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January 25, 2016 - Image 3

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The Michigan Daily

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Bernstein said the University
should pay less attention to
standardized test scores and
more to skills that “contribute
to society.”

Newman added the Uni-

versity works closely with the
Detroit Public Schools and
will continue its presence in
the city. Recently, many teach-
ers have spoken out againstthe
poor conditions of DPS schools
and how they limit K-12 stu-
dents’ success.

LSA freshman Peter Pujols

asked what the regents plan to
do to curb the increasing cost
of attendance at the Univer-
sity, which experienced a 2.7
percent and 3.7 percent hike
in tuition to in-state and out of
state students, respectively, for
this year.

lenged Platt on his research
surrounding protests, citing the
success of the Black Lives Mat-
ter movement and the harsh
backlash surrounding the sick-
outs in Detroit, when teachers
called in sick in protest of the
poor school conditions.

Hakeem Jefferson, Ph.D. can-

didate in political science, said
he didn’t fully agree with Platt’s
stance on Black politics.

“Matt’s work is provocative.

It is a re-telling of a story about
Black politics that many of us
are familiar with,” Jefferson
said. “Much of the work in rep-
resentation suggests that rep-
resentation matters, that a sort
of descriptive representation
matters. Of course what Matt is
suggesting is that it doesn’t mat-
ter all that much. We can quibble
about the parts I agree with and
disagree with, but at least for
me it reminds me that move-
ments like Black Lives Matter
and other radical progressive
movements, despite Matt’s pes-
simism, are really useful.”

wished to share his experienc-
es with young people, and help
them navigate the world of
entrepreneurship from hear-
ing his experiences.

“I always enjoy engaging

millennials because they’re a
generation that don’t just want
to do good for themselves,”
Hasan said. “They also want
to do good for others.”

LSA senior David Schafer,

who attended the conference,
said he came because he he
thought it was important to
discuss social justice issues
within the South Asian com-
munity.

“Even though we do come

from a variety of backgrounds
and identities, we have shared
lives and experiences,” he
said. “We need to help each
other and we need to set out to
stand in solidarity with each
other.”

3-News

Blizzard hits the
Northeast

A winter storm swept through

the northeastern United States on
Saturday, shutting down both New
York City and the nation’s capital.

The storm deposited up to three

feet of snow in some areas and
affected nearly 80 million people,
with hurricane-like winds reaching
speeds of 50 mph in New York to
Virginia and topping out at 75 mph
in Delaware.

Northeast state officials warned

citizens to remain inside and off the
roads in the days leading up to the
storm’s development.

In New York City, officials

banned travel in an effort to
keep people inside and off the
treacherous roads.

The storm reached parts of

lower Appalachia, stranding some
travelers on Pennsylvania, West
Virginia and Kentucky highways.

Thousands of homes and

businesses lost power because of
the storm and over 6,000 weekend
flights were cancelled.

Despite the warnings, 18 deaths

have been blamed on the inclement
weather and thousands of travelers
were forced to remain in the
affected region.

Ann Arbor teachers
frustrated with new
district evaluation
system

A group of Ann Arbor teachers

and parents claim the new
evaluation system developed by
the district to coincide with new
state standards are drastic and
unnecessary.

Ann Arbor Public Schools

administrators developed the new
evaluation system to conform to the
state government’s 2011 law, which
revised Michigan’s teacher tenure.

Before the district’s evaluation

reform, supervisors worked
closely with teachers to examine
individualized topics including the
teacher’s instuction abilities and
classroom management.

Now, every teacher will be

evaluated on 76 objectives, which
the superintendent claims will
help both students and teachers.
However, the teacher’s union
claims it will only hurt both.

While teachers and parents are

upset and voicing their concerns
with the new evaluation system,
administrators say they are
following the law and the Michigan
Department of Education’s
guidance.

However, the Department of

Education claimed it was up to each
individual district how the new
standards are met.

