STONE VALLEY DAM PROJECT NEARS COMPLETION
Contractors have nearly completed spillway repairs and have begun to put innovative reinforcement mats on the Shaver’s Creek dam at Penn State’s Stone Valley Recreation Area. The environmentally friendly reinforcement system, made of articulating concrete blocks, is the first of its kind in use on a dam in Pennsylvania and the highest in the United States. The armored dam embankment will be covered with topsoil and seeded, protecting the blocks from deterioration while providing a natural, aesthetic appearance. The project is scheduled for completion by mid-November. As for when Lake Perez, the 72-acre body of water formed by the dam, will be fully restored? Only the autumn rains and winter snows can provide that answer. To view photos of the dam and spillway project taken during Thursday’s media tours, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/oct18perezphotos.html. For more information on Stone Valley Recreation Area, visit http://www.psu.edu/Stone_Valley.
GROUND BROKEN FOR NEW CHEMISTRY BUILDING
In a continuing effort to upgrade Penn State’s facilities and equipment for scientific instruction and research, University officials today (Oct. 19) broke ground for a new chemistry building. The $62.3 million structure will consolidate the work of the chemistry department, now spread over six buildings across campus, and encourage greater collaboration among students and faculty. The building will be located along Shortlidge Road near Eisenhower Auditorium, and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2003. The state has committed $57.3 million, and the University is seeking the remaining $5 million in private support. Chemistry was among the first disciplines to be taught at Penn State when the University admitted its first students in 1859, and it continues to be central to scholarship in many scientific disciplines. The department enrolls about 310 students at all levels and has about 38 faculty members at the University Park campus. For the full story by Mike Bezilla, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/chemistrygrndbre.html
HONORS SCHOLARS GET UNIQUE LOOK AT GLOBAL ISSUES
A number of Penn State’s Schreyer Honors scholars took a timely look at global issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the nation’s capital over fall break. As part of the course “Globalization Trends and World Issues,” 23 students and their dean, Cheryl Achterberg, traveled to Washington, D.C. to spend three intensive days at the bipartisan think tank. They took on roles and responsibilities of government policy-makers responding to various foreign policy challenges under the guidance of research staff and senior Scholars at CSIS. Achterberg said the topics of study each year relate closely to world events and almost eerily to new world crises. Although a few other universities visit the think tank, Penn State is the only university with a full-blown course, a trip to CSIS and an annual lecture at the University Park campus by Erik Peterson, senior vice president of CSIS. For more information about the Schreyer Honors College visit http://www.scholars.psu.edu/. For the full story by Allison Kessler, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/schreyerscsis.html
IDENTICAL UNITS, DIFFERENT RENTS
Tenants may be able to save money on their rental fees by finding their apartments early. “It is not unusual to have different rents for almost identical apartments in the same neighborhood, even for units on the same floor of the same building,” explains Abdullah Yavas, research director of the Institute for Real Estate Studies in Penn State’s Smeal College of Business Administration. “It’s known as rent dispersion. Even when tenants can acquire the information about rents at no cost, it is possible to get rent dispersion if there is uncertainty among the landlords about demand.” Yavas’s study on the topic is forthcoming in the Journal of Housing Economics. When demand is uncertain, units are rented sequentially--those with lower rents are rented before those with higher rents as tenants arrive. An example would be rentals in campus towns where the total demand for apartments for a given semester depends on the enrollment and on how many students choose to live in an apartment. For the full story by Steve Infanti, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/depth/october01/ident.html.
UPCOMING LECTURES, ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENTS
Rigoberta Menchú, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation in Guatemala and the Western Hemisphere, Latin American Studies Fall Talk, 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, in HUB-Robeson Center Heritage Hall. For more information, visit http://www.clubs.psu.edu/lasa/ and click on “New Info.”
Glenn Loury, professor of economics at Boston University and director of the Institute on Race and Social Division, “The Superficial Morality of Color-Blindness,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, in 112 Kern Building. For more information, visit http://www.bu.edu/irsd.
The Schreyer Honors College invites the Penn State community to join together at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, for a unique photo opportunity to create the words “WE ARE PENN STATE” on the Old Main lawn. A $2 donation for a button to participate benefits the United Way. Buttons are available at C-4 Atherton Hall and the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., and also will be available 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 19, at the HUB-Robeson Center. For an additional $1, bring a camera to get a picture taken with the Nittany Lion on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, contact mailto:scholars@psu.edu.
Gary Gray, visiting professor of finance at Penn State and author of “Running with the Bulls,” discusses this new book on the city and festival made famous by Hemingway in “The Sun Also Rises,” 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in 101 Pattee Library. For more information, contact Shirley Davis at mailto:sjd3@psu.edu.
Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald columnist on race, gender and current issues, “Coming Together: Race, War and Being American,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in 100 Thomas Building, Department of African and African American Studies Cyril Griffith Distinguished Lecture. For more information, visit http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/columnists/pitts/index.htm.
The 42nd annual Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse Show runs Friday, Oct. 26, to Sunday, Oct. 28, at the State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Approximately 900 4-H members from more than 60 counties are expected to participate in this year’s show. For the full story, visit http://aginfo.psu.edu/News/october01/horse.html.
Gerard ’t Hooft, 1999 Nobel Laureate in physics, will present the 2001 Russell Marker Lectures in Physical Sciences on “Searching for the Roots of Physical Law.” The first lecture, “The Universe of Elementary Particles,” is for a general audience at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in 117 Osmond Laboratory. Other lectures consist of a Department of Physics colloquium at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in 117 Osmond Laboratory; and seminars at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, in 339 Davey Laboratory, and 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in 318 Osmond Laboratory. For the full story, visit http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/MarkerPhys10-2001.htm.
Carolyn Dinshaw, professor of English at New York University and director of the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, “Pale Faces,” 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Nittany Lion Inn, Millennium Approached series. For more information, visit http://english.la.psu.edu and check under “Forthcoming Events” or call (814) 865-4383.
David R. Johnson, professor of English at Lafayette College and Penn State Press author, “Conrad Richter: Writing the Life of a Reclusive Man,” 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in 103 Paterno Library. For more information, contact James L. W. West III at (814) 863-7551 or mailto:jlw14@psu.edu.
Tim Dixon, director of Information Services and Technology for Career Development Services, Rochester, N.Y., ”Tea Leaves in Turmoil: Reading Career Trends in the American Workplace,” 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in 101 Pattee Library, sponsored by the Schreyer Business Library. For more information, contact Diane Zabel at mailto:dxz2@psu.edu or (814) 865-1013.
The Center for the Performing Arts presents the Wadaiko Yamato Drummers of Japan at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Prices are $25 for general audience members; $20 for students; $10 for Penn State University Park students; and $13 for children 12 and younger. For tickets or more information, contact the Arts Ticket Center at (814) 863-0255; outside the local calling area (800) 278-7849; or visit http://www.cpa.psu.edu.