Page 4 -The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 7, 1989 The Should anti-racist education debate: be taught in the 'U' classroo ms 0 i by Marion Davis Daily Staff Writer In the spring of 1987 the University of Michigan was enveloped in a climate of racial tension. Word of racial discrimination spread like wild fire, as reports of student protests seared their way into the local, state, and na- tional news media. A struggle began. Members of the United Coalition Against Racism de- manded the administration implement a university-wide mandatory course on racism. The course was to focus on race, ethnicity and racism. It was to provide students with a forum where such topics could be critically analyzed. UCAR, at large faculty members, Concerned Faculty, and Faculty Against Institutional Racism (FAIR) joined their efforts in the fall of 1987 to begin formulating such a course. Two years later, University Course 299, the finished product, had been approved as an elective by the LSA Curriculum Committee. A battle had been won but the war was still ahead. The ad-hoc committee now set its sights on developing a proposal which mandated a graduation requirement on the study of anti-racism education. If then approved by faculty, the require- ment would have applied to the 1990-1991 incoming LSA first-year stu- dents and all those entering the college thereafter. On February 3, 1989 Philosophy Prof. Peter Railton, a member of the drafting committee, and Mark Molesky, an RC history major, debated the ethics of mandatory anti-racism education on a WDET radio talk show.W Railton said it could only improve the racial tensions at the University. Molesky said it would be an unnecessary, expensive "rap session" for stu- dents to talk about their political and social gripes. The struggle was on and people everywhere were talking. Vice-Provost for Minority Affairs Charles Moody told the USA Today that students need to understand racism if they are going to be "truly educated" when they leave Michigan. 'Racism and racial misunderstandings have pervaded this campus and poisoned educational opportunities and interactions among students as no other social ills seem to have done' -Pro-requirement letter from faculty members to the Daily 0 DMID LUIBLIPE-H Michael Wilson, first-year medical student and UCAR member, gesticulates as he speaks at a discussion group set up to air concerns over the proposed graduation requirement. Just how much control would LSA students have over their academic ca- reers? The LSA faculty would decide by vote on April 3. As the vote drew closer the struggle escalated. More faculty exercised aca- demic freedom, painting pictures of their work environment not ordinarily revealed. "Racism and racial misunderstandings have pervaded this campus and poi- soned educational opportunities and interactions among students as no other social ills seem to have done," read a pro-requirement letter submitted to the Daily by faculty members March 6. According to Railton, mandatory anti- racism education was a most effective tool against such an environment be- cause, "those who might benefit most - those who have the least exposure to these issues prior to their time here - are those least drawn to this type of course (education)." .s 'Enforcing participation in college courses for the purpose of effecting particular social improvement is inimical to the spirit and to the ultimate social utility of liberal higher education' -Letter from faculty opposed to the requirement But opponents of the requirement thought otherwise. "Enforcing partici- pation in college courses for the purpose of effecting particular social im- provement is inimical to the spirit and to the ultimate social utility of lib- eral higher education," eleven faculty said in a letter. On March 7, the struggle for the proposal was split by an internal divi- sion. Members of the drafting committee changed several guidelines of the requirement. UCAR withdrew its support and rallied against the amended re- quirement. The coalition said it went against the "spirit" of the original pro- posal. On April 3, LSA faculty members voted down a student graduation re- quirement on race, ethnicity, and racism by ht narrow margin of 1.40-120. The LSA Curriculum Committee was charged to study the issue further and report back to the faculty. In the spring of 1987 a demand was made. In the fall of 1987 a struggle began. In the winter of 1989 a proposal was defeated. In the fall of 1989...E DAVID LUBUNER/Daily Philosophy professor Peter Railton speaks in favor of a graduation requirement at an LSA faculty meeting. Report predicts a professor shortage Was Mazrui a portent of the future? 0 by Kelly Thayer Daily Staff Writer New students, are you already concerned about your major? Perhaps you should consider a career in edu- cation. According to the report Campus Trends, 1989, there is a shortage of college professors which is expected to increase in the coming decade. The report, published by the American Council on Education, states that approximately 50 percent of US colleges are having difficulty hiring top applicants for faculty jobs. Stiff competition from the pri- vate sector and a dwindling number of doctorate graduates in key fields are the primary reasons for the pro- fessor pinch, according to the report. Specifically, the shortage is worst in the fields of computers, business, mathematics, and the physical sciences. And the lack of, professors exists more at public than at private colleges. The effects of the crunch are var- ied. Larger classes result with less qualified people teaching them. Salaries of faculty increase, as does student tuition to compensate these salaries. And campuses continue to be looted of their faculty as competi- tion among colleges becomes fierce. Here at the University the short- age is evident in some critical areas. According to the chair of the mathematics department, Protessor Donald Lewis, "There is a shortage of professors now and a potentially great shortage in the future. Anyone we go after, ten other schools go after." Lewis explained that "the output of mathematicians in the US is dwindling." With mathematics at their peak in the early 70s, 1300 to 1400 PhD students in mathematics were gradu- ated each year. In the US now less than 400 students receive their PhD in the field annually. Lewis said that the University has not felt the shortage as dramati- cally as other schools may have due to the University's stature. But he emphasized that the US as a whole will suffer in the future. "I think it's going to be a major 'There is a shortage of professors now and a potentially great shortage in the future. Anyone we go after, ten other schools go after' - Mathematics Department Chair, Prof. Donald Lewis catastrophe for American education because all science is based on math- ematics," concluded Lewis. Gary Krenz, special assistant to the chair of physics, acknowledges a small shortage of professors in some of the sub-fields of the physics de- partment and sees a trend developing. "Shortages will get a lot worse throughout the decade. As fewer physicists come out of the pipeline, a lot more raiding of other universi- ties will go on." Colleges face competition from the pnvate sector as well. "Universities are competing against industry for top physicists. Therefore, to some degree we have been compelled to raise our starting salaries," Krenz said. Krenz feels the lack of professors is due to a weakness in the educa- tional system. "It starts in grade school. Fewer students are adequately prepared and their interest isn't peaked by the declining pool of teachers," Krenz said. Edwin Miller, associate dean for PhD studies and research in the Business School, has seen the de- mand for business professors become fierce. "Our peer institutions are com- peting vigorously with us for elite faculty members," Miller said. And private business has added to this competition. The result is bid- ding wars. "Private sector salaries are Noted U' political science prof. Ali Mazrui was lured away by a job offer from the State University of New York. FILE PHOTO $500,000 difficult to compete with. The salaries we offer have become much higher," Miller added. A case of campus raiding of pro- fessors took place this summer when University political science professor Ali Mazrui was lured away by a $500,000 job offer from the State University of New York- Bingham- ton. SUNY doubled its original offer for fear of not attaining Mazrui. If you thought that only major sports stars become the object of high-stakes bidding wars, think again. If you chose the right major, you may find yourself being offered a signing bonus at a major univer- sity. 0 DAILY' 1 QGrzr *1 I %% r , 'V ' t! ? Gv-4-. M, GETI 1 6 4Q i- AI , , t 1 >r 0511 - \ {: 1 >1, ivi ' w .,J / I (5; . () 1 LI G 4 K. © .4. , - /4: . .l . I "\~ A ail 1' ' i .. I I A