[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING PENN STATE UNIVERSITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 6, 2004

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, Pennsylvania State University is among the 
most recognizable institutions of our state.
  The school is home to one of the country's most storied and 
successful college football programs.
  Today, we celebrate its 150th anniversary, not for its football 
program, but for its service to our state and its world class academic 
traditions.
  For even the football program, led ably by Joe Paterno, sets the 
academic standard for programs across the nation. It is part of an 
athletic department defined by excellence on and off the field.
  Penn State graduated 80 percent of student-athletes from the entering 
class of 1996- 97 within 6 years, compared to a national average of 62 
percent for student-athletes at all Division I NCAA institutions.
  The football team produced an especially noteworthy academic 
performance, with 86 percent of the freshmen entering in 1996-97 
earning their degrees--significantly above the national rate of 54 
percent.
  Since 1854, when the school was founded as Farmers' High School, Penn 
State has revolutionized the way our state approaches farming and 
continues to be among the world's leaders in agricultural research and 
innovation.
  Over the years, Penn State has expanded its offerings to include 
every serious academic discipline.
  U.S. News & World Report's ``America's Best Graduate Schools 2004'' 
places a number of Penn State programs among the nation's top ten, 
including supply chain/logistics, industrial/manufacturing engineering, 
materials engineering, nuclear engineering, agricultural engineering, 
higher education administration, administration/supervision, 
vocational/technical education, counseling services, ceramics, and 
rehabilitation counseling.
  Penn State's Smeal College of Business has been ranked among the 
nation's top ``Best Undergraduate Business Programs'' at public 
universities.
  The honors extend to undergraduate disciplines across the academic 
spectrum. In 2003, 15 Penn State faculty or staff members received 
regular grants to lecture or conduct research abroad as Fulbright 
Scholars, more outgoing Fulbright grants than any other institution in 
the United States.
  But the measure of a university extends beyond commencement day and 
even beyond the classroom or research lab.
  A university's reputation in businesses and communities across the 
nation is carried and enhanced by that university's alumni.
  Penn State has 466,000 living alumni worldwide, 240,000 of them in 
Pennsylvania.
  The Penn State Alumni Association, formed in 1870, has more than 
146,000 members, making it the largest dues-paying alumni association 
in the nation.
  These men and women carry the standard for their alma mater and are 
proof of the world-class education Penn State students receive during 
the time on campus.
  I am honored to join my colleagues in both House and Senate from the 
Keystone State in honoring Penn State and thanking its administrators, 
professors, students, and support personnel for offering a terrific 
education at a reasonable price to so many for so long.
  It is an honor well-deserved.

                          ____________________