A question that always leads to some interesting debates.


Do executive officers of organizations deserve the amount of money that they receive every year?


On Wednesday, the Collegian reported that Penn State President Graham Spanier was ranked 6th nationally among public university presidents in terms of annual base salary for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. In total pay compensation Spanier ranks 18th among the same group.


My question to the Onward State community is whether his $590,000 salary is too much.

On Wednesday night in Eisenhower Auditorium campus leaders and members of the community celebrated the dynamic figure that was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Onward State was on hand for the celebration. Check out the photos from the event.

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to sit down for a few minutes with Women’s Volleyball Coach Russ Rose. Having grown up in a volleyball family, Coach Rose has always been somewhat of an idol for me. Being able to ask him some questions was pretty awesome.


But enough of me waxing poetic here, let’s get down to the good stuff. Read on if you want to find out about “the look”, the difficulties of recruiting volleyball players to chilly State College, beach/sand volleyball, and much more!

Yesterday we ran a story regarding Graham Spanier possibly being considered a candidate for the NCAA Presidency. However, the Centre Daily Times is reporting today that Spanier has ruled himself out as a candidate. He states in an email to the CDT, “I am aware that my name has been mentioned, and I have been approached about the possibility by a number of people, but I am not a candidate for the position.”


This is a good thing for Penn State… Spanier has done great things and losing him would be a blow to the school. And it’s not as if the NCAA doesn’t have plenty of other Presidents to choose from!

Penn State President Graham Spanier hasn’t been here for as long as JoePa has, but he’s become such a recognizable part of the University that I have a hard time envisioning Old State without him. Spanier has been University President since 1995 and was a member of the faculty from 1973-1982 before leaving for several administrator positions at other universities across the country.


Yesterday though, the Associated Press ran a story discussing who will succeed Myles Brand as NCAA President. Brand died of pancreatic cancer on September 16. The report names Dr. Spanier as a potential candidate for the NCAA Presidency. One of the main reasons is based on the fact that Dr. Brand had served as a University president before taking over the NCAA (University of Oregon [1989-1994] and Indiana University [1994-2002]). Brand’s tenure was marked by a commitment to improving the student-athlete experience by focusing more on academics and education (something Penn State has never had a problem with). Oregon State University President Ed Ray, who is in charge of finding a replacement for Brand, has hinted that his committee is leaning towards a University President.


The report names University of Hartford president Walter Harrison, Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman, NCAA executive Bernard Franklin, and Graham Spanier as possible candidates. Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman (a contemporary of Spanier’s), Hampton University president William Harvey, Molloy College president Drew Bogner, Widener University president James Harris and Weber State president Ann Millner make ou the rest of the committee in charge of selecting the new president, and are not considered viable candidates themselves.

It’s my sad duty to inform you of the death of a fellow Penn Stater.


Jaime Haney, 20, was killed on Monday afternoon while driving back from her Baltimore home to Penn State for the start of Spring Semester. The Bio-behavioral Health major wrote on her Facebook page that her lack of Monday classes was her reason for leaving for University Park on Monday instead of over the weekend. Facebook has subsequently pulled Miss Haney’s profile page, as per their policy.


She was traveling on Route 322 East when her car left the road and collided with a tree in Howe Township. She was pronounced dead at the scene by responding authorities. It is currently unknown why her car left the road, but authorities did say that she was wearing her seat belt. It is never enjoyable to write about the death of anyone, let alone someone so young in their life. The hearts of everyone here at Onward State go out to the friends and family of Miss Haney.

Everybody subscribed to PSUTXT  got this text message this morning. Do you think that this is the kind of thing that PSUTXT should be used for?

On Friday, award-winning and nationally-syndicated radio program This American Life aired a special on Penn State entitled “#1 Party School.” The program focused primarily, as the title would suggest, on Penn State’s recent “honor” of being named the number one party school in America, and the culture of drinking that has permeated the University and the State College community. The hour-long program interviews several prominent members of the Penn State community, including University President Graham Spanier and Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims, as well as several Penn State students and State College residents.
The report begins with one of the show’s …

For the third season in a row, Penn State’s Women’s Volleyball team is national champion. Going undefeated for the second straight season, the team won their record-setting 102nd straight match in a new fashion. Down 0-2 to #2 seed Texas, the team battled back to win the final three sets to take home the championship. The team hadn’t been down 0-2 since losing to Nebraska on September 2, 2007. Sporting 5 All-Americans and Player of the Year Megan Hodge, the team began the season ranked #1 and never let it go.
The victory gives Coach Russ Rose his 4th national championship. …

Last January, the New York City and Northern New Jersey chapters of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Dance Marathon Alumni Interest Group paired up to host the Hope Gala. The Hope Gala is a black tie optional dinner that helps raise money for the Penn State Dance Marathon (THON). Hosted at the legendary Capitale on Bowery Street, the $175/plate event will include a cocktail reception and silent auction in addition to a 3-course dinner. Last year, the event raised over $10,000 for THON.
This year the Gala has announced that former two-time All-American and three-time Pro-Bowl linebacker LaVar Arrington …

About a month ago, hackers released a series of emails between climate researchers that called into doubt the validity of scientific findings about man-made global warming. One of the researchers whose emails were leaked was Dr. Michael Mann, Professor of Meteorology here at Penn State. Dr. Mann’s emails contained criticisms of a pair of papers that deny the man-made global warming theory. Dr. Mann’s email partner states that they will keep the papers out of the IPCC report “even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is.”
The story has been picked up by media outlets around the world and resulted …

Have you been unable to access Google websites on campus during the past few weeks? Well, you’re not alone. Students all over campus have had intermittent access to the ubiquitous search engine. ITS is aware of the problem and is looking into it.
Marcus Robinson, Director of ITS Marketing and Communication, said that ITS has “not been able to determine whether the issue might be caused by an element within the University’s internal network structure or relates to a problem outside Penn State.  Part of our challenge in troubleshooting is in being able to reproduce the issue in real-time.”
He is asking …

Today at 12:15 in the HUB, members of the Penn State Dance Marathon (THON), participated in a flash mob, freezing in place for 4 minutes during the middle of class changes. Over 500 members participated by wearing special shirts saying “ASK ME” on the front and a THON fact on the back. The idea was dreamed up by the THON Public Relations committee and aimed to raise awareness for THON and pediatric cancer.
They were certainly successful in gaining people’s attention, the packed HUB became very quiet as confused bystanders tried to figure out what was going on. Favorite quote of …

For those of you who didn’t know, THON.org has a section on under the Families tab that lets you read the stories of some of the families that have been helped by THON and the Four Diamonds Fund. The page is designed to allow you to better get to know the families that participate in THON and all that they go through. The stories are very interesting and give you a perspective on things that most of us don’t normally think about.
Each week, THON adds another story about a family. This week’s family is the Rupp Family and their daughter …

Following the “riots” during the Girl Talk concert, HUB-Robeson Center Officials implemented a new events policy that changed the way that events were held in the HUB. This new policy effectively killed a long-standing and popular tradition at Penn State, the A Cappella sampler. Traditionally hosted by Late Night Penn State, the event allowed Penn State’s numerous A Cappella groups to come together and perform for each other and the Penn State Community. When the University forced new policies requiring security at all HUB events, Late Night announced that they would be unable to continue with the A Cappella Sampler.
Phi …