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The passing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno was a sad day for Penn State, but that did not stop people from trying to profit financially from his death. Tuesday, the university released more than 10,000 free tickets to Paterno's memorial service. They all were claimed within seven minutes. Almost immediately, some people started selling the tickets on eBay. Penn State students, staff, faculty, and alumni were outraged. Allison Jendrasek, a senior at Penn State, tweeted, "never been so disgusted in my life. Listening to students joke about how much $ they'd make selling their JoePa memorial tickets. #whatashame." According to eBay, tickets to free events cannot be sold on its site. However, by Tuesday morning, one ticket had received 71 bids, the highest coming in at $99,000. The listing was removed by eBay. A few people still tried to get through the loophole by selling T-shirts for $99 and including tickets with the purchase. Those listings were also taken down. Students and alumni fought back on Twitter, using #EbayWatch, where they posted links to ads for tickets. Thanks to the collective effort, at least a half-dozen listings were removed. The seller of the $90,000 ticket posted this message "to those opposing this auction: no one is forcing you to buy tickets; it is a choice." Penn State President Rodney Erickson called selling the tickets "reprehensible." The memorial service will be held Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center on campus and will be aired live on the Big Ten Network and websites affiliated with the university.
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If you're in need of a little inspiration or motivation today, listen to this story about a woman who completed a 59-day ski trip across Antarctica without the assistance of machines or kites. Felicity Aston of Kenton, England, became the first woman to ski solo across the frigid and unforgiving continent--that's more than 1,000 miles. Aston completed the journey while live tweeting! The 34-year-old meteorologist spent the past three years as a researcher in Antarctica and crossed the continent carrying more than 150 pounds of supplies. To her followers, she sent dozens of tweets about the cold weather and rough terrain. Aston describes the physical toughness she needed for the exhausting journey, during which she endured temperatures as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit. She also describes the mental toughness she needed to endure the periods of "incredible loneliness." To stay active and engaged on the trip, Aston listened to audio books and music and uploaded pictures to her feed. Now that the journey is over, she is understandably tired, but looking forward to "red wine and a hot shower."
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