50 years ago this week (December 8, 1962): After returning from a trip to East Asia, then-University President Harlan Hatcher urged the use of English as the language of international communication, the Daily reported.
At a public reception in Hill Auditorium, Hatcher said the first objective of American universities should be keeping English as an international language. He reported the decreasing use of English in the nations he visited and cited the University’s English Language Institute in Thailand as an important project combating this trend.
His other international projects included a joint program with Waseda University in Japan that boosted Japanese business and industry, and an aid for inspection of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, according to the Daily.
25 years ago this week (December 4, 1987): Then-Vice President George H. W. Bush visited Oakland and urged Michigan Senate Republicans to ratify the intermediate nuclear arms treaty that was to be signed by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the Daily reported.
At an “Ask George Bush Town Meeting,” Bush addressed about 300 people on the elimination of weapons, urging attendees to demonstrate their support.
“We’re about to get a deal where the Soviets take out all 1,600 (weapons) and we take out our 400, and for the first time in history eliminate a whole class of weapons,” he said.
5 years ago this week (December 6, 2007): A campaign organized by the national anti-genocide student organization STAND encouraged students to give up one luxury item from their daily lives to help protect displaced Sudanese civilians in Darfur, according to the Daily.
Instead of buying her daily latte, LSA senior Alice Mishkin chose to give $3 to victims of the genocide in Darfur.
“If you only spend $3, then you could protect a woman in Darfur for a day — that’s pretty ridiculous,” said LSA freshman Joe Pieroni.
The University’s chapter of STAND raised about $500 from button sales and donations. In addition to money and goods, students donated their time to raise awareness about the Darfur issue. Hopes were high for the effort, as about 300 universities participated in the national STAND organization the prior year, raising $150,000.