Brown and White Vol. 86 no. 11

              lehigh university brown and white vol m — no u bethlehem pa friday october 11 1974 ■«■■■■■. forum group to investigate bujcs suicide a major project of the legal action committee lac of the forum will be to investigate the death of a university student randy bujcs almost three years ago according to chaplain hugh flesher forum trustee representative - while jailed on drug charges m the lehigh county prison bujcs a university student hung himself with his belt soon after the death the lac was formed to investigate allegations that bujcs rights as a prisoner were infringed upon flesher said that bujcs had been threatening suicide for some time after his arrest after analyzing bujcs a private psychiatrist determined that he had suicidal tendencies flesher said he said that a court-appointed psychiatrist reported that the suicide threats by bujcs were phony however soon afterwoard bujcs hung himself m his cell confusion also occurred over claims that bujcs was left hanging several hours after h joris rosse sen scott supports tax breaks by martin baron washington tax deductions for higher education tuition and fees are desperately needed to help middle-income families pay for rising costs sen hugh scott r-pa told six pennsylvania college newspaper editors monday scott told the editors at a two-hour luncheon meeting m the capitol that persons earning less than 25,500 should be eligible for a tax deduction of up to 2,000 a year for expenses for higher education and post-secondary vocational education at the meeting were representatives from lehigh the university of pittsburgh the university of pennsylvania edinboro state college temple university and dickenson college and a reporter for the associated press sen richard schweiker r.-pa also stopped by but did not an swer specific questions the tax relief proposal was one of several topics on problems m higher education which scott discussed senate minority leader ' also discussed watergate president ford and economic ills scott opposed any subsidies to private universities to cover deficits m operating expenses i think there would be more opposition than any other way of helping educational institutions he said scott said operating subsidies would lock m more money m the national budget which would be difficult to release once such a program began he said there are already too many funds tied up m projects considered untouchable scott also rejected the controversial carnegie commission proposal that tuitions at state institutions be raised so that there would be less of a disparity between state tuitions and fees at private colleges i don't like the idea of equalizing tuition he said adding that he favors maintaining institutions people can afford scott discounted any possible objection that his proposed tax deduction for tuition would be inflationary since it is a selective relief program he said that an operating subsidy would be far more inflationary regardless of what economists say and i'm glad to say i'm not one i don't regard that as inflationary scott said scott endorsed a compromise house senate bill to raise veterans education benefits by 23 per cent and to create a loan program to supplement the benefits the measure would be retroactive to sept 1 to aid gi students already in colleges scott said however that the bill was weaker than what he wanted he said he favored stronger benefits for all veterans instead of just undergraduates as in the present bill but the idea was defeated in committee on non-college related issues scott predicted that republican candidates would suffer in the 1974 congressional elections because of the nation's economic difficulties i think the republican party is going to suffer from inflation he said but added the fault is largely in the hugh flesher high interest rotes building costs stall rh-12 planning rosse says by jeff bodenstab preliminary planning for a new residence hall complex will not begin until financial support is obtained and con struction costs stabilize according to h joris rosse director of physical planning skyrocketing interest rates and con struction costs would require total cost and individual rents to be prohibitively high he said rh-12 could be built but the rent would be exorbitant he said unless the university constructs a new residence hall for at least 200 students however there is likely to be a critical housing shortage m 1976 according to a report by the residence halls office the report completed m december points out that the predicted shortage would be caused by a projected expansion m un dergraduate enrollment from 3,700 to 4,000 students according to jerome barney member of the board of trustees planning and development committee the total time required to plan and construct a building is four years therefore even if planning was begun this academic year an unlikely possibility according to rosse rh-12 would probably not be completed until 1979 according to rosse a committee has been formed to investigate the possibility of constructing another residence hall although there have been several possible sites he said there will be no construction m the near future unless a miracle occurs we do not want housing at any cost only at a reasonable cost he said unless rh-12 can be built at an ac ceptable cost he explained the rental rate the university would be forced to charge could not possibly compete with free market housing despite the fact that the residence halls report said that construction of rh-12 is financially feasible rosse called financial support the severe limiting factor we are waiting for federal legislation he said there is no state or federal aid available at this time although the residence halls report states that construction of new housing is financially preferable to alternatives rosse said that the committee is keeping its eyes open for other means of providing housing he mentioned converting buildings already on campus prefabricated housing and building m saucon valley as possible alternatives but added that no specific plans had been considered rosse pointed out that the committee will take action on the planning of rh-12 if the opportunity arises any substantial improvement m climate will result m a re doing of the arithmetic m computing the rental rates he said administration legal plan good idea flesher says byedbogucz the administration's legal counseling plan is a good workable idea according to chaplain hugh flesher forum trustee representative and member of the legal action committee lac flesher said however that the plan's bail provision might not provide adequate service m all cases at first i was disappointed that the forum's original plan wasn't followed flesher commented but after a second look i realized that if the forum didn't do anything we wouldn't have anything now i think it is a step m the right direction the administration's plan announced at the sept 24 forum meeting provides students with counseling through the northampton county bar association ncr a referral agency students who call the agency will be referred to several lawyers who specialize m their problem area the plan also makes available aid from the lehigh valley bail fund the bail fund provides a 24-hour bail service and also assists m securing emergency legal representation the lac proposal for legal aid was passed by the forum last year the plan was developed m response to concern that university students were not being given proper consideration by the authorities especially m emergency situations flesher said that no one knew of the ncba when the lac was working on its legal proposal conditions have changed flesher said had the lac ; known of the northampton county bar association if it even was m existence at that time we might have come up with a different proposal flesher has been a member of the lac since its beginning two years ago and was chairman m its first year area legal services m existence at the time of the study were considered flesher said but the only ones available then were legal aid programs for welfare victims who could not afford lawyer's fees the lac decided not to use such services for many reasons flesher said he noted that the lawyers working for the services were generally inexperienced and doing the work for charity most lehigh students wouldn't qualify as low income clients anyway he said the best option open to the lac at the time flesher said was that of an on campus lawyer who would consult with students one day a week there were also see committee page 4 see new page 5 see tax relief page 4