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Doctoral candidate Christopher L. Davis was part of a team
that recently showed that it is possible to build a lightweight "smart"
vibration absorber that could track the changing frequencies of noise and
vibration and continuously re-tune itself to control them. Such a device
could quiet industrial machinery and consumer products. Applications in
planes, satellites and space platforms promise increased safety and enhanced
performance.
Photo: Greg Grieco
Penn State was ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania and ninth among American universities in the number of doctoral degrees awarded in 1995 by the National Research Council in a survey of earned doctorates released recently.
Penn State awarded 585 doctorates in 1995, up from 528 in 1994 when the University ranked 13th nationally.
According to the NRC survey, engineering students earned the most doctorates, 160, at Penn State in 1995, followed by students in education, 109, and the biosciences, 66.
Rodney A. Erickson, dean of the Graduate School and vice president for research, noted that the rankings come at a time when Gov. Tom Ridge has declared this week as Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week.
"It's an appropriate time to recognize not only the record numbers who have been graduated from Penn State in recent years, but also the important contributions they make to the University," Erickson said. "Doctoral and master's candidates are productive partners in both the research and teaching activities at Penn State."
Graduate students often teach or lead recitation sections of undergraduate courses under the guidance of faculty members. A dozen doctoral and master's candidates were honored for outstanding teaching at the annual University awards program April 6. The winners represented all of the areas of learning at the University and had been singled out by their students as well as their professors.
All doctoral students are required to complete a dissertation that advances knowledge in their field of study and which involves research on real, often practical, solutions to problems. Recent doctoral dissertations have included the development of a statistical test for cancer risk; a study of low-intensity exercise training for older adults; a probe of the regulation of organized crime in New York state; a survey of the images of the U.S. in the French press; and an award-winning study of termite risk assessment, to name only a small sampling.
Penn State currently offers 98 programs of study and research leading to the doctoral degree. The biggest share of doctoral students outside the University Park campus are registered in the College of Medicine in Hershey.
Why do battered women tend to stay with their abusers as long as they do? How may we determine the possibility of life on other planets? How can the auto industry protect your investment from the ravages of winter road salts?
This is but a sampling of the record 87 undergraduate research exhibits which will be on display in the HUB Ballroom on the University Park campus during the Sixth Annual Undergraduate Research Fair, April 14-15. Sixteen students are expected to share a total of $2,500 in cash prizes, with the overall winner of the Gerard A. Hauser Prize taking home $500. Winners will be announced at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, during closing ceremonies led by Carol V. Gay, professor of cell biology and poultry science.
Sponsored by the University Scholars Student Advisory Committee and the Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly and funded jointly by the Scholars Program and the Office of Undergraduate Education, the fair continues to attract increasing numbers of students. A number of students who have entered also will display their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Texas at Austin, April 24-26.
Jeremy Castle, senior in environmental and renewable resource
management, presented the class findings on the Spring Creek Watershed project
to the Centre Regional Planning Commission.
Photo: Greg Grieco
By Karen I. Wagner
Public Information
Enter the classrooms of the future. Students are advising community planners
on waste management 
practices and balancing the federal budget online. The
classrooms themselves bear a striking resemblance to a regional planning
commission meeting and a computer lab.
Whether consulting for local government and attending township meetings or playing computer simulation games in the lab, like "Uncle Sam's Budget Buster," these students are gaining real-world experience that transcends the traditional classroom.
"I think that what students get out of these experiences is the realization that knowledge is not certain," said Spiro Stefanou, professor of agricultural economics. "They develop an appreciation for the challenge of decision making, where there are no right or wrong answers."
Penn State quality initiatives have focused on projects like these -- innovations in the classroom that are designed to provide students with the kind of decision and project management skills that will prepare them for the working world of problem solving. And they are just two of the many quality initiatives sponsored by the Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning that will be on display at Penn State's Quality Expo '97. The Expo will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom. The event is open to the public.
The Schreyer team was interested in promoting different approaches to learning and assessing the impact at Penn State. As part of that goal, Stefanou engaged his students in a semester-long project for the Centre Regional Planning Commission. When students enrolled in his economic valuation of natural resources class, they never imagined they'd wind up as consultants to the commission's Spring Creek Watershed Committee. The watershed extends from the greater State College area to Milesburg, serving 15 municipalities.
The local planning commission contacted Stefanou during the spring of 1995 when it was interested in finding an intern to research the community's attitude toward alternative waste management strategies. The students surveyed nine municipalities in the Centre Region -- a random sample of more than 300 households. The questions were designed to gauge the community's willingness to pay for various wastewater and trash disposal methods -- methods that could eventually impact on the watershed.
"This was for real -- a volatile issue involving growth in the Centre region," Stefanou said.
Stefanou served as facilitator for the project, pointing students in the right direction, but the students were the consultants and project managers. They developed their own learning agenda, determining for themselves what they needed to know in order to solve the problem. The commission's project was compatible with the course's emphasis on problem-based learning.
"People move to this area because they enjoy the environment, but this was the first time anyone asked residents how much they were willing to pay for it," Stefanou said. "Analyzing the problem forced the students to make judgments. There were lots of potential solutions to address this problem."
Students developed a survey and analyzed community response with help from the Schreyer Institute. The culmination of their project was a formal presentation of their results to the planning commission earlier this month.
Jeremy Castle, senior in environmental and renewable resource management, presented the class findings. Castle was nervous. For him, the project and final presentation represented the pinnacle of his senior year.
"It's been an incredible opportunity. We actually got to do something, instead of just sitting there listening to lectures. In job interviews I can talk about the project, and I can show them a survey that I actually designed and analyzed," Castle said.
Meanwhile, students enrolled in Charles Kennedy's course on American national government were engaged in a unique learning experience of their own. Kennedy's goal was to support Penn State York students in developing a deeper understanding of the political process and the inner workings of our national government.
Kennedy provided his students with some unique resources to encourage active learning, including a computer simulation that put them in the role of campaign manager. The "Doonesbury Election Game" featured more than 60 possible characters, both cartoon and those based on real-life political figures dating back to 1960. Armed with biographies, summaries and demographic data, the student's objective was to manage their candidate's campaign and win the presidential election.
"The last time we played, Dick Nixon won the election, running against Bill Clinton," said Kennedy. Students have the choice of selecting presidential and vice presidential candidates from all three parties. Some of their more creative pairings have included Ross Perot with Norman Schwarzkopf. Kennedy believes students learn best when they are having fun.
They also got to try their hand at balancing the federal budget by manipulating actual numbers from the Congressional Budget Office. In case you're wondering, more than half of Kennedy's students were able to balance the budget within five years.
Students become so impassioned in debate and negotiation with one another, they tend to forget that Kennedy is in the room. Like Stefanou, Kennedy agrees that collaborative learning experiences force students to make tough decisions.
"After all," Kennedy said, "that's what life is all about."
In addition to Stefanou and Kennedy's projects, the Schreyer booth at Penn State's Quality Expo '97 will feature the classroom innovations of four other faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Eberly College of Science, the College of Engineering and the College of the Liberal Arts.
President Graham B. Spanier will be featured on Pennsylvania Cable Network's "PCN Profiles" at 10 p.m. Sunday, April 13, and 3 p.m. Monday, April 14. Check your local listings for the PCN channel in your area.
Graduate student Scott Klettke, left, is the subject of
a surprise interview by CBS affiliate WTAJ-10 news anchorman David Price.
Price and his television camera crew joined with The Smeal College of Business
Administration to teach MBA candidates how to manage media moments. One
of the goals of the seminar, held at The Nittany Lion Inn April 2, was to
teach students how to deal with unexpected media coverage of their business
and make the most of live, on-air questions. Attendees also learned about
the structure and goals of the news media, how to manage difficult media
situations, how to develop positive media relations and practical tips for
planning and executing a news conference.
Photo: Greg Grieco
There will be an open forum on the planned HUB/Robeson Center complex from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the HUB Gallery Lounge on the University Park campus.
A current status report and planning timelines will be presented. Members of the HUB/Robeson Center Building Design Committee and a representative from the architectural firm Williams Trebilcock Whitehead will be available to discuss the project and answer questions.
The Penn State Board of Trustees recently approved the final plans for a single complex that jointly will expand the Hetzel Union Building and house the new Paul Robeson Cultural Center at University Park.
Designed by Williams Trebilcock Whitehead Architects of Pittsburgh, the HUB/Robeson project will add 91,000 square feet to the HUB's existing 154,000 square feet. The construction will expand and renovate portions of the HUB and add a new Paul Robeson Cultural Center.
Sitework is slated to begin in May with building construction starting in July. Completion is targeted for the beginning of fall semester 1999.
For more information, call (814) 865-7661.
The Harrisburg firm of Murray Associates has been named architect for the $1 million expansion of the Penn State Harrisburg Science and Technology Building.
The 6,000-square-foot addition to the building constructed in 1982 is aimed at enhancing Penn State Harrisburg's undergraduate and graduate environmental engineering programs. Construction is expected to begin in October with completion in the summer of 1988. The addition will include a pilot lab, an air quality laboratory, two research labs, faculty offices and a seminar room.
Corporate and private support for the project has been enthusiastic with a $300,000 Whitaker Foundation pledge leading the way. The AMP Foundation has pledged $50,000 and other corporate sponsors, including GPU Energy, have committed another $50,000 to the effort.
