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February, 2014

  1. RCL #2

    February 25, 2014 by Katie Humphrey

    This is a unique time in Penn State history. We conducted searches for both a new President for the University and a head football coach. The men chosen for both of these important jobs have recently been announced. Who do you think is the more important hire for the university, the President or the head football coach? Discuss the merits of both and the reason for your choice.

    After much consideration about the importance of both Eric Barron and James Franklin, I have come to realize that each is important in his own way and to a different group of people. Starting with Eric J. Barron, the newly appointed president of our university, I feel as though we could not have chosen any leader with better credentials.  Ranging from previously teaching and leading the EMS Department of Penn State, to being president of Florida State University, Barron has experienced it all.  Barron knows what it is like to be a part of the Penn State community, which comes along with the love, excitement, and wildness of our school since he taught here and had dean positions.  However, he also knows what it entails to lead to a large university from his four years of experience at FSU.  In my opinion, Barron was a more important hire for the university for the good of the university itself.  I feel as though with Barron in the lead, our school will be able to flourish and to continue on to accomplish great things in the community while also staying on top academically.

    James Franklin on the other hand, was the best possible choice we could have had not only for the good of our football program, but for the good of our student body. Franklin too is highly accredited for the position that he was awarded.  Having three years of successful football coaching at Vanderbilt University, he is most definitely prepared for the position. Not only does Franklin have the skills needed to help our school win championships, but he also has the skills needed to make our team a family, to instill the right morals and to focus on more than just the sport itself.  In just the few short weeks that Franklin has spent as our coach, he has already won the love and respect of the student body.  Franklin has been positively involved in getting to know the students, in leading the football team, and even in making appearances to speak at THON.

    Although it seems as though I should logically say that Barron was a more important hire because of his position as president, I truly feel as though Franklin will prove more important.  I don’t think Franklin will be more important in the sense of what each man will accomplish, but I think that Franklin will have the connection with students that a university president with inevitably lack.  I feel as though Franklin will become a face of Penn State due to our football program’s popularity and that he will become a role model for the student body.  Overall, as a student of Penn State I believe that Barron will be of great importance for our school’s future, but that Franklin will be close to the students in many more ways.

     

     

     


  2. PAS #4: THON 2014

    February 25, 2014 by Katie Humphrey

    13,343,517.33 just let that number sink in for a second.  That number right there, the 10 digit number that you just read, is the total amount of money that we as a Penn State student body raised.  13.3 million dollars is now in the hands of the Four Diamonds Fund and will all go towards the goal of fighting childhood cancer.

    So as you can probably already tell, this week I will be taking a break from my normal destination passion post and will talking a bit about THON. I’m sure everyone from Penn State who is reading this was there for at least some amount of time, but I don’t think that needs to stop us from all writing about it.  We all have a different take on what the weekend meant to us on a personal level.

    As a freshman, the only things I knew about THON were what my upperclassmen friends had told me, and what I had heard from the leaders of my org at the weekly meetings.  I had heard the typical “it will be the best weekend of your life,” “you’ll never experience so much energy in one place,” and “it’s so great that you can’t even describe it.”  I guess each time I heard these things, I just assumed they were said because it was the common response.  But now I have a totally different viewpoint, mostly because every one of these friends were correct– it was one of the best weekends of my life, I had never experienced so much energy in one place before, and it was so amazing that it’s hard to find words to accurately describe it.

    I feel as though so many people are inspired by the weekend because of the amount of money we raise, and it’s easy to see why this is so amazing.  How many of your friends can say that go to a school that raises millions of dollars annually for one of the best causes out there?  Unless they go here, probably not many.  But now, I want to focus on what I truly think it the best part about THON.  Yes, the money is fantastic, but what I think is even greater is the community that we create.  It is amazing to see how a school of 40,000 students from 40,000 different upbringings can all come together for one cause.  When at the BJC, you can look around and see each group wearing their own colored shirt, but also each group coming together as a whole to make up the rainbow that makes the entire arena look so amazing.  You can look around and see all the THON children running around and happy, because for one weekend they can completely forget about their illness and try their best to spend 2 days being a carefree child.  When at THON, everyone is the BJC is your family because everyone in there is fighting for the same goal–the goal to make the lives of children easier and the goal to find a cure.  No matter how different each person might be, it is truly inspirational to see how everyone can come together for the common goal of fighting through the pain FTK.

     


  3. Civic Issues #2: Elephant Poaching

    February 5, 2014 by Katie Humphrey

    Since the civic issue that I’m focusing on is mainly the endangerment of animals, I found an article from Mirror News in the UK.  The article focuses on a well known poacher in Kenya who was just realed from jail for his ruthless elephant murdering.  The article is titled “The elephant slayer: Butchery of poacher who killed more than SEVENTY elephants and inadvertently helped fund terrorism” and was written today, February 5, 2014.

    Here’s a bit of background information on the poaching issue– the ivory trade is bringing in about £12billion each year through the illegal black market.  This income through the black market is then funding terrorism throughout the African area. Poaching has become such a popular sport, if it can even be called that, because of the grand worth of the ivory that comes from elephant tusks.  The most popular elephants to kill are the adult males because they have the most mature tusks, meaning also the most ivory and then most profit.   One male elephant bull can provide ivory that is worth £9,600.  This high profit might sound encouraging, but the disturbing slaughtering of these animals is in no way worth it.  Because the adult males are worth the most, they are being killed most readily.  Since there are not enough male elephants, the animals cannot repopulate and thus the population of elephants is quickly dwindling.  In the 1930s, the elephant population in Africa was about 4 billion, it has now plunged to only about 30,000–leading to great endangerment.

    So now the question comes down to what are we going to do to stop these terrors from occurring?  Starting in Kenya, British troops from the Parachute Regiment have been training wildlife rangers to fight back, rather than being frightened by the poachers with their weapons.  Unfortunately, through and interview with a recently released from jail poacher, it was determined that the poachers are beginning to kill at night.  The poachers hide in trees and above eye-level of the elephants and use night-vision equipment in order to group the elephants and then use assault weapons on them.  Another attempt to stop this poaching is officials cracking down, and passing new laws against the awful act.  Two years ago, when John Sumokwo was caught poaching, he only spent just over a year in jail.  If caught now, Sumokwo would be put in jail for life due to new laws passed just one month ago. The International Fund for Animal Welfare is attempting to take a stand against the weapons first.  They feel as though if warlords will stop sending armed men, that would terminate much of the killing between the animals and the people.

    And now, how can we help?  Although there’s not much that the general population of American can do to stop the elephant poaching, there are a few things.  First, you could sign the petition at bloodivory.org to take a stand against killing the elephants.  You also can donate money to save elephants all over Africa and South Asia.  Lastly, next week there will be a meeting about the illegal wildlife trade to take place in London.  The International Fund for Animal Welfare asked the British public to donate any unwanted ivory items so they can be removed from the marketplace and destroyed.


  4. Passion #3: Bora Bora

    February 4, 2014 by Katie Humphrey

    For today’s post, I am going to dream of my travels to the island of Bora Bora.  Located in the center of the Pacific Ocean, Bora Bora is surrounded by crystal clear water and covered in pure white sand.  The island is only 17 square miles, but there is still plenty to see, explore, and experience on this perfect island.  To be completely honest here, I fell in love with Bora Bora when the Kardashian family took their family summer vacation to the island.  I stalked every instagram picture that went up and eventually the homemade music video that the younger girls made, so please judge me.  Go google a few of their pictures, and trust me, you’d be obsessed too.

    bora-bora-island-map

    Starting with my resort and hotel: I would definitely want to stay in one of the gorgeous overwater bungalows–my personal choice would be the St. Regis Resort Bora Bora.  Most of the villas at this resort come equipped with glass floor viewing panels at some parts of the rooms so that you can easily see the wildlife below.  Some rooms also have a pool in which the villas are centered around. Hilton-Bora-Bora-Nui-Presidential-Suite

    Mount Otemanu is the first attraction that I would make sure to see while visiting the island.  The volcano is surrounded by the resorts, so it can be clearly seen from each hotel and villa.  However, you can take a half day excursion to explore around the entire volcano that sits 3,000 feet about the surface.  Unfortunately, you cannot climb to the top of the mountain because of unstable soil, but everyone says the views are just as amazing from half way up.

    Next, I would take an underwater aqua bike adventure in a personal submarine scooter. These scooters are personal submarines for one or two passages that you sit in and then plunge into the warm waters of the lagoon.  You have full control to steer the scooter and explore the underwater life of Bora Bora.bien-encadre-de-poissons

    Two other activities that I would do would be the Circle Island tour that is taken by jet ski.  On your own jet ski, you can travel all around the island and the mountain to explore.  This puts together to thrill aspect of the jet ski with the gorgeous views of the island.  I also would want to go parasailing while in Bora Bora.  I have been parasailing before on the Jersey coast, but that would be absolutely nothing compared to the views from above Bora Bora. BOB_Parasail_Gallery4_1000x600_31276

    Food wise, I would be sure to attend Bloody Mary’s, the world famous seafood restaurant.  Known for its fresh food, signature cocktails and great ambiance, celebrities frequently dine here and I’d love to see why.


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