michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, November 19, 2015

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

A look at a revamped version of 
your Thanksgiving favorites

» INSIDE

the thanksgiving b-side

After pushback, 
‘U’ continues to 
mull process for 
releasing data

By CAMY METWALLY

Daily Staff Reporter

Over the past few months, the 

University’s course evaluations 
— and whether their results will 
be released to students — have 
become increasingly contentious.

In 
September, 
the 

administration announced plans 
to release the evaluations after 
years 
of 
campus 
discussion 

surrounding 
the 
initiative. 

But the announcement drew 
significant 
pushback 
from 

faculty, leading to an October 
vote 
by 
the 
faculty 
senate 

assembly to support the delay of 
the release, citing concerns with 
the evaluation’s format, among 
other factors. University Provost 
Martha Pollack had said she 
would be willing to adjust the 
timeline for their release based 

on the assembly’s vote.

Two committees have since 

been created to examine both 
the release of the evaluations 
and the instrument employed for 
evaluating courses — re-opening 
conversations about issues like 
question design and response rate 
that faculty have for years.

The current system

Many of the concerns raised by 

faculty and students on both sides 
of the issue aren’t new; they stem 
from how evaluations have been 
used long-term at the University.

For many parties involved, 

course 
evaluations 
have 

important ramifications. For GSIs 
and lecturers, student evaluations 
are a factored into decisions about 
their reappointment. For tenure-
track faculty, they are used in 
conjunction with other evaluation 
mechanisms to determine tenure 
and promotion. Across the board, 
course evaluations are reviewed 
when considering nominees for 
teaching awards.

Kinesiology 
Prof. 
Stefan 

Szymanski, a member of the 
Senate Advisory Committee on 

ACADEMICS

See EVALUATIONS, Page 3A

Cost of attendance, 

discrimination 

continue to present 

challenges at ‘U’

By RIYAH BASHA

Daily Staff Reporter

The Native American Student 

Association, 
in 
conjunction 

with 
the 
Office 
of 
Multi-

Ethnic Student Affairs, hosted 

a public forum Wednesday on 
contemporary 
issues 
in 
the 

Native American community, 
both within the context of the 
University and at large.

About 30 people attended 

the 
discussion 
held 
in 
the 

Munger Graduate Residences, 
asking questions of the four-
person panel. The night’s panel 
discussion was just one event in a 
lineup organized for November’s 
celebration of Native American 
Heritage Month.

NASA’s co-chair, Isa Gaillard, 

a Public Policy senior, said 
the panel aimed to bolster 
recognition of native students 
both at the University and at 
large.

“We’re looking to increase 

awareness,” 
he 
said. 
“The 

(University’s) relationship with 
(Native Americans) has been 
historically challenged, and a lot 
of that is linked to enrollment 
issues as well.”

Much of the conversation 

focused on obstacles related the 
Native American community’s 

access 
to 
higher 
education. 

Panelist Sandra Momper, an 
associate professor in the School 
of Social Work, said a certain 
stigma still exists surrounding 
Native 
American 
students’ 

ability to succeed in college.

“I was told, ‘You are not 

college material,’ ” she said.

Momper also criticized the 

financial aid afforded native 
students. Even after making 
it to a university, many are 
often dismayed by additional 

DAVID SONG/Daily

Lynn LaPointem, a Lakota tribe member and employee of the state Department of Education, talks about the discrimination he faced as a Native American in 
higher education at Munger Graduate Residences on Wednesday. 

See NATIVE AMERICAN, Page 3A

Classic rock 

musical comes to 
the Power Center 

this weekend

By NATALIE ZAK

Daily Arts Writer

Cue the lights, the curtains and 

the teenage angst: As the actors 
take their positions and the music 
begins, the 
audience 
returns 
to 
their 

adolescence 
where 
confusion 
and tireless 
emotion 
dominated 
every 
thought. 
Addressing 
themes 
of 

sexuality 
and 
abuse 

in 
1890s 

Germany, MUSKET’s “Spring 

Awakening” offers an impressive 
insight into teenagers struggling 
to fend off their inner and real-
world demons.

A 
modern 
rock 
musical 

adapted 
from 
a 
late 
19th 

century German play, “Spring 
Awakening” follows its leads 
through 
sexuality, 
physical 

abuse, diabolical authoritative 
figures, sexual coercion and even 
suicide. There’s little material 
excluded from this profanity-
ridden musical — and that’s one 
of its most appealing qualities. 
Accurately 
and 
explosively 

conveying the bundled emotion 
contained in adolescent minds, 
MUSKET’s production manages 
to be relevant to college students.

“There’s 
suicide, 
there’s 

sexuality, there’s coercion and 
a lot of adolescence,” debut 
director Wonza Johnson said. 
“It’s weird for us to go back to that 
because we’re so old now. As 18, 
19, 20-year-olds, to go back to that 
age of being 15 and experiencing 
this for the first time has been 
challenging.”

Johnson, a Music, Theatre & 

MUSKET set 
to stage ‘Spring 
Awakening’

ARTS PREVIEW

See MUSKET, Page 3A

 Campaign created to 
oppose temporary 
ban on immigrants 

fleeing Syria 

By EMMA KINERY

Daily Staff Reporter

In wake of terrorist attacks 

in Paris that left 129 dead, 
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder 

joined 31 governors in vowing 
to pause the entry of Syrian 
refugees into their states.

Early reports indicated that 

one the attackers may have 
been a refugee from Syria, 
though officials now say that 
theory was likely incorrect. 
Even so, that notion stoked 
fears that ISIS fighters would 
enter the country along with 
the 
refugees 
fleeing 
their 

violent campaigns.

In response, LSA senior 

Sarah Raoof and Public Health 
students Tala Dahbour and 
Reem Kashlan launched a 
letter-writing 
campaign 
on 

Facebook. 
The 
campaign 

encourages students to visit the 
“Share your Opinion” page on 
the governor’s website to send 
either a pre-written or personal 
letter expressing opposition 
to his plan to block Syrian 
refugees.

So far, 190 people have 

See SNYDER, Page 3A

RUBY WALLAU/Daily

LSA freshman Apoorvee Singhal participates in Garba, a community folk dance, during the annual Garba Raas 
hosted by the Hindu Students Council in the Michigan League Ballroom on Wednesday. 

GARBA R A A S

Campaign’s leader 
considers progress, 

future for Black 

students on campus

By ALYSSA BRANDON

Daily Staff Reporter

Two years after the Black 

Student 
Union 
launched 
its 

#BBUM Twitter campaign, the 
challenges brought to light by 
those who used the hashtag to 
share their experiences as Black 
students at the University are 
still fresh in the minds of both 
BSU members and the University 
community.

More 
than 
10,000 
tweets 

racked up within the first two 
days of the hashtag’s launch, and 
soon BSU members were at the 
helm of a movement that quickly 
captivated 
the 
University’s 

attention and garnered media 
coverage nationwide.

Shortly after the launch of the 

hashtag, several BSU members 
held a Martin Luther King Jr. 

See BBUM, Page 3A

Q&A

GOVERNMENT

MUSKET 
Presents: 
“Spring 
Awakening”

11/20 and 11/21 
at 8 p.m., 11/22 
at 2 p.m.

Power Center for the 

Performing Arts

&7-$15

For course 
evaluations, 
methods still 
up for debate

Forum explores experiences 
of Native American students

Students, faculty respond 
to Snyder’s refugee stance

Reflections 
on #BBUM 
two years 
after launch

INDEX
Vol. CXXV No. 33
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

SPORTS...................... 5A

SUDOKU..................... 2A

CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A

B - S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B

NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Sava’s founder talks gender in business
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 46

LO: 27

