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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
RITA MORRIS/Daily
LSA sophomore Matt Lawford plays ice hockey on a frozen-over mud pit Monday outside Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
AF TE RNOON SK ATE
SACUA meets
with ‘U’ provost
to discuss engaged
learning, access
By CARLY NOAH
Daily Staff Reporter
University
Provost
Martha
Pollack joined the Senate Assem-
bly during their meeting Monday
to discuss several University pri-
orities, including access and digi-
tal education. The Assembly also
passed a resolution discouraging
faculty from signing confidential-
ity agreements when serving on
University committees.
During her presentation, Pol-
lack highlighted four areas of
focus: innovation in teaching and
learning techniques, pursuit of
bold research projects, fostering
a diverse and inclusive campus
and ensuring the affordability of
a University education.
At a time when new technol-
ogy is making education formats
more widely available and open,
Pollack said the University is also
thinking about the kind of learn-
ing experiences that will prove
most relevant as students enter
careers post-graduation.
“If your world is uncertain and
ambiguous, you need the ability
to take risks,” Pollack said. “You
don’t learn that by being lectured
to. If the world is complex, you
need to be able to synthesize vari-
ous complex ideas.”
Though online tools can often
diversify the learning experience,
Pollack said online education
tools would not erode the value of
face-to-face education.
Apart from digital and engaged
learning, Pollack also discussed
the importance of diversity and
inclusion at the University, not-
ing one of the institution’s largest
challenges remains increasing
the enrollment of under-repre-
sented minority students.
In the last year, students have
called on the University to address
issues of diversity and inclusion,
most prominently as part of the
Being Black at the University of
Michigan campaign lead by the
University’s Black Student Union.
In December, University Presi-
dent Mark Schlissel announced
he would release a campus-wide
Six Greek
chapters
suspended
for damage
Student leaders
release statement
condemning ski
resort vandalism
By ANASTASSIOS
ADAMOPOULOS
Daily Staff Reporter
After
several
University
Greek life chapters reportedly
caused damage at two Michigan
ski resorts, six Greek life chap-
ters reportedly involved — the
University’s chapters of Sigma
Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Tau, Pi
Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, Chi Psi
and Delta Gamma — have now
been suspended by their national
chapters, according to a Univer-
sity release.
The Sigma Alpha Mu chap-
ter, which stayed at the Tree-
tops Resort with members from
Sigma Delta Tau, was suspended
last week by their national orga-
nization.
In a statement released Sat-
urday, three student leaders
published an open letter apolo-
gizing for the events and promis-
ing action to hold those involved
accountable.
CSG President Bobby Dishell,
a Public Policy junior; Interfra-
ternity Council President Alex
Krupiak, an LSA senior; and
Panhellenic Association Presi-
dent Maddy Walsh, a Business
junior, authored the letter to
apologize for the behavior of
these organizations.
“This terrible incident has
been widely publicized across
the nation, and rightly so: it was
an act of shocking disrespect,”
the letter said. “We, as leaders
and Greeks at the University of
Michigan, do not tolerate these
kinds of acts, nor do we let such
behavior fall under the radar.
We intend to handle this situa-
tion with the utmost efficiency,
and we will ensure that those
responsible for the damage to the
properties will be held account-
able throughout this process.”
The two resorts that suf-
CAMPUS LIFE
RITA MORRIS/Daily
University Provost Martha Pollack speaks about digital education initiatives at a Senate Assembly meeting in Palmer Commons Monday afternoon.
See SUSPENSION, Page 3
See SACUA, Page 3
Access to student
information could
fuel improved
learning analytics
By CARLY NOAH
Daily Staff Reporter
The University is exploring
innovative methods to use exist-
ing data to improve teaching and
learning techniques.
Though the University cur-
rently retains student data, such
as course grades, some officials
argue the information should
be more accessible to research-
ers and professors, who can in
turn use it to improve the student
experience inside the classroom.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, James Hilton,
vice provost for digital education
and innovation, said he is working
with an informal group to draft a
Standard Practice Guide policy to
govern the use of collected data.
“We’ve been discussing the
issues and principles involved
and we’re in the process of draft-
ing an SPG, which would actually
be the policy,” Hilton said. “Once
we have that drafted, we will re-
shop it to get feedback on it to
make sure everyone has a voice.”
