ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, January 9, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ACADEMICS
New theme semester to study India’s global impact FILE PHOTO/Daily
Former offensive coordinator Al Borges was let go on Wednesday after spending three seasons as Michigan football’s play caller.
AD set to name new offensive coordinator Alabama offensive coordinator to replace Borges, reports say By ZACH HELFAND and LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Writers
The Michigan football team has hired Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, according to multiple
reports, to replace former offensive coordinator Al Borges after the Michigan Athletic Department announced Wednesday afternoon that he would not be returning for the 2014 season. The news, which appears to have been broken by Football Scoop, came just five hours after the Wolverines announced that Borges had been fired. ESPN’s Joe Schad also tweeted confirmation. CBS Sports’s Bruce Feldman reported that Nussmeier, 43, will become
one of the top-five paid coordinators in college football. That would put his salary at no less than $850,000. Nussmeier made about $680,000 at Alabama. Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is the fourth-highest paid assistant in the nation, earning more than $851,000, while Borges was No. 9, at about $709,000. The Nussmeier hiring likely signals a continuation of the offensive philosophy favored under Michigan coach See OFFENSIVE, Page 5A
After Coleman’s trip to the country, classes and events aim to change popular perceptions By AMIA DAVIS Daily Staff Reporter
University President Mary Sue Coleman brought students back a souvenir from her recent trip to India: a new theme semester. Mirroring the University’s involvement in the subcontinent, the LSA Winter 2014 Theme Semester explores India’s changing role in the world through courses, lectures, museum exhibits and other opportunities. Students from India make up the fourth largest group of international students at the University. Additionally, the University of Michigan India Alumni Association has over 1400 members, according to the organization’s Face-
book page. Called “India in the World,” the theme semester will focus on changes in the world’s second-most-populous country. Associate Prof. Farina Mir, director of South Asian Studies and the Winter 2014 Theme Semester, said the theme aims to change some popular perceptions of India. “Conceptions of India have been changing from this sort of limited spectrum that focuses on mysticism and poverty to this sort of complex understanding of this dynamic society and impact on the world,” Mir said. She added that — despite the fact India is the world’s largest democracy and has the largest middle class — many reduce it to a backward, poverty-stricken nation. LSA has offered theme semesters since 1980, according to its website. The college fuses the University’s classroom and research opportunities to provide a comprehensive discussion of a particular topic. See INDIA, Page 5A
SNOW PL ACE LIKE TH E ARB
ANN ARBOR
GREEK LIFE
Local shelters provide warmth for homeless Charitable orgs., ‘U’ and city open doors to protect against the elements By EMMA KERR Daily Staff Reporter
The past few days have marked some of the lowest temperatures the University and surrounding Ann Arbor area have ever experienced. While many students opted to stay home, many of Ann Arbor’s homeless individuals were forced to find refuge in emergency housing. Mary Jo Callan, director of the Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development, said on Jan. 6 — the day Ann Arbor experienced its lowest temperatures this week — over 100 calls were placed to its emergency housing line by those seeking shelter. “To this point, the Delonis Center has not turned anyone out into the weather,” Callan said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know what they did at night. It’s terrible when our community is confronted with these situations.” The Delonis Center can accom-
modate about 200 people, and is just one of the shelters available during the day. The University of Michigan Medical Center, along with public Ann Arbor buildings and First Presbyterian Church are some of the other locations where people were able to find temporary shelter. Many shelters generally do not provide housing for temporary circumstances, but took special measures because of the dangerous conditions. Housing Access for Washtenaw County connects homeless people to resources depending on their needs. While rotating shelters exist to provide a warm place for the homeless to sleep during the winter months, the First Presbyterian Church provided additional warming shelters during the worst days of the storm, which were open to anyone. “People came to our building, had coffee, snacks and lunch,” Reverend Renée Roederer, director of campus ministry at First Presbyterian Church, said. “Church members have the opportunity to volunteer and stay the night as well. It’s a great opportunity to meet these men, show hospitality and learn from them.” See HOMELESS, Page 5A
University will add new sorority in fall 2014 Gamma Phi Beta the first of three new chapters to be introduced By AMIA DAVIS Daily Staff Reporter VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Huron High School students Molly Shapiro and Naomi Cutler take advantage of the weather to go skiing in Nichols Arboretum on Wednesday.
PHILANTHROPY
Grant established to fund study abroad trips to E.U. New program will focus on Eastern European nations By SHOHAM GEVA Daily Staff Reporter
Students looking to study abroad in Europe will now have more options, as a new program on campus will
provide funding for classes, research and internships in several countries admitted to the European Union in the past decade. The newly created Kabcenell New Europe Initiative Fund, established in late December through a gift from University alum Nicholas Kabcenell, will fund summer experiences in what the fund is labeling as ‘New Europe:’ Bulgaria, Croa-
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WEATHER TOMORROW
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tia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and other countries that were formerly part of Yugoslavia. Any full-time University undergraduate not graduating in the winter term can apply for funds. The grant amounts will range from $1,000 to $5,000. New Europe primarily See GRANTS, Page 5A
Gamma Phi Beta sorority will be reestablishing a chapter on campus in the fall after receiving approval from the University’s Office of Greek Life. Mary Beth Seiler, director of Greek Life, wrote in an e-mail that on-campus sororities are becoming too large. Seiler said adding more chapters rather than turning pledges away is the best way to accommodate interest. To ensure students are not turned away by the increasingly crowded sororities, Seiler wrote that the Panhellenic Association voted to install two more chapters on campus, as long as the community is strong enough to support both old and new chapters at the University. The Panhellenic Association plans to add Alpha Omicron Pi in Fall 2016 and Kappa Delta in Fall 2018 as See SORORITY, Page 5A
Arts Writers pick out the best from the year’s hit releases
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 44 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
» INSIDE
CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A B -S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B
News
2A — Thursday, January 9, 2014
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Professor Profiles
F R E E WA R M T H
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
THURSDAY: Alumni Profiles
Alumni Profile: Michael Flood
What was your experience like at the University?
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Sophomore Olivia Kemppainen prepares hot chocolate on behalf of the engineering sorority Phi Sigma Rho in the Chemistry building on Wednesday.
My undergrad and gradu-
CRIME NOTES
ate experience was compressed because I went through most in three years. But it was a fun time; it was an exciting time. I happened to be on campus during the sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the University. I was involved in preparing for the sesquicentennial and did a lot of other student activities as well as academics. What kinds of things did you learn at the University that helped you in your career? My business training provided a good basis for working in a large company environment, which I did for a number of years and also
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
WHERE: Medical Science Unit I WHEN: Tuesday at around 11:15 p.m. WHAT: Occupational Safety and Enviornmental Health was notified after an unknown liquid was discovered in a lab, University Police reported. The liquid was determined to present no danger and was removed.
Surf’s up WHERE: West Hall WHEN: Tuesday at about 12:20 p.m. WHAT: Police were called to assist staff when a water pipe in the fourth floor ceiling broke, University Police reported. The broken pipe resulted in no reported injuries, but did do damage to one laptop.
Bumper blunder
Cooking in literature
Piano concerto competition
WHERE: Lot M18, 1600 Medical Center WHEN: Wednesday at about 4:15 a.m. WHAT: A vehicle was hit while parked between 3:30 and 7 a.m., University Police reported. The parked vehicle sustained minor damage.
WHAT: An exhibit will feature children’s literature and folk tales involving images of food. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today at 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, 343 S. Fifth Avenue
WHAT: The final round for graduate students in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance Concerto Competition will take place. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium
Brother sun
Bullet catch
No shirt, no shoes, no purse
WHAT: A trio of male singers and instrumentalists blending gospel, blues and folk to make music “warm as a campfire, stirring as a gospel church, rousing as a call to arms.” They will be debuting their new album, “Some Part of the Truth.” WHO: Michigan Union Ticket Office WHEN: Today at 8 p.m. WHERE: The Ark on 316 S Main Street, general admissions $20
WHERE: Lot SC20, 1114 State Street WHEN: 12:10 p.m. WHAT: A subject discovered their car window broken and several items stolen from the vehicle, University Police reported. The stolen items included a purse and a bag of clothes.
MORE ONLINE Love Crime Notes?
Get more online at michigandaily.com/blogs/The Wire
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WHAT: Writer and performer Rob Drummond will explore the history of the dangerous and thrilling “bullet catch” trick, among others. The show will also involve storytelling and a “notorious finale.” WHO: University Musical Society WHEN: 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Walgreen Drama Center
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What do you do with the Alumni board in San Diego? I am the scholarship chair and I was president for a couple of years some time back. My main activity is dealing with alumni student recruiting. I’m responsible for coordinating all of the admitted freshmen in the San Diego County and convincing them that they should go to Michigan as opposed to another school. — ALLANA AKHTAR
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
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On Monday, every Norwegian became a theoretical millionaire as the country’s sovereign wealth fund — generated from oil revenues — reached $828.66 billion, more than 1 million times larger than the country’s current population.
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In this week’s B-Side insert, the staff of the Arts section picked its Best of 2013 list. Top marks went to “Breaking Bad,” “12 Years a Slave” and Kanye West’s Yeezus. >> FOR MORE, SEE ARTS, PAGE 1B
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Former NBA player Dennis Rodman serenaded North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the supreme leader’s 31st birthday. Rodman’s “basketball diplomacy” has drawn criticism from a variety of U.S. officials and rights activists.
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Democrats use “Bridgegate” as evidence of political bullying
through research in three main categories: acute treatment, prevention and rehabilitation. As the leader of Michigan’s StrokeNet, UMHS will be responsible for the conduct of clinical By AMABEL KAROUB trials at all of the StrokeNet sites in the state. Daily Staff Reporter Brown and Scott have worked TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A The National Institutes of together for over a decade and political dirty-tricks investiHealth created a national net- they will work side by side to mangation of Gov. Chris Christie’s work earlier this month to age the network. Even so, their inner circle broke wide open streamline the research and research concentrations will difWednesday with the release of treatment of strokes, one of the fer slightly. While Scott will focus emails and text messages that leading causes of death in the on the acute treatment or emersuggest one of his top aides United States, and the University gency phase of stroke care, Brown engineered traffic jams in a of Michigan Health System will will focus on prevention. New Jersey town last SeptemBrown will also be responplay a prominent role in its impleber to punish its mayor. mentation and administration. sible for educating future An “outraged and deeply The NIH Stroke Trials Net- researchers. StrokeNet hospisaddened” Christie responded work, referred to as StrokeNet, tals will be provided funding by saying he was misled by his encompasses 25 regional net- to create fellowships that will aide, and he denied involveworks, including nine hospitals in prepare younger doctors for a ment in the apparent act of http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ the state of Michigan. Michigan future in clinical trials related political payback. StrokeNet will be coordinated by to strokes. With these fellowThe messages were obtained UMHS, led by two co-principal ships, UMHS hopes to attract by The Associated Press and investigators: Neurology Prof. residents and fellows not only other news organizations Devin Brown and Emergency from within the University, but Wednesday amid a statehouse from around the country. Medicine Prof. Phillip Scott. investigation into whether the “We are actually leading Scott said a network to stanlane closings that led to the tiedardize stroke clinical trials is the next generation, hopefully ups were retribution against overdue, since research teams in not having to make them redo the mayor of Fort Lee for not the past were often disbanded what we spent 20 years doing.” endorsing Christie for re-elecevery time a clinical trial was Scott said. “Not only speeding tion last fall. the process of clinical trials for complete. “Time for some traffic prob“Every time we have a drug patients, but speeding the prolems in Fort Lee,” Christie depcome out, we have to rebuild a cess of clinician scientist develuty chief of staff Bridget Anne clinical network — a group of hos- opment. ” Kelly wrote in August in a mespitals, investigators, clinicians, Scott said StrokeNet is innovasage to David Wildstein, a top researchers,” Scott said. “Trials tive because it is the first stroke Christie appointee on the Port can last anywhere from two to network that will focus on Phase Authority of New York and New five years on average. After that, III clinical trials. Phase III trials Jersey. the results are published, but the often include a thousand or more “Got it,” Wildstein replied. network falls apart, and waits for patients and decide conclusively A few weeks later, Wildstein the next drug to come out. The whether the new treatment is a closed two of three lanes conbroad picture is to streamline success or a failure. necting Fort Lee to the heavThe NIH already has a network that process so that we don’t have ily traveled George Washington to rebuild the wheel every time for Phase I and Phase II clinical Bridge, which runs between trials, which it set up roughly a we want to do a trial.” New Jersey and New York City. Strokes occur when blood flow decade ago. These types of trials The messages do not directly to the brain is interrupted, causing ensure the safety and efficacy of implicate Christie in the shutbrain cells in the area to die due new stroke drugs, but include a down. But they appear to conto lack of oxygen. Strokes are the relatively small number of human tradict his assertions that the the fourth largest cause of death patients. The network is called closings were not punitive and © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com and leading cause of disability in Spotrias and has 10 regional centhat his staff was not involved. the United States. StrokeNet has ters that perform early clinical Democrats seized on the set out to improve stroke care trials. material as more evidence that
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UMHS chosen as Messages implicate regional overseer Christie aide in NJ of stroke research bridge’s traffic jam NIH tasks health network as part of national initiative
Sudoku Syndication
FRIDAY: Photos of the Week
GRADUATE FORMERLY LEAD COLEMAN COLLEGE
Michael Flood grew up in Ann Arbor and attended Pioneer High School. He received both an undergraduate and MBA degree from the University. After leaving Michigan, he worked for IBM for 17 years and in 1991 became the president of Coleman College. He later founded Good Deed Investments, a private commercial mortgage banking company that makes “hard money” loans. He currently lives in San Diego and is a board member of the San Diego Michigan Alumni Association.
