Jay Paterno offered his thoughts this morning on StateCollege.com about the Big Ten expansion. It's no surprise that the two major factors in the decision are "money and television," but he brings up another issue that hasn't been discussed much yet: how the expansion will affect longtime relationships and rivalries.
Paterno explains that by expanding the conference, the frequency of big-time Penn State-Michigan or Penn State-Ohio State games will decrease dramatically.
It has taken nearly two decades to build up the rivalries and the bonds of conference membership. It would be a shame to see some of those bonds loosened as the frequency of football competition against cross-division teams regress to the frequency with which we play non-conference opponents.
The column is definitely worth a read.
The Chronicle of Higher Education had a fascinating feature this morning about what different university presidents think about during commencement. Our very own Graham Basis Spanier shared his thoughts:
At the top of the list is footwear, since we have a number of students who stumble on the stairs to the stage, especially women who lose a high-heel shoe or flip-flop and trip forward. Next on the list is loose bracelets, since one has to beware of those with sharp trinkets that end up between the student's palm and mine. Finally, because I've been a president for a long time and have been inducted as an honorary member of a number of societies, I have to think through the various secret handshakes that may be approaching.
And now we're curious-- what kind of secret handshakes do the societies have? Share it in the comments if you know.
Library patrons hold on to your hats, e-books, and iPhones, because there are some exciting new happenings underway! As a part of the ‘For the Future’ campaign, the construction of “The Knowledge Commons” has begun! By next fall, the relocated Foster Auditorium and a new Reading Room will be open to students.
Through the rest of the year, the library, OPP, and the architects involved with the project will formulate plans for the rest of the renovations. Sally Kalin, the associate dean of University Libraries for University Park, explained that they hope construction begins in early 2011 and is completed by late 2011.
The former Phi Delta Theta house was intensely vandalized during graduation weekend and the damage was discovered Monday morning. The house was to be formally turned over to PSU this Friday after its $1.75 million purchase in March from the the organization's alumni corporation.
The CDT reported that the house had several broken windows, light fixtures ripped from the ceiling, holes in the walls, garbage strewn inside and out, and graffiti including boobies and a message that read “Graham Spanier kills little kittens.” Food was left rotting and the recently-made decrepit, century old house was said to smell like urine, old food, and alcohol.
Penn State's Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Friday to buy the 1.3 acre site of Kissell Motorsports for $2.6 million dollars. The lot is in Ferguson Township, 9 blocks west of the Atherton and College intersection. The purchase can be viewed in the context of other recent land acquisition-- in 2008 the university acquired a 4.66 acre lot that had been occupied by O.W. Houts, and in 2009 it acquired another property from Craig and Kathleen Kissell.
The university has not yet declared its intentions for the land's long term use, but the building will probably be used by University Athletics staff for the interim. The university has talked around long term expansion plans and has not yet specified what it would build in the far west side of campus.
George Chriss used to film public University Park Undergraduate Association and Daily Collegian meetings when he was at Penn State. He first got involved with open video during his time here. Now he is the founder and heart-and-soul of OpenMeetings.org, a website that hosts films of public meetings from around the country.
The larger concept of open video has become a new phenomenon about making video production and creation more accessible to everyone, essentially bringing video as a medium more into the forefront and having it become a more natural tool we can use to express ourselves. As we can write an essay or speech without thinking twice, we would be able to create a video with this kind of ease. Chriss was kind enough to share his thoughts and experiences with us in our latest 10 Questions piece, which is after the jump.