Dorm Drinking "Boy,•vould I like to have a nice cold beer," said the thirsty dormitory resident to his equally dehydrated roommate. "Why don't you and Joe (who is 21) go downtown and get some beer and pizza." No sooner said than done. Joe and our thirsty friend stroll downtown and pick up some pizza and a couple of six packs. They buy a bag of potato chips and throw them in the beer bag to cover the tops of the cans. The rest is simple. The two walk back to the dorm, check the hall for counselors before entering, and slink into their room for a, feast. As long as our sinners don't become too rowdy, the chances that they will be discovered are remote. The empty beer cans are easily discarded in the janitor's closet. That is how easy it is to sneak beer into the residence halls. There, are, of course, as any dorm dweller will attest, myraid variations on the same theme. Both beer and liquor make their way into residence hall bureau drawers and closets via gym bags, suitcases and even oversized pocket books. The rule banning alcoholic bev erages from the dormitories is as easily and flagrantly broken as was the one prohibiting women from visiting men's apartments. Drinking offenses probably account for a greater number of discip linary probations and suspensions than any other violation. In order to effectively enforce the rule, University officials would have to periodically raid the residence halls. The few search and seizure missions with which we are familiar—mostly carried out by Puritanical dorm counselors— have netted enough alcohol to supply the Bowery for a month. But such raids are impractical, first because they are an intolerable invasion of the students' privacy and, second, be- cause they are of questionable legality. We suspect that it is no more legal to alp Bag Tatirnian al Freedom Published Tuesday through Saturday during the pall, winter and Spring Terms, and Thursday during the Summer Term, by students of The Pennsylvania State University. Second class gestalt paid at State College, Pa. 10101. Circulation: 12400. Mall Subscription Price: 58.50 a year Mailing Address Box 467, State College, Pa , 16801 Editorial and Business Office Basement of Sackett (North End) Phone 8654331 Business office hours: Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m PAUL J. LEVINE William Epstein Managing Editor Judy Rife, City Editor; Ronald Kolb, Sports Editor; Don McKee, Assistant Sports Editor; Richard Rayne, Gerry Hamilton, Kathy lltwak, Copy Editors; Dan Rodgers, Photography Editor; Pierre BeWain', Assistant Photography Editor; Phyllis Ross, Par Sonnet Director Office Manager; Pat Gurosky, Kitty PhiMit, Dennis Stimaling, Senior Reporters, Elliot Abrams, Weather Reporter. Board of Local — AriertisingManager, Ed Fromkin, Assistant Local Advertising Managers, Jim Shore and Jim Soutar; Credit Manager, George Geib; Assistant Credit Managers, Carol Book, Stephen Leicht; Classified Advertising Manager, Mary Kramer; National Advertising Managers, Mary km Ross and Linda Hazier; Circulation Manager, George Bergner; Office and Personnel Manager, Mary Gabler; Public Relations and Promotion Manager, Ronald B. Resnikoff. __— Committee on Accuracy and Fair Play: Charles Brown, Faith Tenney, Harvey Reeder. Adviser: • Clemson. PAGE TWO Editorial Opinion search a dormitory room without a war rant than it is to search a rented house or motel room, regardless of what dorm contracts might say. We recommend that the Adminis tration and the Undergraduate Student Government investigate the possibility of modifying or abolishing the rule both because it is unenforceable and be cause it serves no useful purpose. For parents and in loco parentis ad ministrators, the idea of liquor in the dorms conjures up visions of nightly parties, chronic alcoholism and general debauchery. Sources at the University of Penn sylvania and Rutgers, both of which ignore drinking in the residence halls, report no, such result. A student at Rutgers told the Collegian recently that after the novelty has worn off, students seldom abuse the privilege of drinking in the dorms. In fact, they take it for granted. And the sports editor of Penn's Daily Pennsylvanian said last night: "If there's a rule (against drinking), its not en forced. I don't even know if there's a rule or not. The rule of thumb is if you can get it you can have it. Kids call beer distributors and have them bring beer to the dorms. People don't think about the drinking too much. Everyone's smok ing pot, anyway." USG, if it suddenly has an inclina tion to do something useful, might launch an intensive investigation of eastern colleges and universities which permit the use of alcohol in the resi dence halls. Such a survey should determine the effect of legalized drinking on grade av erages, noise level and campus crime rate. A survey by the University of Mary land student newspaper revealed that of 77 dormitory presidents polled, 69 ad mitted that there was drinking in the dorms, in violation of a university rule. "Sure there's drinking," one resi dence hall president said over the phone. "I've got a fifth right here." —M.S.S. Successor to — The Free Lance, est. 1887 62 Years of Editori Member of The Associated Press set• , WILLIAM FOWLER Business Manager Michael S. Serrill Editorial Editor TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1968 ' 1 ,47P1 .f:ry . Dorm Drinking Against the Rules. Who Cares? Letters to the Editor While One Reader Praises RFK . . . TO THE EDITOR: It was with pleasure, and some sur prise, that I read your endorsement of Sen9tor Robert F. Kennedy last Tuesday. With less surprise I have read the criticisms of that endorsement since that day. I too have admiration for the courage and idealism of Mr. McCarthy. But I do not believe that he holds the lock and key on those qualities, as some seem to suggest. The savagery and unreasonableness of much of the' criticism directed towards Sen. Kennedy has confounded me somewhat, yet, 'considering the recent misguided dam nation of Gov. Romney,• I should not have been too taken back. Too often we look at events and people with per spectives too narrow to render clear and rational judg ment. The Senator has been called an "opportunist" because he entered the race AFTER the New Hampshire primary had shown the serious divisions in the Democratic party. Yet what would he have been called had he entered be fore this split was in evidence? Then he would have been an "ambitious punk" intent on destroying the party and handing over the November election to Richard Nixon. None of Kennedy's options were without serious repercus sions. Surely he had more to lose than had McCarthy. - Finally, I think it is significant that Kennedy, alone among all the candidates, has refused to deal in personali ties or with simplistic solutions. To date, he has attacked neither Humphrey nor McCarthy, and he has not supposed that firing Dean Rusk would solve the peace negotiations stalemate. In closing, I support Kennedy because he seems to Strike a good balance between the qualities of idealism on the one hand and pragmatism on the, other. He stands for "hope, for the reconciliation of men, for new policies." Thomas R. Wrigley '6B .. . Other Won't Mention His Name TO THE EDITOR: In 1960 Richard Nixon lost the presi dency to a man who is being praised as one of the greatest leaders this country experienced. Nixon carried 26 states and 49.3 percent of the vote in that election; John Kennedy carried 24 states and 49.7 percent of the vote. In conscience with its past heritage from Lincoln through Robert Taft, the Republican party seems to be giving Nixon the chance he deserves. The 1960 election choice was so good that the American people were almost unable to make up their minds. The Republicans are sup plying their half of a good election choice again. The Democrats face a more difficult choice; their conscience is not wrapped up in one man. They can defend the present administration in the tradition of Grover Cleve land and F.D.R. and nominate Humphrey, or they can reinforce the idealism of Woodrow Wilson and Adlai Ste venson and nominate McCarthy. Thus, there is in good conscience one man they can not nominate . . . need I mention his name. 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Where quality mer- chandise and sincere service insure your;:, satisfaction 5I g t • ,lOYIE.7Z_, jl- 7 - - f ii lOr i )1.:.;;;k•, - ;F: 5---- .9 ,- - 3 ,. - .pc5.... , .. 4°-, ,, ,, ,.- - &-:;,...- -• 4 - ..:. -- - -1 ;- - -- ., ... - ; ' - '2 - .a . . 1 • 216 E. College Ave Suggestion: Speed Up The National Pastime (EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is the third in a new "Faculty Forum" series. The author, Ivan L. Preston, is an avid baseball fan, and his suggestions are aimed at perk ing up the national pastime. Preston's article was also sent to Leonard Koppet, sports writer for The New York Times, who voiced agreement with Preston's suggestions in his baseball column.) By IVAN L. PRESTON Assistant Professor of Journalism Here is an idea about how baseball can beef up its offense. All it has to do is stop assessing the double penalty for putting a baserunner out. I am referring to plays in which the runner is not forced, as when he tries to go from first to third on a single, stretch a double into a triple, or steal a base. When the baserunner is caught he must pay two penalties; he is, wiped off the base paths and his team is , charged with an out. My solution is this: charge the base runner with only one penalty. If the base runner is wiped off th e bases, then no out shall be charged. If the base runner is charg ed with an out, then he shall not be removed from base (though re- turned to the last base reached safely) The offen sive manager shall decide which penalty is PRESTON to be applied. Consider this example: There is a runner on second with one out. The batter singles and the runner tries to score but is tagged out. Under existing rules the offense loses both the baserunner and the out. Under the new rule the offense either is charged with a second out but sees the runner restored to third base, or else has the runner elimi nated but still has only one out. Either al ternative means the offense has added chances to score. Consider:•There's a runner on first with none out. He attempts tp If he is thrown out, his manager may have him leave the bases with no out being charged. The offense is where it was at the start of the inning rather than having part of the inning used up. Or, the manager may choose to have the runner return to first base with one out. Either way the offense has an advantage it didn't have before. Keep Runners Moving The effect Of this rule would be to score more runs, but it would also be to increase the number of events which make baseball exciting. Baseball is best with runners on the, move. The strike-out provides little ac tion, and even the home run lacks sustained excitement. But when runners are moving with the ball in play, this is when baseball excels as a spectator sport. The effect of the rule would be to in crease the number of times such action oc curs. The manager contemplating the hit and-run or steal and the coach contemplating the extra base would be more willing to take a chance because the chance would no LETTERS we get letters! Every month the KLH people send a news letter to each of their dealers. The letter below was received February Ist. We enjoy selling KLH because it's fine equipment and extremely reliable. Apparently Prince Philip thinks so, too. The letter below is reprinted without authorization from KLH or Prince Philip. We thought you'd like to read it, too. Dear Mr. Baker, Alvo Electronics': Our regular newsletter for this month will follow within two weeks, including the promised information on the tape recorder. In the meantime, although we're not a gossipy bunch, it's hard to overlook the following news note: We intend to veto the suggestion that we run an ad headlined: "Although KLH equipment is often used in the palace; it was designed primarily for the home." Sincerely, alvo electronics' barn 200 e. college ave Faculty Forum, Ever since England devaluated the pound a few weeks ago, Prince Philip has been very active in an "I'm Backing Britain" campaign that includes, among other things, buying English products whenever possible over foreign equivalents (or near equivalents). But according to the London Daily Express (January 4th edition), this didn't prevent the Prince from buy ing a KLH Model Twenty from a London store as a New Year's present for his son, Charles. The newspaper was dis pleased. But the Chairman of the Federation of British Audio conceded the Royal Family's right to "spend their money in the way they feel is best." We concede anybody that right, and we can add only that we're happy to discover that Prince Charles is taking his Model Twenty back to school in Cambridge (England). Your Local KLH Dealer longer be so great. Baseball would suddenly be filled with the type of action which now happens only a few times a game. Baserunning skills would be more im portant. So would defensive skills, with fielders being tested often rather than in frequently. Fielders prone to throwing the ball away would find themselves doing it more often, because the offense would in crease its scoring not only by having the new rule applied to its runners tagged out but also by having more runners reach base safely than they had before. In the past many runners have declined to try for an extra base when they might have made it, but under the new rule such runners would not be so likely to pass up the opportunity. The fans would delight in exciting plays at second, third, and home, and they would be pleased with higher scores and increased opportunity for the home team to come from behind in the late innings. More Second Guessing They would also be thrilled by extra chances to second guess the manager's stra tegy. The manager whose runner was caught trying to score from second on a single with one out might choose to take the second out and keep his runner on third. If the next man pops up the manager will be subject to hanging in effigy. Meanwhile, the deci sion might have been to wipe the runner oft base but have no out charged. Here a base hit followed by two strikeouts will get the manager 'hanged. But he could have been right, too, and he might defend his decision by pointing to the characteristics of the men coming up next. If he were willing to bank everything on the next hitter he might accurately choose to take the out and keep the runner on base. If he preferred to rely on the second or third succeeding hitter the right choice might be to eliminate the runner and avoid having an out charged. Perhaps you wonder why the offensive manager should be allowed to exercise the option. The answer is that the defensive manager would always choose the out if it meant the third out, thus ending the inning and nullifying the effect of the rule. An alternative might be to have the home team manager make the ,decision, but in my opin ion this would give the home team too great an advantage. The rule would not apply to any play in which the base is touched to retire the run ner. Forget the Records It's true that scoring records under this proposal would no longer be comparable to those of earlier seasons. But speaking as one fan, I would be willing to forget much in or der to see more of the excitement •which baseball can provide. Football has tried the two-point conversion, and basketball the three-point field goal, and baseball itself has already upset its season records by play ing 162 games. I say: the heck with history! Let's try something which would really make base ball a joy to watch. There are too many pop-ups, there are too many strike-outs, there are too many routine grounders. Let's get rid of what's routine and get niore of what the fans came out to see. Sincerely, rai r l state college
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