Becky Perlow

Everyone wants to be a part of history. On May 1, 2011 (a little more than nine and a half years after the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks), almost 6,000 Penn State students got that chance. Flooding the streets of Beaver Canyon, the Penn State community banded together for more than three hours by swinging American flags from makeshift poles of curtain rods or tree branches, wrapping their arms around each other as they belted out the national anthem and celebrated the death of one of the greatest terrorists in modern history.

Last night at the State Theatre, our writer Becky Perlow was taken back in time to the 1990s and the days of 'She's All That'.

Whoever said State Patty's day was just for the kids clearly didn't have their heads on straight, because as of 10:30 a.m. this morning, there are old-timers taking part in today's activities. How old do you ask? 42-years-old, to be exact. Earlier this morning, a 42-year-old male was found running down Allen Street, stealing parking tickets from cars' windshields. According to State College police, the man's blood alcohol content was .364. That's just one of the many incidents reported from this morning.

You've just spent the past three months spending every dollar you have flying home to see your family on Thanksgiving... only to discover that your family went to Florida for the holiday... and forgot to tell you. Or shelling out thousands for a wedding ring to propose on Christmas morning... only to have it thrown in your face because it was too small. Or paying hundreds to ensure you jump the line at the club you chose for New Year's Eve... only to find that the girl you were kissing was a guy. But for those brave male soldiers who still want to venture out of their bat caves, here are a few suggestions and tips to keep in mind when you try to decide where to bring your date.

Walking down the narrow, dimly lit steps of 204 W. College Ave. and continuing through the door at the bottom, you take a minute to look around what is currently a work in progress. A wall across the room – painted so obnoxiously green that you are almost blinded – greets you immediately. Looking closer still, you see there are dry-erase marker drawings on a white-board-painted table. But what is it? Facts. And figures. And a dream that’s about to become a reality. The dream – and the office space – belongs to New Leaf Initiative, State College’s newest non-profit organization.

Almost 10 years ago to the date, my father came to me and asked me a question that most 13 year olds will never have to answer: “Would you rather go to the Super Bowl with your brothers and me or would you rather go shopping with your mother in Washington D.C.?”

At 5:55 a.m. on a dark, deserted street tucked between College and Beaver avenues, a car silently pulls into an empty parking spot. A man emerges a few seconds later, wearing a three-day-old five o’clock shadow and holding a tobacco pipe comfortably between his lips as if it’s an extra appendage. He walks quickly toward the coffee shop across the street, eager to get out of the chilly winter air.

Fiddling with his keys for a moment until the lock clicks, he enters the room and heads directly into the back, hanging his hunter-green winter coat on a peg and pulling off his leather gloves, throwing them haphazardly on the counter next to him.

Read the rest of our profile of William Christopher Clarke, the owner of The Cheese Shoppe and W.C. Clarke’s Coffee, after the jump.

After living and studying at Penn State for the past five years, there's little (if anything) that will surprise me anymore when I step out on to the streets of State College. Chicken-costumed students running laps in my lecture hall in Thomas Building, atheists protesting crazy religious groups that flock to our campus each semester, and girls doing the walk of shame at all hours of the day are only some of my favorite memories of college life. But Halloween in State College? Now that is a horse of a different color.

As citizens across Pennsylvania flock to the polls today to vote for their candidate of choice, residents of the state’s 77th district are faced with a difficult decision that their counterparts don’t have to make: vote for Scott Conklin as representative for the state House, as lieutenant governor, or both?

Run. Save yourself. Because after a 50 year hiatus, bed bugs have returned. Only this time, they're a little more adventurous. Having traded bed sheets for backpacks and bedrooms for restaurants, bed bugs are dominating national news as they make appearances in major cities like New York City and Washington D.C., as well as smaller cities, like our dear ol' town of State College.

It’s hard enough for some college students to pay their tuition fees or housing bills, but add bar tabs and grocery bills and you’ll find it’s near impossible to keep your bottom line in the black. So what can the average college student do to keep ahead of the game without sacrificing too many hours pushing papers behind a desk or slaving over a restaurant stove?

Sometimes plans don't unfold the way you want them to. During Friday's Homecoming parade, the Penn State Ski Team tried to do a little demonstration. Needless to say, it didn't turn out so well. Check out the video and see for yourself.

After weeks of preparation, a local dream finally took flight at yesterday’s State College Borough Council, when council members approved Nov. 13 as the unveiling date for the newest addition to the downtown art scene: a mural outside McLanahan’s wall on Allen Street and Calder Way.

Meet self-proclaimed “Rock Comedian” Brian Smith, an Indiana University graduate who is sure to rack up the PSU pageviews as his video singing about the trials and tribulations of Penn State college life is released today. Smith is slowly gaining a following around college campuses as the go-to promoter of individualized college life, be it Indiana University or Hofstra University, as he creates humorous videos featuring all those things we college kids our proud of… you know: pubs, clubs, and drugs.

Grab your tents, grab your sleeping bags. You finally have another excuse to camp out. Except this time, make sure to bring a safety deposit.

No no, this isn’t another profile on Paternoville. This time, we’re camping out for something longer lasting than front row tickets for a Penn State football game.

We’re camping out for next year’s housing.

On a quiet Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. (Wednesday, September 1, the Wednesday before the Youngstown State game, to be exact), the battlefield known as Beaver was completely deserted, as students across campus hid from the humid summer heat in their air conditioned dorm rooms. But as the moon slowly rose over the campus, casting threatening-looking shadows around the stadium’s student entrance, Gate A, two young men sauntered confidently up to the gate with collapsible camping chairs in hand, their laughter echoing off the cold, steel outer-walls of the arena.

Because who doesn’t think: “Oh, I have some free time today. I think I’ll go paint a mural outside the stadium.”

Regardless, this is still pretty sweet. Enjoy.