The Towerlight, February 25, 1977

tl19770225-000 "pg. 8 . ottierit Mason -Dixon I) - b a 11 tots rney this Weekend. see pg. IO VOL. LXIX NO. 17 TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 25, 1977 Ruark,Klein head SGA tickets in March elections by Ruth Ann Leftridge Six students will compete for the top Student Government adminis-trative postions in the March 14 and 15 SGA elections. Charles Klein, Ray Tubman, and Joe Schumann will run on one ticket for the offices of president, vice president and treasurer respective-ly. John Ruark will run for president, Debbie Leslie for vice president, and Erik Perkins for treasurer on the other ticket. John Ruark Debbie Leslie Finegan vs. Students may vote cross-ticket at the polls. TSU students now pay $23.75 each year to SGA as part of their ""comprehensive fees."" If elected SGA president, Klein ""intends to cut these fees by five per cent (a savings for students of $1.20 per year) while at the same time increasing services to students many times."" SGA will lose approximately $10,000 through this five per cent cut, Klein said, but the money will be ""recovered by more efficient operation of the SGA and by profit-making events such as rock concerts. ""I plan to have five concerts during the year,"" Klein said. He sees ""no reason the Towson Center won't be full for acts such as America, the Eagles, etc."" Full-time day students will be able to purchase tickets to these concerts for the lowest possible price, Klein said. Total concert expenses divided by the number of people expected to attend will equal the price charged to full-time day students, he explained. Tickets to the general public will cost approximately $1.50-$2 higher, Klein said. ""I expect to make between $3,000 and $6,000 per concert which will give us total earnings for the year of $15,000-$30,000,"" he said. He explained that the ""first $10,000 will take care of the deficit"" caused by the five per cent cutback in student comprehensive fees. ""The remaining $5,000 to $20,000 will be used for free services to students such as free concerts to be held on Friday afternoons outside in the Glen,"" Klein said. Klein also expects to expand the Celebrity Speaker Series if elected president, including speakers for students only, with no attendance by the general public. ""I plan to have some of our lecturers attend classes the follow-ing day,"" Klein said. Klein feels parking is ""a very difficult problem"" on campus ""because the state will not fund us Hanks for any more parking lots."" He said, ""I have two sites in mind for parking garages,"" one near the Residence Tower and one near Stephens Hall. The presidential candidate is planning a five-story garage near Stephens Hall, with one deck for faculty parking and four decks for student parking. Klein, a sophomore, has been an SGA Senator for one year. He is also a member of the President's Task Force on Student Fees. Ruark plans to increase commu-nications between the students and SGA if he is elected president. He intends to establish office hours for the SGA president , and vice president ""similar to President Fisher's during which any student can walk in and out without an appointment and talk about any subject."" Ruark also plans to publish a monthly SGA newsletter ""that would go to all full-time day students, commuters at their homes and resident students at their mailboxes."" The newsletter will include information about what is happening in Senate and in the executive branch of SGA. ""The cost of this letter is only $156 per mailing and its expense would be offset by the reduced amount of ads in Towerlight needed by SGA,"" he said, ""I think this newsletter is going to be a really big thing next year,"" Ruark said. The presidential candidate feels ""there is a lot of arguing and squabbling going on in the Senate over the correct procedures for passing legislation."" He said, ""as a result of the senators' insufficient knowledge about Robert's Rules of Order, valuable times wasted."" For these reasons, Ruark will establish a ""mandatory two-day work shop given by the SGA Parliamentariarr and SGA vice president, during which procedures, rules and regulations could be reviewed with the new senators. ""I am just as aware as everybody else of the current situation between blacks and whites on the campus, or BSU debate concluded by Steve Haas ""Covert racist . . . that's a personal, assessment,"" said SGA President Joanne Finegan in re-sponse to charges by Black Student Union President Eric Hanks. ""He can attack me personally, but how will that help BSU?"" she asked. Hanks' charges stemmed from a Finegan veto of a BSU supplemental budget request. The refusal by the BSU of her $1500 ""compromise"" last week has apparently terminated the issue with no allocation. Last semester, BSU sponsored a $4,200 ""Black Parent's Dinner"" for Which they had received $2,500 from the SGA, but they collected no ticket revenue. ""That's the whole point,"" Fine-gan said. ""I can't see it. I'm not arguing over intent, I just can't justify that kind of expense. The BSU budget was $9,300 this Year, a cut of $3,000 from the last Year and $7,000 from two years ago. The dinner, and several other events, diminished BSU funds to a point where a $6,000 supplement was requested in late October. ""The supplemental budget was not unreasonable,"" stated Hanks in an interview this week. ""The SGA had $17,000 in unallocated funds and we gave them an explanation for every dollar."" The SGA Senate cut the supple- Inent to $3,300 before passing it to Finegan for her approval. She Waited nine days, near the end of the semester, to veto it. ""I can't get a concrete reason from Joanne,"" Hanks said. Despite claims by Hanks that ""she made no attempt to communi-cate with anybody in the BSU,"" Finegan produced evidence of a two-page explanation for the veto. Hanks said the BSU ""had already trlade plans to spend the money,"" When Finegan vetoed the appropri-ation. ""We were pretty sure we had the nloney. For some reason, I didn't know she had a 10-day limit. That }wlas an oversight on my part. We ad a false sense of security,"" he Said. The money was needed for black-oriented speakers, art exhi-bits, fashion shows and possibly a dance, Hanks said. The funds for these events had been previously allocated, according to Finegan, but were spent last semester. ""I do think the budget supple-ment is reasonable,"" Hanks said. ""A significantly large part of the student population is being served. There aren't many things on this campus that blacks can identify with."" Finegan explained, ""I don't want the budget to rise in mathematical proportion to the population. When the BSU represented only one per cent of the students, they needed the extra support. Now, they are capable of doing some fund raising on their own. ""The question is not whether the BSU is getting too little now, but whether it got more than was necessary before and still expects it,"" she noted. ""There may be more blacks at Towson now, but how many of them are really active?"" she asked. ""I don't think there has to be a proportionate gain."" Finegan, after the ""one time she came over to talk"" according to Hanks, worked up her $1500 ""compromise"" supplement within a few hours of the Senate meeting two weeks ago. The BSU turned it down, terming the offer ""an insult."" ""They didn't even consider it,"" Finegan related. Regarding the noticeable absence of blacks in the Tiger's Lair, Hanks claimed, ""It is open to everyone, but it has no appeal to blacks."" He cited only ""cultural differences"" and the need for ""places to cater specifically to black people."" ""If the place causes them to avoid it, then we should do something,"" Finegan stated. ""If they choose not to go, we're not obligated to set up an equivalent structure."" Hanks said that the addition of black speakers to the SGA Speaker's Series would eliminate the BSU expense for a separate series. ""We've tried to get black and women speakers. They are hard to find. We need speakers whose names are recognizable to the general public. You have to make activities appealing to the commu-nity or you can't get back your expenses,"" she said. Hanks' response to an earlier statement alleging ""a covert type of racism on campus"" was somewhat of an amendment. ""Realistically, there is racism on the campus. You can't ignore the differences,"" he. said. Everything is not racism,"" he continued. ""Just because the BSU doesn't get the funds they want doesn't make the SGA racist. But I'm very unhappy with Joanne. There was no effort on her part at all. This veto is just a manifestation of that."" Hanks cited an appointment made with Finegan last semester which she allegedly missed. Finegan did not remember the incident. ""Now that it's election time, the candidates are more aware of the voting strength of the BSU. I would like to see , somebody in there who won't totally ignore the existence of the BSU, but will give us a fair shake,"" Hanks said. Noting the high proportion of black students running for SGA office, Finegan said, ""Even though some people are put in by a particular group; once elected, they should be serving all the students."" Joanne Finegan more specifically, BSU and SGA,"" Ruark said. He therefore intends to ""reestablish the now defunct position of Director of Minority Relations in the executive cabinet."" This director of Minority Rela-tions would be selected by the president of the BSU and the SGA president together, and would be the ""liaison"" between the two. Ruark said the Minority Relations director would also ""advise and inform"" Senate and the SGA executives about the ""current black-white situation."" The candidate is planning a double-deck parking lot behind Richmond Hall if he is elected. Ruark has not determined yet whether the lot will be for faculty, staff or students. Ruark is a first-semester junior and a Mathematics and Economics major. He is now Residence Council president and vice chairman of the Academic Council. Vice presidential hopeful Ray Tubman said he is running with Klein because he thinks ""Charlie's plan about reducing fees by five per cent is very good."" He feels qualified to lead Senate, since ""I consider myself to be well-versed in Parliamentary procedure."" He would like to see the SGA cabinet expanded to include the presidents of the Residence Council, the Inter-Fraternity/Sorority Coun-cil, and the Black Student Union. As a senator, he feels there is too much confusion in the Senate, because Parliamentary procedure is not being followed, ""leading to a situation of chaos that shouldn't exist."" Tubman's opponent, Debbie Les-lie, also plans to stop confusion and ""squabbling"" in the Senate. She proposes workshops and primers on Parliamentary procedure for all senators so that ""there will be no more of this, 'Is this right?' "" which interrupts so many Senate meet-ings. Leslie thinks that communication with the students will be an important part of her job as vice president. She hopes to use a newsletter to keep students inform-ed about Senate meetings, ""so that students can come and voice their opinions."" She also plans to set up office hours when she can meet with students. No appointments would be necessary during these hours. Joe Schumann, candidate for treasurer, feels that he can ""represent and understand every facet of student life on campus"" because he has commuted, lived off-campus and now resides on-campus. ""I'm running because I feel, with my training as a scientist, I can be very objective in viewing just about anything�probably more objective than most people,"" Schumann said. He is a mathematics, biology and chemistry major. Schumann plans to establish a treasurer's workshop, if elected. Organizations would send represen-tatives to ""learn exactly how to spend money in SGA,"" he said. The candidate for treasurer said he would like to see a ""meeting of all executive committees of all organizations once a month."" He feels this is necessary because ""organizations are often out of touch with each other. ""Contact with the student doesn't stop at the polls,"" Schumann said. He doesn't want students to see SGA as a ""hierarchy of people who don't have ears."" Erik Perkins, incumbent SGA Treasurer, has three years of experience in the SGA. ""I feel I can offer continuity,"" he said. Perkins feels ""that too much money has been put into (some SGA) events."" He advocates ""spending less money per event, therefore, having more events."" The Dance Marathon, he said, gave students ""72 hours of entertainment without cost."" ""We can do a lot of things a lot cheaper,"" he said. Perkins also wants to strengthen the Financial Advisory Board, an SGA committee that ""was never active."" ""The FAB is an outlet for having student voices heard, ""Perkins said. ""It creates more involvement."" ""There should be a lot of involved people saying where the money goes. This year, we have seven people not involved in any organiza-tions who have a very loud voice,"" he said. He hopes to have treasurer's workshops and budget hearings to ""get student voices in."" Andrews moves on Writes two TSU by Steve Verch Although he's well-known throughout the administrative and legislative bodies of the SGA, Towson State's Richard Andrews is now trying to make himself known at the Statehouse in Annapolis. The political science graduate and former SGA parliamentarian has written two bills which were recently introduced ""by request"" to the State Senate, by State Senator John Carrol Byrnes. One of the bills written by Andrews, SB640, would seek to add the campus police of Frostburg State College, Morgan State and Towson State Universities to those police divisions listed as covered by the ""Maryland Policemen's Bill of Rights."" Campus police at these institu-tions have recently become ""peace and police officers"" by state law, empowering them to enforce laws of their respective subdivisions and the state, said Andrews. (The arrest last semester of a Towson student for possession of marijuana by the ..,c.lrmpus police was due to this recent related bills for Annapolis legislature legislation.) However, the individual ""peace and police officers"" of these state institutions have no legal proce-dures to pursue in the event that they are dismissed from their positions due to their conduct. Andrews contends that this could potentially violate the due process rights of the officers. The bill Andrews has written provides the same type of protection to these officers as is now enjoyed by similar ""peace and police officers"" at the University of Maryland. This bill does not take away any power that administrators now exercise over campus police officers, but it does provide one uniform set of procedures which an officer may pursue in any appeal of dismissal or disciplinary action. The other Andrews bill, SB691, seeks to place a student member on the State Board for Higher Education. Created just last year, this is the only state board related to education that has no student member. Andrews labeled this ""ironic,"" commenting that this state board supervises all the other state education boards, is the central coordinating board, and also oversees funding to private colleges. Andrews would like to see the eight-member board have one student member with full voting rights, subject to a non-renewable one-year term, at which time the Governor would appoint a new student to the position. While citing support for SB691 from the Towson State SGA and the University President James Fisher, Andrews is uncertain about the bill's future. ""I honestly don't know, it's too early . . . it was just introduced,"" he stated. ""I'm going to have it introduced into the House [House of Delegates] by someone."" Asked about his motivation for writing these bills, Andrews com-mented on the need for them. ""I like to see things done right. As a matter of practice there should be a student member of the board . . . just to have someone on the inside,"" the former SGA senator observed. , Senate passes a $1,693 request for Residence Council supplement The SGA Senate this week passed a $1,693.50 supplementary budget request by the Residence Council after whittling away almost $600 of the original request presented to the Appropriations Committee. The RC request, which took up most of the meeting while senators debated the merits of various activities the money would cover, centered on funds required to publicize and put on Springfest '77, their annual spring carnival. John Ruark and Pat Kerner, president and vice president, respectively, of the Council, told the senators why the money was needed and answered questions concerning the intent of their activities. The Senate's biggest cuts involv-ed a plan for skating and skiing parties for resident students and a plan to buy tee shirts tor 10 executive members of the Springfest board. It wasn't that the senators were against buying the shirts. 'Several argued convincingly, however, that shirts could be bought cheaper from several other stores than the $4.55 per shirt wanted by the Univrsity Store. The Senate also passed a bill granting $75 to the University Affairs Committee to ""begin an immediate survey of prices and quality"" of food services at other state colleges and universities in Maryland. The bill, sponsored by Marc Land, says the survey ""will determine what actions this committee shall recommend"" to the Senate in view of the fact that ""no affirmative action has been taken by the administration or any student group to improve food services"" here. Shortly before the meeting adjourned, the senators agreed to put eight referendum questions on the ballot for the election of officers March 14 and 15, including five questions which were on the recently held referendum vote. Senator. Debbie Leslie, acting on a request by another student, re quested the inclusion of the questions on the ballot, and it passed with little opposition. "