14—The Daily Collegian Friday, Feb. 10, 1984
S-T-R-E-T-C-H
Bronx Zoo workers handle a 21-foot boa constrictor at a meeting of the New York Zoological Society at Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall yesterday in New York
'HBO Kid':
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCRANTON, Pa. A Lackawanna County
television repairman dubbed the "HBO Kid"
acknowledged yesterday he had installed 1,100
cable television converters in what prosecutors
have called the biggest cable TV piracy operation
ever uncovered in the United States.
Prank Cardamone, 24, of Taylor, testified that
he reluctantly began making and installing the
converters, which allow viewers to receive cable
programs without paying subscription fees, when
he discovered poor service from legitimate com
panies prevented his customers from watching
cable programs. "
Under questioning by Deputy Attorney General
William Arbuckle, Cardamone admitted he sold
$60,000 worth of the devices in the last five years.
Customers paid about $5O for the converters,
according to previous testimony.
Cardamone is charged with theft and conspira
cy in manufacturing and installing 1,100 convert
' ers. Prosecutors say he oversaw an operation
UNIVERSITY CALENDAR
Friday-Sunday February 10-12
Friday, February 10
P.S. Movie /Co-Op Film, 6 p.m., Room 105-108 Forum. Also Feb. 11 and
12.
GSA film, 6 p.m., Rooms 101 and 112 Chambers. Also Feb. 11 and 12.
International Student Council meeting, 6 p.m., Room 10 Sparks.
Interlandia Folkdancing Social, 7:30 p.m., HUB Ballroom.
Saturday, February 11
P.S. Wargamers Club meeting, 12 noon-midnight, Room 106 Sackett.
Lebanese Student Association social, 6 p.m., Room 316-317 HUB.
Student Filmmakers Organization film, 6 p.m., Room 121 Sparks. Also
Feb. 12.
Penn State Movie Co-Op film, 6 p.m., Room 111 Forum. Also Feb. 12.
France-Cinema, A Girl from Lorraine, 7 and 9 p.m., Room 112 Kern. Also
Feb. 13.
Artist Series, Noh-Kyogen/National Theatres of Japan, 8 p.m., Schwab
Auditorium.
Sunday, February 12
State College Christian Church, 9:15 a.m., HUB desk.
IMSA meeting, 9:30 a.m., Room 323-324 HUB.
HUB Eateries, Founders Room Brunch, 11 a.m.-1 p.m
Television repairman admits to installing 1,100 cable converters
responsible for the installation of about 1,600
others.
Cardamone, nicknamed the "HBO Kid" for his
feats by classmates at a vocational school, said
he began building the devices in 1978 partly to
compete with other repairmen installing the
equipment.
During questioning by defense lawyer Robert
Borthwick, Cardamone said he "'never at
tempted to cover up his tracks. . I only engaged
in a business."
Marlene Miller, an official of Verto Cable
Television, acknowledged that customers in
some areas wait more than nine months for cable
hookups. She told the Lackawanna Common
Pleas jury that the company now has a waiting
list of 2,500 people.
During his opening remarks yesterday, the
fourth day of the trial, Borthwick said Carda
mone never took "'anything that belonged to a
cable TV company."
"'He (Cardamone) engaged in an activity, not
a violation of the laws of Pennsylvania," Borth
wich said. "We're not here on what's wrong or
right. We're here on the violation of the laws of
Pennsylvania."
Prosecutors say Cardamone's business cost
legitimate cable firms $250,000 to $500,000 a year.
Borthwick concluded his remarks by saying
yerto and another local company, Northeastern
Cable, "are using the criminal justice system to
stamp out the competition."
Cardamone said he purchased all of the parts
and the schematic for the converters at local
electronics stores. He said he kept a record of all
service and installation calls.
Cardamone also admitted that he had removed
filters, or "traps," from cable television lines.
The filters were designed to prevent premium
pay television services from passing into a cus
tomer's home.
Cardamone also testified that he never used
converters in his own home except to test them,
although police' said they discovered one at
tached to a television set in his living room.
Can a university
own professors'
research ideas?
By ROGER GILLOTT
AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES A professor
of computer sciences has been
working all day on a kn6tty prob
lem. He goes home, frustrated,.
and at the dinner table the answer
suddenly hits him. He's elated;
he's found his solution.
But is it his?
Or does it belong to his universi
ty?
Millions of dollars are riding on
questions like this, and the issue of
"intellectual property" has led to
skirmishing between universities
and faculty.
As rapid changes in technology
offer to shower riches on those
who can stay one step ahead, some
universities and researchers are
taking a cloie look at updating
long-standing rules on their pro
fessors' involvement in business
es.
The nine-campus University of
California hopes to have a new
Council on Intellectual Property
composed of faculty and adminis
trators operating within the
next few months.
AP Laserphoto
The council, which replaces the
university's Board of Patents, will
try to sort out such issues as when
a professor's time is his own and
when it is the university's, as well
as how much involvement profes
sors can have with businesses.
Among the other institutions re
viewing or revising policies to
ward intellectual property are
Stanford University, the Califor
nia Institute of Technology, Yale
University and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
"When a professor comes up
with an idea at the dinner table, is
it his or his employer's?" said
Jack Brown, a Phoenix, Ariz.,
attorney who is an authority on
"intellectual property." '
"Perhaps a convention will be
worked out to split the baby," he
said, "and everybody will be hap
py•"
At Yale University in New Ha
ven, Conn., Roger C. Schank,
chairman of the computer sci
ences departinent, said attempts
by some universities to restrict
professors' business involvement
may be short-sighted.
"When you are sitting on a new
technology like computers, you
don't want to force brilliant pro
fessors to make a choice between
teaching and business," said
Schenk.
In general, universities permit
professors to be consultants to
businesses or to serve on boards of
businesses, but prohibit them
from holding operating positions,
such as president, on grounds that
such jobs are time-consuming and
distract professors from their aca
demic roles.
Computer scientists, like profes
sors who write books, find their
work falls under copyright law,
instead of federal patent regula
tions that have traditionally
guided ownership of scientific in=
ventions, including those coming
from genetic engineering re
search.
"Someone can write a book, and
that's his," said Dennis Meredith,
spokesman for the California In
stitute of Technology in Pasadena,
Calif. "But if he writes a'book and
puts a floppy (computer) disc in it,
then it's another matter."
Stephen Wolfram, a 24-year-old
physicist, defected two years ago
from the California Institute of
Technology to the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton,
N.J., after a bitter dispute with
Caltech over ownership of a com
puter program that Caltech
spokesman Tom Branigan said is
designed to manipulate very com
plicated algebraic expressions.
Because of its speed, the program
was believed to have commercial
as well as scientific applications.
The company that is using Wolf
ram's program is paying royalties
both to Caltech and Wolfram, but
the matter is unresolved and may
go to litigation, Wolfram said.
Before signing on in Princeton,
Wolfram worked out an
agreement. •
"It's very simple, really," he
said. "I own anything I do, but I
will give a share to the institute."
sports
Lagers drop Bth
By ANDRIJA SILICH
Collegian Sports Writer
So close, but yet so far. . . •
The men's ..basketball team al
most snapped its seven game losing
streak last night at Rec Hall, but in
the end the result was the same
another ,Penn State loss =this time
at the hands of the University of
Rhode Island 63-60.
Penn State (5-14) was so close in
fact, that they led 55-51 with 1:10
remaining in the game. Rhode Is
land's Kevin Compton connected on
two free throws, however, with 56
seconds remaining and the Lions
lead was cut to two. And when Tony
Taylor connected on a 22-footer
with 26 seconds left, the score was
tied at 55.
1
r.
1 `'
Lion forwaril David Griffin (45) shoots a Jump shot over a Rhode Island
defender during last night's game at Rec Hall. The men's basketball team
dropped its eighth straight by losing 63.60 to the Rams in overtime.
Lions' loss characteristic of streak
By CHRIS WIGHTMAN
Collegian Sports Writer
And the beat goes on.
The beat in this case is the men's basketball team's
losing streak, which started on Jan. 21 and continued
last night against Rhode Island at Rec Hall. The Lions
lost their eighth straight game.
Penn State's hopes of taking the
last shot of the game were erased
when Dick Mumma (Penn State's
leading scorer with 15 points) had
his in-bounds pass intercepted by
Rhode Island. At that point it
looked as if the Lions' losing streak
would be extended to eight. But
when Compton missed on a 30-foot
er at the buzzer, Penn State stil had
one more chance in overtime.
Poor play in the extra period was
not what cost Penn State the game.
What did lose the game for the
Lions was the fact that there was an
overtime period at all.
The first half belonged to Penn
State and it never trailed as it took
a 25-20 lead into the lockeroom at
halftime.
The Lions extended their lead to
Last night's contest had all the makings of a typical
Lion loss. The first characteristic was the final score, a
63-60 defeat to the Rams.
A second characteristic, which could also be consid
ered uncharacteristic, is the fact that Penn State lost
another close one. Uncharacteristically, this loss came
in overtime.
straight
as much as seven 31-24, but then
they lost the touch and Rhode Is
land scored the next 12 points to
take a 36-31 lead.
Penn State came back to tie the
game at 36 with 12:01 left to play
when Jim Forjan sank two free
throw attempts. The score was then
tied six more times in the remain
der of the half and neither team
would ever pull out in front by more
than five points.
In the end the loss could be attrib
uted to the same problem Penn
State has suffered in their last
seven or eight games, namely turn
overs.
After the game Head Coach
Bruce Parkhill elaborated on that
and other problems and said his
team had just lost a game that they
should have won.
"I don't want to take anything
away from Rhode Island," he said,
"because they really capitalized,
but we gave them the game. We
absolutely gave them the game
turnovers, fouling their jump shoot
er, etc."
With injuries to two of his start
ing players, Wally Choice and
Dwight Gibson, Parkhill said he
expected a tough game from the 5-
15 Rams. But as the game pro
gressed he felt they should have
won it.
"I expected a close game," the
first year coach said, "and I felt
that we were one possesion from
having the game.
Rhode Island (6-16) Head Coach
Claude English pointed out how
much the injuries hurt Penn State.
"You can't lose the kind of play
ers they lost out of their lineup and
expect to have the cohesiveness
that you had earlier in the season,"
English said. "When you lose a
point guard like their's, and you
lose a guy like Wally, it's very
difficult. You have people playing
out of position and people having to
do other things."
English said perhaps in a few
days these players will make the
adjustments, but at first it is very
tough.
Now its back to the drawing
board for Penn State as it prepares
for its game on Saturday against
Massachusetts. Parkhill doesn't
know what else he can do to turn his
squad around.
"I don't think there are any
words that are going to do them any
good tonight," he said. "In fact,
really there aren't any words that
are going to do them any good. Talk
is cheap, they have to go out and
beat somebody now."
Please see CAGERS, Page 18
Lion Kenn Viscardi competes on the vault in action earlier this season at Rec Hall. The men's gymnastics team will try
to rebound from last week's loss to Nebraska when it hosts Illinois• Chicago at 8 p.m. tomorrow at Rec Hall.
Gymmen enter 'new phase'
By JEFF SAUKAITIS
Collegian Sports. Writer
Coming off a loss to Nebraska in a quandrangular
meet in Lincoln last Saturday, the men's gymnastics
team will enter a new phase of its season when they
meet Illinois-Chicago at 8 tomorrow night in Rec Hall.
Penn State Head Coach Karl Schier said starting this
weekend, the Lions will completely focus their atten
tion on preparations for the National Collegiate Athlet
is Association championships which are scheduled for
April at UCLA.
"!All of the meets we have the rest of the season will
be geared to give us good enough competition," Schier
said. "But more importantly, we want to use the meets
to establish good scores and build toward the NCAAs in
terms of expanding our routines."
Against Nebraska last weekend, Penn State hoped to
establish itself as the prime contender standing be
tween UCLA and a national championship. However,
injuries and questionable judging spelled defeat for the
Lions.
Schier said the loss was a major disappointment for
his team.
"As far as I can tell, the team has not been adversely
affected by' it at all," Schier said. "They realize what
was occuring last week and their not going to dwell on
it."
Lion pommel horse specialist Bill Stanley said the
team was disappointed about the Nebraska loss for a
short time. But considering the questionable judging
and the injuries that team captain Kenn Viscardi
(sprained ankles) and Terry Bartlett ( thumb) sus
tained in pre-meet warmups, the Lions now know their
overall performance was encouraging.
"We were kind of loose and relaxed in the gym this
week," Stanley said. "We lost to Nebraska under some
tough situations, but we'll see tham again at NCAAs.
We know we can beat them, but we'll think about that
when the time comes."
The Daily Collegian
Friday, Feb. 10, 1984
Penn State is a solid favorite to remain unbeaten in
regular season home dual meets. Illinois-Chicago
scored only a 265.50 last season in a loss to the Lions
and they have scored in the mid-260s in previous meets
this season.
Schier said Illinois-Chicago is a young team that was
anticipating a much improved squad over last season,
especially since they did not lose anyone to graduation.
But he said they have be unable to reach their full
potential although their dual meet record stands at 8-1.
Bartlett, who scored a 57.10 in the all-around last
weekend, will again perform all six events for Penn
State tomorrow. He said the individual Lion gymnasts
have been working on developing routines that involve
more difficulty, and some of them should be unveiled in
front of the home crowd tomorrow.
Since Penn State appears to be in little or no danger
of losing the meet,' Bartlett said the team goal is to
score well with the makeshift lineup Schier was forced
to employ because of injuries to regulars.
"We just want to use this meet to keep improving our
routines and we want a high score," Bartlett said.
"Even if we aren't at our best we should win the meet,
but we'd like to score 280."
Scoring 280 might be a difficult task for Penn State
because Schier will have five freshmen in his starting
lineup, including Mike Maxwell, who will compete in
the all-around. In addition, freshmen Chris Laux, Tony
Griffiths, lan Shelley and Mike Dailey will also see
action.
LION NOTES Schier said Viscardi's two sprained
ankles are improving more quickly than expected but
he will only compete in three events (rings, parallel
bar, high bar) . . . Mario Gonzalez, still recovering
from a hairline fracture of the index finger, will miss
tomorrow night's meet
Steve Friedman (swollen left knee) is expected to
perform in the floor exercise and vault. If he is unable
to compete, Jeff Kimmel would likely replace him in
both events.