A world of hurt
The Nittany Lion football team is already
the loss of some of its key players
Vol. 96, No. 142 16 Pages ©1996 Collegian Inc
Impact of U.S. aircraft downings
By WILLIAM GUHL
Collegian Staff Writer
The full, long-term impact of the shoot
ing down of two American civilian aircraft
by Cuban MiGs this past weekend is not
clear, according to a member of the Uni
versity's political science faculty.
John Sislin, visiting senior lecturer in
political science, said the impact the inci
dent will have on U.S.-Cuban relations will
be partially shaped by the Clinton adminis
tration's response.
"It depends on the U.S. response. This
could be the first step in a longer process
of worsening relations," Sislin said. "It
could start a back and forth response
where it gets progressively worse."
The other possibility is that while the
Students
days for tickets
Students have pitched
camp outside the Bryce
Jordan Center to get front
row seats for men's
basketball games.
By CHRISTINA CONRAD
Collegian Sports Writer
Think about how long 24 hours
can be.
A whole day is considered short
when it is full of classes and home
work, but for some students it can
be a very long time.
Now imagine waiting in line for
100 hours for a game that will be
over in a matter of about two
hours. Is this prolonged waiting
worth it? And why in the world
would students leave the comfort
of dorms, apartments, and homes
to spend prolonged time in the
cold?
Some students have traded in the
familiarity of their warm beds for
the sidewalk in front of the Bryce
Jordan Center's student ticket win-
Forbes takes Arizona; Dole seizes both Dakotas
By The Associated Press
Flat-tax champion Steve Forbes
won Arizona's winner-take-all pri
mary yesterday, defeating Pat
Buchanan and Bob Dole to seize
coveted momentum in the Republi
can presidential race. Stung in the
night's showdown contest, Dole
took some solace in winning North
and South Dakota.
For Forbes, victory meant back
to-back victories after disappoint
ing fourth-place showings in lowa
and New Hampshire. Forbes won
Delaware's primary on Saturday,
and used that to surge into con
tention in the final weekend of Ari
zona campaigning.
With about one-quarter of Ari-
Washington press secretaries
stress honest, accurate news
By MEGAN DONLEY
Collegian Staff Writer
People on both sides of political
reporting spoke last night about
media relations with the president
of the United States during a panel
discussion titled "The Press and
the President" at Schwab Auditori
um.
Jody Powell, former press secre
tary for former President Jimmy
Carter, Pierre Salinger, former
press secretary for former Presi
dent John Kennedy, Helen Thomas,
a member of the Washington press
corps and Juan Williams, national
correspondent, discussed issues
including honesty, accountability
and manipulation to an audience of
about 375.
Powell, who is now the chairman
and chief executive officer of a
public relations firm, said the rela
tionship between a press secretary
the
daily
United States will sternly warn Cuba not to
do something like this again, the incident
only will have a short-term impact. In one
or two months it will be forgotten, he said.
"The last thing anybody wants is a big
ger crisis out of this," Sislin said.
The Clinton administration has
announced several steps that will be taken
against Cuba, including restricting U.S. air
travel to Cuba, paying reparations to fami
lies of the victims using frozen Cuban
assets, and expanding the economic
embargo already in place on Cuba.
While the Clinton administration is
already taking steps to respond to the inci
dent, questions still remain about where
the shooting took place.
Sislin said it does make some difference
whether the shooting took place over inter-
wait
dow. Complete with pillows, elec
tric blankets, sleeping bags and
even televisions, these fans come
prepared to wait for several days
and many nights to be in the front
row for men's basketball games.
"It is just like scheduling for
your classes. You make sure you
don't have class the time you have
to be here and when you're done
you come back," said front row
hopeful Mike Plummer (senior
mechanical engineering).
Many of the students take shifts
when waiting in front of the center.
They make charts, fill out sheets,
and schedule rotations occasionally
with names of 30 people to try to
keep their position in line.
"It's like a job," said Chris Flinn
(freshman-business). "We have an
hourly rotation. We just call people
and ask them when they can work."
And some groups have been real
ly working. After the men's basket
ball win last Thursday against
Michigan, some of the fans were
ready to wait again as they
Please see CAMPING, Page 7.
zona's vote tallied at press time,
Forbes was leading with 37 per
cent. Buchanan and Dole were bat
tling for second; exit polling sug
gested Buchanan had the edge.
Lamar Alexander was no more
than a dim afterthought on the first
multi-state primary day of the
muddled GOP campaign.
Tuesday's results left Forbes
well ahead in the The Associated
and journalists should be balanced,
where both sides follow certain
He said he realized that if he left
a sensitive document lying in his
office, if a reporter had the chance
he or she would read it.
"But I never worried that if my
back was turned, someone would
steal something," Powell added.
"I'm not sure I would have the
same confidence with people who
come and go in the White House
now."
Powell admitted he lied to a
reporter once during a hostage cri
sis about whether a rescue mission
was going to occur.
"My judgment was if I said 'no
comment,' the issue would not die
down," he said. "My judgment was
I didn't have the right to take that
chance so I said 'No, absolutely
not.' "
Salinger said he experienced a
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Page 10 Page 6 by Paul Markowski
IC I I a 30°
Cuba's actions condemned
national waters or in Cuban air space.
"If the planes were shot down over inter
national waters, if they never violated
Cuban air space, the United States would
be more justified (in making a response),"
Sislin said. "If they were over internation
al waters (Cuba) had no business shooting
them down."
If the planes were in Cuban air space,
the United States can still say it was an
overreaction by the Cubans, he said.
Whether the Cuban fighter pilots were
acting on orders from Cuba's leadership or
Craig Lowenstein (freshman-advertising and public relations) studies in
his tent outside of the Bryce Jordan Center yesterday afternoon. He
and his friends are camping out at the ticket window of the center for
Press delegate count, with 60 so
far. Buchanan and Dole had 36 del
egates each, while Alexander had
10.
A candidate needs 996 delegates
to win the Republican nomination
and the success of the anti-estab
lishment candidates sparked talk in
Republican circles yesterday of a
contested convention.
The dramatic comeback gave
Forbes improbable momentum in
the nomination chase, with a criti
cal, crowded stretch of primaries
just ahead.
Party leaders anxious to see
Buchanan blocked from the nomi
nation would surely turn quick
attention to Forbes.
Dole carried North and South
Pierre Salinger, former press secretary for former President John F.
Kennedy, responds to a question about the responsibility of the press
as Helen Thomas, member of the Washington Press Corps, looks on.
The panel met last night at Schwab Auditorium in an event sponsored
by Programming Coordination and the College of Communications.
similar situation in which releasing would not be released back into the
information was a matter of nation- country. The report was not put
al security. However, he said he into a story, he added.
was honest with the reporter but "But on a day to day basis, we're
told him if the information was not talking about national security
published, two American pilots Please see PRESS, Page 7.
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 1996
Dakota handily, and brushed aside
his Sun Belt disappointment.
"We're back in the winning col
umn," the Senate majority leader
said. "It feels good."
Buchanan had to be disappoint
ed. He drew enthusiastic crowds
throughout the final weekend and
asserted an Arizona win would
make him the clear front-runner.
Instead, he came away empty
handed heading into Saturday's
showdown in South Carolina.
The voting yesterday was a
springboard to Saturday's contest
in South Carolina, perhaps Dole's
last best chance to launch a turn
around after poor performances in
the early going of the 1996 cam
paign.
whether they acted on their own is an
important question, Sislin said.
Sislin said it is his understanding the
group operating the two planes that were
shot down, Brothers to the Rescue, had
flown into or near Cuban air space in the
past, which means it is possible this was a
government-ordered response.
Electoral politics is another factor in
this situation, and the fact that this is an
election year could affect Clinton's
response to the incident, Sislin said.
"Foreign policy has been a concern for
the Clinton administration," Sislin said.
Some students think the response should
be limited economically and politically.
Gilberthe Jean-Baptiste, president of the
Caribbean Student Association, said the
incident was "terrible," but that a military
page 6
Collegian Photo/Laura Chiles
the men's basketball game tonight against Northwestern. To see how
the Cagers are gearing up for the postseason in a tune-up with
Northwestern, please see page 10.
Spanier requests
more state funds
Spanier travels
By LISA HAARLANDER
Collegian Staff Writer
University President Graham
Spanier pleaded the Universi
ty's case for more state funding
in Harrisburg yesterday.
Spanier testified before the
state Senate Appropriations
Committee as to why the Uni
versity needed more money
than Gov. Tom Ridge proposed
giving the University.
Without more money from the
state, tuition may increase more
than the usual 4.5 percent next
year. And without the $4.5 mil
lion for telecommunications, the
$35 computer fee could increase
to as much as $7O.
Earlier this month, Ridge rec
ommended Penn State receive
$298.5 million $2l million less
than it requested. Although the
request this year is considered
the leanest request in the Uni
versity's modern history, this is
the second year in a row that
the governor has not recom
mended increasing the amount
of money the state gives the
University.
The governor also did not rec
ommend giving the University
an additional $4.5 million for
telecommunications. He did rec
ommend a small increase for
agricultural research and exten
sion.
Although Spanier understands
the state's funding difficulties
with snowstorms and floods, he
said the University still needs
Published independently by students at Penn State
unclear
response would not be appropriate
"Economic sanctions would be more fea
sible at this time. Yes, people did die, but
we don't want this thing to blow up," she
said.
Kimberly Doolittle (junior-international
politics), said that although she did not
know all of the incident's details, economic
sanctions are probably a better response.
"I don't think (the United States) should
respond militarily," she said.
Doolittle said the fact that it is an elec
tion year would probably affect the Clinton
administration's response.
"He needs to be sensitive to what peo
ple's response to (his decision) will be,"
she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
to state Capitol
"What we are
requesting is
realistic, necessary
and reasonable."
Graham Spanier
University president
more funding due to increased
costs and inflation.
"Our annual appropriation is
nearly $BB million less when
compared with the average of
the Big Ten public universities,
while serving 12,000 more stu
dents," Spanier said. "What we
are requesting is realistic, nec
essary and reasonable."
Spanier also testified that the
University is ranked as the
eighth most efficiently operated
university in the country in
terms of academic quality and
money spent per student.
At the hearing, many legisla
tors said they were sympathetic
to the University's plight.
State Sen. James J. Rhoades,
R-Schuylkill, said he was going
to try to give the University the
$4.5 million it requested for
telecommunications.
"They've got to squeeze it out
of the budget," said Rhoades,
who is on the appropriations
committee. "That may be the
only thing we can get them."
He said he favored getting the
Please see TESTIMONY, Page 7.
Collegian Photo/David S. Spence