The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
FLEMING
From Page 1A
stronger, and I believe it was
because of Robben's matchless per-
sonality," Coleman said. "He was
the perfect leader for an imperfect
time."
"He approached crises as oppor-
tunities for growth, change and
problem-solving," said Henry John-
son, a former vice president of stu-
dentservices at the University.
Coleman also lauded Fleming's
contributions after the Black Action
Movement student strike in 1970.
The strike resulted in acommitment
by the University to work toward
10-percent African-American stu-
dent enrollment by 1973, many of
whom were the first in their family
to attend college.
Coleman said she met with
approximately two-dozen such stu-
dents in New York when they were
taking part in a documentary on
affirmative action in higher educa-
tion, some 25 years after Fleming
left the University in 1979.
"Among these first-generation
collegegraduates, 95 percentoftheir
sons and daughters had gone on to
college - 95 percent of the children
of men and women who themselves
never imagined higher education as
a part of their lives," said Coleman.
"That is the legacy of Robben Flem-
ing."
Coleman also read a letter from
former president Harold Shapiro,
who wrote that Fleming's decision
to offer him the vice presidency of
academicaffairs"decisivelychanged
the path of (his) career."
The Men's Glee Club also paid
tributetoFlemingbysinging"Bright
Morning Star" and the University
alma mater, "The Yellow and Blue."
School of Music master's student
MINUTES
From Page 1A
that it is "standard operating proce-
dure" not to place proposed minutes
from Board of Regents meetings
online until the next month's agen-
da is posted and that the Daily could
not view the document until it was
placed online.
However, after the Daily cited
the University's obligations under
the Michigan Open Meetings Act,
Fitzgerald and University spokes-
woman Kelly Cunningham revised
their responses to the Daily.
In a joint interview with Cun-
ningham and Fitzgerald yesterday,
the two called the University's pre-
vious statement the result of a mis-
understanding.
"The procedure is that we provide
the draft minutes upon request and
then we post them on the web the
Monday before the meeting under
the agenda," Cunningham said. "It
was just a misunderstanding."
Cunningham said it was possible
that the Daily's initial request was
misunderstood.
"The only thing I can think of is
maybe there was a confusion about
(the proposed minutes) being on the
web and (staff) were thinking that's
FRYER
From Page 1A
old black adolescent often has the
reading level of a 13-year-old white
child. Strategies normally employed
to close this gap include early child-
hood programs and offering smaller
schools and classes. These strate-
gies individually, Fryer said, have
been largely unsuccessful.
Fryer said the HCZ, which com-
bines academic and community
programs, is an ideal testing ground
for determining whether or not
community involvement is neces-
sary in closing the gap.
In his experiments with the
achievement data from the HCZ,
Fryer said he used a carefully
crafted algorithm to measure the
impact of the charter schools in
"the Zone" on test scores. Fryer's
Kyle Stegall also offered a stirring
rendition of Fleming's favorite song,
"Danny Boy."
Multiple speakers mentioned
Fleming's preference for reaching
out to people over meals, for exam-
ple his preference for discussing
important topics with colleagues
over breakfast and inviting the staff
of The Michigan Daily over for din-
ner with him and his wife, despite
the publication's criticism of his
administration.
"It was a way of demonstrating
that although our roles were adver-
sarial, he didn't take it personally,"
said Laura Berman, a columnist for
The Detroit News who served as co-
editor of The Michigan Daily's Sun-
day Magazine in 1975.
Fittingly, Fleming's habit of writ-
ing his speeches in abbreviated form
on table napkins just before he deliv-
ered them drew hearty laughs from
the audience.
"I'm not sure if the Clements
Library archives the presidents'
speeches, but if it does, there's a box
of table napkins with his words on
them in there," said former regent
Nellie Varner (D-Detroit).
Varner spoke fondly of Fleming's
tremendous support for her dur-
ing her rise through the University
administration to her position as a
regent, which, she said, was espe-
cially valuable because of the lack of
mentors for professional women at
the time.
"He said, 'One day, I'm going to
teach you how to run an organiza-
tion. It doesn't matter how large it is
or how small it is - you're the same
person,'"Varner said.
Prior to her stint as a regent,
Fleming also appointed Varner as
the University's first affirmative
action officer in 1972 - a gesture
Varner said helped pave the way for
future female and minority admin-
what (the Daily) meant. I really
don't know," Cunningham said.
However, Cunningham said later
in yesterday's interview that the
proposed minutes weren't released
because the staff member who
handles the regents minutes was
out of the office and that no one in
the Office of the Vice President and
Secretary of the University was in a
position to determine whether ornot
the document could be released.
"It's a very small office. They
would be released," Cunningham
said. "There must have been a mis-
understanding because (the staff
member who handles regents meet-
ing minutes) wasn't there."
"Frankly, no one ever asks for
them," Cunningham continued.
"What people do ask is, 'What hap-
pened?' and then we always say
what happened."
The December meeting of the
Board of Regents included several
routine items - all of which were
approved - including renovations
to Couzens Hall, renaming the
University's Women's Hospital and
sending an annual appropriations
request to the state.
Asked whether any back up plan
exists for handling requests in the
absence of the assistant secretary of
the University, Fitzgerald said yes-
istrators.
Duderstadt also remembered
Fleming as a comforting presence,
adding that Fleming gave him sound
advice when Duderstadt encoun-
tered protestors during his time as
president.
"'A pubhlc university president
should never regard the slings and
arrows launched by others as per-
sonal attacks; rather, critics are
simply angry with the institution,' "
Duderstadt said.
Fleming's children, Betsy DiMag-
gio, Nancy Reckford and James
Fleming, concluded the service
by giving their thanks and brief
thoughts on their father.
"He would have loved the humor-
ous tributes and kind words said
about him today - I think that's the
way we'd all like to remember him
here at Michigan," Reckford said,
gesturing to the stately picture of a
smiling Fleming and bright yellow
flowers at the center of the stage,
next to the podium.
After the memorial, several Uni-
versity administrators who attended
the event reflected on Fleming's
commitment to the University.
In an interview after the event,
Provost Teresa Sullivan praised
Fleming for his widespread impact
on future University administra-
tors.
"I think he was an inspiration for
other presidents and not just for the
people here at Michigan," Sullivan
said. "He was a man of integrity, and
I hope I carry that with me."
A student at the University while
Fleming was president, E. Royster
Harper, vice president for student
affairs, said she thoroughly enjoyed
the memorial service.
"It was very moving. He was
everything they've said he was,
and I remember because he was my
president," Harper said.
terday that he believed there was.
"I'm sure there's a back-up plan
for (when the staff member is out
of the office), but keep in mind
that nobody asks for the minutes,"
Fitzgerald said. "When that spe-
cific request came in there wasn't
really a back-up plan because we
never get any requests for the min-
utes."
"This request had never come
up that anyone can remember, of
asking for a copy of the minutes,"
Fitzgerald continued. "Even though
we have a process and a procedure,
with (the staff member) being out
this wasn't part of (the staff mem-
ber's) backup normal protocol.
Cunningham said she would be
"shocked" ifa similar situation hap-
pened in the future.
"Maybe people are going to
start asking for the minutes. I don't
know," she said.
"I'm sure if they do, we'll have
them ready."
However, Cunningham said no
plans were underway to prepare
for a similar situation - should
someone else request a copy of the
minutes when the staff member
who handles the regents minutes is
gone.
"They're staying with the same
thing," Cunningham said.
RECESSION
From Page 1A
tal markets and the public policy
implications, she wrote.
AccountingProf.WilliamLanen,
who is also chair of the Account-
ing Department, said though the
department doesn't have courses
that relate to the specific events of
the recession, accounting courses
are now taking a new approach to
traditional accounting concepts.
Ina Masters of Accounting class,
students are introduced to specific
material but also hear from alum-
nae guest speakers who can offer
insight into the current financial
situation and provide examples
from their own careers in account-
ing, Lanen said.
Masters of Accounting students
were offered a chance to travel to
Washington D.C. last academic
year - with support from the
accounting firm Ernst and Young
- to speak with those involved in
financial regulations, accounting
standards and economic legisla-
tion, Lanen said.
"It gives them a background
beyond the technical textbook type
of learning to kinds of institutional
issues that arise and the kinds of
pressures that the accounting pro-
fession is under," Lanen said.
In order to teach his students
about the tangible effects of the
recession, Gerald Meyers, a lec-
turer in organizational behavior
and human resource management
in the Business School, brings
in CEOs as guest speakers to his
leadership and crisis management
course.
Meyers said using the financial
crisis as a teaching tool is "not only
valuable, it's necessary."
"It colors everything that's been
going on in the business world and
it's changed our emphasis consid-
erably," he said.
Norman Bishara, assistant pro-
fessor of business law and ethics,
teaches both BBA and MBA classes
dealing with ethics and law in the
business world. He said he hasn't
added specific topics or readings to
the courses regarding the financial
crisis, but the topic presents itself
because it is often of interest to stu-
dents.
In his classes, which focus on
law, Bishara draws on poor deci-
sions made by financial profession-
als and the ensuing economic crisis
as examples of ethics in business.
"You can also use it as a teach-
ing tool in the teachable moments
to talk about how problems could
have been avoided and how some of
them are related to simple business
ethics problems that are as simple
as people engaging in greed or
people violating the law and com-
mitting fraud and that sort of cor-
ruption," he said.
The financialcrisiswas aplanned
topic of discussion in Finance 300
last semester, but classes didn't
have time to cover it, though it was
listed as the subject of the last lec-
ture on the syllabus.
While he didn't get to this lec-
ture because of timing and prepa-
ration for student's interviews,
Ing-Haw Cheng, assistant profes-
sor of finance said that he tried
to incorporate the topic into his
lecture materials whenever the
opportunity presented itself.
"The main theme that I tried to
push in the class is that one of the
approximate reasons that you can
think of behind the financial crisis
is maybe too strong of a belief of the
models we used in finance," Cheng
said.
"I tried to teach my students some
evidence as to kind of recognize
some situations where market effi-
ciency may be breaking down and
hence, the tools I'm trying to teach
them might not be the most appli-
cable in those situations," he said.
BBA junior Jason Raymond said
that while these concepts were
touched upon in class, he would
have liked to hear more about the
crisis.
"I think it's very important to
address a lot of the current issues
going on in our economy," Ray-
mond said. "And, it was unfortu-
nate that we didn't cover it as much
as we were originally promised, I
guess."
While Raymond believes that
the crisis is an important con-
cept to learn about, he added, "It's
important to cover the (course)
material as well so that you can
better understand the financial cri-
sis or the mortgage crisis or what-
ever other crisis are out there in the
financial sector."
Jim Cooper, a BBA junior and
recent student in Finance 300 said
he doesn't think it's the Business*
School's obligation to teach students
about the financial crisis. He said
students should be learning about
the topic by reading. news sources
like The Wall Street Journal.
"The financial crisis was just one
more historical, financial event. It's
just like the Great Depression, or
when the stock market crashed in
'87," Cooper said. "I think it's one
Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 5A
of those things thatyoujust needto
learn about on your own, especially
if you want to work in finance so,
it's not really one of those academ-
ic things I think that you should
devote a class to."
Not only is the recent financial
crisis drastically altering class
at the Business School, it's also
impacting the way instructors in
other parts of the University teach
their courses, especially those
related to public policy.
Kathryn Dominguez, professor
of public policy and economics, is
currently teaching three courses
that directly relate to the financial
situation both in the United States
and abroad. One of these courses is
a macroeconomics class that exam-
ines the implications of economic
policy putinto effect in the wake of
the crisis.
Because of the financial crisis,
Dominguez said the way that she
discusses the United States and
its monetary policy in relation to
other countries around the world
will change this semester, as it is a
telling example of a country in eco-
nomic shambles.
"In most cases when I've taught
this course in the past, we've
looked at developing countries as
our example because the U.S. has
been kind of boring in terms of
policy," she said. "We don't tend to
have very large changes in macro-
policy, or we haven't in the last
decade or so, but now the U.S. will
be a very interesting example to
look at."
Dominguezsaidthefederalstim-
ulus package is one fiscal policy her
class will be tracking because of its
importance as a real world example
of the efficacy ofgovernmentpolicy
that relates to the economy.
