The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, October 15, 1979, Image 1

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on hustle
The Nittany Lion shuffles and dances along with the cheerleaders to warm up the crowd in the nippy weather. The Home
-4 coming celebration was topped by Penn State’s victory over Army by 24-3. See Homecoming story on Page 3 and football
Stories on Page 6.
Oswald to consider
dorm contract plan
By AMY SMITH
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
A tentative proposal for a lottery
system to allot dorm contracts will go to
university President John W. Oswald
for approval Nov. 1 unless students can
draft a better proposal meeting the same
criteria as the lottery system, Pat
Peterson, associate director of
Residential Life, said.
“We wanted to .make a change in the
contract system to make it better
for every student, Peterson said. “The
best we could come up with is a lottery.
We do want to approach students and
give them a chance to come up with a
better system that meets these same
criteria.” '
VWe do not accept at all the Univer
sity's plan,” Steve Osborn, president of
the Association, of Residence Hall
Students, said Thursday.
The ARHS dorm contract committee
plans to submit for approval two dif
ferent plans designed to improve last
year’s dorm contract system and meet
ffle criteria for the University’s lottery
system, Osborn said. J
“Ourf irSt :#ibirity
which the University’s lottery plan does;
not provide for,” Osborn said. ’
“Our first plan is an improved version
of last year’s first come, first served
arstem,” he said. “Our second plan is a'
ifibdified lottery system.”
The decision to change the dorm
contract allotment system was made, in
part, when the University considered
trends in on campus housing and found
more and more students want to live on
campus.
But last year, when some students
waited in line up to 30 hours to submit
their contract on a first come, first
served basis, the Univeristy decided to
take action, Peterson said.
"It came down to whomever who had
w* most physical prowess, stamina and
good luck to lineup early got the con
tracts,” Peterson said.
“Once we decided to change the
system, we had a choice between, this
first come, first served system based on
physical prowess or to leave it up to
ttjte,” she said. “These are not sensible
choices, but we had to choose between
them. I wish someone would come up
.Oswald:
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with a better system that makes more
sense.”
Housing services and the University
recognize that there will be students who
will not be happy with the proposal, she
said.
“This is a no-win situation. We cannot
please everybody simply because there
will always be people who do not get
dorm contracts, no matter what the
system,” Peterson said.
Last year, one in 23 students did not
get dorm contracts, Peterson said.
Under the proposed lottery system, the
odds would be about the same.
It is possible that all students will get a
dorm contract, Peterson said, because
under this system, there will. be no
voluntary cancellation may
cut back on those students who are not
sure if they want to live in the dorms,
submit a contract, get accepted and then
decide to live elsewhere, she said.
Although the proposed lottery system
does not provide for reassignment, it is
designed to simplify the contract
process, to add more fairness to the
process,-and todetermine the number
spaces to be allocated on a Stratified'
basis prior to the start of the ; application
process, Peterson said.
Not providing a reassignment priority
is one of the things ARHS disagrees with.
“Priority to reassignment is one of the
first things we talked about in designing
our own proposal,” Osborn said.
“Reassignment will ensure floor con
tinuity and unification, which is im
portant to the whole college ex
perience.”
The proposed lottery system will
process all submitted contracts and will
randomly select as many contracts as
space permits. Then, contracts will be
divided into three categories: present
residence hall students, Commonwealth
campus students, and transfer, read
mitted and off-campus students.
This system gives some priority to
present residence hall students because
they will have the first preference of
rooms, Peterson said.
Residence hall students will then have
their preferences allotted in the order in
which the computer picks them, she
said.
Penn State is still 'strong and responsive'
John W: Oswald
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daily
Survey results indicate use of
By DON DeIVECCHIO
Daily Collegian Staff Writer (
The recent 15-cent increase in the Campus Loop fare
has decreased the number of Loop riders, according the
preliminary results of a survey by the Undergraduate
Student Government Senate.
The survey, based on 1,056 responses so far, has in
dicated a 44.5 percent decrease in student ridership.
When excluding-first-term students and students with
unchanged ridership habits, the survey has indicated a
88.2 percent decrease.
Jeannie Fenster (Bth-administration of justice) said
the fare increase has definitely influenced her riding
habits.
“I hardly ever ride it now. I would sooner walk,” she
Said
NaricyTarves (iOth-English hterature). also said she
rides theLoopfar less than last year.
Wi l’ve ridden it only three times this term,”-she said.
“Normally, I’d take it whenever I was downtown.”
She said she will not ride more during the winter
months despite snow, ice and cold weather.
dinger requests increase in U.S.
By DENISE LAFFAN
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Concern about increasing Soviet
military power recently prompted U.S.
Rep. Bill Clinger, R-Central Pa., and 98
of his colleagues to send a letter to the
White House urging President Carter to
increase U.S. military spending in order
to stop declining American influence in
world affairs.
Clinger, who wrote the letter, iden
tified the “taproot cause of America’s
major ills” as a lack of the “will and
resolve we formerly possessed as a
nation.”
“There is a growing sense among our
enemies as well as our allies that the
United States is unwilling to commit
itself,” Clinger said. Clinger said he
Interview
Editor’s Note: University President
John W. Oswald is beginning his 10th
year as president. During the past 10
years he has handled problems ranging
from student unrest in the early 70s to
budget crises of the late 70s. Daily
Collegian staff writer Harry Glenn in
terviewed Oswald earlier this month and
asked him about the problems the
University will face in the future and
how it will adapt to them. This is the first
of two parts of the interview, which has
been edited for length and clarity. The
second part will appear next Monday.
COLLEGIAN: You are beginning your
10th year here. Looking back, what do
you see as your major ac
complishments?
OSWALD: I feel one of the major
accomplishments is the maintenance of
Penn State as a strong and responsive
University during a period when we’re
having to cut back financially, and with
the problem of assessing the priorities
and allocating money in a way Whereby
we still can work within our budget on
, the one hand, and on the other, meet our
obligations as a first-rate university.
I think a second is, to the extent that I
have been involved, bringing the Board
of Trustees into much closer touch with
the operation of the Univertsity. Now the
board meets six times a year and we
Both sides declare win
in Florida caucus voting
. MIAMI (UPI) Florida Democrats got the attention they
wanted with their political “beauty contest” between
President Carter and Sen. Edward Kennedy, but were unable
to say yesterday who actually won the loving cup.
As a result, both sides were claiming victory and neither
could prove it.
The inconclusive results in what was billed as the first test of
grass roots support for the president and,the Massachusetts
senator did not deter the campaign spokesmen.
Carter state campaign chief Jay Hakes issued what he
called a “victory statement” and a claim that Kennedy could
not get more delegates than Carter.
Not to be outdone, the draft-Kennedy movement’s Gerald
Lewis weighed in with a declaration that the senator had won a
“fantastic victory” and the president had suffered “a
tremendous defeat ”
The state Democratic Party made no attempt to tabulate the
voting Saturday and there were indications the official figures
may be days in coming.
But on the basis of unofficial and sometimes extremely
informal tabulations after Democrats convened in the 67
counties to elect 879 delegates to the state party convention,
Carter had an apparent, if shaky, majority.
Those figures showed Carter with 518 delegates and Ken
nedy with 291. There were 39 delegates elected to press for
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Photo by Dave Kraft
believes that if the United States cannot
at least demonstrate parity with the
Soviet weapons, its role as a world power
will be seriously questioned.
Eight Pennsylvania congressmen
endorsed Clinger’s letter. One of the
representatives, Rep. Don Baily, -D-
Pittsburgh, criticized the opponents of
increases in military spending for
“taking a childishly simple approach.”
“The defense increase now will affect
the balance for years,” Baily said.
Rep. Charlie Dougherty, R-
Philadelphia, a member of the Armed
Services Committee and another signer
of Clinger’s letter, agreed with
Dougherty
“We see what the Russians are doing
now and where the United States will be
average 26 members out of 32 that come
to a meeting. We used to meet only twice
a year and a very small executive
committee essentially ran the
University
Thirdly I feel that students are much
more involved with the operation of the
University then they were. Now there
may be some disagreement on this. But
at least. I believe there is more op
portunity for student involvement in the
operation of the University than there
certainly was before I came.
I Would like to feel that there are
closer working relationships that have
evolved between the administration and
the faculty in the decision-making
process. I guess the general way I would
describe .it is the fact that I think
governance involves more people and
the result is somewhat better, hopefully
better, judgments as a result of the
opportunity for all segments to par
ticipate.
Those would be the things that come
immediately to my mind. I think we
have kept Penn State a strong in
stitution, really, in spite of the fact that
we have had to reallocate over $2O
million from what we have decided are
less critical areas into absolutely
mandated areas beacuse of the in
flationary areas.
Ilegian
Vol.Bo, N 0.60 14 pages
“I’ll make a special effort to only take it on the" Worst
days or if I couldn’t leave early for class. It’s against
my principles,” she said
Paul Moore (lst-liberal arts) also said he will not ride
more in the winter.. He said he scheduled his Winter
Term classes so he will have sufficient time to walk to
classes, “so I don’t have to ride the Loop so much.”
Debbie Markind (lOth-speech pathology) said the
fare increase should not have been as high as it was.
Although “a dime was great, I wouldn’t mind if it was 15
cents,” she said.
Although the survey and student reactions indicate
that students have decreased their Loop ridership, Loop
drivers said they have not yet noticed a great decrease
and expect more students to ride during the winter
months regardless of the 25-cent fare.
Loop, driver Sandy Arrsion said “ridership has gone
down somewhat but it’s still fairly good.” She said the
fare increase is justified because “students are aware
of the costs, especially those with their own cars. They
know how much it costs when they buy gas for their own
cars.”
Continued on Page 11.
by the mid-1980s. We’re on the verge of
becoming a third-rate military power,”
he said,
Clinger also said in the letter that the
United States’ military decline has led to
an inability “to influence world events
that have a direct and indirect effect on
our domestic economic problems:
energyshortages, inflation, unem
ployment and reduced productivity.”
American domestic and international
situations are only two factors forcing
the United States to spend more on
defense, Clinger said. He said the SALT
negotiations also encourage
proliferation.
“In order for us to be in a position for
negotiation, we have to have fancy
weapons to bargain from,” he said.
labor planks in the state convention platform and 28 un
committed or “other” delegates; If whs understood that at
least 10 labor delegates were for Carter, at least six for Ken
nedy.
That outcome was subject to radical change by an official
tabulation of caucus votes in Miami’s Dade County, which will
send 188 delegates to the state convention.
A media pool canvass of 4,257 voters leaving the Dade
polling place showed Carter with a lead of about 50 votes.
Democratic officials turned over 4,564 actual ballots to the
county election commission for validation, after which a
public accounting firm was lined up to tabulate the results. No
one knew when that process would be completed:
In Washingon, President Carter said he felt “very good”
about the vote. Kennedy said he was heartened by the number
of Florida residents who shared his concern for the same
issues. Kennedy’s press secretary Tom Southwick said
yesterday that Kennedy all along had felt Carter would win.
"For my ownself; I’m amazed that it is even in doubt,”
Southwick said.
A straw vote will be taken at the state Democratic con
vention Nov. 18, when the county delegates and 838 other
delegates mostly officeholders and party officials loyal to
Carter —will vote their presidential preference.
University Perk, Pa. 16802
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
Loop down
Driver Ralph Coble said he has noticed a decrease in
ridership not on weekdays, but on football weekends.
He said that on the average he picks up about 3,400
riders, but so far this term, the average has been only
around 1,200 riders.
Bruce A. Younkin, foreman of business operations;
Samuel C. Blazer, supervisor of fleet operations; and
Richard L. Crowley, assistant vice president for
business services, all declined to comment on the USG
Senate survey or the current state of Loop ridership. -
USG Senate President Mark Berg said that by in
creasing the Loop fare “the service to the students has
been effectively reduced.” He said although the Loop
still provides the same services it has in the past, many
students are unable to use it because of the cost.
“What good is the service if students cannot use it?”,
he said.
The USG Senate is expected to present recom
mendations concerning the fare to the University ad
ministration when all survey results have been
tabulated.
military spending
Baily said, “It’s not an issue of who
wants war and who does not.
“There is no one who doesn’t want
peace,” he said. But the Soviets spend $3.
to the United States’ $l, he said, which
could cause serious problems.
Clinger said the general mood of,
Washington was to increase spending by
5 percent.
Back to normal
After some morning fog, abundant
sunshine and no more than a few high
clouds will make our weather feel more
seasonable as the temperature climbs to
57. Partly cloudy and mild tonight and
tomorrow with tonight’s low going down
to 45 and Tuesday’s high reaching 64.
15*