An editorial Nightmares in dating So everyone’s excited that classes don’t start until after Labor Day this coming fall, but do you know what price students pay for the extended summer? Fall Break: a necessary extended weekend break in the middle of the semester, allowing students to relax and regroup. It’s . gone, canceled, forgotten...instead, students are blessed with one “study day” on the Friday before midterms. So students lose a four-day weekend, but they’re gaining a study day. Are college students children? Do they need the university to give them study days? - As adults, it’s the students’ responsibility to study, and calling a day off in the middle of the semester a “study day” won’t make a difference. How this is in the students’ best interest is a puz- zling concept. Let’s take away the only break stu- dents really get during the semester, at a time when most of the students are Bivessed and preparing for midterms...smart. This change will also affect the incoming fresh- men. Convocation is now going to be part of the first day of classes with classes starting after common hour — no, that’s not going to be confusing. It’s enough to make your mind hum at the very thought. The day-long event that is convocation, is used to acclimate freshmen to the campus and give them a chance to get to know more people and get involved in a club or two. But this is now going to be cut short. Yeah, it’s the students they’re looking out for. Really. Penn State was so concerned with serving the students that it conducted a survey to see how the Penn State community felt about the proposed changes. Students, obviously, voted it down. Most faculty didn’t like it. “Yet, in a university that claims to be “making life better,” voices are lost in the multitude. The plan, despite all the negative feelings, got pushed through and approved anyway. To make things seem “better” to students, Penn State decided to add another day to Thanksgiving break, granting students the permission to leave cam- puses early the day before Thanksgiving. What the university fails to recognize is that both students and faculty were already heading home anyway. Penn State prides itself in providing for its ‘stu- dents and helping them to succeed in school and beyond, but this new schedule seems to do no more to help the students than the new carpets did to pro- mote school pride. Let’s face it, Penn State is no more worried about serving all its students than it is about promoting unity between campuses. The university worries about itself and money, looking out for the students at University Park more than the satellite campuses like Delco. The big heads don’t care about the small fries. If it doesn’t save money, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for the consideration Penn State, but “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Lion's Epe Mission Statement We are the newspaper of the Penn State Delaware County campus, serving the students, faculty, administration, staff of, and visitors to, our campus. We vow to entertain and inform all of our audiences, and we will strive to make each edition better, so that we remain a vital part of the Penn State Delco experience. We also strive to be professional, and follow the highest standards of good journalism. The Lion’s Eye Opinion December 17, 2002 People Poll Copy Editor Meredith Becker asked: How do you relieve stress during finals week? “I like to get crazy with my friends, if that doesn’t work, then I drink.” Eaton Morrison Senior IST “I drink, play hockey or play cards.” Jeff Wild Sophmore Business Sophomore Fine Arts “I hang out with my friends. We dance and laugh a lot.” Sophomore Psychology “I make sure that I make time to have fun while I’m studying. I'll go out with my friends and just chill.” “I gamble or play pool in the Den and frolic with DiBon.” Nanaesi Cato Jim Parmiter Sophomore Business “Nick Gallo, play hockey, visit wishee washee, frolic with Jim Parmiter, drink apple martinis.” John DiBuonaventura Senior English/Politcal Science Joanna Cosans What's happened to common courtesy? I'm sitting in the computer lab of the library attempting to type a paper when I hear a monotonous and irritating sound. I look around to figure out what it is, and I realize that the person sitting directly across from me is wearing his headphones and listening to some awful new metal music, and the noise is so loud that I can't concentrate. God only knows what is happening to his ears. I ask him to turn down the volume because the noise is very distracting. He turns it down, maybe three decibels. I still hear it clearly. I try to ignore it as best I can, but it's not easy. A couple of days later, I'm in the library again. This time, I'm looking up sources for a term paper. I've been at the library for less than a half-hour, and four cell phones have already gone off. Of course, they are all set at what sounds like the highest volume. The cell phone belonging to the girl sitting ring and starts whining to the person on the other By KARE end about some guy. I try to ignore her, but she : the wall made by students, asking people to "please be quiet." Now that we're in college, we don't really need to be babied like that. Or do we? I find it depressing to think that people our own age don't have much respect for others. We shouldn't have to be told to act politely, by now, we should just do it: College offers a lot of freedom; with this freedom comes the assumed responsibility that students know how to act and treat others. It's frightening that young adults would need to be ordered to do this. I know I don't need to be told how to act when I walk into a library. I automati- cally turn off the sound on my cell phone, and | don't even think of bringing a CD player or down- loading music on the computer while in school. It's not just the library. Everywhere | go | am forced to deal with people's rudeness and immatu- rity. People walk in a line spread out across the hall so that you can't get by them if you are in a hurry to get to class. I've been cut off numerous doesn't even attempt to lower her voice. During E—r {i in the parking lot and have practically been the duration of her phone call, I have unwillingly learned more information about her personal life than I ever cared to know. Let me remind you that these incidents both occurred in the library, and similar situations are not exactly few and far between. : ; Now, wait a minute... isn't the library supposed to be a quiet place? I've always thought that people were supposed to be as quiet as possible so that others could study and read without distraction. I remember being in the library when I was in elemen- tary school. The librarian would shoot you a dirty look if you accidentally laughed out loud at a joke a friend whis- pered in your ear. If you did it again, she'd come over and tell you to keep your voice down. There were cute signs on hit walking to my car. Smokers don't seem to realize that not everyone wants to breathe their cigarette smoke. People drop trash all over campus, even though there are trash cans located every 50 feet. Students won't even keep their mouths shut during class so that other people can lis- ten. Just because you are paying to be here does not give you the right to act like an inconsiderate jerk. In the end, being rude will just make you look immature and unwor- thy of respect. Unfortunately, a lot of college students don't seem to realize this, and they still act like high-school kids. Which leads me to wonder: Has common courtesy become a concept of the past? Contact Karen Karaszkiewicz at KMK304@wpsu.edu. . PENNSTATE @ ISN Delaware BE County The Lion's Epe Editor-in-chief: Anteia Consorto Assistant Editor: Shawn Pettit Copy Editor: Meredith Becker Editorial Board: Anteia Consorto, Shawn Pettit, Jennifer Rufo, Carrie Goldstein Staff writers: Gerry Dungan, Sarah Gallatig, Carrie Goldstein, Karen Karaszkiewicz, Shawn Manderson, Pam Przybylski, Jennifer Rufo, Amanda Trombetti, Dan Zacher Contact the Lion’s Eye: 610-892-1258 or AAC136@psu.edu
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers