Thomas Richards, a Schreyer Scholar and incoming member of the Presidential Leadership Academy, died early this morning after having a seizure. The tragic incident occurred at Camp Blue Diamond where Tom was a teaching assistant for this year's Leadership Jumpstart class.
At the time of his death, Tom was about to enter his sophomore year, studying political science and history.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be finalized. Onward State wishes to extend its deepest sympathies to the Richards family and Tom's friends during this difficult time.
As part of the launch of our new community-based editorial platform on Sunday, August 22nd, Onward State will be offering free advertising space to student organizations. The free space will be available to student organizations as well as other not-for-profit groups in the State College community.
After the jump, see how this free advertising fits in to our long-term vision and find out when the ad submission deadline is...
The men's and women's cross country teams will look to build on the success of last season when they take to the course at the Lock Haven Dolan Duals on September 3rd.
The women finished 14th last season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, thanks in part to recently-graduated Bridget Franek. Franek finished 26th in the competition, earning her an All-America performance. She became only the ninth Penn State woman to earn an All-America citation in the NCAA era.
With Franek and 111th-place finisher Cheryl Spring graduating, the duty will fall to the other runners from last year's NCAA championship team. This includes junior Caitlin Lane (86th place), sophomore Nicole Lord (94th), junior Kara Millhouse (142nd), sophomore Brooklyne Ridder (200th), and sophomore Natalie Bower (206th).
Check out how the men's team is faring after the jump.
As the football season approaches, thousands of Penn State fans serviced by Armstrong Communications and Blue Ridge communications remain without the Big Ten Network. Talks between the two parties have gone nowhere and the fans end up feeling the hurt. With no resolution in sight, DirecTV has thrown their hat into the ring, offering reduced rates for their basic package, which includes the Big Ten Network, to Armstrong and Blue Ridge customers. Blue Ridge Communications and Armstrong Communications remain the only major cable providers in Pennsylvania that have yet to offer the Big Ten Network.
Read on to see DirecTV's offer...
Youth will serve on this year's women's field hockey team, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing with the talent coming into the program.
Coach Charlene Morett starts off her 24th season after coming off a disappointing 7-13 record last year after starting off ranked in the top-15 in the nation. While ending the season on a high note with an upset of Ohio State and a hard-fought defeat at the hands of Indiana in the Big Ten tournament, this new team will have to make an impact of its own.
Leading scorer Kelsey Amy returns along with captains Daneen Zug (yes, the sister of THE namesake of the chicken zugget) and Lauren Alloway. Zug and Alloway, both defenders, will be the quarterbacks of the team, communicating strategy with their teammates in front of them.
Hear what Coach Morett has to say (and a full schedule!) after the jump.
Earlier this month, the new and improved Book Exchange 2.0 was launched just in time for students to buy their fall semester books. This new site features a similar layout as the first book exchange, but the sole programmer, Ian Kellogg, a junior in electrical engineering here at PSU, says he started over from scratch to make this 2.0 version superior.
Find out the major improvements after the jump.