THE DAILY James S. Young Editor in Chief About the Collegian: The Daily Collegian and The Weekly Colle gian are published by Collegian Inc., an independent, nonprofit corporation with a board of directors composed of students, fac ulty and professionals. Pennsylvania State University students write and edit both papers and solicit advertising for them. Dur ing the fall and spring semesters as well as the second six-week summer session, The Daily Collegian publishes Monday through Friday. Issues are distributed by mail to other Penn State cam puses, alumni, sports fans, parents and other subscribers. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be pre sented to the business manager. OUR OPINION Rising professor pay needed to keep them in PSU classrooms Penn State, in concurrence with other Big Ten universities, has started to pay its professors more money. The amount of money professors earn depends on the college for which they work; those who work in the Smeal Col lege of Business get paid more than those who work in the College of Arts and Architecture, sometimes by as much as $70,000. Paying more money to retain the best and brightest faculty seems like a small price when one considers the merits of a good education. And a good education requires renowned faculty. Renowned faculty members aren’t going to stick around if their pay isn’t comparable to other schools. If higher salaries are needed to main tain Penn State’s name, then so be it. Once a university gets a reputation for poor-quality programs, which are a reflec tion of the faculty, a university becomes unable to attract the best and brightest of students. This also affects the quality of faculty members the university is able to hire. Who wants to work for a university that is not held in high regards by the aca demic community? 1 Once a reputation of ill repute begins, the vicious cycle is hard to stymie. But it seems more pay will help to maintain Penn State’s name. With the addition of a new forensic sci ence major, for example, Penn State will most likely have to offer extremely com petitive pay to attract professors from other universities that already have such a program. For the program to become lucrative and to gain reputable attention from would-be students, it’s going to have to quickly build it’s repertoire of profes sors. And fast. Let’s face it the quality of the institu tion starts with the quality of the teaching staff. And healthy competition between universities is good as long as it will help promote the production of a quality prod uct an education worth every penny of our tuition. However, it is imperative that the uni versity refrain from embarking upon a salary-arms race in the manner of “we’ll see Ohio State’s 4 percent increase and raise it 3 more percent.” In all likelihood, our professors could be traveling around the world, conducting research or working at extremely prof itable businesses in the city. Instead, they choose to teach college students who often profess to know everything they’ll need to know for the rest of their lives. It is incumbent upon the university to make it worthwhile for professors in all colleges to impart their knowledge with us so we can function in the real world one day, too. Who we are Hie Daily Collegian's editorial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final responsibility. The letters and columns expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of The Daily Collegian, Collegian Inc. or The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc., publishers of The Daily Collegian and related publications, is a separate corporate institution from Penn State. Editorials are written by The Daily Collegian Board of Opinion. Members of the Board of Opinion are Daniel Bal, Brent Burkey, Allison Busacca, Jennette Hannah, Meaghan Haugh, Kathleen Haughney, Alison Herget, Krystle Kopacz, Bridget Smith, Steve Swart. Claudia Vargas and James S. Young. Write a letter We want to hear your comments on our coverage, our editorial decisions and the Penn State community in general. ■ E-mail: collegianletters@psu.edu ■ Postal mail/ln person: The Daily Collegian James Building 123 S. Burrowes St. University Park. PA 16801-3882 Letters should be about 250 words. Student letters should include class year, major and campus. Letters from alumni should include major and year of graduation. All writers should provide their address and phone number for verification. Letters should be signed by no more than two people. Members of organizations must include their titles if the topic they write about is connected with the aim of their groups. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters. The Collegian cannot guarantee publication of all letters it receives. Letters chosen also run online at The Digital Collegian and may be selected for publica tion in The Weekly Collegian. All letters received become the property of Collegian Inc. COLLEGIAN Julie Columbus Business Manager , March 21, 2005 IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE MESS IN IRAQ m 9 CREATED ANP YOU TROOPS ARE SHOULPERIM6 THE WHCtE BVRPEN WITH SUCH a .Ass... Women’s rights issue requires more work Responding to Ms. Kopacz’s col umn, I believe wholeheartedly that women should not settle for cur rent standards of so-called social equality (“Equality for women has come far in short time,” March 18). Today, women face a monumental task of rectifying centuries of injus tice and imprisoning roles forced upon them through a world that defines “masculinity” as power or authority. Advertisers remain steadfast , with degrading sales techniques that patronize women’s empower ment. Images are sold within film, tele vision and magazines that suggest recognition of equal status is result of silence and the glorification of sexual openness. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the media’s deterrence exists in the classroom environ ment. At an early age, girls face dangerous reinforcement that silence results in power. A 1999 study at the University of Michigan found that girls in pre school are told to be quiet more frequently than boys are. Through out early grade school, girls contin ue to receive this encouragement to be restrained. Later in life, a mentality of acceptance for current j media messages with social con straint appears. Unbelievably this Feminism should not trump academia or logic By Lauren Warner Feminism holds the abil ity to alienate men, naturally, but some times, even women. When I ran into one of my professors out- SjtfS 1 MY OPINION had read Ayn Rand. I had asked because Rand’s first novel was actually veiy com plementary to the revolution we study in class. She acknowledged I familiarity with the name. Then 1 she smirked. “Isn’t that the book ] with the rape scene,” she queried, shaking her head. She referred to a different novel j written by the same author, which I had not intended to discuss. But j that book, too, is fascinating. Com plex characters, a gripping story j spanning 694 pages, a triumphant, philosophical conclusion but she | fixated on this particular scene. For the first time, I saw this intelligent, extremely capable j woman articulate words that were i emotionally driven and irrational, i The alleged rape? As the author | herself had eloquently put it, it was j a scene depicting "spiritual j strength and self-confidence, not | physical violence.” It was a pas sionate love scene that established s the romantic affair between the hero and the heroine. The book is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. The hero is pursued by the beautiful, powerful Dominique for a length of time Opinion has been going on since the 19505. As a man, I think it’s important to realize the surviving problems of a male-dominated society. Acknowl edging these inequalities is the first step in removing them. To all the women on campus: allow Women’s History Month to become a yearlong celebration. Rather than simply remembering past milestones, continue to make new ones. Speaking on behalf of God is a mistake After reading Gary Morelia’s let ter to the editor (“Opposing gay people not act of hatred,” March 17), I felt my stomach drop to my feet because I found I was ashamed of being a Christian and infuriated at this faceless man lec turing me through the paper. Mr. Morelia, have you met God? Have you sat down and talked to Him over coffee at Starbucks? I think not, and therefore you have no right to talk about what God thinks about homosexuality. I was bom and raised in a Christian family and I was taught that God is our Father and is therefore a pow erful, but loving entity. To compare homosexuality to alcoholism is ridiculous because being gay is not some debilitating problem and most definitely is not a crime. before the two consummate their attraction. It is the author’s delib erate intention to establish this love affair with an explosive tone. The characters manipulate the encounter to fit their desires. They are playing, and the encounter symbolizes their entire relation ship. After the scene, Rand writes, “She knew that she wanted to keep the feeling of his body, the traces of his body on hers, knowing also what such a desire implied.” Not rape. It is a sexual encounter between two consenting adults, both very much thrilled by the con quest. But this passes through a femi nist filter as sexual violence. Because women are doomed to a lifetime of oppression, I suppose. I hate the concept of sexual violence as much as the next girl, but let’s not allow irrationality to dominate a scholarly discussion. Because, it was this irrationality which left me standing, dumb founded, in front of one of the most knowledgeable, respectable profes sors of my academic career, who dismissed the entire work on one alleged rape scene. Of all sectors of our society, aca demia should be the last to engage in this type of reactionary behavior. Our professors, ideally, would be paid to step back and intellectually use the academic license. Not to write off a critically acclaimed author for one misinter preted scene. Whether or not my professor is actually feminist is irrelevant. But it definitely got me thinking about what the many goals of the many schools feminism are. There are several schools of feminism. Liber- Dan Trout sophomore-journalism and history >oici Mr. Morelia cites several pas sages from the Bible, but all of them are in relation to excessive lust and perversion. One can not use such a gross over-generaliza tion of one lifestyle to label an entire group of people because it is such a blatant stereotype and as such, useless as “proof.” Finding someone who loves you for who you are is not a sin, and therefore does not deserve “sav ing.” I do not have the Bible memo rized; however, in my limited understanding, God is more than the rattling off of books and pas sage numbers. I would think that if Mr. Morelia really understood God as much as he lets on, he would know this. It only seems logical to believe that humans, being only imitations of Him, can not begin to comprehend His doings and thoughts and there fore can only give a biased and often one-sided view of His words. The only way any of us will “know” God and what He thinks is when we go meet Him for ourselves. Brittany Billingsley freshman-East Asian studies MLK day is not just another drinking day Mr. Skurko is a freshman, so he may be ignorant about what goes on around campus each year (“Administration must make East- al feminism challenges traditional sex roles. Conservative feminists, however, do not oppose the traditional, nur turing role of women. Radical femir nists have an affinity for identifying patriarchy and attempt to disman tle the oppression which, they argue, is fundamental to capital ism. Feminism began with women suffragists, continuing on to chal lenge traditional sex roles. Femi nists have undoubtedly earned their place in history, righteously fighting for civil rights, birth con trol rights. And some argue that some reform remains. So obviously, “feminism” is not a catch-all for those whose agenda calls for the empowerment of women; feminists are prone to dis agree with one another. Some advice for all feminists agree to find, and honor, rationality. Don’t allow radicalism to eat away the substance of an argument. We have to acknowledge our progress, I think, without using tactics such as affirmative action. It’s an issue of social, not political nature, yet some argue differently. I don’t believe radical feminism to belong in the political arena. So one argument is that there aren’t enough female lawmakers? A quick Internet search brought up that 6 percent of Cabinet mem bers have been women. A fraction of Congress is female. In the Supreme Court, women have comprised an even tinier por tion. Roughly 20 percent of federal judges are female. And women comprise about a tenth of the nation’s governors. Anyone would agree these numbers to be low. But wtyo has the nerve to honestly THE DAILY COLLEGIAN cagiecartoons.com er day off," March 18). I am not going to argue the idea of having Easter Sunday off versus Martin Luther King Day off, nor the possi bility that the MLK statue may be a small band aid that the adminis tration is trying to apply to a larger problem. I simply wish to impart some additional information. Mr. Skurko, Martin Luther King Day does not solely give students an opportunity to "booze up” another night. I’ve been on this campus since 1999, and every year I’ve seen stories and pictures in the newspapers distributed around campus about people performing community service in honor of that day, that man and that ideal. A lot of people take the opportu nity to do volunteer work either in this area or at their homes. So, please check your facts before making your argument. And, if we ever get the Monday after Easter off, I’ll go out drinking in your honor. Joseph Firrantello graduate-architectural engineering Opinion correction Gary Morelia’s letter, “Opposing gay people is not act of hatred,” that ran on Thursday’s opinion page incorrectly identified his title. He is a research assistant. ask the most basic, fundamental question: What is stopping women from running for office? In my opinion, it’s more to do with women themselves than any oppressive patriarchal system. No one is preventing women from pur suing government positions. No one, that is, except women them selves. Has anyone heard Con- delezza Rice whine about how diffi cult her career achievements have been? Let’s examine a stunning fault in the nationally covered case of Brian Nichols. A former linebacker, his handcuffs were dismantled by a tiny, female deputy nearly 20 years his senior. He overpowered her, took her keys and obtained a gun. In the fol lowing hours, he killed several peo ple, took several hostage and pulled off several carjackings. Sometimes it seems that empow erment is misused, holding the potential to cause more damage than good. I would submit the Nichols incident as proof. Feminism has been a positive force in our society for decades; it seems that these “founding moth ers,” if you will, got the ball rolling, and now it’s rolling out of control. Feminism shouldn’t trump intellec tual discourse. The search for real solutions to real problems is on, and we need to rediscover extremely practical decision making about how to maintain safety in a courtroom. There’s feminism. There is polit ically correct feminism. And then there’s stupidity. Lauren Warner is a senior majoring in political science and a Collegian colum nist. Her e-mail is lewl49@psu.edu.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers