The Michigan Daily-Friday, October 1, 1982-Page 9 Nat. Resources fights for its life --n (Continued from Page 1) countered at the start of the term was growing complacency among natural resources students. Last March,-when the school was first targeted, there was Oa great deal of concern among professors and students. But now, as it becomes apparent that the school, at least is not likely to be axed altogether, students are less motivated to go out and fight for it. "I don't think people are as angry (now); people think the school's not being eliminated," said Jonathon" Weiland who defended the program at a rally outside the Regents meeting last * month. When the review was first announ- ced, explained Jeff Cox, a member of the Student Coordinating Committee "hundreds wanted to get active ... but people aren't as afraid now as they were (last) spring." Lately though, according to natural resources junior Judy Wells, momen- tum to save the school has been picking up. Last Monday night, Wells and other students met to gear up for the public hearings. They arranged to plaster the city with posters, erect a banner on the Diag, and urge classmates to attend the hearings. Natural resources professors and administrators have already planned how they will counter charges that the school's quality falls short in several areas. The main charges leveled against the school are that its students are not up to ;par, that the school's research falls short, that it doesn't do well placing its graduates, and that it costs more to educate its students than in other schools. Those who argue against the school point out that the SAT scores of fresh- men entering the school are, on the average, 100 points below those en- tering LSA. For example, 60.9 percent of this fall's LSA freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, but only 19.7 of the freshmen in natural resources earned that same distinction. )One the students are in the school, their college grades also tend to fall below their LSA counterparts, registrar's records show. "We're fairly unimpressive, and it probably cost us something in the review," admitted natural resources Prof. John Bassett, who coordinates the school's undergraduate program. 0 But Bassett explained that there are reasons behind the difference in studen- ts. For one thing, natural resources students have to take more math and science courses than LSA students, he said. For another; the school is less quick to kick out students who fall below a certain grade point average. The reason for the latter policy is rooted in the school's history, explained Dean Johnson. "The history of this school has been to get very close to the student, and you marry that tradition with the environmental movement of the 60s and 70s,"where we worked with students who had interest, but maybe not the experience and background. And you can understand why discipline wasn't as harsh," Johnson said. "I don't think it's a mistake to have that spirit." The problem of the school's declining enrollment is also linked to the decline in interest in the- environmental movement, school officials say. Since the mid-70s, when the environ- mental movement was still strong, un- dergraduate enrollment has dropped off markedly.. Besides the decline of that movement, the recent review of the school has accelerated the enrollment drop said Burton Barnes, the school's chairman of graduate affairs. "There will undoubtedly be a significant decline in graduate enrollments which we will have to counter," he said. "There was a feeling (among students) that it was a chancy thing to come here because of the review." To a degree, the problem of declining enrollment is tied to another charge against the school: the gloomy job prospects for today's graduates. Many of the placement problems, contend natural resources professors, are short-term. It's difficult to find work now in the field because the federal government under the Reagan administration has ended many of the programs which hired forestry experts. Also the current recession has devastated the housing industry, which in turn has hurt the forestry industry. The University should not cut the school simply because today's economy makes it hard for natural resources graduates to find jobs, argue natural resources professors. "A university is both a short-run and a long-run animal," said Dean Johnson. "We (at natural resources) are lookingat long- term issues ... I don't think we should design our institution because we have a depression today." When some charged that the school's research has been inadequate, natural resources professors come back with figures. In 1975, the school was resear- ching 32 projects, totaling just under $2 million. That should speak for itself, they claim. Professors will concede that the Budget Priorities Committee is right when it claims that natural resources spends more to educate each of its students than many other schools. but that cost is necessary, they insist. "For the school as a whole, I think we are expensive," said Prof. Bassett. "We don't have 500 students in a lecture hall. We require students to look around at soils, plants, wildlife . . We're expensive, but we're going to have to be more efficient." 4 z 0 =' 4o 8 JLI#Wi* J JOE JACKSOP IN CONCERT TONIGHT AT HILL AUDITORII N UM :. o ,j 't l_. t' i ', P~IHTdo1A HI~fi O - nc~puOes c' n_ Ou NI No A 'n n r RECORDS & TAPES 523 E. 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