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.