4 1 WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010
But the effort to put a
non-voting student mem
ber on the council and
the progress its made so
far is a huge step to
mend that relationship
and has a lot of potential
for even more positive
results.
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THE DAILY
Collegian
Elizabeth Murphy
Editor in Chief
Kelsey Thompson
Business Manager
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Student rep. would help schism
It's no secret there has
been a very strained rela
tionship between the stu
dent body at Penn State
and the State College Bor
ough Council. That's a big
problem when that same
disgruntled student body
makes up 75 percent of
the borough council's con
stituency
First up to be commend
ed is University Park
Undergraduate Associa
tion (UPUA) President
Christian Ragland. He is
already following through
on a campaign promise
and is making a concen-
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`Barefoot Bandit' represents modem-day outlaw
By Lindsay Cryer
Ican't quite put my finger or
should I say a toe? on my
reason for thinking so, but how
cool is the
"Barefoot Bandit"?
For those of you
who haven't heard
of Colton Harris-
Moore, a 19-year-old
Washington state
native, let me fill
you m
After a fairly
troubled childhood,
Harris-Moore
began a robbing-spree at the young
age of 7. Since escaping a halfway
house in April 2008, he is suspected
of being responsible for more than
100 thefts throughout the Western
United States and Canada. Many of
these thefts have included stealing
cars and crash-landing stolen
planes.
With the exception of a few check
ins to his supportive mother, Harris-
Moore has been nearly impossible
to trace, though he once left a $lOO
bill and a note bearing his nickname
at a veterinary clinic, and he appar
ently wasn't too scared to release
the now-iconic photo of himself.
trated effort for a student
to be seated on the coun
cil by the start of fall
semester. This is both a
promising and positive
reflection of a still-grow
ing student government
that was internally mud
dled at the end of last
spring.
Ragland has shown ded
ication to this project
something else that is
reflected in the borough's
willingness to work with
him to see this plan to
fruition. And both sides
have made reasonable
requests and shared ideas
that give us reason
enough to think that come
fall, this really could be a
reality.
And that reality is a
great idea. Having a stu
dent sit on borough coun
cil is something that
seems so necessary, it
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Despite his name, the "Bandit"
does not commit all of his crimes
unshod but earned his name after
leaving footprints at one particular
crime scene in Idaho and cartoon
like chalk outlines of footprints at
another in the San Juan Islands off
of the coast of Washington.
On July 11, local officers captured
him in the Bahamas, and he is now
being held in a federal detention
center in Miami.
Harris-Moore will face charges in
the Bahamas and United States for
his crimes.
MY OPINION
But his infamy will not end once
he is potentially locked away for his
wrongdoings. T-shirts have already
been sold bearing his picture and
the words - Momma Tried." And all
of those who bought the T-shirts will
be able to snuggle up and watch the
movie 20th Century Rix has already
bought rights to.
I may not have the shirt, yet, but I
will throw down the money to see
"Taking Flight: The Hunt for a
Young Outlaw" Yes, it already has a
name.
My fanhood is not a result of
sheer admiration for criminals. In
fact, I do think he should receive
punishment for every crime he
committed.
almost makes us wonder
why this wasn't something
that was pushed for
before. Students have run
unsuccessful campaigns
for a spot on council in the
past, but it might be that
the better idea is in a non
voting member.
Right now, the most
important thing is there is
a concrete connection
between the borough and
the student body. Having a
permanent liaison could
ensure there is no dis-
crepancies between what
is said at a meeting and
what gets relayed to stu
dents. And while the sit
ting student might not be
able to vote, this move
would ensure the student
presence is always felt
and the student voice is
always heard.
And that is what is most
important.
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"My fanhood is not a result of sheer admiration for
criminals. I think he should receive punishment for
every crime he committed. But for some odd rea
son, I find a sort of romanticism in his notoriety."
But for some odd reason, I find a
sort of romanticism in his notoriety.
He's become the criminal that we
hate to love, or, in many cases, the
one that we love to hate.
Harris-Moore isn't the first bad
guy that I've taken a liking to. I once
did a research paper on the Old
West's infamous criminal Billy the
Kid.
