The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 19, 1987 -Page 3 MSU tops 'U' in Rhodes scholars i 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 This spin , *or r makeal it. THE LI I 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. ,I I