opinions
editorial opinion
Here . . .
Doing right by human rights
Raising awareness of human rights issues is par
amount to creating an enlightened University community.
Human Rights Day, sponsored by the International Stu
dent Council and 13 other student organizations, featured
speakers, films and live performers in the spirit of educa
tion and awareness.
Unfortunately, the excellent goal was marred by contro
versy among some groups who accused the event’s orga
nizers of political bias.
Whether there was a bias intentional or otherwise is
uncertain. But if the intent to increase human rights
awareness is sincere, future efforts to organize such
programs should be made in the spirit of educating, not
politicking.
The high cost of liability
Gayle Beyers’ resignation as assistant director of stu
dent organizations and program development can be
looked upon as part of the price the University must pay in
its fight against alcohol liability.
Beyers cited the University’s final decision to sever ties
with greek organizations without consulting her as one of
the reasons for her leaving. Since 1983, Beyers served as
an adviser for the University’s 52 fraternities and 20
sororities. . , , ,
Granted, the University must protect itself from alcohol
liability. However, it should not pursue this goal at the
expense of one of its most valuable assets.
East Halls election woes
The Centre County Board of Elections may decide
tommorrow if University students living in four East Halls
residence halls will get their own polling precinct this year
or if they’ll have to travel about one mile to the College
Township Municipal Building to vote on Nov. 4.
About 160 East Halls voters signed a petition last April
requesting the formation of the new precinct. But for the
past seven or eight years similar requests have been
denied because election officials say they are concerned
about poor voter turnout and staffing problems.
However, if nothing else, the persistence of students
living in this area over the years shows they really are
concerned about this problem and will try to iron out the
problems involved with creating a new district.
County election officials should at least give studen,
voters a chance to prove their doubts wrong.
. . . and There
Disinformation disbelief
The Reagan administration’s reported policy of decep
tion to throw Moammar Gadhafi off balance has stirred a
hornet’s nest in the American press. It also led to State
Department spokesman Bernard Kalb’s resignation.
The biggest danger in “disinformation” is that the
American people simply will stop believing what they are
told. Knowing that your government is willing to lie plants
the seeds of cynicism.
The Jamestown (N.Y.) Post-Journal
Foundation for immigration legislation
Myths and half-truths about immigration to the United
States have been the foundation on which 15 years of
immigration reform bills have rested.
Undocumented immigrants have become an easy politi
cal scapegoat. It is far more convincing to blame unem
ployment, inadequate funding for social services and
cutbacks in education for undocumented immigrants than
on complicated economic factors.
Each immigration bill Congress has considered is not
based on a foundation of facts. And that is where the
danger lies in creating more problems while trying to
• solve an ill-perceived one.
The (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star
Finger lickin' good
News stories recently reported that some Eastern res
taurants have discovered that chickens raised in close
confinement don’t taste the same as those that get a little
exercise during their brief lives.
So, their menus now feature “range chicken,” a name
that sparks visions of herds of chickens roaming free in
mountain pastures or rolling plains.
It’s likely that what eastern restaurants call “range
chicken” is what Westerners have known as “barnyard
chicken.” “Range chicken” commands higher prices than
“barnyard chicken.” Eastern clucks will plunk down a lot
of scratch to give themselves that bird.
The (Butte) Montana Standard
Young doctors on drugs
Is anyone shocked by the Harvard University survey of
doctors in which 25 percent respondents of all ages said
they had taken mind-affecting drugs recently?
In the survey, nearly 40 percent of doctors under 40
admitted they used marijuana or cocaine with friends.
If habitual psychoactive drug takers in the medical
profession are not cured or weeded out, public suspicion
toward physicians is likely to widen until it seriously
damages the'entire profession
The opinions expressed by other newspapers are not necessarily those
of The Daily Collegian's Board of Opinion.
—The Muncie (Ind.) Star
What
Candidates say 'Vote for me because my opponent is a slimeball'
"During a catflpaign, the air is full of
speeches; and vice versa." Lawrence Peter
A week from tomorrow America will be asked
to select the people who will represent them at
local, state and federal levels. Normally, people
vote for a particular candidate based upon their
impression of the person(s) running as well as a
candidate's stand on an issue.
However, the campaigns in this area, let alone
in the rest of the country, have left me wondering
not only about my impressions of the candidates,
but about their stand on issues and even if they
know what the issues are.
Most candidates have tried to use the media
(television, radio, newspapers) to advertise or
rather sell themselves. But most ads have not
been the type that say “vote for me because I’ll
.. .” Rather, most ads say only “how can you
possibly vote for that slimeball?”
If I were asked to provide my impression of the
candidates based solely on their advertising and
media presence, it would go something like this:
Bob Casey has tried to tell me that as lieuten
ant governor, William Scranton was never on the
job. He’s also tried to tell me Scranton was inept
at those duties that he did participate in..
Scranton, for his part, has stated that Casey
was essentially too busy earning money in pri
vate practice to perform his duties as auditor
general under Gov. Milton Shapp. As a result, it
was Casey’s fault that corruption was wide
spread under Shapp.
None of these ads tell me anything about the
candidates views on a fifth-year eligibility for
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
Agency grants. Not once do they mention how
they feel about disbanding the Liquor Control
Board. Never do they say how they plan to bring
jobs to Pennsylvania, but the candidates con
stantly promise to do just that.
Scranton has now decided to take his negative
advertising off the air. He has called for Casey to
do the same. We shall see.
Most of the ads I’ve seen or heard for Bill
Wachob have said nothing more than that Rep.
daily Collegian
Monday, Oct. 27,1986
©1986 Collegian Inc.
Anita C. Husiin
Editor
William G. Landis Jr.
Business Manager
The Daily Collegian’s editorial opin
ion is determined by its Board of
Opinion, with the editor holding
final responsibility. Opinions ex
pressed on the editorial pages are
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Pennsylvania State University.
Collegian Inc., publishers of The
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tions, is a separate corporate insti
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Complaints: News and editorial com
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tee of Collegian Inc. Information on filing
grievances is available from Gerry Lynn
Hamilton, executive secretary, Collegian
Inc.
issues?
ft **
reader opinion
Challenger
Much has been said about the rising
cost of attending Penn State. Tuition
goes up every year, making an educa
tion at this University unaffordable
for many people.
Penn State tuition and the Universi
ty’s share of funding compared to Pitt
and Temple have become the main
issues in the George Field-Lynn Her
man race for the 77th House District
seat in the state legislature.
The winner will play a key role in
promoting the University’s interests.
Herman has held the seat for four
years and his record is evidence of his
ineffectiveness. Field is an aggres
sive challenger with the enthusiam to
work for state funding.
Field has proposed to work with
Democrats and Republicans to form
a Penn State coalition to broaden
support for the University.
This idea is innovative. It proves
Field is ready to defend the interests
he will be elected to represent.
Field will do well in Harrisburg. He
deserves to be elected. '
Bill Clinger is a tool of the oil and gas industry.
Clinger’s ads have stated that Wachob is a liar
and owes the Clinger family an apology.
These ads are on the heels of the “Actor’s
Guild” campaign ads presented over the sum
mer. These included an appearance by Ed Asner
on behalf of Wachob and radio spots for Clinger
that had Charlton Heston saying Asner was a
communist and therefore Wachob must be one
too.
None of the ads for these “gentlemen” touch on
issues such as the deficit, defense funding, tax
reform, social spending or SDI.
The Arlen Specter-Bob Edgar race has defi
nitely been the most vocal, at least on one side of
it. Edgar has coined a cute phrase by saying
there are two Arlen Specters; one who votes for
an issue and one who votes against it. If I have to
here this ad one more time, I think I’ll shoot my
radio.
Specter, for his part, has done his share of
name calling. Both candidates have fielded ads
against the other that talk about the voting
absences of the other, a tactic employed by
several other candidates as well.
Needless to say, these ads touch about as many
pertinent issues as the Clinger-Wachob ads.
The only thing I’ve heard about the Lynn
Herman-George Field race is that Field went to
Penn State and Herman went to the University of
Pittsburgh. Having talked to graduates from
both schools, I’d suggest these two candidates
both find some other qualifications prior to
election day.
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Craig Wheeland
graduate-political science
Endorsements
Hi, I’m Joe Isuzu and I’ve got two
things to tell you. First, buy this car.
It gets 10,000 mpg and costs $5. Plus,
if you’re a Penn State student, you’ll
get a $2 million rebate.
Second, we should all follow the
Undergraduate Student Government
endorsement. The vast majority of
students voted in the last USG elec
tion and it resulted in a victory for the
people now in power.
They represent student to the “T”
and since they all major in areas like
engineering and chemistry, we know
they ran for the love of Penn State
and had no selfish motives.
It’s a misconception that they were
elected to represent students to the
What do you think?
The Daily Collegian welcomes let
ters from students, faculty, staff and
area residents concerning issues and
topics of interest to the Collegian's
readership. With the semester at the
half-way point, many important is
sues confront the University.
Authors must present letters to the
The Daily Collegian
Monday, Oct. 27, 1986
At least two recent debates have yielded simi
lar results. The first debate between Clinger and
Wachob last Monday started out as a slug-fest
but soon yielded at least a short period of intelli
gent discussion of several key issues. The debate
between Edgar and Spector, however, was an
excessive exchange of tirades and insults from
start to finish.
It is becoming a sad fact that voters cannot
rely on the media to present the candidates views
on the issues. This is not the media’s fault, which
speaks poorly of our candidates.
The media provides the resource: a tool for
reaching millions of people at once. The power of
this tool, used effectively, can be staggering. The
potential for candidates to get their message
across is there; if only our candidates would use
it in a positive way.
If we write off the media for the rest of this
campaign, as it seems we must do, the only way
to obtain factual information would be to sit down
with each candidate, one on one, and talk about
how they feel about the issues.
While I have been fortunate enough to do this
with several candidates, I realize the impossibili
ty of this undertaking. It is impossible for voters
to nail a politician down long enough to converse
intelligently and impossible for the candidate to
talk to everyone. This alone should encourage the
positive use of the communications media.
There have been several open forums for
candidates in the University community. Hope
fully, there will be many more. Hopefully, the
candidates will stick to their side of the issues
and not further blast their opponents.
In the movie The Candidate, after Robert
Redford won the campaign he looks up at his
campaign manager and asks: “What do we do
now?”
I can only hope this time, it’s not the American
voter saying that same line at the ballot box.
Mark Johnston is a senior majoring in mechan
ical engineering and a columnist for the Daily
Collegian. His column appears every other Mon
day.
administration. Their job is to advise
us on campaigns. They formed a non
partisan committee to endorse politi
cal candidates.
No one has ever accused USG of
being liberal. Having an even mix of
two Republicans and eight Demo
crats, their honesty is ensured be
cause no members had any political
ties and none were already affiliated
with the local races.
We should not use our own
judgment in deciding who to vote for.
We should let our astute leaders
make up out minds for us and follow
their endorsement. If we do, the tooth
fairy will leave us money under our
pillow.
editor (no more than 1 M> pages,
double-spaced) or forums (up to
three typed pages, double-spaced) to
the Collegian in 126 Carnegie Building
during office hours.
The opinion editors reserves the
right to edit letters for length and to
reject letters if they are libelous.
Robert J. Hyneman
sophomore-foreign relations
TALK TO TPs MAJOR
PRODUCT & SERVICE
GROUPS.
t Tl’s technical managers want to
see you. They want to tell you
about the job opportunities in the
many technologies which make
Texas Instruments a leader in elec
,> tronics.
Texas Instruments
Tuesday, October 28, 1986
That’s why TI is having a Job
Fair on the Penn State campus,
October 28 through 30. It gives
the company three days to bring in
key engineers and managers to
meet you. They’ll come from TI
labs and sites to describe programs,
answer questions, and schedule
interviews.
If you’re a top student, partio
ularly in EE or Computer Science,
this is an event you won’t want to
miss.
For more information,
please contact the
Penn State Placement Service.
Job Fair
Penn State
HUB Ballroom
Interviews Scheduled
SIGN UP FOR
INTERVIEWS IF YOU
ARE GRADUATING
WITH THESE
DEGREES:
Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degrees
in:
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Materials Technology
• Physics
• Computer Science
• MBA with technical ui
graduate degree
Briefings and sign-ups foi
interviews: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
October 28, HUB Ballroom.
Interviews (by appointm
October 29 and 30.
Please bring your resume an<
a copy of your transcript or a list
courses.
An Equal Opportunity
Employer M/F
. Texas
Instrumen
Creating useful products
and services for you.
The Daily Collegian
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