The Towerlight, February 24, 1978

tl19780224-000 "The mysterious Towson Tunnels see pg. 4 otuerit Mason-Dixon Tourney this weekend see pg 14 VOL. LXX NO.17 TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 24,1978 SGA President John Ruark: ""This takes a lot of pressure out of my body."" Master plan will bring changes to TSU by Patrick Casey The draft form of a master plan from the State Board of Higher Education, which has been shared with various parts of the state's higher education system, would freeze enrollment, tighten admis-sions, and increase selectivity and competition at Towson State. The plan, called, ""a blueprint for higher education in the next decade,"" by Joseph W. Cox, dean of the University, will hold enrollment at Towson at its current level of 9000 students. Cox said, ""Towson and the University of Maryland at College Park are singled out in this plan as the two public institutions in the state which have prospered and continued to grow while at the same time demonstrating a good record of efficiency. We've been able to attract more than our share of students."" ""If Towson and the University of Maryland were allowed to keep growing, they would put some other institutions out of business,"" he said. UMES, UMBC and Bowie State were among those he said were threatened by this growth. Limits on enrollment carry with them the need for tighter admis-sions standards. ""Towson will become more difficult to get into and more demanding in terms of what is required to graduate,"" Cox said. The plan does not, however, set admissions standards. That decision will be left to the individual admissions officer. Cox welcomed this respite from growth. He said Towson needs ""a time of settling, of stabilization... time to think about the quality of the process."" Together with tightened admis-sions, Towson is to develop Please turn to page 4 Ruark will not seek re-election by Steve Verch In a surprise move, SGA president John Ruark announced at Tuesday's Senate meeting that he will not seek re-election next month. Ruark, a junior resident student majoring in business and econom-incs, said after his announcement, ""I have enjoyed being president, but I want to go back to being a normal student."" He also said that he would not endorse any announced candidates, but does ""wish all candidates the best of luck."" Commenting on Ruark's an-nouncement, SGA Secretary of Communications and candidate for SGA president, John Shehan said, ""This means we have to work all the harder."" Leon Thompson, also a candidate for president, could not be reached for comment. Sources close to the SGA had been predicting for several months that Ruark would definitely seek re-election. In an interview with Towerlight after his announcement, the SGA president said, ""It was assumed that I would run and achnowledged on this campus that I would run. I want to emphasize that I am confident that I could get re-elected."" However, he explained that last semester he did have some personal doubts about re-election, which he never voiced. ""One of the things I learned is that presidents are not supposed to express their doubts,"" he said. ""During mini-mester, when I was down in Florida, I did a lot of thinking and I decided to run again. After getting back in February and spending two weeks back in the job - with the tension, and the hectic pace and the chaos - I finally decided that to organize a successful campaign, maintain sixteen credits and contin-ue as SGA president, something would suffer."" Ruark stated that although last semester his grades had not been affected by his position, he felt a campaign would take important time away from his classes and office. He also said that as SGA president, ""I don't get to enjoy some of the nice things that normal students get the chance to enjoy - like classes and resident life."" Another basis for his decision was that his intended running mate Mike Holden, changed his mind about Questions system running for reasons similar to Ruark's. Debbie Leslie, SGA vice-president and Ruark's running mate last year, will be graduating in December and decided not to run, earlier this month. Ruark said he reached his decision late Monday night and decided to announce his statement to the Senate at their Tuesday meeting. Recounting some of his adminis-trative accomplishments to date, Ruark cited the opening of the Newell Hall rooms to student organizations and the obtaining of new regulations frbm administration that permit private bank accounts and changing booking date require-ments from a yearly to a semester basis. Asked how he felt about not running, Ruark said he felt very relieved. ""This takes a lot of pressure out of my body. I feel as though I've grown six feet."" Fisher blasts budget by Paul Gilmore President James L. Fisher criti-cized the proposed 1979 budget for Towson State University and the methods of devising budgets for the state colleges and universities in a speech Wednesday before the Budget Committee of the General Assembly. Fisher said the $507,000 increase in the general fund of Towson 's budget is not enough to offset the 250 new students expected to register in the next year,the minimal increases in wages, and the six per cent projected inflation rate. Fisher also said the school was forced to make up a $1.3 million deficiency in salaries and fringe benefits with ""special or self generated funds."" ""Now this situation neither surprises nor pleases us,"" Fisher said. ""In fact, it follows the pattern of the past ten years during which time public support in the form of General Funds for... Towson State University has decreased from approximately 75 per cent of our total budget to less than 50 per cent depending on whose figures you use."" Fisher said some say that because of this Towson is no longer a ""state-supported school"" but a ""state-assisted school."" Fisher criticized the methods of allocating money to the state colleges and universities claiming that Towson was not getting its fair share. ""We have watched while propor-tionally more money has been given year after year to other colleges because they supposedly needed it more than we; of course, no studies were conducted, things appeared that way,""he said. ""How do I explain year after year that a Towson student is worth $1,390 in General Funds and a UMBC student is worth approxi-mately $300 more?"" he asked. ""Surely our heating bills cannot make up the difference. ""...there has yet to be one single systematic study to explain sub-stantively the cost differences among the 11 public colleges and university campuses in Maryland,"" said Fisher. Fisher then spoke briefly on the ordeal Towson State faces with budget preparation. ""...state budget analysts are increasingly involved in the budget process, making our job both more difficult and costly,"" he said. Fisher said he ""questioned whether budget analysts unfamiliar with higher education...should arbi-trarily substitute their judgements on line item requests...and then hold us accountable for the conduct of the university."" Fisher told the committee he conservatively estimated the cost of preparing the 1979 Towson State budget to be $50,000 in time and materials. Fisher closed saying, ""...I have watched able Board of Trustees members and legislators come and go, educational quality materially and measurably deteriorate, college budgets go down, student fees go up, state budgets go up, and after nine years, it kind of makes you scratch your head."" Red Skelton in press conference ... ... class . . and in concert. TL photos by Oliver Dziggel Skelton hits during weekend at Towson by Debbie Pelton ""I do miss you every Tuesday night,"" 65-year-old Red Skelton told an enthusiastic crowd at his sold out perfor- Malice Sunday night at Towson State University. Skelton is one of the rare performers whose talent is so versatile it seems timeless. He survived the early years of Comedy in vaudeville, fared well on radio and in the Movies, and made a smooth transition to television, with a Weekly program that aired for 20 years. The beauty of Skelton's act is its appeal to a variety of age groups. The audience, who cheered Skelton's hour and a half of non-stop clowning, was composed mostly of adults Who could vividly remember Skelton's Tuesday night television show. Teenagers, who could vaguely recall his weekly antics, Were reacquainted with his zany comedy and skillful pan-tomime. Children, most of whom were seeing Skelton for the first time, laughed along with their elders, obviously able to understand and appreciate Skelton's humor. Skelton was supposed to spend a week at Towson State visiting classes and giving informal lectures, but a bout With the flu delayed his arrival until Thursday evening. Priday, Skelton was on campus visiting a theater class during which he offered hints to mime students inter- Mingled with jokes and demonstrations of his own mime Style. ""When you put things together in a mime act,"" Skelton told the students, ""tell a little story. Take tiny, beautiful nogs and magnify them."" Skelton illustrated his advice 03' acting out his best known characters, like Clem Cadid-dlehopper and the chef in a Greek restaurant who Prepares the two-dollar dinners. Skelton said he began doing mime because he had non-props for his act. He was unaware of his talent until, when he was working in burlesque, someone complimented him on his pantomime. He replied, ""Yeah, how about that!"" Then, he said, ""I had to go look that word up."" His exten-sive career includes working in a circus and medicine show, where he got his first unintentional laugh by slip-ping onstage. The comedian also offered his Emersonian philosophy on life and urged students to develop their talent in several areas. ""Write, paint, hum into a tape recorder, whether you can write music or not,"" he suggested. Skelton cited some of his own achievements to ex-emplify how an artist can broaden his or her artistic ap-titude. He composes symphonies, 64 of which were record-ed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. (The music to his act is original.) Skelton also writes short stories for children and paints. Most of his paintings are of clowns. After the class, Skelton judged a clown painting contest at the Towson Center. One hundred and forty entries were submitted by area high school and college students. Winners of the contest were Calvert Hall College students Steve Krach and David McCormick, who will each receive a thousand-dollar scholarship to the college of their choice. When he heard about the contest, Skelton insisted on contributing one of the thousand-dollar prizes. Skelton's show Sunday night was an example of his seemingly endless high energy that immediately cir-culates throughout the audience. His initial presence on stage triggered a standing ovation. He opened the show with a series of one-liners that sent the crowd ablaze with laughter. As he mentioned earlier in the day, Skelton told the joke he wrote at age ten, as ""a good luck thing."" He said earlier that he ""won't walk on stage"" without citing the joke. It involves being known to the public�""I didn't think anyone would recognize me . . . then someone yelled 'Red Skelton's in the crowd!' and they all turned and looked at me. I was so embarrassed�I was sorry I yelled!"" After a brief explanation of the type of Italian mime he does, Skelton performed several skits. Skelton is so precise and graceful in his mime that he not only conveys a thought with his acting, but relates an emotion. Without verbalizing, Skelton communicated a sense of despair mixed with humor in ""An old man alone on New Year's Eve."" The audience could almost feel the effort he seemed to exert to get up from the chair and support himself with an invisible cane. For five minutes, he is an old man. Then, he transformed into the role of ""a man who loses the button to his coat before going to a party. In that humorous sequence, Skelton pretends to sew the coat with seemingly tangible thread, only to find the button was sewn to his hand. Another funny piece was a conversation between two of Skelton's most popular characters, Gertrude and Heathcliffe, the seagulls. Skelton also enacted ""a man in a drive-in movie"" and the delicate and beautiful ""birth, life and death of a flower in a storm."" He ended an interpretation of the Pledge of Allegiance by questioning what would happen if the Pledge was con-sidered a prayer and deleted from schools because it con-tains the v,ords ""under God."" This earned him a standing ovation. From there, Skelton performed several skits in response to audience requests. At times Skelton laughed along with the audience. His infectious giggles became so uncontrollable at one point, that he told the audience they best not get him laughing, or ""we'll never get out of here."" But the crowd didn't mind Skelton's enticement with his own material, because he seemed to be having as good a time entertaining as the au-dience was having watching him perform. Skelton ended his show with the three words that have become his trademark: ""May God bless."" He then receiv-ed another standing ovation. After the show, Maryland clowns gathered in front of the stage as Skelton was presented with a painting as a token of appreciation. Following the presentation was an announcement about the loss of Skelton's $200,000 diamond ring the night before. Monday, however, the ring was recovered outside the Towson hotel where he was staying. Jeff Williams, a student intern with the Towson State promotions office, said that even though Skelton was upset about losing the ring, he told his wife by phone that he refused to let the incident interfere with his perfor-mance. He didn't want to deny the audience a good show because of his own misfortune, said Williams, who was often with Skelton during his stay. When walking with Skelton to the airport Monday, Williams observed the faces of passers-by ""light up and glow"" as soon as they recognized Skelton. ""It's obvious that he really likes people,"" said Williams. Even at the airport, he took time to sign autographs and pose for pic-tures, Williams said. ""He has a beautiful outlook on life,"" commented Williams. ""Just being with him made me feel good."" Skelton contends, ""I've never been a star�never wanted to be."" But like it or not he shines with enough con-tagious vitality and warmth to illuminate every room he enters. "