The Towerlight, February 19, 1982

tl19820219-000 "vol. 75 No. 17 Tovverlight PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. � Joseph Fort Newton February 19, 1982 About 45 housekeeping employees and several Maryland Classified Employees Association represen-tatives demonstrate outside of the Administration building. The workers protested the University's pro-posal to replace the 139 state positions with privately contracted services. TL photo by Greg Foster BSU's spring budget trimmed By Gayle Griisser After debating for three hours on Tuesday, the SGA Senate voted to allocate $5,425 for the Black Student Union's supplementary spring budget instead of the $7,825 the BSU requested. - The reduction cuts the BSU's movie series from three to two movies, reduces the bands at the jazz concert from three to two and funds $3,950 for the Parents Ban-quet rather than the $4,550 requested. The cuts do not affect the BSU's conference/seminar, dances, outdoor festival, Black Organization Council Ex- Position, secretarial salaries or general supplies. The BSU defended its original budget proposal, say-ing the amount the 1,100 black students pay to SGA in student fees is not proportional to activities geared to black culture and interests. While supporting the objectives of the events schedul-ed by the BSU on its Spring budget, several senators did ask why the prices for movies and dances which are 50' and $1 respectively, weren't higher to generate more revenues. Aaron Copeland, BSU president, told the Senate he believed in keeping the prices low to attract more students. He said he believes there shouldn't be any cost at all with the disproportion between student fee money and black activities. Copeland also said the BSU would lose attendance even if they raised the price to 75' since a movie like 'The Autobiography of Malcom X' does not draw the au-dience an SGA film could. ""The revenue we care about is the students being in-terested in the BSU,"" said Robert Howard, past presi-dent. Probably the item highest on the BSU's cultural list and most discussed by the Senator was the annual Parents Banquet which features a dinner, speakers and band for students and their families. Several Senators said they thought the banquet was a great idea and quite beneficial but could not see e the Senate funding the entire $4,550. ""1 do not think it is unreasonable to charge for an event like this,"" said Senator Beth Joseph. ""The people we really want won't be able to afford it,- Roberts said. Robei ts also said tle, banquet differs from any other event like the prom because it is culturally oriented and says thank you to parents who have supported their children. After amending the' amendments the Senate finally voted to fund the BSU, $3,950 for the banquet with the money paying only for food, speakers and a techni-cian. The amendment cut funding for flowers, awtirds brochures and the band. While saying he was happy at this point with the budget, Copeland said he was not especially pleased with the attitude of the Senate.. ""The BSU is not here to make money. You can't solve a problem by money alone,"" Copeland said. One of the problems the BSU is trying to resolve is the problem of black students leaving Towson State by transferring, dropping out, or academic dismissal. ""We have a serious problem here,"" Roberts said. Roberts also said the emphasis of the BSU's pro-grams are to ""help the black student feel more at home at Towson."" Several programs like the seminar bringing other BSU leaders to the University for discussions on pro-blems facing black students and possible solutions. � $30,000 savings expected Housekeepers face layoffs in July by Mark Baltimore About 45 housekeeping employees of Towson State, and several officials from the Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) staged a demonstration Wednesday to protest the layoff of 139 housekeeping employees at the University. Carole Hammen, field director for MCEA, said ""We are demonstrating to show the Ad-ministration that we don't want the housekeeping duties contracted out."" Hammen also said that MCEA of-ficials have been working with Ed-ward Fleck, director of personnel for the University, on a daily basis. The University is trying to find corn-parable jobs for the affected housekeeping employees. ""For a rainy day, this is a very good turnout. I think this shows that these people want their jobs,"" Hammen said. Katie Ryan director of University Relations, said the University is meeting with the housekeeping employees to explain the procedures for the contracting of housekeeping duties. The University has frozen the hir-ing of maintenance, grounds, stock clerk, and guard personnel, so that housekeeping employees can fill any positions which my become vacant. The University has also been in contact with pr ivate agencies to find available positions, Ryan said. The whole procedure of accepting bids from contractors, and then selecting the contractor to provide the service is expected to be com-pleted by July 1, 1982. Housekeep-ing employees cannot be laid off un-til six months after the change over to privately contractor employees is made final. If vacancies occur with the con-tractor, University employees may assume the openings, Ryan said. During a testimony before the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxa-tion Committee, President Hoke Smith said, ""housekeeping is one of the few remaining places to turn to achieve further substantial savings without weakening the education program."" Ryan said contracting housekeep-ing work is not an unprecedented practice. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), University of Baltimore, and some state offices in Baltimore City have housekeeping services performed by private contractors. Ryan said two years ago the state asked the University to submit sug-gestions to reduce th� budget. The state anticipated that the Universi-ty's budget would be reduced by either 5 percent, 7 percent, or 9 per-cent. The amount of the budget reduction would be determined when the fiscal 1982 budget was prepared for the University. It is estimated that the Universi-ty would save $300,000 annually by contracting the housekeeping duties. Joseph Adler, MCEA director, said ""we are going to appeal to the Board of Public Works."" The Board of Public Works must approve the proposal before it can be enacted. ""Public work"", Adler said, ""should be done by public employees, and not contracted out.' The MCEA has received support in their quest to forbid the Universi-ty to contract the housekeeping duties. This support comes from some members of the Maryland General Assembly. Bob Alexander, legislative liason for the MCEA, said that one bill on the house floor HB1098, is spon-sored by Del. Partick L. McDonough, D-Baltimore City, and co-sponsored by Del. Hattie N. Har-rison, D-Baltimore City, and Del. Nathaniel Exum, D-Prince George's Co. The bill would limit the powers of the state Secretary of Personnel. Under the provisions in section 64 A of the Annotated Code of Maryland, state work can be con-tracted out only when: The work to be performed is such that state employees are unqualified: and if the contractor pays employees per-forming state services equal to what the state employees receive for same work. Continued on page 8 Graduate growth initiated by Lisa Colburn The Academic Council last Mon-day approved three prospectuses for a Master of Arts in Foreign Language Degree, a Master of Fine Arts degree, and a Master of Music degree. A prospectus is a description or letter of intent for a new program. Before a prospectus is brought before higher committees, the department indicates interest, and appoints a committee to develop the prospectus. Patricia Plante, vice-president of academic affairs, said the programs may help increase the declining enrollment at the University. ""We are trying to initiate attractive pro-grams which may bring in students from the area,"" Plante said. The Master of Fine Arts degree will provide training and prepara-tion for students who want to pur-sue a professional career in art. The 18 enroll to beat Social Security cuts by Bruce Reid In response to what appear to be abrupt and drastic changes in Social Security benefits to 18 to 22 year olds, about 35 to 40 high school seniors made inquiries to Towson State about early admissions to beat the May 1 cutoff of the benefits. Lynn Collins, director of admis-sions at the University said that 18 students were admitted before their actual graduation from high school. Congress voted in August to end the benefits to students with retired, disabled or deceased Parents by April 1985, and the mon-thly benefits would be reduced by 26 percent each year. The federal government hopes to save $915 million this year by the 25 percent reduction, and $2.7 billion by 1985. The reductions were enacted in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Oct. 1. The Social Security Administra-tion announced recently that only those students enrolled in college full-time by May 1, 1982 would be eligible for the benefits at all. Thousands of high school seniors around the country were reported to rush to enroll in community colleges and schools that would bend their admissions standards to ac-comodate the students. Last year, 761,000, students received a total of $2.3 billion in Social Security benefits amounting to average monthly payments of $259 to each student. Since 1965, students have been eligible for the benefits as long as they were enrolled in college, and until age 22. President Hoke Smith testified this month to the House Subcommittees on post secondary education on the cuts in Social Security benefits. , TL photo by Grmx Wolff About 375 to 385 Towson State students currently receiving the benefits will be affected by the phase-out over a four-year period, said Harriet Griffin, director of financial aid at Towson State. Of the 18 students that were ad-mitted under the early admission policy. Only those students that have a high academic standing while in high school qualify for the early admission plan. About six or seven students were enrolled in the division of continu-ing studies and met the University's admission. standards. Area high schools were actively involved in the rush to save whatever benefits students are en-titled to, Collins said. No out-of-state students applied to Towson State in response to the benefit changes. Most of the ap-plicants came from Baltimore Coun-ty and City, and several from Anne Arundel, Harford and Howard coun-ties. Rep. Harold L. Volkmer, D-Mo., introduced a bill recently with 45 co-sponsors to extend the cutoff of the benefits from May 1 to Oct. 1. The change would allow many more students to be eligible for the benefits by enabling them to finish high scheol and enroll in college full-time by next fall. Gerald B. H. Solomon, R.- N.Y., has several dozen co-sponsors for his bill to extend the cutoff date to June 30. Many students and school of-ficials protested the alleged failure of the Social Security Administra-tion to inform students of the benefit early enough for them to enroll in college before May 1. President Hoke L. Smith and Jac-queline Arrington, a junior at the University who's benefits would be reduced, testified against the reduc-tions and elimination of the benefits Feb. 3 before House Subcommittees on Postsecondary Education and Elementary, Secondary, and Voca-tional Education in Washington. ""Current federal policy is threatening the concept of access to higher education which has been developed since World War II,"" Smith said in a statement to the committees. Smith proposed an extension of the cutoff date for the benefits to January, as well as suggesting that a low-interest loan fund be created for students that are affected by both the Social Security changes and cuts in other federal financial aid programs. ""In summary,"" Smith said, ""the Social Security cuts coupled with other projected cuts in financial aid may affect slightly over 1,000 students,"" at the University. Smith said he could not say, ""whether this would keep these students from attending college,"" but he did say that he anticipated approximately 400 fewer students will attend the University because of the cuts in federal financial aid. Speaking as a parent of a high school senior Smith said ""if 1 were to die now, the portion of my son's education which I had planned to have paid by Social Security would not be available to him."" ""In other words, the government has without warning changed the basis upon which I, and I believe other prudent citizens, have plann. ed their lives,"" Smith said. program offers studio experience in the fields of painting, sculpture, printmaking. Min, jewelry/metal, ceramics and visual communication-photography. Currently there is on-ly a Master of Art Education degree at Towson State. According to the prospectus, the source of students for the the Master of Fine Arts degree would be students from the Baltimore- Metropolitan area, Master of Art Education graduates, and at least 12 out of every 20 graduating art majors. ""Since no new faculty will be needed for this program, there will be very little expenditure,"" said Michael Mark, dean of graduate studies. Slight renovation of ex-isting studio space will cost $3,000 to $5,000, and no new facility will be needed for the program. Additional costs for advertising and materials is $2,000. Thomas Supensky, associate pro-fessor of fine arts, said the program will be a ""positive force"" for the Fine Arts Department. ""It will definitely bring more serious, better qualified and more capable people to the fine arts program,"" he said. As of September 1982, the University will have the only School of Fine Arts and Communication in Maryland. ""We're ready, we have the expertise, faculty and facilities for this new program. We're going to move where our strengths are,"" said Plante. The Master of Arts in Foreign Language degree would allow graduate students to specialize in stylistics, linguistics, and/or literature in French, Spanish, and German. No renovations are needed and the estimated cost for advertis-ing the program is $1,000. Since Morgan State University has also proposed a Master of Foreign Language degree to the SBHE, the graduate committees from the two schools have agreed to. offer different emphasis on certain studies and offer similar courses in different semesters. The SBHE, as well as the other committees, will consider all aspects of the graduate programs before ap-proving the proposal. Students for the Master of Arts in Foreign Language would come from undergraduate levels and surroun-ding colleges as well as profes-sionals needing language skills related to their job. The Master of Music degree in-volves advanced training and per-formance experiences for musicians. Included in the graduate program are recitals, orchestra, band chorus, jazz ensembles and opera produc-tions. Currently, the university of-fers baccalaureate degrees in music, and a Masters of Music Education. The Master of Music degree will draw students from the Baltimore area, military bands, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and commer-cial musicians. Fifteen to 20 students are expected to enroll each year. Dormitory construction nears This relatively uninteresting patch of ground bordering Cross Campus drive behind the University Union is where four 14-story dormitory towers will soon reach high above the Towson State campus. The Baltimore Coun-ty Council approved Tuesday five seperate partnerships allowing the sale of $30 million in industrial revenue bonds for the project Construction is set to begin in two weeks. TL photo by Andrea Grove "