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One hundred seven years of edtorizl freedom
Wednesday
December 10, 1997
Waily In-depth: Admissions
I
FU
dmisrlions
process alters
GPAs
Janet Adamy
iily Staff Reporter
N ,rity applicants from Marquette, Mich.,
ho earned a 2.7 GPA at Detroit Country Day
gh school could have their GPA boosted to a
7 when their application contents are
weighted during the University's intricate
[missions process.
The admissions procedure refigures an
iplicant's GPA and takes into account more
an grades and test scores.
Fractions of points are added and subtracted
m a student's GPA for various reasons,
igcan leave the numbers looking much
ferent than on a student's official high
hool transcript.
According to procedures used to evaluate
e incoming fall 1997 pool of applicants,
[missions clerks first narrow down the GPA
the grades received in core academic class-
such as math, English and science and
throw away elective classes like music and
physical education.
"What (University admissions officials) call
your GPA is probably going to be lower than
what it is," said Walter Harrison, vice president
for University relations.
A system called SCUGA, which takes into
account five criteria: an applicant's curmcu-
lum, unusual factors, geographical region,
alumni relations and the quality of the appli-
cant's high school, is then used to add points to
the applicant's GPA.
In the first stage of SCUGA's application
assessment, applicants can receive as much as
a .5 addition to their GPAs, depending on what
high school they attended. The quality of the
school is determined by the number of
advanced placement courses it offers, its aver-
age SAT and ACT scores and the percentage of
graduates who go on to college.
According to SCUGA guidelines, appli-
cants coming from one of Michigan's more
than 60 "better than average" high schools
have .1 added to their GPA. "Exceptionally
strong schools," of which there are only 8-15
in the country, including Detroit Country Day,
have their GPAs boosted by .4. Applicants
from "truly outstanding" schools receive a .5
boost to their GPAs.
Next, an applicant's curriculum during
grades 9-12 is evaluated based on the number
of academic honors and advanced placement
courses the student completed. A "very weak
academic program," which would lack AP and
honors courses and consist of less than 15 aca-
demic courses during grades 9-12 and three or
fewer academic courses in the senior year
would prompt officials to subtract as much as
.2 from an applicant's GPA. A "fantastic pro-
gram, consisting of eight or more AP classes
and at least 20 academic courses during grades
See ADMISSIONS, Page 9
Factors used in
admissions:
Grades
ACT/SAT scores
Geographical location
Alumni relations
Quality of high school
(0 to .5)*
N Rigor of curriculum
(.2 to .4)
Unusual factors:
Leadership (.1 to .2)
Achievements (.1 to .2)
Essays (-.1 to .1)
Race and socioeconomic
background (.5)
*possible amount of points
that can be added to an
applicant's GPA
° .:
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;
EMILY NATHAN/Daily
Admissions Counselors Sylvia Carranza and Shannon Wolfgang look
at an application yesterday.
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GOODBYE FINALS, HELLO PASADENA
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official
Superstitious fans
prepare for game
By Stephanie Hepburn
Daily Staff Reporter
Some fans perform salt rituals.
Others repeatedly wear the same
socks, jerseys and boxers shorts.
For die-hard fans of the maize and
blue, these superstitions are a force
that helped carry the football team all
t way to the Rose Bowl.
SA first-year student Dylan
Brock said his green-and-black plaid
boxer shorts and his blue down com-
forter propelled the team to
Pasadena.
His superstition evolved over this
year's winning season.
"I always sleep in until the game
on game-day Saturday mornings,"
Brock said. "I would never get
c pged until after the game was
.So I would wear my boxers and
then wrap myself in my dark blue
comforter. My friend would come
over to watch the games, and we kept
winning."
The whole thing started as a
joke, Brock said. But after secur-
ing his first game ticket of the
year, Brock showed up at
Michigan Stadium for the Ohio
State game clad in his trusty box-
and armed with his familiar
comforter.
After the Wolverines disposed
of the Buckeyes, Brock ditched
the comforter for a joyful jaunt
around the field in just his boxer
shorts.
"When we blew out Penn State, I
kept saying it was because of my
comforter," Brock said. "Then my
friends convinced me that it was
true, and I guess I convinced
myself."
The true test was the Wisconsin
game, Brock said.
"I ordered pizza and when the
pizza guy came I had to get
dressed to go get my pizza," Brock
said. "When I got dressed and
went downstairs, Wisconsin
scored a touchdown. That's when I
realized that there was a direct
correlation between the two. I
came back and got undressed. We
won the game, but we didn't blow
them out."
LSA junior David Lanxner said
his elaborate salt ritual has
brought the maize and blue to the
Rose Bowl.
"I don't know how it got started,"
Lanxner said. "I started doing it
this year before every football
game. Before the games I would
pour salt around the stadium and
our house."
The ritual traditionally is per-
formed around someone's feet,
room or bed to bring them good
luck, Lanxner said.
See ROSE BOWL, Page 2
had hand in
'Amistad'
Dy Christine M. Palk
Daily Staff Reporter
"Amistad," Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated new
movie, has ties to the University through music, the "lan-
guage of the world."
University Associate Provost and School of Music Prof.
Lester Monts is being applauded by the University commu-
nity for his contributions to the musical score of the film.
"Amistad" is scheduled to be released Friday.
"Honestly, my involvement was sort of minimal," Monts
said. "But as far as I know, I was the only one that was real-
ly consulted, in terms of creating a very ethnic sound."
The $70 million film follows the 1839 journey of 53
Africans on the Spanish slave
ship La Amistad, and their
subsequent imprisonment and
trial for killing some of their
captors.
Monts, who specializes in
ethno-musicology of Sierra
Leone and Liberia, said he
sent samples of his work to
Amistad co-producer Debbie
Allen at the suggestion of
Patrick Pieh, associate director
of the Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives.
Allen contacted him to say
she was interested in soliciting
his help with the musical Monts
score. While the movie's
theme music was actually
composed by John Williams, who is known for his music in
the Star Wars series, Monts was a key player in communi-
cating African sounds - offering advice and samples of
authentic music and chants.
Pieh himself is no stranger to the film. He is a descendant
of some of the slaves aboard the original La Amistad, and
Pieh's brother had a small role in the film.
"It's always good, when you have a movie like this, to have
the music complement the real history. This is a great
accomplishment for Dr. Monts" Pieh said.
"The type of work Dr. Monts has done for the movie can
only increase the credibility of the movie," Pieh said. "The
mere fact that he was invited to view the movie in
(Washington), D.C., with the president himself shows that
they did recognize Dr. Monts and the University in this
important historical scene."
Although "Amistad" is scheduled to open in theaters
around the country later this week, Monts said he has
already seen the film at a premiere screening in Washington,
D.C., with President Clinton and the First Lady.
"It was really exciting to go to the special showing,"
Monts said. "I met Steven Spielberg, and I got to hug Debbie
Allen. There were many congressmen and Supreme Court
justices that attended."
Music Dean Paul Boylan said he is excited about Monts'
achievement and impressed with his ability to juggle
University and film responsibilities.
See AMISTAD, Page 9
MARiAET MYERS/D~aily
LSA first-year student Dylan Brock stands in his ceremonial J. Crew boxer shorts. Brock wears the same
shorts during every game, whether or not he has a ticket to sit in the stadium.
Our trip to Pasadena promises to be picture peect
.
saw a picture of the Rose Bowl once. Maybe it was
on television or in a book somewhere, in full color,
filled with sun-tanned fans who had come to see
champions play. The picture looked awfully distant,
though, like the ones you see on postcards from far-
away places that you just know you'll never visit -
places so perfect, you wonder if they actually exist at
all.
And now we're going to see it for real. The Rose
Bowl. On New Year's Day. Michigan, our school, is the
Big Ten's best, the nation's best, ready to face Pac-10
champion Washington State with a chance to win the
national championship.
After so many years of heartbreak, of hearing about
other people's parties in California, I wonder if this is
all just a mirage. It's so hard to believe, I feel a bit
warm inside. It feels like I'm going to Tahiti. I can
hear the Michigan Marching Band, playing the
"Hawaiian War Chant"
It's picture perfect.
Michigan State is going to the Aloha Bowl. We're
going to Pasadena, college football's paradise, every
fan's promised land. We're going back to where we
belong.
For most of this century, Michigan has been an
unmovable monument on top of the sport. The pro-
gram has more victories than any other, experiencing
few moments of mediocrity.
The Wolverines won the first Rose Bowl, 49-0, over
See COTSONIKA, Page 2
NICHULAS J.
COTSONIKA
e Greek
,peaks
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Students count down the days to Pasadena.
c BIGA members raise concerns about Union parties
By Katie Plana
Daily Staff Reporter
Although LSA senior and Black Greek
Association member Kenny Marshall plans
to graduate on Sunday, he is still interested in
greek life on campus next semester.
Marshall, who has been active for several
years in one of the campus's four black fra-
ternities, says he is a little concerned about
the future of BGA.
Michigan Union.
Because none of the BGA fraternities and
sororities have houses on campus, the organi-
zation relies heavily on the Michigan Union as
a location to host social events.
"People are getting tired. People have
stopped coming out to support," Marshall
said. "The more restrictions you have, the
more people just don't want to deal with
it."
Marshall described stepping as in-line or in-
sequence dances that originated from "tribal-
type African dance."
Too much control out of BGA's hands is the
problem, he said.
"Lack of party attendance definitely affects
what you can do as an organization because,
even though we have other fundraisers, parties
make the most money because they serve as a
study break, a stress reliever, a social outlet,"
ing" problems, said Barbara Wiggins, who
manages the Michigan Union scheduling
office. "It may seem punitive, and in some
ways it is, but it's to protect the students"
Wiggins said officials don't really worry
about the actions of University students, but
rather the actions of outsiders with whom they
are not familiar.
But Marshall said problems don't stem from
the people who attend BGA functions as
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