I Tuesday, Aug. 24,2010 Campus set to lose healthy commons By Julie Mastrine COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Pollock Commons is about to go under the knife. When the Simmons dining hall closes at the end of this school year, officials have said students should not expect the addition of another dining commons devoted to healthy eating. Though the renovation of Pollock will absorb some, but not all of Simmons’ choices, officials said the final vision for the renova tion is becoming more clear. “With Simmons closing, the tim ing is right to renovate Pollock,” said Lisa Wandel, director of resi dence dining. Simmons will be converted into residence halls, and Pollock’s ren ovation will mostly occur during the summer of 2011, reopening in time for fall 2011. Summer session students will have access to Redifer Commons. Pollock, which hasn’t been reno vated since 1991, is “definitely due for a facelift,” Wandel said. Instead of two dining rooms, Pollock will have multiple stations on the main floor. Each station will have differ ent food choices, including an Asian grille, chef’s table, BBQ, deli bar, soup bar, grain bar, hot veg etable bar, salad bar, fruit bar and pizza and pasta bar, Wandel said. Cyclists traverse country, build houses, touch many lives By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Six Penn State students opted out of a traditional summer of lounging around and instead spent their time bicycling up to 116 miles a day. Fbr them it was all in an effort to lend a hand in increasing afford able housing across the country. The Bike and Build program is a national organization that com bines sport and service. Participants not only ride across the country, they stop at various places to help out at affordable housing project sites. OPEN DAILY @7 # 118 S GARNER Simmons Dining Hall, which closes at the end of this year, is known for its all-healthy option. Though Pollock Commons is about to undergo changes, the dining hall will not exclusively offer healthy foods. Current private dining spaces in Pollock will be converted to a bak ery and breakfast concept for daily use by students, Wandel said. Here students will be able to find waffles, coffee and cereal, as well as various desserts, such as muffins and cupcakes. Although it may not be imple mented right away, Wandel said there are plans to eventually keep this section of Pollock open late at night. The area will have soft seat ing and a fireplace, she said. The Nittany Lion Training Table will remain where it currently is. and a private dining room will be added to the south side of the building. Student organizations and other committees will be able to reserve this room to hold meet ings, Wandel said. The renovation will also add entrances so that students will no longer have to wait in only two lines to enter the commons, she said. Wandel said no food on campus is unhealthy if students make sure they eat a well balanced diet. But many students said Pollock should have been renovated to become the new health-conscious commons. The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Brian Nahas, one of four Penn State students on a route from South Carolina to Santa Cruz. Dave McDonald, who hiked from North Carolina to California in 70 days, said it was an “awe some” experience. The bikers provided extra man power to groups that were build ing houses, by doing odd jobs like framing, roofing, painting and landscaping, he said. Though the students were on separate routes, they got the chance to collaborate on one spe cific project. “They should still have an entire area where it’s all healthy food, so it's not as tempting,” Jaime Wesley (sophomore-psychology) said Victoria Maggio, who lives in Simmons Hall, said she and her friends eat in Simmons every day and will be sad to see the com mons close. “I think people will still make bad choices, even if healthy options are available everywhere." Maggio (sopho more-graphic design) said. But while students may not like having to make the choice between healthy and unhealthy foods, it is a decision they'll have to face in their everyday lives, Wandel said. “It'll be up to the student to make the right choice. We’ll incor porate recipes from Simmons in the other dining commons, but we ll also serve burgers and fries,” she said. “But that's real life when you walk down College Avenue, you have to walk past places that serve burgers and fries to get to the place that will serve tfou a salad." * To e-mail reporter: jamsB7s@psu.edu In Colorado Springs, Colo., great to see the physical terrain of on a bicycle riding an average of 75 McDonald helped lay the founda- the country in a whole new way. miles per day was the best way to tion for a house. One week later, Nissley (senior-predmedicine) spend a summer, McDonald (sen the bikers on the California route said he enjoyed talking to the peo- ior-aerospace engineering) said, came through and finished the pie the team built houses for and McDonald said he had been project. seeing the impact they were hav- involved with affordable housing Nahas (senior-architectural ing on those lives. projects before and said though he engineering) said it was incredible Bikers rode through deserts, had never been a serious road to know they had all worked redwood forests, the Grand biker before, the challenge and together to help someone out. Canyon and the Rocky Mountains, adventure was too good to pass The best part about the experi- “It's basically an adventure up. ence was that it provided a chance across the country with a purpose “When I heard Bike Shd Build to not only help out a great cause, behind it,” Nahas said. combined biking with service, I but to also explore big cities and Other highlights of the trip thought it would be’an awesome small towns across the country, he included hiking six hours up experience something I could said. Other highlights included Pike's Peak a 14,090 ft. moun- n't miss,” he said, watching sunsets and sunrises. tain. Nahas said. Biker Lance Nissley said it was Spending up to six hours a day To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu SPA LATENIGHT . PRESENTS HANSon SATURDAY AUGUST 28 10PM ALUMNI HALL With state funds cut, Schlow seeks donors The library is looking to the community for help in the coming year. By Colleen Boyle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER About $52,500 of state and dis trict aid has been cut from the Schlow Centre Region Library’s funding, library officials said. The cuts are crippling the library's resources, and in trying economic times, library director Catherine Alloway said she fears the changes are permanent. In response to these drastic cutbacks, AUowav has looked to the community for support. Downtown State College Improvement District Director Jody Alessandrine said he hopes those who are considering sup porting the library should con tribute as much as possible to the effort. “Schlow has been consistently able to operate and be realistic with their resources.” he said. “We all know what an integral part of the community it is.” But the future continues to look bleak. Despite generous contributions from community members, operating costs for the library are on the rise, mak ing the budget cuts even more disturbing. The contributions only make up for this year’s cuts, not for future losses. Alloway said, and the library cannot expect people to consistently donate. Now Schlow is looking for The Daily Collegian other ways to increase funding. Ideas include opening the library parking lot in the evening to downtown restaurant goers and shoppers. Additionally, those who attend universities other than. Penn State and use the library could be charged a fee to cover the cost of library staff members who serve as exam proctors, Alloway said. But until the fundraising replenishes library funding, Schlow officials have had to cut back on purchasing new materi als including books and electron ic databases. In addition, two employees have been laid off due to the budget cuts. Many of these visitors are Penn State students who take advantage of the quiet study space because it is more conven ient than the Pattee and Patemo Libraries on campus. Nicolette Gengel (senior-biology) said she enjoys studying in the Schlow facility for just that reason. “It’s a nice, quiet place to study,” Gengel said. And library users may see changes as Schlow officials struggle to overcome financial obstacles. “Consequently I feel right now the library is at the lowest possi ble staffing for the hours we have,” Alloway said. “We just don’t have enough bodies to help people in finding things.” To e-mail reporter: cabs3s6@psu.edu
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