PAGE FOUR Published Tuesday through Saturday mornings during the University year. the Daily Collegian is a student opertaed newspaper. Entered as second-claim matter July 6. 1934 at the State College, Pa. Past Office ander the act of March 8. 1879 DIEHL McKALIP. Editor STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night Editor, Fran Fanucci; Copy Editors, Don Shoemaker and Larry Jacobson; Assistants, Anne Friedberg, Ed Dubbs, Becky Zahm, Ned Frear, Marilyn Burnett, Vince Carroci, and Ginny Phillips. Saturday Class Debate: The Negative The University's provost, Adrian 0. Morse, in an article appearing in the monthly faculty magazine, CampuScope, has given the pros and cons of Saturday classes. Morse, in listing both the favorable and un favorable aspects of Saturday classes, veritably listed more arguments against the five and one half day work week than for it. All of the pro vost's arguments for the longer school week reverted to just two main factors—that students who go home consistently over the weekends tend to have lower grades than students who remain at the University, and that the Univer sity is in need of new buildings which can only be obtained by employing Saturday classes. The latter of the two arguments however, is the only plausible one. Morse stated that Universities near urban centers are influenced by the urban civilization and their trend is toward the five day school week because of industry. It appears rather strange that industry affects only the large city universities and not a university such as Penn State, which is very comparable in size. One of the most important points in favor of the shorter school week, which was mentioned by Morse, is that many students hold jobs oh Saturdays in order to help pay their way through college. When Saturday classes are im posed upon these students they may be forced to drop out of the University. As two alternatives to this situation the provost suggests either the student borrow sufficient money to pay his way Saturday Class Debate: The AffirmatiVe Penn State's student population is growing— it's expected to reach 21,000 by 1970—and as long as this is the trend students will be setting alarm clocks on Friday nights. Saturday classes are here to stay. The reason behind this is simple—and not un reasonable. While the number of students grows, the size of the University's classrooms does not. This creates a problem; only a given number of students will fit into a given classroom at a given time. The solution appears to be simple; build more classrooms. This the University has tried. It would request of its • bosses—the Legislature —that more buildings be constructed. Then, on the sixth day of the week, inspectors would come to see if the request was justified. Until recent years, they'd look around and find prac tically all classrooms empty. They'd ask why and would be told the truth; Penn State students don't like to go to class Saturday mornings. They like to sleep. This reason would make no big impression on legislators. Back in Harrisburg, thumbs would be turned down on more classroom buildings for the University. So, if Penn State is going to get more class room buildings—and it needs them—it's going Safety Valve... Objects to 'Army Justice' Suspended Frosh Defended TO THE EDITOR: What is the dean of men's TO THE EDITOR: Who can say, in an incident office attempting to accomplish—make robots involving a large number of students, whether out of the students? the persecution of three or four individuals as The highhanded way in which these officials recently placed a student, who lives off cam pus, on disciplinary probation because he com mitted and was fined for a minor traffic offense in the borough is one of the best examples of army justice I have ever seen. Army justice is the system used by the military to punish a serviceman for a crime he has committed off the the military reservation and for which he has been punished by the civilian authorities. However, this is not supposed to be a mili tary installation although at times it seems like one. The dean of men has no legal right to pun ish a student living down town for a minor mis demeanor he has committed in the town's juris diction and which does not disgrace the Uni versity. A traffic violation is no disgrace to the University, and it is high time the dean of men's office stopped acting like the secret police. —Alastair Rutherford EDITOR'S NOTE: Action against the student referred to was probably taken in accord ance with Rule W-5 of the Senate Regulations for Undergraduate Students. This states that "any student whose conduct is found to be prejudicial to the good name of the University will be subject to disciplinary action. Such action may include the suspension or ex pulsion of individuals." "Conduct prejudicial to the good name of the University" is not defined. This seems to be the catch-all for off-campus acts which result in poor publicity. We will get a defi- nition from the dean of men's office. Gazette ... CABIN rn.l Tit 11. I: ". .J of the PENN STATE OUT -I.CP, 7: • • , LAKON P.._•, 7 :"u It•wim in White Uull NI WMAN CLUB. DAILY ROSARY. 