Cows, pigs prefer shredded newspaper to straw page 3 Germanys bicker over date of unification page 4 Thomas voted president; outlines goals By MARC HARKNESS Collegian Staff Writer Joab L. Thomas, voted Penn State’s 15th president yesterday, does not see teaching and research as mutually exclusive objectives and would like to see them integrated. During a special session of the Uni versity Board of Trustees, the 20 board members present voted unanimously for Thomas, who was president of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa from 1981 to 1988. University President Bryce Jordan will retire Aug. 31; Thomas will take over Sept. 1. Thomas answered questions regard ing his expectations and goals as pres ident at a news conference after the board meeting. Penn State’s administration must not neglect undergraduate education in its eagerness to improve the quality of research at the University, Thomas said. “We must make sure that undergrad uate education continues to be (the Uni versity’s) highest quality,” Thomas said. “We must make sure that the tea ching and learning environment remains vital and fresh.” But Thomas said he would also like the University to continue its growth in research - a major goal of the Jordan administration. Recently elected trustee Mary Gree ly-Beahm agrees with Thomas’ philos ophy. She believes that education could be neglected while faculty pursue a place among the top 10 research institu tions. “We need to strike a balance between research and education,” said Greeley- Beahm, a former student trustee. “It’s at a critical point right now.” Bush picks Souter for Supreme Court By CHRISTOPHER CONNELL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Bush said yesterday he will nominate appellate judge David Souter to a seat on the Supreme Court. If confirmed by the Senate, the 50-year-old jurist from New Hampshire would succeed William J. Brennan. “He is a remarkable judge of keen intellect and the highest ability,” Bush said. The president went on to praise Brennan as well, calling the court’s long-time leading liberal, “one of the greatest figures of his age.” Brennan resigned last Friday. Souter stood at Bush’s side as the president made his surprise announce ment at the White House late in the afternoon. The president said he decid ed on Souter earlier in the afternoon. Bush said his quick selection was not geared to abortion policy or any other single issue. “It is not appropriate. . . to use any litmus test,” Bush said. Abor tion activists believe Brennan’s depar ture from the court could pave the way for overturning the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. “I hope you will understand that I think I must defer any comments” on court issues, Souter said, until Senate confirmation hearings begin. He said it would take him all night to describe what an honor Bush had conferred on him. The nomination now goes to the Sen ate where a simple majority is required for confirmation. Souter was appointed by Bush earlier this year to the Ist U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Previously, he was a member of the New Hampshire State Supreme Court, appointed to that post in 1983 by then-Gov. John Sununu, now Bush’s chief-of-staff. Souter succeeded Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., as the state’s attorney general. Brennan, 84, one of the most liberal members of an increasingly conserva tive court and one of the most influential justices of the 20th century, told Bush on Friday that he was resigning because of declining health. He had served on the high court for 34 years. He was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Brennan’s health started to deterio rate in the last year. He recently fell at the Newark International Airport and struck his head, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said, and after consulting with his doctors he decided to step down. the daily Joab Thomas Penn State broke into the top 20 uni versities receiving research funds in 1987. It is currently among the top 10 public universities in research funding, said Charles L. Hosier, acting executive vice president and provost. Hosier predicted that under Thomas it will achieve a similar rank among all research universities, both public and private. Thomas, currently a biology profes sor at Alabama, showed his devotion to instruction when he left the Alabama presidency to return to teaching. He brushed aside a suggestion yesterday that conflict with the Alabama system’s chancellor, Thomas Bartlett, caused his resignation. Disagreement over how Alabama’s Tuscaloosa campus would be run in David Souter Bush acted with unusual speed in making his choice. He met twice over the weekend with his top lieutenants and called the Dem ocratic and Republican leaders of Con gress to seek advice. Bush noted that Souter had won unan imous confirmation to the appellate bench earlier this year, suggesting his hopes that the nomination might not trigger a political free-for-all in the Sen ate. “We’re not bracing for some horren dous fight with the United States Sen ate,” Bush said. “I look forward to a fair and expedi tious confirmation process.” Bush was asked if he knows Souter’s views on abortion or other difficult issues. Bush said he felt it would have been “inappropriate” and that he did not ask him his views on any specific issues. “Judge Souter is committed to inter preting, not making, the law,” Bush said. “I have selected a person who will interpret the Constitution and in my view not legislate” from the bench, Bush said. A questioner noted that Bush and Sun unu both have widely known views against abortion and asked why people shouldn’t think that Souter’s abortion view was known to Bush through research or some other method. “I told you it’s not,” Bush said. Collegian File Photo Joab Thomas, right, stops after his first Penn State press conference in Kem Building to sign autographs for some eager children. Thomas was voted in as the University’s 15th president yesterday. relation to those at Huntsville and Bir mingham were speculated to have caused friction between the men. “We did disagree on certain issues,” Thomas said. “But I’ve always main tained that if two people think exactly alike, one of them is unnecessary.” Thomas plans to continue some of Jordan’s initiatives, including the strat egic planning process Jordan imple mented in 1984. Before Jordan’s tenure, AP Laser Photo ”• f; * IM Finals Right Thing goes on cV Page 6 Collegian long-term plans for University needs were not outlined in great detail. An important part of strategic plan ning is securing state appropriations an area Jordan considers the only major disappointment of his term here. The small percentage of Penn State’s budget coming from state appropria tions 29 percent shocked Thomas. Shortfalls in state appropriations have Please see THOMAS, Page 10. Academics not sacrificed for Thomas' athletic love By TOM ESTERLY Collegian Sports Writer Joab L. Thomas, an outstanding full back while in high school, was offered a full-ride to play with the Alabama Crimson Tide. He decided, however, to go to Harvard for academics. Even though Thomas, the College Football Association’s first president, kept his love of the game, he said at a news conference yesterday he will not sacrifice academics to win. “I have three criteria in hiring a foot ball coach,” Thomas said. “First, per sonal integrity; second, commitment to academics and third, I definitely want them to win. That’s definitely part of the formula.” Thomas’ love for football once left him lying on the field with Buffalo Bills’ Cornelius Bennett’s arms wrapped around him. In 1985, Alabama staged a game between the current football players and graduated players. Ray Perkins, Alabama’s coach at the time, suggested Thomas suit up and run the first play. All started well. Thomas took the handoff from Kenny Stabler for an end run. Someone, however, forgot about Bennett, who came across the line unb locked and nailed Thomas for the five yard loss. It was not Thomas’ ball-carrying, however, that got him noticed while at Alabama. Controversy erupted when Thomas hired Bill Curry, who had a los ing record while at Georgia Tech but was well-known for his academic integ COG agrees to form local consolidation study committees By MARK E. JONES Collegian Staff Writer Each of the six municipalities that make up the Centre Region’s Council of Governments agreed last night to form committees to consider how consolida tion would affect local services. All six local committees, which will be made up of interested municipality residents and not more than two elected officials, will report within one year to a Regional Study Committee. “The government study is not intended to promote or implement municipal consolidation, but to deter mine its implications for the Centre Region communities and whether there are other alternatives for coordinating local government services,” according to the proposal presented to COG’s Gen eral Forum. COG Executive Director James C. Steff said this proposal places less emphasis on how to implement consol idation and concentrates more on its feasibility. A similar proposal was brought before the COG Executive Committee in November, but the committee sug gested it be revised. Under the new proposal, drafted by College Township Council member Fred E. Smith, the committees would COG denies CATA funds; deficit will not cut services By LISA M. ZOLLARS Collegian Staff Writer The Centre Area Transit Authority will not be receiving the $24,000 it requested from the Centre Region Council of Governments, but does not expect to implement more service reductions to make up the loss, CATA’s general manager said yesterday. The money was requested by CATA to eliminate a budget deficit, Kevin Abbey said at the CATA meeting. At last night’s COG meeting, the gen eral forum passed a recommendation that “The Centre Region municipalities approve CATA’s proposed 1990/1991 budget, less the projected $24,605.00 def icit amount, which is expected to be off Weather A mixture of clouds and sunshine today, high 81. Clear and cool tonight, low 61. Mostly sunny and warmer tomorrow, high 84. Tuesday, July 24,1990 V01.91,N0.28 10 pages University Park, Pa. 16801 Published independently by students at Penn State ©1990 Collegian Inc. rity. Thomas even received death threats for his appointment of Curry. “Some people thought we were just starting to stress academics when Cur ry was hired,” said Wayne Atcheson, Alabama’s sports information director during Thomas’ tenure as university president. “But we already had good academic programs, and Dr. Thomas deserves a lot of the credit.” “One will hope he will remain com fortable with his stance on intercolle giate athletics,” said Ellen Perry, Penn State’s associate athletic director. Administrators don’t expect a repeat of the Alabama situation here. “You’re looking at two different insti tutions in two different parts of the country,” Perry said. Atcheson said Thomas is well-known for his love of athletics, and his hiring will be a great benefit to Penn State. “I think Dr. Thomas is a tremendous president for athletics,” he said. “His interest in the athletic program was just tremendous. He came out on the prac tice fields, knew the players, the coaches. He went to the games, not just football but every basketball game he was home for. “He was totally involved in all aspects of athletics.” * Perry said he also believes Thomas’ appointment will help athletics. “It certainly sounds like he has an understanding of the role of intercolle giate athletics, as Bryce Jordan did.” Perry said. “I see us continuing in the tradition Penn State has made.” not consider long-range details such as how to get the consolidation issue on the ballot as a referendum question or what to name the new government body. The committees will consider how consolidating their services under one government body would affect the Please see CONSOLIDATION, Page 10. set by savings in health and medical premiums gained by joining State Col lege Borough’s policy...” according to COG documents. CATA currently has 65 employees under the plan, but if they are incorpo rated into the borough’s plan - which would have more than 100 people - the insurance would be available at a reduced price, he added. The COG finance committee has sug gested using the saving from the reduced health plan costs for the deficit, he said. If those savings are not enough for the deficit, CATA can ask COG for the mon ey, Abbey said. CATA chairman James H. Miller Please see CATA, Page 10. - Mike Hopkins Collegian File Photo James Steff
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