Month: February 2015

Professor Weighs in on World

Posted By under Campus News, Uncategorized

Professor Weighs in on World 

Written by: Jamie Berridge, jrb1055@psu.edu

Penn State Brandywine’s very own, Dr. Stephen Cimbala, spoke to a crowded room of students and fellow professors about the state of our nation and other serious topics in today’s media.

The conversation having on Wednesday, February 11, during Common Hour.

Cimbala, a distinguished author and longtime professor at Brandywine, is overwhelmingly knowledgeable in topics such as government, politics, technology and foreign affairs. For Brandywine’s first common read of the semester, Cimbala was asked to share his knowledge of these topics to students, as well as professors that attended the event.

Cimbala began the common read speaking about security in the United States.

“Terrorism is the virtual obsession of government and media in today’s society,” Cimbala said.

He went on to speak about the United States’ stance with Russia and China and the potential danger of nuclear warfare.

“You can use nuclear weapons politically without ever actually firing them,” he said. “The Cold War is a perfect example.”

Cimbala continued to speak about the issue with our foreign affairs in the Middle East and the threat of Iran becoming a nuclear power. He believed the neighboring countries must take a stand against ISIS, Al-Qaeda and all other terroristic groups.

“Jordan seems to be doing so, the rest must follow,” Cimbala said.

Cimbala also spoke about the economic growth and stability over the last two years and how the country was able to overcome the recession of 2008.

“The United States is the cleanest shirt in a world full of dirty laundry,” Cimbala said, referring to the fact that the U.S. has been able to overcome the recession, yet many other developed countries continue to feel the effects.

Cimbala credited America’s recently stimulated economy to energy security and independence.  It’s his opinion that nothing is able to stimulate the economy as quickly and efficiently as lower fuel prices.  Though the economy is the best it’s been in years, Cimbala admitted the middle class still seems to be struggling to get back on their feet.

“The gap between the richest and middle classes is a disgrace,” he said. “The stock market is booming but people are still out of work. The wealthiest are not getting wealthy by creating new jobs, and this needs to change.”

Cimbala ended the lecture speaking about the future of our nation and potential job fields that may be on the rise.  The explosion in news and entertainment is astonishing, he stated. He also acknowledged that the price of college tuition, public especially, must decrease in order for our nation to progress.

“In today’s age, a college degree is imperative to move up the economic ladder,” Cimbala said. “Problem is, a lot of Americans can’t afford it, and something must be done.”

If there is anyone who can reassure the community at Penn State Brandywine that our nation is on the right path, look no farther than professor, author and historian — Dr. Cimbala.

Brandywine Student Profile Story: Jess Maginnis

Posted By under Op/Ed

Jessica Maginnis is more than just a student here at Penn State Brandywine, she’s a friend to many.

Maginnis has made her college experience a unique one by participating in events, joining clubs, as well as being an extraordinary student-athlete. Maginnis is a junior planning to graduate in spring of 2016, with a Bachelor of Arts in HDFS.

In 2013, Maginnis received the “Student Woman of the Year Award for Leadership and Involvement Enhancement on campus.” Student leaders at Penn State Brandywine are recognized for their positive influence on the study body, outstanding service to the campus community through volunteering, cross-cultural understanding, academic excellence and campus involvement during the campus’ annual Leadership Recognition Night.

A member of the women’s cross country team, Maginnis just recently experienced a National Championship. This past fall, the team went to the National Championship in Syracuse, New York. They finished in 11th place out of 18th overall, and first out of all Penn State satellite campuses, beating their big rival Scranton in the Women’s Conference.

“That experience was rewarding since all our girls trained like beasts and ran in the freezing, slippery weather in New York,” Maginnis said. “The experience also lead to getting a PSUAC Academic All-Conference award for the first time for earning a 3.0 and participating in a sport.”

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Maginnis excels in the classroom too. She’s had several memorable professors along the way.

“My favorite professor here at Brandywine is difficult to choose, but I would pick Dr. Zosh,” Maginnis said. “I’ve only had her twice, but I hope to have her again. She challenges me and knows so much about child development. She seems so passionate about her work and research, which gives me strength to want to do more with children.”

Maginnis’ experience here at Brandywine has been a very interesting one to say the least. College life has changed from freshman year to senior year. Hanging out in the Lion’s Den with amazing lifelong friends and creating irreplaceable memories is something that she will hold on to forever. Her sophomore year is when she took over THON with some help from her cousin and started running cross country. She managed this all while keeping up with her busy social life on campus, working 25 hours a week and taking classes.