Hilton said the SPG would
largely focus on institutionaliz-
ing the process for accessing the
data and opening up access for
researchers to see sets of infor-
mation already collected by the
University.
“How would you go about
gaining access to data to see, for
example, whether or not there’s a
correlation between the sequenc-
es of courses people take and
their success in those courses,”
Hilton said. “Those are two dif-
ferent data sets right now.”
Because the SPG only exists as
a draft, Hilton said he could not
provide specific policies that may
govern the use of student data.
However, he added that the Uni-
versity collects data in a similar
way that commercial websites
analyze online behavior and use
it to customize an Internet user’s
online experience.
“But what if, instead of using
analytics to deliver advertise-
ments, we use the same data-
intensive approach to deliver
learning objects, tips and assis-
tance at just the right time as you
go through the semester?” he
said.
Hilton pointed to eCoach, a
classroom data collection pro-
gram that uses information col-
lected from previous students’
responses to provide customized
feedback to current students, as
an example of how student data
collection benefits both students
and educators. Many large intro-
ductory STEM classes already
use the program.
Currently, students who decide
to participate in eCoach’s data
collection complete a survey at
the beginning of the semester
that asks them a variety of ques-
tions about their expectations for
the course.
Researchers
identify pathway
that monitors blood
sugar levels
By KATIE PENROD
Daily Staff Reporter
Researchers from the Unit-
ed Kingdom and the Michigan
Comprehensive Diabetes Center
have identified the brain cells
wired to detect glucose levels —
a discovery which could improve
how patients and doctors man-
age diabetes.
Martin Myers, a researcher
at the Comprehensive Diabetes
Center and an associate profes-
sor of Internal Medicine and
molecular and integrative physi-
ology, said people with type 1
diabetes cannot produce insulin
and must keep their blood sugar
as close to normal as possible.
People with diabetes, particu-
larly type 1, have to constantly
manage their blood sugar levels.
But when participating in inten-
sive insulin therapy, people run
a high risk of receiving too much
insulin — a problem that can
result in decreased blood sugar
levels.
After three years of research,
the scientists recently found a
brain pathway that produces
cholecystokinin, or CCK, a brain
hormone that can detect blood
glucose levels.
Myers said researchers are
now studying neurons in the
Pollack talks importance
of a diverse student body
HEALTH
See DIABETES, Page 3
ACADEMICS
Awaiting organ
transplant,
man receives
innovative device
By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT
Daily Staff Reporter
For a man without his heart,
Stan Larkin is in good spirits.
The
University’s
Samuel
and Jean Frankel Cardiovas-
cular Center recently pro-
vided 24-year-old Stan Larkin
with a SynCardia temporary
Total Artificial Heart that has
allowed him to return home
while waiting for a regular
heart transplant.
Larkin
has
biventricular
heart failure, meaning his ven-
tricles cannot effectively pump
blood to his organs and has
suffered from multiple heart
failures and arrhythmias. Typ-
ically, patients needing a new
heart are placed on a transplant
list. Once on the list, it could
be months to years before a
patient has access to the donor
heart he or she needs.
Larkin is the first patient
in Michigan history to leave
a hospital without a human
heart. He is currently equipped
with the Freedom Driver, a
portable pump created by Syn-
Cardia Systems, Inc., a device
he will use until he is eligible
for a heart transplant.
Jonathan
Haft,
associate
professor of cardiac surgery,
said Larkin’s need for a heart
was urgent.
“His condition deteriorated
to the point where we were
considering
him
for
heart
transplantation, but we did not
think that he was going to have
the time to wait until that suit-
able donor became available,”
he said.
Haft said mechanical heart
support has progressed since
the 1970s, but Larkin’s situation
is a first in that the Freedom
Driver is easily transportable
and allows patients to leave the
hospital.
“What’s new and innova-
tive about this device is that
the external component is now
portable and allows patients
to go home,” Haft said. “At our
center, we’ve always been able
to transplant patients within
a five- or six-month period of
time.”
Larkin is still listed for a
See DATA, Page 3
See HEART, Page 3
‘U’ considers
data collection
policy changes
First patient leaves UMHS
with artificial heart
Discovery
may impact
treatment of
diabetes
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 55
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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