Uphill climb #=(.-1 - Panda'-monium A metal band will rock out Pir-'ites Ger eras at the 797 Lounge for its 0 oetri rat;Atcr thc= c 3 • z. SPO • first local performance . - ARTS, Page 5. . ollerrheg*lan psucollegian.com Published independently by students at Penn State Gerald Herbert/Associated Press Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor hugs her mother Celina Sotomayor, left, July 14 after she testi fied on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. CATA logs record high ridership By Chris Bickel COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) has seen record ridership this past year, and they think they have cost conscious rider to thank. Total annual ridership increased 6.4 percent, with numbers climbing to more than 6.9 million. The pre vious annual record was more than 6.5 million, set last year That wasn't the only record broken during CATA's 2008-09 fiscal year Jacqueline Sheader, CATA marketing manager, said there was a record 45,157 bus passengers car ried on Feb. 27 the beginning of the State Patty's Day weekend. She said this student holiday was "definitely why" the prior record of 43,869 set in October 2005 was bro ken. - We're glad people are choosing not to drive, if they're choosing to imbibe," Penn State spokes woman Annemarie Mountz said. Sheader thinks that the biggest reason for this change in overall ridership was due to the climbing gas prices. "When [gas prices] were really high, people would ride the bus more," she said. "It's because there are people wanting to go green, people wanting to cut their costs." Rich Kirkpatrick, a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) spokesman, agrees the gas price spikes could be a cause for the increase of CATA patronage. Pennsylvania is one of the leading states in offering higher-quality public transporta tion, he said. "CATA is becoming one of the leading transit agen cies in the state in terms of ridership," he said. "It's a very good development to have." Sheader said CATA has also seen an increase in usage of non-student routes, including the Park Forest, Boalsburg and Houservffie lines. Sheader said the new routes and beefed-up bus schedules could elevate the ridership total even more. Elizabeth Goreham, State College Borough Council President, agrees. "If you can find a route and a timing for you, it's ideal," she said. "Having a car and parking a car and tolls are becoming more expensive." Goreham said the government estimates it costs 55 cents per mile to drive. Rates are only going up, she said, and the current costs are expensive enough. Goreham said it's "delightful" to see resi dents using the bus system and hopes CATA contin ues to grow. CATA is the third-largest transit system in the state, Sheader said. The largest is Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia with an estimated annual ridership of 325 million. The Port Authority Transit (PAT) in Pittsburgh comes in at No. 2. To e-mail reporter: cdbso67@psu.edu Manssa Gutherz/Collegian People wait for the arrival of a CATA bus Thursday at the stop on College Avenue and Allen Street. Sotomayor takes seat Students approve of newest justice By Julie Hirschfeld Davis ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor Thursday as the first Hispanic jus tice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve. Democrats praised the 55-year old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench. Senators took the rare step of assembling at their desks on the Senate floor for the historic occa- See SOTOMAYOR, Page 2. Film celebrates generation's spirit By Amanda Elser COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER It took 13 hours in a teepee to cure Carole Hart of her fourth-stage lung cancer and convince her of the power of American Indian prayer and rituals. As director of the soon-to-be debuted For the Next 7 Generations, which will be shown at 4 p.m. Saturday at the State Theatre, Hart said she hopes the story of 13 international grandmothers convinces and motivates the world to have a "shift in consciousness." The grandmothers, hailing from the Arctic Circle, North, Central and South America, Asia and Africa, united to spread the same message of change in the way people relate to the earth before it is too late. The story of these grandmothers is an epic one, and it started in 1994 when doctors told Hart, one of the original writers of Sesame Street, that she had up to four months to live. Battling can cer and still trying to lead a normal life, Hart had a meeting with a spiritual leader named Jyoti, who wanted to pro duce a film about children and dreams. By Evan Trowbridge and Peter Panepinto COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Association. "I'm sure it gives inspiration to people of any race that if you work hard, you can achieve whatever you want in life." Seeing a Puerto Rican being installed in With the Senate confirmation of Sonia such a pivotal position is good for the rest Sotomayor as the first Hispanic woman on of Puerto Rico, Segura said, adding that the Supreme Court, leaders of Latin she was "obviously" proud. American groups on campus see a break- Judge Sotomayor's Supreme Court through for the U.S. Latino population. nomination was confirmed by the Senate "She worked her way up, like everybody Thursday in a 68-31 vote. Sotomayor is the else," said Elena Segura, president of the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Penn State Puerto Rican Student See JUSTICE, Page 2. If you go What: For the Next 7 Generations Where: The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave. When: 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 Details: Tickets are $8 and $6 for students and seniors Jyoti was not fooled by Hart's attempt to appear healthy and offered her the services of her tribe's church ceremo ny. "I was surrounded by 40 people singing and praying for my healing," Hart said. When she came out three hours after dawn, it was a new begin ning to her life. Hart immediately stopped chemotherapy, and in every scan from there after, she watched her cancer disappear. "I felt an incredible shift in every cell of my body" she said. Then, when Jyoti had a vision that indigenous grandmothers from all over the world were needed to spread their ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking and healing, Hart said she offered her filming services. That is where the five-year film proj ect took root. Joyti spread the word of her vision and the response was astounding, Hart said. Thirteen grand mothers responded to Jyoti, saying they had the same vision. "All the grandmothers said they were waiting to hear, had visions of their own, or had heard about them from their ancestors," Hart explained. "It was all very mystical." The grandmothers met in upstate New York for the first time and formed the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Hart said that every six months, she filmed the council traveling as a group to one of the grandmothers' homelands to spread their message. Hart described the movie as a "story of meeting, bonding, finding a mission and carrying out the mission." Their journey led them to all corners of the globe, including New Mexico, the Amazon rainforest and Mexico. In the See GENERATIONS, Page 2.
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