The Collegian Wednesday, March 22
Opinion
Letters to the editor
Aid For Armenia
To All Students,
I am an American-Armenian
student currently attending
Rutgers University in New
Jersey. As I begin the new
semester, I can't help but wonder
how the students in Armenia feel.
Most, if not all of the students
have lost loved ones and friends
and many have been completely
destroyed. It is estimated that 88
schools were leveled within three
minutes on the day the earthquake
hit.
Since the earthquake, I have
been actively involved in relief
efforts, organized by the
Armenian General Benevolent
Union (the AGBU). The AGBU,
established in 1906, is the largest
Armenian philanthropic
organization in the world. The
AGBU created the Armenia Aid
program. The AGBU Board of
Directors has pledged to spend
Smoking Policy: Good
Idea Goes too Far
...,..
I'd like to make several
comments concerning Penn
State's new smoking policy,
which is to take effect April 3.
This policy restricts smoking to
resident hall rooms and outdoor
areas.
All other hallways, lobbies
and lounges, as well as offices,
will be no smoking areas.
First, rd like to state my
support for Penn State's efforts to
discourage smoking. It is a self
destructive, addictive and
wasteful habit and its social
acceptability is at an all-time
low. I know, I'm a pack-a-day
smoker. However, Penn State's
approach to the problem leaves
much to be desired. While those
in the camp of Love Rob, who
consider smokers to be slightly
less intelligent than slug slime,
'applaud the new policy, many
smokers feel stripped of their
rights and ripped off by the
institution that their tuition
supports.
At this point I fully expect
those non-smokers who are
reading this to rise in unison and
exclaim, "I have rights and pay
tuition too, and I want to breathe
clean air!"
Bravo! You are absolutely
correct. We all have a right to our
rights, so where is the equity in
this policy? A "like it or leave it"
stance by the administration will
only serve to galvanize smokers
who are being suddenly exiled. A
slower withdrawal from public
smoking (no pun intended) that is
more consistent with the actual
decrease of smokers on campus is
the most logical course of action.
Non-smokers do deserve
stricter controls on their air
space. They are now the
100 percent of all monies raised
to aid the victims in ArMenia.
Donations earmarked for a
specific purpose will be used
only for that purpose.
The cost to rebuild the
shattered region in Armenia and
the lives of those affected is too
large for any one nation or people
to bear alone. The Armenians
need our assistance. As the new
semester begins with all the hope
surrounding it, let us think about
our fellow students in Armenia
who now have no schools to
attend and who have questions
rather than hope surrounding their -
future. Please help. Thank you.
Donations should be sent to
AGBU Armenia Aid, 585 Saddle
River Road, Saddle Brook, New
Jersey 07662 (201) 797-7600 or
1-800-282-9877.
Sincerely,
David Kevorkian
.majcifitY; . " BLit' just a's "other
minorities deserve and demand
their rights, so do smokers. At
minimum, small, well-venilated
smoking areas, where non
smokers need not go, should be
designated.
The second point I would like
to make concerns a
misconception that many people
seem to have about tobacco use.
It is not, as far as I can see, as
drastically declining as some may
believe. Yes, the number of
smokers is decreasing but other
forms of tobacco use seem to be
on the rise.
I am an older student, and ten
years ago, when I was 19, few of
my peers used chewing tobacco
(none of my close friends did).
Today, I live in a resident hall on
campus and, while I am the only
habitual smoker, of the 39
students on my floor, nearly a
dozen are regular tobacco
chewers.
I could harp on about the
equally disgusting side-effects of
chewing or tell disgusting stories
about chew spit on the walls or
the toilet seats, but that is not
the point. The point? While our
air may be getting cleaner, our
students are still falling prey to
nicotine addiction. So, anti
smokers, don't let down your
guard because of the new policy.
The tobacco companies are still
finding victims willing to buy
their wares.
And, if you agree that
smokers are being unfairly
treated, help us to be heard. Sign
one of the several petitions that
are beginnning to circulate or
write to this newspaper and speak
your mind.
Sincerly, Bill Warner.
