MSA
works on
behalf
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 6, 1984 - page 7
o students
By Scott Page
What will MSA do for you this year? We will
provide legal services, income tax assistance,
information and assistance with landlord-
tenant problems and ADVICE, a statistical
course evaluation, all at absolutely no further
cost. In addition, we provide low cost property
gpd health insurance plans that we believe are
the finest available for students.
;More importantly, MSA will work for studen-
t. and students' rights by appointing student
niembers to various regental and University
.Qimmittees and by directly lobbying the ad-i
ministration. As the official representative,
body of the students, MSA will strive for
greater emphasis on the students and the
.student experience at the University.
WE CANNOT, however, accomplish even the
implest of our goals without student help.:
Traditionally MSA relies on a corps of student
volunteers willing to dedicate time and effort.
towards University improvement. MSA ac-
tively seeks students who want to create a bet-
ter University for all students. Our office doors
are open to anyone and everyone. We invite you
to come and share in our purpose of
progressive student change.
MSA's goal is the enfranchisement of studen-
ts in the University's decision-making process.
The issues that confront MSA coincide with.
those facing the University, the difference
being that MSA concentrates its efforts on ap-
proaching campus problems from the student;
perspective.
Some of the major issues that the assembly'
will address this year will be the proposed Code
of Non-Academic Conduct, the minority
recruitment and retention problem, campus
security, financial aid, and equal rights for all
students, without regard to race, color, sex,
sexual preference, social class, political views,
national origin, religious- creed, or any other
arbitrary or unreasonable consideration. We
realize that students do not usually come to
Michigan with an innate interest in campus
issues. However, MSA hopes that by
generating student awareness, we will initiate:
student involvement.
I WOULD like to briefly concentrate on the
minority recruitment and retention problem to
better explain how MSA uses our resources for
the betterment of students. During the 1970s the
University's regents made a verbal commit-
tment to increase the black enrollment to ten
percent. That goal was never attained. Recen-
tly the University has begun a new attempt to
alleviate the problem of a disproportionate
black enrollment. However, wholesale changes
are rarely made overnight, and in the mean-
time, black students at the University suffer
with inadequate financial aid and support ser-
vices. Although the number of black applicants
has increased, the number of applicants does
not equate with the number actually enrolled.
MSA has approached this difficult problem
by developing a three pronged attack. First, we
have hired Roderick Linzie, a graduate student
in sociology, to do minority research and to
evaluate the University's proposed solution
prepared by the Associate Vice President for
Minority Affairs, Niara Sudarkasa.
Second, we have an entire committee
dedicated to minority affairs. Randy McDuffie,
who is extremely active in the Black Student
Union, chairs the committee. Finally we will
continue to support and fund projects through
our Budget Priorities Committee for the
benefit of minority students.
WHILE I do not believe that MSA can single
handedly solve the problems facing minorities
at the University, I do believe that by com-
bining the previously described internal
dedication with effective lobbying by and for
minorites, we can initiate University-wide
change.
Our approach to the minority recruitment
and retention problem is indicative of the
overall effort made by MSA on pertinent cam-
pus issues. We attempt to create programs and
services immediately to lessen the severity of
the problems, while also striving for long term
institutional change.
I cannot stress enough that the Michigan
Student Assembly are students dedicated to
helping students. If ever you find yourself a
victim of the University bureaucracy, look to
MSA for support and a solution.
Finally, I would like to thank all of you who
voted in last spring's MSA election and I would
like to stress the importance of voting in both
the MSA and individual school and college elec-
tions. We must remain truly representative
governments if we hope to effectively work on
behalf of student interests.
Page is President of MSA and a
senior at the University.
'U' should support
minority recruitment
Dorms: Home sweet home
By Eric Mattson
When you finally make it to this in-
st tution of higher learning, where'
America's future is likely to be found
guzzling grog at the Beer Olympics,
you'll be crammed into a tiny room
with one or two strangers and no run-
ning water.
It may sound a bit like Alcatraz, but
'etually it's ., .. well, home.
AH, YES, THE dorm. Ninety-eight
percent of all incoming freshpersons
live in one dorm or another, and for
iftha'ny, it is the focus of life, liberty and
the pursuit of debauchery.
