4C - New Student Edition - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 5, 2001
ANGELL LESSON
Mass meetings
acclimate new
students to 'U'
MEETINGS
Continued from Page 1C
"With an organization the size of the
Muslim Students' Association there end
up being so many different committees
and activities that people end up finding
their niches and do something they
enjoy along with other people who
enjoy the same activities," Tarsin said.
Phi Alpha Delta, Pre-Law Fraternity,
President Vince Pecora explains that the
mass meeting is used to introduce mem-
bers roles and benefits.
"The students interested in pledging
learn what is expected of them and also
what they can expect from the board,"
Pecora said.
How formal or informal the meeting
is depends on the student group. The
Muslim Students' Association mass
meeting is a mix of the two, Tarsin said.
"There has to be a certain element of
professionalism in order to introduce all
of the activity related committees, yet in
order to create an atmosphere of friend-
ship and a 'community' the element of
informality soon follows naturally,"
ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily
Meetings occur all over campus andiet any time of the day, such as this Blue Party
meeting. There are plenty of options for students to get involved.
Tarsin said.
Pecora had a similar response
explaining how a certain degree of pro-
fessionalism needs to be maintained due
to the informational nature of the meet-
ing, but on the other hand it is not very
rigid either.
Typically mass meetings include a
question/answer period in their program
and encourage students to be inquisitive.
Generally the program at these meetings
aim to be informative about groups' pur-
poses goals, and activities. Mass meO
ings 'give new students a glimpse of the
typical atmosphere of their gatherings.
The.ie meetings also provide new stu-
dents an opportunity to explore various
grouqps and find out if the group is for
then.
Mass meetings are an excellent way
for wew students to get an introduction
to a group and its members and
chance to get involved all in one me
ing.
FILE PHOTO
Angell Hall has been a campus icon for nearly 80 years. The building is representative of architect Albert Kahn, who also
designed West Hall.
ampus landmark has rich history
U' takes steps to embrace minorities
By Rosemary Metz
Daily Staff Reporter
.The graceful sweep of Angell Hall is
one of the architectural jewels which
adorn the Ann Arbor campus. Regal
and stately, Angell Hall's proud history
is interwoven with the life and times of
the University. Designed by Albert
Kahn, Angell Hall is a member of the
cultural center of central campus, which
,includes Clements Library and Hill
Auditorium. West Engineering, now
West Hall, is Kahn's first architectural
triumph on campus, completed in 1904.
. Named for James B. Angell, third
President of the University, Angell Hall
is an artistic rendering of his ideals and
vision. The building stands four stories
tall, with basement and attic floors, pro-
viding access to diminutive roof-top
observatory.
Costing one million dollars, the
building was completed in 1924. Origi-
nally, Angell.Hall housed several class-
rooms, quartkrs:for the University,
President, and LSA offices. Architect
Kahn provided 152,000 square feet at a
time when space needs were to be max-
inized.
President Angell, a native of Ver-
mont, was hired by the Regents in 1871
from Brown University. His Presidency
is the longest in the history of the Uni-
versity, spanning 38 years. Angell
brought national attention to Michigan
when, in 1880, U.S. President Ruther-
ford B. Hayes appointed him to Ambas-
sador rank to China. Later, President
Grover Cleveland appointed Angell to
the Deep Waterways Commission
which studied the feasibility of canals,
forerunner to the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Basking in this new glow, the Universi-
ty was honored by commencement
speakers of the day, which included
Teddy Roosevelt, Carrie Nation, and a
young British journalist who showed
slides of South Africa and the Boer
War: Winston Churchill. However,
President Angell never veered from his
focus on education.
"The University of Michigan is dedi-
cated to providing an uncommon edu-
cation for the common man," Angell
said.
Architect Albert Kahn was the eldest
son of a rabbi, born in. Germany in
1869. The family emigrated to Detroit
in 1880. His once said that his father
"encouraged me by buying me drawing
boards and various materials for sketch-
ing." From early on in his life, Kahn
enjoyed drawing. He was awarded a
scholarship for study abroad. Kahn
was especially inspired by Romanesque
architecture. This inspiration is reflect-
ed in Angell Hall.
Stately columns welcome the stu-
dent, faculty, visitor to Angell Hall. At
the base of each column, Kahn has
craftily embossed the Four Muses of
the Liberal Arts: History, Poetry, Phi-
losophy and the Arts. A frieze is carved
into the central portico rooftop.
Emblems of the University and the
State of Michigan are carefully etched
alongside words taken from the North-
west Ordinance: "Religion morality
and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of
mankind. Schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged."
Although there are many buildings
on the campus, many of them reflect
their architectural period inception,
Angell Hall is unique for its beauty,
grandeur and sense of Michigan (and
U.S.) history.
A proud campus landmark, Angell
Hall delights the eye and awes the
mind. President James B. Angell and
Architect Albert Kahn had a keen sense
of humanism and higher education, and
both have left a rich legacy here at
Michigan.
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter
For hundreds of underrepresented minorities, an
acceptance letter from the University is the culmination
of years of recruitment efforts by various groups associ-
ated with the University - but the work does not stop
there.
Once minority high school students are accepted to
the University, more efforts are made to ensure that they
enroll, and after enrollment the University community
continues its efforts, striving to provide an environment
that keeps students from leaving before graduation.
FRom student groups to University-related outreach
programs to alumni clubs, a network of people under-
take the task of showing underrepresented minorities
"that higher education is not as impossible as sometimes
it seems," said LSA sophomore Celso Cardenas.
Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are identi-
fied as underrepresented minorities, and recruiters target
these groups because statistics show they are the least
likely to seek a college education.
Hispanic students are the youngest and fastest-grow-
ing part of the population, and yet they are among the
least likely to attend college.
Donney Moroney, coordinator in the Office of Multi-
ethnic Student Affairs, said she worries that this trend
will lead to a country in which a sizable Hispanic popu-
lation will not be represented in the leadership of soci-
ety.
A two-way exchange brings middle and high school
students to Ann Arbor from around the Midwest to
expose them to a college environment. Classes and other
programs take University students to targeted communi-
ties as tutors and mentors.
The programs areaimedparticularly atunder-xrepre='
sented minorities to let them know that higher education
is a realistic option even if none of their relatives have
attended college.
Programs continue through high school and the col-
lege application process.
"Admissions only accept students that we think will
be successful," said Jim Vanhecke, senior assistant
director of undergraduate admissions. "We try to step up
minority recruitment to ensure that we have a diverse
class."
Once qualified students have been accepted to the
University, the task shifts from convincing them that
higher education is neclessary to persuading them that
the University is the right place.
"We try to, recruit as4many of our underrepresented
individuals as personally as possible," Vanhecke said. He
pointed to the annual Spring Welcome Day that attracted
approximately 800 prospective students from around 3t*
country to. be introduced to the campus this year, one of
the largest turnouts even.
Volunteers also make personal telephone calls to
under-represented minority students who have been
accepted to answer any questions the prospective stu-
dents may have..
"Michigan is not beehind anyone," Vanhecke said.
"From what I can see, we are at the forefront of recruit-
ment."
However, the Univeisity does have problems keepir
under-represented mirmority students enrolled, Moroney
said.
Retention rates are significantly lower for underrepre-
sented minorities than other groups. The most recent
available statistics show that six years after enrolling as
undergraduates, 53 percent of Native American students,
59 percent of blacks and 69 percent of Hispanics earned
a University diploma. In contrast, 86 percent of white
students and 87 perce:zrt of Asian Americans graduate in
six years.
Any combination oif a number of motives influen
students to withdravy from the University, but L
sophomore Rosio Suiarez said some students are dis-
heartened when they come to the University "expecting
to find a big community, and they don't."
"Students feel culturally unsafe, insecure," Moroney
said.
In order to combai' feelings of isolation and loneli-
nes, ,student groups malw~ ieffort-io create a niche
'wherestudents can feel c able and relate to each
other, Moroney added.
"NASA serves as ka place where students can con
and share something similar," said Engineering senior
Darren Goetz, a co-chair of the Native American Stu-
dent.Association.
While some Native American students come to the
University from urtoan upbringings, others come from
more traditional backgrounds or reservations, he said.
"If you're religious, it's analogous to going to a place
where there aren't any churches," Goetz added. Student
groups provide a "home away from home" that make the
University more friendly.
You'll have to have a'
Macintosh computer for
scheduling, and email,
and coursework,
and papers...
s51
Anne Swenson
' :Senior, School of Engineering
at the University of Michigan
and mp3 's and dvd's,
and movies, and games,
and all the fun extras...
you'll just want one.
So get a Mac!"
Engineers design vehicle for Mars
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Humans living on Mars is soon to
be science, not fiction, proclaimed
a May announcement made by
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration officials. New esti-
mates report that humans could be
on Mars within two decades. But
there's much to be done in the
meantime.
Helping out in the process is the
University's School of Engineering.
The school is working on the Mars
Rover, a terrain vehicle that will
assist human exploration on Mars,
serving as a mobile home and
research center for three people for
up to two weeks.
The team, consisting of almost 50
University students, the majority of
whom are undergraduates, is cur-
rently working on their first rover
named Everest. After finishing
Everest, they will go on to build a
more complex vehicle, called Olym-
pus, which will be completely
remote controlled.
"What we are doing is building a
vehicle that would be necessary
when humans travel to Mars," said
Anna Paulson, the project manager
of the University's Mars Rover Pro-
ject. "In order to explore the sur-
face, they need to be able to get
around ... the vehicle that we are
building can travel 600 miles."
After they are complete,: the
rovers will head to Nevada to a Mars
testing station, a simulated environ-
ment where they will encounter the
same obstacles they would on the
actual planet.
Paulson said neither Everest nor
Olympus would likely make the
actual journey to Mars, but testing
them on the Mars habitat could
prove useful when designing new
prototypes.
"We expect the process of build-
ing a rover to take several proto-
types," said Paulson. "We expect
that in a few years when an actual
Mars rover is going to go to Mars, it
will be based on our design."
The project started last year when
Mars Society had a design conitest
to build a vehicle that could. also
function as a living space and labo-
ratory. The University was chosen
as one of three teams to work on
the project.
Students can view interior and
exterior pictures of the rover on the
web at marsrover.engin.umich.edu.
One of the biggest challenges fac-
ing the team initially was the
amount of space allotted for the
vehicle.
"The vehicle had to fit into a C-
130 spacecraft ... it has very tight-
space requirements, width and
height," said Engineering senior
Warren Strong, one designer of
Everest. "We figured out all the dif-
s -
Courtesy or me Mars Rover leamwetsite
The Everest was designed by University
students for Mars Society.
ferent types of things that would
into the vehicle and tried to find to.
optimal arrangement for the smallest
possible size."
Despite the various challenges,
Strong said it was a good experience
for him to work on it at the under-
graduate level.
"There's no class on Mars robotic
design, and a lot of things that you
learn in class are not directly related
to this project," he said. "This prO
ject is a lot different than some of
the other student projects on cam-
pus.
"We're not about competition. The
goal of our project is pure research.
It's a higher goal than a straight
competition."