Page Two
Editorial Opinion
Collegian Requests
Probe Of J.R.C.
Recently there have ap
peared many mis-happenings
within our closely knit system
at Behrend Campus. The
S.G.A. and the Behrend
Administration have tried to
solve many of these problems
with the least amount of
student unrest possible. Until
this time this would have been
thought to be true. Now there
exists a break down in
communication, not from the
Administrations view point,
but rather from the students
organization, namely the
Joint Resident Council.
As seen within the content of
this publication, we have
made totally public the result
of the recent issue of extended
visitation hours, but if you
take notice, the date of the
letter is March 3. This letter
released by Benjamin A.
Lane, Dean of Student
Affairs, was to be made
publicly known shortly after it
had been dated. Why is it now
we hear of its content a month
after the letter was to be
released?
Dean Lane’s letter was sent
to the Joint Resident Council
and from there it was to be
Editorial
The editorials appearing in this
newspaper will be opinionated
and therefore subject to
criticism. All letters that are
typewritten of 200 words or less,
and submitted to the newspaper
staff will be printed with the
exception of those that are
repetitions or in poor taste. The
staff reserves the right to correct
Hehtettii Collegian
(Sift |ftxss Asaariattim
of (SottutununraUi; (ftampusrs
Assistant managing editor, Carol Turkington; Sports editor, Dave
Ruef; Assistant sports editor, Tony Alo; Photo editor, Gary Pisani;
Reporters: Pam Babcock, Kathy Baker, Carolyn Beck, Mike
Chiricuzuo, Charles Eschweiler, Ray Geiger, Tom Harvey, Carol
Hughes, Carol Jamison, Rebecca LaPlante, Terri Rich, Dale Carlos
Watazychyn; Staff: Elaine Bernarding, Barb Jerman, Roseann Leo,
Pam Moore, Abbie Morrow, Ken Mushrush; Cartoonist, Mike Loren;
Advertising manager, Bob Moulin; Circulation manager, Dave
Kempa; Faculty Adviser David Daniel.
Mailing Address- Behrend Campus, Station Road, Erie, Pa. 16510
Office- Student Offices, Reed Union Building
Office Hours: 9:30 a.m.-4;30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Phone: 899-3101 Ext.23B
Opinions expressed by the editors and staff of the Behrend Collegian
are not necessarily those of the University Administration, faculty, or
the student body.
Published every Thursday throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring
Terms, with exclusions for holidays and term breaks.
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disbursed to the S.G.A. and
the students. But instead it sat
in waiting to be picked up by a
member of the J.R.C.
Why wasn’t this letter
received' immediatly,
futhering the action of this so
called effective organization?
The only possible answer is
that this organization does not.
generate the student interest
it so duly professes.
Therefore, we request an
investagation upon the
effectivness of the Joint
Resident Council. We further
propose that a committee be
formed to conduct the afore
mentioned request. This
committee should consist of
the following individuals:
Benjamin A. Lane, Dean of
Student Affairs, Daniel P.
Fiorentino, Resident Coor
dinator, Arthur L. Sprague,
President of J.R.C., Alan J.
Quinlan, President of S.G.A.
and a Collegian represen
tative to clarify the request,
to be chosen when the com
mittee is formed.
It is the hope, that this
investigation if ensued, will
determine the representative
ability of this organization.
Policy
or delete portions of all letters for
publication purposes.
All letters must be signed, but
names will be withheld upon
request. Term standing, major,
and hometown must be included.
Signed columns represent the
view of the author only and do not
reflect the Editorial policy of the
Behrend Collegian.
Member of
Doug Leich liter
Editor-in-chief
Jack Richenbacher
Business Manager
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Behrend Collegian
Open Letter to the Students
Why No Extended Visitation
March 3,1972
Mr. George Frola, Chairman
The Joint Resident Council
The Behrend Campus
SUBJECT: Extended visitation
policy
Dear Mr. Frola:
In your recent communication
to me regarding “extended
visitation policy”, your con
cluding paragraph requests that I
“read and evaluate” the new
proposal. In accord with that
request I would like to present to
you the evaluation of the Office of
Student Affairs regarding your
proposal.
I. To begin, I think it is ap
propriate to review the history of
the parietal rules governing
students in residence at the
Behrend Campus over the past
several years. The residence hall
program began four years ago
and at that time operated under
what current standards would
regard as a stringent series of
rules and procedures; these
regulations were primarily
concerned with women students
and included sign-outs and sign
ins, overnight permission and a
whole host of regulations
regarding the student’s personal
life. In a comparatively short
period of time all of those
regulations have been withdrawn.
As recently as a year ago the open
house program at Behrend was
restricted to several hours on
Sunday afternoon, and as you
know last year was extended to
include weekends only. The
present open house code - was
established in October of last
year permits open house seven
days a week. In addition there are
open lobbies and the floor
operation of the code functions
vith very few restrictions. All of
the changes in the student life in
the residence hall have come
about through the recom
mendation of the students
themselves functioning through
their appropriately designated
government bodies. By and large
this has been done with a
minimum of difficulty and in a
spirit of mutual respect and
concern. When the current open
house proposal, now in effect, was
made it was assumed by the
Office of Student Affairs that this
would be the proposal for a year
and it was not our thinking at the
time that it would be subject to
review.
11. At the present time in
dividuals both at official and
unofficial levels within the
University are seriously con
cerned about the concept of
visitation as it is currently
operating at the University Park
Campus. In addition I am sure,
you are aware, there is national
concern over the whole area of
residence hall living. Not only has
there been an inordinate increase
in the amount of theft taking
place within the residence halls,
but there has also been an in
crease in threats to individuals
and property as well. There is
always the concern of the non
student and *his ability to operate
quite freely under most open
house or visitation procedures.
Finally as a recent article in the
New York Times indicates,
“college officials as well as
students have become alarmed
by thefts, muggings, rapes, and
even murder.” It is a common
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tendency of the part of individuals
in the face of national trends and
incidents to assume that such
incidents could not happen in their
own lives; this has been at times
a regrettable and indeed tragic
point of view.
It has been observed, with
some justification, that all of
these incidents could occur on a
campus where visitation does not
exist; however, current in
vestigations tend to indicate that
there is a direct correlation
between thefts and other serious
problems and the extent of open
house codes. Although the
operation of the current open
house code at the Behrend
Campus would seem to be
operating reasonably well in
certain areas, recent incidents
have indicated that the control
measures within the code may
not be sufficient to insure the
security that must be a part of
such a program. There is par
ticular concern with the overnight
guest and failure of students to
comply with the Joint Residence
Council requirement that such
guests be registered.
An open house program such as
is in operation at Behrend, can
only function properly if all
members of the residence
community assume respon
sibility for control. In the case of
overnight guests the element of
control rests almost exclusively
with the resident student in whose
room the guest is staying. One of
the primary concerns of the
Student Affairs Staff is that most
reports of infractions of the code
have been made by residence hall
staff, not by students, especially
in the area of overnight guests
where the responsibility of the
student is critical. It is felt by this
office that there is need for
strengthening these aspects of the
present open house program.
111. In my letter to the Joint
Residence Council in which ap
proval was given for the present
open house program I voiced
concern about accommodations
Donations Requested
Freedom of P.O.W.'s
Over 1,500 Americans are
either Prisoners of War of
Missing in Action in Southeast
Asia.
Aside from the inhumane
treatment witnessed by those few
who have returned, the most
tragic-aspect is that most of the
families of these men do not know
if their sons, husbands, or fathers
are alive or dead. Hanoi won’t tell
them.
This bracelet honors the man
whose name is inscribed and
includes the date he was lost. It
should be worn with the vow that
it will not be removed until the
day the Red Cross is allowed into
Hanoi and can assure his family
of his status and that he receives
ADDRESS.
Please send nickel-plated, or.
Waldo's
'heroiily |0« ip
But waid* a vani&LtT
l-Ess«N about eRv STATIONS ..-Yew
being made for those students
who conscientiously cannot ac
cept either the spirit or actuality
of open house. I requested that
these students should be given an
opportunity to make their
feelings known and that plans
should be made to comply with
their requests by developing
living units where open house will
not be in effect. I have had
several students over the past
several weeks in my office
voicing their concern about open
house and in addition I have had
other observations through
students and staff regarding the
concern of students with what
they consider the problem of open
house. The Joint Residence
Council at this point has not made
any workable recommendation to
comply with what seems
to this office to be a major con
cern.
IV. Finally the Office of Student
Affairs is generally concerned
about the viability of the open
house concept in residential life.
To tills end it is concerned with
developing sound objectives
research in this area so that
future plans can be made which"
will guarantee an acceptable
mode of life for all students. For
the past several months the
Office of Students Affairs has
planned to do research on the
present open house program.
This research will be done during
the spring term.
Taking all of the above matter
into consideration it is the con
sidered opinion, of the Office of
Student Affairs, that an extension
of open, house is not appropriate.
We fully appreciate the en
thusiasm and good will of many of
the students who have worked
hard to make this program what
it is and hope that through proper
research and more study a truly
viable program can be
developed.
Sincerely yours,
Benjamin A. Lane
Dean of Student Affairs
the humane treatment due
men.
Distributed by VIVA (Voices In
Vital America) a non-profit, non
political national ’ student
organization dedicated to the fact
that progress and freedom can
only be achieved and maintained
by national and responsible ac
tion.
To cover our costs a donation of
$2.50 for nickel or $3.00 for copper
is requested.
Enclosed is my donation for
$
Make checks payable to
VlVA—donations are tax
deductible.
VIVA
10966 LeConte
Los Angeles, CA. 90024
.solid copper bracelets
April 20, 1972