Education briefs
Grant awarded The directors of the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation Inc. have awarded a $2 million grant to Seton Hill University, Greensburg, in support of its new Recreation Complex.
The grant represents the largest received in the university’s history and the largest received to date for the $6.5 million Complex. The Foundation’s award brings the total amount raised for the project to more than $5.2 million and brings Seton Hill’s total campaign to more than $35 million.
The three-story Recreation Complex, designed by Celli-Flynn Brennan Turkall Architects & Planners and to be built by Building Systems Inc. will be located between Sullivan Hall and Bayley Hall on Seton Hill’s campus. The centerpiece of the 44,000 square-foot Recreation Complex will be the competition gymnasium seating 1,000. Other features of the facility include intramural courts, aerobic and fitness rooms and a running track.
Contribution matched
Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, has received $26,165 from the GE Foundation as a matching contribution provided through the GE Foundation’s Corporate Alumni Program.
Under programs such as this, the corporation matches contributions made by alumni to the college. The GE Foundation, formerly the GE Fund, is the General Electric Company’s philanthropic organization.
Mining researched
Saint Vincent College student Laura Michalik, a senior history major who hails from Carmichaels, is among a number of students representing a variety of majors who are currently involved in summer research at Saint Vincent College, Latrobe.
She is researching life along the Loyalhanna first from the 1700s up to 1880s when mining began and then from 1880 to the 1950s.
As a future teacher, working under the guidance of a history department faculty member, Michalik is learning skills in gathering information as she looks for maps of coal seams and learns about life in the “patches,” or mining towns. A benefit of the experience is the chance for special seminars and field trips through collaboration this summer between two Saint Vincent College research programs – the Lancy Scholars Program and the Summer Institute for Watershed Restoration.
The Lancy Scholars Program was established this summer through a $40,000 National Conferences on Undergraduate Research/Lancy grant. Eight students were specially selected for this program to work with faculty mentors to conduct research on the scientific, social, economic and cultural aspects of watershed restoration. The Summer Institute in Watershed Restoration, hosted by the college’s Environmental Education Center in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency, is centered around the Monastery Run Improvement Project wetlands, a treatment system that is working to clean up abandoned mine drainage pollution in the Loyalhanna watershed.
Tweardy graduates
James H. Tweardy is a recent graduate of California University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in parks and recreation management and he also graduated in May from Indiana Police Academy 53, where he served as class president.
He is currently employed by Ryerson State Park as a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Ranger.
Tweardy and his wife, Michelle, live in Hopwood. He is the son of the Rev. and Mrs. James Tweardy of Uniontown.
Wisniewski earns degree
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania announced that Lori Wisniewski of Everson was among graduates recognized during spring commencement
She received a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.
Degrees awarded
Two local residents received degrees when Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) conducted the 131st spring 2003 graduation ceremony May 9 in Blacksburg, Va.
John Elias of Uniontown received bachelor of arts degrees in political and history.
James Wolfe of McClellandtown received bachelor of science in electrical engineering degree in electrical engineering.
Chernitsky graduates
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., has announced that Laura Ann Chernitsky, the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Paul J. Chernitsky of Uniontown graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience.
Nearly 2,400 students completed the requirements for degrees that were conferred during the 127th commencement on May 9.
Chernitsky also achieved the dean’s list for the spring 2003 semester.
Pasquale honored
Leonard Anthony Pasquale of Grindstone received an associate of applied science degree in collision repair technology from the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport.
Pasquale graduated with high honors when the college conducted commencement ceremonies May 17. He also received the Dupont Performance Coatings Excellence Award that is presented to the student with the highest cumulative grade point average in an automotive major.
Award announced
The Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis will present the Award for Enduring Programmatic Contributions to Behavior Analysis to West Virginia University’s department of psychology officials at the opening session of the Association for Behavior Analysis convention in Boston in May 2004.
In addition, the department’s doctoral program in behavior analysis recently received full accreditation by the organization, which is an international membership association dedicated to promoting the experimental, theoretical and applied analysis of behavior.
The behavior analysis program was founded at WVU in Morgantown, W.Va., in 1976 and has awarded 66 master’s and 60 doctoral degrees. The program is one of three tracks available to WVU students pursuing graduate study in psychology.
The WVU Department of Psychology is one of 16 academic units within the Eberly College. The Association for Behavior Analysis is an international membership association dedicated to promoting the experimental, theoretical and applied analysis of behavior.
Program approved
The West Virginia University Board of Governors has approved the establishment of a program leading to the bachelor of arts degree in women’s studies for the Morgantown, W.Va., university.
The major is open to WVU students interested in furthering their understanding of women’s studies as a discipline, developing literacy skills across the curriculum and having opportunities to pursue their own interests through field experiences, research and independent study. The new major allows for double majoring with a variety of other disciplines, including communication studies, English, geography, history, international studies, political science, psychology and sociology.
The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will offer the new degree through its Center for Women’s Studies. For more information, visit the center’s Web site at a href=”http://www.as.wvu.edu/wmst/ http://www.as.wvu.edu/wmst/ end
or call director Barbara J. Howe at (304) 293-2339, ext. 1155.
Program to change
West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va., officials will change the forensic identification degree program beginning with the fall semester.
The program’s two majors – forensic and investigative science and biometric systems – will now be offered as two separate bachelor of science degrees under new directors. The forensic and investigative science degree program will be part of the curricula offered by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences under the direction of Clifton Bishop, while the biometric systems degree will be offered by the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering within WVU’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, under the direction of George Trapp and Larry Hornak.
The program was established in December 1997 when WVU and the FBI signed an agreement that led the way for WVU to become the first university in the world to offer a degree in forensic and investigative science and biometric systems. Biometrics uses unique physical “signatures” like a fingerprint or retinal scan as identifiers; forensic science uses scientific indicators such as blood, DNA and hair strands.
Last January, the university added an information assurance/biometrics specialization to three of it’s master’s programs. This fall, graduate certificate programs will be offered in computer forensics and forensic accounting.