— LION’SEYE —
OT ear RN oT BE aT A dE IN
September 21, 1994
Professor’s Ballova, Kavkova & Ferencir share information about their
home, Slovakia, with Delco teachers.
. Photo by: BOB SERVIAN
Delco Greets Slovakian Profs
Here for American Studies
By Norman Castiello and Tony
Moore
What would it be like to meet
with three professors from a former
communist country? Well, Delco
recently had that privilege!
Here from Pavol Jozef Safarik
University in Presov, Slovakia, for two
weeks were Professors Margita
Ballova, Blazena Kavkova, and Milan
Ferencir. They are working on an
American Studies syllabus by
examining textbooks and other needed
material.
As they spent time at Delco and
briefly at University Park, they saw
American students as independent,
self-supporting students with a
knowledge limited to American
history for the most part.
However, they said that most
here do not fluently speak a second
language and that their literacy rate is
about 99%.
Penn State Delco will continue
its ties with Safarik University in the
months ahead during the development
of an American Studies Program here.
Fun, Frolic & Food Highlight
Successful Student Spirit Day
By Diana Desimone
Spirit Day, Sept. 2 was a great
way for Penn State Delco. to express
their pride. Spirits were risen upon
entering the Commons Cafeteria
Doors. Decorations, streamers, and
balloons clearly exemplified Delco.
spirit. In the main gym were a series of
pick up basketball games as the lady
lions occupied the auxiliary gym with
some intense volleyball.
Carnations were purchased in the
spirit of Labor Day, to honor war
veterans. Free hoagies were given
away to feed the supporters. A T-shirt
and a hat were raffled off. Students
were more than happy to express their
Delco. pride and a Spirit Day success.
All Penn State Delco. students,
faculty, and staff were invited to
celebrate the opening of the new sand
volleyball courts. On Sept. 9 the first
of three sand volleyball courts was
finished. The other two were
completed in the weeks following.
The Student Government
Association (SGA) purchased
hamburgers, hot dogs, and kegs of
birch beer to increase fan fare. The
Cafeteria staff donated baked beans,
pasta salad, and chips to promote the
grand opening of Delco.’s beach
volleyball event.
Credit for the greater part of the
hard work put into the sand court
project is well deserved by the staff
maintenance crew. Delco. students
were also participating in the shoveling
and grooming of the courts. There
was a tremendous turnout from all
areas of the campus and a full
afternoon of barefoot, sand kicking
Delco. fun.
Penn State Delco Budget Cuts
Force Changes
By Kristen A. Zak
Over 12 million dollars was cut
from the Penn State budget for the
1994-95 year. This cut deeply affected
all campuses, but the Commonwealth
campuses were hit the hardest. The
budget cut issue hit home when Delco
students returned to classes in August
minus some faculty and staff.
In a letter sent out in August by
Dr. Edward Tomezsko, Campus
Executive Director, students were told
of the ensuing changes. Students were
given the names of some staff that
- would not be returning for the
semester. “It hurts to have this
on Campus
happen,” said Tomezsko in the letter.
As stated in the letter, despite
the budget cuts Delaware County
Campus has been able to keep all of its
student activities and clubs. Delco has
even been able to add men’s baseball
to the varsity sports activities. In
addition,a new sand volleyball court
has also been erected where the old
tennis courts once stood.
~ There are still some adjustments
to be made because of the new budget.
The campus will continue to keep its
students informed about the situation.
As Dr. Tomezsko said, “We are
optimistic about our future, even
though there is change.”
‘Full Professorships Awarded
To Dr. DeRosa and Dr. Sorkin
By Rob Servian
Two members of the Penn State
Delco faculty were recently honored
by their respective academic
departments. Dr. Adam Sorkin, a
professor of English and Dr. Michael
De Rosa, a professor of Chemistry,
were each granted full professorship.
Many would look at receiving a full
| professorship as common place, but in
fact it’s quite rare here at Delco.
Everyone refers to their teachers as
“professor”, but unknown to some is
that their are different ranks of
professorship, which go as followed:
Assistant professor, associate professor
and then full professor. In fact the
number of full professors at Delco
number only in the single digits.
Dr. Sorkin was hired in September
of 1978 as an assistant professor. He
gained associate professorship in July
of 1985. During his career he strived
to better himself in all aspects of his
profession, including being published
for his work in translating
contemporary Romanian poetry to
English, receiving advanced degrees,
service to the university and the
‘community, and mastering subject
matter.
When asked about the year-long
process to attain his goal he replied, “I
think it is necessary to be judged by
Dr. DeRosa (chemistry) and Dr. Sorkin (English) were both recently
one’s peers.” Says Dr. Sorkin about
the outcome, “I'm very pleased. It
could have gone either way. I'm
gratified that the university looks with
favor on the work I'm doing.”
Dr. De Rosa, a fairly recent addition
to the Delco faculty was hired as an
associate professor in 1989. He
received his Ph. D in organic chemistry
from the Brooklyn college of the city
university of New York. From 1973
until 1989 he was a member of the
chemistry department of the
Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas,
Venezuela. Dr. De Rosa and his wife
originally went to Venezuela as
members of the peace corps. During
the last five years he has been
conducting research on the chemistry
of pyrroles. To date, eleven
undergraduates, from this campus,
have carried out research under the
direction of Dr. De Rosa. These
students have presented their work at
the annual National Conference on
Undergraduate research and the main
campus research fair. Some of their
work has been published.
Dr. De Rosa also applied for full
professorship in the fall of 1993. After
all was said and done and the several
committees involved with the whole
process reached their decision, he said
exuberantly, “I was happy it was all
over.”
granted full professorships in their respective departments.
Photo by: ROB SERVIAN
SGA Rap Around Session
Rated A Rn by President
By Janeane Aube
. ARap Around session conducted
by Rita Varano, Student Government
Association president, was held in the
cafeteria on Tuesday, August 30, to
discuss some pros and cons of PSU
Delco and what improvements could
be made on campus.
~~ Students and faculty interacted
and brought up some topics of concern.
One student complained of the food
in the cafeteria. He thought the quality
of the salad bar was unsatisfactory and
the grill, which closes at 2 p.m., was
not open long enough especially for
members of sports teams and students
who can’t get to the cafeteria during
common hour to eat.
Budget cuts hit PSU Delco hard
this year, limiting funds throughout
- the campus. With the lack of funding,
there has been reduction in the amount
of faculty members.
“We are losing motivated,
intellectual, and involoved professors
that the majority of the student body
would prefer to keep. Itis up to us to
3 HERE FE e™% =
change this,” said Varano.
The need for nighttime security
was mentioned along with the need
for a better SEPTA busing system.
Buses don’t always arrive on schedule,
and it is a concern for many students
who ride buses to get to class on time.
Immediate action was taken on this
issue by Sylvia Schaffer involving
taking down names and complaints in
an effort to solve this problem. An
increase of book costs and the need for
more course selection were also
broughtup. “I hope to see people
continue to participate and voice their
opinions and concerns,” said Varano,
“and by doing that they'd be Aelping
to make a difference.”
Positive points were brought up
too, such as the official opening of the
beach volleyball courts, putting gym
locks back on lockers, and the
availability of All U day tickets being
sold for only $11.
“If one good thing came out of
that event (the Rap Around) then I
would be completely happy,” Varano
said.
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