Archive for March, 2010

After two stunning weeks of campaigning, the results are in, and Christan Ragland will be the president of the Fifth Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association. Read on for statements from both candidates.

Less Than Jake is headlining Movin’ On, if you haven’t heard. I’ve seen them a couple of times live, and they’re a pretty decent live show. Though I don’t like their new stuff nearly as much as their old stuff (newer is much more punk than ska, in my opinion), I believe they will still put on a great show.


Read on for my thoughts on the other confirmed acts.

The State Theatre recently announced that Jakob Dylan, folk singer/songwriter, will be playing a show in support of his upcoming second solo album, Women and Country, on May 21, 2010.


On the Jakob Dylan and Three Legs tour, Dylan will be accompanied by Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. Both Case and Hogan provided backing vocals to several of the tracks on Dylan’s upcoming album, which is being produced long time partner T-Bone Burnett and is schedule for an April 6 release date.


Although the show is scheduled for after finals week, Kristy Cyone, the marketing director for The State Theatre, does not believe this will have a negative impact on student turnout.


“We believe there will be a great response to bringing this tour to Happy Valley,” says Cyone, who believes Dylan’s popularity will also draw a large number of community members. “I would recommend getting tickets early and not taking a chance on a sellout, because it’s a very good possibility.”


More details after the jump.

Until recently, CCSG leadership was unsure if they had impeached their president. Only a few days ago, we reported that Nick Borsuk was impeached from CCSG. However, this appears to not be the case! So rest easy ye Borsuk faithful as I bring you the entire tale. Votes were initially tallied at 26-6. However, the actual vote was 20-6 with 6 abstentions. The CCSG's parliamentary rules state that in order for abstentions to count in a vote, the two-thirds majority (22 in this case) most be received by votes either for or against the resolution; until it is reached, abstentions do not count. Weird, we know. Simply stated, Nick Borsuk was never impeached.

You may have heard that ESPN Magazine Columnist Rick Reilly won’t be visiting us here at University Park for the SPA Distinguished Speaker Series anymore. Apparently, Tiger’s appearance at the Masters is a bigger deal. Reilly did try to work out a new time for his speech, but his busy schedule and the looming end of the semester have put the kibosh on an appearance this year.


The SPA began working vigorously to find a suitable replacement for Reilly on such short notice, and they found one in former football coach and sportscaster Dick Vermeil. Vermeil has been both a collegiate and NFL coach. He is perhaps most famous for resurrecting the Eagles franchise in late 1970s and was even portrayed in the 2006 Marky-Mark film Invincible. After retiring and coming out of retirement several times, Vermeil set his sights on broadcasting. Recently, he designed a program to help retired athletes and coaches get into the biz.


The event will be in Eisenhower Auditorium at 8pm on April 20th. Ticket distribution begins April 6th (April 13th for the general public), and the tickets are free with a PSU ID.

How often do you have questions about the inner workings of our political system? How often do you get a chance to have those questions answered by two high-ranking White House advisers? Not very often. Although Congress passed a major student-loan bill this month, health care was getting all the attention. Most students really don’t know how this bill will affect them.


In an apparent attempt to fulfill their promise of transparency, and in continuation with their dominance of political technology, the White House team (WhiteHouse.gov) is teaming up with the Huffington Post to present a 30 minute video chat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the White House’s top domestic national policy adviser, Melody Barnes. They’re calling it “Open For Questions“.


The best part? The questions could be yours. Read on to find out how.

Tre Bowman, a 1-star recruit out of Oakdale, Connecticut (via York, PA), gave his verbal commitment to Coach Ed DeChellis and the Penn State basketball program on Monday after making a visit to State College over the weekend. This will be Penn State’s first signing of the late signing period, which starts on April 14th.


“Never-Satisfed” Bowman (as he is known in the MySpace world), a 6’4 shooting guard starred at Central York High School, averaged 22 points a game his senior year and then transferred to St. Thomas More HS in Connecticut to refine his game for the college level. During his prep season, he averaged 17 points a game while leading his team to the national semifinals. Bowman will take one of the 3 scholarships the Nittany Lions had available after Chris Babb and Bill Edwards’ transfers and Andrew Ott’s graduation.


Read more after the jump.

The 2005 Senior Class Gift, which for the past year has looked more like a construction zone than a piece of fine art, is nearly complete.


The installation– formally known as the Student Life Promenade– consists of five cement pillars lining a sidewalk on the side of the HUB facing College Ave. The pillars depict various images of student life at Penn State from over the past 150 years of the University’s existence.


The entire project is set to be completed by Friday, April 23 for Blue & White weekend but the nagging question still remains…what took so long?

Your head is pounding and you just threw up in front of Pattee Library, but you have to keep going. You’re on your way to that Accounting midterm that’s worth 45% of your grade. “Why did I drink 151 on a Monday?” you ask yourself as you prepare for the worst. But don’t panic just yet!


