The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, November 04, 1986, Image 1

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COLLEGIAN 100 YEARS
April 1887•Apri11987
Black percentage dips
despite minority rise
By CAROLYN SORISIO
Collegian Staff Writer
The total minority enrollment at
the University increased by 7.1 per
cent over last year, but the percent of
black students at the University fell
slightly from last fall, University
officials said.
The overall minority enrollment for
this year increased by 270 students to
a total of 4,090 out of 64,368 students
enrolled at the University, according
to figures released yesterday by the
Department of Public Information.
However, black enrollment
dropped by a 10th of a percent, from
3.7 percent in 1985 to 3.6 percent this
year. .
Minority enrollment comprises
American Indian or Alaskan native
students, Asian American students,
black American students and Hispan
ic American students.
William Asbury, acting vice presi
dent for student services and chair
man of the University's Equal
Opportunity Planning Committee,
said that while freshmen enrollment
figures could not yet be released,
"my recollection is that the figures
I've seen indicate that the drop was in
the freshmen class."
The University is under a federal
Court mandate to increase its minori
ty population to 5 percent by 1987.
University President Bryce Jordan
said in a prepared press statement
that the overall minority increase
"demonstrates the effectiveness of
our efforts to recruit and retain sub-
Higher ed critique
By WINSLOW M. MASON Jr
Collegian Staff Writer
• The Carnegie Foundation's harsh critique
of higher education is an appropriate and
legitimate analysis of the nation's colleges,
Henry Hermanowicz, dean of the Universi
ty's College of Education, said yesterday.
"I think the Carnegie report is pretty
accurate and its recommendations for re
form are legitimate," he said.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advance
ment of Teaching, which periodically issues
reports on the status of education, Saturday
released a 242-page report that urged the
nation's undergraduate colleges to drop stan
dardized admissions tests and require all
undergraduate students to complete a thesis
to graduate.
The report, which contained 83 recommen
dations on how to improve colleges across the
nation, stressed that college professors con-
Vote!
Registered voters should check the
precinct number given on their voter
registration card and go to the fol
lowing polling places:
e Precinct 16 (North State Col
lege), at the Church of Christ, 405
Hilicrest, Martin Terrace. This pre
cinct is for voters who live north of
Park Avenue and west of Route 322.
• Precinct 17 (Northeast State
College) at College Heights School,
721 N. Atherton St., for voters who
live north of Park Avenue and east of
Route 322.
• Precinct 18 (Northwest State
College) at the YMCA, 412 W. Col
lege Ave., for voters living in West
Halls.
• Precinct 19 (South One), at
State College Area Intermediate
High School, 650 Westerly Parkway,
main entrance. This precinct is for
voters in areas west of O'Bryan Lane
and Campbell Road.
• Precinct 20 (South Two), State
College Area Intermediate High
School, 650 Westerly Parkway, audi
torium entrance. This precinct is for
residents between O'Bryan Lane
and South Pugh Street, between
Westerly Parkway and University
Drive.
• Precinct 21 (South East), at the
State College Elementary School,
234 Easterly Parkway, front en
trance. Residents and voters living
between South Atherton Street and
Easterly Parkway or those living
east of South Pugh Street should
report here.
This information was submitted by the Undergraduate Student Government's Department of Political Affairs
the
daily
stantial numbers of minority students
at Penn State."
When the number of paid accep
tances unofficial statistics based
on the number of students who pay
their tuition for the semester were
released in August, they indicated a
25 percent drop in black freshman
enrollment.
At that time, Robert Dunham, vice
president for academic services, said
the University administration was
concentrating on recruiting black stu
dents because they are the focus of
the court mandate.
Asbury said the drop in black en
rollment at the University would hin
der the University's efforts to reach
the 5 percent minority objective.
"I would guess that we are not .
going to be able to reach (the goal)
unless we have a big increase in the
fall of '87," he said.
Asbury confirmed that 2,365 black
students are enrolled at the Universi
ty this year as opposed to 2,308 last
year.
But because of an overall increase
of more than 2,000 students Universi
tywide, the total percentage of black
students at the University dropped to
3.6 percent of the population, he said.
Asbury said it is difficult to inter
pret the figures at this time because
the University administration does
not know how the figures compare
with othdr educational institutions for
this year.
He added that many factors con
tribute to the decline in black stu
dents at the University, but the major
tinue to improve their teaching methods. It
criticized universities that push their profes
sors toward research and urged university
administrators to equally emphasize both
teaching and research from college profes
sors.
"I think Penn State is on track in trying to
not overemphasize research over instruction,
" said William Asbury, acting vice president
for student services.
Asbury also urged the University's stu
dents, faculty and staff not to comply with the
reports' request that universities with major
sports schedules like Penn State reduce their
sports budgets.
"Penn State is noted for striking a balance
between athletics and academics," he said.
The three-year, $1 million report said the
Scholastic Aptitude Test is a facade and
called for stricter admissions standards, add
ing that colleges exist as an open door to
anyone who wants to attend.
Vote! Vote!
'• Precinct 22 (South Central
One) at the State College Senior
High School, main entrance, for
voters living south of West Irvin
Avenue and West Hamilton Avenue
and north of Westerly Parkway and
west of South Pugh Street.
• Precinct 23 (South Central
Two) at the Chilstian Church, East
erly Parkway and William Street, for
residents in the area between East
Hamilton Avenue and Easterly Park
way.
• Precinct 24 (East One) is at the
Findlay Recreation Room for stu
dent voters who live in any East
Halls residence halls other than
Stone, Snyder, Stewart and Has
tings halls.
• Precinct 25 (East Two) is in the
Stephens Hall Recreation Room,
South Halls and University Terrace,
for students voters in South Halls.
• Precinct 26 (East Three) is at
Grace Lutheran Church, South Gar
ner Street and Beaver Avenue, and
is for those voters living between
East College Avenue and East Ham
ilton Avenue, between South Garner
and Universal Drive.
' • Precinct 27 (East Four) is at
Pollock Dining Hall, Room 129, and
is for voters living in Pollock and
Centre halls.
• Precinct 28 (East Central One)
is at the Glenland Building, 137 S.
Pugh St., Court Room No. 2. Voters
in North and Atherton halls and
Nittany Apartments should report to
this precinct.
Collegian
factor affecting the percentage de
crease, he said, is the fact that total
enrollment increased signficantly.
This resulted in a greater increase of
white students at the University, he
said. .
Asbury explained that the increase
in white students may be a result of
white students who would have gone
to a more expensive school in the past
coming to the University.
An increase in tuition, the percep
tion of a lack of availability of finan
cial aid, and competition between
other schools for qualified blacks all
affect the number of blacks who
choose to attend the University, As
bury said.
The controversy surrounding the
University Board of Trustees' deci
sion not to divest its $B.B million
invested in South Africa also had
some effect on the black enrollment
figures, he added.
Last winter, a student coalition of
all the major black organizations on
campus the Black Student Coali
tion Against Racism formed in
response to the University's decision
not to divest. The group announced its
intention to tell potential black stu
dents about their perceptions of prob
lems faced by blacks at the
University.
It is "clearly a possibility, in fact I
would guess it was a significant possi
bility . . . there is some correlation
between the public debate and con
cern on the atmosphere and the al
leged problems at the University,"
Asbury said.
target, University dean says
"Probably fewer than 50 colleges and uni
versities in the United States today can be
considered highly ,selective; admitting less
than half the students who apply," the report
said.
In support of the reports' findings, Herma
nowicz said "the SAT exam has little predic
tability of undergraduate student
performance." It has a 15 percent predicta
bilty of success in undergraduate study, he
said.
But Judd Arnold, co-director of the under
graduate literature programs, said that al
though he had not thoroughly read the report,
the foundation's proposal to omit the SAT test
as an admissions standard is "somewhat
illogical."
"The SAT test has a pretty good correspon
dence between a student's grade-point aver
age and the student's
.actual performance,"
Arnold said.
Scott Healy, director and assistant vice
• Precinct 29 (East Central Two),
at Zeta Psi fraternity, 225 E. Foster
Ave., is for voters living between
South Allen Street•and South Garner
Street, between East Beaver Avenue
and East Nittany Avenue.
• Precinct 30 (East Central
Three) is at Phi Sigma Kappa frater
nity, 501 S. Allen St., and is for
voters living between South Allen
Street and South Garner Street,
between East Nittany Avenue and
East Hamilton Avenue.
• Precinct 31 (West One) is at
State College Elementary School,
235 Corl St., and is for those voters
living west of South Atherton Street
and south of Highland and West
Foster avenues, north of West Ham
ilton Avenue.
• Precinct 32 (West Two) is at
Our Lady of Victory School, 800
Westerly Parkway for those vot
ers living south of Westerly Parkway
and West Hamilton Avenue.
• Precinct 33 (West Central One)
is at the Hamilton Hall lounge and is
for voters living in West Halls.
• Precinct 34 (West Central Two)
is at the State College Municipal
Building, 118 S. Fraser St., for voters
living between College Avenue and
Hamilton Avenue, between Atherton
Street and Allen Street.
e Precinct 44 (West College
TownshiplPenn State University) is
also in the Findlay Recreation Room
and is a newly approved precinct for
students in Hastings, Snyder, Stone
and Stuart halls In East.
Correction
Because of a source's error, Friday's
Collegian incorrectly reported facts
on world illiteracy pertaining to wom
en. Out of every three illiterates in
the world, two are women.
inside ,
• U.S. Senate candidate Bob
Edgar gave fellow Democrat Bill
Wachob a really big shoe yester
day during a final campaign stop
at the HUB on behalf of the
challenger to incumbent U.S.
Rep. William F. Clinger Page 2
• State College Municipal
Council last night unanimously
approved plans to hold the 1987
Phi Psi 500 and also approved a
three-year timetable set by the
fraternity to eliminate alcohol
from the race Page 3
• It's Election Day, and The
Daily Collegian exhorts Penn
State students to get out to
vote Page 6
• The hockey team extended
its record to 4-0 this past Satur
day with a 7-5 victory over Niaga
ra-Welland Page 9
index
comics
opinions
sports
state/nation/world
weather
This afternoon, remaining
cloudy with maybe a break late
in the day. High 49. Tonight,
partly cloudy. Low 34. Tomor
row, cool with more clouds, and
a shower is possible. High 46.
president of the University's admissions of
fice, said that when the University considers
a student's admisssion package, it looks at a
students' high school grades, SAT scores, any
honors or advanced placement courses the
student has taken, and the student's selection
of high school courses, all of which have
equal weight.
Healy said the SAT store is not the most
important factor when combined with the
other entrance requirements.
Responding to the report's request that
students complete a thesis before graduating,
Hermanowicz said: "I don't think it's a bad
idea. For most majors, there is insufficient
writing skills and ability to synthesize ideas
into effective communication."
The University is committed to seeing
students achieve a much more broad over
view of their culture, said Arnold, who is also
an associate professor of English.
He said the University's proposed general
Late drop extended
due to water leak
By CHRISTINE METZGER
Collegian Staff Writer
A broken pipe on the third floor
of Shields Building spilled an esti
mated 130,000 gallons of water in
the northeast part of the building
early Sunday morning, extending
the deadline for students to late
drop classes.
"Our computer system was
down for most of the morning,"
said University Registrar Warren
Haffner."To make up for the down
time, the late-drop deadline is
extended until tomorrow at 5
p.m. "
Ardath Johnson, coordinator of
Student charged for
robbery-note joke
By TERRY MUTCHLER
Collegian Staff Writer
A University freshman was
charged with disorderly conduct
and causing a false alarm to agen
cies of public safety early yester
day afternoon after police said he
passed a robbery note to a teller at
the Nittany Mall branch of Mellon
Bank.
Sgt. Diane Conrad of the State
College Bureau of Police Services
said 18-year-old Glenn McFerran
(freshman-business administra
tion) passed a note to tellers say
ing, "This is a stickup, give me all
your money."
Heidi Sonen
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1986
Vol. 87, No. 80 14 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
©1986 Collegian Inc.
education requirements, which would allow
students to take courses that do not relate
directly to their major and would broaden a
student's education beyond requirements for
their major, would help students get a better
sense of their culture.
Both Hermonwicz and Arnold agreed there
should be a better balance between universi
ties' emphasis on teaching and research. •
"I do not think the University rewards
teaching as it ought to," Arnold said. Herma
nowicz added that at Penn State and general
ly at other major universities acrosp the
country, 90 percent of research is conducted
by only 10 percent of the faculty.
The report, titled "Colleges: The Under
graduate Experience in America," surveyed
5,000 of the nation's faculty members, 5,000
undergraduates, 1,000 college administra
tors, 1,000 high school students and 1,000 high
school parents.
information services at the Office
of Physical Plant, said the water
seeped from the third floor to the
basement. The water caused con
siderable damage to computer
terminals, printers, furniture,
files, light fixtures and anything
else in the offices, Johnson said.
Haffner said no student records
were lost or destroyed.
"We're not yet sure about the
extent of the damages," Johnson
said. "(Monday) was spent get
ting the water out of the building
and drying things out. (Today)
we'll know more about what needs
further repairs."
Conrad said that after the teller
asked McFerran if it was a joke,
he answered yes.
No one was injured in the at
tempt and no weapons were used.
Conrad said that after police
received the holdup alarm, police
surrounded all exits and pro
ceeded to apprehend two individu
als.
The second individual, also 18,
was not charged.
McFerran was arraigned before
District Justice Clifford Yorks and
released on $5,000 recognizance
bail.