LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 3
HIGHER ED
Reich speaks on economy's toll on family
Phony Internet
degree providers
grow in number
Phony Internet degree companies
are growing at the fastest rate ever
according to internet degree watchdog
John Bear.
The 2000 edition of "Bears' Guide
to Earning Degrees Nontraditionally,"
will include 481 phony schools, an
increase from 320 listed in the 1998
edition. The phony diploma mill
industry exceeds an estimated $200
.lion a year.
According to The Chronicle of
Higher Education, from 1983 to 1986
the FBI, through the DipScam project,
shut down 39 so-called colleges that
made false claims about degrees and
offered them for high sums. The
crackdown slowed down the appear-
ance of new institutions for a few
years, but now with Internet access,
fake diploma industry has
oed.
Although DipScam no longer
exists, the FBI, postal inspectors and
some crusading state agencies are still
actively working to keep fake schools
from operating.
There are several legitimate nontra-
ditional universities that are trying to
establish themselves on the Internet;
but a university with a ".edu" Website
address does not imply a college is
credited because there are no pre-
uisites to register for the address.
Medical students
fight hypochondria
Medical Students and physicians at
the University of Utah are noticing a
phenomenon among second-year
medical students becoming hypochon-
driacs, a condition referred to as "sec-
d-year syndrome" or
"sophomoritis."
Second-year medical students are
exposed to disease, their principle
thrust of study, for hours every day
through classes and shadowing physi-
cians. Through their studies, the stu-
dents begin to believe that everything
they learn is real in themselves or
family members, one medical student
said.
When they see sick, bed-ridden
ople, identify their symptoms, and
learn how diseases start, medical stu-
dents begin thinking they don't want
to see themselves or anyone close to
them in that situation, another medical
student said. When students know
how a disease could eventually
progress, minor symptoms can
assume a foreboding quality, scaring
many of the students, the student
ed.
To one degree or another, sopho-
moritis affects at least one half of sec-
ond-year students, guessed another
student.
Students panicked
by bomb threat
A homeless man interrupted an
exam at Harvard University on Jan.
11, when he entered the auditorium
d threatened to blow it up. Stu-
dents started a panicked stampede
to leave the auditorium and police
I ested the homeless man without
ay altercations.
A mandatory make-up exam is cur-
grently scheduled for Feb. 3, the first
$aturday of the new semester. Many
students feel it would be unfair to take
the exam after the trauma they experi-
ced from the bomb threat and after
,eintersession between their fall and
spring semesters.
.Students have sent out a flurry of e-
=rail messages voicing concerns about
-the rescheduled final exam, and a peti-
tion has been started that is currently
signed by 50 of the 250 students in the
class.
The Registrar, Dean of the College
id Core office has the power to
decide whether the class can offer an
tional final, but has not commented
that option yet. The office has
decided that the exam will not be held
in the same room.
Compiledfrom U-Wire reports by
Daily Staff Reporter Jane Krull.
By Loule Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
Former Secretary of Labor Robert
Reich made a stop yesterday at the Busi-
ness School to tout his new book, "The
Future of Success." Reich, who served
from the beginning of former President
Bill Clinton's administration until soon
after his reelection in 1996, focused
mainly on the effects of the modern,
fast-paced economy on families.
Reich opened his speech by describ-
ing politics as a composite of two words:
"poli," meaning "many"; and "tics,"
"small, blood-sucking insects."
He later admitted, however, that his
Cabinet post was "the best job I ever had
and probably the best job I ever will
have."
He described an incident just prior to
the 1996 presidential election when he
had not been home in the previous five
days. About to leave for his house, he
received a phone call informing him of a
meeting with the president that he could
not get out of.
When he called to tell his son that he
would be home very late, his son asked
him to "just wake me up," - even if it
was very late. Reich said that he was
reluctant to do so (it was a school
night) and asked his son why he need-
ed to be woken up. His son responded,
"Because I just want to know you are
home."
"I knew at that moment I had to
leave," Reich said.
Situations such as his were common,
he said, citing figures that showed some
members of the working population
spending 16 to 17 hours a day at work.
The former secretary went on to ask
rhetorical questions like, "If the econo-
my grew so rapidly, why is it that a
man and wife were putting in so much
time at work?" He added that it what
was almost being forgotten was the
increased amount of time people now
spend commuting to work and talking
on cellular phones regarding work-
related matters.
"We, in our personal lives are discov-
ering that there is less and less space for
being human ... for having personal
relationships."
