Faculty
Senate: Just
Planning
By Jill Karwoski
Capital Times Staff Writer
The Capital College Faculty
Senate held its first faculty forum
of the 1999-2000 school year,
and the key issue raised was the
need for a plan of action for the
future.
The Faculty Senate is a leg
islative body that represents the
Capital College as a whole and is
the leading voice on academic
issues at the campus.
The Senate also serves as an
advisory body to the Provost and
Dean of Capital College and
representatives from each col
lege at the Harrisburg and
Schuylkill campuses serve on the
Senate.
The forum, moderated by
Faculty Senate President and
Associate Professor of Engin
eering Omid Ansary, allowed
staff and faculty to express their
views and concerns about the
direction that Penn State
Harrisburg is headed.
Faculty members also dis
cussed what the administration
and faculty needs to do in order
to compete with other universi
ties in the region.
Ansary informed those in
attendance that a steering com
mittee was being formed in order
build a framework for the plan.
All ideas from the schools would
first be presented to a committee
member, and that member would
present the ideas to the Senate.
This gives schools the oppor
tunity to establish goals as a
whole, while receiving input
from all levels. Some faculty
members used the forum as a
means to get their ideas and
goals heard.
One hotly debated issue was
the idea of a Humanities
Building and Lab to strengthen
and draw more students to the
School of Humanities. Dr. Troy
Thomas, Associate Professor of
Continued on Page 3
Where to Smoke?
The Debate Continues
A smoking policy that has
been in effect for a year and a
half bans smoking near building
entrances on campus. Since this
policy has been established peo
ple have continued to smoke in
front of the Olmsted Building.
The PSU Safety Committee,
which is composed of faculty,
staff, and students, has received
complaints about smoking,
specifically in front of the
Olmsted Building.
Objections about second-hand
smoke entering the doors and
library windows were given to
campus Health Services.
At the last Safety Committee
meeting, Marylou Martz R.N.,
who is a committee member and
the campus nurse, asked the
committee what it could do to
possibly enhance the posted
rules.
Martz commented about some
of the complaints including ciga
rette butts in the entrance way
and on the ground.
“Whether I am the nurse or not,
it’s a concern,” Martz said. “Any
concern needs to be looked at.”
Fay Youngmark, Library
Circulation Supervisor and Safety
Committee member, said, “If the
window is open I might smell the
smoke. But to be honest, since
most people don’t smoke on the
porch of the Olmsted entrance it’s
not that bad.”
On Aug. 29, campus police
extinguished a tan bark fire in
front of the Olmsted Building.
These factors were considered
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By Tina Sickler
Capital Times Staff Writer
when the Safety Committee dis
cussed the smoking issue.
Chief Kevin Stoehr, Safety
Committee Chairman, met with
the SGA to get more students’
input on possible resolutions to
this matter.
Stoehr said, “I don’t know if we
will ever reach a 100 percent com
pliance over this. The way the
Olmsted Building is constructed
presents problems by allowing the
smoke to enter through the doors. I
wondered what suggestion SGA
would have.”
SGA Treasurer Michelle
Myers replied, “Does the Safety
Committee plan on providing
another space for smokers if it is
raining or snowing? I am a
smoker and I’m not going to
stand in the rain.”
Continued on Page 4
PSH:
By Barry J. Hicks
Capital Times Staff Writer
Imagine a college campus with
a state-of-the-art photo lab open
24 hours a day, even on holidays.
There’s also a swimming pool
for students to cool off from the
blazing afternoon August sun. A
bowling alley sits right on cam
pus for students to partake in
legal, healthy extra curricular
activities.
No, this campus isn’t in some
dream world or even in some
huge city where 50,000 students
are enrolled.
Meningitis Vaccine
College students living on
campus in dorms or apartments
are three times more likely to
contract meningitis than students
who live off campus according
to a recent study published in the
May 26 issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Assoc
iation.
These findings have prompt
ed the American College Health
Association to repeat their 1997
recommendation that all students
under 30 consider a vaccine.
The study, conducted by a
research team from the Johns
Hopkins School of Public
Health, found that students at
four-year residential schools
face greater risk for meningitis
than those who attend other col
leges.
Even though no students at
Penn State Harrisburg have con
tracted it, campus health officials
advise vaccination. “I think if
there’s any possibility that you
can get an immunization that
will protect you when living in
close quarters, you should get
it,” said Marylou Martz, R.N.,
coordinator of student health ser
vices at PSH.
What College Could Have Been
This, very easily, could have
been what Penn State Harrisburg
looks like today.
Ed Trunk, Associate Professor
of Engineering, knows all too
well about the many proposals
that have come up regarding the
well being of the Capital
Campus.
In June 1997, he finished up 28
years of teaching, advising, and
coordinating clubs at Penn State
Harrisburg.
For the past two years, he’s
Is Recommended
for All Students
Meningitis exists as a virus
Continued on Page 4
By Paula Marinak
Capital Times Staff Writer
and a bacteria. It attacks the
membranes around the brain and
spinal cord. The more severe
bacterial infection, meningococ
cal disease, may invade the
blood stream.
If not treated with antibiotics
as soon as possible after diagno
sis, this disease, which progress
es rapidly, can cause brain dam
age, hearing loss, or death.
Meningococcal disease,
which the vaccine guards
against, usually strikes in the late
winter and early spring and may
be contagious.
This airborne illness spreads
mainly by sneezing and cough
ing, or through close contact
with an infected person.
Though the bacteria only sur
vive a few minutes outside the
body, Martz said, they can also
be transmitted by sharing cups,
silverware, or other items tainted
with contaminated saliva.
Martz said two other factors
could elevate risk. These are:
exposure to excessive stress,
which depresses the immune sys
tem; and smoking, which irritates
the respiratory tract and increases
Continued on Page 5
Photo by Matthew McKeown
Dr. Ed Trunk