The Penn State Harrisburg Vol. 30, No. 2 University admits that rape actually VIOLENCE:..statIs The Brutal tics 111 At least 2 million to 4 Million women are physically abused each year. •violerice Is the second leading must) of injuries to all women and the leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 , through 44. percent of women killed in the United States die at the hands of a hsb d u an or boyfriend a Haif of all murders _ _ are Committed by husband or boyfrjend, a The federal Bureau of I ` ( 1 3ffloe of dire Sur9eon en v : 61 l t' r ofa a the ::::::::::.:;`: 11; .S. Public Health Library delayed by funding Crowding at the Heindel Library will continue for the next three years until Penn State Harrisburg receives long-awaited state funding. But library officials work to conserve space. Once the university receives the $17.33 million, the new library will be a "focal point for the community," said Dr. Harold Shill, head of division of library and information services. "It will help develop a greater sense of campus here, one of the things we're lacking," Shill said. Plans for the new library - to be located across from the Olmsted and Science & Technology buildings - include instructional classrooms with a lab and carrels equipped for laptop computers to hook up to outside services. The new library will also be capable of advanced telecommunication capabilities, Shill said. Four new LIAS terminals with printers will also be installed into the library by the end of this semester. One existing terminal will be moved into the general reading room, and another in the periodicals room. Steps have been taken to reduce overcrowding in the library, Shill said. For example, 40 percent of the library's least-used pre-1980 journals are being stored in off-campus buildings. Shill added that 90 sections of single-spaced shelving was added, and a faculty lounge was removed. PSH is also the first in line to receive shelving from the Penn State Behrend Campus library which just opened, Shill said. A benefit was held on Sept. 18, 1993 for the new library. It was a dinner/dance which entertained 150 people. Over $20,000 was raised, all of which will be used for PSH's new library, Shill said. 'e will be seeking input from all sectors of the community...on the building to make sure that we have something which is both responsive to the needs of the Penn State Harrisburg community in the future and is something which will be accepted and owned by the people who are here," Shill said. Faculty burning mad: administration firejumping Susan Jones-Yurkiewicz Capital Times Staff The provost has moved to cool tempers and put out brush fires whipped up by faculty frustrated over her administrative leadership. Provost Ruth Leventhal announced procedures for improving communications between . the faculty and her administration at the open forum for faculty on Oct. 19. Leventhal also announced the formation of a committee to work out plans for a full faculty retreat. The faculty and the administration have experienced a crisis of ineffective communication, Leventhal said. She proposed regular faculty meetings and regular open hours when she will be available in her office to speak with faculty. Leventhal will also create a team to advise her on ways to improve the communication situation. "I look forward to an attitudinal rennaissance," Leventhal said. Leventhal met with the humanities division faculty on Oct 7 to ease the tensions that erupted over tenure issues. Leventhal agreed to a proposal by Troy Thomas, associate professor of humanities, that she consult with the division tenure committees in cases where her judgement differed from that of the other campus committees before rendering her final decision. Stacey L. Rodin Capital Times Reporter Dawn Kopecki Capital Times Reporter A Sept. 20 assault is now being investigated as a rape after University Police Services located and interviewed the victim, a female student, police said. The victim was allegedly attacked while walking to her car on the upper parking lot, between Olmstead Building and the Capital Union Building, at about 12:30 p.m. According to police, the unidentified attacker grabbed the student from behind, blindfolded her and then dragged her between two parked cars where he raped her and then fled. The incident occurred within 5 to 20 minutes, police estimated. The victim could only provide sketchy information about her attacker, describing him as a white male in his 20s who was 6-feet tall wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. No weapon was seen, police said. The victim drove home and waited until the following morning to seek a rape examination at Campus Assault A female student was assaulted Saturday, October 23, at' approximately 3:15 a.m. between Church and Wrisberg Halls, the second assault one month, according to Police Services. The female student was coming from a party at Meade Heights when a man jumped out from behind the bushes and grabbed her. The female screamed and kicked before the attacker fled, according to the police report. The sketchy description of the attacker resembles that of the unidentified attacker who raped a student on campus Sept. 20. The victim described the man to police services as a six foot, white male of medium biuld, with brows curly hair. He was wearing a blue button down shirt, and blue-jeans, according to the police report. Even though the description resembles that of the unidentified attacker acued of raping a female student Sept. 20, Police services are calling the two incidents "uarelated," according to Officer John Lescisko, Poice Services. Plans for the faculty retreat are in the early stages, but some faculty members said the motivation for it is to boost sagging faculty morale. PSH faculty are angry and frustrated over Leventhal's administrative tactics. Faculty members have said that her management style is more appropriate for a corporation, not an academic institution. In an earlier interview, Thomas said that Leventhal is more concerned with the opinion of University Park than she is with the opinion on the PSH campus. Other faculty have accused her of "number crunching" and "bean counting." Faculty members have translated their anger into bitter humor, as expressed by a one page memo of bitter jokes currently circulating. "What is the one quotation from Goethe that best sums up most administrative decisions? There is nothing more dangerous than ignorance in action." "How can you spot the Dean of Faculty at graduation? He is your only colleague you have not seen since August" The faculty's frustration was exposed during a visit to campus by Dr. John Brighton, provost of the university Dr. Theodora Graham, Associate Professor of Humanities and English, summed up the faculty's sentiments when she said, "I feel like a serf on the 18th century Russian Estate which is on fire. The overseer can't be found and the czarina is at a meeting telling people everything is fine." Michele Loeper Capital Times Reporter Lancaster General Community Hospital, police said. An anonymous caller, later identified as a nurse at the hospital, reported the rape by phone that same day, police said. Hours later, the university's community relations department posted fliers in the dorms and classroom buildings that police had received second-hand, unconfirmed information that a student was "accosted in the central part of the PSH campus." "We report the facts, not hearsay information," said University Police Chief Charles Aleksy last Friday. "We didn't want to cause a scare in the community." Although the reported rape had been confirmed about a week later, the university community relations department and police services wouldn't discuss details until The Capital Times filed a public disclosure request Oct. 15. In a written response, university officials declined to release the information claiming that the public disclosure law only applies to state agencies and Penn State is not a state institution. Instead, the Statue vandalized Matt Hunt Capital Times Staff Barbarism won over higher culture at PSH when someone vandalized a newly dedicated statue on campus. Ironically, the degrading act emphasized the point the sculptor was making with the statue. The statue, located behind the Olmsted Building, was dedicated on Oct. 11. The statue was of three figures: a man, a woman, and a child. The man held a polygon in his hand. Troy Thomas, associate professor of humanities and art, said the polygon symbolized unity. The sculptor, Oliver LaGrone, was present at the dedication. Toxic waste in Heights Ricardo Duarte Capital. Times Reporter You wake up in the morning and turn on the faucet to start your day by brushing your teeth, shaving, taking a shower, or perhaps just drinking a glass of water. But did you ever stop to think of what was in the water you use so routinely or that its contents could be hazardous to your health? The Meade Heights was used by the Air Force from 1956 to 1963 to dispose of unknown types of waste. The area has been one of the many sites on the Enviromental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Superfund list for cleanup since 1985. In 1984 it was determined there was a degree of contamination in the water system of PSH, which was concentrated in the stream that runs around campus and near Meade Heights. Since then, the Air Force has taken action to clean up the water system with an Air Stripping Tower. "The stripping method cleaned up the contaminants in the water without any possible damage to the soil," stated Associate Provost for Administrative Operations James South. "In addition, the EPA will continue to monitor minor levels of lead and zinc present in the stream around Meade Heights, which don't pose any kind of threat to the residential community at PSH." South stressed that there were no signs of toxic contaminants found anywhere on PSH property, least of all T.C.E. (one of the major water pollutants identified in the Middletown area back in Students react tos impending parking ,fee .. ..........2 PSH faculty vents frustration 5 Open your mind to diversity •..6 Horrifying Halloween home videos 7 occured school is considered a state-related agency because a only a portion of its budget rellies on public funding. State Sen. Richard Tilghman, R- Montgomery County, has introduced legislation to amend the College and University Security Information Act that would allow the release of such information. Meanwhile, Aleksy said that he doesn't have any leads on the suspect. He added that the department is understaffed and that he is the sole investigating officer. University Police Services is not receiving help from outside police agencies. No other rapes have been reported in Lower Swatara or Middletown townships since the incident occurred, he said. PSH spokeswoman Mary Anne van Arsdale said that escort service calls haven't increased since the incident. Escorts are available at 938-6232 from 6 to 11:30 p.m. Anyone with information about the incident should call police at 948-6232 or community relations at 948-6029. "He explained that, the polygon symbolized unity and that man hasn't achieved it yet. If he (man) had, then the man would be holding a sphere, which would be a symbol of true unity," Thomas said. Thomas explained that LaGrone was a member of PSH faculty in the 70s. The tragedy of this, Thomas said, is that it happened to the work of such a great man. "He is one of the most caring people I've ever known. And now this happens to him," Thomas said. "My colleague Linda Ross was in the Lion's Den and over heard two students joking about how funny it was that the polygon was stolen. She was enraged," Thomas said. Additional sites named in the 1985 Superfund list include: Lisa Lake, a residential area west of campus; a fire/emergency training pit west of the runway at the Harrisburg International Airport, just south of campus; two incineration areas near the taxiways at the airport, the Sunset Golf Course south o f Middletown and an area of Fruehauf, just north of campus. University officials stated that contaminated locations will spend 'We shall not gather at the river The stream running along the Meade Heights Residence Area is not a place to frolic, since the campus was used as a toxic waste dump while serving as an airforce base. Despite recent clean ups of escaping waste around the campus area, PSH officials claim that Meade Heights residents are in no danger. October 25, 1993 Ernest K. Dishner Dishner resigns Matt Hunt Capital Times Reporter Associate Provost and Dean of Faculty Ernest K. Dishner resigned last week. A memo written by Provost Ruth Leventhal, dated Oct. 20, informed the college community of the resignation, which is effective at the end of the academic year. The memo stated that Dishner resigned for "personal reasons." The memo also stated that a search committee will be convened to find a replacement as soon as possible. (Dishner's resignation) came as total surprise," Simon Bronner, professor of American Studies and Folklore said. Bronner was on the search committee that selected Dishner for the post of Associate Provost approximately four years ago, Bronner said. The Capital Times became aware of Dishner's resignation on the evening of Oct. 20. The Capital Times has been unable to reach Dishner for comment at this time. an estimated $4 million over the next 10-12 months to clean up and meet safety requirements. The University's share of the $4 million will be spent towards the EPA's testing of the stream around Meade Heights to make sure the area remains within safety regulations. "The Army Core of Engineers will spend some of the money on developmental testing, t o determine whether or not the Fruehauf area is clear of the contamination," explained South. Photo by Michael Starkey
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