Lectures
Penn State Intercom......February 6, 2003

Howard University dean
to join heritage activities

Jannette L. Dates, dean of the Howard University College of Communications, will present a free public lecture and work with students during celebrations for African-American Heritage Month on Friday, Feb. 7, on the University Park campus.

She will present "Black Images in the Media" as part of activities scheduled from 6 to 9:30 p.m. in 113 Carnegie Building.

Dates' research has focused on media images and effects, media treatment of African-Americans and similar multicultural groups and the significance of diversity in media.

Lecturer to explore
drinking water byproducts

Philip C. Singer, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Dan Okun distinguished professor of environmental Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will give a seminar from 3 to 4 p.m. March 17 in the Science and Technology Building at Penn State Harrisburg.

Singer, who is an Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors distinguished lecturer, will discuss "Formation and Control of Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water." He currently directs the Drinking Water Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For the past 27 years, Singer's research has focused on the formation and control of disinfection by-products in drinking water.

The event is free to the public. A reception will follow Singer's talk.

Seminar to help women
with professional success

Jacqueline Mintz will lead a one-day seminar designed for women seeking development techniques on how to assess personal effectiveness and engage all types of audiences.

"Strategic Self-Presentation for Career Success" will be held Feb. 24 in the alumni lounge at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.

Mintz, founding director of centers for teaching and learning at the University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University, will use her experiences in education and theatrical arts to lead the group in discussions of the roles played in professional contexts to images they have, or aspire to have, in the world. These roles will be analyzed through exercises and mutual assessment. Then, the group will practice behaviors that they will use later as they interact in their daily lives.

To register, call (814) 865-3443 or (800) 228-1627 by Feb. 7.

Forum on alternative
medicine set for March 31

The University will hold its first forum on alternative medicine, "Penn State's Forum on Whole Person Healing: New Approaches to Health and Healing," on March 31 at The Penn Stater Conference Hotel on the University Park campus.

Physician and author Larry Dossey will kick off the conference, which will explore the roles of the mind and spirituality in healing.

Dossey will deliver the keynote address, "Meaning and Medicine," at 10 a.m. and a lecture, "Mind and Medicine: What the Fuss Is All About," at 7:30 p.m.

The forum also will feature several local experts in the field of alternative medicine, addressing such topics as the integration of alternative therapies in a rural hospital; "patient-centered" care, a facility's effort to provide a warm and inviting atmosphere; and how University programs can offer students ways to think beyond traditional medical approaches to health and healing.

Cancer prevention
specialist to give talk

Stephen D. Hursting, deputy director of the Office of Prevention Oncology in the Division of Cancer Prevention of the National Cancer Institute, will speak at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, in 108 Wartik Building on the University Park campus.

His presentation is "Nutritional Modulation of Carcinogensis in p53-Deficient Mice: IGF-1 As a Mechanistic Target."

It is sponsored by the Graduate Program in Nutrition's Spring 2003 Ruth Pike Lecture Series.

Scientists go behind
headlines with Mars talk

A free public lecture, "'Water Found on Mars' ... The Story Behind the Headlines," will be presented at 11 a.m. Feb. 8 in 100 Thomas Building on the University Park campus.

The presenters are Christopher Shinohara and Heather Enos, managers with the Gamma Ray Spectrometer Odyssey Team in the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona.

The lecture is the third of six consecutive Saturday-morning lectures during the 2003 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science. The series, "Beyond Earth: Living on Other Worlds," is designed to be a free minicourse for the enjoyment and education of residents in Central Pennsylvania.

Shinohara and Enos will discuss the extraordinary effort it takes to build and operate a successful science instrument for a mission to Mars, such as NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter spacecraft and its Gamma Ray Spectrometer, which began mapping the Red Planet during February 2002. The instrument and its team of scientists recently were featured in news stories worldwide when data obtained by the spectrometer provided scientists with the best direct evidence yet available of water ice on the surface of Mars.

During their lecture, Shinohara and Enos will share the recent "water ice" findings from the Mars Odyssey Mission and will explain what this discovery might mean for the future of Mars exploration.

For information, call (814) 863-8453, e-mail science@psu.edu or click on the Web link at http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers/FrontiersIndex.html.

Former Waterworks
chairman to discuss future

Marilyn Ware, chairman emerita of the board of American Water Works, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture at noon Wednesday, Feb. 19, at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.

The topic of her presentation is "Ready, Set, Learn ... Jump-Starting Our Future."

Ware was named chairman of American Water Works Co. Inc. -- the largest publicly traded U.S. corporation devoted exclusively to the business of water -- in 1988, after serving as vice chairman of the board since 1984, and as a member of the board since 1982.

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 more information, call (814) 865-7590.

Flying saucers to be
discussed at luncheon

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.

Thomas Beebee, professor of comparative literature, will talk about "Golden Flying Saucers: Ernesto Cardenal and Millennial Ufology" on Monday, Feb. 10.

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.

For information, e-mail Daniel Walden at dxw8@psu.edu.

Cells, immune system
explored during seminar

Dr. Ralph M. Steinman, Henry G. Kunkel professor and senior physician in the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at Rockefeller University, will present a seminar in the Huck Institute for Life Sciences' Colloquium at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 11.

The colloquium will be videoconferenced from 108 Wartik Laboratory on the University Park campus to Lecture Room D at Hershey Medical Center.

Steinman's topic is "Dendritic cells and the control of the immune system."

Ethics, weather are
topics for discussion

Robert Frisque, professor of molecular virology, will discuss "Ethics and the Weather" from 3:35 to 4:25 p.m. Feb. 7 in 101 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.

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