PIIIM
SGA president looks to make changes at Penn State Harrisburg
By JOSSELINE CARBONARE
STAFF WRITER
RvIC73OOPSU.EDU
In the Penn State Harrisburg
student government elections
held Spring 2008, senior Antonios
Avramidis from Vernon, N.J.,
emerged as the winner of the
presidential race.
Avrimidis said he always knew
Penn State was where he wanted
to attend college.
"I only applied to PSU, but
Photo by MARIN ALICE/The Capital Times
Newly elected SGA President Antonios Avramidis points the way to a new Penn
State Harrisburg.
Public administration program welcomes Professor Stalebrink
BY RABYIA AHMED
STAFF WRITER
RZA 109@ PSU.EDU
He traveled from Sweden
to the United States to study
public policy at George Mason
University. In just one year, he
met someone, got married and
made the United States his new
home.
Odd Stalebrink, associate
professor in public budgeting
and finance in the public
administration program, is among
Penn State Harrisburg's newest
professors.
He moved to the area from
Morgantown, W.Va. about three
weeks ago, he said with his
Swedish accent.
Between his two children and
American wife, he tries his best
to keep Sweden's traditions and
culture a part of his family. It was
just three weeks ago that he and
his family returned to the United
s jai
I originally wanted to go to
University Park," he said. "That
was my first pick. I ended up
getting accepted to the Harrisburg
campus and really ended up liking
the public policy department."
When he first arrived at PSH,
Avrimidis said he came here
knowing he wanted to get involved
somehow. He then decided to be a
part,of the SGA on campus.
"I didn't know that I wanted to be
the SGA president right away, but
States from a joyous two and a
half month trip to Sweden.
While Stalebrink is fluent in
Swedish and English, with basic
understanding of French, he takes
pride in knowing that his 5-year
old boy and 4-year-old girl picked
up some Swedish on their trip. His
wife also got better at speaking
and understanding the language.
Stalebrink does miss Sweden,
but he said that he came here for a
better education, "which is what I
was able to get at George Mason
University," where he received
a doctorate in public policy. He
liked that the United States is
open to different opportunities.
"Sweden, you know, is a very
class structured society," he said.
"So, it's nice to be somewhere
where most things are open to
everyone," said Stalebrink.
According to Stalebrink, the
biggest difference between
Sweden and the United States
is in the approachability of the
77 17
the more I got involved, the more
interested I became in running,"
he said
Avrimidis has been SGA
president since April. He said
he had the desire to be SGA
president because it would give
him the opportunity to act as the
voice of the students.
"Making sure that student
opinions are brought fourth to the
administration is really important
to me," said Avrimidis.
As president, Avrimidis believes
an individual should be willing
to sacrifice their time for other
people
"I think a lot of people aren't
willing to sacrifice time for other
people," he explained. "And on
top of that, I think it is imperative
to get every view and perspective
on an issue but still make your
own decisions."
According to Avrimidis, his
biggest challenge will be raising
the bar on the expectations that
people have for SGA. His goal
is re-structuring the Student
Government and taking as many
suggestions as possible.
different kinds of people.
He said, "Sweden is extremely
homogeneous.
"People here are very nice and
easy going and easy to talk to."
One of the many things he
remembers from holidays back
home is the smorgasbord, which
is a buffet-like arrangement of
different types of Swedish food.
He said he does miss eating that
food.
Living in the United States for
about 12 years provided him the
opportunity to sample a variety of
food. Tai food wins the prize for
Stalebrink's favorite type of food.
Add a lagers beer to that, with
water at a close second, and call
it his perfect meal.
During his free time, Stalebrink
enjoys golfing, which he is pretty
Please see STALEBRINK
on page 10
Se it. 10 2008
"I love taking suggestions
and I do mostly everything on
consensus," he said.
Another area of interest for
Avramidis is campus life. He
said he wants to have more
cooperative events between
Greek life, clubs and SGA. In
conjunction, Avrimidis believed
PSH could hold large-scale events
that students would enjoy.
"There is a lot of stuff in the
works at the moment, but that's to
be seen in the future," he said.
Although Avrimidis is SGA
president he still is an average
college student.
"I wake up at 6 a.m., get to class
at 8 a.m. and I am usually in class
or in the office until at least 9
p.m. I have meetings throughout
the day, and have people coming
to me asking questions and giving
me proposals."
In his spare time he enjoys
hunting, fishing, watching "South
Park" and "Aqua Teen Hunger
Force."
"Believe it or not, I read history
books on my spare time," he
said.
Avrimidis said he plans on going
to law school in the future. He
wants to go into business law in
the private sector.
"I am a Supreme Court case
junkie. I look up cases and
could read them all day. Law is
fascinating to me."
Another interest of Avrimidis is
traveling.
"I love traveling. I've been to
most of Europe and I really would
love to go to Asia ... as well as
the Middle East. I'd love to go
everywhere!" he said.
"With PSH's campus changing
drastically and only a couple of
years since freshmen have been
let in, PSH is experiencing more
of what it is like to be a four-year
college. There are some growing
pains that we are dealing with
and need to attend to. There are
a lot of new things on campus
like Greek life, fraternities,
clubs are growing, outing club,
photography," said Avrimidis.
"We have a lot of big clubs that
provide activities, facilities,
as well as a good direction for
students go into."
Photo by MARIN ALICE / The Capital Times