I Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 The Daily Collegian Rossilynne Skena Editor-in -Chief Holly Colbo Business Manager About the Collegian: The Daily Collegian and Hie Weekly Collegian are pub lished by Collegian Inc., an independent nonprofit corpo ration with a board of direc tors composed of students, faculty and professionals. Pennsylvania State University students write and edit both papers and solicit advertising for them. During the fall and spring semesters as well as the second six-week summer session, The Daily Collegian publishes Monday through Friday. Issues are distributed by mail to other Penn State campuses and individual subscribers. Complaints: News and edito rial complaints should be pre sented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Who we are The Daily Collegian's editori al opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsi bility. 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VP job must help with With a load of new poli cies aimed at fostering effective risk management set to take effect as soon as next semester, it makes perfect sense that the Interfratemity Council has decided to create a new position to help over see the transition. The vice president for risk management position was added to the IFC executive board through a constitutional change that was approved last month. This new position, IFC President Luke Pierce said, splits off some responsibilities from the vice president of stan- dards role. With the policies being implemented next semes ter hired bouncers at parties, an about 300-max imum guest list, no away bars and registration of tin;*. v? Formative decade a disappointment By Patrick McDermott We’re 23 days from a new decade, so in the nostalgic spirit com mon to years ending in 9,1 think we should spend a moment recap ping the decade during which many of us came of age MY OPINION And what an awful decade it was. The decade has had its high points, to be sure, but any 10- year stretch will have its moments. Compared to any other decade, though, 2000-2009 seems to fall short in terms of positive events. Much of the common memory of the decade is marred by the numerous hor rific events from 2000 to today. Many of the most memorable events of 2000-2009 were both tragic and monumental in terms of world history. While it may be true that we only seem to remember the events that were disastrous or those that involved tremendous loss of life, the decade feels like it has a dark cloud hanging over it in retro spect. The attacks of September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the current economic recession and the tsunami in Southeast Asia of 2004 all left the world in shock and cast a somber shadow across much of the globe. parties for only certain days it would be tough to have one person regu late them, oversee that every fraternity is follow ing them and adjudicate any policy violations that may occur. Pierce said current vice president of standards Chris Smith has done well but experi enced his fair share of stress in juggling both duties. The prosecutor should not be the judge, and we commend the IFC for rec ognizing this. The vice president for risk manage ment can focus more heavily on educating fra ternities about these poli cies and investigating any breach while the vice president of standards can have the final say as to what consequences should be applied. Like generations that came before us, those of us in college have lived through many events that will someday be viewed as our “defining moments.” Our grandparents had the Great Depression and World War 11. Our parents had Vietnam and Watergate. As unfortunate as it is, we seem to have plenty of events to choose from when nar rowing down our generation’s most negative and impactful sit uations. Many people fail to realize just how much the world changes in 10 years until the end of a decade nears. When we were children in the 19905, everything was so easy not only for us as nine-year olds, but for millions of Americans who reaped in the benefits of a booming economy and the persisting image of America continuing to be the world’s main superpower. The dot-com explosion seemed to put money in everyone’s pockets, at least in the perception of us chil dren. Of course, we now know this was far from the truth, but we did spend our childhoods in a much more affluent time than we live in now. This is not solely to bemoan our current situation we still have enough financial means to attend college, presumably, and we’d have to be blind to com pare our economic situation to that of third-world countries. Still, it’s difficult not to think of how things have, in a number of ways, changed for the transition No doubt, next semester will be a big one for the IFC and it’s encouraging to see the council make preparations. Success with the new policies mandates that the future vice president of risk management take his job seriously, as it will affect the direction the IFC takes once these new social policies are imple mented. We hope that direction is one of positivity and improvement. If executed properly, the new position coupled with the new policies can give Penn State’s greek life a more streamlined system of handling risk manage ment, in turn fostering a better environment for fraternity and sorority members and the commu nity at large. BOfW/ COvfeßTH^ VT .- .l;::sti ia l worst during the past decade. This is not meant to be a eulo gy for the decade, and the dawn of the 2010 s in no way ensures better times ahead. But I think we can all agree that we’re ready to leave the 2000 s behind, even if it only feels like the next 10 years give us a blank slate with which to begin anew. On the cover of its Nov. 24 issue, Time magazine pro- claimed the 2000 s “the decade from hell,” citing the controver sial 2000 presidential election, the Bemie Madoff scandal and the crippling downfall of Detroit as part of its 10 worst moments of the decade. While the wording used by Time might seem extreme, a closer examination of the decade shows that it was far from a good 10-year stretch for both the United States and the world as a whole. But here’s the good news: The next decade doesn’t have to fol low in the 2000s’ less-than- impressive footsteps. Obviously, it will take a lot of work by global leaders and the general public, but there’s no reason to think that the 2010 s have to be as poor as the current decade. The next 10 years just have to be better than the stretch we’re leaving behind or at least we should hope so. Patrick McDermott is a senior major ing in journalism and history and is The Daily Collegian’s Wednesday columnist. His e-mail address is pfmsolo@psu.edu. The Daily Collegian Personal habit, not TV intake needs blame for distractions Regarding the Dec. 3 Column, “TV dependency needs attention,” I have a question for columnist Stephanie Goga: Are you going to unplug your modem cable as well as your TV? Ms. Goga states that she disconnected her TV after returning from Thanksgiving break because, upon reflection of her habits during the break, found that she had watched too much of the boobtube and could not remember seeing anything “eye opening, educational or inspiring.” I have some solemn news for Ms. Goga: Removing your TV is not going to stop you from wasting time. In our pervasive elec tronic age of cell phones, iPods and the Internet, the television is merely one more screen (and a dinosaur at that) in a trifecta of digital indulgence. In a Comm 180 class last semester, my professor challenged the entire class to a daunting assignment: Him off and discon nect from all screens for 24 hours. Needless to say, during those 24 hours we had to find other ways to amuse and/or educate ourselves; I personally turned to my dusty stack of paperbacks and my trusty bass guitar. Of course, simply discon necting from modem technology isn’t auto matically going to ensure you engage in “eye-opening, educational or inspiring” activities one could simply play solitaire for a whole day. The real crux of the “digital dependency dilemma” is not the source of our distrac tions (these are infinite), but the act of dis traction itself. Perhaps Goga would be wiser to advocate not just turning off the tube but switching up our own habits. Brad Klein senior information sciences and technology Bus loop 'saga’ too focused on specific group of students In response to the ongoing saga over the expansion of the bus loop system with the student government’s proposed Highlands Loop, it is clear that the proposal was not only futile but completely misguided. According to the University Park Undergraduate Association, the purpose of such a loop, which would run closer to frat row during the late hours of the party happy days of the week, was to increase safety in those areas for students returning home. While this loop may Help a small percent age of those completely incapable of walk ing to a current bus stop, in actuality it gives Penn State students, most being underage, the excuse to party into the wee hours of the morning. Why not call it the “Ambulance Loop?” And the UPUA won ders why this proposal did not sit well with the borough. Why not consider revising or creating a bus loop that would benefit the campus population as a whole, not a small minori ty? When the UPUA finally realizes that this loop and others like it are unfeasible, maybe they’ll work toward my plan: The Figure Eight, which hits hot spots like Beaver Avenue, the HUB, the Business Building, and the Katz Law Building, but that’s another story. Kristopher Park senior-finance and mathematics United States can be leader at United Nations conference In response to the Associated Press arti cle, “U.S.: Gases must face regulation,” in The Daily Collegian Dec. 8, the news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will look to set caps on greenhouse gas emissions is inspiring and encouraging. As one of the biggest emitters of green house gases in the world, the United States has an obligation and an opportunity to lead the world toward a more sustainable future by capping our own emissions. Right now, 190 nations have gathered in Copenhagen to take part in COPIS, a U.N.- sponsored conference to address global warming. The United States has been criti cized for not making strong commitments on climate change, and many have feared we would not be taken seriously in Copenhagen. The announcement from the EPA is a great step for the United States to take the lead in the climate discussions. We’re down to the 11th hour in terms of combating global warming. With thousands of activists calling for a fair, ambitious and binding treaty and 56 newspapers around the world running the same editorial call ing for “decisive action,” people around the world need to see a leader emerge in Copenhagen. Where the United States was previously entering COPIS practically empty handed, with much stronger commitments coming from the European Union, the United States is now in a position to bargain. Rose Monahan sophomore English and political science Make Plays The MLB Winter Meetings have com menced and on day two a big deal just went down between he Tigers, Yankees and D’Backs. The Yankees get Curtis Granderson; the D’Backs get Edwin Jackson and lan Kennedy; and the Tigers get Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke. It’s a good deal for the Yankees... Read more from the Make Plays and the rest of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucollegian.com.
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