W-b Chamber Mulling Big Land Deal

152 Losing Jobs At Franklin First 
Employees Await The Bad News Via The Mailby Jean Lacoe, Juan Torres And Cece
Todd 
Times Leader Staff Writers 
Employees Of Franklin First Savings Bank Will Be Watching Their Mailboxes This 
Weekend To See Whether They Still Have Jobs After The March 31 Merger With New 
York-based M&t Bank.

By BOBBI DEMPSEY; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, February 01, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3 





HAZLETON- When snow falls, most kids grab their sleds or ice skates. But as
a boy, Jon Nese would grab his ruler. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I remember running up to the highway to check how high the snow was," Nese
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Now 36, he still spends a lot of time measuring snow falls- except he has
thousands of people watching him do it. The Penn State meteorology professor
works as a fill-in weather forecaster for WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His television coverage area- which spans from the New York and New Jersey
borders to Schuylkill County and Williamsport- offers some challenges, he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You have a viewer in Nanticoke saying, `It rained here,' while the
Freeland viewer got six inches of snow." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Consequently, Nese said television meteorologists learn to develop a thick
skin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "No matter who you are, you're not going to be right all the time. The
weather is not a perfect science. I try to lay out the uncertainties so
viewers understand this is a close call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "But then," he said, "we sometimes get accused of waffling." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nese began his television career as a weekend weatherman for a station in
his small Ohio hometown. After earning his doctorate, Nese began teaching at
Penn State's Beaver campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He moved to Conyngham almost three years ago when he landed the position at
the university's Hazleton campus. Nese said some of his students have a
slightly distorted idea of a meteorologist's job. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Some of their perceptions come from TV, but (here) we emphasize a lot of
math and physics," he said. "We help them understand what makes weather tick
and why the weather does what it does. It's a lot more than just looking out
the window and watching." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Some of the students find it a little tougher than they thought," said
Nese. "So when I visit high schools, I tell them to take all the physics and
chemistry classes they can so they'll be prepared." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Whether downloading a radar loop off the Internet or scanning a topography
map, Nese seems to spend his entire day in weather-related duties. He puts in
about 12 hours a week in the classroom, but said there's lots of additional
work involved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's not just teaching." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Unlike at other campuses, Nese said professors at Penn State Hazleton do
not have teaching assistants, so he does all grading, testing and other
related duties himself. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Penn State also requires staff members to spend time on research projects
and writing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nese recently co-authored a textbook explaining the fundamentals of
meteorology and weather forecasting. The book, now in its second printing,
takes a nontraditional approach to explaining the traditionally complex
weather issues. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Most textbooks are like an encyclopedia and are hard to read," he said.
"The way I see it, everybody's a weather consumer. They can get weather
information anywhere- 24-hour channels, Internet, even the Farmer's Almanac.
So I try to write it in a fun way so students remember." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Along with teaching and writing, Nese fulfills his Penn State community
service duties by visiting area schools and demonstrating various
weather-related equipment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nese said his basic approach to weather stays the same when he goes from
the classroom to the television set. "It doesn't change what I do. It's just
another medium for teaching. I'd like people to learn something from what I
say." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nese admits to watching the Weather Channel, but with the sound turned off. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I just need to look at the pictures. Some of the things they say are
ridiculous, like blaming everything on El Nino." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIME

Watching Weather A Full-time Job 
Whether Teaching 
At Psu Hazleton Or 
Working As A Television 
Forecaster, Jon Nese 
Can't Get Enough 
Of Mother Nature

Watching Weather A Full-time Job Whether Teaching At Psu Hazleton Or Working As A Television Forecaster, Jon Nese Can't Get Enough Of Mother Nature