Editorial opinion
Very
In this era of tuition hikes
and financial woes for the
University, it's interesting to
see how the administration
cuts and adds personnel to
make the budget fit.
Apparently, they cut from
student services and add to
the University bureaucracy.
Effective August 15, the ad
ministration will have a new
bureaucrat: the executive
assistant to the Provost.
Effective Spring Term, five
positions were eliminated
from the Ritenour Health
Center.
Students lost. a health edu
cator, a clinical psychologist,
a billing clerk, a doctor and a
doctor'9assistant.
Old Main will gain an exec-
Collegian forum
By BILL CLUCK
President, Penn State
Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws
Marijuana: It's almost legal, isn't
it?
The time has come to stop treating
marijuana smokers like criminals.
Almost 40 million Americans have
tried marijuana. About 50 per cent of
Penn State's student body use
marijuana regularly.
Obviously, we are not vicious
criminals who rape, murder and
laugh uncontrollably, as depicted by
that classic film "Reefer Madness."
Since 1970, over two million people
have been arrested for marijuana in
the United States. How many of those
people have had their careers
destroyed because. of their criminal
record?
In Pennnsylvania in 1976, 8,751
people were arrested for possession
of under one ounce of marijuana.
That comprised 77 per cent of all drug
arrests in the states. It cost $lO
million in law enforcement resources
to prosecute otherwise law-abiding
it's a mad mad mad mad world i
By ROSE DeWOLF
Philadelphia Bulletin
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Picture
yourself - in this situation. It is after
Midnight . . . you have gone to bed. You
are awakened by a noise . . . was that
glass breaking? You go down to your
living room to check. And there you find
a total stranger, sitting in an armchair,
casually smoking a cigarette.
You call the police. "Arrest him," you
say. "He has broken into my house."
"Your house?" says the stranger.
"This is MY house and YOU are the
intruder." He tells the police to arrest
you.
This actually happened four weeks ago
to a couple who live in the Wynnefield
section of Philadelphia. The police, after
sorting out identities, discovered that
the stranger is a young man named Gary
Denby who has been committed to
Byberry State Hospital. The police
returned Denby to Byberry.
That's not the end of the story. Two
days later, Denby was back again,
interesting
utive assistant to the Provost
(not to be confused with reg
ular assistants of which there
are two).
The new executive, Richard
L. Morrill, will come to the'
University wth the new Pro
vost, Edward D. Eddy, to
serve on some University
wide committees and work on
special projects relating to
academic work.
The clinical psychologist is
needed, says Undergraduate
Student Government Pres
ident Grant Ackerman,
because there are 70 patients
currently being treated by the
mental health center who
I?enefit from the therapist's
services.
Next month Morrill will
move into his brand new office
Almost a legend
citizens. That is taxpayers money
that should be used to stop more
serious crime.
What can we do to solve the
problem?. Legalize marijuana? No!
Although many of you would like to
see that happen, it is not politically
realistic. I wouldn't .want to en
courage recreational drug use
abuse. Look ,at all the problems that
alcohol and tobacco are causing.
NORML is seeking a more rational
approach to the marijuana issue.
Decriminalization, removing
criminal penalties for possession of
small amounts of marijuana, is now
in effect in ten states, including New
York, North Carolina and
Misssissippi.
Contrary to popular belief, if
marijuana is decriminalized, usage
will not increase substantially. In
Oregon, usage went up only 4 per cent
since they decriminalized in 1973.
California saved $25 million in law
enforcement resources since they
changed their pot law in 1976.
Politicians like decriminalization
ringing the doorbell, trying to get in. He
came in the afternoon and again at 12:30
p.m. The police took him back to
Byberry again.
The couple began to get a little scared.
How long was this going to go on?
True, Denby has never tried to hurt
them but that doen't necessarily con
vince them he never will as long as
Denby is convinced they are the in
terlopers in "his" home.
According to Dr. Jane Perrine of
Byberry, Denby has this illusion that he
received $1 million while in high school
and he believes he used part of that to
"buy" this house. Why this particular
house? That's a mystery. Denby never
lived there. It isn't particularly
luxurious or unusual. And it certainly
isn't a convenient commute from the
hospital.
But the mystery of why Gary Denby
has selected this house does not bother
the couple who live in it half so much as
the mystery of how a committed mental
patient can find it so easy to make
Letters to the Editor
and begin his new job at an
undisclosed salary.
Ackerman and Helen
Barrow, chairman of Rite
nour's student advisory board,
will meet with University
officials to "preps" for rein
statement of the five jobs.
