0 0 0 0 6B Vednesday, February 2, 2011 The Statement From Detroit Public Schools to the Leaders Best By Kristyn Acho PHOTO BY ANNA SCHULTE/Daily VWednesday February 2,201 The Statement3B news in review .Five of the most talkied-about stories of the week, ranked in ascending order of actual importance On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services released its latest dietary guide- lines. The guidelines emphasize healthier eating and portion con- trol. Google unveiled on Tuesday the Google Art Project, a site that allows visitors to digitally explore art work from 17 museums. The Museum of Modern Art and Pal- ace of Versailles are among the participating institutions. The 2012 Democratic National Convention will be held in Char- lotte, N.C., First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Tuesday. Other possible convention loca- tions included Cleveland, Ohio and St. Louis, Mo. A Pew Hispanic Center report released yesterday announced that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States remained the same the past two years. Border security and a weak economy have Continuing protests prompted maligned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to announce on Tuesday that he will not run for re- election in September. However, Mubarak will not immediately contributed the immigration rate. vacate his position. The U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan singled out the Detroit Public School district in February 2009 during a nationwide discussion on the quality of education in America by stating his extreme concern over the education Detroit Public School studentswere receiving. Two years after making those comments, Duncan has yet to provide any concrete plans for the district. It's not uncommon for politicians to make blanket statements regarding the Detroit Public School system. Based on test scores, grade point averages, attendance records and dropout rates, Detroit Public Schools are a struggling educational system. But accordingto DPS alumni who currently attend or have graduated from the University of Michigan, these numbers only tell half the story. The district The Detroit Public School system comprises zoned, alternative and optional schools. As early as kindergarten, students may attend "optional" schools in which an examination is required before students are admitted. In middle schools like Bates Academy and Hally Magnet, students are placed in accelerated reading and math courses, which are rigorous academic programs compared to the average neighborhood school in Detroit. In the eighth grade, every Detroit Public School student takes an examination to determine whether he or she will gain acceptance to one of the district's college preparatory high schools -King High School, Cass Technical High School and Renaissance High School - commonly referred to as "The Big Three." University alum Byron Conway, who attended the University on a full academic scholarship and is currently attending Boston University Law School, was the only student from his class at Kettering High School in Detroit to gain acceptance to the University in 2006. Conway said the distinction between test-in schools and neighborhood schools greatly affects the mentality of DPS students and their decision to continue on to higher education. "Those schools were already bringing in students that have the successful mentality. They have the 'I want to succeed' mentality, whereas a lot of the other high schools were community-based high schools - which means they took in anyone from their community - and so they see a lot more of the 'I just don't care mentality,' " Conway said. "That's what really separated the caliber between the Cass and Renaissance and Martin Luther King schools from the Mumfords, the Murray Wrights and the Ketterings." LSA Senior Bianca Renae Lee, a Renaissance High School alum, saw the negative effects of this kind of mentality firsthand. "I've known people that took the exam and didn't get in (to a 'Big Three' school), so when you throw people off like that, they have that mentality for the rest of their high school career," Lee said. Andre Criswell, a University alum and current School of Social Work student, graduated from Renaissance in 2006. He said there is a large disparity in the academic curriculum between test-in schools and neighborhood schools. "The academics at Renaissance were extremely challenging. And it has the reputation in Detroit as being more challenging than Cass because it's more difficult to get into, so Renaissance helped me a lot," Criswell said. "I can't imagine how it would have felt coming from a place like Mumford or Central to Michigan." Who's applying? The dichotomy between Detroit's college preparatory and neighborhood schools is on display in the admissions data for the University of Michigan provided by the University's admissions office. In 2009, Cass Tech and Renaissance high schools sent a higher number of students to the University compared to neighborhood schools like Mumford, Denby and Kettering. Based on the 2009 data, only a small pool of students from neighborhood schools applied to the University. At some neighborhood schools, no students applied. + Ford High School - a neighborhood school in Detroit with an enrollment of more than 1,200 students during the 2008 to 2009 school year - had only four students apply to the University in 2009 compared to the 73 students who applied from Renaissance, which had a comparatively lower enrollment of 1,031 students during the same academic year. During the same school year, more than 130 Cass Tech students applied to the University. Not one student out of the 2,147 enrolled in Detroit's Southeastern High School during the 2008-2009 academic school year applied to the University, according to data provided by the University's admissions office Conway attributed low application numbers among DPS students to his peers' realistic attitude. Conway said that though he graduated with a 4.0 GPA, the next highest grade point average was a 3.5 and the next highest ACT score was 10 points below his. James Logan, who graduated from the University in 2008, is the only student out of the four accepted from his Mumford High School class who decided to attend the University. He believes many DPS students outside of "The Big Three" are apprehensive about applying to the University largely because they didn't think they would receive financial aid. "So I think I was the only one that decided to come to Michigan because I said, 'I don't care how much money I get, I got into the best school in the state, let alone one of the best schools in the nation, and I'm going."' Logan also described a stereotype he believes many DPS students associate with the University. "They feel the stereotype of Michigan is not welcoming to Detroit Public School students - more specifically, blacks, to put that out there, and I think that a lot of students may not consider Michigan as an option," he said. "I would say they have an inferiority complex. There were 500 seniors my senior year. If 400 graduated and only five applied, and only one went in2004 - that's pretty shocking." According to several former DPS students, there is a public relations problem between the University and the Detroit community. Former DPS students say the only thing their classmates knew about the University was what their parents said about it and that they perceived Michigan as a huge University that was essentially an Ivy League school. But the most common perception students from DPS share is that "being a young person from Detroit, they would have no place there," Logan said. *jWhere is the 'U' recruiting? For years, the University has actively recruited students from Renaissance and Cass Tech. From an efficiency standpoint; the University officials look to these schools because they can recruit and admit qualified students. But this causes a disadvantage those ,DPS students who, for other circumstances beyond academic qualifications, did not attend the city's premier high schools. According to Conway, the University did not actively recruit students from Kettering during his time at the high school from 2002 to 2006. "It's a little disturbing and a little unnerving to know that, as much as I love the University, that they don't necessarily think that it's worth the time to go into schools like (Kettering)," he said. But Ashley Spratling, an LSA junior and the 2008 valedictorian at Mumford High School, said that the University actively reached out to the students of her Mumford class. She recalls University staff coming to Mumford with applications and pointers for the application 0 1 2 3 0 4 5 67 8 9 101 quotes of the week fom the archives "I've got no problem with a competitor developing Their parents would be proud an innovative algorithm. But copying is not innova- tion, in my book." AMIT SINGHAL, A GOOGLE FELLOW, on recent allegations that Micro- soft search engine Bing copies Google search results. "My sense is that theft is on the rise as there are so many people in desperate times." MARK MANNEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF LOSS PREVENTION RESULTS INC., on the purported increase of vending-machine robberies due to a poor economy. ILLUSTRATION BY KATIE EBERTS dd Jason Coben and Nick Velissaris to the University's list of decorated alumni. In 2006, the recently-graduated duo posted an 18-3 record en the rules route to conquering the inaugural World Series of Beer Pong ("For two alums, beer pong not just an excuse to drink," 1/31/2006 ). For their victory, the sharp-shooting pair - monikered "Team France" - No. 310: No. 311: No. 312: received a handsome $10,000 check (pocket change considering the $50,000 The Super.Bowl If you're on If you are reading prize given to the winners of the 2010 series, according to Bpong.com). As the Michigan Daily noted, however, not all parties were quick to celebrate the Wolver- is more than just Facebook in class, this, you must ines' feat, " ... the fact that they won one of the world's biggest drinking contests commercials. It's you're rude. If it's have survived has sent ripples of discontent through the athletic department and some alumni also good for chips Twitter, you're an SnowpoCalypse networks." And a contest it was. The pair bested an 80-team pool in their quest for beer- and dip. informed citizen. 2011! Congrats! swilling supremacy. The lesson: perseverance is Key(stone). by the numbers OTEYFHWLTBT COURTESY Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Millions of illegal immigrants in the Unit Millions of illegal immigrants reportedly <' Percent of the foreign-born population ed States as of March 2010, according to a in the United States in 2007, the nation's that are illegal citizens in the United 3 recent Pew Hispanic Center report- highest illegal immigrant count. States.