Juniata College Public Safety ensures the security of the student body on and off campus. Officers’ extensive training allows them to utilize their policing abilities and be a friendly face for students on campus. Sworn Juniata police officers receive their authority from Act 501 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Act 501 gives officers in private organizations their policing power.
Timothy Hughes has been an officer at Juniata for 16 years. He is Act 235 and 120 certified as a municipal police officer. Before Juniata, he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania for five months of municipal police academy.
Act 235 entails the training of lethal weapons. Lethal weapon certification is mandatory for all privately employed persons who utilize any type of lethal weapon.
“Officers only have to be certified in Act 235 every five years, but we are consistent with our firearm training every year. We feel like it is necessary to constantly train officers even though it is rare for us to unholster a weapon,” said Jesse Leonard, director of public safety.
Under Pennsylvania Act 120, any person employed as a municipal police officer is required to complete a 785.5 hour course of instruction covering all areas of police work. Upon completion of the program, individuals are eligible to work as a Pennsylvania police officer.
“I am the patrol supervisor for the two to ten shift. The shift entails completing the day to day shift operations of handling any calls and assisting students. This includes vehicle lockouts, jump starts to cars and regular patrols to make sure everything is safe and secure,” said Hughes.
Michael Miles has been at the College for 13 years and is Act 235 certified. Before Juniata, he became certified with 30 hours of lethal weapons training at the Harrisburg Area Community College.
“I am a patrol officer for the two to ten shift. I oversee the day to day operations and work in conjunction with Tim. This has been the best job I have ever had student wise. I really enjoy the interaction with faculty, staff and students,” said Miles.
Additional training includes first aid, handcuff, automated external defibrillators, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and Oleoresin Capsicum Aerosol (OCAT-pepper spray).
“We have a lot of training. An officer only has to be trained once in their lifetime to operate pepper spray. However, we have training once every two years,” said Hughes. “Officers also have a ton of gun training. Everyone must pass a qualifications shoot once a year. The entire department has to shoot and reach a qualifying score.”
Officers must also complete training in communication. Mediation tactics and training are used by every officer.
“We learn verbal judo. It is a mediation technique but catered more towards law enforcement. Nine times out of ten someone has already tried to mediate a situation. When that does not work, our additional level of training can deescalate the situation fairly quickly,” said Miles. 
“I go out and talk with different sport teams and kids in the studio to get to know them all. There are a lot of students that will stop in and talk to us,” said Hughes. “There are nights when they will sit in our office and talk about anything from midterms to roommate issues. We are like the Juniata dads. We give students common sense reasons to their problems.”
“Public safety provides a safe and friendly environment for all students on campus,” said senior Carly Hinish. “Officers are always here to talk to or help with any problems. They really emphasis the student aspect of their job”
Some officers come from the prison system, police academy or are part time officers. To be considered for a job, prospective officers must have security personnel background.
“You must have at least one year of public safety experience before being considered for a job at Juniata. Once an officer is hired, they are constantly monitored and trained before stepping foot on campus. They are observed and watched until everyone feels comfortable with them,” said Miles. “Nothing against the new person, we just want to make sure they are respected as much as everyone in the department is respected.”
“You are on a college campus, you earn respect, not demand it. If you want students to respect you, you need to respect them,”
said Hughes.
Through the Pennsylvania liquor control board grant, the College puts an additional officer on weekend civility control. This officer patrols the area between local establishments and campus to ensure the safety of the students.
“We have a really good relationship with the Huntingdon borough. Usually, the borough police will call public safety to assist if they receive a complaint for a student house,” said Hughes. “Calling public safety for an off campus house can mean the difference between getting arrested and an incident report from the College.”
“We pride ourselves on the community and policing aspect of things,” said Leonard. “It is important to me as the director that we maintain a relationship with the students.”
“Public safety is looking out for kids on campus and making sure we are being responsible. They are here to make sure we do not get in any more trouble on or off campus than we normally would,” said sophomore Kathleen McDonald.
Officers not only provide safety to the student body but are also friendly figures. Public safety officers enjoy talking with students and faculty. 
“The best part of the job is interacting with students. I have seen them come in as freshmen and leave as seniors and there is a big change. It is great to see people grow up like that,” said Hughes. “There are students we remember from eight or nine years ago and we wonder what they are up to now. We get emails from alumni and some even visit during
alumni weekend.”
“I had some students tell me how different and great Juniata’s officers are compared to other schools. One girl told me she visited friends at another campus and their public safety was out to arrest them,” said Miles. “She came back and said it was astounding to see the difference between our guys who care about our safety over getting us in trouble.”
“I think it is important to stress the public safety aspect. We have an event coming up during Stress Busters called Pizza with Public Safety and we really want to encourage students to know the officers,” said Leonard.
“We hope this allows students to interact with officers on a daily basis and makes them aware that we are here to help and make you feel safe. We want students to get to know the guys and not be afraid to say hello.”

Dr. Paul Schettler, Charles A. Dana Professor, is the longest tenured professor with 45 years of teaching experience at Juniata College. Although he is currently on sabbatical for the 2011-2012 academic school year, he returns to Juniata College for a brief time for the Juniata Chemistry Department Symposium.
Schettler’s interest in chemistry began at a young age. “My mother was very much a naturalist, and she was also a gardener. I remember when I was age two or three, she would say, ‘Hey! Come on out and look at
this bug and look at the way it behaves.’ She was into the psychology of insects,” said Schettler. He recalls borrowing as many books as he could on insects at the Salt Lake City Public Library.
“Pretty soon, I ran out. Even public libraries don’t have lots of books on insects. So, I was poking around in my basement, and I found two books from my father’s high school education. One was ‘Introduction to Physics’ and the other was ‘Introduction to Chemistry.’”
“I started with the physics. Too much math. Couldn’t understand it. But I could read the chemistry. So by the time I was finished in the fourth grade,
I had read and totally memorized my father’s chemistry textbook and was well on my way to going through all of the chemistry books at the Salt Lake City Public Library,” said Schettler. He has since then developed a strong enthusiasm for the subject.
Schettler did his undergraduate work at the University of Utah and received his Ph.D. at Yale University. “I think I knew by the time I was in graduate school that what I wanted to do was academic work, and it was just a matter of how much research and how much teaching.”
While working on his post-doctorate at Antioch College in Ohio, Schettler had put an advertisement in the news,
to which Dale Wampler from the College had responded. “Dale Wampler talked to me about an open position, so I came here and was totally entranced,” said Schettler.
Schettler started teaching at the College in the fall of 1967. Since then, he has remained an important member of the chemistry department. 
“He is so involved here and such a part of the chemistry department that I really can’t imagine not seeing him here,” said senior Sean Oswald.
“I’m very grateful for having him here,” said senior Katerina Korch.
During his 45 years at the College, Schettler has taught different courses ranging from physical chemistry to quantum mechanics to courses such as the nature of man and art, knowledge
and conduct.
When asked to describe his philosophy for teaching, Schettler said, “Teachers teach from the past. I teach what I know, which is stuff I read
and have read. Students learn for the future. You’re learning now for stuff that you will apply in 20 or 30 years. And probably you will be using stuff that neither of us
has imagined.”
“Given that, what should my strategy be? What I need to do, as a teacher, is to provide seeds that in some sense will sprout and blossom in some indefinite time in the future,” said Schettler.
In describing his experience with students from Juniata, Schettler said “Wonderful students. That is why I have been here as long as I have. They are honest and friendly. Very friendly relationships with the faculty. When I had gone on sabbatical, one of the things that strikes me is that at most places, the students do not have a good relationship with the faculty.”
The regard that Schettler has for his students is reciprocated by his students and co-workers.
“I like the fact that he makes the time for you, and he really has your interests at heart,” said Oswald.
Assistant professor of chemistry, Sharon Yohn ’99, had taken Physical Chemistry I with Schettler. She said the class was “challenging, but I’ve learned a lot.”
Now back at the College as a teacher, Yohn describes working with Dr. Schettler as a co-worker. “He’s great to work with as a co-worker. I still have a tremendous amount of respect for his intelligence,” said Yohn.
“He’s someone that people know. People recognize his Volvo station in the library parking lot or, when they walk into his office, they see all the books and papers he has everywhere, but he still knows where everything is,”
said Korch.
“Doing research with Dr. Schettler was a great experience … I approached Dr. Schettler, not really knowing what I was getting myself into, and I can really say wholeheartedly that it was one of the best experiences I ever had at Juniata as far as research goes. He’s a great guy and a great mentor,” said Oswald.
When Schettler is not teaching, he enjoys hiking, walking, and jogging. “About 30 years ago, I started doing annual backpacking trips with my son and
daughter. It started with my son. We were going the length of the Uinta Mountains in Utah. This is a 180 mile two-week backpack trip. My daughter, at age 13, said she wanted to come, too, and I said, ‘No, you can’t. You’re too little, and besides, you’re a girl.’ My wife blew up. My daughter blew up, and she has been with us every year since.”
“We have gone through length of the Uintas. We have been to the base of Mount Everest. We have gone to the northernmost island in the world,
Ellesmere Island, and we did a two-week backpacking trip between the glaciers there. We’ve also done a similar trip in Axel Heiberg, which has a fossilized forest,” said Schettler.
With 45 years of experience, Schettler offers three pieces of advice for the College. “I think that liberal arts education is very important. We need to have some sense of global citizenship. The more we know about each other, the safer we’re going to be.”
“I think that the integration between the humanities and the sciences is important. The notion of having a ‘narrative imagination,’ where you kind of getting into somebody’s head. This is different from what we do in the sciences, and that’s very important.”
“The third thing is everybody, particularly those moving from the teens into the twenties, needs to spend some time thinking about who they are.
Self-examination. Who am I? What am I? What is the world like? I can’t force you to do that, but I can certainly include in a curriculum readings and discussions that encourage that kind of self-examination,” said Schettler.

Over the past few years, students from Juniata have had great success in the admittance to various graduate schools across the country. Most recently, acceptance rates have appeared to be quite high as well as consistent.
Many students studying within the health professions, physics and chemistry departments in particular have been accepted to graduate school through Juniata’s resources.
Graduate schools are very competitive because of the limited amount of students they can accept.
“The majority of students applying are applying to top-tier chemistry graduate programs and therefore they have to be very competitive to get a spot,” said Dr. Richard Hark, chemistry department chair.
“We have a rigorous program and we have admittedly a well-deserved reputation for producing students who succeed at graduate school,” said Hark.
Of the 12 students that applied to graduate programs from the chemistry department, 11 have been accepted with the final student waiting for his or her schools’ verdict.
Graduate schools in chemistry look at many aspects of an individual’s application before coming to a conclusion.
“They look at not only your grades for chemistry and whether or not you have been involved with science outreach in the community,” said senior Katerina Korch.
“From year to year some programs will accept more or less students depending on funding and other factors,” said Hark.
Different schools are looking for different features within their applicants. Students must look at what their requirements are now and what they look for in an application.
Students applying for programs within the health professions field have also found success. The latest tally totaled 28 out of 31 students who have been accepted to graduate programs with many more students still waiting to hear back from different schools.
Often times, the acceptance process can be long and strenuous. Dr. Debra Kirchhof-Glazier, director of the health professions program, said that students may not hear back from schools until June, July, or even August.
Kirchhof-Glazier wanted to stress the fact that although the acceptance rates are crucial, they are not the only thing that matters. “We do not focus on the number so much, we focus on the students,” said Kirchhof-Glazier.
The physics department has seen success with students applying to graduate programs. Although the number of applicants this year was limited, three students have been accepted with the fourth student waiting for the verdict.
Members of the physics department have been very supportive of students applying for these programs. “We write about 80 letters of recommendation each. So we do a lot to support them getting in,” said Dr. James Borgardt, physics department chair.
Members of each department have given students the resources that are necessary for success in graduate programs.
“In chemistry an important element is to have undergraduate research experience, which the vast majority of our students do,” said Hark. “Though it’s not required, most students choose to
have some sort of experience during the academic year or
summer internship.”
Professors at Juniata have shown that they want to help and support their students time and
time again. “All the professors are really willing to help you. Whether it’s from helping you pick which schools to apply to or reading your essays and telling you what can be improved and what you
should include in your essays,” said Korch.
“They are really there for you, even professors that I didn’t necessarily have in class. They allowed me to feel free to come in to their office and discuss with them,” said senior Sarah Border.
Although there is help and resources readily available, it is up to the students to seek out the aid of others. “In order for students to be successful, not only do they have to do what we tell them, but they have to do it in a timely
way and if that doesn’t happen it can affect the numbers,” said Kirchhof-Glazier.
Professors are very upfront with their students in order for them to be successful. “They tell you right from the beginning that grad school is a lot about your
perseverance and being persistent,” said senior Katelyn Houston. “They help me feel capable. They feel like I am capable of the hard work it will take to do well in grad school.”
Although the acceptance rates have remained very consistent for the chemistry, health professions, and physics departments, there are many factors that can be of influence.
“It really depends on how many people are trying to beat down the door to get in,” said Kirchhof-Glazier.
The size of Juniata may also be a factor. Larger, more well-known programs are sometimes more likely to be recognized when applying to graduate schools.
“I think that for a small school like Juniata where it’s a really solid program, but people don’t know about it a lot, if your standardized test scores undermine your GPA, it can hurt more than it might in other places,” said Borgardt.
Korch, Border and Houston all advised any students planning to apply for graduate programs in the future that they complete the required standardized tests
as early as possible. Houston stated that getting them “out of the way” relieves stress on the applicants and can aid in the
application process.
Despite the fact that graduate programs can often be difficult to get into, the professors at Juniata and the resources they have provided students with, have allowed students applying for graduate programs to be successful this year as well as the years to come.

The Juniata College Class of 2012 will donate shrubs shaped to spell out Juniata, a new Juniata College emblem and a picnic area as their senior class gifts.
According to Class of 2012 Treasurer Jared Clark, the picnic pavilion will be the most popular. “Our big gift is the picnic area behind Cloister. Our vision for it is like the East pavilion. We are thinking about putting a fire pit in there and lights so people can study late. It should get a lot
of use.”
Vice President Elizabeth Bernardo said, “Out of the three senior gifts chosen my favorite is the outdoor picnic area. I love being outside and when the weather is nice that’s all I want to do. “
I don’t want to be stuck in Muddy or Baker. They’re crowded anyways so this is a great way to eat outside at a place with nice chairs and tables,” said Bernardo.
According to Bernardo, the gifts this year will increase the beauty on campus. “The old emblem or seal is chipping and looks bad. The new emblem is going to have a Plexiglas cover and be bronze, gold and blue. 
“We want to make it match the eagle statue out by Cloister. The shrubs are going to really compliment the turf we are getting in the stadium as well,” said Bernardo.
Clark and Bernardo both like the senior gifts; however, Clark would have preferred to renovate Café a La Carte in BAC as the class gift.
Senior Meagan Schneiderman agreed with Clark and Bernardo. “I like the picnic area best out of the three that our class voted for. I originally voted
for the renovation of Café a La Carte but since that wasn’t the one chosen the picnic area is the best.”
According to Bernardo, she did not vote for Café a La Carte because she wants to be able to see the Class of 2012 gifts by early next year. Bernardo said, “The café in BAC is going to be a long renovating process but hopefully by next year’s homecoming we will have our three gifts set up.”
Not all of the graduating class of 2012 is happy with the final decision for class gifts. Bernardo said, “There have been some people who ask to not be contacted because they are not interested in donating because of the gifts
we chose.”
“There are people that voice their opinions that they don’t like it but that’s anything you vote on. Not everyone is going to be happy with it,” said Clark.
While Schneiderman is pleased with this year class gift she is not a fan of the Class of 2011’s gift, which is the clock, located in
the quad.
