University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Cv■ nient a pigeonhole. This new concern with Mike Davidson, former head of the College economics and lack of concern for politics Republicans. that has been called conservative just masks In a word, conservative. an underlying feeling that students cannot It is virtually unquestionable that the col- have any appreciable effect on the world lege student of the 1980s is far more mate- around them. So many of last year ' s pro- rialistic than his predecessors over the last tests didn ' t seem to have any lasting im- two decades. When Secretary of Education pact. William Bennett suggested a few years ago There is difference between being con- that college students are spending their stu- servative and being disillusioned. Conser- dent loan money on cars and vacations to vativism is a conscious political choice. Ft. Lauderdale, his office was deluged by True conservatives participate in the pond- post cards from students visiting Ft. Lau- cal arena, they are not apathetic. derdale stating wish you were here. Jennifer Adolph. another senior who So, it ' s not just the political attitudes that worked on Eldersveld ' s survey, noted, I are more conservative, but it ' s also the so- didn ' t see apathy as a motivating force be- cioeconomic values that have swung far to hind even a small percentage of those who I the materialistic side. Fashions popular in talked to. There ' s no excuse for ignorance, the ' 50s such as Art Deco architecture, DA though, and it was disappointing to see how hairstyles, and short hair for men are ree- many didn ' t really seem to be aware of the merging. Noted one writer in the Daily two world surrounding them. years ago, times were better before Ralph Debra Orr May. director of the Office of Nader ' s politics were out and his clothes in. Career Planning and Placement, feels that The 1986 Michigan Ensian often made students are taking courses that they feel the point that the 1980s are a time of dy- they need to and specializing in areas that namic growth and that the future is fast they feel they have to. It ' s very sad, but too rising up to meet us. The prologue quoted a few students realize that education is in- Newsweek headling as trumpeting, THE tended to teach you how to look at a world TIMES, THEY HAVE A-CHANGED. of diversity, said Orr May. The truth of the statement is evident, but In a word, conservative. when present attitudes are compared with Another voice: Our membership picks those of the 1950s and other conservative up every month because it is now the in eras, it is also clear that the times, they have thing to be a Republican, declared senior a-remained the same, too. Studying Is one of the biggest and yet least fawn:. pasttimes around campus

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This pear year was a busy one arund campus for construction shops of previous years. such as the green though Baker. a U-SI economies graduate how much economic concerns has affected bike exorcism or the Sperm Wars ' skit. student, attracted roughly 500 student vol- student ' s political attitudes. concerns, and One workshop last October in tribute to unteers to his fold, his campaign was fairly mobility, said Eldersveld. four veterans fasting in Washington, D.C. quiet on campus. Meanwhile, students also This concern with economics has earned to protest America ' s involvement in Nica- were shockingly apathetic about the go- U-M students the table: conservative. ragua failed to attract the attention of more ings-on in Iceland, where President Rea- Most of the remaining liberals bristle at than 50 students during the noon rush. gan ' s attachment to Star Wars broke up the notion of the U-M campus gone conser- Instead, the Diag was filled with Greek what might have been the most radical native. I ' ve concluded that students of to- fundraisers and car bashes, and the most arms reduction agreement ever. day still do care about more beside them- prominent voice to be heard was that of What was missing during the past year selves, but they may just express it in a longtime Diag fixture Preacher Mike. In was student involvement in issues of social different way, senior Mark Rose said, who past years, he drew crowds of amused stu- concern. Baker attempted todrawattention worked on Eldersveld ' s survey. For many dents who didn ' t take him very seriously. to Purcell ' s opinion that Social Security that I interviewed, the gap between them- Last fall, he consistently found himself sur- should be phased out. Not much student selves and the political process was so large rounded by more believers than distractors. response was heard. that they tended to withdraw themselves. What went on in the Diag was almost less Eldersveld concluded in his survey that The decisions that we have to make about incredible than what didn ' t go on. Ann Ar- over half of U-M students identify them- our future are always getting bigger and bor ' s Congressman Carl Purcell, whose of- selves as Reagan supporters, largely be- bigger. and when you have someone else out five was the site of protests in 1985 against cause they think his administration has there to decide the rat for you, it ' s easy just his support for aid to Contras forces in done a good job with the economy and in- to let someone else do it. Nicaragua, handily defeated liberal chat- creased their economic security. A closer look seems to show that the con- lager Dean Baker by 18 points. Even One of our most surprising finds was servative label is just too easy, too conve- PROLOGL I •

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