University Park

Penn State held a celebration Tuesday to celebrate National Constitution Day. Students shared their interpretations of several different amendments to the U.S. Constitution at Heritage Hall in the HUB student union. 

Isabella Scotti, a sophomore and a music education major, presented about the 14th Amendment, which addresses citizenship and equal rights for all citizens. Scotti says the Constitution can be used to interpret some of the political debates that are happening today.

Antoine van Agtmael was the founder and CEO of the investment management firm, Emerging Markets Management, and now serves as a Senior Advisor at the Foreign Policy Group. He and Fred Bakker co-author the book, “The smartest places on Earth: Why rustbelts are the emerging hotspots of global innovation.” 

His work analyses how “emerging markets” across the globe grow and he spoke with WPSU about how the West could respond to the challenges they bring.

Calling for respect and unity that he said will lead to common ground, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Penn State University Park on Tuesday and spoke to a crowd of hundreds about how he wants to serve the country.

The former congressman from El Paso, Texas, is the first declared presidential candidate for the 2020 race to host a public event in Pennsylvania. Coming from previous stops in critical swing states like Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, O’Rourke said his “grassroots road trip” is really important to him.

Kathy Wells started her career early. She didn’t get a chance to go to college after graduating high school in rural, Northwestern Pennsylvania.

In her words, she grew up in a “large family, small area.

“Basically, you work,” Wells laughed. “You don’t go to school.”

Now 48, Wells is an administrative assistant for the Forest Area School District in Forest County — one of the most remote and scarcely populated areas in the state.

An atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, Katharine Hayhoe is known for her ability to communicate science to everyday people, including skeptics of climate change. She is an award-winning professor at Texas Tech University and is involved in a number of educational initiatives, including hosting "Global Weirding," a public media program on YouTube.

The great, great, great granddaughter of Charles Dickens, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, is an author, lecturer and award-winning travel writer. She also has a masters degree in art history. She is on Penn State’s University Park Campus Thursday, December 6th to give a talk on “Dickens and Christmas,” at 4:00 in Paterno Library. She spoke with WPSU’s Kristine Allen about the publication of “A Christmas Carol.”

Penn State students are back at the University Park campus. Last week, nearly 300 freshmen attended “Results Will Vary*,” a theatre performance that put a new spin on student orientation. The show explored issues students might face and resources the university has to support them.