MONDAY
April 3, 2000
Vol. 100 No. 160 26 pages
Women’s issues important to campaign plans
By Alex Weininger
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
As Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice
President A 1 Gore make their campaign
trails toward the presidency, women’s issues
remain high on their agendas to gain the
support of more female voters.
According to The Gallup Organization’s
polls, more women vote than men and
women are most concerned with money,
family, health and education. During this
presidential campaign, emphasis has been
placed on these issues, resulting in what
many politicians and political scientists are
deeming the “feminization of politics.”
Kathy Kleeman, the Senior Program Asso
ciate for the Center for American Women
and Politics, said there is a variety of reasons
Asian communities unite in celebration
By Katy Carpenter
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Traditional song and dance, modern
grooves, and theatrical skits last night in
Eisenhower Auditorium set the stage far the
events of Asian Pacific American Heritage
Month.
“Awakenings,” a program organized by the
Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) to
celebrate diversity within the Asian Pacific
community, entertained a diverse crowd fill
ing half the first level of the auditorium.
Thongpaseuth Chanthakoumane (senior
business logistics and international busi
ness), co-cultural director of APAC in charge
of coordinating the performances, said the
purpose of the program was two-fold.
“(We wanted) to bring together the Asian
communities on campus ... and to get people
excited about the coming events,” Chanthak
oumane said.
The first performance was a traditional
Chinese ribbon dance by the little sisters of
Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity. The stage
lights were darkened, hiding the performers
but allowing black lights to illuminate their
white ribbons that swirled to the music of
Eaye Wong, a contemporary Asian artist.
Next was Alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority’s
comical spoof of “The Jeny Springer Show”
discussing the difficulties of merging cul
tures. The sketch drew cheers from the
crowd.
Jeffrey Huang (graduate-electrical engi
neering) found file program funny but also
appreciated its message.
“It showed the cultural difference between
people raised here and their Asian parents,”
Huang said.
Following the spoof was the first of two
performances by the Asian American Christ
ian Ftellowship. Body worship by members of
the group featured interpretative dance to
the music of Out of Eden. Later in the pro
gram, members acted out the story of the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ as seen by angels
protecting him.
Inside
Final chapter
Penn State’s storybook season was in
its final chapter, and unlike so many
games before, there would be no games
on the next page as Connecticut defeated
the Lady Lions, 89-67, in the Women’s
Final Pour Friday night. | SPORTS, Page 15
Join the fun
Pride Week 2000, a time to celebrate,
educate and entertain the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender community
and its allies, is in full swing—and every
one is invited. | LOCAL, Pope 6
Failure to compute
Talks between Microsoft Corp. and
government lawyers failed after the com
pany insisted on its own proposal to set
tle the antitrust lawsuit and not because
of disputes between state and federal
officials, people familiar with the negotia
tions said yesterday. | NATIONAL, Page 10
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Election preview, page 4
women’s issues are currently in the spot
light.
“People in the U.S. are not being pressed
with an urgent threat abroad. Domestic
issues are more prominent political issues,”
Kleeman said. “Women vote on important
things in their life, like education and safety
for their children.”
Kleeman also said issues like education
and health are the stereotypical issues
women care about. Women tend to vote for
the party that plays a stronger role in society,
said Kleeman, equating a government’s con
structive role to that of a caretaker.
And while both candidates struggle to win
See ISSUES, Page 14.
Sisters of Alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority perform the “Terry Lee Springroll Show” at Eisenhower Auditorium as part of the “Awakenings” program
Penn State’s Tae Kwon Do Club gave a The first act was capped by a step per- colored costumes received the loudest
demonstration of their sport as well. They formance from the brothers of Lambda Phi applause of the night as they began the sec
displayed the form, self-defense techniques, Epsilon fraternity. Stomping out rhythms ond act.
sparring and breaking of the boards that dis- with their hands and boot-clad feet, their A pair of students from the Taiwanese
tinguish the sport. A ballet performance stepping elicited many cheers and whistles American Student Association came next,
turned modem came next, followed by an a from the crowd. telling the story through song of a Penn State
cappella solo by a member of the Cambodian However, a group of young girls perform- student learning to make Asian heritage a
American Student Association. ing a traditional Korean fan dance in brightly See AWAKENINGS, Page 14.
Lions take NCAA gymnastics gold
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
The No. 5 Penn State men’s gymnastics
team upset No. 1 Michigan 231.975 to
231.850 Friday in the 2000 NCAA Men’s
Gymnastics Championships at Carver-
Hawkeye Arena in lowa City lowa, to claim
its first national title in 24 years.
With the home crowd cheering them on,
the No. 6 lowa Hawkeyes finished third,
upsetting No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 California
and No. 4 Ohio State. It was a very close
meet with the last-place team, Ohio State,
coming in just 1.175 points behind the first
place Lions.
After five rotations, the Lions were in
fourth place behind the Wolverines,
Hawkeyes and Golden Bears. But Penn
State was on one of its strongest events
pommel horse.
“The way the draw turned out, we could
start on either rings or high bar,” Penn State
men’s gymnastics coach Randy Jepson said.
“I chose rings so we could end on our two
UPAC receives
For the first time in its history, the under
graduate election for the University Park
Allocation Committee turned away more
candidates than it admitted last week
Following a year when only five students
ran to fill eight elected positions, voters
Wednesday had the chance to choose from a
field of 22 contenders for the 2000-01 term.
22,23
...24
...25
...25
“We upped our publicity this year,” said
Tonya Cozzo, outgoing UPAC chair, adding
the committee attempted to recruit more
candidates through fliers, e-mail and print
advertising.
In 1997, the Student Organization Budget
Committee was restructured to become
UPAC, after Penn State started collecting
the student activity fee to finance the HUB-
Robeson Center expansion.
The current committee distributes income
By Chris Bauman
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
By Jeremy R. Cooke
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
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strongest events (floor exercise and pommel
horse).”
Only three of the first five Penn State
gymnasts hit their routines, which meant
the Lions could not afford another fall. The
sixth and final gymnast would determine the
meet. For Penn State, it was senior Brandon
Stefaniak
“Brandon was up as our last guy, and we
needed a hit,” Jepson said. “But, who else
would you rather have up there than the
defending national champion?”
Stefaniak came through when his team
needed it most, boosting it with a 9.950 to
give it the .125-point victory.
“I had the ultimate weekend,” Stefaniak
said after winning the individual title on
pommel horse for the second year in a row.
“Randy always tells us to be ready as if
we’re the sixth man up and the meet is
counting on us, so I was ready. I ended up
pulling through and winning us the national
title.”
Lions junior captain Dominic Brindle said
most of the team was doing Stefaniaks rou
tine with him.
high candidate turnout, elects new officers
from the student activity fee in addition to
general university funds. Its mission is to
subsidize “causes that enhance student life
and the out-of-class experience or that
improve the educational climate at Universi
ty Park” according to the committee’s Web
site.
The total number of members on UPAC
has grown from 21 to 35, but it still includes a
representative mixture of undergraduates
and graduate students, either elected or
nominated.
Seven undergraduates ran for five elected
positions in the first UPAC election. In 1998,
12 students contended for eight slots. On last
year’s list, three write-in candidates joined
the five who were already on the ballot.
This spring, Cozzo said more than 30 stu
dents initially picked up candidacy packets
before 22 made it on the ballot
UPAC Representative-elect Julieannah
Awopetu decided to run for a position after
'ENN STATE
r
t
“All the way through it I was half watching
and half covering my eyes,” he said. “We
were screaming and laughing for five min
utes straight (after announced as the cham
pions).”
Stefaniak said the team title means more
to him than his individual titles.
“Gymnastics is an individual sport,” he
said. “But when you can pull together as a
team ... it makes it a thousand times better.”
Penn State bettered its season high score
by nearly a full point to claim the national
title.
The Lions, however, nearly did not qualify
for Friday’s competition. They needed a
solid performance Thursday, and they got it,
finishing third in their session behind the
Wolverines and Buckeyes. The Lions posted
229.125 points Thursday making them the
No. 5 team in Saturday’s competition. They
were the last to qualify from that session,
eliminating Illinois, Nebraska and Massa
chusetts.
Jepson said the team performed “great”
during Thursday’s competition.
See GYMNASTICS, Page 14.
hearing about problems within UPAC, par
tially through her work on Black Caucus.
She and eight other UPAC candidates con
ducted a flier campaign, which listed
endorsements from more than a dozen stu
dent organizations, including Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority Inc., Minorities in Science
and Technology, and the Student Minority
Advisement and Recruitment Team.
Awopetu said Lisette Asbury (senior-biolo
gy and nutrition) responded to a mass e-mail
announcing her candidacy. Asbury, Alain
Vaval (senior-pre-medicine) and others
helped to manage the campaigns and pro
duce the series of yellow fliers.
“We didn’t have to find endorsements,”
Awopetu said. “Endorsements found us.”
Asbury said her support of the candidates
followed an effort she made to get people
more interested in competing for student
government positions in addition to support
ing those on the ballot.
Jamie Perruquet/Collegian
Barbara Ovrutsky/ Collegian
Jose Palacios performs the vault Feb. 26.
“A lot of people didn’t even know how to
vote ... what to do or where to go,” she said.
Syreeta Cherry, who was also elected to
the committee last week, said five of the nine
students listed on the UPAC endorsement
flier earned positions.
“People were so excited,” Asbury said. “It
turned out to be very successful.”
Nikki Thornton, who also received backing
through the group campaign, registered as a
ranriidate for UPAC representative and USG
senator for Pollock/Nittany Halls. She won
both positions.
As of yesterday afternoon, Thornton had
not announced which post she would accept,
but Todd Ellis, USG voting and tallying com
missioner, said her decision will probably be
made public by early this week.
According to voting totals, Leona Locke,
who also ran for both positions, would take
Thornton’s {dace in the seat she chooses to
forfeit
WEATHER Page 2
TODAY: Cloudy with rain
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Pre-med
student
charged
in theft
By Fred Cichon
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Charges were filed Friday against a
Penn State student for stealing drugs
from his biology lab, according to Penn
State Police Services.
Priyesh V Patel, a student majoring in
pre-medicine, was charged Friday with
one count of theft, a third-degree misde
meanor, said Penn State Police Services.
The charges stem from an incident March
22 when Patel allegedly stole ketamine
from 412 Mueller. Patel stole about 10 mil
liliters of ketamine, an anesthetic used on
lab animals, from a biology lab where he
had class, police said.
A low dosage of ketamine, also known
as Special K, results in impaired atten
tion, learning and memory functions,
according to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
Higher doses might result in ataxia,
dizziness, elevated blood pressure, mental
confusion, hyperexcitability, catalepsy
(the inability to move), amnesia, convul
sions, a delusional dream-like state, hallu
cinations and psychosis, according to an
FDA document. Long-term use of keta
mine is associated with hallucinatory
flashbacks, an inability to concentrate,
psychological dependence and tolerance,
according to the FDA.
“Ketamine is used by vets and appar
ently labs to anesthetize animals before
surgery,” said Linda LaSalle, a communi
ty health educator with University Health
Services.
LaSalle said the motive behind the
thefts and use of the drug is for its appeal
as a sedative.
“It is also used as a date rape drug and
also for recreational use,” she added.
“That is why it is stolen and sold.”
LaSalle said surveys about student
drug use at Penn State show the use of
ketamine among students is low and the
frequency is unknown, LaSalle said.
The recent theft follows another drug
related incident March 19 when officers
from the State College Police Department
responded to a drug overdose. State Col
lege police found five individuals uncon
scious and another person with breathing
problems after consuming what was later
identified as gamma-butyrolactone.