I am writing in response to Katie Graham's column about New Jersey. I, too, am from New Jersey and receive the usual negative comments as well ("armpit of America" is my favorite, I think).

But Graham is right on in her column. New Jersey is a perfectly fine state, and anyone who has visited would know. It's got a little bit of everything.

Sure, there are the cities like Newark and Jersey City that can be described as ghetto, but what do you expect from a city? Philly is the same way. There are several really nice, wealthy towns in northern New Jersey as well as nice trails to go hiking and camping on.

New York City is an hour and a half at most, depending on where you live in New Jersey. And Philly is just as close too. And now the best part of New Jersey — the beach!

I live on the coast about five minutes from the beach. Pennsylvania has nothing that can come close to that (sorry, Lake Erie doesn't cut it).

Also, Pennsylvania "hoagies" leave much to be desired when compared to New Jersey's subs. The pizza here is a little weak, radio stations are a few months behind in the latest music, the mall, liquor laws — all of these things kind of suck.

And as far as why I chose to come to school in Pennsylvania, Penn State campus is nothing like the rest of the state.