opinions
O' lit ri il ini n
Overregulation blues
The tone of this editorial will not exceed spent the money training officers tp enforce
55 decibels. We wouldn’t want to violate it. At least you could enforce the law.
State College’s noise ordinance. But wait! Not the law that is easiest to enforce, but
What noise ordinance? What 55 decibels? IF the law that applies to the specific violation.
WE GOT LOUD, WE’D BE ARRESTED Now why don’t they enforce the noise ordi-
FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT. What’s nance instead of using the all-purpose disor
going on? derly conduct, which is much more
Seventeen months after this community subjective in its enforcement?
was blanketed by a noise ordinance that Police Chief Elwood Williams says “it’s
limited parties to 55 decibels, only six noise less of a hassle,” because officers don’t
citations have been issued. But it’s still know how to use the noise-measuring equip
pretty loud out there: at least 90 percent of ment. And they don’t have that much equip
the 867 citations issued for disorderly con- ment, only two measuring devices,
duct have been for noise violations, accord- So why did council agree to the ordinance
ing to State College District Justice Clifford if it’s just a hassle?
Yorks, Perhaps council members put on their
The noise ordinance, nine months in the regulator gas masks that make them go
making, met loud approval from non-stu- regulation slap-happy. Why not a noise
dent residents and equally loud opposition ordinance when there’s an open-container
from fraternities and independent students. j aW) we ed ordinance, cruising ordinance
It made any amplified sound at any time a an( j an ordinance banning residents from
violation if a neighbor complained. It even parking their own cars in their own yards?
prtrnnlained'" 8 d ° gS Hlegal “ 3 nelghb ° r « * dear council and the police depart-
The State College Municipal Council m ® nt h eve the obligation to enforce the
hailed the ordinance as a panacea for an I.nance asntis wi If they don t
unavoidable problem in a college town. ,ntend t 0 use 14 slM >dd be repealed.
Council member R. Thomas Berner said it And the next time council plans to further
“will make everyone responsible for getting regulate the life of this college town, it
along with their neighbor.” should remember the difference between
Well, borough council, you passed the loud but meaningless rhetoric and the
law. You spent the time passing it and you “hassles” of everyday life.
_ 11 Pennsylvania State University. .be signed by no more than two people.
J ll® C Collegian Inc., publishers of The Names may be withheld on request,
daily VVIIVjiIMI ■ Daily Colleqian and related publica- The Collegian reserves the right to edit
tions, is a separate corporate insti- to
.... ~o e ... , _ _____ r they are libelous or do not conform to
Wednesday, Oct. 22,1986 tution from Penn State. standards of good taste. Because of the
©1986 Collegian Inc. number of letters received, the Collegian
cannot guarantee publication of all the
Anita C. Huslin Letters Policy: The Dally Collegian en- letters It receives. Letters may also be
Editor courages comments on news coverage, selected for publication in The Weekly
uriuiom r i anrtle Ir editorial policy and University affairs. Collegian. All letters received become
William t>. L.anais ur. Letters must be typewritten, double- the property of Collegian Inc.
• Business Manager spaced and no longer than one and one- Letters and forums from University
half pages. Forums must also be type* Park and State College: Please deliver
. written, double-spaced and no longer any submissions In person at the office
Tho nailu rnllpnian’n pditorlal ODin- than three pages. of The Daily Collegian; 126 Carnegie
inn ic HptprmlnpH hv ita Roarr? of Students’ letters should include se- Building. All authors must be present
ion mester standing, major and campus of with picture identification either Uni-
Opinion, with the editor holding the wr | ter . Letters from alumni should verslty ID or photo drivers liscense
final responsibility, opinions ex- include the major and year of graduation when presenting the letter or forum,
pressed on the editorial pages are 0 f the writer. All writers should provide Mall other letters to: The Daily Colle
not necessarily those of The Daily their address and phone number for gian; 126 Carnegie Building; University
Collegian, Collegian Inc. or The verification of the letter. Letters should Park, Pa. 16802.
Participation:
Look beyond obvious forms of protests while searching for solutions to the world's problems
Is there no end to the atrocities that this
University will sponsor? Not content with
the South African dealings, there is yet
another area in which the University has
dealings with a situation of dubious ethical
clarity.
It is a little known fact that Penn State has
numerous holdings in a small area in Ant
arctica. Isolation in a forgotten corner of
the world has enabled this company to avoid
public scrutiny and ultimate exposure of
what it really is: a sordid little operation
headed by a greedy, fat old man who bla
tantly exploits his workers and mistreats
animals. Penn State must cease funding of
this atrocity.
This miserable old codger, growing liter
ally by the day as a result of your tuition,
employs hundreds of laborers for nothing
more than food and lodging. Beyond this
abomination, he refuses to employ nothing
but extremely short fat white men whom he
degradingly refers to as elves. You should
feel real guilty about this.
These serfs labor throughout the year on
useless trinkets while their master reaps
. :.k
'
• •
r- J3S
the ultimate benefits of fame and overall
adulation by working merely one day a year
and eating stale cookies the other 364.
He refuses these poor workers unemploy
ment benefits, health insurance and it is
rumored that a worker who misplaces so
little as a tinkertoy becomes polar bear
bait.
If you are not ready to take your own life
because of your pounding guilt over this,
you have all the conscience of a garish lawn
ornament.
This man is a Stalinistic-type communist
who has never been seen garbed in anything
reader opinion
Remembrance
Penn State and the Department of
Electrical Engineering lost a great
friend on Oct. 10 when Professor Clif
ford Holt died. Until a few weeks ago,
he was teaching in the department
without pay, as he has done for the 13
years since he retired. He did it
because he loved to teach and he
loved Penn State.
By doing so, he enabled young
professors to have a lighter teaching
load so they could get their careers
established.
He served as an inspiration to pro
fessors who met his students rejoic
ing in the memory of his compassion,
dedication and sense of humor.
He will long be remembered by his
students, his friends and through the
scholarship fund that has been estab
lished in his name.
but the color red. Well, gosh darned it, he
makes me see red as well.
University support of Santa Claus must be
stamped out. It must be gutted, shouted
down, blown up and sent on a long hike
without the proper footware.
I, as the moralistic voice of universal
integrity, announce the presence of a group
called: Students Against the Parasitic San
ta, or SAPS. We have already had hundreds
of rallys at Old Main.
Unfortunately, only me and about 20 peo
ple with very strange haircuts showed up,
so I felt ridiculous and instead went down
town and played video games where I got to
shoot at large, unfeeling aliens.
I summoned up the courage to stay at the
the next one I attended. We chanted dumb
slogans and tried to pretend no one was
really staring at us. The Russian Bear has
four paws that’s four more votes for Santa
Claus! Dr. Jordan, listen to us, while we act
like children and fuss and cuss!
We all felt quite sheepish when we found
out that Jordan was out playing golf with
Gerald Ford and did not hear our wailing
j\/ \S V V
John S. Nisbet
professor of electrical engineering
Nearsighted
The only thing all parties agree
upon in reviewing the recent Iceland
“mini-summit” is that advancements
were made and that they broke down
over the Strategic Defense Initita
tive. Consider these facts:
• SDI research has been going on
for at least 20 years; Reagan didn’t
even learn of it until 1983.
• If a defense which is not cheaper
than the counter measures against it,
the defense is not feasible.
The Soviets already possess tech
nology to alter their present nuclear
missiles (by shortening the boost
phase or having them rotate during
the boost phase) which would effecti
vely nulify the best of our present
high-tech space goodies.
They may also launch dozens of
small space mines in a single rocket
payload and maneuver them into
position near SDI devices. These min
es could be exploded at will from the
ground in time of war.
• Reagan totes SDI as a non-nucle
ar progarm, yet the most potent and
promising weapon in the SDI arsenal
is the x-ray laser, a weapon powered
by a hydrogen bomb.
• The Soviets have been research
ing similiar weapons for years. So
what do they gain in confining SDI
testing to the lab? As long as the
United States doesn’t test these weap
ons in space, the Soviets are relieved
of the rather expensive burden of
financing similar tests.
Besides, no one particularly likes
the thought of dozens of satellites,
some with nuclear bombs at their
core, floating about space in their
development phase. There is also the time her daughter visited me at Penn
fear that space weapons escalation State one day long ago.
would result. Some of our activities included
This is not saying SDI is hopeless.
