Darrell Rishel was one of more than 2,300 candidates for a baccalaureate degree Saturday who exited the gym floor with facial expressions of relief and joy. His mother, father, two grandmothers and brother attended commencement. A clash between county government and higher education escalates to a state court next week when Centre County formally appeals a 1987 lower court decision exempting Penn State from paying real-estate taxes on a private on-campus bank. Few students and faculty members know what actually happens during a day in the life of a dean. There are 12 deans at Penn State's University Park campus and each of them has a different job description. This Collegian reporter had the opportunity last semester to spend a complete business day with Hart Nelsen, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The Department of Enviromental Resources' late February deadline for a sewage facilities plan update is coming too fast for Centre Region Planning Commission member Peter Everett. While the icy winds of January are sweeping through State College, most students are waxing their skis and buying new mittens. But members of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity are already anticipating the spring thaw and their Superstars Weekend in April. Commencement day ended tragically this weekend for a University student whose father and brother were killed early Saturday morning en route to her graduation ceremony. On a recent Friday night in State College, Jack Nicholson haunts the big screen as the devil in the The Witches of Eastwick and also demands to watch the World Series as the lead crackpot in the classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is expected to decide this week whether to investigate sewage facilities at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview, as requested by U.S. Rep. William F. Clinger, R-Warren, a Clinger spokesman said. A presidential veto overturned a Undergraduate Student Government Senate decision Dec. 9, allowing area governments to retain control of the area senator appointment process. BELLEFONTE -- The town looked like a war zone yesterday. The "Big Eight" accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand recently announced a $100,000 endowment establishing a faculty development fund in the College of Business Administration. A 1935 alumna has donated a total of $110,000 to the University's library system in an endowment fund that will purchase books and other materials, but will not finance construction of a planned addition to East Pattee. ALTOONA -- Commonwealth campus student services are still inadequate compared to University Park's, University President Bryce Jordan told several representatives of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments yesterday. University students from three dormitories are experiencing the newest wave in housing security, and the University is expected to add three other dorms to the program today. A culturally diverse climate cannot be achieved unless the relationship between minorities and the administration here improves, said one of three social scientists who assessed the University's environment for minorities during last semester's final two days. The Campus Loop just doesn't loop like it used to. University officials, in a move said to be one of a series of administrative changes, unofficially announced Friday that Director of Safety David Stormer has been promoted to assistant vice president for safety and environmental services.
A long, hard road ended for the women's basketball team on Saturday as the Lady Lions lost to Atlantic 10 Conference rival St. Joseph's, 83-69. The loss ended a rough six-game stretch over the semester break that saw the Lady Lions' record drop to 3-7. The women's swimming and diving team showed its determination to win in 1989 by trouncing the Ohio State Buckeyes, 85-55, Saturday. Tennessee proved to be too much for the men's swimming and diving team this weekend as Penn State placed second to the Volunteers Friday and Saturday. The wrestling team closed 1988 by defeating Edinboro and Lehigh in dual-meet competition and placing fourth in the 26th annual Midlands Tournament. After dropping its semifinal match to Arizona State on criteria, the wrestling team rebounded with victories over North Carolina and Michigan to place third Saturday at the National Wrestling Team Championship in Hampton, Va. Even the most die-hard, blue-and-white-bleeding, Penn State basketball fans had to wonder how their beloved Nittany Lions could narrowly lose to national power Florida State, unconvincingly defeat Division III Juniata and, quite simply, choke at McGonigle Hall against Temple during the last two weeks of December. If Penn State's schedule could somehow be made into a movie, the title would have to be The Scheduling Gods Must Be Crazy.
Collegian Editorial My Opinion: Denise Janssen