The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 23, 1992 - Page 3
Students, faculty receive
awards in convocation
by Guillermo Pinzcuk
More than 4,500 students and
several faculty members were hon-
ored at the 69th . inual Honors
Convocation yesterday at Hill
Auditorium.
Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs Gilbert Whitaker
said the purpose of the Honors
Convocation is to recognize the aca-
demic excellence of undergraduate
students.
"It's the one time during the year
where the University recognizes un-
dergraduate honor students as a
whole," he said.
Many undergraduate students
from the Flint, Ann Arbor and
Dearborn campuses received class
honors which recognizes their high
academic achievement. First-year
students who were in the top 5 per-
cent of their class were awarded the
William Branstrom Prizes.
Also, students who have received
all A's for two or more consecutive
terms were recognized as James
Angell Scholars.
Engineering senior T.P. Bidigare,
who was recognized as an Angell
Scholar with seven straight
semesters of straight A's said, "I
thought that it was a positive
experience."
Reflecting on the quality of the
undergraduate education at
Michigan, he said, "I think that on
the whole, they (the professors) try
to do as much for you as they can
given their time considerations."
Five professors were named
Thurnau Professors, in recognition
of excellence in undergraduate
teaching along with scholarship. The
Thurnau Professors included: Don
Cameron, professor of Greek and
Latin; Patricia Gurin, professor of
psychology; Philip Hanlon, profes-
sor of mathematics; George Siedel,
professor of business law; and
Herbert Winful, associate professor
of electrical engineering.
The Thurnau Professors were
chosen by a committee of faculty
headed by Whitaker. Whitaker said
the professors were chosen from a
larger group which was selected by
the deans of the undergraduate
schools.
Student input was a major con-
sideration in selecting the professors,
Whitaker added.
"It shows that people can be both
a strong scholar and teacher. It (The
Trunau Award) is our major
Universitywide undergraduate
teaching award," he said.
Whitaker added that "they are all
very excellent teachers and
scholars."
Five professors a year are named
Thurnau Professors, Whitaker said.
The award gives the professors
$20,000 grants each to support their
teaching and research over a three-
year period.
Cameron said he was pleased
with the Thurnau award.
"I'm unabashedly tickled about
it. It counters the notion that gradu-
ate studies and research are only
valued here," Cameron said.
Winful, who is the faculty adviser
of Eta Kappa Nu, the undergraduate
electrical engineering society, said,
"I'm incredibly honored. It's a
reflection of how I feel about the
undergraduate education. It goes
back to my days with Professor
Hermann Hause at MIT. He was my
inspiration. Everything I've done
I've striven to emulate him."
Dirty laundry
LSA senior Mark Sheldon uses the dryers Friday in West Quad. Sheldon's apartment building has only one
washer/dryer.
Focus Hope founder challenges leaders to help the poor
by Shelle Morrison
Daily Staff Reporter
Students and faculty fell silent
Friday as Focus Hope founder
William Cunningham and local
community leaders called on future
politicians to rectify social
problems that have created the
socially-ordered "underclass."
In the fifth annual conference on
political affairs, sponsored by the
Undergraduate Political Science
Association (UPS A), speakers ad-
dressed the politics of problems
faced by the poverty-stricken, the
unemployed, and the blue-collar
worker - what political scientists
call the underclass.
State Rep. Kirk Profit (D-
Ypsilanti), Ypsilanti United Auto
Workers union leader Monica
Kenny, keynote speaker Father
Cunningham, and professors from
around the country addressed these
issues before a Michigan Union
audience.
Cunnigham called for future
politicians to be "true leaders."
"Too many politicians are afraid
to upset things but the truth is
things can only change if the order
is upset," Cunningham said.
"True leadership doesn't have a
AAA triptik to follow, and unless
the politicians of the future think
they will be true leaders, they
should think again," Cunningham
said.
Other speakers discussed proba-
ble causes and possible solutions of
the poverty problem in the United
States.
"Poverty is caused by social, po-
litical and economic problems,"
said political science Professor
Mary Corcoran. "And because the
problem has many components, a
solution must be found for each in
order to solve the greater problem."
University social work Professor
Sheldon Danziger said political re-
form is not enough.
"Government cannot correct the
problem of poverty," Danziger said,
"but economic growth can
eliminate it."
Other speakers examined more
specific issues of the underclass in-
cluding unemployment, auto trade,
and this month's closing of GM's
Willow Run assembly plant.
Monica Kenny argued that the
underclass is more than just a
matter for discussion.
"I'm sick of hearing learned
people talk about theories and fig-
ures relating to situation of the
blue-collar worker," Kenny said.
"Figures don't tell the story, life
does, and the story is no one will
have jobs if they close the auto
plants, and the middle-class will
disappear," she added.
Kenny also made an appeal to
aspiring politicians of the future.
"So you kids think you are
going into politics to do
something?" asked Kenny. "Do
something. Save the middle class."
Profit went even further in the
discussion of the working under-
class, and said Willow Run was
"murdered" by GM and Bush.
"A murder has motive and
opportunity," Profit said.
"(President) Bush needed the
support of Texas politically because
he had already lost Michigan, and
he was in Texas with GM
executives the Friday before the
decision was made.
"There was motive, there was
opportunity, there was murder,"
Profit said.
UPSA organizers called the
four-hour event a success.
Eric Stempein, president of the
UPS A, said the conference
achieved its goal of enlightening
students and other members of the
political science community.
"The goal of this conference was
to get people talking, and that has
happened," Stempein said. "The is-
sue of the underclass is often over-
looked, and I'm glad we could have
people like Father Cunningham and
Monica Kenny to stir things up."
The event marked the fifth
annual conference of political
affairs dedicated to the memory of
the late Jack Walker.
Walker, a former University po-
litical science professor, wrote
about the plight of the poverty-
stricken, the unemployed, and the
blue-collar worker.
Cunningham advocates leadership,
but not through political careers
by Laura Adderley
Daily Staff Reporter
In order to halt the escalating
problems of the "underclass" and
the unemployed, there is a need for
new leadership, Father William
Cunningham, co-founder of
Detroit's Focus Hope, said Friday.
"The very essence of leadership
is well captured in the series of Star
Trek - going where no one has
gone before. If anyone has been
there before, you're not a leader -
not by my standards," Cunningham
said in his opening address for the
Jack Walker Memorial Conference.
Focus Hope is a community-
based organization in Detroit that
offers food banks, job training, and
child care to help the underprivi-
leged of the city to help themselves.
Referring to the recent reorgani-
zations of countries such as
Germany and Russia, Cunningham
emphasized the importance of being
open to new opinions and ideas.
"Change is such an intimate and es-
sential part of our society today,"
he said.
Citing politicians as major road-
blocks to the recovery of the under-
class and unemployed, Cunningham
said, "It sickens my heart and my
stomach when people tell me
they're getting ready for a political
career.
"I listen to young people who
want a political career and they're
already saying 'we.' Assassinate
them now, tell them what jackasses
they are.
"There's really not very much
that your teachers or gurus in politi-
cal science can begin to tell you
what's going to happen tomorrow,"
he added.
Cunningham's speech ended
with an emotional plea with the
audience to take the effort to make
a difference: "I ask with you, plead
with you to make up your minds
where you're going."
Correction
Christine Foster was misidentified in a letter to the editor last Thursday.
She is an Engineering sophomore.
On Friday, the Daily reported that the English department wasn't included
in the U.S. News and World Report top 15 in the nation. It was ranked 14.
THE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Michigan voters
upset with new party
preference record
Meetings
Undergraduate Philosophy Club,
Angell Hall 2220 7-8 p.m.
Ann Arbor Committee For Detroit
Summer '92, weekly meeting 4318
Michigan Union 6:30 p.m.
Dialogue between Asian American
Men and Women, U of M Asian
American Students Coalition MLB,
rm. 2114,7:30 p.m.
American Advertising Federation,
3040 Frieze 6:00 p.m.
Environmental Action (ENACT),
weekly mtg, 1040 School of Natural
Resources, 7 p.m.
Public Relations Student Society of
America (PASSA), mandatory mtg,
2050 Frieze Building, 5:00.
Society for the Advancement of
Environmental Education, 1046
School of Natural Resources, 7:30 p.m.
Take Back the Night, weekly mtg,
Michigan League, check information
gb desk for rm, 7 ,p.m.
Undergraduate Psych Society, 2235
Angell Hall, 7:30 p.m.
U of M Sorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club,
weekly meeting, CCRB Martial Arts
rm, 8:30-9:30 p.m.
Speakers
"Israeli Elections & Israel's role
inAmerican Politcs," Hillel 7:30 p.m.
"Authority in Law and Religion,"
Religion, Nat Sci Aud, 7:30 p.m.-9:00
p.m.
"Applications ofEnvironmental
Education inthe Policy Process,"
1046 Dana 7:30 p.m.
"How should the UIiversity of
Michigan respond toJapan
Bashing?" Hendeson room. 8 p.m.
"MacrocyclicSchiff Base Complexes
as Models for the Copper Protein."
1640 Chem, 4:00 p.m.
Furthermore
"Public Skating, Yost Ice Arena, 1:50
p.m.
Safewalk, night-time walking service.
Sun-Thurs 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Fri-Sat, 8
p.m.-11:30 p.m. Stop by 102 UGLi or
call 936-1000. Also, extended hours:
Sun-Thurs 1:30-3 a.m. Stop by Angell
Hall Computing Center or call 763-
4246.
Northwalk, North Campus nighttime
team walking service. Sun-Thur 8
p.m.-1:30 a.m. Stop by 2333 Bursley or
call 763-WALK.
U-M Taekwondo Club, Monday
workout. CCRB Martial Arts Rm.
2275, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
U of M Ninjitsu Club, practice, I-M
Bldg, wrestling rm, 7-8:30 p.m.
ECB Peer Writing Tutors.
Angell/Mason Computing Center, 7-11
p.m.
Stress and Time Management,
Consultations with peer counselors
available, 3100 Michigan Union, 2-4
p.m.
Undergraduate Psychology
Department, Undergraduate
psychology advising, walk-in or
appointment, K-108 West Quad, 9
a.m.-4 p.m.
Guild House Campus Ministry,
discussion group, Women's Book
Group, open group to women who wish
to discuss women's religious, social, and
political issues, 802 Monroe St., noon.
Career Planning and Placement,
Making a major choie, 4:10 p.m.-5:00
LANSING, Mich (AP) - The
presidential primary road show
whirled through Michigan and
moved on, but complaints from an-
gry voters about the state's new
election rules still linger.
Most voter anger focused on the
fact that elections records will show
who voted Republican and who
voted Democratic.
Howard Simon, executive
director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan, said
his office got "a call about every 30
seconds on election day" from
someone angry about that or who
didn't vote because of it.
"They felt they were confronted
with the choice of sacrificing their
privacy in exchange for their right to
vote," Simon said.
"I can't figure out any reason
why there's a permanent record of
party preference, other than to have
the state serve the needs of the par-
ties by compiling a mailing list for
use by the parties."
Despite heavy campaigning by
the major candidates and saturation
coverage by the media, fewer than
one in five registered voters went to
the polls for last week's primary.
About 18 percent of the state's
5.9 million registered voters, or
slightly more than a million, voted.
That's only 15.2 percent of the
state's voting age population.
Rep. Ken Sikkema (R-
Grandville) unveiled a bill last week
that would remove the party prefer-
ence from the voter records of
Tuesday's primary.
"That's 55 years ago. Voters in
this state have a history of complete
privacy in how they vote. This elec-
tion did tremendous violation to
that," he said.
Sikkema said he and his wife
voted at different times and both saw
would-be voters walk away from
polling places when told about the
party preference requirement.
"It was that permanent record
more than anything else that caused
people not to vote," he said. "I think
it had a sizable impact on turnout.
"Every state has its own history
of politics, voting behavior and
election laws. People in other states
have closed primaries and they're
used to that. That's not true in
Michigan.
"I guess if there's one fundamen-
tal issue at stake here, the electoral
system ought to encourage partici-
pation," he said.
Paint it blackHAEOMU
LSA sophomore Mike McCants paints boards for the Mystic Fashion Show
Saturday in the Michigan Union Ballroom.
Underworld criminal Gotti brought to trial
NEW YORK (AP) -- Once
hailed as a criminal mastermind,
John Gotti has emerged at his racke-
teering trial as a goofy godfather
who violated the underworld's basic
Gotti may be intelligent - he's
reported to have an I.Q. of around
140 - and even his critics gave him
credit for a certain low cunning.
What else would explain his rise
$120 000 a deade ago to start an il-
legal casino. But Gotti began to bet
against the house, and after a few
nights he was in debt for $55,000.
The Wrong Friends
Narcotics convictions mean long
prison terms, which sorely temot