“It was stressful beyond words, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way,” Maginnis said.

Maginnis’ hard work and determination to succeed in several fields here at Brandywine lead her to the impressive role of being the head of Brandywine THON. Stumbling upon the role of being chair of THON in 2011, with little to no guidance, she took the bull by the horns and has never looked back.

“Being a chair for THON at Brandywine has been difficult yet rewarding in so many ways,” Maginnis said “It’s hard getting people involved on campus and finding out what others would like to do as ‘fun’ on campus. But we are trying different things, and hopefully we increase the involvement and awareness here at Brandywine.”

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Her biggest accomplishment in her college career, she said, was attending last year’s THON. Unfortunately, she won’t get that opportunity again because she will be interning next spring.

This student-athlete has accomplished so much in her college career, and just wants current and prospective students to get involved.

“What’s interesting about Brandywine and the students here is that they have to opportunity to take advantage of the resources around them,” Maginnis said. “It’s so easy to get involved and build leadership skills which will help you achieve so much in life.”

That’s true Brandywine spirit right there.

Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, Victoria Marotta, vim5121@psu.edu

Brandywine graduate conducts cross-cultural research study in Italy

Posted By under Campus News

MeganItaly Brandywine graduate conducts cross-cultural research study in Italy – December 2014 psychology graduate Megan Griffith at a national undergraduate conference on body image at Cabrini College, where she presented her research.

1/9/2015 —

Megan Griffith took advantage of every opportunity to do research during her career as a psychology major at Penn State Brandywine. In her final year, her go-getting approach paid off, granting her an amazing journey. She, alongside Assistant Professor of Psychology Dana Martin, completed a cross-cultural research study that delves into the representation of women in the media in the United States and Italy.

Griffith, a December 2014 graduate, started with a few research questions: “What kinds of images are typically used to represent femininity? How do these representations compare between American and Italian cultures?” “By going outside of our own culture, we can pose a mirror to the norms that normally go unquestioned,” says Martin, Griffith’s research supervisor.

How did this journey start for Griffith? “My research started as a class project when I went to Italy on a Global Programs trip,” she explained. “I took it to the next level by doing independent research on the topic after the trip.”

Since 1995, Penn State Brandywine’s Global Programs experience has delivered distant education courses with short-term travel destinations worldwide. Each course includes pre-travel and post-travel coursework to be completed on an independent study basis, working with the instructor through distance education technologies. Griffith’s Global Programs course was cross-cultural psychology, taught by Martin.  Griffith on Penn State Brandywine’s Global Programs trip in Italy.  Griffith explained that she started with eight fashion and entertainment magazines, four of which she brought from Italy and the other four, serving as a comparison, published in the United States. She focused on the first 25 advertisements in each magazine and “coded” each image on seven different characteristics: eye gaze, makeup, disposition, clothing, body position, hand positioning and sex appeal. A stereotypical woman is portrayed with an indirect eye gaze, her hands caressing her body, revealing clothing and lots of makeup. “You always hear how women are seen differently, compared to men, within the media,” she said. “But I think through the research I did you can see how women are portrayed differently through simple mannerisms used within advertising.”

The aim of studies documenting the often stereotypical and super-sexualized ways in which the media portrays women is to introduce a broader range of options, especially when it comes to young girls.

“There’s research that shows that the way women are represented in the media reflects on how they act. We’re trying to break these gender norms,” Griffith said.

Even though literature suggests that gender roles tend to be more traditional in Italy than in the U.S., Griffith did not find a lot of evidence supporting this. The representation of women in the media in both the U.S. and Italy was very similar. This is a striking finding given that the majority of modern American women hold professional degrees and participate fully in the workforce.

“The pull of the media may hold women back from being seen as equal to men in their capacity to contribute meaningfully to our society,” says Martin. Griffith, who also served as the vice president of Brandywine’s Psychology Club, recently presented her research at a two-day national undergraduate conference on body image at Cabrini College. She is also set to present at the Eastern Psychological Association’s annual meeting this March in Philadelphia.

“This project gave me a bigger perspective of what goes into research and gave me a hands-on experience,” she said. “Research inspires students and gives them the tools to not just think, but to also test their thinking with something very concrete,” Martin added. “Megan is very determined and extremely persistent.

Those are the traits of a great researcher. She really sees the big picture.” Griffith plans to continue to work on her research and has been invited back to next year’s Body Image Conference. She is currently applying to graduate schools and hopes to study educational or organizational psychology.

 

 

article credit from:  http://brandywine.psu.edu/body_image.htm