- Title
- The Towerlight, Summer Special 1982
-
-
- Identifier
- tl1982summer
-
-
- Subjects
- ["College sports","Student activities","Towson University -- History","College students","Restaurants","Towson State University. Student Government Association","Student aid","Football","Fraternities and sororities","Student government","Dormitories","Bars (Drinking establishments) -- Maryland","Hazing"]
-
- Description
- The 1982 Summer Special issue of The Towerlight, the student newspaper of the Towson State University.
-
-
- Date Created
- June 1982 - August 1982
-
-
- Format
- ["pdf"]
-
- Language
- ["English"]
-
- Collection Name
- ["Towson University Student Newspaper Collection"]
-
The Towerlight, Summer Special 1982
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к
Vol.
75
No. 29
Towerlight
PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY
TOWSON, MARYLAND 21204
Summer
Special
Major events atTowson State reviewed
Dorms
As the semester draws to a close
several events, such as the approval
and construction of the new dorm
complex, the legislation saving Lida
Lee Tall and the Student Govern¬
ment Association’s election among
others seem well worth noting.
After years of planning and
Searching for financing, construc¬
tion began in March on new dor-
matories for the Towson State cam¬
pus.
The four 14-story dorm towers
and a two-story dining hall are be-
, ing constructed on a 2.12 acre tract
of land adjacent to the Glen and the
University Union near Cross Cam¬
pus drive.
The $36 million project will be
financed through the sale of In¬
dustrial Revenue bonds. The land
on which the dorms are being built
Was owned by Thomas F. Mullan,
Jr. and Charles A. Mullan; it was
donated to the state and then leased
to the developers of the project,
Mullan Enterprises.
Since state-owned land in not tax¬
ed, the University will make cash
payments to Baltimore County in
lieu of property taxes. The first pay¬
ment, due in the fall of 1983, will be
$42,000. After that payments will
increase 6 percent each year until
1994, when they will reach $70,9681
and remain stable for the following)
30 years of the lease agreement.
The new dorms will bring another
1,700 resident students on campus.
The increase will raise the Universi¬
ty’s resident population from the
present 13 percent of the 9,528 full¬
time day students to 30 percent.
In order to fill the new dorms, the
University is eliminating its present
Policy of not allowing students liv¬
ing within a 20-mile radius of the
University to live on campus. The
two-year limit on dorm residency
Will also be dropped.
The new dorms are scheduled to
open in the fall of 1983. When they
do, room and board fees will in¬
crease from $2,060 to a maximum of
$3,091.
The University and the Towson
businesses will benefit from the in¬
creased student population. The
University may find that an in¬
creased resident population helps
solve some of the problems caused
by the University being a largely
commuter school, problems such as
Poor participation in extra¬
curricular activities and poor atten¬
dance at athletic events.
In other news, Van Bokkelen Hall
reopened in the fall, after being clos¬
ed for two years for renovations.
Van Bokkelen Hall houses the
Speech and Mass Communication
department and the Communication
Sciences and Disorders department.
Prior to the $2,079,000 renovation
project, Van Bokkelen Hall was in¬
famous for pealing paint, falling
plaster and leaking classrooms. The
renovations included a new speech
®ud hearing clinic, considered by
some to be one of the best on the
east coast.
However, the renovation of
67-year-old Stephens Hall has been
Postponed until at least 1986,
because money for the project is not
Ubmediately available. Like Van
Bokkelen Hall before its renovation ,
Stephens Hall is noted for peeling
Paint, falling plaster and leaking
Windows and ceilings.
The cost of the proposed renova¬
tion is estimated at between $7 and
*8 million.
In other budget related news, in
So effort to save approximately
*300,000 a year, the University
decided to turn its housekeeping
"ork over to a private contractor,
thereby ending University employ¬
ment for 139 housekeeping
employees.
The private contractor, which will
take over housekeeping on July 1,
*982, will be required to keep pre¬
sent housekeeping employees for at
*®ast six months at their present
"'ages.
University officials said they in¬
tend to try to find new jobs for the
farmer housekeeping workers. The
University put a hiring freeze on
maintenance, grounds, stock clerk
mid guard jobs so housekeeping
Employees could apply for those
mbs.
tiastyear a total of 388 students
"'ere academically dismissed after
lbe fall semester and 614 students
' "are academically dismissed after
tfie spring semester.
Academic dismissals are higher in
•be spring, because semester
freshman are never dismissed.
photo by Bob Tarleton
Student Government Association
The Student Government
Association complex is quiet now;
however, last year’s SGA was far
from quiet.
Each spring, elections for SGA
executive positions and Senate posi¬
tions are held. This year’s elections
were marred by low.voter turn-out,
alleged election violations, and the
absence of a full slate of Senate can¬
didates.
Nevertheless, the election went
off as scheduled with Dave Thomas’
“Students for the Students” ticket
winning a close race.
Though all candidates said that
there was a lack of real issues in the
campaign, the major tenet of the
Thomas platform was to combat the
problem of apathy.
The officers all agreed that better
communication between the SGA
and the students, the addition of
more cultural events, and improv¬
ing funding for projects that would
reach the majority will help combat
the problem of apathy.
Several weeks after the election
the Senate began its budgeting pro¬
cess. This spring, the Senate
allocated $164,069 to 23 organiza¬
tions during the hearings that took
two weeks to complete.
The money allocated comes from
the $23.25 in student fees. The
money allocated at this year’s hear¬
ing is based on a projection of how
many fee paying students the
University will have next semester,
said Arlene Campeggi, SGA
business manager.
Before the Senate budget hear¬
ings, members of the Black Student
Union voiced their displeasure with
past SGA Senates in its budget
dealings with the organization.
Aaron Copeland, past BSU presi¬
dent, said that in the past the
Senate has been unsympathic to the
needs of black students and doesn’t
fully understand the role and pur¬
pose of the BSU at the University.
Senate has been unsympathetic to
the needs of black students and
doesn t fully understand the role
and purpose of the BSU at the
University'.
Copeland sent Hoke Smith,
University president a proposal for
economic autonomy for the BSU.
The request was denied.
Unheralded for its ac¬
complishments by many, the Senate
did do a study on campus security.
The Study was initiated by the
Senate University Affairs commit¬
tee. The committee set up a series of
“Night Walks” for students and
University officials.
After studying lighting and other
security detriments on campus the
Senate committee made several
recommendations to the University.
The SGA was also instrumental in
restructuring and establishing a
University Residence Government.
The new government was establish¬
ed in order to replace the now
defunct Residence Council.
The Residence Council, said
former director of communications,
Gerry Muccioli, was merely a pro¬
gramming board using informal
means to address the needs of
student’s problems and questions to
the Residence Department.
The formation of the Residence
Government is an effort to give
residents a representative voice in
the areas of policy development, im¬
plementation of policy and the
maintainence of facilities, Muccioli
Legislation
When the General Assembly rais¬
ed the drinking age, campus
organizations wondered about their
revenue sources and the administra¬
tion pondered its policies and possi¬
ble changes.
However, former SGA president
Keith Hark said, “It (the sale of
alcohol) is the icing on the cake, not
the cake itself.”
The alcohol concerns committee
submitted a list of recommenda¬
tions to Dorothy Siegel, vice presi¬
dent of student services.
Among the recommendations
were:
* The separation of alcohol from
areas where dances and events oc¬
cur
* Because of the extreme difficul¬
ty in regulating and controlling
those drinking in open areas,
there should be a phase out of Glen
parties which serve alcoholic
beverages.
In another piece of legislation
that made students and staff hap¬
pier than the raised drinking age,
the General Assembly passed two
companion bills that created a learn¬
ing resource center on the Towson
State campus, thereby insuring the
existence of Lida Lee Tall.
Governor Harry Hughes also
transferred $129,000 from the
University’s budget to the Mary¬
land State Department of Educa¬
tion to provide funding for Lida Lee
Tall.
Financial Aid
College students and their
parents witnessed a rash of reduc¬
tions and revisions to federal finan¬
cial aid and low-interest loan pro¬
grams in the past school year.
The federal government’s alloca¬
tion for the five major aid programs
and seven other aid sources to
academic year is eight percent less
than the amount received for the
1981-82 year.
The belt-tightening on the stu¬
dent aid supply began Oct. 1 after
President Ronald Reagan signed
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act.
The most heavily used source of
aid — Guaranteed Student Loans —
was hit with a battery of regulations
and stipulations, but faired well in
the long run.
The loans are offered by over 100
banks and lending institutions in
Maryland, at a nine percent interest
rate. Students can defer repayment
of the loans until after graduation
from college.
For the first time in several years,
a $30,000 income ceiling was impos¬
ed on the program, and students
from families earning more than
that amount must take a “needs
analysis” test to qualify for the aid.
The origination fee, which is used by
banks to process the loans, was also
raised from 1 to 6 percent.
The University received $3.9
million to back the loans for the
coming school year.
Pell Grants, outright gifts to
students who can demonstrate a
need for financial aid, were also
threatened by stiff reductions from
Washington, but the University’s
tentative allocation for the coming
school year is $1.5 million — 17 per¬
cent less than last year’s federal
contribution.
Yearly Pell Grants range from
$146 to $1,670.
National Direct Student Loans,
five percent federal loans to low-
income students, were house clean¬
ed a bit.
Since the 1960s, when colleges in
Maryland began offering NDSLs,
the number of students who have
failed to repay the loans has forced
some schools into high default
rates, and consequently, penalties
for lax collection procedures.
As a result of the University’s 20
percent default rate for the loans,
the federal contribution to the
University for the 1982-83 school
year could be reduced from last
year’s $168,378 to $19,000.
Supplemental Education Oppor¬
tunity Grants, another federally-
backed aid program, was trimmed
slightly for the coming school year.
The University received $193,339 —
down from $264,206 — for the
1982-83 year.
College work-study programs
could receive a small shot in the arm
next year if the University’s
tenative allocation of $115,622
becomes a reality.
Perhaps the best advice to
students would be that they study
the aid programs like they study a
chemistry text — carefully. Many
financial aid administrators are
themselves confused about how
much money is available for
students.
Policy changes
Students living outside a 20-mile
radius of Towson State will no
longer be given housing priority
when the school’s new dormitories
are completed.
This action follows a decision by
the Board of Trustees of State Col¬
leges and Universities to allow each
school to set its own housing policy.
The State Board for Higher
Education approved SBHE com¬
missioner Sheldon Knorr’s plan to
decentralize state college governing
boards.
Towson State, Frostburg, Bowie
and the University of Baltimore
would be given separate governing
boards under the plan, which now
must be passed by the Maryland
Legislature.
The new plan will allow the
schools to lobby more independent¬
ly and efficiently for funds, said a
spokesman at the State Board for
Higher Education.
The four schools are currently
governed along with Salisbury
State and Choppin under the Board
of Trustees or the State Univer¬
sities and Colleges.
photo by Edvins Lagzdins
Campus Crime
Towson State also had its share of
crime — some petty and some not.
A former Towson State business
administration professor was
sentenced in September to 20 years
for assaulting a Hechinger’s store
assistant manager.
James Riffin, who was originally
charged with assault, kidnapping,
false imprisonment, possession of a
quantity of drugs and a handgun
violation, was convicted of assault
and a handgun violation.
Riffin assaulted Christi Nicholis
Gean koplis, the assistant manager,
after Geankoplis had testified
against Riffin on a shoplifting
charge.
Riffin went to the Hechinger’s
parking lot in the 8600 block of
Pulaski Highway, and forced
Geankoplis into the front seat of
Riffin’s car at gunpoint.
The trunk of the car had been con¬
verted into a makeshift gas
chamber, said state’s attorney Tom
Basham.
The inside was lined with black
plastic and a propane cylinder at¬
tached by two timers set up to
release hydrogen cyanide gas,
Basham said.
After a rash of stolen mopeds and
bicycles had been reported since the
semester began, University police
established new parking regulations
for mopeds and bikes.
Gene Dawson, director of univer¬
sity police, said chaining the bike or
moped in an out of the way place,
such as against a tree or lamppost,
presented problems in preventing
bike theft.
The new regulations said all
bicycles and mopeds should be
registered with the university
police, as well as chained only to
bike racks.
After working with dorm
residents and the C&P Telephone
Company for four months, Universi¬
ty police arrested an Owings Mills
man in connection with a rash of
obscene phone calls made to Univer¬
sity dprms.
Ernest Bernard Holdclaw was ar¬
rested April 6 and charged with six
counts of telephone misuse.
It was alleged that Holdclaw
made over 50 calls to the University
dorms during that period.
The sexual assault of a 13-year-old
boy who was visiting the University
to play video games in the recrea¬
tion room has led to an access rule
forbidding anyone under 17 to enter
the University Union or the recrea¬
tion room unless accompanied by an
adult.
The changes were made one week
after a white male, age 25 to 30, ap¬
proached a boy asking for help with
a package.
After luring the boy to the third
floor bathroom, campus police said
the man then switched out the
lights, grabbed the boy and made
him perform unnatural sex acts
with a threat of physical harm if the
boy didn’t cooperate.
A building manager alerted by the
boys’ friend of his absence found the
boy shaken but unharmed.
Revocation
One of the two campus-based
fraternities at Towson State had
their operating charter revoked
April 1 for several violations of the
University’s anti-hazing policy.
Alpha Omega Lambda, the oldest
local fraternity on campus, was
known for its visible pledging ac¬
tivities during the five-week pledge
period in March, and during “Hell
Week,” which takes place during
the fifth week of the induction
rituals.
The revocation of the group’s
charter stemmed from reports of
two incidents in the Newell dining
hall in March, where several pledges
were forced to eat food that had
been doused with Tabasco sauce
and ice cream that was covered with
salt and pepper.
Dean Siegel, vice president for
student services, suspended the
fraternity for hazing violations
March 26. Following the suspen¬
sion, the group continued to assem¬
ble on campus, administrators said,
and their pledging rituals con¬
tinued.
One of the eight fraternity
pledges was killed March 30, and
two others were injured, in an early
morning car accident on Interstate
83 just north of Seminary Avenue.
The students were out acquiring
signatures from fraternity alumni
before the crash, as part of their
pledging activities.
The fraternity’s pledging prac¬
tices this year forced University ad¬
ministrators to revise the school’s
anti-hazing policies for fraternities,
said Dean Knox, associate dean of
students.
Knox developed a five-page anti¬
hazing plan in April, which he says
is more enforceable and spells out
exactly what hazing is.
photo by Colleen Kadan
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