The Towerlight, November 7, 1985

tl19851107-000 ")85 Bill will give aid to drop-out problem A bill introauced in Congress would grant $50 million to the Department of Education to give money to qualifying school districts to spot potential drop-out students and prevent them from dropping out. The bill would also help local school districts set up programs to encourage drop-outs to return to school. The bill, sponsored by Senators Arlen Spector (R, PA) and Clai-borne Pell is now before the Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts and Humanities. If passed, the bill will require school districts to apply for aid, end explain what kind of programs will be set up. The bill Will give the Education Department Secretary the discretion to authorize grants. Speaking for Spector, Janice McKnight said the funds will be appropriated for the fiscal year of 1987. She also said the bill would ""provide funding to collect data"" to help school districts identify Potential drop-outs. McKnight said many students drop out for family financial reasons. Students often trade school for a job because the student comes from a single- Parent family. Another cause of student droP-out is teenage pregnancy. A report done by the Business Advisory Commission cited in the last National Education Association News said ""more than one million teens become Pregnant each year."" Ann Young, assistant to Pell, Said high school drop outs are a serious federal problem."" She said the first $500,000 will be used to ""define what a drop-out is"" by the Education bepartment. The bill, Young said, would Provide funds for a retention Program to keep potential drop-outs in school and the second Phase will persuade students already out to return to school. Howard Carroll, a e,,Onnmunication official for the 'NBA, said ""the federal government has a responsibility to help school districts"" deal with the drop-out problem. Said Carroll, ""A program like this helps districts turn kids into tioducers of the economy, not a cititg un the economy."" �Scott Hollenbeck WILPF sem� inar scheduled Yolanda King, daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and director of the cultural affairs program of the King � Center for Non-Violent social Change, will speak on eliminating racism as part of a seminar co-sPonsored by the Women's i nternational League for Peace and Freedom and the Goucher College history and political ,acience departments. The seminar la scheduled for November 8 and 9 at Uoucher College. Other events at the seminar Include ""Stopping the Arms Race a Space"" and ""WILPFS women's Budget: Providing for Human Needs."" Details on the Seminar can be found by calling 944-2094 or 323-4900. �University Report Speakers place S in two meets Towson Debaters Lynn Weber and Ted Smith were undefeated and Woo first and second place Bc,Peaker awards at Appalachian �3tate University in Boone North Carolina last weekend. Also, Tiger Speakers Brian Barke and jean Costanza brought home aWards for T.S.U. Another debate team, Lisa 'ionoho and Bryan Mroz, went 4.2 and advanced to tltiarterfinals. Smith and Weber Were 6-0 while taking the top aPeaker honors. The Speech team, represented 'y Costanza and Barke, was also Ir rY strong. Costanza won third PQ`ace in Extemporaneous Peaking while freshman Berke ;,Ook sixth in both ,..,Itteinporaneous and Rhetorical The Forensice Union's next 311!'llig will be November 16-17 at 1, 111es Madison university in 1v trginia. The Tigers will be �Iting forward to strong .astern competition at Madison Preparation for the H.L. ,r encken Speech and Debate h�11rnament hosted by Towson ""ocember 6-8. �Media Release _ campus notes 1.111�MOIM Inside Autumn scenes The halls of academia are not ivy-covered, but leaf-covered 3 A come-from behind victory The Tigers upset Divi-sion I Lafayette in a fourth quarter barrage, 27-24 5. The eternal question Tards answers it this week 9 Admissions policy debated Lively debate arising over a new policy submitted in the annual report of the Admissions Commit-tee highlighted the third regular meeting of the Univesity Senate last Monday. The policy, regarding admission of ""convicted felons or others with a past record of unsatisfactory or un-savory behavior',. would add a-set. of questions to the admission applica-tion form. It was the wording of one of these questions that prompted considerable deliberation. The controversial question reads, ""Have you ever been arrested for, indicted for, or pled guilty to any criminal offense excluding minor traffic violations?"" Most Senate members felt that the question should be reworded to state ""con-victed for any criminal act"". Many noted that otherwise an applicant could be denied admission for hav-ing been arrested, even though that applicant was never convicted. The policy arose out of the discovery that a student admitted in 1980 was later arrested as a suspect in a series of rapes and murders. Despite the controversy, the Senate voted favorably to accept the committee report ""with con-cerns"", asking that the disputed language be either changed or clarified. Another widely discussed motion was presented by the Academic Standards Committee. The proposi-tion would make for formal pro-cedure in the event of student or faculty lateness or absence during final examinations. A consensus, however, could not be reached, and the motion was tabled. In another action, the Senate unanimously approved a motion to suspend the mathematics concen-tration, M.Ed., in Secondary Educa-tion. According to Michael L. Mark, Graduate School Dean, the depart-ment no longer has the ""enrollment to support the concentration."" He added, ""Since 1980, only seven courses have been offered, and four have been cancelled."" The Senate also voted to transfer the administrative responsibilities for the Business Law Program from the department of Business Ad-ministration to the Accounting Department. Dr. Charles Mott, of the School of Business and Economics, stated that the change was made because ""It is part of the accounting program, and the CPA examination."" In another note of interest, Presi-dent Hoke Smith expressed concern over the Maryland Savings and Loan crisis. In his opening remarks, he noted that if the state is forced to fund the bailout, the monies could come from those intended for ""state institutions."" Also, it was disclosed at the meeting that next year's Homecom-ing opponent will be Lehigh, a Divi-sion I team. �Patrick Priest owerliPublished weekly by the students of Towson State University htTowson, Md. 21204 Campus notes are continued on page 2. Vol. 79 No. 10 November 7, 1985 Frost and moonlight 3. Edvins I Agmlins The nights have turned cold at Towson State as the last warm days of the year become a memory and the heat ( hopefully ) goes on in classrooms and dormitories. Congress stalls civil rights acts The civil rights restoration act is the direct result of the Supreme Court's Grove City decision, and is discussed in the final part of the Towerlight series on the bill. By Michele Hart Although the Grove City decision had only minor implications for in-stitutions in this state, on the na-tional level much has been done and said to make sure the ruling does not become the standard for all cam-puses. Legislators have been trying to rectify the situation by introducing the Civil Rights Restoration Act in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The act comprised of House bill H.R. 700, and Senate bill 5.431 is in Congress for the second time, hav-ing been defeated last year. The pur-pose of the act is to restore the anti-discrimination Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and to overturn the Supreme Court decision. Sponsored in the Senate by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Lowell Weicker (It-CT) S-431 is not surrounded by as much con-troversy as H.R. 700. Sponsors of B.R. 700 are Augusta Hawkins Ill-CA), Dun Edwards ID -CA), James Jaffowitz (R-NY), and Hamil-don Fish (11-NY). The act was defeated last year, according to a staff member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Labor and Education Committee, ""because it was ques-tioned whether or not the bills did what their sponsors said they did."" The opposition argued that the legislation went beyond what was originally in the laws. The bills were introduced again this past January, but the con-troversy has been expnded this year to include abortion. The sponsors of the bills had originally hoped that they would go to vote before the end of 1985 but the bills are still tied up in committees. Title IX originally stated that a pregnancy or a pregnancy related Mass Comm lines clog Van Bokkelen By Scott Hollenbeck In Van Bokkelen Hall this week, mass communication juniors and seniors waited for hours to sign up for special permits that would guarantee them a valued seat in a class such as Newswriting or Business and Profes-sional Communication. Last Monday and Tuesday, the lines started forming at 7:30 a.m. for the sign-up period that began at 1 p.m. Monday, seniors with 90 or more credits signed up and Tuesday juniors signed up for upper level classes. By 1 p.m., the line stretched onto the second floor of Van Bokkelen and 135 people were waiting. As early as 9 p.m., a list circulated in line in which the students took it upon themselves to bring order to the line. Students were to sign their name by a number and the department per-sonnel called out numbers for people to come in. As of 2 p.m. only 35 students secured special permits. Graduating senior Dave Johnson said ""this is extremely ludicrous,"" as he signed in at number 98 adding that this line and the way they handle special permit sign-up ""further sup-ports my theory that I have a job in spite of this department, not because of the department."" Some students were in line all day and refused to leave even to eat or to go to class. At one point, Domino's Pizza drivers were seen entering the building to deliver pizza to students. Senior Gloria Meadowcroft said, ""they should know this happens every year. They only have one person sign-ing up people."" One student was heard to say ""maybe they should cancel classes for a few days to speed the process."" The student did not want to be named. By 3 p.m., the scheduled closing time, 74 students were given permits. Department secretary Gloria Guguski, who helped out with regista-tion in between answering phones, walked along the line a few times to give the students progress reports. Some department instructors were seen walking in the maze of student See PERMITS, page 2 Mass communications majors stood in line for hours Monday to register for classes. condition had to be treated by a col-lege or a university in the same manner as any other health related condition. A student or an employee of an institution who had had an abortion or wanted one had to be treated in the same way as someone who had a broken foot. Also the in-stitution was not allowed to dis-criminate against any employee or student wanting or having an abor-tion. When H.R. 700 went into com-mittee amendments were added to it to try and satisfy all aspects of the abortion issue, or so the committee members argued. In the House of Representatives Judiciary Commit-tee the Edwards Amendment was added to the bill. The amendment provides: ""The Amendments made by this Act are not intended to con-vey either disapproval or approval of Congress concerning the validity or appropriateness of regulations issued under Title IX concerning health care insurance."" According to the Leadership Con-ference on Civil rights, the ""Ed-wards Amendment may be viewed as unnecessary. Unlike the Tauke Sensenbrenner Amendment, how-ever, the Edwards Amendment makes no change in substantive law."" The House Committee on Educa-tion and Labor added the Tauke/ Sensenbrenner Amendment to H.R. 700, which completely wipes out the Title IX regulations on abortion and funding for programs that may be connected in some form to abortion. The amendment states, ""Nothing in this Title shall be construed to grant or secure or deny any right relating to abortion or the funding thereof, or to require or prohibit any person, or public or private entity to provide any benefit or service relat-ing to abortion."" A position paper put out by the Leadership Council on Civil Rights after their June 1985 meeting states that the ""Tauke/Sensenbrenner Amendment would permit institu-tions with federally funded educa-tion programs to bar students who choose to have an abortion from membership in campus honor soci-eties, to deny such students the op-portunity to participate in athletics or even to expel students who choose to have an abortion from school. Moreover, the amendment would permit institutions receiving federal money for education pro-grams to deny certain students and employees medical and counseling See GROVE, page 2 AOIS budget approved for bidding By Tim Boyle and Rob Taylor The Towson State office automation plan has moved closer to completion this month with the approval of the budget request by the Maryland Infor-mation Systems Division (MISD) of the Department of the Budget. This approval will be followed by a draft letter that will pave the way for bid-ding on the two-year old project. Clayton Reott, newly appointed director of the Academic Office Infor-mation Systems, (AOIS) feels that the AOIS plan is important to the Univer-sity as both an information system and as a communciations network. The first phase of the AOIS plan, Reott said, will be the purchasing of 21 microcomputers for use in the various colleges and departments. The com-puters will be linked together with the academic and administrative systems and the combined system will be used in ""developing plans and testing; and implementation of net-working capability. It will give a total communications network."" Bidding on the AOIS plan will begin early in December. Reott hopes that the University will have the corn-puters by the end of January, 1986. He was unable to give an estimate of the cost of the program. ""As this point we plan to do exten-sive training of faculty and staff sometime in mid-January,"" Reott said. The training will at first be ""limited to x-number of faculty and staff per college,"" he added. At first, he said, two people from each college will be trained for each device the University buys. Other training ses-sions may be held later. The training sessions will include Introduction to Microcomputers and Operating Systems, Word Processing, Lotus 123, DBase III, and Com-munications. Phase two of the plan will com-mence sometime in May or June of 1986, Reott said. The University should acquire 17 new computers dur-ing this phase of operations. The MISD approval is a key step towards completing the automation plan, which was first formulated in 1983. However the first budget request did not go to the MISD until the first quarter of this year. By Edvins Lagzdins Clayton Reott was recently named director of the AOIS. "