The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, January 13, 2017 — 3
“The big piece is that writing
fosters learning and we need
to take advantage of that in
the courses where students
are least likely to think about
writing,” Gere said.
The winter 2017 semester
is the third semester during
which the M-Write program
has been used. It was used in
MSE 250 as a pilot course in the
spring of 2016 and five courses
in the fall of 2016. However,
Gere said she began work on
incorporating
writing-to-
learn pedagogy in more STEM
courses in 2009.
According
to
Gere,
her
work
was
largely
based
on her observation of the
paucity of upper-level writing
courses within STEM majors
and on the inspiration of
Structured Study Groups that
bring together upper- and
lower-level
undergraduates
to
facilitate
learning
and
teaching.
Gere said, after receiving
grants,
the
program
was
able to expand to include the
computer program and will
continue growing over the next
five years. She added that she
hopes the program becomes an
integral part of courses across
campus.
“The vision would be that
ultimately this becomes part
of a bigger initiative, so that
it’s just sort of assumed that
in these big courses there is
going to be writing,” she said.
“And because of that writing,
students are going to do better,
they’re going to learn better
and they’re going to feel more
positive about the course that
they’re in.”
According to a University
of Michigan press release,
M-Write
II
received
$1.89
million over five years from
Transforming Learning for the
Third Century Initiative.
M-Write developer David
Harlan, who is collaborating
with Sweetland on the project,
said this program is unlike
other peer review systems
used on other campuses, which
tend not to be user-friendly.
“Sometimes, even if they
present a pretty face, they
don’t necessarily track the
student through the process
in the specific ways that we’re
looking to do,” he said. “And so
one of the things we set out to
do from the very beginning is
to involve people who would
be using the tool in its design.”
Additionally, Chris Teplovs,
a leading Digital Innovation
Greenhouse
developer,
said
M-Write is also expanding
with the research of post-
doctoral students, who analyze
the
papers
students
have
written for M-Write classes to
potentially codify quality work
in each subject and facilitate
efficient
grading.
However,
he said the emphasis is not on
the technology, but rather the
learning they hope to promote
with the technology.
“The technology is integral
and yet should fade away as
much as possible,” Teplovs
said. “So we don’t say it’s all
about M-Write, we say it’s all
about writing-to-learn. So it’s
about the pedagogy.”
Another component of the
M-Write program is the use of
more advanced undergraduate
students as writing fellows to
aid students in the peer review
and revision process and to
grade the essays.
Business
sophomore
Cassandra Wong, a writing
fellow for Economics 101 for
the past two semesters, said
she felt writing brought a
different type of learning to the
course that cannot be achieved
with the typical homework for
economics courses.
“I feel like with these large
introductory STEM classes,
writing kind of gets lost in
the process of just learning
the material because it’s a lot
of memorization and models
and graphs and whatever,” she
said. “I feel like having actual
writing assignments, you get
to see students with their
thinking process when they’re
answering these prompts.”
Business
sophomore
Brandon
Staarman,
also
a
writing fellow for Economics
101, said M-Write provided
deeper
learning
not
only
from writing itself, but also
from the student commentary
component.
“The peer review process
is really important because
not only are they receiving
feedback about what they’ve
written, they also get to look
at three other essays that
students have written,” he
said. “So they can learn from
each other.”
Staarman also noted how
this type of writing is different
from the writing students are
exposed to in the first-year
writing requirement.
“Writing
is
such
an
important
skill
that
it’s
important to see how you
can apply it in other different
areas, and also important to
realize you can learn a lot
through because it teaches
you how to narrow down your
arguments and how to be clear
and concise and really get your
point across,” he said.
However,
Business
sophomore
Mira
Sanghvi,
another writing fellow for
Economics 101, noticed how
several students in the fall
reacted
negatively
to
the
program,
namely
because
only two sections participated
and all other sections did
the
typical
homework
for
economics.
“They felt like they were
kind of at a disadvantage; they
were not as pleased with it,”
she said. “But what we noticed
is that their grades in the class
were no different than the
other sections.”
Gere said she has also
encountered faculty members
who
view
the
program
positively but have doubts
about
incorporating
it
throughout all STEM classes.
“It’s a mixed picture,” she
said. “I’ve not talked to any
faculty who have said this is
a really bad idea, but many of
them say ‘it’s too much work,’
‘I can’t figure out how I could
fit it in,’ that kind of thing.
But everybody says ‘we need
students to do more writing,
what you’re doing makes a lot
of sense, I’d really like to do it.’
And then the ‘buts’ come in.”
However, Teplovs said the
program is an effective way
of improving both methods of
teaching and learning.
“It’s
understanding
that
teaching
and
learning
are
intrinsically linked,” he said.
“And the role that M-Write
plays is in facilitating the
improvement
of
both
by
reflecting on the opposite.
So we see improvements of
prompts and the extension of
that is thinking deeply about
how
you’re
teaching
what
you’re teaching to get to the
prompt, to get to the answer, to
get to the understanding.”
STEM
From Page 1
“They
try
to
convince
women not to go in,” Lednicer
said. “They don’t even know
what they’re going in for,
whether it’s something very
personal, or just a check-up.”
Now, with Republicans in
control of Congress, Republican
lawmakers have a renewed
interested
in
defunding
Planned Parenthood, arguing
that funding should be routed
to health care providers that
provide similar services, but
not abortions.
LSA senior Rachel Crawford,
president of Students for Life,
has a similar plan that she
would like to see implemented.
“Students for Life would
like to see Planned Parenthood
defunded, but we want that
funding to go elsewhere to
help women and impoverished
communities,” Crawford said.
“(Federally Qualified Health
Centers) are public clinics for
women’s care and children’s
care
in
impoverished
neighborhoods. They actually
provide more services than
Planned Parenthood.”
LSA
freshman
Matthew
Brosky, who identifies with
conservative
views,
agreed
with Crawford’s goals. Though
he said he doesn’t support
federally
funding
these
programs, he still believes
quality health care should be
accessible.
“Even though I’m not for
funding Planned Parenthood
or supporting the Affordable
Care Act, I don’t think we
should turn away from those
who really need support in
paying for health care,” Brosky
said. “There are alternatives.
I’m pretty sure you can get
contraceptives and treatment
at UHS.”
Lednicer pushed back at
claims
that
routing
funds
toward health care providers
that
don’t
offer
abortions
would help those in poverty.
“There’s been an argument
that if people can’t come here,
they will just go somewhere
else,”
Lednicer
said.
“But
anyone who uses Medicaid
would not be able to come to
Planned
Parenthood.
That
would mean that they would
have to find another willing
provider who takes Medicaid,
and many do not.”
Additionally,
Lednicer
said
alternative
women’s
health care providers aren’t
as common or inexpensive as
Planned Parenthood opponents
think. Planned Parenthood is
free of copays, a cost she said
could burden many patients.
Although
many
people
think
Planned
Parenthood
receives their federal funds
like an allowance, the federal
funding they receive is instead
reimbursed through Medicaid,
and often at less than the cost
of services.
“We
take
reimbursement
levels usually lower than the
costs of the service because we
fundraise so much,” Lednicer
said. “The people most affected
are those in low income and
rural areas. A quarter of the
counties in Michigan do not
have an OB/GYN. For those
people, often we are the only
way to access health care.”
Currently, about 40 percent
of
Planned
Parenthood’s
revenue is federally funded.
The
$500
million
dollar
fund has been criticized for
being too high; Brosky said it
shouldn’t be the responsibility
of taxpayers.
“I
don’t
think
it’s
the
taxpayers’
job
to
support
Planned
Parenthood,”
said Brosky. “I am just not
comfortable
supporting
abortions.”
This concern is shared by
many, as most conservative
taxpayers
want
to
avoid
funding abortions. However,
the Hyde Amendment, which
was
passed
in
1976,
bars
federal
funds
from
paying
for abortions, unless in the
case of rape or to save the
mother’s life. Joanne Bailey,
a women’s studies professor
and the director of the Nurse
Midwifery Service at Michigan
Medicine (formerly University
of Michigan Health Service),
said emotional responses that
don’t consider the legislation
we have in place are fueling the
issue’s polarization.
“I try to de-emotionalize the
issues in class,” Bailey said.
“Let’s take it back to the facts.
Let’s look at actual research.
It’s not just about emotional
responses, but is rooted in
information.”
Although
emotional
responses
could
confuse
the issue at hand, Lednicer
said there could be tangible
consequences
to
repealing
Planned Parenthood.
“When
they
talk
about
defunding us, they are talking
about
defunding
patients,”
Lednicer said. “Across the
state, we saw about 60,000
patients last year and in Ann
Arbor, we saw over 8,500. One
in 5 women in this county come
to Planned Parenthood.”
Republican lawmakers are
attempting to defund Planned
Parenthood by defunding Title
X, a federal program devoted
solely
to
family
planning
services.
Although
those
lawmakers are interested in
limiting
abortions,
Bailey
said getting rid of Planned
Parenthood could actually end
up directing women toward
needing the procedures more
often.
“Ironically,
what
(lawmakers)
are
trying
to
do with this is going to lead
women
towards
needing
more abortions,” Bailey said.
“They’re trying to defund an
institution that provides birth
control, and with birth control
hard to obtain, there will be
more pregnancies.”
Regardless
of
the
consequences
of
defunding
Planned Parenthood, Bailey
said the premise of defunding
Planned
Parenthood
has
been altered by the use of
inflammatory “buzzwords.”
“I believe that our lawmakers
are really interested in the big
buzzwords,” Bailey said. “They
make
Planned
Parenthood
associated with abortions only,
and the Affordable Care Act is
nicknamed ‘Obamacare’ and
associated
with
Democrats
only. When you look at what
Planned Parenthood actually
does, most people will get
behind it. It’s really the label
that’s leading the charge as
opposed to reality.”
Regardless of whether or
not Republican lawmakers are
successful in the repeal of the
President Obama’s health care
law, Crawford said the debate
alone would inspire change.
“I think that with (Planned
Parenthood) being in the news,
whether or not it’s defunded,
brings up a really important
discussion about where the
funding should go,” Crawford
said. “Even people who are in
favor of the Affordable Care
Act want some new changes to
be made and those are being
brought into the spotlight.”
DEFUNDING
From Page 1
specifically decided to support
University Regent Ron Weiser
in his campaign for Michigan
Republican Chair.
“We decided to support him,
and we’re going to be helping
him out throughout conventions
— there’s one convention in
February that he told us we could
send as many volunteers over
there as we can, and we definitely
plan on doing so,” Zalamea said.
According
to
Weiser’s
website, his campaign for Regent
included promises to “straighten
U of M’s books and reduce the
burden on the taxpayers of
Michigan.” Weiser also states
on his website his history and
political credentials are focused
centrally on “defeating Barack
Obama’s liberal agenda” and
fighting hard against the power
of Unions. Similarly, Weiser ran
with the promise of cutting costs
so students at campuses such
as UM-Flint or UM-Dearborn
may receive the same quality
education
as
that
which
is
provided by the University’s main
Ann Arbor campus.
College
Republicans
also
expressed their plan to tackle
the issue of identity politics —
the phenomenon of people in
particular groups of society, such
as race, religion or socioeconomic
status, forming political alliances
that deviate from traditional
broad-based parties — within the
campus community this semester.
The
Michigan
College
Republicans believe this tendency
has a profound impact on free
speech on college campuses, and
has decided to take a firm stance
on expanding free speech rights
at the University. On campus, the
question of what constitutes hate
speech, and whether or not the
vocalization of certain ideas may
lead to an unsafe environment,
has been called into question.
Immediately following Trump’s
victory, certain violent images
painted on the Rock, a University
landmark at the intersection
of Hill Street and Washtenaw
Avenue, caused the community to
examine potential divisive issues
of certain speech.
“We definitely want to address
identity politics, and how it
plays a role in the University,”
said Zalamea. “That’s one of
our biggest focuses, and how it
ties into free speech on college
campuses.”
The College Democrats at
the University too are changing
their trajectory for the winter
semester and replacing electoral
work, which focused largely on
the potential success of Hillary
Clinton in the general election,
with work toward progressive
issue
advocacy.
Four
issue
committees are housed within
the greater College Democrats
organization:
women’s
rights,
the LGBTQ community, social
justice and the environment.
Each of these committees has
wide discretion regarding policy
and the ability to confront
very specific issues that are
increasingly relevant.
Despite
the
loss
during
election
season,
Michigan
College Democrats stated their
objective is not abandoned, but
rather that their agenda has been
altered to promote and recognize
progressive ideals. According to
LSA junior Colin Kelly, president
of College Democrats, they plan
to mobilize students through
transparency, Democratic values
and awareness within the campus
community.
“Though we don’t have a
central goal like we did last
semester,
we
now
have
an
opportunity — and obligation
— to continue fighting for and
advocating
our
progressive
values that we know are the right
choices for our campus, state and
nation,” Kelly said.
Nursing
freshman
Kristen
Reynolds, a member of College
Democrats at the University,
agrees that mobilization is vital to
progress, especially following the
impassioned atmosphere at the
University in the wake of Trump’s
victory in November.
“I read so many Facebook posts
from friends that aren’t usually
politically active, but were angry
with the outcomes,” Reynolds
said.
“I
hope
that
College
Democrats can get more people
involved on campus politically
and harness that passion.”
In the wake of the 2016 election,
many students have shared a
desire to promote togetherness
by increasing cordiality between
Michigan College Democrats and
Republicans. LSA freshman Haya
Akbik criticized both the College
Democrats’
and
the
College
Republicans’
uncompromising
natures.
“I think both campus groups
need to show that compromise
and respectful dialogue must
occur in order to create good
political change,” said Akbik.
“Being so stuck on being a
Democrat or a Republican is
harmful to our country and our
relations with one another.”
Reynolds agreed with the
sentiment of togetherness and
stated that the prevention of a
hateful atmosphere following the
Trump victory supersedes loyalty
to traditionally stagnant party
differences.
“After
the
election,
many
College Republican clubs came
out and said they don’t stand
for this racism, bigotry, hate
and sexism,” said Reynolds. “I
would love for our groups to put
our political beliefs aside to fight
the hate and hate crimes that
have occurred as a result of the
election.”
GOP
From Page 1
the elimination of the 4.25 percent
income tax could have, saying the
chief argument for scrapping the
tax would be that people would
have more disposable income and
thus spend more money.
“The one benefit that you can
see here is that by scrapping
the tax, you put more money in
people’s pockets, and they might
spend more,” Cho said.
Conversely, Cho said the main
issue with eliminating the tax is
the loss in revenues.
“If you scrap the 4.25 percent,
the question then becomes, ‘what
do you do instead,’ ” Cho said.
Offering
two
predictions,
Cho said the government would
then be forced to decide between
either doing nothing and cutting
infrastructure spending or raising
revenues another way, such as
increasing the sales tax. According
to Cho, the government would
have to be careful with raising the
sales tax, because taxes on basic
goods disproportionately affect
lower-income individuals.
“If you don’t do anything, you
have to give up infrastructure
spending,” Cho said. “If you
decide to raise the sales tax, that
would get back revenue, but the
downside is a sales tax is relatively
regressive … the tax burden now
starts to fall disproportionately on
the low income.”
The
nonpartisan
Michigan
Senate Fiscal Agency reported
that $9.6 billion — 19 percent —
of all state revenue was collected
from the personal income tax in
2014 and 2015.
Gov. Rick Snyder is willing
to discuss tax reform with the
legislature, but he expressed
concern over the loss of state
revenues
from
Brandenburg’s
proposal, the Detroit Free Press
reported.
“The governor is always open
to new ideas and welcomes the
discussion on tax reform,” Anna
Heaton, spokeswoman for Gov.
Snyder, told the Free Press. “For
this particular proposal, there
would need to be concrete data to
demonstrate that there is adequate
revenue from sources besides the
income tax to ensure that services
for residents and investing in our
statewide infrastructure would
not be adversely affected.”
LSA junior Enrique Zalamea,
president
of
the
University’s
chapter of College Republicans,
said
from
a
conservative
perspective, he is supportive of
the tax cut because he believes
it would benefit business and
families.
“If you look at all those states
that have eliminated their income
taxes, such as Florida, Texas and
Tennessee, those are all states
that are characterized by a lot
of growth, especially in small
businesses,” Zalamea said.
Zalamea
also
said
he
is
supportive of the plan in part
because people in economically
weaker cities such as Detroit and
Flint could benefit from a tax cut.
“When you look at Detroit and
you see where it’s come from, you
see the income tax as a way to
spur growth there,” Zalamea said.
“When people have more money
to spend, then they’re going to be
spending more of it.”
Zalamea said he believes it’s
evident that Lansing wants the
tax cut, but they still have to
explore how to replace the loss in
revenues.
“The main thing for me
personally
is
I
think
there
shouldn’t be an income tax,”
Zalamea said. “I approve of
this plan that they have, but
realistically speaking, I don’t
think it’s going to happen for
another few years.”
TAX
From Page 1
The vision would
be that ultimately
this becomes
part of a bigger
initiative
With birth control
hard to obtain,
there will be more
pregnancies
We definitely
want to address
identity politics,
and how it plays
a role in the
University
time over the past eight years.
“I have seen a lot of people
come and go, hundreds of
employees have come through
and I have seen parties and
anything
you
could
ever
imagine.” Rogers said. “This is
my home. I do everything here;
from if somebody punches
a hole in the wall, I fix it, if
someone kicks a toilet off the
drain, I fix it and if a fight
breaks out on the dance floor,
I go and take care of it.”
For part-time doorman Todd
Howland, who has worked
at Circus off and on for eight
years, Circus was not simply
a job, but rather an enriching
glimpse into the lives of today’s
youth.
“It has been an interesting
time to put myself in the
culture
of
young
people,”
Howland said. “It is nice to see
young people who really want
to work hard and seeing young
people enjoying themselves.”
CIRCUS
From Page 2