page 8
The Fourth Wall
Liberal Arts from page 3
unpredictable factors that could
undermine the program’s
approval. Nevertheless, Boon
remains positive about the
program’s potential on
campus.
The other members serving
on the committee are Dr.
Bramel (Psychology), Dr.
Mahlon (Physics), Prof. Funk
(Theatre Arts), Dr. Hamilton
(Communication), Dr.
Donovan (History), and Dr.
Hill (Economics).
The four-year Liberal Arts
degree is currently available on
the Delaware, DuBois, Fayette,
Hazelton, Wilkes-Barre,
Shenango Valley, and York
campuses.
The Bachelor of Liberal
Arts degree offers students a
wide variety of career options.
Former graduates of the
program are working as
communications specialists,
account analysts, and number
of . other professional
occupations. Ron Merritt, who
completed the degree on the
DuBois campus and who went
on to graduate study, says,
“My dreams and goals could
never have been fulfilled
without the LASCC bachelor’s
degree program . . ... The
opportunity to tailor my
curriculum to my interests and
career goals greatly appealed to
me. Through LAS, I built a
strong foundation for graduate
school.”
In order for the program to
become part of the campus
curriculum it has to pass
through the Policy and
Planning Advisory Committee,
the Curriculum Committee, the
Faculty Senate, and University
Park.
If approved, the program
would become available in
Fall 2007.
Online from page 7
helped “coordinate all [her]
efforts.” The lay-outs for the
classes are well thought out.
While online courses are
still evolving, most online
professors, like Funk, are
pleased with the quality of the
work submitted to them by
students.
Online professors generally
make themselves available for
the students in their classes.
They check their email multiple
times a day, they are available
for phone calls, and some of
them us instant messaging.
Professors work just as hard for
their online courses as they do
for traditional classroom classes
(if not harder).
Heather Cairns
The Information and
Technology Center (ITS
department) has implemented
a number of new programs
and services. Among them is
the Microsoft Developer
Network Academic Alliance
(MSDN AA), which makes
available to Penn State students
a wide variety of the latest
computer programs, including
Office One Note. This program
allows students to collect and
organize notes to fit their needs
and gives users the ability to
add graphics and diagrams to
the notes. MSDN AA allows
students to download, free of
charge, any of the available
Microsoft programs needed for
their course work or personal
use. While most MSDN AA
software is targeted more for
Information Science and
Technology students, for
example SQL Server, the
program is open to everyone
on campus.
The ITS department has
also been working on
expanding their Audio/Visual
equipment and increasing
access to it for students, faculty,
and staff. For example, students
can now stop by the ITS
department in the MAC
building and sign out a digital
camera for twenty-four hours
as well as the laptop
computers. Dan Mroz, director
of Mont Alio’s [ITS
department, says that the ITS
department has now “made
available equipment that
converts VHS to DVD ... to
students, staff, and faculty so
they may convert old VHS
tapes to DVD within legal
copyright limitations.”
Another program launched
this year by the ITS department
was a briefing for new students
during FTCAPs outlining the
ITS resources on campus. The
program introduces MSDN
AA, the available equipment,
and a manual of sorts
regarding Penn State Mont
Alto’s ITS department. The
handbook, ‘Mastering
Technology,” guides new
students through maneuvering
the Penn State Access Account,
Webmail, ANGEL, Portal, and
eLion. It also explains other
benefits like ResCom, a
network in the residence halls
using broadband, and
Napster’s free downloads. The
handbook is available in the
ITS department in the MAC
building, room 124.
There were some proposed
changes, however, that didn’t
happen this year, like a
proposal to build a computer
lab in the MAC building. The
proposal was to section off
room 122 ofthe MAC building
to make one half of it a
classroom and the other a
computer lab. “The money
required to make [the project]
feasible,” according to Staci
Willhide, Computing Support
Specialist, “was just too much.”
It was unanimously agreed to
abandon the project and at the
present, there are no plans to
resubmit to proposal in the near
future.
ITS continues to upgrade
campus computer labs with the
new computers in the Sci-Tech
building this year. The upgrades
began nearly two years ago
when the computers in General
Studies were replaced with up-
to-date Dell computers running
windows XP and flat-screen
monitors. More recently, a
multi-media ‘editing’ station
was added to the computer lab
in the General Studies building
that allows users to scan and
edit pictures. The equipment is
currently only in the General
Studies building and is open to
anyone.
For more information
contact the ITS department in
the MAC building.