Summer
in the
working
,By ANITA YESHO
Collegian Staff Writer
Ask a University students what they did this
summer and you’re likely to hear a lot of the
same answer internships. •
These coveted summer jobs often taken in the
summer after sophomore or junior year give students a
chance to decide if they’re majoring in the right thing.
Penn State students were interning across the country
in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Harris Town
ship, Centre County. . . . .
In today’s Free Lance, some of them talk about what
they did and what they learned.
Capitol jobs
Edith Raphael, perched on the edge of a couch in the
HUB, explains what it’s like to return to Happy Valley
after working in a congressman’s office. _
“It’s difficult for me to be here now after being in
Washington. There, you’re living the news... I miss
being in the world.”
As an intern in the Capitol Hill office of Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-Pa.), Raphael (junior-foreign service) was
indeed in the world of politics - and she wasn’t the only
Penn Stater .there.
Veda Nyoth, (junior-foreign service and international
politics) was also an intern on Capitol Hill. She worked
in the office of Rep. Joseph Kolter (D-4th).
•Like Raphael, Nyoth said she enjoyed the excitement
of being in the nation’s capitol. For her, one_of the
highlights of the summer was hearing Rajiv Gandhi,
leader of India, address Congress.
“There was only one ticket per office, Nyoth says,
“and we drew straws to see who got to go.’’ A woman in
the office was picked and “everyone was kind of down in
the dumps that afternoon because we couldn’t go. Then
the majority whip called and said there was space on the
floor so we ran over there.”
Both students spent a lot of their summer writing.
Nyoth’s special duty was putting out a newsletter for
Kolter’s constituents and one of Raphael’s projects was
writing to the heads of every steel company in the United
State*.
Letter-writing was one of the big lessons of the
summer, both say.
“I learned that if I write my senator, he s not the one
who writes me back, ” Raphael says, laughing.
Interns took turns sorting and answering the mail - a
tedious job, Raphael says, but a very neccessary one.
“There’s so many letters coming in that there s no
way the congressman can handle it all,” so the duty falls
to aides and interns, Nyoth says.“l had to learn to write
like I was the congressman.”
Nyoth also attended some of the many receptions
sponsored by lobbyists and notes, “The more right-wing
the lobbying group, the better the food.”
Groups like the National Rifle Association would serve
lobster and civil rights groups would serve sandwiches,
she says. . , ,
“Working on the Hill more or less reinforced my plans
to go to law school,” Nyoth says. She is a citizen of
Edith Rapheal (Junior-foreign service), on left, poses with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and some of the 18 interns w
worked In his office this summer.
world
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Liberia, but she does not know if she would practice law
here or in her West African nation.
“I know onething,” she says. “If I live in America I
want to live in D.C.” ~ ,
Raphael also says that her summer internship taught
her a lot. „ „ ~. . .
“I feel that if I had a cause I’d be an effective lobbyist.
I see how the sytem works now.
“Politics is so complicated, so intricate that it s
difficult for the average citizen to understand what’s
really going on.”
There is an amazing amount of information being
batted around, she says, and it can easily be distorted.
“One thing I learned,” she says, “is QUESTION EV
ERYTHING.”
Dealing with pain
Ask Heather Duncan to describe her summer inter
nship and she’ll say, “emotionallystressful.”
Then she’ll say, “It was a fantastic job I was sorry
to leave.” , . ..
Duncan worked as a counselor at a Philadelphia
health center where one of her duties was to talk to
women who were thinking of having abortions.
An senior majoring in individual and family studies,
she worked 35-40 hours a week for no pay counseling
women who came to the Elizabeth Blackwell Center for
Women for treatment.
“I counseled women going through menopause and 13-
year-olds going through abortions so it was really a
range,” Duncan says.
Abortion counseling wa's difficult for her, Duncan
says, because she was ambivalent about abortion.
If a counselor talked to a women and she decided to go
through with an abortion the counselor had to stay with
her during the procedure. ’ . .
"If I had been a little more resolved in my views it
would have been easier-,” she says.
Also, the women were often hostile because they
were pregnant, because their boyfriends or husbands
were not with them or just because they were scared
and they lashed out at health center workers. Duncan
says that although she understood the hostility, it still
made for a stressful workday.
“A lot of people were offended at how young I was,
she says. , , .
Duncan says the other women who worked at the
center were a great help to her and she learned to use
them as resources when she thought a patient s prob
lems were beyond her. . .
“They were very open, very aware, very feminist
oriented," she says of her coworkers.
During the course of the summer, she said she heard a
lot about sexual abuse.
One woman, who Duncan counseled after a routine
gynecological exam, began to talk about how she had
been sexually abused since childhood. . „
After a summer of “seeing people in pain all day
Duncan says she does not think she would return to that
type of job when she graduates in May.
She would rather work in family planning and educa
tion outreach, perhaps for Planned Parenthood.
The summer opened her eyes, she says, and made her
much more interested in women’s issues.
“I feel like I changed a lot,” she says. ‘‘Things that I
used to worry about seem so trivial now. I feel like a
different person.”
Corporate summer
While many students work at internships with little or
no pay, others are lucky enough to land a summer job
that brings some monetary reward, not just academic
credits.
For the past two summers, Brian Dowling (senior
business logistics) worked for IBM in East Fishkill, N.Y.
Because he had “a lot of credits in Comp Sci,
Dowling spent last summer programming the software
that IBM uses to keep track of its imports and exports.
The summer before he worked with the business aspects
of importing and often dealt with the U.S. Customs
Service. • 1 ' . , .
Dowling says he liked IBM and the $ll an hour plus
overtime he earned.
It’s a long way from the ‘sneakers and jeans atmost
phere of Penn State to the suited world of a large
corporation, but Dowling says it wasn’t a problem for
hl ”The image of IBM is pretty ‘blue suit’, but they’re
pretty laid-back,” he says, adding that he and his
coworkers rather enjoyed “perpetuating the image
especially when they went into New York City. Dowling,
however, says he has his limits.
“I refuse to wear wing-tips.”
When he first worked for IBM two summers ago, the
toughest thing was moving. I had no idea where I’d be
living.. .and I didn’t have any suits” for work, he says,
laughing.
Moving to a strange city and not knowing what to
expect from the summer can be a hassle, but Dowling
says it pays off in the end.
“You gain a lot of confidence in yourself,” he says.
“It gives you an advantage. . .Now when I interview
with companies I know what to look for and what to ask
them. I’ve seen how things are run out there.”
‘Selling’ a hospital
Sue DeGregorio (senior-health planning and adminis
tration) worked at the Central Medical Center and
Hospital in Pittsburgh as an assistant to a hospital
administrator.
As an HPA major, she must have an internship to
graduate. So, like 130 other HPA majors this summer,
that’s what she , „ ,
She worked ‘ ‘4O, sometimes 45 hours a week for three
credits and no pay. With hospital budgets as tight as they
are, paying internships in hospitals are hard to find, she
sa y S .
Although she got no money for her work, DeGregorio
says she gained a lot of self-confidence. At the beginning
of the summer, however, she was a bit intimidated.
“I thought they were going to expect me to know
everything,” she says.
“But I realized that 80 percent of my job involved
common sense and 20 percent was applying what I
learned in classes.
“I’ve had a lot of jobs since I was 16, but I never had a
job I felt was so important.”
The big project of DeGregorio’s summer was a mar
keting study on whether the hospital should open a
satellite office. She had never done such a thing, but
after hours in the library poring over census data, she
handed her boss a 120-page report. Mission accom-
“The guy was so amazed. He said the study was more
in-depth than the one he’d done a couple of years
before.”
The experience of working in a hospital has made a
difference in her classes this year, DeGregorio says.
“Sitting in my classes I can actually relate to what
we’re studying,” she says.
On the road
People in Harris Township will be living with the
result of Eric Tabacek’s internship for the next 20 years.
Tabacek (senior-civil engineering) spent the summer
rating the condition of the streets in the Centre County
township. , ,
He studied the maintenance history of the roads,
counted cracks and potholes and adopted a PennDOT
street-rating program to something townships can use.
He got academic credits, a wage of $5.25 an hour and a
chance to work on his own. Tabacek enjoyed the job and
the freedom that came with it.
Sometimes, when he would be out checking the roads
Veda Nyoth (junior-foreign service
tics) poses with Rep. Joe Koiter (D-
D.C. office, where she worked as a
in his shirt and tie, residents would come up to him and
offer their opinions of the road. ...
“Some of the citizens get hotheaded, but you just have
to talk to them one-on-one,” he says.
Having set work hours can be appealing, he says.
“I worked eight hours and then I didn’t have to work
anymore. I’d go home and relax. And my friends, who
were in school, would be working all the time.
His main concern was the results of the street-rating
project, he says. , r ..
“I was afraid they’d expect too much out of the
project, that it’d solve all their problems. . .1 didn t want
to let them down. „ , , ,
“I realized this before, but it isn t all bookwork. You
have to deal with people.”
Behind the news
Not many students have the chance to have the daily
results of their summer jobs seen by thousands of
people, but that’s one plus journalism interns can claim.
In some ways, it’s one of the few concrete advantages
of broadcast journalism internships, which usually don t
pay at all and involve long, harried hours.
For Jennifer Williams (junior-broadcast journalism)
the one credit she got working as a broadcast assistant
to CBS’ southern New Jersey correspondent was well
Some of the stories she helped cover included Karen
Ann Quinlan’s funeral and the Beach Boys concert in
Philadelphia on the Fourth of July. , .
Williams worked with the same reporter and two
televison crew members all summer for 45-50 hours a
W< *Tnever felt like I was an outsider an intern. I was
expecting to and I didn’t,” she says. .
Williams is only this semester beginning her journa
lism courses, so she says she learned a lot from watch
ing the reporter she worked with.
“What I learned most from her was how to approach
people, learn how to back off, she says.
One of the toughest assignments of the summer was a
story on the “mercy killing” of a quadrapalegic woman.
“The father was screaming” and Williams says she was
uncomfortable, but “covering stories like that is just
part of the job.” . , •• .
The summer job made a difference in how she ap
proaches her classes, she says. .
“I have Journ.' 392 (broadcast news) and I love it.
We’re doing man-on-the-street interviews and I have so
much fun doing it. . _ T .
“I think I’m enjoying my classes more because I ve
seen it done. , , , ■ f
“Working made me anxious to graduate and get out
there.”
Special thanks to all those who answered The Daily
Collegian classified ad asking for people to talk about
their internships. Due to the large number of responses,
not everyone was interviewed.
The Daily Collegian
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1985
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and international poll
•4th) in his Washington,
summer intern.
business
Tax to push up liquor prices
tors, 1321 E. College Ave., said his store is not increasing
its inventory after the price increase.
Hjckey said he believes the price will not affect drink-
A new federal excise tax will hit state liquor stores ers choices because “You have your beer drinkers and
Oct. 1 bringing the total amount of tax on liquor to almost you have your hard liquor drinkers, and those people who
50 percent of the total purchase price. sit around bars drinking hard liquor will not stop drinking
The increase, part of a revenue package passed June 9, it because the price goes up.”
1984, will raise the federal tax on liquor from 23.5 to 28.5 Bars in the State College, area seem to believe the tax
percent; however, the amount of state and local tax paid increase will not affect their prices. John Cocolin of The
will decrease from 20.7 percent to 19.9 percent. In terms Gingerbread Man, 130 Heister St.., said there, will be no
of actual dollars the tax could push liquor prices up as increase in the establishment s prices immediately or in
much as $2 a gallon. the near future.
Lisa Tate, spokeswoman for the Distilled Spirits Coun- The Kasser Distillery, a state-authorized distributor
cil of the United States, said sales on liquor are expected located in Philadelphia, which supplies the state liquor
to drop five percent in the next year due to the tax store on North Atherton with some of its stock, said it is
increase running no special promotions or displays in preparation
The decrease would be the latest in a long line for the ,for the September rush of those who wish to stock up.
liquor industry. Between 1974 and 1984, annual per capita Outside of Pennsylvania, in New York and Washington
consumption of hard liquor fell 14 percent to 2.46 gallons D.C. for example, where liquor sales are not state
per person, Tate said. controlled, liquor stores are preparing for the increase
Most liquor stores around the country are preparing for with large promotional signs both in the store and in front
the Oct. 1 tax hike with special advertising and displays, windows.
Robert Scott, manager of the state liquor store, 1688 N. Richard Coolen of Park Avenue Liquor Shop, 292
Atherton St., said individual companies handle the pro- Madison Ave., New York, says his store has posted
motions themselves, not the state stores. several very large red and white posters that read. Buy
Scott added, however, that “in order to anticipate the Now ... Beat the Big Federal Tax Increase of Oct. 1
September rush, Harrisburg is increasing (all state) Stock up on your favorite brands.” .
stores’ inventories, although inventory will return to But Coolen says the store is not increasing its inventory
normal after Oct 1 ” in preparation for the rush because of a floor tax on
It cannot be determined how beer sales will be affected existing inventory which will prevent stores from stock
by the tax, but John Hickey of W.R. Hickey Beer Distribu- piling before the new tax takes affect.
By DEBBIE SKLAR
Collegian Business Writer
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Smoking costs $658 annually
By JIM DRINKARD
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Disease
and lost productivity due to smoking
are costing the United States some
$65 billion a year more than $2 for
every pack of cigarettes consumed
according to a new congressional
study released yesterday.
The new estimate from the Office of
Technology Assessment, Congress’
scientific advisory body, is substan
tially higher than past calculations of
the costs of smoking reflected in
increased medical bills, premature
death and time lost from work.
"Our economy is losing more than
$lO million an hour because of the
smoking habit," said Rep. Fortney
Stark, D-Calif., who requested the
study. “This study confirms our sus
picion that smoking is not only a
deadly habit, but a costly one for the
federal health care budget.”
Stark, chairman of the health sub
committee of the tax-writing House
Ways and Means Committee, is push
ing legislation to keep the cigarette
tax at its current 16 cents per pack
instead of allowing it to revert to
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end of this month. Stark’s bill would
earmark part of the revenue to help
pay for federal health care programs.
Focusing on the three major causes
of disease attributed to smoking
cancer, heart disease and lung ail
ments the congressional research
ers said the habit adds $22 billion a
year to the nation’s health-care costs
and costs $43 billion in lost productivi
ty and wages.
OTA put the total cost of smoking in
the range of $3B billion to $95 billion a
year, with a middle estimate of $65
billion, or $2.17 for each pack of
cigarettes sold. It said its new figures
represent a conservative estimate.
In 1984, U.S. Surgeon General C.
Everett Hoop said smoking costs $4O
billion a year, and an estimate in
August in the New York State Journal
of Medicine put the range at $39
billion to $55 billion.
Tobacco interests immediately dis
puted the figures, saying the congres
sional study was hasty and
inconclusive.
“The OTA memo releasd today
demonstrates how little is known
about the relationship of personal
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The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1983—3
behavior to disease, and then in turn,
disease to costs,” said Anne Browder,
assistant to the president of the To
bacco Institute.
Most of the data for the new esti
mate are drawn from earlier studies
by the American Cancer Society and
other groups. The OTA paper says the
latest estimate for smoking-related
deaths, for 1982, includes 139,000
caused by cancers, 123,000 from car
diovascular disease and 52,000 from
chronic lung diseases.
Researchers acknowledged the dif
ficulties in coming up with accurate
estimates. For example, smokers
tend to be heavier drinkers of alcohol
ic beverages, meaning that some
health effects may not be directly
linked to their smoking. For that
reason, cirrhosis of the liver and
ulcers were excluded from the cost
figures.
Smoking effects which cause a far
smaller number of deaths or for
which less data are available, such as
damage to infants born to smoking
mothers, the breathing of cigarette
smoke by non-smokers and the ef
fects of cigarette-caused fires, were
left out of the study as well.
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