Last night I took the opportunity to ride the White Loop during its new hours, and UPUA, color me impressed. The new hours served the purpose they were intended to and did so with few complications.
On the particular bus I rode, I had a chance to talk to UPUA Chief of Staff Matt Smith and Greek Life Director Chris Caswell, who were serving as that night's ambassadors. I give props to them for spending two hours of their Friday Night/Saturday Morning making sure things run smoothly.
While the majority of the riders were at various states of inebriation, everyone seemed relatively docile. Perhaps the late hour took the edge off. Talking to Matt, he said there had only been one incident where students started to get out of hand, and that quickly subsided without the need to kick anyone off the bus. This anecdotal evidence is by no means proof this will be the trend, though, and it will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few months.
Not that surprisingly, almost every rider was a freshman (or at least got off at East). On my trip, nearly 40 students got on downtown and only six were left after passing the East Halls bus stop.
In the end, I'd say UPUA can definitely chalk this one up as a success. Who else plans on taking advantage of these extra weekend hours?
Last night was the first night of RAWR, the first annual Penn State Improv Festival. We snapped some pictures of the exciting night. Be sure to show up tonight at 8 at the Pavilion Theatre to see Penn State's Full Ammo Improv, headliners Baby Wants Candy, and more!
Two All-American Penn State student-athletes were selected in the Women's Professional Soccer league draft on Friday. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naher was selected 11th overall by Boston and Forward Katie Schoepfer was taken by Sky Blue FC of New Jersey at 26. The two will play a role in shaping the new league, which plays games from March through August.
Onward State is finally writing about Onward State. How meta. But really, we are pretty awesome. Even the Chronicle of Higher Education approves!
The Chronicle ran a story about us on Monday and posted a supplementary video on Thursday. You can read the article HERE and watch the embedded video on this page.
The story praises the budding genius of our founder, Davis Shaver, and also emphasizes the importance of assigning editor Eli Glazier (Sadly, my favorite editor, Evan Kalikow, ended up on the Chronicle's cutting room floor, save for a shout-out in the video) (Editor's note: Awwwwwwwww).
Although our editors pave the road, let's not forget our writers and photographers, the vehicles that ride this road to journalistic success. We have all earned this honor. In that spirit, we'd like to announce a series of profiles that should hopefully help you put a face on your favorite Onward State writers.
For now, check out the Chronicle article and continue enjoying Onward State, one of the nation's most exceptional blogs.
Penn State grad Dan Shemesh has been named Director of Grounds for Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls. Shemesh graduated in 2003 from the College of Agricultural Sciences with a degree in Turfgrass Management, which covers both the scientific study of grass and also the business side, like running athletic complexes or a golf course. Basically, the Turf School grads are the biggest grass gurus this side of the Mississippi. Except maybe Willie Nelson.
Shemesh will head all operations pertaining to both the field at Red Bull Arena, set to open this year, which is one of the few, new soccer-specific stadiums in the U.S. He will also be in charge of the planned massive six-field training facility. The field surface of the Arena is a natural Kentucky Bluegrass, as opposed to artificial AstroTurf or FieldTurf surfaces that seem to be the prevailing trend with newly-constructed as well as existing stadiums. The team played in Giants Stadium through the end of the 2009 season.
Shemesh has already racked up an impressive résumé to this point. Not only has he served for the past seven years as the Sports Field Director for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he has also worked for the Phillies and the denizens of Gillette Stadium, the New England Patriots and New England Revolution.
So maybe this will give you all a reason to actually watch the oft-neglected MLS for once.
This weekend ten improvisational comedy groups are coming together for RAWR - Penn State's first improv festival. The headliners are the Upright Citizen's Brigade tonight and Baby Wants Candy tomorrow night. All performances are at the Pavilion Theatre.
When most people think of improv, they conjure images of Whose Line It Anyway? or Nick Cannon's Wild N' Out. But the reality is that there are a wide variety of styles, with each group performing their own variant. Of course, the one thing they all have in common is that everything is completely unscripted and unrehearsed. We've got the festival's schedule laid out just so you know what to expect.