Brown and White Vol. 85 no. 46

              lehigh university brown and white vol 85 — no 46 mmttl bethlehem pa tuesday april 23 1174 forum elects krauss chairman amidon to be new trustee rep george krauss professor of metallurgy and materials science was elected chairman of forum v janet scagnelli 75 was elected vice-chairman and gary lacocca 70 was elected secretary treasurer at the forum retreat saturday the retreat which was held m the u.c was also used to finish some old forum business and for reports by committees and officers william quay dean of student life presented a proposal to extend the 74-75 calendar another year objections were raised concerning the lack of breaks m the first semester despite these objections the first semester calendar for 75-76 was passed and the second semester calendar was passed with an amendment registration will be on jan 20 classes will begin on jan 21 and end may 7 the final day of exams will be may 20 quay was nominated for the position of chairman but declined because this particular honor . . . comes at a time when we're having a major reorganization m our office the new faculty trustee representatives are david amidon instructor of urban studies and chaplain hugh flesher chairman of forum iv student representatives are rich boig 76 and lorna velardi 75 university president w deming lewis thanked those who served on forum iv and congratulated the members of forum v lewis described the university as still financially strong but he said that the administration is proposing a budget which might mean the university will be m the red the university has operated m the black every year except one in the area of admissions lewis said there are more applicants for next year's class than any m the school's history we're almost at the point m the un dergraduate part of the university where we want to be m the next 10 years he said lewis also pointed out that m the next 10 years it will be illegal and inappropriate to make distinctions on the basis of sex and that people should be admitted strictly on the basis of qualifications and interests lewis predicted that half of the arts students will be female and that women will constitute a smaller fraction of the engineering and business schools total undergraduate enrollment will grow to 4,000 including 1,600 engineering 1,600 arts and 800 business students he said one thing is quite clear we don't want lehigh to become too big lewis said future projects which lewis mentioned are renovation of packard and chandler laboratories possible extension or ad dition to williams hall the possibility of bettef drama facilities than will be offered by wilbur powerhouse and tfie possibility of purchasing a large new digital com puter lewis said that there are no plans to construct a new stadium because it doesn't make sense to spend more than five . million dollars for a new stadium when the one we've got is filled only once every two years according to lewis the administration believes m the forum although it has had some growing-up pains rich conway 74 vice-chairman of forum iv told new forum members that they would have to work on public relations because there are many students who do not care about the forum or campus issues he also suggested that the forum concentrate on a few problems on which they can do a thorough job bs.w photo by heck william stanford next year to be critical for forum krauss says by eileen canzian i think next year will be a critical period of self-examination for the forum said george krauss professor of metallurgy and newly-elected forum v chairman forum v must review its size operations and procedures very seriously he said krauss said he originally supported the present forum's size as being good for the governance of the university adding i feel the size of forum is great if people participate however he said that if forum v has the attendance problems suffered by forum iv it should consider reducing its size i see a backing off of involvement by students said krauss adding that students seem to be more concerned with education and less concerned with issues than five years ago krauss said he did not think brown and white criticism of the forum significantly discouraged students and faculty from running for the forum brown and white stories provide good exposure for the forum i disagreed with some editorials because some as i see them minimized sincere concern felt by students and faculty on the forum he said but added it's the editor's responsibility to give an independent view of what he interprets is going on krauss said he did not favor limiting the brown and white m any way the forum's committee structure should also be examined according to krauss i think the committee structure is good he said but some times com mittees undertake too many things and spread themselves too thin we need to emphasize priorities he said com mittees occasionally came up with poorly written motions but said it was to forum's credit that it was able to pick out these weaknesses the examination of the forum need not necessarily be just an internal one krauss said we need somebody who can stand back and view it with perspective he said suggesting that former forum members might be one source of input besides an examination of operations and procedures krauss said other foreseable issues for forum v would be tenure admissions policies and tuition of course you can't foresee them all he said but these are continuing issues some people have suggested that the forum will collapse if forum v is not effective krauss disagreed saying i think this collection of faculty ad ministration and students will make it continue . i'm convinced that there's a need for the forum said krauss without the forum where would students faculty and the administration have a chance to sit down and discuss their problems bankrupt grads threaten student loan programs bankruptcy judges say it's now a matter of course for recently graduated students to get a discharge of their debts while there have not been any bankruptcy claims made by lehigh students william e stanford director of financial aid predicted that a few will try the route about 98 percent of the students with loans who graduate are eligible to claim bankruptcy because their current liabilities are greater than their assets stanford said students making bankruptcy claims are undeniably imperiling the right of future students to get an education by blotting up funds one of the major student loan programs is a revolving fund through which loans are made to students as other loans are repaid one-third of the money available comes from repayments and a student who defaults is robbing the pot the university this year processed 300,000 in national direct student loans and 600,000 in state guaranteed loans both of which are federal programs said stanford the default rate on state guaranteed loans has risen unless borrowers are more responsible to their lenders he continued the federal government could close down both programs completely if the programs are closed down there is no way that the university could come up with the money this would mean a substantial cutback in student ac ceptances stanford added colleges across the nation are retaliating the bankruptcy claims the best way they can — by holding transcripts and by refusing to allow students who have filed bankruptcy to re-enroll unless they sign a new note for the loan they did not pay earlier the number of students filing bankruptcy claims is only a fraction of the total number of students who borrow fewer than one percent student loan administrators however fear it may escalate to the point where the whole program would in effect become a grant program to plug this loophole the u.s com mission on bankruptcy laws a study group recently suggested that a student loan be exempt from discharge for five years after it is due and even then it should be exempt if anticipated payments from future income or wealth would not impose an undue hardship on the debtor the commission noted m its report that the loan was made to enable a person to earn substantially greater income and should not be discharged before that person has demonstrated that he is unable to make enough to repay it future court cases will tell if educational indebtedness will be handled differently than other types of liens stanford said safety service fees proposed by city council bethlehem city council's public safety committee will study the possibility of charging the university and moravian college fees for emergency service from the police and fire bureaus during a recent meeting councilman frank muhr suggested that the two tax exempt institutions should help defray emergency protection costs they are providing nothing to the upkeep of these two services that we are providing exemptions muhr also said that he thought other tax exempt organizations such as churches and service clubs should definitely not be included m the charges because unlike the educational institutions they cater to townspeople rather than persons from out-of-town and out-of-state council president paul marcincin initially proposed that the city establish a firm policy on providing emergency services to outlying areas and possibly seek compensation to cover manpower and insurance costs