The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, November 13, 1995, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Dateline Sports
Approaching snowman-build
slt, No budging in D.C. battles All Duked out ing weather. Today, mostly
....... .."....
, cloudy with periods of light snow, .....•
ip
over federal budget while The Lady Lion soccer and field hockey teams highs
33. Tonight, cloudy with .
_.,
steadier now devebping toward , rte-
shutdown deadline looms fall to James Madison in the NCAA tournament dawn, low 29. Tomorrow, snow s?,, - L - 4P c o o Fj,
likely, high 34. (
WV ti
Page 6 • Page 10 —by Paul Markowski
thII 30`
daily
e C olleglan
Vol. 96, No. 89 18 Pages ©1995 Collegian Inc
These young community members sing a song at the Take A Stand
Rally on Friday in front of Schwab Auditorium. They are home-schooled
children whose mothers wanted them to celebrate diversity.
Crowd of 2000 rallies against intolerance
By RASHIDA ABDUL-QUDDUS
and MEUSSA STUTZMAN
Collegian Staff Writer
On a cold, but sunny Friday
afternoon, 20 different stu
dent organizations managed
to build what some are billing as
one of the largest student rallies in
the history of the University.
About 2,000 students gathered at
Schwab Auditorium to "Take A
Stand" against intolerance. Some
came with doubts about what the
rally would bring, but many left
with a greater pride in the Univer
sity, particularly in its diverse
community.
Two students stood in front of
the speaker's podium on the steps
of Schwab holding a banner declar
ing the names of the participating
student organizations and the
theme for the rally, "Take A Stand,
For Ourselves, For Each Other."
The chilling wind did not stop
students and faculty from crowd
ing the Mall and overflowing onto
Pollock Road.
Tuvia Abramson, director of the
Penn State Hillel Foundation,
opened the rally by sharing inspir
ing words with the crowd and urg
ing everyone to fight hate groups.
"We must stand up and say,
`Never, never again should this
kind of thing take place here or any
other place,' " Abramson said.
He also stressed acceptance of
diversity at the University.
"We represent a rainbow of peo
ple, different creeds and races. We
must stand together as humanity,"
he said. "Together we must cele
brate our differences, protect our
individualism and reject hatred."
Students agreed the University
Students celebrate
annual Muslim fair
By MOLLY K. FELLIN
Collegian Staff Writer
Colorful decorations, exotic foods and beautiful
crafts filled the HUB Ballroom and Fishbowl yester
day as the Muslim Students' Association hosted their
sixth annual Muslim World Fair to begin Islam Aware
ness Week.
"Muslims today are an integral part of North Amer
ican society, and Islam is a major player in world
affairs," said Sajeda Bhallo, vice president of the
Muslim Students' Association. "Islam Awareness
Week helps to promote understanding and apprecia
tion of Islam and Muslims in North American colleges
and universities."
Irfan Galeria, president of MSA, said the fair is a
representation of the diversity of Islam. It is held to
clear misconceptions about Muslims and give facts
through displays and discussions about the culture.
"This is the second largest religion in the world, and
by the turn of the century, it will be the second largest
in North America," Galaria said. "Yet, if you go
around, people are ignorant about this religion."
The theme of the fair this year was "The Empower
ment of Women in Islam." A booth in the center of the
event offered pamphlets and booklets for more infor
mation on the role of women in the Islam religion.
"What people don't realize is that Islam gives
women more rights than many other religions," Galar
ia said.
Bhallo also stressed the importance of women in the
Muslim culture.
Collegian Photo/
A large crowd of students, faculty, staff and community members
gathered in front of Schwab Auditorium on Friday during the Take A
needs to identify its differences. Choute, a University student who,
"There is definitely separation at about a month ago, found a swasti-
Penn State. I think people should ka drawn on the message-board
feel more comfortable with each attached to her door.
other," said Tom Slattery (sopho
more-premedicine).
Following Abramson was Sandra me broke me down emotionally to a
Please see FAIR, Page 9
hen Whitko
"They didn't hurt me physically,"
Choute said, "but what they did to
Ali Jamal Abdul-Ouddus is approached by a young
listener as he describes the difference between the
Islamic faith and the beliefs of the Nation of Islam.
He was talking before an audience in the HUB
Fishbowl yesterday as part of an event sponsored by
the Muslim Students' Association.
Monday, Nov. 13, 1995
Fed up with ongoing acts of intolerance, 2,000
students rallied at Schwab Auditorium.
Their message:
TKIG
Stand rally. The event was in response to several recent acts of
intolerance on campus and in the surrounding community.
state where I questioned my future
at this institution."
While Choute opened up to the "It's easy to believe that the
crowd, sharing her experiences entire University is against you
and emotions, others spoke about when you see hate crimes, but com
hate group statistics and the impor- ing out to the rally makes you see
tance of fighting hate crime. that it is only a small minority of
Small group honors veterans
By MELISSA STU'TZMAN
Collegian Staff Writer
On the eleventh day of the eleventh month com- Clinger also advocated educating future genera
memorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World tions about the sacrifices made in the name of the
War II a small group of people gathered on the country.
steps of Old Main to honor the men and women who "Let us think about what it has cost our generation
fought for the United States. to preserve freedom, and hope that future generations
With a brisk wind whipping in the air and the Amer
ican flag flying above, U.S. Rep. Bill Clinger, R-War
ren, spoke on the importance of remembering the vet
erans who made personal sacrifices for the freedoms
the American people enjoy today.
"When our freedom and individualism was in peril,
Published Independently by students at Penn State
University President Graham Spanier speaks out against intolerance at
the rally on Friday. He was one of more than a dozen speakers who
addressed the crowd of students, faculty, staff and community members.
Some students admired Choute's
willingness to speak out
they came through for us," Clinger said. "We must
remember all those who fought and fell for our free
dom."
will make the most of the freedom we have today,"
Clinger said, adding that every American plays a role
in preserving freedom.
"We must teach Americans who are too young or top
quick to forget why we are all here today," he said.
Please see VETERANS, Page 9.
Collegian Photo/Sheri Whitko
"We must make Penn
State a place where all
of us are proud to say
'We Are Penn State.' "
Terrell Jones
vice provost for
educational equity
campus that is like that," said
Nadette Frank (senior-biology).
Anne Ward, a member of the
Unity Coalition of Centre County
and a part of the University's staff,
alarmed the crowd with hate crime
statistics in the state.
"As you may know, Pennsylvania
has the largest number of white
supremacist groups in the nation,"
Ward said. "There are 64 hate
groups in 33 counties. There have
been recruiters on this campus and
in the high schools, and us coming
together is showing them that
we're not going to stand for it."
She also commended the student
body and its leaders for organizing
and participating in the rally.
"As a member of this community
we see (the students) as leaders,"
she said. "I'm very proud you have
given our community a wake-up
call."
Some students said the rally dis
puted the belief that all University
students are apathetic.
"The rally showed that Penn
State isn't as apathetic as people
think," said Alain Lafontant, co
president of the National Pan-Hel
lenic Council. "It is good to see that
people of all walks of life got
Please see RALLY, Page 9.