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The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 1, 1996 - 9
- -- i
Iecent shootings plague several college campuses
By Erica Prosser
the Collegian
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The shooting at
Pennsylvania State University almost two
weeks ago was not the first tire the peace and
ety of a college campus has exploded in gun-
Campuses across the country have had simi-
lar experiences in the past five years - the
most recent at the University of Northern
Colorado.
Joseph Gallegos, 18, took his ex-girlfriend
and four other students hostage less than two
Weeks ago in their residence hall. The man
allegedly shot his three roommates less than 24
hours earlier, then drove across the state to see
his girlfriend.
*3allegos shot his girlfriend in the foot. None
of the other students were injured before the
gunman was shot by police when he stuck his
head out of the residence hall room window.
Representatives from several universities
recently sent their thoughts and sympathy to
Penn State, remembering how they dealt with
their own tragedies.
Rick Moore, director of university relations
at San Diego State University, said counseling
needs to be made available to the student body.
"There was counseling made available to
both faculty and students, we went out and did
workshops for both groups. You need to be
aggressive with counseling, otherwise some
people who really need it may not get it,"
Moore said.
Last spring, San Diego State University pro-
vided counseling after a graduate student, who
was defending his doctoral dissertation, shot
three professors at a committee hearing.
In 1993, at Weber State University in Ogden,
Utah, a student at a disciplinary hearing shot
and injured three people - including a police
officer, before the officer shot and killed him.
Lisa Allen-Hogensen, head dispatcher at
Weber State University, agreed that counseling
helps students move on after a traumatic inci-
dent.
"If a person needs (counseling), get it for
them. Penn State will be surprised by how many
people were affected by this incident," Allen-
Hogensen said.
Officials at other campuses said the incidents
that had occurred at their schools were unavoid-
able, even with university security precautions.
"There was nothing that could have been done,"
said Joe Cardona, assistant director of college rela-
tions at Rowan College in Glassboro, N.J.
"Additional police or metal detectors or any-
thing wouldn't have made a difference,"
Cardona said.
Last spring, a Rowan College student was
shot outside the campus radio station by an ex-
boyfriend.
One major difference between these incidents
and Penn State's is that shooters at these other
schools somehow knew their victims.
At California University of Pennsylvania in
1994, a football player shot two teammates after
he saw one talking to his ex-girlfriend.
One other case in which the gunman didn't
seem to know his victims was at the University
at Albany.
On the last day of classes for the 1995 fall
semester, a gunman held a class hostage for
two hours. No one was killed, and the situation
was resolved - students subdued the gunman.
Joel Blumenthal, associate vice president for
university relations at the University of Albany,
said the school offered immediate counseling
and asked professors to be lenient.
"We offered those students an opportunity to
postpone their finals, most of them wanted to
take them and get them over with so that they
could get home to their families," Blumenthal
said. "Unfortunately, (Penn State's) incident
occurred in the middle of the semester."
The students and faculty at these campuses
said they all felt the incidents were eye openers.
"In general the campus feels the incident is
an unpleasant reminder of the fact that we are
part of the real world ... the university is still
part of a world that we may not want to be a
part of, but are," Moore said.
- Distributed by the University Wire.
I
Pepp
legal
Eugene Maddaus
Te aily Orange
SYRACUSE, N.
IHeadaches. Watery, b
ing its way to campus
bye 'dangers.
Beginning Nov. 1, N
to. urchase and carry
Robinson, director of
Plgic Safety.
ending approval fr
lic Safety will alsc
time in the near future
Michael Sponsler, a
familiar with the chem
"Pepper spray is
Sponsler said. "The ac
that makes any red peI
The compound, ca
inflammatory agent, h
"It has two primary,
ammation of the w
If sprayed in the ey
ies in the eyes and cau
"It could cause the
lf inhaled, pepper sp
pipe to dilate, which it
"It's not enough to t
tne, but enough so ti
Sponsler said.
Nancy Rhodes, lo
er spray to become
for sale in New York
Coalition on Police Accountability, said she believes that
pepper spray could be lethal. Rhodes said several cases of
Y. - Coughing. Wheezing. pepper spray misuse have occurred.
3urning eyes. Pepper spray is mak- "We need to put the brakes on pepper spray," she said.
s, generating debate over its possi- "There have been a number of cases where it appears to be
very, very dangerous, and even fatally so."
ew York state will allow I8-year-olds Rhodes cited cases involving either police misuse of
pepper spray, according to Robert pepper spray or harmful effects experienced by police offi-
Syracuse. University's Department of cers whose pepper spray was ineffective and served only to
enrage their suspects.
om the Syracuse Common Council, Rhodes said she is also concerned that not enough
arm itself with pepper spray some- research exists on the medical side effects of pepper spray
,he said. when used on individuals with illnesses such as asthma or
chemistry professor at SU, said he is diabetes.
nical composition of the spray. "We just don't know enough about it yet," she said.
an extract from cayenne pepper," "What is it SU wants to protect against? The crime rate on
tive idgredient is the same compound campus has been going down.
ppers taste spicy." "It's not like there's this big crime wave."
lled capsaicin, is classified as an Robinson said he is looking forward to the day when his
e said. officers will be armed with pepper spray.
effects: inflammation of the eyes and "We want it before the crime wave comes," Robinson
indpipe," Sponsler said. said. "It's time for Syracuse University to move into the
yes, it causes swelling in the capillar- 21st century."
ses temporary blindness. Public Safety officers must complete a rigorous training
eyes to swell shut." program before they can use the enhanced powers, which
ray causes the capillaries in the wind- include carrying pepper spray, he said.
mpairs breathing, he said. The officers would also be allowed to carry police
hreaten life, not enough to kill some- batons, make warrantless arrests, and use physical or dead-
he aggressor can't keep aggressing," ly force when necessary.
cal representative of the National - Distributed by the University Wire.
..
AP PHOTO
Protest in Haiti
U.N. Cpl. Mario Gagne guards the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday, where popular organizations
burned tires and demonstrated a government move to pay back wages to the former Haitian army.
NASA tunsshufl oper*ations
over to.private industry
a
UC Berkeley, UCLA graduate
student instructors threaten strike
y Kathy Chu
e Daily Califomian~
BERKELEY, Calif. - Graduate
student employees at UC Berkeley and
WLA have threatened to strike if
campus administrators don't grant
teaching and research instructors col-
lective bargaining rights by Oct. 28.
Academic employee student unions
at the two campuses set the deadline in
letters sent Friday to chancellors
Chang-Lin Tien
and Charles
Young. We're
The letters
followed a rul- diwpp fi
*by the state .
P u b i his rt
Employment
Relations Board rulif ..
two weeks ago
to grant collec-
tive bargaining UC Berkeley
rights to gradu-
ate instructors,
readers and tutors at UCLA. The board
nied bargaining rights to
:earchers.
"We're disappointed with this part
df the ruling and we don't completely
agree with it," said John Talbot, a
hember of UC Berkeley's Association
of Graduate Student Employees. "It's
still a strong ruling, however."
The association urged Tien to
review the PERB decision and to
(xtend the ruling to his campus.
"While we are not pleased with
Judge Tamm's decision on graduate
student researchers, we feel the deci-
sion' is a reaso-habltlinterpretation of
the law," wrote AGSE President Lily
Khadjavi. "We, too, would call off our
fall strike if you extend collective bar-
gaining rights to'the comparable grad-
iate student. instructor titles at
Berkeley."
But Debra Harrington, spokesper-
son for the cam-
pus Office of
L a b o r
Relations, said
ited With that PERB's rul-
ing has no legal
o fnhe .. bearing upon
the university.
"The UCLA
y.
n
! 1
.,
"We will give careful consideration
to this letter before responding," she
said. "But I do not have any informa-
tion that this will change the universi-
ty's position."
While AGSE member Talbot
acknowledged that the decision does
not legally bind the university, he said
administrators' refusal to acknowledge
the significance of the board ruling is
another "stall tactic."
"I think that (graduate student
employees) here and at UCLA essen-
tially do the same work under the same
conditions'" Talbot said. "If it applies
there, then it logically should apply at
all of the other UC campuses."
If the university does not grant grad-
uate student employeescollective bar-
gaining rights by the Oct. 28 deadline,
AGSE members said they are ready to
approve a strike date at the associa-
tiops Oct. 30 meeting.
"We're presenting Chancellor Tien
with an opportunity now to avert a
strike," said Khadjavi. "We hope (cam-
pus administrators) will come to the
bargaining table."
Academic employee unions across
UC campuses are also expected to take
strike votes next month in an effort to
build system-wide momentum for
graduate student employees' struggle
to gain recognition as university
employees.
- Distributed by the University Wire.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -
In the biggest change in the history of
the space shuttle program, NASA is
turning over day-to-day operations to
private industry beginning today to save
money.
"Today is the first day of a new space
program in America," NASA
Administrator Daniel Goldin said yester-
day in announcing the $7 billion, six-
year contract with United Space
Alliance, a joint venture of Rockwell
International Corp. and Lockheed
Martin Corp.
Officials promise the shift will be
gradual, with shuttle flight safety the No.
1 priority.
In the short term, not even NASA and
its contract employees will see much dif-
ference.
NASA still will give the final "go" for
launch and make the important decisions
during a shuttle flight, as it has for the
past 15 years. It will retain ultimate
responsibility for shuttle safety and hire
the astronauts. And it will still own the
four space shuttles.
But it will ease itself out of the rou-
tine, day-to-day work, such as preparing
the shuttles for flight, training the astro-
nauts and operating Mission Control.
Those duties will belong to United
Space Alliance.
Don't expect shuttle ads anytime
soon, though, or shuttle seats sold to the
highest bidder.
Maybe that will come later, said Kent
Black, USA's chief executive. Much,
much later.
The contract, which was announced
Monday but was actually signed late last
week, designates United Space Alliance
as the single prime contractor for shuttle
operations. It includes two two-year
extension options that could bring the
contract's total estimated value to $12
billion over 10 years.
USA was formed in August 1995 and
chosen by NASA as the single prime
contractor three months later.
By compressing many contracts into
one - this first phase consolidates 12
previous contracts - NASA hopes to
improve shuttle safety, continue to fly
shuttles seven or eight times a year, and
reduce costs in the $3 billion-a-year
shuttle program.
Because Rockwell and Lockheed
Martin already handled most of the shut-
tle work, the transition, while historic,
won't make much immediate difference.
NASA and USA officials said they
could not specify how much money
would be saved.
Some NASA employees question
whether USA can do the job as
promised, especially with construction
of an international space station just a
year off, and they fear reduced govern-
ment oversight could lead to another
Challenger-type disaster. Some fear that
the changeover itself could prove a dis-
traction that could lead to potentially
fatal mistakes.
Less NASA involvement also means
fewer NASA jobs, a money-saving goal
of the Clinton administration that has
caused morale to plummet at the
Kennedy Space Center.
Already, thousands of shuttle jobs
have been cut. USA officials promise no
major layoffs, at least in the next few
years. About 9,500 people nationwide
currently are employed by USA.
Altogether, about 23,000 contracted
employees work on the shuttle program,
in addition to about 2,600 NASA work-
ers.
"If anyone has a concern we'll stop
the process and evaluate whether we
ought to move on," Goldin said.
Under the agreement, USA will be
penalized for failing to meet safety and
mission objectives. The better the corn-
pany does, the more it will earn and the
more taxpayers will save.
"We are telling, the contractor we're
going to give you 35 cents of every dol-
lar that you save us" Goldin said.
- John Talbot
Graduate Student
case does not
pertain to UC
Berkeley and
that's important
for people to
understand," she said.
Harrington said the ruling could be
reversed and noted that the PERB
board initially awarded collective bar-
gaining rights in 1983 to UC Berkeley
graduate student employees. The board
later overturned this decision, with the
state supreme court upholding its
reversal.
Harrington added, however, that the
letter would not be taken lightly by
campus administrators.
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