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COLLEGIAN 100 YEARS
April 1887 •April 1987
Workers search for victims in Cerritos, Calif., yesterday morning in wreckage single-engine plane collided in restricted airspace, killing 67 and leaving 15
In an upper-middle-class neighbothood after an Aeromexico jetliner and a wounded or dead.
Pilot in L.A. crash had heart attack
By RICHARD HOLGUIN
Associated Press Writer
CERRITOS, Calif. The man believed to have
piloted the small plane that collided with a
jetliner, killing all 67 people on the planes and
leaving 15 missing and feared dead, suffered a
heart attack ' minutes before the collision, a
coroner's spokesman said.
The single-engine Piper Archer was not in
contact with controllers directing air traffic in
restricted airspace near Los Angeles Interna:
tional Airport, where the planes collided Sunday
and plummeted into a residential area; said John
Lauber, a National Transportation Safety Board
supervisor.
Authorities said 64 people, including at least 47
U.S. residents, were aboard Aeromexico Flight
498, a DC-9 from Mexico City that was on its
landing approach to Los Angeles, and three
people were in the Piper when the planes collided
a few minutes before noon Sunday.
The planes fell into an upper-middle-class
neighborhood, littering streets, homes and trees
in- a six- by eight-block section with steel, flesh,
charred cars, luggage and ashes.
Student
condition after fall
Nu, said Ross was locked out of his
room. Ross' keys were found in the
purse of a girl who attended the
A University student suffered a party, Hoffman said.
fractured skull early Sunday morning Hoffman- (junior-math) said the
after falling from a second-floor win- girl, whose name he couldn't recall,
dow during a fraternity party, the called the fraternity Sunday morn-
State College Bureau of Police Serving, saying she found the keys in her
ices said. purse. She told Hoffman she didn't
Robert Ross (senior-agricultural know how the keys got there, he said.
business management) fell about 16 "I don't know why he didn't come to
feet headfirst from a window of Sig- me because I have a key .to his
ma Nu fraternity, 340 N. Burrowes robm," Hoffman said. "This is all a
Road, after he leaned out the window fluke. It's just one of those accidents
in an attempt to enter a window that happens once in a million."
adjoining his bedroom, police said. Hoffman said security at future
Ross, 22, a member and resident of parties would be strengthened in light
Sigma Nu, later told police he was of the incident, but he could provide
trying to get in the window because no specifics.
the door to his room was locked. John Thompson (sophomore-art), a
When a University Ambulance fraternity member, said he was sur-
Service team arrived on the scene, prised by Ross's accident.
Ross was found lying on his back, his "He is one of the more intelligent
face covered with blood, police said. people we have," Thompson said.
He was taken to Centre Community "He always kept his head clear. It's
Hospital and later transferred to Gei- just one of those things."
singer Medical Center in Danville. Thompson said Ross had acted as a
Carol Krone, a nursing supervisor security officer in the upstairs region
at Geisinger, said Ross was in a of the house during the party, which
medical surgical unit in serious con- was a toga party, Thompson, said. -
dition. He suffered multiple frac- Ross was not wearing a toga, he said.
tures, including a fractured skull, "I didn't think he was drunk at the
broken vertebrae, a fractured shoul- time," Thompson said. "I didn't think
der And a sprained ankle, she said. he would do that. Everyone who is on
Krone said serious condition means duty as security is not allowed to •
"death is possible, but not necessari- drink."
ly within 24 hours." Wheni asked if the incident would
State College police said the vic- affect future parties, Thompson said:
tim's mother, Diane Ross of Butler, "I don't think so. We usually have a
told them a Geisinger spokesman good turnout because of our populari
said her son's blood alcohol content ty. We'll probably continue to have
was listed at 0.20 percent at the time our parties."
of his arrival there. Interfraternity Council President
Krone refused to confirm that. Ef- Pat Conway declined to comment on
forts to contact the victim's mother the incident and would not say if the
were unsuccessful. IFC would file any charges against
A person with a blood alcohol con- Sigma Nu.
tent of 0.10 percent is considered "I can't say anything about it be
"under the influence" of alcohol, cause I don't know anything about
police said. it," Conway said. "I want to call the
Sgt. Dianne Conrad of the State house and investigate for myself be-
College police said no further investi- fore I make any comment."
gation will be made until police can Fraternity parties are open only to
speak with Ross. rushees, invited guests and little sis-
Rob Hoffman, president of Sigma ters, Conway said.
By JOHN SPENCE
Collegian Staff Writer
the
daily
"A man in his 50s, believed to be the pilot of the
small craft . . . suffered occlusive coronary ar
tery disease," in addition to multiple injuries in
the crash, said Bill Gold, a spokesman for the Los
Angeles County coroner's office.
"This condition can be called a heart attack,"
Gold said. "He may have lived if there wasn't a
collision. The heart attack itself wasn't fatal."
Coroner's officials couldn't determine the ex
act time the heart attack occurred, only that it
was before the collision, Gold said.
"We were unable to determine at what time it
occurred or how severe it was," Gold said. `.`The
heart attack came minutes before his death, but
the cause of death was his injuries."
The pilot of the small plane may have been
William Kramer, who recently moved to Los
Angeles from Spokane, Wash., a relative said.
Robert Kirkpatrick of Spokane, Wash., said the
Los Angeles coroner's office notified his former
wife; Suzanne Kirkpatrick of Spokane, that her
father, mother and sister were in the small
plane.
Kirkpatrick said the pilot's name was William
Kramer, his wife's name was Kathleen Kramer,
and the daughter's name was Caroline Kramer.
in serious
Collegian
oft
• _
Wet ride
TKE fined for serving minors
By VICTORIA PETTIES
Collegian Staff Writer
Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity has
pleaded no contest to charges of serv
ing alcohol to underage drinkers and
was fined $9OO plus court costs, or
dered to serve 350 hours of commu
nity service and placed on probation
fontwo years.
The ruling came nearly four
months after an automobile accident
in which a 26-year-old Slippery Rock
University student was killed after
drinking alcohol at a party at TKE,
346 E. Prospect Ave.
Dave Thompson, TKE president,
announced at last night's Interfrater
nity Council meeting that the frater
nity was found guilty by Judge
Charles C. Brown Jr. of the Centre
County Court of Common Pleas in the
May 1 incident
Details, including probation terms
Gold said a positive identification of the pilot
had not been made.
"Until we positively know, we can't say," Gold
said, adding that an identification may be made
today after a fingerprint check.
In addition to the dead, Red Cross spokesman
Stan Schwartz said 15 people were listed as
missing last night.
Sixteen houses burned, 10 of them destroyed by
flames, falling wreckage or both. Minor injuries
were suffered by 10 neighborhood residents, five
firefighters and a deputy.
Gov. George Deukmejian toured the neighbor
hood, designated a local disaster area by offi
cials, for about 45 minutes yesterday. He said he
would consider designating the neighborhood a
state disaster area, if local officials ask.
"There's no confirmed (dead) on the ground,"
Greg , Colvett of the coroner's office said at a
command post in Cerritos, 20 miles southeast of
Los Angeles. "It's just too much of a mess. . . .
We're talking bits and pieces of everything."
Lauber, speaking at a news conference, said
the light plane had a transponder, a device that
could broadcast its position, but "we don't know
if the transponder was in fact working."
s~~ +— ~
Karen Cooper (senior•telecommunications) enjoys a wild but damp Labor Day weekend at Raystown Dam
and the number of community serv
ice hours, will be discussed when
TKE members meet with their proba
tion officer Sept. 4
1 :
- •
NAI,"
AP Laserpholo
In the accident, Stacey Paris of
Pittsburgh was killed instantly when
he drove his eastbound car into the
westbound lane of U.S. Route 322. The
vehicle ran into the path of an oncom
ing tractor-trailer.
The cause of death was listed as
massive head and chest trauma.
According to police reports listed at
the time of the incident, Paris and
two men left Slippery Rock at 8:30
p.m. April 30 and went to McKean
Hall, where they drank beer for about
an hour and a half.
At TKE, the men were served beer
again, the reports said, adding that at
about 12:30 a.fn. May 1 the men
returned to McKean Hall, where they
drank more alcohol.
IFC President Pat Conway warned
BSCAR, other
factors cited
in black decline
State for recruiting blacks, had a
minor decrease in black enrollment.
Both Jordan and Staples said an-
Although 'a University official said other factor affecting enrollment is
last semester's controversy sur- the increasing scarcity of financial
rounding divestment had a signifi- aid.
cant impact on black freshmen Staples said, "In the last four
enrollment at the University, that is years, the median income for blacks
not the only reason explaining the 25 has actually dropped .. . a lot of this
percent decrease. (decrease in black freshman enroll-
The scarcity of financial aid and ment) has to do with economic things.
the declining pool of black students There is a lot of unemployment in
going to college are two other impor- Pennsylvania. People cannot always
tant reasons, officials said. afford to go to college."
"There is no single factor you could Robert Evans, director of student
use," said Victoria V. Staples, direc- aid, said black Pennsylvania stu
tor of minority admissions. "This is dents' financial needs are met
not an exact science." through state programs designed for
Staples added that black freshman black students who fill out the appro
enrollment was most significantly priate applications and are admitted
affected by the activities of the Black to the University.
Student Coalition Against Racism However, he noted that out of state
and media coverage of the group. students cannot benefit from this
"They used the press well," she program.
said. "If you are in the state of Pennsyl-
University President Bryce Jordan vania, we have' a full commitment.
said the student activities had "some We do not have the same kind of
impact, especially where they visited commitment if you are out of state,"
schools." he said.
However, he added, "As I said all Staples said the financial aid situa
along, it is a variety of causes." tion has "a greater impact on out of
Staples also pointed to demogra- state kids. We bend over backwards
phic trends affecting the number of for Pennsylvanians."
black students enrolling at the Uni- Staples said• special efforts are
versity. made through her office to inform
She said that while both in Pennsyl- minority students of financial aid
vania and throughout the nation the deadlines.
high-school graduation rate for She added that the University runs
blacks has increased, the number of special financial aid workshops for
18-year-olds has decreased. high school seniors and their parents.
In addition, Staples said, the per- Staples said another reason for the
tentage of high school graduates who decline is increasing competition
go to college is declining. among schools to recruit the best
These factors result in a loss' of black students.
"All state-owned. and_state-related
black college-bound high school stu
dents,"she said. institutions are coMpeting," she said,'
• adding that the military is another
"Some people say if the trend con- competitor for qualified high school
tinues as it is going, there will actual- graduates.
ly be less black people in college in Jordan said this year's decrease in
1990 than there is now," Staples said. black freshman enrollment should
Jordan said the declining number not affect the University's goal of
of black students has had an impact achieving a 5 percent minority pop
on the recruiting efforts of all Penn- ulation by 1987.
sylvania state owned and state re- Jordan said the University's effort
lated institutiqns. to recruit minorities is in good faith
For example, Jordan said, Temple and pointed to the fact that minority
University, which does not have the enrollment is still "substantially"
geographical disadvantages of Penn higher than three years ago.
By CAROLYN SORISIO
Collegian Staff Writer
a=t 43
fraternity presidents that the TKE
incident could happen at any fraterni
ty house.
"Beware of the liability we are
facing as we go into this new alcohol
policy as we are researching what we
want to do," Conway said. "This
incident, though unfortunate, could
happen at any house. I think we want
to look long and hard about what we
want to do this semester."
Conway announced the appoint
ments of 10 fraternity presidents to a
research committee headed by IFC
Executive Vice President Jeff Peters
to study the alcohol policy and make
recommendations to the council in
several weeks.
The recommendations from the
committee and from IFC lawyer
Ralph Rumsey will be studied before
the council makes any final decisions
on fraternity alcohol policies.
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 1986
Vol. 87, No. 35 24 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
@1986 Collegian Inc.
Related story, Page 12.
• • •• ,o A , o=t •
Correction
Due to a reporter's error, it was
incorrectly stated in Friday's
Collegian that Harold Cheatham
is the president of the Forum on
Black Affairs. He is the Forum's
former president.
tueS& 4
This is the last day for phone-in
drop/add. To make schedule ad
justments, students should fill
out drop/add forms and take
them to their departments until
noon or should call 8639000
from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.