PSU Newswire

Children of immigrants often must overcome obstacles in order to achieve academic success. But research conducted by Suet-ling Pong, professor of educational theory & policy and sociology in the College of Education, reveals that in some regions of the world immigrant children actually perform better than their native classmates....

The Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State's School of Nursing have undertaken a new project to improve health care delivery. The units are collaborating to educate nursing and medical students together, in both clinical and classroom settings, with the goal of improving communication between the future health care professionals. "The ...

The diversity of teaching, research and Cooperative Extension programs offered by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences will be on display at Ag Progress Days, Aug. 17-19. The College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building and Theater at the Ag Progress Days site will allow visitors to explore energy; entrepreneurship; food, diet and ...

An audit and survey conducted by the College of Communications found more than 250 Penn State alumni working at TV and radio stations across the state....

New research points to a genetic route to understanding and treating epilepsy. A team led by Timothy Jegla, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State, has identified an ancient gene family that plays a role in regulating the excitability of nerves within the brain. ...

Rural America is vastly different than it was 50 years ago. Prosperity for many rural communities depends on innovative income-generating strategies, such as extracting alternative energy sources. Today, agricultural producers need to be sophisticated business professionals. With one of the nation's largest rural populations, Pennsylvania's ...

Your mother was right -- breakfast is the most important meal of the day, according to an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Eating breakfast improves concentration, memory and problem-solving ability, said Katherine French, registered dietitian and extension educator in Mercer County. French offers several recommendations to ...

A total of 39 Penn State football alumni are populating the rosters of 22 NFL teams as training camps begin league-wide. The Buffalo Bills once again feature a league-high four former Nittany Lions on its roster, including veterans Bryan Scott and Paul Posluszny and second-year players Aaron Maybin and Lydell Sargeant. Three NFL teams, the Chicago ...

The Equine Experience at Penn State's Ag Progress Days has a history of delivering attractions and activities that educate and entertain horse lovers of all ages and experience levels. The 2010 version of the exhibit will be no exception, as Penn State's Equine Science team and the College of Agricultural Sciences again will offer a full schedule ...

By integrating social media, Penn State researchers have found a way to better satisfy individual users' multimedia searches on the Web. Penn State Information Sciences and Technology faculty members Lee Giles and Luke Zhang and their students recently introduced SNDocRank, a framework to incorporate social networks into multimedia search ...

A recent Penn State study on teens and body image yielded some surprising results. "Past researchers may have missed the key groups: normal weight girls who think they are overweight, and underweight boys," said Jason Houle, graduate student in sociology and demography. It's not just weight that troubles kids, it's the combination of weight and ...

Law professor David H. Kaye shares his insights into how the the use of DNA evidence has impacted our legal system. While its use has far-reaching implications, Kaye points out that "DNA is only a tool. It gives information depending on the nature of the samples and how well the analysis is done," and lawyers and judges need to understand the ...

Folks with questions about managing their crops or weeds can get answers at the Crops, Soils and Conservation Tent at Penn State's Ag Progress Days Aug. 17-19. Visitors to the crops and soils area can also take the "Weed ID" quiz and/or bring weeds with them for the experts to identify....

The Penn State Forum Speaker Series is bringing a diverse lineup of speakers to the University Park campus this fall. Those attending will get to hear from a professor of American literature, a national investigative reporter, a singer/songwriter, a counterterrorism professional and others during the 2010-11 academic year. Stephen Lewis, ...

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently presented its Young Faculty Award to Howard Salis, an assistant professor in Penn State's colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering. Salis' research lab is developing nucleic-acid therapeutics to selectively kill pathogens. These nucleic acids potentially could be designed and ...

As part of its ongoing efforts to control rising costs, Penn State is making some modifications to employee health benefits, starting in January 2011. "Penn State remains committed to maintaining excellent benefits in a time of limited resources," said Al Horvath, senior vice president for finance and business. "The changes we're going to be ...

The garden demonstration plots at Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 17-19 at Rock Springs, will be abuzz this year not just with gardeners championing the importance of pollinators, but with many of the actual pollinators themselves, drawn to the vicinity by the specialized plantings designed to do just that. ...

Yes, the dog days of summer are upon us...for most families that signals the longstanding tradition of back to school preparation. It's time to begin the search for the perfect backpack and notebook, shop for new clothing and shoes, get a haircut and maybe even sneak in a trip to the dentist. Regrettably, few parents think to schedule an eye exam ...

Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center was recently recognized as one of the nation's top 100 hospitals by Cleverley + Associates, of Columbus, Ohio. Cleverley + Associates, a leading health care financial consulting firm specializing in operational benchmarking and performance enhancement strategies, released the findings as part of its new ...

Rows of tiny raised blowfly corneas may be the key to easy manufacturing of biomimetic surfaces, surfaces that mimic the properties of biological tissues, according to a team of Penn State researchers. "Bioreplication began about 2001 or 2002," said Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics. "All the ...