opinions editorial opinion Oswald's speech was nice, but. . . What do President Ronald Reagan, Gov. Dick Thornburgh, Julius Erving, Meryl Streep, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Universi ty President John W. Oswald have in com mon? They were all featured speakers at col lege and university commencements this spring. Oswald, of course, spoke right here at Penn State. Instead of drawing from the wealth of prestigious scholars and political leaders in this nation, Penn State opted to invite its own president. Seton Hall, a private, diocesan-affiliated university in South Orange, N.J., asked President Reagan to speak. And not only was the president of the United States there, but so, too, were entertainer Pearl Bailey and Gary Nardino, president of Paramount Television Productions. Reagan, Bailey and Nardino all received honorary degrees at the Seton Hall exercises. But Oswald was the lone featured speaker at Penn State’s largest commencement ever. He was all Penn State had to offer to the thousands of people who sat in the hot sun in Beaver Stadium for the two-hour long ceremony and to the 5,685 graduates. Oswald certainly deserved a prominent slot on the commencement agenda. He has, after all, been the president of this Universi ty for 13 years and has conferred more than half of all the degrees held by living alumni of the University. No one would have begrudged him the opportunity to bid farewell to the University he has served for more than a decade. And he is not the only University President to claim center stage on his way out the doors of Old Main. In 1970, when Eric A. Walker was preparing to leave the presidency, he also delivered the address at his final com mencement. Still, what some graduates objected to and rightfully so was the fact that Os wald’s was the only major address they : heard that day. Many college and universities like Seton Hall offer honorary degrees to the ; people they invite to be commencement ; speakers. Honorary degrees make invita Council's stroll down decision lane I For a little piece of land, the portion of alley and leaving it to the adjacent property ; McAllister Alley between College Avenue owners. ; and Calder Way has certainly generated a Other potential problems mar the deci " lot of noise. sion. For 19 months, members of the State Some business owners believe delivery College Municipal Council have discussed trucks will be unable to reach their bus closing the area to vehicular traffic and nesses and that the off-season trial period turning it into a pedestrian mall. The possi- n °t accurately reflect the truck difficul bility of legal action against the borough ty and other problems had slowed the process Critics have also insisted that the mall _7 ’ , could set a precedent for limiting other ' „ . , State College streets to pedestrian traffic. But this week council finally acted. But council has already refused a sugges- Council voted Monday night to close the tion to limit traffic on Calder Way. alley to vehicles and to begin plans to Despite these problems which may develop it. Unless major , problems arise, never occur the idea of a pedestrian mall work will begin on the pedestrian mall after j n the alley is a good one. Sept. 8 with $45,000 from the 1983-84 Commu-. People will have a safe, pleasant area to nity Block Grant Development fund. walk an( j s it, and businesses near the mall An offer by the owners of The Tavern will benefit from the increased pedestrian ; Restaurant, 220 E. College Avenue, to devel- traffic. •op the area themselves and include an Unfortunately, the council’s tardiness m ; outdoor cafe for the restaurant was refused making a decision has already prevented when other businesses threatened to sue if the mall from being completed for this the borough leased or vacated the alley, year’s summer pedestrians. Some business people may still decide to sue For a small piece ot land, the alley has ; the borough, contending that closing the taken too much of the council members > alley to vehicles constitutes vacating the time and energy. Collegian Even in the summer when the pace is a little bit more relaxed, Penn State, with its maze of concrete buildings and mass of tanning humanity, can often be a pretty confusing place for freshmen and other University Park neophytes. All year ’round in this college community, from Shields Building to Old Main to Rec Hall, and from East Halls to College Ave nue, things are almost always happening. Confusing things. Exciting things. Not-so-exciting-but-nonetheless-impor- link to 'real' world tant things. And outside this collegiate cocoon many of us call home for four or more years, things are happening too. Things we’d like to know about. Things we’d rather forget. Things that can’t be ignored, no matter how much we’d like to. These things in the outside world, like many of the things happening inside Happy Valley, are often hard to understand, hard to interpret. We need more information, we need to keep in touch with the things that are happening, just to make sure we don’t lose our understanding of what’s going on around us altogether. v It i-t-uicf For many students at the University, The Daily Collegian often serves as their sole link to the outside world. Here at the Collegian we try to gather as much information as possible about issues and events that we think our readers need to know about. When the information is confus ing and vague, we try to interpret it as best tions to speak more attractive. The University Board of Trustees at Penn State, however, has a long-standing policy of not conferring honorary degrees. The policy was established in 1886 and has been reaffirmed several times by the trustees. Only in “rare and unusual circumstanc es” has the University considered confer ring honorary degrees. The last such circumstance was in 1955 during the University’s centennial celebration when President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the fea tured speaker at the June 11 commence ment exercise, was given an honorary doctor of laws degree. For many graduates, college commence ment is a “rare and unusual circumstance,” one they have worked toward for many years. The University should spend the time and expense of inviting more prominent speakers to commencements, at least to May commencements, the most heavily attended. And if the prominence of the speakers merits the conferral of honorary degrees, then the University should be open to that, too. But honorary degrees aside, Penn State has had some prestigious people as com mencement speakers. For example, Paul Berg, Penn State’s only Nobel Prize winner, delivered the commencement address seve ral years ago. However, few other commencement speakers in the recent past have been as appealing. For while they may have at tained some prominence in their selected fields, they certainly weren’t as colorful or as recognizable as a Kennedy or a Reagan. And they certainly didn’t reap as much national attention as Seton Hall did when it dared to invite the president of the United States to speak at its commencement. After all, inviting VIPs to speak at grad uations is good public relations for a univer sity. And if this University is worried that it might be recognized nationally for some thing other than sports, it could have done what Temple University did this year it could have invited Dr. J. to deliver the commencement address. we can, either in editorial opinions which are formulated by the Collegian’s Board of Opinions or in our news stories or analy ses. The Collegian is a member of the Asso ciated Press, meaning that we receive sto ries and photographs around the clock over high-speed wire that is fed into our compute rized word processing system. Printing AP wire stories and photos allows us to quickly relay information to our readers about what’s happening in the state, nation and world. Local and University-related stories are covered by our almost 200 student reporters and editors. During the fall and spring semesters, The Daily Collegian publishes Monday through Friday and our circulation is approximately 20,000. During the. summer, our circulation is cut to about 9,000 and we print three days a week. In summers past, we published papers Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This sum- LAR6&? ROtesegM FOR U.S. IN LfcTlN &M6fclCfc CONFLICTS.-NEW* l*ns*wl reader opinion Anniversary On June 16,1976, thousands of black South African high school students went into the streets of Soweto to peacefully demonstrate against a new racist law requiring that they be taught in Afrikaans, a Dutch-German dialect used only by the Boers of South Africa. On June 16, 1976, more than 600 black South African youths were massacred by white police and national guard units for peacefully demonstrating against the racist law. Is this the type of government we call an ally? In South Africa you are denied citizenship, the right to live where you please, free speech, the right to work, the right to vote and many more basic rights just because of the color of your skin. What makes this even more disgusting is that whites have the gall to deny blacks rights in the land of their birth, Africa! Is this the type of government we do busi ness with? In racist South Africa people are B| ■ Board of Editors Editorial Editor: encourages comments on news the g Marcy Mermel; News Editor: Rosa coverage, editorial policy and Uni daily WVllVg l6 ** ■ Eberly; Sports Editor: John Sever- versity affairs. Letters should be ance; Photo Editor: Thomas Swarr; typewritten, double-spaced, signed Thursday June 16, 1983 Arts Editor: Ron Crow; Assistant by no more than two people and not ©1983 Colleolan Inc Arts Editor: Ron Yeany; Campus longer than 30 lines. Students let „ .. « . colißgian Inc. E(jjt A(ecia Swasy . Town Edi , or; ters should include the term, major Suzanne M. Cassidy Mjke Nether | and; Copy Editors: and campus of the writer. Letters Judith Smith Dana Buccilli, Tom Sakell; Weekly from alumni should include the Editor Business Manaaer Collegian Managing Editor: Brian major and year of graduation of the Editor Business manager Bowe a rs . W eekly Collegian Assis- writer. All writers should provide The Daily Collegian’s editorial opin- tant Managing Editor: Lori Musser. their address and phone number for ion is determined by its Board of verification of the letter. Opinion, with the editor holding Board of Managers Assistant The Collegian reserves the right to final responsibility. Opinions ex- Business Manager: Valerie Plame; edit letters for length, and to reject pressed on the editorial pages are Office Manager: Colleen Waters; letters if they are libelous or do not not necessarily those of The Daily • Sales Manager: Terri