December-November-October 2002

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What if downtown Pittsburgh were attacked, asked Dr. Lawrence K. Pettit, president of Indiana University, which operates the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Institute for Homeland Security, an umbrella of programs dealing with the issue of national and regional preparedness against terrorist attacks. ... Pettit says that the region -- including the business community -- must prepare itself in four key areas, all of which must be built not just on new technology, but also on effective doctrine or policies, and adequate training so that everybody knows what to do and how to do it every step of the way...  "Preparing for the Worst: CEO Club Panel Offers Advice on Thwarting Terrorism," TechyVent/Pittsburgh, Dec. 14, 2002

Abby Lynn Houck was surprisingly shocked as she recently stood in the office of the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She had just found out that she scored a 71 in her summer educational experience at the prestigious Cambridge University in England. Unlike the grading system in this country where a 70 is barely passing, at Cambridge a 70 is an A plus... Carlisle Sentinel, Dec. 8, 2002

Faced with that problem, schools like Indiana University of Pennsylvania are making efforts to help graduates with teacher certificates in early childhood education find better paying teaching jobs in public schools. Currently, many school districts will take only those with certificates in elementary education -- not those in early childhood. IUP is working with local schools to change that, said John Butzow, dean of IUP's School of College Education and Education Technology. Butzow said the school isn't de-emphasizing its early childhood education program, "but the number of students that elect to enter it is not as high as in the past." He acknowledged that working in child-care centers isn't appealing to many young people planning their careers. "Study finds few child-care programs in Pa. offer high-quality early learning,"  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 3, 2002

IUP hopes to spur sagging Armstrong campus with programs geared toward employer needs... administrators believe they've come up with a way to rebuild the hobbled branch -- by designing educational programs to meet the work force needs of local industry and to help professionals further their careers... We believe we will be back up to 500 (students) in a matter of a couple of years, said Patricia Scott, Dean of the Armstrong Campus. "Schooled For Growth," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 14, 2002

The perception by small towns that they need their own police is fueled by
myth. As far as the need for police to be out and about patrolling, there's not much research evidence that random patrols have an impact on crime, according to Dr. David Myers, associate professor of criminology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. However, it can provide some psychological comfort if the people see the police out and about."

-- Associated Press, Oct. 31, 2002

When Indiana University of Pennsylvania unveils a memorial to Sept. 11 victims tomorrow, it will include a stark reminder of the destruction: a 13-foot-tall piece of steel from the toppled World Trade Center. The remnant, retrieved from an upper floor of the mammoth complex, is on long-term loan to IUP from a family that purchased it as the site in New York City was being cleared.  "9/11 remnant finds a home at IUP New memorial uses steel from World Trade Center," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 3, 2002

September-August-July 2002

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A capacity to learn and desire to make informed decisions are hallmarks of successful leaders, says Dr. Mary Jane Hirt, a professor of political science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a former township and borough manager. To be effective, township supervisors need to do their homework, avoid rushing to judgment and be willing to absorb information and listen to residents before making decisions, she says. They also should keep in mind that each resident is a constituent and 'everybody is worth the time it takes to listen to them." --  "The Recipe for Leadership: Do You Have The Right Ingredients?" Pennsylvania Township News, September 2002

Obscure college score of the week: Indiana of Pennsylvania 27, Catawba 26. TMQ loves the college name "Indiana of Pennsylvania" as much as "Pittsburg of Kansas." Located about an hour from the h-spelled Pittsburgh, Indiana University of Pennsylvania is known as a high-standards public school that offers a bargain education with an in-state tuition of $4,258. IUP is ready for an uncertain world, boasting, "Who are you now? What do you want to become? Not sure? Then IUP is the place for you." The school is host to the newly formed Pennsylvania Important Mammal Areas Project, which refers to small fuzzy creatures, not IUP students, though presumably they are mammals as well.

Running items department, ESPN.com, Sept. 18, 2002
 

The 12th annual Indiana University of Pennsylvania Business Golf Classic and Awards Dinner was a blend of pleasure and putts, as it raised funds for Eberly College of Business scholarship and technology programs. The event last Monday at the Longue Vue Club drew more than 30 corporate sponsors and donors, including 104 golfers. Among those staying the course before cocktails were IUP president Lawrence Pettit, event co-chairs Tom Costa and Julie Moreland and Dean of the College of Business Robert Camp. After dinner, William Shipley was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dan Prushnik and Tim Pulte also were honored. "Putting for IUP," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 5, 2002

Jan Humphreys, biology professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said Dryden's project has provided insights on the distribution of deer ticks and tick-borne diseases statewide. "Expert looks for tick-borne diseases at West Deer beagle club," Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 31, 2002

June-January 2002

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Just because Rachael, Ross and the gang of Friends make you laugh doesn't mean they're your buddies. That may seem obvious, but a researcher at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa, sociology, thinks many TV viewers subconsciously register faces they see regularly—even those of actors on the small screen—as friends. Some subjects thought they had a rich social life but many only have been relating well with the couch. "Not your friends," Time Magazine, May 20, 2002

Consider the case of Wahr Hall at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The 145-bed building was all-male until the school decided a few years ago that it needed to make a change. "We were finding that male students just didn't want to live there. We were having to assign people there," said Betsy Joseph, interim assistant vice president for student affairs. Now, the building's first and second floors are coed by wing and the third floor is for males. About 95 percent of IUP's 4,000 residential students live in coed housing. Most prefer buildings that are coed by wing, Joseph said. "It allows more interaction, and it also just has tended to be where students develop relationships, and I'm not talking about dating relationships, but friendships that men and women develop," she said.  "In student housing, is the coed room the wave of the future?" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 26, 2002

Lon Ferguson of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Safety Services Department said that in general, investigators will check for underlying unsafe conditions at the construction site or unsafe actions by employees. "It's very easy for anyone on the outside to say the cause is unsafe acts or unsafe conditions," he said. "You need to determine why those things occur in the first place."  "Questions surround iron worker's death: Authorities seek cause of fatal accident at convention center," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 14, 2002

A music building at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a science hall on the Edinboro campus are among four state school construction projects expected to share approximately $26.6 million in aid from the state. "Colleges to get building upgrades," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 26, 2002

Indiana University of Pennsylvania President Lawrence Pettit, hit with a no-confidence vote by faculty last fall, got a one-year contract extension yesterday from the State System of Higher Education.  "Embattled IUP President Gets Contract Extension," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 11, 2002

December-September 2001

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Rather than simply a pot show, the exhibition contains many of the sensitive—and telling—photographs taken by the curators.…It is this cultural observation that adds a political dimension," wrote Pittsburgh Post-Gazette art critic Mary Thomas in her review of the University Museum exhibit Women in Clay:  The Potters of La Chamba, Columbia. "Columbian Pottery Shaped by a Changing Society,"  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 6, 2001

'For these kids, it's the best thing that can happen to them, sometimes in their life, particularly if you get a Rhodes,' said Lawrence K. Pettit, president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a school that has won three Fulbright scholarships for study abroad but is still trying for its first Rhodes. 'That's part of the reason why schools like IUP are stepping up efforts to groom scholars for the big fellowships...'  "Rhodes scholarships:  Non-Ivy schools seek to win coveted honor," Associated Press, Dec. 1, 2001

Scores were relatively high among the most prolific teacher-producers in the state—Indiana University of Pennsylvania...These schools scored between 83 and 93 percent on the two key sections..."   "Colleges Graded for Training Teachers," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 30, 2001

Edward Abbey's renown as a writer is grounded firmly in the Southwest, particularly the Four Corners, where most of his books and environmental activism are centered. Abbey's roots, though, reach deep into the soil of Indiana County, his birthplace, where he graduated from high school and spent his freshman year at the then-Indiana State Teachers College.  James Cahalan is a professor of English at what is now Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and his field is Irish literature, a long way from the American desert and the picaresque novels of Abbey. Yet, he's the novelist's first biographer. "Famed writer, chronicler of the Southwest's splendors, was rooted in his Indiana County birthplace," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 25, 2001

Getting to the truth about Abbey wasn’t easy because he indulged in “creative nonfiction.” Dr. James Cahalan, a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, succeeds in piecing together the facts and has fashioned a compelling work; but then, he had great material to choose from....But otherwise, Cahalan has achieved what all good biographers do: He brings the subject to life, and what a life it was. "Edward Abbey: A Life' by James M. Cahalan, Edward Abbey's natural gifts provide a wealth of material," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 24, 2001

Dr. Edward Gondolf, a researcher at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, obtained (a) federal grant to test...a theory advanced by Oliver J. Williams, a University of Minnesota sociologist...on culturally focused batterer counseling. Gondolf, a scientist with an Ivy League resume and a plainspoken style, said the new-fashioned program for blacks seemed to have a couple of advantages..."  "Program Tests Idea that Black Batterers Need Black Therapy,"  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 29, 2001

Psychologist Elizabeth Kincaid, head of counseling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, sees an increase in juniors who want to do a second internship to delay leaving college and a decrease in seniors signing up for job interviews. She predicts more seniors will choose to move home after graduation and more high school seniors will defer college. 'They are putting off some of their developmental tasks,' Kincaid says, including in their personal lives."  "For Young Adults, Ties to Home Have Become a Priority" by Barbara F. Meltz,  The Boston Globe, Oct. 18, 2001

For years, Dr. Cindy Iannarelli, director of IUP's Center for Family Business, has wanted to turn her entrepreneurial educational programs for kids into a television series. Now, despite plenty of naysayers along the way, she's landed a syndication contract for her show, The Buzz. 'My goal is to have a daily show that can make a huge difference in the next generation's skill level. With entrepreneurial training like this, they'll be more likely to open their own business, work more productively for someone else and feel better overall about themselves just knowing they can do it,' Dr. Iannarelli said.   "Never Say Never," Pittsburgh Business Times, October 2001

In the annual rankings of undergraduate schools, Duquesne University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania moved up a notch...   "Magazine advances efforts of Duquesne, IUP," Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Sept. 7, 2001

August-May 2001

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Michael Ondaatje’s “The Collected Works of Billy the Kid,” for example, is a collection of poems, but it is also a novel and a stage play. Sandra Cisneros’ “House On Mango Street,” part memoir, part prose poem, is another example of a work that transcends our expectations of literature and creates something that stands apart, wholly new. Maurice Kilwein Guevara, a professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, gives us a book that is part memoir, part poetry collection and part surrealistic vision of what it is to have one foot in North America and one in South... " 'Autobiography Of So-And-So: Poems In Prose' by Maurice Kilwein Guevara: Guevara's work soars with deft mixing of poetic styles,"  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 25, 2001

Like a burglar with muddy shoes, computer hackers who steal or destroy data often leave tracks," begins the article about IUP’s courses in cyber-sleuthing. "'Indiana University of Pennsylvania says it is developing a set of courses to help catch those criminals. Other college and universities have programs in cybersecurity that are computer science based,' explained Dr. Dennis Giever, chairman of IUP’s criminology department. 'This program is different. It will focus on cyber-crime detection and loss prevention.' Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 6, 2001

Small-town guy:  IUP playwright chronicles the life of fictional Randolphsburg, Pa," was the headline of an article about IUP theatre professor Ed Simpson. "An affable good guy type, Simpson is a small-town boy whose wide-eyed at the big time only transparently covers an astute grasp of life’s tragedies, both large and small. Behind his playfully hick attitude is a man who’s always watching and listening, always aware of joy’s proximity to sadness. His characters reflect this sensibility…" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 29, 2001

Diane Walker has nearly 20 years' experience as a teacher, but that doesn't mean she's stopped learning. Walker is part of a program that's teaching teachers how to use computers in the classroom and how to train other teachers about technology. The University of Pittsburgh received a $1.1 million federal grant under what's called the PT3 program, or Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology. Nationwide, 225 teacher education programs are receiving federal grants aimed at helping future teachers become proficient in technology. Other Pennsylvania universities to win PT3 federal grants are Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University and Penn State University. "Computer Makes Students of Teachers,"  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2001

'Boys need to see a whole range of what maleness is,' says IUP sociology department researcher Dr. Robert Heasley. 'Not just a father modeling behavior but modeling possibilities…Too often it’s mom who talks about feelings and helps a son process his. It should not be one or the other parent. It should be both.'"
"Dads Available 24-7 Make a Critical Difference," The Boston Globe, June 14, 2001

Chicago is living through what's going to be a national nightmare, said Dr. Mary Ann Rafoth, chairman of the education and school psychology department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  "High School Test Scores Take Tumble," Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2001

Politicians want to reduce taxes, and they get elected on the basis of reducing taxes, but implicit in that is a lower level of support for higher education," said Willard Radell, an economics professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  "Rising tuition hits poor families hardest," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 2, 2001

April-March-February-January 2001

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This semester (Dr. Robert) Millward, professor of professional studies in education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, blended the paintings of historical artist Robert Griffing of Gibsonia in to classes for his college students in hopes of flaming interest in the past in his teachers-to-be."
"History Comes to Life for Elementary Pupils," Greensburg Tribune Review, April 15, 2001

Jack Stamp... professor of music and conductor of bands at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and also a composer... established the Keystone Wind Ensemble as a nationally significant group..."  "Composer writes for band, with IUP professor's coaxing," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 23, 2001

'It takes a special kind of person with special kind of training to teach prison inmates,' says Chris Zimmerman. That's why Zimmerman, a criminology professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, wants to establish a prison educator training program that would also serve as a national clearinghouse for inmate education resources....The program received (Sen. Arlen) Specter's endorsement..."  "Specter Backs IUP's Proposal on Prison Teaching," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 22, 2001

We're losing something in the process," said Willard Radell, an economics professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pa., considering the change in take-home pay for retail workers. "I worry that we're developing a caste system in America." "Wal-Mart:  World's Largest Company," Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 19, 2001

It’s only a matter of time before the world goes to a metric time system. We’re going to be a one-world society as far as time is concerned," said Dr. Ray Winstead, biology professor at IUP. Winstead was interviewed by BBC Radio about his percentage metric time clock, which gives the percentage of the day that has elapsed. BBC Online, Feb. 15, 2001

'Fear of new foods, the dieticians' version of neophobia, is connected to certain personality types. Not necessarily people who love to climb rocks, but people who are willing to take risks in business may be more adventurous eaters,' said Dr. Stephanie Taylor-Davis, assistant professor of food and nutrition at Indiana University of Pennsylvania."  "When it Comes to Food Phobias, It's More than a Matter of Taste," San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 17, 2001

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