The Daily Collegian Student dies 18 days after Jan. 8 car accident By Greg Galiffa COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER For 18 days, her family waited by her side for her to wake up but that moment never came. After more than two weeks in the hospital. Penn State student Rachel Petkac died Jan. 25 after suffering complications from a car accident she was involved in earli er this month. She was 19 years old. "She was a gem." the Rev. Philip Bender of Good Shepherd Catholic Church said. "She was Volunteers to send food packs By Laurie Stern COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Wrapping scoops of soy, chick en-flavored supplement, dried veggies and rice was the recipe for relief Friday afternoon, as volun teers of all ages gathered to assemble food packages for starv ing children in Haiti. Held in the Presidents Hall of the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, the "meal-packag ing blitz" was arranged by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, "a membership organization that provides financial services and charitable outreach programs." The goal: to create 32,000 pack ages of high protein food to be dis tributed to local food banks across Haiti by the non-profit organiza tion Kids Against Hunger. Planned prior to the earthquake that devastated Haiti, the event proved especially timely because Mann inquiiy concludes, board to release findings By Colleen Boyle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER A panel of Penn State faculty and staff concluded the inquiry of Penn State meteorology professor Michael Mann this weekend and is slated to release its "Climategate" findings later in the week universi ty officials said. The end of the two-month inquiry' marks a major point in the worldwide climate debate. Penn State's inquiry began after hun dreds of illegally obtained e-mails were leaked last November from a private server in the Climate Moke this Valentine's Day special with Co£legum £oue £inea Introducing Collegian Love Lines: Your chance to send a unique Valentine’s Day message to your friend, roommate, or that special someone lxl: $13.130 Character limit including spaces. Ix 2: $24.190 Character limit including spaces m , ' ~ . Brought to you by: • fA/r/// Collegian nightlife iNFERNO everything I think a young lady Butler said. The accident ought to be." was a result of speeding and Pennsylvania State Police snowy conditions, he said. Trooper Walter Butler said Petkac was driving to Penn State on Jan. 8 when she lost control of her minivan on Route 550 and crashed j into a telephone i pole on the driver- Petkac side door. Petkac was driving at 55 mph 10 mph over the speed limit half of the packages will be sent to the country and should arrive within 10 days, said Duane Erdman, an event coordinator for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Frank Stone, a senior partner with the Thrivent regional finan cial office, wrapped packages with his wife. He said he was pleased to be surrounded by so many enthu siastic volunteers. “I'm too busy working. I don't have an opportunity like this," Stone said. “We thought it wnuld be cool to have a project and invite people to come. We got a turnout beyond our wildest imagination." Penn State students and other community members were origi nally invited to participate in the meal-packaging assembly line. But when more people than expected expressed an interest in volunteering, some had to be turned away. Valerie Mareellus. the president Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England, containing comments critics say suggest Mann and his colleagues may have distorted climate change evidence. The inquiry's findings will determine if the university will fur ther investigate Mann's work. Penn State President Graham Spanier addressed the inquiry and the panel's work dur ing the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 22. "I know they've taken the time and spent hundreds of hours studying documents and inter viewing people and looking at To place a Love Lines ad, or for more info, e-mail mycollegianad(v gmail.com visit collegian.psu.edu or call 814-865-2531. The student was unresponsive when they pulled her from her vehicle, which was in the shape of a "V" from the collision. Butler said. She was treated and eventu ally transported to Geisinger Medical Center. At the hospital. Bender said Petkac's mother never left her side. Her father, two younger brothers and younger sister were always visiting, he said. But for the 18 days she was in of Club Kreyol, a Haitian cultural club for Penn State students, said there will be other opportunities for students to lend a hand. “I think the fact that so many people want to help is a good prob lem to have," Mareellus (senior nutrition) said. “Club Kreyol is working with several other organ izations, including the Caribbean Student Association. Globe Med and Project Haiti to have collabo rative programs that will benefit people in Haiti." One volunteer filling cardboard boxes with dried food said despite the robotic nature of the work he wasn't yet weary of the task "It can't be tedious when you're helping someone." said Denny DiOrio, of Danville. Pa., president of the Columbia-Montour County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. To e-mail reporter: Iqsso76@psu.edu issues from all sides." Spanier said. But conservative groups are already mobilizing to respond to the university's findings. Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) a Penn State student group working to "advance the principles of indi vidual and economic freedom, lim ited government and traditional values" has taken an interest in the Mann inquiry. On Feb. 12. YAF will host a demonstration in front of the HUB to protest what the group feels is a violation of academic integrity. YAF member Samuel Settle said. Automatically be entered to vein one of four to with purchase of Love Line Ad! the hospital, Petkac never regained consciousness Bender said Petkac was on a respirator in the hospital that eventually had to be shut off once it began to cause damage. On Jan. 24, Bender said the fam ily visited Petkac one last time. The next day. the hospital shut off the respirator, he said. Petkac a community educa tion and development major and a Schreyer Honors College student was also involved with outdoor activities and worked at College 9 Movie Theater. Bender said. Andre* 3ear- Cccegian Michael Smith helps his daughter Cassie, 9, as they prepare food pack ages for children overseas on Friday at The Penn Stater. The 9-12 Project of Central PA. a conservative group, will join the demonstration. Settle (sophomore-political sci ence and history) said the univer sity's handling of the inquiiy unset tles him. "What the university has done is they've taken three Penn State employees and assigned them to deciding whether or not Mann vio lated university policy." he said. “That's an awful lot of power in the hands of three with no external oversight." To e-mail reporter: cabs3s6@psu.edu Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 I Justin Walker, a manager at College 9. 3031 Carnegie Drive, said he remembers Petkac for being a woman everyone always enjoyed working with. When he heard about her accident. Walker could only hope for the best, he said. T was hoping it wasn't bad." he said. "It was upsetting. Even when you don't know someone you work with, you're always hoping everything will be alright." To e-mai! reporter: gmgso4l@psu.edu College Ave • 23' 0 4Q °
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