The Towerlight, September 4, 1981

tl19810904-000 "Arik VOL. 75 No. 1 Tower! ght PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204 Voodoo Without Chickens. I haN;e hope. dr yes September 4, 1981 Van Bokkelen Hall project complete by Wallace Bruce Reid The doors of Van Bokkelen Hall were opened to students this fall after the completion of a two-year renovation project. The $2,079,000 facelift restored the building from its prior state of ""decayed elegance,"" crumbling concrete, leaky classrooms, and a malignant inefficiency of the entire building. The building houses both the Speech and Mass Communication and Communication Sciences and Disorders departments. ""I think the state has done a good job with our money,"" said Dr. Bill wallace, chairperson of the Com-munication Sciences and Disorders dePartment. Dr. Wallace produced the original set of drawings that dated back to May 16, 1969. ""Most of us thought that it (the renovation), was going to the start in summer of 1970, but it didn't sort until about ten years later,"" said Or. Wallace. When asked if the project was tangled in red tape, both Wallace and Dr. Irene Shipman, chairperson of the Mass Communication depart-ineut replied, that there was an ex-unt. John Suter earl Gonneson and Sons, a con-u'acting firm, and Probst-Mason ine., an architectual firm were responsible for the renovation of the lding. The project was funded u_rmigh State General Construction rans, said John Suter, director of LamPus planning. Suter, whom has j;n a part of the renovation since qs initiation, said that the state en.uld spend $35,000-$40,000 on ad-onal improvements. 'In the old days, while lecturing, Ynu, had to dodge pieces of plaster 48 they fell from the ceiling . . . You had to be very quick on your feet,"" said Michael Olesker, Morning Sun .(,_)Itunkriist and visiting instructor in �ne Mass Communication depart-inent. (Masker said ""It's fabulous . . . You wouldn't even know its the Mule building.'' The opinions and suggestions of students were sought when the renovation was first considered, said Wallace. ""We would talk to students and they would make sug-gestions. We incorporated quite a number of students suggestions when considering the revitalization of the building,"" said Wallace. ""Its much cleaner, much nicer, there's a lot more space for students,"" said Cathy Curmbacker, a speech pathology student. ""I believe the atmosphere has a lot to do with education and learning,"" ad-ded Miss Curmbacker. The building was riddled with decay and clearly unsafe for oc-cupancy, let alone condusive to lear-ning and instruction. ""Some of the rooms had drapes like tarpolines that you would cover a wood pile with . . . one of the rooms we had to use anywhere from 2 to 8 buckets to catch the water as it dripped from the ceiling,"" said Wallace. ""I think it used to rain more in-side on the second floor, than it did outside,"" remarked Shipman. ""There were no toilet doors but shower curtains,"" said Shipman. In keeping with the building's new charm the rest room doors are now labeled ""Pointers,"" and ""Setters,"" and the students are left to their own powers of reasoning to choose the appropriate door. The floor space was redesigned to make the building more operational and its efficiency has increased tremendously according to Wallace. There are now eight faculty offices i adjacent to the lobby where there were previously four. The number of classrooms was increased by about two or three. Dr. Marlene Cowan, an associate professor in the Mass Communica-tion department said, ""I am pleased with the oral interpretation and with the readers theatre facilities. The ""open space,"" type classrooms offer the students a less static at-mosphere in which to broaden their learning experiences,"" added Cowan. Wallace refers to the new speech and hearing clinic as one of the best on the east coast. ""It serves not only the University community but the community at large, as well as being a training site for people in the communication sciences and disorders,"" said Wallace. The clinic has parent intake and diagnostic facilities, eight therapy rooms, all of which may be monitored from a centrally located observation room or by closed-circuit television. The facilities are available to children and their parents, and to students desiring to have their speech and hearing tested, as well as serving as a train-ing lab. The Van Bokkelen Hall renovation is nOw complete. The building still maintains glimmers of the past and the technology of the future. Students and faculty are enthusiastic about the new speech and mass communications facilities. TL photos by Colleen Kadan and Cindy Sheesley Hark reveals programming plan By Terri Hicks and Jim Russ President Keith Hark proposed the formation of a programming board that would help expand cam-pus activities. For years, said Hark, the SGA wasted thousands of dollars on ex-pensive speakers and concerts. ""These special events are no longer effective,"" added Hark. ""We are fortunate here at Towson to have an alcohol policy that allows organizations to profit from beer sales,"" said Hark. ""I don't want to take this away. What I want is alter-native programming and lots of it"", said Hark. Hark has planned the following events as a strategy to keep students on campus on weekends: an expanded Homecoming, Oktoberfest, Towson State's first dinner theater, and two movies every weekend. ""I would like to see the students have a choice. If a student does not want to drink beer and dance to ""Rock-n-Roll, he or she should have an alternative choice,"" Hark said. Hark also pointed out that the Chesapeake Room only ac-comodates 850 and in a short time 1700 additional students will move on campus causing a need for more events. Most Senate members interview-ed voiced favorable reaction to the plan. Senator Eric Thompson said, ""I think the plan is a good idea. More cultural activities will be pro-vided and they will not only be geared for a select few. Another goal Hark set is the organization of a residence commit-tee intended to unite dormatories. Hark also told of cabinet and staff changes he made this summer. Nan-cy Warren is the newly appointed Director of Organizations; Sharon Sylor is the newly acquired Assis-tant to the Director of Communica-tions; and Effie Lignos is now full time on staff. Warren was appointed acting Director of Organizations after the resignation of Dottie Gallagher and was confirmed as director by the Senate on Tuesday. Keith Hark Hark hired Lignos as a ""Reserva-tionist"" to handle student organiza-tions needs such as holds, reserva-tions and other bookings. ""Because of the eratic schedules of the students organizations, we found a need for someone to be in the office at all times,"" added Hark. Warren said, there will be an organizational expo September 14-15, from 8:00 am-4:00 pm and a mandatory meeting for organiza-tions September 16-17 for 3:00 pm-5:00 pm. The T.S.U. Student Government Association needs interested students to fill four senate vacan-cies. One vacancy for a freshman with the remaining open to any full-time fee paying student. For more information call the SGA at 321-2711 or stop by room 226 in the University Union. Interest rates rise on loans Students will soon be paying higher interest rates on educational loans as a result of the Reagan Ad-ministration's budget cuts. Effective October 1, the National Direct Student Loan interest rate will be five percent. The rate is cur-rently four percent. Harriet Griffin, director of Finan-cial Aid, said that it is still unclear as to whether the interest rate will be applied to those persons who have been awarded a loan but have not yet received the dispursement after October 1. Griffin said that there is no pro-blem with people who are awarded a loan after October 1 because then the increased rate would apply. However, loans are distributed in semester dispursements and ap-proximately 800 students will receive loan dispursements in the spring. The guaranteed Student Loan origination fee (fee paid to bank for processing form) increased from four percent to five percent. The ac-tual amount of the increase will dif-fer for each student because of dif-ference of amount and duration of loan. Eligibility limits for the GSL have also changed. Prior to October 1, students were not required to show need. After October 1 there is a $30,006 family income ceiling, both for self-supporting students and families. Students with incomes over $30,000 must submit to a needs test if they want a loan. Students who show a need for less than $500 will probably not get the loan, Griffin said. Students whose need is between $500 and $1000 will probably get the $1000 loan. Students with needs over $1000 will probably get the exact amount, she said. Griffin said that the eligibility limit was established because too many people were receiving loans that they did not deserve. Despite the increase in the NDSL and the change in eligibility re-quirements and origination fee in the GS1, an additional loan has been established that is available regardless of need. Plante: 'There's no such thing as stopping' Dr. Patricia Plante was recently aPPointed vice-president for 1:e4141emic affairs. This is part I of a '4'4 Part interview with Dr. Plante conducted by Towerlight News oditor Quincey R. Johnson T.otverlight: What are your duties as Pfars? ee-president for Academic Af- A Patricia Plante' Well, the position is teallY that of chief academic officer Ohn campus, which means that I am :""ically responsible for the general I ""eademic well-being of the whole in-atktitution. Now, obviously I am not :dg �W Y one responsible, there are 'ails here, there are faculty fIonerr ribers and we are all responsible the academic well-being; rind ItlhitinlatelV there is the president ,-1-4a,t has the last responsibility. '.""Itt's primarily what I am respon- hs.eihle for; which means therefore, ad-of nions, registrar, financial aid, all �L the academic departments, Ileadernic standards, curriculum, in- othewr rith words, everything dealing the academic. 2�4 What will be your relationship With the Board of Trustees and the PlaanteteR: rrd for Higher Education? u goon hope that it's going to be a Ld relationship. The president of dej University clearly has a great Inore to do with the Board of In""�ate, and the SBHE in its rela- C'sniP with the University. I a.ve, vtivith however, some relationship them. I deal primarily with the With' Staff in matters dealing academic and I've met 41"". Members of the Board staff, certainly all of the members of the Board staff I'd be working with. I expect to have a very good relation-ship with them. We've personally hit it off well. We've agreed that any disagreements we have will be about issues and it's never going to be a matter of personalities. I think we can stand by that so I expect to have a good relationship with them. But, with SBHE, my relationship I suppose will be to try to get pro-grams through. That won't be my relationship with them, but it's go-ing to be my connection with them. That's the only connection I have with them as far as I can tell. When we get a program approved here, a major or something, as you well know, we have to go through the program comittee ofthe Board staff, the whole Board, and the program committee of SBHE and the full SBHE. In that way, I am going to have some dealings with them all the time. I'm looking forward to it. TL: You have always been a sup-porter of Lida Lee Tall while on the Academic Council, will your new position afford you any more in-fluence on the Board's decision. Plante: I don't see myself having any influence on this decision at all. The University has made its pro-posal, it's given alternatives to them, if they see that these alter-natives are good they'll accept them and if they don't, I don't know. Depending on what happenes, I will be intimately related in one way or another. If it stays open, I'm going to try, as much as possible, to make it a fine reseach center for early ' childhood and elementary educe-tion. If it closes, then my major con-cern is to help the faculty. There are eight members of the faculty who are tenured, and there's a librarian and then there's the principal of the school. All of my efforts are to see to it that these people are not hurt anymore then they already have been. TL: What are some of your goals for your job? Plante: My immediate goal is to follow the instructions of the Academic Council and to help restructure the University into col-leges. That's going to take a great deal of time this year because that mes, not only restructuring into col-leges, but looking into how cur-riculum is going to be developed from now on because of the struc-ture. It means reexamining almost all of the academics, admissions, standards � eveilything. We want to maintain uniform standards in all of the colleges. So, I am very en-thused about that. I know it is peo-ple who make places work but nevertheless, you can have struc-tures that help people and you can have structures that prevent people from working as efficiently and as well as they might work. I am very excited about restructing because I think all of the literature shows large universities that are not divid-ed into colleges promote a sense of alienation among the students and a sense of alienation among the facul-ty. If we're divided into smaller in-terest groups, so to speak, we can work so faculty and students can feel closer to one another; they can have more of the same goals and they would be enthused about some Patricia Plante of the same things. There are dangers in this, of course, we still have to maintain a coherence as a university then at the same time give individuality to the different colleges. Creating the right balance is going to be a tremendous challenge, but I find that very ex-citing because I think we are all go-ing to be happier in a sense that there will be the chance for more faculty members and more students to be intimately involved in what's going on. That's the primary goal. My second, I think, as far as priorities go, is that I want to do as much as I possibly can to see if we can draw more students into the university, particularly the good students. That is, the high ability students; this is not to neglect anyone else, but two years ago the legislature set up a scholarship pro- 4gram for higher qualified students � to try to keep them in the state because many of them are going out of state and we really haven't done very well. In addition to that, I would think in the past we never really had to worry aobut enroll-ment. Nobody had to worry about enrollment, but now everybody has to worry, and Towson is no excep-tion. I want to do all I can to expand outready programs that they've had in the natural sciences and the social sciences. Maybe we can bring that to every department and try to get the faculty involved as much as possible in admissions. A third thing I want to change is the academic calendar. I want to persuade people to establish a calen-dar so students can leave the university earlier in the spring than they do now. We are not com-petitive with other colleges. Students are losing out on jobs and we have to be able to do something. I am going to bring that to the Academic Council this year. I think it is going to hurt us really with enrollment. The SBHE has said that (I have a list of about twenty-five things, I'll stop right after this) we, Towson, should be the center of Fine Arts in the state of Maryland. That was our turf. I want to try to persuade the University to develop programs in BFA's (Bachelor of Fine Arts), MFA's, Bachelors of Music. If the Continued on page 6 n This Issue Sophomore quarterback Bret Rogers leads the Tiger football squad in their quest to gain posses-sion of the Crab Pot in tomorrow's opener against Morgan State. See the preview on page 3. TOWERLIGHT Features editor John Bennett explores the mysteries of Jesus Christ. Who was he, and more important, what have we done to him in the 2,000 years since his death? Read about it on page 2. "