Posts filed under ‘University Park campus’
Waiting Hours for Just a Moment, With No Complaints
I walked from my office to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center a little after 1 p.m. Tuesday, thinking I might be early enough to beat the crowds. I wasn’t close.
Heading toward the tail end of a line that snaked back and forth through the Pasquerilla courtyard, Disneyland-style, stretched east on the sidewalk along Curtin Road, and at times extended north onto Shortlidge Road almost to Park Avenue, I got a sense of the crowd that already had turned out for Joe Paterno. This was in the first hour of a 10-hour viewing window on Tuesday, with four more hours scheduled Wednesday morning. This was no surprise.
I joined the crowd and spent two hours in line, all but the last 10 minutes of it outside, before the final stretch. We entered the spiritual center through a side door, shuffled down a hallway and entered the main lobby, where a few more turns of the line finally led us into the main auditorium. The clumps of people thinned into a slow but steadily moving single file, which continued down the aisle on the left side of the large, high-ceilinged room. At the front lay a casket, adorned with flowers.
We turned right, the casket on our left, the already indelible black-and-white image of Paterno, arms crossed and smiling, the only other adornment. On each side of the casket stood a large young man—former Nittany Lion quarterback Daryll Clark ’08 and a current player I didn’t recognize—part of the “honor guard” of lettermen who took turns aside their coach on the stage. The line had moved much more slowly in the early going, as some of those who’d come to pay their respects paused 15 or 20 seconds for prayer and reflection, a practice that must’ve been discouraged by funeral officials mindful of the tens of thousands still to come. By the time I got there, it seemed instinctive for each of us to stop for just a beat before moving on.
Jay Paterno ’91 stood for a time not far from the exit, shaking every hand presented him. I’m told his brother Scott ’97 did the same at other times during the 10-hour public viewing. I don’t know if their other siblings or Joe’s widow, Sue ’62, met the crowd, it seems safe to assume they did. The Paterno family has made no secret of their appreciation for the public support they’ve received over the past few months.
A friend who was an hour or so behind me in line texted me later to tell me that Tom Bradley ’78, Paterno’s former player, longtime assistant, and interim replacement, had made his way down the line on Curtin Road. As far as my friend could tell, Bradley shook the hand of every person in the line and offered the same words to each of them: “Thanks for coming out for Coach.”
Ryan Jones, senior editor
More Joe, From—and For—the Students
There’s a nice story this morning from the AP quoting Scott Paterno ’97, ’00 about his father’s thoughts and mood in the final days of his life. It likely won’t surprise Penn Staters to hear that Joe’s mind was sharp and his spirit strong even as his body failed him. “He was so positive and so confident at the end of his life that the things that were important about this place would endure,” Scott said. “And that’s why he was at peace. That, and (that) my mother was willing to put up with him all these years.”
Two stories today speak to Joe’s love for Penn State, and its students in particular. Mike Poorman ’82 writes at StateCollege.com about the countless interactions Paterno had with undergrads during his time in Happy Valley. Poorman, who taught “Joe Paterno, Communications & The Media” for four years in the College of Communications, took informal polls each semester and tallied the numbers:
“Out of nearly 250 kids in class from 2008-2011, 107 had a personal JoePa moment. We’re not talking football games or pep rallies or THON appearances, all awe-inspiring for tens of thousands of students. We’re talking students being invited into Joe’s house after singing carols, or sitting down at the Creamery with a Peachy Paterno ice cream cone while the treat’s namesake did the same.”
It’s a terrific piece.
There’s never been any doubt how students felt about Paterno. That admiration will be reflected Wednesday with a student-organized “Guide Joe Paterno Home” event encouraging all Penn Staters to line the route of the funeral procession Wednesday afternoon as it leaves the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center for the private burial service. Onward State has details here, and there’s a Facebook group set up as well.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Sidewalk Joe
Some enterprising soul has taken it upon themselves to leave little reminders of our former football coach around campus.
