Intercom Online......June 3, 1999

Faculty/Staff Alerts

Coming home

Former starting quarterback Mike McQueary has returned home to his native
State College, and also to the University's football office at University Park.
On his first day on the job, he was busy cataloging items from the Football Hall of Fame
that are in storage to allow for construction of the new Louis E. Lasch Football
Building (see story, below). McQueary led the Nittany Lions to a 9-3 record in 1997,
finishing fifth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency and third in the league in total offense.

Photo: Greg Grieco

Summer teaching course

The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) is offering two summer sections of the Penn State Course in College Teaching at University Park. One section will meet on Tuesdays, noon to 2 p.m., from June 15-Aug. 3; the other will meet on Wednesdays, 3-5 p.m., from June 16-Aug. 4. This noncredit course is open to all Penn State instructors who are either currently teaching or taking a short break from the undergraduate classroom.

Participants will explore issues of pedagogy, share teaching experiences and discuss some of the relevant literature. Course activities are designed to help participants begin building individual teaching portfolios. Enrollment is limited and preregistration is required.

To register, please call (814) 863-2599. Additional online information can be found at http://www.psu.edu/celt/CCT.html .

Be an audio describer for the blind

A free public presentation on how to provide audio description to people with sight loss will be held from 11 to 11:50 a.m. Thursday, June 17, in 113 Carnegie Building on the University Park campus. Audio description is a communication method/art in which trained people use a small transmitter to describe visual elements of theatre, dance, film, museum presentations and other events to blind and visually impaired individuals. Audio description for the Centre Region will premiere in September 1999, the result of a town-gown collaboration.

The talk, "Stray Dogs and Wandering Minstrels: Audio Describing for the Theatre and Other Audio Adventures," will be given by Dr. Alan Woods, president, Audio Description International Inc. and director of the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. One of the nation's leading audio describers and trainers, Woods also will conduct a June 18-20 weekend training for Centre Region audio describers selected through audition.

For more information, contact Rana Arnold or Kelly Kophazi at (814) 238-4102 or e-mail: slsg@vicon.net.

Free computer workshops

The Center for Academic Computing at University Park is offering free computer workshops during "Summer-Fest 99." Faculty, staff and teaching assistants are invited to attend from June 21-25 and July 19-23. Topics will include general computing and Web workshops along with seminars designed to help faculty integrate technology into the classroom.

The seminar schedule and registration are available on the Web at http://cac.psu.edu/training/summerfest.

Mentoring program update

The Commission for Women will notify applicants regarding their selection for the newly established 1999-2000 Mentoring Program in mid-June. An orientation session for all mentors and proteges will be held on Thursday, Sept. 9, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, University Park. A schedule of activities for the orientation will be included with the notification letters.

Because this is a pilot program, all applicants cannot be selected to participate this year. However, the program is expected to expand in 2000-2001, and all interested full-time faculty and staff are encouraged to again apply.

If you have any questions about the program, contact Kimlyn Patishnock, chair of the Mentoring Subcommittee, via the Commission for Women office, (814) 863-7696.

Library changes

The Education Library at University Park has been renamed the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library to reflect the continuing addition of psychology materials to its collection.

Education and behavioral sciences reference materials formerly housed in the General Reference Room and Gateway Library in Pattee Library have already been moved to the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library's current location in 401 Rackley Building. All psychology and education reference questions will be handled there until spring 2000, when the library moves to its new permanent location on the fifth floor of Paterno Library. At that time, more education and psychology materials, including books, monographs and periodicals, will be added to the collection.

Hall of Fame closed

Penn State's Football Hall of Fame, in the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex at the University Park campus, closed recently to allow for construction of the new Louis E. Lasch Football Building.The Hall of Fame exhibit is expected to re-open in 2001.

Among the important memorabilia in the Hall of Fame are John Cappelletti's Heisman Trophy; the 1982 and 1986 National Championship trophies; the Lambert Trophy; and various awards from Nittany Lion postseason victories, including the 1987 Fiesta Bowl and 1995 Rose Bowl.

The building project will eventually include renovation of the existing Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex. The $13.8 million Lasch Building project is expected to be completed this summer. Renovation of the current Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex should be finished by late 1999.

New site for education issues

A new Web site created by the Pennsylvania Education Policy Center in the College of Education makes available information state policymakers and citizens need to help improve education.

The nonpartisan Web site is sponsored by the college's education policy studies department. It provides information devoted to education policy issues facing Pennsylvania and, more broadly, the nation. Links connect browsers to dozens of state organizations, as well as to other education sites.

To check it out, point your Web browser to http://www.ed.psu.edu/pepc/

Health study

Women ages 50 and over are being sought to take part in a three-month study focusing on exercise and health. Participants should not be regular exercisers. Participants will be given a free, individualized physical activity program. For information, call Beth Orsega-Smith, a Ph.D. candidate in biobehavioral health, at (814) 863-0856 or e-mail her at ems192@psu.edu. This project is under the direction of Shannon Mihalko, assistant professor in kinesiology.

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