Dr. Desmond: I am a professor in the department of education foundations…. I teach in the foundations block for B.S.E. majors. I teach the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Education course, EDFN 211. I also teach a perspectives course. At the graduate level I am graduate coordinator, and teach in our principal certification leadership program.

Snapper: Where did you go to school?

Dr. Desmond: My undergrad is from Muhlenberg, and then I was in Teacher Corps. My doctorate is from Syracuse.

Snapper: What were your majors?

Dr.Desmond: At Muhlenberg I majored in German and English. Then I was in elementary education at the University of Kentucky. And then at Syracuse, it was cultural foundations of education with a minor area in education administration.

Snapper: Why did you decide to teach?

Dr. Desmond: I’ve always enjoyed the act of teaching and learning, since second grade. I was discouraged from going into teaching. I was valedictorian of my class, graduated magna cum laude, had a lot of academic awards. At that time, there were two forces.

Advisers were saying there were other opportunities besides teaching, while the traditional gender roles at the time encouraged women to teach, so I was sort of caught between, ‘do I want to teach or not?’ But after graduation, probably when I went into Teacher Corps, which was a federal project for low-income schools, I fell in love with teaching, and that was over 30 years ago. It’s just intellectually stimulating every day, and children and young adults are always humorous in one way. So I think it’s fun, I have a passion for it.

Snapper: Why do you like teaching at Millersville?

Dr. Desmond: I think our students are really exceptional young people. They’re very hard working in the classroom and outside. They really have a fine appreciation for the opportunities in their education.

I have taught at Dickinson, Dartmouth and Syracuse before, and if I had to look at a differences between the student bodies, I believe our students are caring young individuals; involved in community service projects of all sorts, and I really enjoy them a lot.

Snapper: What are you involved with at Millersville, besides teaching?

Dr. Desmond: I am advisor of the Students for a Democratic Society here on campus. I’m also involved in the women’s studies activities on campus. I have also been involved in various activities with the social equity programs.

Snapper: What are your hobbies outside of Millersville?

Dr. Desmond: Now that my children are 25 and 28, they were very important to my life and still are, but I kayak, and I hike. I really enjoy an ocean anywhere, and going to the beach. I’m very involved in several community activities in the southeast portion of Lancaster City.

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While Leslie Bowen does just that, she also allows herself to be inspired by her students.
Bowen went to Moore College of Art as an undergrad, and then attended University of the Arts.

Before coming to Millersville, Bowen taught at Lebanon Valley College and Conestoga Valley High School.

At Millersville, Bowen teaches several art classes to both art majors and non-art students. However, she didn’t always know that she wanted to teach.

“I went in as a fashion illustrator, found out I didn’t like that; switched to painting, decided that I would starve as a painter. Then I went into education,” she says.

She said she also supervises several student teachers.

Bowen said that she draws a lot of inspiration from her students, especially from her non-art students.

She enjoys taking students who normally wouldn’t know anything about art and “turning them on to artists, like Christo.”

She also frequently travels to art museums, galleries, and exhibits.

Outside of Millersville, Bowen teaches at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. She also enjoys scuba diving and reading.

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However, as a documentary maker, he is dedicated to more than just his job as a teacher.

Chang attended a teacher’s college, which he said was very similar to Millersville, in China in 1984, where he majored in English literature and language.

He taught high school for four years, and then went to graduate school for comparative literature.

Then, in 1991, he went to work for a television station in China.  He also worked at a women’s magazine.

In 1995, Chang came to America to get his doctorate in mass communications.

So far, Chang has made many documentaries, including a series for PBS about international and multicultural adoption, and how it affects our culture.

Some of the documentaries he has made include Vision For Tomorrow, The Gate of Fujian, Love Without Boundaries, and My Unforgotten Daughter.

Currently, Chang is working on a documentary concerning the education of children of Chinese migrant farmers.

He said that between researching, filming, and editing, it can take between three and five years to finish a documentary.

Since most of his work has to do with China, he spends two months each summer in China, and usually brings his students with him.

He also has two good friends living in China that help him with filming.
Chang said he always wanted to make documentaries.

He said that it is another form of writing that gives him more creative input. He believes that documentaries are powerful, and give him a voice.

Although Chang is a self-proclaimed “workaholic,” he takes time out of his work to enjoy simple things, such as his family.

