Temple comes into the tournament having won 12 of its last 14 games. The two losses were to a #1-ranked Duke team and to eventual Atlantic-10 tournament champion Richmond in their semifinals this past Saturday. During the regular season, they have beaten fellow tourney-members Georgia, Richmond and Georgetown while losing single-digits games to Texas A&M and Villanova. This team has definitely played more competition than what many people are giving them credit for. Read on after the jump for more on the Owls.
It's probably a good thing that T.J. Bard and Courtney Lennartz's platform was more professional than their campaign song. In front of 35 individuals--campaign supporters, volunteers, and other interested parties--the two set forth their agenda, unveiled a campaign website, and laid out a number of campaign promises and plans, but not before, regrettably, introducing a half-hearted hip-hop tune that implored listeners to "remember this rhyme come election time," while a remix of Seven Nation Army played in the background.
But once the fun and games came to an end, Bard and Lennartz differentiated themselves not just from the theme song but from other candidates, touting their experience and realistic proposals to improve student life at Penn State.
Later this afternoon, the State Senate Appropriations Committee will convene a panel in Harrisburg to discuss the funding of Pennsylvania's state-related universities, chief among them our dear Blue & White. Penn State President Graham Spanier will address the legislators, along with his colleagues from Temple, Pitt, and Lincoln. These hearings happen fairly regularly in the budgetary cycle, but this year should be more of a vigorous exchange than normal given the drama surrounding Governor Tom Corbett's proposed cuts to higher education. OnwardState.com and StateCollege.com will both be there producing live coverage of the event. Check back later today for a liveblog and multimedia from Harrisburg.
Spring is in the air, even though the softball team won't be playing a home game for another week. However, the ladies will enjoy a beautiful new softball diamond when they return, because the Nittany Lion Softball Park is scheduled to be ready for the softball team's home opening doubleheader against Buffalo on March 24. Until that day, the ladies will try to add to an already winning record on the road.
As the UPUA election season finally starts, so too do the presidential campaigns. Travis Salters is President of the campus NAACP and Director of Government Affairs for UPUA. He is running with Maggie Quinn, who is involved with numerous organizations on campus, from College Republicans to THON. I sat in on the kick off meeting for the Salter/Quinn campaign to hear out their campaign plan. Travis and Maggie introduced their three planks: student debt, inclusion, and safety.
Penn State OPP announced a $2.59 million over-haul of farm fields on the north stretch of campus. The project will turn the agriculture fields into up to 6 new soccer/football fields. Is the 182,000-square-feet addition of IM space a good call? Or could the money have been better spent?