The Towerlight, October 7, 1982

tl19821007-000 "The Towerlight vol. 76 No, 6 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 October 7, 1982 Change divides faculty By Stacey Parker Faculty opinion on the proposed name change of the University advo-cated by President Hoke L. Smith is split 50/50,"" said Smith. The name Towson State University would be changed to Towson University ef Maryland under a plan passed by the Board of Trustees of State Colleges and Universities. The Governor and his education com- Mittee must now review and approve the proposal before submitting it to a vote in the Maryland legislature. � Four other colleges, Bowie State, rostburg State, Copin State and Salis-bliq State also petitioned the Board of ,1 rustees to have the word ""State"" droPped from their titles. Knox name acting dean By Karen Feldman Thomas Knox, associate dean of Stildent services, has been appointed ,a,eting dean of minority affairs. Knox 'Monies the position which was vacated by Jules Chapman earlier this !ear, when Chapman left to become ,.lecutive vice president of Voorheese Lollege in South Carolina. borothy Siegel, dean of student 'dttierViCeS, said that over a long period of �Itne ""the needs of minority students i�Fnd of the community change,"" there- b,e,, the position must be redefined. s,4�,11 ox, who has been with Towson L'iie since 1970, said that his main euiective as the interim replacement is (,10 h elp redefine the position, so that ften a permanent replacement is 11(1, ""they'll know what they're PPosed to do."" ci At present, Knox is going over the job escription for the position in minority tiffair fi� S. Knox said he is now trying to *""'d out what his duties will be. ""I'm g appointments with the dean of i - ',411ssi ons,"" and others. Knox added, lere are no specific projects that he ji, laPrnan] left."" Siegel said, ""We're r;grgling; we're not finished shifting,"" d"",:teirers.ing to the switching of Knox's 1(11�x sa s the role of dean of minority affeirS isYto ""get the university to tireisPond to the needs of minority people trhsgeneral."" The dean must ""affect the Et�'.11�r1tY student culturally, socially, nd academically,"" he said. oe Black Student Union (BSU), eh has worked with the dean of a-:'�eritY affairs in the past, is backing e`braunadriyd.ate to fill the position in srlht, a letter addressed to President the BSU recommended James An.:ta.ker, director of the African- -""lean Cultural Center, for the job. nlie�ltiong the reasons for the recom-gr ndation were ""his educational back-th,, �11114, his knowledge of the offices of Nti't Previous functions of the Office of shweritY Affairs, his rapport with the 'Are ents and the members of the Afro-e� ertean community."" hlm taker said, ""I will most assuredly in my credentials."" Whitaker, Pr""o I s black, believes that it would ""be ti),er for the person who takes over Irnrilary to be black. ""The largest futilitY without a doubt is the black, ed, Y time students."" Whitaker add-not noot to ay the person should concerned with other minarity -.tents. In th hav `tie Meantime, Siegel said, ""we itizieenot stopped services to minority ,nethsnts."" She added, ""We hope to Inerthsue,, them during the next few Nelson P. Guild, president of Frostburg, said its name change is ""cosmetic."" Smith said a major reason why Tow-son, Frostburg and Salisbury decided on the change was that people still tend to ""associate them with teachers' colleges."" Bowie and Coppin, he said, ""just went along."" Smith said part of the reason for the change is that some potential financial contributors to the University believe it receives more state dollars than it actually does. ""There is resistance to philanthropy at state institutions,"" he said. At the same time, however, Smith said the new name ""would provide identification with the state of Mary-land. People don't know where Towson is. It is not immediately recognizable by state."" Deans of the University's colleges expressed either uncertainty or misgiv-ings about the proposed name change. Annette Flower, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said she is not in falior of or opposed to the name change. She said, however, ""I'm not wild about it. I don't see any compelling reason for it. I'm not sure that all that trouble to drop the name 'state' is going to have any effect."" Robert Caret, dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, said that while he has formed no opin-ion about the change, ""the majority of the faculty in my department have expressed negative feelings toward the change."" Gilbert A. Brungardt, dean of the Col-lege of Fine Arts, Performing Arts and Communication, said, ""I don't feel one way or another about it. I don't think the name as it is has hurt the institu-tion. Institutions are built by programs, not names."" Brungardt added that he would like to see the name changed to ""Maryland State University of Towson."" He said this would identify the location of the school, and would still recognize it as a state university. Andrew Luff, acting dean of the School of Business and Economics, said that as a new member of the University faculty, he has no opinion about the change. ""I can see both sides. I don't see any major advantages or disadvantages."" James Binko, dean of the College of Education and Instructional Technol-ogy, and Norman Sheets, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences, said they had no opinion on the matter. Dr. Irene Shipman, chairperson of the Department of Speech and Mass Communication, said, ""We are a state institution. If we take the word 'state' out, what are the advantages to the stu-dents of this University? I would like to see these advantages articulated."" Mary Catherine Kahl, chairperson of the History department, said, ""I don't see anything wrong with Towson State University. It is, after all, a state institution."" About the cost of the name change, Smith said, ""I don't think it will be very much."" He said the cost will mainly be for ""a few signs around campus."" Donald McCulloh, vice president of business and finance, agreed that cost of the name change shouldn't be sub-stantial, but said the major expense will be at the book store, where nearly everything has the Towson State logo. ""They have an awful lot of preprinted ,materials."" Clearinghouse sought By Terie Wolan The University Senate at its Monday meeting, discussed establishing a ceptral clearinghouse for certain schol-arships, bringing commencement exer-cises back on campus, and the proposed change from Towson State University to Towson University of Maryland. Lonnie McNew, assistant to the vice president of academic services, will submit a proposal to establish a clear inghouse for off-campus scholarships and memorial scholarships. There has been a great deal of confu-sion among students concerning ""to whom they go to apply,"" said McNew. Even admissions and financial aid officers are uncertain about specific details regarding scholarships cited in the school's catalogue, which results in money going unawarded, McNew said. Patricia Plante, vice president of academic affairs, also discussed the possibility of returning commencement exercises to the University instead of holding them at the Civic Center. ""Commencement on campus would be a warmer kind of commencement,"" as compared with the Civic Center which is ""rather cold, very large, and barn-like,"" Plante said. However, James J. Hill, president of the Towson chapter of the American Association of University Professors, heavily criticized the Board of Trus-tees' proposal to drop ""State"" from the University's name. Hill said the Board is ""spending time on things that are not doing us any good, namely the name change."" In-stead, Hill said, the Board should follow the University of Maryland's example by putting priority on upgrading library services and should ""recognize quality education depends on quality library services and quality faculty."" Also discussed at the meeting, there are tentative plans for grants in 100,000-dollar increments for special services to Cerebral Palsy students. The funds would be used for a computer board and hiring attendants, making the University a well-equipped campus that could better serve handicapped students. ""Ah wilderness"" This furry denizen of the woods between the Union and Smith Hall is admiring the latest fall footwear docksides at the TSU- Morgan game Saturday. fashions of TSU students. Look for him in System will modernize facility By James Hunt The state Board of Public WorLs will take final action Nov. 10 on a proposal to substantially modernize the computer facilities at Towson State and seven other colleges and universities. The proposal, submitted by the Digital Equipment Company, would provide each institution with ""state-of-the- art"" academic and administrative computers, said Francis L. Edwards, campus academic computing coor-dinator. The estimated cost of updating the school's computers is $10 million to $12 million. Expanding the University's computer facilities will allow a more widespread use of the equipment within academic departments. Because of the increasing number of students interested in taking computer courses, the computer science department must turn away 600 stu-dents a semester from its introductory courses. The updated computer system on campus could possibly pave the way for the accredit ation of a computer science major, said Hoke L. Smith, university president. Currently, computer science courses are offered through a core in the general studies major and a concentration in the mathematics major. Smith said that he ""heard through the grapevine"" that the University has a good chance of getting the degree program. The SGA mainly delegated duties for Homecoming at its ,Tuesday meeting. By John O'Loughlin Many students and faculty have complained that the present computer facilities, which are located in Stephens Hall, lack the size and sophistication to meet their needs. Edwards labeled the system ""inappropriate to higher education,"" and said some of the 25 terminals have tech-nologies dating back to the 1940s. Taking its place will be a system initially consisting of 48 terminals for student and faculty use, located in the basement of Cook Library. The number of terminals will be increased to 132 as part of the five-year plan to meet the University's needs through 1987. Digital's system, if approved in November, could be in operation by January, Edwards said. Approval for the new system�which will provide ex-panded computing facilities for Towson State, Bowie State College, Coppin State College, Frostburg State College, Morgan State University, Salisbury State College, the University of Baltimore and St. Mary's College of Maryland�has already been granted Gov. Harry R. Hughes and the General Assembly. Edwards said Digital's proposal was rated technically superior to the 10 other proposals which were evaluated in a one-year study by a 43-member committee of faculty computer experts and financial officers from each school. Vacancies filled By Loraine Mirabella This week's Student Government Association meeting focused on the upcoming Homecoming festivities. Dave Thomas, SGA president, dis-cussed a problem regarding the perfor-mance of Morgan State University's band in Towson State's Homecoming game this week. Because