The Towerlight, November 7, 1980

tl19801107-000 "VOL. LXXIV No. 11 l!ob3tartig PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY Sports Entertainment Features Weekwatcher Newsbriefs Classifieds Commentary Contents 6 4 3 58 8 9 November 7, 1980 Court case challenges tenure by Francis C. Broccolino Tenure, a goal for most instructors, guarantees aca-demic freedom, but this freedom is not absolute; it has its limits. These limits were exposed recently when the trustees of Central Washington University (CWU) dismissed Charles I. Stastny, a tenured political science in-structor, on grounds of insubordination, gross misconduct, and violation of a university rule. Stastny was released because he missed several c,lasses while delivering an academic paper in Israel, al- !'lough administrators denied him permission to do so. 11�wever, Stastny said he was fired because of per-s011al friction between himself and his colleagues. He said the university's actions violated his rights to free sPeech and due process. Despite these claims, a superior court judge ruled that the university acted properly because Stastny neglected his teaching responsibilities. Authorities in this area have mixed feelings about the case. Dr. Patricia Hauk, associate executive direc-tor for academic affairs for the Board of Trustees, 4,gres5 with the court ruling. She said Stastny was not ""ellied his tenure rights. t ""The purpose of tenure,"" said Hauk, ""is to guaran-tee areaa cademic freedom. At no point can a teacher be for anything he or she teaches in a classroom. A Person cannot be released for political or philoso- Phleal reasons."" ""However,"" Hauk said, ""an instructor can be releas-led for insubordination, incompetence, or moral prob-eras (such as giving students drugs). Also, with proper rintice, the administration can let a tenured instructor g� if the program is discontinued or if the funds do uot exist. Proper notice is one year."" ,Hauk said she does not think the case at Central ashington University will set a precedent. ""I don't onn,w if you can say any case will set a precedent,"" 'al, Hauk, ""because the circumstances in each case will be different. Each case is considered separately."" e Tenured teachers should not feel threatened, Hauk xPlained, because administrators have gone to great eagths in the past to protect tenured instructors. P ""You have to make a very good case to let a tenured telts,�a go. Both administrators and faculty have work- `1_' /turd on (Maryland's) retrenchment guidelines,"" sue Said. C Or. Patricia Plante, chairman of the Academic uncil, also said the CWU case should not jeopar- ""ize tenure. ""Tenured teachers have an obligation to teach their ehinses,"" said Plante, ""and, if they don't, they ishould be fed. Tenure cannot protect instructors from nc fired or neglecting their duties."" fIn contrast, Dr. William F. Pelham, former chairman _(), committee `A' (concerned with freedom and tenure) usr.the American Association of University Professors, aid the administration of CWU was at fault. b should be absolute,"" he said. ""There should tke n� way a tenured teacher can be released unless gat person is guilty of incompetence, insubordination, continued on page 10 Rockerthon Guitarist Mike Powichroski donated his talents to Circle K for its annual Rocker-thon. Circle K is a campus charity organization. TL photo by Steve Peck Dorm decision nears by Dana Bennett A Towson State committee submitted to the State Board of Trustees a recommendation to long-term lease a particular facility in an effort to eliminate the University's housing problem. This facility was chosen from among nine interested parties who responded to adver-tisements expressing the University's need for additional housing. The advertisement requested letters of inter-est to be sent to the department of general services from prospective contractors, land-owners, builders and real estate agents who were interested in long-term leasing the fa-cilities the University needed, said Donald McCulloh, vice president for business and finance. The committee which reviewed the responses to the advertisement consisted of members from the business and finance staff, the residence staff and the student services staff. McCulloh said the committee will meet with a representative from the Board to determine what the University's next step will be. He said the Board will probably accept the committee's recommendation. The department of general services must also approve the recommendation. McCulloh said he would disclose the location of the facility later in the week. According to the advertisement the new facil-ities should include space for 1,700 beds and dining facilities to seat 600 people. McCulloh said he hopes the facilities will be available for use by July 1, 1982. Board proposes Lida Lee closing by Patricia Voelkel The State Board for Higher Edu-cation recently recommended that Lida Lee Tall resource center be closed at the end of this school year. This move is in anticipation of Gov-ernor Hughes' expected four per-cent budget cut for fiscal year, 198 1- 1982. President Hoke Smith said he has been led to believe and is acting as if the recommendation will be ap-proved at the Board's meeting, Nov-ember 13. The recommendation was made in conjunction with the Gov-ernor and the Office of Budget and Fiscal Planning. Lida Lee Tall is the last lab school in the state. Other state lab schools were closed by the Board in 1974. The lab school was not closed be-cause of strong University opposi-tion to the Board's plan, said Fran Minakowski, director of univer-sity relations. Dr. Joseph Cox, vice president for academic affairs, said the Board told the University in 1974 that the resource center did not meet cer-taM requirements. The Board said the school was not sufficiently lly segregated, there was not enough research work done and it was not multi-cultural. Cox said that since 1974, the re-source center has met these re-quirements. Dr. James Hill, president of the American Association for Uni-versity Professors, said the as-sociation is concerned with the people involved as well as the precedent the move sets. Smith said he is not sure why the Board wants to close Lida Lee Tall but ""it seems to have been the feel-ing they all should have been closed in the 70's."" Towson State will save $120,900 by closing the elementary school, kindergarten through sixth grade. Smith said that to the best of his knowledge, the pre-nursery pro-gram and the two day care centers, included in the resource center, are not included in the recommendation. Smith said the pre-nursery pro-gram and the day care centers should not be included in the re-commendation because substantial funding for these projects comes from sources other than the state. Hoke Smith Approximately 10 faculty mem-bers will be affected by the closing. '' he University will give the teachers a year's notice and will a year's salary. The University also try to find temporary place-ment �r the instructor's last con-tract year. OT Master's approved by Quincey R. Johnson The Academic Council Monday approved a masters program in oc-cupational therapy. Joseph Cox, vice-president for academic affairs, said the program received no opposition from the State Board for Higher Education. Bette Bonder, coordinator of the program, said that the masters pro-gram will focus on pediatrics and geriatrics. ""We hope to expand to other areas in the field in the future, said Bonder. Martha Siegel, professor of math-ematics, said that eight percent of continued on page 2 Student exonerated after six months behind bars 81 This is the first of a two part 1 about Michael Smiley, a stu- .1;:nt arrested outside of his class in n,thicum Hall in January. Part I at the arrest and Smiley's 'ventual exoneration. by Michael Bennett h. \Then Michael Smiley walked into jls constitutional law class on (14211141'Y 31, 1980, he had no idea that 1aY 4 would be different from any other aY of class at the beginning of the seniester. sh_li,�wever, before the class was over, leY was arrested, taken to the -,radtrnore County Police station in srvson and charged with two counts �ranted robbery. ""e was in jail until August 5, awaiting trial for crimes he did not eellnnit. Smiley was ultimately exon-flat all charges were dropped, but . Until after he had spent six months In the Baltimore County jail. s SIntleY is back at Towson State this bealester. He is a junior, majoring in Political science and psychology. be ast January Smiley was arrested, pIen,llse he was suspected of robbing a w"",ntrY Pride Supermarket and a b 'ate Coffee Pot restaurant. The rob-me� rles took place in October and -uverriber of 1979. of`fleer n off-duty Baltimore County police recognized Smiley from lus picture on an arrest warrant. The offi-cer contacted the University police, who then proceeded to Linthicum Hall to make the arrest. When the University police arrived at the classroom, they asked Dr. Gerd Erlich for permission to speak to Michael Smiley. Smiley left the room and walked out into the hall with the police. In the corridor, the police placed Smiley against the wall and began to frisk him. According to Smiley, when the offi-cers noticed that people in the class were watching, they moved to the stairwell to continue the frisk. The University police searched Smiley for a weapon, while the Baltimore County police officer who had recognized Smiley stood down the stairs with his gun drawn. Smiley was not carrying a weapon. Next, Smiley was handcuffed and taken to the Towson