Indiana University of Pennsylvania--Media Relations & Community Affairs

IUP faculty and staff are often quoted in national publications, speaking in their areas of expertise or about current events. The following list covers some of the most recent quotables and student and alumni recognition by the regional, national and international media.

Citations for 2008 are arranged in chronological order. To go to a particular time period, click on the following links:

February 2008

Two IUP students plan to raise money for cancer research this summer by biking from IUP to Anchorage. WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Feb. 25, 2008, noon.

Two ambitious university students, 4,500 miles, 11 states and a part of Canada could equal money for cancer research. Twenty-year-old Daniel Esten and 23-year-old Michael Frederick, both students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, plan to bike this summer from western Pennsylvania to Anchorage, Alaska. Funds they raise for the expedition from businesses, family and friends will be donated to the American Cancer Society. The journey is to begin in June and end in August. Currently, the duo are taking extensive bike rides and following a daily workout regimen for what promises to be an arduous journey of 70-mile bike rides each day. The summer trek will include climbing mountains with elevations as high as 9,200 feet. Associated Press, Feb. 25, 2008

It's going to take a whole lot of training, but two IUP students are confident that they'll be able to do it. The two are planning to bike from Indiana to Anchorage, Alaska, this summer. Take a look at this map. WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Feb. 25, 2008, 7 a.m., 8 a.m.

It's going to tale a whole lot of training, but two IUP students are confident that they'll be able to do it. The two are planning to bike from Indiana to Anchorage, Alaska, this summer. They want to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The 4,500 mile track through 11 different states and part of Canada will take them three months, they're estimating, to complete. 23-year-old Daniel Esten and Michael Frederick will have to climb mountains as high as 2,200 feet. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Tough for me to bike around the block, let alone to Alaska. Good job for those guys. WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Feb. 25, 2008, 5:30 a.m.

And the good news doesn't stop there. Two ambitious University students, forty-five hundred miles, 11 states and a part of Canada research. Twenty-year-old Daniel Esten and 23-year old Michael Frederick, both students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, plan to bike this summer from western Pennsylvania to Anchorage, Alaska. The money they raise for the trip from businesses, family and friends will be donated to the American Cancer Society. The two are set to start their trek in June and end in August. WTAJ-TV (Altoona-Johnstown, Pa.) Feb. 24, 2008; Feb. 25, 2008

Winners of the political essay competition organised by the Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre were named on Tuesday. The essay competition titled ‘How could Kashmir, the oldest unresolved dispute, be settled’ was arranged at the international level among the graduate and post-graduate students. The Foundation received many articles in this respect world wide including those from both sides of the divided Kashmir, Great Britain and the United States of America and the competition was tight. According to Prof. Nazir Ahmad Shawl, Executive Director, JFKC, apart from the top winner, two essays tied for the second place while none qualified for the third prize. The competition was judged independently by Brian Cox, Senior Vice President, ICRD (International Centre for Religion and Diplomacy) in the United States who evaluated the essays and his decision was final. The winner was Mahboob-ul-Haq Makhdoomi of Indiana University, Pennsylvania, while Himanshu Goenka of London School of Oriential and African Studies and Tawseef Kashoo of University of Kashmir, Srinanagar were adjudged the second best. Pakistan Associated Press, Feb. 19, 2008

For the third time in a year, Western Pennsylvania will be treated to a total lunar eclipse. It will be the last time the region will see the moon totally enveloped by Earth's shadow for almost three years. "Even if it is cloudy, a lunar eclipse takes several hours," said Ken Coles, a professor of geoscience at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who will give a free program about the eclipse Tuesday at the school's planetarium. "All we need is an occasional hole in the clouds to see it." "W.Pa. to see 3rd total lunar eclipse in year," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 18, 2008

Many Pittsburgh area universities also have similar emergency plans and alert systems in place. ... Point Park University, Robert Morris University, Duquesne University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania all have electronic alert systems in place. KDKA-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Feb. 15, 2008

MICHAEL BARTLEY, ON-Q HOST: And welcome to On-Q, I’m Michael Bartley. Tonight, our celebration of Black History Month takes us to Indiana County. Before the Civil War Indiana County was a well-known stop on the Underground Railroad: a safe haven for runaway slaves. Today, the county continues to make history with the Two-Thousand Five appointment of the first African-American President at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, better known around these parts as I-U-P. Tonight, On-Q contributor Dave Crawley reports on the past and the present of this local community that continues to break down barriers. DAVE CRAWLEY: One-hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation the struggle for freedom continued. Inexorably African-Americans began to share the “American Dream”. At Indiana University of Pennsylvania… DR TONY ATWATER, PRESIDENT - INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: When I came here, I knew that IUP was a very fine institution. DAVE CRAWLEY: Doctor Tony Atwater took the reigns of power in February of Two-Thousand Five. He is the first African-American president of Pennsylvania’s largest state-owned university. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: It is an awesome responsibility and I always focus my attentions on the student. DAVE CRAWLEY: With fourteen-thousand students that’s no easy task. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: You’ve been here a while, what do you like about the place? (laughs) UNIDENTIFIED IUP STUDENT: Well, I like the diversity and I like the community. UNIDENTIFIED IUP STUDENT #2: Yeah. I like the university and I like different people. I think IUP provides a lot of that. DAVE CRAWLEY: Diversity is a word that resonates on a campus where African-American enrollment has risen dramatically in recent years and so has the graduation rate for students of all races. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: Our retention over the last four academic years has been on the increase. DAVE CRAWLEY: Did the young Tony Atwater dare to dream that he would one day preside over a university faculty? He was a child of the South, born in Nashville, Tennessee. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: I think the Civil-Rights Movement opened up the doors of opportunity to show how African-Americans could succeed and that we have so many success stories. DAVE CRAWLEY: He and his twin brother were the sons of an Air Force man encountering a range of ethnic groups in schools from Germany to Okinawa to Bangor, Maine, always with one common denominator. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: Because we were one of only a couple of students among twenty-five who were African-Americans that that challenged us to to do our best and to also be able to participate fully in the classroom environment. DAVE CRAWLEY: The University President earned his PHD in Communications Research at Michigan State, but for Doctor Atwater communication really began at home. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: My parents gave me some very, very good grounding, and the military experience gave me very good grounding to appreciate the notion that I could do anything that I could put my mind to, and that race was not a barrier but it was something to take pride in and to work hard to achieve goals and consequently you could achieve anything in life. DAVE CRAWLEY: He and his wife, Beverly—a medical doctor, are pioneers in a town which has known many over the years. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: This region has an amazing connection with the Underground Railroad. DOCTOR TONY ATWATER: We have a slogan here at IUP called “Beyond Expectations.” DAVE CRAWLEY: Meeting those expectations and more in Indiana County. I’m Dave Crawley for On-Q. On-Q Magazine, WQED-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Feb. 14, 2008

(Dr.) Miriam Chaiken of Penn Run, Indiana County, will compete in a new Food Network show, "The Ultimate Recipe Showdown." The six-week-long show, hosted by "Unwrapped" star Marc Summers, will premiere on Sunday. Ms. Chaiken, who teaches the anthropology of food at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, entered her recipe for African Ground Nut Stew and was selected to compete in the chicken category against eight challengers. There are also categories for burgers, comfort foods, pasta, cakes and cookies. The winner in each category every week takes home $25,000 and gets the chance to have his or her recipe featured at T.G.I. Friday restaurants nationwide. She says her recipe was inspired by her years of living in Africa with her husband, also an anthropologist. "Author makes a sport out of playing with your food," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 14, 2008

PUNXSUTAWNEY -- The metamorphosis of the Fairman Center from an empty building to a bustling education hub took another -- albiet small -- step Monday night after Borough Council approved IUP’s request for 22 parking spaces in the lot behind the building. Bob Davies, of IUP, spoke before council about the matter, which Council passed unanimously after some discussion. Council member Roger Steele was initially reluctant “at best” to allot 22 downtown parking spaces to IUP. Larry Chenoga brought up the Presbyterian Church that uses that lot and asked if IUP would be willing to work with them when the church needs those spaces. “We’re good neighbors,” Davies said. “We’ll be very cooperative in that realm.” IUP plans to improve the parking spaces it is responsible for, but that sprucing up might spread to the whole lot. Steele suggested improving the entire parking lot at the same time, which Davies said was not out of the question. “I think it’s a reasonable request,” Davies said. The motion was passed unanimously by Council. Steele spoke a little bit on how well the IUP Culinary School has done in Punxsutawney. He recalled when they would speak to people about it before it was established, they would say, “Are you guys nuts? Culinary Arts in Punxsy?’” “We really want to thank you for the opportunity,” Davies said. “We have a good partnership between Punxsutawney and IUP and we are ever so grateful.” "Council grants IUP’s request for 22 parking spaces in lot behind Fairman Center," Punxsutawney Spirit, Feb. 12, 2008

FirstEnergy Foundation is the latest contributor to Indiana University of Pennsylvania's planned convention center. The foundation recently made a $20,000 contribution to the Foundation for IUP for the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Center, to be located along Wayne Avenue adjacent to the university. The 150,000-square-foot facility will house a 4,000- to 6,000-seat arena, administrative offices for IUP's John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security, as well as the athletic department and conference facilities. The university has raised more than $10 million in private and federal contributions on its way to a $20 million goal. The funds raised will match a $20 million state commitment made in 2003 to build the $44 million facility. Groundbreaking will take place this year, and the building should be completed in 2011. "Foundation helps fund IUP convention center," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 8, 2008

About two years ago, Amiee was one of three children with serious medical conditions who previously were granted wishes by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and were featured as models in a show staged as a senior project by fashion students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Appropriately, when choosing an outfit for the IUP show, Amiee "asked for something pink and princessy," her mother said. The IUP students responded by stitching together an original design that featured a satin underlay and heavy glitter and was topped with a tiara. Prior to debuting her dress, Amiee also underwent a complete makeup and hairstyling session. "Rare disorder doesn't derail girl's dreams," Blairsville Dispatch, Feb. 8, 2008

At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, you can view a piece of the destroyed World Trade Center. Biology students there recently had a herd of live emus and rheas -- another ostrich-like bird -- to study. About a week ago, faculty members in the geoscience department unpacked a haul valued at more than $82,000. It included a shark jaw replica, triceratops parts, an Argentine meteorite and a 2-ton petrified log. All came from the creative hearts of university donors. ... On the surface, when a university gets dinosaur bones, it's like, 'What are you going to do with that?' " said Robert O. Davies, vice president for university relations and executive director of the Foundation for IUP. "Sometimes you get these quirky gifts, but when you investigate them out or go through them a little bit, they're very important to the faculty and the students who they're being given for." IUP housed its emus and rheas on a faculty member's farm in a shelter built with donated materials. The World Trade Center remnant is set up as a memorial in front of the main administration building at the edge of Oak Grove. The chair of the Geoscience Department plans to use the recent fossil donation in classroom activities. Davies is searching for one thing, though. An alumnus e-mailed him recently to ask about a life-sized truck carved out of wood and donated in the 1960s. Davies has yet to find it, or even confirm its existence. "I don't know what to do with that to be honest," Davies said. "On one hand, I hope we don't find it." "Gifts enrich education at area universities," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 4, 2008

Indiana University of Pennsylvania student Kalena Popson, of Erie, found out, first hand, what it's like to be homeless. Popson, a freshman at IUP enrolled in a special first-year experience course, was part of a project to experience homelessness. She was one of 60 students who set up a make-shift tent city on campus Nov. 28 through 30 and spent part of a three-day period sleeping, studying and eating outdoors. The simulation was part of course's final examination, and was designed to give students some perspective of what it feels like to be a homeless person in western Pennsylvania in late November. Popson, daughter of Gary and Charlene Popson of Pepperwood Circle, is a 2007 graduate of McDowell High School. "College Clan," Erie Times-News, Feb. 4, 2008

Another sign of progress is the presence of the Fairman Centre, an Indiana University of Pennsylvania branch campus on West Mahoning Street. Housed in the historic J.B. Eberhart Building (erected in 1902), the school offers a freshman curriculum designed to attract rural students from across the commonwealth. IUP President Tony Atwater says the Fairman Centre is a good fit for IUP in several ways. Responding via e-mail, he says, "The community retains this beautiful, historic building in a restored condition that benefits the downtown district, and the university benefits through a site to offer educational activities and programs that support curricular and work force education goals. This project truly represents a partnership that will advance the university and the Punxsutawney region." IUP also bases its Institute of Culinary Arts in Punxsutawney. Other attractions include the Mahoning Shadow Trail, a 15.5-mile track for walkers, joggers and bicyclists that follows Mahoning Creek, and the annual Groundhog Festival, held the week of Independence Day. "Punxsutawney in no hurry to escape Phil's long shadow," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 27, 2008

When campus crimes occur, counselors report a spike in referrals and student visits. Dr. Rita Drapkin, a professor and psychologist at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said counselors at IUP and colleagues at other schools found that was true after the Virginia Tech slayings last year. "It's a small world. We saw kids who had friends there, graduate students who went there, students who live in Virginia," Drapkin said. "When there's that direct connection, it feels like it's even more possible that it can happen here or anywhere." In recent years, IUP has had several students die as a result of murders, accidents and other causes. Drapkin said counseling does not extend to students' parents because most college counseling centers are "understaffed with waiting lists." Drapkin said most colleges try to interact with parents when they bring their children to school as freshmen. She said it's understandably "very scary" for them to drop off their children and leave. The school provides campus safety programs for incoming students who often arrive under the impression that campuses are totally safe because they are isolated. Not true, she said. "It's part of the real world. Things that can happen anywhere in the real world can happen on college campuses," Drapkin said. "College unknowns stir parents' fears," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 27, 2008

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute, $38,700 to undertake a golden-winged warbler conservation initiative, focusing on one of the most critically threatened, non-federally listed species in eastern North America. "Native species get $1.2 million boost," PennLive, Harrisburg, Jan. 27, 2008

A study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers showed four of 11 area colleges posted increases in their endowments that surpass the national average. Endowments are important to an institution's financial health because they help pay for operating costs, including scholarships for students and endowed chairs for faculty. ... Officials at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which has a $44.2 million endowment, said schools with vast endowments are better able to try investments that are riskier but offer the possibility of bigger gains. "When you're dealing with $44 million, you don't have that much latitude," said Bob Davies, executive director of the Foundation for IUP. "College endowments increase 18 percent," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 26, 2008

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is planning a program that offers advance nursing degrees. The PhD will be offered for nurses who want to teach. The program may begin as early as this fall: Linda Palmer, associate professor of nursing at IUP. WDUQ-FM, Jan. 14, 2008

Responding to a nationwide shortage of nurse educators, Indiana University of Pennsylvania is preparing to offer a doctoral program to train new nursing faculty. The board of governors of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education on Thursday unanimously approved the program, which will help address faculty shortages caused by an aging work force and the continuing scarcity of bedside nurses, according to educators in the health care field. "IUP's ninth doctoral program will advance the university's graduate nursing curriculum, while responding to the state and the nation's shortage of licensed nurses," IUP President Tony Atwater said in a statement. "This important addition to our graduate program also will contribute to scholarly research in the area of teacher education in the nursing profession."... A co-author of IUP's proposal to the state said there are only about 100 doctoral nursing programs in the country, and less than 1 percent of nurses in the region have a research degree in nursing education. "Access to a Ph.D. (program) is complicating the problem as well, so the fact that we can offer one in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is exciting," said Elizabeth Palmer, an associate professor of IUP's department of nursing and allied health professions. IUP's program will include 48 credits of part-time coursework and a 12-credit dissertation. "IUP steps up in nursing shortage," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 11, 2008

The safety, health, and environmental profession is seeing more women achieving their Certified Safety Professional (CSP) accreditation while also, not coincidentally, taking less time to climb the proverbial ladder to assume management roles. So said presenters recently at a "Women in Safety" forum hosted by the American Society of Safety Engineers student section at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Safety Sciences Departmental Teaching Circle at IUP. "ASSE: More Women Entering, Excelling in SH&E Field," Occupational Health and Safety, Jan. 4, 2008