Page 4 Friday, September 21, 1984 The Capitol Times
Campus Forum
Budget honesty needed
Capitol Campus administrators are proud of the fact that the average
student here is more than 21 years old, mature and interested in educa
tion. Professors here have said that it is a pleasure to teach to students who
are mature and who are taking responsibility for their educations. It is this
precise statistic that keeps campus officials buzzing to collegues in other
schools about a low attrition rate and the dedication of the student body.
So why is it, when an event happens on campus that does a fairly good
job of bringing faculty and staff and students together as one community
-- if only temporarily -- that the administration puts on its best paternal
suit and refuses to tell the campus how much the entire affair cost?
There is quite a bit of talk these days about whether or not it is "ap
propriate" to tell people how much the series of events cost and that there
was some concern about people "misunderstanding" the expense.
The only real misunderstanding is the way the entire campus communi
ty is being sold short.
Mind you, quite a bit of money was spent on the series of events last
week that officially and lavishly installed Provost Ruth Leventhal. The
Capitol Times can only specifically identify an expenditure of $17,382, but
the cost is way above that. The main tent which housed the ceremonies
were wired with complete lighting, a public address system and electrical
outlets for walk lights in the landscaping. If 15,000 invitations were mail
ed out for the events, even post card rate for the bunch would amount to
nearly $2,000. And, a lot of people on this campus put in extra hours and
rearranged their schedules to help make the installation and picnic a suc
cess. This required payment for a lot of cooks, janitors, maintenance per
sonnel (the landscaping was done by university employees), and the like.
Penn State's own Bryce Jordan did not have an installation ceremony
in the interest of cost-effectiveness, but Provost Leventhal said visibility
is a priority for Capitol, and the media event was needed. On top of all
that, the administration refuses to reveal what part of the costs were covered
by gifts and what was funded out of the operating budget.,
Whether or not the ceremony was a good idea, whether or not the entire
student or faculty or staff population agrees with the expenditure, the ad
ministration is setting a disturbing precedent by not being completely open
about the budget for the event.
Every college community approaches a new leadership with a certain
amount of trepidation. But right now is not the time to worry about the
possibility of a division head complaining because his or her division needs
equipment and there is no money for it. Now is not the time to worry about
alumni donors who might be offended to learn how their dollars were spent.
Indeed, they of all people have a right to know. Those possibilities should
have been considered before the money was spent.
When an administration makes its bed in public, it should expect to lie
in it in public as well.
Procrastination
(Read this later)
Putting-IT-Off.
How do we do it?
Why do we do it?
And most important,
How do we keep from doing
it?--assuming that is, in fact,
a desired goal.
"Putting-it-off" is the
grand art of the ability to
come up with every con
ceivable means of diversion
to keep from beginning, con
tinuing, or completing some
task. And the diversions are
apt to come so easily, to be
such an automatic response
that we don't even realize
what we are up to. It all
seems so legitimate
somehow.
Procrastination always
seems to raise itself to an art
form this time of year.
Procrastination can be
caused by a variety of
reasons. A sampling
includes
--Escaping from unpleasant
activities.
--Waiting for the time to be
right, for it to "feel right"
to do it.
--Not knowing how to do it,
or how to begin.
--Thinking it will somehow
magically take care of itself.
Dealing with procrastina
tion begins with breaking
down the task into
manageable proportions.
Then ask yourself, "What is
the worst thing that could
happen to me if I did what
I'm putting off right now."
Now give yourself a
designated time slot which
you will devote exclusively to
the task you've been putting
off (works great for jogging
and foreign languages). Stop
telling yourself that you must
do it well, even perfectly to
do it at all. Doing is the most
important thing.
Choosing the news
Journalists gather information like garbage gathers flies. Ask the average
reporter; he or she almost certainly has drawers full of books, notes and
old press releases. Information just naturally flows toward the nearest news
man or woman; it's like a law of physics.
We don't mind. It's part of the job. What makes us pull our hair out
is the job of deciding what items to publish from the endless sea of paper.
Inevitably, the reporter will throw out something that means the world
to someone, somewhere, even if it's the train schedule for Singapore. That
someone inevitably will stomp and complain and generally make life
miserable for the reporter because HIS information was ignored. After all,
if you're the ticket agent for Singapore Railways, it helps to have people
know your schedule.
The problem is that the reporter must write what he or she thinks will:
1.) interest the most readers; 2.) use what limited space is available to the
best advantage; and 3.) be consistent with the newspaper's editorial policy.
It's a judgement we are obligated to make. Nowhere is it written that
newspapers can or should publish Whatever is dropped on their doorsteps.
If the New York Times wanted to publish only crossword puzzles on every
page, it could do so, just as any other business can do what it likes.
So when, at the Capitol Times, we receive information from dozens of
campus clubs and organizations plus dozens more off campus, all with notes
saying, "Please publish this," we grit our teeth and make some tough
choices. We choose what we feel will interest lots of people, what we have
space to print, and what does not grossly violate our editorial philosophy.
We do not edit to offend. We edit because we must. If we trample some
toes in the process, we're sorry.
Some have pointed out that, since part of our budget comes from the
Student Government Association (S.G.A.), we have an obligation to S.G.A.
sanctioned clubs to publicize their events free of charge.
We wish to make one point very clear: The Capitol Times is not a public
relations service. It is not obligated to the S.G.A., the campus administra
tion, or any other interest to publish without question whatever those groups
ask. We will oppose any attempts to impose such a sweeping obligation.
We believe we do have a moral obligation to serve our readers and the
campus community, and we intend to fulfill that responsibility. But we will
do so as we see fit, not under constraints.
We often suggest to those who are disappointed in our coverage that they
are welcome to purchase whatever advertising space is available. We offer
a discount to all student organizations and we will gladly assist any adver
tiser in preparing an effective ad.
For those still not satisfied, we suggest This Week at Capitol, a publica
tion funded specifically for the purpose of trumpeting campus events.
In closing, we offer this pledge: that we will listen to your comments
about any phase of our operation and consider all suggestions for articles
and announcements. We pledge to include as much interesting and infor
mative material as possible, and to guarantee publication of all PAID adver
tisements for those who wish to buy them. Most of all, we will endeavor
to publish a Capitol Times of which we can all be proud.
Neil Myers Editor-in-chief
Tony Perry Co-Editor
Jeffrey Shatzer Production Manager
Jeffrey Keck Business Manager
James Ferguson Advertising Manager
Beverly Ha lbrook Sales Representative
Janice Waardenbu rg Composing Typist
Lisa Mauss Photographer
Bob Price Photographer
Rob Saylor Photographer
Don Stra usbu rger Senior Reporter/
Reviews Editor
Kathleen Heraghty Production Assistant
Advising and consulting Mark S. Guralnick
The Capitol Times welcomes letters from readers. Letters in
tended for publication-must be signed by the author and indicate
his/her club or organizational affiliation, if any. The Capitol Times
reserves the right to edit or reject letters at its discretion.
Letters published do not necessarily reflect the views of this
newspaper or its staff.
Capitol Friday, September 21, 1984
Vol. l9 No.
s 2
Published by students of Penn State's Capitol
Campus, Middletown, Pa. 17057
Staff Writers
Mark Edquid Annette Childs
Michelle Lackey Joseph L. Michalsky
Erik M. Morris Bill Oshman
Ken Stiggers Angelo Vecchio
Printed at the Press and Journal, Middletown
Copy disks queued at Jednota Printery, Middletown