Catie Simpson

Face it: feeding the meter sucks. It's basically a black hole that eats all the loose change you find on the floor of your car. Not to mention the anxiety of getting your errands done before your meter runs dry and sets off the "Spidey Sense" of any nearby meter maids. Well Penn State, your hero has arrived...

I have a confession: I could eat pasta for every meal, 365 days a year. Fettucini, orrachetti, farfalle, penne, or my personal favorite bucatini -- it doesn't matter -- I love them all. I eat them all with exorbitant amounts of pleasure and delight. I know I am not alone in my obsession, for there are already over 400 people who plan on attending Fasta Pasta's "Free Pasta Day" this Friday, according to the Facebook event.

This Wednesday, April 24, Redifer commons is hosting a meal in conjunction with several members of the local agricultural community here in Centre County.

This weekend is known for one of Penn State's greatest traditions -- the Blue and White game. But after seeing an ad for a wine and taco pairing at the Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery, I smell a new one.

It's no secret that college students are often portrayed as having little money -- the Ramen eating, penny pinching, "poor college student" stereotype has come from a lot of truth. However as students we don't really get the chance to learn about money or how to handle it, which can be a huge problem when we graduate.

A person dies by suicide in the United States every 15 minutes, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults.

Looks like Mark Emmert's plan to keep State College in eternal winter have been foiled -- spring has finally arrived! Although there are many signs of the new season around campus, one of my favorites is the ability to eat outside again.

I don't know about you, but I am an avid Iron Chef fan. Every time I hear that over dramatic music and see some guy biting into peppers and doing somersaults I know that I am in for a hour of excellent television. So when I heard about the Penn State food service's Collegiate Culinary Challenge, I had visions of Alton Brown, anti-griddles, and fish ice cream dancing in my head.

Say goodbye to counting out change every time you get a ticket. Penn State now accepts LionCash and credit cards for all parking transactions.

State College is not known for its pizza. We don't have fancy water like NYC, and there is a plague of Sbarro's at every mall in Central Pennsylvania. Keeping all of this in mind, when I walked into Pizza Heaven for the first time, I wasn't expecting much. No pearly white gates awaited my arrival, and unfortunately they were lacking a doorman. So, imagine my surprise at finding perhaps the best pizza in State College. The crust! The cheese! THE SMELL. Maybe putting the word "heaven" in the name of the restaurant wasn't as ballsy as I had originally thought.

Most of us live in the residence halls here on campus, but we probably don't really pay attention to the work and dedication that goes into keeps our dorms livable. While we go about our daily lives, there are housing staff who vacuum, dust, mop, sanitize, and wash every square inch of our buildings. In North Halls, and specifically Beam, the gap between the workers and students is closer than anywhere else. Meet Monica, one half of the tag team who keeps Beam Halls running in tip top shape.

Taking Gen Eds is probably the worst part of college. They are basically the hoops you have to jump through before you get to the stuff you're actually looking forward to studying. And now that it's registration time, we're all scrambling to make sure we fufill our respective requirements. However, Gen Eds don't have to suck, and for your personal edification we've compiled a list of some of the best ones out there.

We've all got 'em. The hallmates you don't always see, but experience plenty of throughout the day. Living in a dorm/apartment can be rough as you're constantly surrounded by hundreds of people, most of whom don't keep the same schedule as you. Worst of all, the walls in the dorms seem to be paper thin, and we've all ended up hearing (and smelling) some things we wish we hadn't. We've complied a list of the worst offenders -- read on to make sure you're not on the list!

When you made your first drive to Penn State you probably noticed that every other building you passed was a farm. Central Pennsylvania is has a rich agriculture history, and some students at Penn State want to keep that tradition alive right here on campus. Several interested students,l ead by Rachel Hoh (a Community, Environment, and Development major) gathered last night to talk about creating a student-run farm: feasibility issues, funding, and community outreach were just a few of the topics discussed.

Permit me to blow your mind for just a moment. Did you know there are other places to eat besides downtown State College?! (I know right? Quite a shocker.) In fact, there are lots of delicious dining options outside of downtown. Being a townie and a particularly food-obsessed person, I have eaten at practically every restaurant in town. It's been hard picking just a few to highlight here, but overall I think we have a list of winners.

I'm terrified of career fairs. The suits, the handshaking, the walking-in-heels business? Not for me. In fact I had been avoiding the emails for over a week. They had gotten more and more frequent as the day got closer, and so yesterday I finally cracked (the whole "needing a future career" thing finally got to me). So I updated my resume, squeezed into my pencil skirt, and packed my fancy business-lady bag: I was ready.

If you've ever been disappointed by the food at the dining commons, you're not alone. The Real Food Challenge is a nation-wide student campaign with a goal of increasing the amount of real food ("real" meaning sustainable, local, and nutritional) being served on college campuses.

Everyone loves a good old fashioned photobomb, and when there's 15,000 people in one building you're basically looking at a photobomb goldmine. Inflatable toys, costumes, and sleep deprivation, led to some of the most memorable photobombs we've seen in a while. Whether they are intentional or not, here are some of the best photobombs from THON 2013.

Being the resident OS straight edge, I had never even heard of a kegs and eggs party until last night. A quick Google search explained to me that a “Kegs and Eggs” social is basically a morning keg party with food. I was surprised to find that the “eggs” in the title actually referred to food instead of some outrageous concoction of green liquor. If drinking/feasting in the a.m. is your thing (and it's pretty much something anyone could get behind) you should definitely host one of these babies this Saturday morning.

We're deep into flu season, and with the number of outbreaks on the rise, there needs to be a serious talk about how to stop the spread of these ungodly germs. I know that professors preach the "if you're sick stay home" line on a regular basis, but we all know this is not the gospel truth. The same professors that tell us to make our health a priority are the very same who take percentage points off our final grades whenever we miss a class. So if you're going to go to class sick (and we all are) we need to follow some basic rules.

Continuing along the forbidden halls of backstage BJC, we stumbled across some Harry Potter things. Actually, I lied -- it was a lot of Harry Potter things. Large tapestries with scenes from Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and platform 9 ¾ adorned the walls and pretty much every visible thing you could imagine. The “murals” were made by several committee volunteers, created by projecting the images on the paper, tracing the outline, then filling in everything with paint. It wasn’t just murals either -- they even build a custom Hogwarts-themed concession stand.

When you last left us, we had just discovered the elusive THON salon, the original goal of our adventure. Little did we know, we had just scratched the surface of what was really going on behind the scenes of THON. We left the salon in search of some good photo ops, so we continued onto the floor crowded with increasingly delirious dancers.

It was a slow morning at THON around 7 a.m on Saturday. The Onward State staff slapped their faces to keep from drifting off, the shrill notes of the Greek Hour musical "performances" still ringing in our ears. All of a sudden an ad for something called the "THON Salon" flashed across the jumbo tron. Intrigued, fellow OS writer Zack Rutstein and I set off in search of answers -- anything to break the monotony of the stagnant press row.

Food is probably one of the most underrated yet important ways to keep your energy up -- whether you're dancing or simply attending THON. Dancers have been off caffeine of any kind for weeks leading up to the weekend, so the best option to keep spirits high is to eat regularly throughout the event. Thankfully, the Hospitality committee has taken over the concession stands here at the BJC and are serving up all your THON dietary needs with a cheerful pink-shirted smile.

It's Wednesday night. Your girlfriend said she was totally fine with just skipping the whole "Valentine's Day" thing this year. You were pretty convinced, but today you caught a depressed look in her eyes as she watched all her friends brag about their plans for tomorrow night while stuffing $20 chocolates into their smug faces. Wait a second. What if your girlfriend lied? Shit.

Everyone knows how convenient LionCash is -- we use it for food, laundry, and the occasional bus ride. But what if I told you that your LionCash was actually a key to a dream world full of wonder and magic? Read on to discover some of the truly weird places that accept your LionCash, so you too can start swiping yourself into luxury.

As much as most of us wouldn't like to admit it, we've all been a teacher's pet at least once in our life. Maybe it was when you were a bright eyed first grader struggling to make friends, finding solace in the praise given out from your grandma-esque teacher. Or maybe you had an attractive language professor last semester with a really hot accent you just "wanted to know a little better". Whatever the case, we've all been there, and we've also seen a few teacher's pets crash and burn along the way. If you want to get on your professor's good side without being a total asshole, read on.

Chinese take-out night was one of my favorite dinners when I was a kid (sorry, mom). Chinese night meant: steamed dumplings, fried rice, hot and sour soup, and Golden Wok. Recently, the long running Chinese-American food establishment changed hands. It now has a new chef, a new owner, and a new name: Sichuan Bistro.

Do you think Penn State could use a nice, strong dose of class? Do you have an exceptionally fancy suit you only got to wear once to your sister's wedding? Do you like being the best-dressed person in the room? Well get ready for some news that's LEGEND...wait for it...DARY.

Sylly week hump day! You know what that means: cookies! Don't have an oven? No worries! You can make these stupidly easy cookies in your microwave.