“It just doesn’t fit in with the campus. It looks nice but I think money could have gone to other places and the clock clashes with the look of the campus,” Schneiderman said.
According to Bernardo she originally did not like the Class of 2011 gift, however her feelings have changed.
“After going through the process and getting the backlash from people who did not necessarily like our choice of senior gifts I appreciate the clock a lot more,”
said Bernardo.
Clark admitted the voting turnout was not as high as he expected. Clark said, “Around 200 to 250 people voted out of a class of 367. It was disappointing
but it was difficult to get people to respond to emails. I thought they’d be more interested in their
class gifts.”
Bernardo said the process of choosing the class gifts was difficult. “We sent out
an email to poll the senior class to find out what they would like. Then we pulled out the serious ideas because we got a bunch
of jokes.”
According to Bernardo, “From that list which was about ten ideas we asked President Kepple what he would like to
see and what is feasible under our budget. We further narrowed down the list and then sent out another email to get a final verdict on class gifts.”
According to Clark the most popular gift is the picnic area behind Cloister.
“When we asked students what they wanted many responded with a picnic area so once we heard a solid group of people voice that we figured out a spot to put it,”
said Clark.
Fundraising was very successful this year. “We’ve raised $40,000 this year and previous years raised around $30,000. We reached our goal which was great, we’ve really stepped it up. The fundraisers
were great.”
“My favorite fundraiser is celebrity bartender at Memories. We get to create our own drinks and Memories will give us some proceeds. I think everyone had a good time,” said Clark.
Bernardo said class gifts are an important part of the graduation process.
According to Bernardo, “We have different donor levels and students get their names on th
e gifts if they reached a certain matriculation fee. It’s all about leaving our legacy and getting your name on a gift is a great way to do it.”

Student Food Initiative (SFI) was founded in the spring of 2009 by a group of students frustrated with the food options on campus. The club is advised and encouraged by James Tuten, associate professor of history, and Neil Pelkey, associate professor of environmental science.
Since its founding, SFI has held events such as the Harvest dinner, the Food Symposium and meetings to aid in the garden and the farm. The club has changed over the years, but continues to provoke change and an interest in the consequences of food.
Due to their frustrations with the current food services, members of the club attempted to take actions. “At the beginning, we wrote petitions in an attempt to get a new food service, which never worked out, but I think that we evolved into a more efficient and useful club since then,” said senior Eleanor Provias.
Instead of getting the food service changed, the students also tried other tactics at first.  “Initially, a group of students and I had tried to opt out of the food options at Juniata. We had formed a plan on how to feed ourselves,” said senior Marcin Jaroszewicz.
“Our plan was denied, which was somewhat violating. This was a pretty big blow. We thought that we were putting our academic pursuits into actions, but seeing them denied was very confusing. Out of our frustration, SFI was formed,” said Jaroszewicz.
The club has developed many goals to help themselves and the campus. The students involved in SFI want to inform other members of the community about the importance of food.
“The main goals I guess would be to bring healthy food onto campus and to raise awareness about food issues in the local area. We also want to raise awareness about eating local,” said Provias.
“We try to stay connected with local farmers in the area. They have a lot to teach. They like it when young people reach out because this is where
they think the most depressing part of the population exists. The young people are the
ones that can make the most change, but they have the most apathy. To get the 20 something’s thinking about food would be amazing,” said senior
Elyzabeth Engle.
Another of the goals of SFI is “to promote healthy eating on campus through individual and group actions. That could be making individual choices in Baker to lower your carbon footprint. Also, through group actions such as having the garden, the farm and food workshops, we learn to grow and make our own food,” said Engle.
“We are a very process oriented group. Initially, we thought that we could eliminate Sodexo. Obviously, that could not be done. We have evolved into raising awareness end causing change where we can,” said Jaroszewicz.
In its short time, the club has made a lot of improvements and changes on campus. “We all care about food issues. SFI has really helped to develop my interest over the years. Before my college years, I had never thought about where my food originated. What I like most is how I have developed with SFI,” said Provias.
The club is about student initiative and fighting for what the group feels is important. “SFI is really a space to talk about what food means to us, who gets to eat, global and local food, the environmental and social consequences of food and the traditions of food,” said Jaroszewicz.
“It is no longer about what food means to you. It is about wherever you see the most important relationship to food, such as the social, economic or political relationship to food,” said senior Chesney Richter. 
The club wants to help its members find their interests in relation to food as well as the effects their food choices can have on themselves and others. “We want our members to think of the political, ethical and economical effects of their food choices,” said senior Maggie Albright.
The club has put much thought into how to raise awareness towards food issues. “I wish it was just playing in the dirt to raise awareness.  Apparently, to raise awareness we need to have a lot of indoor events,” said Engle.
In an attempt to help students on campus learn about food, members of SFI have developed their own idea of food and its relationship to their life. “My favorite part is that light bulb going off in my own head, just learning how important food is and that there are other people just as interested in food as me,” said Richter.
SFI sponsors many events on campus.  One such event is the Food Symposium “There is not one person that planned the whole symposium. Each person can plan an event that interests them,” said Jaroszewicz.
“We would be challenged to find another club that has done as much as we have in the past three years. This is not putting other clubs down, but I think that it is wonderful. I think that this is encouraging to other RSO’s,” said Engle.
In the coming years, the officers feel optimistic as SFI looks to continue being active. “I want to do more food workshops. I want to reach out to other people. I want to build the capacity of the group and get more members,” said Provias
The future of the club depends on the club members. “The future of SFI is for the next leaders to decide. I am excited to see what the next group decides.” said Jaroszewicz
First, the club needs to find the “next group.” Sometimes finding individuals motivated enough to take the club forward can be challenging, however, the club can hopefully overcome this obstacle. 
Since its beginning about four years ago, SFI has made many changes on campus by increasing the food options and raising awareness about the consequences of food. To take part in any of the club’s efforts, simply come to the events on campus or contact any of the club officers.

There have been plans to move the College’s radio station, WKVR-FM, from the top floor of Ellis to the Juniata College Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (JCEL) since the beginning of the semester.
Professor of Business Administration Marlene Burkhardt teaches a class called Innovations for Industry, also known as “I4I” and this year as “Project Management.” This is the first semester it is being offered as an IC course. Because the class is in its first year with an IC designation, much of the course material is experimental.
“It has been working pretty well so far, but if it drives us insane we’re not gonna do it again,” said Burkhardt.
“The class is designed to help people become their own entrepreneurs,” said Burkhardt. Although taking the class is not necessary to become an entrepreneur, it offers training in many skills that are important in the world of business. “I4I is especially useful to students who are actively involved in seeking money and using money to pay for services,” said Burkhardt.
One group of students in the class was assigned to help bring attention to JCEL. This group performed a “SWOT” analysis on JCEL, which stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats”. The relocation of the radio station was seen as an opportunity.
The group broke into several smaller groups to divide the work into surveying, business, accounting, radio station and eventually marketing tasks. Three of the group’s students were put in charge of the radio station category: senior Michael Lackey, senior Justin Miller and senior Matthew Fritz.
It should be noted that although a large amount of progress has been made in the project, it is not yet certain whether or not the radio station relocation will be approved.
“We were given the project initially, and it was basically ‘Here’s JCEL, what can you do to improve it?’ There was almost no direction,” said
Lackey. “First, we took a survey of around 150 random students to get the overall feel for what students think about JCEL. Then we needed to come up with a good business plan and go through a basic business startup checklist.”
“JCEL really is underused,” said Miller. “It’s not that kids don’t know what JCEL is, but it seems like it’s used much less than it could be used for.”
“We have support. Alumni from up to 20 years ago are behind the radio station and are still involved,” said Miller. In addition to alumni, the project leaders have a few other important supporters.
Among these are Executive Vice President John Hille, Communication Club
Head and Thornbury Professor of Communication Donna Weimer, Burkhardt, and JCEL Head,
Nick Felice.
The relocation will not only help JCEL, but improvements will be made to the station as well. “Ads are needed
for money, which will be used to upgrade equipment and pay student workers, and they help with familiarity,” said Miller. “We can advertise for places around Huntingdon like Standing Stone.”
Advertisements are very important, as the station is being kept as non-profit. “We talked to MERF Radio, and they
said it would be our best bet to stay non-profit,” said Lackey. “It keeps things simpler and we won’t have to worry about extra licensing or anything.”
The move will help the station gain popularity as well. “It’s already pretty popular outside of Juniata. I used to be a DJ and we got tons of letters from the prison,” said Fritz. Lackey added, “I hear it’s the only station they listen to at the prison.”
The project leaders also plan to utilize a podcast on iTunes and possibly a mobile DJ for things like sporting events on campus.
One of the goals of the project is to bring in not only the communications and business departments, but also a mixture
of departments that are not always associated with JCEL. “If we bring other majors into JCEL, it’ll reach a wider portion of the student body,” said Fritz.
“JCEL actually already encompasses a good part of the student body,” said Lackey. Any student is able to use JCEL’s resources, regardless of POE.
“When it was mostly all figured out, we went out and did a second survey to try to get the word around that JCEL
isn’t only for business startups,” said Miller. JCEL can assist in anything from student entrepreneurships to economic development.
“We are a technical advice column. We are a giant resource that students can use to get them set up with the right people,” said Felice.
“I think the project can mutually benefit the students, the College and JCEL,” said Lackey. “Students can work for the radio station, the station gets Juniata publicity and it’s all being run from JCEL.”
“All of these things in conjunction means success for JCEL,” said Fritz. “Pieces are getting into place, but they’re not quite
ready yet.”
Even if the whole plan does not get approval, the students in Burkhardt’s I4I class did a big part in making JCEL
more public. “To me, it’s a new venture for the College, and there are lots of experiences and opportunities ahead,” said Felice.

Brenton Mitchell, a 2006 graduate of Juniata College, has been leading a busy life since leaving Juniata.  Mitchell, who graduated with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and Communication, is currently working with Penn State’s World in Conversation Project.
The Project provides an opportunity for Penn State students to “participate in a dialogue about race or gender or religion,” said Mitchell.
According to Mitchell, “It’s a space for people to share their thoughts or feelings or experiences abou
t topics that for a lot of us are uncomfortable in our everyday lives.”
The road to landing the job at Penn State has been a long one for Mitchell. After graduating from Juniata, he spent the summer working at Stone Mountain Adventure Camp outside of Huntingdon. From there he took a job with Americorps National Civilian Community Corps.
Mitchell spent ten months living and working with the Americorps team. “We were rebuilding homes that were destroyed
in Hurricane Katrina, and tutoring kids in after school programs,” said Mitchell. “We worked at an outdoor
science school in Southern California. It was really cool.”
Mitchell’s Americorps position brought him back to Juniata, where he worked at the Community Service Learning Center. There Mitchell helped to organize Make a Difference Day, blood drives and after school programs for local students.
While working at Juniata, Mitchell also served as the Resident Director of Cloister. To supplement his meal
plan and to raise awareness about food waste issues, Mitchell did some dumpster diving while employed at the College.
Mitchell said Juniata was supportive of his efforts to “share the idea that there’s a lot of food that gets thrown away everyday in our country. A lot of it’s good food that’s in a plastic container or a plastic bag.”
In his free time working at Juniata, Mitchell played in a band called Suzanne Von Liebig and the Halbritters with his friend Brandon Long ‘07 at local parties and bars, including Johnny’s and Boxer’s.
After leaving his job at Juniata, Mitchell traveled to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada before leave for Australia. At Burning Man, Mitchell
participated in a week of “radical self reliance.
You’re also asked to bring something to share with the community,” said Mitchell, whose gift to the community was his music.
Mitchell then left for Australia, where he “didn’t really have a plan other than to meet up with some people.  I went to Australia seeking an adventure, to get myself away from what I do and things that I was comfortable with.”
After traveling along Southeastern Australia with friends, Mitchell got a job at a bar in Australia’s
Bush Country.  “I was only planning to work at the bar for a week and half, but I ended up staying there for a month and a half,” said Mitchell. 
He then hitchhiked around the South Island of New Zealand before returning to the United States, working with Habitat for Humanity in Los Angeles.
He then traveled to Korean on a trip designed for Americans who had been adopted from Korea. Mitchell and the rest of the group traveled around the Southern peninsula of
Korea. “I got to see my Korean birth certificate,” said Mitchell. “It opened a lot of new doors in my imagination about trying to find my parents.”
Mitchell saved up money as a pizza delivery driver before returning to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. He then
moved to State College to work at Appalachian Outdoors. While working there, a friend told him about Penn State’s World in Conversation Project.
Today Mitchell is training Penn State students to facilitate the project, which puts students in small groups to talk about controversial topics like race and religion.
While he was studying at Juniata, Mitchell sang with the Concert Choir. He described his experiences in choir as “a great opportunity to travel and make music with people. Seeing other parts of the world helped foster my own curiosity about other cultures and other places.”
Mitchell also listed his participation in rugby as an influential Juniata experience.  “The opportunity to play rugby and to coach and run that team was an experience to learn about leadership.”
Mitchell values his Juniata education. “The opportunity to sit in small classes and share my perspective and have other people ask questions about that perspective allowed me to better understand how I was thinking and laid the groundwork for what I’m doing now,” he said.
His professors remember Mitchell with equal fondness. “He was an extraordinary student to have,” said
Thornbury Professor of Communication, Department Chair, Donna Weimer.
“Brenton is a spiritual and intellectual adventurer. He has this tremendous energy and interest and curiosity,” said Weimer.
“His contribution to concert choir was not only musical, it was social,” said Russell Shelley. “Brenton refused to get bogged down in the mundane. He was always outside the box, doing what we all wished we could do, but didn’t have the guts to do.”
As for Mitchell’s future, “I’m at a crossroads between a great opportunity here at Penn State to do work I believe in or to continue to travel and wander,” he said.  “We’ll see.”

This semester, students taking group communications class with Sarah Worley, assistant professor of communications, are working with local organizations to help raise awareness and gain experience in the communications field.  This is part of a semester-long group project for students taking Worley’s class.
“In my group communication class, which I teach once a year, during the spring semester, the primary component of that class is a service learning project,” said Worley.
Students in Worley’s class are divided into two groups.  Each group is assigned a non-profit organization, which they will spend the semester planning an event for.
“This semester our partners are the Huntingdon Community Center (CC) and the Huntingdon United Way,” said Worley.
Junior Corby Hess is part of the group working with United Way, which he describes as “an organization that provides funding to different agencies in Huntingdon County; for example, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the library and the nursing home.”
Worley said that students will be “working with each partner to do what needs assessment, to learn the needs of that particular
partner and propose a project that will best suit the needs of that partner in terms of matching their strengths as a group with the needs that they’ve identified in the partner.”
“By spring break we have chosen one project for each partner that the students then work on to completion,” said Worley.  At this time, both groups have decided on a project and are well into planning it.
“This year the group working with the CC is doing some survey/market research on behalf of the Center to collect data and info about the people they serve so that they can apply for grants, and get money for building a new building that the CC wants to build,” said Worley.
The group working for United Way is planning a talent show called “Huntingdon County’s Got Talent” to raise awareness of the organization.
“We really wanted to do something that brought the college and the community together,” said Hess.
The project is currently well under way.  “We’re in the middle of the project. We have our planning done and location set,” Hess said. “We’re working on
getting letters out to businesses about donations and prizes and stuff like that.”
The main purpose of this course is to provide the opportunity for students to gain work experience in the communications field. 
“More and more, it’s increasingly important that students get the opportunity to experience for real what it means to work in groups,” said Worley.
“I thought it was important that they had the experience working together in a group, trying to put these group communication theories into practice for real, that they do it in a way that has real consequence for those community partners.  I think that using
the service learning aspect gives that real consequence feeling, and also gives students something that they can put on their resume,” said Worley.
Like a real job, the students tend to take their projects very seriously.
“The students work very hard at these projects.  By this point in the semester, they’re so committed to their community partners, wanting to do something good for their community partners,” Worley said. “I’ve never had a group fail.”
Although the course is highly recommended for communication POEs, the course is helpful to students in any area of study. 
“We have a number of business students. I’ve had natural science, chemistry and biology students who’ve realized that in their lives, they’re going to be working in groups and teams in lab settings and have chosen that taking a group communication class would be valuable to their future,” said Worley.
Senior Natalie Roll decided to take the course to gain more experience.  The format of the class would allow her to gain
this experience working in a group setting. 
“I have had some bad experiences working in groups and I
thought that if I learned more about the small group communication dynamic I could really benefit from it,” Roll said. “I
also understand that recently jobs have been hiring employees in teams and many positions require employees to work together on projects.”
Worley enjoys working with the students and guiding
them through the process.  “I love watching the process and watching everything come together,” Worley said.
“I can see that they’re skeptical or nervous that everything won’t come together, so when
I have the opportunity to see the success that I know is coming, that’s very rewarding to see students celebrate the success,” said Worley.
Roll considers the class to be very helpful. “I have learned how to better organize and manage a group of individuals and myself,.” said Roll
“It is stressful at times to rely on a group of 10 members to stay in contact and each contribute the same amount of effort. It is, however, very fun to have a
team and a goal, something that we can work towards and get to know each other well in the process,” said Roll
Worley recommends that any student who is interested in taking the course should consider signing up for it.  The course can be helpful to students of all disciplines helping them to prepare for their future careers.

Off-campus housing is something students start to think about as they head into their junior and senior years at Juniata College. Living off-campus offers students a new perspective
on adulthood and it eases them through the transition from college life to the real world. The process of renting is nearly as simple as room draw and many students find that off-campus housing is the right choice for them.
For many students, finding a house in Huntingdon is easy, generally hearing about rentals by word of mouth. “We found our house through students that were previously living in the house. They mentioned how nice the house was
and that the location was great since it was so close to campus. After touring the house, we called RNW Rental Properties that the school rents houses through and set up an appointment to sign a lease,” said senior Kelsey Roman.
The steps to renting a house are quite simple as well. Roman said, “The process was not difficult at all. We met with the students that lived there to tour the house and ask questions. Then we called RNW Rental Properties to set up an appointment, to ask more questions, and to sign the lease.”
According to Roman, “We did have to negotiate the rent since we were going to have four people living in a three-person house. Rodney Wellar,
the owner of RNW, was very cooperative and generous when discussing all the rules and regulations that were included, and lowering the rent to make it
more affordable.”
Living off-campus offers students several advantages that allow them to better enjoy their experience. “You definitely feel as if you have more freedom, which you do. You can
choose to get a smaller meal plan, and it is refreshing to have a whole house instead of a small dorm room. In addition, I get to live in close proximity to most of my friends since my dad’s duplex fits a good number of girls,” said senior Jenny Wang.
“The pros of living off-campus include getting your own living space (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, etc.), having a nice yard and outdoor space, not having to deal with campus cable and internet, and getting to basically live on your own schedule compared to rules in the dorms,” said Roman.
“There is a little bit more privacy. It is a little bit quieter. It is your space and you can do with it what you want when you are off-campus,” said Assistant Dean of Students Dan Cook-Huffman, who leases one of his properties
to students.
However, off-campus housing may not be for everyone. There are many responsibilities involved. “You are responsible for more things, like taking out the trash and cleaning, etc. In addition, if you get in trouble, you are not on campus anymore, so you face Huntingdon police instead of Juniata College Public Safety,” said Wang.
“The cons to living off-campus are that you do not go on-campus as much other than for class. It is easy to miss out on different stuff on-campus if you do not check your email or have friends that live on-campus,” said Roman.
There are a number of faculty and staff members who lease houses to students, such
as Cook-Huffman.
“After we moved, our plan was to just sell the house we had in town, but we had some students come to us saying, ‘Hey would you rent us that house for next year.’ Since then, we have never advertised or put up flyers. It is just by word of mouth that students ask us if they can live in the Ivy House,” said Cook-Huffman.
“We allow anyone there [at the Ivy House] who has permission to live off-campus. We do not make any agreements until after room draw,” said Cook-Huffman.
Students who choose to live off-campus are expected to remain respectful of the community in which their house is located.
“Our lease is a lot like campus policy in a way, so there are no kegs and no illegal drugs. And I also make it really clear to students that it is a neighborhood and there are neighbors,” said
Cook-Huffman.
“I do not want to get a call from the neighbors saying that they [the students] are being loud and reckless or else they are out. But that has never happened. The students who have lived there have always been really great,” said
Cook-Huffman.
Students who choose to live off-campus are very respectful of their leasers. They take the responsibility of living in a house seriously and try to maintain it to the best of their ability.
“Overall the students who
live in the house are great. I do not know if it is because they know that I am the Assistant Dean of Students, so they keep their act together. But we have had very few problems at all,” said
Cook-Huffman.
The responsibilities involved in living off-campus in a house help prepare students for the transition from college to the adult world. “When you rent a
house there are some responsibilities, like you have to clear the sidewalks of ice and
snow in the winter time, you have to set the trash out, you have to do the recycling. The landlords expect people to do that. There is a lot of responsibility involved,” said Cook-Huffman.
Leasers, such as Cook-Huffman, offer advice that facilitates the transition from living on-campus to living off-campus.
“College itself is a
transitional period toward adulthood. Living off-campus, you have the addition of doing most of your own cooking and paying bills for utilities,” said Cook-Huffman.
According to Cook-Huffman, “There is a little more adult responsibility to live off-campus. That can create independence, maturity, and responsibility.”
Though there are many perks included in off-campus housing, it is not necessarily something that everyone is interested in. “I do think off-campus is not for everyone. Many people like the social interaction and being in close proximity
to everything that is going on,” said Cook-Huffman.
“Some students live off-campus for a year and then come back because maybe the walk was too rough in the winter time,”
said Cook-Huffman, “Living off-campus probably makes the most sense for people like seniors because they are transitioning out of college anyway.”
Overall, living off-campus is something students seem to enjoy. It continues to peek interest in rising juniors and
seniors. Leasers are quick to give advice for anyone looking to live off-campus in the future. According to Cook-Huffman,
“Choose your roommates wisely. Make sure they
are people who you get along with and who are sensible. Do you part to pitch in with household duties.”
“Be a good roommate and contribute to your fair
share of the work. Check out your landlord and make sure your lease is good and that you are being treated fairly. And finally, respect your neighbors. That is really important,” said Cook-Huffman.

Zach Strouse, a sophomore studying English literature and politics, has been chosen to receive the renowned Andrew Mutch Scholarship from the St. Andrew’s Society of Philadelphia. He became just the 21st Juniata student, in nearly 33 years of affiliation, selected to receive this award.
“I found out about the scholarship only like 3 or 4 days before the application deadline,” said Strouse. “Scotland had never been my first choice, but after researching more about it, it kind of sparked an interest, I guess, in Scottish literary culture and Gaelic language development; stuff like that. It was surprising to me how much I wanted to go there by the time I went for my interview. In a matter of like three weeks, I developed this insane rage to want to go to Scotland, which I had never expected before.”
St. Andrew’s Society of Philadelphia offers five scholarships to study abroad for a year in Scotland. Students will have an opportunity to study at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, in addition to St. Andrew’s.
18 colleges and universities participate in the scholarship program. Each institution nominates one student from their school to move on to compete in the final round of interviews.
“I applied last minute and my essay was pretty awful, but it turned out that myself and one other girl got accepted into the preliminary round for Juniata students,” said Strouse. “After writing an essay, Juniata faculty interviewed us based on what we wrote. They ended up choosing me to represent Juniata in the next round.”
After an intense screening and interview process at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Strouse anxiously waited for the results.
It took only three hours after the interview process for Strouse to receive the call.
“When I found out, I was still in my car on my way home,” said Strouse. “I like freaked out and didn’t know what to say for a second. I was actually the first applicant they called, so I was the top choice, I guess.
I had my choice of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow or St. Andrew’s. I picked Edinburgh because it’s the capital of Scotland and their cultural hub.”
While abroad, Strouse will take classes on Scottish literature and plans to research Gaelic language development.
“Gaelic is like Latin in a sense that no one really speaks it anymore,” said Strouse. “Scottish literary history is rich because they have their own language that the English kind of stole from them. Gaelic is basically the core of what you’re reading. Plus, Edinburgh has archives that are potentially hundreds of years old that you could never get in the United States, let alone Juniata.”
The University of Edinburgh is not only famous within Scotland and Europe, but its prestige is known worldwide.
Edinburgh was ranked the 20th best college or university in the world in 2011 by the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) university rankings, a ranking of the world’s top 700 universities.
“I studied at Napier University in the city of Edinburgh last semester,” said junior Hannah Breen. “I would have loved the opportunity to study at the University of Edinburgh because it’s such a prestigious school. The city and campus is truly breathtaking. I mean you walk by castles every single day with so much history connected to it. It’s really amazing. Plus, I heard their library has a book bound by human skin. That’s something you don’t see everyday.”
Prior to receiving his scholarship, Strouse had a similar plan as Breen’s, but instead wished to study in England.
“Before getting the scholarship, I had planned on studying abroad at the University of Leeds in England,” said Strouse. “Leeds is a really great school, but it’s a newer city in a sense that it was an industrial capital that they turned into a city with a college. So, It doesn’t have the culture, the art or the history that Edinburgh has. Also, the Scottish parliamentary building is in Edinburgh, so as a politics major it’s really exciting to walk two minutes and be in Scottish parliament.”
Although he is a political junkie, Scottish parliament is not the only site Strouse longs to visit.
“I’ve never left the country before and barely left Pennsylvania due to financial reasons, said Strouse. “So that’s the first thing I want to do is experience Europe and England. All I have to do is hop on a train and I’m three hours from London. It’s just so easy to access all of it because public transit is so efficient.”
Growing up in central Pennsylvania, Strouse is slightly worried about trading cornfields for castles, but his apprehensiveness is trumped by anticipation.
“I’m from Lock Haven, which is similar to Huntingdon because it’s a small college town,” said Strouse. “So, I think transitioning to a school that big will definitely be different. I’ll have to adapt to a university of eight different colleges, which is like
eight different campuses spread out throughout this massive city. I think living at a university where I don’t see the same person everyday; there will be more of a challenge to make friends and put myself out there everyday. I think even though I’ll be nervous, it’ll be an experience that I learn so much from.”