Second Foster Conference will
feature award-winning writers

Three award-winning writers will share the stories of their paths to success and offer advice to students when the College of Communications holds the second Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers in March.

Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League, will give the conference's opening lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in 112 Kern Building. On Thursday, March 23, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Madeleine Blais and veteran Washington Post writer Paul Hendrickson will participate with professors in a roundtable discussion about writing at 11:15 a.m. in Carnegie Cinema. Both events are free to the public. The two writers also will meet in small groups with students throughout the day.

Gene Foreman, Foster professor of communications, is director of the conference.

Suskind is the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal in Washington, D.C. A series he wrote for the Journal about inner-city honor students and their struggles to survive won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1995. His book, A Hope in the Unseen, is based on one such student, Cedric Jennings, as he attempts to leave the inner-city behind to pursue a degree from Brown University.

Blais has been a professor of journalism at the University of Massachusetts since 1987. She has worked for several newspapers, including The Boston Globe, the Trenton Times and The Washington Post, where she was a contributor to the paper's Sunday magazine. For eight years, she was on the staff of the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, where she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1980.

Paul Hendrickson, who received an M.A. in English from Penn State in 1968, has been an award-winning staff feature writer for The Washington Post since 1977. He is author of The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War, which was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was named to Publisher's Weekly's Best Books of the Year. In 1998, Hendrickson joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania's English department. He is currently a Guggenheim Fellow.

For more information about the Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers, call Angie Brown at (814) 865-8801 or e-mail aab7@psu.edu.

March 13-17 Marker Lectures to
focus on mathematical sciences

Yakov Eliashberg, professor of mathematics at Stanford University, will present the 2000 Russell Marker Lectures in the Mathematical Sciences from March 13-17 on the University Park campus.

This series of four free public lectures, titled "Introduction to Symplectic Field Theory," includes a lecture intended for a general audience, titled "An Invitation to the Symplectic World: On the Border Between Rigid and Flexible," at 8 p.m. Monday, March 13, in 110 Wartik Laboratory.

Eliashberg also will give three specialized lectures: "Distinguishing Symplectic and Contact Manifolds with Holomorphic Curves" at 4:30 p.m. March 14 in 110 Osmond Lab; "Lagrangian Intersections and Legendrian Knots" at 4:30 p.m. March 15 in 106 Wartik Lab; and "Toward Symplectic Field Theory" at 4:30 p.m. March 16 in 101 Osmond Lab.

Eliashberg is a well-known geometer who has done fundamental work in symplectic geometry, complex analysis and differential geometry. He is one of the inventors of symplectic topology and a recognized leader in this field.

Eliashberg has been professor of mathematics at Stanford University since 1989. He received his doctoral degree at Leningrad University and was professor of mathematics at Syktyvkar University in the USSR from 1972 to 1979. From 1981 to 1989 he was head of the computer software group at the Leningrad Institute of Accounting in the USSR. He also has held many visiting positions in Europe and the United States.

The Marker Lectures were established in 1984 through a gift from the late Russell Earl Marker, professor emeritus of organic chemistry at Penn State, whose pioneering synthetic methods revolutionized the steroid-hormone industry and opened the door to the current era of hormone therapies, including the birth-control pill.

Teleconference addresses
problem of binge drinking

A satellite teleconference, Binge Drinking: From Understanding to Action, will be broadcast to a number of University locations from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday, March 16.

The teleconference, presented by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, will address a top campus public health problem and an important academic and legal issue -- binge drinking.

Topics to be addressed include: contributing factors; direct consequences and secondary effects of binge drinking; understanding binge drinking as a function of age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomics, athletic participation, Greek membership or institutional characteristics; and whether effective methods of prevention and treatment exist.

Panelists are John Gardner, University of South Carolina; James Turner, director, University of Virginia; Henry Wechsler, Harvard School of Public Health; and Sharon Wilsnack, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The teleconference satellite locations are:

n Penn State University Park: Wagner Annex;

n Penn State Erie: MISC Studio, Academic Building;

n Penn State Delaware County: 103 Classroom Building;

n Penn State Mont Alto: Auditorium;

n Penn State Worthington Scranton: Quiet Lounge, Study-Learning Center; and

n Penn State Berks: Perkins Student Center.

