THE MICHIGAN DAILY
CA]
'US BIKE SHOP-514 East William
TO CLASS THIS FALL
HONORS PROGRAM:
Plan Offers Broad Education
ConvoReaffirms
Scholastics
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By DENISE WACKER
Shortly after the Soviet Union
successfully launched its first
Sputnik in 1957, a great many ed-
ucators acrossthe country became
aware of an apparent decline in
the quality of American educa-
tion, and started an all-out move-
ment to improve it.
However, even before Sputnik
I, educators and administrators
at the University were concerned
that "mass education" would re-
sult in mass mediocrity, and ini-
tiated plans for the establishment
of an honors program at the Uni-
versity.
Prof. Robert C. Angell of the
sociology department, who headed
the honors program until Septem-
ber, 1960, viewed it as a chance
"to give students who are capable
of absorbing a broader and deeper
education this type of schooling."
Privileged Few
Today, a total of about eight
per cent of each class in the liter-
ary college are privileged to re-
ceive the four-year education the
honors program offers.,
Approximately 10 per cent of
each freshman class is invited into
the honors program. They are se-
lected after careful examination
and screening, Prof. Otto Graf of
the German department, Prof.
Angell's successor, said.
The most important factors
considered for entrance are test
scores - College Boards, National
Merit and University entrance ex-
amination scores. Besides this,
recommendations, personal inter-
views and, lastly, high school
grades are considered. The grades
received during high school receive
the least amount of consideration
because grading systems and qual-
ity of education vary a great deal
from school to school, Prof. Graf
said.
Population Shift
After the first semester a gen-
eral shift in the population of
honors students occurs. Freshmen
honors students who have fallen
well below the "standard
of excellence" (a 3.0 average)
are asked to withdraw from the
program, while other students in
"regular' classes who have earned
a 3.5 average or who express the
desire to be in honors are some-
times admitted to the program.
This process of filtration con-
tinues throughout the first two
years.
The honors program at the Uni-
versity works roughly the way the
advanced placement p r o g r a m
works in high schools in so far as
theoretically more difficult and
sometimes more interesting work
is given students in the program
than in "regular" classes.
Honors classes are offered by al-
most every department iii the lit-
erary college. These include both
special sections in regular classes
or intermediate courses and spe-
cial inter - disciplinary h o n o r s
courses.
Surveys Areas
The honors courses aim at sur-
veying areas that would be cov-
ered only by many separate parts
of other courses, but which are
inter-related.
These include "Living Ideas in
the Social Sciences" taught by
Prof. James Meisel of the political
science department. Intended pri-
marily for sophomores, the course
introduces them to the ideas which
have been and are being used in
the analysis of problems of the
social sciences.
Another is "Revolutionary Ideas
in Science" open to all honors
students with no preequisite.
Evolutionary Viewpoints
This course tests evolution from
the viewpoints of physics, astro-
nomy, geology, and zoology, and
is taught jointly by four pro-
fessors.
Often, too, there are discussion
groups led by faculty members on
topics of the students' choosing
and seminars led by distinguished
visitors to the campus.
Members of the Honors Council
-the faculty group that oversees
the program-volunteers to serve
as counselors for the honors stu-
dents.
Superior Counseling
This counseling is somewhat
superior to counseling in the regu-
lar literary college in so far as
each counselor and counselee have
a much better chance to get to
know one another, and there is
generally a greater enthusiasm
among honors counselors than in
regular offices.
In the junior and senior years
most of the honors work is done
under the supervision of the stu-
dent's department of concentra-
tion. Admission as a candidate
for an honors degree in a major
usually requires an over-all 3.0
average and a 3.25 average in the
courses taken in the field of con-
centration.
All departments in the literary
college offer honors degrees.
Many proffer seminars or allow
honors students to be excused
from one or more courses to pur-
sue independent work under a
faculty tutor.
A student steering committee,
elected by honors students each
spring, aids in guiding the pro-
gram by planning social events
a n d seminars, communicating
complaints to the council, and
helping advise on new programs
for superior students.
In addition to the literary
school's honors program, the Uni-
versity has established honors
programs in the music and medi-
cal schools. Recently there has
been some drive to extend the
program to other schools and col-
leges, although no definite plans
have yet been made.
LOOK MA, NO CAVITIES!-A young visitor to the Natural
Science Museum compares incisors with a saber-tooth tiger
skeleton, one of the many exhibits of living and extinct animals,
the museum houses.
Relics, Skeletons Await'
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The Unified Science program
strives to provide superior stu-
dents in science and mathematics
intensive preparation in those
fields during their freshman and
sophomore years at the Univer-
sity.
Closely allied with the literary.
college Honors Program, although
not formally connected with it,
Unified Science courses comprise
about one half the underclass-
man's curriculum.
The courses involve integrated
physics and chemistry -programs
which are designed to make use
of skills newlygained in parallel
mathematics classes.
The student is then free to ma-
jor in the field of his choice for
his final two undergraduate years.
Unified Science is supervised by
a committee chaired by Prof. Rob-
ert W. Parry of the chemistry
department.
By MICHAEL SATTINGER
Anoyone willing to hunt for
interesting displays can certainly
satisfy his urge at the University
through, the many exhibits and
museums available.
For those people who have never,
looked into the threatening jaws
of a mastadon or a water shrew,
the Exhibit Museum in the Uni-
versity Museums Building offers a
world of opportunity.
