Editorial opinion
Three times a term they con
verge upon Old Main. Three times
a term they huddle around each
other and discuss the issues of the
day. Each time when they depart
no one outside knows what secret
incantations they have chanted or
what seeds of change they have
sown.
The Student Advisory Board
meets in secret, even though the
topics the student leaders discuss
with the administrators concern
every student administrator and
staff member at Penn State. The
SAB’s fewer than 20 members
supposedly have these meetings
to keep the channels of com
munication open between Univer
sity President John W. Oswald and
the masses of students.
We don't think that anything
sinister is going on at these
meetings. Perhaps nothing is
going on at all. But students should
be informed of any deals or stalls
in student affairs.
Education's scholars find
First impression at the outset: An attractive
- I think it began the year they decided to toss the Bible out of
the classroom. Personally, I’d never really minded that original
best-seller in school with me; it didn't detract from the day's
beginning while, on the other hand, it never actually demanded
that you learn from it, either.
If it did anything at all, it was a steady reminder of and
connection with the fact that the learning process was a
unique symbiosis best realized between home and school.
Indeed, the process never stopped. And the reading of a few
lines from that Book each morning wasn't particularly
religious, once you came down to it. In tone, texture and time,
it was, for many of us, thqt initial encounter with some kind of
discipline, something we couldn’t possibly understand, but
wasn't exactly harming us on the other hand. So what hap
pened next?
They decided it wasn't good for us. Without asking us our
opinion in the matter.
Things never regained their composure, after that. I mean,
let's face it, once you get rid of one discipline, others swiftly
follow.. That Bible ban began the decade of non-discipline all
over this country. Family ties dissolved, the gap between the
generations widened, war took over first billing with race riots
a close second. Instant answers abounded, from gurus to
professors who gave the tag "liberal" a bad name, grinning that
they “sympathized" with the alienation of the young, but never
conceding how much they created that condition by ac
cepting it or failing to .bring the young to task for a self
indulgence theV’re'still paying tragically for. From apathy to‘
over-activity, all within the space of a single decade. Arid what
did we all learn from it?
Only to pass the buck with even greater skill
True, education is the last refuge of the resourceful, hardly
so for the righteous, yet the latter seems to be in control
nowadays. Still, somewhere along the line, some not terribly
bright soul decided that education was really something else,
a passport to societal acceptance. That all one had to do was
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Letters to the Editor
Femme fatale
TO-THE EDITOR: In response to Janie Musala’s column "Pope
ap(Paul) ed at new role of women priests:"
As for the “Bible’s famous femmes," study of the Scriptures
will reveal that Genesis was written by the Hebrew elders
during the Babylon captivity. In order to explain man’s origin
and purpose on earth, these inspried writers depicted the fall
of (wo) mankind by representing such under the names “Adam
and Eve." It is not Eve's search for knowledge or education that
caused the fall, but the quest of our ancestors for that which is
evil—everything that is good was with them.
Regarding the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic Church
does not teach or believe that all that is pleasurable Is evil, as
Janie seems to believe; but rather, that the gift of life Is meant
to be reserved for the procreation of humanity. With a purpose
as divine and beautiful as that, evil cannot be present. Not to
confuse you with the facts, but both Matthew and Luke state
that Jesus was conceived in Mary by the power of the Most
High.
And then Mary Magdalene—“everyone knows what kind of
woman she was"—or do they? Touched by the presence of
Christ, she renounced her past life and joined the "royal
SAB secrets
u/HAT?
m
The Sunshine law doesn’t apply
to the SAB since it’s not a gover
ning body. But even though no law
requires their meetings to be held
publicly, the SAB should play by
the good guy rules, a code which
says constituencies have the right
to know what their representatives
are doing for, or to them.
SAB has made a half-hearted at
tempt to go public by authorizing a
post-meeting press conference at
which SAB members can issue
releases written by SAB par
ticipants. This second-hand in
terpretation cannot help but be
slanted by special interests. An
outside reporter with access to all
sources is the only way the full
story of meetings can surface.
Open meetings would do the
SAB no harm and students could
be enlightened. It is, however, the
rare student who attends any type
of governmental meeting.
The only students who attend
Nobody could get that fabled myth called a “Job." Which
only proved once more that America has no PR equal In Its
marketing of dreams; maybe that's why it disappoints so many
people who would gladly sell all of that superficial glitter... .for
one shred of lasting substance.
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priesthood" of Jesus. The four gospels tell us that Christ cast
demons out of Mary Magdalene, and it was to her that He first
appeared after the Resurection. St. Mary Magdalene was
clearly a holy person. So renounce the “knowledge" you
gained from "JCS” and “Godspell," and do a little reading and
understanding for a change.
“So, as a woman, there are the choices." You can answer
Christ’s call to sanctity in his priesthood by accepting a
vocation in the married, religious or single life. (Vatican II) Or,
you can spit in His face, turn your back, and renounce all that
is good. Or is it not enough for the Lord to personally call you
to the priesthood (or personhood) of Christ?
Missing a few
TO THE EDITOR: The column by Corbett Klein in Wednesday’s
issue is an example of the growing resignation the American
public is taking toward the threat of nuclear war. His words
“...that nuclear .weapons can be used as an effective in
strument of war...without annihalation" is typical of con
temporary thinking. In truth it is a resignation, almost ac
meetings of USG, ARHS and OTIS
are the few who can readily recite
what these acronyms really mean.
Academic Assembly, each
college’s student council and the
University Faculty Senate are
mysterious bodies to most studen
ts simply because they have never
taken. an interest in their
proceedings. The State College
Municipal Council regularly sets
aside time for citizen response at
the end of their monthly meetings.
They just as regularly skip the
event for a lack of speakers. And
only a few observers come to the
important Board of Trustee meet
ings.
The prospect of open SAB
meetings will not bring hordes of
student activists to their meetings.
But every student should have the
opportunity to discover either first
hand or by reading an objective
published report just what the SAB
is' up to.
get good grades and the road from there on was paved with
golf. Again, youth brought that hard sell without ever
questioning its value, let alone its reality. But that's not too
surprising.
They don’t teach us to disagree with half the vitality they do
to capitulate.
fl -
Davis
Soooo ... for some, the. dream became a Cinderella won*
derland (with the Seven Dwarfs still on welfare). And It’s a
nightmare many continue to buy. Don't go to school to learn,
go to get a job or get a guy or a gal or both, if you’re am
bidexterous. Cram on the weekends, hope the prof likes you,
don't get emotionally involved, you fool, you fool and don't for
God’s sake, knock anybody up. When you're all finished, you
won't remember a damn thing, that, was, supposedly "taught"
you (the re-selling of textbooks at term's end testifies to that) <
but, by golly, my boy, you'll have had one helluva time for four
years, right? And what happened then?
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eternal disenchantment
Second Impression at the midway: Kind of.
But one maverick was different from the masses. He didn’t
come to college to graduate, but to saturate himself with
knowledge. To discover for himself evolution rather than
revolution. And the accompanying ability to find the answers if
he didn't always quite know the questions. His conceit was
also his confidence, and he received what he came for. An
education. In fact, he didn't get what he bargained for, he got
far more than he could’ve ever hoped for.
He discovered ... that the mark of the truly curious person is
that what the institution cannot supply by its rigidity, you then
go out and fetch it for yourself by your own research. When the
entrenched so smugly imagine themselves to know It all, you
notice how terrified they become of one single question: why?
When the teacher has taught all he can, the taught must try
other avenues of enlightenment. When you sincerely desire to
know, when the quest can never be consummated, when all
that's available isn’t all there Is ... that’s when one understands
that education,'in all its many facets, is an endless diamond,
eternal in its ongoing process, a procedure that cannot be
accorded an arbitrary and worthless symbol of expertise. It can
only be arrived at through a wealth of experience.
In the process, he saw that academia produces many
lemmings immobilized by their own ipeptitude, a small
number of educated men, some learned personalities but
precious few original thinkers. Which Is what a true scholar is.
While on Pattee lies the quotations "The library Is a sum*,
mons to scholarship" and "The true university is a collectlon of
books." Maybe, I suppose, back during the humanistic
academies of the Renaissance, though hardly so nowadays. ;
Wouldn’t It be reassuring if all the thefts that made a burglar
system necessary at Pattee were due to Interested seekers
rather than people just hoping to ace a quiz next week? On the
walls of Sparks are chiseled the names of cherished thinkers
and men of genuine Imagination, stimulation and instigation
... Socrates, Dane, Shakespeare, Hippocrates, Michelango (I
would’ve preferred Leonardo here, but that’s a question of
connoisseurship). Yet, as J gaze up at these gentlemen,
Viewers thirsty for suspense
in greater Great Debate format
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON (UPI) There is talk
now of changing the format for the next
“great debate" between President Ford
and Jimmy Carter.
In that regard I did a quick, man-in
the-street type survey to see what the
home viewing audience felt was wrong
with the first debate.
Here are some of their comments and
suggestions:
Newt Faglie said he thought the
debates could be improved by sticking in
commercials after each question.
“It was impossible during the first
debate to dash out to the kitchen for
another beer without missing
something," he complained.
“If God had meant for us to watch
television for 90 minutes without
commercials, He wouldn't-have given us
a two-beer thirst.”'
Sidney Ploughfoot said he thought the
debates could be improved a great deal
with instant replays.
“Any time one of the candidates
comes up with an articulate verbal
ceptance of the “inevitable". Following this line of thinking he
proposes civil defense measures to physically and
psychologically prepare the public for attack,,build a bigger
and better military "defense" posture, and proposes all the
other measures modern-day social darwinists clamor for.
Well, Corbett you're missing a few points and blurring
others. First, ypu quote Reader’s Digest, the podium of the
Buckleys, Haags, Liards and Grahams. You owe it to yourself
to get some divergent viewpoints. Secondly, the Digest has
given you the illusion that the Soviets want to rule the world.
Well, they want to rule the world as much as America wants to
rule the world. What I mean is that they have the same ob
jectives as America—to be strong and free. To rule the world
however, even in a nuclear age, is a practical impossibility. The
Soviets are aware of this; they cannot even maintain a stable
Warsaw Pact of only eight countries.
The Soviets, as well as the Americans, want armaments for
the same reason that every other country in history has wanted
weapons—to be able to Interfere with the internal and external
affairs of other nations to the best economic and strategic
advantage, to be able to secure materials, to have better
bargaining positions, to pit ideologies against conflicting
Ideologies and all the rest of Machiavellian politics.
I’m not advocating an abandonment of defense. But I think
thrust, a burst of eloquence or a brilliant
riposte, they should stop the action and
show it again,” he said. ..
“Some of the networks gave us a
review of the highlights after the debate
was over, but that is nowhere near as
effective as seeing them again right after
they happen."
Mrs. Lobelia Nightshade objected to
the scoring system used in the first
debate.
"We had to wait for the pollsters to
take post-debate opinion samplings
before we knew who won,” she said.
Next time, she said, they should keep
a running score, updated after each
question, so viewers would know who
was ahead at each stage of the debate.
“It would add a great deal of suspense
and excitement,” she pointed out.
“Suppose they came down to the last
question with Carter still holding a slight
lead but with Ford still having a chance
to pull it out with a wide sweep on the
abortion issue. You'd have the audience
on the edge of their seats."
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geniuses all and true, one persistent point can’t escape my
judgment.
None of them ever had a degree.
Final impression at the end: He 11...
And the eternal disenchantment continues. The prime Issue
on campus these days is alcohol. Beautiful. Dean Martin
would be in idiot’s heaven to hear this. I'm glad to see such a
sterling example of scholarship being so endlessly debated.
Just think you pay almost five thousand (and more) dollars
over four years just to get all revved up over the issue
whether you can get drunk out in the open or In the closet
(which Is pretty crowded as it is these days). I have yet to see
an ongoing dialogue on these pages about the relative quality
of teachers, Instructors, professors (ope is not the other), or
demanding that the quality be improved upon (which is an
escalating issue, anyway, ’cause then you'd have to demand
better Deans. Ain’t that right, Wally?).
Plus, they're about to institute (oh, that word) remedial
classes. Not only in.secondary or beginning education, but In
the hallowed halls of higher instruction itself. A process of
basic foundation-making that should’ve been hurdled years
ago.
Somebody Isn’t doing what they're supposed to. On both
sides.
Gypsy in my soul is how Shirley MacLalne describes the
disease I have. And since it’s a symptom which Is incurable
(except by a rarely sustained exposure to intelligence), the
options are few. And when the gypsy can no longer learn
freely, when functioning as an artist becomes slavery in the
service of incompetence, when debate becomes an unwelcome
pawn of the devil, and the teachers are so Insecure and con
sumed by their own personal neuroses that to question theiqj
rheoric is tantamount to committing a heresy ... then there's
only one thing left for the gypsy to do.
Leave.
While the world will continue to revolve, regardless
that Americans should learn the distinction between defense !
and “offense." The U.S. military is not agreed mainly to the |
protection of Americans. Its major thrust is toward protecting ■
her vital economic interests abroad and implementing her
Machiavellian policies. If defense were the sole reason, then (
only defensive materials would be produced, not in- ‘
terconinental ballistic missies, B-1 bombers, long range (']
Polaris submarines etc. Power politics has been the cause of ,
every major war In modern history. Civilizations have grown j
and declined in predictable' patterns. America Is now in her !
"post-classic" in my opinion, and if we do not begin to [
downplay the role of the military in foreign affairs and begin to '
seek alternative means of acheiving our goals, America will fall
from those very same enemies that she has created, just as
every powerful nation has fallen before her.
sheila mccauley
Editor -
Elray Limphet thought the debates
could be improved by having the net
works provide a canned laugh track.
“In their regular programs, the net
works wouldn't dare leave it up to the
viewers to determine, when, to titter,
where to guffaw or where to applaud," he
said.
"Viewer reaction is guided by a pre
recorded laugh track that brings the
appropriate response into the home.
“We viewers are accustomed to this
type of service and when we are left on
our own, as during the, first debate
telecast, we become disoriented and
hesitant.
“It would be helpful to have reaction ;
cues in the next debate. If one of the i
candidates made an unexpected charge \
about the other’s foreign policy, there |
could be a recorded gasp to let us know
what we should register surprise. >,'<i
“Or if one of the candidates makes
some witty, incisive, impromptu
rejoinder, there could be a recorded gasp
to let us know we should register
astonishment."
NADINE KINSEY
Business Manager
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Charles Stanlsh
Tth-anthropology