THE DAILY COLLEGIAN GEORGE ORWE Many well-respected books such as George Orwell's "1984," JD Sallnger's "A Catcher In the Rye" and Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" are banned books. Students in English 474 (Issues in Rhetoric and Composition) will read books on the steps of the Pattee Library today to celebrate Banned Books Week, among other things. Class to celebrate, read banned books By Samantha Arcieri FOR THE COLLEGIAN America: Land of the free and home of the banned books. Students in professor Rosa A. Eberly's English 474 (Issues in Rhetoric and Composition) class will hold a "banned books reading" event at 1 p.m. today on the steps of the Pattee Library. The reading will celebrate Constitution Day, Banned Books Week and First Amendment Week The demonstration is a class project worth 10 percent of the students' final grades, Eberly said. Eberly wanted the class to come up with the project themselves, she said. "It seems paradoxical to assign students to think about their own personal free doms," Eberly said. "The goal is to have the students try to educate their fellow undergraduates about books they read in high school that were banned and chal lenged repeatedly" Pat Shahabian (senior-communication arts and sciences) said everyone in the class will read on the library steps. "We wanted to do something visual," Shahabian said. "We thought the message would get across quicker, instead of slam ming it down people's throats." Shahabian said he will read George Orwell's "1984." "It's a good piece of criticism," Shahabian said. "I find Orwellian theory interesting." Banning literature is ironic, Shahabian said. "The First Amendment gives people the Fratmusic.com By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Fratmusic.com has returned from its three-month hiatus to the excitement of some fraternity members who enjoy the site's minefield of mash-up, mixed-up and re-mix filled playlists. "It's just good music," Delta Chi President Dan Kutz said. "It's popular songs that are mashed together for remix es." Kutz (junior-finance) said most of his chapter members use the site when they're lounging in their rooms or just hanging out. The site definitely has a strong presence at Penn State, Phi Sigma Kappa President Matthew McClelland said. Last spring, fratmusic.com busted onto the scene surprising even the site cre ators. "It blew up pretty quickly in the spring," site co-owner Nate Maddrey said. When the team of University of Virginia students took over the site in January 2010, it was getting 10,000 visits a day. But after adding the mash-ups, re-mixes and dance music the site has become known for, its popularity increased tenfold, Maddrey said. By May it was receiving 100,000 hits a day. The mash-ups are one of the site's strengths, McClelland (senior-business management) said. "People want to hear mash-ups," he said. "People get tired of the same song over and over again." Maddrey said he isn't sure whether the right to say things and the right to speak out," Shahabian said. "The fact that one person can create literature and one per son can ban it seems counter-productive and ironic at the same time." Jeremiah Cunningham (senior-commu nication arts and sciences and English) said the event is a great expression of First Amendment freedoms and an interesting study of literature. "Everyone knows that books have been banned and challenged, but no one really knows the quantity of books that have been banned," Cunningham said. Anyone who attends will be enlightened, he said. "People can learn about American histo ry and what texts have been frowned upon and for what reason," Cunningham said. Eberly said that University Policy ADSI gives students the right to demonstrate and voice opinions outside at designated areas. "It's the guru of expression on campus," Eberly said. "A lot of students are used to hiding in classrooms. More need to come to terms with what it means to express opinion in public." JD Salinger's "A Catcher in the Rye," F Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" are some of the novels that appear on the American Library Association's list of most challenged books of the twentieth century. Shahabian said he didn't know why certain books have been challenged or banned over the years. "I was really surprised to see "ikrinnie the Pooh' on the list," Shahabian said. returns to web original creator was a fraternity member or how the "frat music" title was chosen. But he said the name has been one of the selling points of the site. "It always gets a reaction out of some one," he said. "Even if they're not in a frat they just want to know what it is." On Sept. 21, the site made its debut online. The site was shut down to preserve its sustainability, Maddrey said. The team realized they had a gem in fratmusie.com and wanted to make changes that would cement the site's popularity. The former site did not have anywhere near the level of interactive user-generat ed results as the current one, which has voting and commenting capabilities, team member David Infante said. The site is back online, but that doesn't signal the end of the changes. Maddrey said they are working to add a tagging system to sort genres, a fraternity section and school section so people can see what schools and fraternities have the best music. But the fun isn't just for greeks, with both McClelland (senior-business manage ment) and Kutz saying a lot of independent students frequent the site as well. But not all students think fratmusic.com is the new thing at Penn State. Phi Kappa Theta president Dennis Siller (senior-information sciences and technology) said the university has not latched onto the trend yet. He said he does n't know of any of his chapter's, members who frequent the she. To e-mail reporter mers2ooopsu.sdu LOCAL Recession felt locally Though State College has long been considered immune to national economic troubles, Centre County has felt the effects of the recession in the form of an increased poverty rate almost 20 percent, accord ing to the U.S. Census Bureau. The nearly 3 percent increase from 2008 highlights the grim economic situation many Centre County families, including those with young children, have faced. Tammy Gentzel, executive director of Centre County United Way, works with res idents who are unable to pay their rent and electricity bills. She said the need for finan cial assistance is the worst she has seen in years. "They are really struggling and really having a hard time making it," she said. State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham said steps are being taken in the commu nity to help those below the poverty line, such as food banks held in local churches. But often the allocation of funds to support poorer residents of State College is out of her control, she said. "It is an issue that all of us as citizens need to take a bigger part in helping to fix," she said. The survey reports that about 60 per cent of single mothers with children under the age of five are living below the poverty line. James Dunn, a professor of agricultural Finance interns receive aid Penn State student Tracey Anchundia was filled with excitement when she got word that she along with one other Penn State student was one of 81 nation wide recipients of a scholarship from her summer internship. "Honestly, I was so happy. I don't ln►ow how to put it into words," she said. Anchundia (senior-finance), and anoth er Penn State student, Cierra Freeman (junior-information sciences and technolo gy), received the "eXceed" scholarship this summer after participating in a sum mer internship program with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). Both Anchundia and Freeman partici pated in PwC's Semester of Discovery Internship (SDI), which provides real-life experience for minority students at one of the largest accounting firms in the coun try "SDI not only helps students sharpen essential technical skills but more impor tantly provides coaching and broader career development that enable high potential minority students.to build a foun- By Colleen Boyle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER By Matt Scorzafave COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER TUESDAY, OCT. 5, 2010 I 7 economics, said he attributes this to the lack of steady full-time jobs for those trying to raise a family. Income from a part-time job, he said, may be sufficient for a single college graduate but is not enough to sus tain a family. "The economy is certainly not recover ing quickly," Dunn said. "We've lost a fair number of jobs for people around here." But for Penn State students, the evi dence of poverty may not be as obvious. The State College community is able to feed off of the strength of the university, Dunn said, but smaller towns in Centre County like Snow Shoe may be more vul nerable. "It's a little bit hidden here in town because we have so many students," he said. "There's a lot more to the county than here, and they can be pretty poor." At the United Way, Gentzel works to help distribute federal grant money to resi dents in need. An increase in this funding during the last two years is a key indica tion that the need in Centre County is growing, she said. But, Gentzel said she believes in the community's ability to rally in trying times. "It's important for people to understand that the increased need is out there," she said. "We believe that this community is going to step forward with our current campaign." To e-mail reporter: cabs3s6@psu.edu dation for future success," said Aisha Washington, the U.S. diversity sourcing leader at PwC, in a press release. Anchundia said she found out about PwC and its internship opportunities when recruiters came to Penn State. "The recruiters were very personal," she said. "It made me really want to work for the company." Anchundia completed her internship at PwC's New York office, she said. Freeman said she found out about PwC through IST Compass, a job posting system specific to the College of Information Sciences and Technology. After completing the internship, stu dents are then eligible to apply for the $3,000 eXceed scholarship, Freeman said. Anchundia said applicants were required to write an essay about PwC's values and goals to be eligible for the scholarship."lt was a great way to start off the semester. I could now buy books and have spending money for the coming semester." After receiving the scholarship, both students said they were pleased, excited and honored. To e-mail reporter: mrss429@psu.edu
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