The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 19, 1987 -Page 3
MSU tops 'U' in Rhodes scholars
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By MELISSA RAMSDELL
Despite the cheers of "Moo-U"
and "That's all right, that's okay,
you'll all work for us someday,"
Michigan State University does
outshine the University of Mich-
igan in one area - its high number
of Rhodes Scholars.
The Rhodes Scholarship is
awarded to 32 highly qualified
college seniors from the U.S. each
year. It covers tuition and living
expenses for two years of study at
Oxford University in England. ,
"Michigan State has done better
than any other school in the state
and as well or better than any other
in the U.S.," said David Staiger,
secretary for the State Selection
Committee. Staiger added that,
"Michigan has begun to do a much
better job in the past few years."
THIS YEAR, however,
neither a Spartan nor a Wolverine
will be a Rhodes Scholar. The only
Michigander going to England this
summer is a Hope College student.
MSU's generally outstanding
success rate in the Rhodes compe-
tition results from a well-developed
program which grooms their
candidates.
MSU offers substantial scho-
larship funds to bring some of the
best high school graduates to its
honors program. A winning record
in the Rhodes competition is an
added attraction to such recruits.
"We try to encourage top-flight
students to come here. We try to
put them through a good program
where they can take full advantage
of the University's resources with
ample opportunity to develop
individual interests," said Donald
Lammers, MSU's coordinator for
senior scholarships.
Promising students pick from a
large array of honors courses and are
offered many options for inde-
pendent study and research with
individual faculty members. They
also develop a close relationship
with an honors faculty advisor.
Staiger said Michigan State's
letters of recommendation are very
good because "the faculty seemed to
know the candidates well."
MSU Rhodes candidate Connel
Fullenkamp said the college's
honors program "gets you into
classes where you have a better
opportunity to show what you can
Piranian, a former Rhodes
Scholar, described his time at Ox-
ford as "a glorious two years."
Piranian and his staff screen
potential applicants with a cut-off
point of a 3.7 grade point average,
and 1,600 students from each of the
four classes are sent an infor-
mational letter in the spring en-
couraging them to stop by the
honors office for further details.
The application process for a
Rhodes scholarship begins with the
endorsement of the University in
September of senior year. Potential
candidates must bring a list of
extracurricular activities, a copy of
their transcript, five to eight letters
of recommendation, and a 1,000-.
You have to sweat bullets over the personal statement
to get your foot in the door.
- Connel Fullenkamp, MSU Rhodes candidate
The criteria set by the Rhodes
Trustees by which the candidates are
judged include: literary and scho-
lastic attainments; fondness and
success in sports; truth, courage,
devotion to duty, sympathy for and
protection of the weak; kindliness,
unselfishness, and fellowship; and
moral force of character and in-
stincts to lead.
THE RHODES TRUST also
stated that involvement in varsity
sports is not a requirement but that
applicants should participate in
athletic activity.
"For those who seek to exercise
leadership, a pear-shaped torso or a
cement sack bulging above the belt
could be a severe hindrance,"
Piranian wrote on an information
sheet.
Many say the personal essay is
the most important part of the
process. MSU Rhodes candidate
Fullenkamp worked on his essay
for months - from August to
October - making many revisions.
"You have to sweat bullets over
the personal statement to get your
foot in the door," said Fullenkamp.
Others stress the importance of
the interview.
"People who do well in the
interviews have a quick intelligence
and concentrate on the questions
being asked. It becomes a con-
versation - they get caught up in
discussing the topic rather than
trying to make an impression,"
Staiger said.
Staiger said the interviews are
"free form," with committee mem-
bers from diverse backgrounds and
disciplines who ask questions on
topics such as academics, politics,
current events, and British history.
Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Jim Lamb, (right) Director of WJJX promises to fire deejay
"Tenacious Slack" after students protested his airing of racial jokes.
Marvin Woods (left) president of the Black Student Union, looks on.
Students outraged by
derogatory jokes
do.
"In preparing, they do a hell of a
job."
Recently, the University of
Michigan began similar efforts to
improve its record in the Rhodes
competition. In previous years the
University took a laissez-faire
approach to the program: if a
student expressed an interest, they
were handed a packet of information
and wished good-luck.
However, with a new coordinator
for senior scholarships, Prof. Emer-
itus George Piranian, things are
changing. The honors office is
taking a more active role in
promoting the program and pre-
paring candidates for the selection
process.
word personal essay to the honors
office by Sept. 14.
The University's selection com-
mittee then chooses 12 candidates
to return for a 20-minute interview
in October. The University endorses
one to four Rhodes candidates to be
interviewed by the state selection
committee.
Two candidates from the Uni-
versity were selected to compete at
the state level: Anne Jellema and
Ann Gelder, both LSA seniors.
Successful candidates go on to
the final district interviews in early
December where the committee
appoints four candidates. There are
eight districts, making a total of 32
Rhodes scholars selected from the
United States.
( Continued from Page 1)
at all," said Lamb, who is in charge
of reviewing the disc jockey's
broadcasts. Lamb said the disc
jockeys give him tapes of their
programs to review, but Se-
vransky's did not contain the racist
slurs. Sevransky has been a WJJX
announcer for over a year.
Students called the office of Vice
President for Student Services
Henry Johnson, who sent Michigan
Union director Frank Cianciola to
the station. When asked what action
would be taken on this matter,
Cianciola said, "I take (partial)
responsibility for this, because this
is part of the area that falls under
my purview... and those areas that I
can affect directly I'll take
responsibility for."
Roderick Linzie, a sociology
graduate student, said, "You can say
you're going to look at this, you're
going to pay more attention to it,
it's in your area, but we already
.know that."
He added;"What we're trying to
say here too is that this kind of
behavior underscores the central
administration's unwillingness and
inability to address the issues that
are of concern to people of color,
women, and especially black people
at this University... We want more
than simply an indictment of
students who are in positions of
semi-authority."
Linzie said students want some-
thing systematically done by ad-
ministration to keep such incidents
from occurring in the first place.
The students plan to play the tape
at today's regents meeting and have
already contacted the Federal
Communications Commission
about the broadcast.
CIANCIOLA SAID he could
not speak for upperSadministration,
but would ask the board of directors
of WJJX to address the issue as
well as formulate concrete steps on
it. Cianciola also said he wants to
discuss the program with Sevran-
sky.
Thomas LaVeist, president of
the Minority Organization of
Rackham, said, "I think it's just an
example of a larger problem; there's
an overall climate of racism here."
"It's got to stop," said history
graduate student Marshall Steven-
son, "and I'm not saying you have
to institute some sort of 'state
suppression' to stop it, because
everybody's entitled to voice their
opinion. But you have to realize
what the repercussions would be if
you allow this kind of climate to
foster."
Sevransky declined to make a
formal statement before press time.
Students and Lamb considered
producing an educational program
about racism. "Obviously there's an
educational process that needs to be
done at this University," said
Lamb, who admitted that he too
needs to be educated.
Shortage hurts hospital, nursing school
(Continued from Page 1)
cruitment brochures.
The hospital, in trying to
combat effects of the nursing
shortage, is planning to recruit addi-
tional nursing staff to fill positions
created by the new hospital and
positions which had been unfilled.
DETAILS of the hospital's
plan to improve recruitment, hire
temporary nurses, or boost financial
incentives could not be obtained
because the Michigan Nurses Asso-
ciation, the University nurses'
union, is in the process of col-
lective bargaining with the Uni-
versity.
Larry Warren, associate director
of the hospital, said nurses have
been in greater demand because of
the higher occupancy rate in the
new hospital.
"We have more nurses employed
today than ever before employed in
University Hospitals. Our turnover
is lower than it's been in years.
There's a greater demand than we
have had before. We're trying to
keep up with the demand and we've
not done that yet," Warren said.
Nationwide, an estimated 1.5
million people are employed as
registered nurses. Today, however,
fewer nurses are being trained and
more nurses are taking jobs in
outpatient clinics and home health
care instead of working in
hospitals.
The Southeast Michigan Hos-
pitals Council has developed a plan
to ensure an adequate supply of
registered nurses in the region. The
plan includes promoting nursing to
both males and females in high
schools, offering incentives to
registered nurses already employed
by hospitals, trying to increase
government subsidies, and re-
moving licensing barriers for
foreigners.
UM News in
The Daily
764-0552
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THE LI
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Campus Cinema
Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985), MTF,
7:00 & 9:45 p.m., Mich.
A frightened nebbish dares to dream of
flying in a nightmarish, Orwellian
future.
Performances
University Philharmonia-
School of Music, 8 p.m., Hill.
Auditorium,.
Leo Najar and student conductors will
lead the Philharmonia through the
works of Chopin; Mozart, and others.
Ray Wade- Arts at Midday, 12:15
p.m., Michigan Union, Pendelton
Room.
Come and hear this freshman tenor
sing Spirituals and Classical music.
Speakers
Jane Myers- "'Haven't I Heard
About You?'- The Effective Use of
Public Relations in Promoting
Training and Development," 6:30
p.m., Sheraton University Inn.
Glen Most- "The Stranger's
Stratagem: Self-Disclosure and Self-
Sufficiency in Ancient Greece," Dept.
of English Language and Literature, 8
p.m., Rackham East Conference
Room.
John Clark- "Sedentism,
Meetings
r _ _._,
The Committee for Social
Progress in Rio San Jaun,
Nicaragua- 5:30 p.m., 4202
Michigan Union.
Society of Women in
Engineering- 6:15 p.m., 1500
EECS Bldg.
Greeks For Peace- 7:30 p.m.,
Dominick's.
Futhermore
Career Planning & Placement-
"Creating a Resume," 4:10 p.m., 3200
SAB.
Women In Communications-
Elections for 1987-88, 4:15 p.m.,
Frieze Bldg., (761-9272).
Friends of the Revolutionary
Worker's League- "Civil Rights
Movement; Past, Prasent, and Future
and Eyewitness Report from Forsythe
County, GA March," 7 p.m., 1209
Michigan Union, (995-8958).
Send announcements of up-
coming events to "The List," c/o
The Michigan Daily, 420
Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.,
48109. Include all pertinent in-
formation and a contact phone
number. We must receive an-
nouncements for Friday and
Sunday events at least two weeks
This Spring Break, catch a Greyhound®to
the beach, the mountains, or your hometown.
For just $89 round trip, you and your friends
will have a great time wherever you go.
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