Page Two • imi Howdy! As usual, an abun dance of new developments have been occupying the attention of myself and the SGA this term. I felt that some of this information should necessarily be related to the student body. Some of these issues are of the utmost im portance and some just in teresting to know. As most of you are aware, the M3B academic regulation has .been terminated. That was the regulation which afforded the student the option of repeating a course if they received a failing grade(F). Well, it was intended that a new policy be established to deal with this problem which would be even more liberal than M 33, but this did not materialize. My basic point is this: it is already the third week of a term and we currently have no official policy covering failing grades. This may be seriously detrimental to the student who has already amassed deficiency points and the SGA is requesting an immediate policy from the University Faculty Senate dealing with this matter and to be made retroactive, if necessary, to cover this Winter term. Perhaps the most encouraging event of the year took place during a meeting between Director Kochel and myself last week. I had requested that a student be appointed to the Directors Advisory Board (that influential board which advises the Director on all major decisions) which had been suggested before, but rejected by the Board. I was informed at that time that Director Kochel would convene with the Executive Board of the board to discuss this matter. At this point, I believe, it looks quite favorable and this represents a definite heightened potential for student input in the affairs of the college which affect everyone. Until one week ago, I was happily ignorant of the plight of the adjunct student at Penn State. Having entered as an adjunct student and being accepted with no difficulty into a degree program, I had no idea of the burdens shared by these God forsaken few. The adjunct student at Penn State is like a little non entity floating in suspended automation from one office to another for six terms until he Vtitted Tolitgian MO 'tress Association at ennunanuitaltly atanqiusts Bob Wetmore Managing Editor Mike Kaveney Business Manager Executive Secretary: Carol Mantsch Ad Manager: Ron Strike Layout EditorS: Bil!Appell Copy Editors: Amy Snyder, Katy Ferer, Jenny Suchin, Bill Appel,. Business Staff: Judy Reed Writers: Jay Schonthater, Janet Mazur, Pamela Gilmore, Dan McKay, Deborah r ßunting, Mary Schoen, Mary Jo Santilli, Robin Buccilli. Photographers: Lynn Boone, Jeff Urraro, Dan Haley Typists: Michele Crotty, Kathy Weiser Mailing Address- Behrend College, 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 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 exciusions 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 Ftaffreserves the right to correct A Word From Our President finds that he cannot be admitted to the degree program of his choice and is forced to leave. Penn State, heart in hand, defeated and downtrodden by the mechanical bureaucracy which he so trustingly dedicated himself to. There are currently ten majors which an adjunct student could never hope to be admitted to and the paramount problem is that many students are not ad: vised of this open acceptance to the university and they often times do not discover this until much time, money, and energy has been squandered by the student in pursuit of his academic hopes. It's resolved by the SGA that the individuals responsible for. adjunct students at Behrend will be notified that we feel this is grossly unfair treatment and that we request a more equitable method of advising adjunct students so that they may be made aware of what their options really are. We are still aspiring to attain membership in the Pennsylvania Student Lobby (PSL) at this point and will be holding a fund raising drive this week in order to 'generate the $BO.OO necessary for Behrend College membership. This organization represents a viable avenue by which we can secure direct input into the Pennsylvania State Legislature relative to issues which affect us as students. I urge your support and contribution no matter how small. The annual - Spring Arts Festival which takes place in May is now beginning to be organized. This is the biggest thing that happens for the students all year in the way of activities and affords a hell of a lot of fun for all. It is one week of Arts and Crafts displays, dance groups, student talent, small concerts and coffeehouses and climaxes with a two day outdoor concert on the ski slope which is always a definite "blow out" for everyone. I would like to en courage anyone who has interests of this sort (in arts and crafts. programming, publicity, etc.) to contact myself or Jay DiFrank about working on the Spring Arts Committee. We need everybody. As we all may be aware of, much to my chagrin, the 19 year old drinking resolution was defeated by the state legislature. Member of Paul Corbran Editor-in-Chief Ron Wayne 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. By Mike Woods SGA President Mark Reese Sports Editor Behrend Collegian It was short of passage only by seven votes and there were nine abstentions or no votes. I currently have a list in the SGA office of how all of the - state legislators voted on the matter if anyone is interested. The bill is slated to come up again in January and I drafted a resolution from all of the Com monwealth Campuses of Penn State several weeks ago in University Park expressing the discontent of over 25,000 students to the speaker of the House in Harrisburg. We hope this will be the cause for some represen tatives to reconsider their negative votes and react more favorably. toward this legislation. Viva La Booze! The Free University is hopefully on its way. We have hopes of offering a variety of student interest centered courses free of charge during the evenings to all students- wishing to learn most anything in a relaxed environment. No academic credit will be received for these cour ses: they merely represent an opportunity for students to learn what they wish to learn in an open setting, with no pressures, grades, or obligations. This is something new for us and one of the freshest ideas present in education today. If anyone has ideas for courses or wishes to lead a course they qualified in (knowledgeable about most anything: arts, crafts, philosophical forums, bookkeeping, cooking, anything). Dr. Richard Tomsic and myself would welcome your interest at any time. There have been some representatives of the Student Government who have been consistently absent from our meetings and political activities. As members of the student body, you might wish to deliberate with your representative and find out what he has been doing. If they have been absent from the proceedings, they are slowing us down and making it more difficult to do all we can for the improvement of the College. You should request that your representative either participate or resign for when they start to neglect their responsibilities (on a regular basis, we all have to shlepp off some time) the students they represent are getting screwed! That's YOU. Just a note—The. Behrend College Commuter Oouncil is looking for all commuters in terested in the establishement of this organization, to work with them. Michael McCarthy (the council chairperson) encourages all commuters to either contact him or watch the bulletin boards for meeting times and places. It's important for the commuters as it is the first time they have ever organized as a group to represent issues, indigenous to the com muter student. Well, it's almost time for Christmas-Chanucahh or whatever break. This time of the year seems to be one of reflection and inner peace for many. It is a time when many individuals forget their day to day hassles, pressures, and artificial. prerequisites for existence that society seems to impose on us. It is a time when I feel we may best observe people behaving in a "peoplish" fashion, rather than a mechanical and routine manner. I think it's - the best damn time of the whole year, and I wish the spirit of community was preserved all year long. It makes me feel just fine. I would like to take this op portunity to wish everyone a beautiful Christmas and-or Chanucahh and extend liopes that all are possessed of this "pleasant" feeling of the sort which I have. Happy Holidays, and may" Penn State triumph in the Sugar Bowl. 5 Merry :44 Christmas li g ;:z55 • From the desk ils vor ).l of the Editor k r By Paul Corbran Editor-in-Chief Well, we've come to another winter. Hmmm...seems that last year, at this time, I was complaining about the plowing of the parking lots and the ice on the walkways. Well, hopefully, we will have somebody to do our complaining for us in the near future...that being - the Behrend Commuter Council- havebeen anxious to get the Conimuter Council rolling in the past few months, as has Mike Woods and "his" SGA. The commuters comprise a good . pail - :of the student body, here dt-Behrena, and the time is- long past due that - they organize in?ueh a manner. I hear time after time of how the commuter students aren't involved enough and that all they do is come. out to class and go home. I hate to admit it but; generally, it is true. . • - I, myself, am a commuter, and-I *realize what is involved. Many commuters have jobs that take. up. - twenty, thirty and sometimes even forty hours per week_• For some it is either work and go to school, or don't go to school. Many com muters can't=make it back_out here in the evenings. Why not some activities during common hour or after sixth period? Why not weekly or hi-weekly movies 'during common hour? These, and other things, will be left up to the Commuter Council. Let's hope this thing can get off of the ground. There will be a meeting, in regards to the Commuter Council, open to all interested students on January 8 during the coin mon hour. The location will be posted. Well, moving on to other topics... Congressional. Can didate, Marc Linco/n Marks, made a brief visit to the Behrend campus, last Thursday morning. He expressed to me that he was interested in getting "college students back into politics again." He is interested in input from students and plans to form a committee consisting of students from area colleges. It's about time that someone showed interest in us. "poor lir students:" I am very interested tOirear what Mr. Marks has to say when he returns, to Behrend, hopefully sometime after the first of the year. Hmmm...l hate beating down old bushes, but...maybe if some of these high-horsed state polittcians would . think about those "not so adult, adults" more often, we might get the legal drinking age lowered! This. thing has been thrown around for years now . and it's about tithe this foolishness is ended! We are not "crazy kids"! W enough said. Have, a happy holiday season...see ya' when we come back. letters varying viewpoints No more pizza Dear Editor: I would like to address this letter to the students of Behrend College who attended and par ticipated in the circus at the close of last term. The circus I am referring to was the Pizza Party sponsored by the Joint Residence Council. I can see no reason for such a display of ignorance. Last year, JRC sponsored three pizza parties, all of which were a success: Paper plates became added attractions - by mysteriously sailing through the air. They were fun and relatively easy to clean up. Somehow whizzing paper plates turned not so-mysteriously into flying pizza, ice, pop, and other assorted debris this past term. Not only was this sickening mess a pain in the ass to clean up, but it also put an end to our traditional Pizza Parties. I just wanted it known what a hard job it was to clean up, not forgetting, the cost—close to $2OO. I hope the guilty parties feel real good about their "fun time at the last JRC Pizza Party.'' Respectfully ( ? ) yours, Ann Loiacona JRC Chairperson 75-76 - Death Machine To the Editor: What - is the American Death - Machine? Look at those of us that were a part of that machine. Are we the madmen you describe as constantly seeking ways to inflict death and torment upon the peoples of the world? Afe we well educated in the 1001 ways to kill a human being? We "couriers of death" were not the cold, stone puppets some. ; people try to portray us as. We think and talk, laugh and cry. Many have even died. We have seen the poverty of nations. We attempted to help them, though we knew our efforts would only be temporary. We gave food and clothing, and sometimes educational materials. We even learned a little of their language December , 18, 1975 in order to communicate better. For an even better look at the death machine, visit the veteran's hospital. You can see the "murder machines" missing a few component parts, such as an arm or a leg, maybe even a combination of parts. Of course we have been enlightened to the fact that they are machines: therefore they have no sense of awareness nor feeling and we should look upon them as one looks at a broken .chair or a burned out light bulb. This -is your death machine. And as a socially conscious person, I am insulted by any comparison with a homicidal maniac or lifeless hulk. Steve Amann Erie, 2nd term Poetry by La Grone By Pamela Gilmore • Collegian Staff. Writer On:rriday, December 12, the Black Student Union sponsored its second major event of the school year, - :one which appropriately reflected the spirit of the holiday seasons—a candlelight Christmas Dinner=--featuring, Mr. Oliver LaGrone, noted Black poet and sculptor. The dinner, which began at 6:30 p.m. in; the Reed Union Building Faculty Dining Room Area, was an informal affair and featured a buffet style menu reflecting a holiday cuisine: Mr. - LaGrone's after dinner speech was centered:on the topic of the Black Aesthetic Revisited. A fainiliar visitor to the Behrend Campus, Mr. LaGrone is noted for his intriguing poetry and his magmticelit vvorks of sculpture, some which depicted prominent -figures in Black History. About 50 people attended the affair.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers