New
at Penn State New
at Penn State A new information sciences and technology (IST) studio laboratory was opened in December at Penn State Beaver.
The state-of-the-art studio laboratory will serve as the hub of academic activity for the campus' new four-year IST program. Designed for use in a variety of IST classes, the lab will allow for the simulation of real-world activities in a classroom setting.
The lab, which includes more than $150,000 of equipment and renovations, features 30 high-end computer work stations; hi-tech software programs; and touch-screen projection surfaces.
Beaver County officials contributed $125,000 in September specifically for the development of the lab. Students and faculty began using the lab this semester.
The School of Music is offering a new, Internet-based course in the spring 2000 semester. "Introduction to Music Technology in Education" introduces students to technological methods of teaching music.
The one-credit course will cover topics such as recording, digital audio and technology in the classroom. The class also will include a teleconference in conjunction with the University of Oslo that will address how technology can be used in the music classroom in the United States and how it has impacted the classroom in Norway.
The instructor, Barry Atticks, is a Ph.D. candidate in music education who received a Fulbright Scholarship to study music technology at the University of Oslo. While there, Atticks will teach the Penn State School of Music course via the Internet.
The course is made possible through a grant from the Penn State Innovative Fund and the College of Arts and Architecture. Interested students should enroll in Music 297D or contact Lisa Stamm at (814) 865-1052.
Current students and admissions prospects at Penn State Erie asked for more opportunities to sing, plan, study and enjoy music, so last fall, the campus' strong choral program was joined by a new jazz band, new concert band and rebuilt pep band. Students cannot major in music at Erie, but these new initiatives allow them to pursue a variety of interests. Two music faculty have been hired to launch the enhanced program, Gary Viebranz and Daniel Barnard.
Penn State McKeesport has been selected by the National Youth Sports Program to receive a $45,000 grant to participate in its 2000 program. The summer sports program will serve 200 economically or educationally disadvantaged youth, 10-16 years old. J. Patrick Boyle, director of student affairs at the campus, wrote the grant proposal and will serve as project director. The program focuses on the development of strong individuals who will become motivated to attend college, return to their community and have a positive impact.
A full complement of sports will be offered including basketball, flag football, soccer, swimming and volleyball. In addition, small group educational programs will be implemented for lectures and presentations.
After a five year hiatus, Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ) classes are once again being offered at Penn State Delaware County. Maj. Andrew Lyons is in charge of the Delaware County campus ROTC program, which currently has 10 students. Students can take the ROTC program as an elective with no obligation for up to two years. After the second year, students can earn a commission and apply for scholarships through ROTC if they continue with the training. In return they must agree to serve either one year in active duty or two years in the Reserves for every year they receive a scholarship.
Penn State Erie also began offering the ROTC program last fall after an eight-year absence. Congress has created 270 ROTC programs across the country, and many of the programs extend to more than one college or university. The goal of ROTC is to increase the number of officers commissioned in the U.S. armed forces.
Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College recently received approval to offer a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology, the study of the science of human movement. The college will begin offering the degree with a wellness specialization option immediately. The program, offered in answer to demand from residents in the region, joins the ranks of business, culture studies, electromechanical engineering technology, information sciences and technology, and science as four-year degree offerings at the college. There are already eight junior level students who have committed to the program.
Graduates of the bachelor of science in kinesiology program would be qualified for careers as exercise specialists, personal trainers, athletic club managers, fitness instructors and fitness program directors. Graduates could also operate their own wellness consulting company.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has awarded a $1 million grant to Penn State's Institute for Study of Adult Literacy in response to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, a federal effort to coordinate and streamline all components of the nation's workforce development system. The institute will direct and coordinate the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Network -- PA WIN -- to develop a centralized, market-driven system of workplace basic skills services for employers, workers and adult education providers.
Faculty in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education at Penn State Harrisburg, working with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit, were awarded a $170,000 grant to address student attainment of educational standards for state and local curriculum. The grant is part of the Educate America Act.
The grant directly addresses plans designed to promote student achievement of educational standards -- including those academic standards defined at the state and local levels. The project will focus on extending test development, especially in grades six through 10 reading and mathematics, to identify student weaknesses and provide specific methods of remediation. Part of the project will include the development of a data management process to track student mastery of the standards.
Steven A. Melnick, associate professor of education, and Judith L. Zaenglein, assistant professor of education, collaborated with the intermediate unit and local school districts to develop the proposal.
The Department of Biobehavioral Health in the College of Health and Human Development received a grant for $727,000 to fund international research training in biobehavioral health for minority undergraduate and graduate students in the United States.
The four-year Minority International Research and Training (MIRT) grant is funded by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health. It will support the research training of nine undergraduate and three graduate students each summer at sites in Paris and Lyon, France; Dakar, Senegal; and Cape Town, South Africa. Gary King, associate professor of biobehavioral health in the College of Health and Human Development, is the principal investigator for the grant.
Students selected for the sites in France and Senegal will join interdisciplinary research teams led by King and will focus on the epidemiology of smoking among youth and on targeted adolescent smoking intervention research. Students selected for the site in South Africa will join researchers led by Collins Airhihenbuwa of the Department of Biobehavioral Health. Those researchers will develop and evaluate culturally specific and appropriate HIV/AIDS intervention strategies for adolescents and young adults.
Students interested in receiving applications should contact Daniel L. Treviño at (814) 863-0662.