I Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 Council of Governments talks Schlow budget By Anita Modi COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER While the 2011 Centre Region Council of Governments budget awaits approval, the breakdown of funding for the Schlow Centre Region Library has been an issue of contention, State College Borough Council member Peter Morris said. The issue stems from whether the State College Borough and College Township should include on-campus students in their resi dent counties. The majority of on campus students live within the boundaries of State College, while those living in East Halls techni cally fall under the jurisdiction of College Township, Council of Governments Executive Director Jim Steff said. Computer Store giveaways help promote charity By Paul McMullen COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Students began bombarding the Penn State Computer Store at 10:30 a.m. Thursday with handfuls of canned goods and toys they exchanged for a free set of head phones. The contributions were made during a combined Marine Toys for Tots and food drive, which was held in conjunction with the celebration of the Computer Store's 20 years of serving the Penn State community. Carly Day (freshman-journalism) stood in the middle of the line with two large cans of Campbell’s soup. She said she was excit ed for the opportunity to help those in need while con tributing to a need of her own her headphone collection. “Since I am a headphone junkie, this was an awesome opportunity to help out the community and increase my headphone collection,” she said. “It's awesome that the Computer Store helped a lot of people contribute some thing small so that students could ultimately make a posi tive difference in the community." In all, the drive collected 70 toys that will go directly to the local Marine Toys for Tots campaign, and five large boxes of canned food that will benefit local food banks. Computer Store manager J. J. Murphy said. Students and faculty donated well past the previously set 1 p.m. dead line. Headphone company iFrogz passed out all of the 50 sets of headphones to those who contributed toys, but there were still not enough donors to take all of the 200 sets of ear buds that were available. But Murphy said the contributions that were made will be enough to help those in need. “Any little handout that people are willing to contribute means the world to those who are unable to provide for themselves, regardless of the size of the contribution,” he said. “Even if one person came, that means one less fam ily has to go hungry.” Organizers of the drive said they believe the level of par ticipation proves the Penn State community is willing to help those who are in need, especially during a rough time of the year. Building on the success of the event and providing stu dents with opportunities to give back is something the Computer Store would like to make a tradition, said Robin Becker, the Computer Store’s general manager. “The best part of this event was to see people waiting in line simply to help make people's holiday season brighter,” she said. “The fact that the store was able to have a part feels great.” Library spending for each municipality is based on its resi dents’ percentage of borrowed items from the Schlow Library, Steff said. Fbr example, if State College residents take out 10 per cent of the library’s borrowed items, the borough is responsible for paying 10 percent of the library’s budget. Currently, thousands of on-cam pus students are permitted to apply for library canis and check out books, DVDs and other mate rial at the Schlow Library without what they borrow being counted toward either the borough’s or College Township’s overall per centage. Because the council could not come to a consensus as to how on campus students should be count ed, two different formulas will be To email reporter: phmso3o@psu.edu used to calculate each municipali ty’s contribution to the library’s budget, Steff said. Ferguson Township’s contribution will be based on its suggested formula, which includes on-campus stu dents. whereas the other five municipalities will pay their shares based on a formula that does not include on-campus stu dents. The library’s operating budget increased from $2,097,520 in 2010 to $2,175,704 for 2011, due to both increased maintenance costs and decreased state aid to libraries across Pennsylvania, Steff said. At the local level, however. Steff said the library receives ample support. "Were lucky' in that there's a lot of financial support for the local libraries in this region," he said. Quidditch team to chase Snitch in NYC Penn State students will compete in the annual Quidditch World Cup. By Jessica Tully FOR THE COLLEGIAN Twenty-three Penn State students will battle broom-to-broom this week end in the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup but only one team will fly away in victoiy In the Quidditch World Cup, sched uled for Saturday and Sunday at De Witt Clinton Park in New York, there will be 757 athletes on 47 teams com peting from across the United States and Canada. International Quidditch Association Commissioner Alex Benepe adapted "Muggle Quidditch" from J.K Rowling's “Harry Potter" book series at Middlebury College in 2005. The sport has since launched into a worldwide phenomenon with teams formed in North America, South America, Asia. Europe and Australia. “The media is really jazzed about the 2010 World Cup," Benepe said. “The pre-registered list already includes MTV CBS, CNN. Time Magazine. AFR NHK, SBS and many more." Last year's webcast of the Quidditch World Cup had more than 100,000 views. Benepe said. In addition to the media coverage of the event, "Fox & Friends" asked the Penn State Quidditch team to par- Council to vote on budget for new parks By Anita Modi COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER For more than a month, the Centre Region Council of Governments has worked to draft a 2011 budget accept able to six municipalities: the State College Borough. College Township. Ferguson Township. Halfmoon Township. Harris Township and Patton Township The budget provides for communi ty services, including refuse and recycling collection, fire protection and building code administration. Most of the provisions slightly fluctu ate from year to year based on changes in state aid and mainte nance costs. COG Executive Director Jim Steff said. The Regional Parks capital des ignated to pay for the development of three regional parks close to campus has caused the most debate among council members. State College Borough Council member James Rosenberger, a member of the Council of Government's parks capital commit tee. said the regional parks program includes State College Borough. College Township, Ferguson Township. Harris Township and L OCAL Ben Shipman (freshman-international politics) throws a ball past Tim Gonzalez (freshman-physics) during Quidditch practice in October. tieipate in a Quidditch demonstration that will be filmed Sunday morning. This is the first year Penn State's Three Broomsticks Quidditch team is competing in the World Cup. 'lt s going to be so fun to meet so many people who love the same thing that I do. This is the World Cup it's going to be huge," said Kelly Gambocurta (sophomore-advertis ing*. a member of the team. The Penn State Quidditch team created its uniform last weekend in preparation for the tournament: a navy tank-top with the Three Broomsticks logo and a white Velcro cape that features the Penn State Nittany Lion, captain Mary Beth Henrv said. The IQA will provide broomsticks and other necessary equipment. Henry (junior-theatre design and Patton Township. The five municipal ities have collectively set aside $31(7.693 each year for the past four years for the project, splitting that amount based on each municipality's population, income and assessed val ues. he said. The municipalities have debated how much money the program should set aside for the project this vear. Some municipalities want to increase the capital designated for the parks' development to $475,000, w hile others don't favor adding to the usual amount. The council's finance committee came to a compromise and selected $425,000 as the Regional Parks capi tal for the 2011 Council of Governments budget. The first phase of development is planned to cost $7.5 million, Rosenberger said, and includes the costs of leveling current playing fields, building roads and parking lots, setting up restroom facilities and creating baseball and soccer fields. He said work on the three regional parks will start next year, when the council will begin to borrow money and put out development contracts for completing phase one tasks on "Most regions in Pennsylvania library’s services especially its don t see the level of support our free DVD and eßook rentals and municipalities have here.” WiFi network. Cathy Alloway, director of “There are a certain number of Schlow Centre Region Library, students who like to study here for said that over the past two years the coziness of the building,” the library has lost at least Alloway said. “We serve them in a $112,000 in state income and lost different way than the Pattee two staff members as a result. Patemo library on campus this While fundraising efforts and is not where you would find a jour grants have replaced the majority nal about acrylic polymer bond of lost state aid, the library is ask- ing." ing the council for a 2.8 to 2.9 per- The 2011 Council of cent budget increase to pay for Governments Budget will be second-floor shelving upgrades voted on by representatives from and parking improvements, each of the six Centre Region among other projects this year. municipalities at its next general Alloway said the library doesn’t forum meeting at 7:30 p.m. on distinguish between off-campus Monday, Nov. 22. Penn State students and perma- The meeting will be open to the nent borough residents, but more public, than 2.000 on-campus students have library cards and use the The Daily Collegian To e-mail reporter: arms373@psu.edu technology) said. Penn State is sched uled to compete against the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. Virginia Commonwealth University and a high school team. The top 24 teams by point differential will advance to a single-elimination bracket on Sunday, Henrv said. Additionally, the US. movie pre miere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow s" is Monday in New York. Some Penn State students will stay in the city for the premiere in the hopes of meeting some of the actors in the movie. “I really want to meet Alan Rickman, who plays Severn's 1 Snape,” said Leah Levine, (freshman-biologi cal anthropology), a member of the team. "Snape is such a complex char acter and I love all of the different lay ers to him." each site. The program has acquired 200 acres of land over the years to create Oak Hall Park in State College. Whitehall Road Park in Ferguson Township and the Hess Softball Field Complex in Harris Township. If development starts next year as planned, the parks should be ready for recreational use by residents in a few years. Steff said. Hess Softball Field Complex is cur rently being used, but will be renovat ed to address safety concerns. “This was a long-term plan to pro vide excellent facilities for the Centre Region's organized sports activities," Rosenberger said. "No one looks back and regrets preserving and developing parks for the community just think about Central Park in New York." The 2011 Council of Governments budget, including the $425,000 budget for the development of the three regional parks, will be voted on by council members at the next General Forum meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 22. The meeting will be open to the public. To e-mail reporter: arms373@psu.edu
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