Page 2
Violence
A fallen man lies crumpled on the turf. He is writhing in pain; bones may be
broken. Seconds earlier, he was a victim of a vicious assult. Nevertheless,
thousands of spectators are shouting and expressing their glee. Was this man
really the victim of a violent crime? Or was he merely injured while performing
his job -- that of a professional football player?
While injuries are increasing at an alarming rate in professional sports, the
controversy continues: is there too much violence in sports, or are the athletes
merely becoming more agressive than they were in the past? Despite the efforts
of the media to prove otherwise, the soaring injury rate is due to other
circumstances.
Granted, the injury rate is steadily increasing, but the other reasons are often
overlooked.
The most obvious reason for the surge of injuries during the past decade is the
increase of professional sports franchises, and subsequently an increased number
of athletes and events thereof. There are more athletic contests held today, and
more athletes participating in them. Therefore, an increase of injuries is to be
expected.
Another factor which leads to the increase in injuries is the greatly improved
physical condition of the modern-day athletes. These stronger athletes have more
stamina than athletes of the past, and will therefore play long past their point of
exhaustion. When they become fatigued, they continue to play and are then much
more susceptible to injuries. They also play despite injuries because they are shot
full of pain -killers, thus leading to more serious injuries.
Another factor that contributes to the higher injury rate is the equipment now
used by the players . Most of this equipment is meant to be protective, but it is
only protective to the player who is wearing it. Studies conducted recently have
shown that while football helmets certainly protect the wearer against
concussions and other head injuries, these same helmets can also cause extensive
injuries to others. A football helmet, for example, can serve as an efficient weapon
when rammed into the spine of an adversary. This is exactly what occurred to the
New England Patriots' Darryl Stingley when he was "speared" in the back by the
helmet of the Oakland Raiders' Jack Tatum. It was a routine hit, which in the past
would not have caused any serious or permanent damage. However, due to the
improved quality of the helmet, Stingley was paralyzed for life. As this example
serves to illustrate, it is not more violence that is causing most of the injuries--it is
the improved quality of the equipment. Years ago, this same hit would probably
have produced little or no damage; today, the effects are grave. Other newly
developed factors have also helped to account for the injuries in sports, such as
the increasing popularity of Astroturf (as opposed to natural grass) and the
growing trend of manufacturing hockey sticks with harder varieties of wood pulp.
Many of the national sports magazines and television programs periodically
come out and severely criticize the "excess" of violence in sports. And they all
agree that measures should be taken against it: more stringent rules should be
put into effect, the existing rules should be more strictly enforced, and other
actions or restrictions should be instituted to insure safety. These same sources
never cite the aforementioned points, but simply ignore them and give their own
biased reasons for the "increased" violence.
This accident serves to illustrate how the media try to manipulate people's
opinions.
Most people believe that there is too much violence in sports today, that there
is much more now than in the past, that something should be done about it.
These beliefs are all false.
Indeed, the media have done a convincing propaganda job of brainwashing the
population while presenting only half of the issues...half of the story.
If it is true that half a loaf is better than none, it is time to go hungry.
Neil Williamson
Volume 13, No. 3 C.c. reader F ebruary 5,1981
Sports Editor Kenneth Aducci Copy Editor Alice M. Coon
Activities Editor Keith N. Gantz Photography Editor -- Mark W. Clauser
Staff Editors William J. Neil Cartoonist -- Joe Horvath
Dave Caruso Contributing Editor-• Susan M. Snell
Staff -- Kathy Kern
Faculty Advisors --
The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not
necessarily the opinions of the students, faculty, staff, or administration of The
Pennsylvania State University.
The C.C. Reader welcomes letters from readers. Letters intended for
publication should indicate the writer's college affiliation, if any. All letters must
be signed by the writer. Unsigned letters cannot be printed. However, a writer's
name may be withheld upon request. Letters should be legible (preferably
typewritten, double spaced); and any material that is libelous or does not conform
to the standards of good taste will be edited and/or rejected.
Pennsylvania State University
Capitol Campus
Middletown, PA 17057
Office W-129
Phone -- (717) 944-4970
Editor-in-Chief
Harry H. Moyer
Dr. Donald Alexander, Monica'O'Reilly
Thursday, February 5, 1981
Editorial /Opinion
"I REALIZE YOU GOT NOOPENIN
NEGOTIATE A COUPLE OF IREAT
Divine Comedy
By William J. Neil
I was taken aback the other day
when,to my great surprise, I read the
results of a nationwide survey of college
students. The astonishing conclusion of
the researchers was that almost half of
the students surveyed exhibited definite
problems with the language they speak
and write every day, i.e. spelling, mis
pronunciation, grammatical errors, and a
general misunderstanding of the defini
tions of many commonplace words.
Finding this rather difficult to be
lieve, I decided to conduct my own
interview with a randomly selected
student. I approached several students
and explained my quandary concerning
the problems of the English language;
they said they would be glad to coop
erate, but they didn't understand the
question.
After approximately 20 minutes of
futile attempts, a rather intelligent
looking student by the name of Mark
Phillips happened along. I once again
explained the survey and its results, and
told him that I was interested in either
refuting or confirming the report. Mr.
Phillips agreed to the interview, and it
went as follows:
"Do you agree with the findings of
the survey?"
"No, I think that their conclusion is a
falsityhood."
" 'Falsityhood'? I don't think there's
such a word."
"Sure there is--I just said it
"Why do you disagree with the
survey's findings?"
"I am certain that we ain't got such a
problem, like this is a institute of
higherer learning."
- " My, you surely seem adamant about
this . . ."
"I am--I watch him every week!"
"What??"
"Atom Ant--I doesn't go anywhere
until the show's over."
"What about your friends,. .."
"Oh, they'se watch it every week,
Gs JUST NOW, RON. BUT HOWS
IES FOR YOU ON SPEC..:IIIEN If Y
of Errors
you."
"I just telled you--they'se watch him
every week, too."
"I'm sorry for repeating myself. Now,
how do your friends feel about the
alleged misuse of the English language?"
"They'se got the same opinion I
does--ain't anybody's ain't got no bad
grammar around here. Ain't you forget
tin' that this here is Penn State?"
"Since your friends all seem to have
the same opinion as you, can I assume
that they are all as well-spoken as you?"
"Yeah, they're all as well-spoken as
me . . . well . . . truthfully, two of them are
a little bit better than me. One's a
business major who reads Tarzan books
all day. Since he's exposed to all that fine
literature, naturally he's gonna have a
more finer vocabulary than I does."
"What about your other friend?"
"What other friend?"
"You said there were two of them . "
"Oh yeah. He's a business major
that . . ."
. . reads Tarzan books all day? That
sounds familiar."
"What a coincidence! I guesses you
know him too. Small world, ain't it?"
"Yes, it sure is. Now, what about
your other friend?"
"He's an engineering major, but in
his spare time he discovers words for
Webster's."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Some of his recent discoveries is
'electronical,"alcoholical; and even ..."
"Why, that's outrageous! Those
words aren't in the dictionary!"
"Of course not! I telled you--he just
discovered them."
"Thank you for your time. I think I
have reached my conclusion."
"You're welcome. I'm surprised that
you even had to think about. I mean,
does you really believe that there's a
person that has a difficulty time with
language?"
"I do now," I thought as I turned and
walked away.
14
jelled
HANDY
HANKS
FREELANCE
\V I
CLINIC
RIISSINGER I
roreat
"No, I meant, are they as adamant as
C.C. Reader
021