The Towerlight, October 9, 1986

tl19861009-000 "Senate to study smoking policy The debate continues in the University Senate over the resolution to limit smoking on campus. The bill was introduced in May by Dr. Richard Vatz and Dr. Neil Gallagher. The Senate has appointed a Committee to make recommendations for a stricter smoking policy on campus and Will report to the Senate in March, 1987. Dr. Dan Jones made a motion to the Senate to change the structure of the committee investigating the smoking Policies. ""I am concerned about representation of those affected by this issue"", said Jones. The revised committee will include: two students, two faculty members, one residence staff exofficio, a student services representative, a representative from the President's Office and the Director of Safety and Training, who will supply information to the committee but will not vote. According to the guidelines in Which the committee will be Working, smoking will be Prohibited ""in indoor locations Where smokers and non-smokers occupy the same area"". Such areas include, according to the guidelines,: classrooms, auditoriums, indoor athletic faclilities, theaters, retail stores and ""any other Towson State University open areas not fully enclosed by floor to ceiling Partitions and doors."" Vince Russomanno N'ew groups put on Probation The Student Government Association is continuing its drive to affiliate more student groups on campus and has Placed three student �rganizations on probation. The International Careers Association will begin the standard six month Probationary period with the SGA pending permanent affiliaition. ""This is a very strong new group which makes students aware of internaional careers"", said Senator Jeff Rnaca The already affiliated Computer Science Club has been Placed on an extented Probationary period of four semester months by the SGA. The reason forthe extention is because ""the organization does not have an officer structure set up and has ot been holding office' meetings"", according to Rinaca. A new group on campus, the Association for Systems Managment (ASM), has also been placed on a probation by the SGA pending its permanent affiliation. The ASM is a non-profit organization and is a Student branch of a professinal organization in Baltimore, according to Senator Dale Graham. Vince Russomanno itudents still study abroad The recent barrage of terrorist ictivity throughout Europe and the Middle East has not deterred the desire of most stu dents in study abroad programs to Pursue their education overseas. ""I can't say that I see a trend in decreased student enrollment clue to increased terrorist activities"" said Frank Muller, Who is in charge of coordinating sponsored study abroad Programs. He also said that it would be difficult to confirm a positive eorrelation between enrollment and terrorist activity because Towson is sponsoring just one semester abroad program this fall. About six programs being sPonsored by Towson over the Ininimester, though, are still scheduled to proceed. National figures for study abroad programs show the same atrength in enrollment that Towson has seen, according to Pfficials heading national study abroad programs, comments in rhe Chronicle for Higher Pducation. � Dr. McWilliams, a Towson history professor who is responsible for coordinating a semester of study in Bejing, Qhina in the spring, said he / does not expect a decline in student interest in the second , year program. Elizabeth Kidd Inside Travels with (in?) Charlie? The adventures of two gals in search of ... page Boston enters Third Stage Boston's latest album after six years .... page 9 Tiger football Towson State continues its winning streak with a 28-7 victory over Bucknell University page 4 WTSR runs new programs WTSR (AM 560) has announced a new fall schedule that will include a number of weekly series and broadcasts of Towson State University home football games. This week's night game against Liberty University will be the first broadcast by WTSR. Brian Taylor and Ed Fishman will provide the play-by-play and color commentary. Listeners can pick up the game in any area of the campus where the station's carrier current is available, including the University Union, Scarborough/Prettyman, Newell/Richmond, Ward/West, and the Residence Tower. WTSR will also be running a Towson's Top 20 program this fall, hosted by Tom Nolte. It will feature a countdown of the top twenty hits of the week and trivia, music news, and other pop music information. The program will air Wednesdays from 9-11am. An oldies show has also been added to what WTSR describes as a ""basically top 40 format."" Airing from 5-7pm Wednesdays, and hosted by ZAK, the show will feature hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s. ""By adding oldies as well as the top 40 stuff, we hope it will help boost interest,"" Gerard O'Brien, chief announcer, said. He added that ""it is something to back up the whole top 40 thing."" Other new program features include ""In Rock,"" a weekly show featuring music of a particular group of era; Breakfast Special, a program to include a variety of music, comedy, trivia, and prizes; Lost In Space, a dance hit program; Classic Rock, a program highlighting the best of the late 60s; and Campus Viewpoints, a news-feature focusing on student opinions of the news. WTSR also plans to be giving away albums, movie passes, and other prizes throughout the semester. The broadcast hous are Monday to Thursday 7am to midnight, Friday 7am to 7pm, and Saturdays 8am to 8pm, unless there is a home football game scheduled. Robert M. Graham Corrections In the Sept. u issue it was stated that the A ssociation for Systen Managemetwas denied affilation request was in fact tabled until the Oct. 7. meeting. Also in the Sept. 25 issue, one of the MTA bus lines expanding service was incorrectly identified as number 11. The correct number is 55. For more infor-mation about the MTA's expanded service please contact Harriet Griffin at x4081. The Towerlight regrets these errors. The dal � Published weekly by the students of Towson State University ht Towson, MD 21204 Vol. 80 No. 4 October 9, 1986 Taking candy from a tiger? The Towson State Tiger does his part at the fair by passing out candy to children. Alertness prevents four potential suicides by Keith Ward. Staff Reporter Four suicides, two of which required hospitalization, were either attempted or threatened by Towson State University students already this semester. The alertness of students and staff members was instrumental in preventing serious harm to the individual, according to Charles Maloy, Counseling Center director. In the most violent attempt, the student received self-inflicted lacerations on the right arm and was then taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, Lieutenant Joseph Herbert of the University Police Department said. In an apparent attempt to escape, the student fled to the hospital waiting room, even-tually being picked up by the Campus Police and taken back to the hospital. In the most recent incident, which occured last week, as well as in two of the three cases in September, alcohol was a ""contributing factor"", Maloy said. ""Alcohol, contrary to popularly held beliefs, is not a stimulant but a depressant. And, although alcohol was not the main cause of the attempts and threats, it did contribute to their depressed states,"" Maloy said. ""There seems to be a rise in the incidence of alcohol related troubling behavior from past year,"" according to Dorothy Siegel, vice president for Student Services. ""The most common problem (in suicide threats or attempts) is depression, usually caused by a number of things: pressures of family, academics, concern over careers, problems with a boyfriend or girlfriend, environmental expect-ations,"" Maloy said. He also added that ""nothing in these students was out of the pattern. Depression was caused by the typical reasons."" ""The handling of each situation varies depending on the severity of the threat or attempt"" Maloy said. Certain gerneral guidelines are adhered to, though. For a threat, they are loosely defined by Maloy as a verbalization to others of intentions to harm oneself, stand-ard procedure is to ""Mobilize all the resources in the university community to bring the person into contact with a helper, Usually other students, friends, police, or staff workers."" Once the .immed-iate danger is over, the student is instructed to seek help from either the counseling center or Dr. David Cowie, a Sheppard Pratt psych-iatrist under contract with the university. In the case of an actual attempt, Charles Maloy says that the alertness ,of students and faculty members was integral in avoiding four campus suicide attempts. College tuitions on rise nationwide by Doug Wood News Reporter Tuition increases at Towson State University are slightly below the national average. Costs rose from $1,514 in 1985-'86 to $1,608 in 1986-'87 for commuters, an in-crease of 6.2 percent. Combined tuition, room, and board costs for resident students climbed six per-cent from $4,902 to $5,192, accord-ing to Ron Garrison of Towson State's office of finance. College tuition costs overall have jumped six percent in the past 12 months while the con-sumer price index rose only two percent in the same period, ae-cording to the College Press Service. The average tuition hike was seven percent, but some schools have raised their costs by as much as 15 percent. A College Board survey revealed that the average costs of attending a four-year public college jumped from $5,314 to $5,605 for resident students and from $4,240 to $4,467 for commuters, an average rise of five percent. Private college tuition rates jumped six percent from $9,659 $10,199 for residents and from $8,347 to $8,809 for commuters. Most colleges attribute the in-creases to a general depression in higher education which began in the 1970s. Rises in faculty salaries, deferred maintainence, and lost government aid are responsible for a shortage of funds at many colleges. While Towson State's federal aid, mainly in the form of grants and student loans, will drop 4.1 percent from $3,363,943 this year to $3,224,954 in fiscal 1987, state funding will increase eight percent from $31,361,034 to $33,094,566, mainly to compensate for a 51/2 percent increase in salaries for faculty and staff. In . addition, maintenence costs have increased with inflation and the signing of a $1.7 million housekeeping contract with ARA services, according to Liarnson. ""We are buying more computer equipment, increasing part-time and full-time salaries, and have signed new (costlier) contracts for housekeeping and trash removal,"" Garrison said. In spite of substantial cost in-creases, no colleges reported sub-stantial enrollment drops. Cecilia Ottinger of the American Council on Education said that ""tuition increases have not had that much of an effect on enrollment."" A.L many state schools, including Towson State, enrollment has actually increased. Linda Collins, Director of Admissions at Towson State noted that although more students were applying for financial aid compared to last year, cost was not a deterrent. ""The cost of attending Towson State is low compared to other schools, and can be seen as a benefit, not a detriment, to en-rollment, even for out-of-state students,"" Collins said. the steps taken are more drastic. After the physical crisis has passed, the individual is removed from the environment. On the recom-mendation from Maloy and Cowie, thestudent is suspended by the Vice President of Student Services (Siegel) for a varying period, normally not beyond three weeks. The person can then be reinstated to the University by the same procedure in reverse- on a positive recommendation to Siegel by Maloy and Cowie; whether the request for reinstatment is days or years later, the same formal channels must be gone through. ""We can't live with people who attempt to harm themselves"" Siegel said. ""While this may sound insensitive, we have no choice. We are lookidg out for both sides, and h live to decide what is best for the school community as well as what is best for the student. We will not let the student stay at cost to the university."" Most students are reinstated even-tually, Maloy said, and concurred that in all the situations this semester, standard procedures were followed. One point that was stressed See SUICIDE, page 2 !Parking lot tamperer sentenced by Robert M. Graham News Editor A man found trying to break into a parked car on Lot 20 in August was pronounced guilty Tuesday 1;altimort County District Cour, and sentenced to three n.ears probation � � b rank 1....ugene Perrella was found guilty by Judge Wittstadt of being a vagabond and rogue after trying to enter someone's parked' car April 30 on the parking lot behind Towson Center. He at-tempted to use a self-made, lock-: opening device to gain entry into the vehicle. The Towson State University: Police were called by a witness at' 3:01pm on that Saturday. The de-, fendant said that he was just trying out the device. He added' that he ran at the Towson Center track every day. Perrella was sentenced to three, years of probation, one of those years under supervision. He was also sentenced to perform 50 hours, of community service before January 1. Perrella was ordered to stay off Towson State's property, and to turnover to the police the lock-opening device. The case was heard after an August 22 postponement. "