The Daily Colle Tuition hike looms Depending upon state funds, tuition may increase between 4.5 percent and 9.8 percent for some. By Peter Panepinto COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | pppsol7@psu.edu UPPER BURRELL. Pa. Perm State President Graham Spanier pro posed two different budget scenarios at Friday’s Board of trustees meet ing, presenting the possibility of a Officials back flu decision By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | kncso63@psu.edu Despite criticism from some Penn State students, university and state health officials are defending their decision not to release an official statement announcing the first report ed probable cases of swine flu on-campus. ‘"lt’s in every single county in Pennsylvania. It’s very common. It’s everywhere. At this point no one is reporting on individual cases,” said Dr. Margaret Spear, director of University Health Services. But she also said the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends to let the community know when the “first case or two” is reported. Spear said she felt Penn State did that on June 26, when the university reported its first two students, who live off-campus, were recov ering from the illness. No such statement was released regarding the first on-campus case of swine flu. “We made a very public announcement about it,” Spear said of the first Penn State related case. “Our sense is that we let the community know that it's in our community.” Shawn Jones (junior-communciations) did n’t get the message. Jones, who said he was unaware of on-campus reports of the virus, said he thinks the university withheld a state ment so panic wouldn’t strike students. “When you have people sharing bathrooms, the university should let the students know,” Jones said. Last Thursday, Penn State officials con- See FLU. Page 2. Nathan A. Smith/Collegian Penn State linebacker Sean Lee updates the Lift for Life leaderboard Friday. nearly 10 percent hike in tuition for in-state students. “Every effort has been made to keep tuition as low as possible,” Spanier said. “We wish to avoid the financial hardships being felt by our students.” Spanier The scenarios, called Scenario one and Scenario two, are dependent on Gov. Ed Rendell’s state budget, which Nathan A. Smith/Collegian Chole Phillips, 5, of Muncy Pa., plays under waterbuck ets set up on Allen Street as part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. ior» -A. Published independently by students at Penn State is yet to be finalized despite the July 1 deadline’s passing. The Board of TVustees meeting con cluded without a set tuition rate. One of the two scenarios will be selected by July 17, Spanier said. Scenario two the 9.8 percent increase for in state students and a 7.9 percent increase for out-of-state stu dents is based on Rendell s June 26 state budget proposal, which would lead to a $6O million loss in state fund ing to Penn State. In-state students would pay $640 See TUITION. Page 2. Lions raise $Bl,OOO for charity By Wayne Staats COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | wmssol2@psu.edu While continually flipping an immense tractor tire across Holuba Hall, Jared Odrick and his grunts drew cheers from onlookers. Odrick helped his team finish sec ond at the seventh annual Lift for Life competition Friday. The event raised $Bl,OOO for the Kidney Cancer Association, bringing the seven-year total to almost $400,000. “It’s the toughest we’ll get all year,” Odrick said about the workout. “The competition is really tough. We’re yakking back and forth with Navorro [Bowman] and Sean [Lee].” Placing first in the challenge was team Slik Mick and the Magic Trix, which consisted of tight end Mickey Shuler and linebackers Bowman, Lee and Josh Hull. Bowman and Lee replaced senior quarterback Daryll Clark and gradu ated tight end Greg Miskinis on last www.psucollegian.com Tuition Scenario one: Tuition for in state .students will be increased by 4.5 percent, $295 per-semester, and 3.7 percent, $443 per-semester, for out-ofstate students. Scenario two: Tuition will be increased by 9.8 percent, $640 per-semester, for in- state stydents and 7.9 per cent, $960 per-semester. for out-of-state students One of the Scenarios must be selected by July 17. If the state budget is not finatizedintime, Scenario two witt be chosen for the fall semester. Arts Fest weathers showers By Beth Ann Downey and Evan Trowbridge COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | eadsoB9@psu.edu Playing under the water buckets wasn’t the only way to get wet this weekend at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Saturday’s intermittent rain showers, out of place in the otherwise sunny weekend, soaked visitors and caused the postpone ment of some scheduled events. Although the rain may have put a damper on outdoor attractions, it seemed to increase attendance at inside events, such as the much anticipated multimedia performance from Ensemble Galilei. The group took the stage Saturday night to a full house at the Schwab Auditorium. “It’s the perfect storm,” said Arts Fest Executive Director Rick Bryant, adding he was glad that so many festival attendees heard about the show. He said many of the indoor performances throughout the weekend were better attend ed than past years, and the performance from local choral ensemble Essence of Joy even had as many attendees in the State College Presbyterian Church as the church sees on Easter Sunday. Lisa Faust, the audience service manager at Schwab, said it was great to see the audi torium packed. However, she said she could understand that people who purchased but tons to attend the event and weren’t able to get in would be angry. “Because it's not ticketed, everyone with a button can come,” she said. “Its just kind of a crap shoot.” Pete Stern, a professor if psychology at Penn State Berks and a festival attendee, said he wished the performance had been held in a bigger venue so more people would have had the opportunity see the show. “We have to find something else to do now,” he said. “We’re really bummed.” Families and students who missed the opportunity to see capped performances enjoyed other forms of free entertainment on Saturday. Jimmy Hall, whose performance was sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association, played to a crowd on the Old Main lawn shortly after the rainstorm, but lawn chair space was limited and the wet grass was not seen as the ideal place to sit. Fooling April drew a bigger crowd as the band played the stage on Allen Street. Kim See ARTS FEST, Page 2. year’s winning Lift for Life team. “I think I put on a better perform ance than [Clark] would. He would have been passed out halfway through I don’t think he’d be happy I said that,” Lee said with a laugh. Joining Odrick in second place was the rest of The Mad Real World Team: Brennan Coakley, Jack Crawford and Andrew Quarless. We’re Going In, which consisted of Chris Colasanti, James McDonald, Kevin Newsome and Graham Zug, finished third. Twenty-four teams participated in 11 events. Besides the tire flip, other events included were the bench press and squat jumps. Senior punter Jeremy Boone said this year’s event was especially hard for him because it was the last one in which he would compete. He set his personal goal at $l,BOO raised but sur passed it, reaching $3,000 Friday. Boone competed on the team 4th & Long with fellow kickers and punters Ryan Breen, David Soldner and Collin Monday. July 13, 2009 Budget may put burden onPSU By Peter Panepinto COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | pppsol7@psu.edu UPPER BURRELL, Pa. With two different state budget proposals on the table, Penn State President Graham Spanier has pitched two distinct universi ty budgets, with one that he says places more of the burden on students. “This is a very difficult year for us and a very tough time to be a trustee," Spanier said. “These conditions force us to set a tuition increase that will be painful to us and our students." Penn State's Board of Trustees met Friday at the Penn State New Kensington campus to discuss the university’s oper ating budget for the 2009-10 year. The board agreed on two different plans Scenario one and Scenario two reflecting two differ ent state budget pro- posals made by Gov. Ed Rendell, one in March and one in June. Under Scenario one, based on Rendell’s March 3 pro- D pn Holl posal, Penn State will receive $318.1 million in state appropria tions a $20.3 million cut from last year’s $338.4 million appropriations bringing the 2009-10 university budget to almost $3.8 billion. If Rendell’s June 26 proposal is approved, Penn State’s 2009-10 appropria tions will be $277.5 million, a $60.9 million decrease from last year. Under this sce nario, the 2009-10 Penn State budget will be more than $3.7 billion. Spanier said Scenario two would set the university back to 1997 appropriation levels and force the university to “shift more of the burden on students and par ents.” Spanier said Penn State has never had to plan two budgets in its history. “If the appropriation comes late, we will have to set fall tuition at Scenario two, but we will lower the spring tuition,” Spanier said. “If we use Scenario two, then things have gone very bad in Harrisburg.” University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) President Gavin Keirans said he’s hoping Scenario one gets the green light and he said the gov ernor’s proposals have pressured the uni versity to create new methods for the 2009-10 budget. “Obviously we prefer Scenario one,” Keirans said. “I hope a remedy can be made to get us closer to the 4.5 percent age for tuition,” he said of the possible 4.5 percent tuition hike in Scenario one. Spanier said the university asked the commonwealth for a 6.9 percent, or $24.5 million increase, in state appropriation for the 2009-10 year. With state funding in question, the uni versity is taking other measures to cut costs. See BUDGET, Page 2. Wagner. He joked that their goal was to just complete each event and not pass out or quit at any station. “When we first got here, we were like, ‘Why don’t we just do it?’ ” Boone said. “Have all the kickers, give the crowd a little bit something to laugh at.” Despite the challenging workout, running back Evan Royster said hav ing fan support kept the team focused on raising money. As for the difficulty, Royster joked that he would make it back to his bed to pass out for a while. Fellow running back Stephfon Green, who was teammates with Ollie Ogbu, Johnnie Troutman and Devon Still on the Monstars, said he was excited for the challenge. “You have no other emotion in your body but just to be happy because you know you’re doing it for a cause,” Green said. “The same people that come out and watch you play every Saturday are the same people you’re giving back to.”
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