NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - 3 ON CAMPUS Swing dancing lessons and open dance in Union Michigan Union Arts and Programs will have swing dance lessons from 7:30 to 11:30 tonight. Lessons for beginners will take place in the first hour, followed by an hour of lessons for intermediate dancers. The last two hours will be for open dancing. Lessons will alternate between East Coast and Lindy Hop swing. Cost is $3 for students and $4 for non-students. No experience or partner necessary. Doctor to lecture on gender and child care Marlena Michelle Studer, a doctor who has conducted interviews with 50 couples living in southeastern Michigan who are expecting children, will discuss how men and women's goals and long-term plans pertain to their efforts to decide how to share child care responsibilities. The lec- ture will take place at the Center for the Education of Women at 330 E. Liberty St., tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. Call 998- 7080 for more information. Panel focuses on impact of race on body image A panel discussing the impact of race and ethnicity on images of the body will be held today at 5 p.m. at the Wil- liam Monroe Trotter House lounge. The panel, titled "Body Image: All Shapes and Shades," is sponsored by the Health Promotion and Community Relations Department of University Health Ser- vice. All students are invited to attend, and food and drinks will be served. CRIME NOTES Student's room key glued into lock A resident of West Quad Residence Hall called the Department of Public Safety because his key was glued into the lock of his room Monday afternoon. DPS has no suspects. Tommy Hilfiger jacket, MP3 player stolen from CCRB A Tommy Hilfiger jacket with a Casio MP3 player, Mcard and keys was stolen from the Central Campus Recreation Building Monday evening, according to DPS reports. The jacket and its contents were left unatteended on a court between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. DPS has no suspects. Drunken person found sleeping in residence hall A drunken person was found sleep- ing in East Quad Residence Hall at 9:47 p.m. Monday, according to DPS reports. The person was awoken and escorted off campus. THIS DAY In Daily History SAPAC struggles with high number of assault reports Dec. 8, 1992 - The number of sexual assaults reported to the University's Sex- ual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center were so high in 1992 that a small backlog of cases waiting for counsel- ing developed, former SAPAC Director Debi Cain said. There were 56 incidents reported in the fall term alone. Cain said that the increase in reported incidents was not necessarily because of increased sexual assaults on campus but that "more people are coming forward." Some SAPAC volunteers said vic- tims were reporting incidents that took place seven to eight years earlier OUT FOR A STROLL Lack of tenured female profs prompts 'U' to rethink tenure system By Leah Guttman Daily Staff Reporter Across the country, increasing num- bers of women are earning doctorates in the humanities and social sciences. "But few of these women are found in higher education positions," said Psychology and Women's Studies Prof. Abigail Stewart. Within the University, females abound at the graduate instructor level and as lecturers and researchers. Their presence is even higher - 64 percent - in the ranks of archivists, curators and librarians, according to a 2003 report on the status of women affiliated with the University. But in tenure-track positions at the University, female rep- resentation is the lowest - 26 percent of the total - with few of these posi- tions held by women of color. The disparity between women and men in tenure-track positions at the nation's top research universities raises questions about the nature of the tenure-process and whether changes within the system could help women aquire tenured profes- sorships. The University is undertaking some steps to evaluate the possiblity of such changes. Jean Waltman, a research associate at the Center for the Education of Women, said although there are places where women are at parity with men, the dispar- ity increases in the ranks of full profes- sorship. "As the prestige of the university goes up, the number of women in ten- ure-track positions goes down," she said, referring to institutes of higher education in general. Researchers are examining a number of factors to explain the shortage of ten- ured female faculty. Stewart said one possibility that may Female professors hold 26 percent of tenure- track positions at the University, according to a 2003 report. explain the disparity is that women are more likely than men to consider where they want to raise their families before the prestige of the university for which they want to work. Waltman said women sometimes find an unwelcoming atmosphere at premier research institutions, pointing to research data showing that women in academia, compared to men, feel less engaged in their departments and more marginalized and have greater difficulty finding mentors. Though this is not true in every case, it does play into the problem, she said. Another controversial factor is the sometimes covert nature of the hiring process, she said. "There is a tradition- al, unspoken sense of what a professor should look like, what a professor should study, what kind of training, background and publication records (he or she) should have," Waltman said. "In some sense, women get excluded because they don't fit the hiring pattern." According to the 2003 report, the University "lags dramatically behind the national pool in terms of gender represen- tation." And despite having an adequate number of doctoral students in most fields, "the percentage of women faculty within most academic disciplines at (the University) continues to be at or below the 1979 national levels." To address these kinds of problems, the University has undertaken pro- grams such as ADVANCE, a five-year project funded by the National Science Foundation that seeks to improve the recruitment and retention of women faculty in science and engineering. The program appears to have made gains, as 40 percent of professors hired in these fields by the University this year were women, whereas women represented only 20 percent of hirings in 2001. Also in progress is a discussion on re- assessing the concept of a tenure-track position., as well as changes in the tenure- track process itself. Waltman said inno- vative policies to address these issues are being considered by University adminis- trators and faculty members. Some of these, such as part-time tenure, would ease the balance between work and home life. This would permit an instruc- tor to remain active in the University and stay on the tenure track while working at a reduced rate, Waltman said. Permanently extending the tenure clock - a way of lengthening the five- to seven-year process - is also being discussed, Waltman said. This change would alter the University's clock-stop policy, which currently allows instruc- tors to take one year off while on the tenure track. Allowing more than one break would help women who need time to raise their families while on the tenure track, Waltman said. "We're already a little bit flexible," Stewart said regarding the University's tenure-track process. "But we're not as flexible as we might be. ... We have an outer limit and might consider chang- ing that." HEATING Continued from page 1 vents, making the heating system more efficient. This measure, and the strategies passed by Ketcheson and her roommatesm are exactly the right measures to take, according to Diane Brown, the University's spokeswoman for facilities and opera- tions. Other methods for reducing heating bills this winter include closing windows, repairing broken "Lar pendedr Continued from page 1 team,"I harassment offense against dozens said in of women in at least 15 households charges over a five-month period on our cam- alarmin pus. If we, as a community, had been not true informed of the repeated offenses, he If con may have been apprehended sooner indecent and prevented from perpetrating so up to a) many times." has been Harrison - a Detroit native Associat - started at defensive tackle in seven StenaN of Michigan's 11 games this season case. He and recorded 24 tackles including one urinating tackle for a loss. But the Wolverines sequentl3 will likely be without Harrison when Carr ani they take on Texas in the Rose Bowl on uncertaii New Year's Day. Stenavic heaters and just wearing an extra sweater, she added. For every degree the thermostat is lower, a hom- eowner saves 3 percent on his heating bill, Singer said. The University is also attempting to lower its heat- ing bills, although on a much larger scale. South Quad Residence Hall alone uses nearly $200,000 in steam, made from natural gas, each year and $280,000 in electricity - enough to provide 250 typical homes with natural gas and 400 homes with electricity for a year, according to Bill Verge, associate director for utilities and plant engineering. The University's power plant uses natural gas to provide steam to heat the Central and Medical cam- puses. The University also purchases any additional natural gas in advance, which protects it from the ris- ing costs. "If you had to go buy it, it would be much, much more expensive than what we are able to do here," Brown said. Nevertheless, this year's expenditure on natural gas will be about $34 million, up about $2.4 million from last year, and next year, the University is likely to spend at least $38 million, Verge said. The University's ability to buy large quantities of natural gas in advance means that this year's budget will not be dramatically affected by the ris- ing prices, but if the trend continues, the University will have to seek more money. In the face of rising heating bills for both students and the University as a whole, Brown said, "anything we can turn off saves us." ==Noun"% y Harrison has been sus- from the Michigan football Michigan coach Lloyd Carr a statement yesterday. "The are very serious and very g. I can only hope they are nvicted on the single count of exposure, Harrison could face year in jail. A pre-trial hearing set forsJan. 21, according to The ted Press. vich is awaiting charges in his was arrested on Nov. 29 after g on the floor at a club and sub- y being escorted out by police. nounced on Dec. 3 that he is in what, if any, punishment h will face within the team. Chance of a lifetirne??? THE TRUTH IS.. BIGFER IS OFAUTIFULIR. ,-.-- -- . SOMEBODY'S GOTTA STAND FORI TH[ TROTH. AND SEENG i n :..: :.