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ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Ann Arbor, Michigan

michigandaily.com

CAMPUS LIFE

In ‘U’ visit, Matisyahu to focus on unification SAMII STOLOFF/Daily

Shuji Shimokoji, former Ambassador of Japan, answers a question about American, Japanese and Chinese foreign policy at the 2016 Walk in U.S., Talk on Japan event at the School of Social Work on Tuesday.

Former Japan ambassador discusses global relations Event features panel discussion on international economics By TIMOTHY COHN Daily Staff Reporter

On Tuesday, the Center for Japanese Studies hosted a discussion with Shuji Shimokoji, the former Japanese ambassador

to Venezuela and Panama. The event, “Walk in the U.S., Talk on Japan,” was part of a national discussion series sponsored by the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan that aims to increase awareness about the relationship between the U.S. and Japan. The panel, attended by about 30 people, focused on the close economic ties between the United States and Japan as well as the importance of continued cooperation in the development of security policies.

Shimokoji was joined by a panel that included public sector officials such as Dr. Toshiyuki Miyawaki, a former Major General in the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, as well as individuals from the private sector, such as Hirokichi Nadachi, a prominent businessman in the Japanese automotive industry and Takaki Minamoto, a former investment banker for Morgan Stanley and current CEO of a Tokyo-based tourism agency. Saho Miyashita, a Japanese college student who has

Six months in, students remain unsure of Seto By RIYAH BASHA Daily Staff Reporter

It’s been a little more than six months since John Seto, the former police chief of Ann Arbor, took over as the University of Michigan’s housing security director — and some students still aren’t comfortable with his appointment. “Students should have input into that aspect of control in their life,” Rackham student Pete Haviland-Eduah, vice president of Students of Color of Rackham wrote in an e-mail interview. “As a person of color, I am concerned with his hiring because of what happened with Aura last year.” For many community organizers in Ann Arbor, time can often be marked as before Aura and after Aura. In November

2014, Aura Rosser, a 40 year-old Black woman, was fatally shot by Officer David Ried, a white Ann Arbor police officer, in what was determined to have been selfdefense The shooting, and subsequent decision to not indict Ried, sparked protests and petitions amid national outcry against police brutality that began with the August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The incident is still the motivation for many Black activists in the city; the Ann Arbor Alliance for Black Lives, initially Ann Arbor to Ferguson, was founded in the wake of Rosser’s death in November 2014. The key distinction in Ann Arbor, however, is that activism related to the shooting as largely remained restricted to organizations operating in Ann Arbor at large, rather than student groups on campus. Save for tweets by the Black Student Union and organizations partnering in solidarity, there didn’t seem to be many large-scale apparent effects See SETO, Page 3A

By ALYSSA BRANDON Daily News Editor

Reggae artist Matisyahu will touch on several themes relevant to current campus discourse in his April 4 at Hill Auditorium, themed around peace and unity. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Matisyahu said he began to conceptualize the theme of his campus tour of 12 universities after being implored to make an anti-Israel comment at a music festival last summer. Matisyahu said after he declined to make the comments, he was thrown off of the festival, which caused significant uproar both in and outside of Spain from his supporters and fans. Despite the controversy, he said he was invited to perform in Spain again, though Boycott, Divestment and

PE RFOR MING POETRY

PUBLIC SAFETY

University Housing security director was involved in Aura Rosser case

studied in the United States, also participated in the panel. In their opening addresses, each panelist spoke about their areas of expertise and how their experiences could help promote greater understanding of relations between Japan and the United States. Shimokoji highlighted the Japanese government’s economic policies, which he said are aimed at encouraging collaboration between the United States and See JAPAN, Page 3A

April concert part of nationwide tour spurred by BDS protests

Sanctions Movement protesters heckled him throughout the performance. BDS advocates for the end of United States public funding to Israel and boycotts institutions that financially support Israel, in protest of what they say is Israel’s ongoing restriction of Palestinian rights. “They wanted me to make a political statement basically denouncing Israel and promoting Palestine. They did it specifically because I’m Jewish and because they had gotten pressure from the BDS movement.” He said he initially felt angry toward the protesters and wanted to fight back against them, but as he continued performing throughout night, his anger turned to compassion. “I realized what these people, regardless what they think or what they’ve been taught or what they feel, they are right now susceptible to the sounds, to the actual waves that are coming forth and there was no escaping that,” he said. “I thought if I can somehow sing from a place and make music from See MATISYAHU, Page 3A

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Wolverines prepare for experienced Tulsa team Michigan opens NCAA tourney in First Four on Wednesday night By SIMON KAUFMAN

GREG GOSS/Daily

Ann Arbor resident J Kincaid performs one of her poems during ‘Skazat!’, a monthly poetry slam held at Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea on West Washington Street on Tuesday.

Student journalists focus of new bill against censorship State Sen. Rick Jones introduces legislation to decrease power of college administrators By TIMOTHY COHN Daily Staff Reporter

Last Tuesday, Michigan State Sen. Rick Jones (R–Grand Ledge) introduced Senate Bill 0848,

which aims to establish guidelines for how universities may or may not censor student publications and to provide protection for student journalists. The Student Free Press and Civics Readiness Act was co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R–Canton), Sen. Tom Casperson (R–Escanaba), and Sen. Steven Bieda (D–Warren). Jones, the primary sponsor of the bill, cited frequent cases of censorship of student journalists

at Michigan State University as the cause for introducing the Student Free Press and Civics Readiness Act. “I was approached by students from MSU who expressed concerns over censorship,” he said in an interview. “I want their constitutional rights to be observed.” Senate Bill 0848 includes provisions to prevent school officials from regulating content See CENSORSHIP, Page 3A

Daily Sports Editor

When the Michigan men’s basketball team tips off against Tulsa on Wednesday night in its First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, its two seniors — guards Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht — will be watching from the bench. Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, the Golden Hurricane (12-6 American Athletic Conference, 20-11 overall) will run out four seniors in their starting lineup. They’ll have five more on the bench. Their nine seniors are the most of any team in the country.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

VIRUS From Page 1A students, including many staff, and fellow students. We want to do everything we can to fully enact our community of caring.” CAPS is located on the 3rd floor of the Michigan Union, and is open to students from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. The urgent/crisis services are available 24/7 at 734-764-8312 (press 0). The website also directs students in need of immediate assistance to UM Psychiatric Emergency Services’ 24-hour helpline at 734-936-5900. CAPS further stresses that students in need of immediate assistance should call 911 or visit their local emergency room. Student leaders have also created the e-mail address studentsupport@umich.edu, which students can e-mail to access information about mental health.

MATISYAHU From Page 1A a place of compassion some kind of human place from within, whether it be about struggle or whatever it is, people can relate to that, and they can feel we’re all sort of connected in some way.” That experience of a BDS protest, he said, is what prompted him to focus on unity in the U.S. “I went back and I performed and I performed in front of a bunch of BDS boycotters with signs that said things like ‘Naziyahu’ and they were throwing stuff on stage and screaming at me and cursing at me and it was pretty intense,” he said. “So I have this direct involvement with interacting with the BDS and I got to see sort of how it resonates in people and I felt like the same things were happening in the states.” Rap artist Nadim Azzam will be also be a part of the April concert, which is sponsored by University of Michigan Hillel and planned by MUSIC Matters. It will be exclusively for faculty, students and staff, with attendees required to present valid Mcards in order to purchase tickets. Members of the MUSIC Matters executive board said Hillel contacted their organization in January with the opportunity to host Matisyahu’s Michigan tour stop. Business senior Jibran Ahmed, president of MUSIC Matters, said the group saw the concert as an opportunity to further their mission of uniting communities on campus. “We saw this as an opportunity to build community and to strengthen community and really, that’s what our organization is all about,” Ahmed said. “That’s why we put on SpringFest, that’s why we have the concerts, that’s why we have large-scale philanthropic efforts, in order to build community. This was just an incredible opportunity to work on.” According to a press release, both Matisyahu and Azzam hope through their performance, attendees are able to find mutual respect for each other and the acknowledgement of human similarities will be strengthened. Business junior Kaitlin Smith, MUSIC Matters communications chair, said she thinks Matisyahu has a reputation for holding performances in front of distinctively diverse audiences. “This is a theme for Matisyahu,” Smith said. “He has played at festivals that are known for being culturally and religiously diverse, so he’s kind of taken his message and is applying it to this U.S. college tour.” Matisyahu said this concert series is focused on getting attendees to reevaluate their views on current issues. “This concert series and these shows is really not about politics,” he said. “One of the main points that I’m trying to come at is it’s not about choosing sides, but it’s about being honest with yourself and trying to learn about all the different sides and trying to

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 — 3A connect to something human.” Further emphasizing that the concert will not take a political stance on any issue, he said it instead aims to promote peace and love through music. “You can talk about love, you can talk about politics, you can speak about right and wrong, but when it comes to art and to music, it bypasses all of it and resonates inside of you and makes you feel a certain way,” he said. Azzam echoed Matisyahu’s remarks in an interview with the Daily last week. Speaking specifically to conflicts in Israel and Palestine, Azzam said he hopes the concert helps attendees find connections with people of different cultural backgrounds. “In regards to the sociopolitical context of Palestine and Israel, things are much more complex and intense than a campus concert series can address,” Azzam said. “But before we can, as a society, reconcile differences in belief and opinion between Palestinians and Israelis, we have to first find common ground as human beings. And music is one powerful way to do that.” The concert’s theme has resonated deeply with some students at the University, such as LSA senior Daniel Pearlman. In an interview, Pearlman said he met Matisyahu at a performance at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor when he was a freshman, and was struck by his inviting demeanor. He added that he believes the symbolism of Jewish-American Matisyahu performing alongside Arab-American Azzam will have a significant impact on the University. “Both of their music really speaks volumes to me,” Pearlman said. “The message of peace and coexistence is inspiring and especially having a Jewish artist and a Palestinian artist perform together on campus and spreading the message of peace and coexistence can really speak volumes. I’m really excited for this concert.” Matisyahu said he hopes students who attend the concert are able to treat it as a learning experience. “I feel that when people come to see the show they may have an expectation of something, and I hope they are able to lose that expectation and jump into an unknown experience,” he said. “I hope they lose themselves in it and experience something greater than themselves, and I know music has the capacity to do that.” Ahmed said he believes the rich history of individuals who have performed or spoken at Hill Auditorium makes it the perfect venue for Matisyahu and Azzam’s performance. Many social activists and renowned musicians have come to Hill in past years. Most recently, Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, delivered the annual Martin Luther King Jr. keynote lecture at the auditorium in January. “There’s been so many amazing engaging speakers

at Hill Auditorium,” Ahmed said. “Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Hill Auditorium. I had the privilege to see Nelson Mandela’s grandson on the stage. Hill is such a historic venue that bringing Matisyahu and promoting dialogue on that stage is the perfect venue.” LSA junior Matt Fisher, MUSIC Matters fundraising chair, said a key focus of the event is to inspire further discussion about peace and unity at the University. Both Matisyahu and Azzam will hold events to interact with University community members the day of the concert. Organizations such as the Muslim Student Association and the Black Student Union have recently held forums and dialogues at the University to address topics such as Islamophobia and intersectionality within the Muslim community. The University is also in the middle of a campus-wide diversity initiative aimed at addressing issues regarding racial climate and inclusivity on campus. In March 2014 campus also grappled with divestment when a group of over 100 students, alumni and community members held a sitin in response to Central Student Government postponing a vote on whether the University should divest. In March 2015 CSG voted against divestment. “It’s all about community building and bringing together as many different communities on campus as possible, creating dialogue on campus and encouraging students to speak with each other in a peaceful way,” Fisher said. Ahmed added that MUSIC Matters has reached out to various organizations on campus and wants students of different identities to know they are welcome to attend the concert. “With reaching out to student groups, we want to stress that not only are all groups welcome, but are encouraged to come to the show,” Ahmed said. “We really think that the dialogue the show will create will be very valuable to every student on campus.” Aside from promoting unity at the University, Ahmed said the concert also serves as an extension of MUSIC Matters’ overall goal of inspiring the community through music. “The idea on Matisyahu’s end on our perspective is to show how powerful music can be,” Ahmed said. “Music creates these dialogues, music has the opportunity to build these communities, really to show music can be used to enact positive social change.” Tickets for the concert can be purchased for $5 at the Michigan Union Ticket Office with the presentation of a valid Mcard. Proceeds from the concert will go toward MUSIC Matters’ Big Thinker Scholarship, the first scholarship at the University to be completely endowed by students.

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, March 16, 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

CLAIRE BRYAN AND REGAN DETWILER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LAURA SCHINAGLE MANAGING EDITOR

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

We must share our stories

t had been a frantic morning, and there was no indication that my mind would be any less frenzied any time soon. After a three-hour class on North Campus, I had a window of roughly 35 minutes to walk from C.C. Little to my apartment across campus, switch my lofty art portfolio for my backpack, maybe grab a snack before heading out the door and walk back to Central to get MELISSA to my class at 1 p.m. An emptied coffee thermos SCHOLKE was firmly gripped in my right hand while my left was busy ensuring my portfolio — which is admittedly almost as long as my body — remained securely in its place as it hung from my shoulder. The abnormally strong wind manipulated the movement of both my portfolio and me as I neared the intersection for my street. Admittedly, I tend to tune out entirely by listening to my iPod whenever I’m walking somewhere. Yet, at this moment, calls from across the street drowned out my music, and I looked to see two men looking at me, trying to get my attention, laughing and obnoxiously calling out at me to come over to their side of the street. An all-too-familiar uneasiness set in. I stood there, waiting for the light to change and frustrated by the fact that the path to my apartment was going to lead me across the street and directly in front of them. I tried to ignore the situation until the signal changed. Donning a look of indifference, I tried to pass by quickly and continue on my way. One tried to ask me a question and, when I didn’t promptly respond, his companion expressed disappointment that I apparently “don’t talk.” I was swallowing every single word. No, I didn’t talk, because the potential consequences were too ambiguous, and years of experience taught me to remain quiet. I contained my frustration until I entered my apartment. My silence and flustered expression as I walked in immediately signaled to my roommate that something was bothering me. As I turned toward the living room, I shouted for a brief moment, startling my roommate. I explained my exasperation, and she understood and empathized. It wasn’t the first time either one of us had been cat-called, and that was the problem. This was far from the first time. My experience encountering street harassment began right before I started college, and since then, these moments of anxiety and insecurity have grown to be a common occurrence. Each instance of catcalling or street harassment that I encounter leaves me feeling self-conscious, confused and frustrated, and I imagine a similar scenario exists for a variety of women. I complained about the incident to a friend via text, and he suggested I had enough emotion and material to write an article about it. As much as I wanted to, I dismissed the idea, arguing that I’d written about this topic too much before. Like I said, this wasn’t the first time, and I was worried I’d start to sound redundant and unoriginal. A few weeks after I had brushed the suggestion aside, I traveled with another friend for Spring Break. As we were walking along the street toward the downtown area one night to grab dinner, a car honked multiple times as it passed by us. Then another car

ANNE TURPIN

full of guys yelled out at us as it drove by. I jumped slightly as the second car passed, but my friend remained calm and collected. The cars were then, of course, a subject of conversation for us while we walked back, but it was a short discussion. She and I were both annoyed by the situation and the guys’ demeaning behavior. But the matter-of-fact tone we both used caught my attention. We mentioned the incident briefly and moved on. It wasn’t novel or shocking to us. My friend had warned me that tended to happen to her each year she visited this particular town for Spring Break. Our complacent reactions began to bother me shortly afterward. Street harassment shouldn’t be so ingrained into a woman’s life that, to a certain degree, she just expects it, shrugging it off nonchalantly whenever it does occur. Why was I so worried about discussing the topic when it obviously wasn’t going to dissipate from society any time soon? According to a 2014 survey conducted by Stop Street Harassment, 65 percent of women report experiencing street harassment of some form. Additionally, 90 percent of the 811 respondents in an online 2008 study encountered street harassment by the age of 19. While cat-calling may often be associated with female victims, it’s certainly not an issue exclusive to women. Roughly 25 percent of men reported experiencing street harassment in the 2014 survey, and of these men, a larger percentage were members of the LGBTQ community. Those with marginalized identities are disproportionately harassed and scrutinized in public, whether for their gender, their race, their sexual orientation, their religion or their gender identity. For individuals who experience harassment on a regular basis, it’s not a joke. It’s certainly not a compliment. It’s a form of an intimidation and a not-so-subtle way of communicating that someone doesn’t deserve to feel comfortable and safe in the public sphere. There’s absolutely no reason why anyone should be subjected to objectification and intimidation when they’re merely trying to go about their day. I don’t care what a woman or a man may be wearing. (Though, taking my experience into account, I particularly can’t comprehend how anyone could claim my oversized sweater and messy ponytail were attempts to attract attention to myself.) I write this acknowledging that street harassment, or cat-calling, is a societal problem with no easy, immediate solution. My encounters with this issue began around the age of 18 and will most likely continue for many more years to come. For others from different races, religions and communities, their experiences may differ vastly in severity and frequency. Regardless, these experiences need to be recounted and retold as frequently as they occur. Over break, I read essays by Rebecca Solnit, and one section of her essay, “Pandora’s Box and the Volunteer Police Force,” stood out to me. She writes, “Saying that everything is fine or that it will never get any better are ways of going nowhere or of making it impossible to go anywhere.” When my friend first suggested I write about street harassment, I thought it was redundant and wouldn’t make anything better. However, it’s the insistent act of continually writing and making voices heard that leads to significant change. — Melissa Scholke can be reached at melikaye@umich.edu.

E-mail Anne at asturpin@umich.edu

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Legislating math

f all the concerning things in the world of politics, legislating math has to be one of the wildest things politicians could try to get away with. Most notoriously, a bill in Indiana penned back in 1897, later termed DAVID the “Indiana Pi HARRIS Bill,” was introduced to make a certain mathematical method of “squaring the circle” officially established by law. It’s no mistake that “squaring the circle” has become a euphemism for doing the impossible, because it is, in fact, impossible. For whatever reason, someone’s erroneous proof somehow made it into the legislature, and if it were to have passed, this bill would’ve had weird secondary consequences such as technically making the value of pi in the state of Indiana 3.2 by state law. Clearly, mathematical laws saw that’s impossible. It’s a ridiculous idea — math can’t be legislated, as it rests outside the domain of the law. Perhaps you could chalk that law up to just to its occurrence in the 19th century, but even today we see direct applications of mathematics attempted to be legislated, as state legislatures in California and New York have introduced bills that would ban encryption that is unbreakable to law enforcement in personal devices. Taking it a step further, United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron is on record as wishing to ban strong encryption entirely, which elicited responses from the technical community that stated Cameron very literally “had no idea what he was proposing.” Because at its core, encryption is simply a widely available application of mathematics, such that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales directly compared that a ban on encryption would be like banning a form of mathematics itself. Encrypted data is like some secret code, used to scramble messages or data in way such that it’s unable to be read by any unauthorized third party who does not have the decryption key. It’s publically available in many different forms, and when properly designed using things like large keyspaces and other cryptographic techniques, the code becomes extremely hard to crack even with millions of dollars of computer hardware. In the realm of technology, it’s used on individual devices to privatize data, usually to prevent access by a thief or other unauthorized party, but is also applied to communications and Internet traffic for everyday users to prevent others from snooping on their activity. In a nutshell, addresses starting with “https” encrypt the transmitted data, while those start-

ing with “http” are unsecured. It’s a major defense against tools that are used to commit crimes like identity theft, which the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates to affect 17.6 million Americans a year at a total cost of $15.4 billion. Along with a right to privacy, encryption has become the backbone of safely using devices on the Internet, but it’s this safe privacy that has caught the ire of law enforcement as it prevents them from accessing possible evidence from devices used by perpetrators. The debate between privacy advocates and law enforcement came to a head this past month when Apple published a customer letter announcing they would refuse to comply and fight a court order to weaken the security on their devices so officials could access a phone used by one of the suspects in the San Bernadino shooting case. The FBI argued it would be a one-time deal, while Apple in its customer letter said such an action would create dangerous standards that would undermine the security that pro-

“Encryption is what makes so much of using the Internet, computers and smartphones possible.”

tects all of its customers. While one should be sympathetic to the cause of investigators in these cases, Apple is right. Since October 2015, government authorities have also requested access to 12 other iPhones under the jurisdiction of the ancient All Writs Act of 1789. Despite their insistence on needing Apple’s help, 11 of these devices run older versions of Apple’s iOS software with existing public vulnerabilities that would allow investigators to extract the data. It presents the fact that the FBI and investigators aren’t just looking for the data: The FBI is looking for a precedent that would either weaken encryption or insert some “backdoor” into the encryption that would allow them access to any phone. On the surface, it seems OK: The authorities could only seize your phone with a warrant, and they’re the only ones who would be able to break the encryption. However, such an ideal is a great risk. It’s already incredibly difficult to write secure software, and writing it in a way such that only the “good guys” can break through the security is something that security experts say to be

somewhere in between impossible and an incredible risk. If there is to be a solution to this seeming tradeoff between rights to privacy and impedance of investigations, one that involves weakening the privacy of everyday consumers and putting them at risk of attack from nefarious citizens cannot be it. And bills that go to even greater extents, such as one being pushed in the United Kingdom that would force backdoors in both device and Internet encryption, would have devastating effects. Encryption is what makes so much of using the Internet, computers and smartphones possible. Weaken it and take it away and you’ve turned cyberspace into the wild west, hurting only the everyday citizens who rely on their technology every day. One of the few congressmen with a background in computer science, Rep. Ted Lieu (D–Cal.), introduced a federal bill that would stop states from instituting their own bans on the sale of encrypted devices. Such bans, despite valid public safety concerns that are the cause for their introduction, simply aren’t practical at all, as it’s impossible to stop the flow of technology through borders, even in places with strong laws against it like China does. The technical community, including behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Bill Gates and many other figures, has come out almost unanimously in support of Apple in this case. The Department of Justice, in a brief, even suggested that they could compel Apple to turn over their source code to the FBI, presenting a scenario where the government itself could write in the backdoors (like they’ve already been accused of doing in many other pieces of software through the National Security Agency). The fact that these tech companies could be forced to become puppets of the justice system to this extreme should be alarming, and the technical community sees that. For now, the courts have sided with Apple in a similar case, such that Apple will not have to introduce exploits in their system available for use by law enforcement. While many lawmakers and citizens will try to see nuance in the issue and say there must be some middle ground between privacy and law, there’s an unfortunate reality that in cases like these, when it comes to technical encryption, we’re faced with an all-or-nothing approach where introducing backdoors or weakening standards is not a viable solution. The cases are tragic, but using them as emotional catalysts to seize an opportunity to strengthen investigative positions in a way that harms the everyday interactions with technology is far more authoritarian than the situation warrants. — David Harris can be reached at daharr@umich.edu

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Kit Maher, Madeline Nowicki, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, Kevin Sweitzer, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler, Hunter Zhao

Race Across Michigan

n Saturday, 65 students, myself included, will grudgingly leave the warm confines of our beds, don running tights and various thermal layers and quickly pack a change of clothes before heading out into the cold. We’ll then meet, still slightly disDANNY oriented, at the Cube before 5 SACK a.m. to start the University of Michigan Running Club’s 8th annual Race Across Michigan. When I first entered the University in August of 2012, I knew I wanted to keep running. Through high school, running provided a tight-knit community of friends and a good way to vanquish the seemingly daunting decisions that high school students face. Though I loved the community, I wasn’t sure that I would continue running competitively in college. As a reliably mediocre runner who never entertained the idea of running at a Division III school, winning the slow heat at track meets didn’t feed such a fantasy. A sub-par coach through high school further fueled my dissolu-

tion. Through the fortune of never being injured himself, he expected that his athletes would remain injury-free, too. This expectation, in some respects, created an unnecessarily stressful experience for our whole team. During welcome week of my freshman year, though, another student piqued my interest in the Michigan Running Club, MRun for short. I dithered about first semester, attending some races and social events, but not really having my heart set on the club. At the beginning of my second semester, I heard about RAM. Every year, MRun runs 184 miles across the state of Michigan from Detroit to South Haven along Michigan Avenue in less than 24 hours. We run it as a relay, i.e. groups of runners run in 5 to 25 mile shifts. For the last five years, we have raised money for the Special Olympics of Washtenaw County. Though our event supports an exceptional organization, it interests me for another more important reason: It encapsulates the very ethos of MRun. In the 36 or so hours that we are together, crammed in University vehicles, we have a unique and otherwise unequalled opportunity to better MRun’s community. MRun includes DI talent to hobby joggers. We welcome students who want to

train for varsity tryouts, students who want to get a run in once or twice a week to stay in shape and everyone in between. While there is occasional tension between the opposite sides of this spectrum — how couldn’t there be? — each individual has quirks that make up the fabric of our club. Everyone has their unique place in our community. Our strength lies in our familiarity with each other and RAM is an essential building block of that familiarity. RAM was where I learned to unconditionally appreciate the imperfections of MRun. While we all have different goals in our training, and all want something different from the club, we come together for the entirety of RAM to work toward one goal: to safely traverse the state of Michigan as a team. Throughout RAM, each participant goes through differing levels of intense affection and distaste for each other. Though we are tired, both mentally and physically, and by 3 a.m. mostly just asleep, the fact that we manage to complete RAM is not only a testament to our individual endurance, but the power of shared resolve among what MRun truly is: a family. — Danny Sack can be reached at sackd@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts & Sports

MUSIC INTERVIEW

The rise of Alex G By AMELIA ZAK Daily Arts Writer

I have been writing about music for publications for over a year now, and here’s what I’ve learned: I shouldn’t call myself a music critic. It isn’t appropriate. Why? I do not have the knowledge to provide a reader with a full-bodied conclusion as to how they should receive a piece of musical art. I’m not being self-deprecating; I’m being honest. Critiquing music, in an accurate and educated fashion, is an art that started to die with the rise of the digital age. The inundation of artists and their respective musical projects filled digital page after digital page on Spotify, SoundCloud, BandCamp and the like. And, like with so many other things, this started to kill the music critics because now, for better or worse, the world’s ears are constantly occupied. So with so many comparisons to make and so many trends to follow, everyone with a keyboard became a critic. Niche blogs grew from all the digital holes in the wall. The power of so many voices eventually drowned out the power of a few truly knowledgable ones. There are those music critics who think they are on top of the allegorical ‘all.’ To them, I say: stop kidding yourself. There are those constantly trolling the music sites, listening and re-listening to albums and artists of similar or non-similar genres to find some new trend. To them, I say: stop trying so hard. I can critique these individuals because I am one of them. I’m trying to stay on top of it all, to no great avail. And I’m trying to find something out of nothing, to no great success. I wish I would stop, and I think the great Alex G would, too. Alex Giannascoli grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania. In high school, he studied the stylings of Radiohead and Modest Mouse, stole the CDs of his siblings and had a couple high school bands. He followed a route similar to so many up-and-coming artists — he followed what he felt. He treated the music as something precious, almost holy. “To me, I always considered music pretty sacred,” Alex said in a phone interview with The Michigan Daily. “I love it to the max. So it makes me feel pretty strongly when people focus on the shit that doesn’t matter.”

Alex G is one of the 21st century artists whose music grew into the digital age. His incredible guitarbased instrumentations and angsty, but preciously poetic, lyrics made it past the modern barriers of quantity over quality. In an arena of so many artists and their respective aspirational projects, Alex G rose up ever so slowly into the spheres of popular music discussion. He wasn’t one of the first, but rather one of the few, to rise to fame through the random, indecipherable avenues of the Internet. There is so much to be gained in that ascent, and so much to be lost. “The positives are pretty obvious: I gained this following without any promotion on my part,” Alex explained. “The downside is uh, I don’t know. I don’t like all of the coverage of the music. It sucks because that’s what helped me so much — all these different outlets covering my music, but now it seems like it is cheapening the music in some way. When they have so much shit going on, and when there are all these publications writing all these little bits — there is all this saturation. There isn’t a lot of mystery anymore, either. So much of the appeal for me is when I find an artist and the only thing I knew was their story, with what they were saying in their lyrics.” The art of defeating the barriers of the digital age has been mastered by Mr. Alex G, though he would never accept that praise. Alex knows the fight for authenticity, and the fight to stay as true to oneself as possible. Because he’s still unsure, too, if all this coverage is a good thing. “Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it will make artists more accountable,” he said. “I don’t know, I think we are starting to lose a lot.” And he’s right. There is no way of saying just yet, but there are grounds to wonder: what is going to be lost in the digital explosion? When everything is accessible, and when everyone has an opinion, are we gaining everything? We have to be losing something, right? Here’s the only way to combat it: focus on the music. Alex G’s early work was recorded in his college dorm room. With a basic understanding of music production via one’s computer, Alex nursed a couple tracks to indie rock perfection within the four walls of his room at Temple University. And then he put them on BandCamp. And that honest,

self-satisfying process continued as Alex rose to slow, intangible Internet fame. Those angsty swinging guitar sounds and unapologetically storyline lyrics about frustrated emotion, lost people and indescribable anxieties hit the web and played into the ears of those who still held a candle for the dying indie rock music world. “I guess it’s half and half, most of the time it stems from a real experience or something that I really have the urge to write about,” Alex said. “But I will morph a lot of them so that they aren’t direct attacks on someone that I know. It usually does come from something real. I do want to write something well, and if it isn’t real I don’t think that I can write it as well.” So Alex dropped out of college and became one of the indie world’s full-time saviors. Alex and his band released their most recent album, Beach Music, in October of last year. They’ve been touring the album ever since. And they aren’t worried about going anywhere too fast, and they aren’t too worried about pleasing anyone but themselves. “Yeah, I mean we are trying to incorporate some new stuff — we’ve got a keyboard now that the guitar player is fooling around with,” Alex confessed. “I don’t know, it’s going to be hard to make any drastic changes. Some people might say: oh yeah it’s all guitar music, but to me it sounds completely different. It’s different to me. But to some, it could be all the same. I guess it’s all the same, either mostly guitar-based or piano-based.” So stop overthinking it, everybody. Stop obsessively analyzing and just sit back and enjoy. Alex and his band want you to know that you don’t need to let the overwhelming nature of the Internet kill your joy. They’re pouring their hearts, personas and experiences into something that you can love or hate. They can give you something to hold a candle to, or they can give you something to scoff at and ignore. They don’t care what you think, but you’ll probably post about it on some blogger site anyway. You will paste your thoughts onto something, next to three million other unnoticed, unimportant and unvalidated opinions. Just like this one. Alex G will be performing at MO POP Music Festival this summer in Detroit, Mich. Tickets available at www.mopopfestival.com.

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

Unique ‘Gutenberg!’ By BAILEY KADIAN Daily Arts Writer

Two men. One musical. A lot of hats. And a lot of laughter. This weekend, Basement Arts presents: “Gutenberg! Gutenberg! The MusiThe Musical! cal!” Written by Studio One Scott Brown Walgreen and Anthony King, “Guten- Drama Center berg! The Fri. & Sat. 7 p.m. Musical!” first appeared & 11 p.m. as a 45 minutes one-act production, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York. Following that, it appeared in the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2005 and 2006. “Gutenberg!” tells the story of two playwrights, Bud and Doug, who perform a backer’s audition for their newest work — a musical about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. Bud and Doug perform every part in the show and sing every song, using hats to indicate who is switching from one role to the next. Their collective research into Gutenberg’s life is less than reliable, which makes the play within a play just as absurd as Bud and Doug’s characters outside of their play. The play serves as a parody of what you’d find in a “typical” musical — a big opening and closing number, an excess of drama, energy, dancing and of course, a song about almost anything imag-

inable. The show is structured around Bud and Doug’s commentary, or “annotation” sections, with transitions back into the play they are performing. The audience and their laughter adds a different rhythm to the script, which is already packed with humor. “It’s a technically sparse show, there are barely any lights, there is no set, just two tables of hats with different character names written on them and a piano,” Music, Theatre & Dance senior Graham Techler said, in an interview with the Michigan Daily. “It’s one of those shows that is theoretically not complicated, but is actually very complicated, as we have learned. But in a fun way, it’s a fun challenge.” The members of this production have been creating visions of the show for a while, and when the proposal was accepted, they were able to start putting ideas into fruition. “We started piecing together this weird production team, where Barry and I are acting in it, I’m co-directing it with Robert O’Brian, and Anna is assistant directing it, and is here all the time doing blocking and comedy stuff,” Techler said. Techler and Music, Theatre & Dance Barry Riggins, the Music Director, were familiar with the work, as they had heard from people that it was a piece that they should look into. Anna Garcia, the assistant director, came across “Gutenberg!” in a less conventional manner. “Graham and I were on a road

trip, and we were driving through graveyards in Virginia and to distract ourselves, Graham put on ‘Gutenberg,’ ” Garcia said. “I loved it so much. Once the proposal was accepted, I asked if I could come in and help.” Garcia is also an improviser and uses her experience to add comedic elements to the scenes, as well as adjust blocking. Riggins has worked as a music director before, he said, but never while also acting in the musical he is also directing. “This has been a very unique process, in that I’m on both sides of the table,” Riggins said. “My first love is performing and getting to do both has been very fun. This show is really just an absolute blast. It is a show that in satirizing musicals, it clearly comes from a place of deep love for them — as both Graham and I have.” Rather than a director staging a scene for actors, Techler and Riggins do both simultaneously. “It’s five or six people all collaborating on what is happening at the same time. It just works,” Techler said. “Things that would normally not be so good, if you were staging yourself in a musical, somehow become just right for this show.” Basement Arts offers the perfect platform for this sort of production, Riggins added. “ ‘Gutenberg’ is a perfect example of a Basement show because it is completely a passion project. It could never be done in a normal University setting,” he said. “The SMTD community, and I think everyone, will appreciate the type of things it is lampooning.”

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 — 5A

TV REVIEW

NETFLIX

Listen up fives, a 10 is speaking.

Lacking ‘Characters’ By SHIR AVINADAV Daily Arts Writer

“The Characters” is exactly what it sounds like: a seemingly never-ending string of wholly inconceivable characters brought to life C under outlandish circum- The stances. The Characters new sketch series highlights Season One the talent and Netflix edge of eight up-and-coming comedians by giving them free reign to write and perform whatever they want in 30 minutes. Each comedian acts out an array of characters confined to an episode, ranging from quirky individuals to exaggerated tropes. In one episode Lauren Lapkus (“Orange Is The New Black”) fluidly transitions from a pop diva searching for love on a “Bachelor”esque reality show to an insolent teenage boy clashing with his mom. Though the premise of the reality show frames the episode and makes for a humorous parody, Lapkus’s personification of the washed-out, overly made-up celebrity is quite hollow. Not only is her bright orange face (a cross between a certain presidential candidate and someone from the cast of “Jersey Shore”) distracting, but her performance is painful to watch. From the nasal giggles to the lines screeched out at the show’s con-

testants (all named Ben), I couldn’t wait for the episode to be over. Despite the reliance on heavy makeup and the hackneyed performance, Lapkus’s style marks the episode as distinctly hers. The type of characters enacted are thematically dramatized stereotypes of their real-life counterparts, and her use of detail — even in the blatant advertising spoof suggestive of the advertising used on reallife dating shows like “The Bachelor” — lend the episode cohesion and style. Otherwise, the series of sketches would be a jumbled mess of ideas haphazardly brought to life. Lapkus’s episode is one of the few containing this feeling of cohesion. With a single mind acting as the force behind each episode, you would expect there to be an inherent coherence. However, the opposite is often the case. Many of the episodes feel like their creators tried to do too much with the short time they were allotted. John Early’s (“Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp”) episode is not only difficult to follow, but his tense performance imparts the episode with a sense of chaos that renders his characters unconvincing. However, with eight different comedians given the the kind of freedom they have by Netflix, there are bound to be some that stand out more than others. Henry Zebrowski (“Dirty Grandpa”) is one of these, bringing a burst of energy following Early’s episode in his run in with an igno-

rant passerby at a food cart. After reprimanding an oblivious man who mistakes him for Jim Gaffigan by charging him for a signature, then throwing the money in the bewildered man’s face, he lectures him, saying “Wear better shoes before talking to a celebrity.” This small piece of arbitrary wisdom is emblematic of Zebrowski’s biting style. Moments like these highlight the individuality that marks each comedian’s writing and acting. Zebrowski’s superficial arrogance makes his shrewdly delivered lines even more hilarious, while Natasha Rothwell’s (Writer, “Saturday Night Live”) masterfully diverse slate of performances makes her a standout in the series. Though a breath of fresh air for Netflix’s comedy category, the series begs the question of whether a single comedic mind and presence can sustain an entire episode in the sketch format without losing the audience’s interest. In their efforts to personify the extreme characters they’ve written, the show’s comedic cast shed their inhibitions and infuse the series with panache. And though wellproduced, the show’s sketches lack the narrative cohesion desired in an eight-part series. It’s eccentric and it’s fresh, but it’s exactly “Saturday Night Live.” It’s a bunch of comedians given the chance to show what they’re made of, and though they’re having fun doing it, the audience isn’t guaranteed the same feeling.

Ways looks to make leap By KELLY HALL Daily Sports Editor

Michigan football’s passing game coordinator, Jedd Fisch, needs another receiver who can make 40 to 50 catches next year. He’s already expecting fifthyear senior wide receivers Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh to be closer to 75 catches apiece this season, but a third consistent threat would make the Wolverines that much more dangerous. And after seeing Chesson rack up a team-leading 764 yards and nine touchdowns this past fall, junior receiver Moe Ways is hoping he can have a similar breakout season in 2016 and become that third receiver. In 2015, Ways appeared in 11 games, making just three catches for 40 yards. He’s going to need to make a leap in order to get to that number of completions, but he doesn’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility after seeing Chesson’s season. “Honestly, for Jehu, it just all clicked,” Ways said. “After the Utah game, everything clicked for him. He just played with so much confidence. He knew he was the go-to guy, him and Amara, and he knew that when the game was on the line, like the Indiana game and the Minnesota game, it’s time to make plays.” Now, in his third season, Ways feels as if everything he has worked on is starting to fall into place. He goes to Darboh and Chesson for advice, getting in extra practice with them in the meantime, because they’ve been in his shoes before. After an offseason of practice and advice, he feels better prepared to take on a larger role. “(This spring feels) very different,” Ways said. “I know the offense a lot better. I’ve gotten better working on my weaknesses in the offseason. I’m more confident, playing confident. I know what I’m doing.”

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Moe Ways is hoping to mirror Jehu Chesson’s breakout campaign last season.

For Ways, the answer to getting those extra catches is simple: He needs to get to the right place and catch the ball without dropping it. In order to ensure he can capitalize on the opportunity when the ball comes to him, Ways put in a lot of handgrip and forearm work. Though he doesn’t think dropping the ball was a weakness of his, he wanted to get better, and according to Fisch, he did just that. “I’m not sure I can remember a drop so far in spring, ” Fisch said of Ways. “I think Moe Ways leads us with the least amount of drops, so (the wide receivers) have all come in and they’ve all done a nice job coming back and kind of letting us pick up where we left off.” Though the quarterbacks are still receiving even reps, the constant rotation hasn’t been a difficult adjustment for Ways or the other receivers. Ways admitted that sometimes he can’t even tell who’s playing quarterback when they quickly switch out — except

for when left-handed redshirt junior Shane Morris throws the ball, because it spins in the opposite direction. Freshman quarterback Brandon Peters, who graduated early from high school and enrolled this semester, has stood out to Ways, who conceded that he doesn’t look like a freshman at all. “(Peters’) arm strength is very good, his accuracy is very good, his knowledge of the game is very good,” Ways said. “His age is young, but the way he plays is not young at all.” Now that Ways is one of the older players on the field, he has a better grasp of the learning curve of college football. “It just comes with time,” Ways said. “Like I said, first year, you learn the offense and kind of struggle a little bit, by the second year you have a better grasp of it. As you get older, your football IQ grows and your body changes and you start making more plays.”

Arts

6A — Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

FILM REVIEW

Harvard prof. to talk U.S. eviction process By ERIKA SCHEVEK For the Daily

ANDANA FILMS

Those shorts are $500 Yeezy Season 2s.

‘Shebabs’ shines light on refugees Emotional honesty drives film set in Syrian camp By LAUREN WOOD Daily Arts Writer

Chronicling the day-to-day worries, laughter, struggles and friendship between a close group of friends Aliving in the Syrian Palestinian The refugee camp Shebabs of Yarmouk, “The Yarmouk Shebabs of Yarmouk” provides Andana Films a candid look into the life of a State Theater refugee. Completed in 2011, the film documents the camp as it was before the current rise in conflict in Syria, focusing not on the factual reasons behind the camp’s existence or how external conflicts affect it, but on how these conditions emotionally touch those growing up within the camp’s walls. To these young people, Yarmouk is both their beloved home and a symbol of their repression, something to be escaped from but also missed deeply, with these conflicting reactions reaching into every corner of their daily lives. The film is told in a mixture of

straightforward conversation and poetic cataloguing of the camp. In many instances, the camera is shaky, the audio distant and the lighting harsh. The friends, all part of a group they dubbed “Les Shebabs” as teenagers, sit around on cushions and mattresses, smoking and discussing their plans for getting passports to leave for European countries, current love affairs or music they are interested in. It is a strange mix of scripted dialogue and shaky cinematography — both things that would normally point toward a film’s failure. But here, in Yarmouk, this combination pulls its audience in without any false pretense. We are given a glimpse into the filmmaking process of these young people attempting to document their liminal lives, and the final product succeeds for it. This amateur honesty that roots the friends’ lives in reality is augmented through the film’s focus on dialogue as opposed to action. Rarely do we witness any active moments of the group’s lives; while they search for ways out of the country, fall in love, attend work and school, or complete their compulsory military service, the camera is markedly absent. Only later, while reconvening at the end of their days do we learn about what they have accomplished, and then, only through words instead of visuals. The direct focus on storytelling pulls the viewer in as one of

the group, being told frankly what the characters are feeling instead of experiencing it alongside them. There is no pretense that we could understand what they are going through or their emotions surrounding the place they know as home. We are invited to learn from them about their lives, but not to live with them in communion. Interspersed within this upfront structure of storytelling are dozens of shots of the camp as seen from the rooftops, windows and homes of the inhabitants. We never see the city from its streets, and again are asked to only observe, not to live this reality. But, it is in these moments that we are able to experience most closely the emotions fueling the Shebab’s desire to both leave this place behind and to treasure their home in the camp. The buildings are crumbling, rusted satellite dishes spring up from every rooftop, tattered sheets hang across the open windows. But in the lights of dawn and twilight, the landscape is transformed into one of melancholy beauty. By night, thousands of lights twinkle through the city of Damascus on the horizon. By morning, mountains are seen encroaching on the vast sky. We get the same shot of the city’s rooftops in every possible time of day, and through this we come to understand how this small, tired city can make up an entire world for its inhabitants.

Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

FOR RENT

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34 Trendy berry 35 Ky. neighbor 38 Postage-paid enc. 39 Gobs 40 Banana peel 43 Kristoff’s reindeer in “Frozen” 46 Sculpture or ballet 48 Brought forth 49 Run out 50 Corleone patriarch

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The New York Times said it was “an exhaustively researched, vividly realized and above all, unignorable book — after “Evicted,” it will no longer be possible to have a serious discussion about poverty without having a serious discussion about housing.” Desmond explained that most of these families were choosing whether to stock the fridge or pay the rent. It’s an issue that hasn’t been brought to the surface, but clearly needs to be, he said. “There is a massive amount of suffering in this rich land, and there are hundreds and thousands of questions that remain unanswered about poverty and inequality in America,” he added. He finished the interview with some advice to wannabe writers, journalists, social scientists, or really anybody who wants to make a difference: “They cannot be afraid to give a little bit of their life to it.” In other words, it will take extreme devotion and an eagerness to act in order to amend these issues in this country. “Evicted” vicariously exposes the reality of eviction and the importance of handling this hidden problem soon, before it is too late.

TV NOTEBOOK

Shonda Rhimes and normalizing diversity By DANIELLE YACOBSON Daily Arts Writer

Shonda Rhimes has made it. She rules over Thursday nights on ABC, gets shout outs during Emmy acceptance speeches and loves to use the term “vajayjay.” As the creator and writer of

Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Latte option 6 Difficult position 10 It’s cut and dried 13 Loud, as a crowd 14 African city where pounds are spent 15 Tree feller 16 Venue that keeps you up-to-date 18 __ Tin Tin 19 Hunk 20 Really bother 21 Bus terminal 23 “Beaches” actress Midler 25 Canadian stadium renamed Rogers Centre in 2005 27 Tropical cocktail whose color comes from curaçao liqueur 30 First name in game shows 31 Work-wk. start 32 Basic Latin conjugation word 36 “Got it, man?” 37 This puzzle’s theme, as suggested by the ends of 16-, 27-, 47- and 61Across 41 Big heart? 42 Ladies of Sp. 44 Chicago’s __ Center 45 Elena of the Supreme Court 47 Chaste priestess of ancient Rome 51 Record covers 54 “__ a stinker?”: Bugs Bunny 55 Upright, e.g. 56 Bow (out) 57 Disaster relief org. 60 Longtime football commentator Cross 61 Biblical wise man 65 Actress Charlotte 66 Where to learn une leçon 67 Practical joke 68 CIA forerunner 69 “Man, you are not serious!” 70 Rocker Patty married to John McEnroe

The couch where the family sat and watched movies. The dresser where many clothes were once folded, and the Matthew kitchen table where laughs Desmond: and memories ‘Evicted’ were shared. They are now Wed. 7 p.m. a mound on the Free sidewalk, like a pile of logs sit- Literati ting in a fireplace. This is a realistic slice of the eviction process; it’s more than just having furniture tossed out on the street. “Rent eats first,” said a Harvard University associate professor of social sciences, Matthew Desmond in a phone interview when describing his upcoming and raw book “Evicted.” Desmond will be reading sections of his recently published book Wednesday at Literati. The book follows eight unique families: two single mothers (Arleen, Vanetta) an 18 year-old (Crystal), a disabled, single father (Lamar), a small family with a newborn (Doreen), a drug-addicted nurse (Scott), a

grandmother (Lorraine) and a couple (Pam and Ned). Desmond discovers their struggle of facing eviction in the impoverished areas of Milwaukee. However, he dives into more than just the perspective of the families: he also peers into the viewpoints of the landlords, who make the ultimate decision whether or not an eviction occurs. Their behavior ranges from empathetic to utterly ruthless. These juxtaposed vantage points come across as shocking and harsh to the reader. Desmond said a desire to learn more about the issue was his main inspiration for the book. “America is a mess,” Desmond answered. “I wanted to understand it more, so I felt that eviction was a good frame to study. It allowed me to get new insights.” “Evicted” also has an authentic and rigid feel to it— Desmond himself lived beside these families and unraveled the cutthroat truth about not only poverty, but eviction specifically. “The hardest part was seeing this level of suffering in our city,” he said. “[Eviction] is not just a condition of poverty. It’s a cause of it. It’s making things worse.” Poverty seems to go untouched, meanwhile eviction seems to go completely unnoticed.

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“Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” and producer of “How To Get Away With Murder,” Rhimes has the attention of over 22.5 million people each week. Needless to say, she’s influential. But in the glamorous, exclusive and powerhungry world of Hollywood, influence is easily exploited, and just as easily lost. In “Year of Yes,” Rhimes’s self-help book detailing a transformative year of her life, she explores the intense pressure she felt as an African-American woman in a white man’s industry. Her experience has developed a unique perspective, which she showcases through her enthralling storytelling. She has a lesson to teach and a point to prove, so when she has the simultaneous attention of 22.5 million people, Rhimes unapologetically takes advantage of it. Her gift of storytelling has changed the landscape of modern television by depicting what the real world looks like on screen, featuring diverse casts and plot lines that break free from overused, monochromatic clichés. Rhimes calls herself, and others who have exceeded societal expectations set by their minority label, a F.O.D. – a First. Only. Different. The title comes with the weighty responsibility of representing an entire population, with the risk of projecting her failure onto others. “You can’t be raised black in America and not know,” she writes, describing the incredibly high stakes that accompanied her F.O.D.-ness when creating “Scandal,” the first network drama in 37 years to feature a Black leading lady. If “Scandal” failed, the network would have evidence against breaking their risk-free structure of a non-Black successful female protagonist, and arguably invalidate her own accomplishments as an AfricanAmerican showrunner with her previous hit series, “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Scandal” ’s success not only spurred discussion of race representation on television, but also gave Rhimes the opportunity to continue her mission to normalize what and who people see on the screen. One of the greatest obstacles that stands in the way of success is lack of opportunity. “How To Get Away With Murder” star Viola Davis said in her 2015 Emmy acceptance speech for

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Davis, the first African-American woman in history to win best drama actress, demonstrates just how significant opportunity is in reshaping the demographic of network television. Shonda Rhimes has been an instrumental force in Hollywood, not only by creating deep and complex roles for minorities, but by redefining what a strong woman, of any color, is capable of accomplishing. Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, “Django Unchained”) and Annalise Keating (Davis), her two leading ladies of color, prove that a Black actress should not be restricted to the role of a sassy sidekick when, instead, they can run the White House or kick ass in court still raw and reeling from a bullet to the gut. While many shows boast their cast’s diversity by featuring a “token gay character,” Rhimes’s explore the spectrum of human sexuality without using “gayness” as a marker of progressiveness. Instead, all three of her Thank God It’s Thursday hit series feature regular cast members that span a wide range of gender and sexual identities, and bring pressing issues in the media and popular culture to the forefront. For example, season 11 of “Grey’s Anatomy” chronicled the coming out and transition of a transgender character, humanizing the transgender awareness movement that swept social media platforms in 2015. In an interview with NPR, Rhimes spoke to her approach towards same-sex love scenes, saying even scenes created following an identical shot-forshot sequence as a heterosexual couple’s sex scenes were met with a heavy dose of censorship. This censorship she started was something she had to push past to show that, no matter the gender of the couples, a double standard should not exist. Through the art of storytelling, Rhimes is able to separate her fictional people from politics, prejudices and stereotypes. Her television worlds represent what reality actually looks like. Simply put, Shonda Rhimes is normalizing diversity.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 — 7A

2016 Softball Preview Managing the burden of expectations

The No. 2 Michigan softball team is no stranger to high expectations. With 18 Big Ten conference titles, 11 Women’s BETELHEM College ASHAME World Series appearances On Softball and a 2005 national championship to its name, the program has been a model of consistent success ever since head coach Carol Hutchins took over the reins in 1985. However, this season is a bit different. Despite a 60-8 campaign in 2015 in which the Wolverines captured both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, last year is remembered for something else. Falling to No. 1 Florida in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City remains the lasting memory of a season in which everything else seemed to go right. With the return of four AllAmericans — senior second baseman Sierra Romero, outfielders Kelly Christner and Sierra Lawrence and junior righthanded pitcher Megan Betsa — and all but one starter from last year’s lineup, the Wolverines entered the season ranked No. 2 and have remained firmly planted in that spot through the first month of this 2016 season. The only way for Michigan to improve, of course, is by winning the national title. However, the Wolverines refuse to buy into the championship or bust mindset, and frankly, they shouldn’t. “It’s a bust to everyone else,” Romero said. “To us, we trust our preparation, we trust the way that we’ve trained and we don’t

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Michigan hopes to improve on its national runner-up finish last season.

change anything. We’re starting over. Last year doesn’t matter.” For better or worse, what people love about sports is that anything can happen. A standout freshman can be trapped in a sophomore slump. A loaded team can be decimated by the injury bug. And a group accustomed to success can fall victim to complacency. On the other side of the coin, an under-the-radar player can make a surprise showing. A runof-the-mill team can go on a tear. And an underdog can overtake a seemingly superior opponent. None of these situations can be planned for in the preseason

rankings, or even midway through the year. Yet, any one of these circumstances could change the course of an entire season. Rankings seem to be awarded much significance, which is a bit puzzling given what they really are — attempts to combine past performances with personal predictions regarding player progression and future results. A valiant but often futile effort. For example, Michigan was ranked No. 8 at the start of the 2015 season, behind several SEC teams. But the Wolverines marched all the way to the World Series, beating many of them in

the process. By the same token, any number of factors could cause a regression from their No. 2 ranking. No psychic, metric or keyboard warrior can predict the outcome of a season — not in February, March, April, May or June. So much is conditional, so much up to fate. No matter the expectations, nobody knows what will happen until it happens. Nothing can be taken for granted. Nothing is a given, nothing is guaranteed. In truth, rankings are just numbers with someone else’s opinion attached. That’s the mentality Michigan has adopted this season given its high expectations because, to Hutchins, the only opinions that matter are the ones in her locker room. In her mind, rankings are meaningless. “This team has that burden of expectation that I frankly don’t have,” Hutchins said. “We don’t spend one minute on it. Nobody knows who was ranked second last year in the preseason, but clearly they were wrong.” Though the Wolverines may have all the pieces in place to make a strong postseason run, in reality, the season has just begun. There’s no telling how, when or where their season will end. “You don’t just go to the World Series, it’s not on our schedule card,” Hutchins said. “You have to earn it. Making it is a big deal. It’s hard to get there. ... How you respond to (challenges) is the key to success.” Only Michigan’s play on the field in every game will determine the Wolverines’ fate this season. For better or worse, it’s in their hands.

Michigan will rely on veteran lineup By AVI SHOLKOFF Daily Sports Writer

Veterans anchor the No. 2 Michigan softball team’s lineup from top to bottom. Eight of the nine players who regularly start for Carol Hutchins’ Michigan team also had prominent roles for last year’s Women’s College World Series squad. These veterans will lead the Wolverines into their first homestand and into the beginnings of the first part of their Big Ten schedule. The Daily looks at how Michigan stacks up position by position. Pitchers: Fifth-year senior right-hander Sara Driesenga and junior righthander Megan Betsa have stepped up to fill the void of two-time All-American Haylie Wagner, who graduated last season. Betsa, while erratic at times — she has walked 38 batters — has thrown a whopping 87 strikeouts in 55 innings, good for 11.1 strikeouts per seven innings, the third highest in the nation. After losing last season to injury, Driesenga leads the Wolverines in innings pitched this year and also has compiled a 10-0 record. Sophomore Tera Blanco gives the Wolverines a much-needed third starter and after a rough first start against Florida, she recovered to throw two complete games and now boasts a 2.33 ERA. Hutchins also may choose to utilize freshman right-hander Leah Crockett as both a starter and reliever as well. Her only appearance came in one inning against Virginia Tech. Catcher: Michigan starts freshman Alex Sobczak behind the plate, and she has performed well at bat thus far, hitting two home runs and driving in 13 runs, while striking out just four times, the secondfewest on the team. She will look to improve in the field, however, as she has six passed balls and two errors through her 19 games as catcher. She has caught only one of 16 runners attempting to steal, an area she’ll need to focus on going forward.

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Sophomore infielder Terra Blanco will see time both in the circle and at first base during the 2016 season.

Freshman Katie Alexander and sophomore utility player Aidan Falk will also see some time catching for the pitching staff. Falk has homered three times to begin the year and has added 14 RBI. She will look to cut down on her strikeouts, though, as she has 11, the second-most on the team. First base: Blanco starts at first base, as she did last year, in addition to her role in the circle. She has gone on a tear this season for the Wolverines, hitting .426 with 24 RBI, secondbest on the team in both categories. She slugs a fantastic .607 and has remained errorless in the field. Falk and freshman Faith Canfield have also received some playing time at the position. Second base: For the past three years, the Wolverines’ infield has been anchored by Sierra Romero, and this season is no exception. After spending her first two years at shortstop, Romero began a successful transition to second base last year and commands the position again. Romero is currently in the midst of a 14-game hitting streak and leads Michigan in every triple crown category.

Additionally, she leads the team in runs, slugging percentage and total bases. Shortstop: For her third straight year, junior Abby Ramirez will look to continue to start double plays in the infield. Thus far, she leads the Wolverines with five as well as 37 putouts. Offensively, Ramirez ranks third on the team in batting average with a solid .413 and has adjusted well to her new spot in the lineup as the number two hitter. Third base: Despite junior Lindsay Montemarano’s hitting struggles — her batting average is .153 — she still has a substantial hold on the third-base position. Earlyseason slumps have become commonplace for the junior, but her defense has remained consistent with a .944 fielding percentage. Canfield has also garnered time at the hot corner this year, and if she improves her hitting, she could see even more chances. Sophomore Amanda Vargas continues to impress at the plate, hitting two pinch-hit home runs, and she may see more

opportunities in the field. Outfield: Michigan is led by three top veteran outfielders, including two All-Americans in junior Kelly Christner and senior Sierra Lawrence. Rounding out the outfield is senior Kelsey Susalla, who also had a breakout performance last season. Along with Romero, Lawrence is the only other player to have started all four years. Lawrence had an on-base percentage of .625 and stole two bases last weekend, in a time when many Wolverines struggled at the plate. She continues to thrive in the leadoff spot, leading the team in stolen bases — stealing nine in nine attempts — and ranks fourth on the team in batting average. Susalla has maintained her previous season’s offensive prowess, hitting five home runs, good for second-best on the team. Christner, while still hitting a solid .324, has cooled off a bit from her superb All-American performance last year. She hopes her movement in the batting order from the third to the sixth spot will continue to improve her hitting.

Big Ten preview: 2016 season won’t be a two-horse race By TYLER COADY Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan softball dominance over the Big Ten is akin to that of the Romans over the Mediterranean under Augustus: It is long-lasting and filled with triumph. For 30 years, the Wolverines have dominated the Big Ten, claiming 18 conference championships and racking up 556 wins. While No. 2 Michigan (20-2) enters this conference season as the clear favorite to hoist the title in May, a more competitive season beckons as a bevy of new challengers aims to dethrone the Wolverines. No. 22 Minnesota and No. 23 Nebraska are the most formidable contenders to Michigan, as they both are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 and successful non-conference results this spring. Ohio State and Illinois are off to solid starts and both have received votes for the top-25 rankings this season. Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin also aim to make some noise as they all enter Big Ten play with winning records. If 2015 was a two-horse race between Michigan and Minnesota, 2016 promises a different story. The Daily broke down all the teams that should factor into the Big Ten race. No. 22 Minnesota (16-7) Having made last year’s NCAA Tournament regionals, the Golden Gophers were on the cusp of a Women’s College World Series berth, only to see it ruined by perennial powerhouse Arizona. Fast forward a year, and Minnesota is once again poised to challenge for a Big Ten championship and a World Series appearance. In non-conference play, the Golden Gophers went up against numerous top-25 opponents, earning several wins over the likes of No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 21 Arizona State but also falling twice to No. 10 Florida State and once to No. 8 Washington. When it comes to personnel, Minnesota relies heavily on right-hander Sara Groenewegen to keep them in games, eat up innings and provide a boost at the plate. Groenewegen has not lost her step in the circle so far this season, as she enters Big Ten play with an 11-3 record and 1.80 ERA. In the batter’s box, outfielder Kayla Wenner, infielder Sam Macken and infielder Danielle Parlich make up an imposing trio. They all hit over .300, with Wenner hitting a staggering .400. If the Golden Gophers are able to find a reliable second pitcher to back up Groenewegen and take advantage of a conference schedule that does not include Michigan, expect this team to make a run at the Big Ten title. No. 23 Nebraska (15-6) Cornhusker junior infielder MJ Knighten is putting up numbers that rival those of Michigan’s Sierra Romero. The California native is second in the nation with 12 home runs and is hitting an eye-popping .435. Her teammates aren’t far behind, as Nebraska boasts six other hitters who average over .300. Senior outfielder Kiki Stoves is hitting .403 with 19 runs scored and senior infielder Alicia Armstrong has knocked in 20 RBI. Couple this prolific lineup with a pitching rotation that consists of junior right-hander Cassie McClure (8-2, 2.51 ERA) and senior right-hander Emily Lockman (5-2, 2.82 ERA), and the Cornhuskers seem ready to take the next step from last year’s conference tournament runner-up into the Big Ten elite.

Ohio State (11-6) The Buckeyes played all over the country to start their 2016 campaign and came away with moderate success. A win over No. 21 Arizona State is the high mark of the Buckeyes’ season to date, while losses to No. 9 James Madison and No. 23 Nebraska keep them out of the top 25. Ohio State’s strength derives from the fearsome top half of its lineup. Alex Bayne, with her .364 batting average and six home runs, leads the way while Cammi Prantl is hitting .370 and Erika Leonard sits at .339. For the Buckeyes, a best-case scenario puts them in the upper echelon of the Big Ten, but a serious challenge to Michigan, Minnesota, and Nebraska at the top is unlikely due to an inconsistent pitching staff. Illinois (13-7) The Illini surprised many last season when they recovered from a 12-18 start to go 14-9 in the Big Ten and 26-27 overall. A weak schedule left Illinois with few quality opponents in the opening stages of 2016, but a win over No. 10 Florida State signaled its improvement. The Illini rely heavily on their lineup to score runs, as pitcher Jade Vecvanags is prone to walks and pitcher Breanna Wonderly to home runs. Luckily for Illinois, Kylie Johnson is hitting .389, Allie Bauch has knocked in 15 runs, and Nicole Evans and Carly Thomas have combined for eight home runs. Like Ohio State, the Illini are capable of posing a serious challenge to the Big Ten elite, but a more likely outcome places them fighting to be the best of the rest. Michigan State (14-10) Buoyed by the strong play of Lea Foerster (.451 average) and Celeste Wood (18 RBI), Michigan State seems to have erased the memory of last year’s disastrous season and looks primed to play a major part in this Big Ten campaign. So far, the Spartans lost to No. 21 Arizona State and No. 12 Georgia by slim margins and have yet to record a victory over a ranked opponent. Indiana (14-9) An arduous non-conference slate posed problems for the Hoosiers, who lost to No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 3 Auburn and No. 15 Kentucky. Despite problems against SEC opponents, Indiana played all of those teams close and took Auburn to extra innings. Indiana’s strength is in its arms, as Tara Trainer and Josie Wood make up a menacing duo and form the backbone of the Hoosiers’ hopes for a top-half Big Ten finish. Purdue (13-10) February and March brought the Boilermakers all over the country, with an inconsistent outcome to show for it. At times, Purdue played well, with a win over then-No. 25 Central Florida. But on other days, the Boilermakers were blown out, suffering a 11-1 loss to No. 18 Arizona. If Purdue aims to better its 11th-place finish of last season, the continued hot hitting of Kristen Hoppman and Katie Harrison is of the utmost importance. Wisconsin (12-11) Heading into Big Ten play last season, Wisconsin held a 16-14 record. But conference matchups proved unfruitful for the Badgers, who stumbled to a 5-17 Big Ten record. A similar start to this season gives the Badgers hope that things will be different, and with Kelsey Jenkins and Chloe Miller having combined for eight home runs and 42 RBI to date, Wisconsin’s hopes hinge on continued production from those two.

Sports

8A — Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sierra Romero’s lasting influence Michigan great’s legacy will carry far beyond her illustrious career

stares straight ahead. “Swing the bat.” The room remains silent for a couple seconds. Her teammates glance at her, and then break out into laughter. Sierra Romero is here, and you’ve just been introduced.

it, but I definitely remember going and watching the team,” Romero said. “My dad said that I told him that I wanted to play for

By ORION SANG

*** Fast forward to a Wednesday afternoon last month, and sophomore catcher Aidan Falk is sitting in the softball team’s administrative building talking about Romero. The No. 2 Michigan softball team has just finished conditioning, and Falk is still wearing her uniform. Asked about her first impressions of Romero, Falk grins and laughs before giving her answer — an answer that suggests Romero and Hutchins possess the same type of on-the-field presence. “I was intimidated — handsdown intimidated,” Falk recalls. “She has a very fierce look on her face when she plays, and I was like, ‘Oh, this girl is going to be terrifying.’ ” Just before Falk finishes, the door opens, and Romero herself walks in. She’s followed by a procession of several teammates, who file in and sit down next to Falk. Romero, though, heads to the side, out of view. As Falk talks about Romero, about her leadership, batting advice and the impromptu dance sessions the two occasionally hold during batting practice, the senior shortstop is within earshot. When Falk finishes talking, the attention turns to Romero. At first glance, it’s not clear what had Falk so intimidated. Romero is relatively small in stature, standing at 5-foot-5, and her facial expression is neutral. She is asked about her mindset going into the fourth at-bat of a recent game against Florida State, after she had struck out three consecutive times, and the room falls silent. Intentional or not, the intimidation Falk recalled is apparent now. The calm vibe of the room is gone, and Romero now

YA N

ail

***

It was apparent early on to Michael and Melissa Romero that their eldest daughter was mature for her age. Michael remembers being able to take Sierra as a baby to restaurants without worrying about her throwing a tantrum. He barely remembers her ever crying at all. “She, out of all of my children, was probably the least maintenance,” Michael said. “She just did her own thing. We got lucky with her.” During one of her dad’s baseball games, which she often attended growing up, Sierra was in the bleachers with her mom when her dad blasted a home run so far it landed on the freeway. “I remember looking at my mom (and) freaking out,” Romero said. “I didn’t know a ball could go so far. (After that), I would always fall asleep watching baseball on (my dad’s) back in the living room, so he put me in softball because he saw how much I liked it.” Though her dad’s baseballplaying days may have influenced Sierra to pick up softball, he believes her early skill developed from her love of the game — she simply wanted to be good so badly. “I was always at softball games,” Romero said. “(I was) always practicing and always wanted to play on the best travel ball team, so I was constantly on the go every weekend. Traveling up to Anaheim, Orange County, whether it was for training or practice, but it was pretty much sports all the time.” With that conviction, it wasn’t long before Romero and her parents started fielding requests from travel ball coaches who wanted Sierra to play on their teams. At just 8 years old, Romero embraced the tough competition, long drives and year-round schedule. She knew playing travel ball could eventually land her a college scholarship, and that was her next goal. Despite an admitted desire to coach her, Michael stuck to providing occasional off-field advice. He let his daughter learn from the tutelage of her coaches and peers as she gradually became a highly touted prospect. Then, when she was getting ready to enter high school, she had her big breakthrough. Romero was invited to a selective recruiting camp in California, and shortly thereafter, began receiving e-mails and letters from colleges. Throughout her recruitment, there was always one school that stood out among the rest, partly because of a childhood experience. When she was 8 years old, Romero attended her first college fastpitch softball game, a contest between San Diego State and Michigan. “I don’t remember a ton about

Sierra Romero still remembers the first time she saw Michigan coach Carol Hutchins get ejected. Early during her recruitment process, Romero, a high-schooler at the time, was watching the Wolverines in action during one of their early-season tournaments in California. Michigan, Romero recalled, was struggling and in need of a spark. And Hutchins provided it, arguing a call with an umpire and subsequently getting tossed. “I was so pumped when I saw her get kicked out,” Romero recalled. “I think she was purposely trying to do that because she wanted the team to get a little fire in them. Right after she got kicked out of the game, they scored a ton of runs and ended up winning.” Romero wasn’t put off by her future coach’s fiery display — in fact, she admired it. “I want a coach that’s going to fight for me,” she said.

