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Professor of Art and Civic Engagement Council chair Amara Geffen and Core Commitments interns David Valentine ’10 and Jinnie Templin ’11 co-presented at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Educating for Personal and Social Responsibility: Deepening Student and Campus Commitments Conference in Minneapolis October 1-3. The presentation, part of a panel titled “Students Engaging Students: Facilitating Personal and Social Responsibility at the Intersection of Curricular and Co-Curricular Experiences,” featured the leadership by Allegheny students in revising the College’s Statement of Community as well as the role of student ambassadors in the Year of Social Change. Faculty, staff, and students from University of the Pacific and Rollins College also participated in the panel.

In addition, Professor Geffen presented  — via Skype — at the Imagining America National Conference in New Orleans on October 1. The panel, “Community Arts in Rural America: Stories from the Field,” focused on the role of arts in transforming, creating measurable change, and impacting economic development, with emphasis on college-community collaborations. Professor Geffen’s presentation highlighted the decade of collaboration between the Arts & Environment Initiative and PennDOT. Panel co-presenters included Jesikah Maria Ross, director of Art for Regional Change at UC Davis, and Elliot Knight, co-director of Black Belt 100 Lenses at the University of Alabama.

Associate Professor of Computer Science Gregory M. Kapfhammer recently presented a poster at the 3rd International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2009). Co-authored with Erik Ostrofsky ’11, “An Empirical Comparison of Methods for Compressing Test Coverage Reports” identifies some of the fundamental trade-offs associated with the compression and storage of coverage data.  For instance, the poster reveals that a compression method tailored to the text-based eXtensible Markup Language (XML) can create a coverage file that is smaller than the corresponding report in a compressed binary format. Further information about this poster and other related research is available at https://www.cs.allegheny.edu/~gkapfham/research/kanonizo/.

Professor of Environmental Science Eric Pallant and Meredith Hanlon ’09 attended the 7th International Globelics Conference 2009, “Inclusive Growth, Innovation and Technological Change:  Education, Social Capital and Sustainable Development,” jointly organized by the Consortium pour la Recherche Economique et Sociale (CRES) of the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop and the United Nations University Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), held in Dakar, Senegal, October 6-8. They presented a paper co-authored with Associate Professor of Economics Steven Onyeiwu titled “Sustainable and unsustainable agriculture in Ghana and Nigeria: 1960-2009.”

Adjunct Instructor of Music and Woodwind Area Coordinator Julie Hepler will perform the Concerto in Bb for Bassoon and Orchestra, K. 191 with the River Cities Symphony Orchestra on October 30 in Parkersburg, W.V.  Julie teaches courses in music history and appreciation, as well as private clarinet, saxophone, oboe and bassoon for the College. An active performer, she is the principal bassoonist of the Lake Erie Ballet Orchestra and the River Cities Symphony Orchestra. She is a frequent performer with the West Virginia Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and the Youngstown Symphony. In the past, she was the principal bassoonist of the Baton Rouge Symphony and has appeared with the orchestras of New Orleans, Mississippi and Buffalo, among others. Julie Hepler has performed as a bassoon soloist with the Erie Chamber Orchestra, the River Cities Symphony Orchestra and the Baton Rouge Symphony.

Assistant Professor of Classical Studies Judson Herrman was invited to present his recent work on Demosthenes at the Classical Commentary Writers’ Workshop at Georgetown University on October 16 and 17.

Mike Richwalsky, of the Office of Public Affairs, was the featured speaker at the CUPRAP West conference, held October 12 at Robert Morris University. He spoke on social media usage for marketing here at Allegheny and trends in the marketplace. CUPRAP is the professional organization of college and university marketing professionals in Pennsylvania.

Several photographs by Adjunct Professor Richard Sayer were shown at the Yolanda G. Barco Oncology Institute open house on October 2. The photographs were of Sue Kilburn, a Meadville woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. A breast cancer and breast care educator, Ms. Kilburn will continue to use the photographs and her story to try to help others. The Meadville Tribune ran a story by Richard Sayer on October 1 to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness month. The story and an audio slideshow with pictures from the exhibit can be seen at https://www.meadvilletribune.com/multimedia/local_story_273180127.html . Representative Kathy Dahlkemper read the Tribune story on the House floor.

People & Places, published monthly during the academic year, reports on the professional activities of members of the College community and highlights student achievements. Please submit items to people@allegheny.edu. Questions about People & Places? Contact Kathy Roos at kathy.roos@allegheny.edu. We reserve the right to edit copy for length.