Pennsylvania State University at Capitol Campus
II re 0
Volume 10, No. 1
Equipment theft -inside . job?
By Joan H. Klein
For at least one person,
Christmas came early this
holiday season. A thief, or
thieves, broke into the Hu
manities Office during the
weekend of November 30 and
stole recording equipment
valued at $3,000.
The equipment was pur
chased with a grant from the
Gifts and Endowments Fund
through University Park.
Plans for a secure music room
had not materialized and the
equipment had been housed
temporarily in Dr. William
Mahar's office.
"Our security people feel it
was definitely an inside job,"
said Mahar. "There was no
evidence of forced entry," he
said.
Mahar said obtaining a key
would have presented no
great problem as security
personnel have admitted a
lack of control over how many
keys are available and who is
in possession of them.
Mahar 'was told that
changing the locks throughout
the school would cost
$2O-30,000. The money is not
available.
"It is no secret that we are
in financial difficulties," said
By Mike Kondor
"It's so nice to have been a
part of that excitement, but I
want to get excited about
other things. To stay as editor
I wouldn't have the time."
This is how Lyda Baker,
co-editor of the C.C. Reader,
summed up her feelings about
her resignation, which be
comes effective on January
16.
Lyda, who is a 12th term
Humanities major, joined the
staff of the Reader as a
reporter in the fall of 1978. In
an interview, Lyda remi
nisced about her experiences
with the Reader:
"Because of my prior ex
perience (feature editor and
photographer at - Millersville
State College) and interest I
became associate editor," she
said.
She became editor in the
Winter term of 1979. Another
woman was supposed to be
Mahar. ."There has been a
general cutback of expendi
tures and part of that cutback
has- been the elimination of
weekend security protection.
The thief would have en
countered no resistance from
security officers," he said.
There was no insurance on
the equipment. A staggering
deductible clause made such
coverage impractical. The
Gifts and Endowments Fund,
which provided the initial
$3,000, is no longer available.
Mahar's initial reaction
was to consider cancellation of
his proposed music courses.
Soon after the theft was dis
covered, however, he was
given permission to replace
the equipment and has done
so.
"We have no money in de
partmental budgets," said
Mahar, "so replacement funds
had to come from an emer
gency fund at Capitol
Campus."
Mahar theorized the theft
may have been the work of a
disgruntled former employe, a
former student, or a person
who specializes in weekend
jobs of this sort.
"I tend not to believe it
was a student. I'm still an
idealist," Mahar said.
lye resigns
co-editor; but she was a grad
uate student and she left the
staff when she got a graduate
assistantship in the Humani
ties department. Lyda
searched for another co-edi
tor, but couldn't find anyone
to accept the position until the
Fall term of 1979, when Harry
H. Moyer took the post. On
the 16th he will become the
editor-in-chief.
Lyda reflected on some of
the changes she made when
she became editor:
"To me the feature section
seemed to be the priority,"
she said.
She worked to have a
strong feature section; and
she tried to elaborate on what
had been established. She also
changed the way the paper
looked -- making the front
page bolder; and changing to
a bolder, more casual type for
the logo. She tried to have at
least one photograph on the
front page, also.
Dr. Mahar's expression at the Western Tradition I Greek
certainly applies to recent events.
When asked if she suc
ceeded in making all the
changes she wanted, Lyda
said: "No, I did not succeed in
doing what I wanted to do."
"There's so much frustra
tion," she said.
Lack of people, time, mon
ey and campus interest in the
paper all contributed to that
frustration.
"At the time I became
editor perhaps the most frus
trating thing we had to fight
was the image that the C.C.
Reader wasn't worth it," she
said.
She feels that people were
slow in recognizing or admit
ting that the paper had
changed.
As for the future: "The
paper was done my way -- it
reflected my personality -- so I
think it has a lot of room to
grow," she said.
continued on page 3
Many lakes over
By Mike Kondor
"I think I want to do the
impossible." .
Pessimistic statement?
Not if you know Harry H.
Moyer. You see, Harry is a
student of engineering. He
has an analytical mind. He
thinks before he speaks; and
he always has a plan.
On January 16, Harry will
become the editor-in-chief of
the C.C. Reader. Harry is an
Bth term EDET major; and
while he may speak slowly, he
moves quickly. Last term was
Harry's first at Capitol
Campus. He came here from
University Park, where he
was an Electrical Engineering
major and member of both the
Penn State Blue Marching
Band and the Penn State
White Concert Band. At
capitol he joined the staff of
the C.C. Reader and was
elected senator in the Student
Government Association.
10 January, 1980
reakfast last term
photo by Mike Kondor
Why would an engineering
student be interested in join
ing the staff of the news
paper?
"I was interested in help
ing out because it was a small
paper," he said.
Harry noticed that the
resident assistant in his dorm,
Tony Gladfelter, was the
sports editor on the paper.
Harry asked if the paper
needed any help, and said,
"I'd like to help with layout."
That was a slightly unusu
al statement, since layout is
the "dirty" job on the paper.
It is the tedious, mechanical
construction of the actual
newspaper; and no one (ex
cept Harry) has ever gotten
much enjoyment from it.
"That's still the case --
there's no one who just wants
to do layout," said Harry.
To make a long story short
continued on page 3