For first time in two years, number
of black, Hispanic students applying
to UC has increased
By Lori Aratani
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
For the first time in two years, the
number of black and Hispanic high
school students applying for freshman
admission to the University of Cali
fornia has increased, UC officials an
nounced Wednesday.
Applications from the two groups,
which historically have had low en
rollments at UC, rose despite the
scrapping of race-based affirmative
action policies. Many UC officials
had feared the end of affirmative ac
tion for undergraduates this year
would scare off minority applicants.
Overall, applications for the fresh
man class of 1998 increased by 8 per
cent -- the largest one-year jump in a
decade
But the real test of what the end of
race-based admissions will mean for
the UC system, will come in March,
when students begin receiving their
acceptance letters. And a clear picture
of the make up of next year's fresh
man class will have to wait until May,
when students who have been ac
cepted decide whether or not to en
roll at UC .
"Certainly these numbers indicate
You're majoring
in what?
By Sunni DiNicola
CPS
Imagine telling your relatives at the
next family reunion that you are ma
joring in crafts-arts entrepeneurship,
antique auto restoration, adventure
sports, or horses.
Yep, it's true. A handful of colleges
around the country are breaking with
the traditional mainstream curricu
lum, While these studies do not elimi
nate core courses like English and
math, they do help those looking to
turn a hobby into a career.
Teaching small business skills
seems to be a vital part of most pro
grams. Trinity College in Vermont
might just squelch that "starving art
ist" image with their major in crafts
arts entrepreneurship. The interdisci
plinary program teaches students how
to make not only bowls, quilts and
rocking chairs, but also some dough.
It requires students to take art classes,
four business classes, design a busi
ness plan and complete a semester
long internship.
In most cases, these programs were
spawned from industry demands.
Many of these professions are hurt
ing for new employees and managers
who not only have specialized talents,
but understand the "big picture" and
are versed in business and communi
cation skills. Some also wanted to lure
people back into trades that have
faded.
To ensure he "can find a machinist
under 60," comedian Jay Leno, an
avid vintage car collector, endowed a
scholarship at McPherson College's
antique auto restoration program. In
fact, it was another car buff that
started the program in 1976 with a
donation that included his $250,000
car collection. The four-year college
in Kansas, offers an associate's degree
in restoration.
Students learn metal finishing,
painting, machine work, engine re
building, trim and upholstery while
also tackling courses in small business
management. Actual restoration work
is done on a wide assortment of cars
from 1920 Model T Fords to 1965
Mustang convertibles. According to
the school, the program differs from
vocational programs in that not only
is the craftsmanship vital, but so are
skills like "pride in workmanship,
problem solving, logical thinking and
attention to detail."
Working closely with the industry
through internships is key to the suc
cess of these programs. Students in
Laramie County Community
College's popular equine studies pro
gram intern with ranches, stable man
agers and equine breeders. They also
help produce a professional horse
show.
These offbeat programs can also be
a stepping stone into a four-year pro
gram. At Garrett Community College
that a large number of under repre
sented minorities do consider the uni
versity hospitable enough to apply
to," said Dennis Galligani, UC vice
president for student academic ser
vices. "Whether that puts to rest all
of the questions around that issue, I'd
be reluctant to go that far."
Greg O'Meara, a guidance counse
lor at San Jose's Del Mar High School
said he's not surprised by the in
creased number of students applying
to UC campuses, because the num
ber of students applying for college
in general has increased steadily over
the years. "I think there's a growing
awareness among students -- espe
cially in Silicon Valley -- that future
employment requires a college edu
cation," he said. "Local businesses we
work with are really stressing that to
our students."
Galligani cited several reasons for
the increase in applications: the
growth in the high school population,
the rise in the number of eligible high
school seniors and stepped -- up re
cruitment and outreach programs.
Last fall, UC President Richard
Atkinson also sent letters to 13,000
students, urging them to apply. Some
lived in areas where application rates
in Maryland, students earning a two
year degree in adventure sports often
move on to get a bachelor's degree in
exercise physiology, health, physical
education and outdoor recreation.
Others go on to become guides, rang
ers, sports program directors and man
agers in the outdoor retail industry.
The adventure sports program is not
only mentally rigorous, but physically
demanding as well. "I'vc done white
water canoeing, ice climbing, ropes,
rock climbing, skiing, snow boarding,
winter camping, search and rescue
and wilderness survival," says gradu
ate Crystal Shaffer, who loved the
program so much she has stayed on
as program secretary.
At first, Shaffer just wanted to find
an outdoor activity to share with her
husband. "I picked a rock climbing
class and I was absolutely pertrified
since I am afraid of heights!" says
Shaffer, who successfully completed
the class. "It became a catalyst for
change in my life."
Shaffer says she relished the per
sonal relationships with fellow stu
dents as they faced challenges to
gether, such as in wilderness survival
class. "We learned about survival
skills not like eating worms and
stuff like that it was more about
your mental attitude and logical things
you would do in a survival situation."
While most of these are skill one
of-a-kind programs, some pioneering
majors eventually catch on. Missis
sippi State University says that in
1971 it became the first institution to
offer a degree in landscape construc
tion. Now that curriculum is the
model used by the Associated Land
scape Contractors of America in cer
tifying college programs.
At the University of Arizona, Race
Track studies worked its way into the
Bachelor of Science program. Stu
dents majoring in Animal Science can
specialize in either animal industry,
pre-professional training or the race
track industry. Students study the
breeding, production, marketing and
use of animals in agriculture, enter
tainment and companionship. They
also learn equine genetics, nutrition
and reproduction as well as the busi
ness aspects of racing and livestock
management.
Again, industry demands prompted
the addition of this program. "There
were not a lot of higher ed people
working in racing," says Doug Reed,
program coordinator. The industry
was changing and needed more savvy
business strategies to keep up the
popularity of the sport. The effects of
new technologies, such as simulcast
ing (races being broadcast from one
track to another) also created a de
mand for new skills. "I tell my stu
dents that is one thing they really have
going for them; it's not like there are
a lot of people out in the industry al
ready with experience in this."
National Campus News
Thursday, February 5, 1998 The Behrend College Collegian - Page 5
have been low. Others were members
of groups that historically have en
rolled in small numbers.
Nearly 59,000 high school seniors
applied to the University of Califor
nia system. UC officials said there
were declines in the number of white
other and Asian-American applicants
but said that may be due in part to the
large number of students who de
clined to state their ethnicity. White
other applicants decreased 10.1 per
cent in 1998, while Asian-American
applicants decreased by 1.8 percent.
Unlike previous years, optional
questions on ethnic, racial and gen
der identity were separated from in
formation used to make admissions
decisions. Between 1997 and 1998,
the number of students who declined
to state their ethnic background tripled
-- from 2,2.86 to 7,085. Galligani theo
rized that because race is no longer a
factor in student admissions, students
did not feel the need to identify them
selves.
UC officials were clearly pleased
by the increase in applicants.
"These significant increases in ap
plications at every campus are testa
ment to UC's high quality and strong
appeal, not only to high school stu-
Big Mac on campus causes
sizzling row in Malaysia
By Reme Ahmad
Reuter
KUALA LUMPUR A plan to
open a McDonald's restaurant on the
campus of Malaysia's oldest univer
sity has whipped up a fiery debate in
the nation's capital.
Supporters of the plan say
McDonald's will offer clean sur
roundings and fast service at its res
taurant near the entrance of Universiti
Malaya's Kuala Lumpur campus.
Critics charge that the venerated
institution, known as UM, has sold out
to commercialism and Western neo
colonialism.
The debate was sparked by a letter
to a newspaper signed by J.P. Dulles
of Tunbridge Wells, a holidaying En
glish academic who once served in
Malaysia.
"My trip to Malaysia was only
marred by one particularly galling
incident: This was my first visit to
Universiti Malaya, which should now
be perhaps renamed University
McDonald's!," he wrote in the New
Straits Times in mid-January.
"It is a well-known fact that the
political leadership of this country has
been at the forefront of criticizing the
West for its attempts at 'cultural im
perialism'. Am Ito conclude that this
prodigious fight has been lost on the
green fields of UM?" he asked.
Newspaper editors jumped in.
"It is interesting that some people
who were vocal in fighting against
imperialism and neo- colonialism not
long ago, have now given the permis
sion to allow a symbol of colonial
ism to destroy UM," Johan Jaaffar,
group editor of Utusan Malaysia,
Japan sports outcry over
second student gang rape
By Janet Snyder
Reuter
TOKYO - - Japanese sports has
been rocked by a new gang rape in
volving top university athletes that
has led to the resignation of the speed
skating coach for the country's Win
ter Olympic team.
Fall out from the scandal set off a
feminist outcry and smeared the
reputation of Japan's glamorous uni
versity athletes who receive the adu
lation of American college sports
stars.
In the latest sex attack report, au
thorities said on Thursday night five
ice hockey players from Tokyo's
Nippon Sport Science University
raped a young woman after a party
at one students' home last May.
The attack was revealed two days
after police arrested five members of
Teikyo University rugby team on
dents in California but also to students
across the nation and foreign coun
tries," Atkinson said.
