The Penn State Harrisburg
Vol. 30, No. 1
Parisi resigns after denied tenure
Matt Hunt
Capital Times Reporter
The sudden departure of Dr, four articles either published or in
Peter Parisi this summer has the process of being published,"
faculty and students scrambling to Parisi said.
fill the void he left
"I Gael
)regret and pain that the
Pr°vQst a nd
e assistant provost
could n
o s
t e Il i
Y contributions as
deserving of tenure t
when
colleagues could'" my
Parisi promptly resigned from Associate Professor of
his post as Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Director
Humanities after he was denied of Journalism at C.W. Post Center
tenure, for reasons Penn State of Long Island University
Harrisburg officials have declined to
discuss
"I feel regret and pain that the another job, said Dr. William
provost and assistant provost could Mahar, head of the Humanities
not see my contributions (to the Division
university) as deserving of tenure
when my colleagues could," Parisi
said in a recent interview
"He made his move sooner
rather than later when who knows
what the job market will be like?"
Associate Provost Ernest Mahar said.
Dishner said he could not comment
on personnel matters
"We will miss him and his
contributions to the Humanities
Parisi said he was told by both Division," Mahar said.
Dishner and Provost Ruth
Leventhal that he was not approved Parisi's absence has disrupted
for tenure because he had not done the PSH communications program
Bookstore mark-up
benefits best bidder
Michele Loeper
Capital Times Reporter
The money students spend on
textbooks at the Penn State
Harrisburg Bookstore will not
necessarily stay on campus,
according to D. Lewis
Mothersbaugh, Assistant Vice
President of Business Services,
University Park.
The profit on books purchased at
commonwealth campuses is sent to
University Park where it is placed
in a campus fund, according to
Mothersbaugh.
"All commonwealth campuses
have the right to pitch for the
money in the pool, however, the
campus' which needs are most
justifiable will be awarded the
money," said Mothersbaugh.
The profit on textbooks at Penn
State Harrisburg is around 25
percent, according to the manager
of the Penn State Harrisburg,
bookstore.
"We allow ourselves a 25 percent
margin on all hard back books," the
PSI-I bookstore manager said. "The
bookstore purchases most hard
back books at 75 percent of the
selling price."
There is no mark-up on paper
back books sold at the Penn State
Harrisburg Bookstore, according to
the manager.
The University recently signed a
contract with Barnes & Noble,
Inc, of New York to manage the
Penn State University Bookstore
System.
"We are not professional
retailers," said Mothersbaugh.
enough research
"At the time of the review I had
Parisi was hired quickly as
-Dr. Peter Parisi
Normally, instructors who are
denied tenure have a year to find
"We decided to hire [Barnes &
Noble] to come in and make some
necessary changes."
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Customer service was the main
reason for the change in
management,noted Mothersbaugh.
"It is in our contract that no
student should have to wait in line
longer than 10 minutes at the
bookstore," said Mothersbaugh.
"Also Barnes & Nobles will
provide students with more used
book options."
The terms of the Penn State
Bookstore management contract
with Barnes & Noble were released
to the public on June 24, 1993
according to the Sept. 8, issue of
The Weekly Collegian.
The University received $3
million from Barnes & Noble that
will be allocated to:
Establish a $1.25 million
Commonwealth Campus
scholarship fund; establish a
$125,000 scholarship fund at Penn
State Erie; contribute $700,0000
to the Campaign for the Library at
University Park; contribute
$700,000 to the HUB/Robeson
expansion project; contribute
$lOO,OOO to the construction of
bike paths at University Park.
All statistics were taken from
the Sept. 8, 1993 issue of The
Weekly Collegian.
Free Books --
Dr. Parisi donated a box of text books to students
after his resignation earlier this summer.
Parking Fee to
Including PSH
Ricardo Duarte
Capital Times Reporter
Starting next semester, there are
Parkingmeters in front of
no more free rides. If you drive to buildings. The cost to park at a
campus, you will have to pay meter will be $.50 per hour.
anywhere from $2O to $4O a "All of the money from the
semester. program will be used on campus in
a conservative budget," said James
It's called the Fee Based Vehicle South, Associate Provost for
Registration Program. In short, it Administrative Operations. "It's
sets parking fees for all Penn State part of the long-term College
Harrisburg students, faculty and Strategic Plan which will, i
employees. essence, convert the campus into an
The amount each person has to academic mall with the Olmstead
pay will vary. Students will pay a Building in the middle."
different amount than faculty and
university employees.
In general, students with 12 or
more credits will have to pay $4O
per semester while those with less
than 12 credits or those who live in
dorms will pay $2O per semester.
Full-time university employees and
photo by Mary Gates
faculty will pay $l2O a year
For those visiting the campus for
short periods of time, there will be
AlaOirki)0•*P1:a6100.2;4:••;';': . :'•:';; . ;;;'4!! ., ::; . 1 . 2
Students dine international 5ty1e.........2
Capital Times staff mourns over
lost mentor 5
Trev Stair takes an in-depth look
at toon town 7
which has been rushing to apply
band-aids to cover Parisi's many
responsibilities.
A Journalism and Literature
class Parisi was scheduled to teach
has been canceled while two of his
other classes, Writing for Media and
Advanced Reporting, are being
taught by part-time faculty. Three
faculty memebers, Eton '.hurchill,
Louise Hoffman, and Suren Lalvani
have divided up the students Parisi
advised. At least three students were
left wondering who would direct the
independent studies they initially
planned with Parisi.
Mahar, meanwhile, is helping to
supervise the students with
internships who Parisi was
advising, and the campus
newspaper, the Capital Times , has
been left without a faculty advisor.
"To function as a club, which
is the only way it can get funding,
it (the Capital Times) needs to have
a faculty advisor," Mahar said.
"There will be a meeting for the
Communication students to help
direct them to internships,
scholarships and other
opportunities," he said.
Mahar now is in the process of
putting together a search committee
to find a replacement for Parisi by
August, 1994.
"Obviously, we would like to
get one earlier, but that is the latest
(a replacement will be found),"
Affect
Tennis
"An important allowance the
program makes is that students who
wish to car pool will only be
charged one fee for vehicle
registration," said Business Services
Manager, Sandra Jackson.
Several other Penn State branch
campuses, according to Dr. South,
already have a Vehicle Registration
Program in place.
The money PSI-I collects from
the program will be used for new
parking lots, sidewalks, roads and
handicapped parking spaces.
The tennis courts near the
Education Activities Building will
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ®per ~
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All
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Tennis Anyone --
Tennis courts will be removed next semester and
replaced with additional parking .
September 13, 1993
Mahar said.
Dishner said a full-time
professor with a one-year contract
to take Parisi's place could not be
approved for 1993 because the
Humanities Division already has
one to replace an associate professor
of American Studies who is on a
one-year sabbatical.
To have a second one-year full
time professor in the same division
"is upheald of," Dishner said.
Mahar said that next semester
students will be able to m)i: in
classes print journalism Hu bents
need such as Magazine Writing,
Desk Top Publishing, and Media
Law and Ethics.
These classes will be taught by
part-time faculty, Mahar said.
Until a replacement has been
found, however, there is a
noticeable vacancy at Penn State
Harrisburg.
"It is always difficult when you
lose an instructor and advisor,"
Mahar said.
Parisi is available, Mahar said,
through Bitnet, a computer
network."
And Peter expressed a desire to
help his former students through
Bitnet," Mahar said.
Mahar also said Michael Barber,
a reporter from Seattle, is on
campus this year as a student, and
is a voluntary advisor to the
Capital Times.
in Spring:
be destroyed and converted into
parking spaces.
Overall, Dr. South estimated the
Vehicle Registration Program will
collect more than $900,000 a year.
Starting in January, everyone
who drives a car to campus will
have to pay a fee.
Of course, if you don't have a lot
of extra cash, driving isn't the only
way to get to campus. In addition
to car pooling, it may be cheaper to
take the CAT bus which runs from
Capital Campus to downtown
Harrisburg every day.
photo by Michael Starkey