frame lance
Katrina. Scott:
Committee for Justice in S. Africa president sets PSU's gears in motion against racism
By NANCY FUNK
Collegian Staff Writer
But Scott says she had little hope that the University
would divest,
"We had written letters to the trustees and had received
Katrina Scott clearly remembers the first Commitee several responses. We knew the issue was being handled
for Justice in South Africa meeting of the semester last by the finance committee and that the people in support of
fall only three people showed up. us weren't on that committee," she says.
Today, however, the group's numbers are 20 times that On a warm fall afternoon, Scott and other student
of the first meeting, and as Scott leaves the position of leaders spoke to a crowd of about 250 students about
Committee president and hands over the reins to another apartheid while urging them; to get involved in future
active member, she looks back on the past year. protests.
Fall Semester began with little encouragment. When all As the group grew, more protests were planned. And
of the core members of the Committee graduated during the University experienced a 19605-like whirlwind of
the spring of 1985, Scott was left to rebuild the group protests, with Scott and other vocal student leaders
herself. stirring crowds of students in front of Old Main. ,
"I remember the first time I saw Katrina," says Black "Katrina came up with most of the ideas for the
Student Coalition Against Racism member Marlon Kir- different rallies and vigils and inspired people to get
ton. "It was during a divestment rally in the spring of involved. I did a lot of the legwork. We all worked as a
1985, she wanted to speak to the crowd and we were afraid team," Baker says
to let her because once a real nut spoke and it was a
disaster.
"She kept bugging us and I didn't want to let her speak,
but finally she ran up and practically grabbed the mike.
The audience loved her and she has been kind of a hero
ever since," he says.
Undergraduate Student Government President Matt
Baker also remembers that day, saying "People had
tears in their eyes after she spoke."
Stott grew up in Jamaica, where she says "even the
most uneducated people knew about apartheid." She felt
strongly about the oppression of Blacks in South Africa
because her mother is white, while her father is black.
" "In South Africa, we wouldn't have been allowed to live
together. They would have separated us into three differ
ent living areas," she says.
In Jamaica, Scott learned about the heritage of Blacks.
Because Jamaica is 99 percent black, schools are much
more concerned about teaching black history than they
are in the United States, Scott says.
Scott's father, a 73-year-old retired civil engineer, was
active in the anti-aparteid movement in Jamaica, and
still lives there with Scott's mother
As a freshman at Penn State, Scott began her studies in
architectural engineering, following in the footsteps of
her father. Now, Scott has decided against engineering.
and has opted for general arts and sciences.
With plans to enter graduate school in the fall, Scott
hopes to study the geography of Africa.
"I just wasn't into building big buildings anymore," she '
says.
F ORv
Scott is also a resident assistant at the Martin Luther . 1 ;1, -
.1
King Interest House in Atherton Hall, which attempts to sucv.i •
bring different cultures together.
As national media turned to apartheid last year, show
ing vivid, colorful examples of Blacks beaten by police
and oppressed by the South African government, Scott
decided to take action within her own world, the world of And after the first protest, the Committee's numbers
Penn State. grew dramatically. Students from all majors and back-
And when Scott learned of the Univ ersity's $7.6 million grounds came to the meetings and offered support for
in South African-related companies, she grew angry at future action.
what she viewed as hypocracy on the part of the Universi- Operation South Africa Day was a protest Scott is
ty. especially proud of. The day was set up to mirror some of
Baker says he and other pro-divestment leaders were the living conditions Blacks in South Africa live under,
"so impressed" with Scott, they nominated her for like segregated sidewalks, benches and other public
Committee president. facilites.
"She was a hard worker and dove into her responsibili- "Putting the students in the shoes of South African
ties as president. She was critically intelligent and could Blacks was the most effective thing about the day," she
get to the heart of the issues," he says. reflects.
So began the rebuilding of the Committee. Scott adver- Committee members spent hours making dozens of
tised the Committee in the Free University class sched- signs that later would divide the University Mall by race.
tiles and distributed leaflets, but at first, received little The signs read "Whites only" and "Non-Whites only" and
support. Slowly though, people came out of the woodwork were held by committee members who asked students to
and offered their support to the cause. walk and sit at those places designated for their race.
"The three people who were there from the beginning Many students cooperated and the committee members
were former Black Caucus President Larry Patrick, Matt took the opportunity to gather pro-divestment signatures
Baker and former Black Student Union President Marlon on petitions.
