Out with the old, and in with the new as the saying goes, but some things never change and Penn State's football tradition is one of them.

Whether a newly-arrived freshman or a graduating senior, the traditions surrounding University Park quickly become and stay a part of all students' lives.

From the Nittany Lion's one-armed pushups to the "WE ARE...PENN STATE!" chant, a spectator at a home football game is not likely to forget the respect and enthusiasm students, friends, and alumni have for PSU.

"I'll never forget my first Penn State football game," said Bobbi Zaremba (senior-human development and family studies). "Me and my friends drove up from the Altoona campus for the Bowling Green game. There must have been 15, 20 of us, all freshmen, we had the best time."

Like the other 85,000 people crammed into Beaver Stadium every game, Zaremba and her friends have become a living, breathing part of the tradition. When you think of a Penn State game, all of the standards come to mind: lots of blue and white symbols (i.e clothing, painted faces, etc.), the Nittany Lion mascot, marshmallows, and of course, the cheerleaders. No football game would be complete without them.

As some of the senior cheerleaders head into their final football season of their college career, however, they feel they wouldn't be complete without Penn State football.

"There's no doubt - I'll be a pure PSU alumnus," said Greg Radick, captain of the Lions' cheerleading squad. "A part of me runs blue and white!"

Taking a timeout between classes, weightlifting and practice, Radick reflects thoughtfully on his two years with the squad.

"It's such a different feeling being on the field than in the stands," said Radick, who spent four years in the audience. "When we run onto the field with the players behind us, and we have 90-some thousand people cheering, it's such a surge of energy that's really hard to describe. It just fills you with Penn State (pride)."

Radick thinks this is the tradition -- running onto the field -- he'll miss the most once he graduates, but it took him a moment to think -- just to make sure.

"The blanket toss is great, too," Radick adds quickly. "I think it exemplifies Penn State because it symbolizes the scoring of the points."

When he's not leaping and bounding on the field, the captain and his fellow cheerleaders cover lots of ground on campus.

They attend public relations functions for the University, cheer at pep rallies, go to retirement homes and the University president's tailgate party at the first game of the season.

"I eat, drink, and sleep Penn State,"said Radick happily, though he stared wistfully at the floor. "Penn State is such a part of me, when I leave this 'inner circle' I've lived in, I'm really gonna miss it."

Radick's co-captain, Cathy Chew, will also be joining "the real world" next year. While she enjoys the public relations work and the alumni functions she and the squad participate in, Chew said her favorite tradition is the "best" tradition at Penn State.

"Nothing beats when we sing the Alma Mater and the National Anthem," Chew said. "When I hear my partner singing behind me, and see all these people being so respectful, it really gives me a warm feeling inside."

Not all of the feelings are warm, however, for Penn State's cheerleaders. Standing in the rain, sleet and snow during the football season at University Park, it's the cheerleaders who have to keep moving and keep smiling, no matter how bad it gets.

"The thing I've always hated most is being hit by frozen marshmallows," Chew complains. Better a marshmallow than say an. . .orange?

Thinking back with a laugh Chew said, "I'll never forget my sophomore debut in Syracuse. I went to do a jump and I wiped out (slipped) on an orange. Only my pride was hurt a little. I just took a bow, the crowd cheered, and I kept on going."

Chew has been keeping on going with the cheerleading squad for all four years of her college career. She said she owes her existence here at PSU to cheerleading.

"I came to a game once when I was in high school," Chew said. "I spent the whole time staring at the cheerleaders and trying to learn all their moves."

It wasn't as easy as she thought it was going to be, though. Fighting for a spot on a squad with only five openings, Chew won the position over 140 other women.

"I came from a very small high school where I was involved in everything," Chew said. "When I came here I was just another number, and without cheering I probably would have left Penn State."

Upon leaving the University in December of 1991, Chew hopes to become an elementary education teacher, or maybe secure a coaching position somewhere. No matter where she goes, however, she would always like to come back to the place where she feels the traditions will never change.

"Penn State is such a traditional school, I hope it keeps all the respect it has now," Chew said. "I hope it will always stay the way it is."

Such is the way tradition should be. After all, part of the "Penn State experience" is cheering yourself hoarse, doing the wave, and maybe even getting pegged with a few frozen (sometimes soggy) marshmallows.

"Doing the wave is the best," Zaremba said, getting psyched for the opening game. "As a freshman, I never minded the rain and the cold, but I don't know now. If it's too yucky, I might just stay in and watch it on TV."

On the tube or in the bleachers, either way, the love and energy of Penn State's traditions are electric on game day, and rapidly make themselves known to newcomers on campus.

"I've heard some rumors of marshmallows (being thrown), do they really do that?" asks an anxious Bill Bullota (freshman-engineering).

Ahh, the joy of initiating freshmen! One by one, they will fall prey to the crazed, contagious noise of Beaver Stadium this season and will soon be just as cheered-out, waved-out, and rain-soaked as the rest of the students.

"I heard it's gonna be pretty big, lots of people there," Bullota said. "It's going to be pretty overwhelming."

Bullota, a season ticket holder, had never been to a Penn State game before coming here as a student.

"I guess I'll just have to work into all the traditions and stuff," Bullota said with a shrug. "Learn them like everyone else."

Little does Bullota know that as he flubs his way through the Alma Mater, and screams himself hoarse yelling "WE ARE. . .PENN STATE!" he will be fulfilling the hopes and wishes of the cheerleaders preparing to leave the University and start traditions of their own in the "real world."

"To everyone in the stands, it's a stadium cheer, but it's a whole lot different for us down on the field," Greg Radick said quietly. "This school is such a big part of us."

So for freshmen fans, today's Texas game is the beginning of an exciting new era of carrying on traditions. For senior fans, their final season (beginning with today's game) is a time to reminisce, to relish the memories of games past and to enjoy the precious few games that are left.