2—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1992
Student leader
Peter Stone
By KIMI EISELE
Collegian Features Writer
He doesn't particularly look like
a "subversive."
You know, someone who doesn't
believe in the "system," someone
fervent about changing it, someone
who shrieks his sentiment into any
opponent's or apathetic's face,
someone who might wear, say, black
clothing and their hair (if male) below
their ears.
On the contrary, though the sad
state of the world stands him on his
feet, his voice is deliberate but far
from caustic. Well, his hair is a little
long (chin-length), but he dresses
rather conservatively a white
oxford neatly tucked into tailored,
grey pants. Always.
Wearing that and argyle socks
Peter Stone sits, knees pressing
into the back of his chair, ignoring
the tempest of papers, books and
Post-it notes that shroud his Ath
erton Hall desk.
"You know you're too busy when
it's the one day you only have one
class and you still have no extra
time," he said.
Time is a necessity for people
passionate about politics. Time to
organize and argue and educate and
change the status quo and carry
18 credits and write an honors thesis
all at the same time.
"Politics are the most important
thing in my life, either in class or
out of class," Stone says.
A past president of the College
Democrats, Stone (senior-political
days
45, left
Edward B. Bryant '63 is chief
operating officer for Libbey-Owens-Ford
Co.. where he heads three strategic
business units. In nine years with the
company, he also has served as vice
president and general manager of the
automotive products group and vice
president of glass operations. Bryant
began his engineering career with PPG
Industries, where he worked in
manufacturing management, sales
management and strategic planning. He
is a graduate of the Harvard Executive
Management Program and in 1990 was
named a Penn State Outstanding
Engineering Alumnus.
is passionate a
science), is taking two graduate-level
political science courses this semester
and is pouring his passion for jus
tice into several other groups. One
is the Students' Peace Initiative,
which works locally to educate and
mobilize for nuclear disarmament.
Another is Students and Youth
Against Racism, which has helped
organize the Committee to Free
Mumia Amu Jamal, an African-
American journalist accused of killing
a Philadelphia police officer.
"Twenty minutes away, there is
such a miscarriage of justice going
on that no one knows about," Stone
said.
Jamal, held in Huntingdon State
Prison, has been declared a politi
cal prisoner by parties that believe
he is being held on the basis of his
race and political convictions.
It is injustice that makes Stone's
blood boil.
"There are privileges for anyone
who is white, straight, male and from
a respectable social class," Stone says,
recognizing that he's never been the
brunt of any great injustices. "I'm
not guilty aboiit that, but it's just that
I've recognized that that's not the
way it is for a lot of people."
Stone supports About Face, a
campus group working against the
Astronauts and artists, educators and executives, scientists and surgeons Alumni Fellows all. They are Penn
State's greatest resource, those professionally eminent graduates whose generosity and talents are tapped year
after year as Penn State bestows upon them the title of Alumni Fellow, asking only that each Fellow return to
Alma Mater to share a bit of know-how with others who will follow. It's a lifetime commitment the Alumni
Association and the Council of Academic Deans are proud to be a part of
takes the time and initiative
bout politics,
Sloe
University's ROTC program for not
recognizing the inclusion of the sexual
orientation clause to the Universi
ty's non-discrimination policy. He is
also secretary for Penn State Pro-
Choice.
"Anything Peter gets involved in,
he puts a lot of time in. He doesn't
take things lightly. He's involved with
a lot of things, but he doesn't cheat
us in any way," says Jennifer Deßow
(junior-political science), co-direc
tor of Penn State Pro-Choice.
Stone doesn't take things lightly.
In fact, he puts so much effort into
his "causes" that when they fail, he
feels it, physically.
After President Bush visited the
University, Stone was "emotionally
drained."
"We couldn't organize, we couldn't
get enough of an opposition," he said.
Stone shakes his head, but then
bounces back. His face hardens and
his hands tense up.
"The whole thing gave me an idea
of what Hitler's Nuremburg rallies
must have been like. It was some
thing like the Nazi's used to stage,"
he said.
Harsh? Perhaps.
But Stone's words alone, though
stated calmly, can be as belliger-
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THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING IS PROUD TO PRESENT
activism and change
Collegian Graphic/Jessica Hartshom
PM Penn State
5 Alumni Association
ent as a loaded gun. And he is
convinced
"The Republican mind-set scares
me," he said. "They don't even
pretend to believe in freedom and
democracy."
Stone said he will vote for Clin
ton in November, reluctantly.
"(Clinton) is trying hard to vilify
everything I stand for. I'll vote for
him, but I expect to be demon
strating against him in a few years,"
he said.
Leaning back on his desk, Stone
slurps his Coke like a child might.
But out of his mouth, come opin
ions as well-researched as those of
doctoral scholar.
"I was taught to be responsible for
what I say," Stone said, adding that
he reads "every moment I'm not
doing something else."
The words of Plato, Karl Marx,
Noam Chomsky and writing by
anyone who has ever said anything
about labor and empowerment under
Chile's Salvador Allende —the topic
of his honors thesis —have gained
a place on Stone's never-dusty
bookshelf.
Though the written word
strengthens Stone's arguments, it is
actions he considers unjust that
mobilize him.
The country's involvement in the
Gulf War in 1991 and a prospective
draft made Stone raise his voice in
college. But he said he has been
drawn to politics since high school.
"Before I could vote, I manned
telephones for Dukakis," he said.
Raised in Georgia, Stone said he
•OM •OM•OM • OM • (DM • OM , OM • (DM• OM •OM • (I)M• (DM •OM • (1)M• OM
2
The Sisters of Phi Mu would like to
Welcome their 1992 Pledge Class:
Susan Anderson
Helene Bachman
Sonia Buss
Nicole Charlton
Stephanie Cilo
Shannon Cook
Amy Dowell
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Collegian Photo/James Molony
Peter Stone
vividly remembers the Atlanta
suburbs, stocked with "ultra right
wing, rock-solid Reagan-ites."
And in 1980, when his parents
supported presidential candidate John
Anderson, Stone said, "I was
amazingly embarrassed about it. Of
course, I really knew nothing about
what a lunatic Reagan was at the
time."
But the political views of Stone's
parents shaped his later views.
"Peter and I often took long walks,
and talked about philosophy, the
theory of government and a num
ber of things. We just enjoyed it,"
said Stone's father, Frank Stone of
Bethlehem.
At the University, Stone said there
is a sampling of "intellectual wan
nabes." But, for the most part, he
is dissatisfied by the lack of activism
on campus.
Every student should at least
protest the recent state budget cuts
on education, Stone said.
Michele Hrivnak
Donna Huber
Diane Innes
Chris Gerberich
Melissa Kauffman
Sue Klein
Laura Mcgaughey
Michael A. Brunner '55 is retired
president of AT&T Federal Systems,
where he directed the acquisition and
management of multimillion-dollar
contracts with governmental agencies. At
the time of Brunner's retirement, the
Federal Systems division generated $2
billion of AT&T's annual revenues.
Brunner joined the corporation as a
student engineer and rose through various
assignments in plant, sales, engineering,
accounting and personnel. He was named
Industry Executive of the Year by
Government Computer News in 1989 and
an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus by
Penn State in 1990.
Juniata sends
students to
mountains
By KELLY P. KISSEL
Associated Press Writer
ENTRIKEN, Pa. The
president of Juniata College
called off classes, declared
yesterday "Mountain Day," then
sent each of the school's 1,100
students to a state park for a
day of fun.
Even the library closed at the
liberal arts college in Hunt
ingdon. The librarian was on
President Bob Neff's faculty
staff flag football team.
"It's nice to get everybody
together at the same place," said
BeLinda Weaver, a senior from
Everett. "It's something to look
forward to."
Every autumn, Juniata Col
lege administrators declare
"Mountain Day" to mark the
anniversary of a smallpox
epidemic that hit Huntingdon
in 1878.
The college was spared during
the outbreak because the fac
ulty took students to a cabin in
the central Pennsylvania woods
away from populated areas
so they would not get the
disease.
The trek to the woods,
however, became an annual
event. It's been held every year
since 1879. The college was
founded in 1876.
Amy McManus
Kristen Myers
Kristi Myers
Amy Nachimson
Nikki Reba
Kim Rosen
Julie Vanduyne