California University

VOLUME 11, NUMBER 25 OCT. 12, 2009

Enrollment
Continues
to Climb

W

The annual Homecoming Parade begins at noon Saturday and offers an array of entertainment for spectators of all ages.

Full Week of Homecoming
Activities Planned

A

full week of festivities will
culminate in Cal U’s 2009
Homecoming Day, celebrated
Saturday, Oct. 17.
“Hollywood Homecoming” is the
theme for this year’s events. Sponsored
by the University, the Student
Association Inc. (SAI) and the Office of
Alumni Relations and Annual Fund,
Homecoming Day will begin with the
annual Royal Brunch, hosted by Cal U
President Angelo Armenti, Jr. and First
Lady Barbara Armenti, at 10 a.m. in the
Performance Center.
At 11 a.m., the new Vulcan sculpture
created by artist Alan Cottrill will be
unveiled on the campus Quad. Familyoriented activities are scheduled from 10
a.m. to noon, and the Kara Alumni
House will be open to visitors.

Parking Restrictions

A

fter classes on Friday, Oct. 16, there will be NO PARKING until 2 p.m.
Saturday in the Azorsky Lot on Third Street. Parking will be available
in the River Lot, Old Main Lot and the lots behind the Natali Student
Center. Vehicles left in restricted areas will be towed at the owner’s expense.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, Homecoming Day, there will be NO PARKING from
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Second Street (200 to 500 blocks), Third Street (200 to 400
blocks) and Union Street (200 block).
Vehicles parked along the parade route will receive a parking ticket
beginning at 9 a.m. Towing of those vehicles will start around 10 a.m.
The traditional Homecoming Parade
will begin at noon. Homecoming
royalty, floats, marching bands, fire
trucks and other units will join the line
of march. Because of the ongoing
construction projects, the parade will

begin as close to Azorsky Hall as
possible. It will travel down Third Street,
turn right on Union Street, return to
campus on Second Street and conclude
at the Kara Alumni House.
— Continued on page 2

ith a headcount of 9,017,
enrollment has reached an
all-time high at Cal U.
This marks the 12th consecutive year
of rising enrollment for Cal U. The
increase represents a 5.8 percent
increase over the total for fall 2008.
Cal U’s enrollment has climbed by
more than 55 percent since 1998, when
the headcount was 5,800. Compared to
last year, full-time equivalent (FTE)
enrollment increased 4 percent for
undergraduates and 14.4 percent for
graduate students. The total FTE
increase is 5.4 percent.
The enrollment increases have
occurred in tandem with a consistent
rise in admissions standards, notes
University President Angelo Armenti, Jr.
Average SAT scores for incoming
freshmen have climbed by more than
100 points since 1992, from 915 to 1026.
“I think it’s a combination of the
student housing, our marketing
campaign, our faculty, the rising number
of accreditations, the appearance of our
campus and the great service we
collectively provide for our students and
families that cause this,” President
Armenti said. “Right now, people come
onto our campus and they are really
excited. Despite the challenges with state
and federal funding, we have a very,
very promising future.”
Collectively, the 14 PASSHE
universities enjoyed an eighth
consecutive year of record enrollment,
with significant increases in both the
number of incoming freshmen and
transfer students.
“Our universities are growing in
every way,” said PASSHE Chancellor
Dr. John C. Cavanaugh. “More students
and their families are recognizing the
high quality of our universities, and are
discovering that they cannot find a better
value.”

Well-groomed
Grounds Win Award

C

al U’s efforts to maintain its grounds and gardens have
not gone unnoticed.
The University has been named an Honor Award
winner in the Professional Grounds Management Society’s
Green Star Awards program. The award will be presented at the
37th annual PGMS awards banquet Oct. 31 in Louisville, Ky.
Established in 1911, the PGMS is a professional society for
grounds managers and other professionals who work for
colleges and universities, municipalities, parks and recreation
facilities, office parks, theme parks and other institutions.
“This is a great honor, and a lot of people are responsible
for this,” said Cal U President Angelo Armenti, Jr.
“When prospective students and their parents visit our
campus for the first time, the gardens and grounds make a
terrific first impression. Our grounds crew deserves a big hand
for its efforts.”

The
University
has been
named an
Honor Award
winner in the
Professional
Grounds
Management
Society’s
Green Star
Awards
program.

