8 The Daily Collegian
Shame on you
USG shouldn't have held
a meeting without adequate notice
At 8 p.m. yesterday, did you
know where your student govern
ment representatives were? More
importantly, do you know what
they were doing?
For most students, The Daily
Collegian Board of Opinion knows
the answer to that question is no.
Another even more important
question is, did you know that
your senate president resigned
last night?
If the answers to these ques
tions elude you, the Board of
Opinion can help you out.
The Undergraduate Student
Government, which represents
every undergraduate student,
held a special meeting last night
in the HUB. USG President Caro
line Casagrande requested this
meeting yesterday, and it was
held yesterday allowing stu
dents very little time to find out
about the meeting.
The representatives gathered to
discuss charges against former
USG Senate President Jason
Covener. Covener was charged
with three counts of unlawful use
of a computer, three counts of
interception of electronic or oral
communications and one count of
criminal conspiracy on Friday.
The alleged events occurred in
the USG office, 203 HUB.
Whether or not student govern
ment representatives met about
the charges against the former
senate president is not a problem
-- it is an issue that needed to be
dealt with. However, holding a
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.
Collegian
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998
©1998 Collegian Inc.
Editor in Chief
Bridgette Blair
Business Manager
Scott A. Fal!gran
The Daiiy 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 Editor Stacey Confer
Metro Editor Aimee Harris
News Editors Patr,c,a K Cole. Kelly Ruoff
Conservatives, big houses, cars leading to environmental crisis
/don't remember the '7os. I was all tied
up with toilet training. But unbe
knownst to me, something quite signifi
cant was happening in our society. Thanks
to 'a gas crisis that made people wonder
where their next 50-gallon tank of dirt
cheap unleaded was coming from, Ameri
cans finally began to examine and trim
their characteristically gluttonous use of
energy. We actually made significant
progress. People drove smaller cars.
Everyone was into conservation, even
Nixon; he created the EPA.
Then came the 'Bos, which unfortunate
ly, I do remember. Things somehow went
horribly awry. President Reagan
humanity's reciprocal repealed legisla
tion intended to make cars more fuel effi
cient and cut hack programs to develop
renewable energy. In the 'Bos we derailed.
America became selfish and material,
more so.
The '9os came and gave us the rapper
Vanilla Ice. But along with the good came
the bad. For the first time ever, people
started hearing about this theory called
"global warming."
The planet was getting warmer and peo-
special meeting without giving
the general student population
adequate notice is not good.
However, is it really necessary
to hold a special meeting the night
before USG's regular senate
meeting? We think not. This dis
cussion could have occurred on
the regular meeting night, in the
regular meeting place. Then, stu
dents could have attended and
could have voiced their opinions
At the meeting, Casagrande
said she called the representa
tives together to get the issue out
of the way so USG could get back
to representing students at the
meeting today. She's right, but the
person leading the senate and his
actions are, and should rightly be,
a concern of the students.
Although we are disappointed
with the "emergency senate
meeting," we are pleased with
Covener's decision to resign. His
decision was based on that while
he is facing a criminal hearing he
cannot effectively lead the senate.
He put the students first, too bad
the entire senate didn't do the
same.
Don't stand for this type of
behavior from your student gov
ernment. Go to the USG Senate
meeting at 7 p.m. today in 307
HUB. Tell them you don't want
decisions made without an oppor
tunity for all students to be heard.
USG took away your voice and
took control without you even
knowing —here's your chance to
get it back.
Copy/Wire Editors Jennifer Eck, Brooke Sample
Palma Tisak
Weekly Editors Jason Fagone. Darren Robertson
Sports Managing Editor Andrew Krebs
Day Sports Editor Jordan Hyman
Night Sports Editors Craig Kackenmeister,
Michael Lello
Arts Editor Molly K. Fellin
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.
ple were to blame. As a result, destructive
changes in Earth's climate were predict
ed.
Most destructive to environmental caus
es during the '9os was the wave of new
conservatism. Suddenly, every mean fat
guy with his own radio show was telling
the American people that environmental
ism equated to a miserable life in a mud
hut, and that "environmental wackos"
were out to kill you and everyone you
care about.
The idea of environmentalism was taint-
ed with an element of ridicule that still Global warming is different from other
0 0 •
. i . ,. ,.... :.
n _ ,
Senior disappointed
with ESACT availability
I am graduating in May 1999 with the
exception that I take an ESACT course. I
have been told to keep trying to get into a
section by phone and if I am still not regis
tered by the first day, I will be "placed"
into a course. I do not agree with this
method of "placing" students into ESACT
courses. I cannot simply be "placed" into
just any course. And I would like a more
definite answer/solution than that.
I have physical restrictions (bad knees
and ankles) that prevent me from partak
ing in activities such as tennis, aerobics
and running. To place me in any of these
courses would he detrimental to my physi
cal well-being as well as my GPA as I
would not be able to participate in class.
I was eligible to register on Sept. 17, and
all of the courses that I am physically
capable of participating in and available
for were already full.
In addition to being limited by my hand
icaps, I am also limited to the times I can
take classes as I have a work schedule to
maintain. All of this time here at Penn
State my advisers kept telling me not to
worry about the ESACT courses because I
would be first to register and I'd have my
pick of classes. Now I face having to wait
until August to graduate simply because of
my physical restrictions and work sched
ule. On top of all that, ALL ESACT courses
are now full.
So. my question to you in the Registrar's
Office is: What are you going to do to help
me? I did not pay thousands of dollars each
Letters to the Editor
1. Must be less than 400 words.
2. Must include name, semester standing,
major or title, address and phone number for
verification.
3. Can be sent via e-mail to crdl26@psu.edu.
"Driving is an addiction that is slowly killing the environment.
Drive a sensible car, not one that gets 12 miles to a gallon. Better
yet, carpool, ride a bike or walk."
pervades in the nation's collective uncon
scious. The word "conservation" is consid
ered so damnable in our society that envi
ronmental groups have quietly initiated
the term "efficiency" to take its place
Eight years later we still can't agree
about global warming. Some purely Pla
tonic individuals with no vested interest
in the subject whatsoever including our
Congressman John Peterson, industrial
lobbyists and conservative think tanks
ignore a preponderance of evidence that
increases daily and say that global warm
ing is a fabrication. (It exists.) To be total
ly and painfully objective, there is not
total scientific consensus. But be reason
able. If something with such dire conse
quences has even a remote chance of hap
pening, we can't be cautious enough.
semester to be "placed" into a course that
does not suit my needs and/or interests.
And to all you freshmen and sophomores
reading this, my advice to you is schedule
them now if you can because you WON'T
be able to get what you want as seniors.
And DON'T rely on what an adviser tells
you unless you get it in writing.
Tara J. Allsopp
senior-administration of justice
High enrollment leads
to education problems
I am writing in response to comments
made in the article "Enrollment tops
80,000" specifically, those comments
made by Director of the Department of
Information Bill Mahon and Penn State
President Graham Spanier. I feel that it is
time for these two and other "important
figures" at Penn State to come down from
their dreamworld and float back to earth.
First, Mahon says that more students
than ever are applying to Penn State.
News flash: this doesn't mean that more
students have to he accepted and enrolled.
He also states that "adjustments will be
made in the future so enrollment does not
exceed a level that would be unhealthy for
Penn State." Apparently Mahon doesn't
live in State College. He acknowledges that
"we are really reaching the upper limit of
the number of students that is appropriate
for this community and this university to
sustain its quality of life," but he adds that
"we don't want to grow just for growth's
sake." Then I have to ask, what quality of
problems America faces because some
thing can be done by the average person
to alleviate the situation. This is especial
ly true for college students since they will
be the ones who, in the near future, will
be buying and using the products that
contribute to global warming.
Leading the way on this list of environ
mentally destructive products are those
two most American of all things, big hous
es and big cars. Everyone needs a house
to live in, but since the energy conserva
tion trend of the '7os, houses have gotten
much larger. They are loaded with ener
gy-wasting features and appliances that
are now considered commonplace. Elec
tricity is cheap and there is no financiar
incentive to promote conservation. The
average American uses twice as much
energy as their Japanese or European
Tuesday, Nov.lo, 1998
life he is referring to? Surely he can't
mean that living in a study
lounge/makeshift room is quality living?
And Spanier says that "it takes a lot of
work to balance the ever-increasing num
bers of people who want to attend Penn
State with our commitment to maintaining
a high-quality education for every Penn
State student." Maybe President Spanier
should attend a few classes and see how
"high-quality" this education claims to be.
Make sure to visit classes in the Forum
and Willard buildings while you're at it.
Education requires more than having stu
dents read a textbook and then have pro
fessors paraphrase the information so that
students can take notes on the subject.
Education requires interaction between
teachers and students. You can look at
your statistics that say the student faculty
ratio is 19:1 or 18:1, but every student that
attends classes here knows that there is no
way this number is accurate. Where are all
these teachers? There is obviously some
kind of number manipulation going on with
this statistic. Maybe I am misinformed
because no one at the Admissioris Office,
Registrar's Office or at the Department of
Public Information was able to tell me the
actual ratio.
Spanier and Mahon should stop assum
ing what is reality. and actually find out
what is reality and do something about it.
Sports and drinking are already the two
largest foci at this school. Sounds kind of
funny doesn't it? A school that doesn't
focus on education.
Andrew Siegfried
sophomore-international business and
finance
counterpart. Lifestyle is the culprit.
Cars are just as bad. They get bigger
and bigger while Americans keep driving
more. In fact, driving on average accounts
for more than half of the pollution and
greenhouse gasses produced by an indi
vidual. Where have all the Datsuns gone?
Driving is an addiction that is slowly
killing the environment. Drive a sensible
car, not one that gets 12 miles to a gallon
Better yet, carpool, ride a bike or walk.
Statistically speaking, America is dan
gerously close to reversing any positive
gains we may have made during the '7os.
This may go down in history not as the
decade where we began to take steps to
save our planet and ourselves, but as the
era that gave us "CHiPs" and Watergate.
If we let these achievements be
reversed by our greedy desire to be
nation of Ford Expeditions and five bed
room houses for families of three, then
our environmental progress to this point
will have been all for naught.
Gregory Nagurney (gsnlo2@psu.edu) is a
junior majoring in English and a Collegian
columnist.