Feature
A Tribute To Professor Shaevel
Michael -. Lobb
Over Christmas break,
the students, staff and
faculty of the Hazleton
campus experienced the
loss of one •of our most
special professors ;M.
Leonard Shaevel,
associate professor of
Physics.
Professor Shaevel was a
member of the faculty
here at Hazleton since 1966
and has done more for the
campus than any other
single person. He was
elected "Teacher of the
Year" twice by the student
body, in 1970 and 1977. In
1981, our university for
mally recognized his
many achievements in the
classroom by presenting
him with the AMOCO
Foundation Teaching
Award. Probably one of
Professor Shaevel's
highest honors was the
title of "Master Teacher" .
Professor Sh;sevel not
only taught Physics well,
but he also had many other
varied talents. He played
the piano, and while in
college, he played in bars
to make money for school.
He had a terrific sense of
humor and a few years ago
was a key figure in coming
up with a show called
"Comeriety" in which the
faculty and staff spoofed
themselves. The show
which was done every
year and stopped about
five years ago, was
presented again last
spring. He thought he
would try his hand at being
an artist, so he started
painting at the beginning
of last summer.
He earned his bachelor of
science and master of
science degrees at Lowell
Technical Institute
(Mass.). He co-authored
three widely-used text
books and had designed
microcomputer programs
to enhance classroom
demonstrations. These
teaching aids have been
adapted throughout the
Penn State campuses;
Here at Hazleton, he was
in charge of the honors
program. He created, co
authored, and co-produced
a television quiz show
called "Science Count
down" for high school
students which aired for
four years on Channel 44.
A recent project of his was
a series of programs to
represent the concepts of
Physics to elementary
scholl students. He
developed a program
called Color, Perception
and Optical Illusion" for
fifth graders and a second
program, "The Physics
Around Us" for sixth
graders. Also Professor
Shaevel was scheduled to
appear before the January
meeting of the American
Association of PhysicS
Teachers in New York
City to present a paper on
the Doppler Effect.
"Teachers must learn
from their teaching,S" he
said " and they can't be
afraid to experiment." He
believed that the teacher's
enthusiasm - expressing a
genuine concern for the
student contributed most
to the desire to learn.
"Teachers can confuse en
thusiasm with showman
ship. There is a place in
the classroom for the spec
tacular demonstration or
the occasional joke, but we
can't forget that we are
educators and not en
tertainer s ."
I talked to
four of the many close
friends of Professor
Shaevel here on campus
and ,in doing so I realized
just how much I missed
MRS. PHIL'S
Wicker World
65 N. Wyoming St.
Hazleton
459-5117
Next to MR. PHIL'S
Laundry Center
HAIR DESIGNS by
FRANCIS X.TUCCI
70 N. Wyoming St.
Hazleton, PA.
454-4191
out by now knowing him
better. Students were con
stantly going to him for ad
vice and he always had
time to listen. "Many
times we would have cof
fee breaks," says Dr.
Harriet Rudolph, who
lives in the same apart
ment building as
Professor Shaevel, " aad
the phone wopld ring and it
would be a brother or
friend of a student who he
had wanted to talk about
some kind of problem."
He always o f
time for,
everyone. She remembers
a time when "we were
having coffee and a girl
called about a problem or
something and when she
was finished, she wished
him and I a Merry Christ
mas . He was Jewish. He
never burdened others
with his problems;
He only listened. "Once in
a great while" Dr.
Rudolph says he would
break down and come to
her. H e also helped Dr.
Rudolph in getting her fir
st two articles published.
sometimes he would spend
seven or eight hours
looking them over. He
never thought he was
above anyone. 1-1 e was the
perfect gentleman. "He
was old worldish in ways
we think of as dating back
to the early 1900's. He had
a great respect for woman
and he loved children."
Unfortunately, I Ma not
get a chance to be taught
by Professor Shaevel,
where he was at his best.
