100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

October 07, 1988 - Image 3

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1988-10-07

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.


LSA to
discuss
racism
course
BY LISA POLLAK
In early 1987, the United Coali-
tion Against Racism presented 12
demands to the administration. One
was for a mandatory class on racism
for all University students.
Last year, members of the groups
Concerned Faculty and Faculty
Against Institutional Racism began
working with UCAR to develop
'syllabi and direction for such a class.
And yesterday, with the submis-
sion of :the formal proposal for a
college-wide course on racism to the
LSA curriculum committee, the
;class began yet another step toward
inception.
IT 'IS a long and bureaucratic
step; 'the proposal now must be re-
viewed and accepted by the LSA
;curriculum and executive committees
;before going to an LSA faculty vote.
If approved by all three groups, the
course could be required as early as
next fall.
But it is also a crucial step - as
the proposal's authors and supporters
affirmed during a press conference
yesterday - for a University that "is
simply not doing its job in promot-
ing exploration of issues of race and
:racism," said Concerned Faculty
member and associate philosophy
Prof. Peter Railton.
To promote this exploration, the
course - similar to initiatives taken
at the University of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Stanford, and Columbia
'University - will question and
challenge students' assumptions
about race and racism, and teach the
history of other cultures so often
neglected in traditional courses.
The proposed four-credit course
would be elected during an LSA stu-
dent's first two years on campus, and
would include two hours each of
discussion and lecture weekly. The
material would vary, depending on
the instructor's area of expertise, in
its presentation of six basic ele-
ments:
-Critical discussion of the concept
of race;
*Description of historical and
ppntemporary forms of racial dis-
crimination and resistance to it;
*Discussion of competing expla-
nations of the origins and persistence
of racial inequality;
*Exposure to the cultures of peo-
ple of color through literature;
*Analysis of parallels and con-
.trasts between racism and other so-
cial discrimination; and
*Ways to apply knowledge toward
change.
HOW LSA will respond to the
proposal is hard to predict. Con-
cerned Faculty members say they
have received favorable response, but
"it will be a job to convince people
;that it deserves a place in the
curriculum as a requirement," Rail-
ton said.
"But other problems of great
magnitude and urgency are responded

to with college requirements," he
added, citing the upper-level writing
requirement as an example. "This
would be a way for the University
administration to demonstrate their
resolve to fighting racism."
The LSA curriculum committee,
whose twelve voting members in-
clude three students, could begin
See Course, Page 5

The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 7, 1988 - Page 3
-Masses oust
Yugoslavian
communists

|

JESSICA GREENE/Daily
First year LSA students Rebecca Kreis, Dan Hemmer, and Adam Bowman enjoy some ice
cream at the student inagural picnic.
Students picnic, talk to
new 'U' prez Duderstadt

NOVI SAD. Yugoslavia (AP) -
The Communist party bosses of the
Yojvodina province were ousted last
night while a stone-throwing crowd
of 30,000 people assaulted their
headquarters in Novi Sad, capitol of
the province.
The provincial leadership pro-
mised to resign after meeting with
Serbian Party leaders in Belgrade
earlier yesterday. It was the most
dramatic development in three
months of mass street protests over
ethnic and economic crisis.
Belgrade radio quoted doctors as
saying 'some people suffered bone
fractures when the crowd outside
party headquarters surged toward lines
of riot police.
Tanjug, the official news agency,
said the Vojvodina party committee
voted 87-10 to dismiss the 15-
member Politburo, the highest poli-
tical body in the province. Two
members abstained in a meeting
attended by 99 of the committee's
127 members.
Removal of the provincial leade-
rship could lead to wholesale changes
in the national party and Yugo-
slavia's six republics.
Provincial party leader, Milovan

Sogorov, said a 10 member pro-
visional group would be established
while new leaders were chosen for
Vojvodina.
Approximately 50,000 demon-
stators ralled in Novi Sad to press
demands for new leadership.
Gen. NikolaeLjubicic, a member
of Yugoslavia's federal prsidency and
former defense minister, told Serbian
party leaders, "I am concerned about
today's rally in Novi Sad. Will this
rally be satisfied with the desicion to
be taken. It can raise other demands.
How can we control the situation?"
Serbia is Yugoslavia's largest
republic and Vojvodina is one of two
autonomous Serbian provinces.
Leaders in Vojvodina have resisted
Serbian moves in recent months to
regain control over it and the other
autonomous province, ethnically
troubled Kosovo.
Strikes and worker protests have
become commonplace because of 217
percent annual inflation, 15 percent
unemployment, and austerity plans
imposed because of a $21 billion
foreign debt.

BY AMY KOCH
Food. Free food. Students who attended the
presidential inaugural lunchtime picnic at Palmer Field
yesterday indulged in hot dogs and brownies, met' the
new University president, but expressed resentment
about the $250,000 spent on the picnic when the
money could have been spent more productively, they
said.
Engineering graduate student Brent Edwards said
University President James Duderstadt's summer ap-
pointment "stunk" since it occurred when student pres-
ence on campus was minimal. He said University funds
should be used more productively. "This picnic is ap-
peasement for Duderstadt's $500,000 home remod-
elling," he said.
Others, like first year student Mike Levine, were
disturbed that the general student body was denied ac-
cess into the inauguration at Hill Auditorium.
LYNN TUBBS, director of University Food Ser-
vices, said food for 1,000 people was prepared, and 600
meals had been served by 2 pm. University food ser-
vices supplied hot dogs, chips, soda, brownies and a
batch of Michigan apples.
LSA senior Curtis Smith said the food should have
been better since his non-resident tuition paid for the
extravaganza.
Michigan Student Assembly President Mike
Phillips said the $250,000 was "a waste and a joke"
when emergency student grants are ignored.
Many students asked why so much money was ap-

propriated for one celebration while long term needs are
unmet. First year LSA student Helen Bellanca won-
dered why the University did not use the money to hire
professors and reduce class sizes.
LSA sophomore Byron Nolen said the University's
elaborate inauguration was "typical of U-M. We have
no control and never will."
STEAMING hot dogs rather than University po-
litical discussions were an incentive to attend the pic-
nic, said LSA first year students Amy Warman and Is-
rael Assa.
Aside from satiating appetites, the gathering allowed
students to meet Duderstadt and voice opinions about
the University's future.
The picnic was hosted by the Special Committee on
the Inauguration; a fusion of faculty, alumni, and stu-
dent leaders who coordinated Duderstadt's inauguration-
Said LSA senior Bob Wyrod of the Duderstadt pic-
nic, "He's a fascist but he serves good food." Wyrod
said that though many students attended the picnic,
their support is fabricated since the majority of the
students who were at the picnic don't know what Dud-'
erstadt really stands for.
MANY STUDENTS were disillusioned with the
meal. Others felt that the Palmer Field fiesta was an
opportunity for eating and hyping Duderstadt's inaugu-
ration.
The arrival of President Duderstadt marked the grand
finale of the picnic when he cut a string, releasing
hundreds of maize and blue balloons into the air.

Women fight
rape with graffiti

Students seek solutions,
tackle problems at Math Lab

By CHIANG HSIN
What do you get when you mix
least common denominators, expo-
nentials, nth derivatives, logarithms,
and integrals? A headache for some
students.
That's why the number of stu-
dents using the Math Lab has dou-
bled during the previous year and
seems likely to double again this
academic year, according to Ken
Plochinski, director of the Math
Lab.
A total of 9,217 students visited
last year. Plochinski attributes this
dramatic growth to teaching assis-
tants who have better publicized the
Lab by posting flyers inside their
classrooms and distributing
information sheets to their students.
SECONDLY, some TAs hold
office hours in the Lab which has
attracted many students to go there,
Those students account for 30 per-
cent of all visits. Also, the Lab has
recently raised the standards and
qualifications of its tutors.
The Lab aims to increase the per-
centage of students who succeed in

rmathematics by offering walk-in tu-
toring and several independent study
courses including Math 115.
For independent study courses,
the Lab provides chances for highlyt
self-motivated and self-disciplined
students to accelerate in their math
sequences.
At the present stage, the Lab em-
phasizes helping students who are
enrolled in any math course up to
Math 216, but TAs and tutors also
help students who have questions
questions about materials covered in
advanced math courses.
ACCORDING to a survey, the
majority of students visiting the Lab
in the Fall Term are in Math 115 -
the largest course in the department.
Toward mid-term and final exams,
the workload of the Lab rises, said
Plochinski. He said he strongly en-
courages students to go to the Lab
before they get too behind.
The Lab is currently struggling
with two problems. The growth in
popularity of the Lab last yeart
strained its current budget to the
limit. "The more I can pay, the bet- .

