Operating in overdrive
Student dynamo spreads out work under little notice

By ERIN STROUT
Collegian Staff Writer

Paul Kasper hunches over a wooden table, his eyes scanning the room full of barely conscious students in Irving's Bagels on a Sunday morning. The majority of people walk past him -- unaware that he could very well have affected their Penn State experience in some way during the last few years.

Just the mere fact that he helped choose University President-elect Graham Spanier, or that he is responsible for funding more than 400 student organizations on campus is reason enough for recognition. But Kasper has gone beyond that and couldn't care less about acknowledgment.

"I think it's awesome that people don't know who I am," Kasper said, grinning.

But this graduating senior cannot be characterized by a resum of titles and positions -- it is not who he is. Instead, he is somebody with deep concern for what he considers important, with raging motivation in every aspect of his life and high standards for himself and the people around him.

Rising through the ranks of student leadership was not something Kasper planned and neither was staying at the University until graduation. For somebody who is not only a University Scholar, a former executive intern for the Office of Student Affairs, a member of the presidential search and screen committee, chairman of the Student Organization Budget Committee, but is also a teacher, it might seem peculiar that Kasper wanted to transfer after two years.

"I hated this school," Kasper said. "I hated being one of 450 students in Schwab."

But during his sophomore year, Kasper's life took a turn in another direction. After his sister's death that year, he felt the need to start making a difference and using his skills to benefit the University.

"One thing that really bothers me is people having talent and not using it. To have skills and not use them -- it's absolutely ridiculous," he said.

He has been operating in overdrive ever since -- pushed by a definite fear of failure and a penetrating need to reach every goal he sets for himself.

"So be it if it costs me a Friday night --I'd rather lose personal time than not reach a goal," he said.

And this attitude is nothing new for Kasper -- Dan Spindler, a childhood friend in Rockville, Md., -- said Kasper has always been a hard worker.

"It's a family thing," Spindler said. "He's good under pressure."

Although Spindler said Kasper's sarcastic, raw joking around has always been a part of his character, Spindler and other friends from home have noticed one change in Kasper since he trotted off to Penn State.

"He's become a lot more cocky -- we've all noticed that," Spindler teased. "It's kinda weird."

Maybe the cockiness is why very little can get in the way of what Kasper is after -- including how people might feel about him. If something has to be done, he will take the responsibility to do it; and he wishes everybody else, including fellow student leaders, would do the same.

"I'm very demanding -- I can't tolerate people messing up," Kasper said. "I'm not the warm, bubbly type they're used to -- but I think I'm a nice guy."

As SOBC chairman, Kasper deals with people who are not always happy with the decisions he and his committee makes. He stands by all of those decisions because if a program is not funded, there is always a good reason for it.

"If people don't like me, so be it," he said.

But a bright spot in Kasper's University career was being one of three students serving on the presidential search and screen committee. Working with top-notch faculty and alumni was a stimulating experience for him. The members had great commitment to the University and to the task at hand, Kapser said.

"I was motivated by the surroundings -- I wish I could be as successful as they are," he said. "Everybody set aside their egos to get the job done."

However, out of everything he does, teaching is his No. 1 activity, Kasper claimed. Being an Accounting 200 instructor for 10 recitation groups has let him experience the other side, which most students never get the opportunity to understand.

He now realizes that University faculty receive a lot of abuse from students -- whether they are accused of doing too much research or not being available for help. Kasper said students do not use the resources that are available to them.

"It's hard to teach a class when no students have done the work -- and it's rare to find any faculty who say they won't help you," Kasper said. "You're here to learn skills for life, and it's the faculty's responsibility to excite you to do that."

Obviously, the faculty has done its part for Kasper. Next year he is off to New York to join Merrill Lynch's Mergers and Acquisitions Department -- and in typical Kasper style, he does not plan to let anything get in the way of his climb up the corporate ladder.

"My friends joke that I'm going to marry a 33-inch TV," he laughed. "I just think growing attached slows you down -- I have dreams and goals I want to achieve."

Some of his friends have mixed emotions about Kasper's future -- Spindler said working a job more than 80 hours per week is perfect for his childhood pal. "He needs that," Spindler said.

But one of his roommates, Brian Kelley (senior-exercise and sport science), thinks Kasper is a little too intense for his own good.

"We always kid around that he's going to be dead before age 30," Kelley said. "He's gotta remember there's other things in life besides work."

As for Kasper's biting and sarcastic sense of humor, Kelley revealed that his roommate is really just a "softie" -- people just have to know how to get to him.

"At times he can be an ass," Kelley admitted, chuckling.

His apparent cold-heartedness could very well be a front. Pondering what he will remember most from his time at the University, a touch of sentimentalism peeks through, as Kasper attributes much of who he has become to the few people he truly considers his friends.

"To the people who are close to me, I thank them for making me who I am," he said.

And in spite of Kasper's countless experiences, awards and leadership positions, he still has a hard time seeing what makes him special at Penn State.

As he names off others who he finds more extraordinary than himself, he states, in his usual direct manner, "I still think I'm just a schmuck."