The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 8, 1986 - Page 5
I I
Exploited kids
Center tries to recover missing children
By KATHLEEN HAVILAND
The ads are everywhere- on
grocery bags, on direct mail ad-
vertisements, on milk cartons.
Within the past two years, a
proliferation of missing childrens'
faces has appeared almost every-
where.
The ads are the product of the
National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, which opened
in June of 1984 with funds from
the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention.
THE NATIONAL Center was
opened because law enforcement
agencies needed a national clearing -
house to collect and disseminate
information about missing and
exploited children.
Deputy Susan Anderson of the
detective bureau in the Washtenaw
County Sheriff's Department said
the center's nationwide publicity
helps families both psychologically
and physically.
"The child may see a picture of
him or herself and realize that it's
okay to go home. He or she may
have thought that nobody wanted
them or that the ,person who
abducted them was not doing
anything wrong," she said.
ANDERSON also said that
the publicity is helpful because a
neighbor or teacher may recognize a
missing child from an ad.
The national center deals with
children under 17 who are reported
missing or involved in prostitution
or pornography. It does not accept
cases involving people18 or older
or with domestic child abuse cases.
Another federal agency, the
National Center for Child Abuse
and Neglect, handles the abuse
cases.
Lulu Laath, Media Director of
the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, said it
calculates the number of missing
children by the number of cases
reported to the center's hotline.
Not all cases are reported, she said,
and the number of missing children
is actually much higher than the
number of reports the center
receives.
THE CENTER seems to be
effective. During it's first two
years, the center dealth with 5,633
runaway children . Of those cases,
3,780 of the children were recovered
alive, and three were found dead.
But Laath stressed that "the
center is not an investigative
agency. It functions as a liason in
cooperation with the police, federal
agents, and local groups in their
mvestigative efforts."
"We provide a national
clearinghouse where scattered bits
of information can be consolidated
and thus become more effective
tools of investigation in the form
of leads to law enforcement
agencies," she said.
LAATH believes that the center
is most effective in raising parental
awareness of the problem of
missing children. Parents are able
to contact the center through its
national hotline to get information
on preventing child abduction, and
agencies to contact in the event of a
disappearance.
Anderson said, "Prevention al-
ways beats funding programs to
solve the cases after the fact. The
See CENTER, Page 8.
Associated Press
Edda Bara Adalsteinsd adjusts shirts on mannequins of Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan yesterday at her store
in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the two leaders will meet this week.
Reagan urges govt.
unityfor suinit
WASHINGTON (AP)-President chief spokesman.
Reagan appealed directly to Congress The House has approved a budget
yesterday to erase tough restrictions measure that would ban nuclear tests,
on his nuclear weapons program, prohibit testing of antisatellite
arguing that his weekend summit weapons, require adherence to the
with Soviet leader Mikhail SALT II treaty, freeze funding for
Gorbachev "can only succeed if our Star Wars defense and block
government is united." production of binary chemical
Two days before flying to Iceland, weapons. A Senate version of the
Reagan summoned Democratic and catchall spending bill contains no
Republican congressional leaders to a such restrictions.
White House breakfast to "make a House Majority Leader Jim
special appeal" for lifting House- Wright (D-Texas) has offered to put
passed barriers to his arms buildup. off further action on the restrictions
"It is exceedingly difficult for me until after the Iceland meeting and the
Xo enter into discussions with the regular summit expected to follow
Soviets when legislative restrictions late in the year.
apply to the very areas that are under In their second meeting in less
negotiations with the Soviets," than a year, Reagan and Gorbachev
Reagan told the lawmakers. will confer Saturday and Sunday in a
Reagan's comments were relayed two-story, white-frame house in
o reporters by Larry Speakes, his Reykjavik, Iceland.
'U' hospital bucks nationwide occupancy decline
By ELLEN FEIDELHOLTZ
with wire reports
Hospital use by Americans has plummeted to
its lowest level in 15 years, as clinics and
outpatient programs served a growing number of
people, according to goverment statistics released
yesterday.
There were 148 hospital stays for every 1,000
Americans last year, the first time since 1971
that the rate has dropped below 150, the National
Center for Health Statistics reported.
"THE RATE HAS been coming down
dramatically," said Robert Pokras of the agency's
Division of Hospital Care Statistics.
But despite the decline, University Hospitals
are operating at a 90 percent occupancy rate.
Dave Friedo, hospital planning and marketing
director, attributes the high occupancy rate to the
newness of the hospital, which has been
operating for eight months.
"The hospital was designed with patients in
mind and they are responding well to the new
facility," Friedo said.
ALTHOUGH there is no actual
documentation, Friedo feels that marketing and
advertising strategies are also effectively
attracting patients.
Friedo acknowledges that in the future
hospitals stays will shorten in length, but says it
will happen gradualy.
"In order to compensate for shorter stays,
hospitals have to increase their number of
patients," he said.
GROWING USE OF outpatient services
.and introduction of the Diagnosis Related Group
method of payment are among the reasons for the
decline, said health statistician Edmund Graves.
Under the DRG program, federal payments to
hospitals are set at a flat fee based on the
patient's illness rather than on the length of the
stay or services performed. The program is
designed to encourage hospitals to control costs.
That system, in addition to other efforts to
encourage use of clinics and outpatient services,
have been stressed in the last two years.
Hospital use responded to that by plummeting
11 percent between 1983 and 1985, reports the
Center for Health Statistics.
"In addition, the average length of stay for
hospitalized patients is continuing to drop. The
average stay in 1985 was 6.5 days compared with
7.7 days a decade ago," the Statistics Center
reported.
Study predicts shortage of qualified teachers
LANSING (AP) - While the
nation "is on the threshold of a
major teacher shortage," Michigan's
problem will be more scattered and
less serious, according to a report
released yesterday by the State
Board of Education.
The Department of Education
also released new "home school"
rules strict enough for a department
spokesman to predict a lawsuit.
Michigan can expect a shortage
of certain types of skilled teachers
in certain areas of the state,
according to the teaching report
presented to the state board by a
"future of teaching"committee.
But trends indicate "there will be
a dramatic increase in the supply of
teacher candidates available to
Michigan school districts," it said.
The reports said the trends
include:
-A tripling in the number of out-
of-state teachers seeking Michigan
certification, resulting in more than
3,000 out-of-state candidates being
added to the state's teacher
employment pool.
An increase of 40 percent to 70
percent in the number of students
enrolling in teacher education
programs in Michigan colleges and
universities, "which will double the
number of n'ew graduates in
education in a few years."
-A 75 percent increase in the
number of individuals seeking to
renew or reinstate a Michigan
teaching certificate.
"The combination of supply and
demand suggests that the teacher
shortage in Michigan will be more
selective and not as dramatic or
severe as the national situation,"
the teacher report said. "It is
equally clear that these. trends
indicate that- thieidnostsignificant
teacher supply and, d emapdrigsue
confronting Michigan is quality."
'U' upgrades minority recruitment
(Continued from Page i)
Although the University does
i bt ease admissions standads foir
;minority applicants, Sudarkasa said
fhinority students may need some
academic support due to inequities
in the high school educational
..system.
"So long as inequity in
preparation at the high school level
-(for minorities) exists, some
adjustment must be made at the
' college level," she said. "All records
'1how that blacks, and all
'minorities-but particularly
: lacks-often have an inferior
education from the beginning of
kindergarten continuing through
high school."
THE EDUCATIONAL
. Testing Service survey of 2,203
two-year and four-year colleges
showed that four-year colleges
accepted 76 percent of all applicants
and 71 percent of black applicants.
"At Michigan, what has
happened is that recruitment has
been stepped up so there has been
no need to ease admissions
-requirements," said Sudarkasa.
According to Dave Robinson,
iassistant director of undergraduate
admissions, the University has
.«extended and personalized its
recruitment of qualified minority
students.
"We're stepping up the
recruitment effort, but keeping the
same standards and encouraging
minority retention," said Robinson.
NEW RECRUITMENT
programs involve faculty, alumni,
and minority students already at the
University, he said.
Robinson said students
participating in recruitment
activities are "quite instrumental
(and) one of our most important
adjuncts. They're witness to life at
the University and therefore have
high credibility with high school
students."
Student involvement in
recruitment involves making phone
calls to high school seniors,
identifying prospective applicants,
hosting visiting students on
campus, and visiting Michigan
high schools, particularly in and
around Detroit. About 70 percent of
black University students come
from that area.
SUCH ACTIVITIES have
been grouped under what University
officials call the "Ambassador
Program."
Alumni also play an important
part in minority recruitment, said
Robinson. The admissions office
uses an extensive network of
University alumni to identify and
refer potential students.
;"Admissions is committed to the
University goal, since 1970, to
increase the number of
unrepresented minorities," Robin-
son said. University officials have
vowed to increase black enrollment
to 10 percent, but last year, black
students accounted for 5 percent of
all undergraduates. The entire
undergraduate minority population
came to 11.5 percent.
ADMISSIONS officials take
into account studies which show
that standardized tests, such as the
Scholastic Aptitude Test and
American College Test, may not
accurately reflect the potential of
minority students to succeed.
Some students who are admitted
with low or minimum test scores
are required to participate in courses
run by the Bridge and Opportunity
Programs, which offer special
tutorial and support services for
students who need academic assis-
tance.
Many of the current minority
programs and policies were sug-
gested in a report on undergraduate
minority enrollment authored by
5udarkasa.
The Associated Press contributed
to this story.
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