Not that any of you should care, but this week's been rough for me. Between trying to come up with an answer to the inevitable question, "Now that you're graduating, what are your plans for the future?" and huffing fumes from the recent paintjob in my apartment, my mind is jumbled more than usual.

At any rate, I'm leaving State College on Saturday. Sure, I'll be back in the form of drunken alumni on a football weekend, but the days of me caring about the nuances that go on in this town are pretty much over. So here are a few suggestions I have to improve State College before I depart with my diploma.

Dee's Texas Hot Dogs should be open 24 hours a day.

If you've never been there, don't fret too much.

I've only discovered it earlier this summer.

Don't be fooled by its name. Dee's has the best sandwiches in town.

They're so good that I've never even tried one of the hot dogs. I have seen them though, and I'm not certain that there are dogs in the bun buried beneath all of the toppings they stick on top of it. Those of you who've been haunted by the ghost of Acme Pizza will be no more.

The only problem with the place is that it closes by six. I'd stumble from the Skeller down Calder Way every night to get a Rueben from Dee's if I could. I might not appreciate eating it when I'm drunk, but I doubt it. Regardless, it needs to stay open for dinner at least.

Mike's Video should give out honorary degrees.

I've wasted way too much time renting movies during the last four years. Trucking down to Mike's during a dull weekday evening happened all the time.

I think I should be able to test all of the useless knowledge I gathered. If I could take a ScanTron test asking questions like "Who played Johnny Boy in Scorcese's 'Mean Streets'?" or "What magazine did William write for in 'Almost Famous'?" then I don't think I'd feel as though I'd tossed away valuable stretch of my life. Those who pass the test get a "Mike's Video Degree of Useless Movie Trivia".

Get rid of the Late-Night movie at the HUB.

I finally went there before the end of spring semester to catch The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and cell phones didn't ring every 15 seconds.

The only problem with the theater was the picture and sound, which is major since that's why people go to see a movie in the first place.

The speakers are regulated to the front of the room near the screen, so even though I was seated in the middle of the audience, the actors' dialogue during certain scenes was inaudible.

Meanwhile, the screen is disproportionately small to the size of the theater.

And I might as well have downloaded a bootlegged copy of the movie from the internet and watched it because the quality was almost as poor. You can only differentiate between light and dark images. All detail on the screen is lost.

If I hadn't become fanatical over Tolkien's books in high school, and if I hadn't already seen The Two Towers twice before, then I probably would have walked out.

Despite these problems, it still is a good concept.

It's great to see a movie that isn't in the regular theaters any longer, but also isn't out on video yet. The university just needs to install decent equipment for it to reach its potential.

Until they do, they shouldn't even bother having it. We're not paying these recreation fees for nothing.

Save Playland.

When I read about the potential closing of Playland last week, I was shocked.

It's tough to imagine it not being here. I remember going there when I was nine on a visit to State College having the time of my life.

Somewhere along the line I became more interested in taking shots than shooting zombies with a plastic blue Uzi. It's too bad, because that place is great.

I pumped some quarters in a few pinball machines recently, and I was that nine-year-old again.

Of all the ideas I've laid here, this is the one you can do something about. Take some of those extra quarters you've been saving for laundry and play a game of Mrs. Pac-man or the newest Mortal Kombat. You might be surprised at how much fun you have. And you might keep Playland around for a little longer.

There are other things that need improving in this town, but they're pretty minor when it comes down to it. State College is a great place to live, and I'm glad I've spent the last few years here.

So good luck to my fellow graduates; with this job market we need it.

And to the rest of you -- try not to screw the place up.