October 14, 1970
Committee Formed To Conquer
Environmental Problems!
by Daniel Durante
This is an introduction to the committee
and a general commentary on the pro
blem today. Dan Durante, with the help
of other students, will form the new com
mittee. Dan is also a member of the
Capitalist staff.
Our earth is going to hell, and we
are all responsible directly or indi
rectly for its horrible condition.
And, since we are responsible for
its condition, it is our responsibility
to fight against environmental de
cay, to save the earth, not to men
tion ourselves. Most of us are con
sidered part of the younger genera
tion, hence, this is our earth more
than anyone else’s, for we will have
to live with it longer for better or
worse. In our youth, we also have
something going for us in our fight
against environmental decay. This
is one of the many reasons we make
the most sense out of a bad environ
mental situation. Rene Dubus wrote,
“The most hopeful sign for the fu
ture is an attempt by the rebellious
young to reject our social values,
values which mislead us to believe
we are helping our society when in
reality we are destroying it.”
The crisis we face now is one that
affects not only young people but
one that affects everyone in the way
that earlier crises never did, for the
Environmental Crisis is one that af
fects the future of the entire world.
A revolution is truly needed in our
values, our outlooks on economic or
ganizations, and even the way that
we deal with such crises. It has been
the American way to wait until we
are in the middle of a crisis before
we make an attempt to do anything
about it. If we deal with the Envi
ronmental crisis in the same way its
effects will be irreversable and our
Earth as wfe know it will come to an
end.
This Environmental Crisis is one
that, basically stems from the legacy
of economic and technological ad
vances which have been pursued in
the absence of ecological knowledge.
Some of the other root causes are
the exploding population, the mas
sive military establishment equipped
with and committed to employ from
its arsenal both nuclear and bio
chemical weapons. A set of tradi
tional values which may have sus
tained the human species in the past
but now inhibits us from responding
to the "present crisis”.
We have to truly realize, possibly
for the first time, that we are all
dependent upon the natural ecosys
tem, and we must realize that any
act performed which endangers this
system should be considered a vic
ious and malicious act against all
mankind. Pollution in all its forms
is violence, environmental violence,
a violence that will affect many
more people than any other type
of violence the earth has known,
whether it be crime, war or what
ever. I find it kind of amusing in a
sad way, that the Judicial system
of this country is set up in such a
way that it has the responsibility
under law to prosecute the perform
ers of violent acts against society
THE CAPITOLIST
and against humanity, but at the
same time the most violent offend
ers the world has ever known bear
no responsibility for their acts.
The revolution that will save our
environment; must happen now and
it must be as effective or more ef
fective than the revolution that this
country was founded on. A revolu
tion that stood for the rights of
men. Now these rights and the more
basic rights ‘to a clean and healthy
environment are being challenged
and are in jeopardy of being lost.
We must fight for our rights, and
we must fight against false rights.
We do not have the right to exploit
whatever lies ahead of us without
'concern or regard for anyone who
might follow. We have to overcome
the apathy of people, we will all have
to make sacrifices in this revolution
as people have had to do in every
other revolution, the difference with
this revolution is, if we lose it, it
will most likely lead to the extinction
of man.
The first step in this revolution
should be to make people aware of
the seriousness of the problem, this
will be an educational process, one
which we all must become an active
part of. With the new information
revolution we now have, perhaps for
the first time the potential for self
understanding for an understanding
of our relationship with each other,
and with the environment. This ed
ucational process will have to har
ness this information revolution to
man’s adantability. One of the ma
ior objectives of this committee will
be to carry out such an educating
process. A process that will effec
tively reach all the members of our
local communities.
We then must make our concerns
known to our political leaders, or
find new leaders that will work with
us. We need new laws, new institu
tions, new political action, action
which must be initialed by the peo
ple, by ourselves.
We have to initiate a common con
cern for the community, the coun
try, and the world. A concern which
is impaired by our selfish tenden
cies, tendencies which are fed by our
present socio-economic system.
Let me mention at this time, one
of these systems which drastically
needs change, The Corporate Sys
tem. The corporate drive is to re
duce corporate cost, and invest only
in machinery and systems that en
hance sales and profits. The social
costs of this type of a procedure,
pollution, the draining of our natu
ral resources, and many more are
thrust back on the people, the con
sumer. I have heard it said “Envi
ronmental, pollution is the price of
progress.” Is this true progress
when we have to pay for it by the
destruction of the earth and all its
inhabitants? Large corporations of
this country assume a conservative
patriotic posture when in reality
they are radical destroyers of natu
ral resources, and the most funda-
(continued on page 10 column 1)
Clifford Mason -
New Assistant Prof
Appointment of an assistant pro
fessor of engineering at The Penn
sylvania State University’s Capitol
Campus, has been announced by Dr.
Richard H. Heindel, dean of faculty.
He is Clifford A. Mason, former
research assistant at‘the Universi
ty’s Ordnance Research Laboratory,
,on the University Park Campus.
A liberal arts graduate of Colum
bia College, Mr. Mason received his
B.S. from the Columbia University
School of Engineering and Applied
Sciences and his M.S. in electrical
engineering from The Pennsylvania
State University.
He served as electronic engineer
for the EDO Corp., College Point,
L. 1., and ACF Electronics, Paramus,
N. J., before joining the Ordnance
Research Laboratory in 1965.
Mr. Mason is a member of the In
stitute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers, which recently accepted
for publication his paper on “The
Optimum Bandwidth of a Low Pass
Filter for Detection of a Pulse in
Ndnstationary Noise.”
He is married to the former Joyce
Leigh. They are the parents of two
children.
Activities Planned.
by Luann Berulis
The social life on Campus is co
ordinated through the Social Com
mittee. This group of students works
with the other organizations in plan
ning most of the campus social ac
tivities.
For the first time, the committee
has initiated a student activities
card. This card is used to gain ad
mittance to all of the activities on
campus.
Working with Steve - Forman,
chairman, are five co-chairman.
They are A 1 Litwak-finances, Mike
Walsh-movies, Penny Wood-keggers,
Ginger Gutekunst-dance committee,
and Eileen Benjamin-Senior Ball.
Membership to the Social Commit
tee is open to any student who is
interested in planning activities on
campus.
The President’s Council is an or
ganization comprised of all of the
Campus club’s Presidents. It meets
to coordinate social activities on
campus. The chairman is Steve For
man, social secretary is Ginger Gute
kunst, and S.G.A. representative is
Rosemary Bennett.
This column is reserved exclusive
ly for student activities. It will keep
you informed of the news and future
happenings of all the clubs and or
ganizations here on campus. If any
club has information which would
be newsworthy to the students,
please contact any member of the
newspaper staff, or phone 944-5662.
NOTICES:
WANTED! ONE BABYSITTER!
Regular babysitter needed for Mon
day, Wednesday, Friday, from 8:30
to 12:00, or any part of these hours.
For faculty wife working part-time.
One child, age 20 months. Meade
Heights. Contact Mrs. Fiona Patter
son 944-6461