The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, October17, 2013 - 5A

ENROLLMENT
From Page lA
policy. The University said diver-
sity remains a priority despite
the state's ban on the race- and
gender-conscious admission pro-
cesses.
Ted Spencer, associate vice
provost and executive director of
undergraduate admissions, said
the admissions process analyses
how students will contribute to
and preserve the University com-
munity. The University takes a
"holistic approach" when con-
sidering applicants, taking into
account test scores, high-school
grade-point average, leadership
and application essays.
"We want to hear their voice,"
Spencer said. "We're looking for a
story, not a paper."
Over the past few years, Spen-
cer said each class has improved
from the last. He added that
although he says it at every fresh-
man convocation each year, this
year's class "is, once again, the
strongest class admitted to the
University of Michigan overall."
Spencer said the state's affir-
mative action ban put restrictions
on how admissions can ensure
they select a diverse class, but the
University has made efforts to
let students around the country
know that the school is open to
their applications.
"Racial and ethnic diversity is
very important to us," Spencer
said. "Due to the ban, we have
not been able to continue to grow,
r but we've been doing everything
we can across the country to say
that the University is identifying
students of all backgrounds and
doing the best we can to let them
know Michigan welcomes them

and can provide a good educa-
tion."
Spencer added that the Uni-
versity understands that a diverse
environment allows students to
learn better, as it reflects more of
a real-life situation.
LSA junior Sarah Ballew, co-
chair of the Native American
Student Association, said she
was unimpressed with the slight
increase in minority student
enrollment this year. Although
affirmative action is banned,
Ballew said the University should
reach out more to minority
groups, as Spencer says they try
to do.
"Coming to such a prominent
University, diversity is so impor-
tant because, you really need to,
have the perspectives of many
different people," Ballew said. "It
creates an enriched student life
curriculum, and what it really
boils down to is having represen-
tation and having minorities in
the academic setting helps learn-
ing."
As tuition rates increase each
year in part due to dwindling
state appropriation, the number
of non-resident students enrolled
has gone up as well.
Overall, the University hosts
21,947 in-state students, 15,704
out-of-state students and 6,059
international students, approxi-
mately 50 percent, 36 percent and
14 percent respectively.
For the 2012-2013 academic
year, there was a total of 43,426
students enrolled: 51 percent in-
state, 35 percent out-of-state and
14 percent international students.
This year, non-resident under-
classmen pay a total of $53,490
per semester at the University,
while lower division resident stu-
'dents pay $26,240 each semester.
While the University ensures full

need-based financial aid is met
for residents, University Provost
Martha Pollack said in March
that the University hopes to even-
tuallymeet full need-based finan-
cial aid for non-resident students
as well.
This aid will be supplemented
by a record amount of financial
aid from. the University, which
is dedicating $161.2 million for
undergraduate and graduate
need-based financial aid, and
increase of $16.4 million from last
year. The University's upcoming
capital campaign - set to launch
Nov. 8 - has a $1-billion goal for
student support to be raised over
the next few years.
As housing renovations con-
tinue with South Quad and, next
year, West Quad, University
Housing works closely with the
office of admissions to ensure
that each freshman has guaran-
teed housing.
University Housing spokes-
man Peter Logan said the hous-
ing renovations have challenged
University housing to get creative
with their layouts pending the
growing student body. To accom-
modate freshmen, the housing
staff bases the number of spaces
to make available for freshmen
off of projections made by the
Office of Admissions.
With renovations underway,
the housing staff has converted
former common study spaces into
bedrooms that can fit two to four
students and has made North-
wood III apartments a "first-year
living community" - meaning
a residence reserved solely for
freshman.
This year, 5,330 freshmen,
2,643 sophomores, 878 juniors,
466 seniors an4 1,270 graduate
students live in University hous-
ing.

FOOD
From Page 1A
ing food at least a little."
Since there are no regulations
managing food sold through the
app, the LeftoverSwap website
TECHNOLOGY
From Page 1A
in the world of creative work to
speak and present at the Michi-
gan Theater.
"The work that they're doing,
it's not what people traditionally
think of as art," Hamilton said.
"But at the same time, as artists,
one of their jobs is looking for-
ward."
Iaconesi and Persico cre-
ate projects that combine art,
technology and politics to
force people to consider how
their individuality and privacy
is impacted by the inherently
anonymous, intrusive nature of
technology.
"They're able to, through
their work, bring to society the
opportunity to have a dialogue
and see what the potentials are
for what's going on," Hamilton
said.
A way in which Iaconesi and
Persico create such dialogues
is by using unwitting people as
subjects for their art.
One project, titled "Incau-
tious Porn," is a mock form of
blackmail. Iaconesi and Persico

urges users to be cautious and
use common sense when making
purchases.
Newman cites his time at the
University as having influenced
the creation of LeftoverSwap.
"There was one class that
stood out for me in the Business
school," Newman said. "It taught
set up a fake company that takes
phone numbers left in comments
on porn websites, and generates
paintings out of them. Members
of the public are told that they
have to pay $10 to check if they
are in this company's database,
$50 to buy the painting with
their phone number and $1,000
to remove themselves from the
database.
The whole enterprise is a con-
trolled experiment - Iaconesi
and Persico don't actually keep
the phone numbers. If some-
one buys "their" painting, they
receive a painting with the origi-
nal comment, but with Iaconesi's
phone number, and the money
they paid goes toward research.
If someone sends in $1,000 to get
their information removed, they
receive a full refund and a how-
to guide for internet privacy.
The questions that Art is
Open Source raises are quite
prescient, and not just because
of the current media attention
on the NSA and government sur-
veillance. Two weeks ago, David
Segal of The New York Times
profiled the rise of websites
that post mugshots and demand
money in return for the mugshot
being taken down.

us to effect positive change in the
world, which is something that
really inspired me."
LeftoverSwap is currently
only available on Apple iOS
devices. Newman hopes to devel-
op an Android and web version
soon but does not have a launch
date.
"It's probably overdue to have
the dialogue that they're bring-
ing to the table," Hamilton said.
But Art is Open Source isn't
just limited to projects like this.
Iaconesi is a brain cancer sur-
vivor who, upon receiving his
diagnosis, posted his medical
records online for others to com-
ment on.
" 'Whenyou have somethingas
serious as cancer, your life disap-
pears and you are replaced by a
disease," Iaconesi said in a June
2013 TEDGlobal talk this year.
He eventually received over
500,000 responses from TED,
ranging from neuroscientists
recommending treatments to
someone sending him a sculp-
ture of his tumor.
Art is Open Source is about
this sort of dialogue, where peo-
ple come together and discuss
the pros and cons of what has
become a dominant part of their
daily lives.
"All of a sudden, you have to
start thinking about what the
effect of this (technology) is, and
what are the possible outcomes,
instead of blindly marching
forth," Hamilton said, "which
in society is what we've kind of
been doing so far."

Laos plane crash results in
49 deaths, no survivors


ARTISTS
From Page 1A
that through Stamp Nation."
Stamp Nation meets every
Monday night in the CFC Lounge
in the Shapiro Undergraduate
Library. The group said they
would like to have concerts every
two weeks in the Diag but might
be looking for an indoor venue for
colder weather.
Business senior Josh Ross,
along with Sivakumar, helped
Hashwi put together the club
with the goal of helping bands
realize the resources available
on campus. Ross said the club is
looking to continue with Diag
performances as well as concerts
on a bigger level, possibly at Rack-
ham Auditorium, where students
could buy tickets ahead of time.
In addition to hosting perfor-
mances, such as a battle of the
bands,the club is also lookinginto
providing workshops to teach stu-
dents how to play instruments, as
there are no resources currently
on campus for non-music majors.
"(We would like to) partner

with other musicians. If they
want to throw a concert, we can,
help promote the show," Ross
said. "We want to do anything
where we can get musicians
together."
Business junior Brandon Can-
niff is a hip-hop songwriter and
performer who is hoping to tour
after earning his degree in music
business. He recently joined the
club and said it has been a great
place to meet other artists and
work together on performances.
"Eventually, we would want to
tune up with restaurants, bars,
etc. and find people who would
take our roster of musicians, who
we've tested, know that are good
and please the crowd, and really
do a show here," says Ross.
Though the concert did not
attract masses of students, many
students were aware of the per-
formance as they passed by.While
some only turned their heads and'
others took a quick video or pic-
ture, only a few paused to listen
for a couple of minutes.
LSA junior Danielle Strom was
listening to the concert while
waiting for a friend.
"I like that you can enjoy it if

you want, but you aren't forced
to," she said.
LSA freshman Megan Gizzi
wished she knew more about
when and where the performanc-
es were. ,
"I love listening to live music
but I had never heard of the club
until tonight," Gizzi said.
By the end of the night, what
was originally a quickly passing
audience had evolved into a small
group of students gathered in the
Diag, with some even clapping,
dancing and cheering on the per-
formers.
Ross said he feels passionately
about Stamp Nation creating the
right kind of environment for the
students.
"We want to be a place where
people can feel safe and chill (so)
that they can share their music
and share themselves. This is a
place where you can find people
like you, who share your passion
for music."
-Daily Staff Reporter Amrutha
Sivakumar was not involved
in the writing or editing of this
article due to her involvement
with Stamp Nation.

Crash was a result
of bad weather,
government said
BANGKOK (AP) - A plane
from Laos' state-run airline
crashed in bad weather in the
Southeast Asian nation, appar-
ently killing 49 people from 11
countries, the government said.
The Lao government said it
was dispatching rescuers to the
scene of Wednesday's crash,
but the Australian government
said it was told no survivors
were expected.
The Ministry of Public
Works and Transport, which
operates Lao Airlines, said 44
passengers and five crew mem-
bers were on Flight QV301 from
the capital, Vientiane, to Pakse
in the country's south. Earlier
reports had 39 passengers.
"Upon preparing to land
at Pakse Airport the aircraft
ran into extreme bad weather
conditions and was report-
edly crashed into the Mekong
River," the ministry said in a
statement.
The airline flies an ATR
72-600 twin-engine turboprop
plane on the 467-kilometer
(290-mile) route. French maker
ATR said the plane that crashed
had been delivered in March.
The aircraft is configured with

68-74 seats, it said.
Thai Foreign Ministry
spokesman Sek Wannamethee
said his country's embassy in
Vientiane was informed that
the plane crashed 7-8 kilome-
ters (4-5 miles) from the airport
at Pakse.
A passenger manifest faxed
by the airline listed 44 peo-
ple: 17 Lao, seven French, five
Australians, five Thais, three
Koreans, two Vietnamese and
one person each from Cana-
da, China, Malaysia, Taiwan
and the United States. Kore-
an, French and Thai officials
confirmed the totals for their
nationalities.
Australia's Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade said
six Australians were on board,
a discrepancy that couldn't
immediately be reconciled. Rel-
atives released a photo of Gavin
and Phoumalaysy Rhodes and
their two young children. The
government said the other two
Australians were an aid worker
based in Laos and his father.
The Lao government said
the airline "is taking all neces-
sary steps to coordinate and
dispatch all rescue units to the
accident site in the hope of find-
ing survivors."
However, the Australian
foreign affairs statement said,
"Lao authorities have told our
embassy in Vientiane they do

not expect any survivors."
The Lao transport minis-
try statement said the crash
is being investigated and the
airline hoped to announce its
findings on Thursday. A Vao
Airlines employee contacted
by phone at Vientiane's Wattay
airport said a news conference
would be held Thursday.
ATR issued a statement from
its headquarters in Toulouse,
,France, declaring that it will
fully assist the investigation. It
said the Lao Airlines plane had
been delivered from the pro-
duction line in March this year.
year' ago when Friedman sug-
gested they refile it to target the
gay marriage ban.
During the hearing, co-
counsel Carole Stanyar argued
that the Michigan marriage
amendment "enshrines" dis-
crimination. She said U.S. his-
tory has at times revealed a lack
of humanity, "but at times we
right ourselves ... and reaffirm
the principle that there are no
second-class citizens."
Christine Weick drove 175
miles from Hopkins in western
Michigan to hold a sign that said
God opposes gay marriage. She
stood outside the courthouse
but across the street from a few
dozen gay marriage supporters.
"I said, 'Lord, what if I'm the
only one out here?' And look, I'm
the only one here," Weick said.


STEM
From Page 1A
petitive grant program available
to organizations that provide
classroom or extracurricular
STEM programs for students,
from pre-kindergarten to the
college level across the state.
Though criteria for these
competitive grants have not
yet been determined, Barbara
Bolin, executive director of
STEM Partnership, said the
grants will be awarded to pro-
grams that create project-based
learning activities that involve
the students in applying class-
room knowledge.
STEM proponents say they
are placing a heavy emphasis on
project-based learning because
students tend to learn best when
they apply their knowledge in
real-world contexts.
Zemke said he believes the
hands-on, project-based learn-
ing inherent in STEM education
will make students more enthu-
siastic about school.

"Kids get really excited about
technical stuff when they actu-
ally get to put their hands on it
and can connect the dots with
an instructor," he said.
Bolin sees STEM's active
approach to learning as a better
alternative to traditional meth-
ods.
"Sitting (students) in class-
rooms and lecturing to them
and working exercise after exer-
cise from a textbook have not
been very effective, and conse-
quently students become disen-
gaged - they don't see the point
of what they're being asked to
learn," she said.
Bolin and Zemke said grant
money could be awarded to
iniaitives like the High School
Enterprise Program, in which
a team of students operate as
and deal with practical matters
of a company; the A World In
Motion program, which incor-
porates the laws of physics,
motion, flight and electronics
into hands-on activities; as well
as technical competition teams,
such as the University's Solar
Car team.

Zemke said he's concerned
with the state's significant
shortage of engineers. In addi-
tion to improving engagement
with young students, STEM
education is essential to the
health of Michigan's manufac-
turing-driven economy, he said.
While explicit budgetary
commitments to STEM educa-
tion are more recent, Michigan
has long placed an emphasis on
math and science as it estab-
lished the Mathematics and Sci-
ence Centers Program in 1988.
According to its website, it has
since grown to a network of 33
regional centers that "provide
leadership, curriculum support,
professional -evelopment, and
student services to educators."
The $375,000 grant to the
STEM Partnership comes as
part of a $500,000 budget
increase to the science and math
center budget for fiscal year
2014, and a 3-percent increase
to the overall education budget.
Zemke said, "If we want suc-
cessful students to come out of
our public education system, we
need to help all levels."

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