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OPINION
Page 4 Sunday, April 14, 1985 The Michigan Daily
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
VOICE party wins top spots'
Vol. XCV, No. 155
420 Maynard 5t.
Ann Arbor, ML.48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Paul Josephson and Micky Feusse of the
VOICE party won the top spots in the
Michigan Student Assembly elections last
week. Their party nabbed 17 of the assem-
bly's 39 seats.
18 percent of the student body-an
estimated 6000 students-voted in the elec-
tion. This is the greatest amount of voters in
recent history.
The MUM party, led by engineering senior
Kevin Michaels, won 12 seats on the assem-
bly, but the MOVE party, led by LSA
sophomore Alex Diana did not receive any.
On your honor
A STUDENT SITS in a crowded lec-
ture hall, concentrating intently
on the multiple-choice test before him.
Knowing that the test will be graded on
a curve, he shields his 'paper from
other students, for he has heard
rumours of widespread cheating at the
University. Suddenly, as the teaching
assistant turns her back, he sees a
student in the next row blatantly
copying an answer from an unsuspec-
ting classmate. Torn by ,a moral
dilemma, he feels obligated to report
what he has seen, but feels unwilling to
jeopardize his classmate's future.
According to the LSA Joint Student
Faculty Policy Committee, the
preceding scenario happens with
alarming frequency at the University.
The committee recently interviewed
220 students, 58.9 percent of whom said
that they had encountered cheating in
the college.
To combat dishonesty, the commit-
tee recommended four stop-gap
measures which fail to address the un-
derlying problem - the lack of a
systematic policy to discipline offen-
ders.
The top proposal, having students sit
in alternative seats, has already been
enacted in many classes and has
proven moderately effective at best.
The committee also recommended
that instructors pass out two sets of
exam papers "whenever possible,"
that faculty members should monitor
exams more attentively, and that
faculty should not deal with cheating
themselves.
While ambitious and effective in
theory, these proposals are vague and
do not provide a uniform policy. The
present system of treating cheating
cases on an ad-hoc basis adds to this
inconsistency.
The committee has broached a
tpossible long-range solution, however,
imposing an LSA honor code similar
to the current system in the College of
Engineering.
The engineering honor code requires
students who observe cheating to turn
in the guilty party. According to
students and faculty members, it has
effectively instilled a fear of cheating
among engineering students.
Whether an honor code would prove
similarly effective in LSA is
questionable. For the exception of the
rigorous and competitive pre-law and
pre-medical classes, most of the
curriculum plays into the schedules of
a more laid back group of students
who, by nature of the very college of
which they are part, are less concerned'
about polished transcripts and more
concerned with getting what they can
from a course's offerings. Admittedly,
this is just a generalization and not all
LSA students fit the above description,
but, in comparison to those in the
College of Engineering, they are less
likely to feel directly affected and in-
jured by another student's cheating as
a means of finding ;immediate success.
An LSA honor code would certainly
be beneficial if it placed a uniform
punishment on offenders. With the
current system, (or lack thereof)
faculty members view the crime of
cheating in different perspectives.
While one may do nothing more than
admonish a student for not turning in
his own work, another may destroy a
test or even an entire class grade. All
offenders deserve equal punishment
for their actions regardless of the
nature of the personalities of their
professors or T.A.'s.
In addition, as the committee itself
stated, an LSA honor code would only
work if "it instills a sense of pride and
discipline in the students." Students
would have to take the system
seriously, even if it required turning in
a friend or acquaintance.
Thus, anyone investigating an LSA
honor code must seriously examine the
pros and cons of this controversial
measure. If successfully enacted, it
could help to-solve what appears to be
a chronic problem of dishonesty; if in-
correctly applied, it could lead to even
more problems than currently exist.
The Week
in Review
All of the ballot questions passed by a wide
margin. Question A asked students if they
would like to continue funding MSA through
mandatory fees, which may be increased
from $4.75 to $5.07.
Question B centered on the mandatory fee
assessments that are not currently listed on
students' tuition forms. These fees may be
added to the forms in the fall.
Question C concerned the code of
nonacademic conduct, and asked if the
student bodyshould accept a cody by vote
-before MSA and the administration endorsed
it.
All ballot questions will be used as
guidelines in future MSA decisions.
Vaccination anniversary
On April 12, 1955, Dr. Thomas Francis, then
chair of the University's Department of
Epidemiology, announced the discovery of a
polio vaccine.
Under Francis' direction, a team of 120
scientists aided by University Epidemiology
students, conducted their research out of the
no longer needed Polio Vaccine Evaluation
Center and in the School of Public Health.
Salk was Francis' former student, who had
been testing a polio vaccine at the University
of Pittsburgh. He sent test results to Francis
in 1953, who confirmed their validity two
years later.
