I Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Z o The Daily Collegian Elizabeth Murphy Editor in Chief Kelsey Thompson Business Manager About the Collegian: The Daily Collegian and The Weekly Collegian are 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 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 by mail to other Penn State campuses and subscribers. Complaints: News and edi torial complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be pre sented to the business man ager. Who we are The Daily Collegian’s edito rial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsibility. The letters and columns expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of The Daily Collegian or Collegian Inc. Collegian Inc., publish ers of The Daily Collegian and related publications, is a separate corporate institu tion from Penn State. Members are: Lexi Bel culfine, Caitlin Burnham, Paul Casella, Kevin Cirilli, Beth Ann Downey, Amanda Elser, Zachary Feldman, Ashley Gold, Stephen Hennessey, Allison Jackovitz, Kevin Kline, Samantha Kramer, Bill Landis, Andrew Metcalf, Nate Mink, Elizabeth Murphy, Laura Nichols, Michael Oplinger, Edgar Ramirez, Heather Schmelzlen, Caitlin Sellers, Laurie Stem, Katie Sullivan, Jessica Uzar, Aubrey Whelan, Alex Weisler, Somer Wiggins, 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 mall/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. E 0 110 ft i A L THON meeting lacked results There has been a lot of controversy recently regarding the new regula tions for Penn State’s Interfratemity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, involv ing the greek community, independent organizations and THON Overall Com mittee members. Upon invitation from IFC President Max Wend kos, leaders met on Sun day to discuss concerns and to look into ways to continue involving stu- dents and the THON com munity in important deci sions. We applaud these lead ers for taking a step toward a solution by call ing for and participating 2009 White Out Youth should embrace outdoors By Joshua Potter In a 2002 British study, researchers asked 109 schoolchildren to identify 20 flash cards —lO common species of wildlife drawn randomly from a set of 100 cards and 10 Pokemon char acter cards drawn from a set of 150 By age eight, children were able to identify three-quarters of the PokOmon cards, but were capable of identifying only half of the items found in nature. With an understatement that is typical of academics, the authors remarked that, “conser vationists are doing less well than the creators of Pokemon at inspiring interest in their sub jects.” Research indicates what many of us already know intu itively that children are losing their connection to the natural world. By extension, their under standing of the fundamental principles of how our planet works has diminished. Without a relationship with nature, chil dren may never develop an ethic of care needed to be a steward of the planet. In the 35 years Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center has been in operation here at in this meeting. It is good to see that all parties are ready and willing to listen and discuss. However, no concrete decisions resulted from this meeting, and there are no additional meet ings scheduled to discuss ideas in the future. This is a problem. Opinions, suggestions and ideas brought up at the meeting need to be explored further at anoth er meeting if they are going to be seriously con sidered by THON leaders. They also need to be acted upon and turned into concrete actions and solutions to power strug gle. THON officials have Penn State, we have seen a. change in the way in which chil dren interact with their environ ment. Many studies reveal that chil dren today are spending much less time in the outdoors, and more time indoors in structured activities than just a generation ago due to lack of public space, safety concerns and übiquity of electronic media. A 2006 study in “Pediatrics” reported that over the course of a year the average American child spends 1,023 hours in, front of the television compared to 900 hours in school. There has been an undeniable shift in the way children experi ence nature. This concept has reached the mainstream media in recent years. “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” the Richard Louv bestselling book, sparked national debate on the need for children to spend more time in nature. Louv’s book cor relates the reduction of time children are spending outside with a multitude of ill effects, including attention disorders, obesity, stress and depression. His call for reconnecting with nature by getting children out doors has resonated with par ents, educators, health profes sionals and even the First Lady, culminating in a national cam paign to “Leave No Child Inside.” At Shaver’s Creek, part of Penn State Outreach, we are promised to continue this dialogue between their committee and THON supporters throughout our campus. We expect them to live up to their word. The community specifically the students and smaller organizations involved in THON is looking for more input, so THON leaders should put' their differences and dis agreements aside and lis ten a little more to what these groups of students have to say. More input from more organizations would allow for more informed and universally accepted deci sions from the Overall Committee members. Slight 2010 A «p£Out doing our best to combat “nature-deficit disorder.” Through our Penn State course offerings and programs for ele mentary and secondaiy school children, we use nature as a means to nurture cognitive development, support emotional maturation and strengthen peo ple’s capacity for creativity, ~ - problem solving and decision making. We believe that the best way to relate natural science con cepts to children is to engage them in hands-on learning in the outdoors. According to Yale University researcher Stephen Kellert, all forms of contact with nature are valuable in their own right, but only direct experience provides the “intimacy, adven ture or surprise, all of which (and much more) provide the basis for substantive develop ment.” Here at Shaver’s Creek, we encourage our visitors to “never stop discovering.” We believe that a healthy relation ship with nature will lead to more personal well being, as well as a healthier planet. We invite Penn State students and the community to get involved and to reconnect with nature. Shaver’s Creek is a resource for you. Joshua Potter is the marketing coordi nator of Shaver's Creek Environmental Center. His e-mail is ] potter@psu.edu. This column also features research by Rob Andrejewski, doctoral candidate at Shaver’s Creek. The Daily Collegian Undeniable that Americans should not be welfare state A recent study has confirmed what many Americans have feared: America is now the Welfare State. Fifty million of the 300 million people in this country are now dependent on Medicaid, which is a social welfare system for the poor, and 40 million people receive food stamps. Citizens are eligible for unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks. Think about 99 weeks and comprehend what it would take to be with out work for that long. We have made recent “strides” to supply health care to the general public and there are rumblings of “cap and trade,” which would supply the Protection Agency the ‘right to tax nearly any citizen based on their individual carbon dioxide production (seriously, hold your breath). We must ask ourselves what is all this government spending really doing? Do these policies of welfare and regulation really have the best interest of the American people in mind? Although the answer to these questions will be debated, the results are undeniable. Expanding wel fare programs and handing out entitle ments to the public only increases depend ency, causing a snowball effect that will ultimately bankrupt and ruin the country. Let’s reclaim the American dream (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) and get things'the old fashioned way through ambition and relentless hard work. Let us never forget there was once a time when working yourself out of poverty was the only option. America’s ‘greed’ is better than economic complacency In response to Thursday’s letter “Greed destroys America,” which stated, “we, as Americans, are never satisfied with where we are at” as if it were a bad thing. I, for one, would hate to live in a country where people were economically compla cent. What Corey calls “greed” is what oth ers call self-interest, which is the driver of innovation and growth in a free economy. Corey goes on to say that we pay people too much for certain jobs because we are “paying for things that are a want instead of paying for necessities.” God forbid greedy Americans desire to live in some thing more than a subsistence economy. If that’s the definition of greed, then I say “God bless America.” Going vegan is the best way to become energy-efficient I enjoyed reading about Penn State’s creative methods for sustainable living in Thursday’s article “Penn State researches canola as energy source.” However, there is a much cheaper way to make dining halls more sustainable: add more vegan food. According to an extensive United Nations study, raising animals for food contributes more to climate change than all cars, boats and trains combined. The amount of resources wasted on pro ducing animal-derived products is stagger ing. We currently feed more than 70 per cent of the grains grown in the U.S. to ani mals raised for food. Similarly, nearly half of the water and 80 percent of agricultural land consumed in this country are used for livestock, rather than direct consumption by humans. Passing these resources through animals who use up 90 percent of the energy they consume simply by liv ing their lives requires exponentially more land, water and other resources than simply eating plants directly. Drew Winter College Campaigns Assistant, peta2 SNAP, CRACKLE, POP Sampled music vamps rap So I’ve never been the type to go for hip hop. I’ve always enjoyed the occa sional Top 40 rap hit or the classics that everyone plays at their parties. But late ly, I’ve REALLY been into it. And I think I’ve found the perfect blend of my old and new music tastes. Ladies and gentlement, I give you... “The Kids” by 8.0.8. A perfectly remixed blend of my new favorite genre and the music that has always been my favorite... CAN YOU DIG IT? Breakdown of first matches Home fans will have their first chance to see the Penn State women’s volley ball team this season when it hosts three matches this weekend. The No. 1 Nittany Lions will put their 3-0 record and 105-match winning streak on the line against Seton Hall, Colgate and VCU. Here’s a breakdown of each team. Player to Watch: Outside hitter Sarah Osmun. Though she’s hitting just .162, Osmun is the Pirates’ go-to attack er and leads the team with 4.00 kills/set. Ryan Loy Women's volleyball reporter Read more of The Dally Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs. Andrew Chansky senior-science Kai Kaapro graduate-law Lindsey Cryer Music reporter
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