The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, April 18, 2014 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Doctor found
guilty of 34 crimes
A Detroit-area doctor who
would see more than 100 patients
a day at his Hamtramck clinic has
been convicted of 34 crimes, from
fraud to illegal drug distribution.
It was a slam-dunk for federal
prosecutors Thursday as Dr. Basil
Qandil was found guilty of all
charges. Qandil was accused of
writing prescriptions for drugs
that would be sold on the streets.
In turn, he would bill Medicare
and Medicaid.
The government says he would
write prescriptions for an entire
family when only one member of
the family was in the clinic. Lines
would form at 8 a.m. and block
entry to a bank next door.
CHICAGO
Man homesick for
prison robs bank
to make a return
An ex-con who spent most of
his adult life in behind bars on
Thursday got what he said he
wanted for robbing a suburban
Chicago bank. The 74-year-old
gets to go back to the place he
called home - prison.
Telling Walter Unbehaun he
frightened a teller by showing
her a revolver tucked in his pants
during the 2013 heist, a federal
judge imposed a 3 1/2 year prison
sentence, citing the man's lengthy
rap sheet that includes crimes
from home invasion to kidnap-
ping.
"This is not the firsttime you've
inspired fear," Judge Sharon
Johnson Coleman said, repeat-
edly scolding the high-school
dropout and part-time bathtub
repairman.
As he had on the day he robbed
the bank, Unbehaun gripped a
cane as he hobbled to the podium
to make a brief statement. He
didn't withdraw his wish to go to
prison, though he said, "I don't
wantto die in prison."
DENVER
Judge questions
Oklahoma's gay
marriage ban
A judge in Colorado who
will play a pivotal role deciding
whether gays should be allowed
to wed in the United States asked
pointed questions Thursday
about whether Oklahoma can
legally ban the unions.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jerome
Holmes is seen as the swing vote
on the three-judge panel that
heard the Oklahoma appeal and a
similar case from Utah last week.
The two cases are the first to
reach an appellate court since
the U.S. Supreme Court last year
struck down the federal Defense
of Marriage Act. Since then, gay
rights lawyers have successfully
convinced eight federal judges
that the ruling means courts must
strike down laws against gay mar-
riage because they deprive same-
sex couples of a fundamental
right. .
UNITED NATIONS
United Nations
Security Council
talks North Korea
The head of the commis-
sion of inquiry that accused
North Korea of crimes against
humanity told the U.N. Secu-
rity Council on Thursday that
it must take action against
"a totalitarian state without
parallel in the contemporary
world," and he told reporters
that most council members
"expressly said" the matter
should be referred to the Inter-
national Criminal Court.
It was the first time the
council had met to discuss the
unprecedented U.N. report that
contains graphic details and an
urgent call to action. The infor-
mal meeting comes as members
of the commission push for its
findings to be formally referred
to the council and the ICC.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
PROPPE
From Page 1
first resolution passed by the
CSG assembly this school year
- was a call for student input
in future ticketing policies,
which was ultimately success-
ful in March when the Athletic
Department scrapped general
admission seating.
In an e-mail interview, Hunter
Lochmann, Athletic Department
chief marketing officer, said
working with Proppe and Dishell
to reform the seating policies
established the importance of
having a student voice contribute
to administrative decisions.
"Michael and Bobby have
been great partners throughout
the entire student ticketing pro-
cesses, both for football and for
basketball," he wrote. "They've
worked hard to represent and
communicate the students' best
interests and have been a good
sounding board for us in Ath-
letics. I appreciate the positive
relationship they have formed
between CSG and Athletics
going forward."
Proppe said increasing the
power ofstudents on campus was
consistently a goal of his, and the
CSG assembly's, throughout the
year.
When the University's Board
of Regents decided not to pro-
vide any student representatives
a seat on the presidential search
committee, Proppe and the CSG
assembly created a poll to ask the
student body what they hoped
to see from their new University
president. CSG submitted these
results to the regents' search
committee.
Additionally, he and Law stu-
dent Jeremy Keeney, CSG stu-
dent general counsel, introduced
a resolution to the assembly ask-
ing for increased student over-
sight of the Statement of Rights
and Responsibilities. The cur-
rent hierarchy allows the Office
of Student Conflict Resolution
and faculty to submit proposed
amendments to the statement
directly to the Student Relations
Advisory Committee without
consulting CSG first. The reso-
lution, which passed in Janu-
ary, would have made CSG input
mandatory. However, SRAC
struck it down.
