Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 marked the first State of the Black Union in seven years held on Michigan Tech’s campus. Twenty-five students, along with Gloria Melton, Dean of Students, Chris Anderson, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity, Susan Liebau, Interim Co-Director of Multicultural Affairs, Director of ExSEL, Associate Director of COMPASS, Kevin J. Walker, outgoing Coordinator of African American Student Support, and Dr. Melvin Norwood, incoming Coordinator of African American Student Support, were all in attendance for the address. Nicole White, President of the Black Student Association gave the opening remarks. Kevin J. Walker delivered the address, which highlighted the academic state of African American students on Michigan Tech’s campus. Kevin began the address by stating, “We are not doing that great.” He announced that after the fall 2009 term, 27 percent of African American undergraduate students were on academic probation. He further announced that the fall 2009 GPA for African American undergraduate students was a 2.43, with a cumulative GPA of a 2.48. Walker did acknowledge that the African American graduate student fall term GPA was a 3.1, with a cumulative GPA of 3.7. Walker also mentioed the decline of African American students enrollment from the fall of 2009 until spring 2010. The graph to the right of this column highlighs the African American student enrollment from fall of 1999 thru fall of 2009. For more enrollment stats, visit www.admin.mtu.edu.

Michigan Tech students might soon see an additional fee added to their bills. A committee was recently formed to investigate the possibility of changing Michigan Tech’s current health care and health insurance policies. The committee, headed by Dean of Students Dr. Gloria Melton, has yet to form an official proposal but has begun to investigate possibilities for changes to existing policies. Although no official proposal has been made yet, the committee’s main focus at this time centers around opening a new clinic for Michigan Tech students.
According to meeting minutes from the Jan. 25 meeting of the Wadsworth Hall Student Association (WHSA), the “proposed location was where COMPASS [located in the basement of Wadsworth Hall] is currently located.” The proposed clinic has received positive feedback from WHSA but has faced a mixed reaction from Undergraduate Student Government (USG) members. Some USG members are concerned about the increase in the number of sick students present in the residence hall. However, proponents of the clinic claim that the convenience of having a clinic located closer to students would increase the chances of a sick student visiting a doctor.
Michigan Tech’s contract with Portage Health, the company that currently runs the clinic attached to the SDC, expires this year. One of the main concerns of the health care committee is the lack of preference shown towards students. According to Lucia Gregorakis, USG representative, “The committee felt that the new contract needs to be reformed because students are not coming before other patients which is the reason Portage is at the SDC.”
In order to fund the new clinic, students might see a new fee appear on their bills. Much like the Experience Tech fee, students would essentially “buy in” to the service; by paying a small fee, any visit to the new clinic would be free. According to Griffin Roblyer, WHSA secretary, the clinic would provide “free, basic healthcare for the entire student population” and would provide services such as “diagnosis of athlete’s foot, flu, strep throat and pink eye but if they want to test for something serious, you still would go to the hospital.” Since the new clinic would not feature a pharmacy, students would still have to fill their prescriptions at an off-campus location.
I think that the proposed added fee for students in exchange for basic medical services would be a smart decision for the University. Many other schools in the state already provide a similar service to their students. The University of Michigan offers clinic visits, eye care services, nutrition counseling, radiology and other services under their health service fee. Michigan State University offers students three free medical office visits each school year. The cost of these visits are subsidized by the University. Offering these types of services to University students is certainly not a novel idea.
By providing a free clinic to students, Michigan Tech would be able to require students to receive immunizations before coming to school. Currently, freshmen and transfer students are highly encouraged to receive a set of immunizations before coming to Michigan Tech, but are not required to do so because the University currently does not provide these services to students through a free clinic. By introducing a free clinic, the University could shift their policies from “strong encouragement” to “requirement” of certain immunizations.
Graduate students could also see a potential benefit from a change in current health policies. Health insurance provided through Michigan Tech offers the option to add a dependent but the associated costs often deter graduate students from using it. The health care committee is interested in providing graduate students with families a less expensive way to insure themselves and their dependents.
Some students who have health insurance provided outside of the University have voiced concern about paying for both their own health insurance and the proposed medical services fee. Although some students would be paying for their health care twice, the added benefit of having access to a clinic on campus would be worth the nominal added fee. The argument that a certain group of students will not use the services they are paying for was an issue heard when the Experience Tech fee was first proposed. Many students who did not use the facilities covered by the Experience Tech fee were upset that they were funding other student’s recreational activities. In an effort to get as much student input as possible, USG created an online survey that offered students the chance to voice their opinions. The survey showed that there was strong support for adding the Experience Tech fee. A process like this will be absolutely crucial to the success of a change in the University’s health care. The stark contrast between WHSA’s approval of the clinic and USG’s split reaction shows the potential for disagreement among students regarding these changes.
Once a formal proposal has been drafted by the committee, it will likely be reviewed by USG, Hall Councils and Housing (since the clinic may be placed inside Wadsworth Hall) before being voted on by the Board of Control.

Blue Key Honor Society will host its annual leadership conference from Friday, Feb. 5 through Sunday, Feb. 7. The theme for this year is “The Variables of Leadership.” Approximately 125 people from all over the country will be in attendance. The participants will be engaged in a variety of leadership breakout sessions, business meetings, and Winter Carnival festivities. Blue Key Honor Society is privileged this year to have the keynote address—The Thermodynamics of Leadership, presented by Dr. Terry Woychowski, Vice President of Global Management for General Motors. Other speakers include a variety of Michigan Tech faculty and staff who volunteered their time.
Blue Key Honor Society is very grateful to General Motors who provided a generous donation to the Michigan Tech Chapter in order to help support this year’s conference. Special thanks and appreciation are also extended to the Michigan Tech Admissions, Graduate School, Dean of Students, Housing and Residential Life offices, who also helped support this year’s conference. For more information about Blue Key Honor Society, the conference, or speakers, visit the Blue Key Web site at bluekey.students.mtu.edu or via E-mail at bluekey@mtu.edu.

“Michigan Tech Housing is committed to maintaining a safe, comfortable housing environment that values friendship and academic success in our residence halls and apartments.” The Michigan Tech University’s housing department clearly depicts in its mission statement the dedication and time taken to care for the students involved in the residential life of Michigan Tech. But if friendship is such a value of the Housing Department, assuming other values are taken into consideration as well, why then is the contract release process so grueling, unnecessary, and rigged to feed off of our money?
I applied for housing in Wadsworth Hall thinking I had everything settled financially. When my parents refused to extend the Parent Plus Loan and co-sign for a loan for me, I realized I had hit a dead-end. There was no other way to turn except back, seeing there was no way I could afford it. I walked into the Housing office to inquire about the process I needed to follow in order to be released from my housing contract. Upon voicing my questions, I was rudely answered by a member of housing administration, instructing me to fill out the application and write an appeal letter, and stated that “you don’t always get approved to be released from your contract” in an almost taunting tone. I tried to explain, briefly, my financial situation and he continued to tell me it did not matter. I kind of left the office in jitters wondering what I had done wrong to be talked to like some delinquent who had knowingly planted some twisted housing scheme. Friendly? I think not.
I proceeded to write the letter, as instructed, in my most professional and grammatically-correct form. I clearly stated my situation and went to the Financial Aid office to discuss documentation to be paired with my letter as proof of my situation. I was told that Housing would send away for my financial information and that it was not needed to include it with the letter, so I obeyed. Thinking it was not a huge issue, I went on with school as usual, certain there was no way they could deny my letter since there was no way to pay for it.
On September 16th, I received an email while I was away in Green Bay exclaiming that my letter had been denied. My family and I were outraged. Firstly, when applying for a room and signing the contract, the Housing staff fails to go over contract release protocol before finally handing over a room key and assignment. Why do they “forget” to do this? Because if mentioned, they may cause students to hesitate in their decision, which would in turn not allow the school to receive money for housing from that student? Thus, a hesitating student is money lost.
In the email, it was not even explained as to why I was denied, rather, it was just an email informing me of my denial. Extra time is not taken to be fully helpful to the students and this email is just only a bit of the evidence. So, I had to request information before they told me. I am offered a certain amount of aid for the entire school year and the amount requested for fall semester fell under that amount, although after paying for fall semester, there would not be enough aid left over for spring semester, thus I could not afford it. But Housing did not feel the need to investigate. As informed by a close employee of Housing, residential staff of Michigan Tech automatically deny anyone who has $0 in unmet need. Even with my financial aid information, they still denied me, upholding this claim that they do not even care to glance at this fact. They did not give any respect whatsoever to my situation. In their words, they were merely “following procedure.”
So I had an employee of Financial Aid call the Director of Housing and explain to him my situation. Apparently, a phone call was not enough, for I was then told to send in documentation of my situation in writing. Throughout this process, I could not understand why it was so hard for Michigan Tech Housing to see that I just could not afford to live in the dorms. You want to know why the process was drawn out? Why Housing felt this need to fight me in my financial situation, in this dying economy, till the bitter end? Money. They wanted my money. They had my money and were not going to let go easily. I owed a large amount of money to Michigan Tech because of this room and if denied again, I would not be able to pay the money, as explained several times, and would most likely get kicked out of school. My father, almost angrier than me at the asinine process being carried out, got in touch with members of Housing and the Dean of Students to inquire about the process and my present predicament.
During a meeting with an employee of the Residential Department, I was asked, “So, what did you learn from this experience?” I felt like I was some snotty teenager being lectured after doing something naughty.
“I learned to not make hasty decisions,” I said.
“And to not get parents involved,” he added. I did not think this comment was appropriate. I was strongly recommended to “not tell my parents about such situations as this” and that “there are certain things you should not tell your parents.” I could not believe I was being told this by a Housing employee of Michigan Tech. He then followed with, “Did you know your father actually got the Dean involved…?” Of course I knew. I went on to explain my father was a passionate parent and saw his daughter stressed, frustrated and agonizing over this insignificant problem and he decided to do something about it. No father wants to see his daughter suffer. I supported everything he said and did. He cares about Michigan Tech, being an alumni and all, and hated seeing this process being so wrongly handled involving his own daughter. I was later told, “The adult thing to do would’ve been to come to me first.” It was such comments as these that made me realize I was not being treated like an adult to begin with. I felt like I was, again, being lectured like some teeny-bopper.
What I want to know is why is it so hard to get out of a housing contract when I clearly can’t afford it? And why is the Housing department being so careless? If they automatically deny every student who supposedly has zero unmet needs in finances, then how many were in my situation before? Is the Housing department really “committed to maintaining a safe, comfortable housing environment that values friendship and academic success?” If so, then why am I treated as if I am just another senseless college student and why does it not seem to be a matter that I may lose my education because of some silly misunderstanding? Though I was finally released from my contract, there was nothing in writing to solidify the decision. You would think after this grueling process that there would be some form of final agreement in writing since they drilled me for documentation in writing that proved I could not afford housing. From my understanding, we are all only dollar signs to Housing.

One enters “Profiles of African-Americans in the Keweenaw” (which opened at the Carnegie Museum, the former Portage Lake District Library building, on Feb. 12) by passing an African-texture-draped table. Curated by Kari Brown, the University’s Interim Coordinator of African-American Student Support, the exhibit shows photographs and biographies of many African-Americans currently resident in the area, everything from butchers to bakers to nanotechnologists.
Kedmon and Chipo Heungwe are originally from Zimbabwe. Kedmon is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Tech and Chipo an adjunct assistant professor in the same department. She is also the secretary of the board of the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home for abused women.
The exhibit features nanoscientist Dr. Frank Underdown and Tech’s well-known Betty Chavis, Dr. Olanewaju Aluko, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Devin Harris, the Donald F. and Rose Ann Tomasini Assistant Professor in structural engineering, and senior at BRIDGE High School Janario Johnson.
There are also biographies on Dean of Students Gloria Melton and her husband, professor emeritus and this author’s former sociology professor Willie Melton, who has had a very impressive and diverse record of scholarship over a career that included 33 years at Tech.
While the exhibit is somewhat interesting, one cannot help but think that a broader exhibit covering the largely unknown history of African-Americans in the Copper Country, of adventurers, miners and some of the earliest ice-hockey players, would provide a richer context.

It’s getting colder, the snow is falling and the pressures of school and classes are probably making you want to jump off a bridge. For some MTU students, the onset of winter and difficulties of school mean late night study sessions which, in turn, can lead to overnight parking tickets.

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One out of six women are raped in their lifetime. College aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted. Of the assaults, 70 percent occur on college campuses. These statistics, taken from RAINN, or Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, may seem dismal, but there is help.

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