6 I Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010
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Collegian
Elizabeth Murphy
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Kelsey Thompson
Hiiswcss Maiun;ir
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Veterans plaza will touch all
The senior class voted
to create a memorial park
for Lt. Michael E Murphy,
a Navy Seal who died
leading troops in
Afghanistan.
The Class of 2011 should
feel accomplished to have
such a meaningful memo
rial as the Lt. Michael P
Murphy Penn State Veter
ans Plaza added to cam
pus in their name.
Murphy is the only Penn
State alumnus to receive
the Medal of Honor, and
l->
ViS Cow
Unbiased media would benefit public
By Michael Oplinger
Jr st a week after Jon
Stewart delivered a
scathing criticism of the
news media at
his ■Rally to
Restore Sanity,"
journalistic con
troversies
appeared.
From spread
ing false
rumors about
the president's
upcoming trip
to Asia to baek-and-forth bicker
ing between cable news ana
lysts. the media was on its worst
behavior in an important week
of elections and reactions.
The media seems to have
missed Stewart's message.
In his closing speech at the
rally, Stewart, who spends more
of his show critiquing the media
than poking fun at politicians,
pointed out that cable news
channels were not doing an ade
quate job of providing informa
tion.
Instead of informing the pub
lic, Stewart implied that cable
news channels simply spread a
political party's message.
He argues against the idea
that there should be ideological
differences between the chan
nels.
Instead, he wants the news
broadcasts to provide facts and
do reporting that exposes the
truth, regardless of the parties
involved.
It’s hard to argue against that
sentiment. For Fox News to
seemingly be an outlet for the
Republican message goes
against the benefit of the public.
The same goes for MSNBC and
its liberal leanings.
The channels, which many
Americans turn to for informa
tion, can't simply spew party
talking points.
While talking heads like Glenn
Beck and Keith Olbermann
shrug off responsibility because
they are political analysts, they
must realize that many turn to
them for information.
Before they give their analy
sis, which is important to the
we can think of no better
way to commemorate the
Class of 2011 than through
a memorial to Murphy
and all Penn State ser-
vicemen and women.
Whether you agree with
the war or not, our entire
generation has been
changed and affected by
it.
Penn State has the
largest ROTC program
out of all non-military
institutions, and many of
our students are veterans
MINE
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education process, they must
first report the facts real,
accurate facts.
Which is exactly what Glenn
Beck and Rush Limbaugh did
not do this week as they
informed their huge audiences
that President Obama’s upcom
ing trip to India will cost taxpay
ers $2 billion.
Using an anonymous Indian
government official as a source,
Beck and Limbaugh ran with
the idea that the president
would be traveling with 3,000
other people, rent out an entire
hotel and require 34 Navy ships
to protect him.
The trip would supposedly
cost $2OO million per day.
Except the figure doesn’t
seem confirmed by any
respectable source. Beck and
Limbaugh certainly didn’t con
firm the statistic before criticiz
ing the trip on the radio.
The White House has vehe
mently denied the claim. The
Pentagon called the rumor
"comical” because it certainly
would not be able to devote 10
percent of the Navy to protect
ing the president on a foreign
trip.
History supports the White
House's claims. When Bill
Clinton went to India, the trip
cost approximately $lO million
dollars per day, according to the
independent Government
Accountability Office.
It’s hard to imagine Obama’s
current trip would cost that
much more, or that the presi
dent would be so arrogant and
out of touch to spend extrava
gantly while many of his con
stituents struggle financially. It
also seems unlikely that a trip to
India would cost more money
than the war in Afghanistan,
which is estimated to cost slight
ly under $2OO million per day.
But the story raises the big
ger issue of simply making
things up in order to criticize.
Beck has seen his star blossom
by criticizing the actions taken
by Obama. It doesn’t seem nec
essary to spread pure falsities.
MSNBC didn’t let Fbx News
have all the fun this week as
Keith Olbermann was suspend-
or plan to serve in the mil
itary after graduation.
This space will be a place
they can relax and know
the students of Penn State
appreciate their service
and sacrifice for our well
being.
Even though the Lt.
Michael P Murphy Penn
State Veterans Plaza hon
ors one man, it is a place
where all will be able to
go reflect, remember and
pay tribute to those who
have fallen in battle.
/ X \WS!U'lo^
ed indefinitely for making dona
tions to Democratic candidates
without permission. While his
suspension is controversial in its
own right, the reaction of fellow
pundit Rachel Maddow shows
another problem with the cable
news channels.
While defending Olbermann,
Maddow used the moment to
criticize Fbx News. She used a
long list of negative adjectives to
describe the channel and said
Olbermann’s suspension shows
that MSNBC is a real news
organization while Fbx News is
not.
The criticism is just one in a
long string of bickering between
hosts from the two networks.
Instead of presenting the truth,
they spend their shows debunk
ing and criticizing what their
opponents said on the opposing
network
It’s never just about them and
their positive message. It seems
to be along the lines of negative
political campaigning. Instead of
making themselves look good,
they try to make the other side
look bad.
This is the same old routine
for MSNBC and Fbx News.
MSNBC hosts accuse Fbx News
hosts of spreading lies while Fbx
News hosts respond by touting
their ratings, saying the
American people agree with
their viewpoints.
The argument continues back
and forth, and as Stewart point
ed out, no progress is ever
made.
If MSNBC and Fbx News just
want to be the cable news voice
of the Democratic and
Republican parties, they should
just admit it, instead of pretend
ing to be unbiased news
sources.
lb continue the facade of
being reliable, balanced news
sources, only hurts the
American people and the
informed discourse democracy
needs to thrive.
Michael Opllnger is a senior majoring
in media studies and political science
and is The Daily Collegian’s Tuesday
columnist. His e-mail is
mjoso7l@psu.edu.
The Daily Collegian
Success could silence critics
For the past decade, Penn State football
has had its ups and downs, but one thing
has always been consistent: Calls for Joe
Patemo’s retirement. Every time there is a
glimpse of struggle an outcry of blame is
wrongfully laid upon the greatest coach in
college football. In class, on campus and
through various social networks. I’ve been
hearing numerous statements from trou
bled fans declaring Joe is washed up and
no longer able to carry out his job soundly.
Members in the media have continually
questioned his coaching ability.
I’m not going to list Joe Pa’s career
achievements (it’s rather long), but last
time I checked, he’s consistently found
ways to win and always takes full advan
tage of his coaching staff and the athletic
ability of his team. He has never given up.
and has never doubted his team, and that
trickles down to those that have had the
privilege to play for him.
Joe Patemo’s 400th win could not have
been more indicative of this. The onset of a
transformed team has silenced that small
percentage of fans, as well as the media. If
last Saturday’s win against Northwestern
doesn’t forever mute the public discourse
about Joe’s coaching ability and the ambi
guity in some of our fans. I'm not sure what
will. In the meantime, show some respect
for a legend and let him do his job. He's
been doing it better than anyone else for a
long time, and it still shows.
Congratulations on your incredible
achievement. Coach Paterno!
Tyler Latsha
senior-energy engineering and physics
Booing bad for celebration
I was so proud to be a part of the student
section during Joe Paterno's 400th win
rally after the game. Almost everyone
stayed until the very end. celebrated and
showed a ton of school spirit and respect
for Joe Pa. It was something I'll never for
get.
That being said. I was very disappointed
when the student bodv booed President
Graham Spanier. As a school population
and a student section, it is our job to show
pride, class, support and unity. Whether or
not you agree with Spanier's policies is up
to you, but booing down the man who runs
our university during one of Penn State s
proudest moments was uncalled for
especially on a publicly televised national
stage.
Brenna Thorpe
junior- communication arts and sciences and
public relations
Students care about games
This letter is in response to the multiple
alumni letters that were sent in the last few
weeks regarding the poor attendance in the
student section. The fact is that, yes, while
some students are tailgating until the sec
ond quarter or just skipping the game all
together many of us are trying to get into
the stadium with difficulty.
The university's entrance system for
football games is extremely inefficient. We
wait in line outside to scan our IDs in for
awhile then wait to get our tickets looked
out as we enter the concourse then wait
again while the ushers make sure we are in
the exact right seat.
My friends and I got to the Michigan
game at 7:40 but we didn't get to our seats
until about four minutes left in the first
quarter, a total of about 50 minutes. So. just
to clear things up, for many of us students
it’s not that we're too busy tailgating or that
we just don't care enough to arrive on time.
It's that the system is not efficient at mov
ing people into the student section.
Jeff Giroud
junior business management
Old ticket system was better
The deadline to transfer tickets is around
5 p.m. on Thursdays. You used to be able to
wake up on Saturday and decide if you
wanted to go the game. If you didn't, you
would just give your ticket to a friend or a
random person looking for one or at
least sell at face value.
Yes. there w r ere some people that would
prey off of this and try to sell Ohio State
tickets for $3OO a pop, which is the reason
for the new system, but at least those who
wanted to come and support our team
could get to the stadium and fill the stands
The tickets wouldn't go to waste.
I for one would rather go back to the old
system and see Beaver Stadium packed
again like "the old days." or at least allow
ticket transfers a few hours before the
game. It's just too embarrassing to see the
stands empty on national television.
Mike Macheski
senior-chemical engineering
New system would fill seats
In response to Friday's letter, "Tickets
are hard to come by." each year, the stu
dent football ticket process remains com
petitive and expensive. Each year, alumni
wonder where the students are why
aren’t the bleachers full? There is a simpler
solution: a la carte ticket sales.
Yes, the university would need to process
more transactions, but spreading the
wealth to more students would benefit
Beaver Stadium and the team as a whole
by filling the seats. Seniors who may just
want to get to one last game while taking
more than 20 credits and working two jobs
can do so without the up-front purchase of
an entire season.
Students, the simple truth is that it is
easier for the ticket office to sell you larger
blocks of tickets. But ask, ask and ask until
a la carte or single game tickets become
the norm and allow more students to
attend the games, rather than boxing out
the majority while awarding only a privi
leged few.
Jeremiah Northridge
Class of 2000