Penn State McKeesport presents the 6th Annual Daily News and Century Heritage Federal Credit Union "Basketball Classic". The first game in this 4 day tournament begins with tip-off on Thursday, December 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wunderely Gymnasium on the Penn State McKeesport campus.
The campus partnership with Maglev, Inc was featured in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article entitled "Making their mark at Maglev" (November 22, 2006). The article features the experiences of the baccalaureate engineering students currently interning at the company, and also discusses the upcoming spring program for associate degree students in partnership with CCAC. Both programs were developed by Professor Robert Walters.
In its continuing effort to support student scholars and leaders, the Penn State McKeesport Alumni Society recently pledged $3,000 to Penn State for its endowed scholarship fund.
Dr. Jay Breckenridge's children's theatre classes will be presenting "Folk Tales from India," the adaptation and dramatization of four Indian folk tales.
Penn State McKeesport's third annual "All That's Jazz" scholarship benefit did all that it was supposed to do on Saturday night. At the close of the November 4 event, Master of Ceremonies Sheldon Ingram of WTAE-TV announced that the event had raised $50,500, surpassing the $50,000 fundraising goal established by the Advisory Board. The total continues to rise as contributions are added.
Associate Professor of Psychology, Elizabeth Mazur, was recently published in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, currently available on SpringerLink, a premier data source for researchers in the sciences.
A developmental psychologist, Dr. Mazur's previous research with children of divorced parents suggested that biased appraisals influence adjustment to stressful life events. In her most recently published article, the focus is on parenting stress and how biased appraisals among mothers of young children predict parenting adjustment.
Penn State McKeesport participated for the first time in the third annual WorldQuest competiton, sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. The contest was held in downtown Pittsburgh at the Omni William Penn Hotel.
Dr. Paul Goodman will be introducing a screening of his documentary, The Dabbawallas, on November 9 at noon in Frable 122.
The Dabbawallas is currently being shown nationally on PBS stations. The India documentary captures a 100-year-old work system where each day 100,000 lunches are delivered by 4,000 Dabbawallas (or box persons) from customers' homes to their places of work. This system is as complicated as what Federal Express does, but exists without any technology or modern business practices.
Making gifts ranging from several hundred dollars to the maximum $100,000, Penn State donors are taking advantage of benefits afforded by the recently passed Pension Protection Act of 2006. The act allows donors to make tax-free withdrawals from a traditional or Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to a qualified charity. Distribution amounts are not included in the donor's gross income and do not factor into any charitable deduction that otherwise would apply to the donor, but will count toward the donor's minimum required distribution. Penn State alumnus Hal Marcus, who with his wife, Inge Marcus, have been benefactors of the College of Engineering, urged other donors to consider the opportunities presented by the Pension Protection Act in making their gifts. "This new legislation has given us one more creative way to give, and we encourage others who may be eligible to use their IRA fund to support Penn State in this way."
Every year as fans clamor to get tickets to big football games, unscrupulous entrepreneurs crop up to take advantage of those who are willing to spend more than face value to see their favorite teams play. The danger for the fans goes beyond shelling out big bucks, though. In recent years, it has become increasingly common for scalpers to sell counterfeit tickets. With No. 4 Michigan set to visit Penn State in a highly touted Big Ten matchup this weekend, Tom Sowerby, University Police supervisor, is concerned that fans will encounter problems with counterfeit tickets once again. "I think it is very likely that we will see counterfeit tickets for this game, especially since the ring leader of a group that was arrested for selling counterfeit tickets for Penn State's game at Notre Dame a few weeks ago was arrested here for the same offense in 1997," he said.