September 25, 2006 THE CAPITAL TIMES Swan: Beyond the classroom Continued from page 1 many students finance their own education, so they attend class not because they have to, but because they want to, said Swan. One of his goals in life is to increase his teaching skills so that he is remembered more by students. Students also tend to keep Swan on his toes. “1 have to always be ahead of my lesson plans and know a lot about the industry,” Swan said. Sometimes students ask him questions that he just doesn’t know the answer to, in which case he does what any wise professor would do; he tells them that he’ll get back to them, and there is nothing wrong with that answer, Swan said. What he wishes he could help change in students sometimes is their writing skills. “It’s difficult to help students with their writing when we have such limited time for class,” said Swan. “But my advice to everyone is to keep practicing because that’s the only way you’ll improve.” And he should know. He wasn’t very good at writing papers during his doctorate program, but now he is Book prices still rise as savings fall Continued from page 1 the bookstore. Hockenberry tried to contact members of the Student Government Association throughout the summer, but a formal meeting didn’t get a chance to materialize. The visit to Hockenberry’s office certainly offered light on the issue of ISBNs. However, it also cast a glaring light on the even bigger issue on the rising costs of textbooks. Everything in the Penn State system is judged against the other campuses. When it comes to the bookstore, PSH consistently ranks the lowest, being upped by campuses such as New Kensington, in buybacks. Buybacks occur when faculty decide to use the same books in the following semesters as they did in the past. By continuing to use an old edition, that allows the bookstore to buy back from the students that book at the end of the semester. The only way the bookstore can know if they can buyback books or not is by receiving the lists from the faculty in a timely fashion. The bookstore sends out e-mails with New, exciting growth for Middletown Continued from page for the Main Street Program. For 13 years, he has successfully achieved economic development in countries around the world including Romania, Poland, Russia, and Macedonia. His intentions are to build that same success in Middletown. Klosowski majored in History and minored in Urban Design and Historic Preservation at Mount Saint Mary’s University. He continued with his Masters degree in Planning at Virginia Tech University. Klosowski wants to “acquaint people with what downtown could be like,” he said. To achieve this “we are going to help support businesses as well as cater to the needs of students.” Enriching the street scope of the town is trivial to the success of the Main Street Program. Plans are underway to bring in urban furniture to enhance the towns appearance. Beautifully designed banners are beginning to appear on lamp posts located on Union Street. The GMEDC also intends on changing themes and decorations throughout the seasons. Included in the plan are historic tours, which will allow visitors to visit the deep-rooted buildings in town. Klosowski hopes to also bring more local businesses such as a cyber cafe, coffee shop, and music store. “Places where students can enjoy a break or some time to study,” he said. The GMEDC is also discussing with more local businesses the possibility of offering discounts to Penn State students. Volunteers of the Main Street Program contribute immensely to the “I did it. And so can anyone else,” said Swan. Traveling is something else that Swan sees as an added bonus of being a professor. “You can basically say that you want do research at such and such place and just go,” he said. “But after making sure that you have a replacement if you’re teaching, of course,” he added. Paris, Kenya, Mexico, and a few others are just some of the places he has traveled to. “They were all great places,” Swan said. “I want to mention though, that transportation in Kenya is, well, difficult.” He enjoys his travels to foreign countries because he likes diversity. He likes going to New York, the big city, and spending time there with his family. “But,” he said, “I wouldn’t want to raise my kids there.” When it comes to food and music, Swan calls himself an eclectic. Like most college students, Swan said that he just loves food- spicy food in particular. Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese are just some of them. And he can cook them too. Well, most of them anyway. “I have some trouble cooking Indian food, but the deadlines to each member of the faculty, as well as the staff assistants, reminding them of each semester’s deadline. This past spring’s deadline was March 1. Only thirty percent of the faculty had their list in on time. That thirty percent allowed PSH to pay out $54,900 to students, saving incoming students $6B, 625. If eighty percent of the faculty turned their lists in on time, PSH would have been able to pay out $125, 290 to students, saving incoming students $156, 612. So now the question became, why didn’t the faculty get their order in on time? What are the flaws with the system that causes this? What needs to be dShe from their end so that the faculty can work with the system? Are they not being reminded enough? We learned that the faculty is indeed reminded enough. We spoke with five different faculty members in four different schools and learned that the bookstore sends out numerous e mails about upcoming deadlines. goals set for their community. They serve on four committees: Economic Restructuring, Promotion, Design, and Organization. These dedicated individuals are making a positive contribution in achieving success for their community. Marie Hein is a volunteer for the Promotion committee and a 50 year resident of Middletown. “Middletown needs to let students know what they have to offer, which at this time is not much,” she said. “We need a coffee shop and wireless technology for students and general public use. Perhaps a bookstore of new and used books that is more affordable for students. If they need transportation into town, we should try to provide it.” Hein also said communication between the university and Middletown needs to improve. “We need to work together, and get the ball rolling,” she said. Throughout the rest of the year, students will hear more about events and activities occurring in Middletown. For Halloween the town is planning on hosting ghost tours. They will take place on four nights in October: 10, 11, 17, and 18. There will be two tours per night at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Each tour will take approximately 90 minutes. Groups will walk by lantern light with guides who will explain the history and ghost stories of selected buildings. A book about local ghost stories is also in development. If you would like to volunteer or donate contributions to the Main Street Program, please contact Stefan Klosowski at 717-944-6332 my daughter has an Indian friend in school so hopefully, she’ll learn,” Swan said with a smile on his face. With the food, just add a cup of mocha cappuccino, and he’ll be good to go. His taste in music varies. Among a few others, he listens to rock, folk and bluegrass. His favorite new album is “Taking the Long Way” by the Dixie Chicks. But his favorite group by far is The Kennedys. And he proudly said that his daughter has very similar taste in music, which according to him is a good thing because this way she’s exposed to a variety of music instead of listening to just Britney Spears. Aside from being a professor, Swan said that he enjoys being a “daddy.” Swan has two daughters, ages 13 and 16. “The older one,” he said, “is a handful though.” He wanted to mention to all Penn State, Harrisburg students that anyone who’s interested in supply chain, logistics, or transportation to come and talk to him in the Business Administration suite. “There are a lot of good jobs available in these careers in Harrisburg’s job market,” said Swan. We also learned that there appear to be no obvious flaws with the system. Dr. Patricia Johnson, acting school director, Humanities, said, “you can go online for ordering. It’s pretty easy.” Dr. Clemmie Gilpin, associate professor, Behavioral Sciences, said, “this is probably the best way.” So then, what is the cause of this neglect? Ann Swartz, school of Nursing, said, “it needs to be raised to the top of the to-do list.” Dr. Matthew Wilson, associate professor, Humanities, said that he just gets too busy. Dr. Michael Dideban, Mechanical Engineering program chair, echoed that sentiment. “They [professors] get caught up their research and their teachings and lose track.” Dr. Dideban offered a few suggestions as to how book lists could be in on time. He suggested memos be sent out to program chairs and have them shoulder the burden of collecting book lists from their faculty and submit the whole list at once. He also suggested the involvement of staff assistants in making the whole A day not forgotten By DIANE KENNEY Staff Reporter DMK29S@PSU.EDU It happened five years ago this month. As President George W. Bush sat in a classroom filled with a new generation of young Americans, at approximately 8:46 am on a cool September day the United States fell under one of the worst terrorist attacks since Pearl Harbor. September 11, 2001 will be remembered by our generation as a day of infamy. Here we are, five years later, and the pain and anger is as strong as ever. On that day when the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Somerset, Pennsylvania were hit by four airplanes hijacked by nineteen terrorists, a confirmed 2,973 people died and another twenty four remain listed as missing. As a direct result of these terrorist America actions, entered the War on Terror she still fights today. War is never an action a country wants to enter; it is reserved as a last resort for a better solution. As Americans we never have to worry about our freedoms, as other countries do. A unanimous decision allowed us to go after the terrorist that killed thousands of our innocent citizens. We were told this Hanes and Continued from page 1 unexpected opportunity to meet other faculty members as Hanes directs questions to other faculty. The growth of the campus is something that is exciting to Hanes, and logically so. Tuition dollars make campus growth possible. PSH is leading the Penn State system in student retention over four years. Student retention combined with a large incoming freshman class certainly leads to growth, but it is growth that must be managed. Growth brings the responsibility of trying to keep tuition costs down, a topic foremost on the minds of students that have already faced increases in tuition and anticipate further increases in the following semesters. Hanes considers providing students with co-curricular activities a challenge to her office, and providing students with activities and getting them to participate is part of that challenge. One way students can participate outside the classroom is through PSH athletics. Hanes admitted that basketball and soccer were her favorites because her children process work smoother. Dideban also mentioned that at least in his department, adjunct faculty tend to not realize that books are not ordered for them, so by the time they learn that, their books lists are already pretty late. None of the faculty involved had any clue about the huge amount of savings students could receive if the lists were turned in on time. In fact, most of them were surprised when they heard the numbers. This is something that Hockenberry hopes to eradicate. He has spoken with two schools already and has been invited to a few more. In those meetings, he expresses the savings for students for timely book lists and how that benefits everyone involved. “I can’t order the books until I know what they are. Then I have to wait for them to come in. I wish I had a magic book supplier in the back that would just spit out books, but I don’t.” As with anything in the Penn State system, there are issues with the Penn State Harrisburg bookstore. For was not going to be an easy fight or fast one, but in the end, we would take our revenge on the terrorist that hurt our country so deeply. As we stand here five years later, extremely proud of the men and women in our service that stand up and fight in this war for us, not a day goes by that the memory of our fallen citizens, our friends and family are A horrific shot of the smoke as an airplane flies into the second Twin Tower on September 11, 2001. The extreme heat of the fires would eventually cause the metal in the towers to weaken and finally collapse. forgotten. The question that we have to answer now is what has changed and do we feel any safer? For a while after the terrorist attacks airport, security became very strict, to the point that it was necessary for patrons of the airlines to show up at least five hours in advance. At the time, what she does for PSH participated in those sports, but ever the encouraging motherly figure and politician, she was quick to add, “I enjoy all the sports we offer. It’s hard to have favorites given the contagious enthusiasm of our athletes.” A rising student population not only leads to difficulty that affects students but it also leads to problems that affect the staff. Departments like the Division of Undergraduate Studies have been bolstered to aid students in academic advising. This effort seems more inclined to help students, but “staff morale is excellent.” When dealing with the staff of PSH Hanes considers herself to be “hands on” when it comes to new things, but willing to delegate authority over to another qualified individual once past the initial stages. The work that Hanes and her staff accomplish is not just limited to the campus. Her office and the people working there are also members of various committees and boards within the local area. Chambers of commerce, business, industry and non-profit agencies ali have members of the chancellor’s staff sitting on these various boards. Don Holtzman sits on the Main Street Renewal Board that one thing, it operates under a policy that seems to be translated differently among each individual campus. For two, it has itself an incredibly bad reputation of trying to rip students off every way it can. Lastly, it can only give back the savings it can provide. As far as savings go, expect more in a short time. Hockenberry has made it his mission to express to an unknowing faculty how' they can help the students in the future. The interviewed faculty have already expressed an interest in changing those numbers to our benefit, and with time, Hockenberry is certain the others will feel the same. While students are at PSH, they receive an education. They receive the benefits of accredited professors. And they know the consequences of missing their deadlines with assignments. Now, for a change, the student finds the professor under deadline. And they hopefully know the consequence. The only thing left is to move forward and get homework done on time. this seemed extremely important to assure another attack like September 11, 2001 would not happen again. Five years later, are those procedures still as strong and intact? Did America as a society become tired of waiting in long lines for safer measures and protection? The America that we live in today demands a fast-paced society. So, as the weeks and months es si « Blue beams of light stand in the place of the Twin Towers on the first year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The lights showed again on the fifth year anniversary, piercing the sky and lighting up hope for Americans. is seeking to encourage economic growth and development for the Middletown area. Town and Gown was another local event that was coordinated with assistance from the chancellor’s office. Members of the local Middletown community work closely with Hanes’s staff to make the local community more appealing to PSH students and faculty. The w ork of the chancellor’s office also extends further out into the Harrisburg area with the work done to increase the number of bus routes going to and from PSH. With all the efforts being overseen by Hanes the greatest difficulty in her job is getting it done. There is never enough time in the day to have meetings and make decisions. With the lack off time available to Hanes, her family is very understanding. “I’m very generous with my calendar,” said Hanes, but her family knows what her work means and keeps her grounded. Her time off is spent having quality time with her family, which is very important to Hanes. All the hard work and dedication to advancing PSH academics and seeing to student needs is made worthwhile with the passing of each commencement ceremony. Hanes’s eyes begin to light up with the thought of the graduates she has seen come and go over the years. “1 measure our own success by the success of our students. Their triumphs are ours.” Outside the chancellor’s office words can be heard saying that Hanes’ 4:30 p.m. appointment is here. With the interview winding to an obvious close Hanes encouraged students to challenge themselves in their learning, seek out new interests and create new friendships. “I encourage students to maximize their college experience to the fullest.” The daily business of overseeing a university can have many people seeing this office as a bureaucracy. While Hanes offered an immense wealth of knowledge into what the position of chancellor is like and the responsibilities required of the position, the true story of Madlyn Hanes and the teachings she has td offer remain with her. However, by merely walking through the double doors and placing nervousness aside, one only needs to ask. Getting up to leave, the feelings of instinctual apprehension had faded, being left by a sense that this was part of the university that actually does belong to the students. passed, the strict security measures began to slowly change back to its former ways. It is the belief of many people to move on past a horrible experience is to continue about your normal way of life and it seems that we have succeeded in this task. The statement above is very true for the people who were fortunate enough to not personally know anyone affeeted by the events of >tos courtesy
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers