The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, October 08, 1981, Image 3

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    4—The Daily Collegian Thursday, Oct. 8, 1981
Concern for the disabled lessening
By KATHY ANDREWS
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The proposed cancellation of
guidelines that require handicapped ac
cessibility to federal buildings indicates
that the government is really losing its
concern for the disabled, said Jeffrey
Alan Watson, adviser to the University's
Association for Barrier-Free Living En
vironment and Design.
"The federal government is saying
that they no longer feel the disabled need
to be accommodated architecturally,"
Watson said. "By allowing barriers to
remain, (Reagan) forces the disabled to
accept welfare and employment that is
sub-standard."
Watson said his reaction to the pro
posed rescission is very negative.
"It comes down to the fact that Reagan
is forgetting the little people," he said.
The guidelines, adopted at the end of
Service available to former CETA
Federally funded Bureau of Job Service provides assistance through job referral, testing
Former Comprehensive Employment and Training
Act employees whose jobs were eliminated earlier this
year because' of federal budget cuts can seek help
getting jobs in the private sector through the Bureau of
Job Service.
, Since March, local Job Service offices have been
assisting these people looking for jobs. Services offered
include Aptitude Testing, Job Development, Career
Counseling and Job Referral.
The federally funded program was announced by
Joseph E. Fay, Regional Director of the Williamsport
Bureau of Job Service.
Former CETA employees to whom the program
applies are trained or experienced Public Service
Employee officials. Their jobs are primarily Title 11-D
jobs, which have consistently high unemployment rates.
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the Carter administration and labeled
too costly by the Reagan administration,
apply to new construction, additions or
alterations at federal buildings or newly
leased buildings for federal agencies.
The Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board on Sept. 22
delayed action on the proposed rescission
of guidelines that require federal build
ings be accessible to the handicapped.
Instead, the board voted unanimously
to extend the public comment period for
another 45 days until Nov. 6. The board
will delay action until Dec. 1.
Watson said the 45-day extension does
not give the disabled people enough time
to get together and decide what to do.
"It gives you enough time to know, but
not to respond," he said.
The board, which is composed of 11
federal members and 11 public mem
bers, voted 12-10 at the July 10 meeting to
Other jobs fall under Title VI which have more sporadic
rates of unemployment.
Applicants in either of these categories were usually
situated in municipal and non-professional agencies.
However, Fay said, "There are a number of back
grounds from which the applicants come. The only real
common denominator is that they are unemployed."
In the State College Area both the CETA Manpower
Agency and the local Job Service office, 311 Benner
Pike, are participating in the effort.
Frank Clemson, manager of the State College Job
Service office, said he supports the program. He added,
however, that CETA was "not hit as heavily here (by
the Reagan Administration tax cut) as in other areas."
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Interesting people read Cdljedi'ad'a
abolish the' guidelines.
Brenda Hameister, University coordi
nator of services for the disabled, said
the extension period is encouraging, but
questions whether it will change the
majority of the board's decision.
Hameister is responsible for the reno
vations being done on the first floor
Sparks Building to make it more accessi
ble to the handicapped:
"I'm not too hopeful the guidelines will
survive," Hameister said. "It's an inter
esting split between groups advocating
for the disabled and the federal govern
ment."
Carl Goodman, public information spe
cialist for the compliance board, said it
recognized very quickly the need to ex
tend the comment period on such a
controversial issue.
He said 12 issues, or 95 percent of the
guidelines, are controversial.
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Clemson said there were about 200 PSE jobs at the
time of the cuts. He said the CETA applicants had been
in a variety of jobs.
Clemson commented on the program's effectiveness
thus far. He said 42 applicants registered since the end
of March and about 19 are currently employed.
"I think (the program) has been highly successfdl,"
Clemson said.
The program has well surpassed its placement goal of
30 percent, he said. He also noted the encouraging
results thus far in the program concerning job satisfac
tion.
"I don't see these people coming back to the office and
asking for (other) jobs," he said.
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The Sept. 29 Federal Register invites
comments on these issues.
Goodman said 93 percent of the com
ments he has received oppose the abo
lishment of the guidelines. He said he
hopes to receive additional comments
and advice from • experts outside the
governmental sphere who are involved in
the manufacturing of elevators and fire
alarm systems.
The construction of elevators, fire
alarm systems and parking spaces are
some of the issues being discussed.
