>~<:::::w , ......... , .r'`'i3'~~•,:,, y.~s.. .::,.:fi.~.fas..:i~`:z~x£a~^ <~~.... ...............::to~u ....: ,:. n . y a. ... ~. Getting into graduate school... Page 2 Racism at Behrend focus of tonight's forum Dave Ber er The Collegian Is Behrend a racist campus? This question and hopefully many more will be answered tonight when "Racism at Behrendt an open forum on racial prejudice" takes place at 8 p.m. in the heed Lecture Hall. The forum was organized by the Human Relations Programming Council and the Association of Black Collegians after racist comments were found on a poster for the National Society of Black Engineers and on a comment board posted by the Student Government Association in the Reed Building. The forum will be moderated by Richard Fiordo, associate professor of communication, and Mr. Ken Miller, coordinator of residence life. "We're not there to present, but to moderate and hear what the students think," said Fiordo. "This is an inquiry of the student body's reaction to a poster for the National Society of Black Engineers that had racist-type lingo on it." Some of the issues that will likely be brought up are how racist Behrend is as a campus, how much of a problem is it, tensions among whites and other minorities, whether prejudice goes both ways, cultural diversity, and affirmative action. Angela Johnson, president of ABC, said "We're hoping when the participants leave, they will leave more open-minded and sensitive to other cultures. The key to this problem is education and we hope people will ask questions." "Given the recent events, students came forward and felt a need to have an open dialogue about the racial climate on campus," said Miller. "There is concern about how the majority of the student population feels about the issues that have been raised on campus." ',~... , .~.M.al :.,~~. Senator on high b Vick Sn der The Collegian Pennsylvania continues to be ranked in the bottom five states in funding for their colleges and universities. Last Friday Senator Buzz Andrezeski, D-49th District, was at Behrend to talk about voting trends and commented on the Commonwealth's status. "Obviously we have to do more," Andrezeski said. "Higher education does not exist for more and more people. I went to college in the sixties and you could make your tuition working in the summer." Andrezeski pointed out that the cost of education has increased so dramatically that the middle class has almost been eliminated from attending college. "To me, the bottom five is based on cost," he added. According to the senator, state legislators are sensitive to these ht in tig m loses 2 e 7 tea _cer -41111e* Soc 0.1. g p Andrezeski cost of tuition funding needs. "In the past five years we have increased the basic subsidy to local school districts by a billion dollars, and if you look at the increases every year we have never cut Penn State. We have @>"*%• :c comments never cut state university systems. They have received rather substantial increases even in bad times," said Andrezeski. He also noted that "of every tax dollar that we take in, forty nine cents goes back out to education. For a lot of us we think our commitment has been made." Andrezeski said that the funding situation can be improved by convincing legislators to spend more money. "We should be devoting part of our education tax dollar just for scholarship money for kids." Voting and community involvement are activities Andrezeski feels are crucial to the future of students. "Get involved. This is your country and you are going to have to live with the consequences of what is happening now and the consequences you create in the future." Barton Fis k full of p lot t Page 6 tw s 5... Academic dishonesty? Writing services : your paper, or someone else's? b Vick. Sn The Collegian At one time or another you may have used a word-processing service in order to turn in a better research paper or essay. They may have typed the paper for you, checked your spelling and corrected your punctuation. But how far is too far? When is it no longer your paper? There are services out there that are willing to edit your work for a price. In fact, an organization called Writing Help (also known as Carins Editing) posted an advertisement on bulletin boards around campus offering to "turn out, produce and create" better papers by performing editing, syntax, and structural services. Craig Frisina, a ninth semester biology major and consultant to Wiling Help (Cairns Editing), said his service enables students to create better papers and essays by providing extensive editing services. "We take the original, run a copy off and then go through and change anything and everything to make the paper better." But according to the Penn State policy on academic integrity, if you ask the service to extensively edit and revise your paper, then you are guilty of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Frisina said that he was not clear on the University's policy. After hearing the policy, he changed his explaination to this, "We are a typing, proofreading, spelling and punctuation service which also edits work that is not to be handed in for a grade." Brian Carins, owner of Writing Help (Carins Editing) and a ninth semester English major, said his company doesn't rewrite papers for students. "I keep an antiseptic distance (from the paper) and it is up to the student to choose whether or not to take my suggestions," said Carins. Dean Baldwin, associate professor of English, reacted strongly to the advertisement. (continued on Page 3)