Once again, the State Borough Council and UPUA do not see eye to eye. UPUA is opposing a borough council plan that would turn off the pedestrian lights for the next 6 months as a trial and use us students as guinea pigs.
UPUA Chief of Staff Matthew Smith had this to say regarding the turning off of lights.
The lights are valuable to students," he said. "We want to be included in the dialogue on this issue."
He is right. Students should be allowed to bring up their concerns about whether or not the lights are turned out. According to Tom Fountaine (the Borough Manager), crime has actually risen since the installation of lights. Also, council member Theresa Lafer claims that the lights flood into residents' homes and cause students to trespass.
According to Lafer:
"The lights are bringing students into the backyards of citizens"
Thankfully, the option to turn all the lights off was overturned. I suppose the danger of students going into the backyard of citizens was overshadowed the the prospect of an increase in assault. Now the borough can get back to working on more important matters - renaming buildings and streets in honor of local and national figures.
Do you agree with this? What if we replaced all of the street lights with the Bat Signal?
Following up on earlier research, Onward State has examined the latest NACUBO College Endowment Study and updated our findings. Nothing groundbreaking here. The economy was poor, and in fiscal year 2009, the Big Ten endowments continued their decline from fiscal year 2008.
Penn State's endowment lost nearly 21% of its value, which is in fact a middle-of-the-road figure relative to the rest of the Big Ten. Northwestern University experienced the largest decrease in endowment value by percent, almost 25%. Purdue escaped 2009 with less damage to its endowment than any other Big Ten university, suffering only a 16% loss.
The news isn't all bad however. The Collegian reported that Penn State, along with many other universities, has experienced an increase in its endowment since the NACUBO numbers were complied.
From a low of $1.26 billion, the university's endowment has risen to $1.46 billion, a 16% increase. Onward State recently solicited the other schools in the Big Ten for their endowment figures from the end of calendar year 2009 to see how Penn State stacked up.
This weekend, I spent many hours experiencing something amazing. I covered what I believe is one of the greatest collegiate endeavors ever attempted. THON 2010.
During my coverage time with Onward State, I worked with great people and got to see what goes on behind the scenes and up close what THON accomplishes.
THON doesn't just start on Friday and end on Sunday, THON starts almost a year in advance, and so did Onward State's coverage. We started covering many stories related to THON and how THON operates, we contacted THON PR and talked with many THON representatives to makes sure you would receive the best THON coverage we could offer.
For more info on how we were able to cover the behemoth that is THON (and for 116 pictures!), read the full story.
In an effort to treat next Saturday "like any other Saturday", State College's tavern association has decided to maintain normal hours this Saturday and not hold any special promotions for State Patty's Day.
This is a big change from last year, when I can remember seeing students lined up outside the Phyrst by noon. McLanahan's has also removed State Patty's Day merchandise from the shelves after they were asked to by borough leaders. Scott Lucchesi, owner of the Phyrst, seemed to think think this was the wrong approach to the problem.
The THON dancers, since 1973, have helped raise approximately $61 million (plus this year's total) to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.
But, prior to Friday afternoon, I'll admit I did not know too much about THON. I knew that there were dancers that participated in THON and I knew that they had to remain awake for the whole weekend. But with the help of THON dancer Matt Swingle and the rest of the THON volunteers, I learned everything I needed to know.
When the dancers first step on to the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center, they are essentially partaking in an embodiment of the struggle that the Four Diamond Families go through each and every day. The dancers battle exhaustion every minute just to make it to the next hour, just as each cancer patient fights each day to see the next. For both, at times, to quit would appear to be the most appealing road to take. But they won't quit. It's all or nothing.
Read the full post for more.
Today Penn State celebrates its 155th birthday (making it almost as old as its football coach. Just kidding)! 155 years ago to the day (February 22, 1855 for anyone not too good at math), Governor James Pollock signed the charter for a state-sponsored school whose goal was to further scientific agricultural research.
While we still have an excellent agricultural program, Penn State has become one of the largest and most diverse public schools over the last 155 years, with majors ranging from Forest Science to Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. Did Governor Pollock envision a school boasting dozens of campuses, tens of thousands of students, and the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the country? Did he envision football championships, legendary coaches, a three-peat volleyball team, or raising over $7.8 million for cancer research?
Probably not. But since 1855, because of students like me and you, Penn State has become more than its founders could ever have imagined and something that we can all take pride in.
(Check out a cool gallery of photos from Penn State's history here).