The Daily Collegian
Moving downtown can lead to difficulties
By ANGELA POMPONIO
Collegian Staff Writer
Numerous trips with boxes in crowded
elevators, days without telephone service
and long lines at the realtor's office might
seem like a hassle, but many students find
that all these parts of the moving-in process
come with the off-campus territory.
Mike Neuman (senior-secondary edu
cation) and Pete Leonowitz (senior-broadcast
cable) spent Monday afternoon moving into
their first apartment in Beaver Terrace
Apartments, 456 E. Beaver Ave. They chose
apartment living because dorm rooms are
too small, but both agreed the dorms make
moving in easier.
Bernie Stelma (junior-business) reaches for some bags to carry into dent from the Wilkes-Barre Campus, moved into his apartment earlier
his new apartment on South Pugh Street. Stelma, a transfer stu- this week.
Moving-in madness proves hectic for resident assistants
By COREY GESFORD
Collegian Staff Writer
Amid the sea of chaos sur
rounding student arrival for the Fall
Semester, resident assistants are
buoys for students trying to stay
afloat.
But at the same time, student
arrival can be hectic for RAs. Alyssa
Schultz (senior-anthropology), an
RA in Hoyt Hall, was just getting
some of her possessions out of
storage Monday night a week
after her arrival.
Schultz, a first-year RA, said much
of her preparation for the stu
dents was spent making name tags
and bulletin boards, as well as
Prisoner goes
on furlough,
never returns
By REBECCA LOGAN
Collegian Staff Writer
Allan Moorefield, a prisoner
serving a sentence for third-degree
murder, burglary, theft and crimi
nal conspiracy, was permitted to leave
prison 10 times and always returned
without incident until early August.
Trooper William F. Madden of the
Rockview state police said Moore
field left the State Correctional
Institution at Rockview Aug. 6 to visit
his mother's home in Pittsburgh and
never returned. Madden said
Moorefield is probably still in the
Pittsburgh area.
Sam Mazzotta, corrections
superintendent's assistant at
Rockview, said all prisoners are
eligible to take a furlough after
serving half of their minimum
sentence. The furlough program is
intended to reacquaint prisoners with
their family and community and allow
them to look for jobs, Mazzotta said.
In order to qualify, prisoners must
meet several requirements that are
evaluated by prison staff as well as
administrators, he said.
"Evidently (Moorefield) made
enough of an impression that peo
ple trusted him," Mazzotta said.
Mazzotta said he could not guess
why Moorefield did not return
because he was reasonably close to
completing his minimum sentence
of 8 1 / 2 years. "We don't know how
these people actually think," he said.
Mazzotta said prison adminis
trators have had few problems with
prisoners not returning in the past
and said he does not expect any
change in policy.
"Because of one incident, you can't
ditch the whole program," Maz-
"(The dorms) have good elevators and
those nice carts ... we hate the elevators
here they're slow and they don't smell
very good," said Leonowitz.
Neuman said although he was satisfied
with the condition of the apartment when
they arrived, he still has his worries.
"I was pleasantly surprised I was
expecting to beat the rats with a stick,"
he said.
A dented balcony door, however, was
cause for worry, he added. "I'm afraid the
realtor is going to be real slow in fixing
it and that we'll get charged," he said.
Such worries are common among stu
dents who are renting off campus, said
Lynette Mason, president of the Organi-
attending training meetings
Joe Puzycki, associate director
for the Office of Residence Life,
said RAs train extensively to learn
how to handle different situa
tions, such as students adjusting
from being away from home for the
first time. He added that RAs also
discuss University policies on issues
such as alcohol abuse and escorts
on the floor.
"The RAs reach out to the stu
dents and provide educational
programs for them," Puzycki said.
Samantha Sperry (senior-human
development and family studies),
an RA in Cooper Hall, said she held
a special meeting for her fresh
men residents to explain Univer-
Local briefs
Students to face another tuition increase
For the 26th consecutive year, students will be paying more to
attend the University.
The University Board of Trustees raised tuition 4.5 percent for
in-state students while increasing tuition 5.5 percent for out-of-state
students. Gov. Robert P. Casey's Tuition Challenge Grant raised roughly
$9.9 million to minimize tuition increases, which were originally
estimated at 8 percent.
Overall, the University's budget grew 3.9 percent to $1.5 billion,
roughly matching the national rate of inflation.
State College ranking downgraded to 208
According to Money magazine, Happy Valley isn't as happy as it
used to be.
In its listing of the 300 best places to live in the country, the magazine
downgraded State College from 171st place to 208th based on nine
categories: weather, crime, arts, economy, education, health, housing,
leisure and transportation.
But "Happy Valleyers" should not worry because Ira Hellman,
a spokesman for Money, said the reason for the drop was the addition
of 31 locations, including some small communities with booming
economies.
State College Borough Assistant Manager Ronald Davis confi
dently said, "If State College is in the top 300, we're doing pretty
good."
Water main break causes Pattee flood
A water main break on Curtin Road closed Pattee in late June as
water poured in through a broken window on the second level of
the stacks.
The water main, which broke in the early morning June 25, released
more than 890,000 gallons of water, which damaged thousands of
books.
The break was due to the age of the old cast-iron water main, which
was estimated to be 60 years old.
Kegs now banned at football games
Out with the old and in with the new.
As Penn State ventures into its first Big Ten football season, Penn
State tailgaters will enter a new era as well —keg-free tailgating.
University officials have decided to ban kegs from tailgating parties
to lower alcohol consumption.
The University distributed leaflets last year alerting partiers to
the changes, which, if not obeyed, will carry a minimum $3OO fine
Local
zation for Town Independent Students. OTIS
helps students with town-related issues and
recommends that renters take a few
protective measures.
"The first thing they should have is a
copy of the lease. Another thing is they
should go in with a move-in check sheet
and note anything questionable for when
they move out .. . Anytime there are
damages or something not clean in your
apartment, when you move out it gets taken
out of your security deposit," she said.
Jason Yost (senior-exercise and sport
science) took advantage of his Beaver Hill
apartment move-in check sheet. Yost said
he was tediously checking everything from
stove burners to the fire extinguisher to
"Parents look at us (RAs) differently, as a
source of information."
sity policies and to tell them how
to find different University serv
ices and buildings.
Sperry said her group seemed
rare because of its interest to go
out and get involved.
"One of the first questions they
asked was where the men were,"
Sperry said.
She added she took some stu-
compiled by Collegian staff reports
avoid being blamed for the damages.
"One of our kitchen chairs has a slice
in it, so I'm making sure to write that down
so (the realtors) don't charge us for it,"
he said.
Ben Branch
RA-Shunk Hall
dents to orientation activities and
held dinners in the dining hall for
her floor's residents.
Although the bulletin boards and
name tags are simple things, Ben
Branch, an RA in Shunk Hall, said
these things give students a feel
ing that they are welcome.
Branch (junior-architectural
engineering) said he relates to the
Former Centre
disputes dismissal
By JASON WILLIAMS
Collegian Staff Writer
A Centre County Prison guard of seven years was
fired after allegations of verbal abuse, but the deci
sion is being challenged.
Lt. Michael Williams, who received outstanding praise
in past performance evaluations, was dismissed fol
lowing accusations of verbal mistreatment from a
prisoner.
Williams has filed a grievance procedure, which by
law entitles him to a hearing before the Centre County
Board of Commissioners, said Oliver Goodman, com
missioners personnel director.
If an employee is not satisfied with the result of an
employer's decision, he can institute this procedure,
Goodman said.
Williams is contesting the decision, said his attor
ney, R. Bruce Manchester.
But Yost said the advantages of an
apartment outweigh his complaints.
"You're on your own, you can eat
whenever you want, make whatever you
want, and you don't need an escort to walk
you around," he said.
Tom Gershey's mother made the tran
sition into his apartment a little easier.
Gershey (senior-architectural engi
neering) didn't have to buy much for his
first apartment because his mother gave
him kitchen and cleaning items.
Campus return
not too chaotic
By COREY GESFORD
Collegian Staff Writer
The return of students to the
University for Fall Semester is often
symbolized by congested roads and
rising tensions as students and
parents quickly attempt to haul
clothes, crates and computers from
crammed cars to dorms.
But with additional help from the
University, craziness wasn't always
the case.
One parent said moving in was
"10 times better" this fall than last.
Ed Jones, who moved his daugh
ter Kara in Sunday, said Univer
sity Police Services Student
Auxiliary members were very
helpful.
"They let us park in some
restricted and temporary areas this
year," Jones said. "They took some
of our questions, or angry com
ments, in consideration."
Dwight Smith, University police
supervisor, said University police
new students' feelings because this
is his first semester at University
Park. He added that he partici
pated in many tours and tried to
acquaint himself with the differ
ent services on campus.
Branch said one of the funnier
aspects of arrival day is when
students realize the barrier between
RAs and other students.
"Parents look at us (RAs) dif
ferently, as a source of informa
tion," Branch said. "Students are
like, 'Don't talk to that guy.' "
Branch was an RA at the Mont
Alto Campus and said orientation
activities are much different at
University Park.
"Branch campuses are not as
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 1993
But Ginger Jenkin (junior-hotel, res
taurant and institutional management) and
Lori McGraw (junior-speech pathology) said
they had to buy some costly items.
"We had to buy an entertainment cen
ter because we didn't get one of those, an
answering machine and a sweeper," said
Jenkin.
Jenkin added their moving in was hin
dered Monday by maintenance men fix
ing things in their kitchen and bathroom.
"Everything is all over I love putting
stuff away and we just have to wait," she
said.
But McGraw said she doesn't mind. She
said she is enjoying being away from her
parents.
County Prison guard
for verbal abuse
A closed hearing will be held at 3 p.m. tomorrow in
Bellefonte, he said.
Inmate Mark Turner complained he was verbally
abused by Williams on Aug. 12. Williams was sus
pended without pay and his position was later termi
nated after a meeting between Prison Warden Gerald
Wilson and the commissioners.
The decision was made solely on the basis of Wil
liams' confrontation with Turner and not on any prior
occurrences, Wilson said.
"This ircident pretty much stands alone," he said
Manchester said the incident occurred after an unknown
trustee inmate an inmate with special privileges
told Williams that Turner had threatened to kill him
and his family, Manchester said, adding the incident
was misreported by the other guards.
"(Williams) has been a valued and tenured employee,
and we have documentation to prove it," Manchester
said.
"They took some of
our questions, or
angry comments, in
consideration."
Ed Jones
made no major changes this year,
but added that the Eisenhower
Parking Garage was a big con
tributor to relieving traffic con
gestion.
"That added 600 to 700 parking
spaces near the center of cam
pus," Smith said, adding that during
the weekend the parking area was
not restricted to parents.
Jones added that the University
could help parents more by pro
viding names and numbers of people
to contact ahead of time.
"I know we get lots of infor
mation beforehand," he said.
hyped up, there's not 3,000 stu
dents involved," He said.
One aspect of the RAs' prepa
ration for student arrival that
Branch would like to see done
differently is to have more time
dedicated to organizing student
arrival. He added that too much of
a new RA's orientation is ded
icated to things covered in class.
"I would like to see us have more
time to spend with the Orienta
tion Leaders," Branch said.
He said if the RAs and the
orientation staff were able to know
one another better, it would enhance
communication and enable them to
help the students moving in.
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