The Towerlight, March 19, 1976

tl19760319-000 " By Ruth Ann Leftridge rig TOWSON STATE COLLEGE MARCH 19, 1976 ommittee tables Cluster bill, roposal not expected to survive By Steve Verch ""We'll table it indefinitely, and er a certain amount of time, it'll e dead. If anybody asks, just tell ern it was tabled, but don't tell ern it has been tabled indefinite- ,. , said SGA Senator Erik Perkins, fter the final 4-0 vote of the Senate overnmental Operations Commit- :e to table SB #69, also known as The Cluster Bill."" SB#69 attempted to classify and rganize all SGA organizations into even ""clusters"" to facilitate udgeting and operating pro-dures. Ed Consroe, SGA Secre- _ of Organizational and General rvices drafted the original pro- �sal, but later dropped the ntroversial Section II which dealt 1th.a new budgeting process. The ection was omitted in the hopes of �etting the rest of the bill through he Senate Government Operations Committee. Consroe has stated that the SGA organization could save up to $600 a year by working together for supply and entertainment rate discounts. Under his plan, organizations would have done just this. Perkins, a member of the Committee and a candidate for SGA Treasurer. was present at last Tuesday's Committee meeting when ""The Cluster Bill"" was discussed. Other Committee mem-bers present were Senators Schramm, committee chairperson, Lucy Reed and Melia Katz. In discussion of SB #69, Perkins said, ""I've talked to my organiza-tions... and they say it's fine, as long as there is nothing 'about budgeting."" Lucy Reed questioned the pur-pose of such a proposal. ""I wonder how this will affect the Council (Council of Organizations). ..since organizations already meet there, it seems to me this would be just duplication,"" she said. ""Senate is already being dupli-cated with these organizational representatives, but I think Senate has been functioning better,"" stated Schramm. It was Perkins who first moved to table SB #69. The motion was seconded by Reed and then voted on. When asked afterward why he had moved for tabling the proposal, Perkins stated that students did not favor the bill. ""I've talked to my organizations.. and they say they don't want to work with other organizations,"" said Perkins. This appareptly conflicted with his earlier statement that the organizations he represented favored SB #69 with the dropping of Section III, which regarded bud-geting. ees to jump $60 next year rl, in , Pull-time day students will be aarged an additional $60 in order attend TSC during the '76 - '77 cademic year, and part-time tudent fees will be increased by $2 er credit. Despite these increases, ewson continues to have the Ian West per student-cost at a aryland state college, according President James L. Fisher. Pees will, I believe, continue to crease,"" said Fisher. ""To say at they will not would be either er )e terribly naive or totally mis-leading."" The College President suggested two guidelines necessary in order to help check these increases - to keep fees down as much as possible and to provide a stronger financial aid program in the state. Fisher believes these policies are important because ""the goal will not be achieved if we do not carefully consider the methods."" According to the President, if increases continue at this rate, Towson will ""soon be state-assisted and not state - supported,"" redit tuition remote By Pete Binns A bill in the Maryland State egislature which would allow Udents to pay college tuition and ees bY credit card will probably not 118 , Dr. Annette Flower, special sistant to the President, said uesday. The bill, H.B. 1225, is still in the t:ese Ways and Means Commit- � e' A similar bill, S.B. 511, failed th. e third reading earlier in the 8essIon, she said. .A related bill, H.B. 488, was given an unfavorable report to the Ii �use from the Ways and Means tOtnittee and has thus been 0 effectively killed,"" Flower said. ,Plovver was pessimistic about the ""ances for approval of H.B. 1226, ven though it is still alive. ""If two at of three (Bills) fail, the , gnosis for H.B. 1225 is not very o,,, she said. 6he explained that the bill, if it Ater'e to be passed, could benefit lclents because, if a student was _41111. to pay the interest charges �to ard use would entail, he 0,, s' spread payment of his tuition c-(; tt er a period of time. ""A student flet set up privately a time-pay- 'F Plan, Plan,' ' she said. th he three credit card bills are not le e. elllY bills submitted to the iaptslature this session which could eet Towson State. ""I'd say there .be 00 bills anywhere between 25 and Which, were the to sass, 11 would have some sort of impact on Towson State,"" she commented. ""The impact ranges from the trivial to the major, and a particular bill may affect only one segment of the campus population."" She said there were two bills which would ""effectively allow you to exempt from State income tax monies paid for tuition."" One bill would exempt fees in addition to tuition. Two other bills of major interest she described call for the reforma-tion of the state Scholarship System and the establishment of an Eminent Scholars Program. The first bill, SB 947, would set up a system of replace the present Senatorial and Delegate Scholarship systems. Flower said that ""The State is, in effect, losing Federal money be-cause it's scholarship program doesn't meet federal standards for matching funds through the SSIG (State Scholarship Incentive Grants) program."" She also said that Department of Health Education and Welfare officials say that for Maryland to comply with its own desegregation plan, it must reform scholarship programs. The present system of ""patronage"" awards is ""suspect as being part of the problem,"" she said. H.B. 1444 would allow institu-tions to raise endowment money with the State matching funds up to $6.00, to attract nationally known scholars to the campus, she said. especially since Governor Mandel has pledged not to increase taxes. Fisher explained that ten years ago 75 percent of the operating budget came from revenue dollars, but today only 50.4 percent of the budget is from taxes. Also, Fisher feels that higher education has consistantly received a low priority from the executive and legislative branches of the Maryland state government. ""And I think it's going to get worse before it gets better,"" he added. ""I have recommended � to the Board of Trustees no fee increases for next year,"" said Fisher. We made the only recommendation to reduce fees, we did reduce the College Center fee by $15."" RC election set by Sue Sweet Residence Council elections for the 1976-77 year will be held on Wednesday, March 31, from 4-6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Any resident student who is interested in the position of chairman, vice chairman, secretary, or rep-at-large (five to be elected), is asked to attend a brief meeting on Monday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Residence Council office (inside the.front door of Prettyman Hall). The responsibilities of the chair-man are to call meetings of the R.C., help each house set up some governing body within it, set up elections for the next year, and make sure there is a functioning Residence Advisory Board. The vice-chairman is to assist the chairman with the above mentioned responsibilities, as well as authorize loans to the individual houses, take care of maintenance complaints, and act as treasurer. The secretary is to assist the chairman in setting up house councils and the elections, inform R.C. members of meetings, keep accurate R.C. minutes, distribute them, and keep a file in the office. The reps-at-large's main job is to chair a committee within the Residence Council. Leadership training workshops for newly elected officers will be held after spring break. TSC senior stops potential suicide attempt by at McCauley citile people might have ven by the bridge; and eis,t People would have ened, ""why doesn't ""Iebody do something?"" La an October day all of lie s pectators on Loch avail Reservoir Brige #1 atched a fully clothed enan float aimlessly in ""�e water. All of the Ystanders loitered, spec- ed, and wished some- Yd else would do some- 11 ?'g - all, except for one. 1411 Bechtel saved another ntnnan being's life in Paber, 1975, and never giscovered her name. p 1 a ceremony this ebruary the Baltimore ounty Police Department ,8!warded Towson State Flior Jim Bechtel a fforts Itizeflhi Award for his n saving the life of a potential suicide victim. Driving home in the late afternoon, Bechtel saw that several cars had stopped on the Loch Raven bridge. In approaching the small cluster of people, Bechtel was told that the woman floating about forty yards away had been out in the water for about ten min-utes. One of the four or five grown men, who, Bechtel noted, ""all looked capable"" now stood watching the woman. One attempted to save her - a tire drifted about twenty yards away, but she made no apparent effort to reach it. Before he realized what he was doing, Bechtel took off his glasses and his windbreaker and jumped into the water. Retrieving the tire first, Bechtel pulled the woman onto the tire and started swimming toward the bridge, pulling the woman with him. ""The water was rough and cold,"" Bechtel recounted; However, the woman didn't offer any resistance as he swam toward the bank. Bechtel was offered some assistance as he approached the bank of the reservoir. One man heaved a kite string into the water as a tow-line to support Bechtel, the woman and the tire. The man was careful ""not to get his feet wet."" Bechtel learned to swim on his own through sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, and never took swimming lessons. He hesitates when asked to tell about himself, and shrugs in a ""not much to tell"" response. Later, he did volunteer that he ""plays a little tennis and golf, but not much."" A Geography major, Bechtel will readily realte the hassles of a graduating senior. Employed at Joppa Liquors, Jim isn't sure about a job after gradua-tion, and hasn't clearly decided what he wants to do - with the exception of marrying his fiancee. Asked about his friends' reaction to the rescue, Bechtel related that ""most of my friends didn't be-lieve it - even my parents didnt, for a while,"" Bechtel, who doesn't believe the outcome of the incident at Loch Raven was heroic, but rather some-thing that just happened, was surprised at the ""apa-thy of people,"" although he admits that he kept asking himself, and did for some time afterward, flease turn to page 8 Unless another proposal of this type is submitted to the Senate, all efforts to streamline the budgeting and operating procedures of SGA organizations will have been effec-tively buried by the Governmental Operations Committee. $27 million budget slated for 76-77 year by Ruth Ann Leftridge TSC's preliminary budget for the 76-'77 academic year has been approved by the Board of Trustees for Maryland state colleges. The total allocation is $27,032,000 including federal, state and intra-college funds. This $27 million figure represents a 21,2 percent increase over the budget for the present year, but, according to Vice President of Business and Finance Wayne Schelle, this small increase is not even enough to pay next year's mandatory salary hikes. ""It was a very skimpy budget,"" he stated. Schelle explained that since the state's financial support to Towson ,is declining, money must be generated from other areas. ""Our self-generated money is going to go from $101/2 million to $12 million,"" he said. ""The Board of Trustees passed a Senator Erik Perkins moves to table controversial bill. TL photo by Kathy Dudek policy authorizing every school to raise fees by $100 per student per year,"" Schelle continued. ""We're going to increase ours $60 per student."" Part-time student prices will also be raised by $2 per credit for next academic year, and the college will accept 400 new students in order to produce more funds. The opening of three new academic buildings, with the in-crease of fuel, maintenance, and communication costs involved, is one of the major reasons that more money will be necessary for operation during '76 - '77. Also, funds are needed for the 15 rnculty positions which will be established. ""There's not any help to improve the college program. We're just staying even,"" stated the Vice President of Business and Finance. ""Some state colleges received less money this year than they had last year."" ""We're pleased that we're increasing our fees less than any of the other state schools,"" Schelle continued, ""but we're sad we had to increase them at all."" Seventy-one percent of the '76 - '77 budget will go to faculty and staff salaries. The next biggest expenditure is supplies and materials which requires 7 percent of the total amount. Schelle explained that the final form of the budget will not be completed until May, because ""one of the key determinants in bud-geting is what you spend the previous year which we won't know until about July 15."" 'The Board of Trustees will make their judgment after that date, and then submit a budget for all state colleges to the Department of Budget and Fiscal Planning in the state government. ""The state department may also reduce our budget even after it's in the final form,"" said Schelle. The Vice President of Business and Finance explained that Univer-sity status for Towson might mean more money from the federal government and from private investors. Otherwise, Schelle felt that the budget and fees would not change at all. ""I don't think it (University status) will help us any with funds."" he said. Finegan lambasts Senate by Pete Binns ""I wasn't going to let this meeting be called to order,"" Joanne Finegan, president pro tem of the Senate, said after Tuesday's Senate meeting. ""We had a $1,000 bill coming up...and vacancies to fill, and five people representing the student body just isn't right."" Due to ten vacancies at Tues-day's meeting five Senators consti-tued a quorum for the 18-member body. However, at that meeting nine students were appointed to the body, bring the number to 17. Finegan finally decided to hold the meeting, because, she said, ""We had seven - seven out of nine - I couldn't really ask for more. Well, I could have. I could have asked for nine out of nine."" Fran Schramm, one of the Senators at the meeting, said later that she ""was kind of shocked"" at Finegan's comments because Fine-gan was a Senator until her recent appointment as SGA Vice-Presi-dent. ""As long as she's got a quorum, she has to call the meeting,"" she added. When asked to comment on the situation, Anne Marie Lowe, SGA president said that ""Business has to continue...the quantity of the representation should not be the question, it's the quality."" She added that she couldn't support not holding the meeting, even though she ""understand(s) the frustration of the people participating."" ""I am goddamn mad about the whole developing attitude"" of Senate, Finegan also added. ""Any Senator that can't put in the time and any Senator that doesn't have the responsibility should get the hell out."" ""Do they (Senators) think Senate is a feather in their hat and when they get tired they can just quit? I don't think it's right."" Schramm, feeling that Finegan's comments were ""really an unfair criticism on her part,"" said that she interpreted Finegan's statements as critical of both the Senators that resigned and those still active. Finegan also criticized students who ran for Senate knowing they would not be able to finish their term due to graduation or other reasons. ""It's deceitful for people to run for a whole term when they know they will graduate -- if they're running to put another ""goddamn laurel on their resumes."" Lowe felt, however that, if a student thought he could help students, it's his prerogative.to run. It's the student body choice whether he should run. ""If their plans and programs can be carried out in a certain time even it he's not there when programs are wrapped up it doesn't matter. It's the quality of work that counts not the quantity."" ""I don't think it's right that five people can sit here and I can stand here like an idiot week after week and not get anything done,"" Finegan continued. Lowe said that she agreed with Finegan on this point. ""There Senate meeting held despite flagging commitment. TL photo by Kathy Dudek seems to be a lack of committment on their part - those who have resigned with little or no record behind them. I'm still optimistic, though, because I think there are those people who are willing to work and to learn something. I'm optimistic because I think we can have some new blood coming in and some new thoughts, and I hope the level of interest will rise."" Please turn to page 8 Nine vacancies filled by T.F. Troy, Jr. SGA Vice-President Joanne Fine-gan lashed out at the Senate on Tuesday saying it was ""defaulted, crippled, and in a daze."" ""I had severe reservations about calling this meeting to order today,"" she said. She was angered and up-set, she said, at the enormous num-ber of vacancies in the Senate, and was hesitant to allow such a small group of people to execute the business of an entire Senate. Several senators voiced disap-proval of Finegan's discourse. Fran Schramm, who is running for Presi-dent. against Finegan said, ""with all due respect,"" wanted to know why she was bringing it, up now and not several weeks ago when the flow of resignations was just beginning to swell. (As of Tuesday, 10 senators had, resigned and another is ex-pected to soon.) Vickie Bass was the most recent resignation. Please turn to page 4 Vote, vote, vote Elections today General elections for the SGA executive positions, Senate, and Class officers will be held today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first floor of the College Center across from the Snack Bar. With the exception of some class officer positions, all other SGA executive and Senate positions are being contested. Towerlight urges all full-time students to vote in these elections. Correction Towerlight was misinformed in last week's story regarding the number of credits in reading courses required by Harford County schools. It is not six credits but three credits. We regret the error. Ow"" "