I Friday, Nov. 5, 2010 Tm i Dm v 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 Burnham, Paul Casella, Kevin Cirilli, Beth Ann Downey. Amanda Elser, Ash ley Gold. Stephen Hennessey. Allison Jackovitz. Andrew Met calf. 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 Chns 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.psucollegian.com ■ Postal mall/ln 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. Small increase still shows apathy Voter turnout in the Centre County and State College areas increased only slightly from the 2006 midterm election, 1.64 percent and 3.88 percent respectively. Though any increase is a good sign, the increase was not enough. Political analysts pre dicted that the turnout would be much lower than the 2008 presidential elec tion, with the youth vote represented in unprece dented numbers in sup- port for Obama, but the support was still lower than it should have been. » # w** /-\ / \ / \ / \ / / v ft & Ni /fkfase£e7He£eK Aflae psrtMto ™ g i; r t *\ „ „ \ v ' * . ’x # X. -:s -S. ■ ■ - ** - - ' V‘ M € igjplj '■""f ’'&> ‘ , ** “ j - ,**J v» ) • Student voices will now be heard By Ben Pugh These are exciting times. It is a true blessing to serve as the first student representative on the State College Borough Council. I remember when this position was nothing more than a vision discussed by the Govern- MY OPINION mental Affairs committee of the University Park Undergraduate Association last year. Since then, the committee has made true progress, especially with the help of TJ Bard, Colleen Smith and Christian Ragland. It is a happy moment when a vision becomes reality, and when those who have a voice can finally be heard. I am grateful to be this first student voice on the council. Before being elected as the non voting student representative, I served in both the 4th and sth UPUA general assemblies as an At Large Representative. Outside of UPUA, I also serve on the executive board of the Experts predicted that students would not turn out and Penn State met these expectations. For Pennsylvania, this midterm race was imper ative to students because those elected will make important decisions on economy and job issues within the state. For those students who are from out of state, they should vote where it mat ters for them. They could’ve also registered here and voted because the candidates elected will be making state decisions that affect Penn State, \j. Hc^jTocK^cKjTocK.WiW professional business fraternity, Phi Beta Lambda. Last but not least, I am a member of my absolute favorite THON R&R committee: THONsters Inc. In my free time I like to listen to hip-hop music and drink orange juice. I would consider myself the average Penn State student: dedicated to both my academics and my peers. As a resident of State College for more than 18 years, I have witnessed the failure of the com munication between the stu dents and residents of State College. Finally, we have a spokesper son to open these much needed lines of communication. How can we come to a satisfy ing conclusion on local legisla tion? How can we improve rela tionships? How can we make change to benefit the students? My answer is pre-emptive com munication: defending and expressing the interest of the student body in a balanced rela tion with the rest of the town. Timing is key. No longer will borough legislation be a reactive procedure. I will ensure that our voices are heard from the begin ning of the decision-making particularly with budget and funding. The turnout was also low considering how much access students had to the candidates. They all came to Penn State at some point before Elec tion Day to speak about their stances on key issues. All you had to do was listen. Putting in even a small amount of time to research the candidates’ opinions and backgrounds is worth it, and voting takes no time at all. Students had no excuse for not getting to the polls. process, rather than just the end. It is also important to recog nize that this position is a two way street. It should be no surprise that just as much as we would like to see positive change in State College, State College would like to see positive change within ourselves. Consider State College a home not a nine month tem porary stay. Don’t be afraid to extend the same pride that we have for dear Old State to the State College community as a whole! It is wonderful that we have this opportunity ahead of us, let’s make the most of it! Penn State students, be proud of what we have accomplished thus far, and for everything that will be accomplished in the future. Stay informed, stay educated and be respectful. Let this mark the beginning of a new era in State College histo ry- Ben Pugh is a sophomore majoring in actuarial science and was elected the first non-voting representative to the State College Borough Council. His e mail is bcpso66@psu.edu. The Daily Collegian Seniors chose right class gift With a single vote, the class of 2011 has distinguished itself for future generations of Penn Staters. Remembering and honor