:, - *p.inlons KINDLY LOWER • • . A watchful eye, a concerted effort , "The community, the student population, everybody should realize this-is our commu nity." This statement, concerning the problem of vandalism, was made by from David Caster, the community relations specialist for the State College Bureau of Police Services. While State College does not face the dilemma larger cities do with vandalism, the situation does cost hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars a year in damages. Simply, what Caster has said that the problem of vandalism does affect everyone in the State College community is a point well taken On campus, broken windows, overturned garbage cans and paint sprayed on build ings disgusts most everyone who sees them, and costs students who attend Penn State. This same kind of destruction to the downtown and the residential section§ of State College is just as unsightly to students and other residents, and costs them money, too. But there are a few surprises found in examining the, vandalism problem here. Mary Frantz, property manager for Benchmark Realty, said about half the vandalism in Benchmark-managed apart ment buildings is done by the tenants living in those buildings. In fact, Frantz attributes this as a possible factor for higher rents in State College. While it is unlikely the cost of occupancy increases dramatically because dailythe Collegian Yesho, Phil Galewitz, Sue Graffius, Letters Policy: The Daily Collegian Colleen Barry, Ron Yeany; Town encourages comments on news Editor: Pete Baratta; Assistant coverage, editorial policy and Uni- Town Editor: Megan O'Matz; Cam- versity affairs. Letters should be Monday, Nov. 11, 1985 , pus Editor: Anita Huslin; Assistant typewritten, double-spaced, signed ©1985 Collegian Inc. Campus Editor: Kim Bower; Sports by no more than two people and not Editor: Chris Lindsley; Assistant longer than 30 lines. Students' let- Karen Jaret Sports Editors: Mark Ashenfelter, ters should include semester stand- Business Manager Chris Loder, Chris Raymond; Arts ing, major and campus of the writer. Editor: Jeff Bliss; Assistant Arts Letters from alumni should include The Daily Collegian's editorial opin- Editor: Pat Grandjean; Features Edi- the major and year of graduation of ion is determined by its Board of tor: Amy Fellin; Science Editor: Nan the writer. All writers should provide Opinion, with the editor holding Arens; Graphics Editor: Tony Cicca- their address and phone number for final responsibility. Opinions ex- relli; Photo Editor: Jeff Bustraan; verification of the letter. pressed on the editorial pages are Assistant Photo Editors: Dan Oles not necessarily those of The Daily ki, Gregg. Zelkin; Business Page The Collegian reserves the right to Collegian, Collegian Inc. or The Coordinator: Rich Douma. edit letters for length and to reject Pennsylvania State University. letters if they are libelous or do not Collegian Inc., publishers of The conform to standards of good taste. -Daily Collegian and related publica- Board of Managers Sales Man- Because of the number of letters tions, is a separate corporate insti- ager: Susan Shamlian; Assistant received, the Collegian cannot guar- Salestution from Penn State. Manager: Dawn Kelley: Ac- antee publication of all the letters it counting Manager: Cathy Reese; receives. All letters received be- Board of Editors Managing Edi- Marketing, Manager: Roland Deal, come the property of Collegian Inc. tor: Mark DiAntonio; Opinion Editor: Jr.; Office Manager: Wendy Metzg- Mail letters to: The Daily Collegian; Doug Popovich; News Editors: Pat- er; Assistant Office Manager: Amy 126 Carnegie Building; University rick Collier, Bill Ferrell, Anita Katz; Norris; Layout Coordinator: Corinne Park, Pa. 16802. Names may be Copy/Wire Editors: Bob King, Anita Salameh. withheld on request. Gail L. Johnson Editor Foot in the door: She's asleep now. I can just make out her face in profile. Her eyes are moving behind her eyelids, seeing dreams. A world all her own. We could be close, I think. We could be. • 7.r..", - 10K4rti: 0 ,MA 60, I reach out and touch her, tracing lines across her skin. She stirs a little; I pull back. I want to let her sleep. I roll on my back, staring up at the ceiling, an arm's length away. My watch tells me it's four in the morning. I'm really tired, but I can't sleep. God, I want to sleep. I think I'd like to live with her. I look back at the watch and count out time against my heartbeat. Adrenaline Sometimes, when the hurt floods in too fast, I slam the door and just go cold. of vandalism, when lights are broken and fire extinguishers are stolen someone has to foot the bill. Also, Larry Augerman, maintenance coordinator for the Apartment Store, said apartment buildings with undergraduate tenants, have more incidents of vandalism than buildings with graduate student ten- ants. An added surprise concerning vandalism in State College is that cases of vandalism do not rise significantly during weekends of home football games. Augerman said Homecoming weekend shoWed very little damage from vandalism to the apartment buildings managed by the