nns rlvania title, she missed in Atlantic A y !*641:. Association of Residence Hall Students President Jeff Glazier, left, and Vice President Steve Matt during the group's movie funds scandal: They were asked to resign by the ARHS council but stayed on. Apartment owners won 'Rent Wars' last winter By GREG BROWN I ally Collegian Staff Writer was not unusual that the apartments managed by A. W. & Son Enterprises quickly filled up when the management 'ht an accepting rental applications on March 29 of this year. The cir- VA - nstances leading to the acceptance of #iiiiplications, however, were very much VA of the ordinary. 13 Before any rental agreements for the fall would he signed, there would he lie:talons, picketing, injunctions, <bOycotting and discussion of an all-out (rent strike. • k , ,r,The trouble began on January 25, *den A. W. & Son notified its tenants of a'alw rental rates, estimated by the IJeganization for Town Independent 'Students to be from 11 to :37 percent 'higher depending on the size of the 1 1- Another budget increase to be requested PSU budget woes may worsen 1' GLENN Pally Collegian Staff Writer 1978 provided the University yt;ith two budgetary problems, 1979 has !bp potential to be even worse. ~,,Last year opened with the University $,54 million in debt. Borrowing was needed for the school to survive a six month budget impasse during which no funds were received from the state. The funds finally came through , m late I►nuary, and the slate caught up in iii`yments by April, but the University teas faced with a $1 million interest bill which the slate refused to help pay. The University received $106.8 million Mq97B, the same amount it received the prkvious year, although the act ministration had asked for $125 million. •For CATA, growth but labor problems, too 11,E1.1.10 . 1' GROSSMAN );):9ils Collegian Staff Writer i„For the Centre Area Transportation Authority, 1978 was a year of labor management problems and continued *Owl h . Fhe labor-management problems summed from a lack of effective (immunication between the drivers and “anageinent. '):1 1t all boiled down to whether we were going to have a say in decisions that ibatlect our lives," said Jeff Zinser, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees /978 year of the Republican in Centre County races By DENISE 1./IFFAN Daily Collegian Staff Writer Election year 1978 turned out to be the year of the Republican in Centre County. Voters in the district elected republicans to the governorship, U.S. House of Represen tatives, state Senate and state House. ') , But the election results did not show Republican par tisanship as much as they demonstrated the voters' mood for diange. Except in the case of the state Senate position, voters either voted out the incumbent or the incumbent's party, giVing themselves new and, they hope, better representation. ' lo Republican Richard Thornburgh won a stunning come-from 6ehind victory over former Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty. Flaherty had started his campaign with strong public backing only to see this ultimately dwindle and disappear to the former Federal prosecutor. "The theme of this year's elections was clean government and each gubernatorial candidate tried to appear cleaner than the other. Thornburgh used his reputation as a tough, successful prosecutor to underline his ability to root out corruption. Flaherty, too, tried to appear honest and independent of big party-politics saying that during his administration, no one Was sought on charges of corruption. Being a Democrat, Flaherty had a more difficult time than Thornburgh because he had to live down the scandal-plagued reputation of the *Sha PP administration. apartment than the, previous rental period. Tenants were told that they had until February 6 to sign an agreement guaranteeing them their present apartment for the beginning of Fall Term. , The new rates affected Beaver Hill, Cedarbrook, Garner Court, Penn Tower and Park Hill Apartments. It was fur ther announced that nine-month leases would no longer be available at Garner Court and Penn Tower. Al Toth, A. W. & Son general manager, attributed the rent increases to rises in the cost of labor, trash removal and utilities. A rise in vandalism was also listed by the management as a reason for the increases. The cessation in nine-month leases meant tenants would have to sublet their apartments for the summer months if To make up the difference, the Board of Trustees at its January meeting was forced to ' raise tuition $35 a term, beginning with Spring Term.Studenf costs went up again in March as the trustees raised room and board rates $l9 per term. In March, University President John W. Oswald began pleading with state legislators to increase the University's apprbpriation. Oswald went bet ore the House Appropriations Committee to justify the University's $125.9 million request for 1978-79. Earlier in the year, Gov. Shapp, in his budget address. re - commended that the University receive the same amount of funding it had the previous two years. "Three straight years at the same local that serves CATA. "Not only morally should we provide input, but we're in a better position to provide input." During the year, the union I iled unfair labor practices against CATA and every union member signed a petition calling for the resignation or dismissal of then Centre Lines Manager Richard Lang. But before the year was over, labor management problems were ironed out. A labor-management relations com mittee was formed and workers had more input in administrative decisions. The committee is "working well," Since the two candidates were so similar, the major reason for Thornburgh's victory probably stems from the disillusionment Democrats felt with their party, which caused them to cross party lines. The candidates in the race for the 23rd