ing Lt. Michael Murphy, as well as former Penn State veterans, is an act of uncom mon intelligence and foresight. By defini tion, youth lack the experience and knowl edge that comes with age. And yet, by this act, you have demonstrated that there are occasions when youth can show that their lack of experience can be trumped by com passion and the ability to do the right thing. Many of you will return to State College and enjoy remembering your experiences at Penn State when you were young and your future was unclear. I hope that you will take the time to visit your gift —the Lt. Michael P Murphy/Penn State Veterans Plaza. Take pride in the fact that it was your class that took it upon themselves to create a memorial that honors a former Penn State graduate whose life made a dif ference. Well done, Class of 2011, well done. Robert States Class of 1968 Gift reflects military tradition Kudos to Penn State students for select ing the veterans plaza as their senior class gift. Their decision to construct a veterans plaza from student funds is not only thoughtful, but also demonstrates their desire to remain connected to those who served and continue to serve in harm’s way. Navy Lieutenant and Penn State stu dent Michael P Murphy gave his life for his country and I applaud this noble recogni tion in his honor. This magnanimous ges ture speaks volumes about the character of the university’s student body. For more than 100 years, our university has supported veterans and active duty military personnel by allocating a tremen dous amount of resources for veterans returning to civilian lives. Penn State has maintained an ROTC unit since 1919, and has provided military training since its inception in 1855. Programs for veterans and their families, monetary benefits from the G.I. Bill and a nationally recognized world campus offering educational opportu nities for active duty personnel worldwide are only three examples of Penn State’s commitment to our citizen soldiers and sailors. The veterans plaza shows why our students are the best their gift honoring Penn State veterans goes ‘above and beyond the call of duty. Students should show for win With our legendary football coach in pur suit of victory 400 wins this weekend, let’s anticipate the “most overrated student sec tion” in America to be half-empty again on national television. We can definitely count on that. The student section is an absolute embarrassment and they are clearly milk ing the reputation of those who came before them. Showing up late or not even showing for Joe Patemo’s 400th win will clearly indicate that the students think they are bigger than the man who is this institu tion. Enough with the excuses and show up to Gate A two hours before the game starts. If that’s not enough, then show up 3 hours before the game. Is that too hard? Tickets are hard to come by In response to Wednesday’s letter, “Students should support team,” support ing is not quite as easy as just showing up to the game. For students who do not have season tickets, tickets can be hard to come by. Sometimes, if a ticket can be found, they are being sold as only one ticket, which means you either have to know someone who will be there, or you are going alone. The ticket transfer system can be compli cated and pricey. We spend a ton of money on a ticket from someone, or we go through a complicated and also expensive process to transfer one from someone else. By being a college student without a job, pay ing my bills and paying rent, spending money on a ticket is not something I can do often. Cut us some slack, alumni. We’d be there if it were that simple. Removal will impact problem In response to Wednesday’s letter, “Shot glasses not real problem,” discontinuing the shot glasses does seem like a pointless act at first, yes. The university is clearly trying to distance itself from the reputation that it has earned over the years. No. 1 party school again? An extraordinarily embarrassing episode of “This American Life,” painting Penn State students as destructive drunkards? It’s about time for someone to put their foot down. Discontinuing shot glasses, while not a complete solution, will at least remove the association of the Nittany Lion with hard liquors. Also, when these glasses are no longer available in student stores, some people may think twice about buying any. Timothy Rinehart Class of 2008 Majority of PSU boys not bad In response to Wednesday’s column “Drunk male behavior can be scary,” while we can appreciate that this situation was unnecessaiy, it is saddening to read her characterization of the entire male popula tion as scaiy, disrespectful and lewd. There are always going to be a few foul-mouthed guys who drink too much and talk to or about women inappropriately. But the majority of males at Penn State would never talk to a girl that way, no matter how intoxicated they were. Tom Palchak Berkey Creamery manager Daniel Choi Class of 2001 Julie Dauber senior-biology Ben Owens junior-Spanish
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers