I Wednesday, Alt.. 11, 2010
TII i I) \ii i
Collegian
Elizabeth Murpin
Editor in ( 'hid'
Kelsey Thompson
Business Muihneer
About the Collegian: The
Daily Collegian and The
Weekly Collegian aie pub
lished by Collegian Inc., an
independent, nonprofit cor
poration with a board of
directors composed of stu
dents. faculty and profes
sionals. Pennsylvania state
University students wnte 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 co
mail to other Penn State
campuses and individual
subscribers.
Complaints: News and edi
torial complaints should be
presentee to the editor.
Business and advertising
complaints should be pre
sented to the business man
ager.
Who we are
The Daily Collegian's edi t
rial opinion is determined u,-
its Board of Opinion witn
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 Ipe Dully
Collegian and related publi
cations. is a separate corpo
rate institution from Penn
State. Editorials are written
by The Daily Collegian Board
of Opinion.
Members are:
Kevin Cirilli. Jenna Ekdahi.
Bill Landis, Elizabeth Mur
phy. Laura Nichols. Edgar
Ramirez. Andrew Robinson.
Heather Schmeizlen. Jared
Shanker. Katie Sullivan, Alex
Weisler. Steph Win 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 mail/ln 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 writers should provide
their address and phone
number for verification.
Letters should be signed
by no more than two peo
ple. 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.
Frats’ initiative helps housing
The housing crisis at
Penn State is a clear prob
lem, and it’s good to see
that students are taking
initiative. With several fra
ternities announcing they
will open their doors to
students, it shows a will
ingness from other groups
to step in and help solve
the housing crunch.
Seeing these fraternities
'taking initiative also
shows that the student
population is aware of the
housing issue. By renting
out extra rooms in the fra
ternity houses, it benefits
both students and the fra
ternities; students have a
MEDICARE mi
-^2 029//
PONT
m
WITHTHE,
COWWf
tfww cagiecartoons.com
Abroad in spring means busy fall
By Lindsay Cryer
Muchas fiestas y bailan
do. A lot of partying
and dancing. That’s
what a young
Spanish boy
told me about
Seville, Spain
the city where
I'm studying
abroad next
spring.
Needless to
say, I can not
wait to go.
MY OPINION
But the only
real struggle won’t be physically
putting myself on that interna
tional flight, but rather emotion
ally tearing myself from Penn
State.
I've put myself into the painful
mindset that I need to suppress
two semesters’ worth of fun into
one. Is that possible? I’m not
even sure.
It’s like knowing that your
favorite song is only playing for
two more minutes at a party and
trying to decide exactly which
dance you want to enjoy it with.
Fist pump? Pelvic thrust? Both
are equally fun, but time’s a
tickin’.
In this case, I’d say there’s
probably two ways to tango.
Students studying abroad can
go about their semester at Penn
State as if it were any other
semester. There’s nothing nec
essarily wrong with that. It’s not
like we don’t have enough fun at
our school to begin with
despite a recent drop in ranking
place to live, and fraterni
ties collect room and
board expenses to help
pay off their leases.
While there aren’t large
quantities of rooms avail
able right now, which
won’t do much to curb the
number of homeless stu
dents, it’s still a start. At
the same time, the frater
nities will have a few
more people in their hous
es that can pay rent and
help cover related costs.
However, there are a lot
of questions to be asked
about the living arrange
ments. Though the frater
nities have established
MYttousfP
iNf&pEaoajff.
JMY Kips m
HAVE- fboP
INEEPAJOB
TOy?
on a certain Princeton Review
list.
Fall semester is a perfect time
to allow yourself to simply enjoy
our school. It is. after all, football
season. There's no better way to
bleed blue and white than to
pack yourself into an already
packed stadium with your best
friends along with some of Penn
State’s finest fans.
It’ll probably be visuals like
those that 1 11 miss the most. I’m
assuming that Spaniards won’t
be chanting "Somos ... Penn
State” across the street to each
other.
But Penn State, believe it or
not, is much more than football.
And I, believe it or not, want
to do more than just look for
ward to singing "Sweet
Caroline” on a weekly basis this
fall.
I don’t even think I’ll be doing
as much with The Daily
Collegian, either. On the
Collegian’s ladder of power, my
next climb probably would have
been editor. But this semester,
I’ll be back to reporting. You
won’t be seeing my name in the
paper as much this upcoming
fall, but that’s because I’ll be
spending these months on other
things that I want to enjoy while
I have them within reach.
I’ve got five months to prove
that THON’s finest moments
don’t always have to be in the
Bryce Jordan Center. Five
months to make my friends
actually want to Skype me when
I’m gone. Five months to, well,
pass my classes. And five
how much space they
have and their rent costs,
they haven’t filled the
vacancies yet. For the stu
dents who move in to the
fraternity houses, it
remains to be seen how
they adapt to living in the
house and how they inter
act with the fraternity
members.
But the fact that they
are trying is good to see
considering the issues
surrounding off-campus
living and rising student
numbers. The greek com
munity should be com
mended for taking initia
tive.
SOCMISECICTY
@5
months to plan my life in Spain.
That being said, I also want to
live this semester so that no
part of me wishes that I were in
State College more than Seville
come January. With the excep
tion of THON weekend, when I
will be plastered to my laptop
screen watching all 46 hours
live, I want to actually want to
be in Spain.
I’m not even sure how to go
about this other than do my best
to have a semester that I will be
content looking back on as I’m
looking forward to a one-way
ticket to Europe. I assume it’ll
end up being a good blend of
hearty laughs, late nights and
time selfishly spent with the
ones that I want to spend it with.
I probably won’t be dating
either. Sorry, boys, but I redly
don’t want to have to say “novio
Americano” American
boyfriend to the Alejandros,
Femandos and Robertos in my
near future.
I think this is all rather
doable, though.
So take a look at my picture. If
you see that face somewhere on
campus, come say hi But don’t
expect to talk to me for too long,
because I’ve got five months or
so to enjoy being a junior at
Penn State.
Let’s be real, though. Til still
be looking forward to “muchas
fiestas y bailando.”
Lindsay Cryer is a junior majoring in
journalism and is the Collegian's
Wednesday columnist. Her e-mail
address is Ibcl46@psu.edu.
/hum ist
The Daily Collegian
LETTEP
Borough council once again
misses golden opportunity
So, the borough council isn’t taking
action on University Park Undergraduate
Association President Christian Ragland’s
suggestion to add a non-voting student
member to council. I’m not surprised
council is notorious for missing opportuni
ties.
Council should see the proposed mem
ber as a direct link to students, which rep
resent most of its constituency, regardless
of voter ratios. Council could use some
understanding of student concerns, just as
the student leaders could use some insight
into the inner workings of council. The pro
posed member could do both.
But council has other things to worry
about. It would rather not be forced to look
a student in the eye when they berate stu
dents for the foolish actions of a few, gener
ally. They would rather not look a student
in the eyes when they take another pass on
improving student living conditions (West
End project, anyone?). They would rather
not be questioned when they tell the resi
dents that all the town’s problems would go
away if it weren’t for those pesky “miscre
ants” up at the school.
A non-voting student member would
force some of the council members to grow
a spine when they say ridiculous things like
“Let’s turn the lights off on Garner Street.”
But I don’t expect that anytime soon.
Sam Loewner
Class of 2010
Former UPUA Academic Affairs Chairman
Government would be wise to
decriminalize marijuana use
In response to the Aug. 5 column,
“Legalizing marijuana would help
California’s deficit,” the drug war is large
ly a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008,
there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in
the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple pos
session. At a time when state and local
governments are laying off police, fire
fighters and teachers, this country contin
ues to spend enormous public resources
prosecuting Americans who prefer mari
juana to martinis. The end result of this
ongoing culture war is not necessarily
lower rates of use.
According to a study in a press release
by the State University of New York at
Albany, the U.S. has higher rates of mari
juana use than the Netherlands, where
marijuana is legally available. An admitted
former pot smoker, President Obama has
thus far maintained the prohibition status
quo rather than pursue real change. Would
Barack Obama be in White House right
now if he had been convicted of a marijua
na offense in his youth?
Decriminalization is a long overdue step
in the right direction. Taxing and regulat
ing marijuana would render the drug war
obsolete. As long as organized crime con
trols marijuana distribution, consumers
will come into contact with sellers of hard
drugs like cocaine and heroin. This “gate
way” Is a direct result of marijuana prohi
bition.
Robert Sharpe, MPA
Policy analyst
Common Sense for Drug Policy
FOOTBLOG
Two Lions earn nominations
Tailback Evan Royster and defensive
end Jack Crawford have been nominat
ed for two prominent college football
awards.
Royster, a redshirt senior, is in con
sideration for the Maxwell Award
given to the college football player of
the year for the second time in as
many years. Crawford, a junior, is up for
fee Chuck Bednarik Award, which is
handed to college football's defensive
player of the year. The Maxwell
Football Club presents both honors.
For the second straight season,
Royster is also in consideration for the
player of the year award presented by
fee Walter Camp Football Foundation.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Former Lions represent U.S.
Three recent Nittany Lion alumnae
continue to dominate on the volleyball
court. But instead of their familiar con
fines of Rec Hall, Nicole Fawcett, Class
of 2009, Megan Hodge, Class of 2010
and Alisha Glass, Class of 2010, are
making headlines on volleyball courts
in Gdynia, Poland more than 4,000
miles away from State College.
The trio make up a part of the 13-
member U.S. women’s national team
roster participating in this month’s
FIVE World Grand Prix.
The 12-team international competi
tion is considered one of the major
tuneup tournaments for the 2010 FIVB
World Championships in November.
And fee former Lions have already
made an impact for their country.
On Saturday, Team USA, ranked No.
4 in the world, fell to Germany in
straight sets. Hodge posted 12 kills,
four blocks and 13 digs....
Emily Kaplan
Women's volleyball reporter
Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at
psucotleglan.com/blogs.
Brendan Monahan
Football reporter