Editorial opinion
Obstacle course
More ,than 400 handicapped
Penn State students confront an
obstacle course each day in going
to class. They face high curbs,
steep staircases, unwieldy doors
and detour after detour from
regular routes to class.
Schwab Auditorium, Sparks,
Wagner and Electrical Engineer
ing East and West are some of
the buildings totally inaccessible
to many handicapped. These
students are forced to schedule
their classes around their environ
ment, not around their academic
needs.
As a necessity, most handicap
ped students decide to live on
campus. But for the handicapped,
dorm telephones, toilets and drink
ing fountains are at best awkward
to use. The University will convert
a dorm room to the handicapped
student's specifications and at
his expense.
The University is slowly waking
up to the problems encountered
; 7— tters to the Editor 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 ioo 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 proper
identification of the Writer can be made, although names can be withheld on request. If
letters are received by mail, the Collegian will contact the signer for verification before
publication. Letters cannot be returned.
Good clean fun?
TO THE EDITOR: The latest incident of brutal fraternity hazing
will undoubtedly elicit the sanctimonious blather about how
this sort of thing is the exception, not the rule. The only ex
ceptional thing about it was that the victim complained:
Hazing is endemic to fraternities. It is the glue of brotherhood.
It creates their touted cohesiveness.
Why would a sane, rational person allow himself to be
humiliated and beaten? Well, next year he'll have the chance to
beat up and humiliate the new recruits, and still have the
community call it good clean fun. Also, he figures he's joining
an organization whose members have a one-way ticket to the
ruling class. The brother who is drowning you tonight may be
able to get you a high paying job tomorrow. (Hence the snob
appeal anybody can get stomped by a future garage
mechanic but there is true beauty in having your ribs crushed
by a would-be Bic pen mogul.) Hazing establishes a person's
status in the pecking order. If Bill thumps Joe, and Joe thumps
Mike, then Bill is cock of the dung heap. That's the way it
works in street gangs, among felons in prison and frat boys in
State College. The beating and raping that is abhorred in street
punks• is ingnored in frat boys because they are the future
leaders of America, and they collect nickles and dimes for their
Favorite Disease once a year. Fraternities get a lot of public
relations mileage out of your generosity, folks. (Perhaps it is
time to develop an alternative way to get money to the Heart'
Fund, etc.) •
Oh, their P.R. machine is good, e.g. after the anti-fraternity
gang-rape rally in the fall, the Collegian ran a huge front page
picture and non-story about a fraternity boy repairing a candy
cane for an orphan. (The article never explained how he ac
complished this miracle with glue, maybe, or scotch tape?).
The frats grind out that kind of hokum all the time, but this
year members have behaved so spectacularly badly that they've
torn holes in their carefully constructed propaganda screen.
Frat boys are fast becoming the frat-haters' best allies.
Disappearing tent
TO THE EDITOR: Today's issue of the Collegian contains an
article describing the projects of Architecture 361, a structures
class. As members of the class, we were naturally disap
pointed that our project could not also be described or
photographed. It was impossible for the reporter to do, since
our project was stolen sometime Sunday night.
We were proud of our project. Many hours of hard work
created something that many people seemed to enjoy. (You
may have seen it the blue and yellow tent near the Obelisk
this weekend.) Appreciation culminated Sunday night when an
individual flattered us in a very sick way by stealing our
project.
To That Person; Although your actions can be thought of as
a type of flattery, we do not appreciate them. We can't help but
believe that you will enjoy the results of our hard labor. We will
regret that, since we intended that our project would be
available for many people to enjoy.
We would also hope you appreciate the fact - that we
cannot receive a grade for that project because the professor
daily by the handicapped. About
60 curb ramps have been placed
along campus paths and a study of
campus has resulted in a map of
accessible routes and buildings.
But it still has a long way to go
in compensating for the inconveni
ence on campus. A commission
appointed by University President
John W. Oswald has concluded
that at least 27 steps need to be
taken to help handicapped stu
dents.
The commission proposed that
at least one dormitory be modified
to fit the needs of handicapped
students. And it asked that a study
be made to discover housing for
handicapped students who do not
want to live on campus.
The commission also proposed
that each college appoint a faculty
member to champion handicapped
rights and that the administration
appoint a coordinator for handi
capped services.
Claudia McClellan
University employe
never saw It completed. You stole it too soon. Knowing that
actions of the type you indulge in are rare, we suspect that you
may also be the thief involved in another group's loss (also a
tent structure). They too are left without a project and without
a grade. You have succeeded In making at least 20 students
suffer through your actions.
We all lost
TO THE EDITOR: Last Thursday my wallet was stolen during
Chem. 35 lab in Whitmore. I'm writing this letter as an appeal
for its return. I don't care about the $2O; that can be replaced.
What I do care about are the pictures and other personal items
which have a great deal of value to me. These things cannot be
duplicated. Since you needed money badly enough to steal it,
keep it; but please, I'm begging you, return everything else
to me. No questions will be asked. Oh, by the way, do you
think you could send my mother a belated Mother's Day card?
The $2O was for her present but now I can't even afford a card.
I guess we all lost, didn't we?
Finals games
TO THE EDITOR: Concerning the five-day final examination
period: There is no need to drag two or three finals out over
five days. Invariably there will be instances when a student has
only two finals, but one is on Tuesday and the other on
Saturday. And what have we to look forward to during these
five days of fun and games? A term break that is scarcely more
than a long week end.
Outrage
TO THE EDITOR: As one who was in Israel at the time of the
Qiryat Shemona and Maalot incidents of April and May 1974, I
was particularly distressed by the signs carried by the State
College Arabs in their demonstration against the Israel
Independence Day celebration at the Hillel Foundation on
Wednesday, May 5.
It seems to me that whatever outrage they may feel against
Israel's bombing of Lebanese villages (frequently occasioned
by the fact that the P.L.O. places its rocket launchers in the
heart of these villages) must be weighed against the outrage
that Israelis feel against the attacks of Arab terrorists against
Jewish civilians. At Qiryat Shemona (April 11, 1974), for
example, Arab terrorists, infiltrating Israel from Lebanon,
attacked a housing development, going from door to door and
machine-gunning down whole families in their apartments.
Eighteen persons were killed, sixteen wounded. At Maalot
(May 15, 1974) 90 Israeli school children were held hostage in a
school by Arab terrorists, and when the demands of the
terrorists were not met, they wired the school with explosives
and sprayed an auditorium full of children with machine-gun
fire. Twenty-five people, mostly children, were killed, and
many more injured.
In addition, a special orienta
tion session for the handicapped
proposed by the commission
would not only help students un
derstand their obstacles but help.
the University remove them.
Even Ritenour Health Center,
which should be the most accessi
ble building on campus, is very
difficult to enter for students in
wheelchairs, braces or crutches. It
should be the first target of any
changes brought about through
the commission.
The commission has done its
job well. Now, it is up to the Univer
sity Board of Trustees to decide
which suggestions will be used.
The trustees should make any
one with a strong mind welcome at
Penn Sate whether they have
strong legs or are forced to travel
in wheelchairs. It's past time to
open the University to the handi
capped.
Brothers
'Whipples Trip'
By JOSEPH BORRELLI
president, Alpha Kappa Lambda
Hazing: Alpha Kappa Lambda has
been found guilty of this crime by the
Inter-fraternity Council's ' Board of
Control and, we feel, by The Daily
Collegian. We now wish to get our side
of the story into print, and let you be the
judge.
"Whipples Trips" have been occurring
at Alpha Kappa Lambda for at least
seven years. We have never attempted to
conceal our tradition in the past; it has
often been discussed with rushees.
The "trip" is comprised of three parts
• The brother is bound and carried
to the patio by . the pledges. Care is taken
to insure that all valuables have been
removed and that circulation to hands
and feet is not cut off. Once on the patio
the brother is doused with buckets of
water, grease, eggs and shaving cream.
