EDITORIAL
The People am..
How badly do you want your college education? By the
beginning of next term you may have to ask yourself that question
- and, at the same time, you may have to face the cold, hard fact
that maybe it just won't be financially feasible for you to continue
it.
Then you can write your state legislator a letter and thank him
for forcing you to quit school.
We all know how politicians can get when they want to. Well,
with regard to the state budget, the politicians in Harrisburg have
outdone themselves. And now it appears that they're not looking
out for anyone's interests except their own come next election
day.
What the issue ultimately comes down to is this: do the
people of Pennsylvania - and in particular, their [our] elected
officals - want high-quality, low cost higher education available in
this state?
Everyone, from the Governor on down, talks about how
indispensable a college education is in American society today.
But it appears that now, when it comes time to put up or shut up,
Pennsylvanians are going to cop out. Education is fine, they say,
but we don't want to pay for it. The whole problem is money.
Somewhere in the vicinity of 300 million dollars is needed for the
state-supported colleges and universities to continue operating at
anywhere near present levels. This money can not be raised by
the state without a tax increase. And we all know what happens to
any politician who votes for a tax increase.
He doesn't remain a politician much longer.
There is an exception to this rule, however. If more voters want
the taxes than don't, he's got the numbers on his side; he'll go if
he doesn't pass the increase.
Now that it's coming clown to the nitty-gritty, we,the students
of Pennsylvania, are going to have to convince our legislators that
it's in their interest to give us the money we need. We, along with
our parents and the people who are employed at the schools, are a
huge voting block. We can throw out any legislator who vve feel
deserves it. It's time to flex our collective muscle.
SGA is presently planning some sort of action to get our
message across to the folks at the Capitol. It may be a question
and answer session, or a behind-the-scene lobbying, or a
demonstration. Whatever it is, it will have to be organized, and it
will need bodies - people to be there, to show that they're
interested, to bring home thepoint to the legislator that most of
us can't afford to pay $4,030 a year tuition.
So speak up. Talk to the SGA and let them know you're ideas.
Ten years ago, the students of the United States became one of
the most important political blocks around. We've all been much
too apathetic since then. It's time for us to wake up - now, before
we get stepped on. Don't let someone with the title "Senator "
before his or her name run your life - run your own.
We may have to go back to the streets. We may have to call
some people a lot of dirty names before we're through. We may
have to find a little of the backbone we seem to have lost in the
past few years. And it probably won't be easy.
But if you've got four or five thousand bucks laying around,
don't worry about it.
dives Page
Hem we 0. Apia
By David Nikoktff
Penn State University faces tough problems
in the near future. The recent budget debate is
one major incident in a continuing series of
events that damaged higher education in this
state. We must consider whether our state
government is really committed to providing the
public with a quality system of Universities that
is within the economic reach of the middle and
lower classes.
Several items can be pointed out as examples
of the deterioration of our support in the minds
of state politicians.
(1) Budget allocations for Penn State have
not kept pace with inflation. The Governor and
legislature have both taken part in limiting our
allocation, despite requests for more support.
(2) The recent budget controversy led to the
use of the state's universities as pawns in a
political chess game. Loans have kept our school
open, but high interest payments threaten us
with more financial problems.
(3) State education grants have not increased
substantially, though the governor says that the
effect og higher tuition costs can be softened by
those grant monies. Tell that to grant recipients
when the next tuition increase shows up on their
bills.
XG I Reporter
By Alfred Krebs
The XGI lounge was robbed
last week by a still-undeter
mined person or persons.
Someone had the audacity, the
unheard of courage to steal the
infamous photo outlay which
adorns one of the walls of the
lounge. Fraternity members
wasted absolutely no time in
putting new photos up. The
XGl's don't really care what the
motive was, they just wonder
who the gutless soul is. Some of
the opinions were: Bob Abbott
said, " Well, let's see. We've got
the others ones up so I feel
secure now." Paul Russell
thought, " An act like this
amounts to nothing less than
wholesale vandalism and will
not be tolerated." Chet Kope
MHBOO Thanks You
The Board of Governors is
happy to announce that the
recent Halloween Party, co
sponsored with PSPE, was a
smashing success. That is, most
people were successful at
getting smashed.
We would like to thank the
many student orginizations
that participated in this event,
as well as our contest judges:
Doris Hughes, Clem Gilpen,
Maria Krieger, Linda Lambusta
and Charlie Voltz. Also, many
thanks go to our co-sponsor,
PSPE,for taking charge of the
costume contest, assisting at
the bar, and helping with all the
other essentials. A special word
of thanks to Brewers Outlet,
Kresges, McDonalds, Pizza Hut
and Original Pizza for donating
(4) Some senators have proposed that Senatorial
Scholarships be discontinued. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars in scholarship money may
be lost at Penn State, and millions may
disappear when the other state universities are
included in the total.
(5) Some state legislators indicate that they
support spending cuts at our university as part
of an overall budget cut. What will that do to the
quality of our education and the future of our
campus?
Clearly the time has come for us to take
action. Some of us are planning to bring
together a coalition of students, faculty, and
members of the local community. The SGA has
given its total support for a program in which
we can state our feelings and put ourselves on
record in the state legislature and the
Governor's office. The shape and magnitude of
any student action will be determined by the
support that our group receives from you.
Please help us. Come into the SGA office and
join a group that plans to take action as soon as
possible.
We have several directions which we can
take. We may demonstrate on the Capitol steps,
send a delegation to the legislature, or invite
legislators to Capitol and ask them to answer
our questions. Let us know what you think.
felt it was a "Communist
conspiracy." Chet has volun
teered to head a search party if
he can keep the pictures when
they are found. Other words
expressing the loss were
"obnoxious", "horrifying" and
"inhuman".
• Robert Abbott continues to
remind of the November 7th
blood drive. There will be a sign
in the XGI lounge and a table in
XGllounge and a table in
Vendorville next week. The
bowling and football teams
willbe active again this week.
Come out and support them.
The next XGI meeting is
November Ist. Some one in the
frat wishes to congratulate
Joint Effort on their new sports
shirts.
the prizes for our costume
contest winners. And, of course
we can't forget Beta Chi, who
was kind enough to lend us
their rubber stamp to use at the
door since our's wasn't made in
time.
There's one more person
we'd like to thank -- you, the
student. Though we've men
tioned you last, you are
nonetheless the most important
element of any campus activity.
Without you no activity can be
successful. Thank You. Hope to
see you at our next event-the
Thanksgiving Communal
Dinner, November 21.
Many thanks to all.
Meade Heights
Board of Governors
Chess
Club
Meets
The Capitol Campus Chess
Club elected officers at its
Wednesday meeting on Oct. 19,
1977. Mark Servinsky was
elected president and Kevin
Heberle vice president.
Also at the meeting, was
decided to hold a chess
tournament on November 2 at 9
a.m. in the Gallery Lounge. The
tournament is open to all chess
players at Capitol.
As a service to the
community, any student, facul
ty or staff member may receive
free chess instruction at the
regular meetings. Guy Antoine,
David Barto and Roger Weist
are willing to help you learn
how to play chess or to improve
your game.
Another service to the
Campus is the free loan of chess
sets, chess clocks, and books
and magazines on chess. If you
are interested in any of these
services contact Mark
Servinsky, 219 Church Hall, or
leave a note in the Chess Club's
mail box.
Beware!
On October 21, 1977, Chief
James H. Paul and Patrolman
Edgar E. Mitman of the Capitol
Campus Department of
University Safety and Security
Police were awarded their
certifications as Breathalyzer
Examiners upon completion of
a 40 hour Clash" "A" course of
Chemical Testing for
Intoxication, conducted by the
Pennsylvania State Police
Training Academy, Hershey,
Pa.