Student survey shows:
54 percent against arming police
By TOM PEELING
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
In a random sample survey conducted
by telephone during the past two days,.
54.8 percent of University students
polled a proposal to arm
campus police.
The poll, conducted by The Daily
Collegian, reached 186 students out of
the 400 chosen for the sample, or .58
percent of the student population. There
were 37.6 percent of the students sup
porting the gun proposal and 7.5 percent
undecided. ,
The proposal by David E. Stormer,
director of University Safety, would
allow 33 Police Services officers to carry
.38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolvers.
No more than six or seven armed of
ficers would be on campus at any one
time, according to Stormer’s plan.
Many students cited the lural at-
Deep throat
Famed “Watergate" reporter. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post fielded
questions from a full-capacity crowd in Eisenhower Auditorium last night.
Above, he talked with members of the Penn State Chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, yesterday afternoon in the HUB.
Thieves exploit unlocked doors and students' trust
By VICKI SCHNEIDER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
One sunny day last spring, Sue
returned to her dormitory room after
taking some pictures with her 35-
millimeter camera worth $250. After she
set the camera on her bed, she went
down the hall to talk to a friend. When
she returned to her room five minutes
later, the camera was gone.
Each year students lose thousands of
worth of belongings from their
rooms, and from libraries, laundry
rooms and restrooms around campus.
According to Department of
University Safety reports, 470 student
property thefts were reported between
Return to warmth
It will be cloudy with a slight chance
of a light shower early this morning
with sunshine by afternoon and a high
of 61. Tonight will be clear and cool
with a low of 36. After some patchy
morning fog, tomorrow will be mostly
sunny despite some high clouds and a
high of 62.
mosphere of the area as a reason for
being against the arming of the officers.
“Guns are not necessary right now,”
Robert Kandratavich (7th-geology)
said. "This is State College, not New
York.”
Leesa Kelly (Bth-speech com.), said
guns are not necessary because
“aggression leads to aggression.
“If campus police are armed, students
won’t respect them more,” Kelly said.
“It will cause friction between campus
police and students.”
Of the students surveyed who reside in
the residence halls, 47.8 favored arming
campus police, 41.7 percent were against
it and 10.4 percent were undecided.
Students living off campus were
overwelmingly against the arming of the
officers, with~72.4 percent against, 20.3
percent in favor and 7.2 percent un
decided.
the^^
daily
January and June of this year. John.E.
Rideout, police services officer,
estimates that 60 to 75 percent of these
thefts are from dormitory rooms.
Cameras, books, stereos and cold hard
cash anything that can easily be
picked up and carried away can fall
prey to a dormitory thief:' Clayton Smith,
manager of police auxiliary services,
said most items stolen are worth under
$5O, and are usually things the thief
wants for his own use, such as cash,
clothing and small appliances.
Thefts of items such as books,
calculators, and stereos accounted for
more than $20,000 worth of losses bet
ween January and June of this year.
Camera, television and radio thefts
totaled $10,823, while cash and jewelry
losses amounted to more than $7,000,
according to Police Services records.
Police officers agree that open and
unlocked doors are the main factors in
residence hall thefts. Students find
locked doors a bother when they are just
next door or in the shower, so they
sometimes depend on roommates to take
care of the task.
“The hearing will be a good chance for students to get
questions answered,” USG President Dave Haberle
said.
Haberle said the hearing will be informal, with five
minute presentations of the opposing viewpoints
followed by questions and answers.
Director of University Safety David E. Stormer, who
proposed the idea of arming campus police, will be
invited to the hearing.
Major congressional aid
bill benefits more students
By KATHY FITZGERALD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The major college aid bill that
Congress passed this week means many
more University students will be eligible
for federal financial aid, said John F.
Brugel, director of the Office of Student
Aid.
The bill expands the Basic
Educational Opportunity Grant
program by making an estimated 1.5
million students across the country
eligible for federal grants. About 2.1
million students are eligible for grants
this year. The maximum grant will be
$l,BOO instead of $1,600.
Under the new regulations students
Photo by Chip Connelly
“A person who probably has never dwellers is a primary reason students
thought of stealing sees an open door and say they leave doors open. Police Ser
his mind snaps,” Smith said. “An open vices has found, however, that students
door is then regarded as an invitation to are not usually to blame for the crimes
walk right in.” —visitors are.
Trust in their fellow dormitory “The large population of dorms and
Some students considered the number
of future campus crimes in making their
decision. David Hubble (6th-geology)
said the future looks bleak.
“I think things will change in the next
10 to 12 years,” Hubble said. “I think
there might be more possible crimes.”
While the majority of students overall
were opposed to arming campus police
officers, 71.8 percent were opposed to
giving full law enforcement authority to
.State College Police or state police, 20.7
percent were in favor and 7.4 percent
were undecided.
Alan Gedrich (lst-business) said
arming campus police would give them
the authority their training deserves.
“Having guns would make the campus
police force more than just chickens
without heads,” Gedrich said. “If
they’re as well trained as I’ve read in
The Collegian, there won’t be any
Officials turn TV off maintenance workers
By KATHY FITZGERALD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The closed circuit television camera
installed last week in the Maintenance
Building to check the harassment of two
employees, has been removed, said
William L. Hetrick, director of ad
ministration for the University’s Office
of Physical Plant.
Several maintenance employees said
the problems in the Maintenance
Building are definitely strike-related.
They said the problems began in August
when the six week long strike between
the University and its technical service
employees ended and the workers
returned to their jobs. Some of the
technical service employees never left
their jobs to join the picket lines.
The Maintenance employees, who
USG sets informal hearing on gun issue
By JIM McCANNEY
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The Undergraduate Student Government will conduct
a public hearing on arming campus police, USG
Executive Council decided last night.
The hearing is tentatively scheduled to begin between
7 and 9 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 25.
danger. I think the whole issue has been
blown out of proportion, especially since
they carried guns over the summer.”
In response to a question asking
whether the University administration
has allotted a proper amount of time to
consider the issue, 41.8 percent said not
enough time had been allotted, 37.4
percent said enough time had been spent
on the issue and 20.9 percent were un
decided.
“The University has not researched
the matter enough,” Erik Johnson (4th
division of undergraduate studies) said.
"The crime is not that bad here that we
need guns.”
Michael Kusuplos (llth-business
logistics) said the University should not
make any decision in the absence of
University President John W. Oswald.
University Provost Edward D. Eddy is
Ilegian
chose to remain unidentified, said the
two men who have been harassed in the
Maintenance Building had worked
during the strike and have been labeled
“scabs” by some of their fellow workers.
One of the employees said that since the
end of the strike these men have
received the “cold shoulder” from the
other workers.
Hetrick would not say if the
harassment was strike-related, only that
it is "a very sensitive thing.”
“There were complaints by (main
tenance) management,” he said.
“Things were going on which could have
resulted in bodily harm and property
damage.”
The complaints include verbal abuse
and the placement of battery acid on the
workers’ lunch seats.
from families with incomes of $26,000
are eligible for minimum grants of $2OO.
An important provision of the bill is
that now all students are eligible for
guaranteed loans, with the federal
government subsidizing the interest
while they attend the University, Brugel
said.
“It’s so much more beneficial than
tuition tax credits,” he said. “Everyone
can have access to aid.”
Although the BEOG program is
primarily for students from lower in
come families, all Penn State students
will be eligible to borrow money, interest
free, he said. The federal government
will pay the interest.
Council was uncertain about who else to invite but
acting University President Edward D. Eddy, who will
make a final decision on the issue by Oct. 31, was
mentioned.
“The value of this hearing is that people will have the
opportunity to ask questions,” ARHS President Jeff
Glazier said.
“I would like to ask Stormer to articulate on the exact
offenses involving weapons,” Veterans Club President
Jack Goodman said. He said many of the weapons in
cidents cited in Stormer’s defense of arming the
campus police only involved hunting weapons or car
seats.
“Students don’t have the facts,” Interfraternity
Council President Mark Mazanek said.
Illustration by BarbVanDlne
David Slormer,. director of University Safely, has requested that acting University Presi
dent Edward D. Eddy grant permission for S 3 campus pdtrot officers, excluding traffic
officers and student patrolmen, to Pe armed with . 38-caliber revolvers. The guns would
be carried fn a shoulder harness worn beneath the otficers'blazers . ' -
Questions ' mmm^osfUva m^m "Veoai Undecided
- _ _____ Negative • —»Jei
1. Do you feel the current system ' . ’ f f -■ ,
of campus police protection is * OVer22% over 8%
adequate? ‘ '«• - ’
2. Do you agree with Stormer's proposal? 37.6% 54.8% - 7-5%
3. Do you support a move to limit campus
patrol’s authority to building main- • - ' ' '
tenance that is, prohibiting them from 20 7% 718% 7 4% ' '
making arrests and giving all other ’
responsibility for law enforcement to •
either the State College Police or State ,
Police? ' |
scheduled to make a decision on the guns
issue during the medical leave of ab
sence by Oswald.
“Eddy hasn’t been here too long,"
Kusuplos said. “It’s Stormer trying to
sneak it in again. He asked for it in 1975
and 1976.”
Students in general appear to be
satisfied with the service offered by
campus police. Slightly less than 70
“It was not our original intent to go
that far with surveillance,” Hetrick
said. Police services chose to install the
television camera, he said.
“There have been no problems since
(the camera was removed),” he said.
“At least, none have been reported. ’ ’
David E. Stormer, director of
University Safety said the decision to
remove the camera several days after it
was installed was made before it was put
in. As to whether the temporary use of
the camera solved the problem, Stormer
said: “We have had no reports. That
doesn’t mean there have been no further
incidents, but that none have been
reported.”
Stormer said individuals were not
singled out for discipline and no charges
were filed.
issue decision held
Gun
for Faculty Senate
By BILL JOHNSON
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Acting University-President Ed
ward D. Eddy told the Faculty Senate
Council Tuesday he will postpone his
decision on arming 33 campus police
officers until he has heard the
discussion the Faculty Senate has
scheduled for its Oct. 31 meeting,
Faculty Senate Chairman Thomas
E. Daubert said a discussion of the
gun issue is on the agenda, but no vote
is scheduled.
“There are as many people on the
one side of the issue as there are on
the unpopularity of escort policies make
it easy for strangers to roam the
residence halls. Often students aren’t
sure who lives in their building and who
doesn’t,” Rideout said.
Rideout noted that South Halls, in
cluding Pollock, Centre and Nittany
Halls, had the most reported thefts for
the first half of this calendar year. Of
fenses in South totaled 82, compared
with 80 in East, 19 in West and nine in
North.
Surprisingly, few thefts occur in the
one-story, barrack style Nittany Halls.
Art Costantino, Pollock-Centre-Nittany
halls coordinator, attributes this to the
small size of the barracks.
“Thefts are offset in Nittany because
the students are familiar with each other
and can tell who belongs in their
buildings. Also, the single rooms mean
that only one person has a key, making
students more conscious of locking their
doors,” Costantino said.
Patterns are not found so much in
where thefts occur, but when. A national
poll on university theft rates reports that
the majority of student property thefts
BINDERY
V 202 PATTEE
Thursday, October 19,1978
Vol. 79, No. 65 14 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
Now that the camera is gone the
security routine will return to normal.
“We rely upon the internal areas of most
of our facilities,” he said. “We rely
heavily on reports.” Stormer said the
officers at Physical Plant report to
police services, similar to how RAs
report incidents in the residence halls.
When asked if the harassment was a
result of tension between maintenance
employees who worked during the strike
and those who did not, Stormer replied:'
“I think that may be, but I’m really not
certain.”
When informed of the installment of
the closed circuit television camera in
the maintenance building, Jane
Pikovsky, president of Teamsters Local
8 said, “I think management has gone to
an awful lot of trouble to prove nothing.”
He also said Stormer hasn’t given any thought fo
alternative plans. Haberle asked students to contact
USG and suggest possible alternatives.
Haberle also asked USG vice president Tony Cortese
to call the University’s Statistics Department and begin
formulating a poll of students’ feelings on the arming
issue. Council sent a letter to Eddy Tuesday calling for
a campus-wide poll of students.
We should run a poll to give everyone a chance to
express an opinion,” Mazaneksaid. !
“I don’t think the average student will be over
whelmingly against arming campus police,” President,'
of Academic Assembly Randy Albright said.
Possible sites for next week’s hearings are the HUB
Ballroom and HUB Main Gallery Lounge. ;
the other,” Daubert said, so a vote _
probably wouldn’t affect Eddy’s <.
decision.
“Someone’s always at liberty to
call for a vote,” Daubert said, but
added he believes it’s unlikely there
will be one.
Eddy also will be getting input by
the end of the month from the
University Council, which held public
hearings on the gun issue.
Eddy has said he believes
University Council to be the ap
propriate body to make a recom
mendation on the gun issue.
occur in the evening hours and on
weekends, when non-student visitors and
parties are the norm in the dormitories.
Smith added that a large number of
thefts occur around term break when
students are moving in and out of the
halls.
“It’s the beginning of the term and the
whole family is busy unloading the car..
Usually there aren’t enough hands to"go
around to have someone stay in thg
room, and it’s a bother to unlock the door
with each load,” Smith said.
Hectic times, such as weekends and
moving days, help explain the low
recovery rate of student property.
Losses last year amounted to about
$37,000, with less than 25 percent
recovered, according to Police Services’
annual report. Rideout added that theft
conviction rates are less than two per
cent, calling it “almost impossible” to
catch a thief in possession of the
property.
“Students usually don’t realize
something is missing until the Monday
after a party or until they are all moved
Continued on page 7.
4 COPIES
percent of those polled said the campusi
police are providing adequate prolec-;
tion, while over 22 percent thought the
protection was inadequate and over 8
percent were undecided. '
"It’s (carrying guns is) a means of
protection for them," Cathy Sanders
(7th-political science) said, “so that if.
they would ever come across trouble, it’s
there.”
input
Illustration by Dolla Hoke