Letters Nunchaku not toys TO THE EDITOR: Having just become aware of some fears . oncermng ihe nunchaku ads I placed in Rec Hall and White Building I feel ihal I owe all persons who read those aids an ■ xplananon j ■ Nunchaku are noi loys! They are a martial arts weapon .■ hich can be devastating when used skillfully. They are (illegal o carry in some areas, a result of their gross misuse by Violent ilio s l am sorry if my ads were interpreted as offering a local upply of "gang weapons.” II is my intention only to sell unchaku. o serious martial arts enthusiasts for practice ini a ;\mnasium or recreation area. l have no., do noi. and never will advoc.ate carrying nun haku on ones nerson. Above all I do not wish to have them .sed lor any | ipose oiher ihan that for which I make; them, hen used properly hey will result in greater agility and oordmauon . fiv now I have already changed the ads to reflect this ex- Tana ion I apologize 10 ihose who understood my ! ads to ■(■■an something other than I intended, and I wish lo thank nose i-araieka who brought this matter to my attention. Gerry Santoro 9th-economics Open the budget TOT HE EDITOR: Last week the Colfegian ran a forum by Doug ■ ’nd onmled 'Rally round ihe budget." We can all sympathize i h Mi Ford's position and his desire to see programs at the Viveisi v receive adequate funding. There is no question that .roqrams which maintain academics and-are supportive of the ,i.Ten's living environment must be fully funded and ' m ained However, the University budget is not sacrosanct, . s open io questioning and adversary criticisms. We as idenis who pay continually rising tuition, and as taxpayers «.•!■ a nghi >0 look at the budget and analyze its strengths and , dknesses We have ihe right, to reach our own conclusions Foui whether vital programs are_ sufficiently funded, or Jieiher»hose programs are suffering because of waste and fat J he tiudgei or ihe excessive funding of other less necessary , lograms udems have an innate and inviolable right to demand that heir union and iheir lax dollars are not being spent frivolously f ha. hey are-being spent on programs that do not enhance he academic life of Ihe student or his living conditions. Tiquesuoning support of the University budget violates our usic rights as students Student leaders who do not ask the ompeiling questions and demand funding for necessary rograms are abbrogalmg Iheir responsibility and are acling as ' le more ihan self-serving "yes men" to administrative ■ 1 icis A his stage in the economic crisis which the country -id he University are facing, to blindly pay public homage to a ocumtm which may or may not have major problems, within and which may cause considerable hardships for students, s o t'laiamly sell out ihe interests of the students we '■presen i j There are compelling questions which responsible student ■■riders whotare truly trying lo represent the best interests of udenis. as a whole must ask' Does he budget provide for adequate funding of minority ffairs programs, academic programs, student services, udeni aid and oiher academic, economic and cultural to the Editor Does ifie budget contain items* which are not necessary, desirable! or which are in essence frivolous, such as the $19,000 ihe University spent to improve the configuration of President; Oswald's back yard? Does'ihe budget spell out the use of funds such as food service revenue, contingency funds, .Series 600 budget revenues, etc.? Is ihe administration willing 1 to open up its financial books so that responsible student leaders can see the'ebb and flowbf igition revenue and other funds gleaned from students such as drop-add' fees, etc.? 'j Is ihe administration going to once again violate its promise of no tuition increase and try to continue with its program of constantly spiraling tuition, despite Ihe fact that funds exist to prevent another tuition increase. II is difficult for me lo understand how a “student leader" could recommend that we “rplly behind the budget" when the administrjation won't even let us see the budget and the University financial records.{Mr. Ford apparently approves of he concept tfiatjlhe administration should lead the blind and make sure that ijveVemain blind. I believe-that we should be able io see ihe way before we chart a path. To do any less is to : violate ihe student's trust and our integrity, Auditorium policy TO THE EDITOR: I feel it is necessary to publicly make note of an incident whicfi occurred at the Sunday night performance of The River Niger" at the University Auditorium. Apparently ihe Auditorium coordinators have just recently enforced a rule which restricts entrance for latecomers until-' he intermission of ihe play. This meant for at least 25 people-* a wail of more ihan one hour in the theater’s lobby. Many of hese people were series subscribers, paying $16.50 for season's tickets. This enforcement meant missing the whole fitst act of the play. (.cannot see how such action can result in anything but! bad public relations for the new Auditorium. The rationale behind ■his j policy (which had not been ppublically announced beforehand) was completely illogical. The latecomers, myself included, realized it would be disconcerting for the performers and audience to'have persons trying to get to’their assigned seats. But io refuse them io. stand in the rear of-the theatre or he balconies is utterly absurd! I have attended many theatrical events on Broadway, in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Ceniter, and never have I seen such gross disrespect for paying customers. I am sure, that if any professional theater or production lowered itself to carry out such ridiculous enforcement, it would quickly be ignored by he' theater goers. The epitome of this absurdity came about when a young lady who had exited from the theater to use the rest facilities was not allowed io re-enter because the opening of let in light and " otally disrupt the performance.” The justification for this was ihat patrons would complain of the disturbance. Well, any person who would lower himself to such infantile behavior should have to wait in a lobby while an hour of a play passes. I must also question the reasoning behind not' allowing admission during ihe entire first act. when according to the program it has a change of scenes, calling for a blackout. In conclusion. I feel these Auditorium coordinators must enher publically announce these new enforcements or better \ yei. gel off iheir smug, high : horses and allow, theatre to be what it bhould be—an evening of pleasure and entertainment instead bf a night of unjustified aggravation. Spoiled Arhericans TO THE EDITOR: I sympathize with the girl who wrote a letter 10 ihe editor saying she is afraid of sliding on icy walkways. But let'sjbe realistic, the maintenance people can only work so last. What do you propose—steam heating under every sidewalk? I d rather see snowy sidewalks than upturned turf from ihe snowplows ripping away mercilessly at everything— snow. ice. and grass. I sympathize, too. with the fellow who wrote a letter saying, 'he feels) he can't play frisbee in Pollock because of the new fences I've seen so many people cutting across them, making new muddy paths. Sure, it’s okay to walk on your lawn at home, but not here, where thousands of feet do it daily. Yes, why not just black top ahe entire campus? Then we wouldn't have 10 bother with muddy pathways or walking around fences or dewey grass. We d just have to worry about skinning our knees in ihe frisbee tournaments. Marie Blosh 7th-liberal arts I sympathize, thirdly, with the girl who, wondering if she’s a spoiled American, wants to use 325 sheets of toilet paper per weekend. All I say is tough luck, sweetie, you are a spoiled American 1 Towels aren't that heavy are they? I've made my point. I hope. I'm tired of people whining about inconveniences." What ever happened to self-sufficiency and y? Are we all becoming so specialized and push-button . expecting others to wax the sliding board for us? Do them lo blow our noses for us too? onentei we wan TO THE energy <; irying ij< conserve i ng what we already have. They are coming up with some good ideas but I think that they have overlooked a very one: lowering the drinking age to 18. As it.is now. In every state surrounding Pennsylvania, people |lB or over can drink beer. In some of them they can drink any alcoholic beverage. Because of this, every weekend many of ihe young adults of Pennsylvania flock to the border :ow_ns jo have a drink There are at least 100 towns with a population of over 10,000 wnhin 20 miles of the slate border. At least 200 carloads of ;eenag4rs from ihese towns make a trip of about 15 miles each way. Eich car probably uses about two gallons of gas going over ar|d back. Multiply this by 200 cars and you get 400 gallons of gas per lown every weekend. That does not seem like much bui multiny it by ,100 towns and you get 40,000 gallons. Then multiply it by 52 weekends and you see that over 2 million gallons of gas a year are being wasted. I Other hings to consider are the revenue the state is losing on he beer and the lives which are lost each year in car wrecks while people are making ihis trip. I hope the day will come soon when a taxpayer does not have o waste valuable energy andfisk his life just to beer in 8$ The University Readers present £ A VALENTINE ASSORTMENT treating of unplatonic love through Tyggl the centuries, mT] from Shakespeare to Philip Roth. KERN AUDITORIUM Fri. and Sun. 8:00 p.m. Feb. 7 & 9 The Daily Collegian encourages comments on news coverage, editorial policy and campus and off-campus affairs. Letters should be typewritten, double spaced, * signed by no more than two persons and no longer than 30 lines. Students' letters | should include the name, term and major of the writer. Letters should be brought to the Collegian office, 126 Carnegie, in person so i f proper identification of the writer carr be rrtßde, although names Svill be withheld on request, if letters are’received by mail, the Collegian will contact the signer for i verification before publication. Letters cannot be returned. to save energy EDITdR: With all the Concern over the diminishing iupplies our legislators have been racking their brains o figure out ways of procuring new supplies and Then come kiss.me, sweet-and-twenty Oh, 1 shall be undone! ... Tis the only wav to tame her You-know-what is on television, Isabel! Take a little dram of passion In a lusty dose of wine. But are you sure you've shut the door? No Admission Charge Name Withheld Pamela L. Cummings Bth~social welfare another slale when ihere is a bara couple of blocks down the in your $2 Put TO THE EDITOR: I'm pretty sick and tired of listening to complaints about PIRG, nearly all of which are based on the fact that it is going to cost Joe Studenftfie exorbitant fee of $2 a lerm to finance it. Most of the loudest critics have no idea what PennPIRG is and don't even care. All they seem to realize is that it is going to cost two bucks a term. Well, read up. Joe Student. Nader's PIRG may be the best spent $2 ever to leave your wallet. Do without a six-pack of beer one night, or smoke three less packs of cigarettes or play eight less games of electronic ping-pong this term Will it kill you? Or how about that new Dylan alljum you just bought 7 About two bucks of the money you spent on that goes to CBS. one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world. Hardly in the public interest. In these days when college students are aching to get their iwo cents worth in the government, but haven't got the time, you can get yours a hundredfold. Just sign the PennPIRG petition and walk away smiling. Fair reporting? TO THE EDITOR I question the fair and accurate reporting of •he Collegian on the issue of the Laurel Glen tenanls union. How can you splatter OTIS’ rejection of our cause on the front page of :he Feb. 4 issue in 3 or 4 paragraphs and then io effect, hide :he USG endorsement in one paragraph under the "very inreresting" rule of "USG Senate OKs new court justices." I'm sure that if you lived in Laurel Glen as I do, you certainly would have placed USG's endorsement in the same article as the OTlS'rejeccion. Come on. Collegian, get your shit together and •ry :o do some responsible reporting for a change sCollegian DIANE M. NOTTLE Editor BOARD OF EDITORS: MANAGING EDITOR, Steve Ostrosky, EDITORIAL EDITOR, Barb White; NEWS EDITOR, Jerry Schwartz; ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, Ben Weller: COPY EDITORS, Steve Auerweck, Nancy Postrel, Terry Walker: LAYOUT EDITORS. Robyn Moses, Paula Ruth. SPORTS EDITOR. Jeff Young. ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS, Dave Morns, Tim Panaccio; PHOTO EDITOR, Eric Felack; ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR. Ed Paisa; CAR TOONISTS, Tom Gibb, Mike Sanni; GRAPHIC ARTIST, jenny Atty; WEATHER REPORTER, Paul Stokols. BOARD OF MANAGERS: ADVERTISING MANAGER, David Lang; ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGERS, Kim Batey, Susan Voytovich; NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER, . Joan Kirschner. $ NEED TUTORING? 4 The Academic Assembly’s r Tutoring Service may be C able to help you. to Pick up an application today £ Room 20-A HUB 865-9111 , FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE J Remember Your Valentine * with a Special Packed € l Heart Box from i 1 The Candy Shop | I 352 E. College Ave. || Silver"^x^ Coral Turquoise Heeshe 123 South Allen Street 9-9 Monday & Friday 9-5:30 Tuesday thru Thursday & Saturday Edward Sexton 2nd-Division of Undergraduate Studies Louis Refice Hth-organizational behavior Luther Shaak Laurel Glen tenant ROBERT MOFFETT Business Manager * *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers