Marlowe Froke, a retired PSU journalism professor, died this past Tuesday, February 23 at Mount Nittany Medical Center. He is survived by his wife, Marliene, and their two daughters, Paula and Dana.
Having grown up in the small, rural town of Vienna, South Dakota, Froke always saw the important role television could play in educating the masses, and he worked hard to accomplish this throughout his entire career, especially during his time here at Penn State. “His vision was instrumental in the early development of cable television, and in how cable television developed locally, regionally and nationally,” said Telecommunications Professor Patrick Parsons.
In 1959 he joined the PSU staff as an associate professor of journalism and developed the school's first broadcast journalism curriculum. After being named Penn State’s director of broadcasting, he created WPSX (you might know it as WPSU) and took the lead in the early days of cable and public TV to establish networks of connections among Pennsylvania stations and cable operations that preceded today's Public Broadcasting System.
Find out more about Froke's life and accomplishments after the jump.
I found out yesterday that my little sister has decided to accept Penn State's offer of admission. While she is keen to strike her own path (in other words, an Onward State writer she probably won't be), I want to give her as much wisdom as possible before she gets here.
So, today, for all the little brothers and little sisters and future Penn Staters of the world, I want to know,
At this point last week, many of us were recovering from sleep deprived delirium, as THON had just ended. After having a week to cool down from the hype and hysteria of THON weekend, I started to wonder about what was in store for THON in the future.
Consider this year's total: $7,838,054.36, roughly a 4.6% increase from last year. Given a recession and a rather botched canning weekend (stupid snow), this was a major achievement and represented a ton of hard work. However, it got me thinking. What will happen when THON reaches a "steady state" for the amount of money it raises every year? I don't think this will happen soon, as there is still plenty of room for THON to grow within PSU. But, what happens when (if?) THON reaches a point of zero growth? Read the full post for my thoughts.
Pennsylvania Rep. Kerry Benninghoff is coming Wednesday to drink some coffee at the Abba Java Coffeehouse here in town. He will be here between 9:30 and 11:00 am to hold mobile office hours and, I don't know, work on his novel in public.
If you want to come see Benny and the Jets, you have to make a phone call and schedule an appointment in advance. The phone number is (814) 355-1300.
Also, it sounds like if you just want some coffee at Abba Java, you'll probably need to call that number in advance as well. So if you frequent that particular coffee house, I'd get on my phone.
No word yet on the cookie.
The Staff Profile series is a new feature at Onward State. As the semester progresses, we will provide a window into the life of each Onward Stater. Readers: meet our writers.
Steve Sharer joined the Onward State team back in January 2009 when it was but a young lion cub of a blog. Steve writes on all sorts of Penn State topics, including the Penn State Marching Blue Band, The College of IST, and Penn State-related technology (among other things). He's also responsible for bringing the Stately Inquisitor (a buddy from High School) to Onward State to tantalize you with the most intriguing questions you've ever seen.
By day, he majors in Security & Risk Analysis with minors in Information Sciences & Technology and Geography. And by night, he heads up the Security & Risk Analysis Club as the President. Steve also performs in the Penn State Marching Blue Band as a trumpet player with 310 of the most outstanding people you'll meet at Penn State (hint: you can find him in the "P" in the "PSU" formation during pregame).
Read more about the illustrious Steve Sharer after the jump.
ARHS and UPUA have accepted the fact that Penn Staters drink. With the help of new information cards, they're striving to get students home safely.
The cards display phone numbers for three taxi services, the number for the campus escort service, and a miniature CATA bus schedule. The front and back are shown here.
Steve Roberts, associate vice president of Association of Residence Hall Students (ARHS), conceived the idea of the cards in light of the recent State Patty's Day. We contacted Mr. Roberts for an explanation of these cards.
"The cards are printed on cardstock and thus are durable. Additionally, they are not in the traditional format of a flyer or larger piece of paper which would typically be thrown out. The cards are about the size of a normal business card and slide easily into your wallet or purse so that when students go out it's not a hassle to bring it with them."
In addition, he says that several bars and apartments have already requested information cards to distribute to students.
At my floor meeting last night, my RA passed around a stack of these cards. My floormates agreed that while the front side may prove useful, the reverse side is laughably illegible due to the minuscule font size.
This initiative is a great idea, and I hope it succeeds. However, a bit of advice for the lost drunkard in need of transportation: call a taxi, don't wait for the bus. It's highly probable that you can't decipher the font.