4 I Tuesday, Ai c. 10, 2010 Tii i 1) \1 i i Collegian Elizabeth Murpln Edilor in C 'hid Kelsey Thompson Business Manut’cr About the Collegian: The Daily Collegian and The Weekly Collegian are pub- » lished by Collegian Inc. :c independent, nonprofit cor poration with a board of directors composed of stu dents, faculty and profes sionals. Pennsylvania State University students write and edit both papers and solicit advertising for them. During the fall and spring semes ters as well as the second six-week summer session The Daily Collegian publish es Monday through Friday. Issues are distributed f mail to other Penn State campuses and individuai subscribers. Complaints: News and eci; tonal complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be pre sented to the business man ager. Who we are Hie Daily Collegian's ed rial opinion is determined oy its Board of Opinion, v.itn the editor holding final responsibility. The letters and columns expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those cf The Daily Collegian, Collegian Inc, or The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc., publishers of The Daily Collegian and related publi cations, is a separate corpo rate institution from Pen;' State. Editorials are written by The Daily Collegian Board of Opinion. Members are: Kevin Cirilli. Jenna Ekdanb Bill Landis. Elizabeth Mur phy, Laura Nichols. Edgar Ramirez, Andrew Robinson. Heather Schmelzlen. Jared Shanker, Katie Sullivan. Alex Weisler. Steph Witt and Chris Zook. Letters We want to hear your com ments on our coverage, editorial decisions and the Penn State community. ■ E-mail collegianletters@psu.edu ■ Online www.psucollegian.com ■ Postal person 123 S. Burrowes St. University Park. PA 16801 Letters should be about 200 words. Student letters should include class year, major and camous. Letters from alumni should include year of graduation. All writers should provide their address and phone number for verification. Letters should be signed by no more than two peo pie. Members of organiza tions 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 cannot guaran tee publication of all let ters it receives. Letters chosen also run on The Daily Collegian Online and may be selected for publi cation in The Weekly Colle gian. All letters become property of Collegian Inc. Honor shows PSU’s dedication Penn State, along with 19 other universities around the country, recently received a five star rating for lesbian, gay. bisexual and trans gender (LGBT) inclusion and friendliness by Cam pus Pride, a North Caroli na based organization. This rating, which the university received for the second year in a row, sends a clear message about Penn State’s atti tude toward members of the LGBT community. It is great to see that people can celebrate who they are and feel comfortable being themselves on cam pus. Perks key component of eventual job search By Shannon Simcox Bi ini, as how I am now a senior yeah, it actually happened the dreaded real world is right around the corner, which means a job But not just any job. THE job, and the crazy, tumul tuous search that will lead me to it the dream job, the reason why we all decided to go to col lege in the first place I realize this will be a long, hard search that will most likely end with me finding a job that is somewhere in the realm of what I want to do but is not exactly it. Alas, I am still holding on to that hope that I may be one of the only people in the world to find her dream job right out of college (and still realistic enough to realize this will never happen). What is it that goes into looking for a good job? I have no idea just yet, but a few things have crossed Over the past few years, there has been a tremen dous growth in LGBT acceptance throughout the area. The late Mayor Bill Welch performed a same-sex marraige cere mony in 2008 and there is now an annual gay pride march through State Col lege. Pride week has become a recognized time every spring, and the Valentine’s Day Kiss Out is now a solid tradition. Though it shows progress and excellence, the five-star rating is something that needs to be maintained. Five stars doesn’t mean discrimina tion toward members of p.i 'rr- NEED “Would you stay in a job that isn’t really what you want to do for the free energy healing or Viagra? I honestly don’t know yet, but I’m going to keep an open mind when the time comes.” my mind: pay (obviously), location, benefits, work environment and perks. Perks, you know, those little things that the job can offer you in order to make your life a little easi er. This idea had not crossed my mind for a second until I read a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that outlined some of the, at times odd, “perks” found around the city. MY OPINION The perk I found to be the funni est is a monthly regiment of 10 Viagras. Yes, some employees pushed for a daily dose when nego tiating their prescription plans, but sadly those ED-afflicted persons will have to live with 10. The employer whose employees enjoy this perk? Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. It’s no surprise that people who 10&NT0! A (TREAT PLACE PUT /ourTswmw EFFERENT- , TH4N I lEKlffi W, the LGBT community doesn’t happen. As a stu dent body and an adminis tration, it is important not to become complacent and to work toward equal ity for all, regardless of gender or sexual orienta tion. Being straight, gay, les bian, bisexual or trans gender doesn’t define a person it is merely one of the pieces that make up the intricate puzzle of who they are. But it is comfort ing to know that Penn State can foster an envi ronment where people can celebrate that piece of themselves without hesi tation or fear. & "w work at tattoo parlors could get some free ink (sounds like an awe some boss to me) and people who work at retail or food stores will get a discount this seems reason- able. Other perks take a little more thought than just the average free bie. Condom Kingdom charges cold medicine to the store during the winter months to give out to its employees. Quite practical when you think about how fast the flu and other diseases spread around the dorms, and I’m sure Condom Kingdom has the same problem. Others mentioned in the article are Harry’s Occult Shop, which offers floe energy healing to it’s employees, and McFadden’s employees get 50 percent off food and drink at locations nationwide. I think I’d rather have the 50 per cent, but to each their own. The Daily Collegi an SNAP, CRACKLE, POP Hie Real Housewives of D.C. As an obsessive fan of every “Housewives” city, I was disappointed by these new women joining the Bravo family, but this isn’t going to stop me from watching every episode of the sea son. Snobby is the only way I can describe the housewives of D.C. They don't flip tables, they don’t fight at fashion shows, they don’t get Botox with their daugh ters and so far they haven’t made any catchy pop songs. All these new wives seem to be social climbers, they all brag about what politicians they know and how close they live to them. These women may not be in politics, but they sure wish they were. So let me introduce you to the newest housewives in the Bravo lineup. Cat is married to the White House photographer Charles Ommanney. She just moved to Washington, D.C. with her daughters to be with her husband. The other wives are happy to get to know her and give her a chance, which is unlike any other housewives city. But she pushes Stacie’s buttons by saving iyra Banks is hideous. THERE IS NO NA’*- ON MY BALltit Leaders react to Kagan Becoming the fourth-ever woman to assume a spot on the highest-ranking bench in the nation’s judicial system, Elena Kagan was confirmed to the Supreme Court Thursday afternoon with a vote of 63-37. Kagan’s confirmation comes almost one year to the day after her most recent predecessor’s confirmation to the high court Sonia Sotomayor was voted in on Aug. 6, 2009. Penn State College Democrats President Rob Ghormoz said he is happy with Kagan’s confirmation as a step toward a more gender-balanced court. “Another woman’s voice is great on the court,” Ghormoz (senior-political science) said. “I think it's important to keep a balance between the sexes, and I think she’ll bring a nice viewpoint and a wealth of knowledge.” ... Casey McDermott Police/crime/courts reporter Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucollegian.com/blogs. 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, PHP Perl, ASRnet, 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, Tlimblr, etc), or designing back-end man agement systems, among other things. Tb apply, send a resume and cover letter to Editor in Chief Elizabeth Murphy at edttorincftief@psucoilegtan.com. So, how important is the perk cat egoiy of a job offer? I imagine it’s a lot like icing on the cake of a fantas tic job, but for some it could be a make or break deal. Would you stay in a job that isn’t really what you want to do for the free energy heal ing or Viagra? I honestly don’t know yet, but I’m going to keep an open mind when the time comes. That ominous time of year is going to come all too quickly. As posters for graduation gowns are plastered all over campus, the weather starts to lighten up from its winter doldrums, senioritis has not only kicked in but taken over and I’m repeatedly refreshing my e-mail hoping to hear back from that dream job, I’m sure the perks end of the job will be not even register on my mind. But perhaps my dream will come true and THE job will have all kinds of perks waiting for me just as I put on my cap and gown. We’ll see. Shannon Simcox is a senior majoring in journalism and political science and is the Collegian's Tuesday columnist. Her e-mail address is scsso96@psu.edu. Karina Yucel Arts candidate