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Editorial FreedomX , .yT High in the low to mid-60s.
Vol. XCV, No. 140 Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Thursday, March 28, 1985 Fifteen Cents Fourteen Pages
Academic probation disciplines
students
By STEVEN LEIKEN
Denny Matecun, an engineering
school senior and residence advisor,
came to the University three years ago
as a self-proclaimed cocky high school
graduate. He recalls how he thought his
- near 4.0 G.P.A. guaranteed him an easy
ride through college.
But Matecun's first semester was
anything but a piece of cake. Hie
received a 1.8 G.P.A. and a form letter
notifying him that he had been placed
on academic probation.
1. . . Since your term grade point
average was below the 2.0 required to
be in good standing, you have been
placed, on academic probation," read
the letter Matecun found in his mailbox.
"I came here thinking it was a piece of
cake," says Matecun as he reflects on
his disastrous first term freshman year
grades. "I expected it to be a lot closer
to high school than it ended up being.
"Probation scared me. It made me
Council
candidates
prepare
for election
By ARONA PEARLSTEIN
First in a two-part series
With city elections less than a week
away, both the Democratic and
Republican parties are heating up their
fight for control of the Ann Arbor City
Council. This year is more crucial than
ever since it gives the Democrats a
strong chance for control of the
traditionally Republican-dominated
council.
The Republicans have no challenger
to First Ward Democratic incumbent
Lowell Peterson, which gives the
Democrats a head start in the elections.
THE DEMOCRATS have made af-
fordable housing one of their key con-
cerns during the campaign. Jeff Epton,
the Third Ward Democratic incumbent,
advocates stablizing the existing
housing market and encouraging
developers to become involved in state
subsidy programs that increase affor-
dable housing for low-income people.
"Th ere s a (state) program that will
loan money below the market interest
See CITY, Page 5
get more serious," Matecun says. "I
came here saying I'd settle for a 3.5. Af-
ter two semesters, I changed that to get-
ting through U. of M. with a degree."
. LIKE MATECUN, Taaj Suri, an
engineering sophomore, overestimated
Michigan. "I expected it to be harder. .
. The first semester I glided through on
what I learned in high school." His
second and third terms he says he tried
to do the same. "I got exactly what I
deserved," Suri says. "I haven't put my
best foot forward."
Matecun's and Suri's cases are not
unusual. Many students come to the
University from' top-notch nigh schools
thinking that they can slide by on their
past achievements and lacking the
serious motivation and hard work that
it takes to be an academic success.
According to Assistant Dean of
Engineering Leland Quackenbush, the
roots of .poor grades are also often
found in personal problems, but he
says "usually the lack of motivation" is
instrumental in bringing down grades.
"The students we accept are capable of
succeeding," he adds.
Of the 13,788 LSA students and the
4,000 engineering students, last fall 10.7
for poor academic performace. The
majority of these students were of,
junior and sophomore class standing,67
and 70 respectively. Only 53 were
seniors and .27 were freshmen. The
engineering school did not have the
'Probation scared me.
It made me get more
serious. I came here saying I'd settle for a 3.5.
After two semesters, I changed that to getting
through U. of M. with a degree.'
-Denny Matecun
engineering school senior
board which administers academic
discipline, says three things can happen
after a .student is first placed on
probation.
According to Crafton, probation will
be lifted if the student has an overall
and semester G.P.A. over 2.0 for the
next semester; the student will be
placed on continued probation if his
next semester's G.P.A. is over 2.0 but
the overall average remains below that
level; or the student will be dismissed
from the University..
In LSA, after two semesters on
probation a student can be dismissed,
while the engineering school allows
three semesters. If the second or third
semester of probation occurs during the
fall semesters, the student may be
given anouther semester before
enrollment is denied.
THOUGH LSA students are only
permitted two semesters, the "two
semesters isn't as rigidly enforced as it
was a few years ago," says Crafton. In
addition, Assistant Dean of LSA
Eugene Nissen says "we might set
special terms for individual students."
In LSA, freshman and transfer
students are given a little leeway
during their first term. This leeway is
"very subjective," according to Nissen.
"There are adjustment problems and
we try to take that into consideration,"
he says.
