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EDITORIAL
Show up to show you care
Thursday, we will all have the opportunity to give our input and
listen to the proposals put together by Behrend’s Future
Committee before they arc submitted to the University Future
Committee. The committee is designed to investigate and decide
where to implement a ten percent cut in Behrend’s permanent
budget if that should ever become necessary.
However, though the committee is NOT recommending any wide
scale cuts, it is imperative that students know what is at slake and
witatcouid happen in the near luturc should Utmersity Park decide
to implement the reductions.
This plan may be necessary at University Park, a much larger
campus with much huger expenditures and a lot more waste. But, ii
docs not make any sense at a campus this size, which has the
lowest expenditure per student of all the campuses. Not only does
Bchrcnd support twenty-four 4 year majors, it is the most thinly
staffed campus in the system. This campus has raised over 17
million dollars from the greater Eric area, but at the same time has
the lowest faculty to student ratio in the university system.
A worst case scenario: University Park will implement the cuts.
At best, University Park’s Future Committee will sit down, study
the data and agree that Behrend is in fact, as lean and mean as it
claims to be.
Whatever the case, if we aren’t active on this issue, if we don’t
get involved and they do decide to implement the cuts, we’ll never
see those programs again. One stipulation in this plan is that once
an area is cut it can't be restored. The money must instead be used
to enhance the programs which were not axed.
For some students, this is their last semester at Behrend, for
others their first. Regardless, of your semester standing, this
campus needs its students to look out for the future students who
have no say in all of this.
If this concerns you, and it should, we’ll see you at Thursday’s
meeting. It takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the Reed Lecture Hall. This
process deserves our time and attention, lets give it a chance.
The Collegian
Published weekly by the students of
The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend Collei
Editor
Vicky Snyder
Business Manager
Karen Major
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.
News Editor
Loretta Russ
Entertainment Editor
Craig Campbell
Sports Editor
Matt Cissne
Copy Editor
Keith McFall
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Collegian Staff: April
Bogdanski,, Jim Burke, Brian
Chaffee, Robin Clement, Hal
Coffey, Julie Coughenour, Von
Cousin, Shawn Gallagher, Abby
Greenberg, Amy Herb, Gary
Johnson, Sue Kass, Rick Kastan,
Ben Kern, Ryan Marquis, Calandra
Matthews, Sue Moreno, Joe
Mottillo, Liam O'Mahony, Danette
Parrett, Melissa Sabo, Randy
Schmoyer, Tim Schweitzer, Rob
Taylor, Jen Toubakans, Teresa
Turley
Photographers: Amel Balcita,
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Breter, Andrew Festa, Kristie
Guldner, Dan Jaecks, Darren
Schilberg
Typists: Pamela Baccus, Dylan
Sousa
Advisor: Cathy Mester
Columnists: Andrew Festa,
Alicia Hartman, George Hiegel
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
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The Collegian reserves the right to
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Postal Information: The
Collegian (814-898-6488) is
published weekly by the students of
The Pennsylvania State University
at Erie, The Behrend College; First
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Opinion
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Letters to the Editor
Be Yourself
Every four years the people of
the United States choose a leader
to guide our country and serve as
a symbol to the world and every
time we end up looking like
fools.
A presidential election is the
process by which we try to pick a
representative of our wishes.
Unfortunately for "we the
people," the only people who run
for office are those that have sold
away their individualism to gain
a party backing. They make their
decisions, not for the good of the
whole, but for the good of the
party platform. They act not on
the experience gained in their
lifetimes, but on the dogma
ingrained in them through
countless years of exposure to
people with shallow and closed
minds who think that there is
only one solution to a problem.
When teenagers tell their
parents that the reason they did
something was because all their
friends were doing it, or because
their friends said it was right,
their parents yell at them and tell
them how stupid that kind of
thinking is. They tell their
children that they should learn to
think for themselves and make
their own decisions even though
it may not be easy and others
may make fun of them. They say
that one of the greatest assets to
being an American is that you
can think by yourself and do what
you think is right. Yet, those
same parents never listen to or
live by the advice they give.
Every four years, we elect a
leader based on how well he or
she thinks like the party. They
elect the one that has that best
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personality, the one that looks
and sounds good, but has the
least individuality and puts down
any who think for themselves and
disagree with the parly platform.
They choose to pick a shallow,
closed minded party puppet as the
symbol of our country for the
world. Maybe we should
reconsider our values and instead
of saying we live in the home of
the free and the brave, we should
be truthful to ourselves and say
that we live in the home of the
correct thinking and professional
looking. Maybe the deterioration
of the "American Dream” isn't
the fault of the other guy, but our
own cowardice to live up the
ideal of individualism this
country was founded upon.
Mike Duminiak
3rd Semester
Biology Major
Taking Issue
with Column
This letter is in response to
Alicia Hartman's column in the
Oct. 15th issue of The Collegian.
I feel that I must point out a few
problems with Alicia's argument.
How can you say that the
debate topics are “pulp”? The
choices made with respect to the
economy, national debt, and
America's place in the post-Cold
War world will determine the fu
ture of the United States. These
topics aren’t pulp, they're vital!
It may be time for action, but
who do you want to act?
Governer Clinton cannot DO
anything about the country's
problems unless he is elected! If
you want to know what Clinton
Thursday, October 22, 1992
,<> 1
will do, I suggest that you read
the Clinton/Gore book, Putting
People First: How we can all
I must disagree with your solu
tions to two of America's prob
lems. Your solutions to the wel
fare problem, which sounds like
typical tax-and-spend liberalism,
would plunge the U.S. into an
even deeper recession! Your edu
cation proposal is also irrational
as uneducated people will only
add to the welfare mess, decrease
the tax base, and increase spend
ing on prisons (which is where
many of these people would end
up). For examples of more ra
tional solutions, please read the
Clinton/Gore book.
As for your belief that America
should be the "bottom power for
awhile", history has taught us
that this just doesn't happen.
Classic Greece and Rome fell
from the top spot, and where are
they now? Once we go down, we
will, most likely, stay down!
The president DOES have an
impact on our lives. The presi
dent can veto bills that Congress
approves, and appoint members
to the Supreme Court which can
interpret or even nullify laws
passed by Congress. By the way,
Alicia, it DOES matter "who the
president is." The president is the
focal point of American govern
ment which makes good leader
ship abilities essential.
Finally, I was very relieved
that you no longer wish to be
president of the United States.
The country couldn't survive your
presidency! Also, in the future,
please read about the subject be
fore you write about it.
James Ruhlman
sth Semester
Political Science
Amerii