Alvino; Layout conform to standards of good Collegian, Collegian Inc. or The Coordinator: Kimberly Fox; Crea- taste: Because of the numbers of Pennsylvania State University. tive Director: Lori Hitz; Marketing letters received, the Collegian can- Collegian Inc., publishers of The Manager: Beverly Sobel; National not guarantee publication of all the Daily Collegian and related publica- Ad Manager: Kimberly Fox. letters it receives, tions, is a separate corporate insti- Mail letters to: The Daily Collegian; tution from Penn State. Letters Policy: The Daily Collegian 126 Carnegie Building. picked up by the police, tortured, held for years and even executed without ever being charged with a crime. If you are black, the police have the right to kick you, beat you, set dogs on you or kill you without any provo cation on your part. If you are a prisoner of conscience there is a good chance you will die in detention. This is an unexplained phenomenon that occurs mainly in South African pris ons. Is this type of government even to be tolerated by the United States? Nazi Germany wasn’t. In South Africa there is no free speech or free press. Newspapers are censored and books are banned by the government. Trade union mem bership can result in police ha rassment and arrest, that is, if the union member hasn’t already been fired. Despite all this, many Ameri can universities, including Penn State, are perpetuating this criminal system by investing hundreds of mil lions of dollars in it. Is this the type of country Penn State should invest millions of dollars in? mer, however, we will be publishing Mon day, Thursday and Friday because the majority of classes do not meet on Wednes days thanks to the shortened summer term and therefore fewer students will be on campus Wednesdays to pick up their Collegians. By next summer, we hope to be able to publish four days a week, depending on how the University schedules summer classes. While it may be a little awkward for both us and our readers grappling with a two-day news gap between Monday and Thursday, we will try to keep you as informed as possible. The Collegian is an independent corpora tion, but contracts with the University for office space and other entities. We are completely independent from the University in our editorial policy and content. And that’s why we probably don’t look much or read much like your newspapers back home. We are free to cover the news and explore the issues as we deem fit. But we try never to forget that our independence must be used responsibly. We sometimes step on some toes, we sometimes miss the proverbial boat. We try at all times, however, to do one thing above The Daily Collegian Thursday, June 16, 1983 Today the government, of South Africa is enacting yet another law which will affect black education. The government is to set the maxi mum number of black students that each of the white universities is al lowed to admit. Traditionally only English-speaking universities have admitted black students. The law is being enacted in order to reduce the number of black students attending white English-speaking universities. All the Afrikaans-speaking universi ties are in agreement with this law, which is to work against the advance ment of black education. Please don’t ignore the injustices of South Africa, and don’t forget about Soweto. If you are concerned with oppression in South Africa then join the Committee for Justice in South Africa. Remember Soweto and South Africa’s continuing struggle for free dom! Philip J. Vilardo, Gtli-foreign service June 15 all and that is to make things that are happening at the University and outside the University community less confusing for our readers. And, as I stated, sometimes we miss. It is at those times that we rely on our readers to demand more information, to write letters to the editor, to come into our office in 126 Carnegie and tell us what’s on their minds. The Collegian exists for its readers. But we know we can’t please everyone. All we’re asking is that you pick up a Collegian in the morning and read it. And read beyond the personals and the crossword puzzle. Oblivion is an often popular state of being at this University. But it’s one that gets awfully stifling fast. Issues, problems and concerns University-related or otherwise aren’t going to disappear if ignored. They are only going to disappear if they are faced head on. And in order to face them, we must first know about them. Suzanne M. Cassidy is a lOth-term journa lism major and Editor of The Daily Colle gian. reader opinion Respond The anti-semetic commies who vis ciously ripped down the banner from the main gate on College Avenue May 14 or 15 deserve attention The banner read: “Save Soviet _ . Jewry -Let My People Go” and was pOOtball faiF game sponsored by Yachad-Penn State Friends of Israel. My hopeful guess Ron Gardner’s report of an appear concerning the culprit would be just a ance by Doug Allen of the NFL Play drunk group of “college kids.” My ers Association contained a number educated guess, however, is that the of factual errors and misstatements, same people who leave leaflets ' the bulk of which were not the fault of around campus suggesting all Jews the reporter. Mr. Gardners only ap “take a free ride to Auschwitz” are parent sin was not contacting the the ignorant malicious ones who stole other side for rebuttal to Mr. Allen s this banner. spurious charges. This is the second banner (with the Mr. Allen and other NFLPA rep exact same content) which has been resentatives routinely distort the eco ripped down and stolen in the past nomic picture of the National month. Whoever you are.. . a differ- - Football League and portray the ent opinion is acceptable, but please players as mere chattel. lam sure respond through The Daily Collegian this makes for a lively presentation Looking for low cost CHARTER FLIGHTS to Europe or Israel? (Unbeatable Rates!) Visit us for charter flights to: Amsterdam Athens Brussels Frankfurt London Madrid Paris Rome Tel Aviv Vienna Zurich Dublin Limited space during summer season! Secure your reservation NO W! Centre for Travel 114 Hiester Street. 238-4987 TOE SKQ SMUTCH 224 E. COLLEGE AVE. SAILBOARDS ROLLER SKATES so your dastardly deeds can be even more of a public display. Ryna Izenson, president Yachad-Penn State Friends of Israel May 16 m mistral MAGNUM OBRIEN WE SELL THEM AND RENTTHEM Hourly $2.00 V 2 Day $5.00 Overnight $5.00 as Mr. Allen no doubt waves his arms and snarls incessantly. His charges, however, bear as much resemblance to fact as Joe Paterno does to Bo Derek. Mr. Allen’s primary complaint, according to the report, is that the plight of NFL players represents “the last vestige of slavery in this coun try.” That is an interesting comment coming from an individual whose organization did not even address that question in the past contract negotiations and strike. The NFL Management Council, in every com plete proposal it made to the union, suggested improvements in the free agency system. The union, however, made no proposals addressing the issue, choosing to remain out on its ‘‘percentage of the gross” limb. Mr. Allen complains that “sport is the one place in society where we still own people.. . a player being bought KATEBOARDS G&S, Variflex, I Sims, Tracker, I Santa Crus, Kryptonics, Powell, Indy, Gullwing, ACS BEACH & SWIMWEAR by And a Full Line of Components And a Full Service Repair Shop THE SPORTS STORE THATDARES TO BE DIFFERENT! 231-2655 Cord Shorts Swimwear Surfer Shirts T-Shirts STATION cycles Trek — Ross — Puch — Bianchi — or sold or traded.” Sport is a unique business operation in which a system is mandatory to maintain compet itive balance. Without the system, chaos would rule. And the NFL club owners have built this system into the most successful sports-entertainment industry in America successful for the players, management and fans, all of whom make up the game. This system enables a young man to come out of college into a profes sion where the average salary in 1982 was $105,000 (not the $90,000 reported in the Allen story). How many Penn State students will be able to com mand that amount upon graduation? Critics say, “Sure, but it only lasts a few years.” True, the career span of the average player lasts between four and seven years, but the benefits of an NFL career remain with the individual throughput his lifetime. The Players Association’s arrogant WANTED Writers Columnists Satirist Cartoonists Graphic 8c Layout Personnel for Penn State's newest Literary Magazine Perceptions 'B3 Contact Marilynn at 863-0295 or stop in USG office - 203 HUB Don't Miss Out "MW mm I u SAVE I FOOD HfIREHOUSE | Save 10% to 30% off supermarket prices. YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE PRICES! o* o* v> cy </< mw«to!S2™* -TifSinl* tSZtoLT coupons and USDA with a U SAVE check '* em we se |J °ry° ur food stamps. cashing card. money pack. Located on Benner Pike Behind the Nittany Mall SHOP TUES. THRU SAT. 9:00 AM TO 9:00 PM CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY ) CONSERVE WATEIT) slogan “We Are the Game” is an affront to the fans who support the game, Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the club executives who have built it, the scouts who locate the players and the coaches who mold the teams and map game strategy. The players are certainly an integral part of the game, but the laughable "all star” games the union tried to put on during the strike should debunk the union contention that all you need is players to put on a game. Other statements attributed to Mr. Allen can easily be refuted. NFL clubs do not average $6 to $8 million in profits each year. The latest league audit from the Big Eight accounting firm of Arthur Andersen showed the average NFL club made a pre-tax profit of $864,000 during the 1981 sea son. An audit of the strike-shortened 1982 season is not complete, but Com missioner Rozelle puts the league- The Daily Collegian Thursday, June 16,1983—9 wide loss at $2OO million. With the new television contract in place (it is not $3.6 billion over five years, as reported in the Allen story, but more accurately has been report ed at closer to $2 billion over five years), projections place average pre-tax profit in 1983 at around $2 • million per club. Gradually rising expenses both player costs and other costs ) will reduce that profit figure each year over the course of the television contract. Finally, if Mr. Allen did charge, as the report indicates, that the NFL is planning to launch a pay television network in 1987, then he truly is swatting at wisps of smoke fueled by his union’s smoldering paranoia. Jim Miller, director of information NFL Management Council May 20
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