ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, October 13, 2015
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Fall 2015 enrollment shows more diverse class HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Art & Design professor Carol Jacobsen speaks on a panel titled “Incarcerated Women: A Conversation About Realities” at the School of Social Work on Monday. The discussion precedes a larger conversation which will culminate with a public lecture by Piper Kerman, author of the memoir “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison,” scheduled for 5p.m. today at Rackham Auditorium.
Panel hosts discussion on women and incarceration Event aims to provide context for upcoming OITNB creator’s lecture By CHARLOTTE JENKINS Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender held a panel discussion Monday
titled “Incarcerated Women: A Conversation About Realities.” The event was held in part to provide context for Tuesday’s campus lecture by Piper Kerman, author of “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.” Kerman’s memoir was the inspiration for the Netflix series adaptation, “Orange is the New Black.” Members of the panel discussed the variety of challenges unique to female inmates. Some panelists
emphasized the abuses that incarcerated women experience are precisely because of their gender. According to panelist and Law Prof. Amanda Alexander, a Soros Justice Fellow in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, incarcerated women often face losing parental rights over their children, and said the average sentence length for a parent in Michigan is three to four years.
Alexander also discussed the negligible rights afforded to inmates who give birth during their sentence. She said, in Michigan, women who give birth in prison have very little access to prenatal care and are only allotted 24 hours to spend with their newborn in the hospital after delivery. Additionally, some other states allow incarcerated women to pump breast milk for their children, but Michigan does not. See PANEL, Page 3
Percentage of minorities in firstyear cohort is the highest since 2005 By ALLANA AKHTAR and LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporters
The percentage of underrepresented minorities in this year’s freshman class is the highest since 2005, according to enrollment figures released by the University early Monday morning. Underrepresented minority students represent 12.8 percent of the 2015 freshman class, a 2.8-percent increase over last fall’s entering cohort. Minority students accounted for 13.8 percent of the incoming class in 2005, the year before Michigan voters banned the use of affirmative action in the admissions process. The percentage of Black, Hispanic and Native American students all increased over last year. The undergraduate student body and overall students
BOOK REVIEW
CITY COUNCIL
Interesting but tedious new Smith memoir ‘M Train’ can be beautiful, meandering and exasperating
By GIANCARLO BUONOMO Daily Arts Writer
Patti Smith is really cool. She’s also funny, extraordinarily wellread and well-traveled, multitalented and palpably kind and compassionate. She’s the kind of M Train person you want to nurse a cup of Patti Smith coffee with for hours and hours, Alfred A. Knopf talking about everything on $25 your mind, and things you didn’t even realize were. Smith is best known as a musician — her 1975 album Horses is considered a watershed in the development of punk rock, among many other popular records and singles. In recent years, she has also received acclaim as a writer, winning the National Book Award for “Just Kids,” a memoir of her passionate, tumultuous relationship with the acclaimed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and their life together in the bohemian art scene of 1970s New York. And, this past week, she released a new book, the enigmatically titled “M Train.”
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 60 LO: 38
If you’ve read “Just Kids,” or decide to read “M Train,” you’ll know what I meant in the first paragraph. Smith’s writing is a stream of passionate consciousness. Take this passage from “Just Kids”: “There were days, rainy gray days, when the streets of Brooklyn were worthy of a photograph, every window the lens of a leica. We gathered our colored pencils and sheets of paper and drew like wild, feral children into the night until, exhausted, we fell into bed. We lay in each other’s arms, still awkward but happy, exchanging breathless kisses into sleep.” “Just Kids” worked because it had that Mapplethorpe relationship as a narrative baseline, off of which Smith could riff. You could forgive her occasionally vatic prose and erratic scene setting, because the book still told a specific, heartfelt story. “M Train,” heartfelt and passionate as it is, suffers from a lack of specificity. It’s a meandering lecture of a book, often interesting, sometimes beautiful, but also tedious and exasperating. “M Train” is seemingly structured as a series of dreams, reflections and flashbacks that Smith has while sitting in her favorite Greenwich Village café, which she attends every morning for a sacrament of black coffee, bread and olive oil. These vignettes trigger further ones, and they others, until you’ve moved with See SMITH, Page 3
saw less drastic increases in diversity. The percentage of Black undergraduate students increased by .15 percent and the percentage of Black students overall increased by .19 percent. Total enrollment this fall stands at 43,651, an increase of .06 percent (26 students) from last year’s overall enrollment. Undergraduate enrollment, however, decreased by 83 students, marking a .3-percent decrease. Meanwhile, the number of graduate and professional students on campus increased by .7 percent (109 students). The freshman class decreased by more than 400 students since last year, representing the smallest incoming class size since 2008, when the class size was 5,783 students. Last year, University Provost Martha Pollack outlined a plan to curb over-enrollment after the University enrolled 500 more students than intended for the freshman class. “We have been over-enrolling every year for the past five years and we have to stop this,” Pollack said at a September 2014 Board of Regents meeting. “I’m See ENROLLMENT, Page 3
Search for Ann Arbor city admin. underway Council hires firm to conduct national hunt for replacement RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
University Provost Martha Pollack discusses the University’s transition to Canvas and preparations for the March Faculty Governance Conference at a SACUA meeting at the Fleming Administration Building on Monday.
SACUA protests release of course evaluation data Pending Senate Assembly vote could persuade provost to delay
By GENEVIEVE HUMMER Daily Staff Reporter
Faculty concern over the impending release of course evaluation data has caused University Provost Martha Pollack to reconsider the current timeline for such a release. During her comments at Monday’s SACUA meeting, Pollack said she would be willing to reconsider the release date, pending a vote at the Senate Assembly meeting later this month. “If the Senate Assembly votes no, I am happy to slow it down,
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but I generally need this group to meet with (Central Student Government) and (Rackham Student Government) and talk with them,” Pollack said. “This all came up because the students asked for it at least three years ago now.” Pollack has formed a committee to create a new tool, in place of the current course evaluation, to better meet the needs of faculty and students. She invited SACUA to appoint a member to the committee, which will also include members from student government and evaluation experts at the University. At a Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs meeting last month, Engineering Prof. James Holloway, the vice provost for global and engaged education, announced that course evaluation data could
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be published as soon as this semester. The decision provoked pushback from faculty governance, which criticized the administration for constructing a plan without extensive faculty consultation. “It has not been debated at SACUA and it has not been debated at Senate Assembly, and so we feel like there hasn’t been enough broad consultation because this is something that affects everyone, faculty and students,” said Comparative Literature Prof. Silke-Maria Weineck, SACUA’s chair, at the time. Weineck said another committee with faculty input will need to be formed to determine the best way to release the data — an issue that she noted is separate from what type of instrument See SACUA, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 9 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
The search is underway for Ann Arbor’s next city administrator. The Ann Arbor City Council voted last week to authorize the Council Administration Committee to serve as a fiveperson search party for a new city administrator. Steve Powers, the current city administrator, announced plans in August to leave the post for a new job as city manager in Salem, Ore. He is set to depart in November. “It’s a larger community than Ann Arbor and a professional opportunity that will help me in my professional development,” Powers said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. “It’s a larger organization, with more responsibilities and opportunities to help a community and help a council accomplish its policy goals and policy agenda.” Powers said he has enjoyed working with Ann Arbor’s city staff and council. “I’ve been here a little over four years, and it’s gone by See CITY, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS.........................5
SPORTS..................7 SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6
News
2 — Tuesday, October 13, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Campus Voices
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Photos of the Week
CAMPUS TRADITION
Defend the Diag stakes out Block ‘M’ before Saturday There’s currently a little campsite surrounding the Diag’s sacred block ‘M’. The brothers of Theta Xi — together with the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon — spared a few minutes to elaborate on what exactly they are up to. The Michigan Daily spoke with LSA sophomore Austin Fregene, School of Information sophomore Holden Spencer and Engineering alum Chris Burtraw about the fraternity’s tradition of defending the Diag from vandalism or pranks in advance of the annual game against Michigan State University.
ety and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as well ... and preserving a tradition on campus. You can help us out by contributing to our GoFundMe online. What do you intend on doing if any ‘visitors’ show up?
Other than defending the Diag, what are you doing here?
Fregene: We actually have already had some visitors last night, a couple kids from State came up and chilled in Mason Hall scouting us out, came by, and we could tell that they were definitely prepared to do something, but fortunately they saw us and didn’t come. That’s day one, and we have another four left to go. We plan on doing this every single night 24/7.
Fregene: We’re raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Soci-
How do you plan on covering the ground over the course of the week?
Spencer: Each brother is required to be here for a minimum of eight hours, for the entire week, and all our associate members are required to be here for 12. It’s pretty laid back, brothers hang out here between classes. We throw a football around, and enjoy the weather while it lasts. Have you all managed to protect and not step on the ‘M’? Spencer: It’s been hard, but we’ve all managed not to step on the ‘M’. What else do you hope to accomplish here? Fregene: I feel as though this event in particular is a pretty good example that Greek life isn’t completely about party culture. We can
band together and do something for philanthropy, and really preserve the tradition of school spirit.
WHAT: Cory Brown, a Strategic Partnership Coordinator at the FBI will be giving a presentation about how to avoid theft during international travel. WHO: Medical School Informaiton Services WHEN: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Palmer Commons Forum Hall
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Burtraw: Last year I spent the night right here, on this very couch, in this very spot. It was very, very cold, I had three blankets on the whole night. How are you all feeling about the game on Saturday? Burtraw: It’s going to be a good solid game, it’ll be fun to watch, and the atmosphere will be fantastic.
—ANNA HARITOS
NEWS
Regents preview By ALLANA AKHTAR
At its meeting Thursday, the University’s Board of Regents will vote to approve the recipients of honorary degreess at the Winter Commencement ceremony. University alum Martha Minow, dean of the Harvard Law School, will likely deliver the commencement address.
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
Hapsburg lecture
Bloomberg coffee chat
Engineering mixer
WHAT: Oncology Prof. Michael Simon will give a speech about his travels with his son through the Hapsburg Empire. WHO: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute WHEN: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Rave Theater, 4100 Carpenter Rd.
WHAT: The Bloomberg Analytic and Sales Team will hold a coffee chat to meet with students interested in working for their company. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. WHERE: Espresso Royale on South U
WHAT: The female engineering faculty and staff will be available to meet with graduate students and discuss research, careers and teaching. WHO: Graduate Society of Women Engineers WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Johnson Rooms, Lurie Engineering Center
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Transforming a business WHAT: Business Prof. Robert Quinn will be giving a speech about ways to transform an organization or company for the better. WHO: Ross School of Business WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Robertson Auditorium in the Ross School of Business
U.S. Census WHAT: Khaled Beydoun, a Barry University Law professor, will be giving a speech about the Arab-American racial paradox that classifies them as white on the U.S. census but are treated otherwise. WHO: Department of Near Eastern Studies WHEN: 4 p.m. WHERE: Palmer Commons, Forum Hall
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Winds recital WHAT: The University’s wind students will perform a recital of varied ensembles and repertoire. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 8 p.m. WHERE: Walgreen Drama Center, Stamps Auditorium Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.
1
Jason Rezaian, a U.S. citizen and Washington Post reporter has been convicted of espionage, The Washington Post reported. Rezaian has been imprisoned for more than a year. His sentence is not yet known.
2
The Michigan football team hasn’t recorded three consecutive shutouts since 1980, but its defense remains improvement-oriented in the leadup to the Michigan-Michigan State game Saturday. >>PG. 8
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There are no charges for the killer of Cecil the lion. BBC News reported that the U.S. dentist, Walter Palmer, will not be prosecuted because he had obtained the legal authority to hunt. The dentist has received immense backlash for the killing.
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New campus group to raise awareness about mental health Organization plans to focus on bullying, suicide prevention By ALEX ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
A recent addition to the University community, the national organization “umttr,” is dedicated to providing the necessary resources to promote good mental health among students. Short for “you matter,” the group specifically raises awareness about bullying, depression and suicide. After organizing and planning for several years, the club became official last month. High school student Erik Roberts founded the national organization umttr in Montgomery County, Md. following the suicide of his close friend and fellow athlete, Evan Rosenstock. The University is the first college campus to host a umttr chapter.
LSA senior Allison Rosenstock, Evan Rosenstock’s sister, along with LSA sophomore Jane Smith, worked to bring the organization to campus after meeting on the Michigan Equestrian Team last year. Since both have had personal experiences with family members suffering from mental health issues, they hope to combat the stigma associated with mental illness through the new student organization. “I think it is crucial that umttr started as an organization by young adults, for young adults,” Rosenstock said in an e-mail to The Michigan Daily. “We really strive to implement peer-led programs that have proved more effective in people ages 10-24.” Umttr is partnered with several other organizations, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Campaign to Change Direction, a nonprofit campaign aiming to raise awareness about mental health issues. The umttr website outlines
five signs of emotional suffering, including withdrawal, agitation, hopelessness, decline in personal care and change in personality. Rosenstock ultimately hopes to implement the Campaign to Change Direction into the University’s curriculum, perhaps as a requirement class for incoming freshmen, similar to the AlcoholEdu program. “I hope that we can implement a similar program where students are required to learn the five signs of mental suffering that the Campaign to Change Direction promotes,” Rosenstock said. In an e-mail to the Daily, Smith said she believes umttr will provide a place for students who need a community of individuals who understand the hardships of handling mental health issues. “I hope to create a safe place for students to talk about their personal struggles with mental health-related issues,” Smith said. “I want to create a group of friends that cares about what each person is going through and can relate. My goal for this is not to become a therapy session, but rather a closeknit community.” Smith credits the Michigan Equestrian Team community with helping her heal from tragedy in her family related to suicide. She hopes umttr can be a supportive community for anyone in a similar situation. Both Rosenstock and Smith said similar University organizations, such as Active Minds, Healthy Minds, and the Wolverine Support Network, among others, have helped establish umttr on campus. However, the main difference between the organizations already on campus and umttr is umttr’s additional interest in helping student athletes. “The athletic portion of the organization is crucial because both Allison and I agree that athletics is valuable in providing a healthy body and mind while bringing people together,” Smith said. At the heart of umttr is a threeSee CLUB, Page 3
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LSA senior Sarah Gerlach pins a Michigan Flag on the back of Buddy the Blood Drop on the Diag on Monday. Members of Wolverines for Life created a “flash-line” to promote organ donor registration.
Wolverines for Life forms line to promote organ donations Diag demonstration emulates similar New York City event, LiveOnNY By IRENE PARK Daily Staff Reporter
Twenty-two patients are estimated to die each day in the United States because not enough organ donors are available for organ transplants. More than 122,000 patients nationwide are on the waitlist for organ transplants, 3,500 of whom reside in Michigan. Many diseases like leukemia and sickle cell anemia require a bone marrow transplant to be cured. With these facts in mind, members of Wolverines for Life — a campus organization focused on educating the community about the importance of organ donations — donned yellow T-shirts with the hashtag #wolverineswontwait and lined up across the Diag on Monday.
They encouraged passersby to join the line, drawing 100 people over the course of the day. The organization collaborates with the American Red Cross, Be the Match, Gift of Life Michigan and Eversight Michigan as part of its educational and philanthropic efforts. Holly Eliot is the faculty adviser for Blood Drives United, another student organization that was present for the line’s formation Monday. Eliot, also a project manager at the University’s Transplant Center and for Wolverines for Life, said Monday’s line of people was a visual element meant to draw a comparison to lines of patients who have to wait for organ transplants. Eliot added that the event was based on a similar “flash-line” event called “Hate the Wait” in New York City organized by a network of organ donors in New York called LiveOnNY. Jennifer Helmer, east Michigan liaison for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, attended to show Johnson’s support for the event.
Since taking office in 2011, Johnson has advocated to expand the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. In 2011, only 27 percent of adult Michiganders were on the donor registry, placing the state near the bottom nationally. As of earlier this year, the number has risen to 4.1 million people — about 52 percent of the state’s adults. “(Johnson) felt like she needed to do something to save lives,” Helmer said. “She wants to give hope to those who are waiting to live. She is very committed to cause and passionate about it.” Despite the recent spike in state donors, Internal Medicine Prof. John Magee said there is still a long way to go to meet the patients’ needs. “The real issue is we’re still way far behind where we need to be,” Magee said. “But everybody helps. It’s their opportunity to be a hero. Many students, faculty and alumni want to have an impact around the world, and the best way (to do that) is See LINE, Page 3
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CLUB From Page 2
SACUA From Page 1
on-three basketball tournament to commemorate Evan, who played basketball in high school. Smith and Rosenstock hope this will change the way athletic programs view mental health issues. “Because my brother, Evan, was an avid basketball player, besides the fact that exercise is a great outlet for mental health issues, I see the athletic portion as remembering my brother as an athlete,” Rosenstock said. Since umttr at the University was approved in late September, the group was unable to be at Festifall and therefore started the year with a small following. However, the leaders of umttr on campus were able to attend the So Cool, So Just social justice student organization fair in the Diag last month. On Oct. 24, umttr will attend the Defeat Depression Dash, an annual 5K in honor of University student Garrick Roemer, who was a member of the University’s track team and lost his life to suicide in 2014.
will be used. “We actually need a committee that looks closely as the way it’s released,” Weineck said. “That is just as important as having a committee that looks at the questions themselves.” Faculty concern over the release of course evaluation data resulted in the LSA Student Government withdrawing their request for the data. Biology Prof. John Lehman, a SACUA member, predicted Central Student Government would soon do the same. He said students are willing to wait for the data if it means developing a more helpful instrument. “Talking to the student governance leaders, they’re saying none of the students really care about this as much as some faculty are really passionately against it,” Lehman said. “I asked the students in my oceanography class how important this was to them and they said, ‘Not at all.’ They said they had other ways to find out what they want to know about these courses. I mean we’re talking about upperdivision students.” Business Prof. Dave Wright, a SACUA member, said if the committee fails to create a more effective instrument for collecting course evaluation data, the University should opt not to release data at all. “If the body of experts comes to the conclusion that there is no reliable, valid way to measure this, then we shouldn’t have it at all,” he said. “At some point you have to reach the conclusion, is the signal to noise ratio worth it? Is it positive? We know there’s noise, we know there may even be bias. But the question is, is it better than no information at all?” SACUA members also expressed concern over the administration’s decision to switch to Canvas beginning in the fall 2016 semester. Pollack and Laura Patterson, associate vice president and chief
LINE From Page 2 to donate blood or sign up to be an organ donor because you can fundamentally save a life with that.” LSA freshman Parker Schaub said he participated without having had prior knowledge of the event because he realizes the importance of organ donation. “I just happened to find the line in middle of the Diag, and thought that I wanted to join,” Schaub said. “I think it’s really important that people know that they can donate blood and organs and know how strong the need is.” In addition to raising awareness about organ donation, the event also advertised the kickoff event for the annual Blood Battle between the University and Ohio State University. The event will be held on Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Blood Battle lasts during the entire month of November.
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ENROLLMENT From Page 1 not happy about it.” With the highest proportion of underrepresented minority students in a freshman class in 10 years, enrollment numbers saw significant gains toward a more diversified student body. In the freshman class alone, the number of Black students admitted increased by 58 students — a community which made up 3.84 percent of the freshman class in 2014 and 5.11 percent of the class in 2015. In the state of Michigan, 14.3 percent of the population is Black. “The campus — admissions,
PANEL From Page 1 The conversation turned multiple times to the “wars on drugs and crime” in the United States, and how these policies have caused higher incarceration rates of both men and women. Carol Jacobsen, a panelist and professor of both women’s studies and Art & Design, noted that many women who commit serious crimes such as homicide do so as an act of survival. The murder may have been a response to life-threatening physical or sexual abuse, or to issues related to poverty or drugs.
Smith from Suriname to Tokyo to Detroit to Tangiers. Woven throughout are brief, yet aching, references to her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, a musician who passed away in 1994, and whose memory seems to haunt many of these places. Other tropes include Smith’s passion for visiting, and tending to, the graves of her literary heroes (Jean Genet, Rimbaud, Ry nosuke Akutagawa), her love of coffee, her attachment to detective shows, and the inevitable nostalgia that accompanies aging. The book has its moments.
News information officer, announced the decision in an e-mail to students, faculty and staff last month. Weineck said there is concern among faculty about making the transition that quickly. “I think one of the potential problems coming down the pipeline is Canvas,” Weineck said. “It seems that some problems have come up that didn’t come up in the pilot and they concern the migration of course size from CTools to Canvas.” In response, Pollack said the transition date would not be delayed. She encouraged the board to forward their questions and concerns to Patterson. Wright questioned the tradeoffs associated with delaying the switch. “My question would be what is the real cost of pushing it back a year?” he asked. “And what happens if I don’t transition to Canvas — in other words, how enforceable is this?” Pharmacy Prof. David Smith, a SACUA member, said the faculty has no choice but to transition next fall. “It’s pretty enforceable, you’ve got to convert over,” Smith said. “You don’t have a choice, you’ve got to learn it and give them feedback on things you need that they don’t have that will help you do a better job.” To aid their transition, faculty can consult online resources, the University’s Information and Technology Services Center and Canvas support, available through phone, e-mail and live chat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “There’s a Canvas support team but they don’t seem to be particularly well trained because I get a lot of e-mails from faculty saying ‘I go to Canvas support and they don’t know the answer,’ ” Weineck said. “Once you get high enough up in the Canvas support team you will eventually get to someone who knows the answer and who will be very helpful. But knowing faculty, a lot of faculty will get to this in August.”
There are lines so poetic and pure that you want to etch them on the inside of your eyelids. After losing the photographs she once took of Sylvia Plath’s grave in autumn, she returns years later to take new ones: “There is now one of Sylvia in spring. It is very nice, but lacking the shimmering quality of the lost ones. Nothing can be truly replicated. Not a love, not a jewel, not a single line.” After losing both her husband and her brother in a short period of time, Smith recalls “hours sitting in Fred’s favorite chair, dreading my own imagination. I rose and performed small tasks with the mute concentration of one imprisoned in ice.” And, if nothing else, “M Train”
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 — 3
fast,” Powers said. “It’s been an enjoyable four years.” The administration committee, comprised of Mayor Christopher Taylor (D) and Councilmembers Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (D–Ward 3), Chuck Warpehoski (D–Ward 5) and Graydon Krapohl (D–Ward 4), will narrow down the list of potential applicants for the post. Briere said Powers’ successor will have big shoes to fill. “The biggest challenge we face is looking for someone who will build on what Steve Powers has already done and that’s a challenge,” she said. In prior years, the council appointed a search committee separate from the standing administration committee. During the search for Powers, a four-person group of council members conducted the search. “The process is not that different than last time,” Taylor said in an interview. “It changed because we wanted an extra council member to broaden the set of inputs into the search process.” Briere said the process has also changed because the administration committee is responsible for evaluating the city administrator’s job performance. Upon Powers’ departure, the committee will contact members of staff and City Council to compile an exit evaluation. “To take advantage of the council members who are already conducting the evaluation seems efficient,” she said. The committee, with the assistance of a search firm, will narrow the national search to about three candidates. From there, finalists will participate in an interview with each of the council members, as well as public panels and meetings involving city employees, businesses and the Ann Arbor community. “The council is now starting to develop a recruitment profile for the position that will then be made available nationally and
candidates will be encouraged to consider the wonderful opportunity that Ann Arbor provides,” Powers said. At last Monday’s meeting, there were some concerns regarding the search procedure. Councilmember Jane Lumm (I– Ward 2) said she did not feel the process was inclusive enough. “I’ve been through other city administrator searches and actually, I feel that already the process is not terribly inclusive as it could be,” Lumm told the council last Monday. “Previously when I sat here, we engaged all the council members and administrator profiles, we engaged the community.” Other council members responded to Lumm’s concerns and said they felt the process was inclusive enough for the initial stages of the search. The council will have the chance to speak with each of the final candidates and hold public interviews. The final decision is also up to a vote of the council as a whole. In the past, senior members of City Council comprised the administration committee. This time, the committee members’ levels of expertise and seniority vary. “Getting that cross section of experience and expectations has already been done for the admin committee and that was what we were looking for the last time we did this search,” Briere said. On Monday, the council also approved the committee’s recommendation to hire the executive search firm, Affion Public, which was the same search firm hired to find Powers. The firm was recommended to the council by Human Resources Director Robyn Wilkerson. The HR department told the administration committee that surveying for other search firms might delay the process by six weeks. “Affion has done a number of employee searches successfully for the city in the past, and they were one of the three different search firms that were considered who had a record of success with the city,” Briere said. “They were
selected in part because of that record of success and because they had the staffing capacity to do a thorough but rapid search.” The committee has created a job description for the position and has sent it to the council for review. Once the council has approved the job description, Affion will create a profile for the position and conduct a national search. “The profile is created after the firm talks to council members, staff and members of the public,” Taylor said. The council also approved a proposal Monday night to raise the posted salary for the position from $160,000 to $175,000. The HR department found the median salary for city administrators in cities with populations between 100,000 and 249,000 was about $167,000. The council voted to raise the salary in hopes of drawing toptier candidates. In deciding to switch jobs, Powers accepted a pay raise of more than $50,000. He will now earn $210,000 a year, with added perks. When Powers first began his role as city administrator in 2011, he was earning $145,000 a year. In October 2014, Powers’ pay was raised by $14,500 to $159,500. Ann Arbor’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Crawford will serve as interim city administrator. He will receive a pay raise of about $1,500 a month for the duration of the interim posting. Taylor said the timeline for the search process is still up in the air. “The search process will take a good amount of time,” he said. “It’s going to take us a couple of months.” Powers said his successor has to be able to view Ann Arbor for its values and unique characteristics. “An administrator needs to view the city as more than just police and fire,” he said. “It is a community that has values that are very important to a council and the administrator is expected to believe in an organization that is consistent with those values.”
is a series of recommendations. I walked away with a page-long list of things to read: Jean Genet’s “The Thief’s Journal,” Roberto Bolano’s “2666,” Haruki Murakami’s “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita.” That’s not including dozens of poems, songs, paintings, TV shows and a veritable atlas of cities and towns to explore. Smith intended it this way, claiming, “I offer my world on a platter filled with allusions.” But, ironically, it’s in offering so much of her unedited world that Smith makes things difficult for the reader. Books are like belly buttons: They can be innies, ones that force you to look deep into yourself, outies, ones that force
you to confront the vastness of the world and all its knowledge, or the rare combo of both. “M Train” is, unfortunately, an outie. As you read page after page chronicling Smith’s diverse adventures, friendships and musings, but with no real unifying theme, the whole thing feels like an extended brag, a 250page account of how amazing her life has been. Yes, this is Patti Smith’s book about Patti Smith’s life. But the “narrative” is so loose, and yet so relentless, that reading it is exhausting rather than enveloping. And in a book of moments, the beautiful ones stand out, but so do the cringe-worthy, like this description of Veracruz,
Mexico: “The air was perfect, like milk from the breast of the great mother. Milk that could be suckled by all her children — the babes of Juàrez, Harlem, Belfast, Bangladesh.” So what would you get out of reading this book? Some beautiful prose, enough book titles to keep you reading for years, a definitive stance on the pleasures of drinking coffee alone. But really, “M Train” ’s existence is, in and of itself, an exhortation to live a fuller life. Drive across the country on a whim, it says. Bake your own bread, go to the movies, learn how to play chess, whatever. Write poems and take photos. Travel. Fall in love. Have stories that could fill a book.
eventful two years, during which members of the University’s Black Student Union called on
the University to increase Black enrollment and improve campus climate.
CITY From Page 1
financial aid, recruitment teams and our partners across the university — worked together in response to the charge to achieve our target class size and find ways, consistent with state law, to bring further diversity to our student body with this class,” Kedra Ishop, associate vice president for enrollment management, wrote in a press release. “We are pleased with the progress and want to continue our forward momentum in 2016.” University President Mark Schlissel said in an interview with the Daily last month that he expected to see improvement within the student body’s diversity enrollment as early as
this semester, a reflection of the University’s effort to package financial aid awards with admission decisions. The University received a record number of applicants this year and admitted 26.24 percent of those applicants. This fall, 6,071 students of the 13,584 admitted actually enrolled into the University, resulting in a 45-percent yield. In-state students represent more of the student body this year, making up 57 percent of students this year compared to 55 percent of students last fall. The University accepted 50 percent of in-state student applications, while only accepting 20 percent of out-ofstate applicants. There were 31,573
more out-of-state applications than in-state applications. With regard to socioeconomic diversity, the percentage of freshmen eligible for Federal Pell Grants rose by 1.1 percent from last fall. First-generation students make up 8.5 percent of the incoming class, and lowincome students make up 10.2 percent of the class. According to a press release, the University continues to invest more money in financial aid than ever before, increasing aid to undergraduate, needbased financial aid by 8.1 percent since last year. The increases in underrepresented minority enrollment come in wake of an
Panelist Heather Ann Thompson, an Afroamerican and African Studies professor, echoed this point. “Murder is murder, isn’t it?” Thompson asked. “Or is it?” The panelists unanimously condemned the closed nature of prisons. They discussed how difficult it is for researchers and visitors to gain access to prisons and how this has resulted in critical gaps in knowledge about the lived experience of prisoners. “In our society, we take it as normal that prisons are these closed spaces,” Thompson said. “(Prisons are) so closed that there is no data on how many hours prisoners spend in isolation — no one has access to
collect it.” The panelists pointed out that though Michigan’s only women’s prison, the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, is 15 minutes away from the University’s campus, many University students have not heard of it. Panelist Ruby Tapia, a professor of women’s studies and English, said it is important to analyze representations of lived experiences of incarcerated women, including but not limited to “Orange is the New Black.” Moderator Valerie Jenness, a senior visiting scholar at the University’s Institute on Women and Gender and a professor at the University of California,
Irvine, asked panelists about a passage from Kerman’s memoir. In the passage, Kerman tells the story of a newly released prisoner who told local media she had a “magnificent” and positive experience in prison. Some inmates still incarcerated in the prison were angry with this description because they felt it was false. Tapia noted that some women who have been incarcerated have expressed the same feelings toward “Orange is the New Black” — that the narrative represented is a narrow one that may not encompass the multitude of lived experiences. Kerman’s address begins Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. in Rackham Auditorium.
Opinion
4 — Tuesday, October 13, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Socioeconomic growing pains
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com JENNIFER CALFAS EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH and DEREK WOLFE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
Policy in the round Students should attend discussions on sexual misconduct policy
S
ince 2014, the University has been a subject of an ongoing investigation by the Department of Education for its handling of sexual misconduct cases. In April, a Michigan Daily report on the sexual misconduct policy identified significant flaws in both investigative practices and discrepancies in the definition of consent between official policy and what the Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Center teaches. In response, the Daily wrote an editorial calling for the University to revise its policy to maintain the University’s “sincerity in combating sexual assault on campus.” This desperately needed change may be implemented soon, albeit after an opportunity to hear from student voices. On Oct. 1, in an e-mail to students, E. Royster Harper, the University’s vice president for student life, announced a series of roundtable discussions and an online survey to address revisions to the University’s Student Sexual Misconduct Policy. While the administration has “devoted significant time and expertise in crafting these draft revisions,” Harper wrote, “our efforts are incomplete without your thoughtful review and feedback.” For our safety, all students must be involved in this process. Apathy is not an option. Over the next three weeks, University administration will be hosting several roundtables in tandem with other organizations like the Spectrum Center, Trotter Multicultural Center, Office of Greek Life, Central Student Government and Culture Shift. By partnering with these organizations, it appears the administration is hoping to target demographics of students who are disproportionately affected by sexual misconduct on campus, in addition to the student body at large. LGBTQ, Greek life and underrepresented minority students were all at least two times more likely to have experienced unwanted or nonconsensual penetration, according to the University’s 2015 campus climate study regarding sexual misconduct. It is encouraging that the University feels inclined to address sexual misconduct on campus in a manner that recognizes the complexities of the issue; each demographic on campus has different needs and brings a unique perspective. Now, the administration must make a concerted effort to truly listen, and students must make an equal effort to voice their concerns, whether that’s by attending these roundtable discussions or filling out the online survey. The problem with how the University organized these roundtables, though, is that there is no explanation of what has exactly changed in the sexual misconduct policy. Harper’s e-mail only provides a link to a draft policy that lacks highlights or comments that point to the revisions made by the administration. At best, this was an unfortunate oversight by whoever created the page for this draft. At worst, this whole effort to include students appears to be an empty gesture if students, who are likely (and understandably) not well-
JOE IOVINO
versed in University policy, don’t know what they should be looking for. The most notable change in the drafted policy, which is slated to take effect in January 2016, is an expansion on the definition of consent. Additional bullet points clarify that consent cannot be inferred from silence or passivity, or from existing or prior relationships. Consenting to a singular sexual activity does not mean consent to other activities or the same activity later on, and consenting to sexual activity with one person does not mean consent to activity with another person. Furthermore, if the revisions are instituted, the investigation process will allow students to appeal investigation findings to a separate and impartial external reviewer, most likely an attorney. In the current policy, students can appeal investigation findings, but only to the same board that decides the initial sanctions a student will face. Other changes include that the University will identify all witnesses by name in reports, replace the role of resolution officer — who, according to the Daily, “previously resolved appeals to sanctions or resolutions handed down by the resolution coordinator” — with an appeals board and explicitly state which instances would use the sexual history of either party in the investigation. Though complicated and requiring an understanding of the investigative process to grasp their significance, these are critical changes that ideally will ensure greater equity in the process by removing previous biases and change decision-making from a sole individual. While all of us hope to never be involved in a sexual misconduct investigation, the importance of having a sound, equitable and trustworthy policy is imperative to the safety and comfort of students on campus. The University should have taken better efforts to ensure all students have the opportunity to understand the revised policy, and there is still time. In the meantime, students should take it upon themselves to educate each other on the implications of these revisions. That way, students can attend these roundtables or fill out the online survey prepared to provide the administration the constructive feedback they need — making involving students in this drafting process more than a meaningless exercise.
E-mail joe at jiovino@umich.edu
T
hough summer’s beginning to fade into cooler shades and colored leaves, it seems like everyone I know is planning for next summer. Most are thinking about internships or even full-time employment offers. I’d be lying if I said I MICHAEL wasn’t. I already have SCHRAMM a spreadsheet lined with publications where I want to intern. I’ve linked to their employment pages. I have a list of HR contacts with whom I’ll follow up, and I already have fragments of cover letters completed and saved in a computer folder. That may sound intense to you — I’d certainly consider it excessive. But I’m so concerned about my plans this summer because I’m from a lower socioeconomic background, and I’ve come to realize I’m frequently at a disadvantage when seeking a job. I started realizing this last winter, when I applied to every journalism internship imaginable. Sitting on the UGLi’s second floor, I overheard some girls talking. One was talking about her summer plans. She mentioned giving her resume to her father, and how he “needed” to get a move-on with helping her find summer plans. Apparently, he’s a lawyer who knows doctors that could hook her up with a medicinerelated internship. She continued to complain. I sat in my chair, both confused and incredibly frustrated. Aside from how annoying her complaining was, how was it possible that someone could just “hook you up” with a job? Why was I working so hard while her dad did her work? In that moment, I experienced the “socio” aspect of socioeconomic
status. It’s something even I sometimes forget about. Many people can flatten socioeconomic issues into problems strictly related to income. For instance, not being able to afford an education at a better out-of-state college, or avoiding eating out with friends because you don’t have the money. However, lacking social benefits that come from money are also problematic. The girl in the UGLi — like many others on this campus — comes from a family earning a high income. These high-earning careers usually come with prestige. Prestigious jobs serve as opportunities to connect with others in prestigious jobs, and therefore, wealthy parents oftentimes hook their kids up with connections in the student’s desired industry. Networking, or talking to these professionals, frequently serves as an “in” to finding an internship. Either the student gets connected to the professional’s job, or uses the contact to connect with more people until they have multiple “ins” at a company. Professional connections don’t flow from my parents. I lived with a single mother, and she worked as a restaurant manager. My mom couldn’t connect me to anyone working in my planned career. While not every wealthy parent has the right connection for their kid’s career, and while prior experience, skills and grades are also relevant factors, having a connection to a company is incredibly important. Connections count a lot in the working world — more than you might think. In a 2014 study by Syracuse University, 57 percent of graduating alumni found a job through networking. The next closest, at a mere 15 percent, came through oncampus recruiting, showing how big of a role networking plays. Networking also helps you stand out in a large applicant pool. A recent study revealed that 6 percent of the applicants had a reference in the
company, yet they represented 29 percent of the new hires. There are certainly other ways to network and “know” someone in the internship process, but college students are still kids, meaning meeting and growing professional networks of working adults is incredibly difficult. So, it stings when others don’t recognize their privilege. I take finding a stable, high-paying job seriously, as it represents the final key to ensuring I can escape the difficulties I’ve experienced growing up. Oftentimes, I feel like I have to work twice as hard to get half as far as some of my friends. It feels like I’m swimming upstream in a battle that I really want to win. Now, I’m not shaming my friends with well-connected parents. If you had a connection that could help you find an internship, it’d be crazy not to take advantage. However, I’m discussing this topic for two reasons: 1) If your parent helps you get an internship, you should take a moment to recognize how privileged you are. While you’re likely qualified for whatever you’re doing, you got that position in part due to luck. There are many people who were just as qualified but didn’t get the position because they didn’t have that fraction of luck. 2) Help your friends, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status, take advantage of your resources. If you know a friend pining for a marketing internship, and your mom’s a marketer, do a solid and connect the two over the phone. That informational interview could help your friend snag an internship. The professional world is frequently dominated by who you know, not what you know, but there are ways to help those who currently suffer the consequences. — Michael Schramm can be reached at mschramm@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Adam Morton, Victoria Noble, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
A
Get your flu shot
s a columnist, there are a few positions that — though important — are so widely accepted and uncontroversial that writing a column centered on one would feel like a copout. I’m talking about positions like “cigarettes are harmful to your health” and VICTORIA “animal abuse NOBLE is bad.” It’s not that tobacco use and animal abuse aren’t public issues. It’s that so many people have written about them that whoever chooses to smoke or abuse defenseless creatures probably isn’t going to change their behavior based on my column. I used to think that vaccinations fell into this issue category. I assumed that most people understood the benefits of vaccinations and the key role they play in keeping both individuals and the public healthy. This weekend, I realized I was wrong. On Friday, I got a flu shot. To me, it seemed normal and routine. The shot was almost painless, paid for entirely by my insurance and took less than a half hour out of my day. So I was taken aback when a group of my friends reacted with surprise after mentioning that I had gotten the flu shot. None of them had gotten it this year. Some thought themselves too busy. One remarked that she hadn’t gotten the flu shot because she “didn’t want autism.” In 1998, a British doctor released a study of only 12 subjects that claimed a link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The study was widely circulated before an investigation found that the data had been
manipulated to support the findings. The study was retracted, and the researcher was stripped of his medical license for “professional misconduct.” Several studies since have found no link between autism and vaccines. Yet the myth linking autism and vaccinations has self-perpetuated, fueled by fear and anecdotes pushed by both parents and public figures like Donald Trump, who argued in a presidential debate that his employee’s child developed autism after being vaccinated. Last year, some Michigan public schools were forced to temporarily close amid measles outbreaks. We haven’t seen major outbreaks of measles on campus. But, every year, we see cases of the flu. Part of that might be attributable to the fact that the flu vaccine doesn’t protect against all strains of the flu, and so isn’t completely protective (though, in many cases where the flu vaccine doesn’t prevent the flu, it still lessens the severity of illness.) A larger factor, though, lies in the fact that most college students don’t get vaccinated against the flu at all. Nationally, only about 8 percent of college students receive the flu vaccine. Despite the fact that illnesses spread easily on college campuses, students routinely fail to make the flu shot a priority. Worse still, the University doesn’t do much to highlight the issue. The flu shot is available at the University Health Service, but UHS doesn’t do enough to promote the flu shot, or make it acceptable to students who don’t have private health insurance. Most students pay a mandatory “Student Health Fee” as part of their tuition. It covers many UHS services, but doesn’t include vaccinations. Though vaccinations are covered by all private insurance, uninsured students who
wish to get a flu shot at UHS are charged $49 by appointment or $25 at a flu shot clinic. UHS’ current campaign to promote vaccinations — the Campus Flu Vaccination Challenge, a competition with Michigan State — is actually part of a statewide push sponsored by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Did you know that it took place last year, too? Neither did I. The contest is severely underpublicized and lacks general public awareness about its existence. UHS also offers flu shot clinics spread across Central Campus — something, as a junior, I just learned on Sunday. Better publicizing existing programming could help more students benefit from it. Additionally, UHS should work harder to educate students on the benefits of getting a flu shot. Discussion of the myths surrounding vaccines, including the flu shot, often overpowers discussion of its benefits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting the flu shot is the best way to avoid getting the flu. And, when students are immunized against the virus, it is less likely that other students will contract the illness. Some health care issues are a matter of personal responsibility. Getting vaccinated isn’t one of them. It benefits and protects the entire community. The University has a responsibility to keep our campus community healthy this flu season. At a minimum, that will require a more forceful effort to make students aware of the services it already offers. In addition, new, creative solutions are needed to boost campus flu vaccination rates and counter harmful myths surrounding the shot. — Victoria Noble can be reached at vjnoble@umich.edu.
WANT TO ATTEND A POLICY REVISION ROUNDTABLE? There will be seven roundtable discussions throughout October in different locations across campus. Check out the the editorial online at www.michigandaily.com to find out what date works for you, so you can have your voice heard on this important issue.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 — 5
GENDER AND MEDIA COLUMN
FILM REVIEW
No happy endings to Beauty, the beast be found in ‘Sicario’ R Ruthless thriller explores war on drugs By BEN ROSENSTOCK Daily Arts Writer
Everything about “Sicario” is ruthless. The Mexican cartel bosses are ruthless, storing dozens of corpses in their houses and setting Atraps to blow up unsuspect- Sicario ing FBI agents. Lionsgate Those same FBI agents Rave and are ruthless, killing indis- Quality 16 criminately to eliminate any possible threat. And the film itself, directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Prisoners”), is ruthless, providing no happy endings or easy solutions to the ongoing threat of the Mexican drug cartels. After a rigged shed behind an Arizona drug house kills two agents, a team of special agents is selected to hunt down the men responsible. Emily Blunt (“Edge of Tomorrow”) stars as Kate Macer, an FBI agent selected by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin, “Inherent Vice”) to join the team. Along the way to their first mission in El Paso, Kate meets Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro, “Traffic”), a trained killer who remains stoic yet kind to Kate. When they land in Juárez, Mexico, however, Kate realizes how unprepared she is for this elite position. In Mexico, the laws normal law enforcement agents must abide by no longer exist. Merciless killing is tolerated, with little concern for collateral damage. Naked corpses hang from overpasses, and one night, Kate watches through binoculars as explosions and gunshots are heard all across the city. Most of “Sicario” maps Kate’s slow realization that she must either adapt to her new surroundings or die.
LIONSGATE
“How’d she get her legs behind her head like that?!,” asks Emily.
That character arc can be described in simple terms, but it’s harder to convey exactly how tense the film is. One of the first Juárez scenes is possibly the tensest in the movie, showing a gun battle during a traffic jam at the Bridge of the Americas. Countless innocent bystanders watch in terror, treated as non-factors in the ongoing war between the cartels and the agents who seek some twisted form of justice. The thrills of “Sicario” aren’t earned exclusively through conventional means, like tense music or kinetic editing (though both Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score and Joe Walker’s editing complement the tone perfectly). Much of the tension is earned through wondering how far the supposed “good guys” will go to take down the cartel. Alejandro is a particularly compelling character; though he seems like a “dangerous rogue with a heart of gold” at the beginning, his true nature is only revealed at the conclusion of the film. The early thrills and unraveling secrets of “Sicario” may lead some viewers to believe that the movie will build to a stunningly intense climax, but the climax relies more on muted horror than conventional suspense. The film’s daring to upend expectations is also, in a way, its only flaw — Kate, the protagonist, is notably absent during the sequence the film has built toward.
Still, for thematic coherence, the resolution is perfect. The whole film is populated with compelling characters whose backstories inform their arcs without defining them. Emily Blunt is fantastic as a woman forced to adapt to this horrifying new world, and Benicio del Toro is admirably restrained, leaving the viewer to guess his true motivations. Brolin is also fascinating as a sardonic, borderline sadistic agent who has long since found his place in this world. As Alejandro tortures the information out of prisoners, Matt grins chillingly. In some ways, he’s the rare comic relief figure of the film, cracking jokes and sneering everywhere. But in most ways, Matt is just another product of the disturbing society shaped by the Mexican drug trade. “Sicario” is a thriller, a character study and an indictment of a section of society so frequently exploited for suspenseful action films. Though the film does provide those same thrills in spades, it’s so impactful because it’s willing to go deeper, to be realistic about the impossibility of ending this sickening system. Kate Macer isn’t a badass female action star sent in to prove her male colleagues’ preconceptions wrong and singlehandedly dismantle a criminal empire. She’s one of the countless lives devastated by a system in which the best possible outcome is some sem-
TV REVIEW
Schumer slays ‘SNL’ By SHIR AVINADAV For The Daily
“SNL” ’s second episode of this season featured first-time host Amy Schumer, whose particular brand of Acomedy proved a perfect fit Saturday for the show. Schumer, who Night Live has made Season 41, a name for herself as a episode 2 comedian, Saturdays at writer, actress and producer 11:30 p.m. — and recently won an Emmy NBC for her work on “Inside Amy Schumer” — boldly took the SNL stage and f lawlessly executed her opening monologue. Though it wouldn’t have been Schumer without references to buttholes or birth control, her opening monologue featured her take on female role models and women in Hollywood. Specifically, she emphasized the need for more female role models, poking fun at the Kardashians: “Is that a great message for little girls for a whole family of women who take the faces they were born with as a light suggestion?” In contrast, Schumer selfdeprecatingly referenced her own body image, “I have an 18-month-old niece and we have the exact same body,” after lightly joking that Khloe Kardashian “lost half her body weight ... she lost a Kendall.” Though disparaging her own body image took on a playful
form and is one of the reasons so many women can relate to her, her attitude may have the opposite of its intended effect. Compared to many of “SNL” ’s scripted opening monologues, in which far less talented hosts have poked fun at themselves, the ease with which she ridiculed herself stood out as refreshingly sincere and authentic. And naturally, Schumer’s monologue included an anecdote about her favorite presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. After asking Clinton what her favorite drink was, Schumer wasn’t satisfied with Clinton’s response and pushed further, asking Clinton if she drank tequila. Clinton responded that she only drinks it when her friends make her. Schumer, amused by this response, says in her monologue “Make you? Like, who’s hazing Hillary Clinton?” Who else but Schumer would discuss alcohol with a former first lady, secretary of state and presidential candidate then joke about it on live television? “SNL,” which has in recent years become somewhat stale, especially after losing many of its big-name comedians, was reinvigorated by Schumer’s brazenness in this past episode. The outstanding ease with which Schumer portrayed her various roles, including a hysterical Delta f light attendant and a seductive school teacher, was quite entertaining to watch. However, the comedic and acting experience she brought were limited by a rotation of
female characters that were either ditzy, slutty or hysterical. For someone as fearless as Schumer, the bounded range she was given to work with was somewhat disappointing. The episode, however, did seem to be on the right track with one thing: gun control. It only makes sense that Schumer, who has recently advocated for stricter gun-control legislation, hosted the episode that ran rampant with parodies, sketches and jokes regarding the national issue. In a satirical parody of a public service announcement, guns are shown as a part of everyday life; Schumer, gun in hand, cuddles her boyfriend in bed, and a father (Bobby Moynihan) hands his newborn baby a gun. The parody ends with the caption, “Guns. We’re here to stay.” Just like Schumer’s often obscene humor, the message of the mock PSA was hardly concealed. Other highlights of the show included the topics of Justin Bieber’s recently leaked nude photo and filling the position of Speaker of the House — between which Colin Jost, host of “SNL” ’s Weekend Update, managed to draw a hilarious comparison: “Basically it was no one’s first choice. Which made me think, ‘Wait, maybe Justin Bieber’s penis should be the new Speaker of the House.’ ” For the first time, Jost and Weekend Update co-host, Michael Che, were on a roll. With hosts such as Miley Cyrus, this week’s Amy Schumer and next week’s Tracy Morgan, “SNL” is starting to gain momentum again.
aise your hand if you’ve heard of Vibe Credit Union. No? Me neither, until I sat down to watch Amy Schumer’s “Saturday Night Live” monologue, and was treated with a lovely Vibe commercial. It features a woman as NATALIE she applies GADBOIS make-up with bombdisabling concentration. Her presumed boyfriend stands behind her, taking pictures and complimenting her as she preens. Suddenly, we discover that he was never taking pictures of her — he was using Vibe’s convenient mobile banking app to deposit his checks online! Our intrepid makeup-applying protagonist pouts, until he looks up and comments in shock at how good she looks. Malibu Barbie giggles, and says, “Finally.” *** “You are beautiful.” The words I slur at my friend as she cries about a boy, post-Rick’s. The phrase my grandma coos over the phone, unprompted and unnecessary. The sentence that crosses my mind unbidden when I watch television, or look at women across the street or walk into my own goddamn house. As a woman, I am constantly confronted with the idea of beauty. Not its relative definition — we all know the beauty ideal exists, and that it’s a problem — but its crushing importance. Even as I sat down to watch Amy’s monologue — which skewers the Kardashians for “taking the faces they were born with as a light suggestion” and compares her own body to a lava lamp — a poorly lit commercial from a third-rate credit union reminded me, yet again, that above all else, I am supposed to care about looking beautiful all the time. *** In the ’60s and ’70s, Helen Gurley Brown was one of the most critical harbingers of secondwave feminism. The writer of the groundbreaking “Sex and the Single Girl” (a direct influence on “Sex and the City”), and the first editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, she was vital in introducing female sexuality into the buttoned-up zeitgeist. She transformed Cosmo from a literary magazine edited by men into a guidebook for the modern single career-oriented woman.
She spoke candidly about sex and status. She was a revolutionary in every way. But Helen had at least one fatal flaw. Though she once wrote, “Beauty can’t amuse you, but brainwork — reading, writing, thinking — can,” she was also prone to telling women that they should never eat more than 1,000 calories a day, and that, “If you’re not a sex object, you’re in trouble.” This, coming from one of the most valued white feminist voices of her time. Even in the context of feminism, female beauty has always been a sticking point, perhaps because beauty gets caught in the murky in-between of self-esteem activism and sexual liberation. Perhaps because even the most progressive of feminists (myself heartily included) fall prey to the strictures created by a beauty-obsessed society. Even Mindy Kaling, creator, writer and star of the first sitcom starring an Indian-American woman on primetime and author of two bestselling books, felt the necessity to spend multiple chapters of her memoir “Why Not Me” discussing the way she looks. This is not to blame Mindy — she works in an industry where she is valued for her looks above all else, and because she doesn’t fit the Hollywood mold she must constantly be proving herself. Her chapters on both her own insecurities and her hilarious portrayal of self-care as a celebrity were honest and relatable. But as a purveyor of many a celeb memoir, I can attest that no man who I’ve read has felt the need to write about his looks. And every woman I’ve read has. *** Legend has it that Connie Britton flips her hair and a small woodland fairy comes into being. So when a friend sent me a video touting that it revealed Connie’s beauty secret, I was all ears. Her great beauty secret: feminism. Connie explains the many ways in which feminism has helped women, from the passing of Roe v. Wade to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Wage Act, to the non-profits that work to fight domestic violence. As I watched it again and again, thrilled that my two favorite things were together in one threeminute clip, I kept getting stuck on my initial reaction. Part of me still wanted to know Connie’s beauty secret. I hated myself for it. Why is the need to be beautiful oftentimes the one patriarchal ideal that feminists can’t quit? Why do we still live in a world in which a woman is valued for her looks above all else, and even the women who should be fighting
that fall into its trap? *** To the shock of most people who know me, I spent my summer working at a beauty company. I saw firsthand the time and money that goes into helping women reach for an unattainable level of perfection. I was told — by friends I respected and cared about — that I should wear more makeup or that my hair would look great with highlights. I tried to engage in discussions of Caitlyn Jenner’s transition and instead we talked about how hot she looked on the cover of Vanity Fair. To be woman is to be beautiful. I told myself it was empowering — self-care engenders confidence, which develops selfesteem, which all women should have. But I never really believed it. Because it’s not just a problem in Hollywood, or in the fast-paced New York beauty industry. I sit with my roommates as we talk about wanting to lose weight, as we compare two women’s relative attractiveness — “You are so much hotter than her; he would be lucky to hook up with you!” — as we choose the perfect lipstick that will fade after two minutes anyways. As an editor for The Michigan Daily, I have been privileged to edit stunning personal essays from a diverse range of people — on love, loss, insecurities or moments of pride. As I look back on the stories I have edited — so many, too many — of women’s deepest personal stories have revolved around the way they look. Mine included. I offer no solution. Even as I rail against the omniscient pressure to be beautiful, even as I yell in exasperation at the men in my life who have never given this a second thought, I’m a part of it. I want to feel beautiful. I want to be beautiful. I could list off all of the other great qualities I believe I possess, but beauty is that great albatross I can never get rid of. It’s the one unifying goal. It’s the assumption that’s made if you are a woman in our world: You are woman, therefore you must ache to be beautiful. I guess the only thing I can do — so small, so insignificant — is to stop talking about it. That’s my pledge, that from here on out, in every column I write, I will never discuss the way a woman looks. Not even to call her beautiful. I know it won’t make a difference, but it might make me feel just a little bit better. Gadbois is starting another celebrity memoir. To give her recs, e-mail gadbnat@umich.edu.
ALBUM REVIEW
Selena Gomez’s weak and corny ‘Revival’ By DANIELLE IMMERMAN For The Daily
As I lay in bed eating animal crackers on this lovely gray day, I find myself developing a slight migraine listening to Selena CGomez’s latest album, Reviv- Revival al. Though Selena Gomez Gomez proclaimed this Interscope album as her music revival, Records she falls nothing but short of her intentions. Gomez, who recently revealed that she underwent chemotherapy to combat her Lupus diagnosis, has had a tumultuous few years. Between her illness and notorious rocky relationship with Justin Bieber, Gomez has been put through the wringer. In 2014, she spent time in rehab, underwent chemotherapy, experienced heartbreak after heartbreak with Bieber and delivered an emotional performance of “The Heart Wants What It Wants” at the 2014 American Music Awards. Her 11-track album,
Revival, seems to be her way of saying, “I’m OK now; I’m getting better,” but the real message I took away was, “Play this album at all Bar Mitzvah parties for the next five years.” Predominantly produced by Rock Mafia and Hit Boy, Gomez only partially contributed to the writing of six out of the 11 songs on the album. For an artist to say this album is her fresh start and revival and not even call the songs her own is a bit disappointing. Sure, there are a few songs that are catchy for 30 seconds, but halfway through the song you can’t help but want to hit “next.” Occasionally, Gomez will belt out lyrics with a rich tone, but more often than not, the only vocals she provides for each song are weak and strained ones. For instance, in “Same Old Love,” Gomez’s potentially solid voice is destroyed by the song’s annoyingly repetitive and mundane lyrics. The only lyrics she seemed to sing for three and a half minutes were “Same old love, same old love, same old love.” We get it Selena, same old love. Another song gone wrong is “Me & The Rhythm.” Obviously, I couldn’t help but dance around my dorm room while listening to
this song; it’s undoubtedly catchy and true to its name. The rhythm is great, but the lyrics are poorly written and the vocals simply disappear into the background of the strong beats and instrumentals. On a more positive note, the best song that challenges the overall over-produced feel of Revival is “Camouflage”; stripped down, the track forgoes the unnecessary electronic-pop overtones, proving the most genuine and natural song, elements that an album with a title such as Revival should have explored further. At the end of the day, the central problem in Revival is the lack of organic material. Every song on the album sounds the same and lacks the emotion that should be present if this is actually supposed to be a revival. Gomez has been relatively transparent about her struggles over the past few years, so for her to suggest that this album is her big breakthrough is a bit misleading considering there is not a single song that is truly honest and her own. Every song has the potential to be decent, but the heavy electronic beats combined with corny lyrics and weak vocals make the album nothing more than an annoying and otherwise ephemeral piece of art.
Arts
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 — 6
CONCERT REVIEW
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TV REVIEW
Last night I fell in ‘Home Fires’ sizzles love with two Brits By SOPHIA KAUFMAN Daily Arts Writer
Jamie N Commons and Catfish & The Bottlemen play St. Andrew’s By DANIELLE IMMERMAN For The Daily
On Oct. 11, 2015, I fell in love with two British musicians at Saint Andrew’s Hall. I didn’t think it was possible — to be honest, polygamy really isn’t my thing — but when Brits woo you with their musical talents, it’s hard to resist. The night began with Jamie N Commons, a British blues rock and folk musician. Commons was born in England, but lived in Chicago during his formative years, so his music is heavily influenced by the American blues, folk and swamp rock music; his unique blend of blues and rock sounds great recorded, but live is something else. I knew once he walked on stage in a poncho that his performance would be one to remember, but once he opened his mouth the poncho became irrelevant. There are only a handful of live performances that bring me to my knees, and this was one of them. Commons began with an acoustic solo performance before the rest of his four-piece band joined him on stage. Between his cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and his bluesy rock euphoric originals, Commons nailed it all. Each song he performed was unique, beautiful
and made my heart melt. When Commons opens his mouth, a flood of rich, luscious and haunting baritone vocals escape from his body. Every word that he sings wraps around you. Each drum beat moves you and every pluck of the guitar reverberates through your body. Commons’s live performance can be felt and internalized in a way that his recorded music cannot. That’s not to say that his recorded music isn’t good, because it is, but there is something about live music that can’t be replicated digitally.
To be honest, polygamy isn’t really my thing. Similar to Nick Cave and George Ezra, Commons’s voice is distinctly deep and full of raspy and sultry undertones; he’s the kind of vocalist who you never want to stop singing which is why I was disappointed when his seemingly short set ended. Luckily, there was a quick turnaround before Catfish & The Bottlemen took the stage. After being awed by one of the most unique talents of 2015, my expectations for Catfish & The Bottlemen were high. The mom standing in front of me
Classifieds
clearly was excited for the headlining band because she nearly took my eye out when Catfish appeared on stage to the sound of a roaring crowd. I, too, was excited to see this young British four-piece band take the stage, but clearly their dedicated fanbase of screaming girls and the occasional mother were far more eager than me to get their hands on them. Though Catfish & The Bottlemen performed well live, most of their indie rock music blended together. Their most well-known songs — like “Homesick,” “26” and “Kathleen” — were standouts during their set, but the rest of their performance was mainly interesting due to the crowd’s enthusiasm and the band’s relish of that enthusiasm. Unlike Jamie N Commons, Catfish & The Bottlemen sound slightly better recorded. Ryan McCann’s voice isn’t as strong as Commons’s, so comparatively the performance felt weaker. Had there been an alternative opener, I would probably say that Catfish & The Bottlemen nailed the performance, but Jamie N Commons is a hard act to follow. At the end of the day, Catfish & The Bottlemen was a pleasant band to hear live and are no doubt talented. They have the indie rock vibe down to a science and undoubtedly can bring a crowd to tears, but the true winner of my heart was Jamie N Commons, because it’s only once in a blue moon that a poncho-wearing talented baritone Brit comes along.
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Stories of wartime are romanticized in ways that aren’t always obvious to anyone who didn’t serve on the front Alines. This goes for sto- Home Fires ries about life Series Preon the homemiere front, too. But while PBS’s Sundays at 8 p.m. new “Masterpiece” series PBS about British citizens on the brink of World War II, “Home Fires,” has its fair share of soaring violin music and sweet tableaus, it surprisingly delves deeper into a well of stories that, despite having been told before, feel revitalized. “Home Fires” follows the lives of British women living in a more isolated rural area of England on the brink of World War II. The pilot opens with an argument: Some women believe that until the war is over, the Women’s Institute, a volunteer organization, should stand by and wait to reopen after peace is restored. Others believe that they have a duty to help. One woman calls for a vote of no confidence in the president, who then immediately resigns. A few loyal supporters follow her out the door — but enough remain to keep the doors of the Institute temporarily open. Typical war dramas involve husbands, fathers and sons enlisting and leaving weepy, worried wives and mothers — but that isn’t what this story focuses on. It focuses on those women who aren’t defined just by their relationships to men. They have their own community and ways of contributing to the war effort, and their own
PBS
Undisputed underwater-basket-weaving champs of 1942.
struggles, too. They are just as strong and just as vulnerable as the men are, but they must try twice as hard to have their efforts at aiding the country be validated. It’s difficult for a show centered around women to avoid portraying them as catty or one-dimensional when they are in competition with each other, but “Home Fires” avoids this pitfall. It realistically depicts the tensions that grew out of class differences; for example, several of the supporters of the Institute’s old president turn their noses up at women who live on farms and don’t wear pearls to meetings. It helps that the cast is well prepared and comfortable in their rapport, with actors such as Samantha Bond (“Downton Abbey”), Daisy Badger (“Shelter”) and Claire Rushbrook (“My Mad Fat Diary”) inhabiting their characters with a confidence that makes for believable interactions. Though it is a relatively cozy show — calming color schemes and perfectly coiffed hair included — it doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of this
time period. One of the women wants to join the workforce, knowing that her family is tight on money, but her husband sees no reason for her to do so. She serves him breakfast after he tells her that they aren’t having that discussion again, and when he notices she isn’t eating, she quietly tells him there was only enough for one. He smashes everything off the table and tells her she is welcome to it — if she gets it on her hands and knees. When a mother asks a doctor to fabricate a note for chronic asthma for her son so he can’t be drafted, the doctor grimly informs his secretary that she won’t be the last parent to do so. Yes, this is a show in which making jam serves as a patriotic call to action and a sign of hope, but it is also a show that won’t shy completely away from portraying the time period’s desperation in a way we’d sometimes rather not face. “Home Fires” doesn’t just fill a void for period dramas, a genre with a pretty niche audience; it handles its subject matter with sensitivity and dexterity, making for genuinely fun viewing.
TV REVIEW
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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Attorneys’ degs. 4 Clipper or Laker, briefly 9 Up to now 14 Sup 15 Get up 16 Jigsaw puzzle unit 17 Norse war god 18 Ruthless adversary 20 Planting ground 22 Have debts 23 Joints often sprained 24 Words before card or lock 26 Precious 27 Serious software problem 30 “Rats!” 34 Hyundai luxury model 35 Victor’s cry 37 Besides 38 Actress Hagen 39 ’60s-’70s “Hollywood Squares” semiregular 42 __ bind: stuck 43 Video game letters 44 Circular imperfection in wood 45 Slip-on shoes 47 One with a killer serve 49 Wisenheimer 52 Obsessed whaler captain 54 Boating stopover 55 Half of the hiphop duo Black Star 58 Certain NCO 59 Billions of years 62 Truth known only to a few ... and a hint to a word hidden in 18-, 27-, 39- and 49Across 65 Agcy. with narcs 66 Mark with a sale price, say 67 Greek goddesses of the seasons 68 Vex 69 Airline seat choice 70 Hinged fasteners 71 McMahon and Sullivan
DOWN 1 One of two MetLife Stadium NFL teams 2 Belafonte hit 3 Erotic dance 4 “Platoon” war zone 5 WWI era English poet Rupert 6 High-flying battles 7 East, in Mexico 8 “Michael Collins” actor Stephen 9 Exhausted 10 Made a pig of oneself? 11 Have a hunch 12 Summit 13 Husband-andwife creators of Curious George 19 Doctor House portrayer Hugh 21 Prevaricator 25 Lewis’ partner 26 Monastic hood 27 Flora’s partner 28 Ancient Mexican 29 Rodeo rope 31 Life-ending season in Ecclesiastes 32 Socially insensitive, in a way
33 “__ your mother” 36 Tibet neighbor 40 More than a little risky 41 Mausoleum 46 1997 movie beekeeper 48 Tire type 50 Hardships 51 Letter-shaped shoe fastener 53 Line of shrubbery
55 Juan’s “Look!” 56 “Dedicated to the __ Love” 57 Grounded fast planes, briefly 58 Spartan promenade 60 Techie, stereotypically 61 Fifth Avenue retailer 63 Librarian’s rebuke 64 “Amen!”
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10/13/15
10/13/15
‘Once Upon a Time’ a promising premiere By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR Daily Arts Writer
“Once Upon a Time” ’s twopart, season four finale had me clinging to the edge of my seat. Just as we were ready B+ for the happy ending that Once Upon inevitably had to follow a Time Henry Mills’s Season Five (Jared S. Premiere Gilmore, “Mad Men”) ABC decision to break the Sundays at 8 p.m. author’s pen in half, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, “House M.D.”) tethered herself to the darkness, saving Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla, “24”) from being caught in its wrath. After facing a season-long struggle to understand her place on the good-versus-bad spectrum, Emma, in one split second of primetime television, became the untried name on the notorious Dark One’s dagger. The series that had seemingly tried so hard to explore the depth between goodness and evil has fallen prey to pushing characters to find their place at either end of the dichotomy. In the season five premiere, Captain Killian “Hook” Jones (Colin O’Donoghue, “The Rite”) attempts to summon Emma through the Dark One’s dagger, only to realize that she’s trapped in another world. Later, it becomes clear that Emma is yet again trapped in the Enchanted Forest with an amorphous Dark One trainer, of sorts, who has taken on the form of Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle, “28 Weeks Later”). As she struggles to resist magic — which,
apparently, is what allows the darkness to consume her — back in Storybrooke, Regina tricks her wicked half-sister Zelena (yes, once again) into opening a portal to the Enchanted Forest that can only be harnessed by someone bred of more evil. On finding Emma, the crew takes off to Camelot to find the elusive Merlin, who is said to be the only one which powers to destroy the powers of the Dark One entirely. Six weeks later, back in Storybrooke, the cast is transported back to the Enchanted Forest with no memories after entering Camelot to find Merlin. Emma, by this time, is seen to have embraced the darkness, and swears to take revenge against everyone in Storybrooke that betrayed her.
Approachable acting and believable relationships. It’s the classic case of beenthere-done-that. We have only seen memories being wiped from Storybrooke characters twice before now, and Regina’s dark humor, though often the most entertaining part of the show (”You know you can still deliver a baby without a tongue!”), makes the ease in which she admits to being the town’s savior to the Camelot empire slightly less believable. To keep the show af loat, ”Once Upon a Time” ’s writers will have to prove that they are capable of taking
a set of seasoned characters and pitting them against new challenges. Morrison’s acting, as expected, is consistently phenomenal, as her transparent struggles have kept a show buried in fantasy still rooted to segments of reality. Her depiction of a villain in the last few minutes of the premiere comes out, in some ways, more naturally than Parrilla’s version of the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest. The writers’ decision to foreshadow the future, rather than building plot through f lashbacks, is refreshing. There is only so much of the Enchanted Forest we can see before thinking, “If I wanted to see this, I would dig out my childhood VHS tapes.” If anything, a Camelotcentered storyline seems to have far more intrigue than last year’s take on Anna and Elsa from “Frozen.” I’m optimistic. Executive producer Adam Horowitz promised, earlier this month at a Comic-Con panel, a f lashback to Hook’s childhood and upbringing is in the works, along with a two-hour, midseason finale that will delve deeper into the relationship between Mulan, from Disney’s “Mulan,” and Ruby, from “Red Riding Hood.” “Once Upon a Time” ’s power, despite its shop-worn dialogues and often-childish plotlines, lies in its approachable acting and believable relationships. By bringing the supporting characters more into the forefront of the show — while still driving the development of its core cast — “Once Upon a Time” might just manage to keep alive a plot that has managed to keep characters which are nearly a century old in our literature fresh.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 — 7
Bonding methods keep Wolverines close Friendship between coaches helps Michigan cross country By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
Forget the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. The best pumpkin créme brulee, pumpkin pie and other delicious fall pumpkin treats aren’t at Trader Joe’s — they’re found at the Michigan men’s and women’s cross country teams’ October bake-off. Every month, all of Michigan’s distance runners get together to compete in another arena by testing their skills in the kitchen. The night usually ends with everyone laying on the floor — completely stuffed — taking a vote on who should win. And if you haven’t guessed, this month the theme is pumpkin. “The competition is intense,” said the captain for the women’s squad, Devon Hoppe. “Everyone brings another level of competition to the bake-off. Once I tried to participate, but it was just mediocre. Now I just eat.” Despite how close the teams are today, the fifth-year senior has seen a change in the two teams’ relationship since she became a Wolverine. She attributes this to the addition of Kevin Sullivan as head coach of the men’s team. Sullivan is now in his second season with the Wolverines. He is a Michigan alum and is
the most decorated runner in the school’s history. In his first season as head coach, he guided his team to its highest finish at the NCAA Championships in more than a decade. Perhaps Sullivan’s secret to success and his ability to unify the two teams is because he trained under the same coach as women’s coach Mike McGuire, who has directed the program for 24 years. Both trained under the legendary Ron Warhurst. “There are certain similarities between how (McGuire and I) coach,” Sullivan said. “And there are things that are different. It’s (a) direct result of training under the same coach. It’s natural to take what you learned from your coach and move it to how you train your own athletes. “(McGuire) and I have our offices right next to each other, so we pop into each other’s offices often to talk about training, team issues and strategy. We rely on each other for advice.” Yet the two cross country teams are separate. They practice on different schedules, they often travel to different meets and they have different track records. But this season seems to be bringing the teams closer together. “I feel like we have we have a great relationship,” Hoppe said. “We’re a big family, we love each other very much, and we all recognize that we all want to work hard. That’s the core of our relationship. We’re all striving to achieve the same goals. The men’s team is an extra support system.” Hoppe’s classmate, Nick Posada, agreed and emphasized
“We’re a big family, we love each other very much.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Michigan coach Kevin Sullivan has played a very important role in the bonding of the men’s and women’s cross country teams during his two years at Michigan.
how effective some of Sullivan’s policies have been. “The boys and girls used to go to separate training camps, but when Sullivan came we started going to the same camp,” Posada said. “This was a new step in the relationship. We played board games and we just introduced ourselves to each other. Now, every weekend we’ll get together with the other team. There’s this whole social life the women and men do together now that centers around running. “Sullivan thought it would be best if we became one cohesive
distance unit. He wanted to bring back the same atmosphere he had when he was at school here.” An integral part of the melding of the teams is their introductions at camp. All the runners get paired up — 40 women to 26 men — and introduce the other to the group. This activity helps all the athletes get to know everybody’s name and small fun facts about each one of them. According to Posada, this is one of McGuire’s favorite teambuilding exercises. Otherwise, he maintains a serious demeanor while coaching.