Spilled milk
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the potential Republican candidate for president in 2016 is a bully. The messages “indicate what we’ve come to expect from Gov. Christie — when people oppose him, he exacts retribution. When people question him, he belittles and snidely jokes. And when anyone dares to look into his administration, he bullies and attacks,” Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said. In a statement issued late Wednesday, Christie said: “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.” “People will be held responsible for their actions,” he added, but gave no details. Kelly had no immediate comment. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich called it “appalling” that the traffic jams appear to have been deliberately created. “When it’s man-made and when it was done with venom and when it was done intentionally, it is, in my mind, the prime example of political pettiness,” he said. He said the gridlock put people in danger by holding up emergency vehicles, and he added that those responsible should resign. While Sokolich is a Democrat, Christie sought bipartisan support during his re-election campaign to bolster his image as a pragmatic leader willing to work with his political opponents. Democratic state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who has been leading the investigation, said the material in the documents is “shocking” and “outrageous” and calls into question the honesty of the governor and his staff.
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News
Wednesday, January 9, 2014 — 3A
Rodman defends relationship with N. Korean leader
NEWS BRIEFS DETROIT
Mich. economic outlook better, still not great A statewide survey of business people shows that their confidence in Michigan’s economy has grown greatly since the bottom of the Great Recession, with room to improve as well. Results of the second annual Michigan Economic Outlook survey were released Wednesday at the Detroit Economic Club. Margaret Baker of Ann Arbor’s Baker Strategy Group says that leaders of Michigan’s key manufacturers gave the state a business rating of 65, up from 25 in 2009. Baker says that’s still low. Michigan State University economist Charles Ballard says a concern is how many Michigan communities like Detroit are struggling to cope with a shrunken tax bases after property values fell sharply. The forum took place at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
Plane lands on major Alaska street amid cold weather A pilot who made a safe emergency landing on a major Anchorage street said he lost power, waited for a break in traffic, then descended onto the snowy median. Armon Tabrizi said he was not immediately sure where to land before deciding to put the Cessna 172RG Cutlass down in the middle of Boniface Parkway Tuesday afternoon, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Tabrizi, 27, avoided cars and stoplights, and no one in the plane or on the ground was injured.
BERLIN
German leader will visit U.S. after NSA allegations German Chancellor Angela Merkel has accepted an invitation to visit the United States, months after allegations that U.S. intelligence had tapped her phone strained relations between Berlin and Washington. In a call Wednesday, President Barack Obama congratulated Merkel on forming a new government last month and wished her speedy recovery from a recent skiing accident. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Obama also invited Merkel to Washington “in the coming months,” which she accepted. The White House said both leaders noted the agenda that awaits them this year, including negotiations toward a proposed free-trade deal between the U.S. and the EU, and a NATO summit in the spring.
PARIS
France fines Google $204,000 over privacy policy The French digital privacy watchdog is fining Google 150,000 euros ($204,000) for breaking rules on ensuring data privacy. The CNIL agency said on Wednesday that Google’s new privacy policy — which applies to all of its services from e-mail to calendars — isn’t specific enough about how and why it collects data from users and doesn’t define how long it keeps such data, among other problems. EU authorities also have said the new privacy policy doesn’t follow their rules. Google has contended that its new policy is simpler and complies with European law. Since the company did not change its policy as requested, the CNIL said it is fining Google. The agency also asked the search giant to post a statement about the decision on its French home page, google.fr. —Compiled from Daily wire reports
Basketball star draws criticism in light of alleged atrocities in country
PETER MORGAN/AP
Ice forms on rocks on the Brooklyn waterfront across from lower Manhattan in New York, Tuesday. The high temperature is expected to be 10 degrees in the city but wind chills will make it feel more like minus 10.
Deep freeze across U.S. has benefits for natural world Cold temperatures could bode well for Mich. lake levels, Fla. citrus farmers TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — From a field station in northern Wisconsin, where the previous night’s low was a numbing 29 degrees below zero, climate scientist John Lenters studied computer images of ice floes on Lake Superior with delight. It may be hard to think of this week’s deep freeze as anything but miserable, but to scientists like Lenters there are silver linings: The extreme cold may help raise low water in the Great Lakes, protect shorelines and wetlands from erosion, kill insect pests and slow the migration of invasive species. “All around, it’s a positive thing,” Lenters, a specialist in the climate of lakes and watersheds, said Wednesday. Ice cover on the Great Lakes has been shrinking for decades, but this year more than 60 percent of the surface is expected to freeze over at some point — an occurrence that could help the lakes rebound from a prolonged slump in water levels.
Even agriculture can benefit. Although cold weather is generally no friend to crops, some of southern Florida’s citrus fruits can use a perfectly timed cooldown, which they were getting as midweek temperatures hovered around freezing. “A good cold snap lowers the acidity in oranges and increases sugar content, sweetens the fruit,” said Frankie Hall, policy director for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation. “It’s almost been a blessing.” Scientists noted that subzero temperatures and pounding snowfalls like those that gripped much of the nation for several days are not unheard-of in the Midwest and Northeast and used to happen more frequently. For all the misery it inflicted, the polar vortex that created the painfully frigid conditions apparently broke no all-time records in any major U.S. cities, according to Jeff Masters, meteorology director of Weather Underground. “I’m just happy to see that we have a normal winter for once,” said Lenters, who works for Limnotech, an environmental consulting firm in Ann Arbor. As the climate has warmed, the absence of bitter cold has actually been damaging.
The emerald ash borer, an insect native to Asia, arrived in the U.S. around 2002 and has killed about 50 million ash trees in the Upper Midwest. But some locales this winter may have gotten cold enough to kill at least some larvae, said Robert Venette, a U.S. Forest Service research biologist in St. Paul, Minn. A reading of minus 20 will usually produce a 50 percent mortality rate, and “the numbers go up quickly as it gets colder than that,” Venette said. While the freeze won’t wipe out the ash borer, it will give communities a chance to develop plans for limiting the bug’s spread, he said. Other pests that originated in warmer places could be affected as well, including the gypsy moth, the hemlock woolly adelgid and the European beetle that carries Dutch elm disease, said Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology. Native insects have evolved to cope with deep freezes. Extreme cold also reins in invasive nuisance plants such as kudzu, which has ravaged the Southeast but has yet to find its way north, said Luke Nave, a University of Michigan assistant research scientist.
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Dennis Rodman sang “Happy Birthday” to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before leading a squad of former NBA stars in a friendly game Wednesday as part of his “basketball diplomacy” that has been criticized in the United States as naive and laughable. Rodman dedicated the game to his “best friend” Kim, who along with his wife and other senior officials and their wives watched from a special seating area. The capacity crowd of about 14,000 at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium clapped loudly as Rodman sang a verse from the birthday song. Rodman said he was honored to be able to play the game in the North Korean capital and called the event “historic.” Some members of the U.S. Congress, the NBA and human rights groups, however, say he has become a public relations tool for North Korea’s government. The government’s poor human rights record and its threats to use nuclear weapons against rival South Korea and the United States have kept it a pariah state. Kim shocked the world in December by having his uncle, once considered his mentor, executed after being accused of a litany of crimes including corruption, womanizing, drug abuse and attempting to seize power. Rodman, 52, has refused to address those concerns while continuing to forge a relationship with Kim, whose age has never been officially disclosed. The government did not say how old he turned Wednesday but he is believed to be in his early 30s. At the start of the game, Rodman sang “Happy Birthday” to Kim, who was seated above in
the stands at the stadium, and then bowed deeply as North Korean players clapped. To keep it friendly, the Americans played against the North Koreans in the first half, but split up and merged teams for the second half. The North Korean team scored 47 points to 39 for the Americans before the teams were mixed. Rodman played only in the first half and then sat next to Kim during the second half. “A lot of people have expressed different views about me and your leader, your marshal, and I take that as a compliment,” Rodman told the crowd. “Yes, he is a great leader, he provides for his people here in this country and thank God the people here love the marshal.” Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim. He has carefully avoided getting involved in overtly political activities, saying that he is not a statesman and instead is seeking only to build cultural connections with the North through basketball that may help improve relations between Pyongyang and Washington. Rodman has been slammed in particular for not using his influence with Kim to help free Kenneth Bae, an American missionary in poor health who is being confined in the North for “anti-state” crimes. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Rodman implied that Bae was at fault for being held captive. Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, said his family couldn’t believe what Rodman said. “Here’s somebody who is in a position to do some good for Kenneth and refuses to do so,” Chung told KOMO Radio in Seattle on Wednesday. “And then after the fact, instead, he decides to hurl these unqualified accusations against Kenneth. It’s clear he has no idea what he’s talking about. I’m not sure who he’s talking to, where he’s getting his information, but he’s certainly no authority on Kenneth Bae.”
Giffords skydives on anniversary of Ariz. mass shooting Several ceremonies commemorate three years since supermarket attack TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Gabrielle Giffords marked the threeyear anniversary of an attack that left her severely wounded and forced her to resign from Congress by skydiving Wednesday in a feat that highlights her ongoing recovery after having to learn how to walk and talk again. Across the city, others gathered for bell-ringing and flag-raising ceremonies to remember the six killed and 13 injured, including Giffords, on Jan. 8, 2011, as the former Arizona congresswoman met with constituents outside a grocery store. Giffords waved and blew kisses to a crowd at a skydiving site between Phoenix and Tucson after successfully landing without injury. “Gabby landed beautifully. Happy she’s safe. So proud of her bravery,” Giffords’ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, wrote on his Twitter account after the tandem jump with his wife strapped to a professional skydiver. Jimmy Hatch, a former Navy SEAL who accompanied Giffords along with others, said the group held hands and formed a circle shortly after exiting the aircraft, then made a line with Giffords in the middle. “She was the least nervous person on the plane,” Hatch said, calling Giffords a “rock star” for making the jump on such an emotional day.
“They did a little moment of silence at the drop zone,” he said. “The emotion was really heavy. Then she smiled and said, ‘Let’s go.’” Vice President Joe Biden’s office said he called Giffords on Wednesday to wish her good luck. “Gabby’s courage & determination has been absolutely inspirational,” Biden wrote on his office’s Twitter account. Giffords’ jump will be broadcast Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show. In Tucson, about 100 residents attended a ceremony Wednesday morning outside the University of Arizona Medical Center, where the injured were treated. A bell was rung once for each victim as the Rev. Joe Fitzgerald spoke to the crowd. “Today, we gather to remember the tragic day three years ago when our community was deeply wounded,” he said. Other ceremonies and moments of silence took place across the city. “I think the commemorations are, in large part, recognition of our community’s collective care and compassion and grit to go on,” Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said. Pam Simon, 66, who was a Giffords aide at the time of the attack and suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, reflected on the shooting with crisp memories, but also a positive outlook. “When we stop on an anniversary to really reflect, sometimes it opens the wounds a little bit,” she said. “But it’s also gratifying in a way to see the community come out again and remember.”
ANDREW MEDICHINI/AP
Prelates attend a mass celebrated by Cardinal Velasio De Paolis at the Legion’s main headquarters, the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum, in Rome, Wednesday.
Vatican continues efforts to reform Legion after scandal Congregation gathers to discuss changes after sexual misconduct VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican delegate running the troubled Legion of Christ urged its priests on Wednesday to elect a new leadership worthy of authority, after suffering for years from shame and suspicion following revelations that its founder was a pedophile. He said the new leaders must infuse the religious order with a new spirit to finish a process of reform he said had only just begun. Cardinal Velasio De Paolis presided over a Mass opening a month-long meeting of Legion delegates to elect a new leadership and finalize new constitutions that must be submitted to Pope Francis for approval. The meeting is the culmination of a three-year Vatican experiment
to try to turn the congregation around after a Holy See investigation uncovered serious problems in the cult-like movement. The Legion was once held up as a model by the Vatican, which was impressed by the orthodoxy of its priests and its ability to attract seminarians and donations at a time when vocations were on the decline. But in reality, the order’s founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, was leading a double life, sexually abusing his seminarians, fathering three children and creating a twisted system of power that kept most Legion priests in the dark and infected the very life of the order. The Legion scandal represents one of the worst to afflict the Catholic Church in the 20th century, an egregious example of the church’s concern for the institution over victims of sexual abuse. Despite credible reports sent to the Vatican starting in the 1950s that Maciel was a pedophile, drug addict and manipulative liar, it took
until 2006 for then-Pope Benedict XVI to bring Maciel to justice. The Mexican prelate died two years later. Benedict took the Legion over in 2010 and appointed De Paolis to oversee a wholescale reform, leading up to the assembly that began Wednesday. While the Legion insists great strides have been made — decision-making is more decentralized, priests have better training and emails are no longer screened — De Paolis said the reform has only just begun. “It has been repeatedly stressed that the revision of the constitutions cannot simply be considered a technical effort, but should be accompanied by a process of examination of life, of review and of spiritual renewal for the institute,” he told the gathering of a few hundred priests in the chapel of the Legion’s seminary on the outskirts of Rome. “Thus far, we have only completed the process of preparation.”
Opinion
4A — Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
KARA ARGUE
E-mail Kara at kargue@umich.edu.
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com PETER SHAHIN EDITOR IN CHIEF
MEGAN MCDONALD and DANIEL WANG EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
KATIE BURKE MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
FROM THE DAILY
Risk without reward Michigan’s DEQ needs to redefine its environmental standards
F
requent patrons of Michigan’s sand dunes may soon find them littered with cul-de-sacs and vacation houses. On Monday, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality released a public letter indicating its intention to permit the construction of a cluster of houses on the Saugatuck Dunes. Located in Saugatuck, Michigan, the state park is a fragile ecosystem that plays a significant role in Michigan’s tourist industry. The DEQ needs to reconsider its position and halt the construction project. Preserving the Saugatuck Dunes is in the best interest of the state and risking environmental integrity for a few houses is an unnecessary gamble. The proposal to build 18 houses and a road comes from realty company Singapore Dunes. Stephen Neumer, the managing director of Singapore Dunes, said a permit from the DEQ “is key to making the land usable and developable.” Despite the limited initial plans, Neumer has admitted that the company aims to eventually construct condominium buildings, a resort and marina. Earlier plans even called for a golf course. Critics have warned against the potential economic repercussions of disrupting the dunes. In a statement, the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance argued that the construction project will cause “devastating and irreversible damage” to the “globally rare and fragile dune system.” Coastal dunes are a vital part of the state’s environment. Primarily, they act as a natural barrier to high winds and destructive waves that could otherwise reach areas further inland. Dunes are able to maintain their size by moving inland in response to water level changes; however, buildings constructed close to dunes prevent this reaction and slowly reduce the barriers’ width. Furthermore, the dunes are host to a wide array of wildlife, which in turn help keep their sand and structure in place. Plants such as lichens, mosses, grasses and wildflowers have adapted over time to the extreme weather
dunes are subjected to. High foot and vehicular traffic on dunes destroys these life forms, decreasing the stability of the dunes’ structure and increasing the risk of flood. Dunes also attract tourists — a huge part of Michigan’s economy. In 2010, the state earned $964.2 million in tourism-related revenue and 152,600 thousand jobs were created by the tourism industry. Saugatuck itself, where the dunes are located, depends on tourism. With the degradation of the Saugatuck Dunes, not only will the city’s economy suffer, but the state will lose revenue from taxes as well. Rather than protecting Michigan’s ecological gem, the DEQ’s standards are actually the basis for allowing the encroachment of the dunes. After reviewing its internal requirements, the DEQ is planning to grant a permit for constructing two cul-de-sacs and 18 houses. DEQ director Dan Wyant has said that its own Sand Dunes Protection and Management statute allows for the construction plans proposed by Singapore Dunes. “We are compelled to issue the permit,” said Wyant. As it stands, the DEQ’s regulation of the dunes is too relaxed and needs to be amended. With such few protections in place already, the DEQ must take seriously its responsibility to protect Michigan’s sand dunes.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Rima Fadlallah, Eric Ferguson, Nivedita Karki, Jordyn Kay, Jesse Klein, Kellie Halushka, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe CARLY MANES | VIEWPOINT
Changing UHS condom brands All condoms are equally effective if used correctly. Whether it’s Lifestyle, Trojan, Kimono Microthin or Durex, all the contraceptives seen in drugstores, on campus and at Planned Parrenthood are FDA-approved and equally likely to protect against STI’s and HIV. But just because all condom brands have the same effectivity rate does not mean that they are all equally preferred. Many people are influenced by majorly marketed brands such as Trojan or Durex, and therefore have a preconceived notion that these brands provide the best protection. I’ve been distributing condoms since I was 16, handing out every variety of contraception on the market. Each and every time the same thing happens — if it’s not Trojan or Durex, most students won’t take it. As a freshman, I was a sexual health peer educator for the group PULSE in East Quad. Every weekend, I would put the University Health Service provided LifeStyles on my door for students to take. That same year, I was a member of the Great American Condom Campaign, a program run by Advocates for Youth that sends 500 Trojan condoms to a student to distribute on campus. In two months of condom distribution, I had zero Trojan condoms left, and almost my entire stack of Lifestyles untouched. According to a BMC Public Health study, patrons are much more likely to make use of free condoms when there are a variety of brands and styles available. “The provision of assorted brand-name condoms, over a single brand name, can serve to increase condom acquisition,” the study contends. As stated before, all condoms are equally effective. Educating students about the importance of contraception and the effectivity is crucial, but even with the incredible education efforts and outreach by UHS groups such as PULSE and Sexperteam, reducing the stigma around contraception takes time. In order to best address student health needs we must provide contraception students will use. No one is denying the merit of the amazing work that groups such as PULSE and Sexperteam do on campus. Both groups are
dedicated to educating our campus community about safe sexual health practices and distributing UHS-provided contraception to students in residential halls as well as off campus. What PULSE students do is integral to providing information on contraception to students, but tasking 30 students with changing campus culture is a timely process. What we need is a culture shift, which takes time. We need to reduce the stigma around contraceptive use and ensure that all students have access to information on safe sexual practices as well as a variety of contraceptive options. A culture change doesn’t happen over night, however, STI and HIV infections do. As sexual educators, we know that regardless of what contraceptive you may use, or what contraceptive UHS provides, they are all equally effective at preventing STI’s and HIV infection as well as unintended pregnancy, as long as they’re used correctly. Because of marketing and cultural norms, not every student feels comfortable using lesser-known contraceptives, like the ones that UHS provides (e.g. Kimono Microthin and LifeStyles). While we advocate for better education around the effectivity of these contraceptives, we recognize that cultural change is a long process, and with over half of all new STI infections are occurring in young people, we must be proactive now to deliver the contraceptives that students want, to ensure that all young people are protected themselves. We fully support a variety of options for students, seeing as every individual has personal preferences and needs. We support the continued availability of female condoms, dental dams and non-latex condoms at UHS, but we believe that to best serve the majority of students’ sexual health needs, a student requested brand like Trojan or Durex is the best short-term solution. We are calling on UHS to provide Trojan condoms as one of the main contraceptives for students. Please sign our petition to show UHS that sexual health is important to our campus community. If the Spartans already use Trojans, why can’t we? Carly Manes is a Public Policy junior.
O
My dad’s bar
ver winter break, I went to a bar with some friends because I can do that now. The bar sits on the border of Grosse Pointe and Detroit. It’s a cute, hole-inthe-wall type of place called “My Dad’s Bar,” equipped with KATIE a dart board, STEEN Guinness on tap and a mini Christmas tree with twitchy string lights. I went with a few friends from high school, and just like in high school, my dad drove us. It was pretty weird having my dad drive us to the bar (albeit fitting — my dad drove us to “My Dad’s Bar!” Ha!). It was even weirder at 2 a.m., when the bar was closing and my dad wandered into the place — clearly the oldest, tallest and baldest person there — and towered over our table to tell me, “Hey sweetie, just letting you know I’m here. The car’s just around the corner!” OK. I didn’t ask for this. I have a driver’s license. I wasn’t planning on drinking. I was more than capable of being the designated driver for the night. But alas, my father insisted, in his typical nice-yetcontrolling manner. He had good intentions, but these intentions were grounded in fear. He had assumed I was driving by myself and meeting my friends at the bar. This, of course, would have meant that I would have had to walk the whole 15 feet from the parking lot to the bar, in the dark, in Detroit, alone. Which is silly, and not because
I was planning on picking up my It’s a dangerous world for a friends on the way anyway, but woman to be in, but fighting these because I’ve walked alone in the dangers doesn’t mean keeping us dark on multiple occasions in my from leaving the house alone. I’m life, including in Detroit, as well as not entirely sure what the solution in Ann Arbor (what am I supposed is, but it’s not drawing the blinds to do — take a cab back home from and locking the doors after dark. classes that get out after 5 p.m. in Quite the contrary, events like Take the winter?). Back the Night and SlutWalk call His fear has some legitimacy to for loud resistance — a spread of it. I realize this. Women are robbed, awareness and a reclaiming of our assaulted and abducted every day. communities. This is a call to get My mom loves to watch shows out there — people of any gender — about it (I can’t tell you the number and show that we do not live in fear. of times I’ve heard the bum-bum of You don’t have to participate in an the Law & Order: SVU intro play organized walk to send a message from our living room TV). My mom against the violence and harassment also loves to worry about all the of women. It can be speaking out horrible things on the show hap- if you see someone being harassed pening to me. It’s a tired trope — a on the street — letting the harasser young woman in the big city, Little know that this is not OK (because a Red Riding Hood lost in the woods lot of the time, catcallers don’t realor the damsel in distress tied to the ize how harmful they are being). It train tracks — females as victims. can even be as simple as not talking It’s entertainment when it’s on a to a stranger on the bus or the subscreen, but it’s way, because also a horrifyeven if you’re ing, nightmarish just trying to reality that every make small talk, At what age do we parent hopes it can come off become “strong, they can protect as threatentheir daughters independent women” ing. (Seriously, from their whole you never know who can go out at night when lives. “Hey, I get that it’s how’s it going?” without someone? natural for parcan turn into ents to want to “Fine, don’t talk protect their chilto me. Fucking dren, but at what age do we become bitch.”) It’s really just a matter of “strong, independent women” who being mindful and aware. can go out at night without someone We should be constantly challeng— preferably a male — on our arms? ing the entire culture against women While more importantly, one dad that threatens our dignity and safety trying to protect his one daughter is in public — not simply trying to shield noble, it’s not actually solving any- one daughter at a time. thing. It temporarily assuages the fear, but it doesn’t fight the source — Katie Steen can be reached of the fear. at katheliz@umich.edu.
A forum for biased discussion
I
n the midst of last semester’s “#UMMockEviction” flyering, a handful of viewpoints were printed in The Daily expressing utter outrage over the tactics and information used by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. These pieces heav- JAMES ily criticized the BRENNAN group’s one-sided portrayal of life in the Gaza Strip as well as the tactics of the group, which can universally be seen as a clear violation of University Housing’s anti-solicitation policy. The repeated critique that stuck out most to me, however, came in calls for “safe spaces” and an “open and honest debate.” Students spoke out about feeling “threatened” and “intimidated,” especially if they held Zionist views. While I can certainly understand the unease it would give a student to wake up to an eviction notice — albeit a fake one — during finals week, there is a huge conflict of interest being ignored here. Almost all of the writers who criticized SAFE and the Mock Eviction are active in Michigan’s chapter of Hillel, which also hosted an event where many of these criticisms originated. From what people have told me, Hillel seems to be a nice place for Jewish students to continue cultivating their culture while connecting with a community of other students on campus. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, Hillel is also an organization known for its uncompromising support of Israel, best articulated through their motto “Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel.” On college campuses all across America, Hillel often functions as the unofficial center of the Jewish community. The organization has been criticized for pushing hardline political views on its students, sometimes making individuals
with differing ideas feel threatened or intimidated. Instead of building the “safe spaces” that its students demand, Hillel is contributing to an echo chamber where only proIsraeli voices are welcome, voices it then looks to proliferate throughout campus. The viewpoints that Hillel students wrote shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, but the fact that an organization like Hillel would ever promote “dialogue” or “tolerance” concerning Israel/Palestine — well that’s just not true. The very last thing Hillel is looking for on a campus like this University is an honest and open debate about Israel and Palestine. Hillel and similar organizations are notorious for fighting against events that reasonably criticize Israel or support Palestine. Hillel’s national guidelines explicitly prohibit the invitation of speakers who support sanctions, divestment and boycott of Israel. More troubling, however, is the vague ban on speakers who “demonize” Israel. Hillel does not want an open debate — it wants a discussion that it gets to personally regulate. Sadly, this is the situation outside of college campuses as well. There may be a small contingent of left-wing activists and journalists who will speak badly about Israel from time to time, but the vast majority of American media and government are saturated with unconditional devotion to one side and one side only. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee — an organization that has recently teamed with Hillel — is easily one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, getting the United States to send billions of dollars in aid to Israel every year. Politicians who criticize Israel know they will get a full-on
attack by this and other groups, while even shaky support for Palestine by the President of the United States was attacked as “naïve” by his critics. Palestinians are labeled as terrorists and rarely given the chance to tell their own stories in US media, where articles in the New York Times and other publications consistently fail to bring a truly objective approach to issues like housing demolition. Both political parties in the US constantly argue over who supports Israel more, with neither side having the gumption to take a reasonable stance in the face of a powerful special interest — a special interest that many accuse of supporting human rights violations. Hillel and other pro-Israel organizations on campus are college’s version of the one-sided lobby that dictates debate about Israel/Palestine. In a place where open debate and exploring new ideas should be more prevalent than anywhere, we’re instead obligated as students to act like pro-Palestinian groups are “threatening” and “intimidating.” I can’t personally take a side in this debate — I don’t know enough about the history of the conflict to make a proper judgment. What I do know, however, is that the discussion of Israel/Palestine in America is far from fair. According to an organization like Hillel, safe spaces and places to have a dialogue are apparently only available for people who stand with Israel in all situations. As a free thinker, this is not the kind of campus I want to be on. Dialogues require both sides to speak — if students in Hillel want the dialogue they discuss, they need to let those who disagree with them have a chance to talk.
To create an open dialogue, Hillel needs to allow both sides to speak.
— James Brennan can be reached at jmbthree@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
HOMELESS From Page 1A Despite the measures taken to provide refuge from the weather, homeless people in Ann Arbor expressed the need for more aid. “There is a humanitarian crisis in Ann Arbor — it is not going to go away if people do not deal with it,” Tracy Williams, one of the homeless, said.
SORORITY From Page 1A well. Seiler said the reestablishment of Gamma Phi Beta is an exciting event for both the campus and the community. The sorority has a strong relationship with the University that dates back to 1882 when the Beta chapter was first installed. Recruitment will begin next fall after Panhellenic Formal Recruitment. “Being part of a sorority is an exciting and unique opportunity while in college, and the experi-
INDIA From Page 1A This year, special events will display India’s culture and its role in the world. Upcoming events include a performance of Sufi Muslim devotional music called Qawwali, lectures, a weekly
OFFENSIVE From Page 1A Brady Hoke, which features the downhill run game prominently. The Wolverines’ offense finished the year ranked 86th, averaging 373.5 yards per game. Michigan ended its season with a 7-6 record that culminated with a 31-14 loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Dec. 28. After the Ohio State game, Hoke told the Detroit News that he anticipated all of the staff returning and did not expect any changes, saying that it was not a “we’ll see situation.” “Decisions like these are never easy,” Hoke said in a state-
GRANTS From Page 1A ily refers to countries that joined the EU in 2004 when it underwent a significant enlargement. Although the countries are grouped for the purposes of the grant, History Prof. Brian Porter-Szücs suggested that grouping them together remains confusing since they are not particularly new EU additions. The grants will be administered through the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, a member of the University’s International Institute, starting this year. Marysia Ostafin, the Center’s
News
Although many organizations exist to aid the less fortunate in Ann Arbor, Tate Williams, who identified himself as a “winter weather survivor” when he addressed the Ann Arbor City Council, described these shelters as overburdened. Williams is an advocate for allowing and inspiring more people to aid the homeless. Ann Arbor resident Sheri Wander, who also spoke at the meet-
ing, said infrastructure needs to be improved in order to help those in need. “There is no reason that, in a city that has the resources and the heart of Ann Arbor, for people to be running around in sub-zero degree weather, trying to figure out, ‘Is there an open hotel room?’ and ‘Where can we get a little bit of cash to put someone there?’”
ence is lifelong,” Seiler said. Gamma Phi Beta has 130 active chapters across the United States and has over 190,000 collegiate and alumnae members, according to Maureen Walker, director of marketing and communications at Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority. The sorority is one of the ten oldest women’s organizations in North America. Founded in 1874 by four women at Syracuse University, the sorority aims to build confidence in women of character while creating lasting friendships. Gamma Phi Beta will move
into the current Delta Phi Epsilon sorority house on South University Avenue in Fall 2015. LSA sophomore Alyssa Gorenberg, president of the University’s chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon, said the national organization is ensuring the sorority a new housing assignment for the fall of 2015. A location has not yet been decided, but the sorority will continue to reside in the house until May 2015. Gorenberg said the move is not an issue because the sorority has plenty of time to find another housing location.
media piece and five exhibitions. Forty-three courses within the theme semester explore topics like Islam in South Asia and equality in India’s 20th century. LSA freshman Swathi Shanmugasundaram is enrolled in ASIAN 220, an introductory course on Asian religions. She said the course’s denotation as
being part of the themed semester course appealed to her. “We have such a diverse student population at Michigan, many of whom have ancestral links to India, and we certainly hope that they will be enthused by the Theme Semester,” Mir said.
ment to the Athletic Department on Wednesday. “I have a great amount of respect for Al as a football coach and, more importantly, as a person. I appreciate everything he has done for Michigan football for the past three seasons.” Borges worked as an offensive coordinator under Hoke for two years at San Diego State before following Hoke to Ann Arbor in 2011. Borges spent much of this past season under scrutiny for his play calling — Michigan’s ground game was frequently stifled due to a youthful offensive line, and redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner often struggled under pressure in the pocket. The Wolverines’ worst offensive performance of the season
came against Michigan State on Nov. 2, where they garnered minus-48 yards rushing and just 168 yards of total offense. Michigan rushed for a negative amount the following week against Nebraska as well. In Nussmeier’s two years at Alabama, the Crimson Tide went 24-3, including a 41-14 demolition of Michigan in his first game on the job. His offense tended to be less conservative than Saban’s previous offenses in Tuscaloosa. In 2013, Alabama’s offense was 17th nationally in scoring, 25th in rushing, 48th in passing, 33rd in total offense. The Crimson Tide had a much bigger talent pool, but playing against top-tier SEC opponents, all of those numbers outranked Michigan’s production this season.
program director, said the new grants align the Center’s focus on expanding opportunities for students to engage this group of countries and Kabcenell’s personal connection to the region. “(Kabcenell) lives in Hungary, works in Hungary and is very attached to that part of the world,” Ostafin said. Political Science Prof. Anna Grzymala-Busse, the academic program director of the Weiser Center, said the grants allow exploration of Europe through several unique lenses. “The European Union is of course a major power, there’s a whole post-Communist side of Eastern Europe, there are places like
Prague and Poland which are very different.” Grzymala-Busse said. “It’s a great way to explore Europe if you don’t know much about it.” The grants also shed light on lesser-known areas of Europe, she said. “The beauty of it is that there are these places that are undiscovered gems,” Grzymala-Busse said. Applications will be due in March for the first summer cohort. The center also provides several other grant opportunities for research and internships in Europe.
Oil train derails, engulled in flames in rural Canada Recent accidents cause U.S. concern over transportation of oil via railways
PLASTER ROCK, New Brunswick (AP) — Officials in Canada said a derailed freight train carrying crude oil and propane continued to burn Wednesday, and about 150 residents remained evacuated from their homes. There were no deaths or injuries. Of the 17 cars that derailed late Tuesday in New Brunswick province, five contain crude oil and four contain liquefied petroleum gas, officials said. Later Wednesday, the Canadian National Railway said two of the cars carrying liquefied petroleum gas and one car carrying crude oil were on fire. “It is contained, but it is evolving,” said Claude Mongeau, the chief executive of CN. The derailment in a sparsely populated region, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the
U.S. border and northern Maine, again raised concerns about the increasing use of rail to transport oil throughout North America. In July, 47 people were killed in LacMegantic, Quebec, when a train carrying crude oil derailed. A series of recent derailments in North America have worried both officials and residents close to rail lines. On Dec. 30, an oil train derailed and exploded in North Dakota, causing the evacuation of a nearby town but no injuries. The train’s brakes came on unexpectedly, Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said based on preliminary information from the rail company and police. “Preliminary reports were that the train was proceeding, and while proceeding experienced what we call an undesired brake application,” said Daniel Holbrook, a manager with the safety board. Holbrook also said the crew found a broken axle. Andrew Simpson, 30, was playing cards with his uncle Tuesday evening when the train in New
Brunswick went off the tracks less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. “The table just kind of rumbled, and out the window went a real bright orange,” he said. “We looked out and the whole train yard was on fire. We panicked and called (emergency services).” New Brunswick Premier David Alward said there was minimal impact on the environment. Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for the nearby community of Plaster Rock, said no one was killed or injured. She said people were evacuated within a two-kilometer (1.24-mile) radius of the fire. Officials said the regularly scheduled freight train ran into trouble around 7 p.m. Tuesday about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of Fredericton. Canadian National Railway spokesman Mark Hallman said two of the crude train cars came from Northern Alberta and three came from southwestern Manitoba and were destined for an Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Thursday, January 9, 2014 — 5A
Fallujah tribal leaders warn against al-Qaida occupation Iraqi government prepares measures to recapture city after recent attacks
BAGHDAD (AP) — Tribal leaders in the besieged city of Fallujah warned al-Qaidalinked fighters to leave to avoid a military showdown, echoing a call by Iraq’s prime minister Wednesday that they give up their fight as the government pushes to regain control of mainly Sunni areas west of Baghdad. The warning came as gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, killing 12 soldiers. Seven soldiers were wounded in the assault in Diyala province, authorities said. The United Nations and the Red Cross, meanwhile, said Fallujah and nearby areas are facing mounting humanitarian concerns as food and water supplies start to run out. Sectarian tensions have been on the rise for months in Sunni-dominated Anbar province as minority Sunnis protested what they perceive as discrimination and random arrests by the Shiite-led government. Violence spiked after the Dec. 28 arrest of a Sunni lawmaker sought on terrorism charges and the government’s dismantling of a year-old anti-government Sunni protest camp in the provincial capital of Ramadi. Last week, al-Qaida-linked gunmen seized control of Ramadi and nearby Fallujah, cities that were among the bloodiest battlefields for U.S. forces during the Iraq war. The militants overran police stations and military posts, freed prisoners and set up their own checkpoints. The United States and Iran have offered material help for the Iraqi government but say they won’t send in troops. Speaking in his weekly television address, Prime Minis-
ter Nouri al-Maliki hinted of a possible pardon for supporters of al-Qaida’s local branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, if they abandon the fight. “The war that is being fought by the Iraqi security forces, tribes and all segments of Iraqi society against al-Qaida and its affiliates is a sacred war,” he said. “I call on those who were lured to be part of the terrorism machine led by al-Qaida to return to reason.” In exchange, he promised that his government will “open a new page to settle their cases so that they won’t be fuel for the war that is led by al-Qaida.” Iraq’s government has rushed additional troops and military equipment to Anbar and has been carrying out airstrikes in an effort to dislodge the militants. Skirmishes between Iraqi forces and militants broke out on the outskirts of Fallujah and Ramadi again Wednesday, according to witnesses, and militants blew up a small bridge on the edge of Ramadi, officials in Anbar said. There was no immediate report of casualties. At least four crew members were killed when a military helicopter crashed in Anbar, according to army and government officials in the province and state TV. The officials said the cause was poor weather conditions in the area and there was no indication militants brought it down. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information. Influential tribal leaders have been meeting to try to find a way out of the crisis and demanded that al-Qaida members holed up in Fallujah get out of town, said provincial spokesman Dhari al-Rishawi. “They agreed on expelling ISIL from Fallujah. The told them to withdraw ... or face an attack by the tribes and the army,” he said. That message was echoed over mosque loudspeakers late
Tuesday, which also called on fleeing families to come back. Al-Rishawi and residents reached by phone in Fallujah said at least some of the militants had left the city, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. It was not clear how many had gone, or whether they were taking up new positions in different parts of the city. “We, the residents and the tribes, don’t want al-Qaida in the city. We don’t want to see the same violence we saw when the Americans were here,” said Ayad al-Halbosi, a 22-year-old teacher in Fallujah. Markets in the city began reopening Wednesday and some families returned to their homes, though residents complained of shortages of fuel and cooking gas. Civilian cars and trucks were seen on the road and traffic policemen were on the streets. The militant gains in Anbar are posing the most serious challenge to the Shiite-led government since American forces withdrew in late 2011 after years of bitter warfare following the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime and propelled the formerly repressed Shiite majority to power. Vice President Joe Biden spoke to al-Maliki for the second time this week, voicing support Wednesday for the Baghdad government’s effort to regain control of Fallujah. The White House said Biden encouraged al-Maliki to continue talks with local, tribal and national leaders and said Biden welcomed al-Maliki’s affirmation that Iraqi elections will occur as scheduled in April. The U.N. envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, warned that the humanitarian situation in Anbar is likely to worsen as military operations continue. Food and water supplies in Fallujah are beginning to run out, and more than 5,000 families have fled to neighboring provinces to escape the fighting, he said.
Mulally decides to remain at Ford, turns down Microsoft CEO credited with company’s financial upturn, improved managment culture DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Alan Mulally is staying at Ford. The CEO, who was rumored to be in the running to become Microsoft’s next leader, told The Associated Press Tuesday that he won’t leave the Dearborn, Mich., automaker before the end of 2014. “I would like to end the Microsoft speculation because I have no other plans to do anything other than serve Ford,” Mulally said in an interview. When asked if this should end investor concern about his departure, Mulally said, “You don’t have to worry about me leaving.” Mulally wouldn’t say if he had talked to Microsoft about becoming CEO. But he said the speculation was a distraction for Ford. Mulally is credited with returning Ford Motor Co. to profitability and changing the company’s culture, putting an end to widespread executive infighting. Mulally said he will stick with the plan to stay at Ford through at least the end of 2014. When Ford announced that plan in November 2012, it also promoted Mark Fields to chief operating officer, making him the likely successor to Mulally. Over the last few months, there have been numerous reports that Mulally was on the short list of candidates to replace Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft announced in August that Ballmer plans to step down as CEO.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in an email that Mulally’s decision was a negative for Microsoft because he was the front-runner for the CEO job. But Microsoft wouldn’t say Tuesday if Mulally’s announcement came as a surprise. “Out of respect for the process and the potential candidates, we don’t comment on individual names,” a Microsoft spokesman told the AP. Ford shares rose 21 cents to $15.59 in after-hours trading. Microsoft shares fell 47 cents to $36.94. Mulally’s withdrawal from Microsoft’s CEO derby further shrinks the pool of company outsiders who have been touted as Ballmer’s potential successor. Steve Mollenkopf, the chief operating officer of smartphone chip maker Qualcomm Inc., was identified as a top candidate in a Bloomberg News report last month. But Qualcomm quickly squelched the speculation by announcing plans to promote Mollenkopf to CEO in March. With Mulally out of the running, some of Ballmer’s top lieutenants might have a better chance of replacing their boss. The list of internal candidates includes Satya Nadella, who oversees the Microsoft’s lucrative business of selling computer servers and online services to other companies and government agencies, and Tony Bates, who joined Microsoft in 2011 when the company paid $8.5 billion for video calling service Skype. Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Nokia’s smartphone business also has spurred talk that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will replace Ballmer. Elop left
Microsoft in 2010 to join Nokia, a mobile phone pioneer that continued to lose market share to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Android devices under Elop’s leadership. Mulally, 68, was trained as an aeronautical engineer. He spent 36 years at Boeing Co. — and was president of the company’s commercial airplane division — before Ford Chairman Bill Ford lured him to the struggling automaker in 2006. He overcame skepticism about being an outsider in the insular ranks of Detroit car guys by quickly pinpointing the reasons why Ford was losing billions each year. Just months into his tenure, he mortgaged all of Ford’s assets — including its Blue Oval logo — for a $23.5 billion loan to fund a massive restructuring. It was a prescient move that helped Ford avoid the fate of General Motors and Chrysler, which both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. During his tenure, Ford has earned $32.9 billion in pretax profit and its shares have more than doubled. The company expects to earn $8.5 billion before taxes in 2013. But it spooked some investors last month when it said pretax profits would be slightly lower in 2014 as it launches 23 vehicles worldwide. Mulally said Tuesday that the 2014 results will be “absolutely consistent with us investing even more in the enterprise for long-term profitable growth.” Erik Gordon, a business and law professor at the University of Michigan, said decision to stay ensures an orderly transition to a new CEO. “It’s important for a company as complex as Ford to do that,” he said.
News
6A — Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
India aims at limiting perks of members of US Embassy New regulations come in light of controversial arrest
BILL INGALLS/AP Photo
An Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014 in advance of the thwarted trip Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.
Harsh solar storm halts space station supply flight Weather patterns suspend trip until Thursday afternoon CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A strong solar storm is interfering with the latest grocery run to the International Space Station. On the bright side, the orbiting lab has won a four-year extension, pushing its projected endof-lifetime to at least 2024, a full decade from now. “This is a big plus for us,” said NASA’s human exploration chief, Bill Gerstenmaier. On Wednesday, Orbital Sciences Corp. delayed its space station delivery mission for the third time. Another launch attempt will be made Thursday afternoon. The company’s unmanned rocket, the Antares, was set to blast off from Wallops Island, Va., with a capsule full of supplies and science experiments, including ants for an educational project. But several hours before Wednesday afternoon’s planned flight, company officials took the unusual step of postponing the launch for fear that solar radiation could doom the rocket. Orbital Sciences’ chief technical officer, Antonio Elias, said solar particles might interfere
with electronics equipment in the rocket, and lead to a launch failure. After evaluating the situation all day Wednesday, Orbital Sciences decided to aim for Thursday at 1:07 p.m. EST. The solar flare peaked Tuesday afternoon and more activity was expected, but the company determined that the space weather was within acceptable risk levels. The sun is at the peak of a weak 11-year storm cycle. Although the solar storm barely rated moderate, some passenger jets were being diverted from the poles to avoid potential communication and health issues. GPS devices also were at risk. But the six men aboard the space station were safe from the solar fallout, NASA said, and satellites also faced no threat. The Cygnus cargo ship aboard the rocket, for example, is built to withstand radiation from solar flare-ups. The storm also will push the colorful northern lights farther south than usual to the northern U.S. The Cygnus was supposed to fly in December, but a breakdown in the space station’s cooling system required repairs by spacewalking astronauts. The repair job, which was completed on Christmas Eve, bumped the supply mission to this week.
Then frigid temperatures forced a launch delay from Tuesday to Wednesday. Then came the sun — at full force. Frank Culbertson, an executive vice president for Virginiabased Orbital Sciences, said the delays can be frustrating, but he pointed out there’s nothing wrong with the rocket itself. “All we’re really delaying is the success that’s going to come when we execute this mission,” he told reporters. NASA is using two private companies — Orbital Sciences and the California-based SpaceX — to keep the space station stocked. The space agency turned to private industry for help following the space shuttle program; the last shuttle flight was in 2011. Russia, Europe and Japan also periodically launch supply ships. Russia corners the space station market, though, on astronaut travel. NASA astronauts are hitching rides on Russian Soyuz capsules until American companies are ready to launch human crews. Gerstenmaier said that should happen by 2017. NASA will evaluate the proposals again this spring before deciding whether to buy more Soyuz seats for that year and beyond, he said. Each seat costs many tens of millions of dollars.
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 9, 2014
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
NEW DELHI (AP) — India chipped away at America’s diplomatic perks Wednesday, ordering the envoys to obey local traffic laws and warning that a popular U.S. Embassy club violates diplomatic law because it is open to outsiders. The moves were the latest in a campaign to exert pressure on the U.S. following the arrest and strip search last month of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat based in New York City. Indian officials have called the strip search barbaric and unnecessary. Khobragade, 39, is accused of paying her Indian maid less than the U.S. minimum wage and lying about it on a visa application. She pleaded not guilty to fraud charges and is free on bail. The case has caused an outcry in India, where the idea of an educated, middle-class woman facing a strip search is seen as outrageous and heavyhanded. India has unleashed
DOWN 1 Sassy sort 2 Honduran home 3 Frigg’s husband
4 Like most Pixar movies 5 Skip over 6 What a white “H” on a blue sign signifies: Abbr. 7 Arctic wear 8 Stick to a tight budget 9 Annoyance 10 Unflappable 11 It might wind up in the yard 12 100 sawbucks 13 Diminish 19 Sticks around 23 American frontiersman 25 Trapping strategy 26 Carry __ 27 “King Kong” actress Naomi 29 What a “-” may indicate: Abbr. 31 Fess (up) 32 Novelist Binchy 33 Pond wader 34 Bartender’s supply 36 Coarse grass used as fodder 37 Without face value
39 __ lizzie 40 NBAer who plays at “The Q” 42 Control for an out-of-control crowd 45 Basketball Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick 46 Pop art pioneer 48 Grand 50 Treatments for breaks
51 Feature of some skirts 52 What a “D” often means 53 Some basilica singers 54 Glitz 55 Doctrines 57 Ankle-length skirt 58 Burdon of The Animals 59 Rollers without wheels
Last year, doctors restored over 200 patients’ vision JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — After receiving eye surgery from the American doctors, a South Sudanese man sat with other patients who belonged to tribes he once considered enemies. The men spoke about their newly restored vision — both their eyesight and how they now perceive members of other ethnic groups as potential friends, not sworn enemies. South Sudan’s government faces monumental challenges:
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forward.” PTI also reported that New Delhi warned that U.S. Embassy vehicles would not be immune to penalties for traffic offenses such as unauthorized parking and running red lights. Khobragade was arrested Dec. 13 and was strip-searched in custody, as is common practice according to the U.S. Marshals. But anger is still smoldering in India more than a month after the arrest. Khobragade could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted. She has said she has full diplomatic immunity. U.S. federal officials dispute that, saying her immunity is limited to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions. U.S. prosecutors and lawyers for Khobragade are at odds over a possible plea deal. A letter filed Tuesday by attorneys for Khobragade accused federal prosecutors of trying to pressure her into pleading guilty by next week. The attorneys renewed a request for an extension of the Jan. 13 deadline for an indictment.
US doctors attempt to treat ethnic divisions in S. Sudan
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Make it home? 6 Trunk hardware 10 Karate move 14 2013 U.S. Open winner 15 In the past 16 Chaplin’s widow 17 Query in Matthew 18 Crybaby of a sort 20 Like French doors 21 Special benefit 22 One having a ball 24 “You said it!” 25 University of Georgia mascot Hairy __ 28 Like a GI doing dishes 30 Selena of “Wizards of Waverly Place” 35 Anticipated touchdown hr. 36 Nail holders 37 Meditative genre 38 With 40-Across, taking the easy way (and a hint to eight aptly placed answers in this grid) 40 See 38-Across 41 As per schedule 42 Knocks 43 One might make a setter better 44 Question type 45 Start of a Spanish cheer 46 Antiprohibitionists 47 The Supremes, e.g. 49 Collectible radio 51 Ristorante choice 56 Ready to rumble 60 Drags one’s feet 61 First name in puppetry 62 Smidgen 63 Reunion invitee 64 Very malicious 65 Fit 66 Telescope part 67 Golfer’s concern
a steady stream of retaliatory measures. Some of the moves, such as preventing the American Center from screening movies, are seen as little more than needling the U.S. But other actions have raised some alarm, including the removal of concrete traffic barriers around the U.S. Embassy and revoking diplomats’ ID cards. On Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported that India ordered the U.S. to stop all “commercial activities” by Jan. 16 at the American Community Support Association club. The club has a restaurant, bar, bowling alley, swimming pool and other amenities. India says the fact that nondiplomats can join the club, at a cost of more than $1,300 per year, violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. endeavors to always comply with local laws and regulations, and is reviewing India’s requests for action. She declined to criticize India, and maintained that “both sides want to move this relationship
To bring warring factions, often from rival ethnic groups, back toward peace after violence broke out across the country on Dec. 15. The group of American doctors had a unique approach to help heal age-old rifts between ethnic groups, but it has been put on hold because of the fighting. A dry run they tried last year in Jonglei state, which has since become the epicenter of the clashes, was promising. They restored more than 200 patients’ sight through cataract and trachoma surgery and helped break through tribal enmity. As a condition for the free surgery, the American doctors demanded that the members of rival groups sit together and talk. Michael Yei of the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah recalls one particular member of the Murle tribe who sat with men who belonged to the Nuer and Dinka groups. The man soon reached a conclusion that made the hearts of the medical team soar. “I always thought in many ways that the Dinka were devils and had horns, but they’re just like us,” the patient said, according to Yei. “That’s the kind of response we had and were so encouraged,” Yei continued. “Getting your sight back is a major and powerful motivator for people. It just changes your life.” Capt. Dhuor Andrew Makur, a 31-year-old doctor in South Sudan’s military, is not surprised that misconceptions like the one held by the Murle man could exist in South Sudan. The population is poorly educated, with only a 27 percent literacy rate. Makur studied at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an experience that showed him what it’s like to live in an advanced society. The West has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in South Sudan, but Makur said not enough is being directed to education and to ways in which the disparate ethnic groups can interact. There are only a couple dozen miles of paved roads in South Sudan, the world’s newest country but also one of its least developed. “The good things you want you have to press for — education. We’re still wild. We come from the jungle,” Makur said. “Don’t bring money to our people. Bring U.S. companies. Invest in roads. Let people interact.” Four of his relatives, cousins mostly, have been killed in the outbreak of violence. The violence, which forced the American eye surgeons
to cancel a planned trip this month to Jonglei state where they intended to treat hundreds of patients, has riven South Sudan along ethnic lines. They hope to return when the violence subsides. Ethnic frictions have long existed but were largely overlooked during the civil war with Sudan that ended with a 2005 peace agreement that set the stage for South Sudan becoming a nation in 2011. Once independence was achieved, ethnic fault lines began shining through. A power struggle brewing for months between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer who was fired in July, broke out into massive violence just over three weeks ago. The sudden violent spiral recalled a battle in 1991 that saw Machar lead a Nuer slaughter of the Dinka, said Jok Madut Jok, the co-founder of the Sudd Institute, a research body in South Sudan. “This conflict escalated so fast partly due to the history of the liberation wars, in which South Sudanese committed atrocities against one another and no accountability for these atrocities was established when those wars ended, leaving gaping wounds in the hearts and minds of so many citizens,” Jok wrote in a paper published this week. South Sudan’s biggest problem is that it is a patchwork of small ethnic groups seeking power, said Edmund Yakani, the executive director of a peace-building organization called CEPO. Potential solutions include more inter-marriage between ethnic groups, a government not dominated by ethnicity and an informed citizenry, Yakani said. Dr. Alan Crandall, vice-chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Utah, remembers the members of the Dinka, Nuer and Murle tribes interacting after their cataract surgeries last year. Elderly men sat in a circle on plastic chairs, their eyes shielded from the sun by large black post-operation glasses. During the “peace circle,” Crandall heard a Nuer man say he would tell his tribe’s young warriors that they should not attack other ethnic groups. The medical group began its mission in the village of Duk Payuel in Jonglei through the efforts of John Dau, a former “Lost Boy” of Sudan who fled the 1990s conflict by walking to Ethiopia and eventually finding his way to Syracuse, New York. His foundation provides health care and medical training.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, January 9, 2014 — 7A
On Recruiting: Coaching instability plaguing efforts By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Writer
Let’s go back to the night of September 7th. Everything seemed perfect for the Michigan football team. The Wolverines dismantled a ranked Notre Dame in front of a record-setting crowd. Beyoncé even exclaimed “Go Blue!” in a halftime video message. Life was good for Michigan fans. The 2014 recruiting class was top-tier, and the 2015 class was starting to take form. Any questions about Brady Hoke or Al Borges’s job security would’ve seemed ridiculous because a Big Ten championship looked within reach. But then the Wolverines season started to deteriorate, and they fell to 7-5. Twitter exploded with demands for coaching changes. But was that really justified? Recruits noticed these demands, leading to uncertainty in their minds as to
BY THE NUMBERS
Former offensive coordinator Al Borges
$709,300 Borges’s annual salary, among the highest in the nation for an assistant.
373.5
Yards per game by the Wolverines this season, 86th in the nation.
Minus-48 Rushing yards by Michigan against Michigan State, a program worst.
11
Games under Borges that the Wolverines failed to reach 300 yards.
whether coaching changes were imminent. The first to publicly voice his concerns was five-star cornerback Jabrill Peppers, the Wolverines’s top-rated commit. Peppers tweeted that he would take official visits to other schools in a violation of Hoke’s recruiting policy, leaving Peppers decommitted in the coach’s eye. “I am still 100-percent committed to the University of Michigan and that is the place where I want to go to college,” Peppers told ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren after the tweet. “With the rumors about coach Hoke possibly not being there, I need to make sure that I have options and have seen other places.” Two days after Peppers’s tweet, Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon published a blog post to dispel rumors about the job security of the coaching staff. “Brady Hoke is our coach and will be leading our football program well into the future,” he wrote on MoGoBlue.com. “There is no question about it. Anyone making efforts to stir up a coaching controversy at Michigan is ill-informed and is likely promoting a personal agenda that is not in the best interest of Michigan football.” Brandon’s assurances worked. Peppers later took an official visit to Ann Arbor and decided other visits wouldn’t be part of his plan, reaffirming his commitment to the Wolverines. Borges, though, wasn’t in Michigan’s future plans despite Brandon’s reassurances about the staff. Wednesday, Hoke announced Borges wasn’t retained for a fourth year, and reports soon surfaced that the coordinator would be replaced by Alabama’s Doug Nussmeier.
Maybe it was a necessary change. But the Wolverines’s prized 2015 commit, five-star running back Damien Harris, soon tweeted, “Man ..... I can’t believe this about Coach Borges.” Only time will tell whether or not Harris will decommit, but coaching changes certainly won’t help, even if the offense may improve without Borges. But Harris’s high school coach has ties to Borges. The two coached together at Auburn in 2007. It’s possible that this is where Harris’s apparent displeasure with the move is rooted. And if he decommits, it would be the second major loss for Michigan. George Campbell, a 2015 fivestar wide receiver and ESPN’s No. 2 overall recruit, officially decommitted from Michigan in late December, shocking Wolverine fans and defying the promise he made when he committed in August. “I’m going to stick with (Michigan),” Campbell said in an earlier interview with ESPN’s Jared Sandler. “I was taught to stay with my commitment, and that’s something I’m going to do, no matter what, with Michigan.” Weeks after the Peppers scare, Campbell speared many Michigan hearts, even before Borges was fired. Many believe Campbell’s decommitment occurred because of his family’s views. Yes, Campbell will be able to play closer to home if he chooses to stay in Florida or enroll anywhere in the south. When a player commits to an out-of-state school, there’s always a degree of uncertainty. Those qualms are easier to handle with a father-like coach. Hoke’s supposed job insecurity
AUSTIN BIGONEY/The Crimson White
Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier will coach Michigan’s offense in 2014, according to numerous reports.
Getting to know: Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier By ZACH HELFAND Daily Sports Writer
As the offensive coordinator at Alabama last season, Doug Nussmeier, reportedly the Michigan football team’s new offensive coordinator, was the subject of an online petition calling for his job. The petition “To fire offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier” received two signatures. But Nussmeier, 43, has plenty of similarities to Michigan’s outgoing offensive coordinator, Al Borges, who was fired Wednesday. Both favor the prostyle, downhill running game to set up play-action and vertical routes. Both coach the offense and the quarterbacks. What Nussmeier had at Alabama, and Borges didn’t at Michigan, was an offense good enough to quell dissent from a fan base that demanded better production. In Nussmeier, Michigan gains a coach who runs the pro-style offense preferred by Michigan coach Brady Hoke, a skilled recruiter and a proven quarterback mentor. His early success will hinge upon the
question that flummoxed Borges and Hoke for all of 2012: how to succeed despite a young and error-prone offensive line? The early reviews are positive. Before the Sugar Bowl, according to Alabama’s student newspaper The Crimson White, Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops praised Nussmeier and his offense. “It’s old school. It’s NFLstyle football,” Stoops said. “And they come at you in a variety of different sets, shifts, motions. They window dress things very well. It’s very well organized. It’s very well orchestrated.” Alabama offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio told the Crimson White that everybody loved the offensive coordinator. “You don’t see a lot of coaches like Coach Nussmeier,” Kouandjio said. “That’s why coach Saban hired him. And he’s living up to it.” In Nussmeier’s first year in Tuscaloosa in 2012, the offense set records for touchdowns (68), points (542), total offense (6,237) and passing touchdowns (32). In his first game with the Crimson Tide, his offense dismantled Michigan in the Cowboys Clas-
sic. Despite shutting down for much of the second half, the Crimson Tide won 41-14 and put up 431 yards of total offense, including 232 on the ground. Under Nussmeier, the offense opened up — at least for a Nick Saban-coached team — when he implemented more vertical routes and attacked teams over the top. The offense showed more three- and four-receiver sets, usually with an H-back who could become more involved in the passing game than a traditional fullback. The Alabama passing game grew with its quarterback, AJ McCarron. In 2011, the year before Nussmeier arrived, McCarron played a role largely described as “game manager.” By 2013, according to Marc Torrence, sports editor at The Crimson White, McCarron “had the greatest season as a quarterback in Alabama history. You have to attribute that somewhat to Nussmeier.” At Michigan, fifth-year senior quarterback Devin Gardner showed potential in his first full season at the starter, but he committed costly turnovers
ADAM GLANZMANN/Daily
Michigan football coach Brady Hoke announced that offensive coordinator Al Borges will not return to the team in 2014.
may well have been the factor that caused Campbell to decommit. It didn’t end there. Hjalte Frojoldt, a four-star defensive line prospect who hails from Denmark committed to Arkansas over Michigan after most recruiting analysts considered him a heavy Wolverine lean. In any given year, committing to Arkansas over Michigan may sound ordinary and justified. After all, would you blame a kid who wants to play in the SEC and warm weather? But in 2013 Froholt was different. He was a Michigan lean through thick and thin. Arkansas also went 3-9 and didn’t win an SEC game. Yes, Michigan had its struggles, but Arkansas’s were far greater. What
did Arkansas have over the Wolverines? Coaching stability. It’s hard to imagine Borges’s firing would’ve had any affect on Froholdt’s recruitment. Bret Beilema just completed his first year coaching the Razorbacks after winning three consecutive Big Ten titles at Wisconsin. Hoke, on the other hand, has had a couple of strong recruiting classes, but the team hasn’t competed in a Big Ten championship game, much less won the conference. Had Michigan converted the two-point conversion against Ohio State, or had one of three field-goal misses been made against Penn State, perhaps that coaching uncertainty wouldn’t have arisen.
early in the season and had a tendency to hold onto the ball for too long. Sophomore quarterback Shane Morris displayed ample ability in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, but is still inexperienced. Nussmeier should help groom both quarterbacks. Nussmeier was a quarterback in college at Idaho and for five seasons in the NFL. He began as a quarterbacks coach, with stints at Michigan State and with the St. Louis Rams. He graduated to offensive coordinator at Fresno State, before moving to Washington and Alabama. Quarterbacks Jake Locker, Drew Stanton, Jeff Smoker and Marc Bulger are all former pupils, all of whom played or currently play in the NFL. When Keith Price inherited the quarterback position after Locker left for the NFL, Nussmeier coached him to new records in touchdowns, completion percentage and passing efficiency. In fact, Washington improved statistically in each of Nussmeier’s three seasons there. Nussmeier is ranked the 14th best recruiter in the nation by 247 Sports’s coaching database, and he could push to sign five-star quarterback and Alabama commit Ricky Town. Nussmeier was the lead recruiter in snagging Town, though ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren reported that the quarterback is planning to stick with
Alabama after the two exchanged texts Wednesday night. Still, the offensive line has carried Nussmeier’s offense while at Alabama. In 2012, the Crimson Tide featured one of the best offensive lines in college football history, three offensive linemen that were drafted in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft, including two picked in the first round. Michigan’s line will require much more development. By the end of the year, Borges had tinkered with an unbalanced look, an end-around heavy offense and a screen-dependent attack to mask an interior incapable of opening holes. None of it worked. Nussmeier has experimented little at Alabama. “You didn’t see a lot of new wrinkles, a lot of new things here and there,” Torrence said. “It got pretty predictable at some points.” Crimson Tide fans point to the loss to Texas A&M in 2012 as particularly frustrating. Despite heroics by Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, Alabama still had a chance to win the game on its last possession. Needing a touchdown on 1st-and-goal from the six-yard line, with the best offensive line in the nation, Nussmeier called three passes out of the shotgun, with just one run. The Aggies intercepted the fourth-down pass, and Alabama lost.
Would Brandon have been forced to make such a bold statement defending his coach? Losing Hoke would be disastrous for Michigan. Just look at his recruiting classes. The 2014 contigent is shaping up to be star-studded, while the 2015 class is doing the same, even without Campbell. Yes, Hoke may be on the hot seat. But consistently calling for his firing only exacerbates the recruiting problems. For Hoke’s recruiting prowess to continue, the coaching staff largely needs to stay put. — Rubinstein can be reached at jasonbr@umich.edu and on Twitter @jrubinstein4.
BY THE NUMBERS Doug Nussmeier
$850,000
Minimum salary for Nussmeier at Michigan, according to CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman.
$680,000
Nussmeier’s salary at Alabama in 2013.
431
Yards his Alabama offense accumulated against Michigan in the 2012 Cowboys Classic.
4
Quarterbacks Nussmeier has coached who played in the NFL.
68
Touchdowns scored by Alabama in 2012, a program record.
18
Crimson Tide’s national ranking for points scored this year.
This is a developing story Check MichiganDaily.com throughout the day for updates
AUSTIN BIGONEY/The Crimson White
Nussmeier will inherit an offense that averaged 373.5 yards per game in 2013 and returns its starting quarterback.
Sports
8A — Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Nebrasketballin’: Big Ten play continues Behind Enemy Lines: Tim Miles By SIMON KAUFMAN Daily Sports Writer
Thursday night, the Michigan men’s basketball team will take on Nebraska in its third Big Ten game of the season. Second-year coach Tim Miles, one of the Big Ten’s funniest and most lighthearted personalities, is working to turn around a Cornhusker team that was predicted to finish last in the conference in a preseason media poll. Nebraska (0-2 Big Ten, 8-6 overall) dropped its first two conference games to Iowa and Michigan State, both on the road. The Daily sat down with Miles in October at Big Ten media day to talk about his return for a second season, playing in a new stadium and recruiting.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sophomore forward Nik Stauskas is leading Michigan in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game.
‘M’ to challenge perfect home mark By SIMON KAUFMAN Daily Sports Writer
Michigan sophomore forward Mitch McGary underwent potentially season-ending Michigan at back surgery Nebraska Tuesday, but for the rest of Matchup: the Michigan Nebraska 8-6; men’s basket- Michigan 10-4 ball team, Big When: Ten play will Thursday continue when 9 P.M. the Wolverines Where: take on Nebras- Pinnacle ka on Thursday Bank Arena night. TV/Radio: Michigan ESPN2 (2-0 Big Ten, 10-4 overall) hopes to hand the Cornhuskers their first-ever loss at Pinnacle Bank Arena, which opened September 2013. Nebraska is a perfect 7-0 there, but the Wolverines will be the Cornhuskers’ first real challenge in defending their home-court advantage after playing a fairly easy home schedule thus far. Michigan, on the other hand, faced a grueling non-conference schedule, including games against three teams ranked No. 17 or higher in the AP poll. But the Wolverines have kicked off Big Ten play against teams picked to finish in the bottom tier of the conference. Coming off of wins against Minnesota and Northwestern, Michigan will put a four-game winning
streak on the line in Lincoln. On paper, Nebraska (0-2, 8-6) shouldn’t pose much of a challenge. The Cornhuskers came into the season ranked last in the Big Ten preseason media poll. But that, of course, doesn’t mean Michigan coach John Beilein is taking them — or their two losses in conference play — lightly. “They have played a very difficult schedule overall,” Beilein said in a radio interview with WTKA-AM. “They started off with two road games in the Big Ten. They came out 0-2 against two nationally ranked teams.” Those programs — Iowa and Michigan State — downed the Cornhuskers handily, defeating them by 10 and 31, respectively. But both of those games were on the road, and Beilein knows full well how difficult it is to win away from home. “They’re a good team. They added the point guard position with a kid from New Zealand with a lot of game experience,” Beilein said in the interview. “(Ray) Gallegos is an incredible shooter. They added another transfer at the wing that is their leading scorer right now.” Nebraska’s biggest threat is sophomore Terran Petteway, who has deservedly earned the respect of his teammates and opponents. The 6-foot-6 forward leads the team with 17.3 points per game. Petteway — who transferred from Texas Tech and sat out last year — is a dual threat who has
the ability to drive to the basket or step back for a jump shot, making him dangerous at the shooting guard position. Gallegos, a fifth-year senior, has also been productive for the Cornhuskers, shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc. On Michigan’s end, fifth-year senior forward Jordan Morgan and redshirt junior forward Jon Horford have both stepped up their play and leadership after being handed the share of McGary’s minutes since he opted for surgery. Beilein said both have continued to improve as they’ve gotten in better game shape. The coach also said he won’t hesitate to use redshirt sophomore forward Max Bielfeldt if either Morgan or Horford get in foul trouble. Beilein refuses to admit he’s expecting a victory in Lincoln. But if the Wolverines can overcome their road struggles to play at a high level, they could blemish the Cornhuskers’ home record. “Their talent is so much better than it was last year,” Beilein said. “(Nebraska coach Tim Miles) did a great job with that team last year. Now they have a really talented team. It’s going to be one of those games where we’re going to have to play absolutely our best to get a win.” NOTES: Beilein said “everything went well” with McGary’s surgery Tuesday, adding that the sophomore would be back in class Thursday.
The Michigan Daily: With one year under your belt, are you a little more relaxed going into this season? Tim Miles: Well, I don’t know if you can ever relax going into the Big Ten, but it’s that comforting feeling. The unknown always worries you, and now you know what to expect. But being a lifelong Big Ten fan, growing up in Big Ten territory in South Dakota, you knew how tough the league was going to be and it was certainly all that and then some. TMD: What is the biggest area you want to build on from your first year? TM: We were able to win
five league games and we were able to win one in the (Big Ten) tournament (in 2013). We want to keep showing progress, and we did it when the league was at its most difficult. So just steady progress, I think, is really important to program building, especially at a place like Nebraska, which isn’t a traditional well-known or wellthought-of basketball power. In the ‘90s, we had a great run, but at this point in time now, we need to reinvent ourselves and that’s what we’re doing. We’ve done it with over $200 million in new facilities that are state of the art, and now we’ve got to get the coaching up to par and we’ll be ok.
you’re at, when you get to kind of a certain level and especially the top level, the competition is more fierce and your job becomes more difficult. You have to find an edge and find a way. For us, it’s finding the right kind of guys that fit and that want to be in Nebraska for one reason or another. Whether they see the progress and the development of the program and they like that challenge, they see their opportunity for an impact to come play, or they like the coaches, or whatever it might be, we’ve got to find them. Because we don’t have a large base of local recruits and that can be a difficult thing to overcome sometimes.
TMD: You mentioned the brand-new stadium. How excited are you to break it in and how much does it help with recruiting? TM: It definitely helps recruiting. It’s one of those things that I think shows progress. It shows commitment. When a recruit sees commitment and they see how well done it is, it’s an impressive thing. The other thing that goes right on top of that is we’ve sold that thing out. I mean, we sold it out in about a month or six weeks of time, and so it’s been sold out since the spring or early summer for the whole season. That matters a lot to people when you see that sort of commitment by your fans.
TMD: You have a pretty laid back demeanor. How much do you rely on your personality to take you guys out of the Big Ten cellar? TM: The personality part is probably a disorder more than anything, so we just try to deal with it. Certainly, the important part about recruiting is to let your recruits get to know you personally, and that’s one thing —we’re not (acting like) somebody we’re not. We just try to go out and be real guys and (tell recruits), ‘This is the way were gonna do it, and this is our plan for you.’ ”
TMD: How hard is it to get a recruit to come out to Nebraska? TM: Recruiting is always difficult. Everybody’s got it tough — that’s just part of the business. Any business where
TMD: What’s your goal for this year? TM: We want to make the NCAA tournament and win when we’re there, and I’ve said that for years — even when I was at North Dakota State and we were a Division-I independent and ineligible for the NCAA tournament. I think you just have a standard, and that’s where it belongs.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Freshman guard Derrick Walton and the Michigan men’s basketball team are 6-1 at home but 1-2 on the road.
Wolverines welcome Badgers in rematch of 2013 thriller By SHANNON LYNCH Daily Sports Editor
In its first conference home game of 2014, the Michigan women’s basketball team will focus on strength, not size, to keep its threegame win- Wisconsin at ning streak Michigan alive, as the Wol- Matchup: Wisconsin 8-5; verines Michigan 10-4 look to win their first When: Thursday two Big 7 P.M. Ten games Where: Crisler for the sec- Arena ond con- TV/Radio: secutive MGoBlue season. But that doesn’t mean size won’t still be on the Wolverines’ minds. The Badgers pose a challenge in terms of size for Michigan, led by 6-foot senior guard Taylor Wurtz and 6-foot-3 redshirt junior forward Michala Johnson. Wurtz was just named Big Ten Player of the Week and tallied 27 points in Wisconsin’s overtime win over Illinois last week, while Johnson is averaging 16.1 points per game. The Badgers have 10 players
on their roster who stand at or above six-feet tall. “We do feel that we are undersized and we’re smaller than most of our opponents,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. Luckily for the Wolverines, it’s not all about height. Freshman guard Siera Thompson, who stands at just 5-foot-7, is expected to apply pressure on Wisconsin (8-5 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), just like she did against Ohio State. More importantly, Thompson’s presence has provided consistency in the Wolverines’ lineup, which was small and undecided to begin with. “Her teammates have a tremendous amount of trust and confidence in her, and really believe she can lead our team,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s a freshman playing 37 minutes a game for us, going against probably the other team’s best defender, and handling that pressure night in and night out.” Junior forward Shannon Smith, who also stands at just 5-foot-7, will hope to pose an offensive threat to the Badgers. Smith has scored more than 20 points in three games this season and is averaging 15.1 points a game. She also became the first Wolverine to score
more than 30 points in a game since the 2005-06 season when she recorded 32 points against Detroit Mercy in November. Michigan (1-0, 10-4) looks to ride its momentum from Sunday after it opened conference play with a 64-49 win over Ohio State in which Thompson scored 18 points, already her 12th double-digit scoring output of the young season. The team showed off some newfound free-throw skills, racking up a season-high 26 makes from the charity stripe, while shooting 92.9 percent from the line. “We did a great job of getting to the free-throw line,” Barnes Arico said. “We had to handle some pressure and need to continue to get better at that, but we did what we needed to do to be successful.” The Wolverines’ offensive success has stemmed from its offensive depth. Four different scorers are averaging double digits, including a pair of juniors in guard Nicole Elmblad and forward Cyesha Goree. Despite losing the majority of its scorers from last season, the Wolverines are averaging 73.7 points per game, an increase of 13.6 points from last season. Additionally, Michigan leads
the Big Ten with a 47.3-percent field-goal mark, good enough for a No. 12 ranking nationally. Thursday’s contest will be the first of two between Michigan and the Badgers this season, with the Wolverines hoping to prevail like they did last year when they won, 54-53. Wisconsin shot 100 percent from
the free throw line, so just like against Ohio State, it will be important to stay out of foul trouble throughout the game. Wisconsin will pose a sizable threat at Crisler, but unless its defense can pressure the Wolverines into causing turnovers and missing shots from the line, Michigan should have the
shooting power to overcome the Badgers and keep a perfect Big Ten record. NOTES: The Wolverines lead the Big Ten in field goal percentage (47.3 percent). ... Michigan is averaging 74 points per game. ... Wisconsin has committed 50 turnovers in its last two games.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sophomore guard Madison Ristovski, a question mark in the preseason, averages nearly 10 points per game.
the b-side B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, January 9, 2014
Film: “12 Years a Slave” “12 Years a Slave” is a movie that explores slavery as it was experienced and as we experience it today. Some scenes are framed like a recovered photograph — icy and frank — with the slaves looking out at their possessors. But when director Steve McQueen (“Shame”) sets his camera into motion, we observe horror as vividly as film can portray, and race becomes a tragedy. This film is not only about pain, but healing and empowerment. Never before have slaves been given such dignity. Gone are the caricatures; gone is the Antebellum ro-
manticism. Storytelling can bring about a kind of justice by telling the truth. To tell those stories is a true act of kindness, however small, however feeble in the face of history. “12 Years a Slave” treats its material as something vital, as an inheritance of a history meant to be understood and not destroyed by it. So we must, as the film wants us to, ask ourselves: Who can erase 12 years, let alone a few hundred? -SEAN CZARNECKI
2013 Best of
TV Show: “Breaking Bad” For a series as acclaimed and adored as “Breaking Bad,” ending the story can be a formidable undertaking. A series’ victory lap can be the difference between a wholly satisfying legacy (see “Six Feet Under”) or an infuriating conclusion to a once-great show (“Dexter”). For “Breaking Bad,” Walter White’s journey from Mr. Chips to Scarface ended with the unrivaled excellence and skill with which it began. “Breaking Bad” ’s final episodes were both surprising and captivating — eight hours of television in its peak form. The sixth installment, “Ozymandias,” will be remembered as one of the finest hours of
television in history. The finale garnered 10.3 million viewers, up 442 percent from the previous year’s finale, capping off “Breaking Bad” ’s meteoric rise from critically acclaimed niche programming to full-blown cultural phenomenon. “Breaking Bad” ’s final eight episodes firmly cemented its place among the best television series of all time and with that, the legacy of Walter White. -ALEC STERN
Album: “Yeezus” by Kanye How much does Kanye West not give a fuck? Let me show you right now by cueing up the auditory assault that is Yeezus’s opening track, “On Sight.” From projecting his face onto hundreds of buildings worldwide for the promotion of “New Slaves” to splitting mountains and bringing out Jesus in arenas across the country on his Yeezus Tour, 2013 was the year where Mr. West either lost his goddamn mind or turned Super Saiyan and evolved to an unprecedented level of genius. Personally, I believe
it was both. Yeezus is the sound of a frustrated futurist creating harsh compositions for no one but himself. It’s innovative, infectious and evocative — all hallmarks of great art. More than anything, Yeezus is an album that understands the power of surprise. On his sixth album, Kanye managed to mix memorable melodies and jagged experimentation for a captivating 40 minutes of brilliant imperfection. -JOHN LYNCH Design by Melissa Freeland
Arts
2B — Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Best TV Shows of 2013
NETFLIX
2. Orange Is The New Black Online streaming is the new broadcast television, Netflix is the new prime time and orange is the new black — orange and cell-block grey, that is. Based on ex-inmate Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name, “Orange Is the New Black” has introduced color to a monotonous TV landscape and viewers to the unexplored bunks of an all-female prison: It bares the diverse realities of women, unmatched by even the most righteous TV ring-
leaders (see: Ryan Murphy and his choir of misfit toys). In an institution where individuality is traded for uniform jumpsuits and shackles, it’s the characters’ and cast’s identities — socioeconomic, racial, religious, gender and sexual — that swiiiiirl to form one of the most enlightened, vulnerable and witty scripts of the year. For once, we’re crossing our fingers for a longer prison sentence. -BRIANNE JOHNSON
HBO
4. Scandal
3. Game of Thrones Westeros is a massive world. What “Game of Thrones” does brilliantly is that it shows us the pieces that fill this world, without spending too much or too little time in one place. The third season of “Game of Thrones” spent quite a bit of time allowing the show’s strong ensemble to speak with their own voices. The best example of this is what they did this season with Jamie Lannister and Brianne. There’s no way to talk about this season without
ABC
mentioning the best scene on TV this year not from “Breaking Bad.” “The Red Wedding” serves as the climax for the season and for the series. The writers and actors executed it as close to perfectly as they could with the impact they were looking for: shock, surprise and sadness. This is a large world filled with intriguing characters that make spending time in Westeros highly worth the investment. -ALEX INTNER
After three seasons, this political thriller on ABC still never has a dull moment. Olivia Pope, played by the brilliant Kerry Washington, kicks ass and takes names, all while maintaining f lawless (mostly white) outfits. A quick witted, calculating career woman, Washington’s character portrays women in a way that many shows don’t dare to — as the political equivalent of men, able to manipulate and control situations with natural ease.
2013 was a great year for “Scandal” and the mid-season finale left social media ablaze with astonishment over the unforeseen plot twists. Despite a lackluster romantic arc between Olivia and President Fitz, this show continues to impress. Like the red wine constantly in Pope’s hand, “Scandal” has aged wonderfully, and surely 2014 promises even more nailbiting, seat-falling-off-of splendor. -EMILY BODDEN
Best Singles of 2013
DEF JAM CBC
5. Orphan Black The single best performance on TV this year came from the star of “Orphan Black”, Tatiana Maslany (“The Vow”). Not only does Maslany craft one complicated and layered character; she creates seven. The show follows a group of clones, all of whom are played by Maslany. She provides a center to the show, and is the primary source of its greatness. But a show can’t survive on performance alone. In its first season, “Orphan Black” crafts a brilliantly executed mythology for its characters. It
manages to take an incredibly unrealistic premise — the existence of clones — and just for a second, makes it seem realistic. It allows the science fiction elements to develop the story without being overbearing. “Orphan Black” took a ridiculous premise and ran with it, creating an advanced and complicated mythology. It also cast a perfect leading actress in Maslany. This adds up to make it one of the best Sci-Fi shows on TV right now. -ALEX INTNER
1. Kanye West “Blood on the Leaves” In a haunting six minutes, Kanye West manages to make statements about racism and fame that most artists can’t make in an entire album. “Blood On the Leaves” wavers between incredibly profound statements about conspicuous consumption and racism, sampling Nina Simone’s version of “Strange Fruit,” to Auto-Tuned vocals of Kanye singing about molly. Yet in the range between an emotional history of American racism and lyrics like “She Ins-
tagram herself like #BadBitchAlert,” “Blood On the Leaves” represents the climax of Yeezus and quintessential Kanye West. The song doesn’t have overt statements politically, socially, or musically. But Kanye’s repetition of “We could’ve been somebody,” even if he’s talking about a drug-fueled hookup, lingers. In the same vein, “Blood On the Leaves” stands out among the other Yeezus tracks because it’s both complex and catchy. -HANNAH WEINER
3. James Blake “Retrograde” From its opening notes, it’s evident that “Retrograde” is not only the standout track on James Blake’s excellent Overgrown, but also a song capable of stirring deep emotions and transporting the listener to another place completely. Blake’s otherworldly hums compliment the sparse baseline, and his haunting falsetto creates an atmosphere of both beauty and melancholy. It is rare to find a song that resonates on a personal level, but
RCA
Blake paints a canvas of isolation and love through his softly sung lyrics. “Retrograde” defies any specific genre label, and is both a tasteful example of what modern electronic music should sound like and an elegant R&B song. “Retrograde” will endure as one of the most listenable songs of 2013 for both its modern style and its classic evocation of emotions that anyone can relate to. -JOSH FRAZIER
4. Arctic Monkeys “Do I Wanna Know”
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INTERSCOPE
2. Daft Punk ft. Pharrell “Get Lucky” If you spun your car’s radio dial long enough this summer, you would inevitably hear Pharrell endlessly, hypnotically chanting “We’re up all night to get lucky,” lyrics that, while banal on paper, would always enthusiastically make you bob your head and smile. Before “Get Lucky,” Daft Punk had only ever had one song even crack the U.S. top 100, but with a track that would be as strongly received at a ’70s disco as it was in 2013, as popular with hipsters as with pop music lovers, it
danced its way into America’s heads and refused to get out. Sure, the song’s nothing but six minutes of Pharrell singing about getting laid, but it’s the catchiest song of the last 10 years, so impossibly upbeat and impeccably produced that, for the background of every summer bonfire, party and get-together in 2013, Daft Punk’s disco genius was all we could ever want.
-ADAM THEISEN
The Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?” is a downright catchy tune. The sustained simplicity of the drumming emphasizes the clean, bluesy feel the guitar provides, creating a basic rhythm for the song to center itself around. The main riff is played over a few times during the intro prior to the introduction of the vocals, hooking in the listener. Lead singer Alex Turner’s slow, almost slightly drugged sounding vocals then add a more-than-mild flair of badass to
the song in the verses. The highpitched backing vocals in the chorus contrast Turner’s lower pitch nicely, and combined with the groovy main guitar riff give the song an outer spacey feel. In some ways, this single is highly similar in nature to many of The Clash’s notable singles like “Should I Stay or Should I go”: while “Do I Wanna Know?” isn’t some amazing musical feat, it’s nonetheless a fun, outstanding single. -KEN SELANDER
5. Vampire Weekend “Diane Young” In 2013, Ezra Koening reached new levels of cryptic lyricism with “Diane Young,” the lead single from his band’s stunning album Modern Vampires Of The City. Over a strange, horn-led beat, Koenig croons about torching Saabs like a pile of leaves, and discovering the subtle turn of phrase in the title (Diane Young/ dying young) makes the song’s message even more muddled. It’s a track that absolutely shouldn’t work — in fact, the first few notes
are downright excruciating — but slowly the off-kilter, rockabilly vibe builds into something incredibly distinctive and fun. The strongest part of “Diane Young” is undeniably its pitchshifted chorus, where Rostam Batmanglij transforms Koening’s normal voice from demonic to chipmunk and back again. On a darker, more mature album, this track stood out as an upbeat (and welcomed) outlier. -JOHN LYNCH
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 9, 2014 — 3B
Best Albums of 2013
CHANCE THE RAPPER
2. “Acid Rap” Chance The Rapper In April, twenty-year-old Chicago native Chance the Rapper released his mixtape Acid Rap, which receivied an incredible amount of downloads and critical acclaim. The album bounces around from genre to genre, fusing soul and jazz into succinct and unfailingly pleasing hip-hop. Acid Rap is catchy enough to debut at number 63 on Billboard’s R&B/HipHop Albums yet weird enough to consistently seem fresh, and Chance has found his niche in the area between. With his bizarre screeches and spastically high-speed verses on tracks
like “Good Ass Intro (So Good)” and “NaNa,” Chance has established his voice as a spunky, brilliant, and youthful rapper. Lyrically, Acid Rap proves Chance to be thoughtful and provocative, while musically, it’s sweet, f luid and fun. With Acid Rap, Chance the Rapper has cemented himself as an artist full of personality and spunk, mature enough to wisely rap about serious topics yet captivating enough to keep you singing “Cocoa Butter Kisses” for days. -HANNAH WEINER
3. “Modern Vampires of the City” Vampire Weekend At first glance, Modern Vampires of the City is a mere maturation, a dozen-song collection in which Vampire Weekend pushes the recipe of their past two albums — afro-tinged punk merged with literate lyrics — to fulfillment. But for the cosmopolitan Ivy Leaguers, previously resolved to conceal their humility beneath wit, growing up looks a whole lot like revitalizing, and it sounds like the indie-rock masterpiece of 2013. Modern Vampires is a record that adorns itself in humanity, with each track demonstrating a willingness to experiment but never alienate. There’s spontaneity — lead single “Diane Young” employs an
infectious digitized vocal effect reminiscent of Elvis — and existential gloom — the penultimate track “Hudson” imagines a post-apocalyptic New York in which “all apartments are prewar.” A somber, visceral production propels the album forward, exquisitely complementing Ezra Koenig’s poetic musings on the loss of faith and time. No longer intent on espousing their wisdom, the revamped Vampires seem content to bask in the world’s shared anxieties. Barring the foretold apocalypse, we’ll be basking with this one for years to come. -JAKE OFFENHARTZ
CASH MONEY
4. “Nothing Was the Same” Drake On the swirling, Whitney Houston-manipulating intro to his third album, Drake observes, “This is nothin’ for the radio, but they’ll still play it though/ Cause it’s that new Drizzy Drake, that’s just the way it go.” This confidence, which has never truly been lacking, undoubtedly shines through more than ever on Nothing Was the Same, a contemplative, assertive and comprehensive effort from Drake. But unlike his last album, the excellent but exceptionally melancholy Take Care, Nothing Was the Same has something for everybody. There’s vintage Drake-tinged
COLUMBIA
5. “Random Access Memories” Daft Punk
R&B on “Furthest Thing” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home” but also reckless party anthems like “Started From the Bottom” and “Worst Behaviour.” NWTS is a plethora of sounds that are nonetheless held together by Drake’s complex descriptions, effortless humor and sometimes cringe-worthy swagger. It took three albums and a mixtape, but it seems like rap’s golden child has finally found the formula to not only commercial and critical success, but, more importantly, to personal fulfillment. -JACKSON HOWARD
Best Video Games of 2012
Considering Daft Punk has always sounded like it came from the future, Random Access Memories was an unexpected step. In 2013, a group made famous by its electronic dance hits gave us an album reverent of and as irresistible as the most legendary ’70s disco productions. More than probably any other record this year, Random Access Memories sounds confusing in MP3 format. The album is more at home on a shelf of vinyl LPs, with other classics from the disco era. Featuring a dream
2. “The Last of Us” “The Last of Us,” a PS3 exclusive game, is a true winner in every department: graphics, story, characters and gameplay. The game takes place in 2033, where the world has been completely changed after an infection unleashed an apocalypse. The player takes control of Joel, a young man who must transport the game’s other main character, Ellie, across the increasingly dangerous landscape of the United States. Along the way, the player must not only fight off infected
mutants and desperate survivors, but also face difficult ethical decisions that make this game much more than just mindless entertainment. The aforementioned graphics make the entire story even more riveting and impactful, while careful writing and voice work fully flesh out these people as they struggle to retain a sense of hope and trust in each other. This isn’t really a game as much as it is an experience; one that shouldn’t be missed out on. -JOE REINHARD
4. “Pokemon X & Y” 2K GAMES
1. “BioShock: Infinite” Given enough time, every medium has its moment of transcendence. It took television decades to reach its “Golden Age,” and many still believe its true “Golden Age” is yet to come. Video games are no different. The once reviled medium still has a lot to learn, but if “Bioshock: Infinite” is a preview for things to come, it looks like gamers are in pretty good hands. Using the conventions of video games to explore violence, free will and the fallacies of American exceptionalism, “Bioshock: Infinite” is
a cultural marker for just how far we’ve traveled since the quarter slinging days of the arcade. It’s a story we’ve seen a thousand times: the seemingly stalwart hero must travel to the mythical kingdom to defeat the monster and save the princess from the castle. Instead, in “Bioshock: Infinite,” the story of Booker DeWitt, Elizabeth and the floating city of Columbia become a heartbreaking examination of American history, both of the past and years to come. -DREW MARON
XL
“Pokémon X & Y” marks another successful return to the Pokémon franchise by Nintendo. Though this new generation has many of the same game elements that helped make Pokémon into a classic, the introduction of the new Fairy type, “Mega Evolutions,” and 69 new Pokémon made it so that all fans, new and old, could have something to enjoy. Meanwhile, X & Y replaces 2D sprites with new 3D models for the Pokémon, allowing players to experience a hand-
WHAT’S
held Pokémon game in an entirely new way. The game is no slouch in the multiplayer department either, with Wi-Fi capabilities that improve upon the features of previous generations, making battling and trading with others easier than ever before. The balance between new and old here is what made “Pokémon X & Y” one of the best video games of 2013, but it’s hard to go wrong with Pokémon’s wellestablished winning formula. -JOE REINHARD
NEW ON
team of collaborators, Daft Punk announced its intentions to “Give Life Back to Music” right in the title of the first track. While oftentimes more understated than the ubiquitous, ridiculously impossible-to-get-out-ofyour-head smash single “Get Lucky” would suggest, Random Access Memories is never dull, always engaging, and proves that, sometimes, the best innovation is born out of looking to the past. -ADAM THEISEN
3. “Grand Theft Auto V” Vulgar, despicable, nihilistic and filled with enough stylized violence to keep parent groups busy for the next decade and a half, GTA V is the inevitable response to the absurdity of modern American greed. It is a biting satire where psychopaths and criminals are made almost sympathetic by being trapped in the contemporary dystopia of Los Santos. The interconnected story of Michael, Trevor and Franklin is a transgressive
gaming experience that combines over-the-top hilarity with sandbox gameplay and dark reflections of modern day politics, eschewing everything from torture and capitalism to immigration and reality TV. Everything you need in a violent video game exists in this series and continues to show up here. It’s a title that’s more than worthy of being the fastest selling entertainment property in history. -DREW MARON
5. “Candy Crush Saga” “Candy Crush Saga” the hugely popular Candy Land/”Bejeweled” hybrid with “Breaking Bad” level addictive qualities, was the most downloaded Smartphone game of 2013. In its second year of existence, the game has become a required download for Smartphone users everywhere — in 2013 alone the game was downloaded 500 million times from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store. The game is initially free, but as
soon as it has its players hooked, it presents them with in-app purchased boosters or extra lives. These costs can add up quickly — according to reports from early this fall, the game earns its parent company, the UK based King.com, $850,000 per day. This year,”Candy Crush Saga” infiltrated the lives of Smartphone users all over the world, solidifying it as a lasting icon, on par with “Tetris” or “Pacman.” -MADDIE THOMAS
Arts
4B — Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Best Films of 2013
WARNER BROS.
COLUMBIA
2. “Gravity” Space travel is so supremely precise. From interior cabin pressure to launch timing, to the trajectory of multi-megaton machinery, every calculation must be accurate to the nth degree. The smallest imbalance poses potential for immense destruction. As one of the year’s most aggressive and relentless films, Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” captures the aftermath of imprecision in its horrific sweep of reality. No amount of clever engineering or genius-level intellect can be sufficient armament
3. “American Hustle”
against the unforgiving, unbiased nature of space. And in a realm without gravity’s anchor, every certainty feels defeated, all emotions weightless, every circumstance subordinate to the elements. This is the film’s genius. The ripples of a tiny imprecision are amplified by the absence of gravity, as Cuarón removes the safe ground and drops his characters headlong into the destructive elements. What a remarkable journey that proves to be. -BRIAN BURLAGE
The camera focuses in on a bulbous, Santa Claus belly sticking out over 1970s swim trucks. The shot rises, revealing first tangled gold chains, then a scrappy beard, and finally Irving Rosenfeld’s (Christian Bale “Out of the Furnace”) sweaty, disarrayed comb-over. This is “American Hustle,” and it is a masterpiece. In director David O. Russell’s film, Bale and Amy Adams play lovers working a cunningly low-stakes con operation before (permed) Bradley Cooper enters as a cockily incompetent FBI agent,
bent on ending political corruption and getting the glory he craves. The film questions the meaning of loyalty, the power of love and the true nature of corruption, but these themes are deeply hidden beneath the flashy plunging necklines and outrageous bouffants. Russell has made a career out of challenging how we define filmic storytelling, and “Hustle” is a delicious romp into that gray area between drama and comedy. -NATALIE GADBOIS
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
COLUMBIA
4. “The Way Way Back” It starts in the backseat of a 1970 Buick wagon, and it curb stomps your heart into pieces. It ends in the backseat of that same 1970 Buick wagon, and you leave with a smile on your face. That’s the beauty of the teen coming-of-age film: like its protagonist, it breaks you down and builds you up, leaving you stronger, happier. One could argue that this genre of film became outdated years ago, and perhaps it might have died with John Hughes, who directed all those ’80s
5. “Captain Phillips”
teen movies like “The Breakfast Club.” Enter screenwriters/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. They take a story we’ve seen a thousand times and inject it with nostalgia, heart and sheer hilarity. Liam James as Duncan perhaps overdoes it on the awkwardness, but Sam Rockwell and an asshole Steve Carrell give scene-stealing, incredibly memorable performances. It’s a rewarding, even perfect film; John Hughes would be proud. -JAMIE BIRCOLL
Tom Hanks shines as Captain Phillips, the devoted husband, caring father and selfless leader bruised and abused by a money-hungry, fearsome foursome of thieves. But the most captivating aspect of the story is the tension between his character and the pirates’ own identified “captain,” Muse (played by first-time actor Barkhad Abdi); A chemistry-infused foil that vividly demonstrates the collision of two
diametric worlds, life situations and political perspectives. Paul Greengrass, who directed the action-packed, true-tale thriller, “United 93,” demonstrates his propensity for building excruciating suspense within a historical blueprint; Phillips’s fate hangs in the balance until the very end. Batten down the hatches — it’s a wild ride. -SEAN CZARNECKI
Best Film Characters of 2013
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
LIONSGATE
1. Solomon Northrup
2. Mud
The most emotionally intense scene in film this year involves only a man, a rope and a weeping willow tree. We see Solomon Northup as he dangles from the tree, his scrabbling toes in the mud the only things dividing him and death. He hangs there for hours, as the plantation awakens behind him and slaves leave their huts, averting their eyes from the painful sight. Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup leaves an indelible mark on the way we view slavery, not as an institutional but a deeply personal experience. He is not a glossy symbol nor a minimizing caricature — he’s not even an indefatigable hero. Northup is a man with depth and strength, and as his twelve years unravel we finally see slavery not just through the eyes of a slave, but the eyes of a person tested to his limit. Even when he almost cracks — voice shaking and eyes gleaming — he embodies strength and humanity in ways that transcend any of our past assumptions of what a “slave” is. -NATALIE GADBOIS
Of all of his roles this year, Matthew McConaughey’s turn as Mud might be his finest. A supporting role despite being the titular character, Mud is at once mysterious, devoted and vengeful while subtly revealing a damaged heart, a heart which he wears on his sleeve next to the snake tattoo wrapped around his arm. Mud expresses a certain bravado, a larger-than-life mentality where love is all you need, specifically the love of Juniper, his soulmate since childhood. But this bravado and attitude blinds him to the fact he has lived his life for a woman who does not reciprocate his feelings, going so far as to kill a man for her. Yet, Mud stands for something bolder, greater: American romanticism itself. Passionate to a fault, unyielding, troubled and timeless, Mud is an evocation of Mark Twain and of Hemingway, a figure that stands proudly in the everexpanding pantheon of American folklore heroes. -JAMIE BIRCOLL
PARAMOUNT
COLUMBIA
DISNEY
3. Jordan Belfort
4. Rosalyn Rosenfeld
5. P.L. Travers
I know that I’m supposed to detest Jordan Belfort with every fiber of my being. He’s corrupt, smug, manipulative, drug-fueled and cocky. He ruins the lives of working class Americans and is proud of it. But I just can’t look away — Leonardo DiCaprio’s Belfort just has this way about him. You hang onto his every word, every wink and every howl. Whether that charisma comes from his “take what I want” mentality or from the sheer hilarity of his wild shenanigans doesn’t really matter. Much like his excessive cocaine and quaaludes use, you’re hooked, and you’re disgusted by it, by Belfort, by the whole Wall Street culture that thrives under our noses. It’s no secret that the FBI catches Belfort for a number of charges, including stock manipulation and insider trading. At the film’s end, sure, I was glad this prick got his (sort of ) comeuppance, but I also was a bit upset the party was over; that’s the genius of Jordan Belfort. -JAMIE BIRCOLL
Jennifer Lawrence’s show stealing performance as the train-wreck wife of con man Irving Rosenfeld proves yet again Lawrence’s acting prowess and America’s obsession with hopelessly dysfunctional people. Rosalyn’s manicdepressive mood swings switch emotional tracks like a comprehensive list of emoticons. One of her most iconic moments spawned demand for a gif that allows endless viewing of her furious housecleaning/ dance combo routine to the tune of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” Or what about that eyebrow raising, cold shower inducing encounter between her and Amy Adams’s character? Rosalyn’s antics both humor and infuriate audience members while keeping everyone asking — is she just insane or, somewhere in all that deception and self-deception, does she know exactly what she’s doing? As Irving himself observes, “She was the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate. She was better than any other con artist I’ve ever met including myself. And she had me like nobody had me.” -KARSTEN SMOLINSKI
P.L. Travers doesn’t write for fame nor does she write for money. With a dying alcoholic father, an unloving mother and a world of isolation, Travers’ childhood is filled with demons of emotion and sensibility, and writing about them helps her to safely exercise her anxieties. Her stories incorporate many of the important fig ures from her adolescence, as she grows to understand them better through writing and learns to cherish them – both good and bad – for the roles they shared in shaping her person. Travers becomes truly admirable, however, when she surrenders her characters to the world, as she comes to understand just how cherished they are in the shaping of others. In this way, she demonstrates the same empathy as that of her treasured characters. She becomes the hero of her own story. -BRIAN BURLAGE