Wilson Worked Under Martial Law in Poland as Professor
Diana lacono
Staff Writer
A member of Penn State Harrisburg's
humanities faculty taught in Poland during
martial law and the Chernobyl disaster.
Dr. Matthew Wilson, who is in his fourth
year at PSH, taught American literature at the
University of Lodz from 1984 to 1986 during
the period of martial law, strict military rule.
He said he was probably the only person in
Poland who did not have an American spon
sor.
"We all knew that there were students
who had been contacted by the secret police to
report on us," Wilson said.
"We also 'knew that oar Ph'—es were hogged.
We just took it for granted that we were hein,g
watched"
Wilson remembered a friend who was
having a conversation with his mother. When
his friend hung up the phone, it rang back and
the conversation was playing.
"It wasn't the secret police screwing up,"
Wilson said. "It was the secret police letting us
PSH Staffer Enjoys Radio Programming From 1940's & 50's
Dorsey Meredith
Staff Writer
A blast from the radio past gives enjoy
ment to a member of Penn State Harrsisburg
audio visual services staff.
At home whenever time permits, Peter
DeHart of Middletown plays the radio pro
gramming of the 1940 s and 19505. Mr. DeHart,
Penn State Harrisburg's Instructional Services
scheduler, said that having the radio programs
from the 1940 s and 1950 s brings back a time
in society that he likes.
"It was quality radio programming, which
reflected what society was all about 45 to 50
years ago," he said.
Radio programs from the early 1940 s to
the mid-1950s dealt with history, drama, com
edy, feature and quiz shows. DeHart said he
first got hooked on old radio programming by
his friend Henry Koretzky of the Heindel
Library.
"Henry is a wonderful information re
source and so when we talked about radio,
Henry led me in the right direction, telling me
where I could find old radio programming,"
DeHart said.
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Dr. Eugenia Fernandez
burg
School of Business Administration added a
full-time professor of information systems to
its faculty for fall 1994.
Dr. Eugenia Fernandez joined PSH as the
27th full-time faculty member in Business
Administration.
Dr. Fernandez, who has a Ph.D. in man
agement information systems from Purdue
University, said she hopes to combine her
research interests in computers with her desire
to teach.
"I like to continue learning things, and
know they were watching."
During Wilson's last semester at
Lodz, after replacing a Fultright lecturer,
the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl occurred.
"We got hit on the second day, the
northeast end of Poland got hit on the first
day," Wilson said. "The plume went up to
Scandinavia and came south."
One of the biggest concerns came
after the disaster, he said. They weren't
allowed to eat vegetables or meat.
"There was a good deal of drunken
hysteria," Wilson said. "The Polish knew
there was nothing they could do about it."
Because there were no instruments to
measure the amount of radiation, the ex
act amount released into the atmosphere
was unknown
"Nobody knows what the conse
quences of that are going to be," Wilson
said. "One of the greatest ironies of my
life is that every day when I come to
school, I go by Three Mile Island."
Despite the strict martial law in Po
land, Wilson said he did not feel restricted
in the classroom.
"The teaching was a lot of fun," he
"It only took a few
shows," he said, add
ing, "It was love at first
sight."
Dehart collects a
variety of 1940 s and
1950 s radio programs,
such as "The Halls of
Ivy," which is his fa
vorite drama/comedy
piece about a univer
sity, and "City of the
Dead," a thriller bit.
Comedy programs such
as "Fibber McGee and
Molly," or programs
with a little bit of com
edy and drama like 'The
Halls of Ivy," are fa
vored most by him. He
tries to stay away from mystery programs,
even though he admits to liking — The Shadow."
Along with the variety radio program
ming from the 1940 s and 19505, Dehart enjoys
Fernandez joins PSH as new
information systems professor
John Zimmerman
Staff Writer
with teaching one gets to try different things all
the time," she said. "One can set (her) own
classes and what would be done "
The
Penn
State
Harris-
She expresses her commitment to teach
ing with a comment to PSH students: "My
door is always open."
Dr. Fernandez' research interests include
computer anxiety, database management sys
tems, user involvement in application and de
velopment and expert systems.
She tries to assess whether or not expo
sure to a computer literacy class, or exposure
to computers reduces or increases a person's
anxiety, she explained.
Dr. Fernandez also has a background in
engineering. She has a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from Worcester Poly-
PSH Crime Da
for 1994 Release
Total Crimes reported on campus were
down this year, while total arrests for most
crimes increased proportionately, according
to recent crime data released for the campus.
The figures, compiled annually by the
Penn State Harrisburg police in accordance
with state law, listed a total of 128 offenses
that occurred on campus in 1994. That number
is down from 177 in 1993.
Decreases in incidents were reported in
most categories, including larceny theft
(excluding motor vehicles), which dropped
from 56 occurrences in 1993, to 41 in 1994.
