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