Participants should bring a brown bag lunch. Beverages will be provided. To register, e-mail Susan Kennedy at slk5@psu.edu

This teleconference is supported by the PSU/PLCB Partnership with funding from the Pennsylvania Network of Colleges and Universities Committed to the Elimination of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.

Emotion regulation is topic of talk

Cynthia A. Stifter, associate professor of human development and family studies in the College of Health and Human Development, will speak about her research in a free lecture, titled "From Complaint to Compliant: The Development of Emotion Regulation and Its Role in Later Social Competence," at 4 p.m. March 23 in the Assembly Room at The Nittany Lion Inn.

Stifter is speaking as the recipient of the 1999 Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award, which recognizes research contributions occurring or culminating within the past several years. The award is endowed by Evan Pattishall, dean emeritus of the former College of Human Development, and his wife, Helen Pattishall, a 1985 individual and family studies graduate.

Stifter received her bachelor's degree in sociology, a master's degree in clinical social work, and her Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland. She also was a visiting scholar at Harvard University's School of Public Health and its School of Medicine. She is internationally known for her research on infant colic and the development of emotion regulation.

A reception in the Faculty Club immediately follows the lecture.

Speech communication workshop planned

Mike Allen, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will hold a two-day, six-hour introductory workshop on meta-analytic techniques on March 25 and 26, through the Department of Speech Communication at University Park.

Allen is widely published across disciplines of communication, psychology and sociology. He also is recognized for his statistical expertise.

The workshop is free but space is limited; graduate students are especially encouraged to attend. For more information, e-mail Walid Afifi at w-afifi@psu.edu.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to
speak at Shenango April 11

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, will present the second annual Edward W. Greenberger Memorial Lecture at
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, in the Penn State Shenango auditorium.

The event is free to the public; however, tickets are required for admission and will be available Thursday, March 23, and Friday, March 24 (pending availability) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in 218 Sharon Hall.

Kennedy is senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law in New York. In addition to the lecture, Kennedy will spend the afternoon on the campus speaking to various student groups; the Chamber of Commerce Junior Leadership Shenango; and faculty, staff and advisory board members.

The Edward W. Greenberger Lectureship was established through a gift to the Shenango campus in memory of the late Edward W. Greenberger.

For more information, call (724) 983-2905.

Learn what children think about
working parents at March 24 talk

Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute, will speak on "Ask the Children: What America's Children Really Think About Working Parents," from
11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 24, in 67 Willard Building on the University Park campus. The talk is part of the Penn State Work/Family Seminar Series.

Galinsky's study reveals surprising new facts and comprehensive, practical ideas for millions of mothers and fathers struggling to manage work and family life. She will share what more than 1,000 children told her, present a conceptual model for understanding how work and family affect our lives, and then provide tips for navigating transitions between work and home and most importantly, tips for talking to our children about work and family life.

For more information about the Families and Work Institute, check http://www.familiesandwork.org/ on the Web. For more information about the seminar series, check http:// www.la.psu.edu/lsir/workfam/ on the Web; e-mail Robert Drago at drago@psu.edu or call (814) 865-0751.

Award recipient to lecture on
kinesiology research March 30

A special lecture by the recipient of the 1999 Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Career Award will take place at 4 p.m. March 30 in The Nittany Lion Inn's Alumni Lounge, University Park.

Karl M. Newell, professor of kinesiology and head of the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Development, will speak about his research in a free lecture titled, "Coordination, Control and Skill in Physical Activity."

The Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Career Award honors a senior faculty member who has made outstanding research contributions across a major portion of his or her career. The award was endowed by Leo P. Russell, a 1941 industrial engineering graduate, in honor of his late wife, Pauline Schmitt Russell, a 1948 home economics graduate. The recipient presents a special lecture on his or her research in the spring.

Newell's research focus is motor learning and control approached from a broad lifespan perspective. This work has evolved over the years into an interdisciplinary endeavor that melds concepts from psychology, neurophysiology and physics to investigate the roles of information and dynamics in the regulation of movement in physical activity.

A reception in the Faculty Club immediately follows the lecture.

Teaching and Learning with Technology
Symposium set for April 1 at University Park

The Eighth Annual Center for Academic Computing Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1 in Thomas Building on the University Park campus.

Topic for the day is "Virtual Campus: Killer App or Random Acts of Progress," and a goal of the symposium is to provide a framework for understanding virtual-campus constructs and the implied role of commercial partners. The session also will demonstrate capacity-building uses of flexible, easy-to-use online resources and collaboration tools designed to enhance academic community and effectiveness, both within onsite learning communities and within virtual learning communities beyond traditional enterprise boundaries.

Keynote speaker is William H. Graves, chairman and founder of eduprise.com and professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Considered one of the foremost authorities on the role of the Internet in education, Graves has given hundreds of presentations and published more than 50 articles on all aspects of information technology in higher education.

More information about the event can be found on the Web at http://cac.psu.edu/training/tlt/.

Joe Paterno to speak about integrity
and leadership at Nittany Lion Inn

Joe Paterno, Penn State's legendary football coach, will discuss integrity and leadership in athletics and in life during the fifth annual Luchinsky Memorial Lecture slated for March 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. The event is hosted by the Schreyer Honors College.

In addition to being the head football coach since 1966, Paterno and his wife, Sue, are recognized as leaders at Penn State for their generous gifts to the University, totaling nearly $4 million.

In addition, Joe Paterno served as a vice chair of The Campaign for Penn State, a six-year effort (1984-90) that raised $352 million in private gifts for academic programs.

The lecture will be followed by a reception. Tickets for the event will be available to Schreyer Scholars beginning March 13 from scholar assistants in the Schreyer Honors College, and from Rhonda Wolfe in Atherton Hall, Room C004. Tickets for the public will be available March 20.

The Luchinsky Memorial Lecture Series was endowed by family and friends in honor of Mark Luchinsky, a University scholar and biochemistry major who died on Jan. 18, 1995 at age 20.

For more information on the event, contact the Schreyer Honors College at (814) 863-2635.

"Future of the Sexes" topic of April 7 talk

Rosalind Barnett, senior scientist at Brandeis University and senior fellow in residence at Harvard University, will speak on "The Future of the Sexes: Reconciling Perceived Gender Differences with Reality" from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 7, in 102 Weaver Building on the University Park campus. Her talk is part of The Penn State Work/Family Seminar Series.

Barnett will address the premise that the old social divides between women and men are blurring. In professions such as law, medicine and academia, women hold significant positions; women athletes compete professionally in previously all-male sports; in government, women hold high-leveled elected and appointed office. While most of this sexual convergence can be attributed to women's arrival in previously all-male preserves, some of the merging is due to changes in men's behavior.

Against this landscape of massive gender convergence, there is a resurgence of simplistic gender dualism in the popular press and in some academic and religious circles. According to such reports, women and men are forever delineated by the basic truth that as individuals we come in two kinds: female and male. This talk will examine how to reconcile perception with reality, and other related topics.

For more information, check http://www.la.psu.edu/lsir/workfam/ on the Web; e-mail Robert Drago at drago@psu.edu or call (814) 865-0751.

Harrisburg schedules two events

The following events are scheduled for the month of April at Penn State Harrisburg:

n The Penn State Harrisburg Women's Studies Program is presenting a panel discussion on "Women in the Military" Wednesday, April 5, at
7 p.m. in the Gallery Lounge of the Olmsted Building.

Guest speakers will be Col. You-Ying W. Whiple and Marilyn J. Harris, both students at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.

n A public discussion on "The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape: Current Issues and Strategies" is coming to Penn State Harrisburg's Gallery Lounge at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 19. Guest speakers will be the coalition's director, Delilah Rumberg, and its public policy director, Diane Moyer.

Both events are free to the public.