The Towerlight, November 12, 1976

tl19761112-000 "Marathon football begins today. See page 3. lq? o t13 Today is the last day to drop a class Vol. LX1X. No. 10 TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY NoN ember 12. 1976 $$$ pollute politics, says NBC's Mackin by Pete Binns ""The unbridled use of personal money in politics has a polluting effect"" on the. election process, Catherine Mackin, NBC news correspondent, said in a lecture delivered Sunday night as part of the Student Government Associa-tion's celebrity speakers series. In her remarks, she expressed her concern about the apparent relative ease that rich candidates have in getting elected to the U.S. Senate. She didn't go so far as to say that the situation was wrong, but rather that it was ""worth thinking about."" According to Mackin, about a third of the members of the U.S. Senate are either millionaires or are married to millionaires. In the recent elections, the campaign which was, according to the political reporter, the ""clearest and best abuse of money in politics"" was that of H. J. Heinz of Pennsylvania. Heinz' family is the Heinz that made millions selling soup. Mackin said that what Heinz and other big spenders did with his money was ""perfectly legal"" but not ""necessarily a thing we as a country desire."" Nationally, Mackin said, all candidates in the more than 30 Senate races had spent about $30 million by Oct. 18. Heinz spent, as of that date, $2,600,000 on his campaign. Two million of those dollars came out of his pocket. He and three other candidates in other states spent, between them, a fourth of the national total. The worst abuse Mackin sees in a candidate's use of large amounts of Personal money in a campaign is that ""he knows at the beginning of the campaign that he will have as fetuch money as he wants"" throughout the campaign. He can, for instance, hire a good staff at the beginning of the campaign, long before an opponent who depends on contributions may be able to afford it. She said that she would rather see a candidate win an election because of support from an organization such as the AFL-CIO because ""she believes people should be involved."" Mackin also commented on President-elect Jimmy Carter. ""I'm hot sure how he's going to do. That's why the polls dropped.. I think. There is uncertainty...But you never know ahead of time how a President will work out � like in a Marriage...But he has confidence in himself that he can handle the job. That's a big plus."" She also said that ""if the Democrats do what they say they will there will probably be wild inflation. But I don't think he (Carter) will try � he's too responsible."" According to Carter, she said, Mondale wil have more work to do then any other vice president. ""But all Presidents say that. Did Nixon say that about Agnew? No maybe not. He couldn't be that dumb. But I have a gut feeling it might be true with Carter."" She also talked about herself and her career. ""I have not seen any particular advantages (as a reporter) in being a woman. � She said that there are, in fact, some disadvantages. She gave an example of male reporters being more likely to be invited for a drink with, say, Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader of the Senate. ""I don't think that having blond hair and blue eyes will help you get the story. If you have a drink with Mike Mansfield, it's easier. Her regular assignment is the Congress. She said she usually doesn't know what her story for the day will be or even if there will be one. When she covers a story, she often has to cover it for NBC's Nightly News in the evening, and for the Today show the next day. ""It's like writing for the News American and the Morning Sun."" ""Covering Senate is like playing chess, like figuring out a mystery,"" she said and added that she enjoyed it. ""But my mother says its hard work, and I always listen to my mother."" Her schedule is even worse during an election year, she said. ""Every day for two and a half months, up until (last) Thursday, 18 hours a day were nothing."" Someone asked her how she relaxed. ""Well, I really don't relax too often,"" she said ""although I recently took up tennis. That really gets your mind off things,"" Then she added, ""Would you believe I read, too?"" Although Catherine Mackin is in a sense a Towson alumna, (she went to Towson for ""four or five days"" and then a scholarship at Washing-ton College came through), the turnout for her lecture was lighter than at most lectures. She pointed that out to the audience herself. Without Mention-ing Gone With The Wind, she said, ""NBC's competing with NBC � so it's nice of you to come tonight."" Catherine Mackin Senate interrupted by black protesters by Tom Troy, Jr. A group of black students interrupted this week's SGA Senate meeting with protest signs denounc-ing SGA's refusal of the Black Sudent Union's budget request. The senators were discussing several money bills when it became clear that the black students in the crowded gallery were not there just to watch. About halfway through the meeting, the blacks representing fraternities, sororities and the BSU came forward quietly with their protest signs. When they had virtually surrounded the senators, Senator Jeff Woodard, noticing that ""there' seems to be a commotion in the gallery,"" moved that Erik Hanks, the president of the BSU, be permitted to speak. ""This shows,"" said Hanks, motioning to the black supporters, Johnson learning the rules. procedures as newest addition to SGA Senate by Stephen L. Verch ""I'm a commuter student, and I would like to elicit help from any commuting student about problems that we have, like parking,"" said the newest addition to the SGA Senate, freshman Levi P. Johnson. The new senator, who is also a member of the Christian Community on Campus, graduated in the spring from Northern High School in Baltimore City. Johnson is a sociology major. Asked if he considered himself a member of the SGA's Black Student Union, Johnson responded, ""Yes, as a senator I represent the BSU as well as other organizations."" A member of the Government Operations Committee, Johnson stated that he is currently interested in finding out how the Senate is run. ""Right now, what I'm working on is learning the rules and procedures of the Senate,"" he said. In lieu of this week's meeting, which saw a BSU protest interrupt the planned Senate agenda and result in some interesting comments by his fellow senators, Johnson did offer some observations. ""I have no specific comment on any officer or senator. I don't think it's a racial question, as it is more an emotional one. I think the senators try to the best of their ability to do a good job,"" he said. ""They let their emotions get carried away. They let their emotions get in the way of their judgements,"" concluded Johnson. He also commented on BSU's interruption of Tuesday's Senate meeting stating that he thought the group had been successful in their efforts. ""This action by the BSU definitely did get across the point how the BSU felt about the Senate's previous decision to vote against their supplementary budget request,"" he said. After attending his first full meeting this week as a senator, the freshman was also quick to offer an opinion about the Senate's parlia-mentarian, Richard Andrews. ""He is a genius. I think he has remarkable capabilities,"" said Johnson. Unification Church representative defends church's theology and practices by Tom Troy, Jr. and Dennis McGee According to one observer, the Baptist Student Union held the second in its series of two meetings on the allegedly notorious Unifica-tion Church and its members, popularly known as ""Moonies."" These -reported misetings (the first 3,200 shot with flu vaccine here; response called good by Phelan Student bravely receives her swine flu innoculation last week at TSU's vaccination program. Ti photo by Ken Vane by Kathy Pascuzzi Dr. Patrick Phelan, director of the Health Center, said ""response was really good"" to the TSU swine flu innoculation program. About 3,200 stUdents wer.r? innoculated. Dr. Phelan said that this represented only about half of the programs' 8,000 goal of innocula-tions. Still, he said that TSU's response was higher than other Baltimore area colleges, and he had been told that if 50(1 of the vaccine was administered, the response could be considered good. The innoculation program was directed by Vice President Dorothy Siegel. Dr. Phelan and Dean Thomas Knox managed the project. Only six reactions were reported, and Dr. Phelan said that these were mild and ""of short duration."" The most frequently reported reactions, besides sore arma, were headaches and fevers. Two students reported rashes; but it was unclear if the rashes were Et. result of the vaccine. Circle K, and Health Science and Nursing students volunteered their help. The Health Science students received credit for their assitance. Dr. Phelan said that some indepen-dent students also volunteered their help. Dr. Phelan said he would like ""to thank all who contributed their time and interest,"" to make the innoculation program as successful as it was. Dr. Phelan said that the state of Maryland provided several of the ""gunners"" necessary to administer the vaccine. Costs to TSU for additional gunners amounted to only about $300-$350. 011(. of which was reported in Towerlight last � week) is said to represent a milestone in relations I etween the Unification Church and the more traditional Christians. According to informed sources, Christians for the past several years have shown a fear of the "" Moonies"" bordering on paranoia. The horror stories about brainwashing and kidnapping and ""de-programming"" which have been reported in many newspapers and magazines, the rumors that Moon has 40 wives and forces all of his female converts to have sex with him, the scores of young Unification Church members selling flowers and candy for ""drug abuse centers"" and ""summer camps,"" characterizes the Unifica-tion Church. controversy. Present at the meeting were Belmonte (""Monty"") Vianale, the director of the Unification Church in Baltimore, and two other church members. Also present were Marcus Rackley, the director of the Baptist Student Union, and Andrea Diegel, the Lutheran � pastor, and about 20 ""Christians."" In his short presentation, Monty' set forth some of the tenets of the Unification belief, and he discussed the Divine Principle, the Unification ""Bible."" ""I hate that name,"" he said, referring to the popular nickname, ""Moonies."" In a recent letter to the editor of the News American, Monty wrote that ""The public has been told how we deceive people into a lifestyle that is monstrous. The range of these sagas could make Homer's Odyssey look like a drive to the supermarket or a ride on the No. 8 bus."" Mostly, he talked about the Unification theology and how it relates to Christian theology. He rejects taking the Bible as the full revelation of truth as the Christians do. ""Truth is never-changing and eternal, but the expression of truth must grow,"" he said in response to a question concerning the infallibility of the Bible. ""If you take the entire Bible literally,"" he told one' student, ""you're in trouble."" ""Well,"" said the student, ""I'll take all the trouble I can get."" The Unification Church and the Christian churches have different theologies of Creation. The Moon version says that Adam and � Eve were put on earth to reach perfection, or maturity, and then procreate, ""multiply, take dominion over all the earth,"" and create a perfect society in the process. According to Unification theology, Adam and Eve failed in this respect, Noah failed in this respect, and Jesus was unable to fulfill his mission. Now, the ""Moonies"" believe, the task is up to Reverend Moon himself to marry and start the perfect society. ""how we feel about the Senate refusal to give the BSU the money. It's clear to us that there is nothing in SGA which appeals to black students. It is difficult for a white student to understand what it feels like to be on the bottom � to be in the minority."" The BSU recently requested a $6000 supplementary budget which was denied. They tried later for $3000 which was also denied. At present, the BSU has $9000 in its accounts, all of which has been committed, but very little of which has been spent. Opponents of the BSU request believe that the BSU already has enough money for now, and should spend what it has before asking for more. They also fear that if given the money, the BSU may not spend it, thus depriving other orgnizations of money. There is some skepticism among the white senators concerning BSU financial management. Also, they feel that the BSU should first ""prove"" to the SGA that it is capable of handling its money properly. This meeting was unusual in that an SGA organization was allowed to dominate the meeting. The Senate is seldom confronted with shch well-organized protest action as it saw on Tuesday. Erik Hanks ""chaired"" the meet-ing and called on senators to speak. They discussed the money issue for a while, but eventually talked about the more fundamental issue that divides the two groups: racism. The blacks accused the whites of racism, and ""insensitivity"" to the needs of the black students on campus. ""Why don't you come on down and see what we're doing?"" they asked the white senators, who made little response. Black students pointed out that white students never show up at black-sponsored activities. Larry Hughes, former BSU president, said he can ""count the number of white faces"" at a black affair. Sophia Stevens said that, as a black senator, she could ""sense a very negative point of view towards blacks in the SGA."" Students from the gallery said, ""Senate is just too biased!"" and ""You look at us and you see our color first � black!"" At one point, white senator Mike Holden cried out, ""I resent being called racist by Larry (Hughes) and Sophia (Stevens!. I'm not preju-diced, I promise you!"" He was answered with loud jeers and shouts of ""Prove it!"" To which he replied, ""I don't have to prove to you that I'm not prejudiced! You called me prejudiced and it's not true!"" Edwards quits Box Office by Jo Butler and Debbie Pelton Bill Edwards, manager of the Box Office, has resigned from his position after fifteen months of employment at Towson State, citing increased time demands as his reason for quitting. Andrea Conlan, who has been bookkeeper for the SGA, has been hired to take Edwards' place. Edwards said that he enjoyed the atmosphere at the University and that he enjoyed working with students and other TSU employees. Since his appointment as Box Office manager, Edwards' staff has been expanded to include three assistants and 65 other employees. Ticket sales, ushering events, crowd control, publicity and other miscel-laneous duties have increased the staff's workload. Edwards feels the increase in work was not directly proportional to his salary. ""I wasn't happy putting in 55 to 60 hours a week,"" he said. Functions of the Box Office were limited when he began management training, Edwards said. Along with the expansion of the Box Office's functions came added responsibility for its employees. ""Bill took over when the Box Office was of narrow scope,"" stated Mark London, manager of the University Union. ""The Box Office really broadened under Bill."" While Conlan is getting acquainted with her new position, the Box Office is being operated in large part by the three assistant managers, Bruno Fisher, Eloise Gainy and Michelle Basset under the supervision of London and Bob Baeuerle, assistant manager of the Union. A few difficulties have resulted from the changeover and the absence of a permanent manager. Fisher sees ""no real problems with our capabilities in running the Box Office, but as students, we have other commitments."" ""Each of us knows the workings of the Box Office well enough to run it through the transition period,"" he added. Bill Edwards A limited !Amber of free tickets are still available for students, faculty and staff to the Nov. 20, 8 p.m., lecture by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize winning au-thors of the Washington Post. You may pick up your tickets at the UU Box Office. "