Babb leads Penn State to win over Robert Morris

By Benjamin Calla
Comm260 Writer
STATE COLLEGE — Many wondered if the Nittany Lions could win games if Talor Battle couldn’t produce. The Nittany Lions needed just five minutes to put those concerns to rest on Monday night.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Nittany Lions stormed out of the gate on a 20-4 run lead by the stellar three-point shooting of Chris Babb and a career night by Tim Frazier before coasting to an 80-61 victory against Robert Morris at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Freshman Tim Frazier and sophomore Chris Babb poured in 19 and 15 points respectively to lead the Nittany Lions (2-0) to their seventh straight win, the second longest in the nation behind only reigning champ North Carolina.

Frazier, playing in only his second career game, looked unguardable as he drained threes and sliced through the Colonials’ (0-2) defense on the way to a career high in his short time as a Nittany Lion.

Head coach Ed DeChellis was impressed with his freshman guard’s performance, but not surprised.
“It was good to get him some confidence,” Dechellis said. “We see that from him every day in practice.”

Babb started the second half by going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, which helped extend a slim Penn State halftime lead and bring the 6,000-plus in the Jordan Center to life. To Babb, the latter was important.

“You have to get the crowd in the game,” said the 6-foot-5 guard from Texas. “It’s a big part of home field advantage.”

With Battle struggling to find his scoring touch, scoring only 8 points, the supporting cast was able to prove that they can win when their best player is unable to score at will.

“Talor is a great player, probably the best on our team,” said Babb, “but we’re not just a one man team.”
Head Coach Ed DeChellis agreed with his shooting guard.

“There are going to be night when (Talor) is going to need to do other things for us to win, I think he did those tonight,” DeChellis said.

Battle’s 8-point performance leaves him just 13 points shy of 1,000 for his career. Battle can reach the 1,000 point plateau when the Lions hit the road for the Charleston Classic Nov. 19-22. Their first game will be an ESPNU televised clash with UNC-Wilmington.

Paperless ticketing system is 'economically backward'

By Zack Feldman
Comm 260 writer

Just one year ago, sellers were willing to sell. Students were willing to buy. Penn State football fans who were willing to do whatever it took to attend a game made it inside the gates to watch the game.

Those were all frequent sightings at Beaver Stadium only one season ago, when students who wanted to see a game were able to buy and sell tickets freely. In the middle of another winning season, Penn State football’s fans are forced to use a new paperless ticketing system.

The new system is disrupting the old system by no longer allowing students to sell tickets at market value, forcing many of them to hold onto seats they’d rather sell.

“It’s economically backwards,” said Dirk Mateer, a lecturer in Penn State’s economics department. “If a person is willing to sell a ticket at $150 and a person is willing to buy at $150, both parties are better off. They took that away from students this year.”

Instead of paper tickets, which students are able to sell at market value and buy at market value, resale is permitted only on a Ticketmaster-hosted web site that governs the process. Students may only sell a maximum of six tickets, to deter them from selling all of their seats to make a profit.

Mateer said that dictating a minimum and maximum price — otherwise known as price floors and price ceilings — will hurt people buying and selling depending on the game,” Mateer said.

“During a hot game, sellers will be hurt by the policy. A lesser game might hurt buyers. It’s a lose-lose scenario,” Mateer said.

Penn State’s athletic department could not be reached for comment; however Greg Myford, associate athletic director at Penn State, said in a statement that he believes there is a clear benefit to the process.

“The elimination of paper game tickets and implementation of new ticketing system that will use student ID cards for game entry is believed to have kept students who wanted to resell tickets from participating in the (season ticket sale),” Myford said in the statement.

Not all students are comfortable with the new online system, which links students’ identification cards with their tickets.

“The site is impossible to use,” said Ben Burgess, 20, of Philadelphia. “I didn’t get season tickets, and now it’s impossible for me to get to see any of the good games this year.”

Burgess said he was “shut out” trying to find a ticket to the Sept. 26 Iowa-Penn State game, because no student was willing to sell theirs for the amount required by the student ticket exchange web site.

Andrew Hoffer is one student who was not willing to part with his Iowa ticket.

“Honestly, I was hoping to get back home for the weekend and make some money off the ticket,” Hoffer, 19, of Palmyra said. “But I wasn’t going to sell it for $60. I just stayed the weekend and went to see the game.”

Christian Dorflinger, 21, of East Stroudsburg, is a senior this year, yet he was unable to go to the biggest games of the year because of the lack of tickets available.

“I’m willing to pay for them like I did last year,” Dorflinger said. “I haven’t even tried to get them this year, though. The system doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Despite the possibly backward economics of the new system, students have found a loophole that allows them to sell tickets at higher prices.

Forwarding, or sending the rights to the tickets electronically, is one way sellers are able to scalp tickets successfully. Parties can agree to a higher than allowed price on the side and forward the ticket.

“If you can find someone willing to pay, you can meet up and forward them your ticket,” said Lacie Fuller, 19, of Pittsburgh. “I bought an Ohio State seat for $100 a week ago and I was happy to pay that much for such a big game.”

The problem facing the athletic department is that supply and demand both exist, however setting a maximum price doesn’t allow both parties to get the most out of a transaction, Mateer, the economics lecturer said.

Despite this, Myford insisted that the paperless ticket offering has worked in the past.

“We already tested the system this past basketball season and it worked quite well,” Myford said.

Students heading out of town for the weekend

By Daniel Clarke

STATE COLLEGE – The words ‘p-value’, ‘proportion’ and ‘dataset’ were cycling through Andrew Cavorsi’s mind after his final Statistics exam on Friday. But Andrew Cavorsi is hoping to clear his mind this weekend.

The 21-year-old mathematics major from Harrisburg, Pa. brought the last of his luggage from his Lions Crossing apartment to his gray hybrid Honda Civic in the parking lot.

“I had far too many mid-terms and exams this week,” Cavorsi said. “I needed to be in the serene confines of my room back home, without having to think about schoolwork.”

However Cavorsi wasn't the only student to say goodbye to Happy Valley for the weekend. Numerous students packed up their luggage and left town.

Maggie Meller, a freshman majoring in Advertising from Marlboro, N.J. is another student who left for the weekend.

She continued to pack her belongings into her parents’ royal blue Subaru station wagon for what should be a very eventful weekend away from University Park.

“I just really needed to be home,” Meller said. “I was feeling a bit homesick. I don't get the opportunity to come home all the time, like a few of my friends do.”

A smiling and excited Meller carried the rest of her clothes from her dorm in East Halls to the car. Black Hefty trash bags of dirty laundry were piled into the back of the car.

Some students were not as lucky as Meller. A clearly distressed and frustrated student was waiting by the bus stop in front of Pollock Lab with his suitcases. Only catch? He wasn’t waiting for the CATABUS.

Jermaine Marshall, a freshman from the Bronx, N.Y., in the Division of Undergraduate Studies, seemed to have all the necessary items for a fun-filled weekend. His black duffle bag full of clothing was resting around his neck; he had another bag with his Xbox 360 and a few video games, but Marshall was missing something very important for this weekend: a ride home.

Traffic congested the roads of the campus and Jermaine’s mother was late to pick him up.

“I knew my mother’s schedule was difficult to maneuver around, but I needed to get home for my sister’s Sweet 16,” Marshall stated. “Sometimes it’s hard to rely on somebody else to pick you up.”

There were other students who did not get the convenience of a car ride, but were still able to find a way home.

Fullington Trailways, a bus company located on North Atherton St, experienced one of the busier weekends this semester so far.

“Students are more likely to leave town when the football team is playing an away game,” stated Tom Nichols, employee of Fullington Trailways. “Homecoming last week and Thanksgiving approaching also played a factor. Students want to return home before Thanksgiving, but didn’t want to miss Homecoming, and the football schedule just seemed to work out.”

Soda Tax Good Idea but Won't Curb Obesity

By Mary Campbell

The possibility of a soda tax may have gone flat.

Some public health professionals have suggested a soda tax as an attempt to curb the ever-increasing numbers of obesity and diabetes in the United States.

“I’m not sure it will work, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” said Beth Egan, a registered dietitian. “If we knew the real answer, we would have done it already, but it’s just not that simple.”

Each ounce of soda would cost an extra one cent, according to proposals. The money made from the tax would go toward the highly debated health care overhaul.

The tax is also an attempt to control the rampant cases of obesity and diabetes in the United States.

Egan, who drinks no soda at all, questions whether there really is a solution to the unbridled obesity and diabetes. She blames this unhealthy epidemic on ever-increasing portion sizes and more sedentary lifestyles.

Egan said that when she was a child, she had to walk down the street to her school bus stop; but now many people drive their kids. She said that the simplest physical activity like walking to the bus is being replaced by lazy lifestyles.

Tom Smith, 66, drinks about two six packs a month. That has been the amount of soda he has been drinking for years, and a tax will not change that. Smith said that people are going to drink what they drink.

“If they actually decreased the amount of sugar in soda, that would make the difference,” Smith said. “You have to go out of your way to avoid sugar. It’s a losing battle, and one cent won’t change that.”

Jill Higgins, a wife and mother of two children, agrees that people will get used to the tax. There may be some opposition at the beginning, but she said that people will get used to it.

“Myself and my family can give up soda, that’s no big deal,” said Higgins, who drinks about two cans of soda per week. “But other people will choose the soda over saving money.”

Some people, like Jake Ingbor, 19, and Jimmy Gorman, 20, think that the soda tax is a good idea, but it’s not going to be effective.

Ingbor, who drinks about $4 worth of soda in one week, said that if the tax passes, people will find cheaper soda. He said that off-brand soda companies will definitely be winners.

Gorman, who drinks less than a can of soda a day, said that there are many other lifestyle facets that fuel unhealthy habits. He said that fast food restaurants and pizza joints are everywhere in a college town, and one soda tax won’t make the change.

“No one wants to go outside and they don’t have to,” Gorman said. “They can stay inside, play Xbox, and eat last night’s cold pizza and flat soda.”

Holly Shok, 21, drinks about two cans of soda a day. She said that amount of soda is not that much, so she would still buy it out of habit.

The soda tax was a good idea, Shok said, but it will fail because people are creatures of habit.

“Public awareness campaigns need to start at a very young age,” Shok said. “It is much easier to create a healthy lifestyle than to force a healthy lifestyle.”