OPINION Page 4 Tuesday, March 24, 1981 The Michigan Daily Why are blacks so unhappy here? It was merely a curiosity to me during my first year at the University in Markley Hall. The black students had their own lounge, scheduled their own parties, and ate at their own tables. Strange, I thought, that they should want to separate themselves so completely from their white peers. But that curiosity soon changed to concern as ?5 W1tt1C1iSs By Howard Witt decades, with race riots predicted in major cities this summer, I am downright scared. Now more than ever there is an urgent need for black-white communication here at the University. So far, we have been spared the ugly racial incidents that have disrupted other universities across the country. But with all the mystery and misunderstanding and mistrust that appears to abound here, we may not be immune for long. Something is clearly wrong. Black students don't want to come to The University of Michigan; those that are here are frustrated and angry. But why? I HAD GREAT hopes for an answer last Thursday afternoon, when Valerie Mims, a prominent black student leader, addressed the Regents. Commenting on the dismal black enrollment report, Mims had an ideal opportunity to really explain to the Regents the problems of black students here. She could have provided some true insight into why black enrollment has been steadily dropping. She could have turned some heads. But she didn't. Instead, she spoke in generalities. She said she has warned her high school-age sister about how bad it is for blacks here, but she gave no specifics. Shedemanded that the Regents do something, but suggested no solutions.r The Regents politely thanked her for her comments, looked properly concerned-and didn't have the slightest idea what Valerie Mims mneant. y THIS IS HARDLY a new problem. Since the Black Action Movement strike in 1970, Univer- sity administrators have been earnestly trying to attract and retain black students. They have redoubled their efforts in recent years only to see black enrollment drop to a mere 5.6 per- cent. I don't know why black students are unhappy here. But I suspect the separatism that blacks themselves encourage is somehow tied to their dissatisfaction. And the lack of communication between the races that results from this separation only exacerbates the tension. That is why I hoped that Valerie Mims would talk about the problems of black students and answer some of my many unspoken questions. WHY, FOR INSTANCE, is there only one black student working at the Daily? Out of 1,137 black undergraduates, there must be a few interested in writing for a daily newspaper. I can't believe it's because we're racist -if that is a common perception, I am deeply con- cerned. Maybe blacks are not comfortable when they first come into the all-white city room of the Daily. That would certainly be understan- dable; I can imagine the courage I would need to walk into a meeting at Trotter House, however irrational my fears might be. Or maybe it's something else - something that has little to do with whites at all. TWO YEARS AGO, a former Daily editor (who at that time was the only black on the staff) wrote a very personal, very probing analysis of the separatism problem. He- ex- plained that black students feel it is necessary to separate themselves almost completely from whites in order to maintain their identity. Participation in a "white" activity (such as the Daily) is considered assimilation, he observed; blacks who associate extensively with whites are shunned by their black peers. I can't know if what this former editor wrote is true. I only know that he was an outstanding student and a perceptive journalist who rose to the top of the "white" Daily hierarchy and found himself shoved to the outer fringes of the black society on campus. CERTAINLY THIS fear of assimilation, if it exists at all, is plausible - any group of studen- ts that finds itself in the minority will naturally want to retain its cultural cohesion and iden- tification. It is also quite plausible that this cohesion could easily degenerate into a destructive men- tality in which succeeding in activities of the majority is interpreted as abandonment of the group. Unfortunately, this attitude ignores the historical evidence of dozens of ethnic groups, whose members succeeded in cultural worlds other than their own yet still retained their ethnic identities. I know I'm way out of my league now, trying to theorize about black social structures. But if you think I'm confused, just imagine the con- sternation of University administrators, who see their best minority recruitment efforts fail year after year. And the frustration of Univer- sity professors, who see an alarmingly high number of black students failing to earn degrees. And the bafflement of white students, who see their overtures of friendship and assistance frequently rebuffed. The blacks on this campus need some an- swers. And so do the whites. I discovered that this voluntary separatism spread far beyond the walls of my dorm. There were two separate fraternity systems, I lear- ned.'And separate counseling offices. And even a separate monthly newspaper.. TODAY I AM more than concerned. With the latest minority enrollment report showing yet another decline in black students on campus, with Ronald Reagan promising to reverse social and civil rights progress of recent Howard Witt is a Daily staff writer.. column appears every 'uesday. Hs 0 a II Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan ' Vol. XCI, No. 140 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Weasel HEYG. I. IoE, TSAW YoU rrim (. Al THEFaNM INIs. WHAT ARE You i~rbNtN wo mtaosE GCANS of PoP a"n S.f4" Bas. YOU CAN L-AUG44 NOW IF YOUW Nr WEA$Ej., Bur 'ouLJ PIEARN t )oR.FoR Foot/ FOR. WHAT ? WHFEN iTHE 04, zCJr ! LT E.Ly roNt '1O'.E.ONE of COt'%ES. ThOSE "S0VIVALIrTS;' ARENtdYou? ~ N .\ N WP Y 05 CF TI -1J4TA AL'( 7flE {~SOD 5i'PiN Is (O~*4A fNUT! 71IEoUtA . WItL.BE i NO-4HLES f'EPL! I Wru. agc mHE aims, L0317r'Nb *tJL WN6... tru. BE ~VatY I'MAN4Rf5 M L F' AM~46 N $OT ? E i-y aui~ Coordinating the cuts by Robert Lence -.., TEt-t- ME 5oME7t tN6... .:.TINS "ToTPr4 CUL.LftPSE RM xt N SOCtLs7 1, ". , YOCY TFF(NK T}}E12E.5 ANY u }AMCE IT MIC ttT NAt EN C3EFORE- F(N A L cart5--w--E- t ? 1i t o a _ - ® ;8r i ICHIGAN COLLEGE students ..could awaken one day soon and find no schools offering nursing. programs and a dozen offering law studies. Or no schools offering law programs and a dozen with nursing curricula.. The state's system of higher edudcefion is-so decentralized that-vir- tbiily anything car happen as frenzied administrators at Michigan's 14 public colleges and universities lop entire programs to save money. And ode hand in East Lansing or Houghton neither knows nor cares what the other in Ann Arbor or Kalamazoo is doing. The problem is that the . state's colleges are not accountable to any single. authority; each has its own governing board to set policy, make curriculum decisions, and spend money as it sees fit. Further, each college has its own, loyal supporters in the legislature, who divide up scarce funds with more con- cern for politics than pragmatics. In times of, economic bounty, this decentralization at worst resulted in inconsistent distribution of state funds and an unplanned proliferation of courses and programs. In times of crisis, the lack of a central planning body will mean the slow dismember- ment of Michigan's body of higher education, as each school begins am- putating parts without any regard for the whole. This disfiguring process has already begun. At Michigan State University, officials are contemplating- the wholesale elimination of several entire fields of study, yet there has been little concern evidenced for how such program cuts will affect the balance of Michigan eduation overall. If MSU cuts its nursing program, for, instance, a devastating shortage of nurses is threatened. It is clear, then, that the state must somehow step in to assure that the inevitable cutbacks are coordinated. Neither the legislature nbr the state board of education, however, is well- suited to this oversight process - the one is far too political and the other too inexperienced in the problems of higher education. Indeed, the establishment of any central planning body would have to be approached with great caution. The autonomy granted each of the state's colleges, while it results in fractured planning, does preserve essential academic freedoms and allows each institution to develop along its own course. Perhaps, then, a consortium of ad-- ministrators from all Michgian colleges and universities, along 'with selected legislators from education committees, could be formed. This body, while not necessarily possessing any veto powers, could at least serve the essential function of opening a dialogue between administrators. No longer could MSU decide in a vacuum that it will cut its nursing program or add a new law school. Formation of such a central planning group is the very least state officials must do to preserve higher education in Michigan. To allow the 14 colleges to hack away at themselves without supervision is very bad medicine. 0 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: More Daily editorial confusion ,. ... To the Daily: Over the last two weeks you have focused three editorials and immeasurable column space on the refusable/refundable funding method proposed by the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan. I would venture to say that this inordinate amount of coverage is greater than the cumulative total of caverage PIRGIM has received from the Daily all year. For the time being, I will ab- stain from criticizing the position of .your editorial staff, and in- stead highlight the contradictions of your statements. MSU nursing despair To the Daily: The Michigan State University College of Nursing would like to express its thanks to the group of University of Michigan nursing students who came to East Lan- sing March 13 to participate in our rally opposing the proposed elimination of the MSU College of Nursing. Your presence helped to make our march a real success, and your support is truly appreciated. We would also like to thank the University of Michigan nursing faculty and students who have written to the MSU