the cost of this computer package 
is included in the cost of first-year 
tuition for Art & Design students 
— which is sometimes covered by 
financial aid.

“Our students have a larger 

budget for financial aid,” she said. 
“The cost of being a freshman 
in the School of Art & Design is 
greater than the cost of being a 
freshman in, say, LSA. And the 
difference is that our students 
are required to buy a computer 
package. So it’s included as part 
of their budget — if a student 
qualifies for financial aid, then 
they get aid for their Art & Design 
tuition (including the computer 
package).”

She said students are given 

a four-year warranty for their 
purchase of the package, which is 
discounted through the Computer 
Showcase, so the laptop should be 
a one-time expense while they are 
attending the University.

McDaniel added that the Art 

& 
Design 
computer 
package 

is 
necessary 
because 
every 

discipline 
within 
the 
school 

requires a significant amount of 
computer-based work. She said 
standardizing the package puts all 
students on an equal playing field.

“When 
everybody 
has 
the 

same equipment, it’s a little bit 
like wearing a uniform,” she said. 
“(The package) doesn’t mean 
that there is perfect equity, but 
it’s one more step (towards equal 
opportunity).”

Ross 
School 
of 
Business 

students are not required to 
purchase a laptop but are warned 
that they will likely be at a 
disadvantage in both class and 
group work if they do not own a 
personal computer. The Business 
School’s website says that while 
students do have access to several 
public-use labs around campus, 
they should consider the fact that 
space in those labs will be limited.

Similarly, 
the 
School 
of 

Information does not have any 
specific 
laptop 
requirements. 

Education and Information Prof. 
Barry Fishman said decisions 
about what technology is required 
for classes are left up to the 
instructor.

Furthermore, 
neither 
the 

School of Music, Theatre & Dance, 
the School of Kinesiology nor the 
College of Engineering require 
students to obtain a personal 
computer.

Monika 
Dressler, 
director 

of LSA Instructional Support 
Services, 
said 
in 
an 
e-mail 

interview that LSA does not 
have a laptop policy and does not 
require students to own their own 
computers.

“While some instructors do 

encourage students to use laptops 
in their classes, other faculty 
discourage or even ban the use of 
laptops or other mobile devices 
because they find them disruptive 
and distracting for students,” she 
said.

The digital divide and equity 

of access

Dressler acknowledged that 

lacking access to a personal 
computer can be difficult for 
students, but she echoed Harper’s 
sentiment that the University 
has done its best to make up for 
potential disparities in resources.

“LSA does understand there is 

differential access to expensive 
technologies 
and 
expensive 

resources among the student 
body,” she said. “This is true 
of 
textbooks, 
co-curricular 

activities, as well as computer 
technology; and is part of a larger 
issue of access that LSA is deeply 
concerned about.”

She said the potential of a 

“digital divide” is what drives 
University investment in facilities 
like the Angell Hall Computing 
Site — known as the Fishbowl 
— and other computer labs, and 
University Housing’s investment 
in the inclusion of computing 
sites and “community learning 
centers” in all residence halls. She 
added that LSA is committed to 
providing sufficient equipment to 
support students’ completion of 
their coursework.

Dressler said in LSA classes 

that have decided to use laptops 
for collaboration or in-class work, 
LSA ISS encourages faculty to 
ensure that all students are able to 
participate through group work so 
that any students without laptops 
can engage.

She also noted that students 

can check out a laptop from LSA 
Instructional Support Services for 
this type of in-class use. According 
to the LSA ISS website, there are 
three equipment loan centers 
on Central Campus — in Mason 
Hall and the Modern Language 
Building, from which “students 
enrolled in an LSA course may 
check out a wide variety” of 
equipment for short-term use. 
Long-term loan requests require 
additional paperwork.

In an e-mail interview, Kedra 

Ishop, associate vice president for 
enrollment management at the 
University, said students should 
not and do not appear to feel 
discouraged from taking classes 
in technology-heavy fields — even 
if they lack access to relevant 
technology.

“The 
colleges 
and 
schools 

work hard to direct students to 
resources and our application 
numbers 
to 
technology-rich 

majors don’t suggest that students 
are not pursuing their areas 
of interest because of a lack of 
access,” she said.

Fishman 
said 
the 
“digital 

divide” 
is 
clearly 
and 

fundamentally an equity issue 
because students with personal 
laptops have a much easier time 
getting their work done.

