The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 14, 1986 - Page 3 Girls stay away from math despite good grades By DEBBIE KOBAK Women have succeeded in breaking through many of the barriers in the workplace over the last 20 years, but what about the classroom? A recent study conducted through the University's Institute for Social Research shows that women still tend to stay away from mathematics and related courses. APPROXIMATELY 1,400 fifth through twelfth graders in southeastern lower Michigan were asked questions concerning their at- titudes about mathematics and other subjects. Parents of the children were given similar questionaires focusing on their own math skills and background. Research investigator Allan Wigfield said girls tended to be more pessimistic about their math skills than boys. The messages transmitted to boys and girls from advertisemen- ts, parents, and teachers as to what subjects are more appropriate are reflected in the girls' attitudes. These messages are communicated to a girl, feeding into her perception about herself. The girls were actually getting better grades, but still held these attitudes." Wigfield said boys; attitudes towards English were similar to those of girls and math. Both boys and girls became somewhat more doubtful of their math abilities as they got older though girls expressed this fear earlier and more strongly than boys, Wigfield reported. He continued, "Our findings are pointing up how children's at- titudes and beliefs can influence their performances and the choices they make." A RELATED ISR study that began in 1983 focuses on the influence of school environment in forming students' self-confidence in math. Although this data is currently being processed, Wigfield said classroom interaction between students and teachers does not seem to be as strong a determinant as other variables, such as the student's gender. The study did find that students felt a decline in their abilities most strongly between elementary and junior high schools. No official male-female ratio enrollment records are kept in the University's Mathematics Depar- tment, administrative assistant Lee Zukowski said. However, roughly 10 percent of the department's junior faculty positions are filled by women. MATH AND hard science courses are stil regarded as somehow un- feminne and women don't go into them to the same degree, so by default there are more men than women (in these fields)," he said. However, the numbers at the un- dergraduate level are not as biased, where approximately one out of every four or five students is female; Zukowski added. LSA sophomore and physics major Alan Stern said he has noticed fewer women in upper-level math courses in introductory classes. "There are very few girls in my math class now. Out of 25-30 students, only five are women. I know that there was more than a fifth of women in math classes when I began as a freshman." LSA freshman Nina Boismiet stressed cultural factors as the reason behind women's lack of interest in math. "Over the years, men have been programmed to go into math and math-related fields, while women have been programmed to stay away from math. It's just the way we've been taught, to lay back in math because the men would take care of it," she said. Engineering junior Alex Garbuid agreed with Boismier, "I think girls are brought up with certain role models and it's up to them to bream them and do what they want to do. Women are starting to realize it's just as easy for them to be an engineer as it is for a man." THE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET FAST RESULTS CALL 764-0557 Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON On with the show Treasurer Kimberly Smith, LSA sophomore, sells tickets for the Bursley Show, while President John White, LSA junior, blows up balloons in the background. Showtime is tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Bursley's west cafeteria. 'U' Council continues work on code (Continued from Page 1) for the council's hearings. "THEY'LL (the boardmembers) be taught, for example, that you can't use evidence sombody got by breaking into some guy's room," she said. "The rules (of evidence) are really intricate and most of it wouldn't apply to what we're dealing with," said Sue Eklund, assistant dean of the law school and one of three ad- ministrators on the council. Jonathan Rose, former director of Student Legal Services and an obser- ver to the council's proceedings, yesterday opposed the rule waiver. Rose said the lack of rules opened the way for abuses by University ad- ministrators trying to quell dissent on campus. "THEY'RE (the councilmembers) good people, but they're creating a zoo," Rose said. Responding to councilmembers claims that it's impossible to train board members on the intricacies of the rules used in courts of law, Rose agreed saying it's one reason a code should not be implemented. "Threre 's no need for one, when you can get an injunction against a dangerous student within an hour," Rose said. The need to protect the University community from dangerous people allowed on campus has been a key reason given by University administrators for a code. The University now has a series of rules, but administrators have said they are largely ineffective. The University Council also agreed yesterday that the accused should have the right to an advisor, which may be an attorney. Councilmembers originally planned to require the University to hire a lawyer for in- digent students, but instead decided to ask the regents to let Student Legal Services lawyers advise students. 'Killing Field' hero finally receives U.S. citizenship NEW YORK (AP) - Dith Pran, whose ordeal in the Khmer Rouge work camps of Cambodia inspired the film "The Killing Fields," was sworn in yesterday as a U.S. citizen, a move he says will help his mission of bringing peace to his native land. "I'm glad I made it. My dream Came true," he said to the judges, immigration officials, news media and 336 other citizens gathered in. U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. "Everybody likes to find freedom. I have found it. I'm very grateful to the people of United States of America." DITH then said a phrase in his 1 native Khmer, which he translated as "Long live freedom." The courtroom resounded with applause. After Cambodia fell to the com- munist Khmer Rouge in 1975, Dith spent years in labor camps, slaving 14 hours a day for a spoonful of rice. Any Rice says *LSA degree is important (Continued from Page 1) programs. LSA students may graduate with a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Science, or a Bachelor of General Studies. The latter does not require that a major be declared. Students may also elect an Individual Concentration Program. But Rice said it hardly matters which degree a student graduates with. "The cosmetic value of a degree is not the key to a successful career," he said. An LSA degree tells prospective employers that "one has a broad background of knowledge, the ability Sto solve problems, and the means to effectively persuade and com- municate," Rice said. He added "The University has the responsibility to address and help students understand the LSA education that they're ex- periencing." The purpose of an undergraduate education is to "grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. And to learn about as much as you can and as many things as you can," Rice said. Rice said the majority of students change their majors several times and to underscore the importance of a diverse education Les Hayden, an LSA sophomore who works as an assistant at Career Planning and Placement, spoke about his history of changing majors. Hayden said first he was pre-law, then a history major, next he decided he wanted to teach, and now he is in- Sterested in social work. knowledge of politics would have guaranteed death, so Dith pretended he had been a taxi driver before the war, instead of translator and fac- totum for then-New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg. "I make myself a quiet man, like a Buddhist monk," he said later. Dith's life was the basis of Schanberg's ar- ticle "The Death and Life of Dith Pran," which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie "The Killing Fields." The film ends with Dith's escape to Thailand in 1979 and reunion with Schanberg, who had spent years searching after Dith was turned out of the French Embassy in Phnom Penh because he did not have a Western passport. SCHANBERG was not present for yesterday's ceremonies because he was out of town, Dith said. Their relationship, he said, is "much closer than before. First he was boss, then we became friends, now we are like the same blood." Today, Dith, 42, lives a quiet, American-style life in a rambling Victorian house in Brooklyn. Two of his four children are in college; his wife works at a bank. Dith works at the Times as a photographer, but that is only his job. More important, he has a mission. In his living room on a recent evening, eating Cambodian spring rolls and American potato chips, Dith described his travels, trying to raise money for the Cambodians who are still starving and pleading for the Vietnamese to relinquish control of the Indochinese nation. While the Khmer Rouge no longer control the country, they and other anti-Vietnamese military groups carry out insurgent attacks from remote bases. Civilians are often for- ced to flee, and the result is that 250,000 Cambodians live in squalor along theThai-Cambodian border. Since the film's release, Dith has hardly had a day off. His "weekends" generally fall in the middle of the week, and he almose always spends them giving lectures to college students around the country. Even after years of American food and medical care, Dith continues to suffer: He has problems with his feet and with the teeth he didn't lose to malnutrition. ." t FROM THE BAGEL FACTORY Roses are red, Violets are blue, For the price of one FRAG EL® You can buy TWO!(nhFed Bagel) Treat your Valentine to cinnamon-sweet GetFE.GES® I (French-Fried Bagels) Get 2 for the price of 1 with this coupon! ------ imit 12 -----Expires 2/28/86 ----- 1306 S. University Ann Arbor 663-3345 seemsamm sseseme s esessisiminisssisesse smasess:::":aa The Center for Western European Studies announces the SUMMER PROGRAM IN SEVILLE JUNE 15 - JULY, 26, 1986 Classes in Spanish literature and linguistics, art history, history or political science taught in English or Spanish $1700 fee includes 6 upper-level credit hours of U-M tuitition, lodging and some meals For applications and further information, please contact CWES, 5208 Angell Hall, 764-4311 A DAY WITH JULIAN OF NORWICH Saturday, February 15, 1986 10 A.M. to 4P.M. CANTERBURY HOUSE 218 N. DIVISION, corner of Catherine The life and teachings of this 14th Century English mystic will be /l the focus of a day of exploration and reflection, led by Robert Corin Morrin. The one-woman show, "JULIAN" will be per- formed at St. Andrew's Church Saturday evening at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. \\03 a~ ..4 &' S ,0\c C \o4$styes. eo "r\ soae n r ,.. 1xoA .' l ..ai o + ' \. 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