Years of hard work by
Dr. Carol Bocetti and
the Kirtland’s Warbler
Recovery Team have
the rare songbird
close to being
removed from the
endangered species
list.

Novel Funding Plan May Save Rare Songbird

A

n innovative public-private partnership crafted
by a Cal U professor ultimately may save the
Kirtland’s warbler, a rare songbird recently
named a “keystone management” species by the
National Fish and Wildlife Federation.
The designation takes the bird one step closer to
removal from the Endangered Species List. That’s both
good and bad news for Dr. Carol Bocetti, an assistant
professor in Cal U’s Department of Biological and
Environmental Sciences, who has spent nearly a quarter
of a century rebuilding the population of this rare
songbird.
Bocetti continued her work this summer as leader of
the Kirtland’s Warbler Recovery Team, the first ever
appointed under the Endangered Species Act. The
group has been restoring and modifying the birds’
specialized habitat in Michigan’s jack pine forest. The
team also removes cowbirds, which take over nests and
threaten warbler hatchlings.
The work has paid off. Although the warbler’s
worldwide population had dwindled to just 167 nesting
pairs in 1987, it now has grown to more than 1,800
pairs.
But the habitat help must continue if Kirtland’s
warblers are to thrive, Bocetti said, and new habitat
must be added and maintained as the population
expands.
Ironically, removing the bird from the Endangered
Species List would cut off the federal funds that have
supported the successful conservation effort.
“The Kirtland’s warbler will always be conservation

The warbler’s worldwide population had dwindled to just
167 nesting pairs in 1987. It now has grown to more than
1,800 pairs.

reliant and will always need management,” she
explained. “It’s not a big deal for other vertebrates to be
taken off the Endangered Species List — you identify a
problem and fix it, and they sustain themselves. That is
not the case with this species.”
Bocetti’s current goal is to establish a conservation
partnership that would include a private endowment
and a series of signed agreements with public land
management agencies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. Forest Service, Michigan Department of
Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Military
Affairs, the Nature Conservancy and the Audubon

Society all would be involved.
The first step was achieved this summer when the
Keystone Initiative, which funds conservation and
recovery projects, committed $200,000 in each of the
next two years to help Bocetti create a support
infrastructure that will include a program coordinator.
If sufficient progress has been made by 2011, the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has pledged to
support the conservation effort for at least 10 years.
An endowment of at least $14 million will be
required to maintain habitat required to sustain the
warblers, said Bocetti, who welcomes the program
coordinator. “I’m a scientist and not a fundraiser,” she
joked.
About eight in 10 endangered species are reliant on
conservation efforts, she added, and the paradigm shift
from public funding to a public-private partnership may
start a trend.
Bocetti discussed her plan at the American
Ornithologists’ Union meeting this summer and gave a
similar talk at a meeting of The Wildlife Society in
September. A number of Cal U students accompanied
her.
“This has never been done before, but if we’re
successful, this would be a model for 80 percent of the
species on the (endangered) list,” she said. “I am
convinced this is the wave of the future.”
For more about the plan to save the Kirtland’s warbler,
visit birdsredesign.wordpress.com/2009 and scroll down to
view the article.

Full Week of Activities Planned for ‘Hollywood Homecoming’
— Continued from page 1
Immediately after the parade, a
tailgate party will begin at Roadman
Park. Highlights include food and fun
for all ages, with children’s games,
clowns and a disc jockey at the Vulcan
Huddle tent.
The Cal U football team, four-time
defending PSAC-West champions,
will host division rival Edinboro
University at 3:30 p.m. in Adamson
Stadium at Hepner-Bailey Field. The
Cal U marching band will perform at
halftime, when winners of the
Homecoming Parade float
competition will be announced and
the Homecoming queen and king will
be crowned.
Events leading up to Homecoming

2

Day include:
— A bonfire at 7 p.m. Wednesday,
Oct. 14, in the River Lot parking area
at the edge of campus. The 2009
Homecoming Court will be
announced at this event, which
precedes a laser light show at 8 p.m.
on the Quad.
— The 15th annual Cal U Athletic
Hall of Fame banquet, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 16, in the Performance
Center. Standout athletes honored this
year are Bryan Hartung ’03 (baseball),
J. Patrick Hobart ’68 (men’s
basketball), Sameera Philyaw ’04
(women’s basketball), Joe Sarra ’60
(football), Chad Scott ’93 (men’s
basketball), Becky Siembak ’03
(women’s basketball), and Marty Uher
(track and field/cross country coach).

Cal U’s 1979 PSAC champion
baseball team also will be honored.
— The fifth annual Industrial
Arts/Technology Education (IA/TE)
Alumni Society reception, 7 p.m. Oct.
16 in the Booker Great Room of the
Kara Alumni House.
— President Armenti’s annual visit
to the various fraternities, sororities
and other organizations preparing
floats for the Homecoming Parade on
the evening of Oct. 16.
For more information about Cal
U’s 2009 Homecoming, contact Dan
Amerman at amerman@calu.edu or
at 724-938-4269. For a schedule of
Homecoming Week activities, visit
the Cal U Homecoming website at
http://sai.cup.edu/homecoming/
2009.

One of many traditions during Homecoming is the
announcement of the king and queen at halftime of
the football game. Shown above are the 2008 king
and queen — Darnell Strader and Justine Perez.

State Senator Named to
Board of Governors

S

National Geographic
In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits, an exhibition consisting of 56 striking
color and black-and-white photographs, continues to be on display in the Manderino
Gallery through Nov. 11. Created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural
History and National Geographic, the exhibition is organized for travel by the
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). This exhibition showcases
photographs from the book In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits, which was
published in October 2004 as a sequel to The New York Times bestseller Through the
Lens: National Geographic Greatest Portraits. All SITES exhibitions at Cal U are open to
the public. More information is available online at www.calu.edu/sites. For more
information call exhibitions coordinator Walter Czekaj at 724-938-5244 or e-mail
czekaj@calu.edu.

Judiciary and Rules, and Executive
tate Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola of
Susquehanna Township, in Dauphin Nominations committees. He served as
Senate majority whip, the thirdCounty, has been named
ranking Republican in the
to the Pennsylvania State
chamber, from 2001 to 2006. He
System of Higher Education’s
served in the House of
Board of Governors.
Representatives for 19 years.
The 20-member board has
“As the new chairman of the
overall responsibility for
Education Committee, I look
planning and coordinating the
forward to working closely with
development and operation of
the Board of Governors and the
the State System. The
entire PASSHE,” Sen. Piccola
governors establish broad fiscal,
personnel and educational
said. “Together we can meet the
State Sen. Jeffrey
many challenges before higher
policies under which the 14
E. Piccola
PASSHE universities operate
education, including making a
post-secondary degree affordable to all
The Board of Governors is composed
of 11 members who are appointed by the
students.”
Piccola is a graduate of Gettysburg
governor and confirmed by the state
Senate, four legislators, three students, the
College and the George Washington
governor or his designee, and the secretary University School of Law.
of education or his designee. Piccola was
He served on the Governor’s
appointed to the board by Senate
Advisory Commission on Academic
President Pro Tempore Joseph P. Scarnati
Standards, helping to establish new
III to replace the late Senator James J.
academic standards for Pennsylvania’s
Rhoades, who had served on the board
public schools. He also authored the
since 2001.
Education Empowerment Act, to assist
Piccola, who was named chairman of the
poorly performing school districts in the
state, and was a leader in creating the
Senate Education Committee in January,
has served in the Senate since 1995. He is
South Central Pennsylvania Educational
Improvement Program Inc., a scholarship
a member of the Community, Economic
and Recreational Development, Consumer organization that provides tuition
assistance to families in the region.
Protection and Professional Licensure,

Slugger Had ‘Quiet Confidence,’ Coach Says
Editor’s Note: Cal U will hold its 15th
annual Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet Oct.
16 at the Performance Center. For
reservations, contact Montean Dean at 724938-4418. Throughout the fall, The Journal
will profile each of the 2009 Hall of Fame
inductees.

B

ryan Hartung ’03 was a recordsetting right fielder for the Vulcans
from 2000 through 2003.
Hartung earned first-team, allconference honors each of this final
three seasons and still holds career
school records in five different
categories—home runs (39), RBI (168),
runs scored (133), hits (204) and at-bats
(575).
His 37 stolen bases are 15th best in
the school record book. His career home
run and RBI totals still rank third and
sixth, respectively, in PSAC history.
Hartung is the first baseball player
from the Mike Conte coaching era to be
inducted into Cal’s Hall of Fame and the
22nd baseball player overall. Conte
began coaching in 1997.
“This was very unexpected and
something I never really thought of,”

Brian Hartung ’03 slugged his way into the
Cal U record books and now becomes the
first baseball player under current head
coach Mike Conte to be inducted into the
Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hartung said. “Cal has had a lot of great
baseball players, and it’s a really nice
feeling to receive this honor.”

