The Towerlight, March 11, 1977

tl19770311-000 "SGA elections will be held Monday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the first floor of the University Union across from the snack bar. o VOL. LXIX NO.19 TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY Call the Box Office after noon Sunday to check on avail-ability of tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert. 321-2244. MARCH 11,1977 11111111111. Savia Sharp lifts the Tigers into the NCAA Division II quarterfinals tomorrow night against Sacred Heart with this slam dunk in a 92-87 victory over the University of Baltimore. Commentary Exxon Tony Dean Building sought as dorm TSU is trying to buy the Exxon building at the corner of York Road and Cross Campus Drive for use as additional residence space, said Wayne Schelle, vice president for Business and Finance. The building was the regional marketing and accounting head-quarters of Exxon Corporation. It would be ideal for use by the University because it is so close to campus, Schelle said. The four-story building has 122,000 square feet of floor space on seven acres. The purchase could provide housing for 410 students and 300 parking spaces, said Schelle. He explained that additional residence space is necessary be-cause of a change in college housing patterns. ""Until the past one or two years, there had been an exodus, all over the nation, away from living on campus. As inflation increased, students found off campus life too expensive, and have moved back to the campuses,"" he said. Schelle said the location of the Exxon building and the University's desperate need for more dorms make the purchase of the building favorable to TSU. However, purchasing the building will not be easy, Schelle said. ""We first asked the State to build us a new residence hall, but that was turned down due to lack of funds,"" he said. After being denied a new structure, the University looked into the possibility of buying the Exxon Towson State is trying to buy this building from the Exxon Corporation to use as a dorm. building. ""The, asking price is $3.16 million,"" Schelle said. ""Since it is now an office building, it must be renovated, which will cost an additional $1.8 million."" Schelle said he has tried every way possible to obtain the building, and he is still waiting for replies to some of his inquiries. He has sent letters to the Executive Director of the Board of Trustees, and others asking the state to buy the building through the Supplemental Capital budget. Schelle asked Exxon to make the building a gift, but it would not. Exxon also refused to sell it to the University at a ""cheap"" price of $2 million. Another possibility is the pur-chase of the building by a private investor. TSU would then lease the building over a long period of time. However, revenues generated from the residents could not provide a reasonable rate of return for an investment of this type. Due to the cost-income discrepan-cy, Schelle explained that even with funds borrowed from the Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development, the University cannot exceed a price of $4.1 million. Since Exxon has refused to lower the price more than $100,000 to $150,000 negotiations are at an impasse. Despite the need for additional residence space, and the excellent opportunity the Exxon building presents, Schelle said ""the likeli-hood is less than 50 per cent of our purchasing it in the next year."" Election Commission 'upset' over ad by Pete Binns If the purpose of advertising is to get attention, then last week's SGA ad publicizing yesterday's SGA candidates' forum was a highly successful ad. If anything, it got attention. ""Hear the candidates avoid the issues,"" it said. ""Candidates for SGA offices . . . will babble and dodge questions."" And next to the official SGA logo: ""Come and be amused,"" Definitely not amused were the members of the SGA Election Commission, which is an indepen-dent agency. They wanted the ad to say things such as ""candidates will address students and answer questions,"" and ""this is your opportunity to meet with prospec-tive officers."" ""The Commission is unanimously and collectively upset,"" said Rich-ard Andrews, chairman of the Election Commission. ""The Com- The SGA elections In recent years, Towerlight support of SGA candidates' campaign has usually been the kiss of death for their election. Still, nearly anyone who runs for the, offices of president, vice president and treasurer seeks, or at least looks forward to, our nod of approval. We're not trying to say we told you so, but last year we said the race for president was a tight one. We backed Joanne Pinegan with reservations, most of those being her vice presidental running mate, Nancy Payne. Nancy is a good senator, but she had no conception of what it takes to be a vice president. Hopefully, students will vote to return her to a seat in Senate. Perhaps we can avoid the problems of the past by taking a look at what the current slates of candidates are offering us. First let's compare presidential candidates. Both are, unfortunately, offering little in the way of Substance. Like a good politician, Charles Klein is talking of cutting the SGA portion of the comprehensive fee by five percent. As a member of Dr. Fisher's Task Force on Student Fees, we would have hoped he'd at, least promise to look into the drastic decrease in state aid to university students in Maryland. A mere $1.20 a year doesn't stack up against what the state is forcing the students to pay each year. Another big issue of Klein's campaign is to bring ""free concerts"" to Towson by making money on big concerts like the Eagles and America. Charlie, have you looked into What it costs to book some of those acts nowadays? Bringing them is fine, but you won't be able to do it without contributing some SGA money, we're sure. John Ruark, Klein's opponent, has some good ideas. ..for a high school student council. A newsletter, we feel, will still cost more than SCA ads in Towerlight and won't get read by as many people either. Perhaps we're being a bit protective about our advertising revenue, bu we still think the students get more information from the media - Tnwerlight, and wcrr - than any newsletter that the SGA or the administration may send out. Establishing office hours is a noble gesture, John, but the one thing an SGA president - or any student leader. must do is go to the students. Go ask a group of students in the snack bar what they like and dislike about Towson. Stop and ask someone who's sitting in the Linthicum Hall lobby. Go to people you've never seen before and ask them what they think. It's more refreshing and worth-while then sitting in your office shooting the bull, waiting for one student to come in for a bitch session. For vice president, Ruark's running mate, Debbie Leslie, has many of the same ideas. She has a good track record of bills presented and passed and has the proper idea of when and when not to speak in Senate. Her opponent, Ray Tubman, is running with Klein. Ray is a quiet worker and appears to be a conscientious senator. He has a grasp of parliamentary procedure, something most senators and one vice president do not. This is the biggest factor in how well Senate operates: the vice president's knowledge of the rules and the ability to observe them. Also, Tubman, who is black, could aid in the strained relations between the Black Student Union and the SGA. The proposal by Rpark to re-institute the position of Director of Minority Affairs is well worth consideration, too. The race for treasurer is, for the most part, without issue. Erik Perkins should be re-elected, if only because he is the incumbent. Joe Schumann, his opponent, offers nothing more, nothing less than the current treasurer. The campaign has, for the most part, been one of petty arguments between candidates and ""sticks-and-stones"" name-calling. Whoever is elected after the results are announced Tuesday afternoon will, hopefully, look beyond the pettiness of their arguments and campaign rhetoric and give the students some substance and voice when confronting the major issues on campus and in the educational system. mission WtiS not amused."" According to Andrews, the four members of the Commission discus-sed and voted on the content of the ad, which made it ""official."" The Commission then gave the ad to Matt McGlone, SGA Director of Communications, to give to Tower-light, because, said Andrews', ""he gives in all the SGA ads"" to Towerlight. McGlone rewrote the ad before giving it to Towerlight, and, said Andrews, never said anything to him or the Commission about his intentions. ""We made up an ad to be submitted,"" said Andrews, ""but Matt didn't submit it. ""The SGA Election Commission is not taking responsibility for the ad,"" he said, and suggested that either the SGA Executive Branch or McGlone, himself, pay for it. John Adams, member of the Commission, said the ad run in Towerlight was ""contrary to our intentions. It just made a joke out of something serious in nature. I didn't like,the joke appeal."" ""What's the sense of having the Election Commission . . . when he (McGlone) rewrites the whole ad without telling us?"" said Tom Ford, another member of the Commission. Adams agreed, saying ""the fact he went over our heads is the main issue."" ""I think it stunk,"" said Lucy Reed, also a Commission member. ""I think it's very insulting to the candidates. (If I was a candidate) I would have been very insulted."" Adams said he felt McGlone should be reprimanded in some way, but Ford and Reed both felt a public apology to the candidates and to the Commission would be enough. McGlone rewrite the ad because ""I personally looked at the ad and . . . I thought nobody was going to read that ad. I thought the type of ad I put in would put a slant on (the forum) and make people talk about it."" He said the reason he didn't tell Andrews of the changes he made in the ad is because he was so busy with other things that he turned the ad in and forgot about it. ""I didn't (forget it) intentionally. ""I gueSs I should apologize for not notifying Richard (Andrews), but I still would have placed the ad . . . Basically I and Joanne (Finegan, SGA president) have final authority over planning ads . . . I've been doing all the ads, writing all the copy,"" McGlone said. According to the Communications Director, usually when an SGA ad is run, the ""people give me the information and I make the ad . . . I Klein accuses Ruark of 'improper tactics' by Kathy Pascuzzi SGA presidential candidate Charles Klein has charged his opponent, John Ruark, with ""viola-tion of the election policy."" Klein claims that Ruark's improper campaign tactics include putting campaign posters on doors inside dorms, and using his dorm newsletter to campaign. Ruark called the charges ""utterly ridiculous."" Posters on dorm doors do not violate the election policy, if the room's residents give their permission. He says only two of his campaign posters are on dorm doors. ""One of those is on my personal room door, and the other one is on Mike Holden's,"" he said. He also said that Holden gave his permission. Klein also charged that Ruark is using the newsletter in his dorm to campaign. He said that Ruark edits the bi-weekly publication, and is using it as campaign materials. Ruark said that he really has no connection with the newsletter. ""I don't even write for the thing,"" he said. ""The editor just endorsed me."" He says he has a letter from the editor stating that he ""had no knowledge"" that the newsletter would support him. Ruark also has a letter from Widen, stating that the poster was placed on his door in the dorm with his permission. ""In fact,"" said Ruark, ""it was a personal request."" Klein said he realized that these charges are ""not enough to have his (Ruark's) name taken off the ballot. It's a shame when we've tried so hard"" to obey the rules set up by the commission, he said. The commission is empowered to remove names from the ballot, but Klein thinks that ""they'll probably just take down the posters."" He added that he thought nothing could be done to ""repair the damage"" done by the posters and the newsletter. Ruark said he thinks ""Charlie's running scared because of all my residence support,"" and that the charges are ""ridiculous."" was under the impression that Richard was giving me information so I'could make up the ad. I thought the Election Commission was part of the SGA executive,"" he said. That would relieve him from the responsibility of checking the content changes through Andrews. Although Adams said he felt the ad ""appealed to the apathetic predispositions"" of the students, McGlone does not agree, ""I don't think it reinforces apathy,"" McGlone said. ""It was obviously a joke. I think it's better to Open the paper and see a joke instead of having a finger pointed in your face"" accusing you of apathy. McGlone said he assumed the SGA would pay for the ad and that he had not considered whether he should pay for it. ""If the Senate officially brings it up, I'll officially face it."" SGA President Finegan said SGA would pay for the ad. She said she saw the ad to be ""very insulting to the candidates and I apologize for that, and I hope he (McGlone) does."" But, she said, ""if it brings more people (to the forum) it may be a good thing."" She said she planned to talk with McGlone about the ad. ""I still have a lot of faith in Matt. I want him to keep his freedom and initiative. After we talk, I think he'll understand and it won't happen again."" Reviews on the ad from candi-dates were mixed. Charles Klein, candidate for president, said he thought the ad would decrease attendance. ""Any semblance of seriousness is re-moved,"" he said and expressed doubt that anyone would go to the forum to hear the issues. Nancy Payne, senatorial candi-date, said ""I think it is hilarious. It will get a much better response than anything the Commission could have dreamed up. I'm not saying the means were correct--Matt probably shouldn't have changed the copy� but the ends were magnificent."" McGlone said that if any candidates were insulted by the ad and asked for a personal apology, he would give them one. ""But it was tongue-in-cheek, not an editorial comment. I was operating under the assumption everyone has the ability to laugh at themselves to a certain degree. 'I personally didn't think (An-drews') ad would get people's attention, get people to come. I'm not guaranteeing mine will, but it will get more attention. That's the purpose of advertising,"" said McGlone. ""The more attention it gets, the better,"" he said. McGlone is getting his attention, ad controversy to hoot. "