Some of you will be disappointed when I tell you that I'm not going to talk about the childhood game Foursquare in this post. I am, however, talking about the internet service called Foursquare that "gives you and your friends new ways of exploring your city."
It turns out that Harvard has teamed up with the company to create a index of ratings and reviews of local businesses as well as to promote collaboration between the different people living in and around the University.
I've seen a handful of people get into Foursquare, especially via Twitter. It seems like a pretty cool service and looks like it could take off, particularly in a college setting. It would definitely help spread the word about State College gems like Herwig's, Margarita's Pizzeria and the State Theatre, among others.
With enough users in State College, the service could create a veritable listing of awesome places to hang out, eat and drink study. Of course, this listing would be limited to the citizens of State College that are more technologically-minded at first. But if Foursquare grows to include many demographics like Facebook and Twitter have, the service would become infinitely more useful.
You can get signed up here. Let us know what you think of the service with a comment below.
Have you always wanted to get involved in movie production, but haven't felt like investing millions of dollars and years of your life? Well the Student Film Organization's 4 Day Film Festival just might be your thing.
On January 20 at 6:30 p.m. the festival will kick off in Carnegie Cinema. Groups of 2 or more will be given the guidelines for the films and will then have the next four days to complete production.
All the films will be shown on Sunday in Carnegie, and the film that most successfully follows the guidelines will get 4 free tickets to the State Theater.
Keith Boykin, editor of The Daily Voice and television pundit has been chosen to replace Soledad O'Brien as the keynote speaker for Wednesday's Martin Luther King Jr. Evening Celebration. O'Brien, a correspondent for CNN, has been deployed to Haiti to cover the developing situation in the wake of last week's earthquake.
Boykin has been active in politics for over 20 years, participating in six political campaigns, including President Clinton's successful run in 1992. He later served as a White House aide for Clinton. He is also a frequent television contributor on CNBC and co-hosts My Two Cents on BET J. In addition, he has also written three New York Times best-selling books on the African-American Gay community.
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.
What do Ball State University, Thomas Edison State College, Rosemont College and City University of New York have in common (besides being inferior to Penn State)? These four schools are teaming up with the New York Times to offer distance learning courses for credit which will award certificates to students for completion of this course. The certificate will bear the seal of both The New York Times and the university offering the course.
Roughly two years ago, The New York Times decided to enter the distance education market in order to increase their revenue by cashing in on their name. Felice Nudelman, the director of education for the Times, thinks that a certificate bearing the name of the educational institution and the Times will "absolutely" make a résumé look more impressive. Nudelman also said that the content of the Times will probably "have as much depth and breadth as a good liberal arts curriculum." It must be noted that professors from the partnering institutions will be teaching the courses. The Times will advertise the programs online and in print, as well as supplying the professors and the students with resources incorporated in its New York Times Knowledge Network.
Penn State, on the other hand, actually has a good liberal arts curriculum. Even though we may not be partnered with the Times or any other outside institution, we still have a fantastic distance-ed program that many people choose. The World Campus and Career Services are partnered together to develop a series of online, self-guided career workshops which are available at no cost to students with active Penn State Access Accounts. Graduates from the Penn State World Campus are working for such companies as JPMorgan Chase, Boeing, and AT&T.
Do you think programs like Penn State's will suffer as a result of this? Read on to find out
Lots of people love professional basketball (NBA). What a lot of people don't know, though, is that college hoops is much better.
10. No incidents thus far of players leaving the court and going up into the stands to attack fans.
9. No uniforms like this.
8. March Madness. That’s exactly what it is.
Check out the rest of the list after the jump.