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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

