8 I TUESDAY, APRIL T;; 1: D Collegian Rossilvnne Skena Editor-in-Chi(f Holly Colbo Bu.sincllUgel About the Collegian: The Daily Collegian and The 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 eclito nal 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 edito rial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsibility. The letters and columns expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of The Daily Collegian. Collegian Inc. or The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc., publishers of The Daily Collegian and related publi cations. is a separate cor porate institution from Penn State. Editonals are written by The Daily Collegian Board of Opinion. Members are: Lexi Belculfine. Matt Brown. Kevin Cinlli. Adam Clark. Rich Coleman,Lindsay Cryer. Caitlin Cullerot, Abby Drey. Katherine Dvorak. Michael FeVetter. Matt Fortuna. Mandy Hofmockel. Allison Jackoyitz, Phenola Lawrence. Andrew McGill Dave Miniaci, Nate Mink. Elizabeth Murphy. Dan Rorabaugh. Erin Rowley. Heather Schmelzlen. Caitlin Sellers, Shannon Simcox. Rossilynne Skena. Kevin Sullivan. Jacauie Tylka, Alex Weisler and Bill Wellock Letters We want to hear your com ments on our coverage, edi tonal decisions and the Penn State community. ■ E-mail collegonletters@psu.edu Online www.psucollegian.com ■ Postal mail/In person 123 S. Burrowes St. University Park, PA 16801 Letters should be about 200 words. Student letters should include class year, major and campus. Letters from alumni should include year of graduation. All writ ers should provide their address and phone number for verification. Letters should be signed by no more than two people. Members of organizations must include their titles if the topic they write about is connected with the aim of their groups. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters. The Collegian can not guarantee publication of all letters it receives. Let ters chosen also run on The Daily Colkigian Online and may be selected for publi cation in The Weekly Colle gian. All letters become property of Collegian Inc. 27, 2010 Donor's gift shows innovation There is no question that Penn State has an incredible alumni network that is determined to make future generations' college experience better than its own. Evidence of this is clear after 1982 alumna Paula Donson pledged $2.4 mil lion to the College of Edu cation -- the largest dona- tion ever made to the col lege. Often, donations are used to build new facilities or offer scholarships, but- Donson's contribution is meant for something a lit tle bit different. She WE EXPECT CURRENT MODERATE El t\lsllo caNDITioNS - To - TRANSiTION NEuTRAt coNPITIONS -BY THIS YEAR'S NURRicANE SEASON. IN oTNER WORDS-) N‘ -45 `South Park' wrong to back down By Kevin Sullivan 11 of my Collegian com rades seem to be writ ing nostalgic articles marking our r f t .. upcoming departure from the place we've spent our last four years studying, gain- ing what we for ingly dub "life MY OPINION experiences and honing out journalistic techniques. Always one for self indulgence, I'd like to heed this opportunity shamelessly. I've had no profound, spiritu ally awakening experiences, so I'd like to frame my reminis- cence somewhat differently: I long for the days before "South Park" ran out of good ideas. It seems that recently the show's creators are trying a lit tle hard. The days of the car toon's timely, thoughtful satire and clever narrative twists that it ironically presented through its pubescent potty mouth are all but gone. In its place we have an out of control shock factor and dilated use of reproductive organ puns that only occasional ly offer the kind of social com mentary that rises to the quality of the show's golden ages. It's possible the show hasn't really gotten worse, and instead, I've just gotten older and more cynical. Maybe that cynicism was nurtured by "South Park" itself. Two weeks ago, I watched the show go out of its way to make jokes out of workers at chocolate packaging factories and the term "sea man. - Callin' it: 2011 early Peabody nomination for consistently great writing. If the show's writers are read ing this and didn't catch on, the preceding sentence involves w,iat's known as "sarcasm" or !.7- EDUCATION DONATION intends for the money to be used to help the col lege foster innovative ideas and methods to improve the quality of graduates and, as a result, the quality of teachers. That is something a beautiful new building simply can't do, and Don son realized it. She hopes the money will give students more opportunities to excel and learn different delivery systems of education and approaches to engaging those in the community regarding education. Donson's act deserves "satire." Remember that? I don't think the show ever used to be that desperate for jokes in its initial seasons. Maybe my nostalgia has been peppered with idealism, but I was kind of offended watching the episode force-feed me these jokes any random seventh grad er could improvise. When I went on the Internet afterward, I noticed I wasn't the only one offended. However, that criticism wasn't for the lazy jokes. The episode in question fea tures the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume. It's pretty damning. Of course, this isn't quite Salman Rushdie, but it sparked a miniature fatwa all its own that the network handled quite sophomorically The radical Islamic website revolutlonmusllm.com made a statement that the "South Park" creators "will probably end up like Theo van Gogh for airing this episode." This reference was to Dutch filmmaker van Gogh, who was murdered in 2004 after a film he made criti cizing the abuse of women in certain Islamic societies. This isn't the first time the "South Park" creators dealt with the issue of the depiction of Muhammad. In 2006, after a car toonized version of the prophet sparked controversy in Denmark, "South Park" sati rized it. This episode was different. After Comedy Central censored the 2006 episode's depiction of Muhammad, the recent episode rightfully criticized American culture's final, impenetrable and ridiculous taboo the blasphe my, even in the West, to artfully depict Muhammad. After all of its over-the-top button-pushing, "South Park" finally found the one remaining line even it could n't cross. The episode aired in two hearty applause for find ing a new way to make alumni relations help Penn State She is thinking outside the box in her monetary allotment, and hopefully other alumni will follow her lead to give students from all colleges at this university the opportunity to cultivate creative tech niques in their respective fields. With the gracious dona tion on its way, hopefully students and faculty step up to the plate with the innovative ideas she is encouraging. parts, and when the second part was shown, even the masked depictions of Muhammad were censored by the network Sadly, within the span of one week, "South Park" has reasserted itself as a voice of reason a lewd voice, obsessed with geni talia to a degree that would make even Freud blush, but a voice more reasonable than its corporate parenthood at Comedy Central. Radical Islam is a terrifying thing. It is clearly important enough to start wars and obvi ously commands itself as some thing to be taken seriously. But it is seriously evil, and as some thing that can provoke violence in retaliation to mere words, it should be confronted and not masked. Last week, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the writer behind the film responsible for van Gogh's death, stated on `Anderson Cooper 360," "If the entertain ment business were to take this on...there would be too many people to threaten" and there would be no reason to protect those utilizing their freedom of speech. She's right. And if free speech is something we are going to value as a culture, we cannot turn away from it to please the ignorant and hateful. The radical website in ques tion incited a serious threat, but people can't just base their actions off comments posted on blogs and other websites. Have you ever read the comments on You Tube? If that is how Comedy Central plans to run its business, it shouldn't even bother. I know a Nigerian prince e-mail scammer who can give it lucrative sums for much less work Kevin Sullivan is a senior majoring in English and is the Collegian's Tuesday columnist. His e-mail address is ossoll9opsu.edu. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Cut back on eating meat for environment, personal health In response to the April 26 letter, "Cows, other livestock do not inflict harm on envi ronment," I have to respectfully disagree. Cows, and most other animals, cannot be raised sustainably. According to the Environmental Protection Agency "In the U.S., cattle emit about 5.5 million metric tons of methane per year into the atmosphere, accounting for 20 percent of U.S. methane emissions." Methane is one of the most potent green house gases, staying in our atmosphere for 100 years. Although agriculture may not be the most significant source of greenhouse gases compared to transportation and industry, people have the most control over their impact when it comes to agriculture. It is not always easy to drive less, but it is easy to change your diet. Mn•thermore, many studies show that a plant-based diet is healthier than a meat based diet. Currently, Americans take in much more meat than in necessary or even healthy. Still, the solution is not necessarily becoming vegetarian or vegan. For better health and environmental protection, the answer may be simply consuming less meat, even if that cut is substantial for some people. Rose Monahan sophomore-political science and English Column incorrectly argues intolerance of U.S. Christians I am a Christian, and I was extremely offended by the April 26 senior column, "Senior wonders why many look down on Christians." In my personal experience, America is exceedingly tolerant to Christians. Most people are egalitarian and embrace people of all faiths. I cannot figure out what the writer meant by the statements that claim Christians are persecuted, as no evi dence is given just vague claims that it might happen. The question of whether separation of church and state is in the Constitution was puzzling to me because the first words of the First Amendment say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." As for the "evidence" that the "govern ment has been accommodating other reli gions," the writer seems to not understand the difference between one's personal duty to his or her religion (i.e. praying at certain times or covering your head), and making other people acquiesce to your beliefs. The only time anger is directed at Christians in this country is when they try to use the Bible as a truncheon to force their beliefs on others. People like Glenn Beck and the Westboro Baptist church make all Christians look like intolerant nimrods. Beam Me Up Though senior Brandi Personett's career is over, the 2009 and 2010 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year still has a chance to win multiple awards. After being named one of six finalists for the AM Award in March, Personett was announced on Friday as one of four nominees for the 2009-10 Honda Sports Award to determine the top woman col legiate athlete in gymnastics. One of the other three gymnasts nom inated was LSU's Susan Jackson, Personett's childhood friend and 2010 individual national champion on the bal ance beam. Jackson competed at region als on April 10 at Rec Hall, and tied for first in vault with Personett, scoring a 9.950 in that meet. Jackson won the title on the uneven bars that night as well with a 9.950. Read more from the women's gymnastics blog Beam Me Up and the rest of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.comitfts. _ Footblog Sophomore cornerback Stephon Morris had an interesting analysis of the quarterback situation. It was a positive one, but, no, it wasn't simply that Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin have made progress this spring. Morris described an encounter with Newsome that he said impressed him about the sophomore quarterback Morris and Newsome were hanging out, and Morris asked what Newsome would do if McGloin won the quarter back battle. Newsome responded, Morris said, by casually saying, "As long as we winnin'." Team-first moments like those, Morris said, have made the Lions stronger because of the quarterback battle. Read more from the Footblog and the rest of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs. Back Points Phil Davis was featured at a seminar for MMA fighting at Central PA Mixed Martial Arts. I was able to interview Davis about the event and the Penn State wrestling program. Visit Back Points to see what the 2008 national champion had to say. Read more from the wrestling blog Back Points and the rest of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psuconeglan.com/blogs. Bridget Esposito sophmore-psychology
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