The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 1985 - Page B13
Student-teacher relations more personal in RC
By RACHEL GOTTLIEB
The University of Michigan is huge,
Ann Arbor weather is frigid, and
receiving an 'A' in a class is an up-hill
pattle. But Residential College
students don't have to worry about
grades or braving the arctic climate.
In fact, sometimes RC students wear
their pajamas to class.
Established in 1967, the RC is a four-
year degree-granting program within
the College of Literature, Science, and
the Arts. There are approximately 750
students in the college, which is
devoted exclusively to undergraduate
education.
"IN THE early days of the college,
Its reputation of radicalism turned a
lot of people off," said John Mer-
sereau, the outgoing RC director.
But "today the RC is the jewel of
undergraduate education," said the
new director, Elizabeth Douvan.
RC students are required to live in
East Quad for two years, and most of
their classes and their professors' of-
fices are located right in the dorm.
The educational philosophy of the
e stresses interdisciplinary learning
And analytical thinking.
The classes are specifically
designed to teach the students to think
analytically, said Razelle Brooks,
the assistant to the director of the RC.
THE GRADING is also different in
the RC. For the first two years in the
program, students receive 250-word
evaluations by the professors and the
word "pass" or "fail." The
evaluations are permanent on the
transcripts.
Evaluations state the goals of the
course, how close the student came to
meeting those goals, and what the
student's strengths and weaknesses
are.
Students may only opt to receive
grades if they are juniors or seniors,
or if it is for a class in their concen-
tration.
"THE EVALUATIONS have not in-
terfered with admission to graduate,
law or medical schools," Brooks said.
"In fact, sometimes they help
because they say more than grades."
The RC has seven concentration
programs: arts and ideas, social
science, comparative literature,
creative writing, drama, inter-
national studies, and individualized
concentration, and all courses have
honors sections. Students can also
elect a concentration program in LSA.
To graduate from the RC, students
must meet the RC requirements.
Unlike LSA, all students must take
two intensive courses in a foreign
language.
Before being placed in a class,
students are tested for reading,
writing, listening, and speaking skills.
The RC has its own language lab,
language tables, and coffee hours.
A room is designated for each
language during lunch time and
people are encouraged to eat in the
room of their language of study. Only
the foreign language is permitted to
be spoken during the lunch and the
coffee hours. Students may opt to eat
in the cafeteria.
"LOTS OF our kids get jobs in
which bilinguality is a very important
component," Brooks said. "Students
are encouraged to study abroad. Half
the students going to the junior year in
Aix-en-Provence in France this year
are from the RC, and we're one-
twentieth the size of LSA," she said.
Students are also required to take
one class in the practical arts. The RC
offers print making, sculpture,
ceramics, and photography. Or
students may play an instrument with
the RC Chamber, sing with the RC
Singers, or take part in the RC
Players production for one semester.
The classes are smaller with sizes
rarely exceeding 20 students, and the
faculty have their offices in East
Quad so they are more accessible to
the students.
"STUDENTS TEND to enjoy
greater freedom and more contact
with the faculty," said Herb Eagle, a
professor in the RC. "They attach
themselves to Ann Arbor as a home
because they become involved."
"The RC attempts to create a small
liberal arts college with the advan-
tage of a large school," Eagle added.
"There are quite a few students who
want to improve community life
within the RC even after they move
out of the dorm," Douvan said.
Although no cuts were made in the
RC budget this year, "we want to find
other sources of funding to put into
programs," she said.
"But the college has very loyal
alumni who contribute annually to the
fundraising drive," Brooks said.
Mersereau will be returning as Ac-
ting Chairman of the Slavic Depar-
tment in LSA, but he said he hopes
"that the new director will have a
honeymoon with the college that will
be to the college's advantage."
"I am absolutely and completely
thrilled and delighted with the choice of
my successor," Mersereau added.
Pilot program c{
By CHRISTY RIEDEL
At a university as large as Michigan it's easy for a
student to get swept up into the mainstream and start
feeling lost among the crowd. But the Pilot Program is a
mini-school within LSA.
The program, housed in Alice Lloyd, began in 1962 and
is said to be the oldest program of its type in the country,
and involves about 95 percent of Alice Lloyd's 600 residen-
ts.
DURING A University expansion, there was a concern
that many students would begin to feel lost and over-
whelmed. The Pilot Program was born to offset that con-
cern, said Gigi Bosch, administrative director of the
program.
"The Pilot Program is a living-learning experience
which combines a residence program with an academic
program," Bosch said.
Instructors are graduate teaching assistants who live in
the dormitory with the students and act as Resident
Fellows, the equivalent of Resident Advisors in other
dorms, Bosch said.
STUDENTS CAN take a variety of classes in the
program, which meet in the dorm. Classes are small,
averaging from 15 to 22 students per section.
bombats LSA size
The program has no academic requirements and allows
students to participate in as many or as few of the classes
as they please.
THE PROGRAM offers several different types of cour-
ses: Pilot Seminars, which revolve around topics
designed by resident fellows and cover a variety of
cultural and social issues, mini-courses, which deal with
topics of personal interest to instructors and students, and
regular courses, such as English 125, a course required of
all freshmen.
Students feel that classes gain an added value because
they are designed around a professor's special interests.
"The teachers want to be teaching the class .- it's
something they're really interested in," said Becky
Felton, a sophomore in the program.
Tutoring is also available to students throughout the
week and the Mentor Program facilitates student/instruc-
tor interaction independent of the Pilot Program.
Through this program, students are assigned to Univer-
sity faculty and staff members who they meet with
throughout the year to discuss academic interests and
social issues.
Also, the dorm regularly invites speakers and holds
debates, forums, and discussions dealing with personal
and global issues, Bosch said.
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429-4800
'U' alum broke baseball's color barrier
(Continued from Page 3)
FORMER MICHIGAN governor
William Milliken and lieutenant
governor Martha Griffiths also
received diplomas from the Univer-
sity.
And Nancy Kassebaum ('56), a
junior senator from Kansas, is one of
only two women who sit on Congress'
upper chamber.
Outside the political arena, Univer-
sity women graduates have climbed
to great. places as well. Instead of
making decisions that could affect the
nation, Ann B. Davis made them for
that notable clan "The Brady Bunch"
as lovable Alice the housekeeper.
BUT DAVIS DOES not stand alone
as a tube star from the University.
Gilda Radner, famous Saturday Night
Live comedian, spent five years here,
but "came up a few credits short of
graduation," said Joel Berger of the
Alumni Association.
Another non-graduate, Madonna
Ciccone, recently blasted her way to
rock and cinema stardom less than 10
years after she dropped out of the
University, leaving the School of
Music and a full scholarship behind.
In addition to the on-screen talents
the University has produced, the
school has several screen writers to
its credit. John Briley ('51) walked off
with an Academy Award for his work
on Gandhi.
AND LAWRENCE KASDAN ('54)
gained national attention for his
critically-acclaimed story of seven
former University students who re-
unite in The Big Chill. He also direc-
ted Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body
Heat, and several other box office
smashes.
Other graduates have gone on to
produce some of TV's most well-loved
shows, like Hal Cooper ('46), who
brought us "That Girl" and "Maude,"
and John Rich, who produced "All in
the Family."
In addition to graduating
newsmakers, the University has
produced many who find and report
the news. Mike Wallace ('39), who
pioneered the field of television jour-
nalism in the 1940s, is considered
today the father of TV news.
In print, Discover and Esquire
magazines are both published by for-
mer Wolverines - Leon Jaroff and
Arnold Gingrich ('25). The Esquire's
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Former President Gerald Ford speaks at his alma mater. He was captain of the Wolverines football'team
before he graduated from the University in 1935.
editor, Betsy Carter, is also a Univer-
sity graduate, as is New Yorker editor
William Shawn.
In addition, the University has
produced numerous newspaper writers
and editors, including Robin Wright
('70) of the London Times.
FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT Arthur
Miller ('38) walked away with a
coveted Hopwood writing award at
this school. He went on to pen The
Crucible and Death of a Salesman,
becoming one of the finest writers of
this century. And Judith Guest ('58)
gained her reputation with the book
Ordinary People, later an award-
winning movie.
On a less serious note, University
graduate Nancy Willard ('58) took the
Newberry Award for best children's
book, while fellow graduate Chris Van
Allsburg received the Caldecott
award for best children's book with
illustrations.
And comic strip writer Cathy
Guisewite probably scrawled some of
her favorite Cathy strips along the
borders of note-filled spirals during
her time here.
OTHER FAMOUS UNIVERSITY
women include Madelon Stockwell,
the first woman admitted to the
University, in 1870, and Janet Guthrie
('60), who raced with the big boys
down gasoline alley at the In-
dianapolis 500 in the late 1970s.
Although she had engine trouble and
failed to finish the race, she paved the
way for other women to compete in
the previously male-dominated sport.
Branch Rickey ('11) tread on some
new turf when he put Jackie Robinson
in the outfield for his, Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1947. Together they not
only broke the color barrier in
baseball, but Robinson also went on to
win the Rookie of the Year award.
Rickey is now enshrined in
baseball's hall of fame. Several other
University graduates have also car-
ved their niche in the sports world.
Tom Harmon ('41) won college foot-
ball's Heisman trophy the year he
graduated, after leading the
Wolverines to their only national
championship.
As a center of higher learning, the
University has been sure to produce
graduates capable of running a
university. Aside from University
President Harold Shapiro, Matina
Souretis Horner, president of Rad-
cliff, the women's college at Harvard,
and Edward Jennings, president ofj
Ohio State University, began their'
climb to the top here.
School pressures eased by 'U' counseling services
-m (Continued from Page 3)
socially-sanctioned activity, drinking
It's a good on campus is sometimes a cause for
place to start. . . concern. Peer pressure often adds to
the problem, Briefer said.
63-1553d k"There are a lot of people who don't
drink or who drink moderately. But
there are people who have a strong
need to belong, and if you re in a
group that says it's okay to lose your
mind every Friday and Saturday, well
sometimes you fall into a pattern. It
takes a strong person to resist that,"
Briefer said.
NEW SEXUAL freedom that comes
with leaving home, and no curfews
also cause anxiety and confusion,
Briefer said.
"I'm talking about both sexes now,"
he added, and said, "Sometimes
alcohol is used to make things a little
looser."
Counselors are also trained to treat
people with eating disorders.
Anorexia and bulimia are more com-
mon among young women than any
other age or group, Briefer said.
ANOREXICS DEPRIVE them-
selves of food while bulimics consume
large quantities of food and then
purge themselves of the food by in-
ducing vomiting, taking laxatives, or
exercising excessively.
The counseling office operates a
phone service called 76-guide with
evening and weekend service. Peer
counselors trained by the professional
counseling office answer the phones.
They also conduct workshops in the
dorms to help students deal with
problems before they get out of hand,
and to tell students where to go for
help.
Counseling Center on Huron Street
offers psychotherapy to students for a
low fee, and to staff and the general
public on a sliding scale.
This is primarily a training agency,
and each counselor's work is super-
vised by agency professionals.
The quality of the counseling is high,
but patients who need the stability of
long-term care are often encouraged
to meet with private practicioners
because of the frequent turnover of in-
terns.
Stop by or call UHS Public Relations (763-4384) for a detailed information brochure.
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