“Even when you provide a full 

scholarship to college, there’s all 
these unintended costs of college 
— so just buying books can be a 
struggle,” he said. “And if you can 
afford to buy all the books that are 
on your course list and have them 
in your dorm room, that gives 
you an inherent advantage over 
someone who has to go read them 
on reserve all of the time. It’s the 
same thing with laptops and other 
kinds of technology.”

Fishman 
said 
instructors 

should be aware of what “implicit 
assumptions” their course syllabi 
make about their students’ access 
to certain resources, such as 
technology.

He said there are many contexts 

in which instructional technology 
is an imperative element of the 
learning process, but added that 
instructors should consider how 
to make the required technology 
available to all students.

Limited access

LSA senior Cesar Vargas, a 

senior computer consultant in 
the Fishbowl, said space there is 
limited, especially during peak 
times and around finals, because 
students both with and without 
laptops come to use its study space 
and other resources.

“Especially when it comes 

to finals, we have to open up 
the Angell Hall classrooms for 
overflow,” he said.

LSA senior Kelsey Pakkala, 

another computer consultant in 
the Fishbowl, said even students 
with laptops come there to use 
expensive software the University 
provides for free to students on its 
computers.

“There’s SAS, SPSS, MatLab 

— it’s around $150 to buy that 
software,” she said. “Students 
who have laptops can’t afford 
that, so they come here. They’re 
subscription-based (and have to be 
renewed every year), but they’re 
free on campus.”

Pakkala also said she frequently 

sees people in the Fishbowl using 
the desktops to watch TV shows 
because they have bigger screens 
than laptops.

Vargas said the 2013 renovations 

to the site were intended to 
make additional lounge space for 
students using laptops, but added 
that he regularly finds students 
sitting at the desktop computer 
spaces 
using 
their 
personal 

laptops instead.

“There are definitely a lot of 

students that come up to us and 
complain that they see a lot of 
students in front of a desktop and 
a laptop and the desktop is off 
and they’re just on the laptop,” he 
said. “The main problem is people 
not understanding that there are 
students that obviously do need 
these desktops.”

He said that not having his 

own personal computer to use 
would certainly be an obstacle, 
especially because it can be hard 
to find a computer to use at campus 
computing sites.

“I was a first-generation student 

— I could definitely see not having 
a laptop as a huge disadvantage,” 
he said.

Pakkala said she believes the 

University 
has 
gotten 
better 

over time at providing resources 
for students without personal 
computers.

“(The Fishbowl) is 24/7 almost 

every day, I know the UGLi is 24/7 
all of the time — during peak hours 
obviously, that’s the bad times,” 
she said. “There’s a lot of options 
if you’re flexible with when you’re 
willing to work.”

Dressler said she does not 

know of any research that found 
drawbacks of not owning one’s 
own 
personal 
computer, 
but 

recognized the benefits of owning 
a personal computer.

“One might imagine a benefit 

of having one’s own computer 
because it would allow a student to 
work on her or his own schedule.”

LSA junior Ricardo Rubio said 

he comes to the Fishbowl and 
other campus computing sites to 
complete all the work he cannot 
get done on his iPad, which does 
not have programs like Microsoft 
Word and SPSS. He said he finds 
the sites convenient, and that he is 
always able to finish his work.

“I don’t necessarily need a 

laptop,” he said. “I am able to 
do everything that I need to get 

done.”

Funding for technological 

expenses

Fishman noted that the way 

people choose to pay for college — 
including loans and scholarships, 
among other financial plans — 
can affect how they finance the 
technology they buy for school.

“You can only use some of those 

resources to pay for technology if 
the technology is required by the 
syllabus,” he said.

Depending on how students 

pay for college, Fishman said, 
they may find it helpful for their 
respective schools to require 
certain technology rather than 
suggest students obtain it.

Ishop 
said 
the 
Office 
of 

Financial Aid considers many 
factors in addition to the cost 
of tuition when offering aid to 
students.

“A student’s Cost of Attendance 

is based on estimated student 
budgets that include not only 
tuition/fees and housing, but also 
books/supplies 
and 
personal/

miscellaneous 
expenses,” 
she 

wrote. “Those students who are 
unable to purchase a computer 
may acquire additional financial 
aid to purchase a computer once 
during their educational career at 
the University.”

“Other 
required 
technology 

also can be included in financial 
aid,” University spokesman Rick 
Fitzgerald wrote in an e-mail 
interview. “Students simply need 
to provide documentation that the 
technology is required for a class.”

Ishop and Fitzgerald also said 

the University is piloting a laptop 
loan program in Fall 2015 with 
LSA. The initiative will provide 
the opportunity for incoming first-
year students with the greatest 
financial need to receive a laptop 
from LSA to use for the entirety 
of their academic career at the 
University.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 — 3A

3-News

News

director, said in an interview 
Sunday that the potential demerits 
could result in the disqualification 
of both major parties and their 
entire slates of candidates.

If this were to happen, she said 

the Defend Affirmative Action 
Party would win the election, and 
LSA junior Keysha Wall and LSA 
sophomore Katie Kennedy would 
respectively become president and 
vice president of CSG. In addition, 
all members of each disqualified 
party in the legislative branches 
would be removed as well — 
meaning that only DAAP and 
independent 
candidates 
would 

remain in power.

Though 22 percent of the 

University student body voted 
in this year’s election, the voter 
turnout was actually one of the 
highest returns in recent years.

DAAP received 742.05 votes — 

17 percent total, which is less than 
a quarter of what The Team or 
Make Michigan received. Though 
last week’s election was decided by 
five votes, the chance that the final 
outcome could be determined by 
litigation — not the popular vote — 
has lead some students to question 

how much their participation 
really matters.

LSA freshman Molly Aronson 

said she felt it was her responsibility 
to vote regardless of how much of 
an impact doing so actually had on 
the election results. However, she 
added, the trials take away from the 
significance of that responsibility.

“I think that this definitely 

undermines 
the 
student 
vote 

because 
considering 
if 
the 

litigations go through neither of 
the top two parties will actually 
have control,” Aronson said. “I do 
think that’s telling.”

LSA freshman Kate Stankey 

expressed disappointment in the 
litigation and said CSG was not 
maintaining a real democracy. 
She also called the process for 
enforcing election code violations 
as “flawed.”

“I don’t think it typically follows 

the democratic government that 
the CSG should,” she said.

Stankey 
also 
expressed 

discontent 
with 
parties’ 

campaigning in the weeks leading 
up to the election, adding that it 
may have dissuaded students from 
caring about the election.

“I don’t think many people 

were 
very 
interested 
in 
the 

election, especially when they 
were 
campaigning 
and 
they 

were bothering a lot of students,” 
Stankey said. “I think that made 
the student body pretty upset.”

Stankey said the individual 

candidates also deterred interest. 
She 
cited 
The 
Team’s 
vice 

presidential 
candidate, 
LSA 

sophomore Matt Fidel, a current 
CSG representative, due to his 
attendance at the Sigma Alpha Mu 
ski trip.

LSA junior Evan Gerstein said 

he did not know either major 
party’s platform and only voted for 
people whom he knew personally. 
He said campaigning on either side 
had no effect on his vote, which 
made him question the necessity of 
the efforts.

“The presidential party vote 

was separated by five, so clearly 
my vote actually had an impact, 
because I voted for an actual 
party,” Gerstein said. “At the same 
time, it didn’t really matter as 
much, because I didn’t know any of 
the candidates because they didn’t 
campaign well. Sure I saw Make 
Michigan, actually I saw more of 
The Team, with their chalking 
and everything, but I don’t know 
the platform; I don’t know the 
president; I only knew my friends 
who were representatives and I 
voted for them.”

Aronson 
took 
the 
opposite 

approach, 
noting 
that 
while 

students care about the selection 
of the CSG president, she doubts 
how much party platforms really 
matter.

“To an extent, I think people 

do care who the face of student 
government is,” Aronson said.

The last time a party secured 

executive seats through litigation 
after losing the initial election 
was in 2013. In that election, 
youMICH’s Michael Proppe, a 
current Business graduate student, 
and Bobby Dishell, current CSG 
president and Public Policy senior, 
assumed office without having 
won the popular vote.

Dishell went on to become CSG 

president in 2014 on the Make 
Michigan ticket. If Make Michigan 
were to officially secure the seats 
upon conclusion of litigation, this 
would be the second consecutive 
year that the incumbent party 
holds office.

Law student John Lin, CSG 

student general counsel and a 
member of the current Make 
Michigan executive team, said 
the continuation of the party’s 
power results from the lack of a 
large priority shift for the student 
population in the last few years.

“It means there’s a consistent 

philosophy,” Lin said. “The Make 

ELECTION
From Page 1A

once allowed into the room. 
Department of Public Safety 
and Security officers monitored 
the entire meeting from both 
inside and outside the room 
and officers organized a line for 
people to enter the meeting.

