Posts filed under ‘Penn State students’
How They Spent Their Summer Vacation
In our Sept./Oct. issue, now arriving in mailboxes, you’ll meet a handful of Penn State students who landed some coveted summer internships—and completely bust the myth that “internship” = “grunt work.”
In addition to the nine students profiled in the print edition, we thought you’d also enjoy hearing about a 10th: Audrey Snyder, who spent the summer in Milwaukee covering the Brewers for MLB.com. A senior in the College of Communications and a sports fanatic, Snyder was one of only 30 students nationwide to score the MLB gig, and the only intern covering the Brewers, making for a packed schedule and tight deadlines. Snyder squeezed in a few minutes (on a game day, no less) to (more…)
From Home to Heroes—What’s in a Name?
Our May/June issue featured a profile of of Jess Exum, a Penn State junior and founder of Letters from Home, a student organization that sends care packages to troops deployed overseas. Exum started the club just last December, but it’s been an eventful half year—not least because she’s already had to change the name. Turns out there was already an organization by that name doing pretty much the same thing, so she came up with The Dear Hero Program instead.
By any name, the club’s first six months were productive: The Dear Hero Program has sent out 42 care packages, and she says they’ve started hearing back from some of the homesick troops whose days they’ve made. Exum says she also heard from her eighth grade science teacher, Sharon Brandt ’71 MS Sci, who saw the story in our last issue and proceeded to brag about her to everyone at Oyster Bay (NY) High School, her alma mater.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Remembering Lt. Michael “Mike” Murphy ’98
Anyone familiar with the story of Lt. Michael Murphy ’98 knows the courage and sacrifice of the Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan in 2005. But those who attended Medal of Honor: The Life of Michael P. Murphy Saturday know another side of the Medal of Honor recipient.
The talk was presented by the class of 2011, whose senior class gift is the creation of the Lt. Michael P. Murphy and Penn State Veterans Plaza, construction of which will begin within the next two years. Speakers included author Gary Williams, who wrote Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN, along with Murphy’s parents, Dan and Maureen.
Dan and Maureen Murphy (center) shared stories about their son at Saturday's presentation. Photo by Andy Colwell.
Much of the presentation was spent honoring Murphy as a leader and loyal SEAL, but Dan and Maureen made sure the audience, along with the senior class, knew Murphy (they call him “Mike”) as a person—and a Penn State student. Some anecdotes they shared:
—Mike was always the ring leader, even as a child, explained Maureen. “All the kids in the neighborhood would gather around him on summer afternoons, asking ‘What are we gonna do now, Mike?’”
—He loved to party. Dan had the audience in stitches (more…)
Student App Makes Shopping Safer
Hiestand (left) with Governor Tom Corbett and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Photo courtesy of mobilelions.weebly.com
When people with dietary restrictions and serious allergies grocery shop, it’s not always easy to tell which foods are safe. And surprisingly, there’s not an app for that—yet.
As part of a class on Windows mobile development at Penn State Abington, students Derrick Hiestand, James Boyer, Adalat Khan and Stephen Murray have developed ShopSafe. The mobile application, designed for smartphones, allows users to enter their specific restrictions or allergies, then scan UPC symbols of items at the grocery store. A green “pass” or red “fail” icon appears, along with a detailed list of the product’s ingredients. Encouraged by Professor Joseph Oakes, the guys entered ShopSafe in the Microsoft Imagine Cup, an international technology competition that awards $240,000 to the most innovative student design, announced at the NYC finals in July. ShopSafe has already made the first cut.
The team (they’ve dubbed themselves the MobileLions) is now busy preparing a project plan for round two, says Hiestand, and working on a beta version of the app that can be released to the public. They’ve also been busy hobnobbing: The guys met Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Governor Tom Corbett last week at the opening of the Microsoft Technology Center in Malvern. They presented ShopSafe at the event (watch the presentation here), and Ballmer congratulated the team on their hard work. Now, that’s a good sign.
Mary Murphy, associate editor
Thoughts on My First THON
Photo by Annemarie Mountz '84
If an alien from another planet visited Penn State this weekend, earthlings sure would’ve had a hard time explaining THON.
Yesterday, I was that alien.
As the Penn Stater’s newest staff member and a State College resident for about two months, I had only a vague idea what this THON thing was all about. My co-workers cautioned that I’d have to see it to believe it, and my questions about what to expect were often answered with a pause, then a “You just have to go.” So I did.
I arrived at the Jordan Center at about 10 a.m. Sunday. With press pass in hand, I was ready to experience THON for the first time. As a friendly student escort led me through the labyrinth of hallways to the dance floor, I was given one precaution: (more…)
Follow Along During THON
This photo from Penn State Public Information shows students preparing the floor for THON. They started at 5 a.m. Friday.
Earlier today, a couple of us were trying to figure out what percentage of the student body is participating in THON, which officially gets underway at 6 p.m. Friday—in a little less than two hours. We’re not sure, but we’re guessing between a third and a half of the students at the University Park campus are involved somehow—dancers, volunteers, cheering on from the stands—and there are plenty of students from other campuses here for the big event.
And of course the THON families—children and their parents who are being helped by the Four Diamonds Fund, the reason 700 students will be dancing for 46 hours this weekend at the Bryce Jordan Center—are in town, too.
If you can’t be there, there are still plenty of ways to follow along. Here are some of the best:
The Daily Collegian’s reporters are blogging here, and the staff at StateCollege.com is doing the same thing here.
On Twitter: follow the Collegian (@dailycollegian), Onward State (@thonwardstate), and anything with the hashtag #thon2011.
And the College of Communications is again dispatching more than 150 students to cover the event, including a live webstream. You can find all of that coverage here.
Last year, THON raised more than $7.8 million for the Four Diamonds Fund. Check back at the end of the weekend for more details from this year’s event.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
President Obama Asks for Penn State’s Help in “Winning the Future”
He was only on stage Thursday for 22 minutes, but that was plenty of time for Barack Obama to cover all the bases required for a president visiting Penn State.
Joe Paterno reference? Check. “I just met this guy,” Obama said shortly after he took the stage at Rec Hall,” I hadn’t heard of him before, but apparently he coaches your football team…”
Pointing out his own Penn State connection? Check. Obama mentioned Lt. Col. Sam Price ’95, an Air Force officer charged today with “carrying the football,” aka the nuclear launch codes the president keeps near at all times, just in case.
Giving the crowd a reason to cheer? Check. In fairness, Obama didn’t have to try all that hard to get the crowd on his side — based on his reception, the president (check our Facebook page for more photos) is still wildly popular with younger voters, who made up a sizable chunk of the 3,000 audience members in the Rec Hall stands. But the president made sure he connected with Penn Staters of all ages, and with current students in particular, by emphasizing far-reaching — and, in his words, vital — goals in his brief time at University Park.
“The reason I wanted to come here, (more…)
A Penn State Vocal Group You May Not Have Heard
We had our Alumni Association holiday lunch today, and as part of the program the boss arranged for a relatively new Penn State vocal group called Blue in the Face to come out and sing a few songs.
Blue in the Face is an a cappella ensemble of about 20 students who’ve been singing as a group for two years. They sang at THON last February and have even recorded an album. They did about six songs for us, and I captured a few with the video part of my iPhone. Here they are reviving the 1968 Foundations hit “Build Me Up Buttercup” with an interesting new arrangement.
Tina Hay, editor
Watch Penn State Students Making a Difference in Kenya
Got about 20 minutes of free time? If so, I urge you to take a look at this episode of a series on the Big Ten Network called Global Penn State, which shows how Penn State students and faculty are making a difference around the world.
You won’t believe what Penn Staters are doing in Kenya.
The episode features three programs. Mashavu combats the shortage of doctors in eastern Africa by enabling patients in villages to communicate with doctors who are far away. WishVast connects farmers and employers to manufacturers. And Essential Design is a class in which students built things like a greenhouse and an irrigation system with inexpensive, local materials.
It’s inspiring stuff.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Knitting for a Cause (Or Not)
Ever since I did that column in the March-April issue about having taken up knitting, people have been sending me stuff about knitting. This week several people sent me a flier about an event sponsored by Penn State Knitivism on the HUB lawn. So yesterday at lunchtime I strolled over with my camera.
The event was designed to raise awareness about sexual violence against women—both locally and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, according to the Congolese Women’s Campaign Against Sexual Violence, 40 women are raped every day.
The “knit-in” lasted all day long. When I went over, there was a clump of maybe a dozen women—Penn State students, staff, and others—sitting on blankets, talking and knitting. A few yards away were two guys with a guitar and a mandolin; another couple of guys were playing pitch-and-catch; and a lot of students were just sunbathing. Your typical HUB lawn scene, in other words.
Every so often, the knitters organized a “die-in,” to call attention to the fact that a woman is sexually assaulted in the U.S. every two minutes. They’d lie on the ground for two minutes, then get up and resume their knitting.
It’s kind of a weird mix of activities, I know—knitting and social protest. And, to be honest, I was more interested in the former than the latter. I got to see some interesting and colorful yarns being used; I learned that you can buy circular needles as short as 9 inches; and I learned about two upcoming events that sound like a hoot: the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in early May and Worldwide Knit in Public Day in June.
Just some of the stuff you learn on the HUB lawn on a Thursday afternoon.
Tina Hay, editor
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