FIELDING QUESTIONS from prospective plaintiffs in the ACLU voter registration hearing,
Suiting up lawyer Peter Campana pauses briefly. Although his gesture typifies the trials in bringing the
Centre County Commissioners to court, Campana said he is confident students represented by the
ACLU will win. A. right is Rick Wheeler.
The
Court suit
challenge
board
ELAINE HERSCHER
Collegian Senior Reporter
Eleven students travel to
Scranton today to try to win the
right of 27,000 others to register to
vote in Centre County without
restrictions placed on them by the
Centre County Board of Elections.
Today's hearing presented in the
name of student Janet Sloane by the
American Civil Liberties Union
against the elections board will test
the right of the board, composed of
the Centre County Commissioners,
to single out students in proving
they are residents.
Peter Campana, representing the
students along with his father
Ambrose Campana yesterday
briefed the plaintiffs on what to
expect and sounded hopeful for the
trial's outcome.
"We have the 1970 Voting Rights
Act and the 26th Amendment
(granting the 18-year-old vote)
behind us plus precedents set in
New Hampshire and New Jersey on
student registration," Campana
USG assists
student voter
with hearing
By MITCH CHERNOFF
Collegian Staff Writer
Effort by the Undergraduate
Student Government will be in
strumental in the voter registration
suit coming to court today.
The attempt to gain a preliminary
injunction against the Centre
County Commissioners is being
filed by the American Civil
Liberties Union on behalf of Janet
Sloane (sth-liberal arts). Much of
the information to be presented in
court is a result of USG work.
USG has collected affidavits from
10 University students which will be
entered into the court record. In
addition, 11 witnesses will be on
hand to testify personally about the
irregularities of registration
House vote scheduled
WASHINGTON (AP) A House vote
has been quietly scheduled for today on a
bill exempting corporations and labor
unions with government contracts from
the ban on campaign giving through
affiliated political funds.
If it passes the Congress, the measure
would mark the first rollback of the new
federal campaign spending law.
A ban on the affiliated political funds,
a principal cover through which cor
porations and unions manage to give to
the candidate of their choice despite the
general ban on corporate donations,
withstood a court test this past summer.
TRW Inc. dissolved its fund, considered
a prototype and model for most others,
rather than defend it against a court suit
by Common Cause.
After the TRW case was settled
numerous companies began to dissolve
Collegian
the
daily
student vote:
said. The ACLU lawyers will lean
heavily on not only the testimony
and affidavits of students rejected
but also the sworn statements of
non-students allegedly accepted by
the commissioners without
question.
Other forms of ACLU ammunition
include documentation from 36
Pennsylvania counties stating their
requirement for voter registration
as a simple oath affirming the
residents are indeed residents. The
Centre County Board, as of Spring
Term, reneged on its statement
agreeing to accept local or
telephone credit cards as proof of
residence.
Last spring, drivers licenses with
a State College address were ac
cepted, as they are now. But the
point of the suit, according to the
plaintiffs representing an ex
timated 7,000 others, is that a
student should not have to prove he
is a resident just because he is a
student.
One professor told The Daily
Collegian, "I have a drivers license
with my parents address on it; they
never asked me for it. When I told
them I was a professor, they
registered me, that was it."
Today's hearing will clear up
such "discriminatory practices,"
according to Campana. He is not
doing it entirely alone. Although the
state has still offered no financial or
legal support to the case, it goes on
procedures.
USG has been working on the
possibility of this suit for quite some
time. It wrote to commissioners in
58 Pennsylvania counties, asking
what their registration
requirements were. Out of 38 replies
received, 34 counties said only a
verbal oath is required as proof of
residency.
In addition, USG has been talking
to the commissioners. According to
Rich Wheeler, director of the USG
Department of Student Political
Affairs, the commissioners said
they decided cases on an "in
dividual basis." The commissioners
told Wheeler, "No set pattern can
be given to determine if a person is
a resident or not,"
Wheeler said USG originally went
to the State Department of Justice.
They waited all winter bui the state
would take no action.
USG made charges that the Shapp
administration would not get in
volved because of political con
siderations. Wheeler said, "Rural
legislators in the state have made it
quite plain they don't like student
voting. These rural legislators have
a lot of power whether they're
similar funds, through which employes
traditionally contributed to a general
fund managed and distributed by .the
corporation.
There were some surprised cries from
big unions many of whom had not
realized until the court case that their
own political funds might be affected. A
number of unions were touched because
they hold federal contracts for such
programs as manpower, training.
The new law, as the old one had,
prohibits corporations and unions from
giving directly to political campaigns,
but it allows them to give out money
voluntarily given by employes the same
as they would corporate funds. •
However, the new law prohibits the
use of affiliated political funds by
government contractors, which pretty
well covers most big corporations.
record through State Deputy Atty.
Gen. Justin Blewitt as offering its
aid if necessary.
Several months ago, a statement
was issued by State Secretary C.
DeLores Tucker condemining the
commissioners for the residency
requirement. "I'm not militant
about it," Commissioner J. Doyle
Corman said, "not nearly as
militant as the people in
Harrisburg. I just want to clear up
the mysteries on the rules and
regulations."
When asked why since, the law is
unclear, the commissioners chose
to follow the road making it most
difficult for students to register,
Corman said, "I'm not giving
personal reasons; I don't think it
enters into it. All along it's been a
misunderstanding. She (Tucker)
doesn't make the laws, and neither
does (State Atty. Gen. J. Shane)
Creamer.'
Today the court will interpret
those laws, and if it goes in the
students' favor, the commissioners
will be ordered to register students
by oath. The registration deadline
(Oct. 10) also could be extended.
If Campana loses, the com
missioners are free to continue
interpreting the law their own way.
"We certainly hope we'll win,"
Corman said, "because this is the
way we interpreted our job. It would
be embarrassing to be told by the
court, 'You didn't understand the
job.' "
Republican or Democrat. This
pressure has been put on Shapp."
Wheeler added that primaries
were coming up at that time,
making politicians think twice
before they offended any large
group.
In the current suit, Sloane
originally came to USG, who
referred her to Campana of the
ACLU.
Concerning the outcome, Wheeler
said, "I cannot conceive of anything
less than a clear cut victory. We've
got the evidence."
He added that he expects the
commissioners to appeal. "We're
getting fought tooth and nail. Not
because the commissioners want to
do a good job but because certain
people want to stop students from
voting here."
If the case is successful, Wheeler
said the• next project will be "to
attempt to educate students as to
why it's better to register here than
at home."
USG is providing transportation
for anyone interested in attending
the court case in Scranton today.
Cars leave at 9 a.m. from the front
of the HUB.
The House Administration Committee,
/fleeting in closed session, reported out a
repealer Sept. 19 sponsored by Rep.
Samuel L. Devine, R-Ohio. No public
hearings were held.
Common Cause, the self-styled
citizen's lobby, protested to both House
Speaker Carl Albert and Minority
Leader Gerald Ford. Both House leaders
had promised that any tampering with
the new campaign finance law would get
public hearings, Common Cause said.
Neither Albert nor Ford has responded
to the complaints, but the porposal
showed up on today's House calendar
listed only as a measure "to amend Title
18 U.S. Code.
Common Cause said it would have 10
lobbyists on the Hill today to tell
congressmen what the calendar item is.
PSU funds delayed
By KEN CHESTEK
Collegian Senior Reporter
A surprise second amendment to the
University's appropriations bill seems
certain to delay passage by the
legislature until tomorrow at the
earliest. The bill is scheduled to be on the
floor of the State Senate today and could
take close to a week to pass.
With the delay, the University has run
out of money And currently is running on
loans.
The first amendment to the bill added
$2 million, raising the total to $83.7
million. This amendment was inserted to
make the bill identical to the House
version, eliminating the need for a
conference committee.
But while local Sen. Joseph S. Am
merman, D-34th district, was drumming
up support for this amendment, a second
one, to reduce appropriations for every
faculty member teaching less than 12
hours a week, was presented and
adopted.
Sen. Richard A. Snyder, R-13th
district, introduced the amendment to
"get a day's work" out of the faculty
members. Although details would have
to be worked out for lab instructors and
special considerations such as graduate
classes, he felt this would insure all
teachers would be paid for a full work
N. Viets realize POW importance
Prisoners vital to
Editor's Note: Peter Arnett, the AP
special correspondent who won the
Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of In
dochina, spent 10 days in North Vietnam
reporting the release of the American
pilots. In the following dispatch he
discusses the political implications of
the prisoner issue.
By PETER ARNETT
AP Special Correspondent
The 12-foot tall painted poster showed
a Vietnamese militia girl using her rifle
to prod an American pilot as he
staggered along a juncle path with his
hands on his head.
Strolling along a Hanoi street below,
three Americans, each of whom, at one
time could have been a model for the
poster,*shook their heads in amazement.
Here they were Navy Lt. Mark
Gartley, Navy Lt. Norris Charles and
Air Force Major Edward Elias,
inhabitants up to two days earlier of a
prisoner of war camp in the heart of
Hanoi promenading along the streets
of the capital city of the country they had
frequently bombed from their aircraft.
The war was still on. The people
passing by on foot and on bicycles knew
who they were because the release had
been widely publicized. And yet other
than some curiosity by the kids, no one
seemed concerned.
In 1968, fellow American pilots had
been paraded through the streets of
Hanoi to be reviled by the population,
That Gartley, Charles and Norris could
so casually stroll through Hanoi today
shows a major change in the attitude of
the North Vietnamese government to the
American prisoners they have in their
hands.
In the early war years North Vietnam
seemed to look upon American prisoners
as the inevitable booty of war, and gave
them indifferent treatment.
But the circumstances of the pilot
release in Hanoi two weeks ago, the first
since 1969, inidcate that the pilot
prisoners have become a valuable
weapon in North Vietnamese eyes to be
used to influence American public
opinion and U.S. policy.
Greeting them warmly on the steps of
his imposing residence in Hanoi, Prime
Minister Pham Van Dong said that the
pilot release was a signal that all the
pilots would be freed once the right
moment came.
The right moment?
That would be when the war ended,
Premier Dong said, and that would come
if the United States responded positively
to the most recent proposals put forward
by the Communist side in Paris.
Another official, Hoang Tung, editor of
the official Communist Party newspaper
Nhan Dan, said the ideal outcome of the
American presidential elections for
Hanoi and for the prisoners would be a
victory by Sen. George McGovern.
"On January 20 when he enters the
White House we -shall release the first
series of prisoners. Within 90 days the
twd sides would have solved all
problems and the last prisoners will
leave Hanoi for home. We shall organize
a big party to see them off, and give
flowers and explode firecrackers,"
he said.
But Tung did not seem to see the
prisoner release itself as helping
McGovern to victory. "I don't think
progressive forces can change President
Nixon's strong position now. It would be
wonderful in November if that could be
reversed," he said.
An indication of Hanoi's interest in the
impact of the pilot release on American
public opinion was given by Bui Thi
Cam, a member of the National
Assembly and an expert on health
legislation. "The most impressive thing
about this event is that little Vietnam
and the plain people of America can
cause such excitement. It has put the
war and the prisoners back on page one •
where they should be," she told a
member of the escort delegation.
Monday, October 2, 1972
University Park Pennsylvania Vol. 73, No. :Sx 16 pages
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State Universitl,
The amendment, added to the budget
bills for Pitt, Penn State and Temple,
surprised many people. Ammerman
said, "This came out of the clear blue
sky. We had no idea another amendment
was being prepared."
However, it seems certain the bill still
is not in its final form. Ammerman told
The Daily Collegian he is planning to
mount a drive to remove the amendment
when the Senate convenes today. Snyder
later told The Collegian he is planning to
substitute still another amendment
instead of the one currently tacked on.
Ammerman said his attempts to
remove the amendment are an effort to
speed up passage of the bill.
Should he be successful, the bill could
pass the Senate today and go on to the
governor for his signature. Should he
fail, a conference committee may have
to be called to compromise differences
in the versions of the bill passed by the
two houses.
Snyder explained his new amendment
will require all state-related universities
to study ways in which it would be
possible to insure a full work load by all
teachers. Rather than withhold ap
propriations this year, universities
would submit a report to the legislature
with recommendations in this area.
Her reference to the "plain people of
America" meant the antiwar
movement.
Emphasis on the pilots in Hanoi and
the United States has been heavy in
recent weeks because of the dramatic
nature of the affair, particularly
because a mother and a wife flew to
Hanoi to reunite with the men. The
presence of this reporter from The
Associated Press, a CBS television
correspondent and the constant at
tendance of all members of the
residence foreign press in Hanoi and
local reporters, showed that Hanoi was
interested in giving the widest possible
publicity to the release.
But where the prisoner issue fits into
North Vietnam's overall war strategy is
another matter.
Those same officials who assured
recent visitors of their desire to release
all prisoners as soon as possible, also
made it clear that the war would go on
with intensity if no settlement came.
"There are those in the United States
who have imagined for years that we
won't last, that one day we will be
finished and exhausted," Premier Dong
said. "They imagined it in 1964, in 1968
Soviets blast
MOSCOW (AP) The Soviet Union
congratulated the Chinese people
yesterday on the 23rd anniversary of
Communist China, but blasted Chair
man Mao Tse-tung for "theoretical
incompetence" and anti-Soviet policies.
The somewhat surly "happy birth
day" message was addressed to the
chairman of the People's Republic of
China, without specifically naming him.
In keeping with the practice of recent
years during the ideological split bet
ween the two Communist giants, the
Motion called?
FIRST-TIME EVER
Blue Band majorettes
added more half-time
motion in their first
appearance at the lowa-
Penn State game
Saturday. Mary
Wilchek, ( 4th
education), right, was
one of the 12 new
twirlers.
Of his original amendment, Snyder
said on reconsideration "it seemed
unfair to throw this at the universities at
this stage of the school year " The new
plan will give the universities a chance
to plan and make their own recom
mendations.
He felt certain those senators who
supported the original amendment will
go along with his new one.
Under Senate rules, the re-amended
version could not be voted on until
tomorrow. The House would then be
allowed to vote on the different Senate
version. Should they concur, the bill is
adopted and would go to the governor.
If they defeat the amended version,
the Senate could either back down from
their version or call a conference
committee. Snyder said he would
recommend a conference committee,
although he hoped the House would
adopt the Senate version.
Senior Vice President for Finance
Robert A. Patterson announced several
weeks ago that the University has
borrowed $4 million, primarily to pay
students who had not received their
grants from the Pennsylvania Higher
Education Assistance .Agency.
He was out of town this weekend and
could not be reached to say if any more
stopgap loans have been made
Hanoi
and now. It is a tragedy for those people
We will see how it all ends."
Editor Tung said he thought President
Nixon could win re-election without
reaching a settlement of the Vietnam
War. "In that case then we must prepare
for four more years of war," he said
And he added that would mean four
more years of incarceration for the
pilots.
The real place of the prisoner issue in
Hanoi policy seems to be as just one of
the myriad arrows the North Viet
namese have in their political bow.
There are those who believe that Hanoi
saw the captured pilots as valuable tools
only when the Nixon Administration
began playing up the issue from 1969
onwards.
The North Vietnamese can be ex
pected to keep pressing the prisoner
issue, particularly by continuing to relay
messages home via Hanoi Radio and
introducing selected men to visiting
antiwar activists and journalists
More pilot releases might also be in
the works, even though no indication of
this was given to the escort delegation
that returned with the pilots late last
week from Hanoi.
Red China
message expressed conviction that
relations between the Soviet Union and
China must be improved.
Yet the Maoist leadership was accused
of straying from the path of Marxism-
Leninism and the telegram of
congratulations spoke of the "complete
theoretical imcompetence of Nlaoisim
and its incompatability with scientific
socialism."
The telegram was issued in the name
of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
and the Council of Ministers.
~~~~~
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