RPTM Kudos and Announcements 4-18-05
Congratulations Alumni
Steve Landes (’74) slandes@muhlenbergtwp.com, director of Muhlenberg (Pennsylvania) Township Parks & Recreation, was elected president of the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society (PRPS).
James Hennessey (’87) jhennessey@dorneypark.com, was has been named director of general services for Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. He also participates as a mentor in the APG alumni mentor program.
Dan Sharapan (’97) dsharapan@warwick-township.org, director of Warwick Township Department of Parks & Recreation, received the PRPS Outstanding New Professional award, accepted the Excellence in Programming award on behalf of his agency for its RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) program and received a presidential citation for chairing the Program Committee for the PRPS conference.
Greg Weitzel (’97) gaw@golara.org, executive director of the Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) Area Recreation Authority, received the PRPS Program Publication Award for 2004 Leisure Guides.
Emily Kopp (’04) e_kopp1@hotmail.com, was promoted to assistant recreation manager at the Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Alumni presenting at the PRPS annual conference in Hershey from March 19-23 included Lori Kieffer Yeich (’92) lyeich@state.pa.us, recreation & parks advisor for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Recreation & Conservation; Bill Seigel (’92), program director, SEDA-COG; Michael Eschenmann (’76) meschenman@state.pa.us, recreation & parks advisor for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Recreation & Conservation; Richard Sprenkle (’64) rsprenkle@dcnr.state.pa.us, deputy secretary for conservation and engineering services in the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR); Cindy Dunlap (’95) cydunlap@state.pa.us, parks & recreation advisor for the Northcentral/Southcentral Regional Office of DCNR; Greg Weitzel (’97) gaw@golara.org, executive director of the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority;and EileenSoisson (’93) eileenD11@aol.com, president of The Meeting Institute.
Instructional Support from Alumni
Kristin Alexander (’94) kaemail730@aol.com , director of the Yankauer Nature Preserve at Potomac Valley Audobon in Sheperdstown, West Virginia; and Jeff Feldman (’88) JFeld33@aol.com , founder and owner of Eagle’s View Enterprises (a teambuilding and leadership training organization) were guest speakers in the Senior Management Seminar (RPTM 480) class taught by Harry Zinn on March 21.
Gary Smith (’72) gksmith3@comcast.net, regional park manager for Region 3 of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, was a guest speaker in the Senior Management Seminar (RPTM 480) class taught by Harry Zinn on March 28. Gary spoke of careers in Pennsylvania’s natural resource management agencies and of navigating the state civil service system.
Eric Werner, erikwerner@hotmail.com or info@globalworksinc.com, owner and CEO of Global Works, and Jessica Leeds (’04) jessicalees@yahoo.com, marketing assistant of Global Works, visited the Tourism and Leisure Behavior class (RPTM 300W) taught by Duarte Morais in March to explain efforts to offer sustainable tourism. Global Works, www.globalworksinc.com based in State College, provides community service tourism in developing regions.
Congratulations Students
Rehnuma Karim received third prize for her poster, “Analyzing the Impact of Leisure as a Coping Strategy for the Female Victims of Acid Attack in Bangladesh” at the Penn State Graduate Student Poster Exhibition on March 20.
Twelve students attended the PRPS annual conference in Hershey: Carol Healy, Shaina Dascher, Larissa Witmer, Derek Dureka, Rodney Bohner, Esther John, Jessica Grove, Kyla White, April Sheats, Anyite Igga, Mike Nwosu and Megan Miller. Carol Healy received the 2005 PRPS Student Honor Award during the PRPS annual conference.
Congratulations Faculty
Deb Kerstetter received a grant from the President’s Fund for Undergraduate Research to support undergraduate students’ involvement in her research.
Geoffrey Godbey recently visited Hangzhou, China, site of the 2006 World Leisure Exposition. In addition to being a consultant to the expo planning effort, he spoke at Zhejiang University, which has established the first center for the study of leisure in China. He also helped plan a study of constraints to leisure in China, in which he and Garry Chick are involved with professors from Zhejiang University.
Duarte Morais was appointed to the board of directors of The International Ecotourism Society, the largest ecotourism organization in the world. The non-governmental organization, which includes individuals and organizations from more than 80 countries, fosters sound ecotourism development internationally.
John Dattilo was a member of a review team to evaluate the graduate and undergraduate program of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada, March 2-4.
Patricia Kleban, Andrew Mowen and Harvey Kamp made educational presentations during the PRPS annual conference.
Departmental Happenings
RPTM hosted an alumni social event on March 22 during the PRPS annual conference in Hershey that included 12 students, seven faculty members and more than 50 alumni.
In the News
Jamaal Tate, a member of the Penn State men’s basketball team, was featured in an article titled “Tate Looks Back on Tough 4-year Journey” in the Centre Daily Times on March 16.
*If you have accomplished something you would like to share with the RPTM crew, please notify me. Also, if you are aware of accomplishments or quotes by our alumni, students, or staff, please let me know so I can share the news. Thank you! – John Dattilo, Professor and Department Head jxd8@psu.edu