4 I THURSDAY, Nov. 18, 2010 Greek leaders react to database restrictions By Megan Rogers COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Some greek student leaders said they are unsure of the impact that the recent decision to prohib it student groups access to the Alumni Association's contact information will have on the greek community. The Penn State Division of Development and Alumni Relations made the decision to restrict access to contact informa tion for the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon because of an over abundance of alumni solicitation, UPUA discusses `Donut Day' By Alyssa Sweeney COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Discussion of handing out free donuts was on the table at Wednesday night's University Park Undergraduate Association meeting in the • HUB-Robeson Center. The establishment of "Donut Day" as a student outreach proj ect was suggested, which would entail members handing out Dunkin' Donuts to students in the RUB at the beginning of each month in exchange for complet ing UPUA surveys. Representatives were equally divided over the donut debacle many said they firmly believed in the allure of jelly-filled and Boston creme donuts to promote UPUA, but some strongly object ed, and said they thought the pro posal was impractical. "No pun intended but it seems like there's a lot of holes in this plan," said UPUA represen tative Anthony Christina. "I don't think we should blow our allowance and leave ourselves with almost 30 dollars left." Christina (sophomore-political science and history) said the esti mated $960 total cost for Donut Day over four months was a waste of the student activity fee budget, which is $l,OOO. Representative Tim Dooley (senior-classics and ancient Mediterranean studies) said he didn't think passing out donuts was an effective way to teach stu dents about UPUA. "If it takes a donut to show that student government matters, we're doing something wrong," he said. Other assembly members argued free food was the best way to entice college students, and that it had proven successful on other occasions. "It's almost bad to say, but free food is one of the best incentives for college students," said repre sentative Nick Grassetti (junior mechanical engineering). "How Muslim panelists talk heritage, identities By Alalna Gallagher COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Despite being from Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan and Ethiopia respectively, Armend Tahirsylaj, Amal Sayed and Ahmed Ahmed all have one important thing in common they are all Muslim, something they reflected upon Wednesday night in the Schlow Library. As members of the Penn State community, each spoke about their own experiences with reli gion during a panel discussion called "I Am a Muslim: Personal Reflections on Islam," an event hosted by the Global Connections Program and held during International Education Week. Tahirsylaj began by talking about how he identifies himself as an Albanian first and Muslim sec ond, all while living under the sec ular government in Kosovo. Sayed spoke of her experience being an Islamic woman. "I'm just hoping people would understand that I am not an oppressed person, I'm not degraded because I wear my hijab," Sayed (sophomore immunology and infectious dis eases) said. "I choose to be Muslim, wear what I wear and do what I do." Alumni Association Executive Director Roger Williams said. The university believes THONvelopes are the best method for garnering donations from alumni, he said. Interfraternity Council President Max Wendkos said the decision will have the most impact on the greek community because they have the deepest alumni databases, having been around the longest of THON fundraising organizations. Wendkos (senior-marketing and psychology) said the greek com munity is currently working with THON leaders to gain a better ideas "... free food is one of the best incentives for college students." Nick Grassetti junior-mechanical engineering many of us have walked past the kids with flyers in the HUB with our heads down to avoid them -- we'd get a lot more attention 1 h free donuts." UPUA Programming Committee Chairwoman Ali Cook (sophomore-business adminis tration) said handing out free food has helped promote events like Fresh Fest in the past. "It's not just to get our name out, it's to let students know about different things going on and events coming up," Cook said. "I'm not guaranteeing it's going to be successful, but I'd hate not to try" Representative TJ Bard (soph omore-economics and political science) described the baked goods as "a necessary evil" when trying to connect with students. "None of you guys have thrown ideas out that are any better," said Bard. "I'm conservative. but I'm going to look past what I'm think ing and give it a chance. Even just a one-month trial." Assembly members discussed the importance of consistency amendment ideas and what it was that defined the success of similar programs. Representative Courtney Lennartz (sophomore-health pol icy and administration) said the waste was in the time the assem bly spent on the debate. "We shouldn't be going back and forth on this, it needs to be recommitted to the programming committee," said Lennartz. "This is not what assembly is about." To e-mail reporter: arss474@psu.edu "I choose to be Muslim, wear what I wear and do what I do." Amal Sayed sophomore - immunolog, and infectious diseases Ahmed concluded the panel by talking about the diversity he experienced growing up in Ethiopia and the relationship between his Christian neighbors and Muslim family. "Muslims are capable of coexist ing in peace regardless of where they are and I believe the theme behind my presentation was har mony between religions. - he said. Ahmed (senior-management) said he was surprised to see the variety of people in the audience. which included college adminis trators, retirees, other Muslims and people from the State College community Having friends who are of dif ferent religions, Heidi Beman (junior-public relations) said she found it interesting to hear from other people on campus about their different experiences. "I thought it was interesting (:* understanding of how the decision will impact greek's fundraising totals for THON. If the decision will have a nega tive impact, the groups will work together to find a remedy to ensure fundraising can continue to grow, he said. Most of the requests to use con tact databases come from greek organizations, Williams said. But he said because the groups have access to alumni databases from their national organizations, they shouldn't be put in a tight spot. Williams said he couldn't say whether access will be denied to the database for student groups Tom Corbett will take office starting Jan. 18. Until then, the chance of any legislation passing through the state government is still uncertain, according to Gov. Ed Rendell's Press Secretary Gary Tuma. Office enters lame duck period By Katrina Wehr COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER As Gov. Ed Rendell prepares to leave office, Pennsylvania entered its first lame duck period in eight years this week. A lame duck refers to an elect ed official approaching the end of his or her tenure, as a new official prepares to enter office. Kendell, who was unable to run tor re-election because of term limits, will be replaced by gover nor-elect Tom Corbett on Jan. 18. Until then, Rendell is still the governor of the commonwealth. He called the state senate to reconvene this week, and any leg islation passed during this time is still valid. But the chances of any legisla tion passing through the state government at this time is uncer tain. said Gary Tuma, the gover nor's press secretary. - It varies from year to year," Tuna said. "Sometimes it's easi er to get things passed in lame duck sessions because some peo ple won't be returning to office and are free to vote their con science. even though it's a tough political vote." And for those who will return to Armend Tahirsylaj talks about his ;ife and experiences as a Muslim. how the panelists were all from different countries and the reli gion implemented itself in differ ent ways in each country" she said. Barbara Ballenger, programs' coordinator for Global Connections, said the panel was extremely successful. - It started with three coura geous people telling stories of being Muslim and it became an interesting, respectful and hope tilled conversation among 70 peo ple and the conversation contin ued after the program ended to me that's success," she said. To e-mail reporter: aqgsoB7@psu.edu Come watch your favorite NFL football teams on our big screen TVs! Sunday & Tuesday 1/2 priced wings (5-CLOSE) 210 W. College Ave. cafe2lo.com who need the resource for other reasons. The Panhellenic Council execu tive board has not yet held discus sions about the decision, PHC Vice President for Communications Marina Matteo (senior-public relations) said. At a meeting with THON lead ers, officials from the Division of Donor and Alumni Relations asked THON to examine how much the impact will affect THON, Williams said. THON Overall Chairwoman Kirsten Kelly said THON has been working on an internal database that organizations could use to get office in January, some may think it's better to vote on a controver sial subject sooner rather than later to allow more time between the vote and the next election, Tuma said. A lack of motivation also poses a problem to some legislators during the lame duck period, he said. "Sometimes it may be harder because there may be some peo ple who are leaving office who don't feel they have any incentive to cast a different vote," Tuma said. Anthony Christina, vice chair man of the College Republicans, said the lame duck session offers some U.S. representatives a chance to leave their last mark on Congress. "It's a last opportunity to make their mark and truly put their principles on bills, as opposed to what looks good for them to be re elected," Christina (sophomore political science and history) said. While other news outlets have reported that laws such as Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Clean Air Act might be revisited during this lame duck session, Young Americans for Freedom Chairman Samuel Settle said it's Former HUD secretary urges city development By Mike Hricik COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros spoke about economic development, cities and their importance in American culture at the Nittany Lion Inn on Friday afternoon. "Cities are where people work, learn, recreate, live and govern. They're the building blocks of American progress," Cisneros said during his introduction to a crowd of about 75 people. Part of the Penn State Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's Hankin Distinguished Lecture Series, Cisneros's talk empha sized the importance of college oriented education for middle class Americans. "You can't build a city without human capital. You have to think about education," Cisneros said. Cisneros rose to political prominence after serving four terms as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, one of the first Latino mayors of a major United States city. After working from 1993 to 1997 for the Clinton administration, Cisneros currently acts as head of City View, an urban capital investment group. www.elliescollection.com Gift Certificates available for purchase! THE DAILY COLLEGIAN contact information for alumni. They began the process before the decision came from the alumni association, Kelly (senior-market ing) said. Williams said the measure is in effect for now, but talks are ongo ing with THON leaders and any further decision will stem from these conversations. The point is not to say that THON shouldn't solicit donations from alumni, Williams said but rather to emphasize that solicita tions should be done in a more coordinated fashion. To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu not likely that any controversial decisions will be made. "The problem with bills like that is if they couldn't get them passed during past sessions, it's unlikely that a demoralized Congress will be able to muster enough votes to do it now." Settle (junior-political science and histo ry) said. This year's lame duck session wouldn't be as notable if control of Congress wasn't changing from Democrat to Republican hands. Settle said. With Republicans having enough power to filibuster any legislation during this ses sion, Settle said he can't foresee anything passing before January. "The big problem with using this session as an opportunity to pass more legislation is it really is an excuse to circumvent democ racy," Settle junior-political sci ence and history) said. "Republicans need to be commit ted to making sure that the cur rent Congress doesn't do any thing else." One bill Christina said he hopes will be revisited in Congress before the end of the year is the Bush tax cuts. To e-mail reporter: kmws34o@psu.edu J. Roger Glunt, president at Glunt Development Co., Inc. and sponsor of the lecture series, said he "greatly admires" Cisneros. Glunt originally met Cisneros after President Clinton's election, cautious about a Democratic administration in HUD. "I had this apprehension that this Republican-Democrat rival ry might unravel what we had over those years, but boy was I wrong." Glunt said. Cisneros also addressed his part in the 2007 recession, placing blame on homeowner specula tion practices which took advan tage of policies he initiated to stimulate homeownership. "We don't have a way to finely calibrate housing policy as we might hope. We pushed for home ownership but I did not see that in a boom environment, we could not predict it, - Cisneros said. Students in attendance praised Cisneros's candidness. Hunter Woron said his involve ment as a member of the Penn State National Association of Home Builders drew him to the former secretary's lecture. "I like that Mr. Cisneros [gavel us an idea of where the housing industry's going." Woron (senior architectural engineering) said. To e-mail reporter: mjhsso7@psu.edu HURRY! Vg . •-• (- 'elk/We , i/ Limited Time Offer FREE 18K White Gold Plated Bracelet/Anklet for Pearls Starting $l6 every order over 530 1 Enter Offer Code: FREE 18K1OP at Checkout. Style may vary.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers