In Which The Collective Is Explored
It occurred to me recently that, though I have frequently spoken of this university and its various denizens (though perhaps not in these electronic pages), I have never provided my friends or family with an accurate picture of the place. So a couple of days ago, I took my camera and toured the campus (or the Collective — a sobriquet with which I honored it after hearing the easily-prompted chanting of the drones, in which one group shouts, “We are,” and all those within earshot are expected to bellow back, “Penn State”). It wasn’t an exhaustive tour. I missed major venues of sight-seeing like the vast tarmac fields of the student parking area and the arena of gladiatorial combat. I also skipped the innards of the food-processing units (I fear the effects of that many fast-food production vats in an enclosed space), and other tourist hot-spots like the Creamery (yes, purchasing ice cream made by students of advanced cow-bothering is a tourist attraction here) and the gift shop.
So, here it is, in pictures: My Tour of the Penn State Borg Collective, with Commentary.
Alex — 14th November, 2010 at 16:12
I say, what a smashing tour (especially the submarine stacks). Though I didn’t spot nearly as much fire and brimstone as you’ve hinted at when mentioning the place. Was it away being cleaned?
And good lord, why is it that all of these american colleges and universities occupy such lovely (and spacious) grounds? I wonder if it’s just a Mancuinian quirk that all of ours huddle along main roads and comprise mainly of disgusting 70s architecture and the odd three square feet of greenery inhabited by few mouldy park benches and a solitary and rather dyspeptic-looking grey squirrel…