Spotlight On Students Nolen Wins Poetry Contest; By Josette M. Kloker "I usually write poetry when I'm inspired by a certain issue," said Maria Nolen. Nolen, a senior criminal justice major, was recently inspired to write a poem about the timely issue of nuclear arms reduction. After writing the poem, which was appropriately entitled "Nuclear Arms Reduction," Nolen saw an ad in a local newspaper for an international poetry contest sponsored by the World of Poetry and decided to enter. Her initiative was rewarded. Along with receiving an Award of Merit Certificate and an honorable mention, Nolen also received the Golden Poet Award 1988. This prestigious award was only given to the top one percent of the thousands of poets who entered. Nolen said the Golden Poet Award is "the highest honor bestowed on a poet by The World of Poetry's board of directors based on poetry received in their office." She added, "The award is to a poet what an oscar is to an actor." Nolen was flown to Anaheim, California, for a four-day convention to receive her award. Since this was an international constest, poets from all over the world attended it. Nolen met poets from Norway, Congratulations, Fellow Staff Member C.W. Heiser, a senior secondary English education major, has been named a semi finalist in polling Stone's College Journalism Competition, sponsored by Smith- Corona. Heiser placed in the Essays & Criticism category for the article "For Kids Sake," published in Capital Times. Winners will be announced later this fall and will receive a $l,OOO prize and a Smith- Corona typewriter at a ceremony at Rolling Stone's New York office. Good luck, C.W. Heiser! Many, Many Thanks I would like to thank the following financial sponsors for their suppo of my team which participated in the third annual University Hospital Strudel Run: Becky Hooven, Carol Kopanoff, Nancy Karlik, Joni Shoop, Donald Holtzman, Tani Dean, Phyllis Friedhoff, Bud Kurtz, Deb Lehman, Monica Zimmerman, Hope Hammil, Val Duhig, Andrea Willard, Linda Zubler, Dr. Bel Raggad, Ann McGhee, Janet Widoff, Thea Hocker, Annette Farley, Susan Clayton, Linda J. Benedetto, Roxanne McMillan, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Lutz, Mark Keisling, Scott Huebner, Millie Landis, Mary Ann Russell, Charles Fickes, M. Clare Zaks, Donna Howard, Drs. 0. & R. Culpan, Cyndi Montgomery, G. Ragagopal, Barb Berkoff, Dr. H.C. Kuo, Harv, Margaret Twomey and Ellie May Schiefer. I would also like to thank my fellow team members: Eric Albright, Linda Duncan, Dr. Dana Sanderson and Tina Shock. All donations were for the benefit of the University Hospital, Diabetes Clinic. Individuals interested in sending further donations can mail their checks to: University Development Office, Diabetes Clinic Fund, The Milton S Hershey Medical Center, P.O. Box 852, Hershey, Pa., 17033. This is a very important program which benefits many people in our area. I urge you to consider helping in any way you can. Sincerely, Ali Hussein, Jr Goes to California Finland, Sweden, Trinidad, Canada, and the Philipines. She also mingled with such stars as Phyllis Diller and Red Skelton. Unfortunately, Nolen was so busy attending formal banquets and lectures, she did not have time to lie on the beach or visit Disneyland. Nolen plans to return to the west coast for vacation since she is no longer apprehensive about flying. This had been her first experience on a plane; she flew on a commuter from Harrisburg to Washington. "I saw this box and asked where the plane was," laughed Nolen. She continued, "I was scared when we went up in the air because I knew there was no way out." After surviving her commuter flight, she arrived in Washington, D.C. where she was informed she would be flying on a 747. She was much more comfortable on the larger plane. In fact, she said she really enjoyed flying and is looking forward to doing it again. Since receiving the award, Nolen has been asked to speak to the Middletown Rotary Club and has had her poem published in a book, The Golden men, women, boys, and girls all over the world. She said she did this because "this issue of nuclear arms reduction is an issue that has an effect on all of us." Nolen said she dedicated the poem to Howe Spends Summer in Hungary By Michele E. Hart Public policy major Lori Howe knew when she started her studies at Capital College that she eventually wanted to spend some time studying abroad. So last spring she was going through the motions of getting registered , to spend three weeks in England when a poster for coursework in Hungary caught her eye. Now, she is glad that it did. Howe spent six weeks last summer at Janos Pannonius University in Pecs, Hungary. While there she studied art, history, economics, and banking. "I got to study the whole panorama of what Hungary is about," she said. "Everything there is so different than in the United States." Howe, 18 other Americans and eight Hungarians lived in a hotel on campus and attended classes taught by English speaking-Hungarian professors. She said that a typical day for the students began at 8:00 a.m. with .a breakfast of: "A type of salami, lots of bread, and a yellow pepper." Then it was on to classes for two hours. Then lunch, and then an aftemooon excursion. Dinner consisting of pork, cabbage, potatoes, and peppers was served at 5:00 p.m., leaving the evenings free for the students to spend as they wished. Howe said that on some of those evenings they treated themselves to dinner at local restaurants because they got "sick of the dorm food." "There were lots of peppers at every meal and the only vegetables available were cabbages, peppers and cucumbers. Although, toward the end of our stay tomatoes were coming in season, so we were pretty excited about that," she said. Howe said that other than adjusting to the food in Hungary, her biggest problem was not knowing the language even though she had language classes once a week. "The language is so difficult. You really can't learn it in six weeks. The The next meeting of the Capital Times staff will be held Friday, Sept. 16 at 2:00 p.m. in W-337 Olmsted. Please stop by for article and/or photograph assign- ments. Anyone interested in joining should attend this meeting. informal GRADUATE STUDENT MIXER Perrier/Cheese & Crackers Monday, Oct. 24 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Gallery Lounge * Network with students in your major. "Meet with your adviser, faculty and staff at Penn State Harrisburg. * Meet graduate students in your own and other majors: Capital Times, September 14, 1988, Pa:e only two sentences I knew were how to ask for the bathroom and how to order a bottle of white wine," she said. The friendliness of the people and' the lack of anti-American hostility .in Hungary surprised Howe. "I went over there not knowing what to expect becuase you always hear that Europeans don't like Americans, but they [the Hungarians] loved us. Their eyes lit up when we told them we were Americans," she said. In fact, Howe said there is so much Western and American influence in Hungary that she could not fmd a T-shirt with a Hungarian phrase on it. And she said that one night they watched an American television sit-corn, "Hooperman," on Hungarian television. Pecs is an international city of sorts, Howe said, because there is a medical school there. She said she met students from all over the world and met with them in the Western disco to discuss religion, politics, capitalism, and socialism. "I got a better international understanding and learned how very different Americans really are," she said. Howe said she was not intimidated by the fact that Hungary is an Eastern bloc nation, because the country is so moderate and has been instituting reforms since January. She does not think, however, that socialism is a particularly good form of government. "I went over there with an open mind toward socialism but it is so inefficient. There is no incentive to work and the distribution of labor is inefficient," she said. But, she said the Hungarians do not think all is perfect with Americans either. "Their one complaint about the Americans was that we joked around and kidded too much. They weren't used to that," she said. Howe said that her stay in Hungary was an invaluable experience . She said she hopes to do it again next summer, but this time in Western Europe. • . 1. lk
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