behrend magazine - september 2014

Accidental ArtistAlumnus and syndicated cartoonist Dave Blazek discusses comedy, creativity, and exactly why his characters don’t have eyes.

SEPTEMBER 2014

Message from the ChancellorStrategic plan sets our course today for success tomorrow

Don Birx, [email protected]

Penn State Behrend is in a good place—with a record-high first-year class, an expanding campus,

and growing efforts to serve the local community and regional economy. We want to be in an even better place in the years ahead. Our latest strategic plan, submitted to University administration this summer, is designed to take us there, beginning now.

We’ve identified seven transformative strategies to realize our vision for the college. We plan to:

•Createdistinctive,market-relevant,interdisciplinaryacademic programs to prepare enterprising students for success in a global economy.

•Increaseengagedstudentscholarship,communitypartnerships, and basic and applied research, emphasizing an “open-laboratory” concept.

•Expandtherecruitmentofkeystudentaudiencesand create diverse pathways to higher education to capture students otherwise lost to the University.

•Leadacoordinatedefforttoretainmorestudentsfrom among key populations at the college and within the University’s western campuses.

•Developlearningenvironmentsandfacilitiesthatfocus on core themes while integrating multiple disciplines and partnerships.

•Increasetheimpactofphilanthropyonscholarshipsand other strategic initiatives of the college.

•Strengthenthecollege’scorecompetenciesandimpact on the campus community, regional economy, and University through strategic collaborations.

Inrealizingthesetransformativestrategies,wewillbe aligned with major imperatives presented by Penn State’snewpresident,EricBarron,insuchareasasstudent engagement, diversity/demographics, and student career success and economic development, among others. We will also rely on fundamental

Vol. 31 No. 2 Penn State Behrend Magazine is published twice a year and provided free to alumni and friends of Penn State Behrend by the Office of Marketing Communication. Executive Editor: William Gonda [email protected] Editor: Heather Cass [email protected]. Contributors: Robb Frederick ’92, Steve Orbanek, Christine Palattella. Photos:RobFrank’06,JohnFontecchio,MattKleck,EdMailliard.Change of address/unsubscribe: Phone 814-898-6159 or [email protected]. Correspondence:BehrendMagazine,4701CollegeDrive,Erie,PA16563-1902.Phone814-898-6419.Copyright2014PennStateErie,TheBehrendCollege.Thispublicationisavailableinalternativemediauponrequest.PennStateisanequalopportunity,affirmativeactionemployer,andiscommittedtoprovidingemploymentopportunitiestominorities,women,veterans,individualswithdisabilities,andotherprotectedgroups.http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD85.htmlU.Ed.EBO15-137.

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” − Author and time management expert Alan Lakein

partnering with University Park and other regional Penn State campuses, leveraging system strengths and collaborating for shared benefit. Central to this strategic plan is a belief in the power of crossing boundaries, bridging disciplines, sharing diverse perspectives, and integrating knowledge and experience.Thatbeliefisevidentin:

•Thecollege’sgrowingimplementationofanopen-lab concept in which business and industry, faculty members, and students engage in research and development as teams, advancing student learning while fostering innovation in our region.

•Anemergingemphasisoninterdisciplinaryacademicprograms—such as business with engineering studies, arts administration, and game design and development—that give students the platforms to think across disciplines and gain diverse perspectives.

•Sustainedeffortstorecruitandretainadiversestudent body, leading to a richer learning environment and addressing an institutional imperative, given the changing demographics of the college’s traditional student-age population.

Althoughspacelimitationspreventmefromprovidingmore than a broad view of our strategic direction here, IhopethatIhaveatleastpiquedyourinterestinourplans.Ifyouhavethoughtsandideasaboutthefutureof the college that you would like to share with me, it would be great to hear from you.

1 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E

By day, Dave Blazek ’79 is a member of the creative department at a newspaper advertising agency.

But at night and on weekends, he’s a master of irony, an illustrator of cavemen with monobrows and

insectswitheyeglasses,apainterofimplausiblebuthilariousscenariosthatactuallymakeusLOL.

Theauthoroftwosyndicatedsingle-panelcomicstrips,BlazekattendedPennStateBehrendfor

two years before transferring to University Park, where he graduated

with a degree in Journalism and a knack for seeing the humor in

every situation.

He didn’t mean to be an artist. He had to teach himself to draw when

his illustrator and partner in comedy had to bow out. He says his skills have

limits.“Inmycartoons,nobodyrunsandnobodyhaseyes,”hesays,“and

Ican’tdrawhorsesorcarsverywell.”

Blazek’s wit, however, has no limits. Neither does his affection for

Behrend;hegraciouslydesignedthisissue’suniquecover.

Get the rest of the story—and a few laughs—on pages 10-11.

ON THE COVER:

CONTENTS

Students work changes the world around us ..........................4

GroundbrokenforAdvancedManufacturingand

InnovationCenter ......................................................................8

BusinessstudentsgivebacktoErieanimalshelter ................9

Why we love Behrend ............................................................12

LilleyLibrary’sgotgame(videogames,thatis) ....................14

HowIspentmysummer ........................................................16

LionswinAMCCPresident’sCup…again! ............................. 17

Deaf swimmer’s positive attitude inspiring............................18

Follow an athletic trainer for a day ........................................20

Class notes ...............................................................................22

12

4

8

18

2 B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E

Briefs

Joseph and Isabel Prischak (center) surrounded by some of the students who have benefited over the years from scholarships the Prischaks created.

EriebusinessmanandphilanthropistJosephJ.Prischakhas

beennamedanHonoraryAlumnusofPennStateinrecognition

of the significant contributions he has made

tothecollege.Thedesignationhasbeen

awarded fewer than 120 times since its

creation in 1973.

Prischak, founder and chairman of

ThePlastekGroup,playedaninstrumental

role in creation of the four-year plastics

engineering technology degree program

at Penn State Behrend, one of only four

accredited programs in the United States.

Prischakandhiswife,Isabel,alsocreated

twoscholarshipsatBehrend.TheJoseph

andIsabelPrischakTrusteeScholarshipgives

preference to graduates of Joseph Prischak’s

alma mater, Crawford County’s Conneaut

Valley High School, while the Prischak

FamilyTrusteeScholarshipisdesignatedforPlastekGroup

employees, children, and grandchildren.

Prischak named Honorary Alumnus

ThespringartshowatKochelCentertendstobeheavyon

photography—still lifes, lightning strikes, roommate and pet

portraits.

Thisyear’sexhibithadsomething

different: digital self-portraits created

withAutodesksoftware.The3D

animations show the reach of

Autodesk’spartnershipwiththecollege.In2012,Autodesk

provided access to world-class animation and modeling

softwaretoeverystudentandfacultymemberoncampus.The

gift, valued at $21.7 million, included access to the company’s

EntertainmentCreationSuite.

TheAutodesksoftwareisakeyfactorinthecollege’smove

toward a full curriculum in digital media arts, said Dr. Sharon

Dale, associate professor of art history. “We are excited by the

potentialofferedbytheAutodeskEntertainmentSuite,”Dale

said. “We are using it as the basis for developing a full range

of digital courses that will culminate, we hope, in a major in

DigitalMedia,Arts,andTechnology.”

Takeout goes greenAutodesk enhances educational opportunities Apilotprogramthattestedreusabletakeoutcontainersat

Dobbins Dining Hall and Bruno’s Café will expand to all

Penn State campuses this fall.

TheGreen2Goprogram

offers washable, eco-friendly

takeoutcontainers.The

containers were first offered

at Penn State Behrend and at

the Pollock Dining Commons

at University Park in March.

Students pay a small

deposit when they first

take the container, which is

dishwasher- and microwave-

safe.Theyareissueda

refund when they return it.

EmployeesatPennStateBehrend’sdiningfacilitiesfill

between twenty and thirty takeout containers every day,

saidMikeLindner,directorofhousingandfoodservices

forthecollege.Thenewcontainersareawaytolimit

polystyrene waste, he said.


Thecollegehasaddedanewmajor,minor,andgraduate

degree to expand our students’ career options.

Environmental Science:Afour-yearbachelorofscience

program that focuses studies in the life and physical sciences

ontheeffectsofhumanuseoftheEarth’sresources.Two

optionsareofferedwithinthenewmajor,EnvironmentalField

StudiesandEnvironmentalLabScience.

Game Development:Aminorthatcanbeaddedto

virtuallyanyundergraduatemajoratthecollege.Interactive

entertainment is a growing industry—consumers spent $20.7

billionongamingin2012—thatrequiresnotonlytalented

software programmers and hardware designers but also artists,

storytellers, researchers, marketers, and businesspeople.

Professional Accounting:Aone-yearmaster’sdegreethat

can be pursued as a 4+1 option by most business majors.

TheM.P.Acc.fulfillstheeducationalrequirementsneededfor

CPAlicensure.

For information about these programs, visit behrend.psu.edu

and click on “Academics.”

New programs offered

Lindell receives Alumni Achievement AwardChadLindell’05hasreceivedaPennStateAlumniAssociation

AlumniAchievementAward,anhonorreservedforalumniage

35 or younger who demonstrate

extraordinary professional

accomplishment.Lindell,a

management information

systems alumnus of Penn

State Behrend, is the founder

andCEOofIntelliMetrics,

Inc.,aWashington,D.C.-

based business intelligence

and geospatial intelligence

consulting firm. His company

currently works with the U.S.

Department of Justice, delivering internal operational and

budget information to executives throughout the government.

For two decades, students in the School

ofEngineeringhavebeenrequiredto

complete capstone design experiences—

intensive, year-long, hands-on projects in

which they work with faculty advisers and

industry sponsors to develop solutions

toreal-worldchallenges.Eachspring,

the students showcase their work at the

FasenmyerEngineering

Design Conference.

Thisyearmarkedthe

twentieth anniversary

of the conference,

named for the late

Richard J. Fasenmyer

’69, a longtime

supporter of the School

ofEngineering,whobeganhisPennState

education at Behrend and earned a degree

inAccountingin1969.Fasenmyerfounded

RJGInternationalCorp.,aworldleader

in the manufacturing and distribution of

interior wall coverings, industrial matting

products, and specialty films.

Thefirstalumnustodonate$1million

to Behrend, Fasenmyer died in 2002 at the

ageof55.Threeyearslater,theannual

conference was named for him as a tribute

to his legacy.

Celebrating twenty years of innovation

Richard J. Fasenmyer ’69


Research and design work that students do under the guidance of faculty members at Penn

State Behrend extends far beyond the college’s campus. Here are just a few ways they are

changing and improving the world around them through engaged learning experiences.

Engineering Students Drive Change

On a campus with 1,400 budding engineers, maintaining

thestatusquoisunlikely.Engineers,bynature,change

the world around them—rethinking products, refining

processes, and enhancing

operations. Someone is

always working to improve

something.

Caseinpoint:Thefree

campus shuttle bus, the

‘e,’ which loops through

the college from University

GatesandHudsonLoftsto

Knowledge Park, now can be

tracked online in real time.

Ifyou’reastudent

standing in the cold and

wondering when the next

bus is coming, you can whip

out your smartphone and

visit bus.bd.psu.edu to watch

the vehicle’s progress. You

can even click on the stops

to get an estimated time of

arrival at each location.

Theprojectwasstudent-driven,

from concept to application.

“Theoriginalideawassuggested

to me by one of our students, Jeffrey

Knapp, but time constraints made it

impossible for him to work on it,” said

Dr. Chris Coulston, associate professor

of electrical and computer engineering.

Coulston presented the project as an independent

researchexperiencetoComputerEngineeringsophomore

Daniel Hankewycz and Computer Science sophomore

AustinKelleher.

Thestudentsworked

closely with Coulston last

summer to build, install, and

test the shuttle tracker system.

Thesystemworkslikethis:

Amobiletrackingdevice,built

by Hankewycz and installed

on the bus, determines the

vehicle’s position using GPS

satellite, then communicates

this to base stations in Burke

Center and Knowledge Park

usingspecialradios.Then,a

software program written by

Kelleher translates the location

information into an easy-to-

follow icon superimposed on

a campus map.

Theprojectwaswell

received by students. On average, it is

visited 100 times a day.

There’snodoubtthatHankewycz

and Kelleher’s hard work made life a

little easier for their fellow students,

particularly during what turned out to be

an unusually brutal winter.

Check out the Behrend Bus FAQ page at bus.bd.psu.edu/info/help for more information.

Students’EngagedScholarshipImprovestheWorld

Daniel Hankewycz, left, and Austin Kelleher built a tracking system for the campus shuttle bus. Students can now use their smartphones to see when the bus will arrive at stops on campus.

There’s no doubt that Hankewycz and Kelleher’s hard work made life a little easier for their fellow students, particularly during what turned out to be an unusually brutal winter.

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E 5 S E p t E M B E R 2 0 1 4 B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E

Providing Insight into Latin America Mauricio Cortes spent four years in the U.S. Navy but didn’t

have the attention of the Pentagon’s vice chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff until he was a Penn State Behrend

student.

InOctober,thePoliticalSciencemajorpresented

research outlining the destabilizing effect of transnational

organizedcrimeinLatinAmericatothefour-stargeneral,

the capstone to a three-month strategic intelligence

research internship offered through the Schreyer Honors

College.(Thetakeaway:Drug-fueledorganizedcrime

in the southern hemisphere has benefitted from having

internationalattentiondivertedtotheMiddleEast.Thisis

notgoodnewsforU.S.interestsinLatinAmerica.)

TheresearchthenledCortestobearoundtablepanelist

attheInternationalStudiesAssociation’sannualmeetingin

Toronto.

“TheseopportunitiescamefromworkingwithDr.John

Gamble on his Comprehensive Statistical Database of

MultilateralTreaties,andfrombeingaSchreyerScholar,”

Cortessaid.“WhenIcametoPennStateBehrend,this

isexactlywhatIwantedtodo.I’mveryfortunatetobe

surrounded by many talented people, both students and

faculty, and proud to be part of such a great institution.”

Cortes arrived in the United States from Colombia at 17,

takingagapyearafterhighschooltolearnEnglish.He

joined the Navy to serve his adopted country, learn a trade,

and, he said, “to find a passion.”

AfterleavingtheNavy,CortesworkedforaSwiss

multinationalengineeringfirm.“Themoneywasgoodand

thetravelwasgreat,butafterafewyears,Irealizedthat

thiswasnotwhatIwantedtodo.Professionally,Iwasn’t

satisfied,” he said.

Acollegedegreewasnecessaryforpromotion,but

rather than take the management degree his supervisor

recommended, Cortes decided to pursue the education

that really interested him. He researched political science

programs and chose Penn State for its “well-known brand.”

Thissummer,Cortesparticipatedinasix-weekPenn

StateStudyAbroadprogramatNanjingUniversityinChina

and chaperoned a group of Schreyer Scholars on a five-

week tour of Colombia and Brazil, part of a research course

oncontemporaryLatinAmerica.

Students’EngagedScholarshipImprovestheWorld

Mauricio Cortes

“When I came to Penn State Behrend, this is exactly what I wanted to do. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by many talented people, both students and faculty, and proud to be part of such a great institution.”


Encouraging Restaurants to Turn Rubbish into a Renewable Resource

When you toss your banana peel in the garbage, do you

assumeitquicklydecomposes?

Inalandfill,organicwastesitsforaverylongtime.

Bacteria eventually breaks down the food, but in the

process, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is released.

Thisisbadnewsfortheenvironment.

Thelogicalsolutionis

to divert food waste from

landfills.Andthebestway

to do that is to turn it into

a renewable resource—

soil amendment—through

composting.

One of the largest sources

of food waste is restaurants.

“No restaurant wants to

throw away food, but it’s

inevitable,” said Nico Carbo,

a junior double majoring in

InternationalBusinessand

Marketing.

Carbo, who is also

pursuing a minor in

SustainabilityLeadership,

spent a semester researching

the problem of restaurant food waste

andgatheringdatafromthreeErie

eateries for a baseline study.

He provided the restaurants with

bins for compostable food waste,

and every evening Carbo visited each

restaurant to bag and weigh the waste.

With this data, he was able to establish a formula —

X pounds per customer multiplied by Y customers per

year — that can be used to estimate annual waste and,

ultimately, savings to be realized by composting.

“Ihopetobeabletoshowthatcompostingwouldsave

restaurantsmoneyontheirgarbagebill,”Carbosaid.“IfI

can prove that it’s easy and economically advantageous,

theywilldoit.Turningorganicwasteintocompostisafull-

circle process that is just as good for the environment as it

is for the economy.”

Carbo knows restaurants

havethinprofitmargins.That

can be used to leverage a

change.

“Businesses are always

looking to reduce costs

withoutaffectingthequality

of their product, and this is an

easy way to do so.”

Theproject,whichwas

funded by a $4,180 grant from

the Penn State Sustainability

Institute’sReinventionFund,

was an interdisciplinary

project done in collaboration

with advisers Dr. Phylis

Mansfield, associate professor

ofmarketing,andAnnQuinn,

lecturer in biology.

What might be done with the

compostablefood?Carbohopesto

interest a source-separating compost

operation into expanding into the

Eriemarket.

“IfIcangetenoughrestaurantsto

agree to sort and save their compost

and an organic waste recycling facility to collect it, it could

mean thousands of pounds of waste being diverted from

the landfill and turned into rich organic soil,” he said.

“Everybodywins.”

“I hope to be able to show that composting would save restaurants money on their garbage bill.”

Nico Carbo


Student Leads Citizen Scientists in Identifying Harmful Algal Blooms Jeanette Girosky’s whole life changed in a moment when

she slipped on a plastic bag and shattered her knee. Her

doctor said that her dog grooming days were over and she

should find a new career that didn’t involve standing all

day long. Girosky decided to pursue a degree in Biology at

Penn State Behrend.

“Ihavealwaysbeeninterestedinthelittlethingsthat

drivethisplanet,”shesaid.“Algae,inallitsshapesand

forms,hasalwaysfascinatedme.Itookanaquaticecology

class and was absolutely entranced.”

AsavolunteerattheTom

RidgeEnvironmentalCenter

(TREC)atPresqueIsleState

Park, Girosky learned that

little research had been done

on algae at the park.

“Irealizeditwasperhaps

the most under-studied

organismatPresqueIsle,

which worried me because

algae is an extremely

important bio-indicator.

Itisverysensitiveto

environmental change,”

she said.

Girosky volunteered

for and received approval

throughTheNaturalHistoryMuseumatTRECtostarta

phycology collection, or algae study, for the herbarium of

the museum.

She was taking weekly samples at the park when

she began to notice a proliferation of harmful blooms

caused by blue-green algae that produce toxins. When the

problem grew large enough to catch the attention of state

environmental agencies, she began updating them on the

statusandcompositionoftheharmfulalgaeblooms(HABs)

so that they could issue public advisories, if needed.

(Thetoxinsproducedbythebloomsaredangerousto

humansandanimals.)

When the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and

NaturalResourcesformedaHABtaskforcetomonitorthe

problem, Girosky was invited to participate. More help was

needed, though.

“It’sabigparkwithalotofareatocover,”Giroskysaid.

“It’sthesortofthingwheremanyeyesareuseful,sothe

situation really lent itself to a citizen science project.”

Girosky agreed to serve as the

Citizen Science Volunteer Monitor

CoordinatorontheHABtaskforce.

Atrainingsession

was held in June for

DCNR volunteers to

identify and report

HABs.Additional

sessions are being

planned for the

public.

“Thebestpartaboutcitizenscienceprojectsisthatthey

alsohelpeducatethepublic,”Giroskysaid.“There’sno

reasontopanicwhenHABsmakeanappearance,butthey

can and do cause harm, so we need to know about them.”

As a volunteer at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) at Presque Isle State Park, Girosky learned that little research had been done on algae at the park.

Jeanette Girosky


AstheSchoolofEngineering’sreputation for excellence grows, so do its student enrollment,

roster of industry partners, and facility needs. Toaccommodatetheexpandingschool and provide space for students, faculty members, and business and

industry associates to work together, the college recently broke ground on a $15.6millionAdvancedManufacturingandInnovationCenteronthesouthsideofTechnologyDrive,neartheJackBurkeResearchandEconomicDevelopment Center. Thetwo-storybuildingwilladd60,000squarefeetofspacetoKnowledge Park, a partnership of the collegeandDevelopErie.Morethan500people already work in the park’s five buildings, which are fully occupied. Thenewbuildingwillcontainclassrooms and faculty offices as well as manufacturing and materials labs, prototyping and product design

spaces, and a secure lab designed for government research. Industrialtenantsareexpectedtooccupy nearly half of the new building, where shared research space will support collaboration with students andfacultymembers.Thecenterwill advance the college’s “open lab” initiative in which students, faculty members, and business leaders engage in research and development as teams. Corporate tenants of the center will have access to the school’s engineering labsandequipment.Thoseresources,combined with a new relaxed Penn State intellectual property policy that allows companies to own the results of any research they fund, are drawing technology companies to Knowledge Park.

“Thesecompaniesareengagingwiththe campus in a more intentional way,” said Dr. Ralph Ford, associate dean for industry and external relations and directoroftheSchoolofEngineering.“Thisapproachbuildsontheoriginalvision of Knowledge Park and also supports the growth of manufacturing in our region.”

8 classrooms

8 labs

25 faculty offices

210 corporate employees expected

1,400+ students currently enrolled in engineering programs

By THE NumBERs

60,000SquareFeetofSpace toCollaborate,Innovate


lead to more adoptions. Brittany Martinelli, a senior Economicsmajor,betterunderstoodthat seeing the shelter for herself.

“Ifyoujustreadaboutsomethingina book, or you sit in class taking notes, you aren’t getting everything you can from it,” Martinelli, a senior from Mars, said. “But if you go out and actually do it, and you see that maybe you can make a difference, that’s a lot more rewarding.That’ssomethingthatstayswith you.”

Chris Shearer ’02, a senior finance manager at Mars Petcare, makers of Pedigree, helped steer both projects toErie.“Everyyear,aboutfourmilliondogsgointoshelters,”Shearersaid.“Alittlebit of love, a little extra attention, and some good food can make a real difference in their lives.” For the students, the shelter project was not entirely about the dogs. New paint and fresh bedding doesn’t much impress a stray. But it might bring more people into the shelter, and that can

W ithMickey,Indy,Mojo,andDottie moved to the yard, IsaiahBoswellhadhischoice

of empty kennels. He started on the right, brooming cobwebs off the tops of the chin-high walls. “Oh, man,” he said, coughing. “That’snasty.” Boswell, a junior Marketing major, had never before been in a pet shelter. He’d come to this one—the nonprofit ANNAShelterinErie—withmorethan60studentsfromtheSamandIreneBlack School of Business. For two days, they painted, landscaped, replaced doors, and washed dog bowls and bedding. Theprojectwas part of a spring semester-long effort by Dr. Mary Beth Pinto, professor of marketing, and Dr. Phylis Mansfield, associate professor of marketing, to create off-campus service opportunities for students. Both led up to the work with classroom assignments that explored buyer behavior and sustainable marketing strategies. “One of the things we know from the literature is that students learn best by doing,”Pintosaid.“Thistakesthemoutoftheclassroom.Itshowsthemhowthedifferent theories they learn about can be applied in a real marketplace.” Pedigree Food for Dogs, the world’s largest dog food brand, funded theANNAShelterwork,whichcostapproximately $10,000. GreaterGood, a web-based charity that supports shelter animals and pet-vaccination programs, coordinated the on-site renovation efforts. Pedigree also supplied dog food at nocosttoboththeANNAShelterandthe Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania.Thateffortbeganin2013as part of the Pedigree Feeding Project.

puppy Love: Business Students Renovate Shelter

“Every year, about four million dogs go into shelters. A little bit of love, a little extra attention, and some good food can make a real difference in their lives.”

— Chris Shearer ’02

B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E10

AlumnusDrawsonCreativity, CollegeEducation

ithasalotmoreimpact,”hesaid.“Theybecomeinvolvedinthe humor.” ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Blazek,anErienativewhoattendedBehrendfortwoyearsbefore transferring to University Park and graduating with a Journalism degree, never planned to be a cartoonist, but his humor roots run deep. He cut his comedy chops in high school, writing a funny columnfortheschoolnewspaper.Incollege,heservedaseditor of the University’s humor magazine, Froth. He even

dabbled in stand-up comedy before he begged his way into a job selling ads at

the Centre Daily Times in State College. “Iwashorribleatsales,butIwas really good at laying out ads and writing clever ad copy,”

he said. Thattalentledhimtoajobatthein-house

advertising agency for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, where he still works full time. Yes, cartooning is a second job for Blazek. “Isortoffellintoit,”hesays.“BecauseIhadabackground in humor, the comics editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer started showing me the comics submissions and askingmyopinion.IalwaystoldhimIcoulddobetter,andhe challenged me to do it.” Afteryearsofprodding,Blazekwrotethirtycartoonsandhadafriendandcoworker,JohnGilpin,illustratethem.Theysent the strips to their former comics editor, who was now workingfortheLosAngelesTimesSyndicate.Aweeklater,thevicepresidentofLATSflewto

Every Monday evening, you can find Dave Blazek ’79 sprawled across his bed, gazing at the ceiling, dreaming up ways to make you shoot your morning

coffee out of your nose. Asthecreator,writer,andillustratorofLoose Parts— a syndicated, single-panel comic that appears daily in newspapers across the country—Blazek has just one rectangle, about the size of a playing card, to make you laugh. With classical music playing in the background and a snoozing cat curled up beside him, he plans a week’s worth of cartoons in his bedroom, coming up with at least ten ideas to work with. Laterintheweek,he’llsitdownathisdining room table to draw and shade seven of them into cartoons that will be read, shared, and tacked on refrigerators and bulletin boards for years. He has a gift for finding the funny in life, giving voice to inanimate objects and animals from alligators to zebras, imagining what cats might say at the office coffee pot: “Oh, no,noneforme.Ihadtwocupsyesterdayandwasawakefor, like, an hour!” Somesayhe’stoocerebral.Acartoonistforcollegegraduates, if you will. He refuses to spoon-feed you the punchline. He makes you think, like understanding that

caffeine might keep a cat awake. “When people have to work a little to figure a joke out,


Philadelphia and presented them with a contract. Ayearintoit,however,healthissuesforcedGilpintostopdrawing the cartoon. “Ihadtoteachmyselfhowtodrawreallyfastortherewouldhave been holes in a lot of newspapers,” Blazek said. Hewentona“crash,thirty-dayeffort”tolearntodraw.Itwasn’t long before he was penciling eyeglasses on ducks and top hats on chameleons. He knows how unreal the whole thing sounds. “Someone begging me to get into cartooning, a contract after thirtysamples,learningtodrawinthirtydays...Thatsoundyouhearisstarvingartistshittingthefloor,”hesaid.“Ican’texplainit.”

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Now, a dozen years and several thousand panels later, he has cartooning down to a science. He works months in advance and is disciplined about his craft—on Mondays, he generates cartoon ideas, on Saturdays, he draws them, and on Sundays, he shades/colors them.

It’sgoodthatheissomethodical,becausethepressurejustgothigher. Blazek’s second comic, Biz—a workplaced-themed panel that ran for three years on the business pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer—wasrecentlysyndicated,too. “Yeah,yougotthatright.Ihaveadayjob,twodailycartoons,andIdofreelancework.Stillwanttobeacartoonist?”hequips. He thrives on the challenge. “My whole life has been a blank sheetofpaperandadeadline,”hesaid.“Itdoesn’tfrightenmeanymore.” Ideasaren’taproblemforhim.Hisjokebook,abatteredleather day planner, is filled with material. He credits Penn State withgivinghimawellofknowledgetodrawfrom(punintended). “Having a broad base of experiences and knowledge in areas fromphilosophytogeologytohistorytoEnglishhasbeenkeytodrawing Loose Parts.I’llguaranteeyouthatI’vedoneacartoondirectlyrelatedtoeverycourseIevertookatBehrend.” LeaveittoBlazektofindthehumorinhighereducation.

Dave Blazek Vital statistics

Family: Wife, Eileen, and two grown daughters, Jillian and Olivia

Residence: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Degree: Journalism

Day job: Senior creative at MediaLab, the in-house advertising agency for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News

Comic Strips: Loose Parts and Biz, both syndicated by Washington Post Writers Group

Website: Loosepartscomic.com (Explore Dave’s brain, see his battered idea book, and read the stories behind some of his ‘toons.)

Creative space: “I draw at the dining room table so I can be around the family. I didn’t want to spend more time away from them, holed up in an office.”

On exercised-induced ideas: “I run 400-500 miles a year. I get tons of ideas when I run. The secret to running is learning how to spend time in your own head.”

On drawing Loose Parts: “A year after I started drawing Loose Parts, I asked the syndicate what they were thinking, letting me, with zero experience, draw it. They said, ‘Well, it’s easier to teach someone to draw than to be funny.’”

On his drawing limitations: “Nobody runs, nobody has eyes, and I can’t draw cars or horses very well.”

On cartooning: “So much more goes into it than drawing. You have to be a strong writer, and you also have to be deadline-oriented and disciplined.”

On the autonomy of cartooning: “There are always people commenting on your work when you’re in advertising. Nobody tells me what to do in my cartoon. It’s a creative safe haven.”

On fans: “I have a woman in the Midwest who I hear from every time I do a snake cartoon. She sends me pictures of the cartoon in her snake’s cage. It’s awesome.”

On confidence: “I’m just now getting to a place where I feel comfortable with my cartooning. I go to cartooning conferences, and I’m walking among giants. I feel like I cheated the devil.”

“When people have to work a little to figure a joke out, it has a lot more impact. They become involved

in the humor.”

B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E12

1 823 94 10

115 126 137 7

TwoDozenReasonsWeLoveBehrend

1.Alltheopportunitiestodoresearchandtotravel

abroad.

— Christina Maines-Ayers, senior majoring in Psychology

2. Wintergreen Gorge in the winter, when the snow sticks

toeverysingletreebranch.It’sjuststunning.

— Karen McCarrell

3.Industrypartnerships.Notmanyundergraduatesgetto

do research work for real companies, but at Behrend, it’s

prevalent.

4.Thesizeofcampus.Theintimatecampusallowedme

to develop friendships that have lasted decades and will

continue to last a lifetime.

— Frank LaRocco ’85

5.Thelibrary.LilleyLibraryiseasilyoneofthebest

college libraries anywhere. — Eric Baker ’07

6.HikingthroughWintergreenGorge.Awalkinthe

woods was always a great study break/stress reliever.

— Dawn Logan ‘95

7.Managedgrowth.Iappreciatethecollege’s

commitment to maintaining the ecological value of the

property while being progressive in its physical and

technological growth.

— Randy Ferguson ’94

We asked friends, alumni, students, and faculty and staff members to share with us the many reasons they

lovePennStateBehrend.Then,weaddedafewofourown.Here,innoparticularorder,isarandomlyselected,

thoroughly unscientific, and in no way comprehensive list of the myriad reasons our hearts belong to Behrend.

8.Theprofessors.Iknewevery

professor,andIhadtheirhome

phonenumbers.Theytruly

care about the students and the

subjectstheyteach.Istillkeepin

touch with some of my professors,

and it’s been twenty years.

— Aaron Rospierski ’95

9.Happytrees.Eventhetreessmileat

you at Behrend.

10. Service-minded students. We love

Behrend because the students become

involved in making a real difference in

ourcommunity!

— Lake Erie Logistics (Joseph Benacci ’57)

11.Smallclasssizes,bigdegree.AtBehrend,yougetallthe

advantagesofasmallcollege(abilitytodoresearch,close

relationshipwithprofessors,etc.)withallthebenefitsand

prestige of a Penn State University degree.

12.Welcomingenvironment.ItransferredtoBehrendinmy

junior year and was nervous about making friends and fitting

in, but everyone was welcoming and kind. Many of the

peopleImetatBehrendcontinuetobeverygood

friends. — Barbara Byers ’87

13.Autumn.Mother

Natureputsonquitea

show in the fall when

the trees are a riot of

autumn color.


1421516

21

2223

18

17

1920 24

TwoDozenReasonsWeLoveBehrend

Duringmyorientation,ProvostJohnLilleyaddressedthe

group and told us that education was to be our main job at

Behrend.Thatresonatedwithmeanddrovethephilosophy

of the plastics program that we developed. Many colleges

seem too focused on faculty research, and teaching is

secondary.I’mproudtohavehadanopportunitytoteach

at a school that valued education above all else. My fifteen

years at Behrend were the best of my working years.

— Bob Farrell, associate professor of engineering emeritus

21.Thearboretum.Ilovethatthe

campus is an arboretum; the variety

and number of trees and plants on the

campus is incredible.

— Justina Solties ’10

22.Athleticopportunities.Withtwenty-twoNCAA

divisionIIIvarsityteams,intramurals,andclubsports,

Behrend has plenty of game.

23.TheBayfrontConnectortrail.Awidepavedpathleads

fromthecornerofcampus(ErieLot)

todowntownErietoFrontierPark,

offering an 11-mile opportunity to

explore your surroundings by foot,

bike,orotherwheels(skateboard,

rollerblades).Formoreinformation

about the trail, visit behrendblog.

wordpress.com and click on

“AroundCampus.”

24. Berkey ice cream, ’Nuff said.

14.Clubsgalore.It’seasytofindsomewheretobelong

at Behrend and to get

involved with campus

activities.

— Melanie Koster, senior majoring in General Arts and Sciences

15.Sledriding.Tobogganingdowntheskislopeinback

of the Otto Behrend building in the blizzard of 1977 is

somethingIwillneverforget.

— John Bagenski ’80 (Behrend 1976-78)

16.Historymatters.Thecollegecarefullypreservesits

history and takes care of the campus’ oldest historic

buildings,suchasTurnbullHall,GlenhillFarmhouse,and

theStudioTheatre.

17. Chiming out the time.

TheFloydandJuanitaCarillion

not only announces the time

everyquarterhour,butthe

regular chimes and bongs give

the campus an air of prestige.

18.Longtimefaculty.Ilovereturningtocampusandseeing

the same professors who taught me more than two decades

ago. Clearly, they are happy at Behrend.

— Barbara Welton ’90

19.Chickenwraps.TheFoodServicesstaffcan’trollthese

fastenoughtosatisfytheappetitesofhungrystudents!

20. Commitment to

education.In1988,after

twenty years in the plastics

industry,Ijoinedthefaculty

at Behrend to help start

thePlasticsEngineering

Technologyprogram.

LilleyLibrary’sGotGame

On a shelf at the John M. LilleyLibrary,directlyacross from the Oxford Encyclopediaofthe

Reformation, is the unlikeliest of literaryicons:EmperorPiglatine,an evil cartoon pig who can blow lightning out of his nose. Piglatine is the chief villain in Angry Birds Star Wars, a 2012 game developed for Sony’s PlayStation 3 system.Thegameisoneofabout150in the library’s video game collection —the first of its kind in the Penn State

system.It’sshelvedwithtitlesfortheXbox One, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS platforms. Thecollectionsupportsthecollege’s Game Development minor, an 18-credit program track that includes courses in game design and gaming psychology. Dr. Matthew White, assistant professor of game development, selects the titles, highlighting games that have had particularinfluenceinthe$3billiongaming industry. “Thesearemust-plays,intermsofgamedesign,”hesaid.“Thesearetitlesthat revolutionized the types of games weplay.Theysetthetrends.” Mass Effect, for example, was one of the first games to create an interactivenarrative.It’sthedigitalequivalentofachoose-your-own-adventure book. The Legend of Zelda, released in 1986, pushed the story to novel length, requiringmultiplesessionsofplay.Halo 2 launched the era of online gaming, linking players who would never meet outside the game. Angry Birdshadinfluence,too,particularly on mobile platforms.

Thegame,createdbythreeuniversitystudents, has been downloaded more than 500 million times. Totrulyunderstandthegames,White said, students have toplaythem.“Tryingtolearn game design without playing the game is like learning surgery without a body,” he said.“Itdoesn’twork.” Thelibrarygames also serve theiroriginalpurpose:They’reentertainment.Titlescanbeborrowedfor one week at no charge. LibraryDirectorDr.RickHartconsiders the games an extension of the library’s 5,000-title DVD collection, which also began with faculty recom-mendations—Hitchcock films that were shown in class—before expanding to more popular popcorn fare.

“Fifteen or twenty years ago, the idea of buying a popular movie on DVD was foreign to us,” Hart said. “But when representatives of

the Student Government Associationcametome,saying it would be nice to have some movies in the library, we decided to try it. We were kind of a remote campus back then.Ifyoudidn’thavea car, it could be hard to find things to do.” Themoviesare

now among the library’s most-requesteditems:

Theyarecheckedoutmorethan11,000 times every year. Thegamecollection,thoughfarsmaller—at least for now—is just aspopular.Atanypointinthepastacademic year, Hart said, a third of the titles were checked out.

B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E

“Tryingtolearngamedesign without playing the game is like learning surgery without a body. Itdoesn’twork.”

— Dr. Matthew White

14

Dr. Rick Hart, Director of the John M. Lilley Library

(Actually, it has about 150 you can borrow)


The first female member of Penn State Behrend’s engineering faculty is remembered as a gregarious

Renaissance woman with many interests, chief among them a deep affectionforherIrishheritage. In1960,MildredDoherty—“Mid”toher friends— arrived on a campus so thinly staffed that the infirmary nurse doubled as the bookstore manager. Dohertybroughtauniqueskillsetfora woman of her generation, having worked as a technical writer, as a

civiliansupervisorfortheU.S.AirForce, and as head of the U.S. Signal Corps’ examination and evaluation section for radar operations. But gender wasn’t an issue, according to a faculty colleague. “No one was concerned that she was a woman teaching engineering, because Mid laid down the law for herstudents,”EdMasteller,professorofbiologyemeritus,said.“Ithinkthatwas her military background. She had

specific expectations about the way things should be done.” Doherty’s all-business comportment must have been contained within Otto Behrend Science, because among her contemporaries, she is universally remembered for her infectious sense of merriment, passion for travel and genealogy, and can-do attitude. “My husbandandIlovedherbecauseshewas a fun girl, a really fun girl,” says retired physical education instructor IreneEdwards.“Shewassointeresting,and just a delight to be around.”

AlthoughDohertylivedina small Behrend family-era cabinnearwhatisnowLilleyLibraryduringtheweek,she entertained at her home in Centerville, a farmhouse originallyownedbyherIrishgrandparents. Masteller and his wife, Marianna, would make the trip to Crawford County for picnics, potlucks, andbookclubs;MaryTurner,a distant cousin of Doherty’s, says she vividly remembers a summer party that ended in fireworks. Doherty’s annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration would start with Mass at ImmaculateConceptionChurch of Mageetown. (Doherty’smother’sfamily,the Magees, had founded both the church and community.)Afterthatcame

the “tin band,” a boisterous parade of revelers who walked back to Doherty’s homefordinnerandIrishcoffee.“We’dmarch with kettles and spoons, banging and making noise and having a great time,”Edwardssays. Afterherretirement,Doherty’spassions were traveling to visit family and friends and researching the genealogy of the Doherty and Magee families. She created a small museum

spacewithinImmaculateConceptionto display artifacts related to the area’s earlyIrishRomanCatholicsettlersandcataloged and mapped the graves in the church’s cemetery, where she was buried following her death in April1985.

To read about more women who have made, or are currently making, their mark on the college, visit behrendblog.wordpress.com. Under “categories” click on “Women’s History Month.”

Women Who Helped Build Behrend:

Mildred Doherty

Mildred Doherty, 1963

More About Mildred Born: October 7, 1909, in Franklin.

Education: 1926 graduate of Oil City High School; 1932 graduate of Saint Xavier College (now University) in Chicago with a B.S. in mathematics and minors in chemistry and physics.

A word from her niece: “Aunt Mid was the one person—and I’ve never met another person like her—who never said anything bad about anybody,” says Nancy Cotter, daughter of Mildred’s sister, Margaret. “Never negative. No gossip. That was something I really admired about her.”

A warm send-off: For her retirement in 1970, Doherty’s Behrend colleagues bought her Centerville home’s first furnace. She threw a furnace-warming party and had all the guests sign their name on the unit.

From the Behrend Blog Roll:

Penn State Behrend has a rich history of leadership and involvement by strong, forward-

thinking, and generous women. We profiled several of them on the Behrend Blog in March

in honor of Women’s History Month, including Mildred Doherty.


“IranChad’sLawnCare,abusinessIstartedwhenIwas12yearsoldandmowedgrassforneighbors.Today,it’safully-insuredpropertymaintenancecompanyofferingbothprofessionallandscapingandmowingservicestoseveralcommercialandresidentialpropertiesinChautauquaCounty,NewYork. IalsodidaninternshipatahealthcarefacilityinnearbyJamestown.” — Chad Muscarella, senior majoring in Project and Supply Chain Management

“IspentmysummerfundraisingandpreparingtojointheFranciscanFriarsoftheRenewalinNewYorkCity.Thisfall,Iwillbeenteringtheformationasapostulant!Thefriarsstrivetofulfillthecommandments of the Gospel by living among the poor, providing for their physical and spiritual needs.” — Steve Galdo, graduated in May with a degree in Management Information Systems

HowISpentMy Summer VacationWhen Penn State Behrend students aren’t on campus, they’re busy traveling the world,

doing internships, and otherwise making ambitious plans for their futures. We caught up

with some of our students and recent graduates to find out what they did this summer.

“IdidaninternshipatFMCTechnologiesinHouston,whereIworkedcloselywithagroupofapplicationengineersintheWellCompletionSystemsdepartmenttobuilda‘ChristmasTree,’accordingtocustomerspecifications.TheChristmasTreewillbeusedtoregulateandcontroltheproductionfluidsthatflowfromthe subsea oil well.” — Jake Muye, senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering Technology

“IinternedasthecommunitymanageratEMECatedralHotel,afive-starboutiquehotelinSeville,Spain.WhileIwasthere,Iranwiththebullstwice!” — Nico Carbo, junior majoring in International Business and Marketing

“Aftergraduatinginthespring,IacceptedapositionwithPricewaterhouseCooperstostartinthefall.SoIspentmysummerstudyingfor,andtaking,theCertifiedPublicAccountantexamination.” — Meilyng Gonzalez-Adams, graduated in May with dual degrees in International Business and Accounting

“IdidaninternshipatNBCsportsstudiosinLosAngeles.Whilethere,Ialsoworkedasalifeguardandpoolmanager.Inbetweenjobs,Ihitthebeachwithmysurfboardandcaughtafewwaves.” — Justin Vink, senior majoring in Communication

Athletics

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 B E H R E N D M A G A Z I N E 17

2014 AMCC Tournament Champs• Men’sandwomen’ssoccer

• Men’sandwomen’scrosscountry

• Men’sgolf

• Women’svolleyball

• Women’stennis

• Men’sbasketball

• Men’sswimming

Honors and Awardsscholar-Athlete Award – Garret Fiscus, men’s soccer, and Corinne Conto, women’s track and field

Athlete of the year – Eric Vunovic, men’s soccer, and Kate Spade, women’s cross country, track and field

Leadership and scholarship Award – Dante DeSantis, baseball, and Kate Spade

service Award – Brian Emert

spirit Award – Logan Burrows

Athletics

For the thirteenth time in fourteen years, Penn State BehrendhaswontheAllegheny

Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC)President’sCup.Theawardis presented each year to the college that accumulates the most points in conference competition among fifteen sponsoredsports.Thisyear,theLionscaptured nine of fifteen conference titles, including a first-ever full sweep ofthefallsportschampionships!

Other highlights:

• First-year student Mitchell Obenrader became the college’s first national champion when he threw the javelin 291 feet, 10 inches to win the 2014 NCAAOutdoorTrackandFieldtitle.

•ThebaseballteamwonitsfourthEasternCollegiateAthleticConference(ECAC)title.Thesemifinalvictoryover Bethany College marked head coach Paul Benim’s 500th career win.

• Junior Dan Simon became a two-time All-Americanafterfinishingninthinthe100backstrokeattheNCAADivisionIIIMen’sandWomen’sSwimming and Diving Championships inIndianapolis,Indiana.

Chancellor Don Birx and Brian Streeter, director of athletics, center, hold the President’s Cup. They are surrounded by the college’s winning coaches.

Sports Report

P O S I T I v E L Y E x T R A O R D I N A R Y

Eight swimmers line up on the starting blocks.

With fingers curled around the edges of the

platforms and eyes on the water, they wait for the

start signal. One swimmer tilts her head ninety degrees and

stares intently at the referee on her left.

“You can always tell which swimmer is Mia,” says

assistantswimcoachJoeTristan.

Mia Pietropola is deaf. Because she cannot wear her

cochlear implant in the water, she must rely on the referee

for a visual start clue. Sometimes,

the hand signal comes a fraction of

a second late, and she’s the last one

in the water. But she is never the last

one out.

“Alatestartjustmotivatesmeto

swim faster,” she says.

Clearly,itworksforher.In

herdebutseasonwiththeLions,

Pietropola,afirst-yearAccounting

major, broke two school records – the

200-meterindividualmedley(2:14.26)andthe200-meter

breaststroke, a record she actually shattered three times,

besting herself twice before setting the current record

of 2:27.54.

Pietropola relies on lip reading when she doesn’t have

her implant in. She says the silence helps drown out the

noisy distractions of an echoing natatorium.

“I’mkindofusedtomyworldbeingsilentwhenItake

offmyimplant,”shesays.“IdowishIcouldhearpeople

cheeringforme,butwhenI’mfinished,Icanseemy

parents, teammates, and coaches cheering.”

LeaveittoPietropolatolookonthebrightside.She

usually does.

AsasenioratPlumHighSchool,shewasnamedMost

PositiveFemaleAthleteoftheYearbyPositiveAthlete

Pittsburgh, an organization created by former Pittsburgh

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

“Iwassothrilledbecauseitjustproves

to everyone that being deaf is not

something that should bring you down

or make you unhappy,” she says.

She met Ward and appeared with him

onTheHinesWardShow,whichairson

WPxIinPittsburgh.“Heissuchawarm

and funny guy,” she says.

Inaworldwherepeoplecomplain

about everything from waiting in line to

a tough physics test, Pietropola, who might have reason to

complain, said she chooses not to.

“Idon’tdwellonnegativethoughtsormydisability,”she

says.“Therearesomanyworsethingsthatpeoplehaveto

deal with. You can be deaf and live a perfectly normal life.”

Normal?Notquite.Pietropolaclearlytipsthescales

to extraordinary.


Sometimes, the hand

signal comes a fraction

of a second late, and

she’s the last one in the

water. But she is never

the last one out.

Meet Mia

Pietropola plans to pursue a career as a forensic accountant with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She also wants to become a certified scuba diver and travel around the world. She has a weakness for red licorice and loves watching hockey.


P O S I T I v E L Y E x T R A O R D I N A R Y2:27.54

Mia Pietropola


AthleticTrainerforaDay

There is no “typical” workday for Jeff Webster, head athletic trainer at

Penn State Behrend. One day he might be on a bus traveling with the

women’ssoccerteamtoPittsburghforagame.Anotherdayhemight

be in the athletic training room in Junker Center, taping ankles, stretching shoulders,

andoverseeingrehabilitationexercisesforasoccerplayerwithatornACL.

Anotherdayhemightbeholedupinhisoffice,doingpaperwork.

“You see five percent of

my job at a game. If I don’t

have to move, that’s a

good thing”

10:45 a.m. Webster arrives at his office in the basement level of Junker Center after dropping his 17-month-old daughter, Brenleigh, off at daycare.

11:15 a.m. Wellness Theory class. Webster teaches about cancer, listing the most deadly forms, and discusses prevention techniques, possible treatments, and life expectancy.

12:15 p.m. Webster meets behind closed doors with members of the hiring committee charged with finding a new women’s basketball coach. The group is finalizing a list of candidates to interview.

Photo

by Ed

Mail

liard


Such is the life of a

college athletic trainer

whose daily to-do list

is determined by the

needs of the student

athletes he serves.

He has a lot of

masters. Webster and

the college’s additional

two athletic trainers —

Jeff Haft and Heather Mosher — are

responsible for more than 300 students

on the college’s twenty-two varsity

teams.Thetriotriestocoverevery

varsity event on campus, including

games and practices, but often must

choose among multiple events.

“We prioritize based on team risk,”

Webster said. “Men’s and women’s

volleyball, women’s basketball, and

women’s soccer are all high-risk sports

whereweseealotofkneeorACL

injuries, so we always try to cover those

games and practices.”

Theathletictrainersareonhand

to deal immediately with non-life-

threatening injuries and administer first

aid. Webster and his colleagues are all

licensed and certified in first aid, CPR

andtheuseofAutomatedExternal

Defibrillators(AEDs).

Theyassistwithevaluationand

rehabilitation of injuries, and also work

to prevent problems.

“I’dsaythat85percentofthe

students don’t possess the core strength

to play at the college level when they

first arrive,” he said.

Webster helps the

coachesdesignflexibility

and weight-training

programs to get their

players up to speed and,

hopefully, stave off injury.

“We have the widest

view of our athletes,”

hesaid.“Adoctorsees

them when they have

problems, a physical therapist when

they need rehabilitation. We see them

fromthestart.Andiftheydoget

injured, we see them through rehab

andrecovery.It’srewardingtoseethem

get back to their playing level after an

injury, and to know that you helped get

them there.”

We followed Webster for a day this

spring to see what it was like to walk

a mile—or a few—in his shoes, er,

sneakers.

Webster’skeystostayinginjuryfree:“Flexibility,strength,properfootwear/equipment, and knowing/listening to your body”

Vital statisticsAge: 45Family: Wife Lauren and daughter BrenleighEducation: B.S., Health and Physical Education, Gannon Univerity; master’s degree, Athletic Training, California University of Pennsylvania

Webster’s keys to staying injury free: “Flexibility, strength, proper footwear/equipment, and knowing/listening to your body” Best thing about his job: “I get to watchsports all day.” Least favorite thing about his job: “Late night hours are the hardest part.”

Favorite sport to watch as an athletic trainer: VolleyballFavorite sport to watch as a fan: Buffalo Bills football

1:00 p.m. In the Athletic Training Room, located between the men’s and women’s locker rooms, Webster meets with student athletes, assesses potential injuries, assigns and oversees rehab exercises, and applies preventative tape on students playing in afternoon ball games.

2:30 p.m. Webster and fellow athletic trainer Jeff Haft prepare for the afternoon baseball game. They fill water jugs, restock the medical bag with supplies, and load up their cart with cups, splints, and a portable exam table.

3:00 p.m. Game time. Webster sets his equipment up behind the third base fence and watches the game. He’s ready to run out on the field at a moment’s notice, though he always hopes he doesn’t have to. “If I don’t

move, that’s a good thing,” he says.

7:00 p.m. After providing ice to the visiting team’s pitchers and cleaning up at the field, Webster returns to Junker Center to finish up an injury report and close the athletic training room.

7:30 p.m. Webster calls it a day and heads for home.

Photo

by Ed

Mail

liard


Nancy Lundy ’04 is a district manager at Victoria’s Secret International in London, England. [email protected].

Eldridge J. mcNair ’04 recently trans-ferred to Seattle from Boston. He works for Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust. [email protected]

Teresa O’Brien martin ’05 is resident service coordinator at the Lutheran Service Society in Union City. She lives in Corry with her husband, Daniel. [email protected]

michael Kostek ’06 is an IT application developer for LORD Corp. in Cary, N.C. He lives in Apex. [email protected]

Kevin mackowski ’06 is an estate tax accountant at PNC in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Heidi Brackbill Cain ’07 is a project manager at BNY Mellon; Ben ’09 is a credit analyst at Huntington Bankshares. The couple work in Pittsburgh and live in Harmony. [email protected], [email protected]

Allison Gabriel ’07 earned a M.B.A. from St. Bonaventure University. She is a project manager at Seco/Warwick Corp. in Meadville. [email protected]

suzanne Colonnese Parker ’07 is a medical technologist at Ashtabula County Medical Center. She writes that her youngest (of six children!) has graduated from high school. [email protected]

steve Platz ’07 is an enterprise architect at LORD Corp. in Cary, N.C. Steve lives in Holly Springs. [email protected]

Gabe stephenson ’07 is a provider auditor at Novitas Solutions. He works and lives in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Ross Zambanini ’07 is global new ventures manager at LORD Corp. in Cary, N.C. Ross and his wife, Laura ’08, live in Raleigh. [email protected]

Erika segear Johnson ’08 earned her Ph.D. in molecular cancer biology at Duke University, where she’s now a regulatory affairs scientist at the Translational Medicine Institute. [email protected]

Charlotte Lafer ’99 is a behavior specialist consultant. She lives and works in Bethel Park. [email protected]

2000sDaniel s. Godla ’01 is founder and CEO of the Rock Hill, S.C.-based software company ThoroughCare. Dan characterized ThoroughCare, an assessment tool for nurses, as “TurboTax for healthcare” in an entrepre-neur profile that can be read on triblive.com. [email protected]

David E. Ward ’01 is employed as a design engineer at GE Transportation. [email protected]

Clinton Altman ’03 is now assistant director of fitness at Towson University. Clint lives in Baltimore. [email protected]

Alex Pishko ’03 lives in North Hunting-don. He is a senior unified communications engineer at Carnegie Mellon University. [email protected]

Abby Cermak ’04 and Bryan Danch ’04 were married in Myrtle Beach in June 2013. Abby is a guidance counselor at Harbor Creek High School and Bryan is a loan originator for PNC Mortgage. They live in Erie. [email protected]

matt Conway ’04 is a project engineer at C&J Industries. He lives and works in Meadville. [email protected]

Leah Burfield Kosin ’04 is a freelance writer. She and husband, Michael ’04, live in Leesburg, Va. [email protected]

Center after previously serving as its associate director of operations. Joanna writes, “It is a great honor to be able to move up in this great nonprofit agency.” [email protected]

James Katzenmeyer ’87 (Behrend 1981-83) is a plant manager at Whemco Ohio Foundry in Lima. He lives in Spencer-ville. [email protected]

molly Frazier swanson ’88 just completed her 19th year of teaching middle school. She and her husband, John, have been married for 25 years and have two sons, Noah, 18, and Jake, 15. Molly and her family live in Erie. [email protected]

Curt Randall ’89 is an advanced manufacturing engineer at GE in Louisville, Ky. [email protected]

1990sDonald Dagen ’90 is an electrome-chanical technology instructor at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster. [email protected]

Keith Wood ’93 is a global quality manager for LORD Corp. in Cary, N.C. He lives in Apex. [email protected]

James stickney ’97 works for PNC Bank in Pittsburgh as a project manager. He lives in Allison Park. [email protected]

Peter Lemajic ’98 is an IT operations manager at Bank of America. He and his wife, Andrea, live in Charleston, [email protected]

Class Notes

1970sPaul A. spinelli ’74 (Behrend 1970-72) left his job as the NFL’s director of photographic services in 2003 to launch SpinPhotos, a Los Angeles-based assignment and consulting business specializing in professional sports photography. Paul lives in Long Beach with his wife, Melissa, and sends a shout-out to his nephew, Daniel McCallion, a current Behrend student. [email protected]

Carol E. Kieda ’75 (Behrend 1971-73) and her Perry Hall roommate, mary Ann Kozlowski ’74, are founders of the Sally M. Weber Memorial Book Fund. This tribute to their late Behrend classmate helps nursing students purchase textbooks. [email protected]

1980smark G. marshall ’80 is a managing editor in the Department of Defense. He and his wife, Audrey Chang, live in Germantown, Md. [email protected]

Bob morrison ’84 (Behrend 1980-82) is LORD Corp.’s global application manager. He lives in Apex, N.C.

Julie Jordan Carlson ’86 lives in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., where she is a senior financial analyst for LORD Corp. [email protected]

Joanna Robson Cherpak ’86 and her husband, Jeffrey, live in Erie. In January, Joanna was promoted to executive director of the Multicultural Community Resource

Alumni NewsHere’s the Latest Word from Your Classmates

How to interpret these class notes

• All alumni whose names are in bold type spent some or all of their Penn State years at Penn State Behrend.

•ForthosewhocompletedtheirstudieselsewhereintheUniversity,yearsatBehrendareshowninparenthesesafterthegraduationyear.

•RegulartypeindicatesaPennStategraduatewhodidnotattendBehrend—mostoftenaspouseofsomeonewhodid.

•Ifnostateisgivenafteracityname,thatcityis1)inPennsylvania,2)inthestatereferredtoearlierinthatclassnote,or3)amajorcityrequiring no further identification.

Find Alumni on the Web: •OnFacebook:“PennStateErie,TheBehrendCollegeAlumni”

•OnLinkedIn:“PennStateBehrendAlumniSociety”

•OnTwitter:Followusat“BehrendAlum”


michael Lytle ’11 is a senior intake specialist for Zoll LifeVest in Pittsburgh. He lives in South Park. [email protected]

Benjamin Neudorfer ’11 is an as-sociate mechanical maintenance engineer at AK Steel’s Butler Works. [email protected]

Lisa Puhak ’11 lives in Erie. She is a marine and stationary project manager at GE Transportation. [email protected]

Caleb Rodgers ’11 is an assistant coordinator of student involvement at Point Park University. [email protected]

Brittany Greer ’12 works as a merchandise analyst at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Coraopolis. She lives in Jefferson Hills. [email protected]

Brandon J. Landfried ’12 is a user interface developer at Data Concepts in Glen Allen, Va. He and his wife, Holly, live in Richmond. [email protected]

Amanda Lynch ’12 is an auditor at BDO USA’s Pittsburgh office. [email protected]

Brent Ruttenberg ’12 works in Pittsburgh for BNY Mellon. He is a corporate trust administrator. [email protected]

Timothy Donovan ’13 is a senior manager at ELF Entertainment in Gibsonia. He lives in Brackenridge. [email protected]

Taylor Hennon ’13 is a case specialist at Auberle in McKeesport. She lives in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Alec Italiano ’13 is the owner and editor-in-chief of Erie Sports Buzz. [email protected]

David T. Reichert ’13 is a runner/driver/courier for DiNicola Law Office. David works and lives in Erie. [email protected]

meilyng Gonzalez-Adams ’14 is a tax associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cleveland. [email protected]

Jared Bagnato ’14 works for FMC Technologies in Erie. He is a customer service specialist. [email protected]

Lauren Baumann ’14 has joined the audit staff at Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Daniela Campana Knight ’08 is an assistant vice president for business banking at PNC; michael ’08 is a senior associate at BDO USA’s Pittsburgh office. The Knights live in Sewickley. [email protected], [email protected]

Lauren Lubic Kotar ’08 lives in McDonald. [email protected]

Todd Eckroat ’09 received his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Michigan and currently has a postdoctoral research associate appointment in the University of Notre Dame’s Chemical Synthesis and Drug Discovery Facility. [email protected]

Aaron Ross ’09 is a regional project manager at Siemens. He works and lives in Houston. [email protected]

2010sBrittany Bennett Ford ’10 and husband Justin ’09 recently celebrated their son Jameson Lee’s first birthday, and Justin is pursuing his Behrend M.B.A. online. The family lives in Evans City. [email protected]

molly B. Thomas ’10 is a systems analyst at UPMC Health Plan. She works and lives in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Ericka Watkins ’10 is an account-ing department intern at Urban Design Associates in Pittsburgh. She lives in Crafton. [email protected]

michelle L. Wunderley ’10 lives in Jeannette. [email protected]

Benjamin F. Bagnato ’11, ’12 m.B.A. works as a financial representa-tive for Northwestern Mutual in Pittsburgh, where he also lives. [email protected]

stephen Burger ’11 is a credit under-writing associate for BNY Mellon. Stephen lives in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Kendell L. Duffy ’11 lives in Vernon Hills, Ill. She is a marketing and sales assistant at Guaranteed Rate in Northbrook. [email protected]

michael Johnson ’11 is employed as an accountant at BNY Mellon in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

Danielle Bryson ’14 is a multi-channel sales associate at Best Buy in Erie. [email protected]

Derek J. Cowan ’14 is an accountant assistant at Robert Cowan CPA. He works and lives in Meadville. [email protected]

Bradley P. Daughenbaugh ’14 is a mechanical development engineer at Cummins Engine in Lakewood, N.Y. [email protected]

Christopher m. Evans ’14 is an asso-ciate engineer at Bechtel Plant Machinery in Monroeville. [email protected]

Bradley Grimm ’14 works for FMC Technologies in Houston. He is a rotation engineer. [email protected]

John Gromacki ’14 has joined GE Transportation’s Operations Management Leadership Program. [email protected]

michael Henry ’14 is a process engineer for Treemen Industries in Board-man, Ohio. He lives in New Castle, Pa. [email protected]

Robert m. Krugger ’14 is a business analyst for Erie Insurance. He lives and works in Erie. [email protected]

Kyle Linn ’14 lives and works in York, where he is a mechanical engineer at Leach Wallace Associates. [email protected]

Veronica Lorya ’14 is a participant support specialist in the Manhattan office of AFS Intercultural Programs USA, a nonprofit that offers student-exchange programs in 40 countries. She lives in Brooklyn. [email protected]

Richard mcCarrick ’14 is a manu-facturing engineer at McConway & Torley in Pittsburgh. He lives in Verona.

Patrick R. mcKinley ’14 is a controls engineer at Great Lakes Automa-tion Services in McKean. Pat lives in Erie. [email protected]

Ryan P. mcLuckie ’14 works in Pitts-burgh. He is a staff accountant at Horovitz, Rudoy & Roteman. [email protected]

Lori meacham ’14 is director of clinical compliance at Warren General Hospital. She lives in Sheffield. [email protected]

megan morrow ’14 works for Hobby Lobby as a sales associate. She lives in Waterford.

Ryan Naleppa ’14 is working for Arcelor Mittal in East Chicago, Ind. [email protected]

William Pinson ’14 lives in Johnstown, Ohio. He is an engineer-in-training for Worthington Industries in Columbus. [email protected]

Brandon Rivera ’14 is employed by FMC Technologies as a software engineer. He works and lives in Erie. [email protected]

Kyle m. sarver ’14 works as a rotational engineer for FMC Technologies in Houston, Texas. [email protected]

Chris schmitt ’14 is an IT project manager with Verizon Wireless in Atlanta. [email protected]

Kyle D. stephan ’14 joined the staff of Ernst & Young’s Advisory Services Risk Practice. He lives in Pittsburgh. [email protected]

stephen Vollentine ’14 works for Babcock & Wilcox.

mariah Wise ’14 is a mechanical engineer at Wood Group Mustang in Canonsburg. She lives in Washington. [email protected]

Now let’s hear from you!Email your class note information to Kristen Comstock at [email protected], mail it to her at Penn State Behrend, Metzgar Center, 4701 College Drive, Erie, PA 16563 or go online at behrend.psu.edu/classnotes.


Dr. Leigh-Ann Bedal, associate professor of anthropology, appeared on an episode

of the National Geographic Channel’s Time Scanners to talk about the Petra Garden

and Pool Complex excavation that she is directing in Jordan. The show aired on

July 15 on PBS. Watch the full episode at pbs.org/program/time-scanners.

Global exposurePLET celebrates

silver anniversary

Parting Snapshots

The School of Science received a $159,000 National Science Foundation grant to establish a

secondary math education training program. A portion of the funds were used to create an

authentic test-teaching room that will allow Secondary Math Education majors to practice

teaching strategies on Erie-area teens, like these students from Strong Vincent High School.

Test teaching space

Former Penn State Behrend pitcher Chad Zurat has signed with

Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies organization. He is

playing for the Tri-City Dust Devils, a Single-A team based in

Pasco, Washington. Zurat graduated in 2014 with a degree in

Accounting.

Zurat goes pro

More than 150 professionals attended the Innovation and Emerging Plastics Tech-

nologies Conference at Penn State Behrend this summer. The conference was held

in conjunction with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the college’s first graduating

class of the Plastics Engineering Technology bachelor’s degree program, the only

plastics-specific major available within Penn State. On hand for the festivities were

threeoriginalPLETfacultymembers(above,fromleft):JohnBeaumont,Bo

bFarrell,

and Dr. Paul Koch.


Celebrate your connection to Penn State Behrend with an inscribed paver at the new Mary Behrend Monument.

•Recognize your graduation year, fraternity or sorority, club, team, or the special Penn Staters in your life.

•Only 1,000 pavers available.

•Inscriptions of up to three lines, fourteen characters per line.

•Cost is $150 each. This tax-deductible contribution will be acknowledged with a receipt.

•Announcement cards available for gift purchases.

For more information or to place an order, go to behrend.psu.edu/monument

A MonuMentAl opportunity

26

Arboretum Turns Ten. It’s been a decade since Penn State Behrend gained membership in the American Public Gardens Association, formalizing the college’s status as an arboretum. The campus boasts more than 200 species of trees, including some notable and unusual specimens. The college hosted an anniversary celebration this summer—a gathering in the garden, of course. Visit behrend.psu.edu and type “arboretum” in the search box to download a map and walking tour.

25 Years of Making Great Music

Address Service Requested

4701 College DriveErie, pA 16563-0101

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

P A I DState College, PA

Permit No. 1

MusicatNoon:TheLoganSeriesreturnsforitssilverseasonwithanotheryearofgreatmusic,magic,andartseducation.TheCavaniStringQuartet,shownabovewithseriesbenefactorKayLogan,center,willkickoffthe2014-15seasoninSeptember.It’sapositionthey’refamiliarwith.Thequartet,anaudiencefavorite,gavethedebutperformancewhentheseriesbeganinthefallof1990,andtheyhavereturnedmanytimessince.TheLoganSeriesconcertsareheldatnooninMcGarveyCommonsinReedUnionBuilding.Performances are open to the public and last about an hour. See a full schedule at behrend.psu.edu/musicatnoon.

behrend magazine - september 2014

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