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Opinion |
PSU libraries need help
With Penn State entering the Big Ten Conference, much
debate has been sparked concerning the ability of the
athletic teams to compete within the power-packed
conference.
But is that the real question Penn State should be
concerned with? How does the University rate
academically? Looking at Penn State's library system, it is
not very encouraging. The entire library system of Penn
State contains only 45 volumes per student. This places the
University last in volumes per student in the entire Big
Ten. In comparison, the University of Illinois has 203
volumes per student and Indiana University holds 120.
Behrend's library is lacking as well. The library here
doesn't rate too favorably with the surrounding colleges.
While Behrend contains 25 volumes per student, Gannon
holds 48, Edinboro has 53 and Mercyhurst contains 60.
That plants Behrend in the bottom position of the local
college scene.
In addition to depriving students presently attending
Behrend, a lacking library isn't very attractive to potential
students and faculty members.
So where does the problem lie? For each of the last
three years, the University has increased the library's
acquisition fund by $500,000. The state has rejected the
University's bid to increase library funding by one million
dollars three times now. As a matter of fact, the state
hasn't added any money to match Penn State's efforts.
Apparently, Penn State may not be at fault.
As part of a massive university, students may tend to
feel powerless when it comes to such issues that seem so
far out of their hands. There is something to be done
though. By writing to their state legislators, all students
and faculty who use the Penn State library system can
make this an issue in Harrisburg as well as in the
University.
Without the state's increased support, the future of Penn
State's library system, including Behrend's new library,
doesn't look very bright.
Ed. note: Source of University wide, Big Ten library
numbers, and state funding is The Daily Collegian.
The Collegian
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The Collegian
Mike Royko
Lean,
covers
by Mike Royko
If you arc a pilot for American Airlines, you
arc permitted to have a protruding midscclion.
Or as a spokesman for the An Line Pilots
Association put it: "A beer belly would be OK as
long as the person’s general health is good."
A pilot also can have an unsightly bulging
bottom. Or embarrassingly fat thighs, sagging
jowls and thick ankles.
In other words, the sort of bod that looks
better in a loose-fitting uniform than a scantily
clad on a California beach.
It doesn't matter how an American Airlines
pilot's body looks, fully clothed or in the buff,
so long as a physician says he is in good health.
And on can be in good health and still have a
paunch, a fat butt or ham-like thighs.
And that makes sense. You don't have to be
built like Ryne Sandberg to fly an airplane. Your
skills are what matters.
Ah, but those are the rules for the front of an
American Airlines plane. There are different
standards beyond the cabin door.
Flight attendants, male or female, must have
that lean look that American Airlines assumes is
pleasing to the eye.
Its rule book says that "a firm, trim
silhouette, free of bulges, rolls or paunches, is
necessary for an alert, efficient image."
Take note. The rule doesn't say that this firm,
trim silhouette is necessary if one is to be alert
and efficient. It says that you must be free of
bulges, rolls, paunches so that you project an
"image" of being alert and efficient
So what we're talking about is not substance,
but "image."
Anyone who has eaten in a restaurant knows
that a stout, motherly waitress can be just as
alert and efficient as some lithe young thing.
And the fastest bartender I know has a
midsection that is of heroic proportions.
But the motherly waitress or my favorite
bartender would not qualify to serve drinks, meals
or plump a pillow on an American Airlines
plane.
Which is why the federal government, in a
rare display of good sense, has sued American. It
says the airline's skinny-is-required policy
discriminates against women.
Under American's rules, a woman who is 5-
foot-5 cannot weigh more than 129 pounds. That
is supposedly based on some sort of insurance
industry tables that recommend how much men
and women should weigh, depending on their
height.
But I don't believe that is why America has
that rule. I suspect there are two reasons it will
not admit to:
First, the president of the airline, Robert L.
Crandall, is a skinny guy himself. He is 6-foot
1, weighs 170 pounds and recently bragged to
employees that he weighs less today, at age 53,
then he did when he was in college. To remain
Wednesday, April 18, 1990
trim policy
a big, fat lie
skinny, he runs several miles a day,
As everybody knows, people who work at
being skinny consider themselves superior to
those who say tp hell with it and grab another
pork chop. So it isn't unreasonable to assume
that because Crandall is skinny, he wants his
flight attendants to be skinny.
Well, I don't want to get personal about this,
but I have looked at several photographs of Mr.
Crandall, and I think he looks kind of geeky. He
would cut a much finer figure if he would run
less and devour a family-size pizza.
The second reason is painful for me to
discuss. But as a male person I have to admit that
the majority of my fellow males are more likely
to leer at the buttocks of a lean young thing than
at the rump of a matronly type. Because I say
that doesn't mean I approve. If anything, I'm
ashamed of the shallowness of my fellow man.
So American Airlines should not try to kid us
with this silliness about a "firm, trim silhouette"
being "necessary for an alert, efficient image."
Why don't they come right out and say it:
"We want our female flight attendants to have the
kind of lean, firm bods that make men ogle,
gawk, leer and give them dirty thoughts. There
are more lechers out there than saints, so let's
sell those tickets!"
Because I am a sensitive, caring male person,
and sympathetic to all feminist issues, except
when a mouthy broad wises off to me, I hope
American Airlines is trounced in court.
And I vow to not fly on American Airlines
planes until their rules are changed. Of course, I
never fly anyway because I'm terrified of
airplanes. But if I did, I would choose an airline
that has plump attendants. When that rivet
rattles, I’d want a motherly type to pat my head
and say: "There, there, stop crying and drink your
martini."
A final word of advice for the government
lawyers. Get a fat judge.