THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
Mormon
By Kristin Stoller
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
In a world without caffeine, alco
hol and polygamy, the Latter-Day
Saints are on a mission to break
the misconceptions about their
religion.
Three members of the Latter-
Day Saints Student Association
spoke about their religion from 2
to 3 p.m. Wednesday in the Foster
Auditorium at Paterno Library.
The event was sponsored by the
University Libraries Diversity
Committee as part of its ongoing
Religion and Culture Speaker
Series.
Though the members of the
panel provided background infor
mation on themselves, the main
ESPN to recruit for jobs, internships in Heritage Hall
By Mike Hricik
COLLEGIAN STAFF
For the third year in a row.
ESPN will partner with Penn
State to recruit students tor a vari
ety of jobs and internships.
Students from all disciplines are
invited to the event, said Bob
Martin, College of
Communications assistant dean
for internships and career m:rvic
es.
The first hour of the presenta
tion will consist of ESPN depart
ment panelists incluclintt repre
sentatives from web. sales. cre
ative servicesidesiwt, production
Pa. collar bomb defendant says she wasn't involved
By Joe Mandak
Asscr
ERIE. Pa. A woman accused
of helping to plan a bizarre bank
robbery plot that ended with the
death of a man forced to wear a
bomb collar told
. jurors
Wednesday that she couldn't have
been involved because she w.as
angry at one of the plotters and
suspected he had stoien money
from her.
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. ;i.
testified her house was robbed in
May 2003 by a knife-wielding man
who stole $133.000 she kept in a
bag.
She said she is convinced the
robber knew where to look for the
money thanks to information pro
vided by Kenneth Barnes. a co
defendant and key witness against
her in the bank case.
Diehl-Armstrong and her attor
ney. Douglas Sughrue. contend
she knew Barnes and others who
group seeks to dispel misconceptions
purpose of the panel was to pro
vide general information about
Mormonism and abolish any mis
conceptions, panelist and LDSSA
President Bobby Marion said.
- We've been in the news on
Proposition 8 a lot," Marion (grad
uate-law) said. "I just want to
make sure they understand our
position."
Marion, along with fellow pan
elists Megan Huet (sophomore
integrative arts) and Jenny Smith
(graduate-communications sci
ences and disorders), encouraged
the audience to ask about contro
versial topics. Marion said that it
was "practically impossible" to
offend them.
The panel discussed a variety of
issues, such as polygamy, genealo-
statistics and information and
commercial operations. Martin
said.
During the second hour, pan
elists will join students for - break
out sessions, - or meet-and-greets
to network, he said.
ESPN receives more than
10.000 internship applications per
year. Martin said.
However. he said the sports
channel's history with the
university should put students at
ease.
- There's opportunity for stu
dents and we've had a great track
record with internships. We're
pleased to be partnered with
planned the Aug. 28, 2003. robbery
but wasn't a part of the plot her
self.
To holster that assertion, she
testified that she was so angry
with Barnes about the robbery at
her home that there was no way
she would have worked along side
him to plot the collar-bomb heist
three months later
In expletive-filled testimony
that U.S District Judge Sean
McLaughlin had to interrupt sev
eral times because she spoke too
fast or went on wild tangents,
Diehl-Armstrong said the knife
wielding robber she claimed
attacked her about 3:45 a.m. that
May morning - knew right were
the money was. That's how I knew
it was an inside job. -
Nobody was ever Charged in the
robbery of her house, though
Diehl-Armstrong filed a private
25-page complaint with police.
At the time. Diehl-Armstrong
was living with her boyfriend, 45-
LOCAL
"What it comes down to is the Lord told us to
do it and then he told us to stop, so we did,"
Bobby Marion
president of the Latter-Day Saints Student Association
a, Proposition 8 and their own
beliefs about Mormonism.
Contrary to popular belief, the
Latter-Day Saints do not practice
polygamy, Marion said, and have
not for more than 100 years. If one
does practice it, that person is
excommunicated from the
church.
"What it comes down to is the
Lord told us to do it and then he
told us to stop, so we did," Marion
said.
The panelists also expressed
[ESPN] right now," Martin said.
Daphne Yeh, Class of 1995, will
represent ESPN production man
agement, he said.
