The D ail
collegi
Published independently by students at Penn State
UPUA votes to rebuke Ragland
By Alyssa Sweeney
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The University Park
Undergraduate Association
(UPUA) assembly voted to cen
sure President Christian Ragland
for appointing a chief of staff
through what some members call
a loophole within their organiza
tion's constitution.
Ragland (senior-political sci
ence) who was not present at
Wednesday night's meeting
because he is in Seattle at a sexu
al assault conference appointed
Dustin Dove as his chief of staff,
Rep.
speaks
at PSU
Glenn Thompson held
a meet and greet with
students on Wednesday
By Katrina Wehr
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Rep. Glenn Thompson, Class
of 1981, came to Penn State
Wednesday afternoon to listen to
students express their political
concerns and enjoy some
cookies and milk, too.
Thompson, R-Pa. currently
the fifth congressional district
representative chatted with
students in the Pasquerilla
Spiritual Center's Memorial
Lounge as they stopped by
between classes.
Samuel Settle, chairman of
Penn State Young Americans for
Freedom, said meet and greets
such as this are the best ways to
get to know candidates and let
their voices be heard.
"It's a sign of goodwill that
he's willing to reach out to a
demographic that most other
politicians write off," Settle (jun
ior-political science and history)
said.
After everyone had introduced
themselves, Thompson spoke
about issues ranging from the
student loan process to
Marcellus Shale natural gas and
Joe Paterno's Medal of Freedom
nomination.
The nomination received a lot
of attention from media outlets
across the nation and the recipi
ent is typically announced dur
ing this time of year, Thompson
said.
"If I was advising the presi
dent, I'd say Joe Paterno ought
to be the first guy you give it to,"
Thompson said. 'America loves
him."
On the subject of Marcellus
Shale natural gas, Thompson
said it's a great opportunity for
Pennsylvania to improve eco
nomically the shale deposit
affects 15 out of the 17 counties
in his district. He emphasized
that many of the items people
use in their everyday lives are
produced using some element of
natural gas.
Thompson also talked about
recent student loan reform, say
ing that the nationalization of
student loans takes away stu
dents' choices. He said he is a
supporter of competition and the
free market, and the reformed
student loan process does not
coincide with his beliefs.
"I had choices of where to get
my financing for college when I
See THOMPSON, Page 2.
Rep. Glenn Thompson talks with
students at his meet and greet.
which the majority
of representatives
voted to find
unconstitutional.
"I admit I was a
little surprised
that they would
take those meas
ures without me
there. A slap on
the wrist without me there is
almost a little insulting," said
Ragland, who said he found out via
text message. "But I respect it,
take it and move forward."
Dove (senior-secondary educa
tion and political science) could
Julian Haas reads a letter from Christian Ragland at the end of the Coming Out Week rally on Old Main
Rally celebrates pride
By Matt Scorzafave
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Rainbow Roundtable
President Allison Jones led the
crowd at Wednesday's National
Coming Out Week rally in front of
Old Main in a gay-friendly spin on speakers both students and
a traditional Penn State cheer. community members.
"We are... Penn State. We With the theme "Bonded by the
are... not straight. We are... fam- Rainbow," this year's rally
ily!" Jones (senior-nursing) focused on coming together as a
chanted to a crowd of more than community.
100 students. "We're bonded by the pain of
The event, part of a weeklong coming out," Yvette Lerma (sen
celebration of National Coming ior-sociology) said.
Out Week, featured a number of Lerma, a student speaker at
Olympians chat with students
ing firm Deloitte. Steve Mesler, for the 2010 Vancouver Winter
who broke the 62-year four-man Olympics, after a hiatus to per-
Bobsled medal drought for the form on "Dancing With the
A group of Penn State students United States, and April Holmes, Stars".
By Matt Howland
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
got a glimpse of gold Wednesday a world-record-holding "When I arrived in Vancouver, I
night. Paralympic sprinter, also spoke to was hungry [...1 to do well. But I
Three American Olympic students. was satisfied with the fact that I
medalists, including eight-time Ohno spoke at length about the had zero regrets about my prepa-
Olympic Short Track hard work required to compete at ration," Ohno said.
Speedskating medalist Apolo the highest level of sport. "My mentality, my physical self,
Anton Ohno, talked to an excited "It's not every four years, an everything I had done was at a dif
group of students about their Olympic Games it's every day," ferent level."
extraordinary life experiences Ohno said. Ohno was able to turn his hard
Wednesday night at the Atherton Ohno spoke about how he work in training into a silver and
Hotel as part of a recruitment rededicated himself to training two bronze medals.
event for accounting and consult- harder than he ever had before See OLYMPIANS, Page 2.
not be reached for
comment.
"I was not try
ing to spite any
one, expand
power or stron
garm the assem
bly" Ragland said.
"I just needed [a Dove
chief of staff] to do
my job efficiently."
Having the appointment
announced without Ragland pres
ent made it more controversial for
the assembly, which passed the
censure with a vote of 24-3-12.
"Him not being here
II„J
eek •-
v 2010
although I'm sure not intentional
ly seems like a sneaky move,"
UPUA representative Anthony
Christina (sophomore-political
science and history) said.
But UPUA representative Nick
Grassetti (junior-mechanical engi
neering) argued that passing a
motion to censure Ragland with
out him present would be equally
"sneaky" and he abstained
from the vote.
The debate began over the
ambiguity of the UPUA constitu
tion, which doesn't allow any
member of the election commis
sion to serve on UPUA within the
the event, encouraged the Penn
State community to come togeth
er to be stronger.
"We are family," she said. "We
are bonded by the rainbow."
Ariel Weber said she was
impressed with the efforts of
Penn State's LGBTQA communi
ty "I thought it was great. It's
really hard for people to share
their stories," Weber (freshman
medieval studies) said. "It's good
for people to hear"
Weber said the rally was per
fect for National Coming Out
Week
See RALLY. Page 2
ffu
Pit to rack
de I HMS
ian.com
@dailycollegian
same year This rule is in place to
avoid voting fraud.
Dove served on the election
commission last spring, when
Ragland was elected.
Ragland said he asked UPUMs
judicial branch the Board of
Arbitration if Dove could serve
as his chief of staff.
"The chief of staff is not a con
stitutional position," Ragland said.
"Typically government officials
and public figures have their own
chief of staff, more just like a right
hand man."
The Board of Arbitration
See UPUA. Page 2.
Black
orgs.
react
Leaders draft
plan of action
By Micah Wintner
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Black student leaders are
responding with a call for non
violence initiatives in the wake
of the violent •
stabbings that
took place over
Homecoming
Weekend.
The first inci
dent erupted
early Saturday
morning during
an independent Haines
Homecoming
party held at the Knights of
Columbus, 850 Stratford Dr.,
police said. Three men suffered
"life-threatening
stab wounds,"
police said
The second
incident oc
curred when
two men were
stabbed at about
2 a.m. Sunday
when a fight Nock
involving dozens
of people began inside 797
Lounge, 244 W. College Ave, and
spilled onto the street.
Four of the
five injured men
are Penn State
students.
Black Caucus
President Chris
topher Nock is
planning several
anti-violence
events with
NAACP Pres
ident Travis Salters and
National Panhellenic Council
(NPHC) President Shadiyah
Haines (senior-industrial engi
neering). _
Police could not say if they
have identified anyone involved
with the stabbings, but Salters
(junior-broadcast journalism
and African and African-
American Studies) said he
believes most of the victims, and
See STABBINGS, Page 2.
To read the letter drafted
by black student leaders
promoting non-violence
initiatives:
psucollegian.com
Apolo Ohno speaks at the Deloitte
recruitment event on Wednesday.