Sex in
■ By KEITH BARNES
j Collegian Staff Writer
•• . Pliny the Elder, hanging out in
£ his date palm patch 2,000 years
ago, thought he noticed something
peculiar. The plants with softer
v " foliage all seemed to-be leaning
- towards a specimen that was
-.-. ‘'bristling with ' erect leaves.”
.. !, Pliny, his suspicions and God
khows-what-else aroused, later
‘-visited other orchards and noted
/ - that when the bristly-leaved dates
were absent, the softer “females”
were bearing no fruit. He had
discovered sex in plants. ,
... pjjny >g nephew (Pliny the
Younger) also was a biologist, but
apparently there were some things
X: an uncle didn’t'tell his nephew in
pr those' days. As a result, the
knowledge of plant sexuality lay
.* barren for centuries.
; Awareness of botanical sex was
'. rare because most species of
, flowering plants (90 to 95 per cent)
1 have both male and female.parts
present in the same flower. For a
, while, the stamens, now
recognized as the male sexual
organs, were thought to be ex
■ cretory units for emitting particles
... unfit fornourishment.
Often, male and female plants
were improperly branded. Since
they didnot produce seeds, many
Spring Week carnival set for weekend
. By PATTY RHULE competition among Greek
Collegian Staff Writer ' and independent organi-
The arrival of spring at zations on campus, this
Penn State means warmer year benefiting Strawberry
weather, cut classes and the Fields, Inc. of State
annual Spring Week carnival College. According to Debbie
Sponsored by -the Inter- Keller (7th-IFS), co
fraternity Council and chairman of Spring Week,
Panhellenic Council this groups participating in
Friday and Saturday on the overall competition will vie
grounds outside Beaver for prizes in five categories:
Stadiiuh. window, mad-hatter (a
Spring Week will feature costume worn by one person),
Global birth rate drops
WASHINGTON (AP) population lived last year in
Birth control programs have countries with birth control
spread across the globe and programs of some kind. It
have contributed to a added that birth rates now
significant decline in birth are falling faster than death
rates, in the past decade, a rates for the first time in
new government-financed many years,
study said yesterday. _ It said the world birth rate
The study said more than declined from 34 per 1,000
two-thirds of the world’s people in 1965 to 30 in 1974.
I MOTHER'S BAT !
I SPECIAL i
* *
t NO TELEGRAPH CHARGES ON ALL *
* MOTHER’S DAY FTD ORDERS t
* PLACED BY MAY Ist *
Yr
* WOODRINGS J
•Jfr Floral Gardens ♦
$ 145 S. Allen '238-0566 *
*
ISRAEL
Representatives
will be in the HUB
Basement
on Wed. afternoon with
in formation concerning:
• Aliyah
• Kibbutz Life
• Tours
• Programs Short & Long Term
_ __ _ _ _ _ ■ \
• HOPS SPONSOR’S GAY AWARENESS WERK**** 0 *
• MAY 2 - MAY 8 l
Saturday, May 1: MCC Pot Luck Dinner 415 E. Foster Ave Tickets $1.50 5:00 -7:00 •
£ Sunday, May 2: MCC 7:30 - 8:30 PM at the main chapel at Eisenhower Chapel 0
f Coffeehouse at 415 East Foster Ave from 8:30 -12:00. Disco music and refresh- •
5 ments will be provided. •
£ , 50 c donation 5
• : Monday, May 3: Religious debate panel will be held at 165 Willard Bldg, on campus 8:00 -10:30. 5
J. . Representatives from many denominations will discuss homosexuality. ®
• Tuesday, May 4: The Lesbian Collective will meet at the Woman’s Resource Center at the corner of*
• South Allen St. and E. Beaver Ave. •
• Wednesday, May 5: Mental health seminar on gay awareness (Details forthcoming) •
J Thursday, May 6: A film on the gay lifestyle: “Lavender” 165 Willard 8:00 S
• Friday, May 7: HOPS annual Spring Dance from 8:00 -12:00 PM at the Unitarian Church 709 •
S Ridge Ave. Disco music and refreshments. 50 c donation (25° for dues paving 5
J. members) •
• . Saturday, May 8: “Meet Elaine Noble” social will be held at 415 East Foster Ave from 5:00 - 7:30 •
• stop in at 212 hub or Elaine Noble will speak at the HUB Assembly Room from 8:00 -10:30. •
j . call 863-0588 for details Rural Gay Caucus Meeting 12:00 - 6:00 225 HUB J
violets
plants were considered weaker and
hence, "female.” It hasn’t helped
.that many seeds are shaped like
testes, either.
