The Collegian Wednesday, April 19
LETTERS LETTERS
Rob Screws Up
Dear editor,
This morning I had the
misfortune to see an article that
was published in The Collegian.
The title of the piece was
"School Sucks" and was written
by Rob Prindle. In •the article
Rob made some very uncalled for
statements that may not be the
most inaccurate things ever
written, but they come close.
I am not disputing Rob's right
to his opinions, I am disputing
his right to attack a person who
doesn't even come close to the
way Rob characterizes him, and
who doesn't even know that his
reputation has been smeared.
Rob's bitterness is well
known to me. I had to put up
with it during his time here. I
could even find some justification
with his frustration, in spite of
the fact that it was basically of
his own making. Rob had a
tendency to talk a good fight. He
was a fair runner, but had himself
convinced that he was
outstanding and could not accept
the lesser performance and would
not discipline himself enough to
reach the higher level of
achievement. As a result he
tended to find a multitude of
reasons, all external, for his lack
of success. Rob has no room to
Not My God
Dear editor,
I was saddened upon reading
Pete's Perspective in the March
12 edition of The Collegian. I
was upset to see him so
disappointed in the God I love. I
realize that the death of the
author's friend, Brian, had to
effect a great number of people.
A story such as his would be
expected to draw the same
questions the author has.
When I am told of a story
such as this I try to find a
positive aspect because I strongly
believe God does not let these
things happen to intentionally
make anyone suffer. After
thinking about Brian's death I
realized that there possibly are
some positives.
The author described Brian as
Bill Says Goodbye
Dear Editor,
This is my last semester here
on Behrend campus. I'd like to
take this opportunity to thank a
few of the people that have
helped make my time spent here
very worthwhile.
First, hats off to the best run,
most knowledgable, friendliest
department on campus... Financial
Aid. They always came through
with flying colors for me. I
.almost look forward to having an
excuse to go there.
Secondly, thanks to the
faculty. Say what you want, but
Behrend is truly blessed with a
plethora of quality instructors,
'rofessors etc.
criticize either Mr. Trott or even
the "system" until he is willing
to examine and admit to his own
shortcomings.
I am disturbed that The
Collegian would permit this type
of character attack on an
individual. This is a "blind
siding" of the worst order. If it
occurred in a publication of
general circulation in the
community where Mr. Trott
lived, he could at least defend
himself, if he chose. I doubt
seriously if Rob will come back
to Tech to see us now and I'm
not sure we would like to see
him. Possibly he might like to
say to Mr. Trott those things he
said in print. I would suggest that
he read the entire piece to the
entire faculty and allow us to
rebut his points.
I attended Behrend, wrote for
the campus paper and was
genuinely proud of my
association with the campus.
Rob destroyed a good portion of
.my respect for Penn State and
Behrend. I would like to say that
he finally accomplished
something of magnitude with his
life.
Sincerely,
Frederick W. Loell
someone who wouldn't let
Muscular Dystrophy overcome
him. I feel thankful that God has
put people such as Brian on this
earth to set examples for others
that suffer the same affliction, to
follow. Another positive I see
emerging from Brian's death is
the fact that God can use a
situation such as this to cause
Brian's loved ones to look to him
(God) for guidance in overcoming
such a tragedy.
I hope and pray the author
will come to realize that we have
a loving God who does not
orchestrate these happenings to
intentionally cause grief, but to
use them to show us the love he
has for mankind.
David L. Ewing
Next, believe it or not, thanks
to the Penn State system. It
allowed me a chance to prove,
that a 29 yr. old high school
drop-out can not only catch up
and keep up, but fit in as well.
I must mention the people in
Student Services as well. P.J.
Brown, Ed Mc Closkey (We miss
ya Ed!), Kim Zitko, and Ken
Miller have put their faith in me
and I am grateful.
I could and should mention
many others, but this ain't the
academy awards, so Thanks
Everyone, you know who you
are!
Sincerely, Bill Warner
Hate
by Rob Prindle
"Rob- you screwed up bad!"
That was the personal note attached to the end
of my personal copy of a letter to the editor sent
in this week. The letter, an angry response to a
Love Rob column, is printed in this newspaper.
Written by a teacher from Tech Memorial
High School here in Erie, the letter was in
response to an unfortunate remark that I made
two issues ago. It was also probably a reaction to
the criticisms that I levied against the educational
system in general referring specifically to Tech.
The letter was written by Mr. Frederick Loell, a
friend of Mr. Trott (the teacher I insulted).
I called the very well known and well liked
Tech Memorial teacher a name which may have
left the impression that he was anything less
than an outstanding faculty member. The article
in general discussed the problems of education, It
was never my intention to suggest that the
teacher in question was one of those problems. I
simply had a personal problem with that teacher.
It was 100 percent wrong to resort to name
calling and I'm afraid that what I say here as an
apology may not make up for the mistake.
The reason that this will probably not do
much good lies in the basic problem all
A conservative
estimate based on ,a
sampling earlier this
semester would say
that about 1500
people read Love Rob
every week.
columnists face. It is incredibly hard to get a
point across without sounding preachy. A
columnist can anger people, this is quite easy,
but it is very difficult to say anything which will
sway opinions or make differences.
Jim Martin is the editor of this newspaper. He
has a friend who knows me only through my
weekly column. This guy asked Jim an
interesting question. He asked "How does [Love]
Rob handle everyone hating him?" Jim says that
his friend doesn't agree with me much, but still
enjoys the column. The question he asked was
definitely an interesting one.
The answer is: I don't handle it very well. I
hide behind Love Rob and Butch and I developed
a sort of industrial deafness towards the word
"asshole." In fact it is quite possible that the
insensitivity that I show is a mirror of people's
reactions. I say something that angers a reader,
they do their best to anger me, and it all
continues. Because of what I do, I am completely
and rightly open to any and all criticism. Open to
it, but somewhat distanced from it.
A conservative estimate based on a sampling
earlier this semester would say that about 1500
people read Love Rob every week. While I am
sure that not all of these readers hate me, I
sincerely hope that these people do not read the
Rob?
column for the same reasons that so many people
watch Geraldo and other exploitive talk/new
shows.
I am allowed to write anything I want and
anyone is allowed to read it. That is actually
what takes some of the excitement out of what
newspapers have to say. I personally know that I
would have never seen and therefore never felt the
power of "The Last Temptation of Christ," had
people not said not to view the movie. Since
people are not banned from reading opinion, the
only reasons left to read are entertainment,
controversy and information. I hope that my
column is a good mix.
Some people have expressed their
encouragement. Unfortunately they are the people
who write the letters to "Rob" and not "To The
Editor" and they are the people who stop me to
talk in the hall and not the people who call
important people here at school.
So, I screwed up and the teachers at Tech let
every important person at Behrend know that. In
addition to the letter to the editor, I was called a
jerk and a fool by a teacher who telephoned her
complaints to most of the school faculty. Even
teachers who I thought held some liking for me
turned.
Mr. Loell, the teacher who wrote the letter in
defense of his colleague to which I have referred
was one of the most respected people in my high
school education even though he was never
officially my teacher or my coach. It hurts like
hell to be censured by someone you respect and
like. I barely knew the teacher that I insulted, I
got my bad impression of him through a few
scattered run ins• Mr. Trott barely knew me and
I sincerely doubt that he respected me.
I do wonder what the teachers of. Tech want
from me. Besides the insults, there was some
talk of a lawsuit, and possibly they wanted me to
be punished by Behrend or removed from the
newspaper, but they never really asked for
anything in particular. Dean Reber thought that
what I wrote was tasteless and he hoped that I
would apologize. What he didn't know was that I
decided to write an apology as soon as I found
out I had upset people. I have angered many, but
I don't think that I have upset many.
So, I will take Mr. Loell up on his offer to
go to Tech and explain / although I am confused
by his invitations. He says that he is not sure
that the teachers of Tech would like to see me. If
this is the portent - to an invitation, however, I
have never turned down any group that has
wanted to discuss an issue. I put my name on
what I write and my commitment to it does not
stop there. If Tech wants me to come, I most
certainly will.
As for Mr. Loell's statement that he has lost a
good portion of his respect for Behrend, surely I
could not be that important.
I am in college to learn and I have certainly
learned much in the last week. I "screwed up bad"
according to Mr. Loell. I hope that the message
of the whole article was not lost because of the
one clause, but I am probably naive to hope this.
I may never be invited to Tech but I hope that
when I see teachers around Erie, they won't be
insulted if I offer to buy them a cold drink and
talk.
In the mean time, I hear that once you blow
up my Love Rob picture, the shakey sunglasses
are worth the most points when the picture is
hung on a dart board.
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