Editorial opinio
Closed doors
Administrators always whisper
about it behind closed doors. They
equate it with orgies and regard it
as a carnal sin. They never call it
by its simple, common name
only by its euphemisrh.
But, dorms are a fact of life,
guys'. It’s happening right here in
Happy Valley. It’s happening all
over the country. So bring your
“co-residential housing” out of the
dark.
On Wednesday, mferhbers of,
Residential Life and the
Association of Residence Hall
Students met to discuss a co-ed
proposal. Even though the meeting
was basically organizational a
THE VUHITES
Honoraries praise men.
but
Gentle Thursday aside, this is not an
especially gentle time of year. Most of
us are racing the grim reaper to summer
jobs, hoping against hope that this
spring's disasters will not be con
summated in a tidal wave that will engulf
the state of New Jersey.
It is jnto this maelstrom that the
honorary societies plunge each year. To
many;“these organizations are a bit
mysterious; some committee,
somewhere, chooses students for the
privilege of paying 20 bucks to add a line
to their resumes. They honor a host of
accomplishments, ranging from
academics-to. the ability to drink a glass
of water while standing on one’s head. It
is, I guess, Penn State's solution to a
mass inferiority complex at Penn'
State,’every-man can wear the Croix de
Guerre, -'...v .
Don’t get me wrong —. I'm not
knocking the .Jjoripraries. I belong to
several, arid.l am proud to' say that I have
been elected to serve as an officer in one
particularly honorary honorary. I also
sell pencils on College Avenue, hoping
to replenish my now depleted bank
account.
It’s, just that the selection process for
some of the organizations puzzles me.
For'some, it seems that the powers that
be take a list of all the students in a
given , major and decide to initiate all
those on the list who have never thrown
up In class. That completes the "tap
ping” process, so named because it is
6k iC> OF THE TUI
Wily for a small fee
Collegian reporter was not allowed
to stay and cover its transactions.
This cubbyholing of decision
makers shouldn’t happen ARHS
and Residential Life are involved in
deciding the future life styles, of
thousands of Penn State students.
Setting early recommendations
before the public can result only in
better recommendations in. the
end.
If students are exposed to the
line of thought of both student
leaders and administrators from
day one, when a final proposal is
drafted and accepted, students
would not only be familiar with the
often done while the membership of the
organization tap dances in the HUB
Ballroom.
Other organizations have more
rigorous membership requirements, and
some have not initiated members since
the turn of the century. One unfortunate
honorary, truly exclusive, is in limbo
today; the man who founded the society
never found another suitable member,
and he contracted terminal psoriasis,
flaking to death in the epidemic of 1947.
Once the prospective member has
been chosen, he receives a letter in the
mail notifying him of the great honor
that has been bestowed upon him, and
asking that the check be made out to the
Penn State Chapter of ZZZ. This is the
most important part of the process; as
everyone knows, poor people cannot
possibly be honorable, and therefore
have no place in an honor society.
The cost of joining an honorary is
usually an odd number, $22 or $lB ors 7.
Jerry
Schwartz
proposal but have been able to
help guide it. Decisions affecting
students should not be made
without student input.
By withholding information from
students ARHS has removed itself
from the realms of student service
and taken on an air of bureau
cracy. It should remember that
criticism can be healthy and open
ness results in understanding.
Co-ed housing is a good Idea
and ARHS and Residential Life are
to be commended for developing
it. But they should do it in the light
of day, because that is the only
way to see all its flaws.
Books move him to exhaustion
Racer stacks up well
My friend Flusher is a logistics major
(12th—trucks and trains) and he was
telling me about all the great sporting
events coming up this Spring Term.
"I enter them all,” he said. “It costs me
a lot of money, but it’s well worth it. I
think the money usually goes to
charity.”
"It’s good to see that you’re Involved,"
I said. "But I didn't think there were
many athletic events you could sign up
for.”
“Oh, there’s a lot of them," he said
expansively, "but they aren’t very well
publicized. For instance, the Time Trials
in Pattee Library; I came in sdcond last
year. I hope I can win it this \ime
around.”
"I don’t understand."
“Oh, not many people know about the
races in Pattee," Flusher said, “but I’m
sure you've seen them without knowing
they were being held. Haven't you ever
seen someone running madly through
the stacks looking .for a book? He was
probably in training for the Dewey
Decimal Decathalon.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s one of the most rigorous and
demanding foot races\in existence. You
see, all the contestants line up in the
card catalog room. At the sound of the
While most of the groups do not ask that
the money be delivered in small, un
marked bills, the path of the dues is
somewhat cryptic. Most of the money
goes to what is referred to as The
National, a colossus somewhere in the
heartland of America. The National takes
the money, and sends back directories
that no one can read, let alone un
derstand.
Each honor society is usually iden
tified by three Greek letters, which are
explained at the initiation ceremony, a
simple affair that Includes the symbolic
passing over of the checks. The three
letters always stand for words' like
“Truth" or “Virtue" or “Knowledge”.
Seldom, If ever, do the letters stand for
"Nausea" or “Acne’.’ or “Depression."
Much of the time, it doesn’t matter
what the letters stand for. While some
honoraries meet often, discussing
current issues, many Initiates will have
their last brush with the Penn State
Chapter of ZZZ I two months later when
Mid-State returns their cancelled check.
Which Is OK, I guess. We come to
honoraries to praise men, not to bury
them, and since they are all honorable
men, anyway, little harm is done. Some
have told me that, years from now, I will
be proud of my membership in the more
obscure honoraries and, in any case, my
name will be etched in the books of the
Penn State Chapter of ZZZ for posterity.
My bet is that I’ll just forget what the
letters stand for. It’s all Greek to me.
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starting gun, they run over and have to
pick 10 cards out of 10 different drawers
at random. Then they copy down all the
call numbers and run into the stacks to
retrieve the books.
“The first one to come back with all of
his books is the winner. I would have
won last year, but I had a QH355 over on
second floor east Pattee and I ran into an
old friend who was studying for a
virology test.”
Jack
1 F Jackson
“I’m shocked," I said, shocked. “In the
library? The library is supposed to be a
quiet place isn’t it an annoyance to
have such a physical race there?"
"Oh, no, the quiet doesn’t bother me
one bit. It makes it easier to concentrate
on where I’m going. And you don’t have
to be physical in this sport, just quick
and organized. That’s where my logistics
training comes in handy.
Letters to the Editor
< '-..ij;'X ; V V "i.-?. •' . ,•/?.*; '-h \
Life saver
TO THE EDITOR: On April 20,1976,1 had a serious accident in
the quad area in East Halls. I was taken by ambulance to
Ritenour and thus began a week-long ordeal. Now that-I'm
back on my feet again, I would like to express my appreciation
to the Ritenour staff, ambulance crew and the friends who
stayed so near me. Too often our student health services are
put down without reason. My friends and I are grateful to the
staff for continuously supplying reports on my "progress."
Without exaggerating, if it was not for the excellent services
made available to me at Ritenour, the accident might have had
far-reaching effects on my life.
Dear clown
TO THE EDITOR: This is an open letter to the clown who
screwed up the ride board lists.
"Dear Clown, It was a good joke. Not only did you make up
false names' and addresses but the telephone numbers were
not legitimate either. Your one mistake was using the same
telephone number for each alias: otherwise, I never would
have caught on. It was overdone three or more fake names
per ride sheet with the same telephone number. I only hope
that when you need a ride home the same thing happens to
you.”
And to the person whose telephone number it is (if there is
such a person):
“Dear 5-2341, Are you aware that your telephone number is
being'used? Do you have any or many enemies?:Qr is your
social life so dull that your phone number must be plastered on
the ride sheets in'orderto get any calls? Or are you really going
to all corners of the state this Friday?"
Poor criteria
TO THE EDITOR: I suppose the Collegian’s policy of censoring
letters it feels are racist, as stated on the editorial page of the
April 28th Collegian, is good. However, if the Chinese students
offended by the Doonesbury comics were the paper’s editors,
they could have invoked this policy and refused to print the
allegedly racist material.
, "Racist” is a nebulous and ill-used word in current American
usage and poor criteria for censorship, if a letter is worth
printing, it should be printed in its entirety with editorial
comment if necessary. Newspaper editors should be
especially leery of arbitrary standards, no matter how well
intentioned, when they are applied to our freedoms of speech
and press.
In defense
TO THE EDITOR: I would like to take issue with Mr. Salts
man’s letter of the 27th. He wrote that he was in Kern building
watching a talk show which he felt was “geared to the ‘thinking
woman’”. Putting all cams and cogwheels aside, several
women who had entered the viewing room and had expected to
watch a particular soap opera left when they realized another
program was on. This gave Mr. Saltsman the opportunity to
employ the catch-all phrase “airheads" regarding these
women.
I am not in defense of soap operas (which, according to Time
magazine, men also watch) but in defense of the women who
left. I consider myself to be a well-read person, and having
some knowledge of Edward Albee, I doubt I would have
“I must admit,” he continued, “one
time I had to get violent, though. This
kid needed one of the books on my list
for a course and he was taking it off the
shelf just as I got there.”
“What happened?"
"It was a big heavy book on
Renaissance Art and (explained to hint I
only needed to look at one of the pages.
He offered to let me see the book for a
minute. When he turned his back, I
clopped him over the head with the
book.”
“That’s horrible! i Was everything all
right?”
"Yeah, I came in third place, anyway."
“Well, are there other less severe
events at the library?” I asked.
“Lots of them, like- the Four-Floor
Five-Dollar Footrace. The rules are very
simple. You enter the library and they
give you a five dollar bill and a copy of an
accounting text. You then have 40
minutes to. try to find somebody at a
library desk'that has enough change to
break the five. Providing you get it, you
then have to find a ; Xerox machine that
works and make a copy of page 300 of
the book. Also, you have to remain
within four floors of the changed desk.”
"Do you do well in that race?"
"So far as I know, no one has ever
Jed Newlrth
7th-soclal welfare
Illogical
TOTHE EDITOR: Regarding: Soa*py Airheads (Who iS;female;
by the way.) Does Jon M. Saltsman think? ,
Come on now Mr. Saltsman, just what are you tryjng to
prove? Anyone reading your asinine letter would believe your
point to be that males are the inferior thinkers, or at least that
you are one. Your reasoning Is totally illogical. Just because a
few women chose to leave the room when you switched from
soap opera to “thinking program" is no reason to blindly
assume, as you have, that they can't think. What evidence do
you have to support your hypothesis? That they got up-and
left? Everyone has the freedom of choice. That it was a soap
opera that you turned off? I know' rqen who are as involved. In
them as some women are. That they showed some emotion
when you switched? I’m sure they acted no worse than some, if
not most, men I’ve seen when deprived of their football games,
which they choose over other "thinking programs." I won’t
generalize and say’that all men are as narrow-minded, as you
seem. At least I hope they aren’t. For, like hamsters, men'are
interesting to look at and touch, but after the initial thrill ; jt’s
nice to have something else there.
Suellen Smock
9th-management
Stephen C. Dally
3rd-math
sheila mccauley
Editor
BOARD OF EDITORS: MANAGING EDITOR, Janice Salinger;.
EDITORIAL EDITOR, Brenda Turner; EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, ;
Sherrie Spangler; NEWS EDITOR, Bill Hannegan; ASSISTANT NEWS '
EDITOR, Pamela Reasner; STATE NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR; Laurie
Peacher; CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, Jerry Schwartz; COPY EDITORS; '
Deanna Finley, Mike Joseph, Phil Storey; FEATURES EDITOR, Janie
Musala; SPORTS EDITOR, Brian Miller; ASSISTANT SPORTS
EDITORS, Dave Morris, Barb Parmer; PHOTO EDITOR, Julie Clpoila;’
ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS, Eric Felack, Tom Peters; GRAPHICS \
EDITOR, Lynne Maimed; WEATHERMAN, Tom Ross. ’ . \ .
watched the talk show either. As for Oriana Fallaci,this is not
exactly a household word. Perhaps the intellectual’develop-!
ment of the eleven women who left was such that they do not
appreciate what "even the commonest simpletons could have
enjoyed" as Mr. Saltsman evidently did.
I hope that Mr. Saltsman appreciates the fact that the
women who were present when the show first began did not
demand their right as a majority to turn the channel. Perhaps
politeness is an airhead trait? ,
At any rate, I was amused by the inference on Mr. Salts
man's part that all women are airheads, and consequently
may be likened to hamsters that are "interesting to look at
and touch" until one tries to discover a working mind. If this is
the manner in which he gets to know women, perhaps he
should reorder his priorities and look for intelligence before he
touches If he wants to be more favorably impressed.
Tribes
TO THE EDITOR: What is the narrow conception of NSCAR or
its president of U.S. history? The American Indians are still
wards (i.e. subjects) of the federal bureaucracy. Only two
tribes are legally citizens!
.Collegian
Mailing Address: Box 467, State College, Pa. 16801
Office: 126 Carnegie
tow ARE
You (ft VjEuDjNe, ?
events
completed it. I think that the race of
ficials are probably going to modify the
rules this year so all you have to do is
find a copier that works. That’s still
pretty hard."
"Are there other races that people can
compete in," I asked. /'/
VMostly shorter things like renewing a
book when they’ve lost your sign-out
card, locating reference materials, and
similar events. Oh, yes, they offer
orienteering games, too, but they’re not
serious sports competition', so I don’t
enter. , ■
“For this they blindfold all, the con
testants and take them into the stacks
without a map or a compass. I’m sure
you’ve seen those people, wandering
blindly about.“ All in all,” Flusher said,
"it’s, well worth it for me to sign up for
these races. The entrance fees are pretty
stiff, but I always enjoy myself."
“How much do you have to pay?"
“Thirty five dollars a race. That’s a lot
of money, but like I said, I think it goes
to charity." r > ; ■
"Oh, \ think,you’re getting off pretty
easy,” I said. ,“A lot of people I know<
competed In the races and had to pay a
lot more." I "
"What did they have to pay?”
"Tuition." . ', -
Linda Blosel
6th-admlnlstrativemanagement
NADINE KINSEY
Business Manager
, i *
v
\
M. Huber
10th-history^
Joanne Evon“
7th-art education «