"Students have no input into
budgeting," Barrow said last
week. "We have no way of
knowing if cutbacks could
have been made in other
areas."
Maybe if students press
hard enough, cutbacks and
additions to the staff could be
discussed before enacted.
The administration might
even open up. an "Office for
Student Budgeting Input."
But then we might lose
another doctor.
From the . editor
Editor: 'I
The want of money has been a unifying
theme of too many issues this summer.
Teamsters threaten a strike, ad
ministrators fret over the state's ap
propriation to the University, state
legislators stall over the budget, and
students attempt to meet the increasing
expenses of an education. All have
combined into a covetous cry for more
cash.
The desire for money. It has been the
issue of the summer no matter where
one turns, and last week it began to wear
on me.
All people seemed to be little more
than avaricious bastards. My mistake,
however, was that I had forgotten how
important to human nature greed is.
Last week refreshed my memory of this
basic lesson.
My naivete first surfaced in an
editorial a couple of weeks ago in which I
scolded the State College Area School
District for blaming Philadelphia as the
sole culprit for limited state funding to
area school districts. The impoverished
inner city needs proportionately more
state support of education than does a
school district such as State College, I
reasoned.
because it means they aren't en
couraging usage, they just don't think
their kid should' face a possible 30
days in jail and-or a $5OO fine for
smoking a joint.
However, a lot of legislators in
Harrisburg feel that their con
stituents are against decriminal
ization.
I feel that we have an' excellent
chance for marijuana reform in
Pennsylvania. Think about it. No
more paranoia. You will be able to
come out of the closets. Besides, our
closets are already overcrowded.
Letters have to be written.
Legislators do read their mail. You
would be surprised that the impact of
one or two well written letters can
have on a representative.
Come to our next meeting Wed
nesday, July 13 in 225 HUB at 8 p.m.
Bring a friend and a pen. We need
your help.
After all, if all the people who
smoke marijuana were put in jail,
there would be no room for real
criminals.
repeated visits there. Why didn't the
police arrest him for breaking and en
tering and put him safely in jail? Or why
doesn't Byberry take steps to insure
that, since he's been committed there,
hestays there.
Dr. Perrine says that Denby is lodged
in a ward that has locked doors but she
concedes it is not hard to get out if you
know how "and he knows how."
Actually, Denby has walked off from
Byberry at least a half dozen times.
The couple(who did not wish to be
identified . that's how nervous they
are about this) retained attorney Carol
Clarfeld to intercede for them. Ms.
Clarfeld says she found the authorities
"remarkably casual" about the
problem. It seemed the police really
don't like. to arrest' someone who is so
obviously ill and, what's more, is known
to have run off from a hospital . . . and
yet the hospital contends that since
Denby hasn't been convicted of a crime,
he should not be placed in the high
security ward reserved for criminals.
am a greedy bastard'
One professor (and State College
resident) disagreed with me.
"Fuck Philadelphia," was his rational
Letter to the Editor. He obviously had 'a
point and I would have printed his letter
except readers probably would not have
understood what he really meant.
A Jeff
- hawkes
His argument in favor of greed did not
sink in, though. Just this past week I
editorialized that the Teamsters shoind
strike if they, truly need an 8 per cent
wage increase to maintain their stan
dard of living. However, I reprimanded
the union for authorizing a strike in a
vote in which a minority of the members
participated.
How can so many workers stay away
from a strike vote if they desperately
need more money? I pondered.
Discrimination
On the evening of June 29, a bit of discrimination took place
at the Lambda Chi Alpha house at a party they sponsored;
perhaps discrimination is too harsh fo4 what transpired.
I noticed the announcement of their party as I sat in class
waiting for a professor to arrive. I saw that the male segment
of the population would be assessed a fee of $1.25 to attend the
party and the female clientele would be' aqmitted for nothing
free no charge!
I know that no one likes to be discriminated against. These
days, sexual discrimination many times causes nasty
repercussions. The organization was obviously out to make
money, but why at the expense of one segment of the
population? Are the members that hard up that they'll do this
sort of thing just to have women'around? Got pimples, guys?
A lot of people will say that women don't drink as much beer
as guys. Well, then charge by the beer, instead of making the
guys pay for what the women drink. -
Perhaps the women who always yell "discrimination!" at
the tiniest of transgressions should do the same here. "Let us
be treated like men! Make us pay, too!" But, I doubt that that
sentiment was expressed
I imagine a lot of labels like sexist will be thrown in my face,
but I'm in favor of equal rights. Easy to 'say, hard to prove,
right?
