Dateline
Painful past
World War II internment camps are open
the public for the first time
Vol. 98, No. 26 12 Pages ©1997 Collegian Inc.
Drought watch leaves area high and dry
Even with recent rain,
conservation still key
By KRISTIN WALPOLE
Collegian Staff Writer
While the recent rainy weather
may be dampening area resi
dents’ moods and their soil
whether it is enough to cure the
dry spell is debatable.
State College Borough has not
had water supply problems, but
surrounding areas, such as Belle
fonte and Lemont, are facing
shortages.
“We don’t have a problem yet
so our water conservation is vol
untary,” said David R. Nevel,
customer service administrator
at the State College Borough
Water Authority, 1201 W. Branch
Road.
Third day
added to
grad plan
The University has
added a third day of
commencement
ceremonies, pleasing local
business owners
By KRISTIN WALPOLE
Collegian Staff Writer
Graduating students and their
loved ones will have an extra day
to enjoy graduation festivities next
spring.
This past spring, graduation cer
emonies were held over two days,
rather than three, creating a con
gestion in town that forced some
visitors to stay in dormitories and
caused difficulties for local busi-
nesses.
But the University has decided
to re-expand Spring Semester’s
commencement exercises to three
days by moving the graduate
school ceremony to Sunday.
“We can serve our customers
better if they are spread out over
three days rather than just two,”
said Bill Gilday, general manager
of Chili’s Grill and Bar, 137 S. Allen
St.
The shortened commencements
of this past May, combined with
banquets set up on campus for
graduates and their loved ones,
caused less people to visit down
town businesses, Gilday said.
“People attended the banquets on
campus at places like The Bryce
Jordan Center and with the shorter
time period, not as many people
had time to venture off campus,”
he said.
. Many local business owners
were upset with the shortened
schedule so the Downtown State
College Partnership Inc. created a
petition to send to University Pres
ident Graham Spanier, voicing
their concern about the graduation
schedule.
Others, though, said preparation
is the key to dealing with the grad
uation crowds, not an extra day of
ceremonies.
“We didn’t have any problems
this past spring because we were
prepared for the crowds from past
experience,” said Joel Weiner,
associate manager of the Deli
Restaurant, 113 Hiester St.
Weiner and his staff prepare for
graduation by getting schedules of
all the ceremonies and estimating
when each ceremony will end. "rtiis
allows them to be prepared for the
crowds to arrive, Weiner said.
“I don’t know how much of a dif
ference the extra day will make for
us, really, because it will still be
the same number of people,” he
said. “They will just be spread out
over three days,” he said.
the
daily
“But the situation in Bellefonte
has caused mandatory conserva
tion at night and voluntary con
servation during the day,” he
said.
The water authority in State
College requested last week that
customers take measures to use
water conservatively to assist
neighboring areas with water
problems caused by an extended
dry spell.
That conservation could also
help State College avoid it’s own
problems if faced with any more
dry spells in the near future,
Nevel said.
Tuesday, however, the rain
came and continued to fall off
and on for several days, which
HOG heaven
Spectators watch as members of the Harley-Davidson Owners Group parade their Pennsylvania State HOG Rally, which took place Saturday at the Penn State
motorcycles through downtown State College. The parade was a part of the 1997 Convention Center and Hotel. Please see story on page 2.
A kitten relaxes in its air-conditioned cage at PAWS Inc., 1042 Benner Pike, while visitors to the Metzger
Animal Hospital open house wander around outside. The hospital hosted its open house yesterday.
, MiW Nittany Lion recruits 1 IjSSCSEKL m.
ed up to tlel P Penns y |var| ia get I cloudy tonight. Low 64.
win over Ohio in Big 33
Page 4 I Page 8 I I —by Chris Patti
Collegian ’
Recent rainfall
Houghton Lake, Mich. 1.15"
Hibbing, Minn. 2.32”
Panama City, Fia. 0.67"
Hickory, N.C. \^t.43"
West Yellowstone, Mont.
Source: AccuWeather World Wide Web site
Collegian Graphic/Kara Heermans
was a big help to the area’s water
supply, said Jim Kosek, senior
meteorologist at AccuWeather,
619 W. College Ave.
“Without a shadow of a doubt
this steadier rain has helped
Please see CONSERVE, Page 2.
Monday, July 28,1997
University reduces water usage
By VICTORIA FREILE
Collegian Staff Writer
The University is doing its
share to reduce water usage dur
ing the drought watch.
Centre County is one of 34
counties in the state on a drought
watch, the least severe of the
drought conditions.
When this occurs, residents are
asked to participate in a 5 per
cent, voluntary non-essential
reduction of water use.
Because of the reduced popula
tion during Summer Session,
much less water is being used,
said Paul Ruskin, spokesperson
for the Office of the Physical
Plant.
“We haven’t had to reduce use
of water yet because the smaller
population in the University takes
Collegian Photo/llan Sherman
up less water,” Ruskin said.
This summer, the University is
using six of the 37 wells in the
well field, where the University’s
water supply is stored, Ruskin
said.
The water level is carefully
monitored in the wells, he said.
During the Fall and Spring
semesters, about 2.5 million gal
lons of water are used on campus
each day, Ruskin said. An accu
rate number for Summer Session
usage was unavailable, he added.
Sprinkler usage is limited to
only experimental turf grass,
Ruskin said, which is under spe
cific regiments.
“We must keep the grass grow
ing at a certain level as to not
ruin the experiment,” Ruskin
said.
The University is doing what it
Animal
host to
By CARRIE DELEON
Collegian Staff Writer
Taz and Tony were on hand yes
terday to give a roaring welcome to
families and pets at the Metzger
Animal Hospital open house.
Visitors enjoyed information
booths, obedience demonstrations,
hospital tours and the two Bengal
tigers.
“I wanted to make this a pet edu
cation day for the community to
see what goes on inside the hospi
tal,” Dr. Fred Metzger said. “Peo
ple are really surprised to see how
similar we are to a human hospi
tal,” he said.
Not only was Metzger there
answering pet questions and giving
advice, local animal rescue groups,
vendor displays and pet-related
activities for kids were available to
entertain and inform the crowds of
people who came out for the event.
“This just gives everyone a
chance to see what we’re all
about,” said Stephanie Dohrer,
open house coordinator.
Visitors were able to see the
human like qualities of Metzger
Published independently by students at Penn State
can to help conserve water during
the drought watch, Ruskin said.
Because the well levels are fine,
the University has not needed to
reduce, he said.
“A lot of water in the area
needs to be conserved because it
won’t always be around,” Chris
Scott (freshman-engineering)
said.
“If we take care of what we
have it will be easier to take are
of what we have in the future,” he
said.
If the drought moves from a
watch to a warning, the second
level of drought conditions, the
University will reduce the
amount of water it uses, Ruskin
said.
“The University would go into
mandatory action if we had to,"
Please see USAGE, Page 2.
Collegian Photo/Christa Rimonneau
clinic
open
Animal Hospital, 1044 Benner Pike,
as they traveled through each room
displaying different aspects of the
hospital.
Doctors, pet groomers, techni
cians and other hospital employees
were available to give demonstra
tions of their work and answer
questions.
Technicians in the surgery room
showed children and other onlook
ers the operating table, surgical
devices they use, anesthesia and
heart-monitoring machines.
Angela Berrena, a technician,
answered questions and took pic
tures of kids standing over the
operating table dressed as doctors.
“I want to make people aware of
what goes on when they bring their
pet here,” Berrena said. “I think
people really appreciate knowing
what goes on behind our closed
doors,” she said.
Kathy Zimmerman, of State Col
lege, said she brought her two sons
to the open house to see the facili
ties and learn about the hospital.
“This was very informative,”
Zimmerman said. “They showed us
Please see ANIMAL, Page 2.
plays
house