F FL NASA's space shuttle Columbia launches from Cape Canaveral yesterday morning leaving behind clouds of smoke. The long awaited shuttle, piloted by Robert Crippen and John Young, cost more than $lO billion to put into its two-day orbit around the Earth. Religious studies discontinued By DIANNE GARYANTES Daily Collegian Staff Writer The University's department of religious studies will be dissolved and reorganized into an inter-disci plinary program this summer, said Arthur 0. Lewis, associate dean of the College of The Liberal Arts. The departmental structure of religious studies will be discontinued in July because of low enroll ments in the major and budget cutbacks, he said. "This is purely an adminstrative thing," he said. "A change from the department structure to a program structure will save some money." • An inter-disciplinary program is one that draws on different disciplines within the University for a baccalaureate package. Other such programs in -elude linguistics and compqarative literature. Undergraduate students will still be able to major in religious studies, although there will be new requirements for the major next fall, said Yoshio Fukuyama, head of the department of .religious studies. The new requirements will not affect students who are now religious studies majors, he added. However, the college is not accepting any more graduate students in religious studies, Lewis said. No final decisions have been made about the master's program, Lewis said, but the doctoral Program is being phased out. "It looks as if we won't be having a doctoral program and may not have an master's program," he said. "The demand is not great enough to justify having The graduate students now enrolled will not be affected by this decision either, he said. The religious studies department was formed in 1965 when there was more of a demand for the program, but Fukuyama said students are geared to a more practical education today. "It's difficult for a University to keep programs going when there are these radical shifts of interest," Fukuyama said. There are four students now in the doctoral program, four students in the master's program and W 202 PATTEE MEI =II ' • •-` t . • ,„ ‘= ' •„ 4 V." ( -?.... '" • % %0; 44: ~, Department dissolved for financial reasons 4 :; COPT' • olle • 'ail the daily 1#7 1 4;;.. , , „, 4 . ' 4 • • • ‘. • * 41 ~ , f,5. 5 i•.,r;1 1 : 7/ 41 '' , - n,e;•, ,t't„t '* 1 44 e4 ,21,14 ‘ ,", • , • . • ^ Lte't . fef:Ci ' VP) , VIRAIX„ i3/41 ri:l6 • p • . • , r' • ' • •- five students majoring in the undergraduate pro gram. Religious studies programs attract very few ma jors because it is basically a service program, Fukuyama said. "Most of our courses draw studenth in other majors and other colleges," he said. At one point there were 12 faculty members in the department, Fukuyama said. There are now seven and one-half faculty members because the adminis tration stopped replacing faculty members who leave or retire, he said. Fukuyama is also leaving for a new position in Chicago. This created a problem because the college could not replace him, he said. "The dean saw an opportunity to make this change since I was leaving," Fukuyama said." This is the first time in the University's history that a department has been dissolved, Lewis said. Lewis said he thought the decision was a good one because the inter-diciplinary program will allow the religious program to expand into other areas. "When you have a department, a program can become more narrow," he said. "An inter-diciplinary program will expand into other areas." Fukuyama said he agreed that the proposed curriculum demonstrates the expansion in other fields. "With the change, there are more options for course selection," he said. "The new majors will have a more flexible program to get into." "Religious studies is an inter-dicipliinary field anyway," Fukuyama said. "I'm a sociologist and used to teach Social Science 001." The faculty is also qualified to teach other dici plines including classics, American studies and psy chology, hesaid, and will doing so under the new program. Judith Van Herik, assistant professor of religious studies, said she hopes that the structure change will not inhibit the teaching of religion. "The most important issue for me is that there be courses on religion and religious phenomena avail able to undergraduates under the program at Penn . .„........,...............-.. ,'-',,'''..••••':',•:;,.,:,',..,.......,,..-. Shuttle finally in space after delays and drama By HOWARD BENEDICT AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Two American astro nauts rode the fire and thunder of rocketship Columbia into orbit yesterday on their long-delayed, high-drama test of the world's first reflyable spaceship., The delta-winged shuttle was soaring 152 miles above Earth. "That was one fantastic ride; I highly recommend it," said rookie astronaut Robert Crippen after Columbia eclipsed its launch path and entered orbit. With commander John Young and Crippen at the controls, Columbia vaulted swiftly off moon pad 39A, spewing, long plumes of smoke from the solid boosters as it cut across the sky and sped out over the Atlantic Ocean on a northeast heading. "What a feeling, what a view," said Crippen, making his first space flight after 15 years' training. He and Young were 86 miles away from terra firma, five minutes into the flight. Young, the first man to make five trips into space, told Mission Control, "It sure hasn't changed any. It's something else out here." And Crippen chimed in, "He's been telling me about it for three years, but when you see it it's unbelievable." A few of Columbia's 30,000 thermal tiles tore loose from the rear of the spaceship and officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration were making an assessment to determine whether any tiles had fallen away in more critical locations, such as the underbelly of the ship. The loss of topside tiles "represents no hazard to the vehicle or the crew," NASA said. Tiles beneath the craft are necessary to protect Columbia from burning up on reentry into the atmosphere. The first and most important test of Columbia's mechanical systems was accomplished 105 minutes intq the flight, at the beginning of the second of a planned 36 orbits, when Young and Crippen remotely opened two large doors on the spaceship's 60- foot-long cargo bay. Shuttle 0 - he.o : op - space- race :-agaip By HOWARD BENEDICT AP Aerospace Writer -CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The United States has rejoined the space race. The last time Americans were in space, it was a joint mission with the Soviet Union. Since then, 43 cosmonauts have been launched into orbit. Two have been afloat in space since last March. Now, the Soviets are not alone. Columbia's successful launch ends a six-year drought in the U.S. man-in space program and signals this nation's intention to regain eminence in a domain it once dominated with the man-on-the moon missions. Since the dawn of the space age, the world's two superpowers have used that arena as a symbol of national power. The renewed race will focus heavily on mili tary superiority. State," she said. "I don't foresee this," she said, "but it would be upsetting to me if Penn State students had nowhere to go to learn." Beth 'Glazier-MacDonald, religious studies in structor, said she thought the change may be good for the program. "Becoming an inter-disciplinary program is prob ably a good idea," she said. "It gives students access to other areas of the college." Charles Prebish, associate professor of religious studies, said he disagrees with the decision because religious studies is such an inportant part of a liberal arts education. "I believe that humanities, in general, are at the very core of a general education," he said, "and in many ways, religious studies is at the core of humani ties. "Given that," he said, "to demote religious stud ies to a program status is making a most unfortunate mistake." Prebish said he thought the college should ride out the financial problems instead of making final deci sions.. "These decisions always seem to be geared to ward quantitative measures, like student credit hours, with too little concern for-qualitative mea sures," he said. Paul M. Harrison, professor of religious studies and one of the founders of the department, also disagrees with the administrative decision. "The dean had to make some decisions about some departments and our's was not getting high enrollments," he said. "Naturally we were picked." "I came here to build this thing, not to see it torn apart," he said. "There are students who are horri fied about what's happening." Anabelle Wenzke (graduate-religious studies) said she disagrees with the dean's decision because there is a student demand for religion courses, but not majors. "It's a shame they are phasing out the graduate program. We had one of the best in the country," she said. "There is a great need for scholars in religion. launch puts With American astronauts on the side lines since 1975, the Soviets have wrested away every endurance record once held by the Americans. The flight of John Young and Robert Crippen, slated for just over two days, seems slight in comparison. The big edge for the United States is Columbia. Columbia, says Young, is light years ahead of the Soviet spaceships. George Page, the launch director who sent the astronauts on their way, put it this way as he waved an American flag: "I think they (the Russians) would be real happy to have something like we have launched today." Columbia is the first spaceship. de signed to land back on Earth like an airplane, to be refurbished for repeated roundtrips into orbit. Former professor is nuclear activist Editor's Note: Chauncey Kepford has been active in the anti-nuclear movement since 1971. He has testified at Nuclear Regulatory Commission licens ing hearings, including the Three Mile Island Unit 2 hearing. Daily Collegian staff writer Ellyn Harley recently inter viewed Kepford. The following has been edited for length and clarity. COLLEGIAN: How did you first be come involved in the nuclear power is sue? What did you do in the beginning? KEPFORD: I read a book called Perils of the Peaceful Atom, and I had a diffi cult time believing the conclusions. I went to their bibliography and govern ment reports and tried to obtain reports to see if they had been misconstrued or misrepresented. I found to my amazement that, if anything, the authors had been quite charitable toward atomic energy in their conclusions. Intek view COLLEGIAN: In your book Unaccep table Risk, you claim that the nuclear industry put pressure on Penn State (Kepford taught at York campus) to have you dismissed because you were becoming involved in anti-nuclear activ itities. What led you to believe that? KEPFORD: I don't want to go into that too much but I will tell you this: A couple of years after I was dumped by Penn State, I was told by a Metropolitan Edi son employee in their front office in York that it was common knowledge in that office that Met Ed had put pressure on the York campus to get rid of me because 15° Monday April 13, 1981 • Vol. 81, No. 149 18 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University ammaii the space shuttle The doors expose radiators needed to dissipate heat. The: must be closed at the end of the mission to keep out the ver: intense heat generated during re-entry through the atmo sphere. The astronauts beamed a televised picture of the operation and Shuttle Control said, "We show both payload doors open The radiators look good." Columbia's trail-blazing mission began in a burst of flamt and smoke as the spaceship's three main engines and two solid fuel rocket boosters flashed to life right just off the 7 a.m schedule it was 7:00:03.983 a.m. EST. Lift-off originally set for last Friday but pushed back du( to a last-minute computer problem brought a raucus roar 01 applause from thousands of awed spectators at the Kennedy Space Center. "Great! Great! Great! There isn't another country in the world that's going to do this you've got to say America': first!"' said Mabel Pierce, a Melbourne, Fla., woman who ha: been watching space shots since Alan Shepard's 15-minute inaugural in 1961. As Columbia cleared its launch tower, responsibility for its mission shifted from Cape Canaveral to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which quickly dubbed itself "Shuttle Con. trol." ' "Roger Columbia, on a nice ride," said Dan Brandenstein, the capsule communicator in Houston. At about four minutes, he added: "Columbia given green to continue." At that instant, emergency return was unnecessary, impossible and he said, "Columbia (is) now committed to space travel." "For a first launch, it was fantastic," said launch director George Page. "It's a . proud day for America!" It was the first time that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had flown a spacecraft without an unmanned test flight. U.S. See related stories on Page 6 inside The women's gymnastics team , finished fourth; but Heidi'Ahderson won the national floor exercise title at the AIAW champlonships..Page 8 Renowned actor Vincent Price captured the wit and humor of 19th century playwright Oscar Wilde in "Diversions and Delights"..Page 16 weather Today should be cloudy and cool with periods of rain or drizzle. Tem peratures today will hold in the 50s. Continued cloudy tonight and to morrow with showers and thun dershowers likely. The low tonight should be 50 with tomorrow's high temperature reaching 60. It will become windy and turn noticeably cooler Tuesday night and Wednes day. Chauncey Kepford I was saying things uncomplimentary things about Met Ed. COLLEGIAN: You participated in sev eral license and hearing procedures for the TMI plants. Can you describe some of those procedures? KEPFORD: You have to realize that you are not dealing with an agency whose purpose is to determine whether or not a plant should be licensed. That situation has never existed with either the Atomic Energy Commision or the Nuclear Regu latory Commission. Their purpose is to license the nuclear power plant. COLLEGIAN: How did you feel when • you heard about the accident at TMI 2? KEPFORD: I was simply stunned. I heard about it about 9 a.m. Wednesday' morning March 28 (1979).; For the rest of that day and most of that night and for the next two or three days, our phone would only be on the hook for a matter of seconds before it would ring again. Continued on Page 5
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