c The (di Pad!. 1 Times February 21, 2005 Meet the DEAN Madlyn L. Hanes A Greeting from the Chancellor Dear Students It is a pleasure to welcome you to Penn State Harrisburg on behalf of the faculty, staff, and students. Whether you are enrolling for the first time with us or returning to campus for another year of study, I hope that you will find the 2005- 2006 academic year filled with special opportunities for learning and personal growth. This Handbook is designed to help you take advantage of these opportunities to achieve your goals and to realize your expectations. Penn State Harrisburg is a dynamic and inviting learning community with rich traditions, excellent faculty, dedicated staff, and excellent academic programs. The strength of any community naturally depends on the involvement and contributions of each of its members. I encourage you to participate fully in the life of the college, to get involved, and to be an active and responsible learner. There is perhaps no more profound measure of our success as a college than the achievements of our students and alumni. Therefore, I encourage you to make a personal commitment to learning and to pursue the ample resources we offer to assist you along the way. Knowing that many of you face the often-competing demands of school, family, and work, I want to offer some heartfelt advice. Aim high, be ambitious, seek out your professors and student colleagues to extend your learning outside the classroom, learn from your mistakes, take pleasure in your accomplishments, and never, never hesitate to ask questions. This is your chance, your challenge. Treasure your time here and use it wisely. I hope you will share my pride in being a part of the Penn State Harrisburg community. I wish you an enjoyable and fulfilling year. Best Wishes, Madlyn L. Hanes, Ph.D Chancellor In this ISSUE The Student Voice of Penn State Harrisburg The Invisi By Kathryn Herr Editor in Chief kah92B@psu.edu "I've been in this wheelchair for nine years and 90 percent of the time I don't know I'm in it," said Dr. Julie Kearney, assistant professor of Humanities at Penn State Harrisburg. "My life isn't my chair, but when I have to ask for help or flag someone down to get food in the cafeteria or the elevator is broken, I become very conscience of my physical limitations." Beginning Monday, September 12, 6 non-disabled students each spent a day or more in a borrowed wheelchair to focus attention on the difficulties of navigating around campus. With a sign reading "I can walk. Ask me why I'm in a chair" flapping against the back of the wheelchair, the students attempted to maneuver through the obstacle course that is the PSH campus. Augie Bravo, a senior Information Systems major and Student Government Association member, said he has watched Kearney and others on campus and is determined to improve accessibility for the handicapped. Bravo, 26, began the project after what he describes as frustration in going through the administration. "I tried to go through the channels and talk to the right people, but everyone sent me somewhere else," he said, adding, the wheelchair was an attempt to drive home his point. Bravo pledged to use the wheelchair for a week. However, after just a day he passed the chair to other students. "It's really, really hard," he said. Bravo was the first of many to fall out of the chair when attempting to climb the ramp at the front of Olmsted. "I just tipped backwards. That ramp is really steep." According to Edward Dankanich, director of maintenance and operations, the ramp and railings for disabled persons in front of Olmsted is completely up to code. "[The ramp] has been measured For college students, its getting pretty expensive to go BY DIANA FISHLOCK Of The Patriot-News Brian Vasquez's engineering graphics book cost $ll2. His calculus and chemistry texts cost $ll3 and $lll. On his first trip to the Penn State Harrisburg Bookstore, the aerospace engineering freshman was learning firsthand that college textbooks aren't cheap. A government report says the average student at a four-year public institution paid $B9B for books and supplies in 2003-2004. Nationally, textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation, Penn State Football is on a winning streak as they enter their Big Ten and checked with a level during our last audit," said Dr. Donald Holtzman, director of student life and enrollment services. "All I've ever been told is 'well we're up to code'," Kearney said. "That is really just a legal term." The American's With Disabilities Act was passed in 1986. All public places closely following tuition increases, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Increasing an average of 6 percent per year, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004, the report said. Many factors impact prices, but the main factor in recent years was the cost of developing CD-ROMs and other add ons sold with books, according to the report. While students increasingly are buying textbooks online, some midstate college bookstores are responding by decreasing their profit margins, increasing customer service and trying harder to find used Sports schedule Page 7 Augustine Bravo spent a few dad's rolliong through the halls of PSHin an attempt to generate awareness of poor handicap accesability on campus. ble M Photo by Maruja Rosario/Capital Times and federally-funded buildings were to be updated to become accessible by 1990. The ADA requirement for a ramp is 12 inches of ramp for every inch of rise or height. "We would like go beyond the code whenever possible," Holtzman said. Chi Gamma lota (XGI), the military books, managers said. Tara Sollenberger was shocked the first time she bought textbooks. "I had no idea books were going to be that costly. That's an extra $l,OOO you have to account for each year," said Sollenberger, from North Middleton Twp., a Messiah College senior majoring in communications. She once spent $lOO for a book for a three-week course. "They add little things like a CD-ROM that the professors never use," she said. Sollenberger, 21, said she typically spends $4OO to $5OO per semester on textbooks. See BOOKS on 2 Entertainment Philadelphia rocks out with big names, for a good cause this summer Page 9 nority campus fraternity is concerned about accessibility particularly when it comes to veterans. "Our main point is what happens when someone comes home from Iraq in a wheelchair and attends our school," said Matt Mahoney, XGI Webmaster and former Marine. "Now they have to come to a school that demands excellence in grades, but has only the bare minimum accommodations to get around campus." The attitude on campus toward the wheelchair-bound varies. While many express a desire to help, others were curious about the sign on the back of the wheelchair and there were those who seemed simply to ignore the demonstration. "For the most part people on campus want to help," said Kearney. Some of the schools Kearney taught at in the past had been less eager to assist her in daily activities. Kearney is grateful that those working at PSH are supportive. "There are three kinds of people: Avoiders, those who talk to you like you are deaf and those who get in your face and say is everything ok," explained Dr. Kearney's husband, Pat. "Did you see yourself in those people?" he asked Bravo. The Kearneys said they have become accustomed to the wheelchair and everything that goes with it. Society's attitudes are sometimes more difficult to adjust to, they added. "Many times the accessible ramps are in the back of buildings in out of the way places," said Kearney. "You don't think about it, but it reflects how disabled people are viewed. This is why what Augie is doing is so good because it will generate awareness," Kearney said. In an institute of higher education students should be more aware of social issues and this is a social issue, said Kearney. "I think it is good for college DISSABILITIES cont'd on 4 Contents SGA update World View clubfest Culturally Inept Penn State Football PSU Student Section Hot Spot CD Review Movie Review Campus Calendar Vol. 45 No. 9
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