1 Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010
Dry conditions hit Happy Valley
By Nathan Pipenberg
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Due to drought-like conditions
across Pennsylvania, the univer
sity is urging staff and students
to be mindful of water consump
tion.
According to the Department
of Environmental Protection
(DEP), Centre County is one of
43 counties in the state under a
drought watch 24 others are
under the more severe “warn
ing" advisory.
DEP spokesman Tom
Rathbun said that under a
drought watch, the department
urges large water consumers like
Penn State to take efforts to curb
water consumption by 5 percent
voluntarily. A drought warning is
accompanied by a request to cut
consumption by 10 to 15 percent
and a drought emergency is often
followed by mandatory caps on
water usage set by the Federal
Emergency Management
Students compete for cities in drive
By Jennifer Lewis
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
Philly vs. Pittsburgh: It's an
age old battle, and this time
Philadelphia has the lead.
Philadelphians currently have
tiie edge over Pittsburgh fans in
a blood drive battle by about 100
units o! blood.
Students can participate in the
Penn State Student Red Cross
Club's blood drive by donating
blood and showing support for
their favorite cities from 10 a.m.
to 4 p in. in HUB-Alumni Hall
i odav and Thursdav.
But there is also an option for
“other'' il students root for anoth
er city, or have no preference for
It's all part of an effort to col
lect 125 productive units of blood
•wh day because of a blood
uoiu.tion shortage, said Wendi
Keeler, donor resources field rep-
sentative and PSU Red Cross
i Tub adviser
PSC Red Cross Club Vice
President Julie Agee created the
“Pitt vs, Philly” campaign.
The campaign has been going
on for two weeks.
I wanted to create a cam
paign that would create competi
tion among students, so I just lis
tened to what people debated
Agency (FEMA), Rathbun said.
Penn State sent out a request
on Tuesday for students and staff
to cut down on water usage levels
via Penn State Live.
Office of Physical Plant (OPP)
spokesman Paul Ruskin said
Rgnn State is taking the steps
outlined by the DEP and urging
students to report leaks and
drips from toilets and faucets.
“No. 1 is that students report
all leaks to OPP" Ruskin said.
“We can’t fix it if we don't know
about it."
This sentiment was echoed by
Rathbun, who said a leaking toi
let can waste up to 200 gallons of
water every day.
Ruskin also requested stu
dents take shorter showers, only
wash full loads of laundry and
turn off faucets while shaving
and brushing their teeth.
Rathbun said a 90-day predic
tion by the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) show's that pre
cipitation, ground and surface
“I stress that everyone donate. It could be you
one day.”
about on the Blue Loop," Agee
(senior-marketing) said.
A Philadelphia native, Agee
said she hopes her city wins,
which could be likely the City
of Brotherly Love is currently in
the lead.
Agee said "the drives wouldn't
be successful" without volun
teers from more than 100 differ
ent Penn State organizations.
Interested students can go to
psuredcross.org to register lo
donate, but walk-ins are also wel
come, said Cydney Aetie . a vol-'
unteer with Helping Across the
Community.
Actie (sophomore-pubhc rela
tions) said she recognizes the
necessity for blood donors
because her grandmother
received a blood transfusion.
"I stress that evenone
donate," Actie said. "It could be
you one day."
Donor Kavla Foster (sopho
more-chemistry) agreed
“I think that if you're young, it's
easier to give blood to people who
really need it." she said.
LOCAL
water will likely be at normal lev
els in the future, meaning
drought conditions here are
unlikely to get worse.
But other regions in
Pennsylvania, such as Somerset
County, won’t be so lucky.
Somerset County currently
has dangerously low levels of
ground and surface water, and
according to the USGS 90-day
prediction, the county’s situation
is extreme, Rathbun said.
The last time Centre County
faced a drought emergency was
in 2002, he said.
That year, Ruskin said Penn
State was forced to reduce water
consumption drastically by limit
ing water used for the Penn State
Golf Courses, landscaping and
athletic fields.
But reducing water usage now
may prevent a drought emer
gency from occurring later this
vear, Ruskin said.
To e-mail reporter: ndpso4s@psu.edu
Cydney Actie *
sophomore-public relations
So why not save lives?”
By representing their home
town cities, students can also be
entered to win a jersey of their
choice, Agee said.
The city with the most dona
tions will have one person
entered into the raffle to win a
jersey from Dick’s Sporting
Goods.
Any donor has the chance to
win a Kaplan Test Prep Course
or a certificate from Dick’s
Sporting Goods or Rapid Transit
Sports, said Agee.
Pizza from Pizza Mia is being
served at all drives, as well as
cupcakes from Sugar on Top, 121
12 E. Beaver Ave.
If you go
What: Penn State Student Red
Cross Club blood drive
When: Today and Thursday
Where: Alumni Hall
Details: Students can register
online at psuredcross.org
UPUA and CCS6 members talk with Marissa Knaus (senior-communica
tion sciences and disorders) about the Grassroots Network campaign.
Students spread word
on budget campaign
By Kathleen Loughran
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday afternoon, mem
bers of the University Park
Undergraduate Association
(UPUA) and the Council of
Commonwealth Student
Governments (CCSG) teamed up
to distribute information and free
T-shirts about the Penn State
Grassroots Network.
“[The Grassroots Network] is
an entity of the university that
deals with Harrisburg and legisla
tors in terms of tuition,” UPUA
President Christian Ragland said.
“The more students that we can
get that are educated about this,
the more the legislators will see
that we’re passionate about this.”
The main issue the Penn State
Grassroots Network addresses is
Penn State’s annual budget appro
priation. Members advocate for
the state to increase the amount of
money given to Penn State’s annu
al budget so tuition and other
costs can be lowered.
CCSG Vice President Peter
Khoury said the pamphlets the
group was handing out included a
registration card for the Penn
State Grassroots Network
Ragland (senior-political sci
ence) said it is the responsibility of
student leaders to get other stu
dents involved in the Grassroots
Network.
That’s why the two student gov-
The Daily Collegian
Sarah Finnegan.'Collegian
ernments decided to hold the
“There are things out there that
students can directly get involved
in outside of the student govern
ment. and that's what we need,”
he said. "This is something you
can be a part of after you gradu
ate, since it's a part of the Penn
State Alumni Association."
Khoury (junior-biology) said
students can get involved by con
tacting their local legislators and
“advocating on behalf of students"
through the Grassroots Network.
Lauren Sauter who filled out
the registration card said she
thinks it's important to get
involved with the network so
future students can benefit from
the organization's efforts.
“I think I the Grassroots
Networkl is good," Sauter (junior
marketing) said. "Tuition does
need to be lowered because it's
really high."
Kyana Garvin said high tuition
is an issue at Penn Slate she’s
happy to hear that the Grassroots
Network advocates on behalf of
students.
“From what [Raglandl was say
ing about the tuition. I think it's a
really good idea that students are
getting involved," Garvin (junior
human development and family
studies) said. "I Tuition I shouldn't
be an issue." .
To e-mail reporter: krlslo6@psu.edu