Thursday, September 9, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Thursday, September 9, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
iving-learning:
Pilot Program takes offt{
1"wo
illf
alternatives
} RC customizes college
By SUSAN ADES
"You're going to be a pilot?" my
ten-year-old brother squealed as he
examined the tag on my trunk which
was heading for the "Alice Lloyd
Hall Pilot Program."
Leaving my family and friends be-
hind with the idea that I was headed
for bombadier training camp, I ar-
rived at the University only to find
that even some of my own colleagues
were under the same illusion. But in
fact, the only link pilot program has
with aviation is that it takes off-
departing from traditional ed'ucation
as a living-learning experience.
FROM THE OUTSIDE, Alice Lloyd
Hall looks as institutionalized and im-
personal as any other campus dorm.
The interior however, is embellish-
ed with exclusive course offerings,
an in-residence teaching staff and
counseling personnel for the benefit
of 575 freshnerson and sophomore
program participants. .
The program's objective is to of-
fer students, in a small liberal arts
college atmosphere, the opportunity
to explore ethical, social, cultural
and scientific issues through innova-
tive courses, special events and
group projects.
The environment is ripe for the
kind of in-depth probe of society in-
spired by Ted Newcomb, a radical
educational theorist who founded the
Pilot Program in 1962. Nevertheless,
the program's effervescence has been
fizzling out during the past few years.
"I THINK IT was the right force
in the right direction with not enough
impetus and not enough momentum,"
-- that is former Pilot student Alan
Meyer's definitive statement on the
program.
The Director of the Pilot Program,
Margot Morrow offered a popular ex-
planation for the anemia in Pilot spir-
it: "It has declined since the 00's
and the early 70's and the reason is
because it is a reflection of the
changes in societal attitudes about
political activism.
Illustrative of this attitude, the
University tried, in the Spring of 1975,
to wipe Pilot off the campus map,
dubbing it a low-priority item when
it came time to tighten the economic
belt. The attempt was aborted after
a clear demonstraion of wide-scale
student support for the program was
waged through a letter-writing and
petitioning campaign.
"The University doesn't take it
(Pilot) seriously enough so students
don't take it seriously either," cam-
plains two-year veteran of the Pilot
Program, Nancy Schwartz.
In years past, the only requirement
of Pilot members was participation
in a one-semester-one-credit "theme
experience" which is a combination
of lectures and seminars with a spe-
cific focus.
This year however, freshpersons
will also be expected to enroll in
one of four special seminars which
have been recognized by the English
Department for fulfillment of the
English composition requirement.
Although administrators at Pilot
approved last year, on a limited ba-
sis, the A through E grade option
for Pilot courses, the fact that all
Pilot seminars were originally grad-
ed on a pass-fail basis, contributed
to the programs deflated reputation.
Such a reaction is symptomatic of
a trend toward conservative attitude
in academics in and around the Uni-
versity Community.
"We were the cutting edge of the
whole pass-fail movement in LSA but
ironically enough, in a survey taken
at Pilot this year,astudentsover-
whelminglv wanted an A through E
grade option (for Pilot seminars),"
according to Marrow.
"Some people think that one pass-
fail credit is going to condemn them
to a life of poverty," she added.
Because of this prevailing attitude
about Pilot courses, the unity and
community involvement of the dorm
is at stake. However, resident teach-
ing fellow Tom Marsh does not think
that the institution of an A through
E grading scale will change the "ba-
sic Pilot concept" which is to "cre-
ate and perpetuate the Oxford and
Cambridge concept of a living and
learning situation," according to
Marsh.
An RC ceramics student puts some tinal touches on the shape of an urn in RC's own ceramics
room. The RC is the only place on campus where art courses are open to LSA students.
COURSE MART:
Academic ods ends
By PAULINE LUBENS
While its opponents cast the Resi-
dential College (RC) off as a play-
ground and a breezy path through
the University, members of the Col-
lege's community laud the program's
attempts to combine the advantages
of a small liberal arts college with
the varied resources of a large Uni-
versity.
Unlike the Pilot Program - the
University's other major academic
alternative - the RC is a complete,
four-year program which combines
its own requirements with those of
the Literary College.
CAROL LAMANTIA, Assistant to
the Director for RC Counseling, says
the college runs on a "living - learn-
ing principle" and emphasizes the
experience as an alternative to what
she calls the University's stress on
graduate programs and research.
While the RC was still working this
summer on finalizing contracts for a
$90,000 federal grant from the Fund
for Improvement of Post Secondary
Education, the monies were prema-
turely earmarked for several projects
according to Associate Director for
Instruction Ann Larrimore. A new
student - faculty research commun-
ity in which groups would work on
research is planned and skills work-
shops may be offered for those stu-
dents needing particular training. The
program would be designed to give
undergraduates research experience.
The college's administrative of-
fices, classrooms and counseling of-
fices are housed within the ivy-cover-
ed walls of East Quadrangle which
also serves as a dorm for over half
of the RC students and several hun-
dred non-RC students.
THE PROGRAM requires fresh-
persons and sophomores to live in
the dorm in order to establish a
stronger sense of community - an
emphasis which is RC's trademark.
"The in-class experience is not just
an isolated incident" says LaMantia
"but students also live and eat with
the people in their classes."
LaMantia adds that the RC stress-
es "developmental education -not
just one part of a human being but
cognitive development of a human
being as a whole."
RESIDENTIAL College courses are
offered as pass-fall and Larrimore
describes the courses as "interdis-
ciplinary."
She explains that the courses are
broadly scoped because of the at-
tempt to combine study of a particu-
lar field with a stress on the contem-
porary, social or political implica-
tions.
While RC students can choose Lit-
erary College concentrations, the
program offers its own majors in
Social Sciences, Drama, Compara-
tive Literature and Creative Writing-
Literature. Students are also free to
design their own concentrations
which must be approved by the Con-
centration Committee.
Because of the loose nature of RC
courses, the program has been hit
by harsh criticism from both par-
ticipants and outsiders who claim
the courses are "b --- -$" "a waste
of time" or a way to coast through
the institution.
ONE FORMER RC student, who
dropped out of the program after his
first year, complained that the Col-
lege's benefits tend to taper off after
its freshperson curriculum.
On the other hand another RC stu-
dent said, "The courses are what
the student makes of them. There is
potential for the courses to be very
hard and educational or a student
can slide through and pass with A
minimum of work."
But learning in RC extends beyond
academics with students working t6
maintain a cooperative community
atmosphere.
Outside of the RC's Benzinger Li-
brary, newspapers to be recycled
are piled high alongside brimming
boxes of bottles and cans. A patch-
work of posters covers the walls an-
nouncing forthcoming rallies, politi-
cal workshops and discussions or urg-
ing residents to support various boy-
cotts.
i
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i
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By JENNIFER MILLER
If, while browsing through the University time
schedule you happen across a program entitled
"Course Mart", stop.
Don't let your eyes wander farther down the
page. For under the auspices of this innocuous
sounding program you'll find the course you've
been looking for - "The History and Philosophy
of Chassidus Mysticism."
THIS IS JUST one of the delicious and unusual
classes that the University is offering fall semes-
ter, thanks to the Course Mart Program. Other
courses in previous years have included, "Comic
Books, "The History of Rock and Roll," and
"Health Care" - for those with less exotic taste.
How did such unusual courses come into ex-
istence?
"Any one at all can propose a course, any
course , just as long as they are particularily
and uniquely qualified to teach it," says Linda
Rogers, secretary to the Dean's Office.
COURSE MART was first mentioned in 1968
by a group of students connected with the stu-
dent counseling office. In 1969 the first four
courses were initiated.
Listed under College Course in the Literature,
Science and the Arts Bulletin, Course Mart
courses may be taken by any undergraduate stu-
dent enrolled in the University. All are taken
as electives, with no credit given towards a stu-
dent's concentration or distribution program.
THE PROCESS of having a course accepted
to the Course Mart schedule takes approximate-
ly six weeks, while it is reviewed by the Course
Mart subcommittee, the LSA curriculum commit-
tee, and the LSA executive committee.
According to Rogers, the common misconcep-
tion about Course Mart courses is that they are
a breeze.
"They're all different," she insists.
The law classes offered through Course Mart
are the only ones which allow students to re-
ceive a grade Tor their efforts - although those
enrolled may elect to take even these courses
pass-fail, in the LSA tradition.
High rents
(Cotitinued from Page 2)
came results which may very
well signal a revolutionary trend
in the town's archaic housing
scene.
TIE TENANTS Union won a
collective bargaining agreement
over the terms of the lease
used by all Trony tenants, and
its victory signalled an innova-
,tive set of grievance procedures
designed to increase the tenant's
voice in the resolution of land-
lord-renter disputes.
The housing situation in this
town will not improve overnight,
but it is heartening to know that
headway can be made only if
students become informed, en-
lightened tenants. One can ex-
pect the landlords to continue
their exploitive measures, con-
sistently searching for the quick
buck, and the University has
shown no signs' of addressing
itself fully to the conditions in
which its students are forced to
live.
House hunt!
(Continued from Page 2)
the uninitiated. Under Michigan
law, a tenant has the right to
withhold rent if he or she has a'
legitimate grievance. If your
landlord does not make repairs,
withhold your rent and put it inI
either a Legal Aid, TU or cityI
escrow account. Any clauses in
a lease which say you cannot
withhold rent are illegal.
" difference!!!.11
" PREPARE FOR:#I
" ~~ver 35 years0
MCATeee
" and success
DAT Small classes
.SAT "
. SA Voluminous home
G E study materials ;0
GRE "
TV courses that are "*
A GSB constantly updated
Tape facilities for
*" reviews of class !u~ITp aclte o
" P"ATF lessons and for use I
* ~ fl3 of supplementary "*
" LEX materials "
*d !
Make ups for° " F{
* ECFMG missed lessons
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