j [ i eTAL TIM Vol. 46 No. 8 Professor By RABYIA AHMED Staff Reporter RZAIO9RPSU.EDU Dr. Beverly A. Cigler, professor of public policy and administration, has taught in five universities so far. She's been teaching at Penn State Harrisburg since 1988. She and her brother were the first in their entire family history to receive a high school diploma. With no money for college, she was fortunate enough to be able to slide by with "free money" from scholarships and anonymous stipends that she often used for pocket money. "That's what I used to pay for a cup of coffee or the other little things I wanted," she said. Of the previous four universities she has taught, including Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. and The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., PSH remains to be her favorite for three reasons. The first reason was because she was from Monroeville, Pa., making her a native Pennsylvanian. The second reason was because she loved Harrisburg, the state capital. And the third and perhaps the most important reason was because she believes that Pennsylvania's local governments have a lot they can improve on. "We're the most messed up state," she said. "We have a very complex local government and I jumped on this opportunity to come into the state and do something about it. This was important to me." Cigler said that the government works in a fish bowl. She said that it's not enough in the public eye for the government to just do things properly. It's the part where they have to convince the public that they did things properly, where the difficult part comes in. Teaching is one of Cigler's passions. "I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in tenth grade," she said. "I remember going to the men's guidance counselor because there wasn't one for women at the time and telling him that I wanted to continue my education." Being as ambitious as Cigler was, she ended up being valedictorian of her class. But it was President Kennedy's assassination that really triggered her mind into wanting to become a public policy teacher. The famous lines of his inaugural address really meant something to her. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," quoted Cigler. She said that she really liked this quote and what it meant to her. It was enough for her to use it as an inspiration for what she has been studying. Throughout her three college degrees, including her bachelor's, master's and doctorate, she studied political science. Please see CIGLER on page 6 INDEX. . SGA Update Editorial mbering tta Ott King SIDE NEWS Your Money, Y STAFF REPORT The Capital Times CAPTIMES@PSU.EDU In a meeting on Thurs. Feb. 2, the Student Activity Fee (SAF) committee approved $19,500 to bring in two guest speakers, one of who cost $15,000 alone. The decision was made with only four of nine committee members present. The SAF committee on the Harrisburg campus is a student-run committee under the support of the Director of Student Affairs. The SAF money comes from the $44 activity fee on each student's tuition bill and funds a multitude of activities on campus such as Yewande, African dancing, and guest speakers. But with every voting session being behind closed doors, students don't fully realize how the money is being spent. According to the SAF handbook found online at the Penn State Web site, "the purpose of the fee is to provide funds to improve the co-curricular environment for undergraduate and graduate students," and "The use of this fee should be public knowledge and made available to students." At the time of the vote for these two speakers, the budget for the SAF was $90,000. The approval of the proposal to fund the events took over 20 percent of the budget for two individuals. Although this decision comes with some reservations by the student body, select members of the SAF committee are positive that this speaker whose name has yet to be PSU Idols rock By HEATHER COLEMAN Staff Reporter HMCSO2I@PSU.EDU and MARUJA ROSARIO Assistant Editor MXR3OOOPSU.EDU The highly anticipated Penn State Idol, a spoof on American Idol, was featured February 1 in Stacks Market. The heavily advertised event was one part karaoke, one part karaoke, and two parts entertaining. "It was Penn State Harrisburg's very own karaoke night, minus the bar," said sophomore Jim Dougherty. Doors opened at 9 p.m., though the singing didn't actually start until 9:30 and continued until 11:45. Co sponsored by THON Committee and Circle K, Penn State Idol was primarily a fundraiser for THON. All money raised goes up to University Park to assist the Four Diamonds Fund. The mission of the Four Diamonds is to assist families that have children with cancer by providing them aid in ways that insurance companies do not. The Four Diamonds have helped nearly 2,000 families since 1972, and PSH has become heavily involved in helping the Four Diamonds help more. "Penn State Idol was a great way to get together, have fun, and raise money for THON," said Sherri Brokeback Main February 6, 2006 released will draw in a crowd and be worth $15,000 worth of lecture. One student opposed to the approval who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, "At some point you have to understand that we're not University Park and we can't afford speakers like that because it takes away from so many other things." The student went on to say that spending over 20 percent of the budget on two events is "definitely not right." on which the money is being spent. "Students don't come out to lectures because they sit in class all day and don't want to be lectured anymore," the student said. The truth of this statement is echoed in the size of crowds that make it to lecture style events. It is also seen in the frustration of the faculty planning these events that see MARUJA ROSARIO 'The Capital Time, The largest attendance to an on-campus event this semester so far was Feb. 1 where students came to enjoy Penn State's version of American Idol. Espenshape, sophomore. "After all, it is for the children." No Penn State Idol could be complete without an amazing panel of judges, and this one was no different. The judges for this evening were Rodney Horton, former SGA president and current Middletown councilman, as Randy Jackson, Melinda Logan, staff assistant for Student Activities, as Paula Abdul. and Nicole Duffy, coordinator of Student Activities and International Culturally Inept 5 Entertainment 9 Sports 7 Hot Spot 9 ratings box office INSIDE ENTERTAIN teeters IN uper Bowl INSIDE SPO little to no participation On Fri. Feb. 3. the SAF had a second meeting to discuss proposals not discussed the day previous. At this second meeting, one event that had been in the workings for quite some time was not approved. Several cast members from the television show Laguna Beach were scheduled to visit campus for a day and prizes were to be given away. This event did not get approved by the SAF for funding. One ofthe majorproblems concerning the SAF is that students don't even know that decisions like this are being made because the SAF committee operates behind closed doors. Compared to a Student Government Association meeting where everything is made public the SAF Affairs, as Simon Cowell with 1)r. Felicia Brown-I laywood, director of Student Affairs, as a guest judge. Logan dressed as Lakers' Paula style. complete with porn porn, and Duffy was sporting Uggs and a tiara. because as Duffy once commented. "If Simon was a girl, he would \ ea r a tiara." Matthew Mahoney. Senate Leader for SGA and member of XGI, played host Ryan Scacrest. Samantha Lewis, sophomore, said, "All of the actors did a great job.- Decorations of streamers and music INSIDE THIS ISSUE PCIIII`N \ I ania State Grants Taking a Stand for Writers operates in a veil of near secrecy. The order in which requests are handled is supposed to he by the number written at the top of the request, but there is no policy where this is explicitly stated. According to the SAF handbook cited earlier, "The meetings will he open to the general University community so long as there is seating available. SAF meetings on campus are held in a small conference room in the Library and operate under said Augustine Bravo, senior, Information Systems. "As Director of Communications in the SGA I invite every student to come to our meetings, and I think that the SAF should operate the same way. - Bravo is also a member of the SAF committee. Most students that have dealt with the SAF find the largest source of frustration is in not knowing exactly the stage donations. tvyo raffle drimings took place to help raise money: an iPod Shuffle raffle and a 5(I 5(I raffle that amounted to `,40. rickets for the raffles v ere sold one chance for S I or three chances for S 2. Both winning tickets were announced around I I p.m. The winner of the iPod Shuffle was hildSaN, Fauth and the winner of S4O \\ as Rachel Mahan. Bottled water, candy and lollipops were also sold. Numerous students showed up to the e \ ent emptying out both their hearts Geek Corner Media Virus notes hung from the ceiling while blue and white balloons were taped around the room. Karaoke company Mr. "E 3" Entertainment hosted thekaraoke. actually ideokie. portion of the event. contestants. "There was times where I almost cried, - said kspenshape. "Either from the really good singers or the ones where I wanted to rip my for students to ears off.'. Eachperformance waN recorded onto a videocassetlc takc home free souvenir Dougherty said "It \Nas a ‘‘ell planned, carefully executed event Aside from collectinv just 9 Calendar 10 Puzzles . . what is happening, and not being able to sit in and listen to the deliberations that arc going on. Having closed meetings can sometimes be a necessity when time is taken into consideration, but to take the money of the students and allocate it without even letting them know where it is going scare most students. A student survey, which was published in the first issue of this semester's The Capital Times newspaper, was designed to ask students what type of events they would like to see. Bravo took the initiative to create the survey as part of his duties as director of communications on the SGA. The survey was also handed directly to students that participated in the Come in from the Cold event, a chance for students to get free hot and cold food, which w as sponsored by the SGA. The results of these surveys, which are made public outside of the SGA office, indicated that students wanted to see more activities that involved interaction and not as much lecture. With the recent decisions made by the SAF committee it is unknown as to whether or not every member of the committee is listening to the voice of the student A campus is always evolving. With the growth of a large freshman class PSI will he undergoing rapid changes over the next few semesters alone. The student body can lead the direction of this change only if they use their voices and make them heard. It doesn't take an entire club or organization to enact changes. It takes only one strong voice to lead a cause. Make your voice heard. and their pockets raising over 5340. Throughout the night, over 21 songs were sung from over 30 different students including "I Will Survive, - "llakuna Matata," "Save a Horse. Ride a Cowboy, - and "Here for the Party. - On.finerit.an Idol duets are frowned upon by the judges. nonetheless, duets appeared to he a popular choice among Penn Sidi(' Idol's Drew Selleti, the first performer of the night. looked a little shocked w hen his name was announced. Yet after tons of coaxing from the audience he finally took to the stage and sang "My Heart Will (io On." Dully's remarks at the end of his performance said. "You should have stayed in your seat. - Selleti seemed to have agreed. There \Acre a number of stand out performances. Steve o'llolla who sang "Li% in' La Vida Lora," started out wearing a tie and a hutton-up shirt, however, h\ the end of the song, the tie was gone and the shirt was flying in the air. Even Mahoney Seacrest sang a few songs, however, one student said. "Matt Mahoney Seacrest did a good joh, hut should stick to announcing Please see IDOL nn page 4 Page 3 Rice 5
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