Forum calls for minority in a top post By KIRSTEN LEE SWARTZ Collegian Staff Writer In light of the University's continu ing failure to meet its minority re cruitment and retention goals, the Forum on Black Affairs has called on University President Bryce Jordan to create and fill a vice president or vice provost for minority affairs position. In a 10-page report submitted to Jordan yesterday, the Forum, an organization of about 65 faculty, staff and graduate students, requested the establishment of a top-level adminis trative position to ensure compliance with the desegregation mandate. "The University will not see pro gress until some type of leadership is allowed at a top level in the adminis tration," Forum President Collins 0. Airhihenbuwa said. Last week, the University released its 1987 enrollment figures, revealing its failure to meet minority goals for the fifth consecutive year and to fulfill the five-year mandate. Penn State, the University of Pitts burgh and 13 state-owned schools were under pressure to boost black enrollment figures following a 1983 federal mandate ordering the deseg regation of universities by the cur rent academic year's end. The court order stemmed from a 1970 law suit by the National Associa tion for the Advancement of Colored People. It said schools must comply with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which states that no public insti tution can discriminate on the basis of race, color or creed. "They are doing only grudgingly what has been mandated by the courts," the Forum's paper stated. "Recruitment and retention of black American students essentially appears to be approached as social welfare programming rather than as fulfilling true obligations to a signifi cant proportion of the tax-paying public," it stated. The burden of implementing pro grams that support black student recruitment and retention now falls upon black faculty and staff. And while they have the responsibilty for planning such programs, they do not have the authority to administer them, the document stated. Enlisting broader participation in those efforts has been a problem because few incentives exist in the form of compensation, the paper stated. Forum Treasurer Larry Young said the assumption that black fac ulty and staff are responsible for recruiting and retaining black stu dents shows lack of understanding and sympathy. "A system-wide problem requires a system-wide solution," Young, direc tor of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center, said. "If a department or division as signs all of its recruitment and reten tion to one or two faculty members . . . the rest of the members don't have the responsibility," he said. Jordan was out of town yesterday afternoon and could not be reached for comment. In a prepared statement, he said he plans to care fully study the copy of the report he received. "We are very much interested in continuing the success Penn State has seen since 1983 in the recruitment and retention of black students," he said. Although minority student enroll ment increased on the whole this year, the percentage of black stu dents declined from 3.7 to 3.6 over the last year. In a prepared statement last week, Jordan said he was pleased with the University's progress. Airhihenbuwa said "it boggles the mind" that the administration is "pleased with retrogression, not pro gression." The report noted that black stu dents are still failing and leaving the University because of "inadequate advising, lack of information about available resources to ensure their academic survival and attitudes and behaviors conveyed to them that they can't do the work and don't belong at Penn State." The paper also said non-compet itive funding was another obstacle the University faced. "Funding appears to be the prima ry problem in attracting black stu dents to (the University)," it said. "In our judgement, (the University ) could attract and retain more black students if funds were shifted from certain budgets . . . and used for bona fide Black Scholar awards at realistic levels." Lastly, the report pointed to the recruitment and retention of black faculty and staff, citing that since 1985 the University has lost 35 black employees through resignation, re tirement or dismissal. the daily No one By VALERIE DU PONT Collegian Staff Writer No one was injured in a fire started in a Beaver Plaza apart ment bedroom early yesterday af ternoon when a reading lamp fell and ignited "some combustible materials," Alpha Fire Company Chief Mary Robinson said. Firefighters contained the fire, which was limited to the bedroom of apartment 205, within minutes of arriving, Alpha Fire Company Cap tain Mike Groff said. Four of the company's vehicles responded to the call, which the company re ceived at about 12:30 p.m., Robinson said. Robinson said smoke damaged the entire apartment. An estimate of the damage was not known. Residents of Beaver Plaza, 222 W. Beaver Ave., say fire alarms go off a lot but no one takes them seriously. Tony Pegnato ( junior -aerospace engineering( lives across the hall from the damaged apartment and said he reported the fire around 12:20 p.m. "The fire alarm goes off all the time. It goes off enough that you don't pay attention to it." Pegnato said. Fun with midterms Amy Wargo Mmtarmonkrimitmalowy) gets down' and dkly with her midterm. Weinberger to resign this week By DAVID ESPO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON. D.C. Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger intends to resign this week and will be replaced by President Reagan's national security advis er, Frank Carlucci. sources said last night. The sources. who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Reagan approved the appointment in recent days and it will be announced Thursday. Carlucci will be replaced by his deputy at the National Security Council. Lt. Gen. Cohn L. Powell. the sources said. Powell would be the first black to hold the White House job. Neither Weinberger nor Carlucci would comment on Collegian Pegnato said the alarm rang, stopped and then sounded again. Ed Kennedy (senior-marketing) lives in apartment 203 and was also home at the time of the fire. "Around 12:30 the whole (second floor) hallway was filled with smoke," Kennedy said. None of the apartment's three occupants were home when the fire broke out, but Elizabeth Narvaez (senior-speech communication) said it was a "scary feeling" when she returned home early from classes and found her apartment full of smoke. "I opened the door and there was a bunch of smoke," Narvaez said. "I walked to the back of the apart ment, opened the door to my room and it was all black." Firefighters threw Narvaez's damaged mattress and pillows out the window. The wall, ceiling and contents of the bedroom were stained black from the smoke. Associated Realty property man ager Dottie Kolton said the owners of the apartment unit, Michael D. and Andre Keebaugh of Annapo lis, Md., have been notified. The State College insurance com pany Kissinger and Bryant is inves tigating . ~'; injured in their reported moves. The White House officially had no comment, but did not dispute the report. Sources have said Weinberger's decision to step down after seven years came for personal reasons rather than any dissatisfaction with the prospective arms control treaty with the Soviet Union or any policy disagreement with the president. Weinberger, 70, is one of the oldest members of the Cabinet. He is one of President Reagan's original Cabinet members and has already served longer in the post of secretary of defense than all but one of his predecessors. Indeed, Weinberger is less than four months' short of the longevity record set by former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, who spent slightly more than seven years in the job. Elizabeth Narvaez (senior•speech communications) talks with Associated Realty property manager Dottie Kolton Narvaez's apartment caught fire yesterday. El 2 Co11•91an Photo I Slues E. Moody Beaver Plaza fire Black enrollment increases here; down elsewhere By MEENEKSHI BOSE Collegian Staff Writer Enrollment of black students in the University's graduate school is increasing, although some grad uate schools have experienced a decline nationally. Black enrollment in the grad uate school increased from 202 to 224 students for the 1987-88 aca demic year, according to statistics from Penn State's Department of Public Information. Blacks now comprise 2.6 percent of the graduate school, as com pared to 2.4 percent last year, which represents an 11 percent increase in the number of blacks attending graduate school at the University. Howard Palmer. senior asso ciate dean of the graduate school said, "Considering the national trends in graduate school enroll ments of minorities, Penn State is doing very well indeed. "We are continually increasing our black graduate enrollments, contrary to the national diminish- Minority efforts can improve, grads say By MEENEKSHI BOSE Collegian Staff Writer Minority enrollment is increas ing in the University's graduate school, but some black graduate students said the University can improve its recruitment and re tention efforts. Eufard Cooper, president of the Black Graduate Student Associa tion, said the University is making an attempt to help minority stu- Grad minority figures please PSU officials By MEENEKSHI BOSE Collegian Staff Writer rollment, but said the University Graduate minority enrollment can do more to boost minority at the University increased 5.3 enrollment figures percent for the 1987-88 academic "In terms of what's actually year as overall graduate enroll- happening, the increase in r over ment increased by almost 300 stu- all enrollment in the graduate dents. Please see MINORITY. Page 5 lies y weather Today variable cloudiness and warm with a high approaching 70. Tonight partly cloudy, low 48. Tomorrow partly sunny and unseasonably warm, chance of nighttime showers, high 72 Ross Dickman Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1987 Vol. 88, No. 80 14 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by students of The Pennsylvania State Univers = 1987 Collegian Inc. ing of black graduate enroll ments," he said. Palmer said the graduate school set an unofficial goal in 19/13 co double black graduate enrollment within five years. Black enroll ment in the graduate school has increased 59 percent since 1983. he said. "We will continue to work to ward that goal set in 198:31," Palmer said. Black students comprised 1.9 percent of the graduate population in 1983, with 141 black graduate students enrolled in the school. Palmer said financial support from the state and active recruit ing on the part of the University have contributed to the increase. Recruitment procedures include visiting both historically black col leges. as well as predominantly white institutions with a large percentage of minorities, said By ron Wiley, director of the Center for Minority Graduate Opportuni ties and Faculty Development. "The benefits begin to perpetu- Please see GRADUATES, Page 5. dents adjust to Penn State. hut "the support systems are far from what they should he " Cooper said the University should make a better effort to prepare black students for grad uate life. "We need to discuss ways to help the transition in coping with the situation here. both academi cally and socially, - Cooper said. "Seminars would increase aware- Please see OPINIONS, Page 5 Officials are pleased with the increase in graduate minority en Collegian Photo I Jay tioroiletzer
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