Volume 31, No.14
December 3, 1999
Contact: Terry Day (570) 662-4844
tday@mnsfld.edu
Technology training at Mansfield University is a half million
dollars closer to reality thanks to a second federal appropriation of $500,000.
The money was included in HR3194, the consolidated appropriation
bill for fiscal year 2000. The money will be used toward the creation of an information
technology center on campus. The center will be designed specifically to help train
students, individuals, groups and businesses throughout the Twin Tiers region.
MU officials have been working with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter
and Specter's Northern Tier Director Tom Bowman to secure funds that will help renovate
Memorial Hall into a technology training center.
"I consider education a top priority. This investment in the
Mansfield information technology center will produce great dividends for the region in the
future," said Specter.
"We appreciate Sen. Specter's continued support for this
important initiative in the Northern Tier," Mansfield University President Dr. John
R. Halstead said. "This funding is a significant down payment toward the development
of an outreach center that will benefit persons of all ages and all backgrounds. The
information technology center will provide high tech training that will be an important
part of helping people prepare for the high tech 21st century work force."
The center, Halstead said, "will provide outreach services
to businesses and students throughout the Twin Tiers, enhancing economic and educational
productivity in our region."
MU Vice President for Development Leslie Folmer initiated talks
with Bowman in 1997 about including the appropriation in the federal budget. Bowman took
the initiative to Specter, who chairs the Senate Appropriation Committee's subcommittee on
labor, health and human services and education. Specter included a request "to
provide $2 million to conduct a demonstration project that provides students and community
members with the opportunity to enhance learning through state-of-the-art information
technology systems."
Budget negotiations pared the initial appropriation down to
$500,000. The second appropriation of $500,000 brings the university closer to the
estimated $3 million needed to create the technology center.
"This project will use public, private and university
funding sources," Folmer said. "The $1 million appropriated so far will provide
high tech classrooms, infrastructure renovations and instructional support."
The information technology training center will be located in
Memorial Hall, which will become vacant when the university's student activities and
student union operations move to the newly renovated Alumni Hall in the spring of 2000.
The center will be composed of three high-technology
instructional labs including comprehensive, networked computer workstations, scanners,
plotters, overhead projections systems, as well as video and audio links to other sites
worldwide.
Regional employers, employees, residents and K-12 teachers and
students can learn new software applications, network with colleagues around the globe,
and have access to new learning technologies before making their own purchase decisions.
Y2K=New ID
The coming new year means everyone in the
Mansfield community needs a new I.D. card. Current university ID cards will not be valid
after December 31. As part of the university's response to Y2K requirements new IDs will
be produced.
All students, who planned to be enrolled for the spring semester,
must have new color photos taken so new IDs may be produced. The new IDs will be
distributed in January according to a schedule that will be posted later. All employees
will also need the new IDs.
Students and staff may stop by the CCSI Office in Manser Lobby
during the hours of 8:30 a.m.- 12 noon and 2 p.m.-4 p.m. daily. All students must have
their photo taken by December 16.
There is no charge for the new ID card.
Andrew Gaskievicz, History and Political Science, presented a paper entitled
"Images of the 'Jew' in Nazi Feature Films: Hans Zerlett's 'Robert und Bertram'
[1939], Erich Waschneck's 'Die Rothschilds' [1940] and Veit Harlan's 'Jud Suess'
[1940]," at the annual meeting of the German Studies Association in Atlanta October
7-10.
Ira Newman, Philosophy and Liberal Studies, presented a paper on the
conservationist Aldo Leopold, at an environmental aesthetics conference held at Utah State
University on October 10. The paper was titled "The Dream of an Autonomous Natural
Aesthetic." Newman also presented a paper in Washington, DC on October 30, at the
national meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics. That paper was titled "It's
the Thought that Counts: Dissolving the Paradox of Compassion for Fictions."
Bonnie Kyofski, Education, and Douglas Manger, Coordinator of the Center for
Arts and Folklife, presented a two-person panel at the National Council of Teachers of
English national conference in Denver, November 19. Their topic, "Local Heritage: A
Community Job," featured a project with the Towanda and Sullivan County High Schools
that the Center is coordinating with the Bradford County and Sullivan County Historical
Societies. Kyofski's presentation focused on national standards for arts and community
involvement in English programs and emphasized networking possibilities and opportunities
in communities. Manger presented on logistics for developing programs and documenting
community work.
Kyofski also served on a program reviewers roundtable November 21 on NCATE/NCTE standards.
Junior forward Jamie Huffcut and freshman Gretchen Reschke
became the third and fourth players in MU field hockey history to earn All-American
honors. Both were named to second team honors recently.
Lee Brannon, Mark Bristol, Karl Buzak, John Johnson and Michael
Klecko were named to the All-PSAC East football team last week. Brannon, Bristol, Buzak
and Johnson earned first team honors while Klecko was named to the second team.
Freshman basketball standout Niki Snyder was selected the PSAC
East Rookie of the Week for her outstanding effort against Mt. Alyosius last week. Snyder
scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds in the game.
On Wednesday the women scored their first win of the season with
an 84-50 pounding of Pitt-Bradford. Allyson Buss scored 15 points and Heather Nichols
added 14 and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Mountaineers. The MU men made it a sweep, and
stayed unbeaten, with a 96-71 win over Pitt-Bradford Wednesday. Tommy Harvey scored 28
points to lead the Mountaineers to their fourth straight win.
"If I have seen more than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of
giants."
--Sir Isaac Newton
Library Listings
These bestsellers are now on the shelves at North Hall:
The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
Second Wind by Dick Francis