4 " / It A national group rtio You Believe? • • •2. .1 named Penn State , t • 4 , • • a military-friendly • ti ...I:, ' 44 tr . X mor, institution APA (I( , glen Olt gonfart LOCAL, Page 3. 9 A preview of the upcoming Lady Lions basketball season I SPORTS, Page 12. Co ile llie g ail l y an psucollegian.com Published independently by students at Penn State PSU short on vaccines By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER University and local health officials are encouraging stu dents to get both the HINI and the seasonal vaccine while it lasts, as national flu vaccine shortages continue to affect the Penn State community. Today is the last scheduled day students can get the seasonal flu vaccine in the HUB-Robeson Center for $26, which will be billed to bursar accounts, University Health Services Fewer campus elms hit by illness By Lexi Belculfine COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Last November, elm yellows dis ease infected 47 of the 400 elm trees on campus, prompting fears the campus's historic foliage could be at risk There's good news for tree lovers: This year, only three were afflicted. - This is a moderate success, but we are not out of the woods, so to speak," Office of the Physical Plant (OPP) spokesman Paul Ruskin said. A relatively new disease to Penn State elm trees, elm yellows has no known cure, said Kelleann Foster, chairwoman of the University 'free Commission. "Every other place that it hit, it has wiped them all out," Foster said. While elm yellows is isolated to two specific parts of campus Mitchell Road and Burrowes Road the disease is very present in other parts of the valley. "When you leave the campus area, Penn State is in the midst of a raging epidemic," Ruskin said. "But we have teams of trained people dedicated to saving the elms and some of the best scientific guidance for plant pathology in the nation." OPP Superintendent of Grounds Jeffrey Dice and plant pathology professor Gary Moorman led the team of OPP landscapers who col lected this year's elm data. Several factors contributed to the disease's decline, including a cold spring, Ruskin said. "We think the cold weather has affected the leaf hoppers and decreased the number of nymphs on trees," he said, speaking about the disease's insect carriers and their young. Elm yellows is spread by insects, although researchers have yet to isolate a specific carrier, Moorman said. Another factor may be the antibi otic injections administered to some of the elms but Moorman said there is no evidence of that tactic's success, as targeted trees and those See ILLNESS. Page 2. Mellow yellow The Elm Yellows disease hit campus hard last year, but the number of infected trees has gre so atly decreased this year. 4 S 2 30 "-a 20 lis n E Z 10 2005 200k.Z - 4' Year "Ikikand Gary Moorman urce: Paul Ru Justine King/Collegian (UHS) Senior Associate Director Doris Guanowsky said. Thursday marks the end of the UHS-administered mass HINI nasal vaccines, which are free. Students can schedule an appointment online at www.sa.psu. Ryan Ulsh/Collegian edu/uhs. Lucero Hernandez (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) "You need a vaccine to protect receives a flu shot. The national shortage has left PSU needing more. you from each one," Guanowsky said. - There are two different uncertain when more will more appointments. This is the strands going around." become available, she said. last one as of now" Although UHS originally "The production is way down The HINI virus has infected ordered about 30,000 HINI vac- than what they had expected," college-aged groups more than cines, it has only received Guanowsky said. "If we get more those older another reason 4,800 vaccines to date and is vaccines, then we'll open up See VACCINES, Page 2. Q v/91 -oft. at/ . ~~ r R ) 08 0 t Abby Drey Collegian Joe Tomczuk, 84 and a Marine veteran, talks with friends at a Marine Corps event on Tuesday. Veteran reflects on U.S. and you better be there," Tomczuk said. "The discipline I think they took people and molded them into something, I'd say good cit- More than 60 years ago, Joe Tomczuk izens, when they got out." By Katie Sullivan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER served three years with the Marines. The 84-year-old-man, dressed in a striped Although much time has passed, the disci- collared shirt and a crisp pair of khakis, pulled pline and punctuality the military instilled in out a thick, leather-bound photo album him is still apparent. Tuesday that holds pictures of his time in the Tomczuk's lawn in front of his split-level service. home on