4:34,1 p.m.. church; Xhr Gall i; Collegian Editorials represent the viewpoint of the writers, not necessarily the policy of the Paper. Unsigned Snecessor to THE FREE LANCE. eet. 1887 editorials are by the editor tKirVX, ic THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA WILLIAM DEVEBS. Business Manager through college or stay out of college until he earns enough money to pay for his education. However, both of these suggestions are very unsatisfactory in respect to today's conditions. It is very doubtful a loan company will loan a high school student $4OOO to go to college on the security of the degree he will obtain. As for working until he has amassed the sum neces sary to go to college, it is very doubtful he would last a year before the draft would take him. Also in opposition to these suggestions is that colleges and universities today are stressing the fact that anyone can get a college education— not just the wealthy, as was the case hereto fore. However, if the student is unable to work Sat days, this theory is thrown out the win dow and it appears the University is willing to satisfy only those who have the ready cash. The provost's main argument for the five and one-half day school week is that the Uni versity is in need of expanded classroom and laboratory facilities. The—legislators in Harris burg who set the budget for the University will not grant the money when they see that present facilities are not being used to the fullest ex tent. It appears from a summation of all these ar guments that the factors in favor of the shorter week far outweigh those for the longer week. The question of Saturday classes is one to be considered very seriously by the University's administration—mind not just passed off lightly. —Don Barlett to have to make maximum use of present fa cilities. Thus, Saturday classes. For several years, the University tried the five-day week. Except for a few, most students could sleep right up to the Saturday matinee. But what was intended to be a five-day week developed into a three-day week. Students found themselves with a work-like-the-devil Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and a sleep-around-the-clock Tuesday-Thursday-Sat urday void. This is far from beneficial aca demically. Education, like tapioca, goes down better smoothly than in lumps. Three lumps of learning a week is a poorer diet than six portions. Educators have long ago determined that the fewer the students in a class, the more chance they have to learn. But at the University, the very minimum required to sign up for a course in order for it to be offered is often larger than what educators consider the efficient maximum. Saturday classes cure this ill, too. If more classrooms are being used more of the time, the size of the class can be; smaller. Like them or not, Saturday classes are things of the present—and of the future. And—if they mean more classroom buildings, smaller classes, and more learning—they're worth the effort of getting out of bed come Saturday morning. —Mike Feinsilber the instigators is justified. Perhaps in such an incident, the whole situation should be examined more closely. The fact that the parties involved in the re cent demonstration were all freshmen should be considered. In all truth, the rule outlawing ll* • • any overt act, by any student which in cites a demonstration . . ." was not reviewed to my knowledge at any period prior to the outbreak. Ignorance of the law may not apply in some cases, but is there even a law making the display of flags from the windows or the raising of voices in the courtyards illegal? The discharging of a firecracker is certainly in excusable to some extent, but should freshmen be suspended when even drinking in the dorms rates only a recommendation for disiplinary probation? Equal evaluation of facts is of ut most importance here. One party is as guilty as another in this in cident. The leadership can not be pinned down to one student, a freshman as the extreme ex ample. It would be an interesting spectable to see this student singlehandedly organize an army in the middle of the night to revive the demonstration, as part of the conviction charge was evidently stated. It seems it would be well to ask whether this action was really justified; or was it just that the students needed to be taken down a peg by this harsh example? —Frank Morris EDITOR'S NOTE: Frank J. Simes, dean of men, said Monday that all students had been given sufficient warnings prior to the demon strations and such incidents are "potentially" dangerous to University property and to stu dents and bring harmful publicity to the University. NQVENA, 7 p.m., church: Choir Practice, after Novena. chbrch PERSHING RIFLES. 1900 hours. Clues C Uniform, Armory PLAYERS. Advertising Crew Meeting, 6:45 p.m., Schwab RIDING CLUB, elections. 7 p.m., 117 Willard Little Man on Campus . \ 4 : 1 ,- #7 .10 i ii ll ___ • • ----------,- 4,1 - .e.....i5 a 1. Th 0 ... , • 11 . , lS ;1"1:4,.,.., / • ' .• \ " \ \ • 1:::.% A , 5 1( N ii, ` ofo iv! i i ,N ~ / I• Is i ir". ; • \ \\. 'n" . .ft ,„ • . .... • .1 4 4 x kA k - ,/,;:ii > , r m., , 47!• ' * "r* - *-- ,7= ' - ' - ' ' • \ - ' \' ' lel '4 r ~.. \ • \_.,:,..,•,.:.,., s‘ ..,.....,.„:,,,,,,,.• or:110 7 lirr_ ~/4 - - ;41:111) P, i!i.,:—:'... .7riT :'... i" .T.-: -.......,.. - ~...„ . 101 .'-- lilh • 6tiU 11 -gi • ''', .' 1 1 111 ' 110110„,_ 'I better help that new he seems pretty How Free? Adam's Other Rib By PEGGY McCLAIN When the words "academic freedom" are mentioned, reactions are as varied as the many sides of the phrase itself. Some interpret it (from 'a students' viewpoint) as freedom with in curriculums, to select one's courses of study as one sees fit and to study and absorb knowledge according to personal tastes. Others consider it equality of education, from grade school through college. Still others think of it as a lack of any government regulation of the schools. But perhaps the most frequent reaction to the words "academic freedom" is a negative one. We think of it in terms of "loss" of academic freedom, associating this loss with the words communism and subversion ' and censorship, school board firings because of eccentric or non-conforming be liefs, and loyalty oaths In its broadest sense aca demic freedom involves all of these things, and more. It raises questions—many of these un answerable in modern society —and it engulfs aspects of col lege living, teaching, and learn ing which often involuntarily are excluded from the common definition of education. And to answer the questions in our own minds of whether aca demic freedom is a "must" so far las free expression• and study of political and economic beliefs are concerned, we must also realize the full content and implications of the term. A committee of the American Civil Liberties Union has defined academic freedom and academic responsibility under three cate gories: the student, - the teacher, and the administrator. For all of these groups, the com mittee emphasizes the rights to compete in the "market place of ideas." "The democratic way of life neither fears nor avoids compe tition in the marketplace of ideas. Its health depends upon the encouragement of such com petition," the committee states. To go further, discussions of academic freedom seldom fail to make a distinction between a marl's thoughts and beliefs, and his actions. To quote Maxwell professor T. V. Smith of Syracuse University (in an article published in 1949), ". . . Man is free to be lieve what he wishes and be re sponsible to no one in a democ racy. What he does . . . is another matter." It is in this realm of "belief versus actions" that some of our greatest controversies arise. Where does belief end and where does action begin? Is it "action" to believe a doctrine "out loud" in the presence of a class of stu dents? And what beliefs will be tol erated in our schools and what ones condemned as "danger ous" to our democracy? Is a democracy not already WEDNESDAY. ickPRIL 27. 1955 By Bibler dent stretch his canvas— ous to get started." ing slightly when it must steel itself against ideas and beliefs? The question of academic free dom becomes somewhat of an un answerable "sociological" prob.. lem when carried far enough. It involves the role of the univer sity in society. If the university's purpose is to train its students to be competent and adjusted members of their society, perhaps the university is failing its trust if it exposes its students to ideas and beliefs which, if adopted, will subject them to the condemna tion of their contemporaries. On the other hand, if the uni versity's purpose is to provide its students with a maximum of opportunity for research and study, with unlimited freedom to question and form opinions, then there is no room in a uni versity for prefabricated, regu lated methods of teaching and learning. It is difficult to define the role of a university in this decade. Many of them have made the study of the classics subservient to technical fields of study. They have opened their doors to the masses, and the masses are not seeking truth so much as adjus tive techniques an d tectmical training. The library has taken second place to the test tube and the slide rule. Erroneous jtidgments or manipulations of these latter two are tolerated—they can be remedied and they seldom invoke society's wrath. It is a different matter en tirely to make a mistake in the. less technical fields—in politi cal judgment or economic de cisions. It is individualistic opin ions in these areas that frighten society, and it is this fear of the unproven or the unknown that fathers the resulting cen sorship. Academic freedom involves much more than these aspects. To define and evaluate it demands scrutiny of one's entire system of values, and a correlation of these with the values of society. But even these values cannot be decided honestly unless one is thinking under the existence of academic freedom. So be it. Tonight on WDFM 91.1 MEGACYCLES 00 Open to Question Masterworks front France Call _Card 000 Lig hi Clo!selcal kukeboz 331 -- --:- - Thowilit ter w: Der Sign On Stand BY
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers