opinions
editorial opinion
A sad tribute to inhumanity
The United States' participation in World
War I was triggered by a German U-boat
sinking of the Lusitania, a civilian luxury
liner carrying 128 American passengers and
1,070 other passengers
Today, most of the free world is probably
watching in shock, awaiting the Soviet
Union's explanation of why it shot down a
Korean 747 that flew into Soviet airspace
Wednesday.
The parallels between the two incidents
make one stand back, mouth open in horror,
and wonder "what's going to happen now?"
Both involved the slaughter of innocent
people under the guise of military protec
tion. Both involved nations whose relations
were strained at best.
However, this is not the first time the
Soviets have fired on civilian aircraft. In
April 1978, another Korean aircraft wan
dered into Soviet airspace en route to Paris
from Seoul. It was fired upon and forced to
land on a frozen lake in the Soviet Union.
Two people were killed and 13 more were
injured.
Perhaps that was supposed to have served
as "fair warning" to the world not to get lost
over the Soviet Union because, this time, the
Soviets left no survivors. Two hundred six
;. ty-nine passengers reportedly perished be
:, cause of the Soviet Union's. disregard for
human life and its paranoia concerning the
secrecy of its air and naval positions.
One of them was U.S. Rep. Lawrence P..
McDonald, D-Ga., on his way to a ceremony
South Korea cominemorating the 30th
anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea de
fense pact. While no official counts are yet
available, another 29 Americans may have
been on board.
This atrocity is even more gut-thumping
',.considering the consequences of the shoot-
Of tenants, landlords, neighbors
The ongoing saga of student renters and
their neighbors in the community finally
opened a new chapter this week, a chapter
full of dialogue, promise and compromise.
At the inaugural meeting of students and
State College residents to discuss student
housing in single-family neighborhoods,
both side's came away with hopes that some
long- and short-term solutions to controver
sies like the three-person occupancy limit
aren't just pipedreams.
• Students claim that the shortage of hous
ing and the astronomical rates some land
lords demand force them to break the three
to-a-unit ordinance. Other students insist
that because some apartments can easily
accommodate more than three renters, it
should be allowed.
Despite the differences of opinion among
students and townspeople, there should be
some resolution in the offing, provided that
students help to see it through.
The Centre Region Council of Govern
ments' Rental Housing Advisory Committee
is compiling data on the total holding capac
ity of downtown apartments. Also, the State
College Planning Commission is examining
student housing in single-family neighbor
hoods as part of a report on municipal
housing ordinances.
These are first, and crucial, steps to
determining if the limited occupancy ordi
nance itself is valid. Likewise, the hearing
on a housing case by District Magistrate
Clifford Yorks on Sept. 13 may set a prece
dent in the limited occupancy controversy.
In the past few weeks, code enforcement
director James Quigley has received about
15 complaints regarding more than three
students living in a housing unit. Before the
controversy surfaced a couple of months
ago, complaints were sparse.
However, due to what Quigley terms "the
complete urbanization" of State College,
residents are forming neighborhood groups,
"a natural tendency of urbanization," he
said. And these groups have started talking
daily Collegian
Friday, September 2, 1983
Suzanne M. Cassidy
Editor
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.
©1983 Collegian Inc
Judith Smith
Business Manager
The decision to destroy the civilian jet
wasn't made on the spur of the moment by
an inexperienced fighter pilot. News reports
say the eight Soviet fighters tracked the
aircraft at alternate times for, nearly two
and, one half hours, remaining in contact
with ground control.
Reports also say at least one of the Soviet
fighters was close enough to visually identi
fy the plane as civilian. The 747 was coldly
eliminated as it left Soviet air space.
Although the Soviet news agency Tass
said the aircraft ignored "warnings and
signals," it gave no indication of what those
warnings and signals were.
For now, the decision that must be made
is how to retaliate, if at all. Military retalia
tion, like that which followed the Lusitania,
would be out of line in this age of nuclear
one-upmanship.
Some congressmen say the United States
should pull out of our recent grain
agreement with Moscow. But this move
would be unfair to American farmers, and
its past ineffectiveness does not indicate
that it would safeguard against future inci
dents of this kind.
And nothing the United States decides to
do will bring back the 269 who died.
If there's a lesson to be learned from the
Soviets' erasure of a Korean Airlines mis
take, it may be in the fact that while
weapons systems have become more ma
ture since 1915, international brotherhood
has not. •
And while this probably will not go down
in history as the incident that started World
War 111, it will go down as a sad tribute to
the fact that the same mentality that sank
the Lusitania still existed 70 years later.
more lately about their concerns that too
many student neighbors will downgrade
their areas. These fears may account for the
seemingly resurfaced anti-student attitude
in the community.
And despite the fact that more apart
ments are available, students are still try
ing to pack more than three people into
apartments in order to cut costs. Those
costs, of course, keep increasing because
students have continually been willing to
pay them.
Any uneducated consumer is easily ex
ploited and few students have made any
effort to educate themselves.
Only by banding together and vocalizing
their opinions and strength can students
protect themselves. _
"If students get involved in the process,
they will have a voice," Quigley said - . "If
they have a voice, they will get the govern
ment to respect their suggestions."
If they sit at home with their two room
mates, however, students will accomplish
nothing at all.
University students who contribute such a
great deal economically to the community
aren't exercising their potentially powerful
voice as they should.
For example, COG's Rental Housing Ad
visory Committee has yet to receive any
applications for its advertised student rep
resentative position. •
"That disappoints me," Charlene Harri
son, committee chairwoman, said, "be
cause here is a place students can voice
concerns. Clearly, here is an opportunity
that exists and no onels picking up on it."
The committee, which is composed of
residents and municipal representatives,
wants to look at non-govermental solutions
to housing problems using hearing boards
instead of ordinances.
Someone is ready to listen, but save a few
student leaders, most students aren't saying
much.
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reader opinion
Different strokes
I've noticed recently that about half the students here at
Penn State are somehow different. They live in' their own
dorms, use separate showers and dress differently. Some
how they even look different. I'm not sure, but I really
think I'm on to something here. I'll keep you posted.
Charles Canning, senior-computer science
Sept. 1
Pump protests
Thank you very much for printing the picture and story
about the anti-pump activities on the Delaware River in
Bucks County. As a former resident of Bucks County (this
is my first semester at University Park), I voted for the
referendum last May to stop the building of the water
Professors must be introduced
Today marks the completion of
one week of classes under the new
semester calendar. By now every
one has learned that having 50-min
ute classes is heaven while having
only 15 minutes in between puts a
damper on one's social life. Most
students have been to each of their
classes at least once and know the
office hours of their professors. In
some cases, this is all they know of
their professor his office hours.
' 04.6.0 6
4.101 ,
)1e70,1,1104
Penn State is fortunate to have
many superior professors in all the
disciplines. Some have obtained
their degrees from prestigious
schools and are doing significant
research in their respective fields.
Others have worked with high gov
ernment officials, published works
in national magazines or received
outstanding awards for their
achievements. All are unique indi
viduals.
Unfortunately, students rarely
know such information before they
take a particular class. Students
rarely know such information even
after they take a particular class.
Brief summaries of all profes
sors' backgrounds and special in
terests should be Made available to
all students prior to registration.
The professor should then elab
orate on this information during the
first class meeting.
This year, all entering freshmen
pumping station in Point Pleasant.
The pumping station will draw 95 million gallons of
water from the Delaware daily 45 million gallons will be
the main water supply for the soon-to-be-completed Lime
rick Nuclear Power Plant which is subsidized by the
Philadelphia Electric Co
Although a majority of the citizens in Bucks County
voted to stop the building of the pump, construction has
not ceased. The will of the people is flagrantly being
denied as construction continues. Residents have main
tained a constant, peaceful, non-violent protest to show
Philadelphia Electric that we will not be silenced.
I commend The Daily Collegian for bringing me news
from "home" as well as excellent coverage on national
and local levels.
Lenore Loftus, junior-psychology
Aug.3o
received the University's 1983-84
Course Selector. This booklet con
tains information on 350 courses,
baccalaureate degree require
ments, evening division courses,
independent study by correspon
dence and study abroad.
However, it does not elaborate on
any professor beyond listing his
name with, the course description.
