At each of two separate campus events, at times the room was so quiet you could probably have heard the proverbial pin drop as guest speakers began sharing their experiences on writing, journalism, and the Vietnam War.

The events were part of a county-wide effort in Lackawanna County, called Scranton Reads, an annual community reading event organized by the City of Scranton and the Albright Memorial Library. 

Each year, during the month of October, citizens read a great work of literature and participate in book discussions and special events related to the chosen work. Penn State Worthington Scranton has been participating in Scranton Reads program for several years and hosted two events for this year’s program.

This year’s book was “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. The book, a fictional account focusing on the Vietnam War, was read by students, faculty and staff, who also attended the featured events.  Some English faculty members also incorporated the book into this semester’s curriculum.

At the first event, an evening panel discussion on “The Media and The War” featured local Scranton Times columnist Chris Kelly and Mike Mullen, a photographer at The Scranton Times and Penn State alumnus, Dr. Warren Bareiss, a media critic and professor at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, and David Hess, a novelist and veteran who has served on multiple tours of duty, including Vietnam.

Mr. Kelly and Mr. Mullen both were embedded with the U.S. Army in Iraq after the start of the war in Iraq. The evening provided an open forum of discussion in which the participants and the audience discussed the Iraq war, Vietnam, the media, the role and influence of the media in covering wars, and the panelists' personal experiences.

The second event was a craft talk on writing by Mr. O’Brien, who addressed a standing-room only crowd in the campus’ K. Bruce Sherbine Lounge on Thursday afternoon, regaling those in attendance with fictional anecdotes and stories related to “The Things They Carried” as well as his other works and his personal life.

At the end, he told the audience that he could have simply talked about the writing techniques he employs and the technical aspect of writing, but he wanted them to understand that writing is about making the reader “feel something in their heart” and the best way he could think of to do that was to show them the art of story-telling. 

He clearly drove his point home, as several members in the audience asked questions about things of his that they had read, and stayed afterward to talk with the author and have him sign their copies of his book.

Mr. Key, a musician missing both of his hands and feet, will be performing for students, faculty and staff.  Throughout his life, Mr. Key never let his handicap get in the way of anything he ever wanted to accomplish.  He is now an amazing guitar player and will showcase his talents. 

After his performance he will give a speech about himself and talk about what is was like to grow up without hands or feet.

At the same time, the CHSO will also be providing a FREE SPAGHETTI LUNCH for the campus community.  We encourage everyone to stop buy for some free lunch and to enjoy a very special musical performance. 

The event will feature over 10 campuses and universities, with a minimum of 125 runners competing. The women's team competition begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by the men's team, which has a 1:15 p.m. start.

Over the past few seasons, Penn State Worthington Scranton has made great strides in the PSUAC. 

In Fall, 2007 the women's cross country team captured the campus' first PSUAC Cross Country Championship title, and was named PSUAC League Champions. Also that year, Gary Edstrom, women's cross country coach, was named a PSUAC Coach of the Year.

Last year, the women's team again snagged the state championship title and represented the PSUAC at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association's national championship in Buena Vista, VA.

Also last year, one of the women's team members, Samantha Snead, made headlines after setting four PSUAC course records, winning an individual PSUAC state title and placing second at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association’s (USCAA) National Championship meet in Virginia.

Ms. Snead, now a junior at University Park, was named to the University Park women's cross country team and is the first female athlete in Penn State Worthington Scranton's history to be offered the opportunity to move on to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level from the PSUAC. 

Also last year, the men's cross country team earned an at-large bid to the national meet, with the campus team's top 10 men runners going to nationals. They finished second at that PSUAC championship meet, with an overall record of 36 wins and 5 losses.

Dr. Philip Mosley, professor of English and Comparative Literature at Penn State Worthington Scranton was one of only eight individual faculty recipients of Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities grants for his project, "The Cinema of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne: Realism and Responsibility."

He was named as a recipeint during the Institute for the Arts and Humanities second round of faculty awards for 2009, for the period of July through December.

