The Daily
C 11 .
Published independently by students at Penn State
Vol 111 N 0.32 Wednesday, August 25, 2010 30 cents off campus
Spanier OKs
budget
By Kathleen Loughran
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Students will now meet with the
unive.rsity's budget director and
other administrators each fall to
discuss Penn State's preliminary
budget, after Penn State
President Graham Spanier
approved a proposal drafted by
student leaders.
With the approved proposal
created by University Park
Undergraduate Association
Shale
deposit
studied
By Brendan McNally
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Penn State has unveiled a
research initiative tasked to
investigate the potential eco
nomic, environ
mental and
social impact of
the booming
Marcellus Shale
natural gas
industry in
Pennsylvania.
The initiative
the Marcellus
Center for
Outreach and Research
(MCOR) will do research to
develop the best possible proce
dures and poli
cies for extract
ing natural gas
from Marcellus
Shale rock a
mineral found
under about 2/3
of Pennsylvania,
MCOR co-direc
tor Thomas Murphy
Murphy said
MCOR will also work to edu
cate the public about the gas
shale industry and will serve as
a general resource for
Pennsylvanians, Murphy said.
Murphy said extracting natu
ral gas from the shale could
infuse billions of dollars into the
state's economy and affect mil
lions of people, which is why
Penn State has created the cen
ter to study all aspects of the
industry.
"[Marcellus Shale natural
gas] could have a trillion dollar
plus impact on the state econo
my" Murphy said. "We are talk
ing about a massive amount of
money and a very large portion
of the popylation that will be
impacted by the Marcellus
Shale."
Michael Arthur, also a MCOR
co-director, said he hopes the
center will bring in more
research money for the universi
ty from industry and environ
mental groups, as well as from
the state.
The shale covers almost 34
million acres of land in
Pennsylvania and could contain
more than 50 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. Research conduct
ed by Penn State professors con
cluded that tapping into the nat
ural gas deposits could create
200,000 new jobs and increase
gains in state and local tax rev
enue by more than $1 billion in 10
years.
Chris Tutolo, public relations
officer for Penn State Eco-
Action, said he is concerned
See SHALE, Page 2.
Website provides students with incentives to study
Courtesy of Ulbinsiccom
Ultrinsic.com rewards students for achieving goals.
access
(UPUA) and Council of
Commonwealth Student
Governments (CCSG) presidents
and vice presidents various
meetings will be held where
administrators can update stu
dent leaders on the budget and
Andrew Dunheimer/Collegian
receive feedback, CCSG
President Mohamed Raouda CCSG President Mohamed Raouda and UPUA President Christian
said. Ragland will get a chance to discuss Penn State's budget.
"We received a guarantee from
Graham Spanier to be more (senior-history and international but this year we have four meet
transparent with the budget and relations) said. ings
to have representation," Raouda "We used to have one meeting,
Tyler Sizemore/Collegian
Students sporting colorful umbrellas walk down Shortlidge Road on Monday. Weather for the first and
second day of classes was rainy, with more precipitation expected in the upcoming days.
Kredible to hoodwink HUB crowd
By Heather Panetta
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Expect brand new tricks like
"magic meets flip cup" when
magician Justin Kredible per
forms at 8 tonight in HUB-
Heritage Hall.
"It's the perfect college trick,"
said Kredible, whose real name is
Justin Willman. "It combines my
favorite pastime, which is magic,
and college students' favorite pas
time."
The show marks Kredible's
third visit to Penn State and is
sponsored by the Student
Penn State students who need extra This fall, the site expanded to more
motivation to study now have it cold, than 30 colleges, including Penn State,
hard cash
At Uitrinsic.com, students can set target also hiring several student ambassadors
grades and win money if they achieve to spread the word about the website.
those goals. Gelbart said Penn State was chosen
The site came out of a challenge from because it's "very campus-oriented,"
one of its creators to another. When has strong academic programs, solid
Ultrinsic president Jeremy Gelbart was athletic programs and has a diverse stu
a student at the University of dent population.
Pennsylvania, co-creator Steven Wolf "We thought we could learn a lot from
If you go
What Justin Kredible
When: 8 p.m. today; doors
open at 7:30 p.m.
Where: HUH-Heritage
NONE Free Oil ID
Programming Association (SPA).
Kredible has been doing college
and university tours for about five
years and he said they have been
his favorite venues.
"I have way more freedom of
By Sarah Peters
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
expression in college shows," he
said. "I like to be edgy and talk
about what I want to. I can do the
show that I would want to
go see if I was a college
student."
SPA Director of Events
Matt McKnight (senior
political science) said
Kredible is the best
person to kick off the
year and to get
freshmen involved
in campus activi
ties
"He's an up-and
coming entertainer,
issued him a challenge: Get an 'A on his
exam and earn $lOO, or earn a lower
grade and fork over $2O, Gelbart said.
Gelbart said. Ultrinsic's creators are
See BUDGET, Page 2
Penn State when we expand Ultrinsic to
other colleges," Gelbart said.
Within the first month of classes, stu
dents can create an account, submit
their class schedules, GPAs, target
grades and deposits proportional to how
much they'd like to earn. At the end of a
semester, students submit an official
transcript to Ultrinsic and receive cash
rewards if they've achieved their goal
Cristina McClintock (freshman-man
agement information systems) said
she'd be interested in Ultrinsic, because
See WEBSITE, Page 2.
psucollegian.com
@dailycollegian
Rush
fees
hiked
The IFC increased rush
fees a year after imple
menting them.
By Megan Rogers
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Interfraternity Council (IFC)
officials say recruitment this
year will be value-focused and
they're raising the cost of rush
ing by $l5 to enhance the
recruitment experience.
IFC Vice President for
Membership Mark Mixon said
he thinks the increased market
ing-efforts and fee now $25 per
potential recruit will result in
a better rush experience.
The additional money will pro
vide chapters with training
from groups like Phired Up, a
firm that specializes in the
recruitment process to learn
how they can best promote their
fraternity, Mixon (senior-energy
business and finance) said.
But it's not just fraternity
chapters that could benefit from
the increased fee.
IFC President Max Wendkos
said the council is providing
recruits with a information book
on each of the 48 fraternities. It
can be hard for recruits to sort
through the IFC's 48 fraternities,
Wendkos (senior-marketing and
psychology) said and the book
aims to make that challenge a lit
tle bit easier.
IFC ordered about 2,000
copies of the book, which are
being handed out at involvement
fairs and orientation sessions,
Phil Meier, administrative assis
tant to the vice president for
membership, said.
Some students who attended
the first recruitment information
session on Tuesday- night said
they enjoyed the presentation
and are fine with the price to
rush.
Student Ricardo Beer said the
reasoning behind the price of
recruitment was a logical one.
"$25 in the long run is not
much, seeing as how a fraternity
is a life commitment, not just a
four-year deal," Beer (freshman
public relations and advertising)
said.
Ji Han agreed.
Han (freshman-environmen
tal engineering) said the price
will deter students who aren't
truly interested in joining a fra
ternity. But, he said, the price
shouldn't go above $25 or that
may keep out too many students.
The money will also be
used to promote recruitment
See FEES, Page 2.
funny magician and relatively
close to our age," McKnight said.
Kredible, who for the fourth
consecutive year was named
Entertainer of the Year by
Campus Activities Magazine,
began practicing magic
when he was 12.
"I broke both my
arms trying to prove
to girls I could ride a
bike with
rollerblades on," he
said. "The doctor
recommended doing
card tricks to get the
See MAGIC, Page 2.