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THE
Clarion Call CLARION UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1913
NOVEMBER 15, 2012
VOL. 99 ED. 10
Student organizations give back for holidays Alizah Thornton NEWS EDITOR
CLARION, Pa. - Students at Clarion University are choosing to spend time that could be devoted to studying to participate in service events that benefit their local community. Several Clarion University Recognized Student Organizations including Eagle Ambassadors, Students Honor Association, Psi Chi Club and People
Encouraging Awareness in Community Economics, sponsored community service events this past week. Students and their advisers from each organization conveyed the importance of their groups serving the community. On Wednesday, Nov. 14, Psi Chi Club, an honorary psychology fraternity, along with the Psychology department put on a soup benefit for Prevention and Services for Sexual
Assault through Guidance, Empowerment and Support, Inc. in Clarion. “We’ve been doing this soup benefit for several years now. Everything is donated by faculty, staff and students so any money we take in goes in directly to PASSAGES,” Psychology Department Secretary Diana Kunselman said. “For a $5 donation, you can get a bowl of soup, bread, cookie and a drink,” Kunselman said.
Psi Chi Club Adviser Jeanne Slattery said the benefit will help raise money for the organization, which helps individuals with past sexual assault experiences. “More importantly, it will increase the visibility that PASSAGES has among CUP students, faculty and staff,” Slattery said. The Clarion University Eagle Ambassadors worked with Chartwells to sponsor Donate-A-Meal , where
university students with meal plans could choose to give up one of their dinner meals or donate cash toward the drive. Chartwells cashes the value of meal plan, approximately $4.80, with the cash collected to purchase turkeys and canned goods that are then donated to Clarion County Community Action, Eagle Ambassador Adviser Holly Pipher said. “Donate-A-Meal is a
great and easy way for students to be philanthropic and show their support to the community,” Pipher said. The organization sponsors this drive once a semester to help local families who may not have a way to enjoy the holidays: one is conducted for Thanksgiving or Christmas, while another is during Easter. See Community page 3
Clarion faculty take strike authorization vote Alizah Thornton NEWS EDITOR
CLARION, Pa. - Faculty members from the 14 universities that make up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education took a strike authorization vote this week, Clarion APSCUF President Jamie Phillips said. Phillips, who is a member of the negotiations committee that is made up for the chapter presidents from the 14 universities, said the committee is responsible to call a strike on behalf of the union. “The negotiations committee cannot call a strike though, until the membership authorizes it to do so,” Phillips said. The vote was held from Monday through Wednesday on all campuses. “If the vote is positive, which we will know by Friday, then the negotiations committee can call a strike at any time after
that point,” he said. On Clarion’s campus, 87 percent of the faculty voted. APSCUF has moved to a strike authorization vote after prolonged negotiations between the union and PASSHE. APSCUF faculty have been working without a contract sine June 2011, according to an article on PennLive. “There has been no recent progress in negotiations as the PASSHE is only willing to give us the same contract they gave every other union if we additionally agree to sell out our temporary faculty, sell out our retirees ... We will never agree to any of that,” Phillips said. A Nov. 9 press release issued by PASSHE stated that “PASSHE is committed to achieving a new collective bargaining agreement with APSCUF that is fair to everyone, especially to our students and their families
who currently provide nearly two-thirds of the revenue needed to operate the universities. It is essential PASSHE achieve cost savings in any new agreement, as it has in all of the agreements with all of its other labor unions.” Phillips said APSCUF is willing to accept a contract similar to the other unions. “We are not asking for anything other than basically the same contract every other union has already been given. This is a very meager contract with a compensation package that does not keep up with inflation, but we are willing to accept it simply because the other unions already have, and so that we can move on and focus on educating our students,” Phillips said. Negotiations between APSCUF and PASSHE are scheduled to continue on Dec. 11 in Philadelphia.
Brittany Harger / The Clarion Call
William Buchanan, library science faculty member, takes a strike authorization vote for Clarion APSCUF.
Alizah Thornton / The Clarion Call
Alizah Thornton / The Clarion Call
Nicole Caratelli / The Clarion Call
A speaker addresses Dr. Particia Kolenick’s ED 110 Foundations of Education for Middle and Secondary Students class.
University professor organizes local administrators to class Rachel Farkas STAFF WRITER
CLARION, Pa. - Patricia Kolencik, professor of education, goes the extra mile when teaching her introductory educa tion course to incoming education stud ent s. In ED 110 Foundations of Education for Middle and Secondary Students, Kolencik invites superintendents and principals from local school districts to speak to her class, giving them real world experience to supplement what they are learning from the text. These presentations “bring the words of the textbook alive,” Kolencik said. The speakers touched on topics being taught in the class, such as professionalism, teacher liability, ethics, inclusions/special education laws, state exams, classroom management, bullying issues, school funding and the hiring/interview process.
Kolencik said this supplemental learning is to give students a first-hand look at what is going on in the field to make them better prepare themselves for jobs in the future. “Students can get an administrator’s perspective on what’s going on in school districts at present and what administrators expect from teaching candidates,” Kolencik said. Maria Pappas, superintendent at Cranberry School District in Seneca Township, was the first speaker in the series and spoke to the class in Hart Chapel last Thursday. “Love what you do,” Pappas said to students. “If you don’t love it, you won’t be great at it.” Throughout her presentation, the third year superintendent reiterated the idea that teachers need to be passionate and need to be advocates for their own work. She gave students practical advice from the standpoint of an experienced administra-
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
Inside
INDEX
Honors students make senior presentations. FEATURES PAGE 5
Professor recites poetry at Honors colloquium. ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 8
Preview for Men’s basketball season. SPORTS PAGE 10
News Opinion Features Classifieds Puzzles & Comics Arts & Entertainment Sports Standings
tor who has conducted many interviews herself and has been through many interviews. “Prepare yourself for a selective process,” she said. Pappas told the ED 110 students to have a teaching philosophy and be able to “think out of the box” when preparing lessons and developing instructional strategies. Because of her unique and personal teaching style, Pappas said many former students have approached her years later and expressed how memorable she was. She said that everyone should strive to become more than just a teacher and become someone’s favorite. “Don’t be just a teacher,” she said. “Be a person that will make someone’s list.” Anyone is welcome to attend any of Kolencik’s classes when there is a speaker. The next speaker will be Joe Carrico, superintendent of Oil City School District, today at 3:30 p.m. in Hart Chapel.
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