The Towerlight, March 7, 1985

tl19850307-000 "Freshman dormitory due next Fall Freshman resident students who request a Glen Complex room next Fall will live in Towson State's first all-freshman dorm. University officials denied, however, that the move is primarily motivated by a desire to have an alcOhol-free dorm. One Glen complex tower will house 40 percent of the total freshmen, as well as upperclass staff advisors, said Mary Lee Farlow, Residence Department Director. Traditionally 30 percent of each hall has freshmen, Farlow said. Instead, one entire tower will be reserved solely for freshmen. Freshmen can choose the freshman dorm or one of the multi-class dorms. The residence department has not determined an alcohol policy for the tower, Farlow said. ""The issue of a dry (dorm) is not the primary goal,"" said Barry Evans, residence department assistant director. Evans said he hopes an all freshman environment will help allay fears and misconceptions in first year students, fears like, ""I'm the only one going through this."" Evans said he spoke to two freshmen in Scarborough Hall last Fall who ""didn't want to talk to anyone"" because they thought they were the only freshmen in their hall. ""Upperclassmen have already established themselves and can be good role models for (freshmen),"" said Phil Adams, Tower A area coordinator. But ""when freshmen first get here, they feel a lot of anxiety"" about being accepted, he said. Adams said the new structure would help freshmen retention. If you don't feel comfortable, you won't do well,"" he said. ""A lot of people feel (the Glen Complex dorms) are not as friend-ly"" as the older side of campus, Evans said. �Lorraine Mirabella Child rights workshop Towson State's Department of Early Childhood Education and Student Services will sponsor a workshop on Parents and Profes-sionals titled: Working Together for Children's Rights Saturday March 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jule Sugraman will be the keynote speaker. For registration information, contact Tracy Miller at 321-3930. The good and bad news about registration The only complaint heard more often than parking is about grip-ing about registering for classes. The registrar's office has good news and bad news about registration. The good news is there's an easier system. The bad news is it won't be available to University students for eighteen months to two years. The proposed system, ""on-line"" registration, uses computer ter-minals to register students for classes, said Dave Decker, associate director of registration and records. With on-line registration, a stu-dent will be assigned a time and date to sign up for classes. At the computer terminal, an operator enters the student's choices, and the computer readout informs the student if the class is available. If the class is full, the student chooses another class then, instead of returning for in-person registra-tion. Although the procedure sounds simple, the computer software necessary to run the system is not. The package needs to be able to register students, incorporate changes in student addresses, and make changes when a stu-dent wants to add or drop a class, Decker explained. The long wait is caused by the Board of Trustees, who must ap-prove all bids to make the soft-ware package. The board accepted a bid, but, the company could not provide a package to meet the University's specifications, Decker said. The package must be able to register students for classes, in-corporate changes in student ad-dresses, and be available when students want to add or drop a class. �Angela Husovsky campus notes Student exchange program deadline Two Towson State sophomores are set to study at either the University of California or Mon-tana State University as part of the National Student Exchange next semester. Larry Liber, director of both registration and scheduling and the NSE program said the pro-gram has been extremely suc-cessful. ""We've had nine students ap-ply already and a couple more who are interested in par-ticipating,"" Liber said. Participating students pay Towson's tuition and the transfer college's room and board charges making transferring to another school less complicated and, sometimes, Liber said, less cost-ly. But only fifteen students can be accepted into the program each semester, according to Liber, application deadline for the Fall semester is March 15. Interested students should pick up an application in Ad-ministration room 230. Ap-plicants must have at least sophomore class standing and good academic standing. �Ed Talley Dry Tigers Campus group helps student alcoholics face their problem P.11 Double Feature: Rob Taylor reviews ""Hopscotch"" and ""Out at Sea"" p 6 Newman Center holds anti-nuke rally Reversing the arms race was the theme of the peaceful protest held by four members of the Newman Center Community last Wednesday outside Stephens Hall. Sue Goodman, a Newman Center member, was waving a United Nations flag, Goodman said, 'I'm here to make a state-ment. I'm concerned about the world when we make bombs that can destroy the world."" On one side of Goodman was a banner that read ""Reverse the Arms Race Now"". On the other side, Father Bob Albright, holding an American flag, head of Catholic Campus Ministry and Catholic Campus Director for the Archdioces of Baltimore. Albright said, ""I consider it (the arms race) an issue when we are faced with nuclear destruc-tion."" When asked about the upcom-ing arms reduction negotiations by the United States and the Soviet Union Albright, said, ""The talks are too long in coming. They should have been done a long time ago."" Albright also said the turnover of Soviet leaders is stalling arms reduction on talks. ""Younger leaders would have a better chance for (arms) reduc-tion."" Goodman, said by being out on Stephens Hill, she will ""en-courage people to join us."" �Scott Hollenbeck Campus notes are continued on page 2 SGA election information... The ToPublished weekly by the students o 4 'NM Towson State University begins on page 7 Towson, Md. 21204 Vol. 78 No. 19 March 7, 1985 Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz talked about his controversial views on crime, gun control and pornography. By Edvins Lagzdins Dershowitz criticizes gov't's 'false choices' By Jackie Yost Would you provide free heroin to reduce violent crimes by 26 percent? This was one of many challenges proposed by Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz in his .two-hour presentation last Sunday in the University Union. At 46, Dershowitz is the youngest full professor at Harvard Law School and is considered by many the preeminant defense counsel in the country. His most famous cases in-clude the Pentagon Papers case, the Claus Von Bulow murder trial, and the Jewish Defense League murder case. Dershowitz told the approximately 400-member audience, ""The choices we are being presented by govern-ment today are false choices."" He suggested making heroin available to addicts as a means of reducing crime, stating that 26 per-cent of all violent crimes are commit-ted by heroin addicts ""in need of a fix."" His plan involves setting up medically equipped vans in high crime/high addiction areas to provide immediate heroin injections for ""medically certified"" addicts. He said this would make addicts -far less desparate"" and would ultimately reduce addict-related crimes. He said each injection would cost only ""the price of a pack of cigarettes."" There are no plans ff-. initiating the program because ""II ere is not a politician in this country who would take these bold steps. It doesn't get you votes,- he said. Dershowitz said with issues such as crime, gun control. and feminism, ex-treme interest groups and the govern-ment present only two choices to solve a problem ""when there actually may be other alternatives."" Regarding crime, Dershowitz said, interest groups and the government may give a choice of being on the side of the criminal and the Bill of Rights or being on the side supporting safer streets. ""That choice is presented over and over again,"" he said, and it leaves citizens feeling there is no real choice in the matter. Dershowitz believes, ""You can make the streets a lot safer without in-fringing on civil liberties."" Dershowitz said extreme interest groups and the government offer the public only two choices on gun con-trol: complete approval or complete opposition. Dershowitz suggested strictly regulating purchasing of guns as an alternative to total gun control. He said efforts should be made to keep guns out of the hands of potential criminals and especially people with previous records. He also suggested instituting a handgun amnesty program. ""Any criminal should be able to turn in his gun and receive five times the value of it."" An audience member asked whether amnesty would lead to criminals buying guns out of state and selling them for a profit in an amnesty state, Dershowitz said even if people made money from the program, every gun they sold would be ""one more gun off the streets."" He said gun control was handled il-logically by the Reagan administra-tion. ""When Reagan got shot, the person who shot him used the insanity plea for his defense. Now, Reagan wants to abolish the insanity plea. The insanity plea didn't shoot Reagan; Hinkley's gun did."" Dershowitz said the public and the government are not willing to take the necessary steps to control crime or guns. ""We are prepared to whip the same old horses...the insanity plea and the exclusionary act."" Dershowitz said the government and interest groups also offer ""false choices"" regarding feminism. He said ""extreme feminists"" tell the public they either have to ""sup-port censorship"" of magazines like Hustler or they are sexist. Dershowitz said, ""I want anybody to be free to read or not read what they want."" He said he would ""like to see the day when people are ashamed of sex-ist magazines as they (presently) are of racist magazines."" Dershowitz has been accused by many feminists of supporting abor-tion and pornography. He represented Harry Reams in the 1976 Deep Throat case. Dershowitz 's support of personal choice almost cost him his life. Al-though he has represented many murderers, he said the only serious death threat he ever received was from a group of feminists. ""The only time my life was seriously threatened ... was by a group called Dikes on Bikes."" Dershowitz said this was a group of feminists complete with ""motor-cycle chains"" who cornered him after he defended Reems from Deep Throat. ""I do not support abortion or por-nography. I support choice of what to do with our minds and our bodies."" Dershowitz said Dershowitz most recent book is I'/u' Best Delense. Candidates spar over issues at SGA debate By Mike Barnes It was called the ""Great, Debate"", � but abetter name for it might have been battle of the acronyms� BEST versus RIGHT versus the STUDENTS ticket. At the Student Government As-sociation debate last Monday, the presidential and via presidential candidates of three tickets squared off. Presidential candidate ""Crash"" Kahn did not participate. While each ticket tried to prove they were the most committed to representing students, each ticket had radically differing views of what issues were most important to students. The debate consisted of an open-ing statement, a round for the re-buttal of opponents' statements, a free-for-all round in which can-didates could question their op-ponents, and closing comments. The presidential debate also includ-ed a round of questions from stu-dent panelists. The three presidential candi-dates, Daniel Dinkin, Shawn Hill, and Paul Walsh, all dressed in coats and ties for the occassion, address-ed an audience of about eighty peo-ple. During a three minute opening statement, Dinkin strongly attack-ed his two opponents. ""The election boils down to three different philosophies,"" Dinkin said. ""The STUDENTS ticket philoso-phy is ... for the better. One of our opposing tickets believes that the students will benefit from austerity measures, but the only thing they would really accomplish is to turn back the clock ... and students and organizations to suffer unduly. Our other opposing ticket chooses to take a laissez-faire approach...But the only thing that will result from their administration will be mediocrity and the ,ieath of in-itiative."" The STUDENTS platform in-cludes h '1ping new organiza tions with fundraisers, through an Office of Organizational Advancement, continuing a probation period for groups, and helping the Forensics Union and Model Organization of American States obtain outside funding. The RIGHT ticket, headed by presidential candidate Shawn Hill, stressed the need for fiscal responsi-bility within the SGA. Hill said the SGA ""has nearly complete autonomy over an incredi-bly large amount of money, over a quarter of a million dollars."" The RIGHT ticket, proposes a re-duction in the $27.50 SGA fee, a 10 to 15 percent cut in scholar aid (money received by SGA execu-tives), and an investigation into the resale policies of the University Bookstore. ""If you are satisfied with the way the SG A is working, then you should vote for one of my oppon-ents,"" Hill said. ""But if you are not satisfied, then vote for the RIGHT ticket."" ""Every year, the same issues seem to crop up,"" Hill said. Parking, security on campus and alcohol policy always come up. but ""nothing ever seems to be done about them."" Paul Walsh, the SGA senator heading up the BEST ticket, stress-ed his experience. ""I know the inner workings of the See DEBATE, page 13 Students evaluate candidates, debate By Jean Kane Approximately 80 people attended the Student Government Association (SGA) presidential and vice-presidential debate last Monday. However, the audience mostly con-sisted of candidates, SGA members, and members of the campus media. The few students who turned out for the debate expressed widely different views about the candidates and who they would vote for because of the debate. Junior Doug Hemrnick, said, ""The STUDENT ticket [comprised of Dan Dinkin, Jeff Rinaca, and Tim Chase] was the only one that talked about things that were really important; the other groups were too specific and too personal in their responses."" But, junior Bill White said. ""I think the RIGHT ticket [Shawn Hill, Gerald Thomas, and Tom Trott, Jr.] won the debate; they discussed the issues. More bureaucracy does not cure pro-blems."" Freshman Linda Kennel, said, ""I'll probably vote for Shawn Hill. He was specific in addressing problems and he dealt with issues. ""I think Dan Dinkin won the debate. He was articulate and went straight to the issues; I agree with his proposals. Hill seems to be trying to bring Con-servative Reaganomics to the SGA,"" said freshman Shannon Avery. Students also had conflicting views on the debate format and how the can-didates handled the questions. Some were disappointed in how the candidates' answered questions. Senior Bill Gillespie said, ""The debate was short. The questions were clear and direct, but the candidates evaded direct questions."" ""I was disappointed that the can-didates did not bring up issues, except for Dan Dinkin,"" said senior Jim Olsen. Laura Weldon, a junior, said ""I thought they were very vague. They mentioned problems, but didn't men-tion solutions."" Some students were satisfied with the debate itself. ""The debate was good,"" said senior Barbara Rush. ""They addressed the issues on everyone's mind. Joe Heacock [vice-presidential candidate for the BEST ticket of Paul Walsh and Andy Kohn] seemed to stand out because he didn't beat around the bush."" Junior Jodi Barker said, ""the debates were excellent. I'm glad there's more than one ticket running. It shows concern for the students."" "