Proppe's goal to promote stu-
dents was also evident in the
$10,000 CSG assembly contri-
bution to MUSIC Matters' end-
of-year event, SpringFest. This
year, LSA senior Phil Schermer,
MUSIC Matters president, said
SpringFest said the duo "active
supporters" of MUSIC Matters'
goals to elevate the student body
as a whole.
"CSG's role is to hear what stu-
dents want to do and help make it
happen," Schermer said. "We've
had a fantastic relationship with
that entire team."
While student voice was a
priority of Proppe's, there were
times this year when students
felt silenced rather than support-
ed. Though the CSG assembly
did pass resolutions in support
of the Black Student Union and
its #BBUM movement, it had a
more difficult relationship with
Students Allied for Freedom and
Equality, a pro-Palestinian stu-
dent organization that called for
the investigation of companies
allegedly complicit in human
rights violations in Palestine.
The CSG assembly initially
voted to indefinitely postpone
a full vote on a SAFE resolu-
tion asking for CSG's support in
divesting from these companies
in March. The assembly ulti-
mately voted down the resolu-
tion atits next meeting.
At the time of the indefinite
postponement, LSA senior Suha
Najjar, a member of SAFE, said
ignoring the resolution posed a
limitation on students' speech.
"What happened on this cam-
pus should never happen," she
said in a March interview with
The Michigan Daily. "What
we're hopingis to send a message
that we're the student body and
you need to listen to us."
Proppe said SAFE's subse-
quent sit-in set an important
precedent for CSG in the future.
"We spend alot of time talking
about the importance of the stu-
dent voice, and for us to do that
with legitimacy we have to make
sure that we are fully listening to
the voices of students."
"I think, moving forward,
you're not going to see CSG
indefinitely postponing resolu-
tions that students bring for-
ward," he added. "If students or
student groups put all the time
into bringing forth a resolution,
that resolution deserves a vote,
'yes' or 'no.'
Proppe said others accused
CSG of placing too much prior-
ity on the Athletic Department,
whereas diversity fell by the
wayside. He said significant bud-
get cuts may have made it seem
that CSG was less focused on
student organizations - but this
is not the case.
The assembly's strongest
strides for diversity and equality
on campus, he said, were CSG's
work in tandem with the BSU,
resolutions in support of tuition
equality and efforts bolster-
ing more University outreach
in underprivileged communi-
ties - which are also reflected in
Dishell's desired reforms as CSG
president.
Ultimately, Proppe said he
understands that not everyone
can be happy with what was
accomplished during his tenure
as president. He said there is
always more to be done.
"I think that we really dem-
onstrated this year that when
students and administrators are
working together, there are just
much better outcomes for the
University as a whole," he said. "I
hope this has really been a learn-
ing year for the University com-
munity."
STUDENTS
From Page 1
economic growth and collabora-
tion, but following a 2011 grant
from a private foundation, it
began pursuing ways to retain
international talent.
Today, the University's
involvement in the URC rep-
resents its main connection to
the statewide immigrant talent-
retention movement.
On a statewide level, the URC
works to promote international-
student-friendly hiring prac-
tices and make the state more
attractive to potential inter-
national students. On campus,
students often interact with the
URC through the Global Talent
Retention Initiative of Michi-
gan, a program founded in 2011
with which the URC has col-
laborated for the past several
years. GTRI works to encourage
and aid students in staying in the
state after graduation.
GTRI Director Athena Tren-
tin said the initiative's impor-
tance lies in complementing
the services already provided
at universities to better connect
international students to jobs in
Michigan.
"International offices do not
do career services," Trentin said.
"Career offices generally don't
have staff who have the cultural
knowledge to help international
students understand how to
sell themselves in a much more
individualistic setting. So what
we can do is we can come in and
bring that cultural component
in, and we can bridge the inter-
national and the career office."
Trentin added that as GTRI
has developed over time, the
University has been a key part-
ner in its success.
Mason said for all three
schools in the URC, the main
DEANSHIPS
From Page 1
in the Political Science depart-
ment.
Martin was among a pool of
international candidates that
the University was vetting for
the position. University Provost
Martha Pollack said his aca-
demic resume and collaborative
skills made his external back-
ground easier to ignore.
"There was a predisposition
amongst a lot of the LSA faculty
to say, 'We don't want someone
from the outside'," Pollack said.
"But when they met Martin,
there was very positive feedback
about him. I think he'll fit in
wonderfully."
On the cusp of a presidential
transition, a number of admin-
istrators have been leaving for
other schools or stepping down
from their roles to engage in
other pursuits, and the Univer-
sity is trending toward replacing
them with faculty from other
universities instead of promot-
ing current faculty.
At the University, deans
propose the budgets for their
academic units and play a signif-
icant role in setting a vision and
culture in the schools and at the
University at large. Deanships
have also been stepping stones
to other University leadership
positions. Before becoming pro-
vost, Pollack was dean of the
School of Information.
Still, McDonald was quick to
warn about viewing such hiring
as along-term trend.
benefit comes from being able
to help enrich the broader state
community.
"I think the whole idea of
having a more educated, skilled
individuals coming out of our
universities and staying in the
state helps to grow the economy,
and that benefits the universi-
ties in terms of having a more
vibrant economy - a growing
economy - here in the state,"
Mason said.
Cynthia Wilbanks, the Uni-
versity's vice president for
government relations, said
the University is also invested
because of the high potential of
students.
"The University is interest-
ed in supporting international
students and their aspirations
because we know we recruit
some of the best and the bright-
est to come to the University,"
Wilbanks said. "If they are inter-
ested in and have the desire to
remain in the state and contrib-
ute to the state's economy in a
variety of ways, I think the Uni-
versity is all for it."
The effects of all these initia-
tives are still unclear because
the programs are still young.
Since 2011, the number of inter-
national students on OPT has
risen by almost 400, but that
increase could also be tied to a
general increase in the number
of international students at the
University, and it is unclear what
state these students are in past
graduation.
Mason said he thinks the
effects of these efforts are start-
ing to become visible both at the
University and in the state.
"I think there's more to
come," Mason said. "It's kind of
the snowball effect. More com-
panies are becoming familiar
and aware of hiring internation-
al students, and I think that will
bode well for the future."
"It's very hard to say that
there is a trend in these things
because you're working with a
certain pool, and so every dean
search is run by a search com-
mittee," McDonald said. "There
may be times when there's a lot
of internal people, and there
may be time when there's a lot
of external people, but I find
that to be more connected to
the components of the pool than
to some kind of trend you know
for example, the provost and the
president decided we should get
more outside deans."
Out of the current deans,
including Dalton and Martin,
10 were external candidates and
nine were internal hires. Seven
of the 12 appointments since
2008 were selected from outside
institutions.
For comparison, former Uni-
versity President James Duder-
stadt, who served from 1988 to
1996, said 13 were inside hires
and three were from the outside.
Additionally, Duderstadt said
seven more deans will approach
the end of their 10-year tenure
by the end of 2017.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily Thursday, Mar-
tin said he was confident that he
would find his footing.
"This is a very, very compli-
cated University," Martin said.
"LSA is a very complicated and
large school. So it will take me
some time to get up to speed
and learn the organization. One
of the things I'm very grate-
ful for is the terrific group of
people in LSA now who will be
helping me through this transi-
tion process.
LEARNING
From Page 1
educational techniques. While
the results of this research are
available to educators, there is
a gap~between knowledge of"
the best educational techniques
and the practices actually used
in introductory STEM classes.
"A typical instructor at the
University gets their job on
the faculty for being an excel-
lent researcher and by being
an excellent researcher," said
Physics Prof. Timothy McKay,
principal investigator for
REBUILD. "So they build a
career that's largely focused
on research until the point that
they become a faculty member.
And then, all of a sudden, they
become a person who's also
going to teach. And very little
formal training usually goes
into teaching."
To address this gap, the pro-
gram will bring together 12 fac-
ulty members from across the
departments of biology, chem-
istry, math and physics who
will meet for at least one and
a half hours once every other
week for the next three years.
These faculty members will
study the current literature on
STEM education, becoming
experts on the subject. They
will then share their findings
with the different departments
during the departments' col-
loquia - weekly meetings in
which all members are present
to learn about and discuss cer-
tain topics.
