The Collegian Wednesday, September 20.
Opinion
Attention Readers:
Are you out there?
We're wondering if you're out there. This is third edition of
The Collegian and so far we've received a staggering total of one
letuer to the editor.
No one even said anything when we suggested burning the
flag might not be such a bad thing. We're waiting to hear from
you. Seems the only way for us to get us get any mail is to
spell someone's name wrong.
If you have a complaint or comment about our news coverage
or editorial stance, let us know about it.
Or, if you've got some radical, left-wing ideas you'd like to
share, send those in too. Simply follow the rules in the letters
policy statement below and the floor is yours.
On the subject of news coverage: If you have an idea for a
news story or know of something unusual that's happening, let
us knpw.
The Collegian tries to keep track of what happens on campus,
but it's hard to catch everything. We welcome any and all ideas
for news stories. You don't have to be a staff member to
contribute to The Collegian.
There's one other matter we'd like to make clear. Frequently
staff members tell us their stories make readers unhappy, that
we seem too harsh.
The Collegian takes seriously its role in reporting news
accurately. Sometimes news stories make people unhappy, but
we hope you'll see it our way.
Do you want a newspaper that doesn't print losing sports
scores? Do you want a newspaper that doesn't report crime on
campus?
. .
-- We..„believe:iotit*rificAo print all the ne'w_i, - ,pteasArit or
unpleasant; is a-better:pa'
The Collegian
Published weekly by the students of Behrend College, Erie, Pa
(814) 898-6488
Member of College Press Service
Editor.... James Martin
Assistant Editor.... Todd J. Irwin
Entertainment Editor.... Robb Frederibk
Sports Editor.... John Musser
Columns Editor.... Rob Prindie
Photo Coordinator.... Rick Brooks
Business Manager.... Stan Lefes
Advertising Manager.... Christie Redmond
Advisor.... Dr. Mike Simmons
The Collegian is a student-edited newspaper
Letters Policy
Students frequently ask us if they can write an
editorial. By definition, the answer is always no.
An editorial represents the official stand of a
newspaper on a given issue and is generally written
by one of the newspaper's editors. Hence the name
editorial.
We do however welcome the opinions of our
readers, submitted in the form of letters to the
editor. Letters may address topics of general campus
interest or may respond to the Collegian's news or
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than two persons and should be turned in by 5 pm
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Statement
LOVE ROB
It's so confusing
by Rob Prindle
It has come to my attention that I use the
word "hate" a little too freely in my columns and
in my daily conversations. Surely it is not
healthy for a person to be so full of hatred.
Maybe I use the word so frequently because I
like to generally write about things that I feel
strongly about, and maybe in some way that is a
bad thing to do.
I must admit that there are many things in
this world that leave me quite confused. Not
every issue gives me a sure feeling about which
side I should be on. Not every issue is as easy as
hating freshmen.
Take this argument for example: "I think that
all drugs-should be legalized. The drug problem
in this country could be eliminated if the
government would regulate drugs and take the
underworld influences out of dealing. Use
drugstores and tax the product. Barn, the
government is making tax dollars where before
they were losing millions fighting drug traffic."
But how about this counter argument: "It
would be absolutely insane to legalize drugs like
cocaine. The number one killer drug in this
country is nicotine. People hooked in that
particular legal drug literally smoke themselves
to death. And drinking another legal drug,
alcohol, kills thousands of people as well. Drunk
driving along with, the devastating physical side
effects of consuming large - quantities of alcohol
kill millions of people. If drugs like cocaine were
legalized then the common guy on the street
would use it just as the common guy now
smokes tobacco and drinks alcohol."
"Right now, in many communities across
this country, illegal drugs are not used in large
quantities because they are truly socially
unacceptable. What would happen if bars and
taverns started selling the stuff? I can see the
guys from the third shift at General Electric
looking forward to shooting-up after the whistle
blows."
And I can also see a third argument: "Humans
have been using drugs since the beginning of
time. Nothing is going to stop people from
pursuing chemicals which alter their moods.
Instead of investing millions of dollars in trying
to make people stop, why not invest that money
in a research program that would try to develop
safe, non-addictive, non-harmful drugs? It would
make much more sense."
For most issues the black of one side of the
issue runs into the white of the other side and
instead of making a clear and distinct line they
make a kind of gray.
Another issue that tears me apart is the death
penalty and the eye for an eye theory that it
represents. On one hand I can see that two
wrongs don't make a right, but on the other I can
see that sticking a psychopath behind bars with a
bunch of other psychopaths and letting him lift
weights every day for 20 years while spending
millions of tax dollars to keep him there is sort
of dumb.
If there was any proof that people who
commit violent crimes were being rehabilitated
in prison then I would think that prison terms
were good alternatives to capital punishment, but
I don't know.
Then again, I don't see any proof that capital
punishment is deterring crime or helping anyone
either. In fact, all it really shows is that with all
of our supposed civilization we still dole out
punishment the same way they did at the Salem
witch trials, or at the time of Christ, for that
matter.
Now_ do you see how hard life must be for a
sensitive guy like me?
Oh, by the way, some people around campus
have been - saying That my columns -have been a
little sub-par as of late. People have told me that
I've been basically running on my reputation.
I have something to say to all of those
people. You are right.
I must admit that there are
many things in this world that
leave me quite confused. Not
every issue gives me a sure
feeling about which side I
should be on. Not every issue
is as easy as hating freshmen.
People no longer dislike me because of what I
say, they dislike me because of what they hear I
have said or what they think I might say.
I'm just too mellow and sensitive for my own
good this semester and I think that today's issue
proves that
Therefore, for the next few weeks you will be
reading Love Rob re-runs while I try to become
more interesting by eating Erie-style chicken
wings and drinking beer.
I'm not proud of this, I'm merely stating a
fact.
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