The Towerlight, November 14, 1985

tl19851114-000 "Judicial policy passes Senate The Student Government Association unanimously approved a bill that establishes a Judicial policy for the SGA and its affiliated members. The bill states as its purpose, in part, By establishing a fair and efficient process for adjudicating conflict, the Student Government seeks to resolve conflict and Protect its organizations."" According to Joe Heacock, vice-president of the SGA, the establishment of the policy was necessary in order to ""outline procedure"" and ""define Jurisdiction"". The policy allows for the formation of a judicial board that will be responsible for hearing charges brought against an organization or an individual Within that organization. It will also hear charges brought against auY student candidate in regards to election policy. However, Heacock stated, ""the board will be restricted to deciding guilt or ?nnocence, but will not sentence. That will be the responsibility of the vice-president. After sentencing, the individual or organization does have the right to submit an appeal to the vice-president, who, according to the document,"" shall decide if final appeal to the SGA President is warranted"". Sentencing could be administered in the following Manner, ""1) reprimand, 2) counseling, 3) probation, 4) Suspension, 5) disafilliation,"" or in the case of a student Candidate, ""penalized according to the provisions outlined in the election policy"". The president shall then have the power to ""sustain or overturn the board's decision and/or the viee-president's sentencing."" �Patrick Campbell Priest Support for aid lveakens A recent survey conducted by tnlie New York Opinion Research rporation shows that fewer euhericans support Guaranteed Sttident Loans for middle income 8tUdents. v., The survey, released on 'eteber 21 in conjunction with 'ational Higher Education Week, km that the public support of tLhe government loan program fell oy six percent in 1984. The survey reported that 40 Percent of Americans support the r�gram, down from 46 percent '14 1984 and 51 percent in 1983. 't also showed that only 53 Petcent support an increasing aid � financially-needy college 8tUdents. This represents a 10 P'ercent drop from one year ago. The survey did not report why ptdalic support for the program is It did state, however, �shtat more people feel the quality higher education is improving ;�,4 Percent), rather than declining '16 percent). � The poll also showed that 40 vercent of Americans intend to if t,� te college. This represents a Percent jump from 1982. It T? ao showed the seven out of ten Tliericans felt they would not be 1Ple to afford college; 76 percent Atilt the cost of a college af clueation would be out of reach f�1. most Americans in the �Neeable future. The survey also concluded the tirl��,,st Public support of federal aid 'or science and medical :88earch, while the least support '8 for the arts and social sciences. �College Press Service acuity grants awarded The following faculty members e,eived faculty development rants for projects related to the ,;11Provement of instruction for va,olication. rheldon Meyers, of the music ia,e1)a r trn en t, for ""Phonodisc Uhlication of Composition 'Born trill the East' ""; Linda Mahin, of English Department, for 11,,�111, rnunication is B-school 114481hess""; and Bob Shouse and ;;�tiel Jones, of the library, for ''ALOG system Training."" -University Report � campus notes Inside By Robert liovermale Mixed track record Women surprise, men falter at last weekend's meet 4. Tigers declawed Football team suffered its first Division II team loss since 1982 5. Mediocre monsters Transylvania 6-50(X) isn't funny or scary 9 Forensic footnotes Has the media gone too far in covering terrorist attacks? 13. Journalists in space The good and the bad news about the next space shuttle passengers 13. LIT mem-bers needed Applications for membership to Lamba Iota Tau, the International Honor Society for students of literature are currently being accepted. The qualifications for membership are: junior standing or higher, twelve hours of literature courses with a minimum 3.0 average, a minimum 3.0 grade point average in all college courses, submission of an approved paper (critical, research, or creative), and payment of appropriate dues to L.I.T.'s international headquarters. For further information, contact James J. Hill, Jr., faculty advisor, 201B, 321-2856. �Jean Kane Barnett speech scheduled Dr. Marguerite Barnett, vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor political science at the City University of New York, is the next speaker in the Distinguished Black Scholar Series sponsored by TSU 's office of minority affairs. Dr. Barnett will be on campus this week, Nov. 13-14. Her visit is co-sponsored by the political science dept. Dr. Barnett is author of a book, The Politics of Cultural Nationalism in South India,"" for which she received the American Political Science Assn. Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism Award for best scholarly work in political science exploring the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism. In 1983, Dr. Barnett was selected as the Bethune, Tubman, Truth Woman of the Year by the Black Women's Hall of Fame Foundation and this year was named Distinguished Lecturer for 1986 by the Congressional Black Caucus. �University Report The Published weekly by the students of Towson State University Vol. 79 No. 11 Towson, Md 21204 November 14, 1985 Campus notes are continued on page 2. Disease dooms Auburn trees Ancient trees to be removed By Patrick Campbell Priest The tall, graceful, shade trees that have adorned the entrance to the Auburn house since 1789 will soon be removed due to their con-traction of a deadly fungus known as Dutch Elm disease. The 125 foot trees, perhaps the largest English Elms in the state and known as the ""Bride and the Groom"", are rich in tradition. Ac-cording to Mr. Francis O'Neil, of the Maryland Historical Society, the trees were ""the pride of their owners"". One story relates how the Turnbull family, who owned the property in the mid-19th cen-tury, purchased an old fire engine from the local fire department whose pump would be used to spray water on the immense trees. The trees even survived a huge fire that struck in 1849, gutting the mansion but leaving the trees basically unscathed. Yet the hardy elms will not sur-vive [heir latest challenge. Dutch Elm disease is a fungus that is spread by beetles, and once set in is always fatal. The diseased tree, once diagnosed, must be destroyed to prevent the infection of surrounding trees. William R. Schermerhorn, Sr., associate vice-president of the physical plant, stated that a con-tract for removal of the trees has been awarded and the removal will take place ""as soon as possible"". According to Schermerhorn, the trees will then be ""hauled to a special site where they will be burned."" However, Dr. Lois O'Dell, of the Towson State University's Biology department, stated that the trees ""probably would have died anyway"", due to what she termed ""improper pruning technique"", refering to a pruning the trees had undergone approximately three years ago. When she saw the trees after the pruning, she states that she ""shook my head in dismay. I knew the trees were doomed."" According to O'Dell, the tech-nique used is known as ""topping"", the top branches being ""looped off"". Yet this method, states O'Dell, ""allows water to get in, and leaves the tree more suscepti-ble to disease"". She added that the cuts had been ""too drastic, it threw the metabolism out of balance."" Schermerhorn, however, defended the action, stating that the disease was already suspected, and the pruning was done to prevent its spread. He gave no response to the opinions expressed by O'Dell. Although nothing can now be done to save the trees, O'Dell hopes that in the future there will The Bride and Groom have stood over the Auburn house for almost 200 years. be more communication between the biology department and the Physical Plant. In a letter to President Hoke Smith, she states, 'Trees are weakened and made subject to in-fection often more by the techni-ques used than by anything else. Much very expensive work later cannot compensate for the pruning damage."" In reference to the con-tractors who would be assigned to the work, letter continues, ""Preliminary discussion with the men who are going to do the work shouuld reveal inadequacies. If this could be done before any repair contract was let, results could be much better."" In response to the letter, Smith stated, ""I appreciate your offer to assist in reviewing pruning procedures,prior to the commencement of actual work and have so informed our Physical Plant Department.'' It is hoped by all parties involv-ed that in the future such a tragedy ""can be prevented"". Lecture on suicide given By Scott Hollenbeck ""Suicide is the leading cause of death among people your age,"" said Susan White-Bowden, author of the book ""Everything To Live For."" She said 5,000 to 6,000 young people in their late teens and early 20's com-mitted suicide last year and more than a million attempted it unsuc-cessfully. White-Bowden addressed 150 students, administrators and members of the University commun-ity in the Chesapeake Rooms Monday night. White-Bowden said the statistics represent a ""tragic trend we can turn around and a trend we must turn around."" White-Bowden became interested and concerned about suicide when her 17-year-old son, Jody, killed himself. Talking about still brings tears to her eyes. ""We had a special specialness, however we didn't talk about pain or problems"" in their lives, she said. She said ""we did a great disservice to each other"" by not talking about their problems. The death of her son was not her first bout with suicide. Her first hus-band committed suicide 21/2 years before her son took his life. ""I didn't think it was because of his father's suicide,"" but it was a con-tributing factor, she said. However, a psychiatrist told her after her son's death that it was not uncommon for children to do this. As White-Bowden said, ""he had in fact set an example."" She feels very strongly that drugs played a role in her son's death. She said her son had experimented with drugs and used marijuana until he died. ""It wasn't a matter of going along with a crowd, he was using drugs to get through each day."" ""The last straw was the break with his girlfriend,"" she said, adding he didn't ""live long enough to discover there will be another change in his life."" Although at the time of Jody's death she was the only parent, she said in ""many families, both single parents and both parents don't give their young support"" they need growing up in today's society. Teenage suicide happens in ""car-ing, loving families over and over again."" White-Bowden said the home is the first place a suicide can be prevented. Time with offspring, she argues, is the main weapon in fighting suicide or any problems a child may have. ""We must look at the home and ask if there is anything we can change."" One change she suggests is priorities. She firmly believes it is ""very important to set priorities in our lives."" She contends the employer must be made aware that employees have responsibilities and priorities at home. She advocates spending time See SUICIDE, page 11 13y Edylne Law/dins State allocates 20% increase in budget By Jean Kane Across the nation, colleges and universities will be receiving ap-proximately $31 billion in aid from state governments in 1985-86. This figure represents a two-year in-crease of 19 per cent according to the October 30, 1985, Chronicle of Higher Education. The figures for individual states vary greatly. Alabama showed the largest percentage increase of all the states, fifty-three per cent, while Texas showed a decrease of three per cent. State support helps to fund general university programs and student financial aid programs. In addition, the states allocate money to agencies such as governing boards which then distribute the money to the schools. Like Alabama, Maryland increas-ed spending on higher education by more than the national average ac-cording to M.M. Chambers' data given in the Chronicle. The total ap-propriations made for Maryland col-leges and universities for the 1985-86 school year is $532,510,000, which represents a two-year gain of twenty-one per cent. Towson State received $31,609,000 from the state government, and in-crease of twenty per cent over two years according to the Chronicle. Ron Garrison, Associate Vice President of Business and Finance at Towson State explained that this increase reflects a change in the budgeting of fringe benefits for the employees of institutes of higher education. These fringe benefits pay for contributions to university em-ployees' health insurance, work-man's compensation and unemploy-ment insurance. Mary McKeowan, Finance Coor-dinator for the State Board of Higher Education cautioned that because of this change, the data from 1984 is not absolutely com-parable to data from 1986. ""The change in fringe benefits budgeting makes the increase look greater,"" said McKeowan. The 1985 budget was the first to include fringe benefits paid to employees of com-munity colleges in Maryland. Morgan State University receiv-ed the largest percentage increase in funds of any Maryland institution. McKeowan said, ""The difference is related to the fact that Maryland now has a desegregation plan and money is put into traditionally black institutions to enhance their attractiveness in order to meet de-segregation goals (set for See STATE, page 11 State appro To Marylan U of Maryland State colleges Towson Morgan Frostburg Salisbury U of Baltimore Bowie Coppin St Mary's C of Md Trustees Community colleges Aid to private colleges Student aid Other appropriations Total � Soutar: Ow CIros*d 4 Stew Educahlon ....../1?110.1.08111 $ 285,811 31,509 +20% 23,660 +)4% 13.529 +20% 1 US$ .21% 11,285 +25% 9,768 +26% 8,993 +24% 5,817 +22% 5,304 Ilk 96,710 21% 14,721 +14% 8,931 -2% 5,114 n/c $132,510 +MI% "