March 1, 2016
News
7
Cost of housing, parking set to increase Incoming resident freshmen will not be allowed to park on campus
Students could pay more for room, board and parking next year, while incoming resident freshmen won’t be able to park on-campus at all, according to University administrators. “It is really unusual to have a year when fees don’t increase,” Vice President for Student Affairs Deb Moriarty said. “And we always try to keep it as low as possible.” Moriarty and Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services Dan Slattery, who explained these changes at an open forum Feb. 23, said that freshman commuters will not be affected by the parking prohibition, and freshmen residents who rely on the use of their car for income or other unique circumstance have the option of appealing the decision. For the rest of the student population, Moriarty said that the cost of parking on campus would increase 3 percent, from $330 to $340. If the fees are approved by the University System of Maryland, the revenue generated from the parking increase will go toward projects like garage upkeep and updating the aging shuttle fleet, according to Slattery. Moriarty said that the revenue generated from housing fee increases goes toward areas like the University’s mandatory cost
increases and managing bond debt. Every time a new building is “brought online,” the bond debt increases, according to Moriarty, and Towson has two new buildings coming online in the coming year. Carroll and Marshall Halls, the two apartmentstyle residences that will open in time to house students in the fall, will run students upward of $9000. Twobedroom units will cost each student $10,100, while four-bedroom units will cost each student $9,900. Excluding Towson Run’s four-bedroom option, the cost of living anywhere else on campus will increase 4 percent next year, if approved. Double rooms in “traditional,” or non-apartment-style residence halls, will increase by $260. Single room rates will go from $7,632 to $7,936, a margin of $304. Rooms in “premium housing” options, Barton and Douglass halls, will also go up by $304. “The 4 percent provides us with a cushion to be able to start to pay off those two new buildings that are coming online and keeping that rate modest,” Moriarty said. The four-bedroom Towson Run increase was kept low, just 2.4 percent, to account for students that might be forced out of traditional-style residence halls and into apartment-style living when Residence Tower closes for renovation in fall 2016. Next year, the cost of a four-bedroom unit in Towson Run will be equal that of a two-person
traditional room, $6,748. Temporarily closing Residence Tower robs campus of around 500 beds. According to the University’s master plan, Marshall and Carroll halls will provide 700 beds. After Residence Tower is completed, Moriarty said Prettyman and Scarborough are “next on the list” to be renovated. For the University to pursue building new structures, Slattery said that administration has to see student demand. “So, in the case of housing or residence life, you want to make sure that you have enough bodies to the fit the beds that you build,” he said. “If you don’t, you’re really going to be up the creek if you wind up opening that building with empty beds.” According to Slattery, there are anywhere from 400-700 empty parking spaces catalogued on campus at any given time. A safe number is 500, he said, and typically they are located in South Campus near SECU Arena or Johnny Unitas Stadium, disconnected from campus’ core. All meal plan options will also increase by around 3 percent in the coming year, if the fees are approved by the USM Board of Regents. The flexible 19-meal plan with $100 annual food points, as well as the unlimited meal plan with the same amount of food points, will both increase by $202 yearly.
Photos by Chris Simms and Sam Shelton/ The Towerlight (Above) The Carroll and Marshall residence halls are scheduled to open for next semester. University administrators Deb Moriarty and Dan Slattery present fee increases at a Feb. 23 student forum in the Union (below).
USA Swimming bans former Towson diving coach Former Towson diving coach Maureen Mead, 43, has been banned for life from USA Swimming, the governing body of the sport, effective Feb. 16. “It’s what we were hoping for and expecting,” a member of the swim team said. According to the organization's website, Mead was found in violation of three sections of USA Swimming’s code of conduct. One, an athlete protection policy, explicitly prohibits the use of cell phone cameras and other audio or visual recording equipment in
changing areas. Mead pleaded guilty to misdemeanor video surveillance and altering physical evidence charges Feb. 10. A plea deal had been reached between Mead and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s office, and the judge sentenced Mead to three years’ probation before judgment. Mead’s job at the University ended Nov. 24, one day after she was formally indicted. As part of her probation, Mead was ordered by the judge to have no contact with the team, to stay away from campus and to not coach swimming or diving in any capacity. The charges against Mead were connected to an October incident wherein several members of the
“
swimming and diving team noticed a cellphone that was recording in the women’s locker room.
[The ban is] what we were hoping for and expected. SWIM TEAM MEMBER Student, Towson University
According to Lisa Dever, the prosecutor in the case, the girls on the team noticed the phone because of the light coming from the screen, which was reflecting
off the back of the locker, which is painted black. The phone was hidden behind a knit hat and propped up against a shampoo bottle. None of the women, Dever said, believed that Mead was trying to record the team members while they were undressing, but instead that she was trying to eavesdrop on conversations. When she picked up the phone, 19-year-old Kendall Krumenaker saw that it was recording and had captured at least two women in the act of changing. When other women on the team informed Assistant Coach Adrienne Phillips of the device, Phillips returned the phone to Maureen Mead, who acted
as if she had lost it. Team member Hannah Snyder later consulted former Head Swim Coach Pat Mead, Maureen Mead’s husband, who downplayed the incident and attempted to assure her that nothing was recorded, according to Dever’s account. The coaches “didn’t understand why the girls were making such a big deal,” Dever said. Nobody on the coaching staff contacted police. It was not until a team member’s parent called the University that Towson University Police were made aware of the incident—almost four hours later. Phillips and Pat Mead quietly resigned in December.