Weather

Not that forecasts a week out should be trusted, but the weather is looking pretty good for the meeting.

We had a good soaking rain yesterday and overnight, probably a good three-quarters of an inch.  This followed a dry two week period, so hopefully it will help with the foray.  Forecasts are for a thunderstorm or two over the remains of the week, and then we are supposed to enter a cooler, drier period.

Forecast:

Saturday: 69/57, partly cloudy, slight chance of a shower.

Sunday: 72/58 and partly sunny

Monday: 78/58, some clouds

Tuesday: 78/60, partly sunny

Wednesday: 80/57, partly sunny

See you all soon.

Restaurant and Bar Guide, Program

On the right is a restaurant and bar guide that I put together.  All opinions are mine, with a little help from the folks in the lab.  I hope it's helpful.

You can also download the final program here.  It's not on the MSA site yet but should be very soon.

Both are googledocs -- you can either print directly or download the PDF files.

EDIT:  Thanks to those who pointed out that the links don't work.  Looks like you can't publish PDFs.  I will move the links to the MSA website, where they should work.

See you in a couple of weeks!

2008 MSA Foray Information

The 2008 Foray will be held on Sunday, August 10th.  It is now at full capacity, so unfortunately we will not be able to accommodate additional applicants.  If you are going to be here on Sunday and would like some ideas about places to collect on your own, or for other possible activities, drop a comment in the box and I will try to help.

Barrie Overton from Lock Haven University is handling the site arrangements.  The site will be at Lock Haven's Sieg Conference Center, a field site nestled in the mountains about 25 miles from campus.  The site is located here on Google Maps.  The surrounding area consists of typical mixed eastern mixed deciduous forest, dominated by hemlock, maple, oak and pine.

We will leave for the Sieg Center at 8 AM.  After a morning of collecting, we will have lunch, and the option for a bit more collecting before a final departure at about 2:30 PM.  This should get you back in time to get ready for the welcome reception, which starts at 5 PM.

We will have a mycological lab setup in Buckhout Lab on campus after the foray, and will make it available during the evenings.  There will be microscopes available as well as some basic supplies.

This is funny

When I first met with our conference organizers, I warned them that the MSA crowd was likely to favor inexpensive and rustic over costly and posh.

I am looking over the registration for the dorms, and you're preferring North Halls over Eastview Terrace by a factor of nearly 5:1!

I understand that the North Halls were just renovated, and they now have air conditioning, so it might be a really good bargain.  Of course, in Eastview Terrace you get the private bath and single room.  They are about the same distance from Thomas Building, the main venue.

Next time we should just set up a tent city.

Karling Lecture

This year's Karling Lecture will be given by Dr. Nick Talbot, Head of the School of Biosciences and Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Exter, United Kingdom.  The Talbot lab has been at the forefront of genomic studies looking a the molecular and cellular basis of plant disease, and has utilized a wide variety of tools in dissecting the infection process.

You can read more about research in the Talbot lab here.

This promises to be a great lecture.

The Karling Lecture is an annual invited lecture presented at the MSA meeting, named in honor of John S. Karling, a co-founder of the MSA and renowned expert on chytrids.

Poster Dimensions and Mounting

I just got word from our intrepid conference coordinator, Nancy Eckard, regarding poster dimensions and mounting:

Poster boards are 4' X 4' (121 cm X 121 cm) and are double sided (useable area 46" X 46", or 116 cm X 116 cm).  It is strongly recommended that posters be 36" X 46" (91 X 116 cm) in either landscape or portrait mode.  The 46" dimension is not an error -- 46" will ensure that the entire poster fits within the metal frame of the poster board.

Velcro tape needs to be used to hang posters (we will have a supply of this on hand).  Pins of any type are not permitted on the poster boards.

Note that ' means feet and " means inches.  We don't want any miniature stonehenge posters!

Where Should I Stay at the Meeting?

The travel and accommodations page on the registration website has information about your best accommodation options for the meeting.

See the map on the sidebar for the locations of these options and their proximity to the major meeting venues.

If you plan on staying at a hotel, BOOK NOW.  State College hotels often book up, even during the summer.

Dormitory Options:

There are high-end and low-end options.  Being dorms, the high-end (Eastview Terrace) isn't the Four Seasons, but it's newer, and you have a private room with private bath, air conditioning, and a fridge.  These are running $62.50 per day.  These dorms are a 5-10 minute walk to Thomas Building, the main venue for presentations.

On the low end (North Halls), you can choose double occupancy at $39.50 per person per night, single occupancy for seven bucks more.  North Halls consists of suites of two to four rooms, sharing a bathroom.  North Halls are about the same distance to Thomas as Eastview Terrace, but this is an older facility so it might not be quite as nice.  These rooms also have air conditioning.

Hotels on campus and downtown:

We have held rooms at the three major hotels closest to the meeting venue, all no more than a 20 minute walk away.  They are all comfortable places and we have a special rate for them.  These, and the dorms, are your best options.

The Nittany Lion Inn is at the northeast corner of campus.  It's a nice, comfortable place to stay, and in a very convenient location.  There is a nice bar and restaurant in the hotel.

The Atherton Hotel and Days Inn are both located downtown, so very convenient both to the main venues and the restaurants and bars downtown.  The Atherton is a little further but not by much.

There are a couple of additional downtown options you might (or might not) consider:

Hotel State College: This is a very small hotel right downtown, at the bustling corner College and Allen, above the Corner Room restaurant and adjacent to the Allen Street Grill.  It's a great location, but it might be noisy.  Its few rooms vary, but they tend to be small, inexpensive and a bit worn.  I stayed there when I first moved to State College, and I found it suitably clean and comfortable, but that was a long time ago.  (814) 237-4350.  Not sure if online reservations are possible.

Imperial 400 Motor Inn.  At the edge of downtown, across from Atherton hotel.  I don't know anything about this place, but it looks a bit rough.  To me, it's reminiscent of something out of a Quentin Tarentino movie, but then I remember that this is State College, so how rough can it be?  If you stay there, please make sure and tell me what it was like.

Hotels Further Afield:

Online you will find a plethora of other places to stay in the region.  These might be fine if you have a car (we can provide on-campus parking permits), and some will have shuttles to campus.  There are a few on North Atherton (Sleep Inn, Rodeway Inn, Comfort Suites) that are about a bit over a mile to the main venues.

Again, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments.

David Geiser

Where the *&%$# is Penn State?

Getting here is easy as long as you are equipped with good hiking shoes, crampons, a compass and, preferably, a good GPS unit.  I'm kidding!

The State College area is rather geographically complex, being located at the point where the Appalachians make a hard right turn to the northeast.  This has some odd effects, such as a town layout where the east/west streets are on more of a north/south axis than they should be, so it's not hard to get lost.  But once you arrive, you should find all of your needs accessible on foot, and navigation should not be a big challenge.

By Air:

State College has good air service for a small town.  The University Park Airport (SCE) is served by Northwest (from Detroit), United (from Washington/Dulles), Delta (from Cincinnati) and USAirways (from Philadelphia).  Delta provides all jet service, Northwest and USAir offer a mix of jet and turboprop service, and United all turboprop.

The airport is about six miles from downtown State College.  I wouldn't hesitate to check bags, as it usually takes only a few minutes for them to be delivered to you from the planes.  As of today, the baggage carousel is not available due to airport construction, so the bags are delivered to you curbside in front of the airport.  This doesn't seem to take but a minute or two longer.

You may find a better deal flying to a surrounding airport such as Harrisburg or Pittsburgh.  I have never found this to be economical in terms of time or money, but your experience might be different.

You can grab a shuttle or taxi from the airport to your hotel or to campus.  This will cost you somewhere around $10-15.  I suggest looking for fellow MSAers and sharing to save money.  If you don't find a cab or shuttle driver waiting to take you, call one:

Nittany Express Shuttle (814 867-4647)

Handy Delivery Taxi (814 353-6003)

There are a number of car rental options at the airport.  There are others in town.  Check the web for availability.

By Car:

State College is just entering the era of the Interstate Highway, with the nearly completed Interstate 99 slowly but surely connecting us with the outside world.  If you approach from the south and west on I-99/US 220, you will encounter construction, and on US 322 from the south and east, a ~10 mile stretch of two lane road.  Do be careful driving these dangerous stretches of highway.

Some of our local roads are aggressively patrolled by the State Police, so watch your speedometer.

We are surrounded by some beautiful country here, so you will probably enjoy the drive.  Just take your time and get here safely.

By Train:

Not a good option.  There is Amtrak service to Lewistown and Altoona, which are 30-40 miles away.  Getting here from the train station is not convenient.

By Bus:

Greyhound does provide service to State College.  The bus station is located on the west side of campus, a ~15 minute walk to the Eastview Terrace dorms.

State College?  University Park?  What's up with that?

University Park is essentially a shadow municipality that corresponds to the university's stand-alone zip code, 16802.  People refer to the town as State College, although the Borough of State College is actually only a small part of it.  Surrounding the Borough, which covers downtown and some of the neighborhoods close to it, are several townships: College, Ferguson, Patton.  Folks living in these surrounding townships might have a State College mailing address.

Still confused?  Good.  You should be.  Just refer to the place as State College.  NOT College Park.  Or College Station.

If you have any questions about this stuff, leave them in the comments section, and I will do my best to answer them.

Mycologically yours,

David Geiser

Welcome to the 2008 MSA meeting at Penn State

I put up this blog so folks can come here to pose general questions about the venue.  Feel free to add questions to the comments section and I'll do my best to answer them.

Your Local Arrangements Chair,

David Geiser