Tag: Behrend

Move over, Bill Nye. Penn State Behrend has its own ‘Science Guy’

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Joel Solomon (3)
Joel Solomon, a physics major, was the recipient of this year’s T. Reed Ferguson Award. The award recognizes a junior who has demonstrated scholarship, leadership and citizenship through academic and out-of-class involvement and gives promise of further achievement in the senior year.

For some kids, it’s Cartoon Network. For others, it’s Nickelodeon. For Joel Solomon, it was the Science channel?

“Growing up, I just always watched that channel,” says Solomon, who recently completed his junior year at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. “I was fascinated by what humanity has been able to do over the years, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of that.”

Math and science resonated with Solomon, and that interest led the New Wilmington, Pa., native to Penn State Behrend. As he got older, he knew he wanted to pursue research in college, and he could think of no better destination than Behrend.

“Being able to get a great education at a small campus is great,” says Solomon, a physics major. “I was looking for a research-oriented institution, and Behrend is one of the few schools in the region that offers such opportunities. I know that with a degree from here, I can go anywhere that I choose.”

This past year, Solomon collaborated with Bruce Wittmershaus, associate professor of physics, on a research project titled, “Concentration Dependence of Coated Gold Nanoparticles for Metal Enhanced Fluorescence.” The project was recognized as the Best Poster Presentation this past April at the Sigma Xi Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference.

Undergraduate research has been a big part of his time at the college, but Solomon’s interests go beyond the academic realm. For the past three years, he’s been a goalie on the men’s soccer team. This past year, Solomon was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, a national society that honors collegiate student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition. The society recognizes student-athletes who received a varsity letter in their sport while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher throughout their junior and/or senior years. Solomon is also a former AMCC All-Academic selection.

“I feel as if soccer complements my academics. Just being physically active helps me keep up with my coursework,” he says.

Solomon’s accomplishments on the field and in the classroom played a key role in his receiving the 2014-15 T. Reed Ferguson Award last April at the college’s 66th annual Honors and Awards Convocation. The award recognizes a junior who has demonstrated scholarship, leadership and citizenship through academic and out-of-class involvement and gives promise of further achievement in the senior year.

“I was very happy to receive the award, and it was nice to know my work is paying off,” Solomon says. “It just reassured me that I’m on the right path, but I know there’s more that I can do.”

Solomon will get the chance to fulfill that promise of further achievement this fall, continuing his undergraduate research as the recipient of a grant to explore the topic of “Enhancing the Photostability of Fluorophores Using Metal Enhanced Fluorescence.”

For the future, Solomon plans to attend graduate school and possibly work with optics. His ultimate goal, though, has its roots in the programs he watched on Science as a boy.

“My dream job is always going to be something with NASA. I have always been fascinated by all of NASA’s accomplishments,” he says, “so that’s the dream, and that’s what I’ll keep working toward.”

Kunming, China, native comes to Penn State Behrend to ‘claim’ an education

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

(Wang, Arthur) Rose_Cologne_Keystone Award
Arthur Wang, a Kunming China, native, is shown holding the Rose Cologne Keystone Citizen Award, a University-wide award that he received this spring.

Yuanheng “Arthur” Wang arrived in the United States for the first time in 2006. His parents felt it was time for him to see the world, so the Kunming, China, native went to live with his uncle in Seattle.

He knew there would be only one way to adapt.

“I really struggled back then because I basically knew nothing about English. I realized then that I had to master this language to survive,” Wang says.

Now a junior at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Wang is doing more than surviving — he’s thriving.

He has made the Dean’s List every semester so far, has joined the Lambda Sigma National Honor Society, has served as the regional vice president of the Student Pennsylvania State Education Association and was recently accepted into the University’s Schreyer Honors College. His greatest accomplishment though, might be the work he is doing to help his fellow international students, he says.

Wang serves as a teaching assistant for Penn State Behrend’s English Language Learners program and holds office hours each week, tutoring students in college-level reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The English language has resonated with him.

“I like English, and I like communication. They just make me excited,” Wang says.

In fact, he’s so enthused about the language that English has become his major. Now he’s using that excitement to assist others.

“I want to help those who are learning English, but in order to do that, I have to master the language myself,” Wang says. “I use English and Chinese interchangeably, which we call ‘code-switching.’ I want to encourage those around me to realize and appreciate the beauty of language.”

Wang’s efforts were recognized this spring when he was honored with two awards: Behrend’s Irvin H. Kochel Award and the University-wide Rose Cologne Keystone Citizen Award. The Kochel Award is presented annually to an outstanding student who demonstrates character, scholarship, leadership and citizenship through efforts that positively influence students and the college community. The Cologne Award recognizes students for service and volunteerism to their campus and local communities.

After graduation, Wang plans to pursue a master’s degree in education or instructional communication and would eventually like to be a professor of language and literacy education. He’s not afraid to challenge stereotypical notions along the way.

“I wish to challenge the stereotype that Asian students or international students are not able to major in English or the humanities. I want to challenge the stereotype that says all international students are going to major in business, engineering or the sciences,” he says.

Guiding him along the way is a principle he picked up from a speech titled “Claiming an Education,” given by poet Adrienne Rich at the 1977 convocation of Douglass College in New Jersey.

“I’m not here to accept or receive an education. I’m here to claim an education. I want to claim all of the resources here available to me,” Wang says. “This term inspires me because it really confirms my dedication and informs my direction.”

He’s hoping other students are willing to follow his footsteps in claiming their education.

“College is all about choice,” he says. “If you want to be happy, if you want to be a success, then you make that choice and do it. Once you make that choice, no one can take it away from you.”

For adult student, degree is ‘one of those lifetime badges you get’

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By Robb Frederick
Public Information Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

Michael Linhart (3) (682x1024)Michael Linhart took his time getting to Erie Insurance Arena, where he received a bachelor’s degree in general arts and sciences. He crossed the stage in May, 24 years after he first enrolled at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

“It’s hard to describe how that felt,” Linhart, 42, said. “To be honest, I just tried to soak it all in.”

The Fairview resident first arrived at Penn State Behrend in 1991. The Kochel and Burke centers had not yet been built. Ohio and Almy halls were still woodlots.

Linhart had trouble adjusting to college life. After three semesters, his GPA had flat-lined at 1.5.

“I wasn’t ready for college,” he said. “I didn’t have the focus or the determination to stay with it. I needed to grow up.”

So he left. He worked the cash register at a grocery store and helped manage a Taco Bell. He watched his friends go on to better things.

“All my friends were getting these great 9-to-5 jobs,” he said. “They were getting married, having kids, and I was stuck, still living hand-to-mouth.”

In 1998, after five years away, he came back to campus. He tried to be more active: He joined the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and the Returning Adult Student Organization. He volunteered as an orientation leader.

“He had a renewed sense of what he needed to do to be successful here,” said Biddy Brooks, director of the Office of Adult Learner Services. “He was committed to putting in the work. So it was hard to see him leave again.”

After two years of study, Linhart was offered an internship at a property management company. He worked as a leasing consultant, matching renters to apartments in a 132-unit complex. When his boss offered him a full-time position – good pay, and a path up the organizational ladder – he accepted, leaving college for a second time.

Before long, however, the work bored him. He joined the U.S. Navy Reserve, training as an aviation supply worker. He completed basic training on Sept. 5, 2001.

Six days later, the nation went to war.

“I ended up in the Persian Gulf, on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, thinking, ‘Yeah, this was a great plan,’” Linhart said.

When his tour ended, he returned to Erie, wanting to be close to family again. He met a woman and had two children. He’d raise them on his own, tending bar and working as a massage therapist.

He married again in 2012. When his new wife, Amy, encouraged him to complete his degree, Linhart once more found himself in Biddy Brooks’ office.

“He just persevered,” Brooks said. “He was so positive and outgoing, and always willing to talk with other adult students. He wanted to help them through situations he’d already had to work through.”

He kept his own doubts to himself. “I was a lot more apprehensive, coming back that third time,” Linhart said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ But I stayed with it. I saw it as one of those lifetime badges you get: the ‘turn 40 and go back to college’ badge.”

It worked. He earned his final credits and was honored as the college’s top adult learner. The day of his last exam, he lingered on campus.

“This school has given me so much,” he said. “So many friends, so many experiences, so many nuggets of wisdom I can take with me anywhere. I just walked around and took it all in one more time.”

Before the commencement ceremony, he drove to the cemetery where his grandparents are buried. He placed an invitation in a zip-lock bag and tucked it between their headstones. Then he went home and taped a message to the top of his mortarboard: “I MADE IT.”

Creating the Penn State Behrend Performance Band was one of Miranda’s many highlights

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One of Craig Miranda’s favorite moments from this past academic year was creating the Penn State Behrend Performance Band, which performed a series of concerts on campus by the spring semester’s end.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Editor’s note: Far from Home is an occasional series in which we document a year in the life of international students at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

When Craig Miranda arrived at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, he had one goal.

“Even though I’m just a freshman, I want to start big. I want to make an impact,” the first-year computer science major said at the beginning of the academic year.

Miranda did more than start big. He finished big.

Through the course of the academic year, he excelled in the classroom, joined numerous campus organizations, started his own club, joined the tennis team and even presented a project at the Clinton Global Initiative University’s 2015 meeting, held this past March in Miami.

It’s not how Miranda expected his first year to go when he set foot on campus last August.

“I came here thinking that I would be more secluded. I thought I would just focus on getting my work done to get through, but it turned out to be the opposite,” he says.

Miranda credits the friends he made at Behrend with helping him get involved. Being so far away from home can be challenge, but he’s begun to build a strong support system at the college through the friends he has made.

“Friends are what help me to keep going,” he says. “They give me an escape to get away from whatever I’m feeling, whether it’s homesickness or something else.”

Together with his friends, Miranda created the Penn State Behrend Performance Band student organization as an outlet for anyone who enjoys singing or performing live music. By the end of the semester, the band had 12 members and had performed six concerts.

“We want to reach diverse groups of people, who come from different cultures and might have different tastes in music,” Miranda says of the student organization. “One of the songs we performed this year was an original written by two of our members, and it included both English and Chinese lyrics.”

An emphasis on musical diversity is a reason why Miranda, currently president of the club, has already begun the process of having the Penn State Behrend Performance Band brought under the college’s Multi-Cultural Council (MCC) banner. As the group grows, he envisions it being used even more to promote diversity on campus.

Miranda’s work with the band, coupled with his other accomplishments, made for a busy year, but he says he has no plans to slow down over the summer. Now back home in Kuwait, he reports that he’s already thinking about returning to Behrend in the fall, with plans to do “do something a lot bigger.”

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Behrend students, faculty to lead fight against invasive species in Wintergreen Gorge

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With funding from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Sea Grant and Behrend are working to develop a weed  management plan that brings students and community members together to remove invasive species.

By Anna McCartney

Communications and Education Specialist at  Pennsylvania Sea Grant, an outreach program of Penn State Behrend  

Wintergreen Gorge along Fourmile Creek is a popular destination for hikers, birders, fossil-hunters and others who simply use the stream to cool off on a hot day.

Because it’s also a favorite of Penn State Behrend students, they are involved in creating a weed management and implementation plan to develop best management practices that protect the Gorge from invasive species.

With funding from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC), and help from Pennsylvania Sea Grant (PASG) and Behrend faculty, they are working to develop a Weed Warrior program that brings students and community members together to remove invasive species that are found there.

IMG_3440 PSU PASG Weed Warriors wintergreen gorge R

Students will also help develop a Best Practices Guide that can be used by other universities and communities to control invasive species on their campus or other natural areas.  

In May and June, students will learn to identify target invasive plant populations and use GPS equipment to inventory and track them on a baseline work map so they can prioritize future removal efforts. The data they collect will be added to existing information provided by the WPC about rare, threatened or endangered plant species so the plan will protect these assets while eliminating the harmful plants.

The management plan will require students to conduct research and determine immediate priorities and the best course of action to combat invasive species within the identified areas. Based upon the site conditions, students will also need to consider how to reintroduce native species once the invasives are removed.

Marti Martz, PASG senior outreach and project facilitator, anticipates that engaging Penn State students and community members in this effort will provide several benefits. “There will be more ‘boots on the ground’ to help with removal and more opportunities to discuss impacts of invasives on native plants and the insects and animals that rely on these natives. Once people understand how invasive species degrade a habitat, they will be more vigilant about what they bring into their own yards,” she said.

Sea Grant will also work with Ann Quinn, director of Greener Behrend, and the students to develop a Best Practices Guide that can be used by other universities or communities that want to control invasive species on their campus or other natural areas.

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Tom Cermak, Pennsylvania Sea Grant coastal outreach specialist, helps Behrend students remove invasive bush honeysuckle from Wintergreen Gorge.

“This project not only provides valuable, hands on experiences for students, but it also protects and enhances the ecological integrity of a wonderful community asset,” said Tom Cermak, PASG coastal outreach specialist who is working with students to identify, track and remove invasives.

“We at Behrend are very excited to work with Sea Grant to eliminate invasive plant populations throughout Wintergreen Gorge. As these aggressive species are removed, they will be replaced with native plant communities, which will increase biodiversity and help keep the Wintergreen Gorge Ecosystem in balance, ” said Quinn.

You can help maintain the beauty of this popular hiking and biking trail by volunteering to remove plants at planned workdays this summer. Contact Ann Quinn at 898-6993 or abq1@psu.edu.

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Bush honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 15 feet. This aggressive invader displaces many native plants, including wildflowers and dogwoods.

multiflora rose Penn State

Multiflora rose (above) steals space, nutrients, water, and sunlight from native plants and trees.

Turnbull Award winner relishes her time spent at Behrend

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

First impressions go a long way. Just ask Amyelia Payne.

Four years ago, while searching for colleges, the New Castle native toured Penn State Behrend. That’s all it took for her to make up her mind.

“We had this awesome tour guide, and right away, I knew Behrend was for me. I instantly fell in love with the campus,” the senior interdisciplinary business with engineering studies (IBE) and international business major recalls.

Payne’s experience that day would later influence her campus involvement as a student. When she looked into organizations to join, one club resonated with her.

“I loved Lion Ambassadors because a Lion Ambassador was the first person that I met when I came to campus,” Payne says. “I remember how that influenced me, and I wanted to have that same impact on students when they came to tour Behrend.”

Joining Lion Ambassadors was just the start of Payne’s influence and involvement. She joined Lambda Sigma and Beta Gamma Sigma, both national honor societies, and also became very active in Student Government Association (SGA). As a junior, she was SGA vice president before serving as president this past year.

Through SGA, Payne has left her mark. She’s helped spearhead discussions and preliminary plans to transform Erie Hall into a fitness and recreation center and Behrend’s SGA played a part in expanding Penn State’s smoking policy to include electronic and vapor cigarettes.

As SGA president, Payne also introduced an international seat on the organization’s board in response to the college’s growing international student population. This past fall, Penn State Behrend welcomed 186 international students, the largest such class ever at the college.

“We’ve seen such an influx of international students, and this was done to ensure that they had equal representation,” Payne says.

Payne’s involvement on campus was recognized in April at the 66th Honors and Awards Convocation where she was named the recipient of the Thomas H. Turnbull Award. The award recognizes a Penn State Behrend student who has contributed to the college community through outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership and citizenship.

As it happens, when it came time for the naming of the Turnbull Award winner, Payne was already on stage handing out awards as part of her duties as SGA president.

“I had been standing up there for more than two hours smiling, and by the time they got to the final awards, my face hurt. I heard them say IBE and international business major and I thought, ‘Wait a minute; I’m the only one here with that double major,’” she recalls. “I was so shocked, but it was an incredible feeling to be recognized. I’ve given a lot to Behrend in four years, but I could never repay the experiences that it’s given to me.”

This week, Payne will graduate with her IBE degree and head to Cary, North Carolina, to intern with LORD Corporation this summer. She will study abroad in Barcelona this fall before graduating with her international business degree in December.

She says she will miss her time at Behrend, but she’s also hopeful and excited for the future.

“I’m not sad. There have been times over the past month when I’ve thought about it, but why be sad? It’s inevitable, so there’s no reason to dwell on it,” Payne says. “Everyone comes to college to get a degree and for their academics, but it’s what you do outside your degree that makes your experience unique. I’ve done all that I could, and I think I’m looking forward to that next stage of my life. ”

Left-hander Jack Herzing gives baseball team boost during sophomore season

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Jack Herzing

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

One by one, Jack Herzing sent them down. Between the left-hander’s strong fastball and biting curveball, Penn State Altoona hitters found themselves helpless at the plate.

When the April 6th game had finished, the Penn State Behrend pitcher had struck out 16 batters, tying the school record set in 2001 by Troy Williams.

His source of motivation that day came from an unexpected place — fear.

“In the back of my head, there was just this fear of getting rocked. It’s happened to me before, and it’s a very bad feeling when you’re up there getting hit around, and I was really motivated to get out there and help our team win,” Herzing said.

The Lions did win the game, defeating Penn State Altoona 4-1 in the AMCC contest. Herzing’s strong performance earned him recognition as Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, but it was just a snapshot of what’s become a breakout sophomore season for the St. Marys native.

Overall, Herzing is 7-1 with a 2.82 ERA in 44 1/3 innings of work and leads the team with 58 strikeouts while averaging 11.69 strikeouts per game. His success has given a huge boost to the Lions, which own a 23-10-1 record and begin play in the AMCC Championship Tournament on Friday, but the seeds to Herzing’s 2015 breakout had been planted at the end of last year.

While he showed glimpses of his talent during his first year as a collegiate player, Herzing says he felt a need for improvement.

“After my freshman season, I really wasn’t pleased with how I performed,” the project and supply chain management major says. “The day after I came home (from college), I started a new lifting routine to get myself ready for the next season.”

The extra time in the gym has paid dividends for Herzing, who is penciled in to start the Lions’ first game   of the AMCC Championship Tournament against Mount Aloysius.

“Herz has been big time for us this spring,” says Behrend head coach Paul Benim. “Our assistant coach Jay Condit has done a tremendous job of helping Herz evolve, simplifying his process. Herz has really focused, stepped up and elevated his performance, especially after the team lost three senior pitchers from last year’s ECAC Championship team.”

Perhaps no one is more familiar with Herzing’s mentality on the mound than teammate Brian Bohman, who has caught every one of his games this season. As a catcher, Bohman is often charged with keeping Herzing calm, even when things turn sour.

“Jack is that bulldog out there,” Bohman, a sophomore history major, says. “He wants to go 110 miles all the time, but sometimes you have to slow him down, say a little joke and get on with it. We work really well together.”

Herzing credits Bohman with much of his success.

“They say it’s 50-50 catchers and pitchers, but it’s really 60-40 catchers, if not more,” he says. “Bohman has been so great this year. He studies the batters. He knows where we should throw it, and I just throw it where he wants me to. He deserves most of the credit.”

While he’s clearly very serious with regard to baseball, there is another side to Herzing, and Hunter Hux will attest to that. As the only left-handed pitchers on the team, Herzing and Hux immediately developed a bond, but it goes beyond baseball.

“We’re the two goofiest kids on the team. We’re always laughing and cracking jokes,” Hux says. “We saw this one story online called ‘17 Reasons That You and Your Best Friend Are Joey and Chandler,’ and we started crying laughing afterwards because it described us perfectly.”

Hux is one of Herzing’s greatest supporters, and he has high hopes for his friend’s future. Last year, former Behrend pitcher Chad Zurat signed a professional contract with the Colorado Rockies organization.

That leaves big shoes for any Behrend pitcher to fill, but Hux says Herzing could be the guy to do it.

“If anyone on this team has the potential to do that, it’s Jack,” Hux says. “If he just develops a third pitch, there is no ceiling for him. And if Jack decides he wants to do it, I think he will.”

Behrend senior committed to seeing StudentTrade.net succeed

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Wehler, May 2015
Eric Wehler will graduate next week from Penn State Behrend, but the senior project and supply chain management major is committed to seeing StudentTrade.net succeed.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Next week, Eric Wehler will be one of more than 500 students to graduate from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. Like many other successful graduates, he has a job lined up, but he also has a unique connection to Behrend that likely will not be ending anytime soon.

In December, Wehler created StudentTrade.net, an online marketplace where members of the Penn State Behrend community can exchange or purchase textbooks, school supplies, appliances and furniture. The site began as a class project for Wehler’s MIS 430: Systems Analysis course but has expanded since then.

Today, StudentTrade.net has more than 90 registered users and forums for nine different colleges and universities. Earlier this month, Wehler established the site as a limited liability company (LLC). There have been growing pains along the way, including a redesign that resulted in the loss of previously registered users, but Wehler is committed to the cause.

“It keeps fueling me because I really believe this has a chance of succeeding,” says the senior project and supply chain management major who will begin work as a supply chain associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in May. “It’s really just a better version of a classifieds website, but it’s able to help students save money. I feel as if this could be the next big thing.”

Wehler is not alone in his enthusiasm for the project. Faculty members in the Black School of Business have encouraged him to continue enhancing and promoting the site, and Wehler sees Penn State Behrend as an integral part of any future success that the site may have.

“I’m aware that it’s going to take time, but if it takes off at Behrend, then I think it will just grow from there. I give so much credit to the college, the School of Business and the Office of Marketing Communication for their help with this. Even if the site grows, I always envision it being ‘housed’ at Behrend,” he says.

Wehler envisions the site remaining a free service for students, but he hopes to eventually charge property owners for posting information. He also believes the site could generate ad revenue.

For any of that to happen, however, StudentTrade.net needs significant web traffic, which is what Wehler is working to increase during his final days as a student at Behrend. Right now, the site is running a campaign in which students are automatically entered to win a $25 gift card if they post an item on the site.

“The site is like a second full-time job for me, and I plan on continuing to do what I can, so it eventually will become my full-time job,” Wehler says. “I see myself one day going from college to college and pitching the site to schools. In the process, I hope that I will also be able to inspire students to pursue their own paths as entrepreneurs.”

Wehler will certainly continue pursuing his.

“As long as the site is running and it’s helping students out, I’m committed,” he says. “I plan on running this thing for as long as it lasts.”

Paul Lukasik leaves imprint at Behrend through Servant Leadership Award

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William staniszewski (2)
Bill Staniszewski (left) was the recipient of the Paul Lukasik Servant Leadership Award at this year’s Center for Service and Civic Leadership’s Service Awards.

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Paul Lukasik unassumingly walked to the podium, flashing an abashed smile at the crowd of more than 50 people in attendance at Penn State Behrend’s Center for Service and Civic Leadership’s Service Awards.

“Just so you know, my face gets red when I get nervous,” said Lukasik, displaying humility that’s fitting in light of the award he was about to present: The Paul Lukasik Servant Leadership Award.

The award, created and presented to Lukasik in 2014 and subsequently named in his honor, recognizes a Penn State Behrend junior who, through leadership in a student organization or class, encourages others to engage in service and civic engagement.

This year’s honoree was Bill Staniszewski, a junior mechanical engineering major who has completed numerous service projects with THON and Triangle Fraternity.

“Being honored with this award was the highlight of my semester. It really means a lot to me, especially as one of the leaders of Behrend Benefitting THON,” Staniszewski said. “When I heard that I was the recipient, it helped to reaffirm my commitment to leading by example.”

For Lukasik, having an award named in his honor has been a humbling experience.

“It’s hard to put words to it. Presenting the award hammered home to me that this is something that will stay even after I’m gone,” said Lukasik, a senior project and supply chain management major. “My hope, though, is that people will look beyond the name of the award and see its intention.”

Naming an award after a current student is an unconventional practice, but according to Carrie Egnosak, an academic adviser and a member of the Service Awards Committee that created the award, Lukasik is especially deserving of the honor.

“Paul has just been so involved with service from the very first moment he stepped onto campus,” Egnosak said. “He’s one of the few students who has participated in every Alternative Spring Break trip since he’s been here, and he tends to take on a leadership role with any club or organization that he becomes involved with. Everybody who knows him loves him because he would do anything for anyone.”

Since arriving at Behrend, Lukasik has performed services projects through Reality Check, Behrend’s community service-oriented club; Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society; Relay for Life; and Alternative Spring Break; and has served as a resident assistant.

Lukasik said his commitment to service dates back to childhood, helping out at Fair Haven’s Church, founded in North Tonawanda, N.Y., by his grandparents.

He contends his commitment to service won’t be changing anytime soon. After graduation, he plans to do volunteer work through GE Transportation, where he has accepted a position in the Commercial Leadership Program, and also hopes to make a service trip to David’s Home, an orphanage founded in Haiti by Fair Haven’s Church.

Lukasik said he is grateful for all of the opportunities he’s received at Behrend, and he hopes new students will continue to pursue service work.

“Behrend as a whole has given me so many opportunities. I’ve had internships, gone on service trips and had leadership positions,” he said. “The service work just draws you in. It’s mutually beneficial and so rewarding. No matter how busy you are, there’s always something you can do, and I think it’s our civic duty to give back.”

Behrend alumna specializes in OCD research

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Jessica Schubert (2)

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Jessica Schubert has heard it all too many times.

“I’m so OCD.” “Oh, that’s my OCD acting up.” They’re the explanations many people offer to explain their little quirks.

The problem is that a quirk — a peculiar behavioral habit — is much different from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) — a potentially severe mental illness that affects more than three million Americans in the United States.

“People don’t mean harm when they make generalizations like that, but I do think it perpetuates this mindset that mental illness is not a big deal,” says Schubert, who graduated from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, in 2009 with a degree in psychology. “OCD is a real, chronic and disabling condition. It’s a broader disorder than a lot of people think.”

Bringing awareness to OCD and its complications is one of the Harborcreek native’s goals. Now a Ph.D. candidate at Binghamton University – SUNY, Schubert has developed an interest in OCD, partially because treatment of the disorder remains a relatively new concept.

“It’s only in the last 30 years where we’ve had any  effective treatment for OCD. Before that, the field was very psychodynamic, but over time, the theoretical focus changed to behaviorism. That small change in focus has really led to the treatment of OCD,” she says.

According to Schubert, treatment can take many forms. Medications may be used, but Schubert says they’re often not a long-term fix.

Instead, she proposes exposure-and-ritual prevention, a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The idea is to encourage the person suffering from OCD to face his or her fears.

“The problem with someone who has OCD is that they’re avoiding what they’re afraid of. Having them stay with their anxiety will allow them to see it go down over time,” she says.

Schubert’s doctoral research specializes in sleep patterns and how they potentially affect OCD. This was also her topic of discussion when she returned to Behrend this semester to speak as part of the college’s Colloquium Series in Psychological Sciences and Human Behavior.

Schubert estimates that at least half of those diagnosed with OCD are unable to maintain regular sleep schedules. In fact, OCD sufferers tend to stay awake through the night time hours, only to sleep throughout the day. Schubert’s research examines the role that disrupted circadian timing of sleep plays in the severity of obsessions and compulsions. Often referred to as the “body clock”, the circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep and regulates many other physiological processes.

“It’s not that people with OCD are not sleeping enough, but that they’re sleeping at the wrong time,” she says. “My research looks at whether we can normalize sleep, so they can engage in normal treatment.”

Although Schubert is still conducting more research on the topic, she says she’s encouraged by her findings, which suggest that sleep patterns do play a role in the severity and effectiveness of treating OCD symptoms.

Schubert plans to dive further into the topic in the years to come, but she is also excited about the other potential paths her professional future could take.

“There’s this huge array of opportunities available to someone in this field,” she says. “You can teach, you can see patients, you can do research or you can do a combination of all three. It’s a field you can never get bored in.”