opinion R4lik iid I*i) 111 ;I Dear Editors, Is anything being done to im prove the advising program at Be hrend? Everyone is always com plaining about poor advisors. I never really thought they were out—of—the--ordinary until recently. In the past I found out that I could really do without them and the words "self advised" became more and more popular. When it came time for scheduling, I filled out a sheet of paper with the classes I wished to take, took it to my "Advisor," told to copy my classes on it and was sent out the door. Looking back on this experience, I thought that this was nothing but a waste of time for both the student and the professor. Not only have they not helped me in the past but I haven't even known them long enough to remember their names. Believe me, I'm not ignorant to the fact that the students outnumber the advisors but if I am always going to have an advisor it would be nice to To the concerned student, Thank you for your letter and for sharing your thoughts on this mat ter. While our personal experiences with advisors have been more posi tive than your own, your story is nevertheless all too common. Perhaps the school should consider more legnthy training programs for its ad visors, so that they can be better equipped to deal with a student's problems. It might also be suggested that certain faculty members have little or no interest in advising and as such, should be excluded from the advising program. A final alternative that we would suggest would be for the school to hire individuals to serve soley as academic advisors. While Behrend has many fine faculty advisors, a problem clearly does exist in many cases. The Eds. SPC Coming Attractions Feb. 3-7 St. Elmo's Fire 10-14 Dressed To Kill 17-21 Spring Break Mar. 9-13 Dirty Dancing 16-20 Lethal Weapon 23-28 Secret of my Success Apr. 30-3... 6-10 13-17... 20-24... 27-1 Reflections By Sister Marie O'Connell Once upon a time, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, people had what they called "casual sex." It was part of some thing the media of the day always named the "sexual revolution." Lots of people thought it was just great. College students said it meant sleeping around was accep table. TV moguls put it into their serials and showed people jumping into bed with other people, even husbands and wives. Popular mar riage counselors said that men did not expect women to be virgins anymore, that the idea was really passe, and lack of experience was gauche. A group called "yuppies" came up with a genteel phrase, "your place or mine." Now and then some group like the Catholic Church would meekly say that young people should be who care about their future have nothing better to do. I've gone to Division Heads before who really aren't sure about questions. If they don't know, Who does? During these encounters that I have had, I've run into a lot of students with the same sort of problems. I ran into a girl who wandered around aimlessly won dering what she is suppose to do to change her advisor. Her advisor barely speaks English and can't even understand what the student is asking. One time while I was wait ing for an advisor to return to his office so I could ask him a ques tion, I overheard one of my friends calling Main Campus to see if there is anyway or anybody who could find out if he would be able to transfer next semester. This student is a Junior with excellent grades and all the requirements but his only alternative is to transfer to Pitt next semester. Can anything be done to save our futures? ..Liffle Rascals ..Club Paradadise ...Gotcha ...3 Men and a Baby ..Three Stooges On Contemporary Society chaste and that husbands and wives ought to be faithful, but everybody said that they were hung up on sex, and why didn't they catch up with the times? Hollywood still had censors for movies, but it got harder to rate them because G meant • nobody went, and in the PG ones it sort of depended on whether thelady took off her clothes bare—front or bare—back. Parental consent seemed to hinge on things like that. And "consenting adults" came to mean a lot more than you would think. Then came AIDS. At first people said drugs could handle it. Then, a little research. Then some money, a lot of money. And people died. A homosexual in California tried to get bathhouses closed to halt the sex trade there. TROUBLED? NEED TO TALK? WE CAN HEM.. WE CARE ABOUT YOU! PENN STATE-BEHREND CAMPUS MINISTRY tycent Sta‘,lce::, Reed Building 898-6245 Off-CAMPUS WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES US TRANSPORTATION AVAIL ABLE FOR HO a 111 SERVICES BUS LEAVES REED It/ 15 am SUNDAYS uP• I. SsIPLs tt (*SHIP OPPORTUNITIES ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS rt Lit. Ihr Rev Ron Toven• It r Ron) SARARDAYS. 5 30 Hit RitOLE(II-0 HALL Pt:.INSTAtE•bitIREND AMPti) MINIS fin have a more permanent one. These problems can be dealt with, but the problem that I have been faced with recently is what really bothers me. I am a fourth semester sophomore faced with a problem that a lot of students have faced in the past transferring to main campus. One might think that this being as common as it is, the answers a student might ask should be easily attainable. Wrong. I have found that subjects that can really effect a student's future seem to not be taken seriously at Behrcnd. I ask questions that can affect how long I remain in college, leading to how much money I waste; my profes:- sion, leading to how much money I can make. (I really hope that "money" isn't the excuse for the problem.) Anyway, the answers I have received arc, "Well, I think so, I'm not sure, you might want to check with so—in—so, not that. I know of," and my all time Love Rob by Rob Prindle Collegian Staff 4Triter I like to park. I park a lot. I know all the dark alleys—the nooks no one much cares about —the parking spaces with enough trees to block the the annoying moonlight. My favorite is this church parking lot on that road just off 0f... I know how to park eveywhere except the Behrend campus. How many commuters have had that Twilight Zone feeling? You know the one where you find yourself almost late for a class but the only parking space is the place where it says, "park here and we rape your wife and burn your kids." Your mind starts doing a routine on the uneven bars— then you do your paranoid thing... Why do they do this to me? They hate commuters.. All you need now is one squinty eye and two metal balls to twirl in one hand. You neceed a place bad! It is now a case of which illegal park do I think looks least illegal? When someone grabs my favoriteparking' place I'm a little upset ..but hey, it's fair game, right?. I'm annoyed but I realize that in this case it will always be first come first serve so I sec a movie instead. At school, however that doesn't seem like a reasonable reaction. I expect a goddam parking space for my goddam Sl5. I don't want to play Russian roulette with a ticket or an upset professor cverytimc I need a parking hole. Do you pay a parking meter if you do not park next to it? Does a parking garage charge you if you do not find a space? Do you pay to have your car and your Nikes sucked into that GOOO that pretends to be the parking lot behind Nick. NO NO NO NO NO...WHY THEN ARE WE CHARGED FOR SPACES THAT DO NOT EXIST??? •tr toW •I •"• toy I fly • . rg • log up •n' si •1 y People said he was a bigot and why blame anybody for a virus. Everybody knows viruses don't care where they go. But AIDS kept coming. And with it, death. Even movie stars died. And children. To some it seemed frightening, like a twentieth century plague. They thought behavior should change. Ann Landers, who used to counsel most of the country every twenty—four hours, started to sound stricter than the Gospel of Matthew: husbands and wives must be absolutely faithful; young people have to change their ways; sleeping around was sexual Russian roulette. Doctors begari warning people that when you had sex with one person, you had sex with all the people that per Son had sex with for six or eight years. College kids took to their computers with a ven geance. But AIDS kept coming. In exasperation, the champions of the "sexual revolution" came up with "safe sex." That would do it! Condom manufacturers suddenly hit it rich. A few small voices said that is a lie, a•dangerous lie, like the other lies. • And the young, who have the most to lose, will believe it. And sure enough, machines star ted popping up everywhere. And textbooks to teach about it. But people kept dying. And some remembered that when Eve first reached out and took the apple, it was because she had believed a lie. And so it goes. I think that advising students is just as important as teaching them. I know that a teacher has a lot of responsibilities, but if he can't ad vise as well, then advisors should be hired. I'm not saying that all teachers arc bad advisors but if there is a good advisor out there, I'd like him to be my advisor! If you have advising problems, I advise you to write to your editor. If you have answers to my advising problems, I think it could benefit a lot of students if you make these known. Sincerely, A Concerned Student Editorial Welcome back to Behrend and the 1988 academic year. I would like to take this opportunity both to introduce myself and address some questions you might have about the Be hrend Collegian. My name is James Martin, and I along with Lisa Hahn have been chosen to serve as a Co—Editor of this newspaper. Together with a dedicated group of editors and staff members, we will attempt to produce a newspaper that both informs and entertains the Behrend community. However it must be considered that a newspaper such as this one is greatly limited by factors such as time and money. This is not an apology for myself or the Collegian, it is instead an incitement for increased student involve ment in an effort to overcome what is our greatest con straint:Lack ofl INPUT. Behrend students are oten accused of being rather an apathetic bunch. This is a stereotype that we can all help put to rest, both by involvement with this newspaper and other campus organizations. With regard to this newspaper, it should not be forgotten that this is a student newspaper. As such it is your newspaper. This does not mean that we can or will print ab solutely anything that is submitted, but we do encourage contributions of all types. The Collegian, like any publica tion, has a certain editorial flavor and ethical standards which it strives to maintain. In other words while we wel come letters to the Editor with open arms we must hesitate to print those that are libelous, indecent, unsigned or any combination thereof. however, if you have a question, a comment, or a serious gripe a letter to the editor is an excel lent way of letting your voice be heard. In the event that signing a letter could result in adverse repercussions, the Collegian will, upon request, withhold the name of any in dividual who submits a signed letter. Letters to the editor are not the only means by which in dividuals can make a contribution to this newspaper. Is there a campus event that you feel is worthy of coverage? If so, let us know about it, we're always open to suggestions. If you'd like to handle an occasional story yourself, talk to one of our editors about becoming a contributing writer. Or if you are interested in making a more serious committment to the Collegian, spaces are still available for those who wish to take Commu 1 as a one credit course. Everything that I've said boils down to this: with this newspaper as with any campus organization, feel free to get involved. Frankly I'm sick of hearing how apathetic Be hrend students are. Lets dispell the notion. In the timeless words of Bartles and Jaymes, let me say in advance, thank you for your support. by James Martin Collegian Editor Collegian (4 O 2 ~ ~t Page 3
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers