. >>> serious allegations this morning coming in from morgan state university students >> claims of money being taken from them and abuse of their constitutional rights. abc2 news sherrie johnson joins us now with the details. >> reporter: some journalism students at morgan state university are talking about allegations of misused funds, a violation of first amendment rights and wrongful firing. after six years as morgan's media adviser denise brown was fired last month. she says the termination is linked to series of articles and opinion pieces published in the school newspaper in february. student reporters allege funds were taken from the student government association budget. letters prove the administration wanted to meet with the students individually to examine their evidence. in june brown was told her contract would not be renewed until the matter was renewed. one week later she was fired. brown is now seeking legal action. >> just the fact that you want to meet with them by themselves speaks, or suggests intimcation and so therefore, once you have me out of the way you'll try to

>> i bet he's grounded. >>> just because they are on summer break doesn't mean some morgan state university aren't paying attention. >> the morgan state students are heated about what they call misuse of funds and wrongful firing. i'm sherrie johnson. i'll have the details coming up. you've got a strawberry pop-tart, but i've got a warm, fresh baked strawber toaster strudel. see the difference? mmmm. i do. (announcer) pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat. kids are hungry after school. that's why i always have totino's pizza rolls. big pizza taste. in a bite size roll. kids can't resist their delicious pizza flavor. totino's pizza rolls. the pizza way to snack. with a look at the past 24 hours on royal caribbean's liberty of the sea. charles fuller enjoyed his first cup of the day on his morning swim. baby guitierrez and his dad jonathan pumped some iron. merle buckmire hung ten with a little help from a friend. and finally, erwin and edwin serenaded the ladies on deck 12. that's the news. i'm emily hill cruising with royal caribbean, why aren't you? >>> 5:25. lets head to new

. >>> morgan state university students are putting their architectural skills to work by creating in aartscape project together. about 20 students are taking part in the project, using recycled materials to create a 155-long structure. it is colorful and exuberant and environmentally friendly. >> i wanted to come up with something that would use of recycled materials as well as tip a had to baltimore and the maryland and maritime legacy. >> you can catch the exhibit this weekend at artscape. >>> of warning for howard county residents. beware of a door to door water quality sales scam. some residents have found those is offering free water testing. a private water treatment company claims the test results will be on safe and try to sell you purification equipment. county officials say that is unnecessary. >>> real-estate defaults are having a triple effect on the economy. retailers are being affected as unemployment goes up and people cannot of all -- afford to travel and spend. the term asset backed securities have struggled. the federal reserve is looking to deal with rising losses

. >>> first amendment firestorms at baltimore's morgan state university. after six years as media adviser denise brown was fired last month. she says the termination is linked to a series of articles and opinion pieces published in the school newspaper back in february. student reporters alleged funds were taken through student government association budget. letters obtained by abc2 revealed that the administration wanted to meet with students individually and examine the evidence. >>> the evidence by themselves speaks or suggests intimidation. once you have me out of the way you'll try to speak to the students. >> we want to stand up to the university and say you cannot railroad the students. >> in june brown was told her contract would not be renewed until the matter was resolved. a week later she was fired. seeking legal action. college media advisors and even the national journalism board publicly reprimanded the school. >>> meantime, a spokesperson says that brown's firing is a personnel matter and not directly related to her duties as media adviser a

that's what journalism students say is going on at morgan state university. tonight they're fighting back after their media advisor was terminated. delia goncalves joins us now with more on the growg dispute. >> reporter: denise brown tells us she didn't want to come to this, but she is seeking legal action against morgan because she did nothing wrong, neither did her student reporters. and they're not the only ones upset with this treatment. the college media advisor, the national journalism board has censured for violating rights. >> never saw it coming records after six years of morgan's media advisor, denise graham was suddenly fired last month. >> this goes against the students bill of rights. it clearly states that you cannot fire me for content. >> reporter: she claims her contract termination stems from a series of articles and opinion pieces published in the school newspaper in february. alleging misuse of funds from the student government association's budget. >> we feel as if it is our duty to be able to notify the students of what is going on with

and here in baltimore it's morgan state university to look at how do we build the pipeline to from higho beyond scholarships to th help the students. college bound we have a great program to give the students extra support and gid yans to get through the new environment and make sure they're meeting the academic standards and have that opportunity on the other side. >> baltimore city graduation numbers have been anish yo an i. they have gone up. so the first challenge is getting them from high school into college. >> as travelers being an insurance company, we love for students to consider early on a career in our industry. it provides tremendous opportunity, a wonderful mix of different kinds of jobs and so we're working with these organizations to try to make sure that students are thinking about the opportunity early on, focusing in high school of taking the right rigorous cure curriculum so they are focused on that and on track for that. >> one of the last thing -- not the last but the things you're all doing is highlighting the select college scholars. thank you for coming in and b

state budget, which is what allows us to make progress. >> the $40 million in cuts to higher education includes reducing expenses for university of maryland by $17 million. morgan will be asked to replace staff and transferring $82,000 to the general fund. he will take $100,000 of the of the national guard assistance program, abolished 39 jobs in vacant positions. nearly half of those jobs will come from anr. he wants to consolidate and reduce the vehicle and ammunition expenses. he wants to eliminate state contracts. he will ask the board to allow agencies to renegotiate office space and allow hospitals to use less expensive drugs. he will eliminate nursing retention bonuses and reduce the number of contractual employees. the governor proposes slashing nearly $6 million from the state psychiatric institutions. he will save $200,000 by eliminating the public defender's office handling capital murder cases. he wants to eliminate correctional officers' bonuses and transfer half a million dollars to the general fund. >> subsequent rounds of cost containment will have to include further agency reductions. it will have to include aid to local governments, and it wil

morgan has been working longer than most of the others have been alive. >> it is very challenge, especially when i have to compete against all these young people. >> reporter: daryl robinson is a bowie state university junior. >> at this point i need to get in somewhere so i can finish up and when i do graduate, i can have everything i need to be successful. >> actually know i want to work in public service the rest of my life. >> reporter: good luck to you. >> thank you. >> reporter: that job fair was a one-day only event. its sponsor says despite the time it takes to get a job with the federal government, you can always start the process on- line. and remember, roughly 85% of all federal jobs are outside of washington. >> bob barnard tonight. >>> a former boeing engineer has been convicted of spying for china in the first espionage trial in the united states. he used his 30-year career at boeing to steal nearly 33,000 pages of trade secrets including data about the space shuttle. they found the papers stacked all over his house. hoiz lawyer claims he was a pack rat, not a spy. >>> a woman says she was beaten by police after being stopped for driving without a license. fox 5's maureen umeh has the