Leading the increase were Chicano-
Mexican-American students, whose
applications increased by 10.1 percent
to 5,239. Black student applications
went up by 3.1 percent to 1,965.
At the same time, applications from
students with South and Central
American backgrounds decreased by
3.1 percent this year,
For any student UC is a great bar
gain said 17-year-old Pearl Yu, a se
nior at Mission San Jose High. There
was never a doubt she'd apply to a
UC campus. In fact, she applied to
seven of the eight campuses.
"It's natural to apply to the UCs,"
she said. "They're public institutions,
which means they're cheaper than
private colleges."
UC Riverside posted the largest
gain in applications with an 18.4 per
cent increase. It was followed by UC
Santa Barbara at 14.4 percent; UC
Irvine at 12.3 percent increase; UC
Santa Cruz at 11.6 percent; UC San
Diego at 11.4 percent; UCLA at 11.3
percent increase; UC Berkeley at 10.1
percent; and UC Davis at 4.1 percent.
wrote in a column. Utusan is the
country's largest selling newspaper.
Universiti Malaya defended the
move, saying the fast-food chain went
through proper tender procedures to
win the bid.
UM public relations officer V.T.
Ratnam said a survey among its 4,000
staff and 20,000 students had found
they welcomed the idea of Big Mac
on the menu.
"Students say it is convenient. And
it is clean and fast," Ratnam told
Reuters.
Ratnam said the university had
probably come under criticism for
locating the restaurant near its en
trance and putting up a large sign an
nouncing the opening of the outlet.
Perhaps to pacify its critics, UM has
decided to have other food stalls
around the McDonald's restaurant.
McDonald's Malaysia's corporate
communications manager, Robitahani
Zainal, said the restaurant chain had
outlets in universities and colleges
around the world, including Thailand
and Singapore.
The fast-food giant has 110 outlets
in Malaysia excluding the one at UM,
although it still trails rival chain Ken
tucky Fried Chicken which has over
200 restaurants.
McDonald's Malaysia is 49 percent
controlled by U.S.-based McDonald's
Corp and 51 percent by Malaysians,
of which 26 percent is held by busi
nessman Vincent Tan, a close associ
ate of Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad.
The remaining 25 percent of the
Malaysian stake is held by
McDonald's Malaysia's managing
director, Mohamed Shah Abdul Kadir.
charges of raping a 19-year-old of
fice worker at a karaoke bar last No-
vember.
The two incidents stood out in a
country which idolizes student ath
letes, and in a society which up to
now has mainly kept a code of si
lence on sexual violence against
women.
Rape cases rarely are reported in
Japan because feminists say the
stigma attached to the victim is too
great.
"A woman who reports a rape gets
treated like something dirty, like it's
her fault," said Wako University pro
fessor Yuko Kageyama. "It deters
women from taking their cases to po
lice."
Police said the hockey players
were arrested in July, but freed after
a lawyer prevailed on the victim to
drop charges.
Kyodo news agency said the play-
Campus News:
Around The Nation
by College Press Exchange
Students Following
Chelsea To Stanford
PALO ALTO, Calif. Chelsea
Clinton may have started some
thing.
Stanford University has received
a record number of freshman ap
plications for the upcoming fall se
mester. The admissions office re
ceived 18,714 applications 11
percent more than last year, when
Clinton applied to the university,
school officials said.
Only 1,610 students will be ac
cepted.
Campus officials say Clinton may
have played a role in the increase
but prefer to tout the university's
faculty, which includes 14 Nobel
Prize winners.
"When you have a famous stu
dent like Chelsea who chose wisely
to come to Stanford, a lot of people
have taken notice of us who might
not have before," Bob Kinnally,
dean of undergraduate admissions,
told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva said 451
students questioned at Michigan,
,the University of Florida and Port
land State University is Oregon
Showed less tolerance-for - racial dif
ferences duritg,personallnterviews
than they did on written (Negri°
r Ohio -- The 40 w n
;, aft was a SalltarY.lloo46s4iK gaited . In manf ° caeess,Bondla-Silva
told triiited AVMS intentatiOnal,
stu
*4 Ol trein family e°lll- " dents expressed written support for
Stant companions Were two dogs he 4 r*
affirmative;action and interracial
Adored and more than 3,600 col
marriage but later made comments
lectibles surrounding the popular
.children's series, Behar the el
containing "an arsenal of semantic
P Wig. maneuvers to conceal racial opin
.
ehant
For more than 10 years, he wrote
Babar Fan Makes
Contribution To Kent
`State
-- a lave., For example, of the 90 percent
of his love for children
rtabar came to repiesent— to Ants,,7 3Y
ridges B.l"'Hadiaar‘shtaefkftinL":„.=.'
Meinzen Hildebrand, an English -
professor at Kent State University. only 30 Percerithdd'that'vieW
duxes
Meinzen Hildebrand, a Babas.' ing personal nterviews;
scholar, also appreciated the series Bonilla-Silva said many stunents
—first penned brilsom daalonho,m^:4l:, I:sueportlihnerociai mar_
011 , 103 r— that .e.df"6lkOM - 6710Wi ka " 111 # 11e 0*C trab ° 10 . the
*filmy and famifyitini. ' ' ;'4l* cuudren•"
Their shared appreciation helped
convince Boonshaft that his beloved
collection, valued at more than
$200,000, would be in safe bands at
`Kent State. Kent's Special CoHee. INDIANAPOLIS -- Officials at
tions hopes to have everything ' Indiana-Purdue University are still
sorted and on public display this looking for someone who sent rac
fall. ist letters to 26 first-year, black law
When he died in August at age 47, school students. . .
'A nanshaft had ama s sed an amaz- The one- page letter,Signed " R ay,
ing collection. There are 1,277 . A.. si sn :t m iti c i z i s a ni rma tt ve ac ..
„Bahar books; 110 Babar toys, in-
.'L i onu and warns' students , that
chiding a 3-foot-tall marionette val- :4,<they,re not wanted in the "White
ued at $2,200; 70 records and cas- . Man's law school." The letter also
settes; and 62 stuffed animals, in- states that .while the stidents may
clnding a dapper 6-foot-tall Babar have been admitted, they ViOn ' i ie
_dressed in a green suit once on dis - :4 4nnat t y graduate .: * logo used 'by
play •at the F.A.O. Schwartz store' the li - w schoors,biweildy riewslet
in New York City. Itopnstiaft: kept • ter appears at the top pf the pffea
everything at home in a elimate- sive letter.
controlled room into which he The law school is offering a
would peek using a window he had $ l,OOO reward to anyone wi th in
carved into one waß. " formation that might itstkenttok
Boonshaft's will paid for shipping the letter's author.
ers told their coach last September
what happened, but he decided not
to report it.
Coach Yoshihiko Nakajima told
reporters he kept quiet because the
players reached an out- of-court
settlement with the woman, and be
cause they showed contrition.
Now as I look back on it, I regret
having gone too easy on them,
Nakajima said.
When news of the rape, was
splashed in newspapers on Thursday,
university administrators held an
emergency meeting and fired
Nakajima and Kunio Tanaka, coach
of the Japan Olympic Speed Skat
ing team, who works at the univer
sity.
Tanaka announced that because of
the scandal he was resigning his
Olympic post.
A university spokesman said the
school was considering expelling the
players, and the hockey and skating
teams were barred indefinitely from
competition.
In a decision that briefly caused
even more outrage, the university
also initially announced that to fur
ther atone for its shame a woman ice
hockey player was also being barred
from competing in next month's
Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan.
But the university later withdrew
From
and handling costs and also in
cluded a $25,000 endowment.
Meinzen Hildebrand told Knight
Ridder/Tribune news service she
regrets never having met Boonshaft
in person. She said there are no pic
tures of him, and she's not sure how
he died.
"I'm stunned and unhappy in a
way that the collection came here
without John," Meinzen
Hildebrand told KRT. "I had envi
sioned that this would be a time for
John to come out of his
reclusiveness; (he) would come to
Kent, and there would be a great
clapping of hands."
Racist Attitudes Run
Deep Survey Shows
ANN ARBOR, Mich. A soci
ologist at, the Vniversity of Michi
gan who.surVeyed white students at
three colleges said he found racial
animosity and suspicion hiding be
hind a veneer of anti-racist atti
tudes.
Racist Letters Sent To
Black Law,Students.
the suspension.
"We were going to bar all skating
section students from activities, but
because it would be too disruptive,
we decided to allow Yoko Kondo
(the woman hockey player) to par
ticipate in the Olympics, the official
told Reuters.
"We are sorry the university has
caused a scandal such as this," uni
versity president Eiju Watai told a
news conference.
Feminists said until now, society
had looked the other way when stu
dent athletes got out of control.
They can get drunk, be loud, be
barbaric, but people look at these
guys as 'manly'," said radio com
mentator Ryoko Ozawa.
She said the rapes put the spotlight
on a mind-set in male-dominated Ja
pan that views rape as hardly a crime.
"There's a permissive view of sex
in general men can pretty much
do what they like," Ozawa said.
While most observers doubt that
radical feminism is growing in this
conservative society, more young
Japanese women are taking on their
attackers.
"Japanese women now have more
courage. Where they hid these things
before, they are becoming very
brave," said Kageyama.
. l v I