LaVar Arrington and
Josh Mitchell get
ready for Big 33
Vol. 98, No. 24 12 Pages ©1997 Collegian Inc.
Body discovered in Miami, possibly Cunanan
By JOHN PACENTI
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. A body resem
bling Andrew Cunanan was found with a
self-inflicted gunshot wound in a house
boat that SWAT teams surrounded and
stormed last night.
“There is a similarity in the description
of the victim that was found,” Chief
Richard Barreto said at a hastily called
news conference. “Beyond that, there is
nothing else to indicate at this time it is
him.”
Barreto said officials were awaiting
forensic tests to confirm the body was that
of Cunanan, whom residents had reported
seeing in the area since Gianni Versace
Universities examine
increasing
By SUSANNE WALKER
Collegian Staff Writer
Prevention is better than cure.
In suicide cases, it is the cure.
Before many victims commit sui
cide, they report having a sense of
tunnel vision with no lights at the
end of the tunnel, said Mary
Knapp, a counselor for Counseling
and Psychological Services, via E
mail.
Since 1990, 14 deaths have been
attributed to suicide at University
Park, according to Knapp. On aver
age, two deaths per year result
from suicide at University Park,
she said.
“There has been heightened
attention and interest in the topic
of college student suicides in
recent years,” she added.
Attention was renewed earlier
this year after a series of suicides
at Michigan State University.
Within a span of three months,
six students committed suicide at
Michigan State.
Though the suicides fit within
the average per year expected at
universities, the cluster and close
time frame sparked much concern,
said Mort Silverman, editor of the
American Association of Suicidolo
gy-
But there are many resources
where help is available, he added.
Campus ministries, academic advi
sors, faculty, resident assistants
and other student counseling ser
vices are available for students, he
added.
The availability of resources
may be one reason suicides are less
on campuses, he said.
A ten-year study of suicides on
college campuses conducted by Sil
verman concluded the suicide rate
on Big 10 campuses are 50 percent
less than that of the general popu
lation.
The average rate for committing
suicide in the general population is
15 per 100,000 per year, Silverman
said. For the general college popu
lation, it is 7 per year.
“But just because we have a
Farah Krupp (junior-elementary education) demonstrates what a class over the Internet might be like with
Penn State’s World Campus. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recently gave a $1.3 million grant to the
University’s World Campus program.
Natural Healing
Practices of meditation, massage and acupuncture
provide alternatives to mainstream medicine
Page 12
daily Collegian
www.collegian.psu.edu
Page 8
was slain July 15. The houseboat is two and
a half miles north of the mansion where
Versace was gunned down.
“The general feeling is that this very
well may be Cunanan, but the official word
hasn’t come down yet,” said Miami Beach
Mayor Seymour Gelber.
Police sources said the body may have
been the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot
wound. ABC News reported that a .40-cal
iber handgun, the same type of weapon
Cunanan was believed to have used in a
cross-country killing spree, was found
near the body.
More than 100 police and FBI agents
descended on the large blue, two-story
houseboat after a caretaker told officers
he was fired upon by an unknown man.
suicides
"(Suicide) is the third
leading cause of death
for 15- to 24-year-olds
in the United States."
Mort Silverman
editor of the American
Association of Suicidology
lower rate doesn’t mean we should
sit back and relax,” he said. “It is
the third leading cause of death for
15- to 24-year-olds in the United
States.”
According to a University of Illi
nois publication, most suicides can
be prevented by sensitive respons
es to the person in crises.
There are many signs and risk
factors that friends and families of
potential victims can recognize.
“Substance abuse is considered a
risk factor that is associated with
increased suicidal behavior, partic
ularly if the person is already
depressed,” Knapp said.
“In addition, drugs and alcohol
abuse often leads to deaths due to
accidents related to poor judgment
and poor coordination,” she said.
Giving away valuable items is
also a sign someone may be suici
dal, said Silverman.
But “access to available means”
can also be a factor in suicides, he
said.
If a person has available access
to guns, pills or knives, a person
may be more willing, he added.
Although a feeling of hopeless
ness is common among suicide vic
tims, other factors influence sui
cide decisions.
“Depression, getting adjusted to
a new campus and bad grades if
you get a lot of pressure from
home could drive people to sui
cides,” said Allison Galasso
(senior-psychology).
If someone is suicidal, they are
already thinking about it.
“Don’t be afraid to talk about it
because it does not worsen the
problem,” Silverman said.
