October 29, 1999 - LION’S EYE - Page 3 Package Deal: Service & Credit By Doris Ruiz Lion’s Eye Staff Writer When the fall semester winds down and spring registration gets underway, many students are looking for interesting courses to satisfy their electives requirement. Well, look no more. The Learning Center is always conducting new programs to help fill those empty spaces on your registration forms. For instance, the Adult Literacy Program is a great way to earn extra credit and meet new people. For one credit, a student provides 15 hours of service in the West Chester and Kennett Square areas. Students can work with children and/or adults. The Learning Center is especially interested in recruiting bilingual students interested in helping nonEnglish speaking adults learn English. Norma Notzold, Learning Assistance Coordinator, has recently visited the Spanish classes on campus. “This is an excellent opportunity to put your language skills into practice, while helping others, too,” she told the students. A government grant given to the University covers the cost of tuition for the one credit. Students can register at any time during the semester. The programs are flexible and open to anyone. For more information, contact the Learning Center in 203 Main or call Ms. Notzold at 610-892-1460. FEATURES Delco students and bilingual tutor explore Adult Literacy in the Learning Center. Daily Dilemma Take A Chance On Parking And Maybe Pay The Price By Scott Troyan Lion’s Eye Staff Writer Traffic has Route 352 backed up. It took you forever to get through it. Finally in the parking lot, you notice it is packed, but there is an empty space in the faculty section. Class starts in two minutes. You take it. By the time your classes end, you have forgotten about your hectic morning. Going to your car, you notice a slip of paper on the windshield. Congratulations, you are the proud recipient of a Penn State parking ticket. Doing Advising Right By Scherrie Bailey Lion s Eye Staff Writer You're confused about what major is best for you, and you want to decide soon. Or, you know what you want to do, but you're having trouble getting there. Perhaps you're thinking about dropping a class. More than likely, you need to see an advisor. What should you do? First, get to know your advisor on a personal basis. Each college has a representative on campus and faculty advisers to contact concerning your choice of major. Students who aren’t sure who their designated advisor is can go to any building to consult the Advisor Directory. Copies are available on the second floor of the Commons in Student Life, at the Learning Center in room 203 of the Main Building, the Registrar’s Office in room 105 Main, from Linda Hayden on the second floor in the Classroom Building, and at the front desk of the Vairo Library. If you are in DUS, more than likely your advisor is Mr. Bob Purdy or Mrs. Linda Campitelli. Advisors can help you decide what requirements or courses you need in order to graduate. An advisor could print out a “what if” degree audit which lists all of the courses that you need for a particular degree. This audit may not be for your current designated major, but it could help you decide what major suits your needs and aspirations. First year students who did not take First Year Seminar (PSU 008) during Fall semester are required to schedule it during the Spring. Linda Campitelli, Coordinator of DUS, explained, “First Year Seminar courses help you get familiar with your major. In the past, first year seminar courses were ‘general courses, but now they are designed to compliment each major.” Ms. Campitelli also encouraged students to use the Internet as a guide to advising. The home page for Delaware County (http://www.de.psu.edu) has selections entitled “advising” and “courses.” Clicking on “advising” produces five choices of information: Advising Resources, College Reps/Ad- visors, Ask a Question, Calendar, and FAQ (frequently asked questions). For example, under “Ask a Question,” student’s questions get sent to Ms. Campitelli, and a reply is sent to the student’s email address. Under “College Reps/Advisors,” students will find a list of faculty and advisors for each college at Delco and University Park. Hyperlinks connect to their e-mail for message options. Another outstanding advising feature on the Internet is located at the Comprehensive Academic Advising & Information System home page (http:// www.caais.psu.edu). This website allows students to request the status of their Financial Aide and the status of their degree audit through a step-by-step process. Students may also wish to view their current course schedule, predict the GPA of scheduled courses, and request that grades be sent to their home address at the end of a semester. More importantly, students may register for classes or drop a class through a process that prompts students to answer specific questions about their decisions. All of these resources can be steps toward establishing a relationship with your advisor and preparing for your first meeting. To use a university lot, you need a permit. For the Delco campus, parking is free, and there is more than ample space. Why then, the permits? For several reasons: The permits keep people in the right sections. Separate student and faculty parking is maintained, because faculty have to get to class quickly to start class. There is also a visitor’s lot in front of the Main building. The permits make sure everybody is where they should be. They also can be used to identify the owners of the vehicles. If a security issue arises, the permits allow the identification of the owner. For example, when a car fire occurred on October 20, one of the first things security did was to run the permit numbers to find the owner. The permits identify those who should be on campus, and who should not. It makes it easy to identify interlopers when every other car has a permit. Again, it keeps people where they should be, and keeps people out of where they should not be. Also, the money collected from parking tickets is given to the Student Government Association fund. Last year approximately $4200 was put into the SGA budget. Where’d Your By Cherjon Bailey Lion’s Eye Staff Writer Each semester Penn State Delco students pay a computer fee of $100.00 each semester. Did you ever wonder where that money goes? The answer is simple: It helps pay for the extensive computer equipment and software available to students in their classes and in labs on this campus. : Discussions on how this money is spent are guided by recommendations from the Campus Technology Commit- tee. This committee was formed as a result of the increasing technology that’s being used in the classrooms and around campus. Penn State Delco now has 8 majors and 65 staff and faculty, who use technology in the classroom. The Technology Committee meets at least two to three times a semester to discuss and advise on current campus issues involving technology. Their first meeting for fall ‘99 semester was held October 13, 1999. The committee is comprised of 14 faculty, staff and students: These A Place To Go When Life Hits You Too Hard By Amanda Ponzar Lion’s Eye Staff Writer Overwhelmed by his parents’ bitter divorce, Ralph is unable to concentrate on his calculus homework. Every night as he suffers insomnia, Ralph counts ceiling tiles and worries about his = plummeting grades. As he shuffles around campus, haggard and self- consumed, Ralph accidentally wanders into Student Life and finds what he’s been looking for: someone who understands. Sharmon Bryant, personal co- ordinator for the counseling services on campus, is aware of the hardships facing students. She recommends those experiencing tough situations consider scheduling an appointment to talk over their concerns. “We offer personal counseling services if you’re having difficulties with school or home issues that are impacting your school work,” said Bryant. Either by referral or on their own initiative, students come to the counseling center “for a variety of reasons,” including “depression, family problems, relationship issues, sexuality, stress, and motivation ... to name a few,” said Bryant. For students with more serious concerns, “we also arrange psychological counseling, on or off campus, when appropriate,” said Bryant. Although the counseling program “is still in development” according to Bryant, new improvements should “be in place by the beginning of spring semester.” Besides increasing the size of the staff, additional components to the counseling program will include a personal resource center, literature and a bulletin board, workshops, support groups and speakers. For those willing to give counseling a try, Bryant, like the rest of the Student Life staff, is eager to help. “I’m available by appointment. Anyone can come to the Student Life Office (Second floor, Commons) and ask for me or schedule an appointment in the book,” she said. Money Go? include faculty members: Nancy Wyatt (Chair), James McGlinchey, Gita DeSouza, Jan Farkas, Bruce Stephens, Paul Greene, and Arya Ebrahimpour; staff Matt Bodek, and Jim Morgan, and students Cherjon Bailey, Scott Danby, Kelly Farley and Kelly Kerns. To make sure nothing is overlooked, three subcommittees have been formed: The Student Computer Fee, The Long Term Planning for Emerging Technologies, and the The Training committee. During the fall semester the Long Term for Emerging Technologies committee will collect and review existing policies and procedures for managing and allocating hardware and software resources. The Training Committee will investigate the current training services and resources. During the spring semester the full committee will meet three times to hear various progress reports from each subgroup. Then the committee will act on recommendations from the sub- committees. (Continued on page 5)
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