Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Widener Law Harrisburg’s annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 19 in The Pit. Pizza and bever-ages will be provided. All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.

This year’s guest speaker will be Todd Mealy, who was born in Harrisburg and now teaches history at Penn Manor High School in Millersville. Mealy is the au-thor of two books. His first, Biography of an Antislavery City (2007), ex-plains the role Harrisburg played in the antislavery movement and argues the point that it was just as important during the early 19th century anti-slavery movement as cities like New York and Philadelphia. His second is Aliened American: A Biography of William Howard Day (2011). The life of Day is told in two volumes. Mealy has also taught a course on the Under-

ground Railroad at Dickinson College and written on Black History Month for the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Mealy’s talk is "Commencing the Dream: The Genesis Generation." It will focus on Day, who was born free in New York City, graduated from Oberlin College, was involved in the Underground Railroad, worked as Inspector General for the Freedmen's Bureau in Maryland and Dela-ware and lived the last thirty years of his life in Harrisburg. While in Harrisburg, he served on the city's school board sixteen years and was the first African American school board president in the country. Day was serving on the school board when Harrisburg's schools inte-grated. While in Harrisburg, Day also was involved in the Equal Rights League movement (predecessor of the NAACP) and registering African American voters for the Republican Party.

In addition to Mr. Mealy’s talk, we will be showing a photo essay by Dean Sealing of the new (dedicated summer 2011) Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C.

THE DIGEST WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS

law.widener.edu

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19 JANUARY 17, 2012

THE DIGEST

TODD MEALY

WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS Page 2

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 16 Martin Luther King Day (no classes) 19 MLK Program 26 No Thursday Classes/Friday Class Schedule

Followed February

7 United Way Mobile Tax Van 9 United Way Mobile Tax Van 9 Davor Photography/Graduation Photos 13 United Way Mobile Tax Van 14 In-Service Day (no classes) 15 United Way Mobile Tax Van 17 Law Journal Symposium

March 5-9 Spring Break 14 Jurist in Residence 24 Barrister’s Ball 26 Gedid Lecture Series

Inside this issue: Martin Luther King Program 1

Inclement Weather Information 3

January W.O.W.I.E. 4

Alumni Spotlight 5

Widener Summer Abroad Info 8

Help Wanted 9

Key Campus Contacts 11

“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.

Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mas-tered by it.

Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency ask the question, is it politic?

Vanity asks the question, is it popular?

But conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic,

nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”

~Martin Luther King , Jr.

INCLEMENT WEATHER INFORMATION

Widener University students, faculty, and staff should look to internal Widener University communications channels for information on snow closings and delayed openings instead of television and radio. The options on those stations are too limited and permit no cus-tomization.

Therefore, with the exception of news about the Exton Campus, Widener University will no longer rely on television and radio stations to carry inclement weather announcements. We will continue to announce closings of the Exton Campus on television and radio.

Inclement weather announcements will be posted on these in internal communications channels:

www.widener.edu

www.law.widener.edu

CampusCruiser Widener University Alerts

Widener University Information Line at 610-499-4000, item 3.

e2campus text alerts and emails

Widener University’s email system

Widener University Facebook page

If you have not already done so, please sign up for e2campus emergency notifications. You will receive text messages on your cell phone as well as an email message. Sign up for e2campus no-tifications in the announcements section of Campus Cruiser.

You can also join the Widener University Facebook page at facebook.com/wideneruniversity.

Closings of the Delaware and Harrisburg Campuses will be announced by staff on those cam-puses.

WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS Page 3

JANUARY’S FUTURE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT & WOWIE

January’s “Winner of Widener Indispensible Essentials” (WOWIE) and future alumni spotlight is Alex Kadochnikov. Alex’s hometown is Taganrog, Russia. He noted that during the cold war, this town was near a base of the Long Range Aviation. This was a branch of the Soviet Air Force tasked with long range pa-trol or bombardment of strategic targets with nuclear weapons. Most recently, though, Alex has taken up residence in Brooklyn, NY.

This month’s WOWIE earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from John Jay College in New York City. While in college, he also practiced Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

After completing his undergraduate coursework, Alex was drawn to Widener Law due to its location being relatively close to home. He plans to return to NYC, in fact, after graduating in December 2012. When he returns to the Big Apple, he hopes to practice immigration, real estate, or trusts and estates.

When we asked this seasoned student if he had any advice for 1L’s, his reply was, “Hornbooks, E&E's and Academic Support fellows - use them.”

The WOWIE award is given to a current student who is selected at random on a monthly basis. Each win-ning future alumnus/a will receive a gift from the Office of Alumni Relations and Development.

WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS Page 4

AALUMNILUMNI S SPOTLIGHTPOTLIGHT::  

SSTEPHANIETEPHANIE N NYCUMYCUM D DOLIVEIRAOLIVEIRA, J.D. ‘96, J.D. ‘96  Life before Widener I was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and attended Westmont Hilltop High School.  After high school, I attended Penn State University and re‐ceived a Bachelor’s degree in Labor and Industrial Relations in May 1993.   

Widener‐Harrisburg was one of three law schools to which I ap‐plied.  I liked Widener‐Harrisburg because it was located in the state capitol, and it was less than 3 hours from home.  My best friend (Julie Jakubowski Coyle, ’96) from high school was also planning to attend Widener!   

I was inspired to go to law school by a college professor.  While in college, I took courses in Labor law and Employment Discrimination 

law.  I loved both classes, and a professor suggested that I consider becoming an employment attorney.  It was late in the game – I was a second semester Junior and decided to apply to law school.   

In addition, my dream has always been to lead a large HR department, and I was convinced that a law degree, and experience with employment law, would give me an edge as I was pur‐suing my dream.   

CAREER Sheetz, Inc. is a family‐owned and operated 

chain of more than 400 convenience stores.  Based in Al‐toona, PA, the company operates stores in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and North Caro‐lina.  More than 14,000 retail, distribution, manufacturing, transportation and corporate em‐ployees help to make Sheetz one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America.  Sheetz was recently ranked #58 on the Forbes list of largest privately held companies.  In addi‐tion, Sheetz has been named as one of the Best Places to Work in Ohio, Virginia, North Caro‐lina and Pennsylvania (10 years consecutively).   

In my current role, I am responsible for setting the strategic direction for all aspects of Human Resources for Sheetz.   This includes the entire life‐cycle of an employee:  talent management (including recruitment, training and development), employee relations, compensation and benefits, and employee engagement.   

 

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19 Page 5

Current Position 

Vice President of Human Resources 

Sheetz, Inc., Altoona, Pennsylvania 

I spend a lot of time visiting Sheetz stores to meet and talk with our employees.  Staying con‐nected to our employees is critical to our success as a company.  The best ideas for process im‐provements and new products come from the thousands of employees who work in our stores.   

The most challenging aspect of my job is to consistently provide solid strategic planning for our organization’s rapid growth.  Each year, we build 25 to 30 new stores.  Attracting the right tal‐ent for each store, ensuring every person gets the proper training and development and ensur‐ing we have the right management team at each store is a challenge.  In addition, we are com‐mitted to providing a great place to work for every employee.  This requires strong employee relations competencies and a great HR team to ensure every employee is treated fairly and consistently.  It’s important to us as a company that we are providing our employees with a great environment in which to work!   

In order to stay current on employment legislation, as well as best practices in HR, I belong to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  In addition, I participate in executive roundtable sessions with other HR executives to uncover best practices. 

Other jobs that I’ve held at Sheetz:   

HR Manager at CLI Transport, the dedicated petroleum carrier for Sheetz, Inc.  (2 years)  

Manager of Employee Communications (6 years) 

Co‐leader of the Brand Development Department (1 year) – which included oversight of all Public Relations and Consumer Research 

Prior to joining Sheetz, I practiced labor and employment law with the firm Andrews, Wagner & Beard in Altoona, PA.  This firm represented employers in all types of labor and employment matters.  My primary areas of focus were employment discrimination litigation, labor relations, and general em‐ployer advice on employment practices (e.g. Civil Rights Act of 1964, FMLA, ADA, Workers’ Compen‐sation, etc…) 

Reflections on Widener & Advice I believe that law school was a great foundation for my career as an HR executive.  Skills learned and developed in law school, pri‐marily analytical, communication, and advocacy skills, are very ap‐plicable in the business arena.  Leaders in organizations need to be able to thoroughly analyze situations in order to solve problems.  Strong verbal and written communication skills, which are honed in law school, are a must in almost any professional setting.  As the person responsible for representing the voice of our employees, 

advocacy skills are always beneficial when presenting new ideas or concerns to our executive committee.    

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19 Page 6

 

In addition, while in law school, I held a part time job at the PA Department of Revenue.  While it may have been a  less‐than‐glamorous  job,  it helped me  to  learn  to develop a work‐life‐school balance.  Learning to balance it all, especially if you land a job in a large law firm or a large corpo‐ration will be critical.  It’s not easy to be a new lawyer – you work a lot of hours, doing work that may seem mundane or not exciting, and you don’t necessarily get paid a huge salary.   Many of you will then go on to have a spouse and children.  Mastering the art of work‐life balance will be a critical point to life‐long happiness and success! 

 

Practicing law outside of a traditional law firm can be extremely rewarding.  If you are part of an organization (e.g. in‐house counsel), you have the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of types of law.  My advice to students who think that they may want to practice in a non‐traditional set‐ting is to seek out alumni or other contacts that are currently in that role.  They will be able to describe the pros and cons of working in that particular setting.  In addition, I would recommend that students look for internship experiences in non‐traditional settings – this will give you the real life experience to see if you actually like it! 

 

Additional advice I think that finding what you are passionate about is the key 

to happiness in a job or career.  People who find jobs that match their personal passion tend to be happier with their career.  If you don’t already know the answer to “what do you really care about,” I suggest you figure it out soon.  Once you know what ignites the fire in your belly, you can begin to find firms, companies or organizations that match it, and can benefit from your skills and passion! 

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19 Page 7

HARRISBURG LAW NEWS

Submission information:

The NEXT issue of The Digest will be pub-lished on January 23 2012.

All information should be submitted to Doro-thy Koncar.

(dakoncar@widener.edu), Administration Building by NOON, Wednesday, January 18, 2012, in order for the news to be pub-

 

WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS Page 8

 

 

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19

EVENING COFFEE PERSON

START: ASAP

SALARY: $8.00

QUALIFICATIONS: Willing to work in the evening.

EMPLOYER: DEAN’S OFFICE

CONTACT: PAULA HEIDER: X3902/pmheider@widener.edu

DESCRIPTION: Must be able to work in the evening (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) to pro-vide coffee for students during the evening hours in the Pit.

Page 9

WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ~ HARRISBURG CAMPUS Page 10

VOLUME 2011/2012 ISSUE 19 Page 11

DEAN’S OFFICES

Linda L. Ammons 541-3902

Associate Provost & Dean

Robyn Meadows 541-3902

Vice Dean

Paula Heider 541-3902

Assistant to Vice Dean

Benjamin Barros 541-1935

Assoc. Dean, Fac. Research & Dev.

Keith Sealing 541-3952

Dean of Students

Dorothy Koncar 541-3952

Secretary

ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAM

Ann Fruth 541-3978

Director

ADMISSIONS OFFICE

Eric Kniskern 541-3903

Director

Kyle Schaeffer 541-3903

Counselor

BAR PROGRAMS

Natalie Einsig 541-3971

Administrator

BOOKSTORE

Joan Zurcher 541-3909

Manager

BURSAR’S OFFICE

Sharon Murphy 541-3905

Coordinator

541-3905

Cashier

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Karen Durkin 541-3958

Director

Einsig, Natalie 541-3971

Counselor

Kelly Arnold 541-3958

Secretary

CIVIL LAW CLINIC

Palmer Lockard 541-0320

Director

Monica Cliatt 541-0320

Staff Attorney

Mary Catherine Scott 541-0320

Staff Attorney

DEVELOPMENT/ALUMNI RELATIONS

Ashley Barton 541-3974

Associate Director

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC

Kenneth Kristl 302-477-2182

Director

Claire Gargiula 541-1994

Staff Attorney

EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Karen Durkin 541-3958

Director

FACULTY SECRETARIES

Jessica Schuller 541-3949

Coordinator

Mary Lou Morin 541-3947

Secretary/Notary

FINANCIAL AID

Kara Wealand 541-3961

Assistant Director

Melissa Hoch 541-3961

Secretary

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVUCES

Philip Ayala 541-3908

PC Support

ITS Reception 541-1979

Computer Lab/Help Desk

541-1927

LEGAL INFORMATION CENTER

Patricia Fox 541-3935

Associate Director

Information Desk 541-3933

REGISTRAR’S OFFICE

Molly Acri 541-3904

Assistant Registrar

Betty Ann Mortenson 541-3904

Office Coordinator

Tonya Collins 541-1956

Secretary/Room Reservations

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Moot Court Honor Society

541-3969

Student Bar Association

541-3936

Trial Advocacy Honor Society

541-1989

Widener Law Journal

541-3972

KEY CAMPUS CONTACTS

ARA/Sidebar Café 541-3967

Brenda Rebuck

Campus Safety 541-3948

Sgt. Les Jumper 773-6810

Robert Still 903-0263

Maintenance 541-3907

Robert Dolbin

Mailroom 541-1960

Dennis Carrigan

Media Services/Duplicating

Brian Fearnbaugh 541-3963

FAX NUMBERS

Administration, Admissions, Dev./Alumni, & Financial Aid

541-3999

Bursar 541-1965

Career Development 541-3990

Financial Aid 541-1964

Registrar 541-1923

CAMPUS PHONE NUMBERS

Sidebar Café January 16-20, 2012

Monday Kettle Classic

Montaque’s Deli CLOSED

Café Feature

Itza Pizza

Tuesday Kettle Classic French Onion Soup

Montaque’s Deli Grilled Chicken & Salami Sub

Café Feature Egg & Sausage Bagel

Itza Pizza Meat Lovers Pizza by the Slice

Wednesday Kettle Classic Bacon & Potato Soup

Montaque’s Deli Cranberry Turkey Wrap

Café Feature Egg & Veggie Burger Wrap

Itza Pizza Ham & Pineapple Pizza by the Slice

Thursday Kettle Classic Crab Soup

Montaque’s Deli Cheese Steak Sandwich

Café Feature Egg, Bacon & Cheese Wrap

Itza Pizza Zucchini Pizza by the Slice

Friday Kettle Classic New England Clam Chowder

Montaque’s Deli Dill Tuna Sandwich

Café Feature Egg & Ham English Muffin

Itza Pizza Cheese Pizza by the Slice

Breakfast from 10:00 a.m.—11:00 a.m. Lunch from 11:00 a.m.—2:30 p.m.