CSG speaker Christian Bashi, 

an LSA senior, said Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs staff was 
available outside the meeting 
room for students who felt they 
needed a break from the meeting 
to speak with someone.

Students Allied for Freedom 

and Equality is the University’s 
chapter of Students for Justice 
in Palestine, an organization 
that advocates for Palestinian 
solidarity across campuses. One 
of the group’s main initiatives is 
promoting the Boycott, Divest 
and Sanctions movement. As 
defined by BDS, divestment calls 
for institutions to divest from 
companies involved in alleged 
violations of Palestinian human 
rights.

The 
meeting 
began 
with 

guest speaker Ali Abunimah, a 
Palestinian American journalist 
who writes for The Chicago 

Tribune and The Los Angeles 
Times, speaking in favor of the 
divestment resolution.

Abunimah called the situation 

in Palestine an emergency and 
said social change needs to 
occur. He said he did not believe 
a peace process is currently 
being discussed between Israel 
and Palestine.

“Just a few weeks ago, the 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu was re-elected after 
publicly repudiating the two-
state solution and saying he 
would never allow a Palestinian 
state on his watch,” he said.

Abunimah 
compared 

divestment from the companies 
listed 
in 
the 
resolution 
to 

divestment for apartheid South 
Africa.

“We heard the argument 

divestment is divisive,” he said. 
“But, who looks back now and 
says divestment in Africa was a 
mistake.”

History 
Prof. 
Victor 

Lieberman, 
who 
currently 

teaches the course “The History 
of the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” 
spoke against the divestment 
resolution. At last year’s meeting 
concerning a similar divestment 
resolution, Lieberman offered 

DIVEST
From Page 1A

on topics of their choice as if it 
were their last opportunity to 
do so. Strobbe was learned of his 
selection for the Golden Apple 
award in February.

In his lecture, titled “Lessons 

from an Imperfect Life: A 
Premature 
Last 
Lecture,” 

Strobbe discussed how students’ 
anonymous 
nomination 

comments were made available 
to him upon his selection.

Strobbe said his purpose for 

talking about the comments 
was twofold. First, he said, 
he wanted faculty, staff and 
administrators to hear what 
students said they valued in 
a teacher. Second, he wanted 
students to reflect upon their 
comments and their collective 
importance.

“Remember that if these 

qualities 
were 
important 

to you as students, they’re 
undoubtedly 
important 
to 

others, including the patients 
who you will treat,” he said.

Stobbe said many of the 

comments 
addressed 
his 

approach to the difficult and 
challenging themes dealt with 
in his class, Mental Health and 
Illness Across the Lifespan.

“My stated overarching goal 

is ... to help students develop 
the skills and knowledge to 

talk to anyone about anything, 
generally during one of the 
most difficult and vulnerable 
periods of their lives,” he said.

Strobbe mentioned his own 

experience recovering from 
drug and alcohol addiction, 
and said he does not withhold 
that 
information 
from 
his 

students.

“I 
don’t 
share 
that 

information as something to 
draw attention to myself,” he 
said. “I think it’s important for 
us to humanize this solution 
to 
challenge 
preconceived 

notions of and convey a sense 
of home.”

Strobbe’s former students 

said his honesty distinguishes 
him as an influential professor.

“His genuineness made the 

whole semester easier for other 
people, for us as students, 
for us to be open and genuine 
about mental illness or all of 
these (things) that are pretty 
controversial or stigmatized 
… in normal conversation,” 
Nursing senior Allison Kosaian 
said.

Nursing senior Maggie Craft 

expressed similar sentiments 
about Strobbe’s teaching style.

“This kind of transparency 

and being so emotionally open 
is something we saw the entire 
semester,” Craft said. “The 
genuineness is completely who 
he is.”

GOLDEN APPLE
From Page 1A

LAPTOPS
From Page 1A

Michigan/youMICH strand is very 
focused on certain issues, working 
on small tangible goals, whereas 
the other party, The Team, and 
FORUM before that, were very 
idealistic, kind of going for big 
moves: more culture, more social 
justice.”

He noted that if Make Michigan 

does maintain its win, there will 

not be a large shift in the approach 
to campus issues and resulting 
policies 
created 
by 
student 

government.

“I think that you’re not going to 

see much of a change in terms of 
culture and student government 
priorities,” Lin said. “Personally, 
I think that’s a good thing, other 
people might not.”

See DIVEST, Page 5A

