University President John W. Oswald (left) and his executive assistant Doris M. Seward listen to a question at a press conference last Wednesday. The confer
ence was the first in a series of conferences to come once a term.
the
daily
Oswald to permit open SAB
By JEFF HAWKES
Collegian Staff Writer
The Student Advisory Board (SAB)
has the authority to decide for itself if it
wants its meetings open to the public,
University President John W. Oswald
said at a press conference last Wed- .
nesday.
"If they want it to be open, I will tell
them it will be little more than a rap
session," Oswald said.
\ He said he did not think the board
would be as effective with open meetings
because the students 'would be con
cerned about what the editor of The
' Daily Collegian would say about the
board's proceedings.
Joe Seufer, 1975-76 Undergraduate
Student Government ' President, said '
Oswald told the SAB two years ago that
the board couldn't be open.
When told Oswald said the SAB has the
authority to open its meetings, Seufer
said: "That's news to me." He said it is
still Oswald's decision because Oswald
must approve anything the SAB
recommends.
"If he's saying SAB has the authority,
he's kidding," Seufer said.
"The Board of Trustees is open and
their work' is not any less effective,"
Seufer said. He added that the SAB
should be open.
Eva Whitley, 'former Association for
Women Students president, said she was
not aware that SAB had the authority to
open its meetings.
"It's certainly a surprise to me,"
Whitley said.
Whitley said she. does
S not think the
SAB is effective. She said she was rarely
asked for advice by the administration.
U.S. House passes
cut foreign aid bill
WASHINGTON (UPI) In a stunning
rebuff to President Carter, the House
yesterday approved a $6.7 billion foreign
aid bill which cut nearly $1 billion from
the original White House request.
The House, in the closing moments of a
two-day debate, adopted, 214-168, a five
per cent meat axe cut of $373 million
proposed by Rep. Clarenc9 Miller, R-
Ohio.
One hundred Democrats joined with
114 Republicans in voting for the meat
axe cut while 152 Democrats and 16
Republicans voted against it.
The action capped a stormy passage
through the House in which Carter won
some victories but watched the bill
stripped of provisions to aid needy
nations and those under Communist rule
or influence.
The House Appropriations Committee
slashed $552.5 million from Carter's
Correction
The Daily Collegian incorrectly iden
tified the Pa. secretary of education as
Robert N. Hendershot in Wednesday's
issue. Carol Kline is now the secretary of
education.
,
Often people were on the verge of
sleeping at the meetings, she added.
Black Caucus President David W.
Allen said he was not aware that he was
a member of the SAB. He said the SAB
"definitely should be open to all the
students."
Betty Spector, Association for Women
Students president, said Oswald did tell
the SAB last term that it could open its
meetings. She said the SAB decided not
to because board members thought they
would have to be careful about what they
say and that open meetings would not be
a comfortable situation in which to talk.
The University's student handbook
says the Student Advisory Board was set
up because the University - Board of
Trustees "decreed that the president
shall consult with the student body as
appropriately ogranized in the area of
Student Affairs."
The ' board meets monthly with
Raymond 0. Murphy, vice presiderit for'
Student Affairs, and every three months
'with Oswald. The handbook says the
board discusses campus issues and
student-related matters.
The board is comprised of about 17
heads of various student organizations
at the University Park and some
Commonwealth campuses.
Concerning other matters discussed at
the press conference, Oswald said the
University will go through with the
recently approved remedial math and
English prqgrams even if the state does
not increase its appropriation to the Uni
versity.
He said the remedial programs are
necessary because "we're dealing with
the most capable students in the state,
original request of $7.6 million to help
the world's needy nations before sending
the bill to the floor.
After approving the across-the-board
cut, the chamber then passed and sent to
the Senate the massive money bill by a
vote of 208 to 174.
But the House adopted one amend
ment to ban direct or indirect aid to
Cuba by a vote of 274-112, and another
by voice vote against aid to Angola
and Mozambique.
Wednesday's 295-115 House vote
against direct or indirect aid to Vietnam,
Canibodia, Laos or Uganda, drew
protests yesterday from White House
and State Department spokesmen who
warned the action could cause other
nations to contribute less to in
ternational lending institutions.
In the closing debate, the House
defeated, 59-24, an amendment by Rep.
Tom Harkin, D-lowa, to delete $45
million in military assistance for South
Korea because of torture and repression
of dissidents by the Seoul government.
In doing so, the House handed
President Carter one victory over the
appeals of liberals.
• ian
many who were in the top 20 per cent of
their high school class, but for a variety
of reasons they haven't achieved suf
ficient skills in writing and
mathematical computations."
"It's not a question of reducing our
standards, ' but a questioh of our
graduates having the skills to implement
the knowledge they have acquired at the
Crime Commission's funding increased
HARRISBURG (AP) The House gave the state
Crime Commission a vote of confidence yesterday by
earmarking $1.4 million for its operations in the
proposed budget
After lengthy de — bate, the House voted 153-43 to in
crease the commission's funding from the $326,000
recommended by the House Appropriations Committee.
The amendment was one of dozens the House con
sidered yesterday as it continued the struggle to
hammer out a new state budget.
The commission could be put out of business June 30 if
the state doesn't come up with the extra money voted by
the House.
The federal money the commission has lived on since
1970 runs out June 30.
Despite warnings from the federal government that
no more aid was in store, Gov. Shapp recommended and
the Senate passed budgets for the commission that
assumed a $1 million contribution from Washington.
Gov. Shapp asked for $433,000; the Senate approved
$225,000.,
In (DITIOII
`They shoot birds,
don't they?'
Last week, In Edition made light of
the blackbird and starling problem in
Centre County. We have been forced
to change our position.
Wednesday night, Collegian staf
fers noticed that a bird was flying
around the newspaper office. Since
the ceiling in the Collegian office rises
some 30 to 35 feet above the floor,
chasing the bird out was practically
impossible.
A campus policeman called to the
scene decided that it was definitely a
job for the Department of Main
tenance and Operations.
The two men from Maintenance
and Operations made sure there was
really a bird in the room, and then
went to get the campus police.
Two policemen returned (new
ones) and said they had been sent
over by Maintenance and Operations
and that they had been advised to
shoot the bird. They decided that that
approach was impractical, and left,
promising to call in the morning.
Thursday morning, a few ingenious
Collegian staffers (new ones),
managed to chase the bird out.
We still haven't heard from the
police. ..
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz
oh what a relief...
A stroll through East Halls on any
given summer night will expose the
University Park, Pennsylvania
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
University," Oswald said.
He said the deficient writing skills of
many students may be caused by their
heavy reliance on television and
telephones instead of reading and
writing letters.
He also said written tests are being
replaced with tests graded by computer
forms.
average tourist to many interesting
sights and sounds peculiar to that
part of campus.
First on the list of peculiar sounds
has to be the verbal battles between
Packer and Geary Hall.
One would think that the rivalry
between these two dorms quits with
the nightly shouting matches, .but
four students have taken it a step
further.
Mark Steinberg (10th-law en
forcement and corrections), Scott
Simmen (Ist-math), Rick Morrison
(Ist-computer science), and Don
Charley (Ist-computer science) have
stolen Geary's dessert-eating record.
Last Janaury four students from
Jefferson House in Geary Hall set the
East Halls dessert-eating record by
consuming 101 desserts in one hour
and 30 minutes.
But last night, Mark, Scott, Rick,
and Don put away 120 desserts in one
hour and 20 minutes.
The new record holders are all
members of 'Behrend House in
Packer Hall.
So the next time your room and
board bill goes up, you'll know who to
blame.
Weather
Outdoor weekend activities should be
saved for Sunday. Considerable
cloudiness today through tomorrow
with a few showers and thunder
showers likely tomorrow. High today
and tomorrow 78, low tonight 60. Be
coming mostly sunny and less humid
Sunday.
Ten cents per copy
Friday, June 24,1977
Vol. 78, No. 8 12 pages
The House approval doesn't guarantee the money to
the commission.
Few lawmakers expect the Senate to approve the
House's version of the budget. If that happens, a con
ference committee of House and Senate leaders will
write the ultimate version.
Rep. James J. Gallen, R-Berks, said he doubted the
Crime Commission would survive the conference
committee.
Rep. Marvin Miller, R-Lancaster, said the issue was
clear:
"Will we fund the commission or close it down and
turn our backs on official corruption and organized
crime?"
Miller, a member of a special subcommittee on
organized crime and official corruption, said witnesses
from other states warned that Pennsylvania's loose
laws were attracting mobsters. '
"Don't allow Pennsylvania to become a bedroom for
organized crime and official corruption that New
See page six for photos
W 202 F TEE 4 app
Union emana
cannot be
•swald
By JEFF HAWKES •
Collegian Staff Writer
The University is not able to meet the
wage demands of Teamster's Union
Local 8, University President John W.
Oswald said in a letter to the University
community released yesterday.
The University has offered the union a
5 per cent wage increase and a 6.8 per
cent increase in certain benefits, the
letter said.
The union's leadership has asked for
an 8 per cent wage hike. They plan to
recommend to the union members that
the University's offer be rejected and
that the union strike.
Oswald is "full of bunk," said Local 8
president Jane Pikovsky, because of a
misleading sentence in Oswald's letter.
In the letter, Oswald said the
University's final offer consists "of a
total salary increase of 5 per cent and a
compensation increase of 6.8 per cent.".
Union leaders claim the sentence is
misleading because it makes the
University appear as if it is offering the
union an 11.8 per cent increase.
They said much of the 6.8 per cent
increase for compensation benefits is
required by federal or state law. The
additional compensation benefits of
fered by the University that are not
required by law amount to less than a 2
per cent increase, they said.
"What Dr. Oswald has printed ap
pears that he is offering an 11.8 per cent
increase," said C. Rodney Knepp, a
Local 8 official. "If this is what he is
offering, we'll accept it."
The breakdown of the University's 6.8
per cent increase in compensation
benefits is a 67 per cent increase for
surgical benefits and a, 133 per cent in
crease for maternity benefits as well as
"additional contributions for social
security and the state pension plan," the
letter says.
The union leadership is satisfied with
the University's offer on compensation
benefits, but will ask its membership
Thursday to strike because the
University is offering a 5 per cent wage
increase, 3 per cent less than the union
leadership requested.
"We're saying our people can't live off
that. kind of wage increase," Pikovsky
said.
Oswald said at a press conference last
Wednesday: "I want to make it clear
that what has been offered is a final
offer."
The University's 5 per cent wage in
crease offer would increase the hourly
salary of top-grade workers from $6.06 to
$6.37. Lower:grade employees would
receive a raise of at least 20 cents an
hour with the lowest-scale workers
receiving at least $3.92. All union
Don't be a wethead, be an umbrella head
Face it. It happens to all of us.
You're walking out of Willard
building with a full knapsack on your
back, all of your class notebooks in
your left hand and a 30-page paper on
post-war Tibet in your right hand.
Then it starts to rain.
Regular umbrellas have a way of
failing you at times like these.
Luckily there is still an alternative to
getting soaked.
At a few stores around town you can
get a genuine Brocca Brella. An
umbrella that you wear like a hat.
A person uses a Brocca Brella for
any activity that requires protection
from the sun or rain as well as some
freedom for their hands. •
writes
members received increases in 1976 and
last January.
In the letter, Oswald gave several
reasons for the University being unable
to meet Local B's demands.
"Penn State is entering into the most
austere budget year it has faced in
recent history," he said.
In order to balance the University's
budget, he said, tuition has been in
creased by $4.6 million, "critically
needed expenditure increases of $3.7
million" have been eliminated, and $3.2
million in budget cuts have been made.
"IL is still uncertain that the (state)
legislature will vote to approve" the
University's request for a $3 million
increase in state appropriations, he said.
If the state does not approve the
University's request for additional state
funds, he said the University's budget
would be thrown out of balance, "and
could result in a second round of tution
increases and further serious cuts in
programs."
Oswald said the University's offer of a
5 per cent wage increase is "fully
comparable with increases received by.
other groups of University employees."
Oswald said the University has contin
gency plans if Local 8 votes to strike
Thursday. Local 8 represents about
2,000 maintenance, food service and
technical workers.
"The University will remain open and
will continue to operate its academic
programs and essential services," if a
strike is called, Oswald said. "Incon
veniences will certainly occur . . ."
When asked Wednesday if students
will be hired to fill positions vacated by
striking workers, Oswald said, "There
will be opportunities for (students)."
"I firmly believe that students will'
not interfere with what we feel we need
to do in order to get a wage to keep up
with the inflationary costs throughout
the country," union official Knepp said.
"We're confident that students realize
the needs of employees locally here," he
said. -
"It is our hope the membership will
vote according to our recommendation,"
Knepp said. He would not say if he
thought two-thirds of the union mem-1
bership will vote to reject the Univer
sity's offer. Two-thirds of the mem-,
bership must reject the University's
offer for a strike to be called. The strike
probably would not begin until Sep
tember.
"It is my fervent hope that an un
derstanding of the University's fiscal
situation will prevail, and an early
contract settlement will be reached,
which will avoid a strike," Oswald
concluded in his letter.
Oswald's letter appears on page 6
Jersey once was," a New Jersey official told the
committee.
Pennsylvania's Crime Commission is "a toothless
tiger and some individuals want it that way," said Rep.
Joseph Zeller, D-Lehigh.
He said lawmakers last year knocked out funding for
the Philadelphia special prosecutor and want to make
sure the crime commission also starves for lack of
money.
Democratic leaders urged House members to reject
the extra money for the commission.
"It was never the intention of the Appropriations
Committee not to fund the Crime Commission," said
committee chairman Max Pievsky, D-Philadelphia.
He said the House will have the opportunity to fund
the commission next week when lawmakers vote on the
portion of the budget financed with federal money.
Democratic floor leader James Manderino, D-
Westmoreland, promised members that $1 million
would be in the federal augmentation budget for the
commission.
Of the two clerks that we talked to
at the Allen Street McLanahan's
store, the first has never sold a
Brocca Brella and the second has sold
one.
The second clerk told us the Brocca
Brellas must be selling, though, since
there used to be a stack of them in the
store and now there are only five or
six.
We see only one major drawback:
With a regular umbrella, if a strong
gust of wind comes along you only
have to worry about a broken um
brella; with a Brocca Brella you have
to worry about whiplash.
—by Mark Van Dine
and Dave Skidmore
met,