There were no robberies reported in 1994,
down from three in 1993.
The data also shows a significant decrease
in the occurrences of vandalism on campus,
down to 16, from 1993's 23, and in disorderly
conduct complaints, down five from last year's
29.
New complaints on campus included one
charge of sex offense, as well as one charge
Cathy Nolan
Staff Writer
Features
the music shows of the Big Bands during
those times. He said these music shows
describe society during World War 11.
"There are some people that are inter-
technic Institute. In addition, she also has a
master's degree in computer, information,
and control engineering from the University
of Michigan.
She worked as a fire protection engineer
for about 2 1/2 years. She traveled the state of
Michigan, inspecting plants ranging from car
manufacturing to food processing.
"I inspected industrial plants for fire
safety in terms of plant and property," Dr.
Fernandez said. "I have to admit that I tend
not to eat hot dogs now because I inspected a
processing plant."
Dr. Fernandez, who is a native of north
ern New Jersey, was an assistant professor at
Butler University in Indianapolis before com
ing to Penn State Harrisburg.
each of driving under the influence, and
violation of state liquor laws.
Campus police chief Charles Aleksy
said the amount of closed cases decreased by
one, from 41 to 40. Since there were fewer
incidents this year, however, the ratio of
closed complaint files is higher than in 1993.
While 23 percent of the complaints filed in
1993 ended with the identification of a
suspect, 31 percent were completed and
closed in 1994.
Aleksy said all the "Peeping Tom"
incidents filed at the end of last semester
were figured as one incident, under "other
offenses."
Aleksy also said •the driving under the
influence charges . were thrown out of court
at the end of last year by the presiding
district justice.
Those charges will be refiled, with
supervision by the district attorney's office,
Aleksy said.
said. "The Polish education system was
very, very good. In a lot of ways better
than America's."
The students worked hard and their
classes were taught in English, so it was
tough for them at first, he said. But by
the end of their four to five-year pro
gram, they spoke well.
The government kept the students
in the classroom for 35 hours a week,
Wilson said. They did not want them to
get involved in politics.
"It was also sad because in those
days, it was very, very difficult, for
them to get out of Poland," he explained.
The teaching there was also in
tense, he said. In his Elizabethan drama
class, the students were reading two
plays a week.
Before teaching in Poland, Wilson
taught at King Saud University in
Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.
"I really wanted to see what things
were like in a culture that was really
different," Wilson said.
Saudi Arabia was extremely re
strictive compared to the West. There
ested in the old shows when you talk about
them, however they don't make an effort to
go out and get them," said DeHatt.
He believes that a lot of people would be
interested in old radio programs, but are just
too consumed with modem radio and televi-
DeHart also thinks that listening to old
radio programming might be helpful to chil
dren.
"Children could learn more about soci
ety and life from history and would learn by
listening how to use the imagination," he said
of the radio programs.
There is not enough creativity happening
in today's radio, and it tends to be less thought
provoking, DeHart said.
"With today's emphasis on talk radio,
we don't have to use our imagination," he
said. "When listening to old radio program
ming from the 1940 s and 19505, I can visual
ize what characters look like."
Along with the lack of imagination, he
said that moral values are not as present in
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was no alcohol, no entertainment and no mov-
"It felt like being in jail," he said
When he received his first leave, he trav
eled to Cyprus, Italy, and Greece. It was there
he met his wife, Marjan van Schaik, who is
from The Netherlands.
Wilson's students say he keeps fairly quiet
about his international experiences, but many
knew of them.
"Wilson's personal experiences are pro
vided as an aside, rather than a focus, to the
critical material he discusses in his classes,"
said Audra Bingaman, a graduate student.
Senior Kelly Jean Morrow explained, "It
is a great benefit to the student body to have a
professor exposed to other cultures through
personal experience. His ability to share this
with his students allows them to gain an in
sight that they would not have without such a
culturally enlightened professor."
Before coming to PSH, Wilson was the
associate director of the writing program at
Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Wilson's current projects include a
planned book on the African-American writer
Charles W. Chestnut.
today's radio programming as was the case in
the old radio days.
Although DeHart respects the current era
of communication technology, he does not
want to forget where it all began.
"Satellite and television have a place in
society, but also I think there is a place for
looking and stepping back and seeing how we
progressed into this age, in exchange for pro
grams and information," he said.
"That place is with radio programs from
the 1940 s and 19505," DeHart said.
There are people who are aware of Mr.
DeHart's radio programming, including PSH's
radio assistant, Greg Smith.
"I think that Peter's radio programming is
unique in the fact that he is preserving the
past," Smith said.
DeHart explained that he obtains his radio
programs from many different sources, in
cluding clubs, dealers and flea markets.
"If you have the time to look for materials
relating to old radio shows, the rewards can be
fascinating," he said.
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