University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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-. ' r Ryan Sockalosk;

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[JBCOURSE Greg Kessler Reaching Out by Sarah Mangla While many students took run of the mill classes where papers and exams were the norm, a group of brave and interested students sought challenges and new experiences in English 310: Discourse and Society. This course forced students to critically analyze the society around them, often shaking their beliefs of the world. Based on examining the systems of education in society, students read and discussed books on this subject, but also had the unique opportunity to apply their reading. The students visited various classrooms and juvenile detention centers to facilitate creative workshops. Students intended to help the children learn to express themselves through their workshops. We work with youth to give them a chance to harness their creative energy, and we do this either through writing, drawing, painting, music, dance, acting, or any combination of these, said junior English major Matt Schmitt. AMAZ.IK) Most students felt the class was one of their best learning experiences. The class gives you a chance to learn about H A E 4 the people most of us keep trying to forget, and you almost always learn more about yourself in the process. It ' s unique because MU- -H- r . there are not that many classes that offer opportunities to work with incarcerated youth. We don ' t go in to the detention centers or high schools with the feeling like we are studying these people. We go in to learn to share, to have fun, to cry, to sing, to -(J Lyp iE dance, to allow life to come out even though the walls work hard to contain it, Schmitt said. Professor Buzz Alexander was instrumental in making the class such a success. Students agreed his personality H-Aro r -t; and devotion added to the experience of Discourse and Society. Buzz is an amazing person. He knows how to motivate you. He gets you thinking about things without telling you how to think about them. He ' s a real believer of experiencing things, E h0 rUI K not just reading about them, said junior English major Christen Kinsler. The benefits of this class are enormous. It taught me a lot about being accepting, and I hope the kids we work with got that people believe in them-that other people care, added Kinsler. Schmitt added, I would recommend this class to any student who is in any way troubled by the way our society treats many people. It forces you to consider the misfortune many people suffer from, while also forcingyou to critically look at your own fortune. It is difficult, but a necessary realization to fully understand the world around you. A- Discourse and Society 129

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Hail! to the victors valiant Jfie Wolverine Softball team rushes to cel- ebrate their Big Ten Champion- ship. Ayearof championship ....The Rose Bowl victory tie stood as the highlight of an already amazing year in ithletics. A new athletic director and basketball coach g xompanied a handful of Big Ten titles won by se | ral varsity sports. The Wolverines witnessed the dedi ;ation of a new addition ly of the death of afellow athlete. Throughout the wi is and the losses, both athletes and fans remembereS how great it really was )bert Traylor rolls the ball off of his fingers and over the Eastern Michi- gan defender. Traylor j and the Wolverine bas- | ketball team won the first-ever Big Ten tour- nament, beating Purdue 76-67 in the final game. to be a Michigan Wolverine. Sports MarkWolly Sports 131