PENN STATE REPORTS CONTINUED GROWTH IN RESEARCH
Penn State’s research expenditures increased once again in fiscal 2001 for major programs in nanotechnology, materials engineering, defense, transportation, children, youth, families and other research areas that promise to make life better. If spending for research and creative activity from all sources of support are considered – including federal and Commonwealth funding, private industry, foundations, University infrastructure support and institutional cost sharing – total expenditures for organized research at Penn State reached $472 million in fiscal 2001. The comparable figure for fiscal year 2000 was $440 million. Eva J. Pell, vice president for research and dean of the graduate school, says, “Our faculty members are contributing new ideas and new technologies across a very wide spectrum of disciplines. This is the power of a major research university--creating an environment where people from many disciplines can work together to solve major problems.” For the full story, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/researchexpenditures.html.
STUDENT EXPERIMENTS TO LAUNCH WITH SHUTTLE
When the space shuttle Endeavour launches on Thursday, hitching a ride into orbit will be a canister housing three experiments designed by a team of Penn State undergraduate and graduate students as part of NASA’s Get Away Special (GAS) program. Members of the team will be on hand in Florida to watch Endeavour’s launch. The team oversaw almost every aspect of the GAS payload, including the experiment selection, fabrication, documentation, safety analysis and experiment testing. Gregg O’Marr, payload manager and electrical engineering graduate student, now the team’s overall leader, began working on the project as a first-year undergraduate. The GAS project is the culmination of a five-year effort combining the talents of more than 75 students across the College of Engineering and other academic disciplines. The students’ canister includes an orbital debris measurements experiment, germinator experiment and magnetometer experiment. Two other Penn State GAS experiments have flown in orbit on earlier missions. For more information, visit http://www.engr.psu.edu/news/.
AG STUDENTS SAY GOTCHA! FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
“Gotcha!” has taken on a new meaning for students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, thanks to the generosity of former State Secretary of Agriculture Boyd Wolff and his wife, Margaret. With a gift of $60,000, the Wolffs recently created a fund that will offer more students the chance to add an international experience to their college education. The GOTCHA (Give Others the Chance to Have an Adventure) Fund in International Agriculture will help students offset the costs of studying abroad. Students who benefit from the award will be encouraged to give back after they have started their careers so that others can “have an adventure,” according to Deanna Behring, director of international programs for the college. Penn State faculty and students have been involved in international agricultural programs since the early 1900s, and the College of Agricultural Sciences has alumni in 80 countries worldwide. For the full story by Mike Bezilla, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/boydwolffgift.html.
RESEARCHER RECEIVES AWARD FOR STUDY OF OBESTIY
Kirsten Krahnstoever Davison, a research associate in Penn State’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies, has received the Ethan Sims Young Investigator Award from the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. Her research focuses on how family environmental and genetic factors work together to promote childhood obesity, and on the development of effective intervention programs. She has identified high-risk, or “obesigenic,” families and determined whether girls from these families were heavier or gained more weight across during a two-year period than girls from low-risk families. The results indicated that young girls from obesigenic families were more overweight at age 5 and showed greater weight gains between ages 5 and 7 than girls from non-obesigenic families. Davison is currently studying the patterns of change in girls’ weight through the middle years of childhood and the influence of obesity on early childhood and early puberty among girls. For the full story, visit http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/news/news_pr/11_13_01_davison.html.
UPCOMING LECTURES AND EVENTS
J. G. Dash, professor of physics at the University of Washington, will present the 2001 Whitfield Lectures on Nov. 29 and 30 on Penn State’s University Park campus. The first of his two talks is a colloquium on “Ice Physics, Lightning, and the American Revolution” at 4 p.m. Thursday in 117 Osmond Laboratory. At 2:30 p.m. Friday, he will present a seminar on “Ice Surfaces Inside and Outside the Laboratory” in S-5 Osmond Laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Whitfield11-2001.htm.Robert Mark, professor emeritus of architecture and civil engineering at Princeton University, will talk about “The Cathedral and the Skyscraper,” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Palmer Museum of Art’s Lipcon Auditorium. For more information, contact mailto:alm157@psu.edu.
Penn State Harrisburg, the Penn State Downtown Center, and the Downtown Improvement District are partnering to present “An Evening with Maya Angelou” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, in the Harrisburg Forum. Angelou has been acclaimed as a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil rights activist, producer and director. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Urban Youth and Young Adult Education programs of the Urban League of Metropolitan Harrisburg. Ticket information is available at 717-214-ARTS (2787) or mailto:Thebox@Whitakercenter.org.
The Comparative Literature Luncheon will present a panel discussion on the Nobel Prize for Literature, “The Significance of V. S. Naipaul as the 2001 Recipient,” at 12:15 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, in 102 Kern Building on Penn State’s University Park campus. The discussants are Carol Motta, senior lecturer in comparative literature; Cary Fraser, assistant professor of African and African American Studies; Daniel Walden, emeritus professor of American studies, English and comparative literature; and Bill Welch, mayor of State College. Participants may bring their own lunch or buy something in Kern Cafeteria. For more information, contact mailto:dxw8@psu.edu.