Penn State University - La Vie Yearbook (University Park, PA)

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Rtrospect The Equal Rights Amendment failed to be revived in the Senate. d5 Eventful. Novem- ber was Filled with events; there was always something occurring somewhere. Internationally, the month of November brought with it the end of US involvement in Grenada and the continuation of military conflicts in Lebanon. Nationally, elections set precedents as women and blacks successfully captured political vic- tories. The nation focused its attention on nuclear war, due to 11The Day After? and reminisced about the late President John F. Kennedy on the 20th anni- versary of his death. Statewide, we watched our own elections, Three Mile Island, and became wary of chickens. Things were exceedingly busy and eventful in Happy Valley. Students who were tired of waiting in dorm contract lines each year received good news from the Association of Residence Hall Students tARHSL University administration accepted a new dorm contract acceptance system by ARHS. The new system based assignments on semester standing, with requests for singles and suites based on a random lottery procedure. And, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, convicted of violating IFC codes on physical abuse, was dissolved when the University officially revoked recognition of the fraternity. The conviction stemmed from a complaint filed by a 19-year-old female stu- dent. On a pleasanter note, Penn State had a reason to cheer-the football team was winning. However, some of the excitement got a little out of hand. The tradition of tearing down the goalposts after the Lions football victories continued into the last home game of the season, despite pleas from the Under- graduate Student Government. The Athletic Depart- ment offered the cost of a set of goalposts, $4,500, to USG if fans refrained from the ritual following the Notre Dame game. Despite public service announc- ments by Coach Paterno, several football players, and USG President Emil Parvensky, one goalpost was torn down following the victory and three students were injured in the melee. -Diane Miller Brutal. December was a brutal month, despite the holiday season. Un- kind in its acts, December brought more disputes in the Mid East, terrorist bombings in London, left guer- illa gains in El Salvador, and one of the most savage U.S. winters on record. December brought the upris- ing of Syria, the fleeing of PLO leader Yasir Arafat, and the Fire from the battleship New Jersey. Nation- ally, December brought the announcements of many Presidential candidates and a very frigid blast of Arc- tic air. But December brought Christmas as well. It gave many of us that 11Cabbage Patch doll1' craze as thousands rushed to get ahold of one of those plain rag dolls. In Happy Valley, as classes ended in the first semester, and the brutal final week ended, stu- dents went home for break and cheered on the Lions in the Aloha Bowl. And, being a belated Christmas present to Penn Staters, the Nittany Lions defeated the Washington Huskies 13-10. -Angie Nuss 28 Retrospect INTERNATIONAL The turmoil in the Mid East was insurmountable. Sixty Is- raeli soldiers were killed November 4 when a truck filled with explosives crashed into Israeli headquarters in Tyre. Israel retaliated with jet raids on Palestinian artillary camps, and the US, Israel, and Syria all strengthened military forces in the area as tensions mounted. Syrian troops succeeded in defeating PLO leader Yasir Arafatls last military stronghold in Lebanon. Arafatls troops withdrew into Tripoli, causing a temporary cease-fire in the fighting. Later, the battleship New Jer- sey fired its 16-inch guns at Syrian anti- aircraft batteries in the mountains be- hind Beirut. Its effect echoed through- out the Mid East as Arafat prepared to flee in Tripoli. And the PLO troops began to evacuate, also. In London, another sort of terrorist event wreaked havoc on Christmas shoppers. A car bomb exploded in Lon- donls fashionable department store, Harrods. At least five people died and 91 were injured. But there was some good news. Presi- dent Reagan declared that US. troops were being withdrawn from Grenada, their mission complete. And though US. troops were still in Lebanon, Christmas would not be bleak for them. At age 80, Bob Hope raised his USO banner once more, headed for the shore of Lebanon with Brooke Shields and other performers, and entertained the US. troops over the Christmas holi- days. POLISH NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE Lech Walesa along with his wife, Danuta. appears at a press conference before the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize. NATIONAL November was election month, and 1983 election results held quite a few surprises. Democrat Bill Al- lain was elected governor of Mississippi despite charges that he was a homosex- ual. Women scored a victory when Martha Collins was elected the first woman governor of Kentucky. However, the womenls rights move- ment suffered a defeat at the hands of the Senate when the Equal Rights Amendment failed to be revived. The amendment came up six votes short of the required two-thirds majority. Both the House and Senate must adopt the ERA before it can make a second try at gaining 38 states approval. Employees of Greyhound Lines Inc. went on a nationwide strike after refus- ing to accept a contract offer. Tragedy FOR DISCOVERING JUMPING GENES. 81-year-old Barbara McClintock received the Nobel Medicine Prize. She is the First woman to receive the Medicine Prize alone.

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t2 year. The student drop-out rate at Penn State increased 4170 over last A bomb blast killed 225 An earthquake. 7.1 on the Richter US. Marines and Navy scale, left 75,000 homeless in Tur- men in Beirut. key. the first time a black woman took the top two positions in the Miss America Pageant. Vanessa Williams, was Crowned Miss America, and Suzette Charles was chosen first runner-up. There were more bright sides. For Some baseball fans, the bright side was the victory of the Baltimore Orioles Over the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. STATE There was a loss in the Philadel- Phia area. Jim O'Brien, one of that areas highest paid and most popular pCWScasters, died during a parachute JUmp, when he became entangled with a riend and cut himself loose, too close t0 the ground for his chute to open. The 43-year-old OiBrien. a veteran of over 0Ojumps, left a deep feeling of sorrow among his colleagues and viewers of Channel 6-Station WPVI. The media also had another loss. Television. news anchorwoman Jessica Savitch, 35, of New York Cityefor- merly of Philadelphiaeand New York Post excctutive Martin Fischbein. 34, drowned in a car accident in New Hope, PA. After the couple left a New Hope restaurant, the car Fischbein was driving overturned in the nearby Dela- ware Canal. LOCAL The State College Area School District decided that Mark Twainls classic, Huckleberry Finn, did not pro- mote racism and would not be banned from the ninth grade classroom. The decision was triggered by a complaint earlier by State College resident Mar- garet Allen. The year before, Allenls son, Antwi, was asked to read the part ofJim, a runaway slave. Allen had felt the novel promoted racism by present- ing a demeaning view of blacks and us- ing the word llniggcrlT repeatedly. But a study by the school district in conjunc- tion with the University found that stu- dents who read the book in class ude- mostrated both a deeper sensitivity to racial matters and a llmore positive atti- tude towards racial acceptance. There was also much clamor over dis- puted stipulations for downtown living. After a number of Penn State students were fined for having more than three unrelated people residing in a house, much ado was made about this and oth- er housing laws, including the noise or- dinance. Soviet Shooting It was to be an ordinary flight for the 269 people who boarded the Korean Air Lines jet. The plane landed in Anchorage to refuel and prepare for the long stretch ahead. Probably none of the passengers knew it would be their last glimpse of land. Now, the story becomes obscure. The pilot was to take the most northernly route to Seoul bypassing the Kamchatha; the site of Soviet missile testing. Al- though the pilot reported the plane was 115 miles south of Hokkaido. Japanese radar spotted it at 115 miles north of it, heading for Soviet territory. Then a conversation could be heard and was translated. uTake aimf' llAim taken. Then, one minute later, llWhere did it go? The reply, 2We shot it down. At first, the news was that the plane was forced to land in Soviet territory, then that it landed safely. Then much later, the devastating news came . . . Outrage could not strongly enough describe President Reaganls reaction, as he and others called it a tlwan- ton, calculated, deliberate murder. Although they first denied it, the Soviet Union admitted to shooting down the jet, simply because the US. had sent over a uspy plane? The jet had carried Senator Lawrence McDonald, the leading anti-Com- munist in the government. Whatever the Soviet ex- cuse, the results of the ghastly bombing will never be forgotten-269 lives were lost. VANESSA WILLIAMS Uem. the new Miss America, is crowned by the outgoing Miss America, Debra Maffett. Williams is the first black to ever win. Retrospect 27

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Despite a failed computer, Co- lumbia landed after a record ten- day voyage. A car bomb exploded on holiday shoppers of Harrods in London. Penn State defeated the Washing- ton Huskies in the Aloha Bowl 13-10. resulted when a bus driven by a new Greyhound employee collided with a car, killing the driver of the car. In an- other incident, a striking employee in- tentionally caused a collision with a COmpany bus, injuring three people. And, Mother Nature was violent again. A blustery snowstorm buried the Central Plains region over the Thanks- glVlng holidays, causing travelers to be Stranded in snow drifts up to eight feet high. At the same time, heavy thunder- Slorms hit the lower Mississsippi Val- ley, and tornados touched down in Ala- bama. In December, a frigid blast of air hll the nation making it the coldest De- cember on record for most regions. This years Christmas, hot item was not a video game. It was a homely, vi- nxl-faced doll. The Cabbage Patch chis created quite a madness. Many IhCidents of violent crowds waiting in lines to get into stores to buy the dolls Were reported. Each doll was different and came with its own name, birth cer- tificate, and adoption papers ready to WHAT IS SO SPECIAL about these homely V'nyl-faccd dolls? No one seems to know, but Cabbage Patch dolls caused mobs of people to r Sh to stores to buy them for Christmas. be signed. STATE Pennsylvania was also in the spotlight with election results. W. Wil- son Goode was elected mayor of Phila- delphia, becoming the cityis first black mayor. Goode defeated two opponents with 5592; of the vote. The state House looked at a compro- mise plan to change the state's no-fault auto insurance law. Pennsylvaniais pre- miums were the eighth highest in the nation and proposals were made for a new state-wide plan. The states poultry flocks were swept with an outbreak of Avian influenza, forcing over 50 flocks to be destroyed and a quarantine to be on the Lancaster County area. The highly infectious dis- ease caused birds to lose weight, pro- duce fewer eggs, and eventually die. LOCAL Subramanyam Vedam, 22, of State College was sentenced to life in prison, for the murder of his one-time roommate, Thomas Kinser. Last Febru- ary a Centre County jury convicted Ve- dam of premeditated murder. And, the All-American Rathskellar unofficially broke the world record of most cases of beer t826i sold in one day to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Beyond Your Imagina tion On November 20, more than 100 million people watched the devastating effects of nuclear war take place before their eyes in the ABC television movie, tiThe Day After. The film sparked much controversy and debate across the nation as experts and the gener- al public alike contemplated the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. The $8 million production was shot on location in Lawrence, Kansas. The film depicted the ordeals of fictional characters who survived a nuclear attack on Kansas City, Missouri. In iiThe Day After? Kansas City was reduced to a pile of rubble in a matter of seconds following a nuclear attack by the Soviets. ABC denied charges that the film was political in nature, pointing out that the movie blamed the start of the war on neither the US. or the Soviets. ABC also denied that the film was a comment of the Reagan administrationis arms policies. At the same time the movie was being shown, U.S. medium-range missiles arrived in Europe. Despite the numerous complaints about the movie, there was praise mixed with criticism. Whether accu- rate or not in its portrayal, iiThe Day After success- fully brought the seriousness of the all-too-likely pos- sibility and consequences of nuclear war to millions. LITTLE LEE WOO. age 4, yawns after the long trip from Korea, with 7-yearvoid Ahn Gi Sook as they stand with President and Mrs. Reagan. Mrs. Reagan brought them to the US. for heart surgery. Retrospect 29