September 18, 2000
The LION’s EYE
Page 3
Freshmen: Who are you?
Number of incoming freshmen // Total class is 549
By Doris Ruiz
319 Assistant Editor
On Aug. 22, Penn State Delco’s freshly
painted halls were filled with the new faces
of lost students. Invariably, they were car-
rying tons of books and trying desperately
to find their way around campus.
These new and confused faces belong
to Penn State’s freshman class.
As only a few of us begin our final cred-
its here at Delco, a surprisingly large
amount of freshmen are embarking on a
new journey towards success.
A total of 549 students began their
venture last month, and are now re-adjust-
ing to their first year of college.
Although approximately 132 students
are planning to continue their studies at
other locations rather than here at Delco,
the Advising Center hopes to clear up any
confusion that incoming students may
have about potential majors.
“I think they are a very interesting and
interested group,” says Linda
Campitteli,
103 head of
advis-
ing.
24
26
Chester Delaware Montgomery Philadelphia Out of
County County County County State
Where are freshman from?
She hopes to keep more stu-
dents here at Delco by “get-
ting rid of the confusion.”
One way to quickly
answer students’
questions is by
putting the advis-
ing center in
Main. This sum-
mer, the advising
center moved its
offices from the
second floor of
the Commons to
the first floor of
Main. If you've been
to the bookstore,
you've been right across
the hall.
Campitteli said the new
location allows her to be more accessible
and ready to answer questions from the
many students who haven't yet decided
their majors. :
One of the many goals for this incom-
ing class is to expand diversity.
Like in years past, this new crop of
undergraduate students hail mostly from
Delaware County, which surrounds the
local Penn State campus.
About a fifth of the new students come
from Chester County, while nearly 15 per-
cent come from Philadelphia. And grad-
ually through continued efforts, Penn
State Delco has managed to attract
26 students from out of state. In
fact, 10 of the new students are
international students.
Another way the campus is
striving to increase its diversity is
by targeting students of more
diverse ethnic backgrounds. This
semester, about 20 percent of
incoming students aren’t
Caucasian.
Many upper-class students are
Caucasian
Penn State Delco is pulling more diverse students into its nexus
Asian American - 8.4%
African American - 10.7%
Mb Not disclosed — 5.5%
Hispanic/ Latino - 2%
International — 2%
not
sur-
prised
by this out-
come.
“The campus has been planning many
diversity programs for a while, now,” says
Scherrie Bailey, a Delco junior.
So, as the semester heads off to an
exiting start, freshmen students like
Ronshena Pemberton of West Philadelphia
are beginning to feel more at ease in their
new setting.
“We [freshmen] have had like 5 orien-
tations and they have all helped us meet
new people and feel comfortable here at
Penn State.”
PSU Resident Astronaut
Visits the Delco Campus
By Adam Waojciechowicz
Staff Writer
As “Spaced Out Week” dawned on
our campus the week of September
‘the 11. Delco waited in anticipation
for the impending arrival of the
Pennsylvania State University’s own
resident astronaut. Professor James
Pawelczyk made a presentation on
Sept. 14 beginning at 11:30 a.m.
concerning his experiences as a
NASA crew member, as well as
prospects on the future of space
exploration.
Dr. Pawelczyk, an assistant
professor of physiology and
~ kinesiology based at University Park,
is a 1985 Penn State graduate. He has
taught for the past 5 years in the
position of resident astronaut, the
first such role on the Penn State
faculty.
The NASA Neurolab missions of
1998 twice carried Pawelczyk into
orbit aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle
Columbia as a payload specialist. As
their name suggests, the missions
were primarily focused in the field of
neuroscience.
“We looked at the effects of a
microgravity environment on a
number of living specimens and the
adaptation to these conditions,” says
Pawelczyk. In particular, changes in
blood pressure, balance, sleep, and
control movement were observed.
In addition to Pawelczyk’s
experience specific to the Neurolab
program, he spoke in general a bout
the life of an astronaut. Having
logged 16 days, 6.4 million miles,
and 256 orbits of the planet Earth
aboard the shuttle, Pawelczyk
presented an incredible opportunity
to hear from the voice of experience
on all aspects of spaceflight. Of
particular interest to those
individuals with a passion and
inquisition for space was the
availability of the Penn State resident
astronaut for personal inquiries. In
his own words prior to his arrival,
“There will be an extensive Q&A
session, so please bring your
questions.”
Following the presentation,
Pawelczyk bestowed upon the
Delaware County campus a small
plot of what has come to be known a
s“space grass.” This unique specimen
was a personal addition of Pawelczyk
to the Neurolab mission’s Flight Kit,
and was actually grown by him in
space. Plots of the grass are to be
presented to all Penn State campuses,
as each is visited in turn by the
resident astronaut.
CWE wn Pane