Pass-fail option mayend By LEON J. POLLOM *Collegian Stiff Writer The pass-fail option and late drop period soon will be eliminated if a proposal going before the Faculty Senate this month is approved. The Senate Pass-Fail Committee is recommending the two options be replaced by tie Academic Redemp tion Option. With the new option, all courses could be taken for a letter grade but a student also could petition to have up to 18 credits of course grades removed from his grade point average. All grades received would remain on the student's transcript. The proposal woulid permit the grade of any course tel be eliminated from the grade point computation, but such courses would not count toward graduation. In addition, a student dropped by f the .dally . 01 leglan Tuesday, May 13,1975 Vol. 75, No. 170 10 pages , Cam -- bdclia takes • - U.S. _ship the capture of the American intelligence Panel finishes ship 1 'SS Pueblo in 1968 and the in- . ternational incident in the Gulf of Tonkin t in 1964 when North Vietnamese patrol t boats reportedly tired on two U.S, Navy destroyers. the 1 'SS Maddox'and the USS ener ax Turner .loy ASHINGTON ( UPI)--An unarmed American merchant vessel reported esterday it had been seized under fire I) \ a Cambodian naval vessel President Ford termed it "an act of piracy" and ‘‘ a rned of "serious consequences . ' unless the ship is promptly released Announcement of the incident came from Sthite 'louse ?ress Secretary Ron \ essen. ,who' said the container ship :\laaguez'. had been fired on, seized on the high Seas and taken into the Cam bodian port of Kompongsom- along with its AmericOn crew There %%ere immediate demands from some members of* Congress that the administration take quick action to assure release of the ship and crew. A State Department spokesman said "we are taking immediate steps" along that line. but declined to elaborate Nessen told reporters at the White If ou , ,e that Fbrd "considers this seizure an art of piracy lie said the President held an emergency 43-minute meeting ith the National Security Council, and arned that failureol the Cambodians -to anmediatelrelease the vessel "will ha e the molTserious consequences Like the State Department spokesman. Nessen declined to spell out %%hat alternatives the President had in •ticking return of the ship. owned by Sea- Land Inc of denlo Park, N.J.. Later. Nessen said there had been no intact. directly or indirectly, with the Khmer Rouge government which took control in Cambodia after the American hacked regime tell .\•ked it the treighter might have cdrrteil intelligence equipment for a spy missu Nessen said: "The answer is a lat no Ile said "as tar as we know - there \t ere no , injuries to the captain of the ship or its ig-man . crew Ile said the vessel ,ent a "mayday - international distress signal be! ore its radio went silent. Nessen also disclosed that the Cam hoclizins had seized a Panamanian ship on the high seas several days ago and released it. The White House said it had int ormation that this vessel Was headed toward Bangkok Ness en said the seizure occurred in the Gull of Thailand. 60 miles from the Cambodian coast and 8 miles off a small rock island claimed by Cambodia and Vietnam The ship was en route from !long Kong; to Thailand. Pr a t ) CIE PEACIIER an Staff Writer fly organized by the ?test increasing tuition m. today on Old Main A seconi. t niversity will be held lawn A similar rally held Thursday at tracted almost 1,000 students and faculty members Another march around campus also is plapned. scheduled to leave Old Main at 12 - :10 Nearly 100 persons participated in last week's march, chanting "Fight the hike-- join us " John Harris, one of the organizers of the second rally, said the rally was "misrepresented" in last Week's issue of the Daily Collegian. Harris said the group does not plan to push for a strike hut are willing to discuss it. Bill Dutton (9th-food service and housing administration) said there probably would not be a strike unless students worked with the faculty and University workers. Cliff Weingus, president of theTenants' Union, said the people who attend today's rally will the University because of grace deficiency points could use the option to increase his grade average. - The option would be available to all currently enrolled students and could _ be used at any time before the student graduates. Candidates for associate degrees would be permitted to apply the option to a maximum of nine credits ofi previously scheduled courses. Ad junct students would be limited to six credits. - The proposal recomm'ends that students who have already used pass fail be limited in their use of the new option if it is implemented. For instance, a student who has used nine credits of pass-fail would be permitted to use only nine credits of the Academic Redemption Option. ' The committee's report stated that the new option is needed because the Jack Mayor. ,vice president of Sea- Land in IN ashington. said the ship carried 40 Americans. lie described it as a C 2 class cargo ship of about 10,000 tons loaded with "just senergl cargo anything from soup to nuts. - Mayor said. "We have.some military cargo but it's not classified stuff of any kind Asked to describe 7 the situation. Hessen said. "Fm not going to characterize it as grave or serious but I would call your attention to the original statement by the President. Ile described the Cambodian vessel as a "gunboat - but offered no further description Nessen jaid, Ford was not briefing congressiMal leaders specifiCally on the incident but had disclosed some details to Senate Republican and Democratic leaders Hugh Scott and Mike Mansfield. in Montana during telephone calls concerning legislative affairs Sen James L. Buckley, R-N.Y.. urged Ford to "order immediate punitive air and naval attacks on appropriate targets in Cambodia," saying "in no other way can we underscore the fact that we will no longer tolerate_ acts of international banditry " Sen John Sparkman. D-La , chairman ul the Senate Foreign Relations Corn mittee, said the United States should get the vessel back "any way we can"—that "it a person shoots at you, you've got a right to shoot back Sen James B. Allen. 1)-Ala . called the seizure "an outrage which we can't let go unchallenged." The senators were joined by retired \avy Cmdr Lloyd Bucher, whose spy ship Pueblo was seized by' the North Koreans in 1968 "Our reaction has to be positive and swift. — he said. Sen Jacob K. Javits. R-NkY. coun seled patience but did not rule out the eventual need for force. Pentagon officials declined to say what if any alternative actions they were considering, although spokesmen in dicated the primary effort would be aimed at release of the crew. The Pentagon declined to say whether any t I .S. Navy ships were in the Gulf of Thailand. The U.S. 7th Fleet, con siderably above normal strength because of the evacuation from South 2rid rally to combat determine the possibility of a strike. "If Oswald shows up and stands clearly on the side of the students, - Weingus said. "It probably won't hap pen.- Ilarris defined a strike as the physical closing of the University." The strike would show a "united ef fort," Harris said, although it probably would not be a sustained effort. He said a one-day strike may be held, depending on crowd reaction. But, Harris said, the rally is not concerned primarily with a strike but will be a "united effort between students, faculty and workers" to present their demands to University President John W. Oswald, the ad-, ministration and "any people in the power structure of the state who can affect the issue." The six demands being presented are: —to stop the tuition hike, —an audit and review of the University budget, —no cutbacks in faculty or academic programs, pass-fail system has created more problems than it has solved. "Certain professional schools, graduate schools and prospective em ployers are reported to take 'a dim view of 'pass' grades when evaluating applications for admission or em ployment," the report said. The report also cites complaints by faculty that students do only enough work_to get by with a "D" or "pass" grade. The Committee concluded that pass-fail and late drop actions "are in terrelated methods by which students attempt to reduce pressure for grades and make up for less than maximum performance." The Committee said the new system will tighten academic standards and reduce grade pressure at the same time. The report said the standards would University Park, Pennsylvania Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University Ten cents per copy Vietnam. is in the Pacific but 4.s location was not disclosed At the State Department, spokesman Robert L Funseth said: "We are taking immediate steps to obtain prompt release of the ship We do not believe it would be helpful at this time to discuss what we will do." The vessel, registered in Wilmington, l)cl , was en route from Hong Kong to Sattahip. Thailand, when seized, Mayor said Sea-Land Service, one of the world's largest shippers of containerized cargo, said at its Menlo Park headquarters the ship is used (o haul materials , between Far Eastern ports hut does not sail from the I 'nited States. ' The f‘layaguez is known in the ship ping industry as a feeder vessel that moves between smaller ports and transfers cargo to .larger oceangoing ships that carry 1.096 containers. The 480-foot Mayaguez has been in service with Sea-Land since 1944. The company says it has a capacity to carry 266 containers at a speed of 15 knots Nessen said the seizure occurred near nine degrees. 48 minutes north latitude, 111* - 2. degrees. s:i minutes east longitude. The seizure evoked memories of both 'Ball lightning` - hits area, rarely seen , phenomenon An unusual weather phenomenon. which had previously been witnessed by only a few meteorologists. was visible in the State College area at 11:45 last night. According to student meteorologist Roy Gallant, "a yellow flash of lightning rolled down the valley from the north east, changed to green and then split up into separate bolts." Gallant said the lightning, which lasted for 20 seconds, is known as ball lightning and is rarely seen It is unexplained. Gallant said "But there were five of us who saw it. We didn't know what it was. My roommate thought it was the Rapture and I thought I was having a heart attack." Gallant and his colleague§.= l ßill Bua tuition increases —no cutbacks in University em ployment, —no PHEAA ( Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency) cutbacks and ---proportional and democratic student representation on the Board of Trustees. Harris said some speakers have been scheduled kir today's rally but no definite list is available. He said Oswald had been contacted twice by letter to speak, adding he also had extended an open invitation to any Faculty Senate member. Peter Myer, assistant professor of economic planning, also will speak and several PSUPA (Penn State University Professional Association) • members, Harris said. Myer spoke at Thursday!s rally, telling all students to quit school and go on welfare which would bankrupt the state. Harris said that since Thursday's rally, "the consciousness and con sideration of the (increasing' tuition) issue has risen considerably. If for that reason alone, we consider it a total success." ifferelse because every student in a class would have to work and be graded on the same basis. Students would feel less grade pressure because they could eliminate a grade if it was unsatisfactory, the report stated. The committee said they! think it will kliminate the problem of istudents begging for an "F" rather than a "D" since students could file for redemp tion regardless of the grade received. "It will also end student aittempts, now quite common, to reverse the Pass-Fail • decision after discovering the pre-converted grade w4s higher than expected," the report said. It added that the new option would permit a good student who has had a bad experience in one or more courses to eliminate those courses from grade calculations and give a cumulative average that- reflects his actual abilities. The Gull of Tfinkin incident prompted President Lyndon B. John.ion to order the bombing of oil storage facilities in Ilaiphong. an act whiCh sharply escalated S. military involvement in Vietnam The Pueblo and its t 33 crewmembers were seized by North kofea Jan. 23. 1968, an act which Secretary of State Dean Rusk described as "in category of actions to be construed as an act of .Johnson reacted to the Pueblo capture by ordering a call up of 14.*7 Air Force and Navy Reserves to acti i ve duty and holstered naval and air strength around Korea. The l'nited States claimed Pueblo was outside 12-mile territorial limit when seized by North Korean patrol vessels. ('mdr Lloyd M. Bucher. captain of the Pueblo. and 81 surviving crewmembers were released by North Koreans Dec. 22. P}6B j_ Mark Levisay. Dave Decker and Bill Hudak - watched the lightning from the Meteorology Observatory. "N% e had a good vantage point from here. - Gallant said. "We Just watched as the green balls floated down the valley The lightning caused a power drop in the area A number of lights on campus dimmed and.flickered. CIA WASHINGTON ( UPI )—The vice enairman of the Kocketeller commission said yesterday it was hisl opinion that with "one or two major exceptions," the CIA never engaged in massive domestic spying. C Douglas Dillon, talking with reporters as the commission completed its 18-week investigation of the CIA, said the inquiry had uncovered "no major surprises" beyond original published reports last December that the agency was involved in wiretapping and opening of mail from private citizens. Dillon said the commission thoroughly investigated allegations the CIA was involved in plOts to asstivinate foreign leaders, and centered ouch reports involving Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. He did not divulge the commission's findings. The former Treasury secretary, second-ranking member f?f the special presidential commission headed by Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, said the commission probably Would not shed any new light on the aslassination of President John F. Kennedy. "Was there any indication of massive lawbreaking—domestic spying by the CIA?" Dillon was asked. ' "Not in my opinion," he replied. "My own personal opinion, which is not 'necessarily that of the commission, is BINDERY 202 PATTEE WASHINGTON UPI )—The House Ways and Means Committee yesterday completed an energy tax bill the chairman called a better program thad President Ford's. By a vote of 19 to 16, after an angry four-hour session. The committee ap proved a bill which would:, - Raise federal gasoline taxes by three cents next Jan. I and up to 20 cents a year later it consumption continues to rise Tax autos with poor mileage Reward home-owners for making their homes more energy-efficient. Limit imports of oil and petroleum products The committee closed off any attempt, either in committee or later in the House, to add to the bill a clause providing for removal of price controls on oil and natural gas combined with a tax on the windfall profits" which would result. Committee Chairman Al Ullman said he hoped to bring the bill before the House for debate and a vote next week before Congress leaves for its Memorial Day recess. "This has been a long, tough ordeal," I 'llman said "I don't think there is a tougher question to be resolved before this Congress This is an invisible crisis and that is 'why it is so difficult to legislate This bill is not all that all of us wanted, but when' you compare it on an honest basis, this is going to be a better program by far than that offered by the administration."