Page Two
By Paul Corbran
Executive Editor
This past Tuesday I had been
sitting in the Collegian office
when Jennifer Gregor, from the
SGA, walked in and asked if I
could go over (to theSGA office)
and get some information about
PIRG for a news article. I wasn't
really enthused about the idea
because I was trying to write
another article (that was late
already) and I knew nothing
about any PIRGs except that they
were trying to get an extra
$2.00 from me every term. But
since I was the only one there to
cover it I thought I had better go
anyway.
Well, after listening to the
representatives and reading
parts of a notebook on the subject,
I'm glad that I did go. The Public
Interest Research Group (PIRG)
is an organization of students,
founded by Ralph Nader in 1970,
who are bringing back student
activism in a more organized
sense. It is organized by con
cerned students who approach
Letters to the Editor
Woods—'Dictator (mops!) I mean Director'
Dear Editor,
I submit this letter as a sup
plement to last week's treatise by
Jeffrey Johnson regarding the
gehesis of the "Behrend apathy"
syndrome. It is not my intention to
bore you're ' readers with
redundancy, but to elucidate
several points Mr. Johnson
proposed which focus more
strictly on the administration.
Over the past several months
there has been a push by the
students under the supervision of
JRC to extend visitation hours in
accordance with those desired by
the majority of resident students.
As Jeff's article illustrated, this
proved to be a rather futile effort
as Director Kochel in his
ISchrtub Tollegian
gip fuss Assoriatb3n
of alitmmotuorattly Campuses
Gay Cafania
Managing Editor
Bob Wetmore
News Editor
Business Manager: Alan Shrout
Ad Staff: Jeffrey Lang, Liii Pintea, Ed Janus
Circulation Manager: Carol Reed
Reporters: Alan Kirk, Chuck Little, Ron Wayne, Mary Beth Zabel,
Rosa Myers, Marsha Young, Tim Grosser, Joe Grisanti, Jo Packer,
Carol Von Zastrow, Mark Reese, Muriel Hykes, Elaine Grove, Todd
Talkish, Cathleen Mcl nerney
Sports Staff: J.P. Roach
Cartoonist: V. Becker
Photographer: Rick Malkin
Business Staff: Taffey Wayland, Mike Kaveney
Typist: Michele Crotty
Mailing Address- Behrend Campus, Station Road, Erie, Pa. 16510
Office- Student Offices, Reed Uniim Building
Office Hours: 9:30 a.m.- 4 . :30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Phone: 899-3101 Ext. 238.
Opinions expressed by the editors and staff of the Behrend
Collegian are not necessarily those of the University
Administration, faculty, or the student bod .
Published every Thursday throughout the Fall, Winter, and
Spring Terms, with exclusions for holidays and term breaks.
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
others with a petition for support.
If they receive 50 per cent of the
student body's signatures, then
the PIRG is instituted. So far,
there are 19 states and the
District of Columbia who already
have the organization in some of
.
their schools. _
In a column by Jack Anderson,
printed in the Sept. 22 issue of the
Washington Post, this
organization was reviewed. In
this article there were a number
of cases describing what some of
these rstatewide orgapizqions
are doing: Here - are a 'few:
Oregon, their PIRG sent women
out for credit loans. They found.
among other things, that a major
bank required women to produce
a certificate of sterility or an
affidavit swearing she was using
birth control measures in order to
get a loan. Seven student mem
bers dispatched 'confused tax
payers' to Internal Revenue
Service tax centers with identical
`problems' and found that in
virtually every case, that the tax
payers got different information.
The IRS insititued some re
"benevolence" granted the
students only ten additional
hours. I reiterate this in
formation in order to make a
point, which is this. At the
beginning of Fall term (before
JRC had been formed) I
dismissed undertaking the, same
project as JRC eventually did
with a member of the Office of
Student Affairs and also proposed
that more direct overt action be
taken by the resident students.
This person (who shall remain
anonymous) at this time im
plored me not to take any action
until JRC had had time to form
and then to go through the
"correct" channels and "proper"
procedures. Well, much to my
Member of
Linda Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
Tom Stanger
Entertainment Editor
Editorial 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
necessarily reflect the Editorial
policy of the Behrend Collegian.
Paul Cothran
Executive Editor
Jay Schonthater
Sports Editor
Behrend Collegian
forms." In another case the
members of the Minnesota
PIRG, during the 1972 bombings
of Haiphong Harbor, were im
plored by radicals on campus to
join demonstrations. PIRG only
committed itself to take
'photographs - at - the demon
stration. Their pictures - of police
taking off their badges and
beating students won a court case
that forced police to wear iden
tifying badges.
Students at Penn State are
trying to organize a Pennsylvania
chapter of PIRG. Petitions will be
sent around• Behrend in the
coming weeks and a PIRG
representative will be in the Reed
Lecture Hall during Common
Hour on Thursday, March 13.
This is a chance for you to get
involved and improve your
community. I'm sure you can
spare that extra $2.00 a term, I
know I will. Oh, for those who
can't, your money will be
refunded, on request, within the
first few weeks of the term.
Mr. Kirk's letter (below)
stresses his point very, hmmm...l
chagrin, I decided to acquiesce
and follow "proper" procedure
which supposedly would be more
acceptable to our "Great White
Director." According to Mr
Johnson, Dictator coops) I mean
Director Kochel stated that he
didn't care if 80 per cent of the
students and their parents sup
ported greater extension of
visitation. The decision was
ultimately his..."the students
would like to think they make the
rules but they don't..." Fellow
resident students, this seems to
be a bastardization of this great
American democratic process we
all "know and love", or is it just
autocracy Behrend style.
Now lets open our bibles
(Behrend College Student Hand
books- 1974-75) to page 34 in the
white pages of student rules and
regulations on visitation. It is
specified that each Resident Hall
shall vote on their own visitation
policy at the beginning of each
year subject to the approval of
the office of Student Affairs. It
seems as if our Office of Student
Affairs is at the mercy and a
mere extension of our Director.
Dean Lane has told me that he
can make no decision on visitation
himself, he must have the
director's sanction. Funny, the
rules don't read that way. Could it
be that rules are only adhered to
by administrative personnel when
it is convenient for their pur
poses? An interesting thought.
Fm not sure if I have written
this in criticism of certain ad
ministrators, as a point of in
formation and motivation to the
students. or just as a form of
catharsis for myself. I've been
around college campuses since
1969. and I find it very
discouraging to see the
manipulation of students by the
admininstration which we worked
so hard to alleviate several years
ago. It seems as if "the man" in
Behrend's White House off
Jordon Road is hellbent on
deciding how others should live.
Maybe he should come up "on the
hill" and live with us, or maybe
we wouldn't want him here. In
any case, Ihope more of vs on the
hill will band together and
collectively let the responsible
individuals know how we feel.
This is our college too. What is
Behrend College without its
students?
Sincerely,
Michael Woods
107 Lawrence
9th term Psych
If there is to be a fad to replace
"streaking" as the national
campus pastime for 1975, it just
might be communal bathing.
Already, group baths are
becoming an integral part of
guess vividly is about the best after-class life for some students
word I can think of right now. at the University of California at
Besides the complaint of Berkeley.
publicity being "ripped off" of Following a hard day of
classes, student neighbors here
the bulletin board, he mentioned
that the SUB has little, or "no" now take to big back-yard tubs to
s
money. A few weeks ago I had an sip wine, exchange tales of the
'
article in this spa yingce.sa about - days woes, read poetry, and soak
the same • tidng. for' all student' their troubles away_
"I'm sure there's going to be a
activities. Well; I was reading big hot-baths phenomenon pretty
about a satirical magazine that
was just re-instituted at UP soon," says Clive Scullion, a self-
described leader of what's
recently in "The Liberal Arts becoming known as the "corn-
Review", a newsletter put out by
the College of Liberal Arts of mumty tub" movement. But,
group bathing is a
Penn State. In this article, the says Scullion,
editor of the magazine stated that far healthier form of tension
the first issue was financed by $3 release than
nude
simply running
ac.rpss camplisnd everybody made.suclia.big
A
million dollars from Associated
Student Activities (ASA). He also issue out of visitation here at
said that they "blew the entire
Behrend!
amount". $3 MILLION
DOLLARS....on a run-off of a
"MAD" magazine
College recieves a little over
$lO,OOO for all of its activities and
one (1) magazine gets $3 million.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON
DOWN THERE? Oh well, I don't
know why I'm writing this. As
people who don't take time to
real deceivers
`Rip-off
Dear Editor,
The Student Union Board of
Behrend College would just like
to know what the f— happens to
all the .publicity that goes up on
the bulletin boards and other
places. A bunch of real a-holes
must think they (the pieces of
material) look real neat in their
rooms. Well, I think they can
have them in their rooms if they
want to but don't think that I will
put any more information up
around here. Further, I'm not
going to bust my a- tor any one at
this school who really don't give
two about what goes on
because they have stupid Pitt
sburgh accents and walk around
with their mouths open.
You know the COLLEGIAN is
so f--ed up I don't think they will
print this letter If they do so
what, who the f— reads this
paper anyway.
First of all, the Student Union
Board doesn't have any money
any way and even. if some
fabulous rock group came nobody
would come anyhow because
they're all on head trips.
If more stuff is ripped off then
nothing is going to happen on this
campus and you know we can do
it. They used to say let them eat
cake but I'll say, "let them eat
s---''.
Signed.
Alan Kirk
Doubtful
Dear Editor,
I was, at first, very pleased to
read in the February 6 Collegian
that a Culture Club is in the
making at Behrend. I was very
soon to be disappointed, however,
when I read that the main pur
pose of the club was to give one a
chance to escape "the stifling
atmosphere here at Behrend." It
would seem that the very people
who are supposedly interested in
culture either are unaware of
(doesn't anyone know how to
read?) or else choose to ignore
the very fine cultural presen
tations that have been given and
are scheduled at Behrend. A few
of these events that have oc
curred over the past two terms
include: The appearance of the
Erie Philharmonic in Erie Hall (a
free event), Jerry Rockwood's
"A Condition of Shadow",
Romona Austin's poetry recital,
and Peggy Coburn, contralto and
Clean Fun
Oops, the editors made a
mistake. In the article
pertaining to Women in
Public Relations, Feb. 6
issue of the Collegian, the
name of Villa Maria's head
of Public Relations is Ms.
Judy Holahan. Our
apologies.
Behrend
a fine opera singer. (Another free
event).
The above mentioned programs
offer a wide variety and a high
quality of cultural events that are
unequated by any area college.
Unfortunately, very few students
or faculty take advantage of
them. Could this be that some of
the "cuittired — of Behrend• feel
that simply because these events
take place at Behrend College
that they are not worth while? If
so, this is a disgrace. If no one,
including students and faculty.
can bother to take the time to
come to Behrend's programs.
then I doubt very much that any
will care to take the time and
spend the money necessary to get
to cultural events off-campus.
Sincerely,
Nanci A. Dayton
sth term Chem. Major
Thank You
Dear Editor,
First of all, I would like to
thank you for your coverage of
the Women in Public Relations
Program in the Feb. 6 issue of the
Collegian.
One slight correction. though.
The sentence which read that
"the speakers emphasized that
pre-job experience is not im
portant" should read that pre-job
experience is most important.
Thank you.
Cordially.
Maryanne Koschier
Counselor:
Career Development
& Placement Center
Dear Editor,
I would like to take this op
portunity to thank the 200 plus
Behrend students who par
ticipated in the Ambassador
Program from University Park.
Our visitors from University
Park were very impressed with
the interest expressed from our
student body.
Good show gang,
Dean Bainum
February 13, 1975