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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2000: article | |
| Reaching Out... | |||||||||||
| WPSX-TV celebrates KidsFest 2000
Hundreds of children and their parents visited WPSX-TV’s display during KidsFest 2000 at the Nittany Mall in State College, Pa.
As part of the one-day festival, volunteers from Penn State Public Broadcasting read stories to children and handed out educational materials on PBS programs, including the newest children’s program Between the Lions. The display also included Big Bird and Cookie Monster from WPSX’s reading studio set.
Children had opportunities to color pictures of the Between the Lions characters, and then volunteers made the pictures into pin-on buttons that the children could wear. Throughout the festival, WPSX played a video of Between the Lions for children and parents to view. Volunteers also applied Dragon Tales temporary tattoos to children.
A highlight of the event was WPSX’s invitation to each child to select a book to take home with them.
WPSX-TV plans to participate in children’s festivals at other locations.
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| Agribusiness and the city
Pennsylvania legislators, agribusiness leaders and educators from K–12 and higher education met this spring at the W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences in Philadelphia to discuss the role of agriculture in the metropolitan area.
The Penn State Agricultural Council hosted the event. The Agricultural Council is an independent association whose membership comprises more than 90 organizations — agricultural or related trade associations, commodity groups and cooperatives, media, providers of agribusiness products and services, government organizations and related general-interest groups. They advise Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and serve as an advocate for agricultural education to both legislative policy makers and agricultural leaders.
The Saul High School event was designed to help state and local officials better understand how Philadelphia interrelates with and benefits from Pennsylvania’s agricultural industries and education programs. Next year, the focus will be on Cooperative Extension and resident education.
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| Penn College forest technology students save bat colony | |||||||||||
| With their prolific ability to control insect pests, bats make good neighbors. As houseguests, though, the diminutive nocturnal predators quickly wear out their welcome. That’s what happened at Maple Hills United Methodist Church near Williamsport, Pa., where, for 25 years, a breeding colony of about 3,000 Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) has caused a slew of problems, including foul odors and showers of bat droppings whenever the church bell rings. The church congregation finally had enough and opted to evict the bats by sealing the opening through which the tiny mammals enter the structure and by installing new siding. To offer a housing alternative and to keep thousands of ousted bats from roosting in neighboring homes, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania College of Technology and Lowe’s joined forces to construct a “bat condo” which weighs nearly two tons and is capable of holding 6,000 adult Little Brown Bats and 6,000 of their offspring. The condo is just the third of its kind to be built in Pennsylvania, said Donald Nibert, assistant professor of forestry at Penn College and coordinator of construction for the project. “A great deal of labor is involved in the construction,” Nibert said. “I can understand why there are only two others in the state. There are 86 sheets of plywood inside the condo forming baffles, which must be scraped on both sides so the bats can find footholds.” The Game Commission supplied the materials, purchased at cost from the Lowe’s store in Montoursville, and about 75 forest technology students from Penn College provided the labor to build the 8-foot-by-8-foot structure, which was placed on 10-foot-tall, 6-inch-by-6-inch treated-wood posts. The condo was positioned 150 yards from the church on a concrete base. Church members, the Game Commission and Penn College students hope the bats will take up residence in the condo and continue to provide the vital service at which they excel. Bats are the only major predator of night-flying insects. A single bat can consume nearly 3,000 insects a night. | |||||||||||
| GE locomotive cab supports courses and research at Penn State Erie | |||||||||||
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GE Transportation Systems (GETS) has donated a six-ton locomotive cab to Penn State Erie to be used for faculty and student research projects and to develop a field service technology program in remote monitoring and diagnostics. The locomotive cab was built in 1995–96 as part of GE’s development of the AC 6000 horsepower engine. Originally used as a model for testing and development, it now boasts both GE and Penn State colors and logos and will serve as a test laboratory for students working on projects in electrical and mechanical engineering. “We are pleased to partner with GETS to teach the technology of the future,” Provost and Dean Dr. John M. Lilley said. “This locomotive cab is just one of many ways that GE is helping Behrend’s School of Engineering and Engineering Technology prepare engineering students to enter the workforce.” The locomotive cab provides the basis for a new and unique upper-division engineering technology program planned for fall 2000, Lilley said. The GETS/PSU Technology Service Program will allow engineering students who follow a specific applied systems course to complete internships at GETS full time during the summer and part time during the academic year, with the potential to be hired directly into a service technology position. The locomotive cab provides a realistic test laboratory for teaching the global positioning satellite system (GPS), fleet management and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as use of advanced communication systems for remote monitoring and diagnostics. In addition to working in the cab, students will have hands-on experiences at the GE Learning Center and the Building 60 Test Lab in Erie. “The locomotive cab also will open new avenues for faculty research,” Dr. Robert A. Gray, assistant professor of engineering and engineering technology, said. For the past two years, Gray has worked with GETS to study electromagnetic wave propagation, data transmission and human factor engineering in controls and displays. Glenn Shaffer, manager of service development for locomotive remote monitoring and diagnostics and Penn State alumnus, is the GETS program manager for the partnership. “This is a great opportunity for students to apply their textbook theory to the real world,” Shaffer said. In addition to collaborating in engineering and engineering technology, Penn State Erie and GETS are working together to provide international training, local internships and co-ops and e-business research. | ||||||||||
| Venezuelan educators visit Penn State
Officials from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) in Caracas visited Penn State to explore university partnerships with faculty in the Inter-American Distance Education Consortium (CREAD).
“We are here to prepare to sign a general agreement between Penn State and Universidad Central de Venezuela to exchange students, to bring lecturers and junior faculty to Penn State for doctoral work and to get advice about distance education,” explained Dr. Guiseppe Giannetto, vice president for academic affairs and president-elect of the Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Dr. Benjamín Sánchez, dean of the College of Humanities and Education at the Universidad Central de Venezuela added, “We are developing a distance education program and would like to take advantage of Penn State’s experience, particularly in choosing technology.”
A second group of experts from Ecuador, Colombia and Chile participated in a planning workshop for a new Penn State course titled “Local to Global: Environmental Interactions: A Technological Outreach Project Across North, Central and South America.” It will be the first bilingual Internet course in Spanish and English offered at Penn State. This planning meeting is being funded by grants from Outreach and Cooperative Extension’s Program Innovation Fund and by the Office of Undergraduate Education.
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| High school students compete in national math contest
During a summer weekend at University Park campus, 1,100 high school students from the east coast matched wits with other students around the country in a race to solve mathematical problems. The American Regions Mathematics League has sponsored the national contest for the last 25 years.
The competition began in 1975 with the New York and New England Mathematics Leagues competing against each other. Today, the event involves 2,000 students and teachers from around the nation, according to Dr. Mark Saul, president of the American Regions Mathematics League.
The photos on this page illustrate some of the activities that took place at University Park campus. Students had a chance to tour Penn State while panels of judges checked their work. Victorious student teams won plaques, T-shirts and other prizes for their efforts. The contest was held simultaneously at three sites in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Nevada.
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| Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania/Maryland and Penn State partner for supervisor development program | |||||||||||
| Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Columbia Gas of Maryland are partnering with Penn State to enhance the leadership abilities of their employees through the Supervisory Leadership Certificate program. The certificate program is part of the companies’ overall corporate mission to foster and develop employees who are committed, proud and customer-focused. Ed Santry, vice president of human resources for Columbia Gas, said that the program will benefit both entry-level and experienced front-line leaders of the organization. “At Columbia Gas, we believe that an educated and well-informed workforce is key to our success,” he said. “Through this partnership, we are providing the opportunity for current and future leaders to continually build skills through a well-respected educational institution.” What attracted Columbia Gas to the program, Santry said, was that it catered to the nontraditional student, and Penn State Management Development Programs and Services had a proven track record in helping shape leaders for both today and tomorrow. “The ease and convenience of working with the Penn State team is a key part to helping our employees and leaders learn and grow,” he added. “The Penn State faculty provides a great experience for our employees to learn.” Columbia Gas supervisors will participate in six two-day courses to improve competencies in areas such as communication skills, performance management and dealing with performance problems. Participants will receive a Penn State Supervisory Leadership Certificate upon completing the six courses. “Today’s workers need a much more flexible and more advanced set of skills in order to meet the demands of our new economy,” Dr. Wesley E. Donahue, director of Penn State’s Management Development Programs and Services, said. “Penn State’s Management Development certificate programs are based on up-to-date University research and delivered with the practical approach and applied learning strategies our working students need. Our partnership with Columbia Gas represents a real commitment to the future of all of the company’s employees.” | |||||||||||
| International exchange for Technology Transfer
Four representatives from the Poland Technology Transfer program visited Penn State this spring to compare and share best practices in technology transfer.
Krzysztof Gulda, technology business analyst at Fabrykat 2000, U.S. Agency for International Development Manufacturing Technology Transfer Project; Ursula Gacek, president of Tarnów Industrial Cluster; Michal Pietraszewski, project manager of the Fundacja Inkubator Center of Technology Transfer; and Grzegorz Gromada, member of the management board of Wroclaw Technology Park, met with 36 faculty and staff from the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP) and other organizations and programs, including the Ben Franklin Technology Program, the Industrial Research Office, the Intellectual Property Office, Penn State Research Park, the Research Commercialization Office, the Small Business Development Center, Cooperative Extension, eBusiness Research Center and the College of Engineering.
The four also participated in nine company visits and met with representatives from SEDA-COG, a regional economic development district; the Management Services program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; and the Centre County Technical School.
The visitors said they appreciated the opportunity to learn about the various programs and their role in applying and adapting new research and technology breakthroughs from the University to meet business and industry needs.
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| PENNTAP clients report $4.7 million in environmental benefits in 1999 | |||||||||||
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By Barbara Hale Penn State’s statewide technical outreach network — the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP) — a member of the Pennsylvania Environmental Assistance Network (PEAN), provided 900 cases of technical assistance to 620 clients in all 67 of the Commonwealth’s counties in 1999. This included 190 cases of environmental- and energy-related assistance for 150 clients in 45 counties. “Forty-five percent of these cases were referred to PENNTAP from other organizations,” Jack Gido, PENNTAP director, said. “It shows that PEAN is working.” In addition, PENNTAP made 85 referrals to other service providers, companies and government agencies for environmental- and energy-related cases, Gido noted. In ongoing evaluation surveys, clients reported $9.9 million in economic benefits from PENNTAP assistance, including cost savings, sales increases and capital expenditures. Clients also reported 98 percent satisfaction with the assistance provided by PENNTAP technical specialists. Of these benefits, $4,650,000 was the result of environmental- and energy-related assistance, along with 99 percent client satisfaction. | ||||||||||