Saxton Drive in State College is cut Black and white images of fallen comrades, in perfectly straight lines, clean of any leaves Asian architecture and a little Chinese boy the or debris. Inside, the scene is no different Marines dubbed "Smokey" in a homemade pictures of his children and grandchildren line Marine uniform stare back from the black the walls and mantel in perfect symmetry, photo paper. with nary a pillow or cushion out of place. If He reflected on his time in the military as there's one thing his service taught him, it's people across the nation celebrate Veteran's neatness and punctuality, he said. Day. "When they said fall out at 6 o'clock, it's not "People don't realize what we have here in a minute of 6 or a minute after 6. Six o'clock See VETERAN, Page 2. Hull follows dreams This is the first in a three-part series about Penn State linebackers overcoming personal adversities. By Nate Mink COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER MILLHEIM, Pa. Dressed in a navy blue cap and gown, Josh Hull lifted him self out of his seat and took the podium to address the 107 other seniors at Penns Valley's high school graduation ceremony. Standing underneath clear skies on a stage set up in the middle of the school's football field, the 2005 valedictorian glanced down at his speech proofread by his mother and spoke for about five minutes. "I can remember him telling them, 'Follow your dreams, — said his father, Jeff, who sat in those same bleachers on Friday nights just seven months before, watching his 205-pound son run and tackle players To read more about Fenn State football on the football field. SPORTS, Page 8. Courtesy of Joe Tomczuk Joe Tomczuk served in the Marines in the 19405. His military career took him around the world. BOUNCING Who better to deliver such a message than the 4.0 grade-point average Penn State-bound football player? Someone who, although he comes from a small, old mill town tucked in the mountains of cen tral Pennsylvania, would fight through improbable odds to climb from invited walk-on to leading Linebacker U in tackles his senior season. Getting to Penn State Addressing the seventh grade members of the football program, Penns Valley var sity coach Martin Tobias took one look at a See DREAMS. Page 12. service Cnr - s Osueg ar• Josh Hull (43) tackles Minnesota's Duane Bennett (22) during Penn State's 20-0 shutout of the Golden Gophers on Oct. 17. Police obtain phone records By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Authorities obtained phone records for the man who told police he accidentally shot and Hied his 21-year-old girl friend Oct. 24 in game lands just 30 minutes from campus, as police decide whether to file criminal homi- cide charges. Troy R. Tierney who Penn State Perryman officials said is listed as a Penn State student told police he accidentally shot his girl friend, Racheal Lynn Perryman, of Port Matilda, with an inline muzzle loading rifle because he thought she was a deer, according to court docu ments. Tierney and Perryman were hunting in Black Moshannon State Forest in Union Township. Tierney called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. after the shooting, police said. An investigation revealed Perryman contacted Tierney's par ents via texts that night. "Food (a 8 do not load gun again," Thomas R. Tierney, Troy Tierney's father, texted Perryman at 7:32 p.m., according to the warrant filed Tuesday at Judge Allen Sinclair's office. Perryman texted Thomas R. Tierney at 7:15 p.m. that same night she and Troy Tierney were "Lookn 4 deer," according to the warrant. Only two text messages were stated in the warrant. Thomas R. Tierney told police the couple had dinner plans with him and his wife, Melinda Sue Tierney, according to court doc uments. The text messages, phone records and medical records could help authorities establish a timeline, police wrote in the warrant. "[The records] also may shed light on Perryman's and Troy Ray Tierney's s' ate of mind," according to the warrant. Tierney told police he didn't drink alcohol before the incident, but police said he may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to court docu ments. Authorities asked Verizon Wireless to keep Tierney's texts. according to the warrant. One bullet to the upper body killed Perryman, who was also involved in a rape case. Perryman told police in January that Kyle Lingle, 21, raped her in August 2008 at his residence, according to court documents. Lingle, of Milesburg, faces rape and sexual assault charges, accord ing to court documents. To e-mail reporter: kncso63@psu.edu