Thursday, April 16, 1992
After
by Tom Strunk
After reading last
week's edition of The
Collegian, I wohdered if
oar weekly paper bad
become notning tnoro tbmt
a place where students
coaifl oncn ana moan snout
not know
otherwise (I do not have
any professors tnat let class
out early, and ! have not
yet met a professor boring
enough to stifle my desire
for learning), I would think
that the Behrend faculty
was a bunch of uncaring,
lazy buffoons.
While the conclusions
reached by the two writers
last week were evident
truths, their arrival at them
was through some faulty
reasoning. Clearly it is
wrong for professors
continually to end class
early. Professors should
also communicate
effectively. Moreover,
professors should help us
attain the knowledge we
What the two writers
failed to mention was drat
young adults paying
thousands of dollars each
year should be most
accountable for their
Opening day --
by Mike Royko
Opening Day, a great
American tradition. I left the
office at about 12:30 and took a
cab to Cubs Park.
Then I met my host in our
corporate reserved seats, which
have a fine, unobstructed view of
the playing field.
I wasn't sure what I'd have for
lunch. As at most of today's
ballparks, the food menu has
become as extensive as that of a
restaurant.
When the rain became
bothersome, wc stopped in at the
stadium's private club and had a
drink. Then, after the crowd
subsided, another cab home.
A very nice way to spend the
day at the ballpark, you must
agree.
But it isn't the best way to do
it. Not nearly.
The best way was to get up
early, yell for the pal down the
street to come on out and start
walking at about 7 a.m.
It was about five miles to the
ball park. Five miles wasn’t that
much if you could save the 10
cents streetcar fare and use it later
for a hot dog.
At the end of the walk, there
it was: the eighth wonder of the
world in the eyes of a 12-year
old.
The idea was to gel there early
to be near the front of,the crowd
of other kids at the "scat gate."
At least that’s what wc called it.
m •m , « $
all, who is r
education. College students overhead notes, it is our
should carry most of the job to notify the professor
burden fear their education. that he or she might do
• Too often we rely on better.
other people to take care of And if there is a
us. When they fail to take considerable amount of
care of us we cry out that time left at die end of class,
we are victims of an perhaps we should seek to
uncaring society. Rather fill the void by creating
titan acting ike helpless
children, there are times
that we should take
responsibility for
oerselves.
Our college years are
such a time. We should no*
depend on others to assure
our education. It is easy to
point to a bad professor
and blame them for
deficiencies in our
learning.
If there is something we
do not understand and our
professor is unable to
explain it sufficiently* we
can do independent
research on the subject. At
the university level, the
obligation of producing
educated graduates should
not fall solely on
professors.
We, the students,
should have the primary
responsibility of making
ourselves educated
graduates. So If we have a
professor that cannot seem
to produce, unsmeared
After a while, a guy would
come out and point to us, one
after another. "You, you, you ...
and you, yeah, y0u...."
I don't know how he made his
selection. Maybe size. Or maybe
the most pleading, yearning
looks in the eyes.
But when you became one of
the youse, you dashed inside. No
ticket: free, on the house. Of
course, it wasn't charity. Strictly
business.
In those days, the box seats -
those that were truly box seats --
had folding chairs. And the stacks
of chairs had to be unfolded and
put in place before the gates
opened and the box-scat swells
arrived.
So that's what we did, setting
up a few thousand scats. And we
thought it was a. swell deal,
which it was. Of course, it was a
swell deal for P.K. Wriglcy. For
about $lO worth of freebies, he
got what a union would probably
sock him $2,000 for today.
By the time the seals were in
place, and we were up in the
grandstands, the players had
started drifting out on the field.
Loosening up, playing the pepper
game, clowning around, spitting,
scratching. Coaches hitting fungo
flics to the outfielders. The more
ambitious pitchers doing a few
wind sprints in the outfield grass.
Then came the best part of the
day. No, not the game. Batting
practice.
This was when you could
The Collegian
hard work and we must be
dedicated if we hope to
reach such a goal.
The task at hand is not
getting better professors
but instead, making
ourselves better students.
Teachers should not have
to come to class with the
chore of maintaining an
audience. They are not
entertainers. They know
like it
study this year's prize rookie
phenom to see if he hit the long
ball as long here as he did in the
minors. And when you would
watch in terror as the visiting
team's cleanup hitter drove shot
after shot onto the street
And if the Andy Frain ushers
were nice guys, as many were,
you could sneak down the box
seat aisles and coax an autograph
out of one of the Cubs. Free, of
IMPSWM* 1 H 111 * " ”
even a science fiction concept.
Why do 1 cherish Andy Palko?
Because the Kid from Boyccville,
as he was known to our world,
took a few seconds away from the
batting cage to sign a scrap of
paper. And he even smiled. I hear
that a smile costs an extra 10-
spot today.
Infield practice. The strong
arms of the hot comer guardian
and the keystone combo
esponsible?
things that we need and
presumably want to know.
Professors should come
to class expecting
enthusiastic students that
are aggressively seeking
the knowledge professors
have. If we are to become
educated we must ask
ourselves whether we are
pupils or students. Do we
rely on others for our
education? Or do we seek
knowledge on our own
• volition?
There are too many
people that attend college
I* tst to receive the degree.
ew individuals are here
for the education. As we,
ourselves, improve as
students we make those
around us better. If a class
challenges the teacher, that
teacher will be forced to
become better.
Professors should try to
impart on us as much
knowledge as possible. If a
professor ever should fail
to convey a message
properly, it H our
responsibility to find out
what the intender message
was. In any contusion, we
y should go to our
professors for clarification
(you will find that most do
care).
We should not expect
used to
whipping blue darts across the
diamond. (Sportswriters don’t
write that way anymore but I like
it.)
Then the grounds crew, who I
thought had the best jobs in
America, raked and patted the
infield, put down the chalk lines,
and old Pat, the field announcer,
said in that dust-dry voice: "Have
your pencils and scorecards ready,
and I will give you the correct
lineup for today's ball game.
Batting first, and playing second
base. ..."
The game was on. And what
made it so good was that there
was nothing else. Only the game.
We didn't know what anyone
on the field earned. And if we had
known, we wouldn't have cared.
We thought in terms of dimes
and quarters, which could buy hot
dogs and pop.
But we knew the baiting
averages. We knew how much
Bill Nicholson's bat weighed to
the ounce and that he would
almost always pull the ball and
that he had once smashed one
almost to the concession stand in
the center field bleachers. We
knew that Philabuck always made
contact and hit to all fields and
would move the runner up. We
knew that Clyde McCullough had
a terrible hitch in his swing, a
habit we should avoid at all
costs.
We didn't know if this player
was moodily yearning to be
traded or if that player haled the
Page 5
our professors to foresee
every miscommunication.
Our professors should
encourage our learning, but
they should not be
responsible for our success
or failure.
It is obvious to all that
professors should be
capable and qualified. They
must be accountable to
their students. Yet, they
should not have to carry us
through the learn. ng;
process. If there is
something we do not like
about a class or if a
professor is failing to teach
effectively, it is our
responsibility to face the
professor ana present them
with the.problem.
As long as we sit silent
the professor will continue
on as they were. We need
to confront our teachers
and let them know we are
dissatisfied with
something. Professors are
not here because they need
us. We need them.
So the question is this:
who, finally, is responsible
for our education?
Tom Strunk is a fourth
semester history major.
His column appears every
other weik in The
Collegian.
manager. We assumed that they
were all happy. And how could
they not be happy? They were
Cubs and playing baseball in one
of the most beautiful spots on
the face of the Earth.
We didn't know about front
office executives, marketing, TV
revenue, salary arbitration,
agents, contract extensions,
incentive clauses or urine tests.
We knew nothing of bond issues,
expansion cities or congressional
inquiries into the role of
superstations.
But we knew that it was not a
good idea to get behind in the
count to Stan the Man and that
our outfielders had to hustle on
shots in the gap because Enos
Slaughter would always take the
extra base.
In other words, we knew all
that really mattered. And when
the last out was made, and wc
trudged the five miles back to the
neighborhood, we had the
scrupulously maintained scorecard
to prove it.
I think they ought to change
the rules for who goes to
Opening Day. Only ages 12 to
15 admitted. They know the
score.
Mike Royko is a Chicago
based, nationally syndicated
columnist, flis column appears
weekly in The Collegian.