April 17, 1992 — LION'S EYE — Page 5 “FRANKIE,” an avid Penn State supporter. Photo by: DIANA MICERI Commentary Viewpoint -. Student Apathy Threatens ASO By Joan Impagliazzo In the three short years that the Adult Student Organization has been in official existence on the Delaware County Campus, significant strides have been made, specifically to benefit adult students. “Okay, like what?” you ask. For one, have you noticed that there are a few more 400 level courses being offered each semester for EGNAS students than there were in the semesters before? Have you read the list of scholarships and prizes offered that Pro-Life Versus Pro-Choice Debate Demands Moral Decision from America By James Doolittle The 1973 United States Supreme Court decision “Roe Versus ~ Wade” which legalized abortion is still one of the most hotly disputed topics in American society today. Rarely has there been a subject which can cause dissension between neighbors, friends and family. Yet what is all the commotion truly about? Pro-Choice advocates harangue endlessly that the decision of whether or not to have a child is a moral decision that should be decided by the woman and not a higher lawmaking body. In truth, it is a moral decision, yet one that reflects not the rights of women but rather the diminished value of human life and the act of sex in our society today. When the “Roe Versus Wade” decision was handed down in the early 1970's, America was in a state of disarray. Vietnam, the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Watergate scandal had left many Americans with feelings of anger and isolation. The decision to legalize abortions in America came out of this confused era. The “Roe Versus Wade” decision came about after decades where women had to have illegal abortions that were performed in dirty backdoor clinics. Many women died undergoing this illegal activity because of the unsanitary aspects of the operation and the relatively unskilled procedures used by the abortionists of that time. Women began speaking up about their rights as women have the right to safe and legal abortions. After all, it's their bodies and they have the “Constitutional Right” to do what they want with them. True, but what of the baby’s rights? If there is one area that Pro- Choice advocates have trouble discussing when arguing for abortion is the rights of the unborn child. That is because the unborn child, the fetus, is a living human being, contrary to views expressed by the Pro-Choice advocates that during the first twelve months, the fetus is not “alive.” Any Bi Sci student here at Penn State Delco could tell you that when the male's sperm interacts with the female egg, a living human organism, a human being, is formed; one that needs nourishment, care and can feel pain. This fact is the basis of the Pro-Life movement in America, a strong, brave organization that for years has rallied to overturn “Roe Versus Wade.” The movement has indeed gathered momentum over the past few years as a few states are passing stricter abortion laws. Yet although the Pro-Life movement currently has some momentum, the majority of Americans still believe that a woman has a right to terminate her pregnancy, to take a life because “it is her body.” It is her body, but that doesn’t mean she may do as she pleases with it. Murder isn’t justifiable because “it’s the killer's body and he may do as he pleases with it,” so why should abortion. If abortionists can continue to use such a flimsy excuse to protect their sins, what is stopping thieves, rapists, serial killers, drug dealers and child molesters from doing the same. The bottom line is that abortion is a heinous crime that is supported in this country because we no longer value life or the act of sex in our society today. Too many people see the fetus as an object and the act of sex as six seconds of pleasure and not life producing. We have become so obsessed with our Book Review looks and making money that the time and energy needed to carry out a pregnancy seems to be a waste of time. Why waste nine months of your life when you can skip down to your neighborhood abortion clinic and finish it in a day? Some people complain that they don’t have the money to raise a child, and an abortion is the only way to get by, but a life isn’t something you can put a price tag on. Life is something that is created through a union of love, and not something that has to do with economics. The problem in society today is that we have made it much easier to terminate a life than to create one. Now upon reading this article, many women may say that as a man I do not know what they must go through. “How could you possibly know the pain a woman must go through when deciding to get an abortion.” How? Because I am not a “man”, nor am [I a “woman”, but I am a human being, one that knows of the God-given value of human life. One’s sex doesn’t have an influence on one’s views, their environment does. In America, the environment has created a view that is distorted and evil in the case of abortion. . Things don’t just happen. Nothing can are specifically for full-time adult students? % Po you know there is an emergency fund for certain qualified situations? Do you know there is a list of local day care centers available through Student Programs and Services? Do you know about all of the social events the ASO has sponsored through the year, namely the back- to-school dinner in August, Adult Student orientation, monthly Sandwich Club lunches, two Chat n’ Cheeses, {one each semester), a Beef n’ Beverage on March 29, and an end-of-the-year barbecue, which will be held in May? If you don’t know about these things, why don’t you? Do you read the Lion's Eye ? Night Lion ? ASO Bulletin Board across from 105 Main? Posters hung on doors and walls? Your mail that we spend hundreds of dollars in postage on to both inform you of and invite you to various ASO events throughout the year? So where are you? Adults comprise one third of our campus population, which is approximately 600 students. However, we average only a two percent level of attendance at any one of the above functions. Of course, you're busy. Who isn’t? But how do you suppose any ground gets broken to acquire more programs and services for us? People make things happen. get done without the adult students themselves. We need, we must have your support. Faculty and staff have done more than their share in backing us in all of our efforts, with both moral and financial support. : None of the things we accomplish benefit faculty or staff; at least not directly. It is for the adult student that we are fighting to garner whatever aids we can to facilitate our Penn State education. Please don’t let all that we have set in motion go down the tubes. Come out and get involved in your future. The Penn State spirit isn’t just for kids, you know. Eco’s Pendulum Entraps Reader’s Mind With Intricate Re-Structuring of History By Kaspar Stromme “Foucault's Pendulum is Eco’s magical mystery tour of the Western mind.” (Chicago Tribune.) These words of praise, among others, were given to Umberto Eco’s latest offering, a book which fascinates, educates and entertains, all at the same time. If you were one of the people who enjoyed reading Eco’s other novel, The Name of the Rose, as opposed to seeing the movie, you will love this book. It has the same, frequently overwhelming, amount of detail, which sometimes made you put Name of the Rose down in despair and anger, only to quickly find yourself drawn back into Eco’s world. The action can be summed up like this: Three clever editors find themselves reviewing large amounts of crackpot manuscripts on the occult. Slowly they start to construct a plan, based on the ravings of a nutty colonel who claimed to know of a mystic source of power, stronger than any other. The plan is created with pieces of history, history as we know it today, but assembled with the condition that anything not proven false, can be considered true. Thus, the editors start drawing conclusions based on presumptions as opposed to factual information and before long, the plan has become a plot involving a wide range of historical characters and organizations spanning over Six centuries. Without knowing it, the editors are slowly reconstructing a plan which has existed, but was partially lost, and therefore never completed. Unfortunately, a large group of people have been looking for the plan, and they will stop at nothing to get it. The plot is only half of the book, however. The other half is the vast amount of historical information, which covers topics as remote as sewer-building and James Bond’s foes. Many authors use history to create their plots, but on the more than 500 pages of this book, Eco draws his plot of world- domination from the lore and history of an entire millennium. The book, unfortunately, suffers from a slow start, and this has probably discouraged many people from continuing. Be warned, however; once you have passed that first (and only) obstacle, you might find yourself trapped with this book. Gg — ARR Sg GORE Si A,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers