W 202 PATTEE Program helps cut vandalism Experiment to expand to more residence halls ,By PAUL MARTIN .Daily Collegian Staff Writer An experimental damage reduction * program instituted in five Pollock- Nittany-Centre residence halls last year -has helped save $6,978.47 and cut damage almost in half, according to an assistant coordinator. Because of that success, Max McGee, coordinator in Pollock-Nittany f Centre Halls and the designer of the •program, said the Damage Reduction Model will be expanded this year to include all campus residence halls. The Association of Residence Hall Students has taken over control of the program, creating the Residential Damage Reduction Committee which I twill work closely with Housing, y Residential Life and Maintenance and i Operations, McGee said. ! ) Todd Becker (4th-computer science), >' chairman of the new committee, said p vandalism to the residence halls is a *! i'ery serious problem, with damages of .li/more than $170,000 last year. Becker msaid many students fail to realize they ’. i are the ones who eventually must pay for those damages. The damage reduction program focusing exclusively on men’s residence halls because of their past record of high { damages will require some time to Ishow results, Becker said. Student ! ‘reaction to the plan has been positive I land he said he expects substantial ! ‘reduction in damages by the end of this iacademic year. i } McGee said he will act as a consultant rthis year, helping ARHS with any problems it may encounter im- Ijplementipg the program campuswide, vl . ‘‘l really would like to see if it works ' J j^oaltMLAt.^glsaMBfeJhiaJSi.- lithe-W?;y the, program will perpetuate i itself,'- McGee said. ' j Last year in the Pollock-Nittany- experiment five dqrmitori.es ■Vt*. unk, Hartranft, Porter, Mifflin and / i | Niftany) were chosen as target buildings , : 'because of their high damage totals jvduring the previous year. McGee said j the Residential Life staff and Housing . j ’ office ■ worked closely with students in ! j those dorms' to redirect negative and i behavior in residence halls. <<' Kyaking was one of theways students cooled off this summer. This race was sponsored by the Kyaking Club and was held f' J in bellefonte. I 4 Z COPit Comparing this year’s figures to last year’s, damages to the five buildings decreased from $15,683.36 to $8,704.89. McGee said damages to other University buildings increased from $1,942.24 to $2,631.49 during the same period. McGee said the savings from the targeted buildings offset the damage increases in the other # buildings, allowing the Pollock-Nittany-Centrearea to record an overall 36 percent damage reduction. McGee said the damage reduction plan was well received by students in the target buildings. “There was great cooperation bet ween the administration and the students, and because of the program, relationships between the students and residential life have improved dramatically,” he said. McGee said another positive aspect of the program is that there now is a better working relationship between Housing, Residential Life and Maintenance and Operations. The damage reduction model was developed by McGee after a review of several of his basic assumptions con cerning students and vandalism. McGee said one of those assumptions is that many students are frustrated and dissatisfied with their living en vironment and this results in increased vandalism in the dorms. ; McGee also said' many students believe the administration (Residential Life and Housing) is unaware or moves too slowly on issues that concern students. Also, a concerned student’s fear of retaliation arid ostracism usually prevents the identity of the known vandal from reaching proper authorities, McGee said. Becker said implementation of the damage reduction plan involves the combined efforts of an overall chair man, appointed ARHS representatives in each dorm area, Resident Assistants and recruited student leaders on targeted dorm floors. “The Residential Damage Reduction Committee is an important step towards greater interaction with the ad ministration, and the overall effects of this program will hopefully not be felt by the residence hails alone,” Becker said. A decrease in damages should be found throughout the entire campus as a result of improved student attitudes induced by this model plan, Becker said. McGee said ARHS took control of the program because it would require too much of Residential Life’s time to im plement campuswide. Also, ARHS is student-oriented and as such it sees this program as a potential way of servicing students, McGee said. High dive! This photo was shot from a plane, not from a new high board at the outdoor pool. ” V01.8t.N0.30 SOoogoo Appointment must be confirmed by Senate T“hornburg!rv names Bel! new student trustee By KATHY HOKE Daily Collegian Staff Writer Paul D. Bell mh-marketing) has been named to the University Board of Trustees by Gov. Dick Thornburgh, but his three-year term will not begin until the state Senate confirms his ap pointment. Bell, who will replace student trustee David Hickton, was appointed to the board Aug. 1, a spokesman from the governor's press office said yesterday. The appointment was based on a recommendation from state Secretary of Education Robert Scanlon, who in terviewed Bell and two other student candidates for the vacancy. The Senate will vote on the appointment after reconvening Sept. 15. The board is scheduled to meet Sept. University officials need not file financial forms with commission By TOM BOYER Daily Collegian Staff Writer The State Ethics Commission recently ruled by a 3-2 vote that the University is not covered by state ethics legislation, and as a result University officials will not have to file financial disclosure forms with the commission. The law, adopted in 1978, prohibits conflicts of interest and requires all elected and appointed officials of the Com monwealth of Pennsylvania to file the disclosure forms, which indicate the sources of income over $5OO, but not the exact amounts. However, the law does not say whether quasi-governmental institutions such as the state-related universities and the Turnpike Commission are included in the definition of “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” State-owned colleges are covered by the law. Attorney Delbert J. McQuaide, who represented the University in submitting the request for the commission’s ruling, argued that the law applies only to executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, and that the University is not part of any of these. Ethics Comn.’ssion Chairman Paul Smith, who voted to include the University in the legislation, said that because the University receives a large part of its operating expenses and building funds from the state, and because University em ployees are covered by the state retirement plan, University officials shouldbe covered by the act. “There seems to be some unfairness that the president of Shippensburg (State College) has to file while the president of Penn State doesn’t,” Smith said. Sandy Christiansen, general counsel to the commission, said the case was difficult to decide, as indicated by the time it took the commission to reach a decision and by the closeness of the vote. “They had a tough one on their hands,” she said Bill Cluck, an Undergraduate Student Government senator, said the original ethics bill was drafted with several “glaring errors” and some vagueness because it was written during a busy legislative session in 1978. Rep. Allen Kukovich (D-Westmoreland), who sponsored the ethics legislation when it passed in 1978, said, “When we drafted it I didn’t think about the universities. With hindsight I ' would really love to see them included.” Smith said the legislation called for a “liberal in terpretation,” which meant that the commission should in clude any state agency under the legislation in unclear cases. “Given a choice when it was even-steven the legislature felt we (the ethics commission) should vote them in,” he said. Mary Dunkel of the University’s Office of Public In formation said University officials could not comment on the Ethics Commission decision at this time because the University has not yet received official word of the decision. Dunkel added that the University’s decision to request the commission’s opinion was the work of many administrators, and that no one person is responsible for formulating the University’s position on the issue. McQuaide was not available for comment. 18 and 19, Patricia Rosdil, associate secretary to the Board of Trustees, said Bell will not begin serving as trustee until the Senateconfirms his appointment because the board’s by-laws require that trustees appointed by the governor serve until a successor is appointed and confirmed. Hickton’s term was to expire July 1. University Park, Pa. 16602 Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University Cluck said University administrators might feel their privacy is violated by the legislation’s requirements. However, Cluck also said University administrators could be in favor of disclosure, but don’t want to set a precedent that might change the University’s independent status. Cluck and Smith both cited University President John W. Oswald’s position on the board of directors of General Public Utilities as an example of potential conflict of interest that would be covered by the law if it applied to the University. Smith said the University’s action to avoid the ethics legislation may have hurt its standing among legislators who vote on the University’s funding. 7 don't think they want to jeopardize their grant, and they may have done just that.. .Here's the leading educational institution in the state leading the way away from the ethics act. It's kind of out of character.' “I don’t think they want to jeopardize their grant, and they may have done just that,” Smith said. “Here’s the leading educational institution in the state leading the way away from the ethics act,” he said. “It’s kind of out of character.” Smith said some state agencies have volunteered to be covered by the act, because some federal grants are tied to an agency’s compliance with ethics legislation. Kukovich said he will probably introduce an amendment to the ethics legislation early next year that would include educational institutions such as Penn State and the Philadelphia School Board. • However, he said his amendment might be used by op ponents of ethics legislation to weaken the ethics law. “I will try to balance the value of including Penn State and the Philadelphia School Board against the possibility that the ethics legislation might be gutted,” he said. Lookin' good There should be some sunshine today, especially in the af ternoon, but a brief thundershower could cloud the skies and soak the ground. The high will be 85. Mostly clear and a bit cooler tonight, with a low of 58. Tomorrow’s football opener with Colgate should be a great day, with plenty of sunshine and the high a pleasant 81. The board’s charter permits Iht governor to appoint six of the 32 trustees. Although a student appointment is not required, it has been a tradition for about 10 years for governors to reserve one of. the six appointments for a student. Bell could not be reached for comment on his appointment. —Paul Smith, Chairman, State Ethics Commission 15°
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