- LIONS EYE - September 15, 1998 Opinion & Review Editorial: | PSU Students and Partying: Purdy and His Ponderings A Call for Responsibility By Robert Purdy SE DUS Advisor It is truly wonderful to be an educated person. You not only get a “good-paying job” and a Mercedes, but you also get to have Transcendent Experiences which are not available to the unintellectual. In order to have a Transcendent Experience (abbr. “T.E.”) one must first have KNOWLEDGE. One must know, for example, that it is very hot in Greece in the summer. It is also useful to know that the American tree commonly called the Sycamore is a variety of “Planetree”. Now here is how knowing those facts can lead to a T.E. Twenty-five hundred years ago, Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates held outdoor classes. They noticed that their students tended to fall asleep in the hot sun, so they sought the cooling shade of the large Planetrees that grew in Athens. Hippocrates (the “Father of Medicine”) did all his best teaching in a Planetree grove on the Greek island of Cos. From this we see that the history of educa- tion in Western Culture began under the protective limbs of the sturdy Planetree. “Where might one find such a tree?” you may ask. You need look no further than the ancient specimen located next to the brook which runs behind Main Building. This beautiful tree, with its variegated bark and branches the color of snow-white marble from Thassos, has probably stood in this spot since Lincoln was President. And now its affords all Penn State Delaware County students the oppor- tunity to enjoy an extraordinary T.E. ~ Here is what you do: Walk into the shade of the tree, and turn to face the new Classroom Building. The Class- room Building, with its state-of-the-art computer facilities and interactive classroom environment, represents the very latest in education for the Third Millennium...just as the Planetree symbolizes the very earliest education in the fifth century BC. You can stand in this one place and appreciate the full range of the educational experience of Western Society. ..from the Greeks to Bill Gate. This all-encom- passing sensation - this “closing of the circle” feeling — is a true Transcendent Experience! It feels good, doesn’t it? The purpose of higher education is to provide you with moments such as this. The more you learn, the more likely you are to have a deeply significant T.E. of your own. Like James Burke, you will see abstruse “connections” between the esoteric and the commonplace... between the ethereal and the mundane. You will astonish your associ- ates with your profundity. You will amaze and delight your parents with your insight and your ability to use big words. And as if that were not enough, you STILL get to drive the Mercedes. i By Lori Craddock Lion's Eye Staff Writer Whether or not we admit it openly, at some point or another, drinking in college campuses becomes part of the whole experience. The two go hand in hand, but at what costs? On July 12,1998 within Penn State College, a riot broke out. The community was awakened with shouts and screams from the drunken students who were terrorizing the campus. Penn State President Graham Spanier warned such incidents will not be tolerated. The few arrested students from the fiasco are being prosecuted and now Spanier and others like him take grave measures to prevent future outbreaks. At orientation, the freshmen were given speeches to not only welcome, but warn as to what being a part of Penn State means. In many respects, alcohol is present and sometimes an active part in life at college. Fraternities and sororities host weekly beer parties as fundraisers, beer barbecues occur daily throughout Nittany backyards, and bars line every Penn State street. Penn State, although associated with partying, is a well respected college. Our graduates are hired under the expec- tation that they are highly educated, responsible, respectable adults. The image somehow sullies as we watch the drunken stupidity in our classmates mirrored back at us. There is a responsibility that comes with accepting a Penn State education. Once attending Penn State, the indi- vidual becomes a symbol for a massive institution and net- work of both students and faculty, friends and family.(Much like President Clinton is to the U.S.) Our reputation as a whole rests in the hands of each and every student’s behav- ior. Although Penn State has stiffened the I.D. checks at lo- cal bars in the past, new measures (such as stiff fines) brought about by the riots, should be receieved gratefully. They are part of Gov. Tom Ridges’s $560,000 pledge to combat binge drinking. Alcohol and partying should not be a first pri- ority on a Penn Stater’s mind. After schoolwork and classes are finished for the day, then let the bar doors open for rea- sonable hours, sober roommates take account of car keys, and by all means let the parties begin. This time taking account of who is invited and where everybody is going to stay throughout the night. Vol. XXX, No. 2 THE LION'S EYE September 15, 1998 The Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth College Delaware County Campus EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Rob Coyle rhcl114@psu.edu ASSISTANT EDITORS Tracey Dinh Aimee Stone . Aaron Mixon STAFF Rachael DeCenzi Joe Oberg Jenna Montgomery Regis Fields : Sarah Stover Jim McGovern Amy Hurley Lori Craddock Philip Yi Gina Ferzetti ADVISORS Lynn Keyser John Terrell The LION’s EYE is published monthly during the academic year by the students of the Delaware County Campus. Submissions are welcome from all students, faculty and staff. Material must be typed, double spaced, and submitted in the LION’S EYE mailbox located in the Lion’s Den. Letters, articles and cartoons represent only the views of their authors. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect editorial opinion. THE LION’S EYE regrets it cannot guarantee the return of any material submitted. All submissions are subject to editing. Regis Fields taking Mr. Purdy’s advice, studying under old sycamore tree next to the new classroom building. . Photo by Tracey Dinh
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