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.
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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
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