The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 29, 1994 - 7
LAW SCHOOL
Continued from page 1
and rigors of law school but he hopes
his work will pay high dividends.
"I'm hoping my efforts in law
school will pay off, and I will find a
very good paying job."
A typical law school student stud-
ies 35 to 40 hours a week, Shields
estimated. "Law school is not an easy
thing to go through. It is very com-
petitive and very stressful."
Third-year Law school student
Elliot Uchitelle said, "The work load
is very heavy the first year, then slows
down somewhat the second and third
years."
But Uchitelle is quick to add that
Law school is a "good experience."
In addition to LSAT scores and
grades, including courses taken,
Shields said the University's Law
school places much emphasis on let-
ters of recommendation, especially
from professors and applicant essays.
The REA reports that approxi-
mately 40 percent of Law school stu-
dents are in-state.
Shields said, contrary to popular
belief, "The U-M Law school does
not have a bias against U-M under-
graduates who apply to the law
school." In fact, the Law school ranks
first among law schools that enroll
their undergraduates.
Sixty-nine of the 360 students in
this year's entering class earned their
undergraduate degrees from the Uni-
versity. Duke University Law school,
which ranked second, enrolled only
13 of their undergraduates.
The Michigan Bar Association
estimates there are approximately
950,000 lawyers in the United States
-29,000 are in Michigan. Even with
the market flooded with lawyers,
Shields said, "Most U-M law school
graduates do not have a hard time find-
ing employment after graduating."
Shields added that a number of
students attending law school do not
have the ultimate ambition to practice
law. "Law school provides students
with a solid background, which opens
other avenues for students to pursue."
Uchitelle said he feels the high
number of lawyers in the job market
is "discouraging," yet he believes
having a legal background provides
students with "more flexibility."
Kim Lerner, an LSA senior, is not
discouraged by the number of law-
yers in the market, but feels the field
is "male dominated." "I feel there will
always be a need for lawyers to de-
fend the rights of the victim and en-
sure the system is working for the
people," Lerner said. "There is a place
for everyone who cares about the pro-
fession, especially dedicated women."
Shields encourages those students
considering law school in the future
to "take a rigorous undergraduate
curriculum and do as best they can."
Uchitelle recommends under-
graduates take some time off before
entering law school. "Taking a year
or two off before going to law school
allow students to gain a better per-
spective of life. It made my classes
more meaningful," Uchitelle said.
JONATHAN BERNDT/Daily
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A
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JONATHAN BERNDT/Daily
TLSA course lets y
students wrestle
with dicey issues
By TALI KRAVITZ
For the Daily
Is it politically correct to call a gay person a "fag?" If
you refer to your best friend as a "jap," could she be
offended? These are the kind of questions the Program on
Intergroup Relations and Conflict (IGRC) deals with
every day.
Students in the IGRC course "Building Bridges through
Intergroup Dialogues" are given the opportunity to wrestle
with these issues in a non-threatening environment.
IGRC promotes communication in an open and re-
*axed way. Students voice their feelings to one another about
issues that concern them and their racial or ethnic group.
Prof. Ximena Ziliga, who has worked with and pro-
grammed the IGRC since its inception, said, "Conflict is
a natural thing; it builds community."
She added, "The students coming out of the dialogues
are empowered to action and are able to explain the
conflicts between groups with more complexity."
Furthermore, by participating in an intergroup dia-
logue, students can learn to shatter some stereotypes and
*misconceptions they might have of another group.
There are seven facilitators and two peer coordinators
to assist the groups in dialogue. After going through an
intense training period, these facilitators are ready to
guide students in a productive dialogue. This setup pro-
vides an unintimidating atmosphere for students to speak.
There are approximately 12 to 14 people in each dialogue.
Al Spuler, a graduate student and a facilitator of the
program, said, "Sincethe University isputting so much effort
into bringing minority students to campus, IGRC is attempt-
ing to deal with the these diverse groups constructively."
LSA senior Cindy LaSovage is a peer consultant for the
program. "Being white and coming from an all-Black com-
munity in Detroit posed many social problems for me when
I started college. I always needed to prove to people that just
because I am white does not mean I am a racist," she said.
"The IGRC has given me a chance to learn about other
groups and, at the same time, for them to learn about me.
Now I am able to challenge others as a facilitator."
This winter semester, the one-credit course is offered
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Cindy Lasovage and Abe Bates facilitate a dialogue in
the Wedge Room of West Quad.
from February to March and will meet once a week for two
hours. Aside from participating in the dialogue, students
are expected to read relevant materials, write reflection
papers, as well as culminate the experience with a final
paper incorporating their thoughts and insights.
The program began in 1988 as part of the Pilot Pro-
gram. Although still located in Alice Lloyd residence hall,
the IGRC is presently part of the mainstream LSA course
listing, while working in conjunction with the sociology,
psychology and american culture departments. It serves
approximately 400 students per year.
"A common discussion area," according to facilitator
Neera Parikh - an Indian American concentrating in
sociology and communication -"is for the each group in
the dialogue to claim that he/she has been more oppressed
than the other." Sarikh reacts with the fact that it is
impossible to rank certain types of oppression as worse
than another.
Aside from the academic courses that are offered, the
IGRC also has programs in the residence halls, within the
Greek system and during Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
People from all over the Ann Arbor area are encouraged to
participate.
Other dialogues offered for winter term are lesbian,
gay, bisexual/heterosexual dialogue, Black/Jewish dia-
logue, white people/people of color dialogue and female/
male dialogue.
Alison Forn6s is another peer consultant for the groups.
With her Puerto Rican and Chinese ethnic background,
Forn6s said being a participant in the dialogues and then
becoming a facilitator and coordinator have been "the best
experiences of (her) college career."
i
HANUKKAH
Continued from page 3
Jewish families also celebrate the
holiday by playing dreidal, a gam-
bling game involving a top, and by
eating latkes - fried potato pancakes.
The dreidal is marked with four
Hebrew letters that stand for the
phrase, Nes Gadol Haya Sham or "A
great miracle happened here."
Dreidals were used to secretly pass
on the story of the miracle because
Syrian-Greek King Antiochus forbade
formal Jewish learning.
"The dreidals were used in the
times of the Greeks. This was a way
of deceiving the enemy and making
them think its not learning," Goldstein
said.
Despite the many traditions sur-
rounding Hanukkah, many Jews do
not consider it a major holiday. Un-
like other holidays, Hanukkah takes
place during the week, and observant
Jews may continue to go to work.
"It is as about as unimportant as
Jewish holidays get on the scale of
Jewish holidays," Brooks said.
LSA junior Laurie Stein said Ha-
nukkah has received more attention
because it is near Christmas. "I don't
think it's a very religious holiday,"
she said.
Still, Stein is celebrating the holi-
day with her housemates. "We are
lighting a menorah and having pre-
sents."
Goldstein said the holiday is im-
portant to Jews. "It's still observed
with the same dedication as you would
any other holiday."
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