Lectures
Penn State Intercom......March
21, 2002
Stress management
expert to discuss coping
Loretta LaRoche, stress management expert and author, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture at noon Tuesday, April 2, at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.
The topic of her presentation is "The Joy of Stress: Humor as a Coping Mechanism."
An international consultant and lecturer in the field of stress management, LaRoche is adjunct faculty of the Mind/Body Medical Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
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. This event has been sold out.
For information call (814) 865-7590.
Series focuses on
electronic resource sharing
The University Libraries are sponsoring the videoconference "A New Harvest: Revealing Hidden Resources With the Open Archives Metadata Harvesting Protocol" from noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library, University Park.
The conference is the first in a series of three satellite videoconferences, "Steering by Standards," presented by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The series is designed to help librarians and other information professionals face the challenges of charting new organizational directions that incorporate emerging standards for electronic resource sharing.
Lorcan Dempsey, vice president of the OCLC Office of Research, is the host. The featured speaker is Herbert Van de Sompel, director of e-Strategy and Programmes at the British Library. The series is free to the public.
For information, call Judy Hewes at (814) 865-1755 or e-mail jjh@psulias.psu.edu.
Symposium keynote
address set for Friday
Patrick MacCarthy of the Colorado School of Mines will open the Fifth Environmental Chemistry Symposium with his keynote address at 4 p.m. Friday, March 22, in 26 Hosler auditorium on the University Park campus.
"Humic Substances -- The Practical and Intellectual Challenges" is his topic.
Following the keynote, 37 posters will discuss topics ranging from the impact of volcanism on global carbon cycles to bacterial adhesion in porous media.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 23, 12 presenters will explore areas ranging from protection of plants from oxidative stress to zero-valent nanoparticle systems in 22 Deike. The symposium will conclude at 2 p.m. with MacCarthy discussing "Heterogeneity in Humic Substances -- An Ecological Necessity?" in 22 Deike.
The event is free to the public. A complete schedule for the symposium can be found at http://www.essc.psu.edu/CECG_symposium/.
For information, contact Frank von Willert at (814) 863-7112 or frankvw@psu.edu and Courtney Turich (814) 865-7965 or cturich@geosc.psu.edu.
Scientist who read
human genome to speak 
J. Craig Venter, scientist in biology and medicine, will speak at 8 p.m. Monday, March 25, in Schwab Auditorium on the University Park campus.
Venter's appearance is part of the University's Distinguished Speakers Series. The event is free to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets are now available at the Eisenhower box office. Limited tickets may be available the night of the speech.
Venter was the first scientist to read the entire genetic code, the genome, of a living organism. As president and chief scientific officer of Celera Genomics Group and the founder, chairman of the board and former president of The Institute for Genomic Research, he made world headlines last year when Celera announced it had deciphered the entire genetic code of a human being, which holds the key to important drugs and treatments for disease.
Reading, reception celebrate
Public Poetry Project
The second annual "An Evening of Pennsylvania Poets: Readings in Celebration of the Public Poetry Project" will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 28 in the Lawrence G. and Ellen Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library, University Park.
A reception in the Charles W. Mann Jr. Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, immediately follows the event.
The poets include the Pennsylvania Center for the Book Best Unpublished Poet in Pennsylvania winner Margaret Almon of Lansdowne, Deborah Burnham of the University of Pennsylvania, Maurice Kilwein Guevara of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Scroggin of Messiah College.
The readings and reception are free to the public.
For information, visit http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu or call Steven L. Herb at (814) 865-0401 or e-mail slh18@psu.edu.
History, future of space
travel to be explored
Peter R. Cavanagh, distinguished professor of kinesiology, medicine, orthopedics, and rehabilitation and biobehavioral health, will present "A History of Humans in Space: The Politics, the Science and the Social Context" at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 30, in 100 Thomas Building on the University Park campus.
The event is free to the public.
Cavanagh, director of the Center for Locomotion Studies, uses music, images, voice recordings and video on four screens to illuminate the chronological presentation.
James A. Pawelczyk, assistant professor of kinesiology and physiology, and a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1998, will introduce Cavanagh. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet both scientists and ask them questions during the informal reception that follows.
Diversity issues topic
of upcoming conference
Diversity in the workplace will be one of the many issues discussed at the Third Annual S.T.A.R.T. Conference to be held Saturday, March 23, at University Park.
Undergraduates in The Smeal College of Business Administration organize the Striving Toward Awareness and Respect for Tomorrow event. This year's theme is "One Puzzle, Many Pieces."
The conference includes several workshops and information sessions, as well as a keynote address. In addition to providing students with the foundation to gain insights into the corporate world, the organizers hope the event will introduce attendees to issues regarding diversity in the work place.
For information on the event or to register, e-mail start@www.smeal.psu.edu.
Filmmaker to discuss
look at prison company
Filmmaker Ashley Hunt will discuss his debut feature film, "Corrections," at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, at Penn State Lehigh Valley, and at 6 p.m. at Perkins Student Center, Penn State Berks.
The film examines the Corrections Corp. of America, a company that builds and manages private prisons. The event is part of the ongoing Learning Community: Prison Project.
The event is free to the public. For information, call the Lehigh Valley campus at (610) 285-5000 or the Berks campus at (610) 396-6000.
Technology helps map
vintage trade routes
The University's Center for the History of the Book and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book are sponsoring the lecture "How to Map a Book: William Anderson's London Commercial Dictionary and Sea-Port Gazetteer (1826)" at 4 p.m. Monday, March 25, in the Charles W. Mann Jr. Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.
Deryck W. Holdsworth and Hank Rademacher of the Department of Geography will discuss how, using today's computer technology, a book historian can create maps based on information in Anderson's book.
The lecture is free to the public. For information, call James L. W. West III at (814) 863-7551 or e-mail jlw14@psu.edu.
Speaker looks at feminist
theory in German novel
The Comparative Literature Luncheon, a weekly informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community, has announced the next speaker in this semester's series.
The events begin with lunch from 12:15 p.m. 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. The events are free to the public.
Cecilia Novero, assistant professor of German, will discuss "Spinning the Text: DJ meets Feminist Theory in a Contemporary German Novel" on March 25.
For information, e-mail Daniel Walden at dxw8@psu.edu.