opinions editorial opinion Penn State Proud During the current administrative atmo sphere of change University President Bryce Jordan’s renewed emphasis on gen eral education requirements and the cur rent position on strengthening existing alcohol policies a “family” success story reflecting the history of Penn State and all that it has accomplished should not be overlooked. University alumnus, current Vice Presi dent of Research and Dean of the Graduate School Charles L. Hosier is to be nominated to serve on the National Science Board. His nomination Comes from President Reagan. Personally, this recognition is certainly one of the many feathers Hosier has added to his professional cap. But in terms of the University, it helps remove the long-stand ing stigma associated with the University’s beginning a farmer’s school. The 24-member board to which Hosier is scheduled to be appointed administers sci entific programs, publications and re search. In essence, he will help to determine policy and examine trends oc curring within the field of science. Eric A. Walker, president emeritus of the University, was the only other University faculty member ever appointed to the board. In addition, Walker held the position of chairman from 1964-1966. But honor and prestige are not unknown to Hosier: His longtime association with the Univer sity both as a student and a professor has been marked with many accomplish ments in meteorology. He is the U.S. Represenative on the Exec utive Committee Panel of Experts on Edu- ■ ■ ■ tant Sports Editors: Mark Ashenfelter, Chris Loder, Chris the C AIM Raymond; Arts Editor: Jeff Bliss; Assistant Arts Editor: , ~ VL >H ■■■F a ~R I ' Pat Grandjean; Features Editor: Amy Fellin; Science daily ■ Editor: Nan Arens; Graphics Editor: Tony Ciccarelli; Photo Editor: Jeff Bustraan; Assistant Photo Editors: Dan Oleski, GreggZelkln; Business Page Coordinator: Rich Douma. Monday, Sept. 16,1985 ©1985 Collegian Inc. Gall L.- Johnson 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 ■.'l 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. . Board of Editors Managing Editor: Mark DiAntonio; * Opinion Editor: Terry Mutchler; Assistant Opinion Edl ' tor: Doug Popovich; News Editors: Patrick Collier, Bill Ferrell, Anita Katz; Copy/Wire Editors: Bob King, Anita . Yesho, Phil Galewitz, Sue Graffius, Colleen Barry; Town - Editor: Peter Baratta; Assistant Town Editor: Megan ' O’Matz; Campus Editor: Anita Huslln; Assistant Campus Editor: Kim Bower; Sports Editor: Chris Lindsley; Assis- Counterparts: Japanese and American business attitudes are as far separated as the countries themselves Newspaper editors had no reason to com- phers rushed to the scenes to gather infor- said that in our country we grant corpora- ent to race or wealth, to have the opportuni- Seeking to merely have the problem cor plain this summer about a lack of good mation and pictures it became evident that tions power and prestige. In response, we ty to achieve retribution and have the rected is not enough. And so financial retri stories. The hostage crisis in Beruit, the the airline industry was about to undergo an should demand that firms follow an ethical problem corrected. bution has become a very important part of battle up on the Hill over tax reform and the intensive round of scrutiny. charter. So what* is it about our Society that has the process, budget and the biggest military spy scan- Two different airlines, two different coun- This ethical charter includes a fundamen- made monetary retribution so important' dal in our history were among the major tries, and two very different ways of hand- tal principle stating that companies should Can we be so callous that even in the hands news items ling the situation. act as morally responsible as individuals of disaster, such as the Delta Air Lines In Japan, the president of JAL went to the would. accident, we still attempt to seek out some site of the accident; he visited the funerals Wouldn’t it be nice if this assumption kind of financial reward? * of some of the victims’, and he vowed to were true. But most of us know that this The answer lies in the fact that this same resign his position after an investigation edict is not always the case. system of justice that gives us an advantage into the cause of the accident was com- The recent gas leaks involving Union is the same system that has made gaining pleted. Carbide chemical plants have shown us that an y kind of retribution a hopeless situation. The picture in Dallas was a little differ- sometimes, the bigger the company the less Anyone accusing a firm of negligence and ent. Insurance adjusters rushed to the scene ethical they may act. taking them to court hoping to achieve some to make early settlements and lawyers The damage done to both Union Carbide’s type of justice better be prepared for a long placed advertisements in newspapers dis- reputation and to the world’s view of Ameri- figbt. Filing forms and all the pretrial playing their services available. can industry may be irreversible. motions involved in sueing a company make .. , , a court case a very complicated and tedious The world focused its attention on these We may never know whether or not neg- nrocess two companies and the difference in their ligence was the cause of the leak that killed p F example, suppose every family of philosophies about business and responsibd- 2500 people in Bhopal, India. And because of' p killed in the Delta accident ity became very apparent. this fact retribution against Union Carbide, sued Delta for $1 million. And then let’s A lesson m business ethics is not whatthis whe ther monetary or otherwise, may never th at a trial does takes place and the column is about. Nor is it going to deliber- be achieved. ' judge or jury finds for the plaintiff and ately antagonize Delta's or JAL s efforts. In Even in our own country we can't be sure J dec f ares t 4 t^e lta Air Lines must pay each fact Delta did assign anemployee to each that companies will act as responsibly as f u the full arno unt of the suit, victim’s family to help them cope with the they should. Hurray right’ situation and to lend a hand if needed. The Ford Pinto disaster also confirms our Well if Delta says that the only way But I say deliberatly because it would be rightful mistrust of large corporations. it can ’ off such a debt is to shut down difficult to be absolutely value-free when It was proven in court that certain Ford SQme opera ti o ns and lay off thousands of discussing issues like business and ethics. employees knew about the defect in the workers. Has justice been accomplished? I think, though, that the difference in Pinto gas tank: that an explosion could No. The retribution for one group is condi attitudes about corporate responsibility are occur if the car was struck from behind. tional on the injustice done to another more than just superficial between Ameri- Bu t Ford decided not to change anything group. can firms and our Eastern counterparts. because they determined that the cost of But of course my example isn’t realistic A U.S. News and World Report story on recalling and repairing the cars would be because I have made my trial seem as if it the accident said that within 72 hours of the greater than any collection of lawsuits would take place in a matter of days. Most incident the first lawsuit against Delta had against the company. Ford took a gamble 0 f us have heard, though how backlogged been filed. The same report quoted some and several people lost their lives. o ur system is. And my trial didn’t even Japanese legal experts who said that no One of the most demeaning feelings an assume Delta would appeal which would lawsuits would probably be filed against individual can have is to feel as if we have be almost certain. JAL. been abused. And if that abuse turns out to So because of the red tape that makes Robert Corrington, assistant professor of be fatal, then the families of that person attaining justice so difficult, we feel that philosophy and the instructor for the busi- seek to gain retribution. Our judicial system when a verdict is finally reached, the victo ness ethics course here at the University, was designed to allow any person, indiffer- ry is not so sweet. But no other single issue grabbed the public’s attention more than the plethora of airplane accidents that plagued the sum mer months. An Air India Boeing 747 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing over 300 passengers. An accident involving an Iberia Air Lines plane left 148 people dead. Here in the States, 135 passengers were killed when a Delta Air Lines plane lost control during a violent thunderstorm. Most recently, an accident in Milwaukee left 31 passengers dead when their private plane crashed shortly after takeoff. But none of these fatal incidents caused as much public shock and frustration as the crash of a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 in mid-August. Only 10 days after the Delta Air Lines disaster, the worst accident in aviation history occured. 520 passengers died after a part of the tail section that controls the plane’s steering capabilities came apart and dropped into the water. The Delta and JAL crashes have sparked a number of controversies in the aviation industry. And as reporters and photogra- cation and Training of the World Meteorological Organization and a member of the Environmental Effects, Transport and Fate Committee of the Science Advi sory Board of the U.S. Environmental Pro tection Agency. He was also a member of the National Research Council Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Resources, and currently is chairman of the council’s Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Cli mate. Also, he is a member its Geophysics Research Forum. Hosier received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in meteorology from the University. Joining the faculty in 1947, Hosier has been associated with the Univer sity in numerous positions. He has served as adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and as president of the American Metero logical Society. When the University is graced with the presence of such a capable faculty member, all of the University shares in the pride. Granted, Penn State has its share of problems with alcohol abuse, grading criteria and lack of communication be tween administration and students as does any other large institution. But as with anything, where there are bad aspects there are also good. Eveyone associated with Penn State must willing to accept all of its shame along with its glory. Charles Hosier, through his dedication to the University and the field of science, has truly bestowed a great deal of glory on Penn State and has given everyone associated with the University yet another reason to be PENN STATE PROUD. Board of Managers Assistant Business Manager: Karen Jaret; Assistant Sales Manager: Susan Shamllan; Accounting Manager: Cathy Reese; Marketing Manager: Roland Deal, Jr.; Office Manager: Wendy Metzger; Assis tant Office Manager: Amy Norris; Layout Coordinator: Corinne Salameh. Michael A. Meyers Business Manager About the Collegian: The Daily Collegihn and The Weekly Collegian are published by Collegian Inc., an independent, non-profit corporation with a board of directors composed of students, faculty and profession als. Students of The Pennsylvania State University write and edit both papers and solicit advertising material for them. The Daily Collegian is published Monday, Tues day, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the semes ter, and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during the summer. It is distributed on the University Park campus.. The Weekly Collegian is mailed to Common wealth campus students, parents of students, alumni and other subscribers who want to keep abreast of University news. ,’S GIAN AMERIC The Daily Collegian Monday, Sept. 16, 1985 In the case of negligence involving acci dent or death, the amount of money request ed becomes large. And if the accusation of negligence is aimed at a corporation, then the dollar figure becomes huge. This adversarial attitude of ours toward individuals and groups is part of our com petitive nature. But it is this attitude that most distinguishes us from the Japanese. Albert Tsugawa, associate professor of Oriental philosophy, said that in times of distress or tragedy, the Japanese people tend to take a more communal approach toward problem-solving. Tsugawa also said that the Japanese are not so concerned about pointing the blame at an individual. In fact, he said that if the JAL investigation does prove that an indi vidual was responsible for the accident, JAL would still not directly hold that person responsible. This committment to collective responsi bility would be a concept that American business would be hard pressed to imple ment. We may join together to find a solu tion to a particular problem, but part of that solution often seems to include identifying the individual responsible for the problem. It happens in politics, in business, and even in our schools. Ironically, this characteristic that is in each of us is not the kind of problem that we can change by joining together. Rather, it is a situation that each of us, individually, can go out of our way to correct. Michael Kutner is a senior majoring in finance and a columnist for The Daily Collegian. His column appears every Mon day. opinions Differences: Repentance or cockroaches can men and women survive co-ed housing at Penn State? It has finally happened! Oh the depths of Now that University officials have threat- For those of us who were raised sepa- Members of the opposite sex have been u r “^ C ea Jh oth^as s fellow iniquity into which we are sinking! Yes, the ened plans for an expansion of co-ed housing rately from the opposite sex, except for sharing work tables in the study lounge, ® anbei nßs i house in which I live in Tener Hall has gone on campus, I have realized that I must take occasional accidental passings on crowded transferring one another s laundry from . co-ed and those who warned us earlier are up the call and appeal to those around me to streets, even co-ed classes and co-ed dining washer to dryer, greeting each other m the We must, therefore, repent and save observing our descent with nods of, “If only wake up while we can and remove ourselves halls had been shocking. By living in the stairwells, and debating the merits of shav- ourselves from the condemnation that will Uiey had listened when we warned them!” from this horrid sinfulness. same building we have gone too far. We will ing versus lotion hair remover with aloe come on the day when society is finally Last fall when the plan was announced, pay! vera. Last week a female resident saw a judged! Let us heed the early warnings and , many of us trembled from fear. Would we , . , nlir DU nishment has alreadv be- male resident dressed only m a towel; men turn from these plans for expansion of c^ed ■ -<«fM , hp ahlp to pseanev Wo wnndpred Indeed, our pumsnment nas already be- seen women w ,th wet hair and no housing before these evils can spread to J We saw our friends in North Halls’ inter- This K makeUp ' 1 have been seei * in my thick Ugly 016 ™P ressi « n . able minds of f y°? n ® r ijfijcW 1 : I h.