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.