The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 1, 1994 - 3 'U' students *offer hand to famihes in pvgram U Social Services 'Adopt-a-Family' program alms to make a difference By MARIA KOVAC Daily Staff Reporter The holiday season is not about what we receive, but about what we give to others. That is the spirit in which the WWashtenaw County Department of Social Services is sponsoring the "Adopt-a-Family" program, giving the Ann Arbor community an oppor- tunity to make a difference in a cre- ative way. Linda King, supervisor of volun- teer services at Social Services, said there are as many as 1,400 low-in- come families in Washtenaw County Owho benefit from the Adopt-a-Fam- ily program. "We've already matched over 1,000 families with donors, but that leaves between 300 and 400 families that still need to be matched," King said. Donors can choose what size fam- ily they wish to adopt, such as single- mother families or large extended families. Donors should be prepared Oo spend between $15 and $20 per family member to buy food for a holiday meal and a small gift item for each person. "But many people go above and beyond this," King said. Donors contact the families di- rectly in order to find out the specific needs of its members. They also de- liver the gifts themselves, usually the *week before Christmas. The program has 200-300 donors who participate year after year, and the rest is left to recruitment. King said many groups from the University collaborate to adopt a fam- ily. In the past. the hospital and spe- cific University departments have supported the program. This year Alpha Phi Omega, a co- ed national service fraternity on cam- pus, has raised money among its members to adopt a family through Wayne County's program, "Parents and Children Together." "This is a good opportunity for college students to do something. By giving in a group, they feel they've done their part even though they don't have a lot of money to give," said Jae- Jae Spoon, an LSA sophomore and *APO community service co-chair. The group is still waiting to be matched up with a family. They plan to shop for food and gifts as well as donating used clothing.. U The Washtenaw County De- partment of Social Services hopes to have all of its families matched by Dec. 16. Call 677-1052 for more in- formation. NOB MORE DOMES Choosing classes made easy with new 'U' program AP PHOTO The new pyramid at California State University-Long Beach has a "space frame" construction design and facilities to seat 5,000 at home baseketball games and other events. R10 aradise attracts stuents By DANIEL JOHNSON Daily Staff Reporter Each spring and summer about 200 University students with an in- terest in biology migrate north to the expansive University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS). UMBS is a research station where University students can apply their interests in field biology and ecology through classes and research oppor- tunities. "Virtually all students say that attending UMBS was the highlight of their college careers," said James Teeri, UMBS director and biology professor. The station will begin its 85th session in May on the shores of Dou- glas Lake in the northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Some of the classes offered on the 13,000- acre site are biology of birds, general ecology, field botany and ecology of streams and rivers. "The majority of students that at- tend the station are from the sciences, but there are a large number of stu- dents from the humanities and other non-science disciplines," Teeri said. The station's proximity to a mo- saic of diverse ecosystems allows stu- dents to take trips into the field and engage in their surroundings. Frequently visited areas include bogs, stands of virgin forest and sand dunes found along the shores of the Great Lakes. "Ten thousand pristine acres made it seem more like a paradise than a school," said SNRE senior Marc Olender. Research facilities at the station include a library containing 16,000 volumes, a lakeside laboratory, a greenhouse and an experimental streamside laboratory. Research is conducted year-round and includes a multi-million dollar project studying the effects of elevated carbon diox- ide levels on ecosystems. For the first time, a semester titled "Natural History Writers' Project" is being held this fall. The semester- long program offers courses that com- bine creative writing with natural his- tory, ecology, culture and the envi- ronment. The project will be taught again in the fall of 1996. Spring term at UMBS runs from May 21 to June 15 and summer courses from June 24 to Aug. 19. Financial aid is available. "In re- cent years, the availability of aid has increased, and now all students at- tending UMBS receive aid," Teeri said. Spring and summer terms fill up quickly, Teeri said, so he recom- mended students apply early. Inquir- ies can be made in Room 1111 of the Natural Science Building. By SAM T. DUDEK For the Daily The CRISP-mas season is upon us and with it comes an agony worse than trudging to class in the snow. Class registration is in full swing, burdening students with the responsi- bility of assembling the ideal sched- ule. LSA senior Daniel Abrams has designed a computer program to help University students avoid CRISP con- flicts. Abrams created Course Schedul- ing Made Easy (CSME) because he said the old-fashioned, trial-and-er- ror method is inefficient. The program is open to all stu- dents at any University computing site. CSME, which is currently only available on Macintosh, can be ac- cessed by clicking the "Applications" icon. The program is located in the "Utilities" folder. The program works similar to CRISP-INFO. Students type in the courses and sections they want and CSME calculates all possible schedule combinations with the chosen classes. This process, however, can create thousands of possible schedules. To narrow the search, the program al- lows users to make specific requests such as no Friday classes, an hour off for lunch or even no classes with a certain professor. With the help of computer pro- grammer and University alum Timo- thy Sharpe, Abrams completed a pre- liminary version of the program in May and attempted to sell it to the University. After months of phone calls and meetings with administrators, the University finally agreed to test CSME on their computing system. Abrams said he was very pleased with the response of administrators 'We wanted to give students a chance to try this program.' - Laura Patterson University Registrar and Registrar Laura Patterson. "Laura Patterson was instrumen- tal in finally getting CSME running," he said. "We were impressed with what we saw," Patterson said. "We wanted to give students a chance to try this program." She said that the Registrar's office will review the suc- cess of the program at the end of the term. The University is tracking the use of CSME to determine whether there is enough support to warrant licensing it for next year. "I have a lot of confidence that this will work," Abrams said. "I've gotten some wonderfully flattering e- mail (about CSME.)" But Abrams said he does have some worries about his program's success. "I'm feeling a little nervous," he said. "I have no idea how many people are using it." Nonetheless, Abrams is not letting anything obstruct future possibilities. "The evolution of CRISP is not far away," he said. "We can look forward to some even better things." In addition to a IBM-compatible Windows version of CSME he has now completed, Abrams said he hopes stu- dents someday can figure out their schedule on CSME and register straight from the program. For now, Abrams said he believes CSME can help many students today. "I know if someone is exposed to it, it will be a positive experience," he said. Clinton, Dole optimistic as Senate opens debate on GATT The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday opened two days of intense debate on a new world trade agree- ment as the Clinton administration stepped up efforts to win over waver- ing senators and expressed increas- ing confidence that the pact will be approved in a final congressional vote tonight. Bouyed by a 288-146 bipartisan victory in the House Tuesday, the administration predicted the Senate will scale a normally difficult 60- vote procedural hurdle to approve the accord, although officials stopped short of claiming that the votes were already firmly in hand. At the White House, where Presi- dent Clinton was lobbying the Senate by telephone, presidential spokeswo- man Dee Dee Myers said, "We do expect by the time the vote is cast (today) we will have the votes." U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor predicted flatly that the Ameri- can participation in the expanded General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will be approved. In London, where he was concluding a brief Eu- ropean trip, incoming Senate major- ity leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said, "I feel confident we have the votes." Dole's announcement of support for the agreement last week was seen as a turning point for its pros- pects in the Senate, and tomorrow night's vote is a critical test for Clinton's wounded presidency and for Dole's leadership of Republi- cans as they prepare to take over both houses of Congress next year. The Senate debate took shape along lines laid out earlier by the House, with proponents arguing that the new GATT would create jobs at home by opening more foreign mar- kets to American products and with opponents contending it would drive jobs abroad and tilt trading rules against the United States. And, as happened in the House, the pact drew support and opposition without regard to partisan or ideo- logical lines, often reflecting local commercial concerns - from Florida grapefruit to California wine and Montana sheep - more than broader national interests. "This historic agreement is es- sential to our economic future," said outgoing Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Maine), predicting it would reduce foreign trade barri- ers, stimulate industrial and agri- cultural exports and "benefit con- sumers by lowering tariffs that in- crease the purchase price of con- sumer goods." Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen addresses senators and business leaders during a pro GATT rally yesterday on Capitol Hill. orrection Galens Poster Child Reggie Cameron received a bone harvest. This was incorrectly reported last Wednesday. EVEa&BARB -sp I Group Meetings Q Bible Study and Fellowship, 763-1664, Baits II, Coman Lounge, 6-8 p.m. Q Circle K International, weekly meeting, 663-2461, Michigan Union, Room Anderson D, 7:30 p.m. Q Eye of the Spiral, informal meet- ing, 747-6930, Guild House Campus Ministry, 802 Monroe, 8 p.m. Q Intervarsity Christian Fellow- ship, meeting, 764-5702, Dana Building, Room 1040, 7 p.m. o Muslim Students' Association, Halaqa: Saleem Khaliel, 913- 6908, Ann Arbor Masjid, 7 p.m. Q Orthodox Christian Fellow- ship, 665-9934, Michigan Union, Crofoot room, 7 p.m. Q Queer Unity Project, 763-4186, Michigan Union, 10 p.m. Events Q "Absorption and Thermal De- composition of Phenylthiol on the Pt(I 11) Surface," and "Ex- perimental Studies of Protein Folding," physical seminar, Union, Kuenzel Room, 4:10-5:30 p.m. U1 "LSAT Prep Group Face-Off," sponsored by Undergraduate Law Club, Michigan Union, Welker Room, 7 p.m. U "Moving and Shipping Work- shop," sponsored by Interna- tional Center, International Cen- ter, Room 9, 4 p.m. U "Party to Celebrate the Publi- cation of 'Postmodernity in Latin America: The Argentine Paradigm'," Santiago Colas, Shaman Drum Bookstore, 4-6 p.m. U "Precolumbian Hilltop Settle- ments in Highland Peru: De- fensive Citadels or Stages for the Performance of Public Ritual?" brown bag lecture, Jef- frey R. Parsons, Museum of Natu- ral History, Room 2009, 12-1 p.m. L "Pre-Information Session for Students of Color," sponsored by U-M Housing Division, West Quad, Wedge Room, 7-8 p.m. U "Professional Development for International Spouses," spon- sored by International Center, In- *arsatnna Citr Rnm '7 1 sponsored by Hillel, Cava Java, 5 p.m. Q "Student-Faculty Mixer," sponsored by U-M Medical Club, Michigan Union, Pendleton Room, 6:30-8 p.m. Q "TV Night," sponsored by Hil- lel, Hillel Building,r8-11 p.m. Q1 "Visiting Writer Roger Weingarten Reading From His Work," sponsored by Bor- der Books and U-M Depart- ment of English, Rackham Amphitheatre, 5 p.m. Q "Women Physicians: A New Force in Medicine?" Elianne Riska, sponsored by Associa- tion of Women Medical Stu- dents, Michigan League, Kessler Room, 4 p.m. Student Services Q 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. Q ECB Peer Tutorial, Angell Hall Computing Site, 747-4526, 7- 11 p.m., Markley, 7-10 p.m. Q Campus Information Center, Michigan Union, 763-INFO; events info 76-EVENT or UM*Events on GOpherBLUE Fl N rtC Vmm unuciv.nflnrm inn~ GRA DOa E, 'NG 304 S. Stats Street .4 doors South of Liberty."998-3480 I