I guess I understand why people don't want to fill out the census: We have enough homework assigned every night --why should we have to complete yet ANOTHER assignment? And we don't even get credit for this one!
Well, we actually kind of do.
Penn State - University Park students make up roughly 75% of the State College population. This basically means that if we students don't mail the census back, then 75% of State College doesn't exist in the Census Bureau's eyes.
How does that affect you personally? Why should you care? Read more after the break.
As a part of a panel of leaders made up of Pennsylvania's state institutions, including Temple and Pitt, Pres. Graham Spanier traveled to Harrisburg yesterday to answer questions regarding Penn State's funding needs.
Spanier and the panel met before the state House Appropriations Committee in what is considered the second step (the first being Gov. Rendell's recent budget announcement) in the annual appropriations process.
Pres. Spanier had plans to inform the legislature about the funding needs of the university, as well as the educational opportunities made available to students because of said funding, according to Annemarie Mountz, Assistant Director of Public Information at Penn State.
Read on for some of the 'educational opportunities'.
Are you a rising sophomore (i.e after this semester you will be a sophomore)? Are you attending University Park currently? Do you wish to become a better leader? Then the Presidential Leadership Academy is for you!
The program itself is 3 years long and accepts only 30 applicants from each class. The Academy aims to prepare students to make difficult choices and to welcome diversity and consider multiple interpretations of a given situation. It will also teach the importance of attire, decorum and personal character.
Some cool stuff that goes on in the Academy:
Applications are either done through a nomination by Penn State faculty/staff or self-nomination. The deadline is due Feb 26, 2010. For more information on applications click here.
Well the time has finally come for good ol' G-Span to head out there and show his alma mater all that he has learned from us here at PSU. The Des Moines Register had an interview with President Graham Spanier, which is actually a good look into his life as a president. In the interview he talks about the time he spends in the dorms (at the beginning of the year in East), the changes university life has seen since his time as a student, and how he spends his free time. The title of the speech he will be giving is "What I Can Learn Sleeping in the Residence Halls."
One of the better questions in the article related to the speech's title:
So what's with sleeping in the dorms?
I've been doing that at the beginning of the fall semester for years. It helps me put a finger on the pulse of students. The speech has a catchy title but it's about keeping up with what is happening with students.
I can say that I have personally seen G-Span spend some time in the dorms over here at East and he does get to know the incoming class. In fact, he actually goes around and talks to every student and tries to get feedback from them straight off the bat. He also advertises various important events that first-years should attend so they may become attuned to the Penn State culture. Also, he performs magic (he still can't make the CATA buses appear on time, though)!
Read on for some more good stuff from the interview.
Update 11:30: Well what do you know! Both we and the Collegian had this one wrong. No new policy was passed at Tuesday's meeting. Rather, a resolution was passed that was meant to put on record the Senate's "opposition to the early dismissal of classes by teaching staff for anything besides legitimate professional reasons," according to Annemarie Mountz.
The original column is below in italics.
A new policy was passed on Tuesday by the University Faculty Senate which is now being moved to President Graham Spanier for approval. What is this new policy? To stop professors from canceling classes before break begins.
College of Liberal Arts Senator Dennis Gouran put it best when he said, "It is unprofessional behavior on the faculty's behalf to cancel classes because they are simply giving themselves and students an early start home."
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!