The Collegian Wednesday, April 4,1990
Opinion
Child care’s time
for action is now
Students have many problems that face them on the
way to earning a degree. Some of these problems are
unavoidable. We must all study, write papers, and pass
examinations. Certain students, however, are forced to
try to earn their degree facing a problem of personal
importance.
Penn State has finally acted on this problem that has
had students up in arms for quite some time. A
University task force has been established to tackle the
issue of child care at every Penn State campus.
Previously, the University has maintained a hands-off
approach to the problem, refusing to get directly
involved in providing child care services.
Now Penn State feels that "no longer can we take that
approach, we need to be directly involved in facilitating
familial relationships."
Additionally, the administrators here have created a
task force to tackle needs unique to Behrend.
Well, it's about time.
The University has been unfair for too long, not only
to its students, but its faculty and staff, as well.
Now that the child care issue has been recognized and
is being studied, the problem of exactly who should
provide the child care has arisen.
The University has proposed that for-profit child care
organizations should be brought on campus. A nominal
lease would be paid and at the end of fifteen years, the
facility would belong to thetampus.
This is a more financially realistic approach for Penn
State than actually building and staffing the facilities
itself.
The administration should keep in mind that they are
in a very strong bargaining position for now, and that if
they wish to conduct research or implement work-study
programs, they should choose an organization that will
agree to these terms.
Recognizing the problem was the first, long overdue
step, and now that it has been taken, the University
should push onward towards a solution.
The Collegian
Published weekly by the students of Behrend College, Erie, Pa
(814) 898-6488
Member of College Press Service
Editor.... Todd J. Irwin
Op/Ed Page Editor.... Rob Prindle
News Editor.... Tony Olivito
News Editor.... Mark Owens
Entertainment Editor.... Robb Frederick
Sports Editor... John Musser
Layout Editor.... Chris Kocott
Photo Coordinator.... Rick Brooks
Business Manager.... Christie Redmond
Advisor.... Dr. Mike Simmons
The Collegian is a student-edited newspaper
Editorial
I alters to the Editor
The Collegian
gets curses...
Dear Editor,
With all due respect to the
Editors' views on humor, clean
up the newspaper.
I am amazed really that the
advisor of the paper allows for
headlines outlining "Mark
Bitching" about something, or
even worse, the April Fools
edition where F....k was used.
Come on! Your collective
writing talents are much more
appealing when you're forced to
use your imagination. Don't give
into the instant gratification - the
easy way out to create humor, by
using words that are not
necessary.
Brett Banker
Sports Information Director
We appreciate your input,
but we feel we must
respond to your criticism.
We have all heard the
language in question. We
are a college newspaper
writing for a college
audience and we feel some
obligation not to talk down
to them.
Yes, it's true we used the
two words you mentioned,
but to say that we took the
easy way out by not using
our imaginations is perhaps
a bit rash. We are only
talking about two words out
of several thousand that
went into the two issues in
question. It is our hope that
the profanity in The C-
News edition was used for
an ironically critical reason,
not for shock value.
- Ed. Staff
...and kudos on
The C-News
Dear Editor,
Your April Fools' Edition of
The C-News was very well done,
and about due. If important issues
The Collegian’s editorial opinion is determined by the editorial staff, with the editor holding final
responsibility. Opinions expressed in The Collegian are not necessarily those of The Collegian or the
Pennsylvania State University.
Editorials: Student's 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.
Letter Policy: The Collegian encourages letters on news coverage, editorial content and university
affairs. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and signed by no more than two persons. Letters
should be no longer than 400 words. Letters should include the semester and major of the writer. All
letters should provide the address and phone number of the writer for verification of the letter. The
Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for length and to reject letters if they are libelous or do not
conform to standards of good taste. Letters should be submitted to The Collegian office no latter than
noon on Monday prior to the desired publication date.
Postal Information: The Collegian (898-6488) is published weekly by the students of the Behrend
College; The Reed Union Building, Station Road, Erie, Pa 16563.
raised by the students are not
acted upon by just a show of
voice maybe by using comedy
and satire administrators will
understand the concerns and
problems of the students and act
upon them. Again let me
commend you for a job well
done.
Jason Fichtner
2nd semester Pre-law
Prof finds Big
West error
Dear Editor,
I'm confused by the statement
in the "Playboy” article (March
28 issue of The Collegian ) about
the "Big West" conference
existing "only in the minds of
Playboy’s editors." I was deluded
into thinking that the nine
schools listed, plus UNLV,
composed a conference known as
the Big West. I know this was a
CPS wire story and not your
staffs reporting, but now I'm
worried.
What's the next troubling
revelation - that the "Ask
Louannc" column doesn't have
real letters from real students?
Steven de Hart
Asst. Professor of
German & Humanities
Students irate
about Food
Services
Dear Editor,
Recently, a few of us have
been discussing whether it is
cheaper to live on-campus or off
campus. We are very upset with
our shocking discoveries.
According to the "Ala Board
Meal Plan," we have the below
meal plans to choose from. The
plan also states that we are
paying $ .01 per point. This
didn't make any sense to us. So,
we decided to get out our trusty
calculators and do a little
mathematics. This is what we
found:
Editorial Policy
Pages
Amount
Plan Amount Points per point
1 $ 755.00 19,500 $.04
2 805.00 24,500 .03
3 855.00 29,500 .03
4 895.00 33,500 .03
5 925.00 36,500 .03
None of these equal $ .01 per
point. So what is going on? Is
Penn State misleading us? It
certainly seems so. If this is the
way our meal plans really are,
then we are being totally ripped
off.
Here are a few extra facts-
Breakfast 75 pts $1.90
145 pts
Lunch
Dinner 210 pts
69 pts
Pizza w/3 items 530 pts 15.90
**THIS IS BASED ON $ .03
PER POINT
Oh! But wail! We get a 10%
discount. What a bargain!!
Finally, we have one more
complaint. The money we spend
on the meal plans is used for
both non-food and food costs. As
most of you "Faithful dobbins
Goers" (or should we say
"Slobbins Goers”) know, Penn
State certainly doesn't use very
much of our meal plan money on
food costs. Maybe they should
concentrate on making better
meals rather than on the way
Dobbins looks.
Now look, Penn State - no
wonder we are such "poor"
college students. Quit
misleading us. We are tired of
getting ripped off. And if you
have to continue to charge so
much, at least feed us better.
Tara L. Barker
4th semester
Biology
Dea M. Eaton
4th semester
Psychology
TifTanne L. Shaffer
4th semester
Marketing
Ed. note: These facts and
figures are the findings of the
authors of the letter, and are not
related to any research done by
The Collegian.