opinions editorial opinion Of nuclear war and sewers When the nuclear freeze movement reached Centre County it was partially thwarted by sew ers. In August, the Centre County Commissioners passed a resolution that urged the Unite,d States and the Soviet Union to freeze the test ing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons. The proponents of a nuclear freeze, however, had proposed that the issue be put on a referendum in the Nov. 2 elections. The resolution, although showing the commissioners' concern about the nuclear buildup, does not hold as much weight as a ballot referen dum would have. Such a referen dum probably would have passed if it were placed on the ballot, Jeffrey M. Bower, chairman of . the com missioners, said. Why then did the commissioners refuse to place a referendum on the ballot? Because under state stat ute, most county commissioners are forbidden to place a referen dum on the ballot unless it will directly affect their future actions. Therefore, under state law and some legal precedents, if the com missioners found they faced a prob lem with the sewers in Centre reader opinion 1 the palestinian dilemma Pathetic attempt If the circumstances hadn't been so serious, I might have'been able to laugh off Professor Feuchtwang's pathetic attempt to justify Zionist/Israeli intransigent attitudes toward the Palestinian people that are so troubling to a rapidly growing number of Americans concerned with recent Mid-East calamities. (I would have used "holocaust," but it's been taken.) Last Wednesday evening was the time designated for an ecumenical memorial serv ice for the recent massacre of Palestinians. Following the dignified candlelight gathering in front of Old Main, the solemn group of Americans and foreign students proceeded to Kern Graduate Building to view a film on Palestine. • ' There they were met by Feuchtwang and his little band of groupies who were scurrying around the lobby pushing handout sheets to passersby with the fanatic zeal of airport Moonies. I saw one irritated American girl brush past them saying, "This is not the time nor place for another Jewish pity-party. Do they need another Hitler to remind them when to back off? They're so blinded by hate that they don't even realize when they're wrong." I replied that this certainly wasn't the time or place, but that the agitators were not representative of the Jews that they be longed to a radical Zionist political faction. Feuchtwang is a professor in the physical science department, who, for many years, has been volatilely vocal on behalf of the Zionist viewpoint. But they do themselves and Judaism a disservice by furthering their bottled-up bigotry and hatred, and by follow- A different kind of battle rages at Penn State By ARTHUR GOLDSCHMIDT JR Associate Profesior of History Lebanon is not the only battlefield for the Arab-Israeli conflict; another is the. cam puses of America's colleges and universi ties. Ideally, the struggle for the minds of articulate young (or older) Americans should be fought with well-chosen words, posters, slides and movies. Sadly, it some times turns into a shouting contest, a scuffle or something worse. Anonymous threats are made by telephone. Posters are ripped down. Lectures are disrupted. Students are hindered in therzprogress to meetings, or in the distribution of their propaganda. This is happening on many of America's campuses. Has Happy Valley been spared? Sorry, it hasn't. Many readers of The Daily Collegian may have been puzzled by accounts of local Arab-Jewish confrontations, angry letters and op-ed articles. Even though I may not be able to shine a beam of truth through the fog of propaganda, let alone to prescribe ways of stopping the supporters of the two sides from unfair or coercive tactics, my position as chairman of the Middle East Studies Committee demands that I take action. The Middle East conflict is between two national movements that have arisen during the last century. One is called Zionism, the ideology stating that the Jews constitute a nation and that they must gather together to establish a Jewish state. In a sense, Zionism County, they could place a referen dum on the ballot asking voters about possible solutions. But if they find themselves facing a social issue that affects their constitu ents, they are powerless to initiate a referendum. And because Centre County is not a home=rule county like Erie Coun ty or Philadelphia County, its com missioners are strictly limited in what actions they can take. ' It seems rather ironic that duly elected government officials can not ask 'voters' opinions on one of the most significant social issues of the decade. Bower said he . favors allowing commissioners the authority to de cide if something should be made a referendum, but, he said, state officials have not taken much ac tion on that in recent years even though such a change has been proposed several times: As a new Legislature comes into office after the elections, it should consider passing legislation that would allow counties to choose ref erendum issues. 'Because some so cial issues like a nuclear freeze —might someday be more impor tant than sewers. ing sheep-like, a pitiful remnant of the terror istic Stern gang mentality that was responsible for many more massacres of Palestinians in previous years of the struggle for a land. This band of butchers was even an embarrassment to the Israeli government, as the Feuchtwang mentality should be an em barrassment to the Jewish community here. As a professor of physics, you should be well aware of the natural laws of mass and saturation; and as a member of the human species, you should be even more aware of the consequential law of genocide. If you wish to debate publicly, name the time and the place. Larry Kassab, graduate-speech communica tions Sept. 23 Step down I have long been an admirer and supporter of the people of Israel; the way they stick together and hold to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming odds is something I wish I could see more often in this country. Howev er, the invasion of Lebanon made me serious ly question my feelings toward Israel. I stuck to my feelings, though, because I realize that I do not have all the information that the leaders of Israel have to justify the attack and I also understand how our media and press can easily manipulate public opin ion one way or another. My admiration of Israel was suddenly shat tered Wednesday night when NBC news showed the Israeli military command post in achieved its goal when Israel was formed in 1948. But because of on-going Arab opposition, Israel and its supporters have had to keep fighting to assure Israel's continued exis tence. Not all Jews are Zionists; some argue that Judaism is a religion, not the basis for an ideology. Some Christians are Zionists, owing to religious belief, a sincere desire to help the Jewish people, or an idea that Israel's existence serves their own political interests. Oi\ the other side is Arab nationalism, the ideology, that calls on all the Arabic-speak ing peoples of the Middle East and North Africa to work together to assure their freedom from outside domination. In a sense, Arab nationalism achieved its goal as some twenty Arabic-speaking countries won their independence between 1918 and 1971. forum But because Israel was set up in the former British mandate of Palestine, against the wishes of that country's Arab majority, Arab nationalists, too, must fight on until the whole Arab homeland is free from foreign rule.- The Palestinian Arabs, displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, want to go back to Palestine and establish a sovereign Arab state in place of Israel. Recurrent wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, 1969- .S\ Collegian Monday, Sept. 27,1J82 ©1962 Collegian Inc Phil Gutis Editpr the top floor of a high rise building in Beirut directly overlooking one of the Palestinian camps where the massacre of innocent wom en and children took place. Nothing will ever convince me that the experienced senior Israeli military officers in that building did not know what was going on outside. I have rarely been so angered as I was at that scene. This has changed my opinion of Israel 180 degrees. I would like to see our president and Con gress immediately recall our ambassador from Israel and cease all weapons shimp ments to that country. It also disturbs me to see that Menachem Begin's coalition has defeated an inquiry motion in their Parlia ment. I believe that the time has come for us to stand up to the militant leaders of Israel and not resume normal relations with that country until Prime Minister Menachem Be gin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon have stepped down. Clifford C. Wilson, 10th-earth sciences Sept. 24 Right to exist I read with interest the letter printed in Thursday's Daily Collegian entitled Need for Action. The one-sided view of the Middle East conflict taken by the writer deserves a coun terpoint, for a one-sided view of such a complex issue is too narrow a perspective. It's true that the massacre by Lebanese Christians (not Israelis, as the writer im plies) was a moral and political disgrace, 70, 1973, and now 1982 have deepened the suffering, the bitterness and the determin ation of both sides. The United States' government recog nized and supports the State of Israel, cre ated as the result of a United Nations General Assembly decision in 1947 to parti tion what had been the British mandate of Palestine. It wants Israel's borders to be" determined by negotiations with its Arab neighbors. Arab refugees willing to live at peace with their neighbors should be allow ed by Israel to return to the homes and lands they left in 1948, or receive financial com pensation. The lands taken by Israel in the 1967 war (the West Bank of the Jordan, the Golan Heights and the Gaza. Strip) should be restored to Arab sovereignty - , as the Sinai has now reverted to Egypt under the 1978-79 Camp David treaty. Jerusalem should be internationalized. In practice, the State De partment tilts more toward the Arab side, while Congress and often the White House have favored Israel's intrests. Until recently, most Americans supported Israel and even its 15-year occupation of the Arab lands it took in 1967. But the current war in Lebanon, ' which has led to Israel's occupation of the southern half of the coun try and even Beirut, has shaken this sup port. The massacres of the Lebanese and Pales tinian civilians in the West Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila have aroused most Americans, whether elected officials or citizens. The murders were probably Paul Rudoy Business Manager committed by the Christian Lebanese, an gered by the bombing of the Phalangist party headquarters and the consequent death of Lebanon's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel. But Israeli •troops had occupied west Beirut and were, at least, responsible to preserve order, yet some accounts, say that they assisted the massacres. Today, American support for Israel is eroding. Penn State, as one of the largest universi ties in the nation, cannot hide from this struggle. Almost 10 percent of its students are Jewish (not all, of course, are reli giously observant) ; a smaller but hardly insubstantial proportion are Muslim. I would guess that several hundred come from Arab countries or are Arab Ameri cans. Many other students and faculty have strong ties with either Israel or the Arabs. They demand, and deserve, opportunities to voice their feelings. Indeed, Penn State has organized groups to accommodate this need. Religiously ob servant Jews have the Hillel Foundation. Supporters of Israel, Gentile as well as Jewish, have Yachad as a Zionist student group. Faculty and staff may join the Amer ican Professors for Peace in the Middle East, seeking peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The Organization of Arab Students serves the needs of students coming from Arabic speaking countries; it sometimes invites non-Arabs to attend its dinners and other functions. The new Penn State Association for Palestine calls people's attention to the The Daily Collegian's editorial opinion •is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsibility. Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of The Daily Collegian, Collegian Inc. or The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc., publishers of The Daily Collegian and related publications, is a separate corporate institution from Penn State. which ought to lead to Israel Defense Minister Sharon's resignation. Also, in hindsight, the occupation of west Beirut by Israel has pro ven to be a wrong move indeed. Israel has not been guiltless by a long shot. However, Mr. Vilardo's comments only serve in highlighting these recent misfor tunes, and do not accurately represent the overall scope of current events and actual Israeli goals. How can anyone actually believe that the Israeli people advocate the Palestinian kill ings after their own personal history of being the victims of such atrocities throughout World War II (which lasted years, not days). Such killings are senseless anywhere. Who remembers new stories within the past de cade that read: "Bus hijacked in Israel, some shot; PLO claims responsibility?" Doesn't anybody remember Munich anymore? All anyone cares to see now is Yassir Arafat saying, "Look what they've done to our chil dren." Whereas Israeli citizens have expressed outrage and shame for their beloved country of late, I don't reacll reading about Palestin ian regrets after their artillery blasted into northern Israeli settlements. Does the world honestly believe that Israel condones, let alone participates in, mur dering with reckless abandon? Is it not true that this same nation, rightfully or worngful ly, managed to destroy an Iraqi nuclear facility with just one on-ground casualty? It is this sort of precision in which Israel takes pride, which led to the PLO strategy of making them look bad by hiding among The Daily Collegian ..YOU DID 13E1111E YOURSELF IN TIFAREIM COURSE, MY PRIM IC's FRIEND? 4 \ a\~~.~ A little delay Kathleen A. Pavelko's reader representative column, usually appearing on Monday, will appear tomorrow. The column will exam ine newspaper's news, judgement and how it affects readers. civilians and coaxing them to shell those positions during the invasion into Lebanon. Mr. Vilardo also claims that Israel has no need to stay in southern Lebanon now the the PLO has withdrawn. Forgetting the 2,000 PLO II remnant troops for a moment (which Mr. Vilardo conveniently did), there's a country called Syria that currently has troops in the Bekaa Valley, who are anti-Israel and who are just asking for a conflict with Israel (as if there weren't enough problems in Lebanon). As for the reference to the Jewish lobby's influence in Washington: When it comes to international affairs of this magnitude I doubt that they exert too much influence on "Rea gan's policies at this particular time. The primary reason the United States backs Is rael is they are the only pro-Western ally we've got down there. Finally, there is no way that Israel will allow the Palestinians a homeland on the West Bank, a people whose officials • are on . record as vowing "to push Israel into the sea" , and exuding anti-Semitism to the max. The Nazis almost succeeded in their aim, and as a e, lesson, Jews will never permit anybody a second chance. To allow these people to share the land and Jerusalem would be foolish, just as naive a move as allowing the Lebanese Christians into the Palestinian camps. Fighting won't get the PLO anywere against Israel and U.S. weaponry, diplomacy might. Simply recog-g nizing Israel's right to exist would be a start. David Glassman, 7th-history Sept. 23 plight of the Palestinians and their demand for national self-determination. The Middle East Cultures Club (often called MECCA) tries to serve all members of the University community interested in the Middle East, regardless of religion, nationality or political opinions. It has spon sored field trips, movies, belly-dande con certs and dinners, and can serve as a neutral forum for political discussions. But Penn Staters must show that they can examine the Arab-Israeli conflict in a ma ture and rational way. We all have the right to speak, passionately and (we hope) per suasively. We may all dissent from views that we abhor. But, no matter how strongly we feel that we are right and our enemies are wrong, we don't have the right to stop them from speaking. When partisans of a Jewish Israel or of an Arab Palestine have violated each other's rights by dirty tricks, threats, or physical violence, I expect most Penn Staters to condemn these acts. If they continue to mar, our community, I will denounce them and will support legal or disciplinary measures against those students or faculty members who me force or stealth to supress public discussion and persuasion. To paraphrase an Arabic proverb, God gave man two ears and only one mouth, so that he would listen more often than he spoke. Are you willing to hear? Arthur. Goldschmidt spent the academic year 1981-82 as a Fulbright Research Pro fessor at Cairo University. Monday, Sept. 27 ~;~ _~--~ UNIVERSITY CALENDAR Monday, September 27 Drop deadline. Preregistration deadline for Winter Term. T.V.'Quarterback, noon, Kern Lobby. Penn State Aikido Club, 6:30 p.m., IM Wrestling Room. College of Business Administration Undergraduate Student Council, committee chairman sign-ups, 7 p.m. Room 305 HUB. Lamb Fellowship meeting, 7 p.m., Room 302 Willard. Penn State Singers meeting, 7 p.m., Room 111 Chambers. Student Foundation for the Performing Arts meeting, 7:30 p.m., Room 227 HUB. Students for Reproductive Rights meeting, 7:30 p.m., Room 111 Sackett Tonight at the. Brewery THE TREND Suzie Wong Egg Rolls Nightly 10.2 ,rlkß WC' .!..OP,TICIAN 19 E.2eaver 238-7281 Large s - eection of frames One day service on most prescriptions Lovir,, reasonable prices Plus Special Gift Item: PENN STATE EYE GLASS CASE L .i Alert consumers spot the bargains in Collegian ads. MANCHESTER PROGRAM Study Mass Communication at University of Manchester, England Information oil Penn State's Mass Communication Study Abroad Program Tuesday 7pm 258 Willard SPAGHETTI BUFFET ALL YOU CAN EAT 3.50/PERSON INCLUDES 7-845 PM MINIMUM COVER CHARGE THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CENTRE HALL -WELCOMES YOU TO.THE OPENING OF ITS FIRST 24 HOUR AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE THE TIRELESS TELLER , AT OUR 611 UNIVERSITY DRIVE, STATE COLLEGE, PA. OFFICE • CHECKING ACCOUNT SERVICES CHARGES 1. Checking accounts with balances of more than $lOO.OO No Service Charges 2.Checking.accounts with balances of less than $lOO.OO and less than 10 checks are written in one month No Service Charges. 3.Checking accounts with balances of less than $lOO.OO and more than 10 checks written in one month $2.00 Service • Charge 4. Business/account services charges are the same as regular checking account services charges. s.'W . e have no per item charge for deposits or withdrawals • Passbook Savings no minimum balance and interest is computed day of deposit to day of withdrawal. 611 UNIVERSITY DRIVE 219 N. PENNA. AVE, STATE COLLEGE, PA. CENTRE HALL, PA. Monday, Tuesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday 9:00 to 4:00 9;00 to 3:00 • BANKING Wednesday 9:00 to 1:00 Thursday 9:00 to 12:00 HOURS Friday 9:00 to 6:00 Friday 9:00 to 7:30 Saturday Drive-In Windows 9:00 to 12:00 v NNWERNSM V V ',A SQVVV?V v•%.- The Sisters of Phi Mu *0 Proudly Announce Their Fa 111982 Pledge Class CJ op Kristen Blair Dawn Budd Jennifer Cassidy Theresa Coene Margaret Decker Marianne Goddard Cynthia Hanrahan Joni Hendei . son Carolyn Jabbour Sonia Jarko Cynthia Klos Karen Kotowski Becky Lehman Lisa Lyles . Welcome Back Cynthia Watts GW U 154 a 0 0 4 G J 4 4 4 4 4 mawassantwousros The Daily Collegian Monday, Sept. 27, 1982-9 Nancy Matthews Marcy McCormick Chrissie McElroy Maureen McKenna Angela Moore Yvonne Miller Bobbie Jo Possney Elyse Rhoads Lisa Shelton Angela Shutty Lynn Solomon Susan Travers Laura Wick Kimberly Wright and