Glatz new commissioner
but not
By JEFF HAWKES
Collegian Staff Writer
John Glatz, a retired State College
businessman, was appointed Centre
County commissioner yesterday despite
a recommendation by a Republican
committee that a Pleasant Gap service
station owner be named to the vacant
seat.
Court of Common Pleas Judge R. Paul
Campbell picked Glatz over Russell 0.
Spicher, the GOP nominee, calling Glatz
1 the best possible choice. ”
, Spicher expressed no disappointment
in not being named, saying only that “it
was a relief to find out that somebody
has been appointed and that it is finally
over.”
■ “I’m sure that (Campbell) had his
reasons and John (Glatz) will do a good
job,” Spicher said. “I hold nothing
against Campbell,” he said, adding that
he is a personal friend of the judge.
Spicher said he was not counting on
the job and made no plans for it because
he knew the decision was up to Camp
bell.
•'Campbell said he chose Glatz because
he is a retired businessman willing to be
a full-time commissioner. Glatz also told
Campbell he would not seek election
when his current term expires in 1979,
Campbell said..
Campbell said Glatz also agreed to
receive the same $15,000 per year salary
that the other two commissioners are
paid rather than the $lB,OOO now man
dated for new commissioners.
“I knew that it would create a problem
Croatians list grievances
Mission to U.N.
NEW YORK (UPI) Three Croatians yesterday invaded
the Yugoslav mission to the U.N. on glamorous Fifth Avenue,
shot a Yugoslav government employee and barricaded
themselves inside for two hours before surrendering to scores
of police and FBI agents. •
The peaceful surrender nearly ended in violence at the last
minute when unidentified Yugoslav officials produced
automatic weapons and threatened to shoot the invaders who
were being led from the building.
Suddenly, everyone began running.
“Go! Get out of here!” shouted one police officer as guns
appeared in the second floor window of the mission.
One policeman pointed a revolver and demanded, “Get that
window closed! Get out of here! ”
Within moments, however, the Yugoslav officials were
restrained, and the three Croatians were shoved into patrol
cars and whisked from the scene.
“It was a little hairy for a while there,” said police officer
Mclntosh, who was with the Croatians in the last
minute scuffle and brush with violence.
For a while during the siege it was feared that the Croatians
were holding at least one hostage, but after the surrender it
was disclosed that there had been no hostages.
Chief of Detectives John Keenan said the Croatians
surrendered because “they were convinced they had made
their point and they were convinced it would be the wisest
course to surrender.”
The three men, all of whom carried handguns into the
Mission at 67th Street and Fifth Avenue, had claimed they
were holding a hostage to delay police attempts to oust them.
The FBI identified the men as Marijan Buconjic, 28, of New
Three student trustee nominees chosen
~The Student Trustee Selection Com
mittee has sent the names of three
nominees to the Secretary of Education
for consideration, according to Alex
Holt, committee chairman.
Holt said yesterday that he expected to
receive Secretary Kline’s decision
\\,’ithin a few days. Kline can either
accept the names for consideration or
demand that new names be submitted.
Holt would not release the names of
University Council bird project raises controversy
By LAURA SHEMICK
Collegian Staff Writer
u Picture a blackbird. Multiply by
several thousand. Make the time dusk
and the place State College. You have
the starling and blackbird problem in
residential State College.
, They chatter and flutter and change
the streets from black to white with their
droppings. They prevent early sleepers
from getting to sleep and they wake*
early risers at the crack of dawn. Their
noise is in the background in some areas
all spring and summer long.
State College Municipal Council voted
last week to fund a joint study with the
University to try to get rid of the bird
pests. The study, expected to last two
years and cost about $16,000, will be
headed by John L. George, University
professor of wildlife management.
The bird study is not applauded
unanimously by all State College
residents.
Councilman Allen D. Patterson ob
jected to funding the study at last
week’s council. meeting, saying the
project was “the silliest thing I ever
heard of” and that it was "a typical
University research project which will
cost lots of money and accomplish
nothing.”
the
daily
GO P's first pick
Glatz
with a new person coming in getting
$3,000 more than the others,” Carri'pbell
said.
“I would have preferred if they (the
GOP commissioner selection committee
appointed by county GOP chairman
Eugene M. Fulmer) had given me
several choices,” Campbell said. “I
didn’t want a committee to dictate to me
•who to appoint.”
Glatz said he must “get his feet wet”
Earlier, Buconjic’s wife, Louisa, called United Press
International and said she was surprised to learn of her
husband’s involvement in the siege.
the nominees.
“The matter should remain con
fidential,” he said, until the secretary
makes his decision.
Holt said that nominees accepted for
consideration would be interviewed by
the Secretary of Education’s office
before a student trustee is chosen.
Holt said that the committee’s choices
were based on the individual’s ability to
Patterson said later that he objected to
the project because all previous studies
have shown that the birds are only
chased from one place to another.
“There is nothing really new about
this proposal,” Patterson said. “They
propose to use fright techniques or lethal
techniques. And lethal techniques have
not worked.”
Patterson said chemicals used to kill
problem birds also kill desirable birds
like robins.
“It’s hard to refine the method to just
killing one species of bird,” he said.
The only way that has worked to
control the birds has been to cut down
the trees where they roost, Patterson
said.
Councilman James J. McClure said at
the meeting that “there was some real
hysteria” last year about the bird
problem.
“There were people who were very
concerned about the health aspect of the
birds. There were people demanding
that the trees be cut down,”.he said.
State College is a town heavily com
mitted to trees, McClure said, and un
fortunately, trees provide a habitat for
birds.
“We are not willing to destroy the
trees to get rid of the birds,” he said.
Collegian
York City, Jozo Brekalo, 30, of St. Louis, and Vladimir Dizdar,
23, of Chicago.
Inside, Yugoslav Ambassador to the U.N., Jaksa Petrie,
said mission personnel had received warnings that a terrorist
attack might take place..
. “We knew it,” he said. “We had very firm indications, and
we informed American authorities.” But Petrie refused to say
which authorities had been notified.
Petrie also denied that mission employees had brandished
weapons at the terrorists, but he admitted that mission per
sonnel regularly carry arms, and said two Yugoslav govern
ment employees helped police escort the terrorists from the
building.
The three Croatians were later charged .with attempted
murder, first degree assault, possession of weapons and third
degree burglary.
Mrs. Buconjic said she and her husband fled to the United
States 10 years ago from Yugoslavia where, she said, they
were in danger because of their activities on behalf of
Croatian independence.
The incident was the second involving Croatian nationalists
in New York City. Last September a TWA New York-Chicago
jet with 86 passengers and a crew of seven aboard was
hijacked to Paris by five Croatians, who were later convicted
and sentenced to stiff jail terms.
Yugoslav officials believed yesterday’s attack was linked to
the earlier incident.
in county government before he can
predict what he will achieve as a com
missioner.
Glatz said he considers himself a very
independent Republican.
“To be independent you have to have a
mind of your own and be able to stand up
on your own two feet and not be pushed
around by anyone else,” he said.
“So far as I’m concerned, I’m not
obligated to anyone, not even to Judge
Campbell.”
He said he is looking forward to
working with the two other com
missioners and hopes they can work
together for the good of the county .
He said he could not have survived as
a tailor without the University students.
“As far as I’m concerned, without
students State College would be nothing
but a hicktown," he said.
He said Spicher was a very good friend
of his who was among the first to
congratulate him.
Glatz will be the sole Republican on
the Centre County Board of Com
missioners, sharing county leadership
with Democrats John T. Saylor and
Grover A. Spearly.
Spearly said it is not appropriate for
him to comment about the new com
missioner, adding, however, that he
expected to be able to work with anyone
Campbell had appointed.
The commissioner’s seat became
vacant last week when J. Doyle Corman
resigned to be sworn-in as the 34th
district’s state senator. Corman was
elected state senator May 17.
raided
“represent student concerns.”
The Board is composed of 32 trustees
chosen from state agricultural and in
dustrial societies, University alumni, ex
officio members and members ap
pointed by the governor.
One of the six trustees appointed by
the governor has traditionally been a
student, either an undergraduate or a
graduate student, from the University
Park campus.
“But there’s been no substantiated
health problem.”
McClure said at the meeting he was
willing to support the study even if it did
not lead to a solution to the problem. The
study will help State College understand
the problem better, which may help in
the future, he said.
Shown above are George (left) and Gary Young being
taken from the Sheraton Inn to arraignment at the of
fice of District Magistrate Clifford 11. Yorks after their
arrest last winter for the kidnaping of Elizabeth Fer-
Ferringer kidnapers sentenced
In Centre County Court Monday Gary R. Young was
sentenced to 20-40 years and his younger brother George
9-22 years for the November kidnaping of Elizabeth Ann
Ferringer. They had both pleaded guilty in April.
Part of the sentences were for a rock-throwing incident
in which the Youngs were convicted of simple assault and
criminal mischief in October. The rock was thrown
through the window of a passing car, causing an accident.
They were awaiting sentencing when the kidnaping oc
cured.
Gary, 34, R.D. 1, Pennsylvania Furnace, was sentenced ransom before his daughter was found and the Youngs
to' 10-20-yfcars for the kidnap, 6-12 years for burglary;-3-6 ' were arrested. '
years for unauthorized use of an automobile, disposition
of ransom and simple assault of Mrs. Don C. Meyer,
Ferringer’s mother.
Gary also got 1-2 years for the rock-throwing. The
sentences are to run consecutively for a total of 20-40
years.
George, 23, Pine Grove Mills, got 8-20 years for kid
naping, 5-10 years for burglary, 3-7 years for unauthorized
Freshman State reps, pledge
to remain until budget passes
HARRISBURG (AP) - A group of
freshman and sophomore legislators,
including Centre County Rep. Helen
Wise, decided yesterday they don’t want
to leave the state capital until a budget is
passed.
“We all signed a letter telling the
leaders to get on with the budget, even if
we have to work five, six or seven days a
week,” said Rep. Wise.
The letter was sent to House leaders
Although House Speaker K. Leroy
Irvis said he hadn’t received the letter,
he added:
“I agree, we’re going to have to push
the budget and I intend to. I thought we’d
have started on the budget yesterday but
they’re taking so damn long voting on
these ordinary bills, we couldn’t.”
A variety of state services depend on
the budget-being passed by June 30. The
new fiscal year starts July 1.
This year there have been no com
plaints about the birds, McClure said.
The two main roosting places in town
are on Fairmount Avenue and between
State College and Park Forest Village,
George, in charge of the study, said. The
trees in these areas are tall and dense,
and attract birds such as starlings.
Without a budget, there won’t be
money for state hospitals. Welfare
recipients wouldn’t get help. Paychecks
for 108,000 state workers would be
withheld.
About 20 of the newer legislators held a
breakfast meeting yesterday to get a
consensus on what to do about the budget
No votes were taken, and some
legislators said the group was badly split
Lo! Sol doth
If the weatherman you now hate,
please be a bit compassionate.
Today a high of seventy-eight,
with sunny skies his estimate.
Tonight with no precipitate,
his forecast you can tolerate.
Weather maps do predestinate,
The birds, which roost in hundreds and
thousands, have never been counted,
George said. There are both starlings
and cowbirds in the flocks.
The study will determine which birds
are causing the problem, their number,
their location and when the problems
occur, George’s report to the Council
said. It will determine their home range,
roosting, feeding habits and activity
patterns.
The researchers will decide which
methods of control would be safest, legal
and most practical and will test the
methods on small groups of the birds.
The researchers will recommend fur
ther actions to the Council on the basis of
the study.
Control methods include repellents,
which stick to the bird and annoy it,
chemical repellents, chemical poisons,
visual and sonic deterrents, changing
the habitat and shooting. Shotting is a
last-resort method.
George said killing the birds is not his
favorite method of control because it
doesn’t eliminate the problem. It has to
be done year after year, he said.
“Also, we have to keep the people in
mind because what they want can’t be
ignored,” George said. “Many people
wouldn’t think of poisoning birds, but
2<« PATTEB
Ten cents per copy
Wednesday, June 15,1977
Vol. 78, No. 4 12 pages University Park, Pennsylvania
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
ringer of Pennsylvania Furnace. The brothers were
sentenced Monday by Judge R. Paul Campbell. Gary is
being escorted by state police officer Kenneth
Schleiden.
use of an auto and disposition of ransom. These sentences
are to run concurrently for 8-20 years. George also got 1-2
years for the rock throwing incident for a total of 9-22
years
In November the Youngs cut the electrical power and
phone service in Pennsylvania Furnace home of
Ferringer’s parents and kidnaped Ferringer at gunpoint.
She was then taken to an abandoned house in Tyrone and
chained in the basement for 20 hours.
Meyer, owner of the Autoport Motel, paid a $150,000
District Attorney Charles Brown asked for a 20-40 year
sentence for Gary and a 10-20 year sentence for George
from Judge R. Paul Campbell.
Brown said the evidence showed Gary spoke on the
phone to Meyer and did most of the talking and com
manding during the kidnaping.
At the time of the guilty plea “Gary indicated that he
was the principal force,” Brown said.
If the birds could not breed for one
year, the roosting habit could be
eliminated, George said.
“A 1 lot of behavior is learned,” George
said. “The parent birds teach their
young that this is a good place to roost,
and other birds imitate them." The birds
are fairly intelligent, and remember
good roosting places from year to year,
George said.
The birds are not totally pests, George
said. They eat insects out of lawns in the
area, saving labor for houseowners.
Starlings were introduced to this
country from Europe in the early 1900’s,
and were known to roost in large
numbers in the South for many years.
Flocks were first seen in State College
about 1960 and have since forced out the
more desirable bluebirds and swallows
by taking over nesting areas, George
said.
Photos by Barry Wyshlnstd
on what to do about school subsidies
But they did agree they want to stop
having frequent recesses until the
budget is passed.
A majority of the newer members
agreed that, if necessary, the House
should consider only the general budget
“and tackle the problem of school
subsidies later,” said Rep. Peter
O’Keefe, D-Delaware.
shine sweet
clear cool low of fifty-eight.
Tomorrow he will generate,
a sunny sky to dominate.
For you I do thee dedicate,
some weather to commemorate.
By BILLDOVICO
Collegian Weatherman
they will poison other pests like
rodents.”
George said another way of controlling
the birds would be to sterilize some of
them. The turnover rate for the bird
population is high, he said; 60 per cent of
the birds here this year will not be back.
A high mortality rate among young birds
is the main cause of the high turnover
rate.