6 I THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 2010
Minor to broaden views on world health issues
Global health is now
available as a biobehav
ioral health minor:
By Cassie Wiggins
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
Health issues are not just limit
ed to the United States: A new
minor degree will help broaden
Penn State students' perspectives
on worldwide health problems.
Global health, housed in the
department of biobehavioral
health, is now available as a minor.
The course aims to provide
undergraduate students with an
interdisciplinary understanding
on the issues affecting the health
of the international population,
Jorge Saenz/Collegian
Brandon Fisher, left, president of Center Rock Inc., and
colleague Richard Soppe watch as their company's
ammer-style drill heads create the hole to reach the
33 trapped miners in Chile.
Pa. company's drill
helped save miners
By Joe Mandak
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PITTSBURGH Proud employees of a small drilling
eltnpalw too remote to have cable television found them
selves Wednesday at the center of the world's biggest
news story but they still had to get the day's work done.
As rescuers brought 33 Chilean miners one by one in a
tal capsule through a 2,000-foot hole bored by a drill
,:lade by Center Rock Inc. of Berlin, Pa., workers in the
.mail southwestern Pennsylvania community occasional
ly paused their daily routines to follow computer news
feeds. Lunch was brought in to help them celebrate.
But machines still needed to be oiled, floors still need
ed to be swept and somebody still had to answer the
phones. which were ringing off the hook.
We still have customers who still need products today,
e we're working and we're celebrating," inside sales
manager Becky Dorcon told The Associated Press.
4 'enter Rock has a brief, but storied, history. Founded
in 1998. the company's profile rose appreciably in July
;2. when it pitched in during a similar rescue to free
nine miners trapped underground for more than three
clays in the flooded Quecreek Mine a few miles away.
Tom Foy. 61. who still lives in Berlin, was 'one of the
Quecreek miners but has worked for Center Rock for
nearly five years.
"The Ms won't let me go back," Foy said, a married
father referring to his four children, ages 38 to 34. "I gave
the mining up. I wasn't about to put them through that
Center Rock owner Brandon Fisher, just back Tuesday
night from Chile, fielded dozens of interview requests
and hoped to sneak away for some sleep.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily American of
Somerset, Fisher said he and wife, sales director Julie
Fisher, were back in Berlin in time to watch on television
as the first miner was pulled from the hole where he and
his colleagues had been trapped since Aug. 5.
Fisher, 38, and Richard Soppe, 58, his director of con
struction and mining tools, spent 37 days with scant sleep
drilling the rescue shaft.
Julie Fisher joined them about two weeks ago, and rel
atives and friends gathered to welcome them home
Thesday.
"When I saw the first guy looking healthy, that's what
it's all about, - Fisher told the newspaper. "But the mis
sion is not over until the last guy is out."
Fisher was especially drawn to miner Mario Sepulveda
Espina, with whom Fisher interacted by video during the
drilling process.
Espina. the second miner pulled from the shaft, made
made a bizarre request while still underground: wigs.
Officials granted Espina's request, Fisher told the Daily
American, and the miner wore one in front of a video
monitor, joking about what shampoo did to his hair - per
haps a reference to a commercial in which a wig -clad
Troy Polamalu blames his big hair on shampoo.
Once rescued, Espina ran along high-fiving those
above ground.
- He was a practical joker, he used humor to keep the
morale up," Fisher told the newspaper.
Dorcan said the company took "tremendous pride" in
the rescue.
- Everybody here has been giving 110 percent since the
day Brandon got in contact with the people of Chile and it
was thought he was going and our tools were going to be
used," she said.
Foy said Center Rock volunteered to help in Chile after
officials there confirmed the miners were still alive Aug.
22, but said soon afterward that they expected it would
take until Christmas to dig a rescue shaft.
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said Melina Czymoniewicz-
Klippel, a biobehavioral health lec
turer in biobehavioral health and
the minor's program coordinator.
The deadline for the first set of
applicants is Oct. 22. The global
health minor consists of 18 credits.
As part of the minor, students will
complete a supervised four- to six
week fieldwork experience, either
internationally or domestically
"[The minor] was something
that had been discussed for years
in the College of Health and
Human Development and also
especially in our department,"
senior biobehavioral health lectur
er Daniel Trevino said. "Since we
had a lot of good assets and
resources available to us, it was
natural that a global health minor
would be developed for students
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LOCAL & STATE
New minor
Details: 20 students will be
accepted per year.
Deadline: Oct. 22
To apply: Contact lecturer
Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel
and visit
www.bbh.hhdev.psu.edu/glob
alhealth for more information.
that had an interest."
The program allows and
encourages students from all dis
ciplines and departments across
campus to apply Czymoniewicz-
Klippel said.
" Students could come from
majors in political science, busi
ness, engineering, geography, any
Education fair to target new freshmen
By Paul McMullen
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Today, faculty from the College of
Education will be helping new fresh
men find their place at Penn State
during the College of Education
Academic and Career Services Fair.
The event, which will be held from
10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the main lobby
area of Chambers Building, will pres
ent the opportunity for students to
familiarize themselves with the
career services and academic pro
grams available at the university.
The fair is a part of the college's
First Year Experience program,
which is geared towards easing stu
dents' transition into University Park,
said Jacqueline Edmondson, associ
ate dean for undergraduate and grad
uate studies in the College of
Education. First-year students are
urged to attend, but all students are
welcomed to the event. Students, no
matter what level, can benefit from
the event because of the opportunity
to receive feedback from a college
committed to providing help and sup
port for students, Edmondson said.
Program to benefit schools in Rwanda
By Caitlin Smith
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
Access to higher education isn't
lacking in a college town, but for chil
dren in Rwanda, even basic education
is hard to come by.
Only one in 10 children between the
ages of 13 and 18 living in Rwanda are
enrolled in secondary school: That's
where Global Capacity comes in.
The non-profit organization is
scheduled to hold an open house
tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 in the Schlow
Centre Region Library's
Downsbrough Community Room, 211
S. Allen St.
The goal of the event is to educate
others about the Right2School pro
gram, which provides scholarships to
Rwandan children, Global Capacity
Executive Director Matthew Heinz
said.
"I believe that Penn State students
can learn to appreciate their own edu
cation from this as well as help oth
ers," Heinz said.
The event will include a multimedia
self-guided tour of elements of the
program, as well as a silent auction of
Rwandan artifacts that Heinz said he
acquired while on a trip there.
Attendees will learn how they can
donate both time and money to the
cause.
According to the Right2School web
site, the group strives to facilitate
holistic scholarships that provide stu
dents with tuition, school materials,
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of the health departments there
really is a lot of scope for students
to structure the minor and select
courses that fit well with their own
career goals," she said. "They
could go down a more clinical path
in terms of medicine, nursing and
allied health, physical therapy,
occupational therapy. They could
also go into health services, teach
ing, project management and so
on."
The minor requires some pre
requisite courses and an applica
tion and interview process.
Another application will be avail
able in spring 2011 for the fall
semester.
Biobehavioral health depart
ment head Collins Airhihenbuwa
said he wants students' collabora
tive experiences within the pro-
If you go
What College of Education
Academic and Career Services Fair
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today
Where: Main lobby in Chambers
Details: Learn about the services
offered by the College of Education
"We strive to help students make
connections with faculty, staff and
other students as they adjust to stu
dent life at University Park," she said.
"We want all students to have a posi
tive and productive experience as
they pursue their educational and
professional goals at Penn State."
Representatives from Penn State
Career Services, Penn State
Learning, academic programs in the
College of Education, the Education
Library and members of the College
of Education alumni and scholarship
offices will be in attendance to help
students lay the foundation towards
achieving those goals, Edmondson
said.
"... Students can learn
to appreciate their own
education from this as
well as help others."
Matthew Heinz
Global Capacity executive director
transportation, school uniforms and
health insurance. For $1,790, all of
these things can be provided for a
Rwandan child for an entire year,
according to the website.
Every child enrolled in the program
is guaranteed a full year in school, but
Right2School tries to ensure that
once a child starts school, he or she
can continue to attend beyond that
first year, Heinz said
Global Capacity was started two
years ago by EnergyCAF,' Inc., an
energy efficiency software publisher
based in State College. Because the
company values global stewardship,
Heinz said, it decided to help Rwanda,
one of the poorest nations in the
world.
It was at this time that Heinz spent
five months in Rwanda observing and
researching the quality of life there.
Heinz said it was a life-changing expe
rience to live among the Rwandan
people.
"I went to Rwanda with a blank
slate," Heinz said. "I had no idea what
to expect. It was difficult to be
amongst the poverty, but it was an
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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
gram to expand their global think
ing skills and perspectives.
"I want students to see the
whole picture," Airhihenbuwa
said. "I want them to appreciate
the positives as well as the nega
tives when it comes to dealing
with other cultures' health
issues."
Czymoniewicz-Klippel said
that's an important goal for biobe
havioral health students.
"We want students to under
stand the complexities of the field
of global health the way of
which the behavioral, the biologi
cal, social, environmental factors
impact different places of the
world," she said. "A lot of this
minor is students learning cultur
al sensitivity L.] for different peo
ple and their knowledge."
Freshmen and upperclassmen
alike can benefit from participating in
the event mainly because of its pres
entation of career services in a
digestible manner, Richard Harris
(senior-secondary education and
mathematics) said.
"I recommend students make
every effort to attend the fair because
it helped make the number of
resources available manageable for
me," he said. "It is a nice opportunity
for students to get to know Penn
State."
Though Penn State and the College
of Education offer services to assist
students during their time at Penn
State, it is difficult for them to famil
iarize themselves with the wide range
of resources, said David Price, stew
ardship and public relations specialist
for the College of Education.
"If you don't know what the
resources are, how can you use
them?" he said. "The fair brings a
gallery of resources to one location so
that students can get to know what we
have to offer."
To email reporter phmso3o@psu.edu
unforgettable experience."
After much research and develop
ment work conducted by the organi
zation, the program raised enough
money to sponsor four Rwandan stu
dents this school year.
Their goal is to enroll 30 students
by next year.
Heinz said Penn State students can
help the cause simply by spreading
awareness and learning what the pro
gram entails.
Non-profit organizations are not
charged with the use of the
Downsbrough Community Room and
the library will provide Global
Capacity with access to the room's
technology such as the overhead pro
jector, Head of Adult Services Pat
Griffith said.
"As a library we are committed to
helping the community become
informed and educated," she said.
Those planning to attend the event
should RSVP via the Global Capacity
Facebook page.
If you go
What Global Capacity open house
When: 6:30 to 8:30 tonight
Where: Downsbrough Community
Room of Schlow Centre Region
Library, 211 S. Allen St.
Details: RSVP via the Global
Capacity Facebook page
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