Former USG president may be 'Survivor' contestant
By Laurie Cataldo
Collegian Staff Writer
Students may be surprised to find a familiar face on television this February, as rumors have been circulating that former Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President Ian Rosenberger will be a contestant on the next season of CBS's Survivor.
Survivor: Palau is set on a remote island in the South Pacific.
The premise of the show revolves around a cast of about 20 people divided into teams, finding their own food and shelter, completing challenges and voting off cast members with each show.
The sole survivor at the end is awarded a prize of $1 million.
Survivor fan Web sites have listed possible "spoiler" cast lists for the 10th season, Survivor: Palau, many of which list Rosenberger as one of the contestants.
However, CBS representatives could not confirm or deny his participation on the show.
"The final cast release will be made on CBS's The Early Show on Thursday, Jan. 13," **** CBS publicity spokeswoman Colleen Sullivan said.
She said Survivor contestants and applicants are not allowed to discuss the show until the final cast list is announced and until after the show is finished taping.
Survivor: Palau finished taping in early December, Sullivan added.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say anything about it," Rosenberger said. "I can talk about anything else but that. My official statement is, 'no statement.' "
The cast is created through a series of rounds.
"It [gets narrowed down] by eligibility requirements. Everybody applies and of those people, 800 are chosen for an interview," Sullivan said. "That goes down to about 48 semifinalists, and then about 16 finalists."
Rosenberger, who graduated in August, was last year's USG president, a member of many clubs, director of a 2002 production of Jesus Christ Superstar and the 2003 Homecoming king.
Standing 6 feet 8 inches tall, Rosenberger was well known on campus.
"He's cute. I'd watch it if he was on it," Courtney Kulick (sophomore-French and international politics) said. "He's really tall too. I met him once; he's got a great personality. That might help him."
Current USG President Galen Foulke said he thinks Rosenberger's USG experience could help him.
"You gain a lot of experience communicating with people. You learn a lot about teamwork," Foulke said. "Just being Ian is all he needs to be on the show. He's got a lot of friends, and I'm sure people would watch it [if he were on it]. I'd be interested to see how he does. I hope he does Penn State proud."
Several other students said they would watch the show if Rosenberger was on it.
"I think [the show] would pick up a few more fans because he went here," Dan Levenstein (freshman-business) said.
In an e-mail message, Penn State President Graham Spanier had some encouraging words for Rosenberger.
"I can't think of anyone more perfect for this opportunity than Ian," Spanier wrote. "Anyone who can survive a USG impeachment attempt and survive me as president is likely to be well-prepared. I wish him well and hope he wears lots of Penn State gear on the show."
links
http://www.survivorfever.net/index10.htmlhttp://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/01/01-10-05tdc/01-10-05dnews-02.asp