0
OPINION
Friday, January 12, 1990
Page 4
The
'I
Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Twenty years past due
Vol. C, No. 70
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other
cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the Daily.
Answers to yesterday's quiz:
Notre Dame won
Y ESTERDAY THE Opinion Page
printed its First Annual Trivia Quiz as a
way of reviewing some of last semester's
events. Though the quiz could not cover
;all of the many local, national and
international events which impacted on the
'lives of students both inside and outside
the classroom, it did offer a sample of the
major administrative decisions and
indecisions from the term.
1) All except D.
Though Domino's pizza does taste terri-
ble, the Coalition didn't get around to cit-
ing this as a reason for the boycott. All
the other answers were correct, however.
Tom Monaghan's exploitation of his U.S.
workers, especially women, is surpassed
only by the blatant disregard for the lives
of his "employees" in El Salvador and
other countries. His destruction of the en-
vironment and planned flight from Tiger
Stadium have added insult to injury, and
fueled the boycott.
2) B.
Ostensibly created to combat racism on
campus, the anti-discriminatory harass-
ment policy cleverly evaded any regulation
of University administrators, faculty or
staff, and did not include provisions for the
participation of students in the "judicial"
process, though students were the only
ones affected. Since the University's
institutionalized racism and discrimination
set the standard for acts committed by
some students, a policy restricting the
rights of students seemed at best
symptomatic, at worst hypocritical and
misleading.
3) C.
Dean Steiner was the correct answer, but
only because he was the first one of those
present to resign. Steiner said (among
other things) that the University should
not become one to which "minorities
would naturally flock," like (according to
him) Howard University or Wayne State.
Steiner still insists his comments were
taken out of context and has refused to
apologize.
4) D.
After a strike which lasted most of the
summer, University Nurses were forced
back to work without a contract by Judge
;Morris. Morris also placed an injunction
on the nurses which prevents them from
striking during future negotiations. This
:was ostensibly done because the need for
,quality patient care cannot be put on hold
'during a strike. Yet the ability to provide
;quality care is exactly what motivated the
;strike in the first place; the hospital is ex-
tremely understaffed, nurses are forced to
do mandatory overtime, there is inadequate
training for new staff members and bene-
fits are minimal.
5) E.
Ann Arbor landlords are, in fact, required
to provide clean and decent housing, a
copy of the Tenant's Rights Handbook, an
'inventory checklist and reasonable notice
before entering an apartment (knocking is
not enough). Tenants (including students)
who don't get a fair shake from their land-
lords are entitled to withhold rent or take a
number of other actions.
6) C.
Prior to the legalization of abortion, 50
percent of the women who died from back-
alley abortions in New York were Black.
Although abortion is technically still
legal, increased local restrictions sanc-
tioned by the Reagan/Bush Supreme Court
are putting affordable legal abortion further
and further out of reach for poor women
and many women of color.
7) D
Regental bylaw 14.02 promises that no
member of the University community will
'be discriminated against based on his or
'her race, sex, national origin, religion,
disability, Vietnam veteran status, or mar-
ital status. Discrimination against some-
one based on his or her sexual orientation,
however, is okay with the University ad-
ministration. Despite numerous requests
and protests by concerned students, gay
;men and lesbians, the regents have consis-
'tently refused to add sexual orientation to
the bylaw.
8) D.
Dow Chemical was the first of these
re-recognized by a confused Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly. The controversy arose
after CCF sponsored a blatantly homo-
phobic musical performance on the Diag.
Though the group later apologized for the
offensive material in the show (including
the song "God Hates Queer"), they never
agreed to remove bylaws from the group's
charter which prohibit the membership of
lesbians and gay men who refuse to be
"cured.,
11) C
Though 40.5 percent of households in
the U.S. have an annual income of
$20,000 or less, 90 percent of University
undergraduates' families earn $21,000 or
more. Also, although Blacks make up
12.9 percent of Michigan's population,
Black enrollment at the University has
consistently been less that half that num-
ber.
12) F.
The Restoration of Democracy is a diffi-
cult and costly business. In El Salvador, it
required the bombing by U.S. "advisors"
of civilian neighborhoods during Novem-
ber. In December, it took the death of
thousands of Panamanian civilians to in-
stall the appropriate government. In the
Philippines the U.S. only had to fly a few
intimidation flights (not to mention the
selective-aid package) to help keep the di-
minishing Aquino government friendly to
the presence of U.S. bases there. And so
on.
13) H
Since he took office last September,
Duderstadt has not missed an opportunity
to utter his favorite empty phrases and
hollow cliches designed to convince ev-
eryone that the University is actually be-
coming a more accessible institution for
all kinds of people. Unfortunately, Duder-
stadt's rhetoric has not been backed up by
any substantial action.
14) D.
After the slaughter of Salvadoran citi-
zens and six Jesuit priests last November,
University students joined concerned peo-
ple around the country in protesting U.S.
funding of the Salvadoran government.
Students here also protested the attack on
the University of El Salvador, U of M's
sister university, where many academic
buildings were destroyed in bombing raids.
The result of this demonstration was an
occupation of the Fleming Administration
Building. Duderstadt did not respond to
any of the demands made by students,
though, in a rare display of his ability to
think and act, President Duderstadt wrote a
letter of sympathy to what he believed to
be was U of M's sister school, the Uni-
versity of Central America. Unfortunately
for the prez, he got the wrong school.
15-17) D.
More in keeping with the President's
usual style, he has not responded to any of
the major attempts by students to open up
the University or to any of the blatant and
violent manifestations of racism on this
campus. The student-constructed shanties
on the Diag have been repeatedly vandal-
ized and destroyed, yet the University
doesn't think it is evidence of anything
more serious than harmless pranks. When
swastikas were painted on students' cars at
a fraternity, the University again took no
steps to condemn the act.
Most drastically, though, Duderstadt and
his cronies still refuse to amend Bylaw
14.02 and extend the same privilege of
protection to gay men and lesbians that it
claims to extend to other groups.
18) D
Under the University Council's pro-
posed guidelines for the protest policy,
students may be warned, suspended, ex-
pelled, or forced to do community service
as punishment for engaging in protest
which is judged to exceed the bounds of
acceptable behavior - as defined by the
University administration, of course.
19) C.
Recognizing that lack of affordable
housing is one of the critical factors in the
increase of homelessness, the Homeless
Action Committee has consistently asked
City Council to address the issue in Ann
Arbor. The city has spent millions of dol-
lars on building parking structures down-
By The United Coalition
Against Racism
Twenty years ago the Black Action
Movement at the University of Michigan,
in conjunction with other student of color
organizations, demanded that the Univer-
sity of Michigan make this public institu-
tion of higher learning more accessible to
people of color, particularly Black and
Latino youth that disproportionately come
from economically disadvantaged back-
grounds. Under the pressure of this mass
movement, the University agreed to
achieve 10 percent Black enrollment.
20 years has passed since this initial
promise was made. Similar promises were
repeated in 1975, and most recently in
1987 in response to the UCAR and BAM
III demands. Nevertheless, the proportion
of Black and Latino youth has been not
been steadily increasing as one would ex-
pect. In fact, compared to the natural
population growth, the student of color
population at the University has changed
very little, if at all, since 1970.
Despite the 2.3 billion dollars taxpayers
have invested in the University since
1970, many of these taxpayers have not
seen any return or benefits from-their in-
vestment in terms of a more diverse stu-
dent body. Rather, the benefits and privi-
leges offered by a relatively small group of
people with discretionary powers in the
"qualified" people of color applicants.
Numerous studies done by the Fair Test
Center and other research institutes on
standardized tests and, in particular, the
SAT's and ACT's, have concluded that
these tests are biased and are certainly not
any kind of objective or reliable measure
of intelligence, knowledge or predictor of
success. Further, the only consistent corre-
late to high SAT scores is not perfor-
mance at the university level but parental
income.The ranking of high schools, de-
termined by standardized test scores, is
used in evaluating students either formally
or informally and is automatically a strike
against most inner city Black and Latino
youth.
We believe that because the University
of Michigan is a public institution and is
funded to a large degree by taxpayers, it
has a responsibility to the public at large.
But, unfortunately, a large sector of the
population, more specifically, people of
color, have historically been excluded from
the University. We have been excluded
from the wealth of knowledge and re-
sources. We have been excluded from the
opportunity granted to most white middle-
class youth. We have been excluded from
the privileges that are part and parcel of a
University degree.
Instead, we have been afforded the posi-
tion of cleaning the toilets, washing the
dishes, scrubbing the floors and cutting
ties of University life: the hostile envi-
ronment which students of color must bat-
tle daily; a Eurocentric curricula and inade-
quate ethnic studies departments, the lack
of faculty and administrators of color; and
the lack of students of color, particularly
students of color from low-income back-
grounds.
