The Towerlight, April 15, 1977

tl19770415-000 "n a lys is Few veterans serve in untested Senate by Steve Verch ""For new senators it was about average,"" said Richard Andrews, former SGA Parliamentarian, about the first meeting of the newly elected SGA Senate. Andrews was referring to the fact that Tuesday's Senate meeting started late because a quorum was not present, and that senators continued to drift in once a quorum was finally achieved. In addition, the senators required five different votes to decide on a student appointment to the Aca-demic Council. With upcoming budget hearings, to take 'place in a little over a week, Senate approved the purchase of 14 thre�-ring binders for each member, to use during the hearings. However, senators did not ap-prove the second request of SGA Treasurer Erik Perkihs that they also provide necessary funds for Xeroxing of necessary information to fill the binders. Eight of the 14 senators have never served in Senate before. Two of the six who have served did so for only three weeks before the March SGA elections. Only three of these Same six had ever even run for senator before. Senior Nancy Payne is easily the tuost experienced member of the new Senate, having served as a senator from 1975-76 and SGA vice President under Joanne Finegan from 1976-77. ""Senate has become the most Powerful arm of the SGA . . . in Money . . . in everything,"" she stated. Listing her reason for seeking a Senate position even though she will graduate M December, Payne said flatly, ""Somebody needs to know What they're doing during the budgetary process. ""They [most of the other senators] have not had any experience,"" she said. Payne's successor to the office of vice president, Debbie Leslie, herself a very active senator in the last Senate, differs in her viewpoint of the new Senate and its budgetary responsibilities. Leslie's recommendations After having distributed Senate Committee assignments, Leslie an-nounced her recommendations for a chairman of each of the three Senate committees: Appropriations, Gov-ernment Operations, and University Affairs. Leslie's choice for chairman of the all-powerful 'Appropriations commit-tee and the person who will preside over the budgeting hearings is Brian Ridgeley. According to Leslie, Ridgeley assured her of his knowledge of Parliamentary procedure. Coupled With ' the tact that Ridgeley is a second year sophomore majoring in liusiness Administration, Ridgeley would seem an ideal choice. However, several apparent flaws have appeared regarding Leslie's tecommendation of Ridgeley. One of the two new senators who served only three weeks before the March elections, Ridgeley's only 4tmpaign comments about the SGA's financial policy centered around his desire to see some Changes made in the Financial Advisory Board (FAB), the group that processes organizations' bud-get requests. Experienced Senators Ignored Secondly, Leslie did not even Mention the names of such experienced senators as Donna Sauerborn, Ann Garman, or the aforementioned Payne, a veteran of two past budget proceedings. All three are members of the Appropri- 4tions Committee. Finally, Ridgeley, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, when 48ked if fraternities or sororities should be funded by the SGA, tesponded, ""No comment."" The two remaining Senate corn- Mittees , Government Operations tIod University Affairs, are as devoid ?,f experience as Appropriations is lilted with it. Freshman Levi Johnson is potentially the most promising member of either of the 'wo committees, having served actively and enthusiastically in the Last Senate. Leslie's choice for chairman of the Governmental Operations commit-tee, Johnson ran for Senate ""to represent the student body of this campus to the best of my ability and to improve student services."" Joining Johnson on the Govern-mental Operations Committee is another freshman, Charles Frazer. Last fall, Jo Lee Lesser was accepted instead of him to fill a senate vacancy, but Frazer still remainad interested in student government and eventually replaced Andrews as Senate Parliamentarian, when An-drews graduated last December. Frazer was not appointed to the post until March 1. ""The Senate dragged its feet. I could have been appointed Decem-ber 14,"" said Frazer, who claims that he is not bitter about the experience. University Affairs Committee The least experienced committee is the University Affairs Committee, which in recent times has chosen to ""take on"" Dining Services. Leslie hopes that this will not be the trend for this year's committee, hoping instead that the committee will involve itself in other issues, such as a comparison of TSU Bookstore prices with those of surrounding colleges and universi-ties. Commenting on her role as vice president, Leslie stated that she ""will probably"" follow in Nancy Payne's ""footsteps,"" but will seek to answer more questions and offer fewer opinions than her predeces-sor. In addition, Leslie said she hopes she can avoid the type of Payne-Woodard conflicts which marred the last Senate, when charges of racism were made. Racially, Senate is predominantly black, with a 9-5 ratio of black senators to white senators. Refer-ring to this ratio, reversed from last year, ex-senator Marc Land com-mented several weeks ago, ""I'm very curious to see how the budget hearing goes when the BSU [Black Student Union] budget is present-ed."" A constant source of conflict between Finegan and BSU Presi-dent Erik Hanks during the last days of her administration was the BSU's supplemental budget request. Fine-gan vetoed the supplemental budget request, and Senate sustained the veto. Formerly head of the Residence Council and vice chairman of Academic Council, SGA President Ruark has had absolutely no Please turn to page 3 VOL LXIX NO. 23 TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY APRIL 15,1977 � Ed Consroe, a recent TSU graduate, confers with co-worker Mike Wicldein about duties of his new position as assistant to the director of Special Services. TL photo by Arnie Breidenbaugh Civic Center still hosts TSU graduation exercises by Ruth Ann Leftridge Graduation ceremonies will not be held in the Towson Center this year, but will again take place in the Civic Center. The Civic Center will be used because it is ""air conditioned and bigger,"" said Wayne Schelle, vice president of Business and Finance. ""I felt, from a convenience standpoint, that people would rather go to the Civic Center"" where it is air conditioned, Schelle said. Towson Center is not air conditioned because of a state policy that does not allow such systems in physical education buildings, Schelle explained. ""Even Cole Field House [Univer-sity of Maryland] is not air conditioned,"" he said. Air conditioning ducts are avail-able in Towson Center because they were included by the architects when the Center was built. ""All we need are the cooling units,"" Schelle said. Profits from the Towson Center New Senate approves Ruark appointees by Steve Verch The newly-elected SGA Senate held its first meeting last Tuesday and unanimously approved Presi-dent John Ruark's first two cabinet appointees, Diane Szymanski and John Shehan, as Secretaries of Organization and Communication, respectively. Shehan served as Secretary of Organization under former Presi-dent Joanne Finegan this past year. He was retained by Ruark after he expressed interest in the Communi-cation post formerly held by Matt McGlone. Formerly assistant Treasurer un-der Erik Perkins, Szymanski was tapped by Ruark to fill Shehan's vacant position. This week's Senate meeting was dominated by welcoining speeches by Ruark and treasurer Perkins to the new senators, and the filling of important posts emptied by the results of the March SGA elections. Brian Ridgeley was elected by voice vote to be president pro tempore of the Senate. Ridgeley will preside at those meetings which SGA Vice President Debbie Leslie is unable to attend. Traditionally a weak post, president pro tempore Follow Monday schedule today! Students should follow their class schedules for Mondays, today, Priday, April 16. The changes do not include evening courses. The University has eliminated two Mondays so far because the semester began on a Thursday, and t aster vacation ended on Tuesday. 11 order to regain one of the Mondays lost, the Academic Council 4Ppreved a schedule for this spring Which included Friday's transposi-tion of classes. Dr. Esslinger, chairman of the Council, explained that classes held WY on Mondays suffered with the aPring break. ""By eliminating a Monday instead of a Friday, Monday cl got short-changed,"" he said. r rather, they would have been short-changed had the Council not approved of the schedule variation. The meeting at which the Council decided this semester's scheduling occurred over a year ago. Dr. Esslinger explained that the d�ci-sion was made so far in advance because courses and their times have to be approved and coordi-nated so that students can be notified of what is available, and when. Also, final exam dates must be staggered so that none conflict with any other. could well become an important position should Leslie suddenly resign during Ru,ark's term of office, as Ann Marie Lowe did when David Nevins graduated in December 1975. An unsuccessful candidate for president in March, former senator Charles Klein was elected after five votes to serve on the University's Academic Council. He will fill the vacancy created by former vice president Nancy Payne when she assumed her new duties as a senator. According to Senate rules, no senator may be elected by the , Senate to serve on any University Committee. Diane Ferguson was elected Senate Parliamentarian. Though having no voting power, the parliamentarian position has been regarded in recent times as indispensable in the smooth opera-tion of the Senate. Charged with the responsibility of insuring that the Senate abides by parliamentary procedure, the position was created in the Spring of 1976 by the passage of a bill authored by the then lame duck senator Richard Andrews. Andrews later secured the posi-tion for himself and diligently saw to it that Senate meetings thereafter were conducted properly. Ferguson replaces the newly elected senator Charles Frazer, who was parliamen-tarian for the last three weeks of the last Senate session. The Senate also approved legisla-tion designating dates for the annual budget hearings. The hearings will be conducted Monday April Tuesday April 26, and Wednesday April 27. Today is the last day to drop a course without receiving an ""F."" To drop a course, take a signed change of schedule form and $5 to the registrar's office in the Administration Building. promotional concert series will ""hopefully"" be used to purchase air conditioning units, he said. Funds for the air conditioning would have to be provided by the University itself because of the state policy, Schelle explained. ""I'd like to get the place air conditioned as soon as we can he said. The Vice President of Business and Finance said that approximately 8,000 to 9,000 people usually attend graduation ceremonies. Towson Center would be able to hold a maximum of 7,000 Schelle said. This would mean a reduced number of tickets to the graduation ceremonies for each senior. Until 1968 Towson State gradua-tion exercises were held on an outside stage located between Glen Esk and Ward Hall. Schelle explained that the number of graduating seniors increased so much that it was impossible to seat all those who wished to attend. Then, in 1969, graduation exer-cises were held on the Burdick baseball diamond. ""We had a dozen, maybe 15, people pass out at the graduation ceremonies"" due to approximately 96� weather, Schelle said. The weather and seating prob-lems caused by having graduation outside combined to convince administrators to hold the ceremo-nies at the Civic Center, Schelle said. Consroe returns Graduate helps Eckels by Kathy Pascuzzi Another TSU graduate has a job on campus. Ed Consroe, who was MA's secretary of Organizational and General Services, is now assistant to Special Services Director Charles Eckels. Consroe paid his job is the ""exact kind of thing"" he wants to do. When he was SGA secretary, he became interested in administration. After his graduation last year, he taught mathematics in Baltimore County Junior High Schools. Consroe said that he was hoping he wouldn't have to teach for long. ""I wanted to get into educational administration,"" he said. Consroe found that he would have spent ""in the neighborhood of ten"" years teaching before progressing to an administrator's job. ""About one teacher of every 400 who wants an administrative job gets one,"" he explained, ""and it's based on seniority."" Most beginning administrative jobs, he continued, are in the schools, said Consroe, and ""I'm not interested in being a principal or assistant principal."" He said, ""I'm more interested in central adminis-tration."" He felt his chances to advance that far in the County system were slim. Consroe said his job is diversified, ""I do some management, some personnel, some financial work,"" he said. He enjoys being part of Special Services, because he's ""working with people I respect. I respect the individuals as well as their talents."" Consroe said that through his experience with the SGA, he was able to learn ""how the department works."" He feels that this experi-ence in scheduling and arranging events ""was weighed in"" when he was a candidate for the job. He said that even though he had extensive contact with the Auxiliary Services department, he was ""amazed to realize the amount of work done"" by University employees in preparing for and coordinating events.. He said they ""try to do as good a job as possible, to see that life on campus is as good as possible."" Consroe said he doesn't know where this job will lead. He is hoping to ""advance through the University."" He will receive his MA in Administrative Science in 1978- 79, and feels that a change could come in the job ""at least by that time."" He is ""not sure"" whether changes in his job will be through increase in responsibility or if he will change jobs in the University. He said he ""wouldn't object"" to staying im as Eckels' assistant, if duties were expanded. ""I'd like more concentrated exposure in some area, such as the financial aspect."" Consroe feels that the awarding of his degree ""will be the turning point"" in his career at TSU. Abernathy is next to speak, April 22 Reverend Ralph Abernathy, cru-sader for human rights, will speak on April 22 at 8 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium. Dr. Abernathy's speech is part of the SGA Sponsored Celebrity Speaker Series. Dr. Abernathy is best known for his assistance to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Montgomery, Alabama boycott of businesses in 1955-66. The boycott represented a non-violent approach to the cruelties of segregation and discrimination in the United States. During the Montgomery cam-paign, Dr. Abernathy founded the Montgomery Improvement Associ-ation, the direct forerunner of the Southern Christian Leadership Con-ference. Dr. Abernathy succeeded Dr. King as president of the Conference. Before becoming pres-ident, Dr. Abernathy was chief financial and budgetary officer of SCLC. Since the Montgomery boycott Dr. Abernathy has been jailed 38 times in his struggle for civil rights. Dr. Abernathy is Pastor of the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He has served there since 1961. When he was Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. Abernathy's home and church were bombed in protest of his views on human rights. Dr. Abernathy is also a leading spokesman for the Freedom Move-ment. Tickets for . his lecture are available at the University Union's box office. Military is not involved with trenches; Towson Center linked to campus electric Contrary to rumor, the trenches dug around the Fine Arts building are unrelated to ROTC practices or civil defense exercises. Neither are they part of an attempt to move the building closer to the rest of the cmpus. In fact the digging has little to do with the Fine Arts Building. The trenches cross Osier Drive, snake behind the Osier Medical Center and finally reach the Towson Center. According to John Suter, Director of Campus Planning, workers are ""extending the primary electrical feeder system."" In simpler terms, he explained that ""what we are doing is tying the Towson Center into the campus electrical system."" Towson Center is now relying on a transformer provided by the Gas and Electric Company for its power needs. The future link-up will also supply energy requirements for the new stadium, which he expects will be finished by September 1. The trenches will also be carrying communication lines. With them, the athletic building will have available various media services, such as dial-access programs. Suter said that funding for the construction comes from a general loan under the ""regular capital budget appropriation."" Electrico, an electrical contracting firm, is doing the work. Unfortu-nately, ""they're missing a couple thousand feet of cable"" said Suter. This will hold up the completion of the construction for possibly two more weeks. Digging around the Fine Arts Building will probably continue for another two weeks, said John Suter, director of Campus Planning. TL photo by Oliver Dziggel "