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."