October 1, 2007 Hello everyone! To those who have been here before, welcome back to another year at Penn State Harrisburg! To those who are new, welcome to the campus! So, I have something to share. In the fall of 2004,1 became involved with The Capital Times. 1 signed on to be the copy editor, even though I was concerned that my time constraints would not allow me to do the job. The responsibility sucked me in, and I worked through my schedule in order to stay on for the year as the copy editor. In the fall of 2005,1 became the assistant editor. The paper went through a tumultuous year, being a bit over-sensationalized and almost tabloid in the articles it printed. It turned a lot of heads, but not in the good way. I watched as my two editors struggled to keep their heads above water as they sank deeper and deeper into despair, to the point where an entire printing of papers ended up thrown away in a trashcan. I vowed at that moment that should the responsibility fall on my shoulders, I would turn the newspaper around. In the fall of 2006,1 became the editor in chief. With the most amazing staff anyone could ask for, we turned the newspaper around as I had promised myself. The layout changed drastically, the paper started making money again, and most importantly, almost all the articles were based on fact and not wild rumors. In the end, and not to toot Okay people... Photo by MARUJA ROSARIO/Capital Times On August 27, 2007, Penn State Harrisburg took a monumental step. After sending out online surveys, the pow ers that be came to the conclusion that PSH would become a smoke-free campus, or at least most of it. In what felt like an overnight invasion, they placed signs all around the the campus, declaring it q "Tobacco-Free Zone." They had set their grand plan in motion. The students, however, did not find the declaration quite as grand. In a rather short amount of time, the signs declaring the zone started to become vandalized. The Capital Times found signs hanging from one nail, completely removed from the building, or as in the case of this one in front of the library, completely squashed into the ground. We understand that the student body had already been polled, but perhaps the message is loud and clear. What was created for the better for the entire student body obviously does not make the entire student body happy. We cannot tell you how to do your job, but perhaps it would be in your best interest to find out what everyone really wants so that we can work towards a compromised solution. The Capital Times seeks to provide complete, cor rect information. Any neces sary corrections, comments or critiques are wanted and welcome. Please stop by The Capi tal Times office (E 126), e mail captimes@psu.edu, drop a suggestion in the box outside the office or call the office at 948-6440. Any corrections should be reported no later than a week after the paper is printed. THE CAPITAL TIMES my own horn here, 1 was awarded with an award from the Student Government Association applauding my efforts in turning the paper into a respectable news publication. I did not do it alone. 1 would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped along the way, especially Alex Pomeroy, Mr. Matthew Carroll, Layla Dideban, Ariel O’Malley, Augie Bravo, Brooke Messmer, and Marin Bendoritis. Marin meant the most to me, and it is because of this young lady’s extreme dedication that the choice for the fall of 2007 became incredibly easy. Being a graduate student, I struggled enough with one year of grad studies and the burden of the paper. 1 knew that 1 did not want to do this during my last year, so 1 made the decision to relinquish my position to someone else. Marin is that someone else. Her devotion is steadfast, her control is relentless, and 1 know that if I could trust anyone to fill my shoes, it is she. I would like to thank all of you for an excellent year. I urge you to look towards my successor to continue in the way of professional journalism while carving something special that is hers. Marin, best of luck to you. 1 know you are going to rock this campus!! Many a Rosario i fz &m 8 $ s-2 m is ££ -2 £ r* x 8 * ~ sz s re to g g 4 SSCSC3 CORRECTIONS This is the first issue, so there are no corrections yayi :) Hey all! So as Roo said, I’m the new Editor, scary, I know. This semester started off with shock for me. 1 spent most of my summer probably like the rest of you, working a lot and sleeping even more. Once school started, it took me awhile to get adjusted to the old grind again. But thanks to some wonderful friends who do nothing but make me laugh, it was a pretty painless transition, as I hope it was for all of you. But the summer got me thinking about some things. And here they Ever wonder why we put ourselves up for disappointment? We constantly throw ourselves into the middle of the road waiting for that semi to hit us head on because we think it will be fun. That next relationship will be better, this new job will be better, or this class will be easy (or in the case of this office, ‘1 can so beat this Wii game’). Yet in the end, we’re taken away in the ambulance once more only to get out of the hospital a little less in tact as we once were, but ready for more. Maybe not everyone is as motivated as I am, but to a certain extent you have all felt the pressure and seen the dim light of failure. But still, we all find ourselves late at night on the verge of tears, empty boxes of Dunkaroos and cans of Red Bull on the floor wondering what to do. A friend once asked me this question as I was making a hard choice in my life, ‘if it makes you happy, then why is it wrong?’ So many times we forget about the journey and only focus on the goal that seems so far away. My recommendation? Keep on trucking, because for every disappointment there are two more successes in life. You have to get through the rain to get to the rainbow, right? Stay safe and have a wonderful week, Marin Alice The Capital Times We are currently looking to fill the following positions: Sports Writers Photographers Reporters If interested, please contact us at 948-6440 or captimes@psu.edu From the barstoo 9 9 9 An unofficial major to any college education, especially one at Penn State University, is drinking. I am no exception to this rule, especially since 1 work second shift and there is crap to do in Middletown after 9 p.m. except frequent your favorite watering hole, which sad to say, in Middletown, there are plenty of options. So I have been assigned to impart what I have learned in my education in the form of this column. Though there is no one particular barstool where I set up to do my homework, I shall ask you to use your imagination. The other day, I take a seat next to a scraggly looking gentleman. He looks old, as if life has taken him on a wild ride and he jumped off before it killed him. Instinctively, because I am a female in the bar, I turn away from him so as not to engage in conversation. Because chances are he will hit on me, and I will have to tell him gently that my boyfriend in the 09/24/07: Health and safety: Report of CO detector beeping. Emailed housing, 09/24/07: Health and safety: Caller demanded housing be contacted about CO detector. 09/24/07: Health and safety: Caller again demanded housing be contacted. Housing contacted and stated CO detector would be fixed in morning. 09/20/07:Vehicular escort: provided escort to chancellor from airport to campus. 09/19/07: Police information: caller reported threatening behavior by PSH faculty member off-campus. Reported to local police agency. 09/19/07: Theft: report of personal computer taken from room e 244. Value $2300.00. Also an attempted theft of overhead projector. 09/19/07: Suspicious incident: caller reported finding damaged diamond necklace on second floor. Investigation revealed that necklace By MARUJA ROSARIO Assistant Editor MXR3OO@PSU.EDU POUCH REPORT Capital Times Staff Editor in Chief: Marin Bendoritis Assistant Editor: Maruja Rosario Business Manager: Matthew Carroll Copy Editor: Diana Le Layout Editors: Amanda Nace, Amber Hudson, Katrina Fulk Staff: Kris Aumiller Sharnice Barnett Marin Bendoritis Craig Dewalt Oliver Eisler Katie Goodrich Amanda Nace Matthew Mahoney Ariel O'Malley back playing darts will come up here and throw elbows. Still, he feels the need to talk to me. And I decide to listen. The old man surprised me. His age is nowhere near his appearance, but rather the hard life of a cook has hardened his face and personality. He tells me how he has two kids he rarely gets to see, but will always take care of them. He sends them money, and not just on their birthdays but also at random times as well. He owns his house, he owns his car, he pays his child support, and his cook salary gives him more than enough to live within his means. To my left sits another gentleman, this one attractive. Naturally, he feels the need to strike conversation as well, along with buying me shots, because his goal is to get me liquored up enough to go home with him. 1 take the shot (hello, who wouldn’t?) and listen to his conversation. He tells me how he just got out of jail recently for not paying child support, but that he has no plans to violate that again. He also tells me that while he is on was damaged by vacuum cleaner. 09/18/07: Policy violation: PSO issued verbal warning to 4 students smoking in smoke free zone. 09/14/07: Act 64: report of student smoking marijuana. Pso checked apartment/complaint unfounded. 09/15/07: Key service: access granted to student to retrieve book from SGA office. 09/16/07:Assist outside agency: Middletown PD requested assistance with large party. One serious injury from Fall off 3rd floor balcony/most attendees are psu HBG students. 09/17/07: Health and safety: report of students stuck in elevator at first floor. Students got out Before police arrival. Lsfd on scene/elevator contractor notified. 09/17/07: Suspicious incident: cross country coach reported missing student. While attempting to locate student Coach called and reported student had returned. Advertising Manager: Layla Dideban Matthew McComas Peter Roquemore Maruja Rosario Sahar Safaee Sepideh Safaee Martin Santalucia Alison Smith Ann Stillwater Anna Ustilovskaya Jordan Wiskman parole, he shouldn’t be drinking, but he hasn’t been caught yet so he plans on continuing. In the meantime, 1 am wondering when my boyfriend plans on getting another beer. He continues on his rant about how beautiful I am, how he would treat me right, at least he would when he gets a job because he is currently unemployed. The old gentleman next to me is now discussing with the bartender how his daughter called him the other day to thank him for the $lOO he mailed out in surprise. Which is when I come to the moral of the story. This lesson is not a new one. We’ve all heard it before. However, it continues to surface again and again and again. It is easy to judge people immediately, to decide in one second that someone is either worthy or not worthy of our time. But we have to stop doing that. We have to give people even a microsecond of a chance. We just might be surprised what we found out in the experience. Time for last call, so I will see you next time. See ya later. v I; 9/22/07: Request to patrol: PSO patrolled all floors & iit areas. PSO noted vcr missing from room e 265 & in room E 254 pso found 2 shoe prints on table directly below overhead projectors. 9/25/07: Property damage: Yearling tree damaged outside building. Value $lOO.OO 9/25/07: noise complaint: caller reported loud noise coming from 6000 building, several students issued verbal warnings to keep noise down. 9/26/07: medical emergency: PSS notified of EMS responding to w3ll for subject having pregnancy complications. Person transferred to Hershey Medical Center. 9/27/07: Student assist: PSS received report of male acting strangely. Transported to student affairs. 9/27/07: Health and safety: pss observed grad student taking water samples from storm sewer. Did not put cover back on. Contacted M&O Photographers: Marin Bendoritis Maruja Rosario Matthew Sarver Alison Smith
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers