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PSU must meet legal regulations
Programs for handicapped urged
By LUCY JORDAN
Collegian Staff Write'
Navigating a revolving door is like dancing through
an eggbeater for a person in a wheelchair.
According to the 1975 Penn State University
President'sr Commission Report on the Physically
Handicapped Student, "One in every 10 Americans has
limited mobility (due) to a disabling disease, defect, or
injury."
Tim Fitzgerald, a 1976 University alumnus and - a
member of the commission, said the report made many
recommendations for changes in accessibility to
buildings for handicapped persons.
They included the appointment of a full-time services
coordinator for handicapped students, the establish
ment of a resource center for the disabled, an advisor in
each college to work with handicapped students, and a
special orientation period for newly enrolled handi
capped students. It also suggested a University Park
residence hall complex be modified to meet the needs of
the disabled.
• Also among the key recommendations was the
establishment of a wheelchair repair service, parking
privileges with reserved stalls, the issuing of meal
tickets good at all dining halls and distributing keys to
all elevators that handicapped students use in reaching
classrooms. .
Penn State has three years to meet the requirements
of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which
bans discrimination against persons with physical,
mental or psychological disabilities.
The act stipulates that if programs cannot be made
accessible through the reassignment of classrooms or
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Lester Rishel, above, combines tradi
tional craftsmanship with modern tech
nology. Rishel numbers a chain saw
among his sculpting tools. A craftsman,
below, allows a passerby to help chisel a
hand-hewn dish. More photos, page 4.
by providing physical aids or tutors, changes must be
made within three years.
Fitzgerald, founder of A.B.L.E.D. ( A Better Living
Environment for the - Disabled) said: "One major
problem with many programs serving the disabled
stems from the fact that able-bodied people decide what
the handicapped want and need. This has resulted in
much wasted time and money, as well hs creating very
negative attitudes in disabled individuals."
Vince Staskel (12th-rehabilitation education), a
paraplegic, feels the commission has taken only .the
first step towards improving the environment for
handicapped Penn State students.
"Although the recommendations are excellent, few of
them have materialized since the 1975 report. The
University has done an excellent job with curb cuts but
there is still a lot to be done. It's important that when a
ramp is built, it should not be too steep," he said.
"Wheelchairs don't have very good brakes. For
example, the only access to Ritenour is a ramp up onto
the loading dock behind the building. Once you get up
the steep ramp, you're teetering on a dock that's three
or four feet from the ground," he said.
"If I couldn't stop and fell off, I'd be a wreck," Staskel
said. "It's ironic that the health facility that provides
good care for the handicapped student inside isn't ac
cessible from the outside."
Another architectural irony at Penn State is the
college of Human Development, Staskel said. "I can't
believe that a college that includes majors in
rehabilitation and human service 'fields doesn't have
better access for the disabled," he said.
Staskel said that ramps are often too narrow or not
the
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Photo by Patrick Little
Collegian photo
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Defense aid request anticipated
Israeli
WASHINGTON (UPI) Israeli Prime Minister
Menahem Begin meets President Carter tomorrow to
present secret Middle East peace proposals and,
sources say, to ask for more U.S. defense aid.
Begin, who led the conservative Likud party to upset
victory in recent national elections, is now the key
figure in Carter's campaign to orchestrate an Arab-
Israeli peace settlement.
The President has met personally with the leader of
every other nation directly involved in that conflict.
Begin is the unknown quantity for Carter, and they
got off to a rough start when U.S. officials publicly
challenged some of Begin's early policy declai•ations on
occupied Arab territories.
In recent weeks, however, the two leaders have been
trying to patch things up with conciliatory statements in
anticipation of their two-day Washington conference.
Canvass decision might affect trustee case
By CHRIS HEPP
and LAURA SHEMICK
Collegian Staff Writers
A Pennsylvania Superior Court
decision to uphold a Centre County Court
ruling on dorm canvassing may affect
another University case, University
attorney Delbert McQuaide said
Saturday.
Speaking at a University Board of
Trustees meeting, McQuaide said the
ruling, which permits the University to
prohibit political canvassing in the
residence halls when residents vote for
it, could affect a suit brought against the
University by four students last term.
The students charged the University
trustee selection process was not con
stitutional.
McQuaide said the three dissenting
justices in the ruling said in their
opinions that the University "was not an
agency of the Commonwealth."
McQuaide said the justices referred to
the University as a privte corporate
agency.
The students charged in their suit
Spring Term that the trustee selection
process was unconstitutional because
the 21 trustees from the agricultural and
industrial societies do not represent the
public.