Police set up a perimeter around the
houseboat, on the ground and in boats, and
closed off Miami Beach’s busy Collins
Avenue for several blocks.
At one point during the four-hour stand
off, officers in black flak jackets fired vol
leys of tear gas and shouted “Come out!
Come out!”
The Red
Bob Johnston (right), a
retired corporate jet pilot,
began flying this year for The
Red Baron Stearman
Squadron, which travels the
country giving rides to
customers and performing in
air shows. The group travels
from mid-May until mid-
November, hitting some 200
cities.
The squadron made a stop
at University Park Airport
Tuesday and yesterday to
benefit the Children's Miracle
Network.
Photos by David S. Spence
Collegian Photo Illustration/Christa Rlmonneau
Thursday, July 24,1997
"The general feeling is that
this very well may be
Cunanan . .
Seymour Gelber
Miami Beach Mayor
After flying corporate jets
for 43 years, Johnston is
enjoying his first season with
the squadron.
“It is a rush for me, even
after 43 years, to know that I
am flying a piece of history.”
Johnston, said that his
flying in the squadron is his
wife’s retirement gift to him.
The plane pictured above is
a 1943 Stearman airplane. It
was designed by Lloyd
Stearman and manufactured
by Boeing Aircraft in Witchita,
Kansas.
Foundation gives $1.3 million grant
for on-line education to University
By CAMILLE SELDEN
Collegian Staff Writer
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
gave a $1.3 million grant to the
University’s World Campus pro
gram.
The World Campus program,
which will be headed by Gary
Miller, associate vice president for
distance education, will offer its
first classes January or February
of 1998.
“What we’re trying to do is cre
ate a learning environment for stu
dents to interact and work together
to learn,” said Bruce Heasley, asso
ciate director for student services.
The Internet will be heavily
involved, but they will provide
alternatives for people who are
unable to use the Internet, Heasley
said.
“Students will still be using text
books,” he added.
The main benefit of the program
is that students can continue to
Baron
Minutes later, at least six SWAT team
members carrying rifles and a shield
walked slowly in a line into the house.
After nearly an hour inside, police
announced their search had come up
empty. More than an hour later, reports
began to surface of a body.
A source told the AP that the body was
found on the second floor of the houseboat,
where bedrooms are located. The source
said investigators believe the shot that the
caretaker heard may have been the one
that killed the man.
Cunanan, the prime suspect in Versace’s
killing and four other slayings, is the FBl’s
most-wanted fugitive. He has managed to
escape capture even though his picture has
been plastered on television, newspapers,
"What we're trying to
do is create a learning
environment for
students to interact
and work together to
learn."
work from where they are, Heasley
said.
The five areas of study being
offered through World Campus are
an anesthesia case conference
from Hershey Medical School,
chemical-dependency-counseling
training certificate, geographic
information-science graduate cer
tificate, power-engineering non
credit graduate certificate and tur-
Weather
Cloudy and cool today with
rain likely. High 67°F. A shower
or thundershower will cross the
region tonight. Low 63°F. Some
sun tomorrow; a shower cannot
be ruled out. High 78°F.
by Chris Patti
Published independently by students at Penn State
Bruce Heasley
associate director for
student services
the Internet and wanted posters.
David Todini saw a man in the vicinity
of the houseboat who fit Cunanan’s
description, wearing a bandana and carry
ing a backpack the night before Versace
was killed.
“It looked out of place because there was
•no sun, there was no reason for him to
have a bandana on his head,” Todini said.
“I said to myself, ‘This guy’s trying to dis
guise himself.’”
In Minnesota, Cunanan has been charged
in the death of a former lover, David Mad
son, and is suspected of killing a friend,
Jeffrey Trail. He is also suspected in the
death of Chicago developer Lee Miglin and
charged in the killing of New Jersey
Please see CUNANAN, Page 2.
fgrass-management certificate
program.
The turfgrass-management pro
gram is the only program available
to undergraduate students, and the
undergraduates must be upper
classmen.
“I don’t think anyone said let’s
just limit it to graduate courses,”
said Heasley, “Those are the cours
es that after a long time have been
decided.”
One year after a student has
been accepted into the program,
they will be able to register them
selves on-line. For now, a student
must inquire about the program
and then staff members will con
tact them.
The grant is one of the few the
Sloan Foundation is making to uni
versities to demonstrate the Asyn
chronous Learning Networks pro
gram. The ALN, according to a
news release, is an on-line comput
er service that provides education
anytime.