Don't Be "Penn State"

It's the famous battle cry at Pennsylvania State University.

"We Are ... Penn State!"

But it no longer rings true. You aren't Penn State. You won't be for a while and if you're ultimate goal is to become the Penn State that you once were, then I only ask one question: Why?

The penalties handed out today range from "worse than the death penalty" to a "slap on the wrist," depending on who you ask. For what we don't know about Penn State's future, we can speak on Penn State's past and present.

If Joe Paterno is what built Penn State up (and by all accounts and actions he was), then he is equally part of what brought the school down. For the folks in State College, to believe that Paterno's role in this is still small is rather naive. I am willing to sacrifice that it is probably different observing Paterno and Penn State's fall in central Pennsylvania than it is where I am, roughly 1,200 miles away but it's time to wake up at Penn State. To be honest, Paterno was still a "saint" 12 months ago and this has happened awfully quick for his worshipers.

Moving on is easy in principle but it is necessary in this case.

The longer you keep hanging on to what used to be, the more out of touch you appear. 

You can keep on shouting about being Penn State but why would you want to be connected with that anymore. It was haunting and awful, led by a child predator and the people who could have stopped him, including Paterno, did not.

Is that a Penn State worth being or continuing to cheer for?

Really it comes down to two factions here. The folks that are fans of Joe Paterno and those who are fans of Penn State. Paterno fans, this has nothing to do with his win total or his statue coming down. You can create whatever number makes you feel happy for his final total. If you're willing to turn a blind eye toward what he did off-the-field, then that's actually strangely fitting to what Paterno actually did in this case.

If you're a Penn State fan, it's possible you're ready to move past this. Aside from the civil suits that will cost you somewhere short of $75 million, your run of punishment is likely over. Hopefully, you're ready to pick up the pieces and work on the academic reputation of your school that was tarnished. That probably won't happen because as everyone knows football, football and football run college sports. Penn State should work to be the first major college to operate in more sincere collegiate manner. A Division I school that puts a priority on academics might be a school to cheer for. Forget bowl games and ticket sales for once and show some remorse about the crimes committed.

To credit the students at Penn State, some understand. The student ticket group at Beaver Stadium changed their name from Paternoville to Nittanyville and while their Facebook page lit up with moronic comments, they got it right. Unfortunately, others are selfishly worried about why their school had to take on a four-year bowl ban for aiding a child molester. (The Internet proves again that it brings out all sorts of idiots from the woodwork. I won't link to it but you don't have to try hard to find the selfish out there.)

Few schools have been better at raising money for a good cause like Penn State, with its THON effort for cancer. Take a stand against the child abuse scandal that rocked the school and lead efforts for awareness against one of the most heinous crimes around.

Football ran Penn State and the school is feeling that now. Why would you want to go back to that?

Have some pride for what Penn State should become, not hanging on to what it once was. That might be a school worth representing.

Diversity Is An Old, Old Wooden Ship

P.S.: I just felt like naming this post after Anchorman.

Until this summer, I was strictly about sports, as far as my writing career was concerned. In fact, in my time at The Collegian up until now, I have had two news-related bylines. One was about the laptop center at SDSU and it was the first story I ever had published. (I like to joke with Emma DeJong about my first story and how I quickly moved to sports to never look back.) Right before I left, I penned (I guess we don't pen anything anymore) a story about the reworked parking situation at SDSU for the upcoming year for our summer orientation issue.

And that was it.

I had a great time covering the ins and outs of basketball and soccer and whatever other sports were on my plate. I knew, however, that my summer internship with the The Daily Republic in Mitchell would be different. My focus would be on news. That didn't and doesn't scare me but was rather empowering, to trust a person with little news experience to be part of the team.

I've been lucky this summer to tell great stories, which is the best part of journalism, some of which include.

• The story of Island Park, a historic, left for dead piece of land, being brought back to life by volunteers. Happy I've been able to write two about this.
• Profiles of courageous cancer survivors and fighters honored by a local cancer walk. Unfortunately, one of the people I wrote about died about a week after my story about him, making the story much more emotional. 
• The fight over trees at Lake Mitchell and the name of Northridge Park.  
• South Dakota's wind industry hopes in the hands of Washington politicians.
• Poverty in the state, tornado sirens, stolen corn, housing scams, the Corn Palace, Chinese farm delegates, the graves of World War II soldiers and I could keep going.

I'm not done. I have a few weeks before I pack up and move out of my temporary residence in Mitchell but I can say it's been worth it. I've talked to people who are happy to talk and those who would rather have not answered the phone. I've also been able to fool the folks at the paper into thinking I'm a good photographer. I'm thankful my editors and bosses have let me diversify my profile and allow me to stretch beyond sports as a writer.

Or diversify, if you will, Ron Burgundy.

A little sappy but I wanted to give a little rundown of my time in Mitchell. I'll have more in the coming weeks.