The Towerlight, October 17, 1975

tl19751017-000 "al ge. Homecoming '75: Something for everyone - Towson State College celebrated its homecoming weekend with a sellout dance and a 42-25 an-nihilation of Frostburg State College. Earlier that morning, President James L. Fisher held a brunch for several 4 hundred members of the community. The atmosphere was relaxed and somewhat ' informal, as student mixed freely with administrators and sipped on Bloody Marys. Debbie Bass was crowned Homecoming Queen during the halftime ceremony. The first runner-up was Ipurie Weaver, and Marcia Chesly was second runner-up. Towson State was presented with a Bicen-tennial flag, as part of its involvement as a Bicen-tennial college. LXVIII, NO. 7 TL Photo by Kathy Dudek - r r tr,t TOWSON STATE COLLEGE OCTOBER 17, 1975 SGA suspends privileges of 35 organizations Senators discuss suspension of 35 organizations. TL photo by Kathy Dudek Vending problems rare, immediate refunds given by Gerry Kelly According B to Mr. Herb Jones, altimore area supervisor for Ogden Vending Machines, Incorporated, students who lose money in any one of his company's 73 machines are entitled to an immediate refund. However, certain information and indentificatiori is required to decrease the amount of students who try to take advantage of this situation. ""Some reasons for students losing money,"" said Mr. Jones, ""are that we find all sorts of gadgets stuck up in the money slot."" Some of the gadgets Mr. Jones talked about are pennies cut down to the size of a dime, tin-foil shaped to look like a dime, and numerous coins of foreign description. ""These students who try stunts like that are relatively few,"" said Mr. Jones. ""On the whole we have very few incidents."" Vandalism is also rare, but there Is the occasional call from a student or faculty member reporting that a coffee or candy machine has been broken into. Mr. Jones also said that it was against his company's policy to release figures of profit on the vending machines but said, ""Towson State does receive a generous profit."" Mr. Jones maintains a staff of four People on campus during the day and three on call 24 hours a day in case of emergency repairs. Of the 73 machines located in various centers throughout the college campus, 65 are vending machines; 4 are micro-wave ovens; and 4 are money changers. Also operating on campus are the Solon Incorporated, who take care of the washers and dryers located in the dorms. However, their refunding system requires that students seeking refunds have a seven day waiting period after which they receive payment by check, if their claim is valid. Mrs. Lola Donoho, hostess of the College Center, tells of an interesting incident that happened last year. ""The county police picked up several young men carrying a cigarette machine down York Road, a little ways from the campus,"" she explained. ""When asked who it belonged to, they at first told the police it was their own. But, after investigation, the police discovered it belonged to the college."" ""When asked why they had stolen it, one young man offered the excuse of...'I'm trying to get my girlfriend to quit smoking'."" by T.F. Troy, Jr. On Tuesday, Senate voted to suspend the privileges of thirty-five organizations (listed .below) for their failure to cooperate with a review of constitutions and membership rolls which the Government Services Committee is conducting. Because of a change in con-stitution nd membership guidelines last spring, Senate asked each organization to submit its con-stitution and a list of members to be reviewed and updated. Some organizations complied with the request, others did not. So in order to remind the lagging organizations of the business at hand, Fran Schramm, the committee chairman, asked Senate to curtail their operations until such time as the materials have been submitted. (Not all activities will be suspended; only those for which plans have not already been laid out. If rooms have been rented, bills paid in advance, security hired, the activity may proceed as planned.) The prevailing belief is that organizations threatened with suspension will submit their con-stitutions and membership roles as soon as possible. Said Miss Schramm, ""The ones that haven't sent anything are the ones that never do."" To which Mike Hill added, it will be a good opportunity to weed out the ""deadwood"" from the ranks of SGA. Also: Senate voted not to give the Magicians Basketball Club $1000 for a B-ball playing trip to England over January. About Planned Parenthood, Sheila Culberson reported that she was negotiating a contract with P.P.I., and said that P.P.I. would prefer that the $2500 not be automatic each of the next five years, but rather be renewable during a 60- day period at the end of each year to allow for possible re-negotiation of the contract. Fran Schramm announced that MaryPRIG is now defunct. The College Affairs Committee under chairmanship of Mike Hill is continuing its investigation into Food Services, and into incorporating evening students into the Student Government Association. American Chemical Society American Party Youth Group Bahai Club Baptist Student Union Tri Beta Campus Crusade for Christ Towson State College Concerned Veterans Ecumenical Campus Ministry Fellowship of Christian Athletes Forensic Union Guild for the Re-creation of Ancient Arts and Armaments Health Majors Organization Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship International Student Union Jewish Student Union Iota Phi Theta Gamma Theta Upsilon Meditation Society Movie Company National Student Speech and Hearing Association Newman Club Pi Kappa Delta Philosophical Discussion Group Political Science Club Science Fiction Club Spanish Club Talisman Towerlight Towson Attica Brigade Towson State College Bando Club Towson State College Table Tennis Association Towson State College Vocal Music Club Towson State College Student Gallery Association Sophomore Class Freshman Class ""* TL Photo by Kathy Dudek Malfunctioning causes false alarm by Mary Worobec The Baltimore County Fire Department made one of its frequent visits to the TSC campus at 5:45 last Friday when a malfunctioning heat detector in the residence tower set off the fire alarm. There was no fire and the heat detector was by-passed by a TSC electrician so the alarm system could be reset. Five pieces of fire equipment and the Baltimore County Police responded to the fire call as did five campus security people. Such prompt fire protection is to be commended, especially when every day in the United States 19 people die in fires and there is $6 million worth of property damage. (National Fire Prevention Association statistics.) It cost the fire department almost $200 to respond to this call, according to a Baltimore County Fire Depart-ment spokesman. It costs much more if there is a real fire emergency which requires the equipment and men to stay longer at the scene. How often does TSC require this service'? Gene Dawson of Campus Security told Towerlight this week that in fiscal 1975, ending June 30th, there were 17 false and 72 real fire alarms on campus. This was a ""dramatic increase"" over fiscal 1974 when there were 5 false and 8 real fire alarms sounded, said Dawson. He said the increase can be at-tributed to an expanded fire education program on campus. There have been increased efforts by Bob Biteurle and the safety staff to exlain to faculty, students and staff the importance of turning in a fire alarm when a fire is sighted, Mr. Dawson said. Now people are reporting fires that were not reported in the past. Fire alarm boxes on campus are connected directly to Baltimore County Fire Headquarters and to the Campus Security offices. During fire drills, held once a month, the fire department is notified in advance that the alarm will be sounded at a certain time and they disconnect the station alarm at that time. If the alarm is not reset within a few minutes, fire personnel call Security to find out why. When an actual alarm, real or false, is activated anywhere on campus, fire headquarters and campus security receive the alarm at R C elections, events scheduled by T. Troy The Residence Council will be holding elections soon for vacancies in the position of Representative-at- Large. Interested parties can see Tim Daly, Sue Sweet or Lonnie McNew in the Housing Office. R.C. has several projects planned for this semester. Among them are the following: Majors Night. Beginning on Tuesday, October 28 and continuing for the three succeeding Tuesdays, faculty members from the various academic departments will be in the Richmond Commons Room to talk about and discuss their fields of study. All residents are invited. The Thanksgiving Dance. The Dance will be held Tuesday, November 25, and dinner will be served in the cafeteria. The band will be ""Sinbad."" The Washing Machine Survey. In response to complaints about overused and broken washing machines and dryers, Residence Council is undertaking a survey to find out which machines are used most often, what hours most washing and drying is done, and which machines have the most problems. Armed with this information, R.C. will try to rectify any bad situations. Publication of private phone numbers. Resident students who have phones in their rooms and want the numbers published in the TSC Directory must submit them to Sue Sweet before October 23, in order to meet the deadline. the same time. Campus police, by radio, tell the fire department the exact location of the fire. The fire department responds with five pieces of equipment with 6 men on each piece. The danger of that many emergency vehicles speeding through red lights and traffic is apparent. At the same time, fire equipment leaves other stations to cover the station left short-handed. This involves even more men and equipment on the highways. The danger and cost involved are justified in an actual fire. The fire department exists to provide such protection. But a false alarm, and 24% of the alarms at TSC last year were false, needlessly sends , emergency equipment rushing through intersections and leaves other residents with less than normal fire protection. Giving a false fire alarm is a criminal offense in Maryland, punishable by a $500 fine and/or one year in jail. In addition, any injuries, accidents or deaths that occur as a result of the false alarm shall be the responsibility of the person making the false alarm. Sometimes fire alarms are set off accidentally by ""students horsing around,"" says Dawson, but such accidents can be and often are costly, in terms of life or property. What does it cost in dollars when a fire alarm is activated? Campus police had five men respond to the alarm at the residence tower on Friday night. They were there for about 20 minutes. That's two man-hours and, at $6.50 per hour, cost $13.00, Dawson says. It costs Baltimore County $8.00 per hour each time a piece of , equipment leaves the station, ac-cording to Captain Frank R. Wilson, chief of planning and information of the Baltimore County wire Depart-ment. Five pieces of equipment respond to calls at TSC with at least five and usually six men on each piece. Captain Wilson said that if salaries are taken at an average $6.00 per hour, a one hour call takes 30 man hours and costs $180. And it need not be a real fire, it can be a false alarm. Travel time, clean-up and engine maintenance combine to make even a false alarm take almost one hour. These cost figures do not include the salary of the batallion chief who must respond to each call, or the salaries of alarm headquarters personnel. Also records must be kept, transported, microfilmed and stored. Engines from other companies move to fill in the vacant house. This costs money and creates additional danger on the highways. So a fire alarm turned in from TSC costs about $200 and often much more. And the 89 alarms, real and false, last year cost a minimum of $18.000. The danger and cost can be justified for a real fire. But who can justify the danger of death or injury and the cost, about $3,400 in fiscal 1975, of the 17 false alarms last year? Planned Parenthood, SGA continuing financial negotiations by Kathy Kraus Negotiations for a new contract between Planned Parenthood, Inc. and the Student Government Association are underway, according to SGA Treasurer Kathy Kolar. In previous Senate meetings there has been some discussion concerning the commitments of Planned Parenthood on the Towson campus.. Kolar says Mr. Bates, local treasurer for PPI, has agreed to a contract but that a few technicalities need to be worked out. The SGA would like the Clinic to hold more hours on campus than it presently does. A date has not been set as to when the final contract would be drawn up. The future contract will be on a one year renewal basis. In the meantime Kolar expects to receive from Bates an itemization of the budget for the Towson Clinic. It will be reviewed and the final details worked out. In addition to the $2,500 Senate allocation for the Towson Clinic, Planned Parenthood also receives financial assistance from private contributions, CICHA Fund and patient fees. It does not receive any money from federal or state agencies. Invited on campus by the SGA, Planned Parenthood is not a free service. Patient fees are charged. If one cannot pay, they are referred to a County or City Health Department where free services are provided by a Family Planning Clinic. Initial and yearly examinations range from $8 for high school students to $10 for college students. One time visits only are $10. Services are rendered by ap-pointment only. Visits should be planned well in advance due to the heavy scheduling they are ex-periencing. The Towson Clinic has hours every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. in the Health Center. Dr. Margaret Paxson and Nurse Berlyn Carlson will be on duty during these times. "