Page 4 November 29, 1984 The Capitol Times
Campus Forum
Sunday closing
halts research
It's Sunday afternoon after the all-too-short Thanksgiv
ing break and there are only two weeks left until all of those
research projects are due. So, as a campus resident, why
not come back early enough to do some last-minute research
before writing those papers?
After getting the already compiled notes together, it's time
for the long journey to the library. However, when you get
there, you are in for a big surprise. The library is closed!
Yes, you're saying, but the library was open on Friday.
That's right, the day that most campus residents were spen
ding time hours away from Capitol Campus, they could have
been working on their research papers. Instead, everyone
who figured that the work in the library can be done on Sun
day after returning was in for a big surprise.
Upon further investigation of the situation, it was
discovered that the computer center in the Olmsted Building
was operating on its normal Sunday evening schedule. If
a service that serves a limited group of people can be open,
why can't the library at least open in the evening? The dorms
did not even open until Sunday afternoon, so many of the
resident students were forced to stay away until then.
The problem is not that the library was open on Friday;
at least the commuting students had the opportunity to do
research. But, is the library that badly understaffed that no
student workers were available to work that one Sunday
evening?
Hypothetically, if you had a paper due on Monday mor
ning at 8 a.m. and needed the date of a magazine article
from the library, breaking and entering would have been
the only way to get the information.
The mighty institution known as Penn State, once again,
has shown its might. Yet, this time it could prove to be a
bad reflection on the grade of one of your papers.
-Don Strausburger
Capitol Times
Published by students of Penn State's Capitol
Campus, Middletown, Pa. 17057
The Capitol Times welcomes letters
from readers. Letters intended for publica
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at its discretion.
Letters published do not necessarily
reflect the views of this newspaper or its
staff.
Tony Perry Editor-in-chief
Neil Myers Co-Editor
Jeffrey Shatzer Production Mgr.
Jeffrey Keck Business Mgr.
James Ferguson.... Advertising Mgr.
Mike Dudek Graphic Artist
Beverly Halbrook Sales Rep.
Don Strausburger Sr. Reporter/
Reviews Editor
Catherine Madigan Briefs Editor
Janice Shatzer Composer
Lisa Mauss Photographer
Bob Price
Rob Saylor Photographer
Kathleen Heraghty Production
Assistant
Thursday, Nov. 29, 1984
Vol. 19, No. 6
Contributing Staff
Annette Childs
Mark Edquid
Beth Horne
Fran Hultzapple
Michelle Lackey
Joseph L. Michalsky
Ken Stiggers
Angelo Vecchio
Adviser Mark S. Guralnick
Photographer
Printed at the Press and Journal, Mid
dletown. Text disks processed Jednota
Printery, Middletown.
Nuclear debate deserves attention
To the Editor
It was interesting to see the
response of the SGA here on
campus to HACC's recent deci
sion to attempt a stockpiling of
cyanide pills on campus. Cer
tainly this had some shock
value and is not a preventative
response to nuclear war, but it
does show some effort to rise
above apathy.
The student government here
at Capitol, in their recent state
ment published in The Capitol
Times, suggests that they might
hold a forum on the issue of the
nuclear arms race. First of all,
it was unfortunate that such a
forum could not have been held
prior to the elections since the
degree of nuclear proliferation
will increase or decrease accor
ding to the candidate chosen.
(Letter was submitted before
election day -- Ed.)
Drunk drivers: a brother's anguish
Dear Capitol Campus Penn
Stater:.
You don't realize it but you loving, happy adult who had so
came mighty close to having a willingly helped with the soccer
few of your front teeth loosen- team fund raising and the band
ed the other day. You were . parent functions.
laughing at the time, so you And yes, your Penn State
didn't notice anything threaten- classmate misses him too. After
ing but it was there. all, he was a pretty neat guy,
You were in the library and even for a little brother -- on all
you were laghing with friends those sports teams and so well
and telling them about how liked by his classmates. So
you'd been arrested -- for the when you were busy laughing
second time -- for drunk driv- and telling your friends about
ing. Ha! Ha! It was a big joke. that second DUI arrest -- well,
But you see the fellow stu- it was all he could do to clench
dent who overheard you lost his his fists until the knuckles turn
little brother to a drunk driver. ed white and walk away.
He was only 15 when the drunk So you drink. If that's how
driver hit him as he stood on a you handle the stresses of being
bridge, flipped him into the a college student, that's your
river, and left him to die. Your business. But if drink and then
fellow student knows what it's drive, That's Everybody's
like to be in the family of a Business.
drunk driver's victim. His mom You have never, as one near
got so much older overnight,it by PSU graduate did, held your
Indian leader mourned
To the Editor, been thrown into bloody tur
moil. The foolishness of the
fanatic mind is apparent when
one sees the situation created in
India by the death of Mrs. Gan
dhi; a few more dead Sikhs, a
few dead Hindus and the clam
ping of a curfew throughout
most of the nation. If this was
the intention of the killers,
much can be said about their
motives.
The recent murder of Indira
Gandhi is a sad incident. Tragic
as it is for India, it also sends
a message to the rest of the
world. No, we're not speaking
of the economic effects or the
political ramifications. We're
talking about the violent act
itself.
This killing is symbolic of the
pathological spread of violence
by extremists and fanatics. Ter
rorists, hiding behind the skirt
of religion or any other cause,
have no place in any country in
the world. Again and again, we
have paid dearly for their
senseless murders. This time,
India has lost a very capable
and seasoned leader and has
Letters to the Editor:
Second of all, such an educa
tional endeavor was tried by
outside interests approximately
a year and a half ago. The
Nuclear Freeze group came to
Capitol to talk to students
about the issue of nuclear war,
and only a small handful of
students turned out. Certainly
the population which turned
out for that was less than that
which [had been] anticipated
for such events as a Buns and
Legs Contest or a Toga Party.
They get more advertisement
than the issue of nuclear war.
Perhaps HACC's response
was dramatic and negative, but
so are the issues. The SGA
points out that the "very idea
of suicide stands in direct op
position to generally accepted
western traditions of morali
ty." It is truly unfortunate that
mutual destruction does not; it
seems to fit nicely with both
western and eastern morality.
seemed, and she was so quiet
and remote; no longer the fun-
More than anger, we feel a
pity toward these extremists
because they don't realize how
much harm they've caused to
Hindus and Sikhs alike and
how much farther they are
from their goals.
That can be changed, not by
making small statements, but
by drawing attention to the
issue and making efforts to
arouse public consciousness. If
the SGA hopes to do this it
must first impress on students
the imminent reality of nuclear
war, before the bombs fall, and
before people would rather
commit suicide than live with
the pains of worldwide destruc
tion and individual emotional
and physical trauma. The SGA
must help get students in
terested in wanting to attend
forums on these issues. That
has to be the first step. Maybe
it takes some kind of crisis or
shock to get people talking.
Perhaps that is what HACC
accomplished.
big sister's hand while she came
out of anesthesia from the
fourth kidney operation. That
was after the doctors decided
they could no longer save it
following the collision when the
drunk driver in a pickup hit her
head on, on her side of the
road.
If someone jostles the ankle
with the six permanent steel
pins in it, or the other leg where
the three knee operations in
cluded a ligament transplant,
then all of the doctors' careful
work can be undone in a se
cond. And thee's no way those
legs can be repaired again to
keep her walking.
So they're making a big deal
out of drunk driving. So what!
Those crashes always happen to
someone else. That's what John
Heim thought, until his drink
ing companion and driver ran
into a concrete wall and killed
himself. John? Why John's
about your age, but he'll live
out the rest of his life in a nur
sing home with a bunch of old
folks across the Susquehanna
River, unable to feed himself or
control his body functions.
Actually, statistics show that
one out of every two of us
around right now will have our
lives permanently effected by a
drunk driver in the next 15 - 20
years -- and those effects are
never for the better. Your
chances are just about even
right now -- 50/50 That
unless folks start to change
their attitude about driving
drunk -- You could be the Vic
tim of a drunk driver pretty
soon.
Now wouldn't that be funny!
A Penn State Capitol Campus
Graduate
Anand Bhatt
Ghan Desai
Patricia Kishpaugh,
Graduate Student,
Education