Morgan State U. students protest, win concessions

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University students, angered by a deteriorating campus, escalating tuition, and low pay for teachers, won concessions from the school administration and the state of Maryland by occupying the administration office and boycotting classes from March 612.

Morgan State, a 123-year old predominantly Black college located in Baltimore, has historically been underfunded by the state of Maryland. Morgan State received only $753,500 in aid from 1950 through 1979. In comparison to other schools in the area, Maryland College Park received $17.6 million and Towson State received $11.2 million.

As a result, student dorms are in deplorable condition-broken fire alarms, peeling paint, rat holes, broken plumbing, outdated heating systems, missing ceiling tiles, and broken door locks. Several of the campus buildings are closed because of asbestos. None of these conditions exist in the predominantly white colleges of Maryland.

ELMHURST, N.Y.—Since Jan. 30, all 450 workers at the Domsey Trading Co. have been on strike to defend a fundamental right: the right to choose their union.

This company, located in Brooklyn, specializes in selling new and used clothes. According to the workers, the discriminatory behavior of the boss and his supervisors, as well as the terrible conditions of work at this company, are the primary reasons for the The current union, Local 113, is strongly contested by the workers, who view it as always giving priority to the interests of the bosses. "Why bother paying the $14 monthly union fee. We want to elect our own union or there will not be a union at all," argued a worker.

The decision to strike was taken after the boss fired for union activities three of the six elected workers who were mandated by their The students, by undertaking their protest, forced college President Earl Richardson to sign a 17-point plan that outlines changes his administration will institute immediately.

The plan, which was a result of negotiations between administrators and a 14-member student task force, includes increased campus security, improved health care, rodent extermination, one-year notice of tuition increases, and the creation of three committees-each made up of four students and three administrators—to oversee many of the school's affairs.

"People's conscience levels are high," said Travis Mitchell, the student's spokesperson. "We [the students] love Morgan State, but we're tired of Blacks being treated as secondclass citizens. And we're sick of our instructors getting paid less than aides. The lesson we've learned is that if people stick together you can get something accomplished."

The students rejected attempts by the state and the school's administration to demobilize their struggle. The school's athletic director informed athletes that scholarships were in jeopardy for any students boycotting