Page 4
Editorial
Negative campaigning
hurts voters most of all
Elections were held Tuesday and many
winners are predicting the beginning of
better times for their constituents.
At least one aspect of politics will get
better for a while. Voters won't have to
suffer through any campaigns for the next
couple of months. They won't have to be
turned off by all the negative campaign
tactics employed during the past few months.
The lack of professionalism many
candidates display in the way they run their
campaigns keeps many voters away from the
polls on election day. After hearing so many
bad things about all the candidates voters
don't know what to believe and end up not
casting a vote because of it.
Poor voter turn out hurts everyone.
Candidates should spend less time trying to
dig up dirt and drag their opponent's name
through the mud. Instead, they should take a
stand on issues and address the voters' needs
and concerns.
With straight answers and honest promises
candidates would stand a much better chance
with the voters. These methods will at least
get more voters to the polls. And that should
be a goal for everyone.
The Collegian
Published weekly by the students of Behrend College, Erie, PA
Editor
Todd J. Irwki
Business Manager
Cielstis 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.
Managing Editor
Mark Owens
News Editor
Lea Gotch
Entertainment Editor
Robb Frederick
Sports Editor
John Musser
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Chris Kocott
Advertisement Layout
Kevin Polcovich
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Jim Pierdomenico
Photo Coordinator
Michael B. Schell
°Mai Manager
David Mahoney
DletribuUon Manager
Leigh Stanesic
Advisor
Dr. Mice Simmons
Letter Policy: The Collegia
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
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Collegian reserves the right to
edit letters for length and to
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of good taste. Letters should be
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office no later than noon on
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Postal Information: Th e
Collegian (814 898-6488) is
published weekly by the students
of the Behrend College; Reed
Union Building, Station Road,
Erie, Pa 16563.
The Collegian
Opinion Editorial
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Flag burning: protect
the idea not the symbol
by Mdmw Vesta
"You can't burn the flag,"
said Flint. "It's against the
law."
"No it's not," said Fred.
Flint jumped in with
"Well, it should be."
"Who cares anyway?"
someone asked.
A voice in the bathroom
called out, "Hang all them
commie bastards. Hang the
next flag burner as an
example to the rest of the
world."
"And what are we trying to
tell the world?"
"We're telling them that this
is America and we don't take
no bull from non-Americans
or anti-American thinking,"
said the voice.
Several people nodded their
heads in agreement.
"But, don't you realize
what this country was
founded on'?"
Someone told me to shut
up, but the host said, "Let
him speak. We might learn
something and he does have
the right to talk."
"Yea, right," said the voice.
"America was founded by
people looking for freedom in
a new land. Those people
fought long and hard for the
right to be free. Thousands of
people died protecting that
idea. They then built a
constitution which guaranteed
the heart of that idea for every
generation to come. They did
a great job. Now, in the
recent past, we've decided
that the flag, the symbolic
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Reader Forum
reptesentation of the idea they
fought for, died for, designed
the constitution around and
built our nation upon should
be placed on a higher level
than the idea itself.
"The flag was only a
symbol, but the idea was
much bigger than the cloth
used to create the flag. A
symbol is only a
representation of an idea."
The voice interrupted.
"Man, you're talking b-s. The
flag is America and America
is the flag."
"If so, then America is a
symbol which has no body,
an empty symbol without
meaning."
"Explain," said the host.
"Well, think of a church.
The building is held in
reverence. If people were to
place it in higher esteem than
God, then they would be
guilty of idolizing the
symbolic house of God while
devaluing God himself (or
herself) and that act would
take away the very foundation
upon which the symbol sits.
"If we make the symbol
carry more value than the idea
itself, then we devalue the
symbol by destroying the
idea. No symbol exists except
as a representation of what it
stands for. If we protect the
symbol of freedom, then we
destroy freedom itself. If we
destroy freedom, or even limit
it through legislation, then we
take away the every idea
represented by the symbol. If
we take away the Idea behind
the symbol, the symbol
Thursday, November 8, 1990
George Bush raised
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becomes meaningless. If the
symbol becomes
meaningless, we, in effect,
will be protecting red, white
and blue threads. When we
reach that point, we are no
longer free. If we are no
longer free, then all those
who died for the idea of
freedom died for nothing.
"We should not protect the
symbols we should protect
the idea it represents, even if
that means allowing people to
burn the symbol. People can
always burn a4llll but, as
long as we don't give up the
idea, they can not burn
freedom. If we allow a blind
government to -cake flag
burning illegal, then the idea
ceases to exist and freedom,
left in the threads of a piece o
cloth, will be burnable.
"I'm not saying that we
should protect the
constitutional right to burn
flags. What I am saying is,
let's not protect a symbol at
the cost of the idea. I would
hope we're too great a nation
to allow that kind of stupidity
to influence our future as a
free country."
Andrew Festa is a seventh
semester English major.
Ed. Note: Reader Forum is a
format for our readers to
express their feeling on an
issue in a piece longer than 'a
Letter to the Editor. It's still
in the experimental stage 10
let us know wilt you think.
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