Page 2 The Lion’s Eye February 22, 2012 Campus News SNOW ENERGENCY, POWER OUTAGE, FLOOD SITUATION PSUTEXT is a service designed to alert the | Penn State community via text messages when situations arise on campus that affect the school’s ability to function normally. Students, faculty, and staff will be alerted of emergency situations while on campus, as well as when the campus is closed due to weather conditions or power outages. : All news feeds are optional. You will only re- ceive messages from feeds that you specifically select. BE PREPARED WITH PSU TEXT By Nicholas Alejamdro - Lion s Eye Staff Writer- nat5029@psu.edu Any cell phone number registered with the service is pro- tected by encryption. It will be used exclusively for the Penn state PSUTXT alert system and is free for all sub- scribers. Moreover, it takes just minutes to register. Sub- scribers can elect to have alerts sent to an email address or mobile phone. To register, visit http://live.psu.edu/psutxt. For information, contact Annemarie Mountz at AMountz@ psu.edu. One of the classrooms at the Vairo Library on campus has had an extreme makeover! Over the winter break, room 111 in the Vairo building was completely The most important rennovation to the classroom was a new, state of the art technology that was installed. Room 111 received a Video Learning Network system. Pe nn Sta te TO P The Video Learning Network (VLN) program helps to connect our campus to fifteen other Penn State cam- Rec ru ite I, Says WSJ puses that also have the new upgraded network. Other Special to the Lion's Eye - Jennifer Meritt, WSJ Penn State campuses that have the VLN program in- clude Berks, DuBois, Behrend, Fayette, Great Valley, U.S. companies largely favor graduates of big state universities over Ivy League and other elite liberal- | onior in Lewistown. Lehi gh Valley, Mont Alto, New afts schools when hiring to fll eniryslevel jobs. a Wall Kensington, Schuylkill, University Park, the William- Street Journal study found. sport Center, and York. Jennifer Merritt discusses a new Wall Street Jour- The VIN program comes with a high tech video nal survey, which reveals recruiters are shifting their at- conferencing capability, which will enable us to talk tention away from elite privaie schools to focus instead on face to face with others. The updated classroom comes state universities. equipped with viewing screens and cameras so the class : In the study—which surveyed 479 of the largest will be able to have live interactions among other fac- public and private companies, nonprofits and government ulty and students from other campuses. Students will be agencies Pennsylvania Sule University, Tovas ALM able to talk to other students at other sites at a push of a University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dation. ranked as top picks for graduates best prepared and most redone, including floors, furniture and a new paint job. Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Hazleton, the Learning Extreme Makeover, Vario Edition By Kallie McLaughlin - Lions Eye Staff Writer- kmm6327@psu.edu According to psu.edu, there are specific courses that can be taken for the VLN program, which are offered in a seven-week format combining face-to face chats, on- line instructions by the teachers and video conferences with a class. The teacher can have students from any of the other campus sites in the same room at the same time, via VLN, teaching them all the same subject. Most classes take place in the evenings and on weekends to make it easier for the students participating in the program. The program is hoping to appeal to more students and help make school more convenient. People will be able to earn a degree, from the comfort of their own homes! These days, it’s harder for adults to earn their degrees because of other commitments such as jobs or families. The VLN program will help people who have those difficulties earn their degrees. By fall 2012, the VLN program is hoping to offer business and nursing degrees. People have already gotten their degrees in vari- ous majors by participating in the VLN program. If you want to learn more about the VLN: program, you can go online to our home website, or you could stop by the Vairo building and have a look for yourself! gid Brandywine Campus Counselor Comes Aboard Of the top 25 schools as rated by these employers, ence, Messiah College, Grantham, Pa. While King is working diligently within the realm of Students Affairs, her goals are to focus on wellness and prevention. Promoting mental health and assisting with developing coping skills. King stated, “In promoting these skills, it will help the student(s) to achieve their goals and have a reward- ing experience before, during and after their time at Penn State Brandywine.” When asked why she chose counseling as an avocation, King responded, “to help someone realize that they are not crazy...” (who hasn’t felt that way at some point during a semester) ....and to assist in the realization that the student is capable of achieving what they want out of life.” King, along with other counselors, will be holding on campus events to promote wellness semi- nars and that is something we all could utilize in our busy lives. One might ask, why would I need counsel- ing? Why would I come to counseling? Some of the concerns you may have that can be addressed con- fidentially are: Anxiety, Depression, Life Transitions (i.e. adjusting to college, preparing to transfer to a different campus, graduating, becoming a parent, re- ceiving a medical diagnosis, etc.), Relationships and Anger Management , just to name a few. If you feel the need to talk to Ms. King, the phone number to make an appointment is 610-892- 19 were public, one was Ivy League (Cornell University) ByRobert Ripson - Lion 5s Eye Staff Writer- rlr283@psu.edu and the rest were private, including Carnegie Mellon and University of Notre Dame. The newest member of the Office of Student The Journal research represents a systematic ef- Affairs Counseling team is Ahyana King. Ms. King fort to assess colleges by surveying employers’ recruit- joined the team on January 3rd of this year and is ers—who decide where to seek out new hires—instead of eager to assist the student body in recognizing their relying primarily on measures such as student test scores, potential as students, citizens, and healthy produc- college admission rates or graduates’ starting salaries. As a tive members in both their academic and personal group, the survey participants hired more than 43,000 new lives. graduates in the past year. Ms. King has an impressive array of creden- The recruiters’ perceptions matter all the more tials and extensive experience to assist students in given that employers today are visiting fewer schools, supporting those questions that come up during partly due to the weak economy. Instead of casting a wide college life. Ms. King has been a part of great or- net, the Journal found, big employers are focusing more ganizations that helped those in transition through intently on nearby or strategically located research institu- exacting times in their lives. One such organization tions with whom they can forge deeper partnerships with was Women Organized Against Rape. In this ca- faculty. pacity King spent two years counseling survivors of The Journal study didn’t examine smaller com- sexual abuse and assault. Another worthy endeavor panies because they generally don’t interact with as many | she diligently gave her attention to was as Resident colleges. In addition, the survey focused on hiring students Director at A Better Chance, a national program with bachelor’s as opposed to graduate degrees. which supports mentally gifted low income stu- The research highlighted a split in perception dents, located in Swarthmore. In this capacity the about state and private schools. Recruiters who named an institution would host teenage girls from all over Ivy League or elite liberal-arts school as a top pick say they the country, to help facilitate the students’ goal of prize their graduates’ intellect and cachet among clients, attending college. King also worked with Action as well as “soft skills” like critical thinking and commu- Aids of Philadelphia, this organization helped with nication. But many companies said they need people with counseling those who were infected and affected by practical skills to serve as operations managers, product HIV/AIDS developers, business analysts and engineers. For those em- King achieved her Masters in Mental Health, ployees—the bulk of their work force—they turn to state from Walden University, Minneapolis; after attain- institutions or other private schools offering that. ing her BA in Human Development and Family Sci- 1270. An Open Letter from Robert Ripson, Canidate for President of ‘Student Government 2012-2013 As we are moving away from the school year of 2011 — 2012 the events that facilitates. Using the many resources that this campus offers, interacting with the clubs, have transpired over the last six months have sullied our institutions reputation. The black faculty and staff we can and will continue the excellence of the Penn State tradition. eye always heals as will our beloved institution we know as Penn State. I am looking for like-minded students who know that Penn State is concerned I am running for the Presidency of the Student Government Association to re- with how our reputation will be preserved and how we as a student body can establish store and perpetuate the continued excellence that the Pennsylvania State University has new precedents of excellence within our community. The offices of Vice-President, Sec- worked for since it was established in 1855. retary, Treasurer, and Head of Senate are open for your consideration. If you think you The business, academic, and social industries of the Philadelphia area and across fit this profile, please contact me at rlr283@psu.edu. Intent to run registration deadline is the United States continue to value the extremely gifted graduates that the University Thursday, 17 February, 2012. 4 2
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers