SGA
UPDATE
By JORDAN WISKEMANN
Staff Reporter
JLWIO62@PSU.EDU
The Oct. 5 meeting continued
discussion on a proposed amendment
to the SGA’s constitution and raising
awareness of serious issues,
For the third time, Matthew
Mahoney, Senator, Humanities, read
his proposal to change the right of the
SGA vice president to make budget
exceptions. Mahoney repeated that
SGA needs to establish a check
and balance system. He added that
as the amendment stands, it gives
“huge power” to the vice president.
Mahoney said that while he knows
the current vice president would
not abuse this power, future vice
presidents might.
The SGA discussed several events,
many of which are meant to bring
serious issues to students’ attention.
The Black Student Union plans to
host an open forum on Oct. 23 from
12-2 pm to discuss the recent school
shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin,
and Pennsylvania.
President O’Malley discussed an
idea for an open forum about a recent
incident that happened at Penn State
UP. She explained that a man wore
a shirt around the UP campus that
said something along the lines of
“No homos go to heaven.” She
said students may have a lot to
say in regards to preventing such
occurrences. It was suggested that
the SGA hold the forum on Oct. 11,
which was National Coming Out
Day for the GLBT community.
Another SGA activity announced
at the meeting was a date auction to
raise money for THON.
During the Oct. 12 meeting, SGA
spoke about Mahoney’s proposed
amendment, access to the school’s
computer labs after hours, and how
to plan more weekend events to
provide students entertainment.
According to O’Malley, Mahoney
must start his amendment proposal
over again because she discovered a
rule where it is required to post hard
copies of an amendment proposal
in certain places in the school so
the proposal is open to the entire
student body before the SGA can
make a decision. She explained that
although the senate could not come
to a decision that day, they could still
discuss them.
About the amendment dealing
with vice president exceptions, Vice
President Augie Bravo explained that
certain groups, such as the Doctoral
Student Association, have a difficult
time attending SGA meetings
because its members often work
full-time jobs and attend classes
immediately after work. He said that
the amendment, if approved, would
be unfair to those groups.
“The check and balance is in place
so if the vice president says no, a
club can then come to the senate,”
said Bravo. “If we allow just one
governing body to make that decision,
and the club can’t come before the
senate because of schedule conflicts,
then we’ve left them with nothing.”
Because this was the fourth week
the proposal was debated, O’Malley
suggested that Mahoney make a
revision of his proposal so the senate
can make a final decision.
O’Malley said, “I’m going to
suggest you make a revision so we
can do more than discuss this.”
Senators Mahoney and Holly
Weichman then explained that they
had been working with both Dr. Pat
Johnson, Director of Humanities,
and Bob Brinkley, director of 1.1. T.,
to get after hours access passes for
students, which would allow students
access to computer labs on campus
any time.
The senate agreed that the support of
the SGA was important in speeding
up the process and giving a voice to
the idea at UP.
Also in this meeting, Craig Dewalt
discussed sending gifts to soldiers
overseas during the holiday season.
He explained that while the soldiers
wouldn’t mind receiving letters from
SGA members, they said would like
something more personal than letters,
such as Frisbees and footballs.
ASME goes medieval with weapon
By MARUJA ROSARIO
Editor in Chief
MXR3OO@PSU.EDU
“There’s no rain delay in war.”
So said Andrew ‘Dickie’ Scott,
president of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),
as he and the rest of his crew got
soaked to the skin on Tuesday,
Oct. 17.
He spoke this as they all prepared
to, for the first time in front of a
crowd, launch a pumpkin with
their trebuchet.
But before we can learn what
happens to Scott and his motley
crew, a bit of background
information is required. Let us begin
with the obvious question. What is
a trebuchet?
A trebuchet, by American Heritage
Dictionary’s definition is, “a
medieval engine of war with a sling
for hurling missiles,” and by Scott’s
definition, “a medieval weapon of
siege.” A trebuchet uses a “weight/
counter weight system to hurl
projectiles as far as half a mile at
an enemy, used against barricades,
walls, and forts,” said Scott.
Scott concepted the idea for
building one when he saw the annual
pumpkin chucking competition
in southern DE on television. He
thought that the project would be a
great one for ASME to get involved
with, so he wanted the club to
construct a grand trebuchet and
compete in Delaware.
When he realized that, with time
constraints, it would be almost
impossible to accomplish this,
he changed it to a competition
held on campus during Penn State
Harrisburg’s Fall Fest, open to
all students. When even this one
seemed far-fetched, Scott cut it
down strictly to ASME, “just to say
we did it.”
The enthusiastic club embraced
the project. With wood donated
by 84 Lumber (they had a contact
with Dan Bock, senior, Mechanical
Engineering, who got them that
lumber), the club gathered for
its first build day on an early
Friday morning.
“We were really tired, running
on stick figure sketches (provided
Fall Fest trudges through bad
By CHRISTINE CHURCHWELL
Staff Reporter
CMC4I7@PSU.EDU
If you haven’t noticed leaves
falling, though sadly lacking in
the vast amounts needed to scrape
together to form a sufficient pile
for leaping, there is a news update.
Fall is definitely in the building.
How do I know? Besides the
coating of leaves that is determined
to swallow my car each day and
the nose chilling bite of Old Man
Winter each morning, Fall Fest
of course!
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Penn State
Harrisburg’s Student Government
Association and the student body
banded together to revel in the glory
of the season with free food, loud
tunes and various amusements.
Due to the fickle nature of women,
Mother Nature decided to send
shivery temperatures and rain in
an attempt to thwart SGA’s valiant
attempt to celebrate Fall’s return to
campus, and so the activities were
sent inside. Fall Fest may have
been forced indoors but it hardly
impacted the spirit of the Harvest.
Although a few choice activities
were abandoned, much to the dismay
of many, with the change of venue
the main lobby of Olmsted was
transformed into an amphitheater
of rock music, played by local
band, Holis.
The music ranged from much loved
cover songs to original works by the
band. The turnout that amassed was
surprisingly chill and groovy.
If you had walked through the
lobby at that time you could find
many individuals sitting on hay
bails or any sturdy surface to relax
by Bock and Pat Ebner, who oddly
enough, built a trebuchet before),”
said Scott.
Within four hours, the crew of
around six people finished with the
framework. “It would have been
faster, but we don’t know how to
work with wood,” Scott said with
a smile.
The project continued over a few
days. Somewhere in that time frame,
ASME got permission to use an old
lamppost outside the MET lab as the
mighty arm of their weapon.
Scott was excited about this find; the
metal pole is lighter and longer than
a wood beam would have been. “It
MARUJA ROSARIO/Capilol Times
Andrew 'Dickie' Scott, ASME president, prepares to release the pin that will launch the massive metal arm of the
trebuchet, releasing the unexpecting pumpkin from the sling for its wild, airborne ride and final, ultimate demise.
and decompress for a few.
Aftenvards many students,
like Amanda Baldwin, junior,
psychology, are welcoming
the idea of live music
during break.
“It was a good change of
pace from the hectic demands
of college.” Will lyrics
reverberate off the walls more
often in Biscotti’s future? We
will wait w ith baited breath.
Speaking of college, as
a student myself, I find it
undoubtedly safe to say that
free school events are the
best school events and Fall
Fest was wonderfully free.
If you happened to check
out the Gallery Lounge you
would’ve found a Fall Fest
paradise complete with free
food, T-shirts and Harvest
inspired games.
The delectable munchies
provided by Commonwealth
Catering and served by earnest
SGA members, featured an
assortment of Fall inspiring
foods like chili, potato soup,
corn bread, and, best of all,
“Mmm... really good Apple
Pie,” according to Teddy
Tesfasyone, sophomore.
Other offerings included t
shirts designed by Youthana
Yuos marking the event and
candy apples, which always
brings to my mind Snow White’s
fated slumber.
To get into the competitive spirit
the SGA offered amusing games
such as “Guess How Many Candy
Corns Are In The Jar”, where I’m
convinced that there is a secret
compartment under the lid, hiding
[the wood beam] would have needed
a greater amount of counterweights
for the same distance,” he said.
“[Plus], the structural engineers
can keep their wood.”
The original build was completed
on Wednesday, Oct. 11, when the
club started testing their trebuchet
for proper angles and weights with
pumpkins. The pumpkins were all
but donated by Lowe’s, charging
the club $1 a pumpkin. Their first
launch threw the pumpkin 60 to 70
yards without modification, though
it was only “casually tested.”
After their first successful test
launch, as mechanical engineers
Photo by VICTORIA HINNIOAN/Capitol Times encouragement.
Decorations adorn the Gallery lounge as Fall Fest happened inside the Olmsted building. The tor- “Let her rip ”
rential downpour stopped the festivities from being outside, but that did not stop the activities from sai( j Matthew
occurring inside. Among them were getting hand-dipped caramel apples, which some students waited w .
in line for 45 minutes, pumpkin decorating contest with voting, and Holis, which played in the lobby Mahoney, J umor ’
' Communications,
before ASME
president Andrew Scott tugged
the rope.
At 2 p.m. when things were done
and students ran off to class, it was
apparent that Penn State Harrisburg
welcomed in the harvest season
with a bang as Fall Fest 2006 was
a hit.
just a few more candy corns to
throw any estimate off.
Above all other forms of
entertainment, the Pumpkin Carving
contest displayed the true artistic
talent of various clubs on campus.
Among my favorite: the Anime
Club’s pumpkin that sprouted legs
and decided to outfit himself in a
do, “we went through a sequence of
loading more and more weight (the
weight was actually club members)
until it ultimately failed,” Scott said.
That failure had a successful
launch, but on the backswing the
brackets snapped, releasing the arm
that crashed through a 4x4 on the
leg on its way down.
ASME salvaged the trebuchet
by learning from their mistakes,
replacing the leg and reinforcing
weak points. “It is stronger and
safer than it was before.”
On Monday, Oct. 16, ASME took
the trebuchet out to its launching
field, the CUB Hill, in between the
trench coat and hat; the Photography
Club whose pumpkin bared a strong
resemblance to a Mr. Potato Head; and
the American Society of Engineers
who presented their smashed pumpkin
on a platter. To all the club members,
you are winners in my book!
While warm and toasty inside the
lobby of Olmsted, some of you
of siege
library, Capital Union Building, and
the bookstore. They left the critical
parts unassembled so that no one
would feel compelled to hurt it or
themselves. On Tuesday morning,
amid a torrential downpour, the club
assembled the weapon (and set up a
spectator tent), at 11:30 a.m.
And so now, we are up to when
Scott releases the pin for the first
time in front of a crowd.
A small but dedicated crowd
gathered under the tent to see this
first pumpkin fire. After the efforts
of three people pulled the arm down
and pinned it in place, Scott pulled
out an air horn, hollered “LAUNCH
ONE,” and released the pin.
The image of this massive metal
arm swinging up and, at the peak
of its swing, release a pumpkin into
the air was breathtaking. The entire
crowd was simply stunned with
awe before erupting into cheers
and applause.
No one in view of the trebuchet
could pass by without Watching.
Among all their spectators, Scott
was most pleased by the police
cruiser and Physical Plant (with
the van and all three GATORs),
stopping during their day to watch.
After a few more launches on both
the large trebuchet and the smaller,
all metal trebuchet built by Brian
Roper, ASME charged spectators
$2 to pull the pin themselves. “We
made $10,” Scott said.
Though Scott was disappointed by
the weather, he felt it was important
to show that, when the club sets
itself up to do something, “we’ll
come through.”
ASME plans another demonstration
on Tuesday, October 24 at 12:30p.m.
Though pumpkins will be provided,
spectators are more than welcome
to supply their own pumpkin,
“watermelon, [or] cantaloupe,”
Scott’s harebrained idea turned
itself into a reality with the help
of his club, and he is well aware of
that. “Thanks to ASME for all their
time and effort to this project.”
Scott also added, “Not only are
we the crazy engineers who built
a medieval weapon of siege, we
are the crazy engineers who built
a medieval weapon of siege in
the rain.”
eather
with a tougher
constitutionbraved
the elements
and happened
out by the back
parking lot.
Where you were
sure to witness
the delightfully
destructive activity
of launching
pumpkins from
trebuchets.
All of it done
just to see how far
a pumpkin can fly
before reaching
an untimely and
messy demise.
After the first
failed
rain pumpkins
in earnest.
Many of the
students who
huddled under
the small, but,
nonetheless,
much needed
shelter of a tent,
gleefully shouted
attempt
to
began