School of Hospitality Management Monthly Update: February 2007

This Monthly Update from the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State serves to keep you informed and interested in the news as it happens - for alumni, industry, faculty & students.

Send us your news....it's a great way to connect.

Alumni Help Students Study Abroad

As we all know, Study Abroad expands horizons and provides life-long memories.

Thanks to the generosity from alumni funding, the School of Hospitality Management awarded Study Abroad Student Development Grants to 17 students studying abroad during the Spring '07 semester.

Students from the School of Hospitality Management will study in hospitality-related programs in Hong Kong, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

The monies encourage students to undertake studies they might not otherwise take….certainly, they help to relieve expenses involved with studying abroad.

Thank you so much to the GREAT alumni who make these gifts possible! <student awards>

Students going to Spain will receive a stipend from the Edward Book Endowment

Students going to Italy will receive a stipend from Richard Benefield Endowment

Students going to Switzerland Ira Lubert Endowment

And four students: Stephanie Andrade, Vanessa Altamiranda, Casey Duvall, and Julia Watkins, who are presently enrolled at the Chinese University Hong Kong, are the recipients of Student Development Awards from the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society (PSHRS).

"Dear Dr. Upneja,
It is so nice here in Hong Kong.  I'm so glad I decided to come because it was definitely worth it.  We have made so many friends and the city itself -- beautiful. 

CUHK sits atop a big mountain, with a great view of the city – very nice!  Good work out for the legs.  The bus system here comes even more often than the Blue Loop! Can you believe that?!?

We have made many very good friends here already!!!...and WE ARE LOVING IT.
--Stephanie"

See pictures of students studying abroad in Hong Kong

Winter Retreat at University Park….

Some enjoy winter retreats in places such as the Bahamas, Hawaii, or Kiawah Island. Not so for those who wear the Blue and White!  Snow and bustling winds welcomed over fifty Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society (PSHRS) alumni for their Winter Retreat at University Park. Alumni and current undergraduate students cozied up at the Nittany Lion Inn and Café Laura for a well-fed weekend of meetings, mentoring, and match-ups.

See pictures from the Winter Retreat at University Park

Super Buns!

image of Sue Paterno and Franco HarrisYou've heard of Buns of Steel….er(s). Well, now try Super Buns.

Franco Harris (HRIM ‘72), CEO and President of Super Bakery and Sue Paterno were on hand Wednesday, January 24, 2007 to launch the new nutritionally fortified Super Buns – baked with 14 vitamins and minerals and four grams of protein – featuring an image of Joe Paterno at Giant supermarkets in State College.

This was no ordinary day of Saturday morning food shopping!  Television and news crews surrounded the product launch as fans excitedly clapped from the aisles. Afterwards, the merry devotees queued for autographs from the Penn State running back and Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steeler.

The buns, incidentally, were tested in Penn State School of Hospitality’s Center for Food Innovation, under the direction of Peter Bordi.

image of Pete Bordi and Franco Harris

'Fellow Human' Stops in Café Laura…

When Professor of Education, Madhu Suri Prakash, spotted "Fellow Human" walking his way across America she stopped the car and asked him to join her for lunch. Madhu needed a ready restaurant and Café Laura was the spot to be.

For those of you who don't know, Fellow Human is a nameless man who started his walk at the site of the former World Trade Center in NYC on December 22, 2006 and is headed for the West Coast.

His goal, he says, is simply to send a message encouraging thought and discussion among "fellow humans."  The message, he says, of civility.

Part of this humanistic discussion took place at Café Laura; proudly, our students posed for pictures.

image of 'Fellow Human'

News of note…

Bob Lee, Professor Emeritus at the School of Hospitality, is currently in Daytona Beach helping with the tornado victims.  In December he was over at the tsunami site helping with funding.

The Hospitality Leadership Institute: On the Road, Again
Martha Conklin, Sara Parks, and John Park presented findings from an environmental scan and professional development needs assessment to the leadership of the National Society for Healthcare Foodservice Management (HFM) at their mid-year meeting in Tucson, Arizona on February 8-9, 2007. John Park and Joe Walk also led the group in a strategic planning exercise using Group Systems software to develop a strategic plan for HFM educational programming for the next 2-3 years.

Student Dinners in Café Laura: Open for Reservations
Students in the HRIM 430 course will begin their much anticipated dinners each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday beginning on March 6. Menus and new "real time" online reservation system is available at www.cafelaura.psu.edu

Monthly Update Archive

Send us your news - we'll include it in the School of Hospitality Monthly Update. Contact Vivienne Wildes at vjw100@psu.edu