The Towerlight, February 12, 1982

tl19820212-000 "Vol. 75 No. 16 III Tovverlight PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 Council nixes ROTC study by Anita L. Hisley The Academic Council last Mon-day defeated by a wide margin a mo-tion to establish a senior division of Army ROTC at Towson State. The proposal had been under discussion and review for the past semester, and the Council of Deans .recommended it be brought before the Academic Council. Had it been approved by the Academic Council, as well as the Board of Trustees and the Depart-ment of the Army, the University would have been required to create a Department of Military Science and offer a two year and/or four-year course of military instruction ""prescribed and conducted by the Secretary of the Army."" The Army would have assigned such military personnel as it ""deem-ed necessary"" and have paid all per-sonnel costs. The University would have retain-ed the right to approve the cur-riculum and instructors. But with the proposal defeated, students wishing to participate in ROTC must continue to attend military science classes at Loyola and John Hopkins under the pre-sent cooperative education pro-gram. In an interview last Friday, Mary Ann L. Myrant, assistant to vice president of academic affairs, said she believed the chances for ap-proval in the Academic Council were good. ""To my knowledge, there have been no negative comments from student groups or from the faculty,"" she said. However, many council members expressed opposition to ROTC at the University, stating that if it was sufficiently available at other area colleges, it was not necessary at TSU. Irvin Weintraub, associate pro-fessor of economics, said, ""I don't think the Army needs us."" Wein-traub stated ROTC at the Universi-ty would ""disrupt the academic pro-cess."" Patricia Plante, vice president of academic affairs, said, ""If there is a ROTC would disrupt the academic process � Weintraub very strong negative response against this [ROTC at TSU], then there is no sense investigating it."" Members of Section 12, a student organization with a ""socialist/feminist framework,"" strongly opposed the motion and displayed signs protesting the pro-gram, saying they could not support ROTC when President Reagan has recommended cuts in educational programs and is promoting a military buildup. In an interview last Friday, Sally Doxen, a member of Section 12, said she particularly opposes ROTC at a time when ""they are talking about prosecuting those who have not registered for the draft. I am against the militaristic buildup while there are cutbacks in social programs."" During the Academic Council meeting, Karl G. Larew professor of history said, ""The idea that ROTC represents militarism is at least a gross exaggeration."" He pointed out he would rather see a military educated at the college level than one alienated from it. Ching Lau. a senior ROTC cadet and member of the Military Sciences Club at the University, is ""defintely in favor"" of a senior divi-sion of Army ROTC at Towson. He believes it will give ""more people an understanding of the military."" ""ROTC gives management, organizational and leadership skills, Most important, you learn to deal with and get along with people,"" he said. Doxen, a senior, who participated in ROTC for two years at Loyola conceded some of the activities were fun. ""I joined it for fun, as a social club, but they argue that corn-munism takes away individuality, but the military takes it away,"" she said. ""It doesn't teach you leadership. It teaches followship,"" she added. John Novicki, a vice president of the Military Sciences Club, believes ROTC ""has a lot to offer,"" and thinks it is good for those who plan a career in the Army or want a good reference on their resume. The present cooperative educa-tion schenp might discourage some students from participating in ROTC, Novicki sad. ""More students would be inclined to join [if ROTC were at the Univer-sity] because it is more convenient. It makes it easier to schedule classes and takes less travel time,"" he said. Scholarships for students at a time when financial aid is declining was cited by Plante, and Myrant as a primary reason for establishing an ROTC division at Towson. ROTC offers some students a means to finance college careers. ROTC assistance varies according to the level of commitment a stu-dent is prepared to make. During the first two years with ROTC, students need not make a formal commitment or sign any contract with the Army. Some scholarships are available on a competitive basis during this period. If a student opts for advanced training, a contract is signed, and the student agrees to enlist as an of-ficer after graduation. ROTC will then provide uniforms, books, and ""retainer pay,"" in addition to some scholarship support. Had the proposal passed the Council, it would have by no means guaranteed ROTC at Towson. The measure merely proposed further in-vestigation of the program. The Navy and Air Force, when ap-proached, expressed no interest in establishing a unit at TSU; and the Army would have conducted its own investigation and review of Towson 's application to determine