LionCam brings a touch of University to alumni

Smile for the camera.

Catching a glimpse of University Park is what some homesick alumni or students away from campus may need to do to feel like they have been brought back home.

Those alumni and students who cannot walk the path of Old Main or take a stroll by The Bryce Jordan Center on a daily basis are able to see Penn State via the LionCam on the University's World Wide Web site.

LionCam has become one of the most frequented sites of the Penn State home page, said project coordinator Doug Stanfield.

"People use it as a way to stay in touch with the University," he said. "They want to come back and look at the old place."

The first LionCam was put into place during the 30th Annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts last year, and was brought back to the Penn State home page during the fall semester.

Now images are taken only from two sites, in windows of Old Main and The Bryce Jordan Center, but Stanfield said he would like to get more pictures onto the site.

Alumni Association member Tom Moore, who purchased the cameras, said he also thinks new cameras would be beneficial to the LionCam's success.

"I think that they're great," he said. "It would be nice to have many around campus."

But it is difficult to find a secure location for the cameras to be kept under lock, Stanfield said.

Stanfield receives several E-mail messages daily commenting on the LionCam pictures, he said.

Parents of University students enjoy watching their children wave in front of the location where the images are taken, he said.

But much of the positive response has been from alumni.

One homesick alumna in Paris left the image on her screen at all times as a means of staying in touch with the University, Stanfield said.