O Wit Iidligau JaUOg New Student Edition
UNIVERSITY
Section
Thursday, September 8, 1994
5 :1
* Tune in,
speak out,
have fun
Wherever home is for you, the
reader, the first-year student-
in-waiting, you are inundated with
images of the University implacably
imprinted on baseball caps, glossy
brochures and dorm leases. With a
host of
expectations
and a ready-
made set ofx
dreams,
*res and
goals,
Paradise -
found and
then lost -
awaits.p
If you've
been to DAVID
Orientation, SHEPARDSON
you've seen On the 'U'
the sights,
debriefed, know a few of the ropes
and probably have a clear plastic
sticker on the back of your car. (I
have yet to get one.) Thrown into
unseemly lines, strained quasi-
diversity meetings and mind-
numbing advice sessions, you are
now ready to attend future
insurance seminars at faraway
nations.
ut most importantly,
Orientation - the make friends,
live free and most certainly don't
die three-day span - separates the
folder-carrying, name-tag wearing
from the rest.
But exactly, who are you?
T-shirted teenage fans who hail
from great distances: San Marcos,
TXas; Portland, Maine; Little
4k, Ark.; Casper, Wyo.; and
Acton, Mass. Foreign nationals
rom across the globe sent by parents
ith bountiful resources or the belief
hat an American education might
make them and their country
tronger. Kids in small rural
Michigan towns like Bad Axe,
Howard City, Memphis and
Hemlock who grew up slapping
-and-blue sweatshirts to play
ac e football in the neighbor's
ard. And graduates of Saginaw
Arthur Hill, Flint Catholic Central
nd Detroit Cass Tech who grew up
n big cities liking the University no
ess than their suburban
ompatriots.
The sweet gauzy haze of late
September is near. All that remains
een you and brisk football
rdays, sojourns to Meijer and
arefree pre-midterm existence are a
ew August days to reflect aimlessly
before repacking your bags and
detaching the umbilical cord.
Upon your arrival, take the LSAT
your first week. This will put the
inevitable behind you. Invest in a
hospital gown and rubber vomit. It
See SHEPARDSON, Page 2C
I)IC
61173 '
'U' invests in future with
focus on academics, research
By JAMES R. CHO
Daily NSE Editor
President James J. Duderstadt's office is located on the
second floor of the fortress-like structure called the Fleming
Administration Building. On his desk sits a black note-
book in which he keeps a record of the University's past
achievements - a logbook of successes and failures.
Founded in 1817, the University, which sits on 2,665
acres of prime, tax-free real estate in the middle of Ann
Arbor, employs more than 25,000 people and doles out
nearly $1 billion in wages each year.
Last year, the University reached a number of mile-
stones and reaffirmed its status as one of the top public
institutions in the country.
Duderstadt points to three major accomplishments: the
Michigan Mandate, improvements in undergraduate edu-
cation, and rebuilding the University financially.
Duderstadt initiated the mandate in 1988. This bold
initiative reflects the University's commitment to increase
the diversity of the student body. The mandate's emphasis
has been on recruitment and retention of minority students
and faculty.
"We have the highest number of minorities enrolled in the
University today than ever before," Duderstadt said. Since
1987, the total number of minority enrollment has increased
74 percent. Minority faculty has increased 45 percent.
Undergraduate Education
The University moved up one spot to seventh in terms
of its undergraduate academic reputation according to the
annual survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report.
Yet Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr., provost and executive vice
president for academic affairs, believes the University
needs to do more to improve undergraduate education.
"The reality is that for many of our first- and second-
year students, only a small fraction of their courses are
staffed by senior faculty. ... Faculty have migrated away
from instruction at the introductory level. The result is too
much of undergraduate teaching is left to teaching assis-
tants and to lecturers," Whitaker said.
The University has taken steps to help faculty members
continue their research while teaching undergraduates with
programs like the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Pro-
gram. This program pairs undergraduate students with senior
faculty throughout the University as research assistants.
First-year students entering the College of LSA this
fall will have one more graduation requirement to cope
with. To fulfill the college's new quantitative reasoning
requirement, students must complete three credits of classes
dealing with mathematics and logic.
Rock Solid
An indication of the University's financial strength
came early this year when Moody's Investors Service gave
the University an unprecedented Aal credit rating.
"This is the first time Moody's has assigned acredit rating
higher than Aa to a public university," said Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer Farris W. Womack,
who manages the University's $2 billion-plus budget.
The University's endowment fund, which is funded by
monetary gifts given to the University to support specific
programs, reached an all-time high last year, nearly top-
ping the $1 billion mark. The endowment has grown to
$912 million in the last five years - an increase of 118
percent.
For the second straight year, the University had the
highest level of research expenditures among all public
institutions. The National Science Foundation ranked the
University at the top of all public institutions in terms of
research and development.
Research
program pairs
students with
professors
By LISA DINES
Daily Staff Reporter
The Undergraduate Research
Opportunity Program (UROP)
offers students the chance to get
down and dirty in the pursuit of
new discoveries.
The program deviates from a
typical undergraduate curricu-
lum by pairing students with a
professor to do actual research.
Approximately 350 projects
involved UROP students last
year. Students receive either
academic credit or work study
wages for their efforts.
"It's a sophisticated class-
room ... its an actual hands-on
experience," said Benedict
Lucchesi, a Pharmacology pro-
fessor involved in the program.
Lucchesi said nobody sits on
the sidelines in his laboratory.
Students get involved "right up
to their elbows."
The program was originally
designed to increase minority
student retention. UROP is now
open to all students but main-
tains a focus on the needs of
underrepresented students at the
University.
Directorof the Office for Aca-
demic and Multicultural Initia-
tives John Matlock works with
UROP students on the Michigan
Study -a study ofdemographics
characteristics at the University.
"The program has been help-
ful in working undergraduate
minorities into research at the
University," he said.
In addition to the research
appointments, the program of-
fers students peer advisers, re-
search groups and a year-end
symposium where students
present their findings.
"Students learn a lot of valu-
able research skills," said Sandra
Gregorman, UROP director.
"(The program) makes the Uni-
versity a more supportive envi-
ronment."
UROP is currently studying
the impact of the program on
See UROP, Page 2C
CHRIS WOLF/Daily
After 10 years of sweat and hard work, the Law Quad was completed in 1933.
Futur women scientistsfid
support in WISE program
By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON
Daily Staff Reporter
Pilot Program. Residential College. 21st Cen-
tury Program. Women In Science and Engineer-
ing. Which one of these is not like the other?;
Unlike other living-learning groups, the
Women in Science and Engineering program
(WISE) is a group of hallmates who are all in
similar concentrations and who are all women.
Housed in Couzens Hall, the 90 WISE par-
ticipants consist of first-year and second-year
students. They eat, sleep, study, hang out and go
to class together.
One might assume that there was little dif-
ference between WISE women and other groups
of hallmates, and one would be right. They stay
up late at night and discuss their personal prob-
lems. They eat Dinersty takeout and plan their
next visit to the CCRB. They complain about
their boyfriends and dorm food.
But they know one thing - they all want to
be scientists, doctors and engineers.
Most first-year students in the program will
See WISE, Page 4C
'U' capitalizes on latest computer technology
Voice mail, UMTV ethernet technology
now available to students K
By JAMES R. CHO and NAOMI SNYDER
Daily Staff Reporters
When you passed the Angell Hall Comput-
ing Site for the first time, you probably stared in
awe at the number of computers clustered in the
courtyard. Those computers are only
one part of a state-of-the-art comput-.
ing and telecommunications environ-
ment at the University.
With computing centers dotting
the campus, multimedia labs sprout-
ing up everywhere, and advanced
voice mail and ethernet connections
activated in several residence halls, the Univer-
sity is wiring itself for the next century.
With the highest concentration of
Macintosh computers outside of Apple head-
computing sites hold more than 1,500 com-
puters with more than 600,000 users per year.
With the network and hardware in place,
ITD is moving into using computers
for instructional purposes.
"We are moving into new areas of
video instructional services. By the
end of their time here, (first-year stu-
dents) will probably be able to video
conference with another student on
campus," Van Houweling said.
Cable in the Dorms
Imagine this scenario. It's 9:15, Monday
morning, you're already five minutes late to
your Great Books lecture. But you don't worry.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Don't step on the 'M' or else you'll fail
your next blue book exam. Does 'U' lingo
confuse you? Don't worry, the Daily has
prepared a dictionary to get you up to
speed on 'U-speak'.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Students use the University's on-line card catalog system. Students have been sighted using the
obsolete card catalogs during power outages.