Dateline Republicans propose new budget plan to President Clinton Vol. 96, No. 92 22 Pages ©1995 Collegian Inc Snow damage may threaten student Many fear falling tree limbs By PAULA SHAKI Collegian Staff Writer Although University students and faculty had two hours to sleep in or shovel out of their houses before trudging to class through piles of snow yester day, some say they were still in serious danger. "We are in a hazardous situa tion," said Paul Ruskin, customer service and public relations coordi nator for the Office of Physical Plant. "There is a real danger at the moment if you are passing under a tree. I don't want to have anyone injured." Students who braved the piles of snow may have put themselves at risk of being hit by one of the many falling tree branches. Brian Berkowitz (freshman-lib eral arts) said he slipped and almost fell yesterday morning on the way to Sparks Building. ' "It would have been a good idea to cancel everything today to give the snow a chance to melt and to give people a chance to shovel the snow aside," Berkowitz said. Of the 11,000 trees on campus, 100 collapsed and about 500 more were damaged, Ruskin said. In addition to the damage of one Uni versity vehicle and three private vehicles, landscape crews cleaning up the debris suffered at least three close calls with falling trees and branches, he said. Three years ago, during a Sep tember thunderstorm, a 21-year old student was killed when a tree limb fell on her as she was walking near Willard Building. Announcements from University Police Services on Universitywide State College copes with storm's wake By ANNE SAVANICK Collegian Staff Writer A one- to two-foot-thick white blanket fell on State College yesterday, wreaking havoc on the borough in its wake. With extensive damage to trees and power lines and many residents losing electricity, bor ough emergency officials were swamped with complaints throughout the day. Ken Reeves, senior meteorologist for Accu- Weather, 619 W. College Ave., said an estimated 17 inches of snow fell in State College, causing vast amounts of damage to trees. It should be windy and cold today, along with a few snow flurries throughout the day, said Laura Anderson, senior forecaster for Accu- Weather. The temperatures will range from 23 to 34 degrees. "From my vantage point, I think this storm produced the greatest amount of tree damage oa ql i r ,o ni se„, u sto But according to the State College Police Depart- - .. S ' 4 ' . - Sports Weather '- ;,1 , ...4. 1 . I I Healthy hatred? . One of college football's biggest, newest rivalries '. prepares for another round of gridiron competition * sat Page 13 Beware of falling trees! Today, mostly cloudy with a few periods of flurries, high 35. Tonight, decreasing cloudiness and cold, low 19. Tomorrow, more sun than clouds, high 39. —by Paul Markowski 410;919)"L -30° da th il e y C ollegian Page 6 safety "There is a real danger at the moment if you are passing under a tree. I don't want to have anyone injured." Paul Ruskin OPP customer service and public relations coordinator electronic mail and weather reports, as well on WRSC radio news channel, warned students of falling branches and dangerous conditions all day yesterday. University President Graham Spanier said OPP and administra tors do the best they can to make the decision to cancel classes. "People need to keep in mind that Penn State has 14,000 resident students and they still have to be fed," Spanier said. "The University will always be reluctant to close the campus." But Spanier also said safety should come first for University students and employees. "We will always tell any student or employee if they are concerned they should make a personal deci sion," he said. "The faculty and administration would always be sensitive to safety-related deci sions students make." Carol Herrmann, senior vice president for administration, said the decision to delay classes for two hours and not cancel classes was because the dangerous time would be over by the time the Uni versity opened. Please see SNOW, Page 11 of any storm I've ever seen," Reeves said He attributed the amount to tree damage to the wet snow. That additional weight was com pounded by the fact that some trees still had leaves on them, allowing them to hold more snow. Lee Lowry, director of public works for State College, said about one-fifth of the trees in the borough were damaged by the storm. The damage has included minor branches torn lose from trees and trees literally folded in quarters from the middle, he said. Even though the department's first cleanup priority was to clear branches and trees from road, Lowry said the job has not yet been com plete. All of the trees should be off roads by midmorning today, he said. The department's next objective will be to clean up other damage not in the roadways a process that could take days, Lowry said. In the meantime, people should stay inside Recent rape rumors declared untrue The rumors circulating around campus may be false, but some people say that they may have raised safety awareness. By THOMAS A. MURSE Collegian Staff Writer Several rumors of rape have spread like wildfire during the last two weeks through the student com munity, instilling fear in some, shocking others and leaving others