Page Two
commentary
Burdening the economy
By Jim Martin
Executive Editor
This nation's society, with a
healthy, productive economy, can
afford to aid its citizens or certain
of their activities. The aid is
possible because all or part of
their cost is a general charge
(taxes) against the working
class.
But it is obvious that no society,
the United States included, no
matter how strong, can aid
everything. There must be some
parts that function proficiently,
not only to be self-supporting but
to provide enough extra
materials to support what the
society choses to subsidize.
And, as in every society, there
is a limit to aiding, and a breaking
point. The United States is ap
proaching the point where the
burden of aiding too much is
becoming too great a burden for
the remaining producing working
class of our society.
This fact cannot be ignored. It
should be obvious that to levy
~r.or•—• The
nt
By Pamela Gilmore
Collegian Staff Writer
After America's victory over
Great Britain in her fight for
freedom, the magic of her
triumph seemed to have
possession over everyone. In the
Northern States, free Blacks
agitated and petitioned against
the institution of slavery. And for
awhile it seemed like America
was really going to be America,
the land of the free, with liberty
and justice for all.
The spirit of democracy was
easily felt. Slavery was. dead in
the Northern states and there
were signs that it was in the
process of dying in the South. In
lieu of all of this, it seems
inevitable that the men who
composed the Declaration of
Independence had to take into
account the fact that America
had been a land of people in
bondage who had to fight for
something which they were about
to deem "the unalienable right of
all mankind."
Tleltrenit Calegian
Oityr frtss Aaanriattnn
of Olnnuninumftb atanwnsts
Paul Corbran
Editor-in• Chief
Bob Wetmore Gay Catania Jim Martin
Managing Editor Entertainment Editor Executive Editor
Mary Carman Mike Kaveney
News Editor Business Manager
Executive Secretary: Carol Mautsch
Ad Manager: Ron Strike
Layout Editors: Bill Appel'
Copy Editors: Amy Snyder, Katy Ferer, Jenny Suchin, Bill Appell
Business Staff: Judy Reed
Writers: Ron Wayne, Jay Schonthaler, Janet Mazur, Pamela
Gilmore, Dan McKay, Deborah Bunting, Mary Schoen, Mary Jo
Santini, Kevin Conway, Robin Buccilli.
Cartoonist: Bridget Brawner
Photographers: Lynn Boone, Jeff Urraro
Typists: Michele Crotty, Kathy Weiser
Mailing Addres- Behrend College, Station Road, Erie, Pa. 16510
Office- Student Offices, Reed Union Building
Office Hours:9:3o 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 body.
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
The Collegic►n
taxes against the working class
producers is impending doom and
cannot be long sustained. New
York City is an example of this.
We are without a doubt the
richest country in the world.
There is no reason, if that is what
the people wish, that we cannot
aid many of the members and
activities of the nation, as we do
now. I have no inherent economic
objection for the indigent or for
aid to schools, hospitals or the
arts. Indeed, any decent member
of the working class community
recognizes the wealth of im
portance to support these.
The question is—how much?
How much can be supported?
How many non-productive
people, ranging from the indigent
to the bureaucratic clerk, can be
supported by the working people?
Just how much taxation on our
society can be made to cover the
activities receiving aid?
Our civil servants are
multiplying, as do their pensions.
The welfare rolls are sorrowfully
Soul Of Seventy-Six
With the fever of freedom
raging through the air, various
religious communities such as
the Baptists, Quakers and
Methodists adopted stands
against slavery. It appeared that
mankind was close to a solution to
the racial dilemma once and for
all. •
But suddenly, everything
changed_ America wasn't
destined to be America quite yet_
The events which triggered these
changes were two-fold. First, the
Revolutionary War for in
dependence (fought and won by
black slaves on the French island
of Haiti against the French
Dictatorship of Napoleon
Bonaparte) send shudders of fear
throughout the Plantation South.
Secondly, and probably more
important, was the invention of
the cotton gin by Eli Whitney.
With this development, all
thoughts of equality and
democracy were forgotten as
slave labor was put to work
growing and processing cotton.
Member of
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.
Mark Reese
Sports Editor
Behrend Collegian
soaring. Unemployment has
steadily grown. New laws have
been passed that allow as much
as sixty-five weeks, nearly six
teen months, eligibility to non
produce, but qualify for unem
ployment compensation. That is a
long, burdensome period which
the tax-paying member is slaving
for! The unemployment rate for
the country is 8.2 per cent. The
State of Pennsylvania's rate is
even higher, listed at 9 p.m. Erie
County's unemployment rate is
7.8 per cent.
We can not (economically) last
too much longer headed in this
direction, that of the "give
away" economy. The economic
possibility of stable productive
growth, or just stability,
diminishes rapidly. It diminishes
rapidly because the government
programs have increased until
there is a $7O billion annual gap
between what revenues are
received and what is subsidized.
And we ought to have no illusions
about the peril of transgressing it.
For blacks, the brief moment of
hope was extinguished. In a
reaction that was, and still is,
difficult to understand, an entire
population turned against them.
And once again, a portion of
America was in bondage.
Next issue—The Ante-bellum
South.
First meeting
to be held by
Honor Society
The Keystone Honor Society is
planning its first meeting of the
year for next week (publicity will
be forthcoming). Keystone is a
service-oriented organization
that has been active both at
Behrend and in the surrounding
community. Some past projects
have included the Cancer Drive,
the annual Behrend Honors and
Awards banquet, and supplying
the residence halls with hoagies.
The only requirement for joining
Keystone is that you have a 3.0
grade average. Keystone is a
worthwhile organization that
needs your support. Your
presence at the first meeting
would be appreciated!
Help yourself
help others
Students interested in tutoring
Behrend students should register
in the Student Affairs Office,
second floor in the RUB.
Repetition is often the necessity
of communication. Many Behrend
students have expressed the need
for outside help, and many tutors
are needed to fill the long line of
requests. Let us help the in
structor by helping the student.
Newly-elected
officers take
their command
By Carol Mautsch
Executive Secretary
The Student Government
Association held its elections for
officers last week. The response
was promising. In the past, the
student elections have had a very
light response. .
The results of the class
presidential elections are as
follows: Freshmen—Ed
Mulkearn; Sophomore—Doug
Roth: Junior—Jennifer Gregor;
Senior—Alan Kirk.
Other positions filled in the
"new" SGA were: Secretary—
Michelle Harding; Treasurer—
letters
varying viewpoints
Performer Pleased
Dear. Editor,
I'm sitting here, - feeling good in
a special way, and it's all due to
Behrend's student body. Last
Friday evening I played at the
Coffee House and was totally
amazed at the audience.
First of all, there was a very
good sized crowd, as there have
been at the previous Coffee
Houses this year. Last year,
whenever I performed at
Behrend -the crowd usually
consisted of a table or two- -of
commuters and the rest were
friends that I brought with me.
It's certainly a -pleasure to see a
large amount of both dorm and
commuting students attending
and participating in the Coffee
Houses this year.
Not only has the size increased,
but so has the maturity of the
audience. For the first time in my
musical career I played for a
responsive and appreciative
group. I was totally surprised at
the silence; they didn't even
speak between songs! This of
course is quite extraordinary
considering that performers in
the Erie area are usually con
fronted with rowdy, uninterested
and far from courteous people_ If
all the crowds that I played for
were of the caliber of those at
Behrend's Coffee Houses, I would
probably want to write music and
perform it as my career.
I want to take this opportunity
to thank the audience at last
Friday's Coffee House for being
so r‘olite and "special." I just
can't seem to praise the situation
enough. I'm definitely looking
forward to performing at
Behrend in the near future.
I would also like to extend my
gratitude to Margaret Irmes, who
is responsible for making the
Coffee Houses possible. Margaret
does an excellent job and it's
always a pleasure to work for
her.
For the upcoming Coffee House
series Margaret has arranged for
such outstanding local talent as
October 2, 1975
JoAnn Bruno; Commuter
Representative—Michael
McCarthy; Representatives-At-
Large—Howard Foht, Dexter
Davis, and Scott Little.
The newly elected Science
Representative is Roger Zanes,
and the Social and Behavioral
Science Representative is George
Spiegal. Colleen Trimble is the
new Arts and Humanities
Representative.
If the response to this election is
carried throughout the. entire
year, SGA representatives expect
that this year will be the year for
the SGA to create the new
Behrend.
Jon Ims, this Friday night, and
"Feathers" a duo composed of
two very fine musicians, on the
24th. I know these people too will
be pleased with the attendance
and attitude of the audience. I
also know that the audience won't
let them down; they're too in
telligent to make asses of
themselves.
Again, thank you
"listening" to the music.
Take care,
but take it,
Gay Catania
Grateful
Dear Sir, - -
When 8.1.0. first began
planning for the plant sale held
last Friday, no one really thought
'that it would be the wonderful
success-that it was. After every
last plant had been sold, it was
found that the club cleared over
$350.00!
Many people were instrumental
in bringing the plant sale into
being. Sue Brown and other club
members obtained many of the
plants for the sale. Loyal club
members, and on occasion, even
some interested bystanders
carried and dragged plants to the
place of sale and also saw that the
plants were well watered in the
previous weeks. Frost's
Greenhouse supplied a large
number of plants at wholesale
prices. The club is greatly in
debted to all.
A special thank you is due to
Mr. Hover who so generously
donated to the club all the large
plants that were at the sale.
Lastly, thank you, all you
Behrend students who patronized
the sale. The club couldn't have
done it without you.
Sincerely,
Ann E. Lane
8.1.0. Pres.
7th term Bio major
Erie, Pa.