Vol 33, No. 1
Finally Library of the Future to be Reality
Danielle C. Hollister &
Bradley Schlegel
Staff Writers
Penn State Harrisburg will finally
get a new library, thanks to $17.33
million in state capital budget funds,
which former Gov. Robert P. Casey
released on Jan. 13.
According to a statement released
by Penn State President Joab Thomas,
the college is planning a campaign to
raise an additional $2 million in pri
vate gifts to build the long-awaited
new facility.
The proposed 115,000-square
foot "Library of the Future" will fea
ture new technologies, an increased
number of books, journals, microfilm
and other information resources.
"It will include electronic ser
vices that will serve us well into the
21st century,".,Dr. Harold Shill, Di
rector of Library and Information Ser
vices said. "It will be a state-of-the-art
facility to accommodate new technol
ogy. We want to prepare for the in
crease in information through elec-
Ironic facilities, such as fiber-optics.
We will stress flexibility. We must be
.H Celebrates
lack History
onth
The Student Government
Association and Student Activities
Office of Penn State Harrisburg
Ate celebrating February as Black
History Month with performances
by K.J James, who performed on
the 7th, and Namu Lwanga who
will appear at noon February 22, in
the Gallery Lounge.
Namu Lwanga will relate the
cultural heritage of Africa through
storytelling, dance, song and mime.
She also uses a variety of
instruments in her performance
including the endango - an eight
stringed bowl lyre, the akogo/
katimba - a thumb piano and the
ndingidi - a tube fiddle.
The Race for Provost Begins
Jeff Wittmaier
Staff Writer
Provost and dean candidate Dr.
Robert W. Carrubba told faculty and
students in an open forum Jan. 23 that
a provost should maintain a visible
presence on the Penn State Harrisburg
campus, as well as being a strong
advocate for PSH concerns at
University Park.
Dr. Carrubba is the second of two
candidates for the position of provost
and dean of Penn State Harrisburg.
He is currently serving as provost and
vice chancellor at the University of
Wisconsin at Oshkosh, a position he
has held since 1991.
Dr. Carrubba discussed three pri
mary things that the provost at Penn
State Ilarrisburg has to do at this point
in time.
The first of these is maintain a
clearly visible presence on campus,
he said. The provost needs to spend a
lot of time on campus mingling with
the students, with the faculty and
people in administration. lie also said
that the person needs to find out what
people want to do with the campus.
"We need to be a university and
to have the feel and the look of one,
Carrubba said.
The provost also needs to be a
strong and agile representative of PSII
at University Park, Dr. Carrubba said.
"The people at University Park,
and I am speakin g from some experi
ence, do not understand what the mis
sion of a metropolitan campus is," Dr.
Carrubba said.
He served as associate dean of
ESEBEi
able to prepare for technologies we
can't yet comprehend, he said.
"We have a space crisis," he said.
"The current library was a patchwork
process. We have a medium-sized
library, and we need to expand that."
The overcrowded conditions of
the current library are not a new prob
lem. According to Dr. Shill, the li
brary became overcrowded in the mid
-1970's and the annex was built in
1978 as a "band-aid" to the problem.
Dr. Shill said the plans for the
new library will stress flexibility and
economy with the capability to handle
things that the school hasn't even
thought of yet. Some of the proposals
include more growth in on-line data
bases, four seminar rooms and two
classrooms, one of which would be a
multi-lingual classroom.
The Pennsylvania Department of
General Services will advertise for
bids for the construction of the project
and an architect should be chosen by
April 1995. Actual construction is
scheduled to begin in early 1997. The
projected completion date is spring
999, with the dedication and opening
n the summer of 1999.
14 1
Namu Lwanga
the graduate school for the Pennsylva
nia State University form 1981-1985.
Dr. Carrubba also taught at the uni
versity as an associate professor from
1%9-1974 and as a professor of clas
sics form 1974-1985.
The third thing that Dr. Cam►bba
thought was required was a standard
bearer and a fund-raiser in the greater
Harrisburg area.
"The position calls for someone
who will proudly display the flag of
Penn State Harrisburg and talk about
what it is you are doing and what you
have accomplished, because your ac
complishments have gone unnoticed
in the Harrisburg area," Dr. Cam►bba
said.
Dr. Camibba said that he felt that
the releasing of funds for the library
was a positive sign, but the need for a
person who would be a strong fund
raiser is very important.
Paying attention to some national
See "Carrubba" page 2
Current students had differing
reactions to the announcement.
"I think funding is good, but by
the time it's completed I won't be able
to benefit from it because I will have
already graduated," Allison Bowman,
a junior business major, said.
"This was something the univer
sity needed," said A.J. Arfanella, a
junior engineering major. "With the
current library doing any research is
Jeff Wittmaier
Staff Writer
Penn State Harrisburg Provost
candidate Dr. Marilyn J. Boxer pro
posed a concept of excellence beget
ting excellence at an open forum on
Monday, Jan. 16, in which staff, fac
ulty and students met with her to ask
questions.
In response to a question about
Gov. Torn Ridge's remark that a ma
jor university was needed in Harris
burg, Dr. Boxer, who is currently the
vice president of academic affairs at
San Francisco State University, ex
plained that there are many things that
can be done to get PSH the respect that
it deserves.
"If we treat the students well and
make them feel like they have a home
at Penn State Harrisburg, then they
will circulate that to their friends and
word will get around that we are a
really good school," Dr. Boxer said.
"We need to create a user friendly
environment. Penn State Harrisburg
has a lot of different types of students,
many who are returning adults or stu
dents who have to pay their own way
through college, if we can make it as
easy on them as possible then Penn
State Harrisburg will get more recog
nition from the community. What's
interesting is the small scale, create
linkages and get to know everyone,
that scale helps students learn better
and get to know the faculty."
Dr. Boxer said that this is a com
petitive market for higher education
and PSH needs to bring on a strong
sense of identity for the campus.
ii=!!!El
Artist's concept of the new library
difficult at best."
Shill pointed out that the new
facililty will have plenty of desk space
and should eliminate the current over
crowding of students looking for quiet.
"That's what sounds most appeal
ing to me," said junior engineering
major Gregg Wybranski. "I need peace
and quiet to study. I go [to Heindel] a
lot, but finding a seat can be difficult
sometimes."
t
44
.....,
The major point that Dr. Boxer
made was that "excellence brings in
excellence."
"If we provide the best of every
thing that we can and all the faculty
and the students to get the most out of
Penn State llarrisburg than we will be
breeding excellence," Dr. Boxer said.
"Penn State Harrisburg needs to
be more of a presence in the commu
nity," Dr. Boxer said: "The fact that
the money was released for the library
shows promise. If we could build a
great library, Penn State Harrisburg
will have a sense of presence that
community doesn't give us a t thi s
point."
Dr. Boxer has been a vice presi
dent at San Francisco State University
since 1989. Before that she was dean
of the college of arts and letters at San
Diego University from 1985-1989.
Dr. Boxer received her under
graduate degree in history from the
See "Boxer" on page 2
' A
Press Photo
Dr. Marilyn J. Boxer
Beth Ebersole, a junior commu
nications major, said, "I think it will
be an improvement to the school."
"I won't he here. I don't really
care," Michelle Smith, a junior husi
ness major, said.
According to Dr. Shill, the tuition
will probably not increase as a result
of the construction because it is funded
by the state capital budget. The uni
versity has been anticipating the fund
ing since 1977.
"It has been a slow and arduous
process," Shill said.
Gov. Casey signed the capital
budget bill on December 29, 1994,
which was two days before the end
.o''
0
0
0.
of-the-year deadline.
"We are deeply grateful that Gov.
Casey has made this commitment to
the future of the Capital Region, which
increasingly will depend on the qual
ity and capacity for service for its
leading university," Dr. Thomas said
in a statement released Jan. 13. "This
new facility will strengthen the part
nership between Penn State Harris
burg and southcentral Pennsylvania."
The new library may also offer
new employment opportunities as
Humanities Department
Mourns the Loss of Two
Dr. Robert G. Crist and Dr. Francis
L. Ferguson, both long-time members
of the Humanities department faculty,
died at the end of January.
Dr. Ferguson, 62, a professor of
humanities and architecture since
1971, died after a brief illness. The
author of several academic books on
architecture, Dr. Ferguson also served
as the chairman for the graduate pro
gram in urban and regional planning.
According to Dr. William J. Mahar,
head of the Humanities Division, Dr.
Ferguson's breadth of knowledge
made him an important asset to the
department.
"We will be hard pressed to replace
his courses in the history of architec-
tune, modern architecture, historic
preservation, modernism in the arts,
and many others," Mahar said. "But,
we will miss him the most as a person
whose quiet ways and subtle humor
made him such a good colleague."
Prior to joining the faculty at PSII,
Dr. Ferguson was a professor at Co
lumbia University's School of Archi
tecture, in New York City. Be re
ceived his bachelor's degree in archi
tecture from the University of Notre
Dame, and earned his doctorate from
Columbia University.
Dr. Ferguson also served with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
France, where he received an Army
Commendation for his work design
ing facilities for the selection ceremony
of the Unknown Soldier for World
?:,
SI
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~..
4
February 16, 1995
well. According to Dr. Shill, the li
brary has given up the position of
head of Technical Services and one
technical services clerk. The library
has been recruiting a Reference Li
brarian with perhaps a Government
Documents Specialty. If Penn State
Harrisburg becomes a Depository, a
government documents clerk would
also be needed.
The other positions include a spe
cial collections curator or librarian
and an engineering reference librar
"We are only now beginning to
address the question of jobs," Dr. Shill
But he said he would like to see
extra circulation assistants, full-time
staff supervising on evenings and
weekends, an outreach librarian to
address community needs and possi
bly on-line data-bases for the commu
nity on a per use charge.
The tentative location of the new
library is either across from the sci
ence and technology building directly
in front of the Olmsted building or
further up the hill toward the CUB
See "Library" page 2
Erik Mikael Hein
Reporter
War II Europe at the American
Cemetary and Memorial in Epinal.
Dr. Crist, 70, was a prominent local
historian and community leader who
taught American studies at PSII for 14
years. He was also the state coordina
tor of a Congress-sponsored educa
tion project on the U.S. Constitution
and the Bill of Rights. He held a
bachelor's degree from Dickinson
College and a masters and doctorate
We wIU miss him the most
Parann whose ' quiet ways an
übt'le humor made him such
ood eolleague."
Dr. Malin J. Aloha. on Dr. Fergus°
from Penn State
According to Dr. Mahar, Dr. Crist
was also very important to the depart
ment.
"We will miss his many eye witness
accounts of local politics, historical
facts about local towns and villages,
encouragement for students interested
in exploring their family histories, and
so many more little things characteris
tic of his learning and dedication to
history," Mahar said.
Also according to Dr. Mahar, Dr.
Crist, in later years, was noted in the
department for the support he gave his
son Jeff, who suffered from brain can-
This ".. . was an example of pater
nal love, Christian charity, and firm
See "Sad Times," page 3