if there existed sufficient student in-terest to warrant an Army ROTC senior division. Monday's Academic Council meeting dealt with the expansion and develop-ment of the academic programs at Towson State. The Council approved the creation of a Department of accounting th at is separate from the business department. The council approved three prospectuses for graduate pro-grams. Council president Herbert Andrews directs the meetings. There will be an continuation of last Monday's meeting 4 p.m., Monday, TL photo by Mike Willard Reagan proposes Pell reduction by Bruce Reid President Ronald Reagan and the Ninety-seventh Congress seem to be Playing ping-pong with Pell Grants. Now that Reagan has delivered his fiscal 1983 budget request to the Hill, the ball is clearly in the hands of Congress. The Reagan administration is seeking a $900 million cut to Pell Grants (named after Senator Clayborne Pell, R-R.I.) forcing near-ly 1 million students from the aid Program. The 40 percent suggested Pell Grant reduction would decrease the tedbral outlay from $2.3 billion to $1.4 billion. In the President's efforts to cut the federal deficit to 91.5 billion, Many federal assistance programs to college students were slated for reductions or elimination. After similar cuts to the Pell Harriet Griffin Grants outraged college officials last fall, Congress then passed a continuing resolution alloting $2.3 billion for the aid in December. The resolution stands until March 31 giving Congress time to dwell on Reagan's second attempt to make reductions. In the meantime, students have been given no indication of how much aid they are eligible for in the coming school year. Applications for Pell Grants are processed through the College Scholarship Service in Princeton, New Jersey us-ing the standard Financial Aid Form (FAF). Reagan's proposed cuts would be possible by lowering the income ceil-ing for students' eligibility from the tenative $28,500 to about $14.000. The maximum annual grant would be decreased by about 22 per-cent to $1,400. One proposal would ""reportedly limit the students' grants to 60 per-cent of total tuition costs � dropp-ing hte current policy of taking students' living expenses into ac-count in calculating their grant awards,"" according to the February 3 Chronicle of Higher Education. ""Under existing law, students' grants can be no more than 50 per-cent of the total cost of their educa-tion � including tuition, room, board and/or other expenses, the report stated. The U.S. department of education � asked Congress recently to in-vestigate more thoroughly students' financial need stated in the applications for Pell Grants. The request came after an Educa-tion Department study found that 44 percent of the students' records what were investigated had given ""inaccurate information"" when ap-plying for the aid. The proposal could save the federal government $125 million in excess awards. William Clohan, under secretary of education, told Congress that students would have to submit a copy of their parents' tax returns to colleges when they applied for the grants. There no been *no indication in Maryland that the state would take up the federal slack in higher educa-tion and adher to Reagan's ""New Federalism"" approach to tackling the federal deficit. Harriet Griffin, financial aid director at Towson State, said that she has heard some talk about beef-ing up the University's assistance to students, but she did not say what that would entail. The federal transfusion to higher education aid programs has been in-creased since former President Dwight Eisenhower's administra-tion. The University has processed about $1.9 million in Pell Grants for the current school year. About 20,000 students received aid through the program. Keith Hark, president of the stu-dent government association, said that his organization has not begun to look into the effects of the cuts in federal financial aid. SGA officials and a students regent at the University of Maryland at College Park have created what they call the Commit-tee 4gainst Federal Financial Aid Cuti. The students hope to mobilize a national effort against the pro-posals now before Congress. Hark said that the most impor-tant thing on his mind at this time is the legislation before the state General Assembly to raise the legal drinking age for beer and wine to 21. Such a move would virtually destroy campus organizations' possiblity to raise funds, Hark said. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Elizabeth Barrett Browning February 12, 1982 Patricia Plante, vice president for academic affairs, said the reason she was interested in ROTC is because of the scholarships it might create. TL photo by Mike Willard Bills dry up beer and wine By Gayle Griisser It's a wait and see game right now in the General Assembly with some members wanting the drinking age for beer and light wine raised to 19 and others calling for 21. Both the House of Delegates and the Senate have legislation before them proposing an age increase but differing in the means of raising it to either 19 or 21 immediately or phasing in 21. House bill 80, introduced by Del. Kenneth Masters, D-Baltimore County, proposed raising the drink-ing age to 21 with a phase-in provi-sion saving that persons born before July 1, 1964 can continue drinking. Of the other four bills introduced in the House, one was withdrawn and the other three received an un-favorable report from the Judiciary Proceedings Committee. Sen. H. Erle Schafer, D-Anne Arundel County, introduced legisla-tion in the Senate keeping 18 as the age for on-the-premises drinking and raising it to 19 for carry-out. After seeing the House's move-ment towards passage of 21, Sen. Schafer said he introduced a bill raising the drinking age to 21 but with a provision like House bill 80. Unless everything else fails Sen. Schafer said he will go no further with his original bill even though he personally would like to see the age raised to 19. ""But if that is what the House of Delegates passes, (bill to 21) I will support it,"" Sen. Schafer said. Sen. Rosalie Abrams, D-Balti-more City and co-sponsor of Sen. Schafer's phase-in bill, said she thinks the bill will pass but predicts a closer vote in the Senate than in the House. The proposed legislation raising the age to 21 is not without op-ponents, one of � which is Sen. Thomas O'Reilly, D-Prince Georges County, who said he has not been convinced by the statistics present-ed to justify raising the age to 21. Sen. O'Reilly said the statistics, which record a decrease of 28 per-cent in the number of one car ac-cidents between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in states where drinking age has been raised to 21, are per-suasive on face value but do have a 17 percent margin of error. Sen. O'Reilly said he supports raising the age to 19 If the bills are passed, Maryland colleges will have to take a hard look at the recreational activities on cam-pus and the impact on organization's fundraising abilities. If the age is raised to 21, ""it will destroy our organization's major fundraising mechanism,"" said Keith Hark, SGA president, in his remarks to the SGA meeting Tues-day. ""If it is raised to 19 it will hurt, but won't kill us,"" Hark said. He also said that the SGA would have to totally realign its program by stressing more theatre events and non-alcoholic dances. Hark said he can see Legislation trying to limit the purchase of package goods to curb drinking and driving, but adds that students at-tending dances never leave with drinks in their hands and ""lots"" live in the dorms. This being an election year, Hark said, he believes legislators seeking reelections are jumping on issues and it's merely a question of what bill hits the Senate and House first that will be passed. Continued on page 2 388 academically dismissed By Teresa Hicks The Registrar's office recently announced the academic dismissal of 338 students from Towson State for failing to meet minimum academic standards. Of the students dismissed, 63 were freshmen, 169 sophomores, 132 juniors, and 24 seniors. ""There are approximately 375 to 395 academic dismissals and there are always more in the spring semester because first semester freshmen are never dismissed,"" said Lonnie McNew, assistant vice presi-dent of student services. See the chart on the minimum academic standards re-quired to stay in college. STANDARDS FOR FULL-TIME STUDENTS In order to remain in the college, a student must possess a cumulative point average as indicated below. REQUIRED MINIMUM GRADE POINT AVERAGE TO BE IN COLLEGE Credits Attempted (Includes Towson credits and accepted transfer credits) Minimum GPA 1-19 1.10 20-29 1.50 30-39 1.65 40-49 1.80 50-55 1.90 56 and above 2.00 According to the University catalog, those no longer in academic good standing may appeal for reinstatement by writing to the Academic Standards Committee. The committee conducts a review of the students' cases and decides whether a student is to be reinstated. If the dismissal is a result of extreme circumstances, for instance medical problems, the student can also write the committee for reinstatement. Some dismissals are the result of a simple error made by students, said William Reuling, director of registra-tion and scheduling. Sometimes students fail to fill out the necessary form in the registrar's office upon comple-tion of a repeated course. Adjustments can be made so that only the higher of the two grades will be computed, he explained. ""Some students just aren't ready for college,"" said Dorothy Siegel, vice president for student services."" They get in the middle of the semester and ask themselves 'what am I doing here."" Siegel said, ""Students who are dismissed are usually students who are least affiliated with the institution and don't feel part of the University."" A failure to adjust to the study habits needed for col-lege level work is also a reason for some academic dismissals, Siegel said. ""Some high school work doesn't require more than two or three hours of study,"" he said. Students who are academically dismissed are classified as special students and must remain out of day classes for two semesters. Those students who bring their cumulative average up to the minimum standard required by taking courses in the Division of Continuing Studies are eligible for reinstatement."