Pope cancels Sarajevo visit, fearing for residents’ safety Page 4 r ol. 95, No. 41 26 Pages ©1994 Collegian Inc. Police 'spot' student crime Editor's Note: This is the first of a four-part series that will run every Wednesday examining how crimes committed in college affect peo ple’s futures. By SCOTT PERRY Collegian Staff Writer Ten years ago a former Univer sity student was approached by a fraternity member known as “Spot,” who repeatedly asked the student to put him in touch with a drug dealer the student knew so he could obtain some amphetamines. The former student, who wished USG Senate vacancy problem still unresolved By ERIN STROUT Collegian Staff Writer Every Tuesday night the Undergraduate Student Government Senate sits around a table among vacant seats that need to be filled, but for some former senators, the problem ruhs a little deeper than lack of time. Mary Gildea resigned last week from the Pollock senate sett die was elected to last Spring Semester raising the number of sen ate vacancies to six. Being required to be on two committees, going to senate and arda gov ernment meetidcs and keeping office boors left littis time for anything else, die said. But aside from the time commitment, Gildea wftMnUSG that made it diffietdt for her to stay. Sports | Weather informants to remain anonymous because he is currently trying to get the inci dent expunged from his records, refused to get in touch with the dealer because he only knew the person from seeing him at occa sional parties. But after six months of repeated requests from Spot, the former student agreed to put Spot in touch with the dealer. The dealer, Spot and Spot’s friend completed the deal pur chasing one-eighth of an ounce of amphetamines. As the deal was being conducted, the former stu dent stayed downstairs, trying to separate himself from the trans action. Spot turned out to be a police informant and Spot’s friend turned out to be an undercover police officer. After the initial deal was completed, the police officer allegedly harassed the former stu- “USG could do a lot of improving,” she said. “They have a lot of ideas and say things, but don’t act on diem. I don’t really want to be a part of something like that.” The senate needs to show students it can see projects through, Gildea said. Because of the tension between USG and students, it may be hard to fill the seats, she added. “USG has to start getting things done backing .up their words,” Gildea said. “Then maybe a lot of people will be wishing they were senators.” USG Senate President Josh Bokee said it is too soon to say that the senate this year won’t wenmpHsh their projects. Members are going to set the qgenda for the group this weekend, ghrisg gfcett the focus and direction pint sen ates did not have, he said. Wednesday, Sept 7,1994 ; Yaiif steps through the Boardof Pardons These arethe steps in _L_ , 5At the hearing ' We process toget4 At the review three out of five misdemeanors erased hearing, two out of must \ 'ftamaNteaHl."*' '• five board members approve the request. , must agree to give it 1 Send a self- , a public hearing. s 6lf this is ” addressed, stamped accomplished, the • envelope to the Board ■ Tm~ , application is sent to of Pardons with a $4 check . 3 Once the \ the governors f | ” application is filled 2 The application out and returned, will then be sent to MB the applicant will be «j 7lt will either be B L - fteappjfean^ dent for several months and even tually arrested him. ■ ■■ Now the former University stu dent’s life is altered. Despite his Penn State bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work, this mark on his record has alerted potential employers and he has had con cerns about not being able to find a job, said John Lord, secretary of the state Board of Pardons. USG, King unveil housing petition By ERIN STROUT Collegian Staff Writer Hoping to pack a room in the municipal building, the Under graduate Student Government unveiled a petition to repeal the three-unrelated-person occupancy limit and present it to the State College Planning Commission. The petition, circulated at the USG Senate meeting last night, will be presented to the Planning Commission Sept. 22, said USG- President Mike King, who added that he hopes for a large student turnout at the meeting. “In two weeks the battle will be joined and I’m looking forward to it,” King said. “We need to pack the house.” In June, the Coalition of State College Neighborhood Associations proposed to the council that they limit student housing in residential neighborhoods. The associations claimed students were destroying the quiet atmosphere of their neighborhoods. King protested the proposal and developed a square-footage coun Cubans fly to Panama First wave of refugees volunteers to leave By TONY WINTON Associated Press Writer GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba The first Cuban refugees to be moved out of the overflowing tent city on this U.S. military base were put aboard planes yesterday for Panama. All 100 were volunteers. “We approached the Cuban camp leaders and told them of our plans and 100 came up immediately,” said Marine Lt. Pete Mitchell, a spokesman for the joint military group running the Guantanamo refugee camp. Cubans are being transferred to On Aug. 18, the former Univer sity student, along with another former student who was caught selling drugs in a similar manner, came before the state Board of Pardons. Both former students said their applications have been passed by the board and sent to the governor for final approval. To erase criminal charges from a person’s record, people can apply for a pardon by completing an Please see CRIME, Page 12. “It adds to the new feel and direction,” Bokee said. “They are eager and excited, and it builds a feeling of optimism.” And Heather Wesley, chairwoman of the Senate Appointment Review Board, said when students apply to be senators, the time com mitment involved is made dett. “A lot of people ask right off the bat,” she said. “We let them know exactly what’s involved.” USG seeks senators who are familiar with campus issues, Wesley said. But retention has been a long-term senate problem. Flv? of the 18 current senators served on the senate before this year, but Bokee is the only one who has served * fail term. *1 certainly cspnot give reasons for why Please see USG, Page 12. Published independently by students at Penn State Boroughfibusing terproposal. The counterproposal lifts the three-unrelated-person occupancy limit and allows the number of occupants to be deter mined by the size of the house. “We’re not being unrealistic,” King said. “If this argument was based on logic we’d win.” USG will circulate the petitions among students during the next week in hopes that at least 1,300 signatures are gathered, said Mike Burcik, chairman of the govern ment relations council. The sen ators will each try to collect 90 signatures by next week’s sen ate dieeting, he added. According to the petition, those signing it are supporting “a new zoning law based on how much space is available, rather than what type of person you are.” Students living on campus should also get involved, Burcik said, because the campus is not refugee camps in the jungles of Panama to make room at the naval base for more of their countrymen. Many of the Cubans flown to Panama aboard two Air Force C -130s held hands and embraced as they waited to board. They said they were optimistic that condi tions at the Panama refugee camp would be better than in Guantana mo and that it would be easier to stay in touch with their relatives from Panama. “By going to Panama, I am one step closer to my eventual desti nation the United States,” said Eduardo Barbero Guelcon Toledo. He said he was at sea on a raft for Abortion polarizes population meeting By RITA BEAMISH Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt Delegates at the U.N. population conference made a breakthrough yesterday on the heated issue of abortion, but the Vatican refused to go along with the compromise. The abortion debate has entangled efforts to draft a 20-year plan to slow the world’s population growth. The hard-fought negotia tions yesterday dealt with a single paragraph in the 113-page draft report. Delegates from the 182 nations attainting the conference are to give the section final consideration today. There’s never been more sup port for language in this section of the document than there exists right now,’’ said U.S. delegate David Harwood, a senior policy adviser to the State Department. Tim United States supports the compromise, while the European Union, Norway and Sweden said it was tim “rock bottom” of what they would accept, Harwood said. Iran, Pakistan and Benin, which previously sided with the Vatican on abortion, accepted the lan guage. The compromise paragraph would urge all governments to deal with the health impact of unsafe abortion as a major public health concern. It would also urge gov ernments to reduce the need for atiolrtion by expanding and improving family planning serv ices. The revision adds that abortion should never be “promoted” as a their only community and even tually the majority will move into town. Borough councilman Tom Dau bert said the petition will impact the council’s decision. “But life is a compromise,” he said. “You can’t allow SO students to live in a house.” The petition quoted Daubert as supposedly saying, “We never make an example out of anybody. I think it’s time we throw some people out in the snow.” King alleges Daubert made the statement at an Aug. 25 Planning Commission meeting. But Daubert denies making the statement. “That’s an absolute lie,” Daubert said. “That is absolutely stupid.” King said USG has decided the quote will not appear on the peti tions. “Rather than defeat the purpose of the petition, we decided to strike the quote.” he said. “It’s more important that we don’t lose sight of the real issues.” Collegian Staff Writer Christine L. Miller contributed to this report four days before being rescued by the Coast Guard. The Cubans going to Panama didn’t make much of a dent in the numbers being held at this U.S. base, where Cuban boat peo ple have been taken since mid- August, when the United States reversed its policy of automatical ly granting asylum to Cuban refu gees. At roll call yesterday, 23,231 Cubans were being housed at Guantanamo, and 3,720 more were en route after being picked up from rafts and small boats in the Straits of Florida. Please see CUBA, Page 12. “method of family planning.” It says women who have “unwanted pregnancies” should have access to reliable information and com passionate counseling. There is no longer a reference to “sexual health education.” The revision also cuts out a plea to governments to review their laws and policies on abortion, and elim inates a call to consider women’s health “rather than relying on criminal codes and punitive mea sures.” Despite the Holy See’s opposi tion to the compromise, a Vatican official who spoke on condition of. anonymity praised the “strong negative connotations” attached to abortion in the text. Third-world countries face more basic issues On another issue, the Vatican won a concession from the United States, which agreed Tuesday to a call for a parental role in guiding adolescents on “sexual and repro ductive matters.” Vice President A 1 Gore, head of the U.S. delegation, tried to shift attention from the abortion debate, and sought to put the best face on a meeting with the leader of the Vatican delegation earlier in the day. “I think they’re finally under standing what we’ve said all along,” he told The Associated Press. 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