He met his wife while studying for his doctorate in China. They have a son, who was born in China, that is 17, and a six-year-old daughter.

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Behrenshausen attended Millersville from 2001 until 2005. While at MU, he was involved with the Snapper as a co-news editor during his freshman year, and with WIXQ as a news coordinator during all four years. He also wrote for the Reading Eagle.

He said that being involved with campus organizations “shaped his college experience,” and that Millersville’s organizations give students plenty of “practical real-world experience.”

Upon graduation from MU, Behrenshausen proceeded to complete graduate school at the University of Maine in two years.

He credits his success in grad. school to MU.

“The [communications] department prepares students very well for graduate school,” said Behrenshausen.

He is currently an instructor at Millersville, where he teaches Communications Studies courses including research methods, media criticism and public speaking.
Behrenshausen is glad to be back at Millersville.

“I have fond memories, and I owe this place a lot. I was more than happy to find a job available here,” he said.  “It was an interesting transition coming back as a professor.”

Behrenshausen said he sometimes finds himself walking out of the Hash building and towards his old dorm, instead of to the faculty parking lot.

Outside of class, his students still take up most of his time. However, he doesn’t mind.

“My students are great. They remind me of my friends when I was a Communications major,” he said.

Now, Behrenshausen lives in Lancaster with his wife, Kate, who teaches high school English.

They both enjoy music and frequently attend concerts and shows. Behrenshausen also enjoys video games.

“I enjoy playing video games, writing about video games and writing about playing video games,” he said.

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However, this past week Millersville students had the chance to turn to an MTV celebrity, and each other, to help form their opinions. On Friday Sept. 12, the All Greek Council sponsored “Decision ’08,” an open forum discussion hosted by Jose Tapia from the MTV show Real World: Key West. Tapia was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Florida State University and holds a real estate broker license.

Since being on the Real World, he has traveled and made appearances at numerous nightclubs and events. Currently, he is on tour, doing “Decision ‘08” at colleges all over the country. During the hour, both Tapia and audience members discussed hot-button issues such as abortion, the war in Iraq, and Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

Throughout the discussion, Tapia posed questions and students voiced their opinions and backed them with personal anecdotes. Included in the audience members who spoke were two Iraq War veterans, who gave their first-hand views about the situation in Iraq.

Also discussed were the candidates, and their vice presidential candidates. Each candidate’s views were worked into the dialogue, creating an unbiased environment.

Tapia made it clear that everyone who is able to, should vote. He believes it is critical for 18-to-25 years old to get out and vote in this election.“Our generation is huge,” he said. “We need to be heard.” Tapia is using his celebrity status to get the word out.

He said, “I would like to use my MTV status, for a lack of better words, to do something positive and make a difference.”

Jose Tapia from MTV Real World Key West spoke to students on Sept. 12 about hot political topics and the upcoming presidential election. Photo by Carla Anderson.

Sophomore Kellie Coupal said that citizens need to vote and “Use what has been given to them constitutionally.”

Tapia believes that there are many ways to affect the election other than just voting.
“Encourage people! Tell your parents, ‘you know, Mom and Dad, this is what John McCain thinks about Iraq, this is what Obama thinks about gas [prices].’ Make sure they’re registered to vote, that they’re ready for Nov. 4,” said Tapia.

Members of the All Greek Council, who sponsored both this event and Rock the Vote stood inside the SMC all week and wanted to spread another message by bringing “Decision ‘08” to campus.

“It’s basically a stereotype of Greek life that all we care about is partying, and we wanted to put money towards something that shows we actually care about what’s going on,” said female President Brittany Fricke. Vice President Chris Torres agreed.

“We want to show the campus and the administration that we care about the community,” he said. But in the end, everyone wanted one thing.

“We just want more people involved in voting,” said Joey Kindon. “That’s why we held this event and had the Rock the Vote stand out all week.” And most students were enthusiastic, not only about this years election and voting, but politics in general.

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The lecture took place Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. in the Lehr Room in Gordinier Hall. Around 100 people attended, including many students and several uniformed military personnel.

The lecture, titled “The Impact of WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and Iraq War on American Presidential Politics” concentrated on how issues during times of war affect elections.

Throughout the lecture, Bresler focused on elections during the past several wars. He spoke about how the wars impacted the stances of the candidates, which consequently affected attitudes of voting citizens and the outcome of the elections.

