Joe Paterno and SNL

The other night when I couldn't fall asleep I decided to watch this week's episode of Saturday Night Live. One of the skits featured a topic that has come up several times in our class discussions: the Penn State scandal.  The skit was Seth Myer's Weekend Update.  When he first mentioned the Penn State scandal I was really curious as to what he was going to say about it.  In the Weekend Update Seth Myers always satirizes the most recent events in the public sphere, so I was left wondering how he was going to talk about such a serious topic.  There really isn't a way to joke about child molestation that isn't offensive or inappropriate.

Here is a link to the skit for anyone who wants to watch it:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/299647/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-the-devil-on-penn-state

In the skit Seth Myers interviews the Devil about the scandal.  The Devil has no idea about what is going on and as Seth Myers tells him more and more about what happened, the Devil freaks out.  The point of the skit was to show how ridiculous the whole situation was and that Joe Paterno did not do his part in helping to put a stop to the molestation and and also in a way shows how ignorant the students of Penn State are for being so upset about Paterno being fired.  I thought that the skit was funny and also highlighted some good points about the whole scandal.  I understand that Joe Paterno was a legendary coach who was an important part of Penn State but that does not change the fact that he was enabler of the molestation of 8 boys.  I believe that he is receiving the punishment that he deserves.  I also think that Penn State students need to realize this and stop portraying Paterno as the victim instead of the children who were molested. 

ps. if anyone has time I recomend you watch the entire episode because there were other funny skits.  The opening skit about the Republican debate was my favorite of the episode. 

Still No Power

   I came across an article on the Hartford Courant website about the aftermath of the snowstorm this weekend.  According to Connecticut Light and Power, 46% of Hartford residents are still without power.  Although that seems like a lot of people, that number is smaller than the 70% of people who were without power at the peak of the storm.  I cannot imagine how difficult and frustrating it must be to not have power for so many days.  Knowing that there are people who don't have heat, food, electricity or hot water really makes me appreciate the fact that Trinity didn't lose power during the storm. 

   Not only has the storm affected residential areas, it has also affected the greater city as 60 streets in the city were closed due to fallen trees and wires.  Due to all of the people who don't have power, Pope Park Community Center and Parker Memorial Community Center have been turned into shelters for citizens who still don't have power.  Both shelters have house a combined total of over 100 people.  Hartford Public Schools have been closed as well because almost all of them have remained without power.        

Armed Robbery at Trinity

    As the local news ambassador, I decided to blog about an event that has been on all of our minds: the armed robbery on Monday night.  On Monday night, Campus Safety Office Assistant Jorge Lugo sent out an email stating that "at approximately 9:45 pm, an armed robbery occurred on the upper  longwalk, near the Northam arch."  Although we have already received numerous emails from campus safety informing us about robberies, car break ins and other disturbances, this robbery was by far the scariest to hear about.  I can personally say that after reading the email I was terrified!  I cannot imagine the stress and fear that must have been running through the guy's mind when he was being robbed.  Because I'm from a small town, living in Hartford and constantly hearing the sound of sirens and receiving these emails about crimes has been a huge change for me.  I am accustomed to always feeling safe in my environment, and I believe it is something that we as students all deserve.  

   Since my arrival to campus, I have seen many Hartford residents on campus. I see kids ridding their bikes and people walking around on campus on all the time, and for the most part all of the people I have encountered have been friendly.  I'm from a college town, and the three colleges in town are open for the public.  Townspeople definitely utilize the availability of the colleges to walk around on the campuses, eat meals at the dining commons and use the libraries.  The relationship between college students and locals is very good.  I know that relations between Trinity and Hartford are strained and that the college strives to strengthen their relationship with the city through community service groups.  However, I think that incidents like the armed robbery is what makes Trinity students hesitant about leaving campus and dislike the are surrounding campus.  It's sad for us to have to fear being robbed when we're walking around campus at night, because this is our campus where we will be living for four years and we deserve to feel safe and comfortable.  I hope that campus safety finds a way to better monitor our campus at night so that fewer instances like this robbery occur.  But until then, stay safe guys!!!  Use the buddy system!!!