Humanities students express concerns
By Josette Kloker
"This institution is small enough
that we [faculty] can still pay individual
attention to students," said Dr. William
Mahar, head of the humanities division.
Mahar, who addressed student
concerns at a "Humanities Open Forum"
on Tuesday, Nov. 22, said he is
concerned about cases of racism, sexism
and ageism.
One student expressed concern that
cultural diversity is not being integrated
into the humanities core courses.
"One doesn't deal with diversity by
ignoring it or doing lip service to it,"
replied Mahar.
Mahar said he recognizes the wide
spectrum of ages that attend Penn State
Harrisburg, but feels this variety is an
advantage because it allows for students
with such diferent perspectives on life to
interact and learn from one another.
The students' major concerns were the
increasing number of full-time faculty,
scheduling, internships and the degree
Job fair looks promising for graduates
Are you a senior or graduate student
seeking permanent employment? Then
take advantage of the Central
Pennsylvania Employment Consortium
(CPEC) Job Fair to be held before
Spring Break.
The Job Fair is for all majors and is
free to graduating students from Penn
State Harrisburg. It is also available to
all Penn State Harrisburg alumni who
are in the process of changing jobs.
Career Services is holding CPEC
information meetings during late
November and early December. Attend
one of the meetings to watch a video on
what to expect at the Job Fair and learn
how to prepare for the event.
Formal Registration will be held
during the first three weeks in December
through Career Services, located in the
Student Assistance Center, W-117.
The Job Fair will be held on
Thursday Feb. 16, 1989 from 9 a.m. to
PSH donates 1357 cans to food bank
By David A. Blymire
Penn State Harrisburg recently helped
local food pantries and food banks by
collecting 1,357 cans of food and $68.75
in cash.
The "Scouting for Food" drive was
sponsored locally by the Keystone Area
Boy Scouts of America, working in
cooperation with the United Way; and
more than a quarter of a million cans of
food were collected across the local four
county area, said Carl Barnes of the Boy
Scouts of America .
Scouting for Food was supported in
central Pennsylvania by about 200
scouting units, businesses, social
services agencies, and many area
colleges, he said.
"Collectively, we need to say thank
change
The humanities students inquired
about the growing number of full-time
faculty, and as a result, the decreasing
number of part-time faculty.
Mahar feels he receives the "best
service from full-time faculty because
they are part of the University," but
students still feel there is a lot of
practical value to part-time faculty who
are in the "real world."
Mahar said the humanities division
will continue to utilize part-time faculty
in the specialized areas like advertising
and public relations.
He said, "They [part-time faculty] are
difficult to find, and when we find them,
they are very difficult to keep."
Scheduling also was a major concern
among students. Mahar said,
"Scheduling is one of my biggest
nightmares."
He said the humanities division tries
to schedule 50 percent of its classes on
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the
other 50 percent on Tuesday, Thursday,
4 p.m. at the State Farm Show complex
in Harrisburg. Over 100 employer
representatives from the Northeastern
part of the United States will be piesent
to interview job candidates. These
employers represent a broad cross-section
of organizations in both size and type.
They are looking for qualified applicants
for present or anticipated job openings.
The Central Pennsylvania
Emploment Consortium is a group of
18 area colleges and universities,
including PSH, and six organizations
that are working together to help provide
better employment opportunities for the
students who attend these institutions.
The six organizations that belong to
CPEC are AMP, Inc., Electronic Data
Systems, Capital Region Chamber of
Commerce, Hershey Foods Corporation,
IBM Corporation, and York International
Corporation.
you," said Janet Widoff, coordinator of
Student Activities. "It was encouraging
to see the college community come
together."
Penn State students, faculty, and staff
employed a variety of techniques to
entice potential donors to give.
The Student Government Association
used perhaps the most lucrative approach
in sponsoring a bean contest in which
potential participants were required to
donate a can of food before registering
their guesses. Linda Meashey, academic
counselor in the Student Assistance
Center, won that contest, and then
donated the $35 first prize back to the
food drive.
The collected cans were taken to a
drop-off point on Vine Street in
Middletown, and then delivered to local
food banks by the Boy Scouts.
in order to accomodate students with
varying schedules. To further
accomodate, they offer one-third of the
classes in the morning, one-third in the
afternoon and the remaining one-third in
the evening.
Mahar said the humanities division
has been forced to employ "enrollment
management." This means certain
required courses are closed to non
humanities students.
Although this seems unfair to some
students, Mahar said he takes "great joy
in seeing this because there was a time
when the humanities division was on its
last legs because it didn't have enough
students."
This growing number of students
increases the number of seniors who
have a lot of questions about
internships.
Mahar said the humanities division is
United Parcel Service
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Part-time Employment Opportunities Available
$B.OO per hour and up
All Shifts Available
Strenuous and challenging work available.
Must be able to lift 70 lbs.
For further information, contact
Tracy Simon at 986-8531, Clint McConnel
at 986-8503 or Rob Kurtz at 986-8516.
EOE M/F
moving toward internships restricted to
six credits, instead of the traditional 12
credits. He also said determining the
amount of credits does not depend on the
amount of time spent on the job, but the
quality of the tasks performed. He said
it is possible the faculty may not feel a
student is prepared enough for a certain
internship he is pursuing, but when a
student does find a suitable internship, "a
relationship and trust between the intern
supervisor and the faculty person" is
imperative to a succesful internship.
There was also much concern
expressed about the bachelor of
humanities degree, and whether or not it
is as a prestigious as a bachelor of arts
degree.
continued on page 8