PAGE 2
Late
10 April '75
Last night I spent a few hours with some friends after a
rather hectic day. The easiness of the evening and the
conversation that flowed was a rare occurence. You see,
some of these friends happened to be in Viet Nam at one
time. They gave part of their lives in that God forsaken
country, luckily they lived to talk about it. Some of their
friends can't speak now, they're dead. That's war you know.
America was an oblivious country during the war years. The
60's were guns and butter. Technicolor gore with Walter
Cronkite as you ate your evening meal. Well, these friends
of mine were over in Indochina sweating their guts out in 110
degree weather while I was living in a 2-S collegiate world.
Death comes in many ways. Perhaps the most grusome
death is not your own, but that of one of your buddies being
blown to bits by a land mine. Since you witnessed the
instantaenous end to this life, and you were a medic, it was
your job to literally pick up the pieces of your friend's body
that were still recognizeably human.
That sort of experience stays with a person. And all I can say
is that my friend that evening spoke with words of personal
pain. He left Viet Nam without a scar on his body. Others
like him who fought in Nam are only memories, over 50,000
memories that reside in the hearts and minds of the relatives
they left behind in the states.
Viet Nam is a bad memory now for my friends. Sure it was
hell, but my friends do have fond memories about that land
where America tried to intervene its democratic principles
against the people's will. Saigon.. the city where money
talked. Card games into the night... the horrible, yet
beautiful splendor of a phantom jet striking its target... the
obliviousness of a helicopter flight somewhere over Viet
Nam at night.
One of my friends said that when anything ever happens now
that tends to bum him out, he remembers that he came back
from the Nam and he just says to himself, "fuck it".
A psychic price has been paid in Indochina. My friends paid
that price. The rebate that they are getting now as they
watch the land where they spilled their blood and guts go the
other way, is just too much for some of them to bear. Is
there any other way to cope with a situation where you saw
100 of your buddies die by saying anything else but "fuck
it"? I think not.
Th• Capitol Campus Reader
The C. C. Reader is published by the students Of the
Pennsylvania State University at Capitol Campus,
Middletown, Pa., and is printed by the Middletown
Press & Journal during the Fall, Winter and Spring
Terms.
Opinions expressed by the editors and staff are not
necessarily those of the University Administration,
Faculty or Students.
Editor-in-Chief
Associate & Photography Editor
Assistant Editor
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Business Staff
Sports Editor
Photographer
Staff . Jimmy Olson, Joe Minnici, P.R.J. Smith, Ronnie Wer,
Hot Lion Coordinator
Graphics
Faculty Advisor
Night Notes Classroom
by Fred Prouser
Jim Bollinger
.. Fred Prouser
Phyllis Schaeffer
Steve Nonn
Gary Macchioni
Bob Pobiak
.. Gene T. Eddy
Mark Feldman
Dave Nicholas
Diane Cressler and P.R.J.
Dr. Betty Thorne
C. C. READER
Problems
Aired
Students are frequently
confronted with classroom
situations (exclusive of
grades and grading) which
cause them considerable
anguish and inconvenience,
University Council was told
in a preliminary
report by a subcommittee.
The subcommittee, with
Dr. Donald V. Josephson as
chairman, was named to
identify problems students
face. Among the problems
that had been cited earlier
are possible discrimination;
chronic absenteeism; late
classroom arrivals by the
faculty member; failure to
keep office hours; conden
sation of a term to allow
early departure; changing
classroom schedules;
scheduling comprehensive
examinations on• short no
tice or on last class period;
excessive use of motion
pictures to allow faculty to
be absent; and cancellation
of Saturday classes.
The subcommittee iden
tified scheduling of comp
rehensive examinations, fail
ure to keep office hours,
cancellation of classes and
discrimination as the most
seriously abused situations.
The subcommittee also
found that most students do
not know where to turn when
confronted with classroom
problems and that many do
not consult their advisors or
the office of their associate
deans for various reasons,
including fear of reprisal.
"There appears to be a real
need for a 'visible' and well
publicized procedure that
students can follow in
reporting -classroom prob
lems," Dr. Josephson said.
"Actually, the channels are
now available but students
either don't know they exist
or avoid using them."
The subcommittee will
continue to identify prob
lems as well as to seek ways
to inform all students of
procedures they can follow
in confidence to report
classroom problems, pro
cedures that are not now
well-known.
Discussion continued on
the condition of classrooms
as it affects quality of
instruction. Included were
ventilation and cleanliness,
especially late in the day.
Council in discussing the
matter recognized energy
conservation needs as well
as economy of operation are
related to the problems
faced.
A report from the sub
committee studying the
matter of smoking in
classrooms is expected at
the meeting on April 17.
stAlate 9 - /xoln 51 gticklc
In a rare display of ineptitude, the Student Government
Association really blew its last official activity. In the
recent elections for next year's SGA, the old SGA seemed
just a little too eager to get out of office and as a result,
has left the campus democratic process in shambles.
The handling of the Spring elections has been one
mistake after another. First, they were held the second
week of this term, when, Constitutionally, they should
have been held the sixth week of Winter term. Secondly,
the mass publicity due these elections was never given
the chance to materialize, thus failing to produce a better
voter turnout. Thirdly, voters at the polls should have
been made more aware of the balloting procedure. Fourth,
the SGA, moved too hastily (in my
opinion) in dividing the results in two parts and accepting
bad ballots; and then scheduling a new election for just
the President. Finally, the Student Court compounded all
the previous incompetence by upholding the SGA's bad
move.
When all this is combined with the fact that, except for
the President, all other winners were sworn-in at the April
8 meeting of the SGA, what we get is an obvioue
ambivalence on the part of the old SGA towards its
successor. The fault, I think, lies not with any one
particular person, or for that matter one particular group;
but instead with the handling cf the matter as a whole.
Still, SGA has to be held ultimately responsible for their
elections.
We may never know why SGA broke down, but I think
they owe their constituents (especially the Juniors) a
better chance for a good student government next year
than the one they were given. How responsive will this
next group be when none of them were elected by as
much as ten per cent of the student body?
That idea carries itself further into the Presidential
debacle. How could SGA accept ballots that obviously
weren't treated with the care they deserved by their voter,
who just checked off whatever names appeared on the
ballot? How can they reverse tradition and themselves
and count one ballot as two?
As I heard one student official remark, the invalid
ballots were probably from people who didn't give a damn
in the first place. They just voted for their friends and
checked off one name in each of the other (Senatorial)
categories. Is this the democratic way to insure that the
best candidate wins? How can this constitute a fair vote?
Although it's all water under the bridge now, I think the
SGA should have either accepted the original results for
all positions, or it should have rejected them all and called
another General Election. And that election should then
have seen greater publicity and campaigning, especially
in the Reader. Anything less constitutes a travesty of the
principle of the democratic process and another disaster
for the already all-too-shit-on Capitol Campus students.
J.S.B.
P.S. By the way, make sure you vote on April 21 for your
presidential choice; either Sue Bretherick or Scott
Deardorff.
Eralkg MomgliN
Am Tag MudgmQ
"The intention of those who are pushing 'independence' is to make
the college press like the commercial press. But the two are dif
ferent and should remain so. College journalists may admire the
professionalism of the commercial press - its makeup,
photography, large staffs, and the like-but they should continue to
be more ,. experimental, daring, contentious, and Intellectual than
the commercial press. They should lead their readers, not follow
them; challenge, not reassure them. Left to the wisdom of the
courts, the college press will be able to continue its mission."
Deadline For Copy For Next Issue: FRIDAY*
APRIL 25 at NOON. All copy must be
TYPED!
APRIL 17, 1975
THE SGA
BLEW IT !
From
"Freeing the student press"
by Melvin Mencher
Columbia Journalism Review,
Sept. Oct. 1974