10 Monday, November 16,1998 OPINION/EDITORIAL
Editorial
Back your complaints
with your actions
You had your chance,
But the pervasive sense of apathy at Penn State Harrisburg simply con
tinued. In fact, it grew to a new extreme. For quite possibly the first time
here, people were too apathetic to complain anymore.
What should have been a monumental chance to expose and change
everything folks whine about instead turned into the most obvious sign of
this campus’ pathetic interest in getting a real education.
Penn State President Graham Spanier was here. At 4:00 p.m. on No
vember 4, he stood obviously tired from a long day and talked to
the PSH students’ voices. All 14 of them.
You couldn’t have squeezed 14 more staff or faculty in the Gallery
Lounge an hour earlier. A lively exchange of thoughts, suggestions and
yes complaints were exchanged.
Where, then, does this ‘who the hell cares, I hate this place’ attitude
come from? Apparently, some people do care. And apparently, it’s not the
people who are slapping down their money to come here.
For those that try to do something, it’s not easy. On a commuter cam
pus, there’s a constant struggle to create some sort of community. How
do you plan events if students aren’t going to bother to show up? Why are
students going to show up when they have to drive home, take care of the
kids and go to their night job to pay the bills?
For those that assume the administration has given up, think again. In
fact, quite the opposite is true it’s become a full-time job.
There’s a nice stack of cash called the student activities fee. Don
Hoitzman, John Bruhn, Nancy Leister, Janet Widoff and Lois Cochran
spend coundess hours trying to figure out how to use it. Who are these
people, and whoever else tries to figure out ways to spend the STU
DENTS’ money for the STUDENTS benefit?
If you’re complaining about the state of affairs at PSH, you should know
who they are already. If not, your complaint has no foundation.
And frankly, we’re tired of hearing such complaints.
Find out who Don Hoitzman is. He’s sitting on a pile of cash and a
cache of influence. Ask the staff at WPSH, who’ve been fighting for
months to get through all the red tape of hitting the airwaves. A meeting
with Don and they ’ re on the air—their signal only reaches the Cap Times
office, but it’s a good start toward their eventual five-mile broadcast ra
dius.
He’ll listen to any suggestion. After all, he’s been trying to come up
with ideas ever since he started here six years ago.
If you want to complain, go ahead. We’ll be the first to admit that many
things could and should be changed around here. Parking fees, stolen
radios, a bland campus layout, no dining commons, constant construc
tion. Yet, they all share one thing in common something is being done
about it.
If you want to complain, go ahead. But do so knowing the onus to change
things is as strongly on you as on any other person here.
You still have your chance. For the sake of your own education, take
advantage of it wisely.
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Power is proportional to money
By Brad Moist
Assistant Editor
I once read the line “With great
power comes great responsibility.”
And I believe this to fee true. And
so what if I read that line in a Spi
der-Man comic. It is totally true and
relevant. Though for our society
where money is power, the state
ment should be, “With lots of
money, comes great responsibility.”
And as usual, some bonehead ath
lete in the sports world doesn’t re
alize or even consider the fact that
even he needs to be responsible or
be held responsible.
On October 19, St. Louis Rams
linebacker Leonard Little was in
volved in a car accident that re
sulted with the death of 47-year-old
:ae« g ThevOapiM Times',
Daniel A. Zehr Matthew J. Bowman
Editors
Brad Moist Sandi Klink Kim Glass
Assistant Editor Advertising Photographer
Lauren Capitani FRED Crispin Sartwell
Layout Cartoonist Adviser
Diane Finnefrock Jesse Gutierrez Ken Lopez
Hiran J. Ratnayake Kristy Pipher Barb Roy
Staff / Writers / Contributors
_
Susan Gutweiler.
Little, who turned 24 that day,
was celebrating at a charity func
tion with some fellow teammates at
a downtown hotel just before the ac
cident. Apparently Little was cel
ebrating a little too much. A blood
test showed that his blood-alcohol
level was .19, nearly twice the le
gal limit at the time of the accident.
Leonard Little failed to realize
that even he, as high and mighty as
he thinks he is, needs to be respon
sible and be accountable for his ac
tions. The result for this failure was
the murder of Susan Gutweiler. And
yes you heard me right, murder.
Little killed Susan Gutweiler, let’s
not forget that. His decision to drive
while under the influence is just as
dangerous as walking down the
The Capital Times
street with a loaded gun and point-
ing it at people.
Though athletes have been known
do that as well too. So I ask you,
what is wrong with this picture?
Little’s actions make me sick.
And I am tired of seeing innocent
people get caught in the deadly
crossfire between these overpaid,
disrespectful athletes.
Yes lama sports fan. A truly dedi
cated one. However, I am tired of
seeing sports being polluted by the
disrespect, irresponsibility, and lack
of caring by a majority of today’s
athletes.
„ Though if some professional
MJmvemmf
lion a year in my face to catch a ball
and then another $2.5 million just
to sign my name I would sure as