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Ninety-six years of editorial freedom
Ann Arbor,_Michigan - Wednesday, November 13, 1985
Vol. XCVI - No. 50
Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily
Eight Pages
I
'U,
reviews
language
reqpffuy-
mt
By NANCY DRISCOLL
The LSA curriculum committee is
investigating the possibility of
changing the foreign language
requirement to include a test of
student's proficiency in a language.
Currently, all students in LSA must
take four semesters of a foreign
language or have taken four years in
high school to complete the
requirement, but they do not have to
pass a proficiency test.
Tower of London?
The fog settles in over the bell tower yesterday.
Seminars teach rape
By LAURA BISCHOFF
The University's rape awareness workshops,
which began this fall, are being received well on
campus, according to organizers.
The 17 student facilitators have presented five
workshops over the past two weeks and requests
for workshops are "pouring in," according to
David Lovinger, a senior art student who is an
organizer of the program.
THE SESSIONS are run by student discussion
leaders for groups of dormitory residents and
other campus groups. They focus on date and
acquaintance rape - in which the victim and
assailant know each other - which is the most
common type of sexual assault.
Organizers refused to let a reporter sit in on
sessions for other campus groups because they
were concerned that the reporter's presence
might discourage participants from speaking
freely. But last week they held a workshop for The
Michigan Daily's staff and a reporter was allowed
to observe.
The workshops open with a quiz on the myths
and facts which organizers say surround the issue
of rape. The workshop attempts to dispell a num-
ber of myths, including "women enjoy being
raped," women "ask for it," and "rape is an act of
sex rather than violence."
THROUGH THE quiz, the workshop presents
participants with several facts about rape. They
stress that most rapes occur indoors and are per-
petrated by acquaintances. One in three women
and one out of every 10 men will be the victim of a
sexual assault in their lifetime, according to the
quiz.
In the discussion on acquaintance rape,
workshop leaders Shelly Ebbert, a graduate
student, and Jim Fendelman, an LSA senior point
out that acquaintance rape happens in familiar
surroundings, the victim knows the rapist, there is
usually inadequate communication between the
two, and the victim is often vulnerable because of
the use of drugs or alcohol or a lack of assertive
behavior.
"THE COLLEGE curriculum
committee is interested in the level of
Daily Photo by DEAN RANDAZZO competence attained by our foreign
language students and wants to
evaluate the idea of a proficiency
requirement which is receiving much
national attention," according to
Associate Dean Jack Meiland.
The curriculum committee yester-
day, in its charge to the eight-member
aw a res= Foreign Language Instruction Com-
mittee, the curriculum committee
wrote, "It is alleged that students can
satisfy the foreign language
Behaving assertively, Ebbert and Fendelman requirement with four years of high
said in the workshop for the Daily staff, is the best school but may not necessarily have a
way to approach such situations. They contrasted level of proficiency in a foreign
assertiveness with agressive behavior, in which language that we feel is suitable for a
someone forces their way into a situation without college graduate."
regard to the other's rights, and complacency - They have asked the subcommittee
the failure to assert oneself. to "consider replacing the current
THE WORKSHOPS also use videos to illustrate foreign language requirement by a
situations and drum up discussion. Ebbert said the requirement or a set of requirements
videos work well because "people don't want to that each student attain a given level
look at their own lives. They are more inclined to of achievement in the foreign
think about it if they see the videos." language of his or her choice, perhaps
A resident advisor at Bursley who arranged a by scoring at a certain level on a
workshop for her hall said the videos were "silly proficiency exam."
t-L .,...r .> ">
must complete the requirement in
college.
"We discovered that the number of
students with four years of a language
in high school who took placement
tests at Michigan are doing less well
than those who have had four
semesters in college."
"The fact that you can complete the
requirement by taking four years in
high school without anybody checking
what you have actually learned isn't
fair," Carduner said. "The length of
time studying does not have much to
do with how much you know."
JOHN MERSEREAU, Professor of
Slavic Languages and chair of the
language committee, said "The
requirement has little meaning unless
there is some proficiency required.
Otherwise, it's just an attendance
requirement."
"The basic problem is that if you
are going to spend the time and
money on language instruction, you
should ensure that (the students)
learn the language," Mersereau said.
He said the level of proficiency
which will be required is "totally
open."
The committee, which has not yet
met, does not have a set deadline to
make a recommendation, according
to Meiland. Any change in the current
language requirement must be ap-
proved by the LSA faculty.
Other members of the Foreign
Language Instruction Committee are
German Prof. Gerhard Dunnhaupt,
Arabic Prof. Raji Rammuny,
Romance language associate Prof.
TrishaDvorak, associate French
Prof. Michio Hagiwara, Japanese
Prof. Robert Brower, associate Prof.
of Latin Glenn Knudsvig, and
language institute lecturer Carolyn
Madden.
but useful."
Liz Erving, an LSA freshmansaid she thought
the workshop was informative and worth two
hours our of her studying time. The workshop
dispelled a lot of myths, she said.
Erving said after the workshop, "Sometimes
you wonder if you can really protect yourself."
JEAN CARDUNER, chairman of
the Department of Romance
Languages, brought the issue to the
attention of the curriculum commit-
tee. He called the current
requirement unfair to students who
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Survey
addresses
minority
retention
By CHERYL WISTROM
As part of the effort to increase
minority recruitment and retention,
the University has sent a survey to a
random sample of students asking
them to assess the quality of life on
campus.
The survey, which was put together
by associate vice president for
academic affairs Niara Sudarkasa
and graduate psychology student
Jerry Isaac, was sent last week to
between 3,100 and 3,500 students, half
of whom are members of minority
groups.
THE QUESTIONNAIRE results will
be featured in a report on minority
retention to be issued by Sudarkasa
and her staff early next semester,
said Richard Turner, an assistant to
Sudarkasa.
The letter accompanying the
questionnaire states that its purpose
is to "better appreciate the perspec-
tives of all students on various
academic and non-academic aspects
of University life."
Mauricio Gobirit, an assistant to
Sudarkasa, said he hopes the survey
See MINORITY, Page 2
Bummer
Halley's doesn't match its hype
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . ....................vv:::....... .:.. ..:::::. . . .i2
Soviets
intensify propaganda
From AP and UPI
MOSCOW - The Soviet Union stepped up its pre-
summit propaganda maneuvering yesterday, attacking
U.S. policies from human rights to "Star Wars" one week
before President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gor-
bachev meet in Geneva.
"Facts show that Washington's hegemony plans have
not changed," the military newspaper Red Star said in an
editorial.
RED STAR said the strategic defense initiative, a U.S.
program to devise a space-based anti-missile shield
known as "Star Wars," is an attempt by "U.S. im-
perialists to gain world supremacy by achieving military
superiority over the Soviet Union."
Unlike the 1979 summit between former President
Jimmy Carter and the late Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev, there has been no easing in the propaganda
barrage to lighten tensions before the Nov. 19-20 super-
power Geneva summit..
"Even influential circles in the West admit the negative
effect by they U.S. space militarization plans on the results
of the summit," Red Star said.
MOSCOW has consistently pushed to make arms control
- especially "Star Wars" - the centerpiece of the sum-
mit. But the United States wants to discuss human rights
and regional conflicts in which the two countries back op-
posing armed factions, such as Afghanistan and
Nicaragua.
In Washington, the Reagan administration has
proposed an "open laboratory" arrangement for the
United States and the Soviet Union to exchange scientists
and double-check each other's "Star Wars" research, a
senior administration official said yesterday.
But the Soviet Union, so far, has refused to go along with
any agreement that permits research into Star Wars
technology, the official said, even though the United
See SOVIET, Page 2
By MARC CARREL.
Halley's Comet, the most
celebrated comet in history, having
been sighted 29 times since the An-
cient Chinese first saw it 240 B.C.,
made its first appearance in 75 years
this week as it moved closer to the
center of the solar system.
But before you rush to the nearest
window to catch a glimpse of this
celestial boomerang, you might do
well to heed the advice of Jim Loudon,
staff astronomer of the University's
Exhibit Museum.
"I THINK most people should not
bother (to look for the comet),"
Loudon said. "At most, when the
comet is at its brightest, it will only be
barely visible to the naked eye."
"Halley's will be visible by in-
struments now for a period every
month when the moon is not in the
sky,"he said. "But when I sayvisible,
that doesn't mean that is will be easy
to see. This will be the worst ap-
parition of Halley's Comet in 2,000
years."'
Despite the problems with viewing
the comet in your back yard, Loudon
expects this apperance of Halley's toj
provide plenty of excitment.
"This is an absolute bonanza for
astronomers, though," Loudon ex-
plained. "We are going to learn more
about comets in the next six months
than in the last 3,000 years. But if
someone is not super enthusiastic, he
should plan on sitting in front of the
television next March to watch the
pictures coming back .from space."
Loudon, who is also the director of a
series of monthly film and lecture
programs called AstroFest, explained
why this visit from Halley will be
poor:
" Halley's Comet is never coming
close to the earth. It will never be
closer than 38 million miles. Mars
gets closer to earth than that.
* When the comet is at its nearest to
the earth, in February, it will be at its
brightest. The only problem is that at
that time it will be behind the sun, and
'At most, when the comet is at its
brightest, it will only be barely visible to
the naked eye.
- Jim Loudon
Astronomer
therefore unable to be seen.
* The light pollution from the cities
makes it even harder to see. And since
most people today live in cities, they
will have to drive to the country for a
better view.
" When it is at its brightest, in Mar-
ch and April, the comet will be ex-
tremely low in the sky. You would
have to go south to see it higher in the
sky.
s For Michiganders, visibility is fur-
ther worsened as it is normally cloudy
in Michigan at this time.
" When it is bright, in March and
April, it will be in the pre-dawn sky.
Loudon gave the following advice to
those who really want to see it: "They
will have to get up before dawn (in
See FINALLY, Page 3
L
TODAY-
The Extirnation Bowl News
Campus Meet the Press
N IARA SUDARKASA, the University's associate
vice president for academic affairs is the guest
for Campus Meet the Press at 4 p.m. in the Kuenzel
Room of the Michigan Union. Recruitment, retention
and other issues concerning minority students will be
respond to best, says O'Rourke, who teaches a three-
hour seminar in Peoria, Ill. called "Everything You
Ever Wanted to Know About Flirting." "My definition
of flirting is the art and the act of getting to know the
opposite sex," said O'Rourke, who charges $55 a head
for his seminar. "All I'm saying when I say 'flirting' is
communications skills - how to start a conversation
and keep it going. "We don't stand up in front of
-INSIDE
ARMED COURSES: Opinion looks at LSA ac-
creditation of ROTC classes. See Page 4.
BLUES: Arts reviews a night of blues with
Ami
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