Students who use up their
probationary periods must face a
hearing board to determine their
status. This procedure gives students
the chance to petition the University for
readmittance, according to Crafton. In
their letters to the board, students can
spell out why they deserve a second
chance, she says.
But-once the bard decides to dismiss
a student, that is the final word, says
See ACADEMIC, Page 3
percent of engineers and 4.6 percent of
LSA students were placed on academic
probation for failing to maintain a C
average in their classes that semester..
AFTER THE 1984 winter semester,
249 students were dismissed from LSA
numbers broken down by class stan-
ding.
The University's policy for academic
discipline varies slightly depending on
the school involved. Helen Crafton,
head of the LSA Academic Actions
TAs union to
consider terms
of new contract
,By BARBARA LOECHER
Members of the TAs union will meet
tonight to discuss the terms of a ten-
tative contract agreement reached by
the University and the union last
Friday. TAs worked for two weeks on
an extended contract while they waited
for University and union officials to
negotiate a settlement at the
bargaining table.
The contract, which still must be ap-
proved by members of the Graduate
Employees' Organization (GEO), in-
cludes a 50 percent tuition waiver and a
five percent salary increase for
teaching and research assistants, ac-
cording to Union President Jane
Holzka.
HOLZKA SAID thtat the ballots
mailed out to union members this
weekend should be returned to the GEO
office by April 19 at the latest. GEO is
expected to announce the results of the
vote on the contract April 22, she said.
Although the TAs union has favored a
100 percent tuition waiver in the past,
Holzka has said she is "particularly
pleased" with the monetary benefits
recognized in the contract. She said
that under thq terms of the previous
contract, only 40 percent of TAs tuition
costs were waived.
The tentative contract authorizes the
addition of several non-monetary
benefits. GEO won a stipulation in the
contract for discussion oftworking con-
ditions between department chairs and
TAs and a clause requiring departments
to provide English language assistance
for TAs to whom English is a second
language.
UNIVERSITY officials refused to
comment on the terms of the contract.
"The less said the better," said Dan
Gamble, University personnel
manager and a member of the Univer-
sity bargaining team. Chief negotiator
for the University, Colleen Dolan-
Greene noted that it is contrary to
University policy to discuss a contract
before it is ratified.
Although only union members will
vote to ratify the contract, the agency
shop clause in the union's contract
requires all TAs to support the union
financially. Union members are
assessed "membership dues" and non-
members are charged "representation
fees," though Holzka said the differen-
ce between the dues and the fees is
nominal.
A provision in the proposed contract,
designed to reduce the paperwork bur-
don on union workers, requires TAs
who intend to join GEO to indicate their
intent by checking the appropriate box
on a "dues" card. Those who do not
wish to become GEO members are not
required to complete the card.
ndthey'reo ffa iDily Photo by KATE O'LEARY
And te eof...
The pouring rain didn't stop students from coming out to watch Greek Week's Phi Psi 500 tricycle race yesterday. A
crowd of 300 gather to watch students slurp slabs of jello, drink beer through straws and ride tricycles around the course
in front of the Zeta Tau Alpha house. Tonight's Greek event is the 7:00 p.m. variety show at Hill Auditorium.
Direct maling targets students
By LAURA BISCHOFF
Dear Joe Student:
J . C. Penney likes to give credit where credit is
due! And because you're on the way to the top, you
deserve a charge account with a store in tune with
your lifestyle. That's why J. C. Penny has a pre-
approved charge account reserved for you. .
University students - especially upperclassmen -
open up their mailboxes every day to stacks of credit
card applications, catalogues, and other forms of
"junk mail" addressed specifically to them.
DIRECT MAIL marketing captures 70 percent of
the American advertising dollar today. It's a big
selling channel for practically every kind of
capitalistic venture there is.
Great, you say, but how the heck do these
businesses know who you are and that you are a stud-
ent?
Your name gets around. From the moment Mom
and Dad call you junior, your name and age is public
information and probably is placed on a mailing list
of some sort.
THE UNIVERSITY is prohibited by a regental
policy from selling or giving away student data, but
that doesn't mean businesses won't find out who and
where you are.
