…. HERE’S A SWEET ONE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY…

MAPLE PRODUCERS HOPE FOR SWEET YEAR, SAP IS FLOWING
Pennsylvania's maple syrup season is on tap, and a Penn State Cooperative Extension specialist says if the weather cooperates, it could be a sweet year for maple producers. Pennsylvania is among the top maple syrup-producing states, with average production of about 62-thousand gallons a year over the last decade: "it's a very important crop here and it has been for about 300 years. It's a forest product, it's sustainable and we can keep producing maple syrup from the same trees for years on end," says forest resources extension specialist Sanford Smith. Sugar maple trees -- and maple syrup production -- are unique to North America: and that includes the northern tier and central regions into the Laurel Highlands in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Smith says it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. "If last year's good growing season is followed by above-freezing days and sub-freezing nights from now into March, it could be a big year." For more radio news from the College of Agricultural Sciences go to http://aginfo.psu.edu/radio. 

LEGACY OF THE MASTER LIMITED PARTNERSHIP FELT TODAY
At its peak during the 1980s, the master limited partnership was the organizational choice of over 100 firms.  The publicly traded partnership offered pass through tax treatment--as well as the ability to easily trade partnership interests--until tax laws turned against it in 1987. "But the legacy may bring insight into the design of some organizational innovations," says Chris J. Muscarella, the L.W. Roy and Mary Lois Clark Teaching Fellow and professor of finance. He co-authored a study on MLPs that could be useful in the analysis of new organizational forms, such as the limited liability company and the limited liability partnership. Nearly one in five new business registrations nationwide in 1996 were in one of those two forms. The study will appear in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Corporate Finance. For more on this story by Steve Infanti, go to http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/depth/feb01/legacy.html. 

CAN WE LEARN ABOUT CANCER FROM MUTANT ZEBRAFISH?"
Keith Cheng, associate professor of pathology, will present a lecture titled "Genetics and Functional Genomics: What We Can Learn About Cancer from Mutant Zebrafish" at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, in 100 Thomas Building. His presentation concludes the 2001 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a six-lecture series organized under the theme of "Decoding Life's Instruction Book: Genetics and Genomics." Cheng, a member of the Jake Gittlen Cancer Research Institute at the Penn State College of Medicine, will give an historical perspective of genetic research and outline different types of genetic approaches in research, such as "classical genetics" and "reverse genetics." He will also discuss how scientists use the zebrafish for genetic research to learn how cells function and interact and how this information can advance clinical care, education, research, and public-service. For more, go to http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers/Cheng2-2001.htm 

DICKINSON SCHOOL OF LAW HOSTS REGIONAL WORKSHOPS
Penn State Dickinson School of Law was host to the Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference for about 48 law students and faculty this month. According to program chair professor Peter Alexander, it was held to encourage people of color to take a leadership role in the legal community and to share research ideas. Also at Dickinson this month was the Delaware Valley Women Law Teachers Conference, which is usually held in Philadelphia. Organized eight years ago, the conference’s chief objective is to discuss current scholarship in a supportive and collegial atmosphere. For Other news on Dickinson school of law, go to http://www.dsl.psu.edu/ . 

WILKES-BARRE CAMPUS TRIATHLON ONE OF THE TOPS
The March issue of Triathlete Magazine named the Wilkes-Barre triathlon, hosted by Penn State Wilkes-Barre, one of the best in North America. The magazine polled professional and amateur athletes nationally and published the top 13 sites; the Wilkes-Barre triathlon was among the top three on the East Coast. The magazine quotes pro Ken Glah, "It starts with a lake swim, then there’s a relatively hilly bike course and the run course is all rolling hills. It’s a tough course for a short-course race." This year the Wilkes-Barre triathlon will celebrate it’s 20th Anniversary with a race on August 5. You can watch for the article at http://www.triathletemag.com/. For Other news from Wilkes-Barre, go to http://www.wb.psu.edu/ur/pubinfo.html 

AMISH DISPLAY IN PENN STATE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
"Be Ye Not Conformed to the World -- The Plain People: Selections from the John Hostetler and Chris Gaines Memorial Library Collections," is now on display through May 15 in The Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library. John Hostetler spent over 50 years of his professional, academic life studying the culture and society of the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite peoples. Co-curators Julianna Chaszar, the Candace and Patrick E. Malloy Graduate Assistant in the University Archives, and Jackie Esposito, assistant University Archivist, feature selections from Hostetler's research collection, including field notes, publications, photographs, genealogies, prayer books, genetic studies, articles, and correspondence. The exhibit also includes quilts, dresses and artifacts. For more information on Special Collections, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/speccol/spcoll.htm.