I Monday, Aug. 2,2010
Tli K Dai i. y
Collegian
Elizabeth Murphy
Editor in Chief
Kelsey Thompson
Business Manager
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Parking increase too dramatic
Penn State football fans
are going to see a change
in parking costs come this
season, and it’s probably
more than they would like.
A recent decision to
double the cost of stadium
parking on game day is
supposedly not a plan by
the athletic department to
gain additional revenue,
though it is difficult to
imagine a scenario in
which the department
does not profit. Regard
less, it is not the athletic
department that needs to
be concerned.
While buying parking
passes in advance may be
a cheaper option, this sud
den rise in daily parking,
which is somehow sup-
posed to help game day
parking run more smooth
ly, hurts the wallets of
fans. With same-day park
ing purchases for cars
jumping to $4O, spectators
THAT? ONE WAY
TO GET ALBERT
10 FA9? CO/OE
LOOK. THERE GOES
ANOTHER* BUNCH OF VOTERS
LEAVING TO REGISTER
Twitter was made for Kanye West
By Aubrey Whelan
More than a year ago,
back when I had a
Blogspot account (so
2009), one of my
first entries was
an admittedly
naive post about
my recent dis
covery of a little
website called
Twitter.
Specifically, I
talked about
how “really,
really awesome
journalists” (I cringe) were
using it to break news and
explore new reporting tech
niques. It showed “a remarkable
willingness to adapt and inno
vate,” I wrote. Twitter wasn’t
just a mass of voyeuristic losers
sending 140-character updates
into the ether, it also represent
ed real hope for a new kind of
journalism.
Ah, youth.
Don’t get me wrong, I still
think the microblogging site is
an incredibly valuable resource
for getting a story out to the
world as fast as possible, pro
moting stories once they’re pub
lished and reaching out to mil
lions of Justin Bieber fanatics.
But let’s face it, we might pre
tend it’s a new way to connect
with people and share ideas and
create a cushy new world based
on love and harmony and
retweeting. But in the end, we’re
all voyeuristic losers desperate
to notice and be noticed on
Twitter.
MY OPINION
Case in point: The current
flap over Kanye West’s Twitter
are now going to pay
almost as much to see the
Nittany Lions on the field
for three hours as they
are just to park their vehi
cle, if not more.
To place that in perspec
tive, in order for someone
without an advanced park
ing pass to simply park
his or her car each game,
the cost comes to $2BO for
the entire season and
it’s worse for RVs and
buses. A season spent
driving a RV will come to
$560, and $B4O for buses.
But this increase in cost
is not just sudden but
sharp as well. The price
for parking doubled imme
diately. There was no
slight change of 10 per
cent at first, and then a
grow to 20 percent and so
on a doubling of cost
makes it look like other
options were not even
entertained.
account, which he activated last
week. Twitter was made for
Kanye. The Twitterverse bows
before him or at least his
345,530 followers do. The rapper
and producer who built a career
on being the most narcissistic
jerk he could possibly be, given
140 characters to say whatever
he wants, whenever he wants?
It’s too perfect.
Let’s consider some of his
tweets.
“I love me,” on Saturday after
noon. (Duly noted.)
“I specifically ordered persian
rugs with cherub imagery!!!
What do I have to do to get a
simple persian rug with cherub
imagery uuuuugh,” on
Thursday. (We feel your pain,
Kanye.)
“I think Twitter was designed
specifically with me in mind just
my humble opinion hahhha
haaaahaaa humble hahahahha
haahaaaa,” a few hours later.
See? This column is Kanye
West approved.
Kanye’s tweets are horrifying,
banal, self-congratulatory and,
at the end of the day, kind of
refreshing in their casual narcis
sism. Were I a millionaire rap
star, I, too, would probably be
tweeting about eating cereal out
of gold-encrusted goblets (1:06
a.m., Thursday) and complain
ing that my jet was too small
(10:25 a.m., Wednesday). But
instead I’m a slovenly under
graduate with an embarrassing
addiction to “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer” reruns, so I tweet about
my messy room and Xander
Harris. Such is life.
Like every good social net
working site, Twitter began as
And though it may
appear that there are
other parking options
available, such as the
Eisenhower or HUB park
ing decks, the fact of the
matter is that these
garages are often filled to
capacity come game day,
as is downtown. This
gives stadium parking a
monopoly on day-of park
ing options, and such a
steep rise in parking cost
is exploitative of the situa
tion.
Is there really no other
way to make gameday
parking more efficient? At
what point does the effi
ciency-to-cost ratio
become so great that foot
ball fans stop coming to
games all together?
Rising ticket prices
were already an issue on
their own. Doubling park
ing costs is only adding
fuel to the fire.
tv TPITIIf~.3
IT'S JUST
SO HARP TO
just another way for people to
connect online. But like all good
things in America, it’s been
taken over by spammers and
get-rich-quick swindlers and
teenage girls who tweet solely
about prepubescent Canadian
pop stars. And celebrities know
that on Twitter, one slightly witty
tweet from them is worth more
than a million thoughtful
updates from the New York
Times.
That’s why Kanye’s Twitter is
a stroke of genius. He doesn’t
talk about how grateful he is for
his insanely luxurious life. He
doesn’t thank his super-special
fans. He doesn’t promote chari
ties or retweet news stories
about anything other than him
self, but he knows that we’ll all
follow his every word anyway.
It’s time we stopped pretend
ing.
IVvitter isn’t really about
breaking news or making valu
able virtual connections it’s
about inside jokes and self-pro
motion and celebrity gossip. And
Twitter’s most valuable com-
modity is a glimpse into how the
other half lives. Kanye’s Twitter
account is the best example I’ve
seen of that yet.
So move over, Ashton Kutcher.
Watch out, Britney Spears. I’m
really happy for you, and I’mma
let you keep tweeting, but Kanye
West’s Twitter account is the
best Twitter account of all time.
OF ALL TIME!
(Couldn’t resist.)
Aubrey Whelan is a senior majoring in
journalism and French and is the
Collegian's Monday columnist. Her e
mail address is ajwsl39@psu.edu.
Healthy food options in halls
a step in the right direction
After reading the July 29 article, “Halls
to serve healthier food,” I am pleased to
hear that Pollock Halls has added healthy
options to its menu. I remember eating in
Pollock halls during my freshman year and
struggling to choose from the different
foods offered there. Many freshmen live in
Pollock Halls and have their first Penn
State dining hall experience there. But
while some students have no problem
selecting from fried foods galore and slop,
many health-conscious students enjoy the
opportunity to eat nutritiously.
Throughout college, it is often hard to eat
healthy because of time, money and avail
ability; adding healthy options to Pollock
Dining Commons will help greatly with two
of those factors. Though the meal plan is
not inexpensive, the majority of full-time
students on campus choose this option
because of a lack of other on-campus eater
ies.
Perhaps with the implementation of
healthy options in Pollock Dining
Commons, more freshmen from East Halls
will be encouraged to eat healthier and
make the short walk to Pollock considering
it is closer than the previous healthy option
of Simmons Dining Hall.
Either way, it is refreshing to hear that
students who choose to dine on campus
will have a choice to eat healthy come this
fall semester.
Wanted: Web Intern
The Collegian is seeking a web intern for
the fall semester to join its award-winning
web team. This position offers a merit
based $l,OOO scholarship per semester.
We are diving into several new web ini
tiatives this fall including a brand new
website, and are looking for applicants
with a working knowledge of HTML, CSS
and proficiency in at least one of the fol
lowing: Javascript, Flash, PHR Perl,
ASEnet, or C#. We are also looking into
mobile applications, as well, so a knowl
edge of or interest in learning about
mobile development is encouraged but not
required.
You will be working with the Web Editor,
who also has a knowledge of these tech
nologies. This position requires a flexible
but steady time commitment. Your respon
sibilities will vary based on your skills, but
could include designing pages and/or
interactive pieces for our site, writing
scripts to parse and reformat old stories or
communicate with public APIs (Twitter,
TUmblr, etc), or designing back-end man
agement systems, among other things.
To apply, send a resume and cover letter
to Editor in Chief Elizabeth Murphy at
edltorinchief@psucollegian.com.
Bowman signs with 49ers
Time wasn’t on his side, but former
Penn State linebacker Navorro
Bowman was still able to join his San
Francisco teammates for their first
training camp session.
With little time to spare, Bowman
agreed to a four-year contract with the
49ers, who selected him 91st overall in
the 2010 NFL Draft. Financial terms of
Bowman’s contract are not available.
FLOKim
TPPAY
Though Bowman skipped his final
collegiate season and fell on some draft
boards because of previous off-the-field
issues, his entrance to camp marks the
beginning of his professional journey.
With all four of San Francisco’s start
ing linebackers returning in 2010 plus
Hall of Fame linebacker Mike
Singletary as head coach, Bowman will
need to use this camp as an opportuni
ty to learn as much as he can about the
3-4 defense.
With veteran linebackers Patrick
Willis and Takeo Spikes on the roster,
Bowman should have every opportuni
ty to continue learning and easing into
the defense....
Odrick, Dolphins reach deal
On training camp eve what more
could the Miami Dolphins ask for?
With the opening of camp less than 24
hours away, the Dolphins were able to
get a contract worked out with first
round pick Jared Odrick.
It’s reported that Odrick’s five-year
contract includes $7.1 million guaran
teed and could max out at $l3 million.
The signing also makes the former
Penn State defensive tackle just the
fourth first rounder to be under con
tract.
The timing of Odrick’s signing is also
important because he’ll be able to
report to training camp on time, where
he will most likely take snaps with the
first team.
Dolphins veteran defensive end
Phillip Merling, a second-round pick in
the 2008 draft, went down with a sea
son-ending injury last month. Merling’s
loss along the defensive line should
allow Odrick the opportunity to crack
the starting lineup....
Read more of The Daily Collegian’s blogs at
psucolleglan.com/blogs.
The Daily Collegian
Mark Weaver
senior-biology
Audrey Snyder
Football reporter
Audrey Snyder
Football reporter