THURSDAY
Dec. 6, 2001
Vol. 102 No. 95 20 pages
Israeli army soldiers sitting atop tanks in a trench secure the area of a new position
in the West Bank town of Ramatlah.
U.S. pressures Arafat
on terror crackdown
By Beth Gardiner
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
JERUSALEM U.S. envoys urged
Yasser Arafat to take harsh measures
against Islamic militants in meetings
and a phone call hours before a suicide
bomber detonated explosives yestei•-
day outside a Jerusalem hotel, further
rattling terror-weary Israelis' nerves.
In Arafat's boldest move yet against
militants, Palestinian police put
Hamm spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin under house arrest late yester
day. llamas has claimed responsibility
for dozens of attacks, including deadly
weekend suicide bombings in Israel.
Palestinian security officials said
Yassin, a quadriplegic, was told he
would be allowed no visitors except for
relatives, and his telephone lines
would be cut.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres said he urged the Palestinian
leader to arrest 36 suspected terrorist
leaders, while other Israeli officials dis
missed Arafars arrests of 151 people in
recent days as a show.
Arafat countered that he was deter
mined to break the terror networks in
the Palestinian territories, but Israeli
military strikes and sieges were mak
ing theAk)3lN*sd, -
Truong
Snyder
By Lynne Funk
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I lafunk@psu.edu
The 23-year-old former Penn State
student who pleaded guilty to entering
the dorm rooms of 12 female students
and indecently assaulting six of the
women in Septem
ber 2000, was sen
tenced to serve 11
1/2 months in coun
ty prison Tuesday,
and could still face
deportation.
Hung "Tim"
Truong was sen
tenced before Cen
tre County Court Truong
Judge David E.
Grine to serve 11 1/2 months and up to
23 months of probation.
District Attorney Ray Gricar said he
was satisfied with the sentence Truong
received.
"It's the sentence that I asked for,"
Gricar said.
Truong's defense attorney, Joe
Amendola, said the sentence he
received was fair considering the
charges brought against him.
"I think we feel the sentence was
Variety of holiday gifts available
By Jennifer Brooks
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
It's the season for long lines, holiday
music and that one person who's
impossible to find a gift for. There are,
however, many popular gift items this
season that might be ideal for that per
son.
The Microsoft Xbox is one of the
most popular gifts this holiday season,
said Chad DiGennaro, the sales manag
er for Best Buy, 1650 N. Atherton St.
The X-Box is a game system that also
can be used as a DVD or CD player. It
has its own hard drive, so no memory
card is required to save player informa
tion.
Similar to the X-Box, the Nintendo
Game Cube is another popular gift for
someone who's looking for a video
game system, DiGennaro said. The
Game Cube is Nintendo's first game
system that uses CDs instead of car
tridges.
Both the Game Cube and the X-Box
may be hard to locate, however, DiGen
naro said.
"We can't keep them on the shelf," he
added. "If you're not here the day they
THE
.••
,
H
"They have to cool down to give me
the chance," he told ABC News.
Israel's air force struck Palestinian
targets Monday and Tuesday, but there
were no Israeli strikes yesterday in
what Palestinian officials said was a
lull aimed at allowing Arafat to act.
An early morning explosion outside
a central Jerusalem hotel showed his
task was far from finished.
Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy
said the bomber may have gotten nerv
ous and detonated the explosives
strapped to his body and packed with
nails and bolts too early. The attacker
died and two bystanders were lightly
injured.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility
for the blast a chilling reminder of a
wave of weekend attacks that killed 25
people in a statement faxed to The
Associated Press.
"This operation is only an introduc
tory and rapid response to the crimes
of the Israeli enemy," the statement
said. It identified the dead bomber as
Dawoud Ali Ahmed Abu Sawi, of Artas
near Bethlehem.
■ Sharon urges Shimon Peres not to quit
Israel's unity government. I INTERNA
110NAL, Page 9
sentenced for
assaults
Hall
appropriate considering the numbers
and nature of the charges against
him," Amendola said.
Early in September 2000, Truong
was arrested after he entered 12
female dorm rooms and indecently
touched six women in them. Truong's
lawyer said alcohol was a factor.
"It's unfortunate that a young man
went out and got drunk it doesn't
change the fact he did what he did,"
Amendola said.
The threat Truong originally faced
was being deported back to his native
country of Vietnam.
Immigration and Naturalization Ser
vice would have been able to automati
cally deport Truong if he had been sen
tenced to more than one year in jail,
Amendola said.
Although Truong faces less than one
year in a Dauphin County jail, the pos
sibility of deportation still exists.
The sentence always has a mini
mum and maximum sentencing time
period, Gricar said
"He'll spend 11 1/2 months in jail and
when he gets out, he'll spend the next
12 months on parole," Gricar said.
Now, Truong's stay in the United
See TRUONG, Page 5.
Christine Caruso (senior-education) and George Allen Butler (senior-MSIS) shop for
gifts at Old State Clothing Company, 310 E. College Ave.
come out, you're probably not going to
see one."
Warm winter wear also is a popular necklaces are what ts
,selling for the
holiday gi ft , said Nicole Houze, manag- holiday season, Houze said. Earring
er of Metro, 324 E. College Ave. Many and rings, in general, also are very pop
different types of sweaters are popular, ular presents, she said.
especially long sweaters, Houze said.
PUBUSHED INDEPENDENTLY BY STUDENTS AT PENN STATE
Americans die in airstrikes
By Chris Tomlinson
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TORA BORA, Afghanistan Out
side Kandahar, three American service
men were killed and 19 others wounded
when a B-52 bombing strike they had
called in went astray yesterday and hit
near their position. Five anti-Taliban
Afghan fighters were also killed and
around 20 wounded.
Anti-Taliban forces battled guerrillas
loyal to Osama bin Laden with tanks
and mortars, fighting their way through
remote mountains toward a cave com
plex where they believe the terror sus
pect is holed up.
Up to 1,500 tribal fighters pushed
down a valley in the White Mountains
toward Tora Bora camp as American
B-52s pounded the area with 250- and
500-pound bombs, setting off orange
flashes and plumes of smoke in the
forested mountains.
Anti-Taliban commanders said their
troops advanced to within a mile of the
anthill-like cave complex in eastern
Afghanistan, sending the Arab,
Chechen and Pakistani fighters of bin
Santa Claus gives a jovial wave in front of Delta Sigma fraternity, 508 Locust Lane. Their house tied for first place
Holiday lights
By Corianne lacovelll
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRRER I cmilll@psu.edu
There were no hats, no gloves and
certainly no snow, but oh, there were
lights. Despite the warm weather,
holiday spirit filled the fraternity dis
trict last night during the fourth
annual Interfraternity Council Holi
day Lighting Contest.
Thousands of sparkling lights cov
ered the houses and lawns of 25 fra
ternities as they vied for the title of
most holiday spirit.
A panel of judges traversed from
one house to the next, led by event
organizer Mark Krull, IFC commu
nity relations chair
"The holiday lighting contest is a
good way to combine community
outreach and brotherhood, with
some friendly competition to spread
holiday cheer," Krull said.
The hours of dangling from lad
ders, makeshift scaffolding and
in State College
"The warmer, the better," she added.
As far as jewelry goes, horseshoe
See GIFTS, Page 5
U.S. Marine Cpl. Brad Luschinsid, 22, mans his machine gun at his lighting hole"
at a forward position at the U.S. Marine operations base in southern Afghanistan.
Laden's al-Qaida network scurrying to
higher ground.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Rear fighters had nowhere to run, with
Adm. John Stufflebeem said U.S. spe- escape routes into Pakistan snowed in.
cial forces were in the area helping
direct airstrikes and gathering intelli
gence. He said Afghan fighters had ■ Factions sign post-Taliban government
already entered some caves in the area agreement. I OPERATION, Page 7
All lit up
make for festive fraternities
hanging out windows paid off for the
three contest winners, who will
receive plaques of recognition.
There was a three-way tie for first
place between Pi Kappa Alpha fra
ternity 417 E. Prospect Ave; Delta
Sigma fraternity, 508 Locust Lane;
and Phi Delta Theta fraternity, 240
N. Burrowes Road.
"This is such a positive thing for
the State College community, a nice
thing that townspeople can take a
walk around and look at. These guys
are good kids," said Mike "the mail
man" Herr.
Herr was one of the five judges, a
panel that included Judy Albin, asso
ciate director of student activity;
Scott Phelan, director of fraternity
and sorority life; Mark Sherburne,
assistant athletic director; and
Cindy Moslak, associated student
activities.
Some houses featured music of
the season, hot chocolate and candy
Inside
Sharon urges Peres to stay
Israel's foreign minister defused a
government crisis yesterday, rebuffing
calls to pull his moderate Labor Party
out of the ruling coalition to protest
stiff measures against the Palestini
ans. I INTERNATIONAL, Page 9
Feds capture Anthrax fugitive
A fugitive suspected of mailing hun
dreds of fake anthrax letters to abor
tion clinics was captured by federal
authorities yesterday. FBI officials said
Clayton Lee Waagner was caught in
the Cincinnati area. Apprehended by
the U.S. Marshals Service, he was
among the FBl's 10 most-wanted fugi
tives. I NATIONAL, Page 8
CATA bus fare to Increase
Starting next year, students riding
CATAs Centre Line will need an extra
quarter to make it to destinations out
side of the downtown area.On Monday
afternoon, CATiVs board of directors
voted to increase its base bus fare
from $1 to $1.25, starting in August
2002. l LOCAL, Page 2
WEATHER Page 2
TODAY: A few showers
30 cents off campus ©2OOl Collegian Inc
searching for al-Qaida members.
Commander Amil Shah said al-Qaida
canes to delight the judges on their
journey. Others, such as Theta Delta
Chi fraternity 305 E. Prospect Ave.,
were holding holiday celebrations.
"We're holding our philanthropy
tonight," said Brian Bertges (fresh
man-chemistry). "Under our tree
are presents that we've collected for
local needy kids," he saki
Each house was critiqued on its
creativity, style and overall appear
ance on a scale of 1 to 10. Point
deductions were taken if the lights
were any color except blue or white
and if lights were used to emphasize
the fraternity's letters.
"Does that count as a big, red
light?" Herr asked, questioning the
use of an illuminated Santa Claus on
the roof of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity
409 E. Fairmount Ave.
When the judges approached Pi
Kappa Alpha, they were greeted by
the fraternity members' depiction of
See UGHTS. Page 5.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Calendar 3
Classifieds . 16 & 17
Comics ' 19
Crossword 19
Horoscope 16
International 9
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