Alumni and Special Events Office says that graduates will
have a student processional in the May 1997 ceremony
Dear Editor,
In response to your
"Student processional should
remain a part of commence
ment" letter "From the desk
of the Editor" in the January
23 issue of The Capital
Times, please allow the col -
lege to share some relevant
graduation ceremony infor
mation with your readers.
We wholeheartedly
agree that the student proces
s ional is an important part of
the stately display and
splendor surrounding our
commencement ceremonies .
Students will have the
opportunity to process as a
class to Elgar's "Pomp and
Circumstance" on May 18.
On December 14, an
unfortunate series of events
preempted the student pro
cessional. As a result of
facility-related factors
beyond Penn State
Harrisburg's control we were
unable to safely accommodate
and effectively organize hun
dreds of graduates in precise
marching order. The large
room we used in the past, and
will continue to use in the
future, was temporarily ren
dered unsafe by a major
remodeling effort. The facili -
ty owners were most apolo
getic and generously offered
alternative indoor space, but
the space was too small for
our needs. An outdoor
assembly option was not con-
Student says Ebonies: language, yes;
but not the answer for quality
education
Ebonics? What's that?
Ebonics is the term
chosen to describe the lan-
guage spoken by many
African Americans in the
United States.
The term first came
into vogue last year when the
Oakland, California school
board attempted to recognize
Ebonies as an "official lan-
guage" in order to underscore
the need to modify the teach
ing methods of standard
English to children who speak
Ebonics at home.
The announcement by
the Oakland school hoard
sparked national debate on
several fronts.
Is Ebonics a valid lan
guage?
In fact, language is
defined in the dictionary as
"a system of words ... used
by the people of a particular
country or by a group of
people wi th a shared
history or set of tradi -
so widespread as to warrant t ions ."
Is the use of Ebonics
sidered due to winter weather
conditions
When Penn State
Harrisburg leases a gradua
tion ceremony facility, a com
plicated array of factors
influence the contracting
process. Facility availabili -
ty, guest seating, accessibili
ty issues, parking, procession
assembly areas, lobby space,
and other factors, combine to
determine overall suitability.
For example, consider the
guest seating factor. While
maintaining student concerns
as a priority, past experi
ences have demonstrated that
approximately seven seats are
needed for each graduating
student —one seat for the
graduate and six for guests.
Any time we have five or
fewer guest seats per gradu
ate, seats are rationed
through a ticket system. This
rationing system results in
personal hardships for many
students.
With 502 graduates
eligible to participate in the
December 14 ceremonies,
approximately 3,500 total
seats were needed to avoid
rationing tickets. Only the
Hershey Arena (7,200 seats)
and the Farm Show Main
Arena (7,600) can accommo
date that many people during
one ceremony. The other
local choices are multiple
ceremonies in our own Capital
Union Gymnasium (1,200),
The Forum (1,900), Hershey
in public schools
special instruction for stu-
dents?
Is this language so
different from standard
English that it can be consid
ered a "foreign" language?
More important than
the question of whether or
not Ebonics is a language i s
the fact that this is debated
at all.
There are no legal or
constitutional qualifications
for the recognition of a lan
guage. Nor are there any
guidelines to which a lan
guage must adhere.
Theatre (1,900), Zembo
Temple (2,400), and Founders
Hall (2,700).
Among the possible
facility selections, the
Hershey Theatre satisfied the
most requirements and was
subsequently contracted for
our two December 14, 1996
and two May 18, 1997 cere-
monies.
The contract process
for the 1997-98 ceremonies
will be revisited this semes
ter, part of which will
include a formal direct-mail
opinion survey of the
Summer/Fal 1997 and Spring
1998 graduating students.
The results will be incorpo-
rated into the factors influ
encing our facility contract-
ing process.
All students, faculty,
staff and friends of the col-
lege are invited to share their
commencement ceremony
thoughts with the Alumni and
Special Events office at their
convenience. I can be
reached directly by telephon
ing (717) 948-6272, faxing
(717) 948-6470, emailing
jum4@psu.edu or visiting
WlO6 Olmsted
Best wishes for a suc-
cessful semester and congrat
ulations on your upcoming
graduation
Sincerely,
James R. Maim, Coordinator
Alumni and Special Events
African Americans
certainly fit the category of a
people with a shared history.
However, simply by
giving Ebonics a name,
Oakland opened up the doors
to a controversy surrounding
its validity as a language.
Let's get back to the
real issue - the quality of our
educational system.
Oakland is on the
right track. The debate over
whether Ebonics is a language
should be put to rest so that
we can concentrate on what's
really important: how to
improve the education our
children receive.
Deb Ma 11 e k
Humani ties/Commmi cations
VIEWPOINT
There's no
crying for
"Evita"
Christopher R. Stotz
Staff Reporter
"Evita," winner of
three Golden Globe Awards,
has proven to be the incredi
ble epic film that Hollywood
has been hyping up for the
past year.
With just a few minor
flaws, "Evita,” along with it's
powerful music by Andrew
Lloyd Webber and shining
stars delivers an emotional
and entertaining story about
a girl who won Argentina over
with her beautiful smile and
great taste for Paris fashions.
The film itself is a
eorizeous piece of work with
the lighting and colors being
very intense in nature.
Director Alan Parker did a
fantastic job bringing "Evita"
to the silver screen from the
broadway stage where it
began.
The funeral of Eva
Peron at both the beginning
and end of the film is incred
ible wit thousands of extras
reinacting the historical
event.
Parker's past films
include "Mississippi
Burning" which was nominat
ed for seven Academy Awards
including best director.
"Evita" has been nominated
for five Golden Globes this
year including best director.
Other Alan Parker
films include "Fame," "Pink-
Floyd- The Wall" and "The
Commitments." None of these
films have grabbed the
world's attention like his lat
est effort, "Evita." It's not
just Parker and his brilliant
eye for directing that have
brought "Evita" its wel l
deserved success thus far.
The stars also aid in its
results.
Madonna's perfor
mance as Eva Peron is
impressive and convincing.
Her Golden Globe Award for
"Fierce Creatures" provides f ei
ift : l
.
a comedic version of
•
violent entertainment
Nicole Lynn Meck
Staff Reporter
Willa Weston played by
Jamie Lee Curtis is a corpo
rate executive who finally
has found her dream job.
Or at least until she
discovers Rod McCain has
sold the division she was to
begin working at
Meanwhile back the
Maywood Zoo, Rollo Lee
played the hysterical John
Cleese has instituted a
"fierce creatures" policy.
The zoo will only have
creatures which provide vio
lent entertainment. No soft,
cute and cuddly creatures for
it.
revolt. If Rolb will not keep
the creatures, then he has to
shoot them...... This gives a
whole new meaning to multi -
Move
teVia\ndb°
The zoo keepers
Antonio Banderas (left) stars as Che, and Madonna (right)
stars as Eva Peron in Hollywood Pictures7Cinergi Pictures
"Evita." The film chronicles the brief, but dynamic life of a
young Argentine woman (played by Madonna) who rises
from humble beginnings to become one of the most pow
erful women in the world.
best actress is well deserved.
Throughout the film, I wasn't
all that surprised with
Madonna's portrayal of Eva.
Her singing is beautiful and
her dancing is phenomenal.
And yes, Madonna is glam
ourous and striking through
out the film. But, we already
know that Madonna can do all
of those things. That's why
she has been so successful
for so long.
It wasn't until
Madonna's death scenes at the
conclusion of the movie where
she really let go and proved
that she had the talents of
acting within her soul. She
was absolutely moving and
fantastic. I never though
Madonna could be so believ
able in a film. It's uncanny!
Hats off to her. Madonna
worked hard for two years on
this film and the results
reflect her determination.
Antonio Banderas as
Che does another incredible
job. His singing isn't so bad
and he was very emotional
and passionate about what he
was singing.
Though, Che, in the
film version of "Evita" is the
narrator and to many audi-
ence members that seemed a
little unclear at first.
Banderas is in just about
every scene yet you never get
tired of seeing him. He glows
and makes you feel what is
going on. Through the entire
film Antonio Banderas is
excellent and his nomination
for a Golden Globe for best
actor is also well deserved.
Johnathan Pryce as
Juan Peron was, in my opin
ion, the most convincing and
striking in the entire film.
His facial expressions and
eye movements were powerful
p le sleeping partners. And
now the fun begins.
Willa and Vince McCain
(Kevin Kline) come to zoo to
help run it. Nothing in
McCain's Empire is allowed to
show a profit margin of less
than twenty percent.
Vince has his own
ideas about making money at
the Marwood zoo.
Curtis is an attractive
actress who knows when and
how to use what she has. This
fact is very evident in Fierce
Creatures.
Curtis has played a
variety of characters thru the
years but Fierce Creatures
makes the most of her tal-
Cleese will have you
laughing from the time you
see him on the screen. He
makes the character real. You
CAPTIMES, February 13, 1997
and his singing voice was
absolutely beautiful. Pryce
did a brilliant job and packed
this musical with the emotion
that Madonna and Antonio
Banderas may have not had
the capacity to contribute.
Pryce's singing i s
soft, yet commanding, which
is perfect for the character of
Juan Peron. It's a shame he
was overlooked for a Golden
Globe. Hopefully, the
Academy Awards won't forget
about him. The audience sure
won't.
Helping to make this
musical a success is the fact
that the music was written by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and
the lyrics by Tim Rice. And,
for "Evita," they reunited
after decades of being apart
to compose a new song for the
film, "You Must Love Me,"
which was an instant hit sung
by Madonna. The new song
won a Golden Globe for best
song in a motion picture.
Overall, this movie is
definitely worth the price of
admission. "Evita" deserves
the three Golden Globes it has
received including best pic
ture and the Academy
Awards look promising.
Audiences around the world
seem to be ready for the first
musical in nearly 20 years.
"Evita" is breaking
box office records and is
pleasing the toughest of crit
ics. It is a serious musical
that will make you laugh and
cry and make you want to see
it again and again.
Most importantly,
"Evita" has Hollywood
singing again
"EVITA"
could just imagine the zoo
manager shooting the ani-
Kline keeps the show on
the road by doing the impos
sible. You begin to wonder if
he watched one of your co
workers for inspiration for
the role. He is forever trying
to get one over.
The rest of the cast in
Fierce Creatures is just as
entertaining to watch.
Carey Lowell takes a
break from the seriousness of
Law and Order, to play Cub
Felines.
She shows that it pos
sible to be funny, cute and
fierce at the same time.
Bugsy Malone (Michael
Palin) gives a new meaning to
doing what it takes to keep
one's job.
MY GRADE FOR
- A.