PENN-sieve

The news wire reports that Saddam Hussein will be executed by Sunday and I can't help but feel a little sad. No, I don't feel sad for Saddam; I feel sad for the world. Two seconds after he is killed, the world won't be a better place. It still won't be better in a week or in a month. His death will not bring back the people he is responsible for murdering; it will not repair the lives he destroyed; it will not bring peace to the middle east; and it won't bring our soldiers home sooner. His death serves the world no purpose.

I struggle with the concept of the death penalty not from a humanitarian perspective but from one focused on the concept of vengeance and the additional damage done to those left behind. After Mandy was killed, I know I thought about her murderer being put to death but that was more because I wanted to see someone else feel that pain that my friend felt, to avenge those who were wronged. I remember when Timothy McVeigh was executed and they interviewed a father of one of the Oklahoma bombing victims. The father cried because he thought his life would change once McVeigh was gone, but it didn't, and all of that anger that he had built up had no where else to go after the execution.

Saddam, Timothy McVeigh, and Valentine Underwood do not deserve to live in this world of love, hope, and prosperity - that's why we have prisons. If there was a way for their deaths to bring back the innocent, I'd be all supportive but more important than them deserving to live is the belief that they do not deserve to die. They should not be allowed to escape this world and the consequences of their actions. They do not deserve to move on to whatever is next before they have endless years to reflect on what they did.

"Barbarians. That's what we have become. We kill each other and instead of mourning the tragedy, we want the state to satisfy our bloodlust by killing the offender...we must learn to deal with these people in our midst - punish them, but do not become them."
-Posting to a Denver feedback forum, 1999-MAR-2

"As I read the New Testament, I don't see anywhere in there that killing bad people is a very high calling for Christians. I see an awful lot about redemption and forgiveness."
-James W.L. Park, former execution officer, San Quentin, California

"We oppose the death penalty not just for what it does to those guilty of heinous crimes, but for what it does to all of us: it offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life."
-Most Rev. Joseph A. Fiorenza, President, National Conference of Catholic Bishops / U.S. Catholic Conference, 1999.

Penn State has the largest university Creamery in the world. Our Creamery is quite famous (Bill Clinton has eaten here twice) and Ben and Jerry's both learned how to make ice cream at Penn State (they got a C in the course). The ice cream is so good, partially, I think, because it is made within four days of milking the cows. I also enjoy the cream cheese and sour cream from our Creamery too and the students rave about the milk (I don't drink milk).

I thought for Christmas I'd send each of my parents (who like ice cream as much as I do) a half gallon of Penn State ice cream. I figured my unique present idea would cost an extra $25 for shipping but thought it would be worth it. The Creamery was going to charge me over $75 for each half gallon I wanted to ship - no joke. Guess who isn't getting ice cream for Christmas!

Penn State is the most expensive public university in the country. I didn't realize what this really meant until I got my tuition bill for next semester. I was planning to take an Italian class and a Higher Education grad level class. Because I work at Penn State, I get a 75% tuition break. My bill for the four credit Italian class and the three credit grad class, after my tuition break, is $1156.25! A portion of that cost is fees ($149 for technology fee and $43 for student activities) but all the rest is for tuition.

To put this amount into perspective, I paid less than this amount for an entire semester of classes (up to 19 credits) at Northridge where I did my undergrad work. If you would like to contribute to the "Tracy Still Goes To College Fund", please send money directly to me ASAP (my tuition bill is due on January 3rd).

Today, I went to the Creamery for a scoop of ice cream and when I tried to hand over my $2.10, the lady said the price has increased to $2.50. This is on top of the price increase that just occured at the sandwich shop where I usually grab lunch. Wraps went up .15 cents each.

I guess I really shouldn't complain though because for $2.50 you still get a cone with three scoops of the best ice cream in the world!

I saw a few episodes of South Park when it first came out and just didn't get the "I killed Kenny" humor. When I moved to State College, I was bored and too lazy to get up and change the channel so I was stuck watching South Park's Mormon episode. It really did have a positive message that I was surprised to see and since then I have been Tivo-ing every episode. Some of it is pretty pointless but every once in awhile, there is a true gem such as the Cartoon Wars episode I just finished watching. The message - give into terrorism and they win. My first impressions are always wrong.

If you have read any of my BLOG since I moved to State College in July, you probably figured out that I love all things Penn State. But there are a few things that happen here that are absolutely bizarre. The most frustrating so far is the academic calendar. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the school ran on a Friday schedule. I tried to explain that no other school does such a weird thing but people here think it is normal to pretend that a Tuesday is a Friday!

At normal schools, professors give exams during their class time. If you have a MWF class, it usually goes for 50 minutes each session. If the professor wants to give an exam, he has to write a test that can be completed in the alloted class time. Sometimes this means you have a lot of little exams. Here at Penn State, professors do not like to give exams that would take up their lecture time and they don't like to tailor their exams to the 50 minute time limit. So students have to take the exam in the evening hours. Sometimes they take their exams on Friday evenings. It's so weird.

Finally, all the local high schools were closed on the first day of the hunting season (the Monday after Thanksgiving) so everyone could go out and shoot a deer!

Today it snowed and stuck for the first time this winter. It wasn't enough for a snowball fight but it sure was pretty. Of course, people who have lived with snow their entire lives think I am crazy and no one seems to appreciate the snow and my childlike wonder that comes with it.