I Friday, Dec. 10, 2010
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Collegian
Elizabeth Murphv
laluoi- in Chief
Kelsev Thompson
Business Manager
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EDITORIAL; STATE
Sustainability efforts commendable
A Penn State professor helped
edit a region-wide sustainability
study that will be presented
before the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental
Protection today, and was
recently met with a call for other
Centre Region Council of
Governments municipalities to
follow Centre County’s lead.
Going green has been a devel
oping trend for a while now, but
since the adoption of Resolution
944, it seems as if State College
is hopping on the bandwagon.
The resolution included action
6uN\B'
Getting involved makes PSU smaller
By Steph Witt
If you had asked the high
school senior version of me
if I thought I would ever
graduate from
Penn State. I j
would have I
laughed at you
Penn State
was at the bot
tom of my list.
My mother
urged me to
apply here, so
I did, never
MY OPINION
giving any thought to the possi
bility that I would actually end
up in Happy Valley.
But here I am.
I came here not knowing
anyone or anything about Penn
State. FTCAP was like an awk
ward blind date that my mother
set me up on.
But as much as I hated to
admit it, it was love at first
sight.
Even at the worst times,
from living in supplemental my
freshman year to slipping on
ice and getting a concussion at
4 a.m., I would not trade my
time here for anything.
If I had to give one piece of
advice, it would be to get
involved in something.
elements for College, Ferguson,
Halfmoon, Harris and Patton
townships. But not all munici
palities are excited about the
resolution and are showing hesi
tation when it comes to enforc
ing "going green" initiatives.
But we don't really see how
greener laws could be perceived
as a bad thing. We are proud of
State College for taking the ini
tiative. and we urge them to
continue to lead by example and
motivate other townships to fol
low suit.
If vou are hesitant to enforce
AND FDKEY’S FA/llNl(3 OUT...
Whether it's joining The Daily
Collegia!] or greek life or even
the Harry Potter dub, join
something.
I have been at the Collegian
for six of my seven semesters
at Penn State and have made
some of the best friends I've
ever had.
I've also made some enemies
along the way, but even they
have taught me a lot about
mvself.
As hard as it is for people to
believe, I used to be very quiet
and shy. The Collegian and the
people I've met here have given
me the confidence to break out
of that shell.
College has its ups and
downs, just like the rest of life.
You will come to realize that
college is a lot like high school,
just with more drinking and
less rigid schedules. People
will talk about you behind your
back and try to make your life
miserable.
The difference here is that
there are 40.000 people at this
over-sized high school.
For every one person that
tries to make vou feel bad.
there is at least one other that
will be there to sav "screw
them" along side you.
You have to go out and find
GE GREEN" MODEL
laws, than you should lead by
example. By showing us that the
government can act green, then
maybe we will be motivated to
as well.
If you don’t want to enforce a
law then provide us with a green
education and offer us equal
opportunities for going green.
No government should go
bankrupt for going green, but if
it is at their disposal then they
should make a conscious effort
to do what they can to make a
positive change in their commu
nity.
those people, and the best way
to do that is get involved in
everything this massive cam
pus has to offer.
Even if Penn State wasn't
your first choice, it will change
your life. For better or worse,
the people here will change
you. The ones who hate you
will try to break you down, and
the ones that love you will be
there to build you back up.
I have met the greatest peo
ple here. Some have come and
gone, and some I haven’t been
sad to see go, but they have all
helped me find myself.
Graduating is bittersweet.
While I’m not so sad that I will
no longer be woken up at 2 a.m.
by obnoxious neighbors, I will
miss Penn State in general.
Through the good times and
the bad, there have always
been people there for me.
Make sure you find those
people that will come running
to help you at all hours of the
morning.
They are the people that will
still be there in 10 years, no
matter what life throws at you.
Steph Witt is a senior majoring in
journalism and is The Daily Colle
gian's photo editor. Her e-mail is
scwsos7@psu.edu.
J/i /!/S'
y
www.caqiecartoons.com
The Daily Collegian
LETTERS
Security should be a priority
In response to Wednesday’s article,
“Students hold candlelight vigil in support
of legislation," I see how groups like the
Penn State Latino Caucus and Penn State
College Democrats would support the
DREAM Act, but any recent poll will show
that this goes against the beliefs of the
majority of Americans.
This bill insults the 68 percent of regis
tered US voters who, according to a July
2010 Rasmussen poll, believe that securing
the border is more important than legaliz
ing illegal aliens already in the United
States. This makes sense, given the crimi
nal activity from Mexican drug lords in
American border states and negative
effects on American economy and the cost
to American taxpayers.
When discussing the topic of illegal
immigration. Congress should first focus on
the safety of Americans before alien
amnesty' programs like the DREAM Act. So
I'm glad there are student groups who
understand the severity of the illegal immi
gration issue, like the Latino Caucus, but
there needs to be more focus on solving the
problem at the source: securing American
borders.
After all, national security' is a right that
our government is required to provide by
the constitution, education is not.
Meaning of Christmas is lost
What’s the meaning of Christmas? Is it
how many presents you can receive, which
seems to be the most common idea of what
Christmas really means, or does it mean
something completely different'.’
Does it mean Santa is coming to bring
gifts that people really do not need or does
it mean something completely different as
well 9 Let me ask you what you think. In
your opinion, what's the first thing that
comes to your mind when you think of the
true meaning of Christmas 9
Well, the true meaning of Christmas has
nothing to do with Santa Claus or even giv
ing or receiving materialistic presents. The
meaning of Christmas dates back over
2.000 years ago to a town called Bethlehem
in the Middle East. Jesus Christ, the son of
god was born in a manger. He wasn't born
to live a long life, but instead was destined
for death by crucifixion for mankind's sins.
He was killed for us. ves. us.
The Christmas holiday originated to cele
brate the birth of the King, the holy one. the
most influential and important person in
history. However today we seem to feel that
the gift giving is the true meaning of
Christmas.
People stomp and run over people to get
the best deal or the new product craze.
Christmas didn't come about so people
could buy everyone they know a gift: it
came about because of God's love for us
The point of Christmas is to help a person
in need, get together with family and cele
brate the birth of Jesus and most impor-
tantly love one another.
Giving of gifts is a nice gesture to show
your love and kindness towards someone,
but wouldn't it seem more kind and loving if
you helped someone out anyway you could,
or invited them over for dinner?
Materialistic gifts are nothing compared to
showing people love, affection and just
being there when they need someone.
Let s do what God intended for us to do.
celebrate Christmas for its true meaning,
not the commercialized and merchandise
stores idea.
Corey Wilt
junior agribusiness managment
Gov. holds double standards
I read with interest about the controver
sy surrounding the Wikileaks dump of clas
sified cables in the public domain. While
some members of Congress are calling for
the prosecution and or assassination of
Wikileaks founder, other members are peti
tioning the White House to pardon a con
victed spy for transferring US classified
documents to a foreign government.
The double standards on this issue are
quite breathtaking. Less than two weeks
before Wikileaks made the cables public, 39
Democratic members of Congress, led by
Congressmen Barney Frank. Steve
Rothman and Anthony Weiner, petitioned
the White House to pardon Jonathan
Pollard who has been convicted and sen
tenced to life in prison for passing along
classified US secrets to Israel.
The American public ought to be out
raged. This is just one of the many double
standards of policy towards Israel that has
plagued both houses of Congress. As a
matter of fact, according to the General
Accounting Office, the research arm of
Congress. Israel conducts the most aggres
sive espionage operation against the
United States of any U.S. ally.
What benefit does the US gain in return
to its special relationship with Israel? That,
to me. is the most perplexing question.
Post-grade games
The Lady Lions moved to 8-2 with a
95-65 win against Army. Here's a break
down of each player’s performance...
Ryan Loy
Women's basketball reporter
Read more of The Daily Collegian's blogs at
psucollegian.com/blogs.
Dan Nysch
junior-actuarial science
Shad! Ghayrep
graduate-engineering