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PLYMOUTH – Reports of a gunman walking across campus put Plymouth State University and the nearby Holderness School in a lockdown last night. By 9:43 p.m., the lockdown was lifted after officials located and talked to the individual, who was not a student, and learned he was carrying a martial arts device that resembled a gun.

Goldy Gopher, the mascot for the University of Minnesota football team the Golden Gophers, made news today for mocking Penn State player Jerome Hayes. Jerome had knelt down in prayer before the game when the mascot decided make fun of him. Take a look at the video below. ...

Angelo, look at the way your son's eyes darken now. Look how he balls up his fists and uncrosses his legs, as if he's uncomfortable, as if he suddenly remembered someplace he needs to be. Look how the smile on his face—the smile that punctuates all the stories he tells, like the one about Bear Bryant wanting a lane of traffic cleared for his team (the Pennsylvania governor said no), or the time at a coaches' convention that Dan Devine mentioned an unnamed loudmouth coach at Oklahoma, and Barry Switzer shouted, "Switzer!" and raised his hand—look how that grandfatherly smile...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State University said the body of a missing student has been found at the bottom of a stairwell about 75 yards from where he was last seen alive. The university said tonight that 18-year-old freshman Joseph Dado, of Latrobe, was found dead at about 6 p.m. at the Hosler Building. University police said it looks like Mr. Dado fell about 15 feet to the concrete below.

University Park, Pa. — Penn State University Police are searching for an 18-year-old Penn State student who was last seen at about 3 a.m. Sunday (Sept. 20) leaving a fraternity house on the University Park campus. Joseph Dado, a freshman, was wearing jeans, a yellow T-shirt and blue zipper sweatshirt with a hood when he was last seen leaving Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at 319 N. Burrowes Rd. to return to his residence hall room. He is a white male with brown eyes and brown hair. He is approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall and 160 pounds. Police said he...

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania — Penn State University is now the No. 1 U.S. party school. The school known partly for its football tailgate weekends and fraternity and sorority scene snatched the title away from the University of Florida in the 2009 Princeton Review survey of 122,000 students nationwide. Florida, last year's winner, finished second in the annual survey released Monday. It's the first time Penn State has finished first in the dubious category. The school has been on the list the last seven years and ranked third in 2008. The listing covers Penn State's main University Park campus in State...

I’ve posted several items over the past month on how Congressman John Murtha & friends have been supporting a controversial biodefense facility that would develop and manufacture “vaccines and other medical countermeasures.” When I first started looking into the project, I called all the key players — Murtha; the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), which donates heavily to the congressman; a lobby shop and private investment firm, both in which Murtha’s good friend Jim Ervin has a stake — but none of them provided much information.Ervin failed to return phone calls, a lobbyist at his firm said the...

NEW YORK -- Penn State coach Joe Paterno said Thursday night that he has pushed within the Big Ten conference to expand it to 12 teams as a method of leveling the playing field in college football. "We go into hiding for six weeks," Paterno said, referring to the hiatus between the end of the Big Ten regular season and the BCS bowls. The other major FBS conferences play into the first weekend of December. "Everybody else is playing playoffs on television," Paterno said. "You never see a Big Ten team mentioned. So I think that's a handicap. "I've tried...

-- snip -- The university yesterday released a statement saying there was no intention to stereotype veterans. The statement said focus groups that included veterans viewed the video and no one indicated offense.

This despicable video needs to be seen by as many people as possible. The basic gist of it is... "Dean Smith, I'm having a problem with one of my students. See... he's a war criminal, oh I mean veteran & he is not unquestionably swallowing our leftist propaganda hook, line & sinker. He's very confrontational & disruptive... he challenges my assertions in front of the other students, asks that I provide objective data to back up my claims, and he actually has the nerve to espouse ideas that run contrary to our ideology. I'm at my wits end & don't...

