The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, April 01, 1976, Image 1

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    Degree study dis
University President John W. Oswald discusses the future possibility of elimin
ating undetermined undergraduate and graduate degree programs at a meeting
of the Penn State Veteran's Organization. Rich Dapprich. vet's first vice presi
dent, is seated behind Oswald.
Bankrupt
rail lines
reorganize
WASHINGTON (UPI) Seven
bankrupt railroads went out of existence
as separate lines today and into a
government-planned corporation
' pledged to make them one paying
.concern,
The Penn Central and six other
bankrupt lines were taken over at one
minute past midnight EST by Conßail,
under whose aegis they became a
trimmed-down system.
It was the largest corporate
reorganization in the nation's history.
There was no interruption of freight,
passenger or commuter service. Hun
dreds of freight cars travelled last night
one minute cars of the bankrupt
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, 111. (UPI)
Truckers began .to pull their rigs
off the road in scattered eastern cities
at midnight EST today starting the
first nationwide Teamsters strike in
history: There was indication many
drivers would continue to work under
temporary agreements. .
Labor Secretary W.J. Usery
worked nonstop with negotiators for
the Teamsters union and the trucking
industry in suburban Arlington
Heights in an effort to halt the
walkout by 400,000 Teamsters,
scheduled for midnight local time
across the nation.
The situation was complicated by
calls for wildcat walkouts where the
strike deadline was yet to arrive.
Commercial Motor Freight in
Columbus, Ohio, said drivers went on
strike at midnight EST. A Teamsters
official said truckers also were
reported on strike in Detroit and
Manhattan.
Chicago area Teamsters officials
advised local union members, who
are not directly covered by the
national pact„to keep working while
Reagan
blasts Ford
WASHINGTON ( UPI) Ronald
Reagan harshly attacked President
Ford's domestic and foreign policies in a
nationwide television address yesterday
that .marked a sharp shift in his cam
paign strategy for the Republican
presidential nomination.
Reagan said that because of Ford's
foreign policy "our nation is in danger,
and the danger grows greater with each
passing day:"
And he charged that Ford's claims of a
solid economic recovery echoed the
claims made before the 1972 election and
added "Then, the roof fell in."
Reagan's 30-" minute speech, taped by
NBC at an estimated cost of about
$lOO,OOO, was a composite of the in
creasingly tough attacks that the former
California governor mounted against
Ford in recent:primaries. ,
But the speech raised no major new
issues nor did it give any indication of
Reagan's future campaign plans.
Pennsy and other lines, the next they
were Conßail cars.
Little immediate change was expected
except for the shutdown of some repair
shops and the abandonment of 2,800
miles of track, most of it lightly used
branch line. . •
Because some of the abandoned lines
already had ceased operation, a final
count showed 2,034 miles of track that
carried trains yesterday would not be in
business today.
The Consolidated Rail Corporation
(Conßail) was created to rehabilitate
most of the lines of the bankrupt Penn
Central, Erie Lackawanna, Lehigh
Valley, Jersey Central, Reading, Lehigh
and Hudson River, and Ann. Arbor
railroads.
The corporation will run a 17,000 mile
system from the eastern seaboard to the
Missouri River and from southern
Canada to the Ohio River. It also will
operate trains over 3,100 miles of line
that states chose to receive federal
subsidies. '
It will. handle one-fourth of U.S. rail
traffic and employ 97,000 workers. '
Truckers strike set
they attempted to work out interim
contract agfeements. One official
said he expected 80 per cent of the
40,000 Chicago area truckers to work
under interim agreements.
The strike loomed as a potential
crippling blow to the nation's
recovering economy. The Teamsters
involved haul 60 per cent of the
nation's manufactured goods and the
trucks are considered an extension of
the auto industry's assembly line.
Industry officials say assembly lines
will halt within the week if the strike
persists. •
President Ford ' monitored the
situation closely and a Labor
Department source said the
President will declare a national
emergency and seek an 80-day
cooling-off period under the Taft-
Hartley injunction. .
The union, bargaining in Chicago on
a national master freight agreement,
last night sent out word to local
leaders to negotiate their own local
contracts or "shut 'em down by
midnight." A Teamster spokesman
told UPI "some employers reportedly
And despite his well-known financial
straits the campaign is believed to be
about half . a million dollars in debt
Reagan made no open plea for money to
keep his conservative crusade on the
road. , .
Ford's campaign committee issued a
statement which said "this is former
governor Reagan's basic stump speech.
There is nothing new in it, nothing that
hasn't already been repudiated by the
majority of Republican voters.
"The American voter can clearly
perceive the difference between this
type of negative rhetoric and the positive
record of President Ford in leading the
nation toward economic recovery at
home and peace-through-strength
abroad."
Reagan said there has been an effort
made "to suggest that there aren't any
real differences between Mr. Ford and
myself. I believe there are and these
differences are fundamental.