Mailing lists are compiled by insurance and credit
companies, magazine publishers, census takers,
telephone companies, and even the Michigan
Secretary of State's Office.
These firms compile information on computers,
organize.it into demographic categories, and sell the
materials from $40 to $80 per thousand names. Aetna
National, one such list company, has 72 million
people on its residential files alone.
PLENTY OF organizations are interested in pur-
chasing these lists. The United States Armed Forces,
for example, order lists for 12 to 15 cents per name
from the Secretary of State's file of registered
drivers. The military's prime target for recruitment
are the nation's 18-to 26-year olds, the names of whom
are pumped out of each state's giant computer.
"The law requires that we sell (names and info-
rmation) for a price," said Ed Boucher of the
secretary of state's office in Lansing. Revenue from
the sale is used for highway improvements. A com-
plete list of all the registered drivers in Michigan - 5
or 6 million people - would cost nearly $90,000,
Boucher says.
In addition to the military, insurance companies
and R. L. Polk, a mailing list firm which provides in-
formation on auto owners whose cars must be
recalled, also buy information from the secretary of
state's office.
BOUCHER SAID the secretary of state officials are
trying to amend that law, part of the Michigan
Vehicle Code, so that the mailing lists can only be
sold tonon-commercial organizations.
Getting an accurate list of college students is dif-
ficult, though certainly not impossible.
Since students are so transient and the University
withholds information on them, the only way firms
can compile a list of this year's student body is by
copying the student directory. Indeed; many large
firms buy issues of the directory just for that pur-
pose. But this process is too inefficient for smaller
firms such as Michigan Document Services located
on E. William Which lists Washtenaw County residen-
ts and businesses.
"WE'VE TALKED to the University several times
nicely (without success)," said Michigan Document
Services owner Jim Smith. "But eventually we'll
make (student mailing lists) available one way or
another."
Smith sees a potentially large market for mailing
lists of University students, particularly for local pizza
See JUNK, Page 2
Audit revecdls medical
loan program- abuses
WASHINGTON (AP) - Medical and
dental students, eligible for up to
$80,000 in government-backed school
loans, have used the program to pay for
new cars, divorce lawyers, and even a
trip to Europe while soaring default
rates threaten the program with
bankruptcy, auditors said yesterday.
The internal audit by the inspector
general of the Health and Human Ser-
vices Department said that unlike most
loan programs, the medical program
has treated the loans as virtually an ab-
solute right of students, with little
regard for where the money is going,
whether it is needed or whether it is
likely to be repaid.
THE PROGRAM has suffered abuses
as a result, the audit said. While an
emergency increase in insurance
premiums averted bankruptcy this
year, the audit report said, more
changes must be made "to prevent the
deficiencies from crippling the
program and undermining program in-
tegrity."
The audit by Inspector General
Richard Kusserow covered the Health
Education Assistance Loan Program.
See AUDIT, Page 3
TODAY-
Ooooooh, how romantic
A MiOTTTNTTi TE) T in shining armnr rcn still
ter's clamming armor, and threw him onto the pavement.,
The horse clopped on toward Nikkola's workplace at Con-
vergent Technologies, she said, but Carter, who escaped in-
jury, climbed into a truck and rode on a more conventional
fashion to complete his proposal. Because she couldn't
refuse an armored knight, she agreed to marry him. "I
wouldn't have the nerve to say no after all that," she said.
Hairy Droblemt
president of the Portland Police Association, said he
doesn't approve. "I just don't think it's professional-
looking to wear a beard." Peters said. "But we were
equally opposed to the military-style haricuts that Chief
Still imposed. Maybe this will be a good compromise."
Polish women
A marican men seeking the excitement of a foreign
charges $100 for the service. "I'm not going to mismatch
people just so I can make a buck." The matchmaking agen-
cy tells each many seeking a "sincere relationship" that it
will arrange one with an Eastern European. The agency
has received 50 responses in the past two weeks. Aparently,
Polish women also want to meet American men. The mat-
chmaking service has pictures and letters from about 1,000
Polish women between the ages of 18 and 52. The letters
began arriving after Danusia Mason's mother placed an ad
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