Asked about President Bush's nomi-
nee to head his old department, Elaine
Chao - who is widely expected to be
confirmed by the Senate today -
Reich said, "The question is whether or
not she will vigorously enforce the
labor laws."
He predicted that, under the new
administration, "there will be some
relaxing of labor standards because the
business community does not want to
bear what it considers to be the high cost
of regulations. I hope I'm wrong."
JEFF HURVITZ/Daily
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich speaks yesterday at the
Business School on his new book "The Future of Success."
I
Greek system sees high
number of winter rushees
ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daiy
Natural History Museum exhibit designer Dan Erickson creates a work of art
from a piece of wood.
Studen1:8t finds art
in wood, lathe
By Susan Luth
Daily News Reporter
Local fraternities and sororities are seeing record numbers
this week as winter rush draws to a close.
LSA senior Justin Bright, executive vice president of the
Interfraternity Council, said the number of potential rushees
who attended the IFC's mass meeting last Thursday was high-
er than the number who attended the past two years combined.
"Lots of people wanted to get acclimated to the school first
before they rushed," Bright said.
IFC President Marc Hustvedt, an LSA senior, said he
expects 50 to 100 more rushees than the usual 400. He thinks
that the number of potential rushees is rising because of the
Greek Community's participation in various campus activities,
such as the K-Grams Kids Fair, the Detroit Project and Dance
Marathon.
"We've been working very hard as a Greek Community to
bridge the connection across campus, engaging students who
otherwise would not have gone Greek," Hustvedt said. "We've
really seen positive results from this."
LSA junior Don Santon, IFC vice president of recruitment,
agreed the numbers are partially due to people wanting to first
settle into the campus environment.
He felt that the winter rush has become a "friends rush,"
because in winter rush students who were accepted into frater-
nities and sororities during fall rush tend to recruit their
friends into the chapters to which they were accepted.
"We'd like to see more rushees check all the fraternities out
instead of ju stthe ones they've heard of from their friends,"
Santon said:'
Although IFC's rush will end tomorrow, Santon stressed
that it is not too late for those interested to join.
"Lots of chapters recruit year round," he said. "If people are
interested they can stop by the chapter house or call the Office
of Greek Life."
Out of all chapters who are sponsoring a formal rush,
95 percent are fraternities. The Panhellenic Association
itself is not holding a formal rush period, but three soror-
ities - Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta and Gamma
Phi Beta - will be holding an extra rushing period until
the end of this month.
The sororities are trying to make up for lost numbers and
low recruitment counts from last fall.
"So far we've had good numbers," said Pi Beta Phi
President Dana Holeman, an LSA senior. "We had 20
people come through so far, which we're happy with.
We are very confident and very excited."
Santon said about 200 people usually attend the mass meet-
ing, where fraternities sponsor tables to promote themselves
among rushees. This year, 27 of the 29 fraternities were pre-
sent. If numbers follow the trend from the past few years, San-
ton expects just under 450 people to rush.
"It's hard to tell right now because its still early" he said.
"We feel the numbers are up this year, though, because of the
large turnout at the mass meeting."
By Samantha Ganey
Daily Staff Reporter
Firewood ignites Dan Erickson's
passion for art. Erickson, the
Exhibit Designer for the Universi-
ty's Natural History Museum,
knows that when trees are cut
down on campus he will have the
opportunity to hand-craft the wood
into pieces of art.
From a woodpile on North Cam-
pus, Erickson selects a favorite
piece to turn into bowls and furni-
ture with his lathe.
Erickson's woodturning career has
generated 73 pieces of work now on
display at the Ann Arbor Art Center,
the Lansing Art Gallery and the Left
Bank Gallery in Flint.
Staci Kerman, a former student
of Erickson's, admires his ability
to create art from firewood. "His
sensitivity for recycling and pre-
serving has allowed him to main-
tain the integrity of the inherent
beauty in wood," she said.
Encouraging students to take up
hobbies like woodturning, Erick-
son said students do not know
what they are missing "unless
you've seen wood chips fly off." A
self-starter, Erickson is an inspira-
tion to students. "I like to figure
things out by myself. I like to work
by myself," he said.
After meeting Erickson in a
museum methods course, Kerman
recognized the value of Erickson's
individualized-artistic perspectives
and approaches. "His ability to
envision and appreciate what most
would view only as scrap wood has
allowed him to transcend such
pieces into sculptural objects with
functional sensibilities," she said.
Erickson occasionally has a special
design or idea in mind for a piece of
wood. He said his "Treasure Bowl"
piece was named because "this partic-
ular piece of wood had colors and pat-
terns that I liked, and so I turned it into
a form that I felt best displayed this
character."
"Upon completion I felt it
deserved a special use: To hold
and display the various small nat-
ural objects I often pick up while
on my travels," Erickson said.
Although Erickson named
"Treasure Bowl," he said he usual-
ly refrains from titling the majority
of his pieces due to the various
meanings that different viewers
may derive from his works. He
chooses to write an explanatory
paragraph about the piece instead
of limiting its meaning with a title.
Natural History Museum exhib-
it preparator John Klausmeyer
depends upon Erickson's ingenuity
and resourcefulness to produce
creative exhibit designs. "If you
need some weird thing, he'll engi-
neer it," he said.
Erickson has relied on all
aspects of his education while fur-
thering his artistic career. "I have a
background and interest in biolo-
gy, so I find a lot of artistic appli-
cations for it," he said.
Extending education outside the
classroom, Erickson has prepared
various exhibits for student as well
as public viewing.
"We have on display now a cou-
ple temporary exhibits which
include objects and jewelry from a
tropical rain forest, and pho-
tographs of fossils. Some of which
look more like abstract paintings.
We also have many permanent
exhibits on prehistoric life, Michi-
gan wildlife, Native American cul-
tures, geology, and even a
planetarium," he said.
While getting his doctorate in
anthropology at the University, Jim
Ahern is one of the former student
assistants who worked on exhibits
with Erickson.
"With his woodturning and almost
every other endeavor, I'm always
impressed by Dan's ability to pick up a
skill so quickly and not just excel at it
but become the best there is," said
Ahern, who is now a professor at the
University of Wyoming, said.
MSA debates funding
By Carrie Thorson
Daily Staff Reporter
Last night the Michigan Student
Assembly decided to split the pro-
ceeds from the upcoming "Vagina
Monologues" evenly between
SAFEHouse and Planned Parent-
hood with a vote of 24 - 2.
This controversial decision was
"a microcosm of what's happening
nationally," said Nursing junior
Elise Erickson, saying President
Bush's administration's has a "fear
of funding international groups that
have anything to do with abortion."
It was originally decided that
proceeds from the "Vagina Mono-
logues," an upcoming play to pro-
mote awareness of the movement to
end violence against women, would
be split evenly between Planned
Parenthood and SAFE House.
LSA Rep. Doug Tietz and Engi-
neering Rep. Greg Hayes proposed
to give all the proceeds to SAFE
House, citing that Planned Parent-
hood performs abortions and MSA
would get "the most bang for our
buck" by forcing the Vagina Mono-
logues to only donate to SAFE
House, Tietz said.
"If MSA (passes Tietz's resolu-
tion), they are essentially forcing
students to support something
against their religion," LSA fresh-
man Charles Wang said.
"Have you ever been forced to
give charity?" LSA Rep. Shari Katz
responded.
Several constituents argued that
it was not MSA's job to tell their
commissions - the Women's Issue
Commission being the one sponsor-
ing the "Vagina Monologues" -
where and how they can spend their
money.
"It's extremely arrogant for peo-
ple who have no part in the
women's movement to come in and
try to stop us from donating to a
group that has been there for
women for so long," said LSA
junior Karen Soules, director of the
"Vagina Monologues."
She, along with other con-
stituents, stressed the fact that no
patron of the show will be required
to donate and that the focus of the
event was not abortion but "V-Day,"
a day of awareness of domestic vio-;
lence.
"This is not a life versus choice
argument," self-declared pro-life
supporter and LSA Rep. Matt
Nolan said. "It is a pro-woman
argument," he finished, eliciting
applause from the assembly.
New to the assembly this meeting
was Kinesiology Rep. T.J. Wharry
and School of Art and Design Rep.
Brooke Gerber.
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS Group Meeting, 7:00 p.m., Individ- ing'" Sponsored by the Center
ualized Home Care, 3003 Washte- for Russian and East European
Community Service Commission naw, Suite 5, 677-3081 Studies, Michele Rivkin-Fish will
Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Michigan U Ann Arbor Support Group, 6:30 speak, 4:00 p.m., 1636 SSWB,
Union MSA Chambers, 615-5MSA .m., First Baptist Church; 512 1080 South University, 764-
. Environmental Issues Commission E.Huron, Room 102, 973-0242 0351
A-4-e ?n U Meal and Discussion. 5:30 p.m..
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