Education briefs
February 9, 2005 Polvinale selected
Kellie Ann Polvinale of Brownsville was selected for membership in the Delta Epsilon Iota Honor Society chapter at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Delta Epsilon Iota was established in order to recognize and encourage academic excellence in all fields of study. Students qualify based on academic achievement.
Prospective members must have completed a minimum of 30 semester hours at an accredited college or university, while maintaining a 3.3 cumulative grade-point average or a scholastic ranking within the top 15 percent of their class.
Polvinale is a 2002 graduate of Brownsville Area High School and is the daughter of David and Candace Polvinale.
Novak graduates
Todd Novak of Uniontown graduated with a bachelor of science in meteorology and geography from Valparaiso University recently.
Curry listed
Anne Curry of Uniontown was named to the dean’s list at Lehigh University for the fall 2004 semester.
Undergraduates on the dean’s list earned a grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale and carried at least 12 hours of courses.
Daley to present
State Rep. Peter J. Daley (D-California) will give a presentation on the Legislative Fellows Program at California University of Pennsylvania on Friday, Feb. 18.
His presentation will take place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Learning Research Center’s Auditorium on the Cal U campus.
An alumnus of Cal U, Daley is the university’s 2004 Legislative Fellow. He will also meet with various classes and student organizations on Feb. 18.
The Legislative Fellows program is sponsored by California University in cooperation with the Cal Chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania College and University Faculties. The program draws upon the participation of State Senators and Representatives from districts closest to the university who are willing to invest some of their time on behalf of Cal U students.
For additional information, contact Dr. Michael Slavin, chairperson of Cal U’s Department of Theatre and Dance, at 724-938-4220, 938-4221, or via e-mail at slavin@cup.edu.
The program is intended to foster communications and build bridges between the university community and the state legislators, who ultimately serve as the decision makers for universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
The premise of the program is that members of the Pennsylvania State Legislature have extensive knowledge and understanding of important issues, concerns and governmental processes that can be shared with students, faculty, staff and the local community.
Legislative Fellows may meet with classes, student clubs and organizations, faculty and the community at large. These meetings may include formal and informal presentations and round table discussions.
One of the program’s options involves Cal U students serving as interns in the legislator’s district office or in Harrisburg. Legislative Fellows are invited to attend university programs such as the Performing Artist presentations, lecture series, athletic events and ceremonies. At the end of their one-year terms, Legislative Fellows are invited to participate in commencement ceremonies where they will be recognized for their service.
Since 1983, Daley has served portions of Washington and Fayette counties comprising the 49th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Ceremony slated
California University of Pennsylvania will bid a fond farewell to a pair of residence halls that have housed Cal U students since 1969 on Saturday, Feb. 19.
A special ceremony remembering Stanley and Clyde Halls will take place in Clyde Hall’s lobby beginning with registration at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 19.
Stanley Residence Hall will be torn down in early March with Clyde Hall set to be demolished late in the summer as the University’s Master Plan continues with the construction of new Residence Halls D and E. Occupancy for these two new state-of-the-art residence halls is set for the fall of 2006.
Cal U President Angelo Armenti Jr. and speakers representing both residence halls will offer remarks. Anyone attending is welcome to share his or her remembrances as well.
Commemorative bricks of each building can be ordered and there will be trivia contests about both residence halls. CUTV and WVCS will cover this event live and there will also be Monocal Yearbooks available for browsing.
After the program, there will be a reception in Clyde Hall. There is no admission charge and all our welcome. For more information, contact the office of student development and services at 724-938-4439.
Information fair set
Students who need help choosing a field of study or paying for college can find answers about these topics and more at an information fair Sunday, Feb. 20, at West Virginia University.
WVU Information Day is designed with the prospective student in mind. A pre-game fair, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center, gives future Mountaineers a chance to meet with representatives from a wide range of academic departments.
Afterwards, students get to experience the excitement of Mountaineer basketball as WVU takes on Seton Hall.
WVU’s Office of Enrollment Services and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics sponsor the information fair and special ticket discount offer.
At the fair, families will get a sampling of WVU’s 13 schools and colleges. Students will learn about financial aid, scholarships and career opportunities, and they will be able to gather other information pertinent to the college selection process.
Programs participating include arts and sciences, creative arts, dentistry, engineering, forensic and investigative science, journalism, pharmacy, medical technology, physical therapy, and speech pathology and audiology.
For those students interested in beginning their WVU career at Potomac State College, an Enrollment Services representative will also be there to answer questions.
In addition to exploring WVU’s academic offerings, students will be able to discuss any concerns they might have about “dorm life” with Residential Education experts.
Parents are invited to stop by the Mountaineer Parents Club table, where they will learn how to stay connected to their students through Parent Electronic News, newsletters, the toll-free Parents Club helpline (1-800-WVU-0096) and local club activities.
Following the information fair, students and parents can get a flavor for campus life by attending the WVU-Seton Hall basketball match-up. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
An Information Day in September was packaged with a WVU football game and attracted some 500 students.
The cost is $8 per ticket and includes admission to both the information fair and the game. For more information or to download a registration form, go to http://www.wvu.edu/documents/InformationDay_2005.pdf.
Tickets ordered will be available on game day at the “will call” Coliseum box office.
ACT deadline nears
College-bound high school students can take the ACT Assessment on April 9, the next nationwide test date.
The registration postmark deadline is March 4, and the late registration postmark deadline is March 18. An additional fee is required for late registration.
The ACT Assessment now contains an optional writing test. Some colleges will require writing scores from students entering college in the fall of 2006. Students should check the admissions requirements of colleges they are considering before deciding whether to register for the ACT with or without the writing test.
The cost is $28 without and $42 with the writing test.
Students can receive registration information from their high school guidance counselors of they can register at www.actstudent.org. The Web site also features test tips, practice tests, and a database for students to find out if a prospective college requires a writing score.
The ACT Assessment includes four tests: English, reading, math and science. Students who opt to take the writing test will add 30 minutes to the three-hour normal testing time.
Laboratory dedicated
Officials from West Virginia University and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences recently dedicated a new laboratory devoted to the study of building blocks finer than the hair on grandpa’s scalp.
The Department of Physics multifunctional materials lab on the third floor of Hodges Hall will provide critically needed capabilities in support of the WVNano Initiative at WVU.
The initiative promotes the study of nanotechnology, the research and development of manufacturing materials 1/1,000th the size of human hair or smaller.
Products already on the market courtesy of nanotechnology include electronic equipment, construction materials, stain-resistant clothes, hard-disk drive magnetic media and sensors, and sports merchandise such as tennis rackets.
Research and development associated with WVNano is expected to lead to new devices ranging from advanced communications systems to diagnostic and therapeutic tools for health care.
WVU’s new lab contains highly specialized equipment necessary to study matter on the nanoscale. This equipment includes three molecular beam epitaxy systems to create nanoscale structures and systems, and electron microscopy, electron lithography, scanning probe microscopy and X-ray diffraction to study these materials. The lab complements other Department of Physics facilities that can be used for nanotechnology research.
The facility is the brainchild of Thomas Myers, interim director of the WVNano Initiative, and fellow physics professor David Lederman. Drs. Myers and Lederman envision the lab as a key resource in fostering multidisciplinary collaboration in nanoscale science and engineering.
Such collaboration is the cornerstone of the WVNano Initiative, which will involve faculty and facilities from Eberly College, the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, and College of Human Resources and Education.
The lab represents an investment of more than $2 million, with funding coming from the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation’s Materials Research Instrumentation and Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the WVU Research Corp., Eberly College, West Virginia Challenge Grant program and Department of Physics.
For more information, contact Myers at Thomas.Myers@mail.wvu.edu, Lederman at David.Lederman@mail.wvu.edu, or the Department of Physics at 304-293-3422.
WVU library joins program
West Virginia University Libraries are among 31 institutions across the nation participating in a pilot program to provide virtual reference services to people seeking government information.
The Government Information Online service allows researchers to go online and ask questions or seek information about state and federal government. Patrons access the service through a link on the WVU Libraries Web page (www.libraries.wvu.edu) or directly at http://govtinfo.org/. From this site, users can e-mail a question or engage in a real-time chat session with a librarian.
The site promises responses within 48 hours for e-mails. Immediate assistance, however, is available by chatting online with a government information librarian. The schedule is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.
WVU Libraries are a regional depository for state and federal documents. While all participating institutions are federal depositories, only a few serve as depositories for their state.
The pilot program, which runs through this spring, is being overseen by the Illinois State Library, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago. The service utilizes the QuestionPoint software of the Online Computer Library Center.
If the pilot program is successful, the library may become part of a permanent virtual government information reference service.