The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2002 - 15

Learning communities
give 'U' personal touch

By Shoshana Hurand
Daily Staff Reporter
A university over 40,000 scholars is a far cry
from the nation's smaller high school populations.
Yet the University of Michigan attempts to ease the
transition with 11 residential and nonresidential
Michigan Learning Communities.
Although freshmen apply to in-residence liv-
ing-learning communities when they fill out
their housing information, they still have the
opportunity to connect with faculty and other
students in non-residential programs to learn
about the campus and Ann Arbor area. These
include the Comprehensive Studies Program,
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Pro-
gram and the University Mentorship Program.
The Comprehensive Studies Program, targeted at
under-represented minorities, offers a variety of
services to support students at the University.
Besides academic advising and tutoring, the pro-
gram has intensive course sections focusing on
first-year and second-year curriculums, including
English, Spanish, math and many of the sciences.
In addition, they also hold spaces in the highly
sought-after first-year seminars.
In contrast, the Mentorship Program allows stu-
dents to interact with faculty and upperclassmen on
a more social level. The smaller group settings are
mutually:beneficial to both students and faculty.
"It gives faculty the opportunity to get to know
students out of the classroom," said Ayanna
McConnell, coordinator of the Mentorship Pro-

gram. She added that upperclassmen also enjoy
sharing their experiences and advice with first-year
students.
Matched by both academic and social interest,
mentorship groups have dinner at least twice in the
residence halls and are given a stipend for other
activities, such as rock climbing, canoeing and
going out to dinner.
"Sunday nights are pretty popular", given that
residence halls do not serve Sunday dinner.
McConnell said.
For a more exclusively academic interaction
with faculty, students can join the Undergraduate
Research Opportunity Program. Students apply to
work with faculty in all areas of study, including
everything from the natural sciences to the human-
ities.
"Any fields you can imagine - we have
research programs for them," UROP peer advisor
Megan Lambart said.
Once students are accepted to DROP, they are
required to contact faculty members involved in the
program to see which research opportunities catch
their interest. As compensation for their work, stu-
dents may receive one credit for every three hours
of research done per week. Most students work an
average of six to 12 hours per week.
If students qualify for work-study financial aid,
their research could qualify as a part-time job and
pay approximately $8.00 per hour.
Yet Lambart emphasized that money is not the
motivation for involvement in DROP.
"The experience is the value," she said.

Recent crime increase calls
for more safety precautions

By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily News Editor
With an increasing crime rate in residence halls
this past academic year, questions have been
raised about the quantity and quality of campus
security, which has been a visible presence in the
halls for almost 30 years.
"Personal safety of our residents is undoubted-
ly our paramount concern," said Ian Steinman,
director of Housing Security and associate direc-
tor of the Department of Public Safety.
Each residence hall is assigned one DPS secu-
rity officer who is present in the building from 9
p.m. until 7 a.m. Smaller buildings, such as
Martha Cook Residence Hall, have an officer that
patrols the building and the area around it. These
officers are professionally trained and make a
minimum of three rounds per night around the
building, checking for safety violations, includ-
ing fire hazards, propped open doors and suspi-
cious activities. If a resident calls DPS with a
complaint, the dispatcher will alert the security
officer via radio. They also have office space in
the lobby of the residence halls to fill out paper-
work and hear complaints.
But several students have said that despite hav-
ing a sense of security, they don't see the officers
that much in the halls. Engineering freshman
Rachel Karwick, a resident of Mosher Jordan,
said she has seen officers in the corridors twice
since September.
"For the most part, they're in their office. I think
they should be out and about more," she said.
Until the beginning of February, residence
halls were locked from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. and
only allowed access to residents who swiped their

M Cards. Now all residence halls are locked 24
hours a day, only allowing access to residents.
Steinman said students should still be careful
about letting the wrong people in.
"Public safety and security in residence halls is
everybody's responsibility," he said.
DPS and University Housing will present a
report to the University Board of Regents at
their June meeting in regards to future security
increases in residence halls. Some of the new
initiatives students might see in coming years
are security cameras, door monitors and auto-
matic locks on residents' rooms.