John Liechty, professor of marketing and statistics at the Penn State Smeal College of Business and director of the Center for the Study of Global Financial Stability, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on July 14 regarding oversight of the newly created federal Office of Financial Research (OFR). The OFR, which is Liechty's brainchild, was formed last year to begin collecting data on the financial system to allow the government to effectively monitor its stability and ward off potential threats. (more)
During a February 2009 conference on the financial crisis, Smeal College of Business professor John Liechty noticed that there was no federal oversight agency to collect data on the interconnectedness of the financial system in order to identify and respond to systemic risk. So he spent the next 18 months creating one. His long nights of research and frequent trips to Washington for meetings on Capitol Hill paid off when his idea -- the Office of Financial Research -- was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama as part of this summer's financial reform legislation. (more)
THON 2010 overall chair Caitlin Zankowski screamed and jumped around the stage as the overall committee revealed the total raised in this year's 46-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping event. In spite of the continuing weak economy, this year's total reached a new record high of more than $7.8 million, surpassing last year's total by more than $347,000. For links to photo and video coverage, go to http://live.psu.edu/story/44723 online. (more)
Penn State's Board of Trustees discussed plans Friday (March 20) to moderate projected tuition increases next year. John P. Surma, chair of the Board's Subcommittee on Finance, reported an effort will be made to moderate earlier projected 2009-10 tuition increases. The discussion comes in response to concerns about how the current economic situation has affected students and their families. (more)
Plants, genetically modified to ease the breaking down of their woody material, could be the key to a cheaper and greener way of making ethanol, according to Penn State researchers who add that the approach also could help turn agricultural waste into food for livestock. (more)
A book co-authored by a professor in Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology is in the hands of President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (more)
The scourge of modern terrorism can be tackled more effectively by understanding how and why certain individuals give up their violent ways, according to a counter-terrorism expert at Penn State who says information gleaned from ex-terrorists could provide clues to checking the growth of militant organizations. (more)
The work of several Penn State researchers -- political scientists Eric Plutzer and Michael Berkman and graduate student Julianna Pacheco; Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state apiarist for Pennsylvania and senior extension associate at Penn State; and Robert Eckhardt, professor of developmental genetics and evolutionary morphology -- is highlighted in three stories that are part of Discover Magazine's "Top 100 Stories of 2008" in the current January 2009 issue. (more)
Military Advanced Education, an authority on education for military personnel, announced recently that the Penn State World Campus was selected as one of the publication's 2008 Top Military Friendly Colleges and Universities honorees. The designation appears in the December 2008 issue. Penn State Outreach Vice President Craig Weidemann said that the recognition reveals the level of commitment that the World Campus has for military students whether they are active duty, National Guard, Reserve or veterans. (more)
To address the opportunities and challenges of exploring for natural gas in the Marcellus shale in much of Pennsylvania, Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Cooperative Extension will offer a six-part series of online seminars starting this month and running through May 2009. The "webinars" will cover a variety of topics ranging from the local government's role in gas exploration to the effects of deep-well drilling methods on water supplies. (more)
