Brown and White Vol. 86 no. 38

              lehigh university brown and white bethlehem pa thursday february 27 197s m4-5331 vol 86 — no 38 renewal plan includes role of university the university owns several properties within the recently designated south side central business district redevelopment area according to james w harper director of community relations the university owns the college theater and the buildings which house the spanish council and the fabric center he said the renewal district is a six-block area bordered by morton brodhead and adams sts according to lawrence kisslinger bethlehem city councilman it is not known specifically which buildings will be affected by the renewal project harper agreed saying neither the university nor the city has made any plans concerning the redevelopment area kisslinger said that while the city council has not yet talked with the university about the possibility of con structing university buildings in the area we are looking for co-operation the community would react negatively toward expansion by the university kisslinger added no matter how sound a program is the community has always taken a negative attitude he said its an unfair assumption he admitted but it is based on some highlighted incidents of the past according to mayor gordon b mowrer university officials are aware of the city's interest in having the university possibly build or rent in the redevelopment area harper said the university was on safe b&w photo bv murphy raymond bell students and faculty to be polled on calender committee proposals by david arnesen a survey of all students and faculty concerning four alternative guidelines for a new university calendar will be cir culated by the forum calendar com mittee friday the alternatives in the survey are for the 1976-77 academic calendar the current calendar will also be effective next year the survey will include a list of arguments pro and con about each alternative one alternative suggests retaining the present semester system by starting about august 30 and where possible beginning after labor day and holding final exams before christmas starting early and finishing before christmas allows students to have em ployment over a long christmas break but affords little time for breaks during the semester raymond bell assistant professor of education and chairman of the calendar committee added that com pacting the fall semester may put too much pressure on professors and students a second alternative is to retain the present semester system and start after labor day exams would be held after winter vacation followed by a two or three week break the arguments attached to the survey point out that while exams after winter break may allow students study time during vacation the pressure of exams wrecks that vacation another choice also involves retaining the present semester system but starting three weeks after labor day a two to three week winter vacation would be followed by two to three weeks of classes study period and exams the fall semester would end between january 15 and 28 the break between semesters would be considerably reduced the last alternative allows for more breaks during the semester and avoids pressure before winter break most faculty and upperclass students would probably opt for finishing after christ mas bell said starting the spring semester around the first of february would cause a late entry into the summer job market by students a fourth alternative is to use the penn state quarter system the academic year would be divided into four ten-week terms — summer fall winter and spring registration advisement and orientation periods prior to each term would vary in length according to requirements for the term at the end of each term there is an exam period classes would be 75 minutes long and the average student would register for 10 to 13 credits a term bell pointed out that already the penn state calendar commission is in the process of throwing out its quarter system he said that according to the american association of registrars and admissions officers the present trend seems to be toward an early semester system while the trend to a 4-1-4 program is diminishing while a student may finish in three years and choose any three quarters the quarter system can be too short for some academic courses the survey points out it would also imply a radical change in course structure if used at the university judging the feeling at the university bell said that there does not appear to be any strong desire for a radical change by any group he added that the critical decisions are whether to start before or after labor day and to finish before or after christmas the four alternatives were submitted to the calendar committee by the educational policy committee ed pol of the faculty after considering the educational implications of the calendar ed pol suggests the alternatives as being the most acceptable to the university's educational needs based on the results of the survey the calendar committee will recommend to the registrar a series of guidelines for the 1976-77 university calendar bell said bell said he plans to present his com mittee's recommendations to the forum at its april meeting packer chapel renovation stalled by lack of funds plans for renovation of packer chapel are kind of deferred according to william quay dean of student life due to the lack of money received from the new century fund last year a report was filed listing the costs for different aspects of renovating the chapel specifically quay stated the plans include renovations for better acoustics and better seating and have to be studied further because of the money involved quay stated that he will get together with the prime users of the church such as the singing groups and construct a plan to make short-term renovations the renovations will make the church more flexible in its uses the plan will be a limited kind of program quay said which will be com plementary to the original expensive plan the money for building repairs and renovations has not come in yet quay said the money for the chapel renovations he explained is in the second phase of the new century fund not the first quay stated that they must wait until the funds come in before anything can be done quay added however that the program for the short-term needs should be established in the middle of this semester the original plans for the renovations had an estimated cost of 1 million quay said which is too much for the funds which will eventually be made available the cost for the short-term renovations has not yet been estimated deferred renovations pians for extensive renovation of packer chapel have been postponed because of a lack of money some short-term renovations however may be made seymour hersh to speak at forum vi convocation by ann zimmerman seymour hersh investigative reporter for the new york times will be the forum vi convocation speaker on april 8 hersh is known for his investigation and exposure of the my lai massacre his accomplishments also include a study of the abuse of chemical and bacterial warfare and his coverage on the present cia investigation of public citizens hersh is involved in making the public aware of those things kept quiet by the government that are detrimental to society according to the forum chairman george krauss he is a good choice for convocation speaker because both he and the forum are dedicated to openness krauss said there is a tendency at the university for decisions to be made without open con sideration ; decisions which could effect all of us according to krauss the forum is the mechanism for open examination and discussion of university policies krauss pointed out how many people listen and participate in another question he added the aim of this year's forum con vocation is to combine an interesting and relevant feature speaker to cap the forum's function with the report by forum members on the structure and see renewal page 11 see reporter page 6 special wrestling issue ; j j > see page 7 for a special wrestling . ; ; ; issue previewing the eiwa • ! ! ; championships at annapolis md j j