WEDNESDAY
Dec. 5, 2001
Vol. 102 No. 94 20 pages
Mike Bailey (freshman-business) works with his tutor, Sui Chaing Lin (sophomore-computer science) in the East Area Lodker Room
Cream of the crop
PSU athletes yield stellar graduation rates
By Jeff Rice
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER jar342@psu.edu
Tucked away in a little nook between
The Bryce Jordan Center and the Nit
tany Apartment complex, where the
majority of Penn State student-athletes
live, is a small building called the East
Area Locker Room. It's not well-known
to most, but ta student-athletes, it's a
second home.
Upstairs, the• hallway is silent, as is a
well-lit room with bare gray walls and
partitions on the tables. At 7:30 on a
Tuesday evening, only a few students
are in the room, wring fiver texts or
scribbling math pffiblems into a note
book Soon, though, there will be more.
For Penn State student-athletes,
evening study hall becomes as much a
part of their daily routine as team prac-
Police investigate bus accident
By Lynne Funk
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I lafunk@psu.edu
The State College Police Department
is continuing the investigation of the
school bus/pedestrian accident that
resulted in the death of Penn State stu
dent Shellie Smarowsky.
Lt. Diane Conrad of the State College
Police Department said, "the investiga
tion is not complete but there are no
charges pending against the driver."
David Johnson, 27, of Boalsburg, was
operating the bus that turned right onto
South Garner Street when the accident
occurred. Johnson could not be
reached for comment.
No new information about the inves t
ligation was available yesterday, Con
rad said.
Preliminary investigation revealed
that Smarowsky, who was walking east
on East Beaver Avenue, stepped into
Inside
Bush: Arafat display peace
President George W. Bush said yes
terday it is time for Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat to crack down on Islam
ic militants and demonstrate whether
he supports peace with Israel. I
NATIONAL, Page 12
Calendar debates continues
Two university committees met yes
terday to discuss the calendar, with
still no consensus being reached
among the faculty, staff and students
involyed. "They could not decide what
the best change would be," said Facul
ty Senate Chair John Nichols. "There
fore, no formal proposal was made,
nothing got resolved." I LOCAL, Page 7
Welsh receives accolades
Penn State women's soccer player
Christie Welsh added some more hard
ware to her trophy case yesterday.
Welsh, who led the Nittany Lions in
scoring for the third straight year, was
awarded the prestigious Hermann
Trophy, which is given to the nation's
best soccer player. I SPORTS, Page 13
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tices. The university stresses that
freshman student-athletes get off to a
strong academic start, which is why all
freshmen are required to put in at least
seven and a half study-hall hours each
week
Many big-time NCAA programs excel
on the field but are far less productive
off of it, as their graduation rates range
from subpar to dismal. This is not the
case at Penn State, which expects its
athletes to graduate. And when the
numbers are examined, the expecta
tions usually are met.
Of the last four student-athlete class
es studied by the NCAA (of players who
entered as freshmen in 1991, N., '93 and
'94 and who earned or failed to earn
degree within six years), Penn State
graduated an average of 77 percent
second best in the Ing Ten. The
the side of the bus and then fell under
neath it, according to a police press
release. She sustained multiple internal
injuries, which resulted in the 21-year
old's death, police said.
Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig
said the university
has resources for
students who are
disturbed by
Smarowsky's death.
"It's obviously a
terrible tragedy and
we are saddened by
it," Kendig said. "We
hope students who
are upset by it take Smarowsky
advantage of the
services provided by contacting Univer
sity Health Services or stopping by the
HUB." Kendig said the university has a
policy that allows students who have
been through a tragedy to be excused
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Calendar 3 National 12
Classifieds . 16 &17 Opinions ...10 & 11
Comics 19 Scoreboard ....14
Crossword 19 Sports 13
Horoscope 16 TV Listings 18
International 9 Weather 2
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school's averages in the three major
sports football and men's and
women's basketball also were
among the conference's best, at 70 per
cent, 80 percent and 82 percent, respec
tively.
At Penn State, it's all about establish
ing a "culture," an environment where
importance is placed on academics
early and maintained throughout an
athlete's stay at the university While
many athletic programs at big-time
Division I schools struggle to meet
NCAA graduation standards, this cul
ture consistently helps put Penn State
among the nation's best.
"Penn State has always had a great
culture for acade4nics and athletics
being combined," Athletic Director Tim
Curley said. "And I think the credit goes
See ATHLETES, Page 4.
from classes. "We have counseling
services around the clock," Kendig
said.
Stharowsky (senior-public relations),
who was from the Philadelphia suburb
of West Chester, would have graduated
within the coming year.
Kendig said in the past, Penn State
has given students who passed on an
honorary diploma. "I'm not sure of the
criteria needed," Kendig said. "I'd
imagine it would have to do with the
number of credits completed but I
believe that has been done in the past."
Mike Weinstock described his girl
friend and roommate as "incredibly
smart" and an "extremely hard work
er" who was going to "make something
of herself." Weinstock had to inform
Smarowsky's mother about the death of
her only child Monday.
Witnesses to the accident are asked
to call State College Police at 234-7150.
Tips lead officials to Philadelphia
Officers are conducting follow-up interviews in connection with Cindy Song.
After investigators on the case of
missing Penn State student Cindy Song
received several phone tips, which are
being looked into, members of the Fer
guson Township Police Department
and an FBI agent traveled to the
Philadelphia area Monday in order to
conduct follow up interviews, according
to a press release.
