Ab

NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 4, 2004 - 3A

ON CAMPUS
Sept. consumer
.confidence drops,
'U' survey says
According to the University's
Index of Consumer Sentiment,
released on Friday, consumer confi-
dence dropped in September to 94.2
from 95.9 in August.
In a written statement, Richard Cur-
tin, director of the University's Survey
s of Consumers said that the loss of
onfidence in September is minimal
and "it is a continuation of the side-
ward movement that has dominated
since the start of the year, rather than
indicating an emerging downturn."
Curtin said the drop in confidence
could be attributed to the personal
financial situation of consumers. In
particular, he attributed the drop to
high gas prices, a slow job market and
fingering unemployment. However,
or the next five years he expected the
economy to continue to grow at a slow-
er pace.
Symposium to
explore health,
poverty relationship
The 2004 Public Health Sympo-
ium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to
noon today in Rackham Auditorium.
This year's forum, titled "Global
Health: The Challenge of Inequality,"
focuses on the problems of inequality
and the world's poor. Speakers will
discuss topics such as aging, micro-
bial threats, occupational health risks
and gender. The event is free and open
to the public.
CRIME
NOTES
No basis to
alleged assault at
raternity house
A drunken male reported to the
Department of Public Safety that he had
been assaulted at the Sigma Nu frater-
nityh6b&6fiYWishtenaw Aveniue'early
Sunday morning. DPS referred the man
to the Ann" Arbor Police Department
and drove him to City Hall to make a
ripert1fter 'Ie' -had refused' medical
ssistance. However, AAPD found the
man to be uncooperative due to intoxi-
cation and was unable to file a report on
the subject.
LSA junior Jacob Strumwasser, presi-
dent of Sigma Nu, said an inebriated man
had attempted to gain entry to the house
late Saturday night and was escorted
away by members of the house. He said
someone claiming to be the man's room-
mate stopped by the next day to apolo-
gize to the house.
IBursley fridge
catches fire,
removed from dorm
A caller reported to DPS Saturday
afternoon that a refrigerator in the

Bursley Residence Hall snack bar had
taught fire. The caller reported that
staff was trying to put the fire out with
a fire extinguisher and that the power
supply appeared to be the problem. The
refrigerator was taken out of service.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
*Journal alleges
Soviet spies
present on campus
Oct. 4, 1985 - The journal Science
reported that Soviet bloc countries had
spies to the campuses of several Ameri-
can universities, including the Universi-
*y of Michigan. The report was based on
information gathered from the Depart-
ment of Defense, which said spies were
able to gain sensitive information legally
using reports, research projects, the U.S.
patent office and trade shows.
Bob Prucha, a spokesman for the
Department of Defense, said by using
American corporations and universities,
Soviet spies could save time and money
that would have been needed for clan-
destine intelligence gathering.

WORKING OUT THE KINKS

Women's education
gets boost from 'U'

By Leslie Rott
Daily Staff Reporter
In the 1950s and early 1960s, before the Center for the
Education of Women was opened, the University placed quo-
tas on the number of female students admitted to provide edu-
cational opportunities for men returning from armed service
duties.
Women no longer face such barriers to attaining a col-
lege education, but the center, which is celebrating the
40th anniversary of its founding this year, continues to
be a haven for women who have a commitment to higher
education.
Mainly, the center now focuses on the advancement of
female graduate students and students who have children.
"We focus a lot of our attention on nontraditional undergrad-
uates as well as graduate students and professionals," Direc-
tor Carol Hollenshead said.
The center is currently working on increasing the number
of day-care facilities on and around campus, hoping to make
the lives of students who have children easier. "We focus a
great deal of attention on students with children," said Hol-
lenshead.
The center is also actively working to provide help and
support to students who have been absent from University life
and would like to go back to school.
When the center first opened, women were facing difficult
times. Hollenshead said although women's education was
flourishing at the time, the Great Depression and World War
II had had a profound impact on women's futures and educa-
tional ambitions
Women from alumni clubs around Michigan began to raise
money to create a place that would help women get back into
education. "In 1962, a group of women saw the tremendous
need to return and complete undergraduate and graduate
degrees," Hollenshead said.
The center opened before the women's movement was
in full swing. "No one knew what would happen when the
doors opened - people flooded in," said Hollenshead.
And although women no longer face the same issues as
they did during the 1950s, employees at the center have new
problems to face.
"There are less barriers for undergraduate women today

... (but the) challenges they face are far more subtle," said
Hollenshead.
Although the Center works mainly with graduate stu-
dents and pre-professionals, they do have specific programs
targeting undergraduates.
Sarah Ely, senior counselor and director of programs at
the center, said one such program is "Securing Your Future:
Graduate School From A Woman's Perspective." This pro-
gram is open to juniors and seniors who are looking to con-
tinue their educations at the graduate level.
The center also provides free counseling services encom-
passing career and psychological services to everyone as part
of its "open door policy."
"We serve a specialized niche of emotional and life plan-
ning support for primarily graduate students, and we always
welcome undergraduates who are looking ahead," Ely said.
"We want to be a place where you can come," said Hol-
lenshead.
It also has a library, which includes a variety of resources
on women's issues and career advice for women, which any-
one is free to use.
The Center takes a strong position in support of affir-
mative action and how it affects the University, espe-
cially female students.
"The concept of affirmative action is critical to
women," Hollenshead said. "If there were no affirmative
action ... girls might not have programs in science," she
said, referring to federal funds allocated to women's edu-
cation programs.
The center receives funds from the University, grants from
the government and private foundations and contributions
from donors who say they are committed to enhancing the
lives of women.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the center will hold a
gathering from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Michigan League
Ballroom.
The event will feature keynote speaker Julianne Malveaux,
an author, scholar and economist whose syndicated column
appears in more than 20 national publications, including USA
Today. She has appeared on ABC's now-cancelled show
"Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" and written multiple
books focusing on race and gender in today's political envi-
ronment. This event is free.

