I was reading through some of the comments on the 100 Thomas meme in the FanShots (reading the FanShots!?) and I noticed people were commenting about there experience at Penn State. After a fair bit of nostalgia:

Quickly drinking a Guinness out of my Phyrst mug
Leafing through my Zeno's passport
Throwing on my Poz jersey
Intricately planning out my tailgate for BOB's first game next season (It's gonna get wild folks)
Singing the alma mater and all our fight songs
Visualizing a run down Tussey Mountain (that didn't take long..)
Doing the PSU cowbell (fever cured btw)
Watching 30-40 different THON videos...

I finally got to wondering what type of demographic of Penn Staters and non-Penn Staters read this blog.

Poll

When did you graduate from PSU?

• Currently an undergraduate at Penn State
• Currently an undergraduate elsewhere
• 2000-Present (Penn State)
• 1990-1999 (Penn State)
• 1980-1989 (Penn State)
• <1979 (Penn State)
• 2000-Present (elsewhere)
• 1990-1999 (elsewhere)
• <1989 (elsewhere)
• Not in college yet...

  46 votes | Results

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I have been meaning to post this for awhile now, and just figured that since jessedotsmom just posted those great little sliders recipe I would add a dessert to go with them. Also since V-Day is coming up, this would be a great little desert for your significant other to share with. Or if you like me and single, can eat them all yourself while weeping in a corner while watching TV and drinking heavily.

These are my brother’s favorite cookie, so now that I can make them I finally have a one up on him, since he went to Penn State for undergrad and now has a doctorate in chemistry from George Washington University, he is the smart one in the family…I am the baker. He always bugs me for them now that I have made them for him.

Here is what you need:

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

½ tsp almond extract

2 c flour

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ cup seedless raspberry jam

1 tsp milk

Slivered Almonds

How to make them

Cream butter and sugar until well incorporated, add almond extract, add flour.

That is all you need for the dough. The first time I made it the dough is very dry, and is what it is supposed to be. I find that sometimes, pending the weather, it is too dry, so I melt a tsp or 2 of butter and drizzle it over the dough and knead it a bit to bind it more.

Then make small balls of the dough, and put a thumb print in the middle to make a little bowl out of the dough. In the indentation, add a small bit of jam. Make sure you do not put too much in since it will bubble over and be a mess and not pretty. I did that the first time I made them and was forced to eat them all myself since they were not nice to present to guests, it was a real struggle.

Bake at 350 for 14-18 min, until lightly browned. The cookies do not get very brown, just check the bottom for light brown.

Once you pull them out of the oven, add 2 to 3 sliced of almonds into the jam so it sticks to the cookie.

Then in a bowl, mix milk and confectioners’ sugar. I find that I don’t really have amounts for this, just make sure the mixture is a bit think, thinker the better I find. You can also add ¼ to ½ tsp of almond extract to the icing, but I found it to be too much almond and overpowered the cookie, so I skip it, but try it for a few and see if you like it. Once you have the icing, drizzle it over the cookies. Wait until they are all dry to move or eat.

Trust me, you will need to make 2 batches to begin with, since they are very good and they will not last long, unsupervised. Each batch makes around 3-4 dozen or so, pending on how big you make them.

You can really add whatever jam you want, I enjoy the raspberry but can do any, try and go seedless.

Enjoy.

Here is a picture of what they look like; this is not a picture of mine, since non survived a week after they were baked. I found this online, the only differnece is that I add he slivered almonds on top, that these don't have.

I love that JR. DAY will be coinciding with THON. This will let parents see that we are more then just the sandusky cloud, or just some football school. The players will be able to see the amount of hype and craziness in the stadium and even see the football players having fun doing a couple skits...i was wondering if anyone knows the actual list of people coming. I know a certian PA tight end will be coming the day before as well as cancelled his osu visit. Burns and others i have read are coming but does anyone know the official list?

this is my first fanpost so I'm not sure if this is what the threads are supposed to be used for. sorry if this is at the wrong spot.

Poll

How many recruits give a verbal during this upcoming weekend?

• 0-1
• 1-2
• 3-4
• every single recruit that BOB wants commits on the spot

  89 votes | Results

I want to talk about football. Normally I’d do this with a beer on the bar and jukebox music in the background. But we’re all working, so that’s out. Let’s try it this way…

Now some of you die-hards will probably correct me, but in my first 25 years of watching Penn State football, the offense consisted of:

• · Fullback Dive
• · Off Tackle Run
• · Sweep (to the short side of the field)
• · The Dreaded End Around
• · Screen Plays
• · Curl Patterns
• · The Occasional Out or Fly pass patterns

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GIMME SIRENS AND A TOP PHILA. SMALL FORWARD! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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Well, PSU fans, here's the over-the-top Whiskey Slider recipe I served for our Super Bowl party this past Sunday. I had hoped that BOB would hop of the plane in Happy Valley sporting a Super Bowl ring... after all diamonds are a girls best friend, and, a lot of us PSU women would've been kissing his ring finger if that happened!

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http://www.centredaily.com/2012/02/08/3082315/psu-funds-slashed-districts-escape.html

Would it be possible to amend Penn State’s charter and become a private school?

I’ve been toying with this idea for years because for as long as I can remember, the president had to battle it out with the state legislature over budget issues. Based on 2011 numbers, state funding accounts for 6.6% of the total budget and 14% of the general education budget. The 2012 budget proposes a 30% cut. To be fair, this is not targeted specifically at Penn State, but state-related schools in general (Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln). The budget calls for 20% reduction for state schools.

As we have all known for years, and as recent events have dramatically brought to the forefront, the relationship between the administration and state politicians is extremely complicated and seemingly rarely focused on providing the best possible education. With all relationships, it’s a two way street and I do not trust either party. The politicians are going to manipulate the university for political gain, while the administration, specifically the BOT, will do the same for business reasons. Neither party is innocent. But wouldn’t it be better to at least remove one half of this mess?

I understand the concern that should Penn State go private, there are two obvious issues. First, the BOT will probably be able to do its business under the cover of darkness, as it will no longer have political pressure or be required to submit to “right to know” regulations. I don’t have a good solution for that.

Second, tuition will go up. If I did my math correctly, 14% of the general education fun divided over 80,000 students results in approximately $3,000 in subsidies per student. (Side note, as an out of state student who paid double the in-state tuition rate, this $3,000 subsidy does not seem add up. I’m pretty sure I paid at least $12,000 more. Someone will need to explain this to me). With a 30% increase, that’s only $900 more per student. Yes, $900 is a significant amount of money.

But let me ask you this: Is $900 worth the huge food fight we might see played out in the media? Is it worth commissioning a new panel to research higher education in the state and possibly reduce the number of branch campuses – which, by the way, reduces the cost of education by allowing students to live at home while pursuing a quality degree? Is it worth all the finger pointing and smear tactics we have seen over the past 3 months? Is it worth all the threats of investigation and interference that in the end could simply be a game of smoke and mirrors for the governor? Is it worth all the strings and regulations? Lots of questions, but not many answers.

We have to admit, 6.6% of the general budget and 14% of the general education budget does not amount to much and hardly qualifies us for being a “state-related institution.” With the proposed budget, that would bring state contributions down to 4.6% and 10.8%, respectively. To me it seems like they are giving us just enough to placate us while requiring a whole lot more on our end. Truly, how do we benefit? Why stay in a relationship when, from all appearances, it is very one sided?

I’m interested to hear your opinions as this topic hasn't been discussed much.

Note: I have no experience with university budgets or legal expertise in anything, and I’m sure there are many other details involved with changing a land-grant university to be a private institution.

Ever since the development of color television broadcasting, physicists have ceased generating any useful information, and are, instead, becoming more and more like Mullahs and Priests.

They have developed theories (mostly mathematical equations) to explain and predict natural occurances. But sometimes, they take the math, and completely abandon logic and common sense, to propose outlandish theories that five-year-olds find bizarre. For example, we have….

-Big Bang Theory

-Parallel Universes

-Wormholes for Time Travel

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but that was before it occurred to me that I was posting it in a thread that was sure to get shut down.

I think that the reason why those of us ‘inside the circle’ fixate on stories concerning Joe and his level of involvement is that we have seen what can happen to a person in today’s world when a story gets out of hand. A lot of us were saying back on that first weekend in November that we had no information that would sway our preexisting notions of who Joe was. We were saying (very rightly so) that the Grand Jury presentment did not contain the end-all be-all version of events. We were saying that anyone who was calling for Joe’s immediate firing was operating on assumption rather than fact.

Since then I have read countless articles and comments that are based on the paradigm of Joe being willfully blind, if not complicit in a conspiracy, for the sake of protecting his program. These items are typically peppered with inferences (if not outright statements) that Joe and Sandusky were friends, that Joe was effectively in charge of the entire University, that Police Services was not a ‘real’ police force, or any of a number of other red flags that indicate that the author’s intentions are at best sloppy and at worst libelous. These pieces have informed the majority opinion, as any objections are conveniently shouted down with claims that the objector does not care about children, or that no one could defend Joe if they stopped to consider what he would have done if it had been his grandson in the shower with Sandusky. The indelible image out of State College from the week after the presentment was released is the students protesting against the treatment of – what is in the minds of the great majority of viewers – ‘just the school’s football coach’.

Those students understood, just as many of the regulars on BSD understand, that Joe was much more than just a football coach. I’m not going to list his accomplishments beyond the football field, since anyone who is going to give a damn already knows who Joe was and what he did. The reason why those kids took to the street on November ninth, and the reason some of us will always continue to defend Joe, is that if a man of his stature can be taken down by speculation and lies, then what chance does any of us have?

I noticed that people are still reading that thread, as the number of recs seems to be increasing on a number of comments (including this one). I'm curious as to what part of this resonates with people, and whether it might play with non-cultists.

The invite list is out for the NFL Combine and seven PSU'ers are on it:

Jack Crawford, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye, Chaz Powell, Devon Still, Johnnie Troutman, and Nate Stupar. I was surprised though to not see Nick Sukay (personally I thought he'd be there but others may disagree). I also thought I might see Joe Suhey there even though the NFL isn't huge for FBs. Stefon Green is missing but I suppose I'm not really surprised... Szczerba isn't there, nor is Barham or Okoli. Any other thoughts?

Poll

Should Sukay have gotten an invite?

• Sukay should have been invited
• I can see why he didn't get an invite
• Sukay should have been invited and tOSU sucks
• I don't have an opinion about Sukay but tOSU does suck

  196 votes | Results