The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, April 01, 1954, Image 4

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    PAGE FOUR
Published ruesday through
Saturday mornings. daring
; 'the University year. the
Daily Collegian is a student
operated newspaper.
Entered as sacond-elasa
DAVE JONES. Editor
STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night editor, Nancy Ward; Copy editors, Mary Bolich, Ed Reiss; Assistants,
Earl Kohnfelder, Mike Miller, Gay Snodgrass, Bob Thomas, Ira Wasserman. Ad Staff, Connie Ander
son, Diane Hallock.
Judicial Amendment:
An amendment has been presented, for first
approval by the Association of Independent
Men Board of Governors, to permit at-large
selection of the eight members of the Judicial
Board of Review.
AIM is trying to improve its judicial system.
It is questionable, however, how much further
improvement can be made in the existing disci
plinary system.
Proponents of the AIM plan are avowedly
attempting to obtain more justice for those
students appearing before the board. However,
in their quest for justice, the proponents have
overlooked a basic reason why the AIM judicial
system should be altered.
It is true the AIM judicial board has made
some questionable decisions this year. First
came the case involving a Nittany Dorm. The
board decided to have the offenders donate
blood to the Red Cross as punishment for hold
ing a beer party in the dormitory. No one but
board members seemed to agree with the de
cision. If this decision had been more than a
recommendation to an administrative office,
the decision would have stood unless appealed
and changed by a higher body. It was buffeted,
however, between the AIM board and the Dean
of Men's office until worthwhile punishment
was impossible.
Next came a case in which the board asked
office probation for five students accused of
setting off firecrackers in a dormitory. Subse
quent referral by the Dean of Men's office to
the Senate committee on student affair's sub
committee on discipline led to suspension of the
five. The board would have approved such re
ferral. The board falsely believed, however, it
did not have the power to recommend such a
referral.
In a third case, two students were to be re
ferred to the subcommittee for holding a beer
A Partial Vote Count:
It would be unwise for the All-University
elections committee to make a partial count of
spring election returns after the first day of
balloting.
Announcement was made last week that the
committee is considering such a count. Results
of the first day's voting would remain secret,
according to the committee.
It is with a more realistic view of human
nature that this problem must be seen. There is
no reason to believe the elections committee
lacks integrity, and no reason to believe it
would openly reveal results of the first day's
voting. But since the committee is as human as
the rest of us, there is some doubt as to how
secret the first day results would remain.
, If a partial count were made, first day re
sults would have to be kept secret. Revelation
of what candidates are ahead, and by how much,
before the election is over is not wise. It could
result in dirty campaigning. Therefore, results
Compensation: Cabinet Must Cheek the List
The All-University Cabinet budget revision
for next year is hardly a revision at all.
Last year's budget allotted $1975 in compen
sation for elected and appointed officials. The
newly-approved budget allocates the same
amount. Practically everyone who got paid be
fore will get paid now, plus one. And not all
compensated persons deserve the amount they
will receive.
Whether or not compensation is morally cor
rect is not the problem here. Compensation
takes up a large slice of cabinet's budget. Cab
inet's money is student money. For that reason,
every cent should be spent sensibly. The new
budget is not as sensible as it should be.
The budget committee has made changes—
good changes—which reflect the realization that
money has been spent unnecessarily in the past.
For instance, the committee wisely eliminated
scholarships for the Junior and Senior Prom
committee members, persons whose work is
concentrated in a short period of a semester.
Yet various members of the Spring Week com
mittee are also engaged in time-concentrated
work, and they will receive compensation.
Another good change was the reduction of
Gazette ...
Today
FENCING CLUB, 7:30 p.m., North Corridor,
Recreation Hall
INKLING CIRCULATION STAFF, Candidates,
6:30 p.m., 108 Willard
NEWMAN CLUB RADIO PROGRAM, 9:15 p.m.,
WMAJ
NEWS AND VIEWS, 6:30 p.m., 14 Home Eco
nomics
POLITICAL SCIENCE CLUB, 7:30 p.m., Home
Economics Living Center
WSGA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 6:30
p.m., WSGA Room, White Hall
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
The following camps will interview at the Stu
dent Employment Service, 112 Old Main:
Camp Skycrest on April 12; Camp Kiwanis on
April 2; Camp Conrad Weiser on April 7.
Sign up for interviews in advance.
Caw Bally Catirgiatt
Sueeesaol r ru FREE LANCE. est. 18117
niter Jody a, 1934 as Me dtate Cui/ege, ea. Peel Office under
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA
VINCE DRAYNE. Business ralga.
Scratch the Surface
party in the dormitory ,room with a revolver
in full sight. Tribunal altered the decision on
appeal, giving the students a deferred suspen
sion. Tribunal's decision may have been the
key factor in permitting those students to re
main in school. This means that, if the board's
decision had stood, the students might not be
at the University now.
A student is not referred to a student disci
plinary body unless "the goods" have already
been placed on him by the Dean of Men's office.
The dean's office presents the evidence to the
board as well as the Charges against the de
fendent. In this way, any appeal must be on
the punishment meted out, not on the guilt of
the defendent.
Cases arise, as they have this year, in which
best punishment is not the most popular—not
only With the offender—but with the accuser.
In a student government situation, this is un
fortunate because -the accuser has the power to
alter the board's decision. The Dean of Men's
office does try to minimize alterations in recom
mendations. Yet, it is sometimes necessary to
make alterations.
Publications of a list of violations for which
students may be tried, and an explanation of the
operation of student judicial bodies, could be
an initial step in implementation of such a pro
gram. The undergraduate regulations are of
little help to students because they do not list
all violations for which a student may be
disciplined. Nor do they explain the meaning
of the nebulous charge for which all , students
are sent to the subcommittee: "Conduct detri
mental to the good name of the University."
The AIM amendment may be a step in the
right direction. But it barely scratches the sur
face of the main problem—that of student self
discipline in a college community. .
Not a Good Idea
must be kept secret. The 11-member elections
committee, no matter how conscientious, can
not be expected to do it.
The argument for counting first day votes is
that such a count would spread out the elections
committee's work load. Obviously, it would be
easier on the committee to divide the count
into two days. Hand-counting spring election
ballots is no fun.
This argument, however, is not strong enough
to make such a count desirable. Had centralized
voting been used this semester, voting machines
might have solved the problem. When the corn-,
mittee decided to employ decentralized voting,
it must have realized nand-counting would re
sult. This problem, then, is the by-product of
decentralized voting. The elections committee
must bear with this by-product.
Counting votes after the first day of voting
would almost certainly result in a leak. A leak
in partial results is not worth the work that
would be saved the elections committee.
the freshman class president's scholarship from
$5O to $25. The freshman president, as the other
class presidents, presides over no more than a
few meetings a year. In contrast, the student
council presidents, who hold meetings almost
every week and participate in Intercollege
Council Board activities, receive $l5. The bud
get committee has reasons for this distribution.
ft feels class presidents are representative of
the entire student body. Council presidents are
elected by their immediate college governing
bodies. This may be so, but students generally
receive equal benefits from classes and coun
cils, if not more from their individual colleges.
Unfortunately, few students realize the
amount of money going into compensation, and
so pressure on cabinet to evaluate and re
evaluate financial allocations is low. But despite
student indifference, cabinet should realize its
responsibility to check and recheck every fi
nancial move.
It's quite easy to be generous with other
people's money.
Safety Valve
Hits Party Planks
TO THE EDITOR: .. . (A campus political party)
has included in its platform for the spring elec
tions two' planks which are pertinent to resi
dents of the West Dorms, namely:
1. Advocacy of more upperclassmen in the
West Dorms.
2. Advocacy of informal coed dining for the
West Dorms.
We realize this is only a "paper platform"
and, judging from past experience, little will
probably be done along these lines . . . Our
grievance is this: we do not like the idea of
having a political party use as a political plat
form plank something that we have worked on
exclusively . . . In short, we do not wish the
fruits of our labor to be capitalized upon by
a political party.
Editorials represent the
riewPoint of the writers,
not necessarily the policy of.
the paper. Unsigned edi
torials are by the editor.
set of March L. 1879.
—Phil Austip
—Baylee Friedman
—Reed J. Dunn
Sec'y, West Dorm Council
Little Man on Campus
"Oh, I haven't been tryin" to answer yoUr questio
sharpen my pencil."
Interpreting the New
Atom May Alter
Russian Strategy
There are many flaws and possibly many dangerous traps in the
new Russian security proposals, but this is one time when it would
not be safe for the Allies to cry "phony" before very careful consid
eration, and probably not' before the Geneva conference.
This is written on the basis of the first brief reports from Paris
on the contents of the Russian
note to France, Britain and the
United States, delivered in Mos
cow Wednesday. The French for
eign office has more leaks than
a sieve, and these first drippings
of note contents have not always
been entirely accurate.
But it does seem pretty clear
that the Russians have made two
very important switches in pol
icy on security since their pro
posals on the subject at the Ber
lin conference.
Then, Russia was obviously try
ing, primarily, to split the United
States out of European affairs.
They proposed a European secur
ity pact eliminating her. Now they
"no longer have any objection,"
they say, to having the United
States join the proposed mutual
security system.
At the same time they suggest
their own membership in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organiza
tion.
Could it be that the Russians
now realize the United States
has not been exaggerating the
awful potentials of atomic war?
Could that bring the change in
their international relations for
which the West has hoped so
long?
It would be foolish to accept
any such theory. It would be even
more foolish not to use every
avenue of finding out whether it
is more than theory.
The Russian note bears down at
great length on the horrors of any
future war and the necessity of
great power action to prevent it.
That is the same tune that the
Allies have been playing since the
March 1 explosion at Bikini which
tipped off the full truth about hy
drogen bombs. In particular the
British have cried out that no
pride, no preconceived notions, no
consideration of relatively incon
sequential matters, must prevent
an all-out drive for peace in the
face of such an awesome threat.
Malenkov recently indicated a
new realization on his own part.
The Russians have always said
that Western reliance on atomic
warfare meant the capitalist world
would be destroyed. Now 3111 T. en -
ko v says civilization would be de
stroyed—an echo of President Eis
enhower's United Nations speech.
AU of this indicates the bomb '•
By J. M. ROBERTS JR.
Associated Press News Analyst
may be a greater deterrent to
war than • most of us had esti
mated. before.
In effect, as a member of NATO,
with the United States a member
of a European security pact, Rus
sia would have to give up world
revolution or else plan a secret
attack behind the facade of the
treaties.
Such an attack would not -be
beyond her, normal policy. It is
what has long been feared. In
NATO, Russia would be in on
Western planning for defense
against Russia, while any forces
that she might be required to con
tribute to the Supreme Headquar
ters Allied Powers in Europe
would be strictly expendable.
The whole Russian proposal,
presuming she has any intent
other than disruption of the West
ern Alliance and the prevention of
ratification of the European De
fense Community, is out of kilter
with her recent demonstrations of
determination to hold tight to
everything she has in eastern and
central Europe, . particularly East
Germany.
Therefore, any slightest sug
gestion that such a change could
just possibly have taken place
must be carefully investigated.
The first real opportunity for
that' investigation will probably
be the Geneva conference. •
Application Deadline
Set for Spring Week
The, deadline for all committee
chairmen:to give their names and
the names of their group and the
group they are combining with
for - Spring Week activities has
been extended to 5 p.m. Friday,
George Richards, Spring Week
chairman, announced. Name s,
which are necessary to make up
a mailing list, may be 'turned in
to RichardS 'at the Student Union
desk in Old Main, he added.
Tonight on WDFM
7:25
1:30 ________
8:00 Adventures in Research
8:15 Horizons Unlimited
8:30
9:30 Music of America
10:30 -- Sign• Off
THURSpAY, - APRH.•I:. 1954
By Bibler
I just wanna
91.1 MEGACYCLES
Record Review
Sign On
Semi-Pops