Discover the meaning behind some Chinese traditions in Makito Yurita's column. -page 7 PSH, PennDOT, Conrail have signals crossed by Devin Graham There is an accident waiting to happen at Penn State Harrisburg. Between cars flying by and impatient students waiting to start home, the entrance to the school is danger ous at best. Unfortunately the seemingly simple task of putting up a traffic light has taken up more time and energy than some college careers. For years the school has been trying to get a light put in at the intersection of Route 230 and College Avenue. Some time ago Penn State hired a consulting firm to determine if a traffic light was actually needed. The firm ran a number of tests and concluded that a traffic control device was indeed warranted. Our neighbors at the Capitol Business Cen ter were so thrilled with this news that they offered to split the installation cost with the school. Plans were drawn up and submitted to the township. This was done because route 230 is a township road. The township, after care- ful consideration, was in agreement with PSH and supported the installation of the light. Finally the plans were submitted to the de- Scheduling problems raised Faculty Senate, Academic Council pass on action by Dan Zehr Despite problems encountered by many students, the Capital Campus Faculty Senate and the Academic Council decided not to take action on scheduling concerns at their joint meeting, Wed., Feb. 18. However, Dr. John Bruhn, Capital Campus provost and dean, suggested department heads avoid scheduling 75 minute class pe riods Monday and Friday. "We are here to serve the students," he said. It is a matter of professionalism, Bruhn added. He continued: "I strongly endorse the Mon day, Wednesday, Friday (M/W/F), 50 minute schedule. I will keep an eye on this." The faculty and staff should address any problems the students have. John Segnor, a Student Government Asso ciation representative, raised the issue at the Feb. 4 faculty senate meeting after surveys and students alike revealed problems with class scheduling. Many students are unable to take certain electives because of the ex tended 75 minute length. Four students even transferred to other schools so they could complete their education on schedule, accord ing to Segnor. A Noel-Levitz report confirmed schedul- See the new sports page and Matthew Bowman's column featuring Kyle Brady. -page 5 partment of transportation. This happened last fall. Penn DOT's brainchild then launched their own fact finding mission and came up with the same results that Penn State, the consult ing firm and even unskilled students had come up with months earlier. We need a light at the main entrance of the school. But there was a catch. The problem lies with a section of railroad track that crosses route 230. If this section of track is left in place, several expensive pieces of safety equipment will need to be installed. This should not sound unreason able except that the track is no longer in use. If this section were removed, the installation costs would decrease dramatically. Conrail and the owners of the said section of track are currently in negotiations. How ever, deliberations have taken quite awhile. Penn State has already removed the track on its property so the last section is not vital to the rail road industry. Once a decision is made, the light will be installed. When that will be, no one seems to know. ing is a problematic area. The fall '97 re port listed, "I am able to register for classes I need with few conflicts," as one of the 10 worst deficiencies at PSH. The satisfac tion gap was 1.54. Anything more than 1.50 indicated an item with which the institu tion was not meeting expectations, the study reported. "This is a serious problem for a lot of stu dents," Segnor said. "Some students can't graduate on time because they can't sched ule a class they need." Some have found "creative" ways around this problem. Devin Graham, a humani ties major, summed up his approach: "I have classes scheduled like that. I leave one seven and a half minutes early and get to the other seven and a half minutes late." Guidelines were set to avoid such "solu tions" when PSH converted to the current semester format in the fall of 1983. The plan was to set M/W/F day periods at 50 minutes. "No policy has been introduced since to repeal or change that guideline," said Segnor. However, these are only guidelines de signed to provide a framework for sched- Please see Schedules on page 4 arrisburg Campus Racism found on campus, investigation Two Black Student Union fliers defaced by Dan Zehr Two Black Student Union signs were found defaced at Penn State Harrisburg Sunday, Feb. 15, and Monday, Feb. 16. A member of the BSU found a paper list ing their meeting hours with the "f -word" written on it outside the elevator on the third floor. The next day, another member discov ered one of their posters marred with the "n -word" on the bulletin board outside E 258. The picture was also defiled. The students removed the material and re ported the incidents to Felicia Brown- Haywood, manager of the Student Assistance Center. She immediately began working on a report for the Environmental Response Team. Normally the ERT, a leg of the Educational Equity and Diversity Committee, would do an immediate investigation of the incident. In this case, however, Brown-Haywood chose to first interview and discuss the matter with the students who found the material. This semester marked the beginning of the construction to the Science and Technology Building at PSH (above). The new wing, which is being funded solely by outside donations, will accommodate the environmental engineering community, offering new, state-of-the art technologies to Capital College students. Why are textbooks so expensive? Rick Deitz tracks the pricing process. -page 2 1 ~. ......., .. .. .. ... ..:...„... . . . . . . . .. . . .. : .., . .: ..:. .... ... is underway Those students who she talked with ex pressed some concern for their safety, she explained. They are also "enlisting other groups to write a statement against this act." After the report on the interviews was fin ished, it was forwarded to the rest of the team, Brown-Haywood said. The other members of the team are Don Holtzman, Steve Hevner, George Young, Steve Backles, Dorothy Guy and Kevin Stoehr. They will turn in a final report to John Bruhn, Capital Campus provost and dean, after an intensive, 24-hour investigation, ac cording to Brown-Haywood. However, at press time they had no leads, she reported. The Olmsted Building is a public building, she explained, and it is hard to know who comes in and out. Bruhn confirmed the doors are locked from midnight to 6 a.m. But dur ing the rest of the day there is open access. Bruhn said he strongly supports diversity at the school, and the committe will have his "full ear." If any PSH student or employee is found guilty of any discrimination, they will be "dismissed immediately," he warned. Please see "Diversity" on page 4.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers