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Valetta Eshbach, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, will officially retire on June 30, 2012, after completing 3 years of part-time, and 13 years of full-time instruction at Penn State Berks.

Eshbach began her career at the campus in 1996, as an Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics. In 1999, she began teaching full-time a fixed-term Lecturer of Mathematics.

During her career at Berks, Eshbach has been involved in several organizations. She has served as Chair of the Budget and Facilities Committee of the Science Division, since 2002. Also that year, she was a member of AAOC Committee for Faculty Senate. Additionally, from 2000-2002, she served as a member of CRTC Committee for Faculty Senate.

Eshbach earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education from Alvernia University and a master’s degree in Mathematics Education from Kutztown University. She is a member of PSEA, Pennsylvania State Employees Association; and PCTM, Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

In response to what her plans for retirement include, Eshbach said she looks forward to enjoying new interests after 44 continuous years of teaching in high school and at Penn State Berks.

The day-long event features sessions with titles such as: Hydrogen fueled Cars; Zentangles, Math, and Art; Math Kounts; Lemonade Stand, SpongeBob Generics, Finger Print Analysis; and Encapsulation and Encoding.

This program has occurred every year since 1997, when it was created and organized by Dr. Janet Winter, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics. After 31 years of service at Penn State Berks, Winter anticipates that she will retire at the end of August. In order to ensure the conference will continue to be held in upcoming years, Winter has established a coordinating committee, including members: Elizabeth Wiggins Lopez, Elaine Berish, Tricia Clark, Selvi Jagadesan, Sue Leh, and Alice Shaparenko.

In addition to this program, Winter initiated the Science, Engineering, and Technology Conference for eleventh graders, the Science for the Schools program (grades 5-10), and the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, a science and engineering program for female Penn State Berks students.

The competition spanned from fall 2011 to part of spring 2012, and teams were eligible to submit their entries at either time. Grand prize, awarded to team with the highest combined score of a paper and presentation, is a “traveling” trophy which is housed at the winner’s college. In addition, each member of the team receives a $250 Walmart gift card and a personalized coaching and training session from The Total Solutions Group, Inc., allowing students to optimize their development of professional skills and career planning. All participating teams receive a trophy and gain practical and theoretical experience that helps build an excellent base for a career in Business.

Ted Smyer, VP of Programs with the Center for Retailing Solutions and Market Manager for Walmart in Southeast Pennsylvania, has been with the Center since the inception, last year. He acknowledged the Berks team as, “creating the most creative and innovative Integrated Retailing Management Plan with analysis and recommendations substantiated by research data.”

This is the first project at Penn State Berks to pursue LEED Certification and the first in the Penn State system, outside University Park campus, to be awarded gold certification.

Among the innovative design elements noted in the award, is the collaboration with our students in the advanced business writing class that resulted in a signage program promoting a "Sustainability Awareness" program.  

Designed to complement the natural beauty and existing architecture of the campus, the three-story structure is as cutting-edge as the learning and discovery that take place within it. The facility includes a range of sustainability strategies, including rainwater collection and a heat-recovery system, just to name a few.

The Gaige Building exceeded LEED requirements, and was evaluated in six major categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation in Design.

Forty-two thousand square feet of natural habitat were preserved by constructing the Gaige Building on its current site, rather than in the woodlands behind the building. In addition, the wooden doors are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which ensures their composition comes from sustainable forests.

Aspects of the building that reflect the Water Efficiency category include two buttons to control the water needed to flush toilets, with low-flow fixtures. Two 35,000-gallon underground tanks collect rooftop rainwater (grey water) which is then purified and used to flush toilets, water plants, and wash the building exterior, for a 92% reduction in portable water consumption. Water bottle filling stations, equipped with motion sensors for touch-free sanitary operation, save energy and materials normally used to make, transport, fill, and cool typical plastic water bottles. Outside, the rain garden captures excess rainwater (grey water) from underground storage tanks. Native plants absorb this, preventing runoff and flooding.

The Gaige building adheres to various criteria for the Energy and Atmosphere component. Exterior features including light colored pavers, terracotta tiles, and a white roof reflect sunlight, saving 26% in energy costs for a typical building of this size. Sensors in hallway ceilings adjust interior lighting based on the amount of daylight entering the building. Natural light illuminates 95% of the building, promoting a more productive environment, while reducing energy consumption. All occupied public spaces have natural light from windows or doors; and all rooms contain occupancy sensors that turn lights on and off. Sunshades minimize glare, angling off incoming rays, and have an added benefit of reducing cooling costs. Twelve thousand square feet of layered windows contain argon gas, helping to insulate the building and reducing heating and cooling costs. Energy efficient thermal windows, LED lights, and motion sensors save 26% more energy than typical buildings of similar size. LED fixtures surrounding the building also focus light downward, reducing light pollution. They not only last longer, but use 80% less energy than incandescent bulbs.

Under the Materials & Resources field, twenty percent of the material used in Gaige was made of recycled content, including steel beams, metal studs, aluminum panels, ceiling tiles, and concrete blocks. An additional 87% of all construction waste was recycled or used as fuel, rather than being sent to a landfill.

Addressing the issue of Indoor Environmental Quality are terracotta tiles on the exterior of the Gaige building, covering uniquely-layered walls, which are designed to be waterproof. User comfort inside the building is enhanced with extra wide hallways, increased use of natural light, and advanced temperature regulation. In the lobby, an outside view can be enjoyed in all directions. A large Prototype Lab provides students with substantial work space for a hands-on engineering classroom. Overhead “snorkels,” which remove contaminants from welding, grinding, and sanding, ensure a healthy environment. Sealants, glues, caulking, and paints used in the building are low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These produce less harmful toxins than normal materials, improving indoor air quality. Over 30% of all the floors in the building are polished concrete with no covering; and green cleaning products are used. These products do not contain harmful toxins or chemicals, and their use reduces water consumption.

Additional features include PSU ID card readers, which allow access to rooms, eliminating the need for keys while improving security; these automatically shut off after hours. All doors can also be remotely locked during an emergency. Lastly, video conferencing rooms enable faculty members to hold class from remote distances, when they are unable to be present on campus.

In order to ensure that all elements in the building are functioning efficiently and continue to meet LEED standards, an independent party will re-commission the building one year after completion.

Students in the Penn State Berks Honors Program traveled to Taiwan this spring to act as teaching aides to Christine James, a Berks alumna who was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship last year to teaching English to elementary school students.

From March 5–9, 2012, nine Berks honors students and their instructors, Dr. Sandy Feinstein, Honors Coordinator and Associate Professor in English; Dr. Holly Ryan, Assistant Professor of English and Writing Center Coordinator; and Dr. Neal Woodman, adjunct faculty member, became James’ teaching aides, living and working in Yilan County, Taiwan, as part of an international service component to the English class, “Constructing Taiwan's Nature.”

To prepare for class, the Berks students read short stories, poetry, and essays by Taiwanese authors, as well as news articles about Taiwan. In addition, each student was required to complete 30-minute workouts a minimum of three days a week, ostensibly to prepare them for the hiking they were to do in Taiwan, but, as they were to soon learn, they needed that exercise to increase their stamina to keep up with the elementary school students they would work (and play) with in Dongshan Township, Yilan County.

For the service component of the course, the Berks students spent two days at Kuang Hsing Elementary School and two days at Ching Gou Elementary School helping the Taiwanese students practice their English. The Berks students interacted closely with the Taiwanese elementary students, splitting up into small groups to read books, which were donated by Penn State Berks students to the Taiwanese schools to help teach the children new words, common idioms, and the insider perspective of American culture.

Jessica Ashworth, a senior Schreyer Scholar majoring in Elementary Education, and James McCarty, a junior majoring in Applied Psychology, paired up during most classes to read Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham to the children. Meanwhile, Jenna Licwinko, another senior majoring in Elementary Education, and Trevor Luyben, a first-year Applied Psychology major, taught some of the third graders the word "muffin" with the book, If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff.

Clare Dillard, a senior Schreyer Scholar in Elementary Education, taught Dr. Seuss’s Hop on Pop, which provided opportunities for the students to interact with the story in innovative ways as they hopped en masse and became completely engaged in understanding the nonsense English. Courtney Paige, a first-year student majoring in Nutrition, challenged students by using a book with no words, the Caldecott-winning A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka. The second graders were prompted to provide English words to complement the pictures.

All these different teaching techniques pushed the Taiwanese children to listen and respond, which proved how much English they were actually learning.

Outside class, the Penn State group’s interaction with the Taiwanese students may have been even more important. The majority of the Berks students did not speak any Chinese, so the Taiwanese children had to express what they wanted to say in English.

Sophomore Communication Arts and Sciences major Austin McCue and sophomore Information Sciences and Technology major Dan Breidegam used the ten-minute breaks between classes to play soccer with the students. Chris Brendel, a sophomore Schreyer Scholar majoring in Global Studies, engaged students during breaks by practicing his Chinese while offering students less formal opportunities to practice their English.

In these varied ways, the Penn State students and teachers all made an impression on the elementary school students and their teachers, and the effect was mutual: the college students and teachers were also powerfully affected by the experience as well.

James comments, “Since that week in March, I have seen students who were not interested in English start to try a little harder. I have seen students who have liked English since the beginning ask unexpected questions a little more boldly. I have seen my students and my coworkers grow, and not just in English, but also in their perspective of the world. My students and coworkers are now friends with some of the Penn State students on Facebook, and they have another international friend. That week changed my schools, not in a huge way, but in a small and hopefully lasting way in that the world may seem a bit smaller and a bit more friendly than it did before.”

The Penn State Berks Chemical Society, a student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS), received an honorable mention from the Society Committee on Education (SOCED), an ACS committee. The Berks Chemical Society was represented by Heather Young (president), Heather Schmale (vice president), and Meserret Zekarias (treasurer and student government representative) at the Student Chapter Awards Ceremony in San Diego, CA on March 25, 2012.

Each academic year, the SOCED of the ACS selects student chapters for recognition on the basis of their programs and activities, described in chapter reports. Awards are given in the categories of outstanding, commendable, and honorable mention. Chapters that do not qualify for these awards receive a certificate of achievement for meritorious service.

For the 2010-2011 academic year, ACS honored 229 chapters; of these, 36 were outstanding, 87 were commendable, and 106 were honorable mention chapters. For more information about the Student Chapter Awards, visit the ACS website.

The program will begin in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium at 9:15 a.m. with opening remarks from Dr. Blaine Steensland, Senior Director of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The event will run until 1:00 p.m.

At the fair, information on housing options, how to pay for housing, tips on leasing, and information on Penn State Berks Food Services plans will be presented. In addition, students will have a networking opportunity to meet potential roommates, while parents attend a question-and-answer session. The remainder of the day will be dedicated to bus tours of the Greater Reading area that highlight many available services in close proximity to popular student neighborhoods.

For more information about the Off-Campus Housing Fair, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076. Students can register for this event online.

