The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, December 11, 1981, Image 2

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    pinions
editorial opinion
Democracy in action
Say what you will about
the Undergraduate Student
Government, but it really is
making an effort to become
closer to Penn State stu
dents. Its Winter Term
newsletter proves USG's de
votion to providing useful
services.
In addition to health insur
ance, Penn State calendar
and weekend movies, the
newsletter lists one of USG's
dandier ideas: term break
and holiday busses. Appar
ently USG's tradition of run
ning term break and holiday
buses has proven unprofita
ble and the executives 'de
cided to, for a price, provide
students with a buss "a
smacking kiss," as defined
by the American Heritage
Dictionary.
Students shouldn't get too
excited; a buss doesn't car
ry the emotion, the caring of
a kiss. It's a cheap thrill,
titilation that fades quickly.
As Herrick said, "We buss
our Wantons, but our i wives
we kiss."
However, USG is to be
commended for blazing new
paths in student govern
ment. We can hardly wait
for this program to develop
Being No. 1
The Associated Press re
ports that a student from
Lycoming College in Wil
liamsport has taken it upon
himself to develop a model
reader opinion
'ln the name of aggressive agriculture and
as agricultural producers, we feel it is essen
tial to voice our opinions concerning recent
propaganda by various animal' rights activ
ists. We want to grasp the animal rights issue
from the emotional realm and pull it into
reality.
We will be the first to admit that there are
isolated abuses in our industry, as there are in
any other industry. But, it is time that myths
of "farm factories" and "cruel sadistic farm
ers" are dispelled, and that the facts of
technical agriculture and the American farm
er be known.
First of all, most farms exist as family
units. In addition, farm practices are scien
tifically based, but are not 'without human
care and , concern. Specifically, a practice
that has come under recent attack is the
farrowing crate, a pen that confines a sow
shortly before, during and after parturition. A
farrowing crate makes the sow easily accessi
ble for observations, medical attention, and
assistance during delivery. Furthermore,
these crates keep the sow from harming her
piglets either by lying on them or consuming
them. The crates are very sanitary and are
Topics
hydrogen bomb. Albert
Stoner, a 21-year-old astron
omy major from Altoona,
used declassified govern
ment documents to design a
20-inch polystyrene model,
which he demonstrated for
his class on Monday. (The
bomb, of course, doesn't
work.)
Not content to stick with
mere hydrogen bombs,
Stoner said he has devel
oped plans for a one-half
megawatt bomb, which
would be nearly 50 times as
powerful as the gizmo
dropped on Hiroshima.
Precocious college kids
seem to be developing these
bombs all the time. Why
can't Penn State, with its
strength in technology, pro
duce a student who will pro
duce a bomb? Hey
administrators, think of the
publicity. Think of the alum
ni money that would come
pouring in. Think of the pow
er Penn State could hold
over the state Legislature,
Teamster unions and AP
sportswriters.
Furthermore, Happy Val
ley is practically • a world
unto itself and sorely needs
the protection afforded by
nuclear weapons. Call that
Stoner, guy; offer him full
tuition, a plush townhouse,
and parking privileges on
campus. Throw in a Cor
vette if he holds out. Better
dead than red.
The Daily Collegian's editorial
opinion is determined by its Board
of Opinion, with the editor-in-chief
holding final responsibility.
4~~
Animal lovers' rebuttal
often kept in farrowidg houses that are envi
ronmentally controlled.
Since the use of farrowing crates, the death
rates of both sows and piglets have dropped
dramatically. This is but one of the modern
practices that has benefitted both the live
stock and producer.
The American farmer does not mistreat his
or her animals in the hopes of making a quick
buck; rather, he or she is a compassionate
individual who cares deeply for animals.
Moreoever, any individual knows that ani
mals placed under undue strength do not
produce. Therefore, the farmer strives to
provide a comfortable and sanitary environ
ment for his or her stock in order to maximize
profits.
We do not starve our animals to produce a
product we produce a product to feed the
starving peoples; thus, making the American
farmer the envy / of the world. To this point, we
have only examined principles. Now, let's
talk ECONOMICS.
The people in the United States eat more
nutritiously and less expensively than any
other society in the world! ! We, as producers
of food, believe that this is an outstanding
Editor's note:' This is the first of two columns concern
ing the political turmoil in Quebec, Canada. The author,
who recently visited the province,'discusses the histori
cal and 'socal perspective of the separtist movement.
Next week he will discuss the possible implicatons an
independent Quebec would have on Canada and the
United States.
The snow, which started to fall the day before, had
blanketed the ground on either side of the road and piled
slightly on top of the rows of tombstones. Looking from
side to side, I scanned the names. In the cemetery to my
right, I saw names like Martin, Johnson and Kelly. On
the left, however, the names I saw were considerably
harder to pronounce: Boileau, Soudeyns and Gauthier.
It was that observation that poignantly illustrated the
division of a people within a province and a pr9vince
within a country.
Drawing the battle lines very basically, my friend
explained, "English speaking people are buried over
there on the left. French-speaking people on the right."
"You mean if you're French, you can't be buried over
there?" I asked pointing to the Martin's and Kelly's.
"Yes, but if you're French, you don't want to be," she
replied with a smile:
I spent five days in Quebec over term break with a
French-Canadian family. They live in a small, rural
town called Magog, situated at the point of the 30-mile
long Memphemagog Lake and nestled in the shadow
Mount Orford, just above the Vermont border.
During my stay, the only English I heard be it at the
dinner table, on Main Street or at the bars was that
which was directed at me. Sure, there was English on
television and radio, but having no knowledge of
French, I was a helpless bystander to the conversations
around me. •
As I gradually came to understand, that was as it
should be.
French Canadians are very proud of their language.
And those who belong to the Parti Quebecois, the ruling
party of Quebec's provincial government, are fiercely
proud of their province. It's the French language that is
the source of this pride and also what sets Quebec apart
from the rest of Canada. •
In 1976, Quebeckers took a big step toward setting
themselves apart politically by voting the separtist
Parti Quebecois into power. The party was formed by
Rene Levesque in 1968 in response to Quebec's desire to
protect its special ethnic character and economic inter
ests in a country where English Canadians are an
overwhelming majority.
(Of the 6.2 million people that live in Quebec, one of
the country's 10 provinces, 80 percent are French
speaking [francophones, as they are referred to in the
Canadian press]; the other 20 percent are English
speaking [anglophones]. The nine other provinces are
'''*-'
French Quebec fights to separate from its English surroundings
accomplishment: an accomplishment only
achieved through a high level of productivity.
Not only does one farmer now feed 60 people,
but has shown a 7 percent increase in produc
tivity over the last five years --- which means
one farmer feeds almost two:dormitory floors
three meals a day, 365 days a year.
In the days of double digit inflation and
declining industrial efficiency, we are proud
to be associated with an industry that has
refused to buckle in times of economic strife,
but has tightened its belt to better serve the
American consumer. It is shocking to us that
anyone would choose to condemn rather than
applaud this performance.
Finally, we are left wondering what path
the criticism will follow. Will plant pain be the
next issue? Only the naive would now consid
er this possibility an•absurdity.
As agriculturists, we are appalled" at the
emotional discoloration of our industry. As
educators we are concerned with the Ameri
can public's ignorance of agricultural prac
tices.
MeeCee Baker, 12th-agricultural education
Tom Mincemoyer, graduate-agricultural edu
cation Dec. 10
A divisive language
•
90 percent English.)
Upon election, the Parti Quebecois, led by Premier
Levesque, promoted its ideal: to remove Quebec from
the Canadian federation. Levesque, a fiery and popular
statesman among francophones, wanted to form a new
nation with political sovereignty able to make its own
laws, conduct foreign affairs and pay taxes only to
Quebec City, its capital.
Still, it was a dr.istic proposition with unpredictable
future that promised to send shock waves from New
Fotmdland to British Columbia if it succeeded. To fully
understand the emotion behind the separtist movement,
one would most assuredly have to be a Quebecker. But
the move did have a historical, religimlS - and social
foundation.
The separation, however, wasn't to be absolute.
Levesque proposed to maintain a monetary union,
common currency and a common market with the
Canadian federation.
It seems that in the past francophones, who are
primarily Roman Catholic, were content, to keep their
distinct cultural identity quietly confined to the rural
towns and villages throughout the province. Meanwhile,
the Protestant anglophones controlled commerce and
industry in the cities. Also, French Canadians could
only rise to a certain level in the business world before
they needed the English language to advance further.
Naturally, francophones, in a province they domi
nated in population, could only exist in this subservient
role for so long.
Indeed, in the last 20 years, there has been a surge of
French-Canadian pride, provincialism if you will, that
has moved the Francophones to urbanize their culture
and has caused them to instill this pride in their
politically-oriented youth. Gradually, the anglophone's
economic control was challenged as the province's
majority sought greater political authority.
My friend is an energetic example of this change. She
is a supportive member of the Parti Quebecois, and
doesn't hesitate to show her blue membership card. Her
knowledge of national politics is both vast and intense,
and the Maple Leaf of Canada means virtually nothing
next to the Fleur-de-Lys of Quebec.
Even in her friends' apartment, a poster of Rene
Levesque is hanging in the stairwell and it's not even
AO.
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Thanks, John
I'd like to thank John Allison for his "The
Obligatory John Lennon Column." I'm glad to
see that someone wasn't going to let this "anni-
The Daily Collegian
an election year. The politics of Quebec seemingly touch
these people personally and they don't shy away from
involvement.
In May 1980, when the vote for separation was put to
Quebeckers, it was those youthful provincialists that
backed Levesque's plan in the greatest numbers. With
an astounding 85 percent voter turnout, three-quarters
of voters under 40 years old responded "oui" for
separation.
Yet that support was offset by older, more traditional
and less daring Quebeckers. More than half of all
francophones voted against separtion and the
movement was turned back 59 percent to 41 percent;
Canada breathed a sigh of relief, at the results,
especially Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau who cam
paigned fervently against separation. But+ if the split
between province and nation did not materialize politi
cally, it remained, intact emotionally.
The fact that a vote occurred at all was testimony to
the bitterness and animosity felt by French Canadians
in Quebec toward English Canadians everywhere else.
The long, heated campaign ruined friendships, divided
families (Levesque's brother was a staunch federalist)
and even spurred pockets of violence when a group of
young francophones rioted hi an English section of
Montreal after the vote.
The scars haven't healed; Levesque doOsn't want
them to.
Canada is now just a few legislative steps away from
its first constitution, thus officially ending its colonial
status under Great Britain. Yet the document which
was warmly embraced by all nine anglo provincial
governments, was rejected by Quebec. The consitiution
would weaken Quebec's power to limit English speaking
schools, thus opening up the possibility of diluting the
French province.
Last week, while the supportive premiers of the
constitution joined with Trudeau in a chorus of "0
Canada," Levesque ordered the flags in Quebec flown at .•
half mast.
When I read about Levesque's order, I couldn't help
but think of that cemetery in Magog, the neat division of
francophones and anglophones even in death. The issue
is largely a matter of pride and for French Canadians,
an isolated minority in an expansive country, it always
has been.
Again, the talk of separation is in the air. Another vote
is expected. This time, the combination of more young
members of the Parti Quebecois and the growing
impatience of older voters with federal government
could put a new nation above America's Northeast
sector.
Justin Catanoso is an llth-term journalism major. His
column appears on Friday.
TOM 61
THE DAILYCoIIEbI A
versary," for want of a better phrase, pass by
unnoticed.
I know the feelings that Mr. Allison had when
he learned about Lennon's death a year ago. I
had the same feelings myself. On every Dec. 8
from now on, I know I'm going to feel the sorrow
that I had in my heart that day.
Some people may think that it's silly to mourn
Lennon's death a year after he's gone. I dis
agree. John Lennon was a musical genius who
will long be missed. His music was a major part
of my life and it always will be.
Thank you Mr. Lennon.
Paul Sobotor, 11th-art
Dec. 9
=Collegian
Friday Dec.ll, 1981—Page 2
Paula Froke
Editor
BOARD OF MANAGERS: Sales Manager, Paul Rudoy;
Assistant Sales Manager, Monique Rura ; Office Man
ager, Michelle, Forner; Assistant Office Manager, Mi
chael Conklin; Marketing Managers, Sue Largman,
Mark Pulos; National Ad Manager, Owen Landon; Co-op
Managers, Donna Dauterich, Jodi Shubin; Creative
Director, Tracy Meyer; Layout Coordinators, Susan
Largman, Barry Reichenbaugh, Jodi Shubln.
Friday, Dec. 11
Tiii TIME
KHADAFYS
GONE TOO
AR.
01981 Collegian Inc.
Debby Vinokur
Business Manager
opinions
Question: Do you think cheating occurs on campus? If so, why do you think students get
away with it?
Kim Short, 12th-food service and
housing administration: "Cheating
occurs because the classes are too
large and because all of my tests are
objective; there should be more
essay tests. Also, there's too much
competition within the classes."
Tom Nevling, 6th-indus
trial engineering: "The
college cheats too. Why
should I care, if they
don't?"
Barb Colombo, 11th-parks and rec
reation: "I wouldn't expect it, but I
know cheating happens. I don't think
anyone really thinks that college
level students need to cheat. Hope
fully by this, time they're studying
something they're interested in."
career opportunities at:
ams
AMERICAN MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.
a leading nationwide computer
service and consulting firm .
DATE: Sunday, December 13, 1981
PLACE: Room 333 Whitmore Lab -
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
• SPEAKER: Skip, Korkuch (1978 PSU graduate)
sponsored by. COMPUTER SCIENCE CLUB
U. 296 Refreshments will be served!!
PSST. 4I)
a superfantastic
SALE at barefoot.
fryeboots • bass • capezio • zod],ac
nickels • 9 west • bandolino 6 etc •
VISA
bare 0 0 2 bli=d i
325 E CALDER WAY 234 8080 WEEKNIGHTS TIL 830
Quoto g raphs
A weekly look at University life
Dennis Roberts, professor of educa
tional psychology: "Certainly I
think cheating goes on a lot. The
large claasses are difficult to mon
itor, and there are so many different
ways to cheat. I think a lot of faculty
members don't really care. They
feel that they (the students) will get
caught sooner or later anyhow."
Lori Moglia, graduate-special edu
cation: • "I've only been here for a
term, but I suspect the reason most
students cheat is because of the ,
pressure applied in their compet
itive fields. The pressure required to
do well, whether for GPA or their
own satisfaction, sometimes over
rides their moral sense."
4;1.
IPv'' - •
.
14414
31.1, .
Zylphia. Ford, sth-psychology: "The
professors don't care, and they don't
try to stop cheating (from occur
ring). If there's too many seats in a
class, there is nothing they can do
about it."
Tom Fair, 11th-agricul
tural mechanization:
"A lot of cheating oc
curs, 'especially with
fraternities and stu
dents that have a little
bit of background and
references."
Edwina Howard, sth-accounting:
"Students get away with cheating
because they pick the best seats in
the middle of the class where teach
ers can't really see people."
Animal liberation is human liberation
By GEORGE P. CAVE
President, Trans-Species Unlimited
"But with so much human suffering in the world, why worry
about animals?" This is the objection perhaps most often
raised to the work of the animal rights activist. It is an
important, if misguided criticism, for it is usually sincere, and
to those unaware of the links between human and animal
exploitation, and ignorant of the moral foundations of the
animal rights movement, it may appear to be a telling objec
tion to participation in that movement.
Pushed to its logical conclusion, this line of thought leads to a
charge of moral hypocrisy or even immorality, as evidenced by
the recent article "Saving Monkeys, Ignoring People" by
William Raspberry in the Washington Post (Oct. 14, 1981).
Speaking of the recent rescue operation of 17 abused laboratory
monkeys by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) Raspberry states: ". . . all this heroism on behalf of 17
monkeys, when the situation for millions of human beings is
desperate and growing worse strikes me as, well, inhuman."
Unfortunately, what usually underlies this sort of criticism is
nothing more nor less than blatant homocentric prejudice, the
morally repugnant assumption that human beings should
always come first, not because their suffering is greater but
simply because they are human beings. In order to see that this
way of thinking is morally objectionable, we have merely to
cast our initial question into its parallel racist form: "With so
much suffering of white people in the world, why worry about
blacks?" Most people today recognize that race, sex, age, etc.
are not morally valid grounds for preferential treatment. Few
recognize this principle with regards to species. Yet there is no
more justification for unnecessarily inflicting pain on a monkey
because he is not a human being than for inflicting pain on a
black man because he is not white.
Treating an animal differently simply becase it belongs to a
different species is morally unjustifiable. As Jeremy Bentham
said one hundered years ago, "pain is pain no matter who
suffers it:" Our decision as to whose sufferings we should
attempt to relieve should, therefore be determined by who
suffers most, not by what species the creature in question
happens to belong to.
The objection raised above against animal rights activists is
not, however, always motivated solely by homocentric preju
dice and speciesism. It may reflect a genuine concern for moral
priorities, a suspicion that greater suffering is being ignored
for the sake of relieveing lesser suffering. This concern is what
lies beneath the stock charge that animal rights advocates are
misanthropic animal lovers who care more for animals than for
people. It should be noted that mere emotional preference for
,non-human animals over human beings is not, in itself, ad
equate grounds for moral condemnation unless this results in
preferential treatment of non-human animals.
The history of the humane movement, however, clearly
belies the claim that animal rights advocates are typically
misanthropes who are unconcerned with human woes. Today,
the vanguard of the animal rights movement today is composed
of activists who in the past participated in the civil rights
movement, the anti-war protest, and the feminist movement.
But the question is, assuming the correctness of the moral
principle, that one should attempt to relieve the greater
N t
I'4* Come join Administrators, Faculty Members and
Attention Business Students!
Fellow Students in the College of Business Student
•,04
*IV ---,A,
GO HOME ON A USG BUS!
Departures
Philly
Dec. 18 -
12:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
All buses will return January 3, 1982 at 7:00 p.m.
Buses will begin loading in front of the HUB approx. 15 min.
before departure time and will stop at parking lot 80 approx. 5
after scheduled departure time
Stops
Philly
King of Prussia Mall
(Wanamakers)
Reading Terminal
Prices
Philly
One Way
$14.75 .
Tickets will go on sale at the HUB Desk, A
till 9am - 3pm, December 11th
and the 14th-18th
U 268 08L
forum
Council's Christmas Party
Monday, December. 14th
R-048 * All Business Students Welcome *
Dec. 19
12:30 p.m.
Roundtrip
$28.50
In his criticism of PETA, Raspberry unfairly contrasts the
suffering of 17 monkeys with the travail of millions of human
beings,'thus suggesting that the suffering of human beings far
outwieghs the suffering of non-human animals. Nothing could
be further from the truth. The answer. to the question raised
above is, quite simply, that the pain and torment inflicted on
non-human animals far exceeds, both in quantity and intensity,
the suffering endured by human beings. Instances of hum*
beings undergoing tortures comparable to those inflicted on
laboratory animals are rare, isolated atrocities; for laboratony
animals they are daily occurrences. The same holds true
every other area of non-human animal abuse.
There is another reason for devoting one's energies tp
animals rather than humans: unlike humans, they cannot
defend themselves. Non-human animals are, in the fullegt
sense of the work, victims.
In, a deeper sense, however, the supposed conflict betwecin
concern for humans and concern for animals is spurious. The
relief of animal suffering directly contributes to the relief of the
most fundamental forms of human suffering: animal liberaticin
is human liberation. In virtually every case animal abuse
perpetuates and supports a system which exploits human
beings. Perhaps the most conspicuous example of this is
factory farming. The factory farming industry is a moral
outrage from the standpoint of human welfare. Due largely t:o
the methods employed in factory farms, meat presents 'a
serious hazard to human health. When we eat meat we eat
antibiotics, pesticides, and a host of toxic and carcinogenic
.chemicals. In spite of this the USDA, acting as the lackey of die
multi-national corporations which own the factory farms,
continues to disseminate lies about the nutritional necessity of
meat in the diet.
Factory farming is also a major contributor to the destruC
tion of the environment. It is, in truth, nothing less than an
ecological disaster. Energy and resource consumption is stag
gering. One average chicken slaughter house, for examplO,
uses 100 million gallons of water in a single day. Factory
farming generates massive amounts of animal wastes which
cannot be properly disposed of and air polluting our atmo
sphere and water supplies. Production of beef cattle results in
overgrazing of land, cuttng back of timber land, and accompa
nying erosion. Wildlife also suffers in this proCess from the
destruction, of habitation and from the "predator control"
program of ranchers. All of these things contribute to the
deterioration of the quality of human life.
Factory farming, as controlled by giant corporations, is al *:•
Tesponsible for driving the small farmer out of business, or
forcing him into a mode of production which is exploitative of
both animals and human beings and runs against the tradition
of humane and sound husbandry.
Finally, and most importantly, factory farming contributOs
directly to world hunger and starvation through the misuse of
land for raising animals, much of which could be used instead
to grow grains and soybeans. It is thus directly linked V)
exploitation of poorer nations: when we eat meat we starve
someone in the Third World.
What is true for factory farming is equally true for laboratory
experimentation, "sport" hunting arid trapping, irresponsible
breeding of domestic animals and all other forms of animal
abuse. When will we learn that we live in one world in which
exploitation of any living being is a form of self-destruction? To
liberate man we must first liberate the animals.
7:00 201 BAB
Pitts.
Dec. 18
Dec. 19
1:00 p.m.
1:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh
David Weis
Miracle Mile
Heinz Hall
Pittsburgh
One Way
$12.25
Roundtrip
$23.75
The Daily Collegian Friday, Dec. 11, 1981-3
suffering, irrespective of species, how can the animal rights
activist defend himself against the charge that he ignores
greater human suffering for the sake of relieving lesser animal
suffering?
NYC
Dec. 18
5:00 p.m
Dec. 19
12:00 p.m
NYC
Rockaway Mall
Entrance
NYC Port Authority
NYC
One Way
$29.00
Roundtrip
$56.50
r'
r- )or-1