r
t+
Weather
Tonight: Mostly cloudy,
sprinkles, low 62°.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy,
high around 76%.
w e'
.71" IM IRTIM 7v-7,77771,
One hundred four years offeditorialfreedom
Engineering gets1
Proportion of women Burchattributedamuch ofthe increase
in entering class hits to the creation of several educational pro-
grams aimed at female high school stu-
all-time high dents interested in engineering.
"The more women that are in the
By Zachary M. Raimi field of engineering, the more appeal-
Daily Staff Reporter ing it will be," Burch said.
The class entering the University's The college hopes to increase the num-
College of Engineering this fall contains ber of women per entering class to 40
the highest percentage of undergraduate percent by the year 2000, she said,
female students in the college's history University estimates show 40 per-
- at slightly more than 30 percent. cent of the engineering workforce will
About 310 ofthe students in the enter- be women by the year 2020.
ing class ofmore than 1,000 are females. "Typically, in terms of graduation
The increased enrollment is the result rates, they've been about the same as
of an active effort over the last few years males," Burch said. "It's been more of
by the University to attract qualified an issue of students selecting engineer-
female students, said Sharon Burch, di- ing. The women's graduation rate is
rector oftransferadmissions andrecruit- practically the same as males."
ment in the College of Engineering. Last fall, the Engineering Workforce
lip
influx of women
Tuesday
September 12, 1995
Commission reported that the Univer-
sity ranked third in the country in fe-
male percentage of the engineering un-
dergraduates, closely behind the Uni-
versity of Puerto Rico and the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology.
At that time, 25 percent of the
University's more than 4,500 engineer-
ing undergraduates were female, while
the national average was 18.6 percent.
Jennifer Reppa, a first-year engineer-
ing student, said she is glad to hear of
the increase. While Reppa said she did
not consider the percentage of female
enrollment when she decided to attend
the University, she said the increased
enrollment might make other women
feel more comfortable.
"I think that it would open more
doors to females who aren't as confi-
dent," Reppa said. "It will make them
feel more confident in a male-domi-
nated field."
C. William Kauffman, professor of
aerospace engineering, said the increased
enrollment will benefit everyone.
"I think it will have little to do with
technical aspect of teaching," he said. "It
will make it (better) represent our society."
Several programs were recently be-
gun at the University to reach out to
middle- and high-school females to en-
courage them to study engineering. For
example, the Summer Engineering Ex-
ploration Program, run by the Society of
Women Engineers, attracts high school
students into engineering.
"They of course serve as role models
and provide direct exposure to the field
of engineering," Burch said.
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Erica White, a first-year Engineering student, weighs vials filled with compound
samples. She is part of the class with the highest percentage of women in the
University's history.
Clinton:
GOP loan
plans hurt
students
Los Angeles Times
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Launching
a week of events designed to highlight
the differences between the administra-
tion and the Republicans on education
spending, President Clinton told sev-
eral thousand students at Southern Illi-
nois University that the GOP majority
wanted to rob them of their futures.
President Clinton cited proposed re-
ductions in the rate of spending on student
loans, grants and work-study programs as
evidence that the Republican majority in
Congress was "short-cutting the future"
in its efforts to bal-
ance the budget.
"Do not be fooled
by the smoke screen
Y of balancing the
'a budget," Clinton
told the students at
V ?an outdoor rally.
"We don't have to
cut education to bal-
ancethe budget. We.
don'thavetoandwe
Clinton shouldn't."
He said that the Republican budget
would cut $36 billion over seven years
from spending on education and training,
eliminate the Americorps volunteer pro-
gram and raise the cost of student loans.
Republicans immediately responded,
branding Clinton's assertions "a big lie"
and "cheap politics" designed to scare
students. Clinton added little substan-
tively new yesterday to previous attacks
on Republican budget priorities, most
recently a week ago. Concurrently, 47
top administration officials left Wash-
ington for political appearances around
the country this week to try to bolster
Clinton's education message in a blitz
dubbed "back-to-school week."
In the SIU appearance and in an earlier
roundtable with a dozen students, Clinton
laid particular stress on what he considers
his most importAnt educational innova-
tion - the 1993 creation of a direct
student loan program, which bypasses
commercial banks and other middlemen
to speed disbursement of funds.
Code writers
deadline
By Amy Klein
Daily Staff Reporter
For many students, September marks
a return to campus, a whirlwind of fa-
miliar faces and a slow re-entry into
classes. For the workgroup compiling
recommendations on the University's
code of non-academic conduct, this
month is crunch time.
The six students, graduates and con-
sultants who were hired over the sum-
mer to research and review the new
code are preparing to make their final
recommendations to the Office of Stu-
dent Affairs by the Sept. 27 deadline.
But the process is far from complete.
Throughout the summer, the
workgroup has attempted to solicit stu-
dent input through focus groups, drop
boxes and e-mail. Each member of the
group is being paid $7 an hour by the
Office of Student Affairs, which gets
part of its budget from student tuition.
This week the group is scheduled to
hold their first open forums with
Maureen A. Hartford, the vice presi-
dent for student affairs .
"It hasn't been smooth sailing this
summer; it's been a difficult job," said
Emi Nakazato, a workgroup member
and recent University graduate. "It's
difficult to hear and incorporate so many
different opinions."
The forums will address two of the
four sections of the new code-values
and violations.
"When we talk about values, we're
talking about what values we see in the
community as important values and
standards," said Sean McCabe-Plius, a
workgroup member and Rackham stu-
dent. "I'd like the members to find the
values of the community. I think this
moves beyond (the federally mandated
alcohol and sexual assault policies)."
Some students, however, say they
object to the summertime revisions,
which occured after many students left
campus.
Open Forum Meetings
Today: North Campus Commons,
East Room
Tomorrow: Michigan League,
Koessler Room
Both at 7:30 p.m.,
What the Regents
Waint
A concise, fair, less legalistic code.
More student input.
A document that defends students'
First Amendrnent rights.
A code that meets federal mandates
for alcohol and sexual assault
policies.
Anne Marie Ellison, chair of the Stu-
dents Rights Commission and a former
member of the workgroup, said she
objected to the composition ofthe group.
"It's really important to remember
that while they may be getting feed-
back, they're not really accountable or
representative students, like (the Michi-
gan Student Assembly)," she said.
The workgroup also plans to intro-
duce their homepage on the World Wide
Web this week, which is designed to
allow students to access past versions
of the University's code, as well as to
see the workgroup's progress.
"I look at it like we can't have too
much input," McCabe-Plius said.
"We've been looking for a broad input
from faculty, students and othergroups."
The workgroup was created after an
anti-code rally at the April Board of
Regents meeting prompted the board to
direct Hartford to write a less legalistic
code with more student input.
Hartford responded by hiring an ini-
tial group of students, graduates and
outside consultants to recommend a
code that included violations, values,
sanctions and procedures.
The regents intend to adopt a new
code at the October meeting.
MSA pres.: Put
students on
schools' boards
By Stephanie Jo Klein
Daily Staff Reporter-
Students would have a voice in cur-
riculum and personnel changes under a
proposal by Michigan Student Assem-
bly President Flint Wainess.
At yesterday's meeting of the Senate
Advisory Committee for University Af-
fairs, Wainess proposed adding students
to the executive committees for each of
the University's schools and colleges.
The executive committees have final
authority over each school's curriculum
and faculty hirings and promotions.
"At least one student should be on
Wrapped u in her work
A University employee works at her desk in the Chemistry Building as Stretch, a 7-foot-long Burmeese python, checks out
the rest of the office.
posion kills 5
at Maryland ml
* Bomb rips apart van outside
Baltimore; children among dead
ESSEX, Md. (AP)- A bomb blew up a van in the parking
lot of a suburban shopping mall Monday, killing five people
and shaking homes for blocks.'
The 6 p.m. explosion in the parking lot of the Middlesex
Shopping Center, blew the van's glove compartment a half
mile away, Officer J.L. Taylor said.
"Investigators found some explosive material around the
car," said Baltimore County Police Capt. Brian Uppercue.
They know it wasn't a gas tank explosion."
Body parts were scattered around the area and a victim's
head was severed .sid Albert Kellner who lives near the
__ - _ - r