Jessica Taylor, 24, a third year student, is a graduate assistant in the Graduate Admissions office at Lyle Hall.

Taylor, like many others of the changing face of graduate students, requires a graduate degree in order to succeed in her field; clinical psychology.

Taylor is lobbying to get more activities for graduate students. “We need initial support,” she said, “but unless we can prove ourselves it will be difficult.”

“A lot of students are older, non-traditional, and have jobs,” she continued, “but there is an influx of graduate students in their 20s and there is no campus housing for them.”

Angel Appel, 22, also a first-year graduate assistant in the Graduate Admissions office, agreed.

“We need their support, but so many graduate students are transient, it is difficult,” Appel said.

Appel is working for a Masters degree in school psychology. She feels disconnected from campus life but as she said, “It is my choice to be. I could stay but I am here enough as it is.”

Taylor also does not feel connected to campus life. However, she enjoys Millersville University as a whole.

“I like it a lot. I have lots of friends, there are interesting professors, and lots of things in the area,” she said.

Amanda Tyler, 22, is working on her first semester as a graduate student. She says, “I am not as involved as I was when I was an undergraduate student. I have less time with homework and my job.”

Disconnectedness from campus life is not the case for every graduate student.

Second year student Molly Roach, 24, said, “I feel more involved through my job as a Graduate Assistant, but not a whole lot otherwise. There are no clubs for us and very few events.”

These students also promote and encourage undergraduates to continue their education and get higher degrees.

Tyler said, “I encourage students to become graduate students. It is never a bad thing to have more education under your belt.”

One bonus to becoming a graduate student, as Tyler explained, is the possibility of obtaining a graduate assistantship. The program waives tuition and gives a stipend that is enough to pay for books and housing.

Roach’s reasoning for undergraduates pursuing a higher degree is that they “value higher education. It helps make you more marketable when applying for jobs. My professor said it was worth it, even if you cannot get financial aid or an assistantship.”

“The programs are designed for the working adult,” Roach continued.

“Almost all the classes are in the evening. The earliest classes start at 4 p.m. The trick is to plan everything out and have good time management,” Tyler said.

Taylor said that the Graduate program requires “a narrow focus and to commit more time,” but at the same time, “it is lots of fun.”

Taylor continues, “Unless you have a 100 percent certainty of getting a job it is highly recommended, especially in this economy.”

Appel agreed. “If you feel comfortable with your skills, then go for a job. You can always go back for a degree later on.”

These graduate students are happy to be at Millersville.

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“The play went really well. I was really excited to see every seat full,” said Heinbaugh. “The actors did an amazing job and everything that was rehearsed worked out wonderfully.

Heinbaugh was pleased with the changes that had been made to the performance.

“I think my choices made the piece a stronger dramatic piece bringing alive the emotion and showing the relationships between the family of friends within his past and his family of soldiers,” she said.

“Booby Trap” details the last hours of a young soldier’s life. He is traveling with his platoon when he sits against a tree, accidentally triggering a land mine, which will eventually kill him when he moves.

Throughout the course of the play, he sees flashbacks of the more significant events in his life. He recalls when he first met his wife, when he decided to join the army, and has a conversation with an old Catholic Nun who taught him as a child. The soldier also sees what life will be like without him for his wife and young son. His fellow soldiers attempt to comfort him, but eventually ship out, leaving him to die alone.

The cast did a wonderful job portraying the fear and confusion that goes along with such a situation. The plot was both thought-provoking and effective.

“My character was pretty interesting to play because he is caught between two really tough realities,” said Billy Barnes, who played Captain Gruss. “For one, he’s really close friends with Sgt. Galen, the main character, and doesn’t want to leave him. But at the same time he is getting orders from high command that he has to pull out and leave Galen behind.”

Each actor had to work extremely hard to get back into character, with only two weeks to practice before the first showing.

“It was pretty fun to get into that frame of mind, especially since Bob Grube, the actor who played Sgt. Galen, is one of my best friends,” said Barnes. “So I basically just pretended what it would be like to have Bob stuck on a stump with a bomb in it. That’s acting for you.”

Both the new director and the returning cast were pleased with the show’s turnout.

“The show went exceptionally well. It gave all of our members a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as actors, designers, technicians, and, of course, directors,” said Justin Gilmore, who played Major Harris. “The Citamard Players are always pleased to present such excellent talent to the Millersville Campus.”

The “Booby Trap” production is only the first in an excellent line up for Millersville University Theater.

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The auditorium was full of Millersville students and members from the community. The audience was in store for an amazing show from the talented band. The singers include, Paul F. Perry, George Miserlis, Sam Lloyd and Phillip Mcniven. They are all very skilled in their profession and hilarious. “I did not know what to expect. It was entertaining not only musically but also comically,” said Steve Hartman a senior, Physics Education major. In between a cappella music, they performed skits that had the crowd laughing and applauding.
“I really liked them,” said another Millersville student, Tiffany Mancha a senior, BioChem major. “I thought they were so funny. My favorite part was when they mixed together a little bit of all of their tracks from their new CD,” she added.

The group performed music from Scrubs, the theme song from CSI Miami and music from their latest CD, “Riding the Wave”, in addition to other popular music from television shows and the big screen. Some of their guest appearances that night included a pumpkin head, a Major Chip Hazard action figure and a plump dancing doll who sang, “I’m a Maniac.” Before bringing out these special guests, the performers built anticipation within the audience and made everyone laugh when the suspense was finally revealed.

Watching “The Blanks” on stage was interesting and kept the audience’s attention because they had great chemistry on stage. “These guys are so talented and I almost forgot when the show started that there is no instrumentation. Their sounds effects and singing are so highly entertaining that it does not even matter,” said a viewer.
In comparison to the Scrubs performances on television, although the band still contained some of their characteristics from the sitcom, they added their originality said Hartman. He admitted that he could not resist buying a t-shirt after the show. They received a standing ovation from the crowd and Paul Perry said, “Thank you very much. We did not expect this.” After the show, the band members hung out at the lobby and promoted their CD, took pictures and chatted with fans.
The eclectic audience seems to enjoy this high-energetic performance by “The Blanks” and left the auditorium still laughing. For upcoming shows or to learn more about “The Blanks” go to their website at, www.blankswebsite.com

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Dreaming of you
The butterflies overwhelm
Drummer ever drumming. Fluttering ensues

My love for you is deeper than one can delve
Stronger than the strongest storm
Rarer than the roses twelve

Existing in my mind
Memories of springtime strolls
Letters of love and words that bind

Enveloped in my heart
Warmth and love of another
And footprints, pressed deep, leave their mark

Can you feel the drummer? Rhythm true.
My strongly pounding heart
Powerfully it beats, beats for you.

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This collection of group meetings is designed to help people get involved in their community as well as connect them with others who share the same interest.

The event largely consisted of a group discussion on Langston Hughes’ piece, “Theme for English B” lead by Dr. Timothy Shea. In the discussion, Shea asked attendees to share how they helped others, and how they felt when others needed help.

In doing so, he showed students how they lived amongst each other, and how they each learned to live in relation to other people. This message was tied into Hughes’ piece in which the narrator explained in someways, how he was not so different from anyone else.

Participation went well during the event. Students shared their viewpoints as Shea lead discussion on different key topics. He touched on how people can sometimes feel misunderstood, both when a crisis happens, and when people try to serve one another.

He was also able to bring some distinctive insight to the conversation by showing students how, in his travels to other countries, he was able to enrich his own experiences by speaking to people different than himself.

The discussion closed with important messages on how tension is unavoidable in situations where people are different, and the first step to building rewarding relationships is overcoming the fear of being in a foreign culture or society.

The Reflect and Connect series meets one Wednesday per month for a total of four times a semester. If interested, students can contact Lori Leanman at (717) 872-3049 or email at community.engagement@millersville.edu.

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With the Millersville Mentoring Alliance Program, students can get the help and advice they need to get ahead.

MMAP needs mentees more than mentors right now, but anyone is welcome to apply.

“Freshmen don’t understand that mentoring helps with contacts and future employment. It also helps them get involved in the community and gives them encouragement,” Director of MMAP Stacy Caldwell stated.

Mentoring is going on all across campus, both formally and informally.

Caldwell states that there are a lot more underclassman who want to be mentors this year, but mentors can be anyone including faculty, staff, alumni, professors, and professionals within the community.

The program focuses on the mentee’s needs but both parties benefit from their connection.

The MMAP Web site describes that there are many misunderstandings concerning mentoring.

Mentoring is not a one-way street. Both parties can learn and grow through this experience.

Mentoring relationships do not have to be face to face.

It does not have to be a time consuming process; each relationship is different and should work according to both party’s needs.

These relationships do not need to be complicated, but meeting more than once will offer more knowledge and experience.

Training for mentors and mentees will occur on October 9th and matching will take place one to two weeks afterwards.

The commitment period for both parties lasts until April, but they can continue for as long as they wish.

At the training session, people talk about their past experiences with the program.

Mentor and mentee pairs can do all sorts of activities together including participating on campus together, attending events, or doing community service. Many also meet for coffee or lunch.

“It can be serious or it can be fun,” Caldwell said, “And many mentee’s keep in touch with their mentors long after graduation.”

For now the program is trying to find an effective means of measuring the success rates of the program.

“We rely heavily on the stories people tell,” Caldwell said, “A lot of times, people realize how much the program helped much later, even years later, upon reflection of where they are and how they got there.”

The program does not just help individuals, however.

MMAP also offers their services to organizations, clubs, sororities, fraternities, and even departments.

They offer mentoring services that they may need, such as making the process easier and more effective through training and resources.

“We also refer some people to Big Brothers, Big Sisters,” Caldwell continued.

They also hold an annual Mentor/Mentee Appreciation Reception where they award the outstanding members of the program. The next reception will be held on April 8, 2010.

To learn more about the program, visit their Facebook fan page or go to their website at http://www.millersville.edu/~mmap/overview.html.

The headquarters at Chester House is always open to visitors or callers at 717-871-5344.

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Alyssa Leister is a Sophomore English major who is on the executive board for SWAT. She had a lot of good information to offer up about SWAT and Smash the Butt as well. The SWAT office is located in the Women’s and Wellness center, on the first floor of the Montour house.

For those who do not know, Smash the Butt is a 5K run/walk (emphasis on walk!) which promotes the programs and SWAT. According to Leister, it is a type of fund-raiser for SWAT, as well as a very fun event one can also use as community service. Participants do not have to walk or run in the race, but can volunteer to help out as well. Smash the Butt is open to all MU students as well as the surrounding community. Leister said it promotes athletic ability, as well as campus and community involvement.

Smash the Butt will be held this year on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 9:00 in the morning. Participants will meet at Pucillo Gymnasium. The course goes all around campus, and there is a $100 cash prize for the top male and female finisher and other prizes for the top placers as well. You need to register for the race and can preregister until September 16th. Preregistration costs $12 plus a shirt, but if you have a group of ten or more it costs $10 per person plus a shirt. Racers can also register the day of the race from 8:00-8:45 in the morning. However, on race day it is $15, and there are limited t-shirts. Registration forms can be picked up and dropped off in Montour House.

If anyone is interested in working with SWAT in general, the first meeting is September 20, 2009 at Montour House. One can also contact SWATgrad@millersville.edu for more information. Leister is a member of the executive board for SWAT, and gets paid for her position. People can simply be general members if they do not have the time to put into being an executive board member. Leister is very passionate about SWAT and encourages people to become involved with the program. She added as an important note they “love smokers, but hate smoking,” to clarify the misconception that everyone at SWAT abhors those who smoke. Everyone should come out on September 26 to race or help out with Smash the Butt to help educate the public about smoking.

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The bi weekly meeting occurred on September 8 at 7 p.m. in the Millersville Municipal Building.

The attendance at this meeting was scarce due to the lack of citizens’ requests or concerns addressed during the meeting.

The council meeting was brief, ending before 8:30 p.m. However, quite a few serious topics were discussed, such as the resignation of council member Keith E. Kauffman, who had to withdraw from his position because he moved out of the county.

Kauffman gave a thoughtful speech, saying that he fulfilled his duties, “to the best of [his] ability. At times [he] might have let [his] passion for the issues over mind [his] politeness, and [he is] sorry if [he] offended [his] borough council members.”

The meeting then went on to the discussion of the hiring of a new Millersville police officer.

Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Nick Taylor, presented this topic during the “reports from committees or boards” section of the meeting.

In order to continue the hiring process of a police officer, Taylor needed permission from the board.

After reviewing several candidates, Millersville police considered hiring Patrick Rodisill to fill in the open position.

“I strongly recommend Patrick Rodisill because of his background, demeanor and the way he presents himself,” said Taylor.

Taylor explained to the committee the difficulties and the logistics behind hiring a police officer, saying that there were, “many candidates, which made this a difficult decision.”

He went on to explain the hiring process of the officers. Nine candidates were sent to the Harrisburg Police Academy, where all but two passed the fitness exam. The remaining eight of these applicants were interviewed over a two night span. Four of these applicants, all male, were considered for hire, two of which passed the background check.

Towards the end of the meeting, during the personnel committee portion, the council voted on the consideration to hire Rodisill into the Millersville police force.

This vote does not mean that Rodisill obtains the position. It means that he will go onto the next steps of the hiring process. This includes a health exam, psychological exam, drug test and polygraph test.

Before council agreement, these tests cannot be issued because the Office for Civil Rights enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy Rule, or HIPAA.

HIPAA protects the privacy of individuals’ health information from being used against a person during the hiring process.

Under HIPAA, an employer cannot have access to health records, obtain a drug sample or assign a physical exam or psychological testing before consideration of employment is issued. This includes asking about drugs and alcohol during the interviewing process, which are considered diseases under HIPAA.

Due to these specifics, the police force distributes tests and has an extensive interviewing process. However, a polygraph test can be issued before or after the conditional employment.

“The questions just change,” Millersville police chief, John D. Rochat explained. Before the conditional employment, questions about drugs or alcohol cannot be asked. After the conditional employment, these questions are permissible.

After allowed time, the council members came to a decision and voted in favor of Rudisill, except for Jack W. Gardner, vice president of the council, who voted against Rudisill.

Other points voted on during the meeting, were the discussion of the Smash the Butt run and of signing a contract to lock in the price of electricity.

The Smash the Butt is a 5k race sponsored by SWAT, Students Working Against Tobacco, and will be held on September 26, at 9 a.m.

The race is held on campus and this year the runners would also like to run throughout the borough. They will be running on Prince and Cottage street, which are not on campus, then back to campus onto George street.

The SWAT team wanted permission from the borough to use these public roads and to have police officers covering the intersections so runners can cross safely.

According to the plan submitte, the motion to approve this race was passed unanimously.

The finance committee brought up the discussion of buying electricity because their old contract will end on Januaury 1st.

The vote was a difficult decision for them because the prices of the electricity fluctuate daily.

If the council approves the bid presented, the rate will be going up 37 percent more than last year. If they sign up for a 1 year contract, the borough has an estimated savings of $56,000, for two years $100,702, and three years $138,353.

The council must consider if they believe the cost of electricity will go up. If they approve this bid, there is a risk that tomorrow the rate could go down.

There was a motion made for Millersville borough to continue with Constellation Electric for .784 kilowatt hours.

The majority council members did not approve this motion, stating that they are “not one to jump in right away until we look at our other options,” said Linda Deal, and the “risk is that things would go down at the next county bid,” said Arnold.

One member, Michael Kirkham of the Finance Committee did approve this motion; however, the motion did not pass.

The council will continue to discuss this issue at a later council meeting.

The next borough council meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 22, and is open to the public.

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Infamous director and nut Quentin Tarentino has seemingly done it again, paying tribute to another genre in a fresh way. As a matter of fact, Tarentino utilizes this movie to display a completely new way of looking at war films, and really, all films.

There is this whole Nazi takeover thing in Europe. The SS, led by Hans Landa “The Jew Hunter” (Christopher Waltz), are trying to stamp out the last havens of Jews in France.

The opening scene introduces us to Shoshannah Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a French Jew on the run from Landa and she settles in Paris under a fake name, running a cinema.

In short, the Nazi government decides to show a new propaganda film in her cinema, an event featuring the “Big Four” of Nazi Germany. Shoshannah, along with her lover, decide to burn the cinema down with them all inside to avenge the fallen Jews in Europe.

Meanwhile, the “Basterds,” an American Jewish demoralization squad led by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) ruthlessly kills, tortures, and manipulates their way to a final goal of assassinating Hitler at the very same cinema.

As with any Tarentino film, essays could be written about the possible intentions of their near psychotic director. “Basterds” is no different. In every WW II movie, and in fact every war movie, there is the good (American) side and the bad (any other country) side.

This formula, when discussed, almost seems hackneyed and utterly boring. “Basterds” changes everything.

There is no good guy in “Basterds.” Every party and organization in the movie is dirtied, cunning and ruthless.

The “Basterds,” the Nazis, even the Jew hiding in Vichy Paris are all villains; there is not one single hero in this movie. Tarentino conjectures in this film that it is impossible to be a decent man in indecent times.

Thus the title. My compatriot, after seeing the movie with me, was curious as to why it was titled after the Jewish American squad, whereas their storyline only takes up perhaps 1/3 of the movie.

Clearly the title is a catchall-the Americans, the Nazis, and this dark-hearted Jew-all believe incorrectly their actions are for glory and good. But they are not. They are only bastards.

I will take this moment to talk to Tarentino fans. Rest assured, this movie has every single stylistic Tarentino effect exaggerated to the nth degree. Long, casual, at-first-glance insignificant conversations inhabit the movie.

A David Bowie song plays at a very inappropriate time. Aldo Raine’s Nazi carving seems to pay a small tribute to the “ear scene” in Reservoir Dogs.

There are intentionally cheesy effects, such as a Real World style arrow system to point out the “Big Four” of Nazi Germany in a crowd.

The film takes a break for five minutes halfway through to explain how combustible old film reels were. There is a “Mexican standoff,” and even a conversation about what constitutes a Mexican standoff.

There is a lot of color symbolism, especially towards the end in the cinema. The sick bastard even finds a way to fit in voice-overs of Sam Jackson and (unbeknownst to only me, who has seen too many Tarentino films too many times already) Harvey Keitel.

Rest assured, there is a Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction-style chorus spoken by Aldo Raine.

If you are planning to see this movie, I have constructed a few pointers so you know what to expect, in case you’ve never seen a Tarentino film.

1) “Basterds” is not historically accurate. Obviously, I can not give away anything major, but the Basterds never existed and their contributions to the war as seen in the movie are too major to be anywhere close to historically accurate.

2) Don not take the movie too seriously. Along with the historical issues just stated, Tarentino has this way through cheesy 80′s effects and music, as well as long, casual conversations at seemingly tense and pivotal moments that offer up some humor to keep viewers from even considering this is a drama.

3) Prepare to read a lot of subtitles. If this is not your thing, beware. The subtitle thing goes a little deeper though. Sometimes while characters are speaking foreign languages, there are no subtitles at all. Also, at some points words like “Monsieur” will be translated to “Mister,” but other times will be implanted as “Monsieur.” I caught this a few times; whether it is an intended or not, it is hard to say.

I have a hard time recommending or not recommending this movie, because it is very dense. I know when I walked out of the theater, I thought it was more “Jackie Brown” and less “Reservoir Dogs;” it seemed like a bit of a misnomer. However, after thinking about it and having conversations with people who loved it and other people who hated it, I think I have come to my conclusion. I did, in fact, really enjoy this movie, and it is dripping with the style that I do so love in Tarentino films. The acting was superb, the characters were great, the direction was excellent, and the effects were tip-top, making this one more of Tarentino’s monolithic contributions to American cinema. Bravo.

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This is due to a proposed ten year plan that will make many changes all over the Millersville University campus.

The goals, as stated by the proposed plan available on the university website, for this massive construction project are:

To accommodate an increase in Graduate students as well as an increase in undergraduate programs.

To address traffic and parking issues.

To improve athletic facilities and address current and future needs.

To improve deficiencies in facilities and infrastructure.

There are many proposed steps to achieve these goals and they are arranged in three phases.

In the first phase, which involves the first five years of work, one of the plans is to address pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

According to the plan the campus will become a pedestrian campus, in which walking is the preferred method of travel between destinations.
Safety is the main issue with pedestrian traffic. The plan will minimize the frequency of pedestrian and vehicle conflict.

East Fredrick Street will be closed to vehicles in phases and eventually the creation of a pedestrian mall will be located there from George Street to Pucillo Drive.

The proposed plan also notes that this area can be used for vehicle traffic in case of emergency as well as move in and move out days.

This will encourage pedestrian crossings off of the George Street and Fredrick Street intersection and move them to the Shenks intersection that holds a pedestrian island.

Until the shift is made, campus police will be directing traffic and pedestrian crossings.

The southern end of George Street will be closed passed James Street to allow a pedestrian path and plaza to be built at that location.

The construction outside of the Student Memorial Center

Plans also include the creation of more pathways to deter pedestrian movements away from parking lots and into safer areas.

Another section includes building additions, renovations, and other campus wide improvements.

Some of these improvements involve the replacement of Lenhardt and Burrows halls with new “living-learning Residence halls” on either James or Prince Street, or kept at their current location.

Improvements will occur in Lyle Hall dining due to a projected increase of residents on the West Academic commons, as well as improve the Southern Quad through landscaping around the field and adding recreational courts between the buildings.

One of the visible changes that started this summer include a removal of the existing traffic light at the intersection of George Street and Fredrick Street, and the implementation of stop signs at this intersection.

This is just one step in the proposition for this intersection.

Sidewalks along these roads will be widened for new traffic signals as well as better roadway lighting.

The new traffic light will have pedestrian countdown timers and vocals for the visually impaired.

There will also be a “red-light pedestrian scramble” mode where all four sides of the light will be red and pedestrians will cross whichever way they need to go.

This will eliminate the dangers of road crossings for both
pedestrians and drivers.

Other important changes in phase one of the plan will include renovations and an addition to the Student Memorial Center, as well as renovations and additions to the Visual and Performing Arts center.

Ganser Library will also be receiving a renovation and entrance addition.

Mechanical maintenance will occur at Jefferson Hall while Brooks Hall will also be renovated.

In phase two, which covers the next five years up to the ten year mark, a visitor’s center will be built on the corner of George Street and Cottage Street.

Additionally, work will be made in phase two on Pucillo and its athletic fields.

A practice facility will be built at Biemesderfer Stadium and Chryst Field.

Adding two new buildings on the East Academic Commons is also in the plans as well as a conversion from electric to gas energy and will have a central electricity plant for the campus.

Phase three will cover any additional years past the ten year mark and will include the building of Centennial Drive Residence Halls and Centennial Drive road alignment changes and surface parking.

More information about the SMC renovation can be obtained by visiting the center and inquiring at the information desk.

Additional information and details about the construction plans can be obtained on the Millersville University website.

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