In, the 17th century, Rudolf
'. Camerarius furthered the cause of
plant sexuality. Rudy removed, the
“stamens,” or male .parts of a
castor bean flower (that’s right,
the first castoration), and induced
a miscarriage the ovaries dried
up and fell to the ground. ,
Green Thumbs
In 1736, Sweden’s Linnaeus
presented a sexual system of
classifying plants that paved the
way for modern labeling systems.
King George ll’s official botanist
rejected the idea as an insult to his
profession. Some didn’t like the use
of such terms as "ovary” and
"sexual”; words the free-thinking
Swedes had bandied about for
years.
The most common sex life is
found in such plants, as tomatoes,
apples, geraniums and lilies.
Every flower on these plants has a
circle of stamens surrounding one
or several "pistils” the vase
shaped female flower parts.
a fact of leaf
Some plants, such as com, have
both sexes present on the same
plant, but not in the same flower.
In com, the ear contains the
ovaries and the tassel at the top of
the plants is actually a bunch of
stamens.
The single-sexed plants have led
to some interesting cultivating
practices.' Your average date
matcher will grow only one male
for every 50-100 females, much in
the same way a farmer keeps a
barnyard bull.
The sex life of marijuana
(Cannabis sativa) has been
described by more than one
scientist as “extremely bizarre.”
You can expect to find equal
distribution of both sexes but under
abnormal conditions the ratio can
go as high as ten females for every
male. If the environment becomes
really threatening, pot plants can
switch to a hermaphroditic
(bisexual) state.
Marijuana males are taller,
skinnier and paler than their better
halves. They even develop a tuft of
leaves at the top that resembles a
shoddy crewcut. Females are
squatty, rounded in profile, and
live up to five weeks longer.
Pot’s cousin, the hops plant,
demonstrates similar habits. The
females are prized for their
booth, skit and billboard. Six
groups earning the most
points will receive overall
awards.
A trophy will also be given
to the winners of the tug-of
war, but Keller said there
will be no Greek groups
participating in this event.
“We’re really excited
because we have 16 groups
participating in the overall
competition this year,”
Keller said. “Last year we
had only 13.”
According to Keller, one
independent group from
Beaver and Stephens. Halls
enrolled in the overall
competition, but, because of
lack of funds, dropped out.
According to Eric Graham
(12th-speech com
munications), RA in Beaver
‘Zoo’ house, they dropped out
of the booth and billboard
competition, and thus will not
FREE U DAY
■ corn AND HELP US CELEBRATE OUR 6th ANNIVERSARY '
e SUN, MAY 2 1:00 - 4:00 PM • HUB LA WN
ATTENTION!
ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN BE
ING STUDENT ADVISORS FOR
THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION THERE WILL
BE AN IMPORTANT MEETING
THURSDAY, APRIL 29th, IN ROOM
201 BAB AT 7 PM.
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¥
¥
t
Knacky fried Gtiukw
$ April 28-May 2
{ Why Pay More? *
i Let the Colonel cut YOU a Break $
be eligible for awards in the
overall,competition.
The theme for Spring Week
is the Bicentennial, with
groups finishing the phrase
“What if...”.
Each group enrolled in the
overall competition has
painted a window on the
ground floor of the HUB or in
one of the downtown stores.
The billboards will be
placed outside the groups’
tents at Beaver Stadium,
advertising the skit and the
group involved.
Spring Week festivities will
begin at 7 Friday night with
skits every half hour. The
groups will be participating in
booths, mudsliding and other
contests.
The weekend carnival also
will feature rides for children
and adults and concessions.
The carnival will continue
Saturday from noon to
Special
South Gamer St. Location only
4 Burgers for $l.OO
Wed. thru Sun.
abundance of the resinous powder,
lupulin, which makes a fine beer
ingredient.
With both of these members of
the Cannabaceae family, you can’t
tell from the seeds which sex the
sprouts will be you just have to
try pot luck.
Some plants haven’t had any
luck in eons. Such species as
philodendron have never displayed
their flowers and are doomed to
lives of neutrality.
Somewhat shocking (even pine
boggling) are those plants which
bring in a third party to complete
the sex act. Showy flowers aren’t
for your benefit, they function as
attractants for plants bent on in
sectsuality. Flowers may also
exude an odor that the six-legged
fiends can’t resist. Bees, wasps
and moths are among the insects
frequently found necking in the
nectar of plants whose pollen won’t
disperse itself properly.
The odors of other plants may
have been their undoing. Female
gingko trees are rarely planted any
more because their fruit drop
every fall lends a smell • that
humans don’t seem to appreciate.
Nobody asks the male ginkgos,
however, who, deprived of their
sexual outlet, allegedly have been
ginkgoing crazy.
midnight. The mad-hatters
will be judged Saturday af
ternoon, and the skits will
continue in the evening.
According to Keller, the
parade has been cancelled
this year because too many
bands are participating in the
Cherry Blossom Festival in
Washington, D.C.
The money earned from
Spring Week will go toward
construction of playground
equipment designed for the
mentally retarded by
engineering and architectural
students at the University.
According to Keller, the
playground will be the first of
its kind in the United States
and construction will begin as
soon as sufficient funds are
raised.
Awards will be presented to
the winners 6:30 Sunday
evening in the HUB Ballroom.
UNIVERSITY OF
PARIS - SORBONNE
SUNY/New Paltz Program
.. .6lh. Y*ar.. . .
Undergraduates in
philosophy and ralatad majors
aarn 30-32 cradita in ragular
Sorbonna (Paria IV) couraaa.
SUNY—Paria IV agreement In
auraa atudanta avoid cumber
some pre-inscription and attend
Paria IV. not provincial univer
sities.
Director aaaiats with hous
ing. programs, studies.
Orientation, language
review. Sept. 16 - Juna 16.
Estimated living, airfare, tuition,
fees: $3200 N.Y. residents;
$3700 others.
Prof. D. Blankenship
Philosophy Dept., S.U.C.
New Paltz, N.Y. 12561
(914) 257-2696
Sacramento
Soliah
SACRAMENTO,CaIif.
(UPI) A jury acquitted
Patricia Hearst’s un
derground lover, Steven
Soliah, of a fatal bank rob
bery charge yesterday,
rejecting the testimony of two
eyewitnesses who had said he
was one of the bandits.
Two of the jurors said the
government didn’t have
enough evidence to link Soliah
with the holdup.
The eight women and four
men of the jury deliberated
for 6'A hours and cast several
votes before declaring Soliah
innocent of the $15,000 bank
holdup during which a woman
customer was killed by a
shotgun blast.
As the court clerk read the
verdict, Soliah and his two
court-appointed attorneys
embraced emotionally. Elsie
Soliah, his mother, broke into
tears and threw her arms
around him.
Soliah, free on $lOO,OOO bail
during the seven-week trial,
later told reporters the
verdict “was the right thing."
“I didn’t know what to
expect, but I’m glad it hap
pened,” he said,.
The husky blond, former
collegiate track star,
originally charged with
harboring the fugitive Hearst,
spent four months in jail after
his arrest and before he was
released on bail. The har
boring charge was dropped
when he was accused of the
bank robbery.
“I’m going to use the next
couple of weeks to ponder the
whole thing,” said the 27-
year-old housepainter, adding
that he may return to college.
He refused to comment on
his relationship with Hearst
or members of the Sym
bionese Liberation Army.
Jo Ann Parker, 38,
Caldwell to speak at PSU
Noted opera director Sarah
Caldwell has been chosen to
speak at commencement
exercises May 29 at Beaver
Stadium.
Caldwell, artistic, director
of the Opera Company of
Saturday, May 1
MCC (Metropolitan Community Church)
ot Luck Dinner**
UNIVERSITY CALENDAR
Wednesday, April 28, 1976
SPECIAL EVENTS
Sports: Men’s tennis, vs. West Virginia, 2:30 p.m.
102nd John Henry Frizzell All-University Speech Contest, sponsored by the Penn
State Forensic Council. Preliminaries and semi-finals, 7 p.m., Room 121 Sparks.
Poetry Reading, “Eugene&KathrinePlatt,”7:3op.m., RoomlOlKem.
Behrend College Studio Theatre, “La Ronde,” 8 p.m., Behrend College.
Black Arts Festival Concert, Rufus Harley - Jazz Bagpipes, 8 p.m., Walnut.
Musica da Camera, 8:30 p.m., Music Bldg, recital hall.
SEMINARS
Astronomy, 4 p.m., R00m’445 Davey. Dr. Joel A. Eaton, University of Alabama, on
‘ ‘Atmospheric Properties of Binary Stars. ’ ’
FILMS
Free,Shakespeare film, “Macbeth” (Orson Welles), 6:30 p.m., Room 101 Chambers.
Eco-Action films, “Diet for a Small Planet,” Last of the Dolphins,” 7:30 p.m., Room
119 Boucke.
Eco-Action films, “Diet for a Small Planet,” “Last of the Dolphins,” 7:30 p.m., Room
119 Boucke.
MEETINGS
College of Education faculty, 9:30 a.m., Room 101 A Kern.
Earth and Mineral Sciences Student Council, 6:30 p.m., Room 341 Deike. Election of
officers.
NSCAR, 7 p.m., Room 304 Boucke.
Nittany Grotto, 7:30 p.m., Room 217 Willard.
PSU Sports Car Club, 7:30 p.m., Room 367 Willard.
LECTURES
Emanuel Shimoni, Israeli Consul General, on “The Middle East, the United States
and the United Nations,” 8 p.m., HUB. Sponsored by the American Professors for
Peace in the Middle East.
Dr. . Paul. Berg, College of Science Alumni Fellow, on “Genetic Engineering:
Challenge and Responsibility,” 8 p.m., Room 108 Forum.
*
*
*
*
jury acquits
in bank robbery
forewoman of the jury, said
the government presented "a
weak case. The evidence just
wasn’t there. It took a long
time; it took a lot of votes.”
Juror Alan Spencer told
reporters as he left the motel
that the government “just
didn’t have enough evidence
linking him to the bank.”
A deputy U.S. marshal said
members of the jury told him
that they voted on the first
ballot for 7-5 for acquittal. He
also reported some members
“cried their eyes out” in an
emotional release of tension
at a motel where they had
been sequestered for 29 days.
During the trial, Soliah
testified he became involved
with the terrorist Symbionese
Liberation Army through pity
and affection for Hearst, but
he denied participating in the
April 21, 1975 robbery of the
Crocker bank.
The verdict came on the
heels of a disclosure that the
name of a defense witness
who weakly supported
Soliah’s alibi, was listed on a
guest book at Folsom State
Prison the day of the rob
bery.
On that day, Soliah said he
was in San Francisco, 90.
miles away from the holdup
in Carmichaeo, a Sacramento
suburb 10 miles west of
Folsom. During the trial,
masseuse Emily Toback, 26,
said she left her San Fran
cisco residence at 11 a.m. to
attend a college physics'class.
She said she had spent the
night with Soliah, but did not
recall seeing him that
morning.
During their deliberations,
however, jurors were
unaware of the disclosure by
the Department of Correc
tions that the name of Toback
was listed on a Folsom guest
Boston, was the first woman
to conduct at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York.
Caldwell directed the Pitts
burgh Symphony Orchestra
and was artistic director for
“Be Glad Then America” in
will hold a
at 415 East Foster Avenue
from 5:00 - 7:00
tickets $1.50 sold at 212 HUB
The Daily Collegian Wednesday, April 28,1976 —3
book that day as visiting
Alfred Ingram, a two-time
convicted robber.
Speaking with reporters at
federal courthouse, Toback
denied the report, but refused
further comment until she
spoke with an attorney.
The prosecution presented
two eyewitnesses who
identified Soliah as an ob-.
scenity-shouting, shotgun
toting bandit who stood near a
door in the bank during the
robbery.
But the defense argued the
two witnesses, both bank
employes, were confused by
the presence of Victor Hops, a
clinical psychologist who
bears a striking resemblance
to Soliah.
Hops testified he stood in
the same location where the
prosecution witnesses said
Soliah stood during the
robbery.
Soliah testified he first
helped Hearst and SLA
“soldiers” William and
Emily Harris because he was
afraid they might be killed by
police. He recalled the death
of Angela Atwood, one of six
SLA members to die in a fiery
shootout with Los
Angeles police in May 1974.
He said he kept in touch
with Hearst and the Harrises
while they lived in a dingy flat
in Sacramento during late
1974 and early 1975, part of
Hearst’s so-called “missing
year” about which she
refused to testify before her
conviction at her own bank
robbery trial.
“At that time, I felt really
close to Patty,” he said. He
detailed how he and the
newspaper heiress later
shared a San Francisco flat
until they were arrested last
Sept. 18.
February,
In 1974 she was named
Musician of the Year by
Musical America. Last year
she received an honorary
doctor of arts degree from
Harvard University.