Be prepared to vomit!YouTubePennStateVet I guess we'll have to wait for that video about the "worrisome gay anti-capitalist animal rights nut job student!"Libertas

Penn State apparently felt the need to put out a how-to video for dealing with scary, violent, and confrontational war veterans. It's time to puke in your hats, people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLq9NPLv0M

This vile slander of veterans is one of the worst I've seen. Only from academia, of course.

The Hall of Famer and winningest coach in major college football history has agreed to deal that runs through the 2011 season. JoePa turns 82 on Dec. 21. The extension was first reported by FightOnState.com. The agreement will provide "for the opportunity of Coach Joe Paterno leading the football program through the 2011 season," the statement said. JoePa turns 82 on Sunday

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State coach Joe Paterno had successful hip replacement surgery Sunday, a day after the Nittany Lions clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The 81-year-old coach was expected to get back on his feet Monday following the procedure at Mount Nittany Medical Center, the team said in a statement. Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, the school's director of athletic medicine, led the surgical team. Joe Paterno expects to recover in time for the Rose Bowl and reiterated after Saturday's game that he intends to return in 2009. "Dr. Sebastianelli reports that all...

With rumors of his retirement swirling about campus and throughout the country for days, Penn State head coach Joe Paterno told a pep rally at Rec Hall Friday night that he will return in 2009 "and run out of that tunnel next year." The crowd of approximately 6,500 Penn State fans, some wearing "Joe Can't Go" t-shirts, roared its approval. The players for the No. 8 Nittany Lions (10-1), who can win at least a share of the Big Ten Conference championship and a Rose Bowl bid by defeating No. 15 Michigan State (9-2) on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, joined...

She's had a great day so far. http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live_asx.html?stream=stream2

Along with Hank Williams Jr.. I just got the phone call from the PA RNC. Rec Hall on Wednesday at 6pm! Heading over to get tickets now at the nearby victory center.

ST. PAUL -- Barack Obama has put the Pennsylvania Republican delegates here in stitches over getting the name of the Penn State University mascot wrong today. Not what you want to be doing in a state where the GOP is hammering you hard for being out of touch. To most sports fans, they're the Nittany Lions. Obama, during a stop in Pennsylvania today, called them the "Nitally lions" as he called on someone during a question-and-answer session. "It's a gift that keeps on giving," said one GOP official.

RUSH: We got Obama and his mispronunciation of the mascot of Penn State University. We've looped it three times. OBAMA: Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. RUSH: Penn State Nitally Lions as identified by The Messiah.

What a fool. The Clown Prince of Politics strikes again.

Penn State wins first NCAA volleyball title in 14 years By Associated Press 8:04 PM CDT, May 3, 2008 IRVINE, Calif. - Top-ranked Penn State won its first NCAA men's volleyball championship in 14 years, rallying for a 27-30, 33-31, 30-25, 30-23 victory over second-ranked Pepperdine on Saturday night. Matt Anderson had 29 kills for the Nittany Lions (30-1), who beat UCLA in 1994 for their last NCAA men's volleyball title. Anderson, the national co-player of the year, was selected the NCAA tournament's most valuable player. Teammate Luke Murray added a career-high 12 digs, tied a season best with 63...

A woman and child listen to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., as he spoke at a Town Hall meeting, Monday, March 31, 2008, at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pa.Uh...that child doesn't look like he's listening... HDNet anchor Dan Rather gets checked by a U.S. Secret Service special agent prior to boarding a bus to cover Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., Monday, March 31, 2008, in Harrisburg, Pa. Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., right, holds a Penn State jersey given to him by cornerback Lydell Sargeant, left, as Sen. Bob Casey D-Pa.,...

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., left, talks with Juan Arevall, 24, an veteran, at J.P. Edward's Grill and Bar in Burnham, Pa., Sunday, March 30, 2008. Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., walks out to speak at Penn State University in University Park , Pa., Sunday, March 30, 2008 Stephanie LaCapra 22, a recent graduate and resident of New York, cries as she listens to Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speak at Penn State University in University Park , Pa., Sunday, March 30, 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., left looks at the...

Remember the name: We are...Penn State By David Brown & Salena Zito David Brown is reporting that there is a huge line, five bodies deep, that is circling around several blocks for Sen. Barack Obama's inaugural visit to Penn State. So far no reports as of yet of an Obama version of the famous Penn State chant of "We are…Penn State!"

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, a noted Republican, says he thought long and hard before deciding against greeting Bill Clinton when the former president visited campus on behalf of his wife's presidential campaign. Bill Clinton pitched the Penn State ties of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday during a stop in State College, reminding the mostly youthful audience that her father and brother both played football at Penn State. In fact, brother Hugh Rodham, a 1972 graduate, was a backup quarterback under Paterno.

Joe Paterno's storied coaching career could end on a sour note -- if he lets it. Two members of Penn State's Board of Trustees yesterday told the Post-Gazette that negotiations regarding a possible contract extension or succession plan for Paterno have not gone smoothly.

Thon raises $6.6 million for cancer By Dena Pauling- dpauling@centredaily.com It’s a new record: $6,615,318.04. Great Links:CDT PicturesPSU Football Team Video With the Kids

(Note: I could not find ANYTHING on the web about this issue of 'The Penn Stater', so following is a quick review and, hopefully, a few points of interest.) Penn State alumnus Valerie Plame ('85 Com) graces the cover of the latest (January/February 2008) 'The Penn Stater' magazine, which is the magazine sent out every two months to paid-up or Lifetime Members of the Penn State Alumni Association. I am a Lifetime Member, and so there it was in my mailbox on Saturday. The cover photo is a nice portrait of Plame by Jennifer S. Altman (Contour by Getty Images)...

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 81 last week, jokingly dismissed the comments of a Texas A&M yell leader Thursday night that Paterno was “on his death bed” and “someone needs to find him a casket.” But it’s no joking matter to the Aggies, who sent the yell leader home and have issued numerous apologies to various Penn State officials. The remark came at an Alamo Bowl-sponsored pep rally for fans of both schools. Penn State fans booed loudly after the remark from the yell leader, one of five A&M upperclassmen who fill the high-profile spirit role at the...

Students Rebuked Over Virginia Tech Shooting Victim Halloween CostumesSaturday, December 08, 2007 STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Photos of two Penn State students dressed up as victims of the Virginia Tech massacre for Halloween prompted a rebuke from the university this week. The pictures, which show the students wearing Virginia Tech shirts covered in bullet holes and fake blood, recently surfaced on Facebook.com, a social networking site. The students were not disciplined, but Penn State condemned the actions in a letter sent to Virginia Tech officials. "We're appalled that these individuals would display this level of insensitivity and lack of common...

Click on Joe and W for the video (a few minutes long)

All it took were a couple of pictures posted on the Internet. Mere hours after a Virginia television station reported that Penn State students had uploaded pictures of Halloween partygoers dressing as Virginia Tech shooting victims, criticism exploded from both campuses, with one Facebook.com group denouncing the costumes reaching 4,100 members as of 2 a.m. this morning. The only publicly accessible picture, uploaded after Halloween, shows a woman wearing an orange Virginia Tech T-shirt smeared with blood and a bullet wound, posing jauntily. According to television station WSLS in Roanoke, Va., several other pictures showed a similarly attired man. For...

The dead deer's innards are exposed by a perfect neck-to-belly incision. It's time for Dave Wolfgang's students to dig in. "Who would like to take the hearts and lungs out?" the Pennsylvania State University veterinary professor asks four volunteers wearing aprons and heavy-duty rubber gloves. Venison 101 class isn't for the faint of heart. For $99, a deer hunter, a cook, or the just plain curious can spend a day at Penn State's meat laboratory to learn the ins and outs of what to do with a prized carcass

Paterno too quick to act, Scott says Coach suspended rape suspect without hearing his version of what happened, he complains. Staff and wire reports October 24, 2007 Penn State running back Austin Scott is lashing out at Joe Paterno, saying the Nittany Lions' legendary coach never gave him a chance to salvage his place on the team after he was charged with rape earlier this month. Scott, one of the greatest high school football players in Lehigh Valley history, also told a newspaper that his life has been ''in a shambles'' and he fears the allegations have cost him any...

UNIVERSITY PARK -- At 9:20 yesterday morning, the large steel gate located behind the south end zone at Beaver Stadium swung wide open. Penn State coach Joe Paterno slowly guided his silver BMW inside. His entire football team, approximately 110 players, had already been hard at work for nearly 90 minutes before Mr. Paterno made his surprise visit and huddled them together. It was no regular workout. The players had been forced to trade in their cleats, helmets and shoulder pads for brooms, shovels and yellow gloves. Mr. Paterno, upset that several of his players were involved in an off-campus...

Taking out the trash By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports May 22, 2007 This spring, six Penn State football players were arrested and charged for crimes stemming from an off-campus fight April 1 in which at least 15 Nittany Lions were present. The charged included a couple of star players, although what apparently bothered coach Joe Paterno the most was how many of his kids were willing to be involved. And so Paterno, 80 now but no less tough, no less disciplined, hatched a plan to set things right within his program. He'll let the local legal and student judicial process...

Joe: 'Team embarrassment'By BERNARD FERNANDEZ fernanb@phillynews.com Associated Press Joe Paterno speaks with reporters last night in King of Prussia. Penn State coach Joe Paterno issued his strongest denunciation yet of an off-campus incident that resulted in felony charges being filed against six of his players, two of whom - starting junior safety Anthony Scirrotto and sophomore defensive tackle Chris Baker - are still facing prosecution. Meeting with the media yesterday prior to a Nittany Lion Club gathering in King of Prussia, Paterno described the incident as a "team embarrassment" and he outlined some of the steps he intends to take...

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Altar boy. Avid runner. Ambitious student. Thomas Herbstritt boasted about grandson Jeremy Herbstritt's life and accomplishments like a typical proud grandparent. But for the 77-year-old grandfather, it was simple acts of kindness that stood out above all the memories of his grandchild, one of the 32 slain in the massacre Monday at Virginia Tech University.

SuePa: Paterno will coach Saturday By Josh Moyer Collegian Staff Writer After refusing anything more than one Tylenol a day since his operation, Joe Paterno is ready to get back to coaching and should return to practice today, his wife said last night. Plans are already being finalized for him to attend this weekend's game, albeit from a coach's booth. It may not be the sideline, but Sue Paterno said it's better than watching her husband stare at a television screen while his team takes the field just a mile away. It was too risky, she said, for him to...

How Green Was My Campus Most colleges and universities seem to be in a race with each other to see who can be the most environmental. An incident at Florida Gulf Coast University shows what you can get by winning the race to have the greenest campus—a lawsuit. “A Florida Gulf Coast University student who was chased down by a wild boar on campus is suing the school for more than $15,000,” Juan Ogles reported in the Fort Meyers News-Press on August 15th. “Donna Rodriguez, 52, filed a lawsuit in circuit court Monday that claims the school knew wild boars...

When the Penn State home football games kick off this season, tailgaters in the stadium parking lot get kicked out. A new rule at Beaver Stadium says there will be no tailgate parties during a game this year, an effort to increase safety and curb underage drinking, the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News says. While pre-game and post-game festivities are not affected, Penn State says there will be beefed up police security to make sure the new rule is followed, the newspaper said. Penn State was named "the Ultimate Tailgating Venue" in a 2005 Sports Illustrated.com poll.

When children can support themselves, they generally leave their parents’ home. When state colleges and universities can do the same, they find it difficult to leave the nest of taxpayer-subsidized state and federal supports. “Ours is an economy of scarcity,” Gary A. Olson writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “Even well-endowed institutions find themselves in a constant struggle to find enough money to do everything that they want to do.” “That economy of scarcity extends to salaries: Most academics and administrators are not compensated at the level that their education, skills, and experience would garner in business and industry.”...

UNIVERSITY PARK-An art student is claiming his work is being censored by Penn State because of its provocative images of terrorism, while school officials say the decision to cancel his exhibit is not content-related.In an e-mail sent Friday to fifth-year student Josh Stulman, Charles Garoian, director of the School of Visual Arts, said the exhibit was pulled because it was sponsored by Penn State Hillel, making it a commercial work. The Patterson Gallery is dedicated to unsponsored class work. Garoian wrote in the e-mail that the exhibit would continue if the sponsorship is removed.

Feb 22, 2006 Dear President Spanier ( president@psu.edu ): Last week I gave a lecture at Pennsylvania State University (PSU) on the topic of free speech. While I was there, I noticed that PSU has this rather amusing statement on “Nondiscrimination and Harassment”: Harassment may include, but is not limited to, verbal or physical attacks, written threats or slurs that relate to a person's membership in a protected class, unwelcome banter, teasing, or jokes that are derogatory, or depict members of a protected class in a stereotypical and demeaning manner, or any other conduct which has the purpose or...

A Penn State chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity has nominated Joe Paterno for a national award, citing the coach's support for athletes who were "wrongfully accused" of crimes. The graduate chapter, Iota Lambda Lambda, also noted Paterno's "leadership, community uplift, manhood, scholarship and perseverance" in nominating him for the Citizen of the Year honor, member Andrew Jackson Sr. wrote this week. "I thought Joe was deserving," Jackson said Friday. He said that Paterno "stuck by" Rashard Casey, a former Nittany Lion, and Anwar Phillips. Casey was accused in May 2000 of beating an off-duty police officer, but a grand...

<p>While in Dallas for the AFCA meetings, Joe Paterno responded to criticism by the National Organization for Women over recent comments he made about an alleged sexual assault by Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson.</p> <p>"I'm not going to say anything about it. Most people know me. I am what I am," Paterno said. "I had no intention ... it was taken out of context. Having said that, they have every right to do what they want to do."</p>

While attending a Pennsylvania Republican Party picnic, Jennie Mae Brown bumped into her state representative and started venting. "How could this happen?" Ms. Brown asked Representative Gibson C. Armstrong two summers ago, complaining about a physics professor at the York campus of Pennsylvania State University who she said routinely used class time to belittle President Bush and the war in Iraq. As an Air Force veteran, Ms. Brown said she felt the teacher's comments were inappropriate for the classroom. The encounter has blossomed into an official legislative inquiry, putting Pennsylvania in the middle of a national debate spurred by conservatives...

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Southern California and Texas remain the top two teams in the BCS standings and only an upset in one of the final two weeks will prevent the two storied programs from meeting in the Rose Bowl on January 4 for the national championship. The Trojans (11-0) had a close call this past weekend with a 50-42 victory over a tough Fresno State squad, but they'll have this week off before facing city rival UCLA on December 3. The Longhorns (10-0), meanwhile, had their final bye this past Saturday and will play each of the next...

'Party' teaches women safer sex By Megan Rundle email Collegian Staff Writer Inside Stone Hall's lobby was the makings for any good party: girls, balloons, cupcakes and condoms. Last night about 15 female freshmen gathered in the freshmen dorm to take part in a safer sex party, a new project launched by Penn State's HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Advisory Council to promote safer sex and educate students about HIV and AIDS. Betsy Donaldson, coordinator for the Real AIDS Prevention Project, said the program is a new method aimed to educate and raise awareness about safer sex practices. "The parties are meant...