AGrE,' , FOU iaattig Callegiati Successor to THE FREE LANCE, est. 1887 Published Tuesday through Saturday mornings inclusive !Writ'? the College ye:Er by the staff of The Daily C.:ollegiar of The P-nnsylvania State College. Enteral as second-class matter July S. 1934. at the State colicgc. Pa.. Post Office tundor the act of March 3. 1879. Colicieine represent the viewpoint of the writ:2 , re. not rteeest:ltri'y the pol:ey a the newspaper. Un editoriali. are by the editor. Dave Pellnitm Edifior Managisky: Lc., Andy Sic.Neillie; City Ed., Dave Jones; Sports Ed., Jake Highton; Copy Ed., Bettie Lanz; Edit. Dir., Jim Gromilicr: Wire Ed.. Chuck Henderson; Soc. Ed., 3incer Opoczenski; Asst. Sports Ed., Ted Soena; Asst. Soc. Ed.. i,v.Vorme Althousc; Feature Ed.. Julie tbbotson: Librarian. Dot Bennett; Exchange Ed.. Nancy Goetze). STAFF THIS ISSUE Night editor: Lorraine Gladus; Copy editors: Dick McDowell, Chiz Mathias; Assistants: Mary Angel, Betty Allen, Tom Werner, Leonard Goodman, Peggy McClain, Evvie Advertising staff: David Schultz, Mack Christ, Jim Guerdon, Bruce Nichols, Don Zip pin. Safety Valve Frosh Fraternity Rule Bad To the editor: I've grown up in a university town, and for my last two years in high school, was allowed to go to fraternity houses with my dates. I've found that no fraternity house, 'either at Lehigh or State, that I've visited, has been a den of iniquity or a house of corruption. I've found iristead, that a frat ernity is usually a place where good friends and their dates congregate to round out an evening of fun. Recently, we, the freshman girls, were asked to answer two questions, anonymously, on ques tionnaires given to us by, the hat women who Were our Orientation Week counselors. One question asked if we had visited a fraternity house since we came to Penn State as fresh men. The other inquired if we had had any alcoholic beverages at a fraternity. At the end of the questionnaire, there was space provided for any additional comments we might have to offer on the no-fraternities rule. Many of us took this opportunity, and expressed our opin- - ions. . , I believe that the no-fraternities rule at State is particularly bad, for, when a freshman girl has a one o'clock permission, once she's left the movies with her date, there are but two choices for somewhere to go—a fraternity house or Hort woods—and a fraternity is by far the lesser of two evils. The only argument favoring the ruling con tends that for a girl who has never visited a fraternity, the sudden shock of its atmosphere might well lead to her destruction, morally. However, after the first semester is over, she will be allowed to visit fraternities, and the change, if it is so great, will be as sudden then as it would have been in September or October. The only difference is that by that time she will be better acquainted with her date and his friends and be far more likely to indulge in any practices the rule is trying to prevent. When I came to Penn State, I had no inten tion or desire to violate any rules. At this writing, I have broken the same rule twice . . . I've visited two fraternity houses. I did nothing either time of which I am ashamed, nothing that I would not have done in the presence of my parents. While I always have been allowed to have any alcoholic beverages in our home, and there was - always an amply supply there, I haven't done any drinking at a fraternity, since no drinking was one of the rules which I agreed to follow when I signed my room contract. However, since I signed no agreement con cerning fraternities, since I had no knowledge of such a rule when I came to State, and since fraternity houses have the complete approval of my parents, I can see no logical reason why they should be prohibited to me. Although it might be impractical, I suggest that parents sign a blanket permission which would allow their daughters to visit "approved" fraternities on campus. In this way, the admin istration and the IFC would be completely ab solved of any blame or responsibility that might be involved. I think that by the time a girl is old enough chronologically and mentally to be in college and away from her parents' guidance, she has the common sense and intelligence to decide for herself if her actions are right and if her com pany and the places she visits are equal to de sirable moral standards. I sincerely hope that the no fraternities rule will be lifted, for my own sake as well as for others. None of us, the freshman girls, wants to violate any rules the college sets up. We went through customs—we sang. courtsied, and cheered—we are in by our deadlines, or suffer without complaint, we don't leave the shades up in our rooms when the lights are on, we do all that the authorities request, but—and, that "but" is where the trouble lies. I don't want to have a permanent black mark on my college record, nor do I want any frat ernity to lose its charter because I or any other freshman girls were there. However, I do enjoy fraternities and I want to be able to feel free to visit a fraternity house when I so desire. I am not alone in my feelings about the no-fraternities rule or the good iimes•-and pleasant company a fraternity house offeis. After visit!ng one house• on campus, one of my friends ccnrided that she had been dis appointed. She had expected something- "at Franklin Kelly Business Mgr. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA _ least a little horrible." She found instead "that it was, just as if we'd been spending the evening at his own home." I hope that the matter of "no-fraternities" will be reconsidered. I hope that freshman women (and from our first moment on campus we have been told that we now are women) will be allowed to go to fraternities. SU Building Delay Is Nearing an End Fifteen years of campaigning and waiting for Penn State's permanent student union building may finally be nearing an end. President Eisenhower last week indicated that the College expects to advertise for bids on the new building Oct. 15 and that the contract would be let in mid-November if the bids are acceptable. Agitation for a permanent student union building was begun as early as 1937 when the Daily Collegian undertook to push the idea. In 1939 a student poll disclosed that 89 per cent of 800 students, questioned favored an SU and 84 per cent were willing to pay for it. In 1946, following the war, `agitation for a SU reached its peak when 2700 signatures were collected on a petition agreeing to add $5 to student fees in order to construct and maintain an SU. The petition was sent to the Board of Trus tees, and in April, 1947, students voted 10-1 in favor of financing a student union building rather than a field house. By June, 1948, architects had begun to re vise plans for a $4.5 million SU building. In February, 1950, the plans were pared down io a two million dollar first unit. In May of the same year All-College Cabinet approved a student assessment of $7.50 per semester for the 1950-51 school year and a $lO per semester fee thereafter. Material shortages have held up construc tion ever since, and for this redson the assess ment was never raised to $lO. Although the College expects construction to get underway "soon after the contract is let" it will take at least 18 months to com plete the building. I That means that if things go smoothly and there are no additional material shortages to tie up construction, only freshmen and pos sibly sophomores will see the permanent SU as a reality on the grounds south of Osmond Laboratory during their undergraduate years. —Jim Gromiller Football orChurch? • A student football scrimmage is quite out of place on Sunday morning. We• feel most stu dents will concur with this statement, even though there are a few who see no harm in taking over Holmes Field for games on Sunday mornings. Tennis courts are, by College regulationZ, closed until afternoon on Sundays. We think the same should apply to other sporting ac tivity as well. However, this is something for which the College should need no regulations. We say there should be no need for regula tion. but apparently there is. But then maybe the - students to which we have referred need only to have it called to their attention to realize that they should wait at least until after Sunday church ser vices are concluded be f ore starting their weekly football game. Gazette ... Tuesday, October 7 ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA, Grange basement, 6:30 p.m. BELLES LETTRES CLUB, Atherton lounge, 7 p.m.. ' COLLEGIAN ADVERTISING staff, interme diate and junior boards, 9 Carnegie, 7 p.m. • COLLEGIAN BUSINESS staff candidates, 2 Carnegie, 7 p.m. COLLEGIAN CLASSIFIED AD staff, Colle gian office, 7 p.m. COLLEGIAN EDIT,ORIAL candidates, 1 Car negie, 7 p.m. COLLEGIAN JUNIOR board, 8 Carnegie, 7 p.m. COLLEGIAN PROMOTION staff, 111 Came _ gie. 7 p.m. DELTA SIGMA PI, Phi Delta Theta, 7 p.m. GAMMA PI EPSILON; McElwain lounge, 7:30 p.m. GERMAN CLUB, Thompson recreation room, 7 p.m. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CLUB, 218 Willard, 7:30 p.m. NITTANY -BOWMEN ARCHERY CLUB, 202 Engineering B, 7 p.m. PANHELLENIC COUNCIL, Alpha Epsilon Phi suite, 7 p.m. PENN STATE CLUB, 405 Old Main, 7 p.m. PSYCHOLOGY CLUB, 204 Burrowes, 7 p.m. WRA BADMINTON CLUB, White Hall gym, 7 p.m. WRA OUTING CLUB, White Hall game room, 7 p.m. COLLEGE PLACEMENT West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co. will interview January B.S. candidates in M.E., G.E. and Chem. Eng. Monday. Oct. O. Westinghouse Air Brake Co candidates in M.E. and I.E. Friday, Oct. 17. Reynolds Metal Co. will interview January B.S. candidates ME., Chem. Eng. and Chem. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 16-17. Further information concerning interviews and job place ments can - *be obtained In - 112 Old Main. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT Substitute waiters for girls' dorms. Boy to work for room. Boys for radio repair. —Name withheld -J.G. will interview January B.S Little Man on Campus ;; - 5 - -',f , ..? ,4*-- , " 1-%: ,' : . , 4 . , ''''' ' i,4% c.' , .' . ~,'" -, ze , ... , r„ , ,, , . 'Ir:I. - p: ie., ..??...;...,„:.>, , 1 ; .1' - .l' . ~ ' 1'1e , ;,f, ; %,,,%' , .% ' , -"‘ ...r . 1 -'mr;:,4-7"--- re r ;,?''.,/•-•7'' 1 _z‘- "I'm tryin' to p the tight sweat:. WISE AND OTHERWISE Home, Not College Produces Drunks It isn't college that produces the college drunk. It's the home. Fact is, 80 per cent of college men who drink were drinkers even beforp they got to college. This is the conclusion of a recent five-year Yale University survey which studied the drinking habits of 17,000 students in 27 Eastern colleges. The parents have the biggest influence on the drinking habits of college students, the survey shows. And here's how: Ninety per cent of college men coming from homes where both parents drink also drink, but only 51 per cent of the stu dents from non-drinking homes use alcohol. But let's not. leave the . women out. They have a somewhat bet ter record, or worse 'record, de pending upon which way you look at it. About 83 per cent of the women students from drinking homes also drink; only 19 per cent of those from non-drinking homes indulge. The survey also debunks the old idea that veterans drink more than non-veterans of the same age. Veterans have a higher rate only when compared with much younger students. The most popular college drink, although - not necessarily the favorite, is beer. The ob vious reason is its _cost relative to hard liquor. About 70 per cent of the drinking men stu dents drink beer most of the time, and only 21 per cent say they prefer liquor. The women don't look 'at it -the same way, probably because they're not paying for it. A b out half the drinking coeds drink beer, but only 17 'per cent prefer it. Women go more for wine tha do men. - About 35 per cent of women drinkers pick up the habit in college. Income is also a factor. Sixty seven per cent of the men and 30 per cent of the women from homes where income is less than $2500 a year are drinkers. But 86 per cent of. the men and 79 per cent of the women from homes with yearly incomes of $lO,OOO and up are drinkers. Yale Researcher Robert Straus said "the probability that a young person will drink at all is closely related to the practices of his or her parents," as these figures show. Straus said he hopes this study will clear up the distorted im pressions many people have of the "nature of drinking behavior and the problem of alcohol in the American college." "It is hoped," he said, "this study will provide a body of rove a' theory—that stupid, dumb blonde with -r got a three from him in Poly Sci last semester. knowledge to replace present wild speculation." This study will undoubtedly provide an excuse for many col lege thinkers to continue think ing on the basis that it is not their fault, but rather the fault of their parents. This is wrong. • True, some drinkers may blame the origin of their drink _ ing on their parents. But they cannot blame what happens as a result of their drinking on their parents. How he handles his drinking habits is entirely up to the individual. Every college student is old enough to bear the responsibility for - his drinking. Every college drinker, then, has two ,choices. He may stop drinking, or he must take the - consequences of his drinking if it gets out of hand. He cannot shove the responsi bility on his home. And there are those, of course, who will gladly take the respon sibility rather than stop the drink ing. As a philosophical drinker once said, "Man is already 90 per cent water, but the prohibitionists still aren't satisfied!" Dance Queen Contest Opens Entries for the Belle 'Hop, Ball Queen contest may be turned• in until Oct. 17 at the Student Union desk in Old Main or at 4E Mime Economics. The queen will reign over the Belle Hop Ball to be held Oct. 25 % in Recreation Hall. The dance is sponsored each year by the Greet ers Club. Candidates for queen must be sponsored by a campus or town group, fraternity, sorority, or dor mitory. The women must be coeds at the . College and not previous winners of the title, according to George Moore, chairman of the publicity and queen committee. Entries must be accompanied by a photograph, 8 by 10 inches or larger, listing all vital statistics. The queen will receive gifts from local stores and a trip to Phila delphia for the Penn State-Penn football.game Nov. 1. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1952 By Biller ~~ i J By DAVE JONES
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