"I have no real answers other than education and exposure. The only thing we can do is provide our young people with the opportunity to hear and enjoy things other than sound bites and video games. I think if we take the time to sit and read a book, our children and our students will see us, and we can model for them a kind of literary citizenship that includes taking the time, because reading poetry does take time. So does reading a short story, so does reading a novel."
-- 2010-2011 Penn State Laureate Robin Becker, on how to influence younger generations to slow down and appreciate the words of a poet. Becker, who also is a professor of English and women's studies in the College of the Liberal Arts and a nationally acclaimed poet, spoke Friday (Jan. 14) at the Penn State Forum, held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. For more about the Penn State Forum, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/47622 online. To read several of Becker's poems and watch her recite several as part of her weekly series, "The Poet's Perspective," for the 2010-2011 academic year, go to http://laureate.psu.edu/ online.