“I am delighted to be one of two Commonwealth Campus recipients of this grant," Dr. Mosley said. "It will permit me to prepare a manuscript of the research I have been conducting on the work of the Dardenne brothers, social realist film makers from Belgium, who have twice won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and whose major films dramatize ethical crises in the lives of individuals living on the margins of society.”

This particular grant program, awarded through Penn State University, helps fund the research and creative projects of individual faculty members in and across the arts and humanities at Penn State. The monetary awards support materials, travel for research and creative activity, costs related to publication, wages for research assistance, and teaching release time.

Applications are reviewed by members of the Institute’s advisory board and recommendations are made to its Director. Research and products related to the funded program are then disseminated in a variety of ways, including presentations as part of the Faculty Lecture Series, roundtables, symposia, seminars, performances, exhibitions and publications.

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities fosters excellence by stimulating and supporting innovative, interdisciplinary work across the boundaries of departments, schools, and colleges.
Through its wide-ranging, inclusive programming and funding, the Institute strives to play a role of leadership on issues of multidisciplinary and multicultural relevance and importance in the arts and humanities. Support of individual and group projects and of planned programming such as lectures, symposia, exhibitions, and performances builds a vibrant interdisciplinary community and helps raise the profile of the arts and humanities at Penn State.

Dr. Mosley has published extensively on literature and film, and he also translates literature from French to English. His latest translation, of The Book of the Snow by Belgian poet François Jacqmin, is forthcoming from Arc Publications in the U.K. His interest in cinema has led him to be involved in organizing and presenting a variety of film events both locally and nationally.

Penn State University President Graham Spanier was a keynote speaker Thursday for the dedication of Penn State Worthington Scranton’s new Business Building, addressing over 100 attendees.

In addition to Dr. Spanier, other university officials as well as Worthington Scranton donors, supporters, advisory board members, faculty, staff and students were in attendance for the landmark event. 

Chancellor Mary-Beth Krogh-Jespersen welcomed the crowd, saying it was a very proud day for Penn State Worthington Scranton, and thanked those involved for helping to make this latest addition to the campus possible.

It was the recent growth at Penn State Worthington Scranton, that “fueled the need for this spectacular new Business Building,” Dr. Spanier told the crowd, citing the campus’ 11 percent increase in enrollment over the past year.  “You are definitely doing something right.”

“This wonderful new facility promises to keep Penn State Worthington Scranton in the forefront of business education, research and practice, he said.” 

The new $6 million Business Building combines academic classrooms with corporate amenities to create a unique learning facility and community resource.  Specialty features include a Wall Street style trading floor, e-learning and technology classrooms, tiered lecture hall and a conference room with polycom capabilities.

The building was planned with the goal of providing a learning environment conducive to both in-class and online instruction, in addition to being used as a corporate community center.

In fact, local agencies have already used the building for presentations and instructional seminars, while classrooms have been used for continuing education training and development programs with area companies. In addition, planning is underway for a series of events designed to introduce business leaders and area professionals to the facility and what Penn State Worthington Scranton can offer them.

Michael Kushner, an aide representing Sen. Robert Mellow, a major supporter of this initiative who was unable to attend the dedication, praised the effort and what it meant for the campus, as well as the local community.

Edmund Brogenski, a Worthington Scranton business major and president of the campus’s Business Club, spoke about his first time entering the new building and how it invoked a sense of pride in him, making him feel that as a student at Penn State Worthington Scranton, he was now part of something bigger.

Penn State Worthington Scranton gave a whole new meaning to ‘summer camp’ this year with a series of technology-oriented academies aimed at teaching area youth some creative ways to use technology.

From creating animations to composing music, students attending the Nittany Cub Camps and Academies at Penn State Worthington Scranton learned new skills while also having fun.  And, it is hoped that as a result of their summer experience, they will have a new and stronger interest in science, math and technology both in school and as a potential career path.

The STEM Summer Academy, which was one of the first courses offered, was a week-long program for students ages 13 to 15. It connects students and teachers with ongoing interdisciplinary programs and provides them with science, technology, engineering and math experiences. Students and teachers collect and analyze data that will be used by the teachers in their research projects.