Penn State freshman Alex
Gilliland aspires to work as a
sportscaster on radio or television
covering college basketball.
He said he hopes to find out
what ESPN is looking for in
internship candidates.
just want to get a taste of
what it's like to get a primetime
internship," Gilliland (freshman
broadcast journalism) said.
Gilliland said he looks forward
to presentations from the different
ESPN staffs to decide what type of
year-old James Roden. She's now
serving seven to 20 years in state
prison after pleading guilty but
mentally ill to killing him a couple
weeks before the collar bomb
heist.
Prosecutors claim she killed
Roden because he was supposed
to be the getaway driver for the
bank robbery and had threatened
to go to the police, but she said she
killed him in a fight they had
because he wasn't doing enough
to find out who robbed her.
Diehl-Armstrong said she sent
the hard-drinking Roden to vari
ous taverns to find someone
- spending money like a drunken
sailor" thinking that might lead to
clues about who robbed her.
Barnes, 57, has pleaded guilty
and is serving 45 years for his role
in the collar bomb heist. He has
testified that Diehl-Armstrong
wanted to use the proceeds from
the bank robbery to pay him to kill
her father.
their strong beliefs in genealogy.
The Latter-Day Saints believe in
life before one is born and life after
one dies, Marion said.
Though she has not been a
Mormon even a year, Heut
described her unusual beginnings
with the church.
"l was raised Roman Catholic,"
she said. "About my senior year in
high school, my parents found out
that I was learning more about
this church and they didn't like it.
They tried to prevent me from
internship he might like to apply
for in the future.
Penn State student Matt
Trabold works for both Comßadio
and PSNtv
like how the clubs here really
train you for both mediums,"
Trabold said (sophomore-broad
cast journalism).
He said despite the slim chance
he will gain an internship as an
underclassman, he remains confi
dent that his education as a stu
dent in the Penn State College of
Communications will help his
chances.
Martin said students interested
in ESPN internship opportunities
Barnes said another man,
William Rothstein, also was
involved and built the bomb collar
that killed pizza delivery driver
Brian Wells.
Wells was allegedly a plotter,
too, but nonetheless forced to
wear the bomb collar against his
will before it exploded, killing him,
after he had been arrested and
handcuffed by state police, prose
cutors said.
Rothstein, who has since died of
cancer, came to the authorities'
attention when he called police in
September 2003 to turn in Diehl-
Armstrong for killing Roden. He
said Diehl-Armstrong gave him
$75,000 to get rid of the body.
Rothstein put the body in a freezer
at his home, telling police that was
Diehl-Armstrong's idea but that
she eventually proposed chopping
up his body and feeding it through
and ice crusher to get rid of it.
She disputed that on the stand,
acknowledging she asked
THURSDAY, Oct. 28, 2010 I 5
learning more. At first they
weren't supportive, but they are
becoming more and more. They
still support me and continue to
love me."
About 30 people attended the
event, including Latter-Day Saints
missionaries and members of the
LDSSA.
"I came to support the panel,"
LDSSA member Jesse Mowry
(graduate-wood products) said. "I
know everyone on it really well. If
I have any questions about my
faith, I ask Bobby"
The panelists and LDSSA
members were all in agreement
that Penn State provided them
with a welcoming and ac
cepting community to practice
their faith.
should come prepared with
resumes and specific goals in
mind.
To e-mail reporter: mjhsso7@psu.edu
If you go
What: ESPN recruiting for
internships and jobs
Where: Paul Robeson Cultural
Center's Heritage Hall
When: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Details: All students are invit
ed; dress business casual
Rothstein to get Roden's body out
of her house but that she didn't
know what he did with it.
She said the ice crusher
Rothstein mentioned was a small
device used to make mixed drinks,
not something that could have
been used to grind up a body. She
also said she was livid when she
found out Roden's body was in the
freezer.
"Who do you think you are,
Jeffery Dahmer?" she said she
told Rothstein.
Diehl-Armstrong's testimony
was going slower than expected
because her bipolar disorder
causes her to speak incessantly,
prompting the judge to admonish
her and her attorney.
Meanwhile, the defendant
turned on her attorney during a
brief recess because she appar
ently believes he's not questioning
her in enough detail.
Her testimony was expected to
continue for much of the day.