opinions editorial opinion Talking about sex is almost as much fun as having it. Locker room banter and late-night dormitory can you-top-this? sessions are as inte gral to sex as the act. But as Ameh ca's sexual mores become less strict, discussing sex in a frank, factual way is not only healthy —,it's neccessary. The University's United Ministry realizes this and has sponsored a five-day program in the HUB this week, "Straight Talk About Sex." Far from ministers droning on about the evils of petting, the programs feature University professors and psychologists from the Ritenour Health Center, offering straight talk and the opportunity for open dis cussion. Over the past years, the United Ministry has sponsored programs on dating, courtship and marriage. Campus Minister Robert C. Boyer, of the United Ministry, said some campus religious groups prefer to avoid getting involved with sexual Zippidy-do-dah, zippidy-day, oh my gosh what a beautiful day! Even as I write this, McGough is on his way to Happy Valley. He'll be staying in the area for a couple of weeks. Even as I write this I'm antic ipating "Good things will happen to me." McGough's a strange character; 20 years old and a fuller 20 years than most people could fit in • 80. We met at Ogontz and hit it off right away when he caught me forging his name onto one of . his comic strips. He was pessimistic about every . thing and I was a budding cynic. We had a lot of good times. Good things happen to me. s Somewhere in last summer "Good things will happen to me" started to pop up. I met the phrase itself in a bar in Wildwood, N.J., where I was looking into a mug of beer, bummed out because I wasn't, blond, tan and muscle-bound. Think posi tive, I thought. So I ran through all the ways I had .a good life and how even the bad things had Worked out in the end. reader opinion But below- acne As a former resident Shunk Hall's Tioga :House, the same house that was threatened by .the Engineering Interest House located in Porter :Hall's Warren House, and as a current resident of Beaver Hall which is now the designated location for that very same interest house, I can truly attest to the fact that interest houses are somewhere between gangrene and leprosy on a list of independent student favorites. My quarrel, however, is not with the rights of interest houses to exist. The interest house option is important to many students, and that option should not be denied to those people who seek to live in such an•environment. My quarrel is directed at (University) Presi dent Oswald, the innovator of the interest house :option at the University. The president decided :in 1970 that interest houses were a good idea after having observed the success that these louses were enjoying at Oxford and Cambridge in England. Fine. But where is the mandate from :Heaven that grants interest house students the right to coed living and the right to guaranteed rooms? The implication is that we independent slobs 'are too banal and immature to fully understand and appreciate these privileges. And the irony is that the president KO'd coed housing to indepen dents implying that the educational environment was and is not enhanced by the "distractions" presented when males and females cohabitate, yet the "educationally stimulating" interest house environment contains those very same "distracting" mixes of male and female! Does this mean that interest housing students are different in that they can rise above and handle responsibilities that independent peons cannot? The matter of guaranteed rooms to these students can be even more irritating. We inde pendents brave Plutonian cold for many hours just to be granted the privilege of living on campus, while those very rooms that we froze for may be ultimately denied us owing to the whims of the committee in charge of locating interest houses. Is there something genetically superior about these students? Perhaps the "careful screening" process undergone by interest house applicants filters out the instincts that make coed living and guaranteed rooms impossible for independents? Is that why they get it all up front while we only get it in the end? I don't think that it is too much to ask the president why these conditions pre- Vail. I am reminded of South Africa and its absurd "Parallel Development" concept for whites and non-whites. Whites are guaranteed education (dorm rooms) while non-whites stand in line for the privilege. Whites are also able to eat, sleep and defecate where they please (coed housing) while the non-whites may not. Talking about It "Straight Talk About Sex" is a healthy idea topics, because they think "that's not the way to be holy." But he said the United Ministry thought that it's time for people to be confronting sexuality more, and thus was born "the most ambitious thing we've ever done" on the subject. Graham B. Spanier, professor of human development and sociology, opened the program Monday morn ing with the discussion "Pre-Marital Sex and the Sexual Revolution" and a seminar that night. Programs Tuesday and yesterday featured Associate Professor of Bi ology Edward W. Wickersham. Wickersham, who teaches an excel lent course in the biology of sex(4th period, 108 Forum), spoke Tuesday about masturbation and led a semi nar last night using —gasp! expli cit films as teaching aids. Steven Crain, clinical psychologist at the Ritenour Consuling Center, spoke yesterday morning on "Sexual Dysfunction" and offered private discussion sessions. It was a good mental drug and I danced to good music with strange girls shortly afterwards. Later, in the car, I mentioned it to McGough and Bill. McGough began to chant, "Good things will happen to me" hoping to pick up his evening and soon we all joined in. The Toyota's headlights picked up two girls with 'their thumbs out. Good things happen to me. It was an action-packed summer, lots of blur memories, but McGough was always there at the peaks with his eyes crinkling into a smile, point ing out, "Hey, Good Things!" And we'd all stop for a moment and appreciate. McGough told me how a stupid phiase out of nowhere changed his life. He was a lot happier. He trusted the future. During break we were driving around talking of "Good Things" of all things. There was an argu- So come on Mr. President, answer these ques tions to the satisfaction of myself and my Beaver 1 floormates. Either the independents be granted the same rights that the interest houses have, or scrap the interest house concept altogether. Francis X. Walsh, president of Ist floor Beaver Dec. 8 Dear Penn State Bookstore I wish to ask why my "Digital Principles and Applications" textbook by Malvino & Leach costs $2 more than my "Physics" textbook by Beiser. The digital book is 434 pages long, and is almost seven years old, even though I bought it yesterday. The physics book is not quite three years old, and has 888 pages. I recently discov ered the digital book isn't even the latest edition in print! While I'm on the subject, why did this book cost $7.45 more than my "Introduction to Me chanics" textbook, which has 346 pages? Yes, I know it's smaller, but 8 1 / 2 cents a page smaller? I don't beliqve it. To top it off, I have another book by Malvino ("Electronic Principles"; 1979) from the same publisher (McGraw Hill) that is 742 Good things will happen to me. It spread. McGough just droned it into us 55N10R C1TZ14,5 1 'ALLOP - THE - P DAY RESIDEtii BIKING Youß o\NN STICK ~~ y~ - What gives? Today, Assistant Professor of Health Education Robert A. Walker and Ritenour psychologist Annette Ranck will discuss "Sexual Values and Guilt." They will speak at 11:30 a.m. in the HUB main lounge and hold a seminar at 7:30 p.m. in 317 HUB. The program ends on Priday, with all the speakers converging on the HUB main lounge for an 11:30 aim. panel discussion. These programs represent the right way to deal with the so-called sexual revolution; the United Min istry has displayed a keen sense of keeping up with the times. Much of people's sexual problems come from lack of understanding, often of sim ple matters. Open discussion, while potentially awkward at first, is a healthy way to become more com fortable with your sexuality. The Daily Collegian's editorial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor-in-chief holding final responsibility. ment over whether the "will" should be in there. I said I didn't likelhe "will" because it put it in the future and McGough said "will" captured the inevitability of it all. We decided we liked both ways. Good things (will) happen to me. See, it's sort of a philosophy with no deep thinking involved. In a way, it's a religion; but pageS long, and cost $4.15 less than, the digital book! Just what the h— is going on around here? Stephen Jones, sth-EET Dec. 7 Rather rude In reference to the Dec. 8 letter from M Roosevelt: Evidently you did miss one of the lectures on certain fundamental truths, namely the one which teaches that no person is better than any other. Whether you can speak two and a half or 50 languages has no bearing on the issue at hand. Yes, the procedures at the library circulation desk, leave much to be desired. Yes, it would be nice if there was a little bit more efficiency. But NO, NO, NO!!! You do not have the right to ridicule these women because of their so-called lack of education. Any one of these ladies could be your sister, your mother or maybe even your grandmother! Possibly you have run into a string of bad luck. However, the main reason why these women insist that you find your own books is that usually /(ctii ====IIRM I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE REAGANOMICS ANYMORE! "Good things happen to me" is the only ritual, the only liturgy, the only prayer. It's sort of an inexplicable thing. You got your unusual good thing: Like at the beginning of the summer when I decided to take a part-time job even though I needed full-time money. I was thumbing it home after taking the first job when a car pulled over. The driver had turned me down for a job the day before. , "I'm not going to give you a ride," he said. "I'm going