Lie detector judgment delayed 4 local police officers object to use of tests for investigation By MIKE NETHERLAND and TONY PHYRILLAS Collegian Staff Writers A ruling on the legality of the State College Police Department’s attempt to use lie detector tests in an internal investigation was delayed by Centre County Judge David E. Grine until this afternoon. After hearing complaints yesterday on behalf of the four police officers who objected to taking the tests, Judge Grine requested briefs from attorneys representing the officers and the borough addressing a state Supreme court ruling and the State’s penal code. The temporary injunction the judge granted Friday stopping the police department from administering further tests was extended until today’s ruling. Grine requested that both attorneys subrpit legal briefs by 2 p.m. today, clarifying state legislation and previous court rulings oni the administration of lie detector tests. The four officers David Burns, Brian Clouser, Jane Dur'ovchic and Debra Hofmaster said they requested the injunction because they believe the tests were arbitrarily administered by the department. The department has been conducting an internal investigation of a break-in into the desk of Cpl. Robert Abernethy, who was investigating ‘‘possible improprieties committed by other Fall Commencement supported by USG's By CHRISTINE MURRAY Collegian Staff Writer -The possibility of a 1983 fall commencement received the full suppiort of the Undergraduate Student Government Executive Council last night. Only two months are needed to prepare for a commencement ceremony including printing a program and final script for the day of graduation, said Karen Rugh, manager of campus relations. “As far as physical arrangements for fall commencement I see no problem,” Rugh said. Rugh said she has not been PSU men outnumber women 2-to-1 By ANITA YESHO Collegian Staff Writer Men outnumber women at the University two to-one even though half of the college students nationwide are women. According to the Census Bureau, 50 percent of the nation’s undergraduates and 45 percent of the graduate students are women. Glenn G. Carter, associate dean of the Office of Admissions, called the disparity a “phenomenon of Penn State,” and said it seems women tend not to enroll in the University unless they are offered admission to University Park. Although no specific studies have been done, inside • The last day of this term will be May 17 not May 18, as previously announced Page 2 • Calling El Salvador “a disaster area,” a private U.S. human rights group yesterday disputed the Reagan administration’s claim that political repression has steadily declined in that country.... Page 6 index Comics/crossword News briefs Opinions Sports State/nation/world. weather Mostly sunny and warm today with a high of 80. Mostly cloudy tonight with a chance of showers or thundershowers and a low of 54. Mostly cloudy tomorrow, chance of showers with a high near 75. —by Craig Wagner the daily police officers,” according to a document submitted in court by borough attorney Amos Goodall. In yesterday’s testimony, State College Police Chief .Elwood G. Williams Jr. said the internal investigation concerned the forced entry into Abernethy’s desk at police headquarters in the State College Municipal Building on April 11 between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Williams said lie detector tests were being used in the internal investigation. Since Feb. 1, Abernethy had been conducting an investigation into certain officers’ use of on duty time to conduct private profit-making activities, Williams said. The police officers’ complaint, filed by attorney Roy K. Lisko, charges that the lie detector tests were administered “arbitrarily and capriciously ” But Williams said the selection of the officers for the lie detector tests was not arbitrary because only those officers on duty at the time of the break-in are suspected. The list of possible suspects is further narrowed to officers with a motive to break into the desk, and those with access to a key to a pearby closet where a tool used in the break-in was kept, Williams said. Of the four officers who filed the complaint, only Jane Durovchic took the test: The department administered the test to Durovchic one hour before Judge Grine signed the Executive Council approached about fall commencement, but she said the administration has no reason to ' consult with her about the ceremony. The administration is encouraging students graduating in' the fall to come back and participate in Spring Commencement. Peter Cutrone, president of the Organization for Town Independent ' Students, told the executive council that there would be a problem with accomodations for graduates and their families returning to State College to attend Spring commencement, if the fall Carter said men seem to be more willing to attend Commonwealth campuses, so they rank as a majority there. When students transfer from the Commonwealth campuses, they reduce the percentage of women students at University Park. The Office of the Registrar reports that during Winter Term 1983, women accounted for about 30 percent of the 44,122 undergraduates and 37 percent of the 6,015 graduate students at the University, including Commonwealth campuses. Spring Term enrollment figures are not yet available. At University Park, 44 percent of the undergraduate and 36 percent of the graduate an asphalt paved path, fraternity members imitate the Greek races of the days of yore. The chariot race is one of this week’s Greek Week events. Collegian ceremony is not approved. USG President Emil Parvensky said he has noticed more students in favor of a fall commencement than any. otherjsssue; including the Beaver Stadium Concert Proposal. Parvensky said he sent a letter to James Dungan, secretary of the Calendar Conversion Council, concerning student support for the commencement ceremony. The letter said Parvensky understood and agreed with the decision to' end fall commencement under the semester system; however, he said he thought there should be a ceremony for those students caught in the transition. temporary injunction order. Williams said that if the injunction is lifted, he will continue administering lie detector tests in the investigation because three officers have yet to take the tests. Lisko said 12 officers were asked April 2 to take the tests and that nine have already taken it. During questioning, Lisko attempted.to prove that any police department member could have had access to Abernethy’s desk during the hours of the break-in. Williams said any officer can enter the building at any time. In addition, the entrance to Abernethy’s office has no door. However, Williams explained that not just anyone can walk by Abernethy’s open office because its doorway is within another office and is perpendicular to a corridor. Another objection raised by the officers is that the lie detector tests might be used as a condition for employment. Williams denied that charge and added the results of the lie detector tests will not lead to criminal proceedings. Goodall argued that the lie detector test is used frequently in criminal investigations, although Williams said this is the first time his department has used the test in internal investigations. “The polygraph is used to weed out suspects in an investigation,” Goodall said. About 2,000 students will be graduating after fall semester, he said: He said Dungan was concerned with repeating a commencement ceremony every fall if the University allows commencement this year. Parvensky said if there are as many students graduating every fall as this year, there should be a graduation program under the ■ semester system in the future. The letter proposed that the fall commencement ceremony take place on January 7. Parvensky said the Calendar Conversion Council will present its final recommendation to University President John W. Oswald on May 13. Parvensky said the Student Advisory Board will discuss the fall commencement issue at its meeting this afternoon. students are women. Last fall, 52 percent of the 3,085 freshmen admitted to the University Park were women. Although men still outnumber women at the University, the gulf between the two has de creased since restrictions on the number of women accepted to the University were lifted in the early 19705. Admission limits were removed by Title IX, a federal law that banned sex discrimination in education programs and insti tutions that receive federal aid. Until 1972, the Office of Undergraduate Admis sions set a ratio whereby five men to every two women were admitted to the University. Please see ENROLLMENT, Page 18. Thursday, April 28,1983 Vol. 83, No. 166 18 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University President Reagan receives applause from of a Joint Session of Congress on Capitol Hill yesterday prior to speaking on El Salvador. At rear are Vice President George Bush and Speaker of the House Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Central America to national security By TERENCE HUNT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON President Reagan urged a skeptical ' Congress last night to embrace his arms and economic program for Central America, claiming the United States has “a vital interest, a moral duty and a solemn responsibility” to save the region from leftist revolution. But Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, responding for Democrats, called Reagan’s policy ignorant and “a formula for failure” that can only lead to “a dark tunnel of endless intervention ” In a rare address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Reagan said, “I say to you that tonight there can be no question: the national security of all the Americas is at stake in Central America.” “If we cannot defend ourselves there,” said Reagan, “we cannot expect to prevail elsewhere. Our credibility would collapse, our alliances would crumble, and the safety of our homeland would be put at jeopardy.” “Join me in a program that prevents communist victory in the short run, but goes beyond to produce, for the deprived people of the area, the reality of. . . progress and the promise of more to come.” Reagan’s nationally broadcast address was primarily an attempt ‘The national security of all the Americas is at stake in Central America.’ —President Reagan to salvage a proposed $llO million in U.S. aid for the besieged regime in El Salvador. Congress so far has balked over all but $3O million of that. ' In an unusual if not unprecedented arrangement, members rose from the floor after Reagan concluded to debate his presentation. And Dodd, designated by Democrats as their chief spokesman on the issue, denounced Reagan’s entire approach to. Central America as ignorant. Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 19G6 to 1968, said “the painful truth is that many of our highest officials seem to know as little about Central America in 1983 as we knew about Indochina in 1963." But Reagan pressed Congress to approve his full request for aid for all of Central America, totaling about $6OO million for 1984. vital
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