ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
Community gathers to reflect 5 yrs. after BBUM Black Student Union exhibit mirrors original actions, demands from 2013 SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter 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.
Gender identity explored through performances at SHIFT showcase
200 people attend art event in League hosted by Redefine and Zeta Omega Eta CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter
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 See SHIFT, Page 3
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 ref lect 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 See BBUM, Page 3
Course evaluation data reveal most Assembly Resolution expresses popular introductory-level classes for climate
ACADEMICS
ANN ARBOR
support for online vote
Twelve courses top list of those which most increase interest in subject matter
Faculty gov. also voices concerns over clarity of letter writing policies
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 introductorylevel 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 firstyear 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
SARAH THONG For the Daily
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, See ASSEMBLY, Page 2
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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 See COURSES, Page 3
DID THIS COURSE CAUSE INTEREST IN THE FIELD? First Year Japanese I
College Writing
Intro to Dance
94%
88%
87%
ASIANLAN 125 Studio: 2D
LHSP 125 Elementary Spanish
DANCE 100 Planets and Moons
82%
82%
82%
ARTDES 115 Energy, Food, & Environment
SPANISH 101 Intro to Psychology
EARTH 113 Global X
81%
80%
80%
BIOLOGY 101 PSYCH 111 Elem. Programming Concepts Naked Eye Astronomy
COMPLI 100 The Dark Side of the Univ.
79%
79%
79%
EECS 183
ASTRO 127
ASTRO 107 CASEY TIN/Daily
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 35 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
funds fails in Council
Newly sworn in members provide deciding votes after hours-long debate RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
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 See COUNCIL, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7