26—The Daily Collegian Friday, Oct. 31,1080
Brazill confident on qualifications
By TOM BOYER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
University student Robert C. Brazill (Bth-political science),
Democratic candidate for the stale House of Representatives,
has said that his qualifications “I’m a student, I’m in
terested, I’m a concerned voter” are sufficient to represent
the 77th District in Harrisburg.
“I think that’s all it takes. You can’t make the legislature an
e'litist grqup,” said Brazill, who ran unopposed in the
Democratic primary last April.
Although he has lost the support of local party leadership in
a dispute over his eligibility, Brazill said House leaders have
assured him that he meets the legal requirements for can
didacy and that his eligibility will withstand challenges in the
House.
However, Gregory Stewart, chairman of the State College
Democratic Committee, said last month, “There’s a real ques
tion on whether he meets the residency requirements of the
state.”
As required by the Pennsylvania Constitution, state
Representatives must live in the state for four years before
serving.
Brazill declared residency in New Jersey in order to vote
there in 1977, and that may have made him ineligible.
. If Brazill wins the election and his eligibility is challenged,
the entire House will vote to decide the question, and the case
could end up in court. While the decision is being made, the
77th District could be without a representative, according to a
legal counsel to House Majority Leader Matthew J. Ryan, R-
Delwaware.
Brazill, 24, has said being a student has helped his
understanding of problems concerning students and the rest of
the University community.
“The tuition increases that come all the time hit me as well
as anyone else. I’m a student. I’ll continue to be a student and
;I’ll represent (students) better than anyone else,” Brazill said.
; He has also said he hopes for support from students in the
election.
'ln a situation statewide
where voters are asking
for lower taxes and less
spending , the nonprefer
reds are going to get
hurt.'
“If I can’t get the backing of students in this election, victory
won’t be as sweet,” he said.
Brazill said three issues are most important to his cam
paign: funding for the University, hazardous waste disposal in
Centre County and a “bottle bill,” which would prohibit non
returnable beverage bottles in Pennsylvania.
On the University funding question, Brazill backs an amend
ment to the state Constitution that would eliminate the distinc
tion between preferred and nonpreferred institutions a posi
tion also taken by his independent opponent, State College At
torney Michael G. Day
If such an amendment were adopted, the University and
other state-related institutions would technically hold equal
priority for state funding with state-owned institutions and
programs.
As a short-term solution to the University funding question,
Brazill proposes to increase funding for both the University
and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
To do this, he said, Pennsylvanians “need to cut back some
of the bureaucracy in Harrisburg,” although he said he needs
more information before saying where the cuts can be made.
He supports the decriminalization of marijuana, along with
its legalization for medical use, saying, “It’s dangerous to put
anybody in jail ifor smoking a little dope.”
Brazill has described his position on abortion as “pro
alternative,” meaning he wants to eliminate abortions but sup
ports alternatives, such as increasing sex education in public
schools and programs to help pregnant women.
“I think there are better ways of dealing with (unwanted
pregnancies) than abortion,” he said.
He has proposed expanding the Pennsylvania Industrial
Development Authority to encourage small business in
Pennsylvania.
Without the financial support of his party, Brazill has had to
finance his campaign entirely out of his own pocket and will
probably.have spent less.than $lOO op the entire
This compares with about $3,700 spent by Day and $B,OOO by in
cumbent Rep. Gregg L. Cunningham, R-Centre County.
—Michael G. Day
Day calls himself only alternative
By TOM BOYER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Though listed on the ballot as an in
dependent candidate for state House of
Representatives, State College Attorney
Michael G. Day has called himself “the
only clear-cut Democratic alternative”
to incumbent Gregg L. Cunningham, R-
Centre County in the race for the 77th
District seat.
Day has asserted that Democratic
nominee Robert C. Brazill (Bth-political
science) is not eligible to serve because
he does not meet the residency re
quirements for state Representatives.
Brazill has denied that he is ineligible.
If Brazill won the election, the ques
tion of his eligibility would be decided by
the House. Brazill might not be able to
serve while the issue remains unresolv
ed, Day said.
Day is the only candidate in the race to
have taken a pro-choice position on abor
tion. He has said that while he is per
sonally opposed to abortion, he would not
impose that decision on anyone else.
“There are certain decisions that
aren’t to be made by the federal govern
ment, or the state,” Day said this fall.
As one of his top legislative priorities,
Day has called for an amendment to the
state Constitution to eliminate the
'The tuition increases
that come ail the time
hit me as well as anyone
else. I'm a student. I'll
continue to be a student
and I'll represent
(students) better than
anyone else.'
distinction between preferred and non
preferred appropriations. Such a
measure would give the University and
other nonpreferred appropriations equal
funding priority with the state
Legislature, Day has said.
“In a situation statewide where voters
are asking for lower taxes and less spen
ding, the nonpreferreds are going to be
the ones to get hurt,” he said.
Day has said students may have a
greater impact on this election than.in
1978, when Cunningham was elected,
because student voter registration in
Centre County numbers between 9,000 to
10,000.
However, He said, “It is a great
wonderment as to who is going to get the
student vote.”
Day has said he favors the
decriminalization of marijuana and the
legalization of the drug for use by cancer
and glaucoma victims.
—Robert C. Brazill
Day entered the race as in indepen
dent in July when the question of
Brazill’s eligibility first surfaced.
Day said he entered the race because
he thought Brazill might lose by as much
as a four-to-one margin because of the
eligibility question.
“Mr. Cunningham was willing to let it
ride,” Day said. “I wasn’t, because I
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didn’t want Mr. Cunningham to Tiave a
free ride.”
Day has termed his candidacy “an
alternative to-the economic policies of
Gregg Cunningham.”
To help create jobs in the state, Day
has called for a tax credit for
businessmen who hire new employees
and create new jobs.
Business is leaving the state, Day said,
partly because corporate taxes are high
and partly because of recently passed
legislation that raises the employer’s
share of unemployment insurance.
“When you overtax a state the way
Pennsylvania has been overtaxed, you
get to the point of diminishing returns,”
he said.
Day opposes legislation, supported by
Gov. Dick Thornburgh and Cunningham,
that would cut able-bodied people from
state general assistance rolls.
Day, 29, is a University graduate who
received his law degree from the Na
tional Law Center at George Washington
University.
Day has financed his election with
$1,200 out of his own pocket and $2,500 in
private contributions. He has not receiv
ed any contributions from political
groups.
1
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Cunningham stands on record
By TOM BOYER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
• State Rep. Gregg L. Cunningham, R-
Centre County, has said he believes the
health of Centre County’s economy will
.be uppermost in the minds of voters of
.the 77th district when they cast their
ballots in Tuesday’s general election.
“The economic issues for permanent
residents are jobs; the economic issues
.for students are tuition,” Cunningham
‘said, adding that both issues are closely
related to the economic health of the
,University.
~ Cunningham has centered his re
election campaign on the issue of his ef
fectiveness in representing the Univer
sity’s interests in Harrisburg, and has
Asserted that his record as an advocate
of the University’s interests is stronger
'than his predecessors.
0 “We have bettered that (his
predecessor’s record) enormously,” he
said, referring to the University’s basic
appropriation and additional funding for
capital projects.
The additional funding includes
$BOO,OOO for changes in University
facilities to accommodate the handicap
ped, $8.5 million for alterations to the
West Campus Power Plant and $4.5
million for new sewage treatment
facilities.
Unlike his opponents, Democrat
Robert C. Brazill and independent can
didate Michael G. Day, Cunningham has
not taken a position on amending the
state Constitution to abolish the dif
ference between, preferred and non
preferred appropriations.
Day and Brazill have said such a
measure would help insure full funding
for the University.
Cunningham has said he will support
the position of the University on any
legislative proposal which might affect
a fill Festival 1
31,1980 at the HUB I
0-7 pm in Terrace Room I
s after meal include: I
truing of Mr. and Ms. College I
iigo, and Square Dancing I
and Enjoy Yourself I
130 Heister St.
The Arena’s New Luncheon Buffet.
Includes Soup, Salads,
and an Assortment of Sandwich Meats.
All you can eat only $3.25.
Now includes Two Hot Entrees daily.
130 Heister St. (next to the Cinemas)
the University’s independence from
Harrisburg.
Cunningham has worked to make his
pro-life stand on abortion clear
throughout his freshman term as a state
Representative. He favors amending the
U.S. Constitution to make abortion
illegal.
He has introduced legislation, which is
awaiting action by the Legislature when
it reconvenes in November, that would
cut off state funding for Medicaid-funded
abortions except in cases of rape, incest
or danger to the life of the mother.
Also, Cunningham has said he will sup
port legislation, to be introduced in the
General Assembly next year, that would
be what he calls the toughest anti
abortion law in the United States.
Among many provisions, the legisla
tion would require notification of the
parents of a minor having an abortion, a
48-to-72 hour “cooling-off period” bet
ween when an abortion is approved and
when it is performed, and funeral ar
rangements for an aborted fetus.
During his first term, Cunningham has
come under fire from women’s groups
for his positions opposing abortion and
the Equal Rights Amendment, and his
spring 1979 proposal to require engaged
couples to wait six months before getting
married.
Vandy Wayland, president of the Cen
tre County Branch of the National
Organization for Women, said last
March that Cunningham has been lack
ing in his representation of women in his
district.
Calling Wayland’s charges “bizarre
and cynical,” Cunningham responded by
pointing to his sponsorship of a bill that
reformed Pennsylvania’s divorce laws
a measure that NOW strongly
supported.
Cunningham opposes the
decriminalization of marijuana in Penn-
cikeMEUfy
of pine
sylvania, because, he said, “I think it’s
ill-advised to do anything with any of our
drug laws that will compound the pro
blems we have in this community, with
our young people being savaged by
drugs to the extent that they are.”
Cunningham has had much more
money to spend in the campaign than
either of his opponents.
In comparison to Day’s budget of
about $3,700 and Brazill’s $lOO cam
paign, Cunningham has raised more
than $B,OOO of which $6OO came from the
Republican Party, the rest from a com
bination of private and organizational
donations.
‘The economic issues
for permanent residents
are jobs; the economic
issues for students are
tuition.'
—state Rep. Gregg L.
Cunningham
They say they were just.
hanging around killing time and,
by the way, “How did you do?”
You tell them a celebration is in
order and that you’re buying the
beer. “Look,” one of them says,
“If you did that well, buy us
something special.” Tonight, let
it be Lowenbrau.
Friends wish you luck
on a big exam. Good friends stick
around to see how you did.
Lowe
© 1980 Beer brewed in U.S.A. by Miller
i b i % >r \
u. Here’s to good friends.
irewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin C 7
The Daily Collegian Friday, Oct. 31, 1980—27
Photo by Brian Gemerman
Centre County
voters increase
by 16 percent
Centre County has about 54,509
registered voters eligible to vote in Tues
day’s general election an increase of
16 percent or 8,850 voters since last year.
Of the 54,569 registered voters, about
25,968 or 47 percent are registered
Republicans; 22,087 or 40 percent are
registered Democrats and 6,496 or 11 per
cent are registered as independent
voters.
The numbers of registered voters in
student precincts in State College follow
the same approximate breakdown, ac
cording to Vicki Bumbarger, Centre
County chief clerk.
The student precincts report the
following totals:
• West Central 1 reports 401 registered
Republicans, 341 registered Democrats
and 182 independents.
•East 1 has 573 registered
Republicans, 432 registered Democrats
and 249 independents.
• East 2 contains 446 registered
Republicans, 423 registered Democrats
and 249 registered independents.
•East 3 has 474 registered
Republicans, 469 registered Democrats
and 234 registered independents.
• East 4 reports 653 registered
Republicans, 581 registered Democrats
and 342 registered independents.
• East Central 1 contains 464 registerd
Republicans, 431 registered Democrats
and 321 registered independents.
• East Central 2 has 348 registered
Republicans, 357 registered Democrats
and 189 registered independents.
• East Central 3 reports 371 registered
Republicans, 346 registered Democrats
and 168 registered independents.