W The Daily
Collegian
Published independently by students at Penn State
Pres.
sorry
about
e-mail
Max Wendkos sent an
e-mail cautioning
greeks on Pulse survey
By Jourdan Cole
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
After cautioning fraternity
members against taking a Penn
State drinking survey in an e
mail last week.
Interfraternitv
Council (IFC)
President Max
Wendkos apolo
gized and said
he wasn't trying
to cover up alco
hol statistics.
Last Tuesday.
Wendkos <sen-
Wendkos
ior-marketing and psychology)
sent an e-mail to all IFC chapter
presidents discouraging them
and their fraternity's members
from taking the Penn State
Pulse survey on drinking, writ
ing "the last thing we need right
now are more fingers being
pointed in our direction."
Data is currently being col
lected for the annual Penn State
Pulse survey, which operates
under Student Affairs and
records student drinking habits.
In 2009. the survey showed
about 75 percent of the respon
dents said they drink on Friday
nights, having an average of
about five drinks.
In Tuesday's e-mail. Wendkos
suggested fraternity presidents
have “members take the survey
and indicate responsible and
monitored consumption of alco
hol by fraternity men," avoid
questions where they must iden
tify themselves as members of
the greek community or avoid
taking the survey altogether.
"It will be really, really bad for
the greek community if the sur
vey’s results indicate an excess
and binge drinking within frater
nities,’’ he wrote in the original
e-mail.
On Saturday, Wendkos formal
ly apologized to fraternity mem
bers for sending the initial mes
sage, writing he hopes the sur
vey will be completed honestly
and without exaggeration by the
greek community.
“I acted only to prevent the
distribution of potentially unreli
able information regarding the
drinking habits of members of
the fraternity community,”
Wendkos wrote. “I want it to be
done correctly specifically, in
a way that does not unjustly
make us the scapegoat for a
problem that is significantly
more far-reaching than the Penn
State greek community.”
Vice President of Student
Affairs Damon Sims said he was
unaware of the initial e-mail but
plans to speak with Wendkos
about it soon.
“IFC and other groups have
been more than willing to
engage in conversations about
the problems caused by exces
sive drinking, and their willing
ness has given me some opti
mism,” Sims wrote in an e-mail
Sunday. "Burying our heads in
the sand to hide from the issue
will not help, and hiding from the
survey would be both silly and
counterproductive."
Wendkos said he was con
cerned the prizes being offered
for participation in the survey
See IFC. Page 2.
Timeline
Before Jane 31,2009: UPUA
spends $5,200 on Downtown
Student Center
June 31,2009: Student
organizations’ unused funds
from 2008-2009 are returned
to Student Programming
Office
September 30,2009: Policy
#7, outlining the use of the
Student Center, is adopted
January 18,2010: UPUA
begins holding office hours in
Downtown Student Center
April 30,2010: Students’ last
day of classes
July 31, 2010: Lease expires
Peter Tesonero/Collegian
Greg Gabbard sits hard at work behind the cash register at City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave. Gabbard closed City Lights after 25 years of
business on Jan. 30. During its last operating day of business, students and alums visited the store.
City Lights closes after 25 years
On its last day open.
City Lights had many
people saying goodbye
By Alexandra Fletcher
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Down the steps and past the
high-end clothing store: that's
where to find the doors to a
hidden room of treasures.
Once inside, the smell of aged
records permeates the air. Behind
the counter sits a man whose view
is blocked by the towers of CDs
stacked around him. A sticker is
taped to the front of his desk
Odrick may
go in NFL’s
first round
By Wayne Staats
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The top two picks in the upcoming
NFL Draft may be defensive tackles, but
OurLads.corn's Dan Shonka considers
Penn State’s Jared Odrick to be just as
special.
The Lebanon native posted one tackle
in Saturday’s Under Armour Senior
Bowl and was impressive all last week in
practice as the North dominated the line
of scrimmage and topped the South,
31-13, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in
Mobile, Ala.
“He’s strong, quick and uses his hands Scouting Combine, which starts on Feb.
well. He gets separation and can 24, and then Penn State’s Pro Day in
handle the run. The guy’s a total pack- March,
age, ’’Shonka said.
Relief on its way
Group sends 32,000
food packages to Haiti
, Pape 3.
Keirans concerned
Questions arise over downtown office
By Casey McDermott
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
UPUA's Downtown Student
Center opened last week about
six months after the student gov
ernment bought the office's lease.
Now. some University Park
Undergraduate Association mem
bers. including President Gavin
Keirans. are wondering if the ini
tiative was handled properly from
the outset. Indeed. Keirans said
the delay in the office's opening
mav warrant some "sanctions."
Drum Machines Have No Soul'
and there's just the right
amount of disarray a record store
needs to feel lived in.
The faded shag carpet hung in
patches on the wall is a testament
to the 25 years of service City
Lights Records, 316 E. College
Ave.. has given to State College.
And even on Saturday the
store's final day of operations
after closing due to a trying
economy owner Greg Gabbard
still answers every call like he’s
talking to an old friend: “City
Lights, hey! How are you?”
People from all over filed in and
See CLOSING. Page 2.
Collegian file photo
Former defensive tackle Jared Odrick
tries to tip a pass against Indiana.
Next up for Odrick is the NFL
ALL ONLINE AT
PSUCOLLEGIAN.COM
Back to Earth
The Lady Lions dropped
fjjqfjfli their second straight game
SPORTS, Page 8.
“When you commit to a project,
anything involving funds, its really
important to come away with a
clear-cut plan before going into
something," he said. "This is an
example where there were people
who wanted to rush into the situa
tion before we had a plan in
place."
In June 2009, UPUA spent
$5,200 on a 12-month lease for the
103 E. Beaver Ave. office using
leftover funds from the 2008-2009
budget.
Though Keirans initially said he
Peter Tesonero/Collegian
Rebecca Berdar, Huntingdon, looks through records at City Lights on
Saturday, which was the store's last day open for business.
Celebs tweet
about THON
Television celebrity Khloe Kardashian-Odom
tweeted about THON on Friday afternoon, bringing
the philanthropy's account thousands of new
followers and catapulting THON into a worldwide
trending topic.
This weekend marked a flash point for the
Interfratemity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon
and social media, grabbing the attention of several
celebrities and a worldwide audience.
Kardashian-Odom's initial tweet read: “Have any
of you heard of THON? It's the biggest student run
See THON, Page 2.
psucollegian.com
hoped the office would open in
September, he told UPUA mem
bers at their Sept. 23.2009 meeting
he was hesitant to adopt the initia
tive after seeing its legislation,
according to meeting minutes.
After being sent back to the
Governmental Affairs Committee
to work out several "fundamental
differences" made apparent at the
meeting including whether this
new location, only a block from
campus, is truly more convenient
than UPUA's current HUB-
See OFFICE. Page 2.
By Sarah Peters
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
To keep up to date on all coverage of the
Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance
Marathon follow the THON blog:
psucollegian.com/blogs/THON