Thursday, January 21, 1993
Color double
standard
Excuse me. If anyone knows,
I was just wondering how
minorities, well actually
African-Americans, would really
like to be treated. Are equality
and acceptance really the main
goals? I would be more than
happy to judge not "by the color
of their skin but by the content
of their character," but I am
constantly slapped in the face by
the tremendous double standard
that exists.
This standard springs from
very basic ground. racial slurs.
Watch any black comedy club
on cable. It won't be long
before the comedian refers to his
audience affectionately as
"niggers". The comedian's
black audience doesn't seem to
mind. In fact they seem amused
that they are allowed to use
words that are forbidden to other
cultures.
Right now Cincinatti Reds
owner Marge Schott is the
center of stormy controversy for
her use of racial slurs. I do not
agree with Schott's derogatory
comments but I do question
how she can be so singled out
when it happens every day
within the minority itself. Two
wrongs certainly do not make a
right, but a racial slur exists as
such no matter who says it.
That is the fact that everyone.
must recognize. I'm Italian and
I know that if another Italian
approached me with the
greeting, "Hey, you greasy
haired Wop," I'd still be
offended by his ignorance even
though he shares my race.
This double standard was
further high-lighted by an article
in December third's Collegian.
Tarsha L. Proctor wrote a very
thought provoking article titled
"No compromise, no sell out".
Proctor's article expressed her
anger at what many see as
progress in race relations,
interracial dating. Specifically,
Proctor attacks the black man'c
ignorance in being so open
minded as to date women of
other races. Race mixing is
harshly questioned, as is the
strength of all white females.
Caucasian women are referred to
as "...blind white b--@*..."
How is this different from the
condescending comments of
Marge Schott? Or even from
the generalizations made by the
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Letters to the
Ku Klux Klan? What if the
author of "No compromise, no
sell out" had been white and the
article was colored (pun
intended) that way?
I do not believe that all
African-Americans take
advantage of this double
standard. I believe that those
who do, the culturally insecure
and immature, are blinding
many people with their skin by
hiding behind it. As soon as
they are ready to be judged for
themselves and not for their
color, I wish they'd let me
know. I can't wait to meet
them.
Megan Musante
3rd Semester
English
Missing resources
During these difficult times at
Penn State-Behrend, with budget
cuts and watchful spending, the
Career Development Center
continually tries to provide
current, up-to-date materials and
resources for the student body.
While the majority of students
who use our resources appreciate
our efforts, it is sad to see that
there are a few who feel these
resources are for them alone and
decide to take them without
permission. Despite our efforts
to monitor the resources being
used, we find that some
materials disappear, never to be
seen again.
Most people probably don't
realize the expense involved in
supplying the Resource Room
with current literature. For
instance, The Pennsylvania
Technology Directory recently
disappeared from the Resource
Room after only being on the
shelf for about five months.
This directory cost $184.00 and
will probably not be replaced
because of our dwindling
budget. While it is
understandable that not all
materials are as expensive as
this, when all missing resources
are added together the total
becomes quite extensive. Thus,
each year the new budget is used
to replace former resources
rather than adding new ones.
The most important point
that I am trying to make is that
not only are these materials
expensive to purchase and
The Collegian
replace, but other students are
being cheated out of their use.
While these few students may
be proud of their pilfering,
hundreds of other students are
probably very disappointed that
they will not have the
opportunity to use these
missing resources. Too bad the
few have to ruin it for the
many!
Cara Loomis
Staff Assistant
Counseling and Advising
Office
No allowance for
profit
I would like to start out by
saying that the article printed in
the Thursday, December 10,
1992 issue of The Collegian
"No allowance for profit" should
not have been printed without
all the facts present. What kind
of paper do we as students have
if we cannot trust the staff to do
a full investigation of the
stories that they cover? I hope
in the future that Vicky Synder
gets the whole story before
reporting on it.
I would like to state the facts
of what actually happened before
the SGA meeting on
Wednesday, December 10,1992.
I approached an administrator of
Behrend who worked with me
when I did the Spring Break trip
last year and that person
suggested that I deserved a
commission check of $5 per
person from the SGA because of
all the problems and hard work
that I had to deal with last year.
That person also informed me
that the commission check had
to be approved by Dave Shields
and Chris Reber before going
to the Senate for approval. I
presented the price of the trip to
the Senate with a $lO additional
price increase to cover the cost
of my commission check from
SGA ($5) and all the expenses
of the trip for SGA. The price
increase was approved but the
meeting between Dave Shields
and Chris Reber never took
place. Because the semester was
coming to an end, I felt that I
had to get the information out
to the students before the
Christmas Break, I approached
the Senate with the reasons why
I felt I deserved a commission
editor
check from them and they felt
that I did not deserve it because
we are known as a service
group. I then presented to the
Senate how a representative
from University Park receives
their commission check. For
every $35 of profit, not sales,
their representative to the travel
agency gets $l5. If I book 60
people this year, like I hoped,
the total profit for SGA,
including my commission check
from Travel Associates, would
be $960. That is $lO a person
times 60 for the cost increase on
the trip ($600) plus my
commission check from Travel
Associates which would be $6 a
person times 60 ($360). Nine
hundred and sixty dollars that
SGA thinks is theirs to cover
the cost of paper and other
materials needed to promote the
trip.
Mr. Brenneman was gravely
mistaken when he said SGA is
at risk for backing the trip.
There is no risk. As for Greg
Farrell's comment about the
SGA being service oriented, I
would like to say where are all
the volunteers to work on these
committees that SGA has?
Most senators say that they do
not have time to be on a
committee and when someone
volunteers to be a chairperson
for a committee they are almost
guaranteed to work by them
selves. If the SGA is so service
oriented then why are the
president and treasurer paid a
stipend for their work?
Wouldn't the experience alone
be enough? Not really, because
it demands a lot of time just
like my job doing the Spring
Break trip. The Student
Government does not understand
all the time and effort it takes to
promote one of these trips and
have them be successful. At the
meeting where the senators
decided that I did not deserve my
commission check from Travel
Associates I severely under
estimated the amount of hours
that I would be putting into the
trip.
I just hope that the senate
does not become greedier than it
already is by keeping the $960
that is partly being made off the
students here at Behrend. I also
hope that the Student Govern
ment does not continue to treat
itself to a night out at Eat N'
Park for all the hard work that
they do because a lot of
A POEM*
"I ?rotes . therefore I am."
Day by day, I am faced with
issues that continue to
bring my people down.
Although we have come fa
there are issues in our life
that are still unanswered.
Questions and opinions tha
continue to be overlooked,
but nevertheless I still
PROTEST!
--Tarsha Proctor
'The Collegian encourages
all students to express
their opinions and we
support every person's
constitutional right to
freedom of speech.
Page 3
Senators do not even deserve
that much. Remember students
that you are paying for the
SGA excursions to Eat N' Park
and the pizza parties that we
have after our meetings, and
not for my commission check
from Travel Associates.
Eric J. Pine
4th Semester
Marketing Major
Whiteness Is
weakness
I am writing in response to
the "No compromise, no sell
out" article which appeared in
the December 3, 1992 issue of
the Behrend Collegian. I am
presently involved in an
interracial relationship and
therefore, the issue is one on
which I feel inclined to
comment.
Supporting the continuance of
your race and the tradition of the
black community is not just
encouraging and admirable, but
absolutely necessary. This is
obviously a choice you have
made for your life and your
future. However, to conclude
that your life choices are right
for all African-Americans, men
or women, is unfair. You are
only adopting the value of your
oppressors, those values that
legislate who is allowed to love
whom. Wasn't it the feminist
and black activist Audre Lourde
who said "The Master's tools
will never dismantle the
Master's house?"
I resent that my whiteness
implies a weakness in the
character of the man I have
chosen to date. He is
monumentally dedicated to the
politics of the pro-black
movement, well versed in his
history and that of his people,
and he respects and loves black
women. The choice to be with
me does not negate those decided
values. In addition, I am
offended by Ms. Proctor's
suggestion that all interracial
relationships are merely a
diagnosed case of "Jungle
Fever". People of all
marginalized groups should be
most familiar with the hurt that
accompanies broad
generalizations and stereotypes.
Assuming that all interracial
couples are together for no other
reason than skin color is
confining and close-minded.
I realize that I have put
myself in a rather precarious
relationship. In 1993, isn't it
sad that I face the judgement of
both white and black
communities for a feeling that
humans in general have little
control over? I encourage
everyone at Penn State Behrend
to have the strength to live by
their own values and beliefs and
not to be threatened by people
who feel they have the right to
judge other's life choices. In
other words, in terms of who
you are: no compromise, no
sell-out.
Angela Carone
Penn-State Behrend
Graduate