the
daily
collegian
editorial opinion
Educator ethics
PSU officials should show income sources
Have .you ever wondered
whether University Presi
dent John W. Oswald' gets
paid for sitting on the board
of directors of General Pub
lic Utilities Corp., owner of
the nuclear power plant at
Three Mile Island?
Ever wondered what other
University officials hold paid
positions with companies
outside Penn State or, if
you're really curious, wheth
er there could be any connec
tion between those jobs
outside the University and
administrators' perfor
mance within?
Too. bad. That kind of infor
mation just isn't available.
Penn State officials don't
have to file financial disclo
sure statements.
Administrators at state
owned colleges have to pro
vide the statements. Elected
state officials have to pro 7
vide them.
And last week the state
Supreme Court ruled that all
local government officials,
appointed and elected, have
to fill out the forms, which
reveal sources of outside in
come but not specific
amounts.
The state's ethics law, one
of the better of its kind in the
country, was enacted in 1978
after what seemed like half
the state Legislature was in
dicted on charges of. corrup
tion. The core of the
legislation, financial disclo
sure, means that if there are
conflicts of interest involving
public officials and private
sources of income, the public
must know about it.
For example, if an official
in charge of buying asphalt
for the state Department of
Costly joke
Congress shows high-class hypocrisy
The United States Con
gress can be accused of a lot
of things, but it can't be ac
cused of not having a sense of
humor. •
Last week, those crowned
princes of Capitol Hill turned
into court jesters when they
realized they were butting up
against the midnight dead
line for passing an emergen
cy spending bill.
Senate Republican leader
Howard Baker sternly of
fered this one-liner: "The
whole government of the
United States stops func
tioning if we don't pass this
bill."
More comic words were
never spoken. But with the
government theoretically
about, to go broke, Senate
leaders, somehow maintain
ing a straight face, ordered ,
all clocks stopped at 11:50.
p.m. Who says time can't
stand still?
That hilarious illusion
lasted about 20 minutes when
the senators ordered time to
proceed, but their real knee-
■
d t a h 4 c o ll egian
Tuesday Oct. 6, 1981—Page 2
Paula Froke
Editor
BOARD OF EDITORS: Managing Editor, Phil Gutis; Editorial Editor, Tom Boyer; Assistant
Editorial Editor, Becky Jones; News Editors, Cindy Deskins, Dave Medzerian; Sports Editor,
Mike Poorman; Assistant Sports Editors, Sharon Fink, Ron Gardner; Arts Editor, Elaine
Wetmore; Assistant Arts Editor, Judd Blouch; Photo Editor, Stelios Varias; Assistant Photo
Editors, Janis Burger, Renee Jacobs; Graphics Editor, Lynda Cloud; Wire Editor, Maryann
Hakowski; Copy Editors, Cindy Cox, Karen Konski, Denise Laffan, Jackie Martino, Iris Naar,
Lynda Robinson, Leslie Zuck; Campus Editor, Joyce Venezia; Assistant Campus Editor, Chuck
Hall; Town Editor, Rosa Eberly; Assistant Town Editor, Margaret Ann Walsh; Features Editor,
Scott McCleary; Weekly Collegian Editor, Neil Axe; Assistant Weekly Collegian Editor, Charlene
Gowarty.
opinions
Transportation gets "consul
ting fees" from asphalt
firms, his financial disclo
sure forms would reveal that
information.
University administrators
are not state employees
the benefits of their indepen
dence from state control in
everyday matters is clear.
But there's no reason why
their sources of income
shouldn't be made public just
like all other public officials
in charge of millions of tax
dollars.
Most of the local officials
who came under the ethics
act last week didn't object to
having to file the forms.
Among their comments:
"I find no problem with it
. . . It sounds like more of
invasion of privacy than it
really is."
"I personally have been
filling it out, and I don't view
it as invading my privacy."
"I am for disclosure of
sources for all elected and
appointed officialS."
"I don't think it hurts any
one it probably keeps
some people honest.:"
We haven't heard that kind
of talk out of University offi
cials, but maybe we should.
If the law can bolster public
confidence in the efficiency
with which the University
spends its money, University
administrators would help
their cause in Harrisburg by
voluntarily filing financial
disclosure forms.
If not, the ethics law should
be strengthened so they don't
have, any choice.
The Daily Collegian's.editorial opin
ion is determined by its Board of
Opinion, with the editor-in-chief
holding final responsibility.
slapper was still in the hop
per.
With the austere, budget
tightening words of Presi
dent Reagan echoing in their
ears, those diligent lawmak
ers, dedicated to the task of
reducing federal spending,
truly outdid themleves. Just
for laughs, they voted them
selves a pay raise, while lift
ing limits: on their tax
deductible spending ac
counts.
Get it? The Reagan admin
istration goes about taking
free lunches away from
grade school children and
cutting welfare benefits to
millions of needy people, and
Congress, which saw fit to
pass those thrifty proposals
into law, could not pass up
the opportunity to make their
comparative lives on Easy
Street even easier. Heck,
congressmen make only
$60,662.50 a year now.
What a great joke! Those
congressmen really are a
funny bunch. What will they
think of next?
.el9Bl Collegian Inc.
Debby Vinokur
Business Manager
Tell Mir..: , !... , :‘.:,-........ wi1ere he cap pub. his Missile...
0/4VVO;fatiVMAAS,'
=reader
=opinion
No help
For the past couple of years , a group of
us have been getting together to go out to
Centre Crest Nursing Home once a week.
Through the University Volunteer Serv
ice Center we were able to arrange these
visits and organize activities for the
elderly. Upon returning to school this
year, we found that the volunteer center
was dissolved.
What we want to know is why? Was it
another victim of the many budget cuts?
Was it a lack of ' awareness, or just
another case of student apathy?
For whatever reason, we find it some
what appalling that at a university with
an enrollment of over 30,000 there is no
such service. It seems a shame that more
of the positive energy that exists at the
University could not be funneled into an
organization that would benefit both the
community and the students.
Kathy McMahon, 10th-individual and
family studies '
Rita Dealy, 10th-general arts and sci
ences
Oct. 2
Stadium DMZ
Last . Saturday I saw people climb up
10-foot railings. I watched them destroy a
snow fence. I looked on as two 5-foot girls
were crushed against a metal post. That
was too much.
I was supposedly a volunteer student
usher at a Penn State football game.
Instead, I felt like an observer in a
DMZ. People were hurting each other.
I will be back again on Saturday, doing
what the stadium management tells me
to do. I hope like hell the situation im
proves. I would hate to see someone get a
concussion, blinded, cut or hurt in any
way.
Whoever came up with "Fight on
State" didn't mean the people in the
stands.
Student usher number 1087
Oct. 5
Federal sex discrimination law under fire
By ELIZABETH ANGOTTI men and women separately, may not give preference to
14th-civil engineering and general arts and sciences one sex, and may not set limits on the number of
This week has been designated National Title IX students of one sex. Discrimination on the basis of
Awareness Week. Its purpose is to increase awareness marital or parental status is prohibited, as are pre
about Title IX and to generate letters- to Congress admission inquiries into the marital status of appli
expressing support for Title IX and opposition to any cants.
proposals which would weaken it. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in academic,
Title IX is a federal law enacted in 1972. In 1975, the extracurricular, research, occupational training and
then-Department of Health, Education and Welfare other educational programs. Schools may not have
published regulations outlining specific compliance different rules for male and female students. Recruit
requirements. HEW's Office of Civil Rights is responsi- ment must not favor one sex.
ble for enforcing Title IX. The preamble for Title IX Title IX stipulates. that a school must provide equal
states: opportunities for male and female students to receive
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of scholarships. Single-sex scholarships may be offered;
sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the however, the overall effect of such awards must not be
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any discriminatory. Financial aid and other awards or
educational program or activity receiving federal finan- prizes given by the school itself must be distributed in a
cial assistance." non-discriminatory manner. This includes graduate
Thus, any school receiving federal aid must comply housing as a whole must be proportionate in quantity
with Title IX regulations. Since nearly every college and•quality for both sexes. Comparable health benefits
and university•receives federal aid, nearly every col- must be provided to men and women. If full health
lege and university is covered. Some of the major services are provided, gynecological services must be
provisions of the law are summarized below. included. Health insurance offered by an institution
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in school admis- must be non-discriminatory.
sion policies; however, single-sex undergraduate Sex discrimination in athletics is prohibited by Title
schools may remain single-sex. Schools may not rank-,,1X. Schools may have separate teams; however the 4.
forum
A teacher
She was having trouble with the
course. She'd done badly on the first
few quizzes, was worried about the
upcoming midterm, and had stayed
after class to ask what she should do.
"I guess I'll go home and memorize
all the formulas." '
"No! Re-read the text, and try to
figure out why what it's telling you is
true."
She stayed after class again a week
later, after the exam.
"I took your advice, and did very
well on the exam. I wanted to let you
know."
"Thanks for telling me."
I watched her for the rest of the
term, checking to see whether she
seemed to understand what I was
saying, and encouraging her to ask
questions.
After the end of the term, I looked
for the comments portion of her stu
dent evaluation form. I'd used the
computer-coded forms rather than
the ones I usually use which request a
signature, but I thought I recognized
hers by her handwriting and use of
words.
She'd concentrated on criticizing
"Mr. Brackin" for sometimes being
,late to class.
She didn't do well in the course, but
I liked her. She was outgoing, talka
tive and good humored and one of
the few people in the class who cared
about my feelings. She'd often try to
cheer me up: we once had a fun little
conversation about crazy things we'd
each done in a chemistry lab.
I'd asked for definitions'of terms on
an exam. His answers contained some
of the right words and phrases, and
several of the wrong ones, in "sen
tences" that didn't contain verbs. I
hadn't given him any partial credit,
and he'd come to complain.
"Look, what you've written here is
garbage. I had to change six words in
teaching fellowships and research assistantships. Ath
letic scholarships must provide opportunities for both
sexes to receive aid in proportion to the number of
students of each sex participating in athletic programs.
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in housing and
health benefits. Men and women may have separate
housing and be required to live in dormitories; however,
housing rules must apply equally to both sexes and
profiles six students
this sentence just to get it to make
sense."
"But this isn't an ,English course!"
It was about 10 p.m., but I was still
in my office when she came by. I had
said something in class about some
infinities being bigger than others,
and she wondered if I'd explain. Yes,
I'd be glad to.
We talked for quite a while about
ideas close to the heart of mathemat
icS: the concept of cardinality; the
countability of the integers and natio
nals; the uncountability of the reals. I
told her that no one knows, or ever
will know, which infinity is the num
ber of points between two out
stretched fingers. She listened, asked
questions and tried to understand. I
thought of myself as an old math
push& giving a young Innocent her
first fix.
"You're becoming one of us, you
know one of us math people. No one
will ever understand you again."
"I don't care," she said, laughing.
"Most of this stuff is in the first
chapter of a text I used as an under
graduate. Would you like to borrow
it?"
"Yes, and thanks for the explana-
"Gladly. Come by anytime."
I don't know his name, though I
could probably figure it out if I really
wanted to. He was a student I almost
had twice.
I had been scheduled to teach a
sixth-period lecture course, but my
® land • •
e t airborne
o other
10 111 MB MI ON •Esm im
section was cancelled because there
weren't enough people in it. I had been
reassigned, but felt badly for the few
people in the section I had lost: they
weren't going to find out that their
section was cancelled until they met a
secretary sent to their first class, and
they'd miss the first lecture, which
was supposed to cover important
material. I decided to go to that first
class, and give them their first lec
ture.
One of the students in that cancelled
section took a course under me a term
later. He told my class, in my ab
sence, that my earlier section had
been cancelled because I was a bad
teacher.
He was taking a differential equa
tions course, but had trouble doing
high school algebra, and he'd just
failed the first•midterm. He'd been an
indifferent student for years, but now
had a pregnant wife, and he was
rapidly running out of money. He
needed that' course, and an engi
neering degree and a job, and he
needed them fast. He came to me for
tutoring.
I told him I couldn't make any
promises, but would see what I could
do. I met with him two or three times
every week.
He worked hard, very hard, both at
the overload of courses he was taking
and at the work I gave him. After a
few weeks, his math was much better.
He passed the course he even
came close to making a B and came
to see me several months later.
"I've got a daughter!"
"Congratulations!"
"And we've found a place where we
can live rent-free if I fix it up!"
"You know, I haven't told you this
before, but I envy you."
Good student. Good man.
Steve Brackin is a graduate student in
mathematics. His column appears on
Tuesdays.
overall program must provide equal opportunities for
both sexes.
Title IX regulations require every school to designate 3, \
an individual to be responsible for compliance with the
law. A complaint and grievance procedure must he
extablished.
Some groups are exempt from Title IX. These groups
include girl and boy scouts, and social sororities and
fraternities.
