TUESDAY
April 4, 2000
Vol. 100 No. 161 18 pages
Officials forecast
low voter turnout
By Lily Henning and Cindy Koons
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITERS
The Pennsylvania primary has finally
arrived, far behind the decisive Super Tues
day elections March 7. However, today's pri
mary still casts votes in national nomina
tions and decides several significant state
nominations.
Joyce McKinley, director of the Centre
County Office of Elections, said she fore
sees a light turnout in tomorrow's election
compared to previous state primaries.
While she does not expect a large num
ber of student voters, she said registered
students can cast their votes at the HUB
Alumni Hall in one of the different elec
tions boards. There are 19 voting stations
available throughout State College, and
students must vote in their assigned loca
tion, McKinley said. The race for the U.S.
Democratic Senate nomination appears to
be the most competitive in tomorrow's pri
mary, McKinley said.
"That's the main race, I believe, this
time," McKinley said.
Her office is responsible for preparing
and conducting elections, said McKinley,
adding attracting voters is the responsibil
ity of the political parties and candidates.
Colleen Evans (senior-art education) is
registered to vote in Centre County, but
does not plan to go to the polls for tomor
row's state primary election.
The State College native has never voted
Students participate
in local campaigning
By Heather Cook
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Though the primaries aren't getting as
much attention now that Bill Bradley and
John McCain have left the presidential
race, today's elections mark the culmina
tion of weeks of work for students who have
helped candidates with their campaigns.
For other students who are preparing for
elections in the fall, the work is just begin
ning.
Jobs for students working on campaigns
include stuffing envelopes, answering
phones or making calls. For college stu
dents working away from a candidate's
campaign office, the job might also include
providing people with literature about the
candidates as well as going door to door.
In the U.S. Senate primary, Marlene
Gummo (senior-international politics) has
been working on the campaign of state Sen.
Allyson Schwartz (D-Philadelphia), while
Christian Jones (senior-political science) is
acting as campus liaison for the campaign
of U.S. Representative Ron Klink (D-West
moreland).
Schwartz and Klink are both vying for the
Democratic seat in the race against incum
bent Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).
Unreturned
By Amy Leeking
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Although Census 2000 forms were mailed
to off-campus students, the local census
office at Penn State Research Park has not
received many completed forms.
"We're not getting as good a response as
we'd like," said Phil Cappel, office manager.
This lack of response, Cappel said, could
affect the future of the university and the
State College area, Cappel said.
"The university may not receive state and
federal funding and funds to provide services
for senior citizens and child services would
be affected," he said.
The results of the census forms also deter-
Instructor promotes changing perception of disability
By Alison Kepner
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
"My mother doesn't think it's right that my
English teacher is deaf," wrote a student in
one of Brenda Brueggemann's freshman
honors composition classes.
Cultural fears and misconceptions such as
this have led to a lack of understanding
about disability, Brueggemann said at the
9th annual Kenneth Burke Celebration last
night in 111 Chambers.
An associate professor of English at Ohio
State University Brueggemann has moved
discussion about disability into the class
room.
By incorporating disability as an underly
ing theme in her course's reading material
and discussion topics, Brueggemann has
tried to educate her students about the mis
conceptions surrounding the term while at
the same time expanding the classical defmi-
Polling locations
■ HUB-Robeson Cultural Center
■ Grace Lutheran Church, South Garner
Street and Beaver Avenue
■ Wesley Foundation, 256 E. College
Ave. ,
■ Regency Square, 200 Highland Ave.
■ Tau Kappa Epsilon, 346 E. Prospect
Ave.
■ Elementary School, 235 Cod St.
■ Our Lady of Victory School, 800
Westerly Parkway
■ State College Municipal Building, 118
S. Fraser St.
in a local election, but plans to cast a vote
in November's general election.
As for the state primary Evans is not
enthusiastic about voting or the pool of
candidates. "It would be nice to have a non
white male in office, but it doesn't make a
huge difference to me," Evans said.
The lack of student interest in the local
primaries is not unusual, said Sarah
Johnson, president of College Democrats.
Johnson said young people are not
aware of the power student voters have.
"I don't think it (student voting) will be as
high as I, or active young people, would
want it to be," Johnson said.
See ELECTIONS, Page 9.
Adam Mihlfried (senior-computer science)
campaigns outside the HUB yesterday
afternoon to rally elections support.
"It's a fun and effective way to meet State
College residents, to discuss the issues and
to play an active role in the election of a can
didate," Gummo said.
Jones, who has been working for the
Klink campaign since August, has focused
on informing people about Klink and hang
ing signs for him on campus.
"My favorite part of this campaign is just
See CAMPAIGN, Page 9.
census forms may affect university
mine federal transportation funds, and as a
result, local developers plan the completion
and addition of roads, Cappel said.
Cappel said he thinks many students are
not completing their forms because they
think they will be counted in the census at
their home addresses. However, they are
only counted in their college towns, Cappel
said.
The top of the census form specifically
addresses the issue and states all families
with college students living away from home
should not include their children in the
count, said Amy Jonas at the Pennsylvania
State Data Center.
While some off-campus students are not
returning their forms, Leslie Phillips (senior-
lion of a good rhetorician. Traditionally, the
best rhetorician has been a good man,
speaking well, said Cheryl Glenn, Penn State
associate professor of
English and Women's
Studies and coordinator of
last night's program.
Brueggemann has
changed that definition to
include a good person
skilled in speaking, writ
ing and signing, Glenn
said.
Born deaf but skilled in
lip-reading, Bruegge
mann struggled to come to terms with her
own classification as disabled.
"This is not a place I thought I belonged to
either for a long time," she said.
Now, Brueggemann attempts to show her
students that they too have connections with
people who have disabilities. The first step is
_l 4- \
PUBUSHED INDEPENDENTLY BY STUDENTS AT PENN STATE
elementary education) already returned the forms should arrive at the commons desks
completed census form that came to her by today. He said he is not exactly sure when
Highland Avenue apartment. the local census office will deliver the forms
Phillips said she and her roommates to on-campus students, but said each resi
received their form before spring break and dent in a dorm room should receive a form.
filled it out. They knew they needed to be It is important that each of these students
counted in State College, she said. fill out their forms, Cappel added.
"We didn't have any problems with it, but I The local census office also has worked
think students might get confused with it. with Penn State to stress the significance of
They think our parents count us, too," completing and returning census forms,
Phillips said. Cappel said.
However, while most off-campus students "We've made quite a few efforts to get the
might have already received their census word out," Cappel said.
forms, on-campus students have yet to get Heny said tables will be set up in the resi
theirs in the mail
Gregg Heny, assistant manager for com
mons desk operations, said the blank census
for her students to understand what disabili
ty is. . . .
"The definition of disability always begins
and probably ends, too, in its ambiguity" she
said. "Disability is as invisible as it is visible."
Whether someone is blind, has a broken
arm or suffers from asthma, he could fall
into the category of the disabled, she said.
Another cultural problem results because
people are often unsure of how to react to
someone they deem disabled.
Should we be nice, patronizing, hold the
door open, over-enunciate?
Maybe we should just ignore them,
Brueggemann said.
"What we say and do and believe about
disability suddenly becomes what we say and
do and believe about ourselves," she said.
Disability crosses over the boundaries of
"hot topics" in society today. From date rape
to abortion, there is some sort of connection
with disability, she said.
Brueggemann
Ellen Sue Spicer puts on a Pride Week Rally button while at a stand with her daughter, Basha Starr, yesterday in front of Old Main
Reclaiming the past
Pride Week rally honors LGBT struggles
By Alissa Wisnouse
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Because rainbows are pretty. Because
gay porn is better.
These made the top 10 list of reasons to
be proud presented at yesterday's Pride
Week Rally outside of Old Main, but the
most popular reason seemed to be
"because, damn it, we're here," to which
the audience responded with a hearty
shout of "we're queer!"
The annual rally was a kickoff for Pride
Week, a time to celebrate, educate and
entertain the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender community at Penn State and
their allies.
"As we speak, we're making a new histo
ry and herstory," presenter Alena Single
ton (junior-journalism) said. "Hopefully,
we'll have the right to marry soon. Ver
mont's looking real good."
This year's Pride Week theme is
"Reclaiming the Past." Speaker Brandon
Forsht (senior-biology), Lambda Student
Alliance political co-director, spoke of the
persecution of homosexuals during the
Holocaust and the silence of closeted peo
ple because of social pressures. "A lot of
those people couldn't stand up here and be
proud," he said. "Let's remember those
who went before us."
"Reclaiming the Past" was also reflected
by one of the T-shirts sold at the rally.
"There is a list of words (on the back of
the shirts) that have historically and tradi
tionally been used as expletives," said
Heather Solimini (senior-women's studies),
LSA political co-director. "It's a way of tak
ing back what other people are imposing
upon us."
Describing herself as a lesbian and a
woman of color, Singleton compared the
struggles of LGBT people to the struggles
of ethnic minorities and encouraged collab
oration between the two.
"We can fight for a common goal togeth
er," she said. "Hopefully, when we start
coming together it will give us strength in
numbers and we can present a united
front."
In his speech, Ryan Acton (freshman
landscape architecture) also made a plea
for unity; he called for an end to stereotyp
ing within the LGBTA community.
"We of all people need to be more accept-
dential commons areas to encourage stu-
dents to fill out forms and to answer any
questions students might have.
Brueggemann wants her students to look
at these social issues not only from gender,
racial and class perspectives, but also from
the angle of the disabled.
When students leave her class, they
should be able to imagine themselves in a
disabled person's shoes, she said.
Ralph Rodriguez, assistant professor of
English and comparative literature, agreed
society needs to reexamine some social
issues, such as unemployment, with disabili
ty in mind.
"It's very relevant for me to know that 42
percent of di. bled people are unemployed,"
he said.
Whether her students realize it initially or
not, Brueggemann said someday they will all
have personal connections with some type of
disability.
"Everybody is going to be disabled at
some time," Brueggemann said. "We have a
culture that lives in fear of that."
WEATHER Page 2
TODAY: Cloudy and damp
30 cents off campus ©2OOO Collegian Inc
ing of each other," he said. "Let's work with
each other and not against each other both
within and outside of the community"
The speakers were positioned against
the backdrop of a rainbow banner
stretched across the columns of Old Main.
Rainbow-colored balloons blew in the wind,
but the rain predicted for yesterday held off
and sunshine prevailed at the rally.
"It was definitely a good kickoff because
for the first time in a long time it was a
beautiful day so everybody could come
here, and the location was perfect for visi
bility," Tony Kariotis (junior-media studies)
said.
Brian Loretz (freshman-management)
was happy to see Undergraduate Student
Government President-elect Matt Roan
and Vice President-elect Kelly O'Brien at
the rally. "I thought it was really good of
them to come out to this in support," he
said. "I think it's important."
The size of the crowd, which included
more than 100 people, pleased Adria Pipan
(senior-human development and family
studies). "To see so many people come out
to the event was just amazing, and the
speeches left a powerful message."
National champions
Michigan State took down Florida 89-
76 last night in the finals of the NCAA
tournament in Indianapolis. Mateed
Cleaves came back from a second-halt
twisted ankle to lead the Spartans to the
victory. I SPORTS, Page 10
Lockdown
Massachusetts put the nation's
strictest gun regulations into effect yes
terday, using consumer-protection rules
to ban cheap "Saturday night specials'',
and require childproof locks on any glut
sold in the state. I NATIONAL, Page 5
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