THE MICHIGAN DAILY CA] 'US BIKE SHOP-514 East William TO CLASS THIS FALL HONORS PROGRAM: Plan Offers Broad Education ConvoReaffirms Scholastics '4- e time on Michigan's vast campus SI 3 uILwii 95 Fast and easy-riding . . with 10-speed g e a r s, lightweight whee ls, racing equipment, choice of Schwinn radiant col- ors. Famous Schwinn Quality in a bike that's really fun to ride! 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' SeTarchers inX Ehitons SPECIAL PRICE! IMPORTED LIGHTWEIGHT 3-SPEED GEARS HANDBRAKES 3595 USED BIKES The BEST BIKE REPAIRS TOYS HOBBIES GAMES. A BI ST uthorized CYCLE ORAGE B. E. FRENCH-& CO. r . CY t VIL'UX CARRE THREE DINING ROOMS Each with the old-world charm of New Orleans. FOR DINNER OR A SNACK... OPEN: LUNCH DINNER EVENING 217 SOUTH STATE STREET Established in 1934 Of fer Special Of&,. e T* 1 Science Unit 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- BIKE & TOY 14 E. William NO 2-0035 Classified Advertising Number Is Now NO 2-4786 O)Htd EVERYONE IN ANN ARBOR i 1 a" 'd V d r. d 1 r 40- WI i t 1 L 40 SHOPS AT NEW 'andUSED V -