In the News
November 21, 2002

Commencement to be held
Dec. 21 at University Park
The University Park campus will hold its fall 2002 commencement ceremonies for approximately 3,266 associate, baccalaureate and graduate degree students on Saturday, Dec. 21.

Poster design focus is the
need to continue the journey
A lone boy stands silhouetted against the dawning sky, looking up to a tree atop the hill that he is halfway done climbing. Symbolically, the tree is a future in which prejudices will not cause such suffering as is so often the case today, and the boy is the civil rights movement that has brought great change in seeking that goal, but which cannot rest on its laurels. This image, and the philosophy behind it, bolster the recent choice of "We Won't Stop Here" as the theme for many of the events tied into the 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration on the University Park campus next January.

Penn Staters proliferate
as presidents
In 2002, at least seven Penn State alumni or former University faculty members or administrators became the top official of a college or university elsewhere in the world of higher education. Their names are part of a growing list of presidents and chancellors across the country with blue and white running in their veins. At least 32 other living and nine deceased individuals connected to Penn State are known to have the honor of such positions now or in the past.

Hemingway project
takes Spanier to Cuba
Last week Sandra Spanier, associate professor of English at Penn State, traveled to Havana as part of a U.S. delegation that signed an historic collaborative agreement with Cuba to restore and preserve the books and papers of Ernest Hemingway at Finca Vigia, his home in Cuba, where he lived from 1939-1960.

Kirch voted chair-elect
of AAMC Council of Deans
Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, dean of the College of Medicine, senior vice president for health affairs and campus executive officer of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, was voted chair-elect of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans. Kirch will serve as chair-elect until July 1, when he becomes council chair and a member of the association's executive committee.

Shibboleth links
University to N.C. State
This fall semester Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Department of Physics are piloting an Internet2-sponsored project called Shibboleth -- a sophisticated computer architecture designed to facilitate the secure sharing of resources between institutions.

Benefits open
enrollment continues
The annual Employee Benefits Division Open Enrollment period is under way and continues through Nov. 29. During this time, employees have the opportunity to enroll themselves and/or eligible dependents in a University sponsored medical plan and/or to change from one plan to another.

Schraer Award
nominations sought
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2002-2003 Rosemary Schraer Mentor Award, established by the Penn State Commission for Women. The award is presented each spring to a University employee who exemplifies Rosemary Schraer's giving of herself as a mentor and who has voluntarily, over a period of time, excelled in helping others recognize and achieve their potential.

End-of-semester transportation
to affect traffic at University Park
As in past years, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) will be sponsoring buses to help transport students home from University Park for the holidays and semester breaks. These buses — which load along Pollock Road just west of the HUB-Robeson Center and near Parking Lot 80 — will have a minimal impact on traffic flow during departure times, particularly along Pollock Road at the heart of the campus.

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