ter tutors I will get," Plochinski
said. The second problem is the se-
vere limitation in space. The Lab is
often crowded and noisy, especially
during its peak hours, and the direc-
tor hopes to soon find room to ex-
pand.
"I think it is good to have," said
Nancy Walker, an LSA first-year
student. Nevertheless, she com-
plained the wait was too long on
occasion.
The Lab has two major plans for
the future. The first goal is to de-
velop a computer-aided learning sys-
tem, so students can learn and prac-
tice their math. In addition,
Plochinski would also like to have
supplemental video-taped lectures.
THE LAB, which was founded
in the early 1970s by Professor Peter
Hinman, is located at 1520 East En-
gineering. It is open from 10 am to
4 pm and 7 to 10 pm Monday
through Thursday; 10 am to 2 pm
on Friday and.2 to 6 pm on Sunday.
It is closed on Saturdays and
University holidays.

BY LISA WINER
An anonymous group of women
spray painted "A WOMAN WAS
RAPED HERE" in red at n.early 300
sites in Ann Arbor Wednesday night
- including in front of Angell Hall
- in an attempt to raise awareness
of the prevalence of rape in the city,
according to an anonymous press re-
lease.
"The marked sites are actual loca-
tions of rapes reported monthly in a
local publication over the last three
years," the press release read.
Police Chief William Corbett
said he did not know whether or not
women had actually been raped on
the sites. Yet he said that during a
previous investigation of spray-
painting on stop signs in 1980 he
found that a rape had not occurred at
many of the marked sites, according
to police records.
JULIE STEINER, director of
the University's Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness Center,
suggested that some of the new sites
may mark rapes that were not re-
ported. She also said the group may
have marked a site different from the
actual location to respect the vic-
tim's privacy. Both would explain
possible inconsistent information.
In the press release, the group
said they were attempting to make
the community more aware of the
rape problem because, "the police
and press do not fully publicize the
high incidence of rape because they
do not want to alarm women."
But Police Chief Corbett said the
department "is doing all it can to
disseminate (rape) information."
"The city council is informed
regularly about (rapes that occur), we
call the Ann Arbor News (whenever
one occurs,) and we annually publish

statistics. Even if it wasn't required
by law, ethically and morally it
would be wrong (to withhold infor-
'mation)," he said.
BUT Elizabeth Radcliffe, coordi-
nator of the Citizens Advisory
Committee on Rape Prevention, said
she thought the police department is
one of many institutions which
"wants to gloss over the rape prob-
lem because it points to a need for
changes in attitudes, and power dy-
namics that many people have diffi-
culty facing."
"The police have done some good
education and prevention work. But
they have also dealt insensitively
with some cases," she said.
The police largely ignore spray-
painting on sidewalks, said Corbett,
because it does no real damage to
property. But he said painting on-
other surfaces could cause serious
property damage and could result in
prosecution for malicious destruction
of property.
Steiner did not condone the spray-
painting, but she did say one man
came to her office yesterday morning
after seeing the spray-paint, and said
the paint spurred him to get involved
in SAPAC. "That's a pretty positive
impact to me," she said.

However,
"could alsof
important to
being done to1

she said the painting
frighten people. It is
say there are things
help the problem."

Evening promotes
religion for students

UM News in
The Daily
764-0552
A Major Events
Presentation
mcopp Event r e ernn5
MERCEDES _SA
La Unica -lt ute ca
in concert
Wed. Oct.19
8 pm

BY TARA GRUZEN
"You don't have nothing if you
don't have Jesus," said Mary Alice
Parker, mistress of ceremonies and
representative of the New Hope
Baptist Church, as the organ music
rose and the crowd quieted.
Parker said religion is necessary to
"complete the circle of life"; after a
short prayer, the program began with
about 50 people in the Kuenzel
Room of the Michigan Union.
The fifth annual program, entitled
"Completing the Circle," aims to
make visible to Black students at the
University opportunities available for
them in the religious community.

teachings of the songs. "If you
confess the Lord," sang the group,
"call him up."
A panel of three students who
each gave a testimony of how Jesus
has entered his or her life was the
main focus of the evening. As
Pamela Johnson, a current student
working on her doctorate at the
medical school, said, "God hasn't
taken away my desire to be
successful. He has given me a new
perspective." She emphasized that
religion does not detract from a
student's life, but gives life thej
importance that it otherwise lacks.
"The University of Michigan

~k\ \ '~'

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan