and evaluation experts — to determine whether the current course evaluation instrument is in line with best practices. If it is not, the committee will be charged with recommending a new instrument. According to Weineck, University Provost Martha Pollack wants the issue of how and when to release course evaluation data to be decided by faculty and students. “(Pollack) seemed very, very open to having students and faculty hash this out and not get involved, which I think is wonderful,” Weineck said. In an October interview with The Michigan Daily, Pollack confirmed this desire for students and faculty to work together to find a solution. SACUA members also discussed the faculty governance conference the University is scheduled to host in March. The conference will be open to faculty governance at other Big Ten schools, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley. Though still in the planning stages, SACUA members hope to facilitate panel discussions about the purview of faculty governance and academic freedom, among other issues. This is the first time the University will host such a conference. SACUA From Page 1 2 — Tuesday, November 3, 2015 News The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY The Michigan men’s basketball team opened practice to fans for an hour ahead of Friday’s exhibition against Le Moyne at 7 p.m. at Crisler Center. 2 CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES The Russian airline Kogalymavia has blamed an “external influence” for the plane crash in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt last Saturday. According to BBC News, 224 people were killed. 1 According to federal authorities, students who identify as transgender are allowed to use school locker room facilities in accordance with their gender identity, The New York Times reported. 3 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ROSE FILIPP Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 rfilipp@michigandaily.com Newsroom 734-418-4115 opt. 3 Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com Display Sales dailydisplay@gmail.com Online Sales onlineads@michigandaily.com News Tips news@michigandaily.com Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Photography Section photo@michigandaily.com Classified Sales classified@michigandaily.com Finance finance@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF Lev Facher Managing Editor lfacher@michigandaily.com Sam Gringlas Managing News Editor gringlas@michigandaily.com SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Shoham Geva, Will Greenberg, Amabel Karoub, Emma Kerr, Emilie Plesset, Michael Sugerman ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS: Tanaz Ahmed, Alyssa Brandon, Katie Penrod, Sami Wintner, Gen Hummer, Emma Kinery, Tanya Madhani, Lara Moehlman, Lea Giotto, Isobel Futter Aarica Marsh and Derek Wolfe Editorial Page Editors opinioneditors@michigandaily.com SENIOR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Claire Bryan and Regan Detwiler ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Mary Kate Winn, Melissa Scholke, Stephanie Trierweiler, Ben Keller Max Cohen and Jake Lourim Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS: Max Bultman, Minh Doan, Jacob Gase, Simon Kaufman, Jason Rubinstein, Zach Shaw ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS: Chloe Aubuchon, Chris Crowder, Kelly Hall, Ted Janes, Kevin Santo, Brad Whipple Adam Depollo and adepollo@michigandaily.com Chloe Gilke Managing Arts Editors chloeliz@michigandaily.com SENIOR ARTS EDITORS: Jamie Bircoll, Kathleen Davis, Catherine Sulpizio, Adam Theisen ARTS BEAT EDITORS: Alex Bernard, Karen Hua, Jacob Rich, Amelia Zak Allison Farrand and photo@michigandaily.com Ruby Wallau Managing Photo Editors SENIOR PHOTO EDITORS: Luna Anna Archey, James Coller, Virginia Lozano ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS: Amanda Allen, Robert Dunne, Zach Moore, Sam Mousigian, San Pham Emily Schumer and design@michigandaily.com Shane Achenbach Managing Design Editors Ian Dillingham Magazine Editor statement@michigandaily.com DEPUTY MAGAZINE EDITORS: Natalie Gadbois STATEMENT PHOTO EDITOR: Luna Anna Archey STATEMENT LEAD DESIGNER: Jake Wellins Hannah Bates and copydesk@michigandaily.com Laura Schinagle Managing Copy Editors SENIOR COPY EDITORS: Emily Campbell and Emma Sutherland Amrutha Sivakumar Online Editor amrutha@michigandaily.com Kaylla Cantilina and Katie Colosimo Managing Video Editors Carolyn Gearig Special Projects Manager BUSINESS STAFF Hussein Hakim Finance and Operations Manager Claire Ulak Production Manager Jordan Yob Marketing Manager Matt Pfenning UAccounts Manager Asja Kepes Local Accounts Manager Colin Cheesman National Accounts Manager Anna He Special Guides and Online Manager Claire Butz Layout Manager JENNIFER CALFAS Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 jcalfas@michigandaily.com TUESDAY: Campus Voices THURSDAY: Twitter Talk FRIDAY: Photos of the Week WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers MONDAY: This Week in History Career session on staffing WHAT: Students who are interested in the staffing industry can attend this event to get a look into the lives of recruiters. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, Pond Room Mid-autumn harvest dinner WHAT: East Quad din- ing hall will be featur- ing a special fall menu, including local harvested vegetables and produce. WHO: Michigan Dining WHEN: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: East Quad Dining Hall Bill Staines performance WHAT: Bill Staines is a performer and folk artist and has been performing for six years. WHO: Michigan Union Ticket Office WHEN: 8 p.m. WHERE: Off Campus Location, The Ark Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com. Major & minor meetup session WHAT: LSA students that are interested in exploring different majors and minors. This event will showcase the many different fields of study that the LSA offers. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library Residency interview info WHAT: Students who are interviewing to become student staff positions in residence education can attend this event. This will help them learn how to do well in their interview. WHO: Career Center WHEN: 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Couzens Hall ‘Dust in the wind’ film WHAT: “Dust in the Wind,” a movie directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien will be screened. The movie is a love story following a young couple. WHO: Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies WHEN: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Theater Alzheimer’s research links gene groups to disease progression At Bernard W. Agranoff Lecture, lecture shows promise for a cure By KATIE PENROD Daily Staff Reporter Alzheimer’s has historically been a disease researchers have struggled to find an effective treatment or cure for — however, Stanford University Prof. Carla Shatz hopes to change that. Shatz’s work at the forefront of Alzheimer’s research was featured Monday during the Bernard W. Agranoff Lecture, an annual talk honoring the neuroscience pioneer who retired from his teaching position at the University in 2003. Shatz was the first woman to earn tenure in the basic sciences at Stanford, where she is currently a professor of biology and neurobiology. Her research focuses on synaptic plasticity, or the ability of the gaps between nerve cells to strengthen or weaken over time, in relation to Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout her lecture, Shatz emphasized the importance of a type of gene — MHC class I — specifically the MHC gene PirB. Her research teams throughout the years have focused on studying the visual cortex in the brain to uncover whether that particular gene is involved in regulating synaptic plasticity. The MHC family of genes is complex and because the team pinpointed the family as important in diseases like Alzheimer’s, there may be more need to focus on their specific functions. Shatz focused heavily on what she called “critical periods,” during which learning occurs, in the mice she studied. She said the genes that enable this type of learning remain present in elderly people or those with Alzheimer’s, but are repressed. Shatz also said her team found that the PirB gene inhibits the ability of synapses to strengthen and weaken over time in response to increases or decreases in their activity. This may in turn contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. “PirB downstream signaling opposes cascades that are required for synaptic plasticity,” she said. “Especially, more interesting a question for me as I get older is: Is this enough? We know that there’s a co-regulation between synaptic weakening and synaptic pruning and the PirB loss of function.” The goal, Shatz said, is to find a way to inhibit PirB in humans, which contributes the loss of synapses in a process called “pruning.” “One of the ways we investigated this question was simply to take an Alzheimer mouse model and cross it with germline PirB knocked out mice and to ask whether in the absence of the PirB receptor, these mice might be protected from memory loss,” she said. Employing basic memory tests, Shatz’s team found that when PirB receptors were blocked in mice that modeled Alzheimer’s, they performed on par with normal mice. “What we discovered was in the absence of the PirB receptor they were performing memory discrimination at the same level as model-type mice,” she said. Shatz ended her lecture on a hopeful note, saying the need for a pill to block PirB function could be on the forefront of her research. Though she said that kind of development takes time, the advances so far are promising. Neuroscience post- baccalaureate student Sharena Rice said she learned a lot from Shatz’s lecture and was especially fascinated by the way in which she conducted her research by using the visual cortex as a method of discovering PirB functions. “This opened my eyes to visual neuroplasticity,” Rice said. “It brings up more questions and we need questions to identify more answers.” RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily SACUA member Angela Fagerlin, associate professor of internal medicine, discusses a student proposal for the formation of a clean energy committee and the preparation for the March Faculty Governance Conference in the Fleming Administration Building on Monday. NIA ULFERS App combines social platforms Whether puppies on the Diag, an a cappella concert or the view from a new favorite study spot, it can be difficult to include everything in a mass e-mail or a single Yik Yak post. The new app Speakiesy aims to combine the benefits of Twitter, Instagram and Yik Yak into one social media plat- form to inform students what is occurring on campus. LSA sophomore Nia Ulfers is the campus representative for the app and said she has gained invaluable marketing experience through the experi- ence. What exactly is Speakiesy? Well, the best way to describe the app is a social media site almost like Twit- ter, Yik Yak and Instagram all rolled into one, but with the exclusivity of being purely for University of Michigan stu- dents, so you have a to use a University of Michigan e-mail to be able to sign up for the app. What is the purpose of Speakiesy? The purpose of the app is to let people know what is going on around cam- pus. You could also use it for purely fun purposes as well: like posting a picture of you and your dog or how nice the Diag looks on a certain day. Why did you want to become a representative for Speakiesy? I’m looking to get into mar- keting and advertising. There is no major (for that) here so I’m currently pursuing an Organizational Studies major, but I think that through this experience I will learn valu- able real life skills: I get to experience building some- thing from the ground up, and how difficult it is to spread word on a huge campus like this, let alone a bigger city or bigger publication. —REBECCA SOLBERG Meet with Masha Gessen WHAT: There will be a special meet & greet with a Wallenberg medalist, Masha Gessen. She is an acclaimed journalist, author and critic. WHO: Spectrum Center WHEN: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union- Specrum Center CLAIRE ABDO/Daily Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore Isabel Signoret performs at the Voice Department Recital Monday evening at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. DO RE MI Outdoors workshop WHAT: The Outdoor Adventure staff is teaching a workshop to introduce students to a variety of skills to help hone your outdoor leadership abilities. WHO: Michigan Outdoor Leadership Semester WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: 36 Hill St. Ann Arbor, Mich. STORY SLAM Friday, November 20 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 420 Maynard St. Send entries to Sam Gringlas at gringlas@umich.edu by Nov. 13. Pieces should be limited to three minutes in length.