Kirton," she says. "We put about 70 to 100 people to work for the cause that
Kirton says at first he was disenchanted with the day and educationally, it was a huge success," Scott says.
Committee because of low Black membership. Weekly protests continued, and as the weather got
"My main involvement was in trying to get more colder, the numbers of protestors also dropped off. A core
Blacks involved," he says. group of students braved the cold, however, and stood
Scott believes the University, with its stocks in compa- solidly in front of Old Main, chanting "Divest Now."
nies doing business in South Africa, is directly supporting "At times I used those Wednesday protests just to think
the system of apartheid. By absolving these ties to South about what we were doing and the people who were
Africa, the University, along with several other American dying in South Africa," Scott says.
universities, would make a statement to the South African And when the trustees meeting came in January, so did
government that the United States would not take part in the decision not divest.
supporting and contributing to racism. Scott and others active in the movement were disheart-
During the fall semester, Scott and other black leaders ened with the decision, and began immediately planning
knew the University Board of Trustees would decide strategies to pressure the University to change its deci
whether or not to divest that January, and knew it was sion.
crucial that board members and students be reached "At some point, although we all believed school was the
about the issue before that time. reason we were all here, many of us regarded school as
eQuAc R R
secondary and the committee and divestment first,"
Scott adds.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Scott met with Kirton,
Carlton Waterhouse, now BSCAR chairman, and Patrick.
It was decided that day that the students would ban
together, forming a coalition which would include all of
the black organizations on campus. Thus the Black.
Student Coalition Against Racism was born.
BSCAR would work side by side with Committee over
the course of the semester. The two organizations erected
the shantytown together, and now 'that her term as
Committee president is up, Scott says she wants to work
with BSCAR more.
"I am concerned about black students. Many of them
are so oblivious to what is going on," she says.
Baker says while the Committee was predominantly
white, Scott "always made sure we knew what it was like
to be Black at the University."
olleglan file
Looking back at the year, Scott says giving up her
presidency will be difficult.
J , ‘Tt !asi week, Scott won the Malcolm X Fannie Lou
Hamer award for black student leadership. While Scott
says she is happy to have won the award, her fellow black
leaders recognize that it was her "dymanic motivation of
others that makes her such an outstanding leader to
blacks," Baker says.
"She is one of my all-time idols," Baker adds
Now, although she wants to stay active in the
movement, Scott will have more time to enjoy the
company of friends and to read.
"I like to do quiet things," she says.
"But for me, what we are doing is so important," Scott
says. "It goes way beyond divestment. I now know that
there are about 100 people (Committee members) who
have learned about racism, about human rights, and have
learned to respect one another."
Last semester, Scott helped organize numerous rallies and
demonstrations against apartheid. At a demonstration
outside the Nittany Lion Inn during January's Board of,
Trustees meeting (left), Scott spoke to a crowd rallying
outside the inn as University trustees voted not to divest
$7.6 million In South African holdings. Scott is also a
resident assistant in the Martin Luther King Jr. Interest
House which attempts to bring many different cultures
together (below). Other house members, shown gathering
in one of the interest house rooms in Atherton Hall, include
(left to right) Esther Golton (sophomore-agronomy), Anne
Marie Eckier (Junior-journalism), Rohini Kanniganti (junior
chemistry), Nyesha Tal!staff° (freshman-education), Eric T.
Konz (senior-music) and John Mackey Jr. (Junior-general
arts and sciences).
ate I Gregg Zell
The Daily Collegian
Tuesday, April 15, 1986
Katrina Scott, outgoing president of
the Committee for Justice in South
Africa, speaks at a divestment rally in
October outside Old Main.
Book sale
yields buys
and help for
community
By KARL HOKE
Collegian Staff Writer
The books came in by the box
fulls. Many of them left the same
way.
"Last year my friends were
showing me all the books they
got," said Andy Merriwether, (ju
nior-anthropology and biology)
while cradling about seven texts
under his left arm.
Merriwether, like many stu
dents and local residents, found
the selection and the prices to his
liking at the 25th Annual Used
Book Sale of the State College
Branch of the American Associa
tion of University Women.
"If you want to own it and own it
cheap, this is the place to be," said
Marion Davison, chairwoman of
this year's event at the HUB Ball
room. She said more than 60,000
books were collected and offered
at the sale, which began Sunday
and runs through Wednesday.
Davison said the sale offers
books on many topics, although
art, fiction, family living and chil
dren's books remain most popu
lar.
Davison said the proceeds from
the event help each year to fund a
graduate woman fellow at the
University. Proceeds are also do-
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STYLING SALON
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9 a.m. 9 p.m.
Tues. 1 / 2 price
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Benefit: Fellowships &
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Over 65,000 Books
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Best Picture Of 1985
OUT OF AFRICA oe
NIGHTLY: 8:30
Michael Keaton
GUNG HO P 0.13
NIGHTLY: 8:00, 10:00.
[ THE FLICK
POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING PC1.13
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APRIL FOOLS DAY R
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THE.MOVIES
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NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, PART H R
NIGHTLY: 8:00, 10:00
• • •
Tom Hanks/Shelley Long
THE MONEY PIT Pa
NIGHTLY: 8:00, 10:00
Judge Reingold
OFF BEAT PG
NIGHTLY: 7:45, 9:45
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, PART II a
NIGHTLY: 7:15, 9:15
All Seats $2.00
This year,
heart disease
and stroke
will kill another
200,000
Americans
before age 65.
4" American
Heart
Association
WE'RE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
Sheldon Lin (right), a University alumnus from Hermitage, examines the selection at the American Association of
University Women book sale at the HUB April 13. The sale continues until Wednesday.
nated to Schlow Memorial Li
brary, 100 E. Beaver Ave., the
Woman's Resource Center, 111
Sowers St., and Phone-Friend, 111
Sowers St., an open telephone line
for latchkey children, she said.
Yesterday it appeared many
book shoppers had the same thing
in mind as Merriwether. Many
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walked out with bags and boxes
full of books.
"The prices are good," said
Merriwether, adding that it gives
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ward to it all year," he said. The 10
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"Families will buy $4O, $5O, $6O,
to $9O worth of books," Davison
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Local AAUW member Felicia
Lewis said the idea for the sale
was came from two chapters in
Michigan, one in Ann Arbor and
one in Oakland county, Michigan.
'Anybody's guess'
on Contra aid vote
By MEGAN O'MATZ
Collegian Staff Writer
One month after rejecting Presi
dent Reagan's request for $lOO mil
lion in military aid to Nicaragua's
Contra rebels, the U.S. House is tak
ing up the issue again as it considers
four new proposals today.
Ben Procter, legislative assistant
to House Majority Leader James
Wright, D-Texas, said the House to
day will discuss time restrictions on
the aid debate, which will probably
run into tomorrow. No vote is ex
pected before then.
Besides considering the $lOO mil
lion aid package that the Republican
controlled U.S. Senate recently
passed 53 to 47, the House, which last
month voted 222 to 210 against a
similar measure, will look at three
other proposals that alter the Senate'
version.
Harry Phillips, press secretary for
U.S. Rep. William F. Clinger, R-Pa,
said the Senate version defers all but
$25 million of the proposed $lOO mil
lion in aid for 90 days. The $25 million
could be sent immediately for hu
manitarian purposes, but the remain
der would be delayed for three
months, in hopes of progress in nego
tiations.
A second proposal also calls for
$lOO million in aid, but places a differ
ent timetable on the release of the
money than the Senate .version. It
also establishes a commission to in
vestigate the Contadora process and
submit reports every 90 days, Procter
said.
The Contadora process involves
four countries Colombia, Mexico,
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`The purpose of this
is to try to keep
American personnel
out of the potential
battle areas.'
Ben Procter
Panama and Venezuela that are
tryingto work out a diplomatic solu
tion to the problems in Nicaragua and
El Salvador.
No military assistance whatsoever
is the bottom line of the third propo
sal, which also calls for $29 million in
humanitarian assistance and refugee
aid.
The fourth proposal sponsored by
two California representatives is de
signed as an amendment to all the
other proposals. It restricts U.S. mili
tary personnel from training Contras
in Honduras, Costa Rica or El Salva
dor.
"The purpose of this is to try to
keep American personnel out of the
potential battle areas," Procter said.
Because of the number of proposals
being considered, Phillips said that
what the House finally .decides and
how close the vote is is "anybody's
guess."
He added that any proposal the
House agrees on will probably be
linked to the supplemental appropria
tions bill for 1986, which allocates
money for projects such as Super
fund, job training programs and em
bassy security.