THE DAILY COLLEGIAN The THON hospitality committee leads the THON dancers in the line dance on Saturday during THON last year. The 708 dancers who will dance in THON this year were announced Wednesday night. 708 students selected to dance By Jourdan Cole COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Intimidated by the sheer num ber of people entered in the THON dancer lottery, Jonathan Shuff was nervous Wednesday night and trying not to get his hopes up. But those worries were wiped away when he read his name on the dancer list at about 11:30 p.m., replaced with thoughts of exer cise, cutting caffeine and sleepless nights. Though some organiza tions' dancers had already been announced, the final list of 708 Interfraternity Council/Panh ellenic Dance Marathon (THON) dancers was released and those in the lottery realized their fate. - It was awesome." Shuff (sen ior-industrial engineering) said. From that point on, I was ecstat ic." Shuff said he was on the Bryce Jordan Center floor last year with Jujitsu club suspended, activities deemed dangerou By Christine O'Brien COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After the Penn State Jujitsu Club was suspended for the sec ond time this year. some members say the university is unfairly branding them as overly violent. Erin Regenfuss, Penn State Club Sports and Adventure Recreation Programs Manager, sent an e-mail Wednesday notify ing club members of the suspen sion. The' e-mait stated that the club' was - engaging in activities to, as tip ip ipt ift 10 Ol t 1 lIP IP s 4, 419 4) * V 4 * 6 -4 4, . Make this a ie si It „, le i p it e I Valentine's Day special with... Collegian -ewe Dna) 41h Introducing Collegian Love Lines: Your chance to S • send a unique Valentine's Day message to your * io friend, roommate, or that special someone. lip l/ p ixi: $l3, 130 Character limit fr A, including spaces. Ix 2: $24, 190 Character limit 11 1 induding spaces v 11, ' 11 4it 4 larl X2 al sad. 6 di ; q qr Brour 191 11 1 11° qi .AIP. Collegian nightlife iNFERNO 171,,2 his hospitality committee and knew dancing was something he had to do before he graduated. Starting a new organization this year, he didn't know what his chances would be but his group, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, worked hard. Wednesday night's excitement was enough to keep Stephanie Wharen, an individual dancer, up until 3 a.m. calling her friends and family. In addition to finding out she was dancing, she and her partner, Richard Missett, also received word they had been assigned a THON family. Wharen and Missett sent the family an e-mail Thursday to break the ice. "We're looking forward to spending the weekend with our family and meeting them for the first time," Wharen (junior-psy chology and business) said. Wharen said the experience will be tough but she is sure it will be prohibited by the program, as well as allowing one or more individu als to participate who have been banned from club sports involve ment." When reached by phone Thursday, Regenfuss said she could not comment on an ongoing issue. Several members would not speculate on why the club was suspended, but the club's Facebook page said it was "due to having [mixed martial arts] and Street Defense in our flyers." Club Vice President Carlos ati( .-eb 1_ • Automatically be entered to win one of four gi ft t ' t ' - • to purcli se Love Line Ad! IN Mllis-2531 TWAY! LOCAL one of her best Penn State memo ries. But the night was not so joy ous for everyone. After refreshing his computer screen every minute, Mark Reed finally got the e-mail informing him he wouldn't be dancing THON weekend. He had already bought a gym membership and given up alcohol and caffeine. Reed (junior finance) said it was also disap pointing because his organization, Domani, raised almost $lB,OOO. "If s hard not to get your hopes up when you go through the same process the dancers do," Reed said. "I don't think unless you're guaranteed you should have to go through that Though it was a letdown, Reed said he is still positive about THON. It's not about me danc ing," he said. "The money we raised is still going to the kids." To e-mail reporter: jpcs2ol@psu.edu Uribe (sophomore-electrical engi neering) said the club has been disbanded before on claims that its martial practices are too vio lent for Penn State to authorize. •'I was really disappointed when I found out," Uribe said. "I really enjoy going every Monday. Wednesday Friday it's a break for me. - Uribe, along with other group members. said that learning jujit su provided them with structured and organized exercise, proving an excellent stress reliever. Some campuses left out of THON By Jourdan Cole COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Between canning, throwing a charity ball and sponsoring bowl ing, some Penn State Shenango students said they have done their share of fundraising for THON. But it isn't enough to get dancers in the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) or floor passes for the weekend. The students went through the motions of applying: They paid for registration and selected potential dancers. But when they didn't get a dancer in the lottery Wednesday night, some said it made them feel like they weren't included in the "We are" of Penn State. "We love THON and we want to participate just as much," Penn State Shenango student Brooke Stegkamper said. The campus has struggled to keep up with bigger Commonwealth Campuses that continually raise more money, Stegkamper (sophomore-nursing) said. Other than student govern ment's involvement, Shenango only has 10 additional people on its THON committee. But fair treatment of Commonwealth Campus THON organizations is discussed every year, said THON Overall Chairwoman Caitlin Zankowski. Since Commonwealth Campuses enter their dancers as if they were organizations, the fairest way to decide on dancers for all organiza tions is to base it on the amount of money they raised. Having dancers represent Member Paul Karavayev said the club is being treated unfairly and is upset by the lack of infor mation provided by the university "Most people in the club are very upset because they love the club, they love jujitsu and they're upset because they can't do it any more,- Karavayev (sophomore microbiology) said. 'A lot of us are close friends because of jujitsu and the suspension takes away a lot from our lives." Dave Light, Jujitsu club instruc tor, could not be reached for com FRIDAY, FEB. 5, 2010 I your organization is a huge privi lege we don't see as the focal point." Zankowski (senior-indus trial engineering) said. THON wants people to fundraise because they want to, not for dancing rights, she said As per the THON manual, every organization is allotted dancers based on the amount of money it raised last year. If an organization did not raise the minimum amount required to secure a slot. they have a chance to enter a dancer lottery if they raised $2,500 by Feb. 1. But some Commonwealth Campus THON organizers think this policy has room for improve ment. "It's a big problem. not only because we don't get dancers, but because these aren't organiza tions. These are campus stu dents," said Stephanie Chastain. associate director of Student Affairs at Penn State Shenango. It's harder for smaller Commonwealth Campuses to raise enough money to guarantee dancers, and the constant turnover of students makes it tough to keep a consistent group, said Marly Doty Penn State Dubois student life coordinator and THON adviser, who danced in THON when she was a student. "I think the students feel like they're not as important," Doty said. "They feel like we're sup posed to be one Penn State geo graphically, but it's kind of hard to do that if they're not treating everyone same." To e-mail reporter: jpcs2ol@psu.edu ment as of press time Thursday "I really hope our sensei will not be banned from club sports. because he's a great guy" Uribe said. "He is a great role model he's everything we want to be.- Club men.bers and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will meet next Thursday to discuss the club's future. Members said they hope they're able to continue training and get back into the gym soon. To e-mail reporter: moso46@psu.edu
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