8 The Daily Collegian Just a figurehead University Planning Council must prove its worth with solutions The University Planning Coun cil one more bureaucratic fig urehead to add to Penn State's list. Intended to be an overarching think tank for the university, the planning council was appointed by Penn State President Graham Spanier in October 1995. It reviews college and departmental strategic plans, offers advice and recommends funding. It is the top tier of a hierarchi cal process. But how much can the council actually accomplish in trying to cover such a broad range of areas and issues? It seems that the planning coun cil functions more as a nebulous fi , ,arehead than as an active, goal accomplishing body. One wonders if its purpose is merely to exist for show and placate those who question what university-wide ini tiatives Penn State is involved with. A single body can hardly consol idate so many colleges and units Da order to impact upon them indi vidually. And the proof is simply that there isn't much that students can About the Board of Opinion: Editorials are written by The Daily Collegian Board of Opinion. The members of the Board of Opinion for Fall Semester are: Bridgette Blair, Patricia K. Cole, Stacey Confer, Carrie DeLeon, Aimee Harris, Krista Hawley, Daryl Lang, Khyber Oser, Emily Rehring, Brooke Sample, Cory Shindel and Tim Swift. 1 daily Collegian Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 01998 Collegian Inc. Editor In Chief Bridged* Blair Business Manager Scott A. Fallgren 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. Board of Editors Managing Editor Krista Hawley Opinion Editor Carrie DeLeon Campus EdNor Stacey Confer Metro Editor Aimee Harris News Editors Patricia K Cob, Kelly Ruoff Copy/Wire Editors Jennifer Eck, Brooke Sample Patricia Took Weekly Editors Jason Fagone, Darren Robertson Sports Managing Editor Andrew Krebs Day Sports Editor Jordan Hyman Night Sports Editors Craig Kackerimeister, Michael Lek) Arts Editor Molly K. Fellin Students should take opportunity to learn outside of classroom Stop and think for a minute. Why are you here at college? Really ... why are you here? Is this just something you parents expected of you, are you doing it mainly for them? Are you here as a stepping stone to get to the job you would really rather be doing? • Are you here because you really don't know what else to do? • Or are you here because you want to learn? I've been thinking the past few weeks on how to change the college education process to better suit its purpose, and I think what I've found is that the greatest problem is student apathy toward learn- , You can add as many new classes and as many new teachers as you'd like, but if the Students aren't here to learn and ebrich their lives with knowledge then. it's all for nothing. I go into some of the classes we have now and there's only a half to three- fourths of the class there. And if teachers don't specify that attendance is mandato ry, the size decreases even more. No matter how bad you may think the tacher is, if you're not in class you're point to as . tangil , le results of the planning council's efforts since its inception. Students still lack academic advisers who are accessible and informed. class scheduling proce dures are unfair and difficult; class sizes are too large and the student-to-faculty ratio has not been significantly decreased; the university lacks diversity in its students. faculty and staff mem bers and the retention rates of minorities are low. Teaching assistants leading 400- level classes and language barri- ers between instructors and stu- dents are still adding to a difficult learning environment, and yet students never seem to hear about the results of SRTEs the forms used to evaluate teachers. Yes, the concept of a university wide planning council is good in theory, but practically, students' interests are not being addressed by its initiatives. Like many other administrative councils in the past, students are forced to ques tion its purpose and search for evidence of its worth. Both are difficult to find. Photo Editor Galen A. Lentz Graphics Editor David Heasty Online Editor Daryl Lang Assistant Online Editor David Smith Board of Managers Advertising Manager Ryan J. Myers Accounting Manager Cindy Ng Office Manager Stacie L. Coleman Sales Manager Natasha Montes de Oca Layout Manager Ben Jennings 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, 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 comments on news coverage, editorial policy and University affairs. Letters must be typewritten, dou ble-spaced and no longer than 400 words. Forums must also be typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than 750 words. 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. Members and officers of organizations must include their titles if the topic they write about is connected with the aim of their organization. probably missing out on something. What's the point of offering more class es when we can't get students to attend the ones we offer now? But attendance doesn't seem to be the only problem. Students, in general, aren't finding relevance in the knowledge given to them; therefore, they aren't retaining as much as they should be for this level of education. I can't tell you how many peo ple i've heard say that they're just memo rizing things for the test and then forget it all soon after. Teachers are only half of the learning process. Students need to care more about what and how they learn. Teachers can Opinions Collegian can print tobacco advertisements Thank you University Health Services for your little bit of insight and your com ments on what a student-run university newspaper should or should not allow as advertisers. The fact of the matter is that the Collegian is protected under the First Amendment and can print whatever it chooses. What a strange idea? I'm not saying tobacco use is something everyone should do, but it is not the place of University Health Services to regulate the choices of the Collegian. This is just another blatant example of the university's attempt to regulate student behavior and choices. We are all adults who are perfect ly capable of making our own decisions. Smoking and tobacco-related deaths take around 500,000 lives a year from our coun try. Smoking or the use of smokeless tobacco is not a healthy choice for stu dents, but at the same time is the right of the students. We all have completed at least 12 years of schooling and have been given the necessary education as to what tobacco does to the body. Students, faculty and everyone else who smokes at this uni versity is well aware that Health Services is available to aid us in our pursuits at quitting. Tobacco companies claim, although I personally am skeptical, that tobacco products are only marketed to tobacco users. They have the right to pro mote their products. Likewise individuals can disagree; this is the purpose of the First Amendment. The Collegian provides its newspapers free of charge to students on campus, in large part due to its advertisers. Health services should do more to provide quality health care to the students, who often have to wait excessively long amounts of time, instead of trying to prohibit certain adver tisers from using our newspaper as a venue. Austin Reed freshman-special education Remove stuffed lion from West Pattee In these times of overt disrespect toward both human and non-human ani mals, very few things are more archaic than the stuffed lion found in West Pattee. This once beautiful animal has been reduced to a mere object, an offensive dec- "Students just don't seem to have the desire to learn anything beyond what is placed in front of them." only expose us to pieces of the world, but it's up to us what we do with that informa tion. We can either incorporate it with what we already know or we can forget it. If you're just remembering things for the test, maybe you don't belong in college. So I ask you again, why are you here? Although the classroom is a good indica tor of how excited the student body is about learning, I'm more upset by the lack of interest they have about extracurricu lar activities, on-campus lectures and the arts programs. These outside of the classroom activi- ties are an even better indication of peo ple's desire to expand their world and increase their wisdom. I try to attend at least one lecture, out side activity or play a week, and I'm always surprised by how easily I find a seat. Students just don't seem to have the desire to learn anything beyond what is placed in front of them. There are opportunities every day for )31E e'l oration of death and innocent suffering. It is poor taste for the university to continue displaying this fascinating animal. If we pride ourselves on the lion, exhibiting a dead one in our library is hypocritical to say the least. Its mere exposure perpetu ates and reinforces a perspective that degrades and cheapens the lives of non humans. When one passes the hun she or he may be unaware that the creature was once liv ing, breathing and possessing a life. It sends a message that approves the use, manipulation and dominance of humans over non-humans. If Penn State sincerely respected the image of our magnificent mascot, we would not stand behind such disrespect. For these reasons, I propose it be removed. Christian Kurpiel junior-psychology Countries, Americans not laughing at Clinton This letter is in response to Doug Wilkinson's letter to the editor in Thurs day's Collegian. Wilkinson called United States "a laughing stock" because of Bill Clinton's indiscretions, and wondered "how does our country look to other pow erful countries." Well, if you listen to all the journalists and public officials in other countries who can't believe this issue is even being discussed, you'll find out. They are not laughing at Clinton. They are laughing at Republicans and the small per centage of Americans that continue to dwell on what was, in effect, a sex lie. Wilkinson says Clinton was "unbeliev ably" elected twice, and that "people are laughing at him." Who's laughing? Surely not the American people, 62 percent of which approve of him (the highest approval rating in a non-war time in 30 years, coincidentally). Surely not the vot ers, who shocked Newt Gingrich and the gang on election day. Clearly, the Republi cans have more egg on their face than they expected out of this mess. I find it unfortu nate that people continue to blame Clinton for all the country's problems, yet refuse to credit him for the bright spots. You can't blame him for raising taxes and then turn around and not credit him for jump starting the economy. That's not a bal anced view. You are right about one thing, though. Clinton is not Ronald Reagan. Reagan was involved in trading arms to Iranians, and you to make a difference in the communi ty, to expand your thinking and to enrich your understanding of others. You'd be surprised how much you can learn at an hour lecture if you really listen and how good you feel after helping out someone else. I know that many of the sororities and fraternities are dedicated to one cause or another and that's really good for now. I just hope that when you're out of school, and supporting isn't so convenient, you'll still be able to offer the same level of sup port. As for the rest of us, there really isn't any excuse for not doing anything when there's something for everyone. All you have to do is look at any postings pus and I'm sure you'll find something that sparks an interest. If you like to get that feeling when you help someone else out, why not try volun teering a few hours a week with Habitat for Humanity? ft you like to dance why Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 "Reaganomics" quadrupled the national deficit a deficit that took 12 years, and President Clinton, to erase. Ryan Dougherty junior-journalism Health services makes most of funds available The recent "Wait-an-hour" editorial opinion had some good ideas that were undermined by the writer's desire to avoid use of too many facts. So here's a quick summary for students interested in accu rate information. University Health Services offers three convenient ways for students to 'visit a health care provider. Schedule an appointment in advance. Or, call in the morning and request a "same day" appointment. This appointment sys tem was incorporated in response to stu dent demand for more access within a short time frame and minimal wait. It was also structured to assist in alleviating the longer wait in Urgent Care. Or Urgent Care. Students can walk into the clinic and be seen without an appoint ment. Will you wait? Possibly, based on how many others students decide to utilize this option. But you will also get high qual ity medical care from a staff more con cerned about your well-being than with whether or not you're in the "appointment book." So, for those times when lots of stu dents choose this option, which do you pre fer? Expert medical care or "drive-thru" service? Is it hectic when flu season hits? Absolutely! We've planned ahead and so should Penn State students. Be proactive by taking advantage of one of our several flu immunization clinics. We have consistently stated that our ser vices and patient volume have far out grown the space available to us in Ritenour Building. Our patient to clinician ratio is also a point of frustration. However, we do not allocate funds. We make the most with the funds provided to us. Since the Collegian editorial staff and Undergraduate Student Government seem to share some of our concerns, we encour age them to join us in lobbying for addi tional health care resources for students at Penn State. We don't think students should have to settle for less either. Pam Koons marketing manager, University Health Services not get off of the couch, grab the person next to you and go to one of the free swing classes around State College, or even to one of the dance classes offered by some of the multicultural organiza tions? Let's say that you're really into the legalization of cannabis sativa, well then why don't you just get in contact with NORML and I'm sure they'd be happy to get you involved somehow. Not only does Penn State need more diverse classrooms and teachers, they also need some more support from the students for diversity programs outside of the classroom. So why not expand your multicultural scholarship with a trip to Harlem (an activity of the African and African American Studies Student Inter est Group) one of the cultural capitals of the country. For a small fee you can not only learn about black culture, you can experience it. The key is to just do something. You'll he .urprised at how much more you can learn when you're actually trying. Kellie D. Weiss (kdwl29@psu.edu) is a senior majoring in English and a Collegian columnist
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