The Towerlight, March 15, 1984

tl19840315-000 "The Towerlight You teach best what you .most need to learn. �Richard Bach Vol. 77 No. 21 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, M RYLAND 21204 The Student Government Association, 1984-85 edition (from left to right) Front row: Joel Cohn, Chip DiPaula, Eileen O'Shea. Middle row: Barry Brown, Steven Mister, Regina Lennon, Lisa Oppenheimer, Paul Sebula, Joe Heacock. Back row: La.--v Kushner, Daniel Dinkin, Sue Finkelstein, Melanie Goldsmith, Liza Gundell. Not pictured: Martin D. Hyatt, Robert Slowey, Paul Wa!sh. SGA polls: A study in foregone conclusions By James Hunt The atmosphere was somewhat less than electric Tuesday as Election Commission chairman Paul Pusateri read the names of the 14 senate can-didates garnering the most votes in this years Student Government Association Elections. The reason for the absence of ex-citement was obvious: the candidates for the top three positions � presi-dent, vice-president, and treasurer � ran unopposed and only 18 students were vying for the 14 senate seats. Thus, all that was left for Pusateri to do was to confirm what everyone has known since Feb. 28 (the filing deadline for candidates in this elec-tion), that Chip DiPaula, Eileen O'Shea, and Joel Cohn will be the next president, vice-president and treasurer, respectively, of the SGA. And, of course, to read the names of the 14 candidates elected to the senate. They are (in order of votes received): Sue Finkelstein (318), incumbents Lisa Oppenheimer (309) and Melanie Goldsmith (304), Bob Slowey � who doubles as the ""Tiger"" mascot at Towson State athletic events �(283), incumbent Marty Hyatt (282), Larry Kushner (282), Paul Walsh (275), Liza Gundell (274), Steven Mister (267), Paul Sebula (263), Barry Brown (257), Regina Lennon (252), Dan Dinkin (235), and Joseph Heacock (235). The new senate officially takes of-fice April 1 and their first meeting will be Tuesday, April 3. The four candidates who were not elected were: Randy Dixon, Jennifer Rost, Dwayne Purnell, and Lisa Ren-nard, who was formerly a student senator at. the University of Pitts-burgh. The lack of excitement in this year's election was perhaps ref ected in the voter turnout. Only 460 (or slightly less than 5 percent) of the 10,000 full-time students eligible to vote did so. Over the last five years, the average voter turnout has been between 10-15 percent of those eligible. President-elect Chip DiPaula said that, although he was disappointed at the low turnout, he was ""not too sur-prised."" He attributed it, in part, to the fact that the candidates for the top positions were running unopposed. ""It's easy (for voters) to pick between two presidential candidates, but its hard to differentiate between 18 (senate candidates),"" DiPaula said. Another reason for the low turnout may have been the absence of voting History department presents 350 years of Maryland history 350 years ago this month, two ships, the Ark and the Dove, weighed an-chor off St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River at the southern tip of Maryland. The people on board, led by Leonard Calvert � who would later become the first governor of Maryland�bought and settled a parcel of land on the mainland in the area of what would become St. Mary's City, and, thus, the colony of Maryland was born. To commemorate that event, the history department is sponsoring a series of lectures on Maryland history next week in Linthicum Hall, rm. 208 at 3:30 p.m. The first program, on Monday, Mar. 19 will be a slide/lecture presen-tation entitled ""The Baltimore Con-nection,"" a history of Maryland's largest city presented by Prof. Dean Esslinger. On Tuesday, Mar. 20, Jean Baker, a professor at Goucher College, will give a talk on ""Slavery in Maryland."" Maryland was a border state during the Civil War, and slavery was a par-ticularly divisive issue during that conflict. Prof. Roderick Ryon will be discussing the ""Struggle to Control Baltimore Industry, 1917-1931"" on Wednesday, Mar. 21., Ryon will be giving the same presentation this April before the Southern Historical Association. ""Maryland Politics Since World War II"" (a fertile subject if ever there was one) will be discussed by Brad-ford Jacobs, an author and former Baltimore Sun editor on Thursday, Mar. 22. Next week's lectures were organiz-ed by Dr. Myron Scholnick, professor of history. ""(The history department) wanted a program which is com-prehensive. I think these talks will cover many of the aspects of Maryland history,"" Scholnick said. ""It's becoming very fashionable among historians to study local history. (They) can learn a lot about any given era by focusing on local history."" This is particularly true in Maryland, Scholnick said, nothing that former governor Theodore McKeldin once called this state ""America in Minature"" because of its geographic and social diversity. This year is also the 352nd anniver-sary of the granting of Maryland's charter by Charles I to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, thus accounting for the date 1632 on Maryland's Seal. James Hunt Student Government Association Elections - 1984 Candidate Votes *Lisa Oppenheimer 309 rec'd Melanie Goldsmith 304 President Robert Slowey 283 (unopposed) *Martin D. Hyatt 282 James ""Chip"" DiPaula 368 Larry Kushner 282 Paul P. Walsh 275 Vice-President Liza Gundell 274 (unopposed) Steven Mister 267 Eileen O'Shea 357 Paul M. Sebula 263 Barry Brown 257 Treasurer *Regina M. Lennon 252 (unopposed) Daniel Dinkin 235 Joel Cohn 346 Joseph Heacock 235 Senators (18 candidates, 'Incumbent 14 positions) Sue Finkelstein 318 460 students voted booths in the Newell and Glen Dining Halls. Pusateri explained that Leslie Swiger, who he replaced as chairper-son following Tuesday's Senate meeting ""disappeared"" Friday without leaving instructions on run-ning the polling booths. When he ar-rived at school Monday, the first day of elections, he found that there weren't enough people manning the booths at Newell and the Glen, ""so I took it upon myself to close (those booths), so that we had at least two booths (the ones in the University Union) open."" Swiger was not available for com-ment. The third, and most frequently cited, explanation for the low voter turnout is students' indifference to or lack of understanding about what the SGA does. March 15,1984 The policy on suicide What to do, what happens when someone considers 'ending it all' By Teresa Graber According to University Police, there were 3 attempted suicides among the 15,000 students who attend-ed Towson State either full- or part-time last year. While that number is significantly below the national average � one at-tempt per 1,000 students; one death per 10 attempts � the University still maintains an established policy for assisting those who attempt suicide, of which, perhaps, few people are aware. Charles Maloy, assistant vice-president of students and director of the Counseling Center said a suicide attempt occurs when, ""a student threatens or carries out harm on themselves."" The psychiatric evaluation is done by third-year psychiatric residents under a contractual arrangement with the Sheppard-Pratt Hospital. The residents work under Dr. Dave Cowie in the Psychiatric Service on campus, Maloy said. Dorothy Siegal, vice-president of student affairs, insists the evaluation comes from, ""an in-house resource."" ""We limit our psychiatric unit on campus (to those who) know what dorm life is like."" Siegal makes the decision whether to keep the student involved in classes,"" strictly from the recommendation of the Psychiatric Center."" She said, ""If a student is per-mitted back, there is a condition: the student must visit the Health Center."" ""A student may be able to return (to classes) if involved in treatment,"" Maloy added. In dealing with suicide, Siegal tries ""to balance out the interests [be-tween] the welfare of the student and the welfare of [ the University]."" And, ""we try constantly to make this en-vironment a supportive one."" Maloy outlined some of the changes in behavior patterns associated with suicidal tendencies: � Deep depression for a sustained period of time. � Changes in sleep patterns; depress-ed people sleep more. � Changes in eating patterns; some people will stop eating, some will eat more. � They often talk about committing suicide. It is a myth that people who talk about suicide won't do it. � People sometimes try to ""right all the wrongs"" they've done in past relationships. � Some try to put their physical en-vironment in order by giving away things that are very important to them. � Generally, outgoing people will withdraw. When someone is displaying suicidal tendencies, Maloy said, ""try to be available to talk. Try not to be afraid of what the person says, and hear what the person is trying to say."" The next step is to get help from either the Counseling Center or the Psychiatric Center, ""sometimes if you suggest the idea, it may be enough."" But if it isn't, he suggests of-fering to go with the person to get help or come into the centers alone. Sometimes, a counselor from the center will go to the person's room. The center will ""do everything we can to get that person help,"" Maloy said. If a person makes an attempt on their life, Maloy said, ""deal with the medical emergency immediately."" If it occurs on campus, call the Univer-sity Police, 321-2133, and contact a C.A. or a staff member. If it happenes off campus, dial 911. Maloy said, ""Suicide is the most dif-ficult topic for people to talk about."" It is Siegal's goal to, ""tell students there are people to turn to and many options."" Lack of state support could cut student loans By Glenn Small The ability of students to get govern-ment� supported loans could be restricted if $1.8 million in state payments to lenders is not re-stored to Governor Hughes' proposed budget. ""The state has basically withdrawn their sup-port,"" said Benjamin L. LeBorys, vice president of consumer lending at Union Trust Bank. Support in the past has been in the form of a $40 fee paid to banks and savings-and-loans participating in the student loan program. LeBorys called the $40 a ""service fee,"" which the state had paid to lenders to cover the admin-istrative costs of student loans. The fee, which in the past was paid for each new loan, each loan renewal, and for each loan repayment, would be restricted to first time loans. ""We're looking at what we're going to do to counteract this, ""LeBorys said, explaining that Union Trust, Maryland's largest participant in the student loan program, may restrict loans to first time customers only, and to restrict loans to ""more desirable customers."" ""More desirable customers would be students who were borrowing larger sums, since adminis-trative costs are the same for large and small loans. LeBorys said that student loans account for one-half of all student funding, and that Union Trust has $100-million committed to the pro-gram, with possibly 20,000 new loans to be is-sued this year. Towson State students borrowed $4.5 million from the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) pro-gram and $1.5 million from the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program for this year, ac-cording to Linda Human, acting director of finan-cial aid at Towson. Human said that Governor Hughes' budget cut, which trimmed the $2.8 million in incentive spending to $1 million this year, could make get-ting GSL's more difficult. She said that banks were likely to be more selective. ""[Banks] may establish a minimum loan,"" she said, meaning that ""small amounts, like $250, would be ineligible."" Human said that $250 can make a big difference to some students. ""That is a whole year of books."" According to a state legislative audit of the Higher Education Loan Corporation, Maryland is only one of four states to pay incentive fees, and maryland's $40 fee is the highest among those states. The audit also found that $22 is the next highest fee paid. Responding to this report. LeBorys said that not all states have lender fees because some han-dle state support differently. New York, he said, does not pay lenders a service fee, but offers technical support or billing service, instead. LeBorys also said that a lot of states have loan access problems, which Maryland does not. ""They had a lender fee in Georgia, and they did away with it,"" he said. ""They [then] had an ac-cess problem, so they brought back the fee, but they still have an access problem"" because confi-dence in state support was damaged. ""You can't turn the banks on and off,"" he said. LeBorys said he is particularly upset because he has seen loan restrictions and access problems eliminated here. ""Maryland is one of the few states with no a'- cess problem,"" he said, ""we were finally ab, gt over all those restrictions."" The state audit also revealed that Maryland of-fers non-cash incentives to lenders who par tici-pate in the program, such as a record keeping and billing functions. But LeBorys said that ""there are no functions that the state offers me that have any value at all."" LeBorys also said that the problem is not how much banks are paid, but that Governor Hughes cut the money without consulting banks. ""You have to understand something,"" he said, ""when the governor moves something out of the budget proposal, the legislature can't put it back in."" ""[Hughes] is legislating through the budget."" he said. And ""whether $40 is too much or too little is something to be negotiated with the banks."" LeBorys said, ""The state has simply withdrawn promised support."" LeBorys said that he thinks Governor Hughes did not think about what he was doing when he reduced the incentive payments in his budget proposal. ""None of this was negotiated, and that's the problem"" he said. LeBorys said banks will be forced to be more selective on loans because the technology in-volved in processing student loans is great, and if banks cannot make money, they won't lend it. ""As a banker, I'm very concerned that all stu-dents go to school,"" he said, ""but I can't do it at a loss."" ""The banks have alternative things they can do with the funds,"" LeBorys said, such as mort-gages and business loans, but ""the students don't have alternatives: if Maryland does this, there will be nowhere for students to turn."" LeBorys said that the main opposition to the incentive cuts has come from ""the financial aid community�school's financial aid officers."" But LeBorys said nothing will be changed un-less students voice their concern. ""Because Union Trust is upset�that won't change anything,"" he said, ""Only if the students and the people who are going to be short changed respond, this will not change."" Lacrosse preview Defending ECC lacrosse champions open season at home v. North Carolina. page 8 Abortion -- pro and con Steven Hyde and Mike Judge take op-posing positions on this controversy. page 10 "