Faculty/Staff News of Note
January 2002
Several members of the mathematics faculty attended the American Mathematical Society Joint Meetings in San Diego, California, January 5-9. They include Paul Becker, Ann Kraus, Paul Olsen, Michelle Previte, Dr. Joseph Previte, and Dr. Rich Stankewitz. Becker presented a paper, "Search for Group-Invariant Weighing Matrices W (60,25)." Olson reported on his work with Project Intermath and presented "Keeping Students Challenged by Redesigning the Order of Topics in a Course with a Fixed course Description."
Dr. Dawn Blasko and Dr. Victoria
Kazmerski, associate professors of psychology, presented their
paper, "Online Understanding and Appreciation of Haiku Poetry," at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Orlando,
Florida in November. Their co-author, Shannon Lenze, is a
graduate of Behrend's psychology program.
An interdisciplinary team of five students and three faculty presented
three papers related to their work on the VIZ Website, a portal for
teaching and research on spatial skills, at the and 56th
Annual Engineering Design Graphics Division of the American Society
for Engineering Education in Berkeley, California, January 6-9.
Dr. Dawn Blasko, associate professor of psychology, Kathy Holliday-Darr, instructor of engineering graphics, and Carla Torgerson, instructional designer, lead the team of psychology students Jessica Turos, Jennifer Enas, and Amy Johnson, and engineering students Kathy Scarpino and Jill Johnson in the presentation of three papers:
-
"Managing Interdisciplinary Student Research Teams: A View from the Trenches" by C. Torgerson, D. Blasko, K. Holliday-Darr, and J. Turos.
-
"Designing Multimedia Software Modules for the Web: The Students Perspective" by J. Johnson, K. Scarpino, C. Torgerson, and K. Holliday-Darr.
-
"Integrating Teaching and Research: Training Spatial Skills on the Web"
by J. Turos, J. Enas, A. Johnson, and D. Blasko.
Dr. Chris Coulston, assistant professor
electrical and computer engineering and his co-author, T.M. Vitolo,
have had their article, "Taxonomy of Information Literacy
Competencies," published in the Journal of Information Technology
Education, Vol. 1,No. 1, pp. 43-52 (January 2002) The article is
available on the Web at www.jite.org/viewarticles.htm
Dr. Matt Davies, assistant professor of
political science, attended a workshop on "Globalization,
Development, and the Commonwealth" at the Institute for Commonwealth
Studies, University of London, on December 14. He participated in a
roundtable titled "Human Development and the Commonwealth."
Following the workshop he traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he
attended the 26th Annual Conference of the British International
Studies Association. While there he presented his paper, "The
Everyday Life of Global Politics: Conceiving and Representing the
Family as an Agent of International Relations" on December 19.
Dr. Lawrence Downey, assistant
professor of mathematics, attended the Lindenstrauss Conference at
Kent State University December 13-15.
Dr. John Fizel, professor of economics,
has been appointed program chair of Penn State's World Campus iMBA
program. The program, which begins in fall
2002, provides online delivery of a high-quality M.B.A. degree to
experienced managers whose location limitations or professional and
personal responsibilities prevent them from attending an on-campus
program.
Head Coach Roz Fornari and members of
the women's basketball team held a pizza party for the Little
Lions Club, which includes twelve girls age 7 to 16. The pizza party
followed a women's game at the Junker Center on January 9. The girls
will also be the team's guests at a basketball clinic in February.
Dr. Zachary Irwin, associate professor
of political science, has returned from his sabbatical, during which
he taught at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. His class
included twenty-five students of eight nationalities.
Kay N. Johnson, lecturer in finance and
business economics, serves on a panel that addresses standardization
of education, ethics, and examinations for personal financial
planners. As a member of the International Organization for
Standardization Technical Committee 222 (ISO/TC 222), she participated
in the U.S. Technical Advisory (USTAG) Meeting on ISO/TC222 January 7
in Denver, Colorado. Her travel was supported by a $400 Penn State
Global Funds Grant.
USTAG includes fifteen members representing
various constitutents; Johnson represents educational institutions.
The meeting was held to further increase the group's knowledge of
ISO procedures and to develop negotiating positions for the U.S. at
the next international meeting in Tokyo later this spring.
Prior to the USTAG meeting Johnson
participated in a separate meeting of U.S. technical experts involved
in developing international competency standards for financial
planning. The group prepared U.S. delegates for the next working group
meeting to be held later this month in Sydney, Australia.
Johnson has involved several students from the
FNC330 course in this work. She also oversees three students who are
completing independent studies by assisting in the compilation and
analysis of international competency materials.
Dr. Carl Kallgren, associate professor
of psychology and director of administration and outreach at CORE,
presented "The CORE Model of Social Intervention: A
University-Community Partnership" at the annual Outreach Scholarship
Conference sponsored by Ohio State, Penn State, and the University of
Wisconsin. The conference, titled 2001: Learning Discovery, and
Engagement, was held October 14-16 at the Penn Stater Conference
Center.
Dr.
James A. Kurre, associate professor of economics, spoke Wednesday,
January 9 at a meeting of the Erie chapter of the National Association
of Purchasing Managers. His topic was "The Economic Outlook for
Erie, 2002." A Behrend Business Economics alumnus, Mike Ross, is
vice president of the organization.
Dr. Archie Loss, professor of English
and American Studies, has agreed to serve as interim director of the
School of Humanities and Social Sciences for the 2002-2003 academic
year. The search for a new director will begin after the new provost
and dean is appointed.
Ruth Pflueger, coordinator of the
Learning Resource Center, received an MFA degree from Goddard College
on January 6.
Dr. Yorke Rowan, lecturer in anthropology, presented "Re-packaging the Pilgrimage: Visiting the Holy Land (Orlando)" at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association. Rowan and J. Golden organized the session "Marketing Heritage: Global Goods and the Endangered Past." Rowan also had his article, "Prismatic Blades and Periodization: The Case of the Fourth Millenium BCE 'Cave of the Warrior,'" published in Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins.
Patrick Smith, DUS advisor, and Masrur Syed, Residence Life coordinator, presented "Entrance to Major," question-and-answer sessions on the sophomore entrance to major program on e-Lion, at Ohio Hall, Tigress lobby, and Reed 114 on January 15, 16, and 17.
Dr. Chester L. Wolford, professor of
English and business, had his article, "Woman at the Dry
Cleaners," accepted for publication by the Tucumcari Literary
Review.
Dr. Xuping Xu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, attended the 40th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, held December 4-7 in Orlando, Florida. While there he presented a paper, "An Approach for Solving General Switched Linear Quadratic Optimal Control Problems."
Return to Faculty and Staff News Index