Capitol Friday, September 21, 1984 Vol. 19 No. 2 Imes Provost hedges on gala cost By Tony Perry More than $17,000 was spent on the events surroun ding the provost installation ceremonies last week, the Capitol Times has learned despite a refusal by Capitol Campus administrators to disclose complete budget information. Although Provost Ruth Leventhal said the events, held on the main lawn September 10 and 11, were a "good investment for Capitol Campus," her office Campus studies Heights safety By Neil Myers At least seven 'potential safety problems in Meade Heights, including electrical wiring, fire extinguishers and gas appliances are currently being studied by campus officials. James South, Director of Student Affairs, said an in vestigation into the areas was begun following two fires at 935 A and 936 A Mars Drive on Memorial Day. South said there was "some kind of puncture in the container inside" one of the fire extinguishers in those houses that may have caus ed it to fail on the night of the fires. Charles Aleksy, Super visor of Safety and Police Services for the campus, has recommended that all of the Heights extinguishers be repalced with a multi purpose type that has a guage to show when it is ready for use. South said the University also plans to look at ways of improving smoke detector inspection and ways to pre vent student tampering with those detectors. He did not say that tampering was the reason the detectors in the affected houses failed to sound. A plan to replace old and leaking gas> mains in the Heights is• still being negotiated with UGI, the would not disclose the total cost of the. events. Although it is difficult to tell the exact cost of the un disclosed items, Associate Provost Robert Graham said "some university money was spent" on the events. Graham said. "tens of thousand and even hundreds of thousand dollars of good will" have sustained the bulk of the expense. "The major costs were the tent and the food," said John H. Joseph, Assistant Provost. local natura_lf,as utility, ac coraitilii Sbper visor Frank Williams. "We're looking at' a deteriorating gas distribution system," South said. Dan Kistler, a spokesman for UGI, said that several major leaks were repaired last winter and additional work is under way this week to correct smaller problems. He said UGI does not own the mains in Meade Heights but is working as a contrac tor for Penn State. Williams said the upcom ing project will cost about $120,000, double the estimate issued last year by Bernard Resnick, Director of Housing for the entire University. Student Affairs' South said the work could begin next summer. Other repairs being con sidered include a change in the method of grounding the electrical system in each Meade Heights unit, South said. Also being considered, ac cording to South, is the replacement of obsolete 65 amp. circuit breakers in each apartment with 100 amp. services. Fire hydrant flushing, tree trimming near wires and gas stove inspec tions are other possibilities, he added. South said a decision on the recommendations will be made by Monday. A spokesperson from York Tent Company in York, Pennsylvania said large green and yellow tent was rented for $3,395 but would not say whether or not the college was giving a dis count due to the size of the order. Joseph said the smaller tents cost the univer sity $875, bringing the total tent costs to $4,270. He added that the picnic cost an estimated $5 per per son and that although up to 800 people were expected to attend, 1,400 people were served. In addition to the $7,000 spent on food for the picnic, the reception held after the installation ceremony cost $7.50 per per son, Joseph said, and 600 people attended. That means a total of $11,500 was spent on food, not inclusive of the coil of Vvorker' hotirt for Food Services, which catered both events. Of the 15,000 invitations that were sent out for the in stallation, 10,000 were "postcard" invitations which were cheaper to print than the folded invitations, Joseph said. He said $1,278 was spent on printing for the installation invitations and ari additional $334 was spent on printing 3,000 invitations to the picnic. This leaves a total of $1,612 for printing costs, but does not account for postage for the mailing. Leventhal said most of the funds spent on the events came from "gift money," and that a number of things were done to keep the cost of the events down to a minimum. The landscaping around the large tent, for ex ample, used only potted plants, which were used around the campus after the ceremonies. Food services used disposable dishes and cups on both days, thereby cutting down on the worker hours required to clean up after ceremony. "The original proposal for lighting was high," Leven thal -said. "We got them down by 2/3," she said. In addition, all of the talent at the picnic was donated, she added. S.G.A. election set next week By Michelle Lackey It's election time again. The Student Government Association is screening 12 enthusiastic Juniors all this week for the position of Junior Senator. Running for Junior Sen ator is quite easy, but the job responsibilities are deman ding, according to Jackie Greytak, election committee chairperson. The criteria in running for Junior Senator are: the student must be full time (eight or more credits), be in their Junior year, and obtain a grade point average of 2.0 or higher. "We need enthusiastic people who want to get a point across to the students on campus," Greytak said. She added that she feels this year's Junior Senator can didates fill that need. The 12 running Junior candidates are: Lod Morgan, John Shaw, Ivla - tci Cryts, Keith Garrison, Carl Wunderler, Terri McKnight, Carolyn McGinty, Patrice Blut, Mike Turk, Christina Zeltri, Jim Sharbaugh and Richard Carpenter. "Increasing interaction and awareness between students living on campus and commuters, and making " Photo by Tony Perry Dr. Leventhal and faculty wait for food at Provost's picnk. the students more aware of the happenings on campus," said Greytak, are what the majority of candidates would improve upon. Greytak, who also func tions in S.G.A. as a Senior Senator-at-Large, said there is one open position for a Senior Senator-at-Large in addition to the Junior positions. Keith Garrison, a Junior candidate and Business Ad ministration Management major from Bloomsburg State, feels the biggest issue needing improvement is that students don't have direct control of the funds for student-related activities. "Every dollar should be collected and administered by the students," Garrison noted. Four Junior Senators will be elected to represent each division. Elections will be held from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the main lobby and in the dining hall during dinner on Wednesday, September 26 and Thursday September 27. This issue of the Capitol Times was delayed due to mechanical problems at the printer.
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