PAGE 6, THE BEHREND BEACON, ANUARY 28, 2000
NATIONAL CAMPUS NEWS
Clinton
proposes tax
cut for college
tuition
TMS Campus
January 21, 2000
WASHINGTON (TMS) President
Clinton has proposed a tax credit de
signed to make college more afford
able.
Clinton unveiled the proposed plan
Thursday, January 20. It is a $3O-bil
lion, 10-year initiative that would
make higher education more afford
able for millions. When the credit is
fully phased in, a family could receive
a tax credit of up to $lO,OOO for tu
ition, fees and training. The maximum
credit would be up to $2,800 a year.
Congress rejected a similar plan last
year proposed by Democratic New
York Sen. Charles Schumer. That plan,
narrowly defeated as an amendment to
last year's tax-cut package, would have
allowed families to deduct up to
$12,000 for college tuition. The de
duction would have saved the average
family as much as $3,360 per student.
Schumer's plan was more expensive
than Clinton's proposal: $45 billion
to $5O billion over 10 years.
The President also called for a $1
billion increase in Pell Grants and
other federal education assistance.
Universities
continue to
hire part-time
professors
TMS Campus
January 21, 2000
WASHINGTON (TMS) Universi
ties are hiring fewer full-time profes
sors and more part-timers, according
to a recent study conducted by the U.S.
Department of Education.
The report, based on data accrued
in 1997 from almost 4,100 institutions,
is released every two years by the
department's National Center for Edu
cational Statistics. The latest findings
show that universities hired more fac
ulty members than they did in 1995
but of those new hires at four-year
institutions, 11,083 were full-timers,
and 24,508 were part-timers. Overall
at four-year schools in 1997, 67.4 per
cent of faculty members worked full
time, and 32.6 percent worked part
time.
During the same period, the num
ber of faculty members at two-year
institutions also rose. Of the 22,748
new hires at those institutions, 31 per
cent took full-time jobs, while 69 per
cent accepted part-time positions.
Women still make up less than half
of all full-time faculty members. The
report showed that 36 percent of full
timers are women and that women
make up 47 percent of all part-timers.
Of the 568,719 academics working
at all levels of university faculty in
1997, 5.5 percent were Asian, 4.9 per
cent were African American, 2.6 per
cent were Hispanic and 0.4 percent
were American Indian or Native Alas
kan.
Welsh Yale
agrees to
change name
TMS Campus
January 19, 2000
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (TMS) —Appar
ently, the world's too small for two edu
cational institutions known as Yale.
Yale College, a vocational school in
Wales, has agreed to change its name in
response to legal pressure from Yale Uni
versity in New Haven, Conn.
Pending formal approval from its
board next month, Yale College will be
renamed Coleg lal Yale College of
Wrexham. lal, which sounds like "yawl,"
is the Welsh name for hills near Wrexham.
To further differentiate, Yale College has
agreed to add "Wrexham" to its Web-site
address, which is now www.yale.ac.uk.
"There's confusion about whether they
are us or not," Yale University's vice
president and secretary, Linda Lorimer,
told the Yale Daily News. "Who's to
know whether they're connected with
us?"
The resolution ends a disagreement
that surfaced in March, when Yale
University's attorneys demanded that the
Welsh institution change its name
Three die in Seton Hall dorm fire, 58 injured
by Robert Ingrassia,
Ralph R. Ortega,
and Patrice O'Shaughnessy
Knight-Ridder Tribune
January 20, 2000
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. --
Screams drowned out the fire
alarm, choking smoke filled the
halls, and flames shot through a
Seton Hall University dormitory
early Thursday, January 20, as
hundreds of freshmen fled in ter-
One girl plunged through a wall
of flame at her door, and at least
two students leaped from win
dows to escape a blaze that left
three male students dead and 58
people injured.
The fire, whose cause had not
yet been determined, originated in
a sofa in a third-floor lounge in
Boland Hall on the South Orange,
N.J., college campus at 4:30 a.m.,
forcing coatless students into
frigid darkness.
"The screams we heard could
have been some of the people dy
ing," said Greg Edwards, 18, of
Valley Stream, L.I. "I'll never
forget the screams. It was the
worst thing I've ever heard."
A recent spate of false alarms
led many students at the Catholic
college to ignore the warning at
first.
"When people came out with
black stuff on their faces and yell
ing, 'Help me! Help me!'
that's when reality set in," said
18-year-old Vanessa Gomez.
Lisa Sepulveda, 18, of New
York City, said she passed a
burned young man moaning as
she fled the residence hall. "He
looked like he had painted his en
tire body; it was purple and blue
and orange."
The dead victims were all 18,
from New Jersey, and third-floor
residents of Boland, a freshman
dorm. They were identified as
Frank Caltabilota of West Long
Branch, John Giunta of Vineland,
Sit-in ends with Bush agreeing to
hearings on affirmative action
by Linda Kleindienst
and Mark Hollis
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
January 20, 2000
TALLAHASSEE Gov. Jeb
Bush agreed to slow down his push
to end affirmative action in state
university admissions on Wednes
day, January 19, after a sit-in by
two black legislators grew into a
demonstration of more than 100
legislators, civil rights activists,
and students who sang and chanted
outside Bush's office for most of
the day.
A tearful Rep. Tony Hill and Sen.
Kendrick Meek, who had camped
out in Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan's of
fice for 24 hours, declared triumph
in the late afternoon after Bush
conceded to several requests from
the 20-member legislative black
caucus.
Among the concessions, Bush
agreed to a month's delay in a vote
by the state Board of Regents on
key elements of the university por
tion of the plan and to three public
hearings by a 15-member select
legislative committee. The regents
had been scheduled to vote Friday,
Jan. 21, on changes that would
have affected this fall's freshman
class.
The sit-in began Tuesday after
noon. Jan. 18, when Bush refused
to meet with Meek and Hill. The
two legislators then refused to
leave Brogan's office, which is in
the governor's suite. Their victory
came after a day of noisy demon
strations around the Capitol, an
overnight lockdown of the
governor's office, the physical
ejection of nine reporters from the
governor's office, and a demon
stration against the governor's plan
by about 150 people at Florida In
ternational University in southern
Miami-Dade County.
Black legislators were unhappy
that Bush never made an attempt
to talk with them about his "One
and Aaron Karol of Dunellen
Frantic parents rushed to the col
lege to find their children, 18- and
19-year-olds who seemed much
younger as they stood crying in pa
jamas, hugging their mothers and
fathers.
The blaze apparently started in
the third-floor lounge in the north
wing of the 600-student dorm,
spreading quickly into a hallway
and sending black smoke through
the building.
"This was a pretty intense and
fast-moving fire," said Essex
County prosecutor Don Campolo.
Local fire investigators and
agents of the Federal Bureau of Al
cohol, Tobacco, and Firearms were
probing the cause. There was
speculation that someone had been
smoking on the sofa.
An accelerant-detecting dog
failed to detect any apparent evi
dence of arson, authorities said.
"This is an investigation that's
going to take some time to com
plete," Campolo said.
Two of the dead were found in
the lounge; they may have tried to
put the fire out, authorities said.
The three sofas in that room were
just charred frames; the hallway
was blackened by soot. Dorm
room doors left open by fleeing
students revealed normalcy
computers, books, and sneakers
juxtaposed with the horrific scene.
The third victim was found in a
nearby room; emergency personnel
had attempted to revive him, said
Campolo.
"I actually went back to sleep af
ter I heard the alarm, and my room
mate had to wake me up and tell
me it was real," said Pete
Tornatore, 18, of Manalapan, N.J.
"It could have been us," said
George Kelly, 18, of Wildwoot
N.J., hugging his girlfriend who
was clad in Winnie-the-Pooh slip
pers. "This was a total reality
check."
Resident assistants ° went from
room to room banging on doors to
Florida" plan, which ends minority
preferences in education and state
contracting
"This is not the last time you'll
see this kind of action if we don't
have a voice in the process," prom
ised Meek, D-Miami.
"You cannot operate in a vacuum
up here. You can't just get two or
three people and make a decision
about what's going on in the state
of Florida because we all represent
people. That's what it was all
about," said Hill, D-Jacksonville.
Across from
them sat U.S
Rep. Carrie
Meek, D-Mi
ami, Kendrick
Meek's
mother and
the first black
elected to
Congress
from Florida.
"This is not the last time you'll see this
kind of action if we don't have a voice in
the process."
Four decades
ago she led a protest march to the
Tallahassee jail when a group of
Florida A&M University students
were arrested after a similar sit-in
demonstFation at Woolworth's,
where they asked to be served at the
lunch counter.
"Forty years ago I went to jail.
God help us that we are going
through this again," she said, grasp
ing a small black Bible.
Bush repeatedly voiced disap
proval of the sit-in. After a protest
that drew national media attention,
however, the governor began to re
lent. The final agreement, allowing
Bush and the protesting legislators
to save face, came together only af
ter several hours of negotiations in
volving key black state lawmakers,
House Speaker John Thrasher, R-
Orange Park, and Senate President
Toni Jennings, R-Orlando.
"In the end, we've agreed to dis
agree. I just hope that the hard work
we put into this will eliminate some
concerns and we can build upon it,"
Bush said. Earlier he agreed his
get the students out. Firefighters
guided other students out by
crawling with them, forming hu
man chains.
Later, students who 12 hours
before had celebrated the Seton
Hall Pirates' upset win over the St.
John's basketball team milled
around the student center adjacent
to Boland Hall, some crying, some
in shock, most exhausted from
grief and relief.
Besides being plagued by 18
false alarms since September
including seven times during fi
nals week of the fall semester
the dorm had no sprinkler system.
Sprinklers were not required when
it was built in 1971, officials said.
Also. fire hoses in the building
had been disconnected from the
standpipe system, but Campolo
said firefighters wouldn't have
used those "obsolete" hoses any
way because of uncertainty about
whether tliiey were in working or
der.
The residence had 55 fire extin
guishers; at least one of them was
used in the blaze.
Forty-two of the injured were
treated at area hospitals and re
leased. Of the remaining 16, at
least three were in critical condi
tiqn.
The blaze was extinwished
quickly. Flhefighters searched
rooms tti account for all the resi
One student apparently slept
through the whole thing. He was
found fn his.roorn in the dorm et
1:30 re.nt. after his parents in
quired about him.
Classes and other activities had
been suspended at least through
Sunday, Jan. 23. Boland Hall re
opened on Thursday, Jan. 20, so
students could retrieve their be
longings.
Wednesday night, Jan. 19, an
overflow crowd of hundreds of
students attended a solemn, half
hour memorial Mass at Immacu
late Conception Chapel, just
"One Florida" plan is not perfect,
but "it will pass the test [of public
approval], I'm confident of that."
Jon Moyle, a member of the
Board of Regents from West Palm
Beach, admitted that the public
hearings on Bush's plan would not
change his support for it. "I still
think it's a good idea," Moyle said.
The Tallahassee demonstration
sparked a protest Wednesday after
noon, Jan. 19, at FIU by more than
150 people. Waving orange flags
and posters that read "Jobs with
Justice," the demonstrators
chanted: "Shame on Bush, shame
on Bush," and "What do we want?
Justice. When do we want it?
Now."
FIU officials said the demonstra
tors did not cause any problems or
disrupt classes.
In Tallahassee, a protest outside
Bush's office drew support from
fellow Democratic legislators, na
tionally known civil rights activists,
South Florida NAACP leaders, and
scores of students from FAMU, the
state's only mostly black public col
lege, and Florida State University.
At one point well over 100 people
gathered in front of the double
doors that lead to the governor's
suite. They blocked the doors, sang
"We Shall Overcome" and other
gospel songs, chanted, and criti
cized the governor and his plan.
Many were angered that the
doors were locked to the public.
"This office belongs to the people
of Florida," said Sen. Mandy
Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, as she
across a field from the fire-rav
aged dorm. Hundreds of other
grieving students waited outside
the stone chapel.
"It was a great thing for every
one to come together." said Tricia
Santiago, 21, a senior. "That's
what helps."
Mourners walked out of the
chapel arm-in-arm, and several
wiped away tears.
"We just prayed for the ♦lead and
unsuccessfully tried to bring break
fast to Hill and Meek. "This isn't
a democracy. We're embarking on
a dictatorship."
Among those gathered in support
of the protesting legislators was Ci
cely Hill, Tony Hill's 21-year-old
daughter, who is a psychology stu
dent at FAMU.
"This is about making a state
ment," she said. "My dad is will
ing to go the extra mile in order to
be heard, and so should we. I am
proud of them. They are speaking
up for us for
the students, for
-Senator Kendrick Meek,
D-Miami
egations joined
last Wednesday's protest outside
Bush's office, many of them say
ing they were willing to be arrested
for civil disobedience if that's what
it took to get the governor's ear.
"This is absolute imperialist be
havior," said Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, as
she sat on the floor outside Bush's
office, cradling one of her sleeping
eight-month-old twins. "When the
going gets tough, he thumbs his
nose at the people of Florida."
But Republican leaders Thrasher
and Jennings were critical of
Meek's and Hill's protest, saying
it reflected poorly on the Legisla
ture.
"I worry about the honor and in
tegrity of the House. It's embar
rassing when you have a member
going down in the lieutenant
governor's office and just staying
there," Thrasher said.
Added Jennings, "It's not appro
priate for a senator to have a sit-in
in the governor's office."
Hill and Meek met with Brogan
those that were i LI red," said
Maria Stratigis, 19, a freshman
from Fort Lee, N.J.
Back at the dorm, the building's
exterior displayed nothing of the
day's deadly drama. Its pale exte
rior walls weren't charred; the icy
air had erased the odor of smoke.
But bouquets of red roses and
white carnations were laid at the
entrance in remembrance
on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 18, in
the governor's suite. Bush came
into the office briefly but said he
wouldn't revoke his Nov. 9 execu
tive order abolishing affirmative ac
tion in state contracting. That's
when the two legislators made an
impromptu decisitm to just stay.
With them were nine newspaper re
porters and Barbara De Vane, a Tal
lahassee activist for the National
Organization for Women.
In the overnight hours, Meek and
Hill dozed hut slept little. At one
point, Hill proclaimed, "We're go
ing to stay until hell freezes over."
Later, he said, "This is an abomi
nation for all those people who have
fought on behalf of affirmative ac
tion. We're making a stand and
hope other people are making a
stand."
our children, and
for their grand
children."
Most Democratic
members of the
Broward, Palm
Beach County,
and Miami-Dade
legislative del-
At noon Wednesday, the report
ers and DeVane were told to leave.
Reporters, including one from the
Sun-Sentinel, were helped up from
their seats by security agents and
led, single file, out of the Capitol
building. DeVane, who refused to
get up, was dragged out the door by
agents.
About an hour later, Bush met pri
vately in the lieutenant governor's
office with Hill and Meek while re
porters watched outside an office
window. The governor repeatedly
became animated and waved his
arms during his discussions with the
lawmakers, who sat passively and
listened.
Bush left, then returned and
talked with the legislators again.
Elsewhere in the Capitol, the legis
lative black caucus gave Republi
can legislative leaders a list of re
quests that they said could end the
standoff. The key request: delay
implementation of Bush's plan un
til public hearings could be held
around the state. After more delib
erations, Bush agreed.
At 4:35 p.m., almost 24 hours af
ter the sit-in began, it was over.