tl19720908-000 "towerlight Volume XXVI No. 1 Towson State College September 8, 1972 Towson, Maryland 21204 Poor judgement noted by panel in arrests by George Weinberg Following the arrest of five students protesting Marine recruiters on campus, at the close of the school year, President Fisher appointed a special review panel to investigate the events arising from the arrests. Sitting on the special review panel were George A. Pruitt, Dean of Students, Henry Chen, Faculty representative and Lew Olshin, Student representative. The hearings held by the panel dealt with only events that occurred subsequent to the arrests. Individual judgement and response Although the hearings were hampered by lack of participation on the part of some demonstrators, thus leaving the final findings necessarily incomplete, the panel found the following cases were questionable and possibly poor Judgement was used: Case one involved a security officer grabbing a student around the neck, apparently to prevent him from approaching the door. According to the panel, eyewitnesses to this event say it triggered a wave of indignation on the part of the demonstrators. It was at this point, according to the panel, that jostling and the interposition of people in the way of officers was initiated. Without condoning the students' responses to this one officer's action, the panel testified that such action by the officer was intrinsically undesireable and highly provocative. Case two refers to the tripping of Mr. McDermott, a student, from behind while being escorted to the bus. The panel felt that the Officer's actions were unwarranted. Security officers, according to the panel, should be careful to use only ""that force necessary to effect an arrest."" The panel cited as the third case a staff member, Mr. Herring, not a member of the security force, who grabbed a student by the hair and put him on the bus. The panel stated that since the events leading up to the incident were confusing, involving a protestor, Mr. Dawson, head of security, and a index Page I News Page 2 Editorials Page 3-8 News Page 9 Goings-On Page I I Sports Baltimore County police officer, who ""somehow became involved in the struggle,"" the staff member's actions are questionable. ""Mr. Herring may have showed questionable personal judgement in choosing the mode of apprehension."" But under the circumstances, stated the panel, Mr. Herring should not have been involved in the incident at all. At various times in case four, the panel cited, an officer had his night stick out, raised, and threatened at least one person. It was reported that at least one person was hit with the stick, probably by the same officer. The panel testified that it was unnecessary in the circumstances of Officer Small, to use the stick even as a threat. In addition, his reluctance to put the night stick away, even when there was no clear danger to him, and his insistence upon maintaining a threatening stance, are inconsistent with the goals of the college. The panel concludes that Officer Small was unable to use good judgement under tense and somewhat threatening circumstances. Panel recommendations Based on the above conclusions, the panel made several recommendations to the college: *All security force personnel should receive some training in restrained, non-violent crowd control and arrest procedures. Though some officers showed good judgement and effectiveness, it would be worthwhile for the college to try to attain this level uniformally. *The selection of non-security staff members to serve as stabilizing and non-polarizing influences, should be done with great care. Preference should be given to people who work with students and who have some understanding of their modes of thinking and action. *College staff not on the security force should normally not be involved in physical activity or arrests. *All personnel involved in any official capacity should be identified by easily legible tags. This is especially important in the case of plain clothes officers. *Firearms should not be brought to the scene of a disturbance. Nightsticks, likewise, serve no useful purpose in the framework within which the college chooses to operate. At best, they are unintentional provocations to violence, and should be excluded from the scene. ()l0 b 1� hri, Registration took on a new look this year as only those students needing to change schedules had to appear. The new procedure, the registrar office predicted, enabled 70% of all students to register by mail. Positive response recorded in first mail registration by Kathy Wichita Taking the hint from several other Eastern colleges, Delaware in particular, Towson State initiated its own mail registration, a year ahead of schedule, for the 1972 Fall semester. Past and present members of various administrative departments had studied and discussed the system for several years and finally reached a decision in March, 1972. Key organizers of mail registration include Gerard Sartori (Registrar), Bill Reuling (Associate Registrar), Joseph Creel (Comptroller) Terri Smith and Ron Garrison from the Comptroller's Office. Other significant planners are: Charles Hebler, Thomas Poole and John Core from the Computer Center. With respect to the procedure itself, Reuling affirmed that he knew there would be difficulties, but that they would ""have to look at some of the problems and correct them as they came along."" He indicated that there have been no real difficulties except procedural ones, which can easily be handled. There were also some problems with regard to increasing the amount of staff and student help, but this was easily remedied. Concerning the excess amount of students and confusion at final registration, Reuling stated, ""We figured that between 66 percent and 70 percent of the people have complete schedules."" In view of this statistic, approximately 30 percent of the student body will appear at registration, not including those students who wish to make additional changes. Officials estimate that about 1000 students will be present at registration each day, instead of the usua'. 7n00. In general, Reuling remarked, ""The key to mail registration, of course, is getting the bill out and putting down a z,tatement of account."" Studentz, in order to receive their schedule card, were to have sent in their tuition money by August 9 or 11. However, Reuling stated that a grace period was allowed until August 27 for all students. Regarding the success of mail registration, Reuling said, ""The overall response has been positive. The idea of getting your schedule in advance and knowing that if there are any problems, you can - make adjustments, is good. The students are grateful."" t r:, Thanks to the College Media Service masterminds, a new way to relay class openings at registration was utilized this weck. The TV camera, focused on a revolving drum affords students an opportunity to work on their schedules before they go into the registration area. "