in a state of disbelief. Rumors of women being raped and assaulted in the State College area have circulated through the com munity, and although no one has been able to confirm the validity of the rumors, they have painted a fright ening portrait of violence against women. Versions of the rumors range from tales of several women being raped on College Avenue during the past couple of weeks to those of one woman who was beat en so severely that she remains in Centre Community Hospital with brain damage. Thursday, Nov. 16, 1995 Tim Moyer, a State College resident, shovels snow for free outside of Beekman's Bagel Deli, 310 E. College Ave. The sidewalks and roads were covered with snow from Tuesday night's snowstorm. ment and Centre Community Hospital records, no such incidents have been reported so far this semes ter. Donna Williams, director of public relations at Cen tre Community Hospital, could not confirm any of the alleged incidents. Nor could Jerry Prater, administra tive director of the emergency department at Centre Community Hospital. And although there have been four alleged rapes reported since the beginning of October, according to police records, none appear to be the substance of these particular rumors. Those incidents occurred Oct. 6, 11, 13 and Nov. 7, according to police records. All of the incidents occurred in State College police's jurisdiction and are still being investigated, police said. But the rumors continue to spread. Stephanie Bairn, president of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority, 1 Shulze, said she has heard and seen how the rumor has affected students. "People are frightened," she said. Although the alleged incidents are still in the form of rumors spread by word of mouth, Bairn said she has been Please see RAPE, Page 11. unless it is absolutely necessary to go out because of the damage that the storm has done, he said Alpha Fire Co. was also scrambling to keep up with damage caused by the storm. Steve Lower, assistant chief for Alpha, said he could not even begin to guess the amount of damage. "We were out (on calls) 40 times in a 12-hour period," he said. While the fire company was called to only one accident, Lower said most of the calls were about downed power lines. But damaged wires were not the only power problem. An estimated 17,000 West Penn Power Co. customers were without power in the area, said Patricia Best, public information officer with the Centre Region Emergency Management Office. Please see POWER, Page 11 Published independently by students at Penn State Ringin the ho Due to the reci winter storm tl College Police Department had an increase in calls. Here is how it breaks down. Tues. Wed. Shift 3 Shift 1 Call type Accident/ incident Wires down Trees down Traffic signal out Snowballs Disabled vehicle 162 36 Source: State College Police Department Collegian Graphic/Geoffrey Vaugh Stadium shovelers heed call for help By HOLLY SNICK Collegian Sports Writer The gates of Beaver Stadium will open extra early for the final home football game Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines. However, they will only be opened to shovel-bearing students and community members who answer the University's request for volunteers to help clear the stands of snow in preparation for the sell-out crowd. Last night, numerous student and community organizations began the tremendous task of shoveling seating areas and walk ways and will continue the effort until Saturday. Dave Baker, coordinator of administrative and business ser vices, said any organization is encouraged to participate and can sign up for the project for the rest of the week. Members of the organizations will be paid $5 an hour, but instead of making a check out to each par ticipaftt;The UniverSity will donate the sum of the volunteers' hours to their respective organization. Jeff Nelson, sports information director, also asked any individu als or groups interested in partici pating in the effort to arrive at the stadium beginning at 9 a.m. this morning. Alpha Phi Omega service frater nity was one of the organizations who responded early to the Uni versity's offer and was able to per suade about 25 of its members to brave the frigid temperatures to work last night for one or two hours. Carla Nelson, dance marathon chairperson for the fraternity, said the stadium project is a good way to get a jump on fund raising for the Interfraternity\F'anhellenic Dance Marathon held during the Spring Semester. Keir Abrahams, vice president of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, 338 E. Fairmount Ave., said his frater nity has different reasons for tak ing part in the cleanup, but still thinks the mixture of community and University organizations will benefit all who participate. "We decided to get involved with it because cash is a little short, and it will help with funds and help out with the University," Abrahams said. "There will be a lot of Greeks and it well help the Greek community get along." While these groups shovel inside, the University will be deal ing with larger problems outside the stadium, namely the snow-cov ered areas usually reserved for parking. L. Budd Thalman, associate ath- Please see STADIUM, Page 11.
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