and Charlie and Judy Bussison
were wed.
Yet the magnitude of the
disaster did change the attitudes
of a great many of the victims.
They were constantly cheered
up by the staff. It showed how
well people can work together in
the grip of the great turmoil of a
lifetime.
Many people deeply
appreciated the care and
consideration shown by the
Capitol staff. Some victims
appreciated it to the extent that
they mailed checks to Provost
McDermott in amounts upward
to $25. Remember, these are
people who were completely
wiped out and actually didn't
have a penny totheir name.
According to the Office of the
Provost, the money received
from the flood victims will be
used to purchase books for
Capitol's library.
The Fury of Hurricane Agnes
has disappeared, but the
memory of her wrath will linger
forever.
by R. W. Bonaker
Discipline has never been a
major problem at Capitol,
according to Dr. John Grimm,
Dean of Student Affairs, because
this campus has had a fair and
equitable set of rules and
procedures. Now there is a
common disciplinary system
throughout the entire
University.
At registration last week, each
student received a booklet of
"University Policies and Rules
for Students, 1972-73". The
University-wide rules system is
explained and changes in the
disciplinary set-up are outlined.
By reading the booklet, students
will know exactly what rights
they have, and how policies have
been established to protect
everyone related to the
University, including the
institution itself.
"The university-wide policy
evolved because the past systems
at all of the different
commonwealth campuses did
not include clear comments on
due process," explains Dean
Grimm. "This was true at most
colleges in the United States.
Students were not informed of
certain privileges they may have
had, were not represented by
counsel, or were not even
charged with a specific violation,
such as occupying a university
We Print"
Two faculty members of
Capitol Campus have been
promoted to positions of
Program Administrators within
the Division of Administration
and Business.
Dr. Daniel M. Poore, Division
Head, has announced that Dr.
Raymond S. Klein, Associate
Professor of Management, and
Dr. Ralph W. Frey, Assistant
Professor of Business and
Accounting, have been
appointed Graduate Program
Administrator and
Undergraduate Program
Administrator, respectively.
They will be primarily
responsible for the on-going
functions of the Division.
These appointments are a part
of restructuring of the Division
which will provide for increased
coordination between programs
and control of the operations.
Dr. Klein joined the Penn
State faculty in 1970 after
having served as Director of the
Human Affairs Research Center
in Albany, New York. Prior to
that appointment, he served in
various research and consultant
positions with the New York
State government. He earned
bachelor and master degrees in
Education from the City College
of New York and a s Doctor of
Education from the State
University of New York at
Buffalo.
Conduct Codes
Established For University
building. That occurred because
such violations were not
specified in any rule book.
Instead, they were charged with
the vague meaning of "conduct
unbecoming of the university',"
he elaborates.
Also of interest is a revamping
of the formal bodies which
handle disciplinary cases. New
committees must be established
at Capitol in order to conform
the university policy. This can
be done by setting up three new
boards a Capitol Policy
Committee, a Hearing Board,
and an Appeals Board. The
Student Court will be revamped,
its new name being the Student
Standards Board.
Four seniors currently
comprise the Student Court, one
of them serving as Chief Justice.
Mike Dini, Student Government
President, has expressed the
belief that the new Student
Standards Board retain the four
seniors, and increase the size of
the board to include one more
senior and four new juniors. The
powers which the Court now
possess will be retained,
according to Dini.
The Policy, Hearing and
Appeals Boards will have
members which represent all
facets of Capitol. The Policy
Committee, when it is
formalized, will be composed of
the Chairman of the Student
Standards Board (Harry
Franzreb), the Dean of Student
Affairs (Dr. Grimm), the
Business Program
Administrators Named
Thursday, September 28, 1972
Dr. Frey, a member of the
campus faculty since 1970,
holds Bachelor of Science,
Master of Business
Administration and Doctor of
Business Administration degrees
from the University of
Maryland. A certified public
accountant in Maryland, he is a
member of the American
Accounting Association and the
American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants.
WZAP
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WZAP -
Everybody's
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Chairman of the Committee on
Student Affairs (Prof. William
Mahar), and a student appointed
by the Student Affairs
Committee. The Policy
Committee will establish local
rules and policies as needed.
The Hearing Board will have
jurisdiction over alleged
violations of the Code of
Conduct. The Board will be
composed of two students, two
faculty and an administrator.
Two students will also be
designated alternates. The
students will be screened by the
SGA Election/Screening
Committee, which in return will
submit at least six
recommendations to the Student
Affairs Committee. That
Committee, in turn, must
confirm four of those students
to serve on the Board, subject to
approval from the provost.
The Hearing Board, the
Student Standards Board, and
the Office of the Dean of
Student Affairs hold one
common ground: they exist as
the alternatives from which a
student charged with a rules
violation can choose to hear his
case.
A student may appeal the
decision espoused by either of
these three bodies by going to
the Appeals Board. Its
composition matches that of the
Hearing Board, the selections
getting final approval from the
provost of Capitol, Robert E.
McDermott.