4 I Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 Group starts ‘faith’ blog By Ashley Gold COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Christian student group PSU Seed, which published a magazine of faith-based stories last semester, is now going digital with a weekly blog open to anyone’s sub missions. Psuseed.com, launched Nov. 3, is not aim ing to be an alternative form of media at Penn State, creators said. Most of its contributors are not journal ism or English majors students and fac ulty from colleges across the country have submitted pieces to the site, said faculty adviser Joe Schafer, a professor in the sta tistics department. “Our students wanted an outlet to cre atively express themselves,” Schafer said. The idea for the publication came from Schafer’s contacts at New York University, where the NYU Seed club puts out a mag azine full of faith-based articles every semester. PSU Seed doesn’t have the fund ing to keep publishing a magazine, but members are happy to go “completely multimedia” and update the blog two to three times a week, Schafer said. Anyone can send in submissions, as long as the writing is “good-natured, respectful, reasonable and applies to our journalistic standards,” Schafer said. PSU Seed President Ruth Schafer (sophomore-English), Schafer’s daughter, Alum vies for Pa. House seat By Julie Lemanski FOR THE COLLEGIAN Richard Shermanski, former president of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council and a University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) representative, grad uated in May equipped with degrees in political science and history. Now, he’s decided to run as a Democratic candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 2011 election. His slogan, “A New Voice For A New Pennsylvania,” represents his goal of encouraging more representation from younger generations. And at 23 years old, he says he can relate to college students. “I really want to give a voice to those who are least represented in the House, those 18 to 27 years, those just starting out or just getting out of college,” Shermanski said. “I’ve always had a drive to be a voice for the masses to get them what they need and deserve.” Shermanski, of Mountain Top, Pa., plans to run as a representative for District 117, which includes Columbia, Luzerne and Wyoming counties. Republican Karen Boback currently holds the position. Shermanski is focusing his goals on the needs of college students, he said main ly issues with high tuition and interest rates. He believes it is important to disre gard political parties and merge ideas of both Democrats and Republicans. Student organizes first international engineering fair at PSU By Somer Wiggins COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Adam Trumbour isn’t your aver age engineering student. Although most in his major don’t travel abroad, he studied in England and worked in France. Now’s he working to ensure more engineering students will have experiences like his. Trumbor planned the first inter national engineering fair in the Hammond Building’s Kunkle Lounge, which was held Tuesday pennState JUMJL op Research Volunteers Needed Come support PSU research! Purpose: To investigate how leg vasoconstriction changes with age Who 1 Benefits: , • General health screening • women aged 21-30 . c . . ■ , „ ~ ~, ~ • Aerobic fitness testing • Good General Health _ • Monetary Compensation • Non smokers • Not on birth control medications When and Where? 4 visits to Noll Lab and • Not Pregnant The General Clinical Research Center at PSU FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Smithmyer SLS3s(g,psu.edu or call 863-3182 Vascular Aging and Exercise Laboratory- Department of Kinesiology, Penn State University said psuseed.com aims to “bridge a lot of barriers,” and will allow discussions that wouldn’t necessarily happen otherwise. She said the group won’t censor any pieces within reason and would love to publish anything opinionated and well thought-out. The articles originally published in last semester’s magazine and new articles have been added to the site. One piece Ruth Schafer found especially interesting was Caitie Hutton’s (freshman-architec ture) submission on women and modest dress at Penn State a good example of a thoughtful piece not specifically related to religion, she said. “Not all of our pieces have a faith-relat ed slant to them,” Joe Schafer said. PSU Seed Secretary Greg Impink (sen ior-industrial engineering) said the blog is an open forum for anyone who wants to have enlightening discussions on faith at Penn State. Most of the posts have been opinion pieces, he said, but the club is open to short stories and commentary, such as Youlhbe videos and links of interest. “We’re trying to evoke more productive conversation in a positive way, in a positive atmosphere for discussion, where nobody’s going to be too aggressive and no one’s going to condemn you,” Impink said. To e-mail reporter: argsll6@psu.edu “This goes beyond party lines, and I take both perspectives,” he said. “Pennsylvania is an amazing combination of red and blue. We should look at both ideals, see what works and what doesn’t and remove this incredible divide. What matters is what’s best for the people, not for the party.” Gavin Keirans, president of UPUA, said Shermanski is suitable for the job. “He’s someone with strong passion and dedication, and I commend him for going for his goal,” Keirans (senior-business management) said. And Sam Loewner, UPUA academic affairs committee chairman, likes the per