A commitment to change was made, not
when Duderstadt took office, but twenty
years ago. We must ensure that that com,
mitment is acted upon and that our goal is
reached. As the 20th anniversary of the
1970 BAM approaches, we as concerned
students have a responsibility to ourselves
and our respective communities to con-
tinue its legacy. We should demand that
the University pay its debt to the Black
Action Movement and to the general pub4
lic. A commitment to diversity, a move
into the 21st century with a vision for #
new future of an internationalist univeri
sity, must not be simply a record of
rhetoric. As President Duderstadt has said
so many times before, the structure, com;
position, and policies of the University
must be reevaluated and molded to tho
changing demands and needs of a new era;
Concretely, this means a radical increase
in the student of color population on this
campus. People of color have waited 26
years for the University to begin to ac
upon these changes, but we have seen ver
little progress. And we cannot afford tQ
wait any longer. The University must
meet its commitment to enrollment and
retention of people of color. Just as and
public high school has the responsibility
to meet any special needs of its students,
to service any student who desires an edu#
cation, and to find the means and resources
to educate the public, the University of
Michigan must do the same. Budget cuts
can no longer be used as an excuse. What=
ever the cost, whatever reevaluating an4
reprioritizing needs to be done, the Uni
versity of Michigan must do whatever it
takes to meet proportional representation
of people of color and retain those stu;
dents until they graduate.
S
0
'As the 20th anniversary of the 1970 BAM ap-
proaches, we as concerned students have a re-
sponsibility to ourselves and our respective com-
munities to continue its legacy.'
admissions office are still being handed to
mostly white, middle-, and upper-class
people.
The result of this is a contradiction be-
tween the University's rhetorical desire for
diversity and the reality of an overwhelm-
ing white student body. This inconsis-
tency is created by racially, culturally,
class, and gender biased criteria and admis-
sions standards. And it is justified by
claim that there is only a limited pool of
the grass for this institution for poverty
level wages, only to have our taxes taken
out of our meager salaries to continue to
subsidize the education of only the eco-
nomically privileged sectors of our soci-
ety. The few token people of color
brought here by the administration will
not placate us or cloud the racism that
permeates the system. The propaganda and
the PR campaign by the administration
does not compensate for the startling reali-
4
What do credit hours mean?.
M
fl
By Jennifer Clough and
Alex Neff
In response to the letter from Professor
Steneck, a member of the History De-
partment, ("Is class time a fair measure?"
Daily, 11/30/89) we wish to clarify a
number of issues surrounding the LSA
Curriculum Committee's October 10 rec-
ommendation regarding the nature of the
credit hour. This recommendation was a
response to the mandate given by the Ex-
ecutive Committee that credit hours
should be equal to contact hours, as well
as a response to faculty complaints about
departments which do not follow this
mandate.
The recommendation was two-fold in its
long-range goal of creating equity in the
number of credits received for classes of
equal contact time. The first aim is that
course credit shall be based on contact
hours. The second aim is to urge the Ex-
ecutive Committee and the faculty to con-
sider moving to a new system of gradua-
tion requirements. According to this pro-
posal, the suggested system would base
justification for graduation on the number
of courses a student has taken, as opposed
to the number of credits collected (a simi-
lar motion was brought to the faculty in
the past and was defeated at that time).
The four student representatives on the
Committee all favor this recommendation,
noting that there is no obvious differentia-
tion between the workload required for
three and four credit courses.
The History and Political Science De-
partments have a history of offering four
credit hours for classes which meet three
(and in some cases two) hours per week.
No other departments disregard the Execu-
tive Committee's mandate so flagrantly.
This allows students enrolled in courses in
tive and Curriculum Committees are not
taking into account the effect this recom
mendation will have on students; if any?
thing the contrary is true. The Curriculum
Committee deliberated for weeks as to
what method should be applied for credii
hour assessment. The two department
most noted for violating the previou4
credit hour ruling were both notified in ad-
vance of the Committee's consideration of
9
'According to this proposal, the suggested system
would base justification for graduation on the num-
ber of courses a student has taken, as opposed to
the number of credits collected.'
4
4
0
these two. departments to accelerate to-
wards graduation more quickly than stu-
dents taking the same number of class
hours in other disciplines. Why should
these two departments be allowed to disre-
gard this predetermined rule on credit
hours, when other departments follow it
so diligently? In practice, this results in
discrimination against the majority of stu-
dents, who work towards their degrees in
other concentrations.
The Committee's recommendation fo-
cuses on this inequity. Its aim is not to
force more students to take five classes per
term, as Professor Steneck claimed, but to
extend the number of hours per week of all
four credit courses to four contact hours
per week. Steneck claims that the Execu-
this issue. The most extensive response
received by the Committee (from Political
Science Acting Chair John Kingdon) also
assumed that the department's only re-
course was to move to offering three credit
hours for three contact hours. Why was
the option of increasing the number of
contact hours to four not considered by the
department despite the obvious benefits to
the student? It is ironic that this optioni
was ignored by those departments who so
avidly claim to be interested in serving
"our educational purposes." Whose educa-
tional purposes are being served, those of
the faculty or of the students?
AY cot S rLI7
7NOF COA I(t
s A N YBI
..L '
J