Apartment Store. . This means that most cases of vandalism are probably not caused by out-of-towners, but by people living in the community. Something that may not be a surprise, though, is that Augerman attributed some of the problem to guests of renters. He said renters should be more responsible for their guests. Students of Penn State are not solely responsible for vandalism in State College. But as residents of State College, students need to realize how important the fight against vandalism is. October was Crime Prevention Month in Pennsylvania, but State College residents both permanent and transient must realize it will take a watchful eye and concerted effort to prevent vandalism in "our community." drives my heart like a piston. I'm so afraid. She's so pretty, lying there. I want to make love to her. I don't think she'd object to me waking her, but I don't want to cry. I think my head and heart would gladly send me in two different directions if they could. Now, they're saying run and stay at the same time; there's little middle ground on which to walk. I remember all the advice I used to give my friends.. "Do, what your heart says. Do what makes you feel good." They'd shake their heads and answer, "You don't understand it's not that easy." They were right. I was kind of naive back then. Used to believe that every story has a happy ending. That everything works out for the best. But they knew just like she and I now know that very little works out to accom modate our dreams. You've got to try to make things work. The older you get, the more hurt you accumulate, the harder it is to be open and caring. Thing is, I never thought it would happen to me. I catch myself avoiding situations that require commitment, and I look around and see a lot of people including the ones I care deeply about avoiding pain by avoid ing life. And here I lie in bed, staring at a woman that I want to love, trying to decide whether I can love. I think of how closed she is. How she can cry against me, but not say why; how afraid she is to let herself bleed. I wonder, suppose I open up but she remains closed how much will that hurt? I shiver a little. Then I wonder if she thinks the same about me. Dammit, why do people take their pain out on all of us? Why don't they cry instead of becoming angry and hateful? Why do they screw us up so bad that we can't even carry on with our own lives? Good question. Now substitute 'we' for 'people' above. We take out our hurt on others by closing ourselves off from the world. It's pretty evident, in every aspect of our lives, that we're isolationists at heart; yet, at the same time, as Harlan Ellison puts it: "It isn't ' • ' :Immo ROW* pr Ax.c.4o* i;;', 11111 w Op/ed: Executions at Rockview near As Nov. 19 draws near, the State Correctional Insti- Opinion Editor Doug Popovich wants to know what you tution at Rockview just five miles from State College think about the use of the death penalty. will become the focus of a great deal of controversy. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, The Daily Collegian will For the first time in 23 years, two sentenced crimi- publish an op/ed page with your views on this topic. nals John Lesko, 26, of Pittsburgh and Michael If you have an opinion you'd like to share, present it Travalgia, 26, of Washington Township are sched- in the form of a letter-to-the-editor (one typed page, uled to die in the electric chair on that day. double spaced) or forum (no more than three typed And since Gov. Dick Thornburgh authorized these pages, double spaced) by Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. in executions in August, the citizens of the Common- the Collegian office, 126 Carnegie Building. Letters and wealth of Pennsylvania have rekindled the debate forums must be presented by the author in person with surrounding the death penalty. some form of identification and must include semester What does Penn State think about these executions? standing and major. reader opinion Plus/Minus and slacked off deserved the A. accept, how we treat one another Hard work always pays off! (don't help a classmate he might Hail the letter grades! The new Most of us, including myself, do better than you) and how much plus / minus grading system (ef- often forget why we are in school. (suffering) we put up with. Grades fective Fall Semester 1987) has One reason, often cited, is to "get a affect how we study. We "cram" been "fine tuned", according to an good job." I guess all the men and for tests, memorizing specific article in the Penn State Intercom. women who have jobs outside their facts, which we store for a brief We have added A plus, C minus, D field at minimum wages keep that period like water behind a dam. At plus, and D minus. But alas, the gem of wisdom close to their heart. test time we open the flood gates, lowly F has no companions. How The other reason we are in school, I pouring out all that we have stored. will you or I know if we are failing suggest, is to acquire skills, behav- After the exam what is left? well or failing poorly? iors and strategies for enhancing There are alternatives to letter Perhaps my contempt for letter and improving the quality our lives grades. One alternative is choice, grades is beginning to show. How and the lives of those around us. It such as pass/fail or satifactory/un could we become educated without is my belief that these objectives satisfactory instead of letter them? Letter grades are so objec- create sufficient motivation for grades. Another alternative is nar tive, lam told. The personal biases each of us to engage ourselves in rative transcripts, which include and likes and dislikes of the in- the learning processes at Penn descriptions of topics studied and structor carry no weight. The stu- State. what the student gained from the dent who worked her tail off andclass. What does an A plus or D It is my belief that grading inter class. learned something de- minus really represent? feres with learning. Grades be served the B. The fellow who al- come the motivating force for what Taj Withall, non-degree student ready knew most of the material we do, how we think, what we will Oct. 20 C WiN CROWN %5145,Y,,M death that bothers me, it's dying alone." It seems to me that we ensure our lone liness by shutting off the world. As a writer of sorts, it causes me a great deal of problems. How am I supposed to portray the aspects of a world that .I can't become involved in? I can't. I put my foot in the door; I try to keep it open even just a crack. Sometimes, when the hurt floods in too fast, I slam the door and just go cold. I suppose that's why so many of us drink and party. We can't take the aloofness we impose on ourselves, and we don't know any other way to drop our defenses. And some times when we drink too much, those walls we build come crashing down, and suddenly we find ourselves naked. I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze gently. I love you, I think. Why can't I commit myself? Why can't I try to be happy? Is the fear that strong? Fm sure most of us remember that phrase from childhood. Big boys don't cry. God, how I remember that sentence. I must've heard it a million times. Youß ExPEcTATioNs Society doesn't want you to cry. Because then people might have to lend you a hand; someone would have to listen to your prob lems someone would have to feel. Funny thing is, we're society. You and me and our friends. Instead of letting each other heal, we tell each other to internalize the pain, to bury it deep where at will eat at you for the rest of your life. The problem of pain. We're never taught how to deal with it. The only answers I can ' offer are to feel what hurts, to talk about it, to cry. Can't you cry before your closest friends? Or in front of your lover? Can't the walls come down even a little? We live a damn short time, Who wants to live it by burying one's most intense feel ings deep inside? Who wants to live a lie? Who wants to die alone and unloved? The Daily. Collegian Monday, Nov. 11, 1985 ie(Nr7 ----- C)1985 Collegian Inc Me, I want to try and heal, I think. I want to love and be loved, I think. And as I stare at her, I wonder what she thinks. John Orr is a sophomore majoring in English and a columnist for The Daily Collegian. Beginning next week, his colurhn will appeal* ever other Tuesday. opinions After Tuesday's test: The important things in life matters of consequence that don't change when problems arise Some things always. change. The weather, our luck, the days of the week. We have no control over them. And some things never change. The rising sun, wasted time, and the public's ignornance as to what the CIA really does. But in between these boundaries lie mat ters of consequence. Real matters of consequence: Pk 0,1•;.. t 0,4 t* ~.'Ai. .: They don't change when a new problem arises. The real ones always remain. Some people consider taxes to be most important. Others think grades demand the greatest priority. Still another portion re volve their lives around the bar with the best happy hour Specials. For a while I believed that taxes and grades seemed like reasonable concerns. Afterall, I'm a finance major. Deficits and interest rates are as big a part of my vocabu lary as my name. And as my search for the all-encompas sing, universally-satisfying job continues, high grades seem to at least keep open a road. ~w~~ But that is naive thinking. As Huck Finn might say, when it comes down to it, they ain't nothin'. Grades, inflation, psychological job ex ams; semi-important issues that some people see as justification for waking up in the morning. So the question is: are there any real matters of consequence? Are there any universal concerns that are unprejudiced to age, profession, idealogy, even culture? The answer is yes. But you can't skip to the end of the column to find them out. Read on. • • • I spent the weekend at a friend's house in a suburb of Philadephia. It was late Friday night and he was telling me the things he considered important in his life. It had been a long time since we heard about each other's lives. We sat in his kitchen sipping kahlua and I enjoyed the contrast that his warm, comfort able home offered over my cold, damp apart ment here in Happy Valley. The first few years of his marriage were like most other new marriages. A horizon cluttered with worries about money and family. Both of them had good educations. Both aspired to be teachers. Money and the qield of teaching do not usually run concurrently, but the pleasures of teaching and dealing with children appealed to them more than salary. Gradually though, they wanted to start a family and money would be necessary to ease things along. My friend left the teaching profession for a more financially rewarding one. I sensed that he resents how our system treats teachers; especially grade school and secondary school teachers. I couldn't disagree He taught science to students with ad vanced learning. He enjoyed the creativity his pupils displayed and he told me about some of their projects. One student attempted to measure the moisture content of various foods like straw- berries by dehydrating them and comparing their weights before and after they dried out. He also enjoyed his freedom to use class experiments to enforce a theory. He told me of a test he did with his class to see if they could differentiate between foods of similar texture, like apples and potatoes, if their only sense was taste. He blindfolded them, plugged their ears and closed their noses. Nearly everyone failed to identify the cor rect food. I was disappointed to think that a school system would let someone with that much enthusiasm leave. It is his fervor, his zest that is the primary ecstacy of the moment. reason that his current success does not And it would be in grasping that person that surprise me. He is a top sales representative we would realize what matters of conse for a major pharmaceutical firm. And he still quence are. feels like he is teaching. Though, this time it is to doctors and pharmacists. As my friend and I finished our kahlua, I He has a healthy three-month-old son, his realized just how misplaced priorities can marriage has endured the difficult times and become. he owns a house that five years ago he I have had to re-evaluate what kind of a job couldn't have imagined even living in. To him, these are matters of consequence • • • Who could disagree with him? How do taxes and grades and most everything else that takes up our time compare to family and health? If you found out that you were dying, or if you learned that someone close to you was dying, most of what you had considered as matters of consequence would fly out the window. Your priorities would change. Ev erything you valued Would be obsolete. Sometimes we struggle when deciding what are the really important things in our life. Usually we become aware of them only during extraordinary times. If we were confronted with a life or death situation, such as a missile heading for State College, how would we react? The first thing we would do is try to get the hell out of here. But if that wasn't possible, then what? Let's also assume that there is no time to go downtown and grab a last beer. I think that most of us would reach for the person physically closest to us. Some other person who shares the confusion and morbid IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN -TIME TO HIT THE BOOKS. BUT... WHEN THEY START TO HIT BACK, TAKE A BREAK... AND DROP BY SERA-TEC BIOLOGICALS TO DONATE PLASMA WHERE YOU CAN. RELAX AND EARN $BB OR MORE PER MONTH. YOU MUST BE 18 YRS. OLD TO DONATE. BRING IN SOME IDENTIFICATION WITH YOUR BIRTHDATE ON IT. ALSO CUT OUT THIS AD AND PRESENT IT TO THE RECEPTIONIST FOR AN ADDITIONAL $3.00 ON YOUR FIRST DONATION. SERA-TEC BIOLOGICALS • • • 120 S. ALLEN ST. (REAR) 8-6:30 MON., TUES., THURS 237-5761 8-4:30 WED., FRI. The Daily Collegian Monday, Nov. 11, 1985-9 I am really looking for. How important is a salary versus enjoying something that you'll spend a third of your life doing? We all know someone who can't leave the frustrations of work at the office. And his family suffers. I don't need that shit. How important is the length of your title versus what kind of person your boss is? How many of us are annoyed at the business people that cheat or steal to further their own interests? Would you feel any remorse over accepting a job with someone like that? Would you recommend this employer to a friend, or even an acquaintance? I try to shy away from recommendations. Whether it is a job, an employer, a restaurant, a movie or a record, I keep my distance when someone asks me how I liked something. But I'm about to make an exception There is a book, a very short and inexpen sive book, called The Little Prince. It was written forty years ago by Antoine de Saint Exupery and it is the most amusing, eye opening and thought provoking piece I have read. In this book he tells a tale about matters of consequence. Life, death, health, friends. Tied up within the worries about the paper due on Wednesday and the job interview on Friday are the really important things in our life. Matters of consequence. Michael Kutner is a senior majoring in finance and a columnist for The Daily Colle gian. His column appears every Monday. Books Getting To You?
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers