tl19820312-000 "Vol. 75 No. 20 Tovverlig,Itt PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 No signs from Heaven come today To add to what the heart doth say. Fyodor Dostoevski March 12, 1982 The students for the students ticket won this years SGA elections. Pictured above are: Susan Grego, treasurer, Dave Thomas, president; and Brad Howatt, photo by Chris Barteiroos - vice-president. Presidential candidate Mark Schumaker is pictured lower left. Crago embraces Chris Davis, SGA senator, after hearing of her victory. Landsat: Eyes over the Earth by Bruce Reid Ever wonder what happens to all the satellites that this country sends up into perpetual orbit? Now students and teachers at Towson State can par-ticipate first-hand in a project that could prove to be a vital link in Maryland's environmental planning opera-tions. The efforts of two Towson State geography pro-fessors, Marshall Stevenson and Curtis Martin, have helped to gain the University's designation as a NASA Land Satellite (Landsat) Center, the first in the Baltimore metropolitan area. A small computer installed in the basement of Lin-thicum Hall enables the two professors to receive and in-terpret light signals from two satellites orbiting 900 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. The signals can be transferred into ""remote sensing"" photographs, or high altitude images of theEarth's sur-face to be used for mapping, urban planning, industrial consulting and wildlife management. ""The possibilities are limitless,"" Stevenson said. Stevenson and Curtis began investigating the possibility of linking to the Landsat data project in the fall of 1980. ""We've done this without costing � the University a dime,"" Stevenson said. No new federal or state funds were used to bring about the Landsat designation, the professors said. Maryland has three Landsat and remote sensing centers, in addition to the new Towson State facility, at the Goddard Space Center, Salisbury, and at the Univer-sity of Maryland, College Park. ""We have a working relationship with the Maryland Department of State Planning to exchange data,"" Mar-tin said. Officials at Maryland's Landsat centers are working on an inventory of the state's forests. The pro-ject can be done for one tenth the cost with the Landsat equipment, than what a similar project would cost using less advanced systems, Stevenson said. Not only will the Landsat Center enable the Universi-ty to work with other state and private agencies, but there are countless opportunities for students and facul-ty to benefit from the new equipment, the professors said. Continued on page 8 Thomas leads ticket in election victory by Gayle Griisser The Students for Students ticket won a close race Tuesday in the 1982 Student Government Association election placing Dave Thomas as president, Brad Howatt as vice-president and Susan Crago as treasurer. Thomas received 495 votes out of the 340 cast while his opponent Mark Schumaker received 402. In the vice presidental race Howatt received 476 while Bruce Jones received 390. Susan Crago received 597 votes as opposed to her opponent, Joseph Lis, who received 220. The Senate was elected without opposition since only 11 people ran for the 14 available seats. The SGA University Affairs Committee will screen for the re-maining seats and make their recommendations to the Senate. The new senators are Robert (Krash) Barnhart, Chris Bell, David Bonner, Jim Clark (reelected), Eric Jones, David Kehne, Alison Leonard, Steve Peck, Richard Silverman, Mark Snidero and Leslie Swiger. Compared to the SGA's elections of the past two years with controversial limit bill two years ago and Liesa Kel-ly's platform for abolishing the SGA last year this cam-paign was without major controversial issues. ""Before, issues were created to say that there were issues,"" Thomas said. He said that this year he tried to avoid rallying behind an issue and just working on the present problems. Howatt agreed, Saying that on the positive side the ""lack of major issues kept a lot of politics out"" but pro-bably kept voter turnout down. ""I'm happy it's over and glad I won,"" Howatt said. ""I thought I would win but it was a lot closer than I thought it would be."" ""I expected it to be close. For awhile there we had a pretty good feeling,"" Jones said. He also said that the same old problem of apathy on campus once again plagued the election. ""If more people had voted it may have gone the other way,"" Jones said. Jones said he hopes the new officers can do something about apathy but says he hasn't made a decision on whether to seek a Senate position or any other position within the SGA. All three of the new officers said they have ideas on combating the problem of apathy including cultural events, better communication between SGA and students and funding for projects reaching the majority of students. Thomas said he would like to encourage anyone wish-ing to promote their ethnic heritage to come before the Senate and present their ideas for possible SGA funding. Thomas said that earlier this year there was a lot of talk about racism and that ethnic festivals held in front of the University Union could introduce students to a variety of cultures. Incorporating one of Schumaker's ideas into his own administration, Thomas said he would like to talk with students in Pennsylvania to see how they raise money for their organizations with the drinking age at 21. Howatt said he wants to establish a closer and better working relationship with student organizations and clearer communication between the SGA and students. To achieve this, Howatt mentioned utilizing the SGA Towerlight Communication Committee, a committee the SGA formed to place student organization news in Towerlight. Howatt said the concept is good in theory but was started at an advanced stage rather than gradually building it up. Crago said she will keep in mind while working with the Financial Advisory Board just how many students Continued on page 10 Enrollment projections met by Marc Goodman Towson State received on March 1 final enrollment figures for its full-time equivalent, students (FTES). Patricia Plante, vice president for academic affairs, reported that 10,850 FTES had enrolled for the 1981-82 academic year, surpassing the limit of 10,600 FTES needed to meet the budget requirements for fiscal year 1982. The announcement culminated a lengthy tabulation of students registering for, dropping, and add-ing courses in the continuing studies program. To calculate the number of FTES, the total number of credits taken by the University in the fall and spring semesters is divided by 12 credits. One students taking 12 credits is equal to one FTES. Four students each taking three credits is also equal to one FTES. The University easily surpassed its target figure (10,600 FTES) last fall as 11,157 FTES had enrolled. A decline of students in the spring due to academic dismissals, trans-fers, and drop-outs resulted in a lower FTES figure � 10,543, Plante said. But the University was 250 FTES ahead in the final figure for the 1981-82 academic year � 10,850. The orginal figure of 10,600 was projected nearly two years ago, and made available to the Board of Trustees of the State Universities and Colleges so proper appropria-tions could be made for the Univer-sity's budget. Stephens Hall renovation postponed by Rich O'Brien The renovation of Towson State's 67-year-old Stephens Hall will begin no eariler than Sept. 1985, said Robert Caret, dean of natural sciences and mathematics. The delay in the renovation project stems from the lack of funds and Robert Caret changes in the University's priorities, Caret said. The State Board for Higher Education estimates $6.9 million for the construction and for equipment for the project. The legislature cut a $300,000 fiscal year 1983 request for detailed planning for the project. The estimated total cost is $7.2 million. The detailed planning would bring architectural and engineering con-siderations together with academic requirements. Caret said, fortunately, the pro-gramming work which was done in 1981 is identical to the current re-quirements. ""If the program stage had been conaletetedd last spring, we could have s construction in Sept. 1984. But the Board of Trustees of the State Universities and Colleges stopped working on the programming because it would have been a year out of date when it came time to start planning."" Caret said he has been pushing for the renovation of Stephens Hall since he started his job last sum-mer. The building is notorious for its falling plaster and peeling paint. Joyce Neubert, assistant pro-fessor of mathematics, said that Stephens is ""falling down."" ""The heating is eratic. You never know whether you're going to be in an ig-loo or a turkish bath. About a year ago, I had to give an exam to students, who were wearing coats and gloves,"" Neubert said. A SBHE report states, ""The age and design of the building, interior and exterior deterioration, and anti-quated mechanical and electrical systems make this facility dysfunc-tional for instruction and very cost-ly for utilities and maintenance."" The building's occupants have also complained about leaking ceil-ings, chronic toilet problems, and the smell of mold from walls that have been damaged by water. The air conditioning system has a reputation for frequent break-downs. Caret said, the University had been reluctant to spend money on repairs if the conditions could be tolerated until the building is renovated; but now the University cannot wait for the renovation and plans to do the work necessary to in-sure the comfort and safety of the Hall's occupants. The proposed renovation of Stephens Hall, built in 1915, will be in the style of the renovation of Van Bokkelen Hall, Caret said. ""All of the original architecture and wood-work will be retained. It will actual-ly be a restoration project. We can't just gut it. That's why the project is more expensive and harder to justify � it's a lot of money and they [the state] just take their time spending it,"" he added. ""People don't seem to be holding their breath waiting for the con- Gtruction crews,"" said one faculty member, who works in the building. ""We don't believe anymore."" Ronald Garrison, assistant vice president for finance and system management, said the University needed to generate $11.9 million in revenues from tuition and fees for the fall and spring semesters to meet the budget requirements. With 10,860 FTES (average for both fall and spring semesters) pay-ing just over $550 (Per FTES), the University received an excess of $137,500 for fiscal year 1982. Garrison said that because of the additional revenue, 12 new part-time faculty members could be hired (at $10,000 each) to accomodate the increase of students. Lonnie McNew, assistant vice president for student services, said the money left over would go to ""underfund academic departments that need supplies."" Plante said the money specifically would go to departments such as the theater department which needs a new lighting board. If the University had fallen short of its goal, it would have had to dig into its contingency funds. Garrison said the University has saved $200,000 in case it didn't meet the enrollment projection for fiscal '82. If the University had fallen way short of its goal, then the depart-ments would have had to bear part of the burden to meet the expense, he said. Other Maryland colleges weren't so lucky. University of Baltimore and Frostburg State fell slightly below their FTES projections for 1982. Coppin State saw a con-siderable decline. Enrollment figures for area colleges and universities. Maryland Universities Coppin State Frostburg State Salisbury State University of Baltimore St. Mary's College UMBC University of Maryland Towson State University Morgan State University FY '82 FTES Final FY '82 FTES Appropriation Enrollment Figures 2,150 1,553 3,225 3,156 3,300 3,291 3,159 3,111 1,300 1,226 5,300 5,600+ 29,527 29,844 10,600 10,850 4,000 4,181 A relic hangs next to evidence of the tattered interior of Stephens Hall. "
