6 I WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13, 2010 THE Dtii 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 uents, .culty and , ofes sonals. 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 Bumham, Paul Casella, Kevin Cinlll, Beth Ann Downey, Amanda Elser, Zachary Feldman, Ashley Gold, Stephen Hennessey, Allison Jackovuz, 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. ■ Email collegianletters@psu.edu ■ Online www.psucollegian.com ■ Postal mall/In person 123 S. Burrowes St. State College, 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. Initiative shows PSU After six gay students from across the country committed suicide in the past month, Penn State students, faculty and staff admirably held a forum to address the safety of the university's LGBTQA community. Though the incidents have not occurred at Penn State, the university showed concern and the desire to seek out preven- r • • ii el; Fans need to give Lions a break By Jessica Uzar EING from Pittsburgh, I have high expectations for my two football teams. T oug the Steelers are doing just fine for now, Penn State isn't hav ing the best season nor is the play quality amazing. But I think some Penn MY OPINION State football fans are also being slightly ridiculous, quite selfish and unreasonably demanding. Come on, give the kids a break. After all, that's what they are at the end of the day —kids. They are college students just like us. Maybe they're a little bigger and can run faster than most of "us," but fans should not expect perfection from any col lege team, even the Nittany Lions. Being on the football team is just like being in the classroom. In class you have the opposing team (the professor), the field (classroom) and the fans (par ents, friends, etc.). If you fail an exam because of a tough oppos ing team, or maybe because you were injured with a headache or hangover, the fans might get on your case. But hopefully they don't do it unfairly because after all, you are just a student. Fbr all those critics that are so concerned with the skill level on the field, I'd like to see them tative measures The forum shows the university can respond quickly and has its finger on the pulse of national issues. While the university itself seems to feature an open community with a vocal LGBTQA group, the State College area may not show as much toler ance. It is commendable that ~\\, go out there and play. When I was a freshman, I was nervous enough attending a game in Beaver Stadium. I can't imagine being in Rob Bolden's shoes as he takes the field in front of so many blue-and-white faithful. Oh, and not to mention going up against the reigning No. 1 college football team on the road. I bet those defensive line men coming at him were huge. The high price we pay for tick ets does not entitle anyone to claim that the game is not worth going to just because we lost or didn't play well. That's called being a fair-weather fan. The Penn State football sea son has always been about so much more than what happens between the two end zones. It's also the tailgating before and after, Paternoville all week long and being inside a stadium with ~1 10,000 other fans, ,And where is the idea that tuition has anything to do with sports coming from? Tuition is used for academics, and the football program runs itself financially. You know, to heat the buildings, pay professors' salaries and build new science buildings on campus. Complain to UPUA or Graham Spanier that you're paying too much in tuition, not Joe and Jay. If you don't like gambling your hard earned money by purchas ing season football tickets ; they don't. Watch the game from your couch; the No. 1 student section doesn't need attitudes like that. Every year can't be a fantastic tolerance this forum also acknowl edged the need for more support to LGBTQA stu dents and more guidance for students at State Col lege High School and mid dle schools. In a community as diverse as Penn State's, tolerance must be visibly practiced. The university should be applauded for supporting that. I THOO64T lIS CPR CoUP Pig ll*Lf. b :`. S4'l (-4 2 4 110n1PPAY mom season. Even professional teams, who don't have nearly the turnaround rate as college teams do with students graduat ing after four or five years, go through rough patches. The Steelers are the best football franchise in the country with six Super Bowl rings but they still went through a tough season last year. I don't know enough about the actual techniques of football and play calls and such to comment on the coaching. However, I do think that coaches shouldn't necessarily be pulled apart because the average per son, and particularly the aver age student, doesn't know enough about the game to know why the coaches did what they did. (An exception is the Collegian's team of football writ ers. Internal kudos to that crew.) We have such a long tradition and such a large following that the team knows they will always be supported. I have faith that, knock on wood, if we had con secutive losing seasons, fans would still show up for games. It's a rebuilding year and we're a young team, but we'll make it through the season. We don't have to worship them, but the team does need our support, not unreasonable expectations and unjust criti cism. Jessica Uzar is a junior majoring in journalism and political science and is The Daily Collegian's Wednesday columnist. Her e-mail is pul2s@psu.edu. ITCOOLD Mt- IT =Tel) IWTINQ. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN JoePa has lost his 'swagger' Since no one seems to have'the courage to say it, I will. Thanks for the memories, Joe, but like everything else, all good things must come to an end. As Collegian football editor Nate Mink said in his column Monday, "Swagger and 83 years old don't go well together." The team has become an extension of you conservative, predictable and much too willing to settle. It needs new blood. In order to give us a chance to recruit for the next four years, please show some pride and go gracefully. Harmless to set Bolden free Unleash Bolden. Let him make some decisions on the field. Yes, yes he is a fresh man, but he is not a novice at playing foot ball. Put in some spread plays and let him make calls. What could be the harm look at the win/loss record so far. Newsome could help season I believe that Robert Bolden should have been selected starter. But from day one I always believed that Kevin Newsome should have been part of the solution for success for three very important reasons: 1. That would take some of the pressure off the true freshman as they could share the responsibilities of QB. 2. This would force defenses to prepare for a two headed monster, one that can throw precision pass es and has a very strong arm, the other a triple option threat. Though Newsome may not have as strong of an arm as Bolden it can be effective. 3. I believe that both Newsome and Bolden would help sharpen each other. I believe as Paterno recruits that they are team players, and as such would help each other improve. I do not believe in putting Newsome in on certain downs, it would be a "tell" for the defense. If one gets hot, go with the hotter hand. I plead with the Penn State coaches to give this a shot. Urban Meyer won a National Championship with Tim Tebow backing up Chris Leek Back in the "Dark Ages" (2000-2005), Coach Paterno sent some of his coaches to Texas University to learn how to use the talents of a QB like Michael Robinson, and that turned around the program. Coach Paterno learned from others then, I hope he learns from others now, there is no time to lose. Stadium sale could fill seats I'm not one of those old alumni who thinks it's a disgrace that the student sec tion was still half empty by the end of the first quarter in the game against Illinois. I just thought it was unfortunate that there were hundreds, maybe thousands of empty seats before halftime in the game against Illinois. They could have gone to students who wanted to attend the game but could not because they didn't have tickets. Those that did have tickets didn't want to attend or could not sell them because of the way reselling tickets is handled now. Here's one way to fill up those empty seats once the game begins. Why not open the empty stu dent section seats to any student who wants them on a first-come, first-serve basis? That way any student who wants to go to the game gets to go. Charge the stu dents using their Lion Cash or meal points by swiping their ID cards to verify they are students and so the university still receives payment for the seat. In fact, why not do that for all seats throughout the stadium. Greg Halpin Class of 1992 SNAP, CRACKLE, POP Songs to soothe the soul I've had a busy few weeks and I've hardly had time to catch my breath. Now all I want to do this weekend is slow down and relax. Sadly I won't be able to do this because of all the school work I've neglected this week, but at least I've compiled a playlist for myself of soothing songs: 1. "Vienna" by Billy Joel: The song that inspired this playlist came on my iPod the other day. It was exactly what I needed to hear. "Slow down you crazy child, take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while," Billy told me. Message received. 2. "Penny's Song" from "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog": I've been covering No Refund Theater's perform ance of the show, so the songs have been stuck in my head all week This one fits in the category of soothing so I had to include it on this playlist. 3. "She's From Boston" by Kenny Chesney: My love of the Red Sox and the four years I lived in Massachusetts probably influenced my affinity for this song. Also, like all of Kenny's songs, it reminds me of summer. 4. "Capri" by Colbie Caillat: Pretty much all of Colbie's music is relaxing, but this lullaby she wrote for her aunt's unborn baby is probably the epitome of that. 5. "One Love" by Bob Marley: I couldn't possibly make a mellow mix without a little Marley on it... Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs. Shelly Paul Brooklyn, NY Liz Petting!! Graduate class of 1976 John Bloom Class of 1985 Hannah Rishel Performing arts reporter
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