State College Borough Council unanimously passed a resolution last night that reaffirms the local government's support of civil liberties after residents, including Penn State students and professors, spoke before the council.

Mayor Bill Welch said that in his 16 years serving as mayor, he had never seen a national political issue such as the Patriot Act come before the Borough Council and does not believe such an occurrence has happened in the 110-year history of the borough.

Before citizens were permitted to address the council, Borough Council members Tom Daubert and Ron Filippelli motioned to amend the "Keep State College Safe and Free" resolution by removing all reference to the USA Patriot Act.

Borough Council member Elizabeth Goreham said people's focus on the Patriot Act clouds the true nature of the resolution, which is to reaffirm the borough's beliefs in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Elena Cross (sophomore-political science) was one of 20 residents who addressed the council.

Cross supported the resolution, which was brought before the Borough Council by the Centre Region Bill of Rights Defense Committee to show the borough's disapproval of the USA Patriot Act by reaffirming the importance of civil liberties.

Cross asked the Borough Council to pass the resolution by considering the values and ideas of Penn State students.

International students should not have to live in fear while attending school, and students should not be limited in their research and learning because of fear of government monitoring, she said.

State College resident Bob Rightmyer said he has accumulated about 50 signatures from residents who are opposed to the resolution.

The petition expresses support of the Patriot Act and urges Borough Council not to support any meaningless or inappropriate actions that undermine the federal government's responsibility to protect citizens from terrorism, he said.

Rightmyer said he was extremely disturbed when he heard that the local government was becoming involved with a national political issue because it is not included in the Borough Council's charter.

"This [resolution] is a destruction of what we elect political officials to do," Rightmyer added.

Marcia Barrabee, 80, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and protested the Vietnam War, said she felt the need to speak in support of the resolution because of her belief in free speech and civil liberties.

"I never thought I would be the little old lady in the tennis shoes getting up to talk about how long I've been around," she said.

Barrabee, whose family was almost completely wiped out during the Holocaust, was a member of the Women's Rights for Peace during the Vietnam War and helped young men travel to Canada to escape the draft, she said.

"I have a very lengthy FBI and CIA folder, which I am very proud of," she added.

Borough Council member Craig Humphrey said his reaction to the resolution is a favorable one despite the controversy surrounding it.

"There are people who say that a municipality like State College should not be intervening with national political legislation, and I don't agree with that," Humphrey said. "Four hundred other places in the United States have already voted on resolutions similar to this one."

Humphrey said the resolution is an attempt to balance national security with the rights of individuals, and local governments are the organizations that should support such a resolution.

Borough Council member Don Hahn said he supported the resolution because the amendments created a bill that is completely devoid of any specific reference to the Patriot Act.