The Capital Times Visiting Professor Addresses Women's Issues in China Continued from Page 1 called Hand-in-Hand. This matches girls in rural and urban areas who are often as young as five. They cor respond and send materials to en courage each other with their schooling. Educational advances even extend to the college level. Chinese women now account for 36 percent of the student body. Apart from education and em ployment, family planning contin ues to be a concern for women in Chen’s homeland. In an effort to control population, the Chinese government is has mandated that couples may have only one child. This policy should help to eliminate poverty and make housing, educa tion, transportation, and medical care more widely available. Although Chen is most familiar with the impact of these issues on women in her homeland, she be lieves concerns about education and employment are universal. “I hope my friends and other women will become independent economically and psychologically,” she said. “If you are independent, you can be confident and live a better life. If you don’t take the chance to be independent, who knows what will happen to you?” Chen’s role as a mother has made her sensitive to the importance of home and family, but she believes that is not her sole responsibility. “I have to do something outside the family, whether it is to teach or do research. I have to develop and train myself,” she said. Chen obtained her master’s de gree in 1993 in lexicography, which is the study of dictionary making, and lexicology, which examines the history and origin of words. She is also helping to develop a foreign language teaching program. “I teach my students English,” she explained, “and I am trying to find ways to make them better teachers Professor Congmei Chen, speaking in the Gallery Lounge on August 31. when they teach their students En glish.” Chen eventually plans to obtain her doctorate in linguistics, possibly with a concentration in education. Though she has no formal back ground in women’s studies, Chen stressed the importance of learning about women’s issues not only in China, but worldwide. “I have been a teacher for more than 10 years, so I try to open the eyes of students by giving them more information and knowledge,” she said. “Many American students don’t know about anything outside America. If they are globalized, it can only be better for them.” The Internet Brings New Ways to Buy Textbooks College students can earn high marks in book buying this semes ter by logging on to one of the many new Internet sites that specialize in textbooks. While many students prefer to visit the campus bookstore and flip through the pages of a text before buying, more and more are pur chasing textbooks and supplies online. While all of the major online text book retailers offer the convenience of being able to purchase textbooks anytime of the day or night, only efollett.com - the pioneer in sell ing textbooks via the Internet - of fers students the ease of online shopping with the convenience of on-campus service. Students purchasing textbooks online should comparison shop to ensure that they get the best bar gain. According to the National Asso ciation of College Stores, students can spend as much as $4OO each semester on supplies and textbooks. One of the smartest ways to trim textbook costs is to purchase used textbooks that retail for 25 percent less than new textbooks. Unfortu nately, not all of the Internet sites offer used textbooks. Additionally, it pays to compare prices when purchasing textbooks online. Some online retailers ad vertise huge discounts that are of fered only on a few, select text books. Students should do a little research before placing an online order. For more information, visit www.efollett.com. (NAPS) NEWS Rita Slusser Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? By Barb Roy Capital Times Staff Writer This issue's featured staff mem ber is Rita Slusser, coffee kiosk and cafe cashier extraordinaire. Sheisanativeofßloomsburg. She grew up there and came to Harris burg after she was widowed five years ago to be near her two daugh ters and seven grandkids. Rita worked at Bloomsburg University’s cafeteria for many years as a salad supervisor. What she does when she is not at work: walks with weights, and hangs out in libraries, including PSH. Rita says she loves to read, especially medical-type mysteries like John Grisham and Robin Cook. Favorite foods: veggies, and loves the food at the Lion’s Den. She brings the grandkids here to eat. Rita insists she did not have to say that. She says was a spoiled only child. Her favorite childhood memory: “My parents bought me a car when I was 16 and told me to behave,” she says with rolled eyes and a “yeah right” laugh. If Rita could live in any era, it would still be the present: “I love being on-line, sending e-mails and in chat-rooms. Stop by and say, “Hi, Rita.” She loves getting to know and talk to students and loves her job and co workers at PSH. Wednesday, September 8,1999 3 Latest Churchill Play Takes Shape Continued from Page 1 and laughter from the Jigger Shop drifted through open windows in terrupting the absolute silence of the audience during dramatic pauses in the script. A staged reading offers the play wright an opportunity to see how the play works when performed and to gauge audience reaction. Churchill addressed his sixty col laborators as the applause ended - requesting opinions on all aspects of the play. He was particularly interested in opinions on his ample use of solilo quy. Audience response to the read ing was positive and a visibly re lieved Churchill was beaming. “Son of Liberty” is based loosely on the life of James Swan, a little known historical figure, who played a role in both the American and French Revolutions. Churchill fo cuses on Swan’s 22-year imprison ment in France. It seems Swan chose to remain a prisoner rather than pay an affordable debt he felt was incorrectly imposed. Churchill’s fleeting interest in Swan crystallized last year into the undeniable need to write the play after a friend casually remarked, “Isn’t it interesting how people make prisons around themselves all the time.” Churchill intentions for “Son of Liberty” are not historical in nature. NOW SAVING FORTHBR FUTURE ■s CHILD’S PLAT. Building your children s future just got eosier. », thunks to the U.S. Treasury's new lasySovei flan ' U.S. Savings Bonds, you just sign up once and utomoticolly purchase U.S. Savings Bonds from your [hacking or savings account, ton simply select the amount the recipient, ■mbmiwmwiwiimhim and the purthose doles. * easy way to baild their savings. ’ 'mmf.Mm-fa'tl «lhatu Now, if only raising kids wos os easy. www.mysiwr.iev Instead, he focuses the audience’s attention on the chosen prison of each of his characters. Even with out lighting or props, Churchill skillfully isolated the characters at intervals throughout the play. The isolation permits the characters an opportunity to reveal their walls. It also permits reflective audience members a chance to pause and consider the bricks of their own prison. According to Churchill, “Son of Liberty” is 80 percent complete. The creative process continues be yond the staged reading and the 60 collaborators of Mt. Gretna will have to wait to see the impact of their midwifery. The staged reading of “Son of Liberty” was the final summer of fering of the Mt. Gretna Cicada Festival. The Cicada Festival Com mittee, founded in 1995, works to include low-cost family entertain ment to the other cultural events available at Mt. Gretna. This summer, the Cicada Festival Committee collaborated with Riv erside Playwrights to present five staged readings. As a member of Riverside Playwrights, Churchill feels the relationship benefits the Festival, the playwrights, the actors involved in the readings and the community. Churchill is confident the relationship between the two organizations will continue into the next season. For a Fret Brochure «, Enrollment Form, Cal TMi Frte 1-877-811-7283 {Kj‘> (kxli' 0R»; V publi* s»i'vjoi>(rf ih U {wbliral it hi
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