READ THE FATHERLY SIDE OF PRESIDENTS ON PRESIDENTS DAY
Since President George Washington was childless, the "father of our country" title seems honorary, but few citizens realize how much of a real father and grandfather George Washington really was. He considered his stepchildren as his own and was devoted to his step-grandchildren and his sometimes wayward nieces and nephews, often dispensing paternal advice, according to a new book, "Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to Children." Authors Rodelle and Stanley Weintraub, both retired from Penn State, present selected Washington's letters offering sincere advice to his nieces, nephews, granddaughters and young cousins with adolescent problems. One of them, he writes to his sister, "costs me enough, and he is pleased when she finds a suitor who is "sober, sedate, and attentive." "On Presidents' Day we can look beneath the austere images of Washington and Lincoln to see a human dimension often lost in the laying of wreaths," the authors note. For the complete story by Vicki Fong, go to URL http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/presidentsday.html
FINANCES OF RURAL HOME HEALTH AGENCIES UNDER REVIEW
The Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health -- a joint effort of the College of Health and Human Development and Cooperative Extension at Penn State -- has received funding to analyze the effect of new Medicare methodologies instituted by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.on rural home health agencies and their beneficiaries. The project will examine the financial status of rural home health agencies before and after these changes, identify which agencies and communities are most vulnerable and if there are any patterns to this vulnerability, describe how agencies are coping with the changes, and determine how these changes are affecting beneficiaries. From the results, the study will examine what state efforts are necessary to ameliorate the impacts of these changes. The project will begin in March 2001. The Polisher Research Institute, Philadelphia Geriatric Center, will also work on the project, funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. For more on this story, go to http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/news/pressrel/01_25_01.html
RAO RECEIVES HIGH CIVILIAN HONOR FROM INDIA
Calyampudi R. Rao, Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Statistics and director of the Center for Multivariate Analysis, has been given an award titled Padma Vibhushan-the second-highest civilian honor bestowed by the country of India for outstanding contributions to science, engineering, and statistics. Indian officials announced the country's civilian awards 25 January on the eve of the country's Republic Day festivities. Along with Rao, the honorees include economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a former U.S. Ambassador to India. Rao is internationally acknowledged as one of the pioneers who laid the foundation of modern statistics, as well as one of the world's top five statisticians with multifaceted distinctions as a mathematician, researcher, scientist, and teacher. His pioneering contributions to mathematics and statistical theory and applications have become part of graduate and postgraduate courses in statistics, econometrics, electrical engineering, and many other disciplines at most universities throughout the world. For more on this story, go to http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Rao1-2001.htm.
GOD’S TROMBONES CELEBRATES AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE
The Center for the Performing Arts commemorates Black History Month with God’s Trombones -- a tapestry of African American spirituals woven with sermons by Harlem Renaissance luminary James Weldon Johnson at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, in Eisenhower Auditorium. God's Trombones features Loaves and Fish Traveling Repertory Company actors, who portray preachers delivering Bible-based sermons that progress from Creation to Revelations. Essence of Joy, a Penn State choir that specializes in traditional African and African-American songs, envelops the sermons in inspirational music. The sermons will be performed by members of Essence of Joy and Loaves and Fish including: Patrick Rameau, assistant professor in the School of Theatre. His last film, The Man by the Shore, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Henderson is an assistant professor at Ithaca College and a professional actress, who earned a master of fine arts at Penn State in 1997.
For more on this story, go to http://www.cpa.psu.edu/hot.html.
PUBLISHER OF REDBOOK TO ADDRESS PENN STATE FORUM
University Park, Pa. — Jayne Jamison, vice president and publisher of Redbook magazine, will give a talk on "Success: What Can be Learned and What Can't" on Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Ballroom at the Nittany Lion Inn. Jamison graduated from Penn State in 1978 with a degree in advertising, and was named an Alumni Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association for her distinguished accomplishments in advertising and magazine publishing in 1999. The Penn State Forum is a lunchtime speaker series offered by the Faculty Staff Club and is sponsored in part by the Penn State Bookstore. It is open to the public. Tickets are $11 for non-members and $9 for members, and include lunch. Reservations can be made by mail or by stopping by the Faculty Staff Club office at 103 HUB-Robeson Center. Tickets will be on sale at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speech and a question-and-answer session at noon. For more information call (814) 865-7590.
PALMER MUSEUM OF ART — FEBRUARY EXHIBITS
-- Continuing through February 25. Exhibition, An Interlude in Giverny: The French Chevalier by Frederick MacMonnies.
-- Continuing through April 29. Exhibition, Power in my Hand: Works on Paper by Women Artists from the Permanent Collection.
-- Continuing through May 20. Exhibition, History Past, History Present: The Daguerreotype Portrait in America.
-- Friday, February 9, at noon. Gallery talk, "An Interlude in Giverny," by Dana Carlisle Kletchka, museum educator. Palmer Museum of Art.
-- Friday, February 23, at 3:00 p.m. Gallery talk, "History Past, History Present: The Daguerreotype Portrait in America," by Jennifer Noonan, graduate assistant.
-- Tuesday, February 27 through May 13. Exhibition, An Artistic Friendship: Beauford Delaney and Lawrence Calcagno. For more information on the Palmer Museum, go to http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/.
NEWSWIRE PLUS: HONORS STUDENTS WIN BIG AT PENN STATE
The Lady Lions weren't the only winners during yesterday's basketball game against Michigan State. During a halftime interview in the Bryce Jordan Center, Dr. Cheryl Achterberg, Dean of Penn State's Schreyer Honors College, talked about how the College is preparing students for leadership in a global society. For photos and video clips of the Time Out interview with Dr. Achterberg conducted by Melisande McCrae, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/stories/HonorsCollege/index.htm
IST TO INTRODUCE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
The School of Information Sciences and Technology plans to admit its first class of doctoral candidates this fall. "This marks a significant step in our efforts to further research and teaching in the information sciences," said Dean James B. Thomas. Doctoral work in the program will revolve around the theory and techniques arising from three central constructs: information, the user, and information technology, Dean Thomas explained. "Our core program will provide students with a thorough grounding in the theory and techniques behind these subjects, their dynamics, and their interrelations. However, the diversity of subjects does not stop at the borders of the School of Information Sciences and Technology and application domains literally range to all corners of the University." Now in its second year of existence, IST has a statewide enrollment of more than 1,300 undergraduate-degree students at nineteen Penn State locations. The school also offers on-line courses and certificate programs. For more on this story, go to http://www.ist.psu.edu/headlines/2001/0101/hl_phd011901.html
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS HONORS PROFESSOR
Robert W. Koehler, associate professor of accounting in the Smeal College of Business Administration, was named as the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Faculty Teaching Fellow in Accounting. The achievement recognizes Koehler’s accomplishments during his many years of service as well as his dedication to the accounting profession. He will be honored in a brief ceremony at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the Nittany Lion Inn. Mr. Stephen Hamilton, Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, will preside over a brief ceremony honoring Koehler prior to the PricewaterhouseCoopers information session for students. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the world’s largest professional services organization. For more news from Business, go to http://www.smeal.psu.edu.
HISTORIC PENN STATE EXHIBIT AT AIRPORT
Historic Penn State," is currently on display near the arrival area at the University Park Airport, 2535 Fox Hill Road, State College. The exhibit, curated and installed by University Archivist Lee Stout, highlights historic buildings and changes within the Penn State campus. It showcases photographs and artifacts from the University Archives, located in The Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library. Specifically, it highlights an original sepia-toned engraving of the 1910 bird's eye view of campus. This large print can still be purchased from art stores today in a "colorized" version. The exhibit presents photographs of the major academic buildings of the campus at that time: the original Old Main, Old Engineering, Old Botany, the Armory, and the Chemistry-Physics Building. Except for Old Main, these buildings were designed by architect Frederick Olds in the Romanesque-revival style and were built between 1887-1892. Of the five buildings, only Old Botany still stands today. The exhibit will be on display through March 30. For more on Special Collections, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/speccol/spcoll.htm.