Shuttle
may
,face
delay
. WASHINGTON - The head of
the nation's space flight program
cautioned Sunday that NASA might
not be able to launch space shuttle
Discovery on the first attempt late
P this month.
"I think that when we do get to a
launch date on the latter part of this
month, it wouldn't surprise me at all
if it took us two or three times to get
airborne," said Rear Adm. Richard
Truly, the head of the shuttle
program.
Truly, who is NASA associate
administrator for space flight, said
that if two recent successful
simulations of crew and launch
systems had been the real thing, a
launch would not have taken place
because of weather and winds.
"We're going to wait until we
have it right, and then we're going to
do it," said Truly, a two-time
shuttle astronaut. "I think the
American people expect that of us
and that's what we're going to do."
He said there has been no
administration pressure to have the
shuttle program restart before the
election for whatever political
advantage that might give to George
Bush.
The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 12, 1988 - Page 7
Students
try creative
admissions
BY CARRIE WEBSTER
How did you get into the Univer-
sity? Was it your grades? Your long
list of extra-curricular activities?
Maybe, like presidential candidate
Dan Quayle, you got in through a
special program.
Or maybe it was the videotape
your parents shot of you last year at
the country club.
Probably not, admissions officers
say. But that's not because students
haven't tried. With the current crunch
in admissions - 18,850 applicants
vied for 4,500 spaces this year -
high school seniors are doing all they
can to stand out.
AND STAND out they do.
While they didn't improve their
chances for admission, the 15
students who sent in videos this year
made a fun lunchtime diversion for
the 23 admissions personnel, said
Donald Swain, associate director of
admissions.
Swain said some of the videos
were "really bad," along the lines of
"'Susie going to the Hunt Club,' and
'Susie getting on her horse."'
More common, said Swain, are
cassette tapes sent by LSA applicants
attempting to show their "well-
LISA WAX/Daily
Miss October?
Sarah Yelin, looking to be the next Reggie Jackson, concentrates on a pitch tossed by her
father, Mitchell, during an afternoon practice yeasterday at Burns Park.
I ont want
a lot of hype.
I just want
something
can count on.~
roundedness" with voice and instru-
mental samples. The University re-
ceived 40-50 cassettes this year, he
said.
"THERE'S nothing wrong with
people trying to demonstrate their
talents," Swain said. But the Univer-
sity will not give priority to people
who have the facilities to make
tapes, he said.
Other types of gimmicks used by
applicants include photographs, pub-
lications and portfolios by non-art
students.
Like many high school seniors,
Kurt Phoel, an incoming first-year
student from Williamsville, NY, felt
the most important parts of his ap-
plication to the University were his
"activities and involvement in
school."
BUT SWAIN said, "We try not
to get too much into assessing extra-
curricular activities except for those
that are outstanding. Just being on
student council or NHS isn't going
to make the difference."
Nor willa personal interview
"They do come in and try to impress
you, Elizabeth Robinson, a supervi-
sor in the Registrar's Office, said.
"There's a lot of desperation, parents
pushing students to the extreme."
But few qualifications can sway.
the minds of admissions officer
Grade point averages and standardized
test scores are the key, Swain said,
and applicants can't compensate for
either.
THE GPA requirements start at
about 3.0 and most SAT scores are
in the upper 1200's, he said. For out-
of-state students, the GPA require-
ments are a few tenths higher, and
SAT scores are about 100 points
higher.
And the standards have grown
tougher every year. Students who
would have been accepted severaf
years ago are now being rejected, said
Elizabeth DiFiore, a guidance coun-
selor at Hollow Hills East High,
School in New York.
Out-of-state students, such as
those from Hollow Hills, face much
stiffer competition this year because
a new state law requires the Univer-,
sity to enroll fewer non-residents.
But even in-state students are seeing
the crunch, counselors say.
"SO MANY kids heard it was
so hard to get into Michigan that
they said 'why bother?"' said Don
Laatch, head of the counseling
department at Birmingham Seaholm
High School.
And in light of the huge pool of
applicants, the University has decided
not to bother recruiting them. The
recruitment efforts will be limited to
"College Nights" and visits to vari-
ous high schools this fall, officials
said.
But though the University's ef-
forts will not include steak dinners or
extravagant programs - like those
run by peer institutions such as
Brown and Cornell - there are pro-
grams designed especially to attract
minority students to the University.
* "WE ARE QUITE concerned
that we are missing many minority
students who cannot demonstrate
financial need by not being able to
come up with a merit based award,'
Swain said.
Although specific percentages
were not available, Swain said the
University has enrolled more minor-
ity students, both in- and out-of-
state, than last year.
The University's Ambassador
program, in which enrolled students
return to their high schools to share
their impressions with prospective
students, is one of the touted minor-
ity programs. Already-admitted stu
dents are also encouraged by phone'
calls from students involved in the
program.
Yolanda Davis, an incoming first-
year student from Cass Technical
High School in Detroit, said her de.-
cision was made easier by the fliers;
and phone calls from students. "I was
having a hard time deciding which (of,
her prospective schools) had the most
to offer me," she said.
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