8 The Daily Collegian Real-world learning New University policy will benefit students with work experience In a world where fewer and fewer students are going straight to college from high school, a new University policy will give credit to those who have worked hard not only inside the classroom but outside as well. The University Faculty Senate recently voted to allow students the opportunity to obtain academ ic credit from experiences gained outside of the classroom. Ib receive credit, students need only to prove they have received college-level knowledge by com piling and submitting a portfolio that illustrates their experiences. This new portfolio option, which Congraduations Calendar revisions exhibit long-sought common sense The University has just decided to make life a little easier for summer and fall graduates. Beginning this August, a new University policy will change all fall and summer commencement ceremonies so theat they are held immediately after finals. The old policy, which clumsily left students hanging in mid-air for nearly a month, required stu dents to make an extra trip back to the University, weather permit ting. The new policy will allow stu- The opinions page is an open forum for discussion for the entire Penn State community. Diverse viewpoints in columns, reader forums and letters to the editor are encouraged to promote an ongo ing intellectual dialogue on issues important to our readers. <•2? Collegian Wednesday, March 13,1996 ®1996 Collegian Inc. Editor in Chief Courtney Caims Business Manager Randy Abrams The Daily Collegian's editorial opinion is deter mined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsibility. Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not nec essarily those of The Daily Collegian, Colle gian Inc. or The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc., publishers of The Daily Colle gian and related publications, is a separate corporate institution from Penn State. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. If a complaint is not satisfactorily resolved, Morality aside, capital In 1995 while you studied, drank and enjoyed the benefits of Mom and Dad’s largesse, 20,000 people were murdered in this coun try. Last year, the United States executed 56 people, nearly double the number for the prior year and 6 more than the total number execut ed from 1976 to 1985. In Pennsylvania alone, nearly 200 people are currently on Death Row. In the last year, Gov. Tom Ridge has signed 40 death war rants, more than all of the death warrants signed by all of the past governors in the last 17 years of Pennsylvania’s death penalty statute. Is state sponsored execution right? According to recent Gallup polls, about 60 percent of the voting pub lic thinks so. But there are myriad reasons why capital punishment makes very little sense. In 1972, the Supreme Court declared that the then existing laws of capital punishment were being applied in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner and were will save students with a broad base of knowledge and experience in the “real world” time and money, has already been implemented at Big Ten rival Ohio State and state universities in Pennsylvania. The portfolio option is a great opportunity for all students. It will be especially beneficial for returning/adult learner stu dents, who often have more real world experience than students straight out of high school. It’s about time the University recognized the fact that learning outside of the classroom is often as valuable as learning inside the classroom. dents to wrap up finals and gradu ation within a week. Although it may be hectic for students to cram everything into one week, at least graduating seniors will not have to make an extra trip back to their alma mater to attend their own graduation ceremony, a spe cial concern for international or out-of-state students. Kudos to the University for doing something that appeals to the most basic level of common sense. Which only leaves one question what took so long? some grievances may be filed with the Accuracy and Fair Play Committee of Collegian inc. Information on filing grievances is available from Gerry Lynn Hamil ton, executive secretary, Collegian Inc. Letters Policy: The Daily Collegian encourages com ments on news coverage, editorial policy and Univer sity affairs. Letters must be typewritten, double spaced and no longer than two pages. Forums must also be typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than three pages. Students' letters should include semester standing, major and campus of the writer. Letters from alumni should include the major and year of graduation of the writer. All writers should provide their address and phone number for verification of the letter. Let ters should be signed by no more than two people. Names may be withheld on request. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for length and to reject letters if they are libelous or do not conform to standards of good taste. Because of the number of letters received, the Collegian cannot guarantee publication of all the letters it receives. Let ters may also be selected for publication in The Weekly Collegian. All letters received become the property of Collegian Inc. Any letters or forums may be submitted via electron ic mail at: jtaloB@psu.edu therefore in violation of the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection of the laws and due process. But then, in the year of our coun try’s bicentennial, 1976, the court reestablished the death penalty. It ruled that capital punishment does not necessarily violate the Constitution if it is administered in a way which prevents arbitrariness and discrimination. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, of the nearly 2,000 0 & MM3 USG reality Besides sucking cheap beer out of a keg on a Friday night or cheering the Nittany Lion basketball teams on to the NCAA tournament, it seems that one of the cur rent favorite past times at Penn State is criticizing and making a mockery of the Undergraduate Student Government. Whether it be the penis-promoting mem bers of the Madagascar Revolutionary Council, the USG-quitters-turned-Colle gian-columnists or even USG senators themselves, it seems like everybody these days is calling our student government a joke. I would be lying to you if I told you that there weren’t parts of student government that were largely ineffectual, but I think everyone has already made that clear; And while there may be parts of USG that need significant improvement, there is a very large portion of the organization whose day-to-day hard work and commit ment to students goes unnoticed. With the USG elections on the horizon it is impor tant to inform students about the realities, and not the rhetoric of USG. Because USG is, in effect, modeled after the U S. government, it is a complex orga nization made up of three branches. The judicial branch consists of the USG Supreme Court which governs most all Penn State student organizations. The leg islative branch is composed of two houses: The USG Academic Assembly represents students on academic issues such as course requirements and the like. The other house is the USG Senate, which, for better or for worse, holds the USG pocket book. It is supposed to legislate the inter ests of its student constituents on issues such as the computer lab problems and student parking. The final branch of USG is the executive branch which is com prised of ten executive departments designed to carry out the legislative poli cies. Since September, the executive branch has been working vigorously and judi ciously to make positive change for stu dents, and to provide important services at Penn State. However, much of their work has been obscured by the anti-USG propa ganda that has been a consistent part of Penn State for years. Anyway, whether they knew it or not, there have been count less students who have been impacted by USG executive programs this year. Without the USG Express Bus Service, punishment is prisoners currently on Death Row, virtually all are poor. Many inmates are only there because the state assigned inexperienced, underpaid lawyers who lack the resources to competently defend them. Yet, the 104th Congress cut all funding to the legal resource centers that have represented most of our nation’s Death Row inmates. Some prisoners are mentally retarded, or mentally disabled. More than 40 percent are black and a disproportionate num ber are Native American, Latino, and Asians. Since 1976, more than 80 percent of the victims in death penalty cases have been white, even though only 50 percent of murder victims are white. In the last 20 years, 81 black defendants have been executed for killing white victims, yet only four whites have been executed for killing black victims. What do all of these statistics mean?. Basically, if you are a poor minority in America and you are convicted of murder, your chances nTTp 7tut» Avers err* /OO G SSU. fou (jnmrJ /4r&iT»**** oj®hj§ as 03*3 adDm? of receiving the death penalty are much greater than that of your white counterparts. Does this seem constitutional? The Supreme Court itself has acknowledged that “The power to be lenient is the power to discriminate.” When the Court decided to rein state capital punishment, it said that in order for it to be fairly used, it had to be applied consistently. But, the Court also made clear that capital punishment should be imposed in an individualized man ner, with provisions for discretion and clemency. The problem here is that these two ideas, consistency and individ ualized discretion, are at odds with one another, especially in a society riddled with class and race inequal ity, discrimination and prejudice. But discrimination is not the only reason the death penalty does not work. Proponents of the death penalty claim that the threat of capital punishment is effective in deterring people from murdering. But there is no credible evidence to support this. According to the some students would either be stranded at Penn State during semester breaks or forced to pay outrageous transportation rates to get home. In the wake of recent assaults near campus, student government offered a FREE self-defense program last month in which many men and women participated. When racial hatred and intol erance reared its ugly head last fall, USG was one of the organizations that formed the Take A Stand Rally in an attempt to quell the problem. Countless PSU students pass through 203 A HUB each day to get a FREE copy of USG’s apartment brochure or to seek advice from USG’s well-trained and highly accessible Department of Legal Affairs in solving legal matters with the University. As Governor Tom Ridge dropped the budget ax on Penn State again this spring, USG’s Government Affairs Department gave you the chance to call your legisla tors for FREE and voice your opposition. Speaking of FREE events, you may be able to save yourself a night’s bar tab by taking advantage of USG sponsored FREE broom ball and ice-skating on March 30. If sports isn’t your game, but politics is, USG’s Political and International Affairs Depart ment is bringing the Model United Nations Conference to University Park on March 30-31. And for the first time ever, several student groups are working together, rather than against each other, as a coali tion led by USG, IFC, and Panhellenic will sponsor Spring It Together a week of games, concerts, and FUN beginning April 14. Certainly there are places where USG represents students very poorly, but there are literallly countless areas from the HUB expansion board to the Faculty Sen ate Advising Committee to the borough housing debate where USG representation is an evident reality. These things aren’t an illusion. They happen because the over 100 members of USG’s executive branch care enough about the students of Penn State to make them happen. Sure, our student government isn’t per fect (or even close to it), but I never met an organization that was. The only way it can get better is for you to take advantage of the services already provided and then force your representatives to articulate and legislate your needs. You can start doing this by voting in the USG elections on March 27. Douglas M. Eroh USG communications director harmful to society ACLU, states with the death penal ty don’t have lower crime or mur der rates than states without it. Indeed, it seems unlikely that most murderers would be deterred by the fear of the death penalty. People commit murders largely in the hea' of passion or under the influence of alcohol or drugs and give little thought to the conse quences of their actions. Cost is also pointed to as a reason to implement the death penalty. Many believe that putting someone to death is cheaper than imprison ing them for life. But this is not true either. Because every prison er sentenced to death automatical ly has the right to multiple appeals, the actual process of executing someone in our country may cost as much as 2 or 3 million dollars, much more than a lifetime in jail. Some lawmakers are trying to limit prisoners’ rights of appeals through new legislation to cut cost. While I understand this impulse, I also find it disturbing. If we deprive or limit a prisoner’s right to appeal his or her case, we run Wednesday, March 13, 1996 s>£ 11, n * % - $u J "teV£Me Let your life change I am in a unique situation this wonderful spring. The uprisings of the Madagascar Revolutionary Council have given me new hope for the future of Penn State Universi ty and a chance to lend my rich and heroically embellished historical perspec tive to the matter at hand: the election of The Penis to the USG presidency. As a founding member the University's Loser Fest movement, which concluded its reign of loserishness at Loserfest 5 in 1994, I proudly upheld the idea that there was something wrong with USG and only men and women of vision could fix it, if elected. They usually weren’t. Like any great social movement, Loser- Fest slowly matured, rising beyond its meager original intents. It became a year-' ly chance for University nerds, freaks, misfits, rejects and -Jesers to convene among their soulmates. We stopped revolt ing against those who made us losers; instead as was the will of Brad Haartz, Supreme Loser in the USG presidential election of 1990 we aimed solely to cele brate our loserishness. USG’s beige-like aura and “culture of cultural death" were the accouterments of a monster too stiff and ridiculous for anyone to waste time trying to topple it. But I recently joined the Madagascar Revolutionary Council, and in my current capacity as Pope Testosticles, I have seen how the MRC possibly possesses a soulful ness that surpasses LoserFest’s cosmic energy. By now, you know them as Rub berneck, Grandpa, Wookiee the Gimp, Madasexgar and many others. They have stepped over the line to glory. The MRC’s goal of electing a large, dil donic icon to the USG presidency is pure and decent. This type of innovation and chutzpah has changed my life and given me the strength to continue my Loser’s mission from long ago. On election day, let your life change too. Vote Cock in ’96. m* op/m/n counts the risk as a society of executing the innocent and wrongly accused. And this leads to another reason why I don’t agree with the death penalty. Our government’s power must not extend into deciding if its citi zens should live or die. And think of the ways in which government sponsored, premeditated murder affects Americans. More than 13,000 people have been legally executed since colo nial times, and most of them in the 20th Century. Our culture is one of the most bellicose in the civilized world, and this is due, in part, to the culture of violence that perme ates American life. We punish peo ple for murder by murdering them. Whether I believe capital punish ment is moral or immoral is irrele vant. The truth is that the death penalty is inappropriate, counter productive, unfair and harmful to our society. Put simply, it just does not work Lena Blynn is a freshman majoring in history and a Collegian colum nist. Joe Warminsky class of 1994
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