Dateline
House members
embrace Medicare
overhaul
Page 6
Vol. 96, No. 67 20 Pages ©1995 Collegian Inc.
Simpson backs
By MICHAEL FLEEMAN
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES O.J. Simpson
backed out of his live interview
with NBC just hours before air
time last night, complaining that
the network was out to “retry me.”
He had agreed, he insisted, only to
“a conversation, not a confronta
Days earlier, NBC said the for
mer football star had consented to
a no-holds-barred format for his
first extensive interview since he
was acquitted last week.
Tens of millions of viewers had
been expected to tune in to the
hourlong, commercial-free “Date
line NBC” interview with Simpson
that would have been conducted by
NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw and
Coffee house crooner
Bob Szybist, singer and guitarist of an accoustic duo “Bob & Gavin” by the Student Union Board, which presents shows on Wednesday
perfoms at the Coffee House. The free entertainment was sponsored evenings in the HUB main lounge.
Some say crime prevention should be
By MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN
Collegian Staff Writer
Pennsylvania’s legislative fight state Rep. Dwight Evans, D
against crime has left some won- Philadelphia, said the measures
dering whether the battle strate- passed during the special session
gies are effective or if they have have addressed crime from the
been a ploy to make the generals wrong end.
designing them look good. “We need to do more on preven-
More than eight months after tion. We need to shift priorities.
Gov. Tom Ridge remained true to Drafting legislation and locking
his campaign promise and opened people away is not the answer,”
Pennsylvania’s special session on Turner said.
crime, some are not convinced that Ending school violence and pro-
USG department working
toward safety for women
By BETH YOUNG
Collegian Staff Writer
The Undergraduate Student Gov
ernment Women’s Affairs Depart
ment is working to make women
students’ lives a little safer in State
College.
The Women’s Affairs Depart
ment is designed to celebrate
women and to work toward making
the University a safer, more acces
sible place for women students,
said Michelle Thaxton, director of
the department.
“My vision of the Women’s
Affairs Department’s purpose is to
promote the positive facets of
women to the University,” Thaxton
said.
This semester, the department’s
main project is establishing a Sexu
al Assault Bill of Rights. The bill
will outline the various services
available to women in cases of sex
ual assault, Thaxton said.
I"* ' Sports I Weather
Katie Couric. Simpson suggested
there were indeed conditions to the
interview.
“It was agreed that this would be
a conversation, not a confrontation.
Because of pending litigation,
there would be some questions that
I could not obviously address at
this time,” he said in a statement
read by his lawyer Johnnie
Cochran Jr.
“It has become clear that NBC
has, perhaps in an attempt to
appease diverse public viewpoints,
concluded that this would be a time
and an opportunity to retry me.”
Anything Simpson said on televi
sion could have been used against
him in the wrongful-death lawsuits
brought by the families of Nicole
Brown Simpson and Ronald Gold
man. Simpson never took the stand
the governor and the legislature
have addressed the right issues.
Kim Turner, press secretary for
“We want to create awareness
through this bill,” Thaxton said.
“Through awareness you create a
more educated student body
through awareness you, in essence,
create a safer environment.”
Many services exist for women
that most students do not know
about, said Women’s Affairs
Department member Nikki Maur
er.
Jessica Juge (junior-French busi
ness) said although she believes
hot lines and support groups for
sexual assault victims exist, she
did not know anything about them
when she first came to the Univer
sity.
Rachel Barbera (senior-architec
tural engineering) also said she
thought a publication like the Sexu
al Assault Bill of Rights would be
important and valuable for new
students such as freshmen and
sophomores.
Please see WOMEN, Page 9.
Thursday, Oct. 12,1995
out of 'Dateline
at his yearlong murder trial but
may have to do so if the lawsuits
reach trial.
In another development yester
day, Simpson lawyer Robert Baker
contended in court papers that
Simpson shouldn’t have to pay
damages in the suit brought by
Goldman’s relatives because Simp
son was acquitted of his murder.
The documents didn’t mention the
separate suit brought by Nicole
Brown Simpson’s family.
Legal analysts have said that
Simpson could still have to pay
damages in a wrongful death suit
even though he was acquitted. The
civil action has a less stringent
burden of proof than the criminal
case.
The cancellation was seen as a
setback for Simpson, eager to
moting community-based educa- ‘do people feel any safer?’ Proba
tion about the negative effects of bly not,” she said,
crime are the issues that deserve However crime itself is a large
the attention and funding, Turner issue and can be broken down into
said. at least two parts, said Gov.
While Turner said Evans
believes hardened criminals should
serve their sentences, she said at
the current incarceration rate,
Pennsylvania will house 33,000
prisoners by the year 2000. She
said it will require the construction
of five more state prisons.
“The question you have to ask is,
University Police Services Officer Frank Bell, left, and University police Supervisor Delmar
Woodring join in an open forum with the Undergraduate Student Government last night. The
topic was “Police Services: Friend or Foe?”
counter widespread public outrage
over his acquittal.
“Now, it’s a public relations dis
aster,” said legal analyst Stan
Goldman said, “as if he needed any
more public relations disasters.”
NBC’s announcement Monday
that it would broadcast the inter
view had prompted a storm of
protest from groups and individu
als inside and outside the network
who criticized NBC for giving a
forum to Simpson.
NBC had been inundated with
thousands of calls, mostly negative,
spokeswoman Lynn Gardner said.
Brokaw announced Simpson’s
pullout in a special live afternoon
broadcast.
“NBC News had a clear under
standing as of yesterday morning
with Simpson and his lawyers that
Collegian Photo/Laura Chiles
Ridge’s Deputy Press Secretary
Jerry Feaser.
Ridge has split the problem,
Feaser said, by first addressing the
public’s concern about Violent
crime before outlining specific
crime prevention programs.
Feaser said Ridge has always
made it clear that his first priority
NBC' interview
there would be no conditions
attached to this interview,”
Brokaw said.
“But Mr. Simpson’s lawyers
overnight prevailed upon him not
to participate, they said, because of
the civil suit that he faces.”
In an interview on CBS radio sta
tion WBBM in Chicago, Brokaw
was asked if he and Couric would
have been barred from asking
about the murders.
“It came down to that,” Brokaw
said with a laugh. “They did say,
‘Well, are you going to get into
timelines?’ And we said, ‘That’s
how we’re going to begin.’”
Gloria Allred, the lawyer for
Nicole Brown Simpson’s family,
quoted her sister Tanya Brown as
saying after Simpson canceled: “It
makes my day.”
Hundreds gather
for 'coming out'
By JENNIFER REITZ
Collegian Staff Writer
A big crowd, a big sign and a big
line-up of speakers reinforced the
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student
Alliance as they rallied for Nation
al Coming Out Day at noon yester
day.
“Today is the day we nationally
recognize the need to create visi
bility for members of the lesbian,
and bisexual community,” said
Ephraim Lopez, addressing a
crowd of more than 500 on the
steps of Schwab Auditorium.
Hordes of spectators gathered
around the steps of Schwab Audito
rium to listen to Lopez, LGBSA
political co-director, the mayor of
State College Borough and the
Undergraduate Student Govern
ment president pledge their sup
port for the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgendered community.
Mayor Bill Welch compared the
crowd to the student section at
Beaver Stadium.
“At the stadium on Saturday, we
chant ‘We are Penn State!’ But
more importantly, we are who we
are,” Welch said, urging communi
ty members to be true to them
selves.
focus of legislation
was getting violent offenders off of
the streets.
“The first step all along was to
address the problem of crime and
to move forward on the issues of
public safety first,” he said. Andrew Kreider (senior-political
Still, Feaser said Ridge has not science) said the problem of ade
neglected prevention in his crime quately addressing crime preven
proposals. A proposal for tougher tion is both a state and national
truancy laws, development of a problem.
safe schools program and estab- “I think our overall approach to
lishment of the Governor’s Com- the correction system in the U.S.
munity Partnership for Safe Chil- has failed,” the former president of
dren all encourage crime education Please see CRIME, Page 9.
Collegian
Published independently by students at Penn State
O.J. Simpson
canceled his interview on NBC
Association of Residence Hall
Students President Maggie Kutzler
and USG President Kara Annechini
also spoke at the rally. Kutzler
opened up about the pain some
family members and friends have
incurred while dealing with their
sexuality and told lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgendered stu
dents that ARHS representatives
are sensitive to their concerns.
As USG . president, Annechini
made a landmark appearance at
the rally along with USG Diversity
Outreach Director Saulo Santiago,
as she represented some, but not
all, of her colleagues. But she said
USG is trying to gain more under
standing of alternative lifestyles.
“I’m learning and many other
people are learning, too,” she said.
USG’s show of support for
National Coming Out Day was not
the only first for the rally. The list
of sponsor’s was longer than it has
ever been and includes, among oth
ers, Latino Caucus and the Puerto
Rican Student Association.
“(Because of) Latino Caucus, it
probably reaches out to a larger
audience,” said Michael Brenchly
(senior-English) as he surveyed the
packed Mall.
Please see RALLY, Page 9.
and prevention for the common
wealth’s youth.
Concerns about crime prevention
are not just on the minds of gov
ernment officials.
Police, students
join in discussion
By MEGAN DONLEY
Collegian Staff Writer
Rape, bicycle theft and alcohol abuse were
among issues addressed last night at an infor
mal discussion titled “Police Services: Friend or
Foe?” The Undergraduate Student Government
sponsored event brought students and members
of University Police Services together.
Although only a handful of students took
advantage of the opportunity to express con
cerns to campus police officers, Administrative
Contact Committee Chairman and Town Senator
Joshua Pechter said the discussion was a suc
cess.
“It’s unfortunate that more students didn’t
take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.
“But that won’t dismay the ACC or the senate
from continuously providing programs that stu
dents desperately need to take advantage of.”
Pechter said the purpose of the discussion
was to get students into a better position with
University police.
University Police Supervisor Delmar
Please see POLICE, Page 9.
AP Photo