ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Matisyahu performs at Hill Auditorium Monday.
Matisayhu, Nadim Azzam perform at Hill Auditorium Students say Music Matters concert falls short of propeace message By LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporter
Jewish-American reggae and alternative rock artist Matisyahu joined Ann Arbor native Nadim Azzam,
a Palestinian-American performer, for a concert intended to promote peace and unity at the University of Michigan Monday night. Following the event, many students said they were impressed by both Azzam and Matisyahu’s presence and musicality. However, several also noted a lack of content explicitly engaging with the theme of unity. The stop was part of a nationwide college tour for Matisyahu, who is
known for his political and social activism, with the selfprofessed aim of promoting peace. The concert, hosted by the University’s Hillel and the student organization MUSIC Matters, drew a crowd of roughly 500 students to Hill Auditorium. In a March interview with The Michigan Daily, Matisyahu said he conceived the college tour idea after he was asked to make anti-Israel comments at
a music festival in Spain last summer. After he refused, he said he was kicked out of the festival before being invited back to Spain to play another concert amid the controversy. He then played despite protests from Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement protesters throughout his performance. “This concert series and these shows is really not about politics,” he said in March. See MATISYAHU, Page 3
Average of 80 individuals relocated to Washtenaw County annually By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
Editor’s note: The name of a refugee in this story has been changed because of potential implications on his family or future refugees, denoted with a star. For over half his life, Hassan* has been without a country to call home. As a small boy, he f led from Somalia in 1992 amid a civil war, arriving in Kenya alongside hundreds of thousands of other Somali refugees. Now, Hassan, his wife, and his four children — the oldest six years old, the youngest one year old— are starting their life again in Washtenaw County. About 80 refugees per year
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Cull activists call for resignation of councilmember Opposition group says Lumm’s e-mails show bias on deer management plan By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
Opponents of the Ann Arbor deer cull accused the body of unethical behavior prior to the cull’s approval in 2015, calling for the resignation of Councilmember Jane Lumm (I– Ward 2) at Monday’s City Council meeting. Local residents opposed to the city’s deer management program — a long-termpolarizing issue that concluded its first iteration in early March — accused Lumm of having an unethically close relationship with deer cull advocates from 2014 to 2015. The activists, led by Ann Arbor resident Sabra Sanzotta, said Lumm has an undisclosed relationship with the pro-cull advocacy group Washtenaw Citizens for Ecological Balance. Sanzotta and other activists cited several of Lumm’s e-mails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, as a basis for their argument. Similar charges were leveled against Lumm and WC4EB in January from a different set of e-mails. Ann Arbor resident Jennifer Robertson cited those e-mails to claim Lumm had forwarded city documents to WC4EB before they were made public, and that WC4EB provided personal information on public
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opponents to the cull through 2014 and 2015. “We are being poisoned by toxic cronyism and the indifference of our elected officials,” Robertson said at Monday’s meeting, calling on Lumm to resign. In response to the charge, multiple council members and Mayor Christopher Taylor (D) came to Lumm’s defense, drawing angry responses from many residents in attendance and causing Taylor to call the chamber to order multiple times. Taylor specifically noted that though he was the only individual to vote against the cull and often disagrees with Lumm, he did not believe any of her actions were unethical. “I’ve endorsed opponents of (Lumm)” Taylor said. “If she runs again, I’ll probably do it again, because we don’t vote the same on many issues. However, I have heard nothing that shakes my confidence in Councilmember Lumm’s ethical behavior in this matter. Building coalitions with citizens and colleagues is democracy in action … she has been an effective public servant in this regard, although I disagree with it.” Councilmember Chuck Warpehoski (D–Ward 5) also said Lumm’s involvement with local activists was in no way unethical, comparing it with his own involvement with a summer youth work program sponsored by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department. “I don’t that there is some cronyism that puts me in the pocket of the ‘summer jobs’ See COUNCIL, Page 2
are resettled by Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, the only resettlement agency in the area. Hassan and his family applied through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for resettlement as asylum-seekers in 2009. After seven years of screenings and waiting, he learned he was one of the few to have his application approved. According to UNHCR, less than 1% of all refugees registered with the United Nations are resettled in new countries. Continuous warfare and famine has prevented many refugees like Hassan from returning to Somalia — one group of many worldwide that are finding their home countries inhospitable. More than 400,000 Somali refugees remain in Kenya — primarily in decades-old refugee camps — according to the UNHCR. However, while in the country they are not issued legal work See REFUGEES, Page 3
At SACUA visit, Warde Manuel talks athlete aid Body also consider sexual misconduct policy, appoints new chairs
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By ISOBEL FUTTER
Rackham student Britany Moore raised concerns regarding tuition rates and the lack of scholarships at Michigan universities in the Michigan League on Monday.
Coleman, Schlissel discuss higher education funding Current, former college presidents explore need for public universities By LUCAS MAIMAN For the Daily
Mary Sue Coleman, University of Michigan president emerita, returned to campus Monday night to discuss accessibility in public higher education alongside current University President Mark Schlissel. Schlissel and Coleman joined other panelists to address the goals of the Lincoln Project, a policy discussion headed by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences which aims to consider the implication of reduced state investment in public education and the role of the federal government in funding public research universities. Coleman
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currently serves as the president of the Association of American Universities, and is a co-chair on the Lincoln Project. In his welcome and call to order at the event, Schlissel said research universities allow students to engage in interactive and innovative modes of learning. “At a research university, your children learn from faculty that are creating new knowledge,” Schlissel said. “They’re defining what the current limits are of human knowledge and what the next questions to be answered are. Students get to participate in the act of discovery.” Coleman said the Lincoln Project has cast a light on the importance of public research universities. The Lincoln Project has produced four publications about the importance, shift in funding, economic role and finances of these institutions. Other panel members included Patrick Doyle,
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president and CEO of Domino’s; M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University; and Lou Anna K. Simon, president of Michigan State University. The leaders all discussed how investments into public universities serve as fuel for driving the nation’s economy. In Michigan, Simon said the Lincoln Project highlights why the portion of the education budget that is a part of the research at universities has declined. In 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) cut state funding to higher education by 15 percent, funding has gone up in small increments since then. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year recommendations, Snyder recommended increasing higher education allocation to pre-2011 levels. Doyle, who also serves as the chair of the board of directors for the Business Leaders of Michigan, said public higher education is See LINCOLN, Page 2
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Daily Staff Reporter
Warde Manuel, University of Michigan athletic director, emphasized the seriousness he places on academics for student athletes at Monday’s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs meeting. “We drive our student athletes to be very successful academically,” Manuel said. “Not just for eligibility purposes, but for themselves and their lives.” Manuel, who was appointed in January to succeed Interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett, visited SACUA for the first time since his appointment to talk about the relationship between the Athletic Department and faculty. SACUA Chair Silke-Maria Weineck, a professor of comparative literature, said correspondence between the Athletic Department and faculty has lessened in the past few years. “I think there’s a bit of a sense from your predecessors that the faculty and the Athletic Department have drifted apart, for lack of better words,” Weineck said. “And there hasn’t been a lot of interaction between the Athletic Department and the faculty.” Faculty members echoed Weineck’s statement, saying they felt faculty members were not given a voice due to poor See SACUA, Page 3
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2 — Tuesday, April 5, 2016
TENTS AND TABLES
Camp Kesem, a student organization at the University of Michigan tabled in Mason Hall Monday to sell tickets for a benefit concert next Tuesday, April 12. The concert aims to raise funds for their organization. Camp Kesem sends children who have one or more parents with cancer to a camp to connect and bond through their shared experiences. LSA freshman Kaitlin McKernan said she believes the organization’s mission is very impactful for young people.
“It gives the kids a community where they can be with other kids who have been through the same thing and it just gives them a family and a break from what’s going on at home,” she said. Tabling in Mason Hall is not their only method of fundraising, McKernan added. “We’ve been fundraising individually and we’ve been doing different events. We’ve been bucketing, doing events like these concerts, bake sales,” she said. Musical groups that will be
performing at the concert include Rella, Shaaka, G-Men, Parkway and Columbia and My Girlfriend Beau. 58 Greene Acapella will also host a music concert this week on Friday with featuring appearances from dance groups funKtion and EnCore. The acapella show this year is titled “Greenovirus,” which Music sophomore Timothy Everett said was a pun. “It’s a play off of the norovirus epidemic that went on campus. We kind of spinned it to have our own mutation of the virus, but this is just the theme; it doesn’t have anything to do with what we’re actually going to perform,” he said.
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Like Camp Kesem, tabling in Mason Hall is not their only method of accruing an audience for their performances. Most of their sales, Everett said, are made outside of Mason Hall, which is not a venue that usually attracts most people for ticket sales. “We don’t usually sell super well from the table, we do a lot of individual sales outside selling by ourselves,” he said. “This is good just for getting recognition out. This is really good for just people seeing our name, people seeing faces they recognize and just being reminded that there’s a concert.” — TANYA MADHANI
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Diversity panel WHAT: Lean In will
present a panel of professors and student leaders to discuss issues concerning multiculturalism and diversity in education at the University and how it impacts professional lives later on. WHO: Lean In WHEN: 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Amphitheater
Nursing impact symposium
Take Back the Economy
WHAT: The School of
WHAT: Visiting professor
Nursing celebrates 125 years of nursing research and impact by inviting faculty, alumni and health leaders. WHO: School of Nursing WHEN: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: 1240 School of Nursing
of economics Katherine Gibson will discuss postcapitalist economic plans and how the people can take back the economy. WHO: Arab and Muslim American Studies WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Haven Hall, Room 3512
Safe Medication Ghanian film disposal event screening WHAT: Students and
faculty will demonstrate safe medication disposal practices and the impact it can have on the environment. WHO: College of Pharmacy WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Diag, Central Campus
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Kinesiology junior Alec Furstenberg, LSA freshman Emily Dworkin and LSA sophomore Daniela Friedman read names of those who perished in the Holocaust as a part of SHARE’s 24 Hour Reading of the Names Vigil in the Diag Monday.
