Lectures
Penn State Intercom......September
27, 2001
Keynote address topic
is master's degrees
Debra W. Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, will be the keynote speaker for the annual Graduate School Faculty Workshop to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Oct. 3 at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.
Stewart's talk, titled "The Changing Landscape of the Master's Education at Research Universities: Implications for the Future," will address recent and emerging trends in master's education. She also will discuss innovation in curricular design and delivery and changing enrollment patterns nationally.
Following Stewart's talk, a panel of University faculty members will share their ideas regarding master's degrees at Penn State and will give insight into ways of conceiving new degrees or modifying traditional master's degrees to meet today's needs. Panelists also will examine data on the history of master's degrees and the future of these degrees in their respective disciplines, and will offer their thoughts on the MBA program, the Sloan professional master of science degrees, the World Campus' master of education degree, master's degrees for part-time/returning students and recent changes to some traditional master's degrees.
For information, e-mail Richard H. Yahner, associate dean of the Graduate School, at rhy@psu.edu.
'State of the Times'
will be the forum's topic
Janet Robinson, president
of The New York Times, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture
at noon Friday, Oct. 5, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on
the University Park campus.
The topic of her presentation is "The State of the Times."
Robinson was named senior vice president, newspaper operations for The New York Times Co. last year and is responsible for leading the operations of all the company's newspaper properties. She retains her position as president and general manager of The New York Times newspaper, which she has held since 1996.
The Penn State Forum is a lunchtime speaker series offered by the Faculty Staff Club and is sponsored in part by the Penn State Bookstore. It is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members and include lunch. Reservations can be made by mail or by stopping by the Faculty Staff Club office at 103 HUB-Robeson Center. Tickets will be on sale at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speech and a question-and-answer session at noon.
For information call (814) 865-7590.
Topics range from roads
to system analysis
The Department of Geography has scheduled a number of seminars for late September through early November at University Park.
Coffee sessions are at 3:30 p.m. with all seminars beginning at 4 p.m. The schedule follows:
* Sept. 28: "Canal Boats and Cyberhighways: Infrastructure in Pennsylvania,Moscow and Tokyo," by Phillip Gershmel from the Department of Geography at the University of Minnesota, 301 Steidle Building.
* Oct. 12: "China's Village Landscapes and Global Biogeochemical Change," by Earl Ellis from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 273 Willard Building.
* Oct. 19: "Multiscale Advanced Raster Map Analysis System Definition, Design and Development," G.P. Patil, distinguished professor of mathematical statistics, Eberly College of Science, 301 Steidle Building.
* Oct. 26: "Time Does Not Tell: Path Dependency in a Globalizing World, the Case of the World Watch Industry," presented by Amy Glasmeier, professor of geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, 301 Steidle Building.
* Nov. 2: "The G.I. Bill and the Changing Geographies of U.S. Higher Education, Jennifer Adams, graduate assistant in the Department of Geography, 301 Steidle Building.
Public issues forum
talks about alcohol
A public issues forum on "Alcohol: Controlling the Toxic Spill" will be held from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus.
Sponsored by the Partnership: Campus and Community United against dangerous drinking, in cooperation with the State College Area School District Community Education and the Centre Daily Times, the forum will examine dangerous drinking and all that it can involve, including injury, sexual assault, vandalism and property damage.
Free food and refreshments will be served. To register, call (814) 231-1062.
Larry Flynt hustles for
First Amendment lecture
Publisher and First
Amendment advocate Larry Flynt will present a free public lecture at 8
p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in Heritage Hall at the HUB-Robeson Center on the
University Park campus. 
The lecture will be presented by the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment.
Flynt, controversial publisher of Hustler magazine and subject of the 1996 movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt," attracted attention during the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton by using a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post and offering $1 million to anyone who could "provide documentary evidence of illicit sexual relations with a congressman, senator or other prominent officeholder." Information received from that offer led to the resignation of House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston.
Along with Flynt's lecture, organizers also plan a free screening of the movie about Flynt at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, in Carnegie Cinema, 113 Carnegie Building.
Comparative Literature
Luncheon lists talks
Two speakers have been scheduled for the Comparative Literature Luncheon series, a weekly informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community.
The events begin with lunch from 12:15 to 12:40 p.m. in 102 Kern Building on the University Park campus. Participants may bring their own lunch or buy something in Kern cafeteria. Coffee and tea are provided. The speaker will begin at about 12:40 p.m. Speakers are:
* Oct. 1: William Boelhower, professor in the Department of English and American Studies, University of Padua, Italy, on " 'We the People': Where Does Sovereignty Lie in Multicultural Societies?" He also will speak on "Comparing Multicultural Societies: Rights and Bipolitics in America and Europe" from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 306 Burrowes Building.
* Oct. 15: John Carlos Rowe, University of California, Irvine, on "Comparative Literature and Institutional Change."
For information, e-mail Daniel Walden at dxw8@psu.edu.
The events are free to the public.
Pulitzer recipients to
lead Foster conference
Authors Richard Ben Cramer and David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winners who have written books about politics and sports, will visit University Park Oct. 3 and 4 for the semiannual Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers.
Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life and What it Takes: The Way to White House, earned his Pulitzer Prize for international reporting while working for the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1977 for his coverage of fighting in the Middle East.
Maraniss, author of When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi and First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton, earned his Pulitzer Prize for national reporting while working at the Washington Post in 1993.
The conference includes two sessions free to the public.
The writers will read from and discuss their books about sports at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in 121 Sparks Building. The second session follows the same format. The authors will read from and discuss their political books at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in Foster Auditorium of Pattee Library.
Wireless industry is theme
for WebGIS conference
Imagine having an emergency in an unfamiliar town, calling 911 on your cell phone, and having the dispatcher know automatically where to send help because your phone has a self-locating capability.
The promises and issues related to that technological advance are the focus of WebGIS/GeoWireless 2001 to be held Oct. 22 and 23 on the University Park campus.
Sponsored in its third year by the University's School of Information Sciences and Technology, the conference will feature keynote remarks by U.S. Rep. John Peterson and Mark Putterman, manager of business development, IBM Location-Based Services.
The conference will explore business, public service and commercial applications along with the multiple impacts of each. Discussion includes new WebGIS technologies, automatic crash notification and related topics, new opportunities for the wireless industry and location-based services, and future prospects for the geo-spatial industry.
For information, call Carolyn Andersen at (814) 863-5143, e-mail conferenceinfo1@outreach.psu.edu or check the Web at http://www.GoGeoSpatial.org.
Methods of estimating
crop yields to be topic
Xianzeng Niu, a doctoral candidate in soil science, will present "Can Remote Sensing Help Improve Regional Crop Yield Estimation?" from 3:35 to 4:25 p.m. Sept. 28 in 107 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building on the University Park campus. The host is the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. For information, call (814) 863-1601.
Davis, Pitts among
scheduled fall speakers
The Department of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations is planning a number of speakers and workshops on the University Park campus.
The schedule follows:
* Thursday, Oct. 18: Labor Studies and Industrial Relations Professional Workshop, "Developments in Dispute Management and Resolution," 102 Kern Building, 1 to 4 p.m. Event is free to the public. For information, call (814) 865-5425.
* Thursday, Oct. 18: Doreen Davis, chair of the Labor and Employment Law Department at Morgan, Lewis & Bockivs LLP will speak at 8 p.m. in the Alumni Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center. The Labor Studies and Industrial Relations Distinguished Alumni Speech is free to the public. For information, call (814) 865-5425.
* Friday, Oct. 19: The Labor Studies and Industrial Relations Affiliated Program Group will hold its semi-annual board meeting at 8 a.m. at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.
* Tuesday, Oct. 23: Clare Midgley of London Guildhall University, London, will discuss "British Anti-Slavery and Feminism in Transatlantic Perspective" during a Gender History Workshop from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in 102 Weaver Building.
* Thursday, Oct. 25: Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts will speak on race and gender at 7:30 p.m. at Heritage Hall in the HUB-Robeson Cultural Center. He is the African and African-American Studies Cyril Griffith Speaker Series distinguished lecturer. For information, call (814) 863-4026 or e-mail ard5@psu.edu.
* Friday, Nov. 2: Rena Repetti, associate professor of psychology at UCLA, will speak on "Research on the Effects of Daily Job Stress on Family Interactions" at noon in 102 Weaver Building. Lunch is provided from 11:45 a.m. to noon. Repetti is part of the Labor Studies and Industrial Relations Work Family Speaker Series. The event is free to the public. For information, call (814) 865-5425 or check the Web at http://lsir.la.psu.edu/what_f.htm
* Tuesday, Nov. 6: The Women's Studies Program Fall Undergraduate Forum will be held from noon to 3 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the HUB-Robeson Center. For information, call (814) 863-4025.
* Tuesday, Nov. 6: Amy Richards, cofounder of the Third Wave Foundation, and Lebwah Sykes, membership network coordinator of the Third Wave Foundation, will speak on "Barbies and Boycotts: Third Wave Feminism?" at 3 p.m. in the Palmer Museum of Art. The event, part of the Women's Studies Program's Feminist Scholars Series, is free to the public. For information, call (814) 863-4025.
Science conference aimed
at middle-schoolers
The Women in the Sciences and Engineering Institute will hold its 12th annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference in Science, Mathematics and Engineering on Saturday, Oct. 13, on the University Park campus.
The event is aimed at sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, their teachers and parents.
The conference's primary goal is to interest young women in scientific/technical careers by providing them with knowledge and experiences related to these types of careers.
The group will convene in 101 Thomas Building and then disperse to workshops held in various labs and classrooms across the campus.
The program fee is $7 per participant and includes lunch. For information or a registration form, call (814) 865-3342, e-mail cxg1@psu.edu or visit the Web at http://www.psu.edu/dept/wise/. The institute's fax number is (814) 863-0085.
Workshop set on
leveraging Web technology
Ian Hau, vice president, cross functional process design at GlaxoSmithKline, will conduct a workshop on "Transforming Processes in University Systems by Leveraging Web Technology" from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, Oct. 19, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus.
Hau will share GlaxoSmithKline's "Fast Cycle Change" (FCC) process. FCC is used to identify and realize large improvement opportunities through redesigning processes and leveraging technology.
The Web Strategies Implementation Team and the Center for Quality and Planning are co-sponsoring the session.
To register for the workshop, which is free to faculty and staff, call (814) 863-8721 or e-mail psucqp@psu.edu.
Nobel laureate's speech
topic will be rationality
James Mirrlees, 1996 Nobel laureate in economics, will give a public lecture titled "Evolution and Rationality" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in 102 Kern Building on the University park campus.
Mirrlees has published widely on the optimal taxation of income and welfare economics. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1996 for his work, which has become a principal constituent of the modern analysis of complex information and incentive problems in economics. The lecture is free to the public.
For information, call James Jordan at (814) 865-2201 or e-mail jxj13@psu.edu.