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University to take part in study on misconduct ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
EMU student Jamisha Kearney (left) and LSA sophomore Miranda Li model at the EnspiRED fashion show at the Biomedical Science and Research building Saturday.
EnspiRED fashion show represents global trends “The Red Express” features styles from cities in seven countries By MAYA SHANKAR Daily Staff Reporter
Models sporting clothing from around the world hit the runway Saturday night for EnspiRED’s
charity fashion show. EnspiRED, a student organization that aims to promote artistic expression at the University, brought fashions from seven cities to the Biomedical Science Research Building for their ninth annual showcase. Featuring clothing designed by students and donated from local and Detroit-based boutiques, the show displayed styles from the cities Moscow, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, London, Mum-
bai and Detroit, as well as Accra, Ghana. EnspiRED President Cyrus Tetteh, an LSA senior, said the event’s schedule was designed to simulate a train on a track, referenced by this year’s theme, “The Red Express.” The train symbol is meant to represent traveling to the seven different cities throughout the fashion show, he said. Tetteh said EnspiRED is an advocate of the arts on campus
Conductor honored at Hill amid protest
By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR Daily Arts Writer
As the University Musical Society prepared to award Mariinsky Orchestra Conductor Valery Gergiev with the prestigious University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award on Saturday at Hill Auditorium, Ukrainian protesters and antiRussia advocates collected on the steps outside in a die-in protest. Standing in solidarity with those affected by Russian aggressions, the protesters aimed to raise awareness among the concert’s attendees about Gergiev’s support of Russia’s annexation of Crimea earlier this year. Ann Arbor resident Eugene Bondarenko, one of the leading organizers of the demonstration, said the group was also protest-
ing UMS for granting Gergiev the award. Returning to Ann Arbor for his 12th and 13th concert conducting the Russian Mariinsky Orchestra with UMS, Gergiev is most well known for directing the Mariinsky Theatre for over 30 years. Recently, however, Gergiev has been criticized internationally for his outspoken support of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBTQ policies and antagonism against Ukraine. “We think it’s quite hypocritical that he would say that at home and then come here and make money. You can’t have both,” Bondarenko said. “We also like to let people know that next time they buy tickets for something like this, UMS does not have the best discretion for who it invites. “UMS has a great responsibility to have an ethical litmus test,” he added. “When you have an odious figure, you should really think about if you’re really interested in inviting them.” While some passersby yelled See PROTEST, Page 3A
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily News Editor
and in the community. This year, the organization plans to donate 20 percent of the event’s profits to Arts & Scraps, a nonprofit organization that repurposes recycled material to create arts and crafts projects for elementary school students in Detroit. University alum Chukwudi Nwamba, who graduated in December, volunteered to model in the annual show for her second time. See FASHION, Page 3A
In addition to developing a University-centric sexual assault survey, which will be randomly distributed to a pool of 3,000 students, the University is teaming up with the Association of American Universities to conduct a uniform sexual assault survey across 28 college campuses. The AAU is comprised of 62 top research universities in the United States and Canada. Twenty-seven of the participating schools, including the University, are members of the AAU; Dartmouth College will also distribute the survey. University President Mark Schlissel said the AAU survey, which is set to launch this April, will be campus-wide, and added
ENGINEERS GONE MAD-GICAL
ARTS
Valery Gergiev draws criticism from Ukrainians for support of Putin
Twenty-eight institutions plan survey to analyze sexual assault
that it will supplement the University’s data. “I figured that it would be valuable to have us be able to compare our data to that at a lot of different schools that are similar, big research universities, but different than us, to see how we’re doing,” he said in a January interview with The Michigan Daily. On each campus, the AAU survey will be identical, apart from five school-specific questions pertaining to resources for reporting and addressing sexual assault. Westat, a global research firm, has been contracted to facilitate and assess the survey results, which the AAU plans to publically report upon completion. Experts from both Westat and participating universities are still putting the survey together based on standards set forth by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. “Our primary purpose in conducting this survey is to help our institutions gain a better understanding of this complex problem See SURVEY, Page 3A
TECHNOLOGY
Laboratory begins testing self-driving automobiles ‘U’ researchers work on Next Generation Vehicle project for driverless cars CHANMEE CHUNG/Daily
Engineering senior David Hiskens performs during the Engineering Games benefit show for the Detroit Area PreCollege Engineering Program at Stamps Auditorium on Saturday.
SAAN conference focuses on social justice, activism Guest speakers share narratives, discuss South Asian community By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
Fighting stigma through personal narrative was one of the main themes at the South
Asian Awareness Network conference held over the weekend. Parents, alumni, college and high school students from around the country gathered in both Rackham Auditorium and the Michigan League to participate in the two-day event. Titled “Threads: Connecting Our Voice, Our Truths, Our Selves,” the conference attracted over 300 attendees during its run from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. SAAN first
launched the conference 13 years ago to foster discussion on social justice issues relevant to the South Asian community, such as Islamaphobia after 9/11. Since then, the event has evolved to address a broader spectrum of issues, such as mental health. LSA senior Shaina Shetty, SAAN director and co-director of the conference, said it was a forum for productive discusSee CONFERENCE, Page 3A
By KRISTEN ANDERSON For the Daily
Self-driving cars may no longer be confined to the scenes of science fiction movies. The Next Generation Vehicle project at the University’s Perceptual Robotics Laboratory is envisioning a 21st century where car-related injuries and deaths are preventable using software tested on the streets of Ann Arbor. The project is working on a variety of vehicle components that could enable autonomous driving. The Perceptual Robotics Laboratory supports projects that develop algorithms for research and development in image processing and systems engineering, among other fields. Though the vehicle remained under the control of a manual driver during initial tests in Ann Arbor, the navigational system delivered corSee CARS, Page 3A
» INSIDE
Hopes Derailed The Michigan men’s basketball team fell just short of a massive upset over Wisconsin Saturday.
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2A — Monday, January 26, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Professor Profiles
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
THURSDAY: Alumni Profiles
Students protest research “Whether it is research with killing or not.” Overberger said a forum organized by the Research Policies Committee would be helpful. 11 years ago this week (Jan. 28, 2004) University students received e-mails infected with the MyDoom virus, which spread through email and peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Bruce Burrell, a computer anti-virus team leader for Virus Busters, a division of the University’s Information Technology Center Services, said the virus became a
problem because the updated virus definitions that prevent the virus from reaching students were unavailable when the virus attacked. “The bottom line is, if you get an attachment from someone, you never open it,” he said. “You contact that person and ask, ‘Did you send me something?’ ” A $250,000 reward was offered by a Utah-based UNIX system supporting and consulting company called the SCO Group, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who created the virus. — NEALA BERKOWSKI
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THE WIRE
Mental health BY TANAZ AHMED
Wolverine Support Network, a University-wide peer support program aimed to improve students’ mental health, held a kickoff event Thursday. Beginning this week, 46 trained students will lead weekly meetings where students can discuss their issues and concerns.
THE FILTER
Anticipated music in 2015 BY ALLEN DONNE
Daily Arts blogger Allen Donne discusses highly anticipated albums that are scheduled to be released in 2015, including albums from Lil Wayne, Jay Rock, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West.
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Engineering junior Daniel Lee and Engineering senior Kristina Kim preform at The Engineering Games presented by The Society Auditorium at Stamps Auditorium Saturday.
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32 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (JAN. 26, 1983)
Almost 30 students protested defense research by marching to then-Vice President Charles Overberger’s office. The students wore “U-M military research kills” T-shirts and demanded that Overberger come to a public forum and explain why the University is increasing its amount of military research. Overberger, the vice president of research, was believed by some student groups to have a final say on what research was conducted at the University. “Your decision is final on what research goes on,” said LSA senior Ken Naffziger.
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Emergent research
Patient care “How to be a safety lecture Positive Leader”
WHAT: Informationists Mark MacEachern and Whitney Townsend will give an overview of a systematic review. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery
WHAT: Zia Hydari, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, will discuss electronic medical records. WHO: Department of Learning Health Sciences WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Palmer Commons
WHAT: Scott Sonenshein, a professor at Rice University, will talk about the impacts a positive leader can make. WHO: Michigan Ross Center WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. WHERE: Ross School of Business
The Zeitouna Story
“The New Black”
Voice recital
WHAT: A documentary film about the sisterhood among six Palestinian and six Jewish women, who called themselves “Zeitouna,” will be screened and discussed afterward. WHO: Center for the Education of Women WHEN: Today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League, Hussey Room, 2nd Floor
WHAT: Filmmaker Yoruba Richen presents “The New Black,” a documentary film about how the AfricanAmerican community is addressing gay rights. WHO: The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts WHEN: Today at 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: North Quad, Space 2435
WHAT: Graduate and undergraduate voice students will present their most recently prepared repertoire. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: Today at 6:45 p.m. WHERE: Earl V. Moore Building, Britton Recital Hall l Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
A massive snowstorm that the National Weather Service calls “potentially historic” is headed for the Northeast. The storm is projected to result in more than two feet of snow on the Tri-State region, NBC New York reported.
2
The Michigan men’s basketball team lost to No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday night, 69-64, with ESPN’s College GameDay in town for its featured game of the week. >> FOR MORE, SEE SPORTSMONDAY
3
President Barack Obama announced that the Interior Department will designate 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for conservation, sparking another energy debate with the Republican lawmakers, CNN reported.
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Brillig Dry Bar serves up jazz, non-alcoholic beverages Doors are now open Saturdays every other week BY LINDSEY SCULLEN Daily Staff Reporter
The lights were dimmed in Mighty Good Coffee, a small café in downtown Ann Arbor. Lit candles lined the tables, and bassist Lenny Swanson — Mighty Good Coffee’s wholesale and general manager — led a house band through a few jazz standards. Interestingly enough, as customer chatter buzzed around the shop, coffee wasn’t the drink of choice. For the third time, Mighty Good Coffee moonlighted as the Brillig Dry Bar on Saturday night, opening its doors to the public and ushering in crowds of people looking to drink without getting drunk. Sudoku Syndication The opening marked the bar’s official commitment to operating every other week, though owner
MADELINE BATH/Daily
The Brillig Dry Bar draws visitors to downtown Ann Arbor for an array of non-alcoholic beverages.
Nic Sims said Brillig will likely welcome customers on a more regular basis in coming months. “It’s a fun and lively place for people who are looking for a night on the town without all of the trappings that come along
with an alcoholic bar — the noise Bar into existence lasted 15 minlevels, the TVs and the alcohol,” utes. Sims said. “I mean it’s really just “I came up with the name, I about an alcohol-free, fun place sketched out a logo, we made a http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ to hang out.” plan for what we would serve Sims is part of the alcohol- and then we decided that we recovery community, as are would test it,” Sims said. many of her patrons. With the The bar’s name, “Brillig,” dry bar, she said, she is providing comes from one of Sims’ favorite others with a fun way to “over- poems — “Jabberwocky” from come their demons.” Lewis Carroll’s “Through the EASY Brillig serves non-alcoholic Looking Glass.” classics, like a Brooklyn Egg “The poem has a lot of meanCream, and alternatives to tra- ing to me as a person,” she said. ditionally alcoholic beverages, “I relate it to recovery in that like its Vernors Orange Sour. everybody has a jabberwocky The bar’s drink menu changes to or a demon or something that include seasonal fruits and fla- they’re trying to deal with.” vors — for example, Sims recent“ ‘Brillig’ appears in the first ly switched from a cranberry line of the poem. It means ‘the sour to the orange. time of day when you switch For sake of reference, a “whis- from daytime to evening cookkey sour” typically involves ing.’ ” whiskey, lemon juice and sugar; The bar opened for the first the Vernors Orange Sour entails time Dec. 5, coinciding with Ann fresh orange juice and “sour Arbor’s “Midnight Madness,” a sauce,” which consists of cider night of holiday sales, caroling vinegar, fresh ginger and powder and shopping. ginger. Sims said about 250 to 300 Sims’ husband David Myers people passed through the dry owns Mighty Good Coffee. He bar that opening night, initiating and Sims conceptualized Brillig it as a hot spot for people around during Thanksgiving this year — Ann Arbor and beyond. they wanted to find a way to use The next pop-up opening the shop after coffee-drinking came Dec. 29. Bartender Eric © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com WALK IN THE PARK. hours had ended. Monaghan said the result was Sims said in total, the conver- similar — all sorts of people that catapulted Brillig Dry showed up, some from as far Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles atsation sudokusyndication.com!
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away as Toledo, Ohio. Monaghan added that the bar has attracted two demographic groups in particular: pregnant women and Muslims, both of which are known not to drink alcoholic beverages. “It’s been very interesting — the different crowds that we’ve attracted,” Monaghan said. “We’ve gotten a lot of students, which I found surprising at first.” Monaghan said because Ann Arbor is known for its non-dry nightlife, it was a bit of a wonder that so many students have shown up to Brillig. LSA sophomore Maddy Moog was one of the students at Brillig on Saturday night. “One thing I really liked about it was that it was like a judge-free zone,” Moog said. “It was a great way to go out with friends and not feel like you had any pressure on you to consume alcohol.” However, to Sims, the fact that students are drawn to Brillig is a particular type of success, a solution to a question she had long been trying answer. “How can I provide an alternative to the myth that recreation requires alcohol consumption?” Sims asked. “How can I make teens understand that it’s not a right of passage to grow up, to be drunk?” She said she wanted to show
young people that they could go out to a bar-like environment and have fun without getting drunk. This message is particularly important to Sims because she and her husband have two teenage children, one 16 and one 17. In addition to the family and baristas from Mighty Good Coffee, several of Sims’ friends also wanted to be a part of the Brillig project and work dry bar events. “It always feels like we’re just having a big party at the café,” Sims said. As of now, Sims’ party drink of choice is the Brooklyn Egg Cream — being from Brooklyn herself, it makes her “nostalgic and happy and feel good.” The Brooklyn Egg Cream is also one of Monaghan’s favorites. “It almost makes you feel like you’re a kid, it’s like a chocolate soda,” Monaghan said. “It’s been one of our most consistent drinks. It’s really nice and sweet and a lot of people really like it.” Sims said each step she takes with Brillig is a baby step toward expanding the community’s idea of nightlife culture. Now, she is beginning to consult with other businesses interested in mirroring her business model and has trademarked some of the dry bar’s drinks. “This is my heart and soul and guts, everywhere,” she said.
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PROTEST From Page 1A
CARS From Page 1A
comments like “Go home, fascists” and “Why aren’t you protesting against Obama,” several audience members took flyers explaining Gergiev’s political stances from the protesters and offered to read it inside the theatre premises. Ann Arbor resident Arsenia Kozak, an active member of the Ukranian cultural community in Greater Detroit, said it was hard to separate the art from the politics when Ukrainians were dying from the policies that Gergiev condoned. “The arts is beautiful and I’m not saying anything against Gergiev as a conductor,” she said. “Even if (people) go in there and listen to his music, I want them to be aware of what is happening in Ukraine.” UMS President Ken Fisher said the protest was not unique and the musical society has seen similar demonstrations in the past when Russian artists have graced Hill Auditorium. “I’m all for freedom of speech, and I’m really impressed that people that are doing this have chosen this vehicle,” he said, commending the protestors for not attempting to disrupt the concert. “At a university, we need to first of all celebrate freedom of speech, but also be tolerant of different points of view.” Nevertheless, given the Mariinsky Orchestra’s 23 year history with UMS and the Ann Arbor community, Fisher said the “extraordinary things” Gergiev had achieved artistically deserved recognition. “We made the decision over two years ago to honor Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra,” Fisher explained. “They are among the best in the world, and we try to separate politics from their artistic achievements, and also from the contributions they’ve made to our community.”
rect imaging data. When paired with other components of the NGV project, these advances aim to launch the first class of driverless vehicles. Led by Ryan Eustice, associate professor of engineering, and Edwin Olson, associate professor of computer science and engineering, the NGV project has a team of graduate students developing vehicle technologies like new navigational and obstacle detection systems designed to enhance driver safety, reduce vehicle production costs and ultimately design a self-driving car. Arash Ushani, an engineering graduate student, said the NGV project will have a long lifespan at the University even after it accomplishes its target goals. “It’s like saying, ‘Do you think airplanes will be complete once you make something that flies?’ ” Ushani said. “There’s always ways you can improve it to make it better.” Ryan Wolcott, an engineering graduate student, has been working on the NGV project’s navigational system since 2012. The system employs the same type of camera technology used in video gaming systems to produce three-dimensional mapping data. “The end goal is for driver safety,” Wolcott said, “It’s obvious that human drivers are not very good at driving. You know, people have gotten accustomed to fatalities with driving just because it’s such an important piece of technology. Technology can fill in the gaps where humans are distracted, or what have you. It’s ultimately technology that the user can then turn
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FASHION From Page 1A “As a model, you get to showcase the designer’s art,” Nwamba said. “It’s a fun experience because you get to get out of your comfort zone. It allows you to not only express the designers’ art, but also express your own art — the way you express the fashion.” The show opened with styles from Moscow. As fake snow fell on the audience, models walked down the runway wearing coldweather designs such as fur coats and hats. The “train” then moved to Tokyo, where models displayed a “modern” style, sporting pantsuits and messen-
SURVEY From Page 1A on their own campuses as well as nationally,” AAU President Hunter Rawlings said in a statement. “We also hope the survey will help policymakers gain a better understanding of the
News on.” However, it will still be a while before driverless vehicles hit the market, as researchers run into obstacles. The navigation system, for example, has trouble adapting to a change in weather conditions and is difficult to implement in natural gas vehicles. The vehicle’s software independently deciphers the images it collects to make operating decisions. The transition from laser scanning technology to NGV’s camera-based unit is projected to significantly reduce the cost of vehicle navigation systems, setting their project apart from other, higher-cost projects that use lasers. “A lot of the bigger companies like Google rely on (lasers) so heavily,” Wolcott said. “A key part of their infrastructure is these laser scanners. But it’d be nice long term to have the cameras as maybe the only sensor because they’re far easier to conceal. It will lead to a car that looks more attractive.” Engineering junior Carl Kershaw worked on the NGV project as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. “We have a few research vehicles, but they have to be hybrids because of how much power the computers draw,” he said. “Those cars are very expensive because they’re covered in sensors, basically. You try to plug this into a normal car, you basically slowly drain the battery.” Ford Motor Company and State Farm Insurance sponsor the NGV project, in collaboration with April Robotics Laboratory. Further NGV testing will be conducted at the University’s new Mobility Transformation Center testing facility, set to open this spring.
ger bags, intended to capture the essence of a rapidly growing Tokyo fashion industry. The audience cheered loudly when the Detroit scene began. Models wore clothing inspired by the city and its sports teams. The final scene, displaying fashion from Rio de Janeiro, opened with a model walking down the runway carrying a live snake. In an e-mail interview, LSA senior Christopher James, a member of the EnspiRED e-board, said a high-fashion show allows for all types of flourishes. “Once the lights come on and the music plays, you will forget that you’re at a student-run show,” James wrote.
problem, and that it will make a significant contribution to the growing body of research on sexual assault,” he added. Correction appended: A previous version of this article misstated the number of AAU member universities. It is 62, not 64. Twenty-eight campuses are participating in the survey.
CONFERENCE From Page 1A sion with regard to the South Asian community at the University and beyond. “It was kind of an attempt to create a space for conversations that weren’t being had in the South Asian community,” Shetty said. “It was kind of a place to bring people together and start engaging with those issues with leaders in our communities.” This year, “Threads” focused on personal stories from various members of the South Asian community, emphasizing the significance of individuals’ journeys and the relation to their identities. Public Policy senior Raeesa Khan, co-director of SAAN and the conference, said the “Threads” theme diverged from previous iterations of the conference, which concentrated more on business and entrepreneurship. She added that the goal this year shifted toward social justice and activism. “We’re trying to show participants that you can make some sort of change, whether that’s change at an individual level or a larger level within in your field regardless of whether you’re a doctor, lawyer or artist,” Khan said. This year’s guests were activist Almas Haider, comedian Hari Kondabolu, actor and writer Sunny Tripathy, youth activist Saajan Bhakta, pediatric specialist Seema Jilani and Mahima Mahadevan, who works at the Education Policy Initiative at the Ford School. Past SAAN conference speakers include University alum Sanjay Gupta, the CNN medical correspondent, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi and actor Kal Penn. Each of the speakers presented their experiences with South Asian identity in a narrative form by providing stories and examples from their own lives. Kondabolu, who performed the introductory act for “Threads,” addressed the importance of hosting an event like the SAAN conference because he feels that many young South Asians follow a tunnel vision to their career
Monday, January 26, 2015 — 3A paths, and don’t have enough social justice awareness. “They have their career path and some of it’s pressure from the parents and some of it’s from going to great schools,” Kondabolu said. “This isn’t all (South Asians), but … I think they forget the bigger issues and the context that they live in. “Awareness is a minimal requirement to know what’s happening in the world and perhaps do something about it,” he added. “Every year I’m always impressed by (SAAN), even when I’m not invited. It’s not just one token event; it’s actually a commitment to justice.” Tripathy, who is an actor and writer for a newly developed Fox show titled “Keeping Up with the Guptas,” said being the victim of a hate crime when he was 16 years old shaped his personal character and his future ambitions. Tripathy was attacked by a neoNazi gang on the day of his prom and was left severely injured, with a broken clavicle that still protrudes today. Realizing his life could end any day, he began to work harder at his schooling and filmmaking, of which he became an avid fan after receiving a camcorder to document his sister’s childhood. South Asians have such diverse subsections, Tripathy said, that that holding a conference like SAAN is necessary. “(The South Asian community) needs its own voice,” Tripathy said. “It needs its own space and I think the more people know about our cultures, our ideas, our philosophies, they’ll see that we’re no different from anybody else.” Bhakta, youth activist and CEO of the non-profit PovSolve, shared his narrative related to mental health — a topic he said is taboo in South Asian communities. Bhakta, who was invited to the White House and honored by President Barack Obama, detailed how his own struggle with mental health, resulting from years of emotional abuse, inspired him to help his community. “We’re a community and in order to make a difference we have to come together as a com-
munity and we have to be able to talk about sensitive issues like mental health and breaking stigmas,” Bhakta said. Khan, the event co-director, said while the speakers were special, the subsequent group conversations were just as important — if not more so. After each workshop, attendees split into small groups to discuss what they had heard and share their individual perspectives. These groups were comprised of 12 to 15 randomly selected students with two members of SAAN trained to help facilitate discussion about potentially sensitive and triggering issues. Throughout the conference, members of the “Threads” Central Planning Team and small group facilitators continually emphasized the importance of a safe space for these conversations. “The strengths of the small group is that the conference really tries to tap into different communities on campus and provide a space where all those narratives can be shared,” Shetty said. “This is to build trust and to build a group of people that you become comfortable talking (to) about not only these issues, but, this year especially, your own personal narratives,” Khan added. Two of the small group facilitators, LSA junior Amanda Ruesch and LSA sophomore Sidra Kader, said the conference left them feeling more challenged about their own perceptions of the issues at play. “Facilitating is a (much) different role than participating,” Ruesch said “It challenges you and it actually makes you think a little bit more, just because you have to be the one to come up with questions to ask.” Kader was not only a first-time facilitator, but also a first-time attendant of the conference. She said she liked delving deeper into the social issues that were presented at the conference, and felt empowered by her facilitator role. “If I can be in control of this, well I can be in control of making the change we need to make and have improvements in society, which is the point of the conference, is it not?” Kader said.
Opinion
4A — Monday, January 26, 2015
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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
I
Evaluating WSN
have an interest in mental health care, in both definitions of the word “interest.” I find the topic interesting to read about and discuss, and as a person suffering from mental illness, it is in my best interest for these services to be available, affordable and transparent. As news began to trickle out about Wolverine Support Network, a system of student-run mental health JAMES support groups, my curiosity BRENNAN was peaked. WSN is an initiative of Central Student Government (something in which I certainly do not have an interest) and was one of the major proposals outlined during last spring’s student elections. The idea of student-led support groups came from CSG President Bobby Dishell, who had seen similar initiatives played out at high schools and smaller colleges. WSN launched on Jan. 22, and soon groups of 10 to 12 students will begin weekly meetings. As the program slowly unveiled itself, I was deeply skeptical. Some students I spoke with expressed a lack of confidence in these groups, fearing that the issues faced by marginalized students would be misunderstood or dismissed by their peers. My chief concern was, and still is, the concept of loosely trained students acting as group leaders, especially if this could result in attention and resources moving away from professional clinicians. To further complicate the matter, WSN has been strongly endorsed by Counseling and Psychological Services, a University service with a mixed track record. CAPS has served thousands of students this year alone, but it’s also the place that — for me and many others — told us an initial appointment would be two weeks away and a follow-up would take another two weeks. I’ve had good and bad experiences at CAPS, and have heard the same from numerous peers. As the vital campus center for mental health, “half good, half bad” appeared to me as closer to failure than success. A discussion with Dr. Todd Sevig, director of CAPS, helped me begin to see WSN (and CAPS) in a different light. Sevig, who has spent 25 years at the University, called the idea of a peer support network “the best thing since sliced bread.” Explaining his feelings, Sevig framed WSN as a point of entry, perhaps for a student who will use clinical therapy down the road, or as the first and only interaction another student will need to build better coping skills. “We try to approach ‘mental health, mental illness’ as really resting on a continuum, where, really, in some sense of the word or definition, all 43,000 students could use help and support around mental health,” Sevig explained. “For some students, it will be easier to talk to a peer than one of us as a good first step.” Sevig made a good point, and I was reminded that my condition and personal preferences lay on a very different part of this continuum
A
than most students. As for those awful wait times, during the Fall 2013 semester, students waited 10 days on average between coming in and seeing someone at CAPS. During the Fall 2014 semester, under a new initial appointment system, student wait times fell to an average of 3.7 days — and this is with an 18 percent increase in the number of students coming in and asking for help. CSG President Bobby Dishell and WSN student leader Nick Raja both echoed many of Sevig’s points, describing peer support groups as having a lower barrier for students to get help. This is a lower barrier than going to CAPS, but also a lower barrier to something that may be even more difficult for some students, like telling their parents. “It’s an entry point for someone who didn’t grow up with a therapist in their home town, and its an entry point for someone who took a semester off to do inpatient,” Dishell explained. “For some people, it’ll be a supplement. For other people, it’ll be all they need.” Dishell also assured me, “We’re not training therapists.” Raja, who will be leading a student group with at least one other leader, spoke similarly, saying, “It’s not therapy, it’s for everyone.” He further explained that the leader’s role is to facilitate, not to be a counselor, and that a large part of WSN leader training was understanding how to recommend students for more comprehensive treatment. Dishell, though humble about the network’s goals in helping individual students, has made it no secret that WSN has ambitious aims, saying, “In five years, hopefully less, it’ll just be something that you do. It’ll be engrained in the culture.” Raja, who wrote an op-ed earlier this fall promoting WSN, mentioned the idea of “changing campus culture,” a promise that seems to be made by countless student groups every semester. I discussed with Sevig how lately, campus culture has been changing in the wrong direction. “Every year, it seems, that the pressure to be the Leaders and the Best has gotten higher and higher and higher — and that has some consequences,” Sevig said. One of the biggest consequences, Sevig explained, is “a sense of ‘I can’t fail; I can’t even do average work.’ ” On a campus built with the purpose of education, students are instead faced with a perfectionist mentality that stifles learning and fuels anxiety. This is a culture that all of us are familiar with, and one that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. For now, I’ll cling to some of my skepticism about WSN, at least in the big picture. However, student leaders backing WSN are going in the right direction, as is CAPS under Sevig’s leadership. Hopefully some of this work really will “change campus culture” — in that, I would certainly find quite a high level of interest. — James Brennan can be reached at jmbthree@umich.edu.
The cycle
t the request of those interviewed, all identities in this piece have been written with pseudonyms. Emit — a white man in his middle 30s — has been living on the streets in Ann Arbor since his release from a county prison, where he served a seven-year stint for an armed robbery conviction. He received parole and was expected upon his release to rejoin a society of which he had never truly been AUSTIN a member. “They told me I could go DAVIS to therapy,” Emit said of the options made available to him by the county. “They did give me a place. But (the transition) wasn’t easy.” Emit was set up in an apartment and was eligible to become employed through a prisoner reentry program. For Emit, however, it didn’t feel like a new start, but rather a mere change of scenery. Emit was outfitted with an electronic tether, confined to travel only between his apartment and his workplace. Traveling outside of these bounds would have been a violation of his parole and would have landed him back in prison. After a period of time — alone day after day without friends or family in the state — Emit felt as if he had never left his prison cell. “You know what they say: if you put a rat in a cage, he drives himself insane,” he said. The emotional stress and the depression that festered with each passing day of his release started to get to Emit, especially once he began to realize that the wages he had been earning at
his entry-level job weren’t even enough to cover rent for the apartment he had been given. When Emit tried appealing to his landlord, he was told that he would be evicted if he couldn’t make the rent payments on time. And as a felon with “a real jacked-up criminal record,” even prior to his most recent felony incarceration, the prospect of an additional job was bleak; Emit found himself in a downward cycle that he didn’t know how to break. According to research done by the Population Studies Center, this is a struggle typical for parolees. “I quit the job, acting irrational. All of a sudden, I had no job, no place. So what am I gonna do?” Emit recalled asking himself. His solution: a return to the transient life on the streets he had lived since leaving his hometown in Maine as a teen. Not able to leave the state as a condition of his parole, Emit chose to settle in amongst the homeless population in Ann Arbor. According to a 2013 census, 3,000 to 4,000 individuals are living without homes in Washtenaw County, a number which doubled in the years between 2011 and 2013. Emit — shortly after quitting his job — joined their ranks. After doing so, he noticed a huge difference between his reality on the streets in Ann Arbor and his experiences with homelessness in other cities across the nation; the community in Ann Arbor — both those with and without homes — was something unique. In comparison to neighboring Ypsilanti — a city with a median household income almost $20,000 lower than that of Ann Arbor, according to statistics from 2012 — Emit said he’s able to get more sympathy from both passersby and
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police in Ann Arbor. Relative to other cities, he’s treated with some normative level of respect here. “It’s peaceful … although there’s a ton of competition, you can still get by,” he said. He also noticed solidarity amongst other members of the homeless population in Ann Arbor, a community that congregates in designated, clandestine spots around the city center. They help each other out with places to find food and shelter. “Anything you need,” Emit said, “someone will tell you where it’s at usually.” I didn’t want to seem patronizing, like I was just a curious kid coming up and asking his life story at no personal benefit to him. So I bought him a cup of coffee and kicked it with him for a bit longer. He joked with me at times, describing his preference for the bizarre — his preference for
H
unrestrained freedom. “ ‘Bizarre’ is one of the excitements of life; it’s like a way to experience life. It keeps things interesting. It’s the randomness. It’s the new experiences. You can find everything these days, but still random bullshit happens. It’s an adventure.” I considered that, and had to admit that I agreed; spontaneity, randomness and serendipity are nouns I’d like to use to describe my life as well. But as my hands began to grow numb from dictating our conversation, I realized that perhaps this was a justification for Emit, a way to lighten his mental burden by assuring himself that there are some redeeming aspects to his situation. The bags underneath his eyes, and his hands, calloused and dirty from exposure, contradicted this sentiment. So too did his future goals. “It’s time to do something and get
going,” Emit told me. “Get a job, a place, community college, a better job and civilization.” The concept of ‘civilization’ came up frequently during our conversation. After a while it dawned on me: despite the humor, intelligence and civility with which I’d come to know Emit over the course of our conversation, he classified himself as one outside of society. And really, he is. But not for want of reentry. Emit had to leave to catch a bus to meet his parole officer. I left our conversation wondering if employers in this city — whose community Emit felt treated him with respect — would respect a parolee enough to give him another shot. — Austin Davis can be reached at austchan@umich.edu.
Visceral reactions
ave you ever heard a song that just clicked with you? Having some involuntary bodily response to the chords or lyrics, feeling like you may have ascended to some other musical realm? I’m not talking about the gagging feeling you might get SARA when you hear SHAMASKIN “CoCo” by O.T. Genasis, I’m talking about something real. For a moment, think back to a time when a song gave you goosebumps, brought tears to your eyes or brought forth the feeling of a rock in your stomach. Band songs, musical songs and even popular songs on your iPod can trigger these responses. I talked with Chelsea Zabel, a senior psychology major, about some of the songs that gave her chills. Two of the songs were from musicals: “Till We Reach That Day” from “Ragtime” and “One Day More” from “Les Miserables.” “Ragtime” is about three families from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, while “Les Miserable” is a story following an ex-convict as he tries to do good despite tensions between the French government and people in 19th-century France. For both, the end of Act I is closed by its respective song, one immediately after a war uprising and the other after *SPOILER* the death of a
main character. Tensions have risen in both plots, and both songs are calls to justice in response to recent events. Zabel describes the point in the show when you are “pre-invested in the storyline,” forming connections with the plot and the characters. Each song starts with pain from a single voice. But strength begins to grow when it starts building with other singers. “It starts when you’re already on edge, then it just fills out to where you can’t think about anything else because there is just so much going on,” Zabel said. “You’re just inside of the music.” The point of a good musical is to envelop you and transport you to that time and that scene. Music is there to bridge the connection between the audience member and the actors, portraying not just the plot, but the emotions as well. Now think about a time when you created something amazing. Whether you built it at MHacks, in a wood shop with your hands, in the kitchen or with an instrument, you were proud, right? You put in the time, effort and elements that you knew needed to be a part of the final product. I immediately think to “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” by Richard Wagner. A percussionist in high school, I played timpani for this song. After months of practice, I had not thought much about “Elsa” and let it go (pun intended) with the other songs to the back of my mind. But come concert time, performance ready and played with perfection, the song immediately caused me tears and chills. It was beautiful; we had
worked so hard to create such a beautiful piece. Building slowly, the processional becomes more robust with emotion and volume. Even listening to it as I write this, I am taken back to that exact concert. How about popular songs? You may have heard it a thousand times on the radio when it was nauseatingly repeated, or some oldie but goodie when iTunes was on shuffle. But was there a time when it meant something different? Zabel remembers a time in sixth grade when the song “The Middle” came on by Jimmy Eat World. As she had heard it before, this song spoke to the (then) insecure, middle-school Chelsea. Making her cry, she said she felt relieved because “the song was telling me ‘… everything was going to be alright, alright. Doin’ better on your own, so don’t buy in.’ Oh my gosh, it’s speaking to me!” Those days when certain songs don’t just go from one earbud to the other, but actually sit in your brain and make you think and react; those are the days when you actually hear the lyrics. So here’s what you do now. Go to YouTube and listen to these songs, think about how you’re feeling while listening to it. Listen to the songs a couple times if you have to, see how your body and mind respond. If you remember a song that caused some involuntary response in you, I want to know! Whether it is a T-Swift song or some piece you played in middleschool jazz band, one day it might arise and spark some reaction inside of you. — Sara Shamaskin can be reached at scsham@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David Harris, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Linh Vu, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
TRAVON JEFFERSON| MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Speakin’ Black ain’t easy
What’s up? Ya’ll good? Yes my dear reader, this is an educational article despite the few sentences you will catch of a different dialect: Black English Vernacular (BEV) to be exact. I apologize for any headaches or bottomless confusion I may cause in advance to any “Standard English” or “Strict Grammar” readers that may stumble across this article. Don’t let the confusion of this dialect deter you, let it motivate you to learn it and become “articulate.” You may come across words that looked misspelled but certainly, in BEV, these words are spelled phonetically correct. For instance the word “mouth,” phonetically speaking, BEV speakers replace the Θ sound, which pronounces the “th” sound in “mouth” and instead use “f” so the word will actually be spelled “mouf” that’s basic BEV phonology 101 for ya’. All the contractions, the twangish vocabulary words that I type up, or any other complex Black English grammar that I may lose the reader in, my bad. So, if you can tolerate my unbearable black syntax, stick around and you just may learn something! Growing up in a heavily African American/Black American populated area, I got the dialect I’m so proud to call my own. My BEV is so deeply rooted inside my heart that it’s clear where I come from the moment I speak. Detroit, Michigan, raised on the east side to be exact. All my life, I was corrected for the way I talked. I had to be extremely careful, to make sure I pronounce every word with clarity and don’t I dare incorporate those BEV grammar rules or governing syntax. Of course, I only had to monitor my speaking in school, because I wanna sound intelligent and I want the teacher to see that I am intelligent. My whole thing is, do I not sound intelligent? Just because I speak with this minority dialect, does that really make
me stupid? Nah I ain’t stupid, clearly the President Barack Obama has the same vernacular I do. If anything, my BEV is what’s up because it shows that I’m multi-dialectical. Yep, I can switch between speaking Black, and then switch to speaking what people call “Standard English.” So my next question, my dear audience, do you know anybody that speaks with a BEV dialect? Were they speaking clear English but you just couldn’t grasp why, for some reason, they decided to put that habitual “be” in the place of an adverb such as usually? Did I lose you? Don’t worry, I have examples for days: Have you ever heard someone say, “She be eating a lot?” Or, for more of a direct college experience, “He be studying?” Do you be confused? I hope so. ‘Cause, now that you’re confused, I can pull you out of that confusion pit and teach you a thing or two. I can teach you something that linguists have been trying to educate people on for years. Black English Vernacular is not stupid, it’s not a dysfunctional piece of English, and it’s a dialect that has developed a complex system of rules and syntax. Seriously, can you really say something is dumb or not right when it has a full-blown system, which if not followed carefully will make the speaker sound outright wrong and garner the confused looks of every natural BEV speaker? For instance, if a non-BEV speaker tries to use the habitual “be,” they would probably say something such as, “He is studying,” which makes no sense BEV syntax-wise. In Standard English and non-BEV, speakers will use the verb “to be” correctly, but BEV natives have a different way of saying it. For quick and easy BEV speakers, we use that good ol’ BEV syntax and drop that “to be” verb “is” and turn that into a habitual “be” and you have “he be studying.” The beauty that comes with the habitual “be” is that it does not have
no specific time frame. Standard English speakers would hear “Travon be studying,” and think that I’m off somewhere studying at that very moment. According to BEV natives I could be studying now, later, or sometime last week, just know I be studying. My dear readers, BEV is a great dialect where you must possess the correct rules to speak it, but you need to have that slur/paused way of speaking, the nice little twang that compliments it. Ms. Jamila Lyiscott explained a perfect rule in her TED Talk “3 ways to speak English” (haven’t heard of her? Please educate yourself now) when she said her mother mocked BEV saying, “Y’all be madd going to the store” and Ms. Lyiscot instantly corrected her in response saying, “never does madd go before a present participle.” This is in fact true. Now, you’re thinking that mad is an emotion, actually mad turned into an adverb that modifies adjectives or verbs, for example “that was mad cool yo.” Don’t worry my dear readers, I won’t delve deep into the various vocabulary terms and the way how their definitions switch in accordance to the syntax of BEV. My point is, however, next time you see that friend/classmate/person speaking with a twang and mixing up that “Standard English” syntax and turning it into another perfect English dialect known as BEV, don’t downplay their intelligence. PLEASE don’t ask them to steady repeat themselves, and whatever you do, don’t try and imitate the way they mouf’s form and shape them words because trust and believe, if you don’t sound right you will get the straightest, coldest and blankest stare of your life. Cause guess what, BEV gotta complex system of syntax, that to speak it properly and be able to code-switch into “Standard English” makes you what me and Jamila like to call articulate. Travon Jefferson is an LSA junior.
Arts
5A — Monday, January 26, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALBUM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
ONE LITTLE INDIAN
Don’t push her in, she’ll short circuit.
Björk’s strange, Depp sinks deeper dark ‘Vulnicura’ in dull ‘Mortdecai’
LIONSGATE
Jack Sparrow would kick this guy’s ass.
Björk’s new album is a challenging avant-garde work By AMELIA ZAK Daily Music Editor
There’s an episode of Friends where Ross reawakens a personal piano “sound” he acquired in college. He wants each No grade song to be understood as will be a “wordless given sound poem,” made complete Vulnicura by helicopter sounds, door- Björk bells, jackham- One Little mer noises Indian and dog barks. The rest of the “Friends” cast neglects to inform him of these floundering artistic attempts. When listening to Björk’s newest album, Vulnicura, I felt like Ross. Any attempt I would make at recreating the sounds of Vulnicura would be equally as awkward and ridiculous. I could never reproduce these sounds — I couldn’t even sing them in the shower — and I can barely apprehend the Icelandic depth or enjoyment that some could find in Vulnicura. The album floats around the marriage of three musical elements: Björk’s specific throaty and moaning voice, a recurring string section and the impossibly cool additions of revered electronic artists like Matthew Herbert and Haxan Cloak. In the past, Björk’s albums followed outlandish themes (her last revolved around her thoughts and opinions of the growing universe), but here Björk has never been more vulnerable. It’s as if she opened up her diary and began to sing its contents aloud. Her voice cries over every track, explaining her marriage’s decline and the disintegration of her once whole family. The album is a dam breaking that held back waters of Björk’s nervous depression. Fogged by a high school obsession with Björk’s 1993 single, “Big Time Sensuality,” I imagined I was qualified enough to conquer the album. I was deeply mistaken. This type of experimental music surpasses other modern bands of the same genre, like St. Vincent and tUnE-yArDs, in its depth and ability to be understood by the everyday listener. Unqualified to properly review this kind of avant-garde art, I received the album as a fascinated third party. So here’s my song-by-song, minute-by-minute transcribed listening session of the album. If you have the album, or are skilled in the fine art of “finding free shit on the Internet,” jump in with me: The album begins with “Stonemilker.” With a strong cello and string section beginning, I am surprised from the start. Her emotional, hiccuping voice enters in slowly, dragging you into a series of pleads to a lover she’s losing. “Show me emotional respect,” she whispers. Deep bass vibrations emerge and the speakers in my room start to shake. I imagine
Björk shaking as much as my bedside table as she coughs the question “What is it that I have that makes me feel your pain?” Lying on the ground, listening along, I’m starting to become more and more aware of my emotional and musical shortcomings that do not permit my critical analysis of this album. Next song, “Lionsong” — a personal favorite of mine. With absolutely no consistencies other than the string section that follows along, it feels like your buckled into a rollercoaster of Björk’s crippling heart. That sounds dramatic, but just go take a listen. “Maybe he will come out of this loving me?” — ouch. “History of Touches” digs deeper into an electronic sound. A synthesized piano and heavy electronic base guides the song with each sound vibrating off her voice. The song drags itself out of the emotional and into the physical, recalling “every single fuck we had together in a wondrous time lapse.” At only three minutes long, this is possibly the most digestable song on the album. “Black Lake” is a 10-minute adventure of the mind that made me wish I had cannabis on hand. The album is starting to become sonically repetitive: here’s another string-based song layered over by a string of electronic creations. With each new verse the song builds with pounds and rolls of strings. If you can’t survive the entire track, just try and make it to the song’s apex, lasting from the fourth to the fifth minute. From there until the completion of the song you are trudging through the emotional sludge of the Black Lake with Björk. Bring some weed, and good luck. Following “Black Lake,” I went to “Family” looking for an emotional and musical respite. Instead I found another outlandish and dark creation with (surprise!) strings, electronics and Björk’s depictions of her newly created vat of human sadness that could easily be slipped into the film score of “Alien.” The largest distinction to be found in “Family” is Björk’s malleable vocals as it occupies an almost witch-like persona. Minute three arrived, a strong cello appears, and any ebb and flow I thought I had begun to understand disappears immediately. “Notget” follows the theme of the album. More strings, more cries of sadness, more really cool electronics. “Our love could not keep us safe from death”, “Without love I feel the abyss and understand your fear of death” are some of the throaty proclamations. This repetition has my sympathies dissipating quickly. A respite! Finally! “Atom Dance” is the waltz of this album. I was surprised (but with all this weird nothing really surprised me at this point) by this unique dance number; it is the closest the album comes to the happier songs — and apparently times — that Bjork once gave in ’90s albums like Post and Debut. It was here that I played “Big Time Sensuality” just to remind myself that Björk has known happier times. And
maybe she’ll find happiness again soon? You poor woman. My poor confused roommates. “Mouth Mantra” contains some of the most impressive electronic work on the album. At six minutes long I’m expecting to be bored by the repetition of sonic themes (strings, electronics, Björk’s vocals) but here I was pleasantly surprised. It’s pretty late, and I’m pretty exhausted, but this song has me envisioning myself venturing through outer-space with Björk as she sings to me about sacrifice. This isn’t entirely unpleasant. And finally, the light at the end of the deep dark tunnel of this album: “Quicksand” arrives with electronic spasms. Slow strings emerge once again, but at only two minutes long and with a change of topic — Björk’s words finally start describe a hope for rebirth — the song grips your ears until its finish. One of the album’s last lines says, “when she is broken she is whole and when she is whole she is broken.” This album would, and probably should, end in a confusing, insightful paradox.
By VANESSA WONG Daily Arts Writer
Certain tropes reappear in cinema so frequently that we might as well consider them laws of nature. Serious actors C+ + empowering real life story Mortdecai = Oscar. Seth Rogan + fart Rave and jokes = com- Quality 16 edy. These are Lionsgate simplistic and well-trodden concepts, but they work. “Mortdecai” takes a stab at its own genre specific equation, picking English Dandy off the cinematic shelves and tossing it in the medley with International Heist and Frivolous Antics. And we can’t forget the mustaches. Because those are hip and funny, right? Not always, kids. The eponymous protagonist Charles Mortdecai (Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean”), a well-groomed and perpetually featherbrained art dealer, gets tangled up in a scheme to recover a lost Goya painting. Not only is the paint-
ing a masterpiece, it also supposedly contains Hermann Goering’s lucrative bank account details. Clearly, many people are after this painting, but Mortdecai must get his hands on it first. Illegal at times, this caper takes Mortdecai dangerously close to Russian thugs, nymphomaniac daughters and fellow art rivals. All this while an MI6 agent cozies up to Mortdecai’s beautiful wife (Gwyneth Paltrow, “Shakespeare in Love”) and cracks in the marriage emerge. “Mortdecai” flounders because its foundational components are too iconic to rebrand under another name. It’s too easy to tease out the film’s inspirations. It touches on Wes Anderson kitsch through a “Pink Panther”-style slapstick comedy lens. In fact, Mortdecai seems like a direct synthesis of Jacques Clousseau and Gustave H. Its storyline also evokes that of the “Grand Budapest Hotel,” which is painfully obvious considering that “Grand Budapest” was released less than a year ago. In this film, the equation that originally arose from pure receptivity now becomes
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Monday, January 26, 2015
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a sophomoric crutch to borrow from already successful predecessors. Mortdecai himself, the supposed heartbeat of the film, isn’t as powerful of a character as he needs to be. His charm can’t support his arrogance, nor does his debonair background contrast sharply enough with his clumsiness. There’s also the added issue that the audience must stomach Depp and Paltrow’s gratingly awful English accents for two whole hours. The entire film revolves around Mortdecai’s eccentricities, and though everything seems to align, he fails to lock it all together, as it falls f lat in the end. It’s disappointing to see Depp, a powerhouse actor, bumbling around in a role like this. If the audience can overlook the film’s many hurdles, we’re rewarded with at least a few decently funny gags. After all, it does stick to the triedand-true formula, and maybe mustaches really can invoke laughter. But it still can’t cancel out the gravity of “Mortdecai” ’s biggest sin: it just tried way, way too hard.
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ACROSS 1 Parking lot fillers 5 “Me too!” 10 Cutlass automaker 14 Nike competitor 15 Valuable violin, for short 16 Genesis or Exodus, e.g. 17 Like the 1920s’30s, economically 19 Wild revelry 20 Audition hopefuls 21 Enjoyed a sail, say 23 Indian melodies 24 Excellent work 27 Dean’s email suffix 28 Japanese sash 30 Back of a flipped coin 31 2,000 pounds 32 Uncooked 34 Greek messenger of the gods 35 Dramatic weight-loss program 38 Geek Squad member 41 Fireworks reaction 42 EPA-banned pesticide 45 Roger who broke Babe Ruth’s record 46 Refusals 48 Prior to, in poems 49 Deadeye with a rifle 53 “A Doll’s House” playwright 55 Decorative inlaid work 56 Watchful Japanese canines 57 Comet Hale-__ 59 Hectic predeadline period 61 Thought from la tête 62 Hayes or Hunt 63 Slaughter in the Baseball Hall of Fame 64 Surrender, as territory 65 Grab 66 Emailed
DOWN 1 Musical set at the Kit Kat Club 2 Guacamole fruit 3 Tear gas weapon 4 Margaret Mead subject 5 Georgia and Latvia, once: Abbr. 6 Horseplayer’s haunt, for short 7 Island near Curaçao 8 Perry in court 9 Convention pinon 10 Section of a woodwind quintet score 11 Conrad classic 12 Guard that barks 13 Big __ Country: Montana 18 Approximately 22 One-to-one student 24 Prejudice 25 Corrida cry 26 Undergraduate degrees in biol., e.g. 29 Scottish hillside 33 Detective’s question 34 Sunshine cracker
35 Massachusetts city crossed by four Interstates 36 Insurance covers them 37 “Please stop that” 38 Film lover’s TV choice 39 Corn serving 40 Hardly roomy, as much airline seating 42 Preordain 43 “It’ll never happen!”
44 Most uptight 47 Many a Punjabi 50 Goldman __: investment banking giant 51 New employee 52 Eyelike openings 54 Tugs at a fishing line 56 Clearasil target 57 Clic Stic pen maker 58 Poem that extols 60 Pince-__ glasses
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Arts
6A — Monday, January 26, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BOOK REVIEW
CONCERT COVER
Sherm’s intricate Sam Smith’s soulful ‘Unbecoming’ songs at Masonic By GIBSON JOHNS Daily Arts Writer
University alumnus releases debut mystery novel By CAROLYN DARR Daily Arts Writer
“The first lie Grace had told Hanna was her name. ‘Bonjour, je m’appelle Julie,’ Grace had said. She’d been in Paris for only a month and her French was still new and stiff. She’d chosen the name Julie because it was sweet and easy on the French tongue — much more so than Grace was. The best lies were the simplest and made the most sense, in the mind and in the mouth. These lies were the easiest to swallow.” Thus begins Rebecca Scherm’s debut novel “Unbecoming,” and from there the reader must follow Grace through all the lies as her past is slowly revealed. We are first introduced to Grace, or Julie, in Paris, as a young American expatriate scraping out a living restoring antiques at Zanzu et Filles. The only time she allows herself to think about her past is for a few minutes each night when she anxiously checks the Albemarle Record, the only newspaper in her small home town of Garland, Tennesse. Through the lens of an a former classmate’s reporting, she has followed the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Riley and Alls, the love of her life and his best friend. Throughout the novel Scherm takes her readers back and forth between Grace’s
REBECCA SHERM
Our columnists wish they could look this good.
impoverished present in Paris and her idyllic past in Garland, where she met and fell in love with Riley Graham in sixth grade. She quickly became part of the Graham family, with a room made up especially for her in the attic and Mrs. Graham becoming a beautiful and elegant surrogate mother. The Grahams were everything Grace’s family wasn’t and she quickly became accustomed to the love she found in their inner fold. Now, Riley and his friend Alls are getting out of prison and the truth is that the fault for their convication lies with Grace. Now she can never come home or have any contact with anyone from her past, living with the constant fear that her history will catch up with her. Scherm intricately arranges her story, sanding off each layer to reveal a different complication underneath, much as
Grace painstakingly restores the antique James Mont box she finds in a Paris f lea market. As both a classic romance and a scintillating mystery, “Unbecoming” keeps readers engrossed through a multitude of twists and surprises. Grace herself is an extremely multilayered character, a selfproclaimed liar that the reader knows is untrustworthy from the beginning. Yet, even as more of her is revealed and her good-girl veneer disintegrates, Grace manages to hold your interest, if only to find out if she gets what is coming to her. Scherm received her MFA from the University and participated in the Zell Fellows Program as a post-graduate. The author will be at Literati Bookstore on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to celebrate the launch of her novel and the beginning of many readers’ journey into Grace’s life and lies.
There was one point during his Thursday show in Detroit during which Sam Smith seemed like he might actually still be lonely. After all, he had announced his recent break-up at a show in Toronto just two days earlier. He was singing the tender album cut “Good Thing” and had everyone in the audience wondering if the song’s lyrics (“Too much of a good thing, won’t be good for long / Although you made my heart sing, to stay with you would be wrong”) had almost become too real, considering his presumably still-open wounds. But, as the song came to a close and the audience’s screaming reached new heights, Smith couldn’t help but flash his signature 100-watt smile. Stop manspreading 2k15. It’s impossible to be lonely with a venue about a third of the that much enthusiastic, unre- size of the Detroit Masonic lenting support. Temple. Though the splendor Smith’s rise to the top ech- and natural range of his voice elons of pop music has been was shocking in a way that meteoric. After he performed hadn’t been apparent through on “Saturday Night Live” last my iPod’s earbuds, there was March, he has had a string of something missing from his hits of his own (“Stay With physical presence. For all the Me,” “I’m Not The Only One”) ways that his voice filled the that capitalized on the success room — it was truly something of a couple of high-profile fea- I had never experienced before tures (Disclosure’s “Latch,” in my entire life — his demeanNaughty Boy’s “La La La”). He or was remarkably lacking and played to a sold-out crowd at timid. He didn’t move around Madison Square Garden earlier much on stage, and he avoided this month, which is unheard interaction with the audience. of for an artist that was virtuOn Thursday, things could ally unknown less than a year not have been more different. ago. In February, he’s up for In just over half a year, Smith six Grammy awards, including had turned what had been a Best New Artist, which he’ll major f law in his potential into almost surely win. a quality that has been instruLast May, I saw Sam Smith mental to his success. Between perform in Amsterdam, Neth- songs he was endearingly erlands to a packed house in bashful. His high-pitched,
CAPITOL RECORDS
self-assured speaking voice had everyone in the audience — doe-eyed little girls, tipsy mothers, adoring college students, stoic elderly couples — reeled-in and swooning over his every word. Throughout his 16-song set, Smith was at the top of his game. Dressed in black and white, he effortlessly went from the lowest of lows (the desperate pleading of “Leave Your Lover” and the heartbreaking accusations of “I’m Not The Only One”) to the highest of highs (the unwavering confidence of “Money On My Mind” and the revengeful scorn of “Like I Can”) without ever showing any signs of burnout after his busy last 12 months. He danced in sync with his backup singers, encouraged crowd engagement and willingly narrated the stories behind his songs. The emotional high-point of the night came during his three-song encore. “I refused to end my album on a sad note,” he said. “I wanted this next song to be a love letter to my future boyfriend, whoever he may be.” He then started “Make It To Me” a capella, sitting side-byside with his backup singers. The moment was memorable in its brutal, no-fuss honesty that paired brilliantly with the song’s hopeful lyrics. It proved that Smith is an open book when it comes to his music. He may not share the most intimate details of his life when he speaks, but it’s OK. His silence is made irrelevant by his lyrics. Sam Smith is, admittedly, not lonely anymore. He’s content with where he is in life because, even though he may not have found someone to fall in love with yet, if the line of adoring fans that lined up around the block three hours before his show proved anything, there are millions of people around the world that have fallen in love with him. And that’s company enough for one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
SportsMonday B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 26, 2015
DEFLATED
Michigan comeback falls short in overtime vs. sixthranked Badgers By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
On the first possession of the game Saturday, the Michigan men’s basketball team forced the shot clock all the way down, hoping No. 6 Wisconsin would force up a tough shot. Instead, point guard Bronson Koenig beat sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. to the rim for an easy layup at the buzzer. That theme persisted for most of the evening: No matter what the Wolverines tried, it seemed they could never make Wisconsin uncomfortable for long enough to seize control. Two hours later, the Badgers felt uncomfortable — headed to overtime, on the road, on a Saturday night, in front of a sellout crowd — and it was none other than Walton who did it. With 1.3 seconds left, after Michigan (5-3 Big Ten, 12-8 overall) had fought back from three different significant deficits, Walton drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie the game and send it to overtime. But when play resumed, Wisconsin (6-1, 18-2) quickly gave the Wolverines had another deficit to overcome. And this one was too much. “I don’t think we’re at a stage where, unless we’re on fire and hitting every shot, … that we can expect to be ahead a lot in games,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “We’re going to have to come from behind and just stay solid.” Frank Kaminsky opened the extra possession with a three-point play after a blocking foul on Michigan freshman forward Ricky Doyle, and Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser added a 3-pointer on the next possession. Kaminsky’s basket put the Badgers ahead for good, and he finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. “Let’s face it: He’s one of the best players in the country,” Ryan said. “I don’t say that very often. … Frank means a lot to this team.” The Wolverines fought back to within four with two minutes left, but gave up an offensive rebound before getting the ball back on a charge with under a minute to go. Then, Michigan looked to Walton again, but the Badgers denied him and iced the game at the line to hold on for a 69-64 victory at Crisler Center. “We knew going into this game that it was going to be a dogfight, that it wasn’t going to be easy,” said sophomore forward Zak Irvin. “We wanted to go get this one, especially in front of the great atmosphere we had today. We thought we executed the game plan really well when we took them to overtime.” Down by four with under two minutes left, Walton and Irvin each missed 3-pointers, extending the team’s late scoring drought to two minutes. Gasser also missed with a minute to go, and Michigan again had a chance to draw within one possession. Koenig split a pair of free throws with 20.4 seconds on the clock, giving Michigan another chance down three. Walton calmly sank two foul shots to draw the Wolverines within one and set up his late triple. For a time, it looked as though See MICHIGAN, Page 3B
EXAM WEEK
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
n Test your knowledge of Michigan athletics with Greg Garno’s SportsMonday Column. Page 2B
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
JAMES COLLER/Daily
The best of both Beileins
J
ohn Beilein started his morning in Crisler Center’s north tunnel, telling Austin Hatch that he was “going to do just fine.” As the pair was prepped to appear live on ESPN’s College LEV Gameday, FACHER the 1,000 or so Michigan students who spent their Saturday morning representing their school on television chanted Hatch’s name. As ESPN previewed a feature about the freshman guard’s
TREADING LIGHTLY n The Michigan hockey team is on a record-setting offensive pace. So why haven’t the Wolverines secured a postseason bid? Page 4B
life story on the video board, its subject sat beneath. As the film rolled, showing the two plane crashes that took the lives of Hatch’s mother, siblings, father and stepmother, Beilein wiped away tears. He placed a reassuring hand on Hatch’s leg as GameDay continued through audio of 911 calls and images of mangled propeller planes. The guests and hosts talked about Hatch’s recovery and what it meant for him to play for Michigan. The video board played the highlight of Hatch’s first point at Crisler Center, a free throw in an exhibition game against Wayne State on Nov. 10. Then ESPN’s Jay Williams See BEILEIN, Page 2B
SportsMonday
2B — January 26, 2015
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
BEILEIN From Page 1B asked Hatch about his relationship with Beilein, the man who honored his scholarship knowing full well he might never contribute on the court. Hatch didn’t mince words. “Obviously, he’s a great coach,” he said. “But I would say he’s 10 times the man that he is a basketball coach.” Saturday morning, John Beilein the man was on full display. Saturday night, it was John Beilein the coach’s turn. He didn’t disappoint. In his eighth year at Michigan, Beilein has become a fan of the mix-and-match lineup, especially in light of junior guard Caris LeVert’s season-ending injury. He can use both of his point guards at once. He can play the hot hand. He can go big, or he can go small. He can even use the players nobody expects him to use. Sometimes he’ll even do it in the first half of one of the most important games of the season, because he wants to send a message. “I want to make a point,” Beilein said. “I think it’s really good for our team and for chemistry for those guys who work so hard to see playing time. Even if it’s short.” Sophomore guard Andrew Dakich had never played a meaningful minute for Michigan before Tuesday’s 54-50 win over Rutgers. Sophomore forward Sean Lonergan’s career high in scoring is two points. That didn’t stop either from appearing on ESPN in the first half of a back-and-forth clash against the No. 6 team in the country. “I want to get them in there,” Beilein said. “Those two guys are so respected by their peers and everybody wants them to do so well, it could be a catalyst for us in some games.” Hatch’s presence and his energy are catalysts in and of themselves. But Hatch, of course,
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
I ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
John Beilein’s contributions run far deeper than the product on the floor.
isn’t nearly ready to see the floor against Wisconsin. For the time being, that doesn’t seem to bother him or Beilein. “I’m a part of a miracle right now,” Beilein said of Hatch, his career, his very presence on planet Earth. Beilein’s role in that miracle is made obvious by his tears, his sighs, his reassuring squeeze of Hatch’s arm. And the reason he played a role in that miracle is evidenced by his confidence in a pair of players in whom he has been given little objective, in-game reason to be confident. Andrew Dakich and Sean Lonergan were on the floor with the game tied against Bo Ryan’s juggernaut Wisconsin team. And that says everything about John Beilein, the man who has stuck with Hatch every step of the way and the coach who believes as steadfastly as anybody in the world that hard work, effort and sheer desire deserve to be rewarded. John Beilein the man and John Beilein the coach are obviously not separate entities. Both of them have the unlikely trio of Ricky Doyle, Mark Donnal and Max Bielfeldt containing Wisconsin’s Frank
Kaminsky, one of the country’s premier big men, for 45 minutes. Both of them sat alone at a table until they were sure there wasn’t an NBA draft selection to accept on Jordan Morgan’s behalf. Both trusted Derrick Walton Jr. with the improbable game-tying 3-point shot that sent Saturday’s game to overtime. With LeVert gone, the man and the coach might be reaching a limit. One has to keep an inexperienced group of teenagers emotionally intact as they face the pressure of living up to consecutive Final Four and Elite Eight appearances. The other has to coax as much production as he possibly can out of the same group. Beilein has proved time and time again the two aren’t mutually exclusive. He wore both hats Saturday, and he wore them well. In Austin Hatch, in Andrew Dakich and in Derrick Walton Jr., everything that is good about Michigan basketball was on full display. Five-point loss aside, you can’t ask for much more.
“I would say he’s 10 times the man that he is a basketball coach.”
Facher can be reached at lfacher@umich.edu or on Twitter @levfacher.
A quiz on the state of Michigan athletics
have a midterm in a class already next week, and sorry mom, but I have yet to study. Maybe it’s because I’m a Communication Studies major, but I haven’t exactly had a ton of practice with this whole exam thing. Perhaps I could use Michigan GREG athletics to GARNO help with “studying,” though. With so much going on around the world of Michigan sports, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything. So here’s a test on the state of Michigan athletics to begin the year 2015, to see how well you can keep up with the changes. The answer key is at the bottom, and there can be more than one right answer. But you won’t receive a grade if you get them all correct. You may reward yourself by going to Rick’s. And if you fail, you may still go to Rick’s. 1: MAAR is an acronym for… A. … Michigan Alien Abduction Research, the newest concentration at the University for students. B. … Muhammad Ali AbdurRahkman, a freshman guard for the Michigan men’s basketball team, vying for starting time in Caris LeVert’s absence. C. … Meerkat Attack and Assault Report, the only report completed by this year’s Congress. 2: After starting the season 2-5, the Michigan hockey team… A. … Has won 12 of its last 14 games, now sitting alone at first in the Big Ten standings. B. … Is the No. 1 offense in the country, having scored at least six goals in the last four games. C. … Is on track to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing the last two years. 3: In the last week, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh… A. … Played the piccolo with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. B. … Picked up three commitments with enthusiasm unknown to mankind. C. … Finally filled out the rest of his coaching staff with enthusiasm unknown to mankind. 4: Awarded to the best college hockey player in the nation each season, the Hobey Baker Award… A. … Has the most legendary name. Seriously, Hobey? There are probably seven guys in the world with that name still. B. … Has been given to two players in Michigan program
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Jim Harbaugh made an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday.
history, Brendan Morrison and Kevin Porter, both of whom carried their teams into the NCAA Tournament. C. … Is poised to go to senior forward Zach Hyman, who is exceeding Porter’s scoring pace after bringing his season total to 16 goals and 19 assists in a series sweep of Wisconsin. 5: The number 19.5 is…. A. … The average age of the Michigan men’s basketball team, struggling with experience this season. B. ... The amount of time, in minutes, I have spent exercising this year. C. … The over/under on the number of readers for this story. 6: John Beilein is… A. … A mastermind of a basketball coach, nearly leading a team of inexperienced players to an upset of the No. 6 team in the country. B. … Vigilant about the PSI of his balls. C. … A coach who believes in his players so much that he played two walk-ons, Andrew Dakich and Sean Lonergan, even when his team trailed the Badgers. 7: Sitting at 12-6, the Michigan women’s basketball team… A. … Still has a better record than the men’s team. B. … Is on track to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, having beaten the likes of Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. C. … Plays two games at Crisler Center this week, where it has lost just once this season and is worth your attention. 8: Without LeVert, the Michigan men’s basketball team’s biggest offensive threat now… A. … Scored fewer points on Saturday than the hockey team did goals this weekend. B. … Is sophomore forward Zak Irvin, who is struggling to stay consistent, according to Beilein. C. … Would be Jim Harbaugh, if he had a year of eligibility left, who said on College GameDay that he averaged 19.8 points per game in high school. 9: Wrestling in the heavyweight class, captain
Adam Coon… A. … Has pinned four of his last five opponents in the Big Ten conference as a sophomore. B. … Might be the only man who could defeat Jim Harbaugh in a match, but would never get him to fall (Get it?). C. … Is ranked No. 7 in the country according to InterMat Wrestling, suffering just his third loss of the season Friday to the No. 3 wrestler in his class. 10: Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson, having won two national championships in his 31 years at the helm, said Saturday after his team scored 13 goals over the weekend… A. … “Right now in recent weeks, we’ve looked like the team we had in 1997. But we’ve got a long way to go. Right now it’s good.” B. … “Bill Belichick doesn’t quite understand how funny he sounds when he uses the word balls so frequently.” C. … “Jim Harbaugh averaged just 19.8 points per game? That’s cute.” 11: Athletic Director Jim Hackett… A. … Hasn’t publicly spoken in nearly a month, a welcome change from statements and controversies involving the athletic director from the fall. B. … Has to be smiling with the direction his department is heading. C. … Is still celebrating the hiring of Jim Harbaugh. ANSWERS: 1) B. But how awesome would it be if A were true? 2) A, B and C. 3) A, B and C with enthusiasm unknown to mankind. 4) B and C. But I’m still curious about A. 5) A. And unfortunately, B. 6) A and C. 7) A, B and C. You can watch the team play Illinois on Monday and Maryland on Thursday. 8) A and B. Irvin scored 12 points on Saturday, shooting 33 percent from beyond the arc. 9) A and C. Though B would also be accepted. 10) A. High praise from the man who recently won his 800th game earlier in January. 11) A, B and definitely C. Garno can be reached at ggarno@umich.edu or on Twitter @G_Garno. He’ll see you at Rick’s.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
January 26, 2015 — 3B
Huntley highlights Behind Enemy Lines: Illinois coach Matt Bollant undefeated weekend WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women’s basketball team is back in its nest. After a narrow loss at No. 20 Iowa on Thursday, the Wolverines return home to an arena in which they have lost only once this season. Senior forward Cyesha Goree was her usual self Thursday night, racking up 26 points and 13 rebounds. But she didn’t get much help from Michigan’s arsenal of 3-point shooters, who went a combined 5-for-21 on the night. The Wolverines will also need senior guard Shannon Smith to contribute more than just the two points she put up in Iowa City. On the other side of the court, Illinois is looking to snap a fourgame losing streak after losses to No. 7 Maryland, No. 16 Nebraska, Northwestern and Michigan State. Freshman center Chatrice White leads the Fighting Illini in scoring with 14.4 points per game and is second on the team with 42 rebounds. She’s not afraid to take a shot or two from the behind the arc either, as she is 7-for-18 on 3-pointers. But Illinois, which starts three underclassmen and a first-year transfer, has been plagued with turnover problems, and they were made evident in its latest loss to Northwestern in which the Fighting Illini turned the ball over 24 times. The Daily sat down with Illinois coach Matt Bollant at Big Ten Media Day in October to discuss the upcoming season, recruiting, the Big Ten and his coaching experience in the
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Philippines. The Michigan Daily: Last year was sort of a down year for you. What are the expectations going into this season? Matt Bollant: Expectations will be much improved from last year. We added a lot more talent this season with seven new players. Five of them are going to play, and two or three of them might be our best players, so it’s exciting to think about. Kyley Simmons might be one of the best point guards in the country, Chatrice White is as good as any freshman in the conference and Brittany Carter will be a really good ‘2’ guard, so we added some pieces that should make us better. TMD: You talked a lot about recruiting and how you like going on long recruiting trips in your press conference. Is there a certain reason for that? MB: We have 112 days to recruit, and you only have so many times you can recruit a player. I’m definitely passionate about recruiting, and I don’t mind being on the road and driving to show some kids that we really want them. We want to make them feel wanted. When a head coach drives eight hours to see a player, it means something to the players, and it should and our staff is willing to do that. TMD: What’s your outlook on the Big Ten with Maryland and Rutgers coming into the conference? MB: It’s exciting for the league. The year before I came into the league at Green Bay, we went 7-0 against the Big Ten, but the league was ranked No. 5 in the country. Last couple years, the league has been No. 1 or No. 2 and now you add Maryland and Rutgers, two great teams. There isn’t a league top to bottom that is better than the Big Ten. TMD: I know you coached in
the Philippines. What was that experience like? MB: My brother was a missionary in the Philippines and Nepal, and I was there for six months and coached a team, Deeper Life Academy, and it was really my first experience as a head coach. The first game, we got beat by 30 points by the best team in the league, and we played them in the last game of the year and said ‘Let’s see where we get to.’ I didn’t think we could beat that team, but I kept saying ‘Let’s see how we do.’ We had won all of our games to that point, and were one win away from being the conference champion, and we knocked the team off that day. So it’s pretty special to see the change in the team. I thought I was going to be a minister and stay there for the rest of my life, and maybe coach over there, but I felt called to stay in the US. But I loved the (Filipino), they were awesome. TMD: In terms of talent, it probably wasn’t the same as it is here, but what made coaching in the Philippines so special? MB: I had two kids, Izzy and Muhammad, who just gave me everything. They were so excited to get better. I remember the first day, we had an outdoor court with bent rims and one basketball for practice, and when they got their uniforms, the kids were in tears because they had their names on the back of their uniform. It just made me think how we take everything for granted in the U.S. These kids were so thankful to be a part of the team, and be able to play basketball and learn, and they wanted to learn everything, so it was a great experience for me as a head coach. I’ll never forget those two kids because they got so much better. They hadn’t won in the past and now they were conference champions.
Michigan wrestling earns two dualmeet victories By BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team needed to flex its muscles this weekend. Coming off an uninspiring performance against Ohio State last Sunday, the Wolverines had the opportunity to go back over .500 in Big Ten duals against Wisconsin (7-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) and Indiana (2-6, 0-5). No one showed greater toughness to get No. 16 Michigan (4-3, 3-2) over the hump than fifth-year senior Max Huntley. He was one of seven Wolverines to earn victories in their matches against Wisconsin, as the team went on to defeat the 17th-ranked Badgers, 24-12. In addition to his win Friday, Huntley earned a 10-3 victory in his match against Indiana. He watched his team rout the Hoosiers, 34-6, on Sunday. Huntley trailed, 5-0, in his match against Wisconsin’s Timothy McCall, a top-10 wrestler in the 197-pound weight class. But Huntley knew he had his opponent on the ropes after finishing the end of the second period with a two-point takedown. He earned five more points in the third period on his way to a come-from-behind 9-6 win. In the past, Huntley has struggled taking on other highly-touted opponents. But since being named team captain,
Huntley has put rankings out of his mind. “I started saying, ‘I should be able to beat the guy in front of me,’ ” Huntley said. “That’s a mental trap and a problem I had in the past. I stopped looking at that. Every match you’ve got to wrestle hard and with grit.” Sophomore heavyweight Adam Coon had a comeback of his own against Indiana. After suffering his first Big Ten defeat of the season to Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery, Coon punished his Hoosier opposition, pinning his fourth opponent of the past five matches. “I would have had a better shot (at beating Medbery) had I been more aggressive,” Coon said. “I really should have been attacking more in that match, and that’s what I did today (against Indiana).” Coon’s dominance heading into his match with Medbery may have given him confidence, but the ease of his victories also made his strategy too conservative. Making an aggressive tactical adjustment helped Coon return to his winning ways Sunday. One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was redshirt sophomore lightweight Conor Youtsey, who earned two sixpoint victories. Youtsey wrestled the first match in both duals, and his impressive performances helped carry the team.
“Our team did a great job following me,” Youtsey said. “The momentum set the pace. The team came behind me and wrestled just as tough. It’s good for the guys to see us be on top early on.” Michigan came into the weekend knowing it had to show off its strength in the middle of the Big Ten dual grind. Nine of the Wolverines’ 10 wrestlers recorded wins over the weekend, and six finished 2-0. Michigan coach Joe McFarland credited this success to the aggressiveness his lightweight wrestlers like Youtsey showed. Most importantly, the Wolverines showed they can win close matches. Especially in the Wisconsin dual, they were able to find an edge in matches that were decided by just a few points. “We had six or seven matches that were going to be tricky,” said Michigan assistant coach Sean Bormet. “We had to keep wrestling where we wanted it, and we did a good job of that. When we had to get really tough in tight matches, where maybe we didn’t wrestle quite as well but had to stay really tough and win by a point, we did it.” On both days, Michigan needed to show it was strong enough to hang in the loaded Big Ten. The weekend proved the Wolverines have the guns to duel with the nation’s best.
“It’s good for the guys to see us be on top early on.”
MEN’S SWIMMING
‘M’ dominates Senior Day By TED JANES Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men’s swimming and diving team’s Senior Day had just about everything you could ask for in a swim meet: close races, an electric atmosphere and an intense rivalry. And when asked to rise to the challenge, the Wolverines did just that. Saturday, No. 5 Michigan battled Ohio State in 16 different events at Canham Natatorium. The Wolverines (5-0 Big Ten, 9-0 overall) won 12 of them, dominating the Buckeyes by a score of 187-117. With the victory, Michigan remained undefeated for the season. While the day should have been all about the seniors, it was a freshman who stole the spotlight. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Michigan freshman PJ Ransford was given a huge opportunity when junior Anders Lie Nielsen, the best distance swimmer for the Wolverines, chose not to swim in the 1,000-free so he could rest for the following race,
MICHIGAN From Page 1B a comeback would be unlikely. Four minutes into the second half, Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker had punctuated an 11-0 run with a dunk from halfway to the freethrow line, and the upset was all but off the table. Back on its heels, facing an 11-point deficit, Michigan clawed back again. But Wisconsin called timeout and calmed down quickly, stringing together a Dekker jumper, a stop and an open corner 3-pointer by Gasser to go up by five. That deficit still stood with five minutes left, when Irvin dialed up another 3-pointer to trim it to two. In the last five minutes, it was just a matter of who would flinch first. In the first few minutes, it appeared the answer would be Michigan. With ESPN’s College GameDay in town, 3,000 students
opening the lane for Ransford to step up in a big meet. Ransford took the lane and set his career-best time, but it wasn’t enough. He stayed in line with Ohio State’s Brayden Seal for nearly the entire race, but in the final laps, the Buckeye managed to pull slightly ahead, touching the wall ahead of Ransford by a margin of 0.44 seconds. “We put a lot of pressure on (Ransford),” said Michigan coach Mike Bottom. “We didn’t put (Nielsen) in the 1,000. We said that we believed (Ransford) could do it, which is a lot to put on a freshman, but he did a great job. He battled the whole way. It was a physical one for him, quite mental as well.” After the race, momentum seemed like it would swing heavily in favor of the Buckeyes, but Michigan immediately silenced Ohio State’s fans. In the next race, the 200-yard freestyle, Nielsen and senior Justin Glanda finished first and second, respectively. The pair shut down Ohio State, putting a halt to the Buckeyes’ enthusiasm. “You can bet that when Glanda
packed Crisler Center up to the rafters before the game, ready to erupt. They didn’t get the chance initially, as the Wolverines fell behind 9-2 before tying the game at 21. After Donnal hit a fadeaway jumper from the baseline to give Michigan what would be its last lead of the game, Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes stepped in. He converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession, and Dekker followed with a thunderous dunk, plus a foul. Finally, Hayes drained a 3-pointer with one second left in the half, and for all of the Wolverines’ effort, they trailed by seven. It wouldn’t be the last time, but the final deficit stuck, erasing progress from three thrilling comebacks. “We don’t believe in moral victories,” Irvin said. “This one definitely hurts. We just gotta go back to the drawing board and get ready for Nebraska on Tuesday.”
in particular saw Ransford, he was going to protect him,” Bottom said. “He was going to step up and say to the freshman, ‘Don’t worry about that one, I got this one.’ ” Added Glanda: “In a meet like this, a Big Ten race against Ohio State, watching PJ fight so hard in the 1,000-free, it got me fired up as well as (Nielsen). We knew what we had to do.” Excluding the 200-yard backstroke, the men won everything else in the lap pool in a dominant performance that validated their top-five ranking. At the other side of the pool, the Michigan divers’ best performance came from senior Thomas Jahnke, who placed fifth on both the 3-meter and the 1-meter springboards. The other senior diver, Kevin Bain, took seventh in the 1-meter and sixth in the 3-meter. Michigan may have lost four events, but it also won 12. If the Wolverines were looking to make a statement to the rest of the Big Ten about what they are up against when the championship meet comes around, they certainly succeeded.
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Max Huntley earned two wins in Michigan’s weekend dual-meet wins over Wisconsin and Indiana.
SportsMonday
4B — January 26, 2015
M
It’d be a damn shame
ADISON — The Michigan hockey team can score goals at an unprecedented rate. The Wolverines can overcome a 4-1 deficit with a snap of a finger. And this team is starting to look as powerful as the 199798 national championship JASON team, accord- RUBINSTEIN ing to Michigan coach Red Berenson. “We’ve got a long way to go,” Berenson said, “but right now, in recent weeks, we’ve looked like the team we had in 1997.” Still, a postseason berth is far from certain. And that’s a damn shame. That’s not just because the Wolverines haven’t advanced to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. Instead, Michigan is the most exciting team to watch in the country, and college hockey fans deserve to see this team’s offense against the nation’s best defenses. The Wolverines average a nation-leading 4.36 goals per game. The next-highest team averages 3.73. And in nine Big Ten games, Michigan is averaging 6.5 goals per game and boasts the conference’s top four point leaders in Big Ten play in senior Zach Hyman (19), freshman Dylan Larkin (18), sophomore Tyler Motte (14) and junior Andrew Copp (13). Michigan is able to roll out four lines and expect a goal from each every game. Because of that depth, Michigan was able to win the Great Lakes Invitational without four of its best players, and it hasn’t lost since. The players know they are part of a one-of-a-kind offensive team. Michigan’s players can’t recall being part of an offense that scores this easily. “I can’t say I have. It’s pretty
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ICE HOCKEY
Michigan completes sweep of Wisconsin By ERIN LENNON Daily Sports Editor
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Michigan is still the nation’s highest-scoring team, but the Wolverines haven’t yet secured an NCAA Tournament bid.
fun, though,” said freshman defenseman Zach Werenski when asked if he has been on a team this talented offensively. It’s definitely fun every night.” But his team still knows a postseason berth is far from certain. Unfortunately for Michigan, the Big Ten has been a belowaverage conference this season. Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin are a combined 18-39-7. Only Minnesota seems like a worthy opponent at this point, and even the Golden Gophers have had an uncharacteristically bad season. Even a loss to a surprisingly good Penn State team would be hurtful. “It’s just motivating for us that every game matters so much, because you lose one game and you can drop four or five spots,” Hyman said. “It’s just more of a desperation thing, and we need to win every game.” One loss in the Big Ten could spell doom for this team. A loss to Wisconsin this weekend would have plummeted No. 12 Michigan well out of the top 16 in the PairWise Rankings, in which the Wolverines need to finish to make the NCAA Tournament.
The same can be said for potential losses to Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin when they travel to Ann Arbor. But if this weekend was any indication, the Badgers aren’t even in the same league as Michigan. Not many teams are, and Michigan should be the favorite to win the Big Ten Tournament. But college hockey is tricky and funny; each game seems like a flip of a coin. Berenson knows that better than anyone. And it’d be damn shame if one loss puts the Wolverines in a win-or-go-home mentality heading into the Big Ten Tournament. College hockey fans deserve to see the beauty that is the Michigan offense. College hockey fans deserve to witness Zach Hyman’s incredible senior season. It has been a campaign in which he seemingly puts the puck in the back of the net each game thanks to his incredible speed and willingness to play in the dirty areas. Hyman’s 1.59 points per game through 22 contests is greater than that of Kevin Porter (1.47) in his Hobey Baker-winning season in 2008. College hockey fans deserve to see freshman sensation Dylan Larkin, who manages to put up
multiple points per game and dazzle every time he touches the puck with vision and hockey IQ well beyond his years. College hockey fans deserve to see the 17-year-old Werenski, who has stick skills that are unprecedented for someone his age — not to mention that he, too, is a threat to score each time he touches the puck, netting two goals Saturday at Wisconsin. Oh, and if a team manages to contain those three players, Michigan still has Copp, Motte and sophomore forwards JT Compher and Alex Kile. Compher led the Wolverines in points last year; Kile has 20 points this season. And in case a team contains those four players, junior forward Justin Selman netted a hat trick this weekend. The Wolverines’ offense is truly remarkable — it’s on pace to score the most goals in a season nationally since 2004. But one loss in Big Ten play could make things problematic for this team. And it’d be a damn shame if that causes Michigan to miss the tournament. Jason Rubinstein can be reached by email at jasonbr@umich.edu and on Twitter @jrubinstein4.
MADISON — It’s easy to forget the Michigan hockey team ranks 47th nationally in team defense, say nothing of its unreliable starters in net. It’s easy to forget because, in two road wins over Wisconsin, the 16th-ranked Wolverines scored 13 times against one of the nation’s most proven netminders. This offense is so good it hardly needs stable goaltending. Michigan (7-1-0 Big Ten, 15-70 overall) completed its second series sweep in conference play with a 6-0 win over the Badgers on Saturday. It was the first time the Wolverines have done so since 1975. Senior forward Zach Hyman scored a pair of goals, extending his goal-scoring streak to seven games. The streak is the longest since Brendan Morrison’s eightgame stretch during the 1995-6 season. Morrison is one of just two Hobey Baker Award winners in program history. Riding the nation’s longest winning streak, Michigan has now scored 33 goals over its last five contests. Following an ominously slow start Friday, the Wolverines set the pace with a five-goal outburst in the first 22 minutes of regulation. Meanwhile, the defense — which had allowed four goals in that same timespan the previous night — held Wisconsin (0-5-1, 2-15-3) without a goal through two periods. “That was the key to the game,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “I thought our team really was focused and prepared, and to score the first goal was huge.” Then, after cruising through most of the third frame, fresh-
man defenseman Zach Werenski added Michigan’s sixth goal, all but silencing a dwindling crowd. Werenski was one of eight Wolverines with multiple-point games on the weekend. “(An early lead) kinda makes it easier on the defense,” he said. “We don’t like giving up goals, and that’s kind of our problem right now. But when you have forwards putting up six or seven goals, it helps us get more confidence.” It took the Wolverines fewer than three minutes to net their eighth and ninth goals of the weekend against Wisconsin goaltender Joel Rumpel. But what was more impressive was the fact that both tallies came from a single shift, with both plays created by Hyman. Hyman found freshman Dylan Larkin down for the early lead before finding twine with his now-signature move — muscling through traffic around the net with his back turned, centering, squaring and firing top shelf. The early lead also allowed role players in sophomore defenseman Nolan De Jong and freshman forward Alex Talcott to play valuable minutes. Talcott, in particular, had several scoring chances in second half of the game. “He got some good ice time, and I know he can help us,” Berenson said. “We’re hoping those guys are going to grow and get some experience.” For the Badgers and their 10,000-plus fans in attendance, the loudest cheer of the night came in the second period — when the Kohl Center video board showed Wisconsin basketball securing an overtime victory over the Wolverines from Ann Arbor. And half of the student section had dissipated by the third period.