But, like all freshmen, I
did have a chance to see
him in action in the Sum
mer Counselingand Orien
tation program. Upon
leaving the session, I and
everyone else - there, left
feeling very optimistic
- about coming to college.
He had us psyched about
coming to this campus,
and filled with confidence
that we had what it took to
make it. H e impressed
upon everyone that we
were going to come here
and be successes_, if we
tried out best Dr. San
tulli remembers a time
last year when the two of
them spent two days
looking for golf clubs.
They went to Scranton,
Wilkes Barre, and
everywhere you could
imagine to find these
clubs. Finally, they found
them in Herman's in the
Lehigh Valley Mall.
Professor Shaevel talked
the salesman into giving
the clubs to them for the
sale price that was not
going to take effect for two
weeks!. Then he talked
him down even lower. Dr.
Santulli states that he was
a "model for everyone on
campus...He was an
example of the best of
what people can be and
what this university
represents."
I also talked with Dr.
Staudenmeier, and he said
that Professor Shaevel did
so much that he "cannot,
be replaced by one man."
He also told me that he
remembers that Professor
Shaevel was constantly
being asked by many
students to send letters of
recommendation. "There
were very little student,
faculty or campus ac
tivities in general that he
was not involved in,"
When I asked Dr.
Staudenmeier about the
content of the
"Comeriety" shows he
replied, "Nothing on cam
pus was sacred." Ac
cording toDr. Stauden
meier and his secretary, a
few years ago Professor
Shaevel started a dance
band called "M. Lenny
and the Shovels" which
was going to perform in
the Commons but
somehow fell through.
Michelle Jais' fondest
memories of Professor
Shaevel were froin the
three to four months they
would spend together in
the summer counselling
program. They spent af
ternoons putting the slide
presentations together.
She feels that his best at-
The HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN
Vol. 18 No. 2 May 19, 1983
Executive Editor Pamela Eppinger
Executive Editor-Elect Melissa Harrison
Adviser Dr. Michael Santulli
COLLEGIAN STAFF MEMBERS
Business and Advertising James R. Nichols
Sports Editor Terry McCarthy
Photo Editor Michele Vignapiano
Layout Pamela Eppinger
James R. Nichols
Writers
Nick Pisani
Lisa Bosak
Patti Diacont
Terry McCarthy
Steven Zarick
Photographers. Michele Vignapiano
Jacqueline Neare
Lisa A. Bosak
The HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN office is
located in the South Building room 108. Office
hours are Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 a.m. to
noon. Other hours can be arranged by ap
pointment.
The COLLEGIAN phone number is (767)454-
6559.
Unsigned editorials represent the official view - of
the COLLEGIAN. Views expressed in bylined
articles are those of the individual contributor,
and they do not necessarily reflect the view of the
COLLEGIAN. Responsible comment to printed
material is invited.
Page 6
tribute was that he made
one feel like he belonged
no matter where he was.
Also, that he always had
time to help. "No matter
who it was, whether a
laculty member, staff
member, student or per
fect stranger, he would
always make time to talk
and help out." Mrs. Jais
declared that he was a
very obstinate man at
times. "He loved a good
argument." He *as open
minded about some things,
but he had ceratin beliefs
and he stuck to them. One
in particular that Mr.s
Jais remembers was, "If a
man and a woman reached
a door at the same time, he
would alays make her go
first. He was a true gen
tleman." She feels tha the
reason why he was in so
many things was probably
because "he could never
s a y no.''
To me, those five words
sum up the man that was
M. Leonard Shaevel. He
was never too busy for
anyone, to listen to their
problem and help out, to
write a letter of recom
mendation, to help a friend
get an article published, to
counsel a confused
student, td go looking for
golf clubs with a friend, to
make .a person feel extra
special, or to just be there.
He never said no. Dr.
Rudolph said it best,
"...that was a man with
class.
Kathy Joscht
Jennifer Hopkins
Michael Lobb
Anne Barnhart