District police station where he was processed, fingerprinted and had mug shots taken. Smiley was then questioned by Baltimore County police detectives. ""When I asked if I was being interro-gated, they said no, but they told me that if I wanted to give them any infor-mation I could. I told them I didn't know what they were talking about,"" Smiley said. Smiley was then taken to the District Court commissioner's office where bail was set at $50,000. After In this Issue Tiger place-kicker Sean Landeta set a record for the longest field goal ever kicked in Maryland. His 57-yard boot last Saturday even beat the longest Colt field goal by one yard. See story on page 6. Michael Smiley that he was returned to the station house, where he remained for four and a half days. After a bail hearing, at which Smiley's bail was not re-duced, he was taken to the Baltimore County jail. He stayed there until August 5. The events which led to Michael Smiley's arrest and incarceration began back in 1976 when Smiley was convicted of illegal possession of a hand gun. He served eight months in the Maryland House of Correction for that offense. Smiley said when he got out of prison in 1976 he was determined he would never go back. In 1977 he en-rolled at Towson State and began working toward his degree. He had earned 73 credits when he was arrested last January. Smiley's lawyer, Jack Ruben, and the Baltimore County prosecutors who tried his case all confirmed Smiley's account of the facts in his case. Because of Smiley's previous record, his name appeared on the Baltimore County police depart-ment's list of possible suspects in two armed robbery cases: The November 26, 1979 robbery of a Pantry Pride supermarket and the October 29, 1979 robbery of a White Coffee Pot. While investigating the Pantry Pride robbery, the police took the witness's description of the robber and fed it into their computer. The witness described the robber as a black male with a beard who was wearing sunglasses and a skull cap at the time of the robbery. The computer fed out several names. Michael Smiley's was among them. Police detectives then returned to the witness with six pictures of possible suspects, including Smiley's. The witness identified Smiley from the photo-line-up. In the picture of Smiley which detectives took to the witness, he had a beard and was wearing sunglasses and a cap. The police detectives also took a photo-line-up to the woman who was working in the White Coffee Pot when it was robbed on October 29, 1979. Detectives said she, too, identified Smiley. Based on this information, a war-rant for Smiley's arrest was issued. That warrant led to his arrest on January 31. The Pantry Pride case went to trial on May 14, 1980. After the jury had been impaneled, the court heard several motions which were made by the defense. On May 15, while the motion process continued, the woman who had been robbed testified under cross-examina-tion that Smiley was not the man who robbed her. She said Smiley was too tall and too thin. She also said his nose was too wide, his hair was too long and his complexion was too light. At that point, a recess was called and Smiley was taken out of the court room and placed in a holding cell. Later Smiley's lawyer told him the State had no intention of dropping the charges against him, despite the fact that their prime witness had said Smiley was not the man who robbed her. When Smiley returned to the court room, the prosecutor had the woman stand close to Smiley, so she could get a better look at him. The woman re-peated her statement that Smiley was not the robber. After that the judge said he would have to dismiss the case, because the prime witness had testified that Smiley was innocent. The White Coffee Pot case went to trial August 5. Several days before the case was to go to trial, prosecutors had Smiley removed from the Balti-more County jail, so that new pictures could be taken. These pictures were shown to two witnesses. At that time, neither of the witnesses could identify Smiley as the man who committed the robbery. Therefore, the charges against Smiley werresemdirloepyped. faced a possible total of 45 years in prison for the two armed robberies. Neither case ever went before a jury. The charges were dropped, but not until Smiley spent over six morths in jail. It took that long for the State to determine that he was not the man who committed the crimes. Next week, Part II will examine Smiley's experiences during the six months he spent in the Balti-more County jail. Michael Smiley had his college career interrupted by a six-month stay in the Baltimore county jail. He was later exonerated of the charges and is now returning to school. Hear his story in a two-part account of the Smiley ordeal. TL photo by Cindy Sheesley "