The Towerlight, May 14, 1982

tl19820514-000 "Vol. 75 No. 27 owerlight PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 Wisdom begins in wonder. � Socrates May 14, 1982 photo by John O'Loughlin Senators listen to organizations during Senate budget hearings Monday and Tuesday. Racism committee to help raise black retention rates By Bruce Reid A Towson State, committee egainst racism, which formed after a teach-in on racism was held last semester, has laid the groundwork for plans to raise the retention rates of black students on campus and ad-dress problems that the 1,100 black Students may have on a predom-inately white campus. The advisory committee, which is made up of several campus ad- Ministrators and representatives of the Black Student Union, plans to h,_elp entering black students bec orne familiar with academic Policies and student activities. The committee is looking at the orientation program, said Dorothy Siegel, vice president for student services, to help entering black stu-dents get involved in student �rganizations and help them feel comfortable on campus. ""Many of the blacks [on campus] ere for the first time in an in-t� egrated situation,"" Siegel said. It's a major adaption."" Siegel said she expects about 320 new black students on the campus next semester. ""We're looking for Ways of saying the University cares about what happens to [black students],"" she said. About 2,300 students par-ticipated in last summer's orienta-tion sessions. The program is held during June and July to introduce entering students to campus pro-grams and policies, and schedules students for the fall classes. A State Board For Higher Educa-tion study of the number of black end white students who return to college after their first academic ,Year revealed that retention rates tor black students at the University 4re consistently lower than the retention rates for white students. From the three-year study of the state's four-year public colleges, researchers found that in 1977, 38 percent of the 301 black students who enrolled at Towson State failed to reenroll in 1978. In 1977, 1,745 white students registered to attend the University and 28 percent of those students failed to return to school the next year. Thirty-six percent of the black students who had registered to at-tend Towson State in 1979 failed to reregister in 1980, while 26 percent of the non-black students who had enrolled in 1979 failed to enroll in 1980. The researchers also found that after each academic year, the number of black students who reenrolled at the University tailed off more each year. The retention rates of black students at the University however, are almost identical to the retention rates of black students at Coppin State College and Morgan State University, the researchers found. Morgan State and Coppin State are two predominately black col-leges in the Baltimore area. ""At Towson, we have a very good retention rate,"" said Elaine Solez, affirmative action officer and assis-tant to University President Hoke Smith. Solez said she attributes the University's favorable retention rate, as compared to the state's four-year public institutions, to small class sizes, well-developed support services and tutoring ser-vices. Laurence Means, newly elected president of the Black Student Union, said his organization's in-volvement in orientation programs and contact with entering black students next fall should pave the road for raising the number of black students who return to the campus after one academic year, and instill a sense of belonging among the new students. The BSU has met with the University committee against racism in an advisory capacity, Means said. The BSU's participation in the summer orientation program ""calls for more input than the Black Stu, dent Union has ever had"" in such programs, Means said. ""We want a stronger freshman class in the BSU,"" Means said. The organization's members will advise and contact entering black students during the orientation program, and introduce them to campus organiza-tions and activities. ""What we are doing now is star-ting at the beginning,"" Means said, The committee against racism and the BSU also hope to address what they say are problems in the Continued on page 10 Budget hearings begin Senategives$124,777 to 12 organizations The Towson State Student Government Association Senate, during the first week of budget hearings, allocated $124,777.70 to 12 separate student organizations. The Senate reviewed the Finan-cial Advisory Board's recommenda-tion for each organization and then debated on further cuts, additions, or approval of the FAB recommen-dation. Of the 12 organizations, Tower Echoes, the University yearbook, suffered the most substantial cuts when the Senate allocated it $17,260, which is $5,233 less than the FAB recommendation. Tower Echoes' original request of $36,069.20 was cut to $22,493.65 by the FAB after the yearbook staff could not substantiate all of its figures, said Chris Davis, FAB member. Susan Crago, SGA treasurer, said members of the FAB felt the budget had been greatly padded and the $22,493.65 figure was much more realistic. ' Craig Wolfe, Tower Echoes business manager, speaking before the Senate at Tuesdays hearing, said $36,000 for a yearbook was not an unreasonable amount of money. ""Since we [Towson State] have been a university, the number of pages in the yearbook has decreased while the number of students enrolled has increased,"" Wolfe said. ""It seems to me that it should be the other way around."" Wolfe said the staff could print a 336-page book with its first budget request. Senators debated for over an hour on whether the SGA should fund for yearbooks that were free to seniors who had their portraits taken. Traditionally, seniors who pay the $2 sitting fee receive the yearbooks free. Senators suggested that Tower Echoes charge a fee for the book. Curt Vinyard, SGA senator, said if Tower Echoes would charge seniors some amount for the year-book, as well as sell advertising space, the yearbook would meet its costs with a smaller SGA allocation. Mark Snidero, SGA senator, told the Senate the SGA was ""Budget-ting for a certain quality of year-book"" by allocating so much money. After nearly two hours of debate, the Senate decided the yearbook could still maintain quality despite a decrease in pages. ""Fund-raising is a big deal to this year's Senate,"" said Chris Bell, SGA senator. ""Each organization in some way must be able to at least try to offset its expenses."" Jim Clark, SGA senator, said, ""Not charging seniors for a yearbook is ridiculous. They are the very ones who are going to buy the book."" The Senate also accepted the FAB's recommendation and budgeted the Black Student Union $2,250, which was $4,581 less than the BSU's request. Crago said the FAB recommenda-tion was ""a reasonable compromise"" to the BSU's original request of $6,831. The Senate pass-ed the FAB recommendation, but not before debate on several BSU items. Bob Barnhart, SGA senator, wanted the budget cut another $100 because he said he felt the fruit budgeted for the Kwanza celebra-tion was not necessary. BSU members in attendance pointed out that if the senators had ever attended th t event, which celebrates the harvest, they would have realized that the fruit is an in-tegral part. The FAB also cut the BSU movie series from $700 to $250. ""I don't feel that the Senate show-ed any sensitivity to what I was saying,"" BSU president Laurence Means after the senate voted. ""They have no cultural awareness, or the desire to learn. They weren't listening to what 1 was saying. They have got to listen."" The Senate passed the executive budget after the FAB recommended $24,700 which is down $3,150 from last year. SGA fixed expenses were set at $69,186, including salaries, phone bill, scholar aid, the book ex-change and insurance. SGA president Dave Thomas said that he hoped to be able to cut down on the phone expense in the SGA, setting the phone expense at $14,000. Continued on page 2 Campus police arrest evangelist By Stephen Hyde Towson State police officers arrested a man Wednes-day afternoon, who was preaching to students on the lawn in front of Linthicum Hall, following complaints from students. Thomas K. Short, 25, of Silver Spring, was charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. Short, a member of the New Life Evangelical Church in Adelphi, Md., has been appearing on campus for several years and delivering his fundamentalist style of preaching. , Witnesses said Short was preaching to a small crowd of students shortly before noon Wednesday when the Towson State trombone ensemble began playing a con-cert of classical and novelty pieces. Shortly after noon, University police received a call from an unidentified student who complained of Short's activities. Officers John Reuling and James Shepleng responded to the call and received complaints from other students as they approached Short and asked him to stop preaching. Witnesses said Short stopped preaching after the two officers requested that he cease his evangelizing. The of-ficers then walked away several yards and Short renew-ed his oratory. Cheers broke out from the crowd of students after the officers arrested and handcuffed Short. George Friedman, an English professor who witnessed the arrest from his classroom in Linthicum Hall said his class ""suddenly lost interest in T.S. Eliot,"" and rushed to the windows to watch the arrest. Friedman said Short has been ""proselytizing"" on cam-pus regularly for several years. After the man's arrest, Friedman said his class was generally opposed to the police action. Short was arrested at 12:30 p.m. and taken by campus police to the Towson District Courts building, and he Thomas subsequently appeared before District Court Commis-sioner William Mosner, where he was released on his own recognizance. A trial date has been set for June 17 in the District Courthouse. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and a possible six-month jail term. Stephens Hall renovation possibly delayed to 1986 By John B. O'Loughlin, Jr. The renovation of Stephens Hall has been delayed un-til 1986 at the earliest, said Robert Caret, dean of natural sciences and mathematics at Towson State. The delay in renovating the 67-year-old building is due to a lack of sufficient state funds to begin the restora-tion. The money for the renovation that was originally 8et aside for the project was removed from the Universi-tY budget by Gov. Harry R. Hughes, and was replaced in the University budget for the 1983-84 academic year. When the money to begin the renovation was removed 'tom the University budget last spring, programming back halted. Caret said he has gotten the programming on track, however, and the planning stage will begin in the fall of 1983. Caret said the initial plans for the project will take about two years and construction will begin in 1986. Stephens Hall is the Jacobean style home of the depart ments of business administration and ,Mathematics. The Towson landmark also houses the university computer center and was the administration end main academic building after its completion in 1915. , Currently, the building is noted for its peeling paint, tailing plaster and leaking windows and ceilings. William Brown, chairperson of the business ad- Ministration department said he doesn't think the ad- Ministration is sympathetic to the urgency of the need to renovate Stephens Hall. , ""With the exception of the vice presidential level, I 'on't think the administration realizes the condition of the building. Its probably worse than anyone thinks,"" 15rewn said. The Board of Trustees of the State Universities and Colleges, which oversees the programming and planning stages of the renovation project, will determine what space will be used for offices and classrooms and what the buildings needs for the future are. The Board of Trustees must approve the plans and construction bids before the renovation project can begin. The estimated cost of the renovation is between $7 and $8 million. Caret said, ""I guess it will take about one and a half to two years to renovate Stephens Hall because it is such a massive job."" The money originally was to be used this year, but was removed from the University budget when it was not us-ed immediately. The initial money for the programming and planning was then placed in the state general revenue surplus. Caret said, the state general revenue surplus allowed the state to maintain an AAA bond rating. The triple-A bond rating allows the state to secure low-interest loans. The general surplus fund is maintained to stand behind those loans. The state has budgeted for the renovation in the 1983 academic year, but Caret said he did not know why the state did not budget the project for the 1982 academic year. The business department students and faculty have complained about the disrepair of Stephens Hall. Brown, the business department head, sighted pro-blems on the northeast side of the building. During the summer, Brown said, the windows must remain closed because loud machinery operates outside the windows. Brown also mentioned many of the minor problems with Stephens Hall such as leaks, faulty plumbing and falling plaster. Douglas Parsons, business administration major and vice president of the Society for the Advancement of Management, said that his organization hosts ex-ecutives from major corporations to lecture in Stephens hall. ""Gentlemen like the vice president of Crown Cen-tral Petrolium come here to speak. It is embarrassing to us and to the University as well."" The Society for the Advancement of Management hosts its visitors in Room 215 of Stephens Hall. ""This room looks terrible,"" Parsons said, ""Plaster is falling down and it hasn't been painted in a long while. Its em-barrassing."" In a letter to University President Hoke Smith, Par-sons wrote, ""The condition of Stephens Hall is an embar-rassment and does not provide for a suitable learning ex-perience."" Smith, in a reply said, ""I agree that the delay of this renovation is detrimental to the business school and the University. Unfortunately, the current recession, coupl-ed with the 'glacial' pace of state building and renova-tion procedure, make it impossible to accelerate this renovation."" ""The University will continue to get this renovation done as rapidly as possible; but, realistically, I cannot provide any encouragement that it will take place before 1986."" In the meantime, Caret said, money will be used from the University operating budget to make minor repairs to Stephens Hall. hie photo The 67-year-old Stephens Hall will not be renovated un-til 1986 at the earliest. "