to give you a job." "I just got a part-time one." "We'll work around that," he said. And you got your everyday good thing: Like a smile or someone taking time out to start a friendship with you or a good egg roll. You even got your bad/good thing: Like McGough lost $2O during the summer and said, "Well, what the hell. Someone's going to find that and think, 'Hey, good things happen tome!' " most students are looking in the wrong places. They have no idea how the library operates and never take the time to find out. Then, two hours before a major paper is due, they come into the library in a frenzied state. At this time, they expect the library staff to fetch the books for them. The students haVe the responsibility to learn the library system and not depend on the staff to do their slave work. Secondly, ,the workers do not misplace the books, students do. Perhaps you should strike out at all the students who find such activities as putting books in trash cans, hiding them behind other books, and hiding them under radiators as great fun. This is not to get off the point that some of the library staff are less than cordial. However, their possession or lack of skills has nothing to do with their personalities. I am not denying the fact that you gave a valid point to make. However, your presentation rots. Perhaps after you have eliminated your blinding prejudices, you should sit down and write a more mature and thoughtful letter. Denise Dick, 11th-psychology Dec. 8 SMMI=CI Oid arl `9SSI,ZIJ'AV- The Daily Collegian, Thursday, Dec. 10 Good things will happen to me. We were at Gimbel's Thanksgiving Day parade. It was a "good things" day all around; from the bum who stopped to talk to us and made us laugh, to the point where we found ourselves running after a bus full of cops down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (our string of six balloons was tied to the rear bqmper). Somewhere in between, Mark Henry was trying to explain "Good Things" to some people. He was really 'getting in-depth with it. I pointed to him and told - McGough that we had a "Good Things" theologian. "Nah, nah," McGough shook. his head. "He's more like a 'Good Things' PR-man, You can's explain it, man, you got to live it." Mark Green is a 10th-term journalism major and a staff Writer for The Daily Collegian. His column appears on Thursdays. Puffin' it in Listening but not hearing. It's a problem at the University, one that many say obstructs communications between students and administrators. But is that the real problem? Do students really have input into administrative deci sions and don't use their power properly? Or is student input a farce, an illusion? On Tuesday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Jan. 5, The Daily Collegian's Op-ed page will exam ine the question: can students really ever have an effective voice in the workings of this University? And if not, why not? Part One will represent the student point of view, Part Two the adminstrators'. If you feel you have something to contrib ute, bring your letters lone page, typed and double-spaced) and forums (two to three pages, typed and double-spaced) to 126 Carne gie. Part One material must be submitted by Sunday, Dec. 13, at 5 p.m. Part Two material must be submitted by Saturday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. :Collégian Thursday Dec. 10, 1981—Page 2 ©l9Bl Collegian Inc Paula Froke Editor BOARD OF EDITORS: Managing Editor, Phil Gutis; Editorial Editor, Becky Jones; Associate Editorial Edi tors, John Allison, Tom Boyer; News Editors, Cindy Deskins, Dave Medzerian; Sports Editor, Mike Poor man; Assistant Sports Editors, Ron Gardner, Pete Wal dron; 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, K.E. Fishman, Karen Konski, Jackie Martino, Iris Naar, Leslie Zuck; Campus Editor, Joyce Venezia; Assistant Campus Edi tor, Sharon Taylor; Town Editor, Justin Catanoso; Assistant Town Editor, Mark Featherstone; Features Editor, Scott McCleary; Weekly Collegian Editor, Neil Axe; Assistant Weekly Collegian Editor, Laurie Penco. ABOUT THE COLLEGIAN: The Daily Collegian and The Weekly Collegian are published by Collegian Inc., a non profit corporation with a board of directors composed of students, faculty and professionals. Students of The Pennsylvania State University write and edit both papers and solicit advertising material for them. The Daily Collegian is published Monday through Friday and dis tributed at the University Park campus. The Weekly Collegian is mailed to Commonwealth campus studtpts, parents of students, alumni and other subscribers_who want to keep abreast of University news. Debby Vinokur Business Manager opinions In South Halls, the little guy ain't got a chance By KEVIN MOSLEY Former resident of sth floor Beaver Former Resident Assistant for 4th floor Beaver Once again Residential Life has given us se rious reason to believe that those residents of the dorms who do not belong to special interest groups sorority, fraternity or interest house =— are numbers and nothing more. (That goes for