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Letters to the Editor
Good-bye
As my 5 1/2 year college
career at Bchrend comes to a
close, I can't help reflecting on
this imrortant part of my life. I
was 35 when I sat nervously in a
classroom for the first time in the
more than 15 years. Now I feel
like the luckiest person in the
world for many reasons.
Behrcnd has given me an
education and the proof will take
the form of a Bachelor's Degree.
I will also take with me
something more valuable that
could never be declared
sufficiently with all the
certificates in the world. The
friendships I have made arc more
precious than any in my heart and
life forever.
I don't know if I have been
particularly blessed with any
great wisdom. Two jewels that I
have stumbled upon over the
years arc: anything worthwhile
does not come easily; the other;
it is easy to make a lot of
money...if that is all you want to
do. I have never measured
anyone's success by the size of a
bank account. Please don't hold
me to that standard.
I have lived my life to be the
master and money the slave. I
pray those roles never change.
A man can never have too
many friends and I find myself
richer beyond my greatest
expectations than when I first
wandered down Behrend's
driveway.
Now I expect new doors to
open. I expect my life to take
another course. I expect to face
more hard work to achieve more
successes. I expect to never quit
trying. I hope my friends
remain.
Without the support and
confidence of the most loving
wife in the world, I could not
have succeeded at anything, let
alone returning to college. It has
been a difficult journey for me,
but perhaps even more so for her
making my road as smooth as
possible. The diploma with my
name belongs to Jan every bit as
much as it does to me. She has
earned it no less than I.
Regrets? Not a one in that I
would do anything differently.
My only regret is that my mother
will not be in the hall to watch
me graduate. She will, however,
be next to me on the dais when
my diploma is awarded.
To all my friends--students,
faculty, at home, at work--I could
not have done it without all of
you.
Don Knepper
Eleventh semester
Accounting
PC judgement
I desperately need a Political
Correctness (PC) judgement call.
The older I get, the more Nordic
my favorite fantasy lover
becomes. Am I guilty of
ethnocentric idealization and
sexual objectification? Or, am I a
helpless victim after years of
supremacist socialization from
six white men pent on
perpetuating their sexual
ascendancy? Is my chokingly
conservative attitude showing?
The true goal of a
conservative administration or
government is to provide
everyone with only a fair shot--to
succeed or to fail--not to
guarantee that one won't be
passed over or fall to bad luck.
Their only legitimate purpose is
to insure that the tools are
available if one has the will to
master them and to insure that all
have a fair chance to sell their
skill in a free and open
marketplace.
Too many have fallen into the
trap of accusing successful
members of ethnic minorities of
betraying their heritage and
accusing successful women of
selling out. The obvious
implication is that success in our
society derives from something
deviant or immoral--surely white
maleness.
The PC Crusade is going to
be bloody, painful, and isn't
going to help anyone overcome
social, racial, or sexual prejudice.
It will merely drive them back
underground to fester and grow
even more vicious and ugly.
Leave them in the open where the
sun's light can cleanse and heal
them.
The kids wrote on the
National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE) poster (if,
indeed, they were engineering
students) and the NSBE members
need a chance to work side by
side on a few design projects
where the confidence and trust
between professionals will
develop without irrelevant
concerns about melanin levels.
The loud-mouthed delinquent
who shouted slurs at Dr.
Ichiyama doesn't need a course in
Asian culture, but a solid smack
along side of his empty head for
disrespecting his betters. The
little demon who spoke of
baseball-batting a gay needs a
little healthy knowledge about
sexuality so that he may deal
with his own frightening urges.
Suppression breeds only
repression and leads to obsession.
And there, my friends, is where
some nasty, ugly things are
conceived between guilt and fear.
There are too many serious
problems to be dealt with in this
country that are going to take a
lot of time, money and work. A
three credit course in diversity or
reading Chukka Zulu isn't nearly
enough. It isn't even an honest
start.
Alissa Krupar
Seventh semester
Mathematics
Diversity/PC
For the nth time, Th e
Collegian has published an article
opinion
l l Walt my horns 4pei
and rix tad tucked....
Oaliiia Duke recornnienaea
`161.-
that insults and abuses the reader
with inane accusations, self
righteous pomposity, and faulty
logic. The latest installment of
male-bashing justification was
stridently excessive in all three.
How dare you smugly judge
anyone guilty of retaining
patriarchal, supremacist attitudes
when you so easily justify
permitting yourself the helpful
little stereotype that American
white males hate everyone?
Don't denounce a group's
alleged repressive tactics while
using them yourself. It's not very
ethical. Besides, the last time I
read the First Amendment, it still
held that attitudes and speech
weren't grounds for prosecution.
But, I guess liberals are pretty
nonchalant about playing fast and
loose with the Bill of Rights
when it suits their agenda, huh?
The concepts of diversity and
political correctness arc diametric
opposites and therefore cannot co
exist on the same plane. Diverse
culture never flourishes in a
society that actively, or covertly,
suppresses any thought. (Does
the term "re-education classes" set
off any alarms in the PoliSci and
History crowds?)
It is irrelevant whether the
ideology being attacked is that of
religious minorities, neo-Nazis,
or one's own personal clique. It
is wrong; it is immoral; it is
unconstitutional.
What is most infuriating
about the whole Political
Correctness (PC) movement, not
just Behrend's PC Children, is
that they are so self-assured by
their absolutes that they feel
justified in imposing their
doctrine on everyone else.
Anyone who criticizes or opposes
their little game as insular self
delusion is a racist, sexist, and
supremacist in obvious need of
"education." How convenient.
Don't tell me what education I
need; you don't know me. I was
working for a living while most
of the PC students across this
nation were still arguing a over
whether Superman was stronger
than Wonderwoman. I carved out
a room of my own and defended it
long before anyone told me that I
couldn't do it because the cards
were stacked.
True equality isn't achieved
until engineers are hired based on
their resume and design
portfolios, not how many
minorities the company has hired
The Collegian
Published weekl b the students of Behrend Colle.e, Erie, PA
Editor
Todd J. Irwin
Business Manager
Adrienne Shrewder
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.
Features Editor
Robb Frederick
News Editor
Mark Owens
Entertainment Editor
Christi Luden
Sports Editor
Greg Geibel
Photo Coordinator
Craig Breter
in the last five years. True equal
representation isn't achieved when
one is granted a position simply
because the skin color is the right
shade to meet this week's quota,
but permitted the dignity of a
color-blind competition among
human beings.
Shephanie Jordan-Hartwell
Fourth semester
Physics
Advertising Manager
Keiren Logue
Advisor
Dr. Mike Simmons
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