• _ . At the end of the final session of wrangling. all the Republicans voted to oppose the bill and they were joined by investigations end that with one or two rather major ex ceptions. everything that was done was rather peripheral and cohnected in one way or another with the legitimate work of the agency "The allegation is that the agency was devoting a major part of its time on domestic areas when it was supposed to be operating abroad," Dillon said. "I don't think this was the case.- Dillon said he was surprised by initial reports that the CIA had engaged in illegal activity. Except for more details. he said. "We didn't dig up anything that wasn't there in newspaper reports." He said in come cases, the original reports were exaggerated. And he said he had "no knowledge" of reports that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated Kennedy in retaliation for an un successful CIA plot against Castro. "In fact, we have testimony by certain people it was not the case," he said. Dillon said when the commission began work in early January, it did not expect to get b into the problem of allegations that the CIA plotted the assassination of foreign leaders. "We were asked to look into this by the White House—the President," he said. The commission held the list of 18 weekly meetings to hear testimony from CIA and other intelligence area officials. K %THY AIcGRATH (11th-theatre) is held captive at gunpoint Prisoner b 3 Bill Wertz 19th-theatr - e) and Regina Murphy (I;th-theatre) in :',The Girl"—the final Fiye O'clock Theatre production. It 74 4 ,i II be presented 5:20 1),.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 7:20 p.m. Friday in the Pavillion Theatre. Admission is free. Tax business use of scarce fuels 3 COPIES Demuc•ralic Reps Phil NI Landrum of Georgia. Joseph K Karth of Minnesota. Otis G. Pike of New York and Henry I lelstoski of New, .lerse% During the long session the committee first rejected. then approked. a move to delete a section that would have allowed the President to set up a federal pur chase *stem for oil imports Thal could have led to competitive bidding b). foreign countries for the American oil market Also rejected were moves to delete the oil import quotas section and a section giving tax credits for certain large scale, recycling of materials s. Republicans pushed' for a provision lilting price controls rrom natural gas and oil while limiting the "windfall profits - that could accrue to the gas and oil companies Rut the committee voted to seek a House debate rule which would preclude adding the section. Reps .1..1 "Jake - Pickle. D-Tex . and Barber 13 Oonable. R-N V . clashed over Pickle's proposal to give Congress veto power over the second round of gasoline taxes in the bill's two-phase system ('onable called the proposal "a pretty shabby political game . lie said Pickle was "going to set it up that the President has to report on whether there has been an increase on gasoline consumption. and then let Congress save the day The committee rejected Pickle's proposal Rep John .1 Duncan said. "It's a had bill and it won't work But Ullman said. This is a bill that can very well be the first step toward turning to a new energy policy in this coUntry The commission will spend the next three weeks writing a final report which will be given to President Ford .lune fi The final two witnesses at the closed sessions were Adm George B Ander son, who has been chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board for the last five years. and William .1 Cotter, chief postal in spector for the Postal Service. The Foreign Intelligence Advisory . Board, along with the National Security Coupcil, has overall responsibility for therlA and the White House Cotter told reporters after the session that his testimony covered the same area he discussed a month ago before a House subcommittee when he revealed that the CIA had a 20-year program of opening all private mail between the United States and Russia Cotter said in his House testimony that he had tried to get the program stopped in 1969 but had been overruled by CIA Director Richard Helms He said he finally succeedeth in bringing the program to a halt in 1973. Variably cloudy. cooler, few showers possible. High today 65. Clearing tonight. Low 47. Mostly sunny, pleasant tomorrow. High 70. Photo by Ira Joffe bill Weather
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