President Spanier updates board on happenings at Penn State

Graham B. Spanier’s Remarks
Friday, September 19, 2003

Good afternoon. I am pleased to report that the fall semester has gotten off to a smooth start. While we won’t have the official numbers for another few weeks, it seems clear that we will have a record enrollment at Penn State this year. Despite a loss in international students because of world events and immigration restrictions, and the difficult economic times facing some residents of the Commonwealth, we nevertheless anticipate total enrollment this year of nearly 84,000 students.

The class that entered this fall was selected from the largest applicant pool in Penn State’s history. Applications for this academic year amazingly exceeded 86,000 – an all-time record, 6,000 more applicants than last year and a clear indication of the popularity of a Penn State education.

Penn State’s popularity also was reflected in a report released last month by the College Board, which showed that Penn State ranked second in the nation behind UCLA in the total number of SAT scores received. This past year, more than one in 20 of all college-bound students in America sent their SAT scores to Penn State.

The public’s positive perception of Penn State also was driven home in a nationwide survey recently conducted by the Gallup Organization. Gallup did a national poll in which they asked the public what colleges or universities in the United States they thought were the best. To no one’s surprise, Harvard came in first. But I am happy to report that Penn State was tied for 11th in this national poll. And among respondents who live in the northeastern part of the United States, Penn State tied for fourth among the nation’s universities. Northeastern residents ranked Harvard first, followed by Yale, Princeton, and then a tie with Penn State, Stanford, MIT and Penn.

Penn State’s international presence is reflected in newly reported figures from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars in Washington. They report that Penn State received the highest number of outgoing Fulbright Scholar Awards of any university in the country in 2003/04. Penn State had 14 faculty selected to study abroad.

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One of the big news stories this summer was the great blackout of the northeast. Penn State played a prominent role in fixing the situation and getting the lights back on.

A computer software program written by James McGlinchey, assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Delaware County, helped light up New York City one neighborhood at a time.

Keeping our nation secure is an area where Penn State plays a critical role. In line with this, we were very happy to announce last month that Penn State has received a new contract from the United States Marine Corps, worth up to $25 million over 18 months, to provide research and educational services to the Corps.

The Marine Corps designated Penn State as the Marine Corps Research University in 1999, and at that time awarded the University a contract worth $42.5 million over five years. Based on the positive results of Penn State’s work, the original contract ceiling was increased to $49.5 million in October 2002. This new $25 million contract is the second one designating Penn State as the Marine Corps Research University.

Last year Penn State’s total research expenditures exceeded $500 million. During the first quarter of this year, our research activity has continued to flourish, and the Marine Corps grant is but one of two major research awards Penn State has recently received to bolster our nation’s defenses.

I am very pleased to report that Penn State has also been awarded a $51 million contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to lead a team consisting of Penn State, University of California-San Diego, University of Florida, New Mexico Tech and two historically black colleges that will serve as strategic academic partners for meeting this agency’s critical needs for research innovation, technology applications and education and work force development.

This success capitalized on Penn State’s long tradition of contribution to national defense and upon the work of recently formed interdisciplinary research teams addressing critical challenges associated with Homeland Security. Research initiatives encompassed under homeland security, and also under our new partnership with DTRA, include design of explosive resistant structures and materials; development of chemical, biological and radiation sensors; information networks and information processing; and various aspects of agro-terrorism.

I’d like to introduce to you some of our newest and most capable allies in the war against terrorist attack. Research teams from our College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Engineering, the Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences, the Materials Research Institute and the Applied Research Laboratory are working together to devise exceptionally sensitive chem/bio sensors through intelligent use of plants and insects.

Plants respond to subtle changes in their local environments, such as insect infestation or exposure to toxic chemicals, by emitting a variety of volatile compounds. Understanding and carefully monitoring these emissions allows one to interrogate the plants so that they can serve as highly sensitive and selective sentinels for detection of chem/bio agents, naturally occurring or intentionally introduced.

Insect antennae are festooned with tiny hairs each containing thousands of odor sensitive neurons. Dr. Thomas Baker, one of our newly recruited Huck Institutes for Life Sciences faculty members and professor of entomology, has developed a remarkable insect tissue based biosensor.

His probe consists of four different insect head-plus-antennae segments, each coupled through saline solutions to electrical circuits that include signal processing software. This remarkable system can sniff out specific molecules volatized by plants or can be used to detect and discriminate trace concentrations of different “odor plumes” just as live insects do in nature. When coupled with wind direction information, the integrated system can detect, discriminate and locate explosive materials such as C4 and TNT related compounds. The system can also track and discriminate various recreational drugs such as ecstasy, marijuana or methamphetamine.

The system can be mounted on a remote-controlled vehicle and monitored via telemetry for use, for example, in searching for buried land mines or in serving as a mobile chem/bio sentinel operating in advance of deployed troops or emergency responders.

While the insect antennae segments used in this unique biosensor can last up to six hours, the operational life span can be extended if decapitation of the insect can be avoided. To this end, Dr. Jim Tumlinson, our Ralph O. Mumma Professor of Entomology, and another recent recruit in the Huck Institutes, is training swarms of wasps and other insects to seek out explosive materials or other specific chemical compounds in response to instruction stimuli provided to the insects.

During a recent visit to Penn State, Dr. Stephen Younger, director of DOD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, was astounded by this and other innovations that Penn State brings to national defense and homeland security. “I had no idea,” Dr. Younger stated, describing his entire visit to Penn State as “greatly exceeding” his expectations.

This is a great example of the extraordinary ways that Penn State research is helping this nation. Congratulations to Eva Pell, Bob McGrath and their colleagues for the terrific work that is being done to further the whole Penn State research enterprise.

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Some news out of Hershey is the opening of two surgical “supersuites” at the Medical Center, giving colorectal and laparoscopic surgeons, and pediatric surgeons, innovative amenities.

The “supersuites” are equipped with voice-activated equipment, flat-screen digital video monitors, ceiling suspended booms and consoles, and cutting-edge surgical tools. The suites integrate radiographic imaging, modern ergonomics and precision instrumentation into one complete system, enabling surgeons to perform procedures more safely and efficiently.

These are just the latest examples of the Hershey Medical Center’s ongoing efforts to stay at the cutting edge of medical treatment.

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An area where Penn State consistently leads the nation is in the academic performance of our student-athletes. Nittany Lion student-athletes continued their outstanding academic achievements this spring, with more than 50 percent of active student-athletes earning a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, and Penn State student-athletes posted one of their finest graduation rate performances overall since the NCAA began publication of institutional rates in 1990, according to statistical information released recently by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The NCAA’s annual study of institutions nationwide revealed that Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus had a graduation rate of 80 percent compared to a mark of 62 percent for all Division 1 institutions. The survey documented the entering freshman class of 1996-97 who earned degrees within six years. The report is produced annually from data collected by the U.S. Department of Education.
The 80 percent rate is one of Penn State’s best performances in the 13-year history of the report, topped by the 83 percent mark for the entering class of 1989-90.

The Penn State football team produced an especially noteworthy academic performance, with 86 percent of the freshmen entering in 1996-97 earning their degrees, significantly above the national rate of 54 percent. Coach Joe Paterno’s team had the highest graduation rate among all Big Ten institutions.

In the face of such stellar performances in the athletic department and particularly with the football team, it is little wonder that Wheaties chose to honor Penn State coach Joe Paterno by placing him on their cereal boxes. Knowing that we have a number of trustees who are both football fans and Wheaties eaters, we wanted to be sure that you all got your “breakfast of champions” – especially with Penn State on the cover – so there should be a box out for each of you.

Another champion at Penn State isn’t a team, but one of our facilities. Pollstar, a national weekly publication for the concert touring industry, has announced that The Bryce Jordan Center ranked first in concert ticket sales among university venues throughout the world for the first half of 2003.

From January through June, the Jordan Center sold more concert tickets than venues in such major markets as Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago. Top selling concerts during the first half of 2003 at the Jordan Center included Bon Jovi’s North American tour opener, Alan Jackson, Pearl Jam, Tim McGraw, Bill Gaither, 50 Cent, Linkin Park, Liza Minnelli, Journey, Yanni, Brooks and Dunn and Cher.

That concludes my report. I would be happy to answer any questions.