Opinion
JENNIFER CALFAS
EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH
and DEREK WOLFE
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER
MANAGING EDITOR
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, October 23, 2015
How do you decide what courses
to take, what majors to pursue and
what requirements to tackle? If you
are a typical, bright Wolverine, you
ask your friends, an advisor or maybe
even a professor. You check out the
course guide and hope, hope, hope
that the instructor has provided
more than a three-sentence descrip-
tion, or maybe even linked a syllabus.
You check out ratemyprofessor.com,
knowing its data is not perfect, but
realizing it’s better than nothing.
Wouldn’t
it
be
nice
to
know more?
When you’re considering a class,
it would be good to know who takes
it. What courses do they take before,
at the same time and after? What
do they go on to major in? How do
they do in the class — what’s the
grade distribution? How have your
fellow Michigan students rated this
course, its workload and how much
they learned? How have they rated
the instructor?
The University has all this infor-
mation, but doesn’t currently share it
with the students. It’s hoping to, and
we think it’s a great idea.
The creepy aspects of the Infor-
mation Age receive a lot of atten-
tion, and for good reason. Many of us
worry about the things governments
and corporations know about us
through the data they collect, some-
times behind our backs. But the digi-
tal footprints we leave have a positive
potential, too. When information is
collected and shared openly, it can be
used for justice and equity, not just
efficiency and profit. Here at the Uni-
versity, within our campus commu-
nity, students should be able to use
data to learn from the experiences of
their peers.
In 2012, we served on the Sen-
ate Assembly’s Academic Affairs
Advisory Committee, a part of the
University’s
faculty
governance.
This group asked then-Provost
Philip Hanlon to support emerg-
ing efforts to use data in support of
teaching and learning at the Uni-
versity. He immediately did so, and
the Learning Analytics Task Force
was created. His successor, Provost
Martha Pollack, has continued this
support, and Michigan is now one of
the nation’s leaders in using data to
improve higher education.
For three years, LATF has worked
to promote the use of data to improve
teaching and learning at Michigan
— to better understand our diverse
student body and the challenges
they face, to personalize learning,
even in courses with thousands of
students, and to create actionable
information for faculty, staff and
especially students.
These efforts led to the creation of
the Digital Innovation Greenhouse,
which develops digital learning tools
from innovation to infrastructure.
One of DIG’s tools is version 2.0 of
the so-called Academic Reporting
Toolkit, which provides rich quanti-
tative data about courses, who takes
them, how they do and what else they
do. The University is hoping to make
part of this tool available to students,
too. LATF also conducted analyses of
other existing information tools on
campus, including the student course
evaluations. All this work has helped
to create a community of learning
analytics researchers, with interna-
tionally recognized leadership in the
field.
Students are gradually becoming
involved in our efforts. Some have
participated in design jams to brain-
storm new tools (students know what
they want better than we do). Some
have helped us explore the immense
amounts of data the University had
the foresight to start collecting in a
systematic way 20 years ago. But it’s
time to take a bigger step — to enable
all students to take advantage of
more of the information we have.
The first step is for the Univer-
sity to share some of it with students.
This is happening slowly, but stay
tuned — we’re excited about what the
learning analytics community has
developed for students to make even
better decisions about their time at
the University.
An even more important step,
however, is to have you, the stu-
dents, as our partners. We believe
appropriate
access
to
relevant
information is essential to the
principles of beneficence, justice
and transparency that have always
guided our University community.
To this end, we invite students,
student groups and student govern-
ment to join us in these important
conversations as partners in col-
lecting, exploring, improving and
acting on data.
Tim McKay is the Arthur F.
Thurnau Professor of Physics and
Astronomy in LSA, Director of the
LSA Honors Program and the chair
of the Learning Analytics Task Force.
Mika LaVaque-Manty is an Arthur
F. Thurnau Professor, an Associate
Professor of Political Science and
Philosophy, and a member of the
Learning Analytics Task Force.
FROM THE DAILY
G
rowing up with three broth-
ers, it was never surpris-
ing to me when people told
me that I wasn’t
very
“girly.”
I
was used to being
called
a
tom-
boy when I was
younger and was
even
applauded
by
my
mother
for not being a
“girly girl.”
Now, instead
of being a muddy
sixth
grader
proudly refusing
to wear skirts like the other girls,
I’m a college senior who convinces
herself that yoga pants and a white
v-neck is a perfectly acceptable
first-date outfit. I’m the kind of
person who will announce mid-
sentence, “Hold on, I have to fart,”
and depending on the company,
leave or not leave the room. I’m the
kind of person who fails to go an
entire day without using some form
of profanity.
At this stage in my life, it appears
as if I have evolved from the realm
of “not girly” to the even more com-
plicated label of “not ladylike.” Being
constantly separated into a different
category than other girls has some-
times made me feel like there actually
is some part of me that will never be
able to relate to other women. I find
myself believing that all the things
society labels as girly or ladylike are
actually true of most women and
that I’m awkwardly stuck in some
in-between space with the rest of the
people who will never figure out how
to put on eyeliner. But even while
writing this, I struggled to figure out
what it even means to be ladylike.
Does it mean that I should wake
up early every morning to shower,
blow-dry my hair and put on make-
up? And am I supposed to know
that I should have a “winter shade”
and “summer shade” of makeup?
Because I have a permanent shade
of see-through tinged with pink,
which unfortunately is not a shade
available in stores.
Does it mean I should chew with
my mouth closed while I eat salad
and sip Moscato? (Don’t get me
wrong, I love both salad and Mosca-
to. I also love eating burritos at 2 a.m.
because Captain Morgan is telling
me to listen to my heart).
Does being a lady mean that I have
to shave my legs every single day
instead of when I feel like it might
clog the drain if I wait too much lon-
ger? (And on that note, does it mean I
have to shower every day?) I should
be perfectly spotless at all times,
right? And speaking of spotless, I
should never acknowledge the messy
presence of periods, because periods
are dirty and gross, right? Ladies
don’t announce, “Be right back, gotta
change my Diva Cup.” Instead they
say, “Sorry, I need to use the rest-
room,” right? Because anything that
may or may not inconvenience any-
one in any way should be prefaced
with “sorry,” right?
Does it mean I should never raise
my voice? Yelling isn’t ladylike, is
it? In fact, I probably just shouldn’t
be angry at all, ever. Does it
mean instead of being blunt with
someone, I should smile, nod and
try to figure out how to do what I
want anyway, but without them
knowing? In fact, I should smile
more, shouldn’t I? Does it mean
I have to get rid of any “extra”
piercings and tattoos? Does it mean
I should stop listening to rap? What
kind of music does a lady even listen
to? Seriously. I have no idea.
Should I leave my soccer sweats
and Target v-necks at home and trade
them in for “form-fitting” (read: cut-
ting off blood circulation) jeans and
a lacy shirt? And should I hobble
around on heels because it makes me
look more feminine?
If these are the things that decide
whether I’m a “lady” or not, then by
society’s standards, I most definitely
am something else. Sure, I love
dressing up, getting pedicures with
my mom and belting out Taylor Swift
songs when I’m driving alone. Heck, I
even like rainbows and unicorns and
the color pink. I always say please
and thank you because my parents
taught me how to be a decent human
being. But all of these things have
zero to do with me being a woman,
or a girl or a lady. The fact that I’m
perfectly comfortable pooping in
public or talking about pooping in
public does not make me any less or
any more of a woman.
I’m pretty sure the only thing
that makes someone ladylike is
having two X-chromosomes, and
even that’s not always true. This
burping, swearing, brutally hon-
est person is a woman. A girl. A
lady, dammit.
— Rachael Lacey can be reached
at rachaelk@umich.edu.
That’s not very ladylike
Students need data, too
A
ccording to the University’s newly released statistics,
minority enrollment for the freshman class of 2015 is 12.8
percent — the highest rate since 2005 — creating hope that
University President Mark Schlissel’s new diversity initiatives will
prove successful. Along with a 2.8-percent increase in overall minority
enrollment from 2014’s entering class, socioeconomic diversity also
improved, with the number of low-income students rising to 10.2
percent of the freshman class. While these numbers are promising,
the University must continue to improve its diversity statistics through
proactive initiatives or risk being seen as uninviting to students of
all backgrounds.
Dedicated to diversity
As statistics improve, ‘U’ should keep striving for inclusivity
The University has a complicated and
storied history when it comes to achieving a
diverse student body. In 2003, the Supreme
Court heard two cases concerning affirmative
action at the University. Grutter v. Bollinger
upheld the constitutionality of the Law School’s
“holistic approach” in its use of affirmative
action. Opposingly, the Court decided in Gratz
v. Bollinger that a point-based system used by
undergraduate admissions was not narrowly
tailored enough to reach the University’s goal
of diversity. Subsequently, in 2006, Michigan
voters passed Proposal 2, which effectively
banned affirmative action across the state. This,
in addition to tuition hikes and other deterrents,
have led to the decreasing minority enrollment at
the University. In 2005, minority undergraduate
enrollment was at 13.8 percent, but by 2006 it had
dropped to 12.4 percent. Last year, the University
was criticized as the school’s student body has
slowly become both wealthier and whiter.
At the beginning of his tenure at the
University, Schlissel outlined several initiatives
aimed at increasing the falling rates of racial
and socioeconomic diversity. In 2015, the
University provided incoming freshmen with
an 8.1-percent increase in financial aid packages,
sent acceptance letters that included financial
aid packages and also increased recruitment in
areas that traditionally received less attention
from University undergraduate admissions.
Other initiatives include creating long-term
partnerships with K-12 districts to support
bright students who aspire to attend the
University and introducing a new scholarship
called H.A.I.L. for high-achieving students of
lower socioeconomic status. A comprehensive
plan detailing even more diversity recruitment
policies is due at the end of this calendar year,
and is set to be rolled out in September 2016.
While many of Schlissel’s new initiatives
focus on the price of college, the most important
steps will be the ones centered on making the
campus inclusive. In 2014, then-University
President Mary Sue Coleman claimed that
Michigan’s diversity issue was not from a lack of
minority applications, but rather the challenge
of converting accepted students into enrollees.
Critics charge that the University has stopped
seeming
accessible
to
underrepresented
minorities and lower-income students, both
financially and by lacking a campus atmosphere
that fosters tolerance and diversity. The
University has begun to combat these criticisms
by planning to relocate Trotter Multicultural
Center to Central Campus by 2017 and
increasing the Black Student Union’s budget.
In addition to official University endeavors,
students hope they can change the mindset
that campus is unwelcoming to minorities and
lower-income students. LSA and Engineering
junior Will Royster began a program called
the Michigan Institute for the Improvement
of African American Representation through
the BSU to encourage minority high school
students to view the University as both an
attainable and attractive goal. The University
has largely relied on both official recruitment
trips and student-run programs like these to
show minority students that our campus is
worth aspiring toward. Increased efforts in
these areas should obviously be a priority on the
administration’s part.
While the new diversity initiatives are
promising,
the
University
must
remain
aggressive in their plans to increase the number
of both minority and lower-income students,
especially those from the state of Michigan.
It is especially important for the University
to once again feel accessible to students of all
backgrounds. As a public school, the University
has an obligation to the people of the state to
offer a world-class education and campus that
is accessible to all backgrounds. The more
diversity the campus has to offer, the more
diversity it will be able to attract.
While increases in financial aid and
scholarship money are a step in the right
direction,
students
will
only
enroll
at
the University when they feel a sense of
belonging on campus. Diversity does not stop
at admissions, and the administration must
continue to implement programs on campus
that create a more inclusive environment.
The University has fallen behind in attracting
minority
and
low-income
students,
and
rectifying the issue must remain a top priority
of current and future administrations.
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller,
Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Adam Morton, Victoria Noble,
Anna Polumbo-Levy, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm,
Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
RACHAEL
LACEY
TIM MCKAY AND MIKA LAVAQUE-MANTY | VIEWPOINT
I
get sick twice a year — in late September
and early March, right around the time
when the daily amount of sunlight
changes at the equinox.
Other than the semiannual
cold and mild allergies in
August, I’m in pretty good
health for the rest of the
year.
While it’s nice to know
when
I
can
expect
a
cold to be coming on —
I
think it has to do with
my Vitamin D levels — it
doesn’t make being sick
any easier, especially since
these times of year coincide
with a pretty heavy load
of schoolwork. I can try to be prepared — by
carrying tissues, eating even more fruits and
veggies than usual, and fitting in adequate hours
of sleep every night — but it still sucks for that
week or so when I’m not up for much other than
lying around in bed yet still need to drag myself
to class.
According to Lisa Sturm, managing director
of the infection control and epidemiology at
the University of Michigan Health System,
September and October are when University
Health Services sees the greatest number of
illnesses among students. People are coming
back to campus from all over, resulting in a
general trading of germs going on in town.
People touch the doors of classrooms, desktops,
keyboards and public-access computing stations,
the spines of books in the libraries, maybe a
squirrel as they’re crossing campus, the backs
of seats — the list is endless. And on every one
of those surfaces there are plenty of germs to be
concerned about.
So what’s the best way to avoid getting sick?
Sturm recommends a couple of common-
sense measures that, for all their simplicity, get
overlooked far too often: washing your hands
regularly and being sure to cover your cough.
“Your best defense is your own personal hand
hygiene,” she said.
In other words, if you don’t have a sleeve or
handkerchief to cough into, catching a sneeze
in your hands is far preferable to nothing at all.
Just be sure to wash your hands soon after, since
you don’t want to then spread those germs onto
other people. It’s a good idea to carry a pocket-
sized bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse or
backpack, so it’ll be on hand if you need it.
And in the present day more than ever,
it’s important to keep up to date on vaccines,
including the seasonal flu vaccine, as flu
Take a sick day
season runs for pretty much the
entire
academic
year.
Perhaps
just as important are vaccinations
against meningitis, which Sturm
says is surprisingly common among
Michigan’s student body.
It’s impossible to avoid germs
and viruses altogether, of course,
and most of us do tend to fall sick
at some point during the school
year. But, by keeping yourself in
good health and keeping your
hands clean, you can reduce your
chances. And if you do find yourself
sick, Sturm recommends “the old
adage: rest, chicken noodle soup
and fluids” as the best treatment for
the common cold.
While it’s understandable that
no one wants to take time off for
being sick and risk missing out on
important
material,
Sturm
says
it’s sometimes necessary. If you’re
feverish or sick enough to vomit; if
you’re blowing your nose every other
minute and can’t stop sneezing; or
if you have diarrhea, you should
probably stay home. The good news
is that with bed rest and a few doses
of chicken noodle soup, most mild
colds clear up within a few days. For
more serious illnesses, it may become
necessary to seek out professional
health care from UHS or another
healthcare provider.
UMHS staff, Sturm says, are
required to take time off if they’re
sick, and aren’t allowed to return
to work until they remain free of
symptoms for 24 hours or more.
Perhaps that sort of policy would
serve our student body well, as it
would ensure that the most active
germs would be contained within
our
apartments,
dorm
rooms,
houses or lofts. Of course, staying
home poses another challenge, as
your being ill requires roommates,
housemates, friends and significant
others to dance around you for
fear that whatever you have might
be catching.
But at the end of the day, if you’re
truly too sick to attend class and
perform well, you’ll probably be glad
you refrained from hauling yourself
across campus, just so you could
sneeze on classmates, doorknobs
desks and any bold squirrels who
came too near. “You’re not helping
anybody, and you’re not helping
yourself either. You’re not resting,”
Sturm says. “Please don’t do us any
favors! … Stay home.”
Ultimately, only you can make
the decision, but when you’re that
kind of sick, you’ll probably know.
For me a couple of weeks ago, the
need to stay home was signaled
by a lasting headache, runny nose
and a nap that took up most of my
Friday afternoon. That day, I opted
to trade homework for bed rest,
and on Saturday I did it again. By
Monday, I was ready to return to
classes and the general buzz of
activity on campus, but I was also
really glad I’d taken time for rest
when I needed to.
And trust me — if you’re sick
enough to be wondering whether
you should sleep in, chances are
you’re leaning the right way. E-mail
your professors to let them know
you’re not feeling well, and ask
whether there might be extra-credit
opportunities you could use to make
up your attendance. Then kick back
with a tall glass of orange juice, a
handful of tissues and maybe some
of next week’s assigned reading. Or,
y’know, just take a nap. I’m pretty
sure you’ll be glad you did.
— Susan LaMoreaux can be
reached at susanpl@umich.edu.
SUSAN
LAMOREAUX