Daniel Silverman, associate
professor of economics, used the
financial crisis in his government
expenditures course last semes-
ter as the "extended example" for
market failure and government
response, and said he thought stu-
dents appreciated learning about
such a relevant topic.
"Speaking for myself at least,
not for the students, it was a ter-
rific opportunity to really put the
ideas that we were working on in
the class to useful application,"
Silverman said. "And based on the
student evaluations, the written
comments, it seemed like it was a
big hit. I may not have taught it all
that well, but students really appre-
ciated this opportunity to think
about the crisis and learn more
about it."
HAITI
From Page 1A
port the relief efforts.
Student organizations are col-
lecting money to donate to the
ravaged country, while the Univer-
sityofMichiganHealth Systemand
members of the medical communi-
ty are donating supplies and medi-
cal expertise to Haiti. In addition,
the University's Office of Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs recently
created an organization - called
the Michigan Haiti Earthquake
Action Relief Team (M-HEART)
- to unite the efforts from various
student and faculty groups across
campus.
The Health System began col-
lecting medical supplies last
Friday to be sent to Haiti in con-
junction with Detroit-based char-
ity World Medical Relief.
UMHS also plans to use its Sur-
vival Flight Services, a program
containing 3 helicopters readily
available in case of medical emer-
gencies, to transport supplies,
patients and UMHS faculty to and
from Haiti, according to a Jan. 15,
2010 Health System press release.
Tony Denton, chief operating
officer of the University of Michi-
gan Hospitals & Health Centers,
is in charge of the UHMS relief
efforts and wrote in the statement
that the Health System is doing
everything it can to aid those
affected by the natural disaster.
"The Health System communi-
ty, along with the rest of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, is eager to
extend its reach and help the vic-
tims of the earthquake in Haiti,"
he wrote in the release.
Students are also organizing
various fundraisers and supply
drives to donate to the country.
The Latino Student Organization
collected donations in the Diag
on Tuesday to donate to the Red
Cross. LSO collected about $580,
which will then be matched by a
corporation, according to Steven
Benavides, the external relations
chair for LSO.
Members of other student
organizations, like Sigma Kappa
and Alpha Chi Omega sororities,
have encouraged their members
to text HAITI to the number
90999, which will add $10 to their
phone bills to be donated to the
Red Cross to assist the recovery
in Haiti.
Amidtheseefforts, aS.9-magni-
tude aftershock struck the nation
yesterday, causing further dam-
age to the already battered capi-
tal, according to The Associated
Press. The original earthquake hit
Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12.
Despite relief efforts by nations
around the world, hundreds of
thousands of people remain home-
less, according to the AP.
U.S. military personnel are
already in Haiti helping with the
relief effort, according to the AP
and a total of 16,000 members of
the military are expected to be
in the country by the end of the
week.
John Holmes, humanitarian
chief for the United Nations, told
reporters that 2 million Haitians
will need food and aid for the next
six months, according to the AP.
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
analysis showed that the HCZ
schools are successful at boosting
math and language arts achieve-
ment in elementary school children
and math achievement in middle
school students.
"I feel like we've found a cure for
a disease that's been plaguing us...
There's something special going on
in the HCZ, but I don't really know
what," Fryer said.
He said he couldn't definitively
saywhetherschoolsalonecanbridge
the achievement gap or if communi-
ty involvement is necessary but only
that community programs alone
are ineffective. The "magic bullet,"
Fryer said, would have to be a com-
bination of factors and that it would
not be easy to manufacture.
Geoffrey Canada, the president
and chief executive officer for HCZ,
combined many strategies to posi-
tively impact the children in "the
Zone," Fryer said. He added that
the number of strategies make it
difficult to pinpoint which ones are
most effective.
Fryer said, to get closer to a real
formula, he would like to ask Can-
ada to suggest four or five of the
HCZ initiatives that he thinks are
especially important, apply them
to a public school and observe the
effects.
Fryer said the task ahead is
going to be arduous, but he remains
optimistic that there is something-
definitive that is responsible for the
success of the HCZ.
"I think it's.too convenient to say
this is some miracle," he said.
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