tl19711119-000 "towerlight Vol. XXIV No. 11 Towson State College Towson, Maryland 21204 Friday, November 19 Campus salaries affected b is paid on the old rate while conversion to the new pay scale is made. Responding to the ruling on faculty salaries, Dr. Michael Grossman, President of the Towson Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, stated that Towson faculty members will be satisfied with the pay increase but will not be happy that retroactive pay will not be forthcoming. ""We feel,"" said Dr. Grossman, ""that this faculty has not contributed to inflation but we are anxious to cooperate to help control inflation."" Continuing, Gross-man said that faculty mem-bers contend that they should have not been affected by the wage-freeze because new contracts had been signed in the spring and many faculty members were teaching during the summer, before the freeze took effect. Staff Raises On an optimistic note Schelle expressed the hope that a 6.8 percent average pay raise promised to state employees last year by Governor Mandel will be allowed to take effect in January. The raise may also apply to faculty members but has yet to be specified. The Governor's promise came earlier this year as members of the American Association of State, County and Municipal Employees threatened a strike because of poor pay conditions. A corn-mission appointed by the , Governor to study the situation recommended across-the-board,. pay increases for all Towson faculty members who were denied contracted pay raises under Phase I of President Nixon's wage-price freeze, will be paid at the negotiated contract rate for the remainder of the year. The ruling was announced by Vice-President of Business and Finance, Wayne Schelle, after a conference with state officials earlier this week. The decision will have no effect on new faculty members who signed the new contract in the spring, and now receive the contract rate. According to Schelle, no decision has been made as to whether faculty members will receive retroactive pay for the Phase I period of September to November 14. The retroactive issue will have to be decided by the Federal Pay Board. The faculty � pay raise amounts to four percent this year, well below the 5 1/ 2 percent limit set by the pay board for Phase H. Even though inflation last year in the Baltimore metropolitan area leveled between 6-7 percent, Maryland granted only a four percent cost-of-living increase for faculty members. While the faculty increases are effective immediately, Schelle predicted that it would take the state 1-3 months to switch over to the new pay rate. ""What will probably happen,"" said Schelle,"" is that the faculty will receive a lump-sum payment the first of the year, in addition to the bi-weekly adjustment."" The lump-sum payment will cover the November-January period, during which time the faculty wage freeze Wayne Schelle ,merit systems employees beginning January 1. Towson State, employing 500 merit system employees, would thus be affected. While the Pay Board 'generally prohibits pay in-creases of more than 5 1/ 2 percent, policy dictates that it will consider larger increases 1 which are not ""unreasonable"", 'or cases in which the person is , ""underpaid."" Vice-President Schelle ex- 'pressed the hope that pay raises for merit-system staff members would be approved. 1""Even with the raises,"" Schelle said, ""state merit-system employees' pay scales are not comparable with employees of the federal government or private en-terprise."" Further rulings on the status of college faculty and their eligibility for retroactive pay is expected in the near future � from the Pay Board. TSC finance reviewed At this halfway point of the 1972 fiscal year, Towson State appears to be a moving force in the revamping of Maryland's financial system. Testifying before the finance committee of the Maryland Legislature last spring, President Fisher cited several inadequacies and problem areas of the state's Depart-ment of Budget and Procurement. Fisher par- More art loaned to Asian Arts Center Towson State's Center for Asian Arts has been the recipient of several additional long term loans of Asian Arts from private and public in-terests. A collection of artifacts from China, India, Japan, Korea, and Thailand was received from the Asian Cultural Ex-change Foundation in Washington, D. C. Included in' 46, this collection are an elaborately carved teakwood curio cabinet, a Ming Dynasty porcelain jar, a pair of 18th century Nepalese bronze dieties, and a Buddha from the Sukkotai period. The Washington Foundation was founded by Simon Kriger who has also presented the TSC center with a world famous Chinese painting. This painting is an 83foot long scroll and was painted on Imperial household silk by an Italian artist, Father 'Castiglione, better known as Lang Shih-ning. Kriger also gave the center two extremely rare Chinese screens taken from the Im-perial Palace in Peking by Marshall Chang Tau Liang when he overran the city in 1932. Also received by the center were several pieces of carved jade from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Turner. This jade gift includes a jade bird, a pair of gray jade hor-ses, a pair of lavender jade elephants, and a dark green jade lady. Turner is of Largo, Florida, and is a world famous cytologist. A collection of carved oriental ivory valued at half a million dollars was given by Frank G. Roberts, a Towson resident, who served as a catalyst for the center's establishment. The center recently received a $167,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Following a special luncheon opening to be attended by ambassadors, United States senators and other Baltimore and Washington dignitaries, the center will open Saturday for viewing by the general public. Open house hours are ,Saturday and Sunday from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday evening, November 23, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. ticularly emphasized that while the ultimate respon-sibility for the college was in his hands, the basic financial procedures fell under thc control of the budget bureau. In calling for an examination of the state's financial system and for greater fiscal autonomy for the college, Fisher sparked an angry response from James Slicher, director of the budget bureau who called Fisher, fiscally irresponsible. As the year progressed it became clear that the budget bureau was a source of irritation to several other state agencies. Financing and procedures were the reasons listed for skirmishes that developed between the budget bureau and Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr. Neil Solomon, and Rita Davidson, Director of Maryland's Social Services Department. At the urging of officials throughout the state, Governor Mandel appointed a com-mission headed by Lt. Governor Blair Lee, to in-vestigate and evaluate the state's financial system. President Fisher and two members of the Maryland State Board of College Trustees were the first wit-nesses called to testify before ,the Governor's special task force in June. At that time Fisher submitted a seven point proposal for streamlining the operations of the budget bureau. Of the seven submitted, three have thus far been ac-cepted and are now being 'implemented. They are as follows: (1) purchase requisitions are no longer processed through the budget bureau. The bureau has been renamed the Bureau of the Budget and Fiscal Planning and a separate agency, the Department of Procurement, oversees purchase requests, (2) out-of-state travel budgeting procedures have been freed of red tape, and (3) instructional consultants hired by the college no longer have to be approved by the budget bureau, but by the College Trustees. In discussing Towson's budget difficulties Vice-President of Business and Finance, Wayne Schelle, said the college expected that further action would be taken by the task force, to implement President Fisher's other four proposals. ""The main problem we had with the budget bureau,"" said Schelle, ""was that it was making educational. decisions."" Nevertheless, �Schelle said, ""our difficulties .have lessened considerably and things are getting better."" Asked for his opinion on how Towson will fare in this year's budget, Schelle replied, ""Fiscal 1973 looks very lean for everyone unless the Governor goes for a tax increase."" Schelle attributed the lean outlook because of Governor' Mandel's announcement that the state faces a projected deficit. ""Things next year look so lean,"" said Schelle, ""that some state agencies may not receive any more funds than they got this year."" "