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Correction on ‘Hash Bash highlights state, campus marijuana policies : A infographic WHAT: Filmmaker that ran with this Yaba Badoe will screen article on April 1, 2016 “The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo,” about prominent switched states that permit medicinal use African female writers. of marijuana only with WHO: Department states that permit both for Afroamerican and medicinal and recretional African Studies use. The corrected WHEN: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. infographic can be found WHERE: Haven Hall, online. Room 4701
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Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas redistricting rules which counts total population in a region rather than eligible votes when redistricting, Reuters reported. The court ruled unanimously and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote the majority opinion.
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California and New York signed bills in their respective states to raise minimum wage up to $15 per hour, the LA Times reported. New York workers are slated to receive this rate as early as 2018.
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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced he intends to remove three-hour midday siestas in the country to end the work day earlier, The Independent reported. The Spanish workday currently starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 8 p.m. with the siesta.
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Annual Red Cross 5K raises money for charitable work Fourth iteration of run sees 30 percent increase in participants By CHETALI JAIN Daily Staff Reporter
On Saturday morning, the University of Michigan’s Red Cross Club held their 4th annual Run for the Red 5K at Nichols Arboretum. Among the participants in the run were students from various campus organizations, including the American Medical Student Association, the Foundation for International Medical Relief for Children and Delta Sigma Sorority. Sudoku Syndication The community-based 5K is one of the Red Cross Club’s biggest fundraisers of the year,
according to organizers. More than 200 people registered to run on Saturday, about a 30 percent increase from last year. Business junior Hani Elhor, who has been helping organize the run since his freshman year, said the event is a great way to reach out to students from all around the campus to bring them together. The Red Cross club uses “What do you run for?” as their slogan to make the event interactive for all participants. Elhor noted many students have different ideas of what they’ll come out to run for and said this unique mix of motivations makes the event successful. “We noticed that there are so many philanthropic organizations on campus and we really want to highlight what people run for,” Elhor
said. “People sometimes run for other things too like happiness and wine.” When asked what she runs for, LSA freshman Audrey Schwartz said she wanted to push herself for a good cause. “I haven’t run a 5K in a while, and I wanted to prove to myself (that) I could do it,” she said. “I’m most excited to finish it.” This year’s leadership team consisted of about 22 members, and the team was divided into three main Councilmember Jane Lumm (I-Ward 2) speaks at the City Council meeting Monday. planning branches: marketing, PR and logistics. interview. COUNCIL “(Accounting) for the “All groups were communicating From Page 1 weather is the hardest part with council as we have a about planning this event … it constitutional right to do, we was snowing this morning,” constituency,” Warpehoski have every right to petition our Elhor said. said. “I have disagreed with government,” Banet said. “The Engineering junior Alex Councilmember Lumm about notion that there were some http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Mundorf, who was part of many things … but I have never improper connections or magical the logistics team and also known her to turn her brain off and power, other than the information participated in the run, said hand it to somebody else. I’ve never that we provided, is kind of the event has been seen her advance a position that she laughable.” increasingly popular in doesn’t personally believe in.” Following the public recent years. When the similar accusations commentary, City Council “Every year the event that WC4EB had unethically also voted to approve a special has grown more and influenced Council to back the election on Aug. 2 for a millage HARD more,” he said. “It gets deer cull were raised earlier this on street, bridge and sidewalk people to think about year, WC4EB member Bernie repair. If approved, the tax will what they are passionate Banet dismissedthem in a January raise $11.25 million in its first about and how they want to help the world.” The money raised real-world business experiences LINCOLN by the event goes with an academic background From Page 1 directly to the Red provides a newer, integrated Cross to continue their way of thinking. In particular, community services, as worthy of investment because of he pointed to a recent $40 well as club activities the economic development that million donation to Wayne such as blood drives, comes out of such institutions. state from Detroit business veteran support, fire He said students who receive moguls Mike and Marian Ilitch safety and fire alarm four-year degrees earn more to help build the Mike Ilitch installations. than students who receive School of Business. Mike and “This year we hope two-year degrees, who in turn Marian Illitch are the parents of to hit our five-to-six receive more than students who University regent Denise Illitch thousand mark,” Elhor receive high school degrees. (D-Bingham Farms). said. “We were able to get “We believe that the research “All the publicity has been all our expenses covered and knowledge that is being about the Mike Ilitch School we by our community generated from the universities are putting right next to the Red sponsors, BurgerFi is critical to economic growth Wings Stadium, but what I’m and Tru Fitness Ann in the country as economies excited about is the curriculum Arbor, so all the money become more and more about because we’ve talked to © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com generated today will knowledge and potentially less the Ilitch’s about creating a go back to the club and about making things,” he said. curriculum that focuses on what we do on campus.” Wilson said intertwining entertainment and sports,”
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year. Councilmembers Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4), Sumi Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1) and Lumm voted in opposition, voicing concerns that the guidelines on what these funds would be spent on aren’t sufficiently strict. “By broadening the scope of permitted uses (for funds raised through this tax), by definition that reduces the amount of funding available for fixing the roads,” Lumm said. “I don’t think for a minute that the amount we will be diverting from fixing roads will be inconsequential, insignificant or not having any impact on our ability to fix the roads.”
he said. “How do you protect some inches of change that in other periods of time in our society people knew were going to be really valuable beyond a formulaic definition?” Coleman said the Lincoln Project will be releasing its final recommendations on what in a few days. “The final recommendations will be presented on April 7 in Washington D.C., but we wanted to have a discussion today about the ways in which these public institutions are wellintegrated into the intellectual infrastructure of the country,” Coleman said. “And why keeping the intellectual infrastructure of the country strong is really important.”
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Manuel also said he believes faculty and athletics should support one another, as well as students. “One thing you’ll find out about me is I’m not there because there’s PR, I’m there because I think we all need to find a way to support what each other are doing,” Manuel said. At a SACUA meeting in November 2014, University President Mark Schlissel discussed the challenges of admiting and working with student athletes to the point of graduation, saying, “We admit students who aren’t as qualified, and it’s probably the kids that we admit that can’t honestly, even with lots of help, do the amount of work and the quality of work it takes to make progression
from year to year,” he said. “These past two years have gotten better, but before that, the graduation rates were terrible, with football somewhere in the 50s and 60s when our total sixyear rate at the University is somewhere near 90 percent, so that’s a challenge.” SACUA and Manuel additionally heavily discussed the difficulties student athletes face in balancing their respective sport and schoolwork. Manuel said he believes schoolwork should be the primary focus for athletes, listing five things from student athletes: academic success, athletic success, growing as a young adult, following the rules and having fun. He also touched on the recent controversy surrounding
concussions and student athletes. A recent University study on concussions found male football players are at a 75-percent risk for concussion, and 78 percent of concussions occur during games, as opposed to practices. “By fun, it doesn’t mean easy,” he said. “It means fun doing all of that and being a student, athlete and person, and growing and learning in this environment,” Manuel said. On campus, University practices regarding handling concussions during football games draw criticism, after the 2014 game against Minnesota in which then-Kinesiology sophomore quarterback Shane Morris was sent back in to play after hitting his head, an injury that was confirmed as a concussion after the game. “I’m not involved in the decision-making as it relates to when somebody is able to participate after the concussion, and I’m aware enough to know of the extent of the research that’s reported publicly,” Manuel said. “I do not consider myself, nor will I ever consider myself, an expert at it. I will rely heavily on the medical staff to make the determination about students’ ability to continue playing in a game or when they come back.” Business Prof. Dave Wright said the impact of athletics on the University’s brand is extremely high — and as such, the Athletic Department holds significant power in determining the perception of the University. “All of us collectively work really hard for the brand and the reputation of this University, and
described many things — the colder climate, unfamiliar foods and reliable indoor plumbing — as unique challenges to adjust to, and said he is still reluctant to let his children play outside until he is more familiar with the neighborhood. At JFS, when refugees arrive in the Ann Arbor area, they work with a case manager on a daily basis for the next 90 days. The overall goal, according to Nathaniel Smith, a JFS resettlement case manager, is to have them be self-sufficient by the end of that period. “We address a lot of different areas of the refugees’ life, getting them set up with all the things that they need to start functioning on their own here,” Smith said. “For the most part, they are close to being financially selfsufficient after 90 days.” Originally founded in 1978 to help resettle Jews f leeing the Soviet Union, JFS has worked with refugees f leeing numerous conf licts since then, including Kosovars f leeing the Balkan Wars in the 1990s, Somalis, Burmans, Afghans and Syrians. JFS Executive Director Anya Abramazon said each new wave of refugees poses unique challenges. The most recent
wave, she said, has largely been individuals f leeing conf lict in the Middle East and elsewhere like Hassan, including large numbers of Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military. “Few of (our earlier cases) came from an active combat situation where they were facing death and loss, so the level of trauma that we’re seeing is very high,” she said. “It takes time for people to figure out how to get out of that survival mode and just start living their life.” Assistance during the 90-day period currently includes help with registering for proper identification, school enrollment, initial medical screenings and employment services. Followup English language training and career services are also available for up to five years after arrival. With this wave, and in recent years in particular, Abramazon and Smith pointed to several newer challenges. In particular, Ambrazon noted that the recent wave has required different services because many of the refugees JFS is currently working with are young children, who have seperate individual needs. “Kids need support,” she said. “They need time
to understand the new environment, and for them it’s not as much of a challenge as it is for their parents, but it’s still a challenge.” Smith also said currently, high housing costs also present a challenge in resettling refugees in the Ann Arbor area. “Some of the challenges that JFS faces when working in Washtenaw County are perhaps the same challenges that other residents of Washtenaw County face,” he said, adding that JFS has a partnership with McKinley Housing to help find affordable apartments. “Rentals can be somewhat expensive in this area and there’s often limited availability, especially when we get larger families arriving.” However, both also noted that for many refugees, and for their agency, the community support they’ve found in Washtenaw has been key to successful resettlement. JFS relies in part on donations of money, food and furniture from local residents and Christian, Jewish and Islamic faith-based groups. They also have interns from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. Many of JFS’s broader services
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Detroit, Flint to receive $55 million in federal aid Detroit and Flint will receive $55 million from the federal governement for the demolition of blighted buildings from the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Detroit Free Press reported. The funds are a part of a $74.5 million package of “Hardest Hit” funds given to the state to help stabilize the housing market. From the funds, $41.9 million will go to Detroit and $13.9 million will go to Flint, both for demolition purposes. The remaining $18.6 million will be allocated to help homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages. Michigan initially received $498 million from the Hardest Hit Fund when the program was first introduced in 2010 following housing price declines and high unemployment. The most recent funding brings the state’s total federal dollars to $572.5 million. Gov. Rick Snyder said in a press release Monday the funds are important in aiding the residents of cities suffering from deteriorating buildings. “These funds have been critical in helping people stay in their homes,” he said. “And avoid foreclosure while helping Detroit, Flint and other cities across our state eliminate blight and revitalize neighborhoods.”