This lasts for about five minutes, after
which the brother and pledges are.
permitted to clean up and get dry
clothes.
The brother is then driven to our
house's cabin near Whipple's Dam. He is
taken to a waist-deep creek where, after
having removed his clothes, he is
dunked three times by the pledges. Each
dunking lasts no longer than one or two
seconds. The brother Is then allowed to
Kelly R. Mclntosh
4th-environmental resource management
defend fraternity hazing
dry off, don dry clothes and allowed to
return to a car which, depending on the
weather, is well heated.
The final stage consists of a two
mile run down Tussey Mountain. During
the course of the run the pinned brother
Is followed by a car providing light and
safety from other vehicles. He is also
escorted by anyone else who wishes to
run along with him quite often four or
five other brothers. Upon completion of
the run, the brother. is taken back to the
house for a party in his honor. If at some
time there is any indication that the
brother has been injured or is in danger
of injury, the trip would halt im
mediately.
The charges against us stem from the
actions described above. Michael
Seibert, the brother who brought these
charges against us, went along on his
"Whippies Trip" at his own free will.' In
All of us who care about the Middle East know that there are
serious grievances on both sides. I do not think, however, that
the casue of truth (and ultimately, of peace) is served by at
tempts to prevent people from speaking, writing, or holding
public meetings. Nor do I think that the Collegian helps
matters by dramatizing the grievances of one side while
ignoring those of the other.
My advice to both Arabs and Israelis in State College, and to
their sympathizers is: go to each other's public meetings in a
spirit of peace and open-mindedness, and listen. You might
learn something!
I might add, as one who was an eye-witness, that the
demonstration at Hillel on May 5 was "peaceful" only in the
sense that nobody actually came to blows!
John G. Burns
6th architecture
Student union
TO THE EDITOR: To the Students of Penn State: It is only for
me to be bluntly honest to confess that like all of you, all I
want out of my four years at this university is to come out a
more confident and mentally secure person than when I went
in. However, in my past three years already, I've found several
sorry obstacles getting in my way: the lack of fulfilling
educational resources for developing my talents (I'm an arts
major); the yearly ever-Increasing tuition; the University
administration responsible for the lack of educational
resources and higher tuition; and my own spoiled reluctance
to get up and shout, "No! I cannot allow these obstacles any
longer!"
I have never considered myself as simply a "student." I am a
lone human being about to tumble into the world and for the
first time without anybody to protect me. Therefore, I had best
get as much as I can out of my present experiences if I ever
hope to get anything out of my future ones. All of you out there
can only be more or less in the same boat.
Kathy Hull
7th-biology
I, therefore, suggest that we, as students of Penn State, as
U.S. citizens, as Human Beings, get ourselves together and
unionize our powers of what we are to have a say in what goes
on in our university. What we need is a student union.
Jeffrey Slott
9th-general arts
Nothing
TO THE EDITOR: Unfair! That's a good enough word to
describe the Collegian's reporting. Thursday's coverage of the
Israeli Independence Day celebration was nil. I think it was a
gross injustice to overlook the major celebration of the State of
Israel and of the Jewish Community en and off campus.
Many people put in a great deal of time to plan and carry out
the Israeli celebration at Hill& ; there was singing by a renoun
Israeli artist, Ruthi Navon, an American folk team (Jerry Zolten
and Arthur Goldstein), dancing, singing and Israeli food and
refreshments.
Now, after such a successful event, what does the Collegian
report? Nothing. Just a picture of an Arab protester picketing
what was going on inside. The Collegian even muffed that
assignment. There weren't 30 protesters there; it was lucky if
there were 10 unless the Collegian counts the curious
fraternity brothers standing around.
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a safe tradition
fact, before the "trip" began he was
contacted by Kevin Bauman, the pledge
educator, and specifically asked if he
would come out to the house for a
"Whipples Trip." Seibert said he would
come to the house as soon as possible.
When he arrived, he was asked to
remove his wallet, watch and other
valuables for the start of his trip. Several
times during the course of the trip
Seibert was asked if he was hurt. He
responded that he felt fine except that he
was cold. In fact, he seemed to be in
good spirits at all times. If Seibert did at
some point hurt his ribs, he did not
mention to us until two days later. In any
case he Is being reimbursed for his
medical costs.
We wish to emphasize that Seibert
knew what was going to happen. He
himself has participated in "Whipples
Trips." We also wish to point out that
many of the charges which appeared in
the Collegian are exaggerations or were
taken out of context.
Leah Rozen, who wrote the article,
didn't mention facts about our case
before the IFC Board of Control we
consider important. For instance,
Seibert says that he was in fear of his
life. Because of the nature of the trip, a
brother had a camera with him. Two
photographs we have show a smiling
Louise Goldschmidt
State College resident
So, Collegian, I think it only fitting that an apology should
be given to the Jewish Community as a whole and the people
who worked very hard to make the 28th Israeli Independence
Day celebration a day to remember.
Next time you send a photographer-reporter to an event, tell
him to cover it properly —that's a paper's Job in the corn
munity
Summer sublet blues
TO THE EDITOR: As an apartment dweller here-in State
College, I am one of the vast majority of hosts for the town
parasites. Fall term my roomates and I were faced with the
decision to either sign a nine month lease ($392 per month), or
a 12 month lease ($320 per month). With the idea of summer
sub-letting in our heads, we decided upon the 12 month lease.
We were led to believe that we would have no problem sub
letting in the summer; but lo and behold, the apartment
manager failed to mention one minor detail: the apartment
building cuts their rates in half in the summer. So now there is
no way we can get rid of it for the price of $320, so we are
forced to immensly cut down our rent, insanely losing money.
Going the other route of taking a nine month lease they still
nab you anyhow because we would be•paying nearly $4OO per
month for an apartment that anywhere else would be no more
than $2OO. My parents are renting our five bedroom house for a
mere $250 a month.
Is there nothing that the state or school can do about these
leeches? What is Ironic is that the state is being ripped-off
almost as bad as the students. Most students have received
money in some way or another from the state. Now In the case
of 'students who live off campus, a lot of that state money they
receive. goes towards the payment of outrageous rent.
Therefore the state is also putting out money for these
apartment corporations. One feels rather helpless in this
situation because the apartment owner's reply is that if you
don't like it, live elsewhere. So what do you do? I was con
sidering setting up a tent on the HUB lawn next year. I think
that it is Penn State's responsibility to pressure Harrisburg to
set up some system of rent control on these parasites.
Someone is making millions while some 20,000 students are
penny-pinching.
d t a l lZi Collegian
SHEILA McCAULEY
Editor
Editorial policy is determined by the Editor
Opinions expressed by the editors and staff of The Daily
Collegian are not necessarily those of the University ad
ministration, faculty or students.
Mailing Address: Box 467, State College, Pa. 16801
Office: 126 Carnegie
Seibert on his way out to the cabin and
another of him giving the photographer a
thumbs up sign. To us, these pictures in
no way reflect the magnitude of fear
described by him.
We feel it was grossly unfair for the
Collegian and staff writer Leah Rozen to
run an article which mentioned our
fraternity's name but not Seibert's.
Further, because of the negative reaction
the article caused, we feel that IFC
meted out punishment (complete social
probation until October 7) that was much
more severe than the situation
warranted. We are now following IFC
procedures in an attempt to register an
appeal with the board.
Hopefully, the student body hasn't
been overly biased by The Daily
Collegian and will attempt to keep an
open mind about this affair until it has
been settled.
Editor's note: The Collegian reporter
could not mention evidence heard before
the IFC Board of Control in her article
because she was not allowed to attend
the board hearing. Seibert's name was
not used in the initial story because he
was promised anonymity In exchange for
an interview. The promise was given
before we were able to judge whether he
should be protected.
Gary S. Stein
State College resident
NADINE KINSEY
Business Manager :
Cindy Fusco
sth-biology