0 Dateline Sports Weather , ~. ,/ r 4 Serbs escape fires in Sarajevo Battle rages on March came in like a penguin. Today, sunny and chilly after a very nippy start, high 33 Tonight * / 14 suburb, defense forces mostly clear, low 16 Tomorrow Grapplers achieve good, bad and ugly at lir ,•,, iii accused of inadequacy partly cloudy, high 40 ... Big Ten championships —Pa g e 10 by Paul Markowski , a —Page 6 ..,4, 30' da th il e y C ollegian Vol. 96, No. 145 18 Pages ©1996 Collegian Inc We are: Tournament bound Players from the men's basketball team togehter with staff and friends CBS at the Bryce Jordan Center Founder's Room. The Nittany Lions watched the announcement of their seeding positions last night on were not surprised with their No. 5 seed. Lions earn bid to Big Dance By MICHAEL SIGNORA Collegian Sports Writer After a lengthy hiatus from college basket ball's biggest party, Penn State is going dancing again. The Lions (21-6) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament yesterday and are seeded No. 5 in the East Region, squaring off with No. 12 Arkansas (18-12) on Thursday in Providence, R.I. "I think it's a tremendous thing for us and our program," Athletic Director Tim Curley said. Students request grant extentions By LISA HAARLANDER Collegian Staff Writer For many students, affording college is difficult. But for some, it is a fight to the death between a limited checking account and col lege expenses. Keith Magasich (junior-comput er science) would not be able to attend the University if it was not for a combination of federal and state grants, loans and a job. "It was a life-long dream to come to this school," said Magasich, who spent eight years in the Air Force. "But I go to school only because of the grants and loans I receive." But Magasich is facing a prob lem because it will take him more than four years to get his degree, and his grant from the Pennsylva nia Higher Education Assistance Agency will stop before he gradu ates. To make ends meet, Magasich said he is considering joining the National Guard to become eligible tor additional aid. To help students such as Maga- Teen arrested for assaulting woman By SHAWNA CASWELL and JENNIFER FABRY Collegian Staff Writers seriousness of the crime and other factors that I am not at liberty to discuss, I think it's an appropriate case for him to be tried as an adult," Gricar said. Under Pennsylvania law, a person under 18 is not capable of committing a serious crime, said John Sullivan, assistant professor of administration of ustice. The suspect is two months 1 A 17-year-old male was arrested Saturday in connection with the Feb. 23 attempted mur der of a Ferguson Township woman and could be tried as an adult for the crime. shy of his 18th birthday, said Ray Gricar, Centre County dis- trict attorney "Because of his age and the "We set our goal to be competitive on a national basis year in and year out and hopefully this is the first step in making postseason activity the norm." The invitation to the Big Dance marks Penn State's first trip to the tournament since 1991 when the Lions upset UCLA before succumbing to Eastern Michigan in the second round. Coach Jerry Dunn, an assistant to Bruce Parkhill the last time Penn State made the field of 64, was especially excited for the senior class. "These guys have given an awful lot of them- sich, a few students went to Harris burg during spring break to try to make PHEAA funding available for five years, instead of four. State Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Cen tre, is currently sponsoring a bill that would extend PHEAA grants to financially eligible fifth-year students. Some students who testified on March 4 before the state Education Committee's Sub-Committee on Higher Education were Pat Scan lan, former Penn State University Veterans Organization president, and Bill Rothwell, Undergraduate Student Government Senate presi dent. At state-owned and state-related universities, the number of stu dents graduating within four years now is less than it was in the 1980 s. Many of the students are not fin ishing school in four years because of transferring, changing majors or working while going to school. At Penn State in 1992, 34.7 per cent of students graduated in four years. But at other state-related universities, such as Temple Uni- The assault occurred late Feb ruary in the Schneider home at 22 Nittany View Circle. Laura Please see ASSAULT, Page 7. versity, only 23 percent graduated in four years, according to Her man's office. Because more students are stay ing longer, Scanlan is hopeful the bill will become law. But Scanlan said getting support and money from Gov. Tom Ridge may be difficult because education is not a priority and the state bud get is tight due to floods. Extending the grants to students for five years would cost an addi tional $lO million, Rothwell said. While some students can keep attending the University without PHEAA grants, it may mean going further into debt. Stephen Carli, PSUVO president, said he plans to stay an extra semester to get a minor in geron tology to make himself more attractive to employers. "I really think it would be a struggle to stay in school without (the grant)," said Carli (senior exercise and sport science). "It enables me to be here in school and keep my debt down." Carli receives the maximum Group pushes penis in phallic fight for presidency By BRIDGETrE BLAIR and JULIE M. RANDALL Collegian Staff Writers If the Madagascar Revolutionary Council has its way, the next Undergraduate Student Gov ernment president will be a penis. Actually, it would be a 24-inch rubber penis, which was seen leading the MRC in the Hal loween "March with a Bunch of Morons" through campus last semester. In what they called a move to "stir fear in the shallow hearts of the establishment," the MRC recently announced their ticket for the upcom ing USG elections a penis for president and a plastic fish as its vice president. "We think that USG is the sham of shams and we want to discredit the whole organization," said Kevin Houlihan (senior-history), the gener alissimo and head librarian of the MRC. "We don't want to be