COLUMNS
ill feel better if you
let me vent!
By Geoff Conklin
Capital Times Staff Writer
Does anybody remember the scene in
Aladdin when Aladdin and his monkey
were running around on the roofs of his
ghetto town stealing apples and dreamily
watching the palace, wishing he could live
there someday?
Does that remind you of anything?
Like Meade Heights living arrangements?
Well, I'm not Aladdin and I don't have a
monkey, but I do have about 300 squirrels
in my yard and as I sit on the roof of my
Mars Drive apartment, I think of the $l7
million library that a Penn State advising
board believed was more important than
its students' living quarters.
I mean, let's be honest, Meade Heights
is hardly more developed than a Third
World country and here we have a half
empty monstrosity of a library towering
over the campus.
Now I'm not the most brilliant guy in
the world, but, even I know that having
adequate living quarters on campus near
classrooms is a tad more important than
having a library so grand that it is now
considered the 7th wonder of the world.
The new dorms are going to cost about
$l5 million. Why did Penn State spend
$l7 million a few years ago on the
library?
Maybe I can explain. You know that
guy? The guy who has to have the most
pimped-out car with the loudest speakers?
The guy who has more pairs of Air
Jordan's than he has pairs of brain cells?
The guy who wants to have the reputation
as the biggest, baddest mother east of the
Mississippi?
Well, Penn State is that guy. Let's be
honest, did we need a $l7 million library
on our small campus? No. We needed, and
still need, a decent place to live. Our new
place is coming, but my point is it should
have been done first. So Penn State, here's
a tip. Next time you want a new car . . .
think bargain . . . think Big Al's Pre
owned Pinto lot, be happy with the facto
ry speakers, forget the Jordan's and buy
some Voits. We're already the best college
in Pennsylvania, so let's stop trying to
look good and think about what's best for
the people who pay your salaries . . . the
peasants . . . oops, I mean the students.
Editor's Note: When I reviewed Geoff's
column for publication, I couldn't help but
think about the difference in perspective
between the team of good people who
work hard to make this campus the best it
can be over the long haul, and the stu
dents who come and go without an under
standing of where PSH has been or , where
it's going.
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Ciiiiiptis Question & Answer
The Capital Times addressed this
question to Director of Business Services
Ed Dankanich, whose responsibilities
include overseeing
what Penn State calls
the "physical plant."
The physical plant
includes all buildings,
systems, grounds and
parking lots at Penn
State Harrisburg.
According to
Dankanich, prior to
the start of construc
tion of the new library,
the parking spaces in
question were
reserved for 15-minute
parking. Dankanich
recalls that this
became an "enforcement nightmare."
While work was underway on the new
library, the parking spaces housed a con
struction company trailer.
--, The master plan for PSH includes the
creation of a mall atmosphere and a new
roadway that will connect Olmsted Drive
to Penn State Way, making a campus loop
that directs campus vehicle traffic to the
Address questions to:
Q&A Column
The Capital Times, Olmsted W 341,
777 W. Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057 or e-mail to:
captimes@psu.edu
By Cathie McCormick Musser
Capital Times Editor In Chief
right side of campus and avoids College
Avenue. Once the loop is complete, the
road in front of Olmsted will extend only
as far as the handi
cap parking
spaces. The
remainder of the
road in front of
Olmsted will
become a mall area
for pedestrians
only.
Why are the
parking
spaces to the
left of the
Olmsted
building front
&Al
doors
roped off?
According to Dankanich, since the
parking spaces in question are scheduled
for elimination, the decision was made not
to re-open them for a short time only to
close them again.
Dankanich remembers that campus
folks weren't happy when the spaces were
closed originally. He smiled and said, "no
sense making them mad twice."
The new food
court under con-
struction in the
area once occupied
by the library will
extend onto a patio
area facing the
new library.