ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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University community reacts to new Trotter
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Engineering Prof. Steve Skerlos speaks about mentorship strategies to faculty participants at the New Faculty Fellows Program run by the College of Engineering in the Johnson rooms of the Lurie Engineering Center on Tuesday.
Engineering panel stresses faculty-student mentorship Workshop features remarks from current graduate students, professor By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
A handful of engineering faculty members spent Tuesday morning in the Lurie Engineer-
ing Center the day before Winter Semester classes began participating in a program called “Working with Graduate Students”. The event, held by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, aimed to give newly hired faculty a chance to learn how to interact with the Engineering graduate students they may be doing research with and mentoring. Though the event catered to new faculty, some of the attendees
had been worked at the University for a few years. The program included a series of speakers, panels and activities for the event’s participants. Tershia Pinder-Grover, one of the event’s coordinators and Interim Director at CRLT in Engineering, said the event was a great way for faculty to gain an appreciation for the complexities of being a mentor to students. “Many of the faculty have come from a background where they’ve
been the mentee, they’ve been the student, but they haven’t had as many opportunities to really think carefully and intentionally about how to mentor,” Pinder-Grover said. Pinder-Grover said CRLT runs a series of events during the year to help acclimate faculty to their new roles. “Our goals are to provide them with resources that are very relevant for their first few years in See PANEL, Page 3A
Students express concerns over functionality, name of planned building By CAMY METWALLY Daily Staff Reporter
A planned relocation of the Trotter Multicultural Center to Central Campus has garnered mixed reactions from the University community ranging from excitement to apprehension. On Dec. 17, The University’s Board of Regents approved a proposal to relocatethe Trotter Multicultural Center, currently located on Washtenaw Avenue, to State Street in an area behind Betsy Barbour and Helen Newberry Residence Halls on Central Campus. In Winter 2014, the Black Student Union called for the relocation of Trotter as part of the #BBUM movement — a
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
RESEARCH
‘U’ part of new study on genetic causes of blindness
CSG reflects on first term, prepares for new initiatives
In sit-down with the Daily, assembly members discuss goals for winter term By JACKIE CHARNIGA Daily News Editor
As Central Student Government moves into the winter semester, its work in the fall includes both achievements and several campaign goals left short. CSG President Cooper Charlton, an LSA senior, began the fall semester focusing on the goals outlined on his Make Michigan campaign platform, the same ticketupon which former CSG President Bobby Dishell campaigned last year. Charlton and Vice President Steven Halperin, an LSA junior, campaigned on promises to make the University safe for students on and off campus, diversify the student population and create
more cultural awareness. Make Michigan, as a party, promised to make headway on increasing convenience in campus transportation and increasing student-led participation initiatives. Among the plans put into motion last semester, CSG amended the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, fought for the release of course evaluations, restructured the Student Organization Funding Commission and planned a campaign to bring awareness of prescription drug misuse on campus. Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities In the first meeting of the fall semester, Charlton said increasing awareness of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities was his main priority. “The Statement Amendment process and sexual misconduct policy review are the things that go unnoticed and seek no applause, however are paramount in the protection of our See CSG, Page 3A
Three-year long project sheds light on macular degeneration AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Residents opposing deer cull pack Council meeting A2 residents say resolution ignores safety regulations By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
Emotions ran high at Monday night’s City Council meeting in response to a planned deer cull in Ann Arbor, scheduled to begin this week.
The meeting was housed temporarily in the chamber of the Washtenaw County Administration Building due to renovations in City Hall. Members of the public packed the room and spilled into the outlying hallway, many brandishing signs expressing their opposition to the city’s plan to kill a portion of Ann Arbor’s deer population. In September, City Council approved a cull of up to 100 deer in response to concerns about
the city’s growing deer population. The move has prompted controversy over the past several months, culminating in legal action and several protests. During the period for public comments at the meeting, some speakers accused Councilmembers of irresponsibility, arguing that public opinion and safety regulations have been ignored on this issue. Ann Arbor resident Sabra See CULL, Page 3A
Daily Staff Reporter
A team of University researchers was instrumental in the discovery of 16 new genetic variations for Agerelated Macular Degeneration. The discovery came during one of that largest experiments of its kind, conducted over the course of a three-year experiment of the exome chip, or small portion of the genome that if mutates causes disease, through the International AMD Genomics Consortium. AMD, also known as oldage blindness, is one of the leading causes of vision See BLINDNESS, Page 3A
the statement
Michigan coasted past Florida in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando
How the personal statement has changed college admissions
» INSIDE
HI: 36 LO: 25
By DESIREE CHEW
Councilmember Sabra Briere (D-Ward 1) reads the details of the deer cull ordinance at an Ann Arbor City Council meeting at 220 N. Main St. on Monday.
Fun in the Sun
WEATHER TOMORROW
student-driven campaign sharing the experiences of Black students on campus. After the years of public discourse on the issue, many students lauded the approval, including Rackham student Austin McCoy. McCoy, a leader of Ann Arbor to Ferguson, a protest group advocating against police brutality, said he welcomed the accessibility and visibility of the new location. He noted that replacing the current multicultural center with a facility on Central Campus illustrates the importance of issues of inclusion and equity. “I think students of color and some various underrepresented backgrounds need to have a space that’s more accessible than on the margins of campus,” McCoy said. “I think Trotter’s current location actually symbolizes how students feel marginalized within the University.” While McCoy added that he See TROTTER, Page 2A
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NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS......................5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A SPORTS....................1B
News
2A — Wednesday, January 6, 2016
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Campus Voices
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
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HARVARD COLLEGE
“House master” term abolished after controversy over usage Harvard college moves to abolish term house master Rakesh Khurana, undergraduate dean of Harvard College, is working to ban the term “house master” from the college. The term “house master” at Harvard College is used to identify faculty members who oversee undergraduate residences. Khurana has also expressed plans to reduce sexual assault on campus and admit female students into male-dominated final clubs.
Pressure to change the term stemmed from racial concerns of the students, officials told the Harvard Crimson. The school will announce the new term for “house master” in January.
Public colleges in Texas must allow guns in dorms A statewide campus carry law, due to take effect on August 1, 2016, will require public universities in Texas to allow people age 21 and older with concealed handgun permits to carry firearms into
all university facilities. The law has prompted significant controversy in the state, especially given recent mass shootings nationwide, about the danger of guns on campus. In response, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas Republicans who support the campus carry law have argued that it will ultimately increase safety on campus and reduce the likelihood of mass shootings according to the Daily Texan. —KATHERINE CURRAN
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ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily Twenty One Pilots played at Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit on December 17, 2015.
Recitalists talk-back
Photo exhibit on migration
WHAT: A student will be awarded the honor of performing a full or partial concert through the 2016 Undergraduate Concerto Competition Finals. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 4 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium
WHAT: Students can enter their student organization for a chance to win prizes by subbmitting photos via e-mail or on Instagram. WHO: Center for Campus Involvement WHEN: Beginning all day today WHERE: Online
WHAT: World renowned recialists will gather for a Q&A followed by the UMS presentations of “What’s in a Song.” WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Stamps Auditorium
WHAT: Photographs taken by Michael Wells of Jason De Leon’s “Undocumented Migration Project” will be on display until mid-January. WHO: Institute for the Humanities WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: 202 S. Thayer
“Dining Out” exhibit
Soviet Poster Exhibit
Ballroom dance lessons
Nursery rhymes exhibit
WHAT: Attendees can explore various areas of culinary history through eatery guidebooks, letters and menus. WHO: University Library WHEN: 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, floor 2
WHAT: UMMA’s exhibition “Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order” features posters from films from the ealy Soviet Union. WHO: University of Michigan Museum of Art WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: UMMA
WHAT: The Michigan Ballroom Dance team is offering lessons with no partner or privious experience necessary, along with showcases from their dancers. WHO: Michigan Ballroom Dance Team WHEN: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. WHERE: The Union
WHAT: Over 100 years of illustrated nursery rhymes are featured in the “Friends of Mother Goose” exhibit. WHO: University Library WHEN: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Downtown Ann Arbor District Library
supported the administration’s decision, he emphasized that the driving force behind the change was student activism. “For the University to follow through on that demand is a welcomed development, but I also think that this is an example of how student activism works,” McCoy said. “If it weren’t for the years of student activists, I don’t think this would’ve happened.” Echoing McCoy’s sentiment, Elizabeth James, a Department of Afroamerican and African Studies program associate and adviser to the Black Student Union, expressed feelings of relief and joy in response to the approval. She also highlighted the symbolic nature of the relocation, seeing it as representative of the University community’s commitment to diversity. “By relocating the new Trotter to the heart of central campus, we are saying that we want everyone to feel this is an inclusive campus and that this is a University that will provide a welcoming environment for
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tral Campus would threaten its quiet atmosphere and separation from the stresses of classes and schoolwork. At the meeting, LSA senior Bree Sullivan expressed unease regarding the move as well, highlighting the history and importance of the current building. She noted that the facility has served as a home for underrepresented minorities, and she worried that the space may not feel as safe on Central Campus. “This is a lot of history, this building,” she said. “I want it, and I want future generations to have it.” Former BSU Treasurer Robert Greenfield said he hopes the new center will have designated spaces for Black students on campus as well as students of other identities. “I really hope they don’t minimize the identities of other cultures,” Greenfield said. He added that he hopes the new multicultural center will be named after someone who is representative of the ongoing campus struggle to improve diversity and inclusion. “Already on campus we have a lot of buildings that are named after a lot of people who, although their accomplishments with regards to the University were great, were very racist people,” he said. “I don’t want it to be named after a past president of the University from the late 1800s. I want it to be named after someone that’s representative of this newfound struggle that minority students have on campus.” Regardless of the mixed feelings surrounding the move, for some, the relocation of Trotter signifies the beginning of a new chapter at the University that will affect future Wolverines. Kinesiology senior Cap Kendall, BSU speaker, said she was pleased with the relocation of the Trotter center despite the fact that she won’t be able to take advantage of the new center herself. “Though I won’t be here to experience it, I am comforted with the notion that countless numbers of my peers and I have done something that I hope will change the experience of generations to come,” Kendall said.
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all of our students, regardless of race, creed or color,” James wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. However, while many community members commend the development, others have hesitated in supporting the relocation. Rackham student Pete Haviland-Eduah, vice president of Students of Color of Rackham, said though he is in favor of the relocation, he has reservations about how the project will be executed. “We’ll also see how the new space works functionally. I would hate to see it be a space that’s not necessarily as functional for what it was meant to serve,” Haviland-Eduah said. “With any type of move, there’s always room for negative impact to happen, and I hope that’s minimized if it exists at all.” In recent months, other students have voiced concerns over the relocation of Trotter as well. During a September forum at Trotter, Rackham student Asya Harrison, secretary of Students of Color of Rackham, told E. Royster Harper, the University’s vice president for student life, that moving the center to Cen-
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
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THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama was moved to tears during the announcement of his executive actions on gun control, CNN reported. He also reviewed shootings that occured during his term.
2
The college admissions process has become increasingly formulaic, but the personal statement makes the process more human. >> FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT ON 2C
3
On New Year’s Eve about 1,000 young men coordinated and carried out acts of sexual violence on at least 90 women in Cologne, Germany, The New York Times Reported. Police in Hamburg are now reporting similar incidents.
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Barry Powers, Attorney at Law and representative of plaintiffs against the deer cull resolution, speaks to city council members at an Ann Arbor City Council meeting at 220 N. Main St. on Monday.
Lawsuit filed against A 2 over deer cull resolution Plaintiffs say management plan is unconsitutional, lacks legitimacy By MARLEE BREAKSTONE Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor residents opposing an impending deer cull are turning to the federal courts in an effort to halt the planned shooting of part of Ann Arbor’s deer population. Ann Arbor Residents for Public Safety, a group that has led several protests against the cull, filed a 97-page lawsuit against the city earlier this week. A comprehensive list of city, state and federal officials the group considers responsible for the cull were named as respondents to the suit, including Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R). In September, City Council voted 8-1 to approve a deer cull as a way to manage the city’s growing deer population. The city has hired U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters to kill up to 100 deer in response to complaints about the size of the deer population in the city.
The cull is scheduled to start as early as 4 p.m. Wednesday and will continue through January and February. Nearly two-dozen designated parks and nature areas will be closed from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays during the cull. The USDA intends to shoot the deer from inside vehicles. No University property is included in the designated sites for the cull. “The Deer Management Plan is not supported by competent data, rationale or argument, and an urban cull such as that proposed is unprecedented in Michigan and the United States,” the suit argues. “The claim additionally states the defendants have not established the existence of any legitimate deer overpopulation problem in reality in Ann Arbor.” Ann Arbor currently has about 15-20 deer per square mile, which the suit claims to be the amount recommended by Michigan Natural Features Inventory biologists to promote the ecological health and functioning of natural communities. In an interview with the Daily in December, protestor Kathleen Amaru Titus said she was opposed to the cull because she felt the city was not working with the proper channels on the
issue, such as the Humane Society. She said it was important for people in the area to get involved in the politics of the situation. “We felt there ought to be a vote. A lot of people don’t know about the deer cull,” Titus said. “It’s going to horrify a lot of people. There might be some serious accidents and violence.” Most of the plaintiffs are Ann Arbor residents from the north and east sides of the city. Some live close to parks and other areas scheduled for the cull. In the lawsuit, they express concerns including fear for their, their neighbors and their pets safety and also “loss of enjoyment and comfort of natural resources to which they are unquestionably entitled without impairment.” The suit also notes that neither the United States, the state of Michigan or the city of Ann Arbor has publically stated that it would stand as financially responsible in the event of any injury, death or damage caused by the cull. The city has expressed repeatedly that they feel the cull is safe for residents, and followed the correct process. Councilmembers who voted for the cull have continued to See LAWSUIT, Page 3A
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NEWS BRIEFS
University revises disability protections In a press release, the University introduced a revised employment policy for workers with disabilities. The update followed an agreement with the Department of Justice to update policy and training procedures, and will adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA calls for the reassignment of current faculty and staff members to a position of equal merit when a disability inhibits their job performance. In the Record, Laurita Thomas, associate vice president for Human Resources, said a qualified employee does not need to compete as heavily with other applicants for an open position if the transfer is a result of disability.
State of emergency declared in Flint According to the Detroit Free Press, Gov. Rick Snyer (R–Mich.) declared a state of emergency in Flint and Genesee County on Tuesday due to Flint’s contaminated drinking water. An investigation into the contamination led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Environmental Protection Agency was also confirmed. In 2014, excess lead contaminated Flint’s drinking water following its supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The pollution rose lead levels in affected children, which has the potential to interrupt brain development. According to the release, Snyder is working with the Flint Water Advisory Task Force to develop short- and long-term plans to restore clean water to the area.
Bill signed eliminating straightticket voting Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill Jan. 5 to eliminate straight-ticket voting in which voters can select one box on a ballot to vote for all candidates from a single political party, the Detroit Free Press reported. To account for the possibility of slower lines at the polls, Snyder also pushed for the state Senate to pass a bill allowing no-reason absentee ballots. Republicans in the state Senate voted to break the tie-bar linking the measure in December with the elimination of straightticket voting. However, the Free Press reported that Republicans added a $5 million appropriation to the bill recently which will allow for more voting equipment. The appropriation is intended to accomodate the longer and slower lines at the polls.
