LSA panel to look at The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 2, 1986 - Page 3 underclass education PHILIP I. LEVY LSA Dean Peter Steiner said yesterday he will create an ad hoc advisory panel to improve the quality of education during the freshman and sophomore years. At the monthly LSA faculty meeting, Steiner said Political Science Prof. Lawrence Mohr had "accepted in principle" an appointment as a special assistant. to the dean to lead the advisory panel. Mohr said it is still unclean, whether he will be able to take the position because of time constraints. STEINER'S ACTION was in response to the faculty's refusal last month to endorse a proposal from the LSA Executive Committee to create a so-called Council for Collegiate Studies. The council would have worked on the problems of the freshman and sophomore years: too many classes taught by; teaching assistants, insufficient space in courses, and lack of coherence in the curriculum x for first- and second-year students. The council would have monitored the quality of the program for underclass students, formulated ideas for improving it, and applied for funding. The Executive Committee contended that the council was necessary because no existing committee has time to deal thoroughly with the problems. The ad hoc panel that Steiner announced yesterday will take on the proposed council's tasks until LSA officials can present a more specific proposal for a permanent council. In an interview Steiner said, "I need something in place to deal with problems now...I regard this as an urgent assignment." The panel will also define the role of a permanent council. While most of the faculty who opposed the council at last month's meeting objected to the proposal's vagueness, some were against enlarging the college's bureaucracy. Steiner denied he was circumventing the faculty by creating the interim panel. At yesterday's meeting he said he thought "the faculty shared the sense that the problems are real and deserve attention." In the only other substantive development at the meeting, Steiner said next month the faculty will discuss proposals to stiffen the college's foreign language requirement. The proposals will recommend that students pass a required proficiency test to meet the language requirement, rather than meeting it with four years of high school study or four semesters at the University, according to Steiner. Steiner warned that stiffening the language requirement could force more students into already crowded foreign language classes, and could also dissuade prospective students from attending the University. Researchers develop gas probe By STEPHEN GREGORY Three University researchers are working on a NASA space probe that will investigate a comet scheduled to enter the solar system in the late 1990s, but a NASA official said yesterday that the spacecraft may not be launched in time to meet the comet. Hasso Niemann, a researcher at Goddard Space Flight Center -- a division of NASA in Maryland - said it was "hard to say" whether the probe will be launched in 1992 as expected. He said it depended on whether NASA administrators decide to officially begin the project in fiscal year 1989. The project was not included in the 1988 budget, he added. "There are still a few hurdles," Niemann said. SUSHIL ATREYA, a University professor of atmospheric and oceanic science who is workipg on the probe, said that because of the Challenger explosion, "a lot of things are up in the air right now." According to Atreya, the space craft, if delayed, could still be launched in 1993 in time to meet up with another comet, TGK, in 1997. But Atreya said this comet would be "less desirable" because the probe could only follow it for a year. The probe may give scientists insight into the composition of the original solar system and could provide clues about how life began on earth. Atreya, along with Prof. Thomas Donahue and researcher George Carignan, is working on one of the probe's instruments that will analyze the composition of the comet's gases. He said the comet, Tempel-2, contains "some of the oldest material in the solar system." Neiman said the instrument, a neutral gas and ion mass spectrometer, will identify the gases by determining' the atomic weight of their molecules. Determining the structure of the comet's gases will tell scientists conclusively where the comet was formed, he said. Donahue, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic science, said understanding the comet's composition will give scientists a glimpse of the earth's structure 4.5 million years ago. According to Donahue, the comet's makeup may also explain how life on earth began. If the comet is found to contain the same amino acids that are believed to be the origins of organic matter, it would support the theory that a comet crashed into the earth and deposited these molecules, creating life. "It's a possibility," Donahue said. Carignan, a research engineer, could not be reached for comment 20 Minutes to Rose Bowl ~89/ $ 99 Per Night. Single/Double Occupancy. Highly rated hotel with the finest in service and accommodations, including 24 hour room service. Superior American and Japanese Restaurants. 10-30 min- utes from leading Southern California attractions: Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood and beaches. Call (213) 629-1200 or toll free (800) 421-8795. Ask for Rose Bowl rates (valid December 29 through January 3). HOTE&GAPDEN LOS ANGELES 120S. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Womens' studies ignore minorities By KATY GOLD Women's studies classes around the country must focus more on women of color, said the speaker at a Women's Studies informal seminar yesterday. Barbara Scott Winkler, a University graduate student in American culture, spoke in West Engineering to about two dozen faculty, staff, and students on the need for multi-racial women's studies. She said it is critical to include literature by and about minority students both in core courses and special topics classes in women's studies departments. WINKLER IS studying the development of women's studies and has conducted much of her research at the University of Missouri and San Francisco State University. She referred to a professor at San Francisco State University who "concluded that women's studies were white women's studies" and assigned texts at the beginning of the semester dealing with racism. "White students had to deal, with... not being the center (of the course content)... perhaps for the first time," she said. Winkler also discussed the reactions of students taking a course entitled Women, Race, and Class at Missouri, a predominantly white, university. II I SHE QUOTED Karen Hays, a black student who was astonished to see such a racial mixture of students in the class. There were 15 black students and 26 white students. , "'I was just, like, freaking out because there were other black women in there - because I went inssuming I would be the only woman of color in the class,"' Winkler read. Hays added that her classmates were "'leery 'til people told real stories and they were able to see the people and know the people and understand that (racism) was really detrimental,"' Winkler quoted. Hays was so influenced by the class, Winkler said, that she has become the first black women to major in women's studies at Missouri. ONE REASON these classes vhave been so successful is that the students share stories of their personal experiences with one another, Winkler said. "It's that sense of witnessing that has a lot of power." In addition she said white students tend to be quiet at first in racially mixed classes because they are afraid their comments will be misunderstood and interpreted as racist. Many people in women's studies departments often make the mistake of generalizing the feelings of all women, said Winkler. "All too often we have had a tendency to assume other women's experiences are the same as white women's experiences," she said. . .( What's Happening Recreational Sports BASKETBALL TEAMS NEEDED Intramural Sports Program Instant Schedule Your Team for Our Upcoming Winter Term Leagues December 3, 4, 5 - 11:00 am - 4:30 pm Intramural Sports Bldg. For information, call 763-3562 SLI14 I Campus Cinema Day For Night (F. Truffaut, 1973), CG, 9:15 p.m., Aud A. Once again, the subject is filmmaking as an allegory for life. French with subtitles. Accident (Joseph Losey, 1967), Eye, 8:00 p.m., 214 N. 4th. The lives of two students and two professors become increasingly entangled as they speed headlong towards....the Accident! Scripted by Harold Pinter. Letter To Brezhnev, MTF, 7:45 p.m., Mich. An English girl falls in love with a Russian sailor, then pens a letter to the Big Bear himself in order to see him again. Speakers Dr. Matt Zimmt- "The Dynamics or Flexible Triplet Biradicals," Department of Chemistry, 4 pm., 1300 Chemistry Bldg. Rosellen Brown- "Reading From Her Work," Visiting Writers Series, 4 p.m., Rackham West Conference. Edward Pierce-- "Juilgalpa,' Nicaragua: Ann Arbor's Sister City," The Undergrduate Political Science Assn.,7 p.m., Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room. Anthony J. Irving- "Mantle Xenoliths and the Petrogenesis of Alkali Basalts," Department of Geological Sciences, 4 p.m., 4001 C.C. Little. Michael J. Wynne and Spencer L. Bement- "In Search of Red Algae in the World's Oceans" and "Toward Microelectronic Brain Probes," SciencehResearch Club, 7:30 p.m., Chrysler Center Auditorium, 2121 Bonisteel. Furthennore Tuesday Night Tribute- The music of John Lennon, 10 p.m., WJJX Radio(650 AM). Center, 4:10 p.m., International Center. Send announcements of up- coming events to "The List," c/o The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 48109. Include all pertinent infor- mation and a contact phone number. We must receive notice of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday events (for Weekend Magazine) at least two weeks before publica- tion; notice of weekday events is due two days be- fore publication. it Introducing ByDesignT Custom Printed Shirts ... Holiday Gifts with a Personal Touch. from BYE f SGiN mas" every member of your family. You can SEE the difference in MCAT Preparation Our MCAT Skills Program conbines Professional Live Lectures with Efficient Video Instruction. The Result - MCAT Preparation has never looked so Good nor worked so Well! And, of course, your Satisfaction is Guaranteed or your Money back. EXCEL - the Choice for students with Vision. CLASSES BEGIN THROUGH JANUARY The best gifts are always personal expressions. Now, you can make gifts that say "Merry Christ or anything else you want ... with a little help fro ByDesignTM. Create custom designed shirts forc It's as easy as 1- 2 - 3: Test Preparation 1100 S. University 996-1500 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF EDUCATION invites prospective graduate students to an information meeting about graduate programs in Curriculum, Teaching and Psychological Studies, in Educational Foundations, Policy, and Administration, in Higher and Adult Continuing Education, and in Speech and Language Pathology. 1. -- Visit the U-Cellar and select the shirt color and style. Pick from our selection of tee shirts, athletic jerseys and sweat shirts in a wide variety of colors. 2. -- Select the art and add a personalized message to make your gift extra special. Choose from hundreds of illustrations in the ByDesign'm computer and add your message -- "Johnson FamilyX-mas, 1986"... or anything you'd like. . 3. -- Print out your design. Take it home with you and look the design over. Once you place your order we'll have it ready in 1 week. Imagine how much your family and friends would enjoy gifts that you created. Best of all, every time they wear it, they'll think of you and the great time they had! ------ ----------- --------~ --~-~~ ~N Place your order before December 15, 1986 and receive: \ I tf/OA i