New House committee to review declining college enrollment and economy By SARA ANSPACH Predictions of declining enrollments and slackening economic conditions have prompted state legislators to begin long-range planning for changes that might be needed in the state's higher education system. The state House Committee on Colleges and Universities has created a joint House-Senate subcommittee to review existing studies on declining enrollment and economic forecasts and to make recommendations to the state's public colleges. REP. JEFF DONGVILLO (D-Scotts- ville) and Sen. Jack Faxon (D-Detroit) will co-chair the subcommittee, which still is "in the beginning stages," ac- cording to House Democratic Research member Jan Lyddon. The Senate Education Committee has been meeting with administrators from Michigan's public four-year institutions during the last several months to discuss state appropriations, Lyddon said. She said the legislators noticed disagreement on forecasts of enrollment declines during the discussions, and a "considerable amount of ear about the implications of all kinds of economic conditions" among college administrators. The subcommittee was formed to examine these conflicting reports and advise universities, according to Lyd- don. "WE'RE NOT INTO a dire situation, but we like to be forward-looking," Lyddon said. She added that Michigan has "one of the best" higher educational systems and the legislaure is interested in preserving the quality of education the state currently boasts. But, she continued, "We've got to recognize there are going to be changes." "State budgets are getting tighter and tighter. Schools costs are in- creasing rapidly," she said. As federal, state, and local resources become scar- ce, schools won't be able to contine the "growth spurt" that started in the early 1960s with the influx of the post-war baby boom children, Lyddon explained. The subcommittee expects to finish its review by the end of December, she added. UNIVERSITY Vice-President for Academic Affairs Harold Shapiro said the University hasn't made any special predictions for enrollment statistics. According to Shapiro, a university can either "sit back and see what happens, or it can pursue an aggressive recruit- ment program and maintain enrollment in the face of a nation-wide (enrollment) decline." The University has chosen the latter course, he said, and will be stepping up recruitment ef- forts in the next decade. Other schools, according to Lyddon, are beginning to recruit non-traditional students, such as older students and those who come from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, to fill the enrollment gap. In addition to predictions of fewer students and economic troubles, there are other factors which may bring about some changes in state colleges and universities, she noted. The three largest colleges in the state, Wayne State University, Michigan State University, and this University, have or soon will have new presidents, and the State Board of Education will be looking for another president in the near future, she said. Early bird Daily Photo by JIM KRUZ This little fellow is waiting patiently in the display window of Goodyear's Department Store on S. Main St. He's sweating out the summer, anticipating the first Wolverine football game with Northwestern University in Michigan Stadium Sept. 8. *:******************** * "GimmeaD * Gimme an A Gimme an l... L ...Y * Givb the MICHIGAN DAILY that old college try. CALL 764-0558 to order your subscription The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative presentsat ML«, $1.50 SATURDAY, JUNE 30 YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (Mel Brooks, 1975) 7 & 10:20-MLB 3 An outrageous comic masterpiece and ingenious parody of the famed horror tale from the mad master of mayhem, Mel Brooks. Gene Wilder who wrote the screenplay with Brooks, is hilarious as the new Dr. Frankenstein. With PETER BOYLE, MARTY FELDMAN, MADELINE KAHN, and CLORIS LEACHMAN. "There hasn't been this kind of craziness on the screen in years. Mel Brooks can make you laugh helplessly."-Pauline Kael. START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME (Bud Yorkin, 1970) $:40 only-MLB 3 GENE WILDER'S funniest role is in this spoof of swashbucklers. Wilder and Donald Sutherland play dual roles as two sets of twins mixed up at birth. One set grows up peasant, the other aristocrat. Their accidental but simul- taneous presence at the court of Louis XVI years later causes such riotous confusion that the French Revolution is almost averted! "A mad, attectionate tribute to every historical melodrama anybody ever saw. Wilder and Suther- land ,oerform magically."-L.A. TIMES. With BILLY WHITELAW and ORSON WELL S. TUESDAY: Free Showing Joseph Lewis' films THE MINSTREL MAN and DESPERATE SEARCH