MENTORING PROGRAM RETAINS PENN STATE DIVERSITY
The mentoring program FastStart provides first-year students from diverse backgrounds with yet another resource to help adjust to life at Penn State and plan career moves. FastStart mentoring triads – consisting of a faculty/staff member, an alumnus, and a student – often develop into long-term relationships between students and mentors. Participants take advantage of scheduled programs and activities, as well as pursuits on their own. The program, which began in 1996, has gained in popularity, as shown by the 157 students enrolled in the program this year – 50 more than last year. After analyzing data from the first two years of the program, Gina Giacomantonio, coordinator of student-alumni programs and staff mentor, noted FastStart’s positive impact – 72 percent of minority students involved in the program at University Park went on to graduate. For the full story by Allison Kessler, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/faststart01.html
SPANIER TO PRESENT STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY ON SEPT. 21
Penn State President Graham B. Spanier will present his annual Academic Convocation and State of the University address at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus. This year, President Spanier’s remarks will focus on some significant changes in the landscape of higher education, especially in relation to information technology. He will address the challenges this poses for faculty and staff and review Penn State’s efforts. All members of the University community are invited to attend the convocation. An ice cream social will precede the event at 2:30 p.m. in front of the auditorium. To read previous years’ addresses, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/GSpanier/sou.html.
CHANDRA CATCHES MILKY WAY MONSTER SNACKING
For the first time, a rapid X-ray flare has been observed from the direction of the supermassive black hole that resides at the center of our galaxy. This violent flare captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has given astronomers an unprecedented view of the energetic processes surrounding this phenomenon. A team of scientists led by Frederick K. Baganoff of MIT detected a sudden X-ray flare while observing Sagittarius A*, a source of radio emission believed to be associated with the black hole. “The rapid variations in X-ray intensity indicate that we are observing material that is as close to the black hole as the Earth is to the Sun,” said Penn State’s Gordon Garmire, principal investigator on the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, which was used in these observations. “It makes Sagittarius A* a uniquely valuable source for studying conditions very near a supermassive black hole.” For the full story by Megan Watzke of the Chandra Science Center, visit
http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Garmire9-2001.htm.
WARMER, WETTER YEARS AHEAD MAY AFFECT STATE CROPS
As projections from a federal report suggest that, on average, Pennsylvania and the rest of the mid-Atlantic region will experience warmer and wetter conditions across the next 30 years, Penn State Department of Agriculture Economics and Rural Sociology experts are sharing details on what climate change could mean for the state’s number one industry. Higher levels of carbon dioxide may lead to increased photosynthesis (and thus crop yields), a phenomenon known as the carbon dioxide “fertilization” or “enrichment” effect. Higher carbon dioxide levels could also reduce evaporation from plant foliage, which would reduce water stress faced by crops during droughts. However, more common or intense heat waves, increases in snowfall and increases in fall precipitation could all do harm. The net effect of all projected changes might mean a 2 to 3 percent increase in corn crop yields in Pennsylvania by 2030, just to use one crop as an example. To obtain the full story (in PDF format) in the latest issue of Farm Economics, a publication of Penn State Cooperative Extension, visit http://www.aers.psu.edu/D/pubs/FE20701.pdf.