When the formal announcement was made
at Rackham auditorium, the crowd went wild
and the Daily printed a special edition to
proclaim the news.
The University was flooded with phone calls
from people around the world who wanted
confirmation that the miracle was true.
The virus that killed and crippled thousands
each year has been virtually wiped out by
Salk's discovery.
Student awards
48 students and 11 groups received cer-
tificates of recognition for extra-curricular
The Week in Review was, compiled by
staff writers Karen Klein and Amy
Mindell and editors Thomas Miller and
Andrew Porter.
contributions to the University community.
Of these, 17 students and two groups were
given honorable achievement plaques for out-
standing contributions.
The awards are sponsored by the Office of
Student Services, the Comprehensive
Studies/Opportunity Program, and the
Michigan League, among others. Last year,
the award committee decided to hand out cer-
tificates in addition to the plaques so that
more people could be recognized.
"The recognition awards are a singular
distinction," said Shapiro, "it demonstrates a
committment made by students to'something
beyond themselves."
Shapiro gave first year law student Eric
Schnauffer an award for his effort in fighting
the proposed code of nonacademic conduct:
his effort has compelled Shapiro to rewrite
the code.
Other recipients include LSA senior Byron
Roberts for his research on minority recruit-
ment and retention, LSA senior Steven Smith,
who chaired the Millions Against Multiple
Sclerosis group, which received both an
achievement and recognition award, and An-
nette Fernholz, Editor in Chief of the Ensian.
Activism on campus
Armed with a volatile political issue -
namely apartheid in South Africa - cam-
puses on the east and west coast have ex-
ploded again in protest after almost a ten
year hiatus.
At least 100 student protestors have set up
an around the clock vigil in front of Columbia
University's Hamilton Hall for the past week.
Also 50 student protestors at the University of
California-Berkeley spontaneously began a
continuous vigil after an anti-apartheid rally
last Wesnesday.
In both instances the student efforts are
designed to apply pressure on their respective
schools to divest assets within South Africa.
Closer to home in Rackham Hall, David
Nbada, member of the African National
Congress, advised all those opposed to apar-
theid "must become a fighter-either a
fighter politically or a fighter militarily."
Adding fuel to the Columbia protest are six
students who have entered. a hunger strike
now in its third week. The hunger strikers are
demanding a meetin with the school's
trustees to discuss the divestment issue.
At Berkeley, student protestors are deman-
ding a quickening of the pace of University
divestment. The UC Divestment Coalition,
the group which sponsored the rally, has
demanded that the report concerning divest-
ment be presented to the regents at its April
meeting instead of in June.
The anti-apartheid vigils come in wake of
the arrests of students at Yale and the
University of Colorado over CIA recruitments
on their campuses.
Protest at Pioneer
More than 200 Pioneer High School students
boycotted classes to protest the forced
resignation of their senior advisor, Martha
Graham.
The students feel that Graham is being un-
fairly held responsible for scheduling the
prom and homecoming 'dances on Jewish
holidays and charges of racism in a student
election last summer.
Wiley Brownlee, of the school's superinten-
dent's office confirmed that no students would
be suspended for their action, though they
would receive unexcused absences. Brownlee
said that the action was "quite an educational
thing and they did it with a lot of class. We're
proud of them for that."
Blowoff for Tigers
On Tuesday, the Detroit Tigers kicked off
another season of baseball, America's cen-
tury-old' pasttime. Students everywhere
dropped their responsibilities to further their
educations and flocked to televisions in order
to catch that cherished first game; the
reminder of how pleasant the memories from,
the previous summer have been.
The Tigers, needless to say, opened their
season by shutting Cleveland down in three
consecutive games and letting the rest of the
American League know that, once again, they
were the team in baseball to beat.
They needed to reach back and put out
their familiar magic twice in the series by
mustering come-from-behind wins late in the
first and last games. Their rookie third-
baseman Chris Pittaro got off to a pheno-
menal start and helped lend the impression
that, come next October, the Graduate
Library may very possibly see the return of
study/rioting when the "boys" recapture the
championship of the world.
The immediate implications of the return of
Tiger baseball are already evident: Students
with portable radios are invading the campus
with broadcasts, and Tiger shirts and caps
are rapidly becoming official school unifor-
ms.
The Tigers' opponents are considerably
stronger this year, notably the slug-stuffed
Red Sox and the ferocious young Blue Jays.
Repeating just as division winners is nearly
impossible in the American League East,
baseball's fiercest division, and the Tigers
will probably besworking harder than ever
this summer to prove that they're still
baseball's finest.
Did you conspicuously notice how nice the
weather got as soon as baseball season star-
ted?
04
Reconciliation
Focus on retention
.
0 N FRIDAY,; President Reagant
announced his plan to lay a.
wreath at a. German military
cemetery as a symbol of reconciliation
with the German people. Reagan was
met with'criticism for his action from
the American Legion, members of the
Jewish community, and others who are
outraged by Reagan's insensitivity.
The problem is compounded by
Reagan's decision not to visit Dachau,
a Nazi concentration camp, because he
doesn't want to "send the wrong
signal" to Germans. Reagan feels that
going to Dachau emphasizes the past
instead of looking toward the "spirit of
reconciliation" between the United
States and Germany. The president
does not want to re-open old wor woun-
ds.
Reagan's intentions are clearly
good, but his method is deplorable.
Reconciliation with Germany is hardly
contingent on Reagan's
acknowledgement of - the horror in
Dachau. Reagan has justified his
decision not to visit Dachau by saying
that "very few" Germans alive
"remember even the war, and cer-
tainly none of them participated in any
way."
People all over the world do remember
the war, and that is why Reagan's
symbolic laying of the wreath is such
an impressive gesture of friendship
from the United States to Germany.
At the same time, Reagan's
dismissal of the Dachau concentration
camp is similarly a signal to the world
of Untied States' feelings toward the
holocaust.
The people of this country do
remember the holocaust as a large and
ugly part of the war. President
Reagan's insensitivity for the people
who have attachments at Dachau. is
disrespect for all those who survived
the concentration camps.
Survivors of concentration camps
and their descendants do not forget the
past in their effort to look toward the
future. New attitudes of friendship and
reconciliation are formed by learning
from history, not by ignoring it.
As a representative of the people,
President Reagan needs to understand
the significance of his inaction as a
statement of disinterest in this country
toward the survivors of concentration
camps.
This is not the message an aware and
thoiuhtful nresident wants to conve-v
By Cheryl Jordan,
Constance Jordan,
and Byron Roberts
University administrators in recent Michigan Daily ("Racism ar-
ticle stirs anger," 4/3) and University Record ("Frye rebuts biased
Free Press article," 4/8) articles have expressed disappointment over
the March 31 Detroit Free Press article, "Being Black at UM."
Administrators contend that the Free Press should have produced a
more objective story; if it was necessary to produce such a story at all.
A related implication is that black students who were interviewed for
the story could have been more objective in their comments.
Specifically, administrators have charged that black students' com-"
ments expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of life at the Univer-
sity were made "willy-nilly." Also, administrators have complained
that these comments were "misleading" and "damaging" to the
University's image. They claim that these comments will hamper
future minority recruitment efforts. Among those black students in-
-terviewed for the Free Press story, we would like to respond.
Black students at the University have no control over what is con-
sidered newsworthy by the Detroit Free "Press. Nor do black students
control how newsworthy stories are written. Black students do have
concerns about the quality of life at the University. Given the oppor-
tunity to discuss these concerns, eight of us did. Members of the
University's sports teams and student government discuss campus
issues with the public regularly. We have the same right.
The article focused on the experiences of eight black student leaders
at the University. It represented accurately the opinions stated during
the interview. It included positive as well as negative comments. We
do not think that the article was "highly irresponsible." It is not clear
way the administration holds this view. It is unfortunate that ad-
ministrators did not respond to student comments for the article.
Our responses were not misleading. They were sincere. Dr.
was not our task to assume the role of impartial observers. Our job
was to describe our feelings, as black students at a predominantly
white institution. Administrators have said that the article implied
that the University is "permeated by racial bias againstrblacks."
However, it is clearly the responsibility of the educated reader to
determine to what degree our comments represented the experiences
of many black students on this campus.
The comments of several other minority group students suggest tha
we do share similar experiences with them. A March 12 letter to thW
Michigan Daily, entitled, "Anti-Semitism Prevalent at University,"
discusses concerns similar to those raised in the Free Press article.
An article in the April 15 issue of MSA News entitled, "Quality of Life
at the University of Michigan: The Hispanic Perspective," reflects
these concerns, likewise. We do not aim to hamper University
recruitment, retention and graduation initiatives. However, we and
other minority students will retain the right to speak out when we feel
the need to.
Administrators claim that our statements will be damaging to th
University's image and thus minority student recruitment efforts. I
this likely? In the same Daily article in which administrators voiced
their comments, Dave Robinson from the Admissions Office said: "I
really don't think there are hordes of students that are scared of us.
These students are used to taking it on the hide, enduring hardships."
In the University Record article, Dr. Sudarkasa said: "It is my
judgment, however, that the 'image' factor is far less a deterrent to
increasing enrollment than economic factors."
The University teaches us to think critically and to value debate. We
are not taught to accept circumstances as they exist. We are taught to
probe constantly for new and better answers. In our opinion, the ad-
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