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Creamery employees Todd Gantt and Jerry Winn pack eight half-gallon cartons
of ice cream
to be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Penn State faculty member
James Pawelczyk,
who is a payload specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia, requested ice cream
for the crew
during preparation before launch. Requested flavors are
vanilla, bittersweet mint, butter pecan and Peachy Paterno.
Photo: Greg Grieco
A taste of Penn State was delivered late last week to James Pawelczyk, the first Penn State faculty member to be selected for astronaut duty, and the other crew members of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The shuttle, originally scheduled to launch today, was postponed until April 17 at 2:19 p.m. because of a problem in one of the shuttle's network signal processors. For updates on the shuttle's launch status, visit the NASA STS-90 Liftoff Status Page at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/liftoff.html.
At Pawelczyk's request, eight half-gallon cartons of Creamery ice cream were shipped April 9 to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Requested flavors are vanilla, bittersweet mint, butter pecan and Peachy Paterno.
Shuttle flight STS-90, also known as the Neurolab mission, is focused on expanding understanding of how the nervous system develops and functions in space. Research conducted by Pawelczyk, an assistant professor of kinesiology and physiology in the College of Health and Human Development, and others during the mission also will investigate applications to neurological disorders on Earth.
NASA's television coverage of the launch will be available at University Park and at other Penn State locations with satellite downlink services. At University Park, NASA TV is currently available on the Housing and Food Services' CATV system on Channel 30, Campus Cable CATV on Channel 25 and University Park TCI on Channel 60. Campuses with satellite downlink facilities can access the NASA coverage at F 2 (GE 2) Channel 9.
During the mission, Pawelczyk will hold a live, question-and-answer, distance education experience April 26 with Penn State students. NASA's TV coverage will be available throughout the mission.
The shuttle mission is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center May 2 or 3.
A Biomedical Engineering Institute will be established at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center thanks to a three-year grant totaling nearly $1 million from The Whitaker Foundation. The institute's purpose is to add a new educational component to the bioengineering program at Penn State.
The significance of the program, according to Gerson Rosenberg, institute director, is that students will be able to work with clinicians and researchers to learn about real-world problems. At the medical center, those problems could include looking into Penn State's artificial heart, virtual reality research and robotics, and orthopedic and rehabilitation research and imaging.Part of the funding will be used for the addition of two new faculty positions and for existing faculty to teach bioengineering courses. New courses also will be developed at Hershey and will be taught through distance education technology to students at University Park.
"In addition to the $970,999 grant from the Whitaker Foundation, significant financial commitments are being made from the College of Medicine and the College of Engineering to expand the bioengineering program at Penn State," Rosenberg added.
The history of collaborative research involving bioengineers in the College of Engineering and faculty and research staff from the College of Medicine goes back to the start of the artificial heart program in 1970. Since then, numerous collaborative efforts have taken place in this unique environment for engineers, which enables them to gain an understanding of a clinical practice and the role of biomedical devices and technology that they could not have gained in a pure engineering environment.
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Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, gifted surgeon, teacher and medical inventor; and Paul C. Glick, distinguished family sociologist and demographer, will receive honorary Penn State degrees this spring.
DeBakey will receive an honorary doctor of science degree from the College of Medicine at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 17, in the Hershey School's Founders Hall. Glick will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters from the College of the Liberal Arts at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at The Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. Glick also will deliver the commencement address.
DeBakey is credited with developing the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (M.A.S.H.) concept for the military, which saved thousands of lives during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Known for his pioneering work in the field of cardiovascular surgery, he also invented and perfected numerous medical devices, techniques and procedures including Dacron arteries, arterial bypass operations, artificial hearts, heart pumps and heart transplants. DeBakey served as an adviser to almost every president in the last 50 years and established the world's largest medical library.
In 1969 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 1987, Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Science.
Glick is widely regarded as the father of family demography. He pioneered multidisciplinary research on the family life cycle and used census statistics to monitor family change in the United States. His work still serves as the protocol in the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Glick has been awarded the Silver and Gold medals of the U.S. Department of Commerce and numerous academic honors in the fields of sociology, demography, human development and family studies, statistics and public health.
Glick received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin in 1938. He joined the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1939, where he remained until he retired in 1981. For more than 40 years, his analyses kept the country informed about changing fertility rates, including the baby boom and the baby bust.
Penn State awards honorary degrees to eminent scholars, performers, artists and practitioners in academic fields, or individuals who have made particularly distinguished contributions to society in areas such as public service, business or government. Recipients are nominated by a 15-member committee.
Graduate student Beverly Goodman gets the doll collection
"Images of Ourselves" ready for The Department of Anthropology's
Children's Day, above. A variety of activities are planned for youths age
3 to 12, including an "archaeological dig" in sand to unearth
and identify various coins, seen at right. The events are scheduled from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 18, in the Matson Museum of Anthropology
on the second floor of Carpenter Building on the University Park campus.
For more information, call (814) 865-2509 or (814) 865-1231.