Posts filed under ‘Penn State alumni’
A New Way to Support RAINN
John Cappelletti '74 with the autographed helmet.
With less than $5,000 to go before the RAINN campaign hits $500,000, there’s a new opportunity to support the cause—and get a little something in return.
Donated by the Omaha-based Johnny Rodgers Youth Foundation, a football helmet autographed by four Heisman Trophy winners—Penn State’s John Cappelletti ’74 and Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch went up for auction this past Wednesday on eBay. Bidding ends next Wednesday, Dec. 7, and proceeds will go directly to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, or RAINN. The current high bid is $425.
Since launching on Nov. 10, ProudToBeaPennStater.com has raised more than $495,000 for RAINN’s Online Hotline for victims of sexual abuse.
Mary Murphy, associate editor
RAINN Campaign Edges Closer to $500,000
Like everything else in the past two weeks, things at Proud to be a Penn Stater have been moving at warp speed.
Since its launch on Nov. 10, the grassroots group founded by a handful of Penn Staters has raised more than $463,000 for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network—and earned plenty of media coverage in the process.
Co-founder Larena Lettow ’98 appeared on CNN’s American Morning last Thursday, and MSNBC, Huffington Post, Time, and a handful of blogs (including ours) have covered the group’s fundraising efforts. Proud to be a Penn Stater has a goal of raising $500,000 for RAINN by Thanksgiving.
There are some new ways to help: T-shirts with the phrase “[Still] Proud to be a Penn Stater” are available for $18, with proceeds going directly to RAINN, and cell phone users can text PSU4RAINN to 20222 to make an automatic $10 donation.
Funds raised will support RAINN’s Online Hotline, which provides free support for victims of sexual abuse. The hotline has seen a 54 percent increase in calls since news of the Sandusky scandal broke two weeks ago.
Mary Murphy, associate editor
Bright Spots in the Darkness
As Penn State continues to reel over the events of the past nine days, students and alumni are focusing their attention on the victims. Charitable efforts, popping up all over the Web since early last week, are giving Penn Staters an opportunity to help victims of child abuse — and some much-needed hope.
—Proud to be a Penn Stater. Spearheaded by Jerry Needel ’98, this grassroots campaign was founded by alums to “help victims get their pride back.” The goal is to raise more than $500,000 by Wednesday, November 16 — 1 dollar for each of the 557,000 Penn State alumni — to support RAINN, the Rape Abuse Incest National Network. Thanks in part to help from Alumni Association chapters nationwide, donations topped $350,000 as of Monday morning. To donate, click here.
—Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania chapter of the national charity sponsored the “Blue Out” of Beaver Stadium Saturday and distributed thousands of blue ribbons, symbols of child abuse awareness, before the game. Visit PCAP’s website to learn ways to prevent child abuse or to make a donation.
—We (Still) Are. Modeled after Kickstarter.com, WeStillAre.com is a user-generated platform for messages of hope and positivity, inviting users to share posts, pictures, and videos, and “channel their energy around this tragedy into good.”
—Information & Support for Victims. We Stand With You. A Facebook page with resources and messages of support for victims of abuse.
Mary Murphy, associate editor
More Tintypes by Cody Goddard
One of many cool tintypes from Cody's Halloween shoot.
Last week, we introduced to you to Cody Goddard ’10, a photographer who works with old-fashioned equipment and techniques. As promised, Cody posted the results of Friday’s Halloween-themed tintype shoot to his website. Check them out here. The photos—and the costumes—are fantastic. Although I watched the making of some of these images, it’s still hard to believe they’re not actual antiques.
A collection of Cody’s tintypes will be on display at the Green Drake Art Gallery in Millheim, Pa., this month, as part of the “Under 30 – The Work of Young Artists” exhibit. The show opens today.
Mary Murphy, associate editor
A Lesson in Tintypes from Cody Goddard
Cody sets up the shot with grad student Alicia Brogan. A wooden brace helps keep her head steady during the 15-second exposure.
Cody Goddard came to Penn State prepared to study computer engineering. And he did, for a year—until he attended a photography workshop as a sophomore. In the workshop, Goddard ’10 not only discovered a love for photography, but became particulary interested in old wet-plate techniques, like tintypes, which create images on sheets of metal.
On Friday, Cody, who now works on campus for the College of Arts & Architecture in the e-Learning Institute, set up a makeshift studio in the Visual Arts Building, where he offered to make tintypes of anyone who showed up, preferably in Halloween costume. Our graphic designer, Jessie Knuth, and I stopped by Friday morning to check it out.
The tintype process is fascinating. Cody was nice enough to walk Jessie and me through the making of a tintype, and his explanations were so clear, even a photography neophyte like me could understand.
He begins in the darkroom with a plate of aluminum.
Artful Clocks—or, You Might Say, Timely Art
'Flying Toaster Time,' by Randall Cleaver
One of the fun things about this job is discovering that some Penn Stater I never heard of before is doing something really cool. I got exactly that kind of surprise the other day when a woman at the National Watch & Clock Museum (I mean, who even knew there was such a place?) called to tell me about an art exhibition they’re running right now. The museum is in Columbia, Pa., and the artist is a Penn Stater: Randall Cleaver ’81.
'Dance,' by Randall Cleaver (click to enlarge)
Cleaver studied sculpture as an undergraduate; officially, he was an art major. He now lives in Takoma Park, Md., and has a pretty interesting niche in the art world: He creates clocks out of found objects.
As just one example, in 2001 he did a six-foot-tall piece called Carousel of Time out of a bicycle wheel, copper toilet floats, a trash can, some tin cans, and so on. He’s got clocks made from old heaters, clocks made from globes, clocks made from waffle irons.
The National Watch & Clock Museum is showing 30 of his pieces in an exhibition called Found Time, which runs through next May. You can learn a bit more about it by watching this video shot by a local TV station—or by taking a little road trip to the museum, located on 514 Poplar St. in Columbia, Pa.
Tina Hay, editor
A Very Penn State Wedding
The bride and bridesmaids on the Old Main porch. Click to see a larger, crisper version.
We’ve written about Penn State weddings before—here, here, and here, for example—but this past weekend was the first time I was actually involved in one.
I had a bit part, really. My brother Chris was the wedding photographer, and I served more or less as assistant photographer—as well as second assistant equipment schlepper.
(Chris’ wife, Paula, was first assistant equipment schlepper; she’s been doing weddings with him for years.)
My brother has all the talent, the experience, and the gear. My role was to fill in the gaps by taking whatever candid shots seemed to present themselves.
It was a Penn State wedding through and through: Both the bride and groom—Cameron Klementik ’07 and Daniel Ertley ’07—are Penn Staters, as are the bride’s parents, Judge David Klementik ’70 and Ruth Whalley Klementik ’70, and so were many of the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Over the course of about 12 hours, Chris shot photos at a host of campus spots: the Nittany Lion Inn, the alumni center, Old Main, the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center (where the ceremony was held), the Nittany Lion Shrine, and Beaver Stadium (where the reception was held, in the Mount Nittany Club). We were also scheduled to do shoots at the Obelisk, the Joe Paterno statue outside the stadium, and other spots, but it was rainy and we just plain ran out of time.
If that’s not Penn Statey enough for you, (more…)
Steven Leath’s Mom has Reason to be Proud
On any given day, I’m likely to get a phone call from someone who thinks they have a story idea for the magazine. Some of the ideas are genuinely good; some aren’t.
When someone starts off by saying that the story idea involves their son or daughter, I tend to be, shall we say, a little skeptical. But the proud mom who called me this morning, Marie Leath, was right: Her son is newsworthy.
It turns out that on Tuesday, Steven Leath ’79 was named president of Iowa State University.
Leath was a plant-science major at Penn State, went on to get his master’s and doctorate, and spent some time working in plant pathology for the U.S. Department of Agriculture before joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 2001. Since 2007 he’s been that school’s VP for research and sponsored programs—and on Feb. 1 he’ll become a college president.
You can read the Des Moines Register’s article about his appointment here.
Ironically, the man he’ll replace at Iowa State also has Penn State ties. Gregory Geoffrey has been ISU president since 2001; before that, he was dean of the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, and before that, he was head of the chemistry department here.
Tina Hay, editor
We Are… “Linebacker U”? It Sure Looks That Way
It’s not that Penn State ever stopped producing great linebackers, but enough other schools have turned out really good ones in recent years that some fans and media observers have tried to reassign the Lions’ unofficial title of “Linebacker U.”
Well, enough of that.
On Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys’ second-year linebacker Sean Lee ’09 was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month. Through three games, Lee—who wasn’t guaranteed to be a starter this season—was the NFL’s second-leading tackler. Fourth on that list? Another second-year linebacker, Navorro Bowman ’09 of the San Francisco 49ers. This after a 2010 season in which two of the league’s top-three sack leaders were linebackers Tamba Hali ’06 of the Kansas City Chiefs and Cameron (formerly Derek) Wake ’04 of the Miami Dolphins. (In fairness, Hali played defensive end in college, and Wake was something of a “tweener” between ‘backer and end while at Penn State.) And the NFL’s third-leading tackler last season? That was linebacker Paul Posluszny ’06, now of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
There are a couple more linebackers among the 31 ex-Nittany Lions on current NFL rosters. You can keep up with all of them with weekly updates on gopsusports.com.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Paul Levine Brings Back Jake Lassiter
When I want to relax, I read. So it was a good day when the new novel by Paul Levine ’69, Lassiter, showed up in the office. I mean, who doesn’t like to curl up with a tale of thugs, crooked politicians, porn moguls, strippers, a grieving woman who’s slightly bananas and hell bent on revenge … and a lawyer who’s got some rough edges, but whose heart is always in the right place?
I can’t imagine.
Lawyer Jake Lassiter—a washed-up Miami Dolphins special teams player, by way of Penn State—was the star of Levine’s first book, To Speak for the Dead, and was the centerpiece of five novels to follow. It’s been 14 years since Levine wrote about Jake (although it doesn’t seem that long to me; I’ve read all of the Lassiter books in the past year or so), and it’s worth the wait.
It has a look at Lassiter’s past—and his regrets. All the twists and turns mystery readers love. A courtroom showdown. A strangely sympathetic ex-pornographer. (There’s a sentence fragment I never thought I’d write …) And the usual cast of terrific of supporting characters: Granny, who raised Lassiter and makes a mean plate of fried catfish; Kip, his slightly awkward nephew, who’s pretty clever with a computer; and the city of Miami, which is beautifully, accurately, and entertainingly portrayed. If you don’t want to take my word for it—I didn’t live in Miami that long—click here, and you’ll get the view from a more reliable source.
For bonus fun, note the Penn State references. My favorite: Lassiter gets key information from the jail by gifting his contact with a case of wine from the Eberle Winery. I am hoping, though, that Levine had better sense than his protagonist, and didn’t place a “sentimental bet” on the Nittany Lions against Alabama.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
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