Editorial
opinion:
unhappy
ending
.Collegian
PATRICIA J. STEWART
Editor
Successor to the Free Lance, est. 1887
Member of the Associated Press
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necessarily those of the University administration, faculty or students.
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THE ORGANIZATION OF TOWN INDEPENDENT STUDENTS
Several hundred people were
rude and self-centered in Rec Hall
last Sunday night. They arrived in
the middle of the “Cage” per
formance and noisily waited to
present their Spring Week awards.
The incident has provided an
impetus for those spreading anti
fraternity prejudice. But not all of
the noise-makers in the back of
Rec Hall were Greeks; some of
the carnival events-were put on by
independents.
Some say it was natural for
those in the back to talk because
they were nervous and excited
over a project they had worked on
for weeks. But isn’t one of the
purposes of the Greek System to
teach community, consideration
and the spirit of brotherhood?
Some justified their bad
manners by stressing that the
Spring Week carnival was for a
good cause, the Renaissance
Fund. But the end does not justify
the means. Nothing gave them the
right to disturb a program people
paid to see.
They had no excuse.
But it didn’t have to happen.
Much of the blame can be laid
on Colloquy and Spring Week
leaders whose lack of planning
and communications created the
problem.
According to Bruce Kelly,
Colloquy chairman, he had
arranged with Spring Week people
to have the awards given out
Business Office Hours:
Monday through Friday
9:30a.m. to 4 p.m.
before "Cage,” but when he made
the announcement early in the
evening, he had no takers. He
added he believes the awards
ceremony alienated the audience
expecting Allard Lowenstein to
the point that nearly all of them
left before he arrived.
According to Mark Rickoff,
Spring Week co-chairperson, he
had arranged with Kelly to give out
the awards after “Cage.” He said
radio reports indicated the play
would end at 9:30 p.m., so people
had to wait for 45 minutes in the
back.
According to John McKee,
chairman-elect of the IFC Board of
Control, “Cage” ran late and
Campus Patrol told people to sit
in the back and wait for the
program to end. ’
Other observers state" that
although Spring Week people
caused a disturbance, no one from
Colloquy directly announced that
Lowenstein would arrive late, and
most of the audience was so tired
that they left.
Obviously, there was a failure of
communications between
Colloquy and Spring Week leaders
and between Colloquy and the
audience.
The incident..is already three
days old, so recriminations
should end soon. Colloquy and
Spring Week are both events
which are planned early. Next year
better planning can lead to better
endings.
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undergraduates and graduates. Anyone
interested in submitting a column
should contact the Editorial Editor, Box
467, State College, Pa.-16801. Telephone
865-1828. Offices in 126 Carnegie.
JOHN J. TODD
Business Manager
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Letters to t
An apology
TO THE EDITOR: In regards to the disturbance during
Colloquy Sunday night, we wish to extend our sincere
apologies to the performers, the Colloquy staff and all those in
the audience who were affected by the group awaiting the
Spring Week awards.
We also would ask for the fair consideration of all those
involved, regarding the circumstances surrounding the
disturbance. It was announced the awa’rds presentation would
take place at 9:30 p.m. in Rec Hall. Many of the people who
went up for the presentation were not aware “The Cage” was in
progress up until 10:15 p.m.
Further, we believe the problem would have been eliminated
if the doors had been kept locked until the performance was
finished. We doubt that after waiting nearly an hour, any group
of that size, Greek or not, would have behaved differently in a
similar situation.
We do not condone inconsiderate and rude behavior and are
not attempting to justify the actions of our members. We do
feel however, the University community should not be too
quick to blame all Greeks when a large part of the problem was
poor planning and coordination.
We would also ask you to remember that all the efforts of
groups participating in Spring Week were directed towards
raising money for the Renaissance Fund. People are very quick
to point out any bad incident involving Greeks, but they tend to
overlook many of the good things done by members of the
Greek system, both on campus and in the community.
Once again, we wish to extend our apologies to the com
munity and ask that you'be fair in your judgment of the
situation.
Anti-Greek bigotry
TO THE EDITOR: in reply to a letter from a Mr. Aris and Mr.
Rausch in The Daily Collegian May 22, bullshit. I am amazed
that the .Collegian would print a letter that merely shows the
ignorance of its writers.
The letter is ridiculous, and even a bit humorous, for the
writers attribute the behavior of certain inconsiderate in
dividuals to the entire Greek population of the University. Such
gross generalizations account for racial, ethnic and other
deplorable forms of prejudice in today's society.
Hopefully, the writers will benefit from a college education
and learn to open their eyes and take a full view of a situation
before making harsh and irrational judgments.
They were excited
TO THE EDITOR: I feel that I must reply to the comments
made by Mr. Aris and Mr. Rausch concerning the “disruptive
and juvenile behavior" displayed by the Greeks awaiting the
presentation of Spring Week Awards Sunday night at Rec Hall.
First, there was very poor planning on the part of both the
Colloquy and Spring Week officials as to when their respective
programs could take place. The fact that Rec Hall was still in
use at 10:15 p.m. by Colloquy was not the fault of the people
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Pete Stainthorpe
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Carol Cabrey
President, Panhellenic Council
Brian Addison
[3rd-liberal arts]
e E
who came for their function at 9:30 p.m. The Colloquy
Committee should have been more accurate in estimating
when Rec Hall would be available.
Also, people not familiar with the workings of Spring Week
can't realize the sense of competition and purpose that con
stitutes all the hard work for the carnival. Excitement and
tension was all through the air immediately preceding the
awards, as it always is, and I’m sorry that it resulted in noise
and confusion. Weeks of work and preparation go into the
carnival and participants are always anxious for the awards
presentation.
It’s always been quite maddening to me that Spring Week
receives little real attention on the campus scene, even though
it raises over $l,OOO for the Renaissance Fund every year A
prime example of this is in The Daily Collegian, May 21 where
Colloquy received two pages of coverage in pictures and ar
ticles. The Spring Week Awards won were listed in a tiny space
and all the Greek names were printed wrong practically beyond
recognition.
Last week's efforts were not merely, as in the immortal words
of Mr. Bruce Kelly, "Spring Week groupies" having a good
time, but some dedicated people putting m a lot of work for a
worthy cause
Spring Week groupies
TO THE EDITOR: I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate the Spring Week groupies whose presence added
so much to the enjoyment of all those who trudged through the
rain to Rec Hall Sunday night to see “The Cage "
The clamor they raised by their thundering entrance while
the play was in progress and the constant roar emitting from
their direction until they were finally asked to (and I quote)
“Shut up” by the rest of the audience was quite an impressive
display of maturity and consideration.
It was infuriating enough for the rest of us to have to strain
to hear what was happening on stage, but when the noise
continuing through the question and answer period forced the
speakers to shout into the microphones in order to be heard,
the whole scene became absurd.
To add to the embarassment I felt for those who had come to
perform for us, one'-of the actors had to interrupt the
proceedings to ask that the noise be discontinued for the sake
of that segment of the audience that was trying to hear the
program. Unfortunately, that only provided a temporary hush
as the frat men and the young lovelies representing various
sororities resumed their animated conversations within five
minutes.
I can understand their excitement when I try to imagine how
ecstatic I would be if faced with the possibility of winning such
meritorious Spring Week awards as “Best Window
Decoration," “Best Poster," “Best Skit,” etc., which were to be
presented to the participating fraternities and sororities after
"The Cage." I suppose that compared to such socially
significant awards as those, the Tour ex-convicts on stage
crusading for such a trite issue as prison reform would be a bit
of a drag.
-At any rate, I extend my best wishes to those fraternal
organizations that did win prizes. However, it seems like the
height of hypocrisy to get so involved in the humane purpose
of Spring Week which is to provide the opportunity of a
college education to financially disadvantaged students and
then behave as inhumanely as these Greeks did while waiting
for their efforts to be rewarded.
itor
Karen A. Redic
[9th-psychology]
Paula Revene
[Bth-journalism]