Dr. Rober Bresler spoke to students Tuesday night and addressed the impact of wars on Presidents. Photo by Carla Anderson.

Towards the close of the lecture, Bresler took questions from the audience, which ranged from how veteran’s opinions affect elections, to if presidents are considered to be celebrities more so than they used to be.

Bresler drove home the idea that history repeats itself by comparing elections and drawing parallels between the state of the war and the result of the election.
Senior Deborah Repko said that Bresler’s comparisons of the elections was what really stuck with her.

“We always hear that history repeats itself. It was encouraging to actually see that in action,” she said. Repko also said she appreciated that Bresler’s lecture was not biased.
Senior Steph Toivola agreed when she said she liked that he “never directly predicted the outcome of the [2008] election.”

Bresler is particularly interested in the topic of elections during wars because he has witnessed all of these wars and elections.

“I studied it all my life. I was a little boy during World War II, a high school student during the Korean War, and an adult during Vietnam. I’ve studied war and its relationship to politics my whole life. That’s why it’s important,” he said.

He believes his speech was relevant to the Millersville community simply because “we’re fighting a war during a presidential election.” Bresler graduated from Earlham College with a degree in politics, and went on to receive his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton.

He has taught at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, University of Delaware, and Penn State Harrisburg, from where he recently retired after 33 years.

He is now a visiting professor at Franklin and Marshall College, and the National Affairs editor and columnist for USA Today.

He is also an author, whose recent books include Us vs. Them: American Political and Cultural Conflict from WW II to Watergate and Freedom of Association: Right and Liberties Under the Law.

Friends of Ganser Library is an organization that promotes awareness of the services provided by Ganser Library. Each spring and fall, the group sponsors a lecture on an interesting topic.

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The two mile, award-winning parade will take place on Saturday, Nov. 1, which coincides with Millersville’s Homecoming weekend, Family Day and Community Day.

The parade, themed “Animals: Fictional or Real,” will leave Penn Manor High School at 9 a.m. and end in front of Millersville’s Student Memorial Center at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The Anttonen’s will be keeping with the theme of “Animals: Fictional and Real” by bringing along a four foot teddy bear, named Yenoh, that Ralph gave Judy for her 60th birthday. Normally, Yenoh rides in the backseat of Judy’s Jeep, as her “protector,” Ralph said.

“He’s coming out of the Jeep and into the parade with us,” said Ralph.

As the grand marshals, the Anttonen’s will ride in a car leading the procession. They will then go to a reviewing stand, where they will watch the remainder of the parade.

The Anttonen’s are the first couple to be chosen as grand marshals.
They were selected based on their considerable contributions to the Millersville community.

“We’re really thrilled,” said Ralph Anttonen, “Judy’s going to get a new outfit out of this.”

Together, their community service includes coordinating the Millersville Mile, which benefits the Millersville Fire Company, serving as honorary members of the fire company, dressing up as Santa and Mrs. Claus for local schools and events, and disc jockeying on Millersville University’s campus radio station, WIXQ-FM, where they are better known as Doc and Momma Roc.

The Anttonens also sponsor Adopt-a-Highway on Long Lane. Ralph Anttonen, who has been on the faculty at Millersville since 1971, serves as the university’s chair of the department of academic and student development and the director of the Exploratory Program.

He is heavily involved on campus, as the advisor of WIXQ-FM, a mentor to hundreds of Millersville students and the Millersville basketball announcer, to name a few.

He is also a timing official with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), is an author, and has partaken in more than 40 races, both cycling and running, since 1989. Ralph was named “MU Person of the Year” in 2001. He graduated from Tuft’s University with a bachelor’s degree in Math, and then continued on to University of Minnesota for his Ph.D. in educational psychology.

Judy Anttonen is a Millersville graduate. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary and early childhood education, and a master’s degree in special education. She is retired from the Conestoga Valley School District, where she was a special education and learning support teacher.

Like her husband, she is very active in the community. Her service includes volunteering with the Susquehanna Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired and the Watch and Clock Museum, where she was chosen as Volunteer of the Year in 2007.

At Millersville, she is a basketball scorekeeper, a PIAA timing official, part of the Millersville Choral Group and a member the Standing Room Only Singers. In the past, she was the treasurer of the West End Athletic Association, and has participated in over 500 road races and 30 triathlons since the 1970s.

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