tl19700320-000 "President Fisher informs community of position regarding civil disobedience Fisher supports extreme ideas and extremist groups by STEPHANIE TOLEN At a March 10 meeting of the faculty, Towson President James L. Fisher spoke in support of ex-treme ideas and extremist groups in a democracy, of the vital role of civil disobedience, and of the responsibility of the greater so-ciety. He informed the college commun-ity of campus unrest and its treat-ment �his position and rationale. He stressed that ""When a citizen, whether right or wrong, violates the law, he must suffer the conse-quences under that law, and at the same time the society must con-sider quickly and seriously the val-lidity or truth of the position of the offender."" Fisher defined extremism as ""something situated at or marking one end or another of a range . . . extreme behavior is within the range of a social system."" And fur-ther, that ""history reveals a lag between social needs and the struc-tures that reflect them."" Therefore, he stated, ""It is im-portant that the basic assumptions underlying any social organization, be it college or country, must fre-quently be tested against the na-ture and needs of the society it serves, to ascertain the relevance of the various practices and proce-dures."" ""And us long as man seeks the company of one another, there will be conflict�it seems to be an ines-capable aspect of community al-most to the point of being instinc-tive."" He went on to say that the key of life is twofold: ""diverse opin ions on common subjects and a sys-tem that would allow for the or-derly and reasonable consideration of contrary opinion."" Referring to the founders of American democracy, he main-tained that ""our founders made it easy for conflict to erupt . . . the only way that this new system could survive would be to allow for the expression and considera-tion of extremes in position and opinion."" ""I also believe that change must come to all social organizations that survive,"" he stated. Fisher stressed, ""it is impossi-ble to generalize about groups that advocate extreme ideas .. . because Photo by Thomas Dr. James Fisher many of them know no central theme and they often speak the language of change but through orderly procedures. The essential nature of these extremist groups is to press to examine our basic operating assumptions. They ur-gently raise questions calling for answers that often demand change. The crucial problem, he admit-ted, is ""how do we treat extrem-ist groups in our society, not whe-ther or not they should exist."" Be-fore he could consider treatment of extremist groups, however, Fisher spoke of civil disobedience. He stated, ""To me, our democra-cy has endured because it repre-sents a social order that has al-lowed maximum individual freedom dom and a way to achieve a direc-tion based on group consensus . . . for those who disagree with the law of the land. This concept is styled--civil disobedience.' The practice of civil disobedience being ""denied by certain national luminaries and even some college presidents and other leaders . . . sharply illustrates the extent to which some will go to preserve the establishment."" Fisher advocated though that ""it is only with the preservation and practice of civil disobedience that the establishment can survive."" He mentioned that some people hold that law breaking of any kind can never be justified in a democ-racy, but that he had to agree with Bertram Russell's logic of the ne-cessity of preserving the right of a citizen to violate the law. Fisher defined civil disobedience as ""an act in violation of man's law that is characterized by non-violence and is designed to attract public attention to the inequities of certain laws, policies, or deci-sion of government. It is an ex-pression of conscience and includes a complete willingness to accept the consequences of one's behav-ior."" He further broke it down: ""A dissenter performs an act of civil disobedience only if he acts illegally, e.g., draft card burning, refusal to serve in military. ""Civil disobedience must always be overt�public. It must attract attention. (Continued on page 4) tverlighl vol. XXII, No. 20 TOWSON STATE COLLEGE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21204 March 20, 1970 Budget remains unsatisfactory by LARRY FRANK Governor Mandel has approved a supplemental budget of $612,373 out of a hoped-for $1.9 million for Towson State. The new budget is pending expected approval by the State legislature. The new budget includes $462,- 000 in instructional funds, $55,000 for a new nursing program, and an increase of $150,000 in general Phil Marcus case rests in hands of FHC By DONNA QUANTE Researched by Walt Wessel The ease concerning the dismis-sal of Phillip Marcus, a member of the Physical Science Depart-ment, is still unsettled. It now rests in the hands of the Faculty Hearing Committee. Dr. William Pelham, also a mem-ber of the Physical Science De-partment, explains how the situa-tion came about: ""Mr. Marcus was originally hired for the Physical Science staff in 1968 for one year, merely to replace Dr. Louis Cox who was on leave from the Depart-ment for that academic year."" After his initial year expired in June 1969, Marcus decided ""to reapply as a regular faculty mem-ber, which would be on a nonten-ured basis."" A nontenured faculty member is placed on probation for four years. This means that there is a year to year contract according to American Association of Univer-sity Professors provisions. Each year faculty members are reviewed by the Rank Committee of their respective departments. Because of a technicality in the AAUP provisions which states that a professor must be given notifi-cation of dismissal by a certain date, Marcus was allowed to re-main at Towson until the end of the 1969-1970 session. At this time he is to be dismissed. According to a letter from Dean Kenneth Shaw (December 31, 1969), ""Mr. Marcus has indicated that he perceived this dismissal to be based on political grounds and that his academic freedom was be-ing violated. He requested that a hearing be held."" The Mediation Committee, con-sisting of Dr. Armin Mruck, David Cornthwaithe, Dr. Abolmajd Hoj-pah, Carl Zimmerman, and Dr. David Firman, has been meeting Mr. Philip Marcus 1441 :ly Thurn.,. for the past two months to dis-cuss the case. The Committee, chaired by Dr. Finnan, issued a report stating that there was no common ground between Marcus and the Physical Science Department. They could find no area in which each side would be willing to make a com-promise. The Committee will issue no comments on the case and will not issue a report for publication. Editor's Note: This article was researched and written in Febru-ary. Last week Towerlight was in-formed of the AAUP regulations which state: ""Except for such simple an-nouncements as may be required covering the time of the .hearing and similar matters, public state-ments about the case by eiher the faculty member or administrative officers should be avoided so far as possible until the proceedings have been completed."" Towerlight offers this story only as background information and will abide by the AAUP regulations until the completion of the hear-ing. The hearing is being held in Smith 140 from 8-10 pm n:ghtly. The academic community only may attend, and this is only as long as proper decorum is maintained. funds for the State-supported grad-uate program. Disappointed by the budget, Wayne Schelle, Director of Busi-ness and Finance, said, ""We feel that the Governor's supplemental budget is not satisfactory because it leaves serious key weaknesses in several areas."" ""The administration program received no help and serious de-ficiences remain in the instruction-al and maintenance programs."" Towson officials submitted a sec-ond supplemental budget to the State March 13, calling for $125,- 000 in the administrative area, $80,000 in the instructional area, and $65,000 in the maintenance area, a total of $270,000 in addi-tional funds. Of the second supplemental bud-get submitted, Schelle said, ""It is hoped that all of this amount will be granted. We understand that the Governor's second supplemental budget will be announced in ten days."" Dr. James L. Fisher, President, said, ""Unless additional funds are forthcoming, the College will be especially hurting in the areas of management and administration, administrative and faculty salaries and benefits, instructional assist-ance, and graduate programs. Although salary increases are being considered for faculty and administrative personnel, Dr. Fish-er may have to recommend to the Board of Trustees that garduate course fees be increased five to ten dollars per semester hour. President Fisher added that ""At this time, it is not known whether we will have to reduce the project-ed 1970 enrollment figure of 5,600 students."" This figure would con-stitute 20e-, of all students enter-ing Maryland higher education this fall. 7 A F. I. 1; a 3 "
