/“• 1 alt?* Satbj Collegian SmtiMi to THE FREE LANCE, cat. 188! Published ruesday through Saturday mornings inclusive during the College vear by the staff of rhe Daily Collegian of The Pennsylvania State College Entered ss leconti-clasa matter July 6. 1934. at the State College. Pa. Post Office under the act of Uarch 3. 1879 Collegian editorials represent* the viewpoints of the writ ira, not necessarily the oolicy of the newspaper Unaigne editorials are by the editor. Marr Krasnansky Edward Shanken Editor Business Mgr. STAFF THIS ISSUE Night editor, _ Dave Pellnitz; copy editors, Lynn Kahanowitz, LaVohne Althouse; assist ants, Sam Procopio, Lu Martin, Dick Rau, Jean Gardner, Betty Allen. Ad manager, Alison Morley; assistant, Janet Landau. College Regulation On Exams Needed The ideal conditions for the week-before final examinations would be to have no classes at all, so that students could have time to prepare for the rigors of two-hour finals. This, of course, is impossible, or, to be specific, impractical, since it would increase the length of the school year by two weeks. The next best thing would be for professors to lighten the load students are expected to carry during the final week of classes. That could be done among other ways —by eliminating blue books during that week pre ' ceding the start of final. examinations. Most students don’t like blue books—it’s a natural aversion which almost everybody who has ever been on the taking end of a blue book must feel at least once or twice in his life. Students particularly dislike blue books in the week before finals since they prevent the stu dent from adequately preparing for finals. And. one of the easiest ways we know of for profs to" become unpopular quickly is by giving a blue book during this, period. One. blue book in the week before finals is annoying. But two or three in the same week place the student-victim at a handicap. And there are students to whom this is happening— now. There is, however, no way by which this problem can be solved other.than making it a uniform College rule to apply to all schools, for many students will have exams given in courses in any number of schools. The only College body that could enact such a uniform regulation would be the Col lege Senate. Action by the Senate—with rep-, reseatafives of each of the College's eight undergraduate schools taking part—would be binding on all schools. . Sorority Houses May Harm College The announcement that sorority houses are a possibility and that the board of trustees is “not unfriendly” toward renting or building houses at Penn State has naturally met with favorable reaction and comment from most sorority women. There are a few points, however, that should be, considered before definite action is taken. First, what good will houses do for the sororities and “for a better Penn State” in general? The sorority system is undoubtedly stronger on campuses where each chapter has its own house. Often dormitory living conditions are not so modem as at Penn State, and better food and living units are factors which may decide a woman to join the Greeks. If sorority houses were built her.e, the sorority system would be strengthened. As it would be more important to join a sorority, more women would probably be in terested. Thai would increase the number who might be left out and disappointed and would increase the barrier between, independent and sorority women. On the other hand, in order to support the ex pense of houses, sororities would centainly have to keep a maximum number of members. Would this result in cutthroat rushing and frequent disregard of the rushing code? With the present setup each group has a nearly identical suite of rooms. That means the rushee judges the group by its members rather than by the size of the house, interior decora tion and so forth. When all women live in the dormitories better relations are fostered between sororities themselves and between sorority and indepen dent women. By eating in the same dining hall, and attending the same unit house meetings the women get to know others outside their own group. Members of a* sorority are not shut up behind four walls, practically isolated socially from the other women on campus. All is not good about a strong sorority sys tem. It is not even good for the sorority wo man herself if it sets her apart from her fellow students. Before jumping on the bandwagon in favor of houses, we should ask whether this move would make a minority group too strong and what the end result of this strengthening migh be. “Sin may open bright as the morning, but it will end dark as night”—Talmage ■—Beltie Loux THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA Students Will Obey Sensible Rules Ninety-three per cent of the complaints stu dents have against the College, the faculty, the weather, the Froth, and the Daily Collegian somehow manage to wind up on the desk in this office. This figure is not the result of a survey. It is the result of experience, however, that one way or another student complaints wind up in the lap of one Collegian staffer or another. Quite often after investigating, we find the complaint justified. Almost as often, the protests are'un founded. Some of' the things we hear come to us through the mails. Unless letters are -signed, we cannot print them. A signature on a letter means it was written in good faith. If the writer requests, the name will be withheld and kept confidential. Occasionally we get unsigned letters. These we do not print, but they often serve as “tips” on news stories or for editorials. One of these unsigned letters came to us some time ago, and although we have not printed it, in accordance with our policy, we have been thinking about what the writer, “a first semester frosh,” had to say because we think it is typical of the thinking being done by many students here. Why, this frosh asks, are freshmen women not allowed in fraternity houses under present College regulations? Apparently nobody in the administration has made it clear to this coed— and most students in general—why freshman women should not be allowed in fraternity houses while other women are. The frosh also makes the observation that even if there is a good reason for such a regula tion, the rule is not being enforced. The coed goes on to point out, “If I’m the type that wants to drink, I’ll think of a way to do it without getting caught ... I wouldn’t get caught. The same thing goes for all the unenforced rules.” The coed goes'on to offer her solution of the problem of unenforced rules and regulations: “Don’t permit first semester women on campus,” she says. “And if it gets to the point where there are so many rules that this school is like a pri son, then don’t have any girls on campus. Then men can be restricted and very shortly Penn State will be a defunct school. That is no solu tion actually, but I’m still waiting for a better one.” What to do about rules that are not enforced has always been a perplexing problem. It is disillusioning to obey a rule while others vio late it. Among the regulations governing wo men, there seem to bo quite a few rules going unenforced. The rule forbidding frosh in fra ternity houses is one of them. A special Wo men's Government Association committee which studied the problem has turned it back to the administration. If a rule is a good one, we have faith that the majority of students will obey it. We don’t know if the rule is good, however. But, like most students, we could be convinced. Until we, and what is more important, the freshman wo men and the majority of the student body, are convinced that this is a sound rule, it will con tinue to be broken. Assembly Passes A Good Sex Law Although the current session of the legislature should go down as one of the most unproductive in history, the General Assembly did manage to come up with a few worthwhile pieces of legis lation. One of ihe more intelligent pieces of legis lation to come from this session was the bill providing for sentencing sex offenders to an indefinite term in state mental institutions rather than prison. Gov. John S. Fine signed the bill Tuesday, thus making one social ad vance that our state sorely needed. The bill provides for a psychiatric examina tions of all who are convicted of sex crimes, with the findings being turned over to the courts for final examination. The fact that our commonwealth is finally realizing that some of our sex offenders deserve to be treated as the sick persons they are is indeed an important move. The bill further provides that persons com mitted to institutions for treatment will be kept there for unlimited periods depending upon the recommendations of the parole board. The full benefits of this measure will depend upon the treatment the patients receive. In its infancy the bill appears to have the two most important elements for mentally ill offenders—treatment and quarantine. St. Louis, Mo. took similar action two years ago. Michigan has also worked toward the par tial solution of sex crimes. That state has appro priated money for state hospitals and trained psychiatrists to do work in psycho-sexual devia tion. What we need’ is more of this combined effort toward the solution of an ever-present 1 problem. It becomes an almost immediate necessity when crime hits where it hurls most —the children. If the commonwealth comes through in the administration of this bill, we will certainly be aiding in the solution of what appears to be a hopeless situation. —Mimi Ungar Little Man On Cam pi* "That's Ron's biggest problem—he stops too fast." Views on HST Speech Differ By 3. M. ROBERTS Associated Press News Analyst It’s an old truism that the way. things look depends on where you are standing. . ' In the United States, President Truman’s State of the Union message was received, judging from the weight of comment I have seen and heard as something less than masterful. His assessment of 1951 as a .year of great'gains has been widely questioned, and the message in general seemed uninspiring. In Britain, however, the re port seems to have been well received. The Manchester Guardian, tagged as liberal, even compared it with Prime Minister Churchill's Christmas broadcast in grimness and un comprising devotion to the tasks of world affairs. “Truman’s steadfastness- may help us to brace ourselves for the equally stern message which the chancellor of' the exchequer is preparing for the reassembly of 1 The News Chronicle of Lon don, also tagged liberal, looked at the domestic rather than the in ternational angles of the address and decided that the President was stepring “well left of center,” but that, because of political reasons, his - social program will never be fully carried out “though there is no real economic reason why it should not be. The American economy is so strong that it could carry .the enormous burden of armanent without re ducing the standard of living, of its people.” A lot of the President's ad visers have also been saying the same • thing. about Ameri- Gazette... Monday, January 14 1 ' ELECTRONIC. WARFARE UNIT, 4-3, 200 Engineering E, 7 p.m. INTERCOLLEGIATE ' CON FERENCE ON GOVERNMENT, Dr. Ruth Silva .speaker, 214 Wil lard Hall,. 7 p.m. PENN STATE ENGINEER, 418. Old Main, 7 p.m. COLLEGE HOSPITAL Phyllis Burkholder,' Norma Cur cio, Seema Deakter, Lynn Fowler, Nancy Gibbs, Janice Gladstein, Carolyn Goyer, Allen Keniston. AT THE MOVIES CATHAUM: Westward The Wo man 2:13, 4:06, 5:59, 7:52, 9:45 • STATE: I'll See You In My Dreams 2:11, 4:03, 5:55, .7:47, 9:39 NITTANY: Arizona Manhunt 6:25. 8:19,. 10:15 STUDENT EMPLOYMENT 1 Married nan for janitor work. • • Women for office work. Typing and dictation necessary: * . Seventh and eighth semester aeronautical engineers .and .mechanical engineers for part-time government work- , COLLEGE PLACEMENT New Holland .Machine ' Ce. will -inter* SATURDAY, JANUARY .12, ■ 1952 . ca's economic strength but the Defense Production Ad ministration already is - order ing cuts in consumer produc-' iion, just the same. There are tion, just the same. There are non-economic . arguments against the' President on this subject, too. The London Daily Herald, lab or, thinks the idea known* over here as “Point Four” is the thing. “Much" depends on how seriously Congress takes Truman’s request for more economic aid to Asia’s poorest peoples. Many millions will turn to communism in their despair unless the West does more to help them.” The independent London Times said “it was an awesome picture that Truman sketched of indus trial America armed and arming, of a huge machine moving toward its . greatest speed and momentum.” Then it adds slyly: "To steer it well will call for the highest wisdom, and sober counsel to the helmsman will be . the duty of - America's friends and allies," chief of course, are the ' British for whom the ■ Times seeks to speak. Hillel to Sponsor Cabaret Tonight Independent men ’ and women of Hillel Foundation will be hosts at the Hillel Cabaret, an open house at Hillel tonight. Joseph Markind is chairman of the committee in charge of . the affair. The cabaret’s purpose is to interest people in Hillel’s activi ties and to provide , a social cen ter. ; The cabaret will be a Saturday night social at Hillel frequently during the coming semester. En tertainment will. always, include dancing and cards. Refreshments will be served and. the event is open to the public. view January graduates in I.E. If inter ested, leave your name in 112 Old Main before Monday. ••'New Holland Machine Co. will interview January^graduates' in- M.E. with farm background for the design of • farm ma chinery. Thursday,. Jan. ,10. . • ] Syivanla Electric will interview January graduates in accounting-Friday, Jan. 18. ' The 'Geological Survey of the ,U.S. De partment .. Of The Interior .will interview January graduates' in For., Geology, (XSm and M.E. Wednesday, January 10. ♦v liibier
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers