Plans for Greenly Center Unveiled

By: Gabby Vielhauer, Managing Editor

The Bloomsburg University Foundation, Inc. recently announced the construction of a new property called the Greenly Center, which will be located on Main Street in downtown Bloomsburg. It will house the offices of the BU Foundation.

With the donation of $1 million by alumni Duane ’72 and Susan Basar Greenly ’72, construction of this project was made possible and will begin in August 2013, pending on necessary approval. Completion is set at approximately July of 2014.

“Sue and I had the desire to help the foundation and move the university ahead,” said Greenly, who serves on the BU Foundation’s Board of Directors. “The site downtown is just great and we see the extra benefit of this building as a revitalization seed.”

“Board members often give their time, talent, and treasure back to Bloomsburg,” stated executive director of the BU Foundation Jerome Dvorak.  “We [the Foundation] try to match up specific individual desires of the donors with the needs of the community. Having been a local resident, attending Bloomsburg High School and then Bloomsburg University, it is easy to understand why Greenly would donate to this particular project.”

The estimated cost of construction is $6.5 million. The new building, which will replace the form Cole’s Hardware, will be a four-story office building and underground parking facility. In addition to the donation by the Greenly’s, leasing out office space will help offset the initial cost of the center. Additionally, naming particular facilities within the Greenly Center after donors will assist in financing the project.

“Negotiations are currently underway with individuals interested in leasing the property after construction is complete, ” says Dvorak. “We are currently talking with people everywhere from Pittsburg to the surrounding area about leasing, but it will be awhile until those leases are finalized.”

It is estimated that the Greenly Center will bring an additional 4,000 to 5,000 visitors into downtown Bloomsburg annually by attracting new businesses and revenue into town

Students will also benefit by the Greenly Center by providing work opportunities, according to Dvorak. It is estimated that there will be 25-35 job openings for students to work side-by-side with the other staff members at the Foundation.

“We hope that the center will be a catalyst for economic growth as well as help foster better relationships between the university and the community,” said Dvorak.

May 2, 2013

Show Me The Money

Summer renovations spruce up campus living

Fake IDs: Bad IDea?

Show Me The Money:

Student-led investigation into missing dues leads to faculty adviser's ouster

By: Joseph Fisher, Senior Editor

A longtime faculty member was removed as adviser to the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) after money turned over to her for student dues went missing.  

Dr. Maria Mendoza-Enright, associate professor of mass communications, was removed after a heated verbal confrontation with a PRSSA student board member last semester.

The board member, who requested anonymity, reached out to PRSSA’s national headquarters last semester to see if the organization had received the students’ dues. Officials at the headquarters informed him that no members from the Bloomsburg University chapter were registered.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” says the board member, who started digging through records in the Community Government Association (CGA) Husky Fund shortly after he was elected to a top office in PRSSA in fall 2012. The Husky Fund is an account used by on-campus organizations to keep track of revenue and expenditures.

The board member estimates around $700 was missing in total.

More than 10 students paid $65 in cash for their dues, $50 of which was to be turned over to nationals. The other $15 was to go to the Husky Fund, to be used by the local chapter. Several students confirmed that Mendoza insisted they give her cash rather than a check. 

Dr. Mendoza, rather than the student treasurer of the organization, took charge of collecting the funds that were given to her at the beginning of last semester.

But according to an email from PRSSA headquarters, those funds were never received. The student board member then approached Dr. Mendoza in her on-campus office, where he said she immediately became defensive and insisted she had made the credit card payment.

“Her finger was in my face and she was yelling ‘How dare you accuse me,’” said the board member. “She made herself seem like the victim.”

After Mendoza told the student she had already sent in the dues in one lump sum payment on her credit card, he said he responded, “You’re a liar. Stop lying.”

Within hours of that 40-minute screaming match, the board member received a phone call from the secretary in the department of mass communications, who told him the chair wanted to meet with him. Dr. George Agbango was appointed interim chair of the mass communications department in spring 2011. Mendoza, who had been chair, was removed by the president.

The board member met the next day with Dr. Agbango, a longtime personal friend of Dr. Mendoza. The board member said Agbango praised him for his leadership and said the department would be handling the situation. Agbango also asked the student to name a new adviser. He chose Dr. David Magolis, assistant professor of mass communications, who is the current interim adviser of PRSSA.

“She wanted to give the money to [the board member] all along,” said Dr. Agbango in an interview last week. “It was an example of poor communication between him and Dr. Mendoza.”

When asked the reason for her ouster, Agbango said, “Dr. Mendoza was overextended,” and did not elaborate.  

The board member informed Sydney Yarnell, PRSSA treasurer, and LaShae Green, another PRSSA board member about the situation. He said all three were committed to the effort of recovering the funds.

The student board member said that shortly after the Agbango meeting, Dr. Mendoza wrote a personal check and gave it to one of the other board members. She wrote the check despite her original insistence that she had already paid the dues in one lump sum on her credit card

Neither the students, nor Mendoza, revealed the exact amount of the check.

Yarnell said she never questioned any issues regarding the dues until the board member discovered missing funds.

“I never looked at the statements before this year … but obviously none of the money made it into the account.”   

Green said she was under the impression that the university was investigating the entire matter. The board member leading the investigation said he went to Nawal Bonomo, assistant to the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, immediately following his confrontation with Mendoza in the fall 2012 to apprise her of the matter.

The board member said he assumed after that meeting the university would investigate.

But Dr. James Brown, dean of the College of Liberal Arts was interviewed last week and denied knowing anything about a new adviser, missing funds or any problems connected to PRSSA.

“This is the first I am hearing about it,” said Dr. Brown. “… But it sounds as if the chairperson tried to fix the problem within the department, which is what I would expect.”

Several officials connected with this story discouraged a student reporter from looking into the issue.

Interviewed last week, Mendoza declined to discuss the handling of the money or her replacement as adviser except to say, “The money was put in … this issue has been resolved.”

Dr. Agbango insisted there was no controversy because of the check Mendoza turned over to PRSSA.

“That was the resolution,” said Agbango.

The student leading the investigation said the matter was a lesson in accountability.

“I care about things being fair and just,” said the student, “and there is no place for something like this [behavior].” 

Summer renovations spruce up campus living

By: Brianna Albertini, News Editor

The semester may be coming to an end, but it is only the beginning for the renovations taking place throughout four of the university’s residence halls as well as an upper campus apartment complex. 

According to Edwin Valovage, assistant director of residence life, Elwell Hall is already in the process of completing its three-year renovation project with the ending point at the west wing.  The west wing, upon conclusion of the renovation, will have movable furniture in the rooms, new paint and flooring, and improved lighting.  Elwell is the last residence hall to receive movable furniture. 

Valovage says that the ground floor, where the residence life office was once located, will be turned into student rooms and the basement, where the child care center was located before moving to Montour Hall, will consist of six suites. 

“There will be double occupancy bedrooms and each of the two bedrooms will have a bathroom in between,” said Valovage.

Four people will share a bathroom and 24 students will occupy the six suites.  The suites will cost more than a traditional dorm room, but less than the upper campus apartments.

Overall, Elwell’s renovation will cost under $2,000,000. 

Starting May 20, the renovations to Luzerne and Columbia Halls as well as the upper campus Montgomery Apartments will begin.

Valovage says that the contractors will completely demo and rebuild all nine bathrooms in Luzerne Hall from the first to fourth floors.   This will include new bathroom fixtures, showers, and improved lighting.  The new bathrooms will also have facilities that follow the American Disabilities Act. 

“The new bathrooms will be similar to the renovations we made in Montour Hall a few years ago and Northumberland Hall,” said Valovage.  “There will be ceramic tiles on the walls, ceramic tile floors, automatic flushers on the toilets, and automatic faucets on the sinks.”

This project will cost around $1,000,000.

The mechanical room in Columbia Hall will be redone to improve the  hot water system throughout the building with new equipment.

“It’s really invisible to students, but it’s a chunk of change for the university,” said Valovage. 

The cost to renovate the mechanical room will be just under $400,000.

The Montgomery apartments will experience bathroom renovations this summer along with Luzerne Hall.  According to Valovage, the contractors will remove the bathtubs and build walk-in showers instead.  They are adding water-saving toilets, a stronger ventilation system, and new paint.  The new bathrooms will cost a little over $1,000,000.

New carpeting will be an addition to Northumberland Hall this summer on the first and second floors.   This project will begin sometime in June and will cost from $35,000-40,000.

As for the future, the university plans to renovate other parts of Columbia Hall next summer, says Valovage. 

There are around ten firms working on these projects and all renovations are said to be complete by the beginning of the fall 2013 semester.

Fake IDs: Bad IDea?

By: Vanessa Pellechio, Editor-in-Chief

Bouncer Vinnie Costa has seen over 100 fake IDs in two years working at the Capitol.

“I sometimes get handed these horrendous IDs and as soon I look at it, I just think to myself, ‘Really? You actually spent money on this?’” said Costa.

At the Capitol, people with fake IDs are told to get out of line and their IDs are confiscated, according to Costa.

The first thing he looks at on an ID is the picture and to see if the person on the ID matches the one standing in front of him.

Costa said there are three major differences between a fake ID and a real ID. The bouncer looks at the picture, font and holograms.

“And there are 50 states with 50 different IDs,” said Costa, “That’s a lot to look for!”

Costa has confiscated five fake IDs in one night, but he said it was awhile ago. The bouncer believes that the underage students who have attempted before know he can pick out fake IDs.

Costa said he isn’t sure where students get fake IDs, but he thinks people get them from other students.

A junior public relations major found her ID at a Lil Wayne concert in her senior year of high school.

“I didn’t start using it until my sophomore year of college,” said the 20-year-old.

This junior has gotten into Hardware, Capitol, Good Old Days and Hess’s Tavern.  She got denied once at the Capitol, but the bouncers gave her the ID back so she left.

One of her friends bought a fake from ID Chief instead of getting an actual ID that looked alike. The ID Chief scanned and said her friend was a 65-year-old woman, she shared.

“The best part of having my ID is being able to go to the bar with my friends,” the BU junior continued. “I'm ahead of myself grade wise so my birthday is late.”

Her advice for other students using fake IDs is to remain confident with the information when the bouncer looks at the ID because then they’ll refrain from asking questions.

Another BU senior used a fake ID until she turned 21. The senior got the ID from her cousin, but then used a friend’s ID when her cousin’s ID expired.

“Most of my friends turned 21 before I did so having a fake ID gave me the opportunity to attend all of their 21st birthdays and go to the bar with them after they turned 21,” said the senior. 

The senior used her ID to get into the Hardware Bar and Harry’s before Hardware opened.  She even had her ID confiscated at Hardware.

“I've heard of people getting their fake ID taken at Good Old Days a lot,” the senior continued.

A friend in her hometown got arrested for using a fake ID at the bar.

According to pa-duiattorney.com, students with fake IDs could result in paying a $300 fine for the first offense. The website also says there are $500 fines, up to 90 days in jail and loss of driving privileges for 90 days for first offense.

 “I lucked out and never got in trouble with either of my fake IDs, but if things go wrong it could be very bad for the bar and the person using the ID,” the senior said. “Just like with anything else, be responsible.”