“Both programs have been traditionally strong programs, and McGuire is one of the best coaches,” Posada said. “We have strong coaches on both sides, which is pretty rare. We kind of look at (the women’s team) and ask how they get that consistency because they’re constantly a top10 team. That’s what (the men) strive for.” So far, the the men’s and women’s cross country teams have been running far ahead of the competition this season. Coming off of last weekend’s domination at the Greater
Louisville Classic, both fifthyear senior Mason Ferlic and junior Erin Finn were named Big-Ten Cross Country Athletes of the Week. Yet the men and women are still debating over who really is running “on time.” “The girls are overly punctual,” Ferlic said. “The guys are on time. According to them, if you’re not half an hour early, you’re late.” “If you’re not three minutes early, you’re late,” Finn said. “But the boys are not that way. We spend a lot of time waiting for the boys.”
Harbaugh downplays rivalry Club players join ICE HOCKEY
By MAX COHEN Managing Sports Editor
Everything about Jim Harbaugh conveyed a sense of normalcy Monday. He entered his weekly press conference wearing his nearconstant outfit of khakis, a block ‘M’ crew neck and a hat with the thin block ‘M.’ He answered questions no differently than he normally does, preferring to discuss fullback play than whether or not his team’s success is ahead of schedule. His answers provided little indication of what looms ahead. Saturday’s matchup against No. 7 Michigan State will mark the biggest game of the No. 12 Michigan football team’s season to date. It will provide an opportunity for the Wolverines to make another statement about their resurgence, a chance to assert themselves as the preeminent program in the state. Yet Harbaugh did not seem particularly concerned with the implications of the game or the rivalry. He chose not to explain his decision to remove rivalry countdown clocks from Schembechler Hall, which had been a staple of the Brady Hoke regime. Instead, he said that it had been a while since the decision was made. At least publicly, Harbaugh would not flinch in his stance of downplaying the rivalry. His reasoning for why the game was important mentioned nothing about restoring Michigan to prominence or if it’s important for his team to unseat the Spartans as the best team in the state. His response would also have been fitting for the Wolverines’ next game against Minnesota, after which the winner is awarded a trophy. “It’s a trophy game, we want to get the best grades, we want to win the most awards, we want to excel at sports,” Harbaugh said. “This is a game that has a trophy associated to it, so it’s an award.” This summer, he called Michigan State the biggest guys
on the block. So it was natural that before his team played the biggest guys on the block, he would discuss wanting to knock the Spartans off. That was not the case. The former Michigan quarterback, who once guaranteed a victory over Ohio State, was not prepared to make any bold statements this time around. “Winning the next game is the goal,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the most important thing, there’s nothing more important than that, where you stand in this week.” He did not seem to care much about the history of the rivalry, at least not on Monday. Harbaugh did not seem interested in talking about the games he quarterbacked against Michigan State or what he thought of the way the Spartans have physically dominated
Michigan in recent years. Harbaugh twice referenced a scene from The Lion King to emphasize his point that the past does not dictate what happens in the present. In it, Simba, the main character, is contemplating his difficult past, which included the death of his father Mufasa, the lion king. To prove a point, the wise sage monkey Rafiki smacks him over the head with his staff. Simba then complains to Rafiki that his head hurts. Harbaugh applied Rafiki’s response to his team’s rivalry game. “Simba gets hit over the head and he tells him, ‘Yeah, the past can hurt. You can either run from it or embrace it and learn from it.’ I think that’s exactly what he said. Those seem like very wise words,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh’s players did not deviate from his message. Junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis, junior tight end Jake Butt, fifthyear senior linebacker Desmond Morgan and fifth-year senior fullback Joe Kerridge each had the opportunity to provide bulletin-board material, to create the kind of buzz the in-state rivalry has been known for. Each declined to do so. They have felt the pain of losing to Michigan State before. Each has watched the Spartans carry the Paul Bunyan Trophy off the field on multiple occasions. They figure this new coaching staff might be on to something, their 5-1 record serving as proof. “I think it’s been working so far,” Kerridge said. “Coach Harbaugh knows what he’s doing.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Jim Harbaugh avoided emphasizing the importance of the Michigan State rivalry before his team plays the Spartans.
team scrimmage By JUSTIN MEYER Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan hockey team took the opportunity Friday to introduce a few new Wolverines to the ice for the first time during a rare off-weekend. Eight players from the Michigan club hockey team dressed for the Wolverines and skated in a scrimmage meant to break up the doldrums of day-today practice. Michigan opened the season with an exhibition against the University of Toronto on Oct. 4, but will not play another game until Friday. With just 25 players, this year’s team carries a light roster for a Division I hockey program, so there was speculation that Michigan coach Red Berenson might try to add another player as a safeguard. “I can’t tell you we’re looking for players,” Berenson said. “If we ever had a rash of injuries, I think there would be a couple of them who would be able to play. They would be good depth players. They held up well, and I was glad we got to have a look at them.” Berenson said that the Wolverines have only added a club player a few as a result of injury — once a goalie, another time a defenseman. The players who suited up from the club team were Matt Schymick, Blake Smith, Ben Manksy, Jack Blumberg, Jonathan Katz, Lorenzo Bongiovanni, Alex Shell and Kyle Slovis. A few of the players held their own on both ends of the ice. Mansky, a sophomore forward, looked particularly impressive, battling well in the corners and finding the net to beat senior goaltender Steve Racine. Michigan’s players also looked strong despite a lopsided victory for the white team. The defense continues to look more comfortable and quicker last year’s unit. There was also some
development on offense, where freshman forward Brendan Warren displayed an uncanny ability to find the puck with space around the net. Warren, who was selected 81st overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2015 NHL Draft, looked good in the season-opening exhibition against University of Toronto, but has settled in with his line over the past week. “The younger line with (freshman forward Cooper Marody) and Brendan Warren and (sophomore forward) Tony Calderone — I think they are going to be a good third line, maybe even better than third line,” Berenson said. “I really like Brendan. He’s not only a good skater, he’s strong. You go into the corner with him and he’s going do everything he can to win that battle. He plays with an edge and he’s good with the puck and he’s got a nose for the net.” The club players put in strong efforts as well, winning a few loose pucks and congratulating each other after a shot or defensive stop. Parents and friends of the players sat in the stands, cheering when they took the ice. Bongiovanni is a local-area player who faced off against Wolverine Zach Werenski, a sophomore defender, and Kyle Conner, a freshman forward, in spring leagues. He said playing with that pair Friday brought the experience full circle. “You get to see how they go through their routines and that’s pretty cool,” Bongiovanni said. “It would be great to see club hockey players get to do that again in the future to keep the connection up.” The light-hearted scrimmage was fun for everyone involved, but the casual atmosphere will disappear this weekend. When the Wolverines takes the ice for their first regular-season game Friday against Mercyhurst, Yost Ice Arena figures to be quite a bit louder, and the margin for error slimmer.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, October 13, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Defense controls mindset after third shutout Michigan looks to continue its momentum against Michigan State By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
When game week comes to a close, ESPN’s “College GameDay” wraps up its show Saturday morning and the Michigan football team kicks off its showdown against Michigan State, almost one month will have passed since the Wolverines last gave up a point. Fifth-year senior linebacker Desmond Morgan smiles at the thought. A few days ahead of
the toughest test of this streak, Michigan’s defense isn’t worried about its end. “We just play our game,” Morgan said. “We’re not into predictions — what if this happens? What if that? It’s all speculation. Our goal is to prepare this week as best we can to go win a football game on Saturday.” Ah yes, the football game on Saturday. Almost all of the discussion Monday centered around the game against the Spartans, who have won the past two meetings by a combined score of 64-17. “Yeah, they beat us,” said junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis. “Honestly, it’s a humbling experience, but we can’t dwell on it.”
The Wolverines have chosen to forget those two losses. And thanks to the strength of their top-ranked defense, they are favored to win the rivalry game for just the second time in eight tries. And if there was a concern about that defense letting up while riding a historic streak, Michigan put that to rest, too. “(Defensive coordinator D.J.) Durkin does a great job of never taking his foot off the gas pedal in practice, never letting a guy
slip,” Morgan said. “He’s as fiery in meetings now as he was three weeks ago before we had a shutout. It’s one of those things where he’s not going to let up, so in turn we’re not going to let up.” Still, the circumstances are different now from the last time the Wolverines gave up a point Sept. 19 against UNLV. They have not trailed since the second quarter of the Sept. 12 home opener against Oregon State. Depending on how things go,
“He’s just as enthused as Coach Harbaugh is.”
that streak could be snapped Saturday, forcing Michigan to respond. The Wolverines insist Durkin will have them ready. “He’s just as enthused as Coach Harbaugh is,” Lewis said. “He brings that energy. He brings that enthusiasm every day. If we don’t have that enthusiasm, he lets us know it. We have to bring that energy, and if we don’t bring that energy, it’s not to his standards.” Michigan vehemently avoided hyping up itself or the game Saturday, keeping a low profile in the Spartans’ eyes. But the stats do the talking for the Wolverines. So do the fans, who broke out into a loud “DE-FENSE!” chant near the end of Saturday’s game. “I couldn’t even think,” Lewis
said. “I have never seen anything like that. I was just so excited that they were behind us. … It was a mind-blowing experience.” With that finished, Michigan’s attention turned solely to this week. So far, the Wolverines’ three straight shutouts have vaulted them to the top of the Big Ten standings, to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll and into the national conversation. But another shutout on Saturday might mean more than the others. “It’s a big game, there’s no question it’s a rivalry,” Morgan said. “Taking it personally? Yeah. I’m a kid from the state of Michigan. I know what this game is. I know how important it is. It definitely is something that’s personal.”