Now that summer's kicked into high gear, your skin is probably darker than normal, maybe even just an incidental tan. Hopefully it's less than certain Mid-Atlantic youth of Italian extraction. Regardless, researchers at Penn State have actually come up with a new theory as to why our skin tans in the first place.
Read on to see what they found...
Making movies is not what students at the Penn State College of Medicine signed up for. However, it has proven a unique tool in truly understanding patients' diseases.
Dr. Dan Shapiro chairs the Department of Humanities at the College of Medicine in Hershey. In order to get more in touch with patients, he has his students interview and make documentaries about their own lives with their chronic disease, and those of their family. Said Shapiro of the project's philosophy, "I wanted our medical students to learn from patients who had serious chronic diseases or ailments. These patients would be teachers and our students would be filmmakers."
Read more about this cool initiative after the jump.
Well, kids, now that it's just long enough for last year's Pennsylvania budget debacle to be out of current memory, it's now time again for us all to hold our collective breath for this year's potential fiasco. Penn State's appropriation hangs in the balance.
Will legislators pass the budget in time? Read on to find out...
As reported earlier, the Penn State Board of Trustees has given Graham Spanier a three-year extension on his contract; he will be Penn State president through 2015. When the new contract takes effect July 1, President Spanier will also be receiving a raise on his annual salary from $620,000 to an even $700,000. The increase itself ($80,000) and the new salary are a significant pile of change, but considering Spanier's accomplishments and the advances Penn State has accrued under him, it seems warranted.
The agreement will increase Spanier's tenure to 20 years, making it one of the longest terms for a university president in the country—few extend back beyond the 21st century. In the context of Penn State itself, these 20 years from 1995-2015 will be the second-longest term in Penn State history to George Atherton's 26; Spanier will share his spot on the leaderboard with Ralph Hetzel (1927-1947, and he has a street named after him). We generally don't think of history in our own time; we think it as part of the past. However, here and now, Spanier's reign is a historic one that has shaped and continues to shape the University; a formative period 150 years after its founding.
Read on to learn more about Spanier's career at Penn State so far and what the future holds.
Now that summer is officially here (I'm from New England—therefore I refuse to wait for June 21 lest it start snowing again) it's time for that great tradition: the Memorial Day cookout. The usual burgers and steaks are a must, but Chris Raines, assistant professor of meat science and technology in the College of Agriculture has highlighted some new and unorthodox trends.
See his suggestions after the jump.
The Office of Admissions has just released the newest student body profile, to give prospective applicants an idea how they stack up and if they may be able to get in here. That being said, the numbers have changed in recent years. If you were to apply next fall, would you still get in to University Park campus?
Read on to find out whether or not you would have gotten into Penn State if you were applying this year.