Above: Luthra shows off her THON spirit. Right: Luthra gets some inspiration and motiva tion from toddler Alicia. Alicia and her twin sister both have a form of pediatric cancer. Below: Lee Cutchall (right) gets interviewed by Patriot News reporter Ryan Wagner. In the middle of the interview Cutchall politely excused himself to participate in that hour's line dance. (see photos on page 7) All Photos by Stacy De Angelo THON raises over $3.6 million for kids with cancer "Hope surrounds us a 11... Thon 2003... Hope surrounds us a 11... One hope, one dream." That's just part of the chorus of the Thon 2003 line dance and part of the pure essence of this year's 48-hour dance marathon. And hope was surrounding everyone in the PSU University Park Rec. Hall. With over 700 dancers, numerous Four Diamonds Families, hun dreds of people on the floor for morale, press, and security amongst various other positions, the Rec. Hall was a place of hopes, dreams, love, and undying devotion and determination to raise money for kids with cancer. Representing PSH was SGA President Paml Luthra and SGA Junior Senator Lee Cutchall. Several members of SGA and The Capital 'Times showed up as moralers for Luthra and Cutchall, along with some faculty and staff members. Some of the most eminent feelings present were the feelings of awe and amazement. Walking into the Rec. Hall at 7:00 p.m. Friday, February 21, just as the event was kicking off, and seeing all the dancers in their Thon shirts and team names was phenomenal. Some of these names were "Whoa Did U C That" (PSH's), "MMMM... THON," "Built THON Tough," "PSULVY Believes" (Penn State Lehigh Valley), "Always FTK" (For the Kids), "Got THON?" and hundreds of others. The dancers' team names provided insight into their per sonalities, each one unique yet bearing in mind the same goal. The first hours brought with them an energy that embodied yet another line of the line-dance song: "48? Bring it on!" Dancers paired up with their partners or joined in groups of friends and got the marathon off and running in classic Thon fashion. BY STACY DE ANGELO Editor in Chief Continued on Page 7
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