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President talks job programs POTUS’s national tour aims to emphasize U.S. economic recovery By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter
WAYNE, Mich. — President Barack Obama visited a Ford Motor manufacturing plant Wednesday to speak with plant employees as part of a three-stop tour to promote his upcoming State of the Union address. During his remarks, Obama previewed his address to the nation, noting that he intends to emphasize policies designed to build on his administration’s achievements over the last few years. He also used his venue
to highlight Detroit and the auto industry’s improvements as one example of the country’s progress during his time in office. In addition to a stop in Michigan, President Obama will visit Arizona on Thursday to talk about housing and Tennessee on Friday to discuss education. The State of the Union address is Jan. 20. On Wednesday, Obama said he saw the auto recovery’s industry resulted not only from his administration’s policies, but also the resilience of the state’s workers. “That’s how things work best, when everybody’s in it, when workers and businesses work together,” Obama said. “Shared sacrifice leads to shared prosperity.” The president also detailed See WHITE HOUSE , Page 3A
PHOTOS BY LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
President Barack Obama discusses the auto industry at the Michigan Assembly Plant on Wednesday to promote his State of the Union address.
Obama praises automotive resurgence in Michigan Remarks focus on impact of industry ahead of State of the Union address By WILL GREENBERG Daily News Editor
WAYNE, Mich. — Ahead of his State of the Union address on Jan. 20, President Barack Obama
paired Detroit Lions references with words of optimism for the future in a speech at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on Wednesday. The president used the town’s support for the football team, which was eliminated from the NFL playoffs this past weekend, as a metaphor for the country’s support of Detroit and the automobile industry. “If there’s one thing that you can take to the bank when talk-
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
CAMPUS LIFE
‘U’ Solar Car Team to go to Middle East competition
Clothing Club aims to fund new startups
Hand-drawn logo leads to succesful business venture for LSA senior
By CARLY NOAH Daily Staff Reporter
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Art & Design senior Linea Bast designs a product to help those with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance at the Art & Architecture building Wednesday.
HOSPITAL
UMHS enacts new visitor policy to prevent flu spread Influenza strain presents risk for Washtenaw County By AMABEL KAROUB Daily News Editor
The University of Michigan Health System is taking action
to protect patients from the flu. Since the start of this year’s flu season, UMHS has reported four influenza-related deaths. To combat the virus, hospital officials are enacting new protocols to keep other patients from falling ill. At the center of the plan is a revised visitor policy, which asks people who exhibit flu-
bailout money to GM and Chrysler, two of Detroit’s “Big Three” automotive companies in 2009. He said many feared that if those two went under, the third, Ford — which was not bailed out — could have suffered as well. He noted the importance of providing federal aid along with a strategic plan for recovery while trying to sustain the U.S. auto industry. He said the auto industry needed to “change with the times” and See AUTO, Page 3A
BUSINESS
Crew to partner with students from Abu Dhabi University
The Michigan solar car team will keep its international reputation alive. The team heads to the United Arab Emirates on Jan 15 for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge. Teams from six continents will race for 745 miles in solar-powered cars they designed and built themselves. The University’s team members will partner with students from Abu Dhabi University for the race. The race coincides with the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, an effort to raise awareness about ways renewable energies can play a role in the development of the oil-rich region. After the race concludes, the teams will take part in the See RACE, Page 3A
ing about Detroit, it’s that Detroit always comes back,” Obama said. The president focused his attention Wednesday on the auto industry and Detroit’s integral role in it. He split his time between revisiting the decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler — now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — and discussing the recent growth in U.S. automobile sales. Obama spoke of the initially unpopular decision to provide
like symptoms to avoid visiting patients at the hospital, as the sick patients are more susceptible to illness than the general population. While the policy recommends anyone exhibiting flu symptoms — which can include fever, body aches, chills, coughing, headache, tiredness, See FLU, Page 3A
By LINDSEY SCULLEN Daily Staff Reporter
On campus, LSA senior Cyrus Tetteh is known as “the Cool Club guy.” It all started in 2011 — his freshman year — when he was doing math homework in his West Quad Residence Hall dorm room. He was trying to figure out a way to have an impact in college immediately and wasn’t sure that merely taking classes was enough. “I wanted to feel like I was progressing, or climbing a ladder in life,” Tetteh said. The idea and subsequent logo he created that day in West Quad was for a clothing company now known as Cool Club Clothing, LLC. Today, the company designs and sells clothing items sporting the same “Cool
Club” logo Tetteh drew on the back of his math homework three years ago. The company’s goal this year is to put some of Cool Club’s proceeds into a startup fund, which the company would then allocate to people who want to “start up their dreams.” “Cool Club Clothing is based on the idea that with an open mind you can reach limitless heights,” he said. “I never want anyone to be restricted or feel like they’re restricted in this world, because there’s greatness in everyone and I just want everyone to be able to tap into that.” Tetteh said he was able to tap into his own ability to start Cool Club Clothing with the help of friends like Business senior David Carlson. The two met during their freshman year as roommates in West Quad. Carlson helped lift Cool Club Clothing off the ground by converting Tetteh’s hand-drawn logo to a digital form that could be sent to a printer. “He drew the design, the See STARTUP, Page 3A
the best of 2014 The Daily Arts Staff chooses their top films, albums & other highlights of the year.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 42 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A SPORTS......................6A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A B-SIDE ....................1B
News
2A — Thursday, January 8, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Professor Profiles
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
THURSDAY: Student Voices
FRIDAY: Photos of the Week
SAND SHARKS, SKIING AND TORTOISES
DANCE PARTY
Dance instructors Erin Morris and Brittany Morton of Erin Morris & Her Ragdolls lead an Ann Arbor Swing Club class in the Michigan League Wednesday.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A snow-less Christmas During this year’s winter break University students traveled all over the world, experiencing snow, sun and penguins. LSA freshman Abigail Fisher traveled to Florida for Winter Break with her family. Fisher’s activities ranged from visiting her grandmother in Palm Beach to exploring the mangroves by jet ski in the Keys. While jet skiing, Fisher experienced some wildlife firsthand, when she saw sand sharks and other animals. “It was awesome,” she said. Though Fisher is from Michigan, where the semester break typically consists of a
snowy holiday season, she said the lack of winter weather did not bother her. Art & Design sophomore Kalli Kouf had a ski race with her brother, though it was difficult to move off the couch. “I went skiing a lot,” Kouf said. “I also didn’t really move from my couch that much.” During one of the times when Kalli did move from her couch, she and her brother raced down a mountain while skiing. “My brother and I raced each other while we were skiing, and he beat me by two miles per hour,” Kouf said. “I was going 47 and he was going 49, and we were both upset
Jesus v. Jesus WHAT: Sueann Caulfield, associate professor of History, will host a lecture focusing on patronage in 19th-century Africa. WHO: Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies WHEN: Today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Tisch Hall
Job search resource fair
Snowflake making
WHAT: Rackhamsponsored resource fair for Masters and Ph.D. students who are looking for aid with job searching. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: Today from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League
WHAT: Snowflake master Dr. Thomas L. Clark will offer his expertise in the craft of snowflake making. WHO: Gifts of Art WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Taubman Health Center, Floor 1
Christian Concerto study meeting competition WHAT: Christian Challenge is hosting their weekly meeting, which will consist of Bible study, worship and fellowship. WHEN: Today from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League
WHAT: Final round of competition for students in the SMTD Concerto Competition. WHO: School of Music, Theater & Dance WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium
Abigail Stauffer
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that we didn’t hit 50.” Though he traveled to the Galapagos Islands, LSA junior Benjamin Katz did not see any of its famous tortoises. “They actually only live on a few of the islands, and in the Galapagos they have really strict conservation policies,” Katz said. “They really restrict what islands people are allowed to go to.” And he was disappointed. “Those are the most iconic animals there,” Katz said. While on the Galapagos Islands, Katz did get to see penguins, however.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
China’s history WHAT: MSU associate professor of history Aminda Smith will cover China’s modern history. WHO: Osher Lifelong Learning Insitute WHEN: Today from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Rave Cinema
Fitness classes
WHAT: U-Move Fitness is offering free sample classes WHAT: Performer Abigail including Zumba, Vinyasa Stauffer will sing at the Ark. Yoga and Hip Hop. She has opened for Shawn WHO: U-Move Fitness Colvin at the Ark in the WHEN: Hour-long classes past. will run throughout the day WHO: Michigan Union WHERE: Central Campus Ticket Office Recreation Building WHEN: Tonight at 8 p.m. CORRECTIONS WHERE: The Ark l Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com.
— CARLY NOAH AND AMABEL KAROUB
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia tweeted early Wednesday morning that “I am led to believe the tail section has been found,” USA Today reported. The plane was lost on December 28th, with 162 people aboard.
2
Check out the b-side today for Daily Arts Writers’ picks for the best pop culture of 2014, including best films, best community events, best TV shows and best music. >> FOR MORE, SEE THE B-SIDE
3
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Parisians gathered Wednesday night at the Place de la Republique to protest the terrorist attack on the political magazine Charlie Hebdo, The Guardian reported. Other protests took place in Lyon, Bordeaux, and Nantes.
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Eurozone deflation may impact economic growth Decrease in consumer prices raise concerns
PARIS (AP) — Police hunted for three heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of 12 people Wednesday at the office of a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. President Francois Hollande, visiting the scene of France’s deadliest such attack in more than half a century, called the assault on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo “an act of exceptional barbarism.” France raised its terror alert system to the maximum — Attack Alert — and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and
other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq would stage attacks at home. Two officials identified the suspects as French brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, and 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn’t immediately clear. Heavily armed police moved into the city of Reims, in France’s Champagne country east of Paris, apparently searching for the suspects. Video from BFM-TV showed police dressed in white apparently taking samples inside an apartment. It was not immediately clear who lived there. One of the police officials said they were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network, and Cedric Le Bechec, a witness who encountered the escaping gunmen, quoted the attackers as saying:
“You can tell the media that it’s al-Qaida in Yemen.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive and ongoing investigation. Cherif Kouachi was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of terrorism charges in 2008 for helping funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency. He said he was outraged at the torture of Iraqi inmates at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib near Baghdad. The masked, black-clad men with assault rifles stormed the offices near Paris’ Bastille monument in the Wednesday noontime attack on the publication, which had long drawn condemnation and threats — it was firebombed in 2011 — for its depictions of Islam, although it also satirized other religions and political figures. Shouting “Allahu akbar!” as they fired, the men used fluent, unaccented French as they called out the names of specific employees. Artist Corinne Rey told the French newspaper L’Humanite that she punched in the security code to the Charlie Hebdo offices after she and her young daughter were “brutally threatened” by the gunmen. Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, said prosecutor Francois Molins. He said 11 people were wounded — four of them seriously. After fleeing, the attackers collided with another vehicle, then carjacked another car before disappearing in broad daylight, Molins said. Among the dead: the paper’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier. The staff was in an editorial meeting and the gunmen headed straight for Charbonnier — widely known by his pen name Charb — killing him and his police bodyguard first, said Christophe Crepin, a police union spokesman.
AP PHOTO/Manu Fernandez
A woman holds a candle as she attends a demonstration in solidarity with those killed in an attack at the Paris offices of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, at the French Consulate in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan 7, 2015.
French police search for Charlie Hebdo shooters Authorities hunt those responsible for 12 murders LONDON (AP) — The eurozone has a new economic headache to contend with. Consumer prices fell in December in the currency bloc for the first time in over five years, raising concerns of a protracted drop that can hurt growth, and reinforcing expectations the European Central Bank will provide an aggressive stimulus. Lower energy costs pushed consumer prices down 0.2 percent in the month from the year before, according to a report Wednesday by the Eurostat statistics agency. That’s a big drop from the 0.3 percent annual rise in prices recorded in November and the 0.1 percent drop markets were expecting. The huge impact of weaker oil prices is evident in the fact that the core inflation rate, which excludes volatile items such as food, tobacco and energy, rose to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent. Lower prices may sound good in principle, especially if they are
due to a fall in oil prices the euros saved filling up a car for less can be used elsewhere, promoting economic activity. For a region stuttering from one quarter of anemic growth to the next, every little helps. The problem arises when the fall in prices endures, a situation that is often referred to as a deflationary spiral. That can choke the life out of an economy if consumers put off purchases in the hope of future bargains. It can erode companies’ profits and make governments’ debts appear greater. Deflation can also prove difficult to reverse, as evidenced by the case of Japan, whose economy has stagnated for two decades. Policymakers at the ECB will weigh these factors when they meet next on Jan. 22. Many in the markets think they will be fretting about deflation as the eurozone, which now counts 19 members following Lithuania’s adoption of the currency this year, has seen low inflation for months amid subdued growth and high unemployment. Separate figures Wednesday showed unemployment across the eurozone remained at a high 11.5 per-
cent in November. As a result, many economists think the ECB will this month back a stimulus program that involves government bond-buying, something other central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have done over the past few years. The ECB, after all, doesn’t have much left in its arsenal, having already cut interest rates to record lows and backed the purchase of some private-sector bonds. Expectation for more stimulus has weighed heavily on the euro, which hit a new 9-year low of $1.1802 on Wednesday. Because the stimulus would create new money, traders are selling the currency on the prospect of more euros in circulation. “The emergence of negative inflation does forcefully raise the specter of a possible prolonged period of deflation,” said James Ashley, chief European economist at RBC Capital Markets. “For those policymakers who, hitherto, might have been undecided over whether or not to take further action immediately, this may be just the clarion call that was required to appreciate the gravity of the situation.”
News
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NEWS BRIEFS DETROIT
WSU adds voter education program Wayne State University said Wednesday that it plans to boost an effort to educate Detroit residents about local government and to get more of them involved in public policy issues. The expansion of CitizenDetroit is supported by $750,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The move follows Detroit’s historic bankruptcy, the largest by a government in U.S. history, and comes after nearly two years of a state-appointed emergency manager making decisions usually left to local elected leaders.
COLUMBUS, Ohio
Airport authorities shoot armed man A man who tried to buy an airline ticket using a fake ID was fatally shot Wednesday after returning to his illegally parked car, where he lunged at an airport police officer with a knife during a confrontation, police said. The man had multiple knives on him and suspicious items in his car that led to a bomb squad investigation, Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner said. The man was identified only as a Columbus-area resident in his early 40s pending notification of his relatives.
WHITE SPRINGS, Fla.
Abused girl shoots older brother Police say a 15-year-old girl who killed her 16-year-old brother accused her family of years of physical and sexual abuse. Police documents released Wednesday said the girl’s uncle was convicted of molesting her in 2010. They also say the children’s mother discovered the siblings having sex. The girl told investigators after the shooting that her parents routinely kept her locked in a room with only a blanket and a bucket to urinate in. The shooting happened Monday. Police say the father is a truck driver and his wife goes on trips with him, leaving their children at home. While they were away, the girl broke into her parents’ bedroom and got a handgun while her 11-year-old sister kept watch.
SANTA ANA, Calif.
Disney tourists contract measles Seven Californians and two people in Utah have confirmed cases of measles likely contracted on trips last month to Disney theme parks in California, state officials said Wednesday. Three more California residents are suspected of having measles. All patients with confirmed or suspected cases of the illness visited Disneyland or Disney California Adventure between Dec. 15 and Dec. 20, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. They likely got the airborne illness at one of the parks then, officials said, adding people with measles can be infectious for nine days.
SANAA, Yemen
Suicide bomber kills 37 in capital A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden minibus into a gathering of recruits outside a police academy in the heart of Yemen’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least 37 people in the latest high-profile attack to hit Sanaa. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemen’s local al-Qaida branch has carried out similar assaults in the past against the army and police in this impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, viewing them as U.S. proxies. —Compiled from Daily wire reports
AUTO From Page 1A adapt their product and operations moving forward after the recession. Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker said in a statement to the Daily that the company was proud both to host the president and to contribute to a growing U.S. economy. Ford has added 24,000 jobs since 2011. Obama also made sure to celebrate Ford and other American auto companies. Speaking at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant, which has added 1,800 new employees since 2011 to reach over 5,000 now, Obama rallied the crowd while announcing the United States has experienced 57 consecutive months of job growth and 11 million jobs have been added overall during that period. He said growth in manufacturing jobs has played a significant role in reducing Michigan’s unemployment rate, which now sits at 7.1 percent, an improvement from 2010’s 14.6 percent. Additionally, Obama noted that the auto companies have repaid the bailout money in full as of December 2014. “America’s resurgence is real,” he said. “Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. We’ve got the best cars and we are doing better than just about anybody else on earth. And now that we’ve got some calmer waters, now that the worst of the crisis is behind us, if we all do our part, if we all pitch in, then we can make sure that this rising tide is actually lifting all the boats.”
RACE From Page 1A opening ceremonies of the World Future Energy Summit, a meeting of policymakers and business leaders. Engineering junior Pavan Naik is the project manager for the Michigan Solar Car Team, and leads the building of the team’s vehicle, “Quantum”. Naik said he joined the team early his freshman year because of the variety of opportunities offered within the program. “I was looking to do something hands-on outside of the classroom,” Naik said. “The solar car team was particularly interesting because of the wide variety of fields you can go into.” Naik said members of the
FLU From Page 1A sore throat and nasal congestion — to avoid the hospital if they’re not seeking treatment, it also provides guidelines for those who choose to visit. Visitors with symptoms who must visit the hospital are required to wear a mask. UMHS initiated a similar protocol last year. The policy also maintains a year-round procedure designed to protect young visitors. No child younger than 12 years old is permitted to enter the room of a patient who is known or suspected to have the f lu. The main strain of f lu currently circulating is Inf luenza A, or H3N2. UMHS epidemiologist Laraine Washer said the number of hospitalizations for those who have contracted this strain is high. “As of this week, we have
The president also noted the cooperation between management and labor, lauding each side’s willingness to make sacrifices during hard times. “We rejected the false choice that either unions or businesses could succeed but not both,” he said. Multiple reports show the auto industry on a steady incline. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US finished the year with a 16-percent increase in sales from 2013 and General Motors’ sales jumped 5 percent from last year. Ford Motor Company saw a 1-percent drop in growth in the year, but had a better December in 2014 than in 2013. On Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported that the auto industry closed 2014 with its fifth consecutive year of growth. The industry sold 16.52 million vehicles, the best performance since 2006. Additionally, Kelley Blue Book reports show U.S. automobile prices increasing last month, with FCA US increasing 2.3 percent from December 2013, GM up 4 percent and Ford up 3.4 percent. Don Grimes, a CLMR senior research area specialist for the University’s Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy, said automobiles are still a “product people want.” He said he expects to see the industry continue to grow — though it is still subject to ups and downs over time. “They weren’t making a product that was going away — it wasn’t like they were making carriages after they’ve been replaced with the auto industry,” Grimes said. “You were
going to get a cyclical rebound and recovery in the auto industry because they were still making products that people still wanted to buy.” Grimes said a positive sign has been the Big Three stabilizing their market shares, now controlling almost 45 percent of the market after a period of post-recession decline. In his speech, Obama commended Detroit on Wednesday for its handling of the municipal bankruptcy as a sign of the city’s resilience. Obama has made several trips to Southeast Michigan during his presidency, including stops in Ann Arbor and Detroit. Obama’s most recent trip to Detroit in November aimed to rally support for Democratic congressional-level and state-level candidates for the 2014 midterm elections. He also emphasized the industry’s resurgence then. “I don’t have to tell you the auto industry that was on the brink of collapse is back on its feet, making better cars than ever, right here in Michigan,” he said in November. “It’s a testament to the grit and the resilience of American workers.” Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez spoke briefly before the president arrived Wednesday, and echoed a similar sentiment. Perez said the auto industry wasn’t ready to die when Obama came into office, and Obama didn’t let it happen. “The future is unquestionably bright because of your guts, your grit, your determination, your stick-to-itiveness, your partnership, your resolve,” he said, speaking to the mostly Ford-employed audience.
team, which draws students majoring in anything from engineering to art, spend more time working on their solar car than they do in class. “We like to joke around that we go to Michigan for the solar car team and we’re part-time students on the side,” he said. “It really varies for the amount of work that people do for the team. An easy week can be 40 hours a week and that can go up to 100.” The team has competed in other international venues before. Since 1990, they’ve traveled to Australia for the World Solar Challenge, where they placed 9th in 2013. Naik said this race differs from other races the team has done. In addition to racing students from Abu Dhabi University, the participants will also help their Abu Dhabi counter-
parts create a solar car team. “Normally, we’ll build a car, we’ll go to Australia and we’ll race it. But in this race, we’re partnering with the team from the Abu Dhabi University,” Naik said. “We’re going there to teach them how to start their own solar car team. We’re racing with them as well, so it’s a learning opportunity on both ends.” And the students from Abu Dhabi University are looking forward to working with the Michigan Solar Car Team. “I am looking forward to gaining valuable experience from the U-M Solar Car Team,” said Mohammed Ziauddin Mohammed Habeebuddin, a mechanical engineering student at Abu Dhabi University, in a press release. “I hope that it will be an unforgettable learning experience for me.”
almost 500 lab confirmed cases and about 200 patients are hospitalized,” Washer said. Some experts have deemed the current f lu season as more severe than in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in December that f lu vaccines may not be enough protection against the strain. Even so, experts still consider f lu shots important for protecting against the virus. U.S. News reported in December that f lu shots remain the “single most effective way to protect against f lu.” In addition to f lu shots, several antiviral medications such as Tamif lu and Relenza have proven effective for fighting the f lu. Eden Wells, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, encouraged all University students to get vaccinated. “If you are not vaccinated,
start and be aware that the vaccine takes some time to build up immunity in your system,” Wells said. Susan Ringler-Cerniglia, public information officer at the Washtenaw County Public Health Department, said UMHS is on the right track with the Healthy Visitor Policy. “As a health department, we encourage anything that reduces the spread of illness,” Ringler-Cerniglia said. “When things are circulating, it certainly makes sense for them to restrict their policy and try to reduce the spread.” Flu vaccines are still available and Washtenaw County residents can obtain $25 vaccinations through the county’s public health department. Daily Staff Reporter Quan Nguyen contributed to this report.
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STARTUP From Page 1A look, the brand on a napkin actually one time,” Carlson said. “I still have the original file.” After designing the initial template, Carlson taught Tetteh InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator so that they would have the ability to move forward with the company. Tetteh sends his designs to a variety of printers, including Dynasty Artistic Designs, Underground Printing and Ann Arbor T-shirt Company. He also assembles his own customized clothing using iron-on heat transfers at home. The company’s most popular items are the “pom beanie” colored winter hats. Other products include sweatshirts, T-shirts and pins. Tetteh said he also meets with customers to make personalized custom designs upon request. “I hope to be at the point one day where I can just walk down the street and see someone wearing Cool Club that I’d never met before,” Tetteh said. Tetteh was quick to add, however, that the company’s “personal feel” is important to him. While a lot of his sales occur online, much of his business network comes from in-person connections with friends and friends-of-friends. “A lot of the people that I sell to, I get to know them and I know who they are,” Tetteh said. “I still love the fact that I know people and that it’s genuine support that they have for me.” For a semester in 2013, Tetteh networked through an executive board he set up for the enterprise — a strategy he used to get the company up and running. Though at the time he was unsure if there would be strong interest, 14 people applied and joined the semester-long project. In addition to running a handful of “pop-up shops” on multiple occasions — the St. Patrick’s Day sale being one of the most notable — the team also held an event with Denard Robinson, former quarterback of the Michigan football team. Tetteh said he ran into Robinson one day in the Union, and a friend convinced him to
WHITE HOUSE From Page 1A the importance of manufacturing for the economy, and said it affects not only the employees of an individual plant, but also the local economy and ultimately the U.S. economy. “Plants like this one didn’t just build cars,” he said. “They built the middle class.” Continuing to build up the middle class through economic stimulus was a key point throughout the event, which also included Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Ford employee Mia Dew. “We have to make sure these rising tides lift all boats, and not just the yachts,” Perez said in his opening remarks. Along with his discussion of the auto industry, Obama also highlighted his administration’s efforts to increase apprenticeship programs. Last year, Obama called on more businesses to create and expand apprenticeship programs, and recently, the Obama administration invested $100 million in an apprenticeship grant competition. Obama said these efforts have contributed to the largest increase in apprenticeships in nearly a decade. “We want young people to see that they have opportunities,” Obama said. “They don’t all have to go to a four year college; they can get an apprenticeship, save some money, start working, build a family, buy a house.” He added that nationally, 87 percent of apprentices are employed after they complete their apprenticeship program, with an average starting wage of fifty thousand dollars. Perez also emphasized apprenticeships as “the other college, except you don’t have
go talk to Robinson about Cool Club. “He was really friendly,” Tetteh said. “He was like, ‘I really like what you’re doing, I really support this, I like people who are doing their thing. If you ever need anything, just let me know.’ “ Robinson gave Tetteh his number and the two later connected to schedule an event he called “The Hangout” in the Michigan Union’s basement. “It was just a great day; we sold a lot of items,” Tetteh said. “People came from all over. People were lined up at the event to see Denard and they bought clothes like Denard. He really helped me out.” Though the semester-long executive board project ended two years ago, much of the team still remains very supportive. LSA senior Paige Blessman served as the vice president of Cool Club Clothing during the project. She said that the Cool Club team still functions as a group of people who support each other in their personal dreams. “I love Cool Club Clothing,” Blessman said. “We like to support individuality, we know that everyone has their own separate dream — Cyrus started his own company and he likes to support other people’s dreams. One dream that I know I have is I look forward to having my own magazine one day or some of the people want to have their own law firm or their own clothing line and whatnot.” It’s this mutual support that Cool Club aims to build on as it strives to create the new startup fund that would help fund individuals — particularly students — in their personal endeavors. Tetteh said he plans to create the startup fund soon, which he hopes will raise the profile of Cool Club Clothing. He plans to leave a representative of the company here at the University when he graduates to promote the company and manage the startup fund. Carlson forecasted an optimistic future for the company. He referenced both the startup fund, as well as future increased advertising efforts. “If you don’t know about Cool Club Clothing, you will within the next six months,” he said.
any of the debt.” Apprenticeships are also an idea Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has focused on during his tenure. Last May, Snyder announced the creation of the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program. The program started this September and currently works with 11 companies. Snyder has stated he hopes to expand enrollment to 90 students next year, as well as the number of companies involved. In his speech, Obama specifically praised the UAW-Ford Joint Apprenticeship Program. The program is not affiliated with the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program, but both focus on encouraging technical training. As he ended his speech, the president echoed his support for Detroit, as well as his faith in an economic recovery. “We may not all root for the (Detroit) Lions, but America is rooting for Detroit,” he said. “America’s coming strong. America’s coming back. And I’m going to be on your side every step of the way.” In response to Obama’s remarks, Michigan GOP Chairman Bobby Schostak issued a statement Wednesday evening criticizing what he called the president’s attempts to take credit for the auto industry’s recovery. “It is not surprising that the president chose states with Republican governors for his ‘three-city national tour,’ ” the statement read. “In the wake of Republicans sweeping victory in Michigan and across the nation, President Obama should take note of the commonsense, responsible policies that are driving the economies in the states like ours.”
Opinion
Page 4A —Thursday, January 8
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Walk the (nature) walk
ast semester I took Bio 101. To the untrained eye (and likely to the trained eye) this class appears to be a basic Intro to Biology class ELIANA for freshmen who have HERMAN their shit together enough to know they are on the premed track (these are the same students who took Orgo first semester to “get it out of the way”). But Bio 101 was actually cross-listed as Environ 101 with the title “Food, Energy and the Environment” and was billed as a science class for non-science majors in LSA looking to fulfill their natural science requirement. Except it was so much more than that. I’ve never taken a class before that spoke to me so urgently. I’ve always loved nature, but I’ve never before felt the call to action, the need to make a change and really do something to protect this amazing, intricately beautiful planet. Some people have godly moments in church or a synagogue or a mosque or some other religious location, where they feel connected with god and the world and for one brief moment can see everything in life clearly and in perspective. For me, every moment I’ve had like that has come in nature. There’s something about standing waist deep in an ocean surrounded by mountains, or lying on the forest floor during an epic storm that makes a person feel their place in the universe. And even though nature can make you feel small, it also makes you feel deeply connected to the world surrounding you. Other than the fact that Earth is the only known planet to sustain life, that is why it is important to protect nature. There’s a type of quiet, simple peace that can be found outside. My sister, Natalie, explained to me why everyone feels so at peace in nature — it’s because we are a part of nature. We are a part of the wondrous cycles of life that cause trees to grow every summer, cause leaves to change colors and cause plants to use nitrogen in the ground to grow and take in carbon from the atmosphere. After all, we breathe out carbon, and trees and other plants breathe it in and breathe out oxygen. We are naturally a part of the same cycle. We are in an interdependent relationship with the rest of nature. But somewhere along the line, we forgot our role in this cycle. Prof. John Vandermeer, the professor of my Bio/Enviro 101 class, would probably say this change began with the start of agriculture, but really took hold after World War I, when instead of being in a partnership with nature (where farmers were the doctors and crops and nature were the patients), the agricultural ideology switched to a militaristic one, where farmers had to conquer and take
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advantage of and pillage their farms. This was a drastic misstep. Bio 101 really awoke me to the issues that are occurring within the current agriculture and food systems, and made me want to do something about it. But when the issues seem so insurmountable and simultaneously important to address as soon as possible, it’s difficult to decide what to do. Because I really do want to do something, even the smallest thing, to help the Earth. There are a million things wrong with the world, but none of those problems can be solved if we don’t have a planet to live on. There’s just something about being in nature. I want my children (and if I don’t have children, then just future generations) to have the opportunity to go out and experience the wilderness, to see mountains and forests and rock formations and rivers and waterfalls and lakes and oceans. Because seeing these natural wonders and climbing and hiking through them not only makes you appreciative and deeply protective of this world, but it reveals and heals parts of yourself that you may not have even known were there or in need of healing. Nature puts everything into perspective and is a kind of deep, personal therapy. We cannot exist without it. In class, Professor Vandermeer and my GSI Jonno said to get involved by doing something you love. We watched a video where a cartoon baker got involved in helping with climate change by providing food for volunteers and having bake sales to raise money and awareness. I do not know much about what I want out of life, but I know that I love nature, and that I love to write. So I thought that if I write about nature, and about my struggles to live a sustainable life while simultaneously being a college freshman in a sorority, maybe I could inspire other people (and myself ) to live in a way that is sustainable. Because for me at least, it’s easy to say I want to live a sustainable life and help save the planet, while simultaneously not recycling, eating food produced by big businesses, and not supporting local, sustainable food. This semester I’m going to try to actually be sustainable (walk the walk, so to speak), and I hope this column will not only keep me accountable (because on my own I have an embarrassingly low amount of willpower), but also inspire other environment-lovers (I know you’re out there), and even people who think recycling is just a hipster fad, to try to live in a way that could help save the world. — Eliana Herman can be reached at erherman@umich.edu.
A newer resolution
very January brings its predictable wave of diet commercials for intrepid resolutioners. A woman stands inside of one leg of her “before” SYDNEY jeans, holding the waistband HARTLE out with one arm to show off the other pant leg like a massive denim sail. It’s all thanks to frozen dinners! If they can do it, so can you! I find it exhaustingly annoying. It’s not even the gimmicky aspect of it, that transparent attempt to use inspirational weight-loss stories to sell unnecessary diet products. It’s that the success of the multi-billion dollar diet industry is built upon accepting the theory that a slimmer waistline is tantamount to a better life. The theory is that losing weight will lead to improved beauty and health, which are two intangible things that are almost universally desired. (Who doesn’t want to be healthier and more attractive?) The problem is that the theory is held as a certain truth, when it’s actually a shared public delusion. Every year, the commercials serve as a reminder of the American values of health and beauty, and I can’t help but feel that a lot of people’s needs are left behind by these values. I feel a lot more than annoyance when I see that woman standing in one pant leg. I feel panicky. I feel that knot in my stomach as I remember two of my friends from high school and the eating disorders they battled. I hope for an irrational moment that my friends won’t see any of the ads this year. But the diet commercials are everywhere: unavoidable, ubiquitous. I know they’ll see the ads, and I have to know that they’ll be able to manage their own mental illnesses despite the constant barrage of images depicting dieting as the cure to unhappiness. The obsession with physical fitness as a New Year’s resolution is as real in practice as it is in advertising — just try snagging a vacant elliptical at the Central Campus Recreational Building during January. I’m not saying that making changes to live a healthier lifestyle is a bad thing. Of course, eating healthfully and getting exercise can improve your health, mood
and body image. But I do fear that too much of our New Year’s attention is devoted to physical health, often at the expense of mental health. It isn’t only eating disorders that worry me in the midst of diet resolutions. While high hopes of fitness are on the rise, so too is mental illness. Seasonal affective disorder, often nicknamed “winter depression,” becomes more debilitating as daylight hours dwindle. A new year will bring new challenges that will be mentally and emotionally taxing, but the focus of the resolution industry is not on preparing our minds for these challenges. Roughly a quarter of Americans are estimated to suffer from a diagnosable mental illness, and yet the conversation about improving our lives every January never seems to speak to this population. We see commercials for the local gym and not the local therapist. We read success stories of weight management and not about managing anxiety disorders. We are taught to strive for toned physiques while nothing is said about the brain that pilots the toned body. After cholesterol medications, antidepressants are the most prescribed drugs in America, but there is still a stigma associated with taking them. Mental illnesses are viewed differently than other diseases, where taking meds can seem like a personal deficiency rather than a way of taking control of one’s health. A new year offers us a new opportunity to rethink the definition of what it means to be healthy, maybe this time with room for healthy minds. This year, we can resolve to give our brains some TLC, and to foster an environment where our peers can, too. A visit to Counseling and Psychological Services in the Union might do as much good as a visit to the CCRB. Let’s talk about therapists like we talk about personal trainers. Let’s talk about antidepressants like we talk about antibiotics. Let’s talk about it, because the resolution industry won’t. Let’s make 2015 the year we resolve to improve our mental health. — Sydney Hartle can be reached at hartles@umich.edu.
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Mutants, beyond the fold
his past week, Gina Kolata of The New York Times reported on the development of a new paradigm in genetics research: the pursuit and identification of beneficial mutations. Genetics constitutes a major focus of medical research right now, and the ELI rise of “personal- CAHAN ized medicine” research has been well documented (as having positive and negative effects). In personalized medicine, researchers use DNA sequencing technology to discover influential mutations on human health. The fundamental undercurrent here is that much of human health is endowed by our personal genetic codes (read: imperfectly correlated). These discoveries can then be further explored in research, as well as communicated to patients. 23andme is the prominent manifestation of personalized medicine in industry. The Times piece profiles one Doug Whitney, who has a mutation that has been demonstrated in previous research studies to cause early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a deadly alteration that, taken in isolation, has a bleak prognosis. However, Whitney has shown none of the symptoms typically presented by the disease at his age. In medicine, we would call him an outlier.
In statistics, we would call him the “tail” of the curve. In religious circles, we might call him a miracle. Kolata reports that medical researchers have begun to seek out these blips at the tail of the curves in the effort to identify the core genetic origin of their good fortune. In other words, they are looking for mutants of the good variety: living, breathing, medical X-Men. Real-life mutants have long been an interest of comic junkies everywhere, and I was no exception as a kid. I often imagined what it would be like to have superpowers. Still do. This is, though, perhaps less dramatic and sexy than shooting ice out of your hands, the realization of this fantasy in an intriguing way. So cool! And yet, as illustrated in the darker subtext of X-Men – as well as in comics like Watchmen — the exposure of mutants in society introduces a whole host of ethical issues. In the comics, these issues promote discrimination and social segregation. Similar issues have been demonstrated with the rise of personalized medicine across diverse social arenas, ranging from individual insurance costs to marriage partner selection among many others. Accordingly, privacy rights and protection is a focal point for discussion when considering the potential proliferation of personalized medicine. It seems that the question of privacy will be the one of our time, with the ubiquitous spread of information in the Internet dimension of our lives. As per-
sonalized medicine continues to progress and advance, we will be forced to think about these ethical issues. One such question already popping up is whether or not to sequence the genomes of newborns: one camp says this provides an opportunity for prophylactic treatment and active monitoring, while the other worries that it introduces a tremendous burden of stress by providing a window into one’s fate. Obviously, there is no single answer with regards to balancing stress and knowledge. After all, whether or not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge has always been the human question. A phenomenal, eloquent op-ed in the Times from last September addresses these questions, from the angle of “guilty pleasures.” The balance between “extension of life” and “delay of death,” as it applies to the ever-desired stretching of human longevity, is also prominently discussed by Zeke Emanuel. The only clear takeaway is that these questions are intensely individual, and that they aren’t going away. We will be forced to grapple with these questions in the future as patients and parents, citizens and scholars. For now, though, we ought to appreciate the profound implications of such magnificent advances in science. The “mutant” fantasy is materializing, pros and cons with it! — Eli Cahan can be reached at emcahan@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Edvinas Berzanskis, Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David Harris, Rachel John, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
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Two places, two loves
s an out-of-state student, my grossly inflated tuition isn’t the only difference between my home state and the one I call my hoMe for eight months of the year. I’m a native of Northern California. Four years ago when I stepped onto the University’s campus, the Midwest might have well been Mars for all I knew about it. The longer I live in Michigan, the more quirky and contrasting characteristics I notice between my two homes. And, like any college student, those differences are described perfectly by my love life. My junior year, I fell for two guys, one from my home state of California and one from the Midwest. Both good guys. Both fun guys. Both broke my heart and both were the embodiment of their home regions. I met Midwest at my job. And like any self-respecting Michigan Man, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Every free second was devoted to advancing his career. Internships, extracurricular activities, summers and classes all fervently dedicated to giving himself the best opportunity to succeed in his chosen profession. Every second he wasn’t watching the Tigers or football, that is. He seemed to have his whole life figured out. If he didn’t, he faked it pretty damn well. And not just school- or career-wise. This kid knew he wanted to marry a Jewish girl, live in the Midwest and take his kids to Michigan football games after Little League practice. He was ready to be a middle-aged man at 21. At Michigan, everyone around me seems to know what they are going to be doing in 10 years. The ones who don’t have still memorized one-liners to give to people who ask, “and what are you going to do with that major?” even if they don’t believe in what they are saying at all. California was directionless, and completely up front about it. He took general education requirements at his college and that was the only career choice he had made. He didn’t have a 10-year plan — he didn’t have a five-month plan. He
loved playing the field when it came to girls and didn’t have the word “marriage” in his vocabulary, let alone in his 10-year plan. He didn’t pretend he knew what the hell he was doing. His absence of life choices was refreshing. It was like his life would sneak up on him. Tricking him into the choices he made. He lived in the present, because that was honestly all he really had. The people in my hometown maybe have some idea of where they would like to end up, but it’s hazy at best and usually more like an abyss. But they own this fact. They don’t feel the pressure to fake a life plan, something I see often in Michigan. Of course they have moments of doubt where feelings of purposelessness overwhelm them. But they smoke a bowl and have friends remind them they’re only 21. Midwest was obsessed with social media and it fueled my obsession with him. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If I really wanted to, I could “accidently on purpose” run into him every day. His every movement was posted online. I have to admit he might have been an extreme example, but it does seem like the state of Michigan is much more intent on sharing their lives on the internet than my home town (ironic since my home town is Palo Alto where most of those networks were created). My friends at Michigan desire to become insta-famous. Every holiday, birthday or anniversary has a photo collage posted on both Facebook and Instagram. Yik Yak is infinitely more popular, and better, on campus at U of M than at Stanford. California made fun of me for having a Twitter even though “I only use it for news, I promise.” He rarely posted to the one social network he had, Facebook, and had a total of 134 pictures. (Midwest had around 1,000). While I love that the Northern California region is less likely to live their lives solely online, it was frustrating because he took forever to answer Facebook messages. The Michigan and the Midwest
region had a reputation for being the nice and polite part of America — as rude as New Yorkers are is how nice Midwesterners are. In my experience, Midwesterners are nice, but more than that, they want to avoid confrontation. Midwest couldn’t be honest with me if he thought it would make me upset or uncomfortable. He had difficult or uncomfortable conversations over text, not in person. California liked to sext. And text about “How I Met Your Mother” or about pretty much anything. We texted a lot and most of it was about nothing at all. But when we had to have those hard conversations, I was the one running away from confrontation, not him. These guys had similarities that I loved just as the Midwest and California do. They were likeable people who were easy to talk to. I have never had a hard time making friends in California (once out of the horror of high school) or Michigan. People are open and genuinely interested in the people around them in both places. They were both chivalrous. Midwest wouldn’t let me walk home if it was past midnight, insisting on driving me the two blocks to my house. California always walked on the car-side of me when we were walking down a busy street. So moms of California and Michigan, you taught your sons well. While different in many ways, neither was better than the other, both of the boys and both of my homes. Every time I go back to Palo Alto I think, “This is where I am supposed to be. This is where I fit in.” Then two months later I’m craving to go back to the Mitten. I arrive at DTW and I think, “Now I’m really where I am supposed to be.” And by Thanksgiving I am sick of my roommates and ready to see my high school friends. The cycle continues and has continued for four years. I have finally accepted that both places are exactly where I belong. — Jesse Klein can be reached at jekle@umich.edu.
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Weekend Roundup
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Thursday, January 8, 2015 — 5A
New year, new classes, colder weather CAMPUS Why winter semester is better EVENTS By Jaclyn Nagel, Weekend Roundup Contributor | Photos by Paul Sherman and Allison Farrand
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ll right, I’m going to be honest with you. There are not a lot of reasons winter semester is better than fall semester. However, to avoid seasonal sadness, I have come up with ways to look on the bright side of this very cold semester. IT’S TOO COLD TO GO OUT Feeling antisocial? Not quite ready to leave your bed? Almost done with season seven of “Gilmore Girls”? Now you have the perfect excuse to stay curled up with your hot chocolate and laptop to avoid the Polar Vortex 2.0 that is unfortunately taking place outside your window. Besides, who wants to wait in a 40-minute long Cantina line without a jacket anyways? Not me. WE COULD BE A BASKETBALL SCHOOL... OR A HOCKEY SCHOOL Our football season ended without a coach, a permanent athletic director or a decent record, but thankfully the football season is something of the fall semester past. While our basketball season is off to a rough start, things could still turn around. Though on the off chance that we get worse instead of better … we could always be a hockey school!
3 THINGS Classifieds to kick off second semester By ALLANA AKHTAR Weekend Roundup Editor
Winter semester has begun. For seniors, this may mean your final semester of being an undergrad. What better way to celebrate the closing of your college career than with 10-degree Michigan wind chills? For the rest of the University, winter semester definitely has its perks. Here are three ways to kick off four months of walking to class dressed like you’re in the North Pole: RESTAURANT WEEK It’s that time of year again: the time you can eat at some of your favorite downtown Ann Arbor restaurants without the guilt of emptying your wallet. Many restaurants take advantage of Ann Arbor’s biannual Restaurant Week to highlight their very best lunch and dinner dishes. Most locations offer lunch for two for $15 and dinner for two for $28. This year’s Restaurant Week begins Jan. 18. Get your friends together and make reservations fast — there can be really long lines! GRAB BASKETBALL TICKETS Although Football Saturdays are an integral part of fall semester, it doesn’t mean our other hard-working studentathletes should go unnoticed.
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 8, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle If you didn’t already buy season tickets, you can always try Facebook groups, StubHub or word of mouth to get a seat at the Crisler Center. Upcoming home games are against Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin. Other teams to support this semester are ice hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, gymnastics and women’s basketball. TAKE
THE BUS DETROIT
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As a native of the Metro Detroit suburbs, I can say with authority that winters in Detroit can be much more fun than the summers. The Detroit Center Connector, the University’s public bus to the motor city, offers rides beginning Jan. 15. Apart from making an essential trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts, try the bean burger at Traffic Jam & Snug and ice skate in Campus Martius Park on Woodward Avenue. The world-renowned North American International Auto Show is another great reason to venture to the city later this month. This year, the gallery will feature an estimated $5.5 million worth of exotic vehicles from 60 different countries. The show will also feature its first “Technology Showcase” to explore the development high-tech advancements in motor vehicles.
S TA F F P I C K S THE PI NKP R IN T NICKI MINAJ ON ITUNES
CANCELED CLASSES Fall semester classes are rarely cancelled. Professors are well rested from the summer and the weather is still tolerable. But winter semester holds the possibility of much less class. The arctic tundra that is Ann Arbor could be home to another cold day this semester (start praying). Though we’ve only had one in the past 38 years. But I’m trying to look at the bright side, OK? IMPRESS YOUR BAE Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or just a random Saturday, winter semester is full of cute date possibilities. Head to Yost at night to watch hockey team or try skating on your own. Plus, now that it has finally snowed in Ann Arbor, take a walk (or go sledding) in Ann Arbor’s very own winter wonderland (AKA: the Arb). THE BEST BREAK OF THE YEAR You’ve been hearing about it since before your first kiss. You’ve been planning it since before your first homecoming. It only comes four times and only during winter semester. Whether you’re heading to the slopes or to a tropical beach where the legal drinking age is barely 18, Spring Break is something that makes winter semester totally worth it.
UMS International Theater: Helen & Edgar 7:30 p.m. Walgreen Drama Center
Friday, 1/9 Music Gives (Charity Rock Concert)
6 p.m. Rackham Graduate School Startup Weekend
6:30 p.m. Michigan League
Saturday, 1/10 Michigan Hockey vs. Minnesota
4:05 p.m. Yost Hockey Arena
Sunday, 1/11 Bagel Brunch.
11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Hillel Road Trip Social
1:30 p.m. University of Michigan Museum of Art
Check out the Weekend Roundup online! michigandaily.com
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Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Plenty 6 Cologne scent 10 “Now it makes sense!” 14 2011 Cricket World Cup winner 15 Actress Gray of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” 16 Stores in rows 17 Film with the song “Maniac” 19 Formally proper 20 Philippine tongue 21 Gillette Mach3 predecessor 23 Uintah and Ouray Reservation residents 24 Film in which Garbo said, “I want to be alone” 29 Annoyances 31 Spanish demonstrative 32 __ Coast 33 Golfer nicknamed “The Big Easy” 35 Winter coat 37 Buck Rogers portrayer __ Gerard 38 Private club ritual, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles 43 Lines of praise 44 One on a penny 45 Scarfed down 46 Like a new candle 48 Showed the way 50 Treats, as an icy road 54 “Unsafe at Any Speed” author 57 Real card 58 Desert formation 59 Like monastic life 61 Non-PC purchase 63 “That’s news to me!” 66 Actress Tushingham 67 Slimming option, for short 68 __ position 69 Biz bigwig
34 Subway map dot: 52 Clawed 53 Advances a Abbr. base, in a 36 Cavity filler’s org. way 38 Fermented, as DOWN 55 Gets precisely milk 1 Elate 56 Appear in print 39 Novelist Ferber 2 Airing in the wee 60 Piano on a 40 Pen pal? hours piano? 3 Words of wisdom 41 Island dance 42 More nourishing 61 Sore feeling 4 Earthquake, 62 Socialize 47 Medicinal syrup perhaps 64 With it 49 Precise 5 Satirist Mort 65 “The Simpsons” 51 Didn’t come 6 Thin, on the shopkeeper clean with Thames 7 Coffee holder ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 8 [that’s what it said] 9 Massage 10 “Whose Line Is It Anyway” technique 11 1777 battle site 12 Yalie 13 Street of nightmares 18 Husky, for one 22 Yearns 25 Embarrassed 26 It may follow eleven 27 Actor Estrada 28 Lovett of country 30 Spade and Hammer 01/08/15 xwordeditor@aol.com 70 Twirled 71 Easy paces
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Sports
6A — Thursday, January 8, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Albrecht aids offense as starter Point guard helps reignite offense as starter against Penn State By DANIEL FELDMAN Daily Sports Editor
It was clear the Michigan men’s basketball team needed a change to fix its offensive ineptitude against Purdue last Saturday. It turned out the solution was simple. In came junior guard Spike Albrecht and out went freshman forward Kameron Chatman from the starting lineup, and the change helped lift the Wolverines to a victory at Penn State on Tuesday. Simply put, the move represented a desire to go to a smaller starting lineup, something Michigan coach John Beilein has done frequently this season and in the past. Even though Albrecht, the team’s eldest statesman, has played the fourth-most minutes this season, he had yet to start a game. After the Wolverines shot an abysmal 18.2 percent from the field against the Boilermakers as the result of poor shot choices, little movement on offense and an inability to get shots in the paint, a possible solution was to get both point guards, Albrecht and sophomore Derrick Walton Jr., on the court from the start to get the ball moving. “One of the reasons we made the change — to put the two point guards out there — is because we needed to be a better passing team to get the guys involved and the ball when they’re ready to shoot the ball,” Beilein said. “I watch them every day in practice, and we’re a pretty good shooting team, but we haven’t been able to do that in games. … Some of that is selfinflicted. We get a little antsy
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Junior guard Spike Albrecht contributed six assists in his first game starting alongside sophomore Derrick Walton Jr.
and shoot a shot that looks open, but it’s really not.” One of the most direct impacts of Albrecht’s insertion into the starting lineup was the play of sophomore forward Zak Irvin and junior guard Caris LeVert. After combining to shoot 4-for-20 — including 2-for-12 in the first half — against the Boilermakers, the duo shot 12-for-17 against the Nittany Lions. “I think we slowed the game down,” LeVert said. “Derrick and Spike did a great job of controlling the game out there, making it a lot easier for Zak and I. We took a lot easier 3s. And when the shot clock came, I think we got good shots.” Though Albrecht and Walton have shared the floor often,
whether it be early or in crunch time, the two had never played together from the tip. While the pair’s 35 points made up the bulk of Michigan’s scoring, another caveat of Albrecht starting was the pressure put on the bench to produce. Growing uncomfortable with his starters playing nearly the entire game, Beilein finally depended on his freshmen, like guards Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman, Aubrey Dawkins and the now-benched Chatman, to produce. And that’s exactly what the bench did, tallying 18 points, including four 3-pointers. “One of the big things we’re not talking about was our bench was fantastic,” Beilein said. “We
“Derrick and Spike did a great job of controlling the game out there.”
said, the freshmen, bring them off the bench. Let’s just play roles where you can do things. Kam comes over and hits two shots. Aubrey comes in and hits two shots. Ricky (Doyle) did a great job as a freshman. “So it was a whole idea to get more rest. The bench is maybe more ready or we’re going to find out. But we can’t keep pressing these guys 37 minutes a game.” With Albrecht’s focus as a starter to distribute, rather than score — he had six assists to lead the team — Walton was more relaxed, helping his scoring in the process. “Just knowing I can back off and let him make some of the decisions, it kind of eases me a little bit,” Walton said. “Just knowing he’s capable of making the same plays I am — it kind of helps our play.” Whether Albrecht stays in the starting lineup is still up in the air, but given the all-around results from Tuesday’s win, the simple solution might be here to stay.
WJC players back to Ann Arbor Four Wolverines return in time for big Minnesota series at home By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan hockey team surprised almost everyone by capturing its 16th Great Lakes Invitational championship, NOTEBOOK considering it played without four of its best players. Now, with sophomore forwards JT Compher and Tyler Motte, freshman forward Dylan Larkin and freshman defenseman Zach Werenski back in Ann Arbor after representing the United States at the World Junior Championships, the worries have shifted toward how these four dynamic players will fit back into the lineup. “Obviously they are a big part of our team,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Hopefully they can come in and pick it up where they left off. That’s the one thing you worry about with the tournament. Sometimes they come back and they are flying like (former Wolverine Jacob) Trouba was. “But sometimes they come back with a tail between their legs, losing their confidence because they didn’t play well or they lost.” Berenson’s worries seem validated considering the heartbreak the participants felt after losing to Russia in the quarterfinals and failing to reach the medal round. “It didn’t go as planned,” Larkin said. “We wanted to make it to the medal rounds at least. It’s tough to work so hard and come up short.” Luckily for the Wolverines, junior forward Andrew Copp can empathize with Compher, Larkin, Motte and Werenski. Copp, a participant for Team USA in last year’s WJC, also failed to medal, losing to Russia
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Siera Thompson scored 17 points in defeat against Rutgers on Wednesday.
Rutgers tops Wolverines ‘M’ trims 19-point deficit to three, but falls short vs. Scarlet Knights By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Writer
With 10:45 left in the game, sophomore guard Siera Thompson made a 3-pointer to tie the score for the Michigan women’s basketball team, which had trailed by as much as 19 in the first half. But that was as close as the Wolverines (2-2 Big Ten, 10-5 overall) would get. No. 24 Rutgers (2-2, 11-4) scored the next seven points and never looked back en route to an 81-68 victory Wednesday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center. While the result remains a loss, the Wolverines played some of their best basketball against the reigning WNIT champion for 10 minutes in the second half. Ending the first half down by 17 points, the Wolverines needed to change up their tactics, specifically on defense. “(In the) second half, we went exclusively zone,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We just tried to put a couple people inside the paint around their bigs and make them really have to score from the outside.” And it worked, for a little while anyway. The Wolverines came out of the halftime break with a 17-2 run to cut the deficit to three points before trading baskets leading up to Thompson’s emphatic 3-pointer to tie the game. But Michigan couldn’t come any closer to victory, and Rutgers closed out the game with a 12-2 run of its own to shut the door on the
Wolverines’ upset hopes. While the second half showed promise for Michigan, the first half showed the exact opposite. With 15 turnovers in the first half, the Wolverines were unable to find rhythm with their offense, scoring just 25 points on 42-percent shooting. Coming off a win over Michigan State just three days before in which Michigan forced 24 turnovers, the Wolverines couldn’t stop the Scarlet Knights’ offense, especially in the first half. “They scored pretty much all of their points in the paint, a lot of them off of our turnovers, in transition or their post players,” Barnes Arico said. “Their post players killed us in the first half.” Freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty — the Wolverines’ leading scorer — returned to her home state of New Jersey, but it was anything but a warm homecoming. Flaherty was held to just four points as the Scarlet Knights keyed in on her 3-point shooting. “They were face guarding her in the first half,” Barnes Arico said. “She made her first three, and then it was kind of hard for her to get touches. “She’s got to get better. She’s got to learn how to use screens, how to get open, how to take advantage when people are overplaying and how to back cut.” And Flaherty, along with the rest of the Wolverines, will have just four days to bounce back before they take on Ohio State at home in a big rivalry matchup. But if there’s one thing Barnes Arico wants improved by then, it’s the defense. “Rutgers, who doesn’t score a ton of points, scored 81 points,” Barnes Arico said. “So we have to figure out how to slow people down a little bit.”
“We have to figure out how to slow people down a little bit.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Freshman forward Dylan Larkin will be one of four Wolverines to return to the ice this weekend after playing in the WJC.
in the quarterfinals. Copp said he felt dejected after the loss, and it was on his mind for a few days after. But a year wiser, the captain understands the importance of quickly moving past the heartbreak — especially considering the Wolverines are still looking to bolster their tournament résumé. “For me, last year, it was pretty tough, and then the next few days you think about it,” Copp said. “But once you’re back here and back with this group of guys, you’re worried about other things and not too worried about Russia. “I talked to the guys about it and we kind of talked about how much we hate Russia. But it’s over with now.” FASCHING A FOE?: For Copp and Larkin, this weekend’s two-game series against No. 9 Minnesota will mean bragging rights are up for grabs with a good friend. Hudson Fasching, a sophomore forward for Minnesota, has been linemates with Copp and Larkin before. At the 2014 WJC, Fasching skated alongside Copp and 2012 NHL first-round draft pick Stefan Matteau. The trio became known as the “grind line” and was perhaps the team’s best line.
Just two weeks ago, Fasching became linemates with Larkin and, once again, helped create the Americans’ best line with a Wolverine. Larkin ended the WJC with five goals and two assists, in large part thanks to Fasching. “He’s a lot like Zach Hyman,” Larkin said of Fasching. “He works really hard, going after every loose puck in the corner. He’s always going to be in the dirty areas and play a tough game.” But come Friday night at Yost Ice Arena, Fasching will be a foe, not someone Copp or Larkin can look to for help. Copp loves the challenge of playing his longtime friend, though. “It’s a little bit of fun out there,” Copp said. “We crack some jokes once in a while during warm-ups, shoot a puck at him or something. But once the game goes and you’re in the other jersey, you’re trying to win and that is all that matters.” BERENSON SATISFIED: Michigan’s 16th GLI title wasn’t the only thing Michigan fans celebrated over the holiday break. Wolverine fans across the country were cheering the football program’s recent hire of prolific coach Jim Harbaugh. “I went to the press
conference,” Berenson said. “I thought it was terrific. It was great. It was a media frenzy, but it was positive. It was one of the better news items around Michigan here for a while.” Despite his presence at Harbaugh’s press conference, he hasn’t spoken with Harbaugh. “I didn’t want to bother him,” Berenson said. “It was his first day on campus, and it was a madhouse. But I’ll get to meet him plenty.”
BY THE NUMBERS Michigan Hockey
7
Points Dylan Larkin tallied for Team USA at the World Junior Championships last month
16
Great Lakes Invitational titles for Michigan
14
Great Lakes Invitational titles under Red Berenson
71
Saves by Steve Racine in the Great Lakes Invitational
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the b-side B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, January 8, 2014
BEST TV SHOW “Are you ready? Because I want you to pay attention. This is the beginning of something.” -Freddy Rumsen And a superb beginning it was. The first half of “Mad Men” ’s final season took unprecedented risks, exposing the fear and uncertainty of the late 1960s and using it to color seven episodes of character study. The ad execs we came to love over the past seven seasons began to lose their sway; the voices of old, rich white dudes faded to obsolescence in the wake of changing racial and technological tides. With all the cultural turmoil, it’s no wonder the men of SC&P started to go a little mad. Some took LSD, some got a California tan; some cut off their nipples, put them in a box and gave them to a friend. “Mad Men” is never predictable, but surely these seven episodes indicated the “beginning of something” – a gorgeous and compelling fall to the finale. Chloe Gilke
B E S T
F I L M
What will we talk about when we talk about “Birdman?” We will talk about Michael Keaton in the performance of a lifetime, balancing insanity and reality, confidence and reservation. We will talk about director Alejandro González Iñárritu and his masterful story, his sharp eye for detail, his carefully but brilliantly executed manipulation of setting, character and camerawork. We will talk about the gimmick: that the film appears as one, continuous tracking shot. And we will talk about the supporting cast, each role integral to the story, each character possessing a trait that illuminates a theme, a moral, a question. Because “Birdman” isn’t just about a washed-up actor giving it one more go; it’s about sanity, relevance, criticism, critics, theater, Hollywood, fame, insecurity, method, staging, fatherhood, growing up, dreams, failure, comedy, tragedy, art itself. When we talk about “Birdman,” we will talk about what it is: pure, unadulterated creativity, the best, most rewarding motion picture in years. Jamie Bircoll
BEST OF 2014
B E S T
A L B U M
Taylor Swift killed it in 2014. She moved from Nashville to New York, performed at the VMAs, openly embraced her feminist label and hosted an A-list birthday party. Somehow between all of that she managed to drop the best-selling album of the year: her pop debut, 1989. Taylor’s takeover of 2014 began with “Shake It Off,” a Swiftifiedback-off-haters pop anthem. Backed by saxophone, it had everyone (haters included) getting down to that sick beat for about two months straight. It held the charts over just long enough for the rest of 1989 to take them over. Each track runs on a different level, leaving listeners with a well-rounded, and completely satisfying pop experience. “Welcome to New York” demands to be played in Times Square at least once daily. The groove behind “Style” has a Bee Gee-esque beat and an unbelievably catchy chorus. “I Know Places” throws the hunter/ hunted metaphor through a loop producing one of the album’s most unique tracks. Lastly, there is not enough praise for “Blank Space” that speaks to its tongue-in-cheek awesomeness. Every track has a new angle; every track delivers. What is more astonishing than the tracks themselves is the overall style of the album. It is masterful pop music without any of the bullshit that floods mainstream music. There’s no profanity, no molly references and it doesn’t make a spectacle out of itself by striving for shock or controversy. Even without shock, it still leaves listeners in awe. 1989 is groundbreaking by being regressive instead of progressive. It is pop music at its core. It is about life and love and the battles people face within themselves every day. It is timeless. 1989 would’ve rocked it back in its title year, it is rocking it today and it will be rocking it in 30 years. Christian Kennedy
B E S T COMMUNITY EVENT In October, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina, two members of Pussy Riot, the punk rock protest group from Russia, took the stage of the Michigan Theater. The women did not don their neon balaclavas or break out in their provocative, political performance art during their Thursday evening Penny Stamps lecture (though videos of their discordant demonstrations preceded the talk giving context to the issues and methods of resistance). The lecture took the form of an interview aided by a translator and touched upon the topics of freedom of speech, LGBTQ rights, Vladimir Putin, prison reform and the role of art in the political realm. Nadya and Masha’s visit to Ann Arbor set the conversation on police brutality that colored the end of 2014. The two Pussy Riot members also met with the University’s Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) to learn about the penal system in the US and share their experiences of arrest and imprisonment in Russia. Students and community members lined up to ask questions, enthralled by the way in which Nadya and Masha have used their punk rock aesthetic and Guerilla Theater to broadGillian Jakab cast their messages and capture the world stage.
Design by Shreya Razak, Shane Achenbach & Levi Kipke
the b-side
2B — Thursday, January 8, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Best Films of 2014 3. “Gone Girl”
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
2. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel” is based loosely on Stefan Zweig’s novel “Beware of Pity,” where Zweig writes plainly, “To the person who has over and over again tried to trace human destinies, many tell their own story.” This quote captures one of the film’s most essential beauties: the opening and closing of doors. Pages to dramas left half-open, entire stories left unconcluded, character motives and plot points left completely unhinged. “Grand Budapest” in its heart of hearts is a story about stories.
With hand-crafted sets, onlocation shooting, a script with relentless momentum, characters touched by neuroses, strong historical time frames and his signature organic clockwork effect, Anderson spins “Grand Budapest” into a film of remarkable wit and candor, one that daftly draws audiences deeper into its fantastical realm. Films like these make the “barbaric slaughter-house known as humanity” a little more tolerable and a whole lot more inspiring. -BRIAN BURLAGE
Gillian Flynn’s novel was one of the top-selling, mosthyped, most-beloved-by-people-named-Chloe books of the decade so far. Everybody and their mother (especially moms, though) has read “Gone Girl,” or at least has some familiarity with the story. So what’s gained by a movie adaptation where most of the audience has already treaded every twist and turn and cracked the skulls of its impossible characters? A lot, actually. Director David Fincher wrung every drop of tension from the source material, dressing it in bleak realism and
naturalistic acting. Rosamund Pike gave a career-defining performance as Amy Dunne, the eponymous missing wife who’s a lot more complex than her diary entries imply. Ben Affleck was wonderfully inscrutable as Nick Dunne, conveying just the right combination of smarminess and scariness. (You also get to see Ben Affleck’s penis. Where was that in your novel, Ms. Flynn?) Even with the excitement surrounding the book, “Gone Girl” proved that the film could stand as a darkly fascinating thriller of its own right. -CHLOE GILKE
Filmed over 12 consecutive years, director Richard Linklater’s epic masterpiece “Boyhood” bucks tradition by including an aspect of life that Hollywood so often neglects — reality. The film has redefined the genre of coming-of-age through the vivid illustration of Mason and the flowing authenticity of his life. Though the film is centered on Mason, the gradual aging of his divorced father and mother, played by Ethan Hawke and
Patricia Arquette, is a testimonial to the struggles of modern parents. With genuine cultural milestones of the ‘90s and early 2000s, Linklater gracefully welcomes the beautiful and fleeting experience of time. It is the simplicity of the story of “Boyhood” that casts a spell over its audience. There are no dramatic twists or gimmicks, only the loveliness of an ordinary life coexisting with its ticking clock. -REBECCA LERNER
4. “Boyhood”
Best Singles of 2014 1. “Blank Space” Taylor Swift
2014 was undeniably the year of Taylor Swift. Saying 1989 was a huge success is an understatement, largely due to the popularity of “Blank Space.” The song drives along with a ringing yet punctuated backbeat, while the lyrics, and awesome music video, perfectly capture and challenge the media perception of Swift’s “serial dater” persona. It is, on one level, entirely honest and
real, and, on another, a perfect, fun pop song. After listening the first time, it is almost impossible to resist putting it on repeat. The combination of an infectious overall sound and unforgettable lyrical blurbs, like “Darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream,” make “Blank Space” the jam of 2014. -CARLY SNIDER
2. “Chandelier” Sia After all the writing invested in other artists, it’s only fair that Sia saves the cream of the crop for her own record. But what a shame it is that one of the year’s most hypnotic power ballads is also the year’s biggest lyrical buzzkill. In combination with an eerie modality and hovering electronica, Sia’s seemingly fatigued vocals fittingly narrate the self-destructive repetitions of a broken spirit. “Party girls
don’t get hurt, can’t feel a thing, when will I learn? / I push it down, push it down.” And while the track’s “1, 2, 3, drink” prechorus hook is enticing on its surface, it’s a cry for help further below. Perhaps the only fault of “Chandelier” is that its repetition, heavy synth and rhythmic hip-hop production transform it into a jam-track worthy of overseeing its pointed lyrical core. -GREG HICKS
3. “Take Me To Church” Hozier
Fee-fi-fo-fum. Smell the blood of an Irishman? That’s just the brooding Hozier lamenting the self-deprecating power of his love all over the Billboard charts. Once every year or so, if we’re lucky, a really unexpected, pure and truly musical song sashays its way into the pop music atmosphere. It not only is critically adored; it’s played on almost every radio station, sung in the shower, on “The Voice,” in a Beats By Dre commercial. It’s a marvelous feat, maximum exposure, an accomplishment for the music industry and a testimony to the sheer beauty of the song. This all happened most charmingly in 2014 with “Take Me to Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s eerie, metaphori-
cal, somber and passionate religious ballad. Not only are the lyrics literal poetry (“If I’m a pagan of the good times, my lover’s the sunlight / to keep the Goddess on my side / she demands a sacrifice”), but Hozier’s voice is absolutely irresistible. Sonorous and pleading, he cries out the lyrics with more passion than most of his contemporaries. The song is both sexy and sad, loving and masochistic — but above all, it’s surprisingly catchy. Rightfully nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, Hozier had an extraordinary year marked with a rapid ascension to fame. We can only hope this rookie is here to say, for the sake of ears, hearts, poets and minds everywhere. Amen. -MELINA GLUSAC
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SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
5. “Whiplash”
On some level, “Whiplash” is an exposé into the higher education rat-race and a cautionary tale about encouragement and goal-setting, but really, its moral sermons float on the periphery behind the crux of the film: pure, unadulterated drive. “Whiplash” strips away all wider contexts and invokes the same tunnel vision spawned by first-year music student Andrew’s zealous dedication to becoming one of jazz’s greats. The camera zooms in on the most immediate details of ambition: rivulets
of sweat streaming down cheeks, bloody calluses hastily bandaged and subjected to more drumming, more friction. It’s all about friction, this film; it’s as physical as it is emotional and the genius is that it drags the viewer into the fray. When the visceral imagery, emotional anguish, and drumbeat’s tempo accelerates, so does the tension you feel, heart pumping faster and faster alongside the screen until you, like Andrew, are left gasping for breath. -VANESSA WONG
4. “i” Kendrick Lamar
When I heard the Isley Brother’s sample at the beginning of Kendrick Lamar’s “i,” it was immediately clear that the Compton rapper had created something special in the TDE laboratory. With a smooth retro guitar track, and a peppier beat than a typical Kendrick song, “i” stands out in the Lamar anthology. The song divided fans – making some nostalgic for his older,
darker material. But Kendrick isn’t looking to simply replicate his old work – “i” marks the beginning of a new, more socially meditative chapter for the writer. “i” delivered both in terms of lyrical substance and musical quality, while paying homage to Lamar’s musical forefathers. I can’t wait to see what Kendrick does next in 2015. -NICK BOYD
5. “Red Eyes” The War on Drugs
Few lines in The War on Drugs’s outstanding single “Red Eyes” register audibly. While this mumbling bumbling tactic is, so often in the world of rock, aligned with a too-cool-to-care persona among most largerthan-life musicians, in Adam Granduciel’s case it isn’t. He’s endured as much heartbreak and bitter love as any these last couple years, but instead of singing loudly and proudly to beat the bad emotions away, he seems to do the exact opposite: these emotions, experiences and sentiments are as much a part of him as the Neil Young-type resonance in his voice. When he sings phrases like “To beat it down
/ To get to my soul” that ring clear as a bell through a thick haze, he sings them not to demonstrate strength, not to outline any plan for healing, but rather, as a self-centering mantra. “Red Eyes” is rock music’s latest and greatest testament to what the Japanese call jishin, which is the synchronizing of one’s energy with belief. This song describes one of the greatest emotions of all, one we’ve all felt and one we hope to feel again: understanding. And when Granduciel belts a “whoo!” before returning to his guitar-meditation, we know his understanding is absolutely a celebration. -BRIAN BURLAGE
Best Performances of 2014
1. Cabaret In mid-October, SMTD performed “Cabaret,” an awardwinning musical from the 1960s, for their fall production. “Cabaret” tells the story of the performers and patrons of the Kit Kat Club, a nightclub in Weimar Republic, Berlin just before the Nazi rise to power. Director and visiting professor Joe Locarro added several touches to make SMTD’s version of the show unique. First, they transformed the
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre into an old-fashioned cabaret by building the stage over the orchestra pit and placing the band onstage. Second, Locarro added six new characters to the show to perform some historically accurate songs before the musical began to allow the audience to feel as though they really had been transported back in time. -REBECCA GODWIN
2. Rocky Horror Shadowcast Deep in the heart of East Quad on Halloween night, hundreds of students gathered outside the doors of the Keene Theater, hoping to see the first Rocky Horror Shadowcast in Ann Arbor in years. Since its release in 1973, “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a musical, has emerged as a hyper-sexualized, melodramatic, indescribably weird cult classic. In some circles, it’s become a Halloween tradition to perform the show via shadowcast – lipsynching the dialogue and lyrics in front of a screen projecting
the original film, starring Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon. The RC Players, a student-run theater group known for their bi-annual Evening of Scenes and Kamikaze (24 hour theater), tackled the show, complete with Rocky Horror traditions like audience participation, low budget hilarity, obscure props, and, of course, the “ceremonial virgin sacrifice.” Don’t know what I’m talking about? See the show next fall. Just get there early. This past production was standing-room only. -ALEX BERNARD
3. Sea Legs: A Nautical New Musical
At the end of February, Basement Arts, a student-run theatre organization that provides free productions to the Ann Arbor community, staged a new student written and student composed musical called “Sea Legs: A Nautical New Musical.” The show, which was written by graduate Tyler Dean and composed by Wayne State University graduate Michael Tooman, tells the story of four friends who live in the quaint New England seaside village of Sweet Ann Harbor and dream of adventure. Their dreams come true in a big way when the
quirky residents of Periscopia, an underwater utopia, wash up on their shores, determined to find the person responsible for sinking their underwater haven. The show was Dean’s love letter to Ann Arbor as his graduation approached and he was set to enter the real world. “Sea Legs” had an off-Broadway run in September thanks to The Araca Project, which helps recent graduates from several universities, including the University of Michigan, get a jump start in their careers by putting on their work. -REBECCA GODWIN
4. Doing White Nights While the number of student productions that are conceived and performed in the Ann Arbor community continue to grow, it’s still relatively rare for a performance to be entirely student organized and executed. Many things account for this, school being an enormous and obvious factor, yet “Doing White Nights,” a completely student-run original play, was able to pull off three consecutive nights of fan-
tastic drama and humor while the participants juggled school and other extra-curriculars. A story of two best friends on a road trip gone sour, the play explored the themes of mental illness, sexuality and belonging in a tasteful and touching way, all while utilizing the uniqueness of the venue, The Yellow Barn, to create the central setting of an off-road cornfield. -KATHLEEN DAVIS
RYOJI IKEDA
5. superposition Ryoji Ikeda Born in Japan and working primarily out of Paris, Ryoji Ikeda is an internationally acclaimed visual and electronic musical artist whose work forges a bold and thoughtful connection between ideas and theories from quantum mechanics, experimental modes of visual representation, and principles of classical composition. In November, he brought his most recent project, superposition, to the Power Center. In a live set-
ting, his aesthetic pioneering translates into an austere, beautiful and immersive experience at the limits of sight and hearing. One of the great interests of Ikeda’s work lies in his ability to craft tensions and resolutions gleaned from the likes of Bach but brought into a register of sonic and visual harshness that challenges the artistic vocabulary many audiences bring to the table. -COSMO PAPPAS
the b-side
3B — Thursday, January 8, 2015
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Best Albums of 2014 4. RTJ2 Run the Jewels
ASYLUM
2. Sucker Charli XCX Since the rise of Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” Charlotte Aitchison has been hopping from track to track on fellow artists’ radio hits, and in the final chapter of 2014, Charli XCX brought about a glitz-andglam pop-punk record that seamlessly weaves its aggressions into the threads of its live-like-crazy preachings. And while the heightened reality of Aitchison’s “London Queen” lifestyle can appear out of touch
at times, the pop singer’s GwenStefani-esque cheerleader chants will pull anyone along for the ride — even if on the “wrong side of the road.” Sucker growls in the face of every female power-pop singer of 2014, and has the sonic distortion and lyrical brutality to back up its third degree heat. Don’t end up being the guy on the other end of a Charli XCX lyric. -GREG HICKS
In 1988, a group from Long Island called Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Though the album can be categorized as early hip hop, it’s more of a study in noise rap, and it synthesized various elements of rock, punk and jazz into a single mortar shell that shattered the history of street music and street politics. In 2014, El-P and Killer Mike, one of hip hop’s newest and most overlooked duos, produced an idealized fusion of Public Enemy’s noise art with Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth’s symbiotic rap. The result is RTJ2, a work born of fire and brimstone, one that channels anger and confusion into redhot chrysalises, one that teems with vitality and bursts with napalm. Killer Mike and El-P take their burning fury and shape it into verse that hits the jugular again and again. In the opener “Jeopardy,” the duo spares no blow: “I spit with the diction of Malcolm or say a Bun B / Prevail through Hell, so Satan get thee behind me,” Mike sings at the end of his verse. El-P adds to the
attack, “I live to spit on your grave, my existence is to disgrace you / The kitten became a lion that looks to your face like great food.” All 39 minutes run something like this. Two talented, middle-aged rappers harmonizing one perfect verbal assault after the other. Above all, these are sturdy songs with highly intelligent production beats, bars and brushstrokes. Take, for example, the subtle but devastating internal rhyme scheme Killer Mike delivers in “Blockbuster Night Part 1”: “I Jake the Snake ‘em, DDT ‘em in mausoleums / Macabre massacres killing cunts in my coliseum.” Like the album as a whole, these two lines seamlessly perpetuate the collective momentum while also polishing the interior like clockwork. Even the structure of RTJ2 achieves harmony, as the second side injects some air into a first side consumed with gunsmoke. It’s this kind of precision that makes RTJ2 an album of staggering energy, one that doesn’t join the ranks of history so much as it does break them to bits. -BRIAN BURLAGE
5. The Pinkprint Nicki Minaj
In a year where most of hip hop’s major stars did not release an album, The Pinkprint stands practically alone as a sprawling classic filled with emotion, experimentation and pure talent. On her third album, Nicki Minaj mixes deeply personal lyrics befitting of a classic break-up album with the more familiar unhinged hip-hop swagger that made her a star. She forms a perfect dream trio with Beyoncé and Hit-Boy on “Feeling Myself” — a bouncy, focused
YOUNG MONEY
burst of energy that was one of the most exciting songs of the year — and she brings out a surprising, beautiful singing voice on tracks like “Pills N Potions” and “Grand Piano.” On top of that, The Pinkprint spotlights the unpredictable, maniac Minaj on “Anaconda,” a song that was part novelty, sure, but also a subversive, empowering party-starter. How many break-up records proudly declare, “I got a big fat ass?” -ADAM THEISEN
Best Characters of 2014
CAPITOL RECORDS
3. In The Lonely Hour Sam Smith For someone who seemed nothing more than a one-hit wonder plastered on a series of lucky hits, Sam Smith has risen to the ranks of the some of the world’s most consistent artists. With that, it’s hard to believe that In the Lonely Hour is only Smith’s debut. Smith is technical, but doesn’t let that get in the way of raw emotion. He’s dramatic, but earnest. His lyrics are relatable, each packaged in a painfully honest storybook form. In some ways, it’s repetitive, really. In The Lonely Hour tells the same perplexity of unrequited love in 10 different colors through each of his tracks. Mustering three top 10 tracks in the United States and six whooping Grammy nominations this year alone, Smith has broken through the realm of contemporary adult pop, bringing the voice of contemporaryclassics in the likes of Michael Bublé and Adele back into mainstream media. While each track narrates love’s down-
falls and the ultimate triumphs of heartbreak, Smith’s voice tells another story of strain and mental ache. Through his music, Smith acquiesces to his fate, and tells his story in stream-of-consciousness fashion, replicating the exactness of every sting and stitch he felt through his experiences. In some ways, it’s incredulous to imagine Smith’s sound being anything other than melancholic. But for someone who knows his sound impeccably well — more than most other artists in his genre, at least — it’s hard to imagine him saying he conceived making a Rihanna-esque record in mid-May when he didn’t believe he had the vocal timbre to pull it off. In The Lonely Hour is perfect. It conjoins single-worthy melodies with a voice that truly knows how to capture emotion. Yet, when perfection repeats itself, it no longer is perfect. Show us something else extraordinary, Smith. That’s how you’ll stay. -AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR
WE’RE STARTING TO GET A HANG OF THIS SOCIAL MEDIA THING
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1. Amy Dunne “Gone Girl” Who is Amy Dunne? For the first half of “Gone Girl,” we’re really not sure. It’s kind of funny that our favorite character of the year is missing for a large portion of her movie; she is “Gone,” after all. That being said, Amy is certainly no damsel in distress. She’s the coolest, most intriguing and by far the scariest character of
20TH CENTURY FOX
2014. Via a slow-burn patchwork of f lashbacks and reveals that only David Fincher could make happen onscreen, we begin to learn the complex story of who Amy is and why she disappeared. Uncovering her secrets was one of the best experiences film had to offer this year. -JACOB RICH
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
3. Groot “Guardians of the Galaxy” Despite being one-word short of being mute, Groot grows into the hearts of anyone who enjoyed “Guardians of the Galaxy.” But it may surprise some that Groot made the list because (1) Groot predominately plays a supporting role and (2) Groot (mostly) doesn’t make his own decisions. But Groot’s general lack of volition contributes to his childlike innocence, which makes him more easily lovable.
Groot is also super fuckin’ cool because (SPOILER) Groot totally sacrifices himself for the group by transforming into a protective cocoon and saving the Guardians from destruction. Kudos to Vin Diesel on his masterful voice acting and probably being the least -expected actor to voice one of the best characters. We are Groot. -ZAK WITUS
4. Monsieur Gustave H. “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
2. Riggan Thomson “Birdman” In “Birdman,” Michael Keaton walks the fragile line of reality playing both washedup actor Riggan Thomson and Birdman, the haunting alter ego that stems from his superhero movie past. Thomson attempts to both revive his dying career in a Broadway play and deal with his broken family, alcoholic actors and his apparent nosedive into mental illness. The single-shot cinematography of the film
exposes all of the f laws and anxieties of a man desperately trying to prove his relevance in a world of tweets and blogs that he can’t even understand. Keaton conveys the nuances of Thomson’s insecurities with ironic accuracy, as he himself has been cast off as a depleted source of talent. Keaton plays Thomson brilliantly, forcing the audience to accept that this Birdman might really f ly. -REBECCA LERNER
Ralph Fiennes, best known to our generation for portraying Lord Voldemort, turned in one of the finest performances of 2014 in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” A concierge of the titular hotel, Monsieur Gustave H. reveals very little about himself, entrancing audiences simply by oozing charisma. He operates in the perpetual pres-
ent, living every moment of his life with more gusto than most do on their wedding day, which explains why, though he’s often drawl and sometimes condescending, Gustave H. endears audiences: he appreciates the simple treasures life has to offer, like interesting company or a good lay. -CONRAD FOREMAN
5. Terence Fletcher “Whiplash” Terence Fletcher is the teacher you think hates you, and you know what? Maybe he does. He taunts the musicians in his prestigious jazz band into submission, ruthlessly preying on their insecurities until talent arises out of pure, cold fear. Once he wrings every last fiber out of his students’ beings, he cruelly demands more, physically and emotionally draining them to the point where tough-
love motivation distorts into a deadly breed of self-inflicted torture. He admits to genuinely supporting his students, but where should the line be drawn between motivation and abuse? You don’t know, and you never will, because all you are is a worthless pansy ass who cries like a whiny nine-year old girl and Terence Fletcher will always be one step ahead of you. -VANESSA WONG
the b-side
4B — Thursday, January 8, 2015
Best TV Shows of 2014
2. Alice Walker Lecture In November, critically acclaimed author Alice Walker spoke at Hill Auditorium for this year’s Zora Neale Hurston Lecture, an annual lecture sponsored by the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the Center for the Education of Women. Walker was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her groundbreaking novel “The Color
Purple.” While best known for her work as an author, Walker is also very passionate about social justice issues and women’s rights. In her lecture, Walker touched on several different topics including the political system, war, friendship and the necessity of empathy as a stepping-stone toward world peace. -REBECCA GODWIN
3. Espresso Royale’s November Write-a-thon
2. The Good Wife “The Good Wife” continued to blow away audiences in 2014, from the tail end of season five to its season six mid-season finale. With razor-sharp writing and a newly-trained focus on character, Michele and Robert King’s legal and political drama proved that Will’s death was a springboard into new narrative heights. Its brilliance showed, sweeping up a bevy of awards at the Emmys and Golden Globes. Season six saw Alicia move out of her grieving funk and make
CBS
the decision to run for State Attorney (plus a Gloria Steinem cameo!). Cary’s long criminal trial heartbreakingly unfolded; and after the January premiere, viewers will have only a handful of episodes to savor Kalinda before she departs. Indeed, the writers’ treatment of Kalinda has been the weakest part of the show as of late, but if Will’s departure has shown anything, “The Good Wife” is a constantly evolving and flexible show. -CATHERINE SULPIZIO
3. Orange is the New Black Netflix once again succeeds in dominating our lives. For 13 straight hours of our summer, we became introverts, never peeling our eyes from the screen, captivated by “Orange is the New Black”’s sophomore season. The series brings a stigmatized, condemned community of convicts to the forefront – illuminating a complexity and humanity behind their crimes. The show teaches us to be empathetic, and gives insight into characters behind the superficial. It forces us to be introspective, and demands that we analyze the human condition as well as the despicable, yet
neglected, failures of institutionalization. In the second season, creator Jenji Kohan shifts the show’s narrative attention to individuality, an aspect that makes the show relatable despite its unconventional characters. The character development is fluid, and the season focuses on portraying the multi-dimensionality in not only Piper, but in the secondary and tertiary characters, too. “Orange is the New Black” is progressive, emotional, enlightening – and certainly one of the best television programs of the past year. -KAREN HUA
HBO
4. Game of Thrones Consistent oversight by the Emmys isn’t hurting the ascension of “Game of Thrones” into a pop-culture phenomenon. This past season included some of the series’ strongest moments and maintained an average viewership of 18.6 million across all platforms. The show continues to chart new territory in the realm of genre and television. Despite living in a world populated by dragons, “Game of Thrones” ’s characters
ditch clichés in favor of astute psychological realism. The visuals, from the effects to the cinematography, rival the vast majority of big-budget blockbusters. In every frame, an inescapable feeling of unease and dread plays the nerves of the audience like a fiddle. The multi-cultural, multi-talented cast and crew have rendered one of the finest screen adaptations of a source material in recent memory. -DREW MARON
5. True Detective In an industry flooded with crime shows and bound by yellow caution tape, it takes a certain ingenuity to make a whodunit series stand out. First, it needs a brilliant storyteller to weave in the twisting plots that we crave, someone like novelistturned-screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto. Then add two Hollywood big-shots with a penchant for darker projects, like Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. The result is “True Detective,” HBO’s groundbreaking series that follows detectives Rust
(McConaughey) and Marty (Harrelson) in their search for a serial killer with a fetish for sacrificing women in the willowy plains of Louisiana. What differentiates “True Detective” from other crime shows is not its frontrunners’ edgy chemistry. It’s because it has an expiration date. Each season brings a different cast and story. Season two, airing this summer, will feature Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams, and will be set in California. -HAILEY MIDDLEBROOK
Whether it be Tea Time in the Hopwood room, readings in the basement of Literati or poetry slams at coffee shops you’ve never heard of, Ann Arbor’s literary scene has a place for everyone. There’s no better example of this than the November Write-a-thon. Each fall, for 10 hours, poets and authors, professors and students, professional writers and professional coffee-drinkers gather in Espresso Royale on State Street for free donuts, free coffee and free electrical outlets. There for a minute or the full 10 hours, participants
Best Community Events of 2014
work on their writing – often on manual typewriters – and meticulously craft their pieces: from formless poems to dialogue-heavy short stories to the first paragraphs of novels that will be deleted as soon as they’re finished. It’s about the process, after all, not the product. The event isn’t high budget, and it isn’t fast-paced; well, unless you consider the typing “fast-paced.” The November Write-a-thon is just one more example of how Ann Arbor has a vibrant, inclusive literary scene. -ALEX BERNARD
4. 52nd Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival After 52 years, the Ann Arbor Film Festival has established an integral presence in the community’s film scene. This past March brought the newest crop of independent and experimental films to the Ann Arbor community, attracting visitors from all over the country to witness the latest in experimental and independent filmmaking. The 52nd festival highlighted over 200 full-length films, short films and performances,
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
more than 30 of which were premiered at the event. 2014’s AAFF also featured retrospectives of iconic independent filmmakers like Thom Andersen (“Los Angeles Plays Itself”) and Penelope Spheeris (“The Decline of Western Civilization”), honoring their impact on the world of film and its greater impact into other artistic mediums. The festival also promoted local artists in media outside of film. -KATHLEEN DAVIS
COLUMBIA
5. Françoise Mouly Lecture Françoise Mouly spoke as a guest lecture at the Michigan theater as part of the Penny Stamps Lecture series. Mouly, art director for The New Yorker, took an especially personal approach to the lecture, bringing her accomplishments down to earth for her audience. She discussed her early years in Paris studying architecture, and how her desire to be more involved in the final product of her work led her to move to New York and pursue print
making. She encountered a comic artist, Art Spiegelman, whom she would later marry and work with. The couple made their first New Yorker cover together, which led to her employment and eventually to her role as Art Director. Mouly’s lecture felt more like a friendly and nostalgic conversation, giving a crowd insight into the personal life of one of the leading women in the art world. -FRANCESCA KIELB
Best Viral Videos of 2014 1. Too Many Cooks
A video created for “Adult Swim” titled “Too Many Cooks” was released in October as a parody of classic sitcoms. It begins by recreating the opening titles of many familiar sitcoms from the ‘80s and ‘90s. However, it doesn’t stop after one cast of characters is introduced, but continues to introduce more, with each set’s introductions growing more ridiculous. The parody consists of many stock characters, including a puppet and a slasher villain, mocking
the over-the-top acting that the era is notorious for. Watching the video derail from familyfriendly to plain bizarre was like watching a car crash: we couldn’t look away and neither could the rest of the world. The video went viral and even received a Twitter shout out from Zach Braff (“Scrubs”). It left us with a theme song stuck in our heads, with more questions than answers and a strange feeling of nostalgia. -KIM BATCHELOR
2. Jimmy Fallon’s lip sync battle with Emma Stone The setup of a lip sync battle is simple: there are two competitors, one stage, one mic. In a “Tonight Show” lip sync battle, whoever can upstage Jimmy Fallon is the winner – a feat in and of itself. While promoting “The Amazing Spider Man 2,” Emma Stone was invited to the superhero-sized challenge of battling Fallon off the stage. Fallon stepped to the mic first, breaking out a gyrating version of “Fancy” by Iggy. Stone wasn’t fazed though, and as the determined diva that she is, she
5. Strangers kiss for the first time
ripped out a deadpan rendering of “Hook” by Blues Traveler. In classic Fallon fashion, he retaliated with a hilariously theatrical “Mr. Roboto” by Styx. But Stone kicked in for the win, syncing “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled, with a performance so head-bangingly intense that her lyrical accuracy was unquestioned. Fallon was brought to his knees in laughter and awe under the power of Emma Stone, as was the rest of the nation. -HAILEY MIDDLEBROOK Last fall, WREN and Tatia Pilieva produced a short film for a social experiment that asked 20 strangers to kiss for the first time. Under the lights, before a white backdrop and in front of multiple cameras – the subjects introduced themselves briefly, then gradually moved toward a very intimate act of connection. Though the couples were quite cognizant of the initial awkwardness, they soon let
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3. The “Apparently” Kid
Give him a few years and English teachers will be laying into Noah Ritter (i.e. The “Apparently” Kid) for his repetitive lexicon. In 2014, though, 18 million plus viewers became so enamored with the fiveyear-old that he made the requisite pit stops for all internet sensations: “The Ellen Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Ritter gained viral status when a local news station interviewed him at a county fair – a natural logorrheic, Ritter managed
to use the word ‘apparently’ many, many times (probably not worth counting) in a minute-and-a-half clip. His act was equal parts neurotic crank and precocious tot, and it enamored America. Later down the fame road, he even got to chat with Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”), but declined a kiss from her, no doubt leaving the collective Internet – male and female – scratching its head. -CATHERINE SULPIZIO
4. Mile-high performance of “The Lion King” A video posted to YouTube on April 1st captured the professional cast of “The Lion King” singing “The Circle of Life” on an airplane about to leave Brisbane for Sydney. The pure talent alone is enough to merit a spot on our list – “The Circle of Life” is one of the most difficult songs to pull off a capella, let alone when the singers are sitting squished between other passengers and scattered throughout the plane, making for less than optimal acoustics. But the act is just as
fun to watch as it is to listen to – the passenger reactions, finding themselves in the middle of a real life, “Glee”-like occurrence, are hilarious. Some enjoy the impromptu performance, taking their own grainy iPhone videos; others are simply bemused, and the last third of the passengers sit stony-faced and unamused throughout the whole thing – perhaps determined not to let Disney on Broadway’s cast hijack their April Fool’s Day. -SOPHIA KAUFMAN
themselves go – they allowed their innate human vulnerabilities to emerge. Once kissing, it was as if the cameras and production crew disappeared – and the tenderness and passion of human attraction overpowered all else. This was no typical meet-and-greet hook-up, but it showcased a simple, beautiful bond humans may have with any other human. In addition, the video show-
cased diversity, a silent commentary on how connection can merge demographic barriers. The experiment included both homo and heterosexual couples, both the young and elderly and various cultural backgrounds. This opened up a fruitful discussion in the comments section, and elucidated differing opinions about the nature of attraction. -KAREN HUA
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