The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, February 28, 1956, Image 4

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    PAGE FOUR
Published Tuesday Oiressils
lisiordsir eternises dads,
the Universal Her. 11640
Dear Coffeniert le a sivlesi
*ewe led err iea *IV
lealltrod as serra4-daas manor July 1, 11114 as doe State CoNig*, Pa. Part °Mai sok,
MIKE PKINSILIINR, Editor
MINK MILLER. Associate Editor
STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night Editor, Rog Alexander; Copy Editors, Barb Budnick, Dick Hufnagel; As
81.ittifitS, Dave Bronstein, Joe Cheddar, Pat Evans, Mickie Cohen, Thomas Werner, Audrey Sassano
Five Ways to Keep Your Pledges Living
What are fraternity excesses?
This question must be answered by the Inter
fraternity Council's pre-initiation code com
mittee, which is expected to be appointed this
week
Rational opinion in most quarters is that
excesses in Hell Weeks and other pledge treat
ment exist and must be curbed. This opinion
has been expressed often on campus and
throughout the nation since the death of
Thomas L. Clack, the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology freshman who died as the result
of an ordinary fraternity prank.
In a letter to The Daily Collegian last week.
Interfraternity Council President Robert Bul
lock pointed out that IFC has discussed the
problem for the past two years. "1 feel certain
that concrete action will be taken this year ..."
he said.
We hope Bullock is right. For if concrete
action does not come from WC, we feel sure
it will eon te from the University. The reason:
concrete action is long-past due. Discussion is
not enough.
The fu•st step the code committee must take
is to determine the boundaries of fraternity
practices involving pledges.
This will not be easy. A code drawn up last
year was defeated 25 to 22 because fraternities
Celt it was worded too lookly and would open
the way to overly strict interpretations in the
future
Yet. because practices vary so widely among
fraternities, any code, to be workable, must
be general. -
Five general boundaries which should be out
lined in the new code arc:
I. Hazing practices must be confined to in
side the fraternity house.
This provision would eliminate some of the
excesses caused by over-enthusiastic hazing.
It would partly remove fraternity criticism
ft ow the neighbors of fraternity houses. Thomas
Clark would be alive today if this rule had
been in effect at M.I.T.
2. Hazing practices must end at 2 a.m.
This provision would eliminate another long
standing complaint about Hell Weeks: frater-
Long Gone Gravy Train and No Engineer
An oft heard cry against student govern
ment is that it accomplishes little of benefit
to the average student. In some respects this
charge is true.
But the blame for this alleged ineffectualness
is usually attributed entirely to the few who
actively participate in student government. And
in some instances such blame is justified.
But often—more often—the blame lies with
those who level The charges, but do nothing
more than talk and expect an over-worked
few to champion their cause.
A case in point: Since his inauguration last
April Alt-University President Earl Seely has
been attempting to get a student food commit
tee functioning. The purpose of the committee,
which would be respon-:ible to All-University
Cabinet, would be to receive student complaints
regarding the food service, channel them to the
food service, and work toward the solution of
the reported gripes.
Judging from the almost innumerable stu
dent complaints regarding dormitory food, many
of which are quite valid, this committee po
tentially could do much to serve all the dormi
tory residents.
gut at this writing. with Seely's term near
ing its end, the food committee has been a com
plete failure. It has existed on paper only. The
reason for the failure: no student could be
found to chair the committee.
It is easy to condemn Seely and Cabinet for
this failing. After all, it is ono of his duties to
appoint students to Cabinet committees and
Gazette
CENTRAL PROMOTION AGENCY Senior Board, R:46 p.m.,
CPA office
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE ORGANIZATION, 7 p.m., 301 Old
Alain
DAILY COLLEGIAN Ituaineaa Staff. 7 P.m.. 103 Willard
DAILY COLLEGIAN Local Advertising Staff, 6:30 p.m.,
Daily Collegian office
DAILY COLLEGIAN Promotion Staff. 3 p.m., 101 Willard
ENGINEERING STUDENT COUNCIL. 7 p.m.. 211 Helve(
Union
"FIVE O'CLOCK THEATER." 5 p.m., basement of Old
Main
FRESHMAN COUNCIL. 6:30 p.m.. UR Meted Union
LANTERN Circulation Staff Candidates, 6;30 p.m., 103
Willard
MAKE-UP WORKSHOP, 7 p.m.. Make-up Room, Schwab
Auditorium
NEWMAN CLUB Dlacussion. 7 p.m.. Student Center
OUTING CLUB Cabin and Trail Division. 7:30 317
PENN STATE ROOK EXCHANGE twat Semester Candi.
&ilea. 6:30 p.m , 203 Meisel Union
Student Employment
The following camps will hold interview* at the Student
Employment Agency, 112 Old Main. Interested students
may *lam up there for interviews.
PHILADELPHIA YMCA. March 7
CAMP WOODLANDS. March 10
CAMP LAKELAND. March 10
CAMP CONRAD Vi'EISER, March 11.16
CAMP MENATONE. March 14-16
CAMP CARADONWANNA. March 21
University Hospital
Wolfganc Alber, Herbert Cohen. Donald Devorris, Jame*
Goodwin, Herman Gordan. Barbara Elineburger, Sudhir
Kunutr, Robert — Marti. Meredith Miller, James Moore. John
ratan.", Raymond Natio". Joan Schmidt. William Wiener*
ilimmarstry Arent*, Joan Lebom and Norman Mardi".
alp Elting Colltgian
Itueessumt W TUC MCI LANCIL. est. UM
mak.. ROGER VOGELSINGER, Beminmm Mamsgew
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA
pity pledges sleep in class. It also would cut
Hell Week's health hazards stemming from a
lack of sleep.
3. Pledges must have opportunity for at least
eight hours of sleep or study each night.
This provision, which was included in the
code prepared last year, would eliminate an
other chief faculty complaint about Hell Week:
that pledges lose a lot of learning.
4. Pledges must be provided with automobiles
when sent on trips to other chapters.
This provision makes simple sense. Sending
pledges on trips via hitch-hiking is dangerous
and hitch-hiking is illegal.
5. Intense hazing periods may last no longer
than three days.
A week-long Hell Week is too long. It is the
length of Hell Week more than any other aspect
which breaks the health of the pledge going
through it.
Fraternities will not greet these proposals
with screams of approval. They will, instead,
probably mutter about "interference with in
ternal affairs."
A pre-initiat ion practices code is indeed inter
ference with internal affairs. But it is only
one instance of many such interferences. Fra
ternities, like any household, must obey the
law , : of the borough, the state, and the nation.
They must obey the laws of the University.
They must obey the laws of IFC itself, such as
the provisions of the social code.
Such interference has become necessary be
cause fraternities have demonstrated they can
not adequately control themselves. This was
their original mistake.
Their second mistake would be to reject
self-control through measures advocated by
their own group. This mistake will be made if
fraternities fail to adopt a pre-initiations code
for the consecutive third year.
In such a failure, the fraternities will, by
default, invite the University to regulate them.
The choice is no longer between regulating
or not regulating hazing excesses. The choice is
between self-regulation, coming from IFC, or
outside regulation, coming from the University.
—The Editor
the committees are responsible to Cabinet. But
such quick condemnation would be grossly un
just.
Seely has made repeated efforts to get one
of Penn State's approximately 11,500 students
to accept the position. One finally accepted but
was forced to resign for personal reasons be
fore the committee could get functioning. It
took months. to ferret out this one interested
student. Months more have passed and another
has not applied.
This, we contend, is not the fault of Seely
or his Cabinet. Students should not have to be
begged to accept the responsibility to solve
their own problems. One cannot always depend
on another to lead him by the hand. The fault
lies with the 11,500.
It must Ic/e realized that neither one man
nor a small group of interested, but over
worked, people can adequately carry the load
for thousands. Student government needs many
interested students to function effectively and
those active in it will be the first to admit this.
It's early in the semester. How about it?
—Mike Miller
Stacked Statistic . . .
Why rave about the ratio? So it's 3.3 to I.
It used to be 2.6 to 1. Twenty years from now
it might be 6 to 1. So?
Men still complain about women.
Women still complain about men.
Women sit in on Saturday nights.
Men prowl around on Saturday nights.
Dating is at its all-time low. Fraternities try
to have more mixers. Independents try to mix
more dormitories. But no luck. The sexes won't
mix.
The 3.3 men are not enough interested in the
1.0 woman to put up much of a fight to get her.
And she certainly not going out of her way
to find the 1:1 man that rightfully belongs to
her.
So things are at a standstill. And what do
we do? We advertise the ratio. We play it up.
We joke about it. But do we ever do anything
about it? Nol
We should do something. We must take
steps. But what? Should we encourage the men?
Shame the women? Send men away? Import
women?
But we could not send men away without
causing the University economic chaos. We
could not import women without causing same.
The answer is to trade some of our 3.3 men
to a woman's college for an' equal quantity
of women. This is the only solution.
It will make it easier for men to find dates.
It will make women keep on their toes to
meet the competitioriAt can't fail.
Ratio will become defunct. Equilibrium will
take its place. Forced mixing will cease. Dating
wilt pick up. Complaint will die down. We will
be happy,
Xeiestiele reereeeet the
vieweetate et the writers.
set eeeeesartie the pales
et the piper. the etudest
body. ow the Uedvaire.ty.
the set of Kara I. 1479.
—Jackie Hudgins
Little Man on Campus
on assignment
items of interest
ON RUSHING A FRATERNITY—
Near the Student Union desk in Waring Hall the other eve
ning we noticed two freshmen waiting to be taken to dinner at a
fraternity. One was attired in charcoal suit, cordovans, striped
, and we wouldn't be the least
the back. The other wore a two-
button-down shirt, and repp tie
surprised if he wore a buckle in
button light blue sport coat,l
pistol-pocket pant s, and, of
course, clean white bucks.
Now, ordinarily we don't at
tempt to overhear private con
versations, but the way these two
were talking together made us,
sit up and take notice. It seems
as though the topic of discussion
was something like "how should
I act at the house?" or "what
should I say if somebody asked
me about my average?" or some
thing like that.
Anyway, the fellow dressed in
Madison Avenue fashion assured
his counterpart "don't act re
hearsed, just natural," and in
substance, what we overheard
went something like this: "Now
look, Harry, don't go putting on
any airs or anything. I think
we're having spaghetti tonight
and you might just as well for
get trying to use a spoon and
fork. Of course, you don't have
to drag it to your mouth, either."
Oh, go ahead Harry: drag it
to your mouth if you want.
You won't be out of place.
OH NO! NO! NO! depl—
Now it's Clyde Klutz.
Just when we were certain that
C. V. Tummer fellow had left,
another takes his place. Signs
bearing the name of one Clyde
Klutz have been popping up here
and there in certain places around
campus, leaving us to speculate
that maybe the fellow wants at
tention.
You'll get none from us Klutz.
'Klunts. Kloutz, or whatever
your name is. Please go away.
PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK
Jack Joyce, former associate
editor of Froth, is one of the few
persons we know who can sleep
through practically every class
and still pass with flying colors.
Jack, widely known throughout
the environs of Calder Alley,
used to tend the bar at the Tav
ern, but now we think he's
switched his allegiance elsewhere.
In a Froth parody ad last May
called "Looking for Privacy?"
few persons realized that it was
Jack himself pictured in the ad
criticizing downtown housing. On
top of that, it was his own apart
ment—the one known around
town, for obvious reasons, as "The
Pit."
We were talking with Jack
the other day and he told us
"I've done some pretty odd
things before but this is too
much. I looked over my tran
script the other day, added up
my credits._and migod, I
could've graduated by now!"
Our man Bavar, photographer
for this paper, wants everyone to
TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 28, 1954
By Bibler
by ron walker
know that it's perfectly OK for
him to point his flash gun at the
ceiling and not at the subject
when taking a picture.
"People laugh at me," he
said, "and think I'm doing it all
wrong by aiming my flash gun
upwards.
OK, Dave, we'll straighten them
out. First of all, flash bounced off
the ceiling gives a much softer
and natural lighting effect. And,
it eliminates the strong shadows
characteristic of flat, on-the-cam
era flash.
OK?
♦i•
ON SEEING "THE LONE
RANGER" AND EXCLAIMING
RATHER LOUDLY "HI 0
SILVER, AWAY!"--
Don't ask us why, but we went
to the Nittany last week to see
"The Lone Ranger," partly be
cause it was currently playing on
Broadway and partly because we
had seen everything else in town.
But we were frankly disap
pointed. The new Lone Ranger
is nothing like the old one we
used to know and The way he
gives out with his "Hi 0 Sil
ver, Away:" is plainly lacking
something. Tonto, however, was
up to his usual best, especially
in his Brooklynese renditions
of "me go that way shootum up"
and other such gems of early
Americana.
Upon reflection, we were some
what inclined to pan the film, not
merely because it is a western,
but because, we repeat, the new
Lone Ranger just doesn't have it.
Reading Confab
Set for April
Plans for the Pennsylvania In
tercollegiate Reading Festival, to
be held at the University April 26
and 2'7, will be made at a meeting
at 6:30 tonight in 312 Sparks: In
terested students may attend. ,
Eighty colleges will participate
in the festival, sponsored by stu
dents in the oral interpretation
speech classes. Four students from
each school will be entered.
The literature for interpretation
will include prose, poetry, and
drama. Detailed instructions will
be given tonight in regard to the
nature of the selection to be read.
Tonight on WDFM
!LI MEGACYCLES
Sign On
Philip Wein Show
Phi Mn Alpha
Top Drawer
News
7:30 _
8:30 _
9:00
9:.5
9:30 _---- This World of Music
:341 Siva - Ott