ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, October 30, 2015
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IGR hosts dialogue on costumes, intervention Discussion considers culturally appropriative dress on Halloween By GRIFFIN ST. ONGE For the Daily
Two days before Halloween, students gathered to discuss the complex, intersectional issue of Halloween costume cultural appropriation and the different scenarios in which it can occur. The open dialogue, titled “It’s Just a Costume, Right?” was scheduled to be timely and informative, and aimed to give people the tools they need to discuss the issue. The event was hosted by CommonGround and the IGR Student Engagement Team. LSA senior Elena Ross, a member of the Student Engagement Team, was one of the students responsible for organizing the night’s discussion and originally suggested its main topic. “It’s an issue I see come up every year and that people don’t really know how to handle,” Ross said in an interview after the event. “We also tried to highlight bystander intervention in this dialogue for that reason.”
“We came away with some actual, tangible tools to use when … we’re seeing people dressed up in costumes that we find offensive,” she added. Generally, the participants discussed ways to mitigate and intervene in situations where Halloween costumes target and present microaggressions toward specific cultural identities, spanning the gamut from ethnically charged to gender-based outfits. One guideline in this process was for students to “expect and accept a lack of closure” on the issue in general. “I came here today because I feel strongly about my Indian cultural heritage, and so I identify with people whose cultures are portrayed in Halloween costumes,” said LSA senior Sana Isaac. “So I think it’s an important topic and one I’d like to hear other perspectives on.” The dialogue began with a list of discussion guidelines and a presentation of different definitions of cultural appropriation. One of the first exercises involved participants walking to one of three different colored pieces of tape — green, yellow and red — on the ground for any given scenario presented. The green piece represented indiSee COSTUMES, Page 3
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Sally Peterson (D-Ward 2), an Ann Arbor City Council member, speaks to the College Democrats about voting at their Get Out the Vote City Council Elections meeting in the Michigan Union on Thursday.
Candidates for City Council emphasize impact of voting College Dems host forum to encourage participation in Tuesday’s election By ALYSSA BRANDON Daily Staff Reporter
In a push to increase student voter turnout before city-wide elections Tuesday, Ann Arbor
City Council members partnered with the University’s Chapter of College Democrats to host an event emphasizing the importance of civic participation Thursday. Held in the Michigan Union, the event coincided with College Democrats’ Get Out The Vote campaign, an initiative that seeks to increase votership in the final days leading up to elections. Council members and mem-
FOOTBALL
The Vote) is so important, especially for Democrats, is because it’s our time to shine,” she said. “When voter turnout is high, Democrats win. That’s a proven fact. The good thing about being a Democrat is we have grassroots people power and (get out the vote) is where that shows the best.” Echoing Jarvis’s comments, Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, who also See ELECTION, Page 3
FILM INTERVIEW
Pixar veteran Pytko talks ‘The Good Dinosaur’
‘M’ tries to regain Little Brown Jug on Saturday Wolverines, Golden Gophers set for emotional matchup in Minneapolis
Lighting Lead for classic animated films discusses career at Angell
By MAX BULTMAN
By JACOB RICH
Daily Sports Editor
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
After two long weeks spent trying to process a shocking loss to Michigan State on Oct. 17, the Michigan football team will finally return to the playing field Saturday. The Wolverines travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers in a game that will be influenced in large part by emotion. For Minnesota, Saturday will be an opportunity to win for Jerry Kill, the former Golden Gophers coach who retired Wednesday due to health concerns. Kill suffered two seizures on Tuesday, leaving him little choice but to address his epilepsy head-on and step away from coaching. A year after Kill’s squad brought home the Little Brown Jug, his team will have to defend the trophy without its leader. But as far as Minnesota’s game plan goes, Michigan isn’t expecting anything different from interim See MINNESOTA, Page 7
WEATHER TOMORROW
bers of the College Democrats sought to inform students about candidates in advance of the upcoming elections as well as provide a platform for some council members to introduce potential plans for University and the city of Ann Arbor. Public Policy senior Erin Bozek-Jarvis told attendees that when more people vote overall, it’s generally positive for Democrats. “The reason why (Get Out
HI: 54 LO: 44
LSA Dean Andrew D. Martin answers students’ questions in a casual Q&A session at the Union on Thursday.
LSA dean discusses course evaluations, diversity plan Martin also fields questions on R&E requirement, dual-degrees By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
Over ice cream sundaes, LSA Dean Andrew Martin held an open forum as part of a continuing series of #withDeanMartin talks. Approximately 20 students gathered in the Michigan Union’s Pond Room on
Thursday night to ask Martin questions about various topics, including the University’s forthcoming diversity plan and course evaluations. During the talk, Martin emphasized his support for University President Mark Schlissel’s new diversity plan that is moving forward this year. Schlissel is currently soliciting input from the University’s various units and departments to inform a larger strategic plan to improve diversity and inclusion at the University. “It’s an incredibly important process for the University, and
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I think it’s going to provide us a really nice plan for what we are going to be doing as an institution going forward,” Martin said. “It’s really something that this campus holds as a core value.” Martin said different departments within LSA are working on specific initiatives that could eventually coordinate into a campus-wide strategic plan down the road. “All the schools and colleges are going through a coordinated strategic planning process this academic year, and at the very end this is all going to roll See DEAN, Page 3
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Bananas could inform new medical treatments MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
INDEX
Daily Film Editor
Pixar. Need I say more? You know their movies, and you love them. It seems current college students in particular have a deep affinity for these films, being the first generation to have grown up with their now-classics such as “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” But how does Pixar create their art? Who are the men and women that make the visual beauty of these computer-animated films possible? Last week, I crammed myself into a packed Angell Hall auditorium along with dozens of other University students to meet a Pixar wizard in the flesh: Jonathan Pytko. His presentation gave insight into his career in digital lighting, as well as a look at Pixar’s production process. He also gave us a preview of “The Good Dinosaur,” their latest project. A veteran Lighting Lead, Pytko joined the Emeryville,
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CA-based company to work on 2004’s “The Incredibles” (a hushed wave of excitement and “oh my god I love that movie so much” whispers rushed over the crowd when he listed that bullet point on his resume) and has since lit films like “Ratatouille,” “Up” and “Brave.” “I really like to make things with my hands. I like to build models and paint and draw, play with Legos, and all that stuff,” he said in a post-presentation interview with The Michigan Daily. “All that stuff is great, but you never have that piece, the piece that you’re missing, or you don’t have the color for the painting you’re trying to do. When I was in high school, I got my first computer and I started playing around with (computer animation). And you have all the colors, and whatever’s in your head. If you can get it in there, you can get it out on the computer, so it’s kind of this limitless opportunity.” Pytko began his presentation by showing us a few proof-ofconcept shots that his team worked on in pre-production of “The Good Dinosaur.” They were drop-dead gorgeous moving images of natural scenes: a leafy twig with beaded water droplets and a river flowing through a mountainous landscape. See PIXAR, Page 5
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2 — Friday, October 30, 2015
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LEFT: Leon Bridges performs at The Majestic Theatre in Detroit on Saturday. (VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily) RIGHT: Zedd performs at the Masonic Temple in Detroit on Friday as a part of his “True Colors” tour. (ZACH MOORE /Daily)
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
Scholars symposium
LRCCS symposium
Horror Film Festival
Symphony Band
WHAT: The 2015 Community of Scholars, which comprises students from various departments at the University, will present their recent research findings. WHO: Department of Women’s Studies WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: 2239 Lane Hall
WHAT: A symoposium to honor Robert Dernberger’s career in Chinese economics. WHO: Asian Languages and Cultures WHEN: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. WHERE: Ross School of Business, Room R2220
WHAT: The film festival will feature four foreign language horror movies from around the world. WHO: University Libraries WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery
WHAT: The concert, titled“From the Heart,” will feature dance, folk and spoken word perforemances. Timothy McAllister will perform on alto saxaphone. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 8 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium
Drug discovery Dia de los Advances in Muertos Ball casual inference lecture WHAT: The event will be a celebration of the birthday of Richard Remington, a professor of biostastics at the University. WHO: School of Public Health WHEN: 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. WHERE: Palmer Commons, 4th Floor
WHAT: Michael Holinstat, an associate prof. of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine, will present on the “eevelopment of novel therapeutics in the platelet.” WHO: Center for the Discovery of New Medicines WHEN: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. WHERE: Palmer Commons, Forum Hall
WHAT: Event will feature music and food to celebrate the ending of LatinX Heritage Month and the culuture of Dia De los Muertos. WHO: Office ofMultiEthnic Student Affairs WHEN: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Alumni Center, Founders Room
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Rep. Paul Ryan was officially elected Speaker of the House Thursday morning, the Washington Post reported. Winning 263 votes, Ryan beat Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) 184 votes, and Rep. Daniel Webster’s (R-FL) nine votes.
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The No. 15 Michigan football team travels to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers on Saturday. The Wolverines come in at 5-2, 2-1 in the Big Ten. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on ESPN. >>SEE SPORTS, PAGE 7
Greek lecture WHAT: Professor Pavlos Kavouras from the University of Athens discusses the importance of xenitia in Greek culture. WHO: Modern Greek Program WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: 2175 Angell Hall
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Officials in China annouced Thursday the country will lift its one-child policy, CNN reported. While the policy was intitially created as a means of population control, officials are now worried labor forces are dwindling.
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BUSINESS STAFF Hussein Hakim Finance and Operations Manager Claire Ulak Production Manager Jordan Yob Marketing Manager Matt Pfenning UAccounts Manager Asja Kepes Local Accounts Colin Cheesman National Accounts Anna He Special Guides and Online Manager Claire Butz Layout Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
College Republicans talk public perception of GOP energy policy Michigan Conservative Energy Forum stresses need for bipartisanhip BY CAMY METWALLY Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Conservative Energy Forum spoke to the University’s chapter of College Republicans on Thursday about energy policy and its relationship with bipartisanship. The event, held in the Michigan Union, focused on the activities of the MCEF, which was formed in 2013 in response to the impending expiration of a number of energy bills. MCEF Program Director Katie O’Connell said the goal was to give conservatives a voice at a time when the discussion on energy policy was led by Democrats, and to remove stereotypes that Republicans don’t prioritize taking care of the environment. In particular, she said a lack of education led to inefficient political
and legislative efforts in energy policy, especially when it came to new technology developments. “You get a lot of loud characters that just say whatever they think is true at the highest decibel possible,” O’Connell said. “One of the big things we run into are people who know the technology from 2005. Well, in the past 10 years, solar, wind, biomass and hydro have all take off because we’ve given them a great opportunity.” The organization encourages the adoption of an “all of the above” approach to energy policy, aiming to diversify Michigan’s energy portfolio by including multiple sources of renewable energy. O’Connell said the organization believes expanding renewable energy resources and increasing energy efficiency will result in improvements in several areas, including jobs and the economy, national security and health. The College Republicans established a partnership with MCEF last year.
Information senior Madeline Jursek, chair of the College Republicans, said she plans to continue to foster this discussion and take part in sustainability and environmental groups across campus. She added that she also hopes to collaborate with the University’s chapter of College Democrats on this issue. “I think it’s really important, especially as young republicans, to show that we do care about the environment and are looking for clean energy opportunities and sources,” Jursek said. “I think it’s really strong that we show the community on campus that we can be Republicans and still care about the environment.” LSA senior Gabriel Leaf, who serves on the MCEF Leadership Council, said misinformation and misunderstanding from both parties are the cause of many barriers in energy policy. “Most hurdles come from people’s misunderstanding of what we’re doing, energy policy as a whole and conservative energy and how that can work towards more of a workable future for everyone,” Leaf said. In addition, several members of the College Republicans noted they believe the public’s view of Republican energy policy is not representative of the majority’s sentiment. LSA freshman Jake Roodvoets stressed the importance of the MCEF in promoting the issue, which he said was vital to the state and national economies. “Most of the time, Republicans focus more on money or the military, tax cuts and less spending regulation, but there are more priorities we have to look at,” Roodvoets said. “I think it’s a good thing this group is looking at that and promoting a solution many people like myself can agree with.” O’Connell said she thought young people in particular had an important voice on the issue, expressing the importance of younger citizens in instigating change in policy priorities. “Young people are the powerhouse that makes things happen,” O’Connell said. “We need people who are passionate, and that starts at the grassroots level.”
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Susan Smith of the League of Women Voters spoke on the legislative effects of district lines and the potential of redistricting in Michigan at the Ann Arbor Public Library on Thursday.
League of Women Voters hosts forum on redistricting process SCOTUS case prompts push for independent commissions BY CAITLIN REEDY For the Daily
The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area hosted a redistricting town hall forum Thursday night in the Ann Arbor District Library. The event, which drew about 40 people, was moderated by Susan Smith, vice president of program planning for the League of Women Voters of Michigan. The League of Women Voters is a national nonpartisan organization aimed at citizen empowering voters through education about various policy areas. Thursday’s forum was one of a slate of events statewide focusing on redistricting, which refers to the process of redrawing electoral districts. Electoral districts demarcate the geographical areas Michigan’s legislators represent in Congress. Currently, Michigan’s leg-
islature draws the district lines for the state. States also have the option of redrawing district lines through independent, nonpartisan commissions. Smith said the events were prompted by a Supreme Court case handed down in June, in which the court ruled an independent redistricting commission in Arizona was a constitutional method of redistricting. Following the ruling, she said, it was clear that state residents were passionate about the issue, with many reaching out to the League of Women Voters to discuss the possibility of an independent commission in Michigan. “What we do now creates a problem in Michigan,” she said. “The process that we are using now is one where the politicians are choosing the voters instead of the voters choosing their elected officials. “This is not democracy; this is the reverse of the way it is supposed to be in a democratic country.” Nancy Schewe, president of the League of Women Voters for the Ann Arbor Area, echoed Smith’s sentiment and
said the issue was important for Ann Arbor residents. “We are concerned about the way our legislative districts are drawn in Michigan,” Smith said. “We are in a statewide education campaign about the consequences of redistricting, and possible solutions.” During the forum, presenters discussed whether there was gerrymandering in Michigan — the practice of redrawing lines to get a particular partisan outcome during the election. Smith noted that in the most recent election for the Michigan House of Representatives, Republicans won 46 percent of the vote, yet managed to obtain 59 percent of the seats in the House. Republicans currently control both the state House and Senate, and were the majority party the last time redistricting occurred after the 2010 census. “Partisan politicians manipulate elections to keep themselves and their party in power. The Republicans do it, the Democrats do it,” Smith said. “(GerrymanderSee REDISTRICTING, Page 3
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COSTUMES From Page 1 viduals being “OK” with the scenario, the yellow piece with them being unsure or slightly uncomfortable and the red piece with them feeling firmly that the situation was unacceptable. Scenarios presented a variety of potentially offensive costume possibilities, from someone of native ancestry wearing a “sexy native princess” costume, to someone wearing a “white trash” costume by taping pieces of crumpled paper to themselves, to a Black person dressing as Justin Bieber. Other scenarios intentionally did not reveal the identities of the costume wearer. For instance, one situation addressed someone wearing a Caitlyn Jenner costume; another addressed someone dressing as President Barack Obama. After completing the exercise, participants split off into small groups to discuss their spectrum of views. Most agreed that the intent of the
DEAN From Page 1 up into a University-wide strategic plan,” Martin said. “In LSA, there are a handful of different discrete activities that we are doing that are all working together.” Martin also touched on how diversity could be increased in nonacademic areas. He said the University’s Office for Student Life is currently engaging in a strategic planning process as well. “We know that on campus at various times and in various places that we do not have a climate that fully embraces the diversity of our student population,” he said. “A lot of what happens here that is social, cultural and academic happens out in the residence halls in our
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wearer was important, but that wearing a person or identity as a costume carries weight regardless. Rackham student Mike Varano acknowledged the range of intent in cultural appropriation, from some making uninformed decisions and others perpetuating stereotypes intentionally. “I think that’s a huge problem,” he said in an interview before the event began. “I would lean towards the direction of … people not having enough sensitivity or maybe questioning the decisions they’re making around these things. And I think that we could do to have more awareness and reflection about even costumes that are meant to be jokes especially.” During one exercise, the participants got back together in a circle to discuss their conversations. Many scenarios revealed a variety of perspectives. For example, the group was split with regard to the “white trash” costume. Some felt that the particular scenario of wearers taping crumpled paper to themselves was acceptable,
as it was a clever play on words and not a direct attempt at stereotyping. Others believed that any stereotyped attempt to wear a marginalized group, such as white people of low socioeconomic standing, was dangerous. The “sexy native princess” scenario was highlighted for being both appropriative and sexist. LSA senior Corine Rosenberg pointed out the “exotic erotic” phenomenon — that people who are deemed “exotic” for arbitrary reasons can be harmfully sexualized and dehumanized. The dialogue then turned to acting out skits to promote bystander intervention, allowing participants to tag each other in to intervene while another participant pretended to wear an appropriative costume. Being able to educate the appropriative wearer became complicated, as scenarios in which these costumes were worn at parties made it more difficult for bystanders to effectively inform the wearer. Potential issues in the “party” situation included the wearer being drunk or the environ-
ment being too casual to intervene. During group discussion, LSA junior Adedolapo Adeniji was interested in pointing out why costumes of particular people — such as Caitlyn Jenner, Nicki Minaj, Barack Obama and Trayvon Martin — become popular. “Dress up as a celebrity, but why are you costuming (them)?” she asked. Particular attention was given to the Caitlyn Jenner costume, which is expected to be a top-selling choice this year. Many felt that any attempt to appropriate an identity, such as transgender, Black, Native American or Mexican, in particular, is harmful. The general consensus was that there is a clear issue with being able to wear these identities as a costume for the night, as opposed to being someone who actively lives with these identities and the stereotypes that come with them. “You don’t want to give people the idea that you can wear this identity and then throw it away,” said LSA senior Ivory Bradley during group discussion.
community and it’s important that we try to have the best climate we possibly can.” LSA sophomore Patrick Mullan-Koufopoulos said he thought the new diversity plan was important moving forward for the University. “I think that it’s a really interesting plan and I support it wholeheartedly,” he said. “I think that as a campus we need more diversity and I think that we are moving in the right direction.” Martin also discussed the recent faculty senate vote to support the delay of releasing course evaluations. Many faculty members have addressed concerns with the University’s current course evaluation mechanisms and have advocated for revisions before the data is released. Martin said this information should be available to students.
“This is something that my leadership team and I have discussed over the past few weeks and although this is not a unanimous view, it is the view of the college that students should have access to course evaluations,” he said. He said the administration has reached a standstill on the issue, but he believes students have the power to get the information. “We are sort of at an impasse,” Martin said. “As you all know, you as students have agency here. You can obtain the data, but it may be costly. You’ve got resources through Central Student Government or LSA Student Government that could go ahead and get the data and publish it in some way. In my judgment it would be the right thing for these data to be available.” In addition to discussing
the University’s diversity plan and course evaluations, Martin fielded questions on a recent CSG proposal to list mental health resources in course syllabi, the University’s race and ethnicity requirement and dual-degree programs. One student asked about why some schools, like the Ford School of Public Policy, do not allow students to complete majors in two different schools. “This is a decision that the Ford School has made,” he said. “We would be happy to have dual-degree students with the other schools and colleges. It doesn’t make any sense to tell a student who’s going to complete the requirement for a major that they cannot get the real major on their transcript.”
Scientists ‘go bananas’ for new application of fruit protein as method for treating viruses ‘U’ prof. leads research to mitigate side effects of BanLec BY TOM MCBRIEN Daily Staff Reporter
The banana: a favorite fruit, a preferred source of potassium and the source of a molecule that could fight some of the world’s deadliest viruses. Scientists have known for years that a protein inside bananas called banana lectin, or BanLec, has powerful antiviral properties. The only problem: BanLec also overstimulates the immune system, resulting in harmful side effects that make it useless as a medicine. However, an international team of researchers, led by Internal Medicine Prof. David Markovitz, recently announced that it was able to engineer a special version of BanLec called H84T that has the virus-fighting abilities of normal BanLec without the harmful side effects. Though Markovitz’s team is focusing on the anti-influenza properties of the modified BanLec protein, they also found preliminary results suggesting it could be used to treat HIV, hepatitis C, Ebola and other viruses. “One scenario we’d love to see but are — again — far from, is that it works against other important respiratory viruses like MERS and SARS,” Markovitz said. “So one could imagine someone ill with a viral pneumonia coming in and you don’t know what’s causing it, but you could treat
them with the modified BanLec before you know what the diagnosis is.” BanLec, like all of the lectin class of proteins, is a special molecule that binds to sugars on the surface of cells. Because sugars are a very diverse class of molecules, cells cover themselves in different sugars to send various messages to other cells. When proteins like BanLec bind to those sugars, they are able to alter which messages get sent and received. “Sugars offer a very sophiticated way to regulate biology because they’re so complicated and they can be put together in many different forms,” Markovitz said. “For example, you can have multiple mannoses interacting with other sugars. They can be on certain proteins covering certain structures of the protein and not other structures.” In BanLec’s case, binding to mannoses — sugar molecules that bind to other molecules — on the outside of viruses blocks those viruses from binding to human cells. As a result, they lose the ability to invade human cells and will die out instead of establishing an infection. Unfortunately, BanLec can also bind to multiple mannose-containing structures on the outside of special immune cells called T-cells. When a T-cell binds to something in multiple places, it causes inflammation, leading to swelling and pain. Usually, this reaction is a healthy part of the immune system. But when it results from BanLec’s attachment to the mannose structures on T-cells, it can cause a dangerous reaction
akin to a system-wide allergic response. The research team studying BanLec, which included 26 scientists from around the world, used a host of techniques to discover whether or not they could tweak BanLec to remove these side effects. “We like to approach these questions by taking advantage of a wide range of expertise,” Markovitz said. “One of the nice things about this work is that it employed many different modalities. We had virology, glycobiology, molecular biology, immunology, animal models, dynamic modeling, NMR and crystallography. A lot of these are very specific techniques, so no one would know how to do all of these on their own.” Using these techniques, the researchers discovered that a single structural change in BanLec removed the dangerous side effects. They shifted a structure that had previously shared a special chemical bond with another structure. This bond separated two sugar-binding sites, meaning they could both attach to a T-cell separately, stimulating inf lammation. By moving one of these structures, the bond disappears and the two binding sites act more like one. The structures then lose the ability to activate T-cells. Markovitz said there’s a long way to go before H84T will be available as a drug. The team still has to figure out how to make H84T in large, chemically pure quantities, hire private companies to perform full toxicology reports and see if the protein is as powerful if given 24, 48 or 72 hours after infection
instead of the four hours used for the first study. After that, clinical trials on humans can begin. As the researchers continue to study and refine H84T, they are also focusing on how best to bring it to market. “This is part of why academia is fun,” Markovitz said. “You get to do all sorts of different things, and one of them can be trying to make something come to market. So that’s what we hope. But we’ve got a long way to go before getting to human treatment.” As part of this commercialization effort, Markovitz’s team is working with the University’s Office of Tech Transfer to brainstorm how best to bring H84T to market, assuming it continues to show promise. Markovitz said he hopes this research inspires more scientists to research other modified sugar-binding proteins. “What we hope is that this will embolden other groups who are totally unrelated to us to take a look at lectins and see whether they could modify them in a targeted manner to treat other diseases that we wouldn’t do because there are only so many hours in a day,” Markovitz said. “Another thing is that it opens up the whole idea — and I don’t want to overstate our contribution because people had thought about using lectins as antivirals long before we got in the field — but I think this is another indication that more specific therapy against the sugars on viruses might be effective.”
the michigan daily wishes you a happy and safe halloween
Friday, October 30, 2015 — 3
REDISTRICTING From Page 2 ing) all depends on which party is in power … and how these lines are drawn impacts policy issues.” Among attendees at the forum, several concerns were raised, namely how Michigan compares to redistricting practices in other states. Seven states, including California and Arizona, currently use independent commissions to redistrict the state, which Smith said mitigated the consequences of gerrymandering. Bob King, a former president of the United Auto Workers who attended the event, said he thought independent commissions would be beneficial for the state. “I think if there were a better way to set districts with an independent commission it would make our government a lot more responsive and a lot more democratic,” King said. “I’m tired of gridlock in the government. I’m tired of polarization. I’m tired of people who don’t really care
ELECTION From Page 1 spoke at the event, shared an anecdote about how he won the election primaries for commissioner in 2010 by only one vote. Rabhi is currently a candidate for state representative. Councilmember Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1), who has served on the council for five terms and is running uncontested to retain her seat, stressed that in addition to voting, it’s also important for students to contact elected representatives to voice their concerns. “Your voice is really important,” she said. “If you don’t vote, the decisions that people make on your behalf may not be the decisions they want you to make. Your tasks as voters and as activists in the Democratic party is to make sure they hear from you.” Ann Arbor resident Chip Smith, who is running uncontested for City Council in the 5th Ward but faces opposition from a write-in campaign from Kevin Leeser, a nurse at the University of Michigan Health System, cited housing affordability as a top issue in his campaign that was relevant to students. Smith suggested housing costs
what the citizens think.” However, Smith and Schewe noted that changing the way Michigan is redistricted is a long process, requiring long-term commitment. Changing redistricting methods would require an amendment to the Michigan constitution. This can happen by either the introduction of a proposed amendment by a legislator, which, in turn, will be voted on by the legislature or a citizen petition for a statewide ballot question on the issue. After the event, Ann Arbor resident Vince Caruso said he thought the Ann Arbor area in particular was suffering from the effects of partisan redistricting. “I think we are a laughingstock in some ways with our district in particular being so gerrymandered,” Caruso said. “Several sources I’ve checked have labeled our district one of the worst in the country. It’s not a good representation, I think we are better than that.”
led to many University students leaving Michigan after graduating. “We are tired of seeing the best and brightest leaving the state,” he said. “I think it’s very important to figure out how to create an environment that invites you to participate, help shape the community you live in and gives you the option to stay.” In an interview, College Democrats Chair Max Lerner, a Public Policy senior, said holding events like Thursday’s meeting is important in bridging the gap between students and politicians. “Any time we can connect local leaders with students, we’re reducing that gap and creating an environment for more effective politics and more effective governance,” Lerner said. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Briere said she hopes students who attended the meeting left feeling more confident in themselves as voters. “I hope they leave with a more positive sense of how important their involvement in local politics is, because the sexy stuff is all national politics, we know that,” she said. “Yet we don’t see how much difference one vote can make in national politics but we can really see it in local politics.”
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Opinion
4 — Friday, October 30, 2015
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
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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.
FROM THE DAILY
Cease the seizures Civil asset forfeiture laws need further reform
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ov. Rick Snyder (R) recently signed into law an eight-bill package that aims to reform Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture laws. These laws allow the police to take citizens’ property, including televisions, cars, cash and houses, if it is believed to have been used in or acquired by way of criminal activity. The police department is then free to use those assets as it sees fit. Even if a person is not charged or convicted of a crime, he or she is assumed guilty and must go to court to get their property back. The reform legislation raises the standard for civil asset forfeiture from a preponderance of evidence to clear and convincing evidence. It has also increased the reporting and transparency of civil asset forfeiture. These changes are necessary and long overdue, but they are also not nearly enough. It is imperative that the standard of civil asset forfeiture is raised to “beyond a reasonable doubt” — the highest level of proof in the legal system. Further, the citizen must be presumed innocent and the funds raised by civil asset forfeiture must be used for the state’s general fund, not primarily for police departments. Only then could this matter of civil asset forfeiture be considered resolved. Civil asset forfeiture laws became widely used throughout the United States as part of the War on Drugs in the early 1980s. The rationale behind these laws, generally, is that they deter criminal activity, punish criminals, prevent further criminal activity and raise funds for more crime-fighting. When used correctly, these laws make sense. Few would argue against the police confiscating contraband or using a drug lord’s profits from drug sales to help catch more criminals. However, it isn’t clear that this is how these laws actually play out. In fact, these laws have recently come under scrutiny because of many abuses that have been highlighted in the media, both in Michigan and nationwide. An example of this abuse was reported by the Detroit Free Press, which details how a 72-year-old disabled cancer patient with a medical marijuana card was accused by the police of selling marijuana, then was handcuffed and had his house searched. The police found that he had extra marijuana seedlings, but never charged him with a crime. His personal property, including $11,000 in cash and his Dodge Journey, was still taken by the police. Many similar stories have surfaced, suggesting that this shakedown of a medical marijuana card-holder for money was not an isolated
incident. Since there are legal and financial barriers to regaining property taken under civil asset forfeiture, many of these wrongs go uncorrected. According to the Michigan State Police, more than $24.3 million in cash and assets in 2013 were seized from Michigan citizens. The majority of these seizure cases went uncontested in court, despite the fact that many were not charged with a crime. It has become increasingly apparent that civil asset forfeiture laws are designed in a way that at best does little to limit abuses and at worst encourages them. When police can profit from targeting individuals and squeezing them for their assets, it is hardly surprising that they do so. The reforms signed into law by Snyder will make it slightly more difficult for police to abuse civil asset forfeiture. The government will be held to a higher standard to keep the seized property, but the burden will still be on the citizen to cough up legal fees and prove his or her innocence. The police still have incentive to abuse the laws, but their use of these laws will be documented more thoroughly and examined more carefully. Undoubtedly, abuses will decrease as a result of these reforms, but there is not enough protection for Michiganders. Reform of civil forfeiture laws should not stop until the proceeds from civil asset forfeiture are used for Michigan’s general fund and the standards for seizing property are raised. The Institute for Justice recommends raising these standards by requiring a conviction before taking someone’s property. Michigan should follow this advice to make sure that the abuses stop and, considering the prevalence of this problem across the nation, other states should listen, too. The abuses in the criminal justice system are simply too rampant, with the nation learning of something new nearly every day. While there is significant room for improvement in many aspects, at the very least, the police should be stopped from taking people’s possessions prior to a conviction.
Cleaner air equals better health
cent higher than the national average, and residents suffer the 10th-highest death rate from cardiovascular disease in the nation. It is evident that air pollution continues to threaten our health every day. This is why it is so important for the state government to support Michigan’s transition to clean energy sources through strong renewable energy and energy optimization standards. As a future nurse, I am passionate about preventative health care and promoting the well-being of the populations I will care for. By improving Michigan’s air quality, residents will experience a healthier future and increased quality of life.
TO THE DAILY: As a nursing student working in University of Michigan Health System hospitals, I have witnessed firsthand how the health of Michigan residents is negatively impacted by air pollution. Michigan relies heavily on coal-fired power plants for energy, yet the toxic chemicals released from burning coal are known to cause or exacerbate a variety of health conditions. These adverse health outcomes include asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer. To put all of this into perspective, Michigan’s asthma rate is 25 per-
Anna Koenigsdorf Nursing junior
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Anna PolumboLevy, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
We have nothing to fear from honest differences honestly stated. If you have ideas, let’s hear them.” —Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R–Wis.) in his address to the House of Representatives.
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Freedom to move
he student lifestyle requires a lot of time spent sitting down. We sit in lecture halls and libraries and on the bus to class. And if we’re not sitting, we’re walking (or the more creative and rushed among us are skateboarding, biking or maybe just running) SUSAN across campus to LAMOREAUX get somewhere or other. Sometimes we go to the gym or sports practice, where we can move our bodies and get sweaty and gross, but often it’s not for the point of feeling joy in the action — it’s to lose weight or burn calories or change the way we look. It’s all too easy to tune out the way a movement or action makes us feel, especially in a stressful schedule packed with classes, work obligations and extracurriculars. But that’s the whole point of Nia, a dance-fusion exercise form that’s been around since the early 1980s. Nia stands for both non-impact aerobics (that’s the boring one) and neuromuscular integrative action, and the word itself also means “purpose” in Swahili. It’s something I never know how to describe to people when I try to tell them that I do it. It’s dance and yoga, martial arts and a great workout. It’s challenging and so, so rewarding. It draws on elements of jazz and Feldenkrais and more, while still taking into consideration the way the body is put together, the way joints work and the way muscles move. Nia is the original fusion exercise that combines three martial arts, three dance arts and three healing arts. “It doesn’t just borrow movements from those, it borrows the principles,” said Megan Sims, a Nia instructor at the Ann Arbor YMCA, A2 Yoga and several other venues around town. Sims is also the owner of MeAgain Dance Healing & Fitness, a counseling business based in the greater Ann Arbor area that provides therapy through methods such as interpretive dance and is geared toward helping each individual grow and find themselves.
“It’s very structured,” she added. “There’s just freedom within the structure to move at your own level or your own way.” Nia does this by drawing on 52 unique movements and 13 principles, connecting mind and body in a way that doesn’t happen in most people’s day-to-day walks across the Diag or time spent on a treadmill. Of her own practice, Sims said, “Nia is my therapist, Nia is my gym … As a Nia teacher, I get to really express my authentic self on a daily basis, and I think that’s a really great opportunity.” Sims teaches Nia to people in wheelchairs, people with Parkinson’s disease and people who have difficulty moving, as well as to people who are more physically able. She firmly believes that it can be valuable for everyone. No matter who you are or where you’re coming from, Nia can be something that’s meaningful, and it can help each dancer to feel whole. “The research is finally catching up to what dancers have always
known: that you have to move your body every day to feel good,” Sims said. I find that to be true when I take daily walks around my neighborhood but more so in gym dates and particularly during my weekly hour of Nia, where I’m encouraged to go barefoot, where I can express pent-up stress with sharp punches or let emotions drip out through languid spinal rolls. While doing Nia, I allow myself to forget whatever’s on my mind, whatever’s weighing me down. Instead, I pour myself wholly into the motions, the sensation of that movement, and that’s what I’m focusing on — the act of dancing, not what it looks like so much as how it feels and whether or not it feels good. The whole point of Nia is to find joy in the movement, and honestly, that’s never hard to do. Yes, dancing can be intimidating. At my first Nia class, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. There were mirrors plastering the classroom walls, and I didn’t know where
to put my feet or how to move my arms. But the thing about Nia is that it stays with you. “Most people who take it take it more than once a week,” Sims said. “Many people take it two to three times a week, if they can.” Once it gets into your routine, it’s hard to go without it (after all, why bother?). My Nia class is that one hour a week when I allow myself to forget about everything except the present moment. The clarity I get from this weekly routine is invaluable and infinitely more rewarding than a straight-backed walk across the Diag with a backpack in tow. “You know you got a great workout,” Sims said. “You feel happier than when you walked in, and you feel like your mind has gotten a workout as well in some way.” But there’s also so much more built into the form itself, and one of these principles is called Awareness of Dancing Through Life. “Even as you’re driving, you’re putting away dishes, you’re walking to work, you’re shaking hands with someone — all of those movements can be part of your life dance,” Sims continued. “And if you feel awareness in your movement, then you’re connected to yourself, you’re connected to your body, you’re connected to people — you’re connected to the moment. That’s a pretty good way to live.” If the life-dance of a college student consists of sitting in class or sitting down to study (with some gym time or sports practice thrown into the mix), how much joy can come from those sorts of motions? I’ve dedicated this entire article to Nia, and maybe I don’t have you convinced, but it’s almost impossible to pin down what exactly it is if you aren’t already familiar with it for yourself. Like Sims said, “Nia is like chocolate — you have to try it.” So go ahead — start dancing through life. Start being aware. Put on some fun tunes and walk to your next class with a bit of a spring in your step. And if you’re feeling too self-conscious to skip through Central Campus on your way to class, try dropping in for a free hour of Nia at A2 Yoga. At least there, you know no one will be watching. — Susan LaMoreaux can be reached at susanpl@umich.edu.
CLAIRE BRYAN | VIEWPOINT
Asylum process needs attention
Last Friday marked the beginning of the three-day Yalla Vote summit conference at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Hosted by the Arab American Institute, a national nonprofit, the conference aimed to provide refugees from the Middle East the chance to engage with presidential candidates ahead of the 2016 election. One of the keynote speakers was Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley. Before O’Malley spoke, three panelists — Radhia Fakhrildeen and Noor Al Dabbagh from Iraq and Moustafa Assad from Syria — discussed their experiences migrating to the United States with me and the rest of the auditorium. After the panel, there was a break in the conference while O’Malley arrived. Minutes before O’Malley gave his speech, he met the panelists personally in a small room next to the auditorium. He came into the center of a circle of chairs where the refugees were sitting. The press buzzed around the edges of the circle. While he placed his hand on his chest and nodded his head and listened to each of their names, I couldn’t help but feel that this breakout circle was more about the refugees meeting O’Malley than O’Malley really hearing and addressing the refugees’ concerns. If O’Malley had been at the panel, he could have spent his time in the small room engaging in a real, productive conversation with the refugees about how to solve the asylum process — the means by which refugees seek protection granted by the United States. Instead, he spent the time hearing the refugees recap the stories they had just told. He stated that he wants the United States to accept more refugees, but he did not generate a dialogue about how the United States is going to accommodate them. After all, he was sitting among Fakhrildeen, Al Dabbagh and Assad, who all have valuable insights into how the process works, or more accurately, didn’t work. My feeling was reinforced once
O’Malley exited the small breakout room and entered the auditorium to give his speech. O’Malley called for the United States to admit 65,000 Syrian refugees. As of September, the United States has accepted 1,500 refugees. Last month, the Obama administration announced it will increase that number to 10,000 in 2016. Beyond these numbers, O’Malley noted how some leaders of the United States are shaping a problematic culture. “Ben Carson flat out said he would not be comfortable with a president who happened to be Muslim,” O’Malley said. “One wonders, from a man who understands the value of education, what sort of message that sends to Muslim American little boys and girls studying American history.” O’Malley called for the need of a culture shift: away from Islamophobia and xenophobia and toward an understanding of the pain and struggles refugees face and a reminder that all of us should know our country is made up of immigrants. “The image of our nation is not a barbed wire fence, it is the Statue of Liberty,” he said. Accepting more refugees is the moral thing to do (O’Malley asked the audience, “If they don’t come, how is it going to affect our soul?”) and it has garnered support from the International Rescue Committee, other presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and more than 100,000 signatures through an online petition. Nonetheless, O’Malley’s call to action did not get at the root of the problem voiced by the refugees I heard that day. During the panel, the refugees didn’t spend time telling us about their time in Iraq or Syria and didn’t
spend time telling us about their current life in the United States. What they did describe was the lengthy struggle they endured with the Department of Homeland Security once in the United States attempting to gain citizenship. This transitional period is problematic — the time when the most intense suffering and pain of refugees occurs. This transitional period is what needs O’Malley’s and all leaders’ attention. Noor Al Dabbagh arrived in the United States in January 2014 with her husband and son and couldn’t get a job because she and her husband’s work authorizations wouldn’t process. Additionally, because they had yet to receive asylum status, they did not qualify for government assistance or medical insurance. Radhia Fakhrildeen’s husband’s asylum application was denied upon entry. This has separated him from his family for almost a year now. O’Malley did briefly address the asylum system, saying it needs to be modernized so that problems like these don’t occur, but he did not specify how this would happen, what DHS’ role should play and any other measures for how to improve the process of being granted asylum. It is wonderful that O’Malley wants to inspire each American to welcome refugees with open arms. However, his call to action lacked concrete plans that left me feeling more overwhelmed by the problem than inspired by his solution. If 65,000 refugees are coming, are we going to be hearing 65,000 stories just like the ones of Fakhrildeen, Al Dabbagh and Assad?
O’Malley’s call to action did not get at the root of the problem voiced by the refugees I heard that day.
— Claire Bryan is a senior editorial page editor.
Arts
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CONCERT REVIEW
Friday, October 30, 2015 — 5
TV COLUMN
Front Bottoms: Rapture cults and All the emotions pregnant cavewomen Alt-rock band brings personal experience to the Majestic By SELENA AGUILERA For The Daily
Before all of the pop-punk kids crawled into every open crevice inside of the Majestic to see an emotional set from the The Front Bottoms, two bands played to a relatively unexcited crowd. The opener was South Carolina-based Elvis Depressedly. Matt Cothran started this lo-fi trio with his girlfriend back in 2011. If you ever want to hear a song about getting your heart broken, smoking weed, having sex and fucking up, look no further. Elvis Depressedly is the band for you. Their performance was more than captivating — the music spilled onto the crowd and commanded everyone to sway left and right in unison. I was under a spell that the music gods had casted upon me. I thought dropping out and becoming a groupie was the life for me if it meant that I could listen to this band every night for the next few months. Sadly, their set was cut short and I was brought back to reality. I patiently waited for the next band to take the stage while silently wishing Elvis Depressedly played just one more song. Or
two. Or twelve. Four men then took the stage. These guys, with their full beards and New Balance shoes (not the cool ones, the dad looking ones), were called The Smith Street Band. This Austrailian band traveled across the world for this tour and have the accents to prove it. Frontman Wil Wagner’s voice was especially cute — too bad I could hardly understand what he was shouting throughout the set. But, I have to give this band some props. I mean, when they started to play, they never stopped. Every song fell into the next without missing a beat. The way the band maintained their energy the entire time was impressive to say the least. In comparison to Elvis Depressedly, however, The Smith Street Band’s set dragged. I wouldn’t ask for an encore, but the time was enjoyed as it lasted. After heavy anticipation, the four total babes that make up The Front Bottoms walked on stage. Amidst the screaming “I love yous,” and effort made by everyone to grab the band’s attention, I felt my skin shed and my inner fangirl emerge. The stage was set under magenta lights as bubbles started to fill the air. Balloons dropped from the ceiling and it felt as if I was trapped in some candy land I would have imagined when I was 10. I half expected to see Willy Wonka somewhere among the sweaty
bodies that surrounded me. Frontman Brian Sella’s voice sounded amateur, but that’s what made his performance so enticing. It showed that he’s imperfect, just like everyone else. He made interactions with the crowd creating a personal experience and when he sang he closed his eyes. The other members did their part in contributing to the show, but had little emotion and interaction with the crowd. All eyes were on Sella, especially during their hit “Swimming Pool,” when his movements made it seem like he was making sweet love to his guitar. I’m positive that when he sang the lyrics, “And I will be alone probably the rest of my life,” tears started falling from the crowd collectively. They yanked emotions out of everyone that night playing songs like “Maps,” and “Twelve Feet Deep.” The majority of their set was from their new album, Back on Top. I’m not familiar with it, but I do know that they performed it extremely well. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know the words, the songs still wrecked my heart. They signed off with “Twin Sized Mattress,” and the 17-song set was over leaving everyone wanting more. I guess now all I can do is spend my time drowning in coffee as I count the days until The Front Bottoms make their way back to the mitten.
HEALTH & FITNESS COLUMN
I
Marathoning for mortals
met Zach Ornelas, two-time Detroit Free Press Marathon champion and 2013 School of Education graduate, for drinks at Ashley’s on the Thursday night after his second win in Detroit. The race ran the morning of Oct. 18, the Sunday HAILEY of Fall MIDDLEBROOK Break. While most of Ann Arbor was nursing broken hearts and hangovers from the Michigan State game, Ornelas was pounding the streets of Detroit alone, six minutes ahead of second place in a field of 4,000 runners. His finishing time was two hours and 20 minutes, running a perfectly even (and perfectly insane) pace of five minutes, 21 seconds per mile for 26.2 miles. But the race was the fun part. And the beer that followed. We sat at a gnarled table across from the bar at Ashley’s, under a sign that listed over 50 craft beers on tap, almost all of which Ornelas had tried before. “I drink a lot of beer,” he said, pulling an Ashley’s gold card labeled “Friend of the Owner” from his wallet. “You need beer for marathon training. It’s great for recovery. Lots of carbs, lots of calories and it relaxes you, which is really important.” I think I hiccupped. On the spectrum of fun activities, running marathons and drinking beer seem to fall on opposite sides, with little or no crossover besides a congratulatory pint at a marathon finish line. But then again, marathoning and college life itself seem incompatible. There are several hurdles for college kids trying to train for marathons. First of all, our age is a factor, since it’s widely accepted that the “ideal” marathoning age begins in our late 20s and continues through our 30s and 40s. Where most athletic competitions are dominated by us, the young 20-somethings (besides sports like gymnastics, where 12-yearolds kick our butts), marathons
have historically been won by an older crowd. Records prove it: Last October, physicist and running blogger Graydon Snyder graphed the ages of the fastest marathoners from 1967 to 2014, finding that the average “peak” age for marathoning was 28 years old for both men and women. So what comes with age? That old standby: experience. Marathons differ from other competitions because of what they require — not (relative) speed or fast reflexes, but steady endurance and self discipline, gained from years of plugging in miles and strengthening our bodies to last for the long run. So in technical terms, our moms have a huge head start on us, just because they’ve been on their legs for longer. But our age isn’t the real limiting factor in marathon training — it’s our lifestyle. “In college, we put ourselves through way worse than a marathon,” Ornelas said, laughing. “Think about it. If you set aside time each day to train, eat well, sleep and be smart about recovery, you’re not going to damage anything by running a marathon.” Ornelas trained for his first marathon during his final fall semester at the University, while juggling 40 hours of student teaching per week for the School of Education. He was no stranger to running, having already competed four years on the University cross country and track teams, earning All-Great Lakes Region honors his senior cross country season. “I was one of those rare runners that are waiting for the marathon to race,” Ornelas said. He continued, “Compared to shorter, faster races on the track, marathons are much easier to train for.” Ornelas relied on Alex Gibby, former University men’s cross country coach, to text him weekly marathon workouts, like hour-long runs at marathon pace. Though Ornelas’s strong foundation of collegiate running gave him an advantage over the average college kid, it made him perhaps more prone to overtraining. “Going too fast, too soon or too often, is the biggest mistake you can make as a marathoner,” Ornelas said. “When I first started
training, I ran every run at sixminute mile pace and was going 130 miles per week, about 20 miles a day, always alone. I woke up at 5 a.m. to run before work, then went out again at 5 p.m. I was dedicated, but I wasn’t enjoying it.” Overtraining wasn’t his only bad habit. Ornelas admits that he abandoned his social life, passing up nights out with friends who were visiting town to turn into bed early. He also neglected his diet — the marathoner remembers a particularly low point two weeks before winning the 2013 Detroit Free Press Marathon, when he was so low on money that dinner consisted of a can of soup, poured over a hotdog bun. “Then again, my diet has never been very good,” said Ornelas, who holds the official cross country team record for chicken nuggets (50 nuggets in 14 minutes). “I don’t eat fast food anymore. Still, something is always better than nothing — even if it’s unhealthy, with how much we run, marathoners have to take in fuel.” In order to finish a marathon, Ornelas recommends that you run at least 40 miles per week, 50 miles if you want to enjoy the race — a mileage sum that is probably more than many college students have ran before. Training is all about working up to the race: increasing your run length slowly, so that an hour-long run becomes comfortable; fueling properly and frequently, allowing your body to rebuild and endure; spending time recovering, giving yourself breaks from the stress of training, to focus instead on friends and family. “Running is a passion, but it’s also just a hobby,” Ornelas said. “Go out with your friends. Recover more; go on long, easy runs. If your marathon is hard within the first 10 miles, that’s a bad sign — the best races happen when you don’t think about the miles.” The runner finished his drink, a quick sip, like a stop at a water station. “Nobody has to run marathons,” he said. “I love it and hate it, but I choose to run. And that’s rewarding enough.” Middlebrook hiccupped, so it turns out she is actually mortal, too. To ask her how it feels, email hailharp@umich.edu.
This column contains spoilers for this season of “The Leftovers.” Show, don’t tell. Anyone who has ever taken a high school writing class could tell you what this axiom means. Truly excellent writing — whether it be in a short story, an epic poem, a screenplay or a TV CHLOE column in GILKE The Michigan Daily — makes sure that every word speaks on its own. Words should be more than a straight path to a single conclusion, more than simple exposition telling readers what happened. Great writers let the reader experience the action through the character’s feelings, description and a wellturned phrase. Great writers drop hints at what everything means, but they leave room for the reader’s independent thought. They acknowledge the gray areas in interpretation, and they let the mystery be. The first season of HBO’s “The Leftovers” was one of the most stunning collections of episodes I saw in 2014. The show, which followed the residents of Mapleton, N.Y. after a devastating (and inexplicable) rapturelike event claimed two percent of the world’s population, was an emotional powerhouse. In showing the lives of those “left over” following the departure, “The Leftovers” mined the trauma for the vulnerable shell of humanity underneath. Entire episodes tracked the psychological arcs of side characters, yet the writers didn’t drop a single hint about the cause of the departure. “The Leftovers” was a show framed around a mysterious rapture, but it gave zero fucks about explaining that mysterious rapture. Brian Lowry of Variety said, in a review of the show’s first season, that he found “The Leftovers” ’s premise far more engaging than its banal, unlikeable-characterdriven drama. Matt ZollerSeitz, the TV critic for New York Magazine (and one of my favorite entertainment writers), gave the “The Leftovers” ’s first episode a negative review, expressing that “the first few episodes don’t showcase enough artistry to justify all the slogging and weeping, the bloodied faces and broken hearts.” You know, I get it. “The Leftovers” is a frustrating show to watch. The dialogue tells you almost nothing — I have a theory that a script for an hourlong episode of “The Leftovers” isn’t more than 15 pages, and mostly contains directions for where Justin Theroux is supposed to stand and take off his shirt. People in this show don’t say anything, and for an audience that is used to “Breaking Bad” monologues and Quentin Tarantino ramblings, this
minimalist style can wear your patience a little too thin. The Guilty Remnant, the show’s resident weirdo cult, features completely mute characters that stand around in white clothes and smoke all day. Character Actress Amy Brenneman and Movie Star Liv Tyler spend most of the first season scrawling their thoughts on legal pads, keeping maddeningly silent while I begged them to just say something, dammit. But ultimately, “The Leftovers” was saying something — is saying something, if you listen closely enough. It’s showing, not telling, the keys to understanding and appreciating the emotion and quietude of the show. The first episode of the second season begins with a cave, miles and years away from the departure and Mapleton. A pregnant cavewoman bears witness to a tragic earthquake that kills her entire tribe and family. She leaves the cave, goes to the beach, gives birth to her child and gets bitten by a snake. She dies with her baby in her arms, leaving her child to face civilization and fend off future snakes alone. She dies on the sand, the water lapping at her toes. Describing this scene in words does it no justice. First, it’s completely devoid of dialogue and isn’t shot according to typical continuity rules. The editing makes it unclear how much time is actually passing. For the scene’s ten-minute runtime, I wasn’t sure whether I was watching a sped-up and blurry few months or a single, stretched minute. The constant close-ups take the viewer out of the contextual reality of the scene. We know she’s a cavewoman, but she might as well be a familiar Mapletonian or a particularly dirty and naked woman who lives by the river near my house. It’s bizarre, yet poetically resonant. “The Leftovers” is obsessed with the notion of the unexplained, the idea that God or nature or a snake’s venomous tongue can strike and wipe everything out. The unfathomable tragedy that made the world disappear on Oct. 14 is timeless and spaceless; death and disaster have been around since the Stone Age, and the feelings are still the same. “The Leftovers” says all of this without a single word, forcing its viewers to confront the tragedy with their own eyes and ears and make of the scene what they will. It’s a bold move, but one that “The Leftovers” isn’t afraid to make. In last week’s episode, “Off Ramp,” former Guilty Remnant member Laurie Garvey finally decides to share her story. After spending the first season entrenched in twisted cult logic, Laurie has finally broken out, and is shopping her memoir around to publishers. She gets a call from one, who adored her
words and thinks she has the potential to be the new authority on grief, loss and dealing with the departure. But there’s one caveat: the publisher thinks she needs to have some feeling injected into her book. “There’s some heartbreaking stuff in here,” the editor says, but it lacks the necessary explication. He calls to mind the scene with the lighter (from season one of the show), where Laurie’s daughter gives her something to light her GR-mandated cigarettes with, emblazoned with the note, “Don’t forget me.” As we hear the irritating squawk of the editor’s voice, we see the same scene flash over the screen: Jill Garvey with her big eyes and baggy sweater, the sweetly childish Christmas wrapping and the gift that is supposed to let Laurie know how much her daughter misses her and wants her to come home. “If you want people to connect with it, you have to tell them how it felt,” the editor reminds Laurie. Tell, don’t show. He wants her to see the realization that “the people that you left the family for are fuckin’ whackjobs!” He wants to see it all dressed up in pretty words, in a dialogue to the reader. “In that moment, I looked at the lighter and saw the mistake I’d made in leaving my children to fend for themselves while I join a cult and never speak to them again.” He wants some explanations, because the events and the images aren’t enough to speak for themselves. That scene is emblematic of every nugget of unfair criticism “The Leftovers” suffers. That book editor wants more words — he wants clear characterization, cut-and-dry feeling, symbolism and falseness. He wants a good story, editorialized and picked over so it will fit on the shelf next to all those other departure memoirs. Many viewers want the same for “The Leftovers.” They want answers, explanation, tonal consistency and for the characters to fucking say something, to cut the melancholic piano music and throw some good monologues into the mix. But “The Leftovers” collects its thoughts in a different way. It’s contemplative and image-driven in a way that nothing else on TV is; the dialogue comes secondary to the direction, acting and music. It’s slow and dreamlike, and the tone can change from melancholic (Laurie listening to the book editor tell her how to work through her grief ) to fiery (Laurie physically attacking the book editor in his office) in a split second. It lets the moments speak for themselves. The image of the lighter is enough to make viewers realize the gravity of Laurie’s regret for abandoning her family — through showing, not telling.
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emotional scene involved fireflies and howling at the night sky. Another, surprisingly, involved a classic Western aesthetic, drawing visual inspiration from VistaVision-era Westerns like “The Searchers” and “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” Yet another (possibly the most beautiful sequence of computer animation I have ever witnessed) involved Arlo and Spot running through a giant flock of seagulls. Each scene was lit absolutely beautifully, and Pytko gave us some insight into the process of lighting scenes in a digital space. He used terms heard frequently in real-life lighting like “key” and “fill,” but explained that there are distinct differences in virtual lighting. “We try to start from some realistic places. We start with physically based lights, so they sort of try to react like actual lights. But then because it’s in a virtual space, we have all these ways to break that relationship and do what’s important for the visual story,” he said. He
noted that digital lighting artists have the ability to decide which objects are affected by which lights no matter where they’re located, among other techniques that would be impossible in the real world. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, these clips of “The Good Dinosaur” were the best-looking animated films I have ever seen. The film’s natural features, rushing water, tall grass and night sky all felt photorealistic, yet blended perfectly with the more cartoony character models. The film is on another level of detail and gorgeous visual composition, even in comparison to recent beautiful Pixar projects like “Brave.” Pytko told me that the production process on the film from beginning to end took six years. That’s an astronomical amount of time (and money) to spend on one movie. It shows. “The Good Dinosaur” will be released in theaters nationwide on Nov. 25.
He explained that the visual aesthetic of “The Good Dinosaur” is rooted in landscape, noting that the film’s Director of Photography comes from a background of landscape painting. Pytko also mentioned that the team used U.S. Geological Survey data to inspire and sculpt the film’s backgrounds. “Those initial shots take a really long time because we’re trying to figure out the shot, but we’re also trying to figure out the overall pipeline for the show,” he said. “It’s not just about that shot, we’re trying to figure out the bigger challenges. It’s usually months and months of work.” Later in the presentation, Pytko screened around seven-toeight minutes of the film divided into a few different clips. Each of the clips centered on protagonists Arlo, a cute green Apatosaurus, and Spot, a mute cave-boy. One
Gilke is joining a future snake cult. To ask for an invite, email chloeliz@umich.edu.
Arts
6 — Friday, October 30, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
HIP HOP COLUMN
The Passion of Aubrey Graham Written to the tune of “Cha Cha,” by D.R.A.M. *Hotline blings* Hello, friends. It’s me, Adam. I know we haven’t talked in a while, and yes, I read your texts. Yes, I know I had the read receipts on. Yes, I know I was tweeting at ADAM Justin Bieber DEPOLLO instead of answering your voicemails. But that’s all in the past now, and I need to talk to you about “Hotline Bling.” Wait, slow down, I can’t understand you when you’re screaming like that. Why are you cursing so much? We’ve been talking for 30 seconds and I haven’t quoted a single philosopher; I thought you’d be impressed. Wait, don’t say another word. I know what’s wrong. You’re worried that Drake went too far with the “Hotline Bling” video. It’s the only thing you’ve seen on your timeline for the last week and you can’t stop listening to it, but it’s getting harder and harder to feel the magic — especially after they did that remake with Helmut the Pug. And, you know, I really can’t blame you for feeling that way. You can only see so many “Hotline Bling”/Merengue Mix mashups before it just isn’t fun anymore. As much as it hurts me to say this, maybe the game’s over. Maybe the hotline has just about blung its last bling. But I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy, so I’m gonna try to stay positive about this. “Hotline Bling” got to #2 on the Billboard charts and clocked in at about 120 million plays on Spotify, which can only mean one thing: it’s only a matter of time before Drake formally changes his Instagram account from “Champagne Papi” to “The 6 God.” Now, if you turned all of your social media accounts into de
facto “Hotline Bling” shrines like I did, rejoice! This transfer of power will go very smoothly for you. But if you thought you were too “cool” for the whole hotline fad, all I can say is that I hope you really like “Degrassi,” because you’ll be watching Wheelchair Jimmy get an erection on loop for the rest of eternity in the sixth circle of hell. You can’t play games with the 6 God. He moves in very mysterious ways, after all, and if you need to be reminded of what those strange moves can do to a guy, just take a look at Meek Mill’s Instagram. He’s putting #imnotacelebritydontcallmethat on his own pictures. Look at that new coat he got — Drake knocked him down so many pegs he forgot how to dress himself. It’s almost too painful to watch. But before the coronation happens and we forget what it was like to live in a world where Drake’s face wasn’t on every denomination of Canadian currency, I’d like to take a moment to pause and reflect on how exactly we got to this bizarre juncture in the history of Western society. A half-Jewish Canadian actor named Aubrey just about took over hip hop with an R&B song about cell phones less than nine months after the new King of Compton released an album that critics were calling “Music’s Great American Novel.” What the fuck is going on? Now, if you’ll bear with me, I think you can find the answer to that question in the same place you go to find out whether you can avoid making eye contact with people in elevators — your cell phone. You don’t need me to tell you how essential cell phones have become in our post-postmodern post-2012 Mayan Apocalypse wasteland, but, you know, really stop and think about them for a second. There has never been anything like the smartphone in the history of human civilization. The smartphone is a relatively cheap, incredibly portable, easy-to-use and increasingly ubiquitous personal omniscience
device, which allows us to record and produce audiovisual and textual data about every single moment of our lives and share it, instantaneously, with every other smartphone user (and overworked NSA agent) on the planet. We document our own aging process by filling them with an absurd amount of bathroom selfies, we use them to construct and curate our own public image on a slew of social media platforms, they allow us to stay vocally and textually connected with friends and family who might be on a different continent altogether and we can even use them to arrange romantic liaisons outside the confines of our social milieu. In other words, smartphones have become an essential part of the way we function as social animals and, along the way, have gone beyond their basic use as telecommunication devices to become a fundamental part of our identities. It should come as no surprise, then, that scientists have begun to show that “cell phone separation anxiety” is an actual, real-life phenomena. When you leave your cell phone on the floor of the bathroom at Chipotle, you aren’t just leaving behind a hunk of rare-earth minerals extracted using ecologically disastrous methods that Apple forced a sweatshop-full of Chinese child laborers to make into an iPhone at gunpoint — you’re leaving behind a chunk of yourself. Which brings us back to Drake. Cell phones are a part of all of us, but they seem to be especially essential for Drizzy. Have you ever stopped to think about how often he puts his hotline on the track? He has rapped about it on every single album or mixtape he has ever made. His voicemail is the only thing in his discography with more guest spots than Lil Wayne, and since Lil Wayne features are basically the treasury bonds of hip hop, that means Drake values his cell phone somewhere on par with Berkshire Hathaway stocks. I’m particularly fascinated by the way Drake uses the cell phone
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in his songs, though, because I think it is probably the clearest demonstration of the 21st-century relevance of one of my favorite pretentious philosophisms: commodity fetishism. I know that you want to tell me to shut the fuck up and get back to playing PlayStation right now, but, again, I legitimately think this will help explain why we live in a world where Drake is killing on the Billboard charts and people are leaving Kendrick to play “Alright” into a half-empty room after Future gets done rapping about having sex in his Gucci flip-flops. I assume you’ve never read the first volume of “Capital” by Karl Marx, but having spent pretty much my entire life pretending to be a Leftist intellectual, I can tell you that it’s not all that hard to get the gist of w Essentially, what Marx realized about commodities is that, like cell phones, they aren’t just neutral objects that we use to do a specific task, like texting your ex, or fulfill a basic need, like getting Amazon to send a box of raw meat to your house. Commodities can indeed complete tasks and fulfill needs, but, in more abstract terms, they’re also a sort of physical totem or relic — what Marx calls a fetish — that symbolically embodies the social relationships that made it necessary for it to exist. To clear up what I just said, think back to “Hotline Bling.” The song obviously isn’t really about that one time Drake’s hotline blang. It’s really a sexist anthem about how he’s mad that his ex got over their breakup and moved on with her life, so he decides to put her back in her place by reminding
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her that they used to make the beast with two backs. There isn’t any socially acceptable way to say that, though, so Drake comes up with “I know when that hotline blings, that can only mean one thing” instead. The implicit end of that line (and its actual intended message) is “We’re gonna do the nasty … Remember? You used to call me up so we could do the nasty. You might be doing fine by yourself now, but not too long ago you were dependent on me, and, if you think about it, you always will be.” But, in practice, what Drake has done is create the commodity known as “hotline.” It’s an object he can use to more efficiently emotionally terrorize his ex and, at the same time, a fetish representing the shitty social arrangement in which Drake emotionally terrorizes his ex.
“Hotline Bling” is an iPhone ad. Now, the obvious question you might be asking yourself is how “Hotline Bling” still manages to go so dumb in the club when, at the end of the day, we’re listening to a song where Drizzy partakes in some quasi-Chris Brownian douchebaggery with essentially no remorse. Are we all sexist assholes? Are we idiots? Is the 6 God simply too powerful to be destroyed? The answer to those last three questions really depends on your politics — I’m personally voting a depressed yes on all three — but Marx can help us out with the first one, at least. The problem we’re dealing with here arises out of the fact that, although the hotline is a fetish of Drake’s sexist douchery, when you look at the phone itself, it’s entirely impossible to see any of that. This is because, when you think about it, Drake’s relationship with his ex simply doesn’t exist in the same way that Drake and his ex or the hotline do. It does exist, but only in what Marx calls in Capital the “mist-enveloped regions of the religious world.” In this way, Drake’s shitty relationship with his ex is a lot like the Christian Holy Ghost. It’s there, in theory, but if you wanted to point to it, what would you point at? Really, you could only do the same thing I’ve been doing for the last 600 words — point at the hotline. Or, if we’re talking Christian theology, you’d point at Jesus. And, let’s face it, Jesus and hotlines are both cool. “Hotline Bling” is a fantastic song and, since we’re being honest, the Passion was pretty damn lit, too. Shouts out to the 6 God and God Classic™ for the primo content. But here, I think, we can finally figure out why we don’t start throwing up every time “Hotline Bling” comes on. It’s because we’ll sign on to be a part of basically any terribly destructive social arrangement whatsoever — like the ones where we dance around like idiots doing a halfassed merengue so that Drake can terrorize his ex-girlfriend, or where we toss all of our weed money into a collection hat so that a bunch of priests can molest kids and tell us not to masturbate — provided that we’re not paying attention (which we usually aren’t) and that the assholes who are selling it to us put it in a fancy Hotline Jesus case first. Now, if we were just talking about “Hotline Bling,” this column wouldn’t need to get all that heavy. But, as I mentioned earlier, we aren’t just talking about “Hotline Bling.” We’re talking about hip hop, and about
why Kendrick Lamar is playing to empty arenas while Drake is trying on his next set of really big rings. We’re talking, in other words, about the soul of hip hop. So we’re gonna get heavy. 2015 has been, without question, one of the biggest years in the history of hip hop. Just about every major hip-hop center in the United States is producing artists like Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Danny Brown, Babeo Baggins, Flying Lotus, J. Cole, Milo, Young Thug, Future and Drake who are radically reshaping the music of their cities, inventing new artistic vocabularies for their unique identities and social milieus, and producing albums that, I’m convinced, will be considered classics 10 or 15 years down the line. This is also one of those rare moments where social discontent and creative genius have peaked at roughly the same time, reaching the point where a particularly masterful piece of art could, perhaps, inspire the sort of activistic fervor that needs to exist for political change to become a legitimate possibility. Police violence and Black marginalization — the precise issues hip hop is designed to address — have come to the forefront of our political consciousness at the exact moment when the United States’ first Black president is reaching the end of his time in office and a candidate like Bernie Sanders, who understands the link between institutionalized racism and institutionalized economic disparity, actually stands a chance at getting into the White House and doing something to address those problems. The conditions are perfect and, you know, we already have To Pimp a Butterfly, gotdamnit. There already exists, in the real world, an album that addresses all of these issues, complete with campaign slogans and an incredibly coherent social platform to go along with them. Literally all you need to do is go outside, throw that Kendrick on your speakers and start marching. But, instead, here I am writing 2,000+ words explaining why you couldn’t give less of a shit about how “Hotline Bling” is just a wellpolished sexist turd, and here you are reading them, presumably getting distracted by the Drake Google Alert flashing onto your iPhone screen every 30 seconds. Yes, he’s inventing Canadian hip hop right now, but, like, for real? You really listened to “Hotline Bling” on Spotify 120 million times? What the fuck is wrong with you? And, just to bring everything full circle, if you were wondering why Drake is on top of the game right now, it’s for the same reason that you can’t stop listening “Hotline Bling,” no matter how offensive you find it’s political content. Just look back down at the logo on your phone. You remember how the video dropped on Apple Music? Do you perhaps find it strange that Apple — the company that makes the fucking iPhone, you know, the one that has become so essential to your self-concept that being away from it for more than five minutes gives you separation anxiety — decided to sign an exclusive licensing deal with the guy whose entire discography is a low-key shrine to his cell phone? Do you remember the part in “Dune” where Baron Harkonnen says “He who controls the spice, controls the universe”? Well, we live in America, and instead of spice we have iPhones. “Hotline Bling” is an iPhone commercial. DePollo is Steve Jobs. For swag, email adepollo@umich.edu.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, October 30, 2015 — 7
Breakdown: Michigan at Minnesota By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
The game against Northwestern had shades of it, and the game against Michigan State did, too. But the Michigan football team’s game Saturday at Minnesota will have old-fashioned power football written all over it. The Wolverines and Golden Gophers match run-first offenses and hard-nosed defenses Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Minnesota cruised in last year’s meeting at Michigan Stadium, 30-14, but Michigan won six straight in the series before that. The Wolverines have a good chance to win this one, too, if they can limit mistakes in a tough road environment. The Golden Gophers have been decimated by injuries this season but could play their best game Saturday in the spotlight. Here’s how the teams match up: Michigan pass offense Minnesota pass defense
vs.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock is averaging just 186.1 yards per game passing this season, and he failed to meet that mark in his last game against Michigan State. He did, however, establish a big-play component, throwing four of his 15 completions for more than 20 yards. Just as impressively, he threw them to four different receivers: senior tight end A.J. Williams, redshirt junior wide receivers Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson and the Wolverines’ newest offensive weapon, redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers. In all, Rudock has thrown this year to 21 different receivers, including himself (he caught a deflected pass against Michigan State). The deep passing game
still needs work, but Rudock will need to focus on taking care of the football above all else Saturday. The Golden Gophers have been average at forcing interceptions (six total) this year, and their pass rush has been weak (tied for 103rd in the nation). Their pass defense has been stingy, though, allowing just 177.3 yards per game. Defensive back Jalen Myrick leads Minnesota with three interceptions, and Adekunle Ayinde and Eric Murray have added four pass breakups each. Edge: Minnesota Michigan rush offense Minnesota rush defense
vs.
The Wolverines managed just 83 yards on 28 carries last season against Minnesota, but their offensive line has been much more successful this year. A big reason for that is continuity: Michigan has started the same linemen at the same positions in every game this season, and many of them have previous starting experience. Junior running back De’Veon Smith leads the team with 436 yards, and he figures to get more than the nine touches he had in last year’s meeting. After missing one game and being limited in another, he returned to being the featured back against Michigan State, earning 19 carries while no one else had more than three. Minnesota ranks 52nd nationally against the run, giving up 151.4 yards per game, so the Wolverines could find daylight on the ground. The defensive line has been one of the Golden Gophers’ healthiest units this season, however. Defensive linemen Steven Richardson and Theiren Cockran have combined for 12 tackles for loss and will look to create havoc in the
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Michigan backfield as they did last season. Edge: Michigan Minnesota pass offense vs. Michigan pass defense Like Michigan, Minnesota’s passing game is its second option. Quarterback Mitch Leidner has seven fewer yards than Rudock through seven games. He, too, has six interceptions, but also seven touchdowns. And the Gophers’ passing attack is conservative like Michigan’s, with a season-long play of 38 yards. Michigan secondary coach Greg Jackson touted the play of Minnesota wide receivers KJ Maye and Eric Carter, and the Gophers also rely heavily on tight end Drew Wolitarsky. The Wolverines allowed a season-high 328 passing yards against Michigan State, but it took a strong effort from Spartans quarterback Connor Cook, and they won’t face a receiver like Michigan State’s Aaron Burbridge this week. If they can limit the deep ball as they have all season, they won’t have any trouble. Edge: Michigan Minnesota rush offense vs. Michigan rush defense The Gophers’ bread and butter is their power running game, but they haven’t been able to establish it as they did last year, when running back David Cobb steamrolled the Wolverines for 183 yards on 32 carries. Cobb graduated, and Minnesota hasn’t been able to replace him with another workhorse. Running backs Rodney Smith (467 yards, one touchdown) and Shannon Brooks (316 yards, three touchdowns) have shared the load.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Michigan’s defense gave up 27 points against Michigan State but will look for a bounce-back performance at Minnesota.
Part of the issue for the Gophers is also their health, or lack thereof, on the offensive line. While Michigan has maintained a consistent group, eight different players have started on the line for Minnesota, and the Gophers have used five combinations of starters in seven games. Minnesota will need to establish some continuity to brace for Michigan’s defense. Sixteen different Wolverines have teamed up for 55 tackles for loss, led by redshirt junior defensive end Willie Henry’s nine and redshirt junior defensive tackle Chris Wormley’s eight. If Michigan comes out angry after a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State, the Gophers will have their hands full. Edge: Michigan Special teams Finally, the Wolverines can confidently say their special
teams are a strength. Senior kicker Kenny Allen is now 10-for-12 on field goals, and fifth-year senior punter Blake O’Neill’s 80-yard bomb against Michigan State has been the highlight of a strong season for the Australian punter. In the return game, Peppers continues to be a weapon. The Gophers have similar numbers. Ryan Santoso is 10-for13 on field goals, and Peter Mortell is averaging 44 yards per punt with only one touchback on the season. Edge: Push Intangibles This is the toughest category to judge this week. Both teams are at difficult points in their seasons. Michigan must recover from a last-second loss to Michigan State and prove its Big Ten title hopes aren’t dead yet. The Wolverines must also manage the atmosphere
on the road, where they have played just two times this year, one of which was a fairly proMichigan crowd at Maryland. Minnesota, meanwhile, will play without head coach Jerry Kill, who retired Wednesday amid health concerns. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will lead the team Saturday night, so the Gophers, too, could respond in one of two ways. They could play an inspired game in honor of their highly respected coach and pull off an upset to put their season back on track, or they could be disorganized and struggle to hold off the Wolverines. Coming off bye weeks, both teams should respond well from their setbacks. But Minnesota should be fired up to win one for Kill under the lights on its home turf. Edge: Minnesota Pick: Michigan 23, Minnesota 17
FOOTBALL
‘M’ heads into Big Behind Enemy Lines: Mitch Leidner Ten Tournament By ZACH SHAW Daily Sports Editor
By SYED FAHD AHSAN Daily Sports Writer
With 34 minutes on the clock in the Michigan women’s soccer team’s Oct. 8 contest against Northwestern, Michigan senior midfielder Corinne Michigan at Harris rocketed a Northwestern shot into the Matchup: back of the Michigan 11-6-2; net from 25 Northwestern yards out. It 13-4-2 proved to be When: Sunday the decisive 1 P.M. moment in a 1-0 victory Where: Wilmette, Ill. for the Wolverines. The score line could have been worse for the Wildcats (7-3-1 Big Ten, 13-4-2 overall), who were lucky to have finished the 90 minutes only a goal down, as Michigan failed to convert many of the chances it created. Now the two are set to lock horns once again in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals this Sunday in Wilmette. The Wolverines (6-3-2 Big Ten, 11-62 overall) will be looking to pull off a performance much like the one they gave in October. “If we play the way we did last game, we should be fine,” said Michigan coach Greg Ryan. “We’ve been organized defensively for most of the year, and if we can do that again, we’ll been successful. We just need to take our chances.” However, since that loss in Ann Arbor, Northwestern has won four out of its last five games, scoring nine goals and conceding just two in the process. Michigan, on the other hand, hasn’t been nearly as stellar in that stretch, with a 2-2-1 record. The Wolverines’ last game was their 3-1 loss to No. 10 Penn State, a game defined by a seven-minute onslaught that saw Michigan sophomore goalkeeper Megan Hinz pick the
ball out of her net three times. Senior midfielder Cassie Collins grabbed a late consolation goal, but it was a case of too little, too late for the Wolverines. “The (Penn State) game will be extra motivation to maintain focus and discipline,” Ryan said. “We played well in the beginning, but it was just that seven-minute collapse that defined the game, and we paid for it.” The Wolverines finished the regular season fifth in the Big Ten standings, but the Wildcats were able to finish one spot higher given their recent success. That’s concerning news for Michigan, as its home record tells a completely different story from its away record. With only one loss at home all season, the Wolverines’ dominance in Ann Arbor is apparent. But a 1-5-2 record on the road shows just how much they struggle when not playing on familiar ground. Michigan started this season playing a 4-3-3 formation that utilized its wingers and fullbacks to spread play, widening the field and creating space in the middle. For the most part, this has remained the trademark of the Wolverines’ style this season. Michigan will rely on its star forwards, sophomores Ani Sarkisian and Taylor Timko, who have scored seven goals each. They will need to be sharp, considering that Northwestern has only allowed 10 goals this season. In what looks to be an extremely well-matched game in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, the importance isn’t lost on the Wolverines. “At this point, we’re just looking for a chance to move on in the Big Ten Tournament,” Ryan said. “It’s a must-win game, especially if we want to move onto the NCAA Tournament. It’ll definitely be a battle.”
While much of the talk leading up to the No. 15 Michigan football team’s trip to Minnesota surrounds the head coaches (Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and recently retired Minnesota coach Jerry Kill), the players will still have the biggest impact on the game. Among those players is Golden Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner, who is playing the best football of his career with 1,310 passing yards and seven touchdowns as a junior. As a quarterback in a run-first offense for a football team in a hockey-first state, Leidner often gets overlooked, but not here. Leidner spoke with the Daily about building momentum as a program, alcohol at stadiums, bonding with the team in the wild and getting rid of social media. The Michigan Daily: Michigan had a down year last year, but was it still big to get the win and the Jug at Michigan Stadium? Mitch Leidner: It was huge. It was huge for the state
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
MINNESOTA From Page 1 coach Tracy Claeys. “I think that’s probably very indicative of who (Kill) is, and maybe the best credit to him is they would play like their hair’s on fire regardless,” said Michigan tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh. “I think that says a lot about who he is and how he coaches. You’re not going to show up and see a different team. I think that’s how he would want it, too, and that’s how those guys play.” The Golden Gophers run a fairly balanced offense in which they rush slightly more than they pass. Running back Rodney Smith is the primary ball carrier, and he has earned a solid 4.1 yards per carry
of Minnesota, it was huge for recruiting and huge for our football team. Coming back from a game like Michigan, we were so excited — the adrenaline took us all the way back to our complex. We had a bunch of Minnesota fans lined up to greet us. It was an unbelievable feeling. TMD: Why don’t you have social media? ML: I had a Twitter last summer. I got one and had it up until like three games into the season when finally — I wasn’t using it at all three games into the season and a lot of people were talking trash so I was like, “What is this? C’mon!” So I just deleted it. And then I had had Facebook since high school, and before our bowl game I was just like, “You know, I’m just going to be done with social media.” And I deleted that too. I don’t know, life’s been pretty good since. I haven’t had to waste any time. I get all my homework done since I’m not scrolling through my Facebook feed. Unfortunately, you guys (the media) don’t have a choice. TMD: After a couple strong seasons, it seems your team is gaining popularity among fans again. How have things changed with the wins? ML: It’s been awesome. When
I first got to campus, people didn’t like the football players too much, to be honest with you. It wasn’t that much of a thing. It was hockey, basketball. Football, it was just like “Eh, you guys suck.” So basically, we start winning some games, and to have people in class, teachers, professors be excited about your games and other students, it’s a really cool feeling. It’s something I hadn’t really experienced since high school, to be honest. TMD: To go with that momentum, Minnesota got its own stadium close to campus and, after some debate, decided to sell alcohol at the stadium this year. You won’t benefit from it, but did they make the right call? ML: Yeah. People are usually in the parking lot getting pretty ripped up anyway, but I think it’s a great thing to serve it at the stadiums, because I think it gets your fanbase a little more crazy and gets ‘em louder, so I’m all for that, especially at home games. That’s too bad that the rest of the teams aren’t doing that. TMD: Do you feel like your team has to battle the hockey team for prominence on campus? Hockey is pretty big in Minnesota. ML: I think the hockey team not winning a national championship
last year kind of helped us out a little bit. We were playing on Jan. 1, and because those guys didn’t win the national championship, it felt like people got a lot more excited about us and football was bigger than hockey for a bit. But you never really know. It’s a hockey state, that’s the way it goes. I like playing a little pond hockey myself here and there. But we all get along. It’s not like there’s any tension or bitterness between the sports. TMD: Minnesota has a different culture than the coasts or the South where a lot of Minnesota’s players come from. Do they have to adjust to the culture at all? ML: It was funny. Josh Campion, our right guard, he lives up in Fergus Falls, which is in northern Minnesota, and we brought quite a few guys up there back in late June, and it was just fun seeing all the guys floating down the river and stuff like that, and to see KJ (Maye, the team’s leading receiver) up there exploring nature and having a good time. We had a lot of fun. Guys like to get out and go to the lakes. That’s a big thing to do in Minnesota in the summer time, and I think guys have been enjoying it.
so far this season, totaling 487. Outside of Smith, change-of-pace back Shannon Brooks has cranked out 321 yards on just 45 carries. But the player to watch for Minnesota is quarterback Mitch Leidner. Leidner is on pace for a career year with 1,310 passing yards through seven games. Of course, racking up yards against the Michigan defense has proven a near-impossible task all season long for opponents. Of the seven quarterbacks Michigan has faced, just two — Utah’s Travis Wilson and Michigan State’s Connor Cook — have eclipsed 200 yards passing. And with the Wolverines coming off a devastating loss on the final play against Michigan State, the Golden Gophers’ offense is in the unenviable position of getting the
next crack at them. “I feel bad for Minnesota,” said senior defensive end Royce Jenkins-Stone on Monday. “We’re going to be coming out with a lot of energy now.” Even after giving up 27 points and 386 yards to the Spartans, the Wolverines boast the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense and the No. 1 total defense. Anchored by a stout, veteran line, Michigan has wreaked havoc in opponents’ backfields all season. Leidner can expect to be forced out of the pocket early and often, at which point he’ll be tasked with finding receivers blanketed by one of the Big Ten’s top secondaries. On the other side of the ball, things are a little less certain for the Wolverines. De’Veon Smith will get his carries against a Min-
nesota defense that ranks in the middle of the Big Ten in rush defense, but he has proven to be a boom-or-bust back so far this season. While Smith has gone over 120 yards twice this year, he has also been held under 60 yards four times, including each of the last two games. But Smith’s bruising style remains a threat, and it can be bolstered by contributions from senior fullback Sione Houma and redshirt junior running back Drake Johnson. Still, this contest will be heavily influenced by the way each team harnesses its emotions. And while Michigan is favored by two touchdowns, the unpredictable reactions to those emotions could swing the contest in either direction.
Sports
8 — Friday, October 30, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ICE HOCKEY
‘M’ to host Robert Morris By KEVIN SANTO Daily Sports Writer
New York was kind to the Michigan hockey team Robert Morris last weekend, as the at Michigan Matchup: Wolverines tied then- Robert No. 18 Union Morris 2-0-2; Michigan 3-0-1 and defeated Rensselaer to When: Friday preserve their 7:35 P.M., Saturday undefeated 3:05 P.M. record. Now, No. Where: Yost 10 Michigan Ice Arena (3-0-1) will TV/Radio: defend its BTN Plus home ice and untarnished resume against Robert Morris in a two-game series on Friday and Saturday.
And while the Colonials (2-02) are unranked, the Wolverines do not intend to take them lightly. “We’re preparing for a good team,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Their power play looks to be much better than ours — and their penalty killing. Their numbers are better than our numbers, really. That respect is warranted for a Robert Morris squad that boasts 24 goals in just five games. Most notably, the Wolverines will need to contain forward Greg Gibson, who is headlining the high-powered offense coming off a five-goal weekend against Niagara. This could be a daunting task given Michigan’s defensive inconsistency (14 goals in four games) as of late. Gibson also finished plus-three on the weekend.
More than anything, the Wolverines are trying to learn from their mistakes and turn last weekend’s shortcomings into this weekend’s edge. “We want to be stingier,” Berenson said. “We can’t be a team that gives up four or five goals against and expects to win a game, so goals against (needs to improve), our power play has to be more productive, and our penalty killing has to be tighter.” On the offensive side of the puck, senior forward Tyler Motte and freshman forward Kyle Connor leads the team with four and three goals, respectively, but they head a balanced attack. Four players are tied at two goals apiece, and Michigan will likely lean on its surprising support coming from the third line. Sophomore forward Tony Calderone and
freshman forwards Brendan Warren and Cooper Marody have combined for six goals and five assists this season. In terms of injuries, senior forward Boo Nieves will be out with an upper-body injury, and junior defenseman Kevin Lohan will be sidelined as well. As Michigan hosts its second homestand of the season, the Wolverines will try to send a message to opposing teams that no performance is good enough to steal victories in Yost Ice Arena. “We want to get off to a good start,” Berenson said. “I can’t say we did that last Friday when we played at Union. Even on the Friday before that, I don’t think we won the first period. We want to be a team that comes out of the gate fast and sharp at home and sets the tone for the game.”
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Jabrill Peppers impacted all three phases of Michigan’s last game.
What to Watch For: Minnesota By MAX COHEN Managing Sports Editor
The No. 15 Michigan football team has had an extra week off since a last-second loss to Michigan State two weeks ago. While the Wolverines won’t get to erase that loss this weekend, they can exact revenge from another defeat from last season. Michigan will travel to Minnesota, where it will play the Golden Gophers on Saturday night. Minnesota won the Little Brown Jug in crushing fashion last season, defeating the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, 30-14. This year’s game will be a chance to remedy the situation and bring the trophy back to Schembechler Hall. Michigan had defeated the Golden Gophers in six straight contests prior to last year’s game. Here’s what to watch for Saturday. 1. How will both teams start? There will be no lack of emotion in Saturday’s game. Michigan will be playing for the first time since its heartbreaking loss against Michigan State, in which a fumbled punt turned into disaster on the game’s final play. Minnesota, meanwhile, will be playing its first game without coach Jerry Kill, who retired Wednesday because of health problems. The Wolverines have insisted all week that they will come out ready to play, motivated instead of defeated. But this team hasn’t yet had to face a great deal of adversity this season. Sure, Michigan lost its season opener at Utah, but that was no shock. This will be a different test altogether. The Wolverines have said that they will not let one loss turn into two, but Saturday’s game will be their chance to prove it. From afar, it seems as though the Golden Gophers took Kill’s retirement hard. Players took to social media to wish him well and express how much Kill meant to them. While Michigan tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh said this week that he thinks Kill always had his team so fired up that it couldn’t possibly play any harder, it will be interesting to see if Minnesota comes out playing inspired in honor of its former coach. 2. Will Jabrill Peppers play more offense? The redshirt freshman safety made a couple of appearances on offense against the Spartans. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Peppers could very well play offense in the future, but exactly how much remains to be seen. When he went in on offense, Peppers had an immediate effect against Michigan State. Spartan coach Mark Dantonio called back-to-back timeouts the first time Peppers appeared with the offense, an indication that Peppers presented an immediate concern to the seasoned coach. In limited offensive action, Peppers finished with two receptions for 35 yards. It will be interesting to see
how Harbaugh deploys Peppers on offense going forward. Is he a weapon to be used only against the toughest opponents, or is he going to become a regular part of the offense now that he has had more than half a season to settle in on defense? Jackson said this week that Peppers playing offense likely had to do with both of those factors. No matter the situation, Peppers playing more offense would certainly be a way to mix things up. 3. How will Blake O’Neill respond? The fifth-year senior punter has shown nothing but grace ever since his game-ending gaffe that filled sports highlight shows. He spoke to the media last week, emphasizing that one mistake will not define him. But now comes the next part of the equation: actually kicking. While the Wolverines have expressed no doubts about their confidence in O’Neill going forward, it will ease the minds of fans to see him back in his old form, pinning opponents inside the 10-yard line. 4. Can Michigan’s defense return to its dominant ways? Before the Wolverines’ defense surrendered 21 points against Michigan State — with the Spartans’ last touchdown coming on special teams — the unit had recorded three straight shutouts. Michigan’s defense had been suffocating until it faced the task of shutting down an experienced Michigan State offense, but even then, the Wolverines held their own. This week will be an opportunity for Michigan’s defense to return to its dominance. The Golden Gophers have experienced mixed results offensively this season. Minnesota scored 41 points against Purdue on Oct. 10 but could not muster a score against Northwestern the week before. The Wolverines’ defense should come out fired up, particularly senior linebacker Joe Bolden, who was ejected from the game against the Spartans for targeting. A fourth shutout of the season, especially after last week’s loss, would be quite an impressive feat.
BY THE NUMBERS Michigan vs. Minnesota
101
Minnesota’s national ranking in total offense at 351 yards per game, heading into Saturday’s game vs. Michigan
28
Minnesota’s national ranking in total defense at 328.7 yards per game
100
The Gophers’ ranking in turnover margin (minus-.57 per game)
73-25-3
Michigan’s record in the series against Minnesota