Congressional seat took positions that were like night and day. In general, Republican William Clinger took a more conservative stand on the issues than the incumbent liberal Democrat, Joseph Ammerman. Spending received the greatest emphasis of the issues. Clinger continually accused Ammerman of being one of the biggest spenders in Congress, but Ammerman claimed that this reputation was unfair since the money he was alloted, $275,000, was spent setting up a new system of offices in this district to serve the constituents. Ammerman, in turn, attacked Clinger for spending so much money on his campaign and receiving contributions from Texas gas industries. Clinger countered that this was perfectly legal and that he needed the extra funds in running against an incumbent. Ammerman is also known for voting for many expensive appropriations. Clinger, a fiscal conservative, deplored this record and promised to work at cutting back federal spending as well as cutting back taxes. Clinger supported the Kemp-Roth bill, a drastic measure which would cut individual federal income tax rates across the they did not plan to attend school at that time. Tenants complained that since relatively few people attend summer term, their apartments would be very difficult to sublet. On Jan 29, an angry group of about 20 tenants met with OTIS members and Mike Stinson of the Undergraduate Student Government's Department of Political Affairs. The group decided to encourage tenants not to renew then• rental aggrements right away. and discussed the possible picketing of A W & Son's main office, located in the Beaver Hill complex. At the same meeting, it was an nounced that from 500 to 550 A. W. & Son tenants had signed a petition asking the management to sit clown and discuss the rent increases with them. At about this time, OTIS President level of support could result in irreperable damage to Penn State and other institutions." Oswald told the House committee.He told the Senate Appropriations Committee the same thing in April. Oswald's presentation influenced the committee somewhat. Although the House did not grant the full ap propraition, the University was voted a modest 3 percent increase, raising the appropriation to $111.9 million The House and Senate concurred on the University's appropriation in May, actually raising it to $ll2 million. Shapp signed the appropriation bill in June Oswald will again go before the House committee this March. He must justify a CATA board Chairman Paul Rigby said. Zinser said that in the past lour or live months labor-management relations were significantly improved because the management and labor began talking to each other. Lang eventually resigned as of Dec :31, saying it was due to personal reasons Labor-management problems may have put enough of a strain on Lang to lead to his resignation. Expansion of the Centre Line's system was also significant in 1978. The system's buses now service more than 130,000 passengers each month, Rigby Teamsters Local 8 President Jane Pikovsky, left, and 2,800 University employees went on a two-month strike in June. Jeff Zinser, above, led an.unsuccessful effort by rival union AFSCME to unseat the Teamsters. Jeremy Abrams expressed concern that the situation with A. W. & Son and the possible condemnation of Eastgate Apartments -- now University Terrace tnay have adverse affects on enrollment at the University. The small group of tenants met again three days later to plan a meeting 1% Nell WOUld InVolve a larger number of tenants. The group. now calling itself "Concerned Tenants of A W & Son,.. was being advised by OTIS, USG and the Association of Residence Hall Students in what OTIS Vice President Carl Deck termed a "crisis situation " The Concerned Tenants decided at that time to distribute flyers under all A & Son tenant's doors to publicize the upcoming meeting. Abrams told the group Toth had said he would discuss an [Sig] in 1 $l3O million request. the largest in the school's , history Gm.-elect liicahrd Thornburgh ‘‘ ill present his lirst budget a dd ress i n F e b ruar: ,. g i \ i ng I h e University some indication of 1t here it stands 13ut the going Neill doubtless be rough m 1979 because the stale laces a budget deficit for the coming year Reports place the del jell at anywhere I rom $6O to $220 million. The other catch is the state's increased personal and corporate income taxes both reverted back to the old levels as of Dec.:3l The taxes were increased in December 1977 to acquire additional funds for the non-preferred instutions such as Penn State. said. Four years ago, it serviced less than 15,000 passengers each month, he said. CA'I'A expanded in another way. On Dec. 1, Ferguson Township became the litth municipality to be serviced by Cent re Lines. Initially, service to the township meant only that the "H" and "W" buses that travel along North Atherton Street would stop in the township. However. CATA plans to expand its service to the township alter additional buses are obtained board over a three-year period Ammerman said this was much too extreme and irresponsible a measure. The candidates also opposed each other on the gas deregulation issue, which Clinger supported and Ammerman did not Clinger claimed deregulation would create more jobs in thij district while Ammerman said that it would only hurt the consumer with higher gas and oil prices. The state senatorial race was, perhaps, the calmest, least vicious and most predictable of all the races. Democratic candidate Robert Sebring unsuccessfully challenged in cumbent Sen. J. Doyle Corman c R-34) for his seat in the state Senate. Corman won the election by a 61 to 39 percent margin by depending mostly on his record as a senator. Sebring tried to force the issues of the senatorial scholarships and state ap propriations to the University and make Corman appear to be anti-education. Last October, 'Corman had voted to discontinue senatorial scholarships because some senators abused them, and he said he did not feel senators had the right to give out these scholarships. Sebring said the scholarships were an honor and should be reinstated under proper guidelines. The candidates also disagreed on appropriations to state related universities. Corman supported giving' these in stitutions preferred instead of non-preferred status. Sebring thought this would cause them to lose autonomy to the state, University president John W. Os wpld I►ad a bad year overall: budget problems plagued the Universit y . and he left office for luo months to recuperate fron► e e surgery. Ex-basketball coach .John Bach, ‘t ho resigned at the end of the 1978 season. extension of the lease renewal deadline with the owners of A. W. & Son. 13y Feb 2, the tenants had been granted a renewal extension until Feb. 25. However, a meeting that night of more than lOU A. W. & Son tenants unanimously endorsed a boycott of all A. W. & Son apartments. The group also planned mass picketing of the Beaver Ilill ()Bice, and voted to demand full enforcement of building codes in all apartments in the Centre Region A rent strike was discussed, but the idea was shelved. Stinson told the group that a strike was still "too harsh a measure." At the meeting, Abrams said. "We're not alone in all of this. The University is scared to death. They're worried that students will be priced out of the market." Alone then weren't. Financial R. ( oi.LEEN G.ma.lciimi Dail Collegian Stall Writer The issuance of guns to campus police officers was one of the most controversial matters laced by the University community in 1978. • And what it generated in short lived dispute and disharmony cer tainly can be matched by the in of the decision for the years ahead. When then-acting University President Edward D. Eddy decided to follow the University Council's 7-2 recommendation to arm 33 of the officers. he said he did so to prevent the potentially flammable situation of having to call in an outside police force to quell a campus disturbance or crime. Those opposed to guns, however, said that by arming the officers, the University now is playing with f ire. While few would expect another Kent State to occur because the of ficers now have guns, the "Don't Shoot" buttons that quickly spread around campus pointed to a possible deterioration in student-police relat ions. Whether any distrust carries over into this and succeeding years will depend on whether, for instance, an officer's gun is pulled and a life is saved, or whether another incident occurs such as the one on Oct. 5. Protest of University police but said they should get cost of living increases. Corman's re-election shows that most voters were not upset with the job he had done and that Sebring's stand on the issues was not very popular. This relatively calm race was sharply contrasted with the battle for the Centre Region state congressional seat. Republican Gregg C. Cunningham narrowly defeated in cumbent Helen D. Wise. Wise called the race "vicious and aggressive." The focus of the campaign was on Wise, with Cunningham criticizing her record and Wise forced to defend it. Cunningham accused \Vise of "acquiescence to the leadership." Wise denied this charge and pointed to her support of tougher ethics bills and anti-corruption legislation. The constant mud-slinging overshadowed the other issues of the campaign. Cunningham did say that he would work for reform in the budget process. He also accused Wise of allowing the University to be "taken hostage" in the budget crisis of 1977. Wise said she would like to see the University given a yearly cost of living increase. Cunningham was a surprise winner by a small margin. His victory can be attributed both to his strong, relentless cam paigning as well as to the voters who voted straight Republican. The Daily Collegian Nlonday, Jan. S. 1975- assistance came from USG and ARIIS. as well as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who also of ler ed legal and organizational help. "Rent Wars': had oft icially begun. The next day, the management of A. W & Son announced that "effective today, A. W & Son is suspending all fall rentals until further notice " All attempts of the Concerned Tenants to unify A. W. & Son's tenants against their management. however, proved futile. Although management decided to allow 9-month leases in Garner Court and Penn Tower. the real battle was lost Prospective renters lined up en masse. some staying overnight, when A. V. & Son began accepting rental applications 00 March 29 met arming IVlnle hearings were still being conducted on v. bet her to arm the police, a shot went ()II accidentally in Grange Building as an oil leer was cleaning his weapon. Director of University Salety David E Stormer whose request to arm his officers began the controversy did not report the incident until Nov. 30 about three decks alter Eddy granted his request. When the incident came to light, some students -- on both sides of the gun issue became incensed b. what they called a cover-up 1):‘ Stormer. Student leaders called for a public investigation ‘‘ith student input, but received somewhat less than that. On Dec. 16, Eddy released a report explaining how the accident oc curred. but did not release the separate reports by Stormer and a ormer admina,tra tor. which were the sources of his conclusions Why the officer was handling a gun at a time when the force was not authorized to carry firearms etas answered in Eddy's report: Although it should not have been loaded, the weapon was legitimately available to the oil leer I or cleaning Explanation of that fact alone helped quell most of the controversy Discontent over Stormer's conduct in the matter did not die as easily.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers