page 4- The Behrend College Collegian. Thursday. April 30, 1998
The Behrend College Collegian
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Layout Editor
Nathan Mitchell
Photography Editor
Jason Blake
Business Manager
Dana Greenhouse
Features Editor
Jon Stubbs
News Editor
Ik Chon Kanf;
Postal Information: The Collegian
is published weekly by the students
of Penn State Erie, The Behrend
College; First Floor, The J. Elmer
Reed Union Building, Station Road,
Erie, PA 16563. The Collegian can
be reached by calling (814) 898-6488
or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN
1071-9288.
Library funding
badly needed
Anybody who has ever gone to the
Penn State Behrend library to do re
search knows that if they want up to
date information on their topic, they
won't have much luck. It’s true that
the building itself is a very beautiful
structure and has the potential for
becoming an exceptional location for
research not only for college students
but also for community members.
The administrators that deal with
the library clearly are working to get
the funding we need. However, they
are dependent on University Park.
The budget has been getting larger
over the past few years, but it is not
enough to bring our library to the cali
ber of libraries at comparable col
leges. Currently, most students go to
Gannon's library to do much of their
research. Behrend students shouldn’t
have to be dependent on the resources
of other colleges lor their work.
It is hoped that the new Dean of
Social Security reform
does affect students
Pennsylvania Senator Rick
Santorum was on the Behrend cam
pus last Monday for a town meeting
to address social security issues within
the United States. His plan in gen
eral is to partially privatize social se
curity to keep the entire system
from becoming insolvent in future
years.
His proposal is one of many plans
being discussed currently to bring re
form to the present system. He is cor
rect that the system is definitely in
need of some kind of change. The
way social security works now is the
average elderly person today collects
far more than what they payed in in
cluding interest. When the system
Behrend attitudes
toward race
by Joet Kolano
guest columnist
If curiosity killed the cat then,
“meow.” Over spring break, an in
cident occurred that got me thinking
about racism and prejudice. That
same day, I sat down and thought of
some questions to ask a few random
college-age individuals and I re
ceived some of the exact responses
that I had imagined. My quest be
gan at Washington and Jefferson
College, in the library, and finished
here. The students that were willing
to answer the questions provided
some very insightful input.
1 have always been bothered by the
hypocrisy of people when it comes
to racism. Almost every day an is
sue arises concerning two or more in
dividuals of different races. Racist
Editor in Chief
Andrea M. Zaffino
Managing Editor
Anne M Rojotte
Sports Editor
Dylan Stewart
Associate Editor
Brian Ashbaugh
Advertising Manager
Letter Policy: The Collegian
encourages letters to the editor.
Letters should include the address,
phone number, semester standing and
major of the writer. Writers can mail
their letters to behrcoll2@aol.com.
Letters must be received no later than
spm Tuesday for inclusion in that
week’s issue.
Libraries at University Park looks
closely at Behrend’s library and takes
steps toward improving our collec
tion. We are lagging behind other
colleges in terms of the quality of our
library.
The library is one of the facilities
that has the ability to help the cam
pus become more prominent within
the Penn State system. Recently the
Business School received $2O million
to enhance its program. Part of this
money will go to the library, however
most of this will be of benefit only to
those within the School of Business,
and no other programs or areas of
study. This must improve; the
Behrend College needs an entity like
an outstanding library to help recruit
high caliber students as well as pro
fessors and other faculty and staff that
plan on using their college library for
research.
was established in the early 19305,
most people did not even live to the
age of 65. Today however the aver
age retired person lives 10-15 years
longer than this, and the system can
no longer work efficiently using the
guidelines under which the system
was founded.
Senator Santorum’s idea was legiti
mate; however it seems to be a little
more complicated than necessary.
The idea of private investing is a good
one as long as there is some kind of
safety net for those who tend not to
invest wisely to still get enough in
returns for a comfortable retirement.
Yet, all the intricacies of Santorum’s
policies seem to be a little unneces-
jokes run rampant, negative attitudes
about minorities are expressed, and
cold stares are felt.
What sparked my interest on this
subject was a dating relationship that
1 noticed. This relationship received
many different reactions because the
couple was “mixed.” One was white
and the other was Asian. Most people
did not seem to mind the couple,
while others hid their disapproval
until the two were out of sight or ear
shot. It disgusted me. I wondered
that if it were not that one was white
(as the people previously mentioned
were) if it would make a difference.
Say, what if it were an African-
American and an Asian? Well, I took
this question to the public and I re
ceived some surprising answers.
RJ Frelin
Advisor
Robert Speel
Advisor
Alan Parker
Student
important
About three years ago I came to
Behrend in search of knowledge that
I otherwise could not have acquired
outside of college first as a strug
gling Engineering student trying to
figure out the complexities of calcu
lus and the mechanical aspects of our
world and now as a creative writing
English student trying to understand
the rhetoric of my own language. “A
Day in the Life” is not only the title
of my tri-weekly column in the Col
legian, but it’s also a great song from
the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album which
ends with the line “I’d love to turn
you on.” Throughout the semester
I’ve tried to inform Behrend students
by “turning on” the reader to the dif
ferent decisions being made by ad
ministration which affect our lives on
campus,
In three years at Behrend, I have
often noticed a disturbing hierarchy
among students and administration.
More often that not, at least in the
instances I have researched, students
are the ones left taking out the trash,
so to speak. If this continues to be a
problem, an already apathetic student
population may just accept the con
sequences and be taken advantage of.
This is such the case with the col
umn I wrote about the fiftieth anni
versary celebration to take place in
the fall. It appeared that students did
not figure into the equation of Be
hrend history. I tried to make a point
to better incorporate us as major fig
ures in the celebration. Apparently
my comments didn’t sit too well with
administrators and was misconstrued
as a direct attack on their decisions.
I was only attempting to make a point
about the need for student involve
ment.
The struggle with Police and
Safety has been constant throughout
this school year. I outlined an inci-
There is no question that social se
curity needs to be changed. Last year
alone, the federal government spent
over $350 billion on social security,
it was the largest item in the budget,
and six percent of every earned dol
lar is taken out for the same purpose.
It’s getting to the point in this coun
try where if there is not some kind of
change, the system will be bankrupt
by the time most college students to
day would benefit from it. It is very
necessary that the issue is addressed
before it comes to this point. It is also
up to younger people to pay attention
to this issue and push for a change, or
they will be faced the consequences
later in life.
First I asked the subjects what
they thought about interracial re
lationships. Then I asked how they
viewed people of their own race
involved in interracial relation
ships and their partners. Third, I
inquired if they had a problem
with interracial relationships if
neither of the two individuals were
of their race. The following are a
few of the responses from those
asked:
“I don’t think that I personally
would date a person from another
race, but I don’t condemn those who
choose to.”
“Not OK for me —OK for others
but I feel bad for the children.”
“I don’t mind them.”
“I don’t like it.” Own race
“ Trash.” Partner- “Loser.” But it is
Editorial
involvement
dent in the continuing battle with
Police and Safety in which a female
student was denied an escort to her
apartment. Certain circumstances
result in different actions according
to the two versions of the story I re
ceived. Students need to remember
that Police and Safety are not there
to be our enemies, they are there to
protect us. Being that I have been
seemingly victimized by their ser
vices before, I understand that tem
pers can grow fowl. The point is that
both parties, students and officers,
need to have better communication
to function as a whole in this com-
munity.
These are only two instances in
IfiJ Wiu. w
okay if neither are white as this
subject’s was.
“Never.” Own race- “White
trash.” Partner- “Dirt.” Not okay
even if of different races.
“They are fine with me.” Own
race- “They are cool with me if that’s
what floats their boat.” Partner-
“Cool.”
“In this day and age, I think inter
racial relationships are fine and
should be accepted.”
This subject was very accepting of
others nonetheless.
“I think that it’s a good thing. Race
shouldn’t matter in a relationship.”
“Nay. Not possible. Too many
problems as far as how society views
the relationship.” Own race - “Like
a sellout, the way they look at me,
they feel bad as if they’ve done
wrong.” Partner- “Hey, like I view
my friends, it’s all good.”
“I would not be against it, but I am
not actively pursuing.”
“Who cares?”
“Doesn’t bother me.” Both the
people are viewed as “Brave and se
cure.”
When asked if they thought that
the level of prejudice and racism
had improved, most of the subjects
in making changes
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which our life at Behrend needs to
be improved. There are also im
provements being made to campus
to aid our learning process. My first
column of the semester was about
how plans are being made to rede
sign the Academic Building making
it more comfortable to learn. I was
particularly pleased with the inclu
sion of a group of students in the de
cision making process. After getting
back from my class in 57 Academic
(a room with no windows) on Tues
day morning, 1 realized that these
changes are in dire need. Hopefully
the renovations will be made soon
and the money can be collected to do
replied positively saying that they
thought it has. Other answers in
cluded:
“Actual prejudice has improved
over the years, but the ‘tension’
among different groups has tended to
increase.”
“The playing field, though far from
even, is leveling. It will, inevitably,
be a slow and frustrating process.”
“I feel cultures will always clash.
It will always be a factor of life.”
“I think many blacks have a chip
on their shoulder and this irritates the
white people.”
“From what I have read and seen,
both prejudice and racism has come
a long way in being improved.
Maybe I’m bad in judging whether
there is a problem, I come from rela
tively white neighborhoods, and
schools that were mostly white.
From what I have seen, I am proud
to say it has gotten much better. Per
haps one day we’ll reach a point
when nobody will understand what
we mean when we say those words
(‘prejudice’ and ‘racism’). Unfortu
nately, true eradication may never
happen.”
“It’s become worse, the jobs that
blacks get they probably don’t de-
SHBAIJGH
Turning on students to the state of
Behrend was the main priority of my
column this semester. But to tell you
the truth, the research 1 put into "A
Day in the Life” turned me on to the
certain aspects of campus life that I
probably would have missed other
wise. It also helped me understand
the way decisions are really made
here. I hope that others will come to
their own conclusions about their
academic lifestyle and take appropri
ate action.
A Day in The Life appeared every
three weeks in The Behrend Colle
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serve.”
“I don’t feel levels of prejudice and
racism have improved because of
deep grown feelings of hatred and
stereotypical viewpoints.”
“Prejudice and racism are not
worse, just more deeply entrenched.”
“I think it’s about the same if not
worse. It’s just not as openly shown
as it once was.”
“I feel that racism still exists, and
is very prevalent. But I feel that most
people, in my experiences, will keep
their prejudices to themselves.”
“Yes, they have improved over the
years even if people aren’t doing it
on purpose. People are seeing more
of other races on TV, in public, etc.
and are starting to think nothing of
I think that relations have im
proved but not nearly enough."
“On some levels it has improved.
For example, legally, people cannot
be discriminated against. In some
ways, it is the same or worse. People
still segregate themselves and still
hold strong prejudicial beliefs.”
If there were one thing that they
could change, some suggestions
Race ci
inued on pa go 5