At the end of each semester, 

University 
of 
Michigan 

students are asked to submit 
evaluations for the courses 
they have taken in that term. 
One of the most important 
metrics 
for 
introductory-

level courses is how much 
interest they generate in the 
field. Rankings are based on 
the percentage of students 
who answered some form of 
“yes” when asked, “Did this 
course increase interest in 
the field?” The top results for 
introductory classes are listed 
below:

ASIANLAN 
125: 
First 

Year Japanese I (94 percent)

Ranked 
highest 
on 
the 

list, First Year Japanese I is 
designed for students with no 
prior Japanese knowledge and 
focuses on the fundamentals 
of learning a new language. 
According to Mayumi Oka, 
director 
of 
the 
Japanese 

language program, this first-
year course stresses several 
key skills of the language.

“We do reading, writing, 

speaking and listening,” Oka 
said. “We teach everything 
like conversation and how 
to write characters, and we 
introduce Japanese culture. 
Culture is very important.”

The class focuses on an 

understanding 
of 
Japanese 

culture as well. According 
to 
Kinesiology 
freshman 

Xincheng 
Yuan, 
the 
class 

generates 
interest 
by 

appealing to the U.S. interest 
in different facets of Japanese 
culture.

“I think Japanese culture 

is popular in America with 
anime and manga and those 
games,” Yuan said. “I think 
many people are trying to 
learn about these in Japanese 
to better play the things that 
they like.”

LHSP 
125: 
College 

Writing (88 percent)

With various sections of this 

course including “Writing and 
Seeing,” “Writing Genres,” 
“Monsters and Beasts” and 
more, this course in the 
Lloyd Hall Scholars Program 
offers several unique lenses 
while also providing a base 
of writing skills. According 
to Shelley Mannis, professor 
of “Our TV, Our Selves: The 

Rhetoric 
of 
Television,” 

the various sections allow 
students to use writing to 
analyze the world around 
them.

“A big part of this course, 

too, is helping students learn 
how to find real conversations 
happening 
in 
the 
world 

around things that they’re 
interested in,” Mannis wrote 
in an email to The Daily. “In 

After 
four 
new 

Councilmembers 
were 
sworn 

into office Monday night, Ann 
Arbor 
City 
Council 
failed 
a 

resolution 7-4 to amend the Office 
of Sustainability and Innovation’s 
budget and appropriate funds for 
new climate and sustainability 
programs, and to scale-up existing 
programs.

City 
Councilmembers 
Julie 

Grand, 
D-Ward 
3, 
Zachary 

Ackerman, D-Ward 4, Chip Smith, 
D-Ward 5 and Mayor Christopher 
Taylor voted in favor of the 
resolution.

The 
failure 
comes 

after 
the 
resolution 
was 

first postponed during the Oct. 15 
meeting in which councilmembers 
could not come to a general 
consensus on the issue.

Rackham 
students 
Jennifer 

Carman and Samantha Basile are 
both involved with climate change 
action both in their studies and 
participation 
in 
environmental 

groups both on campus and within 
Ann Arbor. Both Carman and 
Basile are residents of Ward 1. 
Basile said passing the resolution 

michigandaily.com
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

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A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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CAMPUS LIFE

The Black Student Union 

held an event and exhibit 
in Mason Hall on Monday 
to commemorate the fifth 
anniversary 
of 
#BBUM, 
 

which 
stands 
for 
“Being 

Black at the University of 
Michigan.” 
The 
display 

included a large poster where 
students could share what 
it means to be Black at the 
University of Michigan in 
colored chalk.

On 
Nov. 
19, 
2013, 

BSU 
launched 
a 

movement 
that 
brought 

Black students’ experiences 
at the University to light, 
with 
the 
viral 
hashtag, 

protest 
and 
institutional 

demands. BBUM represents 
a 
watershed 
moment 
of 

viral 
student 
activism 
on 

campus. A “hood ratchet” 
party organized by Theta 
Xi, a predominantly white 
fraternity, 
catalyzed 
the 

BSU’s launch of the hashtag 

used in 10,000 tweets in its 
first two days.

LSA 
senior 
Kayla 

McKinney, president of BSU, 
said the event was intended 
to give students a space to 
reflect on the past five years 
since the hashtag began and 
also on the history of Black 
students at the University in 
general.

“They did a demonstration 

similar to this (five years 
ago),” McKinney said. “This 
was right after the Trayvon 
Martin trial, racist incidents 
on campus, so Black students 
just needed a place to voice 
what was going on.”

This dialogue gave way 

to seven demands addressed 
to 
the 
University. 
Many 
 

of 
the 
demands 
— 
most 

notably, 
the 
perennial 

ask for 10 percent Black 
enrollment — are reiterations 
of 
changes 
sought 
by 

previous 
Black 
Action 

Movements. These reforms 
include 
more 
affordable 

housing, a revamped Race 

Community 
gathers to 
reflect 5 yrs.
after BBUM 

Gender identity explored through 
performances at SHIFT showcase

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily

Mandy Coterillo, Alumni Chair of Zeta Omega Eta and co-host of SHIFT hugs an attendee of SHIFT at the League Monday evening. 

Black Student Union exhibit mirrors 
original actions, demands from 2013 

SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter

200 people attend art event in League hosted by Redefine and Zeta Omega Eta

Featuring a mix of visual art, 

written word and performances by 
University of Michigan students 
with a diverse range of gender 
identities, 
the 
annual 
SHIFT 

talent showcase was held Monday 
to explore and celebrate the theme 
of gender.

Co-hosted by Redefine, a student 

organization dedicated to creating 
platforms for the intersection of art 
and social justice, and Zeta Omega 

Eta, a non-traditional sorority 
focused on the advancement of 
feminist ideals, the event first 
allowed attendees to browse a wall 
of visual art at the entrance of the 
room that showcased drawings, 
photographs, poetry and prose. 
The artwork had a variety of 
messages presenting the artists’ 
experiences of gender, from its 
intersection with ethnicity to 
societal gender pressures.

Kendall Sidnam, co-president of 

Redefine and one of the organizers 
of the event, emphasized the 
mission of Redefine to provide a 

space for artists at the University 
to express themselves.

“To be able to have a safe 

and brave space where they 
can showcase their art without 
judgment and with full support 
and accessibility ... Having a space 
that’s solely devoted to them and 
their work and their talent is 
really important for them to feel 
supported in whatever identity 
they have,” Sidnam said.

The organizers later shifted 

into the performance portion 
of event with a video asking 
University students about genders 

norms they’d like to see changed 
and what gender empowerment 
meant to them. Launching from 
these ideas, one of the emcees, LSA 
senior Mandy Coterillo, explained 
the idea of the “gender unicorn” to 
the audience.

“The 
gender 
unicorn 
is 

divided 
into 
gender 
identity, 

gender expression, sex assigned 
at birth, physically attracted to, 
and emotionally attracted to…” 
Coterillo said. “The unicorn works 
in a spectrum.”

The performances that followed 

CLAIRE HAO

Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan 

Senate 
Assembly 
convened 

Monday 
afternoon 
in 
the 

Michigan League to discuss 
the implications of electronic 
voting 
and 
participation 
in 

future meetings as well as what 
responsibilities 
University 

faculty hold regarding letters of 
recommendation.

After opening the meeting 

with 
announcements, 
Senate 

Assembly Chair Neil Marsh, 
professor 
of 
chemistry, 

opened the floor for discussion 
about electronic voting and 
participation in future Faculty 
Senate 
meetings. 
Remote 

participation would be achieved 
through video chat platforms 
like Bluejeans or Skype. The 
discussion was a response to 
concerns that quorums rarely 
occur due to the participation 
minimum 
of 
100 
faculty 

members. As a result, there 
have only been three instances 
in which a faculty quorum has 
been able to vote on issues since 
2004.

“We never get a quorum, 

Assembly 
expresses 
support for 
online vote

ACADEMICS

Faculty gov. also voices 
concerns over clarity of 
letter writing policies

SARAH THONG

For the Daily

DID THIS COURSE CAUSE INTEREST IN THE FIELD?

ASIANLAN 125

First Year Japanese I

LHSP 125

College Writing

DANCE 100

Intro to Dance

ARTDES 115

Studio: 2D

SPANISH 101

Elementary Spanish

EARTH 113

Planets and Moons

BIOLOGY 101

Energy, Food, & Environment

PSYCH 111

Intro to Psychology

COMPLI 100

Global X

EECS 183

Elem. Programming Concepts

ASTRO 127

Naked Eye Astronomy

ASTRO 107

The Dark Side of the Univ.

94%
88%
87%

82%
82%
82%

81%
80%
80%

79%
79%
79%

CASEY TIN/Daily

Course evaluation data reveal most 
popular introductory-level classes

Twelve courses top list of those which most increase interest in subject matter

ATTICUS RAASCH

Daily Staff Reporter

See COURSES, Page 3

Resolution 
for climate 
funds fails 
in Council

ANN ARBOR

Newly sworn in members 
provide deciding votes 
after hours-long debate

RACHEL CUNNINGHAM

Daily Staff Reporter

See COUNCIL, Page 3
See ASSEMBLY, Page 2

See SHIFT, Page 3
See BBUM, Page 3

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