4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 17, 1998
tjie Midipg a
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
LAURIE MAYK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
Editorial Page Editor
'if you don't have any bucks, you can't play Rambo.'
- Joe Rivers, member of an Ann Arbor delegation to Fort Benning,
that 1he way to close the Army School of the Americas is to
Ga., asserting
cut its finding
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
Fewer masters
Female enrollment drops in MBA programs
THOMAs KULJURGIS TENTATIVELY SPEAKING
usiness schools across the nation are
experiencing a drop in the number of
women enrolling in programs leading to a
master's degree. Several factors likely
contribute to this drop in enrollment, and
the University recently launched a study
to pinpoint these deterrents. Once this
study is completed next summer, the
University and other higher education
institutions across the country should take
action to break this alarming trend.
Since 1994, the percentage of women
enrolled in two-year MBA programs has
generally held at 29 percent, with some
schools slipping below that level. While
the number of people taking the Graduate
Management Admissions Test - a
requirement for acceptance to most MBA
programs - has risen, the number of
female test-takers has remained steady at
41 percent. But most important, the
female enrollment in programs after
acceptance has dropped. The University's
full-time female enrollment is about 30
percent, with the evening program trail-
ing at about 23 percent.
This spring, the University, in collabo-
ration with Catalyst, a New York nonprof-
it research group targeting women's
issues, initiated a study on why more
women are not enrolling in MBA pro-
grams and what should be done to change
that. Hoping to obtain explanations from
the women themselves, the study will sur-
vey female alumnae of leading MBA pro-
grams in the country. The results are
expected to be complete by the summer of
1999.
So far, the study has pinpointed two
primary reasons for lack of enrollment.
Many business schools have increased the
required amount of work experience
expected of MBA applicants, which has
raised the average age of MBA students
from 24 to 29 in the last decade. This age
increase deters many women planning to
have children from making such a com-
mitment. Thus women are forced to make
an unfair choice between thei families
and their prospective careers. The busi-
ness world is highly competitive and
requires much dedication, but women
should not be forced to exclude them-
selves because they plan to have children.
Business has been professionally
dominated by men for decades, making it
an intimidating career choice for women.
Encouraging and recruiting women to
matriculate into MBA programs is impor-
tant and could help prevent the "good old
boys" network from keeping women out
of the business world. Prospective female
candidates have to see that business
degrees are an option for them. To
increase appeal, many business schools
are increasing their female faculty mem-
bers as well as engaging alumnae contact
for prospective female candidates.
In an effort to do both, the University
established Michigan Business Women,
which organizes mentoring, recruiting
and forums addressing the many chal-
lenges women face in the field of busi-
ness. The University was recently ranked
as the second-best business school for
women by Working Woman Magazine.
Clearly, the University is taking the nec-
essary steps to increase the number of
female applicants and especially enroll-
ment into business programs, and it must
continue to seek innovative ways to pro-
mote accessibility.
.
s.
4 t4
01(/G CAVIO~ C$W OtA ll
ow. R
euU45 l
I
- - -
m -z_ -.-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tow
Turning up the heat
U.S. should ratify global warming treaty
L ast Thursday, the United States
became the 60th country to sign the
treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol to the
United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change. This treaty aims to
curb global warming by reducing the
emission of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere. The signing of this treaty by
the United States comes 11 months after
the treaty was first signed at the Kyoto
Conference in December 1997. This is a
move in the right direction, especially
since it has taken so long for the country
to get this far. The United States is the
largest producer of man-made carbon
dioxide in the world: By signing this
treaty, the nation will be forced to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions into the atmos-
pnere.
Although President Bill Clinton has
signed the treaty, it still needs to be rati-
fied by the U.S. Senate, which is reluctant
to do so at the moment. The Clinton
administration will not ask the Senate to
consider ratifying the treaty until devel-
oping countries agree to sign and partici-
pate under the stringent conditions laid
down in its framework. But developing
countries should not always be held to
such high standards - instead, these
countries should be subjected to less
demanding conditions since most of them
face problems of providing basic ameni-
ties necessary for life for their population
and cannot, at this time, comply to the
high standards set by the treaty. In addi-
tion, if such demanding conditions were
applied to these countries, it could pre-
vent them from further industrial devel-
opment. As a result, their populations
would continue to struggle in poverty,
dard of living.
There is also strong opposition to this
agreement within the United States, par-
ticularly from business leaders claiming
that this treaty would significantly hurt
the U.S. economy. The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce claimed that the full imple-
mentation of this treaty would cost mil-
lions of U.S. jobs and redirect industries
to developing countries not currently sub-
ject to the treaty such as Mexico, India
and China. But if the country continues to
emit these greenhouse gases and remain
the world's largest producer of man-made
carbon dioxide - which has a huge
impact on global warming - the whole
world could suffer in the long run. In the
worst case scenario, future concern would
be on the effects of global warming on
people rather than employment.
The treaty should be sent to the Senate
for ratification as quickly as possible
since there has already been an I1-month
delay in the president's approval. The
United States should ratify the treaty
rather than worry about the actions of
developing countries since there are sig-
nificant differences in their respective
levels of development.
This treaty can set an important prece-
dent for the future. Global warming is a
serious problem that the United States
and other countries must address before
its adverse effects become pronounced. In
order to reduce the levels of greenhouse
gas emissions into the atmosphere on a
global scale, the nation needs to take a
leading role in the global effort to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and set an
example for other countries to follow.
This can be done simply by ratifying the
'U should
regulate
groups
TO THE DAILY:
On Nov. 8 the
University collaborated with
Athletes in Action to spon-
sor a "3-Point shootout" at
the CCRB. The promotional
flyers detailed the rules, time
and a 200-word description
of the event. None of the
promotions explained that
the contest was actually a
thinly veiled attempt for the
speakers of Athletes in
Action to expound upon the
wonders of Jesus Christ in a
half-hour presentation dur-
ing the event.
Basketball contestants
were told during this presen-
tation that "Jesus died for
(their) sins" and were hand-
ed pamphlets about Christ
and Athletes in Action.
Some students who had
come with the understanding
that they were present to
shoot three pointers and play
basketball felt they were lied
to and their time was wasted.
If a religious group wish-
es to use University property
to proselytize or discuss
their religion, that is perfect-
ly acceptable, and if they
wish to do so in a pairing
with an athletic contest, so
be it. But they should be
forthright in their intentions
and promotion with attention
to the concerns and time of
students. Athletes in Action
was neither.
If the hundreds of groups
that hold events at the
University will not regulate
their own practices (which
they do not) then the
University must. The
University should take
responsibility for the events
it supports, setting clear
guidelines for what an event
can be and how it should be
promoted. That way every-
one stands to gain.
ARI MELBER
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Open letter
was a waste
of time
TO THE DAILY:
In Mark West's "An open
letter to letter writers"
(I1/13/98), he wasted time,
ink, finger energy and dex-
terity. He made absurd
claims lambasting such wor-
thy adversaries as East
Coasters and the Greek sys-
tem. These are two select
and wonderful participants
in our campus life and
should be given their due
respect. Stop berating the
feminists and political
extremists, they are the most
important people in the
world and they're always
to my subject, Mark West,
the idiot, what should we
get Mom for Christmas?
PAUL WEST
LSA SENIOR
Vouchers edit
Was one-sied
To THE DAILY:
I understand space limi-
tations, but the analysis that
the Daily gave to the issue
of school vouchers
("Passing the Buck."
11/12/98) was blatantly one-
sided and wrong. A few
minutes on a Website devot-
ed to public policy (such as
wwwpolicv com) would
show that several of the
claims made about public
schools are ludicrous.
I have several points of
departure with the Daily's edi-
tonal staff. My personal
favorite is the fact that
University students at the
Daily are tut-tutting the elitism
of private schools. Like private
schools, U of M rejects stu-
dents. Like private schools
under vouchers, U of M
receives substantial amounts of
federal money. Putting church-
state issues aside for a
moment, is the Daily really
going to criticize private
schools for being selective?
In any event, several
claims in the Daily's editorial
are incorrect. First, the edito-
rial quotes the Witte study,
which states that the annual
evaluations of the Milwaukee
voucher program compare
students in private schools
with the entire public school
population, finding no gains.
Fine. But, when three
researchers from Harvard
University compared students
who want the vouchers and
get them with those who
were denied the voucher,
there are substantial gains in
scholastic achievement (both
math and verbal) for the
voucher recipients. For what-
ever reason, public schools
are clearly failing to help a
group of students that private
schools are able to help.
Second, the claim that
$5,000 "can never cover all
of the expenses of sending a
child to'a private school" is
wrong. The Cato Institute
has put together a study that
"average tuition for all pri-
vate schools, elementary
and secondary, is $3,116 or
less than half of the cost per
pupil in the average public
school, $6,857." For ele-
mentary schools alone, the
U.S. Department of
Education places the tuition
costs at under $2,500. What
basis did the Daily have for
his or her claim?
Finally, factual matters
aside, the editorial ends
with an amusing criticism
of the U.S. Supreme Court,
claiming that the faults of
the court in deciding not to
Criticism
should not be
offensive
To THE DAILY:
I am not familiar with
the letters Ken Galica or
Rachael Farber wrote that
provoked Galica's response
in the Dally ("Letter made
things worse," 11/12/98).
But I am thinking they
might havesaddressed the
issue of "student fragmen-
tation" at the University in
regard to the general
unfriendly behavior of the
New York population. I am
an LSA senior from
Manhattan and am aware of
this hostile atmosphere
within the student body.
What angers me most is the
fact that many (not all) of
these students like to preach
that they are from New
York, "know how it is," and
like to criticize anything out
of their little cliques when
in fact these people are not
New Yorkers in the way they
try to exploit and promote.
These people mostly
come from very similar
neighborhoods, share very
similar experiences growing
up with the new Michigan
neighbors they like to criti-
cize and attack. These are
the same people that come
to New York City occasion-
ally on the weekends and
then retreatbacketo their
suburban homes in upstate
New York, Long Island, etc.
New York City natives
(we that live, grew up and
went to school in the city)
have similar complaints
toward this mostly arrogant,
spoiled and snobby crowd
that Galica refers to. It is
also ironic that native New
Yorkers from the city say
the same things aboutthe
New Yorkers living out of
the city that these New York
state people say about peo-
ple from Michigan!
This is in general and is
in no way an attempt to
homogenize the groups. I
am not adding another side
to this schism because the
whole thing is rather silly
and is common everywhere
in the world; country to
country, state to state, city
to city and neighborhood to
neighborhood. Along the
same lines, I mention that
people from New York City
are also quite famous for
their notorious behavior
toward anything out of their
city, and we also discrimi-
nate and criticize ourselves
according to neighborhoods.
We also have an arro-
gant, spoiled and snobby
crowd in our population. I
am just adding another per-
spective from a native NYC
resident's eyes (Daily letters
are not only used by zealots
but also by people that like
We are not our
Universitys
children
n May 1998, Cokie Roberts released
Ia book called "We Are Our Mothers'
Daughters." Suffice to say, its title is
more truthful for many on this campus
(of both genders) than we would like to
admit. As I work my way through m
third year at this University, I am slow-
ly coming to the
realization that I am
indeed my parents'
child. It's not a bad
thing, but I often
find myself practic-
ing some of the
most obnoxious and
endearing manner-
isms and habits that
both of my parents
have. JACK
What I am not, SCHILLAC
however, is this
University's child. I 1 AM !T TO
don't call Lee -I: E FH
Bollinger "father" nor Nancy Cantor
"mother." When I paid my matriculation
fee, I did not sign away my rights as an
autonomous adult.
Nearly everyone on this campus can
remember what they did during thei@
first weekend at the University. For
many of us, these memories involve
going out to a frat party with our new
roommate, drinking cheap beer out of a
keg shared with 200 other freshmen and
waking up the next morning with a
head-splitting, sense-numbing hang-
over.
But many politicians, city officials
and University administrators would
like to see this perhaps somewhat-idiot-
ic freshman trend stopped. They wan@
all us young'ns to stop drinking and
keep our alcoholic chastity until after
our 21st birthdays because after all.
we're far too young to be able to handle
any sort of intoxicant.
So in order to help us stay on the
wagon, the Ann Arbor Police
Department conducts crackdowns, the
University forms "task forces" and the
national media shakes and quivers with~
every alcohol-related incident. Th
University, et al. to parents: "It's OK to
send your kids to college. We promise
we won't let them drink or do anything
bad and we'll keep an eye on them"
The philosophy behind this preten-
tious crap is in loco parentis, which
translates to "in lieu of parents." Toward
the end of his tenure, former University
President James Duderstadt said that if
students were asked whether or not the
University practiced this policy, they'
say, "Hell no."
Either the Dude was incredibly con-
fused, woefully underestimated students
or was lying through his teeth.
But the AAPD doesn't see it this way.
It thinks that it is part of our extended
family and want to protect us. In the
past two weekends, they have passed
out in excess of 100 MIPs and cited four
fraternities and three house parties fo
serving alcohol to minors. 4
The police establishment might call
this upholding the law. I call it sancti-
monious bullshit.
In light of Courtney Cantor's death a
month ago and MSU junior Bradley
McCue's death two weeks ago, the
AAPD reallyneeds a publicity stunt.
They need proof that they can handle all
us crazy college kids.
Similarly, the University has formed a
task force - mind you, before the
Cantor tragedy -- to examine the us@
and abuse of alcohol here at the
University. It specifically targets under-
age drinking among freshmen in resi-
dence halls - as if living in the dorms
didn't suck enough already. Under the
guise of Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford, the task force
is attempting to study the prevalence of
"binge" drinking and find out what can
be done to "change the culture" aroun
collegiate drinking.
Of course, Hartford has always been a
big fan of in loco parentis. She's the one
that brought us the wonderful Code of
Student Conduct in the first place. More
than three years ago, the University
Board of'Regents trusted her and imple-
mented the Code to replace the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities.
We thank you for it, Maureen. It has
really helped maintain our "communi
ty." Pardon me if I kvetch, but the docu
ment is just full of disgustingly warm,
fuzzy words meant to make students
feel SOOO special. Newsflash: It's a
smoke screen meant to invoke a sense of
self-admiration while the Code quietly
rips away your rights.
At the MSA forum last week, I
heard a fellow student whining to the
effect that we students needed some-
thing to protect our "community vale
ues," and the Code is doing just fine.
That's fine, but what about due
process, the right to counsel, the rules
of evidence and prohibitions against
double jeopardy? These too are some
of our "community values," yet they
are a mere fraction of the logical and