PENNSTATE
=Harrisburg
CAPITAL TIMES
Vol. 25, No. 6
Students construct all-terrain vehicle
Marshall Walters
Capital Times Staff
Have you heard about it? Perhaps
you've seen it. It's the all-terrain vehicle
designed and built by the Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Every year a group of PSH
engineering students build a car and
travel to Montreal, Canada. They
compete in a number of events to test
the capabilities of the car. This year's
invention travels north in May of 1991.
The tests in the upcoming Montreal
competition include safety considerations
like braking distance and the strength of
the role cage. The acceleration and
weight pull are also tested.
The car will race on three separate
courses. First, it competes in an
Enduro-type race over land and water.
Second, the car is timed in a mad-dash
through a large mudpit. Then finally,
the car runs through an obstacle course.
Before competing, the car must meet
a set of requirements, including an
$lBOO limit to the construction costs of
the car and a specific engine, an eight
horsepower Briggs and Stratton gas
powered engine.
Kyle King, an SAE member who
Penn State promotes diversity
Victoria Cuscino
Capital Times Staff
Many Penn State Harrisburg students
grew up in relatively close-knit,
mainstream circles. Often Americans
have little contact with people from
other countries, racial minorities, the
physically challenged--the people who
compose the full picture of American
life.
More and more, the university insists,
students should understand and
experience diversity as part of the
college curriculum.
The University Senate Committee on
Undergraduate Instruction has proposed a
cultural diversity requirement, and a
Capital College committee is currently
studying the issue.
The requirements would promote the
understanding of racial, religious, ethnic,
gender, sexual orientation, and global
perspectives. ,
Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg
- Photo by Marshal Wafters
Man vs. Nature. Kyle King, an SAE member, steers last year's all-terrain vehicle
through some rugged turf.
specializes in the engine, says they plan
to augment the car's top-end speed to
about 30. mph.
This year's buggy will be equipped
with a four wheel independent
suspension, a grade better than the front
The requirements would not
necessarily entail additional credit loads
or courses. Discussions of diversity
would be integrated into existing
courses.
Penn State President Joab Thomas
said, "The education of the 1990 s must
provide students with the tools to live in
a quickly changing future."
In a letter to the university
community, he said there is "no better
preparation for the future than for our
young people to learn to find value in
the differences among us, to appreciate
the diverse backgrounds we all bring to
this institution, and to help others find
value in that diversity."
Diversity, according to a statement
from the Senate Committe on
Uncergraduate Instruction, encompasses
varieties of race, religion, ethnicity,
gender and global perspective.
The focus on diversity partly responds
wheel independent straight rear axcl on
last year's model.
Earlier this semester, SAE traveled
with last year's model to race in
Maryland. The group came in sixth
place, though the race was just for fun.
to America's changing work force, said
Joan Swetz, international student
advisor. By the year 2000, there will be
more females and other minorities
entering the workforce, so that white
males will actually constitute a
minority.
"If we are going to work with these
people, we need to know how they think
and feel and whether we agree," Swetz
said.
"Exploring diversity leads to new and
exciting things," Swetz said. "If you
cannot relocate geographically, there is a
chance to vicariously get a taste of it
right in Middletown."
A variety of races, ethnic groups,
religions, genders, sexual orientations
and global perspectives wander Olmsted's
halls everyday and go seemingly
unnoticed by many.
See Diversity on 2
December 7, 1990
Soldiers spend
Christmas
in desert
Pat Byers
Capital Times Staff
For the thousands of American troops
stationed in Saudi Arabia, the holiday
season will be spent inside a tent, tank,
or foxhole rather than next to a fireplace
or Christmas tree. The smell of pine
will be replaced by burned gunpowder
and their white bearded gentleman isn't
Santa Claus but Uncle Sam and a grinch
like Saddam Hussein.
Will America's eyes be feasting on the
usual Christmas programming this year
or the horrific sights of war? Is war
inevitable by Christmas? Hussein and a
few choice congressmen think so. But
President Bush and PSH professor Dana
Sadarananda believe not.
Sadarananda, a military history
professor, honestly beleives that we are
not going to experience a war by
Christmas.
"Unless it is on the high seas or by
some unforseen accident, I feel very
strongly that if Saddam Hussein were to
attack, he would have done so already,"
Sadarananda said. He gives reasons why
an American offensive will not he
launched.
"Politically, the Saudis won't allow it,
unless they change their mind. And
secondly, we just don't have the numbers
to compete," he said.
At this writing 400,000 American
troops have been deployed to the middle
east. The Iraqui military has over one
million soldiers with combat experience,
(the war with Iran). A military draft
would help but the President and the
American people won't support it.
"Generally speaking, a 3-1 superiority
over your opponent is necessary,"
Sadarananda said. 'The Iraquis would
have no difficulty in attaining the front
if they wish to attack."
As far as the "waiting game" is
concerned Sadarananda said Hussein has a
few things leaning in his favor.
Hussein realizes that this is an
election year in America and nothing
will happen until after the elections,
Sadarananda said. Since people are
lining up to support Bush, Hussein sees
cracks developing within the political
solidarity in America.
Sadarananda said, "Historically,
America has very little patience in a
See Desert Christmas on 4