spective Shermanski has. “He’s developing a youth-oriented cam paign, which is something you don’t see a lot of in the House,” Loewner (senior-polit ical science) said. Shermanski said he is qualified for the position partially because of his experi ence with UPUA. He also gained experi ence interning for House representative David Levdansky, D- Allegheny/Washington, researching bills, managing campaign finances and han dling paperwork Shermanski hopes his emphasis on the importance of younger generations having representation in the House will eventual ly become a normal part of politics, he said. “We need to take positions not when we’re 50 or 60,” he said. “I want people to start running as soon as they can so there are a variety of voices in there.” afternoon. Trumbour said he wants students to know how bene ficial studying and working abroad is for their personal and career goals. “I wish more engineering stu dents would be able to share the experience we had,” Trumbour (senior-architectural engineering) said. Colby Cushing said he’d been looking for international opportu nities and now he knows he’s going to find what he wants. “Now it’s just a matter of what,” :al Volunteers give boxes filled with presents to children. There is a local drop off where students can donate their own shoeboxes with gifts as a part of Operation Christmas Child. Christmas collection for children begins The power of a simple gift: That’s what Operation Christmas Child hoped to show as it began its national collection week Monday. Operation Christmas Child, a part of Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, distributes shoeboxes filled with gifts to children worldwide each year. Monday marked the start of national col lection week, during which volunteers and organizations can bring filled shoeboxes to drop-off locations in their area. State College residents can take their shoeboxes to Grace Lutheran Church, 205 S. Garner St., through Nov. 23. “It’s a kids-helping-kids project that uses shoeboxes filled with simple gifts,” said Charissa Clearman, mid-Atlantic media relations associate for Operation Christmas Child. This year marks the seventh State College has taken part in the program. Last year, the State College collection grew from 1,350 shoeboxes from the year before to more than 5,700, collection cen ter coordinator Marilyn Peterson said. From the drop-off site, the shoeboxes are sent to six major collection centers across the country. From there, they are shipped overseas and hand-delivered to children who live in poverty because of war, disease and natural disasters, Peterson said. “Many of these children have never seen a gift,” she said. “The joy it brings to these children and the effect it has on them is something they will never forget.” Operation Christmas Child began in Cushing (junior-aerospace engi neering) said. Posters from various interna tional programs lined the lounge, full of information for engineering students wishing to travel abroad. Trumbour said the engineering faculty wants engineers to have a more global education. Thomas Carolus, a professor from Germany now on sabbatical in the U.S., said he recognizes the value of international education. “I want to do everything I can to :udents abroad,” get other si To schedule an appointment to donate please visit: PSUREDCROSS.ORG By Heather Panetta FOR THE COLLEGIAN Carolus said. Carolus studied abroad at Georgia Tech when he was an undergraduate student and enjoyed it. Now he’s hoping Penn State students will be inter esting in traveling to his university the University of Siegen in Germany. Students attending the fair were also treated to an eco-friendly international meal hosted by the Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). “It couples with the whole multi cultural aspect of what we’re try- The Daily Collegian If you donate What: Operation Christmas Child Where: Drop off at Grace Lutheran Church, 205 S. Garner St. When: Now through Nov. 23 Details: Create shoeboxes filled with gifts for children living in poverty 1993 and has since collected more than 69 million shoeboxes and distributed them to children in more than 130 countries. Each year sees an increase in donations, Clearman said. “Last year, we collected 8 million shoe boxes worldwide,” she said. “This year, we are hoping for 8.2 million.” One feature of the program includes the donator’s ability to track where their shoe boxes go. Peterson encourages students to get together with their sororities, fraternities and clubs to pack a few shoeboxes. Gifts can be toys such as yo-yos and jacks, school supplies and stuffed animals, she said. “Once the markers run out, children still have that stuffed animal to hold onto,” Peterson said. Ariana Papa (sophomore-marketing) said programs like this can have a tremen dous effect. “This is essential, because it allows for fortunate people to help others in a time of need,” Papa said. Anyone interested in donating or finding out more information can visit opera tionchristmaschild.org or samaritanspurse.org. ing to do here,” Trumbour said. The international meal will help fund various ESW projects, includ ing a portable solar generator and energy audits for homes in the community, ESW project manager and webmaster Alex Devaux said. “It’s important to raise aware ness of sustainability, especially in engineering,” Devaux (junior-agri cultural and biological engineer ing) said. “We live on a finite plan et with finite resources.” To e-mail reporter: sswso7o@psu.edu
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