The Gettysburgian - October 5, 2018

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Blasts from the past This week in 1918, some World War I soldiers were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross “for acts of gallantry,” including one Gettysburg graduate. Captain Keller E. Rocky, who was part of the Marines, was invaluable for the heroism that he showed while carrying out an attack. Rocky graduated with the class of 1909 with a Bachelor of Science degree. This week in 1938, there was a glass artist that came to the college to demonstrate how to blow glass. The glass artist was diving into the more scientific side of glass making and creating various items in glass such as vases and ships. He also illustrated how different colors can be produced in glass. This program had been given in various states and universities and had been endorsed by Gettysburg’s chemistry department. This week in 1963, some of the firstyear students rioted against the customs the upper-class students made them do. The highlight of the demonstration was the burning of four dinks and a customs sign. The dinks (sort of like baseball hats) used to be worn by firstyear students to show to the world they were first-years. This class of first-years had enough with the tradition and soon 200 first-years were on the field protesting the long list of customs the upper-class students come up with. At least our first-years don’t have to go through the same pain as these first-years! This week in 1998, the college announced plans to construct what came to be the Quarry Suites, a project that was planned to cost $125-130 million to house 155-160 students. The construction was part of an effort to quell debate over the problems with hundreds of students living off campus each year at a supposedly residential liberal arts college and came as part of a larger package of real estate acquisition conducted by the college. This week in 2003, an editorial came out about Reading Days and what they should actually be named— Reading Days or Grading Days? Students seemed to have most of their w o r k b e f o r e r ead in g days, rather than all the work due after. Reading days seem like a time for professors to catch up on grading, while students get to relax before coming back to class on Wednesday. Should reading days really be renamed? At least that student felt so. These archived “blasts from the past” were compiled by copyeditor Shannon Zeltmann using Special Collections in Musselman Library.

Friday, October 5, 2018

October 5, 2018

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report better G e t t y s b u r g G r e a t Students communication from Campaign concludes Facilities, but still have unaddressed concerns after seven years

Janet Morgan Riggs speaks at Campaign Celebration (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College) B y G auri M angala N ews E ditor Homecoming Weekend marked the end of the seven-year Gettysburg Great Campaign, headed by President Janet Morgan Riggs ‘77 and Robert Kallin, Vice President of Development, Alumni and Parent Relations. The campaign was “the largest and most ambitious fundraising effort in the College’s 186-year history,” according the College’s website. The campaign’s initial goal was $125 million and was extended to a goal of $150 million for the institution; that figure was surpassed with the support of 25,132 donations for a grand total of $160,010,863. “I’m so grateful to our staff in Development, Alumni, and Parent Relations for their tireless efforts in support of this campaign, and I’m moved

by the generosity of the Gettysburg community,” remarked Riggs. “This campaign was primarily focused on enhancing the educational opportunities available to our students. Raising funds in support of student scholarships was the most important priority, and the Gettysburg community— alumni, parents, employees, and friends— stepped up in a big way, contributing nearly $50 million dollars to support endowed scholarships and Gettysburg Fund scholarships. In addition, the funds we raised in support of academic and cocurricular opportunities have truly enriched the student experience—funds to support student research, travel, career development, public service, and so on. I am just so proud of what the Gettysburg College community has

accomplished together in support of our students.” However, even with all of the success that went towards 100 Gettysburg Fund Named Scholarships, 132 endowed scholarships, 315 new undergraduate research opportunities, seven endowed professorships and state-of-the-art classroom equipment cross-departmentally, there were still many shortcomings. This campaign did not close the gap between Gettysburg College’s endowment and that of peer institutions. In 2016, the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) found that “Gettysburg’s endowment per student was roughly $107,000 in 2016,” according to ‘Our endowment and why it -Continued on next page-

Senate quickly works through agenda. Two clubs get de-recognized. B y J oseph M aguschak C ontributing W riter

Student Senate’s ephemeral meeting on Oct. 1 2018, marked the governing body’s fifth assembly of the semester. President Nick Arbaugh ’20 announced that affinity group leaders must sit on at least one committee and that many senators have not been attending committee meetings. The first order of business was the derecognition of two clubs from Senate: -Cooking Club -Pre-Health Club After failing to register their clubs with the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life, the following organizations are in danger of being de-recognized by Senate unless they are registered by this Friday, Oct. 5. -Economics Research Club -Fellowship of Christian

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Athletes -Finance and Investment Club -Habitat for Humanity -Model Arab League -Rotaract Next, Treasurer Haley Gluhanich ’19 took to the stand to review two budget requests: -A request of $3,000 from Jazz Appreciation Society going towards its annual dance was approved in-full, having been recommended by the Budget Management Committee. -International Affairs Association/Model UN requested $2,005 towards its annual conference to be held in November. Using Senate’s money primarily for delegation fees, the club will also be funded by the Political Science and International Relations departments. Its request, recommended by BMC, was approved by Senate in-full. The only student

concern that was voiced dealt with the flooding outside of Huber Hall. As far as Senate knows, nothing is being done to deal with this problem, which is primarily due to the rainy weather of the past few weeks. Before the meeting’s conclusion, Nadine Snyder and Alex Xie of the Student Safety and Sustainability Committee announced their intent to investigate Gettysburg College’s recycling program to ensure that any concerns and/or issues are addressed. With the changing of seasons and the inevitable sickness around the College, the committee also wishes to start an initiative to supply all public places on campus with cough drops. Student Senate will not meet next Monday, due to reading days and will reconvene Monday, Oct. 15.

B y G auri M angala N ews E ditor Last spring, the Gettysburg College campus was consumed by an outbreak of mold throughout Hanson Hall, a first-year residence hall, which exposed a variety of frustrations among students with the response of Facilities Services to maintenance issues across campus. In that aftermath of the outbreak, the college commissioned a task force to address the communication issues students identified. This fall, with excessive rain and extreme humidity, Facilities Services has once again been subject to scrutiny in their response to water damage in academic buildings like Plank Gym and the Eisenhower Institute as well as to issues in college housing. Student Senate President Nick Arbaugh ‘20, who was among the most vocal senators last spring in denouncing the work of Facilities Services, said that, on the whole, improvements seem to have been made. “It’s a good question. It’s one that people continually ask, you know, ‘Is facilities doing what they’re supposed to be doing?’ given the tough time we had last year,” Arbaugh said. “ I would say I have heard a lot of complaints from students about a varying amount of issues whether that be housing related or mold related. At the same time I have heard a lot of people tell me that facilities is getting out there. At least in my discussion with the administration about some serious cases, they’ve said that they are very aware of it and there seems to be a lot of communication at these upper level cases. They seem to getting out and fixing things with more gusto than last year. From what I can see, as limited a perspective as that is, it does seem to be a serious improvement from where we were last year.” Water Damage James Biesecker, the Executive Director of Facilities Planning & Management is confident that facilities has been on top of all matters, especially those of flooding in the last few weeks. In regards to the flooding in Plank Gym, Biesecker explained, “The water issues in the north end of Plank existed before the work began on the College Union Building.

The issue stems from water coming in through the foundation of the building. It doesn’t happen with every rainfall but with the ground being so saturated lately the frequency has increased. Repairs and waterproofing of the foundation will take place with renovations to occur in Plank Gym. In the meantime, we have been working to permanently relocate the office and program that have been impacted by the water.” A few weeks back, murmurs of recurrences of mold, this time white mold, in Hanson, circulated and landed at the feet of the Student Senate executive board. “We had received a report from one or two students from the basement that there was some mold on their property and there was some mold on dorm rooms and furniture. So we went down and we checked it out and saw some pictures,” Arbaugh said. “Especially in that specific case, they were aware of it, they were taking steps to rectify it, they were having people go in there and check the mold ... To the best of my knowledge, the situation has been nipped in the bud.” Communication Many students, especially those living in college houses (i.e. theme houses) have experienced a lack of communication with facilities. Humor House, a leased house at 25 S. Washington Street has been facing an issue with a squirrel stuck in the walls. “Facilities told us that there was nothing they could do about a squirrel in the wall,” explained Nikoleta Mountanos ‘19, house leader of Humor House. “Which seems silly to me; is a squirrel smarter than all of facilities? I hope not. But luckily, they started trying to free it as soon as Student Senate heard about it.” In the case of Humor House, and of any other rented housing buildings, the landlord of the property is in charge of taking care of issues, like the holes in the walls that led to the squirrel; however, facilities is in charge of overseeing the situation and communicating to students what is happening. “I do think that facilities wants to be there for us. I really do. -Continued on next page-

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