education of undergraduates." It
also calls for more frequent and
more stringent reviews of
teaching performances, and more
teacher training.
But because of its lack of ability
to provide positive reinforcement
- money - the committee
seemed constrained in its
prescription of negative
reinforcements.
Determined to make a
difference without demanding
more spending, the committee
proposed the creation of a new
program for first- and second-year
students called the Atheneum (a
name which will probably be
dropped for its especially heavy
Eurocentric overtones). The
report describes the program as a
sort of monastery, at which every
faculty member will spend one of
every seven years "devoting that
year to the life, learning, and
teaching needs of students at the
first-year and sophomore levels."
The purpose of the program
would be to help provide pre-
concentration students with a
niche, similar to the one filled by
students in the Residential
College - which was created as a
response to big school
impersonality - or the Honors
program.
But the Atheneum, presented
in scant detail, would only offer
one class per year to each
applicable student - those who
are not enrolled in any other
special programs - and has
therefore been criticized as more
of a burden on faculty then a
boon to students.
The prevailing wisdom among
the College leadership is sumrned~
up by LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg,
who commissioned the report.
She argues that in determining
the quality of education, "quality
of faculty is central. It goes to the
heart of what we are trying to do
here. Undergraduates should
learn from people who are
discovering knowledge. That's a
very special kind of education."
Mary Ann Swain, the interim
vice president for student
services, agrees: "We demonstrate
our commitment to education,"
she wrote in Consider, "first and
foremost through the quality of
the faculty we hire and nurture."
But with the College's swing
away from faculty teaching in the
last 10 years, the assertion that
good professors automatically
means good education is
weakened. As the faculty move
farther from the students, how far
can that quality be expected to
trickle down?
T FE REPORT
generally urges a shifting
of undergraduate
teaching responsibilities
back toward the faculty,
mostly by providing
support for faculty to take a
greater interest in teaching, if not
economic at least moral and
psychological. But without the
economic commitment to back it
up, Gurin says the faculty "just
won't do it."
And asked whether
improvement will eventually
mean a shifting of resources from
research to teaching, Weisbuch
replies reluctantly, "A realistic
answer is, Yes." But he argues
there may be creative solutions
which don't cost as much more as
people think.
"The whole challenge here is to
get away from the either/or
mentality," he says, "to look for
ways by which time and energy
can go farthest in both research
and teaching. You may be able to
do a lot with a reallocation of
teaching resources even before
you invade other sources of
money."
9s
For example: "A large class,
taught with energy and invention,
is less expensive and far superior
to a small class taught poorly."
Enter the Graduate Employees
Organization. Besides having
argued for smaller class sizes for
years, many TAs believe that -
given the chance - they can
provide an excellent education of
the kind Goldenberg praised,
because they are themselves
involved in "discovering
knowledge."
"At a school like this, teaching
is rarely anybody's priority," says
GEO President Christopher
Roberson. "But the people most
likely to be interested in teaching
are graduate students.".
Comparative Literature
graduate student Nancy Goldfarb
agrees, questioning the
"assumption that people with
PhDs are automatically better
teachers. What about grads?
We're very much immersed in
being students."
Students might still have reason
to complain, but, says Kock, "It's
unfair to say undergraduates are
in any way unhappy because of
TAs. If you want a higher quality
of teaching, improving the status
of TAs is very important."
In the vacuum left by fewer
academic scholarships (the result
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Shop until 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Until 6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Whether it be watching the nightly
news or reading the local papers, as
each day passes we passively digest
the faceless statistics of those who
continue to die from what some call
biological warfare: the AIDS pandemic.
But others continue to
organize forA
remembrance with an
emphasis on education
and change. For the first O E
time in Ann Arbor, b
through the efforts of by Donn
various Detroit and Ann Arbor
collaborators, the "NAMES Project AIDs
Memorial Quilt" will be on display in
the Michigan Union Art Lounge, at
530 South State Street. The seven
12'x12' quilts will be displayed from
Nov. 12 to Dec. 5.
"This is a non-political event," says
Karen Davie, director of the Detroit
Metropolitan NAMES Project Chapter.
"We just want people to become
more familar with the statistics and
deal with these people as
individuals."
Davie began working this summer
in collaboration with other
organizations to bring sections of the
Memorial Quilt to the area. Davie
says the goals of the NAMES project are
threefold:
ETo confront individuals and
governments with the urgency and
enormity of the AIDS pandemic, and
underscore the need for an immediate
and compassionate response, by
showing the names and lives behind
the statistics.
ETo build a powerful, positive,
creative symbol of remembrance and
hope - the AIDS Memorial Quilt - to
link diverse people worldwide in the
shared expression of common pain,
grief and rage in response of the AIDS
pandemic.
ETo encourage donations in every
community where the Quilt is
displayed, thereby raising desperately
needed funds for people living with
AIDS and their caregivers.
The idea for the Quilt was first
conceived in San Francisco in
November 1985 by a long-time gay
male and lesbian rights activist named
Cleve Jones. While organizing a
candlelight march honoring Harvey
Milk and George Moscone - San
a
Francisco politicians who were
assassinated in 1978 - Jones
discovered that more than 1,000
people had died of AIDS in San
Francisco. To commemorate Milk and
Moscone, Jones asked each person
who joined in the
march to write down
the names of their
friends and loved ones
who had died of AIDS.
As the march ended,
ladipaclo Jones and others stood
on ladders, taping these names to the
walls of the city's Federal Building.
Jones was struck by the image on
the side of the city building - the
individual name squares in patchwork
form. Thus began the idea for a quilt.
A year later, Jones created the first
panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt, in
memory of his friend Marvin
Feldman. In June 1987, Jones joined
forces with others to formally organize
the NAMES Project Foundation.
Response to the Quilt was
encouraging. People from each of the
cities most affected by the pandemic
- New York, Los Angeles and San
Francisco - sent panels to the San
Francisco workshop in memory of
their friends and loved ones. Along
with their tremendous
volunteering, lesbians, gay men
and their friends also donated
sewing machines and office
supplies.
As awareness of the Quilt
grew, so did the number of
people who committed their
time to fighting AIDS.
Thousands of individuals and
groups from the United States,
and around the world, began to
send panels to San Francisco to
be included in the Quilt. Local
grassroots work around AIDS
increased.
On October 11, 1987, the
NAMES Project displayed the
AIDS Memorial Quilt for the first
time on the Capitol Mall in
Washington, D.C., during the
National March on Washington
for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
The Quilt covered a space
larger than two football fields
and included 1,920 panels. Half
a million people visited the
Quilt that weekend.
The Quilt then began a four-
month, 20-city national tour in the
spring of 1988. The tour raised nearly
$500,000 for hundreds of AIDS service
organizations. More than 9,000
volunteers around the country helped
the seven-person crew move and
display the Quilt. Local panels were
added to the Quilt in eachcity,
tripling the size of the Quilt to more
than 6,000 panels by the end of the
tour.
The Quilt returned for a second
showing in Washington, D.C. in
October of 1988. This time in front of
the White House, 8,288 panels were
displayed.
In 1989, a second NAMES Project
tour of North America brought the
Quilt to 19 additional cities in the
U.S. and Canada. In October of that
year, the Quilt was displayed in
Washington, D.C. for the third time,
on the Ellipse in front of the White
House.
Today, Davie and other organizers
say the Quilt continues to grow as a
memorial for those who have died of
AIDS. Regional displays of the Quilt
continue across the country and
around the world to increase both
awareness and understanding of the
health crisis in our midst. Today there
are 33 NAMES Project chapters in the
U.S. and 12 different AIDS Memorial
Quilt initiatives around the world.
In 1988 the Quilt was nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize. In 1990,
Common Threads, a documentary
film about the AidS Memorial Quilt,
won an Oscar. In 1991, organizers of
the NAMES project hope to reach
thousands more to create stronger
networks in this war against AIDS.
Schedul(
event
Monday November 12, 4:30
NAMES Project Exhibit Openii
Michigan Union Art Lounge.
Wednesday, November 14,
Kuensei Room, Michigan Uni
Chat: A look at sexual gender4
and AIDS as they relate to org
Coordinated by member of the
Organization Development C
Thursday November 15, 7-5
"People of Color and AIDS: It
Issue" panel discussion on the
the AIDS on people of color cc
Sponsored by the Ella Bakerr
Mandela Center.
Friday, November 16, 8pm
prose in the celebration and mr
people with AIDS. Michigan 1
Lounge.
Sunday, November 18I:p.r
and AIDS" Videos and discuss
concerning specific problems
with AIDS. Michigan Union.
by ACT-UP.
Wednesday, November 28,
Residence Hall Repertory Th
perform their won work: "Life
A Show About Education."
Saturday, December 1, 10ar
Quilting bee, to assemble indi
names panels into one large pa
sent to the NAmEs Project for
the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Date and Time TBA
Dennis A. Lopez, Assistant
National Council of La Raza A
Center, will speak on issues cc
the Latino community. Spons
Minority Student Services, Ali
Pilot Program and Housing Sp
Programs.
A
19
8
WEEKEND November 9,1990