4 I THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 2010 Students to run, By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Some students will make a throwback to elementary school recess this weekend at the first Kickin' For The Kids Kickball Tournament Interfraternity Council/Panhell enic Dance Marathon enthusiasts can get limber before Sunday's THON 5K and raise money as well at the THON special interest group Ohana-sponsored event. The tournament will be held 1 p.m. this Saturday at the Orchard fields, said T.C. Cawley, executive director for Ohana. La Nina expected to bring dry weather By Eddie Lau COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Central Pennsylvania is expect ed to have a drier and milder win ter than the past year, thanks to "the little girl." The La Nina weather pattern is likely to continue and may strengthen over the next four to six months, according to a report issued Monday by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. La Nina could potentially bring abnormal condi tions to separate areas of the world, from floods to droughts to below or above normal tempera tures. La Nina, or "the little girl" in Spanish, is a weather phenome non that is characterized by unusually cool ocean tempera tures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. Its counterpart, El Nino, is characterized by unusually warm ocean tempera tures. Some Penn State researches have been following the abnormal weather patterns. "Typically, La Niria winters bring much of Pennsylvania near to above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation, which can be translated into a drier and milder winter than last year," said Paul Knight, Penn State's Weather World host and senior lecturer in meteorology. Knight said the winter of 2008 was a weak to moderate example of La Niria, which is not the case for this year 1.877.50V.8ANK I sovereignbank.com/75 Sovereign Bank is a Member FIDC and a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, SA. 20t0 Sovereign Bank 1 Sovereign . and Santander and Ts logo are registered trademarks of Sovereign Bank and Santander, respectively, or their affiliates or subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Student Ranking package 6 available for full-time and part-time students between the ages of 17 and 25 attending a college, university or other undergraduate level school *in order to qualify fora cash bonus, you need to. 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Participation cost is $45 and all proceeds go to THON, Ohana Fbndraising Director Brad Fisher said something he said was rea son enough for people to come out. Jamie Cox, Ohana outreach director, said the tournament isn't just a return to the elementary school games everyone loves it's also an homage to the kids they're trying to support. "There are kids that don't get to play kickball like we used to when we were younger, so we can play "All indications are that this La Nina will be quite strong so that episodes of frigid air are more like ly at the beginning and end of the winter season," Knight said. The current La Nifia developed quickly during June and July 2010, following the dissipation of the 2009-2010 El Nilio in April, accord ing to the report. Since August, the event has been classified as mod erate to strong. "If this La Nina follows the class pattern, there should be fewer days with snow cover, but more storms with a mixture of snow, ice and rain, rather than all snow like last year," Knight said. Despite the freezing rain and other wintry conditions that are expected this coming winter, Mark Whitfield, director of State College's public works depart ment, said the borough will be ready to respond. "We put together a snow emer gency plan every year that out lines any anticipated storms ice, snow and freezing rain," Whitfield said. "It doesn't matter what the winter brings us we have a plan for each of those events." Whitfield said the department will start to send out crews if the police call them with specifically designated slippery areas. Almost all forecast models pre dict that La Nifia will continue and possibly gain strength over the next four to six months, the report said. It could be seen into the first quarter of 2011. To e-mail reporter: tolslos@psu.edu LOCAL kic for them," Cox (senior-manage ment) said. Cawley (senior-accounting) said he hopes to fill a 32-team bracket. So far, about 10 teams have signed up. The format of the tournament will be similar to the World Cup's layout, he said there will be eight groups of four teams and the winner of each pool will move on to the next round. Interested teams can sign up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. until this Friday in the HUB-Robeson Center, Cawley said. "It's not going to be extremely competitive and it's a great way to Unplanned events take toll on EMS By Colleen Boyle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Unplanned student events can cause huge financial losses for local emergency medical servic es organizations, according to a Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) report pre sented Wednesday to the organi zation's Public Safety Committee. The report measured gaps in service payments for events like football weekends and State Patty's Day. Steven Bair, who drafted the report, said the data showed that institutions like Penn State are usually responsi ble for covering the costs of an event, such as the extra police needed at football games. pitch 'for the kids' get out and raise money," Cawley said. Crazy uniforms are encour aged, Cawley said they're a great way to prepare for the cre ativity displayed at the THON 5k Cawley said he expects a good turnout, especially since people are eager to fundraise for THON as the fundraising window just opened at the beginning of the month. The event will be held rain or shine, Fisher said. Originally, the group was work ing to plan a flag football event. But, Fisher (senior-manage ment information systems) said a "Those people are making sure that if they need extra peo ple that they're helping pay for that," he said. "They're stepping up to the plate and chipping in to cover the cost." But Bair said the researchers also looked at the costs incurred on weekends like State Patty's Day, where students gather in disorganized, "flash mob-type" events. On weekends such as these, police have to work extra hours to ensure the safety of those involved. Many of those who are transported to the hospi tal on high activity weekends are non-student visitors, putting a financial burden on local taxpay ers, Bair said. "The loser across the board is the emergency medical servic- Open a new Student Banking Package. Add great features. GET UP TO Get up to $75 and great student features! Now through November 12, 2010, students who open a Student Banking package—including Free Student Checking, Free Student Savings, Free Online Banking, and a Sovereign Debit Card— plus use the Debit Card to make 5 purchases within 60 days—get a $5O cash bonus!* Plus, set up and receive direct deposit into the account within 60 days of the account opening and get an additional $25 cash bonus! That's a total of $75! * Get banking features created for students today! Stop by the nearest Sovereign Branch, call 1-877-SOV-BANK, or visit sovereignbank.com/75 today! THE DAILY COLLEGIAN kickball event will appeal to the inner kid in college students. To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu If you go What Kickin' It For The Kids Kickball Tournament When: 1 p.m. Saturday Where: Orchard Field Details: Pre-registration is required and can be done from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Friday in the HUB-Robeson Center es," he said. "They're not going through your wallet to get your identification. A lot of times they do not have a good means to send you a bill." Doris Guanowsky, senior asso ciate director of University Health Services (UHS), said the university's Office of the Bursar tries to get students to pay charges incurred from ambu lance services. For those who do not pay charges, the university can withhold certain documenta tion, such as transcripts. But when non-students do not pay their charges, UHS turns to a collection agency for assistance, and even then they are still not reimbursed for some bills. To e-mail reporter: cabs3s6@psu.edu ...a