Monday, August 28, 2006
A Disaster of Epic Proportion
I don't know if you are like me, but I get a lot of email.
A lot of email.
As I triage it, I look at subject lines and senders and decide whether to read it now, or later.
So when I got a message from my host provider about a week ago, I assumed a bill was due and that I would pay it when I had some time on a weekend.
Big mistake.
I'm in Cleveland as I type this, fresh from a Web search to see if anyone could find out what was going on with my provider.
Here's what's going on: They went under.
Unfortunately, since I did not act fast enough, they took everything with them.
I am rebuilding now, but I believe we will be starting from scratch with the forum. New user registrations, etc.
UncleLar is going to kill me. That database had not been backed up in weeks. If not months. Rest assured, heads have already rolled.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Penn State Live:
Penn State rates high on several recent higher education guides getting attention this month.
Among the accolades:
-- On Aug. 13, Newsweek ranked Penn State 40th among the world's top 100 global institutions. The top global universities were designated, in part, based on the amount of research taking place at those universities, the number of international faculty and the number of students studying overseas.
-- The 2007 edition 'America's Best Colleges,' the annual review by U.S. News & World Report unveiled today (Aug. 18), tied the University at No. 13 among all U.S. public universities.
-- In its September 2006 edition, Washington Monthly magazine cited the University as third nationally. Washington Monthly looked at indicators related to how universities benefit the nation.
-- On Aug. 8, The Sporting News rated State College, Pa., home to Penn State's University Park campus, at No. 7 among U.S. sports cities without a professional sports franchise.
Penn State officials recommend that parents and prospective students look at a broad range of guides and not base application decisions on any one source of information.
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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
DeChellis signs two-year extension:
"Ed DeChellis may have been expecting a laid-back vacation, but it's ending up to be a pretty eventful week for the Penn State men's basketball coach.
"Athletic Director Tim Curley announced DeChellis' contract was extended for another two years yesterday while DeChellis was overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Charleston, S.C. -- two days after he walked his eldest daughter, Casey, down the wedding aisle.
"'[My wife] did look at me a little sideways. She said, 'You promised you wouldn't check your e-mail before Wednesday,' ' DeChellis said about being unable to resist mixing in work with a summer break. 'She's still out there at the beach -- it's beautiful.' ..."
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Centre Daily Times | 08/08/2006 | DeChellis receives contract extension:
"How much Ed DeChellis is concerned about his personal standing in the college basketball world was evident when the Penn State men's basketball coach met with athletic director Tim Curley a few weeks after the season ended for DeChellis' annual review.
"Curley wanted to discuss updating DeChellis' contract. DeChellis checked his desk.
" 'I couldn't even find my first contract,' he said Monday.
"DeChellis' focus remains on improving his team, and Curley and Penn State liked what the 47-year-old has done in his first three seasons enough that they extended his current six-year deal by two years, keeping him in University Park through the 2010-11 season. ..."
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Penn State extends DeChellis' contract:
"While Ed DeChellis was only halfway through a six-year contract to coach Penn State's men's basketball team when last season ended, his athletic director thought it a good time to talk about an extension.
"That sort of talk certainly was not imaginable when the season began. But all coaches in DeChellis' position are paid to imagine what few others do.
"That his visions began to be realized over the course of an encouraging 2005-06 campaign is the reason for a two-year extension announced yesterday by the university. DeChellis now is signed through the 2010-11 season -- five more years.
"In the recruiting biz, which is where major-college hoops really begins and ends, that can be a significant difference. It's the space between the start of a recruit's junior year in high school and a point beyond his graduation. If nothing else, it should make luring more Big Ten-caliber players, which DeChellis and his staff are starting to get, that much more possible.
"'Kids and their parents always ask you what your commitment is and what the university's commitment is to you,' DeChellis said by phone yesterday from a rare vacation at a Charleston, S.C., resort. 'They want to know who they'll be playing for. They don't want to change in midstream.
" 'It's important to let parents know where you're at and where you're going to be. That this thing is complete and signed and Coach is going to be here. That the university is behind its coach and staff. That gives the players and parents a sense of comfort.'..."
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Monday, August 07, 2006
DeChellis extended:
"UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., August 7, 2006 - Penn State has extended the contract of head men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis adding two years to his original contract signed in 2003. Director of Athletics Tim Curley announced today that he and DeChellis have agreed on a contract replacing his current pact that will keep him at the helm of the Nittany Lion program through the 2010-11 season. In keeping with University policy, specific terms of the agreement were not released.
"'We are very excited with the direction coach DeChellis has our men's basketball program heading and are pleased that he will continue to lead the program into the future,' Curley said. 'Ed has energized the program and the Penn State basketball community and the team has made great strides in his first three years. We believe he and his staff have laid the ground work for continued success both on and off the court for years to come.'
"'I appreciate the contract extension and the confidence that Dr. Spanier and Tim (Curley) have shown in me, my staff and the program,' DeChellis said. 'I'm proud of what our players are accomplishing on the floor and in the classroom. We have built a foundation for a program that will continue to grow as we work towards our goal of winning a Big Ten championship.'
"DeChellis, who was named the 2006 National Coaches vs. Cancer Man of the Year for his service in the community, guided the Nittany Lions to their most successful campaign in five years last season. The youngest and smallest team in the Big Ten in 2005-06, Penn State posted a 15-15 record, more than doubling its win total from the previous season, won a Big Ten Tournament game, and hosted an opening round NIT game vs. Rutgers, Penn State's first post-season win and appearance in five years. The Nittany Lions 6-10 Big Ten record was their best in five years and their three Big Ten road wins equaled the most ever in program history and tied for third among all Big Ten teams. No road win was bigger than the 66-65 upset of No. 6-ranked Illinois in Champaign that ended the Illini's 33-game home court win streak, then the nation's longest, and marked the highest ranked road opponent beaten in program history.
"DeChellis has had a player named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in each of his first three seasons and Jamelle Cornley was named the 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the first such selections in program history. Junior Geary Claxton posted the highest scoring average (15.5 ppg) for a Nittany Lion in five years and was named to the USBWA All-District I team and third team All-Big Ten, Penn State's first such selections in five years. DeChellis' squad posted the highest scoring average (67.4 ppg), three-point percentage (35.4%), fewest turnovers (12.6 tpg) and most steals (7.1 spg) in five seasons and best field goal percentage (43.9%) in six and most assists per game (15.7 apg) in eight.
"The Nittany Lions return four starters, 10 lettermen and 80% or more of their scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks for the 2006-07 campaign."
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