CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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CAMPUS LIFE
Six Greek chapters suspended for damage Student leaders release statement condemning ski resort vandalism
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University Provost Martha Pollack speaks about digital education initiatives at a Senate Assembly meeting in Palmer Commons Monday afternoon.
Pollack talks importance of a diverse student body SACUA meets with ‘U’ provost to discuss engaged learning, access By CARLY NOAH Daily Staff Reporter
University Provost Martha Pollack joined the Senate Assembly during their meeting Monday to discuss several University priorities, including access and digital education. The Assembly also
passed a resolution discouraging faculty from signing confidentiality agreements when serving on University committees. During her presentation, Pollack highlighted four areas of focus: innovation in teaching and learning techniques, pursuit of bold research projects, fostering a diverse and inclusive campus and ensuring the affordability of a University education. At a time when new technology is making education formats more widely available and open, Pollack said the University is also thinking about the kind of learn-
ing experiences that will prove most relevant as students enter careers post-graduation. “If your world is uncertain and ambiguous, you need the ability to take risks,” Pollack said. “You don’t learn that by being lectured to. If the world is complex, you need to be able to synthesize various complex ideas.” Though online tools can often diversify the learning experience, Pollack said online education tools would not erode the value of face-to-face education. Apart from digital and engaged learning, Pollack also discussed
‘U’ considers data collection policy changes By CARLY NOAH Daily Staff Reporter
The University is exploring innovative methods to use existing data to improve teaching and learning techniques. Though the University currently retains student data, such as course grades, some officials argue the information should be more accessible to researchers and professors, who can in turn use it to improve the student experience inside the classroom. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, James Hilton, vice provost for digital education and innovation, said he is working with an informal group to draft a Standard Practice Guide policy to govern the use of collected data. “We’ve been discussing the issues and principles involved and we’re in the process of drafting an SPG, which would actually be the policy,” Hilton said. “Once we have that drafted, we will reshop it to get feedback on it to make sure everyone has a voice.” Hilton said the SPG would largely focus on institutionalizing the process for accessing the data and opening up access for researchers to see sets of information already collected by the University.
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“How would you go about gaining access to data to see, for example, whether or not there’s a correlation between the sequences of courses people take and their success in those courses,” Hilton said. “Those are two different data sets right now.” Because the SPG only exists as a draft, Hilton said he could not provide specific policies that may govern the use of student data. However, he added that the University collects data in a similar way that commercial websites analyze online behavior and use it to customize an Internet user’s online experience. “But what if, instead of using analytics to deliver advertisements, we use the same dataintensive approach to deliver learning objects, tips and assistance at just the right time as you go through the semester?” he said. Hilton pointed to eCoach, a classroom data collection program that uses information collected from previous students’ responses to provide customized feedback to current students, as an example of how student data collection benefits both students and educators. Many large introductory STEM classes already use the program. Currently, students who decide to participate in eCoach’s data collection complete a survey at the beginning of the semester that asks them a variety of questions about their expectations for the course. See DATA, Page 3
Daily Staff Reporter
After several University Greek life chapters reportedly caused damage at two Michigan ski resorts, six Greek life chapters reportedly involved — the University’s chapters of Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, Chi Psi and Delta Gamma — have now been suspended by their national chapters, according to a University release. The Sigma Alpha Mu chapter, which stayed at the Treetops Resort with members from Sigma Delta Tau, was suspended last week by their national organization. In a statement released Sat-
the importance of diversity and inclusion at the University, noting one of the institution’s largest challenges remains increasing the enrollment of under-represented minority students. In the last year, students have called on the University to address issues of diversity and inclusion, most prominently as part of the Being Black at the University of Michigan campaign lead by the University’s Black Student Union. In December, University President Mark Schlissel announced he would release a campus-wide See SACUA, Page 3
HEALTH
A F T E R N O O N S K AT E
ACADEMICS
Access to student information could fuel improved learning analytics
By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS
urday, three student leaders published an open letter apologizing for the events and promising action to hold those involved accountable. CSG President Bobby Dishell, a Public Policy junior; Interfraternity Council President Alex Krupiak, an LSA senior; and Panhellenic Association President Maddy Walsh, a Business junior, authored the letter to apologize for the behavior of these organizations. “This terrible incident has been widely publicized across the nation, and rightly so: it was an act of shocking disrespect,” the letter said. “We, as leaders and Greeks at the University of Michigan, do not tolerate these kinds of acts, nor do we let such behavior fall under the radar. We intend to handle this situation with the utmost efficiency, and we will ensure that those responsible for the damage to the properties will be held accountable throughout this process.” The two resorts that sufSee SUSPENSION, Page 3
Discovery may impact treatment of diabetes Researchers identify pathway that monitors blood sugar levels By KATIE PENROD
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA sophomore Matt Lawford plays ice hockey on a frozen-over mud pit Monday outside Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
First patient leaves UMHS with artificial heart Awaiting organ transplant, man receives innovative device By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT Daily Staff Reporter
For a man without his heart, Stan Larkin is in good spirits. The University’s Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center recently provided 24-year-old Stan Larkin with a SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart that has allowed him to return home while waiting for a regular heart transplant. Larkin has biventricular heart failure, meaning his ven-
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tricles cannot effectively pump blood to his organs and has suffered from multiple heart failures and arrhythmias. Typically, patients needing a new heart are placed on a transplant list. Once on the list, it could be months to years before a patient has access to the donor heart he or she needs. Larkin is the first patient in Michigan history to leave a hospital without a human heart. He is currently equipped with the Freedom Driver, a portable pump created by SynCardia Systems, Inc., a device he will use until he is eligible for a heart transplant. Jonathan Haft, associate professor of cardiac surgery, said Larkin’s need for a heart was urgent. “His condition deteriorated
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to the point where we were considering him for heart transplantation, but we did not think that he was going to have the time to wait until that suitable donor became available,” he said. Haft said mechanical heart support has progressed since the 1970s, but Larkin’s situation is a first in that the Freedom Driver is easily transportable and allows patients to leave the hospital. “What’s new and innovative about this device is that the external component is now portable and allows patients to go home,” Haft said. “At our center, we’ve always been able to transplant patients within a five- or six-month period of time.” Larkin is still listed for a See HEART, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 55 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Researchers from the United Kingdom and the Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center have identified the brain cells wired to detect glucose levels — a discovery which could improve how patients and doctors manage diabetes. Martin Myers, a researcher at the Comprehensive Diabetes Center and an associate professor of Internal Medicine and molecular and integrative physiology, said people with type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin and must keep their blood sugar as close to normal as possible. People with diabetes, particularly type 1, have to constantly manage their blood sugar levels. But when participating in intensive insulin therapy, people run a high risk of receiving too much insulin — a problem that can result in decreased blood sugar levels. After three years of research, the scientists recently found a brain pathway that produces cholecystokinin, or CCK, a brain hormone that can detect blood glucose levels. Myers said researchers are now studying neurons in the See DIABETES, Page 3
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