The Fourth Wall
page 5
Another Field of Dreams:
Mont Alto Women's Soccer
MICHAELA CONDON
In the classic 1989 mov-
ie Field of Dreams, Ray Liotta as
the voice of Shoeless Joe Jack-
son, a famous 1917 World Series
Chicago White Sox player, tells
rural Towa farmer Ray Kinsella,
played by Kevin Costner, “If you
build it, [they] will come.” That is
precisely what Penn State Mont
Alto Associate Director of Athlet-
ics Ashley Jacobs and Penn State
Mont Alto Men’s Soccer Assis-
tant Coach, and Women’s Club
Soccer Coach, Brooke Jacobs are
trying to do.
Currently, only 6 out of
the 19 Penn State Commonwealth
Campuses offer women’s soccer,
and while that sounds like a con-
siderable amount, only one of
those campuses are in the
PSUAC conference that Mont
Alto is a part of, along with Penn
College. This means that starting
a Mont Alto Women's Soccer
Team will present quite a chal-
lenge, but it is not impossible. As
stated by Brooke Jacobs, “More
of the Penn State satellite cam-
puses in the PSUAC conference
are interested in having a wom-
en’s team.”
This is understandable,
considering women’s soccer is
huge in the United States and the
world. According to. the U.S.
State Department Internal Infor-
mation Program publications and
other U.S. government materials,
“Over forty percent of soccer
players in the U.S. are women.
Soccer is the most popular wom-
en's sport in college. An estimat-
ed 18,188 women played soccer
in the three college divisions in
2001.” That number is likely to
increase due to general popula-
tion growth.
According to Tara Par-
ker-Pope, a writer for The New
York Times, “Title IX of the Ed-
ucation Amendments of 1972
required schools and colleges
established women’s soccer pro-
gram.
There is significant inter-
est in having a women’s team at
Mont Alto. Last semester was the
first step in building the dream.
Twenty girls said they were inter-
ested at the initial meeting, six-
teen of them showed up to at least
one practice, and fourteen of
them were present at the first
game against Messiah College,
including two ladies who had
never played before. According
to Jacobs, that was a good start,
but in order to have a fighting
chance at having a women’s var-
sity team, and the associated
money coming to campus there
needs to be “more interest and
more support to take it to the
[varsity] level.”
Dear HFS Employees,
It is a pleasure to work with
Happy Valentine’s Day,
1543 East Main Street
Waynesboro, PA 17268
(717) 762-4600
Jeff Donald
President
Syria (Continued)
Reuters also mentions
that “Arab League chief Nabil
Elaraby and Qatari Prime
Minister Hamad bin Jassim al
-Thani, who heads the organi-
zation's committee on Syria,
wrote to U.N. Secretary Gen-
eral Ban Ki-moon requesting
a meeting to seek the Security
Council's support for the
League's faltering peace ef-
fort.”
In a recent press con-
ference, President al-Assad
blamed the Arab League with
trying to interfere with, and
attempting to destroy the na-
tion of Syria, saying that
“Regional and international
sides have tried to destabilize
the country." President Ba-
shar al-Assad, who continues
to maintain an iron fist,
blamed his country's prob-
lems on surrounding nations,
while placing no blame on his
own regime.
Only time will tell
what will happen to the state
of Syria. According to The
BBC, “The US, the UK, and
France are lobbying on behalf
of the Arab League's draft
text, which calls for President
Bashar al-Assad to hand pow-
er to a deputy.” Russia, how-
ever, has a naval base in Syr-
ia, as well as supplies weap-
ons for the State. Russia
blocked the UN movement,
saying that the resolution
“leaves open the possibility of
intervention in Syrian af-
fairs".
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JOHN SHAFFER
Often times when I’m
speaking about a new project
or idea being thrown around in
Student Government Associa-
tion (SGA), the first question
students ask me is: “What is
an SGA?”
The fact is that even
though some students are
aware that we have an SGA,
few know its purpose. It is for
this reason that we are spon-
soring our very own “Meet
Your SGA Day” on February
29th at 2:00 in the Heritage
Room of the Mill. If you’re
unfamiliar with the SGA, this
day is for you.
Essentially, Meet Your
SGA Day is our way of reach-
ing out to students, and bridg-
ing the gap that often occurs
between representatives and
constituents. We will have
presentations on a number of
topics including legislation
and proclamations passed this
year, how representatives have
worked with the administra-
tion to better student life, and
how students can become
more involved in student gov-
ernment.
~ Most importantly, stu-
dent representatives will be
made available to field ques-
tions from students in an open
setting. Any suggestion made
will be taken into considera-
tion. Refreshments will be
served. We encourage all stu-
dents to make an effort to at-
tend and learn how your SGA
can go to work for you.