OPINION
Page 4 Sunday, March 10, 1985 The Michigan Daily


Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Sudarkasa makes

Vol. XCV, No. 125

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board

A responsible community

ASSOCIATE VICE president for
academic affairs Niara
Sudarkasa has prepared a report for
the regents which addresses the
problems of minority recruitment on
campus. Recruitment and retention of
minority students is crucial because a
diverse community contributes to the
central function of a University. As the
administrator responsible for minority
concerns, Sudarkasa is acting in the
best interests of the University com-
munity.
But the problem of making the
University appealing to minorities,
although it must be a constant concern
on the part of the administration, is not
wholly the responsibility of those of-
ficials.
Developing a University community
where minority students can feel ac-
cepted and comfortable is the respon-
sibility of the entire community. It
requires a conscious effort on the part
of students and faculty members as
well as Univerity officials.
There is no easy formula for in-
tegrating a campus. It seems that
students and faculty members are
quick to challenge the efforts of the
adminstration to increase minority
student percentages, but too often
these groups forget the influence they
could have on the problem.-
The original commitment to 10 per-
cent minority enrollment was made in
1970 as a result of the Black Action

Movement and student demonstrations
on campus. It is evident that com-
munity input made the difference.
Because students were willing to give
their time and energy to create a more
positive environment for minorities,
the administration was forced to
provide the means for recruiting those
minorities.
When Sudarkasa's position was
created in 1983, the administration also
provided for a commission made up of
students, faculty members, and ad-
ministrators that would deal with the
problems of minority recruitment.
That commission was never created.
Adopting such a committee, as the
Michigan Student Assembly has
proposed, would be a way to further
involve students in minority recruit-
ment.
The responsibility for the creation of
a diverse and integrated campus must
be shared by all members of the
University community. It is the
responsibility of the administration to
provide the resources which make
minority recruitment and retention
possible, and it is the responsibility of
the students and other members of the
community to use those resources
well. That responsibility could in-
volve sitting on a committee, or sim-
ply keeping in touch with the concerns
and interests of minority students on a
more personal level - in the dor-
mitories and in classes.

The University's top administrator for
minority affairs may resign if she is offered
the presidency of Florida A&M University.
Niara Sudarkasa, associate vice president
for academic affairs, is one of four people
Florida regents are considering for the post.
They are expected to make their decision at a
meeting on March 28.
Sudarkasa, 46, was born and raised in
Florida. She said this week that she sought
the position when her Florida friends and
relatives encouraged her. Michigan Student
Assembly's minority researcher had
suggested that Sudarkasa may be dissatisfied
with the amount of cooperation she has
received from the administration, but
Sudarkasa said the charges are totally un-
founded.
The tee
in Review
But the whole controversy is moot if
Sudarkasa doesn't get the position, and she
has some formidable competition. One of the
other three finalists is a university president
in Tennessee, and another is the dean of
pharmacy at Florida A&M. Internal can-
didates often receive special consideration in
the presidential selection process.
If Sudarkasa does go, she said, the Univer-
sity's effort to raise black enrollment will
continue, and her position here, which was
created about a year ago, will probably be
maintained.
An MSA resolution
The Michigan Student Assembly,
unanimously passed a proposal "strongly
condemning" the University administration's
failure to promote policies enabling minority
enrollment to reach goals set 15 years ago.
The resolution was called a culmination of
many issues pertaining to recruitment and
retention of minority students, said MSA
black student researcher Roderick Linzie.
The resolution berated the University's
failure to seek institutionalization of the
position of the Associate Vice President for
the Academic Affairs beyond three years. It
said that an adequate budget and staff was
not provided by the University to guarantee
that the efforts to reach enrollment and reten-
tion goals are not "hampered by the absence
of the Associate Vice President for Academic
Affairs."
It was also resolved by MSA to authorize
the MSA president and the Black Student
Researcher to establish a University-wide
Comission as proposed by provost Frye. The
tasks of the comission are to reexamine in-
The Week in Review was compiled by
Daily staff writers Sean Jackson, Jerry
Markon, Eric Mattson, Amy Mindell,
and Kery Murakami and Daily editor
Peter Williams.

stitutional goals and objectives pertaining to
minority enrollments and education, advise
on budgetary priorities related to the pursuit
of these goals, and to obtain information on
these issues more openly than had been
previously done.
MSA is also considering a lawsuit against
the University for refusing to release
documents concerning minority affairs. The
University has denied several requests by
MSA and the Daily to make the report pubic.
Administrators contend that the infor-
mation in the report would be misunderstood
by the public.
The 57-page report, prepared the Niara
Sudarkasa, an assoiate vice president for
academic affairs, analyzes the University's
problems with undergraduate recruitment
and retention.
Log out supercomputer

top our
sibility, not an act of crime." After
testimonies by four of the defendents, and one
of the two demonstrators jailed for their
part in the protest last month, defense attor-
ney Donald Koster told the jury of several
cases where the defendant clearly committed
the crime but was found innocent.
He gave as examples the protests by Dr.
Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Peter
Zinger, a 17th-century newspaper editor who
was trialed for attacking the British crown
but was found innocent.
Noah called the acts "well intentioned, but
criminal acts committed with good intentions
do not exonerate you."
"The hung jury is a victory in the struggle
to rid the campus of arms research," said the
protesters in a joint statement FridAy. "We
persuaded (the jury) that there are higher
laws."

The National Science Foundation this week
turned down the University's request to
locate one of four "supercomputer" centers
in Ann Arbor that the agency is planning to
finance.
In a press conference, the NSF passed over
the University in favor of Princeton Univer-
sity, the University of Illinois, Cornell
University, and the University of California-
San Diego.
A supercomputer has several key advan-
tages over any other computer available, in-
cluding a greater memory capacity and much
faster access to information.
University officials involved in the project
expressed disappointment at its rejection.
According to William Martin, a professor of
Nuclear Engineering, the new computers
"could have started some new projects at the
University." He added, however, that
present research projects will not suffer.
In a related development, Univesity of-
ficials also fear the NSF will also reject an
engineering college proposal for a 21 million
dollar research grant, which would have been
used for work in robotics.
The NSF has not officially notified the
University, but officials said the fact that the
Foundation did not make a site visit to the
University to inspect research facility means
the requested fund will not be granted.
The jury's still out
After four and one-half hours of jury
deliberations brought no verdict Thursday af-
ternoon and Friday morning, the trial of
seven PSN members who participated in a
sit-in at Prof. George Haddad's laboratory
last March was ruled a hung jury Friday.
A new trial date of May 9 was set, but if a
new ruling governing jury selections cannot
be overturned by then, the case may be drop-
ped, according to Lynwood Noah, the
prosecuting attorney. L
The trial this week began Thursday mor-
ning with a 'short presentation by the
prosecution, including a video tape of the
demonstrator's arrest. -
The defense then stressed their argument
that the sit-in was "an act of social respon-

Minority aid up?
Increasing financial aid and lessening the
emphasis of standardized testing on minority
students are the two leading recommen-
dations of a report on improving the recruit-
ment and retention of minorities at the
University.
Niara Sudarkasa, associate vice president
for academic affairs, completed the report in
October. It will be officially released
tomorrow with the annual Affirmative Action
report, the implementation plan, and the
Executive Officer's recommendations on
Sudarkasa's report:
Sudarkasa's report provides recommen-
dations on how the University can best attain
its goal of 10 percent minority enrollment and
10 percent black enrollment.
For 1984-85, minority enrollment reached
11.3 percent, but black enrollment itself has
fallen 2.1 percent since its high mark of 7.2 in
1975-76.
To amend this problem Sudarkasa has
three points dealing with increasing the pool
of minority applicants, their admission; and
their enrollment.
Sudarkasa's memo , included recommen-
dations for four new positions, two in the ad-
missions office, one in financial aid, and a
.faculty laison. That would cost $87,000.
Sudarkasa's financial recommendation,
however, has been changed, according to
MSA President Scott Page. "There was a
problem with the budget according to
(University President) Shapiro," said Page.
How significantly it was changed, Page does
not know.
Lessening the impact of standardized tests,
like the SAT and ACT, is the best way to in-
crease the nurhber of admitted minorities,
Sudarkasa says. She points out that standar-
dized tests can be misleading and that the
students grades and recommendations should
be emphasized.
More personal contact by admissions of-
ficers and others would increase the number
of students who enroll after being admitted. It
would also provide a path for finding out why
minorities do not enroll at the University,
Sudarkasa says.

The heartless FDA

IN A VALIANT effort to save a life,
doctors at an Arizona hospital used
an artificial heart to keep a 33-year-old
man alive until a suitable donor could
be found. Although the man died on
Friday, it seems that the artificial
heart in this case served as a way to
keep someone alive for a short period
of time.
But . the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, which oversees the
development of artificial medical
devices, was not pleased. The heart
had not received the FDA's approval,
so officials were concerned that the
doctors used the opportunity as an ex-
periment.
Although a full investigation has not
been conducted, it is clear that Jack
Copeland, the doctor who made the
decision to use the device, was acting
in his patient's best interests.
An FDA spokesman asserted that
"We don't want to look like legalistic
bureaucrats. We want to learn what

led up to all of this." So far, however,
the FDA does appear to be overly con-
cerned with rules and not interested in
pragmatism.
The FDA's most important function
in situations like this is to make sure
that devices are not used haphazardly
and against the patient's will. In the
case of the Arizona patient, the
question was simple: an artificial
heart or death. And even though the
patient didn't make it, he at least had a
glimmer of a chance because of
Copeland's decision.
The incident also illuminates an
issue that seems to have received more
media coverage than FDA attention:
the usefulness of the artificial heart,
The artificial heart obviously has a
place in the medical community, and
it's up to the FDA to determine just
what that place will be. Until then, a
purely life-or-death decision like
Copeland's should be applauded, not
scorned.

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