THE CAPITOLIST
Vol. VIII, No. 6
McDermott to be
Installed as Provost
Ceremonies formally
installing the first provost of
Capitol Campus have been
scheduled for this coming
Sunday, October 29, in the
Auditorium of the Main
Building.
Dr. Robert E. McDermott, a
native of Illinois and an
experienced educator and
administrator, will be installed
by University President, Dr.
John W. Oswald.
Prior to investiture of office,
Dr. McDermott will receive
greetings from _ University and
other academic dignitaries.
Included among those are A.
Wayne Readinger, member of
the Board of Trustees; Warren
E. Ringler, Assistant
Commissioner for Higher
Education; and Dr. Russell E.
Larson, University Provost. Dr.
Clyde E. Blocker, President of
the Harrisburg Area Community
College, will offer greetings on
behalf of the collegiate
community; and Dr. Thomas J.
Knight, Chairman of the Faculty
Council, and Michael Dini,
Student Government
Association President, will
extend congratualtions from
their respective organizations.
Dr. McDermott's
achievements in both teaching
and administration have
prepared him well for the
responsibility of overseeing the
academic as well as all
administrative functions of this
upper-division college and
graduate center. Formerly the
Dean of the Graduate School
and Director of University
Research at the University of
Arkansas, he also held top
administrative posts in
Continuing Education and the
Graduate School of Pennsylvania
State University at University
Park. A Professor of Forestry, he
taught on the staffs of Penn
State, the University of Missouri,
Duke University and lowa State
University.
The new provost's academic
interests have not been confined
to that of teaching. He has
conducted extensive research in
the area of forest ecology and
physiology and is the author and
co-author of more than 35
scientific and technical articles
and texts.
He holds an Associate of Arts
Degree form Wright Junior
College, a Bachelor of Science in
Forestry and a Master of Science
in Botany from lowa State
University. In 1952, he was
awarded a Ph. D. with a major in
Botany and minor in Forestry
from Duke University.
Dr.McDermott has been cited
by AMERICAN MEN OF
SCIENCE, THE DICTIONARY
OF INTERNATION
BIOGRAPHY, LEADERS IN
AMERICAN SCIENCE, WHO'S
WHO IN AMERICA and WHO'S
WHO IN AMERICAN
EDUCATION.
He holds membership in
various honorary fraternities and
numerous professional and
scientific associations including
the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, the
American Institute of Biological
Sciences, the Ecological Society
of America and the Society of
American Foresters. He also has
served on various committees of
the Council of Graduate
Schools.
At the SGA Senate meeting
on Monday night, President
Mike Dini announced that Max
Brady has officially tended his
resignation as SGA
vice-president.
Brady did not specify his
reasons for stepping down. He
did, however, convey the feeling
that he now has more time to
devote to his studies and his
work as Advertising Manager for
the C APITOLIST. Dini
announced that he would
appoint a new vice-president at
the October 30 meeting of the
SGA. That person who is
recommended by Dini must be
approved by a two-thirds vote of
the Senate.
Outgoing senator Gene Bryan
presented a report of the Task
Force on Space and Facility
Utilization. Plans were finalized
for Capitol's multi-purpose
building, which is being funded
by the General State Authority
after approval by Pennsylvania
Secretary of Education, John C.
Pittenger. The building will be a
modular-type structure built in a
manner where possible
expansion of the facility can be
easily done if the situation
warrants. The building will
include a gymnasium, squash
courts, and exercise areas in
addition to a fine arts center
encompassing musical, theatrical
and other creative activities. A
conference-seminar area as well
as the offices of the Placement
Center are also scheduled.
However, plans fora, swimming
pool, which was previously
considered, were deleted.
According to Bryan, the pool
was left out because the
committee felt that by its
inclusion, the building could no
longer be classified as
"multi-purpose", thus
"All The News That Fits . . . . We Print"
CAPITOL CAMPUS - MIDDLETOWN, PA
WEEK IN THE
THIS
jeopardizing the construction of
the entire facility. The
committee voted 8-2 to delete the
pool, with Bryan abstaining.
Bryan abstained because he felt
"the SGA resolution calling for
construction of the building
along with the pool" was not
adequately considered, among
other reasons. Bryan also
reported that the SGA proposal
calling for construction of a
pedestrian-bicycle walkway
between the classroom building
and the dorms was next on the
committee's agenda.
Treasurer Tom Dixon then
gave the Finance Committee
report. A $5OO loan was granted
to the Office of Student Affairs
to establish a short-term student
loan fund. The Married Students
Apartment's Organization was
allocated $5O for its 1972-73
budget. The group had a
previous balance of $lOO giving
it a total of $l5O of the $1,200
it requested. The committee has
approved a total of $68.90 to
replace lights which were stolen
from the New Birth coffeehouse
during the summer. Dixon also
reported that the Finance Office
has increased its available
check -c ashing fund.
Senator Ron Edwards
(Sr.-social science) presented the
report of the Election/Screening
Committee. Nine junior senators
were elected on October 17. The
new senators were to assume
their duties on Tuesday. The
new SGA Constitution failed to
be approved due to lack of
participation of 25% of the
student body in the election.
Discussion was held on how to
ensure a larger turnout at the
next election. Suggestions such
as moving the polls to
Vendorville and using voting
machines were bandied about.
Dr. Robert E. McDermott
SGA **••
Senator Elyse Paul (Sr.-at
large) reported the activities of
the Campus/Community Service
Committee. Preparations for
June commencement have been
initiated and several locations
for the ceremonies were
mentioned. Possible speakers
such as Shirley Maclaine, Sen.
Richard Schweiker and Jane
Fonda will be contacted soon.
The issue of the staging of a
"Music festival" on a smaller
scale than this past spring's
Harrisburg Rock Festival H
«became lost in the discussion of
"reporting procedures." A
motion introduced by Senator
Ron Snyder (Sr.-engineering) to
cut off the funds of the Social
Committee in the instance that
it failed to report on its activities
was defeated by 5-4 with 4
abstentions. President Mike Dini
cast the deciding vote.
At the conclusion of the
meeting, the nine new junior
senators took the oath of office
from Student Court Chief
Justice Harry Franzreb. The
program senators include:
Michael Leasher, social science;
Harold Brown, humanities;
Robert Brannan, business; and
David Wolfe, engineering. The
at-large senators are: Karl
Salmon, social science; Cathy
Bre wington, social science;
William Mathews, business; and
John Murphy, social science.
Michael Pierce, elementary
education, was not present to
take the oath. Dini still must
appoint a senior from the Math
science program as well as a
junior.
** * *
October 26, 1972
Capitol
Under
Mc Dermott's
Leadership
Dr. Robert E. McDermott
will be officially installed as
Provost of Capitol Campus this
Sunday. We of the CAPITOLIST
acknowledge the Provost and
express our congratulations to
him.
McDermott has been at the
helm since February of this year,
but the authorites involved have
waited until now to offically
install McDermott. In a recent
discussion, we asked the Provost
why formal ceremonies are
taking place and about the
future course of Capitol
Campus.
He explained that "we need
the visibility and the publicity,
that is why we have invited"
big-name people in the field of
education. "This campus needs
to establish an identity; so we
are going to get as much mileage
out of the ceremonies as we
can," he stated.
The Provost then outlined the
future directions of Capitol
Campus. "We must form our
own governing boards and
attempt to generate our own
funds to give this place a source
1 stable support. This is not to
my that we are going to be
completely independent of Penn
State. But we must come to the
point where we have more
research programs and more
comphrehensive degree
programs."
Since Capitol, Campus was
granted 'autonomy' from
University Park last March
concerning academic matters
which specifically condern this
campus, there has been feeling in
many quarters here that a
complete break from the Main
Campus was in the offing. But
McDermott's previous comment
sets the record straight.
He stated that in the next few
years, Capitol's "fine staff of
faculty will be increased as the
student population grows."
Capitol, under Provost
McDermott will realize the full
potential of its worth.
Bake Sale
Sigma Delta Chi will sponsor
a bake sale today. The goodies
are located near the main
entrance and in Vendorville.
Among the bakers are the
women in the sorority plus a few
"celebrity" bakers. Terry
Turn b a ugh , Nancy Cohies,
Kathy King and Pat Murphy are
participating. Terry's specialty is
a TNT cake.