Penn State Berks students are displaying jewelry that they created at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts during the week of April 22–28, 2012. But this is no ordinary jewelry–rather it is jewelry created from electronic waste to benefit youth in Kenya.

It all began when the Penn State Berks “Creative Minds Team,” comprised of Penn State Berks students, traveled to Kenya from May 17–June 2, 2011, to visit the Children and Youth Empowerment Center (CYEC) in Nyeri, Kenya to teach the youth a skill that would help to sustain them: how to create jewelry from electronic waste and benefit from the profit for future educational advancements.

Throughout this project, Penn State Berks collaborated with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agricultural and Technology (JKUAT). To continue the collaboration, Anthony Munyi, a junior majoring in Electronics and Computer Engineering from JKUAT, is visiting Penn State Berks from April 22–April 28.

This initiative was coordinated by Dr. Sadan Kulturel-Konak, associate professor of Management Information Systems and coordinator of the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor.  

“The idea of creating jewelry out of electronic waste in Kenya was very innovative in many ways: reducing the waste, creating sustainable solutions for the population of street dwelling young people in Kenya, and contributing to youth education” commented Kulturel-Konak.

The Creative Minds Team taught the children from the CYEC about electronic waste, how to dismantle the waste properly, and how to create jewelry and art from the waste.  

This project is funded by a program and course development grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). Kulturel-Konak and Dr. Janelle Larson, associate professor of Agricultural Economics and Head of Engineering, Business, and Computing Division, are investigators on the grant.  

The Creative Minds Team is currently working on marketing the product in the Greater Reading area.  

For more information about the Creative Minds, please see www.ewasteatpsu.wordpress.com.

When the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building opened its doors at Penn State Berks last fall, everyone knew the college was planning to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the new facility, but it was not clear which aspects of the building demonstrated the college’s commitment to sustainability. The need for signage identifying the green aspects of the building was quickly identified.

Terry Baker, Senior Lecturer in English, incorporated the signage project into his advanced business writing courses in the fall 2011 semester. In order to simulate a real-world business environment, the students were divided into five teams, which competed to create the most effective signage. The teams responded to a request for proposals (RFP) from Kim Berry, Chief Operating Officer, and worked closely with Professional Writing major Michael Lewis, Baker’s teaching assistant for the semester.

The whole class collaborated on the verbiage for the twenty-five signs, including the catchy titles. Then each team was charged with developing the signage design, composition, and placement inside and outside the building. The teams were tasked with researching various signage companies to manufacture the signs. The goal of the project was to educate future students, leave a lasting impression on the Gaige Building, and create a clean, crisp, and uniform image for the building.

The student teams presented their results to an audience which included Berry; Wendy Body, project manager and LEED engineer with Alvin Butz Construction; college administrators; their instructor; and their fellow students. The results exceeded everyone’s expectations, with each team winning in a separate category of the competition.

Team 1 was selected for its mounting system, comprised of a metallic backing with horizontal lines covered by a two-layered “channel” made of vinyl, which allows information and data to be updated simply by replacing the vinyl insert, known as Lexan®. The student team members included Aaron Klaptosky, Phong Le, Alison Pott, and Patricia Sanford.  

For Team 2, it was their use of graphics that won them recognition. The team members included Chellby Kilheffer, Damaris Long, and Nicol Varona.  

Team 3 created an introductory graphic exhibit key that made them stand out to the judges. Team members included Lydia Conrad, Dan Engro, and Joseph Zaleski.

Team 4 was chosen for its system of exterior signs. The team members included Emilie Jones, Alise Sparks, Ross Thomas, and Bianca Villamar.

Finally, Team 5 was selected for its “reducing carbon paw print” verbiage. Team members included Takema Fuller, Jennifer High, Jonathan Rivera, and Lisa Sweigart.

Several students involved in the project commented that the process raised their awareness of environmental issues, and that now they are true advocates for the environment.

The entire class collaborated on the digital signage to appear on monitors in the building. They also worked together on the large LEED sign to be hung in the lobby. This sign explains each LEED category for which the Gaige Building earned its certification—sustainable sites, water efficiency, materials and resources, energy and atmosphere, and indoor air quality. The smaller signs throughout the building use these icons to identify the category each sign addresses. In addition to educating everyone about the sustainable features of the building, the signs themselves earned a point toward Gaige’s “gold” LEED certification, the highest level of LEED certification that can be earned.

“As far ask I know, we at Penn State have not yet found a way to educate the occupants of our many LEED buildings about all their great design elements, finishes, and technologies,” commented Erik Foley, Director of Campus Sustainability Office. “The partnership at Berks between students, an academic course, and on-campus operations to create educational signage for the Gaige Building is a tremendous example of what is possible with collaboration. I hope all our LEED buildings and major renovations will soon have such signage.”   

Krystle Lee Morales and Catherine Soto, both Penn State Berks students, won first place in the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s 2012 Business Idea Challenge.

Morales and Soto’s business idea was “Lotus Hair Product,” a safe, natural hair product blended with natural oils that gives customers top salon quality without the top salon price. The team received $1,500.

The annual Business Idea Challenge competition encourages local college students to consider and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, particularly in technology. The competition is open to students from Albright College, Alvernia University, Kutztown University, Penn State Berks, and Reading Area Community College.

Business Idea Challenge finalists presented condensed versions of their projects during the Chamber’s board of directors meeting on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

From the Commission of European Union to The Hague to the International Criminal Court, students enrolled in the college’s “International Law and Organizations” course stepped out of the classroom and visited Belgium, along with Dr. Randall Fegley, Coordinator of the Global Studies degree program and Associate Professor of History and Politics at Penn State Berks.

The excursion provided nine students with first-hand experience meeting with diplomats, visiting international agencies, and discussing course-related issues, with an emphasis on international law from March 3–11, 2012.

The group began their trip by visiting the Commission of the European Union in Brussels, where they had a briefing session with a Danish journalist. The students learned about the origins and structure of the Union, currents events dealing with the “Euro crisis,” and why certain countries–such as England and Denmark–are suspicious of the Union.

The following day, they traveled to The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State. All foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organizations are located in the city, including the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are located.

According to Fegley, the ICTY was established to deal with the human rights violations that occurred during the Bosnian and Kosovo Wars. Originally intended to be a temporary court, its mandate has expired and been renewed several times due to a continuous flow of perpetrators brought to court.

The group was then briefed by Bill Tomljanovic, one of the researchers from the prosecutor’s office, a Serbian American who was actually acquainted with Penn State Berks and Berks County through his travels. He discussed the process of cases being presented to the court and the various types of defendants involved in those cases.

The researcher explained that while defendants come from all sides, it was interesting to note that while in detention together, they got along fabulously. He showed the group a photo of the birthday party of Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Serbia, while in detention. The leader of the Bosnian Muslim militia, who would have been his sworn enemy, was celebrating with him.

According to Fegley, this suggests that the leadership was jockeying into position and really did not have strong commitments, but beneath them were various fanatics who would never speak to each other.

One such fanatic was actually on trial while the group was in Brussels–Vojislav Seselj, a Serbian politician. The students witnessed part of this trial, which dealt with a long list of crimes including murder, torture, and persecution of citizens on racial, religious, and political grounds. In fact, the list of charges was so long it took several days to read them in court.

“This is a rare opportunity for students to see history in the making,” commented Fegley about the trial.

After leaving the court, the group was met by General Bernard Droste, Dean of Aerospace Studies at the University of Delft. Droste accompanied the group to a Dutch Army base, where he discussed his recent venture into commercial space travel, in which he is investigating using space as a way to transport cargo cheaply far distances on earth. He also discussed international space law, a new field of law dealing with restrictions on using space.

The next day, they returned to The Hague and visited the International Criminal Court, which was founded in 2002 with the goal of replacing special courts for individuals tried for international crimes.

Fegley notes that the courtroom is set up differently than courtrooms in the United States: the witness stand faces the judge directly with a glass wall behind it.

On March 9, they went to the city of Ghent, where they visited the cathedral and castle. Fegley, who resided in Ghent as a graduate student, discussed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 in the United States. He explained that this is an example of how a successful treaty is negotiated and written.

“I am amazed at what we as a class were able to see and experience in the span of a little more than a week's time, stated Erin Wade, a senior majoring in Global Studies from Leesport, PA. “I thoroughly enjoyed all the aspects of the trip; from visiting such profound organizations as the EU, ICC and the ICTY, to enjoying a Belgian street waffle and taking in the breathtaking beauty of Ghent.”

During their time in Belgium, the group stayed at Elzenveld, a conference center that was a convent in medieval times.

The trip to Belgium was partially funded through grants from the Penn State Berks Travel Fund; the Penn State Berks Student Fund; the Global Studies degree program; and the Division of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. In addition, students had an opportunity to apply to Penn State University Park for funding.

According to Fast, the story is about a troubled teenager who reveals through interaction with a friend that she is cutting herself. It will be published in the upcoming summer issue of Central PA Magazine.

The contest was sponsored by WITF, The Patriot News, and York College of Pennsylvania. The awards ceremony was held on Thursday, March 29, 2012, at York College of Pennsylvania.

“The Professional Writing program at Penn State Berks has been a major influence on my creative writing,” commented Fast.

Since graduating, Fast has continued to write poetry, short stories, and genre fiction. She is employed as a purchasing agent by Hirneisen Electric, and she resides in Denver, PA, with her husband, Steve.

First recipient of the award from a Penn State campus outside University Park

Dr. Laurie Grobman, Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Penn State Berks, is the 2012 recipient of the President's Award for Excellence in Academic Integration, which is given to a full-time faculty member of the University who has exhibited extraordinary achievement in the integration of teaching and research or creative accomplishments, and service. Grobman is the first recipient of the award from a Penn State campus outside University Park.

Grobman’s accomplishments are outstanding in each of the three separate areas–teaching, research, and service, which are tied together by the common threads of multiculturalism and social justice. Grobman’s teaching brings students directly into these issues themselves–through undergraduate research, service-learning, and community-based research.

Among Grobman’s accomplishments is bringing the concept of the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research (formerly known as The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy at Penn State Berks) to the college in the fall of 2010 and serving as the Coordinator. The center is designed to be a forum for sharing knowledge, expertise, and training among faculty who practice service learning in their courses.

Penn State Berks is the first campus outside of University Park to launch the initiative. Several projects are have been completed by the center and many others are currently underway in which students and faculty are partnering with nonprofit organizations, such as Friends Inc. and the Greater Reading Food Bank, the Pagoda, Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, and the Salvation Army's Mañana program.

Recently the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research announced the creation of the Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning and Community-Based Research, a new, refereed, multi-disciplinary online undergraduate journal. Grobman will serve as editor of this publication.

In fact, Grobman has extensive experience in working with undergraduate students to publish journals. In 2003, she co-founded and edited for seven years an international undergraduate research journal, Young Scholars in Writing: Undergraduate Research in Writing and Rhetoric. The journal’s mission is to provide a venue for undergraduates engaged in research about writing and rhetoric to share their work with a broader audience of students, scholars, and teachers through national publication.

More recently, Grobman has focused on interdisciplinary, community-based undergraduate research “to redress the largely invisible, erased histories of local ethnic minorities.

She and her students have worked closely with the African American community, primarily through the NAACP branch in Reading and the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum in Reading to publish Woven with Words: A Collection of African American History in Berks County, Pennsylvania, a history book that describes the rich­—and previously untold—heritage from the county’s eighteenth century inception to present day.

Woven with Words was co-edited by Grobman. Several Penn State Berks classes were involved in the project, including Ethnic America taught by Grobman. To conduct their research, students visited local historical repositories, including the Berks County Historical Society and the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum, where they met local historians and pieced together history from archived materials such as slave advertisements.

This project set the stage for a second publication, in which Grobman and her students worked with the Hispanic/Latino community, primarily through Centro Hispano Daniel Torres, Inc., to publish Hispanics/Latinos in Reading and Berks: A Portrait of a Community. The book is the first comprehensive documentation of the county’s Hispanic/Latino community. Once again, Grobman served as editor.

Grobman was then approached by the president of Jewish Federation of Reading to design a similar project for the Jewish community. The Jewish local history projects led to publication of two books, one printed locally and the other published by a commercial press. A History of the Jewish Community in Reading and Berks County was written by Penn State Berks students in partnership with the Jewish Cultural Center/Jewish Federation of Reading and with hundreds of members of the local Jewish community.

Jewish Reading and Berks, a photographic history of Berks County’s Jewish community, was published by Arcadia Publishing for the “Images in America Series.” The book was produced by students in Grobman’s “Jewish Representation in History and Photography” course, which focused on the issues emanating from the telling of history through photographs, such as accuracy, selectivity, and historical truth.

The professor’s current engaged scholarship project focuses on the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum in Reading. Grobman is writing a narrative history of the museum and two scholarly articles, the first grounded in scholarship on African American museums and the second on the rhetorical and communicative processes that led to the museum’s success.

Grobman has published two single-authored books, Multicultural Hybridity: Transforming American Literary Scholarship and Pedagogy (2007) and Teaching at the Crossroads: Cultures and Critical Perspectives in Literature by Women of Color (2001), and two co-edited collections, Undergraduate Research in English Studies (2010), and On Location: Theory and Practice in Classroom-Based Writing Tutoring (2005).

The President's Award for Excellence in Academic Integration was established by the University in 1996 to celebrate faculty accomplishments that are consistent with the President’s goal for "Penn State to be the top University in the United States in the integration of teaching, research, and service." The award will be presented at a special luncheon on April 19, 2012, beginning at 12 p.m. in the Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom.

According to the abstract, “Pore-forming Toxins (PFTs) are the largest family of toxins made by pathogenic bacteria. Bacillus anthracis, the etiologic agent of anthrax, secretes the PFT Anthrolysin O (ALO), which can interact with essentially all human cells. ALO has a number of mechanisms by which it causes disease, ranging from stimulating multiple signaling pathways to punching large and lethal holes in the plasma membrane.  This seminar will describe some of these mechanisms at the molecular and cellular levels, and will ask whether ALO is an important component of the B. anthracis vast arsenal of virulence factors.”

The Science Division colloquia are of broad and general interest, accessible to a general audience. All students, faculty, and interested members of the Penn State Berks and surrounding community are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Leonard Gamberg, Associate Professor of Physics, via e-mail at LPG10@psu.edu.

Initiated as a result of her involvement with the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research, Dr. Mahsa Kazempour, Assistant Professor of Science Education at Penn State Berks, developed the EACAP project for this course.

Students worked in teams, working on service learning projects and collaborating with community organizations. They were involved in various activities at these organizations, such as creating websites and educational materials, removing invasive species, and undertaking tasks like river clean-up and erosion control. Participating organizations included The Berks Parks Department, Audubon Society, Monocacy Hill, Hawk Mountain, and Nolde Park.

As its name indicates, the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research focuses on service learning and community-based research. The center is designed to be a forum for sharing knowledge, expertise, and training among faculty who practice service learning in their courses.

For more information, contact Kazempour at 610-396-6312 or via e-mail at MUK30@psu.edu.

The efforts are a the result of interdisciplinary class projects in Electrical Engineering, taught by Dr. Henry Ansell, Assistant Professor of Engineering; Mechanical Engineering, taught by Dr. Rungun Nathan, Assistant Professor of Engineering; and Occupational Therapy, taught by David Kresse, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy.

Student projects include:

• the walker aid that moves objects to table level;
• step climber that moves objects up the stairs;
• refrigerator door opener that breaks the tight seal of the refrigerator door;
• trash bag aid that helps those confined to a wheelchair move trash to the curb;
• bag opener that opens sealed plastic bags single-handedly;
• autistic Instructor, a reprogrammable device that helps autistic children follow daily instructions;
• door/knob opener that helps open doors and knobs;
• automatic toilet paper dispenser; and
• media holder, an adapter that allows cameras, video cameras, and other devices to be placed on a wheelchair.

The annual event, formerly known as Devices for Disabilities, was initiated and is coordinated by Ansell, along with Nathan. For more information, contact Ansell via e-mail at HGA1@psu.edu or Nathan at rungun.nathan@psu.edu.

“We have only been doing this for a few weeks, but it has been absolutely outstanding in many ways,” commented William Bowers, Chamber Choir Club co-advisor and Senior Lecturer in Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State Berks. “It is extremely successful and we’re excited about it.”

Every two weeks, the Berks choir has been rehearsing with the Heritage chorus.

Berks choir members benefit by getting involved in the community and extending the college’s presence in the area. The Heritage chorus members benefit by singing musical styles they may not have sung before. Members of both groups benefit by gaining inter-generational experiences and having an opportunity to make music with others.

For more information on the collaboration, contact either of the Berks choir advisers, Bill Bowers at WHB108@psu.edu or Jackie Confalone at JOC10@psu.edu.

Dr. David H. Monk, Professor of Educational Administration and Dean of the College of Education at Penn State, will be the keynote speaker at the Penn State Berks spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 5, 2012, at 10 a.m. in the Beaver Community Center. A new class of more than 150 Penn State Berks students will participate in the ceremony, receiving their baccalaureate and associate degrees. More than 200 students will have earned their degrees from Penn State Berks this May.

Monk earned his A.B. in 1972 at Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. in 1979 at the University of Chicago, and he was a member of the Cornell University faculty for 20 years prior to becoming dean at Penn State in 1999.  He has also been a third grade teacher and has taught in a visiting capacity at the University of Rochester and the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France.

He is the author of Educational Finance: An Economic Approach (1990); Raising Money for Education: A Guide to the Property Tax (1997); and Cost Adjustments in Education (2001), in addition to numerous articles in scholarly journals. He was the inaugural co-editor of Education Finance and Policy–the journal of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (MIT Press) and serves on the editorial board of that journal in addition to serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Education Finance, Educational Policy, and the Journal of Research in Rural Education.

Monk consults widely on matters related to educational productivity and the organizational structuring of schools and school districts and is a past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy.

The Shirley Hendrick Award recognizes an administrator University-wide who has contributed to the success of Penn State’s efforts to serve adult learners. The award is named in memory of Shirley Hendrick (1936–2000), the first recipient, dean for continuing education in the Smeal College of Business and inaugural chair of the Commission for Adult Learners, who advocated for continuing education.

While chancellor at Penn State Schuylkill, Hillkirk helped bring together five campuses to collaborate in offering degree programs with the assistance of distance technology. The resulting Eastern Alliance of Penn State Campuses consists of Penn State Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill, Wilkes-Barre and Worthington Scranton. In fall 2010, the Eastern Alliance began offering a joint bachelor of science in business degree, with classes delivered by interactive video during evening and weekend hours and online.

“Like Shirley Hendrick, Dr. Hillkirk has been a true advocate of adult learners, including both credit and non-credit students,” one nominator said. “He has demonstrated this support through innovative program development, the creation of a collaborative delivery system and hands-on involvement.”

Hillkirk was a member of the University’s Commission for Adult Learners in 2008-2009 and chaired the commission in 2009-2010. In 2010-2011, he co-chaired the Faculty Engagement Committee as it focused on a Faculty Senate recommendation that credit by exam and credit by portfolio be expanded. After serving as Penn State Schuylkill chancellor for six years, he was named Penn State Berks chancellor in 2011.

“Since joining the University in 2005,” another nominator wrote, “Dr. Hillkirk has been a champion of adult education. His efforts as chancellor at Penn State Schuylkill, including appointing an adult coordinator and instituting our 30 Plus scholarship program, have resulted in a significant increase in adult students enrolling at the campus.”

In this presentation, Abdou and Ghosh will discuss their investigation on why foreign private firms acquire a publicly traded U.S. shell target and their process in this action. Private firms often use reverse merger (RM) as means to gain access to new capital markets, and it is expected that the return of the newly formed company will grow over time. 

The EBC Research Interest Group features Penn State Berks faculty and visiting experts who conduct research on a wide variety of topics. Topics are of broad and general interest and are accessible to the non-expert. 

For more information, contact Dr. Jui-Chi Huang, Chair of the EBC Research Interest Group and Assistant Professor of Economics at Penn State Berks via e-mail at JXH74@psu.edu.  

More than 200 undergraduates from five Berks County universities and colleges and beyond will showcase their research at the 13th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at Penn State Berks. Sessions will run from 10 a.m.–12 p.m., and 1–2 p.m. Check-in and registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the college’s Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. 

Research topics include:

• The crisis of credit
• Social networking and college students’ grades
• Cyber crimes
• Modesty in fashion
• Cutting: an anthropological explanation
• Female espionage in the Civil War
• Why Black beauty is stifled in America
• Human trafficking
• The burqa in Kutztown
• Mathematics behind Sodoku

Research topics are presented as academic paper presentations and academic posters. There will also be performances of music, theater and poetry, and exhibits of art and photography. 

The keynote speaker is Dr. Richard Rest, who will give his presentation at 9:00 a.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium.

Rest is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Director of the Center for Bacterial Pathogenesis and Biodefense, the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases; and Director of Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs, Biomedical Graduate and Postgraduate Studies, at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. 

Rest earned his Ph.D. in Bacterial Physiology from the University of Kansas. He began his career in bacterial pathogenesis in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He then moved to Hahnemann University–now Drexel University College of Medicine–where a graduate student made an observation that took the lab on a 10-year research detour; he discovered a new pore forming toxin of Bacillus anthracis, and named it Anthrolysin O. This 10-year sojourn into an agent of bioterrorism was challenging and exciting; with a whole new set of virulence factors, and a whole new cast of characters. 

Rest has now refocused on the molecular virulence mechanisms of gonorrhea and meningitis. He is passionate about mentoring students, trainees, and colleagues, and about raising awareness of scientific integrity and the responsible conduct of research within the academy. 

