However, considering that next year's schedule has fewer games, the price per game will stay the same.
Tuition, on the other hand, will almost definitely be increased. In a meeting with the Board of Trustees last week, Graham Spanier announced students should expect to see a tuition hike of between 2.9 to 4.9 percent.
Spanier also noted that the difficulty Penn State had attaining its appropriations this fall should have been a hint that tuition might have to be adjusted to compensate. If you haven't been paying attention, well, surprise!
As is it the media's job to play the blame game, let's start first with the Pennsylvania legislature. They wouldn't give Penn State the entirety of its appropriations request and now students have to make up the difference. Also, we can throw some blame on the university's representatives. Sure, they probably did their best, but why let facts get in the way of a good blaming? While we're at it, Graham Spanier probably had something to do with this monetary meltdown... and you thought he and Fast Eddy were friends!
But the main culprit, the real son-of-a-bitch responsible for the tuition hike, is NBC. They ruined late night TV and ultimately spurred the final decision to raise tuition.
It could be worse. Even a five percent increase isn't the end of the world (which is still in two years, btw). And at least Penn State isn't the University of California. They call that a riot? Raise our tuition 32 percent and we'll show UC how college rioting is done!
Last night, each of THON's fourteen committees sent forth a pair of Captains to compete in the first ever Mr. and Mrs. THON pageant, held in HUB Alumni Hall. The event, true to the spirit of THON, raised money FTK-- $613.42 to be precise-- but more than that, it showcased the contagious enthusiasm that will permeate the BJC in just three short weeks.
Based on the opening dance and their talent performances, three Captain pairs were chosen as finalists. The Captains from the Hospitality, OPPerations and Family Relations committees were named as the final three pairs. Steve Dodge and Jeannine Bradbury (OPPerations) were chosen as runners-up, and Jony Rommel and Dave Belliveau (Family Relations) were crowned Mr. and Mrs. THON 2010.
The contestants were judged by a panel consisting of Evan Royster, starting running back for the Nittany Lions; Lou "the mic guy" Defazio from the cheerleading squad; Justin Ross, Blue Band President; and Homecoming King and Queen, Greg Tallman and Cri Cri Henry. Overall Chair Caitlin Zankowski and THON Advisor Barry Bram hosted the event. The pageant also featured performances by the Overall Committee and a speech by a former Four Diamonds child turned Penn State nursing student and Morale committee member.
http://www.onwardstate.com/staff/chase/mrmrsthon/soundslider.swf?size=2&format=xml
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.
Penn State senior and self proclaimed "social media addict" Han Ma posted a picture of his canning group being shown on a huge screen in the middle of Times Square. Also, he let us know that John Mayer apparently showed up at the Hope Gala on Friday night for THON.
We featured some Google Streetview imagery back in late December of downtown State College. Finally, Google has posted up their imagery that was taken of the Penn State campus from a slightly different photo-taking platform. At last, I can look back at my Freshman Dorm (Pinchot Hall) or the building I spent so much time in, for many years to come. Click this link to see a map of Penn State. Drag the man shaped icon from on top of the zoom bar to the area you want to see the Streetview imagery for. Read on for some sweet highlights.
The Centre Area Transit Authority recently released their CATA iPhone App for free. They previously had an app that was basically just a bunch of black and white scans of their bus schedules, then they had the balls to charge me $1.99 for it. (Turns out it was a student who made this app for their ENG411 class and then had the balls to charge me $1.99 for it, YouTube )
But their new app has hit a home run with their new GUI and GPS data. I used the updated CATABUS.com website's realtime bus locater often (amazing!), but it was a real pain in the ass to use it on my phone. More times that not I was stuck out in the cold navigating their website to find that I just missed the bus. Now I'll be able to check my bus schedules right before I leave class with only two touches of the glass to find out that I just missed the bus, and I might as well hop on www.OnwardState.com for a few moments to see whats happening.
You can get this app in the iTunes App Store now
Onward State iPhone App Usefulness Rating: A+