Title IX is under attack from Congress and thq,
Reagan administration. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has
introduced Senate Bill 1361, which would amend and
weaken Title IX by narrowing the definition of federal
assistance to exclude most federally funded student aid.
This aid is the bulk of federal assistance to colleges and
universities. The particular program or activity in
which discrimination is alleged would have to directly •
receive federal funds in order to be covered by Title IX. 1
Now, a program need only be part of a school receiving
federal monies for other activities. The Family Protec
tion Act (House of Representatives bill 3955 and Senate
bill 1378) includes a provision that would repeal Title IX.
The administration is considering rewriting Title IX
regulations, which could accomplish all the provisions
of the Hatch bill. Congress would have only 45 days td,)
veto the proposed regulations.
I urge all men and women who care about, equal
opportunities for all people to write letters and make
phone calls to their federal representatives expressing
opposition to these attempts to undermine the educatio
nal opportunities of women. Urge your representatives
to vote against these proposed changes. Our rights are
at stake.
Faculty-student contact deserves attention
Editor's Note: John Vargas is an assistant professor of
environmental science at Dubois campus and served on
the Freshman Year Experience committee. Because of
his location, he did not "adopt" a team of freshmen as
other committee members did. Daily Collegian Staff
Writer Becky Jones interviewed Vargas on the phone
about his work on the committee. The following tran
script is edited for length and clarity.
COLLEGIAN: What was the most significant fact that
you thought the committee found out?
VARGAS: The relationship between the freshmen at
University Park and faculty was cited from time to
time. But on the basis of my discussions with the
committee members and by reading some of the par
agraphs that were written for English 10, by examining
some of the reports that were given to us, the aspect of
personal relationship between faculty andstudents just
wasn't coming out at University Park. There was a
remoteness typically indicated by the members of the
committee.
It was a reccurring thing. I think we found some
things that the University was doing well. I certainly
wouldn't want to slight that.
One of the things that came out strong was the
registration procedure.
There are a number - of concerns that we feel need
addtional examination and additional consideration.
One of them is faculty interaction with the students. I
don't think the faculty or every faculty member should
be expected to bring that home. I don't think that we're
all qualified, nor are we all interested in establishing an
aspect of personal relationship with the freshmen.
COLLEGIAN: Do you have any recommendations to
remedy the lack of interaction?
VARGAS: I think the recommendation of the commit
tee was that and this frequently happens in the
University system we see a need to establish another
committee to investigate means of dealing with that
concern.
I don't think it's something that exists even on our own
campus. I think there are personality differences
among the faculty that may not be conducive to the
Research methods should be more precise
By GREG HYDUKE
10th-communications and business
Allow me to plead ignorance. I don't
know Patricia Farrell'or any member of
her special Freshman Year Experience
Committee, created last year to measure
the ups and downs of first year life at this
University. I'm even less acquainted
with the members of the Faculty Senate,
whom along with Provost Edward D.
Eddy, planned, appointed and imple
mented the said committee.
I do, however, know how to conduct a
survey in a carefully valid and reliable
manner with respect to the objectives of
the investigative task. Consider this a
normally listless, impassive observer's
avenue into the thick of things. But
somebody, somewhere at sometime dur
ing the early stages of this committee
exploration either neglected or ignored a
few of the basic, yet imperative tenets of
conducting information search investiga
tions.
paiticularly harbor suspicions con
cerning three questionable features of
the committee's research: the confusing
relationship of the selected investigative
style to the initial goal of the committee,
the nonchalant data collection processes
and the decision to relax the participants
by taking them out for dinner and ice
A 'clear
Editor's note: Paul Bell was a member of the
Faculty Senate's Freshmen Year Experience
committee.
By PAUL BELL
Student Trustee
The "Freshmen Experience" is a difficult
concept to nail down. Each freshman has one,
and each does with it what he will. In citing
difficulties and concerns, the Freshmen Ex
perience Committee pointed mainly to Uni
versity-wide problems. These concerns are
unique to freshmen only in that they have had
less time to get used to them and are still
freshly upset.
Poor academic advising, remote instruc
tors and bureaucracy are not problems for
any one group of students at Penn State.
Similarly, students at all levels experience a
rich variety of educational opportunities,
cream as settings for their group meet
ings. These actions waver on a tightrope
over ludicrousness.
According to an informational report
released by the committee, they at
tempted to "broadly study the freshmen
experience" selecting a "humanistic/im
pressionistic investigative style" rather
than "develop quantitative data" since
other offices were working in this area.
Professor of psychology George Guthrie,
a veteran researcher in his own right,
advised me upon inquiry that "humanis
tic/impressionistic investigative style"
is a nice way of saying sloppy and
unsystematic.
It's an inappropriate tack to assume
when part of the committee's initial task
was to "propose some possible solutions
and perhaps most importantly to suggest
specific administrative remedies which
could be implemented where appropri
ate." Imagine a specific administrative
remedy based on what a random sample
impression'
University pays the price for size, variety
great facilities and many excellent faculty.
The freshman • gave encouragement for
things that are done well and re-emphasized
the need to work on the bugs in the system.
Let us hope that some fresh ideas and motiva
tion will come from this to improve the
learning experience.
However, I do not think this document
should be taken as an inventory of the Univer
sity's isolated strengths and weaknesses. The
report is a good look at the realities of Penn
State. If we want to know what Penn State
itiEY DON'T
Kt4olA) IHE
WIAT
WORDS
:~
-•:::.;:
development of that kind of relationship. Frankly, I
don't that all faculty ought to be involved in doing that
type of thing.
I just think that simply because of our size here, and
in reality we're in a small community, it seems that not
only do we know the students, but quite frequently we
know the parents. Or we know another member of a
family. Within one generation we may know three or
four family members and we begin to establish that
relationship.
op-ed
interview
But I just don't see how that could be possible at
University Park. The majority of students there are not
from the State College community, where here they are.
I think size is an extremely important thing.
In all of the areas for further consideration, I really
think that many of them are problems that , relate to the
size of the University, the bigness of the University, and
I think that some of the problems that exist are related
to the communications process within it. There are just
things that are difficult to deal. with. I think the Univer
sity deals in an admirable way with some of them, with
many of them, but there are some problems.
I think one of them was something with bureaucracy.
I think it's a problem.
I don't believe that it's really a bad thing or a totally
negative thing that there is not personal .interaction
between faculty and students.
In many instances that's a good thing. I really don't
think you can say this is the faculty's responsibility or it
is solely ,a faculty problem. If a student really wants or
needs that kind of interaction, if he pursues it, even at
University Park he could find a faculty member that
would be a listener for him.
I feel as part of the learning process, there has to be a
forum
forum
of freshmen talked about over ice cream
cones at Baskin-Robbins.
Another dispute is•over the negligent,
yet intentional idea to allow committee
members freedom to choose their own
data collection approaches. What kind of
systematic uniformity is achieved by
mixing the disparately recorded results
of open-ended or scale-item questions?
To make matters worse, written ques
tionnaires were distributed after periodi
cally held group meetings of participants
and their group leader, where issues
were discussed and oral responses (to
questions subsequently found on the
questionnaires) were recorded. This ac
tion borders on putting words in the
mouths of possibly apathetic, neutral or
deviant participants. Didn't the commit
tee realize the pitfalls of group conformi
ty (distortion, bias, reluctance to
maintain a deviant position) when they
decided on this team interview method?
Thirdly, there is a researcher's maxim
involved here that would sound some
thing like this: Thou shall not act in any
manner so as to elicit socially desirable
responses. Taking participants to the
Terrace Room is not the strictest adher
ence to this rule of thumb. Buy me dinner
and I'll tell you anything you want to
hear. This isn't an accusation of at-
really is, it serves us well to look at it through
the eyes of students who have not yet become
numbed to the ways of the University.
The students involved in this study express
ed frustration at being apparently insignifi
cant parts of a large system. They spoke of
the lack of personal advising and direct con
tact with instructors, long lines and a thick
tangle of bureaucracy. People who had been
the elite in high school find themselves receiv
ing little individual attention.
As a Penn State student, I have always felt
like part of a large system. I have had only
rare flashes of cozy, personal education.
There is often a feeling of having been placed
in a huge pedagogical warehouse and told to
forage for ideas. That is the flavor of Penn
State.
As much as we strive and long for an
intimate learning environment, we can never
achieve it on a University-wide basis. Penn
State's mission is to educate the "children of
the industrial classes." That means that it has
to be big, accessible and efficient enough to
maintain quality for great masses of students.
Naturally, some •students and faculty are
enjoying close, interactive learning. Some
students 'have found friendly personal advis
ers. All sorts of arrangements are possible
since the system is, after all, just an aggre
gate of individuals.
However, the institutional philosophy is not
to provide individual, specialized attention. It
is geared to facilities, numbers of faculty and
programs, cost-effectiveness. It starts there
and builds the highest quality it can within
that framework.
The major problems and blessings isolated
by the Freshman Experience Report can all
be traced to the size, variety and complexity
of the Penn State system. There definitely are
things that should be done to improve the
experience of freshmen (and all other stu
dents). Some suggestions are offered in the
report. But let's not kid ourselves. We can
soothe the symptoms of mass education, but
we cannot cure the feeling many students
have that the system is too big to have much
concern for the individual.
That is the Penn State reality.
The freshmen who participated in this study
gave us a clear impression of the student
experience. When they were disillusioned it
was because they seemed to have expected
fatherly advisers, spell-binding instructors,
close interaction with faculty members and
prompt personal attention. Why shouldn't
they?
Well, maybe we ought to tell the next group
before they get here.
limit to our guidance. We can give them materials that
are available, with choices, and then they have to make
decisions.
COLLEGIAN: Because many of the concerns of
freshmen deal with the largeness of the University, do
you think that to a certain extent students can't come up
here expecting the attention and same quality of
relationship that they could have at a smaller school?
That there is an inherent risk that the University will be
impersonal?
VARGAS: I think in part that that's probably so. The
class president, the class valedictorian, who has been
given all the attention throughout the years, is no longer
the class president or the class valedictorian, and they
have to cope with that.
I didn't have problems meeting with my adviser and
getting things worked out for me. And even today, if I
have a question it seems I can call a department head,
or a department information at University Park.
COLLEGIAN: Where there any other concerns that
you thought were more important than other besides the
lack of personal interaction?
VARGAS: I would have my own concern about the
temporary housing type of thing. •
I do think that the type of survey that was done with
this committee could and should be done throughout the
Commonwealth campus system.
COLLEGIAN: Do you foresee anything like that in the
near future any study of Commonwealth campuses?
VARGAS: I can't really speak to that issue. I think
that's something that would come out of University
administration or Faculty Senate or a combination.
I wish it were possible to compare the freshman
experience at Commonwealth campuses to the experi
ence at University Park. It is most important that the
University community understand that the Freshmen
Year Experience report relates specifically to fresh
man at University Park.
And I think also it would be good to look at the
experience of students who start at campuses have
when they enter University Park. I wonder if they're
concerned with the same problems as freshmen?
tempted subtle bribery. But I can't fath
om why the committee thought going
that "extra bit" was beneficial for the
study, overlooking the ill-fated side ef
fects.
One participant I querried, who asked
to remain unidentified, offered this re
mark, "I guess I felt obligated to say
more good things than bad because Pat
(Patricia Farrell) was so nice."
The study is not the brunt of my skepti
cal reactions alone. Since being publi
cized it's been batted around among
faculty and students circles alike. I know
of one marketing instructor beginning a
lecture on research and primary infor
mation gathering, who, on the basis of
some of the same issues I've raised,
utilized the study as an example of how
not to run a survey. (In all fairness I
should note that his interpretation was
based on the eport of the study in The
Daily Collegian, not a copy of the com
mittee report itself.)
Allow me to now plead aloof respect.
An unreserved limb-walker would proba
bly define the study as laughably absurd.
I merely advocate and urge that the
results, incompatible with the intital
objectives of the study, and gathered on
inept shaky methodology should be taken
with a grain of salt.
• The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1981-3
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Freshmen need help with
social, roommate coping
By MICHAEL McGEE
Member. Joint Committee on Freshmen Experi
ence
During the Fall and Winter term of last year,
the Joint Committee on the Freshmen Experience
was formed to study the freshmen experience at
the University. As a member of that committee
representing Residential Life Programs, I was
particularly concerned and sensitive about those
in which residence halls impact on freshmen
attending Penn State. Therefore, even though the
committee's report spans a broad range of issues,
I would like to confine my opinkins to only those
areas dealing specifically with residence halls.
The methodology used by the committee consis
ted mainly of interviewing freshmen and cata
loging their experiences in a sequence of
temporal events or time frames beginning with
pre-Penn State attendance up through the reac
tions at the end of Winter Term.
forum
After interviewing many freshmen it became
apparent that residence halls had a significant
influence on them, and according to these fresh
men it was mainly positive. Freshmen gave good
reviews, in general, to Resident Assistants and
Orientation Leaders, and even though these were
subjective comments, they seemed to indicate at
least a moderate degree of satisfaction with the
present structure.
When looking at other data, however, freshmen
seemed to possess only a very meager amount of
both social coping skills and academic orientation
needed to complete the adjustment from high
school and home to college and high density living
conditions. This was of particular concern to me
because I feel that this is one area that needs to be
addressed immediately and on more than a trial
or error basis.
Surely some research or other steps could be
taken into the whole area of easing freshmen into
this high-voltage collegiate environment with
emphasis on how to deal with raising their coping
skills and simultaneously eliminating the more
harmful obstacles that we, as a system, put in
their way.
In recommending action along these lines, His
my feeling that freshmen are particularly appre
hensive about roommates and being compatible
with them. Dealing with these anxieties before
hand by being more flexible in the way we assign
freshmen could be beneficial.
Grouping freshmen by major and simulta
neously placing them in a room with an upper
classman (or something similar to this) might
provide at least a framework of compatibility
Ode to Fellow Freshmen
Here I am at Penn State
It's left me all aghast
Those wild and crazy parties
I swear they are a blast
Loose girls in make-up
Sit down in my class
They sort of giggle quietly
When I pinch their ass
Please don't imagine
This is all a joke
I believe I'll have another
More rum please and less Coke
I live in tempor
And how it makes me sore
It seems every day now
They send us "just one more"
I lost my pink slip
Boy it made me blue
They said we're sorry young man
So sorry that you're through
Those funny upperclassmen
They think they are so cool
They call heavy drinking
The tough life here at school
Others complain
But the dorm food•is fine
I get so hungry
•
•
Just standing in line
The food's cooked with care
I like it that way
I hit the bathroom
Just six times a day
Seventy-eight dollars for five measly
books
At least bank robbers admit they're
crooks
Those Nittany Lions never ever lose
The fans love the games
As well as the booze
My midterm went nameless
But others are dumber
They're in real trouble
Their tests had no number
Got lost in the library
Made the wrong decisions
Next time I go there •
I'm taking along provisions
So when I'm home at term break
And they ask how's "Good 01' State"
I'll smile a while and then say
"Oh it's really great."
Brad Desch, lst-pre-law
Oct. 5
(i.e. similar vocational interests) and provide
freshmen with an informal avenue of information
(roommates' experiences and knowledge) which
could alleviate some initial anxiety. Also, allow
ing a less restricted means of changing room
mates than under the present system could
greatly increase the satisfaction and even the
longevity of the freshmen experience.
Studies done by M. Lee Uperaft, director of
Residential' Life Programs, and Pat Peterson,
associate director of Residential Life Programs,
seem to suggest that roommate compatibility is a
very significant factor in freshmen leaving the
University. Also studies show that if students
(freshmen or otherwise) view their living envi
ronment positively, they also view the entire
University (academics, activities, etc.) more
positively.
Certainly temporary housing was a frequently
mentioned and highly criticized area by fresh
men. Combined with already stressful conditions
of moving into a new environment, high expecta
tions academically by parents, uncertain vocatio
nal goals, and the previously mentioned low
coping skills, the University undeniably does
freshmen a disservice by adding temporary hous
ing to the list of obstacles. Just when a freshman
becomes acclimated to his/her new environment
and establishes a routine, he/she may be con
fronted a few weeks later with being uprooted
again and starting the whole process over again.
This continual interruptionin the freshman's cir
cle of friends is certainly counterproductive and
does not seem to be in the best interest of the
freshman.
Granted, many of the freshmen in this category
are admitted late and as a result are placed in
temporary housing as a last resort. It is my
feeling, however, that temporary housing is not in
the best interests of students period, and some
thought should be given to revamping the present
system to accommodate at least all freshmen
with regular permament living space. I realize
this may be a financial hardship, but I feel the
University must recognize the limitations and
hardships it places on students, and particularly
freshmen.
The freshmen experience at the University is,
indeed, a unique and often undescribable world. It
is a world of number two cards and all-nighters,
OLs and RAs, social jitters and building
friendships, Beaver Stadium and Deike Building
a virtual RUBIK's cube of emotions, peer
pressures, good times and values.
In closing, I would like to state that as a
Residential Life Programs staff member and a
member of the Freshman Year committee I feel
that it is my obligation and the obligation of all
those who work with freshmen to help them solve
that RUBIK's cube and in the process make their,
freshman experience at the University a positive
one. 4
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