In This Issue...
"Americorps" by Anne-Marie Turnage
"A Pennsylvania Winter" by Zach Fishel
"Book Review: Breaking the Backcountry" by Bob Myers
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Volume 2, Issue 4 (December 2008) "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (1949)
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The
Hemlock
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Happy Holidays!
Americorps
Since 1999, LHUP students have had the opportunity to serve as an Americorps volunteer through the MountainServe Center for Global Citizenship. Those students earn an Education Award and gain leadership skills through engagement in service. Student Americorps members have tutored and mentored thousands of local youth, built and restored miles of hiking trails, cleaned up tons of debris from roadways and streams, built houses with Habitat for Humanity, responded to Hurricane Ivan and Katrina, built playgrounds and much, much more. Beginning in 2007-08, MountainServe launched its Engaged Department Initiative. Individual academic departments can now apply to MountainServe for a Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania/ Americorps position(s) for the academic year. The purpose of this program is to deepen university/community partnerships through the strengths and talents of individual academic disciplines and multi- disciplinary departments. Faculty are asked to work collaboratively within their department to design a plan of action for their Americorps Service Scholar. MountainServe is responsible for coordinating the training of those members and all monitoring that is required of the Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania/Americorps program. Departments that currently participate in the Engaged Department Initiative include the Honors program, Health Sciences, Biology, Elementary Education, Academic Development and Counseling, and Recreation. These Americorps members are facilitating service- learning placements for students in their major and department, working closely with public officials to coordinate local events and festivals, tutoring Upward Bound students, tutoring Math at local elementary schools, creating and maintaining a database of human, health and social service opportunities for Clinton County, and assisting nonprofit community- based health organizations meet their needs and serve their socioeconomically disadvantaged population. The possibilities are endless. A request for proposals is circulated in March for the 2009-10 academic year. Please consider applying. You may contact Anne-Marie Turnage with any questions that you may have at x2498 or Aturnage@lhup.edu.
Green Energy Fair
A Pennsylvania Winter
Remembering home is like a treasured memory you only come across on those cold nights where frost accumulating is the only sound. You feel the warmth of a fire place filled with pine logs and the dizzying sap leaves you with a buzz. The comfort of a mug full of peppermint hot chocolate melts into the burning wax of bayberry candles and hours spent lost in reflection. Waking up in the morning and grabbing a few cookies that were made the night before makes work seem a little better. Christmas lights recall many memories for me. I will never forget when we used to decorate the house; it was a contest every year. It’s always great to watch the little halos shine against the white backdrops of the hills, driving through town and seeing each light like the Star of Bethlehem. Live nativities are strung about the front lawns of every church, and carolers harmonize melodies rehearsed over in the chapel, by the choir who will replay the birth of the Great Counselor. The greatest part of a winter in Pennsylvania isn’t plowing the driveway eight times a day, or trying to be the first in line on black Friday. It comes from the memories of years we can hardly keep track of anymore. It sneaks up on you, just like the black ice and white outs across the mountains. It’s slow, like the decorating of a tree or the hours dad worked to get the newest video game system. You come back because this is everything you know. Sometimes we look back the years and see the winter as a closure to the things that happened. The bills we couldn’t pay, or the friends we had to lose. Traditions are what we have to hold onto, when things fall apart they are dependable. Times change and we as we get older, we can go back to what we used to know. Even in all of this, we always come back, to where we have our roots dug into the frosted soil. --Carroll Rhodes (Director of LHUP's Upward Bound)
In the 200_ years Aim for the wallet
Polar ice caps The tears of global thermal heartache A four dollar gallon of gas Gets a response like no other
Limit the digital dollars at the pump Offer shoppers similar smaller purchase options Could be the end for Sam(‘s club) and friends
Maybe a secret, powerful economist Is behind it all Combine war, environmental crisis and consumerism Flavor with predatory petroleum gluttony
And finally producers light with LED’s Packing peanuts of cornstarch will melt in the rain Choose from 20 hybrid or biofuel gulpers
We don’t really change our behavior Consumerism, apparently Has a tobacco addiction-like grip
Hike of the Month: Staying on Campus This short hike involves absolutely no driving whatsoever, and provides some good views of our campus. The total distance is 1.69 miles, and since there are some moderate climbs, it takes approximately 40 minutes to cover it. The hike begins in front of Akeley. Head towards Zimmerli, following the fence of the lacrosse/field hockey field. Go up the stairs to the left of Zimmerli; when you reach the parking lot at the top turn left and climb the stairs into the woods.
The first part of the hike follows the ridge north of the lacrosse/field hockey, softball, and football fields. Almost immediately, you'll see a tribute to Cale Schaffer, a Recreation major who graduated in 1996 and died in 2000 in a tragic helicopter crash while on a search-and-rescue mission in Denali, Alaska. As the trail gradually ascends up the hill, you'll pass the Challenge Course that is used by the Recreation Management Department (stay off the equipment). Keep following the trail until you reach stairs that descend to the football stadium. Follow the fence of the stadium and go to the right of the Tomlinson Center. Directly behind this building is a trail that cuts through the woods to the left (it's just behind a small mulch pile).
Enjoy the view (best at this time of year) as you follow the trail along the ridge. When you reach the end of the ridge, you'll begin descending to the left. Note the excellent view of Highland Cemetery, and above it the power line on Bald Eagle Mountain (November's Hike of the Month). Keep descending towards the green water tower, following the trail to the left of the tower. As you go down the trail, to your left you can see the green lacrosse/field hockey field, and the red roof of Thomas Field House. When you reach a fairly well-established trail, go right towards McEntire Hall; if you follow the steps down the hill to the left, you'll end up back where you started.
It seems to me that this trail could be turned into a nature/culture trail for the campus without much expense. A few blazes and well-placed plaques that discussed the natural and cultural history of the area would make this hike an excellent introduction to the campus. Also, it would be great if a student group would "adopt" this trail--there is a good bit of litter, especially as you get close to McEntire Hall.
All previous Hikes of the Month can be found at Hemlock Hikes.
Book Review: Matthew C. Ward's
Breaking the
Backcountry: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and
Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 (Pittsburgh: Univ. of
Pittsburgh Press, 2003).
In 1753-54 the French built several forts in the Ohio Valley, including Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and Fort Presque Isle (Erie). In response, the British sent 21-year-old Major George Washington to encourage the French to abandon the forts. The French refused, and fighting broke out, which lasted until the war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Native Americans, alarmed by European territorial expansion, fought for both sides. The focus of Ward's book is the Native American raids that were conducted against European settlements in Pennsylvania and Virginia after the 1755 defeat of Braddock's expedition against Fort Duquesne. The withdrawal of the British army left the frontier undefended, and to increase discontent about the war, the French encouraged the Shawnee and Delawares to attack the settlements. Ward argues that the success of these raids ultimately led to a breakdown of backcountry society. I was interested by Ward's description of the early settlers of the Pennsylvania backcountry, which in the mid-18th century meant just about anything west of Philadelphia. Evidence suggests that the settlers had an intense individualism and a strong desire for economic self-improvement. Backcountry society was fragmented by religious and ethnic differences; indeed, Ward argues that "the only real place where community ties within the backcountry were developed, where neighbors of different ethnic and religious backgrounds could be found together, were the taverns that dotted the region with amazing frequency" (15). The area around Lock Haven is mentioned: in 1755 the Susquehanna Delawares called Andrew Montour to Great Island to warn him that they were preparing for war against the British. Although Breaking the Backcountry is a serious historical study, it is accessible to the non-expert. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the rich past of Pennsylvania. Environmental
Focus Group
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Launched in 1994 under
President Bill Clinton, Americorps is a national service
program that allows U. S. citizens to make an intensive
commitment to national service. In exchange for an
educational award, 
On
Sunday, December 7th, State Representative Mike Hanna and
State Senator John Wozniak will be presenting the Green
Energy Fair at the Central Mountain Middle School Gymnasium.
The fair is free and open to the public, and will feature
over 20 exhibitors as well as brief seminars on different
types of alternative and renewable energy resources.
You can obtain information on the state's energy programs,
register for free product giveaways, and learn how to save
on your utility bills. For more information contact
Julie Brennan at 748-1383 or at
Usually when
the realization that it's December hits people, they dread
that another year is about to start and they just haven't
gotten enough done. The holiday season looms over blue
collar mountaintops, as families see the “hottest toy of the
year” and wonder if they can squeeze enough sweat from their
brows to afford it. Children are just ready to get out on
break, and begin the seriousness of writing to Santa. Not to
mention sledding with the neighborhood kids or trying to
place flankers on the outskirts of woods for the great
snowball fights that happen every year. But there is
something deeper to a Pennsylvania winter. You can feel it
moving in your lungs, as you exhale curls of heated breath
into the morning. As the first snowflakes begin to skate
across the horizon, like young couples at Rockefeller Plaza,
you remember why you come back to these mountains every
year.
To affect
change 
The next section of the
hike circles around the large hill on the south side
of the playing fields. Follow the
trail as it ascends the hill. After a few minutes,
you'll pass a trail
that heads downhill to the football field--stay on the
trail you've been following until you reach its
intersection with a trail that goes both right and left. Go right on the trail and
follow it as it curves around the hill. After a
short time, you'll see the chimney of an old foundation to your left, and the
ramps of an unofficial bicycle motocross course to the right.
Go to the left, on the trail that runs behind the
chimney. The trail then climbs to the top of the
hill (940 feet above sea level, about 350 feet higher
than the start of the hike). To your right, in the
valley below, is Glenn Road.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, it's hard to ignore the many
levels of American history that are represented here.
Few Pennsylvania school children have escaped being
dragged by their parents to visit to the Liberty Bell
and Valley Forge, and most of us have made the
obligatory fifth-grade class trip to Gettysburg (who can
forget scrambling among the rocks of "Devil's Den" or
the thrill of seeing "The Electric Map"). These
childhood experiences hooked me on Pennsylvania's Civil
War history, but until recently, I've ignored the
earlier conflicts that took place in the state. To
correct that blind spot, I recently read Matthew Ward's
Breaking the Backcountry, which deals with what
occurred in Pennsylvania during what is variously termed
"The French and Indian War," "The North American Theatre
of the Seven Years' War," or, if you're Canadian, "The
War of the Conquest."