Kristin Mitchell sent this text to her boyfriend: "You are being ridiculous... why can't I do something with my friends?" Hours later, he murdered her. As shocking as this already is, a twist to this story elicited gasps from the Penn State Abington students in the audience: Kristin's boyfriend had never been physically violent until the night he stabbed her to death in 2005.
With a framed picture of the smiling young woman perched nearby, Diane Kinney of Aldersgate Youth Services explained that Kristin didn't know a classic red flag for dating violence is controlling behavior. Last week, Kinney facilitated a program called "Healthy Relationships and Dating Violence," part of the wellness series offered free to Abington students.
The word "impossible" is not in Annette Robinson's vocabulary, but "perseverance," "can-do" and "inspire"? Now those are words that personify her. Robinson, 80, recently donned a cap and gown and accepted her 30-years-in-the-making bachelor of arts degree from Penn State Abington on May 13.
The Penn State Leading the Green Challenge Conference will take place on Monday, Nov. 8, at Penn State Great Valley in Malvern, Pa. This daylong conference is designed to provide Penn State faculty, staff and students with the latest information about "greening" the workplace, including basic technical knowledge about energy, waste, water, green purchasing and transportation, as well as how to turn events, offices and homes "green." The conference is a result of a unique collaboration among the Penn State Office of Human Resources, the Campus Sustainability Office and the Office of Physical Plant. Registration is open to Penn State faculty, staff and students.
As companies large and small realize the importance of green computing in their everyday operations, Penn State Abington will be ready to assist them. With the uncapping of electricity rates in Pennsylvania a short six months away (Jan. 1, 2011), a push for environmental responsibility, a constant need for power to run the information technology engine that provides critical business information and cost containment measures inherent in every business decision, green computing has become a necessity.