The conference is presented by Albright College, Alvernia University, Kutztown University, Penn State Berks, and Reading Area Community College.

For more information on the conference, please visit the Web site: berks.psu.edu/HECBC. For additional information, please Dr. Martha Aynardi at (610) 396-6228.

Student will be available to inform the campus community of environmental issues including water consumption, energy shortages, and preventative actions that minimize these types of problems. They will provide materials that focus on various local and global environmental issues and will share eco-friendly tips.

For more information, contact Dr. Mahsa Kazempour, Assistant Professor, Science Education, at 610-396-6312 or via e-mail at MUK30@psu.edu.

New Orleans Saints tight end and Penn State Berks alumnus John Gilmore Jr. was honored with the Penn State Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes alumni under the age of 35 for their extraordinary professional accomplishments, during an award ceremony at University Park campus on Friday, March 30, 2012.

A native of the City of Reading, Gilmore teamed up with fellow Wilson High School graduate and Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne in 2010 to create the Gilmore/Henne Community Fund, which provides grants to revitalize parks and recreational facilities in Berks County. The fund also provides financial support for Berks County students who engage in scholastic sports, while maintaining a respectable GPA, and plan to continue their education at the collegiate level.

The idea for the fund was inspired by Gilmore’s return to the Reading, where he found the city’s parks and recreation areas in extreme disarray with excess litter, vandalized equipment, and tangible evidence of drug dealing. Utilizing his Penn State degree and his strong commitment to the community, Gilmore partnered with Henne to establish the fund, which is administered by the Berks County Community Foundation.

Since the establishment of the Gilmore/Henne Community Fund, three parks have been renovated and more than $200,000 has been raised for park renovations and scholarships. In addition, Gilmore ha been active in the Greater Reading community, sponsoring activities for local children at renovated parks, as well as other programs and events. 

A 10-year veteran of the National Football League, Gilmore played for the New Orleans Saints for the 2011 season following three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and six years with the Chicago Bears. He was drafted into the NFL in the sixth round in 2002.

Prior to his NFL career, Gilmore was a three-year letterman and was named the Outstanding Senior Player in 2001 by the State College Quarterbacks Club. In addition, Gilmore was a decorated athlete at Wilson High School, where he won numerous awards including Wilson’s 1996 male athlete of the year, and the Associated Press first-team All-State and first-team All-County in Berks.

Gilmore graduated in 2001 from Penn State University with a bachelor of science degree in Recreation and Parks Management, which he has put to good use in his charitable work. He resides with his wife Rebecca and their two children in Tampa, Florida.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Alumni Association Executive Director Roger Williams. Other scheduled activities include a tour of Old Main and the All-Sports Museum, culminating with dinner at the Hintz Alumni Center, which will feature Penn State University President Rodney Erickson as the keynote speaker. Participants will also have free time to explore the campus.

Checks should be made payable to Penn State Berks, and can be mailed to Penn State Berks Office of Alumni Relations, PO Box 7009, Reading, PA 19610. In addition, please include the name, e-mail address, and contact number for each person attending.

For more information, contact the Berks Alumni Office at berks-alumni@psu.edu. 

Ticket price includes a game ticket and a 2-1/2 hour, all-you-can-eat buffet, which opens at 6:00 p.m. This buffet includes BBQ ribs and chicken, BBQ sandwiches, hot dogs, baked ziti, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, pasta and potato salad, chips, pretzels, fruit cups, cookies, lemonade, iced tea, and Pepsi products. The Nittany Lion mascot will also be in attendance.

For more information or to order your tickets online, visit www.psuberkschapter.com/rphils.

Prior to the main celebration, there will be a Trans Identity and Ally Workshop, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. This workshop is being facilitated by two of the night's performers, and it is meant to establish a sense of unity among allies and members of the LGBTA community.

The actual NOISE event will begin at 9 p.m. The event includes comedian Thomas Dale, the Athens Boys Choir, musician Katastrophe, and various Penn State Berks student performers.

This year’s NOISE event will be held the day before the National Day of Silence, a day the members and allies of the LGBTA community choose to silence themselves to take a stand on oppression in society.  

For more information, contact Kelli Meyer, Student Activities Coordinator at Penn State Berks, at 610-396-6068 or via e-mail at KAM67@psu.edu.

In his presentation titled, “Anthropocentrism in Latin American Poetry,” Murillo will discuss poems from Latin American Modernismos to the Vanguardias. These poems represent the time period from the 1880s to the 1930s. In Murillo’s opinion, these poems should be included in the “Existentialism canon.”

In the presentation “Someone Has To Stop These People: Anarchist Resistance to Power and Authority in Latin America,” Shaffer will focus on anarchism in Latin America during two ages of globalization, which occurred during the 1890s through the 1920s and today.

The HASS Colloquium Series features informal presentations that serve as opportunities for faculty to share their research in a 15-minute presentation that welcomes dialogue, discussion, and questions.For more information on the HASS Colloquium Series, contact Holly Ryan, Assistant Professor of English and Coordinator of the Writing Center, via e-mail at HLR14@psu.edu.

Plasmodium falciparum is the protozoan parasite that causes the most severe form of malaria, which is still a major cause of death in endemic regions of the world. As a result of widespread drug resistance, combined with the poor socioeconomic conditions of these malaria-affected areas, the disease remains a significant global health challenge. Even though effective anti-malaria chemotherapies such as electron transport inhibitors exist, little is understood about the lethal effects of these drugs on the parasite and how drug resistance develops.

According to the abstract, “To further elucidate the mechanism of resistance development, we have analyzed the response of drug selected parasites to a subsequent drug treatment. These studies begin to provide information on the physiological state of the drug-inhibited parasites when mutations in mitochondrial DNA could arise that lead to drug resistance and enhance our ability to define essential targets for future drug development.”

The Science Division colloquia are of broad and general interest, accessible to a general audience. All students, faculty, and interested members of the Penn State Berks and surrounding community are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Leonard Gamberg, Associate Professor of Physics, via e-mail at LPG10@psu.edu.

Approximately thirty tenth- and eleventh-graders will participate in the program. Each high school student will be individually matched with a college student mentor for part of the day. The students will experience a typical day on campus with their mentor from 10:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. During this time, the students will attend classes with their mentor, have lunch in the campus cafeteria, talk with faculty and staff, and visit various locations on campus.

In addition to the shadowing experience, the students will experience a full day of activities including a continental breakfast, an official welcome to the campus from Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk, an admissions workshop, a campus tour led by Penn State Berks Lion Ambassadors, and an informal dinner, followed by a presentation about the many clubs and organizations available to students at the college, featuring the Brotherhood of Scholarship Cultural Awareness and Community Service Club and the Penn State Berks Dance Team.

The Reading High School students were selected through the Penn State Educational Partnership Program. The Philadelphia High School students were selected through the Penn State Philadelphia Community Recruitment Center.

The Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), an early intervention collaboration between the Penn State College of Education and Pennsylvania school districts, was developed to help underrepresented youths perform more effectively in school, go on to some form of post-secondary education, and increase their chances for successful employment in later life. The Penn State Berks PEPP works with the Reading School District. The approach involves a partnership between students, teachers, parents, corporations, government, colleges, and universities.

The Penn State Philadelphia Community Recruitment Center assists Philadelphia area high school students with all Penn State admissions functions, including the admissions and financial aid application process.For more information on the “Be a Penn Stater for a Day” program, contact Guadalupe Kasper, Program Manager for PEPP, at 610-396-6272 or via e-mail at GUR10@psu.edu.

The Penn State Berks Bookstore will hold a book signing for Ronald Roberts, Instructor in Management at Penn State Berks, and his new book, The Well-Balanced Leader: Interactive Learning Techniques to Help You Master the 9 Simple Behaviors of Outstanding Leadership, on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, from 4:00–6:30 p.m.

In this book, Roberts tells the reader to “Empower your people, your company—and yourself—with leadership egolibrium.” Egolibrium is defined as the ability to toggle between egocentric and “other-centric” attitudes, values, and behaviors for organizational success.

According to Roberts, “Everyone’s behaviors fall somewhere between each dichotomy. Using the activities, action steps, games, and thought exercises included for each pair, you’ll figure out exactly where your behaviors land, and then learn how to move that position in one direction or the other to find the right balance or your specific needs.”

The publisher’s web site provides the following description of The Well-Balanced Leader: “In The Well-Balanced Leader, top experiential, accelerated-learning trainer Ron Roberts shows you how to identify your strengths and weaknesses in the nine most critical behavioral areas. He helps you “unstick” yourself from behavioral patterns that damage your influence as a leader, your relationships with those you lead, and the effectiveness of your organization.

“The Well-Balanced Leader provides valuable insight into the inner workings of great leadership, along with activities, games, and exercises to determine where you excel—and where you fall short. It empowers you to strike a balance among the needs of the people you lead, your own needs, and the needs of the organization; become more conscious of what motivates you, drives your behavior, and determines how you relate to others; and think before you speak and respond to every situation with measured behavior. With The Well-Balanced Leader, you’ll learn how to alter your behavior in ways that benefit your people, contribute value to your organization, and launch yourself to the highest level of success.”

Roberts is one of today’s top consultants and trainers in the area of accelerated experiential learning. He frequently serves as keynote speaker at national conferences and professional meetings. Roberts is president of Action Centered Training Inc., ACT Government Support Services, and ACT Games, LLC, where he has trained executives, managers, supervisors, and line staff in all phases of industry, corporate, and government.

The Penn State Berks Blue & White Society, the student contingent of the Penn State Alumni Association, is holding a Spaghetti Dinner fundraising event for IM Able Foundation on Monday, April 2, 2012 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Lion's Den. The cost is $10 for adults and $6 for students age 18 and under and Penn State students with ID.

Founded by Penn State Berks alumnus Chris Kaag in 2007, the IM Able Foundation promotes the benefits of an active lifestyle for the physically challenged.

In 1997, Kaag was a 21-year-old U.S. Marine when he was diagnosed with adrenomyeloneuropathy, a degenerative nerve condition that would eventually affect his ability to walk. After his diagnosis, he returned to Pennsylvania and enrolled in the Business degree at Penn State Berks.

Eventually, it was Kaag’s continued dedication to fitness, along with his education in business and the values he learned in the Marines–teamwork and the ability to push beyond your limits–that led him to start his own fitness center, Corps Fitness.

Corps Fitness served as an important launching point for Kaag, who soon looked for additional ways to promote active lifestyles and to help aid disabled persons. In 2004, Kaag started the Got the Nerve? Triathlon.

Coming off the success of Got the Nerve?, Chris created the IM ABLE Foundation in 2007. Through the IM Able Foundation, Kaag promotes the idea that with today's technology, it is possible for anyone who has a disability to increase his or her fitness level, and thereby, reap the benefits of both physical and mental health.

For more information about the IM Able Foundation please visit: www.getupandmove.org.

To purchase tickets to the Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser, contact the following members of the Blue & White Society: Mica Rulis at MHR130@psu.edu or Verranda Franklin at VAC5049@psu.edu.

