Editorial Opinion Sometimes convenience can be costly. The Alpha Fire Company has put out 17 garbage chute fires this month, including five in one weekend. Some start by careless dumping; others are pur posely set. Wherever the spark comes from, the result is the same a fire, complete with choking smoke in the hallways. The fire company has asked the Centre Region Code Enforcement Committee to seal off the chutes. David Beitz, code enforcement director, said the idea is still in “the discussion stage” adding that the chutes could It's about time Penn State’s Police Service Officers are once again requesting to be armed and I feel it’s about time that they were. They are trained police officers. They have gone to the State Police training academy and received firearm in struction. At present they must periodically qualify with a handgun. Their training is the same as any other police officer in the state. They are not a “security force.” If I’m being physically threatened, I have the right to be protected by an adequately equipped police force. Aside from insuring the welfare of the students, the PSOs must protect visiting celebrities and diplomats, a physical plant worth hundreds of millions of dollars, rare antiques, vital research projects and a nuclear reactor. PSOs must also protect themselves. University Park en compasses 75 square miles. It would be ridiculous for a PSO who has stopped a stolen vehicle on the outreaches of campus , to wait for armed backing from the Milesburg State Police or State College. Neither department is expected to be familiar with the campus and the time delay could be fatal. I have worked with and observed many police departments Collegian Forum t V ( . 1 . . Vv. “ * Reforms By GREGG CUNNINGHAM Candidate for the 77th State Congressional District In attempting to defend her change of posture on corruption reform legislation, Mrs. Helen Wise was quoted in last Thursday’s Collegian (Sept. 28) as making two statements which are unequivocally incorrect. In her first statement, the legislator •sought to justify her election-eve proposal of a corruption reform measure which would require legislators charged with criminal misconduct to surrender leadership positions pending the out come of their trials, when in fact this measure was in concept identical to measures against which she voted on three separate occasions in 1977. I issued a public call for this reform nearly one year ago and have since criticized her opposition to the change. Mrs. Wise is quoted as stating that she initially opposed this measure because to have voted for it at the times of its natural introduction would have prejudiced the trials of those House members then under criminal in dictment. In response, I quote the final sentence of this measure as recorded in the Legislative Journal of March 23,1977, at page 300: “This rule shall apply only to felony indictments or arraignments taking place subsequent to the date this PEMN STATE FALL FASHIONS// FIRS AlX> Fashions FOP.THE -SEcoptry CONSCIOUS STUUEMT/f STORMEO. FASHIONS LTD... CHI CKsO STATS. Alarm be closed if they were found to be a fire hazard. The statistics speak for themselves. Residents may grumble about carrying their garbage downstairs, but this inconvenience is a small price to pay to prevent a fire. A more costly idea has already passed the discussion stage and awaits approval by the State College Borough Council. The Code Enforcement Committee has recommended Requiring smoke detectors in all apartments within one year. Students will once again grumble, but this time with good reason. Apartment owners will probably add the put foxes rule is adopted." In clear and unam biguous language, the measure states specifically that it would not have af fected House members then under in dictment. Please, note that I am not alleging that this is what the measure said, I am quoting the measure itself. In her second statement, Mrs. Wise asserts that I did not address myself to the “main thrust” of her proposed “corruption measure” which is the “watchdog committee” ' designed to police criminal misuse of taxpayers money by legislators. In response I quote the Collegian of Wednesday, September 20 at page 3: “Cunningham also criticized the structure of Wise’s watchdog committee. ‘ ‘The committee would be composed of House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis, Majority Leader James Manderino, Minority Leader Matthew Ryan and five mem bers of each party to be appointed by the speaker. Each of the men was accused of various misuses of taxpayers money in the Inquirer series,” Cunningham said. Now consider the Associated Press story published in the Centre Daily Times on September 28. Commenting on this so-called “watchdog committee," the article notes that “ .. . the wat chdogs will be the legislators themselves . . . ” and quotes Rep. Joseph Zeller, D- Lehigh, as saying that’s “like having 12 foxes watching over the henhouse.. . .” Letters to the Editor in the state. PSOs handle situations with a more understanding attitude than the majority of the departments I have seen, especially where students are involved. If any other officer were to take the abuse PSOs take there would be a lot of cracked skulls. Penn State PSOs are true peace officers. Bob Ewing 7th-division of undergraduate studies Sept. 28 ARMS defense Recently I have become disturbed by the poor journalism in The Daily Collegian. As far as I can see, the series of articles examining the uses and abuses of funds in residence hall student government is both biased and incomplete. Reporters for the Collegian have a duty to the readers to provide a clearer picture of what the Association of Residence Hall Students does with its money. Because the Collegian has neglected to perform this responsibility, I would like to stop here for a moment and remind those of you who are reading this exactly how ARHS uses its funds to provide students with valuable services. • in henhouse com. T iF >T Illustration byMark VanDlno cost of buying and installing the smoke detectors to that perennial, vague tyrant known as “increased costs,” which “forces” them to raise rents. If the smoke detectors