Senators walk out to protest veto By COLLEEN BARRY Collegian Staff Writer After an unsuccessful attempt last night to override the Undergraduate Student Government president's veto of the resolution calling for University divestiture of holdings in companies doing business in South Africa, a group of senators walked out of the senate meeting in a symbolic protest. Having made their statement, they returned after 10 minutes to represent their constituents in other issues the senate would address, Town Senator Kate Lane said. "The best way to show that I am representing my constituents is to walkout. It shows that I care about what they asked me to do. We are dealing with an issue that Here is a list of the way USG Senators voted: Last week's vote is first. A 'yes' signifies the senator favored the bill calling for divestment; a 'no' vote signifies the senator op posed the bill. The second col umn is the roll call on a motion last night to override the veto of the bill. A 'yes' vote signifies the senator favored overriding the veto; a 'no' vote signifies the senator favored sustaining the veto. Andy Ahlberg yes-yes Patricia Bamford absent--no Nancy Berkley yes--no Alan Berson yes--absent Steven Black yes--yes Mark Boltz abstain--no John Clisham yes--yes Wade Coleman yes--no Larry Colorito yes--yes Patrick Conway yes--no Kimberly Coop yes--abstain Helena Davis yes--yes Erlc Dirks yes--no Andrew Hannah yes--no Victor June yes--no Kate Lane yes--yes Cheryl Lenney yes--no Pat Lenz yes--yes David Morgan absta in--no Mark Oswalt absent--no John Riblet no--no David Rishel no--no Vincent Scalisi absent--no Scott Seifried yes--abstain Laurie Swerchek yes--yes Sean Sykes abstain--no Joseph Tentilucci yes--abstain Luke Veronis yes--absent David Wagner absent--no Chris Wandling yes--yes Mary Willey yes--absent Randy Wussler abstain--no Correction It was incorrectly stated in Fri day's edition of The Daily Colle gian that 250 people participated in a rally for apartheid last Wednesday and 200 students signed a petition supporting apartheid. The rally and the peti tion protested apartheid. inside • Stan Short, Nick Haden and Chris Sydnor were the first Penn State football players drafted yesterday Page 13 • About 28,000 State College telephone customers will soon have a choice of long distance companies Page 2 • Area citizens question offi cials of the Department of Envi ronmental Resources about dangers posed by a proposed Franklin Township landfill index comics opinions sports state/nation/world weather Increasing cloudiness today with a shower late in the eve ning. High 78. Mostly cloudy with a shower tonight. Low 45. Tomorrow, morning cloudiness and a lingering showers will give way to clearing skies by af ternoon. High 68. Dan Zimmerman won't wait any longer," Town Senator John Clisham said Prior to the vote, about a half dozen students spoke in favor of overriding the veto, including the president of the Black Caucus, who had previously supported USG President David Rosenblatt's veto. Larry Patrick said,"l supported the veto, however after speaking to my constituents and other leaders and I no longer support the veto. My reasons are, Mr. Rosenblatt must take something with him in May (to the Board of Trustees meeting.)" Rosenblatt said the failure of the override shows the strength and sincerity of the senate. "They can re-examine an issue and not be afraid to admit what they really feel," he added. Rosenblatt explained to the senate that he vetoed the resolution because he felt that students didn't understand all the ramifications of divestiture. He said that he wanted to be able to tell the Board of Trustees in their May meeting whether or not students would be willing to accept a possible tuition increase as a result of divestiture. Without a poll of students, the student voice can not be strengthened, Rosenblatt added. "Making the resolution stronger is valid," President of the College Democrats Matthew Baker said. "However, we need something now for the Board of. Trustees." Clisham said, "The last three weeks were devoted to the issue of divestiture. There was a lot of argument about policy and saying that we are not aware of student concerns. I think I am representing my constituents." "When you ask them how far you are willing to go with a tuition increase, how do you know what the tutition increase will be?" Town Senator and resolution sponsor Patrick Lenz said. Harry Goldman, (senior quantitative business analysis) pointed out that based on 1983 figures, if the 25 percent of the revenue earned from University investments in South Africa applied to academic needs was taken away, the University would lose $66,326. Divided among the students in the entire University system, the loss per sudent would be $1.20. The other 75 percent of the New undergraduate grading policy approved By MEGAN O'MATZ Collegian Staff Writer In its last meeting of the academic year, the University Faculty Senate yesterday approved a new undergraduate grading policy and a revised general education program, but rejected the concept of linking •courses. The senate passed 58 to 53 a proposal to adopt a new grading system, effective Fall semester 1987, which the Undergraduate Instruction Committee expects will promote a fairer, more accurate assessment of academic performance and provide incentive for students to improve their performance. The new policy calls for subdivisons between letter grades from "A" to "C." An A minus will equal 3.67 grade points, B plus 3.33, B minus —2.67 and C plus 2.33. The policy calls for no A plus, C minus, D plus or D minus. The senate defeated, 72 to 35, the recommendation to thematically or sequentially link courses, which was one of eight recommendations designed to strengthen and refine the Bachelor's Degree Requirement Program. In accepting the other recommendations, the senate approved a definition of general education and reaffirmed the current plan for approving general education courses. Page 24 It also approved a plan to assess general education effectiveness and revise the University Bulletin to include proper indexing and descriptions of University general education philosophy. The senate unanimously accepted a concept to designate courses, other than English the daily olle • ian USG president David Rosenblatt holds a list of Universities that have totally or partially divested,from companies in South Africa. `The best way to show that I am representing my constituents is to walk out. It shows that I care about what they asked me to do. We are dealing with an issue that won't wait any longer.' revenue goes to scholarship funds, he added. In a decision made by both sides of the issue, a poll of students would be postponed until fall since there is only one week left in the semester, Rosenblatt said. He added that the Board of Trustees probably will not be prepared to vote on the issue in their May meeting. Rosenblatt said that at the board meeting, he will express the students' disgust at apartheid and request that the board investigate the feasibility and ramifications of divestiture. "We want to have the • machinery ready so when we get composition courses, that require a substantial amount of writing as "W" courses. According to the proposal, colleges and/or departments will establish requirements for "W" courses in specific programs. In other matters, the senate approved: • A change in the Univerity Limitations on Source and Time for Credit Acquisition policy that concerns students enrolled in extended degree programs. e A proposal to recommend to the administration that the evaluation of teaching effectiveness by students and colleagues be included in the University's Promotion and Tenure policy. In discussing the proposed grading policy, Charles Strauss, associate professor of forest economics, said the proposal includes no information supporting the belief that the system will provide a more accurate assessment of academic achievement or increase student incentive to improve academic performance. He added that by not including A pluses, the proposal will suppress 4.0 grade point averages while inflating C grades due to the absence of C minuses. Robert Heinsohn, Undergraduate Instruction Committee member, said the committee believed including A pluses in the policy would inflate the grading system. "We wanted to preserve the integrity of an A as a 4.0," he said. Academic Assembly Assistant Vice President Laurie Dieffenbach told the senate students are in favor of changing the grading policy and "We are, after all, the Collegian Photo —John Clisham, town senator the student point of view together, the Board of Trustees is 'ready to act," he said. In addition, he said students should be informed on alternatives to divestiture. For example, ensuring that all companies which the Universty invest in adhere to the Sullivan Principles a voluntary code of ethics or contacting parents and alumni requesting that they divest persohal holdings. "The idea of the poll is to see if students should be worried about tuition. I think we a proven that (a possible tuition increase) should not be an issue in this case," Clisham said. ones being graded." The senate also passed a recommendation to form a joint senate and administrative committee to study the implementation of the revised grading system. The new general education policy is a revised form of the current Bachelor Degree Requirement program which, according to UIC Chairman Thomas Merritt, "Doesn't need to be disgarded, but improved upon." In addressing the senate, University President Bryce Jordan called the general education policy "A new opportunity to move to a much stronger general education program at Penn State." ' Jordan said the national trend toward more coherence and less course options in general education programs has been growing. The proposed linking of courses thematically or sequentially, in which students would be required to take chronologically sequential classes or courses which require the completion of a prerequisite, was an attempt to integrate courses, Merritt said. With regard to linking courses, Dieffenbach said, "I object to the idea that I don't have my own glue, and I challenge you to say I can't put together my own education." John Lilley, provost dean of professional music at Behrend College, opposed the concept of linking, saying students usually link courses themselves. Dieffenbach said the Faculty Senate student caucus was concerned that linking courses would "limit the breadth of courses offered." Because the proposal contains Wednesday, May 1, 1985 Vol. 85, No. 180 24 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University ©1985 Collegian Inc. Meal plan system to be overhauled By DOUGLAS WOLFSON Collegian Staff Writer The Residence Hall Advisory Board announced last night it has received final University approval of a plan that will overhaul the dining hall meal system by Fall Semester 1986. The new plan, called "A La Board," will require the 12,000 students living on campus to pay for all meals eaten and allows them to use their student I.D.'s at any of the eight dining halls on campus. In addition, students will be able to use their meal cards at cafeterias in the Hetzel Union Building, the Kern Building and at all residence hall snack bars. According to RHAB Director Bob Taylor, the new plan calls for students to choose from among a half dozen plans, ranging in cost from $6504820 per semester, with all students paying the initial base cost of $4BO. The new meal plan will be "much fairer for everybody" than the current meal plan, former RHAB Foods Director Todd Diehl said. The University now charges all on-campus students $750 per semester for meals and requires them to eat in their residence hall areas. Students will be sold "points" at the beginning of each semester, entitling them to as many meals as those points buy. Meal prices are currently estimated at 60 points for breakfast, 120 for lunch and 180 for dinner. Additional points could be purchased in increments of 1,000, but no refund will be given for surplus points leftover at the end of Spring Semester. The new plan comes after months of planning-by RHAB and the Office of Housing and Food Services and is the first major accomplishment of RHAB's Foods Committee, which was organized last semester. Earlier this semester, a poll conducted by the University indicated that a majority of students favored the University investigating alternate meal plans. "For me, it represents a major accomplishment," Taylor said. "It's something that we've worked on and tried for a long time and I'm glad that the University has accepted it." Students currently eat and pay for an average 12.5 meals per week, Diehl said. The current system is not fair for students who undefined criteria for establishing linkages, some classes may be arbitrarily linked, she said, adding that commonwealth campuses because of their size may be unable to offer some of the courses required in linked series. Leonard Berkowitz, assistant professor of philosophy, said linking courses would unnecessarily complicate scheduling and advising. "In order to complete the requirements, students will have to pick the courses they want to link early in their academic The new meal plan will be 'much fairer for everybody.' —Todd Diehl, former RHAB Foods Director eat less than 12.5 but have to subsidize those students who eat more, he added. Under the new system, the plan for $750 will buy about 12.5 meals per week, including five dinners, five lunches and two breakfasts. William H. McKinnon, food service assistant vice president, said that several details must still be worked out before the plan goes into operation, including selection of a computer system and new scheduling procedures for staff and dining hall hours. $ 5 fine for phone damage By DOUGLAS WOLFSON Collegian Staff Writer Residence hall students whose telephones are damaged in any way will be charged $5 by the University at the end of Spring Semester unless they trade.them in for new telephones by next week, RHAB Director Bob Taylor said last night. Taylor said phone exchanges will be handled at the Telephone Building, which is behind Boucke Building, on weekdays from 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. "If the telephone is broken either it doesn't work right or has a cracked shell the University will charge you $5 for the labor costs of removing it themselves unless you do it yourself by check-out time." Although a spokesman at the Telephone Building could not be reached for comment, Taylor said the exchange is related to an agreement between the University and Bell of Pennsylvania which calls for the University to begin maintaining its own telephone equipment. career," he said. "Then they are stuck with that choice even if their priorities and ideas change." • Physics Professor Roger Herman said the senate should advocate linkage, but leave the implementation of it to students and their advisors. Bruce Barre, College of Engineering faculty senator, said this concept was idealistic. "I'm not too happy with advising as it stands now," he said. "I don't think the average faculty member has the scope of knowledge Please see FACULTY, Page 12.
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