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Fall 2009
Editorial
Another year here at Mont Alto begins. That
also means another batch of nervous new stu-
ing with the college experience and what are
they hoping to gain from it?
For some students, college life can be ex-
tremely hectic, with rarely a free moment.
Katiusha Roche, a potential meteorology ma-
that she had a good amount of free time. She
likes to spend her time by doing on campus
activities like pool, and hanging out with her
friends. Erik Galzerano plans to major in fo-
rensic science and he claims, “The professors
are right when they say that for every hour of
class we must study three.” Although he has a
heavy workload, he still finds some time later
in the day to relax by working out or just
hanging out with friends.
Although many students chose to come to
Mont Alto for the beautiful scenery and se-
cluded location, others were less enthusiastic
about being, essentially, forced to come here.
“because it was the only campus that still had
housing available.” As of right now, Roche
plans on transferring to University Park.
Galzerano, however, chose to come to Mont
Alto because it was close to home and he
wanted to take advantage of the small class
sizes. He will have to transfer to Univer-
sity.Park to complete his major. For nearly all
the new students, this is their first time away
from home for an extended period of time.
Many first year students choose to live in
Mont Alto Hall to truly get the full college
experience, and some of them aren’t exactly
thrilled that they did. Roche, however, is
happy with living in the Hall, saying “the RAs
are awesome.” The only aspect of dorm living
she isn’t happy with is “the shower situation,”
she adds with a laugh. Because Galzerano
spends so little time in his room, he said that
his living conditions had no negative effect on
him. He also commented, “There are a slew of
great people that live here.”
Many students have also never had to man-
studying, and possibly work. Roche said she
was doing well and getting to class on time,
although she does tend to procrastinate with
studying. “But hey, I'm still passing my
classes,” she joked. Galzerano feels he’s han-
dling college well; he always gets to class
early and has carefully planned out a schedule
to give him ample time to do his work. He
claimed that the adjustment to college life
wasn’t a difficult one for him because he was
also a responsible student in high school.
All around us are trees, wildlife, organ-
isms, and water. Daily we use supplies like
paper, sit on wooden chairs, and breathe in
fresh oxygen in the air. “All of this is possible
with trees” explains Dr. Elizabeth Brantley,
professor at Penn State Mont Alto for Forest
Technology. In an interview Dr. Brantley ex-
plains to us what forestry is and shares some
interesting facts about the class and how it
relates to everyday life.
Forestry is the management of a com-
munity or organisms that include trees, water,
soil, wildlife, and many other organisms and
microorganisms. Trees are very important
because they are a renewable resource, mean-
ing that the resource will never run out.
“That’s always been my passion for forestry”
she says. “We can grow [trees] and we can
make furniture, we can grow new trees, and
we can make paper.”
Dr. Brantley has taught the forest tech-
nology class at the University of Montana, at
University Park, and has taught here at Mont
Alto for the last 13 years. What has been most
rewarding for her over those years is that her
students that enter the program and continue
to stay with it want to learn more about for-
estry. “Many come in [their] freshman year,”
she says. “They like to hunt, fish, be out-
doors, so forestry seems to be the right pursuit
for them, and it turns out that they were
right!”
On a personal note, seeing her students
learn and grow is something she enjoys.
“Teaching keeps me motivated to keep learn-
ing because students always ask me questions
that I may not have the answer to.”
How similar is forestry to other sci-
that it’s related to geology, hydrology, biol-
ogy, entomology, pathology, and other
“ologies” in science. “There’s so much that
forestry relates to” she says.
According to Dr. Brantley, forestry is
critical for many things in everyday life. They
are important for a variety of things, every-
thing from “pharmaceuticals to food, fuel
wood, heat, cooking, for interior dwelling for-
est species” and more.
For those who are interested in forest
technology, Dr. Brantley suggests working
with the Geographic Information System
(GIS), which deals with mapping software,
using applications with remote sensing, land
surveying, aerial photography, photogram-
metric, geography, mathematics, and other
tools. According to her it is a “golden ticket
for a job in forestry.”
Be warned. It is a tough subject.
“Forestry can be both physically and mentally
challenging” she says. “There are many jobs
in that field, but you have to want to work
hard for it.”