The Towerlight, February 10, 1983

tl19830210-000 "The Towerlight The monuments of wit survive the monu-ments of power. �Francis Bacon Vol. 76 No. 17 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MA February 16, 1983 Senate votes to retain mini-mester By James Hunt After more than 30 minutes of debate, the University Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against a motion to withdraw the January rnini-mester from the academic calendar. Debate on the motion, which attracted a capacity crowd to the third floor of the University Union, focused on whether Towson State would be better served by removing the -mini-mester from the academic calendar and beginning the spring semester earlier. The Senate, which is composed of faculty, administrators and stu-dents, quickly established that the rnini-mester was not a budgetary liability for the University. Budget officials said that the mini-mester actually made a profit of $10,000, but in the long run was a ""break-even situation."" Patricia Plante, vice-president for academic affairs, said that given the Present computer capability and the number of grade reports, tran-scripts, diplomas and academic dismissals the registrar's office Must process between semesters, the spring semester could only begin a week earlier even if the mini-niester were dropped. ""As far as the calendar is con-cerned, I don't think a great deal is gained,"" Plante said. Plante, however, did take issue With the fact that ""only 31 courses [out of 72 offered] fulfilled the original intent of the mini-mester"" �to offer students and professors the chance to study a non-tredi-tional academic experience in-depth. The remaining 41 classes, Plante said, were ""business as usual""�reg-ular courses already offered during the school year. ""It's time to question this,"" Plante said. ""I'm going to go to the departments and the standards corn mittee ... originally [the standards committee] would not approve a course from the regular curriculnih."" The faculty in the audience seemed evenly split over the motion to drop the mini-mester. Annette Flower, dean of the Col-lege of Liberal Arts, said that the Council of the College of Liberal Arts had voted its ""full support of the concept of Jan-term."" Mary Lu Larsen, professor of physics, said that there was ""not much support for the mini-mester . . . almost a consensus to drop the program"" among faculty she had polled informally in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics. Several faculty suggested drop-ping the mini-mester to enable University students to get a jump on the competition from other schools for summer jobs. A student responded that dropping the mini-mester would not be much help: ""You don't go looking for jobs in May."" See SENATE, page 2 President Hoke�Smith at University Senate meeting: some good news and some bad news. Smith , Plante report to Senate: the good, the bad the miserable By James Hunt In their reports to the University Senate Tuesday, President Smith and Vice-President for Academic Affairs Plante had some good news, some bad new, and some, well, mis-erable news. The good news, according to Smith, is that 75 percent of Towson State's graduates have retained full-time employment despite the pres-ent poor market conditions. Also, applications to the Univer-sity and enrollment contracts are up over this time last year and 30 per-cent of the applicants thus far are from out of state, an encouraging sign, Smith said, for the residence halls. On the negative side, Smith said, the ""no-show"" rate of those who have been accepted to the Univer-sity is higher this year and the school is being hurt by the effects of the recession on the east side of the county. Many students from that area have decided to go to two-year colleges such as Essex and Dundalk Community Colleges instead of Towson State, Smith said. The miserable news is that 500 students were academically dis-missed at the end of last semester. ""We are not so scared of enroll-ment declines that we are not dismissing students [for academic reasons],"" said Plante. New frat joins TSU greeks By Kevin Shabow mbda Chi Alpha, the nations d largest fraternity, will sponsor a cnaPter here beginning this semester. lepresentatives of the national aternity will visit the University on ebruary 20 to colonize the group and uelP with its first rush. I(The new fraternity, formerly Alpha baPpa Epsilon, is the result of efforts Brad Howatt, SGA vice president, .and Tom Hartsock, SGA senator, to 'eeure the national pus, fraternity on cam-ot Ri ansack said he and Howatt Dually founded Alpha Kappa Ep-on at the University with the inten- :11n of gaining national affiliation in e future. Their fraternity, Alpha '4131:1a Epsilon, was dedicated to eras-he g barriers, and eliminating practices. With their accep-sntl ee by Lambda Chi Alpha, Hart-and Howatt feel they have eached their goal. borothy Siegel, vice president of 8ttolident affairs, has given her support b the group's efforts. ""We've always seen hospitable to fraternities,"" w'.egel said. New groups provide a ide range of opportunities on cam-us, sShhee said. Siegel said she is encouraged by the tact that Lambda Chi Alpha is a na- 1,011a1 fraternity with high standards. said dealing with local frater- .""ties can be problematic because beyond a certain point, standards are not enforceable. Despite the incident last semester, where a fraternity, Alpha Omega Lambda, had it's charter revoked by the University for hazing violations, Siegel remains positive about the future of Greek organizations at the University. She said that the goals of any fraternity, however must be con-gruent with those of the University and it's administration. Francis LeMire, dean of placement and a Lambda Chi Alpha alumni from the University of Michigan, said of new fraternity, ""I am impressed with a group like that."" Le Mire said he believes that frater-nities can be an excellent vehicle to foster pride and confidence in Towson State. Lambda Chi Alpha is a non-hazing fraternity. The members of the new University chapter hope to de-emphasize certain aspects of frater-nity life that have contributed to an ""Animal House"" view of Greeks. ""It's not just fun and games,"" said Howatt, who is impressed with the ""practical help"" programs provided by Lambda Chi Alpha. Despite the age restriction on drink-ing, Howatt and Hartsock said they are confident about the future of fraternities at the University. They said the drinking age restriction will force other fraternities to become more responsible. On the beach By Edvins Lagzdins Cold weather is only a state of mind. Just ask the Headless Lady on the Beach"" SGA nixes added funding for ISA In their second meeting of the semester, the Student Government Association Tuesday defeated a bill to grant supplemental funding to the Jewish Student Association and an-nounced tentative plans to air an X-rated movie as a fund-raiser later in the semester. Explaining why the JSA did not receive the additional funding, Senator Tom Hartsock made it clear that the organization was neither well-prepared nor well represented at the meeting. None of the officers of the organiza-tion were in attendance at the meeting and the group's representative was unable to answer the senators' ques-tions to their satisfaction. And, said Harstock, ""they came to us too late asking for money."" The JSA had originally requested $327.80; the bulk of which was intend-ed to help defray the cost of Jewish Awareness Week (Feb. 20-27). After much debate in the Ap-propriations Committee, chaired by Senator James Clark, the senate voted not to allocate any supplemen-tary funds to the JSA. In other action... Brad Howatt, SGA Vice President, reported that ticket sales for the ""Amazing Kreskin"" show, to take place this Sunday the 13th, were going well. Howatt added that Kreskin of-fers $25,000 to anyone proving him a fake and that the psychic's finale will consist of his finding his paycheck hid-den somewhere in the Stephens Hall auditorium. Another major announcement by Howatt was the possibility of an X-rated movie being shown at Towson State. Howatt said that he and Thomas had already spoken with Tyrone Lewis, Associate Dean for Stu-dent Activities Development, concer-ning the showing of an X-rated film in the Stephens Hall auditorium, and that it seemed a clear possibility for the future. Such a motion picture would only be shown once an academic year, Howatt made clear, and would not develop into a more fre-quent occurence. SGA President, Dave Thomas, reported to the representatives the Administration's plan to allow SGA members to tour the newly con-structed towers, making them among the first to see inside Towson's newest dorms. Thomas also announced a program sponsored by the Placement Office entitled ""Seniors in Transition."" The program will take place on March 9 and 10 between 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the Chesapeake Rooms of the Union. There will be three speakers each day who will provide seniors with valuable information as to what employers See page 2 WCVT seeks power boost keeps fingers crossed By Marty Kerr During the last four years, Towson State University's WCVT radio sta-tion has been trying to expand their coverage area. Recently they found that it is possible to boost power to 10,000 watts and cover about an 80 mile radius. ""I'm a bit surprised that our con-sulting engineers found the power anyway,"" said John Mackerron, �WCVT's advisor. ""Much of the time we've spent in these past four years has been spent in looking for a higher place for our antenna and unfor-tunately we haven't been able to do that, so we made a decision to go ahead with our power increase."" WCVT's engineers had told them that their increase in power could pro-bably go up to 4,700 watts from their already broadcasting wattage of 1,890, but because a radio station in Hershey, Pennsylvania stopped broadcasting, WCVT could soon broadcast at 10,000 watts. Teresa Hulle, general manager WCVT says that ""we'll probably have 10,000 watts by the fall of next year. We'll then be the only student-run radio station with this much power."" ""When I heard that we could go up to 10,000 watts instead of just 4,800, it really thrilled me,"" said Mackerron. Jeff Woods, program director at WCVT believes that this year ""the station is really starting to sound good."" ""I've noticed a mixed reaction towards the power increase from peo-ple around the campus. It's one of great joy, yet it's sort of tempered with awe because of such a dramatic increase in coverage area and the responsibility associated with it,"" said Mackerron. With this much of a power increase a question may arise concerning what effects this will have on receiver reception, especially for those