The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, January 13, 1988- Page 5
Panel reaction to
MLK symposium concludes
with workshops, lectures
ii
(continued from Page 1)
clear that they can afford to do so,"
he said.
Jackson said that economic parity
for Blacks was contingent upon an
increase not only in Black university
enrollment but also retention, citing
the nearly 50 percent dropout rate
among Black undergraduates at the
University.
An increase in Black enrollment,
Jackson said, would improve the
quality of education at the University
by providing fresh perspectives.
"Not only do we have a moral im-
perative (to increase Black enroll-
ment)," he said, "but it is in our in-
tellectual best interests as well."
The morning -and afternoon
workshops, held in the Michigan
League, featured lectures and group
discussions on minority issues.
Topics included Hispanic, Native
American, Black and Asian-Ameri-
can concerns, as well as workshops
on mass media and racism, minori-
ties in business and minority politi-
cal issues.
In a workshop on Asian-Ameri-
can issues, University Health
Behavior and Health Education Prof.
Yuzuru Takeshita recounted his im-
prisonment in Japanese-American
interment camps from 1942 to 1946.
Takeshita said he had not publicly
discussed the ordeal since he ad-
dressed a group of businessmen, who
called him "unpatriotic" for criticiz-
ing the policy, in 1948.
The interment "was based on the
fact that the white majority could
not accept the. fact that we were as
American as they were... they could
not fathom that because we looked
different," he said.
Urban Geography and Sociology
Prof. Donald Deskins, in the work-
shop "Reflections on Black
Achievements Since Brown vs.
Board of Education," warned that the
income gap between white and Black
married couples is growing steadily.
In 1984, Deskins said, the aver-
age Black married couple earned 51
percent of the average white couple's
income, down from 61 percent in
1970.
Deskins also predicted that mem-
bers of minority groups will soon
comprise half of the United States'
'While Blacks are free
to own a house in Grosse
Pointe, it is not clear that
they can afford to do so.'
- Dr. James Jackson,
Associate Dean of the
Rackham Graduate School
population. "Change is coming, and
we should prepare for it," Deskins
said.
Paul Johnson, Native American
Specialist for the Michigan Educa-
tion Association, spoke on the diffi-
culty of Native Americans keeping
their own culture while living in an
American one.
Johnson said that today's Native
Americans grow up in one of three
types of households: traditional
(tribal-based), non-traditional
(assimilated into mainstream
American culture), and pan-tradi-
tional.
The pan-traditional background is
the most demanding of the three be-
cause it requires the Native American
to maintain two often conflicting
sets of identities and values, Johnson
explained.
Johnson called on the federal
government to establish formal rela-
tions with tribal governments that
exercise authority over reservations.
Many Black students suffer from
a lack of self-esteem, said University
Education Prof. Percy Bates in a
workshop called "The Status of Mi-
norities in Education."
"Self-esteem is very closely con-
nected with school achievement,
and... from my vantage point, it be-
comes reasonably clear why we are
still having considerable problems
with the achievement of Black stu-
dents," Bates said.
Bates said that psychological bar-
riers are stronger than economic fac-
tors in keeping Black students from
going to college.
Bates said that Blacks are often
not sufficiently prepared for college
in high school. He cited his own
high school training, during which
he was urged to take non-college
preparatory courses so that he would
remain eligible for the school track
team.
The symposium was sponsored
by the University's Affirmative Ac-
tion Office and the Office of Minor-
ity Affairs.
Daily staffers Heather Eurich,
Faith Pennick, and Jean Lombard
contributed to this story.
code draft
(Continued from Page 1)
will hear all the criticism he can
stand."
But Social Work Prof. Howard
Brabson, a council member, said, "If
(Fleming's draft) came up at a Uni-
versity Council meeting, I would
vote for it since we have been unable
to get any document to protect the
rights of the victim. I would have
followed the same outline after four
years of inactivity on the part of
University Council."
The council was reconvened in
1984 after several administrative at-
tempts to impose a code met with
vehement student opposition. Uni-
versity officials maintained that the
1972 Rules for non-academic con-
duct were not sufficient to protect
the University's atmosphere.
Lat vear. the council released
is mixed
two preliminary drafts dealing with
the issues of violent crime and
political dissent -- the issue of dis-
criminatory action had not been dis-
cussed. The drafts were widely criti-
cized and action was never taken.
Last summer, following a state-
ment from the student members
condemning the group's allegedly
non-democratic process, Prof. Shaw
Livermore, a council co-chair said
the council was inherently incapable
of agreeing upon a set of guidelines,
and recommended disbanding the
group.
Livermore said he would return to
the council only after direction from
the regents or Shapiro. He received
feedback from neither, and despite
Newblatt's attempts to reconvene the
council, it has only met once since
last October.
Newblatt
... opposes Fleming's proposal
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