Hameister said she would like to, think
that federal buildings owners will still
make buildings accessible to the hand
icapped although the guidelines might
not be passed.
If the guidelines are not passed, Wat
son said it will have a "bittering effect"
on the 35 million disabled Americans.
employees
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Bellefonte route in jeopardy
By L.A. HILL
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Centre Line "X" Bellefonte route
riders may be walking home or
finding other modes of transporta
tion next year if the Bellefonte Town
Council decides not to fund the route.
Centre Area Transportation Au
thority General Manager Paul Over
sier said he will meet in a work
session later this month, with the
Bellefonte council concerning fund
ing of the "X" route for 1982.
CATA Vice Chairman Jim Miller
said the Bellefonte route, which is
now funded by Centre County, was
initiated in 1980 as a "2
-year pilot
project."
"For the last two years Centre
County has paid for Bellefonte's
~share," he said.
Oversier said if Bellefonte doesn't
fund the route CATA will have to
discontinue the "X" route next year.
The Bellefonte route has akeady
faced cutbacks in services because
of a lack of funds.
Last May, CATA cut the service
from 17 to 10 daily round trips be
cause the Centre County Commis
sioners cut their funding of the route
from $10,591 to $5,609.
Oversier said although a cutback
in services usually causes a de
crease in ridership, that hasn't been
the case with the "X" route.
"Essentially we cut services by
almost one-third and ridership still
went up by almost one-fifth," he
said.
Frank Finsinger, president of the
American Federation of State,"Coun
ty and Municipal Employees, said
riders on the "X" run are "very
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aware" of the possible elimination of
their bus service.
"The people down there are very,
very supportive of the bus system,"
he said. He said he would expect a
good turnout if the Bellefonte council
session was made public.
Oversier also said Bellefonte rid
ers "should be encouraged to go to
the work session if Bellefonte decid
es to open it up."
The session is set for Oct. 19.
In other business yesterday,
CATA decided to execute a contract
with Morgan Signs Inc, 403 S. Allen
St., to place advertisements inside
the CATA buses.
Under the contract CATA will
receive 50 percent of the advertising
profits
Oversier said he "couldn't say at
this point" how much money CATA
will receive from the advertise
ments.
The revenue, he said, "depends on
rate structure and how well the
space sells."
Oversier said Morgan Signs indi
cated a desire to prOceed as soon as
possible with the advettisements
because it is more difficult to secure
advertising in the winter months.
The board also agreed to ask for a
clause in the contract which would
give CATA some input in case of
"objectionable advertising."
"I would think that they'd have as
much interest as we do in seeing that
advertising is acceptable," Oversier
said.
He said Morgan Signs also indi
cated it wanted to place one or two
public service announcements in the
advertiSement racks.
The
Sub
Sensation
315 S. Allen St. (next to Atrium)
Campus briefs
HPER plans Commonwealth Campus Weekend
A Commonwealth Campus Week
end will be held by the College of
Health, Physical Education and Rec
reation to acquaint students at the
University's Commonwealth cam
puses with programs at University
Park.
"Students come up here and don't
know a thing about the colleges (at
Univ . ersity Paik)," said Barbara
White, HPER student council presi
dent, at the college student council
meeting Monday night. "We want to
Policemen available for questions at HUB table
By ANNE CONNERS
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The average policeman is fat, talks
in a southern drawl and hates anyone
under 50. Right? Wrong, says James
McJunkin, chairman of the Under
graduate Student Government's Po
lice Services Committee.
To foster better communication be
tween students and State College and
University Police, the committee has
set up a table in the basement of the
HUB which will be staffed all this
week, McJunkin said.
"We have uniformed police officers
here so students will look and say,
`He's not so bad,' " McJunkin said.
New student congress to discuss budget input
The 10 college student council presi
dents will soon be, organized into the
Congress of Student Councils to dis
cuss student input to the University's
budgetary processes, the Academic
Assembly said yesterday.
The congress is the result of Aca
demic Assembly's discovery that it
has input into the University's budget
ary process.
"The letters are being sent out to
the presidents," Chris Hopwood, As
sembly president, said. "We want
them to discuss issues and get to know
each other, but the major topic will be
budgetary input."
Faculty discusses L.A. programs with employers
Liberal arts faculty members will
have the opportunity to discuss liberal
arts career opportunities with cor
porate representatives at the Univer
sity-Employer Relations Forum,
being held today and tomorrow at the
Nittany Lion Inn.
The College of Liberal Arts and the
Career Development and Placement
Center are sponsoring the forum
which will bring together about 50
faculty members and corporate rep
give them exposure to the different
colleges and their facilities."
HPER held a similar Common
wealth Campus Weekend last year
specifically for HPER but attendance
was low. This year HPER wants to get
all colleges involved, White said, by
getting support from department
heads and Commonwealth campuses.
"It was a good idea and well orga
nized," White said; "but we got no
support from the Commonwealth
"Most police contacts are 'You did
something wrong and I caught you,' "
he said. "This is a chance to have
some contact other than that."
A State College Police Officer,
Blaine Corle, said it was a good oppor
tunity to interact with students on a
relaxed basis.
"It's a good opportunity especial
ly for us," he said. "The only interac
tion we have is some type of incident
that occurs. We don't get that much of
a chance to get input."
Coyle said several students stopped
and asked him questions.
The table will be set up in the HUB
for the rest of this week, McJunkin
Hopwood said the Assembly is cur
rently investigating the colleges and
departments.
"We have a seven-page question
naire we're sending to the deans,
department heads and student council
presidents asking them to describe
what student input they have on bud
get committees," he said. "And if
there is an honors program, there is
Student input into that."
Hopwood said the congress was
discussed two years ago, but was
never established.
"I think now the time is right," he
said.
resentatives, said Stanley F. Paulson,
dean of the college.
skills liberal arts graduates need to
secure entry-level career positions
and to compete successfully; the
process that could enable employers
to identify high potential non-techni
cal liberal arts candida tes ; . and the
methods for considering qualified
candidates.
"While we in the liberal arts need to
educate ourselves about how better to
campuses, and very few students
showed up.
"We want to turn it into a large
scale affair by getting all the student
councils and their colleges involved."
White said they hope to have the
weekend 'sometime this fall when
there is no football game, or in the
early spring.
"Hopefully it will be a University
backed affair," White said, "but it's
still in the baby stage."
—by Becky Olson
said. State College police officers will
staff the table with a USG committee
member from 11 a.m. till 2:30 p.m.
today. University police officers will
be at the table all during the week
except when the State College Police
are there.
McJunkin said the committee was
looking into rotating the table within
the dorm areas sometime soon.
Tips about crime prevention are
also made available to students. Free
pamphlets about theft, vandalism,
harassing phone calls, student input
about police officers, alcohol aware
ness and student rights can be picked
up at the table.
The Assembly is also working on a
library questionnaire to determine if
students want longer library hours.
Hopwood said Assistant Dean of Li
braries Charles H. Ness reviewed the
questionnaire and sent it back to the
Assembly with only minor changes.
"Dean Ness said there shouldn't be
any problems keeping the library.
open longer hours, but we want to
know if the students will really use
it," he said.
He said the library, administration
will also use the results of the ques
tionnaire for its own information.
—by Mary Beth Horwath
prepare our students for careers,"
Paulson said, "we also have to edu
cate employers to the fact that, as
growing body of research indicates,
liberal arts graduates often do better
in management than their coun
terparts from more specialized
fields."
The forum will be held from noon to
5 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to noon
tomorrow
—by Christopher Cooney
'Living filter' treats waste
By GENE GRYGO
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
During the early 19605, the University discovered that waste
water from the sewage treatment plant on University Drive
was polluting Spring Creek with compounds of nitrogens and
phosphorous. The compounds caused the aquatic plant life to
grow in abnormal abundance.
A team of University scientists then began to research the
possibilities of a third stage of water treatment that would
eliminate the high nutrient levels of the University's waste
effluent.
The research team decided to develop a system of experi
mental sites that would be irrigated with chlorinated waste
water. The sites were set up on University farm lands and state
game commission lands
This enterprise became known as the "living filter" project,
and the experiment has led to the construction of two perma
nent irrigation sites that will be completed next year.
LLoyd Niemann, University manager of utility systems, said
the two irrigation sites will be on the agronomy areas near the
Special Services building on Fox Hall Road and the gameland
zones near Toftrees.
The need to expand the University's waste water treatment
was caused by the doubling of the University and State College
populations during the years 1955 to 1970, said Richard Parizek,
professor of geology and geophysics.
' Parizek was a member of the research team responsible for
finding sites for the living filter experiments.
The living filter project had to cross many scientific and
applied science disciplines, and experiments for the project
involved professors from the departments of geology, forestry,
agronomy, engineering and zoology, he said.
Parizek said that besides the University's excessive nutrient
dumping, many State College residents had been using sewer
wells, dry wells and tile fields all unsafe methods.
The fractured bedrock under most of these fields took the
water, but only if the population remained relatively low, he
said. Once the population increased the level of safety de
creased, he said
"The University had to protect the health of the citizens," he
said.
"There were many goals for this project," Parizek said. "We
were aiming at getting water more pure than first'and second
ary treatment."
Parizek's team determined, in a report to the Enviromental
Protection Agency in 1974, that spraying waste water on land
offers farmers "a guaranteed economic level of crop yield" and
purified 60 to 100 percent of the waste water.
"We applied the effluent in the winter to define the troubles of
spraying in winter, Parizek said. "We sprayed up to 6 inches of
waste water in a week."
Despite the apparent success of living filter project experi
ments, many soil and geology specialists disagree on the effect
the treated waste water will have on the soil, water table and
crops of the area.
Some of the specialists said waste water could raise the level
of dangerous bacteria in the soil as well as the levels of heavy
metals, and that waste water leaves too few nutrients in the
soil.
Excessive deposits of heavy metals such as copper, zinc,
chromium, lead, cobalt, cadmium and nickel that build up in
the soil can be toxic to humans if animals raised for food
production eat plants contaminated with heavy metals, Parizek
said.
Another report to the EPA in 1980, compiled by William E.
Sopper, professor •of forest hydrology, and Sonja Kerr, an
environmental reasearch analyst, concluded that the spraying
of effluent from the University's sewage treatment plant "did
not significantly increase the trace metal concentrations in the
soil or vegetation when applied over a 16-year period."
The Daily Collegian Thursday, Oct. 8, 1981-5
Kerr said there are virtually no problems with heavy metals
in the soil of the State College area.
"A lot of people have shown concern (about the level of heavy
metals) but there's virtually no industrial input," she said.
"There have been more investigations, more doctoral theses on
this site. This is a very studied area. The soil, the animals, the
birds, the earthworms all have been studied."
She said treated waste water irrigation stimulates growth in
an ecosystem, but the population remains constant.
"You may get a change in the type of animal or birds," she
said. "The kind of animals change from ground to the herba
cious (tree-dwelling) level."
Kerr said another major public concern is that the living
filter system will give off an offensive odor.
"A lot of people are concerned about the stink. But when we
bring people to the site they say, 'Hey, it doesn't smell'
Properly treated, effluent on land will not have an odor," she
said.
'There have been more
investigations, more doctoral
theses on this site. This is a very
studied area. The soil, the animals,
the birds, the earthworms all have
been studied.'
—Sonja Kerr, environmental
research analyst
The living filter system is good for keeping streams and lakes
clean but presents some major problems for the farmer, Dale
Baker, professor of soil chemistry, said. Baker was never
directly involved with the project but has worked on similar
ones.
"The excess water on the soil speeds up the soil process. The
life expectancy of a site is limited. Sooner or later you're going
to have to change your site. After 10 to 30 years you'll have to go
to another site.
"The toil (irrigated with treated waste water) has a limited
nutrient concentration, and if there aren't enough nutrients in
the soil the crop won't produce," he said.
Baker said farmers would have to supplement their soil with
fertilizers to produce a good crop.
"All these are managerial difficulties that can be worked out.
I say, 'Proceed with the best technology possible,"' he said..
Bacteria levels in the water from a land application system
will be a problem for farmers, said C. Edwin Young, a
professor of agricultural economics and a project leader for the
United States Department of Agriculture.
"You still do have to worry about bacteria. There are
bacterial remains in the waste water. There have been studies
where bacteria in the air have been found 1,000 miles away
from a waste water irrigation system. I wouldn't say it is
totally safe you do have to take some precautions," he said.
"I'd say it's the best option for a small rural area that just
has to have some advanced system to remove the nutrients of
nitrogen and phosphorous," he said.
Young said waste water application is an option that requires
access to low-cost land, a level area for the irrigation system
and proximity to the community it is serving.
Sludge used as fertilizer to enhance waste water could have
serious consequences if the sludge has toxic chemicals in it, he
said.