I TUESDAY, OCT. 12, 2010 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. Coniplaints: 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 Bumham, Paul Casella, Kevin Cinlli, 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 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/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. Combination was wise decision When student leaders announced last week that spring music festivals _ Last Stop and Movin' On would combine, it repre sented a logical and over due change. The combination of the festivals allows for a big ger budget which should result in one large, suc cessful festival instead of two smaller ones. b.. ." www.caglecartows.com Elections provide ad entertainment By Michael Oplinger IT'S a good time to be a poli tics junkie. A compelling midterm election fast approaches with tight races and a likely shift in Congressional power. But the 2010 campaign sea son has become even more interesting for people who just like to laugh. From over-the-top advertise ments to embarrassing revela tions of past events, the 2010 election year has proven to be the most entertaining one since, well, 2008 the year John McCain graciously blessed the world with Sarah Palin. Across the country, candi dates have been working hard to keep us laughing. Ads remain the main source of the humor. Pennsylvania even saw this during the primaries when Joe Sestak ran an obvi ously out-of-context clip of incumbent senator Arlen Specter saying he switched par ties to "get RE-el-ECK-tid" This ad taught Pennsylvanians one thing: Everything is funnier when said in the Arlen Specter voice. Florida Republican Dan Fanelli tried to get in on the humor act, but managed to offend in the process. In response to those darn air ports trying to keep travel safe, the scrawny, balding man motioned for a system of racial profiling because he wouldn't mind being profiled as a "good looking, ripped guy." Neither would I, Dan. Profile away! Everyone knows there's only one type of terrorist and If the budget is used properly, the festival could be a big improvement over its two predecessors. Better, more main stream acts could be attracted, potentially drawing large crowds. Couple the budget with a desire to survey the stu dents to see what type of acts they want, and the new festival could feature that type always has dark skin. Always! The single greatest political ad ever created comes from California. Then-Senate candi date Carly Fiorina released an ad calling her opponent a "fiscal conservative in name only" and a "wolf in sheep's clothing." Then, in order to ensure con stituents understood her elabo rate and complicated reference, the ad shows a field of grazing sheep being scared away by a person dressed up as a sheep with red eyes. Not sure that I've ever seen a wolf, but a quick check on the Internet confirms my suspicions wolves don't have knees, nor do they wear shoes. In my highly scientific study of campaign ads, nothing com- pares to the brilliance being broadcast over the Alabama air waves. In a show of unabashed patriotism, Agricultural Commissioner candidate Dale Peterson lists his credentials and plans for fixing America while riding his horse and carry ing a gun. While screaming at the camera and never losing a tight grip on his rifle, Peterson insists he will get rid of the "thugs and criminals" and "take no prisoners." His attitude and firearms would certainly come in handy if he were running for county sheriff. But the queen of the 2010 campaign hilarity is Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'DonnelL With her ultra-con servative views, down to earth style and knack for saying dumb things on TV, O'Donnell has drawn inevitable comparisons to Palin. In 2008, Palin continuously told a joke to give insight on her tenacious personality and will ingness to fight for the people more diverse genres This should be done intelligently, though, for different genres being performed on the same stage has caused a clash between audience mem bers at past fesitvals. An expanded, improved festival should satisfy the entire Penn State commu nity, making it an event to remember. who elected her. (Just a short time later, those Alaskans were forced to elect a new governor earlier than expected.) That joke, of course, was "What's the difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom? Lipstick" Well, what's the difference between Palin and O'Donnell? The timeliness of the moronic statements. While Palin gave primetime interviews on major networks to reveal her thoughts on the Bush Doctrine (she's not sure what it is) and Russia (she can see it from Alaska), O'Donnell has vir tually hidden from the public eye, forcing political comedian Bill Maher to dig into archives and find embarrassing clips of O'Donnell from 15 years ago. In those clips, O'Donnell men tions her "dabbling in witch craft," desire for a celibate coun try and fear of mice with fully functioning human brains. But these things are from 15 years ago. It was the '9os. Everyone wanted to be "Sabrina" and have a talking cat. "Hocus Pocus" was an incredibly popu lar movie, plus it showed how hard it is to kill a witch. The immortality clearly appealed to O'Donnell. The Republican from Delaware also obviously spent a lot of time watching "Pinky and the Brain." It's easy to see how she got con fused; the cartoon was highly realistic. Now is the time to turn to political discourse for entertain ment get it before it's gone Nov. 2. Michael Oplinger is a senior majoring in media studies and political science and is the Daily Collegian's Tuesday columnist. His e-mail is mjoso7l@psu.edu. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Players should not ,be blamed Easy there, Penn Staters. Before you rush to attack the football players for the results thus far in the season, take a step back and look at the organization as a whole. Penn State is getting a great recruit ing class every year. The players are top caliber and are of a higher moral character than just a few years ago when we were disgraced on ESPN for all of the off the field behavior. The problem has historically been, and continues to be, the management end of the football team. Take the lowa game as an example. With Penn State on the goal line right before halftime, not only did no one call a timeout or manage the clock, but we actu ally received a delay of game penalty because Joe Pa needed to be consulted on how to proceed. Mike McQueary is forced to play the middleman on every play because Joe Pa won't wear a headset! The problem of communication coupled with the lack of development in the quarterback position, the inability to make a routine tackles and the absurd play calling rests primarily on the shoulders of the coaches and staff who are not ensuring the program is making the transition into the 21st century Student fans should step up I have been a fan of Penn State football for many years. I have always been justly proud of our classy coach, the academic and ath letic accomplishments of the players and the students who cheer on the team. These supporters have contributed significantly to the team's success at Beaver Stadium over the years and have justifiably been recog nized as the "best student section in the nation." They came early, cheered loudly and remained until the end of the game, regard less of the game's outcome, regardless of the weather. That's why it is profoundly dis appointing to witness a student section that doesn't fill until the first quarter is over and empties at the start of the fourth quarter. I would implore those students who were for tunate to purchase tickets to continue the customs of those who came before you. The team needs you. Your contribution is vital. I would also urge the administration to use the technology that is in place to issue a prompt refund to any student who cannot arrive on time and provide that ticket to a student who would be proud to carry on the rich tradition of Penn State football. Diversity in content is needed When I picked up the Oct. 11 edition of The Daily Collegian I was shocked. Seven articles appeared about Penn State football, which does not include the editorial and three letters to the editor. Penn State is a school defined by football for many, and I understand that. However, in light of recent events. I believe that National Coming Out Day deserved more face time than the fact that the football team didn't play well on Saturday, which anyone with a Facebook knew after the game was over. The only article in the whole paper con sisted of two small columns about the Coming Out Dance that happened to men tion the suicides that have recently occurred. Six gay students have committed suicide in the past few weeks across the country because of bullying! Six! I want to know more about the opportunities on cam pus for students who come out at Penn State. I want to know about the "It Gets Better" campaign started after these sui cides. I want to know what people on cam pus think about what is going on and the toll erance on this campus. While I know that this is a newspaper ded icated to this college, and none of the stu dents who committed suicide were from this school, this is a national problem that affects students at this college. Nicole Benner junior-human development and family studies CAN YOU DIG IT? Life off the court Kristin Carpenter has often been described as a "spunky" player by her teammates. But all most people know about her is she's the player with the task of replacing Alisha Glass as the setter for the Penn State volleyball team. Like every athlete, Carpenter has a life outside of sports. In fact, she has a somewhat unique hobby. Here's what she had to say about her experience with sailboat racing... Ryan Loy Women's volleyball reporter SNAP, CRACKLE, POP Bettering the world It gets better. That's what celebrities as diverse as Neil Patrick Harris, Kesha and Sarah Silverman are telling the LGBT youth of the world via You Tube videos in the wake of the recent suicides of young gay men. And it's not just celebrities: Thousands of everday people are spreading the same message... Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolbgan.com/blogs. Coleman Butterworth senior-political science Leslie Nicholas Kingston, PA Hannah Risel Performing arts reporter
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