Miami Hurricane, October 27, 1987

              Something fishy
UM senior Brian Scarry visited five countries in his study of fish cultivation techniques.
News — page 4
Can you say “Spenglish”?
A University of Miami second-year law student has written a book on speaking Spenglish, a mix of English with a Latin flavor.
______________Accent — page 8
Little Big Man
Leonard Conley, a 5-foot-9, 170 pound running back, showed Cincinnati that football isn’t just a big man’s game.
_________ Sports — page 10
Computers may ease registration
Selection, billing to be simplified
By AMY ELLIS
Staff Writer
The registration process, which at one time involved hours of endless lines and frustrations, should only take 10 minutes to complete this spring when it is computerized.
Registration, to be held in one central course-selection "arena." should make the lives of both students and faculty much easier, according to University of Miami Bursar Al Matthews.
Students will be able to pre-register for fall classes in the spring. “Any student who would like to be assured of his classes should take full advantage of this," Matthews said.
Students will still be required to meet with an academic advisor and complete a course selection sheet as a first step in registration, but coupons for courses will no longer benecessary.
Each student will be given an appointment to visit the course' selection arena, which will be probably be ■** up in the Hurricane and Ibis cafeterias. Thirty or 40 computer terminals and operators will be stationed In this area.
The student’s course selections will be entered In the computer, which will show if the desired courses and sections are available. The computer will also notify the student If there are any co-requisite or prerequisites for the courses.
The student will then be given a printed course confirmation schedule.
According to Matthews, the new system will offer students “plenty of convenient hours to select courses at their leisure.”
The terminals will be set up during the last week in March and remain until the third week in April. Operators will work 8:30 a m. to 5 p.m. over the three-week period Matthews said he foresees no problems for students who wish to select their courses early.
Students also will be able to select summer courses during the three week period.
If students want to change course selections or repeat a course, It will not present major problems.
The drop/add period will be held during the registration period and until mid-July. A student who wants to drop/add will be required to go to the registration office. Memorial 111, to have the changes entered into the computer.
When the drop/add period ends, the computer files will "freeze.” No more changes in course selections will be accepted until a few days before classes begin in the Fall, when the drop/add period continues. The mid-summer "freeze-point" will be around July 15th or 20th.
After that, the University will process a computerizedbilling sheet to be mailed to students over the summer.
The billing sheet will contain the same information found on fee documents: current balance, new charges, financial aiddeferred payments, and amount due. A copy of the student’s course selections will be provided as well.
The student will have until the second week of Augustto verify the information on the form and return it to theUniversity, along with payment.
According to Matthews, students must realize the importance of returning the form by the due date. “If the University does not hear from the student within the allotted time period, their courses will be purged from the system."
If a student decides not to return to school, the courses will be made available to other students as soon gt; possible.
Matthews also added that there will be overrides in the system to Please see page 4/COMPUTER
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ERIK COCKS/Rumcane Staff
Hazardous bear
A teddy bear ties on the floor of Nagra Krudelski’s charred, post-social catastrophe apartment. Krudelski is the main character in University of Miami junior Kurt Hall’s film, “Objective Hazard (Episode 6). ” See story, Insight, page 8.
Administrators want foreign studies
Russian trip may make student exchange possible
By KAY HOWELL
Staff Writer
A University of Miami faculty member and administrator went to Moscow earlier this month with the goal of creating an international student exchange program between the Soviet Union and the United States.
“I am a true believer in the philosophy of student exhangeand I believe that the future of the world depends on active dialogue between the East and West,” said Dr. William Butler, vice president for student affairs who traveled to Moscow.
Butler and Pamela Ferguson, dean of graduate students, went to Moscow and extended a personal invitation to the ambassador of the USSR to visit UM. This invitation was made on behalf of Ambler Moss, ex-ambassador to Panama and dean of the UM Graduate School of International Studies.
Hopefully, the invitation will contribute to the goal of developing the student exchange program between the University of Moscow and UM.
"I've always been interested in a studeni exhange program,” Butler said. He also said UM would be an ideal school for such a program, as it is “by definition, an international university."
The idea, still in the preliminary stages, is for Russian students to attend UM for a year, while UM
Butler
students attend the University of Moscow. Butler pointed out that there are very few Russian students In the U.S. today: 15 undergraduates and 25 graduate students.
One problem with the exchange proposal is the lack of students studying Russian at UM. Also, Butler and Ferguson have not yet explored what subjects are offered for study at the University of Russia.
Although Butler would like to see the exchange program established, he doubts it will begin anytime soon.
Butler and Ferguson were invited to Moscow to attend an international conference, Fueling the Twnety-First Century, by UM
physics professor Behram Kersun-oglu.
Kursunoglu is the founder and head of the International Scientific Forum He is also the founder of the Center for Theoretical Studies.
Members of the International Scientific Conference gather to explore new and existing forms of energy Butler and Ferguson joined the forum along with Kursunoglu and 600 rerensentatives from 22 countries around the world.
Kursunoglu was inspired by the energy crisis of the Carter administration to create the international confemce. According to Kursunoglu, the goal of the conference was “to help people correct the energy problem from a global viewpoint."
"This year's goal was to discuss and present ideas on new and old energy sources — oil, gas, non-re-newable resources and todevelop safe nuclear energy,” Kursunoglu said.
Kursunoglu said the experience was delightful. The Soviet government was very hospitable, elegant, and obliging, " he said.
The UM représentât vies found there were no restrictions on where they were allowed to go in Moscow Butler, Ferguson and Kursunoglu were among 25 representatives invited to the Kremlin to meet the Vice President of the Supreme Soviet Socialist Repub-
lic.
Law schools to visit UM
By BARBRA SPALTEN
Assistant News Editor
Representatives from various law schools will be on the University of Miami campus from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday In the University Center International Lounge to meet with students interested in pursuing law as a career.
Giselle Onofrio. senior staff assistant in the College of Arts and Sciences, said representatives from 45 law schools will participate.
The representatives will have tables in the lounge and distribute pamphlets to interested students.
Interested students can see school reps Thursday in Lounge
They will alsoanswer questions about their schools.
From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.. a panel discussion will be held in the Flamingo Ballroom. Topics to be discussed will include law school acceptance, financial aid and creating effective personal statements.
The schools that will participate Include: Columbia University, Uni-
versity of Detroit, Florida State University, University of Florida, George Washington University, University of Miami. New York University, Northeast University, Notre Dame University, Southern Illinois University, Stetson University and Tulane University.
Darrell Carr, president of the Pre-Legal Soceity. said representatives from Harvard Law School will be on campus Monday.
Onofrio said that law schools prefer well-rounded liberal arts majors but they do accept others, such as business and music majors. "They tend to favor psychology. English, and history as majors."
UM law students do poorly on Bar
Only 62 percent of the students passed the Florida Bar in July
By BARBRA SPALTEN
Assistant News Editor
The University of Miami School of Law had the lowest Florida Bar Exam passing rates in the state in the last two releases of results from February and July of this year.
“The bar exam question is obviously of great concern,” Professor Michael Graham, chairperson of the Academic Standards Committee, said. “We are not pleased about it. There is no way yet for us to know why all of a sudden there was a precipitous drop in our scores when we have been exceedingly competitive for many years.”
UM's Law School had a passing rate of 62 percent in July, down two percent from Febrary and 11 percent from the previous July. In the same period, other Florida schools such as Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Stetson University maintained passing rates between 87 and 90 percent.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners can only release percentage!! without names at this time, hut the Supreme C'ovirt ot Florida may authorize them to release extensive statistics to the academic communities.
-We have no Idea which students passed,” Graham said. “We don’t know if they are from the bottom of the class, or if they predicted poorly, or what courses ■ they took. We have to know who it is and what they’re doing before we can tell what we're doing wrong, if anything.”
Graham said the students who took the last few exams may not have taken Bar preparation courses concentrating on Florida law.
At this time, the Graham can only guess at the reason for the decrease. “We cannot attribute it to anything,” he said. “Students who took the exam have been
contacted about thelropinions.” Graham said. “The students say that they are pleased with their education."
Graham said the committee is considering changing the academic calendar because students said they would like more time to study for the exam. "Our calendar runs later than other schools, but it hasn't affected past performances on the exam," Graham said.
Nancy Mercer, secretary to Dean of the Law School Mary Doyle, said the deans are busy in appointments trying to handle the situation. She said no further information could be concluded until the full statistics are relesed.
Mercer said the deans’ office has written to graduate law students to determine their status on the bar exam. "We have written to them to get background information that can help us proceed further," Mercer said.
Otherwise, operations at the Law School haven't changed over the last few years. “Everything's just the same,” Graham said. “Nothing has changed at all.
“If It continues. It might have an Impact, but U won’t continue,” he Balrt.“\t will neve e minimal effect If any."
Res Ipsa I .oqultur, the l.aw School newspaper, dlacuaaed several speculations of the decline in
Its Oct. 12 Issue. Among those are issues surrounding admissions, after graduation actions of students, such as clerking, the curricular calendar and statistical errors.
The article surmises that brighter students may avoid UM because of its high tuition. Also, the University's graduates have opportunities for clerking after school so some test-takers may not be directly out of school.
Additionally, the school's concern for a national perspective may prevent students from being well-versed In the state's law, which is tested on the exam.
MARIE POIRIER/Hurricane Staff
Looking for a prince
Hayley Tantra examines frog figurines for sale at United Nations Day held Friday on the University Center Patio.
Academic advising ta bagia BBxt weak for spring
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