Capital times, January 25,1991 Eastgate opening delayed John Rudy Capital Times Staff Building construction changes have delayed the opening of Penn State Capital Campus' recently acquired center city Harrisburg facility. The university had planned to offer bourses at the Eastgate Center at 1010 N. Seventh St. during this semester, but completion of structural and safety modifications is necessary before the facility's doors can be opened to students and faculty. Construction should be completed by April 1, when university staff can begin moving equipment into the building, said James D. South, associate provost for administrative operations. The delay is mainly attributed v. reconstruction of the main and wi* *riV; ways of the building's first and t#vxd levels. The door openings rr.air. o* widened and double doors installed "o handle the expected traffic increase. The new doors must be recessed into use openings to prevent blocking the stairways when opened. "As soon as the facility becomes available we will make use of it," said South. "The first administration units •to move in will be a portion of the continuing education staff." "In the first six months of operation there will probably be more continuing education kinds of activities than there will be scheduled instruction," said South. "There could be seminars; development programs, such as computer literacy workshops; or workshops for business supervisors to develop their managerial skills." "Continuing Education tends to be flexible and can react quickly - they don’t operate in terms of fixed calendars," South said. . "Resident instruction programs have a fixed calendar with definite beginning and ending dates, usually full semesters." South said that department heads have been asked to consider what they may offer at the Eastgate Center when space PSH NEWS becomes available, but no decisions have yet been made regarding course offerings. John S. Patterson, head of Humanities, said that his division will be considering classes at Eastgate. "If it exists and it's ready to go, we're going to be eager to use it," he said. "It. , is. possible that Business Administration would do something, but right now it’s hard to say," said Gayle Yaverbaum, Business Administration director. "We're looking at the fall semester, but class offerings depend on whether the microcomputer lab is installed." The university's use of the facility made installation of custom features necessary. The developer is responsible for the fitment of the building, but some 'A the university's requirements are ycaqae and will be installed at additional '..'X!. "W* will be charged for such features as ha v ing clean, surge-proof power lines available for the microcomputer lab,” laid Sooth. "That will cost roughly si 3 jm: "In addition to the $7 million purchase price of the building," South said, "additional improvements unique to Penn State Harrisburg's usage of the facility should be in the neighborhood of $30,000." "Because the developer didn't know who the tennants would be when the building was first built, the facility was built to standard office space conformity," said South. "The original concept was to use the building as an office building," said South. "When we began to use it for classroom purposes, we increased the number of people likely to be in the building at the same time." "When you change the density [of people occupying the building], then you have to build emergency exit capability for that mass of people," said South. "It is fortunate that this See Eastgate on 3 Divers! PSH promotes understanding Karen M. Putt Capital Times Staff The issue of diversity is well known on the campus of Penn State Harrisburg. With the required orientation session on diversity and the possibility of required diversity courses, Penn State Harrisburg is trying to help students deal with diversity. All of the Student Affairs staff contribute to the orientation session entitled "Exploring Diversity." The session is required of all new students and focuses on learning to appreciate a different environment. Professor Ed Beck, the Coordinator of Personal Counseling Programs, serves as one of the many rotating session leaders. According to Beck, the purpose of the session is to "understand that everyone is different and to celebrate those differences." "Every student is going to have a trans-cultural relationship some time in their life. Understanding and learning to deal with cultural differences leads to successful trans-cultural relationships." While PSH has been running the diversity sessions for nearly two years, a more recent development in the diversity issue is the proposal by the University Answers to puzzles mirement Senate Committee on Undergraduate Instruction for a diversity requirement. The purpose of the requirement would be to promote an understanding of all differences including gender, racial, religious, ethnic and sexual orientation. The requirement would result in established courses changing their curriculum to include discussions of diversity. An eleven member Capital College task forbe, headed by Professor Jacob De Rooy was established at the beginning of the academic year to discuss possible solutions to the requirement. According to Professor James Hudson, the chair of the Faculty Council, any changes in current curriculum will be a faculty decision. "The purpose of the requirement is to make students, as well as faculty, more sensitive to some of the questions resolved in diversity." Besides the orientation session, the college also offers the program "Lunch with an International Flavor." The program allows students to talk with foreign students about their countries as well as sample some of their national cuisine. ;
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