Dick Lippin, founder and chairman-CEO of L.A.-based entertainment PR agency Lippin Group, said he owes a lot of his success to his alma mater, Penn State. In return, the 65-year-old Lippin has given back to the school.

He began funding a program for the study of ethics 20 years ago and is now helping create an online ethical forum. He also founded a cancer resource and information service in Los Angeles named after his wife, who died from breast cancer in 2006.

Lippin was recognized for his contributions with the 2013 Service to Society Award by an alumni association at the school a couple of weeks ago.

So the 1968 graduate returned to campus for the first time in 30 years to receive the award and brought along his second wife and daughter.

But rather than just soak in the adulation, Lippin brought his family to the site of his less-than-glamorous campus job – counting library visitors with a hand-clicker.

He remembered the work fondly, however tedious it was, and joked that maybe it will be fodder for his next award.

“Night after night I would sit there clicking,” he said, laughing. “They should have a plaque up there – a historical monument to my service to the library.”

Banding Together

Sara Carter had been to happy hour and other employee-bonding events with her co-workers before, but last month’s bash came with some added pressure.

Carter, chief correspondent at Web hosting company Media Temple in Culver City, was one of several musically inclined employees whose bands played as part of a company bonding event at Sunset Boulevard’s Viper Room on March 20. Carter, 27, played guitar in her two-person band, Haun Solo Project, with singer Lindsey Haun in front of all of them.

In the middle of the performance, Carter and Haun decided to move onto a catwalk that was lit from below with colorful lights.

“It must have looked really awesome because everyone’s phones and cameras popped up,” she laughed. “But when I looked down to see what I was playing, I couldn’t see a thing. I would just get blinded.”

So Carter played a portion of the show without seeing what her fingers were doing. She didn’t slip up, despite her fears.

“I’m normally not playing for all these people I work with,” she said. “I felt a little more pressure. But there was a huge amount of support. It was a cool thing.”

Staff reporters Jonathan Polakoff and Jacquelyn Ryan contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].