NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - 3
ON CAMPUS
New club for black
educators to meet
for first time
The recently formed club Black Edu-
cators of Tomorrow will hold their first
informational meeting today from 6:30
to 8 p.m. in the Whitney Room of the
School of Education. The club's focus is
to sustain a black presence in University
education. It will also provide support
for blacks pursuing admittance to the
school and those who are interested in
the future of education.
Researcher to
speak about Great
Lakes' currents
David Schwab of the Great Lakes
Environmental Research Lab, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration, will discuss the progress of
research on the subject of Great Lakes'
currents has gone since the drifting
bottles of Mike Harrington in 1894.
The event is today at 2:15 p.m. in
the Detroit Observatory Library and
Schwab will present background on
Harrington's work and discuss modern
measurement techniques. Seating is
limited to40 people.
Prof to lecture on
spinal cord injuries
Ronald Triolo, an assistant profes-
sor of orthopedics and biomechanical
engineering at Case Western Reserve
University, will give a lecture titled
Functional Electrical Stimulation For
Standing in Spinal Cord Injury. The
talk will take place today from 3:30 to
5 p.m. in room F2305 in the Maternal
Child Health Center.
CRIME
NOTES
Walker spars with
driver after car
accident
A pedestrian reported to the Depart-
ment of Public Safety that he was
assaulted after a traffic altercation with
a driver on Saturday afternoon on East
Medical Center Drive.
Computer swiped
from grad library
A caller reported to DPS that his lap-
top computer was stolen from the Har-
lan Hatcher Graduate Library on Friday.
There are no suspects.
Trespasser taken
to hospital
Police picked up a non-University
affiliate loitering in the billiards and
games room of the Michigan Union Sun-
day night. Later, the nonaffiliate went
to the University Hospital. After being
treated, the person refused to leave.
Police arrested the individual for disor-
derly conduct and trespassing.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Heart transplant
patient receives
mechanical heart
Dec. 7, 1984 - A six-month-old
heart transplant patient was kept alive
by a mechanical heart and lung for
three days after her surgery at the Uni-
versity Hospital. Laura was the first
patient to successfully have a trans-
planted heart that is also supported by
a mechanical heart, said the inventor
of the device and medical school Prof.
Robert Bartlett.
"This is historic because it demon-
strates that we now have back-up for
a transplanted heart during difficult
periods, much the way dialysis is some-
times used to support kidney patients,"
Bartlett wrote in a statement.
Doctors put Laura on the mechanical
heart and lung after her heart surgery
because her new heart was having diffi-
culty pumping blood through her lungs.
CORRECTIONS
A brief in Thursday's Daily should have
said an Ann Arbor medical helicopter
crashed into a housing complex in 1994.
The brief also should have cited Joan Rose
as spokeswoman for St. Joseph's hospital.
Please report any errors in the
Daily to corrections@michigandaily.
com.
Int' Istudent enrollment drops nationwide
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
For the first time in more than 30
years, enrollment of international stu-
dents in the United States has dropped,
the Institute of International Educa-
tion's Open Doors survey reported
last month. The University lost only
17 international students last year but
ranked seventh among about 2,700
U.S. institutions in international stu-
dent enrollment with a total of 4,584
foreign students.
Last year, international student
enrollment fell from a national total
of 586,323 students in the 2002-03
academic year to 572,509, a decrease
of 2.4 percent, according to the Open
Doors survey.
The University offset last year's
small decrease in international stu-
dent enrollment with an increase of
50 students this semester. The Univer-
sity has historically been a leader in
international student enrollment, said
International Center Director Rodolfo
Altamirano.
"There are many reasons why U of
M is still on top," Altamirano said.
"U of M has a world-class reputation
of excellence through generations."
Other reasons he listed included a
sprawling alumni network and world-
renowned professors.
International student Prateek
Chourdia agreed that the reputation
of the University's business and engi-
neering schools was a major factor in
his decision to enroll.
"(The engineering school's) faculty,
infrastructure and location ... have a
world-wide reputation," said Chour-
dia, an Engineering freshman from
Singapore.
and the resources available to them at
the University, as well as engaging in
political advocacy for the students.
Though the University has been rel-
atively successful in attracting foreign
students, post-Sept. 11 regulations
have depressed international student
enrollment nationwide.
"It has been very difficult for our
international students to come to
study in the U.S. When I came to
study as an international student 21
years ago, I had to deal with a strict
policy, but there is no comparison to
what international students are facing
right now," Altamirano said.
He pointed to a visa applica-
tion process that can take months to
complete, security checks at ports of
entry and a $100 fee imposed by the
Department of Homeland Security as
examples of more stringent regula-
tions. The department also maintains
an electronic database that tracks for-
eign students.
"Applying to a university in the U.S.
as an international student is quite a
complicated routine. First you must
research the university and gather
information about it. Then you have to
get the university to send you course
packs," Chourdia said.
"A lot of the ... information is
mailed to international students at
the same time it is sent to students
in the U.S. However, the information
takes more time to reach international
students, which causes them to miss
deadlines and pay late fees."
LSA sophomore Sikander Ahmed
agreed with Chourdia that the appli-
cation process for foreign students is
time-consuming.
"It took a lot of time for everything
to get processed," said Ahmed, an
international student from Pakistan.
"The application process for the
U.K. was much easier. It didn't take
as much time or require as much
paperwork."
Altamirano said the visa applica-
tion process has become so difficult
that it has acted as a major deterrent
to international students applying to
study in the United States.
"If action isn't taken, we could
lose our international students to
other countries," Altamirano said,
adding that Britain, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, France and Ger-
many are all proactive in recruiting
international students. "If it's too
difficult to come to the U.S., they
might head to where they feel more
welcome," he said.
Chourdia attributed the difficulties
of the process to the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks.
"The visa application process in
England was less stringent because
they didn't suffer terrorist attacks. The
U.S. immigration process has been
extremely strict. There are quotas for
international students and internation-
al workers, which have been shrink-
ing more and more over the last four
years," Chourdia said.
Altamirano said international stu-
dents can help improve foreign rela-
tions.
"I think it's very critical that we
welcome international students as a
part of this university and country,"
he said. "It is important for them to
see past the image of the 'ugly Ameri-
can.' If they have a positive, enlight-
ening experience here, then when they
go back they will be our unofficial
ambassadors and will have a positive
voice for the United States."
Rodolfo Altamirano, director of the International Center, sits in his office yes-
terday.
The University's appeal is not only
a product of its academic reputation,
but also of the support the University
provides to make international stu-
dents feel comfortable in unfamiliar
surroundings, Altamirano said.
"I have always had an open-door
policy where students can come in and
share their perspectives, ideas, give
suggestions, open their hearts or just
talk about their lives as students. We
want to make the International Center
their home away from home," Altami-
rano said.
The International Center informs
students about national regulations
Detroit school district loses thousands of students
Charter schools, schools of choice draw more than half of 9,300 students who left
DETROIT (AP) - Charter schools and
schools of choice account for about half of the
9,300 student loss in the Detroit School District
this year.
Charter schools gained 3,400 Detroit students
this year, while schools of choice in neighboring
districts gained 1,300. Enrollment in the Detroit
district dropped 6 percent this year, from 150,000
to 140,700.
"The problem is people don't have confidence
in our schools," said former Detroit schools
Superintendent John Porter. "We have to deal
with it"
This year, 33,983 Detroit children are enrolled
COSTS
Continued from page 1
takers who would not be able to take the
test without the financial help. In addi-
tion to assistance programs, many uni-
versities waive application fees for high
standardized-test scores.
Preparation classes for these stan-
dardized tests are not cheap. Test prepa-
ration centers like Kaplan, Princeton
and other online programs offer basic
packages from about $499 to $4,000 for
personal tutoring packages.
For the University, Rackham oversees
the graduate school applications. The
cost to apply is $60 for U.S citizens and
$75 for non-U.S. citizens - who make
up more than half of Rackham'sh20,000
applications yearly. Despite the money
that is generated from these applications,
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson
says it is not nearly enough to cover the
expenses the University itself faces.
"The fee partially compensates the
University for processing the applica-
tions but certainly does not cover the
entire cost," Peterson said.
TRANSCRIPT
Continued from page 1
bia's faculty before becoming director of
the University's academic career center.
But plenty of negative comments
were heard from some faculty members
last night, especially that this effort may
make high-performing students' grades
seem less impressive than they are.
"I think if there's the potential for
misinterpretation that is a negative,"
said Robert Pachella, professor of psy-
chology and a member of the curricu-
lum committee said.
Pachella proposed an amendment and
argued that the proposal should only
affect classes with 20 or more students,
saving more rigorous seminars from the
new grade listing. Pachella's amend-
ment was defeated, possibly because the
higher standard would have excluded
too many LSA students.
The other proposal the LSA faculty
approved is that the "W" that appears
on a transcript after a student with-
draws from a class after the drop/add
deadline will be excluded for first-
semester students.
The impetus for such a change was to
help new students who were staying in a
class that was hurting them, but were too
afraid to drop it because they feared a"W"
on their transcripts, Megginson said.
The drop/add date would not change,
only the mark on a transcript. Students
still would not be able to join classes
after the deadline.
Both proposals will be detailed dur-
ing implementation discussions that
will include members of the faculty,
the curriculum committee and LSA
Student Government. If any of the
decisions are cannot to be made during
these discussions, they will come back -
to LSA faculty.
in charter schools, up 3,407 from 30,576 last year,
The Detroit News said yesterday.
About 30 suburban districts in Wayne, Oakland
and Macomb counties accept Detroit students.
This year, they have 6,530 Detroit students, up
1,293 from 5,237 last year.
Michigan guarantees $6,700 per student to
state school districts, and the Detroit School Dis-
trict's enrollment drop means a loss of about $62
million.
The district recently reported a $48 million defi-
cit for last school year and a $150 million deficit
for the current one. The district is looking to get
legislative approval to sell bonds to prevent it from
cutting up to 4,000 jobs and closing schools tobal-
ance its budget.
Detroit school officials are not the only ones
worried about the problems in the district; leaders
in neighboring districts say they must fend off a
steady stream of Detroit parents illegally enrolling
their children in suburban schools.
In Ferndale, police charged a Detroit mother
with two felonies on accusations of lying about
where she lived to get her daughter into Ferndale
High School. About 750 Detroit children are legiti-
mately enrolled in the district.
Southfield schools are aggressively rooting out
nonresidents trying to enroll in the district, said
spokesman Ken Siver. He said about 70 students,
most from Detroit, have been dropped this year
because of residency fraud.
Majority-Republicans in the state Legislature
are asking fora review of the Detroit schools'
financial troubles.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikke-
ma of Wyoming agreed last week to delay by one
week introducing a resolution that could eventually
lead to the appointment of a manager to oversee
the school district's finances.
"What happens in Detroit affects us all," said
Dearborn schools Superintendent John Artis. "A
disaster on our borders ... puts us at harm."
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