Pick up the local rag

I’m going to take a break from my usual ranting and raving about the current state of relations between the media and the public.

While the Penn State student body prepares to take a few weeks off from the pressures and demands of life in college, I have just one request for you.

While you’re at home resting and relaxing, please do so with a newspaper in hand.

Take 35 cents out of your pocket and invest it by picking up a copy of your local "rag," wherever you live.

And in my favorite motivational format of all time, I’ll you why.

Here’s the Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Read Your Local Newspaper During Winter Break:

10. It’s the best way to see which of your old high school classmates are engaged to get married…and which ones are already set to divorce.

9. Wondering how your high school football team did this fall? I bet the local sports section will let you know.

8. One of the best ways to gauge how well the Collegian is serving your interests as a reader is to compare us to other local newspapers. Go ahead, measure us up.

7. It’s not required reading; you’d be doing it for personal enrichment. How often do we college students get to do that?

6. The newspaper industry is relying on how effectively it can grab the interest of young people like ourselves.

5. Local newspapers are always happy to run intellectual, persuasive and relevant letters to the editor on their editorial pages. Sounds like some of the skills you might have picked up along the way with a Penn State education.

4. You’ll need something to do once the inevitable boredom sets in on Dec. 29.

3. There might be an opportunity to learn how some of your local legislators are addressing issues important to young people, such as funding higher education and the future of Social Security.

2. Some of us are going to need to impress our parents with something after they see this semester’s grades.

1. You just might be surprised how much more interesting things like politics, government, education, environment and crime are to you now that you’re on the verge of entering the real world.

So there you have it, 10 reasons to read your local newspaper when you get home.

Just don’t forget to pick up the Collegian once you get back to State College on Jan. 16.