Obama calls for action on gun control During an emotional live address from the White House on Tuesday, President Obama shared his executive actions to reduce gun violence. Mark Barden, whose son died in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, introduced the president. NPR outlined the plan’s four main points. Obama’s plan requires all firearm vendors to possess a license and to conduct background checks before sales. The plan makes it possible for states to share information about individuals banned from purchasing guns due to mental health issues — $500 million will be allocated to increase mental health care access. It also improves enforcement of existing gun laws and adds 200 new agents to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Finally, the plan encourages research in gun safety technology conducted by the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security. —CAMY METWALLY
CULL From Page 1A
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Sanzotta, a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Ann Arbor Residents for Public Safety against the city to halt the cull, expressed her frustration with the council’s decision to move forward. “I see you don’t care much about facts, or public safety,” Sanzotta said. “Our council has been bought and sold — cheaply.” Barry Powers, the attorney representing Ann Arbor Residents for Public Safety, referred to the lawsuit in an especially tense exchange during which he moved beyond the area given to public speakers, approaching council. “If you start this cull in the face of the Constitution, you’re all violating your oaths of office,” Powers said. When Councilmember Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1) requested that Powers return to the podium as he delivered his speech he refused, stating the room belonged to the public, and was met with applause from the crowd. “What do we want? Stop the Shoot!” the crowd chanted between each speaker. “When do we want it? Now!” Other residents speaking during public commentary used less pointed rhetoric, but nonetheless questioned the need for the cull and said their concerns for public safety were not being fully addressed. Ann Arbor resident Ellen Rowe told the council that although deer are an occasional nuisance in her backyard, they are integral to Ann Arbor’s habitat. “The idea that City Council could overturn firearm laws behind closed doors without citizen input is unconscionable, as is the short turnaround time between the announcement of park closing plans and its implementation,” she said. “Ann Arbor should be a leader in developing nonlethal means of controlling nuisance deer, and while it may take money and several years to create such a plan, it would set standards and protocols around the country,” she added. In response to the concerns, Briere pointed out measures the city has taken, including the distribution of postcards to residents near where the cull would be active, modifications to school bus routes to keep schoolchildren away from culling areas, and the use of GPS by cull shooters to verify a 450-foot safety radius from all residential properties. The cull is currently slated to begin Wednesday, barring any legal action stemming from the lawsuit filed earlier this week.
loss in elderly populations. It manifests in two forms: the dry type, where there is occasional death of certain regions in the retina, and the wet type, where retina hemorrhage occurs due to the formation of defective blood vessels in the eye. Currently affecting 30-50 million seniors worldwide, the prevalence of AMD is expected to rise as lifespans lengthen and populations age. Mohammad Othman, Kellogg Eye Center Research scientist involved in the project, said AMD is a complex disease caused by multiple genetic and environmental factors. “AMD is a very complex disease; there is no particular gene that accounts for the whole disease,” Othman said. “It is caused by a contribution of several genes that might be altered because of variants that are present in the genes.” Also involved in the project was Kari Branham, assistant research scientist and genetic counselor at the Inherited Retinal Dystrophy Clinic, said the research would help combat the disease more effectively. “If you know what you are fighting against — what is it that causes people to get infected, and if you can understand more about the genetic causes and background, then that information can be used for the development of more effective medications and preventions for individuals,” she said. The genome consortium collaborated with 26 research institutions for the experiment. The University’s role stemmed from a grant secured by Biostatistics Prof. Goncalo Abecasis to conduct genotyping of 43,000 individuals from the National Eye Institute. The consortium aimed to learn more about disease development and pathology, according to Lars Fritsche, research investigator at the Department of Biostatistics. “The aim of the experiment was to better characterize the genetics of known AMD risk loci and to find new risk loci,” he said. Risk loci are regions of the human genome that may affect the risk of disease. “In this experiment, we jointly analyzed millions of genetic variants in over 16,000 individuals with AMD and compared them with almost 18,000 control individuals. We were able to use a special genotyping platform that allowed us to analyze common as well as very rare genetic variants in our case control study.” Researchers said the unprecedented size of the study allowed them to identify these rare variants that typically occur at low frequencies. The University’s multidisciplinary team was
LAWSUIT From Page 2A defend their decision to hire sharpshooters, as well as the public process that led up to the cull, which along with the lawsuit have also prompted recall petitions to be filed against members of Council. Among the plaintiffs in the suit representing Ann Arbor Residents for Public Safety include Ann Arbor resident Sabra Sanzotta, who filed a petition in December to recall councilmember Kirk Westphal (D-Ward 2) for his support of the cull. At the hearing to determine the legitimacy of the recall petition, Westphal said claims of the cull being unnecessary and high-risk cited in Sanzotta’s petition were overstated. “It has become clear to me over the last couple of years that the language is patently false,” Westphal said. “I take issue with the notion that there is danger (with the cull).”
comprised of faculty members, graduate and doctoral students from the Kellogg Eye Center and Department of Biostatistics. The eye center specialized primarily in sample collection, while the biostatisticians analyze the data. Although the experiment only began in 2012, the collaborative working relationship between the two departments is more than a decade old. Othman said the partnership between the biostatistics and ophthalmology departments was important in the collection of samples for the experiment. “Our work in this integrated department involves clinical and basic research that goes on at the same time,” he said. “We have over the years collected and recruited almost 1500 individuals who have AMD for controls.” In addition to contributing samples, the team also played a major role in the consortium’s data analyses. “We generated several terabytes of raw data and their analyses took many months, in some cases, up to 10 CPU years,” Frtsche said. “Consequently most of the presented analyses were only doable by analysis teams with sufficient computational resources and expertise, in this case, the University of Michigan and the University of Regensburg (Germany).” The team said their success stemmed from institutional support, the willingness on the part of patients and controls to participate in the experiment and, most importantly, the effectiveness of the international consortium. Branham lauded the discovery as a feat of collaboration between the 26 participating institutions. “It is a major accomplishment to have so many scientific institutions, each used to leading, working together to put differences aside and make this happen,” she said. For those involved, collaboration is also key in moving forward with the research. University researchers are currently involved in a followup genome sequencing study involving the National Eye Institute and University of Pennsylvania. Given that only 6,000 out of 43,000 individual samples in this discovery were of non-European background, there are also ongoing efforts to expand sample collection globally, Othman said. He added that he is optimistic that the amount of research underway will lead to improved treatments and solutions. “The consortium is a reflection of the desire and drive to study AMD,” he said. “In the past, the issue of treatment wasn’t even addressed. Now we can see that there is hope, real hope for individuals with this condition. They know that there is something going on.”
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 — 3A
PANEL From Page 1A the college,” Pinder-Grover said. “It helps faculty identify, ‘Where do I go if I need more information?’” Engineering Prof. Jennifer Linderman, associate dean for graduate education, gave a presentation to the attendees about graduate programs at the University and the students in the College of Engineering. Linderman said one of the many attractive features of the College of Engineering is the allocation of funding for research through the completion of a student’s program. She said though many faculty members are unsettled by the thought of not having the funding for their graduate student researchers, the University has the resources to assist with these concerns. “The funding is put together through grants, internal and external fellowships, GSI appointments,” Linderman said. “An important point to make here is your department has made the commitment for funding, so if worse comes to worst, you can go to your department for help.” The event also featured a student panel of Rackham doctoral students in the College of Engineering who discussed their experiences researching at the University. They detailed their struggles and successes of being a graduate students and how their mentors have helped them. All were researching with a faculty members at the University. Many of the faculty members said they were concerned with recruiting and matching with graduate students for research projects, citing student’s preferences to work with tenured and senior professors. In response, one student said when choosing a professor to work with, she cared more about their personality and the conversation she
CSG From Page 1A students,” Charlton wrote in an e-mail interview. Charlton said in the e-mail the Statement amendment process is the method by which students defend their rights and determine the constraints on their behavior. The Statement is amended every several years by the University — CSG, along with the Senate Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Affairs and the administration, are the three groups that can propose amendments. Seven amendments were proposed during the first term of CSG, some of which were aimed toward improving the amendment process and one of which targeted improving student awareness of the Statement. All were drafted and proposed by CSG and heralded by Public Policy sophomore Jacob Pearlman, CSG General Council. The amendments will not be final until University President Mark Schlissel approves them; he is expected to consider
could have with the professor. The panel also spoke about faculty communication with students and the importance of checking in. The final part of the meeting was led by Mentoring Others Results in Excellence, a committee of faculty within the Rackham Graduate School that assist faculty and students with mentoring. Engineering Prof. Steve Skerlos said many difference challenges can arise in mentoring a student. “Mentorship implies something transformational on the part of the mentee,” Skerlos said. “Something that is guiding them along their way to a new professional career. That’s a lot more than advising.” Skerlos said the difficulties of mentoring include mismatching goals, unrealistic expectations, conflicting personalities and styles, unreliability and competing responsibilities. “There’s a huge variability in mentoring norms on campus,” Skerlos said. “The MORE committee works across the University and within the committee itself; there are variable dimensions of variability with mentoring.” One of the faculty members in attendance, Assistant Engineering Prof. Mosharaf Chowdhury, said the event gave him ideas about how to advise students. “I have my views on advising based on my experience and the way I interacted with my advisor,” he said. “This gave me some more viewpoints on how other people look at it.” Chowdhury said his biggest takeaway from the program was learning about how to set expectations for students. “I would think that all the students always have similar expectations and will always be in sync, but that’s not always the case,” Chowdhury said.
changes to the Statement later this year. Sexual Assault Reform The misconduct feedback process is a product of students looking inwardly at the causes of sexual assault and discovering a problem, Charlton wrote. He said CSG remains steadfast in its dedication to eradicating sexual assault on campus. “We have advocated for students and will have begun the institutional and cultural changes needed to protect students,” Charlton wrote. CSG held round tables in an attempt to increase conversation about sexual assault on campus. Gameday dining In September, CSG approved funding for a new program to open dining halls earlier on game days. The pilot program initially cost Michigan Dining more than anticipated, and CSG provided $10,000 in order to sustain the project. Pearlman said the initiative helped tens of thousands of students “stay
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Opinion
4A — Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com SHOHAM GEVA EDITOR IN CHIEF
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Keep asking questions
hen she was 10 or so, my little sister received some of the worst advice of her life. It was written in the comments section of her fifth-grade report card underneath the part that graded her behavior in class. I can’t remember exactly what the grade was grading — probably something meaningless like hyperactivity — but I do remember that she ANNE had received her first “N” KATZ for “needs work,” with the suggestion that she “ask fewer questions.” I remember her sitting in our kitchen sobbing to our parents about, for the first time ever, getting something less than straight “Os” (for outstanding). She was miserable. And now, on behalf of my little sister almost 11 years later, I want to take a moment to call out you, Mrs. Michnick, for giving utterly terrible advice to a young learner. Though I never received this damning critique myself, it very well could have been written on my report card, too. Just like my little sister, I love asking questions, and in elementary school, I never had any shame about it. Looking back, I can see now how my enthusiasm could have come across as borderline obnoxious — I also received an “N” from Mrs. Michnick with a similar suggestion to calm down. It’s true that in class, I would bounce in my seat with my small legs tucked underneath me, almost like a bird perched on a branch so my hand would reach slightly higher than my classmates’ and be more visible to the teacher. I knew I was over-eager, but in my mind, staying quiet simply didn’t make sense. Not because I liked to hear my own voice or because I wanted to prove that I was smarter than my peers. I just knew I loved to learn and asking questions was a sure way to do so. As I got older, I (thankfully) got a better grasp on the etiquette of asking questions in the classroom. I understood that simply raising a hand wasn’t quite as unobtrusive as I had thought and that not all questions should be asked in front of the class. But perhaps most importantly, I gained a newfound sense of urgency and assertiveness in my inquiries. I began to ask questions that pushed beyond clarification. I became more skeptical, stopped blindly accepting all the material taught to me as unequivocally true, and began directly addressing material I found troubling or inconsistent. In my unapologetic quest for knowledge, I eventually found that the subject in which I had the most questions — compelling ones that would follow me outside the classroom and stay with me, gnawing until I could begin to search for some semblance of an answer — was history. I understood that lobbying too many critical questions in front of the class could be seen as an affront to my teacher’s credibility, so I saved my bravest questions for outside the classroom. Throughout middle school, I would visit my favorite history teachers during my lunch
JOE IOVINO
period to ask more exploratory questions that I had jotted down in my notebook earlier in class. In seventh-grade world history, I asked about the Incans’ ability to develop a complex society without the wheel. In eighth-grade U.S. history, I questioned Thomas Jefferson’s inconsistency as a slave owner who supposedly believed “all men are created equal.” By the end of middle school, I realized that studying history does not mean memorizing a rigid linear narrative composed of names, numbers and dates. Instead, I realized studying history means asking questions — particularly thoughtful criticisms of the past — and then devouring as many sources as possible to weave together a plausible answer. By the time I graduated middle school, I knew I would study history in college because it allowed me to ask as many questions as I wanted. But after I entered high school, something changed. To be sure, I still asked questions — just not as many as I used to, and the fierce unapologetic nature in which I used to inquire had faded. Maybe it was part of growing up, of becoming more self-conscious and insecure of my nerdy status in the eyes of my peers. Whatever it was, it fundamentally affected my confidence in the classroom, and I began to apologize. I apologized because I felt like I was interrupting and drawing unnecessary attention to myself. I apologized because my voice was too quiet or too loud, or because I thought my question was stupid. Sometimes, I would even start a question with, “I know this is dumb, but…” I know I’m not the only woman who does it, and this tick, though innocuous on the surface, reflects deeper feminine insecurities and feelings of inferiority. An unnecessary apology before a question immediately undermines the validity of the question before it has even been asked and surely impacts young women’s abilities to be assertive both inside and outside the classroom. I knew that apologizing before asking questions was not a natural behavior for me, but a learned one. However, I continued to apologize my way out of the classroom until one of my favorite history professors abruptly drew my attention to the habit this past semester. On the first day of school, after raising my hand and inevitably beginning with “Sorry,” she sharply cut me off in front of the whole class and demanded that I ask the question again — this time, sans apology. My face burned, but I knew she was completely right. As I enter my last semester at Michigan, I’m pledging to try as hard as I can to stop apologizing before asking a question and to work on rebuilding my confidence in the classroom to what it was before I hit puberty. After all, asking questions is the best (and only) way to learn. Before I walk into the first day of class, I’ll remind myself of a piece of good advice doled out by Mr. Melendez, the other fifth-grade teacher who taught alongside Mrs. Michnick: “There are no stupid questions. Just stupid people who don’t ask questions.” — Anne Katz can be reached at amkatz@umich.edu.
E-mail Joe at jiovino@umich.edu
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Monetizing Detroit’s culture
he day after Christmas, I took a trip with a couple of friends to Midtown in Detroit. We spent an hour at the Detroit Historical Museum — worth a visit, I should add — and when we finished walking through the late 19th century replica town on DEREK the basement WOLFE floor, we drove over to Traffic Jam and Snug for lunch. Located on Second and Canfield streets in Cass Corridor, Traffic Jam and Snug sits next to several new stores and across from a crowded parking lot. These stores include Shinola, the Detroit-based watch and leather company, and Third Man Records, the Jack White-owned record store that opened in November. In all respects, both Shinola and Third Man Records are destination stores; the carefully designed displays, good music and overall cool vibe makes them worth the 45-minute drive from home. But it wasn’t only the physical products (which at Shinola were well out of my budget) and the smell of incense wafting through Third Man Records that struck me as special or unique, though they are. It’s that both stores, aside from being saturated with an overwhelmingly white clientele — a topic for a different, serious conversation — appear committed to local manufacturing. That’s something you don’t see every day. Shinola is in the middle of building a watch-dial factory, which when finished, will be visible to shoppers through a transparent window as they walk from the middle to the back of the store. Tucked in the back of Third Man, shoppers will soon look onto a 10,000-square-foot vinyl record press which will manufacture records 24/7 for artists and
bands signed with the label as well as other local acts. Right now, the space is effectively empty, but ideally by the middle of this year, eight presses imported from Germany will be operating and, according to Third Man co-founder Ben Blackwell, teaching the public — or at least those who walk through the building — that “all this stuff is alive and well.” This stuff meaning vinyl. Of course, this isn’t the perfect story of homegrown, authentic Detroit manufacturing. Shinola was recently questioned by the Federal Trade Commission for the “Built in Detroit” mark on its watches. Why? Because even though it is accurate the watches are assembled within the city limits of Detroit, none of the parts are manufactured in America. Because they come from Switzerland, Thailand and China, Shinola could be violating the FTC requirement saying “all or virtually all” parts must be manufactured in the United States in order for retailers to claim their products are “Made in U.S.A.” As of now, Shinola maintains it’s not being misleading because it’s open about where its parts are from. That’s certainly up for debate. Also, Shinola was founded by Bedrock Manufacturing, an investment firm based in Texas owned by Tom Kartsotis, a co-founder of Fossil — another watchmaking company! And the name Shinola comes from a half-century defunct shoe polish company — from New York. As for Third Man, while no one should criticize Jack White for this, the company is based in Nashville. Furthermore, White hasn’t always had a strong relationship with Detroit, saying he left the city early in his career because it was challenging to live and create there. However, it’s worth noting that he did pay off the Masonic Temple’s $142,000 in back taxes in 2013 to keep the building from foreclosing. From all of this, it’s easy to see how what these companies are doing can be perceived as merely opportunistic, taking advantage of Detroit’s gritty reputation and
history of manufacturing to profit. Especially in the case of Shinola, where none of its founders are even from Detroit, it’s using this image of the city to sell madly expensive luxury items, products the average person cannot possibly afford or justify paying for. For me, that’s uncomfortable and feels a bit like a farce. At the same time, though, I’m asking myself, “So what?” No matter where these people come from or where the company is based, there is an immense value in bringing the value of manufacturing and hand-crafted goods to the forefront. For the people who will shop at these places (and again, there’s an entire conversation on the astounding and concerning lack of racial diversity at the stores), they’re going to be exposed to the creation of physical goods. They’ll see the records being pressed and the bevy of parts being carefully assembled into a wearable timepiece. In a time when everything seems to be moving up to the cloud and it is way too easy to order whatever I want from Amazon, Shinola is saying timekeeping is an art not to be taken for granted. Third Man is musing that music shouldn’t just travel on circuit boards and servers. And both of those reasons make critiquing these companies extremely difficult. I’m not quite sure how to balance this point with the questionable authenticity of these companies. Maybe it’s just a matter of trying to be a more informed consumer. That said, there’s no doubt that as Detroit continues to progress economically, this balancing act won’t be going away. The people and leadership of the city need to ask themselves soon whether outsiders coming in should be given the absolute right to monetize its culture. The answer will define what kind of city Detroit is going to be. The clock is ticking. — Derek Wolfe can be reached at dewolfe@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
F
Reading to read
all semester of sophomore year, I was feeling pretty good about how things were going. I had finally finished my first round of required art studios, and had moved on to elective academics on Central Campus, a totally new world. I was both enthused and unsure about the workload, but ready to roll with it. Then, at a mass meeting sometime in the SUSAN first or second LAMOREAUX week of classes, I mentioned all the reading I had been assigned to a girl just starting her junior year. “It’s so interesting,” I told her, and meant it. She responded in kind, and then said in an off-hand way how she skimmed those very reading assignments I was just learning to love. I tried not to show it, but I was both shocked and disappointed by her words. To hear an upperclassman, a student with a whole year more experience than me, dismissing her assigned reading so easily — it stung, especially since I’d made my mind up well before that conversation to read everything that was set before me, at least to the best of my ability. It hadn’t been a decision so much as it was a lifestyle choice — simply who I am. Reading — anything and everything — is just something I do. From the backs of snack packages to the copyright pages of books, I linger. I look. I do more than flip past the words to take in a general sense of their message. So when I walked away from that conversation sophomore year, I took it as a sort of
dare. Skim, me? Hardly. I was going to ready everything I was given, word for word. In a 2013 USA Today College article, Princeton undergrad Prianka Misra shares a similar stance toward reading. “I struggled with the idea of reading insincerely,” she says in the interview. “I actually want to be able to understand … but when you’re skimming you can’t really do that. You’re really just looking at the core points of an article and not really taking a greater in-depth look.” To be fair, the workload of a 200-level course at Princeton is probably a bit different than what I’ve experienced in 200-level courses here at Michigan. I’m not sure I could read 200 pages for a class each week, word-for-word and diagram-for-diagram, the way Misra does. And even she admits that after a couple of years, the novelty she found in that kind of work ethic has started wearing off. “I can’t really afford to try to analyze a point if we’re not going to spend more than 10 minutes on it [in class],” she says. However, in favor of doing a full read, she believes “there is value to being able to summarize something, but there is also value to nitpicking and finding the small points you really take issue with or keenly going over each and every part of something for a more comprehensive understanding.” Now a junior myself, I’m of the same mindset I was in at the beginning of sophomore year, but with a few more semesters of reading all the readings behind me. A couple of times, I even went so far as to continue reading from a book outside of class, simply because it was too interesting to put down until I reached the end. I’m not
the kind of person who highlights passages or pauses to write out chapter summaries once I’m done with them and, unlike Misra, I don’t try to analyze the text as I go. But for the most part, I enjoy the process of reading, and what I can’t understand is when people simply don’t read. Not for classes, not for pleasure — among my friends and peers, many shirk the effort it takes to open the pages of a book and fall into the world held in place between them. This, to me, is crazy. For me, reading is what makes life interesting, and it never ends — there’s no shortage of new bestsellers, books made famous by their movie adaptations, and, oh yeah, assigned academic texts to lose myself in. I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes doing the reading can be a little long-winded — sometimes it drags. Once in a while, other tasks call my name just a little too loudly to be ignored in favor of the reading I’ve been given. But what I love about reading these assigned pieces is that the time I spend on the task never feels wasted. Sure, sometimes I disagree with what an author’s saying, but isn’t that also a part of college — for our eyes to be opened up to new opinions? If so, this is one of the places I find it — chipping away at my reading in big chunks or little-by-little, on the bus, over meals, between classes. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as checking off each assigned chapter on my syllabus. And there’s no feeling quite like curling up with a good book — assigned or otherwise. — Susan LaMoreaux can be reached at susanpl@umich.edu.
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Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 — 5A
FILM REVIEW
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
“I got this dress for four dollars at Forever 21!!!”
THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
Fur is so in for Fall/Winter post-Civil War.
Comedy queens Masterful ‘Eight’ shine in ‘Sisters’ By JACOB RICH Senior Arts Editor
Fey and Poehler cut loose in new comedy By MADELEINE GAUDIN Daily Arts Writer
“Superbad” is all grown up in “Sisters,” a party movie starring comedy’s female dynamic duo: Tina BFey (“Date Night”) and Sister Amy Poehler Universal (“Inside Out”). Fey and Pictures Poehler play, as the title Rave & Quality 16 would suggest, sisters who return to their childhood home one last time before their parents sell it. Of course, they decide to throw a party to celebrate the symbolic end of their childhood. And, as is party movie standard, it all ends in mass, drunken destruction including phallic wall art and a sinkhole that eats half of the backyard.
It all ends in mass, drunken destruction. In a role reversal of “Baby Mama,” Poehler plays Maura, an uptight nurse with chipper, neurotic tendencies. Fey unconvincingly plays her foil as a drunk slacker who can’t seem to “get it together.” But, the movie isn’t really about Maura and Kate, it’s about Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Both characters, as well as the supporting cast, seem quite aware of the actors who play them. The movie is funny because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are funny, not because Maura and Kate are funny. The party movie has emerged as a common, if not overused, formulaic subgenre of comedy. Most of the humor comes from the misadventures of
the movies’ drunkest, highest, and stupidest characters and the fact that none of them would be friends if they were sober. “Sisters” follows the party movie formula perfectly, but while it loses points on originality, it gains them on scientifically proven funniness. The party is exactly as one might hope a “Saturday Night Live” reunion party would be. With a cast of full of late night
“Sisters” is a 2-hour assault of irreverence. alums, the jokes are absurd and plentiful. At times the movie feels like a 2-hour sketch, in which “SNL” ’s usual formula of non-stop one-liners begins to feel tiresome. “Sisters” never stops to take a breath, cutting frantically between Poehler’s sexual misadventures, Fey’s booze-fueled rage and a coked-out Bobby Moynihan (“Saturday Night Live”) doing “Scarface” impersonations. That’s why the sudden jump to poignancy in the last 15 minutes feels so unnecessary — it’s too abrupt a stop in the flow of humor to feel like a proper ending. We should have just left Kate and Maura hugging next to a sinkhole and gone home. The problem with “Sisters” isn’t that it’s not funny; it’s that it’s not clever. Headed by two of the smartest, quickest women in Hollywood with a script written by a longtime SNL writer, it is easy to be disappointed by the film’s reliance on pure raunchiness alone to carry its humor. Every spare second is filled with swearing and sex jokes — many of which seem surprisingly retrograde for a movie about women written by a woman. And nothing screams retrograde like a girl fight, so it’s always disappointing when
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a movie that passes the Bechdel test decides to pit its leading ladies against each other in a mud brawl. What saves “Sisters” is its longer, more developed gags. A scene in which Maura’s love interest, played by “The Mindy Project” ’s Ike Barinholtz, gets a music box stuck up his butt and an ongoing joke where Tina Fey tries to woo a drug dealer played by John Cena (“Trainwreck”) ground the movie in some well-developed humor. It’s a nice break from constant one-liners and provides the opportunity for Fey and Poehler to flex their comedic muscles without being out-shouted by the supporting cast. “Sisters” is a 2-hour assault of irreverence. It’s not the best work from comedy’s girl power dynamic duo, but it’s funny and finds moments of cleverness. It’s the perfect movie to see if you need a mindless break from talking to relatives this holiday.
Somewhere, Quentin Tarantino is sipping a glass of wine, refreshing Rotten Tomatoes and laughing as he watches the A critics squirm. You can’t apply a one- The sentence thesis Hateful to a Tarantino Eight film. You just can’t. But with The Weinstein the consistency Company of the chang- Rave & Quality 16 ing of the seasons, people are going to try. Critics have said that “The Hateful Eight” is about race in America or the cyclical nature of war. It’s not. It’s also not a “bad” or “evil” film. I’ve even seen a popular, intelligent critic pontificate on Tarantino’s “moral compass.” To me, that’s awful, and making a broad statement on what a Tarantino film is about is maybe even worse. Saying that people are missing the point is terribly elitist, I know, but I can’t think of a better way of putting it. “The Hateful Eight,” Tarantino’s funniest film, is the worst
date movie of all time. Where “Django Unchained” was crowd pleasing even in its brutality, this is truly, gratuitously dark stuff. It’s marketed to the Applebee’schowing, “Pulp Fiction”-loving crowd, but this one’s really for the weird kids: the trash cinema lovers, the art room goths, the Russ Meyer fans, the bitter, godless millennials. Comprised entirely of wonderful shots and even more wonderful performances, “The Hateful Eight” paints with the ultra-confident brush of a writer/director who has known that he can do whatever the fuck he wants for his last five movies. When two bullets leave a giant smoldering crater where a man’s face would be, you know Tarantino’s crew did it precisely the way they meant to. Come on, you’ve known that since “Kill Bill.” Okay, okay — I’ll try to get to some kind of a point. “The Hateful Eight” is not like any western I’ve seen (besides its aesthetic, of course). It’s more like what I imagine the real life implications of the board game “Clue” would be like. We have expressive, engaging characters with murder on the brain, and the fun is figuring out whodunit and
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
why. The filmmakers employ Hitchcockian suspense with frightening ability: we’re shown the puzzle pieces and we shriek with pleasure as it all gets pieced together in front of us, one move at a time. Wait, there’s a “Clue” movie already? Shit. But even though the pieces are all together, the cardboard doesn’t form a sensible picture, or at least one that you would traditionally expect. Maybe the final moments of “The Hateful Eight” are like a puzzle picturing a huge, veiny penis. That might piss some people off, especially since the box the puzzle came in had a photo of a nice little John Ford vista on the front. Going again by Rotten Tomatoes, approximately 24 percent of you are going to be pissed off. Try not to be pissed off by the best film of 2015. Enjoy the masterful gratuity. It’s all a bit too much, and if you’re anything like me, you’re going to love every second of it. Much like life itself, “The Hateful Eight” is a big beautiful question without an answer, and it ends abruptly. I get that that’s frustrating, but, much like life itself, I wouldn’t want any of us to miss out on it.
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ACROSS 1 Big initials in tobacco 4 Devices with scroll wheels 8 Many an oldmovie criminal mastermind 14 Perrier, par exemple 15 Sick as __ 16 Jittery 17 Visitor’s first attempt 19 Emphatic type 20 Training group 21 Like milligrams and kilograms 23 Baseball family name 24 Actress Thompson of “Family” 25 “My bad!” 29 Queen-to-be, maybe 30 Visitor’s second attempt 33 Hum a lullaby for 35 Common starting time 36 Justice Dept. division 37 Sean’s mom 39 Unlikely Monopoly outcomes 41 Student carrier 44 Peeled-off item 46 “Big crunch” pickle brand 50 Visitor’s third attempt 53 Asti export 54 Kids’ __: restaurant offering 55 “The Dukes of Hazzard” deputy 56 Indigo source 57 Ottoman shelter 60 Playing marble 61 Nixes 64 Visitor’s last words 66 How megastores buy goods 67 Boo-boo 68 Snitch 69 Assumes to be true 70 Ring units: Abbr. 71 Porter kin
DOWN 1 Baggage handlers 2 Game with cestas and pelotas 3 Seedy 4 Good way to have it? 5 Knot-tying words 6 One with a racket 7 Stirred up 8 Conservationist John 9 Against 10 Church official 11 Start to practice? 12 “__ live and breathe!” 13 B’way setting 18 Seedy 22 Unspoken 24 Chicago suburb 26 Stomach-punch response 27 Banned chem. contaminant 28 Snow glider 31 Sushi chef’s array 32 Ship’s spine 34 Unable to choose 38 “Rings __ Fingers”: 1942 Fonda/Tierney film 40 Wild and fierce
41 Emeril exclamation 42 Le Mans article 43 Peek, for peep: Abbr. 45 Toast, so to speak 47 Ol’ Blue Eyes 48 Monogram component 49 “Gigi” author 51 “Right away, madame!”
52 Four Tops’ record label 58 Get all mushy 59 Invites 60 Long stretches 61 Bigwig 62 Brian of Roxy Music 63 Airer of some MLB postseason games 65 Clear (of)
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Arts
6A — Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
MOVE MOVIE
“Who cares if I’m pretty if I fail my finals?!”
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
“Leave me alone to die.”
Eye-opening ‘Big Short’ distressing Odd and self-aware film follows 2008 financial crisis By MADELEINE GAUDIN Daily Arts Writer
A group of angry Wall Street traders predicting and profiting off the 2008 economic recession doesn’t scream entertainment, Abut writer and director The Big Adam McKay’s (“Anchor- Short man”) “The Big Paramount Short” makes Pictures for an honest and captivating Rave & Quality 16 tale of greed, lies and devastation. The film stars some of Hollywood’s most handsome men with some of the world’s ugliest haircuts. As bankers and traders, they predict the crash through careful analysis of the housing market as early as 2005 and decide they can profit by betting banks that the loans they have given out will default. Initially, ”The Big Short” reads as a documentary narrated by Ryan Gosling’s (“Drive”) character Jared Vennett (which begs the question: why doesn’t Ryan Gosling narrate documentaries?). While the camera cuts rapidly through stills from music videos, ‘for sale’ signs and celebrity mug shots, Jared introduces the audience to the world of 2005 Wall Street. It’s patchy and quick, moving quickly between images in a way that resembles memory. In
fact, the whole movie is filmed like a memory. Long scenes are broken up by quick slides of images, much like how one might remember a year in their life. Although the subject seems out of place compared to McKay’s previous work (mostly absurdist Will Ferrell comedies), “The Big Short” is peppered with humor even in its slower moments. Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”), the film’s comedy veteran, carries much of that comedic weight, employing the painful but funny style of comedy reminiscent of his character on “The Office,” Michael Scott. However, Gosling holds his own with a sharp wit and mean deadpan. The humor is dark, but it serves as a cutter for the film’s heavy technical jargon and darker moral undertones.
“The Big Short” isn’t “The Wolf of Wall Street.” “The Big Short” sets itself up to be a movie with a powerhouse ensemble cast, but the characters come across more as independent entities rather than one cohesive unit. Christian Bale (“The Dark Knight Rises”) plays an oddball neurosurgeon-turned-trader, Michael Burry, who is the first to discover the housing market’s dirty little secret. He delivers one of the film’s strongest performances, but unfortunately does not share the screen with any of
the other leads. While they all deliver strong performances on their own, the actors fail to unify as an ensemble in the way that’s expected in a story without one single lead. The film is odd and self-aware in a way that comes off as endearing rather than nervous. McKay knows that one of his greatest obstacles is the public’s ignorance or misunderstanding of the complex systems that led to both the creation and the burst of the loan bubble behind the 2008 financial crisis. Because a film can’t have footnotes and working definitions into conversation is unnatural, McKay uses short star-studded asides to explain the terminology needed to understand and fully appreciate the film. Synthetic CDOs and mortgage security were never sexy until explained by Anthony Bourdain and Selena Gomez. In this regard, the film seems aware of its role as an educational tool. It’s important for the American people to understand the biggest economic crisis of (most) of their lifetimes and McKay seems to argue that learning about it can be fun too. “The Big Short” isn’t “The Wolf of Wall Street” and it wants to make that point clear right away. Choosing Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) as the bombshell cameo who explains mortgage bonds in a bubble bath can only be seen as a nod to the 2013 Wall Street blockbuster. However, “The Big Short” goes beyond the glam and scam of its predecessor to get at the heart of this kind of banking — working class Americans. In on of the film’s final scenes, Carell’s character, Mark Baum, debates not selling his credit default swaps because he is disgusted with himself and the banks whose greed pushed the loan bubble to burst.
The ending is as satisfying as it is unsettling. The ending of “The Big Short” is as satisfying as it is unsettling. After spending two hours following the ups and downs of the characters, it’s rewarding to see Gosling kiss a $47 million check. But then the camera cuts to a family living out of their car in a gas station parking lot after losing their home in the recession. And therein lies the great tragedy that “The Big Short” manages to uncover — for some people the housing market crash of 2008 was the best thing that ever happened to them, but for the over 6 million Americans who lost their homes that year, it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. “The Big Short” isn’t flashy or glamorous, but it is eye opening. It gives its audience an inside look into the corruption of Wall Street while still applauding the oddballs and eccentrics who are willing to take risks and go against the grain.
Promising ‘Breathe’ By REBECCA LERNER Daily Film Editor
Film is full of clichés about female friendships. For every instance of reality in movies like “Mean Girls” and “A League of Their B+ Own,” there’s a case of boy- Breathe friend stealing Move Movie or mud-fighting that crumbles Available on the feminine iTunes identity into ugly stereotypes. But the female-driven “Breathe,” directed by “Inglorious Bastards” star Mélanie Laurent, never delves into cliché, instead dissecting the intimacy and complexity of the relationships of adolescent girls. “Breathe” opens on the timid Charlie (Joséphine Japy, “My Way”), a French teenage girl with parents who are too busy with a vicious cycle of breaking up and getting back together to pay any attention to her. Charlie’s suburban life is a drab series of school and childhood friends until a cleaving occurs. This cleaving, is her instantaneous connection with the beautiful and enigmatic new girl, Sarah (Lou de Laâge, “The Wait”). Sarah and Charlie swiftly
become inseparable. They are an unlikely pairing, as Sarah’s status as the epitome of a “cool girl” is acutely juxtaposed with Charlie’s awkward reticence. Sarah exudes confidence while she brags of living in exotic places with her saintly but absent relief worker mother. She immediately charms Charlie and breaks the rhythm of her monotonous life. But behind the cigarette smoke and mirrors of glamorous French clubs, Sarah has a streak of cruelty. It’s subtle at first — we see it in Laurent’s cinematography, the way the camera lingers on Sarah as she makes decisions about who to socially persecute. She ruthlessly ices out Charlie’s childhood best friend and perfects the powerful art of making Charlie feel like her best friend and the most important person in her life. This dubious love is abruptly altered during a vacation to the countryside when Charlie makes the fatal mistake of introducing Sarah as a classmate, rather than a friend. After this rather small incident, their relationship transforms into the vacillating hot and cold state of frenemies. Sarah becomes gruesome in her malice because of the affection she so tenderly displays afterwards. We follow Charlie on the roller coaster of Sarah’s love, which takes both of them to plac-
es neither could have imagined. Though more famous for her onscreen work, Laurent is no stranger to screenwriting and directing. “Breathe” is her second feature film. Her first, “The Adopted,” came out in 2011. Though similar in both style and subject matter, “Breathe” shows great promise for the actressturned-filmmaker. Laurent’s distinctly French style of delicacy and focus on the small and regular aspects of life are honed in “Breathe” and create the sense of urgency surrounding the film’s toxic relationship. But Laurent’s successful choices for “Breathe” aren’t limited to camerawork — they also extend to her choice of actors. Both performances — de Laâge’s seductive nature as the venomous Sarah and Japy’s transformation of Charlie from a naïve girl to a mysterious woman — are breathtaking. “Breathe” is a film that is unafraid to redefine and break the schemas we have of teenage girls and their relationships. It doesn’t fit nicely into a category — there is humor and love, but there is also unbearable darkness that will get under your skin and make you think about it for days. In its beauty and grotesque harshness, “Breathe” captures the true essence of teenage girls and relationships.
CONCERT REVIEW
BØRNS at Shelter: A love letter to fans By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY and CARLY SNIDER Daily Music Editor and Daily Arts Writer
The Shelter is small, dense and dark. Exposed ceiling beams and black support beams give the space an air of raw authenticity — just the way a venue for the arts ought to unfold to its audience. BØRNS graced the basement of St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit on Wednesday night, enchanting the small crowd with his long brown locks and delicate vocals. Not dissimilar to the main attraction, Phases prepped the crowd by filling the room with a flirty, jumping sound as the second of two openers. The young crowd seemed unable to contain its excitement, though, bursting out in waves of cheers every few minutes while waiting for the Michigan native to take the stage. Stepping onto the small stage with his band, BØRNS opened with “Dug My Heart” and was almost entirely eclipsed by the shouts, applause and singing voices of the crowd. Whether it was an elongated tone of the keyboard, a smattering of conversation from the performers or a few quick strums of a guitar, there was never a silent moment. This lack of intimacy is uncommon for a venue as small as The Shelter, but it was made up for with the performance and few utterances by BØRNS himself. His body language — raising a quivering arm above his head or bending to croon over the masses in front of him — told the crowd that he is completely
consumed in his art. Describing the crowd as “beatific bodies and glorious spirits,” BØRNS brought out the more sensual and warm underlying tones of his music. He described his audience as an ocean and dedicated “Overnight Sensation” to the crowd by describing the tune as “a love letter from me to you.” Wrapping up the evening with an encore performance of “Bennie and the Jets” and “Seeing Stars,” BØRNS flexed his musical muscle. By ending with one of his singles from his first EP, he was able to show how far he has come as an artist in such a short period of time. And, judging by the passion of his fans and the musical mastery shown on Wednesday, there is nothing stopping him from continuing to do so. — Carly Snider *** I googled the word “pretentious” as I attempted to gather my reeling thoughts surrounding BØRNS’s set at The Shelter on Wednesday. I googled the word “pretentious” because I realized the impossibility of talking about BØRNS without sounding pretentious. pre·ten·tious: adjective 1. attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed. I then googled “tentious” because I was curious if there was a semantically-related word for “impressing by affecting importance, talent, culture etc., that is actually possessed.” That would be how to best describe the experi-
ence of BØRNS. His set, almost entirely pulled from his debut album, Dopamine, elevated the basement of St. Andrew’s Hall, effectively neutralizing the hot air into soft coolness mimicked by the crowd’s sways, subtle arm waves and smiling faces. The electro-pop sound crafted by the Michigan native feels like a concept album. Each track touches on a different subtlety in the emotional love story crafted between its narrator and subject. In some cases it was a love letter from BØRNS to the crowd with “Overnight Sensation.” Set opener “Dug My Heart” is easily overlooked between the musical-liquid hybrid magic of “10,000 Emerald Pools” and the soaring vocals of “Electric Love” on the LP, but live the track’s drum beats vibrated throughout the room, priming the crowd for what was to follow. The repetition in “Dopamine” built the crowd a tiny bit closer to euphoria, and the funk of “The Fool” kept the spirit high. Each song further built up the bubble created by BØRNS’s singular, listener-engulfing sound so much that when the time came for his two-song encore of a “Bennie and the Jets” cover and “Seeing Stars,” the crowd, band and BØRNS himself felt fluid in an evening of ecstatic percussion and smooth delivery. It’s OK that I sound pretentious writing about BØRNS. I use smooth language and vibe-y diction to describe the concert, but in the end it’s BØRNS with the “importance, talent and culture” to back me up. — Christian Kennedy
SportsWednesday B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 6, 2016
‘Onward’ Michigan 41, Florida 7
Photo by Allison Farrand
Photo by Ruby Wallau
Photo by Ruby Wallau
REDEMPTION TRIPLE TROUBLE
n Jim Harbaugh’s first season made an impact even on those who didn’t see the field. SportsWednesday Column, Page 2B
n Michigan lost another heartbreaker in overtime at Indiana on Sunday. Page 3B
SportsWednesday
2B — January 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSWEDNESDAY COLUMN
Jim Harbaugh’s ball team
J
im Harbaugh sat in the bowels of the Citrus Bowl after his team’s 41-7 undressing of Florida last Friday, gushing about the NFL prospects of his seniors. MAX Starting COHEN center Graham Glasgow, Harbaugh said, could be a firstround pick. Jake Rudock, as evidenced by his performance in the second half of Michigan’s season, has NFL talent in Harbaugh’s eyes as well. Safety Jarrod Wilson does, too. Harbaugh’s presence, in all likelihood, has increased their chances greatly. He molded numerous low-level recruits into NFL draft picks at Stanford, and he worked with the highest level of NFL talent with the San Francisco 49ers, whom he led to the Super Bowl a mere three years ago. But this experience, helping this group and coming back to his alma mater, was Harbaugh’s favorite in football. He thinks many of his players felt the same way about this past season. “Just being in our locker room, I can tell you this: I don’t know ... what word to describe it other than if you could have been there with us in the locker room, you would have noticed that guys like being on our ball team,” Harbaugh said. “We’re on a ball team. It’s the Michigan Wolverine football team. And we like being on that ball team. And I know there are guys in that locker room that really like … (they’re) happy they’re on a ball team and glad it’s this one and like what we got going on.”
It seems clear that most of the starters and regular players love suiting up for Harbaugh. James Ross said most of the Wolverines would run through a brick wall for their coach after Michigan defeated Penn State in November. Rudock and De’Veon Smith, sitting next to Harbaugh during his press conference after the Citrus Bowl, agreed with him that this was their best season in football. But there are 120 players on the Michigan football team’s roster. Did Harbaugh’s arrival, one year later, help the players who hardly played, aren’t on scholarship and could never dream of reaching the NFL? Take senior tight end Michael Jocz. He has a 3.97 GPA in mechanical engineering and won the team’s award for best student-athlete this season. He’s smarter than most nonfootball playing nerds on campus. He probably doesn’t need Harbaugh’s tutelage or Michigan football to be successful in life (though becoming an engineer would be another interesting offseason venture for Harbaugh). Jocz is way down the depth chart at tight end and has hardly seen consistent playing time throughout his Michigan career. He puts in just as much effort as the starters by working his tail off in practice, but doesn’t get the reward of playing frequently on Saturdays. He calls himself a fifthgeneration Michigan fan and has rooted for the Wolverines for his entire life. Jocz has seen tough times
and a losing season as a player. He kept going — even when it might’ve been easier to just focus on school — to continue his dream of playing Michigan football. This year, he feels like the program he loves has its dignity back. And Jocz feels like he and his fellow walk-ons have a role in that, too. Harbaugh has helped the guys who don’t play very much feel like they have a role in the group’s success, just like the starters do. “As a team, we do a good job of knowing that by helping each other out, we help everybody out,” Jocz said Wednesday. “Not just, ‘If I get better, I get my turn.’ It’s all about the team effort and being together as one, and that’s how we’re going to win football games.” Take Brad Anlauf. He’s a senior wide receiver on this year’s football team. If you know his name, it’s probably from his stint as a walk-on on the men’s basketball team in the 2013-14 season, when the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship and made it all the way to the Elite Eight. But Anlauf has been on the football team for his other three years at Michigan, his game days spent largely on the sideline. In a way, Harbaugh’s arrival brought his football career new life. Harbaugh, famously, is all about competition. In the spring, he insisted the quarterback position would sort itself out, that the best player would step up and make the plays. That creed of
“It’s all about the team effort and being together as one.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Senior tight end Michael Jocz savored Michigan’s revival this season, even though he rarely saw the field.
open competition extended to everyone on the team, not just the guys on scholarship. Sure, no walk-ons carved out regular starting roles on the team this season. Former walkons Joe Kerridge, Kenny Allen and Ryan and Graham Glasgow are all on scholarship now, and they contributed regularly. But under Harbaugh, the rest of the walk-ons felt like they had a chance to earn playing time, too. “There’s no sense of entitlement around Coach Harbaugh,” Anlauf said. “If his own son, eventually, if he comes and plays here, he’s not going to give him an edge over another kid playing at that position.”
Take Shaun Austin. You’ve probably never heard his name. He’s a senior walk-on safety, and he didn’t get into a game this year. He lives with other football players, including Chris Wormley and Tom Strobel, guys who see the field regularly. Under Harbaugh, he feels like he’s just as important as those guys, playing time be damned. “It’s cool to not take a backseat to someone else, at least get a chance,” Austin said. Austin gets hit every day in practice, and he went into every game knowing he probably wouldn’t be needed. He’s a political science major and hopes to go to law school
someday. Playing for Harbaugh won’t help him get to the NFL or achieve some wild football fantasy. He admits he’s a little crazy for putting himself through the grind. So why does he do it? “It’s easy to play for the guys, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Austin said. “Even if you’re not doing it for yourself, there’s other guys you’ve grown close with over the years that make it easy to come out and play for them.” Sounds like a ball team, indeed. Cohen can be reached at maxac@umich.edu and on Twitter @MaxACohen.
‘M’ dismantles Florida, 41-7 ‘The Kingdom’ powers victory FOOTBALL
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Michigan football team came out and scored on its first drive of the second half. And that’s when redshirt junior defensive lineman Chris Wormley said it happened. The Wolverines led Florida, 24-7, at that point. On the first play of the Gators’ next series, Wormley sacked quarterback Treon Harris. That led to a three-and-out, giving the ball back to Michigan’s offense. “And you could tell in their eyes — you could see they didn’t want to play anymore,” Wormley said. “They were down probably three scores by then, and it’s just a good feeling, especially for a defense — to stomp on their throats.” And still 21 more minutes of dominance remained. When that time elapsed, Michigan celebrated on the field with the bowl trophy. Its players had talked since the end of the regular season about reaching the milestone of 10 wins. They demolished Florida, 41-7, and their days of being demolished seemed to be in the distant past. The Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) had routed opponents in a similar fashion before, but this came against a marquee SEC opponent in the Citrus Bowl. Michigan last beat an SEC team eight years ago to the day, when the Wolverines beat Florida in the same bowl in Lloyd Carr’s last game as coach. “I’d say this was the best game we played all year,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen our offense play better. And our defense was magnificent.” Added Florida coach Jim McElwain: “It was a case of getting your rump kicked in. That’s what it was.” Michigan came into the bowl game with the same intensity as any other game, and the same refusal to let up. When the offense regained possession four plays after Wormley’s sack, redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson outran Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves
By MAX BULTMAN Managing Sports Editor
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Jake Rudock and Jehu Chesson connected on two long passes to spark Michigan’s offense in the Citrus Bowl win.
III for the second time in the game. He hauled in a 45-yard pass from fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock, and senior fullback Sione Houma punched it in three plays later. The Gators (7-1 SEC, 10-4 overall) kept the ball for just 62 seconds on their next series, and Michigan went back to work on a 12-play, 84-yard touchdown drive to extend the lead to 38-7 early in the fourth quarter. The outcome had long been decided, and though Wormley smelled blood in the water almost a quarter earlier, more than 12 minutes remained. “That’s the whole objective of our defense,” Wormley said. “You don’t let them score. You take their will away, and that’s what we did today. It’s a great feeling.” Florida’s brief window of opportunity came in the first quarter. On the Gators’ first possession, they moved the ball
55 yards in 12 plays over 4:37 but stalled at the Wolverines’ 20-yard line. On 4th-and-7, they lined up in field-goal formation, but the holder flipped the ball toward the line of scrimmage and Michigan junior cornerback Channing Stribling intercepted it. Another turnover in the second quarter continued to separate the teams. The Gators reached the Michigan red zone again, but Harris threw an interception off his back foot to senior safety Jarrod Wilson. That was as close as Florida got for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Wolverines’ offense rolled over the Gators’ highly ranked defense. Michigan scored points on six of its first seven possessions and moved the ball on the ground for 225 yards and through the air for 278. Junior running back De’Veon Smith carried 25 times for 109 yards, the first Michigan player to reach the mark since he did so Sept. 26 against Brigham Young.
“I’d say this was the best game we played all year.”
Chesson caught five passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, including two big plays in his matchup with Hargreaves. And Rudock, the game MVP, was 20-for-31 for 278 yards and three touchdowns. With that performance, he moved into second place on Michigan’s all-time single-season passing yards list. “Jake Rudock was fabulous, on the money today,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, darn near flawless.” Rudock and most of the starters stayed in until the end. In his final collegiate game, Michigan’s quarterback didn’t take a knee until the final play. Long after the Wolverines stomped on Florida’s throats, their work was done. There was no time left. Harbaugh called 2015 his favorite year in football, and Rudock and Smith agreed after the game, but only then did their celebration start. Some players will move onto the NFL or elsewhere, and some will turn their focus toward 2016. “Guys like De’Veon and me,” Harbaugh said after the game, turning to his running back, “onward, 2016. This was the beginning of that year.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — Drake Johnson’s favorite moment of the Citrus Bowl wasn’t his rushing touchdown in the first quarter, nor was it his receiving touchdown in the fourth or the trophy presentation after the game. No, the moment that Johnson identified as the day’s best was a two-yard touchdown by senior fullback Sione Houma with 3:48 left in the third quarter. The Wolverines already led 24-7 at that point, so it wasn’t like Houma’s score changed the game. What it did do, though, is fulfill a season-long goal Johnson has had with his roommates, Houma and redshirt junior receiver Jehu Chesson. All year long, the three roommates have wanted to each score a touchdown in the same game. So late in the third quarter, when Houma plunged in from two yards out, Johnson was elated. “We call ourselves ‘The Kingdom,’ we live in an apartment called ‘The Kingdom,’ ” Johnson said. “We stepped on the field today, and Jehu walked up to me and he goes, ‘Today.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘We’re going to get all three today.’ ” On the stage at the trophy presentation, Chesson wondered aloud into the microphone if the trio of roommates scoring might be some kind of record. And while STATS LLC doesn’t keep those kind of records, the moment was special for the trio, which had fallen just short so many times this season. Houma and Chesson both scored against UNLV, but no Johnson. Chesson and Johnson both scored against Maryland, Northwestern and Rutgers, but no Houma. But in Friday’s 41-7 win over Florida, there were plenty of scores to go around, and all three collected.
Johnson got the scoring rolling with a four-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and Chesson burned Vernon Hargreaves III, regarded as one of the nation’s best cornerbacks, with a double move for a 31-yard touchdown in the second. Late in the third, fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock hit Chesson for a 45-yard bomb to the Gators’ 10-yard line, and Houma punched it in three plays later. All three had strong seasons, with Johnson recovering from his second torn ACL and Houma and Chesson breaking out largely for the first time. Chesson had 12 total touchdowns on the season, Johnson finished with six and Houma with five. So was it something in the water at “The Kingdom?” “Maybe,” Johnson said. “We have a nice apartment, we have a nice place. We sleep comfortably. Maybe that’s what did it.” As for Chesson’s prediction come true, Johnson said that’s nothing out of the ordinary. He is the responsible one of the group, and Johnson referred to him as “The Great Affirmer,” someone who could expedite the ongoings of the apartment. “Pardon my French, but Jehu’s got his shit together,” Johnson said. “Like if there’s someone on our team who really has their stuff together, Jehu has his shit together. “Him being in our house has been such a blessing because there’s times where I’m just like … You know, I’m a goofy person. And like, I’m the one person in the house who’s just so carefree like, that’s like, ‘it’ll be ok.’ And Jehu’s the person in the house who’s like, ‘Hey. We need to get this done.’ ” On Friday, in their last chance to all score before Houma graduates and moves on, Chesson affirmed it. The Kingdom came, and its will was done.
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
January 6, 2016 — 3B
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
‘M’ opens season with two victories Wolverines top No. 13 Arkansas, Iowa in Cancun over Winter Break By MATTHEW KENNEDY For the Daily
The Michigan women’s gymnastics team went into its first meet of the year hoping to find out what it was capable of. And as the seventh-ranked Wolverines found out, they are capable of achieving big things. Led by junior Nicole Artz and freshman Olivia Karas, Michigan (2-0) defeated No. 13 Arkansas, 196.975-195.150, and Iowa, 196.975192.475. Artz, a five-time AllAmerican, took first place in the floor exercise and uneven parallel bars, which propelled her to an all-around firstplace finish with 39.525 points. Following behind her in second place in the all-around was Karas, who stole the balance beam and vault events. Together, the duo split the four events to help Michigan earn its victory. The Wolverines started similarly strong last season, when they knocked off thenNo. 7 Georgia in a dual meet, 196.600-195.600. And after seeing her team down a top-15 opponent to open the season for a second straight year on Saturday, Michigan coach Bev Plocki came away impressed,
even if the team wasn’t flawless in its regular-season debut. “I don’t know that I would say we have a very big weakness,” Plocki said. “I think that in this particular meet, we could have performed a little bit better or didn’t perform quite as much up to our expectations on uneven bars, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch. “I think this is a pretty good team in all four events.” The meet, which was held in a hotel ballroom in Cancun, wasn’t the only part of the team’s trip to Mexico. The trip also served as a team bonding event, as the Wolverines had a chance to enjoy some time away from the mat. While away, Michigan went parasailing over the Caribbean Sea, sailed on a catamaran and even had the chance to pet a shark. “We got to do some really fun and different things and just see people in their most relaxed, easygoing state outside of the gym, outside of practice and outside of competition,” Plocki said. “It was absolutely a great bonding trip. I think this team has gelled, and we got a great chemistry going forward.” The Wolverines hope the victory and chemistry the trip provided will bring them confidence and momentum as they go into their next match against Georgia. They host the Bulldogs on Saturday, their last chance to compete before the start of conference play Jan. 16 against Ohio State.
“I think this is a pretty good team in all four events.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty’s 20 points weren’t enough in Michigan’s overtime loss to Indiana on Sunday.
Wolverines drop third straight in OT By TED JANES Daily Sports Writer
One key stat line differentiated the Indiana and Michigan women’s basketball teams in the Hoosiers’ 77-69 overtime win on Sunday. The MICHIGAN 69 Hoosiers INDIANA 77 (1-1 Big Ten, 9-5 overall) went 32-for-42 from the free throw line, and the Wolverines (0-2 Big Ten, 8-5 overall) went 8-for18. After four quarters of backand-forth basketball, there was overtime in Bloomington, and 12 of Indiana’s 16 overtime points came from the line. Led by a near double-double from forward Amanda Cahill (19 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, two assists), the Hoosiers rallied back from what was a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. “We were up six or eight, and then we were not able to score
again for a long period of time,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico on the team radio broadcast. “They scored, we gave up some and-1s, we gave up some offensive rebounds and they got the momentum.” Three of Cahill’s blocks came in overtime. She dominated in the paint against Michigan’s star freshman center Hallie Thome. Indiana guard Tyra Buss scored the Hoosiers’ final four points in regulation with two free throws and a layup. Buss pushed Indiana ahead for three-point lead, but with 28 seconds to go, Michigan sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty drilled an off-balance 3-pointer that tied the game. Flaherty — Michigan’s leading scorer — and Buss were both quiet
“(Thome) sure didn’t recover too much.”
Youngsters impress at Southern Scuffle Redshirts earn opportunity with usual starters out By MIKE PERSAK For the Daily
It wasn’t the most important tournament of the year for the Michigan wrestling team — the Wolverines didn’t even send their starters to compete. But after the annual Southern Scuffle, they and their coaches grew excited about their future thanks to some of the young wrestlers who made the trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. Two freshmen in particular stood out. Logan Massa, wrestling in the 165-pound division, and Austin Assad, wrestling in the 125-pound division, medaled against perhaps their toughest competition of the year. Assad finished sixth in his division, while Massa came in second. Though both Massa and Assad are redshirting this season,
this particular tournament allowed redshirts to compete as unattached wrestlers, meaning they could identify with their school but could not earn points for their team’s standing. In addition, the unattached wrestlers had to pay for their own travels and could not be coached by their college’s coaches while at the tournament. This format allows wrestlers to keep their redshirt and maintain full eligibility, while still gaining valuable, in-match experience. “This is really a development year for these guys,” said Michigan assistant coach Josh Churella. “A lot of times, they don’t get to wrestle this kind of competition throughout the year. So they decided to pay for it and come down on their own and
compete. They took advantage of this opportunity, which was a really good one for them.” The only thing standing between Massa and a championship was two-time defending national champion Alex Dieringer from Oklahoma State. Massa put up a good fight in a match that was closer than the final count appeared, as Dieringer scored late points in the third period to extend his victory to 8-2. Massa’s loss to Dieringer marked the 10th-seeded 165 pounder’s first loss of the season, and the freshman was not content with coming in second. “There’s a lot of room for improvement,” Massa said. “(Dieringer) found where I have some weaknesses, and they got exposed. There’s positions that I need to work on.”
“This is really a development year for these guys.”
in the first half, combining for fewer than 10 points, but the two guards ended the game with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Shooting 76.3 percent from the line was Indiana’s best weapon, and the team took advantage of the bonus late in the game. Indiana’s win marks its first against Michigan since 2010, a stretch that has seen the Hoosiers lose 10 games. The Wolverines’ loss is the third of a three-game losing streak, and they are still looking for their first win in the Big Ten after falling to Purdue on Thursday, continuing what has been a rough holiday season. For one quarter, Michigan played like the group that lost to Purdue. For the other three, it played like the team that began
In the 125-pound bracket, Assad came in sixth place with a 4-3 record on the weekend. His only losses were to the third seed (twice) and fourth seed and were his first of the season. His record is now 14-3. An elbow injury from the summer kept Hall out of action during the fall semester. Hall’s weekend was a roller coaster, as he started with a loss but recovered in a big way in his next match by defeating the second-seeded 141-pounder, Jimmy Gulibon from Penn State. “He did rebound well to beat the No. 6 kid in the country,” Churella said. “But he didn’t have that consistency throughout the tournament, and that’s what prevented him from placing here.” Michigan finished 28th out of 31 teams in the tournament, without Massa and Assad, but it was a positive experience for many individual Wolverines, as they look ahead to the rest of the season and beyond.
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Michigan coach Joe McFarland’s team wrestled without its starters in the Southern Scuffle over the weekend, but its younger wrestlers gained valuable experience.
the 2015-16 season with seven straight wins. But the entire time, it stayed close with Indiana. Though, if the Hoosiers watched Michigan lose its Big Ten opener to Purdue, they knew exactly how to slow down the Wolverines. They didn’t let Michigan — one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation — get ahead early. They forced Thome to foul and made the Wolverines’ outside shooters to find other ways to score. Michigan had just 12 points in the first quarter, and Thome had two fouls within a minute of play. The Wolverines shot below 50 percent from beyond the arc but still hit seven 3-pointers, which kept them in the game. “(Thome) sure didn’t recover too much (from the early fouls),” Barnes Arico said. Indiana’s game plan worked, and the Hoosiers consistent free throw efforts proved them the better team Sunday.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
Wolverines spend new year training By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
The No. 9 Michigan women’s swimming and diving team started out the new year swimmingly — with a victory. For the fourth consecutive season, the Wolverines ended their weeklong training trip in Key Largo, Fla., with a win at the Orange Bowl Swim Classic. Michigan competed in mostly sprint races against four other schools and finished the day with a final tally of 265 points. In total, there were seven new meet records. Notably, the Wolverines were able to place first, second and third in six of the races. “The focus in this meet was to execute the details … just like the football team did this week in their bowl game. It was inspirational,” said Michigan coach Mike Bottom. The team gathered to watch the Citrus Bowl at a swimming and diving alumnus’ house near Key Largo. Bottom described the trip as the quintessential “Michigan experience.” And when the meet itself started, the Wolverines dominated. Sophomore Emily Kopas and freshman Siobhán Haughey paced Michigan with two wins apiece. Kopas dominated in the breaststroke, out-touching her opponents in the 50-meter race (32.04) and the 100-meter race (1:10.57), while Haughey placed first in the 100-meter freestyle (55.86) and the 200meter individual medley (2:14.64). Rounding out the event winners were sophomore Gillian Ryan in the 400-meter freestyle (4:15.21), sophomore Clara Smiddy in the 100-meter backstroke (1:01.12), junior Maddy Frost in the 50-meter freestyle (26.57) and senior Ali DeLoof in the 50-meter backstroke (28.32). In addition, Michigan won both of the relays at the meet. Despite the success, Bottom believes the annual trip to Florida between Christmas and the New
Year’s holiday is more about the training than the competition. “This training trip is so important to us,” Bottom said. “This is a team that is so academically focused. We’re under a lot of pressure to reach their full potential both in academics and in athletics. But when we’re here, we’re only focused on swimming. Part of our objective is to help the athletes enjoy each other and the team a little bit more. “We make changes in technique better here. Things like starts and turns. All of the little things that make the champion better.” Despite the rigorous training schedule, the women’s team was able to bond among themselves and with the men’s team during downtime. Activities included seeing fireworks, a boat trip and eating meals. But within a week of returning to Ann Arbor, the team will be getting right back into their competition season. Bottom relies on one thing to keep his swimmers motivated — focus. “Focus is a great way to keep people moving forward,” Bottom said. “There is no time to stop. We have to keep moving. That’s what the schedule calls for.” When looking for the types of recruits he wants on the team, Bottom searches for someone who maintains a clear focus and the ability to adapt to the team atmosphere. To Bottom, it takes a certain type of person to be able to work through a demanding athletic and academic schedule. “We recruit athletes that are going to understand what it takes to be a Michigan Wolverine,” Bottom said. “It doesn’t mean they have it when they come in, but they have to be determined. They have to have a focus and a direction. And they have to put in the energy to athletics, academics and their community. We recruit athletes who understand this. Ninety-nine percent of the time we don’t get the best recruits, but we get people who always improve.”
SportsWednesday
4B — January 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Five Things We Learned By ZACH SHAW Daily Sports Editor
For the first time since 2011, the Michigan football team ended its season with a win. In one of their most complete efforts of the season, the 14th-ranked Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) dominated No. 19 Florida (7-1 Southeastern Conference, 10-4 overall) through and through, putting a finishing touch on what Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called his “favorite year in football.” There were plenty of highlights to be found in Orlando. Here are five things we learned from Michigan’s 41-7 Citrus Bowl trouncing of the Gators. 1. The run game isn’t dead. After being the motor for Michigan’s offense in the first half of the season, the Wolverines’ stable of running backs sputtered to close the year. Yards per carry dropped from 4.8 in the first six games to 3.1 in the second, and yards per game dropped from 201.3 to 99. But against the Gators, Michigan showed new life on the ground. Addressing a strong pass coverage and blitz-heavy front line, the Wolverines compiled 225 yards and two touchdowns on 46 carries. Junior running back De’Veon Smith led the way with 109 yards, while redshirt junior Drake Johnson added 58 yards and a score. With the run game and pass game both clicking, Michigan’s offense looked as good as it had in recent memory. “De’Veon was a man possessed running the football,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think I’ve seen our offense play better. “I’ve never seen a back like this that breaks as many tackles. Well, maybe Frank Gore.” After the game, Johnson noted that the time off from
games improved the health of the bruised backs, and building an early lead opened up lanes late in the game. But Smith noted that a change in mindset was the key factor and a good sign with plenty of talent coming back next season. “We just came out there and competed today, and it showed that work and work and work actually pays off,” Smith said. “So I know (the Wolverines are) going to keep that going on into 2016.” 2. Jehu Chesson is still the team’s MVP. When redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson was named the Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player the Michigan football team’s annual banquet last month, it turned some heads. Chesson began the season as the pass game’s third option, and failed to haul in a receiving touchdown until the seventh game of the season. But against Florida, Chesson looked as valuable as ever, totaling 118 receiving yards and a touchdown against two-time All-America cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III. “Jehu Chesson, the MVP. He’s a great player,” Harbaugh said. “He’s one of those guys covering those kicks, and it was great to get a post route. It was great to hit that. … I mean, Florida is so athletic and has so much speed that there’s only tiny windows to make those throws and complete those catches.” Chesson ended the season with 919 total yards and 12 touchdowns — nine of which came in the final seven games. Despite not even being the team’s best receiver for much of the season, Chesson ended it as the team’s best player. “Pardon my French, but Jehu’s got his shit together,” Johnson said of his roommate. “Like if there’s someone on our team who really has their stuff together, Jehu has his shit together.”
3. The defense was an alltime unit. Before the game began, many expected the Citrus Bowl to be a battle of two stout defenses. Florida faltered, but Michigan held up its end of the stick. The Wolverines allowed just 253 yards, seven points and forced two turnovers in the trouncing. “Our defense was magnificent,” Harbaugh said. “The three and outs, the stops, the play on third down, everybody playing great team defense, it was — it was really good.” The performance capped a historic season for Michigan’s defense. In an era where scoring is as high as ever, the Wolverines finished in the top 10 nationally in nearly every defensive category, and had their third-best total defense since 1985 — falling short of the 2006 unit that finished 11-2 and the 1997 unit that won a national championship. “I’ve got to give Michigan all the credit in the world,” said Florida coach Jim McElwain. “They took it to us, beat us up front, did a great job in the red area, kept us off balance and, I think more than anything, played with a pad level.” 4. One-year quarterbacks can still leave a legacy. Historically, one-year quarterbacks are rarely a good thing for Michigan. The title was usually reserved for unmemorable starters or gunslingers who struggled their way out of the position. But fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock proved to be an exception to the rule, and was as good as ever Friday. Rudock completed 20 of 31 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns en route to being named the game’s MVP. In the fourth quarter, Rudock
also became just the second Wolverine to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, and ended his career first all-time in completion percentage. “Jake Rudock was fabulous — on the money today,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, darn-near flawless, … getting hit and passes against corners that were going to be playing in the NFL. He’s going to be drafted.” Though his future in football is still uncertain, it’s clear that, even with only one season to do so, Rudock made his mark in Michigan history. 5. BOLD PREDICTION: Michigan’s 77-year draft streak continues … barely. ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
For all 77 years of the NFL Draft, a Michigan player has been selected at some point. It’s an impressive feat that only Southern California can match, but it may be in jeopardy. With highly touted prospects Butt, Lewis, Chesson and Wormley all reportedly staying for next season, the Wolverines have no surefire draft prospects graduating or leaving early. But after thumping Florida, Harbaugh was adamant many of his seniors were ready for the next level. “Probably about 10, 11 guys on this team that won’t be back next year,” he said. “But we’ll watch them in August. We’ll take a few hours off and watch you guys play in the NFL.” Among the players Harbaugh mentioned were senior safety Jarrod Wilson, fifth-year senior center Graham Glasgow and Rudock. Linebackers Joe Bolden and James Ross III will also play in senior All-Star games. No draft board has a Michigan player being taken, but after arguably its best performance of the season, expect to see at least one player’s name called on draft day.
The good, the bad and the ugly By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
Jim Harbaugh’s highly publicized first year as Michigan football coach made stops all over the country before wrapping up in Orlando, Fla., last week for the Citrus Bowl against Florida (7-1 SEC, 10-4 overall). The game also concluded a season of highs and lows. The Wolverines reestablished their identity and had twice as many wins than their five in 2014, but they also suffered a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State and a blowout defeat against Ohio State, finishing behind both rivals in the Big Ten standings. In the end, Michigan’s season finished at a peak. The Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) played their best game of the season, dismantling the Gators, 41-7, on Friday. After a slow start on defense left the outcome in doubt for about a half, Michigan came out firing on all cylinders after the break. By the end of the game, most of the Florida fans who made the short trip to Orlando had left the stadium. The Daily breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly from Friday’s game: The good For most of the game, everything clicked for Michigan. The game MVP was fifth-year senior Jake Rudock, who finished his career with another strong performance by throwing for 278 yards and three touchdowns on 20-for-31 passing. After earning the second-most singleseason passing yards in program history, he continued to force NFL teams to give him a look. Perhaps the Wolverines’ standout performer was redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson. Matched up with Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III — a first-round NFL talent who announced Monday his intention to declare for the draft — Chesson had the edge all afternoon. Twice, he
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Jehu Chesson proved worthy of team MVP honors with two long catches, one for a touchdown, against Florida.
beat Hargreaves deep — once with a double move and once on a deep post route — finishing with five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. He said he didn’t submit for an NFL Draft evaluation, so he will almost certainly be back in 2016 with plenty of chances to be in this space again. More surprising for Michigan was the success of the running game, which was trending in the opposite direction of the passing attack toward the end of the season. Junior running back De’Veon Smith showed his ability to break tackles on his way to 25 carries for 109 yards, making Harbaugh compare him to NFL running back Frank Gore. Redshirt junior running back Drake Johnson and senior fullback Sione Houma each added touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, the defense feasted on an outmatched Florida offense. Senior linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone and redshirt junior defensive lineman Chris Wormley each made sacks, and the Wolverines combined for six tackles for loss. In their previous game, they surrendered 42
points at home against Ohio State, so they, too, ended the season on a high note. The success of the offense and defense in tandem allowed Michigan to possess the ball for 11:32 in the third quarter as it pulled away and 11:53 in the fourth as it ran out the clock. The offense rolled down the field, and the defense picked up quick stops, sending the offense back out and wearing down the Gators. The bad The Wolverines’ miscues were few and far between in the bowl game. A dropped pass by junior tight end Jake Butt and a touchback on a 57-yard punt by senior Kenny Allen were both small mistakes, far from impactful on the final outcome. Michigan’s arduous bowl preparation showed, as the team played a clean game. Off the field, injuries brought the season to an early end for a couple of players. Redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers did not play with a hand injury, and fifth-year senior punter Blake O’Neill, who had a brace on his knee, did not punt in his
final career game. Redshirt junior wide receiver Amara Darboh also left the game in the fourth quarter when a Florida defender ripped his helmet off. Darboh did not return. The ugly Michigan left little to be desired after the first few drives, but the defense did show some holes early on. Adjusting from former defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin to interim coordinator Greg Mattison, the Wolverines allowed 200 yards on their first four series on defense. Florida reached the red zone three times, but threw interceptions on two of them. In their three longest drives, the Gators strung together seven plays of 15 yards or more: two quarterback scrambles and five passes. Michigan also committed two penalties in that time, the only span of the game during which the outcome was contested. When senior safety Jarrod Wilson intercepted a pass in the end zone in the second quarter, the Wolverines halted Florida’s momentum and rolled for the rest of the game.
Sione Houma finally had a chance to win a championship in his senior season.
Embattled seniors go out with a win O RLANDO, Fla. — Minutes after Friday’s Citrus Bowl ended, senior fullback Sione Houma stood near midfield, trying to put on his championship T-shirt. It started off as a simple process. He put his arms through the sleeves with ease, eager to show off his team’s victory. But then his pads got in the way, leaving the shirt MAX rumpled up COHEN above his midsection. Houma called one of his teammates over, and with assistance, he was finally able to do something he had never done in his collegiate career: be officially recognized as a champion. Sure, it wasn’t the national championship, a Rose Bowl championship or a Big Ten championship, but for one day, it seemed like none of that mattered. Friday wasn’t the day to minimize Michigan’s feats. The senior class Jim Harbaugh inherited for one season is one that arrived just after of Michigan’s Sugar Bowl victory to cap the 2011 season, right before the program suffered the downturn that led to the firing of Brady Hoke. Among the fifthyear seniors, only linebacker Desmond Morgan played in that Sugar Bowl. The rest of them had never appeared in a game that ended with them wearing shirts that had the words “Michigan” and “champions” on the front. A loss Friday would have put Michigan’s seniors in unfortunate territory: The last four-year period in which the Wolverines won neither a Big Ten championship nor a bowl game culminated in 1968. The previous three seasons for the senior class ended like this: a heartbreaking loss in the Outback Bowl to South Carolina in 2012, a blowout loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2013 and them sitting on their couches last season while 10 other Big Ten teams played in bowls. Somehow, it did not crush their resolve. “The trust and intensity these boys had, given everything that happened, we all stuck together,” Houma said. “And the bond we created, I’ll never forget that.” They had never experienced anything like Friday’s postgame: Jake Rudock, Joe Bolden, Joe Kerridge and Jehu Chesson standing on a podium with a trophy they had won, maize and blue confetti enveloping them; half of a stadium in Florida, the state where its opponent resided, screaming “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine”; players who not only didn’t want to leave the field after the game, but who stayed so long to run around and give fans high-fives that they needed to hustle so they wouldn’t delay the team’s TSA airport
security check on the way out of the stadium. The fans were relentless, screaming for Jim Harbaugh, chanting his name. But he stood to the side of the stage, out of the spotlight and among a crowd, holding his son Jack in his arms. Harbaugh took pictures with a never-ending line of fans and donors, stopping only to tell passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch that Friday’s offensive performance was as good as he has ever seen. Harbaugh’s handprint on the win, on his team, was evident through it all. Michigan was relentless Friday, pounding Florida’s top-10 defense from start to finish. Things weren’t much different on the other side of the ball — Bolden said he was surprised Florida managed to score seven points. But if every day of 2015 was about Harbaugh, the first day of 2016 wasn’t really about him at all: It was about Michigan’s senior class. Bolden, as much as anyone else, is emblematic of the struggles of his classmates. His teams have suffered through four losses to Ohio State, nothing easy to cope with for an Ohio native; he was ejected from Michigan’s game against Michigan State for a questionable targeting call that changed the complexion of the game; and last year, in the middle of a 5-7 season, he was called upon as one of a few team representatives charged with frequently explaining the inexplicable to the media. But Friday eased much of that pain. There will, Bolden noted after the game, be a banner commemorating this bowl victory hanging in Schembechler Hall for decades. The final game of his career was a victory, and the dominating fashion in which they won made it all the more satisfying. “It’s also memorable that you beat the runner up in the SEC that bad,” Bolden said. “If I remember correctly, I think it was worse than ’Bama beat them. It goes to show that when we’re clicking on all cylinders, in my opinion, we can beat anyone in the NCAA.” The Wolverines will try to prove that in 2016, when this year’s senior class has moved on to other endeavors. Harbaugh will have to try to top this year, his favorite season in football. He had a team full of “jackhammers,” players who not only bought into his message, but lived it every day. They helped bring Michigan back into national prominence, and did it while mentoring the players who will follow them. And in their final act as Wolverines, the senior class helped give the younger players their first chance to put on championship T-shirts. And for next time, they’ll have had practice. They won’t have to worry about the shirts getting stuck. Cohen can be reached at maxac@umich.edu and on Twitter @MaxACohen.
statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY JAN UARY 8 , 2014
2C
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement
THE GUN CONTROL DEBATE
ON THE RECORD
“Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.” — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA in a public address calling for increased background checks at gun shows and other measures to prevent gun violence
Six Ways to Apologize for Starting Your Column with a Listicle B Y M I K E F LY N N Hello, my name is Mike Flynn. The kind folks at The Michigan Daily have asked me to write a humor column, presumably because they’ve heard my Chewbacca impression and concluded that I must be pretty funny. As excited as I am to embark on this columnal endeavor, I must admit that the process of coming up with ideas for the inaugural article has been as fraught with difficulty as this sentence is with overly complicated words. After trying several things that failed to ignite a comedic fire, I’ve surrendered myself to the same conclusion that has birthed countless C+ papers: “I just need to get this done.” As such, I’ve decided to write this first article for my column in the form of a listicle. There are some who decry the listicle as a simple medium that requires little effort and diminishes the integrity of journalism. While I would normally try to defend the listicle’s merits, of which I can count at least three, I recognize that such an attempt would be futile, given that most readers of the Daily probably hate listicles. So, in place of an impassioned defense of the medium, I will provide a heartfelt apology. As a matter of fact, I’ll provide a list of six distinct types of apologies, in order to give aspiring columnists something to go off if and when they find themselves in this same predicament. 1. Denial I can personally guarantee that this article is in no way representative of the quality of future entries in this column. There will be no more listicles from me. I’ll write articles in every form besides listicles! Come to think of it, that’d be a cool listicle. “20 types of articles that aren’t listicles…”
COVER BY SHANE ACHENBACH
2. Anger So what if this is a listicle?! Listicles are a perfectly legitimate medium! You know, the people who discount listicles are the same kinds of people who discounted young adult literature, or the recent renaissance of Justin Bieber. Don’t try to stifle me! All art is valuable, motherfuckers! 3. Bargaining I’m sorry I yelled. It was in the heat of the moment. None of you are motherfuckers. Here, what can I do to make it up to you? I’ll do the Chewbacca impression again! “RrrrrrrrrRRrRRr rRRRRrrrrRRRrrrr!” Jesus, how do you type a Chewbacca noise? Is it just R’s? Are there vowels? 4. Depression This sucks. I’m so sorry. This isn’t funny. My career at The Michigan Daily is over. I totally understand. This sucks. I’m so sorry. This isn’t funny. This sucks. This sucks. Forgive me. 5. Acceptance You know what, it is what it is. I’ve set out to write a humor column, and there’s some humor in this article. There are some good lines. Some people will probably chuckle. And soon the column will become so popular and beloved that people will look at this article and chuckle at their obliviousness to the quality humor that was to come. 6. Uhhh… Well, I guess I’ve run out of apology steam. I’ve completely forgiven myself. Laughter really is the best medicine, isn’t it? Ha! Haha! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
***
“An armed people are a free people. If our forefathers were not armed before the American Revolution we would all be speaking English today..” — Americans for Tax Reform President GROVER NORQUIST in a Twitter commentary of President Barack Obama’s executive order to strengthen gun control measures
T H E L I S T B U Z Z F E E D, B U T B E T T E R BEST DONALD TRUMP TWEETS FROM WINTER BREAK We’ve compiled our favorite @realDonaldTrump tweets from over break — just in case you missed the latest musings of everyone’s favorite moron presidential candidate. You’re Welcome.
1 C H R I S T I A N I T Y ? PAT R I OT I S M ? I D K
“I am now in Palm Beach, Florida, and will be going to church tonight. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
2CONQUERING THE MIDDLE E AST
“Iran, with all of the money and all else given to them by Obama, has wanted a way to take over Saudi Arabia & their oil. THEY JUST FOUND IT!”
3 B I L L C L I N TO N , D E G E N E R AT E
“Hillary Clinton lied last week when she said ISIS made a D.T. video. The video that ISIS made was about her husband being a degenerate.”
4 D E P O R TAT I O N , P OW E R E D B Y P O L I T I C S
“Does everyone see that the Democrats and President Obama are now, because of me, starting to deport people who are here illegally. Politics!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement 3C
THE Magazine Editor:
Photo Editor:
Karl Williams
Zoey Holmstrom
Deputy Editors:
Creative Director:
Nabeel Chollompat Victoria Noble Design Editor:
Emilie Farrugia Editor in Chief: Shoham Geva
statement Managing Editor: Laura Schinagle Copy Editors: Emily Campbell Alexis Nowicki Jose Rosales
Shane Achenbach
My Cultural Currency: A very blunderful Christmas B Y TA N YA M A D H A N I Had this column been due a few weeks before, you would’ve gotten 500 words of scathing analysis about the state of higher education and its effects on students, as well as an introspective anecdote about family, obligations and dreams. (Heavy, I know, but what can I say? It was finals week and I was under a lot of stress.) But that was all before my dad decided to book a family vacation to Cancun. The events that transpired during the Madhani family’s weeklong stay in southeastern Mexico reminded me why, as a rule, we avoid taking extended family vacations too often. It’s worth noting that this was our first weeklong international trip together since India in 2011. If you’re like me and at least barely passed math, you’ll realize that 2011 was four years ago, back when sequined Uggs were considered formal winter footwear. So, without further ado, I welcome you to what I’d like to call, “A Very Blunder-ful Madhani Christmas.” Most people take long breaks in tropical environments for one reason — relaxation. However, the first thing you should know about my family is that we, collectively, understand that no one at all — save my seven-year-old sister — will be calm, cool and collected at any point during said trip. My father, the breadwinner, funds and plans the entirety of all our vacations, so any dollar (or various other international currencies) being spent by us is bound to send him miniature panic attacks. My mother, with her neurotic — and I say this affectionately — nature, has an obsessive need to coordinate every outfit with a different pair of shoes/jewelry and make sure that everyone is having fun with a capital F. My brother, the definition of a Type B personality, aggravates my parents with his idleness and lack of overt enthusiasm that their aggravation, in turn, stresses him out. And I, with my incessant need to be left alone and do everything by myself, find the idea of a family vacation an obstacle to my leisure. The collision of these four very complex personalities always results in an inevitable crash and burn, but our trip to Cancun was a disaster from the beginning. Tragedy struck at baggage claim — we realized that our single checked bag was nowhere to be found. The night before our flight, my mother had carefully folded each of her outfits, selected her jewelry and shoes accordingly, and packed her new perfumes in the MIA bag. After being told by Delta personnel that the bag had, in fact, arrived at the Cancun airport, my family and I inspected each of the bags in every aisle before coming to the conclusion that someone else had picked it up from the airport and accidentally taken it home. My mother looked like she was about to burst into tears. I think she might have preferred a “Home Alone” scenario with any of her children over losing her brand new dress from J. Crew.
But she comforted herself with the fact that we would soon be headed to settle into our home for the week, what we thought would be a three-bedroom house (key word here being “thought”). Something must have gotten lost in translation, because the house was, in fact, an apartment with one bedroom that had three glorified couches, a bathroom with no door and — the mother loads — no air conditioning for 90 degree south-of-the-border weather. My father is livid at this point — remember, he pays for all of this stuff and once wrote a Starbucks customer complaint so stern that he received several free drink vouchers. He attempts to contact as many hotels as possible to find us other accommodations, but to no avail. We decide to crash there for the night, spend the next day exploring Chichen-Itza and then deliberate what our next move should be. One of the few things I’ve retained from one of my intro-level classes is that every good story has a fairy godmother who rescues the princess from her destitute conditions. Although we were far from destitute, really, just extremely uncomfortable in our small quarters, our angel came in the form of Hernando, the sales representative for Palace Resorts and Spas. After a chance encounter at his booth at Chichen-Itza, where he really took a liking to us, and a pizza dinner, Hernando convinced my family and I to visit a decadent resort called Moon Palace. Another thing you need to know about my family is that we are what my roommates Sharon and Tanvi would call a “scheme squad.” We will do literally anything to score free stuff, including sitting through a 90-minute presentation about timeshares we weren’t going to buy at a hotel we wouldn’t think of living at just for a free breakfast and 30 percent discount on theme park tickets. When the 90-minute presentation turned out to take almost five hours to get through, our planned beach day was effectively ruined. But, in the end, we emerged relatively unscathed when my dad struck a deal with the Moon Palace sales rep that allowed us to stay in one of their satellite hotels for the rest of our vacation. It was a torn-dress-to-glass-slippers moment, truly, but it wouldn’t last long. While this was the most miraculous thing to happen to us in Cancun, the vacation was determined to continue downhill. As I’m nearing 1,000 words in this column, I realize there’s no way I can do justice to what more there is to come. My father forgetting the tickets to the theme parks in the hotel and having to drive back in heavy rain, resulting in a fender bender, along with a black cat crossing our path on the way back to the hotel; my mother’s new starch-white handbag receiving its own seat on the flight back and possibly spotting one of my good friends’ dad at Moon Palace — these are some of the stories I still have left to tell. I’m not saying we need our own National Lampoon movie, but we probably need our own National Lampoon movie.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMILIE FARRUGIA
4C
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement
generation PS by Claire Bryan, Editorial Page Editor
the evolution of the personal statement Editor’s Note: The name of a student has been changed to protect the privacy of a source currently involved in the FlexMed admissions process, denoted with an asterisk. “Just about here, in the second paragraph, you write that when you got to college you decided to work harder for better grades.” My pointer finger was hovering over a piece of paper positioned on a table between Wyatt*, a student I met ten minutes ago, and myself. His paper was overcrowded with black, single-spaced text. Wyatt was writing his personal statement. Wyatt is a sophomore at the University of Michigan applying to a FlexMed program — an early application process for undergraduate sophomores looking to guarantee early acceptance to medical school — at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “You go on to show me how rewarding getting good grades has been for you, compared to the grades you got in high school, and you articulate pretty well that you are a driven student … which is good.” Wyatt’s writing was strong, but it seemed to be missing something: his writing needed to prove to admissions officers that this change in getting good grades is significant in his growth as a person. I can tell that, for Wyatt, this failure to get good grades in high school is somehow crucial, but the ‘somehow’ is not clear for the reader and maybe not for Wyatt too. I felt challenged with the task of figuring this out for Wyatt — talking to him just enough so that he eventually, through wonderings and mumblings with me, exposed why his change was so crucial. As a peer consultant at the University of Michigan’s Sweetland Center for Writing, I work for four hours every Sunday night in a small room in the basement of the Alice Lloyd Hall dorms where students bring their essays for workshopping. According to Sweetland’s Peer Writing Center System Statistics Report, this past fall 6.7% of students brought their personal statements for graduate programs, internship programs or job applications. Last fall 7.26% students brought personal statements. The fall semester before that 3.9% of students did. “What was the turning point?” I asked Wyatt. Wyatt’s head arches upward toward me;
his eyes don’t quite meet mine. “What made you decide that you were going to get better grades?” I clarified. “Was it really just looking at your high school transcript at the end of senior year, that was the turning point? Or was there something else, some other repercussion? What truly made you realize it was important to work harder?” Wyatt hesitated and then told me that if he was being honest, it was after he got rejected from so many colleges. He felt horrible. Quickly after, he noted doubtfully that he couldn’t write that in his personal statement. That would make him look like a failure to a FlexMed admissions board.
“The personal statement” is a very real noun in today’s dictionary. The page it’s on in that dictionary is fairly worn if you are a young adult. At the early age of seventeen we are asked to write a 500-word document for various college admissions boards. Many undergraduate students will write another personal statement when applying to a study abroad program, again when applying to an internship program, again when applying to graduate schools, and possibly many more times when applying to jobs as graduation creeps closer. In April 2014, The New York Times wrote, “Enrollment at American colleges is sliding, but competition for spots at top universities is more cutthroat and anxiety-inducing than ever.” U.S. News and World Report calls it a “right college” frenzy. The Atlantic says the myth of colleges becoming more selective is both true and untrue. Whether universities are becoming more selective or not (they are, technically, but there are still plenty of spots for students — just not plenty of spots at the top schools), there is a demanding emphasis placed on how to best get into college. The application process has been picked apart and formulized: 3.6 GPA plus 1950 SAT score plus five extracurricular activities plus a personal statement equals accepted or rejected. Despite the formulation of the college admissions process, the most human part of this entire process, and arguably the most important part, is the personal statement. So just like the GPA, the SAT and the extracurriculars, does the personal statement have a coefficient in front of it? Does it have an equation that if satisfied with the right values produces the right results?
In September 2015, University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts’s Newnan Advising Center piloted a small program that specifically advises students on their personal statements for medical, law and graduate school. The pilot program, headed by Academic Advisor Christopher Matthews, is a collaboration among several advisers: five writing consultants, plus Newnan’s pre-law advisers, who offer sessions for law schoolspecific applicants, and pre-health advisers, who do the same for med school applicants. A service somewhat resembling this was previously offered through the University’s Career Center. According to Kerin Borland, the director of the Career Center, the center decided last spring to stop offering their personal statement advising services. They saw students through the summer months but discontinued the service last September. Borland explained that the center’s intention in working with students on their personal statements was to talk about presentation and telling their story, but in reality they found themselves correcting students’ spelling, sentence structure and theses. It became less of a “career issue” and more of a “writing skills issue,” Borland said.
Design by Shane Achenbach
When asking Matthews, Pre-Health and General Academic Adivsor David Brawn and Pre-Law and General Academic Advisor Denise Guillot how they instruct students on their for-college personal statements, it’s clear not a single one of them is studying the personal statement as a curriculum. It’s because there isn’t a curriculum per-se. Instead, personal statement advisers at the Newnan Center follow a combination of their past experiences in the field, their past experiences working with personal statements and their interactions
with admissions officers. Guillot, one of two pre-law advisers, was e-mailing the Law School a series of questions about how to deal with students writing about sensitive issues like health problems or learning disabilities the Friday morning I went and spoke with her. “I try to get really specific feedback about how admissions people respond to that kind of deeply personal issue,” she said. “It is important for students to be able to talk about it. And to be able to talk about it in a way that is constructive is really important in the personal statement.” This type of communication is common. Guillot consistently invites representatives from law schools around the state to come talk to her and her students. Every year there are both national and regional pre-law adviser networks that host conferences where advisers and admissions officers meet. Both Guillot and Brawn sit in and watch admissions work. “They’ll be very explicit with us,” Brawn remembered. “Saying please tell your students that we need to hear these things: If we can’t see some sense of cultural humility, if we can’t see some genuine caring for the patients that they worked with, then we don’t care if they have a perfect MCAT and a 4.0, they aren’t getting into med school.” The words were rolling off Brawn’s tongue faster than I could write in my purple notebook. When he paused to take a breath, I jumped in, awkwardly. “But does it feel genuine? Is what those admissions officers are saying to you really what they are looking for when reading a personal statement?” I was thinking about Wyatt and the competitive FlexMed application process he is in. Do colleges expect more from the personal statement because they are really trying to find a connection with the student? Or are consultation services that strive to generate these perfectly crafted statements, maybe the very one I’m involved in, just players in this cutthroat admissions game? Are our efforts, of making a student find some connection with his growth and articulate that on page, worthy efforts? Brawn smiled a bit and sat up straighter in his chair. “I was surprised the first time I got to sit in on an admissions committee work,” he said. “The language that I saw was like communi-
ty, is she going to be happy here? What does he really know about medicine?” Brawn’s words painted a room for me: There are people who have various commitments sitting around a table. Someone’s there whose emphasis is research, someone’s there whose emphasis is diversity, someone’s there who is specifically trying to provide a different perspective. Sometimes there’s even a student on the committee. As a whole they are trying to put together a class that clicks. They want this person to join this community and have the people in the community better off because this student is in it. They see the profession as a community. So, they’re asking: Is this person going to carry the reputation of this school forward? Is this a person I want to work next to? Brawn’s picture made me think of the personal statement with so much more weight and importance. The personal statement process — when stripped of the commercialized, cutthroat culture of writing the best personal statement that so many high schools, websites and outside college counseling firms talk about — is the powerful gateway that determines if someone is going to be a doctor.
Sitting around the table of my high school’s “The Craft of NonFiction” class, we all had secrets. My classmates and I were exactly who Pollack was talking about, the generation who looked to the literary world of memoir to know how to write about ourselves. Our summer reading had been Dave Eggers’s memoir “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” our class discussion the week before was all about Joan Didion’s “Goodbye To All That,” an essay about her navigation as a young adult living in New York City. We weren’t anyone significant at the table if we didn’t have a story to share. In dangerously thick waters of comparing our tragedies with others’ tragedies, we wrote real writing that helped us grow as young adults. But at the end of the day we were cutting sentences, ideas, thoughts, reworking structure and adding shameless plugs of leadership characteristics not for ourselves, not to share with our peers, but for that “caffeinated wretch” who David has put in all of our minds. At the end of the day, we were exposing our vulnerability for potential gain in a college process. We were marketing our troubles as tangible, manageable and “overcome-able” to show colleges, to show our world around us, that we were good enough. But if those colleges didn’t like that, didn’t like everything we had overcome on paper, they could — and usually did — reject us.
For Guillot, the pre-law advisor, one of the most interesting parts of the job comes when she sits in front of students that don’t feel they have a story to tell. “I try to ask them to try to just talk to me. Sometimes when you think about the challenges of telling a story it is the process of writing that is stopping them.” They can tell a verbal story just like they
talk to their friends about something that happened to them or to family members,” she continued. “But somehow translating between verbal and written is hard for a lot of people. I will ask them to tell me about something they experienced while they were a college student that had an impact.” The hardest part of the job and one of the most fundamental truths when it comes to these personal statements is that there are appropriate topics and inappropriate topics. There are students who may mentally be going back in their memory many times to something but it may not be the proper thing to write about for a professional program. “You have to find positive ways to tell them it is not going to work,” Guillot said. “If you do a good job with the personal statement you position someone to see themselves in a new way, ideally with a greater understanding of their agency, a greater sense of where they want to go next and why.” Guillot shared that students aren’t always there, in terms of understanding or connection, when writing their personal statements. “If the student is not ready to see the connection between their experience and their skill, I don’t force it on them. I try to talk to them about it, I try to pull it out and ask probing questions, try to get them to see.” “If they don’t see it and it’s not genuine or sincere then that is not what their statement should be about,” Guillot’s eyes looked up. “And it is okay, they need to be who they are and their personal statement needs to reflect where they are at in life.”
The University of Michigan’s campus, along with every college campus, is filled with literary magazines and newspapers that print personal statements. A literary, more artistic version of what we are asked to do for college admissions boards. In high school I tried to weave my own story into 500 words. I wrote about a series of events:
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my siblings going away to college and leaving me, the youngest sibling, behind, my parents’ marriage fumbling apart and back together again, my move out of my childhood home. This was one way to put what was going on in my life into words. And though you could argue my writing was for an admissions board, marketed and packaged, couldn’t you say the same thing about the writing being published in these magazines and newspapers advertising the lives of our generation’s confessional writers? Via competitive admissions processes and literary magazines popularity, we seem to be asked and encouraged to expose ourselves a whole lot more than our parents’ generation ever was. I told Wyatt about my creative nonfiction class in high school where we wrote our personal statements. I asked him to think about how getting rejected from colleges made him learn something about himself. I waited for him to think, to dig deep and tell me some secret about his life. I was hoping, maybe more because of my own attraction to story telling, that he would give me something I could help him expose, market and package for an admissions board. Something he could write about, love the sound of, and know was a new, significant part of who he is. Read more online at michigandaily.com
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Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement
Personal Statement: The Reluctant Atheist
I
by Jacob Rich, Senior Arts Editor
’m not religious — but I like to pretend I am. Sometimes, when I’m alone, I like to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” or “What Dreams May Come” and believe, if only for a few hours, that someday my reality will suddenly melt away and an angel will come visit me and show me all the mistakes I could make, or maybe I’ll be hit by a car and I’ll wake up in a painting and soar around the sky with Robin Williams and I’ll meet everyone I love again. All my family and their friends and my ex-girlfriends and their boyfriends will be there and we’ll all love each other without anger or sadness or jealousy, because it will just work. We’ll all fuck and dance and eat and drink and watch the stars in the sky and feel the water on our toes. Maybe we’ll all look like we’re 21, or maybe we’ll look however we damn well please and we won’t have to worry about that anymore. Maybe we’ll be able to rewind time. Maybe all those forgotten memories, where I cuddled with a girl or danced in a puddle or put together a puzzle with my grandma, will all be back and clear as day. Maybe it’ll all make sense: why there’s something instead of nothing, why I, back down on Earth, got to listen to Rubber Soul and be stung by a bee and do pretendkarate and clean the dirt off of my kitchen floor. I mean, I deserve that, I think. I haven’t been the most charitable person and I haven’t always been the best friend to everyone, but I did all my schoolwork and I never killed anybody. Maybe when I’m clutching the sheets of that hospital bed at age 79 or twitching under those truck tires at age 23 I won’t feel any pain. Because maybe I’ll already have left my body, and maybe it’ll be like sliding down a waterslide but going up, up, up. Once, I read some article on VICE or somewhere about a group of people that made an atheist church. I
remember in the pictures the speakers smiled, and the congregation danced and laughed. One of the speakers talked about how happy he was just to be alive and how he was happier not buying into anyone’s doctrine. I wish I could be like those people. But I don’t think I can. I don’t think I could even be one of those smarmy “enlightened” atheists who people on Reddit like to make fun of. I think becoming an atheist was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
I didn’t decide to stop believing — it just happened. I can tell you exactly when it did: I was nearly passed out on the floor of my friend’s dorm room at Michigan State, high on dabs and drunk on Hams and Admiral Nelson, and something about the way the room swirled or my head throbbed or my stomach churned made me feel like I was there, I was inches from that eternal black void, that maybe I wasn’t that Young Adult novel protagonist after all, that maybe I was going to die right then and there, sprawled out in fucking East Lansing next to expired condoms and a DVD copy of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” For me, being an atheist isn’t fun or rewarding or enlightening in any way. It sucks. It’s definitely not “freeing,” like some people say. Sure, I guess I don’t have to wake up early on Sunday. I can masturbate without thinking about the moral implications of doing so. OK — not having to worry about Hell is pretty nice. But for the most part, not believing just feels claustrophobic. I’m in a mental prison of my own making, and I’m holding the key, but I just can’t fit it in the lock. It makes me hate the sack of bones and brains and fatty tissue in which my consciousness is stuck. As an atheist, all I can see are little asterisks everywhere. These things I’m experiencing, these conversations and sunsets and bugs and birds and burritos, they matter to me, but they don’t really matter. Not to the sun or the stars or the universe slowly dying a heat death. You can tell because of the asterisks, those black Ann Arbor crows that dot those sunsets, those little stains of piss on your underwear, that homeless guy, sitting in front of NYPD, who you might eventually give some of your PlayStation money. ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA If you’re reading this It’s not like I wanted to be a non-believer. I don’t want and you believe in something, hold onto that heaven or to think, like Brenda from “Six Feet Under” did, that reincarnation or subjective reality or whatever it is for as death is just “dreamless sleep forever and ever.” It’s not long as you can. Losing your religion is like losing everylike I wanted to picture myself rotting under the ground, thing. I would trade my doubt for your belief any day of maggots crawling from my arms and legs and my dick the week if I could. falling off. I don’t want my relatives who were slaughSo, believe. Believe as hard as you can. Trust me — I tered in the Holocaust to have just died . would if I could.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 // The Statement
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Personal Statement: I know all the word’s to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ by Amelia Zak, Daily Arts Writer
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igh school. For me, it wasn’t anything that I thought it was supposed to be. Wasn’t it supposed to be filled with rites of passage? At the very least there were supposed to be one or two moments of intense experience from which I could learn. There were supposed to be moments and experiences, times and transitions. I was supposed to fight and kiss and abuse and destroy and build and rebuild. I was supposed to start something — tangible or intangible. Right? I was supposed to leave high school in preparation for college or for the supposed “real world.” But, alas. I attended a private, Catholic all-girls school in Buffalo, New York. It has maintained the title of “Best Private School Education” in the area for over a decade. It’s competitive, and it’s tough. I kept good grades throughout high school, and I studied voraciously for the SAT and ACT. I would need them to get into a far, far away college, specifically New York University (this story does eventually stop being so incredibly cliché). I worked the soundboard for every school musical. I played piano in the orchestra. I was co-president of my school’s Mock Trial team. I spent most winter weekends memorizing fake affidavits or opening statements for the competitive trials. I played soccer for two years before being promptly cut from the team my junior year. I ran cross country and track for the remainder of high school. Both cross country and track wanted more participants, so I joined them. Of course, I was, stereotypically, very unathletic. My average week held incredible structure: I went to school, then I attended one of my various extracurricular activities. I arrived home in the family minivan around six or seven, ate dinner, did my homework and practiced the piano if I had time. My weekends were consumed by Mock Trial, cross country, homework and, luckily, friends. On the weekends, my six closest friends and I would meet at our favorite restaurant, Red Robin, order something Angus and then sneak out extra steak fries into the movie theater
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA
across the street. I remember being very frustrated. But it was a quiet frustration, one that rarely leaked out of my mind and one that I myself barely understood. I think it was just that I had read too many J.D. Salinger books, seen too many John Hughes movies and listened to far too much bad ’80s music. I would go on long drives in my little, white Honda Civic. I thought I was edging on artistic to drive with no destination. With my music blaring, I thought it was romantic of me to drive 45 minutes away to a popular hiking spot at the edge of Buffalo. I — ever so dramatically — felt as though, if I drove fast or far enough, I’d leave my suburban boredom behind. I was feeding the angst that was constantly probing my mind. The angst was the same as that self-deprecating mindset that told me my seemingly ordinary day-to-day life had to be better. I had strange expectations for myself that even I did not yet understand. I craved something creative. I wanted an artistic outlet of some sort. Fuck, I think I just wanted to feel something, or understand something that couldn’t be found between the pages of my AP American History textbook. So, all this confusion, frustration, anxiety, irritation and obsessive behavior had to materialize into something. It eventually did, my senior year, in a particularly strange form. This pent-up “I think I’m artistic or creative but I don’t know how to be or what that even means” feeling was released with the help of Detroit’s own number one white rapper, Eminem. I’m no Eminem aficionado. I mean, I support and respect his art. I do think he is a phenomenal rapper. His rhymes are clever, and his tone is usually so aggressive that it can be undeniably entertaining. Sometime in the summer leading up to my senior year of high school, I found the piano composition for Eminem’s biggest hit, “Lose Yourself,” on an online sheet music website. I downloaded it, learned the piece and its lyrics one lazy summer day, and let the knowledge rest in my mind palace. I’d play it upon my lit-
tle sister’s request or for the fun of it with friends. Music brings people together — even shitty raps. So, I don’t want any of that “what was your taste” judgment. We’re all on separate sonic journeys. And it took me a while to find good rap music. I performed Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” in my school’s talent show my senior year of high school. I told my sister and my six friends what I was doing, but on the signup sheet I simply wrote, “Mimi Zak performance.” I had to hide my piece from the teachers in charge of the event. Chalk full of expletives and ‘inappropriate’ content, “Lose Yourself” would never make it past their strict eyes. And so I kept it quiet. It wasn’t until 20 minutes before my performance, when one of the administrators finally asked me what I would be performing, that I was reprimanded. “You can’t perform that. Who told you that you could perform that piece? I can’t allow you to perform that piece.” But I didn’t listen. I knew there was not enough time for this one particularly vapid woman to stand between me and what I thought was going to be the greatest performance of the school talent show. I went on to perform the piece. I sang the chorus and rapped the rest. I played perfectly. Halfway through the performance, the microphone fell off the stand. And no one could hear what I was saying, but that was OK. I didn’t need them to hear about Eminem’s dark Detroit struggle. I think it was important to me that I actually just did it. At the time, I didn’t know why I performed “Lose Yourself” as a solo, acoustic performance at my private, all-girls Catholic school my senior year of high school. But when I retrospectively analyze my former situation, this was just part of my self-actualization process. My life could be different and artistic and romantic. I could be unordinary. Banality wasn’t my reality — it was just the demon that my self-doubts manifested themselves into. I just wish I picked a different song. Mimi, really, you could have picked any other song.
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2016 // The Statement
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Members of the children’s choir draw between scenes of “A Christmas Carol” put on by the St. Joseph First United Methodist Church in St. Joseph, MI.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
I’ve always loved watching the Detroit Red Wings, so I was ecstatic to add this new ornament to our family’s Christmas tree.
EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
Before I flew home, I watched the snow fall from my porch in Ann Arbor.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
I visited the St. Joseph Lighthouse in my hometown. Icy temperatures and waves caused a lot of ice buildup on the structure.
V I S UA L S TAT E M E N T:
FROM THE EDITORS Statement Photo Editor Zoey Holmstrom and Creative Director Emilie Farrugia share photos from their winter breaks in Michigan and Connecticut.
EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
My dog, Cody, naps in front of the fire in my home in Niantic, CT on Christmas Eve.