MARCH 19, 1987
Collegian
PAGE 4
Stream
of Consciousnes
To Stan and Dave: In Memorium
First, I would like to clarify something for those readers who silently
think to themselves, "Stream of Consciousness,"—fine. But what's the
significance of the 'No Fishing' sign? I always thought it was obvious, but
my readers don't agree. Stream--No Fishing. . . get it?
Anyway, I have a story to tell. My first story was so much fun to write; I
figure that I'm on a roll. This story is not fun to write.
My story begins in the summer before I entered college: a time when
you find yourself saying goodbye to the friends you've endured the last
four years of your life as you go your separate ways. My friend, Seth,
went to Boston to study acting. Todd went to Chicago to become a musi
cian. Elizabeth went to Florida State University to study stage design and
I came to Erie to tell stories.
My best friend, Dave, went to school in Colorado. We were brothers in
high school. When life got rough we would sit down with a bottle of
Scotch and talk the night away; but it 'wasn't the Scotch that helped work
out the problems, it was the company. My first night at college I sat in my
apartment and drank alone.
Dave and I would keep in touch through phone calls and letters. He
would tell me what a great time he was having in Colorado between
classes, the parties, and some of the best ski slopes in the country.
Dave's roommate's name was Stan. Stan was an unusual guy who had
been in college for years and was still classified as a sophomore. He loved
to be in school because he loved the pirties and he only took as many
classes as he needed to keep the school from throwing him out. He hadn't
seen his parents since he left home at the age of sixteen, and he supported
himself through college with his own business: selling cocaine.
Stan was a good businessman, which he had to be to enable him to af-
Today's students:
The uncaring, the
by Nicholas 0. Berry
Professor and Chairman of
Political Science at Ursinus
College
The recent Carnegie report on
education (College: The
Undergraduate Experience in
America) was far too soft on the
current generation of college
students. Year after year since the
mid 1970's those of us in higher
education have faced the uncaring,
Editorial Policy
The Behrend Collegian's editorial opinion is determin
ed by the Editor, with the Editor holding final respon
sibility. Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are
not necessarily those of The Behrend Collegian, The
Behrend College, or The Pennsylvania State Universi
ty. Brown-Thompson Newspapers, the publishers of
The Behrend Collegian , is a separate corporate institu
tion from Penn State.
Letters Policy: The Behrend Collegian encourages
comments on news coverage, editorial policy and
University affairs. Letters should be typewritten,
double-spaced, signed by no more than two people,
and not longer than 400 words. • Students' letters
should include the semester and major of the writer.
Letters from alumni should include the major and year
of graduation of the writer. All writers should provide
their address and phone number for verification of the
letter. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters
for length, and to reject letters if they are libelous or
do not conform to standards of good taste.
Postal Information: The Behrend Collegian (898-6221)
is published fourteen times annually (seven times dur
ing each academic semester at The Behrend College) by
the students of The Behrend College; The Reed Union
Building, Station Road, Erie, PA 16563.
Letters to the Editor intended
for the next issue of the
Collegian must be submitted
by March 25 at 5:00 p.m.
Don't Look
Now!
Puzzle
Page 7
by Paul Sarkis
Collegian Staff Writer
the insipid, the drab. It is a travesty
to call them students. -
They ask all the wrong ques
tions: "What do you want us to
know?" "What should we study
for the exam?" "What do you
want on the term paper?" While
not new questions, everyone seems
to . be asking them. These late
adolescents want to be either
sponges or clones.
That is not all they want to be.
They want to be comfortable— pro
perly bedded, wedded, and
ford years of out-of-state, tuition as well as his habit. Dave liked Stan, and
they partied together. Soon, Dave liked cocaine.
Dave would write and tell me how funny Stan was just after a big deal.
He would come back to the room at four in the morning, wired out of his
mind, and throw a quarter kilo of coke at Dave screaming for him to hide
it because he was afraid of it. Dave thought this was funny. I didn't.
One night Stan was at a party and did just a little too much. As he was
slam-dancing he had a heart attack and died. The people at the party
assumed that he was just very drunk, put him in the corner and resumed
partying. The next day, when they were cleaning up, they noticed that
Stan was very dead. •Reali7ing that this would not sit well with the
landlord, they carried him back to campus and left him on the steps of a
fraternity_
I must admit that I laughed myself silly when Dave told me this story of
his roommate's untimely demise. It was becoming obvious, though, that
Dave was going to end up the same way.
When I saw him over winter break that year I tried to talk with him
about his habit, but I was talking to a stranger. He was angry that he
couldn't help himself. I hated Stan for getting him into cocaine, and I
hated Dave far following in his shadow. Most of all, I hated the feeling
that I couldn't help my best friend to stop killing himself.
Once again, we went our separate ways without even saying goodbye.
This time I felt twice as bad because I knew that I would never see Dave
again. He didn't even exist anymore. He had been consumed by a drug
that chewed him up and spat him out.
A few days ago, over Spring Break, I ran into Dave's father. He told me
that earlier this year Dave was hospitalized because he did some bad coke
that had been cut with fiberglass. Dave had also dropped out of college
and was living somewhere in Colorado. I asked him if Dave would ever be
coming home. He didn't care.
Goodbye, Dave.
insipid, the drab
careered. Security is their laun
ching pad for the high frontfer of
status and. fun, - fun and -status:.
Their ability to think seemingly
abandoned them at birth. In short,
this generation of college students
is a disgrace.
Can you imagine the day when
these comatose minds become cap
tains of industry, government, and
the professions? Unless something
happens to snap them out of it, this
country is in for an era of blah.
Everyone will be into therapy,
Students compete with
by Michelle Grasmick
Collegian Staff Writer
I would like to take this oppor
tunity to broach a policy which
receives very little attention fron
the students of Behrend College,
but directly affects the quality of
their education. This policy is
tenure.
Tenure is a condition under
which a professor's permanence of
employment at the University is
guaranteed. Tenure is granted to a
professor after he or she meets -a
long list of criteria over a seven
year period while instructing at the
Parent asks his children
To become sexually responsible
This is a letter that I received from my father (as did pain and/or embarassment, and could require signifi
my siblings). Actually, my father wrote the letter, but I cant medical intervention to eradicate, now, we know
believe it reflects the thoughts of both my parents. that acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is
Perhaps the message is obvious to most students and moving into the heterosexual population at an alarming
maybe I'm a bit out of line, but I sincerely hope one can rate. At this time, there is no cure, and once acquired, it
overlook any moral issues here and concentrate on the costs you your life. I don't have any reason to think that
real ones. I was deeply touched to receive this letter any of my children are practicing promiscuous sex, but
from my parents. I thought you might want to share it I'm just making the statement that concern about
with you readers. unplanned pregnancy is no longer enough. You, ob-
Yours, viously, can't -know all the details about a potential sex-
A Grateful Son ual partner's past prictices and behavior, but you had
(Name withheld upon request) better know that person very well before starting a sex
ual relationship. The old "one night stand" is literally
like putting a revolver to ypur head when there is live
ammunition in at least one of the chambers. It scares me
to death to see young people today continuing to in
discriminately have sex with one partner after another:
Well, I'm sure you get my message, but I do have a -
very uneasy feeling that drugs and AIDS could literally
ruin this country, and I don't want you kids to put
yourselves in a position where you could be involved
with either one.
Love,
Your Dad
Dear Kids (I am writing the same letter to each of
you),
I am writing now for the express purpose of "making
a statement" that Lshould have made a long time ago as
a doctor and as' your father.
Your mother and I have said for years now that your
sexuality is your own business and that (I) sex without a
significant non-sexual relationship is wrong in our. eyes
and (2) sex without attention to contraception is ir
responsible and, in that sense, also wrong.
Now, an even more important factor has been in
troduced into the "responsible sex" philosophy and it,
frankly, has me (and Mom) very concerned. It_used to
be that sex for sex sake meant you could contact diseases
which could potentially alter your fertility, could cause
diets, gourmet cooking, more diets,
strange hairdos, straight teeth,
body care,. selective sex, flower
gardening, and the "club,"
whether golf, tennis, or yacht.
With us now, these self-centered
activities will boom in the future. I
can't think of a nicer bunch of peo
ple to be stuck with a $2-trillion na
tional debt.
Copyright (c) 1987, The
Philadelphia Inquirer. Reprinted
by permission.
university. Tenure-eligible facially , and stay in touch with his students.
members must publish articles, or The faculty member is then
novels, pursue advanced degrees, evaluated 'at the end of this seven-
participate in seminars and
workshops, conduct speaking
engagements, develop new
methods of teaching established
courses or Cooperative Extension
Programs, win honors and awards,
and maintain active participation
in professional and learned
societies. In other words; become a
very well-rounded individual.
This is a very admirable and
time-consuming list of re
quirements but, simultaneously,
the professor is expected to develop
his teaching skills, teach full time,
P.S. If this letter has insulted you, I'm very sorry, but
it was important for me to write it.
Reprinted with permission from The Merciad, the stu
dent newspaper of Mercyhurst College.
Pastor Ray
by Pastor Ray Sines
Collegian Staff Writer
What changes your values?
Last semester I completed a
course where, as an individual, I
was asked to formulate a personal
value list. This list was to be rated
on a one to ten scale, one being the
highest priority. Many variables
were considered while compiling
this list. The overall list (of each
student) varied greatly between in
dividuals, and while many values,
listed, appeared on almost every
list, they appeared at different
locations (priorities). This clearly
showed individuality among all the
students - in the class.
Then, we as individuals were put
into groups of six students each.
The power of peer pressure soon
became evident. Individuality ap
peared to no longer be a priority.
Many students changed their
priorities, at least outwardly, after
only five minutes of individual
group discussions—peer pressure.
Guess what happened when the
groups were resolved at the end of
the semester? You guessed it!
Many students' values changed
again—a different peer 'pressure.
This, one may say, relates to
Abraham Maslow's principle on
the "lower" levels. The priorities
changed because the circumstances
changed.
Does this mean in order to
change one's value system you have
to change one's environment? Yes,
to a degree, this will have a direct
effect on a person's value system.
For example, if you were sent to
prison, for whatever reason, • you
would soon ,begin to ac _like a con
vict in order to survive in your new
environment. On the other hand, if
you were to move into a very
wealthy neighborhood, you would
soon be molded into the "new
you" again. So environmental
change can make a difference,
either positive or , negative, and
also, this change will have a direct
influence on about every aspect in
your life.
For example, if you moved into a
neighborhood where nearly
year period. If the professor suc
ceeds in meeting all of these re
quirements, tenure is then granted
-or more simply, the security of the
professor's position at Behrend
College is established.
Many may be curious about the
purpose of this process. The pur-
pose of tenure is to ensure the
employment of the finest faculty.
The pursuit of tenure allows ex
cellence of the profession as well as
the acquisition of higher
knowledge. Thus, professors have
much more to offer to their
E E
opinion
Let's
Talk
everyone seemed to get up in the
morning to go jogging, you would
soon find yourself taking better
care of your own body by getting
"in shape" yourself—a new peer
pressure.
Not including any mind-altering
drugs in any form, I believe that
there is only one stronger influence
on an individual's value system
than that of peer pressure. This
powerful influence is a spiritual
influence.
This spiritual influence may also
be positive or negative-- God or
Satan, respectively. I speak on the
positive only.
I can go along with Abraham
Maslow to a point, but I do not
believe that a person in his or her
own power can become "self
actualized." I do believe, however,
that it is possible to become :God
,
actualized.
Approximately fourteen years
ago I had set out to climb Maslow's
`pyramid.' My only goal in mind
was to become a millionaire.. And,
perhaps, I was well on my Wray. I
became the vice-president of
engineering for a large reputable
firm in Arlington, Virginia, with.a
most excellent salary, expense ac
count, company car and Many
other benefits. Ten years later, I
became the president of my-own
corporation. Now, I am an ordain
ed minister. What happened? Did I
change my values? Did I move?
Yes and no. My value system had
changed, but not totally of my
power. God caused this change to
take place in my life.
Yes, I eventually changed my en
vironment because of my new pro
fession, but not the vice-versa. My
value system had changed because
of God's positive influence on my
life. God had moved into position
number one (with my total accep
tance, of course). This caused a
shift in the balance of my values
list. My pyramid began to take
shape 'doWnward rather than
- The environment is still very im
portant. Certain peer pressures still
have certain influences; but my
highest priority is now fixed. This
number one value priority in
fluences every position below. The
bottom values continue to juggle
around as life progresses, and
perhaps will never settle in a per
manent position until death.
Regardless, God holds the number
one position which determines my
values. -
tenure
students. Tenure also offers securi
ty to faculty members in today's
unstable economy.
However, tenure is no bed of
roses. Once a faculty member ac
quires tenure, it becomes extremely
difficult to remove or replace that
faculty member. In other words,
the quality of the professor's
teaching may slide considerably
downhill before steps are taken to
bring about removal. This also
creates less opportunity for new
professors with fresh knowledge
and teaching methods to get hired.
There are drawbacks in pursuing
tenure at Behrend College. First of
all, a professor is expected to put
about fifty percent of his efforts in
to research and the other fifty per
cent into teaching. In my opinion,
fifty percent on research is entirely
too much. After all, students pay
the University in order to receive an
education; they should not have to
compete with a professor's
research project. Secondly,
Behrend College provides no ex
emptions from meetings or other
faculty duties to those professors
pursuing tenure, as practiced at
numerous other universities.
Behrend also provides no funds for
travel or research and other ac
tivities pertaining to the pursuit of
tenure. For many faculty members,
this can prove to be a great fman
cial strain.
In theory, I think tenure is a
valuable and valid policy.
However, there stands room for
improvement. Provisions should be
made for faculty in pursuit of
tenure, such as travel and research
funds, as' well as extra time
allowances for research. A pro
fessor should not be expected to
take part in all faculty duties
simultaneously to achieving tenure.
Also, more emphasis should be
placed on teaching than on
research.
Hats off to all those .professors
in pursuit of tenure that are still
managing to be excellent teachers
and maintain a positive rapport
with their students. It certainly
can't be very easy.