This appears to be somewhat of a tradition at colleges as
close as I can figure out. I feel the people who are being ex
ploited should look closer. The guys are paying for two people
to drink, whether they had a date or not and the women look as
if they are being used to satisfy the members own t rieeds. May
sound far fetched to some, but not to me.
Equal rights is an admirable thing, but not when it is ar
bitrarily administered. Women do carry wallets, - too, you
know.
The doctors feel the police should
arrest him . . . the police feel the
hospital should handle it.
Attorney David Ferleger of the Mental
Patients Civil Liberties Project says
either way would be perfectly legal. The
police have the right to arrest a
lawbreaker no matter what his mental
state and the hospital has the right to
place a patient in a secure setting
whether the patient is committed civilly
or criminally.
Attorney Clarfeld says that after a
week of effort, she arranged for a
hearing involving a judge, the DA's
office, Denby, his attorney, psychia
trists and herself to find a way to
solve her client's problem. The hospital
was ordered to keep the patient under
security.
What this all shows, of course, is that
in this world craziness is not the ex
clusive property of mental patients. Not
when a householder has - to hire an .at
torney in order to find a way to keep a
total stranger from trying to move ieto
his home in the middle of the night.. I
Letters quickly arrived, again point
ing out my naivete over pecuniary
matters.
One student wrote that no Teamster
wage increase is ever justified because
the increasingly impoverished students,
studying to become doctors and lawyers,
will have to support the unfair burden.
One Teamster wrote that his union
should not be considered the sole villain
in asking for a pay raise that might
cause a second tuition hike Winter Term.
After all, aren't all the other University
employees getting pay raises, too?
Meanwhile, in Harrisburg state
legislators aren't fond of a tax hike this
year. Never mind that state employees
may be laid off and supported by state
unemployment and welfare money.
Never mind that schools and colleges
may have to slash programs and wound
the quality of education.
Instead the legislators reckon that
voters find it hard to re-elect someone
who makes them pay more taxes. So who
can blame the poor politicians?
By the end of last week I was cussing
everyone for being greedy bastards.
Then I woke up. If everyone is a greedy
bastard, then I'm no exception. We all
Jeff Stauffer
10th-political science
Love potion
I would like to correct several statements that were made 10
the recent Daily Collegian article concerning the gypsy moW
"love potion."
First of all, the substance is a snythetic pheromone, not:4
hormone, since it is released to the outside of the body andjy
received by another individual.
Secondly, the article implied that this was a receiii
discovery. Disparlure, the name of the synthetic pheromong,
was synthesized more than seven years ago and has been
extensively tested. Many of these studies have been conduct&
here, at Penn State, and further testing is being done at ths
time.
Thirdly, the pheromone is released by the female adult, nt
by the caterpillar. It is the adult stage which is the maid'
stage and lasts for approximately seven days. The caterpillal
is the destructive feeding stage and it lasts for about eight
weeks. F 1
Lastly, I would like to point out that the use of the chemical,
against the gypsy moth, is Only effective in those areas where
there is a low density population of the insect. In areas of high
population, the probability of a male finding the female simpl'
overwhelms the disruptive effect of the synthetic pheromone
Michael Waldvogil
graduate student
dept. of entomology
dtahleycollegian
JEFFREY HAWKES
EDITOR
ItS - mane A DocrtiQ IN ii4E 440035 7+
seek what is best for ourselves; we all :
protect our self-interest. What's wrong I,
with that? It's a glorious part of human 1
i
nature.
I'm as greedy as the next person. It's
beautiful! i
I really don't want the Teamsters to
strike. It would just cost me more tuition
and my dorm's bathroom won't get
cleaned. Phooey on the Teamsters.
I really don't mind a tax hike this year.
I don't have a job, so it won't hurt me.
Besides, a tax hike might keep my ,
tuition down. Tax away.
And I don't want Philadelphia blamed;
for anything as silly as less state aid to
public education. After all, I'm a Phillies ;
1
fan. • .
I'm so relieved that I finally woke up. 1 ,
I'm a bastard and greedy and proud of it.
I hope you are too. Greed is the essence
of survival.
-«
Our Constitution even guarantees out
right to the pursuit of property ang
happiness. , pg,
Greed is the reason for our , verx
survival. Ask Darwin. Ask Ayn Rand. A,
Now, I just hope we all will have th§
good fortune to die rich.
SCOTT R. SESLER
BUSINESS MANAGEit
611
\ ii „,
t 9
ri
...x..