He was known to have killed four
people in his day, but legend has it
he killed as many as 21. Though he
died at the young age of 21, he
was posthumously sensationalized
and is now seen as an Old Western
icon.
I think the same air is reserved
for Prohibition-era gangster, Al
Capone.
Neither of their crimes is forgiv
able, but I can imagine that each
walked with quite a swagger.
With this reputation comes the
respective ability to be mysterious. I
don't know how they got away with
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
Small World
Last weekend, I spent almost three
days on a bus. Six of my friends and I had
planned a trip to Scotland from Friday
night until Monday morning. After work
on Friday, we all packed and headed
down to the bus station for an overnight
(11p.m. to 8:30 a.m.) bus from London to
Scotland. We barely made the bus thanks
to transportation interruptions on the
district tube line. Already frustrated, we
boarded a hot, crowded bus to begin our
journey. When we arrived in Edinburgh,
we headed straight to the travel agency
we booked our tour through and left 15
minutes later on a two-day bus tour.
Just after seating myself in the front
row next to one of my flatmates (we
wanted to see out of the front of the bus),
I pretty much fell asleep. The good thing
was, no matter how beautiful Scotland is,
a lot of it is the same especially on a
bus tour.
So sheep after sheep, grassy hill after
grassy hill, I slept for about an hour. We
made our first stop at an old church in a
tiny town. It was nice to get out and
stretch our legs after being cramped up
on a tiny bus seat for what seemed like
forever. We then saw a battlefield and a
Stonehenge-like rock formation.
All I was pretty much looking forward
to was being able to stay in a castle that
night. We had lunch in yet another small
town along the way, and we stopped to
get dinner for the hostel at the grocery
store. My friends and I had wine and
cheese in a castle that night. How many
people can say that?
After dinner and after seeing
Scotland's beauty through a bus window
all day, we were itching to get out and
explore.
Read more from the study abroad blog Small
World and the rest of The Daily Collegian's
blogs at psucollegian.com/blogs.
Blogging, Kicking
and Screaming
After a surprising 1-1 tie with Ghana in
the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup, the
United States bounced back with a
strong 5-0 win over Switzerland.
... Ghana's athleticism caught the
United States off guard and prevented
the Americans from getting into their
control-oriented style of play. Against the
Swiss however, the United States struck
early and often, scoring three goals in
the first 25 minutes.
"Going into this game, the team as a
whole was more focused," said Christine
Nairn, a Penn State midfielder in the fall.
"We knew that we had to keep the width
as much as possible against Switzerland
in order to be successful. We knocked the
ball around a lot more, found a rhythm,
and put away our scoring opportunities."
Prior to the match, Nairn said the
team was a little nervous knowing they
needed the three points given for a win.
However, scoring the five goals was a
solid confidence boost for the team.
The key to shutting down the Swiss
attack was isolating forward Ramona
Bachmann. That role fell to the central
midfield, composed of Nairn and Amber
Brooks. After failing to get much attack
out of the middle in the first match,
Brooks and Nairn focused on playing a
better game.
"[Bachmann] is a great player that
can tear teams apart by herself," Nairn
said. 'Amber and my roles were to keep
her under control and organize the team.
We have been working a lot on our shape
(between Amber and I) and I think it def
initely paid off in that game."
Read more from the Blogging, Kicking and
Screaming blog and the rest of The Daily
Collegian's blogs at psucollegian.com/blogs
it, but I also don't really want to
The same will go for our
"Barefoot Bandit." His name may
not be as well known, but I can
guarantee that in years to come, we
won't only see him as just a crimi
nal. His tactics will be preserved as
those of the stereotypical runaway
child in the same way that Capone's
pinstripe suit and fedora are now
viewed as the uniform of a gangster.
My mom wasn't too thrilled with
my opinion of the Barefoot Bandit,
and I can completely see why. He is,
after all, a criminal and has dam
aged beyond what he can make up
for. But not every criminal gets a
movie.
And, by the way, I really hope
Shia Leßeouf plays him.
Lindsay Cryer is a junior majoring in jour
nalism and is the Collegian's Wednesday
columnist. Her e-mail address is
Ibcl46@psu.edu.
Chloe Elmer
photographer
Andrew Robinson
sports co-editor