“In these challenging economic times, Penn State Berks wants to do all it can to help make a Penn State education affordable and accessible for adult students,” commented Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk on the creation of the new scholarship program at the college.

Students must be at least 25 years of age to qualify and must be working toward an undergraduate degree (enrolled in degree status). They must be continuously enrolled to maintain the scholarship. In addition, a completed Penn State admissions application and a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application must be on file with the college.

There are some restrictions to the program. The $2,000 lifetime award is only for new Penn State students. Awards are not available to Penn State employees or their dependents. The maximum lifetime award is limited to $500 for students receiving 100% tuition reimbursement from their employer or military benefits.

Students will receive the award in increments by semester credits: 3 credits = $125, 6 credits = $250, 9 credits = $375, and 12 credits = $500.

For more information on the Adult Learner 25+ Program, contact:

• Solange Israel-Mintz, Adult Student Recruitment Coordinator, 610-396-6222
• Teri Sabatelli, Director of Admissions & Financial Aid, 610-396-6061
• Judith Rile, Financial Aid Coordinator, 610-396-6070

Students who have participated in community service projects report the service as being one of the most rewarding experiences of their college careers.  Participating in community service is an educational and social exchange in which students are gaining an equally valuable experience as those who they wish to help.

Andrea Pfaff, Student Activities Coordinator, commented, “I am always impressed by our students' dedication to making a difference in our community, and these projects are evidence of the wonderful things we can accomplish when our faculty, staff, students, and community come together for a great cause.”

All the Opportunity House projects are funded by the Penn State Berks Beaver Community Service Endowment Fund. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6387.

The upcoming presentation in the Penn State Berks Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Colloquium series will feature a discussion on play creation, given by Radhica Ganapathy, Assistant Professor of Theatre, and her students. It is scheduled for Friday, March 23, 2012, at 1 p.m. in room 104, Franco Building. This event is open to the campus community and light refreshments will be served.

This presentation will provide a unique opportunity to understand how artists research, write, and develop a play from concept to stage. The brief presentation will be followed by a chance for the audience to comment or ask questions.

The HASS Colloquium Series features informal presentations that serve as opportunities for HASS faculty to share their research in a 15-minute presentation that welcomes dialogue, discussion, and questions.

The next presentation will feature Dr. Edwin Murillo, Assistant Professor of Spanish, and Dr. Kirk Shaffer, Associate Professor, Latin American Studies, and it will be held on April 18, 2012.

For more information on the HASS Colloquium Series, contact Holly Ryan, Assistant Professor of English and Coordinator of the Writing Center, via e-mail at HLR14@psu.edu.

Examining the historical and contemporarily tenuous relationship between Black women based upon skin color and hair texture, this presentation highlights the lived experiences of women of African descent, who because of their “light skin and good hair” have faced multiple challenges in being recognized, accepted, or embraced as “Black women,” primarily by browner skinned Black women.

Yaba Blay is a visiting assistant professor of Africana Studies at Lafayette College, where she also teaches courses in Women’s & Gender Studies. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Salisbury State University, a M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of New Orleans, an M.A. and Ph.D. in African American Studies, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Temple University.

For more information, contact Karen Kihurani, Coordinator of Multicultural Programs, at 610-396-6080 or via e-mail KEK5@psu.edu.

The dinner is an interactive dining experience that prepares students for a job interview lunch or dinner, in addition to the business-social events they will encounter on the job. Lynne Breil, founder of The Professional Edge, will lead the presentation. Various dining skills will be discussed, from how to master eating those difficult foods to the appropriate time to talk “business” during a business meal.

Breil has conveyed her message of personal refinement and etiquette to organizations nationwide for nearly 20 years. She is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and member of the International Federation for Professional Speakers. Previously, she was named one of “Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business.”

For more information, contact the Office of Career Services at 610-396-6019.

More than thirty works of art acquired over the years for the college’s permanent collection will be on display. Many of these works of art have not been seen by the campus community as they were previously installed in offices or other spaces. This exhibit offers the opportunity to view these works together for the first time. This exhibition is engagingly installed in collections: art work grouped in terms of themes, media, or subject matter.

The collection has grown significantly over the decades, with art purchased from individual and group exhibitions, and a number of works donated to the college by the artists or as gifts from friends of the college. Many pieces are accompanied by the original mailer announcement card about the exhibition, as well as the critical reviews from the Reading Eagle, and other publications.

As in the past, faculty and staff will have an opportunity to select art for their offices and common areas through a lottery. Voting by ballot for the art begins on March 26 and ends April 16. Winners will be announced after April 16, and art work will be installed in selected sites this summer.

The Freyberger Gallery is open Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information, contact Marilyn Fox, Gallery Director, at 610-396-6140 or via e-mail at MJF14@psu.edu.

In the upcoming Engineering, Business, and Computing Division Research Interest Group (EBC-RIG) lecture, Patrick Qiang, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Operations and Management at Penn State Great Valley, will present “Complex Network Performance Analysis with Applications to Transportation and Supply Chains with Sustainability Implications.” His discussion will take place on Friday, March 30, 2012, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. in room 245 of the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. This event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

The last decade has been impacted by a rise in disasters that has caused severe destruction to crucial infrastructure networks and serious negative impact on economies. Additionally, the degradation of the critical infrastructure networks over time has led to more greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to disastrous weather conditions. In order to effectively protect infrastructure networks and diminish negative impacts on the environment, it is necessary to understand the vulnerability of networks.

In this presentation, the current research results on network performance measure are discussed. The new measure has displayed advantages compared to the existing complex network measures.  Moreover, when presented with the underlying topological similarities among many critical infrastructure networks, the proposed measure can then be used to analyze real-life networks. Implications, including environmental sustainability and network reliability, are also examined.

The EBC Research Interest Group features Penn State Berks faculty and visiting experts who conduct research on a wide variety of topics. Topics are of broad and general interest and are accessible to the non-expert.

For more information, contact Dr. Jui-Chi Huang, Chair, EBC Research Interest Group; Assistant Professor of Economics, at JXH74@psu.edu. 

Electro-jazz cellist Dana Leong will fuse hip-hop, jazz, and electronics to create a signature, boundless sound on the cello as part of Berks Jazz Fest on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Frequently referred to as a “hi-def Yo-Yo Ma,” Leong has revolutionized the cello through his cutting-edge amplification, lyrical melodies, and blending of jazz textures and improvisations. Working on all levels as a performer, composer, collaborator, or recording producer, Leong’s innovative fusion of electronic music and alluring jazz sensualities has earned critical acclaim and impressed audiences worldwide.

Leong studied classical cello and jazz trombone at the Manhattan School of Music. He is an official Yamaha artist, providing clinics and workshops that involve the use of electronics with cello and trombone, in addition to his distinctive genre-bending composition techniques.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Student Life at 610-396-6076.

Throughout time, people have asked the question, “How did we get here?” In the inaugural George J. Losoncy Lecture in Physics and Astronomy, Dr. Robert Forrey, Penn State Berks Professor of Physics, will attempt to answer that very question from the point of view of a physicist in a lecture by the same name on Thursday, March 22, 2012, at 4:30 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public, and it will be followed by a reception in the Freyberger Gallery, where light refreshments will be served.

The event will begin with opening remarks by Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk and Dr. Paul Esqueda, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and an introduction of the lecture by Dr. Pradip Bandyopadhyay, Science Division Head.

This event is the first in what will be an annual lecture series named in honor of George Losoncy, who was a dedicated Penn State Berks employee for 17 years, serving the college with perfect attendance, and donating 182 unused sick days when he retired in 2009. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Science Division Colloquia and was particularly interested in physics and astronomy. Upon his retirement, he donated $25,000 to set up a research endowment in physics and astronomy at Penn State Berks.

Forrey’s talk will focus on what the Universe was like at the beginning of time, and what is still needed in our understanding to bridge the gap between the relative uniformity of the early Universe and the hierarchical structures of matter that we see today. In the beginning there were no atoms, no molecules. The Universe was an extremely hot and dense plasma embedded in an intense radiation field. According to the standard Big Bang cosmology, the Universe expanded adiabatically after an initial phase of rapid inflation. We observe the expansion today as a red shift in the radiation emitted from galaxies. The red shift increases with distance away from us and serves as a measure of time.

Forrey is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles on a variety of topics in physics, chemistry, and astrophysics. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, Air Products, and NASA.

Student volunteers include seniors Verranda Caldwell-Franklin from Coatesville and Chellby Kilheffer from Bethlehem; juniors Alana Augello from Bethlehem, Ashley Burkhart from Robesonia, Kat De-Crescenzo from Roseto, Cara DiPiazza, from Hillsdale, NJ, Amanda Gonzalez-Ortiz from Philadelphia; and Kristen Levan from Allentown; sophomores Lauren Fusco from Gilbertsville, Josh Garcia from Fleetwood, Alexandra Lambert from Denver, Brenna Lauer from Phillipsburg, NJ, Caitlin Miller from Macungie, Jack Pokras from Nazareth, Jamie Richards from West Lawn, Dewilka Simons from Bronx, NY, Cory Smaltz from Newmanstown, and Michael Wearen from Philadelphia; and first-year students Emily Newman from Lititz and Kayla Strenck from Gordonville.

The project was organized by Andrea Pfaff, Assistant Director of Campus Life, who will also join the student group, along with Kelli Meyer, Student Activities Coordinator.

Fundacion Abraham was founded in 1998 by Pastor Jorge Gomez and is managed by the Lighthouse Community Christian Association (LCCA). It operates a home for abandoned children, and recently the foundation built a day care center that serves children ages 6 months to 12 years from homes in the nearby communities. Children assisted by LCCA come from impoverished families where drug abuse, alcoholism, and physical and sexual abuse are common.

Penn State Berks students will help Fundacion Abraham to build a community center, which will include facilities for various professionals such as doctors, dentists, and educators who wish to donate their services to the community.

Specific projects that the students will undertake include preparing cement, painting, and building walls. The group may also have an opportunity to prepare the area for a vegetable garden and to conduct educational activities with the children.

The students will stay in Costa Rica for seven days, five of which they will spend on the construction project. The will stay with host families who will provide room and board for the students and staff members. Staying with the families will give the students an opportunity to learn more about the community and the day care center.

When they are not working on the community center project, the students will have time to explore the region. The plan to visit Irazu Volcano National Park; Lankester Gardens, a University of Costa Rica Center for biological research that protects more than 800 species of orchids, bromeliads, and countless species of other plants; and the scenic Orosi Valley.

Berks students will also have an opportunity to participate in a “Best of the Pacific Beach Tour,” during which they will take a jungle boat to explore the Tarcoles River, and continue to the beautiful resort of Punta Leona with its white sand beaches and 750 hectares of protected areas of transitional rain forests. 

During the evenings, the group will participate in a variety of classes on Costa Rican cooking and dance and Spanish, as well as a field trip to a local market.

