The Towerlight, April 16, 2009

Thursday www. thetowerlight. com by Baltimore Student Media for the Towson University Community April 16, 2009 TliETaiuerlirjhb.EDm... View Video Word on the Street and send a Letter to the Editor ‘American History Shock’ opens at Center for the Arts, hearkens to old-school blood and gore Arts, page 15 Room, board costs on the rise Casey Prather/ The Towerlight A tour group walks passed Tower C Wednesday. The cost of living in residence halls and dining on campus will rise this fall as part of system- wide increases. Costs for parking permits will also rise. Residence halls, meal plans go up for fall semester NICK DiMARCO Senior Editor While tuition remains level for Maryland schools this fall, stu¬ dents will face increases in both room and board, among other fee hikes. Housing costs at Towson will increase by four percent next semester. The costs of living in a standard multiple room, which comprise about 80 percent of the campus, will go from $5,054 to $5,256. Towson Run Apartments leasing rates will also be adjusted by four percent. Board rates will climb five per¬ cent for all meal plans, and stan¬ dard parking passes will be $10 more for a annual pass and $5 more for a semester pass. The University System increases were approved Friday by the Board of Regents. "We continue to look at what the actual costs are and what we need to do to come up with whatever inflation factor to keep our head above water," Towson President Robert Caret said. "System-wide we look at each other to make sure nobody is doing anything precipitous, just so we politically don't go out there on the edge. There isn’t much of spread among other campuses." Board rate increases range from a low of 1.5 percent at Salisbury University to a high of seven per¬ cent at Frostburg State University. According to Jerry Dieringer, assistant vice president for hous¬ ing and residence life, there are three factors that determined the four percent increase. First was the rising "cost of doing business," he said in reference to the costs of materials, supplies and utilities. The second factor was the mini¬ mum wage increase, scheduled for July 24, which will affect more than 150 student employees on campus, who will be receiving $7.25 per hour, as opposed to $6.55. The final factor, which Dieringer said was the most important, was the money that has to be put aside for renewal and renovation projects. In the coming months, Richmond Hall, Newell Hall, Prettyman Hall, Scarborough Hall and the Residence Tower will all undergo renovations. "We want to do two things. First of all, we want to be able to be financially good stewards for the renewal and replacement of facili¬ ties, maintaining a top-tier pro¬ gram in terms of what we can offer our students programmatically and staffing," Dieringer said. "At the same time, we want to keep it as reasonably low as possible, the increase, based on student See INCREASE, page 10 SGA talks resolution to support free speech across USM In response to porn controversy at UMD, students prepare statement for state DANIEL GROSS Associote News Editor The Student Government Association is forming an official stance regarding stu¬ dents’ First Amendment rights after the pornographic film screening controversy at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Maryland State Senate has asked the University System of Maryland to draft a policy for the on-campus screenings of XXX films. With that, Towson’s SGA has drafted a resolution in support of the UMD students who chose to show the adult film "Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge." The resolution will be voted on dur¬ ing next Tuesday’s meeting. Wide sup¬ port from the SGA Senate points toward Towson student approval of the screening of pornographic films on campus. SGA senator Lauren McDade wrote the resolution with the help of SGA director of legislative affairs Sarah Elfreth to support and defend the College Park students, for¬ mally expressing their view of adult films on college campuses. McDade said she would support a screening of a XXX film if it were brought to TU as the "Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge," was brought to UMD, as long as it was shown through student fees and ticket sales. “The main reason for the resolution is to show support for the students at College Park who are having their right to freedom of speech violated and to state unequivo¬ cally that all students in the USM have the same rights and we will not stand for them being violated,” she said. After UMD’s first attempt at showing the film, the Maryland Senate threatened to cut state funding from any college that showed XXX films at on-campus locations, according to Elfreth. In UMD’s case, this See PORN, page 10