I Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 2; o „1NN1,,,, I l II I I) \ J Y 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 mail/In 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. EDITORIAL: MARCELLUS SHALE Tax necessaiy to benefit Pa. A liaison from Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research recently gave a talk at Penn State about the benefits of Marcellus Shale drilling, namely the economic benefits to the surrounding area. The talk echoes a heat ed debate surrounding natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania and whether or not governor elect, Tom Corbett, will impose a severance tax on drilling. Though he pledged not to impose another tax on Pennsylvanians during his \ 1 < f\ I u, d®dPMs.e«i lo future Penn State students Meet our coach, Joe Patemo By Alex Cohen I don’t know who your foot ball coach is right now as you attend Penn State, but let me tell you a little bit about who my coach was. You may have heard of him, his name was Joe Paterno. He came to Penn State in 1950 as an assistant coach and became the head coach in 1966 MY OPINION Yes, this is the same Patemo that the football field is named after. No, not Jay, Joe. Joe had an immense amount of success while he coached at Penn State. He won three national championships (yes, I said three), and he still holds the record for the most wins by a head coach in college football history. If he were still alive he’d tell you that each win was the same. He’d say that the records he continues to hold to this day don’t mean anything to him. He would say that win No. 1 was just as important as 100,200, 300, and 400. However let me tell you about No. 400. No. 400 came on a crisp November evening back in 2010. Penn State was 5-3, and having a turbulent season. People were calling for Joe to step down even before that season. They were saying that the game had passed him by his old ways couldn’t lead to success any more. Typical Joe, though, would just smile and laugh at all the critics. People had been trying to push him out of the door for years. His first season as head coach he went 5-5 and people didn’t think he’d last long. Forty four years later, even after all campaign, we think Cor bett should consider implementing the sever ance tax. The tax will help keep drilling business in the state, giving its own citi zens jobs rather than giv ing the jobs in collecting our states resources to larger drilling companies from out of state. Regulations are also key in the success of Marcel lus drilling. This venture has the opportunity to cut back on dependence from foreign resources and boost Pennsylvania’s economy, but none of that ME his success, they were saving the same thing. "Some things never change," Joe would tell you. He knew he still had it in him to coach. He didn’t play golf, or fish. Without coaching, he'd just be waiting for life to end. and that's no way to live. So amidst tons of criticism. Joe took the field that November evening looking for the 400th win. Northwestern was in town, and immediatelv jumped out to a 21-0 lead. With about a minute to go in the first half Penn State got the ball, backed up to their own goal line. Logic would tell you to just run the dock out and regroup start preparing for the second half. Though at 83 years old, Joe didn't have time for logic. No, he had quarterback Matt McGloin (yes, the same Matt McGloin that won a Heisman for Penn State) drive down the field with one timeout remaining. Penn State went into the locker room down 21-7. They came back out for the second half, and scored a touch down on four consecutive drives on their way to a 35-21 victory, and No. 400. It was the largest comeback Joe’s team ever had to win a game at home. After the game, Joe was put up on two players’ shoulders and carried off the field. The fol lowing week, everyone was ask ing Joe what 400 meant to him. He wasn’t focused on 400, though. He was more focused on the team’s upcoming game against Ohio State (which Penn State won for £No. 401). Numerous people other than Joe were also asked what it meant to them. Everyone you could imagine was asked to share what 400 meant. At the time I was president of will matter if people’s water sources are tainted by poor drilling and the environment is additional ly stressed. After the BP oil spill earlier this year, we are wary to put our trust in a drilling project in our own backyard with out strict regulation. We ask governor elect Corbett to consider the needs of Pennsylvanians and the state’s fertile environment, rather than campaign promises or the interests of the drilling companies when he decides about the Marcel lus Shale tax. Paternoville. It was this tent city outside of the stadium where students would camp out to get the best seats for games. I had never met Joe. and had never spoken to him. However, I felt as if I was a keeper and guardian of the Paterno name. I come from a Penn State family. My parents were stu- dents for wins 102-141, and I saw wins 363-404. When win No. 400 came, my parents and I saw it as an emblem of the Penn State bond we shared. Joe was just as much a Penn State symbol as Old Main or the town of State College itself. When he got win 400, every Penn Stater felt as if they got win 400, too. Whether you played for Joe, coached with him, were a student, a teacher or just a fan, everyone felt as if they won their 400th game that night. Joe's title may have been head football coach, but in his eyes, he was more of a teacher than a coach. When he died they named the football field after him. If he were alive to see the field take his name, he’d tell everyone he didn’t want it. He’d say that he was more proud of his name being on the library than the football field. Joe was a teacher of life, and we were all his students. He once said, “Believe deep down in your heart that you’re des tined to do great things.” Joe himself did great things, but the greatest thing he did was not win more than 400 football games. The greatest thing he did was teaching everyone around him, that it’s not what you do, but how you do it. Alex Cohen is senior majoring in mar keting and is the president of Pater noville. He is The Daily Collegian's Fri day guest columnist and his e-mail is awcso72@psu.edu. The Daily Collegian LETTERS Avoid climate misinformation Wednesday’s letter, "Embrace climate skepticism,” is riddled with misinformation and is based on opinion and bias, not fact. According to the letter, the "public” has adopted a skeptical position on global warming. Considering a recent survey con ducted by Yale University shows that 63 percent of adults in the United States believe climate change is real, I have to wonder what "public” is so skeptical of cli mate change? The letter goes on to assert that an assignment seeking to determine the credi bility of climate change was biased in sup port of the topic. Oddly enough, the original article stated that alternative arguments were presented, specifically those of cli mate change skeptic and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. The letter goes on to misconstrue the peer review process, suggesting that the same conspiring climatologists review every climate change-related article and reject alternative views. In reality, the sci entists who contribute to climate research come from a multitude of scientific disci plines, and many peer-reviewed articles on climate change are not published in specif ic climatology journals. Perhaps it isn't obvious, but ' colluding for political purpos es" is an impossible feat when dozens of distinct scientific disciplines are purported ly involved. The letter further displays a lack of factual basis when it is suggested that "Climategate" stands as evidence of corruption among climate scientists. In reality, three separate investigations have found the scientists involved in "Climategate" to be innocent of scientific misconduct. While I applaud the author and his organization for striving to identify bias in controversial topics. 1 humbly suggest that in the future, the Young Americans for Freedom look for bias in their own words and deeds before thev turn their ire towards others especially when they are misrepresenting a field with over a centu ry's worth of data backing their science. Gilman Ouellette senior-climatology and physical geography Alumni should not complain The past few weeks have brought numerous complaints from alumni about our student section at Penn State football games. Though I understand their disap pointment, I'm not sure that it's completely valid. First off, we never anointed ourselves the "best in the country," Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN did this in 2005. Second, the point of a student section is to be loud and create a fun atmosphere in Beaver Stadium, as well as support the football team on the field. The kids who show up do that very well. You don't hear us complaining that the rest of the stadium is seated and quiet for the majority of the game. We also generate most of the noise throughout the course of games. Therefore. I have a suggestion: Complaining does nothing. Take an initiative to make the rest of the stadium louder. If people have a problem, stand up and make noise instead of sitting back all game waiting for the big play. If 19,000 of the 21.000 students in the student section show up for games, that is still bigger than most, if not all. of the college student sections in the country. Let's be thankful for the great student support we have at Penn State. Don't persecute the majority for the per ceived sins of the minority. Alumni are misplacing blame I am tired of alumni letters after every football game. Our student section does not fill up because of the outrageous ticketing system that we are forced to use. not because of a lack of student enthusiasm. Also. I am a junior, but I sit in the sopho- more section with my friends. Therefore, it is not fair to blame the juniors and seniors for empty seats. Alumni, stay off our backs. If you have a problem with empty seats in the student section, contact the athletic department and ask them to change the student ticket policy. A weekly student criticism is not the answer. FOOTBLOG Sit-down with McGloin Redshirt sophomore quarterback Matt McGloin had a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit in State College on Hiesday. “It went real well,” said McGloin about the meeting with the former Ohio State quarterback “Herbstreit is a great guy, and we had a lot of fun with the interview yesterday.” Just weeks ago, before the Michigan game, Herbstreit an ESPN College Game Day analyst doubted Penn State's ability to win with a walk-on quarterback McGloin, in a way to poke fun at Herbstreit, said he was gunning for the commentator in a post-game on-field interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe after throwing for 250 yards and a touchdown in the win. “Why not go out there and fire a shot back,” McGloin said Wednesday. “I fig- ured I'd have a little fun with it.” Brendan Monahan Football reporter Read more of The Daily Collegian’s blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs. Joe Miele Class of 2009 Bill Zammarrelli junior-life science