in the Tower, because WCVT's transmitter and antenna rest in and on the Tower. ""Our transmitter is on the twelfth floor, and a lot of people have pro- Grub Street Wit publishes; looks toward bright future By Marty Eskerville Towson State may not produce the likes of a Henry David Thoreau or an F. Scott Fitzgerald, but an enjoyable display of potential can be seen in its very own student literary magazine, The Grub Street Wit. The Grub Street Wit, under the direction of Editor-in-Chief Chris Scharpf and Managing Editor Quincy Johnson, will be distributed next week during the University's Organiza-tional Expo in the Union. Scharpf feels that this issue of The Wit is one of the best ever. Managing Editor Johnson agrees, ""It looks professional and the design is sharp. All the stories work well."" Scharpf and Johnson are looking to put out another issue of The Wit before the end of the semester, with a little financial help and cooperation. On Feburary 18 they will be re-questing a new budget of $3000 for the next school year, and hopefully with that kind of help they can successfully put out two issues in one year; something that hasn't been done in ""quite a while."" Their present budget allocated by the SGA is $2000, so even if they do get turned down, they'll try to scrape up enough to get another one out before the end of this semester. But as good as it may sound, all has not been well for The Wit lately. For the past two years The Wit has come out on either the last day of classes or finals week, due to lack of staff and copy. This induced the SGA to allocate the spring of 1982 budget on a contingency basis. The SGA's ultimatum, 12000 � but you must publish by April 1, 1983."" So with that dilemma met, The Wit is ready to start building up on a foundation that will hopefully lead to some recogni-tion and a little respect. Scharpf has sparked the new hope for The Wit by providing a little organization. He said, ""During last year I got a hold of Quincy and asked him to be my managaing editor. From there it was a regrouping period where we just had to start from scratch."" He continued, saying, ""We're trying to make it powerful. It started off as an off-shoot of The Towerlight, mostly as a feature magazine. It then turned over to a literary magazine."" His op-timism is also shared with Johnson and his staff. The Wit is filled with short stones, poems, and other campus-related satire. Soliciting material for the magazine has also been somewhat of a problem for the editors. ""It's basically a word of mouth thing, in which most of our con-tributors are English majors,"" Scharpf said. In the past they have had problems in getting enough copy, but that's no longer the case. Johnson says many get turned down, and it's a tedious process in going through the prospec-tive stories and poems. He says, ""It's hard to tell people that their work hasn't been accepted. You just can't hand them a cold rejection slip."" But then, there are those people with good work who are afraid of handing their material in. Johnson says, ""A work of art is very personal to some people. In letting others see it, you expose yourself."" With some 2000 copies of the magazine to distribute, The Wit should sell fast. Especially since it's free of charge. The Wit can also be obtained through the SGA office in the Union. blems on the tenth, eleventh, and thir-teenth floors,"" said Hulle. Mackerron believes WCVT will not have a problem with ""reception over-ride."" ""We are in compliance with FCC rules and regulations regarding how much power we have and things known as harmonics, that is, our signal creeping into other frequen- 'cies. But the problem is that any receiver that's close to a transmitting antenna just has problems, as legal as that system is, just has problems shutting it out."" Mackerron explained that a receiver or radio's tuner is trying to block out all other signals and only let one through,,but because of the inten-sity of WCVT's signal it's just going to blow past the tuner and the receiver will get both of the signals."" These sort of problems are problems more with receivers than they are with WCVT. ""Our lawyer anticipates no pro-blems, he doesn't think anyone will petition against us,"" said Hulle. The power increase ""is almost something that's too good to be true,"" says Mackerron. With continued support from the SGA and a fundraiser in March, the radio station hopes to raise $25,000-$30,000 for a 5,000 watt transmitter and $6,500 for four bays for the antenna. ""We're looking to see our signal really expand, but, I have not yet received the figures to say exactly how far we can reach with our signal,"" said Mackerron. With a hopeful 10,000 watt increase, Hulle believes that ""we need a lot of work to do a good job with it. It's not that our act is bad, but we're going to try and clean up on it."" University and station officials stressed that WCVT must still wait for FCC approval before they can pro-ceed with the power increase. in this issue The third of a seven-part series con-tinues, ""Murder U.S.A."" page 4 John Simpson reviews Towson Poets 1982, the collection of poetry by some TSU faculty and alumni. page 5 Paige Jansen reviews a collection of Jewish treasures from the 12th- to 20th-century Poland page 6 Men's basketball downs Delaware for first ECC win page 8 Towson State hockey club plays at the Baltimore Civic Center page 10 "