April 23, 2002 The Lion’s Eye Page 9 Wacky facts about PSU By JENNIFER RUFO and GERRY DUNCAN Staff Writers Think you know everything there is to know about Penn State Delco? Think again. See if you know these PSU tidbits. You might be sur- prised what you learn... B Penn State University was chartered in 1855 as a farmer's high school. BW PSU began as an agricultural college. ® Penn State University has changed names three times: from the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania State College, and later to Pennsylvania State University. : B Penn State Delco began holding classes in an old fish market (near a skating rink) in Chester. B® Penn State owns about 90 acres at the current location in Middletown. B The creek that flows through campus is not called the Rio Delco. B® Some of the original faculty still works here from 1967. B Our Nittany Lion (in the Classroom building’s first- floor lounge) was given to us July 11, 1990. B The Commons building was completed in 1988. ® The Delco bookstore used to be the library. Back then, the bookstore operated out of a closet. B® The Vairo Library named after Delco's first CEO, John Vairo. The library has about 70,000 books and volumes. B The Vairo library’s quiet room is not haunted. Or at least, that’s what officials say ... B Blondell Reynolds-Brown, a Philadelphia City Councilwoman, attends classes at PSU Delco now. B® One out of every four meteorologists graduated from Penn State. B® One out of every 39 PSU grads is an astronauts. B® One out of every 50 PSU grads is an engineer. A recent photo of Penn State Delaware County. ® One out of every 800 people in the United States grad- uated from Penn State. B® On May 2, 1973, PSU leaders announced streaking (running around naked) was a big problem at the school. Mm In 1973, 70,576 students were enrolled at PSU. Only 138 were minorities. BW On Sept. 15, 1989, Penn State paid for students to watch Spike Lee's controversial new film, "Do the right thing." The effort was meant to promote racial equality. ® In April 1989, police arrested 89 protesters to end a 15- hour sit in at Penn State Main’s Telecommunication's Building . Students were portesting racist pamphlets being distributed to State College students. ® During this time a miniature epidemic of the measles broke out here at the Delco campus. B® The new and much safer campus entrance has been planned since July. It still hasn’t been built. No! Defending yourself Penn State Delco’s Director of Student Life, Doreen Hettich, shows security officer Dave Horevay who's the boss during a self-defense demonstration last month in the classroom building lounge. Panty-raids and more If you grew up in American, there is a good chance you had some sort of ideas about what college life was like: mounds of books, overly strict professors, an empty wal- let, and of course "TOGA TOGA TOGA!!!" Yes, the ‘80s college movies have found a place in our hearts and will forever hold a place on Comedy Central. Often, the biggest part of those movies was the college prank. So much so that pranks have been granted special place in modern lore. “There is something glorious about a college prank,” said Neil Steinberg, author of If Ar All Possible, Involve a Cow. “A really good prank brings not just laughter, but a visceral satisfac- tion and a kind of awe that does not fade with time nor diminish with retelling.” Steinberg’s book is a compellation of various college pranks throughout history in the United States. Whether it is spray painting the football field, forking a quad, dropping a Baby Ruth in the pool, defacing the clock tower with a Mickey Mouse cut out, or the infamous panty raid, the college prank has become an extension of both fhie era and the school. These pranks have one thing in common — they aren’t meant to hurt people or destroy property. Rather, they are just meant to spark a bit of fun. One of the more famous pranks at Delco hap- pened in the lower level of the Vario Library. One day an entire row of books disappeared. The books weren’t check out. They weren’t stolen. They were simply gone. Months later, a librarian noticed a ceiling tiles askew. When she went up to fix it she discovered all the missing books. The entire row of books was placed between metal I-beams that support the building. The books were in the correct dewey decimal system order. Now don't go out and try a stunt like this yourself. At least not before considering all the potential pitfalls — including that you may be caught. As Steinberg said, the best pranks don’t hurt people. They’re just good clean fun. A little fact to remember: Condoms will hold nearly 5 gallons of water.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers