Editorial opinion
A few years ago, college
students marched in protest of the
war in Vietnam. Before that, they
invaded the offices of University
presidents demanding a hand in
the academic structure of their
schools. A decade , or more ago
they staged sit-ins at lunch coun
ters and helped boycott
discriminatory businesses in the
name of equal rights.
Before this term is over, Penn
State students may employ these
same principles of civil disobedi
ence for the new cause celebre—
drinking on campus.
The University's recent
decision to strictly enforce its stan
ding . regulations on underage
drinking has brought down upon it
more wrath than any act within
recent years. Previously placid
students scream of their rights
while administrators cautiously
check their liability insurance and
maintain they are only obeying
Wilted
flowers
for
Franco
By PETER UEBERSAX
MADRID, Spain (UPI)
Generalissimo Francisco Franco has
been dead for less than a year, and
already his grave is becoming a lonely
place.
Spaniards, whom he ruled with an iron
hand for almost 40 years, have not
forgotten him. But he is a figure rapidly
receding into history as Spain moves
toward the democracy : promised'by King
Juan Carlos.
Franco was buried last November in
-the basilica of the Valley of the Fallen, a
monument to the civil war dead which he
had built In the Guadarrama mountains
40 miles from Madrid. The once huge
crowds of visitors have given way to a
trickle. The king has not been there since
the funeral.
Flowers are still being laid on the one
and a half ton slab of marble covering
the grave, but many are wilted. Half a
year ago, not only the grave, but the
whole area surrounding it were covered
with fresh flowers.
On a recent weekend, the attention of
What cartoonists say about
All for the. cause
state law.
Resident Assistants in the
dorms are forced into untenable
position by playing both confidant
and cop. The social hub of many
dorm floors has started to disin
tegrate only to re-emerge in the
form of birch beer parties poking
fun at the drinking regulations.
And now the Undergraduate
Student Government (USG) is
mobilizing its forces to fight what
USG calls the "dictatorial" policy.
Beginning next week USG will hold
a series of public hearings
designed to formulate battle plans.
No strategies are too far out for
consideratiori. And the targets will
be not only the University policy
but also the state law on underage
drinking.
One idea would pose an open
challenge to campus police by
mixing hundreds of students and
lots of booze in an East Halls quad.
This protest party would put the
the about 300 persons in the church
centered on a visiting wedding party.
Of the churchgoers, only about 100
persons filed past the grave. Most only
cast a quick glance, and some took
pictures. • ,
A few stopped, and some prayed. A
nun went down on her knees and kissed
the grave. A man with a walking stick
wearing the dark blue shirt of the right
wing Falange movement talked to the
grave in a whisper for several minutes.
Two elderly ladles deposed red roses
and wiped tears from their eyes.' A man
said to his three children: "Here rests
our Caudillo. He was a rock of a man."
Then the trickle of visitors stopped. A
uniformed guard approached to scoop
up some wilted flowers and rearrange
the new roses.
The crowds are bigger about 1,500
persons a day at Franco's El Pardo
Palace residence which was recently
turned Into a museum.
Guides lead visitors through the 32.
rooms of the cream-colored, 16th
century palace where, according to a
plaque in the entrance hall, "El Caudillo
worked tirelessly for the peace, well
being, prosperity and enhancement of
the fatherland."
Interest appears to center on Franco's
bedroom where 10 of his uniforms are
displayed in glass cases, and a room
decorated with Goya tapestries that
contains his death mask and casts of his
hands. The crowds are respectful, but
whispers and an occasional giggle came
from . a group of youths in the
background. --
The. coins and postal stamps bearing
Franco's image are being replaced by
new ones with Juan Carlos' portrait.
And the press shies away from men
tioning Franco's name to the extent that
the government newspaper Arriba
headlined its report on' the opening of
Franco's residence to the public simply:
"Another Museum in Madrid."
University in a dilemma arrest
hundreds or .reiurn to Its previous
policy of ignoring drinking in
fractions whenever possible.
Another cagey plan calls for a
coalition of students within USG to
accompany police to football
games at Beaver Stadium and to
point out drinking violations at
tailgate parties. By forcing their
arrests, USG hopes to outrage
Penn State alumni until the Univer
sity changes its policy.
This strategy was used by
students at Michigan State Univer
sity several years ago and was so
successful that the Michigan state
legislature lowered the minimum
drinking age and thus removed
both the students' and the Univer
sity's problems.
A more conventional step could
be taken this November election
by urging students to vote for local
and state candidates who support
a reduced drinking age. Voter
Reform school blues at the Point
It used to be that everyone was jealous
of the kid who went to West Point.
They envied the uniform, a uniform so
slick that it almost made up for the crew
cut you had to wear. They imagined
that, wherever one walked at West Point,
they played the theme from the TV show
"West Point," a majestic military -tune
that sounded a bit like the Olympic
theme.
But alas, those days are gone now,
and I imagine they now play "Play That
Funky Music, White Boy" when one
walks across the parade grounds. West
Point, once the most reputable school in
the country, has taken on the aura of a
reform school.
The reason, of course, is the
burgeoning West Point cheating
scandal. It appears that a good portion
of last year's junior class cheated on an
engineering homework problem, the
result being that a good portion of last
year's junior class may be sitting out the
next war.
You see, at West Point they have
something called the Honor Code, which
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term and major or faculty position.
We know you're out there. Don't mumble to the walls In your room. Tell us
registration and information would
be a vital part of this plan. Un
fortunately it would probably ease
but not solve the outnumbering of
proponents in the legislature.
These are but three of a count
less number of attacks which may
surface at the USG public
hearings. They may be the hottest
item on campus this term, and
perhaps the most productive. •
It is sad that students get more
upset about a can of beer than
about higher tuition or lower
academic standards. And how of
ten does USG hold a hearing on an
academic or economic problem?
Still, the focus upon drinking rights
has certainly caught students' in
terest. Drinking rights is not a
moral issue, but it is a morale
problem. We urge you to lend your
physical and moral support to ac
tions designed to abolish this
unreasonable University policy.
dictates that a cadet will not Ile, steal,
cheat or tolerate those who do. The
Honor Code does not equivocate; one
boo-boo and a cadet has to doff that
slick uniform.
Which is, after all, as it should be. I
am not prepared to defend the Honor
Code completely—l believe that the
toleration clause could force cadets to
turn in their classmates, even when they
have only an Inkling that something is
wrong.
A better system would be the way they
do things at the Air Force Academy,
where when a student suspects a
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Jerry
Schwartz
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classmate of wrongdoing, he is honor
' bound to confront that friend with his
suspicions.
But as for those who are found to have
cheated, I can't say It would break my
heart if they were never officers In, the
army.
You see, when real-life army officers
cheat, it isn't like cheating in an
engineering course. It's more like My
Lai, or secret bombings In Cambodia, or
experiments with LSD without telling the
human guinea pigs what's going on.
It's like an American army out of
control,- the John Wayne-types replaced
by men wearing black hats. And men
with black hats, men who cheat, are not
the kind of people who should have their
finger on the Bomb button.
But then, I wouldn't want a cheater
taking my pulse, or selling me cupcakes
or publishing my newspapers. Cheating
is not limited to West Point, or Penn
State, or colleges and universities.
Cheating on your income taxes has
become the national sport; if you can't
cheat the government then the telephone•
=Collegian
SHEILA McCAULEY
Editor
BOARD OF EDITORS: EDITORIAL. EDITOR, Brenda Turner; EDITORIAL`
ASSISTANT, Deanna Finley; NEWS EDITOR, Pamela Reasner; ASSISTANT NEWS
EDITOR, Phil Storey; STATE-NATIONAL EDITOR, Leah Rozen; CONTRIBUTING
EDITOR, Jerry Schwartz; COPY EDITORS, Mike Joseph, Jim Lockhart, Charlene
Sampedro; OFFICE MANAGER, Laura Shemick; FEATURES EDITOR, Janie'
Musala; SPORTS EDITOR, Brian Miller; ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS, Tom Mc-
Nichol,- Barb Parmer; PHOTO EDITOR, Julie Cipolla; ASSISTANT PHOTO
EDITORS, Eric Felack, Barry Wyshinski; GRAPHICS EDITOR, Lynne Maimed.
Itil
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DEFENSE
company, the Insurance company of the
University will do.
Everybody blames Watergate, as if
Richard Nixon personally caused a
plunge
. In America's moral principles.
But the fact of the matter is, America is
in the midst of learning that cheaters can
prosper, as long as decent people
consider cheating a minor sin.
It doesn't have to be that way. If the
national pity party for cheaters of West
Point ever subsides, we might take a
little time to mull the idea of an
America dorwning in a sea of "cheat
sheets. .
In the meantime, we might have
second thoughts about a 'blanket am
nesty for those poor unfortunate cadets.
What they did was wrong ; I'm afraid that
America is all too ready to forgive them,
all too ready to give those nice young'
men with their crew cuts and slick
uniforms another chance.
Let's face it, gang; the Long Grey Line
deserves a big red F. And• if we're not
prepared to give it to them, the real
tragedy is ours, not theirs.
NADINE KINSEY
Business Manager
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