STATE
111 Harrisburg
"CAPITAL TIMES
March 21, 1990
rforming Company Sends
essage to PSH Students
Sharon Purcell
Capital Times Staff
"Date rape is not a sex crime," said
Michael Derman, moderator for the
participatory program "What's Goin'
On?" presented at Penn State Harrisburg
on March 8. "Rape is not about sex. It
is about power. It is a crime of assault,"
Derman said.
The Metamorphosis Performing
Company from Lewisburg conveyed
powerful messages to the audience
through actors Joel Gori and Barbara
Ross.
A woman "can take a man to bed,
take off her clothes and his clothes, then
change her mind and say 'no'," Derman
said. "If the man persists--legally and
morally--it is rape."
God and Ross enacted a skit in which
the couple danced, kissed and got
physically close. The woman said 'no' to
sexual advances but the man persisted.
Afterward, the audience discussed the
situation and concluded that the man had
committed rape.
"The man committed a crime and
should pay a price," said Derman. "The
price is jail."
For women the consequences of rape
are traumatic, Derman said. Rape
victims suffer from shock,
disorientation, psychological trauma,
post-traumatic stress syndrome and the
inability to form healthy relationships.
Most rapes on campuses are
committed by acquaintances or lovers,
not strangers lurking in the bushes.
Derman said that one out of eight
college-age women are victims of rape;
one out of four are victims of attempted
rape; 47 percent of college-age women
raped were assaulted by lovers or
acquaintances; and 75 percent of rapes
took place in someone's room, not
Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg
outside
Often the man assumes the woman is
wild and mistakenly views her "no" as
part of the game. "Men should always
ask a woman if she means yes or no,"
said Derman. The game stops "when the
woman says no."
Derman offered suggestions to rape
victims:
1) Recognize it is not your fault.
Rape is about power, not
miscommunication
2) The guilt, shock, anger and
disorientation will pass.
3) It is urgent to get help and talk
about it. Group and individual
counseling is available.
4) Press charges. Vindication for a
woman who is raped comes with a legal
conviction because the society is saying
"It is not your fault," Denman said.
The performing company enacted
several other skits about sexual
miscommunication, and discussed their
actions with the audience. One skit
portrayed a man and a woman who had
been sleeping together for four months.
They argued over what constituted a
committment, and several audience
participants said sleeping together means
committment.
"If a committment is not verbalized,
there is no committment," said Derman.
"A committmment i's to something, or
it is unclear--making misinterpretations
possible."
Other topics discussed included
sexuality and decision making. Sexuality
is full of emotions. It is more than a
desire for sexual intercourse. When
desiring to know someone, a variety of
emotions are aroused including lust,
anxiety and insecurity. These emotions
make a sexual situation "highly
More Date Rape on P. 4
"Electronic Classroom"
to be Created at PSH
By Christopher Burns
Capital Times Staff
Penn State Harrisburg will soon
become a telecommunications hub for
the Penn State University system.
If you have not noticed by now all
the remodeling that has been taking
place on the third floor around W-337,
you will. There is a new classroom
being created called "The Electronic
Classroom."
"What we are creating is a
communications link that will receive
data from University Park and distribute
it throughout the Penn State
system,"says Jerry South, associate
provost for administrative operations.
"We're using an electronic device
called a T-1 circut that will enable us to
have interactive contact with University
Park, Penn State Medical Center, and
Penn State Erie," said South. "This will
make it Ifossible for students to take
courses that aren't otherwise available to
them."
The project cost has been estimated
to be near $200,000 with the funding
from university telecommunication
funds and other resources availible to the
school. PHS will use some of its funds
to. equip the room with furniture,
monitors and camera equipment.
Supreme Court Decision
Opens Tenure Files
Barbara Sydell
Capital Times Staff
A recent Supreme Court decision that
opens confidential tenure files to
government investigators in
discrimination cases will not
dramatically change the tenure evaluation
process, said several Penn State
Harrisburg professors and department
heads.
Ruth Leventhal, provost, said she has
"mixed feelings" about the ruling. She
noted that faculty members being
considered for promotion or tenure
already have access to evaluations by
their peers. However, evaluations from
colleagues outside the university system
remain secret. Leventhal said opening
tenure files "could constrain the
university from getting a full and fair
evaluation from these outside sources."
Leventhal is "sensitive to how the
tenure process can be misused."
Justice Harry A. Blackmun, writing
the unanimous decision for the court on
January 9, acknowledged the importance
Vol. 24 No.B
The faculty and admistration will
decide what courses will be offered.
The way all this will work is similar
to sitting in a TV station. The picture
and sound signals will be sent to other
campuses where they will see and hear
us at the same time we see and hear
them.
In the past, classes were linked to
each other by way of telephone with no
visual way to see who or what the other
classes were doing on the other
campuses.
"This new teaching tool will provide
visual as well as verbal communication
between classrooms," South said.
Another benefit of the "Electronic
Classroom" will be for faculty training.
"In the past a faculty member would
have to drive four hours, to and from
University Park for a one-hour training
course. By utilizing the 'Electronic
Classroom' faculty members won't have
to make that drive," South said.
When asked if this new classroom
could be linked to other universities
South said, "only through University
Park because they have the up-link
equipment need to do that."
The system may take some getting
used to.
More Elect. Class on 2
of confidentiality in the peer review
process, but said fighting racial and
sexual discrimination is a more
compelling governmental concern. "Not
all academics will hesitate to stand up
and be counted when they evaluate their
peers," Blackmun wrote.
Blackmun's words appeared to fit
Robert Lesniak, acting head of the
division of Behavioral Science and
Education. Lesniak said he has "no
More Tenure on p. 4
PSH Bowls for
"Kids Sake"
Victoria Canino
Capital Times Staff
"I had so much fun that I forgot to
take off my bowling shoes," said Peggy
Hunter, Lion's Den staff. She wore her
bowling shoes into the parking lot at
Trindle Lanes in Mechanicsburg after
bowling for "Kids' Sake" on March 10.
Staff members from the Library, the
Lion's Den, Maintenance and Student
Activities along with PSH students
created six teams that participated in the
ninth annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters of
America bowl-a-thon. The thirty PSH
bowlers raised $2203.
More Bowling on p. 4