41111111111 Players' coach - , ........k Last day in office Museum studies 0,... State College Spikes manager, ',, _,,_ ~ Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Art galleries are struggling Nii iwnui do Gary Robinson, has develop ed during these tough economic times V a good rapport with his players l io stepped down Sunday NATIONAL, Pape 3 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, Page 7. 4 41Wih: SPORTS, Page 8. THE DAILY Colle Car show keeps on truckin' By Jesse Hein COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jvhsols@psu.edu As the sun started to set on the 23rd Annual Last Cruise, some owners were still polishing their fenders and wiping off rain drops at the Best of the Best Competition. The Last Cruise events ran all day Saturday, starting with a SK, and featured car shows throughout the day. The top cars were selected to participate in the Best of the Best Competition. The competition prizes included up to $l,OOO for the owner of the winning car. While some people complained about the low attendance numbers, others saw the turnout this year as more than it could have been. For more coverage of the car show psucollegian.com Michael Felletter/Collegian Spectators check out Richard Scaife's 1957 BMW Isetta at the Last Cruise Car Show at Mount Nittany Middle School Saturday. The car show celebrated its 23rd anniversary this weekend and despite scattered rain, it hosted a variety of events, including a 5K race and a car competition. Alum about By Jesse Hein COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jvhsols@psu.edu While painting the side of his busi ness, Jack Speight met a character from his imagination and envisioned the adventures•she would have. Speight, Class of 1989, runs Robbins Motel, a small motel in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he said he is in charge of everything from cleaning to maintenance. "When I'm outside doing mainte nance if I'm outside painting alone," Speight said. It was during one of those afternoons that he decid ed to begin fleshing out a character from his imagination. His book, Jinda Maige ,and the Bone of Evil, which came out July 1, offers life lessons in the context of time travel. In the novel, the main character, Jinda Maige is able to travel to anoth er world, but the price is steep. Each time she travels, she loses a non essential body part. He said that many of his ideas for his book came from his reflec tions on real life. He offered an exam ple. "Wherever I travel even if I trav el to the grocery store there's a cost," Speight said. "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a story about travel- See SHOW. Page 2 pens novel time travel ing to another world, but there was a price to pay?" Throughout his book, Speight said he tries to relay positive messages to his readers. Mae Corrion, a librarian at Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor and one of the book's initial editors, felt that the idea of working for what you want is particularly important for today's youth. "So many times kids think things are just gonna come to them," Corrion said. "It's something that I think all young people have to learn." Speight said these kinds of lessons, which he tries to teach through his novels, have always played an impor tant role in his family. "When my kids were very little, I told them that the two most impor tant things you need to know in life are that you need to respect other people and you need to take responsi bility for your actions." The idea of writing a novel is some thing Speight has wanted to do for a while, he said. Finally getting the opportunity to fulfill that desire is something Speight is excited about. "Most people have a job and they're in a cubicle and they go to work and they go home, and maybe they think about doing some of these See NOVEL, Page 2. Michael FeHerter/Collegian An aerial view, provided by an Alpha Fire Co. ladder truck, shows the Last Cruise Car Show at Mount Nittany Middle School, Saturday. `Firefighter for a Day' participants take a break from activities at the Alpha Fire House Saturday afternoon Fire Co. puts locals to the test For 24 hours this weekend, eight residents of State College were able to step into the very large boots of mem bers of the Alpha Fire Co. The fire company held its "Firefighter for A Day" program, in which the residents were able to get a taste of what being a firefighter entails. "We give them the opportunity to try it," said fire company Capt. Andrew Prestia. Published independently by students at Penn State By Spencer Malloy FOR THE COLLEGIAN www.psucollegian.com The program, which ran from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Saturday when the participants "graduated," provided experience in a variety of firefighting skills and an introduction to the work ing environment. "It's as real as we train," Prestia said. The stations included instruction in vehicle extraction, simulated vehicle fires and navigation through a smoke maze using a self-contained breathing apparatus. "They also got to see what it's like to Monday, July 27, 2009 Smeal cleared of rape By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I kncso63@psu.edu A jury found a State College man not guilty Friday of raping a former Penn State Altoona student last November dur ing a Monday Night Football party. The jury, consisting of ten women and two men, also found Christopher J. Smeal, 28, not guilty of sexual assault and indecent assault. During the nearly 15-hour trial in Centre County court, the prosecution and defense sparred about whether the woman was fully conscious Nov. 11 during the estimated 30 minutes of sexual inter action between her and Smeal. The woman consumed alcohol during the party, became intoxicated and was carried by Smears friends to the bed room, where she was placed on the bed and threw up on her sleeve, according to court documents. One of Smeal's friends, Jordan Thompson, photographed the woman while she lay on the bed, her eyes closed and a wet vomit stain visible on her sleeve, according to Thompson's testimo ny. "It all comes down to whether you believe [the woman] was unconscious," Smeal's attorney, Sean McGraw, said dur ing closing arguments. McGraw noted during his closing argu ments that there was no toxolocology report regarding the woman. A hospital report found no injuries on the woman, according to court documents. Smeal entered the dark bedroom and sat in a chair while petting his dog, decid ing whether he would make sexual advances toward the woman, according to the State College Police Department detectives' taped interview with Smeal, which played during the trial. smelled a little bit of vomit," Smeal told the detectives on the tape. After the intercourse ended and the lights were back on, Smeal noticed scars on the woman's wrists and chest, which he said he figured were a result of previ ous self-mutilation, according to the taped recording. During prosecutor Steve Sloane's clos ing arguments, he held up the picture of the woman and asked the jury whether a person in her state was capable of giving consent. "She was so drunk that under the law she is not capable of making consent," Sloane told the jury. not get any sleep," Capt. Tony Berrena said. The participants were on call and rode out in their own vehicle for three calls on Friday night, he said. Richard Stout, Class of 2008 and an active member of the company, invit ed his father, Bill Stout, to participate in the program. "It gives me a little better apprecia tion for what Richard does," Bill Stout said. As an all-volunteer company, con- See FIRE CO., Page 2. See SMEAL, Page 2 Chns Donadio/Collegian
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