I just received a message via Facebook from a student at Tulane. They are starting their first dance marathon (for Children’s Hospital) this weekend! Go Green Wave!
I happened upon your facebook profile and saw all of the posts about Penn State’s Dance Marathon, so despite not knowing you personally, I thought you may be excited to hear that Tulane is having it’s first Dance Marathon next weekend! It’s been a very long, tedious process, but we’re hoping that the strings get all pulled together by next week! Even if we only have a handful of dancers, we’ve already raised close to $10,000 for the families at Children’s Hospital, and there’s a whole bunch of kids from the hospital who can’t wait for the event. It’s not very exciting, but feel free to check out our website (www.tulane.edu/~tudm)!
It turns out that there is a very direct link. Jenny Smith, a junior at Tulane, grew up in Hershey where her brother was diagnosed with leukemia, but who is now cured and a sophomore at PSU, was helped through THON. The story can be found at The NewWave.
Jenny Smith, a Tulane University junior in theater and French, has been attending and working dance marathons since she was 4 years old, when her brother, Cory, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3. Cory was treated at Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania, where he received help through the Penn State Dance Marathon. Now a sophomore at Penn State University, Cory is cured of leukemia.
There is certainly room for more giving to such wonderful causes! We wish you all the best TU Thon!
This past Thursday, Feb. 22nd, a piece ran on NPR regarding college admissions. It was a piece with a lot of good and relevant information, but there was a passing comment that caused me to write a letter to NPR. The letter is below. By all means, let me know what you think.
I would like to respond to what was, I am sure, an offhanded comment by Margot Adler in her piece “Colleges Want to Cool Admissions Frenzy.” I feel the need to comment because it is an oft repeated myth that high achieving students do not need aid.
Specifically Ms. Adler said, “…more and more of their aid money is going to high achieving students who don’t need aid instead of those who really do” (at at 7′30″).
High achieving students do indeed need aid. In the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University 36% of our students have demonstrated high need and even more, nearly all, are expected to take out loans in order to pay for their education. Each year we have over $2M of unmet need. Finally, I would note that many of these students are also first-generation college students who are performing at the highest level. One should not assume that just because they excel academically that they do not have financial needs as well.
Christian M M Brady, D.Phil.
Dean, Schreyer Honors College
The Pennsylvania State University
I have had a number of very interesting and challenging conversations with students about environmental issues this year. My podcast with one of the Leadership Jumpstart teams, P.A.W.S. focused on their environmental efforts and we plan to show “Who Killed the Electric Car” and host a discussion with faculty later this spring. So what is the most effecient, cleanest, and safest source of power? Could it be nuclear?
Burning fossil fuels to make electricity releases many tons of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Today, as the United States and other nations search for “greener” ways of generating energy, nuclear power is getting a fresh look. The process yields huge quantities of electricity with essentially zero emissions of greenhouse gases. But are nuclear power plants safe?”Nuclear plants are very safe,” asserted Forrest J. Remick, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering, adding, “It helps to compare their safety record with that of other major industries.” In 2005, the industrial accident rate for nuclear power plant workers was 0.24 per 200,000 worker hours, compared with 3.5 accidents per 200,000 worker hours for all manufacturing industries (14.6 times greater). But what about those of us who live near nuclear plants? Said Remick, “No member of the public has been killed or injured from radiation during the nearly 50 years that commercial nuclear power plants have been operating in the U.S.”
Reminder: Tonight is the first showing of the 2007 Luchinsky Lecture.
If you were not able to join us last evening for the Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture, C-Net Channel 98 will air it on the following dates. Mr. Peter Klein spoke on “War, Media & Ethics: Through a Journalist’s Eyes.”
Tuesday, February 20, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, February 21, 6 p.m.
Thursday, February 22, Noon
Saturday, February 24, 4 p.m.
Sunday, February 25, 11 a.m.
If you have any questions, contact Donna Meyer at dlh15@psu.edu.
ALSO: I recorded a podcast with Mr. Klein and will try to have that edited and up by the end of the week, beginning of the next at the latest. -Cb
Chris Lucas, one of our Scholars sent the following email Dr. Oz, our Associate Dean:
Hey Dr. Oz,
THON was amazing this year. I am sure you heard of the $5.2million+
total this year but also my team (Atlas House) was first place in the
independent organization division with $86,595.68 raised this year. Of course, us nerdy kids almost immediately realized that this is a palindrome and have made plans to
accomplish that feat again next year.
Additionally, Springfield House THON (based out of Simmons) was second with around $62,000. So, in total, the SHC-based teams raised about $160,000 this year.
Below is a video “confession” (a booth set up, by Apple I believe) where dancers could record their thoughts during THON. This vid has Jared Lipton and Simran Grover, both Schreyer Scholars! If you go to the YouTube site be sure to look to the right for “related” videos to see more THON confessions.
Penn State students raised a record $5,240,385.17 over the past year to benefit children with cancer as part of the Interfraternity Council/ Panhellenic Dance Marathon, THON overall chairman Michael Funk announced Sunday. This beat the record amount raised in last year's THON for the Four Diamonds Fund, an organization that helps the families of …
THON is still going strong as I write this on Saturday night. I spent a few hours today walking around the BJC interviewing participants and supporters. Give a listen to the podcast through iTunes here. Or use the link below. This is an amazing event for an amazing cause. Be sure to go by THON.org to show your support!w
Being a Scholar is more than just good grades. At Penn State anyone who has a high enough GPA and class ranking can graduate with highest distinction, but a Schreyer Scholar is a student who not only succeeds academically but also engages the world around them and leads others in bringing a true, positive, and lasting change in this world.
Penn State is, of course, full of students, faculty, and staff who work for just such positive change every day and perhaps the single most obvious example of that effort is the annual THON. The Penn State Dance Marathon is the largest student-led college philanthropy in the world. Last year students raised $4.2 million for pediatric cancer research and for the last 30 years they have been partnered with the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity of the Penn State Children’s Hospital. Over 700 dancers will take to the floor tonight, February 16th and will not leave until 46 hours have passed. Thousands of friends, students, faculty, and staff will be there to support them. Most importantly, 187 THON families, children and their families who are directly benefiting from this charity will be there joining in on the fun, dancing, playing, and one will even celebrate his 8th birthday.
As a parent it is impossible for me to read about these young children, from 3 months to 23 years old, who are struggling for their very lives, and not be moved. But with the welling tears my pride swells to know that our students are working so hard for something so very good. The Schreyer Honors College has three teams representing the best of SHC. Our “official” team is SHC-THON, but the residents of Atherton and Simmons were not content with just one team and so Atlas House and Springfield House have been working just as hard to raise funds and a select group of dancers, who have forgone caffeine for the last two weeks, will take to the floor and eschew sleep for the next two days.
Leadership is not about giving orders or rushing into battle. It is providing the right example to others and a willingness to do it oneself and all the while doing it for the good of others. Our THON teams and all those at PSU who have worked to make this multi-million dollar success are leading the way, giving of themselves to help the lives of thousands of young children and their families.
We asked for it, and boy did we get it. On Wednesday, as the first snowstorm of the season descended upon University Park, Penn State Live put out a call for photos from the storm. After shoveling out from the storm, we dove into the pile of photos we received, and posted a sampling of them to Penn State Live's Still Life photo gallery. To view visit http://live.psu.edu/still_life/2007_02_14_snow/index.html online.
I have had a number of very interesting and challenging conversations with students about environmental issues this year. 
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