Editorial opinion
against drinking
A man came into The Daily
Collegian office yesterday,
pushing a case of beer in front of
him. He asked to speak with the
editor and he sat on the case. This
is what he said:
"I'm with...l'm lobbying against
lowering the drinking age to 19.
I'm against it and I want to tell you
why
"Right now a 19-year-old can get
married, sign contracts, vote, pay
taxes, sell insurance, operate a
steam boiler. The way I feel is if
you can operate a steam boiler,
why do you want to drink.
"Oops, mind if I lean against your
desk I just came from checking 'to
see if any 19-year-olds were
violating the law downtown. I'm not
going back there, that's for sure.
They gave me ice cubes. I didn't
ask for ice cubes
citahisyCollegian
PATRICIA J. STEWART
Editor
Successor to the Free Lance. est. 1887
Member of the Associated Press
Charter member of the Pennsylvania
Collegiate Media Association
Editorial policy is determined by the Editor.
Opinion't -- expressed by the editors and staff of The Daily Collegian are not
necessarily those of the University administration, faculty or students
Office . 126 Carnegie
Editorial Staff 865-1828
Sports Staff 865-1820
Business Staff 865-2531
COLLEGIAN EDITORS: MANAGING EDITOR, Steve Ivey;: EDITORIAL EDITOR,
Rich Grant; NEWS EDITORS, Pat Hunkele, Diane Nottle; LAYOUT EDITORS,
Betty Holman. Sheryl Stern; COPY EDITORS, Maureen Keely, Nancy Postrel, Terry
Walker. SPORTS EDITOR. Ray McAllister; ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS, Mark
Simensom Rick Starr; PHOTO EDITOR, Randy Woodbury; ASSISTANT PHOTO
EDITOR. Joe Rudick; GRAPHIC ARTIST, Jennie Atty; CARTOONISTS, Tom Gibb,
Peter McElhtnney; WEATHERMAN, Brian Thomas.
BOARD OF MANAGERS: ADVERTISING MANAGER, Ed Todd; ASSISTANT
ADVERTISING MANAGERS, Cindy Ashear, Jan Franklin; NATIONAL
ADVERTISING MANAGER. Steve Wetherbee.
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Sigma Pi
congratulates its
; newi n i t iates
Spring
Steve Crowe
Kirk Gadebush
Jim Cleary ,
Fall
The case
"You see, the average 19-year
old cannot handle his liquor, you
understand. And do you know the
reason why the average kid cannot
handle his liquor? Because he
hasn't been drinking.
"I've gotten so I can tell the dif
feVace between a 20 and a 21-
year-old. It's in the face. Don't tell
me. You're--step into the light—
you're 20 and six months. Also, I'll
guess your weight. If I don't get it
in three tries, you get the stuffed
bear.
"Don't mean to say I'm totally
wheel—negative. There are a
couple of sensible bills. One would
allow persons 19-years-old to pur
chase alcoholic beverages and
would keep the 21-year-old limit
for consuming alcoholic
beverages. The other would allow
Doug Cover
Clay Ne - übert
Tom Majeliar
Ira Stolzer
Steve Crawford
JOHN J. TODD
Business Manager
Business Office Hours •
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19-year-olds to consume alcoholic
beverages instead of purchasing
them. Support is growing for both
bills.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
spill that. I'm sorry. Did you need
those papers? They're blurred. But
those other papers are blurred,
and they're riot even wet. I'm
sorry.
"Let me be totally honest with
you. I want to be completely sin
cere. I think people your age call it
being up-front. Okay. The reason I
don't want to lower the drinking
age is because of the energy
crisis. Don't ask me to explain that.
"Well, I'd better leave now. I don't
feel well. But I want to say this is
the first newspaper office I've
been in with two editors. You're
both all right. You're all right."
Publisher's
statement
The Daily Collegian is published by
Collegian, Inc., a private, non-profit
corporation which bears legal and
financial responsibility for the
newspaper. The Board of Directors of
Collegian. Inc., is the controlling body
Of the corporation.
The Board is composed of three
undergraduate students, one graduate
student, three faculty members, two
professional members, the editor and
the business manager. The ,paper's
adviser also serves as executive
secretary to the Board, a non-voting
position.
The Board is composed of three
undergraduate students, one graduate
student, three faculty members. two
professional members, the editor and
the business manager. The paper's
adviser also serves as executive
secretary to the Board_ a non-voting
position.
The Board can be contacted through
Curtis Reeve, executive }secretary. at
865-2531, or at the Collegian office. 126
Carnegie.
Meanwhile back at the hen house
By David Kaszycki
of the Collegian Staff
Nittany residents are well aware of the
chickens the University owns. They
are heard every day by 6:30 a.m. On hot
days the foul odor of the chickens can
be smelled hundreds of feet from the
coops.
.The chickens between the swimming
pool and Nittany halls are only a small
part of the University flocks. The
University owns about 12,000 chickens
and they can be found in five other
buildings on the farm.
There are seven different research
programs now going on with chickens.
The programs include work in genetics,
nutrition and food products.
- A little known research program
involves Doctor Henry S. Sturbolz of the
linguistics department. The professor
has been working for the last 39 years
trying to communicate with chickens
and he reports that he has succeeded.
Sturbolz said he has learned the
language of chickens, Cockadoo. He
said the language is very much like the
language of the turkeys, Creshles.
SUMMER POSITIONS FOR
MEN AND WOMEN
Season: June-9 to August 17, 1974
A coed resident camp for children
3rd grade through youth.
