PSU TOPS IN STATE FOR DEGREES AWARDED TO HISPANICS
Penn State's University Park campus is ranked number one in Pennsylvania for bachelor's and doctoral degrees awarded to Hispanic students, according to reports published recently in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Hispanic Outlook's top 100 lists are based on 1998-1999 graduation data submitted by four-year colleges and universities to the U.S. Department of Education. Penn State is ranked 23rd nationally No. 1 in Pennsylvania for doctoral degrees awarded to Hispanics, having conferred 13 doctorates to Hispanic students. Penn State is the only Pennsylvania institution listed in the top 100 for bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics, having conferred 194 in 1998-99. In the past decade, Penn State's Hispanic enrollment system-wide has increased more than 50 percent to 1,845, or 2.3 percent of the student population. For more information on the rankings, visit http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/top100.html. Penn State offers a Hispanics for Academic Progress program for high school students; more information is available at http://www.lions.psu.edu/MRC/hap/index.htm.
SCIENTISTS ADVISE WHITE HOUSE ON GLOBAL WARMING
In a report requested by the Bush administration, a committee of the National Academies National Research Council has summed up science's current understanding of global climate change. The committee made up of 11 of the nation's top climate scientists, including Eric J. Barron, Director of the Earth and Mineral Sciences Environment Institute and Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Penn State also emphasized that much more systematic research is needed to reduce current uncertainties in climate-change science. Computer models suggest that average global surface temperatures will rise between 2.5 and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the end of this century. Measurements show that temperatures at the Earth's surface rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (about 0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century. The full story and other news from the National Academies Office of News and Public Information can be found at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf. The Environment Institute is at http://www.emsei.psu.edu/.
TOBACCO COMPANIES CAN EXPECT COURT CASE FALLOUT
The verdict in the Los Angeles tobacco trial, Boeken vs. Philip Morris, and the recent verdict in a New York case send a clear signal to tobacco companies, says a Penn State expert on tobacco marketing. Juries are more and more convinced that tobacco companies have been deceptive over the decades in their marketing of the products they sell, according to Marvin E. Goldberg, professor of marketing in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration and an expert witness in the LA case. Goldberg adds, It's a long upward haul to convince starter smokers young people to avoid cigarettes. The more that is revealed about this industry's practices through these trials, the more effective society's countermeasures can become. His research focuses on assessing factors contributing to advertising's effectiveness, and often involves the study of advertising's effects on children and adolescents. For the full story by Steve Infanti, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/depth/june01/tobacco.html.
SECOND CHANCES AT EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTER
In 1999, Samuel Chappell, 44, decided that it was time to finish something he had begun more than 20 years ago--his Penn State University education. He started his journey back at the Center for Human Advancement Building in West Philadelphia, home to the Penn State Educational Opportunity Center. Two years later, he was on the brink of earning his bachelor's degree in American Studies with a history minor from Penn State Abington and a nearly perfect 3.8 grade point average. Chappell, who has applied to several law schools, is an example of what the Educational Opportunity Center is all about, according to director Diane Athanas giving people a second chance to get the type of education they need to be successful in their careers. Now in its third year, the center has helped more than 2,000 people apply and find funding to attend various colleges, or earn their high school General Equivalency Diploma. For more information on the Philadelphia center, visit http://www.psu.edu/ouic/test/eoc-phil/index.html. Penn State also operates several Pittsburgh-area centers; more information is available at http://www.psu.edu/ouic/test/eoc-pgh/index.html.
RETHINKING RETIREMENT: WHAT'S IN A WORD?
In his latest column on Ideas for Intergenerational Living, Matthew Kaplan, associate professor agricultural and extension education in the College of Agricultural Sciences, notes that before the industrialization of 19th century Europe, the concepts of retirement, pensions, sick days and vacations didn't even exist; most people worked until the day they died. Somewhere along the line, retirement became synonymous with old age, and with this association came overtones--both positive and negative. American Association of Retired Persons leaders, concerned about negative connotations of the term particularly among Baby Boomers entered court to change the organization's name. Some people have tried to change the word itself. Considering the aging trend of the world's population, such efforts are timely, Kaplan writes. For the full column, visit http://aginfo.psu.edu/News/may01/retire.html.
SMALL TALK: GETTING CHILDREN BRACES
First graders in braces? It's happening. Children should be screened for braces by age seven. At that age, they may receive braces or appliances such as nighttime headgear that can often reverse or prevent overbites and other abnormalities. If a child does need braces, they won't be anything like the ones today's adults wore in their childhoods they're more effective, consisting of new wires made of nickel titanium that are activated by body heat and exert gentle pressure on teeth, helping move them with less pain and fewer visits to the orthodontist. They're also more fun to wear, coming in different colors. Many retainers come in glow-in-the dark colors or personalized with a picture of a favorite singer, cartoon or animal. Small Talk, a weekly column of safety and health information for parents and other caregivers for children, is a community service of the Penn State Children's Hospital at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Please direct any comments or questions to Patricia Millner, director of nursing, mailto:pmillner@psu.edu.