are installed, chances are they will be disconnected after the first big party is disrupted by the blaring sound of one set off by a night’s worth of cigarettes. Smoke detectors do not prevent fires. The Code Enforcement Committee should direct more of its energies toward the source of the problem, as with the garbage chutes, and not only the symptom. Consider next an Associated Press article appearing in the sajne publication on September 30th. Referring to the “Reform Fever” that swept the legislature last week the story states that “ . . . the fever had common symptoms.” Fearing the wrath of irate voters and feeling the lash of the media, law makers cast furtive glances over their shoulders while developing sweaty palms and dry throats. “Even their vision was affected.” Everything they enacted in this over whelming blitz had been considered before. “But the fever, sure to ease after the November election, made them see things in a different light.” It is also significant to note that Mrs. Wise, apparently unphased by Inquirer charges of misconduct, announced her intention to place Irvis, Manderino and Ryan at the head of her watchdog committee several days after the Inquirer revelation of their wrongdoing. (The Inquirer article appeared Sep tember 12th and the Centre Daily Times and Collegian articles announcing the proposed committee appeared on the 14th and 18th respectively. The forgoing is not speculation, it is carefully documented fact and I urge every voter to confirm these facts for himself. Read the record and be the judge: reform or charade? Getting justice no simple matter The equal rights amendment ex tension, scheduled for consideration this week in the U.S. Senate, may be the most important piece of legislation Congress has voted on in the last few years. Congress is debating whether or not to extend the March 22, 1979 deadline for states to ratify the amendment. The nationwide debate on the issue goes beyond the substantive question of whether the ERA should or should not be the 27th amendment to the Constitution, to a procedural issue of extending the deadline for its consideration by the states. By rejecting the extension, legislators would eliminate the opportunity for full discussion of a matter of national con cern. When Congress overwhelmingly approved the ERA in 1972, it continued a recent practice of setting a seven-year limit for consideration by the states of a proposed amendment in order to have the issue settled within a “reasonable time.” (No time limits at all were set for most of the first 20 amendments.) This “reasonableness of time,” was based partly on the assumption that the issue would have been fully debated and acted upon either positively or negatively by mid decade. ISN’T THAT SWEET,RALPH ?..OURUTtLE 6IRL 18 TRVINS OUT FOR CHEERLEADERS.,, Just last year ARHS helped fund half the budget for Movin’ On. ARHS completely organized all the weekend activities from start to finish, and afterwards donated money to a charity. ARHS also sponsors the Book Co-op, an opportunity for students to buy and sell their books at better prices than they would get at the bookstores. Entertainment activities which benefit the students as a whole, most recently Steve Wyncoop and Andy Mozenter performed a free concert at the HUB, are also paid for out of ARHS funds. Two branches of ARHS in particular, the Residence Hall Advisory Board,‘and the Movie Co-op, deserve some com mendable recognition here. Up to $3OO is allocated to each of the individual dorm areas for better movie programs; providing the students with top notch films such as “The Goodbye Girl” and classics such as “Gone With The Wind." RHAB members deal specifically with Housing and Food Services on campus. Any student may stop by the ARHS office at 20-A HUB, Monday thru Friday; and give suggestions on such things as the meatloaf recipe used in the dining room or inquire about how to get out of a dorm contract. Why, has the Collegian neglected to mention that ARHS not only gave money to Rent Wars last year in an effort to fight for lower apartment rates, but also participated in the actual picketing of the apartments? Am I the only one who remem bers that ARHS partially funded the Black Caucus trip to Washington when they demonstrated against the Bakke case? Or is it the Collegian is more interested in exposing a one-sided deceptive account of the way funds are managed? ' The endless list of valuable services that ARHS funds with their money is in best interest to the students participating in them Much of the organization and distribution of funds last year was coordinated by ARHS leaders Jeff Glazier and Steve Matt. As Hal Saville wrote in his letter to the editor last Thursday, “Must The Daily Collegian’s editorials refer to those students as bureaucrats as if they had done nothing wrong for students but abuse their funds?” I only ask for a more thorough and complete exploration of the handling of funds in fairness for the hard-working students of ARHS as well as the readers of the Collegian who must be subjected to this slanted jour nalism. Pavilion questions As hard as I have tried, I fail to understand the logic behind the action of converting the Ice Skating Pavilion into an indoor sports complex. Of course, it would be nice to have such a complex for the convenience of the varsity teams. However, was it really necessary to make this convenience available to a few privileged people at the expense of the general student body, clubs and citizens of the surrounding area who would normally use the ice skating rink? Taking into consideration the money involved in the present plan, wouldn’t it have made more sense to build an indoor sporting complex without converting the pavilion? The cost of converting four or five tennis courts into an apparently less than adequate outdoor rink, plus the cost of resurfacing those courts at $46,000 apiece after their temporary use seems highly uneconomical. If one takes into consideration the added expense of con verting the pavilion into a fieldhouse able to meet the needs of the various teams, it certainly makes more sense to use that Indeed, contrary to that view, the intensity of debate on this significant political matter, and the slowness of state legislatures in bringing it to a vote, have combined to make the seven year period appear in retrospect to have been unreasonable. • ' Some states that have yet to act on ratification have no legislative sessions in 1978, among them Nevada and Arizona. In other states, such as Utah, where only the budget will be considered in 1978, legislators have used intricate procedural devices to preclude con sideration of the amendment. Moreover, with the legislators of those states up for election in November, there is little opportunity unless the period is ex tended for voters to have views on the ERA truly reflected in legislative roll calls. In my judgement Congress not only has the right, but also the responsibility to extend t&e deadline, if only to demonstrate its condern for the issues to which the ERA responds, and to acknowledge the widespread public interest in and discussion of these issues. Allison David 4th-political science Oct. 2 It is imperative that Congress keep the forum open for much-needed local, state and national debate. To do otherwise to allow the March 1979 cutoff to go into effect would be to slam the lid on many people who” are waiting to have their say. People often say “Oh, this is un necessary legislation,” Does the country need ERA? Let’s look at the facts. The Justice Department admits that discrimination against women in professional positions at the Department of Energy have been so flagrant that the women will be paid up to $l2 million in damages. Since January 1975, women at the agency were hired for the same jobs as men, but were paid less. And regardless of merit, the men got promoted. In the U.S. Federal Code, the U.S. Committee on Civil Rights in 1977 found more than 800 provisions which would assign women to an inferior role. If the discrimination is that pervasive in the federal government, you can imagine how huge it is in the remainder of our national life. Being realistic, you can’t get 800 pieces of legislation correcting sex discrimination through Congress without ERA. It is argued that the courts will control money toward the erection of a new indoor sports complex. Or is it too much of an inconvenience for our varsity teams to practice outdoors in the cold for just a few more years? I would tend to think it much more inconvenient for the Ice ’ Skating Club and Ice Hockey Club to travel 90 miles to prac tice. It will also cost the Athletic Department money to help pay for the clubs’ traveling expenses. I’d like to pose yet another question: What ever happened to the “universal” attitude of the University? Why was the remainder of a “mere” 32,000 students forgotten? Granted, not everyone used the pavilion ice skating rink, but if the/ University did away with all the facilities that only portions of our student population used as independents, there wouldn’t be very many facilities on campus. True, the ice skating rink will only be absent for a “few” years until they gather the necessary funds, but why did it have to go in the first place? If we, as students, had been more, aware of the goings-on on this campus, I doubt that this would v have happened. Keeping up In response to the recent controversy over arming 2ampus police, I agree wholeheartedly with Walt Meyer’s column on the subject. The points he brought up in last Thursday’s Daily Collegian were valid ones, and I feel the issue goes even fur ther. Penn State, as an educational institution, has certain'" responsibilities to its students. One of these responsibilities deals with the assurance of their safety. Granted, the campus police do a good job at present, but can their job be significantly improved by their possession of guns? Why use a gun a symbol of killing to prevent or stop what are rarely life or death situations? One death is one death too many, and the chances of that are greatly increased once firearms arls) issued even to well-trained police. Education teaches values. What sort of values would this step possibly teach students? Do threats of force and news of more serious forms of violence have a positive effect on in : tegrating young adults into society? By allowing guns to be issued to police services, the University would be teaching acceptance of violence to control virtually any group of There hasn’t yet been any demonstrated proof of firearms’ ” true need at Penn State. If issued here, where will they be issued next if society is taught to accept them as a “normal” component of a reality that it has unknowingly created? - Other similar universities may feel pressured into following suit to “keep up with the Stormers.” It’s an endless chain thatl-' feel Penn State has no reason for getting entangled in. -'iff Katy Koontz J Gth-journalism and anthropology ■ Oct.-2 Collegian „ Dave Skidmore Editor Judi RodricU Business Managers the problem of discrimination. But the case by case route is incoherent, ex pensive and divisive. A single national mandate is required. Failure to enact the extension bill will be taken as a signal by the country that\l we do not want progress..to continue that we do not want equal rights fo* American women. “Stop ERA” proponents claim that ratification will destroy the family. In their view, the typical family is com- i posed of a male breadwinner, who works I all day leaving child-rearing and i housekeeping to his dependent spouse, . who is a full-time wife and mother. I Unfortunately, this group gives if.) j credence to Department of Commerce ! statistics that indicate a mere percent of American families fit this description. Walt Whitman once said “of equality as if it harmed me giving others the same chances and rights as myself if it were not indispensible to my owii rights that others possess the same.” Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski summed up the problem currently [j before the Senate. “It is a matter of U simple justice .. . but getting justice is.. Li no simple matter.” ;; f Alan M. Schlein is a 7th-term political | science major. , ' I Debra Mohry Ith-liberal arts Oct. 3 Judy Stimsoii
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