The Penn Stater Daily — Nov. 6, 2013
November 6, 2013 at 10:33 am Lori Shontz 1 comment
Presidential search snag?: The man Penn State had identified as its next president, the president of SUNY Upstate Medical University, is being investigated for “padding his pay without authorization,” according to The Times-Union newspaper in Albany, N.Y. According to the story, which you can read here, David L. Smith had arranged for extra compensation from two companies that are linked to the school, which the executive search firm engaged by Penn State, Isaacson Miller, discovered during the vetting process. Penn State officials are not commenting on the story or the vetting process; you can read their statement in this Centre Daily Times story.
Michael Fry and Anthony Casselli used up their vacation to help Colorado flood victims.
Giving back in a big way: This doesn’t exactly fit my definition of vacation, which generally includes a long walk on the beach or mountains, a couple of good books, and a splurge meal or two, but these Maintenance and Operations employees at Penn State Abington make me want to reconsider how I spend my leisure time. Michael Fry and Anthony Casselli spent their days off shoveling away mud from the September flooding in Colorado. As in, they got up at 5 a.m., slept on cold floors, did hard labor for hours, all as part of All Hands Volunteers, which is helping residents recover after the flood. Casselli also has made 25 trips to Staten Island to help residents there get on their feet after Superstorm Sandy—and his wife and three teenagers, including University Park students Samantha, a junior, and Anthony, a freshman, joined him there.
Closer to liftoff: The Lunar Lion team—subject of our Nov./Dec. cover story—recently completed its first series of rocket thruster tests, according to Bobby Chen of Onward State, who’s been following Lunar Lion’s progress. The Phase 0 test, which was totally student-designed, sets the stage for more rigorous Phase 1 testing, which will involve testing a pencil thruster provided by NASA. You can watch video of the thruster test here.
McCoy to Hall of Fame: Two-time NCAA heavyweight champion and two-time Olympian Kerry McCoy ’97, now head wrestling coach at the University of Maryland, will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as part of the 2014 class. I’ve covered Kerry on and off since he won his first national title in 1994, and he’s always been a joy to write about. Very cool to see him honored this way.
Top ranking: Penn State’s undergraduate program in landscape architecture received a No. 1 ranking from Design Intelligence, and it ranked No. 2 in the Dean’s Survey rankings as the “most admired undergraduate programs for its excellent resources and overall program.” This is a return to the top for the program, which was last ranked No. 1 in 2007 and was No. 3 last year.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Kerry McCoy, Landscape Architecture, Lunar Lion, presidential search.
1. Anonymous | November 6, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Seems David R. Smith’s tenure as Chancellor of Texas Tech should have raised red flags before the Albany Times-Union story broke about his extra compensation at SUNY Upstate Medical.