Quarterback Tom Bill may have been suspended from the University despite an announcement Friday that he voluntarily withdrew to enter an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Students who receive three alcohol-related citations from University Police Services are usually suspended, said Donald T. Suit, director of the Office of Conduct Standards. University police cited Bill for public drunkenness in September, his third alcohol-related citation in the past three years.

Suit could not comment on the redshirt senior's case. But he said suspended students often are required to undergo rehabilitation before being re-admitted to the University.

"Usually by the time they end up with a second (offense), or if they get a third one toward the end, they could get an extended probation, but it'd be rare. . . . You'd probably get a suspension," Suit said.

But L. Budd Thalman, associate athletic director for communications, said, "I have no knowledge of it (a suspension)."

Bill could not be reached for comment but his mother Mildred Bill said, "There is no truth to that statement at all."

Asked why Bill did not receive a suspension, Suit said, "Well, I can't talk to you about an individual case, specifically. I guess you're probably making an assumption that he didn't receive a suspension."

Bill said in a press release issued Friday that he was admitting himself "on my own initiative."

"No particular or specific incident motivated me to do so," he said in the release. "On the contrary, I wanted to take any precautionary measures necessary to prevent the problems that I faced last fall to reoccur."

Bill's first citation came in March 1987 for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. He was cited again in November 1988 for an underage drinking violation. He paid fines of $222 and $173.50, respectively, for these violations, said a spokeswoman for District Justice Clifford H. Yorks.

Bill was cited last Sept. 18 for public drunkenness, for which he paid a $248.50 fine, the spokeswoman said.

Bill was then suspended from the football team by Coach Joe Paterno on Sept. 19 for an unspecified violation of team policy. While the suspension was never formally lifted, Bill played against Syracuse four weeks later and split time with starter Tony Sacca for the remainder of the regular season.

Suit said a suspension usually follows several offenses. "Now we will frequently sign a suspension with a requirement that a person has to show evidence of residential treatment prior to returning."

He added that because of a backlog of cases, students usually are not disciplined until the following semester.

For example, Suit said he was only yesterday processing citations handed down by University police at the beginning of November. If Bill were suspended because of the September incident, he would likely have received word only this month.

"Many of the (students whose) cases that I'm dictating now will not be suspended this semester," Suit said. "Because unless . . . a person is endangering health and safety, I wouldn't dump them out when they've got that heavy an investment in the semester."

The news of Bill's withdrawal first broke in a letter written by Bill and delivered by an anonymous source Thursday night to sports columnist Ron Bracken of the Centre Daily Times. The letter appeared in Bracken's column Friday.

"(Bill) felt that Ron Bracken had handled his situation in the past quite professionally," Times sports editor Dwight Kier said. "(Bill) probably had felt that (Bracken) could do the same again."

The letter and the press release were similar in content.

"Since my much-publicized incident of last September, I have been working at resolving what appeared to be a serious problem in my life," Bill said in both the letter and release. "Progress has been steady but I recently felt that I approached a cross-roads and very much wanted to increase my chances of cleaning up this situation once and for all."

Although it is not known where Bill will undergo rehabilitation, Diane Reed, a nurse at the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Aliquippa, said most programs follow the same basic format. Gateway's program runs about 28 days. Patients are divided into eight small therapy groups and are also assigned an individual therapist, Reed said.

Bill also said in the letter that he intends to re-enroll at Penn State for the fall semester.

Athletes must earn an average of 24 credits per year to remain eligible, according to the NCAA's "satisfactory progress rule," but Associate Athletic Director Ellen Perry said Bill would have no worries in that area.

"He's in fine shape (academically)," Perry said. "That's not an issue."

The status of Bill's grant-in-aid, however, will be determined by Paterno and Athletic Director Jim Tarman.

"I would have to say that he's on a one-year renewable scholarship just like everybody else is," Perry said.

Offensive coordinator Fran Ganter said only a few people knew about Bill's decision before the announcement.

"It's something that Tom and Joe got together . . . and they talked about," Ganter said. "It wasn't a staff decision or anything like that."

Paterno could not be reached yesterday for comment. In the press release he said, "(Bill) has worked diligently to overcome his difficulties and has made excellent progress. The counseling and treatment available in a clinic setting is the next logical step."