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°