The police continue to investigate the
disappearance of the 21-year-old
woman who has been missing since the
early morning hours of Nov. 1. Investi
gators were unavailable for comment
yesterday.
Penn State Spokesman Bill Mahon
said the university has been involved in
the investigation since she was report
ed missing.
Mahon said the university has been
working with police through Penn State
Police Services as well as with the fam
ily of the missing student.
By Lynne Funk
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I lafunk@psu.edu
Troops
for bin
battles
By Chris Tomlinson\
ASSOCIATED PRESS WR
JALALABAD, Afghanistan Anti-
Taliban troops hunting for Osama bin
Laden said they clashed yesterday
with al-Qaida fighters near their moun
tain hideouts in Afghanistan. Else
where, Taliban forces pushed tribal
fighters back from the airport near the
former ruling militia's last bastion,
Kandahar.
In Germany, Afghan factions negoti
ating a post-Taliban government
agreed to form a 29-member council to
run the country and set to work on the
difficult task of determining who will
hold the major posts.
Hundreds of anti-Taliban fighters
piled into trucks and set off yesterday
for the White Mountains south of Jalal
abad, where local officials believe bin
Laden and hundreds of his al-Qaida
fighters are hiding. Provincial security
chief Hazrat Ali said he was assem
bling a force of about 3,000 fighters to
join the hunt for bin Laden.
"This fight has just begun," Gen.
Israel unleashes
bombs, missiles
Two Palestinians were killed by airstrikes that hit
close to Arafat's compound and the Gaza Strip.
By Ibrahim Hazboun
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
RAMALLAH, West Bank Israel
used bombs and missiles yesterday to
pressure Yasser Arafat to move
against Palestinian militants, striking
just yards from the Palestinian
leader's West Bank offices and in the
were
killed
Strip. Two Palestinians ere
killed and about 150 were injured in the
attacks.
The campaign stirred opposition
from moderate Labor Party members
of Israel's ruling coalition, who boy
cotted a Cabinet vote on tougher action
against the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's gov
ernment said it was sending a stern
warning to the Palestinian leader that
there would be even harsher reprisals
if he did not crack down on militants
who have been attacking Israelis.
"The purpose was to send a clear
military message .... 'Friends, we've
had enough, take the responsibility
that you have and stop the terrorism,"
said the Israeli army spokesman, Brig.
Gen. Ron Kitrey.
The air attacks came in response to
weekend bombings and shooting
attacks on Israelis by Islamic militants
that killed 26 people and wounded
nearly 200. Kitrey said yesterday's
raids targeted Palestinian Authority
installations because the Islamic mili
tants' headquarters "are secret and
cannot be hit in this type of attack"
Arafat, speaking to CNN after the
airstrike on his Rainallah compound,
"e ve met with her family and Mahon said the university will do
developed a poster for the family," whatever it can to help find Cindy Song,
Mahon said "We put the same informa- but now, they are looking to the police
lion on our public information Web site to do what they can.
linked to the Penn State Web site,,;' "It's awfully limited to what more we
The university has can do," Mahon said. "She just van
been polling its ished into thin air. Realistically, a lot of
resources to help this is going to depend on the police."
with the investiga- Mahon is as astonished about the dis
tion. appearance as the many other people
"A number of dif- involved with the search.
ferent university "This kind of crime is so strange and
offices have been so incredibly rare, I think everybody's
working together to just so shocked and baffled by it."
help with whatever Students now continue to work
e can," Mahon Song together with the university and police
said. to support the family and help with the
For example, Mahon said, the univer- search.
sity set up a Penn State e-mail account
for Song's brother Kiho Song while he
is staying in State College.
As well as Internet media, Mahon
said the university has been involved in
setting up the reward that has been put
on the posters for the return of Cindy
Song.
30 cents off campus ©2OOl Collegian Inc.
search
Laden;
persist
Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S.
joint chiefs of staff, said in Washington,
D.C.
All said a patrol of - about a dozen
men plashed briefly with a group of al-
Qaida fighters, who abandoned a tank
and scurried off to higher ground.
There were no casualties.
Mohammed Zaman, defense chief
here in Nangarhar province, estimates
up to 1,200 al-Qaida fighters are hiding
in the White Mountains of eastern
Afghanistan, which include the Tora
Bora cave complex. -
Ali said days of intensive bombing
have driven al-Qaida fighters from the
See TROOPS, Page 6.
A Palestinian school girl screams and
cries in shock during an Israeli army
missile attack in Gaza City.
accused Sharon of trying to undermine
his efforts to combat terrorism. The
Palestinian Authority has rounded up
some 130 members of the militant
Islamic Jihad and Hamas groups since
the weekend, and Palestinian officials
said the sweep would continue despite
the Israeli raids.
■ Arafat is taken underground after the
bombings I INTERNATIONAL, Page 9
An e-mail list has been set up for the
students and community members who
attended a meeting Thursday organ
ized by Black Caucus.
An e-mail that was signed, "Sincerely,
Family and friends of Cindy Song" was
sent to the e-mail list and thanked the
See TIPS, Page 6.
WEATHER Page 2
TODAY: Partly sunny
M ore coverage
• U.N. envoy hies to ethnically
balance the new Afghan govern
ment I Page, 8
■ World Trade Center victims may
be "vaporized." I Page, 8
See ISRAELIS, Page 6