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e*uU?.sticd Tuesday through Sat- /Si l-trdL jrj| ■»• ■> »-1 t ft _<* 3 I Jollegian editorials represent
urday mornings inclusive during LfltTlK Trivia I|g af §Gb 8 the viewpoint—of-the writers,
tnc University year by the staff ■ not necessarily the policy of the
»f The Daily Collegian of the { newspaper. Unsigned editorials
! Pennsylvania State. University. Successes to THE FREE LANCE, est. 18S7 . are'by the editor.
Entered aa second-class matter
DAVE JONES. Editor
STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night editor, Betty Koster; Copy editors, Len. Goodman, Bev Dickinson; As
sistants, Dave Bronstein, Roger Beidler, Carol Gibson,
IL Radio Station: Service With Education?
(The second of two editorials concerning
WDFM, campus radio station.)
The purpose of Station WDFM is to provide
practical educational radio work for interested
students. That station is now on the air to pro
vide that practical work. But thousands of stu->
dents who have paid a fee, and waited long
to hear the station, are due for disappointment.
Under present operation, WDFM is broadcast
ing from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. daily. This broad
casting time is in direct conflict with a recent
poll of the student body. That poll, including
over 500 students, indicated 42 per cent of those
polled listen to the radio from about 10 p.m.
to 1 a.m.
Since the radio station's purpose is to pro
vide -training, many believe the station need
not necessarily serve the student listening pub
lic. They hold the purpose of the station's edu
cation, not entertainment.
In the educational phase, the station can be
useful in three fields: instruction, communica
tion, and research. But it may be desirable to
add a purpose for the station: satisfying student
desires.
No one will argue the main purpose of . the
station is not education. The University has
given the station $3OOO for its operation. And
practical training for interested students is
necessary.
There may be, however, another consider
ation. The student body is also giving the sta
tion $3OOO annually through fees. And two class
gifts have gone to the station. True, the pur
pose of the station was still education. But
surely the student body deserves some return
for its investment.
The station’s hours have been set from 7:30
to 10:30 p.m. to allow maximum use of its in
structional opportunities. It is questionable.
American Youth To day-~What;ls- :^Yrong?
11. Does Youth Have ‘Robot-like Disinterest?’
(The second of five editorials concerning
the attitudes of American youth today.)
In the first section of this editorial we asked:
What is it the university youth is hiding from'.'
The blunt answer is that he is hiding frorr
life. But let us examine .the essential compon
ents of the present American world and sec
how he is avoiding the issues of war. politic*-
national affairs, art, religion, and education.
The issue of war is all about him. His friend
are constantly being called into the armed
services, he himself is either a veteran or plan
ning a military life for a part of his years, the
papers he reads continually mention the many
wars around him. And yet there is no emotional
reaction, no intellectual plan, no attempt to
handle this problem. The war comes, he takes
part, and he returns (if he is lucky), and that
is all there is to it. “That’s the way the ball
bounces,” is his only statement, whether it be
his getting drafted or his buddy being killed
in Korea.
(Even the veteran, returning to the university
has no new life, no new energies to impart. He
remains a dummy, a quiet piece of machinery
in • a world that bustles with non-meehanica'
life.
Lei us look at an analysis of the new veteran
as described in the New York Times by a Ko
rean correspondent who returned to observe
these men at Yale. He. says "many of the new
veterans wear their hesitancy almost like a
uniform, they are polite, almost timid. The
Attention
M I and
PHYS ED
SENIORS
Today is the last day
for seniors in the
schools of Mineral
Industries and Physi
cal Education to have
their pictures taken
for the 1954 LA VIE
All photos are taken at the
Penn State Photo Shop
No appointment
is necessary
July 9, 1934 at th* State College, Pa. Post Office under - tbe set of Msrcfe 3, 1879.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
VINCE DRAYNE. Business Mgr.
however, whether moving the broadcasting
time to 9 p.m. to midnight would harm those
opportunities very much. A much larger num
ber of students would be listening during the
J ater hours. It seems this is the least the station
can give those who help finance it. As things
now stand, the station goes off the air when the
isteners come onl
Disadvantages to later operation are (1) pro
grams would interfere with studying since they
would not be entirely musical, and (2) the sta
tion staff would be forced to work at later hours.
But the station personnel do not expect all
gravy. They know they might not have a station
at all if it weren’t for student interest. They
must, therefore, serve that student interest
whenever feasible.
When student government passed the radio
fee, cabinet members surely felt students would
be able to hear the station when it was a reality.
True, the purpose then was as it is now: instruc-
tion and education. But it seems a strange stu
dent radio station that does not try to reach as
many students as possible.
Would instruction be sacrificed—if the station
changed its hours—-to the point where such
change would not warrant serving the extra
number of students? - This is the basic question.
It appears instruction would not be sacrificed
that much.
We must- : have a station that starts slowly,
out progresses surely. No one will dispute that.
But in Ithat start, the . student body must be
considered. ; If -the station is to instruct and
communicate,: what can be better for it than
a critical public?
The students may be mildly shocked when
they realize the. station is not as beneficial as
they thought—justified or not—it would be.
And the students 'will have a reasonable com
plaint. ■ "
veteran starts with 'sir', interlaces 'sirs' in his
conversation as though they were substitutes
for punctuation, and he winds up with a. 'sir'
Shat would paralyze Willie and Joe."
This correspondent goes on to say these mer
ppear continually to be waiting for order:
nd have “an almost robot-like disinterest.”
What is the American youth’s attitude toward
politics? Here again we deal with one of the
.nost important of current national problems,
and a problem related to the communism ques
tion. Doubtless one of the best ways to defeat
communism and its totalitarian effects, is to
itrengthen our two-party system. And yet, look
around. Even at Penn State, one of the largest
universities in the world, there' are not' even
two opposing political clubs. The only active
oolitical group outside the Political Science
department is a relatively inactive Young Re
publicans Club. There is no Young Democrats
■Jlub.
Does this mean that ihe university student,
when he leaves the institution, will be a non
voter? Does this mean that he will be un
interested enough to join the 40 per cent of the
country that does not bother to vote on elec
tion day?
Let us hope this is not true, for it is entirely
essential to the existence of our liberties that
intelligent voters cast their ballots.
There are, of course, reasons for this non
participation and we shall examine these rea
sons after we look at a few more fields tomorrow
where youth’s disinterest is showing.
—Marshall O. Donley
Lit tie Man on Campus
Cj lancing -Ground
tbe lf¥hsitcu*i£
A familiar sound, like that of a crate of dishes dropped at a
plate makers’ convention, dragged my thoughts from the astute con
templation of various bits of humanity—particularly tlie female ones
—that travel along the Mall.
The sound, one which had been dinned into my unresponsive
head for three years, belonged to a sergeant—an army sergeant. It
was his voice.
The subject of this particular
sergeant’s attention happened to
be one of those groups of for
tunate souls who have been is
sued suits with an amazing simi
larity of appearance and who
were walking about campus, in a
nore or less orderly fashion.
Their fashion of walking hap
pened to be somewhat less or
derly than what the sergeant
though it should be. He was un
hap p y . The men in RCTG
looked unhappy. The center of
' the borough of State College
knew he was unhappy. I am not
in ROTC. I was happy.
The incident, coupled with a
newspaper item at the time,
served to bring some memories
to mind. Some of the memories
I put right back. But there is one
group that might be mentioned.
The newspaper item from Wash
ington, presumably from the Pen
tagon, said the army is trying to
designate soldiers in the field
from other services by issuing a
bright yellow label reading “U.S.
Army” which will be sewed onto
field uniforms.
It was my practice from time
to time in the past, usually while
sitting in mud, to ponder the as
tuteness of Pentagon personnel,
particularly the nolicy formers.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1953
By Bifoier
ly DICK RAU
This last item caused me to pon
der some more, but in more com
fortable surroundings. Except for
unfortunate accidents, I have giv
en up mud for sitting, eating, and
sleeping.
/ The Pentagon has in the past
traveled from one extreme to
the other. Shortly after World
War 11, it embarked upon the
program of having everyone
(Continued on page five)
Tonight on WDFM
:25 -1 t- ' Sign oh
:30 BBC—“12 By the Mail”
:00 _ Record Review
:30
i:00 Semi-pops
1 :15 - 'News
9:30 Columbia Masterworks Hoar
10:30 Sign off
LaVie Group
Photo Schedule
The unofficial schedule for
LaVie group pictures tonight
at the Penn Stale Photo Shop:
LA Council 6:30
Phys.Ed Council 6:50
Home Ec Council 7:10
Chem-Phys Council ..... 7:30
Ag Council .7:50
Attention!
ALL GAR-OWNERS
SPECIAL
today only
tegular ** & 9/1 °r
Gas JLO 7
from 29 per gal.
Don Graham’s New
CITIES SERVICE
STATION
[l mile. north of. State. College]
[on.Route 322 TeL 8-9126]
Seqae Session