ad- ministration and to state legislators in support of our program. Your efforts have boosted our, fast-fading morale, and are very much appreciated. Voting on this issue will not occur until March 27, so please keep up the good work. Thanks again. -Sue Westrick East Lansing March 16 In the March 22 editorial, you admonish PIRGIM to "boost [its] sagging support among students by promoting a greater awareness on campus of [its] purpose and goals." I can think of no better method for information sharing than going straight to the students as PIRGIM did two weeks ago. In just three days they collected in excess of 7,200 student signatures supporting the organization and its drive for the stronger refusable-refundable funding system. While you so smuggly stated that signatures are only a level above worthless, (on your merit scale), can you deny that PIRGIM's support at CRISP went upr5 percent over the past semester; clearly making them the largest organization on cam- pus, with over 8,000 dues-paying members? These are studentssupporting PIRGIM with their hard earned money-the strongest possible indication of support (and sup- porting them through a tenuous system-CRISP). Clearly, the students who morally support PIRGIM are far greater in number than those who can-in a time of rising tuition rates-financially afford to do so. Finally, your assertion that PIRGIM should reserve it'd energies to non-controversial, issues such as the "...bottle bill- truth in lending and fair housing.. . " is laudable only in its absurdity. T don't recall th$ Bottle ' Bill as being non; controversial, nor does Coca Cola, or Stroh's who spent over a millioi dollars a piece fighting PII GIM's efforts on that issue. Few if any issues bear the title of non-controversial. When PIRGIM's research leads to the conslusion that nuclear ,power is unsafe or that the draft is a clear threat to civil liberties, should they sit back and wait until the issue becomes non-controversial or should they lead. the way as they have so many times for a safer and better com- munity-even at the risk of upset- ting the Daily's editorial board? The answer is clear: PIRGIM must continue to work pn the projects that the students choose to research and act on. When the$ can spend more time on projects and less time at CRISP (over five months a year) maybe then, with a little cooperation from the Daily, their publicity will im- prove. Marc Breakstone March 23 Much-needed evaluations To the Daily: The Michigan Student Assem- bly Course Evaluations can be an important tool in student course selection. The LSA Course Guide, which gives instructor's descrip- tion, is valuable yet one-sided Opinions regarding difficulty, amount of work and grading. procedure provide a sup- plementary idea of what to ex- pect. In addition, published and distributed evaluations give a feedback on instructors' perfor- mance as viewed bystudents and thereby act as an impetus for revamping teaching methods and approaches. Students at the University have shown enthusiasm fQr the benefits they can receive from the availability of MSA's "Course Encounters" yet at present there is a noticable lack of both student participation and input. MSA evaluates only LSA courses and there is a ratio of one com- mittee member for every sixteen would be a crime for the project to stagnate for lack of en- student participation. Furthermore, the opportunity to work on the Course Evaluations Committee is a rewarding experience for anyone who wants to contribute to the quality of education at the University. The work involved to put 8,000 copies of Course En- counters requires creative'input into question contenit and format as well as work in advertising, publicity, computer program- ming and research. All students have a right to know what to expect from cour- ses and instructors, and the MSA evaluation systems is presently the only means of compiling all the College of LSA department evaluations into one comprehen- sive guide. We wish to add other schools and colleges to our evaluation process and if Course Encoun- n . i to rnu r ..rn nh m rn o Harvey strikes again! To the Daily: Well, Dennis Harvey strikes again: Five for five. He keeps up his perfect record of giving each movie he sees a terrible rating. Do you like movies at all, Mr. Harvey? Do you think your cynical adjectives and analyses make you a good critic? Or are you just always in a shitty mood? Try going to a good movie, and writing something favorable for a change. You might even like it. With all the excellent movies playing in and around Ann Arbor, you'd think you could come up with something better than the gibberish we've been subjected to. It's hard to tell whether you know anything at all about movies, or if they are just a tool for you to use to polish up your bitipg, meaningless adjectives. x -Kevin Anderson' March 5 Confused police priorities= To the Daily: It would seem that the Ann Ar- bor Police have their priorities confused when they can hunt down and arrest three women for women, much less men. It is hoped that some lawyer will donate her or his time to the case, or barring that, some legal defense fund can be set u- It