Staff openings: counselors, water
front director, craft directdr
Salaty: $6004X)
Raip Z. Ebersole, Camp Manager,
will interview applicants Thursday,
Jan. 24. Sign up sheet in Room 105
Grange.
James J. Kilpatrick
Judges vs. newsmen
On Oct. 15, the U.S. Supreme Court entered a laconic order:
"Case No. 72-1511. Dickinson v. U.S. The petition for a writ of
certiorari is denied. Mr. Justice Douglas would grant
certiorari."
Few persons paid much attention to the order. It came at a
wild time in the news, coinciding with the Agnew resignation,
the Ford nomination and a losing round for the President in
the case of the Watergate tapes. Yet the Supreme Court's
refusal to review the sentences imposed in Louisiana upon
Larry Dickinson and Gibbs Adams will rank among the most
significant and most omi,nous events of this term. The effect
is to give new and powerful meaning to the concept of
"judicial supremacy," and simultaneously to jeopardize the
people's right to know what goes on in their courts.
Let me try to give both sides. The case arose two years ago
this month‘ in Baton Rouge, where a black civil rights activist,
Frank Stewart, had been arrested on a charge of conspiracy to
murder the mayor. Stewart denied the charge absolutely and
contended that he was the victim of trumped up accusations
by the state. After various legal maneuvers, the case wound up
before U.S. District Judge E. Gordon West for a hearing
limited to the single question of whether Stewart's indictment
was contrived or legitimate.
As the hearing began, Judge West made a stunning
announcement: "It is ordered that no, no report of the
testimony taken in this case today shall be made in any
newspaper or by radio or television, or by any other news
media." •
That breath-taking edict, amounting to absolute censorship
of the press, was intended to protect the defendant from the
possibility that pre-trial publicity might jeopardize the
selection of a jury later on. Judge West was doing his duty as
he saw it, and there is no reason to challenge the sincerity of
his intentions.
Dickinson and Adams, reporters for the Morning Advocate
and State Times, had a duty of their own. They could not
possibly submit to any such gag upon a free press. They
therefore wrote accurate, straightforward accounts of the
"Chickens are much more
intelligent creatures than people think,"
Sturbolz said. He added that he thought
the chicken is probably the most
misunderstood creature on earth,
beside the aardvark.
Sturbolz said he has long been a
champion of chickens rights.
"Let's face it, chickens have been
exploited and misrepresented for
centuries." the professor said. He
pointed to the story of Chicken Little as
proof of the misrepresentation of
chickens in literature, declaring,
"Chickens are almost never taken
seriously in those tales."
Sturbolz reported a high level of
anxiety present in the chicken
population. He credited this to the
presidential campaign of 1928 when
Hoover promised a chicken in every
pot.
"My chickens have a general feeling
that the humans are out to get them,"
Sturbolz said.
According to Sturbolz, chickens are
devising new ways to foil the work of
humans. He said he has known
chickens who have defecated profusely
when being handled. Other chickens
have refused to copulate, exploding the
popular myth that chickens are
oversexed.
Presently, Sturbolz said, the most
important problem of the chickens is
poor housing.
"The University is allowing less than
three square feet per chicken," Sturbolz
declared. "How unfair can you get?"
Another problem confronting the
chickens is poor diet. Sturbolz said
some chickens are being fed high
protein diets while others are fed high
calcium diets.
"These kind of controls are totally
uncalled for," the professor said. He
added that all the chickens rely want is
some country corn.
Sturbolz is taking positive action to
ease the plight of chickens. He said he
is calling for a boycott against any
products made in Kentucky. He also is
planning a "Support the Chickens" rally
to be held in front of the poultry plant
Dec. 22, 1973.
hearing. Judge West promptly found them guilty of criminal
contempt and fined each of them $3OO. The effect of the
Supreme Court's order of Oct. 15 was to uphold Judge West
There is no question that Judge West's gag order was in
flagrant violation of the Constitution. This was the ruling of
the sth U.S. Circuit in August. 1972, when the case came up
on appeal. In an opinion by Chief Judge John R. Brown, the
Circuit Court held that West's blanket ban on publication of
court proceedings "so far trangresses First Amendment
freedoms that any such absolute proscription cannot
Withstand the mildest breeze eminating from the
Constitution."
It was readily apparent, said the Circuit Court. that "no
decision, opinion, report or other authoritative proposal has
ever sanctioned by holding, hint, dictum, recommendation or
otherwise any judicial prohibition of the right of the press to
publish accurately reports of proceedings which transpire in
open court." Judge West's order was "constitutionally
unacceptable, and hence illegal."
But having said all that, the Circuit Court nevertheless ruled
that the order had to be obeyed. The two reporters should have
sought immediate judicial review of West's ban. The
publication of news "can be enjoined." Newsmen are citizens
too, said the Circuit Court, and they must suffer the
consequences of flagrant, intentional disregard of the
mandates of a court.
Where does this leave us? The hearing before Judge West.
having to do with alleged misconduct of public officials, was
of compelling public interest. The people had a right to know
of the testimony, and the people had a right to know of it then,
not days or weeks or months later, after the process of Judicial
review had run its course.
If judges can issue flagrantly unlawful orders gagging a free
press, and then impose fines or jail sentences for their
violation, judges become tyrants. By refusing even to review
the case, eight of the nine justices of the Supreme Court now
have condoned both censorship and tyranny. This is not law:
this is despotism. Those of us who live by the news will have
to combat it as best we can.