A team from Brown and Boston University recently found that binge drinking the night before an exam doesn’t necessarily affect test performance negatively.


While previous research has indicated otherwise, researchers from Brown and Boston University concluded that beng intoxicated on a given night did not influence test-takers’ scores the following day. This is because the alcohol did not affect the students’ long-term memory or ability to retain recent information needed for an exam. What it did affect, however, was reaction times and moods. So while you’ll still feel absolutely miserable trying to figure out the square root of pi, you’ll probably be able to slog through it.

The lazy and apathetic have no excuse not to vote today. Not only can you vote here, which consists of a incredibly quick ballot that should take no more than two minutes if you have already made up your mind, but you can also vote today in the HUB at the UPUA booth on the first floor until 9pm. After noon, UPUA staff will be spreading out across campus to the commons, where they will also have computers set up for students to vote until 9pm. All you need to do is sign in under your Penn State account and vote. It took me less than a minute on my Blackberry.

Anyone who has ever tasted a Magnolia Bakery cupcake knows what’s up: cupcakes are the bakery goods of kings and legends. In terms of ‘tastiness density’ (yes, I just made this phrase up), it reigns supreme.


That’s why I was delighted to learn that State College will soon be blessed with not one, but two cupcake shops. Sugar on Top is opening up on Beaver Ave. within the next few weeks and *ndulge is set to open shop on College Ave. in May. Even a novice at economics knows what this means: delectable, savory, free-market competition.

The election for the fifth assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association opened today at 6:00 am. It will close at 10:00 pm. Go to http://vote.psu.edu to cast your votes!


Unsure of who to choose? Check out our endorsement or our coverage of the first and second presidential debates.

Since its emergence from the shadow of Jay Bundy, the Univeristy Park Undergraduate Association has worked hard to establish itself as the legitimate student government of Penn State University Park. While his administration has not been without error, Gavin Keirans-- the face of the UPUA for the past two years-- has done much to increase his organization's involvement in student life at Penn State. However, Keirans has been unable to effect meaningful progress in the issue that is far and away the most pressing for our university-- the ever increasing cost of a Penn State education. To find out why we support and endorse Christian Ragland for President of the UPUA, read the full post.

On Wednesday the student body will vote in members for the fifth assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association. Today we will be publishing guides about each of the positions and the candidates running for them.


We have information on the candidates running to be one of 14 college representatives.

On Wednesday the student body will vote in members for the fifth assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association. Today we will be publishing guides about each of the positions and the candidates running for them.


Six ‘At Large’ positions are open to all full-time undergraduate students at University Park. This year, only six students are competing.

The Center for Democratic Deliberation (CDD) will be hosting its first annual spring parliamentary debate on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. in 104 Thomas. The debate will be about the current drinking age and whether it should be changed or not. Three speakers will represent each side of the issue, and audience members will be allowed to participate in the discussion. The three in favor of the current drinking age will act as the government, while the other three will represent the opposition in a parliamentary style hearing. More on CCD and the debate after the jump.

On Wednesday the student body will vote in members for the fifth assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association. Today we will be publishing guides about each of the positions and the candidates running for them.


There are 12 ‘Off-Campus Representative’ positions open to full-time undergraduate students who attend University Park and live off-campus. This year, 17 students are competing.

On Wednesday the student body will vote in members for the fifth assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association. Today we will be publishing guides about each of the positions and the candidates running for them.


There are seven ‘Off-Campus Representative’ positions open to full-time undergraduate students who attend University Park and live off-campus. This year, only seven students are running.

Penn State students tend to do some pretty awesome things-a prime example is John Lindsay, who launched the super-popular DontEvenReply.com blog last year. If you haven’t read this blog, you definitely should; it’s absolutely hilarious.


Lindsay poses as a customer or seller and responds to classified ads making inane, rude, and ludicrous offers to his unsuspecting, gullible victims. Some personal favorites include when he offers a girl looking for a summer job involving animals a job shooting horses on his farm, when he tries to barter his “whore wife” for a ’94 Jeep Wrangler, or when he tries to buy a litter of kittens to feed to his Bengal Tiger (which are legal to have as pets in PA with proper licensing, don’t ‘cha know!).


More on Lindsay’s outlandish new book after the jump.

The University Park Undergraduate Association Board of Arbitration met tonight to adjudicate campaign violations alleged to have been committed by each of the presidential tickets. Adewumi-Weakland was found not guilty; Ragland-Smith was found guilty on one count and not guilty on the other. Despite the guilty verdict, however, there will be no penalties on the Ragland-Smith campaign-- the Board of Arbitration felt that the relevant sections of the elections code were too vague for them to fairly render a decision. Read the full post for a more detailed account.

Oops!


The Collegian posted a copy of its Tuesday March 30 opinion page tonight. Gavin Keirans spotted it first and let the Penn State Twitterati know– thanks @StudentBodyPrez. We read it and downloaded a copy before the Collegian removed the PDF from its server. Here it is in all its glory. No promises that this won’t be changed before tomorrow, but I doubt it.


Point is, it looks like the Daily Collegian has chosen its horse in this presidential election. Take a gander and let us know what you think.

The second University Park Undergraduate Association presidential debate was held tonight in the HUB. Tensions were high, resulting at one point in David Adewumi unveiling a set of Burger King crowns that he brought for Christian Ragland and Colleen Smith in reference to both their campaign shirt logos and their recent endorsement by current UPUA President Gavin Keirans. The full scoop after the jump.

It appears that the University Park Undergraduate Association presidential campaigns of both David Adewumi and Christian Ragland have been accused of violating the UPUA's elections code. While both candidates are pleading not guilty, they will find out their fate at the board meeting later tonight. If found guilty, Adewumi faces his second violation of the campaign and could incur a 10% decrease in campaign financing because of a student wearing an unstamped "Adewumi For President" flag. This would be in addition to his previous 4% decrease. Ragland, however, faces a possible 16% decrease in campaign funding, due to two incidents involving Ragland campaigners ripping down Adewumi posters. We'll have the full details later tonight after the hearings.

What I saw on Saturday at the Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium made it clear that Onward State’s success at Penn State has been no anomaly. Whether it’s for THON, the football team, or even Penn State itself, social media is being used across the university to connect and inform in ways that are truly innovative.


Hundreds of faculty and staff gathered this weekend at the Penn Stater Conference Center to talk about how technology can help the university educate students more effectively. Over the next week, we will be writing about some of the cooler initiatives discussed at Saturday’s event. Until then, you can read our recap and join the ongoing conversation by using #psutlt on Twitter.


Does this tickle your fancy? Read more after the jump!

After two years of hard work, the University Park Undergraduate Association Office of Student Legal Services is set to open in 135 Boucke Building today. UPUA President Gavin Keirans said, "Last year, we went through a year long process with the student activity fee board to establish funding for this service. This year I have co-chaired the search committee for the selection of the director." Under the guidance of Attorney Carolyn M. Larrabee, the office will be able to mount a legal defense for students on a variety of issues, including landlord-tenant complaints and minor criminal offenses. Interestingly enough, the office will not be able to represent students in cases against other students or against the University. When asked about the best part of the new office, Keirans noted, "The great thing about legal services is that it will not just be advice, but rather actual legal representation. You are going to have an advocate and attorney in your corner." After the jump: Thoughts on the Office of Legal Services from the UPUA presidential candidates.

In case you haven't heard, UPUA is holding its presidential elections this week. Debates were held last week between the two presidential candidates, Ragland and Adewumi, which UPUA taped and posted to Youtube. This is a far cry from last year, when the debates were streamed live. This change is actually quite beneficial, as now interested voters may watch the debates at their leisure to learn more about the candidates and their platforms. More on the fusion of UPUA and YouTube after the jump.

The Alumni Hall in the HUB hosted Kierra Darshell's 8th Annual Professional Drag Show this past Friday night. The show was the kicker to this year's Pride Week at Penn State and drew an impressive turnout, filling nearly every seat and leaving crowds of students standing in the wings. Following the event, Joe Pratchenko, a junior-theater major, said:

It was lesbians, gays, transsexuals, all together and all accepting and no issues. It was perfect.

Yesterday afternoon, President Gavin Keirans and Vice-President Hillary Gupta announced their unequivocal endorsement of Christian Ragland for UPUA President and Colleen Smith for Vice-President. Citing Christian's relationships with both student leaders and the administration, as well as Colleen's work on advancing student interests in local and state government, Keirans called the duo "the best choice to lead". The endorsement went on to compliment David Adewumi on his charisma and passion, but noted his lack of experience as a distinct disadvantage. Ragland said, "It is an honor to have both Gavin and Hilary endorse us as together they have accomplished a lot." In addition to Keirans and Gupta, the campaign has also received the endorsement of numerous other individuals and organizations. Read on after the jump for Adewumi's heated response to Keirans's endorsement of Ragland.

In the final round of the women’s portion of the NCAA Fencing Championship, Penn State’s freshman Margherita Guzzi Vincenti claimed her first National Title in the epee this past Friday.


After transferring to Penn State in January, Guzzi Vincenti accumulated twelve wins prior to the start of the championship. Entering in second place, she added an additional seven victories to her record and earned a spot in the semifinals, where Guzzi Vincenti defeated Notre Dame’s Courtney Hurley.


She then went on to defeat Harvard’s Olympic Noam Mills for the National Title in the final epee dual.


Read on for more about Vincenti’s triumph and Penn State’s winning fencing program.