RECORD-BREAKING ENROLLMENT AT PENN STATE
Penn State's reputation for providing a top quality education resulted in another record-breaking enrollment year, but the numbers reflect the University's continuing efforts to keep growth modest and controlled. According to official figures released today, enrollment at Penn State's 24 locations is 81,704 students – an increase of 434 students over last year. University Park enrollment increased by 257 students to a level of 40,828. “Penn State’s fall enrollment figures show that the University has once again met the major objectives of its well-defined, slow-growth enrollment management plan,” said Penn State President Graham Spanier.

In 1996, Penn State restructured its statewide system to provide increased opportunities to upper-division students so that they could complete their degrees at a campus other than University Park. “Our plan is to stabilize enrollments at the University Park campus and to allow for modest growth in the number of juniors and seniors at other campus locations,” said John Romano, vice provost and dean for enrollment management.

In addition, for Fall 2001, minority students compromise 11 percent of the total student body – a steady increase since 1990, when minority student enrollment was 6.7 percent of the total enrollment.

For the full story and enrollment figures, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/fall01enrollment.html

BLOMMER CHOCOLATE GIVES $250,000 FOR FOOD SCIENCE
Blommer Chocolate Co., one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate in North America, has given $250,000 to support construction of the new Food Science Building at Penn State’s University Park campus. Now in the planning stage, the building will contain laboratories, classrooms, offices, pilot-scale processing facilities, and a new creamery manufacturing and sales area. It will be located about a block east of the current facility, the 68-year old Borland Lab. Joseph Blommer, president of the Chicago-based company, and Henry Blommer, CEO, said the firm was especially interested in helping to develop the building’s 3,000 square-foot pilot plant, intended to be a scaled-down version of a real manufacturing facility. “Pilot plants offer students the hands-on training and practical instruction necessary to keep the food industry current on best practices,” Joe Blommer said. He also noted that the company employs several Penn State alumni and offers a summer internship program for undergraduate food science students. For the full story by Mike Bezilla, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/blommergift01.html

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW OF FUTURE EARNINGS
Penn State experts have found strong evidence that insiders anticipate earnings trends by up to two years, and trade to profit from this information. Bin Ke, assistant professor of accounting in the Smeal College of Business Administration, and Steven Huddart, associate professor of accounting, collaborated on the study with Kathy Petroni of Michigan State University. The trio analyzed the trading patterns of insiders in the quarters leading up to a break in a series of consecutive earnings increases to see whether insiders’ trades are consistent with foreknowledge of future earnings. They found that stock sales by insiders increase three to nine quarters prior to such breaks; and that no unusual insider transactions occurred in the two quarters immediately preceding the break. “Not trading immediately before the break may reflect insiders’ desire to avoid the appearance of exploiting inside information and the associated costs stemming for adverse publicity or litigation,” says Ke. For the full story by Steve Infanti, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/depth/october01/earnings.html.

MAKING SENSE OF SEPT. 11 TRAGEDIES THROUGH BOOKS
As people struggle to make sense of the recent terrorists attacks, they are turning to books to gain understanding. Stores across the nation are trying to keep up with the demand for books, such as the Penn State Press title “Terrorism in Context,” to help answer the question “Why?” Penn State Press, along with the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), has compiled a list of “Books for Understanding” – a bibliography of books on subjects such as terrorism, disaster management and Middle East policy and history. For a listing of Penn State Press titles and the complete AAUP list, visit http://www.psupress.org/.

EARN COLLEGE CREDITS ON A GRAND CANYON ADVENTURE
Nothing brings the art and literature of the Grand Canyon alive quite like an actual visit to the canyon. During the spring semester of 2002, students in a Penn State English course on the literature and culture of the Grand Canyon will end their studies with a six-day rafting adventure down the Colorado River. Students will first learn about the significance of the Grand Canyon in class by studying its formation, history and ecological importance; and by considering how writers, artists, photographers and adventurers have chosen to portray the canyon. Then, Tour West, a professional guide service, will lead the rafting tour down the major rapids of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park from Lee’s Ferry to Lava Falls from May 11 to 18, 2002. For more information, contact conference planner Katie Earley at (814) 863-5100 or mailto:ConferenceInfo1@outreach.psu.edu. Registration deadline is Nov. 16, 2001, or as soon as the course fills. Please visit the Web site at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/GrandCanyon for more details.