part of the organization. We just want to make fun of it." Along with discrediting USG, Houlihan said Monday, March 11, 1996 selves and in particular Matt Gaudio, who's suf fered through back surgery and come back to perhaps live out a dream," Dunn said. "Donovan Williams and Glenn Sekunda have really contributed a great deal, as well as Chris Rogers. He was a walk-on and its got to be something special for him to be a part of this." For Dunn, gaining a bid to the NCAA tourna ment in his first year as a head coach could be the exclamation point in an outstanding season for Penn State basketball. After going undefeated in the brand new Please see MEN, Page 7. grant, which is more than $1,200 a semester. Scanlan said the reason PSUVO is concerned about extending aid is that the group represents many adult students who, because of family responsibilities, need more than four years to get a degree. More than 10,000 nontraditional students attend the University and more than 2,700 of them served in the armed forces, Carli said. When the legislation to extend the grant was first introduced in 1987, it was PSUVO that originally initiated the legislation. Herman also introduced the bill at that time. "(Herman) has been a die-hard worker for this goal for nearly 10 years now." Scanlan said. "We're hopeful this year we can finally do it." This is not the first time the vet erans organization has fought for more money. In 1982, the group supported leg islation that restored $l4O million from the previously trimmed Pell Grant program. Collegian Photo/Hector Caro the main issue the MRC wants to address in elections this year is the University budget. He said the MRC wants to make the budget open to students. "I want to know where the money's going," Houlihan said. "That's all." Houlihan added that the MRC is a nonviolent group dedicated to voicing their objections about the University. USG Senate President Bill Rothwell said elec tions rules and regulations will be applied to the MRC candidates if they are on the ballot. If the MRC runs a write-in campaign, however, it will be harder to enforce the code. Because the MRC declared their candidacy before March 11, they could be fined between $25 and $5O under the elections code for early campaigning, but Rothwell said enforcing that particular violation would be difficult. "How's a penis going to pay a fine?" Rothwell said. Head Elections Commissioner Darren Patz Lady N 0.2 This year, Rene Portland hopes to take her team further than the hardwood of Happy Valley. By GEOFF MOSHER Collegian Sports Writer Last year, the Lady Lion basket ball team won the Big Ten title and earned a No. 2 seed in the Midwest regional, getting the chance to play their first two games at home. Things are looking very similar in 1996. After conquering the Big Ten tournament for the second consec utive year, the No. 9 Lady Lions (25-6) earned a No. 2 seed in the West region of the NCAA tourna ment. The Lady Lions host Mid-Conti nent Conference champs Youngstown State, the No. 15 seed, at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the Bryce Jordan Center. The first game will be between Texas A&M (20-11) and Kent (23-6) at 6:30 p.m. The win ners of each game play in the sec ond round game at 6:30 on Sunday. Lady Lion coach Rene Portland hopes not everything in 1996 is similar. Penn State took an early exit in last year's tourney when N.C. State point guard Tammy Gib son drove the length of the court and scored a layup in transition with time running out. "Our goal is to get out of State College," Portland said. The following graphic displays the percentage of students that graduate in four years from the following places: of Pittsbur Universit Penn State mERT= State System of Higher Education .ource: Re•. L n Herman's office Published independently by students at Penn State Lions earn spot again If the Lady Lions win their first two games, they will advance to the Sweet 16 on March 23 in Seattle. "You have to get the ice pick out of your heart one day," Portland said. "This is the time." The West regional is certainly not the strongest. Stanford (25-2), the nation's 4th-ranked team, earned the region's top seed. Col orado (25-8) gets the third seed and Alabama (22-6) the fourth. "The toughest is where Vanderbilt is, ours is do-able" Portland said. Van derbilt (20-7) is the No. 3 seed in the Mideast region, which boasts six top-25 teams, including No. 2 Connecticut (30-3), No. 8 lowa (25- 3), No. 13 Duke (25-6), No. 16 Flori da (21-8) and No. 17 Wisconsin (20- 7). The No. 1 nationally ranked team, Louisiana Tech (28-1), gets the No. 1 seed in the Midwest and No. 4 Tennessee (26-4) gets the No. 1 seed in the East. The upcoming tournament will be the last chance for Lady Lion seniors Tina Nicholson, Kim Cal houn- and Katina Mack- to bring home a national championship. Portland feels the play of seniors will dictate how the team fares. "I never realized the impor tance of the seniors until they did n't do a good job in the lowa game," Portland said, recalling the Lady Lions' 12-point loss to the Hawkeyes. "I do believe that they can take us to that special place." That special place being Char lottesville, Va., the site of the Please see WOMEN, Page 7. said the joke campaign sparking student inter est in the USG elections may be a positive thing. "However, I would hope that the students would do what was best for the University and not elect a joke campaign," Patz said. Pate added that if the MRC ticket won the election, they would not be able to take office because the presidential and vice presidential candidates must be full-time undergraduate students. One student said having a penis as the USG president would have no effect on him. "I don't know what the president does for me now, so I really don't care if it's a penis," said Mike Galo (junior-environmental engineering). Rothwell said campaigns, like the one the MRC is planning, take away from the legitima cy of the elections. "They make the elections seem like more of a joke than people already perceive them as," he said. Collegian Graphic/Ryan O'Rourke
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