Thank you

Spirit of marathon brings vision of 'Thon 2022

It's the Monday after the 25th annual Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, and everyone involved deserves congratulations for a job that was more than well-done.

Everyone who fought sleep for 48 hours, helped plan the event, wrote a letter of support for a dancer, donated change to those who were canning on College Avenue on those cold days or simply showed up and got orange juice for someone they knew was an important part of 'Thon 1997.

But a special praise goes to the selfless dancers who devoted not only 48 hours of their lives, but also the time to solicit donations, meet the families for whom they would dance and get pumped for the event.

When they finally wake up from their well-deserved rest today, be sure to tell them you're proud of them, and give them a pat on the back, or better yet, a hug.

The 25th dance marathon has come and gone, but if anyone took one look into the White Building this weekend, they know that the attitude of helping others and the devotion to the fight against cancer will continue long after these dancers have left the University.

And in a look to the future, we can envision the 50th year of 'Thon:

The year is 2022, and a crowd of thousands dances away in The Bryce Jordan Center. Cheering supporters fill every seat in the center, and through the entire 48 hours, lines of people waiting to support their friends stretch the whole way to Shields Building.

Every student group on campus is well represented, and faculty and townspeople join in the fight against cancer. Giant video screens show live footage of students from the Commonwealth Campuses, simultaneously dancing with the energy of a statewide marathon.

The money raised reaches the billion-dollar mark for the third consecutive year, thanks to increased corporate sponsors, participation and enthusiasm.

The brightest vision of all, though, is one that doesn't include 'Thon at all.

Maybe by 2022 someone will have found a cure for the disease that so many courageous children face everyday.

Then the real dancing can start, and the children will all be well enough to join.

What was that?

'Thon-induced hallucinations provide glimpse at alternatives

• Tuition went down.

• The University provided same-sex partner benefits.

• Women could walk down the streets without fear of danger.

• Students reached for juice, not alcohol.

• Women's volleyball got just as large a turnout as football games.

• State College Borough residents and students coexisted happily.

• Students waited in lines for hours, like Russian elections, to cast their Undergraduate Student Government ballots.

• Everyone who visited friends at `Thon was sober.

• A downtown grocery store.

• Professors were teachers first, researchers second.

• The advising system worked.