19th Century music
to be digitized by
University

Over the next two years, the

University will digitize a large
collection of sheet music collected
by the Edison Phonograph Co.
during the early 20th Century.

After amassing the music

collection to record for the
American public, the company
closed in 1929 and the sheet music
changed hands several times.

After making its way to the

Henry Ford family and several
other parties, the Univeristy of
Michigan Library acquired the
collection in 1989.

The University plans to digitize

just over 30,000 of the collection’s
titles — only a third — over the
course of the next two years.

The Council on Library and

Information Resources made
the project possible with a grant
through their Digitizing Hidden
Special Collections and Archives
program.

The project will yield the largest

online collection of pre-1870 sheet
music, and will allow people to
explore music that was composed
during an era of distinctly
American music.

The digital collection will be

accessible through the University’s
library catalogue, Mirlyn, in
addition to Google Books and the
Digital Public Library of America.

—BRANDON

SUMMERS-MILLER

NEWS BRIEFS

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, January 25, 2016 — 3A

tigating the R&E requirement
and making recommendations
— consists of nine faculty mem-
bers, four staff members, two
undergraduate
students,
one

graduate student and one post-
doctoral researcher. The goal is
to understand students’ experi-
ences and assess their learning
within R&E courses, according
to Dillard.

Dillard said the taskforce is

conducting
quantitative
and

qualitative research to inform
recommendations.
She
cited

focus groups, surveys, evaluation
and administrative data, histori-
cal research and discourse anal-
ysis as examples of the research
involved in such a process.

“We can’t make any recom-

mendations about what to add
until we have more data and
evidence, and that’ll help to
shape some of the things that
we think we know,” Dillard said.
“And sometimes what you think
you know is just not born out in
the data itself and you have to
change your assumptions.”

This year, LSA also imple-

mented several other methods

to collect feedback and evaluate
students’
experiences
within

R&E classes. On Jan. 11, students
who fulfilled their R&E require-
ment in the fall received an
e-mail from Dillard inviting
them to participate in an online
Canvas-based discussion of the
race & ethnicity degree require-
ment.

As well, about 70 students

attended two forums this fall
to provide feedback on the R&E
requirement. Pitt noted that
most attendees spoke in favor of
maintaining and strengthening
the requirement. Their feedback
largely fell into three main cat-
egories: course content, course
structure and course support.

In terms of reforming course

content, Pitt said many stu-
dents at the forums expressed
a desire for greater relevancy in
their R&E classes. They favored
content and courses focusing
on issues of race and ethnicity
applicable to society today.

“Our country and our campus

is facing major issues with race
and ethnicity, and it’s impor-
tant that we’re able to take what
we’re learning in a class dedicat-
ed to R&E and apply it to be able
to interact in the society we’re
living in today,” Pitt said.

The forums also brought to

light issues of course structure,
particularly course size. Pitt said
participants preferred smaller
courses to large lectures, but
they were open to lectures if
discussion sections adequately
facilitated honest dialogue and
nurtured a comfortable environ-
ment.

However, students also point-

ed out that GSIs may not always
be properly able to lead such sen-
sitive dialogues. Some suggested
inviting a professional from
Intergroup Relations to facilitate
the initial discussion section if
GSIs are not trained or prepared
to do so.

“It’s important that if we are

transitioning to a discussion-
based format, then they need to
be able to make sure that stu-
dents are feeling comfortable
and willing to speak on behalf of
their experiences,” Pitt said.

Pitt also stressed a need

for
greater
outside
support

for students, faculty and GSIs
involved in R&E courses, pro-
posing a concept similar to the
Sweetland Writing Center.

ernor and the third Democratic
presidential hopeful, was also in
the state Saturday and is polling
at 5.8 percent in Iowa.

Throughout the event, Clin-

ton emphasized the pragmatism
of her policy platform, saying
her approach to everything from
regulating the financial sector to
creating green jobs was simply
better. Better than who? For a
while, Clinton didn’t say. When
she did hit Sanders by name,
the former secretary told the
audience he would rip up the
Affordable Care Act in favor of
a single-payer program, whereas
she would build on the existing
policy.

“Getting from zero to 100 is a

lot harder than getting from 90
to 100,” she said, referencing the
failed fight for universal health
care she spearheaded as first
lady in 1993.

Clinton, who is relying on the

image of a candidate cloaked in
experience, particularly in for-
eign policy, also played up her
diplomatic and national security
prowess.

“Remember, when you go to

caucus on February first, you
are choosing a president and a
commander in chief,” she said.
“When the new president walks
into that White House on Janu-
ary 20, 2017, there are some
things we know we’ve got to do,
but there are a lot of things we
can’t predict are going to be fac-
ing our country.”

Like Clinton, Bernie Sanders

spent Saturday making distinc-
tions. In the dreary basement
of the Masonic Center, Sand-
ers touted his poll numbers and
made a case not only for the via-
bility of his candidacy, but also
for the viability of his policy pro-
posals — proposals many critics
have deemed overly idealistic or
impractical.

“You can tell when a cam-

paign gets nervous — like the

Clinton campaign — I think
they’re getting a little nervous.
What do you think?” Sanders
asked the 700-person crowd that
filled the hall’s sweaty basement.

The crowd peppered the

senator’s remarks with shouts
of “That’s right, Bernie!” and
lengthy outbursts of “Feel the
Bern” chants.

“Obviously I need your help in

the next few days, to help us win
here in Iowa. I need your help to
win the Democratic nomination,
but here’s the truth, I’m going to
need your help the day after we
get into the White House,” he
said. “And the reason for that,
everybody in this room knows
who has studied history, change
never comes about from the top
on down. It only comes about
from the bottom on up.”

Sanders, like his campaign,

drew from the energy of his sup-
porters, engaging directly with
the assembled crowd. The point
he stressed: The Bernie Sanders
campaign is really a movement
of people calling for change.
Before launching into the Sand-
ers stump speech which has by
now become notorious for his
use of terms like “oligarchy” and
“bottom 99 percent” spoken in a
distinctly Brooklyn accent, the
candidate drew on the history
of social movements — like the
struggle for LGBTQ and civil
rights — that were once deemed
impossible.

“Let me give you one more

example, which you guys made
happen,” he said. “Eight years
ago, all over this country, peo-
ple said, ‘An African American,
becoming president of the Unit-
ed States, you’re nuts, that can’t
happen?’ You made it happen,
you made history. So my point
is — that what history is about
— it’s not a few people on top,
coming up with clever ideas, it is
when millions of people begin to
stand up and say that the status
quo is not good enough.”

IOWA
From Page 1A

inated. After the first round,
the audience — the students
of Entrepreneurship 407 —
voted to determine which team
would advance.

The competition is a valu-

able learning experience for
both the competitors and the
students of in the class, Rich-
ard Smith, a Ross School of
Business alum, who has been
attending the class for five
years, said. He said the men-
tors help students to not only
improve their businesses, but
also improve the way they pres-
ent their ideas amid a heated
competition. Mentors are indi-
viduals associated with the
Center for Entrepreneurship,
who work with each team to
improve their ideas.

“The first round, the stu-

dents are rough,” he said. “But
by the end of the semester they
were smooth and polished and
have content and have done
work on developing the busi-
ness plan, the marketplace or
the product itself. They are
always magnitudes better at
the end.”

Additionally, Levy said men-

tors played a critical role in the
development of the team’s ideas
and businesses.

“In any venture you do in

life you need people with more
experience to help guide you,”
he said. “And the mentors are a
great tool for the people trying
to make their companies really
profitable.”

Maite
Iribarren,
Art
&

Design and Engineering fresh-
man and a participant in the
competition, said while she has
a jewelry collection created
and ready to be put into pro-
duction, she was “here to learn
something about the business
side of it.”

Matt Gibson, director of

undergraduate programs at the
Center for Entrepreneurship
and co-founder of The Startup,
said the judges become very
invested in the participants
they are guiding — they defend
their teams and encourage the
audience to vote for them to
advance.

“The judges become your

biggest supporters and fans,”
he said.

Thomas Frank, executive

director for the Center for
Entrepreneurship and co-cre-
ator of the competition, said
students benefit from hearing
the different pitches and ideas.

“This gives students in this

class an opportunity to go on
a entrepreneurial journey with
a bunch of different startups,”
he said. “They get this real
sort of first-hand chance to see
how people succeed, how they

struggle, how they make prog-
ress, how they don’t, and it is
not the kind of experience you
can get any other way.”

Engineering
sophomore

Nick Morris, an instructional
assistant for the class, agreed
that the competition is a great
learning experience as they are
able to analyze and critique the
different pitches. He said he
was excited to learn about the
various companies and differ-
ent ideas.

LSA freshman Rachel Ordan,

a student in the class, said she
was excited to learn about the
creative ideas of her peers.

“I’m excited to see the differ-

ent ways that groups are inno-
vative in finding new solutions
to things that I can relate to,”
she said.

The competition had a wide

variety of startups. Iribarren,
the jewelry designer, show-
cased products that she said
take a different approach to
how people wear jewelry.

“It’s for more than just

accessorizing,” she said, “It’s
kind of like something you have
with you always, like a toy or a
mechanism that can entertain
you.”

Engineering senior Tristan

MacKethan presented a web-
site called MSell that he said
is a platform for people who
want to buy and sell items in a
market where items are sold in
high volume around a particu-
lar time period — like football
tickets in the fall or textbooks
in the beginning or end of the
semester.

LSA freshman Kyle Zaoitell,

another competitor, created a
website called Wage Pit which
allows League of Legends play-
ers from around the world
to make wagers against each
other when they are playing
the game.

The Startup finalists in years

past have been very success-
ful now after the competition,
Frank said.

“The team that won (last

year) went from having an
idea for how to help ALS
(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
patients communicate through
puffs of air to bringing all of
these medical factors out of
their advisory board filing a
provisional patent,“ Frank said.

During the first round on

Friday, Gibson said the judges
were looking for ambitious and
confident teams that they think
will be able to go the distance.

“They want something that

can be a viable business,” he
said “But maybe even more
than that they are looking for
students that are really ambi-
tious and looking to make
something happen. They want
to see that commitment and
willingness to take it to the
next level.”

STARTUP
From Page 1A

REQUIREMENT
From Page 1A

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

in one of the art programs.

FOKUS started as a way

to bring together individuals
of multiple backgrounds and
interests under one organiza-
tion. Much of his decision to
start the program, Edwards
said. stemmed from his Brook-
lyn roots.

“Along the way, the whole

idea was figuring out how to
connect with communities,”
he said. “Growing up where
I come from, in Brooklyn, my
sense of community was very
different than the sense of
community in the circles I’ve
passed through.”

He added that his involve-

ment in FOKUS inspired him
to continue a career in com-
munity involvement and edu-
cation in Brooklyn, where he
is currently the director of
operations for Brooklyn East
Collegiate.

“My time here has got me

into a lot of things I’ve con-
tinued on into to this day,” he
said. “The biggest thing I want
to do is make connections and
allow people to realize that
those connections are real and
possible. Building relation-
ships within communities is
highly important to me and
one of the important things
is the idea of, not necessarily
creating a homogenous com-
munity, but looking at it more
so as an assembly of indi-
viduals — we are all different
humans in the room for a com-
mon purpose.”

Martinez attended the Uni-

versity as a transfer student
and lived off-campus her first
year — an experience she said
was very isolating from much
of the student activity on cam-
pus.

ACTIVISM
From Page 1A

LECTURE
From Page 2A

PROFESSOR
From Page 2A

TWITTER
From Page 1A

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Read more at
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