The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, June 14, 1983 - Page 3
Orientation students invade 'U'
By KAREN TENSA
CRISP? What's CRISP? How can I
find out who my roommate is? What if
he's a loser? When can I get my football
tickets? What does CCRB stand for?
These and many other questions are
being answered by 20 patient Univer-
sity student leaders operating the an-
nual summer orientation program.
THE FIRST batch of 140 new students
arrived at Alice Lloyd Dormitory Sun-
day for their introduction to dorm
Source
denies
charges of
sexual
harassment
By GEORGEA KOVANIS
A source close to Walter Scott a for-
mer pharmacy supervisor at Mott
Childrens Hospitalsaid he never saw
any evidence that Scott sexually
harassed his female assistant.
"I was around both of them for so
long and I never say anything," said the
source, who asked not to be identified.
A SUIT, filed by the female
assistant's husband last November,
charges that Walter Scott sent several
sexually offensive notes and letters to
the 28-year-old woman, which drove her
to commit suicide.
Jacquelyn Scott (no relation) died in
1981 on Thanksgiving Day, from an
overdose of chloral hydrate, a lethal
drug so powerful that few doctors
prescribe it to patients.
The source contends that Jacquelyn
Scott was a habitual drug user and died
from an accidental drug overdose.
THERE WERE several incidents
when Jacquelyn Scott appeared to e
"spaced out like she was on drugs," the
source said.
But Donald Shelton, attorney for
Jacquelyn Scott's husband, said she
committed suicide. Shelton said she
made a previous unsuccessful suicide
atempt and Walter Scott's notes
provoked her to kill herself.
"(Walter) Scott wrote her letters and
notes professing his affection for her,"
Shelton said. The earliest notes dated
back to 1979 when Jacquelyn Scott was
separated from her husband David
Scott, Shelton said.
JACQUELYN Scott was depressed
prior to her death and commented to co-
workers that she felt bad, Shelton said.
"She was a woman who was
depressed, had been depressed . . .
emotionally fragile," Shelton said.
"All of the evidence certainly points
to a suicide by ingestion of a drug taken
shortly after she left work," Shelton
said, adding that she passed out from
chloral hydrate less than two blocks
away from the hospital.
THE SOURCE, however, said he
believes Walter Scott's actions did not
provoke her death.
See SOURCE, Page 4
chow, University jargon and the in-
famous placement tests.
Students pay $60 for the two-night,
three day adventure at the University
sleeping in triples and doubles and sur-
viving on cafeteria cuisine.
Several students' parents accompany
them and participate in a one-day
orientation to prepare them for the
barrage of changes their children will
experience in the next four years.
The orientation program keeps
students occupied with tours of cam-
pus, explanations of University
procedure and of course, pizza parties
and entertainment to meet fellow
students.
STUDENTS are roused out of bed at 6
a.m. and shuttled to buildings on cam-
pus to take several tests for five solid
hours.
While many of the orientation studen-
ts boasted about the University's
academic reputation and the excellent
football team as their top reasons for
attending the University, most said
they weren't expecting the rigorous
orientationschedule.
But Associate Director of Orientation
Heidi Wilson said the packed schedule
is the best way to teach students about
the University.
"The majority of the students are
participating in all of the planned ac-
tivities and we are hoping they learn a
lot about the University," shesaid.
Daily Photo by ELIZA8ETH SCOTT
Prof. Howard Bowen (left) told a group of educators and students Sunday that he is optimistic about the future of higher
education.Bowen's speech kicked off a three-day conference concerning academic renewal held in the Rackham Building.
ncreasedpublic support
encourages
By JACKIE YOUNG
and
CHERYL BAACKE
Higher education in the United States is in trouble ac-
cording to recent studies. But the new surge of concern
over American %2hools may remedy the problems a
world-reknowne educator said Sunday.
"Public attitudes toward higher education are, on the
whole,, favorable," said Howard Bowen, professor of
education and economics at Claremont Graduate School
in New Hampshire.
BOWEN OPENED a three-day conference on the future
of higher education, sponsored in part by the University's
Center for the Study of Higher Education.
He told a group of students and educators that such fac-
tors as the declining number of college-age students, the
economic recession, and declining financial support from
the federal government "could have a devastating effect"
on the current education system.
But Bowen said it was doubtful that American schools
would decline further. The growing concern about the
future of higher education stems not only from educators
who fear the Reagan administration's cuts to schools, but
also from concerns of the general public.
"THE RISING clamor about the state of education is
close to what happened to us with Sputnik," said Bowen,
referring to the Russian satellite launched in 1957 that
sent panicked educators and parents scrambling to make
educators
sure American children kept up with the Soviets.
The American education system has been torn apart in
recent reports by the National Commission on Excellence
in Education, which said our nation was "at risk" because
its schools have fallen behind those of other nations.
Several conference participants later brought up the
problem of accomodating educationally disadvantaged
students, when schools are being pressed to raise ad-
mission standards or tuition to maintain quality
education.
BOWEN SAID that uneducated young people "are the
greatest problem of our society," and that schools in the
future should make it a priority to fit disadvantaged
students into the higher education system.
Conference participants could also choose between
many workshops given thoughout the day to discuss other
issues in educaiton, such as shaping public policy and how
educators can deal with shrinking financial resources.
In one seminar, University Education Prof. Zelda Gam-
son urged faculty members to think of themselves as one
unit, and not separate departments, in order to maintain a
quality school.
"The key to overcoming the barrier is to build struc-
tures of collaboration and cooperation between units,"
Gamson said. "Disciplines have a hard time understan-
ding each other anymore."