STEM education is becoming
increasingly important in the
United States and approximate-
ly 40 to 60 percent of prospec-
tive STEM majors drop their
degree program and select a
different major before gradua-
tion. While some of this change
is normal, one major goal of
REBUILD will be to stop the
flow of science and math stu-
dents leaving their majors just
because of the difficulty or
unpleasantness of the intro-
ductory courses.
McKay said that this effort is
an important one for the future
of the University and the future
of education.
"I have this feeling that this
is my one shot in my career to
change something of this scale.
We're down for three years for
sure; it might take five. But if
we don't make it move now, I'm
not going to see it move. Ever,"
McKay said.
The main goal of the program
is to build a culture of change
and innovation in education
across the science and math
departments at the University.
Educators would be expected to
have the time, tools and effort
to use educational techniques
proven by research to be effec-
tive.
The core faculty of the
REBUILD program are still
doing preliminary research and
getting a lay of the land in their
departments before instituting
any big changes.
"How is it being taught? How
is it being learned and how is
it being tested? We have just
started focus groups of students
to address question #2. We plan
to address questions #1 and #2
over the summer," Associate
Chemistry Prof. Anne McNeil
wrote in an e-mail interview.
Changes will likely begin
gradually and grow over time.
Eventually, REBUILD could
alter current introductory sci-
ence courses into almost unrec-
ognizable -versions of their
current forms.
One major alteration could
be changing many courses into
"flipped" classrooms. In this
model, students would teach
themselves a majority of the
material outside of the class-
room using textbooks, video
lectures and other tools. Class
time would then involve teams
of students doing problem
sets, practice exams and other
active-learning components
with the class instructor, GSIs
and undergraduate teaching
assistants walking around to
help.
McKay lauded this type of
learning, saying that it works
especially well because it allows
undergraduates and GSIs to get
more teaching experience. He
added that if the system works,
students should not be spending
any more time on their educa-
tion than they are currently,
due to the reduced need for self-
teaching from lecture slides and
office hours after nearly use-
less lectures. He also said there
would need to be some sort of
increased faculty investment,
whether through hiring new
faculty or greater time invest-
ment by current faculty.
The REBUILD program
began in January 2014 and the
first major changes to courses
could occur as early as this
fall.
DIAG
From Page 1
want our space to look empty."
Additional ideas under consid-
eration include the installation of
a sandlot volleyball court, "play-
ground" items and, in the winter, an
ice-skating rink and computer con-
trolledcoloredlightingMunsonsaid.
"We expect to create things for
studentsato do on the North Campus
Diagandtohavesomeplacethatwill
generateactivity,"Munsonsaid.
Taubman Prof. Douglas Kel-
baugh, former dean of the Taub-
man College of Architecture
and Urban Planning, wrote in
an e-mail interview that the
new trees, walkways, benches
and lighting will create a more
human-scaled and lively center
for students, with the amphi-
theater facilitating informal and
organized outdoor activities.
Kelbaugh said the space
between buildings is often just as
important as the actualstructures.
"The North Campus has always
had an inferiority complex vis-
a-vis the Central Campus," he
wrote. "Conceived and designed
as a suburban campus, it has less
of a vibrant, walkable ambience
and pedestrian vitality, which is
often what graduates most fondly
remember of their student days.
Unlike Central Campus, there
are few outdoor rooms - the leafy
quadrangles, courtyards, and
promenades defined by buildings
that are delightful, comfortable
outdoor environments."
Munson said the funding is
going toward a project that will
benefit all of campus.
"We have alot of buildings that
face the Diag and we felt strongly
enough we decided we would do
the fundraising," Munson said.
The project will be funded
through gifts and College of Engi-
neering resources. The College of
Engineeringexpects thatthe proj-
ect will be paid back for by addi-
tional gifts from donors over time.
The project will result in a
temporary loss of some parking
spaces, but there will be no per-
manent impact on parking. The
project will also create 27 on-site
construction jobs.
School of Art and Design
freshman Olivia Moore said the
North Campus Diag is currently a
place she uses very rarely.
"If there was more to do in that
area I think it would build a bet-
ter sense of community between
all the schools and students on
North Campus," Moore said.
BORED
DURING
CLASS ?
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