"One of them has to do with our ap
proach.to government. Before Richard
Nixon appointed him vice president, Mr.
Ford was a congressman for 25 years.
His concern was for the welfare of his
congression'al district. For most of his
adult life he has been a part of the
Washington establishment."
4. 0 4111011
the
daily
Oswald warns PSU veterans
:udget cuts may
By MARK GRIFFITH
Collegian Staff Writer
Future reductions in the University
budget may have to be carried out by the
elimination of present degree programs,
said University President John W.
Oswald at last night's meeting of the
Penn State Veteran's Organization
(PSUVO) :
Oswald said that a review of all un
dergraduate and graduate degree
programs, which will assess both the
quality of each program and the value of
that program to the University, is
presently under way and will be com
pleted in about two years.
When finished, he said, the review will
be used to determine which majors
would be eliminated if the University is
forced to cut its budget in the future.
Presently, said Oswald, budget cuts
are carried out by trimming the budgets
of all departments, with partial funds
returned to the neediest' offices.
However, he added, this practice is
deeply cutting into many departments'
Budget bill voted down by House
HARRISBURG (AP) A $4.7 billion
general state budget was voted down
yesterday by the House.' -
The measure was rejected in a 88-81
vote late last night following a marathon
session. Although the bill was defeated it
was expected there would be another
vote.
House Majority Leader K. Leroy, Irvis
said the reconsideration vote would
come "as early as tomorrow morning,
as late as June 29."
Thirteen Democrats joined solid
Republican opposition to the budget in
last • night's defeat, but many other
lawmakers had left the chamber by the
time the vote was taken.
Many Republicans attacked the
Democrats for moving the budget so
quickly. They said they had only one day
to study the massive proposal. , ,
Minority. Leader Robert Butera , at
tacked the method in which the proposed
have signed interim agreements."
Teamster officials from Penn
sylvania and Oklahoma said . locals
were advised throughout the nation to
seek a local settlement with their
individual employers outside the mas
ter agreement.
As the deadline neared, truck
depots in Chicago reported vehicles
were coming in and going out empty
an indication drivers expected a
strike. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Milton
Shapp said all National Guard per;-
sonnel have been told they may be
ordered to report for duty in event of
a strike.
Shapp said the guardsmen would be
used to keep the peace and deliver
essential supplies. All Pennsylvania
State Polcie troop commanders also
were alerted.
A prolonged strike could have
devastating effects.
The Department of Transportation
compiled some "very rough" figures
and concluded the immediate effect
in the trucking industry alone would
be to idle 1 million workers and cause
a loss of $3OO million a week.
Speedy Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon (UPI) 2 -- Leftist
Socialist leader Kamal Jumblatt
yesterday said growing indications of a
new cease-fire in Lebanon were in the
making. But he killed hopes of an im
mediate peace by saying "nothing has
been decided yet."
Former Premier Saeb Salam con
ferred with Jumblatt earlier in the day
and predicted that a truce was im
minent. He was summoned to Damascus
for urgent consultations with Syrian
President Hafez Assad and was ex
pected to leave today.
The fierce fighting that has hit Beirut
and the countryside for 11 months
tapered off yesterday to occasional
bursts of machinegun and mortar fire
after the fierce fighting over the past 24
hours which left more than 110 dead and
181 wounded.
During the day Jumbaltt hinted he
may be willing to accept a cease-fire if it
meant averting an invasion by Syria.
Reports from Damascus said Syria had
massed 17,000 troops at the frontier and
was ready to move in and impose a truce
if its mediation efforts failed. "
"The military war may have ended
but the political war is continuing,"
Jumblatt Isaid. The comment marked a
significant softening in Jumblatt's
hardline stand that the war would not
end until Lebanon's Maronite Christians
Thursday. April 1. 1976
Vol. 76. No. 142 12 pages
budgets and may not be feasible in the
future.
Therefore, he said, although he does
not want to do it, some majors might
have to be closed to new entrants, which
would effectively eliminate the major
while allowing students presently
enrolled in that program to obtain their
desired degree. This elimination of
degree programs, Oswald said, "is going
to create all kinds of hell."
In the area of veterans affairs, Oswald
said that administration attitudes
towards veterans in Washington, D.C.,
are more negative this year than they
have been in the past three or four years.
Oswald pointed out that the ad
ministration has requested that no
money be appropriated for the Veterans
Cost of Instruction Program ( VCIP) for
fiscal 1977, and that the $24 million ap
propriated for 1976 be rescinded. The
zero appropriations request is made by
the administration each year, but
Congress usually allots the VCIP $25 to
$3O million annually, he said.
budget was prepared by Gov. Shapp and
Democratic leaders in the legislature.
The Senate passed its version last week.
"It's phony . . . although very few
people in this House know where it's
phony specifically," Butera said during
a 30-minute speech.
"It's all done in secret. This approach
to a budget guarantees disaster down the
road," he said.
Even though final approval is still to
come, the new budget moved at light
ning speed compared with past years.
The 1975-76 budget won final approval on
June 25, 1975, just five days before the
start of the fiscal year. .
Democrats said the 1976-77 budget is
balanced, holds the line on spending and
will require no new taxes. Republicans
said a deficit is hidden in the proposal.
Both the House and Senate refused to
go along with,Grov. Shapp's request for a
nickel-a-pack increase in the cigarette
Voting light in USG race
By MARTY SMITH
Collegian Staff Writer
Voter turnout for the Undergraduate
Student Government elections is lagging
slightly behind that of last year's
election, with just over 3,150 votes cast
yesterday.
Bad weather was blamed for the poor
turnout at the polls, in which only 10 per
cent of the student body voted.
Elections officials said they expect an
additional 2,000 students to come out
today, the final day of the elections.
John Arndt, assistant elections
commissioner, said the turnout will be
lower today because "students who have
it set in their minds that they'll vote,
vote on the first day."
Lines at the polls, which open at 9 a.m.
and close at 7 p.m., were minimal, with
the peak hours coming at mealtimes.
Among the dorm areas, East Halls had
the highest votOr turnout, with Centre
Halls registering the lowest total.
Over 600 of the votes cast were write
ins, with a significant number coming
from West Halls, where candidates
Sharon Kelly and Audrey Weinberg live.
Of the 291 votes cast in West Halls, 120
were write-ins.
A high percentage of write-ins was
had been decisively defeated on the
battlefield as well as in the political
arena.
Reports circulated in United Nations
diplomatic circles that terms of a truce
had been worked out and that President
Suleiman Franjieh had agreed to resign
once a new president is elected. Arab
diplomats held urgent, private con
ferences to discuss the situation.
The United States became openly
involved in the Lebanese crisis for the
first time yesterday when it sent
Ambassador Dean Brown to Beirut.
However, diplomatic sources said, his
mediation efforts probably would be
limited to talks with Syrian officials and
Lebanese Christians because of poor
U.S. relations with the leftist Moslems in
Beirut. He was to see Franjieh today.
With rumors of a truce filling the air,
Jumblatt conferred with hig leftist allies
in Beirut last night and afterwards told
reporters there would be no agreement
on a cease-fire that evening.
"Don't 'be in a hurry for it," he said.
"Nothing has been decided yet."
His leftist followers said whether there
is a cease-fire or not "depends on the
strength of the assurances we get.' One
source said it was no longer a question of
whether Franjieh would resign but how
and when.
close programs
The VCIP is a federal program which
pays any college or university par
ticipating in the program a fixed amount
for each vet enrolled, which is used
towards the cost of maintaining vets
programs, such as the Veterans'
Counselor and the Veterans' Coordinator
in the Penn State Student Assistance
Office.
Oswald said he supports both the
continuation of the VCIP and the ex
tension of the veterans' delimiting date,
which is the date on which a vet's
educational assistance benefits expire.
The delimiting date presently occurs ten
years after a vet is discharged.
Oswald added that he has taken no
stand on the continuation of the present
GI Bill or the creation of a new bill, and
Was interested in. the opinions of
veterans on the subject. Four of the five
vets speaking from the audience com
mented in favor of keeping the GI Bill as
a recruiting inducement.
Commenting on PSUVO's letter
campaign to congressmen in
estimated $47 million in revenue.
The Senate also cut $16.4 million from
Shapp's plan and made another $32
million available by shifting leftover
funds from this fiscal year.
The House version eliminated the
carryover provision and chopped
another $31.4 million from proposed
expenditures. '
Major items cut from the Senate
version include $19.9 million in cash
grants for welfare recipients, $6.8
million in basic education subsidies, $3.2
million for pupil transportation and $3.1
million for prisons.
Items increased by the House included
$14.3 million for county health depart
ments, double the figure in both the
Shapp and Senate versions; $lO million
for local Bicentennial spending, double
the Shapp request; and $l2 million in aid
to private colleges , and -schools, also
double the Shapp request.
also registered in the town area,
reportedly because there were only 12
candidates for 16 Senate seats.
Al Leard, USG vice presidential
candidate, said that there was a low
turnout for the Glazier-Leard ticket in
areas where their support is con
centrated. These areas are North,
Centre and Pollock Halls, in addition to
the fraternities, according to Rick
Glazier.
Leard said he planned to be more
assertive today and conducted a
telephone rally last night to gather
additional support.
Dave Hickton, another USG vice
presidential hopeful, was pleased with
the results of yesterday's turnout, add
ing that many of the Williams-Hickton
supporters have yet to cast their ballots.
Hickton feels that the high turnout in
East Halls will be to their advantage.
"If we come out even in East it will be
a victory in itself," he said.
Hickton pointed out that Glazier and
Leard have spent more time in East
Halls and at the fraternities and that
their support is strong in those areas.
Hickton said his ticket has strong sup
port from the town area and that he was
relieved when the polls at Willard were
cease-fire unsure
"The timing is pretty much up to
Jumblatt," the source said.
Lebanon's top Christian and Moslem
spiritual leaders appealed last night to
all warring factions for an immediate
cease-tire to enable the Lebanese
parliament to resolve the political crisis.
The separate appeals were made by
Patriarch Marc Antonious Boutros
Khreish of the Christian Maronites and
by Sheikh Hassan Khaled, the Mufti of
the Moslem Sunnis, and broadcast
several times over Beirut radio.
Units of the U.S. 6th Fleet, including a
helicopter carrier, were reported
steaming off the Lebanese coast but with
the situation easing no plans for the
evacuation of the 3,500 Americans in
Lebanon appeared imminent.
Brown, an evacuation expert who
organized the American withdrawal
from Saigon, was called out of
retirement by Secretary of State Henry
A. Kissinger, to work for a truce.
Brown scheduled meetings with House
speaker Kamal Assad and President
Suleiman Franjieh, a Christian who has
resisted Moslem demands for his
resignation. An embassy spokesman
said Brown also would meet with other
leaders in the conflict.
A Navy source in London said §hips off
the coast carried "everything from
blankets to baby bottles" in case they
University Park. Pennsylvania
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
• Ten cents per copy
Washington to maintain and increase
vets' benefits, Oswald said that the
letters must be personal, for the people
in Congress pay more attention to those
letters which are original than to those
which are basically form letters.
In other action last night, PSUVO
voted 25-8, with seven abstentions, to
endorse W.T. Williams, PSUVO
member, for the position of USG
president.
The vet's only newsletter for the term
will be released on April 15, and will
contain important financial information
for vets.
The announcement was made that,
unlike previous years, both Basic
Educational Opportunity Grant and
Pennsylvania Higher' Education
Assistance Agency applications must be
submitted by May 1 for those vets
wishing to receive assistance.
The next PSUVO meeting will be held
at the Vets' House, 227 E. Nittany Ave.,
at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aprill4.
One of the most heated and prolonged
exchanges during debate on the budget
had little to do with the budget itself.
Rep. Patrick Gleason, R-Cambria,
offered an amendment that would ban
the use of taxpayer's money to pay the
defense costs of state officials charged
with crimes.
The proposal stemmed from a recent
Shapp administration decision to pay
such defense fees.
'Democrats managed to narrowly
defeat the amendment, but only after
Republicans scored a series of political
points.
"I hope every Democrat in this House
votes against this amendment, and then
I want to see you justify that vote later
on," said Minority Leader Robert
Butera.
Rep. James J. Gallen, R-Berks, noted
the Shapp regulation seemed designed to
benefit lawyers as well as indicted state
officials.
opened
Joe Augustine said he spent the 'day
running back and forth between the HUB
and Willard polls.
Augustine said he asked students to
vote rather than asking them to consider
his particular platform. He said he told
them to read all the platforms before
making their decision.
Augustine said that student apathy
may he the result of the editorial
comment in yestertlay's Daily Collegian,
which may have discouraged voter
participation.
Audrey Weinberg, write-in candidate
for USG vice president said she was
enthused about the number of write-in
ballots that were cast.
"I understand there were a lot of
paper ballots cast, whether they were
for us (Weinberg-Kelly) we can't say,"
she said.
Sharon Kelly said the students have
shown a lot of interest in their campaign.
She said they plan to campaign heavily
in East Halls today.
The New Democratic Coalition en
dorsed W.T. Williams last night because
the ticket makes "a strong statement in
favor of the student vote in the State
College area ." ,
,had to evacuate the 1,950 Americans still
in Beirut. U.S. Embassy sources said
they would not order evacuation unless
the airport closed completely.
In Washington, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld said there were no
immediate plans to evacuate
Americans. Rumsfeld said Brown's
main mission was to help achieve a
cease-fire to bring Lebanon "some
weeks and months of peace."
Brown said on his arrival his mission
was "to let President Ford know what I
think is going on in Lebanon."
He said he was not here as a mediator
but "more as an analyst, an assessor
and a proposer of possible options." •
Asked it his talks would include
Palestinian guerrilla leaders, Brown
said, "I have no instructions on that, we
will have to see how that works out."
This is no joke, April showers will
probably turn to March snow showers
before ending. Cloudy, damp and
miserable today with rain tapering to
showers by evening. High 45. Cloudy.
breezy and cold tonight with a few snow
flurries. Low 32. Variable cloudiness and
cool tomorrow. High 45.
Weather