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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, March 10, 2015

CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Next round of 
Canvas testing
 will include

 7,000 students 

By CARLY NOAH

Daily Staff Reporter

CTools may yield to a new 

online learning platform over the 
next few years, but current stu-
dents won’t likely be around for 
the transition.

Created by a consortium of 

institutions, including the Uni-
versity, CTools launched in 2004 
and has been in use since.

However, a new system, Can-

vas, has seen steady progress 
toward implementation since it 
was first piloted at the University 
in the fall of 2014.

The Senate Advisory Commit-

tee on University Affairs, along 
with working faculty groups, have 
spent the past year discussing the 
switch as part of the NextGen 
Michigan initiative, which seeks 
to modernize the University’s 

Information Technology Services.

A February report from the 

faculty 
team 
responsible 
for 

evaluating the switch, the Digital 
Innovation Advisory Group, cited 
changes in digital education as 
the main rationale for the switch.

“CTools 
development 
has 

unfolded around the creation of 
tools to manage digital assets in a 
reactive manner,” the report said. 
“Canvas, in contrast, has been 
conceived from the ground up to 
provide a more cohesive learning 
experience.”

In an interview last month, 

University Provost Martha Pol-
lack said the University so far has 
not yet made a formal decision on 
transitioning, but data from pilots 
has been promising.

However, she said she expects 

CTools to remain in use until 
April 2016 at the earliest.

This semester, the University 

is partaking in a second round of 
piloting with a larger audience. 
Pollack said the pilot includes a 
total of 123 instructors and 7,000 
students in 112 classes through-
out 15 schools and colleges.

ACADEMICS

See CANVAS, Page 3

Students also pose 

questions about 
diversity during 

fireside chat

By GENNIVEVE HUMMER

Daily Staff Reporter

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel discussed controversy 
surrounding several Greek life 
ski trips during his monthly fire-

side chat Monday afternoon.

During the chat, Schlissel pre-

sented the roughly 30 students 
in attendance with a question of 
his own.

“A couple of the fraterni-

ties and sororities on the Janu-
ary break, the MLK weekend 
break, did some mayhem at some 
resorts they were staying at,” 
Schlissel said. “How do we set up 
a culture where there are ways to 
have a good time without being 
criminal?”

Engineering 
senior 
David 

Hershey said Central Student 
Government’s push for a student 
honor code could be one solution. 
The honor code would serve as 
an addition to the Statement on 
Student Rights and Responsibili-
ties, aiming to hold students to a 
higher standard of integrity and 
respect.

“The attempt behind it is 

to make it so that students are 
accountable to their fellow stu-
dents to some extent,” he said. 
“At some basic level we all want 
the face of the University to be a 

positive one because our future 
is based upon this university.”

Engineering sophomore Evan 

Field, president of Delta Kappa 
Epsilon, voiced his support for 
the sanctions recently placed on 
several fraternities and sororities, 
but said educational initiatives 
should be central to disciplinary 
processes going forward.

Schlissel agreed, but also 

stressed that concrete penalties 
become necessary at a certain 
point.

RITA MORRIS/Daily

University President Mark Schlissel discusses concerns about Greek life and its role on campus with students during the March Fireside Chat on Monday in the 
Michigan League. 

See FIRESIDE, Page 3

ADMISSIONS

Test revision to 

start in April, reflect 

changing medical 
school preferences

By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

Daily Staff Reporter

Last 
month, 
registration 

opened for the new version of the 
Medical College Admission Test, 
better known as the MCAT.

The updated test, developed 

by the American Association 
of Medical Colleges, will focus 
more on experimentation and 
practicality. The AAMC will first 
administer the new test on April 
17. The old exam was last taken on 
Jan. 23.

According to the AAMC, the 

four updated 95-minute sections 
include Chemical and Physical 
Foundations of Biological Sys-
tems; Biological and Biochemical 
Foundations of Living Systems; 
Psychological, Social and Biologi-
cal Foundations of Behavior; and 
Critical Analysis and Reasoning 
Skills.

The test is expected to last 

about 7.5 hours — contrasting a 
previous three and a half time 
span. Testing time has increased 
due to the addition of a fourth 
section, as well as the longer 
length of each section compared 
to the previous exam. According 
to a January report in The New 
York Times, the additional test-

ing time necessitates more stam-
ina and focus.

Eric Chiu, Kaplan Test Prep’s 

executive director of pre-medical 
programs, said the changes will 
ultimately permit the exam to 
test application of material, for 
example, in an unprecedented 
way.

“The MCAT is undergoing not 

just a change in the content areas 
covered and the length of the 
exam, but also in terms of how 
it tests science content and, in 
particular, application and inte-
gration of that knowledge in a 
different way,” Chiu said.

He added that the new empha-

sis should aid students in their 
careers as doctors.

“It’s the type of skill pre-meds 

will need once they get to medi-
cal school,” Chiu said. “That’s 
how their medical school classes 
and, someday, how they will act 
as doctors really apply content 
knowledge from lots of different 
science areas to real-life scenari-
os.”

The changes include recom-

mendations that students take 
11 
semesters 
of 
prerequisite 

courses, compared to the previ-
ous eight. Sociology, psychology, 
biochemistry and statistics are 
now included in this list. The 
exam will also place more focus 
on chemistry and physics in the 
context of biological processes, 
which may require students to 
take additional coursework in 
that realm.

DAVID SONG/Daily

Music, Theatre & Dance junior Sophia Deery improvs during the Dance and Identity Workshop at the Trotter 
Multicultural Center Monday evening.

Trotter 

Multicultural 
Center hosts 

Abraham.In.Motion

By ALYSSA BRANDON

Daily Staff Reporter

A small group of students 

seated on the floor of Trotter 
Multicultural Center listened 
attentively Monday night as 
Jeremy Neal, a principle dancer 
from the critically acclaimed 
dance 
company 
Abraham.

In.Motion, introduced himself.

“My name is Jeremy and I 

identify as a queer artist, as a 
listener and as a friend,” he said 
to the group.

Neal led participants in the 

Dance and Identity Workshop, 
an event co-hosted by the Office 
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs 

and the Trotter Center.

First, Neal asked the group 

to consider how dance move-
ments can connect with one’s 
own identity, focusing the 
event on the ties between indi-
viduality and movement.

“Being able to understand 

your identity through move-
ment can make a better non-
verbal communicator, which is 
a very important skill to have,” 
Neal said.

During the dance workshop, 

Neal asked students to impro-
vise dance movements that cor-
responded with the spelling of 
their names. In another exer-
cise, the students took turns 
“sculpting” themselves using 
the body of their partner.

Kinesiology 
sophomore 

Kamaria 
Washington 
par-

ticipated in the dance work-
shop and said she thought the 
exercises were both fun and 
enlightening.

“I loved it,” Washington said. 

“It was a great way for me to 
freely dance, and it was amaz-
ing how Jeremy tied in how 
you identify yourself and how 
you want others to identify you 
with dance.”

Neal said he wanted the par-

ticipants to get comfortable 
with body parts they do not 
normally use.

“It was a combination of 

getting them to really think 
about moving their bodies in 
ways that hadn’t thought about 
before, and also it was way to 
get them to open up and explore 
different ideas,” he said.

Sophia Deery, a junior in 

both LSA and the School of 
Music, Theatre and Dance, 
who interned with Abraham.
In.Motion last summer and was 
a main organizer of the work-
shop, said the event was cre-
ated as a platform for members 

HOSPITAL

Health System to 
collaborate with 
insurer to examine
medical practices

By ISOBEL FUTTER

Daily Staff Reporter

When actress Angelina Jolie 

opted for a preventative double 
mastectomy in 2013, the move 
spurred an increase in the num-
ber of people seeking genetic 
testing and counseling.

Now, the insurance provider 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michi-
gan and the University Health 
System have established a col-
laborative to improve and create 
more guidelines for genetic test-
ing, which can screen patients 
for genes linked to an array of 
illnesses and conditions.

The Genetic Testing Resource 

and Quality Consortium aims to 
investigate and improve current 
genetic testing practices.

David Share, senior vice presi-

dent of Value Partnerships at 
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michi-
gan, said he believes genetic test-
ing will positively impact patient 
care in Michigan.

“Such testing has the potential 

to add great value to the care of 
people with conditions, or at risk 
for conditions, with a genetic 
component, which can affect 
their future health and also 
future treatment,” Share wrote 

See GENETICS, Page 3
See DANCE, Page 3
See MCAT, Page 7

‘U’ expands 
 

program to 
pilot CTools 
replacement

Schlissel addresses recent 
Greek life controversies 

Updated MCAT
to include more 
subjects, longer 
testing times 

Dance workshop connects 
identity, body movement

UMHS 
to expand 
guidelines 
for genetic 
counseling

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 77
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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