Of the many problems facing our country today, education stands out as the single most important. The deficiency of our test scores when compared to those of the other industrialized nations has been well documented and to the shame of us all there is no indication that this situation will change any time soon.

Nowhere is this problem more acute than the inner city. It is bad enough that we aren't offering today's youth a good education, but we offer the poor city children even less. So, as our country falls behind the rest of the world, these children fall further behind the rest of the country.

There are many people with ideas on how to attack this problem, and as a member of Colloquy I am proud that we could bring one such person to Penn State. On Tuesday night (March 20), over 2,000 people came to Eisenhower Auditorium to see a man who has changed one inner-city school and believes we can do the same for the rest.

The former principal of Eastside High in Patterson, New Jersey, Mr. Joe Clark took Penn State by storm, literally. On stage, as well as in person, Mr. Clark seems to possess the energy of a hurricane, and that energy is matched only by his conviction.

It is a sad commentary though, that the questions and comments directed his way at our reception centered not on his positive message, but instead took him to task over matters that I believe can only rank of secondary importance when compared to the exigency of education. EDUCATION!

There is no matter as important, no tool as useful, no replacement for it and no getting around it. As a member of Colloquy I am proud that one of our tenets is education beyond the classroom. In Mr. Clark, we got just that.

What the line of questioning expressed indicates to me, is that the Black community (I use this phrase in deference to Mr. Clark) is a microcosm of our society as a whole.

There is no doubt that they have unique problems, but our whole system is in need of repair and we will never succeed in replacing it if we don't get our priorities straight.

As an American, I am proud to have people of Indian, African, Oriental, Hispanic, European, ad infinitum, descent as brothers and sisters. To those not equally as proud I say, go to hell.

As for Mr. Clark, when is the next presidential election?