GERALDO RIVERA TALKS TO SPANIER ABOUT DRINKING 7-14
NBC is presenting a special report on "Smashed: Kids and Alcohol" to be broadcast tomorrow, Friday, July 14 at 9 p.m. EDT. Host Geraldo Rivera will discuss binge drinking on college campuses with Penn State President Graham B. Spanier who says that drinking today is different. Kids who drink now consume so much, drinking is about drinking, he says. The program includes a bar tour and interviews with Penn State students about why they drink. It also focuses on the 3 million high-school age kids who are already problem drinkers, with an interview with the U.S. Surgeon General who says that drinking seems to be a rite of passage between childhood and adolescence.

STUDY BEGINS ON LITERACY IN SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN
A team of Penn State professors are studying the development of English literacy in Spanish-speaking preschoolers, thanks to a new five-year $2,079,940 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "Becoming literate is a multifaceted skill that all children must accomplish. Literacy becomes more complex for Spanish speaking children because they begin the literacy process with varied language experiences," says Dr. Carol S. Hammer, principal investigator for the study and assistant professor of communication disorders . Children may be raised in a home in which Spanish is the only language spoken and may become bilingual sequentially when they enter an educational setting. Others learn both languages simultaneously, explains Hammer. Literacy development may be further complicated by differences between the home and school environments. This study is investigating differences in the rate and quality of language and literacy development between children learning Spanish and English sequentially and simultaneously, says Dr. Adele W. Miccio, co-principal investigator for the study and assistant professor of communication disorders . For the full story by Steve Infanti, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/2000/language2.html 

CHILDREN AND YOUTH DAY IN VIDEO AT THE ARTS FESTIVAL
If you missed Children and Youth day at the Arts Festival yesterday, don’t miss Melisande McCrae’s video of happy faces, clowns and events. You can find it on the Web at http://www.psu.edu/ur/media/ArtsFestival.mov 

NEW HOUSING OPTION HELPS STUDENTS FIND ACADEMIC HOME
Since its inception as an integral part of the college-level curriculum, general education has endured the stigma of being a costly evil that students need to get out of the way before pursing their major. But, Penn State and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation have teamed up to find a better way. "Particularly at large research institutions, there seems to be a mad rush for students to get to their major courses, while general education is seen as something of a barrier," said Eric White, executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies. "Students often lose sight of the fact that they're really in a university, and one of the major components of a university curriculum is general education." DUS is now developing a residence program to help students consider many majors before making a decision so crucial to their futures. Enter the Hewlett Foundation. That makes grants for institutions that actively pursue ways to enhance the quality and perception of general education in American higher education. Discover House fit that bill, and earned a grant of $150,000 over two years to support programming for its proposed 60 to 70 student residents. For the full story by Tysen Kendig, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/INTERCOM/housing.html 

BLUE BAND AND CONCERT BANDS FORM NEW CLUB
Celebrating a century of pride, the Penn State Marching Blue Band and Concert Bands have formed the "Floating Lions Club"-Friends of the Penn State Bands — and are looking for founding members. The club will help the Penn State Blue Bands repair and replace instruments, attract instructor support and provide musical arrangements exclusive to Penn State to keep up with the other Big Ten marching bands. Dr. O. Richard Bundy, associate professor of music education and Blue Band director, says the need for support continues. For more information, call Karen Walk at (814) 865-3982. For information about the Blue Band, go to http://www.music.psu.edu/ and click on Bands.