- Title
- The Towerlight, April 2, 1982
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- Identifier
- tl19820402
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- Subjects
- ["Theater -- Reviews","Music -- Reviews","Student activities","Student publications","College sports","Towson University -- History","Fraternities and sororities","Universities and colleges -- Admission","Books -- Reviews","College students","Restaurants"]
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- Description
- The April 2, 1982 issue of The Towerlight, the student newspaper of the Towson State University.
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- Date Created
- 02 April 1982
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- Format
- ["pdf"]
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- Language
- ["English"]
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- Collection Name
- ["Towson University Student Newspaper Collection"]
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The Towerlight, April 2, 1982
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tl19820402-000 "Vol. 75 No. 23 ower ht PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 Language! The blood of Mt soul, sir, in-to which our thoughts run and out of which they grow. � Oliver Wendell Holmes April 2, 1982 Senate says yes The state Senate voted last Friday 36-7 in favor of a bill Introduced by Sen. F. Vernon Boozer, R-Baltimore Coun-ty, establishing a learning resource center at Towson photo by Colleen Kadan State. A companion bill in the House of Delegates pass-ed its second reading Saturday with amendments. A third reading of the bill will take place next week. Student pledgekilled, two injured in crash by Bruce Reid One Towson State fraternity pledge was killed early Tuesday morning and two others were in-jured, one seriously, when the car they were traveling in struck a utili-ty pole on Interstate 83 after the driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel, state police said. Victor M. Siegel, 20, of the 7900 block Long Meadow Road in Pikesville, the driver of the 1981 Toyota Celica, was killed instantly after his car struck a wooden sign pole just north of the Baltimore Beltway exchange on Interstate 83. Siegel and the rear passenger, Charles F. Sutton, 21, of the 100 block Greenbrier Road in Towson, were ejected from the car after it hit the pole and flipped over. Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, said the Baltimore County coroner's office Thursday, after preliminary tests. The driver of the car was apparently exhausted from a long day of pledging activities when he fell asleep at the wheel ear-ly Tuesday, the coroner said. State police said excessive speed may have been a factor in the crash. Siegel was stopped by Baltimore County police earlier that evening for speeding on Kenilworth Avenue Stiffer admissions standards approved by Bruce Reid The Board of Trustees of the State Universities and Colleges last week approved the seven-year Phase-in of a plan to raise the admis-sion standards at five of the four- Year public colleges under the hoard's jurisdiction. The plan, which would require high school students to take specific English, science, mathematics and social studies courses for entrance into the five colleges, does not differ from Towson State's current admis-sion standards, said Lynn Collins, University admissions director. The University already has the highest entrance profile,"" or admission standards of the five colleges under the board's governance, Collins Patricia G. Hauk, the board's associate executive director for academic affairs said. ""About one third of the students [entering four- Year public colleges] come to college unprepared."" A lot of students lack the skills needed to handle college course work, Hauk said, because they are not required by state law to take specific courses that might better prepare them for college � only a certain number of courses in each discipline. The new standards for high school students entering Towson State, Bowie, Coppin, Salisbury and Frost-burg � five of the state colleges in the board's segment � will take ef-fect beginning in the 1984 academic year, and the entire plan will take ef-fect by 1988. The University of Bal-timore will not be affected by the ruling since it does not enroll under-graduate students. The plan requires high school students to: � By 1984 take one English com-position course and an Algebra I course. � By 1985 take one English literature course and one lab-based science course. � By 1986 take a geometry course. � By 1987 take a second literature course, a Western ,Civilization course and a second lab-based science course. � By 1988 take Algebra II. Although the board stresses the need for adequate preparation for college in secondary schools, Hauk said, if a student does not meet the admissions standards under the new plan, a student could be admit-ted to a college at an academic pro-bationary level, and have to prove academic competency or take courses to fill the board's re-quirements while in college. Collins said that the University has not had to operate under an academic probationary system for several years because their stan-dards have been superior to most of the other four colleges affected by. the ruling. Currently, the state Department of Education requires high school students to take four years of English study, but does not require students to take specific literature and composition courses as under the board's plan. The state does not require students to take lab-based sciences courses, World Civilization classes under the board's plan (the state does stipulate that students take U.S. history and American government classes as detailed in the board plan), and specific math courses. ""There's a problem at every university with some students com-ing to college unprepared,"" said Patricia Plante, the University's vice president for academic affairs. However, Plante said, ""I think that generally many of our students already have the required courses"" detailed in the board's plan before they come to Towson State. Both Plante and Collins stressed that the stiffer admissions stan-dards would not affect enrollment at the University mainly because the plan's details are not different from what is already required of high school graduates entering Towson State. Reports have shown that average Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and grade point averages, used to evaluate student's academic eligibility for entrance into the public colleges, have dropped in oast years, Hauk said, which enunciates the need for specific course requirements in the secon-dary schools. Schools in the East that have adopted high admissions standards Science budget inadequate by Mark Baltimore If the divisions of natural science and mathematics continues to receive an insufficient appropriation in. it's budget, the quality of educa-tion students receive will be severe-ly efefcted, said Robert Caret, dean of the division of natural sciences and mathematics. The problem exists because the division's budget has not kept up With the inflation rate in the science field. The budget is not large enough to repair and replace old equipment, and the cost of buying the needed science supplies has also increased greatly. Caret said that the division has ""been experiencing an inflation rate of 23% per year in the United States for fiscal 1981 was 8.7 percent. Over the last three years such !t erns as petri dishes have increased by 59 percent, paper towels have in-creased by--58 percent, and a cat for anatomy classes has increased 25%. Caryl Lewis, chairwoman of the department of 7iiological sciences said that much of the equipment is old and needs repairs. To repair the equipment, the biology department has to ""switch Money from supplies to repair equipment. This reduces our ability to buy supplies,"" she said. The physcis department is also severely affected by the insufficient budget appropriations given the department. ""We are using anti-quated lab equipment, and instruc-tors are working overtime to get the labs in shape so students can work,"" said Eddie Loh, physics department chairman. ""To buy a lazer cost about $4,000 four or five years ago. Today it costs $4,000 to $5,000 just to have the same equipment repaired,"" Loh said. Alan Wingrove chemistry chair-man said that his budget is also not being increased sufficiently each year. ""Some of the chemicals (used by chemistry students) have in-creased anywhere from 300 to 600 percent."" He also said that the cost of repairing old chemistry equip-ment has increased in cost by the same margin. Caret said he is concerned about the monetary problems facing the natural sciences, and is trying a way to resolve them, ""We are working to alleviate some of these budgetary problems through our own state budget process, external funding, external donations, and affiliations with local industry,"" Caret said. Members the division of natural sciences do not feel that students have been affected yet, but that trouble could manifest itself if the budget fails to rise. ""If a lack of sufficient funds con-tinues it will have a deterioration in the quality of education we can of-fer,"" Lewis said. Caret said he feels good about the present program offered to students. However, ""if the state continues to fund us at the level that we have been experiencing over the past years, there could be real problems down the road."" and specific course work, in accor-dance with a national trend, Hauk said, have been better able to prepare students for more rigorous college study. ""Up to now we've been doing a great deal of remediation"" at the lower grade levels in public schools, Hauk said, and also the board has been directing their efforts at the secondary grade levels to raise academic standards. ""There's a great deal of overlapp-ing between high school and college,"" Hauk said, and ""unfor-tunately, there has been very little dialogue between secondary schools and colleges."" The board expressed their concern, in a committee report at last week's meeting, that high school students have traditionally been able to take courses that might not prepare them for college, Hauk said. ""We are optimistic that we are go-ing to deal with the secondary in-stitutions,"" Hauk said, ""and as a result of it students will be better able to handle college work and be less frustrated."" In addition to the required classes outlined in the board's plan to take effect by 1988, the board stressed that several other courses of study were also ""desirable"" to prepare students for college and for the job market. Studies in oral communication, computers, foreign languages, would also better prepare students, the boards says. in Towson. Police said the driver was given a warning at the time. Sutton was listed in serious but stable condition early Thursday, a University Hospital spokeswoman said, after he was flown by state police helicopter to the downtown shock trauma unit following the 2:45 a.m. accident. Michael Carmody, 19, of the 300 block East University Parkway, the right front passenger in the car, received only minor injuries and was released Tuesday from the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. All three students had been pledg-ing for the Alpha Omega Lambda fraternity in the past month, and were out aquiring signatures from fraternity alumni Monday night and early Tuesday morning, one from as far as New Jersey, as part of the initiation rituals. The fraternity is the oldest local organization of its kind on-campus, and was in its fifth week of pledging initiation rituals, and the second night of what is called ""Hell Week,"" the final test of the pledges before they become brothers in the frater-nity. The fraternity was suspended March 26 by the University ad-ministration, and is prohibited from using any campus facilities. The suspension resulted from an in-vestigation of three written com-plaints filed by students and University officials � two seen as violations of the campus hazing policy. Hazing, as stated in the Universi-ty policy, is, ""any intentional act or situation which causes physical pain, suffering, humiliation, or public embarrassment to the in-dividual."" Two food gorging incidents March 10 and 24, where eight students pledging the fraternity were made to eat ""adulterated"" food in the Newell dining hall, pro-mpted University officials to sus-pend the fraternity's privileges pending an investigation of the alledged hazing violations. Tuesday's fatal crash spurred a full-scale investigation of the frater-hity's activities in the past month, as they related to the accident. ""We plan to do our own investiga-tion,"" said Thomas Knox, dean of students. ""Depending on the extent of which the organization [Alpha Omega Lambda] was in violation of the University hazing policy, there will be some penalty,"" Knox said. ""I think there is every possibility that [the fraternity] could be barred from operating on this campus for forever and a day,"" Knox said. The Alpha members apparently ignored a University administration letter last Friday which directed all campus fraternities to pay strict at-tention to the hazing policy, said Dorothy Siegel, vice president for student services. After the fraternity was suspend-ed last week, the Alpha brothers continued their annual pledging rituals last weekend, Dean Siegel said. The eight students pledging the fraternity were dropped off somewhere near Loch Raven resevoir at 3 a.m. Monday morning, by fraternity brothers and told to return to the University by a 7 a.m. breakfast, Dean Siegel said. Continued on page 2 Hazing ,charges brought against campus fraternity by Bruce Reid A campus-based fraternity at Towson State had their privileges to use campus facilities suspended March 26 for alleged violations of the University hazing policy. The Alpha Omega Lambda frater-nity, which claims to be the oldest fraternity on the campus, was directed last Friday by Dorothy Siegel, vice president for student services, not to enter into any new contracts for the use of campus buildings or facilities pending a full investigation of the fraternity's ac-tivities in the last month, and par-ticularly hazing charges related to pledging activities. ""Hazing in any form, is strictly forbidden,"" the University policy states, and ""shall include any inten-tional act or situation which causes physical pain, suffering, humilia-tion, or public embarassment to the individual,"" during fraternity initia-tion activities. Alpha Omega Lambda's pledging activities traditionally occur during what is called ""Hell Week,"" which took place on campus this past week. Of the 11 fraternities and five sororities on campus, the Alpha Omega Lambda president says that his fraternity's pledging rituals are the most visible, but in no way are they harmful, he said. Originally, the Student Govern-ment Association was asked by the University administration to in-vestigate and hold a closed-door hearing on the hazing charges, but the situation has become more serious after the death of one Alpha pledge and the injury of two other pledges, one serious, early Tuesday morning, when the car that the three pledges were travelling in struck a utility pole on Interstate 83. A University committee has been formed to investigate all prior charges against the Alpha fraterni-ty and how the fatal car accident is related to the fraternity's pledging Continued on page 2 Health Fair A volunteer draws the blood from a participant of the Blood Workshop Series at the Health Fair '82. Nearly photo by Edvins Lafranns 600 people attended the event, held Monday at the Towson Center. See story on page 2. "
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