The University of Scranton student newspaper, Aquinas, recently launched a new website at www.scrantonaquinas.com.

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The powerful and moving “Letters to Sala” exhibition recently opened at the University of Scranton and I encourage all of Northeastern Pennsylvania to see it while it’s in our area.

Based on a young woman’s life in Nazi labor camps, the exhibition compiles materials from the Sala Garncarz Kirschner Collection of the Dorot Jewish Division of The New York Public Library. The University of Scranton will host “Letters to Sala” through October 28 in the Heritage Room on the fifth floor of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library.

Though the exhibition is currently open to view, a reception will be held on Sunday, Sept. 14, from 1-4 p.m. at the Weinberg Library featuring Ann Kirschner. Ann is the daughter of Sala Kirschner, the subject of “Letters to Sala,” and is the author of “Sala’s Gift,” a book detailing her mother’s experiences during the Holocaust.

Funding partners for this exhibit are The Jewish Federation of Northeastern PA, Friends of the Weinberg Library and the Scranton Area Foundation. Supporters are NEIU 19, The University of Scranton, Albright Memorial Library and the PA Holocaust Education Council.

The new First Friday map is here and this Friday’s event brings several new gallery spaces displaying the work of local artists.

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Help kick off the sixth annual Interdependence Day celebration in Northeastern Pennsylvania with the Hexagon Project on Friday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. at the MAC Gallery, Diversified Information Technologies, 123 Wyoming Ave., Scranton.

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Summer’s nearly over and, with that, students will soon be arriving at our local colleges to begin or continue their higher education. We’ve compiled a list of some online resources new and returning students will need to make the most of campus life in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Today, we’ll focus just on the University of Scranton, Marywood University, Lackawanna College and Keystone College with additional schools to come over the next several days. If you know of any we missed, be sure to comment below.

The University of Scranton

• Campus Map – A good map of the campus is a must for any new student and the University of Scranton’s map shows each building with notes on parking.
• Dining – The U’s Campus Dish provides menus and meal plans as well as the locations where you can pick up food on campus.
• Radio and Newspaper – You can listen to the U’s student-run radio station WUSR or browse The Aquinas, the University of Scranton’s student newspaper.
• Blogs – Get an inside look at what’s going on at the U with their Student Blogs. The Journalism department also maintains a Journalism Blog.
• The Arts – Follow all the latest news on the University of Scranton Players or Sigma Tau Delta’s Mu Omicron Chapter for English and Theatre majors.
• Social – Get social with the U’s MySpace and Facebook pages.

Marywood University

• Campus Map – Marywood’s campus map allows you to take a closer look at any of the buildings on campus with the option of making the map printable – sure to be handy for any incoming freshmen. Marywood also offers a virtual tour of the campus.
• Dining – Along with meal plans and dining locations, the Marywood Dine on Campus site provides nutritional information, tools and links.
• Athletics – Become a super fan and follow all of latest the Pacers’ athletic news.
• Blogs – You can browse through the archives of Marywood’s Student Blogs as you get ready for the new school year and, when classes start, expect many new posts.
• Social - Join Marywood’s MySpace group.

Lackawanna College

• Campus map – Take a virtual tour of several buildings around the Lackawanna College campus.
• Online campus – Lackawanna College’s online campus is another great resource with a calendar of events and important links.
• Newspaper – Check out Off the Vine, Lackawanna College’s student newspaper, to get a feel for what’s going on around campus.

Keystone College

• Campus map – Familiarize yourself with the campus before your first day with a virtual tour of Keystone College.
• Dining – College doesn’t have to be about Ramen noodles and peanut butter; browse the Keystone dining site for meal plans and menus.
• Blogs – You can review the college’s blogs or dig a bit deeper into your interests with the Culinary Arts Blog, Education Blog, Sports Management Blog and Fine Arts Blog.
• RSS – Keep up with Keystone news as it happens when you subscribe to the school’s news feed.
• Social - Join the Keystone College group on MySpace.

Nowhere is the vitality of the Greater Scranton area more apparent than in the growth of its colleges and universities. Why not Rediscover Scranton for yourself and see what the buzz is about?

At the start of the 2007-08 school year, schools across Northeastern Pennsylvania saw record enrollment numbers.

The University of Scranton’s 1,600 incoming students, including a record 1,035 full-time undergraduate students, represented the largest incoming class in the school’s 119-year history. This year, Scranton’s applicant pool exceeded the 7,000 mark for the first time reaching 7,608. Just three years ago applications first surpassed 6,000, and five years ago, applications first broke 5,000.

The school also set a record for new graduate students (435). Applications to Scranton’s graduate programs increased by 29 percent this year, and new enrollment grew by approximately five percent.

Keystone College in La Plume welcomed 1,775 students this fall, the highest enrollment in the college’s 139-year history. The enrollment included 515 new full-time students and the largest freshman class in over a decade. Keystone is also offering 35 online courses during the 2007-08 academic year, its largest selection of web-based courses ever.

Marywood University currently features an undergraduate enrollment of 1,896 with a graduate enrollment of 1,284 for a total enrollment of 3,180.

Johnson College saw a 21 percent increase in freshman enrollment, rising from 210 in 2006 to 220 this year. Returning sophomores dropped slightly from 166 to 156.

Lackawanna College’s freshman enrollment of 535 for the fall of 2007 represents a seven percent or 34-student increase over last year. The overall enrollment is 1,328, six and a half percent higher than in 2006.

The Scranton Plan, the industrial marketing arm of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and community leaders launched Rediscover Scranton to promote and strengthen greater Scranton’s quality of life and business assets. Through Rediscover Scranton, volunteers are identifying and contacting accomplished people with ties to greater Scranton, informing them about economic, quality of living, and growth opportunities, and encouraging them to relocate their businesses and families to the area. For more information visit www.rediscoverscranton.com.

The University of Scranton Players will be presenting “Art” by Yasmine Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton on February 1 - 4, 2007. In the performance, Serge has just paid a great deal of money for, depending on your perspective, A) a work of art, (more…)

The University of Scranton welcomes all to a special showing of the internationally acclaimed (see awards list at http://innocentvoicesthemovie.com) Innocent Voices on Oct. 4, Wed. at 7pm in Brennan Hall 509. Open to the public free of charge. (more…)