Closed-door meeting only part of ARHS story

I find it extremely interesting The Daily Collegian has chosen to attack the Association of Residence Hall Students on the front page of the paper Feb. 13.

As a former member of ARHS, I have trouble remembering a time when the Collegian actually covered a meeting.

Occasionally I can remember Collegian staff writers being present at general meetings; however, they would often leave before the close of the meeting and would rarely report to the student body what went on.

If an article did appear in the Collegian related to ARHS meeting, it was often buried deep in later pages of the paper.

Granted, I do not condone what ARHS has done. Closing a meeting to the general public is wrong and should not be the behavior of elected student leaders.

I would simply like to point out the lack of support the Collegian has given to ARHS over the years.

A controversial event such as this should not be the only thing students are reminded of when they think of student organizations such as ARHS, which work consistently hard for their constituents.

Joanna Cohen
senior-French and sociology

Graduate students need democratic government

If you are a graduate student, do you know who your Graduate Student Association representative is?

Do you know what they do? How does the GSA affect your life here at Penn State?

The GSA World Wide Web page indicates that Graduate Student Representatives can either be elected or if the department does hold elections, "a note written to the department head expressing interest in serving on the Assembly should suffice."

If there is more than one interested party that expresses interest and no elections are held, does the department head make the selection?

Will this candidate be someone who votes and acts in the best interests of the graduate students they have been appointed to represent?

Since I have been here, there have been several issues which seem to require attention.

The "Test of spoken English" as a requirement for teaching assistants is certainly one issue. Intolerance manifested in such proposed groups as STRAIGHT is another.

How will this and similar future groups affect the educational atmosphere of Penn State?

How about graduate student representatives attending faculty meetings?

And then what about basic human factors such as health care for graduate students and their families?

Publicized general elections for graduate government positions might be a very good idea.

Elections provide publicity for the various graduate government branches which conduct them.

Also, the elected representatives would be more responsible to their constituents.

The system could be implemented electronically via the Center for Academic Computing labs or some dedicated login platform.

Candidate positions could be published in The Daily Collegian just as the Undergraduate Student Government candidates publish their positions.

Plus, the system would introduce students from non-democratic countries to the concept of elections.

I am hoping graduate students and GSA representatives, as well as the administration will take an interest in introducing general graduate elections to the Penn State Experience.

Marc Bumble
graduate-computer science and engineering

Marathon competition detracts from meaning

I would like to comment on the opinion column written by Ken Hesser (Feb. 11), not so much to respond as to add to the points that were touched on that I think need a little extra attention.

Hesser started to say that more organizations should start getting involved with the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon and it should not be exclusive to the Greek system, which I definitely agree with.

I am in a sorority, for exactly the reasons Hesser stated -- leadership experience and "social opportunity" on such a large campus. I'm also involved in 'Thon, the past two years on the Office of Physical Plant committee; this year I am 'Thon chair for my sorority and am dancing.

The one concern I have had for the past two years of 'Thon is is the competing that goes on between the groups raising money.

In my opinion, there needs to be a little competition to get people motivated, but I think it would be a good idea to keep in mind that it is all for the kids!

We should, in the future, invite as many groups as we can to join in the effort to help these kids with cancer.

It is wonderful that we raise more than $1 million, but maybe in the near future, with the help of all the people on the campus, it can be a $2 million event!

I hope this year's 'Thon can be an event for everyone to feel good about, whether they have contributed $500 or $100,000. We are doing what we can and every penny helps!

Jessica Israel
junior-health and human development and family studies

Support for anonymous letter-writer's struggle

This is to the person who wrote the anonymous letter Feb. 10 about eating disorders.

I admire your courage. You are a brave person. I know the fighting inside is not easy to overcome. I understand what you are dealing with -- I've been there.

I want you to know that you can make it. I believe that you can. I support you.

Chandra Swanson
junior-elementary education