The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) -- an international organization working to advance the success of student and professional women in sports media -- has recently created a student chapter at Penn State.

The chapter, the sixth in the nation for AWSM, attracted 25 students to its initial organizational meeting.

Longtime AWSM member Lori Shontz, a Penn State alumna who serves as an associate senior editor at The Penn Stater magazine and previously worked for the Miami Herald and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among other publications, will guide the chapter as faculty adviser. Student board members include Megan Flood, a sophomore from Stamford, Conn.; Emily Kaplan, a senior from Montclair, N.J.; and Katelyn Marmon, a sophomore from Rockville, Md.

A father, his two sons who are Penn State graduates and his daughter have established a scholarship fund in their wife and mother's memory.

The Vijaya L. Balaji Memorial Scholarship in the College of Communications is open to all students at the University Park campus who have a demonstrated financial need and whose cultural, ethnic and/or national background would contribute to the diversity of the student body. First preference will be given to students who are the first generation in their families to attend a college or university.

The fund was created by Kodumudi Balaji, Murali Balaji (2009 doctorate in mass communications), Arvind Balaji (2010 bachelor's in journalism) and Lakshmi Balaji in honor of Vijaya, who strongly believed in making the most of educational opportunities. She was married just before her 21st birthday and came to the United States from India, where such opportunities were not as readily available.

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist will present the annual Oweida Lecture in Journalism Ethics at 7 p.m. Feb. 26, in HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium.

Bill Marimow, editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, will present "Ethics in Journalism: In Theory, In Practice." The session is free and open to the public.

Marimow has also been a top editor for National Public Radio (NPR) and The Baltimore Sun. When Marimow returned to the Inquirer in 2012, the newspaper reaffirmed its commitment to investigative journalism. He previously served as the editor from 2006 to 2010.

Forging public and private partnerships that encourage broadband access for people with disabilities may help bridge a technological divide that hinders them from reaching their potential, according to an international team of researchers.

Besides connecting people who have disabilities with resources that may help them become more independent, equipping them with broadband technology also can benefit society and ease the financial burden on taxpayers, said Krishna Jayakar, associate professor of communications, Penn State.

A recent graduate of the College of Communications and former Penn State student-athlete takes the stage at the State Theatre in downtown State College, Pa., to play host to a wide-ranging night of music this week.

Mike Wallace, a 2012 telecommunications graduate known as "Mike Wallz," is set to headline "A Night at the Theatre" on Friday, Jan. 18. The event, which will feature artists from various music genres, begins at 7 p.m. Guests are encouraged to attend in formal wear. Admission is $10 and includes a free glow stick.

Just as the Civil War helped reshape the U.S. militarily, new technologies and a growing demand for information during the war influenced the nation's press, according to a Penn State researcher. "It was absolutely an important moment in the history of the press," said Ford Risley, professor and head of the Department of Journalism. "The practices, technological development you begin to see during the war -- the importance of the telegraph, the use of illustrations, for example -- and the growth in demand for newspapers, so many of these things came together during this remarkable and tragic event."

The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, Penn State Chapter, will host attorney Joseph Miller from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 4) in Foster Auditorium at Paterno Library.