RAs, too.) I ask you (Residential Life,) didn't you hear us (the RA advisory board) last year? We told you that most independent dorm residents think: • Sororities rarely interact with independent dorm residents. • By giving sororities ektra spaces on "off" floors you are‘making it harder for independent women to get spaces in South Halls (which is close to town and the fraternities.) • Interest houses are a poor substitute for coed • The interest house program should not be expanded especially when it costs others their rooms. It was poor judgment on the part of Residential Life to place all ? sororities in Pollock and South halls. Sororities have their own social life; which revolves around the greek system. Subsequently (naturally) they schedule most of their functions with fraternities and attend fraternity parties. In the dining hall, the sisters eat in large groups and basically stick together, which is reasonable because they have 60 to 70 other sisters to keep up with. Result: The sorority sisters in South Halls don't know many independent male residents. Sorority kinko's copies ILOR .95 .95 ,95 .95 .95. .95 .95 .95 95 PASSPORT PHOTOS 238• COPY 256 E. Beaver Ave. (across from Penn Towers) T.V., Stereo Broken Down? '717) , 711 - 2 1 kfl:f-1 000 . Our Service is Exceptional! p 1 -,_--- -_,---- -- - 1 1 EXCEPTIONALLY * Competent * Fast * Economical We serviceall brands; all types of electronic equipment T & R ELECTRONICS 225 S. Allen St., State College (next to Centre Hardware) 238.3800 Menagerie No Cover! 7 for 1 ii.l3 p.m. Open Friday at 2:30 p.m Great new menu, too! Make your reservations Now for Our New Year's Eve Party with MENAGERIE THE ‘S(IEXI) 101 HEISTER ST. serving Pepsi-Cola social life excludes most independent male resi dents. Sororities which comprise 45 to 50 percent of the female population in South Halls don't attend many independent dorm floor func tions or parties. Consequently, there is a reasonable amount of tension between sororities an d male independent dorm residents. Last year, 'sororities asked for and received more reserved rooms (not spaces) on "off" floors, because they, had an agreement with Residential Life that guaranteed them more rooms if sororities grew. Result: In South Halls, sororities now comprise 60 percent of the female population.. This not, only reduced the number of female independents in South, but I think it's fair to state that sorority and, female/male independent rela tions were further strained. At this point I will deviate from sororities to interest houses and tie the two together later. Because University President John W. Oswald has decreed it, Penn State does not have coed living. (Penn State shall c,ontinue to dwell in the neoconservative Reagan dark ages until his ex cellency departs, but don't count on his successor to liberate our souls.) Therefore, interest houses were developed as a substitute. Result: To make a long story short, as the r o 0 0 • o 0 • „ STAKS... WITH A PLUS! STEAK PLUS CHICKEN 2 Dinners $.99 USDA inspected 100 Chopped Beet Steak. 00 Co. 1630 S. Atherton St. sm - T (At University Drive) COUPON MUST ill 1111 II 1111 IN CA° FiI iN HE N ES YT 111 WHIM 1111 I 1151 101 A ' 8 FTH P A 4 a Y ®H® 1111 STEAK PLUS STEAK PLUS El STEAK PLUS STEAK PLUS WCHICKEN SHRIMP 111 CHICKEN SHRIMP MDINNERS DINNERS im DINNERS DINNERS 00 Ribeye Steak Ribeye Steak IM Ribeye Steak Ribeye Steak im plus 2 Filets of ' plus 4 pcs. In plus 2 Filets of plus 4 pcs. MI Chicken Breasts of Shrimp m Chicken Breasts of Shrimp • 2 for $5.99 2 for $6.99 ii 2 for $5.99 2 for $6.99 . CHICKEN plus SHRIMP 0R... CHICKEN plus SHRIMP 111 2 pieces Chicken plus 4 pieces Shrimp a 2 pieces Chicken plus 4 pieces Shrimp 2 Dinners for $5.99 2 Dinners for $5.99 Beverage and dessert not Included. Limit one Beverage and dessert not included. Limit one coupon per couple per visit. Cannot be used with II coupon per codple per visit. Cannot be used with 111 other discounts. Applicable taxes not included other discounts. Applicable taxes not included. Bales tax applicable to regular price where .11 • Sales tax applicable to regular price Where 111 required by law. At Participating Steakhouses. .. - —.. required by law. Al Participating Steakhouses. om Offer good Dec. 4, 1981 - PONDEB° , gall , Iry Offer good Dec. 4, 1981 'MI . _. thru Jan. 3, 1982 _________, thru Jan.-3 1982 NI ______! 1 . II H IN Ili 111 Rim ® ® ii a • a U ■UN wi--_ LUNCH COUPON f:i PONDEROSA CHOPPED. STEAK BURGER Plus... /Nil-You-Can-Fat SIS 9 111 galacifiar and • N or HOT DOG with esßeverage (except milk) 111 French Fries, Pudding or Gelatin GOOD FOR ANY SIZE PARTY. , ANY NUMBER OF KIDS PER VISIT Cannot be used with'other discounts. Applicable Cannot be used with other discounts. Applicable lltaxes not included. Sales tax applicable toNI taxed not included. Sales tax applicable to regular price where required by law. Alcoholic , regular price where required by law. At go beverages not Included. At Participating Steakhouses. Participating Steakhouses. 111 Offer good Dec. 4, 1981 Offer good Dec. 4, 1981 thru Jan. 3 ; 1982 . UN thru Jan. 3, 1982 AZ . . ilatkUSlv . 41111111111111111111111 13 - n . " '' ' . ' : 11111111111111 01111 r forum MAKE SOMEONE SMILE! Send them a Season's Greetings - :fled in the ; Bth issue of lily Collegian or 1.15 words. Ich additional E: Wednesday Dec. . 471 7:.9 - P.m. Collegian arnegie Building ~~~ r . . . E . ' lIQUS• POttlE STEAIBOSA. interest house program grew, Residential Life decided to spread the program to another area besides West and North. Much to the dismay of and with little input from the former residents, fifth and sixth floors Porter Hall were converted into an interest house, partially because of the damages the house sustained. Little did the residents of Beaver Hall know as they taunted fifth and sixth Porter last year with late night shouts of, "Porter, WE'RE INTER ESTED in you," that their number was next. Interest houses place in the same house a group of students who are in the same college, which adds up to one thing: another clique of people, but worse, who have the same classes, study, eat and basically live together 24 hours a day with little or no variety or change, which would be sparked by individuals of varying colleges. Thus, interest houses are a poor substitute for coed living, especially when it's at the expense of another student's room. The classic joke among some RAs in South (other areas had their own version) last year came right out of Counselor Ed. 302, the infamous RA course, and Residential Life. At times we knew we were getting double talk if someone responded to us as follows: "What I hear you saying is , . ." All too often we knew that what they heard was exactly what they wanted to hear. Anything else they reflected right back at us, just like we were in junior high school. It didn't take long before we , began to realize that, Residential Life does exactly as it pleases, seldom listens to or solicits RA input concerning t n Al I o o V O ° o L 0 STEAK PLUS SHRIMP 2 Dinners Dinners served with w,--- FAMILY COUPO (12 and under) KIDS' SANDWICH MEALS JR. STEAKBURGER 990 D - major (for that matter, minor) issues, and feels that it does not have to answer to anyone, or more importantly, the individual the independent dorm student, for example. If Residential Life had listened to all of the input it received'from the RAAB last year, they would have realized the following: In South Halls there is a disproportionate number of sorority members to independent females, which makes it difficult for independent male residents to meet and interact with female residents. • Because the sororities are guaranteed rooms (not space,) it is difficult for independent females to move into South Halls, unless, of course, they join a sorority. If Residential Life and the coordinating staff of South Halls had just looked at South Halls as a whole and Beaver Hall's history over the last three years they would have realized the follow ing: • By adding two interest houses to Beaver Hall including the one from Porter which will be transferred, probably because Residential Life forgot how hard it is for two separate floors to interact effectively on a day-to-day basis you will eliminate 65 male spaces in South Halls, thus making it more difficult for independent males to get space in South Halls. e In effect, two more non-interactive cliques would be added to an area which is already overrun with a major set of non-interactive cli ques (sororities.) • Floor damages in Beaver have dropped The Daily Collegian Thursday, Dec, 10, 1981-3 significantly over the last three years, and ex cluding elevator out of vain service charges, so have building damages. • Beaver is not the perfect structure for an interest house. Each house would have a dispro portionate number of males to females if placed by A and B ends (short or long) of Beaver. • The residents of Beaver have more pride in their building than any other, due in part to the rumor that Beaver is the largest male single floor dorm this side of the Mississippi, which may or may not be true. Why else would the residents dish out half the money for two color TVs over the last three years? Had Residential Life originally spread the sororities and interest houses between areas and . dorms, much of the bad hype that surrounds each could have been avoided, but that was too logical a solution. It's pretty sad when a first-term freshman, or ninth-term junior for that matter, refers to a sorority member as an SB when he or she doesn't personally know any sorority mein hers. In the end, Residential Life, coordinating staff included, knows that all the flak falls on the RAs anyway. Then again, RAs and independent resi dents individuals are nothing more than numbers. We're expendable. Oh, by the way, didn't Title IX require Resi dential Life to change Tener into an all-female dorm? Sixty-five male spaces isn't a lot, but then again, one never knows, does one? And just what are you goirig to do with Alpha Omicron Pi? (Pssst: East Halls, you're next.)
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