New! Improved!

I am very excited to tell you that our new online portal is taking shape and we have already moved the blog over to engage.shc.psu.edu! Book mark that site and set your news reader to update because that is where all the action will be.

This site will be your portal into what is happening at Schreyer Honors College. The main site, http://shc.psu.edu/ will continue to be the main source for information about the college, our UPDATE newsletter, requirements, etc. But engage.shc.psu.edu will be the nexus of our online presence.

Features that will be forthcoming (in addition to my blog):

Student blog - current students who will share their thoughts on SHC and PSU primarily for prospective students.

Podcast - a biweekly podcast (to be launched in early October) that will feature interviews with key SHC and campus figures, stories of Scholars activities and research, and current SHC/PSU events. Also produced by our students!

Newsline - on the sidebar we will have links to live.psu.edu and our own SHC news items.

So stay tuned for great new features! In the meantime head over to and bookmark engage.shc.psu.edu!

Another Schreyer Scholar in the News!

From live.psu.edu

PENN STATE STUDENT RECEIVES FELLOWSHIP FROM THE CENTER FOR THE
STUDY OF THE PRESIDENCY

Elena Cross, a junior Schreyer Scholar double-majoring in political
science and international studies with minors in French and history,
was chosen by the Center for the Study of the Presidency to receive a
fellowship for leadership and public service. The Center for Study of
the Presidency is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that
encourages study of the Presidency and public service among young
Americans. The Center for Study of the Presidency offers 65
undergraduate and graduate scholarships that award recipients with a
yearlong opportunity to study the Presidency. This serves the
American public by developing the next generation of American
leaders. Cross has held an interest in American political and social
history since her youth but especially after September 11, when she
became increasingly interested in global politics, particularly those
relating to underdeveloped countries.

Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/index.php?sec=vs=19279

What a day!

I just got back from broomball (pictures soon!) and earlier today our orientation meeting with our new students. Dr. Spanier opened the evening and I added a few words after that. Pizza with faculty followed and it was great! Well, I hope everyone else thought it was great. I enjoyed meeting so many of you and I was pleased to see so many faculty come to meet with the students. Their support is fantastic and I encourage students (as they heard from me today) to get to know their Honors advisors and other faculty. They are a great source of information and interesting people too.

The orientation events continue tomorrow and I look forward to seeing you at the tailgate on Saturday!

Roundtables

One of our new programs this year are Roundtables. These are weekly meetings, alternating Wed and Thur afternoons (with a few exceptions) that will be held in the Grandfather Clock Lounge in Atherton from 4-5pm. Food will be provided! Below is the schedule for the start of the semester. I hope to see you there!

Thursday, September 14:
Dr. Christian M.M. Brady, Schreyer Honors College
"That Vision Thing - The Future of Schreyer Honors College"

Thursday, September 21:
Dr. Kristine Clark, Department of Nutrition,
“Fueling Your Performance in the Classroom and in Your Active Lifestyle”

Wednesday, September 27:
Dr. J. Phillip Jenkins, Departments of Religious Studies and History,
“Must There be a Clash between Civilizations and Religions”

Thursday, October 5: TBA

Wednesday, October 11:
Dr. James Pawelczyk, Department of Kinesiology,
“The Future of Space Exploration”

Thursday, October 19:
Dr. Clay Calvert, Department of Communications and Law,
“The First Amendment and Free Speech: A look at Current Issues”

Wednesday, October 25:
Dr. John Harwood, Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology,
"Some Modest Reflections on Originality, Creativity, and Academic Integrity: Penn State's Experience with Cyber-plagiarism and Turnitin"

A New Year Begins!

Our student mentors arrived today and are ready for our newest class to arrive tomorrow! I look forward to meeting you all tomorrow evening.

Blake and Linda Gall of State College, longtime supporters of the Schreyer Honors College and Penn State, have been named Penn State's 2006 Renaissance Fund Honorees, and will be honored at a Nov. 14 dinner that will raise funds for academically talented Penn State

students with the greatest financial need. The Gall's philanthropy to Penn State includes the creation of an endowed faculty fellowship, support of various capital projects, and four endowed scholarships, including most recently a Trustee Matching Scholarship for the College of Arts and Architecture. Said Linda, "The more you learn about the need, the more compelling the case for support."

Their daughter Lauren and son-in-law Sam are graduates of the Schreyer Honors College, and their daughter Andrea is now in her second year at Penn State.

Full story on Penn State Live

PSU Football & Podcasts

My brother, a PSU PhD and a new faculty member at PSU-Harrisburg, and his son, no doubt a future PennStater, have started their own podcast. The latest episode is mostly about football. It is amazing what a 14 year old (currently living in central OH!) knows about PSU football.

SHC will be starting our own podcast this semester and this won't be lil' ol' mean and my computer's mic. It will be a bi-weekly show featuring news, interviews, maybe even some trivia, and will be produced by our own students. So stay tuned and let us know who you would like to have interviewed! (Maybe even the Coach?)

How Summer 2006 grads have "lived well"

Agree or disagree? "The purpose of life is not to be happy." What if you add the rest of the Emerson quote, "It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well"? During his speech at the Summer 2006 medals ceremony, President Graham Spanier indicates some of the ways in which our Summer 2006 graduates have "lived well."

Academic Excellence:

• 88 percent have a 3.5 GPA or higher and 32 percent are pursuing a double major.

• Scholars in this class have studied everything from street children in Latin America and plant closings in rural Pennsylvania, to images of slavery at the Smithsonian, tourism in Fiji, and the role of electric and magnetic fields in powder metal compacts.

• Within this class is also the winner of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, an international scholarship for outstanding graduate students to study at the University of Cambridge, as well as the recipient of a national Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for excellence in science, engineering, and mathematics.

Internationalization:

• Nearly half of the class has traveled and studied abroad in countries such as New Zealand, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Bangladesh. One scholar plans to go on to spend two years teaching secondary science education for the Peace Corps in sub-Saharan Africa.

Leadership and Civic Engagement:

• The class contains leaders from a multitude of areas, such as the president of the Graphic Design Association, president of Penn State Amnesty International, vice president of Engineering Leadership Development, and the president of the Penn State Investment Association.

• Some of these Scholars also are volunteers for the American Red Cross, Dance Marathon, and Second Mile, an organization that helps at-risk youth.

To find out more about the jugglers, moms, and ironwoman (oh my!) see Dr. Spanier's speech.

Here's to you, Summer 2006 graduates!

SHC Spikes Game Outing

From Donna Meyer, our coordinator of student and alumni programs, has arranged this great event! I love sports and baseball, college and minor league particularly, is great. The new stadium is fantastic as well. So please consider signing up for the game!

You and your families are invited to represent the
Schreyer Honors College & enjoy an exciting night of Spikes Baseball
(the last game of the season)
with Dean Brady and his family!

Thursday, September 7
7:05 p.m.
Arrive at 5:30 p.m. and tour Medlar Park (optional)

Stay after the game for a Fireworks Extravaganza!

TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS, SIGN-UP IN C-5 ATHERTON HALL or contact
Rosanna Mersinger at rlm29@psu.edu

Tickets: $6.00 payable when you sign-up
Checks payable to "State College Spikes"
Pick-up tickets at SHC table near the entrance gate night of the game.

Deadline for reservations is Friday, September 1.
Minimum party of 25 needed to make this happen!

Open to Scholars, staff, families and friends.

[Note Junior Orientation is from 6:00-7:00 p.m...Scholars can certainly join us after Orientation!]

Get ready to "Fear the Deer"

Around the world in two months

August is an exciting time at the honors college, when the seemingly sleepy summertime pace turns into great anticipation of students returning and hearing back from Scholars who spent their summer working in internships.

Pictured at the left are Scholars participating in the 2006 Center for Strategic and International Studies Summer Internship Program in Washington, D.C., as they spent some time with Mr. Schreyer and Scholar alumni.

Third from the right is Scholar Rodney Hughes, who reports that during the 2-month internship, he worked on projects and participated in activities and presentations spanning Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, and Lebanon. He sums up his experience by saying, "My CSIS experience was instrumental in helping me to understand the world, and it will be instrumental as I discover my place in it through graduate school or a career." Read about Rodney's experience in his own words.