It's a White World After All
by Rob Prindle
Last week the Collegian ran a news story on
the 1988-89 Freshman Class survey. It was very
informative. Writer/Editor Jim Martin covered
the main points of the survey results with the
un-biased accuracy of a crack big-city journalist.
The only problem was, the 'news story' style
confined Martin to just the facts, no
interpretations. Fortunately, my position as a
columnist leaves me with no such restriction.
Martin's story ended with the note that the
information for the survey article had been taken
from a memorandum composed by Behrend's
coordinator of student organizations, John P.
Downey. Through my sneaky, slimy columnist
ways, I was able to procure the now-famous
memorandum from the muck of Martin's
disgusting garbage can.
I must tell you that what I found in the
survey results gave me reason to wretch. I know
that the freshmen surveys aren't the most
scientific, but they are real results and John
Downey has taken them pretty seriously so, what
the heck.
I'll start with the morality section of the poll.
Only 54.1 percent of the Behrend Freshmen
surveyed agreed that couples should live together
before marriage. This is really quite, quite
disturbing since only 52.1 percent of those
surveyed indicated that sex is all right if people
like each other.
Ew ny;
.iMe_t QtHy- 'IEB .
were liberal but 42
percent
percent were receiving
government aid. I have
nothing against non-liberals,
but you would think people
who beg money from the
government would vote
liberal at least until they get
their diplomas.
Does anyone else see a little irony in those
stats? Fewer people believed in sex then believe
in living together. Am I supposed to believe that
two adults of the opposite sex can live together
without dancing the proverbial horizontal-bop?
Bull. Those Freshmen are either stupid or stupid.
Speaking of men and women, the survey
found that, while females had both gotten better
grades and taken more honors courses in high
school, males still rated themselves as generally
more competent. More men ranked themselves
higher in eight of the 12 areas including
leadership and Intellectual self confidence.
In the particular area of Academic Ability,
70.4 percent of the men ranked themselves above
average. That means that 70 percent think that
they are the top 49 percent. That represents a
pretty tight squeeze, don't you think?
There were other interestingly disturbing
statistics. Apparently a mere 18.2 percent of the
incoming freshmen identified themselves as
"Liberal." A larger 20.3 percent said that they
received government money in the form of a Pell
Grant and 42 percent reported they have Federal
Guaranteed student loans.
Funny, isn't it? only 18 percent were liberal
but 42 percent are receiving government aid. I
have nothing against non liberals, but you would
think that people who beg money from the
government would vote liberal at least until they
get their diplomas.
Love Rob
Rob Prindle
I hate to get too bogged down in stats but the
survey also found that the number of freshmen
who received federal aid has dropped. This tells
me that there are two very scary things
happening in America.
First, • that the past eight years of
Aeagapppics . h.as,.lefk. fe,.yer . pepple
:aude:aid. and second, that.the divide. between
the rich and the poor in America is growing
wider and people on the wrong side are finding
the cost of Pennsylvania's public college to be
excessive.
I think that Behrend's meager minority
enrollment is testimony to what I have just said.
Caucasiansrepresent a whopping 89.8 percent of
the freshmen. So much for affordable education
for all, and racial equality.
For all four-year public colleges the Black
percentage was a disappointing 16 percent. At
Behrend the rate is a shameful 7.3 percent. This
comparison shows that Behrend and the Penn-
State system have to accept at least some blame
for the low Black enrollment. I suppose that we
can blame the rest on society.
I was shocked on a recent trip because once I
got out of this section of Pennsylvania I did not
see a Black for hundreds of miles. This no longer
surprises me because according to the freshmen
survey 88 percent said that they came from
completely white or mostly white high schools.
I guess that I should consider myself lucky. Erie
Tech was far from a segregated school, but Penn
State still let me in.
The survey showed that not only were
Behrend students sheltered, they were also
extremely intelligent and energetic. In a world
where relatively few college graduates go on to
grad school, a huge 63.6 percent of the females
and 50 percent of the males who took the survey
said that they planned on obtaining and advanced
degree. If they all make it I'm fairly sure that we
will set an all-time record. Hey, class of '92,
good luck. You'll need it.
~~~
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