The observatory atop Kirkbride Hall on Main Campus soon will open for another season of public stargazing. The university’s 12- and 16-inch computerized reflecting telescopes this fall will allow for views of the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, as well as the blue-yellow double stars Albireo and Almach, the globular star cluster M13 and the Ring Nebula in Lyra. The winter and spring season will feature planets Jupiter and Saturn, the binary stars Rigel, Cor Caroli and Izar, and the Orion Nebula and the globular star cluster M3.
The planet Jupiter's size compared to Earth
The free viewings begin Sept. 10 and are held weekly on Monday nights and one Friday night a month. Click here for the Monday schedule and here for the Friday sessions. Widener astronomy professors, including Professor Harry Augensen, will be on hand to answer questions and offer assistance.
The Trustees of Widener University have issued a time sensitive challenge to alumni. If 500 individual alums will give any amount to the university before June 30, members of the Board of Trustees will give $25,000 to the Widener Fund. In order for the Board of Trustees to make this gift, all you have to do is visit www.widener.edu/giveonline or call 610-499-1160. If you want more information, check out the video below. To qualify for the challenge, your gift must be received by June 30.
Three plaques in front of Old Main at Widener University commemorate the names of the 68 Pennsylvania Military College and Widener alumni who “laid down their lives in service of their country.” The plaques are pictured below, and can be enlarged by clicking on each image. As President James T. Harris III wrote in his message in the spring 2010 magazine, the plaques are “a constant reminder to me that this institution, through all of its changes, is a place where graduates have always answered the call of duty for the nation.”
Coca-Cola and root beer cans normally end up in the trash or recycling bin, but Widener senior Stuart Johnson used a pile of his roommate’s empties to create “Metallic Guitar 2010.” An environmental science major, Johnson’s work pictured here is just one of many creative uses of recycled material by Widener students, faculty and staff on display in An EcoArt Exhibition: Recycle,Reuse, Re-create.
The exhibit in the Widener University Art Gallery runs through May 15. An open house will be held from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, and all are invited to attend.
Gallery hours are from Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For more information, call (610) 499-1189.
Blomquist collaborated with Drexel University Associate Professor Dave Goldberg on the book published by John Wiley and Sons earlier this month. You’ll have to wait until the magazine arrives in April to read more — although, of course, you can buy the book now. Here’s a video about Jeff and his experience at Widener and the origins of this work. The clip also features some of his drawings.
DeSales A. Glover. Photo from 458th Bombardment Group (H)
In the spring issue of the Widener Magazine due out in mid-April, a package of stories will focus on Widener and its long and continuing relationship with the military in preparing soldiers and serving veterans. One story, however, that I was unable to complete is a feature story about DeSales A. Glover, a former Pennsylvania Military Preparatory School cadet from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Before he attended the high school attached to Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener) in Chester, he enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 14. From October 1942 through July 1944, he flew 31 missions, mostly over Germany, earning a Purple Heart and many other medals, before his age was discovered and he was discharged at the age of 16, the PMC News reported in October 1945. Read the rest of this entry ?
Beginning this summer, construction on the new academic building that will house the School of Nursing and the Oskin Institue will begin. The new building is expected to be completed and in use by January 2012.
Baseball season has started, at least in Florida and Arizona, and that hopefully means the snow mounds on the Main Campus in Chester soon will melt away and springtime will be upon us. The Phillies play their first exhibition game of the season tonight. On Sunday, March 28, the Widener University-PMC Florida West Regional Alumni Chapter will host a noon tailgate before the Phillies-Pirates spring training game in Clearwater. A block of 200 tickets are available, but alumni need to make reservations by no later than March 10. A sunset happy hour will be held at 4:30 the day before. See the Alumni Events page for more information.
A survivor of the Port-au-Prince earthquake will join three Widener professors on a panel discussion “Making Sense of the Haitian Earthquake” at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Akim Gabriel, a French instructor at Temple University who survived the earthquake, will speak with Widener faculty members Dr. Steve Madigosky, professor of science education and environmental science; Dr. Sarah Roth, associate professor of history; and Dr. Stephanie Schechner, associate professor of French and director of Widener’s master of arts in liberal studies. The discussion is open to the public and will take place in the Kapelski Learning Center, Lecture Hall 1, on Widener’s main campus in Chester. It is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Diversity Committee, The Academic Service Learning Faculty Development Program, and the Office of Community Engagement.
The following week, On Thursday, Feb. 18, Widener will host an Empty Bowls Luncheon from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Lathem Hall on 13th and Potter Streets in Chester. Members of the community are invited to attend. For a minimum $10 donation, attendees will receive a ceramic bowl made by Widener students during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 18. ARAMARK, the university’s food service provider, has donated food and will serve a hot soup lunch including a choice of two soups, bread, fruit and beverages. Participants will be able to keep the ceramic bowls. Click here for additional on-campus efforts to aid Haitians.