STEM research projects involve major concepts in earth, physical and biological sciences as well as significant ideas in engineering and technology. Graphing, analyzing and interpreting data help develop math skills and support in-school curricula. The program also features on-line resources and career awareness activities.

The goals of the Academy are to increase career interest in the sciences, highlight knowledge of science content and technology in the real world, develop partnership among students and motivate students in science and math.

Over 20 youths participated in the summer program offered at Penn State Worthington Scranton for the first time this year, thanks in part to funding from a state Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) grant that provided full scholarships for the students.

Sandy Feather, associate director of admissions at the campus and an organizer of the STEM program, said the STEM Summer Academy was very well-received and has already been funded for Summer 2010.

In line with the STEM Summer Academy, Penn State Worthington Scranton has developed several other unique courses that touch on contemporary technology topics while also tapping into students’ imaginations and creativity.

Fred Aebli, an information sciences and technology instructor at the campus who taught Creating Animations, a Nittany Cub Camp, said 20 children aged 8 to 12, took his course. The students worked together to create animated stories using a flip book technique and their imaginations.

“This particular course is all about the thought process,” Aebli explained. “They’re actually learning the basics of programming in a fun way,” he said. “It’s a way to familiarize them with technological applications they haven’t worked with yet. All they know is that they’re having fun being creative and working in teams.”

While Aebli’s students were using their imaginations to create stories and animated characters, Sharon Toman, senior instructor of music, was teaching the Music and Technology Academy where students were learning to arrange and compose digital music using Sibelius software.

“My course was geared toward students who already had a basic understanding of music notation and could read music,” Toman explained. She taught students a bit of music theory before they started using the Sibelius software to compose their own digital pieces.
“This software is changing the face of music,” she said. “It’s a new tool for all musicians and allows users to create pieces that can range from that of a symphony orchestra to a rock band. And, it provides instant results.”

By the end of Toman’s course, each student had composed several orchestrated musical scores which they demonstrated via visual and audio playback for the class and their parents who were in attendance.

Dr. Debra Smarkusky, associate professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Worthington Scranton, was also involved with the summer academies.

Her course, Creating 3-D Software Animations Academy, also combined technology and music, teaching students how to design and develop their own animations with music using Alice software. Students were able to use this cutting-edge software to manipulate objects in a virtual world and to add their own sound effects and background music.

It was a course that tapped into students’ interest in technology, as well as their artistic side, she explained.

“While music and software animation may appear to be completely different, they actually work very well together, because composing music follows the same process as developing a software application,” Dr. Smarkusky stated.

“Today’s students are getting savvier in the use of computers and software,” Aebli said. “They have a much greater knowledge and comfort level than students had even just a few years ago, but they still like to have fun.”

In fact, combining technology with fun, creativity and young imaginations was an underlying theme and goal of this summer’s youth technology offerings at Penn State Worthington Scranton and something that Aebli, Smarkusky and Toman are very much interested in encouraging, enhancing and continuing.

Mallory Pencek, '09 Business, has received the University's prestigious John Egli Outstanding Female Scholar-Athlete Award for 2008-09.

This award was established in honor of Assistant Professor John Egli, the first Commonwealth Campus Coordinator of Athletics, for his distinguished service to Penn State University as a student, athlete, faculty member, and coach. Mr. Egli was responsible for the establishment, growth, and development of the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference, now known as the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC).

The award is given to one female and one male athlete each year.

Ms. Pencek, of Factoryville, was chosen from approximately 1,400 student athletes who participated in one or more of the 10 varsity sports offered at the 15 Penn State campuses. While at Worthington Scranton, she played for three seasons on the women's basketball team and was team captain this past year. She also played softball for two years and was a member of the United State’s Collegiate Athletic Association’s National All-Academic Team in both basketball and softball.

She is the daughter of Richard and Dr. Caroline Pencek, a member of Worthington Scranton’s Advisory Board.

This award was established in honor of Assistant Professor John Egli, the first Commonwealth Campus Coordinator of Athletics, for his distinguished service to Penn State University as a student, athlete, faculty member, and coach. Mr. Egli was responsible for the establishment, growth, and development of the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference, now known as the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC).