The Towerlight, September 13, 1984

tl19840913-000 "Tigers on a roll Football team wins their first two games of the season P 3 Movie review Lang's Metropolis Charles Theatre revitalized at p8 Student charged with sexual assault By Adam Eisenberg A 25 year old residence student was arrested by Towson State Uni-versity police last week on a charge of second degree sexual assault. Sheldon E. Nelson, a senior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a defensive co-captain for the Towson State football team, was arrested on September 4 after an official com-plaint had been filed with university police concerning an alleged inci-dent which occurred in the Glen Complex on September 2. University police removed Nelson from the campus and turned him over to Baltimore County police on September 4 after first securing a warrant for his arrest from a district court commissioner. Nelson was taken to district court where a bond hearing was held. Bond was set at $5,000 and Nelson was held in custody overnight in the Baltimore holding facility, where he was released the next day on his own recognizance. According to the victim's account of the alleged incident, Nelson came to her room in the early hours of September 2 rind risked to speak with her. He allegedly made some sexual suggestions to the victim and sometime after he, refusal she went to sleep while Nelson was s: dl in her room. The victim allegedly was awakened later that evening by a man who was sexually assaulting her. The victim then called the uni-s (43 J. ) The Towerli Pu /dish w cek iv to' I he s/ uden Is of Tows un State University Hang gliding takes o htVol. 78 No. 2 Towson, Maryland 21204 September 13, 1984 Hang gliding, a sport which has been gaining more enthusiasts, provides a chance to soar with the birds. By Mary T. Doughney If man were meant to fly, he'd have wings. Try telling that to a dedicated hang gliding pilot. Hang gliding has become a growing sport in this part of the country during the past few years. Four or five years ago the Maryland Hang Gliding Association did not even exist. It began when a group of pilots who flew at Oregon Ridge, located in the Cockeysville- Hunt Valley area, decided to form a hang glid-ing association. At that time, there were ap-proximately fifteen members. The member- _ship has since grown to nearlzeilLyt Future enrollment will decrease Many people feel that hang gliders are crazy. They're nuts. They're like a motorcycle gang. Wrong on all counts. Most pilots are serious about the sport. They have to be; a careless mistake or the decision to fly in radical con-ditions could cause them their life. Because they help each other and depend on one an-other's observations when flying, many close friendships have been formed. Holly Obrecht, who has been hang gliding for five years, said, ""A real deep interpersonal relationship develops between pilots. People get pretty close because they depend on each other. It's like on the battlefield�you depend on the guy next to you for your own survival."" He became interested in the sport because he always wanted to fly. ""It was more affordable than flying an air-plane. For the price of a private pilot's license, I could buy all my equipment."" ""I enjoy the overall comradery of the sport,"" commented Danny Brotto who has been flying for four-and-a-half years. Last May two pilots, who met through the sport, exchanged wedding vow -i at o favorite launch site in western Maryland. The recep- GLIDING page 6 Some get overflow Smith addresses faculty to start semester-- By Sandi V tinHorn Towson State University Presi-dent Hoke L. Smith addressed a group of approximately two hun-dred people last Thursday in the Fine Arts Concert Hall. While in-forming the audience of current as-pects of the University, he also dis-cussed expected conditions at the university throughout the next decade. Following a formal welcome of his guests, Smith commended those in-dividuals of the admission and hous-ing staffs who, he said, worked to get the school year off to an excel-lent start. Specifically mentioned was Terrance C. Smith, Assistant Vice President of Auxiliary Enter-prises for Business and Finance. Smith focused on enrollment and the quality of students entering the University. ""Freshman enrollment is down from last year, but overall enrollment is up."" Smith also men-tioned that ""we raised admission standards and rejected thirty per-cent more (incoming) students. Overall admission is up because we have 212 preregistered and transfer students. He added that the S.A.T. Combined score minimum for admis-sion into the University was raised to 930 from last year's figure, 911. Following discussion on enroll-ment, Smith recognized three new members to the University this year who will affect further advancement of the University. The first to be in-troduced was Dr. Richard Dumont. the Executive Assistant to Smith. Dumont transferred from Tennes-see Technological University where he was the Chairman of the Soci-ology and Philosophy department. Secondly, Ms. Marne Ojodu, the new Director of Financial Aid, was Johns Hopkins' Financial Aid Coor-dinator for the department of Hy-giene and Public Health. Finally, Mr. William Lewis was introduced as the new Director of Internal Audits. Mr. Lewis was formally the Assistant Legislative Auditor for the State Department of Physical Services. .Stnith announced four items that will require cooperation from faculty and students. First, Stephens Hall will be renovated in the Fall of 1985. Though other places must be found to conduct activities during renova-tion, ""we cannot count on the use of temporary mobile classrooms or other leased buildings in the Towson area because they will not adequate-ly house all of the activities that take place in Stevens Hall,"" Smith said. Secondly, a complete inventory of the University's physical equipment will be conducted next year. ""We have a significant amount of missing property,"" said Smith. ""We believe it is our responsibility to the state and taxpayers to maintain proper control."" Thirdly, construction of a new heating plant will occur this year. Bids for the construction will open October 4. Smith spoke about the enroll-ment of new students in the future. He noted that the percentage of stu-dents enrolled from Baltimore County in 1978 out of overall enroll-ment was 46.6 percent. The percent-age from Baltimore City was 22.8 percent. But by 1983, he reported that the county enrollment percent-age was 41.3 and the city enrollment was 19.8 This is an average yearly loss of one percent of new county students and one-half percent of new city students. With a loss of transfer students as well, the pro-jected enrollment into the 1990's will decrease from today's 7000 stu-dents to as low as 5000 students. The University will also be losing faculty members. Based on a retire-ment age of 70 years, Smith stated that up until 1990, there will be five faculty members over 70. Within the following five years, there will be an additional 22 faculty members at retirement age. By the year 2000, an additional 42 faculty members will retire from the University. In light of these statistics, Smith is concerned with the University's fu-ture. Smith said the University ""must deal with the problems that threaten the quality of our survival."" In agreement with this philoso-phy for the University was Vice President of Academic Affairs Patricia Plante. At the conclusion of Smith's address, Plante added, ""We will continue to improve the aca-demic program so we remain attrac-tive and even more attractive in the future."" but it's been worse By James Hunt The curse of the overcrowded dormitories has struck again this year, with less vengeance than in the past, but right on its five year cycle. Just an old wives' tale, you say? Well, consider this: In September 1974, 347 students were housed off-campus when Rich-mond and Newell Halls were unable to open for the semester. During the renovation of the buildings that summer, an acetylene torch in Newell touched off a five alarm fire which gutted the top floor and roof of the building. Sixty of those stu-dents were squeezed on campus in kitchens, study halls, and in what were then staff apartments in Newell Hall. In 1979, about 100 students were forced off campus and into the Tow-son East Motel and the Yorktowne Apartments in Cockeysville after an ""unusually low"" number of residents cancelled their housing contracts and the dorms were left overbooked. And now, in 1984, 46 students be-gan the semester in on-campus ""overflow"" housing as the housing office moved to accommodate what director of residence Mary Lee Far-low termed ""crisis situations,"" stu-dents who discovered over the sum-mer that they needed on-campus housing but had not signed up for housing or did not have housing contracts. Most of these students, who were quartered in recreation lounges and spare rooms in the basements of the older residence halls, have since been moved into regular dormitory rooms. The remainder will ""probably be moved in the next two to three weeks,"" Farlow said, although she noted that some of the students, particularly those in the basement of Ward Hall, seemed satisfied with their accommodations. One student, a transfer from Loyola College, who occupied a room in the basement of Scarbor-ough, was clearly not satisfied with her room, one of several situated op-posite the washer/dryer area in that building. ""It's isolated,"" she said. ""We've had only about four people come by here in the first two days of school. Last night a couple people banging on the piano at two in the morning. And then there's the driers .. . "" The University's situation is not unique. The University of Mary-land's newspaper, The Diamond-back, reported last week that there were 130 students living in dor-mitory lounges at that school after the residence department over-booked the housing, then received fewer cancellations than expected. Many of those students are ex-pected to spend the entire semester in the lounge-bedrooms sharing each area with up to seven other stu-dents. By Jerry Trout Ward and West Halls were re-opened last week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The dor-mitories were (.!losed for a year for inside renovation. Graduate found dead near D.C. It was reported in the September 11 issue of The Washington Post that Joanne Grossnickle, a 1984 Towson State University graduate, was found dead by Prince George's County police last Sunday in a wooded area in Cottage City, near Washington, D.C. Grossnickle grad-uated last May with a B.S. in busi-ness with a concentration in per-sonnel management. Police said Grossnickle apparent-ly had been stabbed to death, how-ever they are awaiting the official results of an autopsy. Grossnickle was last seen on Labor Day driving away from her parent's home. She worked for the Washington office of the Church of the Brethren as an office manager. According to the Post article, her family said Grossnickle's job in-volved coordinating action on civil and human rights issues between special interest groups and mem-bers of Congress. When Grossnickle was absent from work on September 5, she was reported missing to the police. District of Columbia police pick-ed up two men driving Grossnickle's car last Saturday. Rubin Jackson and Charlie Perry, both residents of Washington, D.C., were arrested and charged with un-authorized use of a vehicle. Jackson was held in police custody on a Montgomery County fugitive war- SP(' Pagc 9 Ward and West reopen By James Hunt It's amazing what new paint and carpeting will do. Ward and West Halls, two of the oldest dormitories on campus, looked nearly new last week as a host of University offi-cials and students gathered to offi-cially reopen the buildings. The two residences had been clos-ed for a year while undergoing the first of a three-part program to make them more energy efficient and appealing to resident students. The first phase was unique in that it was done ""in-house"": that is, every aspect of the renovation-de-sign, interior work, and landscaping was done by University personnel, most of it by the physical plant. The University saved an estimated $250,000 by having the work done in-house, instead of having a con-tractor do the work, according to Pat Walsh, assistant director of the physical plant. Hiring a contractor would have required the University to go through the state's bidding process, which would have delayed the project, as well as made it more expensive. In addition to new paint and car-peting in each room and in the hall-ways, the first phase included the installation of a sink in every room, replacement of the interior walls and ceilings, improvements to the bathrooms, and removal of material containing asbestos. The second and third phases of the renovation will include new wir-ing, heat, and air conditioning, as well as thermal pane windows. The ceremony reopening the resi-dences was traditional: consisting of speeches, ribbon cutting, and pic-ture- taking. Mary Lee Farlow, director of resi-dence, who was herself a resident in 1961 and 1962, commented on the history of the dormitories that ""over the last 20 years, ten state legislators, two national representa-tives, two judges, and a number of lawyers have come out of Ward and West Halls."" After the ceremony, the renova-tion work got a nod of approval from Maria Smith, a resident of West Hall, who said her University home is ""great, I like it a lot,"" and then consented to lead President Hoke Smith and Vice-President Patricia Plante, among others, on a tour of the building. "