Schedule announced for astronomy open houses
An Open House Night in Astronomy will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in 101 Otto Behrend Science Building on the Penn State Erie campus.
Roger Knacke, director of the School of Science, will discuss "On the Way to Mars."
The lecture is free to the public. Astronomical observing at the Mehalso Observatory will follow, weather permitting.
This is the first in a series of open house nights in astronomy. All are at 7:30 p.m. in 101 Otto Behrend Science, and weather permitting, all will include astronomical observing.
The schedule follows:
* Nov. 6: "SOLIS, Investigating the Sun," James LoPresto, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania;
* Dec. 4: "The Christmas Star," Roger Knacke, Penn State Erie;
* Feb. 26: "Relativity, Where Are We?" Blair Tuttle, Penn State Erie;
* March 25: "Cocktails on the Red Planet, Mars Mission Report," Darren Williams, Penn State Erie; and
* April 22: "Big to Really Big, The Inflationary Universe," Roger Knacke, Penn State Erie.
For information, call (814) 898-6105.
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Painter Alex Grey to give next lecture in series
New York-based painter Alex Grey will present a lecture and slide show detailing his work at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium of the Palmer Museum of Art, University Park.
His appearance is part of the 2003-04 John M. Anderson Endowment Lecture Series presented by the School of Visual Arts.
Grey's work has appeared in a wide range of venues. Several well-known bands, including Nirvana and the Beastie Boys, have used his paintings to illustrate their album covers. Newsweek has featured Grey's work on its cover.
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Diversity to be explored by next Forum speaker
Theodore L. Spencer, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Michigan, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture at noon Tuesday, Oct. 7, at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. The topic of his presentation is "The Value of Diversity in Higher Education."
For 10 years, Spencer has been in charge of admissions at the University of Michigan. He joined the university in 1989 as associate director of admissions, coming from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he served in a similar position.
The Penn State Forum is a lunchtime speaker series offered by the Faculty Staff Club and is sponsored in part by the Penn State Bookstore. It is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members and include lunch. Reservations can be made by mail or by stopping by the Faculty Staff Club office at 103 HUB-Robeson Center. Tickets will be on sale at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speech and a question-and-answer session at noon.
For more information or for tickets call (814) 865-7590.
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National symposium examines family size
The 2003 Penn State National Family Symposium, to be held Oct. 9-10 on Penn State's University Park campus, will focus on "Creating the Next Generation: Social, Economic and Psychological Processes Underlying Fertility in Developed Countries."
The symposium will concentrate on four key areas relating to declining fertility in developed nations: contemporary patterns and trends in fertility; how social and cultural values and attitudes shape fertility patterns; implications of current trends in marriage, cohabitation and serial monogamy for fertility; and the consequences of current fertility trends for individuals, families and society.
Speakers will include S. Philip Morgan, Duke University; William Axinn and Jennifer Barber, University of Michigan; Elizabeth Thomson, University of Wisconsin; Christine Bachrach, National Institute of Child Health and Development; Lynn White, University of Nebraska; and Daniel Lichter, The Ohio State University.
Nine discussants, drawn from a variety of disciplines, also will offer perspectives on the causes of declining fertility in developed countries and what these fertility patterns may portend for the future.
More information is available on the symposium Web site at http://www.pop.psu.edu/events/symposium/index2.htm or by contacting Ann Morris at (814) 863-6607 or amorris@pop.psu.edu.
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Lecturer to explore polymer melt issues
Morton M. Denn, the 2003 Robb lecturer in chemical engineering science, will discuss "Failure in Entangled Polymer Melts" at 4 p.m. Oct. 2 in 108 Wartik Laboratory on the University Park campus.
Denn is the Albert Einstein professor of science and engineering and director of the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics at the City College of the City University of New York, where he also is distinguished professor of chemical engineering and professor of physics.
Denn's current research is focused on the mechanics of systems containing liquid crystalline dispersed phases, on failure in shear and elongational flow of entangled polymer melts, and more generally on rheology and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics.
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Poet to do reading from her works on Oct. 3
Rita Dove will read from her poetry at 8:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus.
A book signing and question-answer period will following the reading.
Dove, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work and U.S. poet laureate from 1993 to 1995, is appearing on campus presented by the Emily Dickinson Lectureship in American Poetry. She has written various poetry books, fiction, essays and drama.
The event is free to the public.