College of the Liberal Arts Electronic Magazine, Issue 14, August, 2003

Issue 14, 8/13/03

Contents:

Anthropology Students in Mexico

Borkovec To Meet Royalty

Aimee Betz, Fulbright Scholar

Trivia

Amanda Reinitz

Interdisciplinary Series

LAzine's First Ad

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Penn State

College of the Liberal Arts

Alumni Relations and Development

ROGER WILLIAMS' TRANSFORMATIVE PLACE

  Roger Williams, the new Executive Director of the Penn State Alumni Association and Liberal Arts alumnus, stands before an office window overlooking colorful flower beds which surround the Hintz Alumni Center. Williams points out that the site lines of the building correspond with the classical architectural lines under-girding the University Park campus. Also in his view are some of the oldest elms at University Park, ones that may have been planted by William Waring himself.
  It's a perfect view for someone who, himself, has been so involved in the history of Penn State. The last job he held at Penn State was as assistant vice president of and executive director of university relations, the culmination of his many years of work in public information. When he left in 1995, he moved to high-level university relations positions with Dick Jones Communications, Georgetown University, and the University of Arkansas, but even then, he remained an adjunct assistant professor of higher education at Penn State.
   But long before that, he earned his bachelor's of arts in history in 1973 and a master's of arts in journalism two years later. In 1975, he was one of a bumper crop of young journalists flooding the market, in a slumped economy. Despite the tough situation, he landed a job with the Huntingdon Daily News, and stayed for three years, before returning to Penn State as a writer/editor.
   Since then, Williams has worked for the University, off and on, but has never left State College. Even as associate vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Arkansas--the position he held before his current one--he commuted, spending time in Fayetteville and returning to Happy Valley for long weekends every two or three weeks.
   Part of it, to be sure, was a desire to not upset his family, but another part may well have been his keen affection for the place, and his deep attachment, which dates back to that first job.
   "For me, Penn State was always a land of opportunity, as corny as that may sound," Williams says. "For whatever reason, this place has always opened doors for me."
   It opened its academic doors for him one last time in the mid-1980s, when he decided to earn his doctor of education degree. His dissertation studied Penn State, to a point. It was published in 1991 by Penn State Press under the title, The Origins of Federal Support for Higher Education: George W. Atherton and the Land-Grant College Movement.
   Not only is Williams an expert in the land-grant institution and its ideals as they have developed over the last 150 years, he is a firm believer in its power.
   "To me, the personal aspects of Penn State trumped the large impersonality that was also possible," he says. "There were always gracious, committed people who were ready to help me." He laughs, points vaguely north. "Even in the large classes in the Forum Building, I remember having some excellent teachers who knew how to enliven those situations, make the most of them: Ellis Grove in theatre arts, Jack Spielvogel in history." He rattles off other names fondly, Isabel Knight, Bill Duiker, and William Hassler.
   "And when I talk to alumni, I find that same sort of belief prevailing, that Penn State is personal and that it opens doors," he says. "People came here from very humble backgrounds, at some sacrifice to their families, and they went on to do marvelous things. I see that pattern replicating itself now, still. It stands out in the minds of many alumni who remember how they changed here. This is a transformative place."
   Now, at the helm of the largest organization of its kind in the United States, Williams has before him the challenge of increasing membership, involving more students in the activities of the Alumni Association, strengthening the connections among the many campuses and people who comprise Penn State, and helping to support the academic mission of the University.
    To watch him talk is to believe he will accomplish it all. He is crisp, from his shirt to his speech, and he focuses his gestures and his attention on whatever he discusses--whether it's books he's read lately (The Nexus and The Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman) or a dean's idea for an alumni eco-tour of Alaska. And when he is most animated, the subject is not just Penn State, but Penn State in all its possibilities.

ANTHROPOLOGY STUDENTS RESEARCH OAXACA POTTERY

Maria Puente and Maggie Fox    The women of rural Oaxaca, Mexico, have been preparing meals in green glazed pottery for centuries. The pottery is expensive, takes more time to use, and is less durable than modern cooking materials. Why then does it remain a staple in almost all homes in Oaxaca?
   This is one of the central research questions that brought anthropology students Maggie Fox ('03) and Maria Puente to the small town in Mexico. With the collaboration and advice of Jeffrey Cohen, assistant professor of anthropology, and a Research Experience for Undergraduates fund supplementing grants from the National Science Foundation and the Matson Museum at Penn State, Fox and Puente were able to come closer to uncovering an answer.
   For four weeks in May 2002, Fox and Puente split their time between observing the production of pottery in Atzompa (a city close to Oaxaca) and visiting nearby markets to speak with vendors about the sustained use of this particular type of pottery. They also interviewed local women in their homes. They found that regardless of the socioeconomic status of families, all were resolute about using the pottery, despite the higher cost of production. They also discovered that one of the central reasons the pottery is still used is that the people believe the food tastes better in it.
   One day, Fox and Puente were able to test their claim. Fox describes the experience. "We spent the day in a kitchen with a multi-generation family, helping to make tortillas." When they sat down to eat, Fox did notice a considerable difference. "It just tasted better."
   However, with growing economic difficulties, more women are leaving the home to work. As a result, they have less time than that needed to cook with the fragile pottery, which must be heated on an open hearth rather than a stove. Still, if time permits, the women opt for the traditional pottery. In fact, foods such as chocolate and atole are almost never prepared in anything else.
   "There's a bigger picture here," Fox says. "How are women's roles changing from an economic and cultural standpoint?" Some time in the future, Fox hopes to return to Oaxaca to conduct further research. The month there was enough to whet her appetite for more. For more information on these students' work, click here.

DISTINGUISHED PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR TOM BORKOVEC TO MEET THE KING AND QUEEN OF SWEDEN

   This year, Tom Borkovec, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, has a rather unusual title on his list of summer reading. He has browsed through the finer points of Torgny Neveus' Swedish Academic Ceremonies and Traditions. He has to be on his best behavior, as he is meeting royalty.
   The world-renowned researcher will receive an honorary doctorate from the faculty of social sciences at Stockholm University. The ceremony, to occur on September 19, will feature celebration typical of Swedish doctoral ceremonies, including a visit from Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Sweden, trumpet fanfares, elaborate dress (but absolutely no black bow ties, according to Neveus' guidelines), and, for Borkovec, a gold ring and a crown of laurels conferred by girls in white dresses. Borkovec will be awarded his honorary degree along with others receiving doctoral degrees. Swedish universities do not hold separate ceremonies for honorary degree recipients.
   "It's quite elaborate," he says. "Northern European universities have much more public celebration and much more ritual in their graduation ceremonies." Even when doctoral candidates defend their research--the United State's equivalent of the closed-doors oral defense--they do so publicly. After the grueling requirement of conducting five investigations, and publishing three of them, and after the internal grilling, the candidate's final hurdle is to sit on a public stage, before dozens of family, friends, and colleagues, while an external expert summarizes the individual's dissertation. Afterward the expert grills the candidate further for an hour on every aspect of her work.
   Borkovec will not have to defend his work, but he will be expected to conform to the university's celebratory etiquette, an etiquette he is at least partially familiar with due to his involvement with the university. Over the last seven years, he has worked with the graduate program in psychology at Stockholm, serving as an external opponent for their doctoral students as well as a participant in colloquia and clinical workshops.
   As for Borkovec's work, he is one of the world's top authorities on generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD. For the past twenty years, he has focused on the nature and treatment of worry and generalized anxiety disorder. With colleagues in the psychology department, he has combined therapy outcome research with basic laboratory research in order to understand the mechanisms of human anxiety and the mechanisms by which therapy can produce clinical improvement.
   He is currently at work with professors Louis Castonguay and Michelle Newman, assessing the means and results of incorporating various therapy techniques in the treatment of GAD and other anxiety disorders. A longtime advocate of integrating research programs with clinical training in graduate psychology programs, Borkovec and his colleagues have helped position Penn State as a leader in the integration of science and practice in clinical psychology.

DIARY OF AIMEE BETZ, FULBRIGHT STUDENT CURRENTLY IN CHUNCHEON, KOREA (B.A., POLITICAL SCIENCE, 2003)
This is the first in an on-going series of digests from Penn State Fulbright recipients throughout the year.

Thursday, July 24

   Seoul is an absolutely wild city, even crazier when everywhere you look you can't read the signs and everyone you hear isn't making any sense to you! It was an experience though. The subway system is easier to use than NYC and misrepresents how truly big the city is. I knew that the city of almost 10 million was very spread out but I had no idea the extent until I went to Seoul Tower that overlooked the entire city.
   When we arrived in Seoul we had time to do some "Seoul Searching" and then it was off to our yeogwans. My yeogwan room was quite a sight to see; hairs on the pillows and blanket, no sheet, a picture of Marilyn Monroe seductively cracking eggs into a glass of milk. The next morning Anne, Sharon, Kim and I searched for a Dunkin' Donuts and then headed to the war museum. We had no idea how big it was going to be and had to leave before we got through the entire building because of hunger. I learned a great deal about Korea's long struggle with invaders and a great deal more about the Korean War.
   When we left the museum we headed to Kyobo bookstore--an underground bookstore that was the most crowded bookstore I have ever seen in my entire life! You could barely squeeze down the aisles and of course everyone was bumping into you (they are not rude, it's just a huge cultural difference; one that is taking some getting used to). In the English section, a Korean man approached me and asked if I would help him with his English. Of course I said yes and spent the next ten minutes helping him with phrases that he didn't know how to say. "My house is stolen, my money is stolen, my book is stolen, I can't bear the heat" is just a sample of the kinds of phrases he needed to have corrected.
   After dinner, I did a little cultural shopping in Insadong and then climbed to Seoul Tower. The tower is on top of a mountain so we took a cab half way up. The view was overwhelmingly beautiful and I wished I could have been sharing it with you all. Apparently taxis don't come up to the top after a certain hour so when it was time to leave we had quite the hike down the mountain.
   Anyway, after arriving home safely I stopped to get dumplings from a street vendor and ended up talking to a man sitting there for so long that the woman gave them to me for free. Koreans are so friendly and very interested in why I am here. They are even more delighted to discover that I am not here just to teach English but to learn about their culture.

Click here to see the Web site to view my school and enter as a guest.
Click here for great pictures of Mokpo. You all will be begging me to visit!

DO YOU KNOW?

Our last trivia question asked, "If you plan to come back to campus soon, you might have the chance to see handaxes similar to the ones Robert Proctor plans to study with his Guggenheim award. To which Liberal Arts entity would you go to see such artifacts? We look forward to your answers." The answer, of course, is the Matson Museum. The Matson Museum is open year round to showcase artifacts and information related to the varieties of human experience over the millennia. The first correct answer came from Bethany Usher, and she will receive a prize.
For this issue, our question is related to what we hope is a distinctly international flair to this installment of LAzine. In that spirit, we ask the following: how many Penn State students won Fulbright Awards this year, and of those, how many were Liberal Arts students? Good luck!

AMANDA REINITZ, WITMER SCHOLAR

   Amanda Reinitz likes political science. And crime law and justice. And history. And traveling abroad, competing in national Mock Trial competitions, and Penn State's Undergraduate Law Society. With this much ambition, it's not shocking that Reinitz has twice been awarded the Arlene M. and John J. Witmer, Jr. Endowed Scholarships in the College of the Liberal Arts. The scholarship allows her to maintain her varied interests and to meet the financial burdens of university life. "As an out-of-state student, this scholarship helps greatly to off-set the high cost of tuition," she says. "(It) allows me to continue my education at Penn State, something that I am very grateful for."
   This summer, another one of her passions was fulfilled when she traveled overseas to Maastricht, the southernmost city in the Netherlands, for a study abroad program. Again, it has been her ambition and additional funding from the college that has brought her to a place with a population of 125,000, a day-trip distance to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Cologne, among other European cities. Reinitz looked forward to her travels. "I'm sure it will be a powerful opportunity and learning experience."
   And then there is her involvement with the Mock Trial. For two years in a row, she withstood the scrutiny of her peers and judges to compete in the Inter-Collegiate Mock Trial National competition and, at the last competition in St. Paul, Minnesota, was one of only sixteen members chosen. "Our team qualified to compete by finishing in the top eight at our regional tournament. It was amazing to go on to the national level." It seems that her avid participation in the Mock Trial has influenced more than her scholastic career. After graduation comes law school. After law school, she envisions becoming a prosecutor. After that, a federal prosecutor. And then? "I think I would love to pursue a political career. To be able to be a public servant like that would be an honor."
   When the Witmer's set up their scholarships, they were looking for students with varied interests and the drive to pursue them with vigor. Amanda Reinitz certainly fits the bill.

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ENGLISH DEPARTMENT TO COLLABORATE WITH LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE TO HOST INTERDISCIPLINARY SERIES, "TENSIONS OF CHANGE"

   Nationally and regionally prominent writers and artists involved with conservation, design, health and the environment, sprawl, transportation, and tourism will explore the ways our society safeguards and simultaneously dismantles and remakes beloved spaces in a series, "Tensions of Change: Writing and Making the American Landscape" to run this fall at University Park.
   Throughout the semester, six major public events, three concurrent courses for undergraduates and graduate students, and numerous ancillary programs will be conducted and organized by individuals in the College's Master of Fine Arts program in English and the College of Arts and Architecture's Department of Landscape Architecture. The writers and artists will interact directly with students, faculty, and community members throughout the length of the program.
   All events are open to the public. The program includes:
   --Poet, essayist, and environmental activist Alison Hawthorne Alison Hawthorne Deming Deming will serve as the first writer-in-residence for Penn State's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. During her time at University Park, Deming will give several public readings of her work and lectures on land issues during the week of Sept. 6-13, including a public lecture on Monday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium; a poetry reading on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m., also in Foster Auditorium; and a lecture as part of the Feminist Scholars Series on Wednesday, September 10, at 7 p.m. in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium.
   --An evening of readings by Pennsylvania poets Harry Humes, Judith Vollmer, Sherry Fairchok, and Jerry Wemple will occur on Monday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium.
   --Naturalist and essayist John Elder will give a lecture and reading on Monday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium.
   --Urban planner, landscape architect, and writer Ann Spirn will give a public lecture and photo talk on Monday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium.
   --Artists John Bowman and Sallie McCorkle will present slides and give a lecture on intersections of art and landscape on Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium.
   --Philosopher and naturalist Evan Eisenberg will deliver a public reading on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p. m. in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium.
   Project sponsors include the Mary E. Rolling Lectureship in Creative Writing (endowed by Charles "Chick" E. and Joan F. Rolling), Penn State's Institute for the Arts and Humanities,the University Libraries, the Master of Fine Arts program in English, the Department of Landscape Architecture, the Center for Watershed Stewardship, the Bracken Lecture Series fund, the College of the Liberal Arts' Research and Graduate Studies Office, the Women's Studies Program, the Rock Ethics Institute, and the College of Arts and Architecture's Research and Graduate Studies Office.
   "Tensions of Change" is one of a number of interdisciplinary initiatives sponsored by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. The Institute is in the midst of a three-year National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant to support humanities projects at Penn State.

lT'S LAzine's FIRST CLASSIFIED AD

   And it's a big one. Right now, the College of the Liberal Arts has a great opportunity available for a dedicated Liberal Arts alum or even a friend of the College. The Alumni Relations and Development office, one of the forces behind LAzine, is in search of a new Director of Development.
   In addition to living and working in what we consider one of the most beautiful college towns in the United States, the Director of Development in the College of the Liberal Arts will have the opportunity to help forge the future of the College. The director travels and visits with an array of alumni, many of whom are leaders in industry, law, medicine, commerce, the arts, and entertainment. By guiding the effort to reconnect such individuals with the College, the Director of Development ensures that the time, resources, and ideas of many people contribute to the ongoing success of Liberal Arts. The Director of Development works with a staff that also oversees College publications, donor stewardship, and alumni relations, and is in direct contact daily with the dean and associate deans of Liberal Arts.
   The official description is below, and we urge you to read it and consider if you know anyone for whom such a task might be a good match. If you or someone you know is interested, please forward a letter of interest, a resume, and references to Betsy Will, 105 Sparks Building, University Park, PA 16802-5203.

Job Number: 14652 Title: Director of Development II
Work Unit/Location: Division of Development and Alumni Relations, College of the Liberal Arts, University Park campus

Responsible for developing fund-raising programs for the College of the Liberal Arts, and for directing related activities in support of these programs. Plan and implement all fund-raising efforts for the dean and the College of the Liberal Arts. Assist in identifying, cultivating, and soliciting alumni and other potential donors. Provide guidance and management to other staff members within the College with related responsibilities. Establish and manage lists of prospects and develop cultivation and solicitation strategies. Develop proposals and coordinate fund-raising efforts with University Development to eliminate duplication of efforts. Select and manage assigned staff. Requires Bachelor's degree or equivalent, plus five years of work-related experience. Travel is required. THIS IS A RE-ANNOUNCEMENT; PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT RE-APPLY.