University
of
Michigan
Electrical
Engineering
and
Computer Science courses have
developed extensive waitlists
due to growing enrollment
rates,
graduate
students
registering for undergraduate
classes, and limited numbers of
faculty — giving students stress
about being able to complete
their requirements on time. The
department’s
administration
is working to hire more full-
time faculty and acquire larger
lecture halls to meet the high
demand, but have struggled to
succeed.
Currently,
the
EECS
department is comprised of 143
faculty, 1,882 undergraduate
students and 1,094 graduate
students,
high
enrollment
numbers that have increased
significantly
over
the
past
decade. Seth Pettie, professor
and associate chair of the
electrical
engineering
and
computer science department,
confirmed the department is
aware of the waitlist issues
affecting
undergraduate
students and stated it has
become a recent problem due to
the program’s high demand.
“If you look at our enrollment
numbers, they go up linearly
and year by year,” Pettie said.
“They have been going up for
the last 10 years and of course
(registration) wasn’t a problem
10 years ago and things have
become more acute in the last
year.”
Just within the Computer
Science and Engineering major
of EECS, enrollment has grown
exponentially within the last
five years. According to Brian
Noble, chair of the computer
science
and
engineering
department, the number of
undergraduates with declared
CSE
majors
has
doubled,
increasing from 748 in Fall 2013
to 1,457 in Fall 2017.
The
CSE
undergraduate
degrees
granted
has
subsequently increased from 211
during the 2012-2013 academic
year to 520 during the 2016-
2017 academic year. However,
the size of CSE faculty has not
On Thursday evening, over
seven hundred delegates, staff
members and advisors gathered
together in the University of
Michigan’s Rackham Auditorium
for the 31st Model United Nations
at the University of Michigan
Conference Opening Ceremony.
The
conference
is
run
by
University undergraduates, and
offers high school students from
37 high schools across the country
an opportunity to deepen their
understanding of international
affairs. The keynote speaker
for the opening ceremony was
University Regent Ron Weiser,
and his speech highlighted “the
good, the bad and the ugly” of the
United Nations.
Weiser, who also served as the
U.S. ambassador to Slovakia from
2001 to 2005, began by discussing
the history of the United Nations
in regards to former U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen
Points” speech, which outlined
the future of nations committed
to peace during World War I. He
also emphasized how the United
States embodied those points as
it helped to shape the U.N. after
World War II.
“The United States, now under
the leadership of FDR, returned
to Wilson’s grand strategy — to
a construction of a rules-based
order in which the United States
and other democracies would
prosper,” Weiser said.
Weiser then discussed the
universality present in the U.N.,
which he viewed as a double-
edged sword. He explained while
the inclusiveness of the U.N.
allows for actions against threats
— such as sanctions — to be taken,
it conversely allows countries
unsolicited uses of the veto power.
“On a strategic level the
U.N. poses a structural flaw of
universality
in
participation
because great powers can use
veto (power) to barter action
against themselves,” Weiser said.
“For example, during the Cold
War, the Soviet Union used the
veto power 68 times, and the U.S.
used it 61 times. On the other
hand, universality is occasionally
a significant plus, most recently
the UN Security Council passed
sanctions against North Korea.”
Weiser
considered
other
positive aspects of the United
Nations such as the legitimacy
of the Security Council, the
strength of technical agencies
and the United Nations High
Commissioner on Refugees’ aid
to over 50 million refugee families
and more. Weiser also pointed out
many of the flaws that he viewed as
the negative elements of the U.N.
Some of the issues he noted were
weak performance management
culture, inadequate resourcing
and implementation of mandates
and lack of transparency.
The
“ugly,”
according
to
Weiser, was visible in the U.N.’s
lack of investigation into claims
of sexual misconduct as well
The University of Michigan
Residence Halls Association
gathered on Thursday night
in Couzens Residence Hall to
discuss funding for various
student groups, as well as the
vacant positions currently on
their executive board created
by the unexpected resignations
of
two
members,
one
of
whom cited an unwelcoming
environment as a motivation.
The
assembly
heard
from
a diverse group of student
representatives from several
organizations
on
campus,
and voted on new legislation
regarding
the
selection
of
residence hall representatives
for next year.
Speakers
from
Omega
Psi Phi fraternity and the
Taiwanese American Student
Association
(TASA)
both
presented
information
on
their respective groups and
submitted requests for funding
from RHA. From upcoming
fundraisers to compensating
for past expenditures, speakers
expressed the advantage of
accruing
residence
halls’
michigandaily.com
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Friday, January 12, 2018
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 55
©2018 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
EECS dept.
struggles to
keep up with
high demand
Beyond the Numbers: ‘U’ suicide
data can identify campus trends
See EECS, Page 3
CASEY TIN/Daily
ACADEMICS
Waitlists of hundreds have students
worrying about completing requirements
ALEX COTT
Daly Staff Reporter
Student suicide data helps admin improve mental health resources on campus
Engineering junior Anna Learis
spends the majority of her time
on the University of Michigan’s
North Campus. She says learning
in a less active environment than
Central Campus, coupled with
the difficulty of the engineering
curriculum, can create a rather
stressful environment for some
students.
As a group leader for Wolverine
Support Network, a participant
in mental health monologues at
Active Minds and a student who
has spoken at local high schools
about mental health, Learis spends
a lot of her time advocating for
improved mental health resources.
One example of this is two years
ago when Learis founded Mentality
Magazine, the first mental health
publication on any campus in the
nation. Her experience in working
with students who may be going
through mental health issues has
shown her the large need for on
campus support systems.
Attention to these issues is part
of what encouraged the Counseling
and Psychological Services added
a Wellness Center on North
Campus to allow for better access
to students who may feel isolated
from mental health resources on
Central Campus.
Earlier
this
month,
the
Associated
Press
surveyed
the nation’s 100 largest public
universities for their annual data
on student suicides. Out of the four
universities surveyed within the
state of Michigan, the University
was one of three collecting this
data, along with Michigan State
University and Grand Valley State
University, while Central Michigan
University either does not have
data or does not regularly collect
such statistics.
According to Sarah Daniels,
Associate
Dean
of
Students,
current records of student suicide
date
back
to
approximately
2010,
however,
Daniels
could
not comment on whether or not
records exist prior to this. Daniels
explained that because the Dean
of Students office does serve as the
primary contact point for those
affected by the death of a student,
the data the University currently
holds in relation to student suicide
is a subset of information on all
student deaths.
“We receive data in a number
of
different
ways
or
receive
information about the death of our
students in a number of different
ways and then we provide support
and care and assistance,” Daniels
said.
Specific ways the Dean of
Students office obtains information
may include notification from the
Ann Arbor Police Department, a
family member, or a report filed
of an incident. Though this data
isn’t necessarily analyzed by the
University, it can be used to
JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter
See RESIDENCE, Page 2
Vacancies
plaguing
Residence
Hall Assoc.
CAMPUS LIFE
Citing an unwelcoming
environment, executive
resigns during meeting
DANIELLE PASEKOFF
Daily Staff Reporter
JOSHUA HAN/Daily
Ronald Weiser speaks on current pressing issues worldwide including political tensions and problems regarding the
United Nations at Rackham Auditorium Thursday.
Regent Weiser discusses impact of UN
at Model United Nations conference
Israel condemnations cited by Weiser as “ugly” aspects of the United Nations
AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See WEISER, Page 3
See SUICIDE, Page 3
Last Monday, Biomerica Inc.
announced it would be partnering
with
Michigan
Medicine
on
clinical trials for their Irritable
Bowel
Syndrome
Diagnostic
Guided Therapy.
IBS is a symptom-based disorder
that may cause pain, constipation
and bloating in the bowels. The
syndrome affects between 25
million and 45 million patients
in the United States, according
to the International Foundation
for Functional Gastrointestinal
Disorders.
Biomerica’s diagnostic therapy,
InFoods®, aims to help physicians
identify certain foods that may
be removed from a patient’s diet
to alleviate IBS symptoms and
discomfort. It may be used with
drugs currently on the market
because it is not considered a drug,
but rather a form of therapy.
According to Dr. William Chey,
director of medical services for the
Michigan Bowel Control Program
at Michigan Medicine, since IBS is
a syndrome, not a disease, it could
potentially be managed with this
therapy.
“(IBS
is)
defined
by
See MEDICINE, Page 2
Michigan
Medicine
conducts
IBS study
RESEARCH
Partners with BioAmerica
on controlled clinical trial,
new diagnostic therapy
KATE JENKINS
Daily Staff Reporter