After batting .361 with seven home
runs and 36 RBI as a freshman in 2000,
Hartung helped the 2001 Vulcans win
the program’s first PSAC-West
championship in 16 years. He batted
.368 his sophomore season with eight
home runs and 49 RBI while the Vulcans
won the division crown with a 16-4
overall record.
The 2001 Vulcans finished with a 2917 overall record, which tied the 2000
and 1979 PSAC title team for the most
wins in single-season school history to
that point.
During his junior season, Hartung
clubbed nine home runs with 47 RBI
and batted .343 — and Cal repeated as
PSAC-West champion with a 16-3-1
divisional mark.
In 2003, he hit a single-season school
record 15 home runs, which is still the
sixth-highest total in PSAC history.
Hartung batted .349 and also produced
47 RBI, 42 runs, five doubles, two triples
and 14 stolen bases as Cal clinched a
third straight PSAC Final Four spot.
Setting records resulted simply from
carrying out his on-the-field duties,
Hartung says.

“I just tried to go out and do my job,”
he said. “I batted fourth, and my job was
to put the ball over the fence, so I just
tried to do that and just do my best every
time I went out on the field.”
Hartung went far beyond that, his
coach said.
“Bryan was a physically dominant
player,” Conte said. “He had a quiet
confidence about him. He was very selfmotivated and respected by everyone.
He’s what every coach would want a
player to be.”
Hartung and his wife, Cal U alumna
Jennifer, reside in Forward Township,
Pa., with their 4-month-old son,
Nicholas. Hartung, a foreman with
Banks Gas Services, looks back fondly at
his Cal U days. He lived in Binns Hall
his freshman season.
“I’ve been back a few times, and the
campus is night-and-day from what it
was,” said Hartung. “I have gone to a
few games and try to keep in touch. I
have a lot of good memories. I am very
happy I went to Cal, and if I would not
have gone there I would never have met
my wife.”

Institute for Law, Public Policy
Hosts Course on Crime Scenes

P

articipants from across
Pennsylvania attended a Basic
Crime Scene Investigator course
Sept. 14-18 at the Southpointe Center.
Presented by the Institute for Law
and Public Policy at Cal U, the program
was directed by Detective Brian
Kohlhepp of the Ross Township Police
Forensic Investigation Unit. Each day of
the learning experience was devoted to
crime scene investigation topics
presented by experts in the field.
“Initiatives like these empower local
law enforcement to better protect the

citizenry through the application of
forensic science in crime-solving
techniques,” said Dr. Charles P. Nemeth,
director of the institute and chair of Cal
U’s Department of Legal Studies.
“Numerous studies have shown the
increase in crime solving when forensics
are part of the criminal investigation.”
Certificates were awarded to those
who completed the course.
For more information about the
institute and its offerings, visit
www.calu.edu/ilpp or call
724-597-7402.

Language Lesson
Instructor Andrea Cencich coaches two Waynesburg police officers as they practice
‘Survival Spanish for Law Enforcement’ during a training session presented by the
Institute of Criminological and Forensic Sciences at California University. Designed for
law enforcement and correctional officers, the course includes practical exercises using
Spanish commands in making traffic stops, effecting arrests and conducting searches.

3

Growing Up Great

At left, Rosa Songoruru, a medicine woman from the Peruvian Andes, demonstrates
handmade instruments to Joshua, 7, and Jalynn Hodge, 4, of Brownsville, Pa., the children
of Megan Harrison. They met Songoruru during the PNC Grow Up Great with Science event
organized by California University of Pennsylvania and held Saturday, Sept. 26, at Ohiopyle
State Park. Above, California University senior Amber Humbert shows Lemaur Thompson,
4, how to determine the age of a tree by counting the rings. Humbert, of Greensburg, Pa.,
is studying Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Cal U. Lemaur is the son of
Bobbie Jo Cumberland of Perryopolis, Pa. The program was made possible by a PNC Grow
Up Great with Science grant, one of 15 awarded by the PNC Foundation. In addition to
providing outdoor experiences for 250 or more preschool children, the project will train 60
early childhood educators each year to use outdoor activities, easily accessible science
equipment and inexpensive supplies to create lessons that connect children with science
and nature.

Campus BRIEFS
established in spring 2004. Dr. Joni Roh is the faculty
adviser, and Dr. Rebecca Hess is the undergraduate
research counselor for the chapter.

Open House Features
MSW Program

KON chapter wins
Award of Excellence
Cal U’s chapter of Kappa Omicron Nu, the
national honor society for the human sciences,
received an Award of Excellence at the KON
Leadership Institute and Undergraduate Research
Conference held Aug. 6-9 in Nashville, Tenn.
The award recognizes high-quality programming
and leadership development in the network of more
than 100 campus chapters throughout the United
States.
Cal U’s KON chapter was honored for activities
completed in the 2007-2008 academic year, including
undergraduate research and programs educating high
school students about wound care, nutrition, injury
prevention, concussions and exercise.
KON members also assisted with Special
Olympics, Greek Week athletic events and the annual
Pike Run Fishing Festival.
Former chapter president Cassandra Crilly, who is
currently in graduate school, directed these activities.
Kappa Omicron Nu has more than 100,000
members worldwide. To be eligible for membership,
an individual must have made a distinctive
contribution to the profession, earned one or more
degrees in the health sciences, and maintained a
minimum undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0 or
graduate GPA of 3.5.
Cal U’s chapter of the honor society was

The School of Graduate Studies and Research at
California University will share information about its
Master of Social Work program at an open house and
information night 6-7 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Kara
Alumni House.
The MSW program is fully accredited by the
Council on Social Work Education, a nonprofit
national association that is the sole accrediting agency
for social work education in the United States.
Students can enter the MSW program at Cal U
with regular or advanced standing. Full-time and parttime schedules are available.
There is no charge to attend the open house, but
reservations are required. Deadline is Oct. 22. To
reserve a space, call Tammy DeRocco at 724-938-4022
or send e-mail to derocco@calu.edu.

Presentation Examines Films
Dr. Marianna Pensa, associate professor in the
Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, was
among the presenters at the 22nd
annual Pennsylvania Foreign
Language Conference held Sept.
18-19 at Duquesne University in
Pittsburgh.
Her article, written in Spanish,
was titled “Strangeness and the
City: A critical reading of The
Daytrippers and Felicidades.”
Pensa’s work focused on two
films, one from the United States (The Daytrippers,
1996) and the other from Argentina (Felicidades, 2000).
“My research specializes in Latin American and
Argentinean theater, but this time my attention was to

cinema, a second research interest of mine,” Pensa
said.
This marked the fourth time that Pensa
participated in this conference, which attracts scholars
across the United States.

Weekend Workshops
Continue at roboworldTM
Cal U gives robot “drivers” a chance to hone their
skills during two Weekend Workshops at Carnegie
Science Center in Pittsburgh.
VEX Clean
Sweep workshops
are scheduled for
Oct. 17 and Nov.
7-8 inside
roboworld, the
world’s largest
permanent robotics
exhibit. Hours are
10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Weekend
Workshops are free with Science Center admission.
Presented by Cal U, the Clean Sweep workshops
are practice events for the VEX National Robotics
Challenge, coming to Cal U’s campus on Nov. 20.
High school and college teams can practice for the
competition, and robots will be available for other
guests to maneuver.
The family-friendly Weekend Workshops
presented by Cal U are organized by staff, faculty and
students from the University and its National Center
for Robotics Engineering Technology Education
(NCRETE). For more information, visit
www.calu.edu.
Roboworld opened at the Science Center on June
13. It features dozens of interactive, hands-on exhibit
stations demonstrating how robots sense, think and
act. For more about roboworld, visit
www.carnegiesciencecenter.org.

The California Journal is published weekly by California University of Pennsylvania, a member of The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
Dr. Angelo Armenti, Jr.
University President

Dr. Allan J. Golden
Vice President for Administration and Finance

Geraldine M. Jones
Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Lenora Angelone
Vice President for Student Development and Services

Dr. Joyce Hanley
Executive Vice President

Dr. Charles Mance
Vice President of Information Technology

Angela J. Burrows
Vice President for University Relations
Christine Kindl
Editor

Bruce Wald
Writer

OfficeofCommunicationsandPublicRelations,
250UniversityAvenue,California,PA15419
724-938-4195wald@calu.edu

The Journal is printed on paper made from trees harvested under the principles of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (www.SFIprogram.org).

4

Wendy Mackall
Writer