of time limitations the Morgan State Marching Band was rescheduled to perform before the game instead of at half-time. Two letters were sent to Morgan State explaining the change. But somewhere along the line Morgan officials and students never received the full information. ""Students from Morgan State were concerned [about scheduling of the marching band] and recently contacted the University] to voice an objection,"" Susan Crago, SGA treasurer, said. The Towson State Marching Band is scheduled for half-time along with the crowning of Homecoming Queen from among finalists Amy Smith, Chris Nelson, Melissa Ball, Johnnie Banks, and Leslie Swiger. Other Homecoming activities dis-cussed were the Friday afternoon pep rally, featuring live music, and Sat-urday's tailgating and homecoming dance. Thomas said that the SGA arranged for organizations to raise funds through candy sales. This will provide ""a profit of 50 percent,"" Thomas said. The senate appointed senators at large Paul Frey, senior business major, and Kelley Ray, junior political sci-ence/ mass communications major, and freshman senator Tom Hartstock to fill senate vacancies. Pro -PLCIstudents grab a chance to explain in silent protest ie(nCiP8)�Bob, normally ""sort of active"" in Jewish stu- 0.o,-, groups at Oregon State, is staying away from those 'PS for the time being. Sufi .,�_11/1 Essawi, a Palestinian student at Pittsburgh, netivending all the time I can with my (Arab) brothers, to e�Pen Th our cause, to explain ourselves."" eir ter� divergent reactions are echoed on campuses lar .88 the country in the wake of the Christian Phal-: e,ft_8' . Sept. 16-18 massacre of some 500 unarmed Sapii,'Ilous in Beirut. Israel, of course, has been heavily 0'lited in the slaughter. tottrl, this country's campuses, where the Palestinian uld eland issue has been played out at increasing volumes With more frequent confrontations over the last Mon lisee ths, Jewish students seem to be shunning group 1nk-ite1�11s while pro-Palestinian students are congrega-p"",:"" numbers unprecedented in this country, and join. ""S. characteristically public demonstrations. teid nt protests"" and ""memorial services"" have been )ee�i� Boston, Buffalo, New York, Charlotte, Dallas, Ir,y.er, San Diego and San Francisco, among ""many, .Y Places and campuses,"" reports the Palestine Con-gress of North America (PCNA). Such visibility is uncharacteristic of the Palestinians� of whom there are ""about 1000"" on U.S. campuses, according to the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs estimates. The General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) has generally kept a low profile, said a spokeswoman at PCNA headquarters in Washington, D.C. ""In America, students who may be involved with GUPS cannot be so active because they do not have permanent visas. If they are too active and they are from the West Bank, it means harassment when they get home,"" the spokeswoman, a former University of Tennessee student, said. That, she said, is why ""you won't hear them scream-ing in the streets"" in this country. The Palestinians and their supporters did become in-creasingly visible on campus last spring and then during the summer months, setting up information booths at un-ions, getting into scuffles with pro-Israel students at Tex-as, and bringing in lecturers. A GUPS spokesman in Washington said his group sponsored a campus tour for ""some doctors who were in Lebanon when the Israelis invaded"" in June. There were also small demonstrations during the sum-mer at Texas, Kansas State, the University of Massa-chusetts, Portland State, New Mexico and Illinois, among other campuses. The numbers have increased dramatically since the tragedy in Beirut. ""This is our time to tell our story, while the people are listening,"" said Essawi, who lost a brother�also a Pitt student�in Lebanon in July and who organized a memorial service at Pitt over the summer. ""We never had a chance to explain ourselves before."" ""In Arab culture,"" said the PCNA spokeswoman in Washington, ""We resent having to play upon death. It is morally, ethically disgusting to us. But we do it be-cause people are looking at us now, and because clearly America is involved."" The mourners at the demonstrations consistantly call for an end to U.S. arms support to Israel. There may be more public activities coming. The Pal-estine Information Office reports ""a flurry of inquiries"" from people ""around the country wanting to know what to do."" The GUPS spokesman in Washington expects his group will be organizing ""a lecture, a presentation, something of that sort"" on various campuses into the near future. Jewish campus groups, by contrast, have been quiet. For example, the phones have been quiet at the Hillel House at Southern Cal. A Hillel spokesman attributed it to USC ""not (being) a very politically active campus."" But even activists are lying low, and speaking very care-fully. Yeshiva University professor Avraham Weiss, who helped organize a New York protest of Pope John Paul II's recent meeting with PLO leader Yassir Arafat, notes the ambivilence of many activists: ""On the one level I've really not been able to sleep at night�the magnitude and the horror of innocent people being killed. On the other hand, I just think the Jewish community has been maligned for being responsible for a massacre (it) had nothing to do with."" ""There've been many internal discussions over the is-sue"" among Jewish students, said Jeremy Brochim of the University of Maryland's Hillel. ""There are discussions over the appropriateness of certain acts. It's an issue any sensitive human being has to deal with."" See STUDENTS, page 6 "