OPINION
1,
Page 4
Wednesday, February 11, 1981
The MichiganDaily
Edited g stichigan t
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Rescue EEO from 'U' cuts
Vol. XCI, No. 113
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Demonstrators don't look
at total budget, picture
HE DEMONSTRATORS in
Monday's rally against budget
euts, tuition hikes, and layoffs not only
exhibited a shortsighted and super-
:"ficial approach to a complex problem,
but came off as being just plain silly.
Instead of supporting logical or well-
thought alternatives to the Univer-
sity's present budget-cutting plans, the
protesters advocated, very sim-
plistically, no budget cuts at all. They
seem to have completely forgotten
about the state's current financial
crisis axing more than $12 million from
the University's budget.
The protesters insisted that students
should not be subjected to tuition hikes,;
no programs should be cut, and no
members of the staff should be laid off.
Their solution to waylay the budget
problems? Make cuts in the ad-
rhinistration. '
It is true that before cuts are made
from any academic programs, all
waste must be trimmed from the ad-
ministration. There is no reason for the
administration to thrive if academic
portions of the University are going to
suffer. But to greatly cut ad-
ministrators' salaries, as was
suggested, would undercut the quality
of the University. Administrative
positions, like any others, are com-
pNtitive. And in order to maintain
qtUlty members of the Univer-
sity--staff, faculty, or ad-
ministrators-the University must be
able to compete for their services.
Another objection raised was the
$50,000 used for President Harold
shapiro's inauguration. What the
demonstrators neglected to realize,
hiowever, is the importance of the
event for alumni and other individuals
who, after attending the ceremony,
have donated money to the University.
I If members of the group wished to
liave a realistic impact on future
changes of the University, they picked
the wrong way to do it. If they had a
logical and rational reason behind
their protests, more people would
listen to them. As their protest stands
now-tauting opposition to budget
cuts, tuition hikes, and layoffs in a time
of budget crisis-it is very ineffective.
An example of this simple-minded
approach was evidenced by rally
speaker Donna Stern. "The University
will not give us anything out of the
goodness of its heart-it will only
cough up the money if it is backed up
against the wall," she said. Perhaps
Stern could enlighten the University
community on these vast resources
that the institution is hoarding. Given
the state's bleak financial situation,
like the proverbial turnip, no blood can
be squeezed out of the University.
One of the biggest disappointments
of the rally, was its endorsement by the
Michigan Student Assembly. With
MSA President Marc Breakstone
leading the pack, the assembly has
also taken a simple, incomplete look at
a complex issue.
The importance of student input in
budget-making decisions cannot be
stressed enough. It is unfortunate that
MSA has chosen to endorse such an
illogical fight. After being part of such
irrational rhetoric, how does
Breakstone expect to sit down with the
University's budget priorities commit-
tee and be taken seriously?
The students need a legitimate voice
pulling for them as cutbacks are plan-
ned. By endorsing Monday's fiasco,'
MSA has taken a toll on its credibility.r
Whether the protesters are willing to
accept it or not, cutbacks are going to
have to be made. As state ap-
propriations shrink, the University will
have to adapt. It is better to plan for
them now-through a smaller and bet-
ter University-than to have to declare
an emergency situation as Cecil
Mackey did at Michigan State.
The answers to the University's
financial problems are not simple.
Ignoring this fiscal crisis will not make
it go away. The best way to live with
these cutbacks, however, is for studen-
ts to take a responsible part in the
decision making process-for
everyone to look at the total picture.
As Director of the Evaluation &
Examinations Office for the past seventeen
years I found the February 6 Michigan Daily
article on proposed Center for Research on
Learning and Teaching cutbacks, including
the elimination of my own position, of more
than ordinary interest. Though no fault of the
reporter, Sue Inglis, the article contains
several errors that should be corrected.
Before mentioning some of them it is worth
noting that EEO's affiliation with CRLT has
been short (since 1976) and slight. For exam-
ple, Bill McKeachie, Director of CRLT (109 E.
Madison Street) has visited EEO's main of-
fice (3014 Rackham Building) only once, and,
as the material below will suggest, his under-
standing and appreciation of EEO functions is
limited.
Because of this, termination of the EEO-
CRLT connection has been under con-
sideration for over two years. Until the last
year or so, very few at the University even
suspected there was any relationship between
EEO and CRLT.
BECAUSE EEO and CRLT activities are
quite separate, faculty members who favor a
sharply reduced CRLT budget would nor-
mally not expect EEO services to be af-
fected.
The year before EEO and I became
associated with CRLT and Bill McKeachie,
1975-76, EEO's entire salary budget was
$51,569, this year it is only $47,598. The budget
for the corresponding testing unit at Michigan
State University is about six times larger.
From discussions with testing officers at
other major universities, it seems safe to say
that all offices have essentially the same ac-
tivities we have at the University. The
average staff size in Big Ten testing offices is
about 13 full-time employees; over the past
seven years at the University we have had an
average of about 2.7 full-time employees. In
short, we are smaller and better.
WE BELIEVE EEO has given the Univer-
sity excellent service over the years. Disper-
sal of our closely interrelated regular ac-
tivities would almost certainly cost the
University much more, not less, even if a few
activities were eliminated or reduced.
Although I am providingedetailed infor-
mation to the CRLT Review Committee,
several points published in the Daily article
merit explication. Daily reporter Sue Inglis
mentions four current EEO activities. Ac-
tually, only two of them are among the fif-
teen EEO activities outlined in my Jan. 23
memo to the CRLT Review Committee.
For tight budget,, small staff, and related
reasons we no longer attempt to "provide in-
formation to the faculty about students'
characteristics and achievements," nor do
we "administer national tests such as the
SAT, MCAT, and GRE" as reported in the
Daily.
Inglis obtained her information on EEO ac-
tivities "from McKeachie's written proposal"
on possible CRLT budget cuts. My copy of the
By Benno Fricke
McKeachie proposal indicates, as she says,
that "admissions and placement testing''
could not be turned over to the Orientation Of-
fice. But the staff of that office is not
qualified to do this work.
WITH PROPER supervision orientation
personnel could administer the tests to-
students, yet that is only the first and least
complicated step in the proper handling of
counseling and placement tests and test
scores. Some of the others are:
" placing students on the basis of test scores
and other data into appropriate introductory
courses and sections;
* providing academic counseling offices
with test score reports;
" conducting the necessary research to
determine suitable standards for placing
students.
EEO employs graduate and undergraduate
students on an hourly basis to administer
these tests (from detailed directions we
provide); there is no special problem with the'
test-giving aspect.
Perhaps even more indicative of
McKeachie's lack of interest in and'concern
over EEO activities is his notion that we ad-
minister "the SAT, MCAT, and GRE." It is
certainly surprising to see the SAT mentioned
because EEO has not administered a single
SA T to anyone for over twenty-five years.
In 1955, the year I joined EEO, we gave the
SAT to all entering freshmen during the Sep-.
tember Orientation Program for new studen-
ts.)
On several occasions since 1976 I reviewed
the tests EEO handles with McKeachie. He
did not get the incorrect SAT idea from me.
Also, almost two years ago I discontinued
my role as the Ann Arbor area supervisor for
administration of graduate-professional
national selection tests (GRE, LSAT, and
MCAT). In the early Spring of 1979 I arranged
to have responsibility for this testing activity
taken over by Cal Dyer of the University
School of Education. He has handled these
tests since April 1979. McKeachie was fully in-
formed of the transferal of this activity. In-
deed, he even mentioned it in a letter to me
dated March 23, 1979. Here is the pertinent
part: "I do appreciate your getting Cal Dyer
to handle the test administration for the
future."
Accordingly, it is puzzling, if not distur-
bing, to read in McKeachie's January 1981
proposal about one of the ways he thinks
EEO-CRLT dollars can be saved. As Inglis
notes, McKeachie says he will "try to per-
suade Prof. Cal Dyer of the School of
Education to assume responsibility for.
national tests." As indicated above, Dyer was
approached and persuaded almost two years
ago! No new saving here.
It is often -not clear what some ad-
ministrators are thinliing about when they
make important decisions affecting quality
and cost factors. In this general connection
readers of the Daily may be interested in
knowing that McKeachie's proposals are very
similar to those made about ten years ago by
Stephen Spurr, former Dean of the Graduate
School and Vice president for academic ser-
vices at the' University during another tough
time financially.
After I questioned - Spurr's ill-considered
and arbitrary decision, President Robben
Fleming appointed a five-member faculty
committee to make a thorough study of the
matter. This they did over a four-month
period during which they held weekly
meetings.
Their first recommendation to the ad-
ministration, a unanimous one they said, was
"that all of the present functions of the Office
of Evaluation and Examinations be continued
and be administered as a single ad-
ministrative unit." Factors they took into ac-
count were summarized by the Committee as
follows:
This first recommendation is
based primarily on the fact
that the severalfunctions of E
and E are so interdependent as
,to make it both unwise and
uneconomical to disperse
them. Equally important, the
supposition that the multiple
activities of E and E could be
dispersed among several units
(or could be transferred intact
to a single unit) ignores the
fact that several of its fun-
ctions require considerable
specialized, professional com-
petence not to be found at
present in any other existing
unit. Apparently, previous
decisions in relation to E and
E have been made without any
clear perception of the scope
of its functions.
0
The proposals of Spurr were not implemen-
ted by the University administration. The
situation today is not unlike what it was in
1971. In a nutshell, what counts most at the
University, quality work or being a subser-
vient-organization man (or woman?)
Benno Fricke is the director of the
University 's Evaluation and
Examinations Office. Both his office and
job have been targeted by the University
for elimination.
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Crowds at SPH library
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Unsigned editorials appearing on the left side of
this page represent a majority opinion of the Daily's
Editorial Board. Letters and columns represent the
opinions of the individual author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the attitudes or beliefs of the Daily.-
AE bAY, NO HE '
NAN'T PUT MR.
CARTER IN PRIb0M %
-TREIR POLITICAL
bYbTEM I& & GIT
DIFERENT FROM
OURS
d o
To the Daily:
In light of the recent controver-
sy over the use of the Law School
Library, I find it necessary to
respond from a slightly different
point of view. We, as graduate
students in the School of Public
Health, have a small, but quite
different library system for our
everyday use.
However, with increasing
enrollment within our depart-
ments in the last two years, our
library is no longer able to ac-
commodate our own students
plus the "wave" of non-Public
Health students who make their
presence known.
Realizing that the Public
Health Library is administered
through the University Library
system, we have restricted our
feelings about this issue up to
now. However, with the use of the
Law Library by non-law students
now in question, we feel the time
is appropriate to voice our coin-
ciding problem.
On behalf of the Public Health
Student Association, we support
the concerns of the Law School
studentscand their SenateSub-
committee, and propose that the
University of Michigan take a
good look at the overall use and
available space of the
professional libraries on cam-
pus.
Within our own library, over-
crowding is much more evident
during certain exam periods, and
this problem will now be dealt
with accordingly. However, we
do not intend to restrict the use of
our library for those needing the
necessary resources.
The time to act is now, before
the problem becomes an even
bigger headache. We are open for
suggestions and comments.
-Paul Moss
President, School of
Public Health Student
Association
February 8
i j
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4
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Stop Nazi terrorism
Housing and Peterson
To the Daily:
Every year at this time,
students in Ann Arbor find them-
selves pounding the streets,
speaking to building managers,
surveying various holes-in-the-
wall, camping out for days in
front of the rental agencies,
bewildered at the, phenomenal
and exhorbitant rent increases
and worrying about whether they
can get Mom and Dad to pay the
little bit more or whether they
will have to get a third job. It is a
rare person indeed that hasn't
now, the majority of City Council
members have been impervious
to the needs of a very important
part of this community.
Lowell Peterson, City Council
candidate in the First Ward, is
someone who believes in the im-
portance of decent, reasonable
housing. Peterson feels that
enormous housing costs threaten
the character of our community.
It is important to get a person on
City Council who cares about this
issue. We would like to add our
support to this campaign and
To the Daily:
The neo-Nazis of West Ger-
many have declared open season
on Jews. They have threatened to
murder two innocent Jewish
citizens this Valentine's Day if a
ransom of $6.9 million is not paid
toward the legal defense of
Adolph Hitler's right-hand man,
Rudolf Hess. Such a gesture must
not go unchallenged if the world
is to be rid of Nazi terror.
It is not only up to the West
German government to keep the
Nazis in check. It is the respon-
sibility of ourselves, the mem-
bers of the human race,
inhabitants of a planet which
cannot survive with prejudice
and terrorism.
We all must act NOW, before
nessed less than forty years ago.
Praise is due tokThe Michigan
Daily for its quick, decisive ac-
tion culminating in the editorial
on Thursday, February 5. Th2
Daily 'has shown leadership in
speaking out when the mass
media in general has kept silent.
To believe that the consequen-
ces of Nazi activity is restricted
to only Germans and Jews is@
naive and dangerous.
At present, the Ku Klux Klan
and the American Nazi Party
boast a none-too negligible mem-
bership and.-sponsor camps to
teach their children of the
dangers of "kikes" and
"niggers." Followers of such
hatreds must not be encouraged
toward their goals for "White