Likewise, the University Bulletin
for undergraduates (the blue book)
fails to mention professors, and the
Graduate School Bulletin stops with
a listing of professors and their
degrees. Professor information
placed in each of these publications
or added to each semester's sched
ule of classes would provide stu
dents with at least some idea of
their would-be instructors.
To supplement printed back
ground information, professors
should tell their students about
themselves, especially during the
first class meeting. From .a stu
dent's point of view, nothing is
worse than a professor who begins
without any introductory remarks.
The student may never even learn
the proper pronunciation of the
professor's name.
Many professors, do realize the
need to convey information about
themselves to their students. One
professor went so far as to remark
at the beginning of class that he
remembers what it was like to be a
student and be curious about a
professor's background. He then
described his background in detail
and included where he did his un
dergraduate and graduate work,
his special interest of study and his
notable accomplishments in the
field. Such an introduction estab
lishes a professor's credibility, sets
him apart from other professors in
The Daily Collegian
Friday Sept. 2, 1983
LEIS MT OVEREACT,
his field and makes him seem more
human.
Other professors, however, stick
to the prisoner of war motif
name, office hours and telephone. A
few choose to say nothing.
The average student's penchant
for a syllabus may be partially to
blame for the extreme cases when
a professor relates no background
information. Perhaps the professor
did give a detailed introduction
once, only to have a student in the
third row interrupt by raising his
hand and requesting a syllabus.
Class size may also determine
whether a professor gives a de
tailed introduction. Some profes
sors may feel that the larger the
class, the less contact they will
have with individtial students, so
they make fewer introductory re
marks. In these Forum-sized
classes, however, just the opposite
holds true. The less chance a stu
dent has of personal communica
tion with a professor in a class, the
more detailed should be the profes
sor's introduction.
Often a student is advised to take
professors, not classes. And yet,
without a written guide or first
hand knowledge of professors, the
selection is a stab in the dark or the
result of a roommate's suggestion.
Many Penn State professors can
hardly know each of their students
personally. University students,
however, can know something
more about their professors than
just name, office hours and tele
phone, Students and professors
need to communicate with one an
other. They need to be introduced.
Karen Kmetik is a senior'-biology
major and a columnist for The
Daily Collegian. Her column ap
pears on alternate Fridays.
reader opinion
Laps for sale
This is in response to the article, "Swimmers
must pay fee at Nat and White Building." ,
Without sounding insensitive to the University's
need of funds for the aquatic facilities, I would like
to say that I find it unfair to charge students for an
activity that was once offered to them free as part
of their affiliation with the University.
John Holt's article on swimming pool fees quotes
Lou Mac Neill, director of aquatic programs, as
saying, "I don't know who has been supporting us,
maybe it's athletic money from the football pro
gram."
It seems a little strange that the director of the
department in need of funds does not know, where
the funds are coming from, and if it has been from
t e i lleirn tot,
Trip a journalist today.
football athletic funds, one would think that after
winning the national championship last year, funds
would increase, not decrease.
Money is scarce for other athletic programs as
well. As a member of the track team I am aware of
the problem there, but I wouldn't want the Univer
sity to resort to charging 50 cents per lap to run on
the track. It may sound more ridiculous, but it is
the same concept: taxing students for University
facilities that in the past (and rightfully so) have
been considered a benefit of being a Penn State
student. With the recent rise in tuition, it appears
unreasonable to' ask this to become routine for all
athletic facilities on Campus.
Sharon Greene, sophomore-science
Sept. 1
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Titillating tidbits
An open letter to Lisa Vendura and those mem
bers of the Undergraduate Student Government
who are responsible for this year's Penn. State
Calendar a most informative publication.
I would like to compliment you on the completion
of a tabloid which is a veritable wealth of informa
tion a tabloid which transcends the usual gamut
of boring dates to remember. After all, who needs
to know when the Drop/Add and Preregistration
deadlines are when they can be titillated with
tidbits Such as the dates of Sorority Post Offices
and the Management Science Club's first meeting.
Colleen M. Young, executive vice president, Liber
al Arts Student Council
Sept. I
PONDEROSA
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The Daily Collegian Friday, Sept. 2, 1983-9