Whether or not one enjoys life at
South Quad or Markley depends on a
variety of factors. The least important
of- these is the specific dorm the
bureaucrats stick you in.
In South Quad, the reputed home of
Bo's boys, I lived on a hall which wasn't
filled with futbol players - there were
born-again Christians, intellectuals,
sloths, jocks, and even a few drunks.
God bless America.
EVERY DORM has a reputation, but
they all have one thing in common-
*tliere's a gaggle of 17- to 21-year-old men
ad women living together. Kind o'f a
scary thought.
When the car door slams and mommy
and daddy drive off into the wild blue
yoider, you'll meet your surrogate,.
parent - the R.A. Some of them might
remind you of the Joe or Joanne
popularity type of person that made you
ill in high school, but remember, R.A.'s
are people, too. Most of them are, at
least.
Take my R.A. - please! (Just a little
*oke.) He was, as they say, a nice guy.
As a matter of fact, I lived with another
R.A. over the summer - he did all the
cooking and cleaning, so they're not
totally worthless.
A COMMON misconception amongst
naive freshpersons is that the desk is in
your room for studying purposes. That
is simply not the case. The desk is for
storing books, stamps, and joy bqzzers.
Besides, if God had not meant for man to.
study in the dorm, he wouldn't have
built the UGLi. (God works in
mysterious ways, but even He admits
the UGLI, was a mistake.
It's just too darn difficult to study
when your neighbor is blasting Pink
Floyd, your roommates are playing
euchre, and there are people starving in
India.
ANOTHER KEY to getting along in
the dorm is to avoid spending to much
time there. Some people simply sloth
around doing nothing but watching TV
and sleeping.
To avoid this sordid type of:
a good idea to get involved in some sort
of activity. You can join the Daily, for
instance, or, if you're illiterate, you can
join a fraternity or sorority.
(Actually, the Greek system has an
undeservedly poor reputation. There
may be a few idiots in some of the
houses, but there are probably more in
the administration.)
ONE OF THE major concerns in-
coming students have about the dorm is
the food. According to a major study
conducted by the University, food is an
important part of a healthy diet.
Fortunately, most of the stuff served
in the cafeterias can be considered
food, although the hockey team has ad-
mitted using minute steaks as pucks
during scrimmage.
Dorm food is institutional food. And
even though the best thing on the menu
is often Cap'n Crunch, there are quite a
few meals that are at least tolerable.
Keep an eye out for the grilled cheese
and lasagna - they're almost as good
as homemade.
THE SMART quaddie also knows how
to manipulate mom or dad to send up
cookies, and the really smart quaddie
has a safe for goodie storage.
Whenever mom used to send cookies
up to the dorm, we would gather all in a
circle and just inhale the food. Those
were the days.
The biggest change to get used to in
the dorm, of course, is the roommate.
Most freshpersons room blind, which is
a good thing. If you decided to live with
that friend back home, however, you
just ruined a relationship.
ONE OF THE easiest ways to get
along with your roommate is to refrain
from talking to him. If you decide to try
to become friends, the task may be a bit
more difficult. If you live in a converted
triple, hope that one of your roommates
commits suicide so you get an
automatic 4.0 grade point average.
Considering the fact that dorm rooms
don't meet the city's requirement for
the minimum amount of living space,
it's easy to understand why room-
mates occasionally cramp each other's
style.
After a few months, little things like
room temperature and the kind of
music being played can grate on the
nerves of the most patient soul. I found
out the hard way.
BUT I don't think there's an easy
way.
After all the trials and tribulations
I've experienced, you'd think I'd move
on out to greener pastures and better
food. And if I was smart, I probably
would.
There are, however, several
redeeming qualities about living in a
dorm. It's convenient, it's close to cam-
pus (unless you live in Bursley), and it
can be fun. But the greatest asset of the
dorm is simply the people.
Sure, there are nice people living out-
side the dorms - at least a couple
dozen - but there are also nice people
within those brick confines. And that's
really all that matters.
Mattson is a Daily staff writer
and devoted South Quaddie.
By Niara Sudarkasa
In March of 1970, a coalition of
student organizations known as BAM
(the Black Action Movement) led a
strike against the University, to per-
suade the administration of the fair-
ness of its "demands" for increased
black enrollment, additional academic
support services for minority students,
the establishment of a Center for Afro-
American Studies, and several other
initiatives, including the hiring of a
Chicano recruiter.
The most widely publicized of the
University's positive responses to the
BAM "demands" was its commitment
to increase Black enrollment to 10%
over a period of three years. Between
1970 and 1973, Black enrollment rose
steadily to 7.1 percent, but then
remained relatively stable until it
peaked at 7.2 percent (2456) students)
in 1976. Over the next seven years,
Black enrollment plummeted to a low
of 4.9 percent (1516 students) in 1983,
barely one percent higher than it was
when the students went on strike in
1970.
THE TREND has been somewhat dif-
ferent for the other minority groups
seeking access to the University ofr
Michigan. Although the absolute num-
bers of Hispanics and Native
Americans (American Indians) are
small, they did increase in the decade
between 1973 and 1983. Hispanic
enrollment rose from 254 (.8 percent) in
1973 to 455 (1.5 percent) in 1983. Native
Americans have always been the
smallest minority group on campus
with 74 students (.2 percent) in 1973 in-
creasing to 131 students (.4 percent) in
1983. Over the same ten-year period,
the University was able to make
significant strides in attracting Asian
students, whose numbers tripled from
323 (1 percent) to 1163 (3.7 percent).
Our relative success in recruiting and
retaining minority students other than
blacks has kept the University's
minority enrollment figure above ten
percent from 1976 to the present. While
the University has been justly proud of
this accomplishment, there continues
to be great concern among ad-
ministrators as well as among black
faculty, staff, and alumni over the un-
representation of black students, who
are by far the largest minority group in
the state's high schools, from which the
University draws approximately 70
percent of its undergraduate student
body.
In 1982, for example, the 13,247 black
students who graduated from Michigan
high schools comprised ten percent of
the graduating class. The other
minority groups (1081 Native
Americans; 1716 Hispanics; 752
Asians) together constituted slightly
less than three percent of the state's
1982 high school graduates.
IT WAS primarily the University's
commitment to reversing the disap-
pointing trends in black enrollment that
led to the creation of a new Associate
Vice-Presidency in the Office of
Academic Affairs, with special respon-
sibility for assessing, assisting, and
coordinating the U's efforts to increase
the enrollment and graduation rates of
blacks and other underrepresented
minority students. Since my appointm-
ent to that position last February,
Assistant Vice President Robert
Holmes and I have been meeting with
key administrators and faculty, par-
ticularly the Directors of Admissions,
Financial Aid and Orientation, the
Deans of the 17 schools and colleges,
and chairpersons of the Rackham
graduate programs, to map out
strategies for increasing minority
enrollment on the graduate and un-
dergraduate levels. These recruitment
programs will receive a special boost
from the Michigan Alumni Association
which has pledged to make minority
recruitment its number one priority
over the next several years.
Leadership of the new initiatives
surrounding minority recruitment and
retention has come from President
Harold Shapiro and Vice President
Billy Frye, who have spoken out on the
issues on various occasions and com-
mitted financial support to new projec-
ts to aid undergraduate and graduate
recruitment and retention. As Vice
President Frye pointed out in a recent
issue of the Office of Affirmative Action
Newsletter, we are in the process of
reviewing our overall financial support
to minority students to assess whether
that support is being used as effectively
as possible, and to determine whether
there is a need for incremental resour-
ces. If so, that need will be given
favorable consideration along with
other priorities.
It is my aim to mobilize the support of
administrators, faculty, and students to
help the University reach its goal of 10
percent black enrollment within the
next three to four years. We will also
work to substantially increase the
numbers of Native Americans and
Hispanic students. Because we con-
tinue to attract applications from
highly qualified Asian students, at
present I do not see a need for special
recruitment efforts targeted toward
that group.
ONE OF THE key factors in in-
creasing the enrollment of black,
Hispanic, and Native American un-
dergraduates must be vigorous in-state
recruiting. The percentage of qualified
in-state minority students who apply to
Michigan is significantly lower than
that of qualified majority students. Our
goal is to close the gap in the knowledge
that more qualified minority applicants
will yield more minority students. For
many in-state minority students the
cost of a Michigan education is con-
sidered to be prohibitive. However, we
intend to make it better known that the
University's need-based financial aid
packages are designed to enable in-
state students to obtain a first-class
education at a reasonable cost.
We have also taken steps to offer a
more competitive financial aid package
to highly qualified out-of-state minority
students, whom we will need to attract
Sudarkasa
... wants more recruitment programs
in larger numbers if we are to meet our
enrollment goals.
We know, Iof course, that higher
minority enrollments will depend on
our improving retention rates as well as
stepping up recruitment efforts. For-
tunately, recent data show that the
graduation rates of minority un-
dergraduates are higher than in the
past. We have in place a number of
academic supportive services, such as
the Comprehensive Studies Program,
to help these rates improve even more.
Better retention rates for minority
students will also depend on our taking
seriously President Shapiro's charge
that the climate at the University nut
be genuinely receptive to an ethnically
and culturally diverse student body.
Recent publications from the State
Board of Education as well as from
local public school educators remind us
that the problem of equity of access to
higher education is confounded by
inadequate education for minorities at
all levels of the public school system.
The University is committed to working
with the state's K-12 system to help
redress some of the deficiencies in
minority education through teacher
training as well as through special
programs that reach students directly.
A recent initiative in this area was the
conference of teachers and ad-
ministrators from the Detroit Public
Schools and the University, led by
University President Shapiro and DPS
Superintendent Arthur Jefferson, to
discuss collaborative strategies to help
preparestudents for entry into college.
Overall, the University's efforts to in-
sure excellence in education for
minority as well as majority students
rival those at any of our peer in-
stitutions. Since the Opportunity
Program was first launched in 1964, the
University has steadily improved its
financial support of minority students
and increased the programs designed
to serve their academic and social
needs. We are at the point now where
our efforts should pay dividends in the
form of substantially increased
enrollment of Blacks and other un-
derrepresented minorities, a goal
which has eluded us and many other
universities for far too long. In
achieving this goal, Michigan will
demonstrate that excellence can be
conjoined with equity in the nation's
best universities.
Sudarkasa is an associate vice-
president of academic affairs.
SACUA seeks
to bridge gap
By Richard Bailey
Faculty governance at the University is a complex system,
and one task that SACUA - the Senate Advisory Committee
on Unviersity Affairs - has set for itself for the coming year
is to make the system better understood and therefore more
effective.
Most decisions that affect students and faculty are made at
the departmental level. As the Regents' By-Laws guarantee,
faculty have the sole responsibility for courses and
curriculum. Which new faculty are to be employed and what
kind of scholarship and creative activity is to be encouraged,
however, are decisions that begin with the departments and
programs.
ONCE THE faculty and denartment chairs have agreed
some units, the entire faculty is involved; in others, the dean
and executive committee have primary responsibility for
shaping the future direction of efforts. With very different
governance traditions, the schools and colleges determine
the day-to-day activites of the faculty and students working
in them.
Broader issues involving the entire University are treated
by the Senate Assembly, a body of 72 faculty representatives
(including librarians and primary research staff) elected
from the schools and colleges. The Assembly meets publicly
each month to consider issues that concern all units. The
agenda for these meetings is organized by SACUA, and
resolutions adopted by the Assembly are presented directly
to the President and Vice-President for Academic Affairs for
their action or for subseauent regental decision. SACUA -
adopted, however, action by the Assembly is required by the
Regents' By-Laws. In the Assembly, the Code may be
modified by amendment, adopted as presented, or rejected
outright. Since the proposed Code has already been
supported and opposed from widely divergent positions,
Assembly will undoubtedly be especially occupied with it this
year.
SACUA believes that the faculty need to evaluate the new
directions that the University has taken. What is the present
balance between undergraduate and graduate education?
How have the professional schools fared in comparison to
units primarily concerned with undergraduate education?
How have sources of external funding shaped and re-shaped
research efforts? What community services does the
University now perform (and what plans should we make for