The Towerlight, May 10, 1984

tl19840510-000 "Handicapped graduates give their opinion about Towson State By Teresa Graber and Terie Wolan Not all of the many students woo enter college complete their educa-tion. For handicapped students, 1. 's even more difficult because they aren't encouraged and don't have as much support. The handicapped stu-dent faces a variety of obstacles; the place where they turn for help at Towson State is the Office of Special Needs. Margaret Warrington, director of the Office of Special Needs, said ""to be able to graduate from college with a degree takes a lot of effort, dedica-tion, and determination. For a han-dicapped student to graduate is outstanding."" The office has been helping students for five years. Warr-ington said most universities have support services for the handicapped, however, Towson ranks very high in the support it offers. Warrington said all of the buildings on campus are accessable to wheelchairs, and that there are mobility vans available to transport students around campus. As blind students begin attending To*son, they are escorted around campus, but are generally expected to get around themselves. The office is prepared to satisfy the individual needs of the handicapped, it offers student readers, typists, tutors, and notetakers, and ar-rangements can be made to have classes taped or written in Braille. Currently, there are 28 paid students and volunteers who work with 73 han-dicapped students. ""Towson State University does not compromise its standards, there is no compromise of quality"" for handicap-ped students, Warrington said. Warrington pointed to two graduating students who have worked with the office as an example of what handicapped students can accomplish given the opportunity and support. Michele Jones is receiving a B.S. in sociology and Rebecca Ladew will receive a B.S. in instructional technology. Jones was diagnosed as having a learning disability when she was 24. Jones said many people with learning disabilities hide it from others because there is a negative stigma at-tached to it arising from many misconceptions about the disability. Jones hopes to enlighten others to the fact that, although ""I have a brain (t)sfunction,...I am not retarded. I have a disability, but I am still in-telligent, I still think."" Of the handicapped students Warr-ington works with, 33 of them have learning disabilities (LD); however, some LD students are noi, open about their disability, she said. Some students are afraid if special ar-rangments are made for them to take untimed tests or are tested separate-ly, others will look down on them. Rebecca Ladew, who has cerebral palsy, came to Towson after receiving her A.A. degree from Essex Com-munity College. Ladew said most of her experiences at the University have been very positive. ""I don't feel! have had any bad experiences,"" Ladew said. Because it takes more time and ef-fort for students with handicaps to complete their work, Jones believes they are more mature than other students and are more serious about their work. ""We know there's a job to be done and we try to complete it the best we know how,' Ladew said. Jones sometimes feels guilty because of the arrangements that have to be made. The professor, the reader and the han-dicapped student have to be able to meet at the same time for tests or to work on papers. Jones said, ""It works, somehow it works."" Both Jones and Ladew stressed that they want to be treated like everyone else. ""We're like you, why don't you treat us like you."" Jones said. She said when people first discover that she's handicapped, act awkwardly. Sometimes, when they feel isolated from other students, the handicapped students turn to each other. Jones said, ""We come here (the Office of Special Needs) for support, and we go to each other. There is a lot of com-radery between handicapped students."" On the whole Warrington feels that most students are sensitive to the han-dicapped, noting that this year she said they had a very good turnout for the Handicapped Awareness Week. Having obtained her degree after being out of school for 20 years, Ladew hopes to work in a library, possibly one run by the government. Jones said all her job applications are with the government because private busineses or agencies are still reluc-tant to hire a handicapped worker. The government has a responsibility to hire the handicapped, Jones plans to work as a group counselor for han-dicapped individuals. ""We have to prove something to ourselves hnd to the world,"" she said. Jones said that there have been studies that suggest that handicapped are less prone to absenteeism and are more dedicated workers. ""Without this office, I and probably Becky, wouldn't be graduating, It's a great service,"" Jones said. Warrington hopes that more students will volunteer to help the handicapped students on campus, and that more handicapped students will come to the office for assistance. The Towerlight Vol. 77 No. 28 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 May 10, 1984 SGA antics SGA Senate enthusiastically adjourned at the last meeting of the year. WCVT increases power to 1 0,000 watts By Paul Norfolk WCVT, Towson State University's F.M. radio station after seven years of planning, will soon boost its power to 10,000 watts. The increased power is a significant change for the station because it will allow them to reach a larger audience. Tara McIntyre, pro-gram director for WCVT, said the students are very enthusiastic about the project. ""Everyone is psyched,"" she said. The first step in the project was to consult engineers to see if it was feasible to expand ser-vice. Then the station applied for a construction permit from the F.C.C. which was necessary for the installation of the transmitter and the an-tenna. The transmitter went out on bid and the Harris Corporation installed it during the week of April 16. The new antenna will go up some-time next week. Years of planning, budgeting, and coordinating played an important part be-hind the scenes. On of the main problems was financing the project. The new transmitter cost about $27,000, while the antenna was in the range of $7,000. An installation fee of $2,000 was added to both items. Money has been collected through fundraisers, phone-in contributions, and saved in a foundation account. The station also received money from the S.G.A., but McIntyre feels that it was not enough. The recent budget allocation for next year of $16,929.16 barely covers the costs of running the station, McIntyre said. Money is needed for such things as tapes, records, office supplies and magazine subscriptions. Money is also spent on maintaining a cooling system for the transmitter as well as repairing equipment. To solve this problem, the station is going to try underwriting records. This means that a company will pay a fee to have their name men-tioned on the air. The station will also seek grants and endowments from other sources. The boost in power means a larger broad-casting radius. With 10,000 watts, the radius will double from 40 to 80 miles and broadcasts will be picked up as far away as Washington D.C. The format will change slightly in that pro-grams will be tightened and deadweight will be removed. McIntyre explained that serving a larger audience requires more professionalism. ""We can't sound like a bunch of students play- But although some changes will occur, the station will continue to be run by students. The station is operated by between 125 and 150 Uni-versity students. The only paid position is held by Tony Falbo, station manager. The station is assigned an advisor from the Mass Communica-tion department, but the final responsibility for the daily business of the station rests with the students. Falbo said the station provides a great opportunity for Mass Communication majors. The station allows for experience in production, recording, and broadcasting of original material. WCVT is obligated to follow F.C.C. regulations, such as devoting a set amount of time to educational programming, however, besides closer supervision, the F.C.C. will not impose any more restrictions with the increase in power, Falbo said. McIntyre stressed that the station has bene-fits for students of all majors and for the Uni-versity as a whole. She hopes that more stu-dents will realize what a ""goldmine"" they have on campus and get involved. The station should start operating at 10,000 watts by the first week of June. Timothy Leary voices unusual ideas By Mike Judge In 1959, an obscure Harvard psychology professor named Timothy Leary became director of the Psychedelic Research Project at that university. For a number of years after and at various institutions, he conducted controlled experiments us-ing hallucinogenic substances in over 200 volunteer subjects and for much of the sixties and seventies, his name became associated with the use of Lysergic acid diethy lanide (LSD) for which he was branded with the epithet: ""the most dangerous man alive."" The most dangerous man alive was at Stephens Hall Sunday. Now in his sixties, he looks quite healthy, and he seems something less than dangerous. And he didn't talk about drugs, much. That's in the past. In-stead, Leary dealt with the present and the future � the cultural and in-tellectual changes being brought ""The old guard sees the change coming and they are scared"" about through the increasing use of computers. ""Yours is the first electronic generation,"" he told the audience, which was composed mainly of people who remembered when Leary was first making news, ""the first con-sumer generations, from the day you first walked up to the boob tube on your chubby little legs:"" the baby boom generation. This baby boom generation, Leary says, has been revolutionized by the writings of Dr. Benjamin Spock, whose books in child-care emphasized the child as an individual and have outsold all other books except for the Bible. ""In the past, parents tried to get children to conform. Now we try to treat children as individuals, prepar-ing them for a totally different culture,"" Leary said. This new culture has abandoned the group focus of the feudal period and the industrial revolution and now, with micro-computers and inter-active software leading the way, the focus is on the individual. Leary likens this new technology to the in-vention of movable type in 1462, which, by making more successible, led to an increase in personal thought and signaled the end of the feudal period. Leary sees micro-computers and inter-active software replacing books in the next years, although he believ-ed the change will undoubtedly meet resistance. ""The old guard sees the charge coming and they are scared. They are going back to the feudal thinking when there was no choice for commerce people, and the body, not the brain, was all that mattered in-society."" Leary's audience, the largest of the 1983-84 speakers, numbered around 200 and was, for the most part, quiet, except when Leary made references to President Reagan and drugs. Most of the post-lecture questions, in fact, dealt with drugs, specifically Leary's experiments with LSD at Harvard in the early 1960's. Candidates from three slates elected Lyles takes top BS U position By Greg Jackson Experience made the difference in this year's Black Student Union elections as members from all three major platforms were elected to of-fice. In the presidential race, Jean-nette Lyles won 49 % of the popular vote (228) to defeat freshman Dar-ren Wilson's 38% and 176 votes, and Karen Johnson, 13%, 165 votes. The vice presidential post was won by Wilson's running mate, Larry Boots, who defeated Sean Yoes 314 to 128 votes. The closest race in the election was for the job of treasurer, won by Mark Griffin over Seandra Scott (220 to 218). Stephanie Robin-son ran unopposed for the secretary position. This year's election, the first con-tested one in three years, also had the highest voter turnout for the or-ganization's elections. More people voted in this election than in this year's SGA races (471 to 460). ""Students showed a lot of inter-est in this year's campaign, Presi-dent- elect Jeannette Lyles said. ""It's up to the new administration to keep it going."" Lyles will try to ""keep it going"" by developing a new recruitment drive for the Fall semester. Her plans also include appointment of new committee heads and revitaliza-tion of the assistant vice president and treasurer positions. ""It was a good race and everyone deserves credit,"" BSU member Rob-ert Bedford said ""It was very im-portant in the fact that it shows the potential support we have here on campus."" The winners of this year's elec-tion begin their official terms at the beginning of the Fall semester. On the Inside Finals week The final exam schedule and what to do with your free time p.4 Film Festival A look at some of the best Towson State student filins p 6 Ballet Classic A review of the Ellicott City Ballet Guild's production of ""Giselle"" . . p.7 Correction In last week's news article on the Student Government Associa-tion's budget allocations, it was incorrectly reported that Dr. Lillian Anthony, director of minority affairs, had spoken to representatives of Minister Louis Farrakhan concerning a possible speaking engage-ment by him. This was incorrect, Anthony had not contacted Farrakhan or his representatives. The Towerlight regrets this error. This is the last issue of The Towerlight for this year. The Towerlight will return August 30. Have a nice summer. Dr. Timothy Leary By Edvins Lagzdins "