• r Decreased Funds The Centre County Historical Society could see a cut in funding from the state I LOCAL, Page 3. THE DAILY Colle EMIEW Pa. senator switches political party Sen. Arlen Specter speaks at Penn State in 1999. In a controversial move, the senator announced Tuesday he has changed his political party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Poll: Obama loses support Dem""m"u"°" By Emily Connor FOR THE COLLEGIAN It seems President Barack Obama's honeymoon period may be ending especially in the eyes of young voters. A CNN poll released last week, just before Obama reaches his 100th day in office today, reported the number of people who believe the nation is better off with the Democrats and Obama in control has dropped to 49 percent, a seven-point drop since January While the overall decline has not been dras tic, the largest drop has come from Local music scene to lose key promoter By Beth Ann Downey COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I eadsoB9@psu.edu The graduation of Nittany Booking founder and promoter Garrett Bogden will likely cause the loss of an influen tial component of the State College music scene. Nittany Booking has come a long way since its first show in 2006, bring ing national acts to one of the few downtown all-ages venues: SoZo, 256 Beaver Ave. Now, Bogden (senior marketing) will leave the company he created with the hope that live music will still carry a strong presence in State College. don't want to see the State College music scene die," he said. "I've worked so hard to get it to where it is." According to Bogden, Nittany Booking is "pretty much oven" Extended forecast I WEATHER, Page 2. d - Briefs NNeathen High T H o l da 6 y o : Tonight: Tomorrow: Courtesy of Campus Weather Service •• Local Low 44 High 60 cws.met.psu.edu Contents. Sports voters under the age of 35. down from a high of about 60 percent to 48 per cent. The economy seems to be the most critical factor worrying young people, local political activists said. "There are a lot of graduating sen iors and students looking for summer jobs and internships who were think ing things would be better" said Sean Meloy, former president of the Penn State College Democrats. "This is the first time the huge job losses have directly affected them." White House Domestic Policy Director Melody Barnes said in a The company will sponsor two more live shows with headliners Punchline on Friday and Straylight Run on May 15. Bogden said he didn't originally plan to do anything after the Punchline show. but the Straylight Run performance was "one of those too good to be true shows' Upon gradua tion, Bogden will be moving back to his hometown of Pittsburgh to work Bogden for American Eagle Outfitters' corporate office. He said it would be feasible to put on the occa sional State College show, but impossi ble to do them at the same caliber as when he was a student. "I don't want to put myself through wikvShout Out Ashley Griffith's vocal personality never fails to put smiles on her teammates' Airaces I SPORTS, Page 10. press conference Tuesday the econo my is of "critical importance** to the president. "We are committed to creating jobs and creating jobs in the future that will exist in the United States," Barnes said. Young Americans may also be frus trated with the often-stagnant political process after the excitement of such a momentous election, Suzanne Chod, a lecturer in the department of political science, said. .After the fever of the campaign, reality sets in," Chod said. "The See POLL. Page 2. that either," he said. "The only way I would do a show is if I'm sure it would sell out and I don't have to worry about He bows there will still be shows at SoZo, but said all of the really success ful shows there have been sponsored by Nittany Booking. don't know what they're going to do," he said. Will Snyder, manager of SoZo, said the venue will continue working the way it has, even with the loss of Nittany Booking. Still, he said he hopes Bogden will continue to do some production from Pittsburgh. Snyder wants to continue working with other promoters in town, such as Cherry Darling Productions, The Asylum and Students Organizing the Multiple Arts bands and other locals. as well as high school Though he has worked with multi- Published independently by students at Penn State By Katie Sullivan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I kmss424@psu.edu After Pennsylvania San. Arlen Specter announced his switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party Tuesday, some local Republican officials are upset, saying Specter bailed on them. Mike Barley, spokesman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said the organization was disappointed with Specter's decision and thinks the senator switched for the wrong reasons. "He got a poll inside and it showed he was trail ing badly" Barley said about Specter's race in the Pennsylvania primary "I would argue he's moved away from our principles." Specter plans to run for a sixth term as senator, this time on the Democratic ticket in the fall. His sudden change of heart could mean the Senate would have a filibuster-proof Democratic majori ty Collegian file photo According to a statement released Tuesday by No Phoning Home • Next year Penn State will ffer . .ndlines in dorms upon request " LOCAL. Page 5. www.psucollegian.com Bust could provide link By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I kncso63@psu.edu Monday's $1.2 million marijuana bust may lead to the missing link in the controversial 2006 killing of a Penn State student, Centre County Chief Public Defender David Crowley said Tuesday. In his testimony to authorities on Nov. 27, 2007 regarding the drug bust, Philip Dragotta described a man who might be the same person Crowley has been searching for in connection with the killing of Penn State senior Youngcheol Park, Crowley said. Crowley represents State College resident Andrew Rogers, who was found guilty of third-degree murder in 2007 after police say he killed Park on Feb. 23, 2006. In December, Rogers was granted another trial and his conviction was overturned after evi dence surfaced that possibly support ed his version of the killing. Rogers maintains he acted in self- Democrats' approval ratings are declining in all voter age groups Voters 35 and older Source. cnn.com ple agents in town, Snyder said Bogden has been the most successful. But, Snyder can also see another individual rising up in the future to fill the void left behind by Bodgen's absence. "I imagine that it will spark again in someone else," he said. "If people want to hear great music, they will provide a way to make that happen." Though Bogden said he would be willing to help such a person, he "wouldn't trust just anyone" to take over Nittany Booking directly. Bogden learned a lot holding the position, he added especially during the tough times when he balanced concert promoting with schoolwork and being a full-time member of the band Cloverleaf. The hardest part of promoting in State College is competing with all of See MUSIC, Page 2. .2 Comics 15 NEWS: 865-1828 www.psucolleglan.com .3 Crossword 15 BUSINESS: 865-2531 02008 Collegian Inc. 10 Horoscope . . ..13 defense against Park and a man known to him only as - Sweet" when police say he admittedly beat Park to death with a baseball bat, beer bottle and rolling pin. "Sweet" was never found, launch ing Rogers' defense team into a hunt for more evidence, Crowley said. That chase led Crowley to the search warrant authorities filed m January against Penn State student Paul R. Spara, 161 Gressley Road, Ruffs Dale, in connection with his involvement in the recent drug bust, Crowley said. In his testimony Dragotta a man who was not charged, but provided information about the drug case mentioned a man known to him only as according to police records. "Dragotta stated that he had been told by another person, whom he only knew as 'B,' that Spara was receiving his marijuana from a person in New York state," according to the warrant. See BUST. Page 2 . Specter's office, the senator said he feels more aligned with the Democrat's policies. "Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philos ophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said in the press release. But some are citing Specter's lagging populari ty among Pennsylvania Republicans as his moti vator for the switch. Alex Smith, president of the Penn State College Republicans, said he thinks Specter made the change because he believed he would lose the election after nearly losing the senate race to Rep. Pat Toomey, a Republican, in 2004. Smith said when Specter voted in support of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package, that was the last straw for the Republicans. "He realized he wouldn't get re-elected in the Republican Party," Smith said. Sean Meloy, former president of the Penn State See SENATOR, Page 2 . Voters younger than 35 John Friel/Collegian Wednesday. April 29, 2009 Student joins Real World cast in Cancun By Chris Bickel and Kelly Martin FOR THE COLLEGIAN One Penn State student is facing the real world not the one entered after college, but MTV's 22nd season of its longest-running reality television show. Bronne Bruzgo (junior-history) was cast last semester for The Real World: Cancun, which began taping Jan. 26, his friend Seth Bruckner (jun ior-film and video) said. At Penn State, he was a member of the Marines ROTC and the Bruzgo Penn State Boxing Club before taking a semes ter off to film the show. Bruckner, who has known Bruzgo since their freshman year in ROTC, said his friend is a "ridic ulous" person with a lot of charis ma. Bruckner thinks these are some of the qualities that helped his friend get cast for the show, set to premiere in late 2009. "He doesn't care what other peo ple think about him and he always says what's on his mind," he said. See STUDENT, Page 2.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers