course evaluations and data
about classes, to expand access
for students.
“We wanted to take a look at
the behavior, various aspects of
behavior, of students, and we
set up a small group of people
to oversee the project,” Evrard
said.
University Provost Martha
Pollack said the tool allows
students to interact with one
another in a new way.
“It’s a tool where you can go
in and you can find out obvious
sort of things like what are the
prerequisites, and you can find
out things like, of the students
who took this course, how
many took this other course,
or how many took this course
at the same time,” Pollack
said. “It helps you think about
courses in context. It’s a way
of sharing student knowledge
and
what
students
have
experienced themselves with
one another.”
Rachel Niemer, a director of
the project, said the tool allows
students to find information
about courses more efficiently
and in a consolidated space.
“One
of
the
advantages
that we see is by having data,
students don’t have to go online
and search,” Niemer said. “They
can, in fact, use what other
students have said in course
evaluations
and
what
the
data are common trajectories
through curriculars.”
Niemer said she thinks the
tool is particularly helpful for
students who are exploring
majors
and
subject
levels
because they can see what
kinds of students are taking
particular courses.
Chris
Teplovs,
the
lead
developer at DIG, said the data
included is from more than
9,000 undergraduate courses,
going back six years for every
course. Teplovs said the team
worked on providing the most
aggregate, objective source for
students.
“It’s
attractive;
it’s
not
distilled
down
from
other
sources and it’s not based
on requests to access the
information,” he said.
Because
the
tool
uses
internal data collected by the
University, Niemer said the
tool is more useful than other
online sources.
“By looking at the data and
the graphs available, they can
get a real sense of what actually
happens as opposed to what
they hear from their RA or their
roommate or from friends said
happens,” she said. “With more
data comes more educated
decision making.”
The project is a second
version of an interface created
in 2006, ART, that was only
available to faculty and showed
enrollment, pairs of courses
taken simultaneously and grade
distributions, among other data
sets. The team for ART 2.0
said they wanted to take that
experience, present it in a user-
friendly way and deliver it to
students.
Though the program is now
available to all undergraduate
students,
Evrard
said
the
interface is likely to change
over time with feedback from
users.
“This is very much a beta
product that may change as we
move into Fall 2016,” he said.
“We have room to grow so one
of the things that we’d like to do
is get feedback from students
on utility of the services we’re
providing. If there are negative
aspects
that
you
feel
are
important for us to know, then
we simply want to hear from
you.”
EVALUATION
From Page 1
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, March 25, 2016 — 3
‘U’ study finds
benefits of medical
marijuana
A study released Thursday
afternoon by the University
determined consumption of
medical marijuana decreases
patients’ use of opioids, or
traditional pain medications.
Researchers from the school
of Public Health and the Medical
School surveying 158 patients
from a local medical marijuana
dispensary found respondents
suffered fewer side effects from
their medications and a 45 percent
improvement in quality of life after
using cannabis to manage pain.
The researchers suggested medical
marijuana may be a viable option
for patients currently taking costly
prescription pain medication.
The study’s findings come
a week after the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention
issued a release highlighting
the exponential increase in
prescriptions for opioids since
1999. The CDC recommended the
medical community cut down on
prescribing opioids in light of their
addictive qualities.
Officials tighten
security following
Brussels attack
Law enforcement officials in
Detroit have been on high alert
since Wednesday’s terror attacks
in Brussels, Belgium. Though
law enforcement across the
country has heightened security
measures, local authorities
reported additional scrutiny due
to Detroit’s shared border with
Canada, the Detroit Free Press
reported on Thursday.
The Detroit police department
has increased the presence of
officers at key areas in the city,
including the Rosa Parks Transit
Center, though no credible
threats to the city have been
disclosed.
The city’s FBI department also
boosted surveillance of “priority
subjects” in the metro Detroit
area. U.S. attorney Barbara
McQuade stressed regional law
enforcement would not profile
Muslim or Arab residents, and
is instead working closely with
communities to guard against
hate crimes and backlash.
Student earns
competitive
scholarship
Karl Winsor, an LSA and
Engineering senior, has been
awarded a Churchill Scholarship
from Cambridge University for
graduate studies, the University
announced Thursday.
Winsor is one of 15 recipients
this year, and the University’s
13th Churchill Scholar since the
program’s inception in 1959.
Winsor will graduate with a
dual degree in LSA and the College
of Engineering, concentrating
in mathematics, electrical
engineering and computer science.
His research with professors
at multiple universities covers
subjects from complex dynamics
and elliptical curves to quantum
computation. Winsor plans on
seeking a master’s degree in
mathematics at Cambridge, and a
Ph.D. afterward.
Study highlights
phosphorus in
Lake Erie
A study conducted by the
University’s Water Center
announced the state needs to
make drastic adjustments in order
to achieve its goal of a 40 percent
drop in Lake Erie’s phosphorus
levels, Michigan Radio reported
Thursday.
Both U.S. and Canadian
governments agreed to the
reduction last month, but the
study found stronger changes to
current farming practices will
be necessary and challenging to
produce harmful algae blooms. The
lake’s contamination became so
extreme in 2014 the city of Toledo
was forced to shut down access to
tap water for two days.
—RIYAH BASHA
in her community have to face
every day.
“The
struggles
that
we
face day to day in being at a
PWI (Predominately White
Institution),
being
around
people
that
don’t
really
understand
where
we’re
coming from,” she said. “The
struggles we face in always
having
to
overcompensate
for the things that we do
because of how society is and
how it portrays the Black
community.”
Allen
said
one
of
the
primary reasons for having
a
mental
health
dialogue
was to reassure others in
the organization that there
is support network that will
exist for them.
“People
can
know
and
understand
that
this
is
something important that you
need to talk about, that you
need to seek help for, that this
is a real issue, that people care
about you, that they love you,”
she said. “In our community
we don’t take care of ourselves
health-wise, so I think it’s
important
to
have
these
meetings so that people know
that you need to take care of
your health.”
LSA junior Brianna Jenkins
said she found the event to
be a good way of spreading
community
awareness
and
solidarity.
Mental
health
dialogues, like this one, are
an opportunity for people to
empathize and relate to one
another on an often ignored
topic, she said.
“It’s
not
talked
about
enough and people suffer in
silence and it’s not OK to just
sit there,” Jenkins said.
LSA
sophomore
Deashia
Johnson said minorities are
often
silent
about
mental
health issues they may face
because mental health is often
understood as a problem for
white people. She said this
cultural
rejection
makes
it
difficult
for
others
to
recognize symptoms of mental
health issues they may be
experiencing.
“There is that complete
stigma that we have to be
better than everybody else
or we aren’t supposed to go
through feelings like this,”
she said. “Growing up, your
parents would tell you that if
it’s something that you feel
like you’re going through,
that’s not really what it is, and
it’s just looked at as an excuse.
At the same time, people
don’t realize, even within
themselves, to what extent
they’re actually going through
these issues until it’s too late
for them to do something
about it.”
Allen said she hoped students
who
attended
the
event
understood mental health is a
serious issue and a prevailing
student concern on campus,
with resources available for
those who need them.
“This is a real issue, and
you really need to be proactive
about your mental health,” she
said. “There are resources on
campus and outside of campus
that can really, really help
you. The help is there — you
just need to get it and need
to realize that it’s important
for you to seek out those
resources.”
Kinesiology
senior
Capri’Nara Kendall, speaker
of the Black Student Union,
said she does not believe the
University is doing enough
to
support
students
with
mental illnesses, adding that
attending
a
predominantly
white institution contributes
to mental health concerns
among
minority
students,
especially Black students.
“I’m the only Black woman
in all of my classes, except
for one, and that’s an African
American Studies class,” she
said. “When you go in class and
you’re the only representative
of your race and your gender
as they intersect, it’s hard
because now I deal with the
Black people stereotype of
being extremely lazy and piss
poor, but I also deal with the
stereotype of being a woman.
So I walk in and I’m already
mentally not there.”
When students are away
from
their
comfort
zone,
Kendall said, they don’t know
how to handle Predominately
White
Institution
environments like that of the
University.
“We have people here who
have never seen Black people
before and never seen Latino
people before or never had
to engage with them unless
their parents were overseeing
them,” she said. “That has a
lot to do with our experience
as students and it’s not an easy
one.”
HEALTH
From Page 1
tournament,” Michigan coach
Red Berenson told reporters
Thursday
in
Cincinnati.
“Even though we did win our
conference championship, our
team earned their way into this
tournament (before that).”
Notre Dame is the second
Hockey East opponent that
Michigan
has
played
this
season — the first was Boston
University back in November,
when the Wolverines split a
two-game series in Boston.
The Fighting Irish will head
to Cincinnati after not playing
this past weekend. They were
knocked out of the Hockey East
playoffs by No. 13 Northeastern,
who is on the other side of the
NCAA regional bracket.
But Notre Dame forward
Thomas DiPauli sees that as a
blessing in disguise.
“The week off was good
for us. It let us get our heads
straight,”
DiPauli
said
Wednesday in Cincinnati. “We
could focus on fixing a few of
the little things. I think we are
ready for tomorrow’s game.
The pace is definitely going
to be fast, and that’s a part of
our game that we have been
focusing on.”
The Wolverines’ offensive
output leads the nation. Yet,
the Fighting Irish are not far
behind at No. 15 and are led by
forward Anders Bjork and Jake
Evans, who have both tallied 33
points this season.
Notre Dame’s defense is
driven
by
goaltender
Cal
Peterson,
who
boasts
a
.928 save percentage, good
enough for 13th in the nation.
Peterson will be tasked with
stopping Michigan’s first line
of junior forward Tyler Motte,
JT Compher and freshman
forward Kyle Connor.
“Definitely playing against
the highest-scoring team in
the country is going to be a
challenge for our whole team,”
Petersen said. “But I think
we prepared ourselves and
our defensive structure, and I
think that will translate well
into tomorrow’s game.”
The Fighting Irish are led
by coach Jeff Jackson, who
has coached Notre Dame to six
NCAA Tournaments and two
Frozen Four appearances. In
2008, Jackson led the Fighting
Irish to a 5-4 overtime win over
Berenson and the Wolverines
to make the title game.
“Jeff’s a real good coach,”
Berenson said. “He put Notre
Dame on an even keel, and he’s
done a good job there.”
The winner of the two
athletic powerhouses will take
on the victor of North Dakota
and Northeastern.
North Dakota is led in
scoring by its top line, forwards
Brock Boeser, Drake Caggiula
and Nick Schmaltz. Earlier
this season, Fighting Hawks
goaltender
Cam
Johnson
earned the second longest
shutout streak in NCAA history
by not allowing a goal in over
298 minutes of play.
Northeastern comes into the
tournament hot and has lost
only once in its past 23 games
— a remarkable feat given that
its record going into 2016 was
3-12-3. The Huskies are led
in scoring by forward Zach
Aston-Reese, who has 14 goals
and 29 assists to date.
Before
Michigan
has
the opportunity to face the
Fighting Hawks or the Huskies,
however, it must get past Notre
Dame, a team the Wolverines
haven’t played since the last
CCHA Tournament title game
in 2013.
But Wednesday, the Fighting
Irish announced they would be
leaving the Hockey East for the
Big Ten for the 2017-18 season.
“I think Notre Dame is
a perfect fit: academically,
they’re
in
our
geographic
footprint, competitiveness and
they have a great facility and
program,” Berenson said. “I
think it’s a win-win situation
for the Big Ten and Notre
Dame.”
So while the teams haven’t
seen each other in three years,
they will be seeing a lot of each
other in the near future.
They might as well start
getting acquainted with one
another now.
HOCKEY
From Page 1
saved money. Looking back,
Stanton said losing his job as a
broker was a significant setback,
but in turn caused him to reassess
his true goals for his life.
“Two years had gone by where
I had lost my thoughts; they’d
been taken away from my true
goal in life,” he said. “I realized
that no amount of money that I
made in those two years could
possibly have bought that time
back.”
Stanton said he soon after
adopted a goal to have a fulfilling
life while pursuing his true
passions in photography.
“This is the decision that
Humans of New York was
founded on, and everything that
came was built upon,” he said. “I
made my decision that I’m going
to structure the rest of my life to
where I can make just enough
money to control my time.”
Stanton said shortly after
being
fired,
he
moved
to
New York to further pursue
photography, enabling him to
separate his identity from the
broking market.
“Photography
was
like
a
treasure hunt for me,” he said.
“Just going out onto the streets
and not knowing what you’re
going to find, and just to find to
something amazing and be able
to capture it, it was so fun to me.”
The early stages of his
photography in New York were
only photographs of buildings,
people
and
other
subjects
throughout the city. He said a
pivotal moment for his work
was when he photographed a
woman standing on a sidewalk
and attached a quote to the
photo when he posted it on
Facebook.
“Ever since that moment,
Humans of New York became all
about my mission, and became
all about getting as good as I
possibly can get at stopping a
person on the street and creating
an atmosphere,” he said. “A style
of conversation where with a
very short amount of time I could
have a very deep and meaningful
conversation with a complete
stranger that will reveal glimpses
into their lives,” he said.
Stanton also shared comical
asides and anecdotes throughout
the
night
about
interacting
with his photography subjects
globally. In addition to capturing
subjects in New York, Stanton
has also traveled to Iraq, Iran
and Pakistan, where he has
interviewed refugees affected by
violence in the Middle East.
After the event, LSA junior
Ryan Mak, a CCI program
assistant,
said
Stanton’s
experiences
photographing
subjects in the Middle East made
him the perfect fit to deliver the
lecture.
“We felt that Brandon was
one of the best speakers to
come because of his work with
the Syrian refugees as well as
the prison inmates,” Mak said.
“It’s something that everyone
resonates with because everyone
loves stories, and so we thought
that this would be the best
speaker to come and give the
greatest impact to students who
come tonight.”
In a Q&A session after the
event, Stanton said traveling to
places like Iraq and Pakistan
was beneficial in countering
dominant misconceptions about
life in the Middle East.
“I find that Humans of New
York is most effective and
most impactful in places that
are feared,” he said. “In these
countries they have such a string
of negative news coming out of
them — it results in us having
an unnatural fear of these
countries.”
Even though HONY often
grapples with difficult subject
matters, Stanton emphasized his
work aims to highlight untold
stories.
“Every revolution, every turn
that I’ve made, every strategic
decision that I’ve made with
Humans of New York has been
based on this core understanding
that Humans of New York is
not
about
photography,
it’s
not writing, but the soul of
Humans of New York is all about
the interaction with perfect
strangers.”
He ended his remarks by
encouraging students to reflect
on their true aspirations in life.
“My goal was to figure out a
way to make just enough money
to do what I loved all day long,”
he said. “That is something I
am positive, if you’re willing to
work, you can figure that out
too.”
Stanton’s remarks resonated
with many University students
who
attended
the
lecture,
including Engineering freshman
Marc Chattrabhuti, who said he
decided to attend because he’s
followed Stanton’s work for
several years.
“I think HONY is a very
noble cause,” Chattrabhuti said.
“I would say it’s also really
unique because you’re talking
to everyday people who you
don’t think would have very
interesting stories.”
Chattrabhuti added he would
remember
Stanton’s
words
about finding an identity that
would help him pursue his
dreams.
“I really feel that people lose
sight of their identity, and that’s
why they change so much, and
their goals are just completely
skewed,” he said. “I really
think I can apply that to myself
because identity is what allows
me to stay true to myself, allows
me to know what I want to do
and it really allows me to be
rooted in my passions.”
First-year Law student Xun
Yuan said he wanted to attend
the lecture because he used to
be a New York Times journalist
and has worked with Middle
Eastern refugees in Turkey.
“I think what (Brandon) does
is just so fantastic,” he said. “It’s
so different from anything I’ve
ever done and anything else
anyone else has ever done.”
Yuan said he plans to carry
Stanton’s words of not giving up
on your dreams during his time
at the University.
“Start something you are
passionate about and then don’t
just get surrounded by your
future plans, because things
might
change,”
Yuan
said.
“If you’re passionate about
something, go for it.”
The Trotter Multicultural
Center will host a follow-up
event Friday to discuss themes
Stanton highlighted during his
remarks.
HONY
From Page 1