Still Life

With four guide ropes attached to it, the east-side clock face is raised into position. While it didn't seem that windy on the ground on Saturday, Jan. 28, winds higher up were strong, requiring extra guidance to bring the clock face safely to the Old Main bell tower.

Old Main clock faces installed

Ben White of New Vibrations Audio and Video works on a ledge of the Old Main bell tower, to remove the speakers from the old chime system. The company installed a new carillon system today (Jan. 27) that will play a digital recording made of the original Old Main bell that now sits adjacent to Old Main and other bells of comparable sizes.

New carillon, restored clocks being installed

The funeral procession for Joe Paterno made its way past Beaver Stadium and down Porter Road as crowds applauded on Jan. 25. Thousands lined the procession route through the University Park campus and downtown State College to bid a last farewell to Joe Paterno.

Joe Paterno's funeral procession

Coach Joe Paterno was on the field for the first half of the Nittany Lions' football game. Penn State beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 13-3 on Oct. 8, 2011, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Joe Paterno through the years

Katie Knobloch and Andrew Adamietz, members of the a capella group Blue in the Face, shared a candle at the vigil held Sunday, Jan. 22, to mourn the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who passed away earlier in the day. Several thousand members of the Penn State and State College community came out to the Old Main lawn on Penn State's University Park campus for the vigil.

Thousands mourn Paterno's passing

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Penn State places fourth in international Solar Decathlon

Friday, October 19, 2007
MorningStar, Penn State's first entry in the Solar Decathlon
Credit: Jim Tetro MorningStar, Penn State's first entry in the Solar Decathlon

Washington, D.C. -- After two years of hard work designing and building its ultra-efficient, 100 percent solar-powered home called the MorningStar, a team of students and faculty from Penn State took fourth place today (Oct. 26) in the U.S. Department of Energy's prestigious international Solar Decathlon, scoring 975 points out of a possible 1200.

Twenty universities competed in the 2007 competition, the third of its kind. Germany's Technische Universitadt Darmstadt team took top honors this year, with the University of Maryland taking second, and Santa Clara finishing third, inching past Penn State by less than 5 points on the final day of judging.

Penn State placed in the top five in half of the decathlon's 10 contests, taking first place in the hot water contest, fifth in engineering, and third in each of the the lighting, communications and market viability events.

"I'm very proud of this team and the effort Penn State was able to display here," enthused Penn State's team leader David Riley, associate professor of architectural engineering. "To place this high in a field with so much incredible talent from around the world is a great thing for us, and for Pennsylvania."

With the competition over, the MorningStar will return to Penn State's University Park campus, where it will serve as a permanent renewable energy research lab and outreach facility at Penn State's Center for Sustainability, located just south of Beaver Stadium and Medlar Field.

"It's such a beautiful house. Students, faculty and visiting alumni are going to love it," said Riley. "I can't wait to bring her home and show her off."

Explaining the importance of the MorningStar as a teaching facility, Riley explained, "This home proves that you don't have to be in the Jetsons' age to experience clean energy, and that there are lots of older technologies that can be combined with the new to make a more efficient living space."

To see photos, videos and additional information about the Solar Decathlon, visit http://www.solardecathlon.org online.

For details about Penn State's MorningStar entry, including detailed plans and a virtual tour, visit http://solar.psu.edu online.

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