MONDAY, SEPT. Ti I I) I Collegian Elizabeth Murphy Milo, - in 071(1' Kelsey Thompson Bitiness 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 Chilli. Beth Ann Downey, Amanda Elser, Zachary Feldman, Ashley Gold, Stephen Hennessey. Allison Jackovit, Kevin Kline. Samantha Kramer, Bill Landis. Andrew Metcalf, Nate Mink, Elizabeth Murphy, Laura Nichols. Michael Oplinger, Edgar Ramirez, Heather Schmelzlen, Caitlin Sellers, Laurie Stern. 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 mail/In 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. 13, 2010 New rules mark compromise After an initial change to the rule book and an abundance of feedback from various organiza tions, THON officials announced Wednesday that they will return to announcing the top 10 fundraising organizations in each category. Organizations in posi tions six through 10 for Commonwealth campus es, special interest organi zations, general organiza tions and greek organiza 111111 Preachers should continue practicing civil liberties, but do so more quietly By Katie Sullivan Afew weeks ago I walked by the HUB-Robeson Center and saw two cops on mi cycles and three more on stand-by parked in an SUV. With batons poised, they looked as if they were ready to hop out at any moment, break up a fight and bust heads. No it wasn't a football week end complete with a riot in Beaver Canyon, and it certainly was nothing like the mayhem that comes hand-in-hand with Arts Fest. It was simply a gathering of more than a few eccentric indi viduals expressing their pas sionate feelings and views about religion, or lack there of. Loudly. Jesus-loving, Christian preaching disciples armed with damning signs and the sup port of God, of course squared off against a mix of Darwin-loving, Edward Cullen worshiping, pro-atheists who praised evolution and won cheers from many on-looking students. Love or hate either group of these crazy radicals who think it's their way or the highway, they are doing something many people these days are afraid to do challenge the norm and tions will see their names displayed on the screens on stage and posted online. We believe that this decision was a good com promise made between THON officials and those organizations opposed to the new rules. It is nice that the overall committee recognizes that they have a debt to the organizations they work with, and that they are willing to listen and EVERY MOBLEM LOOKS LIKF. A NAIL, vocalize their opinion, taking complete advantage of the free doms this country so often boasts As much as these people drive me crazy, it really . does exemplify what this country is all about: civil liberties. Freedom of speech is some thing that people in many other areas around the world are denied and are sometimes even killed for what they believe preach or protest. Do I agree with some of what I believe to be crazy stuff they carry on about? Absolutely not. Do I have the urge to slap them upside the head with their Bible or mocking sign? You bet ter believe it. But I refrain. I take a deep breath and smile, knowing that these vocalists, however eccen tric or however loud, are cele brating the very thing that makes America "the land of the free.- After a weekend where we remembered and honored those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, it is refreshing to see those who are carrying on the legacy that this country has created. Terrorist attacks or not, we are still celebrating our freedom of speech, religion and the right to protest. However, there are lines that need to be drawn. Students have been complaining about the noise these demonstrators are creating right outside class rooms where people are trying to learn in. Respectfully voicing your opinion is one thing. respond to feedback This whole situation could have been avoided, though, if the overall com mittee had conferred with the other organizations before making these changes. We encourage THON officials to learn from their mistakes, and to con tinue being transparent and engaging in dialogue with all affiliates about important issues and deci sions. Screaming about frying in hell and evolution while students in class are trying to comprehend a math equation and foster a meaningful discussion is anoth er. Our education should not be impeded because these people (again I am referring to both sides of the coin) are bickering unproductively at each other at the top of their lungs. So a few requests for the preachers and the protestors be respectful of the college atmosphere and keep your blas pheme-damning and religious mocking to a reasonable decibel. Also, be respectful of each other. Agree to disagree. I know we don't all believe the same thing, and that's the beau ty about living in America we don't have to. Freedom of speech comes with a sense of responsibility to be open-minded, respectful and productive. Right now, I think the people who carry on outside the HUB are using their freedoms in a derogatory way. Voice your opinion, but please, be respectful to students who are here to learn, and be respectful to one another. The only time I want to see the police riding around on motorcycles and readying their cans of mace is when we storm the field after Joe Pa's 400th win. Katie Sullivan is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Collegian's Mon day columnist. Her e-mail is kmss424@psu.edu THE DAILY COLLEGIAN New seats affect long-time fans In response to Wednesday's column "Section shift will affect next season," I think it's crazy to move what has been hailed the best student section in the coun try. The students are not the only ones being affected, as I'm sure is well known at this point. My family has had season tickets for well over 10 years now, our seats are in a spot some would consider undesirable. The last row of the upper deck in the North end zone. However, everyone sitting around us loves our seats and are pretty upset we won't be together next year. We have become a family The people next to us have opted to not get season tickets any more. My family will have to get new seats; hopefully, we can find something we like as much as what we had. Also, if you haven't noticed, the visitors will no longer have seats near the field, it will all be in the upper deck While sure this may be to our advantage, how would you feel to go to another school and not be able to sit near the field, especially if you are a parent of a player? Unfortunately, everything is done at this point, we can hope that they realize what they are doing is upsetting many of the Penn State fans, just probably not the ones with deep pockets, as they seem to be the only ones benefiting from the new seating. The only thing to do is make the best of the situation and make new traditions in the new sections. Wrong to blame all religions In response to Friday's letter "Quran burning reflects rights and violence in all religions," I have to say that I could not dis agree more with your overarching general izations of all religious believers as violent and irrational. Frankly, associating the bil lions of religious believers in the world in other words, the vast majority of human ity that doesn't think like you with the actions of a violent few shows the same irrational, intolerant, tribalistic, bigoted and ignorant tendencies of which you accuse them. Surely, religious texts can be willfully misinterpreted to rationalize any sort of violence and hatred someone wishes. In the same way, the theory of evolution and "survival of the fittest" were willfully misin terpreted by "scientific, rational" minds to justify the eugenics movement and the quest for "racial purity" in the early twenti eth century. We all know how that ended. There have always been those who have failed to live up to the ideals and beliefs they profess to follow. But, to be sure, reli gious believers don't hold a monopoly on irrational, violent behavior. Joseph Brom graduate-materials science and engineering Soccer coach should step up I know talk around Happy Valley in the fall usually revolves around football. However, my concern right now is the state of the women's soccer program. Maybe we have been spoiled by 12 straight Big Ten Championships. Maybe we have been spoiled by NCAA tournament wins and alumni on national teams. Whatever the reason, the current state of the program should be a concern. This is Coach Walsh's fourth year, which means these are her recruits and her record right now. The team has four losses (including one to Yale of all teams), with a winning percentage of only .667 the last two years and a dismal start this year. Coach Walsh has some explaining to do. I do not want to hear how "the team is coming together" and that they are "experimenting with line-ups." The team is playing uninspired and slop py. They are not scoring and are losing games they should not. That's on the coaching staff. The bottom line is that although Coach Walsh has continued the streak of Big Ten dominance, there has been a steady decrease in the winning per centage and early NCAA tournament exits, including last year's 6-2 debacle against the University of Virginia. I will continue to root for the Lions in all sports and support them in every way. However, I hope I have some thing worth celebrating soon. FOOTBLOG Postgame 'Bama coverage After the game, the Collegian's foot ball reporters analyzed what went wrong and tried to make sense of what this game truly meant for Penn State... Several players and coaches also addressed the media after the Nittany Lions' loss in Tuscaloosa, including Jay Paterno, Stephfon Green, Devon Smith, Chris Colasanti, D'Anton Lynn and Derek Moye. SNAP CRACKLE, POP MIV calls on changemakers With educational rates at an all time high, it is no surprise that students are coming up a with brilliant idea that could shape the economic market... Aileen O'Neill Visual arts reporter Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs. Anne McConnell Class of 2005 Aaron Terranova Class of 1999 Football beat reporters
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