__ The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 29, 1994 - 3
9' reading program assists vision-impaired students
By JOSHUA GINSBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Students with visual impairments
and learning disabilities need not fall
behind in their reading, thanks to a
revamped program at the University.
Reading Services assists students
beading course pack and book mate-
onto audio cassettes. Volunteers
also take notes, type papers and proctor
exams for students.
The reading presently is being done
in Haven Hall, but will move to a
permanent location in the Winter term.
According to Student Programs
Coordinator Elizabeth R. Maasen, the
University's reader program has been
organized tomore efficiently complete
the reading for students who need texts
on tape.
"Volunteers'read course material
onto cassette tape in our offices during
the evening or weekends, typically in
blocks of one and a half to two hours,"
Maasen said in a letter to potential
volunteers.
She suggested that volunteers read
for four or five hours a week, but noted
that some may read up to ten hours a
week.
Vika Gardener, a graduate student
and organizer of the Reading Services
program, said that the project has been
hard to get moving.
"When I came here, I anticipated
having a group of trained readers who
could read about 30 pages an hour,"
Gardener said. "Many of the volun-
teers have never read out loud before
and read between 10 and 15 pages an
hour."
Gardener said she is hopeful that
volunteers will also gain something
from the experience. "It's a chance for
the volunteers to get abroad awareness
of many different texts, as well as know-
ing that they are helping some one get
through school."
Gardener has worked on similar
projects at other universities, including
Temple University. "At Temple Uni-
versity, we had to pay readers because
it was a more urban, working-class
environment. It was harder to find vol-
unteers."
The staff at the Reading Services
program is looking forward to having a
more stable base of operations, most
likely the West Quad Library. Until
then, "With the new reading rooms in
Haven Hall, we can be open during the
day," Gardener said. This flexibility is
one advantage of the new program.
A second advantage is a greater
degree of organization. "In the past, we
went out to recruit readers and we
provided recorders, but it was up to the
volunteers to determine their sched-
ules," Gardener said.
Now, all the scheduling and volun-
teer coordination is done from the cen-
tral office in Haven Hall.
While the new program is a huge
step forward, a few things are still
being worked out.
"Right now, time is the biggest
problem. We guarantee that we can
have the material for students in two
weeks, we need a full two weeks,"
Gardener said.
U To be a volunteer for the
University's Reader Serviceprogram,
please call the Office of Services for
Students with Disabilities at 763-3000.
h suicide,
LSA junir
falls from
14th floor
2o-year-old is the
2nd student to fall
from a high-rise
building in less than
four months
By DAVID SHEPARDSON
Daily News Editor
A University student fell to his
:eath from the 14th floor of Univer-
sity Towers yesterday morning in what
*ce said was an apparent suicide.
-Seth Meyer Charlson, 20, was pro-
ounced dead at approximately 10:15
.m., Ann Arbor police and Huron
Valley Ambulance officials said.
Charlson died after he fell more
than 100 feet onto a lower roof of the
sigh-rise apartment building's west
side at the corner of South University
and South Forest avenues.
harlson, who lived in Chester-
ield, Mo., was an LSA junior.
Howard Larkey, an LSA junior,
who lives at 524S. Forest Ave. nextto
University Towers, witnessed the scene.
le said he saw police, ambulance and
fire trucks arrive on the scene.
"I looked out the window saw po-
lice climbing up the side of the window
toward him," Larkey said. "I can't be-
lieve that anyone could do it."
*Charlson is the second student to
all from a high-rise apartment build-
ing in less than four months.
Grace Ko, 20, who would have
been a BBA senior this fall, fell from
Fifth-year seniors could get
free nde at Montana college
By ANDREW TAYLOR
Daily Staff Reporter
Students who don't graduate in four
years from the University of Montana
will have their fifth-year tuition paid
for by the school, under a proposal by
Montana Gov. Marc Racicot.
First-year students enrolled in 1995
will sign "fast track" agreements with
the university, stating their intent to
graduate in four years. If they can't
graduate due to the lack of open classes
orpooradvising, the school will waive
their tuition for any extra courses
needed.
Although, the plan would lower
the number of credits needed for a
degree, students would be required to
take at least 16.3 credits per term.
More classes would be offered at
night and weekends to allow for the
increased student load.
The school
isalsotrying to
increase loan G USIv,
availability for .Cn
students soBre
that they can o Brie '
take on more
classes rather
than part-time 0]VD TW >
jobs, said a uni-
versity spokesman.
The plan requires professors to
teach more classes to make sure the
students can graduate on time. Fac-
ulty that do not agree to the program
would not be eligible for pay increases.
Good sexual attitude leads
to better romance
Passionate women with a open
attitude toward sexual experiences
have better relationships, reports an
Ohio State University study.
"Women with a positive sexual
self-concept seem to have a greater
capacity for love and romance," said
Barbara Anderson, professor at Ohio
Two members of the Ann Arbor Police
20, an LSA junior yesterday morning.
her 18th-floor apartment in Tower
Plaza Condominiums June 1. Police
later ruled Ko's death a suicide.
Funeral arrangements for Charlson
were not available late last night.
If you orsomeone you know is con-
sidering committing suicide, you can
MULLY I TVENS/Uaily
photograph the body of Seth Charlson,
contact one ofthefollowing counseling
services:
Washtenaw County Community
Mental Health Services- University of
Michigan-JointPsychiatric Emergency
Services, A nn Arbor-996-4747
® Ozone House - 662-2222.
Here are the colleges that will lose the program.
Benedict College
California State at Long Beach
Delta State University
Dillard Universfty
Elon College
Louisiana State University at Shreveport
Northwest Missouri State University
Pennsylvania State University Altoona campus
Pennsylvania State University Schuylkill campus
State.
"Their relationships are not only i
more sexually intimate, but seem to be
intimate on emotional levels as well," 1
Anderson said.
According to the study, 97 percent1
of women have been in love if they
have positive sexual attitudes. Only
78 percent of women with negative ;
attitudes have been in love.
Positive women have a stable view
of themselves as sexual women,
Anderson said. They don't need a
romantic partner to feel good about
their sexual role in a relationship
The study - which was conducted
on 174 college women - appeared
in the Journal of Personality and So-
cial Psychology.{
Attending class like
money in the bank
It wasn't a bribe for attendance,
just a kickback for taking the course.
A University of Iowa professor
gave each of his students an envelope
San Jose State University
University of Bridgeport
University of Nebraska at Kearney
University of North Florida
University of Puerto Rico Humacao College
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tulsa
University of Wisconsin at Whitewater
Washington University
ANDREW TAYLOR/Daily
with $1.25 inside when they showed
up for class last week, to refund the
royalties he earned when his students
bought his textbook.
"It just seemed like the right thing
to do. I gave it back to the students,"
said James Marshall, associate pro-
fessor of English and education. "It's
a small gesture, but they seemed
pleased."
Although many students were sur-
prised by his action, Marshall said he
gives refunds every year.
Iowa regulates professors from re-
ceiving royaltieson the textbooks they
assign. They are required to turn over
the money to the university, donate it
to the University of Iowa Foundation
or return it to the students.
The University of Michigan has
no such requirements on professors,
said Dan Sharphorn, assistant general
counsel for the University.
Marshall's class, "Teaching Lit-
erature in the Secondary School,"
enrolls 31 students.
Unverse younger, smaller than
nce thought, astronomers report
Los Angeles Times
The universe is a far younger and
smaller place than anyone suspected,
two independent teams ofdistinguished
astronomers announced yesterday. In
fact, the universe may be only about
halfasoldastheoldeststarsandgalax-
it contains.
That fundamental paradox -sure
to keep philosophers, theologians and
astronomers awake at night -is one
byproduct of the newest and most ac-
curate estimates of the size and age of
the universe to date.
Taken together, the new findings
promise to startle the astronomical world
by challenging long-held assumptions
ut the properties of the universe,
ch encompasses all known matter
and space, since it evolved from a pri-
meval fireball.
"It givescosmologists and astrono-
mers the marching orders to go and
explain the discrepancy between the
oldest stars and the age of the uni-
verse," said Stephen Maran, a senior
astronomer atNational Aeronautics and
Space Administration'sGoddard Space
Center outside Washington and a
spokesman for the American Astro-
nomical Society. "There is something
very profound going on."
In afrustrating effort to solve one of
nature's most fundamental puzzles, sci-
entists have argued for decades over the
age of the cosmos and how fast space
itself has expanded since creation.
Astronomers believe the key to any
scientific answer is Hubble's constant,
which is a measure of the ratio of
velocity to distance for remote, reced-
ing galaxies. Scientists have been con-
stantly refining their calculation of the
constant, based on new data. The right
answer holds the key to whether the
universe may one day reach the end of
its outward rush, reverse, and slowly
collapse in on itself in what some as-
tronomers like to call the Big Crunch.
By radically different routes, the
two international teams have arrived at
what several experts say are surpris-
ingly similar and unsettling answers.
One group, led by Indiana's Michael
J. Pierce, developed a better yardstick
for gauging the size, and hence the age,
of the expanding universe by calculat-
ing the distance to the Virgo Cluster 50
million light years away with unprec-
edented precision.
Their calculations led them to be-
lieve the universe could be as little as 7
billion yearsold,compared to previous
estimatesofasmuchas20billion years.
The other researchers, led by
Harvard University astronomer Robert
Kirshner, used five exploding super-
novas as surveyor's marks to calculate
the cosmic distance scale. That group
found the universe to be between 9
billion and 14 billion years old, but still
much younger than previously believed.
The Washington Post to issue a memorial stamp to the former
C ongressm anWASHINGTON - Add Richard president next spring.
CrM. Nixon to the list of Postmaster Rep. William "Bill" Clay (D-Mo.)
criticizes stan p General Marvin T.Runyon'sproblems. appealed yesterday to the postmaster
The chairman of the House Post general to abandon the agency's
Office and Civil Service Committee policy of issuing a memorial stamp
to honor N ixon has told Runyon he is "unalterably of a former president a year after his
opposed" to the Postal Service's plans death.
Interviews with over fifty law school
admissions officers reveal:
How the admissions process really works
How to write an effective personal statement
What makes a strong recommendation
Where to apply to maximize your chances for acceptance
How to prepare for the first year of law school - and beyond
Group Meetings
Q Homeless Action Committee,
741-0486, Guild House, 802
. Monroe, 5:30 p.m.
Q U-M Gospel Chorale, rehearsal,
764-1705, Trotter House, 7:30-
9:30 p.m.
S Meditation Workshop, Medi-
tation for Universal Conscious-
ness, Michigan League, Room
D, 7-8:30 p.m.
Q Undergraduate Math Club
Mass Meeting,
r a Qhv...nt c . f. Accnafitinn
" Intervarsity Christian Fellow-
ship, 1040 Natural Resources
Bldg., 7 p.m.
" Michigan Student Assembly
Task Force on Campus Safety,
first meeting 3909 Michigan
Union, 8 p.m.
Events
D "Acoustic Information for Vow-
els and Tones in Mandarin,"
Terry Rew-Gottfried, Rackham
East Lecture Room. 3rd floor,
4 p.m.
D "TV Night," Hillel, 8:00-11:00
Student services
D 76-GUIDE, peer counseling
phone line, call 76-GUIDE, 7
p.m.-8 a.m.
D Voter Registration, Michigan
Union basement,I11a.m.-2 p.m.
U Campus Information Center,
763-INFO; events info., 76-
EVENT; film info., 763-FILM.
D North Campus Information
Join Pat Harris Leading Expert in the Nation on Law School Admissions either day:
Saturday, October 1st 1pm - 4pm or Sunday, October 2nd 4pm - 8pm
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