The Towerlight, October 5, 1979

tl19791005-000 "Honors college proposed by Theresa Gilmore An honors program may be instituted at Towson State next fall as part of the reorganization plans to divide the University into different colleges, said Joseph W. Cox, vice president of academic affairs. The program, called the Honors College, would be offered to a maximum of 300 incoming freshmen with SAT scores above 550 in either the verbal or mathematic disciplines on a first-come, first-served basis. Cox is in the process of organizing a committee to set up the guidelines for the College, but he has combined what he thinks are the best points of the honors programs at Rutgers University, Miami University in Ohio and Wis-consin University, and made a list of his own recommen-dations. In the Honors College, students would organize the general university requirements to suit their own needs in their freshman and sophomore years. ""No one is getting out of any work,"" Cox said, ""it's just a different way of looking at the first two years of school. The student is given the opportunity to experience a more intense and independent form of study."" Cox hopes to set up an arrangement where students in the College will have several courses from which to choose, designated as honors courses, to fulfill their general university requirements. These courses, although general in nature., will be much more demanding than the usual survey courses, Cox said. ""The courses will be taught by the so-called tough teachers,"" Cox said. ""Although the courses may not be set up any differently, we're just confirming what students hear through the grapevine: these teachers are tough."" Cox said general students will not be excluded from these courses. The courses have the same curriculum, but the honors students will have an opportunity to go on to more advanced work in the course instead of taking another lower division course in the same discipline. The major emphasis of the program would be in the ad-vising end, said Cox. continued on page 15.1) ti trig PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY ""Evening"" comes to TSU ""How do you solve a lover's quarrel?"" was the question Bob Smith of ""Evening Magazine"" ask-ed Towson State students last week. Smith, with camera crew in tow, was in front of the Union near Burdick Field filming a segment for a future show. TL photos by Cindy Sheesley Student ""financial aid bandits"" charged with fraud and abuse (CPS) � Most financial aid officers don't like to talk about it. Law enforcement officers talk about it, but don't know what to do to stop it. Those reasons, as will as the Widening availability of finaicial aid, are fostering a new kind of student criminal: the financial aid bandit. Law enforcement officials find it difficult to say just how widespread aid fraud has become. As of June 30, 1979, there were about $1.7 billion in federal student loans in default. If fraud were held to the , minimum two percent level some of the most optimistic financial aid Officers hope for, that would translate into some $3.4 million in stolen financial aid funds. Christine McKenna, a United States Attorney who successfully prosecuted four Seattle students for fraud last spring, says one reason it is hard to determine just how much aid money is stolen�and hard to prosecute those who do the stealing�is the lack of cooperation from college administrators. Administrators are the ones who must initially accuse a student of making a false statement on an aid a. Pplication, and of doing so with the intent of defrauding the U.S. government, the source of most financial aid. But many adminis-trators liken prosecuting their students to ""a father suing his Sou,"" contends James Cissel, U.S. Attorney for Southern Ohio. So some prosecutors see the few aid fraud cases that they get ,as the tip of the iceberg. The pace of Prosecution is nevertheless quicken-in g. ing, , In Seattle last spring, three 'occasional students"" � brothers Dennis and Jerry Smith, and Patricia Ann Hunt�were charged with 26 counts of conspiracy to defraud the government. According to the grand jury indictment, the three filed financial aid applications to a total of six schools �five community colleges and the Uni-versity of Washington�at the same time. The three were convicted of trying to get the funds for profit, not for allaying college costs. A fourth person�financial aid counselor Sapina Pele-Titailli� was subse-quently convicted of being in league with them. Another financial aid officer � Robert Ellis�was convicted in January, 1978 of one count of embezzelment. Ellis had been involved in a scheme that made financial aid available to eight University of Cincinatti students in return for kickbacks. The students were put on probation, and ordered to make restitution. Ellis was sentenced to a two-year prison term, and assesed a $5000 fine. Illinois officials think they are on to the largest financial aid fraud scheme on record. They have charged Abioudun Bamgbose, a 33-year-old Nigerian national, with trying to bilk the Northern Illinois University financial aid office out of $30,000. The trial began last week with Bangbose pleading not guilty. State Attorney Bill Brady claims Bangbose had about $15,400 in checks made out to different aliases waiting for him at NIU's aid office. He was arrested last August on his way to pick up two of the checks totalling $1400. A list of 12 aliases and social security numbers were allegedly found in the suspect's shows. John Phillips of the state Department of Law Enforcement's financial fraud unit says he is investigating the possibility that In this issue A TSU Marching Band? The ol' black and gold? You ain't seen nothin' yet. Page 12. Comedy comes to Baltimore with Animal Crackers. Page 5. Heard some strange sounds coming out of the Glen on your way to classes? It may be the shouts of competitors In America's newest sport�Rafterball. Page 3. Bamgbose used well over 50 combinations of names and social security numbers."" He told Daily Illini at the University of Illinois that ""If he got $25,000 out of NIU, there's no reason he couldn't have gotten $25,000 out of other schools."" If found guilty of the charges surrounding his actions at Northern Illinois, Bamgbose could spend five years in prison and have to pay a $10,000 fine. But penalties have not been much of a deterrent to others. Even after the much-publicized sentences were handed down to the Seattle students, Robert Russell, aid director at North Seattle Community College, notes ""I'm still seeing some mighty crazy looking appli-cations."" Russell who was a witness in the Seattle trial, laments that ""Students are finding that they have every-thing to gain and almost nothing to risk. If a student is refused financial aid at this college, it is a good bet he can get it somewhere else."" James Cissell, the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the University of Cincinnati case, speculates that students feel free to put false information on aid applications because universities are so reluctant to take action. ""The universities don't want to sue students who have gone to their schools. Their attitude is that it is like a father suing his son."" When University of California- Davis financial aid director Marvin Hensley heard about a student who spent over half of his Guaranteed Student Loan buying marijuana to deal, he said it was students' responsibility to report fraud. ""We have found in the past that there is some fraud and abuse,"" Hensley told the California Aggie last spring. ""We expect students to exercise their responsibilities and report any abuses of the system."" Hensley said the university's two percent fraud level was acceptable. But, nationally, there may be more fraud coming. North Seattle's Russell blames the apparently-spreading practice of aid fraud on the iAreasing availability of fi-nancial aid, especially for offspring of higher-income families. He said the new Middle Income Student Assistance Act, which makes students from families that make up to $25,000 eligible for aid for the first time, may make things worse. ""What we are seeing is a higher socio-econimic group that is brighter, more adept at manipulat-ing the system ."" Contents Sports 7 Features 3 Entertainment 5 Week Watcher 9 Newsbriefs 10 Opinion 11 Classified 10 October 5, 1979 Mandatory tests begin next fall by Judy Wilner Beginning next fall, Towson State's incoming freshmen and transfer stu-dents with less than 25 credits will take a battery of placement tests to identify weaknessses in reading, writing and mathematics. Only students with SAT scores of 550 and more will be exempt. Those students who earn below a predetermined standard on the exams will be required to participate in remedial programs designed to elim-inate deficiencies in basic skills. Students may be academically dis-missed if they are not remediated after two semesters and a summer at the University. The Board of Trustees of State Col-leges and Universities passed these rules last May as part of a document entitled Admissions Requirements and Academic Standards. All six institutions under the Board's juris-diction will conduct the testing, but remedial programs will be designed to fit individual needs of the college or university. Towson State has used the Test of Standard Written English (TSVVE) for placement purposes since 1977. The test is administered to students dur-ing SAT examinations and will be one of the tests used for remedial testing. Dr. Joseph Cox, vice president for academic affairs, said the University uses the TSWE because ""it is a far better indicator of where a student should begin in the English composi-tion sequence. ""I'm convinced we do a good job placing students at the right level [in composition]. I don't think much will change there. We'll just keep using the TSWE,"" Cox said. The two new areas of freshman testing at Towson State will be in mathematics and in reading/compre-hension. The University will use the California exam which is supposed to diagnose specific shortcomings in math. Cox said the University is trying to develop amodular remedial program which will be broken down into in-dividual skills. Students needing remediation would view tapes and use workbooks designed to teach the skill or skills they need to learn. Eventual-ly a computer system may be inte-grated into the program. Most likely University students' reading disabilities and diagnostic programs will be incorporated into the remedial course. ""Our reading program is one of the best in the region. We operate an ex-tensive clinical program,"" Cox said. Because of the average SAT scores of Towson students, Cox said he thinks only a small number of students will need remedial help. Towson State students' SAT scores are above the national average and have been rising continued on. page 2 Skills Center offers clinics by Judy Wiluer If you've never heard of the Learn-ing Lab, Writing Lab or Study Skills Center, or if you are unfamiliar with their services, then you may be doing a disservice to yourself and your grade point average. The Study Skills Center, in room 317 of the University Union, offers free tutoring by Towson State students for students in lower division academic courses. Although tutoring is arranged by appointment only, the Center offers walk-in clinic and term paper writing clinics. Tutoring is available in all disci-plines including ' biology, history, mathematics, psychology and philos-ophy The Center is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students having difficulty in basic college survival skills should check out the Learning Lab in Hawkins Hall 113. The Lab offers help in reading comprehension and speed, listening skills, note taking, time management, grammar, spelling and composition. After diagnostic testing identifies problem areas, students follow indi-vidualized remedial programs using audio tapes and workbooks. The Learning Lab also assists education majors in preparing for Education Competency examinations. The Lab is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Writing Lab primarily helps students having difficulty in freshman composition (1501.102). But anyone needing assistance in expositional writing is welcome. Students are tutored by English instructors and up-perclassmen. Emphasis is placed on sentence, paragraph and essay con-struction as well as word usage. The Writing Lab is located in Lin-thicum 201 A but will soon be moved to the vending lounge on Linthicum's lower level. The Lab is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 9 to 2 on Wednesdays. Dorm shortage sparks lawsuit Michael Burns by Karen DiPasquale Two students have come forth and allowed Mike Burns, Student Govern-ment Association vice president, to use their names on the suit he wished to file against Towson State Universi-ty for breach of contract. Nancy Camut, a freshman from Potomac, Maryland, was the first to permit the use of her name. Camut, who lived in the Towson East Motel until two weeks ago, is now living in a converted study room in Scar-borough. ""I wanted to belong to the Universi-ty. You can't if you live off campus."" Camut said her parents and sister were against her getting involved in the suit and Camut said she was also afraid the University would retaliate by not allowing her to live on campus again. ""The reason I came forward was because I knew it [the overlook-ing of dorms] would happen again."" David Thomas, a newly-elected sen-ator, feels the same way. ""The people living out at Yorktowne have been shafted, but no one is speaking up. I have to represent the students."" Thomas, who is living in the York-towne Village Apartments, said the room ""isn't that bad"" but he has to drive the six miles to and from school for classes and SGA meetings later in the evenings. Thomas Said, ""I think the residence people went about the situation wrong."" He was not notified about the thange in living arrangements until two days before the semester began, ""and I had no chance for alternate plans."" He aiso said he talked to parents of some of the men staying at the apart-ments."" The parents of my roommate said if they knew about the dorm shortage earlier, they wouldn't have let their son come here."" Besides the two students, Burns is also trying to get the help of the Amer-ican Civil Liberties Union, which is a non-partisan organization devoted to defending civil liberties. Burns said the ACLU, which he call-ed earlier this week, ""protects the rights of the individual."" The ACLU may provide Burns with a lawyer or ""steer me in the direction of a good lawyer."" However, Burns will not have any definite plans concerning the suit until he meets the representative of the ACLU early next week. He hopes to, begin the case hearing by mid- October. "