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Did you miss the Discovery Grants meeting on December 17?  There will be a make-up session on Thursday, December 20, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in 240 Sparks Building.  The application process will be reviewed, and advice will be offered on how to come up with a compelling topic for research.  Successful grant proposals by Paterno Fellows Laura Dzwonczyk and Andrew Wigman will be discussed.

Mark your calendars now for the second meeting in the series:  Thursday, January 10, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. in 124 Sparks Building.  All students who attended the December 17 or 20 session, as well as those who could not make either of these meetings, should plan to attend.  More details on the January 10 meeting will follow in 2013!

Paterno Fellows have a special interest in undergraduate research since they are required to complete a senior thesis as members of the Schreyer Honors College.  And the Discovery Grant--$3000--for research to be completed next summer.  Do plan to apply--the deadline is February 8--particularly if you are now in your junior year (but freshmen and sophs are also eligible).  You have a very good chance to win one of the grants, and the application process is really pretty simple.

There will be two opportunities for students to prepare competitive applications.  First, on Monday, December 17, from 2:45 to 4:00 p.m. in 124 Sparks, there will be an overview and Q&A session for interested students. (If you cannot attend this session, write to Barb Edwards at bae1@psu.edu and she will arrange a make-up session.)  On December 17 the application process will be reviewed (it is indeed really pretty simple) and most of all, advice will be offered on how to come up with a compelling topic for research.  Then during the second week of classes in January, there will be an info session on the applications themselves (with examples of past successful proposals).

Note Well:  For the past few years the College of the Liberal Arts has had more Discovery Grant winners than any other PSU college.  The biggest reason, of course, is the quality of our students. (If you go to the Discovery Grant site, you can find a list of previous winners and the titles of their projects.  Many of the winners are Liberal Arts Paterno Fellows.)

But another reason is that Liberal Arts cooperates with Old Main in funding worthy Discovery Grant applicants.  That means Paterno Fellows have an excellent chance of being funded--if they apply!  So do plan on putting forward an application, and do plan on coming to the info session on December 17. 

You have a darn good chance to win, in other words.  So give it a try!
For students unable to attend this workshop, an additional information session is scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2012, at 12:00 p.m. in room 107 of the HUB.  Please refer to the event flyer for more information on this session.

Paterno Fellows will receive $1,500-$5,000 from the College of the Liberal Arts toward meeting their research, study abroad, and internship aspirations; and build a portfolio of experiences that will influence employers, professional schools, and graduate schools. These are the types of experiences that prepare students for leadership and that students and alumni describe as the most defining and unforgettable moments in their college careers.

The priority application deadline for spring 2013 College of the Liberal Arts Enrichment Applications is Saturday, December 1, 2012.  Students should apply for funds through the Liberal Arts Enrichment Funds online system, and indicate that they are in the Paterno Fellows Program.

For more information, please see: http://blogs.la.psu.edu/laus-announcements/2012/10/spring-2013-enrichment-funds-application-priority-deadline-december-1.html

Four Paterno Fellows were among the ten finalists honored at the African Research Center's October 20 Undergraduate Research Symposium.  The four (pictured here, beginning with the third person on the left and moving right) were sophomore Matt Robida, sophomore Erin Ryan, sophomore Nicole Mapp, and senior Kelsey Rogalewicz.  Robida was the overall prize winner of the event for his study of Bayard Rustin's 1949 article "Twenty-Two Days on a Chain Gang," which was instrumental in ending the chain gang practice; and all four are encouraged to present their work this spring at a national conference held in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

For more photos and more details, see http://arc.psu.edu/gallery/2012-undergraduate-research-exhibition.

Paterno Fellows have a special interest in undergraduate research since they are required to complete a senior thesis as members of the Schreyer Honors College.  And the Discovery Grant competition gives Paterno Fellows a chance to win significant funding--$2500--for research to be completed next summer.  Do plan to apply--the deadline is February 10-- particularly if you are now in your junior year.  For information and application materials, see visit the Undergraduate Research website.

