The Towerlight, April 10, 2003

tl20030410-000 "The TOLUE, Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Thursday, 4/10/03 Women stand up against violence - 5 Professor chosen for law fellowship 5 'Sopranos' mix music, comedy 13 'Angry' comedy misses potential 14 Departments Opinion 2 News 5 Nation 6 Campus Briefs 7 Police Blotter 8 Arts 13 In A Theater Near You 14 Art Around You 15 Sports 20 Bankshots 19 In This Corner 20 Classifieds 16 USM braces for $67M in cuts Soap suds hill fish outside Union Saul Stoogenke The Tawerbght Earlier this week, someone put soap into the pond outside of the University Union, killing about 20 fish, maintenance personnel said. In addition, a rock was thrown into the pond, breaking its drain. General Assembly slashes millions from higher ed in 2004 fiscal year budget Sarah Breitenbach The Towerlight After a 90-day legislative session characterized by debate over slots and cuts to higher education, the General Assembly closed Monday night. Representatives confirmed edu-cators' fears when they approved at $67 million cut to the University System of Maryland's budget for the 2004 fiscal year, which begins in July. In a news release issued by the USM after a House subcommittee approved a $37 million cut in mid- March, Chancellor William E. Kirwan said that a cut of that size would strongly impact public high-er education. ""...These proposed cuts are harmful in the extreme and will do long term damage to the state's most important engine of economic growth,"" he stated. The USM Board of Regents will meet Friday at Towson University. The meeting will take place in the Chesapeake Rooms of the University Union, and discussion of elements for the 2004 fiscal year budget is set for the agenda. Looking at the proposed budget nearly a month ago, interim President Dan Jones said major cuts would reverberate in University curriculum. ""There are a menu of strategies. The only thing I can say with secu-rity is that ... if [the cut] comes through, Towson will be in a posi-tion to effect academic program-ming,"" Jones said. David Harnage, senior vice presi-dent and chief fiscal officer for Towson, said until there is a full understanding of the depth of the cuts and how the USM plans to dis-tribute the burden of those cuts, it would he impossible to determine how TU will handle it's share. ""We have tried to make allowances for contingent strate- See BUDGET, page 9 Today High 45 Low 39 Friday High 47 Low 38 Saturday High 54 Low 38 Sunday High 62 Low 42 Monday High 66 Low 47 "