opinions editorial opinion Take time over break With finals coming and term papers due, there's not much time to worry about what President Reagan is trying to do the federal education budget. However, many students found the time this past week to write their congressman as part of a well-organized effort by the Undergrad uate Student Government: SOFAR (Students Opposed to Financial Aid Reductions) week. Others went so far as to hold an official protest with signs outside the State College Municipal Building where U.S. Sen. H. John Heinz spoke Thursday. For the most part, however, students contin ued listening to the Dead, studying for their physics quiz and calling out for pizza. But the routine will be broken soon as classes end and students take their last finals and abandon college life for a while. Then, there's nothing much to do but watch "Hogan's Heroes" reruns, party with some old friends or lie in the Florida sun. If all that gets a little boring, maybe students will have time to wonder about whatever Reagan is trying to do to the education budget. Maybe they'll get up enough energy to read some newspapers and magazines in depth and find out what may happen to their Guaranteed It has all the elements of a juicy novel, an intriguing movie and a shocking newspaper story. It involves a powerful Supreme Court justice's desire to continue his control over the realm of public policy once he had donned his .sanctimonious court robes. It involves a wily Harvard law professor who was only too will ing to act as a liaison between the marble corridors of the court and the chambers of the legislature -- and to get paid for doing so. It involves the very nature of America's justice system. • Louis D. Brandeis, in his 23 years on the United States Supreme Court, paid Felix Frankfurter, who was then a Harvard law professor, more than $50,000 to further the Justices's goals on public policy. Far from being mere historical trivia, this new information focuses a problem that plagues the American judicial system even today. Only last month, for example, a new memoir by John Ehrlichman alleged that Chief Justice Warren Burger discussed contro Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true. . . A little less than a year ago I sat amidst the early-evening chaos of the Collegian newsroom and wrote a column abOut a dream, and about ideals and aspirations. The adrenalin was surg ing, the emotions soaring and all the wishes and promises of the past 2'/2 years straining to be at last realized as I began a year as editor. Now, nearly 12 months and innumerable peaks and plunges later, I find myself pacing about this deserted office at 4:30 in the morning, tense with the tormented energy and relentless frustration of all those dreams still straining for fulfillment. This time around, however, I'm not beginning a year as editor but ending it, and as the last day approaches I can't help thinking about all that I hoped for and wanted but could never• get. And I Wonder what ever happened along the way. Then I think of conversations with my coun terparts in student government during our less embattled moments when we stopped debating our differences and talked instead about what we all want to achieve a "better Penn State" and how frustrated it made us. Or I think of talks with professors and instructors who once upon a time believed in the power of teaching and learn ing but now find themselves preoccupied with tests and meetings. Or with administrators in Old Main or Boucke Building or countless anonymous offices across campus, who shuffle and reshuffle ever-increasing piles of paperwork and ever-de creasing piles of money and try to remember what it was like to be in the classroom. I remember meetings in which I watched a circle of students passionately and insistently pointing out all of the University's problems and creating their own idealistic solutions and then questioning sometimes accusingly, sometimes in innocent perplexity why "nothing" was being done, or why whatever was done was accomplished ineptly. At the front of the table during those meetings sat the administrators called upon to answer for their sins and the sins of their co-workers and of Penn State in general, administrators whose formal responses were at times contradicted through their eyes, their tone of voice, their fiddling with their glasses or pieces of paper. Some of them, sometimes, seemed sad. Sad and also frustrated, not in the fiery "angry young man" sense of the students' indignation but in a more quiet, almost beaten kind of way. As if they, Raise the pens Crucial question Book examines judicial role , to write your legislator Student Loan eligibility. Maybe they'll discover that Reagan wants the loan to be entirely need-based and elimi nate graduate student eligibility. And that he wants the federally subsidized 9 percent inter est rate to jump to the market rate now at 19 percent two years after the student leaves college. Those restrictions could take effect as early as April 1. Maybe students will find out that the presi dent proposes eliminating the State Educatio nal Opportunity Grant and the National Direct Student Loan, and that he wants to cut Pell Grant funds from $3.35 billion to $l.B billion. Maybe they could talk with Ma and Pa about how those cuts might affect things. The cuts might change plans on how to finance an education. They could even make an education unaffordable for many. Maybe students can find time over break to write their congressman or even visit his local office. Maybe students can find time to register to vote. Those are pretty big "maybe's." But a little awareness and action now could mean a lot of money later. And a little ignorance and apathy could mean no college education for many. versial pending appeals with then-President Richard Nixon. These new findings, revealed in a book "The Brandeis/Frankfurter Connection: The Secret Political Activity of Two Supreme Court Jus tices" by University assistant professor Of political science Bruce A. ' Murphy, ' Should cause some serious thinking about the extent to which justices' and judges' political activities should be regulated, what kind of limits should exist and if the limits should depend on the political questions of the period. "These were good, well-intentioned men who did good things for America, never them selves," Murphy was reported as saying in the Feb. 22 issue of Newsweek. "But can we have one set of rules for the well-intentioned and another for the others?" Murphy leaves this crucial question for the American public to ponder and decide. The Daily Collegian's editorial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor-in-chief holding final responsibility. too, felt the fury and injustice and wanted desper ately to change things but realized - after two or ten or twenty years of fighting that maybe it just wasn't possible. And it hurt them. Then there were those who seemed oblivious to the complaints, concerned more with the movement of the second hand around their wrist watch than with the decrease of academic stan dards or the increase of class sizes. Maybe they never hurt; maybe they never were frustrated. Maybe they were hurt and frustrated so many times that they finally just gave up. People talk a lot about Penn State. The talk is usually pragmatic, and almost always negative: there aren't enough teachers, not enough books, not enough dorm space, not enough money, not enough money, not enough money. But what all the talkers don't talk about —what they probably don't even think about is far more basic. There's not enough humanity. And because of that, not enough dreams. Somewhere, somehow, they all get smothered by the layers of bureaucracy and mechanization that have evolved as defenses for generations who've dreamed their great dreams and hoped for the day when they'd finally be in a position to achieve those dreams but inevitably found that when that day comes, so too comes new problem after new responsibility after new pressure that unsympathetically combine as barriers to all those intangible dreams. The budget must be finished today, the tests must be graded today, the incensed staff member must be assuaged today and every day is like every other day with its incessant list of demands for today and all of a • • • ? u ht -ii/Es6___. sudden tomorrow and all its plans gets postponed until . . . Never The dreams disintegrate to a mere struggle for survival, a fight only to make sure that things don't get any worse, or at least not much worse. The dreamers find themselves lowering their standards and accepting the same mediocrity and mundanity that they had always condemned, and in so doing feel their initial frustration at all the wrongs of the world further fired by their frustra tion at themselves for giving in to the status quo. The defenses then continue to grow. People become afraid to open themselves up, afraid to be human afraid to be weak afraid because they don't want to risk having their ideals crushed again. Instead they cower beneath facades of efficiency and bureaucracy and rules and regula tions, nodding their heads, consulting their man uals and refusing to think or feel. They become cynical, sometimes cruelly cyn ical, automatically assuming that everyone is out to "get" everyone else, that motives are always evil and that anything that happens the way it shouldn't happen is not an honest mistake but a malicious manipulation. They stop trying to think creatively, stop trying to change anything, and stop trying to fight. They stop questioning, at least out loud. And they lodge their thinking into a niche from which they rarely emerge, forever retaining their parochial per spectives and unseeing prejudices and stereo typed images. Worst of all, they cease being people and turn instead into machines. That's what the game dictates, because people with emotions clog up the system and sometimes even make it crash. So the rule is that the moment anyone leaves his dorm or apartment or split-level Toftrees home and enters the classroom or office, he must forget his personal concerns and feelings and transform himself into a robot that smiles a professional smile and plays a professional game and attempts to solve the problems of the University or the college or department or council or newspaper or classroom with sterling rationality but no emo tions. Ending a column like this one can be mind bending, both because the end of the column symbolizes the end of the editorship and because reader opinion Sam-aritan "If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? Faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2: 16-17) To Sam Hodes and his dog, Buster Brown (the meanest dog in the whole damn town according to Sam): You don't count Sam Hodes, you plain and simple, do not count. What's your major? What term are you in? Where is your • job? Or at least, where is your car? You're a bum. You're a walkin' man without (no need) a walkman. • You got your own. What have you done for the economy? For the new (?) same old federalism? For the biggest peace time military buildup in the history of mankind? This town has done everything for people not like you. Helped get rid of that Ferguson mall, don't like that Nittany Mall, they're gonna build another multi-story parking garage (using funds for the poor) and move all them malls downtown. Now they're talking about a 6,000 acre high-technology park. The borough hauls tons of snow (frozen water) using oil and gas eating trucks while Skimont makes 4.3 million gallons of snow with machines that eat the same. Where do you and Buster Brown fit in? "Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?" (James 2:5) • Sam, you said that State College has the faith but not the works. I disagree, but only a little. State College has the works but these works won't last for much longer. State College may have the faith, but only the kind of faith that doesn't work - to be perpetuating works like these. You and Buster Brown are the works and the faith. (Though tempted to call Sam the works and your dog faith, I know you both to be both.) I was flat on my back in a pool of my own blood, a broken head, dying slowly (out of faith) so many works to no avail. Buster Brown, I'm sure smelled me first, saw me next and you tagged along behing. I'm alive now to write this today because of your (plural) faith and works. Sam, don't wait for State College or anybody else 'cause they'll come along some day. (Buster knows.) • • • hitting the right note is crucial to not leaving an unintended impression. I realize that I've sounded rather negative up to this point, a reflection of the great frustration I've been feeling lately. But there's no way I want to leave either this column or this job sounding as if all of life is a hopeless cause, especially because the idealistic optimism I feel half 'the time far outweighs my current frustration. What does seem appropriate, perhaps, is an excerpt from a note I wrote my staff after the Christmas/Hanukkah break. Reading over it sev eral weeks later, I realized that it said piecisely what I would like to say to everyone on campus. And so, the last words of a lame duck: "No matter how overloaded you get with the day-to-day hassles, the mundane annoyances or even the major crises, remember that the writers whose stories you edit are people . . . Remember that all those omnipresent, omniscient and omnip- Monday Feb. 22, 1982—Page 2 ©1982 Collegian Inc. Paula Froke Debby Vinokur Editor Business Manager BOARD OF EDITORS: Managing Editor, Phil Gutis; Editorial Editor, Becky Jones; Associate Editorial Editors, John Allison, Tom Boyer; News Editors, Cindy Deskins, Dave Medzerian; Sports Editor, Mike Poorman; Assistant Sports Editors, Ron Gardner, Pete Waldron; Arts Editor, Elaine Wetmore; Assistant Arts Editor, Judd Blouch; Photo Editor, -Stelios Varias; Assistant Photo Edi tors, Janis Burger, Renee Jacobs; ,Graphics Editor, Lynda Cloud; Wire Editor, Maryann Rakowski; Copy Editors, Cindy Cox, K.E. Fishman, Karen Konski, Jackie Martino, Iris Naar, Leslie Zuck; Campus Editor, Joyce Venezia; Assistant Campus Editor, Sharon Taylor; Town Editor, Justin Catano. so; Assistant Town Editor, Mark Featherstone; Features Editor, Scott McCleary; Weekly Collegian Editor, Neil Axe; Assistant Weekly Collegian Edi tor, Laurie Penco. BOARD OF MANAGERS: Sales Manager, Paul Rudoy; Assistant Sales Manager, Monique Rura; =Collegipn ,;;"Y ; "Even Solomon is all his glory was not arrayed like one of the Se." (Matthew 6:29) Dennis McHugh State College resident Feb. 17 Cheers and jeers I am writing in response to Joe Berkowitz (Feb. 17) who was so upset by the Daily Collegian editorial "Staying Afloat," (Feb. 16). The misunderstanding concerning the swimming test has been clarified by the recent publicity and dialogue on campus. Cheers go to Darryl Daisey for making an inquiry into the policy which caused him distress and cheers go t% Professor Jim Thompson who listened to Darryl's concerns' and acted so promptly to correct the situation. A cheer also goes to the Collegian editorial staff for its perceptive article stressing the importance of swimming skills for all human beings and the idea that it should be a requirement fir graduation from Penn State University. 17.7. But jeers go to Joe Berkowitz, a sixth term English major who is certain that he is capable of making his own decisions in 4 a rational way. His idea that self-defense skills might be better for some sudents than swimming may be sound. In fact many of my students have expressed similar opinions during the past three years. But his argument is worthless, His letter is the product of thoughtless, emotional drivel. He is accusing the physical education department of perpetuating a "vicious and deliberate lie," and of plotting "to manipulate students." He implies a willful, intentional conspiracy to mislead students, but suggests no motive. This is a strong and libelous accusa tion. Joe Berkowitz has written a letter without having given any intelligent, careful thought to his statements. He has demonstrated an immature mentality while claiming to be an adult. Harvey Abrams, p.h.d. candidate and personal defense in structor Feb. 17 otent "sources" are people too not just names and titles that remain unaffected by what we write . . . Remember that our readers are people, people who . . . might change something in their • lives as a result of what we print. "Remember that the editors all around you are people, with problems and feelings outside the newsroom. Maybe at times their attitude or concentration or general performance isn't what it should be. But before you criticize, stop for just a moment and consider the possible reasons behind the problems. And then see if you can helps "Think about how all those people will be affected by what you do every night. Take some time to care about them. "Aim for professional excellence but never at the sacrifice of human pride." Paula Froke is a 10th-term journalism major and editor of The Daily Collegian. • Office Manager, Michelle Forner; Assistant Office Manager, Michael Conklin; Marketing Managers, Sue Largman, Mark Pulos; National Ad Manager, Owen Landon; Co-op Managers, Chip Schneller, Jodi Shubin; Creative Director, Tracy Meyer; Lay out Coordinators, Susan Largman, Barry Reichen baugh, Jodi Shubin. COMPLAINTS: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. If the complaint is not satisfacto rily resolved, grievances may be filed with the• Accuracy and Fair Play Committee of Collegian Inc. Information on filing grievances is available from Gerry Lynn Hamilton, executive secretary, Collegian Inc. ABOUT THE COLLEGIAN: The Daily Collegian and. The Weekly Collegian are published by Colle gian Inc., a non-profit corporation with a board of directors composed of students, faculty and profes sionals. Students of The Pennsylvania State Univer sity write and edit both papers and solicit advertising material for them. The Daily Collegian is pUblished Monday through Friday. The Daily Collegian Monday, Feb. 22 I , /, 4 71, /.4V ,reader opinion Thanks, kids I really hope that my humble letter makes it to print so much in this column is derogatory, cutting, critical, sarcastic, hateful, condemnatory, reproachful and sometimes obnoxious that my words of praise may not colorful enough to leave ieethmarks on the editor. ' However, I'd like to enthusiastically thank all those wonderful, friendly morale people (and "black visors" and "green shirts") at the dance marathon. To think that these folks, who are also students with finals to study for and sleep to catch up on over the weekend, gave their time and energy to massage two-day old sweat socks (which was sheer ecstasy to my dogs), give encouraging words to cheer up incoherent dancers, fetch water and make more than unusual errands for us. This, addition to the guff they had to endure when warning someone to "keep shifting" \ (their weight) and all for no compensation, prize or credit. Therefore, I'd like to recognize these tireless souls some of whom stayed almost as long as the dancers for their support (physical and verbal), kindness, and smiling faces, which may have meant a lot to those who lost their partner or had no one in the bleachers to root for them. Mac, Ellen, Tom, Lisa, Bob and all the rest, this is to show that your efforts didn't go unnoticed I definitely couldn't have made it without you. It's nice to know someone • r cares! , • Elizabeth Louden, 11th-marketing Feb. 17 2Cooperation I was pleased to read the opening lines of a letter by Mary Beth Sworin and Robert N. Brinkerhoff: ". . . the J. Geils concert was excellent." Anyone who attended the show will attest to this. Mary and Robert went on to comment on the behavior of the ushers working at the concert. As head usher, I'd like to respond to their remarks. As explained in the letter, a new seating policy was instituted at the concert the c. i.:firsi - fiVe rows went straight across with no middle aisle. Also, six stage crew - members were assigned at each side of the stage. The purpose for this is to prevent the perennial accumulation of fans at the front of the hall. Such crowds are undesirable because: 1) People tend to get pushed or squashed and fights often occur. It is difficult for an usher, if it becomes necessary, to make his or her way through the crowd. 2) Overzealous fans sometimes wish to become part of the concert. They jump on the stage, possibly ruining the flow of the performance, injuring the artist, or injuring 4 . themselves as they are escorted offstage by a none-too-friendly bodyguard. 