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Spooktacular Science: The Amazing Water Trick
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Spooktacular Science: The Amazing Water Trick

Monday, October 25, 2021
As part of Spooktacular Science 2021, Penn State Altoona presents the Crazy Water Trick! Make a prediction of what happens when hot and cold fluids meet! To try this at home you will need:

  • four canning jars or four clear glasses that are the same
  • two laminated cards
  • food coloring
  • warm and cold water
Oral History Project: C. David Kimmel, the administrative years
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Oral History Project: C. David Kimmel, the administrative years

C. David Kimmel's first job out of college was as Assistant Director for Development at Penn State Altoona. Robert E. Eiche asked him personally to take the position because of his work as an undergraduate while at Penn State Altoona. Kimmel would go on to work alongside the likes of Ted Holtzinger, Robert E. Eiche, Bob Smith, Steven Adler, and Jack Zubrod. In this video, he talks of the expansion of the Penn State Altoona campus and how the campus changed from 1958 to 1978. 

Oral History Project: C. David Kimmel, the Student Years
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Oral History Project: C. David Kimmel, the Student Years

C. David Kimmel played an integral role in building the Penn State Altoona campus. He started his career as a student at Penn State Altoona in 1958, where he took classes in the old Bathhouse and was part of the first class to utilize the E. Raymond Smith Building. Kimmel worked closely with the first director of the campus, Robert E. Eiche, who held that role from 1939 to 1968. He also worked with Robert L. Smith, the very first Penn State Altoona employee. Dave would later be asked by Robert Eiche to work for Penn State Altoona.

Oral History Project: Dr. Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry, Chancellor and Dean
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Oral History Project: Dr. Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry, Chancellor and Dean

Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry first came to Penn State Altoona in 1985 when she was working on her Ph.D. Originally from Martinsburg, Pa., she had never been to Penn State Altoona until she arrived to teach and fell in love with the campus immediately. In 1997, Bechtel-Wherry was one of the inaugural division heads when Penn State Altoona became a four-year, degree-granting institution. She later served as associate dean for academic affairs, before being named Chancellor and Dean in 2005.

Ted Holtzinger
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Ted Holtzinger

J.E. "Ted" Holtzinger was born the grandson of "Altoona Mirror" founder, Harry E. Slep. He attended Penn State, majoring in journalism and minoring in business and animal husbandry. Holtzinger dedicated his life to community service and started the advisory board that would create the Altoona Undergraduate Center (later Penn State Altoona) in 1939. He served on the board his entire life until his passing in 1977.

Athleen Stere
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Athleen Stere

This installment of Penn State Altoona's historical video project provides background on Athleen Stere. Stere was a Harvard Graduate and received her Ph.D from Penn State. She taught at Penn State Altoona from 1971 to 2012 till the age of 91. Stere passed away on April 1, 2018 at the age of 97. Her dissertation, "Cytophotometry of Feulegen-DNA, Azure B-RNA and Gomori Alkaline Phosphatse Activity in Myocardial Tissue from Hypoxia Exposed Rats" can be found at the Robert E. Eiche Library at Penn State Altoona.

Penn State Altoona's Edwin Zoller
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Penn State Altoona's Edwin Zoller

Edwin Zoller was a husband, father, teacher, veteran, philosopher, and painter who lived near Tyrone, PA.  He taught painting and philosophy at Penn State Altoona and is best known for his paintings that followed the style of abstract expressionism. His book, "From a painter's notes: the writings and work of Edwin W. Zoller," is available in the University Libraries catalog.