Bo knows Synergy '9l
waivers Saturday's talent show featured
a wide variety of acts
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Page 14
the
daily Collegian
USG candidates call for increased services
By JESSICA HARTSHORN
Collegian Staff Writer
The presidential and vice-presidential candidates
in this month's Undergraduate Student Government
elections say a top priority is to increase USG's role
in providing student services.
The candidates have proposed allowing students to
use meal points at McDonalds, opening a 24-hour Uni
versity computer center and library, creating weekly
self-defense classes for women, and training upper
classmen to help with student advising.
Jim Van Horn ( junior-history) said he wants to
eliminate the HUB Eateries and instead rent out the
space to franchised fast-food chains.
"It's so expensive in the HUB basement compared
to what it should be," Van Horn said.
He said renting the space to chains like Burger King
and TCBY, The Country's Best Yogurt, would raise
funds for student organizations, provide cheaper food
and give students a greater variety of food to choose
from.
Mark Stewart (junior-English) said he plans to
Faculty Senate subcommittee
snubs Thomas' clause proposal
By DANA DIFILIPPO
Collegian Staff Writer
After almost three months of dis
cussion, a Faculty Senate subcommit
tee has rejected University President
Joab Thomas' proposed addition to the
University's non-discrimination policy
in favor of including the words "sexual
orientation."
According to the subcommittee's
report, "(Thomas') proposed statement
has the potential for protecting all mem
bers of the University community, but
was generally seen as not sufficiently
specific to protect the members of the
gay, lesbian and bisexual community."
The subcommittee will present its
recommendation to the Faculty Senate
at 1 : 30 today in 112 Kern. Thomas
requested the senate's advice on his pro
posed clause last semester.
"There is a need for (a sexual orien
tation clause)," said subcommittee
chair Donald C. Rung, adding that most
Commission ponders balance of
students and residents in town
By ANTHONY J. DeGOL
and KRISTINE LAMEY
Collegian Staff Writers
No students spoke last week at a State College Borough
Planning Commission meeting about how the borough could
reach a balance between the number of students and perma
nent residents living in State College.
Commission members and local property owners said they
were concerned about the number of single-family homes
that are being converted into rental units for students.
Nichol Barlett, vice president of the Organization for Town
Independent Students and a commission member, did not
attend the session because of a prior commitment. Barlett
is running for a Democratic nomination to the State College
Borough Council.
"If we let a neighborhood be dominated by one group it
may not be attractive to another," Commission Chairman
Peter Everett said.
The borough could balance student concerns with residents'
priorities by controlling population density through zoning,
inspecting rental units more often and offering incentives,
The LGBSA endorsed the ticket of
Leslie Osborn for president and
Michael LaFlam for vice-president
in the USG election race last night.
Page 7
install point machines in downtown4seittatk.
rants. Meal-point cards could be used like credit cards,
with the University getting a small cut of the money
from the food purchases.
Eric Martin, assistant manager of Burger King,
420 E. College Ave., said that Burger King managers
have already discussed the benefits of allowing stu
dents to use points. He said they may approach the
University and ask for installation of a point machine,
but that moving a store into the HUB may also be a
possibility.
"Using the point system would bring more business
to our store," Martin said.
This afternoon, the
Faculty Senate will hear
a report about students
who drop classes
Pennsylvania universities, eight Big
Ten universities and all Ivy League
schools have sexual orientation clauses.
The Faculty Senate will decide wheth
er or not to follow the recommendation
and will present its decision to Thomas
who can heed or disregard it. Any
change in the policy must be approved
by the University's Board of Trustees.
The clause Thomas proposed states
that the University will protect all stu
dents and employees from discrimina
tion and bases all educational and
employment decisions on an individu-
Please see THOMAS, Page 7.
such as lower interest rates, to entice families to move into
the borough, Everett said.
Some families who want to live in State College are scared
away by noisy students, said James Deeslie, co-president of
the Highland Civic Association.
But Barlett disagreed during a phone interview after the
meeting.
Borough council is considering an ordinance to limit the
number of converted houses allowed per block, zoning officer
Herman Slaybaugh said. However, a similar' oning measure
in another county has been challenged as unconstitutional.
Slaybaugh suggested the borough wait to see how the case
turns out before considering the ordinance.
Richard Gaselle, 839 Grace St., said limiting the number
of converted houses allowed per block would make some
properties harder to sell. He said he thought areas dominated
by converted houses should not be zoned to reduce the num
ber of conversions in those areas.
Areas rented out to students for a long time would not be
desirable for families re-locating to the area, but could con
tinue making money as rental units, Gaselle said.
Page 4
Leslie Osborn (senior-advertising) proposed a 24-
hour University center that would be built into Pollock
Library combining a library, study lounges, computer
facilities and a snack bar.
The library would be a good location because it is
already open 24 hours a day and has the capacity to
expand, Osborn said.
Courtney Malveaux (senior-sociology) said USG
should sponsor self-defense classes for women. While
the USG Department of Women's Concerns currently
sponsors-such classes - a few times each semester in
the HUB, the classes could be offered about once a
week and in residence hall areas, Malveaux said.
Roger Czulewicz (senior-political science) said USG
should ask seniors to volunteer to help freshman
undergraduate students understand class scheduling
procedures.
These volunteers would be more available for
appointments than University advisers but would not
replace them, Czulewicz said. The volunteers could
not only help freshman fill out schedules but recom
mend classes.
Collegian Photo/Chris Gaydosh
Joab Thomas
Strummin' on the Loop
Members of the band Koehler Bay perform on the Town Loop during the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity's Loop-a•thon. Koehler
Bay was one of several entertainers that performed Saturday during the fundraiser benefiting the Dialysis Unit for Penn
State University students.
Court's decision
fans debate on
crime statistics
By AMINAH FRANKLIN
Collegian Staff Writer
A federal court in Missouri ruled last
Wednesday that campus crime reports
cannot be withheld from the public.
The ruling challenges the U.S. De
partment of Education's interpretation
of the 1974 Family Rights and Privacy
Act, or Buckley Amendment, which
enables students to examine their edu
cational records and in most cases bars
universities from releasing those
records without the students' consent.
The department said that campus
crime reports are part of a student's
educational records and therefore are
protected by the Buckley Amendment.
The question arose last January when
Traci Bauer, editor of the Southwest
Standard, a student newspaper at
Southwest Missouri State University in
Springfield, Mo., filed suit'against the
university after it refused to release a
crime report to the newspaper.
Mark Goodman, executive director
of the Student Press Law Center in
Washington, D.C. said the university
should have released the report because
campus crime reports are not educatio
nal records and therefore not included
in the Buckley Amendment.
A Penn State official said the ruling
will not affect Penn State's policy for
releasing crime reports.
"We've always taken the position that
general information about crimes
reported to the campus police should be
available to the public," said Tom Har
mon, director of University Police Serv
ices.
A survey conducted by Goodman's
office in 1989 asked other universities if
they released crime reports. Fifteen
universities said they did. This informa
tion was used as testimony in Bauer's
court case.
Weather
Today, morning clouds and drizzle
and clearing by evening, a high of 44.
Mostly clear tonight with some late
night fog, low 35. Mostly sunny and
warmer tomorrow, high of 55.
Tuesday, March 19, 1991
Vol. 91, No. 150 16 pages University Park, Pa. 16801
Published independently by students at Penn State
©1991 Collegian Inc.
The surveys were given to Southwest
Missouri State's lawyers, who contacted
the U.S. Department of Education. The
department then sent letters to the 15
universities, including lowa State Uni
versity, Western Kentucky University
and Colorado State University, explain
ing that releasing crime reports vio
lated the Buckley Amendment,
Goodman said.
Bauer said she was surprised that in
the 50-page court order, U.S. District
Court Judge Russell G. Clark not only
said releasing crime reports is not a vio
lation of the Buckley Amendment but
that refusing to release them is uncon
stitutional under the First and Fifth
Amendments.
Dave Stormer, Penn State's assistant
vice president of Safety and Environ
mental Services, said he agrees with the
court's decision and added that the
Department of Education's interpreta
tion of the Buckley Amendment makes
little sense.
Bauer said the Southwest Missouri
State University's Campus Security
Department released crime reports
until she requested a report in the
spring of 1989 about an alleged rape
involving one of the school's basketball
players. Bauer said it was the first time
the school refused to release a report on
the grounds that it would violate the
Buckley Ammendment.
Some universities do not want to
release information because they are
afraid of bad publicity, Harmon said.
"Bad publicity does not outweigh the
importance of being open and honest
with the public," Harmon said.
Both Charles Hosler, Penn State's
acting executive vice president and pro
vost, and Robert Dunham, university
vice president and vice provost, said the
University interprets the Buckley
Please see CRIME, Page 7.
—Bob Tschantz
Collegian Photon.eslie Flaum