PSU Newswire

College sports fans often have two questions on their minds when they consider the performance of the best young athletes: How can they possibly be so good, and how can we get them on our team? New "Expert Opinion with Graham Spanier" episodes scheduled for noon air times Sept. 6 and Sept. 20 on the Big Ten Network will probe two highly volatile ...

The Big Ten Conference has announced football division alignments beginning with the 2011 season. The winner of each Big Ten division will meet in the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game, to be played Dec. 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The championship game will determine the Big Ten Champion and the conference's ...

Innovators in technology, entertainment and design from around the world will come together to spread new and engaging ideas at TEDxPSU, which will be held Oct. 10 in Schwab Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus. "Our team of dedicated volunteers worked incredibly hard over the summer to put together the program that we're announcing ...

Astronomers on two research teams, including an astronomer at Penn State, have demonstrated the power of a new technique to determine the chemical composition of the atmospheres of planets far outside our solar system. Using the technique -- called narrow-band transit spectrophotometry -- the teams discovered the element potassium in the ...

Prostate cancer is a significant public health concern and cause of morbidity among American men. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States (excluding skin cancers) and is second only to lung cancer as a contributor to cancer deaths in American men. In 2010, it is estimated that nearly 218,000 new cases will be diagnosed and ...

For the past decade, parents who attend the National Autism Conference held annually at Penn State have had the valuable resources of the conference's Children's Institute available to them. The Children's Institute affords parents the opportunity to attend the weeklong conference with their children under the same roof. The staff is highly ...

Penn State Law student Joseph Cotilletta intended to explore a career in business law. His new internship, however, broadened his perspective on the legal profession. Cotilletta interned in one of the largest district attorney's offices in New York, helping to make Queens County a safer place to live....

It's a safe bet that Christina Sharkey will be busier than any other new college graduate this Saturday (Aug. 14). She is one of approximately 2,168 Penn State graduates being honored in the Bryce Jordan Center at the 10 a.m. University Park campus summer commencement. However, after Sharkey graduates with three degrees, she has to change out of ...

David Hall, who has served as interim dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) since Jan. 1, has been appointed dean of the college, pending approval of the Board of Trustees at their Sept. 17 meeting. "In the process of searching nationally, we found that we had an outstanding leader already at the helm. Dr. Hall has done ...

Effective Sept. 1, Penn State Harrisburg athletic teams will compete as active members of the NCAA Division III. The NCAA's Division III Management Council accepted the college as an active member on June 20. Penn State Harrisburg joins the campuses of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; Penn State Altoona; Penn State Berks and Penn State ...

After more than a half-century of involvement sending humans into space, the United States is now preparing for the shut down of NASA's human space flight programs. Findings from the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee, known as the Augustine Commission, report that the current human space program, the Constellation ...

When Jennifer Pohl first walked into the macaw enclosures at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, she was bombarded with shrieks and screams. She was a potential threat to the birds. However, after a few weeks of bringing them food, and using calming phrases coupled with visual cues, the shrieking subsided and she was greeted by most of the birds with ...

From the headlines, you might think America was under attack by an army of millimeter-sized parasites. Media reports have bed bug "epidemics" plaguing cities from New York City to Bloomington, Ind., to Los Angeles. Similar upticks in bed bug populations have been reported in recent years, an apparent resurgence after almost 50 years of relative ...

Most scientists see members of their research team on a daily basis, but not Kasia Kordas. Kordas, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State, always has been interested in working internationally and helping other institutions improve their own research programs. For four years she has been building up a research program in ...

L. Eric Cross, Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, Penn State, is the recipient of the 2010 Von Hippel Award from the Materials Research Society. The Von Hippel Award is the society's highest honor and is "conferred annually to an individual in recognition of the recipient's outstanding contribution to interdisciplinary ...

On the next episode of "Conversations from Penn State," filmmaker Ken Burns talks about what it's like to "wake the dead" by bringing to light a diverse assortment of American stories and presenting them in a way that can appeal to everyone. The show will air at noon on Monday, Aug. 23 on the Big Ten Network. It also will air at 9 p.m. on ...

A community garden in the Allison Hill neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pa., is set to become part of Carver's Secret Garden. Carver's Secret Garden is a 4-H educational outreach program of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The program was initiated by Dauphin County cooperative extension to address the specific needs of urban and ...

The birth of a baby is the birth of a new family. Having a new baby is an exciting time for everyone in the family. Most families agree that breastfeeding gives a new baby the best start in life with health benefits that last a lifetime. New mothers and fathers often look to friends and family for support and encouragement with breastfeeding. ...

Micelle Emery of Fairfax, Va., is ready to take a semester off after the year she has had. She got divorced, became a single mother of five children ages 7 to 15, moved and started a new job and faced several personal health issues. Her father also died. This Saturday (Aug. 14), Emery will get a break from school when she picks up her bachelor of ...

Penn State's Joe Paterno has been nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. The nomination was made by U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson (R-PA, 5th), who sent President Barack Obama a letter with 17 additional signatures asking that Paterno be rewarded for his efforts serving his team, ...