I Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010
TII K D \ I I v
Collegian
Elizabeth Murphy
Editor in Chief
Kelsey Thompson
Business Manager
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Housing should benefit students
Though Henry Sahakian
has withdrawn his rezon
ing request to build a new
housing complex in
Beaver Canyon, the State
College Borough Council
is still considering rezon
ing the area.
We believe the council
should consider rezoning
the area to allow the
largest amount of student
housing because it is a
prime location close to
campus and more student
housing will always be
beneficial
University officials may
claim that all students at
University Park have
found housing for this
year, but this still doesn’t
negate the fact that most
students must pay absurd
- isr
Palin show skips politics for scenery
By Amanda Elser
In case the world didn't get
enough of the Palin family
between tabloid covers.
“Dancing with
the Stars” and,
of course, the
2008 presiden
tial election
another hour of
television is
about to be
dedicated to
the Alaskan
family and the
former Republican governor.
The concept surrounding this
eight-part television series,
“Sarah Palin’s Alaska” is to give
viewers and inside look of
Alaska through the quirky eyes
of Sarah Palin.
The show seems to be a per
fect fit for the Discovery
Channel, with its mountain
climbing, canoeing and bear
sightings. Yet, all the while
Palin’s glasses were left perfect
ly un-foggy.
Whether you agree with her
political views or not, Palin
seems to be a pretty entertain
ing character for a television
show. The trailer even made me
laugh a bit.
It seems as if the show is
going to be a mixture of Palin
family drama and scenic
Alaskan frontier.
prices for small, dingy
apartments, or are forced
to live miles from campus
if they cannot pay the
competitive downtown
prices.
Also, claiming that the
university does not plan
on accepting more stu
dents in the future seems
like a shallow excuse for
not building more student
housing.
Even if this is true, it
still means that on-cam
pus students will find
themselves crammed into
supplemental rooms of
eight to 10 people, as the
university now offers.
We understand local
residents’ concern with
student density in Beaver
Canyon, but the fact
. Jh *
■A, j'. LC C
/ / v / '**
■fX^ : ' '
LEADER' PELOS!
The trailer showed sneak
peeks of Willow Palin trying to
sneak a boy up to her room and
Sarah Palin getting a gnat stuck
to her lipgloss (every girl can
relate).
Palin was reportedly
approached by more than 200
outlets for a reality series, but
said yes to Mark Burnett and
his spin. Burnett pitched the
show to be a governor’s tour of
Alaska, and that is certainly how
the website describes it.
So is the centerpiece of the
television series America’s for
gotten state or America’s reject
ed vice-president?
According to the show’s web
site, "Sarah Palin’s Alaska” is
introducing viewers to another
aspect of the unfamiliar land
and says that “you betcha that
you want to watch.”
The website has set up blogs
to discuss different facets intro
duced in each episodes cul
ture, media, politics and behind
the scenes. In addition, each
week they will have a live pod
cast for the truly opinionated
viewers.
I am curious to see how this
Sunday’s premiere goes. It is
almost guaranteed that audi
ences will tune it just to catch a
first look at Tina Ftey-worthy
Palin mockery.
But if viewers are hoping to
see politics, the producers are
remains that very few
non-students live in the
area. Building a smaller
apartment complex will
still not make the location
any more attractive to this
minority of downtown res
idents. There will be par
ties in the area whether
or not the new complex
has 15 units or 42 units.
As with most of the
council’s endeavors, this
rezoning could take weeks
or months to see action.
But we urge the council to
figure out this issue in a
timely manner, and in a
way that will help alleviate
some of the student hous
ing problems.
Housing is the most
stressful issue for most
students year to year.
#
%
adamant that this is not the
show for you.
To prove it, the show’s politi
cal blog is titled “Not Taking
Sides" to promote non-partisan
ship discussions even though
they still show clips of her
recording her Fox news seg
ment.
We've seen it before, reality
television shows making seem
ingly unimpressive people
ridiculously famous.
Now, that disease has spread
to politicians.
Since the 2008 elections,
Sarah Palin has become a
notable figure in American
households.
Whether or not you picture
Tina Fey when you think of Palin
is another story.
She is no longer a hot topic
because of her political affilia
tion, but because of her preg
nant teenage daughter, her Fbx
news airtime and now her reali
ty TV show.
Quite frankly, I am sick of the
Palin drama in People every day.
I’m hoping that if the show does
anything, it refocuses the ques
tion of why Palin was even con
sidered for the vice-presidency
in the first place.
Amanda Bser is a senior majoring in
journalism and is The Daily Collegian’s
Thursday columnist. Her e-mail is
aleso4s@psu.edu.
CATA cuts affect residents
In response to Wednesday’s article,
“CATA to cut some services,” it is extreme
ly frustrating to read about the reduction in
some of the services from CATA. I ride the
K route every day that the bus runs, which
is currently Monday through Saturday. On
Saturday, I work on campus and it is cru
cial for me to catch the bus. Currently, at
my bus stop, the only two buses which stop
there are the K and S buses. The S route
does not run on the weekends at all. The
future plan of CATA is to eliminate the
Saturday service for the K route all togeth
er.
For those who are like me, how are we
going to get to campus? I have walked to
campus before from where I am living. It is
at least a 40-minute walk, and the side
walks do not even extend that whole dis
tance. In order to stay on the sidewalks,
you have to jaywalk across the busy street.
If you do not do this, then you are forced to
walk about one to two feet away from the
side of the road on ground that is not flat.
In the coming winter months, how will
those who rely on the K route be able to get
to campus since the snow, and especially
the ice, can be dangerous? Also, like others
who pay their own way through college, I
maintain a schedule of hours at work in
order to, get this, pay for my CATA bus
pass, as well as other necessities. Working
in the middle of the week is a last resort
because of studying and homework. It is
also frustrating to read that CATA wants to
increase service to the more highly used
bus routes.
2*'
:
State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham
is wrong when she said that CATA is con
sidering the needs of its residents. If it
were, then it would consider other alterna
tives to the current schedule, such as just
cutting back the K route or having the S
route run on weekends.
Alumni also hurt attendance
As a Penn State student, I make it a point
to read The Daily Collegian. I mean, who
doesn't 9 However, in the past few weeks I
have been bombarded with letters to the
editor from alumnus about their disap-
pointment in the Penn State students at not
filling the student section, particularly at
the Michigan and Northwestern games.
One alumni pointed out that the student
section never filled to capacity during the
much anticipated 400th win for JoePa that
took place in front of 104,147 fans. The
remaining 6,000 seats that were empty on
Saturday night were not all in the student
section. In fact, not even half of that num
ber were in the student section.
So I ask you alumni and fellow Penn
State fans, why are you unable to fill your
seats? It is hypocritical to point fingers at
the students when the rest of the stadium
is also not full. In addition, some alumni
seem to forget that the number of tickets
sold equals the number of seats, and there
fore will not always be filled. There are
always circumstances in which not every
student is in State College for those games
and in a student section of 21,000 there are
bound to be a few dozen students missing.
As for not being the best student section in
the nation, we will always be the loudest
and proudest no matter how full our sec
tion is at the end of the game. Which is why
we earned the title in the first place.
Shot glass ban has no effect
Though I can’t really say I am angry at
the fact I can no longer buy a Penn State
shot glass, I also can’t say that I actually
know anyone who has refrained from drink
ing just because they didn’t have a PSU
shot glass. Honestly, this policy is almost as
ridiculous and pointless as banning green
beer and pizza on State Patty’s Day.
Anyone who was here for State Patty's last
year will probably tell you that they didn’t
hold back on celebrating just because they
wouldn’t get green beer or pizza. The same
also goes for this situation. If students are
going to drink, they are going to do it
regardless of what they're drinking it out
of. All this policy is really going to do is stop
people from having a Penn State shot glass
as a souvenir, not stop people from taking
shots.
I think I finally fit in here. I know how
to get through the Metro system seam
lessly. I know the best places to eat in
my neighborhood. I understand the
local news because I’ve learned the
names of D.C.’s newsmakers and
pieced together the geography of the
area. I’ve even given other people direc
tions. I still have to travel one block in
the wrong direction when I get off the
Metro to realize the street numbers are
going in the opposite direction that I
need to go, but even that is happening
less often. I’ve finally settled in, and
suddenly my time in Washington is
almost over. Leaving WTOP News is
going to be hard. I’ve made great con
nections and friendships with the
reporters and people. They’ve gotten to
know me as more than just an intern...
Erica Brecher
Small World blogger
Read more of The Daily Collegian’s blogs at
psucolleglan.com/blogs.
The Daily Collegian
Sarah Rauterkus
junior-nutritional sciences
Christina Tabraham
junior-accounting
Morgan Flenman
senior-human development and family studies
SMALL WORLD
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