Dave Blazek, cartoonist, former stand-up comedian, comedy writer, graphic artist, and film and audio director, will discuss his work at Penn State Berks on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, from 4:30–6 p.m. in the Freyberger Gallery. This event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served.

Blazek creates the comic panel "Loose Parts," syndicated by Tribune Media Services. He has published two collections of "Loose Parts" cartoons including "Loose Upon The World" and "Parts of My Brain." His previous comic strips include "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" for Comedy Central.

He currently works as senior creative producer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. Blazek writes and directs print and radio ads as well as television commercials for national, regional and local clients. His work has won more than 120 local, national and international awards.

Blazek graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. He lives near Valley Forge National Park with his wife and two daughters.

Jinahie, meaning “my wings” in Arabic, is a talented, 19-year-old, spoken-word artist of Egyptian-American heritage. She will perform at Penn State Berks on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. This event is free and open to the public.

A diverse range of subjects and issues are represented in Jinahie’s work, as she displays a mastery of the art form, with precision, skill, and grace. Over the past few years, she has become recognized as one of Washington D.C.’s greatest spoken-word artists and a highly sought-after performer. In 2009, she was voted Maryland Youth Slam Grand Champion and Grand Slam Champion of the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Slam. In 2011, Jinahie was named Washington D.C. Slam Champion. Her unique style has attracted audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Student Life at 610-396-6076.

Kim Berry, Chief Operating Officer at Penn State Berks, was recently awarded the credential of Certified Auxiliary Services Professional (CASP) by the Certification Commission of the National Association of Auxiliary College Services (NACAS). The CASP is the highest professional credential in auxiliary services and follows the international American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation standards. Fewer than one percent of all auxiliary service professionals have achieved this mark of excellence.

Berry was serving as chair of the NACAS Professional Development Committee when the need to create a certification program was recognized during a leadership retreat. He was appointed to a task force, which took three years to complete program development. The task force worked with a psychometrician to develop the CASP examination questions and to devise the certification examination.

The CASP examination covered the following content areas: management; leadership; marketing, communications, and business relations; student services; and the operational areas of food services, bookstores, card services, and commercial/retail, physical facilities.

“For over a decade, I’ve known Kim Berry as a professional who brings a practical scholarship to the administration of higher education, and he shares that knowledge with his colleagues,” states Dr. Bob Hassmiller, Chief Executive Officer of NACAS. “It should come as no surprise that after identifying administrative standards, and implementing an internationally recognized process for measuring them, that he was among the first to see if he measures up. NACAS is honored to recognize Kim Berry in our Certified Auxiliary Service Professional (CASP) group.”

Berry is now a member of the Certification Commission and will help to manage the CASP examination process in the future. For more information, visit the NACAS web site: www.nacas.org.

"Participation in the drive is valuable and has a direct effect on the stability of the area's blood supply," commented Penn State Berks Health Services Supervisor Alice Holland.

For information or to make an appointment, visit Health Services in room 8 of the Perkins Student Center or call 610-396-6075.

Ana Castillo, novelist, poet, and essayist, has been renowned as one of the most articulate, powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature. She will speak at Penn State Berks on Thursday, March 22, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. This event is free and open to the public.

Castillo is one of the few Mexican-American writers who has captured the attention of mainstream readers, since her work transcends boundaries of politics, class, and gender. The Guardians, her most recent novel, follows the lives of Mexican immigrants who illegally crossed the border into the United States. Overwhelming realism combined with spiritual transcendence accurately describes The Guardians, which focuses on a family burdened with death and disappearances. Ultimately, Castillo’s incandescent novel of anguish and love guides life’s journey toward the light even in the bleakest of hours.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Student Life at 610-396-6076.

The main event is the “Alive! Mental Health Fair,” featuring H. Reese Butler II, founder and president of Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network, 1-800-SUICIDE, which will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 11 a.m.­–3 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. This event is free and open to the public.

Butler will give a presentation at 5 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. He will discuss his life experiences that led to his creation of both the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network after the loss of his wife to suicide in 1998. Naming the center after his wife, Butler went on to create thirteen separate programs within the center, and in 2005, he was recognized with an award by the National Mental Health Association.

The “Alive! Mental Health Fair” will also include displays and documentaries, and students can participate in a graffiti art therapy project that will later be displayed in the Perkins Student Center. Mental health related agencies from Berks County will be available to answer questions and students will have the opportunity to participate in free CPR Suicide Prevention Training.

The documentaries will be aired at 11:15 a.m. (Bullied) and 2 p.m. (A Reason to Live). QPR Training (how to question, persuade, and refer someone suicidal) at 1 p.m. The second half of the event features an hour-long yoga session at 3 p.m. and a zen garden project from 4-5 p.m. The graffiti art therapy project can be completed at any time during the fair hours. The event will conclude with the keynote speech by H. Reese Butler at 5 p.m.

The “Alive! Mental Health Fair” is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

In addition to the “Alive! Mental Health Fair,” there are several other events that will be held throughout the week. On Monday, Feb. 27, there will be a presentation by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Berks County, entitled “In Our Own Voices” from 12:30-2:00 p.m., in room 101, Franco Building. 

There will be two showings of the movie, Hell and Back Again, about a soldier who returns from Afghanistan and is struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The screenings will both be held on Wednesday, Feb. 29; one at 12 p.m. in room 5, Luerssen Building, and the second at 6:30 p.m. in room 109, Franco Building.

The week’s events will culminate on Thursday, March 1, with a panel discussion with Berks Applied Psychology students at 3 p.m. in room 5, Luerssen Building. The students will describe their internship experiences in the mental health field. At 6:30 p.m. that evening, Dr. Eric Lindsey, Associate Professor of Psychology, will present “Mental Health of Sexual Minority Youth,” in which he will discuss the unique mental health challenges faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth.

Students are also invited to visit the Mental Health Awareness Table in the Perkins Student Center Lobby from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. each day during the week of Feb. 27–March 2. Brochures and information on mental health issues relevant to the college students will be available. In addition, t-shirts will be on sale to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Berks County.

For more information on the activities during the Mental Health Week, contact Lindsey at EWL10@psu.edu. 

Penn State Berks student Taylor Leren Mahoney (far right) appeared on the Rachael Ray Show's 1,000th episode on Monday, February 20, 2012. A Four Diamonds child, she was diagnosed with leukemia at age 12. Mahoney talks about watching the Rachel Ray Show and being inspired in the midst of chemotherapy treatments to become a chef and own her own restaurant–a dream she's now pursuing by majoring in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management at Penn State Berks–at the 2:51 mark of this video: http://goo.gl/y1u6v. 

It all started when Mahoney’s great-aunt wrote into the show when they were soliciting stories about how the show has been an inspiration in the lives of its viewers.

Mahoney got to meet her idol, Rachel Ray, on stage and she wasn’t disappointed. "Sometimes people say when you meet somebody you really like, and they're not like what you thought they were, then you don't like them anymore or don't idolize them anymore. But I like her even more now I think because she was so nice," Mahoney said.

Berks THON dancers (left to right) Megan Sim, Lauren Fusco, Krista Feather, and Melissa Sauer raised $40,306.73 for THON through a variety of fundraising events and activities throughout the academic year, and culminating in the 46-hour dance marathon to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund, held from Friday, Feb. 17 to Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012 at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State University Park.

Once again, THON has set a new record, raising $10,686,924.83 for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, surpassing last year's record $9.56 million and earning its name as “the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.” Penn State Berks ranked fifth among all Penn State campuses for fundraising, which began in the fall of 2011 and included fundraising nights at Moe’s Southwest Grill and The Works at Wyomissing, late night skating events at the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex, a fashion show, Cuts for Kids events with the help of J & J Hair Salon, blood drives, Halloween and Valentines dances, a pie-in-the-face fundraiser, and tuition bingo, as well as weekend canning drives throughout the community.

The Berks County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA) also presented a check for $6,900 to the Berks THON organization. The donation came from Reading Royals Night, which was sponsored by the PSAA and the Reading Royals on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Five dollars from every ticket sold through the event Web site was donated and the Royals’ players all wore special Penn State football themed jerseys that were autographed and auctioned off after the game.

Short for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, THON is a year-long effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. THON's fundraising helps offset the cost of a child's cancer treatment and helps establish research endowments aimed at increasing the cure rates of pediatric cancer treatments.

Peronteau is currently transitioning from male to female, and her presentation will address the transitioning process, as well as issues of science (biology), spirituality (her personal faith), discrimination, law, social and political insights, her experience living in the local community, and additional relevant topics.

Radhica Ganapathy, Assistant Professor of Theatre, assisted in coordinating this program for the campus community. “Because she is a local speaker, I feel she will be able to share some valuable insight about our local communities,” explained Ganapathy. “From having spoken with Barbara, I know she is very aware of the politics that impact LGBT in the state of Pennsylvania.”

The event is funded by the college’s Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Diversity Grant. For more information on the event, contact Karen Kihurani, Coordinator of Multicultural Programs at Penn State Berks, 610-396-6080.

“I encourage students, faculty, and staff to attend the health fair, visit the exhibits, some of which are interactive, and to learn the available resources in our community,” states Penn State Berks Nurse Supervisor Alice Holland. “Stop by and see for yourself how healthy habits influence a more healthy lifestyle.”

The event will feature exhibitors from various agencies including American Cancer Society, Berks AIDS Network, Berks Women in Crisis, Body Zone and Wellness Complex, Caron Foundation, Council on Chemical Abuse, Mary Kay Skin Care, Miller Keystone Blood Bank, Planned Parenthood, and many others. Representatives from various Penn State Berks offices will also participate.

First-year seminar credit will be available for student attendees. For more information on the event, contact Health Services at 610-396-6075.

Short for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, THON is a year-long effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. THON's fundraising helps offset the cost of a child's cancer treatment and helps establish research endowments aimed at increasing the cure rates of pediatric cancer treatments.

Putting on their dancing shoes from Penn State Berks are sophomores Krista Feather, from Bechtelsville, PA; Lauren Fusco from Gilbertsville, PA; Melissa Sauer from Phoenixville, PA, and Megan Sim from Collegeville, PA, who will spend their weekend on the dance floor as other Penn State Berks students cheer them on.

"Everyone’s life has been affected by cancer one way or another," explains Sim. “I am so excited to dance this year, so I can touch the lives of those children who are still battling this terrible disease.”

"If children have the ability to ignore the odds and percentages, maybe we can all learn from them,” comments Sauer. “When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?”

This year's THON activities began at Berks campus in October 2010. Over the four months leading up to the main event, the campus THON committee held fundraising nights at Moe’s Southwest Grill and The Works at Wyomissing, late night skating events at the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex, a fashion show, Cuts for Kids events with the help of J & J Hair Salon, blood drives, Halloween and Valentines dances, pie-in-the-face fundraiser, tuition bingo, as well as canning drives throughout the community.

In addition, The Berks County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Reading Royals teamed up to hold a fundraising event to benefit THON on Saturday, January 21, 2012.

