THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
STAFF COLUMN
Equality for women has come far in short time
By Krysee Kopacz
F I WERE a col
lege student at
Penn State in
the early '7os, you
can bet I'd drag
around my own
portable soapbox.
It simply boggles
my mind how
unequal society
used to be-and
low it has
changed in the past
few decades.
I would've had to flier the campus. I
would have had to carry a bullhorn. I
would have probably had to get arrest
ed to prove just how serious I was
about equality
Maybe rve just listened to Destiny's
Child's Survivor album one too many
times, but it never ceases to amaze me
how much societal norms toward
women have changed since our moth-
U-WIRE COLUMN
Networking is not a dirty word when searching for a job
By Flash Clark
THE BURDEN of too many years
spent as an undergraduate
looms forebodingly on the hori
zon. After two years of searching for
gainful employment, I'm left with little
more than when I left this town.
So as I look upon the tip jar sitting
on the counter of this little coffee
shop, guessing what generosity has
afforded me tonight, I wonder what it
is that I'm missing.
It is not so much experience that I
lack, and it's certainly not a well-round
ed education. And it certainly wasn't for
a lack of searching. Employers from
Japan, Iraq and the entire continental
United States plus Hawaii have copies
of my resume.
The recent rejection letter from a
local paper only complicated matters
until I suddenly realized what it was
that I had been missing all this time.
I was watching my customers, many
of whom are artists or activists or pro
fessors or even columnists, when it
dawned on me: connections. I don't
have any connections. I spent most of
9 letter word for
procrastination
EREESIZERD
Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae and
Friends of Peg Riley
Proudly announce
The Annual Peg Riley Loyalty Award
to recognize an outstanding student who has completed four semesters
of undergraduate study, achieved a positive academic record and
demonstrated loyalty to the University.
Further information and applications for this $lOOO award are now available.
Deadline for applications and supporting material is Noon, Wednesday,
March 30, 2005 at the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life (863-8065)
209 HUB-Robeson Center
get the
latest
scoop!
IHE DAILYICOLLEG
ers were raised since they dealt with
the stuffy traditions that have slowly
faded from campus life.
The independent women of today
have our predecessors to thank
Fewer than 35 years ago, women
were not allowed to live off campus, but
men were.
And if a woman wanted to visit a
man's residence, she needed written
permission if she was under 21.
Crazy.
My roommate told me that her mom,
who graduated from Penn State in
1974, said women used to attend foot
ball games as if they were dated func
tions women didn't go unless a man
asked them. And they wore dresses.
Thirty years later, that scene seems
to be isolated to the black and white
photographs in history books.
MY OPINION
It would be absurd to consider a
loud, drunken, Penn State tailgate foot
ball fest as a date nowadays.
My roommate's mom also said when
she was on the women's basketball
my time concentrating on creativity
and design theory when I should have
dedicated some effort into creating a
network of associates and friends with
whom to collaborate in the future.
Don't get me wrong, the classroom
experience of my discipline taught me
precisely what it was intended to. How
ever, the issue of networking was never
really addressed. Now, the longer I find
myself treading water in unsubstantial
employment, the more I realize just
how detrimental a factor that can be.
My whole life, I was raised, like many
people, under the ideal principal that if
one works hard and keeps his nose to
the grindstone, then she or he can
achieve anything.
While surely this statement has
merit, I see it as the professional equiv
alent to the dating precept that people
will like you solely for you are and not
for what you look like. The professional
world is not much different. Often-
times, getting a job can hinge on what
you look like, how you conduct yourself
outwardly, the people you know and, of
course, education and experience.
For years I resisted against all temp
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The independent women of today have our predecessors
to thank Fbwer than 35 years ago, women were not
allowed to live off campus, but men were.
team as a freshman, the whole team
wore dresses as uniforms. And women
and men couldn't share a gym - the
White Building was exclusively for
women.
While I was astonished by these
changes and feeling pretty good about
the way things are swinging for us
girls, my friend, a feminist to the core,
assured me that although things have
changed in past years, they still aren't
right.
"Men still control every aspect of this
country," she asserted, a hint of fury in
her voice. She said it is still a patriar
chal society. She said salaries are still
unequal.
She said things still need to be
changed and we shouldn't settle.
So I finally convinced myself that networking was not
cheating, no more than finding a person physically
appealing is narrow-minded. It is just business.
tations to believe that it could be true;
that employers would consider any
thing but the facts: The grades, the
degrees, the work experience, the work
ethic. I believed in an ideal meritocra
cy but that is not business. So I finally
convinced myself that networking was
not cheating, no more than finding a
person physically appealing is narrow
minded. It is just business.
It is business, business in the way
that retailers charge customers more
for the product than it cost to make it.
Business in the way that everything is
taxed to hell. Profit, spam e-mail,
super-sized transfatty fries and tele-
marketing, heaven help us, are busi
ness. And networking, too, is just busi
ness. Every friend you have ever had
and every classmate you have ever sat
next to is a contact. Every professor
you didn't wholly irritate and every
OPINION
a PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
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Still, I can't help but think about how
far we've come, and how the strides
taken by the women before us have
changed each of our college experi
ences.
During this month Women's His
tory Month it is important to
remember and thank the handful of
eager women who were the first to
enroll in Penn State, and others who,
across the pages of history, have spo
ken up and caused change.
After all, the track record has been
set imagine what change will hap
pen in the next 35 years.
Krystle Kopacz is a sophomore majoring in
journalism and English and is the Collegian's
campus chief. Her e-mail is klk29B@psu.edu
instructor who ever handed you an op
scan is a potential associate for later in
life.
Of course, sometimes the notion of
just asking a friend or associate for a
lead or helping hand is not as easy as
one would like. It is almost guaranteed
that the more an individual needs
assistance, the less likely he is to ask .
for it outright. Such was my case. Such
is the nature of pride. However, as time
passes and the job market yields less
and less, pride wanes and necessity
prevails. And so, I understood, on a Fri
day night, as the clock waxed midnight,
watching the people typing and writing
and one reading Vonnegut upside
down. There is no shame in network
ing.
Flash Clark writes for The Collegiate Times at
Texas Tech.
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FRIDAY, March 18, 2005 I 9
V 0 I C S
Do you think
performance
enhancing drugs in
sports is a problem
Congress should deal
with?
"They have
better things
to deal with
overseas and
domestically,
rather than
focus on
sports."
Chong Soh
senior-information sciences and technology
"I don't think it's a
congressional issue. It's
something to be dealt with
by commissioners of
major-league sports. They
have a better idea on how
to handle it."
Jonathan Jastremsky
junior -civil engineering
"It's drugs,
and the
government
tries to be
involved in
other drug
problems, so
steroids should be no -
different. It's another
drug."
Erin Irving
freshman-psychology
Compiled by Rachel Loeb
Photos by Dan Freel
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