1986-08-25; Central Michigan Life

              Central
Michigan
MONDAY
August 25.1986
SECTION A
CMU officials say
students add to
woes of 055 costs
Letting math competency class slide
subtracts from students' pocketbooks
BY MARY FRANCIS
I If f N'.-A-i f CJ.IO'
It's one of those necessary evils
To graduate from CMU, students must fulfill a math com- tency,
and almost 1,5(X) will In-grudgingly enroll in the MTH 05,r> , ii^ram
this semester.
Whether victims of procrastination, frustration or just plain
laziness, many also find themselves involuntarily contributing large
sums to the University when they do not fulfill their credit
requirements.
"Students have a tendency to let it slide, and then when they fail
they feel the University is taking their money," said David McDowell,
associate professor of mathematics.
"Most of the students losing the    __^____^_______^__
money are the ones just not
bothering to take the tests You
can lead a hor.se to water, hut you
can't make them drink. I guess "
MTU Of>fc Continuous Sequence
in Basic Mathematics I requires
students i<i take mini-courses
covering beginning math skills. To
receive math competency,
students must complete through
mini-course 14. The numl>er of
courses they take is determined by
their score on a pretest administered during the first few weeks of
school.
"Students have a
tendency to let it slide,
and then when they
fail they feel the
University is taking
their money."
— David McDowell,
Math 055 instructor
By parsing two mini courses, a student earns one credit.
That format has a lot to do with failure rates, said McDowell, who
u-uallv teaches one or two MTII ().r>5 sections. Students do not receive
a letter grade, asid -<t their own pace for completion of the course, he
-aid
The credits also do not count toward graduation unless they were
earned by passing mini -courses l.r> through 20. Students often don't
want to drop the course because it is taken on a credit/no credit basis
it's the difference between u "withdrawal" or an "no credit" on the
report card. Neither is figured into the grade point average.
"They don't treat it like they treat other courses. I think it i» n big
factor that there i- !!;> letter grade. If students are getting a letter
.■r.ide they pay niueh in.ue iloser attention," McDowell said
However, the number of students successfully passing the course
has improM-il in the hist two years, said Dondi (laskill. coordinator of
the Mill Ma'i program
"(Inc of t he enmplai nt> we hear is that 0">5 is just to make money —
but that's not why we're here." Ciaskill said "We will keep refining and
improving the program "
I hose nhnements cm range from simple things., like a more
readable t> pe on a svllahus. to more radical changes, like instituting a
new attendance |" lav. ^be .-aid
Students do not understand their options for fulfilling math
competency, (ia-kill ,>aid
Pcise Sec: 055 Pago 2
Shoot for the top
l
Anthony DeSantis, of New York, launches a set shot at Island
Park to pass the time.
There's more to do than shoot hoops between classes at
CM t*t/»imn 1»»
CMU. Check out Survival Guide '86 for what you need to know
to live, thrive and survive (maybe, even have fun) In Mount
Pleasant.
BAR WARS
Diversity of local watering holes creates natural battle
BY WAYNE KAMIDOI
the Mount 1'leas.mt bar scene
somewhat resembles a World
Wicsthng Federation battle rov.il
In one corner. Freddie keeps the
crowd happy with hi- lingerie
parties Across the ring. Tom
tJIlles the bunch by Using the
Black Market
And, while Sir Richard hanks on
his tradition. Nick and the
Wayside flail drink specials at
their opponents
Among the do/en or so bars,
there's rr.illv no dear cut tavern
king of the Mountain Town The
winners are those on hand, which
includes ne.irlv Iti.ooo ('Ml'
students
Har owners and managers say
they'll bend over backwards to
please their clientele, whether it's
bringing   in   a   nat lonallv-known
reggae band or offering food
freehles
"Mount Ph.is.iTU has a prettv
good bar scene Kver> place is a
little diflerent. ,tii<l tills is great."
says ll.irviv Yc riur. manager at
Tom's Foolery Bar. 1 12 W.
Michigan
"I ln-liete in the open market
and freedom of choice and you
have that c hone here
And. with that variety,
barkeepers have to keep on their
toes m order to survive the "har
war-
"F.verv bar wants to he the hot'
bar in town." savs Mike Brehm.
food and beverage manager at
Boomer's. ">t>,r)"i K. Pickard Road
"We like to think we're- one of the
hot bars, and we will do what It
takes to keep them coming hack "
A free Friday "Hungry Hour"
and its multi-screen video dance
gigs   are   the   weapons   Boomer's
uses to keep competitive.
"'Hungry Hour) makes for a_
good, energetic Friday afternoon.
We like to promote a higher-
energy atmosphere, and if it takes
food to get (customers i in here,
we'll keep doing it." Brehm says
Having cut-rate drink prices is
one of the more attractive options
a bar can offer, especially to the
penny-pinching college student.
"Kconomy is the No 1 factor in
my har choice," said Tim Fix,
Lincoln Park senior, recently
while taking advantage of a
Wednesday-night special at Nick's
Wagon Wheel Saloon. 1111 S.
Mission
Cheapest, though, doesn't
always mean the best, says Rick
Swindlchurst, owner of Sir
Richard's Pub. 106 N. Court.
"1 have no intentions of getting
into '.a pricing wan It will be a
mess
"But (other bar owners) are
trying to. You can tell by seeing
who keeps lowering their prices.
At the same time, you can end up
cutting your owt throat by doing
that," says Swindlehurst, who also
owns The Brass Saloon, 128 S
Main.
"Sure, there's a lot of competition, but it's a healthy one." adds
the Foolery's Venier. "You have to
throw the drink specials, monitor
the changes in musical tastes, and
keep your ears open all the time.
"College students are on a
limited budget They want to get
their partying in. and save money
at the same time. We understand
that.
"Everyone is after the college
business. The best way is to give
them the best deal "
Although   the   2-for-l   pitcher
Please See BAR Page 2
Fewer men attend CMU
but variance not as big
as many students think
BY STEVE KOWALSKI
HFf SUM Wr ter
All right, let's put an end to the rumor mill circulating CMU
about women taking over campus.
While it is fact that female students do outnumber male
students, and they have for years, the difference is not as
alarming as some people believe.
Robert DeHruin, assistant vice provost for planning institute
research, said total male enrollment since 1977 has vaned
between 44 percent and 46 percent
Freshmen enrollment has much to do with the female
domination at CMU. I-ast year, f>8 percent of the freshman class
were females, prompting one freshman student on campus this
summer to say, "girls outnumber guys six to one at orientation."
Not quite, hut in the last 12 years, female freshman enrollment
has varied from a high of 62 percent in 1977, to a low of 56
percent in 197f>
Why so many women'.'
DeBruin said he Ireheves it's because of the programs offered
at CMU For years, a large proportion of women were attracted
to Central, long considered a teacher's college.
While CMU is no longer considered a teacher's haven, it also
does not have an engineering prop-am rivaling that of Michigan
Technological University.
And that hurts male enrollment
Please See RATIO Page 10
Briefly
The frosh 15
Students can pick up their vvr.fi-
cjton ol enrollment cards this week in
the Bovce. University Center from
10 30 am to 3 30 pm todjy
through Fnday
Frrtr.rrj-,
vcoc/.t 5ir,
zrU &  ii.av  —
/Page 3A
CLEP-ping out
SruoVr.a can iskt leveral CLEP less foe ,t» m *
<obgrm&« /Page 4 A
Golden Oldies
Local bar tors back clock, sr-der.a turn out rr» •» A
«&**» /Page 5 A
Gulp runs
^avwPaoe
Tred «nd fi"j« jsjiJ,- habits cAo go out
wnjow
/Page 5A
LIFE w.:e
CoT.b::.gGa-r.pus?s
Corrr-ert
Bioon Courr,
Er.:cr«a:rvnerit
Rg Guy on Corpus
PoBc«R«por& 	
Oas&di
Cod* of Conduct
Sport*
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