December 2010 Archives

Interested in getting a head start on your honors thesis / capstone project? Want to get paid good money for doing it? Consider applying for a Penn State Discovery Grant. Offered by the Office of Undergraduate Education, these grants provide approximately twenty Penn State undergraduates $2500 to use over Summer 2011 to complete a self-sponsored research project (under the direction of a faculty member). The deadline for applications (which are not difficult to put together) is February 11, 2010.

Paterno Fellows are particularly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. In fact, we think that these grants are such a wonderful opportunity that we in the College of the Liberal Arts will be reviewing proposals not selected by the Discovery Grant committee and considering them for funding from our Paterno Fellows funds.

Want to know more? Want some guidance in putting together a successful proposal? We will also be holding an info session and workshop for Paterno Fellows (aspiring and admitted) interested in learning more about these grants and how to write a top-notch proposal. Come and learn more: attending does not obligate you to apply.

This event, which will be run by me and PFP Director Jack Selzer, is currently scheduled for Monday, January 17, at 4:30 p.m. in 124 Sparks. We will be posting additional details and a reminder about the workshop in early January, but mark your calendars! For now, be thinking about what faculty member you would like to work with on such a project, and what research topics are of interest to you.

Please let me know by e-mail (aneff@psu.edu) if you plan to attend the event.

Aspirants and Paterno Fellows should know that everything is falling into place for the first annual Paterno Fellows Recognition Event.  Be sure to be there on January 10 at 7 pm in Heritage Hall, HUB.

The evening has been planned by the Paterno Fellows Student Advisory Board:

• Paternos expected to attend; Paterno adult children also invited;
• President Spanier and Deans Brady, Welch, and Long set to be there;
• Paterno Fellow Ginnelle Sroka is the Featured Speaker;
• PF Advisory Board has designed the special PF hoodie that Fellows will receive;
• special mystery guests will entertain with music;
• dessert reception will follow the formal recognition;
• plenty of et cetera.
  

Frequently asked questions:

• I don't live far from here.  Can my parents attend?

ANSWER:  Yes.  There won't be many parents there, but they are sure welcome if they'd like to attend.  (When Fellows graduate beginning next year, parents will be invited to a May event honoring Fellows.)

• I'm still an aspiring Fellow, not yet an admitted one.  I should still attend on January 10, right?

ANSWER:  Absolutely right.  This night will be the beginning of a tradition that involves first-year and second-year aspirants as well as admitted Fellows.

• Do I have to pay for the hoodie? 
  

ANSWER: Absolutely not!

• Is it a dress-up affair?

ANSWER:  Dress as if you were going to an event in Eisenhower.

Calling all Paterno Fellows and PF Aspirants! Help out with the Sustainability Festival!

A group of Fellows is engaged in planning a Sustainability Festival for this coming semester, in cooperation with LAUC. If it's successful, we hope to have such a festival each year, on a different topic; and if it's successful it will also be the basis of a event for incoming aspiring Paterno Fellows (freshmen) to attend next August.

This is a completely student-organized event, begun by members of the Paterno Fellows Student Advisory Board and of LAUC, so we need additional organizers and helpers. Would you like to become involved with something new and exciting? How about the chance to take on a project and make it your own? Spots are currently being filled for positions on the Organizing Committee for this first Festival. The theme for this year's Festival is Sustainability, with a focus on how you (as a student) and others like you can incorporate sustainability into your daily routine.

The event is tentatively scheduled for late March. Ideally, we would like to include both formal (student presentations, a poster session, guest speakers, etc.) and informal (comedy skits, art showcase, more interactive activities) components into the event. We want a festival, in other words, not a traditional presentation. We are looking for people who can help out with contacting potential presenters, scheduling, budgeting, doing publicity, and helping to make the event run smoothly.

Interested? Come to an informational/organizational meeting on Monday January the 10th at 4:30 in 124 Sparks.

Hello to all of our faithful Paterno Fellows Blog readers. I wanted to start this post with a sincere apology that my blog-posting timeline has been iffy at best. I spoke in my first post about getting involved on campus while retaining the academic standards which this program requires. On the one hand, I did just that (some may say too much) and branched out around campus. As it stands now I am the treasurer of an Israel group on campus, a General Board member of a campus Jewish life organization, and the secretary of my fraternity. On the other hand, I neglected my posting responsibilities, and for that I wanted to again, apologize.

However, this time off from blogging at my computer allowed me to get the full experience of First Semester Freshman year. I was able to go to all the fairs, rush a fraternity, solidify my national (both Israeli and American) identities as well as my Jewish identity in a place so inherently different than where I was before. It was one heck of a ride, and while stressful at times (like this past week, where I stayed up until about 6AM almost daily finishing the last of my work- YAY for the end of the semester!) it was an experience I believe I will keep forever. Whether good or bad, every experience over the past four months or so has come with a lesson behind it; those lessons which I (and, in fact, all freshmen) should carry for the rest of our collegiate careers and beyond.

