COLLEGIAN 100 YEARS
April 1887 •April 1987
Flying clubs confront stormy skies
Officers and
planes lost
in 2 crashes
By PHIL GALEWITZ
Collegian Staff Writer
The future of two local flying clubs
remains up in the air after plane
crashes in the past two months killed
three Penn State students and three
local residents.
In February, the• Penn State Flying
Lions, a University organization, lost
its president and treasurer with the
deaths of Marie Gebura and John
Houtz in a plane crash in Halfmoon
Township, seven miles out of State
College. The two were also members
of the Nittany Aero Club and were
flying in a club plane.
A second crash Saturday in Fergu
son Township resulted in the death of
Steven Gizzi, who is a member of both
clubs, and a family of three from
Patton Township. The family were
not members of either flying club.
The most recent accident has left
the Nittany Aero Club, which is unaf
filiated with Penn State, without any
more planes, .and their president is
unsure if the club will be able to
survive.
"The accidents certainly set us
back and raise doubts about the fu
ture viability of the club," said Rob
ert .Jones, president of the Nittany
Aero Club.
"Our most immediate concern is
determining how our insurance rates
will be affected with the accidents,"
he added. "They could go through the
roof."
Gene Karako, acting president of
the Flying Lions and a member of the
Nittany Aero Club, said that with the
deaths of the officers in February, the
Flying Lions "is now in limbo until we
meet to reorganize."
The Flying Lions are scheduled to
meet Friday. A time and place have
not yet been set, he said.
Karako, who was the roommate of
Gizzi and a friend of Houtz, said that
as a young• aviator he hopes both
clubs continue as support groups for
individuals interested in the
The Flying Lions, an interest group
for young aviators, does not own or
operate any planes and is regulated
inside
e The College Market on Col
lege Avenue goes out of busi
ness Page 10
• Radon, which is a cancerous
agent, seems to be a big prob
lem in Pennsylvania and the
money that has been allocated
to solve the problem does not
appear to be helping matters
weather
This afternoon cloudy and
breezy with a good chance of
rain showers. High 62. Tonight
and tomorrow rain likely with a
possible thundershower. Low
tonight 48. High tomorrow 57.
Ross Dickman
Paramedics and fire personnel remove the victim of Saturday's plane crash that killed four. One area flying club has lost
both of their planes from two recent crashes and a Penn State aviators club had their two leaders killed in the recent
aircraft accidents.
by the University. Karako said that
although the group has received fund
ing from Penn State in the past, they
were denied funds from the school
this year. The group now has 30
members, all University students.
The group has sponsored speakers,
shown aviation films, prepared mem
bers for the written pilots exam and
sponsored aviation days to spur local
interest in the sport.
Although the Flying Lions have
suffered a tragic setback, Karako
Black alumni unhappy with divestment push
By KIRSTEN LEE SWARTZ
Collegian Staff Writer
Founding members of the Black Alumni Advo
cating Divestment say they are "extremely busy"
with other responsibilites and are not satisfied
with the progress the group has made since its
creation in October.
Although the original seven BAAD members
have contacted almost 75 black University alumni,
they said have not progressed toward many of
their other goals.
On Homecoming weekend, five of the seven
black alumni in the group met with University
President Bryce Jordan and Vice President for
Student Services William Asbury to ask the admin
istration to support divestment of the University's
holdings in South African-related companies,
which then totaled $8.7 million.
Page 2
BAAD coordinator Anita Thomas said the group
has since "touched base" with the Pennsylvania
Public Interest Coalition, a non-profit organization
outside Philadelphia that tries to educate citizens
about politics,
"We're still trying to get information out and
the
daily
•
Lif;
olle • ian
,; ~
x .:. s+w~w..,Y
said, "We are not defunct." The
group is sponsoring an Aviation Day
on April 25 at the Bellefonte Skypark
for anyone interested in learning
more about aviation.
The Flying Lions and the Nittany
Aero Club are similar in many re
spects, as they act as support and
leisure groups for area aviators. And
both have reason to worry about the
future.
The National Transportation Safety
Board and the Federal Aviation Ad-
merge our efforts out into an organized group,"
Thomas said. "Right now we're not an organiza
tion. We're a bunch of interested parties. It's
smarter for us to try to merge."
The Pennsylvania Task Force for Divestment, a
project of Penn PIC, seeks the full removal of state
funds from South African investments through
statewide efforts such as legislation and adminis
trative action.
After its meeting with administrators in Octo
ber, BAAD announced numerous plans to combat
the administration's refusal to support divest
ment.
Most of these plans were centered around gath
ering a group of black alumni to block minority
recruitment and discourage alumni from donating
to the University.
But group member Renee Lucas, a 1980 grad
uate, said, "The only formal progress made on the
plan was letter writing."
To date, BAAD has mailed more than 100 letters
informing black alumni that the University still
has holdings in South African-related companies.
Lucas said the letters encourage the recipients to
let the trustees know they are displeased.
ministration are investigating both
crashes, but an FAA spokesman said
he was. unsure when either probe
would be concluded. Neither club is
studying the accidents independent of
the federal review boards.
"Is is an unfortunate coincidence,"
said Nittany Aero President Jones,
who help found the club two years
ago. "The two incidents at this time
do not appear to be related in any
way."
egian Photo I Gene Maylock
Please see FLYING, PAGE 5
Lucas said they have received around 75 replies,
and Thomas added that they would like to pull
those 75 together to help initiate other projects.
"Our main focus was to have more people to do
those other things," she added. "We'll be able to
institute a lot more of those avenues now because
we'll have a lot more manpower to do those
things."
Some members have also been in contact with
their churches and "have given the people a notion
of what's going on," Lucas said.
But Thomas said she is not satisfied with the
work that has been done so far. "We haven't been
able to have as great an impact as we would have
liked."
But she added, "We're going to keep at it, if it's
nothing more than continuing to talk to'people."
During Fall Semester, BAAD made plans to:
e Visit high schools, concentrating in the Phila
delphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Washington,
D.C., areas, to discourage students from enrolling
at the University.
Lucas said BAAD would tell high school students
the University is only interested in "getting bod-
Please see BLACKS, page 5
Wednesday April 15, 1987
Vol. 87, No. 169 20 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
©1987 Collegian Inc.
PSU pilot remembered
as a dedicated aviator
By CELESTE McCAULEY
Collegian Staff Writer
Flying to Steve Gizzi was not only a
hobby he loved but also a direct route
in launching his career.
Gizzi, a 22-year-old University stu
dent majoring in finance and mi
noring in travel logistics, was killed
Saturday when the plane he was
piloting crashed into a backyard
swingset in Ferguson Township.
A student member of the Nittany
Aero Club and the Penn State Flying
Lions, Gizzi was scheduled to grad
uate in August. Friends and col
leagues at the Allegheny Commuter.
Airlines branch at the University
Park airport where Gizzi was a part
time customer service agent de
scribed him as a very dedicated
worker who was interested in all
aspects of the airline industry.
"He had aviation in his blood. He
always wanted to fly," said Rick
Schwartz, customer service manager
for Allegheny Commuter Airlines.
He viewed flying as a way in start
ing his career in the airline industry,
Schwartz said.
"He was really interested in all
functions of the airline industry. He
tried to learn the industry inside and
out," he said.
Gene Karako, one of Gizzi's room
mates, said "flying was one of (his)
favorite hobbies. Everyone knows
risks are involved when you become a
pilot."
Schwartz said Gizzi met Terrance
Chrobak, 27, who was on board the
plane when it crashed, while working
at the airport. Chrobak's wife, Sand
ra, 24, and her 3-year-old son, Brant
Hemphill, were also killed in -the
crash.
Schwartz said he surmises that
Gizzi said to Chrobak " Hey, let's go
up and fly around.' "
"I feel they were probably up over
the property in Philipsburg that Chro
bak owned taking pictures,"
Schwartz said, adding that a camera
was found on board.
Chrobak bought a seven-acre plot
of land a year ago and recently
started breaking ground on the build
ing of a house, Schwartz said." They
just received a loan last week to build
a house. It's a sad thing," he said.
David Frost, customer service
agent for Allegheny Commuter Air
lines, said, "(Gizzi) always cared
about everyone else. It sounds trite,
but it's really true."
Karako, who is also a member of
the Nittany Aero Club and Flying
Lions, said Gizzi was a very profes
sional, independent person.
"I was just getting to know him., He
was More a professional type. He
enjoyed the business side of things,"
he said.
Karako suffered the loss of another
of his friends to a plane crash, Uni
versity student John Houtz, when the
Cessna plane he was flying crashed in
February.
"I lost a good friend and a good
roommate. It's been tough. You hear
a lot about plane crashes happening
to other folks but in the last few weeks
it has really hit home," Karako said.
"Being a young aviator (flying)
becomes a part of your life. You can't
look up when you hear a plane buzz by
without wondering who's up there,"
he said.
Frost said colleagues at the airlines
nicknamed Gizzi "Hurricane." He
whirled in and got things done and
whirled out. "He knew everything
about a lot," Frost added.
He said Gizzi had an uncanny abili
ty to impersonate famous and infa
mous people.
"He had a great battery of Rodney
Dangerfield jokes. He always tried to
make someone laugh. He was very
bon vivant," Frost said.
Mike Yard, another of Gizzi's
roommates and classmate with him
fOr two years at Behrend College,
called Gizzi a hard worker.
"He put all of his time into studying
and flying. He was always working
. . . putting himself through school,"
Yard said.
Gizzi was a member of the Lambda
Sigma National Honor Society and
the National Finance Honor Society
at the University. A native of Pitts
burgh, he is the son of Robert and
Lynn Gizzi of Winter Haven, Fla.
He is survived by two sisters, a
maternal grandmother, and a pater
nal grandfather. A mass of Christian
burial will be held at 10 this morning
at the Church of the Assumption in
Bellevue.
Charity gives
little aid in
cancer battle
NEW YORK (AP) Only $15,000 of
the $5.1 million raised in 1985 by one
of the nation's largest cancer char
ities went to battle the disease, while
97 percent of the money went to solicit
more funds, says a charity watchdog
agency.
The United Cancer Council Inc.,
based in Carmel, Ind., went from a
small charity with a yearly budget of
$56,000 to a multimillion-dollar orga 7
nization when it signed up with a for
profit direct-mail fund-raising firm in
1984, said Frank Driscoll, research
associate at the National Charities
Information Bureau, which recently
reviewed the charity's budget.
The non-profit organization, which
evaluates the standards of national
charities, undertook the review in
response to numerous inquires by
both contributors and the media,
Driscoll said.
According to NCIB standards, 70
percent of funds soliticed by a charity
should go into programs, leaving 30
percent for raising funds, he said. Of
275 charities that NCIB has reviewed
and has current available reports,
73.1 percent meet their standards,
Driscoll said.
Randall Grove, executive director
of the United Cancer Council, con
firmed the report.
He said that last year the charity
raised $7 million and more than 93
percent, $6.52 million, went to the
fund-raising firm Watson & Hughey
Co., based in Alexandria, Va., which
sent out numerous solicitations for
the charity.
HOwever, Grove said that while the
report is accurate, NCIB uses a dif
ferent auditing system and thus
many of the mailings that the charity
considers educational are judged by
the bureau to be of a fund-raising
nature.
Driscoll said that having such a
large percentage of a charity's bud
get go for further solicitation is not
the rule. "Direct mail is inherently
expensive," he said.