The Exhibit Museum, which last
year attracted 94,801 visitors, is
open to the public and free of
charge.
Conglomeration
Occupying two floors and a bal-
cony, the museum contains a con-
glomeration of various displays.
On the second floor, the "Hall of
Evolution" presents the plants and
animals of past geological ages.
One ancient skeleton, of an
equally ancient animal, attracts
quite a bit of attention. "Duck-
billed" dinosaur has a skull
weighing 250 pounds.
A mastadon, the best preserved
and most complete ever found in
Michigan, sits wearily on its
haunches waiting for visitors to
come to the second floor. Mounted
proudly on the right wall is a pte-
radactyl, an extinct flying reptile,
with a wing span of almost 14
feet.
Synoptic Exhibit
ditions run by the University,
Seven expeditions were sponsored
by the University in the first
quarter of this century. Between
1925 and 1936 two major expedi-
tions were located at Karanis in
Egypt and Seleucia on the Tigris
river in Iraq.
Egyptian Project
Since the war, an enterprise
has been under way at St. Cather-
ine's monastary at Mt. Sinai in
Egypt. Last April, a photographic
expedition was conducted in Da-
mascus, Syria. At present, an ex-
cavation in Egypt is concerned
with Karanis. Further expeditions
are planned for Italy and Syria.
These University sponsored ex-
cavations and expeditions help
supply Kelsey Museum with its
extensive collections.
Objects *of daily life comprise
the majority of the exhibits.
Jewelry, a r t w o r k, foodstuffs,
coins, glass, pottery, and writing
materials can be found through-
out the two floors of the museum.
A bank contract and a letter home
to Mother from a soldier can be
read (they have been translated)
on the first floor.
Modern Interior
The inside of the old stone
building is surprisingly modern
with polished wooden floors and
gleaming glass cases.
Students of architecture, classi-
cal studies, and history of art are
often refered to the museum.
Prof. George H. Forsyth, Jr.,
director of Kelsey Museum, said of
the collections on display- that "in
their particular fields, they are
outstanding,"'
Lesser Displays
Many lesser exhibits and dis-
plays are scattered throughout
University buildings.
Those people who have attend-
ed concerts at Hill Auditorium and
have retired to the second floor
during an intermission have prob-
ably been impressed by the
Stearns Collection of over 1,400
musical instruments.
Minerology and geology exhibits
can be seen in the llalls of the
Natural Science Building.
Other collections include three
in the medical library, and two
chemical and three pharmaceu-
tical exhibits in the Chemistry
Building.,
By MARK BLUCHER
Towards the end of the spring
semester each year many of the
University's honorary societies be-
gin their annual tapping ceremon-
ies. This is the signal for the
University community to prepare
for the annual honors convocation
that usually takes place' at the
beginning of May.
To this gathering come not only
those that have been chosen for
their excellence in overall activi-
ties, but those who have achieved
a high degree of academic 'excel-
lence.
Through this convocation some
of the University's most basic
values are reasserted and the value
and meaning of the concept of
education are affirmed.
Guest Speaker ,
The honors convocation is a
solemn ceremony that brings some
distinguished personality to the
University to address students and
guests on some basic problem that
we all face. This past year Glenn
IT. Seaborg, chairman of -the Atom-
ic Energy Commission spoke on
"Education-and Survival.".
It is an impressive sight to see
many of the faculty and the stu-
dents who are being honored to
file down the isle in their aca-
demic robes to take their places at
the front of Hill Auditoium.
After the processional, the hon-
ored guests are introduced, and
the honor students themselves are
presented.
Short Ceremony
The whole ceremony is relatively
short and impressive. It points up
the University's fundamental pre-
cept, that education takes place in
the classroom and that the over-
whelming tone of the campus, re-
gardless of what students are con-
cerned with 'at a particular mao-
ment, is still academic.
As this paper noted in the most
recent honors convocation: ".
The mental discipline of study is
a prerequisite for ,any 'kind of
meaningful intellectual expansion.
These academic achievements 'are
expressive of intellectual discipline.
- "It is this difficult achievement
we honor because it is in, the
highest tradition of the University.
. . . Through this community ot
scholars and those like them who
will follow and have preceded
them, the University will be per-
petuated as a center of intellectual
ideals in the community of man-
kind."
.Th- honors convocation has be-
come a tradition at the University
which will not fail to endure, so
long as the caliber of students,
faculty and University facilities is
maintained at its high level.
LSA Ranks First
In Student Size
The literary college with ap-
proximately 8000 students is the
biggest unit on campus. The ap-
proximately 5200 students of the
graduate school are second in
population among the 23,000 stu-
dents attending the University.
The pharmacy school, with ap-
proximately 150 students, is the
smallest school or college.
The third floor balcony exhibits
a synoptic series of native Michi-
gan animals and plants.
The environmental influences
and processes affecting the life
and growth of plants and animals
are shown in the fourth floor dis-
plays. Also, there are displays on
anthropology, astronomy, geology
and mineralogy, along with a
planetarium.
Three other museums are lo-
cated in the building. The anthro-
pology, zoology, 'and paleontology
research museums are used for re-
search and undergraduate and
graduate study.
Archaeology Museum
Many people, however, are more
interested in the lives of long gone
ancestors.
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
contains extensive collections from
the Mediterranean world and from
the Near East
Most of the relics on display
are from- excavations and expe-
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