Instead of lounging around their parents' house (what seems to be the spring break destination of choice this year), students in Comm 498B International Reporting spent the week "studying" during a class trip to Shanghai, China.
This is the second year the class has taken a spring break trip, last year visiting Mexico City. The purpose of the class is to give students hands on experience reporting from the field. Part of this experience was keeping a blog updated throughout the trip. While there isn't much hard hitting reporting, there are some great pieces about the culture of Shanghai.
Unfortunately, only two days of posts have been updated on the web site, so coverage is a bit light. Hopefully we'll see more when the class publishes their in-depth pieces later on in the year.
If you're interested in taking the class next spring, it is open to all journalism majors. You may want to start preparing your application now, though. Of 60 applicants, only 15 were chosen, and the course is only growing in popularity.
If you are a current student then you know how much it is a pain to see that a section you wanted to get into for a class is full. Well with eLion's new feature, the Course Watch List, your troubles may be over. Posted on Penn State Live Friday the 12th, eLion is getting a new upgrade.
Quote from the Penn State Live Story:
This application will provide students with the opportunity to be notified when a seat opens in a full section of a course. Students will indicate the course sections they wish to watch and may be notified of an open seat via a Penn State e-mail account and/or a text message to a mobile phone. Students may attempt to schedule the section through the normal avenues.
If you're anything like me, you can't wait for football season to start again. Though the 2010 season opener against Youngstown State seems so far away, we're little more than a month from the Blue-White Spring game.
Not only is the Blue-White Spring Game awesome because it is completely free, but it will be televised on ESPN2. That means there's virtually no excuse to miss the game!
Unless you hate football. Then that would make sense.
Penn State alumni Michael Pipe has announced that he is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the State of Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District.
Check out Pipe's website or visit his Facebook page and 'become a fan' of him. Or post embarrassing pictures of yourself from spring break on his wall. The biography on his website, states that Pipe currently works in State College with his wife, Ashley. It also sounded kind of like it was written by his mother.
Pipe is a Democrat, running in a district that has traditionally been more right-wing. The district includes towns such as DuBois, Lock Haven, State College, and Bellefonte, all of which stood out because of the courts and colleges. And it is also the largest of all the Pa. Representative districts.
Currently, "GT," or U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson reigns over the 5th district and he will certainly be looking to retain his title. He has already started making people in the district aware of and annoyed by his presence. You can check out his reelection literature on his Friends of GT website or follow him on Twitter.
Penn State’s new Liberal Arts publication, Agora, will be distributed around campus starting today.
Spearheaded by Junior Sean Healy, Agora seeks to promote diversity, free thought, and a marketplace of ideas for the Penn State community. By encouraging contributing writers to write about topics they're passionate about, Sean believes readers are left with an eclectic assortment of "often muffled, sidelined, and under discussed," topics. The result is a publication like none other at Penn State.
“I found it difficult to find a student organization that I was passionate about or thought would fit my personality. I was looking to get involved in some sort of publication or magazine because I enjoy writing,” Sean said when asked why he started Agora.
Interested in that same chance to get involved? Agora is looking for contributors - more information can be found on their Facebook page.
Registration for candidates for this year's UPUA elections has been closed and those that have been selected to do battle have been named.
For the 2010 UPUA President/Vice President nomination, weighing in at I-don't-know-how-many pounds, it's Christian Ragland and Colleen Smith, who will be facing David Adewumi and Devin Weakland.
The two tickets will campaign and debate over the next two weeks until March 31, Election Day. Both tickets have already begun their campaigning. You can check out the Ragland-Smith literature on their website, Twitter, or Facebook and you can do the same for the Adewumi-Weakland ticket on their website, Twitter, or Facebook.