81 TUESDAY, AUG. 31, 2010
IMI
Ttie D AIY
Collegian
Elizabeth Murphy
Editor in Chief
Kelsey Thompson
Business Manager
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CATA cutbacks reflect success
After being extended
last spring, the White
Loop's hours are being
cut back but only
slightly. The bus now only
runs until 4 a.m. Thursday
through Saturday instead
of the previous hours until
4:30 a.m run time.
The extension program
itself has shown great
success.
The extended hours pro
vide a safer environment
for students staying out
later than 2 a.m., and has
eased crowding at bus
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Beck rally channels Obama's vision
By Michael Oplinger
DURING the 2008 presi
dential campaign,
Republican John
McCain ran a
series of nega
tive ads, calling
Barack Obama
"the world's
biggest celebri
ty" while juxta
posing images
of Paris Hilton
and Britney
MY OPINION
Spears with the
Democrat.
Conservative pundits followed
McCain's lead, saying that
Obama could speak to huge
crowds of supporters but that
his popularity hurt his credibility
as a leader. Obama was only a
"roe.k star," not a man fit to lead
the country
Yet at least one conservative
pundit seems to have reached
"rock star" status.
He hosts his own incredibly
popular radio and TV shows.
He's authored multiple New
York Times Bestsellers. His live
shows sell out theaters across
the country
And on Saturday, he held a
rally in Washington, D.C., that
drew hundreds of thousands of
fans.
That man, of course, is Glenn
Beck who held his "Restoring
Honor" rally on the steps of the
Linconi Memorial and who may
have more in common with the
current president than he
thinks.
.••• Aud.Obama
co • much further apart
ideologically, but Beck's rally
showed a few similarities
stops and combated
behavioral issues.
The cutback now signals
that the University Park
Undergraduate Associa
tion has a firm handle on
the use of its budget.
CATA reported that very
few people ride the bus
after 4 a.m., so UPUA
decided not to continue to
fund that time slot. We
commend UPUA for its
efforts to ensure the
extension program's effec
tiveness.
We are also glad to see
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between the two men
Over the past few years, both
have seen an unexpected mete
oric rise to fame. Obama used to
be "that Senator from Illinois
with an interesting name who
gave a rousing speech at the
2004 Democratic National
Convention." Then he became
"that guy who's running for
president against the more well
known Hillary Clinton." Then he
became president.
Beck used to be "that guy. on
CNN who had a show that was
on before that crazy blonde lady
with the Southern accent." Then
he moved to Fox News and
became "that guy on before
Hannity and O'Reilly." But add a
chalkboard, a few conspiracy
theories and some tears and
Beck became one of the most
popular commentators on TV
As gifted speakers, both Beck
and Obama use convincing rhet
oric to gather hordes of devoted
followers. At its roots, their
rhetoric is surprisingly similar
Beck's main solution to
restoring honor in America is to
focus on faith, hope and charity.
He said hope was not the same
thing as "empty dreams" and
that Americans can achieve any
thing if they believe in them
selves. While using religion to
back most of his points, Beck
urged Americans to help each
other through tough times
financial, personal or otherwise.
The message is remarkably
similar to Obama's campaign
language when he constantly
urged Americans to hope for a
better tomorrow. During his
candidacy, Obama also advocat
ed helping neighbors for the
benefit of the entire community.
that the student leaders
are going above and
beyond through the
ambassador program, and
will continue to ride the
buses to evaluate the
effectiveness of the exten
sion.
While still in the experi
mental stages, the contin
uation of extended White
Loop hours can only be
viewed as positive at
least until further infor
mation about ridership is
released within the next
year.
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But a main criticism of
Obama deals with his ability to
motivate with his words, but
inability to facilitate action. His
words can only go so far to aid
with actual progress.
Beck now faces the same
dilemma in his mission to
"restore honor" to America.
While mainly avoiding politics,
as promised, and focusing more
on faith, Beck dealt in intangible
ideas and offered few real solu
tions.
Throughout the rally, Beck
referred to honor as "doing the
right thing, the hard thing." He
talked about needing a culture
of love, not continuing the grow
ing culture of hatred.
Fbllowing his own plan,
Beck's first course of action
should be to change the dis
course of his radio and TV pro
grams.
He could end the crazy con
spiracy theories and the
"Apocalypse is coming" idea. He
could start to advocate for the
right of everyone to marry
freely, regardless of orientation.
He could admonish those who
paint cultures and communities
with one broad hateful stroke.
He could welcome immigrants
to this country with open arms
and encourage them to share
the same freedoms all
Americans enjoy.
Then he could do "the hard
thing" walk down the hall and
encourage his colleagues at Fbx
News to do the same.
That would be honorable.
Michael Oplinger is a senior majoring
in media studies and is the Collegian's
Tuesday columnist. His - email is
mjoso7l@psu.edu
THON needs the competition
to support Hershey and kids
As an alumnus who was involved in
THON for all of my four years at Penn
State, as a committee member, a dancer
and a captain, I have heard many times
that THON is not about the competition. I
have also heard many times that THON is
not about the money.
I respectfully disagree. Yes, THON is all
about the kids. 13 ut we have to remember
that without the money, we wouldn't have
the kids.
The money pays for everything from
treatments and meal vouchers to doctors'
salaries and new hospital wings. Everyone
involved in THON knows this. It is even
more apparent when visiting Hershey
Medical Center, where researchers, doc
tors and parents thank you for the money
you raise for the kids. And honestly, what is
so wrong with student organizations com
peting to raise more money for kids with
cancer?
The support we provide for the families
and kids is obviously vital to THON. But it's
not like we have to choose between sup-
porting the kids and competing to raise
money for them. We have been doing both,
quite successfully, since THON started
and it seems to be working. Each year, we
raise more money in hopes to eradicate
pediatric cancer, and each year, we support
more families and kids.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I suggest, rather than trying to eliminate
the competition that helps THON thrive,
that the overall committee put its efforts
into finding new and different ways to get
students involved with the kids. Organizing
more Hershey trips would be a great place
to start. There is nothing like seeing where
the money goes to motivate you to spend a
cold weekend canning FTK
UPI I , OOK.
FAMILIAR?
Mosque debate sparked by
extremists rather than locals
I was pleased to read Mr. Christina's let
ter on Monday, "Mosque would affect griev
ers," in which he acknowledges that he has
no ill will towards Muslims and respects
the right of the developers of the Ground
Zero mosque to proceed with their project.
Unfortunately, such concessions to human
decency and the constitution are too much
to expect from many extremists who have
come out against the project.
I disagree with him, however, when he
asserts that "respecting the grief and
anguish" of the families of the Sept. 11 vic
tims suggests that the mosque should be
moved. The faulty premise is that those
attacks were representative of Islam.
The national outrage over the mosque(
UNEM•
PLAYED
has been fabricated for the most part by
right-wing extremists. This can be seen
when considering that opposition to the
mosque is at its lowest levels among
Manhattan residents. While the families of
the victims are divided on the issue, there
is a very clear faction that has always stood
by the project. So have Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and the local community board,
contending that not only do the developers
have a right to build, but that a mosque at
the site would be an appropriate testament
to the values we stand for as a nation.
Who decides how we honor the memory
of the victims of Sept. 11? Is it xenophobes
who foam at the mouth with their
Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and racist rhet
oric most of whom have no tangible con
nection to New York City? Or do we trust
New York's elected representatives and the
residents of the neighborhoods adjoining
Ground Zero? Should we allow our society
to be defined by fear and intolerance? Or
should we take the opportunity to reaffirm
our commitment to our values as a free
and open society?
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP
Music acts as gym motivator
Over the summer, while I was using
my three-month membership at the
gym near my house, I realized some
thing: Music is my workout motivator.
Some people are lucky enough that they
can just leap into exercise; others look
at pictures of celebrity physiques they
admire. But for me neither of those
things do much...
Hannah Rishel
Performing Arts reporter
Brian Selznick novel review
I love, love, love this book. It's like
nothing else, and I must recommend it.
And yes, I know it's a children's book
But I can love this book despite its age
inappropriateness for several reasons:
A. It has gorgeous illustrations.
B. It is similar in size and weight to
my Collected Works of Shakespeare.
C. The plot is good and the writing
isn't condescending to its readers...
Sky Friedlander
Books reporter
FOOTBLOG
Preseason podcast.
Penn State football historian Lou
Prato joins AJ Cassavell on the daily
Penn State football podcast...
Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at
psucolleglan.com/blogs.
Elizabeth Collins
Class of 2008
Hamdan Azhar
Class of 2007