Note Well:  For the past few years the College of the Liberal Arts has had more Discovery Grant winners than any other PSU college.  The biggest reason, of course, is the quality of our students. Check out a list of last year's winners and the titles of their projects.  A dozen or so of these students are from Liberal Arts (and nine are Paterno Fellows--Borriello, Dorian, Foster, Heimark, Kilkelly, Ogram, Rotiroti, Sroka, Theberge).  

But another reason is that Liberal Arts faculty and staff help students to refine their applications. To get a head start on the application process, interested students should attend a workshop on January 26 (Thursday) at 4 pm in 124 Sparks.  At the workshop you'll have a chance to see some example proposals (including successful ones!), you'll be able to ask specific questions, and by attending you'll earn the right to share your subsequent draft materials (if you want) with sympathetic and experienced Liberal Arts grantmanshippers. 

You have a good chance to win, in other words.  So give it a try!

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.

News Item:

The Department of Anthropology at Penn State will hold "Bone and 3D Picture Day" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 6, in room 107 of the Carpenter Building on Penn State's University Park campus. Bones and bone casts from humans, primates, and many other animals will be on display. Bone experts will be on hand to explain why skeletons are much more than something spooky on Halloween. Participants will learn how crime scene investigators determine gender, ethnicity, and age using human skeletal material, and also will find out how scientists learn about the way animals lived by studying their bones.

Researchers studying the differences and facial shape and size in families will be in attendance to take 3D pictures of siblings who attend. The pictures will help researchers to understand resemblance between siblings and how faces grow and develop. (Parental consent is required for participants below the age of 18.) Image collection and filling out consent/information forms takes approximately 5 minutes, and participation is strictly voluntary -- participants who come to the bone lab do not have to participate in the study. For more information, contact John Starbuck at jms1043@psu.edu.

Those who wish to volunteer but cannot be at the bone lab on Nov. 6 can get in touch with Starbuck to set up a visit. This research is under the direction of Joan T. Richtsmeier, who can be contacted at jta10@psu.edu, and has been approved by the Office for Research Protections at Penn State.

  It's five am. I've slept maybe four hours tops. And I've just downed three cups of Dunkin Donuts coffee and a cream cheese bagel. I do not want to get on a three hour bus to Baltimore.

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By the website definition, Kayam Farm embodies and inspires social and ecological responsibility by transforming our community through hands-on Jewish agricultural education. So think Jewish CSA? Well, right, but wrong. It's much more.

Picture 160 acres of rolling hills, spotted with fruit orchards, cross hatched with grape vines (named for the 3 Patriarchs) and patched with gardens of carrots, okra, cabbage and beets. That's what I saw as I spun around in groggy circles from my view on the hill by the parking lot. Lots and lots of farmland. Kayam farms vegetables organically according to Jewish Laws. Lots and lots of vegetables.

And for the next nine hours that's exactly what our little tour group did. We joined the caretakers of Kayam, many who live on or near the grounds, in planting, picking, seed saving and harvesting. We carried our veggies (literally) from the field to the table. And in the process I learned about how the laws and traditions of Hebrew culture from centuries past influence the dinner table today at Kayam. Every veggie must be carefully cleaned over (bugs are not Kosher, if you were wondering). But more than scrutiny goes into the meal, a lot of attention and care does too.

When you take your food literally from the ground to the dinner plate you take a whole lot more responsibility for what you're about to eat. You become more than a passive presence in your own food chain- a lot more involved than just standing in the dining hall lunch line.

So even if you're not harvesting your own dinner (which is fantastic, I might add) you can take a more involved roll in your food. Buy local - and by local I mean literally down the street, locust street for that matter. Donate to the Centre County Food bank, to make sure you're not the only one eating up. And if you're interested in the savory flavors of Jewish Culture with a side of organic greens, look into Kayam. Just wear work clothes if you visit, okay?