Enjoys life of a people person By Pam Eppinger On September 1, 1981, when my parents' car pulled away "I think I like SGA the best, but I enjoy them all." to New Jersey, .1 thought 1 would die. As I stood outside my dorm room crying, I heard a voice say, "Don't worry. It's like that for everyone their first day. Go ahead and cry." It was typical of Alita Rovito, a girl who really cares about people and being involved. Alita is the president of SGA, a member of SUB, HCAC, Circle K, and Par nassus Honor Society. She's the Housing chairperson of RHC, a reporter for the Highacres Collegian and a correspondent for HCV. "I think I like SGA the best, but I enjoy all of them. I like being involved and feeling that I'm getting more out of college than an education on ly. I'm learning valuable social skills for the job world. Just the other day I com pleted my library packet. You remember them if you've had English 20. At least, I know I won't forget mine. And they wonder why I drink the way I do. At the outset of my endeavor, the packet seemed like a reasonable exercise that would take about a half an-hour or so to complete. I was soon to discover, however, that these packets just don't work that way. This reasonable half-an-hour exer cise turned out to be an at times ridiculous four-and-a half-hour major project (some people tell me that their packet was more to the tune of twelve hours. I sup pose I was lucky). A lesser known clause of Murphy's Law states, "You'll find what you're looking for in the last place you look." Mur phy knew his stuff. Take the index exercise as an exam ple. I must have wasted about a half of an hour looking through every index to find an and all these activities help with gaining growth and maturity. I love being busy; I can't stand being bored. Also, I really want to do something for the campus, and to meet people. I like to be where things happen, I always have." Alita says HCV is probably her second favorite of her long string of activities. "It gives me a different kind of exposure than SGA, a dif ferent set of skills. I knew when I came to college I'd be involved. I was in high school, too." That she was! She was the editor of her high school newspaper, vice-president of the Key Club and librarian for the band. She was a band member for four years, a member of the chorus, and "I want to be a lawyer or work in administrative management. I just want to work where there are peo ple." was active in intramurals. Alita also appeared in "Who's Who in American High School Students," and she's in "Who's Who" as a college stu dent as well. standing? "I got better grades this term than last . High times at the Highacres library answer. Naturally, the re quired answer was located in the last available index that I checked. Then there is the "refer to" syndrome. Nothing agitates me more than to have a book refer me to five different places before it answers my questions. You have probably experienced this problem yourself. Say you had to find stats on voter registration. You look under "elections" and the book says "see vote count." So you check out "vote count" and the book says "see votes cast." This procedure continues as many as five or six times before the book is good and ready to give an answer. The "refer to" syndrome can even spill over into other books. A few ques tions in my packet had me "refer to" seven or eight books until I could find an answer. And how 'bout some of the questions the packet has you answer! Does Augusta, Maine have an airport? I don't want to go to Maine. And I see no practical reason for finding out when ole Sir Fred Pritchard was born. I Alita's favorite place to be is New York City. In the future she'd like to live where she can get to it easily, in the suburbs. She wants to be close to all of the cultural ac- tivity. Her favorite television shows are "Hill Street Blues" when she feels like being serious, and "Taxi" or "M*MS*H" when she feels like just "cutting loose." She loves the color red because it's so vivid and bright (quite like herself, I'd say), but for a favorite clothing color, she chooses black. "Clothes are my biggest vice! I'll buy clothes before I'll eat." Het — have done things that really favorite celebrity is Al matter. Patin, and her favorite athlete (the sexiest, she says) is Bucky Dent. Mita is the youngest of six children, and a Scorpio. How does that figure in with her personality? 'Scorpios are very intense and 'catty.' They're really ambitious and very loyal, too." If Alita had a day all to herself, with nothing hanging over her head but free time, she's very particular about how she'd spend it. "I'd sleep late, first of all. Then I'd spend the afternoon shopping somewhere with my friends. Later, I would spend a romantic evening at a restaurant with a special per son." B&M By Steve Zarick never get birthday presents from their family. And who the hell cares who the city manager of Scotts dale, Arizona is? I'll bet you they're not sitting around out in Arizona wondering who the Shamokin street sweepers are. Well, once again, B & M must come to an end. I have to go over to the library and Fee if my packet has any (or many) errors. Don't worry; I'm prepared for the worst (with a bottle of bourbon). In cidentally, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of doing the packet ... Ha! Ha! Ha! ... have a high time at the Highacres library. Last minute note: in spite of the library packet's lam basting,. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Mr. Tyce, our Highacres librarian, for graciously taking time from his busy schedule to let me ask him a few questions con cerning another article which appears in this issue. The few minutes Mr. Tyce gave me were very helpful and in formative. When asked what person she'd like to emulate, she was quick in saying "my mother, or maybe people like the foun ding fathers. People who "I've met so many people, learned how to deal with them, and how they react." The last question I asked Alita Rovito was how she'd like to be remembered. Her reply sums up exactly what she already is to so many peo ple. "Someone who really cares about people. Someone who was there when anybody needed her. I just want to think that I've done some kind of good, _ that I helped somebody." And marriage? "There's just too much to do before I get married, too much to do. I'd say that's at least four to six years away. I want to have kids when I get married, though. Two or four of them.'? Although Alita is involved in so many activities, learn ing to budget her time allows hei to have some time, nowever little, to herself. She likes to write poetry in this preciourfree time and to oc-, casionally read Shakespeare: You may also find her listen ing to Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd or Bi ll y Joel, but not disco! "That's one of the worst things you could do to me, force me to sit and listen to disco." She also enjoys Beethoven, but especially Springsteen's "Born to Run" and "Thunder Road." She loves Ingrid Bergman and old Bogart movies. Her favorite book is "The Thorn Birds", which she's read three times. "It's just as exciting the third time as the-first!" Her favorite movies are "Stripes", "Ordinary Peo ple", and "Animal House". She loves chocolate and Italian food. "I just radiate Italian," she says, and I'd say that's true after talking with her! She hates waking up, though, "but once I get up, I'm gone." Her pet peeve about people is insincerity and dishonesty. term. You lust nave to learn to budget your time. I was go ing to apply to be a R.A. but that probably would have been too much with everything else. Besides, I en joy the apartment situation." ( Alita resides in the apart ment on the dorm's first floor.) Alita's responses to my inter view questions: people. In the past, present, and future, every instinct she has seems to involve being around others and helping them. For instance, when asked how be ing in so many activities will aid her in the future, Alita replied, "I feel more in con trol of myself. I've met so many people, learned how to deal with them, and react to them, and how they react. It's been a really good ex perience. It's made me grow. "When I get out of school', I want to be a lawyer or work-in administrative management. I just want to work where there are people." Alita's family is extremely important to tier. Her favorite person in the world is her mother. "She meant so much to so many people while she was alive. Even though she's dead now, she's still here. She had that kind of radiance. She touched • everyone around her." Her sister Maria, who bad very much to do with the person Alita is today, who has also passed away, was a stu dent here at Highacres. Her brother Marc was also SGA president, and another sister, Lisa, came to Highacres. Alita is the last of four children in her family to come to Hazleton. Her favorite thing in the world is to spend time with the people who are close to her, her family arid friends. Her best experience also in volves her family. "I remember when I was young, all eight of us used to go to the shore one week a year. They're so important to me, my family."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers