.'AGE POUR
etibii.iticci 1 u,6t.lay through
Saturday mornings, during
the University year, the
Daily Collegian is a student
operated newmpnper.
Ikttered as 4econd-class
STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night editor, Paddy Beahan; Copy editors, Joe Beau Seigneur, Mary Lee Lauf
fer; Assistants, Earl Kohnfelder, Dottie Stone, Bobbe Weinberg, Inez Althouse, Doug Millar, Harry
Davis. Ad staff, Diane Hallock, Connie Anderson.
It Campus Politics: State Party Platform
(Second of four editorials on campus polities) modified excuse system for sick students not
Without being hyper-critical of campus poli- confined to the Infirmary.
tics, it is still easy to say both parties have Actually, there is little reason to believe those
overlooked issues in their platforms this spring. not in the Infirmary need legal excuses. Those
And in overlooking issues, they have drummed told to slay in their rooms are afforded certi
un their own and come out with planks that say fication of that advice if an instructor questions
virtually nothing, the class cut. The new excuse plan was set up
A survey of the State Party platform today
to prevent the inflow of 10,000 students seeking
unnecessary excuses. The new excuse plan
and the Lion Party platform tomorrow should works well. There is no need to change it.
point up this fact. The State Party platform The party's desire to .ztreamline government
contains six planks, only one of which may by defining scope of campus groups sounds
really be of student benefit. good, but seems impractical. Streamlining stu-
The State Party wants to aid the administra- dent government is always a good idea, and it
tion in using classrooms to greatest efficiency, could use streamlining. taut there is question as
with an eye toward removing Saturday classes. to whether defining jurisdiction is the place to
The present class plan was introduced for more begin. Perhaps an extensive analysis of student
efficient classroom use. It has been rather well government would be better. This plank seems
proven efficiency has resulted. A return to a most intelligent of the six.
five day week must, therefore, result in less The also wants to propose publication
efficiency. _ ._ party .
The plank contradicts itself. Its object is to
gain votes by the magic words "elimination of
Saturday classes." Actually, no investigation of
the present class set-up and no study of how
this efficiency will be coupled with a five-day
week has been made. Those who proposed this
plank, it seems, do not know what its enact
ment would entail.
The party also wants to increase Temporary
Union Building facilities for coed recreation.
There is a question as to its plausibility.
Increased recreation has and will be provided
by coed recreation in Recreation Hall, coed
swimming, Beaver Dam improvements, and the
ice skating rink. A need for use of TUB facili
ties may exist. But the vacated TUB could
better be used for a faculty center or a Players'
theater, to mention only two. This plank, how
ever, may be considered halfway important.
The party also wants to investigate the In
firmary excuse procedure. It does not say what
it would propose, merely that it wants to in
vestigate. The implication is the party favors a
West Dorm Housing: Some Considerations
Several points have been overlooked in West
Dorm Council's request to house all West Dorm
upperclassmen in McKee Hall.
The plan from an upperclassman's point of
view may be a good one, but there is a limit to
the number of upperclassmen who are per
mitted to be housed in the area. The University
Board of Trustees has limited the . number of
upperclassmen who may live in the West Dorms.
This should be an important factor in consider
ing_merits of the proposal.
McKee Hall houses 270 men. At present there
are 240 upperclassmen in the area. This means
an additional 30 upperclassmen—and 30 less
freshmen—may be housed there.
At the present time 120 seniors, 60 juniors,
and 60 sophomores are admitted to the West
Dorms. Others are added only when it is known
to the Department of Housing that there will
not be enough students to fill the dormitories.
One of the factors in building thelWest Dorms
at a cost of $6.5 million was the value they
would have in attracting good students to the
University. This factor cannot be overlooked.
Freshmen must be housed in the area. It is
the only way the University may insure the
complete use of facilities in the area. Upper
classmen may change their minds about living
in dormitories and join a fraternity. If a fresh
man decides not to enter the University, the
University has room for an additional upper
classman. This is the only way upperclass resi
dents may be increased over the present per
centage.
Another factor is the composition of West
Dorm Council, the basic governing body . for
area residents. If upperclassmen were placed
in one dormitory, elected representatives of
that dormitory would be upperclassmen. All
other offices in the area would be held for
freshmen.
Gazette w
Today
AMERICAN SLOVANIC ORGANIZATION. 7:30
p.m., Home Economics Living Center
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL
ENGINEERS, 7 p.m., 105 Ag. Eng.
HORT CLUB, 7:30 p.m.. 111 Plant Industries
KAPPA PHI KAPPA, 7:30 p.m., 304 Old Main
NEWMAN CLUB DISCUSSION, 7:30 p.m., 106
Willard
NEWMAN CLUB RADIO PROGRAM, 9:15 p.m.,
WMAJ
NEWS AND VIEWS, 3:30 p.m., 14 Home
Economics
NITTANY GROTTO, 7:30 p.m., Mineral Indus-
tries Aud.
FENCING CLUB, 7:30 p.m., North Corridor Rec
Hall
PENN STATE HELLENIC SOCIETY, 8 p.m.,
Campus Restaurant
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
The following camps will interview at the Stu
dent Employment Service, 112 Old Main:
Abington YMCA Camp on March 24; Camp
Onawandah on March 26; Camp Menatoma,
Maine. on March 29 and 00, Clear Pool Camp,
N.Y., on April 1; Camp Kiwanis on April 2;
Camp Conrad Wc'<•^; on April 7. Sign up for
interviews in advance.
Elattwenttrgtatt
Surceseer to f IKE FREE LANCE. est 103437
atter July a. 1939 at the State College, ea. east Office under
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN? STATE COLLEGE PEr.
of an information magazine concerning research
and including biographies of professors and out
standing graduates. This too sounds nice, but
has no practical benefit for the student.
Few students would be interested in such a
publication. This is not a field of student in
terest and its execution should be left to the
University. This plank is wholly unnecessary.
Finally, the party Sledges full support to all
University centennial .)lans.• This plank says
nothing. Of course, students will not oppose
centennial plans. This plank is just like saying
"We're in favor of the weather." Centennial
plans are inevitable, and students will naturally
support them.
All of the party's planks, save this last, say
the "State Party wants to" do something. They
do not say the party pledges itself to accomplish
the platform. It merely says "we are in favor
of this." It is characteristic of political plat
forms. They are traditionally vague and con
ditional. These are no exception.
.The State Party is not alone in its platforin
failure. The Lion Party is right along side. Its
platform shall be considered tomorrow.
There are many situations where upperclass
men may best perform the responsibilities re
quired of them as floor or division presidents.
With upperclassmen mixed with freshmen
throughout the area, upperclassmen would have
a wider chance to be elected to the council.
It is true a council seat is not a guarantee of
ability. It is not always wise to delegate the
power of the floor president, and its responsi
bilities, to freshmen. Many freshmen develop
into capable and responsible student leaders
with the aid of upperclass associates. If fresh
men are placed in positions of less responsi
bility, where they may demonstrate their abili
ties, they may be delegated larger powers later.
Upperclassmen also want to be separated
from freshman to isolate themselves so they
may study in quiet. However, if freshman are
as noisy as upperclassmen claim them to be,
there is question as to how freshmen obtain the
scholastic grades some do. If freshmen do not
study, there would be few freshmen who could
qualify to live in the West Dorms in their sopho
more year. Then too, many freshman learn the
importance of studying from upperclassmen.
A decision on the separation plan should. not
be made this year. Time is short for the De
partment of Housing in its job of assigning
rooms for next year. West Dorm Council should
not decide the issue at the present. The Associ
ation of Independent Men should establish an
investigating committee which can thoroughly
study the situation before action is taken.
—Phil Austin
Safety Valve...
Explains Party Stand
TO THE EDITOR: In order to clarify the elec
tions committee's removal of the party's house
mother ,plank we feel it necessary to issue a
statement. Our legal stand can be summed up
in three points:
1. Article IV, section 1 of the All-University
Constitution states "Duties of the elections com
mittee shall be to establish and enforce the
elections code . . ."
2. Article V, lines 16 'to 18, of the All-Univer
sity elections code states "Platforms are to be
handed in on . . . March 18 . . . to the elections
committee chairman." This is the only reference
to platforms in the entire code.
3. The Lion Party feels that it has fulfilled
its obligation by handing in a copy of the plat
form to the committee.
The plank as an issue itself is not at stake,
for it was meant only to express our opinion
that fraternities should not suffer outside con
trol. The principle at stake is whether the elec
tions committee has the power to control cam
paign issues . . .
Although the party will abide .by` the com
mittee's decision (to eliminate the plank) during
the campaign, we cannot compromise our prin
ciples to the point where candidates are for
bidden to express their views on current prob
lems .. . We are certain that once the campaign
is over, the issue will be settl9.d once and for all.
—Ben Finclair
Lion Party chairman
Editopais reis.eseilt the
viewpoint of the writers.
not necessarily the policy of
the paper. Unsigned edi
torials are by the editor
act of Itareb S. 1879
,INS`ViVAtt. 4 IA
Little Man on Campus
"I check and throw out all the questions everyone gets right—
One of these days I'll have a test nobody can pass."
A Second
At Liberal
By BEN EUWEMA
Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts
(Another in a series of guest articles by' University Faculty
members.)
There are many - common misconceptions of a liberal education.
One is that it is a luxury open only to a select few. The other is that
it is somehow unmanly. , Both are wrong.
The word "liberal" means "free," and a liberal arts education
means a "training in the arts becoming to a free man." In ancient
Greece the free men constituted
a sort of aristocracy based upon a
system of slave labor. But ever
since, the liberal arts have been
rooted in freedom. They consti
tute a sort of general education
and from the very first they in
cluded work in the sciences.
The liberal arts consist of the
social sciences, the physical sci
ences, and the humanities. They
all have this in common: they
are not "practical" or "applied"
or "immediately useful."
The physical sciences—biology,
chemistry, physics, and the like—
are intended, first of all, to give
us an understanding of the physi
cal universe and the world of liv
ing things. Astronomy has been
studied for at least 5000 years;
and yet, with very few and mi
nor exceptions, no one has found
much use for it. The inter-plan
etary rockets may make astrono
my a useful science some day, but
the ancient Babylonians and
Egyptians had other fish to fry.
Similarly, biology. When Leeu
wenhoek looked at swamp water
through his home-made micro
scope, he was motivated solely
by curiosity: he wanted to see the
little creatures in the w a ter i
squirm.
The social sciences, too, began
out of curiosity: to see whether
there was discernible in the
world of human affairs the same
kind of unity, order, and coher
ence that men had found in the
physical universe. The great
excitement in the 18th century,
when the social sciences really
got started, was to discover
whether there were natural
laws in economics, politics, and
in the development of social in
stitutions to - parallel the natural
laws discovered in astronomy,
chemistry, and physics.
The humanities—the arts, phil
oSophy, and the study of the lan
guages—began out of the instinct
of play and curiosity. Painting,
sculpture, literature, and the
dance serve to release the in
stinct for play. They are "as if"
disciplines: we act as if the play
were an actual segment of "real"
life, as if the characters in a nov
el were actual persons, and
,so on.
Now t h e curious paradox
about the liberal arts and sci
ences is that, in spite of their
original motivation, they a r e
eminently practical.
I need. not argue with you about
THURSDAY, MARCH`2S, 1954
Look
Arts
the utility of the natural sciences.
Our whole world, immaterial as
well as material, has been rev
olutionized by the sciences dur
ing the last two centuries. In the
United States during that period
we have seen the transformation
from an agrarian society _to an
industrialized urban society, and
from an economy of scarcity to an
economy of abundance.
We have emancipated women;
we have free labor from almost
all severe and onerous physical
exertion; we have multiplied the
amount of power at our disposal
by thousands of times; we have
increased the speed of transpor
tation from a top speed of 15 or 20
miles per hour to more than twice
the speed of sound; we have_found
how to produce far more food
than we need; we have increased
the span of human life; we have
conquered some diseases; we have
greatly improved public health
and sanitation.
The social sciences have been
practical in the same way, but
perhaps not to the same spec
tacular degree.
Our American system of govern
ment is based directly upon the
political speculation of the 17th
and 18th centuries. It is possible
to take the Declaration of Inde
pendence and to find the sources
of almost every phrase in the en
tire document. Thomas Jefferson,
who wrote it, was a very con
scientious student of English and
French political philosophy.
Our national devotion to what
we call Individual Free Enter
prise is based upon the work of
an English scholar, Adam Smith—
as the great Soviet system is the
result of the scholarship of Karl
Marx. The whole ideological con
flict in the world today—with all
its effects and ramifications—id
largely the result of what first
happened in the quiet studies of a
few social scientists or social phil
osophers.
(Continued on page five)
Tonight on WDFM
91.1 MEGACYCLES
7:25
7 :30
8:00 Adventures in Research
8:15 Horizons Unlimited
8:30
9:30 Music of America
By Bibler
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