Penn State College of Communications comMedia

Living life to the fullest

By Erin Prah

PSU College of Communications

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (April 15, 2008) -- When the Penn State campus needs snow to be shoveled from the sidewalks or electricity to be restored to dormitories, the man in the public eye is Paul D. Ruskin - Penn State's Office of Physical Plant Communications Coordinator.

Though he has a desk in the Office of Physical Plant building on Park Avenue, he doesn't sit behind it often. In fact, he said he doesn't think of his position as a desk job at all because he never knows exactly what will happen. In recent weeks he has handled tasks ranging from spring flower gardening to a contaminated campus water supply.

But his life at Penn State life is relatively calm compared to his activities off the clock. He counts his hobbies on two hands. They include skiing, snorkeling, spelunking, kayaking, mountain climbing and marksmanship, to name a few.

But his hobbies aren't nearly as exciting as the adventures he has experienced in cities across the world before becoming OPP coordinator. His graduate work in radio and TV led him to a job with the American Forces Radio and TV. He worked 13 months in Alaska, one year in Texas and two years in Madrid.

While in Madrid, he was cast for a minor role in the movie "The Wind and the Lion" starring Sean Connery. He portrayed a young reporter interviewing the indomitable President Teddy Roosevelt as he sat among trees in Yellowstone National Park (actually Madrid). Ruskin said a troupe of motorcyclists had to be corralled from the hills before they could begin filming.

Ruskin said he didn't want to be an actor; his original intent was to be behind the camera. His skills in videography led him to an assignment in Pakistan. He accepted a job from the Agency for International Development to do "good things" at the time when Sen. Charlie Wilson's War was doing "bad things" over the border in Afghanistan.

The rumor on campus, Ruskin said, is that he is the one who taught Osama bin Laden's people how to make the videos now seen on evening news broadcasts. He's not sure if that's true, but Ruskin said he recognizes techniques in bin Laden's videos that he taught the Pakistanis.

Ruskin is a fixture at Penn State. When he's not answering phones at his desk he is a guest lecturer for a few classes on campus. Ruskin rolls into class on a Segway, a self-balancing personal transportation device that runs on a rechargeable battery.

As an advocate for the environment, Ruskin uses the vehicle to demonstrate electric energy at work. Should he run out of juice to get him back to the OPP building, he can plug the Segway into the closest wall outlet for an extra boost.

He also rides a bike to and from work almost every day and said he may have recorded the most miles biked to and from the Penn State campus. Biking 6 miles a day he has racked up 18,000 miles since 1976.

But there are plenty of skills left to conquer, Ruskin said. He said he hopes to someday learn how to snowboard and maybe even box. He already has some of the boxing equipment - the Everlast gloves he wears when he rides the Segway.

By helping to create a College of Agriculture time capsule, Ruskin is helping the university prepare for the future. He speculates that the time capsule will be opened about the same time Penn State launches an orbiting campus in space. He has placed resumes and two $100 checks building compound interest until 2087, when the capsule will be opened, and said he would donate the money to the space endeavor and apply for a job on the orbiting campus.

In 2087, Ruskin will be 140 years old, which he doesn't consider an obstacle.