Page Four-Academics
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, September 2, 1974
Page Four-Academics THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, September 2, 1 '970
Helpful Hints
Despite the tons of forms involved in registration and
classification, and despite the impressive bureaucracy of
the literary college, there is actually a good deal of flexi-
bility in The System. Academic life can, in a sense, in-
deed be the sweet life if you are willing to spend some
time working aound your work rather than at it. Here
are some tips:
REGISTRATION: Pre-classify as early as you can or
the fedw really good courses and sections will close. But
before you do make sure you know what you want to take
(counselors are usually no help) and what professor you
want to take it from. The latter criteria is all-important:
Check with the Student Counseling Office or someone
who knows the department. By the way, don't worry too
much about distribution requirements - at least not dur-
ing your freshman year. By the time you're a senior they
may have- been abolished, and if they're not, you can try
to petition your way out of them.
DROP .AND ADD: No matter how hard you try, you
will always find yourself sitting in a terrible class or two
when the ;term opens. But don't give up! You can easily
drop a course and add another by making a'quick stop
at the counseling office for approval. In addition, if you,
really want to add a course which is closed, you may be
able to convince the professor involved to let you in if
you talk to him in person.
PAPERS: Probably the best thing to do is find out
from someone who has had the same professor just
what he's looking for. Maybe he's expecting a carefully
documented 50-page work with a footnote a paragraph,
or perhaps he doesn't care what you say as long as it's
unusual, and doesn't repeat the same old texts and lec-
tures. It pays to find out. Unless the professor makes a,
"law and order" statement about late papers, he prob-
ably won't care too much when you turn them in. None-
theless, It is slightly safer to ask for an extension in ad-
vance. Be armed with a good excuse!
MIDTERMS: Don't forget about midterms - they
often count about one-third of your grade. If you haven't
studied all term, cram.
FINALS: Start preparing early, like during pre-clas-
sification. After you've made out a trial schedule, check
it with the finals schedule in the classification booklet
to :make sure you haven't given yourself three or four
finals on the same day, or you may be in big trouble in
late March when you inadvertently discover what hap-
pened. You can only ask professors to change times if
you're in for three in a row or four in one day. Otherwise,
you're stuck. Go into the exam room with a couple, of
chocolate bars, sit down and start writing. Keep writing.
DISASTER RELIEF: If you just can't take the final
(because you don't know anything) or if you can't get
that last paper done in time, there are some not very
easy ways out. Your best chance is to convince your pro-
fessor to give you an incomplete in the course. You'll
need a good excuse for this one so think hard. If you've
really been sick recently you shouldn't have too much
trouble. If you get turned down, or if an incomplete won't
do you any good, you can try despite the late date to talk
the literary college administration into letting you drop
the course. You'll have to talk very fast, however.
nLUNKING OUT: There's really no need to be wor-
ried that you willbe asked to leave for academic reasons
at least if you're in the literary college, which must have
the lowest flunk-out rate in the country, at one per cent
for the college over-all and approximately five per cent
for freshmen. As LSA Assistant Dean James Shaw says,'
"A freshman has to make a serious, sustained effort to
flunk, out after one term." A nigher percentage-6.5 per
cent-of freshmen are placed on probation, however,
which means they have had one semester of sub-C per-
formance and must at least attempt to bring their overall
average back to a 2.0 (C) during next term.
Registration:
To reach the minotaur
By LINDSAY CHANEY
Registration is a process that
every University student must
go through, and most students
view this twice-a-year ritual
with some degree of dazed con-
fusion.
To the incoming freshman
who usually registers during
orientation in the summer, the
process involves being herded
from a counseling office where
he gets official permission to
take certain courses to another
office where he works out which
specific sections of each course
he wants, then to a third of-
fice where these courses a r e
verified or, more likely, chang-
ed. Finally, by some miracle of
bureaucracy, he has a list of
courses (tailored to his indi-
vidual needs?) which will pro-
vide him with an introduction
to the Academic Life.
The freshman does not really
have time to relish the complete
process by which the essence of
his being is entombed in a com-
puter's catacomb and conse-
quently disseminated to such di-
verse institutions as the student
directory and the telephone ser-
vice.
So, before he gets a chance
to look at the workings of the
giant registration machine more
closely, the freshman must wait
until halfway through the fall
term,: when, along with the rest
of the student body, he regis-
ters for the winter term.
The registration process here-
in described applieswtohthe lit-
erary college, but with minor
eh'anges, the procedure is the
same for all undergraduate reg-
istrations.
Advance Classifying
Most students take the oppor-
tunity to "advance classify"
which means they reserve plac-
es in specific sections for the
following term. In order to ad-
vance classify, the 'student must
go to the counseling office at
a time which is announced on
boards in front of the counsel-
ing offices where, after decid-
ing what courses to take, he fills
out two forms.
One form is a two-part pink
card, on which the student lists
his name, address, courses, and
sections. The other form is the
classification form on which he
lists all. of his courses, sections,
and t h e days on which they
meet: This classification form
makes two carbon copies, and
for this reason it is necessary
to PRESS HARD.
Director of Registration John
Stewart says that one of the
biggest problems in his office is
reading the last carbon on the
classification forms.
Before either of these forms
go anywhere. they must be sign-
ed by a counselor. Supposedly.
in addition to signing the cards,
the counselor gives advice to the
student regarding various as-
pects of possible courses a n d
how they relate to a broad pic-
ture of t h e student's future.
However, any student who holds
this idealistic view of the coun-
selor's position in the Univer-
sity is in for a shocking disap-
pointment.
Counselors as a rule are rath-
er busy and harried, and conse-
quently do not have time to in-
form themselves as to the na-
ture of courses offered by the
University. As a result, t h e i r
function has been debased to
that of making sure the student
is taking the right number of
credit hours and has made pro-
visions to satisfy his distribu-
tion requirements.
If the student really wants
advice on what courses to take
or has questions about specific
courses, there is a student coun-
seling office in 1018 Angell Hall
where students who are major-
ing in different fields are avail-
able to give advice on courses
in their field of specialty.
Once the forms are signed,
bureaucratic wheels are set in-
to motion. Half of the pink card
is kept at the counseling office,
while the other half, along with
the classification form, is sent
to the registration office in
room 119 of the LSA Bldg.
The half of the pink card
which is sent to the registra-
tion office is kept, there until
the complete registration pro-
cess is over. Then it is delivered
to the Recorder's Office where
incantations are performed, and
after four months it turns into
a report card.
People at the registration of-
fice check the classification
card to make sure all of the
courses which the student has
signed up for are still open. If
everything is in order, one copy
of the classification c a r d is
sent to the data processing cen-
ter on Hoover street, one is put
in an envelope whichthe stu-
dent picks up when the actual
registration begins, and the oth-
er is kept at the registration of-
fice.
The copy of the classification
card which goes to the Hoover
str pt data processing plant is
rrnnscibed onto a computer
card from which class lists are
oreoared.
iOnce a copy of the classifi-
caron card goes to the data
processing center, the classifi-
cation process is over.
It is possible, however, that
the people at the regitration
office will discover that a course
which is listed on a student's
card has already been filled. If
such is the case, the registra-
tion people will send the stu-
dent's pink card and all copies
of the classification card back
to his counseling office, and he
will be called into the office to
change his schedule.
When the registration people
finally like a student's schedule,
they send one copy of his classi-
fication card off to t h e data
processing center, and he has
finished the classification pro-
cess.
Last fall, over 20.000 students
took the opportunity to advance
classify. During the winter, the
number of students drops down
to about 14,000 s i n c e neither
seniors nor incoming freshmen
classify in order to early regis-
ter) then he must register dur-
ing regular registration at the
beginning of the next t e r m.
Registrations for the winter
term take place in January.
Registration
Regular registration involves
getting some appropriate forms
from your counselor, then going
to Waterman to shop around
for classes. Booths are set up
for each course around the gym.
It is something like a carnival.
You find a course that you want
to take, and if there are still
openings in the course, you sign
up right there at the booth, and
one of the people working at the
booth stamps a c a r d you got
from your counselor - and
voila, you are registered in that
course.
This process of finding cours-
es continues until you have a
complete schedule.
There are several disadvan-
tages to registering during the
regular registration period as
opposed to early registering.
First, there is the bother of
going to Waterman and going
around to booths in order to
sign up for each class. However,
a larger disadvantage is that
many courses are closed or very
near to being closed when reg-
istrationi time comes, due to the
fact that the courses filled up
during advancecclassification.
There is a common miscon-
ception that courses are closed
during advance classification
wnen theyhave been filled to
only 60 per cent of their ca-
pacity, in order to leave room
for people who register during
the normal registration period.
But during advance classifi-
cation the registration of'fice
asks each department for an es-'
timate of the number of people
who can be accomodated, in
each of its courses. With this
estimate in hand, the registra-
tion office goes ahead and fills
up each course during advance
classification. Openings which
-Daily--Richard Lee
Into the labyrinth
register for the fall term in win-
ter.
Early Registration
A month or so after advance
classification, it is time to "early
register." The student goes to
room 119 of the LSA Bldg., and
gives them his ID card, in ex-
change for which $ he gets an
envelope which contains the
materials necessary for registra-
tion - including a "registra-
tionnaire." He then gets his ID
back.
After filling out the forms in
the envelope, the student goes
over to Waterman Gymnasium
and g o e s through the actual
process of registering.
The early registration period
usually spans more than a week.
On the first few days and the
last day, there are always long
lines of people waiting to reg-
ister.
The registration area at Wat-
erman is set up rather like a
maze at one end of the gym.
There are various stations at
which someone checks t h e
number of credit hours the stu-
dent has signed tip for, where
someone makes sure he has all
the correct forms, and where
another checks to make sure
these forms are completely and
correctly filled out. The whole
process is quite painless, and
can take as little as ten min-
utes. At the end the ID card
is validated for the coming term
and the student is finished.
Once the student registers, the
first copy of his registration-
nair goes to the statistical di-
vision of the registrar's office,
a second copy goes to the Uni-
versity printers, and the third
one goes to the Records Office.
The second copy which goes
to the printers is transformed
into various types of lists which
are sent to agencies such as the
student directory, the University
telephone service, the student
locater and other places which
claim a legitimate need for the
information.
If, for some reason. the stu-
dent does not early register
(and it is necessary to advance.
ROTC status'i
------------
H
I-Fl
STEREO
(Continued from Page 1)
All through September. dem-
onstrators were regular visitors
at North Hall, the ROTC class-
room and office building.
The protesters called for the
abolition of the military train-
ing program, charging it with
being "part of the Pentagon and
part of the war machine which
is killing hundreds of thousands
of people in Vietnam and ...is
waiting for the time when it can
kill hundreds of thousands of
people in Latin America."
With these words, Barry Blue-
stone. Grad, first pressed an ad
hoc coalition of radical groups
to take up the ROTC issue.
Following a week of sporadic
demonstrations and disruptions
of ROTC classes. 50 to 60 dem-
onstrators marched to North
Hall Sept. 23 and barricaded
themselves inside.
Some 20 Ann Arbor police ar-
rived there soon after the take-
over, holding back the over
2,000 people who had crowded
outside the building.
Meanwhile, over 200- deputies
from Monroe, Livingston, Oak-
land and Washtenaw counties
began massing at the Washte-
naw County Jail, equipped with
full riot gear.
The demonstrators eventually
escaped through the back door,
while police cameras photo-
graphed their exit.
There was speculation t hat
the University and police delib-
erately let the demonstrators in-
side North Hall escape, in order
to avoid a confrontation, and,
perhaps, to allow police to use
videotape to later identify some
of the protesters.
But no arrests resulted from
the Sept. 23 takeover, although
Fleming had announced earlier
that students who disrupted
ROTC classes would be both
prosecuted in Circuit Court and
disciplined under University reg-
ulations, if evidence justified it.
The faculty began acting on
the ROTC question in late 1968
jwhen the literary college cur-
riculum committee investigated
the academic content and merit
of ROTC courses.
The committee took a moder-
" Revox
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9 KLH
ate position, recommending that
the ROTC program be given a
maximum of four rather than
12 credits toward completion of
the LSA degree requirements.
T h i s recommendation w a s
sent to the literary college ex-
ecutive committee, but was re-
turned to the curriculum com-
mittee for further study.
With the study re-opened, a
subcommittee chaired by eco-
nomics Prof. Locke Anderson
proceeded to thoroughly go over
all the available information on
ROTC. The subcommittee's con-
clusion: Except for a few
courses, m o s t ROTC material
is "conjectural, non-analytical,
cheaply moralistic and often
blatantly propagandistic."
Reacting to the new report,
the curriculum committee voted
to recommend cutting all credit
for ROTC courses.
But its proposal was again
turned down by the executive
committee. This time, the ex-
ecutive committee said it was
clear that academic credit was
not the key question-that it
was only one aspect of a larger
attack on ROTC. Therefore,
committee members argued, let
the wider issue of ROTC's pres-
ence at the University be con-
sidered first.
So, for almost half a,year, the
Academic Affairs Committee of
Senate Assembly worked on the
question until October, when
they issued a report which, in
the words of co-chairman of
the committee classics Prof.
Theodore Buttrey, would "mod-
ify ROTC into the ground."
The committee's final report,
which was eventually adopted
by Senate Assembly and the Re-
gents; asked complete severence
of all financial ties between
ROTC and the University and
elimination of all credit and
departmental standing.
A minority report, written by
social work Prof. Eugene Lit-
wak, asked that the University
sever its ROTC contracts com-
pletely and recommended that
the University "seek to persuade
other universities to do likewise."
The majority report also spe-
cifically recommended ROTC
become extracurricular if the
defense department would not
meet the recommendations.
"The protest that there is no
alternative to ROTC is merely
a reflection of the fact that the
Department of Defense has
never tried to create one . ..,"
the final majority report states.
"The University should be
made aware of the limits of ac-
tion if we turn our back and
leave the training of officers to
others," the report continues.
"The ROTC programs can be re-
moved from the campus by ab-
rogation of the contracts on one
are filled during t h e regular
registration are t h e result of
people who decide to drop a
course, or who advance classify
andfail to early register. Some-
times a department will decide
to add an extra section to one
of its more popular classes.
, Certain classes which are pop-
ular for fulfilling distribution
requirements or which are gen-
erally popular for their content
such as Physiology 102 and His-
tory of Art 102 fill up within the
first two days of advance classi-
fication. Other courses do not
fill up at all during the advance
classification period or even dur-
ing the registration period.,
A mistake that is made by
several people each semester is
to think they are registered af-
ter they have only lclassified.
Such a situation is unfortunate
for the person involved, because
if a student advance classifies,
but does not early register, his
reserved place is opened up for
people who go through the late
registration process.
For people who think there
are too many forms to fill out
and too many questions, a small
condolence might be a reflec-
tion on what went on 10 years
ago. At that time, instead of the
one registration form which has
two carbons, students hato
make out a "railroad ticket," a
series of eighteen registration
forms, each of which had to be
filled out separately. The regis-
tration office sent one to the
telephone service, o n e to the
student directory, one to th e
registrar's office, and so forth.
Registration procedures are
being improved all the time, ac-
cording to Stewart. The whole
process, he s a y s, is becoming
simpler and shorter. The ulti-
mate goal, according to Stewart,
is to have each student fill out
one form similar to the present
registrationnaire and only up-
date it as the information -
,such as address -1 changes.
tdified
year's notice. We will have
washed our hands of. them,
which some will welcoine, but
ROTC as anh institution will
continue elsewhere.
"The Committee t h e r e f o r e
favors the alternative of re-
formed ROTC programs, which
might serve as models for other
institutions. It is well attested
that ROTC reform has come
about in the past precisely be-
cause of pressure upon the units
from their host institutions, not
from the Pentagon."
Under the existing contracts,
the University is obligated to
give the three ROTC programs
-Air Force, Navy, and Army-
classroom space, a field and a
gym for marching exercises, and
"appropriate" academic credit
for courses taught.
In addition, the University
had b e e n granting temporary
academic ranks to the ROTC
instructors, and, as a matter of
courtesy, the officers have peen
invited to meetings of the fac-
ulties of a number of schools
and colleges.
In return, the ROTC program
supplied teachers and appropri-
ate course materials for their
programs, and performed other
administrative functions.
To stay in the program, all
ROTC participants s i g n con-
tracts with one of the three
services - contracts that bind
them to three or four years of
activeduty after they graduate.
In return for agreeing to ac-
cept a commission as an officer
upon graduation, the student
gets all his ROTC expenses paid
for and receives a monthly stip-
end for purchasing books and
paying part of his tuition.
A Pentagon report issued early
in the fall stated that the de-
fense department could afford
to pay ROTC costs, but Laird
later denied the department
could do so.
In November, defense depart-
ment officials suggested they
would withdraw ROTC from the
University if credit and finan-
cial support for their programs
were dropped.
Dr. George Benson, director
of ROTC programs for the De-
partment of Defense, said at
that time, "The Navy w o u I d
definitely pull out if there were
no academic credit for ROTC."
The Army, Benson said, has
stayed at universities where no
academic credit was granted.
But, he adds, "Some appropriate
reference in the catalogue and
some status in the academic
community would be required."
While negotiations between
the University and the defense
department continue, so do anti-
ROTC demonstrations.
In January, several broken
windows were discovered on the
south side of North Hall be-
neath which were painted the
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