LADY LION BASKETBALL TEAM CLAIMS BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON TITLE
The Lady Lion basketball team clinched the outright Big Ten regular-season championship with a 76-55 victory over Wisconsin before 10,394 fans Sunday afternoon (March 2) at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Big Ten regular season title marks the fourth for the Lady Lions since they began league play in 1992-93. Penn State (23-7, 13-3 Big Ten) will be the No. 1 seed at the 2003 Big Ten tournament, being held March 6-10 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Lady Lions have a first-round bye and will see their first tournament action on Friday, March 7 when they face the winner of the first-round game between the No. 8 seed Indiana and No. 9 Wisconsin at noon (ET). Friday's game will be televised live on Fox Sports Pittsburgh (Adelphia Cable Channel 34) and Fox Sports Chicago. For more on Lady Lion basketball as they embark on postseason play, and for the complete recap of Sunday's season finale, go to http://www.GoPSUsports.com/basketballw/

 

GRANT BACKS FACULTY PROJECT ON COMMUNITY-BASED TECHNOLOGY
Lynette Kvasny, a faculty member in Penn State's School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant of almost $450,000 to work with community-based organizations in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, from business associations to churches, to integrate technology into people's lives. "Technology is an enabler, but you can't take the models and ideas that work in business courses and apply them to low-income communities," says Kvasny, an assistant professor of IST. "The challenge is figuring out what models and ideas will be most effective." The NSF program rewards teacher-scholars who likely will become academic leaders. In Belmont, a West Philadelphia community, Kvasny is helping to launch a Web site highlighting merchants, products and services. Several Harrisburg-area projects focus on information and training for residents. For the full story by Margaret Hopkins, visit http://ist.psu.edu/news/CurrentNewsDisplay.cfm?HeadlineID=844

 

ESL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM WILL FULFILL STATE REQUIREMENTS
All teachers in Pennsylvania's public schools who provide instruction in English as a second language (ESL) will soon be required to hold a Program Specialist-ESL certificate. Penn State is now offering an approved 15-credit training program to satisfy the ESL education requirements outlined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). The new PDE mandate takes effect with the 2004-05 academic year. Prior to this year, there were no sanctioned ESL training programs offered in Pennsylvania. Penn State's new program, available at the University Park campus and through Penn State Outreach, consists of upper-division and graduate-level courses and is a joint effort of the College of Education and the College of the Liberal Arts. Penn State Harrisburg offers a separate ESL program that is explained at http://www.hbg.psu.edu/hbg/news/20021119.html

 For the full story by Joe Savrock, visit http://www.ed.psu.edu/news/press_releases/releases.asp#ESL

 

PENN STATE SUMMER CAMPS OFFER LEARNING AND FUN
This summer, kids will once again have many opportunities to experience learning that's fun, thanks to a series of youth camps offered by Penn State. The camps will allow them to talk with Penn State faculty about their projects and spend time with University student mentors. In some cases, the student-to-mentor ratio is as high as 3 to 1, ensuring that every student receives personal attention. As in years past, the camps will include offerings in science, sports, cooking, the arts, communications and a number of other specialty areas, such as a repeat of and sequel to last year's Harry Potter-inspired camp to show how occurrences in the popular children's series can be explained by scientific principles. For more information, including a detailed listing of summer youth camps, visit http://www.PennStateYouth.org or call 800-PSU-TODAY (778-8632). For the full story by Ryan Badowski, visit http://tango.outreach.psu.edu/Tango/OutreachNews/NewsRelease2.taf?function=detail&FullInfo_uid1=33983

 

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER WRAPS UP ALTOONA CAMPUS SPEAKER SERIES
During the past 25 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Anna Quindlen's work has appeared in America's most influential newspapers and most widely read magazines, and on both fiction and non-fiction best seller lists. Her latest non-fiction book, "A Short Guide to a Happy Life," has sold more than 1 million copies. Quindlen will wrap up Penn State Altoona's 2003 Distinguished Speaker Series tonight (March 3) at 7:30 p.m. in the Adler Athletic Complex with her discussion of "Women in the 21st Century: The Balancing Act." The Distinguished Speaker Series is free and open to the public; however, tickets need to be obtained for admission. Tickets are available at the Penn State Altoona Bookstore until 4:30 p.m. For the full story, visit http://www.aa.psu.edu/speakers