6 I Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 H o Thk Daily 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 Dally 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 Chris 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 mafl/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. PSU admissions yield on track Though Penn State admissions officials have increased the number of offers they extend to incoming freshman, it was only in an attempt to keep up with national trends of lower acceptance rates from incoming students due to them applying to a number of schools to max imize their options. We commend the uni versity for recognizing MREATPWCHINA. PiMipauii^ja-lw T i V- L T H— -r t - i I •it ‘-T.V.W, THON regulations hurt By Jessica Uzar Penn State Dance Marathon is one of the most wonderful events that takes place on this campus. I am a THON chairwoman for La Vie, the uni versity’s year book, and I am very proud to say I will be representing MY OPINION the organiza- tion as a dancer in February. I know this will end up being one tough weekend. I have wanted to do it ever since I set foot into the Bryce Jordan Center freshman year. I was lucky enough to be on the floor for part of the time I was there, doing yearbook errands, work ing on spreads and helping our four dancers get through it. I have a lot of respect for those who volunteer their time to be overalls and captains. It’s a big time commitment to organ ize the largest student-run phi lanthropy in the world. Those who volunteer certainly love what they do, which is exactly why this event is so amazing every year. Though I have plenty good things to say about the THON’s overall goal, the event itself and the incredible things it does for kids and their families, I also have complaints about the way the organization is run. All of the changes this year and in the past two years I think have made things harder for student organizations who simply want to be involved. The event only continues to grow every year, so I understand that regulations and rules must be put in place to organize the how important the size of the new freshman class is to the current students. Because a decrease of acceptances could mean a tuition hike and an increase of acceptance would do the same to the on-campus and off-cam pus housing markets, we’re glad Penn State is citing trends to ensure that it is staying on target in admissions numbers. L ~i I ■ i -• 1 t u u event. However, they should be made in order to make things easier, both on the organizers’ and participants’ ends. Placing so many rules and restrictions on when, where and how organizations and students can raise money discourages them from being more active. Fundraisers have to be regis tered and approved. Instead of making it easier for organiza tions to give money, THON offi cials have constantly been mak ing stricter rules. Student organizations just want to raise money for kids with cancer. They don’t want to have to memorize a rulebook that is two inches thick. Another aspect that will hurt organizations’ eagerness to par ticipate is that THON overalls are sending out envelopes to potential donators before organ izations have a chance. My aunt received a generic letter hum THON already, and she almost donated that way instead of through my organization. THON officials say that their money will be credited to the organiza tion that they donated the previ ous year, I don’t think that is the best solution. My co-chair- woman for La Vie raised money for a different organization last year, so her money would not get credited to us. The focus of THON certainly shouldn’t be about who can raise the most money, but I think that healthy competition is one rea son our total has been rising in recent years. Being announced at the end of THON as one of the highest money raisers is one way the students’ efforts are recognized. Yes, all the money is going to the same place and the same good cause, but I was still upset because, as a dancer, I am C t PT.4N C ES Officials should continue to pay attention to these trends and keep these numbers stable. The university should also continue to expand their ideas and initiatives in making Penn State a world campus. A diverse student body, whether they are taking classes in campus or online, can only be an asset. fundraisers eagerly trying to raise more money than usual. The donators who get these generic letters don’t understand how raising money for THON works, so they might not wait until they hear from the student or dancer they really want to support. For every dancer pair, the organization must raise at least $2,600 as per THON regulations. So, though mostly everyone in our organization helps to raise money, I am technically sup posed to raise $1,300 myself for La Vie. THON sending generic letters to those who would give me money does not help my cause if they donated before receiving my personalized THONvelopes. For all the good that THON does, I think that leaders should be focused on making fundrais ing easier for students rather than putting more restrictions on it. I understand why THON is already strict about how student organizations interact with their families, and they should contin ue to do so. I think it’s great that they put so much effort into making sure things go well for the families because after all, that’s who this whole event is really meant to benefit. I am realty excited for February and cannot wait until I walk into the BJC to start one of the most amazing weekends of my life. I know organizers will continue their commendable efforts, but I hope that they also think of helping to make it easi er on student participants. In the end, though, it’s all about the kids. Jessica Uzar is a junior majoring in journalism and political science an is The Daily Collegian’s Wednesday columnist. Her e-mail is Jlul2s@psu.edu. The Daily Collegian LEIT 11 Disparity not mothers’ fault In response to Monday’s letter, “Sexes hold different interests,” Mike Kaiserian supposes that the gender inequality in tenured faculty positions is due to the fact that more men than women are applying for a given position. This reasoning should not be an answer to the disparity, but rather raise the question “why are more men applying for this job than women?” The Dec. 3 article, “PSU addresses dis parities,” clearly details multiple reasons why this may be, citing a need for pro grams that would provide more flexibility for working mothers, as well as a lack of mentors for women graduate students and higher expectations set for women in cer tain fields. His belief that women are the “primary caregivers for children” is also contradictory to the article’s message, which clearly explains how balance be tween work and family life was not just a women’s issue. Flirthermore, his argument that "men do not have to leave work to give birth...” does not apply for women who decide not to have children (though, I also believe you’d be hard pressed to find a future father who decides to stay at work while his partner is giving birth). Tenured faculty hold a distin guished and sought-after position in acade mia. If the number of tenured men and women is not sufficient in providing insights about gender disparities, then what can be used as a basis for determin ing equality? Liz Campo graduate-mechanical engineering Students can make a change My time at Penn State has been an inter esting one, full of good friends and times I will never forget, experiences I will never relinquish. Should I tell you how much fun we had? What should I do? If I had one gift to give back, one opportunity to express my gratitude towards Penn State, and my fel low students, it would be to show the propensity towards change students have. We are constantly harassed with ever increasing tuition, exorbitant living costs downtown, random fees and much more; but for what benefit? We benefit from the relationships with students we meet here, the experiences we have with other students, conversations with students from cultures different from our own and from students whose ideals we don’t necessarily share. We benefit from each other. If we united our voices, could we make a difference? If the students boy cotted all businesses downtown, what would happen? If we stopped going to bars, gave up caffeine and tobacco, if we stopped getting subs, pizza and wings, w'hat impact would we have? Since education is treated like a business in a competitive industry, but colleges aren’t cutting their own costs to compete for students, why do prices continue to soar? If students decide to be proactive and act up, we should fight for a voting student representative on the State College Borough Council, lower apartment costs, lower tuition and pay cuts for individuals who”ve grown fat gorging on the student's dollar. The ultimate class gift is to show the dif ference we make here, the change we can create. We can hold that power and make change, if we want to. SMALL WORLD Back in her habitat I write this from my own bed in Randolph, N.J. My cat, Lucky, is sitting here with me. This is home. A semester in Washington, D.C., was a great expe rience, but this? This is home. I’m not a city person. I’m not a savvy policy wonk who can fit into the Washington politics scene or an urban fashionista who can turn heads in New York City. I hate relying on public trans portation. I hate feeling like I have to watch my back on a sidewalk after dark. In State College, I can walk back alone from the White Building at midnight, and it’s no big deal. I think cities smell bad. Washington in particular is known for its terrible air quality. A week into the semester, I developed a nasty cough that lasted two months. I think in my very first Small World blog, I said something about missing the smell of cow at Penn State. This is still true. At least cows are natural... Erica Brecher Small World blogger FOOTBLOG Football freebies With the glory that goes along with playing in any bowl game also comes a lot of neat stuff. Besides the actual games and the money that goes to the universities, the players get some great, free gear. This year each player in the Outback Bowl will receive a $l5O Best Buy gift card, a Fossil watch, a cap, a Jostens ring as well as a $25 Outback Steakhouse gift certificate. Trust me, college kids love free stuff and I would n't be surprised if maybe some of these bowl rewards are used as delayed holi day gifts for family members... Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at psucolleglan.com/blogs Alexander Bertotto senior-general science Audrey Snyuer Football reporter
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