The 2010 Census is upon us, and five Penn State students are determined to count every man, woman, and child in Centre County.
Laura Peck, Jennifer Wallington, Emily Franklin, Kate Wiedie, and Emily Simmons formed "Count Centre County" to compete in this year's Public Relations Student Society of America's National Bateman Competition. They're especially targeting groups with low return rates, namely rural populations and college students.
Count Centre County, a community outreach organization, will host informative events during the month of February to maximize the county's participation in the Census this year. The group will make appearances in the HUB and residence halls, so be sure to participate.
Students comprise roughly three quarters of State College, so a lack of Census participation on our part could drastically alter the results for Centre County.
Check out the group's Facebook and Twitter pages for more details.
You may have spent your Friday night drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana while on the lookout for those pesky police. They're always trying to spoil your fun, right?
To get a policeman's perspective, I tagged along with a university cop while he made his Friday rounds. For security's sake, I can't mention names or places, but here's what happened on my journey to the other side. As students, you may expect police officers to be gruff, handcuff-happy jerks, but Officer X was a wonderful guy. The police don't go out of their way to bust people; they merely strive to keep the students safe, even if that means slapping citations onto a few unlucky law-breakers.
Rachel Petkac, 19, passed away on Monday night after sustaining severe injuries from an automobile accident. A commuter, Ms. Petkac was driving back from Penn State on Friday, January 8 at the time of the accident.
She lost control of her vehicle in the snow on Route 550. Her car collided with a utility pole. After 18 days of hospitalization, she died at Geisinger Medical Center. See this CDT briefing for more details.
Ms. Petkac was a Schreyer scholar majoring in Community, Environment, and Development. She graduated from State College Area High School in 2008. She was a member of the Good Shepard Catholic Church and planned on joining the Peace Corps after college. For more information, see her full obituary and commemorative Facebook group.
Have you always wanted to rival the Creamery with your ice-cream-making prowess? Your chance has arisen!
This weekend, the College of Agricultural Sciences is hosting "Ice Cream 101: Introduction to Frozen Desserts," a compact course that teaches the basics of ice cream composition, formulation, and processing.
Taught by past and present Penn State faculty, the course involves both lectures and hands-on exercises. According to the website, ice cream lovers, small-business owners, and entrepreneurs are welcome to attend.
When: Saturday, 7:45 am - Sunday, 5:30 pm
Where: Agricultural Science and Industries Building
Cost: $695
Yes, this two-day class actually costs $695. But if you truly love frozen flavored pasteurized homogenized bovine mammary secretions, it's worth every penny.
In December 2005, alumni and friends of Penn State donated $44.4 million. Sounds like a lot, right? This past December, those alumni and friends donated over $58 million, setting a new fundraising record (in a single month) for Penn State.
President Spanier had the following comment, according to Penn State Live: "Our donors continue their loyalty to Penn State, and we are most grateful to each of them for their exceedingly generous support, which is essential to the University's future."
Of the December total, 31,000 donors gave over 37,000 gifts. Eleven of these gifts surpassed $1 million.
Penn State hopes that this new record will fit into an upcoming crescendo of gift-giving, culminating in the "For the Future" campaign, a fundraising initiative beginning on April 23, 2010. The campaign emphasizes education affordability for students of modest means.
Will the recession impact this year's donations? Slim personal budgets may cause donors to purchase necessities rather than partake in philanthropy. However, let's hope our wonderful alumni choose to give back to dear old State.
English 497 is a class that most of us will never take. "Narrative, Oral History, New Media Technologies" allows students to document their recent experiences in the Iraq War.
Penn State created this course in the spring of 2009 to provide an outlet for those adjusting from military service to college life. According to the class website, "Students gained hands-on experience in documentary filmmaking and oral history interviewing while learning pre- and post-production video techniques."
Through videos, writing assignments, and blog posts, the students shared their memories to educate others as well as to examine their experiences on a personal level.
Dave Walker, a 28-year-old from Danville, recently took the class and graduated from Penn State. Says Philly.com, "Walker's stylishly produced film tracks the contrasts in attitudes and experiences between an enthusiastic ROTC student looking forward to military service and that of one of Walker's friends who served in Iraq."
The students' blogs and videos are available on the website, so check them out if you'd like some personal accounts of the Iraq War.