OPINION
Page 6
Friday, July 31, 1987
The Michigan Daily
97 Years of Editorial Freedom
No. 11S
Unsigned editorials represent the majority views of the Daily's
Editorial Board. Cartoons and signed editorials do not
necessarily reflect the Daily's opinion.
Tapping our talent
Detroit: twenty years ago
AS A RESULT OF UNLEASHING
student and faculty potential, the
undergraduate education will
improve through the Undergraduate
Initiative Proposals (UIP). It is
ironic that when asked by the
administration for ideas, we can
have a substantial effect on the
quality of education. But, when our
ideas are unsolicited, they are
virtually ignored. Case in point is
the battle for a racist-free campus
which occurred last spring. Students
had to resort to the extreme measure
of blockading buildings before the
administration would even listen to
complaints of pervasive racism on
campus. Measures to correct the
problem were only agreed upon in
the face of national negative media
attention. However, no less than
three of the twenty-two accepted
UIP's propose tactics for fighting
racism. These proposals will be
implemented immediately, unlike
many of the unsolicited ideas which
end up dying in committees.
This example leads us to wonder
why the administration refuses to
listen to the students and faculty
when we put forth unsolicited ideas
and solutions. The administration
acknowledges the merits of our
solutions by funding the UIP. Why
do we have to be formally solicited?
Why do we have to go to extreme
measures to be heard at other times?
A better question is, why have we
been solicited now?
The answer to this question is
embedded in the laws of supply and
demand. All indications show that
universities throughout the country
will soon be facing a smaller pool
of high school applicants.
Michigan has an added difficulty in
that its excellent reputation is based
on research. High-school students
have always faced a trade-off when
choosing Michigan. Those who
come here have chosen the poss-
ibility of learning from top resear-
chers over a college where
professors are there to teach. Many
candidates choose smaller schools
that emphasize teaching. Up to this
point the pool of well qualified
applicants has been large enough to
allow Michigan to continue
emphasizing research. Demand has
always exceeded supply. Michigan
has been able to turn away less than
excellent applicants.
Soon, this may no longer be
true. A smaller pool of applicants
means the U may have to lower its
admission standards. Lower
admission standards will diminish
the U's reputation as a "good
school." To combat this problem
Michigan has to somehow
overcome the idea that it is not
interested in the undergraduate
program.
Enter, James Duderstadt and the
UIP. Duderstadt accomplishes two
goals with the UIP idea. One, the
admissions office can now,
literally, cash in on the U's
reputation as a research institute by
pointing out all the new programs
that will bring top researchers and -
undergraduates together. Qualified
high school candidates will see that
the possibility of learning from
"the masters" is increased and
therefore, will choose Michigan.
That is the first goal. The second is
Duderstadt's personal goal which is
to become President of the
University. He looks very good to
The University Board of Regents
when he alleviates a problem.
That the UIP is a publicity stunt
becomes even clearer when
proposals harbor statements like
"the admissions office staff
members frequently request
information regarding post-
graduation follow-up statistics as
they attempt to respond to the
concerns of students (and their
parents) considering enrollment at
UM...Press releases regarding
selected outcome data could be
helpful in attracting targeted
enrollees, such as minority
students." Many of the proposals
stress interaction between senior
faculty members and
undergraduates. In fact, almost a
quarter of the million dollars went
to a program that is specifically
aimed at senior faculty members.
Some of the proposals come from,
what in the past has been, strictly
research portions of the University.
Regardless of the origins of the
UIP, it is an idea where there are no
losers. Undergraduates win because
the administration is finally
stressing education. Students and
faculty as a whole win because the
administration is implementing
our ideas. The administration wins
because it is strengthening its
weakest link. Duderstadt may even
win, but that remains to be seen.
JULY 23, 1967 SEEMS LIKE A
long time ago. Gasoline was 28
cents a gallon, there was no MTV,
and Mickey Mantle was still
playing centerfield for the New
York Yankees.
One thing that hasn't changed in
those 20 years, though, is the
plight of minorities in Detroit. On
that hot July night 20 years ago,
many people cited the unem-
ployment rate among Blacks as the
main cause for the most violent
outburst this nation has ever wit-
nessed. Race riots ripped through
Detroit, leaving 43 dead, 342 in-
jured, thousands homeless and over
$50 million in property damage
(Detroit News, July 19, 1987).
Today, however, Black teenagers
in Detroit aged 16 to 19 still face a
57 percent unemployment rate, as
compared to teenage whites who are
three times as likely to have a job.
The week that left Detroit ablaze
accelerated many facets of urban life
that are taking place in cities na-
tionwide - the ghettoization of
Blacks. Twenty years ago, many
whites worked and lived in Detroit.
Today, fewer whites work in De-
troit and those that do leave at 5 pm
everyday for the suburbs, while the
Blacks remain in the city to deal
with a life that is far beyond what
anybody living in the suburbs can
imagine.
When the businesses moved out
after the riots, Detroit was left in
shambles. Apartments were aban-
doned in large numbers and the lack
of entrepreneurs affected the lives of
the Blacks still living in the cities.
With little money, little hope for
jobs or future advancement, and
sharp price increases, many De-
troiters turned to crime and crack.
According to the Detroit Free Press,
204 children under the age of 16
have been shot so far this year -
20 of them have died.
Also, a recent nationwide survey
found that 83.8 percent of Black
students in Michigan attended
schools with minorities as the ma-
jority. This figure is staggering
since Blacks make up 12.9 percent
of the nation's population.
Despite these dismal statistics,
Detroit Mayor Coleman Young has
done little to ease the situation. He
has had many parks built to im-
prove the aesthetic appearance of
the city, and constructed the over-
priced and way overdue People
Mover, but still alarmingly few
industries have moved back to De-
troit. By saying that Detroit may
never solve its crime problems with
Black unemployment at such a high
level (Detroit News, July 23,
1987), Coleman Young seems to
have thrown in the towel on resur-
recting a city that so badly needs
attention.
If people are unemployed, how
else are they going to survive
without turning to a life of crime?
When a teenager can make $200 per
day selling crack for a dealer, why
should this person try and get a
job? Young seems to think the
answer lies in employment. If so,
why have we not seen a concerted
effort to attract businesses to De-
troit?
Young must attract firms to
Detroit so they can provide the
unemployed with jobs. Naturally,
with jobs comes better education,
and with education comes pros-
perity, and with prosperity comes
full integration. Simple, isn't it?
Let's just hope he learns before
1967 is revisited.
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4
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To serve and 'protect'?
THE ANN ARBOR POLICE missed
the point in maintaining law and
order during the art fair last
weekend. Their attitude toward the
party-goers, students and non-
students alike, was too often cal-
lous and condescending. It was
especially true in the area of the
intersection of Church and South
University streets that people
encountered a disconcerting police
attitude.
This is not to criticize the
intentions of the police, or to
question their right to be there.
They should have been there. A
crowd of eight hundred to a
thousand people has the potential to
get out of hand, especially when
alcohol and other substances are
loosening tongues and freeing
inhibitions. There were a number of
situations that, without the aid of
the police, could have escalated into
much bigger -problems. O n
Wednesday night a gun and a knife
were confiscated, and on Thursday
night party-goers tried to tip over a
car. Yet the attitude the police
showed, and the things they said,
were more effective in creating
disturbances than in stopping them.
It pits police against all students,
instead of against those few who
got out of hand.
The police closed down the party
every night of the art fair at about
one or 1:30 A.M. On Wednesday
and Friday evenings, they made
announcements giving people
fifteen minutes to leave the area -
Thursday they were unable to do
this because of the situation with
the car being tipped over. They then
went in and forced people to leave.
Deputy Chief Lunsford of the Ann
Arbor Police Department said that
after the announcement was made
for people to leave, the police had
"no time for debate or discussion."
This may be true, but it is not a
license to be insulting. The
following is an exchange from
Friday night at about 1:30 A.M.
between a student, going toward the
party at Church and South U., and a
police officer:
Police: Look, I've told you three
times already to turn around and go
the other way.
Student: No, you didn't. This is
the first time I've been here
tonight.
P: I don't want to discuss this
with you. Get your ass out of here
now.
5: Okay, I'm going. But how
could you have told me something
three times already when I haven't
even been here?
P: You don't hear very well, do
you? I said I didn't want to argue.
The student was then grabbed and
shoved in the other direction.
Incidents such as this happened
too frequently. This one illustrates
a few points. First, the police
officer was insulting. In such a
brief exchange, he managed to
accuse the student of having bad
hearing and a bad memory, neither
of which has anything to do with
clearing the area. Second, he was
very surly. No one is asking the
police to hand out engraved
invitations inviting people to leave
the party, but everyone deserves to
be treated with the respect afforded a 4
human being. Police effectiveness
should not rely on rudeness and
verbal rul4ity.