At this point last week, many of us were recovering from sleep deprived delirium, as THON had just ended. After having a week to cool down from the hype and hysteria of THON weekend, I started to wonder about what was in store for THON in the future.


Consider this year’s total: $7,838,054.36, roughly a 4.6% increase from last year. Given a recession and a rather botched canning weekend (stupid snow), this was a major achievement and represented a ton of hard work. However, it got me thinking. What will happen when THON reaches a “steady state” for the amount of money it raises every year? I don’t think this will happen soon, as there is still plenty of room for THON to grow within PSU. But, what happens when (if?) THON reaches a point of zero growth? Read the full post for my thoughts.

I was intrigued by the signs from across the BJC that spelled out ‘PILLAR,’ so I decided to go talk with Executive Chair Christie Damato to see what Pillar was all about.


Check it out!

While on the floor, I ran into Rachel Tsupros, a dancer for the independent organization A-7. The following is the short conversation we had about A-7, what it means to dance at THON, and quality vintage suits. Read on for the full interview.

I thought I’d take a short walk-a-bout through the craziness of the THON floor to pick out some of the finer details that are difficult to see from up here in the press box. Here’s some of what I saw:

Characters Sighted:

A jester, The Cat in the Hat, The Geico Gecko, Men in Black (AKA THON child Eli Sibler and his father), a clown, and Lady Gaga.

Items found/stumbled upon:

Foam sword, squirt pistol, smiley-face balloon, butterfly head-band, Iron Man bouncy ball.

Read on for some more notable events.

We caught up with ATΩ Secretary CJ Koluch (the American speedo “Single Ladies” guy!) and ZTA President Kim Sargent for a conversation about THON, their families, and ways to get every eye in the BJC on you. Read on for the full interview.

Check out this highly energetic Q and A session with Moraler, Carly Mallenbaum! She talks about her Dancer and what THON means to her.

Here is the first of many interviews that we will be conducting with members of the various committees. Check out this Q and A with OPP committee members Kaitlin Scicchitano and Zach Fleagle.


OS: What has your committee done so far this weekend?


Zach: We got here at 5:30, and set up the floor. We bring all the physical parts downstairs … and set it up.


Read on to find out more…

It’s cold. While great for skiers and snowmen, the weather blows for most of us. It is about this time of year that I start looking at sweet study-abroad locales. Here are a few PSU summer abroad programs that got me thinking about blue, sunny skies.


It might seem somewhat like a no-brainer, but Spain is kick-ass place to consider studying. European, warm, ridiculous nightlife, beautiful women (and well-dressed men). Ok, I guess it is not a great place for studying, but let’s count that as a plus. Also, as Barcelona is rather far north, so it is an excellent staging ground for a Euro-tour. (If staying in Spain is more your game, check out Madrid or Granada)


Moving further east into the Mediterranean, the boot-country Italy is similar to Spain in the good-for-you-bad-for-your-GPA department. Stick to a place like Siena: you’ll avoid the touristy mobs and still be able to see major sights on day-trips. Though the Siena program is more suitable for people who are peaking now (read: liberal arts majors), science and engineering majors should not despair.


It could be that Singapore is more your game. With courses available in engineering and the sciences, Singapore is a better fit for those with less wiggle room in their schedules. Also, a trip to Asia is way more adventurous than a stint in Europe, though the level of culture shock is surely a great deal higher. That aside, Singapore has tons of English-speakers which makes it a great place both to study and ‘not-study’ abroad.


Just to round things out, I often find that South America gets left out in many study abroad conversations, and I have no clue why. Who wouldn’t want to spend a semester in Sao Paulo, for instance? A vibrant city with warm weather and sandy beaches is a rarity, throw in the fact that Brazil is fast-becoming an economic superpower, and it is safe to say that there are many things to see and do in Sao Paulo. Dust off that high school..uh.. Portuguese and get going next spring.

THON weekend is quickly approaching, and as such the final list of 2010 dancers has been compiled. It is pretty interesting to take a look at the entire list. It definitely gives you a little perspective on where all these dancers are coming from.


As one could expect, the list is largely comprised of the Greek community, but the significant presence of independent dancers and independent organizations caught my eye as well. As to not offend the commonwealth campuses, there is quite a sizable non-UP representation as well, though that has been true of past years. Looks like a really good bunch! I’m looking forward to THON.


Check out the list, and give me your impressions.

Got some something to say about State Patty’s Day? Think the drinking age should be 18 instead of 21? Concerned about alcohol abuse on and off campus? You should check out the CDT’s ongoing series on drinking culture entitled Focus on Excessive Drinking. The series contains many interesting viewpoints on a variety of drinking issues.


One column that caught my eye proposed new ways to control the mayhem that is State Patty’s Day. Another concerned itself less with describing the problems of drinking abuse and focused on finding appropriate solutions.


Check out some of the columns and let me know what you think; especially with drinking, everybody has an opinion.

After reading the Collegian’s editorial about the UPUA’s plans for a freshman student handbook, I was more than a little confused. I felt that some of the criticism that the Collegian levied was spot-on, but surely the final design of the handbook would be superior to a “Web site that would accumulate all the links and information that freshman students … would find very useful.” I mean, sure, we’d be out 21,000 dollars, but put to good use, that money could create one hell of a sweet handout. “Put to good use” is clearly the important phrase in that sentence.


To find out a little more about the design and intent of the Freshman handbook, I emailed Samantha Miller, who is the Director of Assembly Services for the UPUA. Samantha is spear-heading the Freshman Handbook initiative, so she knows a little bit about what they are going for. Read on for the questions and responses.

As you may have read, the University Park Allocation Committee recently made a decision on SPA’s request to use some of its standing allocation on food. I know that when I heard about the UPAC’s decision, I was a little bit confused. Does this mean I get free pizza at the Minus The Bear concert? Will Ben Stein be giving out hotdogs at SPA’s expense?


Thanks to some info from some helpful folks over at the UPAC, the matter was cleared up for us.


According to their emails, it appears that the decision was based on a recognition of SPA’s need to offer hospitality in order to keep bringing in exciting acts. Therefore, the UPAC decided to meet SPA’s need in this regard, as well as offering food funding for other standing and regular allocations as well. So, no free pizza at LateNight. But, hopefully this means that the SPA will be able to keep bringing in ballin’ acts. You can count on me being at Minus The Bear, free pizza or not.

Has your roommate ever cut all of your network cables in half after you stole his yogurt? Soon he and all other cable-shearers will be foiled, as ResCom has been introducing wireless computing into the dorms since the fall semester.


Though (annoyingly) students are required to have ResCom set up their wireless router, I do like that PSU is at least trying to set up a system for wireless. In addition to just being convenient, I would bet that PSU is also hoping to avoid problems like those described here; cyber-security is one of those buzzwords that every university wants to be up-to-date on.


Speaking of other universities, the University of Michigan will be fully wireless by this semester, according to the university website. We have to at least keep up with the rest of the Big 10. I really hope ResCom figures out a way to make this as painless as possible for everyone; wireless computing is supposed to make life more convenient, not more complicated.


For those living in the dorms, what do you think? Is it worth it to get wireless in your rooms?

In Russian schools, tests take YOU! President Obama thinks that this is a silly dynamic and has included an education expert from Penn State in his U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission.
Dr. Jacqueline Edmondson, PSU’s associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies in Penn State’s College of Education was selected to join the Working Group on Education, Culture, Sports, and Media of the Obama-Medvedev Commission. I know that the Commission states that it is bilateral, but let’s be real: our education expert is going to be doing some educating of her own. Dr. Edmondson received her PhD in Curriculum & Instruction and …

This Saturday, PSU basketball will play Virginia Tech in an ACC – Big Ten battle that Nittany Nation has deemed worthy of a White House. And yet, I am worried that when I attend the game this Saturday, I will witness a house with chipping paint.
It always works out in football, but somehow I know that I will see that ugly under-coating of empty-seat blue. True, true,  it is almost finals week, but I am going to try to help out Nittany Nation this time. Let’s at least try to make it a White Cottage this Saturday.
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