For more information or to make a donation to THON, contact the Campus Life Office at 610-396-6076 or visit thon.org. Go to the drop-down window labeled "Please give the following organization credit for my gift" select "Berks."

Dr. Janelle Larson, associate professor of agricultural economics and head of the Division of Engineering, Business and Computing at Penn State Berks, will be the keynote speaker at the Penn State University Office of Global Programs fifth annual breakfast in celebration of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in the boardroom of the Nittany Lion Inn. Larson’s research interests are focused on international rural development, with work primarily on land and labor markets. Her presentation is titled: “Engaging Universities in International Development: The CYEC-PSU Model.”

During the breakfast, the Spirit of Internationalization Award, which acknowledges women from Penn State University and the local community who excel in academic achievements, artistic excellence, volunteerism in international organizations or dedication to advancing the status of women, will be presented to a nominee by Penn State’s University Office of Global Programs. Larson, a 2011 recipient of the Spirit of Internationalization award, is currently involved in a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort with the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre (CYEC) in Nyeri, Kenya. The CYEC is a dynamic and innovative residential and educational program for street dwelling children. Its aim is to address specific gaps in the care and support of disadvantaged children and youth, including program sustainability and the successful reintegration of these young people into society. In her presentation, Larson will share the success stories and challenges of this project.

International Women’s Day, officially observed on March 8, is celebrated by universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals around the world in the form of rallies, festivals, conferences, performances, and more. Originating in the early 1900s, the day has long been an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements as well as to draw attention to pressing issues affecting women worldwide.

To make reservations for the International Women’s Day Breakfast, or for more information about the event or the award, contact Sandi Richter, special events coordinator, University Office of Global Programs, at 814-863-5973 or SMR274@psu.edu. Tickets for the breakfast are $12 per person. All tickets purchased via cash or personal check will contribute to the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre by way of Zawadi Fund International. Checks may be made out to “Zawadi Fund International” and mailed to Sandi Richter at The Pennsylvania State University, 410 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901.

The “Alive! Mental Health Fair” featuring H. Reese Butler II, founder and president of Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network, 1-800-SUICIDE, will be held at Penn State Berks on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. This event is free and open to the public.

Butler will give a presentation about his life experiences that led to his creation of the hotline. He initiated both the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network after the loss of his wife to suicide in 1998. Naming the center after his wife, Butler went on to create thirteen separate programs within the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, and in 2005, he was recognized with an award by the National Mental Health Association.

In addition, Butler published the National Journal Preventing Suicide and created 1-800-PPD-MOMS (Postpartum Depression Peer Support Network). He was also instrumental in the development of several other organizations, including the National Council for Suicide Prevention, the California Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN-CA), and the Virginia Suicide Prevention Council.

The fair will include displays, four documentaries will be shown, and students can participate in a graffiti art therapy project that will later be displayed in the Perkins Student Center. Mental health related agencies from Berks County will be available to answer questions and students will have the opportunity to participate in free CPR Suicide Prevention Training.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

N.O.W. is representative of the current students at Penn State Berks and promises to showcase amazing on-campus collaborations between playwrights, directors, and actors.

The following is a list of the selected plays, playwrights, stage manager, and directors for N.O.W. 2011:

• Park Performers
  Written by Patrick O'Neill
  Directed by Kevin King
• Waiting
  Written by Melissa Davis
  Directed by Danielle Fitzgeorge
• Old Souls
  Written by Katelynd Knorr
  Directed by Ashleigh Levan
• Brotherly Love
  Written by Cat Whelan
  Directed by Dashanyua Robinson
• Let's Be Frank
  Written by Nicholas Lewis
  Directed by Ashanti Acosta
• Morality
  Written by Stefanie Thomas
  Directed by Cat Whelan
• Outted
  Written by Dashanyua Robinson
  Directed by Erin Edelstein

General admission is $10. Admission for Penn State faculty and staff with ID is $5. Admission for Penn State Students with ID is $3. For more information, contact Dr. Radhica Ganapathy at 610-396-6432 or via e-mail at RZG3@psu.edu.

Deanne Bell, host of Discovery Channel’s Smash Lab, discusses her experience as a woman engineer and emphasizes the importance of creativity in scientific innovation on Thursday, February 23, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the Beaver Community Center in conjunction with National Engineers Week. This event is free and open to the public.

Bell passionately recounts her path to success, and shares her enthusiasm for working with the next generation of engineers and scientists. Bell’s work experience ranges from designing optical navigation systems for the aerospace industry to product development for a CAD software start-up company. She defies all stereotypes when exploding a 747 or crashing a 300-ton train. Through her journey, she inspires others and conveys that creativity is the foundation for scientific innovation. Previously, she hosted the educational program Design Squad on PBS, which was geared toward teens.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

Monday, Feb. 20, 12:00–2:30 p.m.

Perkins Student Center Lions Den, Engineering Student Open Forum Panel Discussion
The panel discussion will provide open dialog between engineers from local companies and students. Topics such as career paths will be discussed and lunch will be provided. The panelists include Don Dagen, Precision Medical Products; John Weinheimer, RPA Engineering; Bill Frantz, Armstrong Industries; Evan Folk, Worley Parsons, and Robert Correll, retiree from Amp Inc. For more information or to register, contact Jeff Wike, Electrical Laboratory Supervisor, at 610-396-6202.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 8:30 a.m., GoggleWorks in Reading, and
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 8:30 a.m., Lakeland Junior/Senior High School, Jermyn, PA

Project Lead the Way Design Challenge
Students from high schools and middle schools across the state will gather at the GoggleWorks in Reading on Feb. 21, and at Lakeland Junior/Senior High School, located in Jermyn, PA on Feb. 29. The challenge is open to the public, and it will be followed by an awards ceremony.

"This event gives PLTW students the chance to use the skills they have learned in their foundation courses to solve a real-life problem. Many schools concentrate on athletic competition; the PLTW Design Challenge gives academic students a chance for inter-scholastic competition," says Tom Weiss, affiliate director of Project Lead the Way at Penn State Berks.

Project Lead The Way is a national non-profit organization that works in partnership with public middle and high schools to implement a curriculum that emphasizes hands-on experiences in engineering, design, and technology. PTLW aims to attract an increasingly more diverse group of students to become the next generation of scientists, technology experts, engineers, and mathematicians and help America compete favorably in the global economy.

PLTW is the nation’s leading activities-, project-, and problem-based program for middle and high school STEM education. More than 300,000 students are currently engaged in PLTW classes in nearly 4,000 schools. For additional information, contact Tom Weiss, PLTW PA Affiliate Director at Penn State Berks, via e-mail at TSW10@psu.edu or visit the PLTW PA web site: www.pltwpa.org.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1:00 p.m.

Perkins Student Center Penn State Room, Third Annual Celebrating Women In Engineering Luncheon
Dr. Janelle Larson, Engineering, Business, and Computing Division Head, will be the keynote speaker, and the college’s female engineering faculty will participate. The luncheon is sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers student chapter. All engineering students and faculty are invited to attend but reservations are required by Feb. 17 via e-mail to Elizabeth Wiggins at EXW16@psu.edu.

Thursday, Feb. 23, 8:30–11:00 a.m.

Wilson High School juniors interested in engineering will visit Penn State Berks to learn more about the college’s engineering technology programs and careers in the field. Students will also participate in various activities and take a tour of the campus.

Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.

Beaver Community Center, Deanne Bell from Discovery Channel’s Smash Lab discusses her background as a woman in engineering. This presentation is part of the college’s Arts and Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.

For more information about the Engineers Week events, contact Jeff Wike at 610-396-6202.

Students will travel to the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum (CPAAM) on Saturday, February 11, 2012. The site of CPAAM is the Old Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is the oldest African American-owned church building in Reading and Berks County, a registered landmark, and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Students must sign up in the Multicultural Office, Perkins Student Center.

There will be a presentation titled One Drop: Fact, Fiction or Fate by Yaba Blay  on Wednesday, February 29, from 7 p.m.–8:30 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This lecture provides a brief social history of miscegenation in this country and the laws instituted to regulate social (sexual) interactions between the races. This presentation highlights the lived experiences of individuals for whom the “one-drop rule” exacts its influence most. Through dialogue, the speaker will attempt to address such questions as: What exactly is Blackness and what does it mean to be Black? Is Blackness a matter of biology or consciousness? Who determines who is Black and who is not?

On March 23, there will be a second presentation by Yaba Blay titled Light Skin and Long Hair: Challenges to Sistahood, from 1 p.m.–2:30 p.m. in room 3, Perkins Student Center. This lecture will examine the historical and contemporarily tenuous relationship between Black women based upon skin color and hair texture. This presentation highlights the lived experiences of women of African descent, who because of their “light skin and good hair” have faced multiple challenges in being recognized, accepted, or embraced as “Black women,” primarily by browner skinned Black women.

Yaba Blay is a visiting assistant professor of Africana Studies at Lafayette College, where she also teaches courses in Women’s & Gender Studies. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Salisbury State University, a M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of New Orleans, an M.A. and Ph.D. in African American Studies, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Temple University.

For more information, contact Karen Kihurani, Coordinator of Multicultural Programs, at 610-396-6080 or via e-mail KEK5@psu.edu.

Berks students won the Tech Olympics, comprised of a series of challenges that tested technical theatre skills and knowledge. Berks students came home with the region trophy and will host the event at next year's festival. Student participants included Joseph Aubry, Erin Edelstein, Danielle Fitzgeorge, Nick Gackenbach, and Stefanie Thomas.

In addition, Berks students took the trophy for The Fringe Challenge, which sets 10 qualifying schools against each other. Each school is tasked to produce a 10-minute comedic play based on a theme and parameters given to them on the first day of the festival. The following students participated in the Fringe Challenge: Ashanti Acosta, Nick Freer, Regilynn Haywood, Thomas Heiler, Samantha Kolb, Nicolas Lewis, Patrick O'Neil, Dashanyua Robinson, Bianca Sanchez, Noah Sanders, Tiana Thomas, and Cat Whelan.

For more information, contact Rob Napoli, Technical Theatre Coordinator, at 610-396-6421 or via e-mail at RUN2@psu.edu.

The journal is open to all undergraduate students in the United States and across the globe, and it is dedicated to publishing intellectual and reflective work on service learning, community-based research, and all related curriculum- and/or research-based public community engagement activities, which may also be referred to as community-based learning, public scholarship, publicly-engaged learning/teaching.

The editorial team is accepting submissions in five categories: reflective essays; analytical essays; research conducted for a community organization in the form given to that organization, accompanied by a short, reflective essay; research articles; and an open category. Submissions for Volume 1 will be accepted from now through June 30, 2012.

For detailed information about the journal’s content and submission guidelines, visit www.berks.psu.edu/Academics/journal.htm. Please direct all inquiries and questions to the editor, Dr. Laurie Grobman, at LEG8psu.edu.

The editorial team is also seeking Penn State undergraduate students to serve as peer reviewers for the journal. Students who are involved with service learning, community-based research, or any related curriculum- and/or research-based public community engagement activities and are active in writing about this work are encouraged to apply. Interested students should contact Grobman at LEG8@psu.edu.

The Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning and Community-Based Research is supported by the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research at Penn State Berks, formerly referred to as The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy at Penn State Berks or “The Lab.” As its name indicates, the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research focuses on service learning and community-based research. Service learning is defined as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Community-based research is one main form of service learning; the service activity, done in partnership with a community organization, is research.

 Penn State Berks students majoring in Finance had the rare opportunity to take a private tour of the trading floor on the New York Stock Exchange on December 7, 2011. The students were able to interact directly with the specialists and traders from the Bank of America Trading Hub, and to learn firsthand how trading has evolved, from runners taking orders across the trading floor fifteen to twenty years ago, to the more sophisticated computer trading of today.

The trip was coordinated by Penn State Berks alumnus Timothy Hillert ’09, partner at D.M. Roth & Associates. He remembered visiting the New York Stock Exchange as a student at Berks, and he wanted to give current students a more detailed look at the trading floor. Hillert coordinated the tour with Ray Laursen, CEO of Financial and Securities Training, Sean McAuliffe, Business Development of FAST, and Geoffery Leigh, Analyst at Standard and Poors.

The students were enrolled in two Finance courses at Penn State Berks: Investment Valuation for the Financial Services Professional and Corporation Finance, taught by Dr. Khaled Abdou, Assistant Professor of Financial Services, and Dr. Sudip Ghosh, Associate Professor of Business. The trip was only open to students majoring in Finance.

The purpose of the trip to the NYSE was to expose Finance students to the real world of investments and offer them an opportunity to hear directly from professionals on Wall Street about their experiences on the trading floor.

"The experience of stepping foot onto the trading floor of the NYSE and hearing directly from a Specialist is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” commented senior Dominic DiPaul. “It’s difficult for me to think of a better, more effective way of learning about the investment world."

Charles J. Adams III ’69, a graduate of Penn State Berks, was selected to receive the Philip Philip Mitchell Alumni Service Award, which recognizes one individual University-wide each year who has made significant contributions in the area of public service by sharing or volunteering his or her talent, time, and resources on behalf of Penn State.

Adams, who is known best in Berks County for the morning talk show “Charlie & Company” on WEEU-AM Radio Station, and as a paranormal activity story teller, and author of more than thirty ghost story books, has held an annual Penn State Berks Ghost Stories Night in which all proceeds were donated to the Penn State Berks Alumni Society scholarship.

He received a $1,000 cash gift to designate to the program of his choice, a certificate, and inscription of his name on a permanent plaque. The Penn State Alumni Association honored Adams for his service and dedication to Penn State in October 2011, at the Annual Alumni Volunteer Awards Dinner at University Park campus.

Sandy Kreis, Financial Assistant at Penn State Berks, recently retired after 37 years of service to the college. Kreis began her career at Berks in 1974 as an Administrative Assistant to the faculty. Later, she worked in the Dean’s Office and then in the Business Office.

During her time at Penn State Berks, Kreis was active on the Community Service Committee and served as a representative of the professional assistants on the Faculty Senate.

“I’ve seen the campus grow from one building to the expanded campus that we have today with many state-of-the art facilities,” commented Kreis. “I’ve made a lot of friends and wonderful memories that I will always cherish during my time at Penn State Berks.”

Now that she’s retired, Kreis plans to visit her second home at the Delaware shore more frequently and move there eventually. She also plans to pursue hobbies such as fishing, clamming, and crafts.

Cody Lundin, co-host of the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival, will discuss his adventures as a professional survival instructor with more than 20 years experience at Penn State Berks on Thursday, January 19, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Lundin has lived everywhere from the desert to the mountains to a brush shelter in the woods. In 1991, he founded the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Prescott, Arizona, where he teaches modern wilderness survival skills, primitive living skills, urban preparedness, and homesteading. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Yavapai College and a faculty member at the Ecosa Institute, where he teaches varied survival curriculums. He is the best-selling author of two books on survival and preparedness, and he lives in a self-designed, “hobbit inspired” solar earth home in the high-desert wilderness of northern Arizona.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Student Life at 610-396-6076.

The Penn State Berks Freyberger Gallery will present the exhibition titled Witness by Maureen Kelleher from January 19–March 2, 2012. There will be a  question-and-answer session with the artist on Wednesday, January 25, beginning at 1 p.m, and an opening reception will be held on Thursday, January 26, at 6 p.m. These events are free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Maureen Kelleher began her career as a social activist, and she now works primarily as a private investigator on cold-case files and with the Innocence Project. Her work involves revisiting witnesses, and meeting with inmates and attorneys. Through their dialog, Kelleher found her own voice as an artist, as she creates artwork about prisoners and other marginalized individuals. She recounts their stories as a witness to both good and evil. Heavily texted and brightly colored paintings and constructions merge seamlessly into her own unique form of storytelling folk art.

The Freyberger Gallery is open Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information, contact Marilyn Fox, Gallery Director, at 610-396-6140 or via e-mail at MJF14@psu.edu.

Scratch Track, a duo comprised of David “DJ” Lee and guitarist Jason Hamlin, will share their unique sound at Penn State Berks on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. This event is free and open to the public.

Some label their sound as acoustic hip-hop soul, while others call it a deft blend of beats and unplugged instrumentation. Scratch Track is an anomaly that is perhaps best described as mind-bending, style-bending, and undeniably original. The duo began performing on college campuses, coffee houses, and clubs, and evolved into touring with O.A.R., and opening for such groups as The Roots, Los Lonely Boys, Erykah Badu, Jarassic 5, and Living Colour, just to name a few. Despite the band's commercial success with three CDs and soundtracks for CSI New York, Warren Miller's skiing film Off the Grid, Sony Playstation's “MLB” video game, they have stayed true to their college touring roots.

This presentation is part of the Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Student Life at 610-396-6076.

Robert Forrey, Professor of Physics at Penn State Berks, has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Election to APS fellowship is based on outstanding contributions to the field and is limited to no more than 1/2 of 1 percent of the society's membership.

Forrey was elected for "contributions to the understanding of internal energy transfer in atomic and molecular systems" and for "meaningful involvement of undergraduate students in research." His research focuses on applying quantum mechanics to problems in ultracold physics and astrophysics. He was nominated for fellowship by the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.

 The Berks County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Reading Royals are teaming up to hold a fundraising event to benefit THON, the world's largest student-run philanthropy dedicated to supporting children with pediatric cancer and their families, on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Sovereign Center in Reading.

Jay Paterno, former member of the Penn State football coaching staff for 17 years and quarterback coach for 12 years, and Josh Brandwene, Penn State's first varsity women's ice hockey coach, will be the keynote speakers. Brandwene will also drop the ceremonial first puck of the game.

Tickets for the game are $15, and $5 from every ticket purchased through the chapter or through the event web site (royalshockeyevents.com/psu) will be donated to THON.

The chapter will also host a dinner at the Sovereign Center, which is open to alumni, students, and the general public. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the dinner includes chicken parmesan, baked spaghetti, mixed vegetables, Caesar salad, breadsticks, dessert, and beverages. Tickets for both the dinner and the game are $30, with $5 being donated to THON. Individuals who already have tickets to the game and would like to attend the dinner can do so for $15.

The Reading Royals will wear special Penn State football-themed jerseys. These one-of-a-kind game-worn jerseys will be autographed by the players wearing them and auctioned off following the game, with a portion of the proceeds also benefiting THON.

To keep with the Penn State tradition, the Royals have received special permission from the ECHL to wear jerseys that do not include nameplates on the back, and the Royals logo will be in the traditional bowl game patch location.

Last year’s Reading Royals night, hosted by the Berks County Chapter of the PSAA, raised nearly $15,000 for Penn State Berks benefitting THON.

In addition, the THON families who are sponsored by the Berks campus group will be at the event to meet the Royals players and watch the pre-game warm-ups from the Royals bench area, and Penn State Berks students will be “canning” for THON in the arena during the game.

The deadline to order tickets from the web portal is Friday, January 20. To order tickets, please visit the event Web site at royalshockeyevents.com/psu.

As its name indicates, the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research focuses on service learning and community-based research. Service learning is defined as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Community-based research is one main form of service learning; the service activity is research. 

At Penn State Berks, several projects for the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research are currently underway.

Students in the Introduction to Teaching English to English Language Learners course, instructed by Andrea Paff, are collaborating with the Salvation Army’s Mañana program. Each Berks student will partner with one Mañana program child, helping that child to develop language and literacy proficiency in English. Berks students will identify the child’s proficiencies in language and literacy and develop a number of instructional activities that address each child’s specific needs. Berks students will then evaluate the effectiveness of their instruction by assessing their child’s academic progress throughout the semester.

Meanwhile, students in Dr. Jill Burk’s Rhetorical Theory course will embark on an extended research project that investigates the history of buildings that comprise the skyline of the City of Reading as seen through the windows of the Pagoda, a local landmark and tourist attraction. Students will learn how to recognize and apply rhetorical theories and concepts outside of the classroom and will consider the notion that local history is itself “rhetorical.” This project will take several semesters and courses to complete. The students’ work will provide tourists with information about the cityscapes outside the Pagoda windows.

Students in the Environmental Science course, led by Dr. Mahsa Kazempour, will learn about and take action regarding environmental issues by working closely with several local community organizations, including the Berks County Parks Department and the Berks County Conservancy, to address their research, service, and/or educational needs. The Students will write a paper about and present their research findings and subsequent actions to their peers, the community organization members, and the campus community.

Finally, students in Dr. Jui-Chi Huang’s Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy course are planning to complete a service learning project with Friend, Inc. Community Services or the Greater Berks Food Bank to enhance their studies of U.S. poverty from an economic perspective. Friend, Inc. provides a food pantry, case management, budget counseling, parenting support groups, and financial crisis interventions. The Greater Berks Food Bank collects, stores, and distributes food to more than 270 charitable agencies, including Friend, Inc. Students will provide 15 hours of service to one of these organizations to further their understanding of poverty from an economic perspective.

Dr. Laurie Grobman, Professor of English and Women’s Studies, brought the concept of the Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research (formerly known as The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy at Penn State Berks) to the college in the fall of 2010. Penn State Berks is the first campus outside of University Park to launch the initiative. 

The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy at Penn State University was the brainchild of Jeremy Cohen, Associate Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, and a group of colleagues representing several Penn State colleges and campuses. 

In 2000, Cohen worked with faculty members to develop Penn State’s Public Scholarship Associates, a group of Penn State faculty, staff, students, and alumni dedicated to integrating faculty and student achievement with “the habits and practices of civic engagement.” The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy was born, and financial support in the form of grants was made available to faculty who implemented community engagement and scholarship.

For additional information on The Center for Service Learning and Community-Based Research, please contact Dr. Laurie Grobman at 610-396-6141 or via e-mail at LEG8@psu.edu.