Page 4 Locker room: Athletes only Ever since Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson had a problem with some of the New England Patriots in their locker room, the question of whether female reporters should be allowed in men' s locker moms has been debated back and forth. The answer is simple. No. No female reporters in mal locker rooms. No male reporters in male locker rooms. No reporter of any kind in locker rooms; that goes for locker rooms of both genders. Create a press room where both male and female reporters can conduct interviews with the players. All reporters have an equal chance to get the stories and the players have more privacy. The media is always striving for better access to stories, but in this case it is just not worth it. Equal access to the players, outside the locker room, is the only answer. , Improve pooi voting record /As election day draws near, students will hear the usual spiel 'about how they should vote. And rightly so. Not only is voting a sign of good citizenship, but the officials we elect change our lives in many ways. State legislators, for instance, decide on appropriations for the University, so student ;nput is important. Though each vote carries far reaching consequences, apathy pervades our society. Among the worlds 23 democratic nations, the United States is 22nd in the proportion of registered voters who actually cast their ballots. And all students are a large part of this problem. Recent statistics indicate that voter turnout among young voters has been low. According to the Vote America Foundation, only 36.2 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds voted in the 1988 presidential election. Students must exercise their rights. Although the words sound hollow, your vote can make a difference. The preceding is an excerpt taken from the Oct. 2 editorial by The Daily Collegian, University Park. The Collegian Published weekly by the students of Behrend College, Erie, PA Edlbx Todd J. kwki Business Manager Christie Redmond 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. Mums;lry Eclibx Mark Owens Names Editor Loa Gotch Features Edlkir Jen Flanagan Entertainment Ma Robb Frederick Sports EdSox John Musser Layout Editor Chris Kocott Photo CkNmftthx Jim Pierdomenico Phob Coordinator Michael B. Schell Editorials 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 Tuesday prior to the desired publication date. Postal Information: Th e Collegian (814 898-6488) is published weekly by the students of the Behrend College; Reed Union Building. Station Road. Eric, Pa 16563. Offkm Manager David Mahoney Dktributbn Mnqm' Leigh Stanesic AsMoor Dr. Mice Simmons The Collegian O p inion Letters to the Editor Article fair I thought that Sue Cepicka's article was fair. I didn't, however, think that the two Letters to the Editor that followed were. I think that since Behrend is starting to cast a county-wide shadow that students attending classes at that school downtown (Gannon University) are growing more sensitive about their school's flaws. If those two editors spent more time improving their own paper (The Gannon Knight) and less time making personal attacks on your editors (The Collegian), they might develop a paper that could compete with Behrend's. Thinking alike I was one of the members of the English Department who signed the letter to the editor about Professor Eva Tucker's stance on "Huckleberry Finn". I had read the coverage of this matter in the "Times-News", and Eva's approach, at least as it was reported in the paper, was to close to censorship for me. Those of us who drafted and signed the letter were acting in good faith, and taking legitimate public issue with our colleague on a matter that's important to all of us. What we didn't know at the time we sent the letter that Eva Tucker had modified his stance; our letter came out in Th e Collegian after Mr. Tucker's partial retraction and clarification of what he means. And I agree with everything Eva says in The Collegian's recent article. He doesn't want to take "Huck Finn" off the supplemental reading list for high school students in Erie. He wants, instead, to add minority authors, which is something that I've been arguing for years, sometimes right here in these pages. He rightly points out that curriculum committees have been engaged in their own form of censorship by underrepresenting minority writers. Regarding Mr. Tucker's point that "Huck Finn" should be taught in its full historical context, his suggestion would, I hope, address some of Monica Irwin's concerns expressed in a letter upbraiding her colleagues in the English Department for our letter. (Woof! When Monica Irwin has something to say, by God, she says it. And yes, Monica, some of your good friends were among the signers.) Although I can speak only for myself in a formal sense, I think I'm safe in saying that all the people who signed the ter are happy to know that our stance and Eva Tucker's are now much closer together, and that we're all working toward the same thing. Jeremy Sutch 3rd semostox Mathematics Yet another one Can you stand yet another comment about "Huckleberry Finn"? I was not one of the nine English faculty who signed the letter Monica Irwin attacks in the last issue, so I haven't really said my piece. First, I find it interesting that in both the Erie Times-News and elsewhere the primary defense for teaching Twain's novel is sociological and historical: that is, it will help up understand racial brutality. But this is not why Thursday, October 11, 1990 Editorial Dr. Diana Hume Gorge Prolemor ol' English "Huckleberry Finn" is a great novel. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is far more important historically and sociologically, but is a greatly inferior work of art. "Huckleberry Finn" must be taught if one is to have a full understanding of American literatm. It was Hemingway who said that all modern novels derive from "Huckleberry Finn" and he was far from the only novelist who learned the modem voice from it. If it were a racist book, as "Birth of a Nation" is a repugnantly racist fantasy, it would still be necessary to study "Birth of a Nation" and the pro- Nazi "Triumph of the Will" to understand the development of the film. It is not racist, however. What makes "Huckleberry Finn" so important, so modem, is Twain's use of irony, the major weapon of modem literature from James and Faulkner to Eudora Welty and Ralph Ellison. In that way, "Finn" occupies roughly the same niche that Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" occupies in French literature. In the novel, Huck is constantly struggling with what he is told is right and what he feels is right. Gradually you come to recognize how his feelings are so much more "right" than the values of a "civilized" society that supports slavery and the degradation of a man as good as Jim. The book constantly batters that society from beginning to end. That is why Huck lights out for the West at the end. We are meant to be embarrassed by Tom Sawyer's elaborate plan for Jim's escape, because Sawyer is depersonalizing Jim for the sake of his fantasies. Huck doesn't understand this, but like many things he doesn't understand, he goes along because that's what he's supposed to do. When he heads West--after Jim receives his freedom--he rejects all of that. It is utterly (continued on page 6)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers