Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

tiHE UJESt SEDRSian VOL. 45-NUMBER 21 Beginning summer quarter Regents raise tuition rates BY ROBIN STACY The University System Board of Regents approved a five percent increase in tuition Wednesday for ail residents of Georgia attending units of the System, including West Georgia. Non-resident tuition was hiked by 10 percent. The increase, which will become effective summer Dean Lyon wheels his way to greater understanding '% , H i ! 3h| V \ £* ■ .1-' _ , '"^ m J| | W ijßm - Wtf i m i WIL SH| J WsSs£sr* w& % mb Wmp ■|M.4i§ ; fj44^ r I ;|3L *-M3|j BY LISA WILEY In order to “acquire a per sonal insight into the ad versities faced by West Georgia’s disabled students,” Dr. Bruce Lyon, dean of student services recently took a wheelchair tour of the campus. Tony Boatright, senior political science major from Whitesburg, has attended West Georgia for four years confined to a wheelchair and he served as Lyon’s guide. “The purpose of this tour was for Lyon to ‘walk a mile in my shoes' so to speak,’’ Boatright explained. “You can hear people talk about the problems of handicapped students but you must experience them first hand to fully understand.” First-hand experience is one thing Lyon now has under his belt. Using a manual chair - Boatright rode in his motorized one- inspection began of the bookstore, gymnasium, classroom buildings, restroom facilities, and general maneuverability on campus. “The physical strength in volved in just getting around when the surface is level is amazing. Even without major obstacles, it requires much quarter, will raise resident tuition rates from their current $145 per quarter to $152.25. Per quarter tuition for non residents will be raised by $38.30 to $421.30. System Chancellor George L. Simpson had recommended a seven percent hike in tuition for residents and 10 percent for non-residents to make up the physical exertion.’’ Lyon noted. “Even the slant of a sidewalk, not to mention the slope, provides a hardship.” Lyon recorded suggestions from Boatright as the tour progressed - the need for ad ditional curb ramps, repairing of cracks in sidewalks, in stallation of elevators. Although there is always room for im provement, Boatright admitted aids for handicapped students had come a long way since he arrived at West Georgia. “When I first came here, there were a few aids but not many. I think one problem was that people knew things could be done but just weren’t sure how to do them. The campus is doing real well now,” he added. Attention was focused on disabled students resulting from section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This federal legislation stated that all facilities (Hi campuses must be accessible to handicapped students. The Board of Regents of the university system of Georgia conducted a system-wide survey of each campus and recommendations were made for improvements in this area. According to Lyon, no funds difference between the General Assembly’s calculation of what the system would earn from student fees and what system officials felt would be earned. The difference in the two figures was $4.9 million. The tuition hike will generate around $3.9 million of the $4.9 million needed, according to University System figures. The were designated for this project to accommodate the needs of handicapped students. Many of the recom mendations Lyon will make as a result of the tour will be easily implemented, such as ad ditional curb ramps and parking, but others will be placed on “the back burner” awaiting funding. Installation of elevators and restroom conversions are among the more costly renovations needed. “It is important that these students are able to get direct access without delay involved. At West Georgia, if there is an office which is not accessible, then that office goes to the student,” Lyon pointed out. Lyon noted that requesting special consideration for so many things is a source of real frustration and concern to disabled students. This is not limited to wheelchair-bound students. Ann Phillips is a counselor in the student development center and is responsible for the campus program for the disabled, including blind, deaf, and epileptic students. “This coordinating service began last year and is really beginning to take shape. We have community volunteer reading groups for the visually impaired, a braille typewriter for use by teachers and students, and volunteers to meet the special needs of deaf students,” she stated. Phillips desires a personal contact with every disabled student on campus so they will be more willing to contact her for assistance. Many people at West Georgia are just standing by waiting to be put into ser vice, eager to help in any manner. Reflecting on his wheelchair experiences, Lyon admits that he is in no way an expert on these matters after spending only three hours in a wheelchair when these students face problems 24 hours a day, seven days a week. additional $1 million will be cut from the budgets of the 32 units within the system. The legislature voted University system employees a 12 percent salary increase, one percent of which was to be funded by the University System. If Governor George Bus bee vetoes the legislatively funded statewide salary hike, staff pay raises will be reduced to nine percent, University System officials said. Busbee’s veto would add $1.3 million to the system’s deficit. The Regents voted not to provide the additional money to raise faculty and staff salaries by 12 percent, saying they do not want to “anger students.” The board will meet next month to decide where the necessary $1 million in cuts will come. Regent Erwin Friedman of Savannah led the fight to lower the tuition hike from seven to five percent. He said it would be incongrous to raise student costs by that amount when the state has a budget surplus. Regent Lamar Plunkett of Bowdon broke the board’s six to six tie to reduce the increase for residents to five percent. Regent James Maddox of Rome said that the seven Tuttle, Hicks converse This is the first part of an interview conducted with Chief of Public Safety William Tuttle and Detective Lieutenant Jody Hicks by West Georgian News Editor Scott Freeman. West Georgian What is the department’s policy on marijuana? Hicks Generally, one time possession of marijuana for less than an ounce is referred to the dean of student services and the director of residence life, or both as applicable. If it’s a repeated offense, they can be prosecuted through the courts in addition to disciplinary ac tion here on campus. WG— What about possession of over an ounce? H— Anything over an ounce is a felony under Georgia law. There are no questions asked - they are prosecuted. WG Do you handle many of these kinds of cases? H Very few, although marijuana is plentiful on the campus. We do not have the staff to try any consertive crackdown. More often the cases we have are more flagrant abuse cases where the person is sitting out in the See TUTTLE. HICKS pg. 3 FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1979 percent hike would mean, “Putting a considerable financial burden on those students going to school. To me at a time when we’ve got the largest appropriation the University System has ever seen, this is a pretty rough time to tell students they’ve got to come in and pay for this.” Friedman said, “I think that it is an unpleasant situation, we have to have a tuition increase, but I can see a tuition raise of five percent instead of seven.” West Georgia President Maurice Townsend does not expect the increase to have a significant effect on college enrollment. “Since this in crease is to have effect at all senior colleges, I don’t believe we’U be hurt. Students will have to pay as much at Georgia Southern, for example, as they will here,” he said. He added, however, that he would have to study proposals for increases in other fees in relation to the tuition hike. “My initial reaction was surprise,” said dean of student services, Bruce Lyon. “As recently as the beginning of this quarter I read in the papers that the Regents were not planning to raise tuition.” Lyon said that since the increase is “relatively modest,” he would still recommend raising the student activity fee. “Students are, or should be, accustomed to inflation, and we have to have more money in student activities to maintain adequate funding,” Lyon concluded. Wr Registrar resigns Tim Thomas, registrar, has resigned his position, effective June 39. Thomas has served as registrar since July, lf7. Dr. Bruce Lyon, dean of student services, said that “During his three years here, I feel that we have made significant progress in improving our registration process, especially early registration. We will announce plans for filling the vacated position in the near future.”