Thanks to my colleague David Stong for calling my attention to these stencils that have suddenly popped up. The one at right is on the sidewalk along the Old Main Mall near the Obelisk, and I saw another one on a concrete post outside Carnegie Building.
How many more are there? Who’s behind this? I don’t know, but—at the risk of appearing to condone graffiti—I think they’re a nice little tribute.
Tina Hay, editor
Meet Our New Intern
We thought we’d give our new intern a chance to introduce herself. You’ll be seeing much more of her on the blog throughout the spring semester. —RJ
My name is Emily Kaplan, and I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be The Penn Stater‘s editorial intern this semester.
In my introductory blog post, I could recite the same spiel I’ve given in all my classes so far: “I’m a junior from Montclair, N.J., majoring in journalism. I spent the last two years covering a variety of sports for the Collegian, including women’s volleyball and men’s basketball. I love Chipotle, the beach, and hockey. A fun fact about me is that I coached Stephen Colbert’s son in t-ball. No, Colbert never showed up.”
However, I’d rather tell you about the things I’ll be doing for this blog and why I can’t wait to get started.
Not that I needed any reminding, but it’s clear Penn State alumni are wonderful ambassadors of what’s great about our university. Just last Sunday, I was at the Giants playoff game when I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me. She could whistle louder than anyone in our section and knew just as much about the X’s and O’s of football as a veteran sportswriter. I was quickly impressed.
She asked me where I went to school, and I sheepishly responded “Penn State,” hoping not to (more…)
Guaranteed to Cheer You Up
Our former Alumni Association colleague Sara Jones, who now works at Michigan State, passes along a wonderful video that I feel fairly certain you will love.
If you go to the website for the video, you can read a bit more detail about how this guy Chris set up the situation with Danielle. Or you can forget about that and just enjoy the video. Four minutes of pure love.
Tina Hay, editor
Nice Work by The Daily Collegian
This video, produced by two staffers at The Daily Collegian, Krista Myers and Katherine Rodriguez, has gotten a lot of play on Twitter recently, and it’s easy to see why. Titled “We Are … Penn State—Students’ Reactions to the Events in Happy Valley,” the video is shot in arresting black and white, and it features Penn State students talking about what the past six weeks have been like and why they are still loyal to their school. It runs for a little over four minutes, and it’s well worth your time.
This seems like a good time, as well, to salute the work that all of the Collegian journalists have done over the past month. I know for a fact that some of them haven’t been to class quite as often since the first week of November, and I truly hope their professors took the circumstances into account. There are some things you can’t learn in a classroom, and covering a story like this is one of them.
These journalists were in the middle of everything—asking questions at the attorney general’s news conference, being pepper-sprayed while covering the riot, summing up Joe Paterno’s 61-year-career at the University with a special section on a day’s notice, publishing the first Sunday edition in the paper’s history. Back when I was all but living in the Collegian office, way back in the pre-Internet era, we stopped publishing during finals week. But these students continued to write stories, shoot video and photos, and tweet during the Thanksgiving week break, and they’re still on the job during this finals week.
They’ve covered the story fairly and accurately and comprehensively: You can find an index of all of their coverage here.
What do they do for an encore? I have no idea. As veteran sports journalist Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society in the College of Communications, noted in this interview, “What do you do if you’re 20 years old and you’re covering the story of your life? One friend of mine said, ‘I’ve been doing this 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.’ ”
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Greetings From a Snowy Arboretum
(Photo by Andrew Gapinski)
We interrupt the depressing coverage of the Sandusky scandal to bring you a sweet photo from the folks up at the Arboretum.
Arboretum staff member Andrew Gapinski ventured out in the snow last night to take a photo of the Hosler Oak, a white oak that was planted in September 2005 as the first official tree in the Arboretum at Penn State. It was a 2005 gift of George Biemesderfer ’55, in honor of former Penn State VP Charles Hosler ’47, ’48g, ’51g and his wife, Anna Rosa Hosler.
You can read more about the Hosler Oak, also called the “Witness Tree,” here. And you can get a sense of how much the tree has grown by looking at the photo below, which was taken from much closer-up in the spring of 2006:
Thanks to Cathy Kennedy at the Arboretum for sending Andrew’s snowy photo along.
Tina Hay, editor
Lighting Up The Old Main Lawn
The snap consensus on Friday night’s candlelight vigil was 10,000. I can’t say for sure how many people squeezed onto the front steps of Old Main and filled much of the lawn; I could get no closer than the back of the crowd, which at that point stood about 20 feet behind the twin flag polls in the center of the lawn. It was packed.
Certainly, I could hear them singing the Alma Mater. I was too far back to hear much from the speakers, including LaVar Arrington ’00, but it was clear that the focus was on unity, healing, and a commitment to ensuring the University emerges a better, safer place. “This is a call to duty,” Arrington said.
You can read more, and see more photos, in the Daily Collegian and Centre Daily Times.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Tom Bradley Takes Over
Tom Bradley ’78 is known among reporters and Penn State fans as a reliably jovial presence. He laughed just once on Thursday during the press conference to introduce him as Penn State’s interim head football coach. It was a short, ironic laugh, referencing how little there was to laugh about.
On Thursday morning, Bradley took a seat at the podium in a packed and sober Beaver Stadium press room. He was preceded by acting athletic director Mark Sherburne, whose introduction was mindful of the week’s events. “Families who entrust us with their children and their Penn State experience demand us to be stewards, role models, leaders and solid decision makers,” Sherburne said. “Tom fits that mold and will take that responsibility to heart.”
It’s well known that Bradley, the Nittany Lions’ longtime defensive coordinator and one of the most respected assistant coaches in the nation, (more…)
Some Impressive Pumpkin Carving
On Saturday evening, an hour or so before the Penn State-Northwestern game, I stopped by the Arboretum to check out its first-ever Pumpkin Festival. I figured there might be some fun jack-o-lanterns to photograph, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The last time I carved a pumpkin, I did it the standard way: hollow out the thing, then saw through the front to make some scary/comical eyes, a triangle-shaped nose, and about four teeth. I didn’t know there was any other way.
But the people who entered the Arboretum’s contest are waaaaaaay more creative than I am. There were some very cool jack-o-lanterns on display, including this one, which was judged Best in Show:
The creature is a “werecat” (like a werewolf but, well, a werecat instead). As I was photographing it, its creator happened to stop by: Her name is Jenny Le and she’s a senior at Bellefonte High School. That’s Jenny in the photo at left. She says she sculpted the werecat with a one-dollar pumpkin-carving kit she bought at Weis Markets—and, evidently, a lot more talent than I ever showed in high school art class.
The event was a lot of fun; it was held on the lawn of the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens at the Arboretum, and it included free popcorn, apples, and hot chocolate, as well as a chance to stroll around and admire the carved pumpkins. The Arboretum had given away more than 500 pumpkins the previous week, and participants brought back 268 carved entries for judging and viewing.
There was a wide range of designs, from the standard scary-face pumpkins to ones that reflected the interests of their creators (one person, for example, carved the Colorado Rockies’ logo into the face of their pumpkin). There were some renderings of famous people, like Albert Einstein…
…and even Steve Jobs, done by Megan Wu:
(Note the iPod carved into the side of the pumpkin.)
I thought that this 3D rendering of a skull was exceptionally well done, and looked especially cool when lit up:
I have no idea how you would carve something like that. But it’s great.
You can see the full list of winners at the Arboretum’s Pumpkin Festival page, and I’ve posted an album of a dozen or so photos of the jack-o-lanterns on the magazine’s Facebook page. Enjoy!
Tina Hay, editor
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