Veritas, Vol. 23, No. 05, December 1982

              For the Faculty, Staff and Friends of the University of Miami
Veritas
University of Miami
—
Voi. 23, No. 5 December 1982
IM business students help others pursue (lie 'American Dream9
By Gustavo Pupo-Mayo
In the pursuit of "The Dream,” only the purchase of a home outranks the average citizen’s desire to own a small business. And while the recession has shattered the first dream for many, high unemployment is being given credit for churning out entrepreneurs in record numbers.
‘More small businesses are being started today than at any point in the history of the U.S.,” says Paul Miller, director of the Small Business Institute at the University’s School of Business Administration and an associate professor in the department of General Business, Management, and Organization.
The reason, explains Miller, is that many of the unemployed are opening their own businesses after failing to find jobs in today’s tight marketplace.
However, the rags to riches aspirations of many new entrepreneurs crumble as statistics show that half of the new businesses go belly-up within the first three years.
Miller says a lack of capital, little planning and scarce business knowledge usually does them in.
It doesn’t have to end that way. There is help available, at no charge, for the new business owners.
The Small Business Administration (SB A) sponsors a program through which senior business students from the University serve as consultants to ailing businesses.
Fifteen students make up the UM’s Small Business Institute, a three-credit course with no textbooks and no exams. Instead, each student is assigned two businesses which have requested assistance. Under Miller’s supervision, students interview business owners to obtain as much information as possible. Meanwhile, the problems are discussed in class among all the students.
After careful study and discussion of each case, the students write individual reports
to each of the clients and then help implement the changes. A copy of each report is sent to the SB A. So far this year, 34 cases have been serviced. The SB A grant has allowed the Institute to acquire an IBM personal computer and a small library. The grant does not pay the students any wages, except gasoline for travel.
The lack of pay does not discourage students like John Fish, a 23-year-old senior who is set on becoming a business consultant after going to graduate school. Fish says he enjoys the class because it is completely different from anything else he’s done while at business school.
‘‘I don’t know of any other business course which offers as much hands-on experience, independence and the opportunity to help people,” he said.
Most of the requests for help come through the SB A offices in Coral Gables. Assistant District Director Jack Geis said he’s seen a definite increase in the number of small businesses in trouble.
‘‘Bankruptcies have doubled on the national average,” Geiss said. “Anytime there is a recession, small businesses are the first to go and suffer the most. ”
Geis hastened to add that you need not have a loan with the SBA in order to get help from the program. The Small Business Institute is open to all business owners needing
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UM business students John Fish (left) and Franciso De Cardenas provide management assistance to Phillips 66 station owner Clarence McCall as part of their academic program
Policy barring sexual harassment adopted
Although the complaint procedures are still pending approval, the University has adopted a policy statement regarding sex-
The recent doubling in size of the Honors Program is one of the most encouraging signs in this year's undergraduate enrollment, according to Provost William F. Lee III. The program now involves over 500 students. such as Nancy Liu (above) who is student teaching at West Lab School. The Honors Program is important to the future of the University, and its continued grou th will help the University attain a number of its quality-oriented goals. In November, Lee appointed a University-wide faculty committee to work with the program's director, Dr. James L. Ash, Jr., on the future expansion of the program. This committee will make recommendations concerning the honors curriculum, admissions standards, scholarships, housing, and any other facets of student life that affects honors students.
ual harassment. Assistant Vice President for Personnel and Affirmative Action Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., released the policy statement and accompanying definition in early November and said he hoped to have approval on the proposed student complaint procedure by the end of the semester.
The p>olicy is as follows:
“It is the policy of the University of Miami that sexual harassment of or by any administrator, faculty member, employee, or student is prohibited. A violation of the sexual harassment policy shall constitute grounds for disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the University.* The University reaffirms its commitment to the concept of non-discrimination and to providing a work environment and an educational forum free of sexual harassment.”
Development of such a p>olicy has actually been in the works for about two years, according to Thomas. “The issue (absence of a sp>ecific policy) resurfaced as a result of a meeting between President Foote and representatives of the Women’s Commission. He agreed that the issue needed to be addressed and we began researching similar policies at other institutions.”
“Development of a definition of sexual harassment was the key,” Thomas said. Models from other universities were examined and a monograph of the subject authored in part by UM faculty member Phyllis Franklin was studied for purposes of providing direction.
Although the statement is labeled “Sex-
ual harassment,” the definition is broad enough to include what many call “gender harassment” — a form of gender-based intimidation that does not involve explicit physical sexual references.
The approved definition follows.
“Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, physical or verbal abuse of a sexual nature including graphic commentaries about an individual’s body, sexually degrading remarks used to describe an individual, or unwelcome propositions and physical advances of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment also includes the threat or insinuation that the lack of sexual submission or sexual submission will be used as a basis for employment or educational decisions affecting or interfering with an individual’s salary, academic standing, or other conditions of employment, academic or career development.”
In discussing the policy, Jean Dar-pini, president of the Women’s Commission, said, “In comparison with other such policy statements and with the law, it’s a good statement for both staff and students. It’s a broad statement that says we aren’t going to tolerate that kind of behavior. I think that anyone who reads the statement would have to agree with it. Of course, the proof of the pudding will be in the procedures if a violation is said to have occurred. ”
According to Darpini, the Women’s Commission’s greatest concern is for the procedures that would come into play in addressing a complaint of this nature. “I
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