It's time
By Sharon Furfaro
Assistant Editor
srfl7l@psu.edu
The 2005 senior class has
decided to donate a gift of a
Nittany Lion Shrine to Penn
State Harrisburg. The class
hopes to build an outdoor shrine
as a place of reflection, pride and
beauty to be enjoyed by students
and alumni for years to come.
Students, faculty and staff can
donate as little as one dollar to
contribute to the shrine, though a
suggested donation is $l5 - 50.
Students that donate will instantly
become members of the Golden
Lion Society.
Marissa Hoover, development
office, said that the Lion is a
universal symbol of pride at all
Penn State campuses. "It would
be nice to be able to commune
at or take pictures at a Lion that
Sleepless
By Maruja Rosario
Copy Editor
mxr3oo@psu.edu
On Feb. 18 at 7 p.m., I
participated in a countdown that
would forever change my life.
After screaming the number one,
I rose from the place where I sat
and began a marathon unlike any
other--a marathon with no losers
and the winners were not the
people who participated. I got the
rare opportunity to participate in
THON in the highly coveted role
as dancer. This was my journey.
2 weeks prior to THON: After
a quick scavenging of money, I
raised enough money for Penn
State Harrisburg to participate
in THON. Dancing, contrary to
popular belief, is not free. With
that accomplished, I started the
difficult process of "training."
Training for any sport is difficult,
or so I'm told, for the only
athletics I participate in involve a
PS2 controller. Now I was faced
with having to get my body in
shape in two short weeks for the
most grueling event of my life
The THON regime stripped me
of the two things I love most in
this world; caffeine and sugar,
in essence, Mountain Dew.
Regardless, I pushed on; holding
my large Gatorade bottle I stole
from Austin (now filled with
water).
1 week prior to THON:
Depression about not having
caffeine was starting to affect
me greatly. Even though I don't
drink caffeine for the pick-me
up effects, I enjoy having my
cup of coffee during class, soda
with lunch, and a cup of tea right
before bed. About to crack under
the pressurel, my younger brother
reminded me of a beautiful thing
called decaf and Kate Herr
reminded me that ginger ale was
caffeine-free. Caught with the
ginger -ale. I had to give that up
too.
I was also advised to get plenty
of sleep during this week, since
sleep is cumulative. To be honest,
I failed miserably. In fact, the
night before THON, I only went
to bed at 2 a.m.
The morning before THON:
I needed plenty of underwear,
tons of socks, tennis balls, baby
powder, and other random items
that just don't belong together in
the same shopping basket. Once
purchased, I proceeded to go to
campus, learn a little Japanese,
type up my SGA report, and ride
with Kate up to University Park.
Kate and her brother dropped
me off at the Rec. Hall, my home
for the next 48 hours. I met up
with Victor who took me to where
Molly Harmes, the mysterious
second dancer that I never met,
was sitting.
Pre-Game: Molly and I were
ushered into a large gym
where the first thing the THON
organizers did was place yellow
hospital bracelets on our wrists.
Then we went to our seats that
had our official dancer t-shirts
draped over the back. Exciting
to shrine: PSH senior class gift announce•
is not in front of a bathroom,"
Hoover said, in reference to the
statue in the Olmsted lobby.
"A small contribution can add
so much to this campus," Hoover
said, "I think it's definitely worth
donating those who help can
come back to campus, look at
the shrine and say 'I was a part
of that.'"
Students are encouraged to
submit creative designs for the
shrine, to be voted on by the
building committee. Design
forms are available in the
Student Government office, and
the deadline for submissions is
April 8. The winner will receive
a Nittany Lion Shrine desk
statue and their design formally
presented to the Physical Plant
committee for consideration.
Rodney Horton, SGA president
and senior class gift chair, said
"Many freshmen I've talked to
as that was; the real prize was
on the chair: a Nike book bag,
the kind with the air in the back
of it to maximize comfort, full of
free stuff. As we rooted through
our new loot, Mike Cocco, chief
organizer of THON, faced the
704 dancers and pumped them
up with a pep talk. After that , it
was time to go. We started to file
towards the out-of-doors where
we were greeted with one of my
favorite parts of the whole THON
experience.
For one second, imagine being
the star player of your favorite
team and being greeted by
From left, Janice, Molly, Rob and Maruja take a moment to pose for a quick photo. The moralers' sole
purpose is to inspire the THON dancers to keep on going, no matter how hard it gets.
first, though the dancers were
motivated with Dodgeball and
Napoleon Dynamite clips, the
energy in the room was rather
dead. Everyone just stood
up. First time dancers looked
around, not sure what to do.
Molly and I were these people.
Our bewilderment did not last
long as we quickly were put to
work by our morale captains.
THON creates a line dance every
year, which is performed by the
dancers, that captures PSU and
U.S. current events as well as
the spirit of THON. That took only
an hour of time. The line dance
would be performed once every
single hour of THON from that
moment onward.
To be honest, not much else
happened those first few hours. I
did finally find Kate, who had been
searching for me the entire time,
and also found Steve O'Holla
and Nichole Dellinger in their little
corner of the THON observing
area. All of them also helped me
make it through that first difficult
night, and for that I am thankful.
Second day/night of THON:
want to transfer to University
Park that seems to be a
common trend. I'd like to see that
trend put to rest." Horton wants to
see university pride here. "I know
we are a quieter community,
compared to main campus, but
we have more and more activities
for students here we should all
be proud of our campus."
Horton believes that this gift
will not only be an indication of
campus pride, but of student
friendships and experiences as
well. "This shrine can ensure that
memories created here will last a
lifetime."
For more information about
the Nittany Lion Shrine, design
proposals, or donations contact
Marissa Hoover at (717)948-
6317, or e-mail at mrls9@psu.
edu.
n State College
I know it became evening
because we were served dinner.
Our moralers were brilliant,
however, in attempting to keep
us entertained and happy. Janice
would buy whatever we wanted
and Rob would just smile his
George Clooney smile and it
made us feel good. We knew we
had the pep rally to look forward
to, so we trooped on.
Being up for 24 hours is nothing
new to me. In fact, I've been up
36 hours before. But never have
I done this standing up. My feet
HURT. And so did everyone
else's. So, whenever I would go
spread the entire way through my
thighs before it was over.
Finding Kate for the last time that
day, she came to attend the pep
rally with me. This was another
one of my favorite moments. All
the major athletes from most of
the big name PSU sports (and
even some not so big) came out
and supported the dancers. They
then proceeded to perform dance
routines to entertain us. One has
not lived until they see football
players reduced to dancers. I
do not remember who won the
competition, I just remember
having a good time. Kate went
home, and Molly and I were
pretty much alone to fend off
sleep as night two entered the 2
a.m. period.
Final night/day/night of
THON: Molly retired to the locker
room with Janice where dancers
were allowed to put their knees
on large balls to give their poor
feet a break. I, on the other hand,
could not handle the quiet of the
locker room, so I stayed on the
floor with Rob. He and I colored
pictures of Care Bears to pass the
time. At first, I almost smacked
News
The PSH Nittany Lion Shrine may look similar to the shrine at the Worthington-Scranton campus, pictured
above. The design remains in the hands of student creativity and the Physical Plant committee.
my head on the table as I almost
passed out from the therapeutic
effect of coloring. After that tragic
moment, I stayed awake, at least
for a while. Rob and I also met Mr.
McFeeley, known as the postman
on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood that
always said "Speedy Delivery!"
But that was not going to be
enough. That lovely night where
I went to bed at 2 a.m. started
to catch up with me, and it was
coming up fast. Rob had left me,
and I was left to fend for myself.
So I did the only thing that a
person whose been up for almost
36 hours can do: hallucinate. I
where I was, and then approached
a tall, red head and believed her
to be my little, brunette Molly.
I got in line to wait my turn with
the professional masseuses,
and started losing touch with the
world and desperately hoped for
the appearance of my morale
captain, Aryn, to appear. I looked
up on stage and saw him standing
there, bright pinkish-red hair and
all. He gave me a huge hug and
told me everything that I needed
to hear. I suddenly got a new
wind of energy, and after getting
my professional massage; I was
ready to finish this marathon.
Breakfast came around again,
and for the final time I reflected
on the events that had transpired.
Rob had had his butt handed
to him in Candyland, though
Janice had a lot to do with that.
I had my hair washed by Leena,
who was Molly's crutch, and
had accumulated even more
random stuff from the crafts they
constantly had going on.
The final hours of THON flew
by me. One minute I was eating
lunch, and the next minute I was
trying to find Kate who would be
The Capital Times, March 21, 2005
the sole possessor of the final 4-
hour pass. When she arrived, the
emotional portion of THON began.
Video footage of the THON kids
that passed away since last year
showed and dancers showed no
shame in dropping tears. After the
video, THON families told their
stories to the crowd. I will never
forget one woman who said she
looked out and saw that we were
all fatigued and exhausted and
realized we were doing it for no
other reason than her child and
the other families' children. I was
moved, and knew that I could do
this.
counted down, as I performed the
last line dance of THON 2005, I
knew that I had the chance to be
a part of something bigger than
me, something special. I made a
difference in a child's life. I helped
fight the beast that is cancer. And
I made it.
We were allowed to sit down for
the first time in 48 hours, but we
didn't sit long. As the grand total
of all the fundraising was made
known, $4.1 million (give or take
a few hundred dollars), we all
were on our feet again, cheering,
screaming, and jumping around.
Looking around the room, I
wouldn't even believe that any
of us were tired. We were so
excited to have raised that huge
sum; the first time $4 million was
reached in THON history.
All that remains to tell is Kate
waking me up during the car
ride home through the snow so
that she could stay awake, and
finally crashing into the most
wonderfully soft bed I have ever
felt. I slept into 3 p.m., did some
homework, and went back to
bed. The following day I was
congratulated for my efforts, and
it took me a week before I stopped
suffering from narcolepsy. But in
the end, it was worth it. It was all
"For the Kids."
Photo courtesy of sn.psu.edu
THON
wrap-up
By Allyson Davis
Staff Reporter
amd367@psu.edu
THON was a huge success this
year, as it is every year, raising
over $4 million dollars with all
proceeds going to the Four
Diamonds Fund to help children
with cancer.
Blessed with the opportunity to
speak with a friend of mine, Sean
MacLaughlin provided enormous
insight to the preparation of
THON. MacLaughlin is a senior
at Penn State University Park
and took part in THON's yearlong
preparation. MacLaughlin's
role in THON was a Hospitality
Captain, which put him in charge
of 17 committee members.
"Before THON, I was responsible
for contacting local restaurants
to get donations of food for other
captains and the overalls, as we
spend the entire 48 hours in Rec.
Hall with the dancers," he said.
MacLaughlin said, "Throughout
the weekend my fellow captains,
committee members, and I were
responsible to feed 700 dancers,
200 captains, and 450 Four
Diamonds Families."
MacLaughlin enjoys in
participating in THON, and
explained the event for people
who may not be aware of the
largest student-run philanthropy
in the world. "THON is a 48-hour
no sleep/no sit philanthropy event
with over 700 student dancers,
put on by Penn State students
that benefits the Four Diamonds
Fund. The Four Diamonds
Fund supports pediatric cancer
patients and their families from
the Hershey Medical Center,"
he said. "The money raised from
THON goes toward families'
medical bills, the salaries of
doctors, cancer researchers,
nurses, social workers, and others
who work with the families, and
other things that a family could
use throughout the process of
battling cancer."
THON is an excellent way to
bring together a community to
raise money for a good cause.
MacLaughlin said, "THON, more
than any other event, brings the
Penn State community together
to help with a cause that deserves
every moment that is put into
it. THON is more than just one
weekend, it is an entire year of
hard work by many people," he
said.
When asked what one goal for
THON was, MacLaughlin had
the perfect answer. He said,
"Our ultimate goal for THON is
that someday we will need to
find a new organization to fund,
as through our donations and
support, we helped a researcher
discover a cure for pediatric
cancer."