3) Others are encouraged to leave their seats to be close to the performers. J. Geils is a special band; they truly want to get close to their fans. Peter Wolf proved this when he descended from the stage into the crowd. It is hard for a band to see beyond the first few rows so they don't mind more people down front. J. Geils in fact relishes this. The band wanted the crowd to amass down front UCC didn't, preferring everyone '!.to enjoy an unobstructed view from their seats. UCC decided that toward the second half of the show, fans would be permitted.to trickle down front. Thus, what may have appeared as ushers rushing the stage was only their moving into position so that the fans could move in closer. There were seven ushers located at the base of the stage to ensure safety and control. Self-interest was by no means their reason for moving toward the stage. This plan was successful because of the cooperation of both the audience and ushers. Pushing and shoving was nearly nonexistant and only one individual climbed ' on stage. Thanks to both the audience and fans for making the J. Geils concert a success. Cindy Freeman Head Usher, U.C.O Feb. 19 Pay attention First off, I would like to thank Dr. Cave for pointing out something very important the necessity of an attentive reading Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Mr. Carson gave my letter that attentive reading. In my letter that appeared in the Collegian on Feb. 15, I thought it was clear that I was bringing to Dr. Cave's attention the inadvisibility of quoting The National Enquirer to anyone, especially college students. The reputation of The National Enquirer virtually ensures that anything in it will be disregarded by most intelligent people as, at best, creative journalism and at worst, pure fantasy. tq. My letter was not meant as an attack on Trans-Species Unlimited. Upon reading it, I still don't see how it could be taken as one. It was, I hope, "an open-minded and well intentioned criticism" to quote your Dr. Cave, Mr. Carson. The last paragraph of your letter, Mr. Carson, had me slightly puzzled. You ask if I was going to continue to present statements based upon "dubious facts." I couldn't find any dubious faces in my letter, unlike in yours. Trans-Species Unlimited did use a National Enquirer story to publicize something that they felt important about. And, I Penetrating the mind barrier By LORETTA J. WILLITS Bth-philosophy As we walked out of the room on the first day of winter classes, a girl behind me said to her companion, "This is only my second class and already I hate this term!" As an older student and a philosophy major at that, I was less willing to draw as hasty a conclusion. But I had to admit that the professor had come across as brash, abrasive, intimidating, even conceited and certainly chal lenging. During the first two weeks of classes, many of the students sulked, stared, looked scared, asked very few questions and, in general, had resistance written all over them in their body language. The professor threw out these challenges: "Give me a scientific reason why someone shouldn't shoot you!" "If you say slavery is immoral, how can you prove this?" i • 1 1 "Most of us are slaves even though we think we're free." "How can you prove that this desk isn't a Martian disguised as a desk?" No one took him up on any of them. And then the change began. There were smiles as he asked, "Would you think I was dignified if I came to class wearing a toga?" Laughter came as he parodied a sandled, long-haired, hippy-type professor wearing love beads who wanted to be our friend. "If you walk into a classroom and see someone like that, get out of there! You're not going to learn anything from someone like that! What can you learn from someone you can't respect?" I discovered that if I wanted to get a front row seat, I had to be there when the previous class let out, and even then there were always a few Of his students waiting in the hall. In the class of 100 students, there was practically never a vacant seat. The students were frowning in concentration as he spoke. You could almost see the wheels in their heads beginning to creak, throwing off the rust. They began to ask intelligent questions, indicating they were beginning to understand the points he was making, among which were: "If you don't understand by virtue of your humanity the difference between right and wrong, then I can't teach you." "If you live in a society in which there is no appeal other than 'the law,' and they have a law saying slavery is OK, forum you have nothing to appeal.to if you don't agree with that law." "When I say philosophy is dangerous it's not only because it has you thinking, but because we may not be able to prove why certain things are wrong." • "Getting humans to agree with the correct way of doing things is the problem of theory and practice." "To examine nature is to interfere with it, forcing nature to reveal itself, 'putting nature to the torture'; yet we think of science as productive." "Happiness is not useful; you can't use it to reach something else." "It's a tremendous mystery why we all want to be happy." "Socrates said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living.' " When he addressed a female student it was always, "Yes, miss?" when a student was floundering through a question, trying to formulate it intelligently, he would encourage them with a few words, reformulate it to see if he understood what they were asking, and then would answer it. He would now and then especially praise the astuteness of a student posing a question. Now there were thoughtful ly serious questions being asked by students. And there was often laughter, but it was never directed at a student. Then came one of those rare, magic moments that can occur in a classroom. He came in one morning looking very thoughtful. "I want to make a statement," he said. "This has been a good class. I don't know whether this is a tribute to me, or yourselves, or a sign of the times. Maybe it's all three. But you've been attending very regularly, which is unusual in a class this size. Usually when you have a 100 students there are a lot of vacancies every day, but there have hardly been any empty seats. I haven't seen anything like this since the 'sos. And I just wanted you to know, you're good students. You shouldn't have any problems with the exam." For a few seconds no one dared to breathe. It was like a tangible wave flowing out of him and over us, and then back to him. He cared enough to want us to think. And we cared enough for him to want to think. Then he was his old brisk self, "Well, let's get:on with the discussion!" So if you came to Penn State just to memorize a lot of facts, don't take a philosophy course. On the other hand, if you're one of those who has written to The Daily Collegian compi,aining that "students aren't asked to think here at Penn State," then run don't walk to the philosophy department on the second floor of Sparks Building, and ask about their offerings. It's not too late for spring courses. And thank you Dr. Stanley H. Rosen, for caring enough to make us think. SHALL I SAY WE NAVE \ 4,000 MEDIUM-RANGE NUCLEAR MI SSLES ? r f fk lo !MA!l4A! 37'4! hope, it is common knowledge that the Enquirer has never (and probably will never) won an award for journalistic accuracy and integrity. I won't even point out the one word in your last sentence that turned your letter from a criticism of my letter to a personal attack on myself. Do yourself a favor. Next time, give letters "a more careful reading" and not just a quick skim. You might get something out of them that the reader put in. Norman Rule, Bth-general arts and sciences Feb. 19 Barbaric The goldfish eating contest is not the only example of the barbaric killing of helpless animals at Delta Sigrha Phi. While attending a party at the fraternity, we noticed a can of spray disinfectant in the bathroom. You guessed it, not only do these young men sponsor "goldfish eating" cdntests, but - they kill hundreds . of thousands of helpless microorganisms that peacefully inhabit their bathrooms! When will this senseless murder stop? First bacteria, then goldfish; next thing you know they'll be swallowing mice, chickens and ultimately small children! We're certain some people will say; "Oh, what's a gold-fish anyway? Nothing but small carp." Let us add a point about the broader issues here. It seems to us that Delta Sigma Phi is doing its utmost to add to the unavailability of a necessary food source to billions of house cats suffering from malnutrition in the third world. But, let's bring the issue closer to home. How are the fast food restaurants in State College going to compete with Delta Sigma Phi's "All You Can Eat Goldfish Dinners?" At least, you animal lovers can find some solace in the realization that the souls of the dearly departed are in the "Great, Goldfish Bowl in the Sky." Dru Germanoski, 19th-earth science Tim Joyce, 11th-administrative management . •• flee - hee ... Choir members demand the facts By The Advisory Board of the University Choirs The members of the University Choir have been denied the necessary support from the School of Music to pursue the unequalled educational opportunity of singing with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A plausible explana tion for this denial not been offered. Two meetings were scheduled for Feb. 11 in an attempt to establish lines of communication on both student and adminis trative levels. The first was to be between the music majors in the choir and the music majors on the School of Music Student Advisory Board to discuss the lack of administrative support for this professional invitation. Dr. Maureen Carr, director of the School of Music, scheduled her own Student Advisory Board meeting for the same time, (12:30 p.m.) announcing that it was open to all interested students in the School of Music. The presence of faculty members precluded constructive student-to-student communication and very little was accom plished. Dr. Carr's comment that the choir members left "because they didn't like what someone was saying" (Colle gian, Feb. 15) is something of an understatement. They left because the wife of a faculty member began a vicious attack on professor Raymond Brown, director of the University Choir. Dr. Carr made no attempt to stop the tirade before the students' departure. Four other choir members were waiting outside Dr. Carr's office for a private 1 p.m. appointment with her. Instead, they were escorted into the ongoing Student Advisory Board meet ing where they were subjected to mockery, shouting, profanity (by this same faculty wife) and accusations of undermining the School of Music. Also, a first year graduate assistant openly challenged Mr. Brown's professional ability as a musician. Once again, Dr. Carr made no attempt to maintain order. Such inexcusable conduct and unprofessional behavior is what Dr. Carr refers to as a "lively debate." (Collegian, Feb. 15) Since we have asked reasonable questions and have received And those who find themselves . at odds with the system must in reply rhetoric and even hostility, we find it ironic that our struggle against administrators who mistakenly lead us to attempts to diplomatically resolve this matter have been believe that we do have an effective voice" in our University. labeled as "unrealistic, unfair, unethical and inexcusable." Yes, we are receiving quite an "education" at Penn State, the (Centre Daily Times, Feb. 16) value of which we shall not soon forget. forum Wow! Four years of Penn State will come to a close after my 6:50 p.m. final Saturday. Looking back, it has been four wonderful years. My only complaint is I wish I could go four more. Penn State is really a Happy Valley to me. Where else can a person in four years play tennis on up to 70 tennis courts, go swimming in one of five pools, enjoy broadway shows, hear excellent speakers and rock groups and have a chance to belong to over 350 campus organizations? I was fortunate and took advantage of many things at Penn State. Maybe that is why I will miss it so much It's amazing. Besides leaving Penn State, I am leaving The Daily Collegian, an activity that has become very much a part of me. It is hard to imagine that in less than one week ; I will be leaving the paper for good. This paper is probably the major reason why I am confident in the so-called re - al world. What an experience it has been. Daily paper sizes, arguments with some of my favorite managing editors, several advertising complaints and great satisfac tion. To think that I did all this and was a part of one of the top college newspapers in the nation makes me proud. . . Well, it is time to move on and I hate lorg, sad goodbyes. But maybe it isn't goodbye. One of my favorite Weekly Collegian ads starts with "Is this Goodbye?" I'll answer that by "I hope not." I guess it is really, "See you in the future." Good luck to all graduating seniors who are probably going through my same emotions now. And I urge all undergraduates to enjoy Penn State while you can. Take advantage of as much as you can. It is well worth it in the end except for the hard goodbye. Debby Vinokur Business Manager, The Daily Collegian The charge that the protest activities of the choir members have taken place under instruction of Mr. Brown must also be addressed. This is an attempt to dismiss genuine student interest and to discredit Mr. Brown. A student-initiated sing-in was held on the steps of Old Main on the evening of Feb. 12 to inform the public of the choir's unsuccessful efforts within the School of Music to obtain its support. It is curious in light of this peaceful protest that some of the music faculty have deemed the actions of the Choir "out of control." (Centre Daily Times, Feb. 16) Out of whose control? Are students "out of control" when they are unwilling / to accept administrative decisions? The amount of misinformation that is circulating in the upper-level administration about the choir issue is appalling. A state representative was recently informed by a University official that Mr. Brown had demanded four graduate assistants and $42,000 before he would accept the invitation to perform with Mr. Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Where does this erroneous information originate? Actually, Mr. Brown had only requested the equivalent of one full-time graduate assistant and a core group of singers receiving one credit. No request for money has been made. In the past, funding has been provided by the professional orchestra. Raymond Brown was appointed Director of Choral Music in 1966. He had under his direction the University Choirs including the Chapel Choir, the. Penn State Singers and the former Concert Ohoir, from which the most capable were chosen to sing with professional orchestras. After the reconstruction of the choral program, effective September 1981, all that re mained of the University Choirs was a large choir of approxi mately 200 students, most of whom do not read music. When the invitation came in January from Mr. Ormandy, Mr. Brown knew that without a core group of strong singers, a professional quality performance would be impossible. Thanks are extended to the members of the Academic Assembly, the Executive Council, Dr. Rosemary Schraer, Dr. Robert Dunham and Dean William McHale, all of whom met with us and listened to us. We applaud the Collegian for having the courage to take a stand in this controversy (Feb. 8 editorial). Thanks also to those who cheered and encouraged the singers on the night of the singing protest. Despite this support, it has become increasingly obvious, that students have very little, if any, say in their education. This could easily be blamed on "the system." However, "the system" is composed of individuals who are actually misusing their power by refusing to Use it responsibly. The Daily Collegian Monday, Feb. 22, 1982-3 17 HAI PIA I LET'S Looking back ft, el, .0,00#4,,te
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers