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.