. The , board also discussed the
University budget and the state budget,
deadlocked in the state legislature
because of a tax dilemma. Rep. Helen
Wise, D-77 th District, said the
legislature is expected to pass a budget
before its Thursday recess, possibly a
budget with tax increases.
Wise said she was optimistic that the
legislature would pass one of two
budgets under consideration before
Thursday, and might pass one today.
Wise said, however, that the tax in
crease needed to assure the University's
anticipated $lO9 million appropriation
was short of votes.
"We are 20 votes short in the House
House likely to approve Carter's vote plan
WASHINGTON (UPI) President
Carter's universal voter registration
plan appears to have a good chance of
House passage this week following a
compromise worked out between House
leaders and the White House.
Congress also will be occupied with
other major issues, including defense
appropriations, a farm and food stamp
reform bill and committee action on
major energy legislation.
The voter registration bill, expected to
reach the House floor Thursday, would
allow voters to register on election day
for federal elections.
As originally approved by the House
Administration Committee, states would
head to meet with Carter
and five votes short in the Senate," she
said. She urged the trustees to contact
legislators and press for the tax in
crease.
• University President John W. Oswald
said that while he hoped the $lO9 million
budget would be passed by the
legislature, he had developed plans in
case the second budget, which calls for
no new taxes, was adopted. The second
budget would supply the University with
$lO6 million in funds, the same as last
year's appropriation.
Oswald said under a $lO6 million
budget he would be able to implement
faculty and staff pay raises which were
held up last week because of the
budgetary problems, but only "with
serious cutbacks in other areas."
State budget dilemma
HARRISBURG (AP) With the
state's emergency funding running out
tonight, the legislature's budget problem
can be summed up with one word:
confusion.
Some legislators want increased
taxes; some don't. Others say they'll
vote for taxes, but only if extra school
funding is eliminated from the budget. ,
And still another sizeable group of
legislators are saying if the school funds
are cut, they won't vote for the budget.
Amid that uncertainty, Democratic
leaders insist that the budget that comes
up for a vote will require raising the
state income tax.
The straw votes taken last week on
higher taxes "nowhere near approached
the majority you'll need to pass taxes, so
I don't see how they're going to sell it,"
Rep. Ronald Cowell, D-Allegheny, said
yesterday.
"But it doesn't look like we're going to
get the chance to vote on a no-tax
budget," he added.
have had the option of adopting the plan
in 1978 for their own elections, and it
would have become mandatory starting
with the 1980 elections.
But committee chairman Frank
Thompson Jr., D-N.J., said agreement
had been reached with Carter and Vice
President Walter Mondale to drop the
mandatory requirement when it goes to
the House floor.
Thompson said the concession was
made to gain Republican votes although
there were enough Democrats to pass
the original bill.
"We want to make this a bipartisan
bill if at all possible," Thompson said.
Prior to taking up the voter
available at all. Most of the modern buildings are ac
cessible but the older buildings like Sparks, Carnegie,
Human Development, Ritenour and most labs are
poorly prepared for the entrance of a disabled student,
"It's true kids neglect the dorms but I feel that the
handicapped students should have keys to the elevators
so that we can get to every floor," Staskel said.
"Elevators are out of order often and I end up late for a
class after I started out very early."
Many of Staskel's problems have been with the
bathrooms in the dorms. For a person in a wheelchair,
most dorm sinks, mirrors, telephones, fountains, lab
tables, counters and the like are overhead. Showers are
difficult for someone who can't walk. Staskel said he
recommended a couch and a hand shower.
"Imagine youself being four-feet tall and trying to
dial a phone or look in a mirror and you'll know how we
feel," Staskel said.
• "Plans to obtain more curb cuts may help my
grandchildren, for change is slow in coming," Staskel
said.
He said that architectural changes are a "one-time
deal," an investment that never has to be made again.
"There are so many advantages anyway," said Staskel.
"How many bicyclists would be willing to give up the
curb cuts that make their jump from road to sidewalk
so smooth?
"Being handicapped is 'in' (in terms of favorable
legislation), so I might as well jump on the bandwagon
and enjoy the limelight while we make many long
overdue changes for a minority that has much in
common with women and blacks who have been
discriminated against," he said.
Israeli officials told reports the Carter administration
seems to be making an all out effort for a smooth visit
and they expect it to go well. They said Carter even
planned to send his personal plane to New York to
transport Begin to Washington.
Begin flew to New York Friday, disclosing as he left
Israel that he was "bearing concrete proposals for the
peace-making process."
He said he wanted Carter to hear them before any
details are made public.
Israeli government sources said Begin may ask for $2
to 2.5 billion in U.S. military and economic aid in fiscal
1979 compared to the $1.75 billion it will get in the 1978
fiscal year that begins this October.
Israeli sources also said Begin will push for a
reconvening of the Middle East peace conference with a
projected opening date of Oct. 10.
A third possibility of reducing the
University's current expected ap
propriation by 6 per cent to $lOO million
had been studied in Harrisburg by a joint
House-Senate budget committee. Wise
said it was not under active con
sideration at the moment. Oswald said
such funding would force a second
tuition increase this year.
The board's committee on physical
plant heard an informal report from
trustee Mimi Barash on the commuter
service planned for the University Park
airport. Barash said the Commuter
Committee has contacted area
businesses and has raised more than
$lOO,OOO from the community towards
the building of an airport terminal.
In other board business, the trustees
It couldn't be determined whether
Senate and House leaders spent the
weekend rustling up votes for a proposed
budget that could need anywhere from
$3OO million to $6OO million in new taxes.
A $3OO million increase would require
a 2.3 income tax, up from the current 2
per cent. A $6OO million hike would need
a 2.6 or 2.7 per cent tax.
"We've had some discussion with
groups of key people, but not in
dividually with the legislators," said
James Manderino, House Democratic
leader. "We hope to begin that process
Monday."
But one House membei: said yesterday
that it probably wasn't a leisurely
weekend for the leaders.
"Some members said they'd vote for a
2.3 or 2. 1 4 per cent income tax," he said.
"So I'd suggest that they're revising the
tax this weekend.
"I can't believe that they'd leave it
alone," he added. -
Last Friday, Senate Democratic
registration bill, the House is expected to
complete action on a farm-food stamp
bill where the greatest controversy will
be over price supports for this year's
wheat crop.
The House and Senate versions of the
farm bill are at odds over support levels
and loan rates for wheat, feed grains,
cotton and rice, with the Senate bill
seeking $2.90 a bushel for 1977 and $3.10
in 1978. The House version sets a $2.65
target this year and $3 in 1978.
Both bills are higher than Carter's
request, but there are indications the
administration may be willing to
compromise.
Also in the bill is a proposal to
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New ramps for wheelchairs on College Avenue are part of the University's efforts
to make life easier for the handicapped.
Ten cents per copy
Monday, July 18, 1977
Vol. 78, No. 17 6 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
Western diplomats said they believe Foreign Minister
Moshe Dayan, military hero of the 1967 Arab-Israeli
war, was chief architect of the new Israeli peace
proposals.
Only a few top Israeli officials knew what they were,
but some reports circulating in Israel said Begin is
prepared to return portions of occupied Sinai peninsula
territories to Egypt and parts of the Golan Heights to
Syria. These reports said, however, that Begin's gov
ernment means to stand firm in its refusal to return any
of the West Bank Jordan River territory to Jordan.
The Arabs insist Israel must return all the occupied
lands, and the Carter administration to Israel's
dismay has stated repeatedly that U.N. resolutions
obligate the Israelis to return all but "minor" portions.
The President, however, insists he is not trying to'
impose any particular peace formula on either side.
authorized a name change for the
President's dining room in the HUB. The
room will now be called the George L.
Donovan Room, in honor of the former
director of student activities. USG
president Grant Ackerman asked that
the room be converted to office space for
student groups. President Oswald
agreed to meet in the future with
Ackerman to discuss the possibility of
conversion. •
The board authorized the sale of land
in Shamokin Township and the purchase
of land in Stone Valley Recreation Area.
It also authorized building a new $125,000
high pressure gas laboratory at
University Park and a total of 403
parking spaces at branch campuses. '
See page 3 for related story
still reigns
leader Thomas Nolan said he expected
the final budget proposal that goes
before the legislature would need a 2.7
per cent income tax. The current tax is 2
per cent.
Nolan said one reason he would not
vote for that budget is that it includes
$225 million in additional aid to public
schools.
On that point, he's got a lot of com
pany.
"We are probably very near the
necessary number of votes to raise
additional revenues if school aid were
not in the package," Manderino said.
"They might have enough tax votes
under certain conditions," said Rep.
Michael Cassidy, D-Blair.
"One of those conditions is that school
subsidies not be included in the general
budget. But others are saying that they
won't vote for taxes unless the subsidies
are in there," he said.
overhaul the $5.4 billion a year food
stamp program so that the needy will get
all their stamps free. Under the current
program, all recipients pay for some of
their stamps. The bill also would tighten
eligibility requirements.
A full-fledged heat wave is in progress in
what is now the hottest part of the
summer. Hazy, hot and humid today and
tomorrow with highs reaching 90. Warm
and humid tonight, low 70. Late af
ternoon and evening thundershowers are
possible both days. Keep cool.
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Photo by Linda Hart