daily collegian editorial opinion Instead of ridiculing USG, try changing it The Undergraduate Student jGovernment election is sneaking up on everyone. Wednesday is the deadline to submit nominating petitions for USG presidential, vice presidential and senatorial candidates. But as of last night, Rob Fanning, USG elections commissioner, • had received notification from only three legitimate presidential candidates and their running mates. For 35 senatorial positions University wide, he had handed out only about 20 application forms. Fanning was hopeful that many possible applicahts are only procrastinating, and that there will be a stampede of publicly-minded students declaring candidacies and stating platforms over the next two days. Fanning has placed newspaper ads to recruit candidates, and he is concerned that some races especially those for senators representing town students will go by almost unnoticed. All in all, it doesn't look like many of the races will ' be very com petitive. And when elections aren't -reader opinion Irish rights Ireland is equal in magnitude. were exiled from paradise when their own Before peace can come in Ireland, the desires became paramount. Orangemen and English must each -come to a Racism, sexism and elitism prevail when an I write this letter in response to a letter written stark realization. The Orangemen must realize individual or society licenses pragmatism. In by. Suzanne Downs concerning Ireland. She that Ireland is Ireland; it is not England. If they order to ensure self-gratification, factions will seems to seek the truth about Irish-Englih wish to retain their so-called English heritage, ironically persecute contradictory or opposing his tor , let us s dtel aec , ....l4 . s l m i l b L e s.r,,Akiwkamilanclaismnowplacer‘fnr9.:thent , 7lCorrespon-:.7.l... , ifactionso-Ther medievaPerqsades, the Ku Klux eviciat .so ,- Jingly, the English will sooner or later have to Klan and the Moral Majdrity exemplify this Tlere are literally millions of people of Irish realize that the Irish will never forget; how could notion. If expedience breeds contempt, then despillnt in the United States, Australia, Canada, they, when they have been scooped up and pragmatism is paradoxically gratifying yet New Zealand and even England. Why are those dashed to the four winds like so many ashes? unfulfilling. people there and not in Ireland? The answer to our nation's woes is partly th i e The only answer is that their parents, grand- Terence J. Quinn, 12th-forest products elimination of the "carpe diem" attitude. -It is parents and earlier ancestors fled a rebellion- March 20 time for each individual to undertake and in torn, poverty- . and famine-ridden island called culcate optimism. It is as Rev. Schuller coins Ireland which was ruled by its mighty neighbor "possiblity thinking" that promotes a personal England. The cause of most of the hardship and Hope nirvana and a societal Zion. Each individual is strife lay in the fact that the Irish were denied • unique and special; one must strive to perfect the basic inalienable right to govern themselves. We are living in a time of moral decay and that which is within. Unfortunately, strife still exists in the part of intellectual solipsism. We, as a nation, are It does not matter as much what a person is but Ireland controlled by England through her only concerned with economic blight and military what one can be. Once optimism is our society's partially successful settlers, the Orangemen. prowess. We, as individuals, are concerned with outlook, personal growth and societal im- Now before anyone gets too upset over the so- economic blight and self-gratification. Yet, the provement will result. Although the solution called "Irish Republican Army outrages," real problem that faces us is not racial, religious, seems simplistic, it is the first step towards consider the situation that exists. economic or political, although aspects of the betterment. Through optimism we can live in a Well documented cases of voting-district problem manifests itself in these areas. time of moral excellence and intellectual _ . gerrymandering abound in the northeast of veracity.. Ireland, robbing the nationalist population (Catholics) of any say in their government. What person of sound mind is going to deny another person disenfranchised in this manner the right to attempt to change a government by force of arms? Are not the 'so-called Afghanistan rebels justified in fighting for their rights? Or perhaps the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto should have made no gesture of defiance? The havoc that bombs and bullets wreak on people is not pretty, to be sure, but the human tragedy that England fosters through its Orange controlled government in the northeast of Of . .nitirogen,..NASA; nukes and ocimber-thtroWifigj, the opinions Help wanted competitive, unqualified or in , competent candidates get elected. Are students so delighted with the way student government performs that they feel comfortable letting others make decisions and plan activities for them? No, probably the contrary: students seem disillusioned with the way USG operates and, especially after the failure of the Pennulvania State University Student Association proposal, want no part of USG. They'll continue to complain and joke. about their student govern ment, and laugh at the people willing to invest their time in it, but are they volunteering to improve it? Well, for those of the student body who are willing to let actions speak louder than words ; who are willing to do more than perch like hens and criticize, who are willing to prove in a positive way that USG is as good as its members: Now's the time. The Daily Collegian's editorial opinion is determined .by its 17- member board of opinion, with the editor-in-chief holding final responsibility. Rather, our society's overwhelming concern for pragmatism has led to pessimism and ex pedience. It is the adoption of the utilitarian ethic as our societal watchword that has led to our nation's downfall and eventual doom. History illustrates the folly of limited practical and immediate thinking. The Shah of Iran committed atrocities and financial rape against an entire nation for personal gain. Using ex pedience to rally a nation, Hitler perpetuated a genocidal outrage. The confederate states' underlying motive was monetary when they advocated the continous enslavement of human beings. Adam and Eve Illustration by Joe Matunis Ricky' V. Burgess, graduate-speech nuinication March 16 False alarm This is an open letter to Sonja Sampsell, whose letter, "Burned out," appeared in the March 20 issue of The Daily Collegian, I could not agree more that the safety of students should be first and foremost in the minds of University ad- A culture's deepest feelings are often expressed in its everyday humor. One of our most commonly shared responses to our technological society is Murphy's Law "if anything can go wrong, it will." Everybody appreciates the profound grasp of our world which Murphy had; people have had to shrug their shoulders over their inability to control the gremlins that infest our machines. Yeah, Murphy's Law is great it discharges frustration and helps us cope with everyday absurdities. It's funny in a rueful, resigned manner which cap tures perfectly our ambivalent relation with technology. It is funny,. that is, until it kills someone. Thousands of people are maimed and killed every year in those gruesome examples of Murphy's Law which are industrial and mining accidents. These are routinely ignored, unless they are sensational enough to attract media attention. Because many of these accidents result from greedy neglect of worker safety, they cannot be counted as being classic Murphy's Law cases, whereas a classic Murphyism implies an instance where even our best efforts are still not enough to avoid foul-ups. A classic, and macabre, example of Murphy's Law occurred last week when an erroneous all-clear signal was given and a NASA technician was killed after entering the nitrogen-filled engine compartment of the space' shuttle The RIDICULOUS rumor What I s leep w 411 a MOWN i n my bed -For 0 rut - echo nis FALSE 1././ Columbia. "It was a goof-up," ap official told the Associated Press. This is NASA we are talking about, the "best and the brightest." NASA put people on the moon, for God's sake surely the most spectacular success of the problem-solving technological mind set. Yet all NASA's money and expertise could not prevent this latest death, as it could not prevent the deaths of Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil I. Grissom and Edward H. White II in 1967. Murphy is right. The world just cannot be made "fail-safe." 1 0 "1 ~ IrSZ 40ov The most glaring Murphyism of recent times, of course, was Three Mile Island. March 28 is the second anniversary of the mechanical breakdowns and human incompetencies that brought Reactor Unit No. 2 so close to unprecedented slaughter. Eco-Action will not let this an niversary pass unnoticed. Its "Nuclear Awareness Week" was developed to Kepford will speak tonight and bring the many facets of nuclear Thursday night on "The Economics of technology before the public. There will Nuclear Fission" and "Radioactive be expert speakers at 7:15 every night in Waste throught the Decay Cycle," the HUB main lounge, and continuous respectively, in the HUB main lounge. films throughout the day in the HUB.. In tonight's talk •he will expose the ministrators when dormitories are to be built or modified. Your letter, however, contains some misconceptions which you should understand before you decide when and where to direct any future criticism. As a resident assistant in East Halls your son's RA., as a matter of fact; I can testify to the' fact that a good deal of the•problem-you the!n tioned either do not "exiSt . tern 'from the students themselves, not the University'or the residence hall staff. You complain that there should be working elevators on weekends and that they are ar bitrarily shut off by the University. R.A.s and coordinators have the keys to the elevators, and the only time we shut them off is when they have been too badly damaged by students to function, and during fire drills as would automatically happen during a real fire. This brings me to my next point, fire drills. Fire drills are conducted every single month in every single building. This is astate law and is adhered to. The problem arises when students who come downstairs and mumble, grumble and swear at the R.A.s conducting the drills for making them leave the building. Worse yet are those who simply lock their doors and stay in their rooms. Although we check the buildings, there is no way to force all the residents to evacuate, regardless of how much training or authority we have. As for fire extinguishers, four extinguisers of two different types to deal with any possible type of fire are maintained on every floor of each building. There are fire alarms in two locations on each floor as well. Lastly, you complain that "There are no rules whatsoever for students who don't wish them." This is far from the truth. The University's set of rules and regulations are enforced to the highest These presentations will represent a perspective different from the standard utility-nuclear' engineering -Nuclear Regulatory' Commission cabal. 'The supposed "objectivity" of the industry's obscurantist number-throwing is of course no more "objective" for their analyses of nuclear power than is Exxon and the Energy Department's treatment of oil reserves. The "objectivity" of these people amounts to nothing more than unexamined presuppositions, one of the most basic of which is their faith in an' eventual repeal of Murphy's Laiv. The fact that more complex systems to avoid breakdowns lead merely to more 'complex breakdowns has not made an impression on them. • And so they go blithely on, ignoring the ultimate irreducibility of chance, trying ever harder in their pathetically unaware hubris to try to completely rationalize a world that must remain in some small part irrational. Chauncey Kepford of the En vironmental Coalition on Nuclear Power has examined his presuppositions, and so is free from psuedo-objectivity. His ; arguments are sound and empirical, and because of his far-ranging vision ultimately convincing to any but the most congenitally closed-minded. l i 40u degree possible without infringing' upon the rights of students to their privacy. There is an R.A. on duty in each building every night from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., so ar no time are the buildings left unattended at night. This is not to say that improvement is im- 4 rpossible.' This is , far from theercasec Smoke alarms and automaticsprinklers are good ideas and should be implemented as soon as is feasible. But next time, before you decide to criticize, first get your facts straight and make suggestions for improvement. Only then can something be done to improve the safety and .k security of the students. Jeffrey Weiss, 6th4siology Resident Assistant, East Halls March 29 =Collegian Monday, March 23, 1981—Page 2 Paula Froke Editor BOARD OF MANAGERS: Sales Manager, Christian Carpenter; Assistant Sales Manager, Monique Rura; Office Manager, Kim Schiff; Assistant Office Manager, Michelle Forner; Marketing Manager, Rob Kramer; Assistant Marketing Manager, Mark Pulos; National Ad Manager, Patt Gallagher; Assistant National Ad Manager, Mike Conklin; Assistant Business Manager, Paul Rudey; Creative Director, Tracy Meyer. • BUSINESS COORDINATORS: Layout, Cathy Norris, Mike Conklin, Teresa Dorr; Special Projects, Jay Goldberg. common perception that nuclear power• is "needed" as the cynically contrived public relations image it is. Since the 19505,. more than $lOO billion has been invested, and another $lOO billion committed, to nuclear power in this .;•", country. In return, the public has received rate hikes, accidents, shut downs, and at most, 1.25 percent of the I.; annual energy production.• Thursday's talk will focus on the radioactive wastesgenerated throughout the nuclear fuel cycle. The awesome threat of the end-products of nuclear power, 'those eerily-glowing 1 4. pools of water where spent fuel is stored, 7.f' is well-known,' if often shrugged off. But the radioactivity produced by the mining- .J and milling processes is not so well known. .1:f Kepford's talk on these factors . should be most illuminating. i;„ Eco-Action's hard work and initiative ,1 7, have put together a program that,;l :. .. deserves much attention. If you wish to have a chance to be educated, not merely trained, you should attend. If you wish to become aware of the kind of world you live in, and maybe ask some questions about' it, instead of just ac- - cepting the official line, you should at- r. tend. If you wish to be worthy of the name "student," and not be just an end- 9 1 product of an assembly line, then you should attend John Protevi is a 14th-term philosophy major and columnist for The Daily Collegian • 01981 Collegian Inc. Debby Vinokur Business Manager e CATA wants less labor conflict Continued from Page I there will be issues we just can't S. agree on. But we should be able to work out about 80 percent of the things that come up just by talking them out," he said. Concerning CATA operations, Oversier's immediate plans are to resolve Bellefonte 'service cutbacks and to help determine CATA's budget that begins anew July 1. This sum mer, Oversier said he wants to analyze ridership data to perhaps streamline the system, i.e., cutback excessive service areas. The Bellefonte service, the "X" route initiated in May 1980, faces service reduction unless local funding can be found'. County commitments fall nearly $5,000 short of the money necessary to maintain 17 daily round trips between State College and Bellefonte. Unless Spring or Benner townships • or Bellefonte borough agrees to fund some, or all, of the deficit, the number of runs on the route could be reduced to 10 trips daily. Oversier said two of the three municipalities have agreed to at least discuss the issue. He said a decision must be made soon because of budget deadlines. Ridership on the Bellefonte route has increased by 86 Conversion cou use student . . YOUR ): w _):„tv 'mli }, FUTURE AT . . lITS * * HUGHES HELICOPTERS ON CAMPUS INTERVIEWS Because we're a mid-sized company on the verge of an exciting expansion phase, you'll have the opportunity to work on a variety of challenging projects. Projects that offer you a creative and stimulating environment conducive to rapid career growth. Right now, we're seeking graduates in MECHANICAL ENGINEERING • AEROSPACE ENGINEERING ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • COMPUTER SCIENCE Come talk to us about your career plans. Hughes Helicopters, Inc. Where your future points up er+ u/40 -a Hi r 4eia •Tow.a.aNtr4iv • THE CARRIAGE HOUSE and Swim Suits Hughes Helicopters, Inc. 11940 West Jefferson Boulevard - Culver City, California 90230 An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F • U.S. Citizenship Required Shorts Tops The all purpose coat and spring jackets ALL OF THE ABOVE IN THE NEWEST FASHIONS AND FABRICS • / N. 4 ay.' percent since August, he said. "It's a shame to talk about cutting back service on a successful route," Oversier said. Some routes face reductions because of a decrease in demand, he said, but Oversier' doesn't think any radical service reductions are in store.. However, CATA may begin. to provide service on Sunday on a route similar to the evening shuttle. where a bus runs from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. from campus to Aaron Drive to Park April 1, 1981 ALLEY CAT HAVE IT ALL for you and of course and Forest and over to Heritage Oaks. It also runs from campus to Hills Plaza. "It's a tremendously successful route. There's no service on Sunday. You shouldn't shut people out altogether," Oversier said. CATA faces money hassles and it is preoccupying John Spychalski's time in his new role as CATA board chairman. He became chairman Jan. 'lt's inevitable that there will be issues we just can't agree on. But we should be able to work out about 80 percent of the things that come up just by talking them out.' 1. Spychalski is wrapped up in solving short-term cash flow problems, helping to determine the budget scheduled to go into effect July 1 and By DINA DEFABO Dail• 'Collegian Stall Writer Revision of courses to be used under the semester calendar will depend on input receivedf rom students, the dean of continuing education and Com monwealth campuses said Saturday. Speaking at the March meeting of the Council of Branch Campus Student Governments, Robert J. Scannell said program revisions will not be made exclusively by the Calendar Conversion Council. rid "The conversion commission will not make the changes," he said. "The council is simply going to coordinate the change and identify problems and questions supplied by students and faculty. The real changes will take place through departments and colleges." Scannell said students should get involved with the calendar change by expressing their concerns and questions through departments and colleges on their respective campuses. put "If you • have concerns, such •as residential life at the Beaver campus, channel your input and questions through the dean at the campus, and hopefully the input will he passed along to higher chains." he said. '1"11) !f' f;'1; , I F:011 , '!,n,••:1 Dresses Suits Calder Paul Oversier, CATA manager being pressured to repay a $lOO,OOO loan to State College Municipality The short-term cash flow problems mean CATA's bills are due before the authority receives its capital grants from the government. CATA still operates within the confines of its budget short-term deficits arise because of grant-money delays. The problem was temporarily resolved when the participating municipalities in CATA State College borough and College, Ferguson, Patton and Harris townships agreed to co-sign a $BO,OOO loan to CATA. State College borough had acted as CATA's "banker" but recently ended that role because the authority's short-term deficits grew larger and larger as the system expanded. The upcoming 1981-82 budget will focus on running the system as ef ficiently as possible, rather than on expanding routes, Spychalski said. "Our objective is to maintain essentially what we have and to improve it," he said. "Centre Line's level of service will remain essen tially the same or possibly even reduced." Reducing ' CATA's borrowing requirements is a top priority, Spychalski said. Mike Trujillo, president of the York campus Student Government Association, asked Scannell why the University said the semester plan would be implemented in 1984 and then reversed the decision to 1983 ( the original plan would only have affected current students in five-year programs; the 1983 plan will also affect freshmen.) "I really don't know," Scannell said. "All reports that reached the president were pretty much done and no one heard much about it until the president made his announcement I'm sure those questions will he addressed." Trujillo said if students at his campus had known the semester system would affect them, opinions and input received from those students could• have been different. "The change wasn't affecting anyone so no one really cared." Trujillo said. "I'm concerned that the freshmen weren't aware of it and that that in fOrmation could have made a difference in their opinion. The University said one thing and gave us another." Scott Kessler, York campus Student Union Board chairman, said, "I wonder how much the branch campuses were taken into' consideration when the ARBY'S 2 for $2, Spring Celebration Sale! In celebration of the coming of Spring, Arby's Roast Beef Restaurant in State College is offering any 2 of your favorite Arby's beef sandwiches for only $2.00. Choose from Arby's delicious array of slow-roasted beef sandwiches the regular Roast Beef, Beef'n Cheddar, Super Roast Beef and the Arby-Q.® Buy any 2 for only $2.00. So celebrate Spring with our gift to you 2 scrump tious sandwiches for only $2.00! • . ME 11 . ~. . • 1111 7 . _ 1 ARBY'S ROAST ; ANY .2 1 ARBY'S BEEF n lArby , BEEF PLATTER I • ARBY 4 S BEEF It 'N CHEDDAR 4 Includes Roast Beef Sandwich,. rr jZ SANDWICHES 1 1 -14; PLATTER . . „ 2 potatoe cake and cola slaw Buy up to 10 in A Buy up to 6 with this OR $l9 Buy up to 6 with this coupon. Offer valid thru March 31, 1981 oil For $ multiples of 2at this price with the For $ v f4.upAnaisgfAr.vg, coupon. Offer valid EaOnly Only thru March 31,1981 i1:: I y GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE . ANY • ARBY'S BEEF • ANY 2 ARBY'S BEEF . n 1 ARBY'S I A O r i SUPER ROAST g . SANDWICHES I. ..._tt SANDWICHES . . " i _T 3 BEEF PLATTER 0 i OA Buy up to 10 in I WI Buy up to 10 in '$ 2 multiples of 2at this $ • multiples of 2at this $ 89 c.houLytpulnt.oo64,f3welivhas price with the price with the 111 For coupon. Offer valid For coupon. Offer valid I For Only thru March 31,1981 Only thru March 31, 1981 Only GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE GOOD AT ARBY'S IN STATE COLLEGE 01: . i• , , /'• `.ll 1% - 11114 Nra 0 e 0 0 9 CATA may start Sunday service, Oversier says Continued from Page 1. I don't think there will be any radical reductions in service, but there may be a few changes in routes. The other side of the coin is expansion. Right now, we're looking at a hold-the line 1981-82 budget. There are no definite plans for expansion, although we are looking at the possiblity of running one bus on Sunday on the evening shuttle route, which, from .7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., runs from campus up to Aaron Drive over to Park , Forest and to Heritage Oaks. It also runs from campus to Hills Plaza. It's a tremendously successful route. I think a route similar to that on Sunday could do very well, because, let's face it, there is no service on Sunday. What we're talking about is essentially a base level of service. But it would still give people a way of getting around on Sunday. You don't want to shut them out altogether. But, overall, the emphasis will be on streamlining the service. Maybe some schedule revisions. COLLEGIAN: What do you plan to do with the 12 new buses on order for next year? Basically, it's a problem of staffing. OVEIISIER: We have the oldest fleet You got a bus system that is carrying on average in the state. 8,000 people a day, and a cab system that Our buses, on the average, are 14.7 is making 150 trips a day. decision was made. They say a lot of major colleges across the nation have the semester system but, they don't 'ave the branch campus system." Kessler said the small size of branch campuses may cause problems adapting to the semester change. "The branch campuses will have to do one and a - half times the work they do now and they don't have the classrooms or space, - he said. Several of the COBCSG represen tatives said the semester schedule will he a disadvantage to branch campuses because many courses offered in a particular sequence can not be offered every semester. "On a branch campus, you are locked into a program, " said Jamie Jacoby, veterans affairs representative from Berks campus. "If you fail a course in a sequence it may be a year ,before you catch up because courses aren't offerred so frequently as the University Park campus." Joe Camilli, (6th-metalurgy) a student at the Berks campus, said the earlier finishing date of the Spring Semester will enable more students to find sum mer jobs. "Many students at branch campuses The Daily Collegian Monday, March 23, 1981-3 years old. The state-wide average is 7 years old. We are running a lot of old buses, and it is reflected in our main tenance requirements. But one of the things I've noticed since coming here is that CATA has not gotten much credit for the fact that we cover half the operating costs out of the fare box. I suspect it is one of the highest ratios in the country that of covering half the operating costs out of the fare box. COLLEGIAN: Does CATA want to operate Centre Cab again? (State College Municipal Council recently decided to take over Centre Cab operations from CATA to help erase some, or all, of a $27,000 deficit the year old cab company had incurred.) OVERSIER: The only thing that is certain is that the borough is going to be running it for a year. If they're in terested in us running it again, we'll look into it then. COLLEGIAN: Was Centre Cab mismanaged by CATA? OVERSIER: We weren't able to devote as much attention to it as we would have liked to. rely on summer jobs," he said. "Now, we get out two or three weeks later than everyone else and all the jobs are taken." "For me, in arts and architecture, the new calender will probably be more of a benefit," said Rick Legg, Dubois campus representative. "Shorter classes could provide more time to do plays and concerts." Mont Alto campus representative Bob Long agreed that the semester system will be an advantage. "I don't like having three finals," he said. "The semester's slower pace and longer break will also be nice." In other business, COBCSG agreed to include University Park liasons in their constitution. COBCSG coordinator Vince Verbeke said the liasons provide a link between University Park and the 19 branch campuses. "The liasons are former branch campus students now attending the University Park campus who correspond with their specific branch campus, provide information and take steps to insure that their campus is in formed of University-wide matters," Verbeke said.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers