PAGE FOUR
Editorial Opinion
It's Not Ail in the Game'
Tin* Pennsylvania Motor Federation, which repre
sents 000,000 automobile club members in the state, has
announced its opposition to legalizing radar devices for
trapping speedets.
But Governor-elect David L. La%vrenee has come out
in favoi of .an act legalizing use of radar, as did Gov.
George M. Leader. Leader’s radar proposal was defeated
in 1957 by Senate Republicans.
The PMF, which made its stand part of its 1959 legis
lative program, said it would oppose any radar bill:
1) Until iho stale highways department has adopted
"realistic” speed limits, and
2) Unless such a bill provides for daily inspection of
equipment, restricts its use to trained personnel in the
state police and warns motorists of its use by roadside
signs and identification equipment.
It appears that some of the motor federation’s reasons
for opposing radar-legalizing legislation are indeed valid.
There is no doubt that speed limits on many portions
of the 41,000-mile state highways system—the largest in
the country—are in dire need of revision. Most students,
from eastern parts of the state, for instance, are familiar
with the 35-mile-an-hour limit on Route 322, a 4-lane
divided highway, at Dauphin, just north of Harrisburg.
And almost everyone can cite instances of 50-mile-an
hour limits where traveling at such a speed would be
dangerous.
Some speed limit revisions have been made within
the last two years, but not nearly enough. And certainly,
as the PMF also advocates, radar equipment should be in
good mechanical condition and handled only by trained
operators.
But there is no reason why radar patrols should not
now operate on roads where the speed limit is 50 miles
an-hour or above, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Nor is .there any reason for labelling a radar patrol.
Highway safety .is not a game where speeders have the
right to be warned that their actions are being observed
by police. It is a deadly serious business and all reasonable
speed limits demand all practical methods of enforcement
—be they “ghost” cars, radar or other electric devices.
The 1959 session of the General Assembly will be
negligent in its duty to preserve the public safety if it
docs not provide for radar enforcement by trained state
police on high-speed roads.
Remarkable Stamina
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was on campus Wednesday.
Today she is back in New York preparing for another talk.
She left Lewistown yesterday at 1:30 a.m.
No matter what your politics, you have to admire her.
She is a woman of remarkable stamina. She was in North
Carolina early this week, left New York for State College
at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and then returned early the fol
lowing morning—all by train.
In her brief stay, Mrs. Roosevelt managed to:
. . . meet reporters at the railroad station for
15 minutes
. . . change clothes twice
. . . hold a half-hour press conference
. . . eat supper
. . . give an hour and a half lecture in
Schwab Auditorium
. . . attend a reception in her honor for campus
leaders in the HUB.
She traveled alone for the entire trip. A remarkably
full schedule for a woman 74 years old.
Fifty-four Years of Student Editorial Freedom
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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
Washington
Senate Starts
In Typical
Unhurried Style
By ARTHUR EDSON
WASHINGTON sP)—Here it is
the second day of a new Congress,
and already the Senate has shown
midseason form,
As you know, the Senate has
the problem of deciding what its
ground rules are to be. Shall it
continue filibuster unlimited, or
shall it try some form of limited
debate’’
To give this question the time
it deserves, Sen. Lyndon B. John
son (D.-Tex.), who calls the sig
nals for h>s party, had the Senate
convene two hours early Thurs
day, at 10 a.m.
Many senators feel deeply on
this question, and you might
expect a full and eager atten
dance. But at 10:03, immediate
ly after the opening prayer.
Johnson said he didn't think a
quorum was present. And he
was so right. A reporter count-
ed 19 senators.
Senators huddled here and there
and finally a bench conference
was held with Vice President
Richard M. Nixon.
The conference, by the way,
mav show one problem facing the
self-styled liberals in the Senate:
Too many quarterbacks', and not
enough linemen.
The conference finally broke
up, and at 10:40, Nixon announced
that a quorum was now present.
Bui apparenlly some thing
still was wrong. Johnson asked
for another quorum call, and
he made a motion with his
hand to show the clerk that
this time it was to be a quick
At 10:43 Sen. Mike Monroney
(D.-Okla.l got the floor, and we
wore off. Or were we?
Monroney app a r ently didn’t
have a long speech, but he scarce
ly had begun before he was be
sieged with requests. Would he
yield for a parliamentary inquiry?
This went on and on, until short
ly after noon Johnson broke in to
say he hoped for a vote “early
tonight.”
This brought the new Repub
lican leader. Sen. Everett M.
Dirksen (111.), to his feet to say
that many senators had made
previous commitments, and it
would be embarrassing to the
senators if we ran to an un
seemly hour.
Meaning: Many of us have
planned to go to parties, and this
would louse it up terribly.
Johnson remained calm. “I
hope,” he said, “it will not last
so long as to inconvenience sena
tors who have important respon
sibilities elsewhere.” Meaning:
We’ll try to wind it up before the
goodies run out.
No matter what, the Senate
won’t be hurried.
Gazette
TODAY
Inter-Varsity Christian Fellow
ship, 7:30 p.m., 214 Boucke
Hubz-a-poppin, 7:30 p.m., HUB
Assembly Hall
Wesley Foundation, Open House,
8 p.m., Wesley Foundation,
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAI,
Elizabeth Anderson. Gar y Anderson,
Sarah Baker. Alexis Barron, Bonnie Bar
tosh, Theodora Buchoix, Suian Chapman,
Thomai Cullen, Frederick Franklin, Elea
nor Hansen, Ila Hayes, James Inman, Lin
da Kelly, Robert Kopff, Victor Leopold,
Judith Morando, Ralph Neidie, Nancy Os
borne, Adam Pejperl, Erland Stevens, Rich
ard Tennyson, Frederic Tietz.
ittle Man on Campus by Dick Sibtw
"Say, Phyllis, is that your basketball player you've
been telling me about?"
Take It or Leave It
Death Penalties
Legalized Murder
The nation’s newspapers recently carried articles
describing a proposed new medical experiment—con
demned prisoners, before being put to death, should be
allowed to volunteer for painless medical experiment
under anesthesia.
Eventually, death would be Induced by an overdose
of the anesthetic agents. The
interests of scientific progress
would be served, and no real
harm would result (since, after
all, the condemned must be
killed.)
If the proposed experiments
are approved, no doubt they
will be looked upon favorably
by those who consider capital
punishment a necessary evil of
our society.
Others may oppose the ex
periments on the grounds that
“dropping off to death” is too
nice a way to have the death
sentence fulfilled. (And a crim
inal, of course, doesn’t deserve
to be treated in a humane man
ner.)
There probably will be a few
voices raised in opposition not
to medical e x p e r i mentation
with condemned prisoners, but
to the fact that our judicial
system creates men whose
lives are soon to be taken, and
who therefore can serve as
guinea pigs without harm be
ing done.
We add our voice to those
who protest that capital pun
ishment is a barbarous exam
ple of the culture lag which af
flicts our society. It is an ar
chaic means of vengeance
which should have been abol
ished long ago.
Capital punishment was fa
thered by a penal system com
pletely different from the jre
gmwrf-i
FRIDAY. JANUARY 9. 1959
by Pat Evans
sent one. It made the criminal
pay his "debt to society." Mod
ern penology emphasises reha
bilitation instead ol retribution,
and the death penalty is com
pletely out of line with this
newer theory.
Yet, the extreme punishment
is far from dying out—42 of
our 49 states permit it. Why?
First, the proponents of capi
tal punishment maintain that
It is the only effective deter
rent to serious crimes as mur
der.
But, the death penalty is so
severe that juries don’t like
to impose it. Between 1930 and
1950 the average number of
annual executions in the Uni
ted States was 143. Since then
the number has dropped to on
ly 79. The chances of a person
convicted of intentional homi
cide ever entering the death
chamber are 100 to one.
With these odds, what po
tential criminal will be fright
tened off by the fear of being
put to death if he is caught?
If any penalty is to be an
effective deterrent, it must ba
moderate and administered in
every instance.
A second argument offered
in favor of retaining the death
penalty is that its elimination
would lead to an increase ip
(Continued on page eight)
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