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State Senate Appropriations Committee chair tours campus

Always engaged and advocating for the college, Yaw (right) converses with Browne in the atrium of the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center.

State Sen. Patrick M. Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology on Thursday.

Browne, who represents the 16th District – which includes Allentown and other municipalities within Lehigh County – came to campus after presenting an election and legislative update at a breakfast sponsored by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

He was invited by fellow Appropriations Committee member Sen. Gene Yaw, who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. Yaw also hosted the Chamber legislative update event, held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport.

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Penn College student updates iconic Maya calendar converter

For his senior project at Pennsylvania College of Technology, Ethan M. Yoder, a software development and information management student from Denver, Lancaster County, is updating an iconic Maya calendar converter program.

Archaeologists traversing the ruins and rainforests of Mexico and Central America to unearth clues about the Maya culture have an ally more than 3,000 miles away at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

And he doesn’t even own a shovel.

From the comfort of a campus computer lab, Ethan M. Yoder digs deeply into his expertise to modernize a valuable tool that helps researchers assign historical context to discoveries. The software development and information management student is updating the iconic “bars and dots” Maya calendar converter for his senior project.

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A lion’s share of knowledge

Tape measure at the ready, Andrew R. Hurd, a building construction technology student from Spring Mills, assesses a visitor's block-laying performance.

Luse shares pointers with Julia R. Straub, a Penn State student well-acquainted with construction through her family's experience in the field. "I've been playing with plumbing since I was 8," she said, "but they never let me do the dirty work." Until now, that is!

Highly visible in neon T-shirts, building construction technology majors Ian R. Myers (left), of Morrisdale, and James G. Vile Jr., of Sheffield, supervise several courses of brickwork.

Keith C. Long, of Pitman, leads Penn State students through a longstanding crowd-pleaser: archway construction. Long is enrolled in building construction technology: masonry emphasis.

More than 30 landscape architecture students of David Goldberg and Marc Miller, assistant professors in Penn State’s Stuckeman School, visited the Construction Masonry Building on Thursday. The day’s guests received hands-on instruction in a variety of technique and materials, circulating among work stations and mentored by adept Penn College construction students. Instructors Robert P. Gresko and Glenn R. Luse rotated along with them, sharing encouragement and expertise, and industry supporters aided the cause – including Spec Mix, which is also supplying mortar for the nearby expansion of welding labs. Architecture majors from University Park visit the college’s School of Construction & Design Technologies twice a year, getting practical exposure to the craft involved in bringing their visionary plans into focus.

Conference guides enterprising high school students

Mark A. Ciavarella, associate professor of business administration/management, teaches high school students about the steps of writing a business plan during an Entrepreneurship Challenge event at the college.

A team from Bradford Area School District develops a business plan for an ice cream shop.

Students from Berwick Area School District hash out their target audience and sales territory. They are pitching a business that manufacturers an add-on component for hybrid vehicles.

High school students participating in the Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy’s Entrepreneurship Challenge gathered in the college’s Penn’s Inn facility on Wednesday for a one-day conference to help them define and develop their business concepts and write a summary business plan. They were guided in the activity by Mark A. Ciavarella, associate professor of business administration/management at Penn College, and Tim Keohane, director of the Small Business Development Center at Lock Haven University. PennCFL sponsors local, regional and statewide competitions that allow students to pitch new business ideas. The Penn College event was the first of three such conferences the organization is hosting this month at area colleges. Following the conference, the students return to their schools to complete and submit their business plans for prizes. The top three teams are invited to PennCFL’s state competition.

Penn College celebrates work of radiologic technologists

Qiang Cao (right), instructor of radiography at Pennsylvania College of Technology, leads students in capturing images in the college’s digitally equipped radiography lab. The college’s radiography program is celebrating National Radiologic Technology Week.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s radiography program celebrates the work of radiologic technologists during National Radiologic Technology Week, Nov. 4-10.

Providing patients with safe medical imaging examinations and radiation therapy treatments is the prime goal for the nation’s radiologic technologists.

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THON Fall Festival fills courtyard with focused fun

'tis the season for painting pumpkins

Giant Jenga requires dexterity and a keen eye to dislodge just the right block ...

... which isn't always "the right block!"

Free candy: A sweet incentive for a serious cause

Community Peer Educator Alexis J. Medero lofts a beanbag toward its target.

An early November day in the Rose Street Commons courtyard provided a fitting locale for a recent Fall Festival with Penn College Benefiting THON, a student organization linked to the annual February dance marathon at Penn State. Designed to raise awareness and funds for the fight against pediatric cancer, the event included three hours’ worth of games, crafts and treats.
Photos by Rachel A. Eirmann, student photographer

Chevron Phillips employees share life lessons, SPE’s value

A keenly attentive plastics audience absorbs an industry perspective.

Two Oklahoma-based employees of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP – Jon D. Ratzlaff, technical services manager, and Tom Giovannetti, technical service engineer – recently visited main campus, sharing on-the-job pointers with Penn College plastics students.

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Forestry students extensively tour local veneer operation

South talks with forestry students during Monday's visit.

Students in Erich R. Doebler’s Forest Products class this week visited the Danzer plant on Reach Road, one of the few veneer mills in Pennsylvania. The group met with Paul R. South, a 2016 forest technology graduate of Penn College. He discussed the process of buying logs, specifications, in-demand species and how the log purchasing process is conducted. The students were also given a tour of the facility, where they were able to see the sawmill, as well as the log banding, log cooking, surfacing, slicing, drying and packaging processes. About a half-dozen Penn College alumni are employed by Danzer, formerly known as Keystone Veneers Inc. “This is an exceptionally personal tour,” said the instructor (who also provided the photo), “and something right in our backyard that many do not get the opportunity to experience.”

Silenced voices echo through survivor’s search for ‘normal’

The emergency management technology student fields a question from the audience.

An emergency management technology major who is a survivor of last year’s Las Vegas shooting shared her story with fellow Pennsylvania College of Technology students and faculty Monday night in the Student & Administrative Services Center’s Presentation Room.

Emergency management, human services, nursing and emergency medical services/paramedic students were among those who listened intently and respectfully to Robyn N. Wolfe’s harrowing story. Her husband, William “Bill” Wolfe Jr., was the sole Pennsylvania fatality in the horrific mass shooting that claimed 58 lives and injured more than 800 people.

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Human services students see firsthand example of civic impact

Human services students and their chaperones gather outside the Hazleton One Community Center.

Human services students and faculty engaged in an enlightening educational outing on Friday with a visit to the Hazleton One Community Center, which was launched by Hazleton native and beloved Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon.

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Carving out their niche

Nichols' intricate entry took the blue ribbon among students in the afternoon class.

About 45 students in Penn College’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies employed their skills to “spooky” effect during the fifth annual Virtual Pumpkin Carving Contest. The competition required the engineering design students to use software to create virtual jack-o’-lanterns. No cleanup was required as winners were declared for morning and afternoon versions of the fun activity. Morning session winners were: first place, Sidney S. Alpaugh, an engineering CAD technology major from Muncy; second place, Evan L. McElhenny, an engineering design technology major from Bainbridge; and dean’s choice, Justin B. Jay, an engineering design technology major from Milanville. Winners in their respective afternoon sessions were: first place Calum A. Nichols, of Coudersport, engineering CAD technology, and Ruan Visser of Austin, Texas, engineering design technology; second place, Morgan R. Bagenstose, of Reading, and Hugo A. Prieto, of Coatesville, both engineering design technology; and third place, Cheyenne A. Miller, of Bellefonte, and Brendan J. Madeira, of Lebanon, each enrolled in engineering CAD technology.

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‘Hall-o-Wars?’ Them’s fightin’ words!

Taking deliberate aim

Residence hall and off-campus teams competed in a weeklong series of challenges – dodgeball, a Mario Kart tournament, pumpkin carving, Quizzo and bowling – during the recent “Hall-o-Wars” competition.

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Things that go ‘Yum’ in the night

Students queue up for creepy, cobwebbed cuisine.

Come closer ... if you dare.

Jessica L. Cavanaugh, a substitute Dining Services employee, serves up ribs to the passing parade of patrons. The Lewistown resident is a health information management student at the college.

Make no bones about it: Capitol Eatery has food to die for!

Dining Services’ Halloween Boofet re-inhabited Capitol Eatery this past week, offering students an appetizing menu of “eerie entrees, scary sides and hauntingly delicious desserts.”
Photos by J.J. Boettcher, student photographer

Penn College men set for hoops opener, XC at NCAAs

The men’s basketball team is set to open. Cross-country runners are prepping for their final event of the season. Wrestling is underway, and the men’s and women’s soccer teams completed their seasons after reaching the North Eastern Athletic Conference semifinals. These are busy times for Pennsylvania College of Technology athletics.

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Penn College welcomes new employees

PCToday continues its regular feature – welcoming new full-time and regular part-time Pennsylvania College of Technology employees, as reported by the Human Resources Office.

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