The Towerlight, July-August, 1975

tl197507-000 " LXVII, NO. 2 TOWSON STATE COLLEGE Nevins, Suter review plan Orientation: Running Smoothly Commenting on the present program of orientation and its progress at Towson State, Dean Rosemary Malcolm, Coordinator of Student Activities, noted that ""things are going more smoothly than last year."" Although not as many students are coming in this year, Dean Malcolm estimates that the depart-ment will handle as many as 2300 in-coming students, both freshman and transfer, this year. Surprise attendance ""Last year, we surprised everybody because we brought in 2400,"" she pointed out. ""But this year, because of a number of things -- computer problems, not as many kids coming to school -- we're just about JULY-AUGUST, 1975 Food coupon program already underway by Marlene Milder Student . Government Association President David Nevins reports a Joint food committee comprising members of the SGA and Residence Council will begin work this fall. The purpose of this committee, comments Nevins, is to make recommendations to food services consisting of reporting on the general nutritional value of food, eating arr angements and service. ""I see the. initial role of this committee as being that of a watch-dog especially overseeing the food coupon system,"" maintains Nevins. Nevins reports he has Preliminarily determined areas which Will cause the most problems con-cerning the new coupon system. He foresees a possibliity of having long food lines and has already outlined' recommendations which he will discuss with the committee to curtail this possible problem. Although the SGA president reports the SGA in general supports the food coupon system because of its equitability and low percentage of food waste, he has foreseen a possibility of problems occuring with the system. Nevins says it appears that the 15 meal plan which all resident students pay costing $355 is based on surveys of last year's meal ticket holders. Under this survey, Nevins reports it was found 15 meal card holders averaged using only 12 meals per week. ""For students to be satisfied,"" maintains Nevins, ""we should be able to purchase 15 complete meals."" He attributes the $355 price for 15 full meals as being a faulty concept to the food value since it may seem the price stems from the survey of students eating 12 meals. To date, Nevins has contacted John Suter, Director of Auxiliary Servrces, and has discussed lowering the prices of drinks at Suter's suggestion to help lower the costs of a complete meal. ""We may need to either lower prices or give more coupons,"" maintains Nevins. ""coupons an improvement"" Director of Auxiliary Services, John Suter, feels the newly installed thismissal policy stands by Steve Kaufman According to Dean Dorothy Sie gel, Vice President of Student Spervi.ces, the Academic Dismissal �ocY has not changed. ""There is nothing new, except the 1,)�Iicies for which one is dismissed,"" She said in an interview on Thursday, June 19. She also mentioned a list of the kinds of problems students are having. Many students do not read the catalog carefully which often causes Problems later in the student's college career. Rules are spelled out in the current catalog which is reviewed and �Pdated annually along with the FacoltY Handbook. Concerning courses, the No-credit POlicy remains unchanged. Likewise, the 128/120 credit PrOrr..a St 61 ms also remain unchanged. udents who graduated in December 1974 were the first students eligible to select one of the options. Any student who entered college after r)ecember 1974 is required to take the 120 credit plan remembering that all credits must be of a grade of C or above. Dean Knox, who is in charge of academic advising (non-discipline), Said many students who entered in Se thep tember 1974 were confused about programs. p Another recurring problem is the �1.1Ysical Education requirement. while 1 credit of Phys. Ed. is required, many students have assumed that one Phys. Ed. course solves the problem. However, there area few V2 credit courses offered in which two courses would be necessary to satisfy the requirement. Again, students are asked to check the catalog. Concerning the Faculty Hand-book, Dean Siegel said only ter-minology has become a problem. It Will be updated in order to clarify certain areas. She also mentioned the Su spension Policy concerning disruptive behavior. Although there have been no serious problems in this area, the student committees and various school officials felt that it should be Updated to be more uniform with the overall college policy. According to Dean Siegel, a Redress of Grievances Code, which was considered separately by the student committees, has been adopted. She said, ""It was adopted to legitimatize the Students' Rights and Responsibilities Code."" She feels that these procurements will make for a ""much more democratic process."" Dean Dorothy Siegel College Center victim of theft Towson State College Security and Baltimore County Police are currently investigating a larceny which occured over the weekend of July 20, in the Special Services area of the College Center. Vandals reportedly made off with several walkie talkies which had a total value of $1,400. The devices were tagged, and the theft has been reported to the proper authorities. There were no signs of forced entry at the scene of the theft. The only evidence, to date, is a smudged glove print. There was also an entrance last weekend into the compactor room of the College Center, and four pressure control gauges for the Coca-Cola canisters were stolen. The Food Services safe was also tampered with. It is not known whether the incidents were related. food coupon system offered to summer students and effective in the fall ""will improve and respond to student needs"" as it enables all resident and commuter students to eat at any of the serving areas and helps to curb food waste. Resident Students Request Change Acting upon many resident student requests for the Food Service to incorporate an equitable eating program, Suter, along with Carl Jess as Food Service Administrator, compiled the new contract meal service. Suter reports many resident students who must purchase a meal plan complained they paid as much as someone consuming twice as much food. Suter explained the food coupon system will best provide equity of cost, flexibility, and reduction in waste - three main concerns of the Auxiliary Service. Old System Uneconomical Under the old system, students could take as much food as they wished without having to pay extra. As a result, students tended to take more than they planned to consume. The resultant waste contributed, to a degree, to the steadily increasing price of meal plans. With the new system, coupons are an equitable system because the student pays for only the food he or she wishes to purchase. Flexibility seen The new system is flexible as it is based on a 15 meals per week plan. The Food Service Department will offer additional coupons for sale. Also, students having more coupons than they need may sell them to students who need more. At the end of the semester, these coupons will not be refundable in cash, but the Food Service Depart-ment will offer students the op-portunity to purchase bulk items such as cases of coke and canned hams and other goods with any left-over coupons at the end of the semester. The system is flexible in many ways. Coupons may be used for purchases at any food service facility. Students will be permitted to pur-chase food for carry-out. Groups of students desiring food for resident activities may use coupons to pur-chase services. Coupons also may be used to purchase meals for friends , and guests. In a memo addressed to all resident students, Suter explained the operation. No Price Differentiation As now, each resident student will be required to purchase a meal contract. The price will be the same to all - $355, the price for the 1975-76 fifteen (15) meal plan option. Suter explained having set a price enables Food Services to purchase in bulk quantity and maintain low prices. Also, the state requires Towson's food purchasers to order 3 months in zldvance. terms coupon U^on proof of payment, each student will be eligible to receive coupons having a total face value of $408 - fifteen percent above the purchase price. Since the coupons are essentially cash, Auxiliary Services will provide a banking service to minimize the risk of loss should coupons be lost or stolen. Initially, Auxiliary Services will issue coupon booklets valued at $50 each or ap-proximately one-eighth of the total value. Students may then request additional booklets as needed until their allotment is exhausted. For those few who may desire to purchase additional coupons once their allotment is exhausted, booklets valued at $10 will be available. Coupons represent cash! Lost or stolen coupons will not be replaced. Menus will be posted in advance for each dining area and students may select the dining area of their choice. Each food item offered will be priced so that students may select only that which they desire to pur-chase. Cashiers will accept coupons as payment and will issue coupon changes when necessary. Loose coupons are valid so that students may elect to carry only that amount which they expect to spend for a given meal or day. Listed below are several examples of typical meal selections. getting 2300 students although we were hoping for 2600."" Despite the decline in student enrollment, the number of parents attending orientation has risen sharply, from 10 to 15 parents a day last year to 25 or 30 a day for this year. While parents are encouraged to become informed about and involved with the college and its activities, Malcolm emphasizes that ""college is an independent experience for the student."" This is the primary reasoning behind the separation of both the parent and student orien-tation groups. Fisher delivers expectations Students participate in the one-day program beginning with an award-winning filmstrip designed to welcome them to the Towson campus. A ""down-to-earth"" videotape of President Fisher follows with a discussion of exactly what is expected of the new student at Towson. This, in turn, is followed by a presentation in which Bob Walling, Director of Financial Aid, and Mel Blackburn of Parking Services acquaint the student with their respective departments. Afterwards, students meet with various academic advisors and later the various support agencies on campus, such as Finance, Veterans, Security, Fees, and so forth, ex-cluding Health. The next move on the agenda introduces the new students to the faculty of Towson State. All majors are represented by at least one faculty member from the various departments, although in some in-stances one faculty member may represent more than one major in a particular field. Malcolm cited the presence of Dr. Floyd A. Blankenship who, though from the Chemistry department, represents majors in both Physics and Biology as well as Chemistry. The final step of the program is registration itself, which begins at 1 p.m. Small groups of 30 students are taken in to register while others attend mock classes, an activity discussion session, and library tours. The mock classroom set-up, under the direction of Rick Faint, concerns a videotape presentation of various procedures, regulations and teaching styles the student may encounter at Towson. SGA recruits As for the discussion of activities for both the commuter and resident student, Steven Schaffer, Director of Publicity and Public Relations for the Student Government Association (SGA), and David Nevins, President of the SGA, inform the student of the various activities and organizations open to him on campus. Parents become enlightened The parents, at the same time, go through their own orientation program at Towson. Beginning with a ""getting acquainted session"" among themselves, they are then presented with a slide show to familiarize them with the campus. Afterwards, speakers from Academic Affairs and Institutional Development handle questions concerning inter-collegiate and community affairs. This is followed by a mock class presentation in which parents are presented with sample exams, lec-tures and class proceedings. Ac-cording to Malcolm, this is ""the highest point of orientation for the parents. They love it."" As with student orientation, lunch is included and parents are able to sample basically the same kinds of foods as their sons and daughters will at Towson. Following lunch, the parents are shown the filmstrip viewed earlier that day by the in-coming students. Afterwards, Bob Walling of Financial Aid answers questions concerning any fiscal money problems the parents might anticipate. Parents then view a student-made videotape in which the students examine problems they foresee in their academic future. This is followed by a bus tour of the campus itself and an activity session discussion much like that in which the student participates but which is held separately from the student group. Both parents and students receive welcome wagon packets containing coupons, maps, newspapers and various materials to help them become better acquainted with and informed about the college and surrounding community. As Malcolm noted, the packets have been received with a good deal of en-thusiasm on the part of both students and parents. Other materials include notes on how to study, a list of the various groups and organizations on campus, a copy of the campus newspaper, a college catalogue, brochures about the various academic majors at Towson, a copy of the schedule booklet, and other information. Dean Malcolm emphasized that the main point of the success or failure of the program lies with the student advisors themselves. ""They mold the new student's attitude toward the college."" This year the attitude has been quite positive, as reflected in the parent student reactions to the program. Her only regret is that the program can provide no specific referral for commuter students as is possible for resident students. ""We should have a commuter service organization,"" she noted, but pointed out that the lack of one forced the program to deal with the ""residence problems instead."" However, in the future, she hopes to see improvement in that area. With the advent of the new Resident Dining program ""coupon system,"" the Food Service Depart-ment would like to offer you, the con-sumer, some assistance in planning your budgetary requirements. Since your coupon book is valued at $30.00, the cost of the average meal is $2.00 or $6.00 per day. Please note that your $6.00 per day may be used in a variety of ways. Breakfast 1) Two Eggs with Ham and/or Bacon with Buttered Toast $1.40 Juice .25 Coffee .15 TOTAL OR 2) Cereal Pastry or Toast with Butter 8.t Jelly 'Juice Coffee TOTAL Lunch 1) Daily Luncheon Special $1.80 (entree, soup or salad, beverage, rolls & butter) OR 2) Fruit Salad Cold Cut Submarine Iced Tea $.35 1.25 .25 TOTAL $1.85 Dinner Salad Cup of Soup Hot Roast Beef with Potatoes Beverage $.30 .35 1.40 .20 TOTAL $2.25 As you can see, with an average of $6.00 per day, your spending and eating habits are allowed flexibility. $.30 Again, please note that the Coupon Exchange Bulletin Board is located in the second floor Main Lobby of the College Center. The Exchange is designed to aid in-dividuals desiring to buy or sell coupons. In addition, the Food Service Department will be selling $2.00 coupons. .20 .25 .15 $.90 SGA President urges involvement and action by Marlene Milder Student Government Association President David Nevins expresses the importance of student in-volvement in SGA, while noting the larger number of vacancies on committees that students can fill. As students compromise at least 50% of the membership of major committees such as Academic Council, the Traffic Committee, (which investigates and makes recommendations concerning campus parking,) Nevins feels students have the potential to directly influence issues directly concerning them. Practicality of Committees Another plus Nevins sees in committee involvement is the practical applications students learn when working in areas directly related to their major. For example a student studying nursing could explore the problems of the field by becoming involved in the Health Committee, while a business major might gain experience with a com-mittee concerning the colleges business and administration policies. While outlining his priorities for the 1975-76 schoolyear, Nevins SGA leader David Nevins reports he will set up a commission to study the problems of the Evening and summer students. Nevins sees a definite national trend toward students attending colleges part time. Said Nevins, ""Since more and more are attending Towson part-time, the SGA should explore the problems they face. Approximately 7,000 part-time students attend Towson, while the total day enrollment is 7500. The SGA president proposed incorporating the Summer and Evening students into the SGA to give them deserved equal representation, and services they are entitled to. Currently, these students do not pay an activity or Student Government fee. Speaker Series Successful Because of the success of last year's premier Speaker Series (with guests including Abba Eban, David Brinkley and Bella Abzug), Nevins has secured an outstanding line up for the 19.75 Series. Scheduled speakers are Moshe Dayan, F. Lee Bailey, Margaret Mead, Masters and Johnson, Lloyd Bucker, and former South Vietnamese Vice-President Nguyen Cao Kye. SGA Receives More Funds The $25,000 from the recently abolished College Advancement and Improvement Board reverted to the SGA fund. ""Now is the time to enhance campus academis,"" said Nevins, as he and others work on the allocation of college funds. He reports that SGA is considering buying more library books, and promoting the hiring of distinguished professors to teach. Nevins explained that Towson, as a state college, offers professors salaries in line with the state hiring system. Since the college cannot match the pay scales of more renowned institutions, the SGA could provide special funding. Another project being in-vestigated by Nevins is the revamping of the faculty advising system. He will propose to the Academic Council that students evaluate their faculty advisors at the end of each semester, as they evaluate their teachers. The evaluations, used in promotion considerations, would be applied to advisors as well as instructors. Lobbying Efforts Will Expand Finally, Nevins plans to continue and expand the student lobbying efforts in Annapolis, and hopes to hold a convention of Maryland SGA members. As they represent a large constituency, Nevins hopes the SGA can be organized into an effective lobby. Also planned for next year, are referendums on campus concerning the po$siblity of parking garages, exemption of sales tax on school books, and lowering the drinking age to include all liquors. "