Historic A2 case dealt with language, race

By Elizabeth Belts
For the Daily
Affirmative action isn't Ann Arbor's
only educational issue to make it into
the court system - this year marks the
25th anniversary of the "Black English"
case, in which 11 black students sued
the Ann Arbor School district for dis-
crimination on the basis of race.
The student plaintiffs at the Martin
Luther King Jr. Elementary School
- who claiimed they landed in special
education classes
because the school "(Brown v
did not accommo-
date the blackEng- Educatio
lish vernacular they he
were used to speak- uS in te
ing -- ultimately it didn't h
prevailed. The court
ordered the district get the p
to take black Eng-
lish vernacular into and proc
consideration while
educating students. that blaci
As part of the 33rd
annual New Ways of need to s
Analyzing Variation
conference, the Uni-
versity Linguistics
Department spon- Co-coun
sored a four-day- the "B]
long examination of
the trial and an in-depth look at its role
on language, ethnicity and education
today. The conference started Thursday
evening and ran through yesterday.
"It was an appropriate time, after 25
years, to commemorate the event, and
also to bring these issues to the fore-
front of sociolinguistics," said Jennifer
Nguyen, co-chair of the conference
organizing committee and linguistics
graduate student.
The conference included an open-
ing event, two panel discussions and
a series of workshops addressing lan-
guage in the social context.
Friday evening's panel, called
"Revisiting the Ann Arbor King Trial,"
included participants involved in the
1979 case. The panelists discussed
their experiences during the trial and
how it affected them both personally
and professionally.
"I believe that my background at
King, and this case, made me want
to become a teacher because I could
understand why these kids struggle....

I didn't want my kids to have the expe-
rience that I did in school," said Robin
Thomas, who was a student at Martin
Luther King Jr. Elementary at the time
of the trial. She is now a teacher at Dick-
en Elementary School in Ann Arbor.
"It wasn't made easy for kids in the
neighborhood, to be poor, misunderstood.
I was lucky because ofmy parents and our
community center," Thomas said.
All the panelists agreed that there
is more work to be done for poor and
minority students in public schools.
"(Brown v.
Board of Board of Educa-
tion) only got us
1) only got in the classroom,
1 it didn't help us
classroom, get the practices

dents in both special and general edu-
cation across the state. Zweifler was History of "Black English"case
a volunteering parent at King and an
advocate for students during the trial.
Saturday evening's panel called In 1979, 1 students sled the Ann Arbor School District
"Considering the Effects of the Ann for racial discrimination. Theyfelt thedistrict's failure to
Arbor King Trial for Sociolinguistics
in Education" focused on research in *tEv cla wres
language and education. many landing in special education
The panelists, who shared their had been succeeding in predominantly black schools.
thoughts on how the King case affected
their current work in sociolinguistics UJ$.District Judge Charles Joinerruled the school
and language, included several wit-ht h
nesses from the King trial, including teachers .. fltljychilren
and two linguists who were prominent &peaking 'blackEhe lang
in the 1997 Ebonics case in Oakland, cl a"useoknoas
Calif. The case validated black English
as a vernacular, in order to train teach- edgetread t d
ers to improve the way black students English.
were taught in standard English. °

V.
n
(I

help us
ractices
edures
k children
ucceed."
- Ken Lewis
sel for plaintiffs in
lack English" trial

and procedures
that black chil-
dren need to suc-
ceed," said Ken
Lewis, a partner
at Plunkett &
Cooney law firm,
and co-counsel
for the plaintiffs
in the King trial.
The focus of
the panel was not
limited to exam-
ining the histori-
cal context of the

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King case, but also urged the audience
to continue to examine the role of lan-
guage in education.
Gabe Kaimowitz, lead counsel for
the King plaintiffs, urged the audi-
ence to examine "how to use language
to empower educators to understand,
how to do something for these kids."
Other panelists drew attention to
debated issues in modern education,
such as zero tolerance policy regard-
ing disciplinary procedure in schools
and the federal No Child Left Behind
Act, which the Bush Administration
enacted in 2001.
"In 1977, we believed we were on
the path to ensuring equal access to
education for all children. In 2004,
zero tolerance policy excludes more
and more children from public schools.
If educated citizenry is the bulwark
of democracy, I wonder where we're
headed," said Ruth Zweifler, co-found-
er of the Student Advocacy Center of
Michigan, an Ann Arbor organization
that provides advocacy service for stu-

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