The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 31, 1994 - 3
* Scared of
Macs, they
look to 'U'
. for support
By LISA DINES
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
"It's all paranoia - that's what it
is.'
Lauren Korn, an RC sophomore,
is afraid of computers. While at the
University, she has not typed a single
paper on a computer.
"I sit there like I do not want to
press this because it could do some-
thing bad," she said.
Korn is not alone in her aversion
to the information age.
While the University offers pro-
grams to make computers user-
friendly, many students say the pro-
grams are unpublicized and inad-
equate.
Tansy Rodd, an LSA first-year
student, was reluctant to admit the
problems she first had with a
Macintosh personal computer.
"I had never used a Mac before.
'With the mouse, I was lifting it up. I
didn't realize that you had to roll it. I
saw somebody doing it after a while
and figured it out," she said.
Rodd's problems started when she
was required to print out notes on the
$ computer for a biology class.
"Nobody told me how to do things.
They just assumed that I knew what e-
mail was and how to get an account. It
was a big mess," she said.
Stewart Blacklock, an East Quad
computing consultant, said the resi-
Psssst. Did you
hear the one
about the Grad?
Rumors fly as 'U' steps up security
By ROBIN BARRY
FOR THE DAILY
The size of the labyrinthine Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Library has rumors
flying and students feeling nervous.
Recent crimes in the library have
made some students feel uneasy and
have prompted a University committee
to increase security.
DPS reported that larcenies made
up the majority of crimes in the Grad.
There were 61 larcenies in 1993 and
three sex offenses that were primarily
cases of indecent exposure.I
James Barger, an aerospace engi-
neering junior, agreed that the size and
layout of the Grad is overwhelming.
"It's like a labyrinth. With all they
nooks and crannies, there has to be
somewhere (in the Grad) no one has
been in 20 years. You have to wonder
what goes on in that place."
LSA sophomore Christie Compton
said some stacks remind her of scenes
from old horror movies.
"I don't like going up there; if you
screamed no one would hear you. It's
like a dungeon," she said.
The Grad has an area of 225,780
square feet and serves an average of
3,768 people each day.
"The guys next door said that there
was no bottom floor to the Grad. I think
they're right; I haven't found it yet,"'
JUDITH PERKINS/Daily
Like it or not, computers are a fact of life. One student works at the Angell Hall Computing Center yesterday.
dence hall consultants see many
people like Korn and Rodd.
"I see people with no basic under-
standing, and they have to be in-
structed which button to push to turn
the Mac on," Blacklock said.
ResComp Director Mary Simoni
said the residence hall computing cen-
ters are trying to overcome the fear of
computers that many students face.
"We do sessions at new student
orientation during the summer and
we also sponsor the ResComp World
Tour which is designed to jumpstart
students to computing," she said.
As part of the tour, consultants
teach classes in each of the residence
halls. Classes start with Macintosh
basics, such as turning on the com-
puter and using the mouse.
The Information Technology Di-
vision (ITD) also offers free instruc-
tion for students. Through ITD and
ResComp, students can take classes
in certain advanced applications, such
as Delta-Graph Pro and Excel.
Korn said students are often un-
comfortable attending the classes.
"The classes are not inviting
enough. They need to be really nice to
me so that I won't feel stupid. They
need to say that it is okay to know
nothing," she said.
.Altruist, dental student
wins prestigious scholarship
By ZACHARY RAIMI
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Alyssa Uddyback lost her first
tooth when she was about five. Less
. than four years from today, she will
be working to help others keep their
teeth healthy.
Late last year, Uddyback, a first-
year dental student, was awarded a
Select Scholar scholarship from the
National Dental Association Founda-
tion (NDAF), through a grant from
the CdlgtePalnolive Co.The $2,000
award is renewable each year, pro-
vided she maintains an appropriate
grade point average.
"I was really happy," Uddyback
said upon hearing of her award.
"(School is) really expensive. ... It
has helped me out a whole lot. I use
that money to help me live comfort-
ably and for other things, like sup-
plies."
The award was created for this
purpose; said NDAF President Dr.
Roosevelt Brown. "We're trying to
make the (graduate) experience as
easy as possible instead of going out
and getting a part-time job," he said.
Uddyback's life-long desire to
help people has led her into dentistry.
"I want to help people. I want to
serve the community. For me, den-
tistry is the best way to do this," she
said.
"For dentistry, you are not only a
doctor to the patients, you can talk to
them and detect different things go-
ing on in their lives," Uddyback added.
Uddyback's friend and classmate,
William Carey, said her personality
will help her patients. He explained,
"She (has) a lot of motivation. She has
a way of picking up spirits, making you
feel relaxed. People in general are afraid
of dentists, (but) she will make patients
feel relaxed. She has a positive attitude
about everything, and that'll be help-
ful."
To be selected for the award, the
potential recipients had to achieve good
undergraduate grades, demonstrate par-
ticipation in extracurricular activities
and offer recommendations from pro-
fessors or advisors.
While attending Dillard University
in New Orleans, Uddyback kept busy.
She was a member of Delta Sigma
Theta sorority and the pre-med club.
She tutored illiterate adults, bagged food
and made sandwiches for the homeless.
She was also a Howard Hughes Scholar
recipient.
Dr. Lee Jones, director of minority
affairs for the dental school, wrote a
recommendation on Uddyback's be-
half for the NDAF scholarship. He said
her involvement in community affairs,
plus her background as an African
American, will help her to be asensitive
and successful dentist.
"Her background has made her
aware of the tremendous need for the
dental care in the African American
community. She'll be welcome into the
community because she is a highly
motivated young lady. Plus, there is a
tremendous need for her professional
skills. The African American commu-
nity is under served," Jones said.
Uddyback said she believes young
African American children will look to
her as a good role model. "Kids (will)
see another African American out do-
ing something in the community. I (will)
be a good influence because they see it
can be done."
She added, "Their dreams too can
come true."
The youngest of five children,
Uddyback grew up in Detroit and at-
tended Mercy High School in
Farmington Hills. She said her parents
are very supportive.
"My mom and dad were really help-
ful. If I don't do as well as I would have
liked on a test, they come up or I go
home to talk to them. They are always
there," she said.
Once she starts practicing dentistry,
Uddyback said she hopes to spend Fri-
days servicing the elderly. "When Iam
a dentist, I plan to go to underprivileged
nursing homes and serve the elderly,"
she said.
Compton added.
The immensity of the Grad also
encourages the spread of rumors.
Engineering senior Dave Hyatt
heard most of these rumors his first year
at the University.
"My freshman year, I heard about
people having sex in the Grad because
it is so big," he said.
Compton said she heard the same
rumors during her orientation.
"I think it's one of those things that
they tell the freshmen as a joke."
Despite the humorous rumors, se-
curity in the Grad remains a serious
subject to staff and students.
Margo Crist, assistant director for
public services for University Librar-
ies, said the recent improvements intle
Grad's security were in response tp
students' concerns.
"About a year and a half ago :a
committee was formed by faculty -and
the Department of Public Safety (DPS)
to discuss issues in the stacks."
Crist said the library has:
E hired more monitors;
added security mirrors at critical
intersections in remote areas; and,
*installedDPS-fundedtelephone, .
"Students were alittle worried abot
being in stacks alone. We want them to
know we're taking care of their con-
cerns," Crist said.
Handgun
sales soa r in
Mcigan
DETROIT (AP) - The number of
new handgun registrations in Michigan
increased 15 percent in 1993 over the
previous year, bringing the total to 22
million, a local newspaper reports.
"The industry has never seen any-
thing like this," said Wayne Knowles,
operator of Target Sports in Royal Oak.
"I can't buy enough handguns (o
satisfy my customers. Ap;I'Irp( -
ng exotic stuff. Standard Smith &
Wessonrevolveii'i#in iinaters. y
distributors says they don't have thle
stock," he told The Detroit News fora
story yesterday.
Police agencies statewide registered
96,522 handguns in 1993, a 15 percent
increase from the-registrationsnadein
1992, according to the News.
The newspaper also found:
Wayne County led the state's 83
counties with 14,560 registered guns
last year.
Statewide, the only large geo-
graphic area to show a decrease was
Detroit, where handgun registry fell by
13 percent last year compared to 1992.
Fewer than 3,000 guns were legally
bought in Detroit last year.
Saginaw County had a 27-per-
cent increase in handgun sales. That
county'shandgun buyers registered one
pistol for every 62 residents last year,
the highest such figure in the state.
Detroit police officials Said the low
number of registrations could mean a
drop in crime.
"Our crime stats have been consis-
tently going down. Maybe people feel
safer in the city," said Sgt. Chris Buck.
The state has 12,145 licensed gun
dealers. About 500 are in Detroit and
3,100 in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
counties.
Criminal justice experts vary on
explanations for the increase in gun
sales.
"Fear of crime is a national trend
and escalating," said Robert
Trojanowicz, director of the National
Center of Community Policing.
FILE PHOTO
Alyssa Uddyback, a first-year dental student, is shown above. She is the
recipient of the Select Scholar scholarship valued at $2,000 annually.
She added that she will bring "all
my equipment and help them. They
will be really glad someone is coming
to spend time with them as well as treat
them."
As a dentist, Uddyback is sure to ;
come acrossresistance from patients in
fear that her treatment will cause physi-
cal pain. But this is necessary to cure
them, said Uddyback. Dentists, she said,
"might cause a little pain, but (they)
alleviate it in the long run."
Advances in technology awe, frighten long-time employees
By MARIA KOVAC
FOR THE DAILY
Remember when the only com-
puters on campus were the mainframes
in payroll, or when only 25,000 people
showed up to football games and when
protests were common events?
Many University staff members
remember these times clearly. Re-
cently, three long-term staff mem-
bers offered their insights on what
they consider to be the biggest changes
at the University in the years they've
been here.
Nancy Bates, a budget adminis-
trator in the psychology department,
began working at the University in
1952.
"At that time there were 13,000
students at the University. It's amaz-
ing the way the University has grown
from a small organization to a huge
institution," she said.
Bates added that the computeriza-
tion of the campus is a big change
from the 1950s when personal com-
puters were nonexistent.
Frank Parker, a supervisor of in-
strument services in the Chemistry
department, has worked at the Uni-
versity for 30 years.
He cited the electronic revolution
as being the most significant change
in the Chemistry department.
"(It) has transformed the study of
chemistry. In the past a researcher
might have spent years working on a
thesis project, and today we can solve
his problem in a day," Parker said.
The problem with this revolution
is the high equipment costs it presents
to the Chemistry and Physics depart-
ments. The high costs of equipment
have outpaced the University budget.
Victoria White, a clerical worker
in the off-campus work study pro-
gram at the Office of Financial Aid,
began working at the University 20
years ago.
One of the biggest improvements
in the work-study program has just
occurred in the last month, White
said. Students can now check job
postings on-line from any computing
site instead of flipping through index
cards or notebooks.
The last 20 years has brought an
increase of financial aid applicants and
a 60-percent staff increase, White said.
These staff members said they have
also noticed changes in the students at
the University over the years.
White recalled the many protests.
that occurred on campus when she be-
gan at the University during the early
1970s.
"(Students) seem to think thatwhat's
going to happen is what's going to
happen, and there's nothing they can do
about it," she said.
Parker said one thing that hasn't
changed is the students' good work
habits. "Students are still here 24 hours
a day trying to get out."
Bates, Parker and White, along with
hundreds of other long-term staff mem-
bers, were honored at a University ban-
quet in December.
'I
., Executive Positions Available
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