The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 10, 1993 -3
MCC
creates
new local
chapter
by KAREN TALASKI
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Although many University students
have not heard of the Michigan Colle-
giate Coalition (MCC), they need not
worry. The organizers of this student
lobbying group plan on making them-
selves heard - both here and in the
legislature.
Through the efforts of campus MCC
representatives, the recently created lo-
cal chapter hopes to be one of the stu-
dents' new friends.
The University has been a member
of MCC since 1984, participating in its
fight for educational equality from a
statewide perspective. With the change
to a local chapter, organizers say MCC
will be able to make student voices
much louder in issues pertaining to stu-
dent rights.
"We've already started working on
statewide issues as well as local ones,"
* saidFrikaGottfried,MCCmemberand
co-chair of MCC's women's caucus.
"Our chapter will be doing campaigns
and organizing students on campus."
Local MCC representatives have
already written a new constitution and
bylaws. However, Gottfried stressed the
fact that the new chapter will not cause
a separation from the rest of the organi-
zation.
* MCC Chair Kellye Roberts said she
felt adding the University as a charter
was a political move on the part of local
representatives who saw this as ameans
to make themselves more independent.
"Becoming a chapter gives (MCC
members) a formalized name for the
students involved," Roberts said.
But Gottfried responded that the lo-
-cal chapter plans to complement the
state organization. "We're not going to
be taking up issues MCC opposes," she
said.
Eight of the fifteen Michigan public
universities - including all three Uni-
versity campuses and Michigan State
University - are members of the Lan-
sing-based coalition.
Much of the funding for the state-
wide MCC comes from MSA, as a part
of a referendum passed in the last elec-
tion. MCC receives 35 cents from each
University student.
MCC is currently involved in lobby-
ing for 12 different pieces of legislation
affecting students around the state, rang-
ing from an amendment that would
expand employment opportunities in
work study programs to proposing a
tuition cap that could not surpass the
rate of inflation.
Gottfried cited tuition increases
along with dwindling financial aid as
part of the reason why organizations
such as MCC are so important.
"The universities are becoming in-
accessible to the students," she said.
"We're not fighting against the admin-
istration, but for the students."
Gottfried also stressed the signifi-
cance of student lobbying. "Legislators
need to hear us as students and as their
constituents because we are abig voting
block," she said.
State Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Ar-
bor) has worked with MCC in the past
and said she felt it was important to
continue to do so.
"In my district, there are thousands
of people who are representated by
MCC," Rivers said. "I try to do what-
ever I canin the interests of our constitu-
ents."
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Many students had trouble finding parking spaces for their bikes yesterday.
New students survive their first classes
Large classes and campus both excite and intimidate first-year students
By MONA QURESHI
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
RisaNishino waited patiently in
class yesterday with two other stu-
dents for her teacher to arrive. Her
teacher never showed.
Nishino, a LSA first-year stu-
dent, received her initial taste of
college classes yesterday, and while
she may not have learned much, she
did discover that many University
discussions are not held on the first
day of school.
For many students new to the
University, adjusting to the norms
of academic life seemed intimidat-
ing yesterday as they asked
upperclass students for directions.
LSA first-year student Tansy
Rodd admitted to being nervous at
first but found other students to be
cordial and supportive.
She said, "If they see you lost,
they'll ask, 'Do you need help?"'
Some new students appeared to
have used the past week on campus
It's not like high school anymore. You get a lot of work for the first day.
Weeknights are out. I'm going to be in the library. It's no joke anymore.
- Tansy Rodd
LSA first-year student
well by exploring the University
and learning where their classes
are.
LSA sophomore Luke Angel
transferred to the University from
Michigan State University and
checked out his classes earlier this
week.
"I still get lost, though," he said.
Angel said the University ispuz-
zling because the campus is meshed
into the Ann Arbor business dis-
trict.
He said this blurring of bound-
aries makes it more difficult for
him to figure where his classes are
located.
But whether in East Lansing or
Ann Arbor, students found Big Ten
school classes to be overwhelming
compared to the size of high school
classes.
LSA first-year student Amy
Zandarski said the number of stu-
dents in her European History class
in an Angell Hall auditorium blew
her away.
Coming from a small town in
western Michigan, the sheer num-
ber of people in University's classes
shocked Zandarski.
But she said the most difficult
partof her first day washer Spanish
class.
Zandarski cringed when her
Spanish teacher warned her and her
classmates that she taught French
last year and occasionally switches
between French and Spanish with-
out realizing it.
Rodd confessed that students in
her Spanish class encounteredmass
confusion yesterday when her TA
said she would communicate with
them solely in Spanish.
"My Spanish teacher doesn't
speak English, so I don'tknow how
we're supposed to get anywhere,"
she said.
On the way to classes, new stu-
dents whohad beenhere for thepast
week saw landmark sites like the
Diag or Ingalls Mall go from a
Siberian no man's land to a scene
from a bustling Hong Kong town,
with bicyclists ruling the sidewalks.
"I had a bee fly into my hair,"
Zandarski said, smirking as she re-
lated the rest of the story.
"As I was trying to get it out, a
guy almost knocked me over with
his bike. He said, 'Move it. Get out
of my way."'
But she added that she thought
the casual air about where students
decided to sit, i.e. anywhere, amused
her.
As another day at the University
caine to a close, new students were
relieved to pull the covers over their
heads.
But the new University students
said sleeping away troubles and
dreaming of silly grade school mo ;
ments will not change the cold real.°
ity.
They will have to adjust.
"It's not like high school any #'
more," Rodd said.
"You getalot of work for the firsCt
day. Weeknights are out. I'm going
to be in the library. It's no jok
anymore.
'Vo
a
DPS begins crime watch program in dorms
By WILL McCAHILL i
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Although students rarely call their;
dorm hallway a neighborhood, the Uni-
versity Department of Public Safety
(DPS) is implementing its own version
of a neighborhood crime watch pro-
gram in University residence halls.
Under theplan, University residence
hall employees - including resident
advisors and kitchen staff - will help
DPS keep dorms safe by immediately
reporting anyone who looksoutof place.
Sgt. Benny Chenevert, DPS crime
prevention coordinator, said the Resi-
dence Hall Watch program aims to edu-
cate students and encourage vigilance
in residence halls.
"The main thing is to give everyone
an awareness of their surroundings,"
Chenevert said.
Chenevert said he hopes having a
large number of people involved in the
program will help DPS keep intruders
out of residence halls and make the halls
safe.
"Police can't be everywhere, but
you don't always want them every-
where," he added.
DPS tested the Residence Hall Watch
program in West Quad last year, and
when it received a favorable response
from staff and students, it spread to all
the dorms.
Corrections
The plane which carried the banner "Congratulations Mark - the Bernsteins" was not rented by Sam Bernstein. This was
incorrectly reported in the May 2 Daily. The Daily apologizes for the problem this may have caused the Bernstein family.
Pattrice Maurer is the only full-time staffer of the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union. This was incorrectly reported in yesterday's
Daily.
Chenevert said the most common
type of crime committed against Uni-
versity students is simple larceny, in-
cluding the theft of bookbags, purses
and other unattended valuables.
Even a short trip to the bathroom or
aquick study break can result in the loss
of valuables, Chenevert said. A quick
visit to the room next door can also be a
problem if the door is left open, espe-
cially if that trip stretches itself out into
a longer visit.
To guard against the loss of money,
Chenevert said he urges students not to
leave large amounts of cash in their
rooms and to open checking accounts at
local banks to make such personal
stashes unnecessary.
Chenevert also cautions students
against lending their student identifica-
tion cards to other people, no matter
how well they know the person.
SELECT SECONDHAND
QUALITY
USED ITEMS
122 S. Main
(in the basement)
Mon-Sat. 11-9 668-0747
-THIS ring IS 1+ a l of cr'yosphet-,c pari~viQ
F~neSueSl~4-3 -n P (Ie d eA rhiiq*
Friday
Q Chinese Christian Fellowship,
weekly meeting and speaker
Preacher Mike, Dana Building,
Room 1040,7:30 p.m.
Q Hillel, Shabbat Services, Conser-
vative, Orthodox and Reform
services, 7 p.m.
U Saint Mary Student Parish, Ro-
and new members welcome,
CCRB, Room 2275, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
0 ArtMuseumGermanexpression-
ist graphics from the museum
collection, through Dec. 5
U Festival Choir, weekly meeting,
2011 Helen, 2 p.m.
Michigan Public Radio Stations,
Michigan Theater, 7 p.m.
" Film Classics Series, Les Enfants
du Paradis, Natural Sciences
Auditorium, 7 p.m.
" Gargoyle Mass Meeting, Student
Publications Building, Room
104, 12noon
U Phi Sigma Pi, first meeting for
iL~&TC',ns
UTS fsYaop p-dth lts xovy ForureJts Yovr F; g ,r.
,e7::;. Can am.r i n11 am. 4 nm
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