Imagine discovering that you are not the person you thought you were-that you have a family, a history that you never knew. How would this discovery impact your life, the lives of those around you, your vision of yourself and society? Michael Fosberg confronts these issues in "Incognito," a one-hour, solo theatrical presentation, which will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. in Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This presentation is free and open to the public.
Penn State Berks will host a banquet in honor of Martin Luther King Day on Thursday, January 17, 2013. The event will be held in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room; doors open at 6 p.m., with a soul food dinner at 6:30.
David Aurentz, associate professor of chemistry at Penn State Berks; Frederick Haag, associate professor of visual arts at Penn State York, and Mark Maughmer, professor of aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering, have received the Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and have been named 2012 Penn State Teaching Fellows. The Penn State Alumni Association, in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate governing bodies, established the award in 1985. It honors distinguished teaching and provides encouragement and incentive for excellence in teaching. Recipients are expected to share their talents and expertise with others throughout the University system during the year following the award presentation.
W.D. Ehrhart, "the dean of Vietnam war poetry," will read from his work, followed by a discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in room 125, Luerssen Building at Penn State Berks. This event is sponsored by the American studies degree program, and it is free and open to the public.
CSI notwithstanding, forensics experts cannot always retrieve fingerprints from objects, but a conformal coating process developed by Penn State professors can reveal hard-to-develop fingerprints on nonporous surfaces without altering the chemistry of the print. "As prints dry or age, the common techniques used to develop latent fingerprints, such as dusting or cyanoacrylate -- SuperGlue -- fuming often fail," said Robert Shaler, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of Penn State's forensic sciences program.
If every on-campus student at University Park reduced his or her time in the shower by just five minutes, Penn State would save 100,000 gallons of water each school year. That is enough to fill five swimming pools and lower the University's carbon footprint by 18,980 pounds every year.
Pedro Noguera, urban sociologist, will discuss education reform and diversity at Penn State Berks at 7 p.m. Feb. 15, in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. Noguera, an urban sociologists and an advocate for a strong and vibrant public education system, is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University. He also is the director of the Metro Center for Research on Urban Schools and Globalization. His scholarship and research focus on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment.