I FRIDAY, OCT. 15, 2010 Tll E 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. 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 Drill', Beth Ann Downey, Amanda Elser, Zachary Feldman, Ashley Gold, Stephen Hennessey, Allison Jackovilz, 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. ■ E-mail collegianletters@psu.edu ■ Online www. psu co I legia n. 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. EDITORIAL: RECENT STUD -,4 Protests are welcomed on campus This week Penn State's campus has been filled with displays of student activism and awareness rallies. From Coming Out Week events to Eco-Action's rally for renewable energy on Old Main Lawn, it was refreshing to see so many Penn State students being vocal about things indi rectly related to the uni- versity and college life GUEST COLu .:r.v! !,.•.,; :s --i Concerns can be heard at the HUB By Elizabeth Goreham THIS week the Mayor's Office Hours in the HUB-Robeson Center began, hosted by the Off Campus Student Union (OCSU) every Wednesday and Thursday after noon in its office, 2218 The idea to come on cam pus was born during my discus sions at the University Park Undergraduate Association's Encampment last March, but it took two people to make it hap pen. I am grateful to Meg Firey, then President of OCSU, who volunteered their office for the remainder of the Spring semes ter; and Bobby Ryan, the cur rent President of OCSU, who welcomed and expanded my office hours this Fall. Thank you! From now through May, except for holidays, I will be at the OCSU office twice a week. I hope you will take this as an invitation. No appointment nec essary. Students are the majority of residents in State College. Most on-campus students also live within the municipal borders of State College. As your Mayor, representing your local govern Penn State students have a generally apathetic attitude, so these groups should be commended for looking past issues involv ing football and caring about what's going on out side of State College. We hope that other stu dents do not simply look the other way when they see these public displays of activism, and make a concerted effort to head ll= ment, I come to the HUB eager to listen to what you want to tell me. If you want to know more about the workings of the State College Borough, come see me. If you have an idea how to improve town-gown relations, please share it with me. Nothing is more important to our community. I will do what I can to put you in touch with the right people. If you have a problem or see an issue that needs to be addressed, I would be happy to make any suggestions I can on how to best proceed. If your organization has a project that would make our town more sustainable, I'd love to be a part of it. Borough Council adopted a resolution with specific goals making State College a Climate Protection Community. We need your ideas and help to meet those goals. If you are a journalism or communications student, bring your camera or your pen. I enjoy being interviewed the questions help me understand town-gown issues from a differ ent perspective. Being inter- viewed also provides me valu able practice for my speaking skills. As Mayor I am also seeking opportunities to further my own aspirations for our town and all its citizens, expanding on the 14 i.._ ➢ a '. i. Z.l. Ni these messages or get involved in the causes themselves. While we encourage dis plays of student activism, we also urge these organi zations and protestors to be organized and thought ful in their approach. Chanting and rallying can be equally as powerful as sitting down with administrators to talk change. current alchemy, mingling stu dents and non-students in a community that continues to grow and benefit from Penn State's pursuit of excellence. I especially want to champion equity, community and environ mental responsibility. These are my favorite hours in the week because I meet new people and learn a lot. Coming to campus twice a week has also broadened my understanding of what it means to attend Penn State as a student. In addition to a full load of classes, projects and all that tex ting, many of you also dedicate your energy to one or more of the 800 student organizations that offer seemingly endless opportunities. This week I attended the Earth and Mineral Science Student Council and was deeply impressed by its energy and enthusiasm to undertake an important extracurricular proj ect. My vision of State College as a great place to live is both green and expansive, with local busi nesses and culture. This vision will be my roadmap and every one is invited to participate in these efforts. Elizabeth Goreham is the Mayor of State College and The Daily Colle gian's Friday guest columnist. Her e mail is egoreham@statecollegepa.us THE DAILY COLLEGIAN LETTERS Thompson visit to PSU should address more important issue In response to Thursday's article "Representative speaks with students," Congressman Glenn Thompson should be the last person to give advice to Penn State students. In his visit to our campus last year he spoke about his trip to Israel spon sored by a special interest pro-Israel lobby group, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose leaders, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, were charged with espionage in 2005. Why is Congressman Thompson accept ing trips sponsored by a group who's lead ers are involved in espionage against the United States? Congressman Thompson's freshman term in Washington and involve ment with such groups is evident of the increasingly growing influence of lobbyist controlling the debate. Congressman Thompson should instead be having a debate with Penn State students of whether accepting lobby money is ethical or not. PSU fans of many sports teams lack class and enthusiasm Every day we hear the same thing about how great Penn State's fans are and how we are the best student section in the coun try for football. These so called "fans" this year have not even filled up the student section at a football game once. Then, when our football team loses a tough game, we go and bash the team. Well you think that is bad, let's take a look at an incident that happened Wednesday night at Jeffrey Field when the Penn State men's soccer team was ready to take on No. 1-ranked Akron in a pivotal match. A great number of students showed up to the game, and a couple of them decided to sneak in Akron's locker room tent while their team was warming up. Five of Akron's Jerseys and a pair of $2OO cleats were stolen. This caused a 40 minute delay and a damper on the rest of the night. Luckily, the incompetent students were caught. But seriously, that is garbage. I think we need to reevaluate ourselves at fans. We think we are the best, but we're not. We lack class and enthusiasm. And one more reality check on our school spirit. How many students have pur chased their Penn State basketball season tickets? Fans should expect more from Lions because of PSU legacy In response to Jessica Uzar's column "Fans need to give Lions a break," I am aware we start a freshman quarterback, have been stung by a rash of injuries and are hindered by a very unimpressive offen sive line. However, I disagree with Uzar's assertion that the fans are being too harsh on the team. There is only one reason Beaver Stadium holds 110,000 people and football weekends in State College are considered an unofficial holiday the quality of the football team. Unfortunately, the quality level is not very high at this point, and it is not just growing pains. Fbr starters, full job security has prompted this coaching staff into a state of complacency. Fans have had every right to question some of their clock management decisions and play calls this year Personally, I am sickened to see the same conservative runs, sidelines passes and soft zone defensive package on a week ly basis. Perhaps somebody like Temple coach Al Golden can show offensive coordi nator Galen Hall how to utilize the middle third of the field or explain to defensive coordinator Tom Bradley that other players can rush the quarterback besides the front four and occasional linebacker. In football terms, we are soft. Intercollegiate athletics is a business (farewell 30-yard line student section seats). It would be one thing if this was University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia or Illinois. But we are talking about Penn State football, one of the most prestigious programs in the nation. Though I will always show loyalty to my program, the quality of the brand this current football team is producing is unacceptable. JoePa deserves fans' support for leadership on and off field The last few days all I have read is that JoePa needs to go well he doesn't. Sure, this season Penn State isn't playing up to our expectations but Joe is the reason we have those expectations. When Joe became head coach there were barely 30,000 seats in Beaver Stadium and Penn State was never thought of as a national power. Coach Paterno hatched a grand experiment that combined success ful athletics with successful academics, and it worked. Penn State is recognized as a premier football team, and more important ly as an athletics program that graduates a higher percentage of student athletes than almost anyone else. That's what matters. Sure we want to win games, but what Joe has done for this university I think we can take a couple extra losses every year to show our gratitude to a great man. Joe deserves to go out on his terms, do we real ly want Penn State to look like Florida State and fire a living legend? And before you answer that think of how many other col lege football coaches have built their school a library. Scott Weaver junior-landscape contracting Shadl Ghrayeb graduate-engineering Greg Kincaid senior-communications Tom Macaluso junior-accounting
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