Page 6 — LION’'SEYE — May, 1991 Delco Students Gain Experience, Satisfaction With Literacy Corps by Jennifer Darr Voor een heel byzonder meisje genammd. How do you think you would feel if every sentence you looked at looked like this? For many Americans that is just the case. In fact, did you know that one out of every five American adults are functionally illiterate? There is something that we as students and future leaders of the world can do to resolve this problem. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and the Pennsylvania Literacy Corps, Fifteen Facts About the Earth by Chuck Spector 1) Only 27% of the glass America used in 1988 was recycled. 2) An acre of lawn needs about 27,000 gallons of water every week. 3) Americans over water their lawns by an estimated 20 to 40%. In the summer months, the water used can go up by 30% due to outdoor watering. 4) During the spring and summer months, about 18% of American landfill space goes to grass clippings. 5) The average home today contains more chemicals than were found in a typical chemistry lab at the turn of the century. 6) Everyday, Americans buy about three acres of light bulbs. 7) In 1988, recycling aluminum cans saved enough energy to supply the residential electric needs of New York City for six months. 8) Americans use about 4,000,000,000 (4 billion) quarts of motor oil every year. 9) The New York metropolitan area produces about 52,000,000 pounds of trash every day. 10) Refrigerators use the equivalent of 20 large nuclear power plants’ worth of energy. 11) The people in the U.S. alone use 187,000 tons of paper daily. 12) Americans use about 300 million pounds of pesticide products around their homes every year. 13) On an average summer day, American air conditioners provide enough cool air to produce 16,000,000,000,000 (16 trillion) ice cubes. 14) According to recent research, the average car burns about 15 tons of gasoline in its lifetime. 15) Five million homes could be heated for 200 years by the wood and paper thrown away each year. Bomb Scare! Continued from Page 1 “Even when you're 95% sure — even 98% sure — that the call is a hoax,” said Campus Executive Officer Ed Tomezsko, “you have to consider the 2% to 5% possibility that it isn’t. So we maintain a normal operation, but notify everyone of the threat and give them the option of moving to safety at the announced time.” The last bomb threat at Delco occurred just about a year ago, in Spring, 1990. Over the past six years the campus has received about five bomb threats. “All schools get them,” said Andy Kearney. “In fact, Delaware County Community College had quite a few during their fall semester last year.” Delco’s seem to be a springtime phenomenon. April 16 was a warm, sunny day, which is a great temptation if you have a test scheduled for 2:00 PM. students at Delco are making a difference. Last spring, a $90,000 grant was awarded to our campus in addition to twelve other Pennsylvania colleges. This grant has been and is being used for the Delaware County Campus Literacy Corps. Our campus is working in partnership with the Delaware County Literacy Corps to help students make a difference. A class called Focus on Volunteers: Adult Literacy is currently offered at our campus. It enables students to earn college credit while contributing to the community. This is a three-credit course on literacy issues that includes tutor training and actual tutoring in a local literacy program. The course is a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject of literacy. It includes literacy training, lectures from different people on the subject of literacy and how it affects that certain part of society, and actual tutoring at different centers in Pennsylvania. Among the people that the program works with are inmates at the Delaware County Women's Prison, teenage mothers who wish to get their GED’s, foreigners who would like to learn how to speak English, and many other people. Jennifer Kapski, a Junior majoring in communications, is participating in the baby SPOCK program. SPOCK is a program that tutors teenage mothers to aid them in taking their High School Equivalency Chemistry Prof. Visits Castro Can you remember who you ate dinner with on Saturday, April 13? John Tierney, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, can because he was in a place most Americans can’t visit, eating dinner with a famous man most Americans will never meet. The place was the Presidential Palace in Havanna, Cuba. The man was President Fidel Castro. Dr. Tierney was visiting Cuba with other members of the United States Olympic Committee because Cuba is hosting the 1991 Pan American Games. The Committee was there to inspect the locations for the many summer sport competitions which will take place during the Games, from track to horseback riding to cycling to water sports. As Manager of the US Rowing Team, Dr. Tierney was there to inspect the river site where the various rowing events will take place. A rower himself, Dr. Tierney has been traveling with the US team as its manager for a number of years. And sometimes he gets some surprises: like being invited to dinner by Fidel Castro. Exam. Once a week, Jennifer tutors about ten young mothers at the YWCA in Chester. When I asked her why she took the class she told me that she’s always been interested in doing volunteer work, she just never had the opportunity. Furthermore, she feels that illiteracy is a major problem in the United States. I also asked Jennifer what she enjoyed most about the class. She told me,” like the feeling of helping others accomplish their goals.” Another student I spoke with about the class is Diane Harvey, a sophomore majoring in Liberal Arts. Diane is tutoring an inmate at the Delaware County Women’s Prison, which is located in Glen Mills. She felt that taking the class would be a rewarding and beneficial experience to both her and her student. When asked what she liked the most about the class, she replied,” Tutoring made me realize that one person can actually make a difference.” For students who aren’t interested in tutoring, other work for the council is available. The project director is Dr. Madlyn Hanes, Dean of Academic Affairs, and the project manager is Norma Notzold, Learning Assistance Coordinator at PSU Delco. The aim of this project is to give students the opportunity to take part in volunteerism so that they can see the rewards of volunteer efforts and so that they can become leaders in their communities. Another purpose of this program is to acquaint students with the problem of illiteracy in this country. “If you would like to be a part of this exciting program or if you would like more information about it, please contact Norma Notzold in LLC 109. British group The Fixx will be appearing on May 10 at the Spectrum. Opening for them is hot new artist Gregg Tripp. Photo by: Paul Rider Chat 'N’ Cheese A Great Success by Wanjiru Kamau Some of a total of 250 students who attended the adult students evening function had the following to say: ( EXCERPTS FROM PROGRAM EVALUATION) (1) The program was beneficial to me because: o It was a chance to socialize with people I don’t usually see « To interact with other adult/evening students + Provides time and information not normally available » Chance to meet teachers informally « Contact with Penn State family » Love getting a chance to kick back and relax with faculty and I just met two new students that I didn’t know before e Takes off some academic pressure due to studying Two Delco students cram for math. Photo by: Mary Matus * Food was free (2) The best feature of this program was: » Excellent variation of food « The food was excellent-I enjoyed talking to the faculty members e The energetic people hosting the program and the food e Opportunity to meet administrators * Informal atmosphere (3) The worst feature of this program was: e No forks - no plates for desert table » Classes seem to stick together * More instructors should attend » Not meeting more faculty e The tum-out, I wish it was a little better “@ Next year, I would like to see: Speakers or counselors to speak about new courses available, the most needed courses in the 1990’s etc. e The program extended past 8:00pm so 7:30 classes can benefit more » More frequent events like the Chat’N’Cheese e More forced interaction e Music (5) Other comments or suggestions: » The program was great/don’t have much money for food, now the $2 I had for a sandwich can go in my gas tank e A very well run program-a social gathering with a relaxed atmosphere * Encourage interaction between staff and students « TV, rented movie or music for entertainment On behalf of Student Programs and Services, and the Chat n Cheese organizing commmittee, I wish to thank the evening students, staff and faculty who donated dessert and made the function the success it was! I hope to see you again in the 1991 Fall semester.
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