***

Daily Sports Writer

that she wanted to make a verbal commitment during the trip, but Hutchins insisted she wait and think it over. So Romero took a couple days to let the euphoria simmer down, but her feelings for Michigan had not subsided. She told her parents, and then called Hutchins to deliver the news. The choice itself was easy; in fact, the hardest part of her commitment process was letting other coaches know that she had chosen Michigan and would be cancelling alreadyscheduled visits to their schools. Eight-year-old Sierra’s dream of playing for the Wolverines was coming true.

Michigan. And at that time I was so young that I didn’t even know I was going to be recruited, but he took me to all the games that we could go to with our schedule, and I remember going and watching Michigan play a lot.” It’s usually the head coach that’s always calling the soughtafter recruit, but Romero was so excited about Michigan that she couldn’t stop herself from constantly phoning Hutchins. Romero called every week on Friday, or every other week on Friday. She always wanted to talk to Hutchins, and it was always on a Friday night. “ ‘Aren’t you going out and hanging out with your friends or something?’ ” Romero recalls Hutchins saying. “I’d be like, ‘Maybe later,’ but I’d just want to stay at home and relax because I was usually tired from softball.” They talked about everything, and the two were really close before Romero even enrolled. She and her family then scheduled an unofficial visit, with one caveat: Sierra insisted that it take place during the infamous Michigan winter. “It was during a camp, so I was going to get to play softball and experience Michigan at its worst, because I had never really been in snow,” Romero said. “If I liked it, I knew I could definitely be there for four to five years.” The question of whether or not she could handle the weather was answered near the end of their visit: While her dad was trying to reach their car in a snowstorm, Sierra was busy throwing snowballs at him. She loved the visit so much

Of course, the expectations for Romero were sky high. By the time her high school career was over, she had risen to a lofty ranking as the No. 3 recruit in the nation, according to ESPN. After predominantly playing second base before coming to Michigan, Romero learned how to play shortstop at the collegiate level from her veteran teammates. She seized the starting job heading into spring practice before her freshman year. With her confidence at a high, Sierra’s collegiate career started with a bang. In her second game, she hit her first home run — a grand slam. It was a sign of things to come. As a freshman, she started all 64 games, led the team in each major batting statistic, set a Michigan single-season homerun record, earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors and was named a second-team All-American. Her second year would only be better, as she increased most of her batting statistics, received first team All-American honors and was once again the Big Ten Player of the Year. Defensively, she cut her errors to almost half of what they were as a freshman. And her junior season — last year — saw even fewer errors and an improved fielding percentage, while she continued to excel at the plate. The team also had the most success of her career, finishing as runner-up to Florida after a closely contested World Series. Now in the final stretch of her career, Romero is the type of mentor to her teammates that former players once were for her. She’s also gone from the intimidated to the intimidator.

“If you ever need someone to have your back, Sierra is who I go to.”

*** Like Falk, freshman infielder Faith Canfield remembers being

scared by the thought of playing with someone as good as Romero. It turned out that getting to know the second baseman — Romero switched to second base between her sophomore and junior years — was easier than she thought. “She’s just like everyone else,” Canfield said. “She is one of the hardestworking (players). She has come to all the freshmen — she’s there to pick us up, and is doing a good job teaching us the ropes. She’s just an amazing player to play with and definitely a huge role model.” Canfield said the moral support provided by Romero is especially comforting and shows what type of leader she is. “They threw me in at first (in) the last inning of a game, and I dropped the ball,” Canfield said. “I walked over (to second base) and did a frustrated sigh, and (Romero) goes, ‘What’s wrong?’ I was like, ‘Just should’ve caught that.’ She said, ‘We’re all going to mess up. Everything’s all right. Don’t stress yourself.’ ” And while Romero clearly has a large impact on her younger teammates, her fellow captains Kelly Christner and Olivia Richvalsky are evidence that Romero’s influence spreads beyond just the underclassmen. “You can go up to her if you need advice, softball-wise or anything else,” Christner said. “So I think just having that connection with her is good. “She’s very similar to Hutch. They both just have that presence. They’re kind of intimidating, but once you get to know them, they’re completely down to earth, easy to talk to, easy to go to for anything, very honest people.” Richvalsky, Romero’s roommate and close friend, feels a similar way. “If you ever need someone to have your back, Sierra is who I go to,” Richvalsky said. “She’s loyal and honest. I admire her ability to play through any type of struggles. Injuries, mental blocks, she prevails. That’s why I’ve always looked up to her, even being a peer.”

Her brother Michael plays baseball and idolizes his softballplaying sisters, especially Sierra. He says all the time that he wants to play baseball at Michigan because she went there. Michigan emerged with a 16-9 victory against Oklahoma, and when the two teams met for postgame handshakes, Sierra and Sydney embraced before continuing down the line.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be satisfied with the way that I lead.”

*** On Feb. 26, the Romero family gathered in Palm Springs, Calif., to watch Sierra take on her little sister, Sydney, and the Oklahoma Sooners in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The siblings, three years apart in age, briefly played together in recreational ball as youngsters and later shared Vista Murrieta High School’s infield for one year. But facing each other wasn’t difficult. “Of course, I wanted to win, and she wanted to win,” Sierra said. “But we were more excited to see each other.” In fact, part of the reason Sydney was wearing crimson and cream instead of maize and blue was because of Sierra’s advice. Sierra didn’t pressure Sydney to join her in Ann Arbor. “I know I love Michigan, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to,” Sierra said. “So I just told her, ‘You have to go where you’re going to be happy for four years, because I’m only going to be (at Michigan) for one.’ ” Sierra’s relationships with Sydney and her two other siblings have always been positive.

*** As Romero’s career comes to its close, Hutchins contemplates what her star player’s legacy will be. Though the coach mentions it will be hard to overlook Romero’s personal accomplishments, she believes how Romero will be remembered will depend on how she has affected those around her. “She’s a typical kid who is very consumed with her game,” Hutchins said. “She’s always been a good teammate, but learning how to be consumed with her teammates’ game, that’s something that I think she’s learned and really embraced.” Romero has similar thoughts to her coach. “I think a great player is somebody who can bring everyone else to their level,” she said. “A good player is a good player, and they’re going to continue to do well, but if you’re able to do well and also bring everyone else around you to that level and make them better, then that just puts you toward the top.” And though she has achieved most of her goals throughout life, from playing for the nation’s most prestigious travel ball team to earning a scholarship from Michigan, Romero thinks that she will never be done improving as a leader and influencing those around her. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be satisfied with the way that I lead,” she said. “There’s always something you can learn or do better at. I don’t think I’m ever going to stop fully learning how to be the best I can be.” She will finish as the school’s all-time leader in home runs, RBI, walks and runs, and barring an extended slump, as its all-time leader in batting and slugging percentage as well. But she doesn’t want that to be her legacy. She may even help complete the team’s run to a national championship, but she doesn’t want that to define her either. Maybe the legacy of Sierra Romero won’t show in her first game or in her last game, but rather in the way her leadership is carried on by her teammates in the seasons to come. Maybe it will show in the influence she has on her siblings and in the dreams of many young fans who clamor for autographs before and after games, all wanting to be the next No. 32. It seems odd that perhaps the greatest statistical hitter in team history will not be best known for her numbers. But, then again, maybe that’s the point.

Read the full feature online at MichiganDaily.com

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Senior second baseman Sierra Romero will leave as the greatest statistical hitter in Michigan softball history.

statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY | M ARCH 16 , 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 / The Statement

t h e s t at e m e n t

the tangent

EMILIE FARRUGIA/DAILY

Magazine Editor: Karl Williams

Photo Editor: Zoey Holmstrom

Managing Editor: Laura Schinagle

Deputy Editor: Nabeel Chollampat

Creative Director: Emilie Farrugia

Design Editor: Shane Achenbach

Editor in Chief: Shoham Geva

Copy Editors: Emily Campbell Alexis Nowicki Jose Rosales

Zooming In: On Really Listening THOUGHT BUBBLE: ONLINE CLASSES

BY L AR A MOEHLMAN

re you familiar with the feeling of talking to someone you know isn’t really listening? I imagine it draws strong resemblances to speaking to a robot: it nods, it provides answers, but it’s incapable of really hearing, or caring, about what you have to say. I find myself personally frustrated when, in the middle of a conversation, the person I’m talking to interrupts with a story about him or herself. Sadly, I’ve noticed this general tendency in my own behavior. Afterward, I think to myself: “Am I talking simply to counter with my own experiences, or am I genuinely interested in what this person has to share?” In a 2014 article written by Harvard Business Prof. James Heskett, several professionals suggest the art of listening is gradually facing extinction. One scholar offers that a generation constantly scrolling through its own Twitter and Instagram feed has inevitably lost interest in engaging with those outside its realm of interests and mutual friends. Society now creates virtual networks based on whom and what it wants to see — so why bother listening to everyone else? Others experts suggest that humans have struggled with the art of listening throughout history. It’s only more apparent now because the human population is significantly more interactive than it was 30 years ago. Have you ever wondered why teachers and professors encourage you to lower your hand when another person speaks? The logic is two-fold: first, it’s a sign of respect. But there’s also the fact that when your hand is raised, you’re no longer listening to what your fellow student is saying. Instead, you’re contemplating your own response. Haskett’s article discusses the Harvard Business School discussion leadership strategy, in which leaders are encouraged not to call on students whose hands have been raised for an extended period of time under the assumption that they have stopped listening to the present conversation and will therefore bring the topic back to what was said several minutes ago. Whether or not the millennial “Self(ie) generation,” is less capable of listening than older generations, we can all agree that our society has a serious listening deficiency. I’m bothered by this not only because being ignored

and feeling invisible is incredibly frustrating, but also because I don’t want to subconsciously isolate myself from the valuable stories, experiences and ideas of those around me simply because I’m naturally more interested in my own. I don’t just want to share my experiences with someone I know genuinely cares; I want to be the person who genuinely cares. I’ve recently begun catching myself from zoning out of conversations. I now hold back from liberally inserting personal anecdotes wherever they apply. I do this because I don’t want to live in the comfortable world I subconsciously construct for myself; the one in which I choose the people and news I interact with based on my own background and interests. When people are generous enough to share their personal thoughts and ideas with me, I want to be the kind of person who cares enough to listen and engage with what they have to say.

I think that one of the positive aspects of online class is that you can manage your time and have the opportunity to take classes that you wouldn’t have the possibility to take otherwise. I wasn’t enough motivated enough. I’ve realised that it has been due to the absence of human contact: going to the traditional classes motivate me more. I think that the relationship and the confrontation with classmates is really important and that cannot be replaced by any other approach. – Art and Design senior Elena Pockay

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 / The Statement

on the record: south by southwest “We are at a moment in history where technology, globalization, our economy is changing so fast. This gathering, South by Southwest, brings together people who are at the cutting edge of those changes. Those changes offer us enormous opportunities. — President BARACK OBAMA delivering the keynote address.

“South by Southwest’s growth mirrors Austin’s growth, which mirrors my own growth. I think it’s all kind of intertwined. I think to many Austin people feel that way, so I’m really proud of what they’ve accomplished.”

“You just kind of go down and fall into stuff. If you see a venue playing music, just walk in, because a lot of that stuff is free. Literally, every indie musician is down there. You never know who you will see.”

—Film director and Austin native RICHARD LINKLATER on the festival’s growth over the years.

—Music critic and Pitchfork contributor MARCUS MOORE on the ubiquity of musical talent at the festival.

A Filtered Life: My Jewish Identity BY R ACHEL PREMACK “What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.” -Franz Kafka, 1914, diary I have noticed that Jewish people at the University of Michigan call Jews, collectively, “The Tribe.” It sounds kind of to me like one of those secret societies at an Ivy League where you have to destroy a Rolex to enter. This is not the Jewish identity I am used to. I am used to one where I’m alone, sometimes lonely and sometimes not. But always by myself. It’s ninth-grade gym class, the first day of high school, I haven’t made any friends yet, and a bunch of boys behind me yell “Jew” at me as I

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA

walk alone. I’m a reporter on my school newspaper and my editor tells me to get to work and “stop playing with my dreidels.” Even on Birthright, I’m preparing to say the Shabbat prayers and I don’t know the right words or rhythm, and someone later tells me I’m not technically Jewish because my mom is not. I’m not part of The Tribe. I don’t know how to get in, and I’m not really sure I want to enter. Throughout high school, when people lobbed Holocaust jokes at my expense and told me to get a nose job, I dreamed of going to a school where I could have endless Jewish friends. We would bond over our unruly hair, love of smoked salmon and stingy fathers. A sort of millennia-long bonding, springing from our very shared

DNA, would make us an unbreakable group of brunette girls in North Face coats. It didn’t happen. I’ve felt disillusioned by the Jewish community on campus since day one. When the divestment movement started late in my sophomore year, I felt unable to agree with people who overwhelmingly believed that Jews are a stigmatized minority on campus. There are three buildings on Hill Street alone dedicated to Jewish students. Jews comprise 18 percent of the student population, according to Hillel, not to mention their prosperity nationwide. Yes, anti-Semitism still exists. But I can’t connect with people who truly believe that Jews face similar barriers as Black, Muslim, Asian or other people of color on campus and globally. I don’t have many Jewish friends. I can only find a few with the same values and interests as me. All of my friends have hooked up with and dated more Jewish boys than I have. I want to go to Hillel and be Jewish, but then I go, and I don’t recognize anyone, and they all recognize each other. My friends are Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Korean, just plain white or a mix of those things. By and large, though, they’re not Jewish. Sometimes I entertain them by making fun of Jews, and they’re not sure if they can laugh. I don’t know how this happened. My great-grandfather was beheaded for fighting against the Russian government’s policy to kill Jews. His son Leonard found his body. Leonard immigrated to America in his teens, and died in Los Angeles on Yom Kippur, the father of an Ivy League college professor and a newspaper editor. A long way from Russia. My grandfather eloped with a girl from China. My father married a Catholic girl who is still in denial that I’m going to raise my kids to be Jewish. Then it comes to me, in 2014. I’m walking down Hill Street in a crop top meeting my friends to get drunk. It’s Friday night. Shabbat. I see a girl about my age and her family walking to Chabad. She’s in a long skirt, her hair is as dark and unruly as mine. I’m dating a Catholic whose parents don’t know I’m Jewish. I barely know the Shabbat prayers. I eat bacon. But she’s probably the descendant of Jews chased out of Eastern Europe, like me. We have the same genes. But I’m on the other side of the street.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 // The Statement

CHALK TALK AND HYPERTEXT: TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM BY ELLIOTT RAINS, DAILY OPINION COLUMNIST

Every Monday and Wednesday at 1 p.m., room 1230 of the Undergraduate Science Building slowly fills with students. Around 1:05, Communication Prof. Paddy Scannell walks to the chalkboard at the front of the room and begins to write out his plan of attack. As white chalk hits green slate stone, his nearly 50 years of academic teachings present themselves to approximately 80 students that are still filing into room. Usually, the format of the writing reads as an outline, but sometimes diagrams of interconnected ideas or key figures commandeer a large portion of the board. When the writing stops, the professor takes a step back, looks over his work one final time and begins his lecture. Throughout the lecture, he will add points or diagrams that complement what is already there. In a world of hyper connection, PowerPoint presentations and iClickers, Scannell consciously selects only two technologies to engage with his students: his voice and the piece of chalk in his hand. It is the technology of talk and the technology of chalk brought together to educate the masses. Although it isn’t electrically powered or connected to the Internet, Scannell’s lecture is technologically considered. It is technological efficiency in its purest form. *** The nature of the average college classroom is radically different today than it was even five years ago. In almost every classroom on campus, professors have the ability to use a projector screen, a desktop computer, document cameras and sometimes even electronic whiteboards. Looking back at those professors are often hundreds of glowing Apple logos, illuminating the thousands of dollars in laptops brought to class each day by students. With an ever-expanding wireless network supported by the University of Michigan, both professors and students in modern higher education quite often mix class with the Internet interactions. Professors might spend some of their lecture showing a YouTube video or a Prezi presentation. Meanwhile, students might spend some of the same lecture taking notes on a Google Doc while simultaneously filling out an online survey to find out Photos by Zoey Holmstrom // Daily

which character from “The Walking Dead” they are most like. Outside the classroom, learning management systems like Canvas and CTools connect professors and students in ways that 1950s college students could never imagine. E-mail systems complement such learning management platforms and allow for formal and direct communication between academic citizens. Collectively, these in-classroom and online technologies have shifted the conversation in higher education from what a professor says to what technologies they use in the framework of their teaching. Barry Fishman, a professor in the School of Information and the School of Education, focuses much of his teaching on how technology plays a role in the collegiate classroom. Having developed (among many, many other projects) a gamified class format called GradeCraft, which mirrors the achievements one might experience in a video game rather than traditional grading scales, Fishman knows all about how technology influences higher education. His first experience with technology in education came when one of his undergraduate English classes was formatted entirely in hypertext, which is the underlying format for the World Wide Web. Rather than relying on the traditional English book, Fishman’s professor used hypertext pages as the backbone of his classroom. In this hypertext network, Fishman’s classmates created content that became interconnected in ways that were not possible in a hardcover novel. “It caused me to think about my own learning in a way that surprised me,” Fishman said. Since that time, Fishman has dedicated his teaching and research to the pursuit of implementing technologies into learning environments that enhance the educational opportunities for all those involved. His current venture, the aforementioned GradeCraft, has the ambition “to motivate students and allow them to feel in control of their own learning.” Rather than assigning

arbitrary percentages to assignments and allowing grade finalization to occur three weeks after a final exam, GradeCraft allows students to progressively gain points to reach different achievement levels. For example, a student who reaches 7,000 points out of the 12,000 possible points with 10 assignments valued at 700 points each might earn a “C” grade if they are to not advance any further. Reach 10,000 points and that student will earn an “A” in the class. These scores update progressively and are meant to visualize academic progression, simultaneously encouraging students to take risks without fear of failure and keep working for greater game (read: academic) achievement. By turning the class structure into a real-world video game, Fishman’s GradeCraft aims to incentivize learning and engage students in a new way. His work has even taken him to the White House, having co-authored the Obama administration’s 2010 U.S. National Educational Technology Plan. When compared to the nature of Paddy Scannell’s lectures in Room 1230, one might assume that Fishman and Scannell fundamentally disagree on how to teach. After all, Scannell uses a blackboard, chalk and his voice to teach his class, which is underpinned by a traditional grading scale and structure. Fishman bases his entire model of instruction around a concept that can be played using a controller on a highdef TV. If there ever were polarities in the classroom, one would be wise to assume these professors were north and south. However, at the core of each professor’s ideology lies the same fundamental goal: to help students gain knowledge that is actually worth making the effort to learn. “My philosophy of teaching is that the classroom experience should be some kind of human interaction between the teacher and the class,” said in discussing his class format. The nature of a large lecture hall of 80-some students necessitates a relationship where Scannell lectures and the students listen; such sacrifices must be made given student-teacher ratios at large universities. As far as his use of the blackboard and limited visible notes, Scannell said, “It’s not as if I’m making (my lecture) up from moment to moment, but I am talking it into existence.” The technology of talk facilitates this interaction and prevails in one of Scannell’s lectures. Rather than reading directly off a sheet of notes or a slide, Scannell’s vocal variance and sentence structure make each statement conversational, educated and, most importantly, humanistic. And what goes into those limited notes is a conscious choice by the seasoned professor. “I don’t like making (my lecture) too cut and dry at this point,” Scannell said. What he hopes to achieve in his teaching is not for students to copy definitions off a PowerPoint slide and get the “cut and dry” experience, but rather engage in a

conversation that sparks interest in the topic at hand, a sentiment Fishman, in a sense echoed. “Now that most facts can be looked up, anything you can answer with Google probably isn’t worth teaching,” Fishman said. The “cut and dry” information one might get off a PowerPoint is inevitably something one could also find with Google. What one cannot find on Google — and what might be worth taking the time to learn — is the conversation around topics, ideas, facts and history. “The teaching situation, ideally, is an interaction between the teacher and the students,” Scannell said. It is in such an interaction where the technologies of chalk and talk facilitate what Google cannot. Where a computer sits, waiting for input, Scannell engages on his own, guiding the conversation in such a way that only an expert human in his field could do. Furthermore, as a resident-expert on all types of teaching software, devices and inventions, Fishman insisted, “It’s not the technology; it’s what you do with it.” While some might complain that professors like Scannell should at least use PowerPoint, there is nothing inherently possessed in a PowerPoint slide that can teach a student what is worth knowing. Likewise, while Fishman’s gameful model of academic progression affords students the ability to engage with learning in a unique fashion, were it to be implemented in the same way a traditional grading scale might, the technological ideology of GameCraft would not help at all. Although technologies like Smart Boards, iClickers and tablets all generate the type of hype that would suggest each device is the singular invention that is going to “fix” education, Fishman says this is a myth. While each of these products, and the GameCraft program more conceptually, all allow for new experiences, the implementations of each idea is what matters. In contrast, Fishman said, products like iClickers don’t bring something novel. “It’s a failure of imagination,” he said. “When people use clickers for attendance, that’s not new; that’s ( just) a lot of infrastructure for attendance.” “But when people do something interesting like collaborative problem solving (using clickers), that makes them more interesting,” he added. For professors like Scannell, structuring his class to be most interesting and most adept at engaging students in order to facilitate learning might just consist of talking at a chalkboard for an hour and a half. Of course, for all professors, it quite often doesn’t matter how interesting or engaging they might make their course if the students they are attempting to connect with are engrossed in a Buzzfeed quiz or the most recent Twitter updates. Laptops and laptopbased notes facilitate more distraction than ever before, so maintaining focus and engaging with the learning process can become more difficult for students.

But nonetheless, all of this is to say that, at the aesthetic level, professors like Barry Fishman and Paddy Scannell seem to be operating in completely different universes when it comes to the technology when analyzed based on the ideology that underpins each professor’s views, we can see that technological devices or programs haven’t really changed the nature of education all that much. Where Fishman hopes to see change directly facilitated in the university setting is in the overall structure of higher education. The nature of degree progression, based on distribution requirements, credit hours and measuring knowledge by the number of classes a person takes might soon see the axe if technology advances as it has recently. “One of the exciting potentials in electronic teaching tools is they throw off a lot of data from the interactions,” Fishman said. “And, in theory, it could be used for very powerful means to help guide teaching or guide learning.” Rather than relying on arbitrary measures like the credit hour, such large data could generate alternative credentials that signify actual knowledge retention and application. Learning programs like ECoach at the University, which takes machine learning and applies it to artificial intelligence-based homework feedback, will hopefully use big data to enable in-classroom opportunities that educators dream of, as well. Of course, if improperly applied, even applications so advanced will serve little purpose beyond current measures.

Such is the nature of technology in the classroom. At the end of the day, the field of higher education is made up of human beings. And, in the eyes of human beings like Paddy Scannell, this human relationship will hopefully stick around for quite some time. “So long as there are classrooms and so long as students assemble in a learning situation with faculty, there’s room for good old talk,” he said *** It’s nearing 2:25 and Scannell is now finishing his good old talk for the day. As students begin to close their laptops, zip their book bags and pull out their smartphones, Scannell begins to erase the chalk off the green slate stone in front of him. Somewhere across campus, at quite possibly the same moment, a group of students is packing their bags and checking their phones as Fishman is finishing his class for the day. As Fishman logs off his laptop and unplugs it from the projector, his metaphorical chalkboard is wiped clean for the day, leaving the screen on which his lecture notes existed barren. At this moment, a professor who engages in the technology of talk and a professor who engages in the technology of games exist in symmetry. At this moment, and in many moments in the future, the nature of education will not be defined by a screen being on or a chalkboard being covered, but by the respective thought that each professor decided to stop on for the day and where they will continue with that thought when their class meets again.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 // The Statement

Fear and Self-Loathing in Santiago: A Dry Heave in the Sunshine by Adam DePollo, Daily Arts Writer

y journey to West Palm Beach, Fla. began with six hours aboard a passenger train riding out of Orlando. A sizable portion of the travel time was spent moving in reverse, much of the retrograde locomotion happening around a few miles of incredibly dry-looking, cow-dotted farmland outside of Jacksonville. When seen through my Amtrak car’s slightly yellowed windows, the whole place looked as though it could spontaneously combust with the slightest provocation. I was also reading Mark Z. Danielewski’s metatextual psychological horror novel “House of Leaves,” which includes sentences like this: “My point being, what if my attacks are entirely unrelated, attributable in fact to something entirely else, perhaps for instance just warning shocks brought on by my own crumbling biology, tiny flakes of unknown chemical origin already burning holes through the fabric of my mind, dismantling memories, undoing even the strongest powers of imagination and reason?” My point being that all of this had me feeling as though I would be disembarking into a sort of semitropical episode of “The Twilight Zone” as soon as the train rolled into the West Palm Beach station. I was a little nervous, I have to admit, because I wasn’t sure if I would be given Rod Serling’s part or William Shatner’s, or if I would be the lady sitting next to William Shatner on the plane, or if I might even be playing the Sasquatch-on-the-wing for some Floridian Shatner I would soon be meeting for the first time. The train pulled into the station and I dragged myself out of my head just long enough to shuffle over to the parking lot. I could hear the Manhattan Transfer’s “Twilight Zone” playing out of a car stereo — my ride was waiting for me. I climbed into the back of the bumblebee-colored Fiat 500L and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of excited snorts and a rather horrific chicken saladtinged fart. My grandfather’s French bulldogs Lionel and Lulu were sitting in the front seat, wiggling and staring back at me expectantly. They would be my more or less constant companions for the next 16 and a half days, and they were clearly looking forward to the idea. My grandfather was sitting in the passenger seat and his longtime girlfriend Lara drove the car out of the lot. The bulldogs are siblings. Lionel is all black, was born missing his right eye and has a head which seems slightly too big for his surprisingly muscular 25-pound frame. Lulu is fawn-colored, has an appropriately sized head for her equally muscular 23-pound frame and is the more restrained half of the duo. Lionel seems to have internalized my retired sportscaster grandfather’s love of sportsball, spending most of his days losing and getting a collection of tennis balls caught under various pieces of furniture. Lulu, on the other hand, has taken on her adoptive mother’s more relaxed demeanor, spending her leisure time lounging in sunny patches and occasionally joining her brother in a tug-of-war over fallen coconuts. Both dogs, I learned, have terrible gas and no regard whatsoever for where or when or into whose unaware face they unleash their odors. Driving from the station to my grandfather’s house in the suburbs outside of West Palm Beach, Lulu stood in Lara’s lap and stuck her head out of the driver’s side window while Lionel sat respectfully in my grand-

Illustration by Samuel Berlin

father’s lap on the passenger side. They asked how I felt about my upcoming study abroad program in Santiago, Chile and I described to them a short story I’m working on in which Mexican drug lord El Chapo’s otherwise pleasant meeting with the American actor Sean Penn is ruined by the fact that the sky is made out of the same silk fabric as his button-down shirt and his glass of Buchanan’s scotch whiskey is laughing at him. I didn’t want to seem too engaged with the world around me; I was planning on spending most of the trip interspersing lengthy pool-side naps with alternating bouts of frantic fiction-writing and equally frantic, thoroughly ruthless self-critique. Ideally, the occasions during which I would be expected to interface with reality would be kept to a minimum, leaving me free to stew in the self-effacing juices I had brought down from Michigan in my carry-on bag. For a few days, at least, my plan almost worked. Lara (a successful New York divorce attorney) flew back to Manhattan to do some lawyering. Meanwhile, my grandfather was happy to do crosswords in the kitchen while I marinated in a thick broth of David Foster Wallace, Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Bolaño and Saul Bellow out on the patio. The dogs, on the other hand, had no respect for creative genius. Lionel took a particularly sadistic pleasure in distracting me from distractedly flipping through the footnotes at the back of “Infinite Jest” by nudging his tennis ball into the pool and barking at it until I came over to fish it out for him. Lulu would

jump into my lap whenever she noticed I had been staring at the same page of “Herzog” for fifteen minutes, snorting into my face until she was thoroughly convinced that my writerly mojo had irretrievably dissipated. Both of them would somehow jam a coconut under the fence whenever I had finally managed to get into the groove with my doodle-making in the margins of a copy of “2666.” After three days of fishing tennis balls out of the pool, I had had enough. There was a heavy rainstorm that day and I demanded that my grandfather drive me a few miles down the semi-flooded road to a B-grade Starbucks, where I sat in a corner hunched over an iced latte and wrote this: The Writer smelled a Metaphor, so he took off his fake duckbill and picked up his notebook. He put his nose to the ground and crawled around on the patio, following the scent along the spaces between the paving stones. The gurgling of the pool focused his senses, and he was certain to check around the corner, just in case Jorge Luis Borges had followed him along the train tracks out of Orlando. Convinced he was alone, he began his search in earnest. The Pursuit of the Metaphor took him to parts of the backyard that it had never occurred to him to visit before, like the Underside of the Massive Concrete Planter northeast of the Patio Set, or the Roots of the Bird of Paradise Tree tearing up the foundation of the house just south of the Air Conditioning Unit. He passed a little brown bird whose name he didn’t know

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 // The Statement

just behind the Second Tallest Palm Tree on the Lot, and he found an angry chameleon nestled in the mulch between two tropical shrubs. He spent 10 minutes wondering at a strip of black burlap sticking inexplicably out of the middle of a mangrove tree, and then finally tripped over a fallen coconut and fell face first into a pile of dog shit, which he now realized had been the source of the smell all along. He stuck his head up and looked around for the Metaphor, hoping against hope that it wasn’t the shit on his face. His eyes ultimately settled on the only viable alternative in sight — two French bulldogs engaged in a battle of wills over the offending coconut lying at his feet. He began writing then and there, shit-faced as he was, hoping that he might be able to squeeze a story out of the Metaphor tussling with itself in front of him. It came out like this: What do I do with my Irony?, the Writer thought to himself. Do I give it to my Characters or do I keep it for myself ? Should I hang it on the Scenery like wallpaper, or tie it around a tree in the corner of the yard? Do I plaster it across a locked door like police tape, or do I hang it on the doorknob like a “Do Not Disturb” sign or, better yet, a necktie that lets everyone know I’m having sex in there? Maybe I should just let it out into the yard so it can entertain itself — I hate taking it for walks, and people always want to stop me and ask what breed it is. Is it Dramatic Irony?, they say. Or Situational Irony? Where did you get it from? Does your Irony have a pedigree? It won’t bite, will it? I bet you got it to pick up chicks, didn’t you? Doesn’t it have lots of health problems? I read an article the other day about how Irony is so inbred and disfigured it can hardly stand up, let alone play with other Literary Devices. Is that true? I hear it sinks if it falls in the pool, and you have to wipe its ass every time it takes a shit or else it gets infections — isn’t that a lot of work? It’s kind of cute I guess, but I don’t like the noises it makes. Don’t they keep you up at night? The truth is that I do not really like my Irony, the Writer thought, and its noises do keep me up at night. They’re really quite awful. If it were up to me I would poison it, shoot it three times, beat it across the face with a shoe and then dump it in a river tied up in a burlap sack. Irony is one of those types that shows up in the middle of the Apocalypse looking like a stray that might also be God. You take its advice on whether or not to give your son an aspirin, and the next thing you know it’s dictating foreign policy. The right thing to do is brutally murder it, drag the body out to a polytechnic university, then melt it down in a cauldron at 4:30 in the morning and be done with the thing. But I don’t have any friends at the polytechnic university, the Writer thought, so I’ll have to find something else to do with my Irony. Maybe I could pass it along to one of my relatives, like a fruitcake, or bring it to the Humane Society and let them euthanize it. Maybe if I threw enough money at it, it would leave me alone and buy itself a house somewhere far away — so far I wouldn’t be able to hear it snorting when I’m trying to fall asleep. I might be able to leave it at a convent, he thought, or convince a priest that it needs to be burned at the stake. But, God damn it, he thought, I just need to put it somewhere so I can get back to living my life! Read more at michigandaily.com

My Brother, Joseph

by Katie Penrod, Daily News Editor

he moment a baby takes its first steps is such a beautiful thing: the stumble, the arms reaching out, mom and dad smiling across the room, the “you can do it” and “just one more step.” I don’t remember my first steps, but I remember Joseph’s. My brother Joseph took his first steps like any other child. It was probably as normal as you can imagine. It included all the stumbling and hope and excitement that first steps normally do. Little did I know Joseph would only walk for 12 more years. When he was five, our world turned upside down. He’d been walking for four and a half. When he was six, I Googled the words “Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy” and finally understood the gravity of what was happening. I felt hopeless. When he was seven, the limping and slowness were evident when he couldn’t keep up with his friends. Eight, nine and ten: He struggled more and more. 11: He was using his scooter to keep up. 12: He couldn’t stand for more than one minute. He held on to the bathroom counter when he brushed his teeth. 13: He lost his ability to walk. Today: I’m sitting on a dining room chair pretending to work on an assignment. I’m home for the weekend, visiting my family. While it might seem like I’m typing the Spanish paper due Monday, in reality I’m gazing out at my brother, peering through the foggy glass window. I can see the visible difference between him and his seventh-grade friends. While they run, jump and shoot baskets, he sits in his scooter looking on longingly. The other boys have grown taller, stronger and faster. They’ve reached that point where athletic ability really starts to show. This time in boys’ lives sticks with me so clearly because when my brother Sam was this age, he was the fastest kid I knew. Joseph, however, has been unable to move like his friends for a while now. His athletic ability is reduced to essentially throwing a ball from a sitting position while his friends play the Joe-Joe version of whatever the sport of the day is. This stark difference between my brother and his peers breaks my heart. His friends are so good to him, though: They accommodate him when they play baseball in the sweltering heat of our cul-de-sac or come get my mom when he has to come inside to the bathroom. But it doesn’t change one simple fact: Joseph can’t walk. Joseph can’t walk. Those words really hit me whenever I write them or say them out loud. The unfairness of that statement is not even something I can begin to unpack. Although Joseph can’t walk, and it pains me to accept that, he can hug me. I hug him every chance I get, because I know one day, those beautiful, perfect arms won’t be able to wrap tightly around me anymore. Hugs are luckily one of Joseph’s favorite things, so I get them whenever I ask. People always ask me or my family what it’s like to live with this, but it’s hard to explain to people who haven’t experienced this situation the pain of watching the person you grew up with struggle so much.

The bond between siblings is unexplainable and so is the relationship I’ve been lucky enough to have with my brothers. So after growing up building forts and sandcastles, pestering our parents and having each other’s backs, Joseph’s sickness feels so heavy. I couldn’t tell you how he approaches it with such strength, but I know my spirit feels meek in comparison to the resilience he displays as he smiles up at me when I carry him to his wheelchair, help him off the couch and lift him when he lies down and can’t get back up. I feel defeated when I think of his heart giving out, his lungs ceasing to breathe. I feel so angry when I think of the trivial complaints I make every day that can’t even begin to compare to the prognosis he’s been given. I think about the cards my family has been dealt every day. It’s funny to look back at my 20 years of life now because I could tell you exactly where the split is between my life before Duchenne and my life after. A lot of things fell apart and changed between these two very distinct time periods. I can remember as a child planting vegetables in the backyard with my dad, or singing along to Bob Seger with my brother Sam. These memories are like blurs of color and youth. They are joyful, but distant. After the diagnosis, my memories are different— clearer, sharper. These new memories include more pain. They include tears and more self-doubt. They also include happier times; just in this half of my life, there’s also something else hovering over the Christmas mornings and the movie nights. It’s like this dark cloud kind of just sitting there, waiting for the right moment, when you’ve forgotten about it, to tell you that things will never be completely OK again. But, in spite of all of this, in spite of the pain, the tears and the fear of the future, I know Joseph is a gift to me. I know what a privilege and responsibility I have because I was given not one, but two younger brothers to care for and love. I know how much Joseph loves me when we’re FaceTiming and he asks “Katie, when are you coming home?” I know how hard my parents work to create a life for us that is full of experiences and joy. And finally, I know that no matter how much I think the statement “everything happens for a reason” is absolute bullshit, Joseph — not his disease — is here for a purpose. Joseph is here because he knows how to make my mom, my cousins and I laugh until we cry with his selfie-stick poses at Christmas. Joseph is here because he is such a good friend to the neighbors who knock on the door at godforsaken hours of the morning asking if he’s ready to play. Joseph is here because he shamelessly orders a full slab of ribs at any restaurant they’re available when we all know he won’t finish it. Joseph is here because he’s the funniest 13-year-old you’ll ever meet and his rendition of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song is strikingly accurate. Joseph is here because he defines who he is as a person, even though Duchenne tries so hard to. Joseph is here because although he can’t walk or run, his spirit makes him seem like he can fly. And Joseph is here because he is a representation of strength that I will never comprehend. Joseph is here because he has taught me how to be brave, and for that, I will always be grateful.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 // The Statement

LSA junior Sydney Farrington eats an ice cream cone in Siesta Key, Florida.

Kinesiology sophomore Zainab Rasheed holds on to chicken wire while it is stapled to a chicken coop structure at the Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children in Killeen, Texas.

EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily The top of the Capitol Records building provides stunning, panoramic views of Los Angeles.

This installation at The Broad in Los Angeles, California, just begs you to whip out your phone. Called the Infinity Mirrored Room, this piece by Yayoi Kusama is an enclosed room lined with mirrors and LED lights made to create a seemingly endless pattern

GRANT HARDY/Daily

V I S UA L S TAT E M E N T: SPRING BREAK Members of photo staff traveled across the country for spring break. Here are some of the moments they captured on their respective trips.

MAZIE HYAMS/ Daily

ZACH MOORE/Daily

Sunset at the Huntington Beach pier in Huntington Beach, California.

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily Nora, a Mediterranean miniature donkey, stands in a field at the Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children in Killeen, Texas.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Members of the Ann Arbor Alliance for Black Lives lead a walk in the memory of Aura Rosser from the League to the pedestrian bridge over Washtenaw Ave on January 20, 2016.

GRANT HARDY/ Daily