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Vol. 61, No. 25 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY MARCH 28, 1991 12 PAGES AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER FREE
Plan to boost athletic graduation
rates presented to U ofL Trustees
By JOHN KEU. Y
Staff W ritcr
A plan designed to increase the graduation
rates of student-athletes at the University of
Louisville was presented to the Board of Trust­ees
March 25 by Athletic Director Bill Olsen and
Athletic Academic Services Director Steve
Milburn.
In response to the trustees' recent demand that
the athletic department improve the academic
environment of student athletes, the plan is still
in its preliminary stages, Milburn said.
"What weare trying to do is develop programs
that will help teach these athletes how to function
better as students," Milburn said.
At the meeting, he outlined three main plat­forms.
First, athletes' academic abilities would be
assessed through testing as they enter the Uni­versity.
On the basis of that evaluation, they
would be placed in one of three academic levels.
The students' progress would beobservedcloscly
and each athlete would be dealt with on a more
individual basis.
Milburn said that currently the ra­tio
of counselors to athletes is I 00 to
one, and the new plan calls for more
counselors.
The next proposal would make
coaches directly responsible for the
academic progress of their players.
"It's important that coaches' per­fonnance
evaluations be linked to
more than their win-loss percentage,"
Milburn said. "They also need to be
responsible for how many students they gradu­ate."
The final step recommended lhal the number
of non-revenue scholarships be reduced in order
to increase the aid given to those athletes who do
receive them.
Trustee Woodford Porter Sr., who recently
announced plans lo retire this summer after serv­ing
24 years on the board, said the plan only
scratches the surface of the problem and needs to
be more comprehensive.
"I was anltious to see a little more meat on the
A real swinger
skillet," Porter said. "It's a ftrSl step,
but I'm looking for more details. The
trusteeS feel very strongly about this.
The fewer problems athletes have the
better students they can be."
Several members of the Board of
Trustees were skeptical of this part of
the plan, questioning Olsen as to why
the athletic department, which has an
approximately $2 million surplus,
could not fully fund all non-revenue
scholarships. Olsen said in the meet­ing
lhal doing this would cost approltimately $1
million, but did not indicate whether this idea
would be implemented.
Trustee Ed Laster said the board is trying to
improve the reputation the University has at­tracted
for its poor record in graduating athletes.
"We've gouen a lot of auention about our
graduation rates," Laster said. "I think the man­date
was very clear and with the commitment of
everyone involved we 'U gel those graduation
rates improved. We'll have to at least give their
plan a chance."
U ofL's Jim Carter pursues high-flying hobby
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PH 0 R SY JIM ARTER
Jim carter, A&S assistant dean of advising, swings on his backyard
trapeze. carter has been Interested In the hobby since Childhood.
By THOMAS PACE
Staff Writer
After a tough day at the office, University ofl..ouisville Assistant
Dean Jim Carter likes to relax at home. Unlike most people,
however, Carter relaxes by swinging through the air 32 feet above
his backyard.
Carter, who works in academic advising in the College of Arts
and Sciences, said performing as a trapeze artist is one of his
favorite things to do.
"It's fantastic exercise," Carter said of his unusual hobby. "It's
a beautiful way of geuing strong."
The 46-year old Carter said he loves his hobby so much he
would like to make it his profession. He even has his own trapeze
rigging in the backyard of his Oldham County home, which he
stores during the winter and sets up at the beginning of the spring.
Carter said he will set up the rig in two to three weeks.
Carter's trapeze rig is no ordinary back-yard swing set It is 32-
feet high and 65-feetlong with a giant net spanning the bouom of
the structure.
Carter is not the only member of his family to perform circus
acts, however. His wife is a performing frre-eater.
"She's our frre-eater," he said. "She learned itlhree or four
summers ago in upstate New York. She has taught lots of people
here in town. As part of homecoming, we taught ftre-eating at the
Red Bam, and she has done it at the Fund for the Arts as a fund­raiser."
Carter credits his interest in "flying," to his father.
"My father, during the depression, got a job with the Ringling
Brothers Circus as a rigger (someone who sets up the equipment),"
he said. "Some of my strongest recollections are going off to
circuses with him. The fLrst TV show I ever saw was a Ringling
Brothers circus performance."
Carter said his experiences with the circus as a child are among
his warmest and most touching.
"Some of the nicest friendships I have made are from the
circus," he said. "It's wonderful. It's rare when a circus is in town
and I don'tlcnow any of the people."
Carter's fervent interest in the trapeze developed in his early
teens.
"When I was 13 or so I had gotten hurt doing gymnastics," he
said. His safety conscious father found a full trapeze rigging with
net in Finley, Ohio, for $150.
See CARTER, Page 4
STAFF PHOTO BY KURT VINION
American Indian Dennis Banks lights a piece of cedar before speaking to
U of L students March 25. Banks said the burning cedar represents purification.
Indian rights activist Banks
gives pair of talks at U ofL
By SHANNON BENNETT
Staff Writer
American Indian Movement co-founder
Dennis Banks spoke to University of Louis­ville
students about past and present Indian
struggles in two speeches March 25.
The events, held at noon in the Floyd
Theatre and al6:30 p.m. in the Humanities
Building, touched on topics such as rituals,
treaties and violent confrontations. The
events were sponsored by the Kentuckiana
Native American Support Group and U of
L's Progressive Student League.
K.N.A.S.G. Executive Director Tom
Pearce began the ftrSl session with an intro­duction
of Banks.
"When I think of Dennis Banks, I think
of people like Gandhi or Martin Luther
King," Pearce said.
Immediately following the introduction,
Banks stood up and ignited a piece of cedar,
explaining that the scent of burning cedar
represented purification to lhe Indians and
is sometimes used in ceremonies.
The 58-year old Banks is an Anishinabe
Indian who was raised in Leach Lake, Minn.
The Anishinabes are a part of a larger group
known as the Algonquin Tribe. He said he
ran 7,130 miles across Europe from London
to Moscow last year.
When speaking to the audience, Banks
referred to lhe numerous American Indian
tribes as one entity. He discussed the peace
treaties signed between Indian tribes the
young U.S. government.
"Treaties were signed in exchange for
peace, reserving huge tracts of land," Banks
said. ''The U.S. is the only government in
the world which has signed treaties with its
'ciLizens. _.,
Banks said that treaties include many
articles and stipulations which were not ful­filled.
"You do not sign a treaty unless you
understand the ramifications." he said. "For
example, some treaties required the govem­mentto
build homes and schools for certain
tribes.
"I believe the words and language of the
treaties were signed in good faith . But many
people do not understand the concept of a
treaty."
Banks described some of the violent con­frontations
he was involved in that erupted
between Indians and the government.
"In 1973, we asked the U.S. government
lO examine the Treaty of 1868, but they
refused," he said. "A confrontation erupted
and we occupied Wounded Knee.
''The government sent 300 F.B.I. agents
as well as 90 U.S. marshalls. This confron­tation
ended in an exchange of ftre."
Banks said most non-Indians display a
lack of understanding concerning Indians
which will carry on into the 21st century.
"Textbook and Hollywood have created
a false image of Native Americans," he said.
"We are about knowledge and civilization,
and the earth we call mother. That's who we
are and what we're about."
Banks said Hollywood has created the
image that Indians arc people carrying
hatchets and killing white babies, but added
that there is one frlm which portrayed a
See INDIAN,
PageS
Career options explored at workshop
New national education testing system proposed
By MlCHAEL DURA YIDI
Staff W ritcr
Thirteen participants eltplored career opportunities
by examining themselves in a workshopatlhe University
of Louisville's Students Activities Center March 21.
Organized by U of L's Career Planning Center, the
activities help the participants learn more about their
career types, career interests and their optimum work
style and environment.
Approltimately half of the 13 were U of L students,
while the others were members of the community.
At the workshop, the second in a cries of three,
LeslieSanders,acareerdevelopment pccialist with the
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Career Planning Center, used the Myers-Briggs teslto
help people identify their personality types and make
career decisions.
"Myers-Briggs was a Swiss psychiatrist who found
that human behavior is not random but predictable and
can be classified," Sanders explained. "Because of this,
the test has been used widely in identifying leadership
types, and in helping to promote better understanding in
both the workplace and at home."
Sanders used the Myers-Briggs te tto help partici­pants
identify themselves within four basic psychologi­cal
preferences. The four types were identified by
SceWORKSHOP,Page4
By DENNIS KEU. Y
Apple College Network
The controversial notion of a national
exam for U.S. students got an important
boost March 25 when a panel advising
the nation's governors suggested a new
testing system to measure educational
progress.
The National Governors' Associa­tion,
which adopted six rtational educa­tion
goals with the president last year,
now is looking at how to measure
progress toward those goals.
A national exam raises the specter of
the government dictating education
tandards and what is taught in schools.
But panel member Lauren Resnick sug-
Baseball squad
triumphs over
Western Illinois
See Story, Page 8
gested a two-pronged system:
- The United States could keep ex­isting
tests that look at general student
progress through nationally representa­tive
samples, which provides lillie or no
comparability among stales.
- A national assessment for all stu­dents
based on "anchor" standards in
math, reading and other subjects.
Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, chair of
the education goals panel, insisted this
was not a "national test" because stales,
alone or in clusters, would create their
own tests to measure against those
standards.
Yet, Resnick said, the state-by-state
comparisons would provide competi­tion
and motivate students.
The panel also called for a new na­tionwide
child development profile to
gauge children's health and preschool
eltperiencc before they enter kindergar­ten.
And in trying to devise better mea­sures
of dropouts, the panel suggested a
nationwide student identification sys­tem
to track those people who earned a
high school degree and who had not.
Romer said the proposals would now
be the focus of six to eight public hear­ings
around the country. The frrst is
scheduled for April 12 in Denver, fol­lowed
by a hearing on April 22 in Co­lumbus,
S.C. Others will follow in Iowa,
Maryland, Maine, Washington state,and
Arkansas.
It's squeaky clean
fun in this week's
Part-Time Patti
See Comx, Page11