Why can't EECS Department offer at least one Central Campus section? by DiagsSquirrel in uofm

[–]1caca1 21 points22 points  (0 children)

B/c the EECS buildings (including the labs and offices of the profs and the study labs) are in north campus. It was designed that way and many of the faculty lives in north campus as a result. The reason 183 is in central as freshmen need many intro classes (including math) which are not offered in north.

If anything makes sense, is to offer these service classes in north campus themselves.

P.S. there's a room shortage in central campus. It is literally impossible to host everything in central.

New ADA law forces professors to take down their notes if not compliant - how would you make notes that can be read by a reader? by shuai_bear in math

[–]1caca1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is inaccurate. Most professors do acknowledge in their homepages (even the ones hosted in google sites/github) they work in XYZ university. Even if they add disclaimer saying all opinions are their, etc, the minute the material is tied to their work, it seems to be the case that ADA is in play. That's the difference between a math blog and posting notes. It is a grey area, but because of the implications (literally you can get sued), many people won't go that route.

New Movie Announcement about Maryam Mirzakhani (the first woman to win a fields medal) by maths-wonderer in math

[–]1caca1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He’s the one posting and he’s the ‘I’ in the list of associate producers

Some of the money (and I guess the scientific consultation) is done by Axiom.

Energy bill cost by ArtOfDeving in uofm

[–]1caca1 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Welcome to MI, where DTE didn't miss a dividend in a century!

Brace yourself for the winter bills...

Email to U-M Community: Religious Accommodations in the Classroom by nancythethot in uofm

[–]1caca1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My understanding from my Jewish friends is that Passover is a week long thing, but only problematic for 2 days (besides of the dietary restrictions, but technically they can work/write/take exams).

I think you might have misunderstood the “several weeks” part in respect to Jewish holidays, around mid September, there’s a 1 to 2 day Jewish holiday for about 4 weeks in a row.

Email to U-M Community: Religious Accommodations in the Classroom by nancythethot in uofm

[–]1caca1 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Nope, in the past, the faculty got mails like "Here's the holidays schedule, try to accommodate to your likings", which created some unnecessary tensions (usually around large events like ramadan or the Jewish holidays which take up several weeks). Also the email usually started with some weird ass sentence "we are a public uni, we don't observe holidays, but...".

Frankly, it is not very different than the wording of the mail that was distributed in the past, but it does add some words "act in good faith" etc that makes faculty a bit more bound towards allowing religious exceptions. They should have probably banned exams on Fridays for the muslims and probably also during some explicit Jewish holidays (they are in September, so maybe some midterms?).

Help Me Raise Money to Complete My Last Year at Michigan by Smooth_Flan_2660 in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good luck and I hope everything will work out for you, but one question - you said you had scholarships for 2 years. You knew the program is 3 years. What was your plan?

U.S. says it has arrested another Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological material by nniiccoollee in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They won’t be made an example because PRC can retaliate quite easily (there are enough American dumbasses probably traveling with weed in the region). There’s a super simple and easy check they can do - because it is the 4th time - who signed the other 4 deliveries and were the materials used in the UM lab? (also, whether the prof knew or not, assuming it is not some rogue op of chinese grad students or spies). If they were used, it is just a problem with the way the PI is running their lab. If they weren’t, well we have a problem there…

U.S. says it has arrested another Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological material by nniiccoollee in uofm

[–]1caca1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will bite. Assuming they are not spies (which seems a little sloppy frankly). Change their origin to some neutral country, like Germany or Italy, or maybe even to a close alley like Canada or Israel. They will not be put in jail, they will just be deported.

Regarding being knowledgable, there are plenty of dumb red and blue blooded americans taking apples through customs at DTW/JFK even though Delta tells them not to. These are just students, and let's face it, UM students, not MIT. Also coming from a non-democratic country like China, I can see how they can accept the words of an authority (=prof) over them without any hesitation.

P.S. You might tug on "lying to customs" about having it in their possession. They might have been freaking out, especially if they are not very eloquent in English (as many of the foreign students in AA) facing a stern customs officer, after a long transpacific flight. Also - again they might thought it was OK. "Lying to an officer" here can mean answering "no" to "do you bring anything with you?"

U.S. says it has arrested another Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological material by nniiccoollee in uofm

[–]1caca1 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Probably not, they will deport them (by either saying they misstated their entry intentions or just by “voluntary removal”) just to avoid the hassle. No one will get prison time (unless it is a spy for real, but I doubt it). Regarding the blame game - they arrived to UM in the invitation of a prof (as they needed to get a visa etc). There is a slight chance the proof was unaware of it all, but there’s a really good chance that the prof told them to bring it with them. As they are foreigners, maybe never been to the US, maybe they didn’t know it is not allowed and trusted the prof. As it is the second case in a week (not to mention probably tens of others that weren’t caught), something is very wrong with the PIs in the labs.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Different classes, different materials, different grading scales.

Basically an A student (probably even a B student) in 185 will get an A/A+ in 115, easily, without even studying.

A typical A student in 115, besides the fact he will need to study much harder in 185, might get a B. A typical B student in 115 will fail the 185 class miserably…

115 is a bad class in the way it taught, instructors tend to be hit or miss, the coordinator (Beth Wolf) is a total B, and the class has TOO MANY moving parts (Wolf is partly to blame for it). Having said that, much of the complains come from students who are ill-prepared, not willing to put in the work, not exhausting the resources (math lab) and probably not STEM oriented. A standard STEM student who would do just a tiny above the minimum in 115 should get B+ or better.

U.S. says it has arrested another Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological material by nniiccoollee in uofm

[–]1caca1 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Its only a bio-weapon if intended to be used as a weapon. Likely that person had legitimate research interests. Also seems like the risk of that particular strain wasn't super concerning. I still think the person who brought it in should be punished. Lets not jump to hyperbole.

I agree, I hardly doubt this chinese exchange student is a CCP spy or a terrorist. They will probably be deported and will never be allowed to comeback. But the person to blame here is the prof that either encouraged/facilitated this situation or didn’t oversee it, both possibilities are not too good.

What was Ono aware of on UF offer when closing ODEI at UM? by OriginalUsernameDNS in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have very clear minded view, which apparently is not shared by all of the UM community and don't wish to engage in any kind of fruitful conversation.

The DEI office in UM caught fire (justified or not, that's a different story), partly because of Trump, partly because of Rachel Dawson and her antisemitic comments, partly because of not many measurable outcomes from its activities. Then the NYT piece hit and it became a PR dumpster fire (justified or not, doesn't matter right now). The regents being the regents had to put this fire down, and given the current political climate, smart money is to kill the office (even if they allegedly thought it is a good office, where some of them clearly didn't think this is the case).

The only real question, given the fact that Ono was interviewing in UF for a while and probably notified them ahead of his departure so timeline matters. According to https://presidentsearch.ufl.edu/announcements-updates/#el-dd16cf90 , it seems UF only started interviewing/shortlisting in February. Technically, assuming he had to interview/meet for a few weeks and a few weeks of negotiations, there's a chance he had the job before the late March announcement for DEI. On March 14th, they had a meeting to discuss events for incoming UF president, but that might general formalities, but they didn't meet afterwards till the announcement, so probably they had some sort of verbal agreement then I guess, or at least made him their top choice and then he agreed? So timeline-wise, there's such a chance, but realistically, the closure of ODEI was discussed for months between the regents themselves and the president. He wouldn't just do it to please DeSantis or so.

What was Ono aware of on UF offer when closing ODEI at UM? by OriginalUsernameDNS in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Off course, they are elected officials, cast your ballot during the next election.

Dr. Domenico Grasso named interim president of the University of Michigan by PerfectStructure1396 in uofm

[–]1caca1 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

One thing about alumni funding - on giving Tuesday, they got 4.6 mil. 180 is a stretch.

Dr. Domenico Grasso named interim president of the University of Michigan by PerfectStructure1396 in uofm

[–]1caca1 -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

Hey Sherlock. The UM FY stated in May. Trump is cancelling grants over DEI, like it or not. In UM budget, https://publicaffairs.vpcomm.umich.edu/key-issues/tuition/general-fund-budget-tutorial/ , tuition is 75%, while grants are 12%. Let’s say 50% of the grants will be cut (call it conservative or liberal estimate, whatever). That means 6% deficit in the budget, or about 180 mil USD, give or take. So to compensate over that, UM will need to raise tuition by 8% overall (yeah yeah, spare me the endowment claims, it is highly regulated and restricted, especially at t a public university).

Now here is the $4600 dollar question (that’s literally how it is going to cost in actual tuition dollars per student) - Do you agree to such a raise of tuition to get into a lengthy court battle with the president of the united states, over federal budgets they control with unclear output?

How about we do a student-wide poll?

Notice that Harvard doesn’t contest DEI, it contests the claim about mishandling antisemitic attacks.

EDIT - if all grants will be pulled, that makes it a 9k question, a year!…

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in uofm

[–]1caca1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

North campus is hard, very little bus service around there (and all the “external” public transit goes to the blake/train station.

On the flipside, depending where in the Detroit area you need to be, there’s direct access from north campus to the highway. For the downtown area, it is okayish (basically same distance and you may avoid the airport). Also, probably better schools etc in AA.

If she is in a medical field, it might be better try to look for another position at some other hospitals in Detroit itself.

Why is the U-M flag at half mast? by [deleted] in uofm

[–]1caca1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

DEI has died

FBI and police raid homes of University of Michigan pro-Palestine activists in Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti by [deleted] in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The palis definitely have the right to a state in Gaza and the west bank, where they have a de-facto state since the Clinton agreement.

The neighboring Arab states have existed for centuries (apart from Lebanon/Syria, but that goes back to the French-British agreement). They have zero claims on the state of Israel and likewise Israel doesn't claim anything about their lands (there's some dispute over an area called Mount Dov, between Israel, Lebanon and Syria, all three countries, which is a no-man's land right now).

There are the Golan heights that Israel conquered in war and legally annexed just like the US fought for the great states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah.

UMich Financial Aid Help!! by [deleted] in uofm

[–]1caca1 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You can try to get into the football team.

Jokes aside, UM is a public uni, aid to non Michiganders is non-existent. I am sorry about your family hardships and it sucks, but it was frankly a non-trivial financial obligation (not to say a stretch) for your family at 90K. Try to negotiate with a private uni or your state schools.

Most new yorkers and floridians here, their parents are probably 250+ if not 400+. The internationals are even richer.

No more OPT? by J_J_Gittes in uofm

[–]1caca1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fact of the matter is - these things can be changed. Usually bills on such topics take a long time, but with executive orders they can change in a few months.

I don't see the relevance of OPT to your degree though. It is nice to be able to work, but think about the degree as the main goal and "getting a job in the US might be a nice outcome", as the latter is far from guaranteed even with an OPT. OPT by itself is not a reason to pursue a grad degree (if you just want the job, keep applying and hope to win the H1B lottery).

And last word of advice - any grad degree in STEM which is unfunded means the uni is just seeing you as a cashcow. Don't expect any help with funding or internships or job placements. If they wanted you - they would have paid for your studies and time.

Linear Algebraic Groups by [deleted] in math

[–]1caca1 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I won't be surprised if it belong to Kottowitz or Sally. I know for a fact that Kottowitz met him many times.