4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 25, 1997 i$je £lidigau &Iig 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JOSH WHITE Editor in Chief ERIN MARSH Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Eviction notice 'U' juniors and seniors have limited options "NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'Hunting is, at its core, recreation, but the states disguise that and promote it as management and tell the public it's necessary.' - US Humane Society member Susan Hagood, stating that pro- hunting groups and the Department of Natural Resources wrongly promote hunting as a means of deer herd population control YUK KUNYUUK K GROU Z2EiR() ..s ORT! 5,, CfftK4 00 L ast week, University Housing announced that it would not offer juniors and seniors the opportunity to live in the University's traditional residence halls. Housing deemed this decision neces- sary, and although it unfairly deals with upperclassmen, it was the only appropriate course of action for the University this year. Clearly the University must evaluate and change the policies in place that govern housing arrangements to ensure that this does not happen again. Juniors and seniors will be required to live off-campus or in non-traditional University housing next year to open up enough space in residence halls for incom- ing first-year students. The University guar- antees all first-year students the opportuni- ty to live in a residence hall, and rightly so. The value of living in the halls for the first year of college is unquestionable - it allows students to forge new friendships, learn the ropes of the University and learn about the many resources available to them. But there is credence to the notion that students with seniority deserve more advan- tageous treatment. After all, juniors and seniors have already spent thousands of dol- lars to attend the University. Furthermore, the University honors seniority in nearly every other facet of campus life, from course registration dates to tickets for ath- letic events. But the freshman class has grown 20 percent since 1990, resulting in a major housing crunch. With students being crammed into lounges and overcrowded, converted triples the past few years, the University had no other options available. In the future, housing and admissions must do a better job correlating their deci- sions so there is enough room in the resi- dence halls for both incoming students and those juniors and seniors who wish to stay in the residence halls. More students have accepted admission to the University in recent years, and admissions should consid- er expanding the wait list so the size of the incoming class is more predictable and the recent overcrowding problems can be more easily avoided. Both upperclass and new students face problems as a result of this decision. A major downside for the upperclass students is the loss of the conveniences in traditional residence halls. For example, the buildings to which juniors and seniors are now rele- gated do not include the meal service option. Students can still purchase a meal plan, but having to walk to another dorm is inconvenient, at best. The other troublesome factor in this equation is the timing of the decision and notification. To announce a major upheaval for upperclass students near the end of the semester adds the burden of looking for housing to students' already busy slate of activities. The University failed to provide students with time to make arrangements to cope with such a large change. The larger problem obviously lies in the formula used to predict the number of stu- dents who will enroll upon being admitted to the University. Faulty formulas, and poor predictors are the only way to explain why the number of students increased yearly without changes to current housing and admissions formulas. Admissions should determine the problem and encourage the proper action, even if it means limiting admissions or planning for new living space down the line. Students deserve the ability to choose where they live, and the University should do all it can to make sure that choices are not permanently removed. WAKE UP AND S 1 ELL -TH-E Ro5SuS! DEEAM$ -)p Cofq 1i ~I -A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Held back Report shows that teachers are underqualified O ne in five U.S. high school teachers should spend more time taking class- es before teaching them, according to a report issued last Thursday. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Futu&'s study found that 20 percent of this country's high school teachers lack even a college minor in their teaching field. The nuntr of underqualified educators specif- ically in Michigan varies widely by subject - approaching 28 percent of mathematics instructors, and dipping to nine percent of social studies teachers. The high number of unqualified teachers highlights the need for shifts in hiring practices and recruitment efforts, especially in the face of recent reports demonstrating that well-trained teachers play a vital role in administering quality education. The new study finds that nearly all stu- dents who perform well on reading and math tests have highly qualified teachers, as assessed through advanced college degrees and through scores on licensing examina- tions. However, a 1996 Congressional report reveals that in recent years, more than 50,000 people who lacked required training have entered the field annually. The result: a marked decline in the quality of pre-college education, mirrored through poorer scores on high school assessment tests and on college entrance exams. Given these data, the need for a shift in recruitment and hiring practices comes sharply into focus. To their credit, Metro Detroit districts typically require all high crl-nn +Pan..r t has at h -nc t a n h- r to possess a major in their field. But such requirements do not exist in all districts. Often, the paucity of qualified applicants precludes school systems from imposing strict guidelines on their teachers. Over a 20-year period, the number of college first-year students interested in teaching has fallen from 20 percent to just 6 percent. The decline stems largely from a corresponding' decline in the respect, monetary compensation and prestige accorded to this nation's educators. In fact, in nine states, welfare pays more than the average first-year salary of a teacher. Clearly, the United States offers little incentive for students to consider careers in education. In the end, the lack of impor- tance socially accorded to the teaching profession diminishes the quality of edu- cation for students. In addressing the teacher shortage, some schools - often charter schools - have turned to persons outside the teaching pro- fession to provide instruction. Often retired professionals or partially employed persons act as makeshift teachers. Such a last-resort method of educating students does not afford students quality instruction. School districts and state government, in particular, must collaborate to improve recruitment efforts - perhaps through allo- cating more funds for pay raises - so that children do not receive an inferior educa- tion. That 20 percent of the country's teach- ers lack adequate qualifications reveals that the United States must begin to prioritize ariu'atin cn that all students will have Cohen's argument is poorly framed To THE DAILY: This letter is in response to Prof. Carl Cohen's position on affirmative action offered at last Monday's forum. As a professor of philosophy, Prof. Cohen well knows to embrace elements of doubt and uncertainty as integral to progressive discourse and further philosophical offer- ings; it is here where Prof. Cohen fails miserably. Those both inside and out- side the field realize that it is a discipline of process, inquiry and transformation; Prof. Cohen seems to have either forgotten or been poorly instructed. He states, "If the purpose of affirmative action is to balance the races, that is constitutionally wrong." I am sorry, but as a pro- fessor of philosophy, he should not allow himself to be manacled by precedent, script and legal discourse. The term "democracy" was also thrown around careless- ly, as he seemed to posit the existence of a finished form of democracy. Democracy is never in final form and 1 am surprised that he allows himself to be consumed by such a hungry search for "product" that any element of "process" or change that he should wel- come, is disqualified. Simply put, Prof. Cohen is allowing the tail to wag the dog. He further states, "The University does not have the authority to compensate the wrongs of society. It is our legal and moral duty to cleanse ourselves of racial discrimination." Here Prof. Cohen 1) seems to feel that if we refuse to recognize the construction of "race" and "ethnicity" that it will disap- pear by itself and 2) that a collective element of com- passion and "moral"ity can be found in all persons, when history has proven otherwise even with the piecemeal aid of the "legal" system. Now, my intention is not to insult the intelligence of Prof. Cohen or inflate my cre- dentials in X, Y, or Z disci- pline to a level of expertise. But I will say that Prof. Cohen is not well versed in the politics of racial and eth- nic difference, the legacy of their construction, or the man- ifestations of their presence. But not to worry, perhaps the University can implement an affirmative action program to compensate for the underrep- resentation of academics in post-doctoral courses. STEVE HERNANDEZ RACKHAM already started to shrink. First of all, Housing spent a lot of time and effort pre- senting its Re-App campaign encouraging us to stay in the res halls, because of all the benefits. We were tricked into thinking that Housing wanted us to stay with open arms. Now, nearing the end of the first semester, Housing decides that the upperclass- men are expendable, even though admissions have essentially been letting in too many people for the past sev- eral years and thus have cre- ated your own artificial scarcity. Instead of looking into options Housing could take, it forced the issue on the students. Michigan has no right to accept an incoming class of that size if it cannot accommodate them. What this boils down to is just a matter of discrimination. You have limited our opportuni- ties, simply because we have been here longer. Build another residence hall. Also, Housing, don't fore- see the other larger issues it will create'by this change in policy. Housing will create even greater traffic difficul- ties, as upperclassmen will be forced to have cars because it forces us out of the dorms. We will also be gouged by providers of food and food service because we will no longer be provided with a meal plan. By releasing this information -- which Housing didn't even have the decency to tell us before announcing it to the public - now, Housing has made more difficult an already challeng- ing situation, as we attempt to find acceptable housing. Also, you have raised the price of our Internet Access, as we will have to Dial-In instead of using our Ethernet access, one of the primary advantages of living in the Michigan Residence Halls. Plus, by making it a sopho- more lottery, Housing creates a horrendous situation for these people, who will not know if they have a room until after it is too late to sign a lease. Have you considered this when you decided to change the policy? Housing fails to realize that there are more people here and the same, if fewer, housing opportunities off campus. Housing has made a bad situa- tion worse. But perhaps the most unsettling part of this whole "change in policy," as Housing stated it, is that we have proven that we deserve to be here. We have lived here the longest and generally we upperclassmen tend to be the voices of reason in the dorm, providing the RAs with resources to use as examples to the first-year students. RAs and first-year students benefit greatly from the experience that upperclassmen bring to a dorm. We have lived here, we Campaign fliers litter Angell Hall TO THE DAILY: I would just like to state my opinion about student voting and campaigning. I would rather vote for some- one who simply states what they stand for than someone who turns Angell Hall into a trash museum. What ever happened to "save the trees" or "don't be a litterbug?" Why not one simple poster per candidate, nicely lettered and put on a certain wall near the fishbowlafor all to see? Why do we have 10,000 pho- tocopies of each candidate taped to the walls, floors, posts, all over the place? It is disgusting to see that in an effort to win votes they think of themselves first and the planet second. I'm going to vote for someone like this? I doubt it. No, I'm not a tree- hugger, but the sight of Angell Hall last week stirred up something angry inside of me. It seems that it's all well and good to conserve our resources, until of course, it's student voting time. S. J. STOWE LSA JUNIOR Review was misinformed TO THE DAILY: "Le Rossignol" can't jus- tifiably be compared with "L'Enfant et ies Sortileges" and I feel that the Daily's review of these outstanding performances missed the mark. Can one compare a painting by Monet to a bright, colorful cartoon? Yes, and no. Both are art in their own right, but they have completely different styles and were produced by com- pletely different artists. "L'Enfant" was definitely more upbeat and involved much more activity, but it wasn't any more or less amazing than "Le Rossignol." Music is art, and as such, must be interpreted by each individual. Just because Ms. Love wasn't particularly enchanted by "Le Rossignol" doesn't make it any less of a masterpiece than it was. The "lack of action," as she so eloquently put it was obvi- ously intentional - to make the audience focus on the music (or was she forgetting that this wasn't intended to be some gaudy, commercial- Thnanh4,r .the 1 best o times and memories, WM'football I 'd like to add one lAt 1 the long I list of congratulai fed to t football team: Thank y*. Sure, we are all pr* aE the team and excited that fv&Ap is ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press poll and the coaches' poll and that they beat arch-rival Ohio State, but I don't think that congrat- ulations go far enough. We owe them a hearty . thanks for all that JOSH they have done for WHITE this campus over the past few THE UN months; football can sometimes bring alt to best in all of us. Take for examp. b46 weeken Never before in my 3/2 ywrs on t campus have I seett p sh so ener- gized, so alive, and #0 a* a c4d and drizzly Saturday n The st were packed at 9 a*.k, a dunriand students walked reti1 Ann Arbor with a little extra zip n a little more anticipation. Football irlrdr4> *t a new meaning, andi # '1 because we were playingC~~ because it was the last footbaa ge of this historic season. The liveliness of the community sprung from the simple fact that this football team makes us feel good about ourselves - its relentless deter- mination out on the field makes us smile, and each big play warms us. It is why 106,982 people crammed into Michigan Stadium and why almost all of them showed up more than 30 min- utes before game time and stayed at hour after. Perhaps what is special about this team is that the players know that they are part of something special. The faces out on the field after the game, surrounded by thousands of students, were alight with pride and victory - but above all, they were the faces of fellow students, proud to be able to bring joy to the rest of us. Though there were frequent gusts of November wind on Saturday, it was cold. Though there were tens of tho - sands of people, we were with close friends. Though there were many screaming fans, there was onevoice. Thank you for giving that to all of us. Thank you for letting us rally around something in unison and for giving us one of the most exhilarat- ing and emotional days of our entire lives. Thank you for giving us the pictures that we will frame and t moments we will take from this se - son. As I stood next to one of my clos- est friends (with whom I incidentally witnessed the hockey team's national championship victory two years ago), I realized that some of my greatest memories of college will inevitably be centered around the stu- dent section of Michigan Stadium and college football. Football games while not defining my college caret will be of major importance to me during the rest of my life. I recall thoughts of agony as Kordell Stewart's fateful pass soared to its des- tination - a Michigan defeat - dur- ing my freshman year. It was then that I first saw more than 100,000 people stand in silence, amazed and defeated. But I got payback, as I stood in the frigid stands in Columbus to see t Buckeyes silenced by Tai Streets Ia year. From the boring blowouts to the tragic defeats, we have seen it all - for the seniors like myself, we have seen all too much. Remember the cloudy afternoon when Remy Hamilton threaded a mir- acle last-second field goal through the uprights to beat vaunted opponent Notre Dame in front of Touchdown Jesus and a nationwide television audience - it was moments like te when "The Victors" never sounded so good. As these games have given context to countless college careers, this sea- son has given context to almost every- thing. I know I thought about the Ohio State game constantly -from the moment time ran out in Happy Valley the week before. It seemed like every- thing was maize and blue and ever. student was a die-hard fan But standing in the stadium, watch- ing maize-and-blue pom-pons wave above the rallying throngs of-students, I realized what Saturday was: my last home football game as a 'student. I realized how much I owe to the play- ers I simultaneously criticize and revere. I realized that they, too, are