Desmond/Polk editorial misrepresents society

In a closed meeting, The Daily Collegian's Board of Opinion decided to "anti-endorse" the Jaime Desmond/John Polk Undergraduate Student Government presidential and vice presidential ticket because of Desmond's membership in the Parmi Nous Honor Society.

The Collegian would like you to believe that Parmi Nous is trying to manipulate USG elections and Penn State policies, and in effect run this university.

That is absolutely false. Parmi Nous exists only to honor students for their extraordinary service to, and deep love for, Penn State.

In the process of attacking a group with whom they disagree, they have disregarded the qualifications of the Desmond/Polk ticket.

The Collegian has problems with Parmi Nous' so-called "secret meetings." These so-called "secret meetings" have nothing to do with University policy or decisions -- they deal with internal group matters.

This is no different from what any fraternity, sorority or the Collegian's Board of Opinion itself does. Therefore, Desmond's membership in Parmi Nous is far from a conflict of interest in terms of any future USG positions she might hold.

Desmond and Polk's qualifications to be USG president and vice president should not be confused with Desmond's involvement in Parmi Nous.

They are completely separate issues that the Collegian needs to deal with in separate forums. Those who attack others for their spirit and dedication to Penn State are clearly not acting in the University's or your best interests.

Although the Collegian's Board of Opinion would have you believe that we are attempting to control USG elections, our only commitment is to Penn State and its students!

Nathan Nair, Nakia Jackson, Alyssa Cherkin, Jeff Feinblatt and Jay Krawitz

Members of Parmi Nous

Story placement shows hypocrisy of religions

I thought the Collegian did a fine job putting the article "Group says God real Gatekeeper" right next to the article

" 'Vengeance' flames through West Bank" in the March 31 edition.

It shows just how hypocritical most religious groups are. At the same time that Christians are saying that "Jesus Christ is the gate" they are mocking another group that believes that a spaceship was following a comet.

To me, the idea of a spaceship is as ludicrous as the idea that a man will come back and take all true believers to heaven.

While nobody has proven the lack of a spaceship behind Hale-Bopp, 2,000 years says that Jesus is not coming back.

Charlie Miller
industrial engineer-graduate student

Diversity courses add to students' enrichment

I am writing this letter in response to a column that was printed in the March 21 edition of The Daily Collegian entitled "Language, diversity classes just too much."

I agree with some of the comments Tim La Rose made about general education requirements.

Yes, general education requirements can be too overburdening, but to single out language and diversity courses shows the same narrow-mindedness and inconsideration that this university has continued to practice for many years.

I personally believe that every student should be required to take more than only 3 credits of diversity courses. To leave the teachings of diversity in the hands of the professors is basically writing off any opportunity for students to learn more than the perspective of the majority.

It is unfortunate that, at my campus at least, the majority of the students who take African-American and Asian-American courses happen to be African Americans or Asian Americans.

When students are forced to take classes which continue to represent the majority groups, the minority opinion will continue to be looked upon as insignificant. People can complain about the type of classes they take or how many of a certain type of class they have to take, but the truth is, students leave college as a better well-rounded person than when they arrived.

Taking away the mandatory three-credit diversity rule would not only conflict with the essentials of education, but will promote ignorance.

The column commented that "Any good instructor will recognize that there are thousands of great works by people that Penn State would categorize as diverse, and that instructor will teach it to them."

Well, then any good student should recognize the importance of learning about diverse issues instead of complaining about the fact that they have to take them.

There are so many ways that students can satisfy their three-credit diversity requirement that many students don't even realize that they have already fulfilled the requirement. To hear people complain about a requirement that is so simple brings the question, "Are these people worried about taking classes that they don't need or is it just minority focused courses they have a problem with?"

Are these people who do complain more caught up with what type of diversity courses or just diversity courses in general? What is the hangup? I truly hope the hangup is not just with minority courses.

If it is, that is just more of a reason why we need to learn more about diversity, to eliminate these narrow-minded opinions of some people today. Diversity is not just an issue that needs to be dealt with within the University, but something that should be an issue in everyone's everyday lives.

Remember, diversity does not mean minority. Diversity means majority and minority. We should be applauding more and more diversity focused courses instead of attacking them. After all, we live in a diverse world. Don't we?

Michael Peters
Abington-Ogontz Campus Student Government Association vice president

Do a nice deed and you may get a nice drink

You may have already received a coupon for a free drink at the HUB. These coupons are being handed out to thank you for being polite.

Perhaps you simply held a door open for someone or said "excuse me" when you ran into another person. That's all it takes to get your hand on one of hundreds of coupons being given out as rewards.

Students from the Language and Literacy class are promoting an increased awareness of manners and courtesy in an attempt to make Penn State a friendlier place to be. So the next time you hold open a door or do anything else to help someone, you may be thanked with a free hot cup of coffee or an ice cold drink.

Brandi Osborne and Jason Sizemore
junior-elementary education