The vision of a space-based, non-nu
clear “peace shield” implemented
and maintained by the world’s major
powers to ensure against third-party
attack as well as arms escalation, is
achievable as well as admirable.
It’s likely to become feasible some- Drinking some beer while under
day, but for Reagan to hinge U.S.- age is against the law, if caught, but
Soviet arms reductions talks on the you know, no way in the world could
in-space testing of a system that her parents ever be held responsible,
cannot possibly be effective in the much less accountable, for the ac
next 20 years is irresponsible and tions of their own under age child,
nearsighted. Nope. The blame has to fall some-
Preying on the misinformation of where else,
the citizens of this nation to gain That’s why the rest of her family
support for what is at best a vain has, in vain, been trying to win their
political issue is unjust. Doing so at lawsuits against the company that
the expense of promising arms reduc- manufactured the aluminum from
tions proposals is inexcusable. which the beer can she drank out of
Todd G. Fitch that night was made, the construction
junior-information systems company (since they were the one’s
l ■ u'l’j. “> who built McKean Hall in the first
Liability . place) and, of course, the car man
ufacturer for building the very same
My sister-in-law’s mother’s broth- car which was used for the site-seeing
er’s aunt’s pet dog’s former owner’s tour. I mean, they had to start some
third niece’s step cousin’s under-21- w j ierei right?
year-old daughter came to visit me well, to wrap all this up,'to this
when I was a freshman living in (OH ver y day j make sure I never involve
MY GOD!) M-c-K-e-a-n Hall. That myself irf the deadly combination of
was a couple years ago. drinking beer out of aluminum cans
Two months ago, her mother died in McKean Hall and taking site-see
from acute emphysema (she smoked j n g tours of fraternities in one of that
four packs of cigarettes a day for 35 company’s cars. I think one can un
years). It’s easy to figure out the derstandwhy
circumstances which led to her
death, however. It all goes back to the
What do you think?
The Daily Collegian welcomes let- ticians who overlook issues and con
fers from students, faculty, staff arid centrate on slighting their opponent?
area residents concerning issues and Authors must present letters to the
topics of interest to the Collegian’s editor (no more than IM* pages,
readership. With the semester at the double-spaced) or forums (up to
half-way point, many important is- three typed pages, double-spaced) to
sues confront the University. The the Collegian in 126 Carnegie Building
Collegian wants to know what you during office hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
think about: p.m.
• State College Municipal Bo- Students’ letters should include the
rough’s noise ordinance. After 17 semester and major of each writer,
months, only six citations have been Letters from alumni should include
issued under the ordinance. Do you the author’s major and year of grad
think a special ordinance is needed to uation.
reduce noise in the State College All writers should provide their
area? Or do you think this ordinance address, phone number and social
is just another case of overregula- security number for verification of
tion?
• Political candidates who use no more than two people,
mudsliriging to gain the advantage The opinion editors reserves the
over their opponent. Granted, right to edit letters for length and to
mudslinging has been around nearly reject letters if they are libelous or do
as long as there have been politicians, not conform to standards of good
What do you think about these poli- taste.
and grinding of teeth.
Nevertheless, it did have quite the im
pact. Really, it’s true.
I tried to find other ways to help the elves.
I discovered they often suffered from chap
ped lips because of their diet which consis
ted mainly of broken candy canes. So I
pursuaded my fraternity to have a slam-a
thon with a sorority to lick chapped lips.
It was a success. We raised much money.
Members repeatedly bashed themselves
over the head with large, thick clubs with
larger donations for more powerful and
lengthy self-bludgeoning. The group with
the largest number of comatose members
at the end won the Marquis de Sade “Pain is
not So Bad” award as well as free trauma
care at Center Community Hospital.
Unfortunately, after expending all this
effort on each of these endeavors I felt quite
empty. I had attempted to give my boring,
collegiate life meaning by attaching myself
to causes rather than just going out and
meeting girls instead.
I didn’t'solve my problems or anyone
elses by throwing group tantrums on Old
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1986
Main Lawn. Rather, we sounded like a
bunch of infants with diaper rash.
Maybe instead of storming around
screaming or bashing myself over the head
like an idiot to raise money, I could have
instead helped some very real people who
were around me and could be helped much
more than someone a continent away.
In my community there are the elderly,
the orphaned, the sick and the handicapped.
They just didn’t seem as exciting as a lot of
other people who appeared on the evening
news every night. But I could make a
difference with them.
The Daily Collegian
drinking some beer in my room and a
site-seeing excursion in her car (the
same car her mother was to die in,
years later, while having a severe
emphysema attack on the way to the
hospital) of the several fraternity
houses around campus.
the letter. Letters should be signed by
There is nothing wrong with peaceful
protest or charitable events. They certainly
do a lot to advance their causes. But the
only way to make a difference in something
is to actively participate, not merely talk a
lot or raise money once a year. Partici
pation is the only solution to any problem.
Brian Schafer is a senior majoring in
health planning administration and a col
umnist for The Daily Collegian. His column
appears every other Wednesday.
Michael Rybacki
junior-fuel science
Frats join forces to combat crime
By VICTORIA PETTIES
Collegian Staff Writer
University fraternity members and pledges will
patrol the streets of State College every weekend
as part of the first-ever nationwide fraternity
crime watch.
Eric Graves, Interfraternity Council community
relations chairman, said that last weekend 72
fraternity members patrolled a 16-block area from
10 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday. The patrol area
stretches from Hetzel Street to South Allen Street
and from East Beaver Avenue to East Hamilton
Avenue.
Fraternity Crime Watch, sponsored by IFC,
orginated as a program to deter weekend acts of
vandalism and disorderly conduct in neighbor
hoods with a large number of fraternities, Graves
said.
“Vandalism and disorderly acts are not serious
problems in the fraternity community, but it is
enough of a problem for IFC to address,” Graves
said.
IFC’s community relations board originated the
program last spring “but the program did not get
off the ground until this semester,” Graves said.
“Participation in the program is overwhelm
ing,” Graves added. “Thirty-six of the 52 fraterni
ties have signed up to participate in the crime
watch.”
‘Penn StatesooK«?tore
October 21 - 31
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Penn State launches series on Cable TV
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Letters to the Editor
The participating fraternities will take turns
patrolling four areas for an hour each starting at
10 p.m. on Fridays.
IFC President Pat Conway said the Crime
Watch program started on Homecoming weekend
because of the high number of people visiting State
College throughout the weekend.
“Our houses have been victimized enough,”
Conway said. “Most of the crimes at the fraterni
ties occur Friday and Saturday night after a party
when everyone is sleeping.”
David Caster, police community relations and
‘The Crime Watch is effective
in terms of deterring (crimes)
more than anything else.’
crime prevention specialist, said the State College
Bureau of Police Services advised Crime Watch
fraternity members to act “only as the eyes and
ears of the State College police.”
Caster said fraternity members are advised to
call the police immediately if they observe any
crimes.
State College police received about six calls,
on campus
October 22
7:00 p.m.
First amendment issues
Brian Cousins
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mostly concerning disorderly conduct, from
Crime Watch fraternity members last weekend,
Caster said.
During football weekends, the increase in people
visiting the fraternities has helped to cause an
increased number of disorderly conducts and acts
of vandalism, he said.
Four members of Theta Delta Chi fraternity, 305
E. Prospect Ave., said they patrolled the two
square block area from East Fairmount Avenue to
East Hamilton Avenue.
Brian Cousins, member of Theta Delta Chi, said
he and four other fraternity members reported no
crimes Saturday night.
“The Crime Watch is effective in terms of
deterring (crimes) more than anything else,”
Cousins said. “If people know that the fraternity
will be watching the house, it is more likely that
they will not cause any problems.”
Cousins said his fraternity has not had a major
problem with vandalism this year but that several
cars in the parking lot have been damaged.
Kevin Noble, a member of Kappa Delta Rho
fraternity, 420 E. Prospect Ave., said the Crime
Watch is leaving the "State College police free to
do other more important things.”
Conway said the Crime Watch is the “progres
sive step for fraternities that are taking on their
own responsiblity in watching our homes and our
neighbors.”
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