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RESEARCH
Minority health
conferenxe ill
discuss health care
The 12th Annual Minority Health
Conference is scheduled to be held
tomorrow and Saturday at the Pierpont
Commons on North Campus. This
year's focus will be "Re-emerging and
" Emerging Public Health Issues in
Communities of Color: What Have We
Learned? What are We Learning?"
The conference, to be hosted by the
Public Health Students of African
Descent, will feature three speakers, a
research symposium and a variety of
workshops dealing with issues includ-
ing recruiting people of color to
schools of public health and the deliv-
ery of health care services in multicul-
tural settings.
Scheduled speakers include Larry
;Warren, interim executive director of
University Hospitals; Aida Giachello,
director of the Midwest Latino Health,
Research, Training, and Policy Center
in Chicago; and Robert Mayberry,
director of the Morehouse Medical
Treatment Effectiveness Center.
Public Health Dean Noreen Clark
said "the Minority Health Conference
has been a tremendous success from its
inception 12 years ago. It focuses on
exceedingly important public health
problems and attracts leaders from
around the country as guest faculty."
'U' to offer
environment class
In an effort to educate about the past,
present and future of the environment,
the University is offering a course titled
"Homeplace: Life in the Huron Valley"
to 19 University students.
The goal of the project is to study the
Huron Valley as a microcosm to learn
how to interact with the environment
Son a global scale.
Students enrolled in the course will
examine scientific studies, historical
documents and nature writing to learn
what the Huron Valley was like in the
1820s when it was first being settled.
The course is being taught by Paul
Webb, SNRE associate dean and pro-
fessor of biology, and geological sci-
ences Prof. James Walker.
WU' researchers
predict grim
economic trends
If the uniform national homestead
,exemption suggested by the
National Bankruptcy Review
Commission is adopted by
Congress, the number of U.S.
households filing for bankruptcy
vould increase by 100,000 per year,
said University researchers.
The number of households filing for
bankruptcy is already at a record high
- 1.3 million.
The researchers also estimated how
economic trends affect personal bank-
ruptcy decisions, based on information
gathered in a 1968 Institute for Social
:Research study.
igh school
tudents study
arithmetic at 'U'
Michigan high school students with
dn interest in advanced mathematics
have the opportunity to enroll in an
*;ntensive math program at the
'University this summer.
The Math Scholars Summer
rogram, sponsored by the department
f mathematics, will provide the stu-
dents with access to advanced com-
puter facilities and small, state-of-the-
art courses.
The program is designed to chal-
lenge high school students who find
their high school courses too easy by
providing them with material at a
depth to which they have not yet
been exposed.
The courses scheduled to be offered
*over topics ranging from the nature of
infinity to codes and secret messages.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Sam Stavis.
L CAL /STATETne iicnigan uaily - nursaay, Marcn , 19s -A
Teleconference delvesinto diversity issueS
1
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
Provost Nancy Cantor attempted to restate the
University's position on diversity as she spoke as
part of a six-person panel that discussed issues of
diversity and affirmative action during a video-
conference yesterday.
"All of the students we take are highly qualified
to be at the University of Michigan," Cantor said.
"We are looking for a diverse group of students to
enliven our environment."
The videoconference, titled "Recruitment and
Admission Dilemmas in Higher Education: What's
Next for Students of Color?" featured six pan-
elists, including Cantor, Don Brown, commission-
er for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board; Anthony Carnavale, vice president of the
Educational Testing Service; Joyce Smith, execu-
tive director for the National Association for
College Admission Counseling; Bob Schaeffer.
director of the National Center for Fair and Open
Testing; and Bradford Wilson, executive director
of the National Association of Scholars. It was
mediated by Carol Randolph, a Court-TV anchor
and attorney.
"I think this was a wonderful debate," said
Lester Monts, associate provost for academic and
multicultural affairs. "Many of the ideas and val-
ues on both sides of the issue came about. It was
one of the more positive discussions on the ...
merits of affirmative action I've seen to date."
The conference, sponsored by the publication
Black Issues in Higher Education, discussed vari-
ous aspects of affirmative action in higher educa-
tion, including the necessity for diversity in educa-
tion and alternative methods of reaching out to stu-
dents before college.
"We need to continue the strong partnerships
that universities, like the University of Michigan.
have with K-12 public schools," Monts said.
Wilson, whose organization opposes the use of
race as a factor in admissions, agreed with the
majority of the panel that elementary and secondary
outreach programs, in which students often visit
university campuses, are a replacement for the use
of race as a factor in the admissions process.
"I don't think there is a quick fix. I don't think
affirmative action was a fix." Wilson said. "There
are only long-term solutions and that is K-12
reform.'
The decision in the Supreme Court case of the
Hopwood v. The University of Texas Law School
eliminated the use of race as a factor in college
admissions in the state of Texas. Brown and his
associates currently are trying to create alternative
methods to keep the student populations of Texas
colleges and universities diverse.
"What the Hopwood decision has made us dois
to seek race-neutral methods that can be used in all
areas of higher education," Brown said.
Brown said that by the year 2010, the population
of Texas will primarily be composed of latino/a an'd
black citizens, which is reflected in the increasing
enrollment of those minorities to Texas schools.
"The future health of our state depends upon the
future health of our minorities," Brown said.
"Overall, Hispanic enrollment continues to climb,
black enrollment continues to climb and white
enrollment continues to decrease."
The panelists discussed the use of standardized
tests in the admissions of undergraduate students.
"If we try to do this exclusively on the hard data
... we still have more qualified students than
seats," Carnavale said. "No one who makes stan-
dardized tests would encourage anybody to make a
decision based solely on that test."
Regents to hold monthly
meeting on Dearborn campus
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
The University Board of Regents is scheduled to hold its
monthly meeting today at the University's Dearborn campus.
During the regents' annual visit to the Dearborn campus,
they are scheduled to meet with the Dearborn Citizens
Advisory Committee and tour the campus.
"We're looking forward to them coming to the campus,"
said Dearborn campus Chancellor James Renick. "We're
delighted that they have a chance to see the progress ... that
has been made."
Recently, the board approved plans for the construction of
multiple buildings on the Dearborn campus, including an
environmental center. The design for the campus' College of
Arts, Sciences and Letters Building, budgeted at $30.4 mil-
lion, is currently being looked at by the regents.
Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) said she is confident
her colleagues' concerns about the design and construction of
some of the buildings on the Dearborn campus will be alle-
viated at this month's meeting when the board meets with the
architect.
"I'm sure everything will get resolved when we're down
there on the Dearborn campus," Maynard said.
Maynard added that Renick sent ample material to the
regents during the past month, answering many of the board's
questions.
"That's always really helpful," she said.
Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) compared the visit to
the Dearborn campus to an ancient Chinese proverb: "You
can't see the little wildflowers from the back of a gallopibg
warhorse;' Power said.
"Being there will give us a better view of what is going on.
Most of us are relatively familiar with the Dearborn campus."
"They need some more information and we're responding
with some additional information;" Renick said. "They're
very interested in hearing from the architect who desigi'd
the building."
The regents also will review the annual Report ;en
Investments, 'which will allow the board to assess finanglal
decisions made in the past year - including the largest podls
of invested capital.
"It's a subject for review and discussion," Power siit.
"I'm interested in seeing how our performance in mn-
aging our endowments stacks up against other univesi-
ties."
Maynard said the annual Report on Investments given to
the regents is always fascinating and informative.
A proposal for new scoreboards in Michigan Stadium Nas
originally scheduled to be presented at today's meeting, but
was not placed on the regents' official agenda.
"There will probably be a discussion on the proposal onthe
new scoreboards," Power said, adding that there has been dis-
cussion about whether or not the proposal will be brought to
the board.
- Daily Staff Reporter Katie Plona contributed to this
repelt.
DANA LINNANE/Daily
Patricia Coleman-Burns, the director of multicultural affairs at the School of
Nursing, speaks on the tensions between African and African American
women at the School of Nursing last night.
TensionS extens1ve
between Afncans and
e0
By Rachel Edelman
Daily Staff Reporter
Patricia Coleman-Burns decided
she would not leave the United
States unless it was to first visit
Africa.
When she finally traveled to the
continent with her son, she said
she found that the tensions and
cultural differences existing
between Africans and African-
Americans were extensive.
Coleman-Burns, the director of
multicultural affairs at the School
of Nursing and a Nursing assistant
professor, spoke to a small and
intimate group last night about
issues of race, class and gender in
relation to black women, in an
address titled "Black Women in
the Diaspora: Issues of Class."
"There is a growing strain that
exists between African American
women and people from Africa,"
Coleman-Burns said. "There are real
debates going on between African
Americans and Africans about the
tensions."
Coleman-Burns said the ten-
sions that exist between African
Americans and Africans are a
result of distance and separation.
"One of the things that we have
to understand is that there is a dif-
ference in experiences," Coleman-
Burns said.
The address was part of a black
women's history celebration for
Women's History Month along
with was organized by the African
American Programming Task
Force, along with other groups and
individuals.
"We wanted to make sure that
we covered the whole spectrum of
issues," said LSA junior Shannon
Muir, who organized the event.
Coleman-Burns said it is diffi-
cult for Africans and African
Americans to comprehend the
other group's respective struggles.
"The Africans don't understand
the 300 years of oppression that
African Americans have undergone
in the U.S.," Coleman-Burns said.
"Except for colonization, much of
their culture is still intact.'
Coleman-Burns discussed
media perceptions of blacks that
are often inaccurate and the diffi-
culties that blacks face due to a
perceived responsibility of repre-
senting their race.
"That woman on welfare, in the
eyes of the media and the U.S., is
the same as me and you."
Coleman-Burns said black
women "are judged by the least of
these women, no matter what your
education" or social class.
She said that one of the largest dif-
ferences between the issues that
black and white women face in their
struggle for equality is that "that
kind of class mobility is not allowed
for African American women."
Muir said the event was impor-
tant because it recognized that
"black women exist in large num-
bers throughout the world."
,
ILIII
IL~WI At
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETINGS
Q Arab-Jewish Cultural Awareness
Group, 764-7962, Frieze Building,
Room 3050, 7-9 p.m.
; Circle K, 7634755, Michigan
League. Third floor. Koessler
Evu1ENS
SERVICES
J "Free Lecture: 'Recognizing Our True
Source of Success," Sponsored by
The Christian Science
Org anization, Michigan League,
Kalamazoo Room, 7 p.m.
Q Campus Information Centers, 763-
INFO, info@umich.edu, and
www.umich.edu/~info on the
World Wide Web
U "HIV/AIDS Testing," Community
Angell
UGLI
8:30am
6!~m
5:00pm
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