2 momlAy, April 4, 2000
S g
Cloudy skies and scattered showers will prevail today as the low pressure system that brought sub
stantial rain to the region last night moves east. Sunny and breezy conditions will return tomorrow
before another weak disturbance brings another chance of precipitation for Thursday. Another brief
respite is in store for the region Friday with showers returning again for the weekend.
Today
*rift Cloudy and
damp
1 4 4 .4 4
d er
The extended outlook
Tomorrow night: Mostly clear and cold. Low 30.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy with isolated afternoon showers. High 59, low 38
Friday: Partly sunny with increasing clouds late. High 66, low 50.
Saturday: Showers and thundershowers; turning colder. High 63, low 40.
ALMANAC
Today
Normal high
Record high
Normal low
Record low
Monthly Climate Summary
(Data valid through 8 am Ayr. 3,
April precipitation 0 03 inches
Normal April precip 3.38 [noes
April temp. departure +77.83 deg.
Sun Data
Sunset today . . .
Sunrise tomorrow
NEWS
Student charged with simple, aggravated assault
Penn State student Dallas Luke. 22, was charged yesterday with simple assault, aggra
vated assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment and stalking, and pro
hibited offensive weapons. He also was charged with violating the Controlled Substance,
Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, according to court documents.
The charges stem from an incident Sunday evening on the 600 block of East College
Avenue in which Luke and a female acquaintance were allegedly engaged in a dispute
when officers from the State College Police Department arrived, according to the docu
ments.
The woman was found curled up in a ball crying, and the officers reportedly heard her
say, "You hit me" several times to Luke, who was sitting next to her when police arrived,
according to the documents.
Another woman, who said she heard banging noises coming from the room where Luke
and the victim were, called police to the scene, according to the documents.
The victim reported Luke allegedly struck her across the cheek and slammed her body
to the ground after the two had been arguing. Luke also allegedly held a pillow over her
face, suffocating her for 40 seconds, according to the documents.
Luke allegedly continued to assault the victim x‘ _ffered a swollen cheek, bite marks,
an injured tailbone and bruises as a esult, accor ung to documents.
Police arrested Luke. who waived his Miranda rights and provided a written statement
saying, "I should not have started the fight with her (victim)" and admitted to hitting the
victim's head off a lamp. according to the documents.
Luke was arraigned early yesterday morning. He was taken to Centre County Prison in
lieu of $50,000 bail.
Business dean nomination awaits trustees' approval
Pending approval from Penn State's Board of Trustees, a new dean will take office at the
Smeal College of Business July 1.
Judy D. Olian. senior associate dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the
Uniyersity of Maryland at College Park and professor of management and organizations,
has been nominated for the position, according to a Penn State press release.
"We are delighted that Dr. Olian will join Penn State to serve in this important leader
ship position," Rodney A. Erickson, executive vice president and provost of the university,
said in the release. "Dr. Olian is a distinguished scholar and teacher in management and
human resource strategy, and she has an outstanding reputation as an administrator."
Since 1995, Olian has supervised the development of the Smith School's initiatives to
enhance academic excellence and national rankings. She also worked to advance partner
ships and build support from businesses, alumni and international constituencies, accord
ing to the release.
Olian manages the academic, administrative and other information technology strate
gies of the school. She is also involved in fund-raising projects and is a liaison with the uni
versity administration and other colleges at the University of Maryland.
Schools begin practicing random-violence drills
PHILADELPHIA (AP) The siren screeches, and students and teachers fall into posi
tion for what is the latest terror within school walls: random acts of violence.
Classroom doors and windows are closed and locked. Shades are drawn. Lights are
turned off. Students huddle in corners and under desks.
The drills are becoming more common in schools in Pennsylvania and around the coun
try. They are intended to teach students and teachers what to do in case someone with a
gun roams the halls and classrooms.
Also in place are elaborate emergency-response plans and increased security mea
sures.
The changes come in the aftermath of the shootings at Columbine High School in Col
orado, where 10 students were killed by two other students, who then killed themselves.
The gunmen had roamed the hallways seeking victims, authorities said.
New signs urge motorists to drive slow in work zones
HARRISBURG (AP) Motorists approaching highway construction zones in Pennsyl
vania will see new signs taking a child's point of view.
Transportation Secretary Brad Mallory yesterday unveiled two new signs that will be
posted beginning this spring.
The black signs have orange reflective letters styled to resemble a child's handwriting.
Thy read: "Slow Down My Daddy Works Here" and "Slow Down My Mommy Works
Here."
"In every work zone across the state, somebody's mom or dad, brother, sister, spouse or
child is working to make our highways smoother and safer," Mallory said. "Let's make
sure that, at the end of the day, these hardworking men and women can go home safely to
their families."
Mallory said 27 deaths were caused last year by unsafe driving in work zones. More than
2,000 accidents occurred in those areas, he said.
POLICE LOG
■ Arrest: After an investigation into a
trespass into a Sparks Building computer
lab, Penn State Police Services arraigned
Penn State student Peter Powlison
Saturday.
Powlison allegedly entered the lab
through a window and was looking at
pornographic material on a computer
screen, police said. He was charged with
two counts of criminal trespass.
■ Arrest: Penn State police cited New
Jersey resident William A. Magee on
Saturday for allegedly damaging the gate
that blocks Pollock Road, Penn State police
said. The estimated cost of damage to the
gates is $3lO.
■ Health and Safety: The Office of Physical
Plant and the Department' of
Environmental Health and Safety respond
ed Saturday afternoon to a leak in a water
supply pipe on the third floor of Steidle
Building, Penn State police said.
The leak flooded rooms on the third, sec-
CAST FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2000.
Cloudy and
High 59
SIG TEN FORECAST STATE FORECAST
53 deg.
79 deg. in 1963
33 deg.
18 deg. m 1954
University
Minors
Michigan
Michigan St
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio State
7:40 pm
6:48 am
Wisconsin
Tonight
cooler
Low 34
Today's Weather
Hi/Lo
42/30
43/30
48/34
45/28
42/24
46/29
45/31
48/28
43/30
46/25
Conditions
Partly Sunny
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Sunny
Cloudy
Mostly Sunny
Mostly Cloudy
Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Sunny
by Nicole Mass and Susie Xu
and and first floors of the building. The
Department of Environmental Health and
Safety determined the leak was not haz
ardous and all lab chemicals were con
tained, police said.
■ Sexual Assault A person not affiliated
with Penn State reported Friday she was
assaulted by a person known to her in July
1998 in Cross Hall, Penn State police said.
The victim requested no further action
be taken at this time, police said.
■ Theft: A Penn State student reported
Saturday evening the theft of 120 CDs from
his vehicle sometime between March 26
and that day, Penn State police said.
The estimated value of the CDs is $l,BOO.
■ Theft A Penn State student reported
Saturday evening the theft of her black
backpack sometime between 3:30 and 4
p.m. that day at the West Athletic Fields,
Penn State police said.
The estimated value of the backpack and
its contents is $4OO.
Tomorrow
~.:‘,l.
44
'.--.-,
,-_---
\.-
Partly sunny;
Today
City Hi/Lo
Allentown 62/39 RN
Altoona 54/32 SH
Bradford 47/24 SH
Erie 48/31 SH
Harrisburg 59/34 SH
Johnstown 50/26 SH
Philadelphia 65/42 RN
Pittsburgh 53/32 SH
Scranton 59/36 RN
Williamsport 59/39 SH
by An Pinkus
LOCAL & STATE
breezy
High 50
Tomorrow
Hi/Lo
54/37 PS
48/30 PS
38/22 PS
45/30 PS
53/33 PS
45/27 PS
55/37 PS
4 9 / 3 1 PS
49/34 MC
54/35 PS
REGIONAL FORECAST MAP
How to interpret this map: Shades of gray indicate the expected high temperatures for today. Today's forecasted high
and tomorrow morning's low are also shown for selected cities. Lead Forecaster. Jim Piro
Legend: SU (Sunny), MS (Mostly Sunny), PS (Partly Sunny), MC (Mostly Cloudy), CY (Cloudy), RN (Rain), RS Associate Forecasters: Scott Giangrande,
(Rain/Snow), SH (Showers), SN (Snow), SF (Snow Flurries), IC (Ice), TS (Thunderstorms), WY (Windy). David Flagg, Tim Ballisty and Brian Lowry
TENT RAISING: Workers for the Office of Physical Plant construct a tent on the HUB lawn yesterday morning
Fraternities discuss fire safety
By Amy Weinstein
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Presidents, house managers, and pledges
from 51 Penn State fraternities gathered in
Sparks Building last night to attend a fire
safety program sponsored by The Masons of
Pennsylvania and Acacia fraternity.
John E. Ziegler. president of the Acacia
fraternity, opened the program with intro
ductions of the speakers and his expressions
of thanks for those who helped make the
program a reality.
Robert L. Dluge Jr., R.W. Grand Master of
the Masons of Pennsylvania, said the
Masons became involved because they con
sider themselves the oldest and the largest
fraternity in the world and feel a strong con
nection to Penn State fraternities.
Brian Fletcher (junior-kinesiology), mem
ber of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, said,
went to (the program) last year, and I think
it's pretty good. I'm the house manager and
it's very beneficial. Everyone can learn what
they need to know, why fire safety is so
important. We learn about a lot of the dan
gers that people don't know about."
Ed Comeau, owner and principal writer
for Writer-tech.com, spoke about specific
Kent invites Abu-Jamal to give speech
By The Associated Press
Students from a second school in Ohio
have invited death row inmate Mumia Abu-
Jamal to give a taped speech.
Abu-Jamal, who is in prison in Pennsylva
nia for killing a Philadelphia police officer,
will deliver a taped speech May 4 at Kent
State University, Jeffrey Ritter„ co-chair of
the student-run May 4 Task Force, said yes
terday.
The event, which marks the 30th anniver
sary of the fatal shootings of four students by
Ohio National Guardsmen trying to quell an
anti-war protest, is not sponsored by the uni
versity.
"The forces hell-bent on (Abu-Jamal's)
execution want to do the same thing as the
forces who killed the four Kent State stu
dents in 1970 silence strong voices of
political dissent," said Justin Hons of the
Kent Student Anti-Racist Action group.
Last week, Antioch College in Yellow
Springs invited Abu-Jamal to give the com
mencement address April 29 via audiotape.
That announcement triggered a flood of
outraged letters, e-mail messages and faxes
from law enforcement organizations and vic-
case studies that took place at Amherst Col
lege in 1975 and at University of North Car
olina Chapel Hill campus in 1996.
Similarities in the two fires include the
lack of open stairways, the presence of
smoking materials, and the absence of sprin
kler systems.
- It's really tragic when we see lessons
repeated over and over again," Comeau
said. "Fire does kill and it's something you
really need to understand and appreciate
how fast it spreads. I've seen it over and over
again."
He introduced the concepts created by
Fred Mowrer, a registered Fire Protection
Engineer in California.
Mowrer's concepts included prevention,
occupation awareness and training, detec
tion and alarm, and suppression.
Tim Knisely, senior Housing and Fire
Inspector of Centre Region Code Adminis
tration, instructed audience members on
what they can do in their fraternity houses to
prevent fires.
Knisely mentioned it is important to make
sure fire and smoke alarms are functioning
correctly, keep fire doors closed, remove
excess trash and furniture from corridors in
homes and fraternities, and check that exit
"What does President
Devine think we are here in
Philadelphia, a bunch of
idiots?"
Lynne M. Abraham
Philadelphia District At orney
tims' groups. Many of the letter-writers,
including the slain officer's widow, promise a
large protest if Abu-Jamal is allowed to give
the commencement address.
Yesterday, Philadelphia District Attorney
Lynne M. Abraham and police officials again
blasted Antioch and its president, Robert H.
Devine, for permitting Abu-Jamal to speak
Abraham read from a letter written by
Devine in defense of the college's decision,
saying it is virtually identical to one written
by Evergreen State College President Jane
L. Jervis in June 1999, when the Olympia,
Wash., college played a taped Abu-Jamal
commencement speech.
Copies provided by Abraham show that
nearly all of Jervis' June 1999 letter to the
WEATHER HIGHLIGHT
High pressure in the southeastern
United States along with a low pres
sure system in the Midwest provided
a strong southwesterly flow to much
of the Northeast yesterday, resulting
in near record high temperatures.
The high temperature in State Col
lege was 64, only 4 degrees off the
record of 68 set in 1982.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mesoscale Convective Complexs
are a unique grouping of thunder
storms that feed off of each other.
They have cold cloud tops, occur
mostly at night, can last can dump
as much as 1.2 trillion gallons of
water. An MCC hit the Oklahoma/
Texas region Friday night producing
numerous severe thunderstorms
and a few tornadoes.
ADDITIONAL WEATHER
Visit the Meteorology Department
at http://weatherpsu.edu
Comments concerning the content of this page
can be e-mailed to
PSUMeteo@psu.edu
and emergency signs are lit and operating
well.
Through a combination of inspections,
house management, and lots of luck, Knisely
said that recent fires at Penn State have had
positive outcomes.
"This gives you a much better respect to
know what could happen in the house," said
Bernie Lubinsky (junior-economics), mem
ber of Kappa Alpha fraternity, of the speech.
Bonnie Woodruff, mother of a fraternity
fire victim, spoke about the importance of
installing sprinkler systems, which could
have saved the life of her son, who died in
the 1996 University of North Carolina fire.
"I want to stress to you, as students, how
important it is to take responsibility for your
selves,- she said.
The final speaker was state Rep. Lynn
Herman (R-Centre), who informed listeners
of current legislation being formed which
will contribute to fire safety for both on-cam
pus and off-campus residents.
Brendan Holloway (sophomore-finance),
member of Kappa Alpha fraternity said, "It
(the program) was very informative. They
told us a lot about how to conduct ourselves
safely. We learned what precautions to take.
Overall, it was very good."
district attorney's office is repeated word
for-word in Devine's message, which is post
ed on the Antioch Web site.
"What does President Devine think we are
here in Philadelphia, a bunch of idiots? This
is a man who is trying to give at least give
the idea that he's giving his honest opinion.
And that's why I say it's claptrap," Abraham
said.
"Either Mr. Devine is a master plagiariz
er, or the two presidents have had communi
cation," she said.
Richard Costello, president of the
Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police,
called Antioch an "obscure at best" institu
tion and added that Devine's nearly identical
letter "indicates something more sinister
here that this is part of an orchestrated
operation." Antioch College officials did not °
immediately return a call for comment.
Pam Africa, who heads the International
Concerned Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
said yesterday, "These are educated people.
They have looked into the case. ... We stand
behind the students of Antioch."
Kent officials are not concerned about a
similar backlash, said university spokesman
Ron Kirksey.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
Barbara Ovnitsky/Collegian