- Attmi , 196 s Campus To Have Plant-In Capitol ` Middletown, Pa. --- mai•ch-ins, and love-ins are com i-non on college campuses these days, but would you believe a plant-in? That's exactly what students and faculty at The Pennsylvania Slide University's Capitol Cam. pus plan next month wheil they'll eXercise their green thumbs in ; 0 _ effort to beautify their cam - - - Academic. pursuits will be put aside on April 15 as some 330 trees are planted on the campus, an upper-division college and graduate center located in the former north complex of Olmsted Ail. Force Base. The University is supplying the trees and planting know-how. Students and faculty are supply ing the necessary manpower. The tree-planting project, be ing organized , by the Student Government Association, was in: itiated after siudents_and facul ty members e%Presged their con cern about the "sterile atmos phere" of the campits and the lack of trees acid other shrub berY. In fact, early _ _ the Fall Term, several students took it upon themselves to go out in the woods and remove a small tree, and plant it on the campus as- a means of visualizing their con- "Many of us felt that trees Fere needed to dress up the area and make it look more like a traditional college campus," said John Lybarger, president of the Student Government Assn. "We approached Mr. Herpel (Coleman Herpel, campus direc tor) about the 'possibility of such project. Later ws.Vere inform ed that President - Walker (Eric Walker, PSU President) would provide special funds for the pur chase of trees if the, students would plant them." Lybarger then formed a com mittee . ; to organize the project and named Paula Holtzman, a senior from Philadelphia, as chairman. Members, in addition to Lybarger, are Patricia Har lecher, a senior from Highspire, and Eugene Weller, a junior from Montgomery, Pa. In organizing the project, the TILE HIGFIACRES COLLEGIAN student cothrnitteet sought` the ad vice of Mr. Paul W. Pierson, head of landscape planning for the University's Physical, Plant Planning and Construction Divi sion. The types of trees to be planted were selected and a planting plan developed. Trees to be planted include Sugar Maple, American Sweetgum, Red Pine, London Plane, Pin Oak, Washing ton Hawthrone, and two types of Crabapple. The biggest problem now fac ing the committee is the procure ment of shovels for the project. "We have received a promise of a loan of about 30 shovels from the Middletown Borough," Lybarger said, "anO there is a possibility they may provide a back hoe'to make the planting holes prior to the Tree Day. But we probably need a total of 150 shovels to do the job." Lybarger said supervision groups are being organized to provide security for the shovels loaned to the students and to make certain that the trees are planted properly. Undergraduate classes at the campus, both morning and after noon, will be dismissed so that students and faculty may devote themselves to tree planting. A formal ceremony is schedul ed for 9 a. m. in front of the main building on the campus. WANTED! * * WANTED * -* 4 (FOUR) Tall, young, eligible men for es corts to the Greek Ball. Contact: 1) Zelda Glutzmeier 2) Mathilda Hatwater 3) Hortenzia Grump 4) Penelope Hackemgluzer P. S. We will pay! ! All applicants file in care of this newspaper Fraternity thy University Park, Pa. Stud ents, who joina fraternity may pay a price with their grades. In a Pennsylvania State Uni versity study, Dr. Jamas A. Rhodes indivklually matched freshmen living in campus resi dence halls -- by their college and grade point average- with students pledging the ten frat ernlies ranked highest scholast ically and the ten ranked lowest First term grades averaged 2.- 244 for, the 91 men who entered Penn State in Fall, 1966, and later joined a high achieving fra ternity. After pledging in the fourth term, their grades averag ed 2.559. While their residence hall fel lows slipped somewhat during the same period from 2.840 to 2.684 the drop was not -as great. "That the fraternities themselv es are concerned about this pro bleth," Dr. Rhodes says, "is evi denced by the fact that Inter fraternity Council, which repre sents all 54 of Penn State's Greek letter societies, actually gave me funds for m research." A member of the staff of the Office of the Dean of Students, and formerly in charge of frater nity affairs, Dr. Rhodes under took his survey to help fulfill re ' quirements toward a doctor of education degree at the Univer sity. "The negative effects of low achieving fraternities were even more pronounced," he continues. "Their 49 pledges dropped from a first term average of 2.782 to 2.456 in fourth term. Those in the dorms actually raised their grad es from 2.775 to 2.854."- _ Differences in curricula may account for low achieving resi dence hall students surpassing even the two high groups, he be lieves. The grades of 108 freshmen who entered Penn State in Fall, 1965, and were inducted-into the ten high achieving fraternities in Winter and Storing Terms of the next year, followed the same patterns as those of the 1966 freshmen, according to. Dr. Rho des. The high achieving group PAGE SEVEN (fades Affect dropped from a 2,825 grade point average to 2.483. In following the grades of the 1965 stndents through three a6ll tional terms, however, Dr. Rho des noted that their marks rose again to a 2.601 average in the' seventh term. For 83 low achieving inductees, the first term average was 2.774; the fourth, 2.073; and the seven th, 2.417. "Tests administered to resi dence hall and fraternity groups showed no real difference be tween them either in regard to their study habits or attitudes," Dr. Rhodes points out. All 20 fraternities cooperated fully when Dr. Rhodes requested permission to visit their houses to inspect study facilities and in= terview selected officers. Both high and low achieving Greek societies offered similar physical facilities for study. The high achieving groups did keep extensive, up-to-date mamba lion files which were well or ganized and regularly used. High achieving fraternities had a tendency to be professionally oriented, with slightly higherl standards for selecting pledges. They had fewer pledge classes per year and spent less time or! pledging activities. Interpersonal relationships were warmer, and there was a greater spirit of co operation between members and pledges than in low achieving groups. On the other hand, hazing and pre-;niVation practices in low achieving fraternities were de cidedly more harsh. For ex ample, four of the low, but none of the high groups, reported that paddling in one forin or• another was still accepted practice. law achieving fraternities also plac ed considerably more emphasis on social activities. "Fraternities," Dr. Rhodm concluded, "are currently oper ating in a number of ways which are in conflict with the values and purposes of the University." He suggests that fraCternity house corporations develop long range plans for improving study conditions and facilities, that they relegate social objectives to their proper place with regard to newly defined educational) goals.
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