4F 4br ig Summr eely41
One hundred two years of editorialfreedom
Volume C111, No. 3SAnn Aror, Michigan -- Wednesday, May 12, 19931993 The Michigan Daily'
SAY GOODBYE TO APRIL SHOWERS Alleged kill
r of IU' doctor
" By J.B. AI "fonnedby Kemink.
FOR THE MICGANDAILY Pusby was declared mentally un-
Almost a year after the incident, stable and wasunabletostandtrialata
Chester Posby, the suspect for the hearing last January.
murder of ear specialist Dr. John Posby has undergone psychiatric
Kemink, will finally stand trial. treatment and Washtenaw Circuit
Apre-trial hearing was held Mon- Judge Kurtis Wilder decided to allow
day to hear motions from Defense At- Posby to stand trial.
torney Timothy Niemann. The court Wildermadethedeision basedon
M granted Niemann's requests that it set aletter that was submitted by Posby's
an early trial date and that Posby re- psychiatristfromtheCenterforForen-
main in psychiatric care pending his sic Psychiatiy in Ypsilanti. In the let-
trial ter, the psychiatrist rendered Posby
Posby allegedly walked into mentally competent to stand trial.
Kemink's at the University of Michi- The defense's last request was for
gan Hospitals June 25, 1992, for an an early trial date. Niemann cited the
appointment and shot Keminkrepeat- availability of witnesses and an ex-
HEATERLCWMAMDy edly. pected lengthy trial as reasons for his
The Troop 220 Dance Ensemble from Studio 1 School of Dance perform a maypole dance Upon his arest, Posby alleged the request.
Sunday at Ingall's Mall during the 100th birthday festivities of the annual May Festival conflict erupted due to balance prob- Wilder set the trial for Sep.7, the
lems he sustained after surgery per- earliest date available.
*Regents probe academic diversity in 21st Century program
By NATE HUI.EY
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
The University Board of Regents
listened to presentations on how to
increase the success rates of minority
students at its Thursday's meeting.
On display at the meeting was the
021stCentury Programforundergradu-
ates -aliving-learning program cen-
tered in Mary Markley residence hall
- designed to improve the academic
success of both minority and majority
students at the University.
The 21st Century program signifi-
cantly raises the grade point averages
of students enrolled, according to data
presentedat themeeting.Thecause for
the increase has not been singled out
Ofrommany possible factors.
'beprogramjustcompleteditssec-
ond year and currently enrolls 266
students.Theracialandethnicmakeup
oftheprogramis:55 percent male and
45 percent female; 70 percent white
and 30 percent Black.
David Schoem, assistant dean of
LSA, presented some of the rationale
for starting the program.
0 "The campus climate continues to
perpetuatestereotypesandracism.Tbis
is present at the University of Michi-
gan," he said.
Schoem presented a video that
stated58 percent of Black students do
not finish college within six years.
But the Office of the Registrar re-
ported that 62 percent of all Black
students graduate fromtheUniversity.
Also,ofgraduating Black students,
only 18percenthavegrade-pointaver-
ages at or above 3.0.
In comparison, the Office of the
Registrar reported 12percent of white
students drop out of college.
The movie stated 64 percent of
white students graduate with a grade
point average at or above 3.0, Schoem
said.
Schoemsaidthereasonsforthisare
not lack of skills but other barriers to
achievement. He said amajorproblem
is the distinction between academics
and social life among Black students.
Schoemsaidthe21stCenturyProgram
was set up to address these problems.
Renee Friselo, an LSA first-year
student, related her experience with
the program.
"We supporteach other as friends
and as students," she told the regents.
"I couldn't think of a better way to
spendmy year and Iknow I'll always
remember the friends I made there."
The video cited "institutional suc-
cess" but "personal failures" among
minority students at the University.
Blackstudents who graduate with
lower grade point averages do so in
fields which they did not originally
wish to enter, the video stated.
Many of the students, according to
the video, come to the University with
very high SAT scores, but "dis-iden-
tify with school."There is a separation
between their personal lives and aca-
demic lives.
Regent Paul Brown (D-Mackinac
Island)questioned which aspectof the
program causes theincreaseingrades.
Schoem said, "We clearly don't
know what the reason is. Maybe it's a
smaller community.
"I think integrating the academic
and social aspects of their lives might
be apart ofit.When the twoare linked
together,studentstend to be more suc-
cessful."
Brown suggested the increase in
grades may have been exaggeratedby
or createdby self-selection of the stu-
dents in theprogram.
"Those students who choose to go
into this program are more interested
in learning than those students who
don't, and therefore, you have better
raw material," Brown said.
He also said student-teacher ratios
couldbeinvolvedinthereportedgrade
improvements.
These are the percentage of students that are no longer
enrolled four years after they first entered the University.
37% __
19781
27.9% 19'
25.4% 26.4%
1 1 %
13.4% 15%
BLACK WHITE TOTAL
o ce R"
Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle
Creek) disagreed. "I don't think it's
onlythestudent-treherratioherethat's
creating the improvement," she said.
"I think there's an element of a
support system that all students who
didn't participate in did not fare as
well. Maybe what we're looting at
hereisasuppoitsystem thatpomotes
an environent that is favorable to
leaning."
McFee continued, "The support
system is what isimportant- notthe
racial backgrond."