And onto my final point of business: my next blog series (if you can call this one a series :D). Another great opportunity which the honors courses of the Schreyer Honors College and Paterno Fellows Program offered me was a special, one week course abroad in Egypt! And so tomorrow I depart to a place I have only read about. Hopefully, depending on internet conditions, I will be able to blog about my experiences while I am in Egypt. If not, then I hope to post one long post at the end of the trip so that, hopefully, this opportunity can continue in semesters to come and maybe even some blog-readers can go on the trip as well.

For now, that is all. Enjoy  your breaks and make sure to stay warm and safe. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Hello Paterno Fellows and Aspirants! As you may have read already, this January will mark the First Annual Paterno Fellows Program Night of Recognition. This has been the focus of the Advisory Board's efforts for the past few months and it is finally coming together. This short event will include what I like to call the Penn State student triple threat: free Paternos, free stuff, and free food. Seriously, what else do you need? As of right now (and it looks pretty concrete), both Joe and Sue Paterno are expected to be there and we will be recognizing JoePa with his College of the Liberal Arts Centennial Medal which he unfortunately did not receive last year because of his coaching duties. Also in attendance will be College of the Liberal Arts Deans Welch and Long, Schreyer Honors College Dean Brady, and President Spanier, as well as other Paterno family members. With this star-studded cast, every Paterno Fellow and Aspirant should be excited to attend on January 10th in Heritage Hall. Is there any better way to make all of your non-PFP friends insanely jealous?

Also included in your visit to this amazing night will be a sweatshirt to commemorate this ceremonious transition into the program. And what's better, it is completely free of charge! However, this cannot be given to you without a little help from every Fellow. In the next few days, Fellows will be receiving an email which will ask you for the size of the sweatshirt that you would like to receive in January. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you respond to this as soon as possible when you actually receive it. Without this information we will have no idea what to order and therefore, we will not be able to order one for your individual preferences. So again, please respond to the sweatshirt size message in a timely fashion. Finally, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact any of the Advisory Board members and be sure to read Dr. Selzer's original post. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends about this if they are unaware of it (and while you're at it, have them bookmark this page for future readership). Have a great end to all of your semesters and good luck on any finals that you have! See you all on January 10th in Heritage Hall.

A major gift to the Paterno Fellows Program will be benefiting students for years.

Check out this great news in the Daily Collegian and Penn State Live.

It's official:  The first annual Paterno Fellows Recognition Ceremony will take place on Monday, January 10, 7 pm in Heritage Hall of the HUB. All Paterno Fellows (i.e., juniors and some sophs) and all aspirants (sophs and freshmen) are expected to attend.  Mark your calendars now.

This will be a memorable event, one that will become an annual affair.  Joe and Sue Paterno are expected to attend; although it is always possible that something will come up at the last minute that prevents their attendance, they are definitely planning to make it.  Part of the evening will include the awarding to Joepa of the College of the Liberal Arts Centennial Medal--the one he couldn't be there to accept last year because he was on the road coaching PSU to a win at Michigan.  That will give students an opportunity to show the Paternos their appreciation for making the Paterno Program possible.

But the main guests of honor will be the 200 or so students who have met the requirements for acceptance as Paterno Fellows--113 juniors, 59 sophomores (in addition to the other  30-40 sophomores that are expected to qualify after grades are posted later this month), and a couple of dozen first-year students who are also qualified as Fellows as a result of their admission to the Schreyer Honors College and their commitment to be Fellows. 

The many freshmen and sophomores who are still aspiring to become Fellows should plan to attend in order to support and celebrate their classmates.

Fellows will be recognized by name at the event.  Those Fellows in attendance will also receive a nice Paterno Fellows hooded sweatshirt as an acknowledgment of their status--you can expect to receive a query in the coming days so that we get your size right. (Incidentally, you can also expect to receive a more permanent symbol of your accomplishments as Paterno Fellows when you graduate.)

Here's what  you can expect on January 10 (in a program designed by the Paterno Fellows Student Advisory Board):

• An event that lasts no more than 75 minutes, including the short reception after;
• Some suitable music;
• A short presentation by a Paterno Fellow who will speak about what the Program is all about;
• A short recognition of the Fellows, followed by celebratory food and drink;
• A surprise or two.
  

Also attending, in addition to members of the Paterno family, will be Deans Susan Welch and Chris Long, President Spanier and Dean Brady of the Schreyer Honors College, and other guests.

Again, all Paterno Fellows and Paterno aspirants are expected to attend.

It should be fun. 

I'll provide more details later this month and in early January so that you know exactly what to expect.  Fellows will also be receiving a questionnaire about your sweatshirt size.

In the meantime, best wishes for a great end to the semester and success with exams and final projects.

PS How to dress?  I suggest that you wear what you'd wear to an evening show in  Eisenhower.

Did you notice this article in The Collegian about Paterno Fellow Jason Cohen and the amazing traditional Chinese tea room that he's established in Ritenour?  Check this out article, and I bet you'll be making a note to try out the tea.

Who knew that tea could be that interesting--and tasty?