Murray Associates, the oldest architectural firm in Harrisburg, has an extensive list of academic projects in the region including: the Lebanon Campus of Harrisburg Area Community College, an addition to the Technical Center at Hershey Foods Corp., the Franklin Science Center at Shippensburg University and the Kline Science Building at Messiah College.
To Go or Not To Go To The Doctor
Is it a lingering cold, or is it pneumonia? Sometimes it's difficult to know when to go to the doctor, and when to stay home and follow a self-care approach. In this session, learn about resources that can help you make informed decisions about providing the best health care for you and your family. Self-care manuals will be available for purchase. Meets Friday, April 18 from noon-1 p.m. in 110 Henderson Building (The Living Center). Cost: None.
To register, contact Jan Hawbaker at (814) 865-3085 or JQH3@ PSU.EDU.
Happy Valley Toastmasters, a group designed to help people better articulate in a group setting, will meet at noon Tuesday, April 22, in 310 Shields Building on the University Park campus. For information, call David Panko at (814) 237-2822.
Steven Heine, associate professor of religious studies, has edited a book of essays by the prominent Japanese scholar of Buddhist studies, Massao Abe, formerly of the University of Chicago. The volume, Zen and Comparative Studies, is the second part of a two-part sequel to Abe's award-winning Buddhism and Western Thought. It deals with a critical comparison of Zen Buddhism and western philosophy, psychology and theology. The first sequel, Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue, also edited by Heine, appeared last year. All three volumes are published by the University of Hawaii Press.
Marshall W. Raffel, professor emeritus of health policy and administration in the College of Health and Human Development, is editor of the book Health Care and Reform in Industrialized Countries. Published by the Penn State Press, the volume examines the health-care systems of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The book's essayists are all resident health care experts who address the ways in which their countries influence, and are influenced by, the health-care systems of other countries studied. They also examine their common problems -- including the increasing pressure to serve aging populations while maintaining economic balance.
Brent Wilson, professor of art education and head of the Department of Art Education in the College of Arts and Architecture's School of Visual Arts, has had his book The Quiet Evolution: Changing the Face of Arts Education, published by the Getty Foundation Institute for the Arts. Written for education reformers, policy makers, educators and scholars, the book is geared for those with a serious interest in systemic school reform.
Wilson's book reports on a seven-year study of the development of a comprehensive approach to arts education, known as discipline-based art education, pioneered by six regional institutes. The approach combines four basic disciplines -- art making, art history, art criticism and aesthetics -- into a holistic learning experience.
Wilson provides a history of the evolution of art education practice and theory at the institutes, a change effort that has affected thousands of teachers in hundreds of school districts. Included are anecdotal accounts of how each professional development institute built a coherent, comprehensive approach to art education.
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Envisioneers debut
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Allen Cain Jr., maintenance worker, general A at Penn State Shenango campus, from Oct. 5, 1972, to Feb. 19.
Carol A. Christen, extension agent, College of Agricultural Sciences, from Jan. 18, 1982, to March 1.
Virginia E. Fetters, press operator, offset duplicator single, Business Services, from Sept. 23, 1966, to March 28.
Bernadine L. Hahn, staff assistant VIII, Business Services, from June 16, 1972, to March 31.
Gillian D. Rattray, assistant professor of kinesiology, College of Health and Human Development, from Sept. 1, 1973, to Jan. 1.
John F. Rearick, janitorial worker, Office of Physical Plant, from Nov. 2, 1981, to Jan. 3.
Vesta B. Rimmey, staff assistant V, Business Services, from April 1, 1983, to Jan. 1.
Betty M. Rininger, staff assistant VII, College of Health and Human Development, from Aug. 8, 1983, to Jan. 1.
Herbert A. Rogers, maintenance worker, general A at Penn State Worthington Scranton campus, from April 4, 1983, to Jan. 4.
Dean S. Rossman, farm supervisor, College of Agricultural Sciences, from July 1, 1972, to Jan. 1.
Blair J. Smith, associate professor of agricultural economics, College of Agricultural Sciences, from July 1, 1974, to Dec. 31, 1996.
Regina S. Steeber, staff assistant VI at Penn State Hazleton campus, from April 17, 1975, to Feb. 28.
Donna S. Stout, staff assistant IV, College of Agricultural Sciences, from Feb. 3, 1975, to Feb. 1.
Christine L. Templeton, coordinator of college relations, College of Communications, from Nov. 1, 1977, to Feb. 1.
Nancy J. Treat, assistant professor of human development and women's studies at Penn State Fayette campus, from Sept. 1, 1977, to Jan. 1.
Helen B. Warren, associate director, Summer Session, Office of the President, from Nov. 29, 1977, to Feb. 1.
