On Campus
page 5
Campus Comedian
Corey White
On Tuesday September 14,
Comedian Michael Dean
Ester performed in the new
Weistling Student Center. The
lounge atmosphere of the new
interior added to the
audience’s anticipation before
the show.
Ester started the show off
well, but with minimal
response from the audience.
When he lowered his guard
interests of college students, he
soon had everyone laughing.
Probably his best strategy
was to ask the audience
questions throughout the show
and base his jokes on their
responses. It showed his
originality. Once he got the feel
of the audience, he was
entertaining.
Halfway through the show,
he made mention to the topic
of terrorism. He said that
many comedians wouldn’t
touch the subject out of fear for
how audiences might react. He
said that by attending college,
enjoying campus events (such
as his), making friends, and not
living in fear, we were fighting
terrorism. He acknowledged
audience members who were
part of, or had family or friends
in, the military, and he
applauded them all. It was a
commendable approach.
The students who attended
the show, many who came
only because there was nothing
else to do on campus, were
shocked to find the show was
better than they had expected
from a place as small as Mont
Alto.,
The success of Ester’s
performance should increase
attendance at other campus
events this year.
Students from page 1
“SAF money can only be spent
on students. The [SAF]
committee is two-thirds
students ... our vote actually
matters more than the
administration.” Vomero
recalls a particular situation last
year when “the entire student
group voted for the funding of
the NYC bus trip and all of the
staff/faculty voted against. The
faculty/staff didn’t like that the
trip was the day before finals.
Students won.”
Mentz suggests that “we
redistribute that money back to
the students.” He proposes a
kind of “tax return.”
Vomero says that “one of
the goals of SAF is to allocate
the fee to the students who
generate it. As it goes, there is
not a process for giving back
money left over.”
On both sides, these
students had an opinion, took
a stand, and backed it up. This
exchange between Vomero and
Mentz shows that students on
this campus are active and care
about what is going on around
them.
This newspaper encourages the
expression of free speech and
Student opinion. Anyone that
wants to comment on this, or any
other issue concerning student
affairs, is welcome to write to the
editor at fourthwall@psu.edu.
Corey White
The first game Mont Alto’s
2004 soccer team played was an
away game against Penn State
Wilkes Barre on September 8.
With only ten players, the team
walked onto a wet field. The
loss of Matt to an injured ankle
was a heavy blow for the team.
Not giving up, Jeremiah
Manifold scored a goal, but it
wasn’t enough for the team to
pull all the way through at
Wilkes Barre. The game ended
3-1, and we begin the season 0-
I.
On Saturday, September 11,
our second game was held-at
home against Penn State
Delaware County. Even with a
strong defense, Delaware was
able to take a few shots. We
blocked and recovered. Alex
Stewart and Cole Daniel both
scored and Mont Alto came
away with a 2-0 win.
Another home game was
held on the 14% against Penn
State Schuylkill. Mont Alto
started out slow. During
halftime, Coach McKinney
pushed the team to pick up the
pace. Shin Goo and Jeremiah
Manifold led the team to a 2-0
victory against Schuylkill.
Alfredo Gonzalez, the
team captain, said, “It’s going
to take a good team to beat us.
We have a good shot at
making playoffs this season.
We are playing well and we
know we can improve and
there’s a good connection
between all of the players.” I
asked Alfredo how he feels
about the coach’s strategies. He
answers, “He’s a good coach
because he’s not all in your face
and he’s more relaxed.”
Jim Vomero
Mont Alto Campus recently
celebrated a century of
educational excellence through
a series of festivals and
reunions. The series concluded
with the Centennial Fellows
Banquet, which recognized the
accomplishments of students
from the past 100 years. At the
same time of this fanfare and
celebration, the Alumni and
campus community were also
looking toward the future by
developing the Ten-Year
Campus Master Plan.
The Master Planning
Committee conducted focus
groups that included students,
faculty, staff, local business
leaders, local industry
representatives, Alumni, and
many Centennial Fellows. The
mission of these individuals
was to answer the question
“what should Mont Alto
Campus look like in ten years?”
The committee started with
a vision: to become recognized
as one of the best colleges in our
region in teaching, learning,
research, and outreach. These
four areas of concentration
became the guideline for the
future of Mont Alto. Through
a series of meetings, over a span
of several months, the
committee created the Ten-Year
Program Statement. The
Program Statement highlights
the campus resources and
ambitions in several sections
including academic
programming, student support
programming, student life
support, demographic
influences, competitive
pressure, and a property
analysis.
Mont Alto currently offers
eight associate degree programs
and five bachelor degree
programs. The most successful
of the programs are Nursing,
Physical Therapy, and
Occupational Therapy.
Approximately 25 percent of
the students are currently
enrolled in these Life Science
programs. Continuing
education has also played an
extensive part of Mont Alto’s
programming by offering
Weekend College, traditional
coursework, and nine credit
certificate programs such as
Administration of Justice,
Health Care Supervisory
Leadership and the Paralegal
program.
The Program Statement was
designed to strengthen the
many current academic
successes of our campus, while
also bringing in new programs
that meet the needs of the
changing communities and
markets. The campus hopes to
build on its existing
relationships in the allied health
fields with the possible addition
of an associate degree in
Radiological Sciences and
foster stronger relationships
with area health care providers.
Mont Alto also hopes to
expand the Human
Development and Family
see Planning page 6