PAGE FOUR
Editorial Opinion
Veterans' PhysEd:
Compound Confusion
A vague and ill-defined committee report recommend
ing that physical education be kept compulsory for vet
erans will go before the University Senate next Thursday.
The recommendation to continue the requirement for
veterans, a report from the Senate Committee on Aca
demic Standards, is in answer to All-University Cabinet's
recommendation that phys ed be voluntary for veterans.
The committee report says "the fact of military
service is irrelevant to the question, though the facts of
physical disability, greater maturity, greater age that
sometimes accompany military service may not be."
The report continues that if these "latter facts" are
established in individual instances, they come under Item
T.l of Senate Regulations for Undergraduate Students.
This item says only that, where the case is not one of
physical disability, a "cogent reason" must be given for
exemption from voluntary physical education.
The Senate committee recommendation thus indicates
quite clearly that "greater age" and "greater maturity"
may possibly be considered "cogent reasons."
It follows that any veteran who feels he possesses
either or both of these qualifications should be able to
appeal physical education requirements and expect a fair
hearing of his case.
Now, since the committee would set up these two
qualities as possible grounds for appeal, we wonder why
It did not thing to clarify them.
What, for instance, is "greater age"?
Since the question of age can be neither relative nor
questionable, it can he defined clearly. A certain age
should therefore be set as grounds for appeal.
And what is "greater maturity"?
Are there to be definite standards set up to define
maturity . . . and if so, won't they have to be set up by
psychologists? Or, if maturity is to be a matter of personal
judgment, who is going to do the judging?
The man who is to Judge maturity should, naturally,
be the most mature man available—and who will choose
him?
"Greater age" and "greater maturity" almost invari
ably result from two years of military service. Who would
say that the average freshman who is a veteran is not
both older and more mature than the average freshman
coming directly from high school?
The difference is almost invariably obvious . . . and
exceptions are so few as to be inconsequential in the
forming of a general policy.
Also, consider the administrative nightmare which
might well be the result of adopting this recommendation.
Any veteran who considered himself of "greater age" or
"greater maturity" could appeal his phys ed requirement
—and surely a great number would be willing to give it
a try, since they would have nothing to lose.
The hearings of these cases could easily become an
absurdity. Judging individually on the maturity of all
those who appealed could reach unbelievable heights of
complexity, turning the whole idea into a philosophical
farce.
The Senate should vote down the committee's recom
mendation and substitute for it exemption from physical
education for veterans.
Editorials are written by the editors and staff members
of The Daily Collegian and do not necessarily represent
the views of the University or of the student body.
A Student-Operated Newspaper
Otit "43ailti Tollrgiatt
Successor to The Free Lance, est. 1887
Published fuesdity tlikough Sitturda3 morning during the I nisersity year. The
Daily ( ollegian is a student-operated newspaper. Entered 114 second-clan matter
Jule 5, 1931 at the State College. Pa. Post Office under the act of March 3. 1879.
Mail Subscription Price: 11.00 per semester $3.00 per year.
ROBERT FRANKLIN
Editor
City Editor, David Fineman; Managing Editor, Richard Drayne: Sports Editor.
Lou Prato; 4.4.,0e1ate Sport+ Editor, Matt NlntherNs; Personnel and Publlc Relations
Director. Patricia Evans: Copy Editor. Lynn Ward: Assistant Copy Editor. Dick
Fisher: Photography Editor, Robert Thompson.
Credit Mgr.. Janice Smith; Local Ad Mgr.. Tom Burke); Asst. Local Ad Mar.,
Robert Piccone: National Ad Mar.. Betsy Brackbill; Promotion Mar.. Kitty Bur
gert; Personnel Mgr., Mickey Nash; Classified Ad Mgr., Rae Waters; Co-
Circulation Mgrs., Mary Anne First and Murray Simon; Research and Records
Mar., Mary ilerbein: Office Secretary, Myla Johnson.
S'l'‘FE THIS ISSUE: Night Editor, Lianne Corde Cony Editor, Bobbi Lesine:
%%tie Editor, Hill Jaffe: Alunstaith, Siode I,inkiourn, Helen Ntgeatterty, John
Root, Itowie Schimmel, Dave Iliadic!, Marla Fat 14er, Fdith Beck, Nancy Tharp,
Brenda Fenner, Katen Bosley, Maly Gombar, Ginny Glatt, Jun: Nathan, Getr4
Sermattel. Charlotte Flack.
FRANK VOJTASEK
^;77N* Business Manager
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
Washington
Sticky Situation
Found
By ARTHUFt EDSON
WASHINGTON VP) Post
master General Arthur Summer
field has received the bad news
nn the sorghum situation in the
Culloden, W.Va., Post Office.
It's a riess.
The problem was brought up
by Dr. E. E. Dudding, 97, a local
sorghum lover, who wrote Sum
merfield to protest what had hap
pened to a can of the stuff he
had mailed to a friend.
Sorghum Is a rich, hearty con
coction, especially delightful on
cornbread.
Dudding got to talking with a
friend, S. I. McGinnis, learned
that the fine art of sorghum-mak
ing had almost died out around
Culloden, and, locating a cache of
sorghum near here, decided to
mail him some.
The letter from McGinnis tells
the lamentable story•
"The can of sorghum arrived
this morning at the post office.
The contents was all gone. The
lid had come off and the sorghum
was all over the mail. The mail
carrier said he would make out
a report.
"Paul Soward, postmaster, was
out of town today. They had a
time this morning, licking sor
ghum off of the mall, ha, ha."
Well, Dudding hustled the bad
news off to Summerfield, thought
fully including his own diagnosis
of the problem. He figures that
the railroads have cut out local
stops, that the mail is tossed from
trains doing 60 miles an hour, and
that this is no way to treat
sorghum.
Well, Dudding is a hard man to
lick. He has just mailed another
can of sorghum to McGinnis. It
would cut down on the corres
pondence, and keep a much tidier
mail sack, if the engineer would
just slow down when he gets to
Culloden.
Gazette
TODAY
Ag Hill Party Committee, 6:30
p.m., 212 HUB
AIM Talent Show, 7 p.m., HUB
assembly hall
Air Force Drill Team, 8 p.m., HUB
ballroom
Air Force Glee Club, 3 p.m., HUB
assembly hall
All-University Cabinet, 7 p.m., 203
HUB
Bloodmobile Registration, 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., HUB lounge
Botany and Plant Pathology Sem
inar Lecture Series, 4 p.m.,
Buckhout Lab
Bridge Club, 6:30 p.m., HUB card
room
Chimes, 4 p.m., 212 HUB
Christian Fellowship, 12:45 p.m.,
218 HUB
Christian Science Organization,
7 p.m., 212 Chapel
Dancing Class, 4:15 and 6:30 p.m.,
HUB ballroom
Financing Club, 7:30 p.m., Kappa
Sigma
Froth advertising staff, 7 p.m., 217
HUB
German Club, 7:30 p.m., Home Ec
Living Center
Hillel Foundation, Beginner's He
brew, 6:45 p m., Foundation;
"Introduction to Judaism," 7
p m., Foundation; "Ultimate
Goals of Religion," Series, 8
p.m., Foundation
IFCPA, 4 p.m., 218 HUB
lota Lambda Sigma, 7:30 p.m., 218
HUB
News and Views, 6 . 45 p.m., 14
Home Ec
Philosophy Lecture Series, The
Very Rev. Mar ta in Cyril
D'Arcy, 8 p m., 110 EE
Pi Gamma Alpha, 6:30 p.m., 201
Temp
Society for Advancement of Man
agement, 7:30 p.m., Theta Chi
UCA, 2 p.m., HUB assembly hall
University Party publicity com
mittee,-7 p.m., 213 HUB
WRA Bridge Club for Beginners,
7 p.m., White Building
WRA Officials Club, 6:30 p.m., 2
White
WSGA Publications Committee,
6:30 p.m., McElwain study
lounge
John Aber, Charles Annett, Jean Ben
ninger. William Bianco, Ann Cooke, Bruce
Gilmore. Larry Herring, Kenneth Link.
Maxine Lundy, Geraldine Markos, Jame*
Marsh, Robert Miller. Michael Nagel, Rob.
ert Salem, John Simplair, Deborah Sin.
berg, Nadine Wax, Albert Wenrick. Wil.
Ram Wilson. John Zelints.
in Mail
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Little Man on Campus by Dick Biblee
—Yes, Ed, I wish I had been able to get a college education.
It gives a man that certain something that sets
him above and apart from the average--"
Take It or Leave It
Smooching Lines—
A Health Menace
Kansas State College students got their "smooch
lines" back
The kissing lines had been a college tradition,
modeled after the time-honored custom of kissing the
bride after a wedding.
Kansas students made this
"best wishes" kiss a group ac
tivity and extended the cus
tom to cover pinnings and en
gagements as well as weddings.
_ But the student tradition
came to an abrupt halt during
last fall's flu epidemic. The di
rector of the student health
clinic isued an edict banning
all smooch lines. And the as
sociate dean of women backed
him up.
What's more, she reimposed
the restriction this year.
Smooch lines are "a bad health
practice," she said.
We quote from her state
ment:
"Trenchmouth and respira
tory diseases can be spread to
a great many people during
one smooch line. We're not
looking for another flu epi
demic, but during the winter,
colds are always with us."
A committee of coeds went
to battle against the ban, and
were successful in_ having the
ruling reversed. The new pol
icy:
"Smooch lines may occur
during times of good health
at the discretion of the indi
viduals present."
Kansas State's temporary
ban on organized kissing at
tracted a t t en tion throughout
collegiate circles. Support for
smooch lines came from the
college's sis t e r institution,
Kansas University. (We won
ler if Penn students would
P' k N 11. " I FOUND A
NEW FRIEND HE S JUST ABOUT NY SIZE_
AT SCHOOL. ABACI
c• c •)
‘• as. -
NNW
11. r 0 ~ccivit 1 440 i, •rA •
'Oro 1
Alt
tilijill4lo4222M I
AND POLITE...HE'S
_5O POLITE., A
ihe
• •1
kin
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1958
© S-38;,'
by Pat Evans
rally to support Penn State
under similar circumstances.)
A reporter from KU's stu
lent news paper interviewed
the university's director of
student health on the kissing
ban at Kansas State. Some of
his comments follow:
"The ban should be nearly
impossible to enforce—you can
vaccinate against a flu epidem.
ic, but you can't vaccinate
against kissing."
Colleges and universities
should not try to control kiss
ing, he said. "It's as natural as
nature."
He admitted that smooch
lines would be contact points
for spreading flu viruses and
colds. "But who is going to
supervise the thousands of stu
dents who participate in group
activities of this kind?" he
asked.
"Two people drinking out of
the same bottle or sharing a
cigarette spread as many
germs as if they were kissing.
An unprotected cough or
sneeze is more dangerous than
any of these forms of direct
contact. A sneeze or cough
spreads a cold mdre widely."
The health director said
kissing continues in private
even when group necking is
outlawed. - "Nature should be
left to run its course," he said.
But he did have one word
of caution "Students should
be careful who they kiss."
YOU CAN I.IIT HIM, AND HE
DOESN'T HIT YOU BACK!
r
OW I
fhb
',l4f.
11 11//~~~