In an ongoing effort to bring greater awareness to sexual violence and child abuse, several Penn State events are being held during the month of April, which has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Erin C. Murphy, associate professor of English at Penn State Altoona; M. Kevin Parfitt, associate professor of architectural engineering in the College of Engineering, and Robert D. Richards, Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies in the College of Communications, have received the Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and have been named 2011 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.
Penn State Altoona's new entrepreneurial center has an official name. Chosen by Steve and Nancy Sheetz, the building will now be known as the Sheetz Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
Independence Day celebrations almost always include fireworks of some kind. The Prevent Blindness America organization recommends attending professionally organized fireworks displays rather than buying and setting off your own. This view is echoed by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which collects and reports data on fireworks-related injuries every year. They report that 7,000 emergency room visits from fireworks-related injuries occurred during 2008, including seven deaths. In 2007, there were 11 deaths and 9,800 emergency room visits from fireworks-related injury.
Disease remedies using plant products fill the market, but most have not been tested well enough to be able to assure patients that they really work or that they are safe. Here is what is known about a few products that are often of interest to patients with diabetes.
Well more than 100,000 students, alumni, friends and fans of Penn State are staying connected to the University through Penn State's official page on Facebook and through two accounts on Twitter. The University's official page on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/pennstate, is a hub of daily activity for more than 104,000 Penn Staters. On Twitter, thousands are following two official University feeds at http://www.twitter.com/pennstatelive and http://www.twitter.com/penn_state.
With more than $1 billion raised to date, Penn State has entered the public phase of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, with a goal that will make it the biggest fundraising effort in the University's history. At a celebratory event held on April 23, President Graham Spanier announced that Penn State will aim to secure $2 billion by 2014 to ensure that the University can continue to offer an outstanding education to students from every economic background while benefiting the public through research and service.
"Penn State has made it possible for hundreds of thousands of individuals to sustain their families, advance their professions, and contribute to our country's strength," Spanier told more than 1,000 volunteers and donors gathered at the Bryce Jordan Center. "The For the Future campaign will ensure that we can continue to prepare our students for leadership in a world vastly different from any that previous generations have experienced."
A concussion in young athletes can cause significant problems, especially if not recognized and treated properly. The risk for concussion can certainly be reduced by using the proper equipment and following the rules, but it will never be eliminated. Soccer players and lacrosse players risk collisions with opponents or striking their head on the ground after a fall. Softball and baseball catchers and umpires risk getting concussions from foul balls.