Business professor recieves Golden Apple Award Accounting Assistant Prof. Ryan Ball received the the Ross School of Business’ first Golden Apple Award, the University Record reports. The Golden Apple Award is the only student selected teaching award on campus and is given out by Students Honoring Outstanding University Teaching. The award is given to undergraduate and graduate faculty who actively seek to encourage student engagement in the classroom. Students are able to nominate a faculty member of their choice. The nominees are later voted on by SHOUT. The award was inspired by Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanos who mentored students during his time here on how to organize their lives. As this year’s winner, Ball will deliver the “Last Lecture.” The event encourages faculty to deliver a lecture as if it were their last in an effort to engage and inspire students.
Concealed gun permit applications see increase Several counties across Michigan have reported increases in the number of applications for concealed gun licences, with significant increased in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties, the Detroit Free Press reports. From March 1 to March 24, the number of concealed pistol licences increased by more than 10,000 residents. In total, the state has 528,320 residents who are licensed to carry concealed weapons. The increasing trend began in December following a change in state law, which reduces the time it takes to receive a permit and removed three-member county boards which approved or denied the permits. County officials, gun shop owners and concealed pistol license instructors say the uncertainty during presidential election years also increase applications as people fear impending changes in policy — LYDIA MURRAY
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Athletic Director Warde Manuel discusses the importance of communication between faculty and the Athletic Department at the SACUA meeting in the Fleming Administration building Monday.
SACUA From Page 1 communication. “There was less and less communication and open dialogue,” SACUA member John Lehman, a professor of biology, said. “We want to make sure faculty has a very good dialogue with (the Athletic Department).” Manuel said he wants to make every effort to connect with faculty and the campus. “If I see something in the Daily or in the Record that I’d like to attend, I will,” Manuel said. “Part of it is my own interests in doing what I can to get out into the community and be visible to talk to faculty and students about what they’re doing.”
REFUGEES From Page 1 permits and are often targeted by government-sponsored repressive action and xenophobic stigma, making it difficult for those like Hassan to find work and assimilate. “When I was given the privilege to go the United States, I just felt happy. I felt so excited,” Hassan said. “Because where I was living, life was quite hard.” In the 2015 fiscal year, 69,933 refugees out of a pool of more than 400,000 applicants were accepted for resettlement in the United States by the Department of State, with Burma, Iraq and Somalia the three largest countries of origin. Once approved, refugees are matched with one of nine national-level resettlement agencies, which then further divide the refugees among local affiliates like the JFS of Washtenaw. Beyond that, it’s up to the families, with some help from the local affiliates depending on local processes. Having just arrived to Michigan in early March, Hassan said he and his family are still settling into to their new surroundings. He
MATISYAHU From Page 1 “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 connect to something human.” LSA freshman Timothy Mayer said he was drawn to the event for its unique attempt to promote unity through music. He said while he enjoyed the performance overall, he thought there was an apparent lack of discussion on peace and inclusion. “I don’t think it did as much as it could have,” Mayer said. LSA sophomore Kevin Wolf said he enjoyed the concert, but also echoed Mayer’s thoughts concerning the lack of discussion of unity and inclusion. “I thought it was great. I thought there was a lot of positive energy,” Wolf said. “I’m a big Matisyahu fan.” But in particular on the topic of inclusion and peace, Wolf said he noted a lack of attention. “I wish it came through a little more,” Wolf said. “He was a little quiet, so to speak,
during the show. He didn’t really say hi to the audience.” He did note, however, that a subtle message of unity was depicted in a collaborative song between Azzam and Matisyahu. LSA junior Seif Saqallah expressed a similar sentiment, saying the performance could have been stronger had the two performed more numbers together. For LSA sophomore Natasha Desai, a MUSIC Matters member, the performance was overall impressive. “Honestly one of the best shows ever,” she said. “He was so into his music. He was so into everything he was doing.” Matisyahu declined comment immediately following the event. In March, he said the concert would not take a specific political stance on any issue, but would instead focus on fostering acceptance, peace and love. “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.
we are really blessed and honored to work for a school that really is the leaders and best at both athletics and academics,” Wright said. “That’s a rare breed. I can screw up in the classroom, botch a piece of research or whatever and we get a little attention in my area but not much. Nothing can change the brand quicker than some of the high-profile athletes and coaches.” After the discussion with Manuel, SACUA discussed the Office of Institutional Equity appeals policy and drafted a resolution for Faculty Senate. Weineck said the current OIE appeals policy allows faculty to appeal sanctions but not to appeal investigation findings of the OIE investigations. Since the new sexual misconduct policy, announced in March to go into effect in July, allows students file grievances with both sanctions and findings, SACUA members said the same procedure should apply to faculty. “Currently, people can grieve the sanctions but not appeal the findings, which we think is a bit of a mismatch,” Weineck said. The resolution states the desire for faculty to have a parallel or similar grievance policy to students. The Faculty Senate will vote on the resolution at the next meeting on April 18. SACUA also elected Engineering Prof. Bill Schultz, current vice chair, to Chair of SACUA for the next academic year. Schulz ran against Lehman and won in a 5-3 vote. In addition, Wright was appointed to be the next vice chair.
— such as a food bank and counseling — are now available to the whole community, not just refugees. “They come here because of acceptance, because it’s a very welcoming community,” Abramazon said. “Nobody is puzzled here when they hear an accent.” Speaking in the JFS offices in Ann Arbor, where Hassan has daily appointments, he said he is optimistic for his family’s future. Currently, his children are attending local schools. Hassan said he plans to find work and pursue higher education to further his career, and eventually become an entrepreneur. “The first priority that I would like to give my family is (the opportunity) to go to school and learn,” Hassan said. “I want to become a great businessman … someone who is self-confident and can employ people.”
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Opinion
4 — Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com SHOHAM GEVA EDITOR IN CHIEF
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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.
OPEN LETTER | OP-ED
Uniting our Campus
On the evening of Tuesday, March 29: “#StopIslam” and “Stop the Rape of Europe” were chalked in the Diag, targeting Muslim identities at the University of Michigan. This incident was not singular, but joined a succession of other Islamophobic instances that continue to marginalize and create a hostile environment for Muslim students on campus. In the last three years, Muslim students have faced multiple attacks on their identity and safety: When Students Allied for Freedom and Equality launched the #UMDivest movement and proposed a resolution to create a committee to investigate investments that allegedly facilitate the violation of Palestinian human rights, members of SAFE as well as their allies faced verbal attacks on social media and in person, and were unable to attend class without Department of Public Safety and Security escorts. After a widely supported letter was written to the Center for Campus Involvement requesting the cancellation of an “American Sniper” screening, the University of Michigan temporarily canceled the screening of the film. Though many organizations representing non-Arab and non-Muslim students endorsed the letter, this proposition led to a disproportionate number of verbal, physical and social media attacks on students with Muslim and Arab backgrounds. When is enough? Time and time again, Muslim students have found the administration absent when its support was needed most. Muslim students feel unsafe, unwelcome and unheard in a space that is meant to be inclusive of all identities. In response to the Diag incident, University President Mark Schlissel released a statement emphasizing the importance of education and community-building, but has yet to provide actionable steps or key resources to address these issues. We recognize the importance of free speech, but it is crucial to examine how our actions impact the ability of our fellow community members to have equal access to education. With the glacial pace of the administration to ensure the safety of its students, it is our responsibility to create an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for our peers. It is unquestionable that differing perspectives create mutual understanding and a more holistic view of the world. However, abusing this right to free speech to espouse hatred is not an ideal anyone should aspire to. As student leaders on this campus, we believe
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it is imperative to not only voice our solidarity with the Muslim community, but also to firmly oppose any attacks on one’s religion, race or ethnicity. To those who believe in spreading hate: We do not support you. This campus does not support you. We will not sit passively as students face blatant discrimination in a community we are all meant to call home. And we are calling on the administration to do the same. Our administration needs to publicly announce visible and proactive measures to ensure the Muslim community feels supported and valued on this campus. To our fellow Wolverines: We cannot distance ourselves from this issue. When any marginalized group on our campus feels unsafe, we all suffer. We lose the value of our institution when our university’s reputation is tarnished with such blatant discrimination. We lose the incredible curiosity, brilliance and light that these students bring to our campus. We lose the spirit of Michigan, as the community we love and cherish becomes biased and selective. We, as student leaders of the University of Michigan, call upon our peers to defend our campus against acts that propagate discrimination. As a student body, we must let the world know that we will not tolerate hate and hostility shrouded in the rhetoric of free speech. As the leaders and the best, we must unite. To the Muslim community on campus: We support you. And we thank you for continuing to show your strength as others expose their weaknesses. In this country, we enjoy the liberty to believe and practice whatever creed we wish. This freedom extends to people of all faith traditions. We repudiate the discriminative messages that have been cast, and it is your right to freely be as you are. And those who oppose your free exercise of belief oppose us as well. We are one. This University is hoMe to all of us. — Demario Longmire, current Michigan in Color managing editor, and Gaby Vasquez, former Michigan in Color managing editor, along with other student leaders on campus, helped to author this letter in support of solidarity with the Muslim community. For a list of student organizations who signed on, please visit michigandaily.com. Please e-mail Demario Longmire (dmolong@umich. edu) to be added to this letter of solidarity.
Love trumps hate
atching our current political circus is no longer amusing. The corrupting forces pulling us toward accepting the xenophobic tendencies that have long disrupted human progress — see our treatment of Native Americans, Chinese Americans or Irish Americans, among others — are becoming terrifyingly omnipresent. It seemed that after many twists and turns, we finally learned DANNY to be better than our fears, SACK that we had accepted, however grudgingly (for some), the importance of bringing outsiders into our classrooms, our lives and our country. Though some discomfort around new people and ideas is expected and normal, there are ways to combat this that do not devolve into exclusionary, and now oftentimes blatantly racist, language. We must condemn such language for what it is: Bigotry that alienates citizens at home and whole groups of people around the world. In recent months, the flagrant disregard for our country’s founding ideals from the leading Republican candidates has created a toxic environment that not only ostracizes our friends and neighbors, but also endangers our values more so than any threat coming from abroad. Without a strong rebuke from those of us yet to be targeted, we risk endangering the very pluralism that many Americans have long taken for granted. The unfortunate fact remains that this bigotry radiates from both of the leading Republican presidential candidates. It is not unreasonable to surmise that these derogatory statements, whether they be directed at women, Mexicans, Muslims or more recently anyone who protests at a Trump rally — especially if they are not white — signify a deep-seated fear among many Americans that they are in danger of losing out on their American Dream. The idealist in me wants to think that many Americans are being manipulated by a wellstaged campaign playing on their deepest fear: Fear itself. I want to believe that upon reasoning their way through these illogical
and often unapologetically racist arguments, Americans will find them both logically flawed and morally reprehensible. This is exactly what I thought upon hearing that, apparently, most Mexicans in this country are rapists and murders (with some good people among them, of course). But instead of falling to the wayside after the initial shock that these statements sent through our collective discourse, proponents (a group that is unfortunately growing) have only further hardened their resolve to alienate groups who do not share their nationality, religion or ignorance. These statements have yet to dissuade potential voters and many in the Republican political establishment who have yet to disqualify offenders for their remarks outright. My inner cynic is now leaning toward another explanation for our current political environment. Instead of living in a nation that welcomes diversity and attracts the best and brightest from all over the world, instead of living in a nation devoted to the pluralism inherent to our founding ideals, instead of living in a nation that provides a source of hope and opportunity to people living all around the world, we are living in a nation of parasitic opportunists who — while happy to extend a welcoming hand to further their goals — are now trying to desperately grasp at a malformed ideal of days gone by to save a way of life built on the back of inequity and discrimination. I desperately hope that my inner cynic is wrong and that we use this impasse as an opportunity to move forward: to take another small step toward overcoming the xenophobic tendencies of our past by rejecting bigotry at the ballot box. To stand together in a “purple coalition” that overwhelms what separates red from blue, Republican from Democrat. As a silent majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle that has for too long watched with bemused detachment, we must now raise our voices and let the world know that we will not rationalize racism. We will not resign ourselves to the persistent bigoted contortions that aim to divide us. We will instead come together to prove, once and for all, that love trumps hate. — Danny Sack can be reached at sackd@umich.edu.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Expected to accept hate
top Islam” “Trump 2016” “Build the Wall” These were the words chalked onto the middle of the Diag last Thursday, March 31. Muslim students then spent hours cleaning the mess because RABAB of the lack of JAFRI response from the University of Michigan’s Division of Public Safety and Security and the University’s administration. I am sorry to say I am not surprised. The fact that DPSS and the University failed to take immediate action to clean the words from the Diag, forcing Muslim students to clean up the words of hatred directed at them, is despicable. But it’s a good example of how things always go for Muslims and minority students on this campus. Though President Schlissel and spokesman Rick Fitzgerald released statements, the University does not put forth real effort to mend its relationships with different minority groups on campus, and it is the members of the groups themselves that have to create their own safe spaces. Islamophobia has been prevalent on campus throughout the years and statements without regular action is not enough. This is not an isolated situation in terms of how the University treats Islamophobia or even how Islamophobia is treated in general. Last year when UMix — a University program that provides students with a space to enjoy alcohol-free Friday nights — planned a screening of “American Sniper,” several minority student groups and individuals petitioned to not have the movie screened. The UMix organizers
accepted this change at first, but after pressure from the media and others who called the incident an infringement of freedom of speech, they decided to play the movie anyway. During that week, Muslim students were blamed for the incident from all sides, and instead of the University administration standing up for Muslim students, Fitzgerald stood by the decision to keep the movie running in UMix. Muslim and Middle Eastern and North African students had to create their own safe spaces during this time and had no public support from the University. They were their own spokespersons, their own safety net, their own validation. I bring this up because since that time, not much has changed. Fitzgerald’s statement on Thursday felt as if the University was enforcing the rhetoric of Muslims being against freedom yet again: “Attacks directed toward any member or group within the University of Michigan community, based on a belief or characteristic, are inconsistent with our values of respect, civility and equality,” the statement read. “We all understand that where speech is free it will sometimes wound. But our message is this: We are fully committed to fostering an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of everyone. Tonight we are reminded there is much work yet to be done.” I fail to see any substantial work on the part of the University to combat Islamophobia or listen to minority students on campus. The very nature of Fitzgerald’s statement implies that Muslim students are simply wounded by freedom of speech and to imply that hateful speech should be expected, is a remark that stems from the same ideas that Muslims face because of Islamophobia. The students who washed the Diag kept the chalk with the words “Trump 2016” in respect of freedom of speech demonstrating how the students’ intentions were not to
censor speech, but to work against hate speech. To say that there is work to be done without making substantial effort is hollow. Muslim and minority students are not treated as students deserving of the University’s concern. Everything adds up. Jim Harbaugh was revered for a tweet about watching “American Sniper,” while Muslim students were seen as attackers of freedom of speech. A member of Central Student Government yelled in my face when the only indication of my identity was my headscarf. No one called it a bias incident. A University medical school professor posted an Islamophobic comment on one of my articles. I am expected to be used to this and to accept it because otherwise I am just another Muslim that cried hate speech being discarded as being anti-freedom of speech. Despite the fact that freedom of speech exists in America does not mean that hateful speech should be tolerated in such a way that the victim of hatred gets treated like the perpetrator. Hateful speech is never as painful as watching people react as if there is nothing wrong with it. The path to progress is not through tolerating hateful speech, it is in recognizing it, just as it was in the past with anti-Semitic speech or blackface or any other forms of hate written by few but accepted by the masses. Every day, I get closer and closer to believing I will never truly be seen as belonging to this University, or in America for that matter — my University of Michigan acceptance e-mail and the fact that I was born and raised in the state of Michigan still does not feel like enough. I should not expect hateful speech. I should not accept hateful speech. I should not be expected to accept hateful speech. No one should. — Rabab Jafri can be reached at rfjafri@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 LAURA MEYER | OP-ED
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From silence to action
his Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I stand with survivors who are too often silenced by a culture that refuses to believe them. I advocate for survivors who never told anyone, not even their best friend, their mom, their partner. I believe survivors who stay silent because they feel what happened to them “doesn’t count.” I support survivors who experienced coercion or manipulation and don’t think what happened to them “counts” as sexual assault. I am here for the survivors who don’t tell anyone because they don’t want to hurt the perpetrator of their sexual assault, who may be a friend. I fight for every single survivor because I refuse to accept that sexual assault impacts thousands of students on this campus — many of whom face the effects of their experience alone — yet only a handful ever see justice. Silence is a tool of oppression. Our call to action is not to blame those who are silent; it is to identify and to change the culture and the systems that silence people. Survivors stay silent for many reasons, and these reasons often relate to their identities. Lesbian, gay, transgender, queer or gender non-conforming folks may stay silent for fear of being outed. Men may fear being asked, “Why didn’t you fight back?” Many people believe that sex workers cannot be sexually assaulted because their services are being paid for. Trans women of color face overwhelming violence and the confluence of risk factors that make it incredibly difficult to speak up and find help. Religiously conservative groups may feel silenced due to the stigmatization of sexuality. Women are treated as if they are responsible — questioned about what they were wearing, what they were drinking or what they’ve done in the past. Undocumented immigrants may experience human trafficking or fear sharing their story due to fear of deportation. When the odds are stacked against anyone so unfairly, it is no wonder they stay silent. According to the 2015 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct, 11.4 percent of all students, undergraduate and
graduate, experienced sexual assault in the year preceding the survey. More than 22 percent of undergraduate females were assaulted in a year. Shockingly, more than half of those survivors reported telling no one about what happened to them. That means in the year preceding the survey, about 2,600 survivors never talked to anyone at the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, at the University of Michigan or in law enforcement. They never even told their story to their best friend. While I recognize that these numbers are not necessarily accurate due to survey limitations, and raw numbers are always inadequate to measure the full costs of sexual assault, that number is simply too high to accept. Any number of students who are violated so deeply is completely unacceptable. Further, those rates only measure sexual assault and not the other forms of sexualized violence that impact college students like intimate partner violence and stalking. On campus, there are many places for survivors to go — SAPAC is an excellent confidential resource for all survivors. The primary place to seek non-confidential help from the administration is the Office for Institutional Equity, which is meant to address Title IX violations. Title IX prevents sex-based discrimination in education, and since sexual harassment and sexual assault inhibit a student’s ability to learn in an equitable environment, it is the University’s legal responsibility to address sexual violence on campus. In January, the University released its Fiscal Year 2015 report on Office for Institutional Equity investigations under the Student Sexual Misconduct Policy. Despite the fact that nearly 5,000 students experience sexual assault in a year alone, just 97 incidents were reported to the University. The subsequent 25 investigations found seven perpetrators “responsible.” You read that right — last year, the University only found seven perpetrators responsible for sexual assault. With the preponderance of sexual assault on campus, it is unbelievable to me
that only seven perpetrators will see some form of academic discipline for creating an intolerable campus environment. It speaks to both a campus culture that discourages survivors from coming forward and to the failure of the sexual misconduct policy to adequately address the incidents that are reported. Our University’s system fails survivors, and our culture fails survivors when it silences them. Action is whatever you want it to be — there is no right way to feel, no right way to act, no right way to share. But in the spirit of transforming silence to action, here are a few ideas. Request an educational workshop from our Peer Educators or Bystander Intervention and Community Engagement programs. Engage with survivors in your community by hosting a confidential survivor speakout. Attend a SAPAC event or collaborate to host one in your community. Contact your elected representatives in the Michigan legislature and in Congress to ask about what they are doing to end sexual assault on campuses. Contact the University’s Board of Regents to tell them that you demand action from our campus administration on sexual assault in our community. Read the Student Sexual Misconduct Policy and educate yourself on the changes that will go into effect on July 1. Go through ally training or volunteer training with SAPAC. Most important of all, start conversations in your community. Bring up the subject with your friends. Support survivors by saying, “I believe you,” “It’s not your fault” and “There’s no right way to heal.” Be kind and empathetic. Take care of yourself while talking about these important but heavy issues. The campus climate survey found that 37 percent of survivors who did not report did not do so because they didn’t think anything would be done about it. Let’s prove to them that we will believe them and that something will be done. #WeBelieveYou. Laura Meyer is a networking publicity activism SAPAC student volunteer co-coordinator.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TV COLUMN
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 — 5
ALBUM REVIEW
CBS ATLANTIC
When you hear the new Weezer album.
But the only good Weezer songs are the top 1 percent.
Don’t you forget Weezer continues its about Will Gardner comeback on ‘White’
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think about Will Gardner a lot. Since the character’s death on “The Good Wife” two years ago, Will (played by Josh Charles) probably crosses my mind unbidden at least once a day. It’s always something stupid or small that reminds CHLOE me of him, GILKE like the way somebody pronounces “Chicago” or the way the newsroom felt when I’d stay late at work, the fluorescent lights glowing dim yellow and the office quiet except for the breaths of a few hardworking insomniacs. I can recite lines of Will’s dialogue like they’re lyrics to my favorite song; I can’t step into an elevator without remembering the way his hand clasps with Alicia’s when the doors close and they’re alone and unseen. These memories feel like my own — and when Will was shot to death in court in season five, the grief that his friends and co-workers experienced felt like mine, too. I could barely finish “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” because it was so weird to see Josh Charles wearing a sky-blue polo shirt instead of a blood-stained gray suit, to see him smiling and laughing instead of lying motionless on the courtroom floor. I miss him viscerally. Even two seasons after the fact, my throat closes up when someone mentions his name on a new episode. I watch old clips from season one just to hear his voice. I read episode recaps from five years ago so I can remember what he argued in the case that week and what he said to Alicia after. And more often than I’d like to admit, I rewatch mopey fan videos on YouTube and weep openly about that big, bursting heart that isn’t beating anymore. “The Good Wife” just doesn’t feel the same without him. Though I’d count it as one of my favorite shows (anyone who has ever spent five minutes with me can attest that I will never fucking shut up about “The Good Wife”), watching new episodes is a chore. Objectively, the show has gone downhill with its reliably lazy writing and uninspired plotting. It’s a shame, really. There are only four episodes left this season, and I can barely get any joy from seeing Alicia Florrick chasing her dreams of a female-led law firm and giving a hand job to Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a crowded restaurant. It’s not just me. The “Good Wife” Twitter-verse laments the days when this show was one of the best on TV, rivaling “Breaking Bad” for the most thrilling episodes of the year, and the simple act of pushing papers off a desk could make professional pop culture journalists lose their shit. “The Good Wife” ’s weekly recapper on The A.V. Club (and former
Michigan Daily TV columnist) Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya noted in a recent review that “ ‘The Good Wife’ is going out at its most mediocre, its most bland,” and I’d have to agree. When is the last time somebody did something really surprising, something that landed as emotionally grounded? Drama, or at least “The Good Wife” ’s version of it, comes from characters, history and bursts of feeling bubbling out from behind poised, lawyerlike exteriors. “The Good Wife” has been completely devoid of this since Jeffrey Grant grabbed a guard’s gun in season five. “The Good Wife” ’s greatness died on the courtroom floor with Will Gardner. It was hard to recognize when he was still alive, but Will really was unlike anyone else on that show. Where Alicia, Diane and Cary are pragmatic and governed by their logical, politically cognizant brains, Will had an atom bomb of a heart that he couldn’t always control. His feelings buried themselves deep — he’d crushed on Alicia since their law school days, feelings he carried with him for 20 years and moves across the country until she was back in on the job market with a wounded marriage and looking for some help. He wasn’t very good at hiding it — which made seasons one and two’s stolen kisses and impulsive declarations of love so electric. He had passion to spare, enough to kick-start nearly every serial storyline in the first few seasons. The musical chairs of the name partner switch ups, Alicia’s climbing of the corporate ladder, the gaining and losing of big clients and major cases, the spark that ignite Alicia’s romance and push her further from her husband Peter — it all traces back to Will and his big mouth and his giant, fragile heart.
Will crosses my mind unbidden at least once a day. The best “Good Wife” drama married the firm’s politics with the characters’ tangled relationships, and no stretch of episodes nailed it more than season five. After almost 100 episodes of carefully laid character moments, we knew that Will valued justice and loyalty above all. Season five’s “Hitting the Fan” is a series highlight, bringing unparalleled, delicious dramatic tension. When Alicia betrays Will to start her own firm with Cary (and take some of the clients they’d earned for Will and Diane’s firm), Will’s passion finally boils over. He clears everything off the traitorous Alicia’s desk with one furious swoop of an arm. His eyes look wide and crazed, burn-
ing with hurt and wildness and self-hatred for everything he’s about to say and can’t hold back. “I took you in. No one wanted you. I hired you. I pushed for you. God. God, you’re awful, and you don’t even know how awful you are.” With Alicia’s stony glare returning Will’s burst of fire, it’s clear nothing will ever be the same. And it wasn’t. After that episode, Will lost his better judgment which he went face to face with Alicia in court. He couldn’t choke his feelings down, and Alicia wounded him further; she knew he was a sentimental type and would remember the shell-pink suit she wore the time they made out in the elevator. She wore it to court, and with each subsequent episode, his heart stretched wider and thinner — until there was nothing else for him to do but take a bullet or a dozen to that delicate chest and go out in a blaze of dramatics. The episode where he died, “Dramatics, Your Honor,” was the highest peak “The Good Wife” would ever reach, and the show should have ended there. Of course, it didn’t. It’s been two years and one month since Will left in a body bag, but the show is still ticking. Alicia is haunted by the happiness she could have seized with Will, those lost years of passion when she stayed buttoned up, kept her heart in its cage and pushed Will to think practically. Four episodes from series end, she’s now letting loose a little more, starting an affair with her employee and finally asking for a divorce from flop husband Peter. But it feels inorganic, because we know this just doesn’t fit with the Alicia we know. Will Gardner was the wild one, the tactless and passionate who made mistakes and thought and spoke with his heart first. He got mad, he got hurt and he was the catalyst for drama — both in his personal life and for “The Good Wife” ’s greater plot. Alicia’s new lover (and probable end game dude) Jason Crouse is handsome and nice enough, but he’s bland as a saltine cracker and is missing that uninhibited soul that made Will Gardner so compelling. Since this is my penultimate column, I’ll inevitably graduate and burn out before “The Good Wife” ends in May. Somebody else will review the finale, and they’ll probably do a great job and avoid talking about supporting characters that died two seasons ago. But if I could make one last passionate plea to Robert and Michelle King, the creators of my favorite show, I’d say: Please, please, please don’t forget about Will Gardner. It might be too late to bring him back from the dead, but it’s not too late to start some fights, some fires and reignite that classic “The Good Wife” drama. Gilke is probably thinking about Will Gardner right this second. To make her your good wife, e-mail her at chloeliz@umich.edu.
By SAM ROSENBERG Daily Arts Writer
By now, you’d think that a ’90s band like Weezer would have given up already. The Los Angeles based rock group attained paramount suc- B+ cess from their Weezer magnetic Blue Album debut (White and their iniAlbum) tially hated, now critically Weezer praised sophomore record Atlantic Pinkerton in 1994 and 1996, respectively. But even when their stardom grew with radio hits like “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills,” the angsty coolness that they so effectively embodied was gradually disappearing. In the 2000s, Weezer released a string of lukewarm power-pop records like 2005’s head-scratching Make Believe and 2009’s severely misguided Raditude (yes, the one with a song that featured Lil Wayne). However, starting with 2014’s refreshing Everything Will Be Alright in the End, their best record in years, Weezer is steadily making up for lost time and rightfully so. Their sound, complete with sawtoothed guitar plucks, crisp drums, culturally relevant lyrics and lead vocalist Rivers Cuomo’s croon, is now even more finely tuned than before on their tenth record and fourth self-titled
record Weezer (White Album). While White Album still lacks some punch, it’s leaner, looser, happier and more mature than Weezer’s last few records. Like each of the previous Weezer selftitled albums, White Album’s “color” backdrop represents the overall tone of the record. It’s about rebirth, purity and, to put it more concretely, it’s about their hometown of L.A. (mine as well) and the album uses the beach as its motif setting. Other than the sound of seagulls and waves crashing onto the shore in the album opener “California Kids,” you can really visualize the kind of peculiarities and strange beauties entrenched in the city of Los Angeles from Cuomo’s perspective. By deriving its xylophone opening notes from Pinkerton’s “Pink Triangle,” “California Kids” possesses both a nostalgic feel and yearning for the present. That theme continues in “Wind in Our Sail” and “(Girl) We Got a Thing,” two energetic romantic ballads that name-check Charles Darwin, Sisyphus, Gregor Mendel, Stockholm syndrome and the Hare Krishna. With the hilarious, power-rock anthem “Thank God for Girls,” Weezer succeeds not only because of the song’s bizarre narrative, but also for its progressive, feminist overtones (“She’s so big / She’s so strong / She’s so energetic in her sweaty overalls”). The similarly sharp “L.A. Girlz” plays with gender stereotypes, with Cuomo making himself into a desperate
guy begging his crush to “sweeten up” and acknowledge his feelings for her. Despite all the hard rock jingles and odes to women and cannolis, Weezer also infuses some of their trepidation and Pinkerton malaise into “Do You Wanna Get High?” which deals with Cuomo’s prescription drug addiction and the relationship with his girlfriend around the time of 2001’s Green Album. Described by Cuomo as a “really yucky and intentionally uncomfortable portrayal” of an addict’s life, “Do You Wanna Get High?” is as drugged-out and depressing as you’d imagine, but Cuomo transforms it into a mindnumbing throwback. The mostly acoustic closer “Endless Bummer” is when White Album really shines, with Cuomo anxiously awaiting the end of the summer during the song’s climactic breakdown ending. Everything Will Be Alright in the End was a return to form for Weezer, and White Album is a strong continuation of that return. Because Weezer has already ingrained such an impactful cultural legacy in pop and rock music, they don’t need to make a critically acclaimed record (though, that would be pretty nice). The only potential issue here is if they continue to tread on familiar material without breaking new ground. Luckily, White Album has indicated that Weezer is on the right track to maintaining their awesomeness.
FILM REVIEW
Romanian ‘Aferim!’ a deft western satire By DANIEL HENSEL Daily Arts Writer
The Western is a curious type of film. The genre features plotlines that often feel limited to a short list of possible conflicts drawn up by the genre’s B+ masters of yesteryear. Even Aferim! from a purely Parada Film geographic and Michigan Theater. temporal standpoint, most of its films occur in one specific sliver of space and time. Whenever a film enters the Western canon that attempts to fundamentally rethink the genre, it’s important to take note. Fred Zinnemann’s “High Noon” made the Western intimate and small. Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Fargo” made the Western wintry, Minnesotan and modern. Now, Radu Jude (“Everybody in Our Family”) has made the Western Romanian. His film “Aferim!” borrows from the greats of the 1940s and 1950s, and yet it feels especially new. “Aferim!”, which roughly means “bravo!” or “well done!” in Romanian, follows a policeman and his son in 1833 Wallachia, Romania. The pair are hired by the local feudal lord to find a Roma slave named Carfin (Toma Cuzin, “The Treasure”), who ran away from the lord after
sleeping with his wife. Along the way, the policeman, Costandin (Teodor Corban, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”), gives questionable guidance to his teenage son, Ionita (Mihai Comanoiu, a newcomer) and begins to befriend Carfin as he divulges his sexual history with the lord’s wife. Shot in a beautiful black and white, the film’s Romanian landscapes are stunning. Jude constructs his shots carefully, establishing the mountainous background as if it, too, were one of our main characters. Jude also has a knack for framing, whether in the lord’s chambers or at an outdoor carnival. In both intimate and large-scale scenes, he can immediately establish a textured setting with a deftness that usually takes years of experience to master. The film is a Western, but to limit it to that genre would be inaccurate. “Aferim!” doubles as a biting and hilarious political satire, showcasing the absurdity of historical discriminatory policies in Romania. That country’s history of Roma slavery is a subject rarely addressed in its nation’s film industry, and for its first major movie on the topic, comedy was a brave decision. But Jude had the right idea. Often, it’s comedy that can force us to confront the most pressing and taboo subjects of our histories. It’s the film’s writing that takes center stage — the
Coens or Quentin Tarantino must have served as a particular inspiration, with pointless vitriolic banter being its main comedic feature – but it’s easy to feel like some of the jokes were lost in translation. Of course, no subtitle could ever match the vocal intonation and timing required to land a perfect joke. But here, they come pretty close. However, at its violent sections and when generally addressing the prevalence of Roma slavery in Romania at the time, “Aferim!” becomes somber. That dour tone is integral to addressing the story with the gravitas needed to confront such a tragedy. The legacy of slavery in Romania is very different from the American perspective. Jude, by necessity, must approach it carefully. Yet, the film focuses on Costandin who, as a very vulgar and contradictory individual, is a tough sell as a protagonist. In the same sentence, he can pay deference to his lord and denigrate the neighboring lands (Turkey is a common target), yet decry the lousy state of Romania. He’s the least likable character in the film (except for, perhaps, the feudal lord and an incredibly racist priest), as he tastelessly disparages everyone he meets. And yet, with humor as our aid, we see him transform. The comedy may end on a bitter note, but Costandin is bitter with us.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, April 5, 2016
TV REVIEW
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
EVENT PREVIEW
Laugh track goes PCAP showcases art West, mostly fails by the incarcerated Netflix’s “The Ranch” is just a basic sitcom By SAM ROSENBERG Daily Arts Writer
There’s a certain artifice about laugh tracks in traditional, multicamera sitcoms. The laugh track can be an overused, frequently Bunnecessary aural element on TV that strives to The elevate a show’s Ranch humor but instead becomes Series Premiere too distracting Netflix for its own good. CBS’s “Mom” and NBC’s “The Carmichael Show” are currently some of the only TV comedies with a laugh track that manage to subvert traditional sitcom standards by incorporating socially conscious themes and emotionally involved characters into their plots. Netflix’s newest sitcom “The Ranch” has the potential to do the same, but it first needs to learn how to escape the dreadful quality of the laugh track. And then some. Balancing on a tricky tightrope between ribald comedy and melodrama, “The Ranch” centers around the dysfunctional Bennett family. Considering its conservative undertones, you might expect “The Ranch” to take place somewhere in the South, but the show is surprisingly set in the swing state of Colorado. Regardless, everything about the show screams red state values, from the country-themed opening credits
By MARIA ROBINS-SOMERVILLE
to the good ol’ American town backdrop. Ashton Kutcher (“Two and a Half Men”) and Danny Masterson (“Men at Work”) reunite from their “That ’70s Show” glory days as the two dysfunctional Bennett brothers — swaggering Colt and sarcastic Jameson “Rooster,” respectively. After six years apart from his stern father Beau (the stellar Sam Elliott, “The Big Lebowski”), Colt returns home to make amends while trying out for the local football team. Colt’s endearing mom Maggie (Debra Winger, “Rachel Getting Married”) also comes back into the family picture after Colt presumed her and Beau to be separated, but that they are in fact seeing each other again. While most of “The Ranch” ’s humor is crass and childish — there’s a recurring pee joke and jab at Ugg boots in the first episode “Back Where I Come From” — there are a few instances of witty dialogue, especially when it involves a cuss word or two. “The Ranch” benefits from allowing its characters to curse, a factor that obviously wouldn’t work in the sanitized confines of network and standard cable censorship. Because Netflix is a great platform to showcase TV programs with explicit content, “The Ranch” has the opportunity to be a raunchy family sitcom à la HBO’s short-lived “Lucky Louie.” Yet it still suffers from the strains of ordinary sitcom tropes, even with sitcom veterans Kutcher and Masterson at the helm of the show’s acting and executive producing. They don’t make nearly as much of an effort as Elliott, whose charismatic Southern drawl,
bushy mustache and strong emotional range are enough to make him stand out. In addition to the show’s god-awful laugh track, the comic timing of almost everyone, except Elliott, is way off, with each character spewing rote joke set ups and predictable punchline after punchline. The only hilariously down to earth line in “Back Where I Came From” comes during a nice scene between the Bennetts during a rainstorm in the end of the episode, when Maggie utters, “You know, if someone took a picture of us, you’d never know how fucked up we really were.” Even with the comedic qualities dragging the show down, “The Ranch” could be a mild success if it continues to highlight the faults of its characters and the family tensions that reside underneath the surface. Unlike a lot of Kutcher’s previous sitcom characters, his role as Colt feels more mature, with the character occasionally making dumb decisions but also taking responsibility for his actions. Despite being in his 30s and having gone to Florida State University to play as a backup quarterback, Colt isn’t back in Colorado just to try out for football, but to regain a trusting bond with Beau. If it weren’t for the talent of Kutcher, Masterson, Winger or Elliott, “The Ranch” would also have trouble finding some form of dramatic depth and seriousness. Like Colt, “The Ranch” still has some growing up to do. But with the right tools and mindset, the show has the ability to come back from its mistakes and find a way to make things right again.
WE CAN WORK WORK WORK FROM HOME. SOME OF THE TIME. Email ajtheis@umich.edu and katjacqu@umich.edu for information on applying to Daily Arts
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle DOWN 1 Stored in the hold 2 Become running mates? 3 Dancer de Mille 4 Skin bronzing from a bottle 5 “Understand?” 6 Jim of “Wide World of Sports” 7 Self-help website 8 [Don’t take me too seriously] 9 Hang loosely 10 Announcement from the foyer 11 *Temporary housing for Fido 12 Behind schedule 13 Green-eyed monster 18 “Son of Frankenstein” role 22 D.C. insider 24 No longer working: Abbr. 26 Sharpen 28 Computer invader 29 Hunter’s garb, for short 30 Thames school 31 Captain’s position
32 Opera highlight 33 *“The Court Jester” star 38 Stare rudely at 39 “He’s a priest,” not a beast, per Ogden Nash 40 Bear or Berra 45 Propecia rival 47 Shout out 48 Glorifying verse 49 Word after work or play
51 Pest control company 52 Bit of slapstick 53 Sporty Mazda 54 Cavity filler 55 Jason’s vessel 56 Half-moon tide 58 Midshipman’s sch. 61 Ex-Dodger manager Mattingly 62 __ Thai: rice noodle dish
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The United States currently incarcerates 2.2 million people, a number that has increased fivefold in the past thirty years. There 21st are currently Annual 40,000 indiExhibition viduals incarcerated in the of Art by state of MichMichigan igan. In conjunction with Prisoners a series of Until Apr. 6 lectures, art exhibitions Duderstadt and other Gallery events happening locally Free / Art for this spring Purchase through the Humanize the Numbers project, the University’s Prison Creative Arts Program’s annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners sheds light on the experience of being incarcerated and the ways in which humanity can be restored in the face of a system highly based on punishment. In working with the PCAP over the past two decades, Art Prof. Janie Paul has helped to give a creative voice to such populations often silenced by a life behind bars. She founded the PCAP Art Show with her husband Buzz Alexander in 1996. Paul said her observation of the injustice in the country’s system of incarceration, coupled with her experience and identity as a visual artist led to her involvement with PCAP. “It turned out the first year that it was so compelling that we made it an annual event,” Paul said. She collaborated with curators Sari Adelson and Charlie Michaels, a project coordinator in the Stamps School of Art & Design, Adelson said the curatorial timeline for the project is exhaustive.
Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
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ACROSS 1 Riffles (through) 6 Kitty cries 10 Like some chatter or threats 14 Birdbath buildup 15 Plant “pet” 16 Bellyache 17 *Game with a barrel-throwing gorilla 19 “Flip or Flop” cable channel 20 Dueling sword 21 Stare unsubtly 22 Slammer 23 Wreck completely 25 “Moi?” 27 __ Lingus 28 Reason for an R rating 31 “I __ thought of that” 34 Place to overnight 35 Crooner Cole 36 Stat that’s better when it’s lower 37 *Lock insert 41 Expressive rock genre 42 Architect Maya __ 43 Serengeti grazer 44 Crease-resistant fabric 46 Sewer system entry points 49 Back when 50 Alpine warble 51 Art form profiled in the documentary “Between the Folds” 55 Joint sometimes twisted 57 Fishing decoy 59 Have __: be connected 60 “Are you for __?!” 61 *Karl Marx opus 63 Motown’s Marvin 64 Prefix meaning “all” 65 Singer Baker 66 Call router: Abbr. 67 Bread served with chicken tikka masala 68 Go to pot ... or a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues
Daily Arts Writer
“The very first step is that we have to get approval from the Department of Corrections,” Adelson said. “And once we get that we send out a letter to all of the people who were in the show the year before, letting them know the show is going happen, letting them know what the theme is going to be ... (then) we contact the special activities director at each of the facilities to set up a date and time for us to physically come and visit and meet with the men or women to see their work and then make our decisions.” “The artwork then goes through a process of being photographed and matted and then installed,” Paul added. Adelson highlighted a piece called Cerca Trova, a large, colorful and detailed watercolor by a prisoner of something the inmate calls “Little Rik’s World.” Amid the chaotic narrative scenes of his artwork, he always paints himself, “Little Rik,” a small boy with a beret and a magenta crayon, into his pieces. “He’s telling a really indepth story. He uses a lot of his personal history and also cryptographs and linguistics,” Adelson said. “His work is happy, it’s humorous. It’s also sad. It’s cynical. It’s political,” she continued. Amid the hundreds of signs, buildings, humans, animals and other creations Rik has included, Adelson added that Rik even painted a cartoon of her into the painting. Although the process starts months before the show opens, the curators make the visits to 30 prisons included in the project during January and February, which Paul noted was also challenging. The group makes on average two trips to the facilities each week during the winter, with some trips to farther parts of the state taking a whole weekend. The curators also collect art from prisons in the Upper
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Peninsula, a trip that can take four or five days. “What’s challenging is that you know that, especially in the prisons that are further away from Ann Arbor that aren’t getting a lot of regular programming from us. A lot of these artists have waited an entire year to have this one five-to-ten minute conversation with you and you can feel that and I’m really aware of that going in,” Michaels said. Although visiting up to three or four facilities in a single day can be emotionally draining, Paul said is also “exhilarating and inspiring.” He pointed to a particularly impressive piece done by artist Samantha Bachynski of an anatomically correct, life-sized crocheted skeleton. He says that Bachynski wasn’t allowed to have it fully assembled in her cell and waited until all the pieces were completed to put the whole sculpture together. When he visited her, she showed him 50 pages of handwritten diagrams. The curators emphasized that face-to-face interaction with the artists is important, noting that it’s the first year that all of the prisons have allowed them to meet individually and in groups with all of the 420 artists in person, as opposed to simply collecting the art. Although many of the pieces in the exhibition reflect years of experience, most of the artists have never received formal training. In many of the facilities, though, curators said there is a culture of people educating each other and working within the limited scope of what’s available inside. One man writes letters to his mother to send him pictures of kitchen sinks or household objects he wants to paint. Another, D’Artagnan Little, created sculptures of presidents using only toilet paper, soap and pigments lifted from magazine pages. “A lot of people will say that they loved art when they were a kid,” Paul said. “They loved to draw but it never went anywhere. They didn’t get the classes; they didn’t get the support.” The exhibit tries to incorporate the artists as much as possible. The art is for sale, and the artists name their own prices. Aside from the 21 percent tax on the pieces, all proceeds go directly back to the artists. In addition, the artists designate a family member or friend to receive the art for them if it doesn’t sell. Additionally, the exhibit includes a guestbook for visitors to sign, leaving notes or feedback on the art. The entire book is then copied and sent to the artists. “The project goes on all year round because it’s very important for us to be including the artists in many ways since they can’t be here,” Paul said. “After the show is finished we make a video in which we include every piece in the show. This video includes shots of the reception and is sent to each prison where it is shown over closed-circuit TV.” Paul said one of his favorite pieces was a self-portrait titled “Orange Nation” by R. DeJesus, a man serving 60 to 100 years for distribution of crack cocaine and having trouble getting a lawyer. It depicts the straight-on view of the artist from the shoulders up in the foreground, the shadows of barbed wire crisscrossing his face. The background is filled with fellow inmates, talking and working out; one interacts with a prison guard whose face is obscured, another is elderly and in a wheelchair. If it were a photograph, DeJesus would stare directly into the camera lens, his expression somber and silent. “He’s asking us, I think, to do something about it,” Paul said.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 — 7
Michigan continues home Young ‘M’ lineup stands out success in weekend sweep in narrow loss to Terrapins
MEN’S LACROSSE
By MIKE PERSAK
Wolverines can’t overcome injuries, but freshmen flash potential By JORDAN HERBSTMAN Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men’s lacrosse team showed up to its Big Ten season-opener determined to pull off an upset against No. 5 Maryland. The Wolverines put together an impressive performance, but in the end they came up just short and lost, 8-7. Michigan (0-1 Big Ten, 3-6 overall) found itself in a tough position with its two leading offensive players out with injuries, so it turned to a younger starting lineup to battle the Terrapins (1-0, 7-2). The Wolverines started five freshmen and two seniors Saturday, compared to zero and four for Maryland, respectively With a young squad on the field, Michigan focused its effort on utilizing a combination of freshman youth and senior experience to combat the strong Maryland team. After falling behind 1-0 in the first quarter, the Wolverines turned to their seniors to get things going. Just over five minutes into the game, senior attacker Peter Kraus continued the aggressive play shown earlier by fellow senior Evan Glaser, and netted his first goal of the day to tie the game. Senior faceoff specialist Brad Lott won the following faceoff to give Michigan another
Daily Sports Writer
possession straight off the goal. Once again, the Wolverines turned to another senior in midfielder Mike Hernandez, who sniped in a shot to give Michigan a 2-1 lead. Lott played a key role in the first quarter success for Michigan by securing three of the five faceoffs, two of which came directly after goals. “I thought Brad Lott was a big part of our ability to be in the game today,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “Once we started winning faceoffs early, and once we had got some stops on defense, some guys started believing.” After allowing two quick goals in the second quarter, the Wolverines fell back on their seniors once again. Hernandez and Kraus stepped up on offense, and Kraus found the back of the net for his second goal of the day, regaining the lead for Michigan early in the second quarter. Freshman attacker Rocco Sutherland also gave the Wolverines an impressive offensive effort. After the team went up, 4-3, Sutherland was determined to maintain possession by picking up ground balls off faceoffs and collecting missed shots behind the net, allowing Michigan to keep offensive possessions alive. The Wolverines fell behind, 6-4, in the third quarter, but just as they did throughout
the first half, the shorthanded Wolverines turned to the freshmen and seniors to stop the Terrapins from widening their lead. Kraus and Sutherland fired shot after shot, but it was freshman midfielder Decker Curran who scored the first goal of the quarter for Michigan. “It’s so awesome to see so many guys step in like that,” Kraus said. “If one guy goes down, whoever it is, if it’s a freshman or senior, he’s got to step up and play his role. That’s exactly what they did today.” In the fourth quarter, Kraus got back in on the action and netted his third goal of the day, tying the game at six. “Luckily I was in the spot to get the shot off,” Kraus said. “(We) just kind of ran the offense correctly and that’s what happens.” However, a late push by Maryland was too much for the Wolverines, and they fell short by only one goal. Though it was not the result they wanted, Paul was still proud of his team and the potential the freshmen showed, as well as the poise the seniors exhibited. “We’ve been searching for the right guys, the right chemistry and the right execution, and it’s really just the next man up until we find the right group,” Paul said. “This group did a pretty commendable job.”
“It’s so awesome to see so many guys step in like that.”
In a surprisingly strong season, the No. 20 Michigan men’s tennis team has been fueled in its turnaround by consistently strong performances at home. The Wolverines have compiled a perfect 12-0 record at the Varsity Tennis Center, a record paramount to their surge into the ITA Top 25. This weekend was more of the same for Michigan (4-1 Big Ten, 15-4 overall), as it hosted Indiana (0-3 Big Ten, 4-12 overall) on Friday and Purdue (1-2 Big Ten, 12-5 overall) on Sunday. The Wolverines came out of the weekend undefeated, beating both teams, 4-1. “We’ve played well here,” said Michigan coach Adam Steinberg. “We’ve had a heavy home schedule this year, not like last year, where we were on the road a lot. I think FILE PHOTO/Daily the guys have gotten into a rhythm Myles Schalet cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Purdue on Sunday. when playing here.” The Wolverines, who have to children in the community in a and I think that all plays a factor.” dubbed their home courts “The post-match clinic. Though the home victories Slaughterhouse,” were in danger “I think it’s important that for the Wolverines have driven of having their flawless home we get a nice home base,” said them to their current place in record tarnished against Purdue. sophomore Davis Crocker. “We the standings, they will now be Despite charging to an early 3-0 have had great fans this year. The forced to get wins away from Ann lead thanks to quick wins from the fans have been awesome. Club Arbor. They will play four straight No. 6 and No. 5 players, freshman tennis has been incredible as far as conference matches on the road Myles Schalet and sophomore influencing matches, and I think before returning home to finish Davis Crocker, the Boilermakers it’s important, like with the kid’s the regular season. showed some fight by winning in clinic today, to get the community But if Michigan is able to the No. 1 singles match. Purdue involved with the tennis.” maintain its perfect home record, also prolonged other matches But while the fans are a bonus it will have already improved before finally being defeated by a for the team, it is ultimately on its disappointing seasons of No. 4 singles win from Michigan the improved play on the court the past. The Wolverines have sophomore Runhao Hua, 6-3, 4-6, and comfort with their home already beaten three ranked 6-2. surroundings that have resulted in teams at home this season. They After the match was done, Michigan’s success. beat Duke, Penn State and Tulsa, Michigan’s focus immediately “I think we have more of a who were ranked No. 25, 25 and shifted. But the shift wasn’t to its comfort level here,” Crocker said. 22 at the time, respectively. So next opponent like it normally is. “It’s easier for us to support each now, all that’s left to do is prove Instead, the Wolverines geared up other from these specific standing that Michigan can get it done on to teach the fundamentals of tennis points. We’re used to the courts, the road, too.
Isaac impresses in Spring Game Wolverines finish WOMEN’S GOLF
Redshirt junior makes case as complementary back for 2016
11th at Bryan Park By LOGAN T. HANSEN For the Daily
By JACOB GASE Daily Sports Editor
When Ty Isaac broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run against UNLV last September, it looked like he was announcing his arrival as a force to be reckoned with in the Michigan football team’s backfield. But after a two-fumble performance at Maryland two weeks later, and later an “internal matter” that led to him being temporarily left off the team’s dress list, Isaac plummeted down the depth chart. After getting just two carries each against Northwestern on Oct. 10 and Michigan State on Oct. 17, Isaac didn’t touch the ball again for the rest of the season, leaving his future in the Wolverine backfield in doubt. Fast-forward six months later, though, and the redshirt junior has burst right back into the picture. As the featured back for the Maize team in Michigan’s Spring Game on Friday night — last year’s top backs, senior De’Veon Smith and fifth-year senior Drake Johnson, both found themselves on the Blue team — Isaac picked up 10 carries and made the most of them. Early in the second quarter, after netting zero yards on his first two attempts, Isaac took a handoff at midfield for a 29-yard gain down the right sideline, setting up a 13-yard touchdown pass for the Maize team’s first score of the game. On a nearly identical play in the third quarter, Isaac broke outside again, threw a stiff arm in the secondary and picked up 30 yards to the Blue 21-yard line. Five plays later, redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Ty Isaac broke off two long runs in Michigan’s Spring Game, totaling 78 yards, most of any running back.
Speight found the end zone on a bootleg scamper that ended up being the game-winning touchdown. Isaac looked like a different player under the lights Friday, and he felt like one, too. So far this offseason, Isaac has shed 14 pounds and five percent body fat. “I feel a lot better, just all around, physically,” Isaac said. “I dropped some weight, lost some body fat and I just feel really good physically. I can play faster. ... The difference between 10 pounds or 15 pounds is huge — I could even tell during conditioning stuff.” It might be difficult to get carries in a backfield that already has a starter set in stone — after Smith picked up 753 rushing yards and six touchdowns last season, the coaching staff has made it clear that it’s his job to lose. Smith didn’t play much in the Spring Game, though,
saying he was trying to “get (his) body all the way healthy before the season.” With no other back getting more than five carries, it was Isaac’s time to shine. Lighter and faster, he showed signs of the skill set that made him a five-star Southern California recruit before he ultimately transferred to Michigan. Smith has noticed the dramatic changes in Isaac’s appearance and playing style, too. Smith’s mindset hasn’t wavered with Isaac’s resurgence — he’s dead set on keeping his job as the lead back — but he understands the benefits of a capable complementary option, and he thinks Isaac could be that player. “Ty’s 6-(foot)-3, 230 (pounds). It’s gonna be trouble for teams, with two power backs,” Smith said. “We have a stable of backs — everybody could play right now. I’ll be happy whoever’s backing me
up.” As the only running back to gain more than 11 yards on the ground — he had 78 — Isaac certainly took advantage of his opportunity Friday night. His strong performance in the Spring Game was just the culmination of an improved spring, one that had Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and fifthyear senior offensive lineman Kyle Kalis raving about his improvements over the last few weeks. Still, Isaac knows it’s going to take more than that to stay in the backfield mix in the fall. “It’s good to hear it getting noticed,” Isaac said, “but it definitely can’t be something that you hear one time and think, ‘I’m all right, I’m good, I can lay back.’ I want to continue to be like that. “Every time I come out, I want it to be noticed. I don’t have to talk about it. I’m just going to do it.”
Following a multi-week reprieve from competition, the Michigan women’s golf team teed off over the weekend at Bryan Park Golf Course in Greensboro, N.C., participating in the Bryan National Collegiate from Friday through Sunday. In the face of stiff competition — including heavyweights in No. 20 Virginia, No. 21 Florida State and No. 28 East Carolina — and some unforgiving weather, the Wolverines finished 11th as a team with a total of 926 strokes over three days and 54 holes of golf. Sophomore Kathy Lim led the way for the Wolverines, tying for eighth place individually with a career-best 224 (76-74-74) stroke total. The tally resulted in her second top-10 finish of the season. “(Kathy) came off a tough week in Arizona a couple weeks ago and she came into practice each day with a purpose, had a plan and stuck to it,” said coach Jan Dowling. “I’m really proud of her that it paid off and that she was able to be resilient. As a coaching staff, we believe in her and I hope this gives her confidence to continue believing in herself.” Lim carded the lowest totals in each round for Michigan, but she was quick to note that the course was no cakewalk. “Overall it was a tough course to deal with,” Lim said. “We were definitely disappointed with the (11th-place) finish.” Following Lim on the scorecard for the Wolverines was junior Grace Choi, who shot 232 (79-7578) and finished tied for 42nd. Senior Catherine Peters and sophomore Megan Kim both
tallied 236 (81-78-77 and 80-77-79, respectively) and finished tied for 51st, and sophomore Emily White came in at 242 (79-81-82) strokes, tying for 65th. Conditions at Bryan Park Golf Course were not ideal for the 15 squads participating in the weekend’s event. Friday’s opening 18-hole round was delayed nearly four hours due to heavy rains and thunderstorms. “We had some tough conditions to deal with this week, and our team did really well with that, actually,” Dowling said. “It was a course that’s already tough to begin with, but the rainy conditions and the 10- to 25-mileper-hour wind did not help at all.” Dowling said the team was not familiar with the Greensboro course, meaning Thursday’s practice round was extremely important for them. The competition they saw over the weekend was no stranger to them, however. “We’ve seen many of those teams throughout the whole year, which is great,” Dowling said. “You can’t get better unless you see the better teams. I know our team loves seeing that field; they’re competitors and we know that we were close to beating them if we improve our putting and a little bit of the short game.” With the 2016 Big Ten Championships (Apr. 22-24) waiting in the wings, Lim came away from the chilly rain-soaked outing with some positives as well. “This course really showed us our true weaknesses,” Lim said, “Which is perfect because we are heading to Big Tens now — basically the most important event of our season. We’re excited to work hard on our weaknesses and get better.”
“This course really showed us our true weaknesses.”
Sports
8 — Tuesday, April 5, 2016
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Reasserting their dominance
n March 25, the Michigan softball team seemed to be on its way to a routine victory over Northwestern. Fifth-year senior righthander Sara TYLER Driesenga COADY was exuding On Softball confidence in the circle, senior second baseman Sierra Romero extended her hitting streak, and freshman catcher Alex Sobczak continued to show maturity behind the plate. Then, the facade came off in the fourth inning. Sobczak struggled to keep balls in the dirt from going behind her, Driesenga gave hitters free passes to first base, and a Romero error allowed the Wildcats to score two runs. As Michigan withered, the Wildcats pounced, turning a 7-2 deficit into a 13-12 win. It stunned the Alumni Field crowd and rendered the Michigan alumni band quiet. The Wolverines collapsed. The No. 2 ranked team in the country was suddenly 0-1 in conference play. They handed a victory to Northwestern as one day of Big Ten softball left them in last place. “We just had a meltdown,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “They got momentum going their way. I thought we didn’t react well in any parts of our game. We had wild pitches, free bases and errors.” The following Saturday and Sunday brought two Wolverine wins, but did little to reassure observers of Michigan’s preeminence. The Wolverines looked vulnerable in what promised to be a stronger conference this year, with the continuing emergence of No. 22 Minnesota, No. 24 Ohio State, Indiana and Nebraska. One week later, the equation could not be more different. In three commanding wins over the Hoosiers, the Wolverines
BASEBALL
‘M’ hot ahead of midweek games By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Senior center fielder Sierra Lawrence has stolen 64 career bases, the most in Michigan history, including 12 this season.
asserted their dominance over one of the top teams in the conference. Hutchins is now the winningest coach in NCAA softball history and heads a team that is starting to look worthy of her stature. Questions surrounded Michigan heading into Bloomington, but by the time the Wolverines returned home to Ann Arbor, they were answered. They looked the part once again, both in the circle and at the plate, in the matter of one week. Romero asserted her place as the nation’s best player, hitting .875 with three homers and her first Big Ten Player of the Week honor of the season in her evergrowing trophy haul. And even outside of Romero, Michigan’s attack was wellrounded. Junior third baseman Lindsay Montemarano continued her hot streak, junior left fielder Kelly Christner worked her
way out of her slump and senior centerfielder Sierra Lawrence vaulted herself into the top spot of the program’s all-time stolen base list with 64. “We’re not afraid to swing the bat. We’ve worked on it so much, ... we all want to be great at it,” Romero said. Junior right-hander Megan Betsa, who failed to record a single out but gave up four runs in the conference opener, cruised in Saturday’s 8-0 win with nine strikeouts for her fourth complete-game shutout of the season. Driesenga, exhausted by the end of last Friday’s outing against Northwestern, looked rejuvenated, registering zero walks in nine innings of action, as she improved to 13-0 on the year. With Betsa and Driesenga mowing down Hoosier hitters with ease, Sobczak’s successful return behind the plate
may prove the most positive development going forward. Against Northwestern, Sobczak sat the series’ final two games, left to ponder the difficulties that come with playing what Hutchins routinely calls softball’s most difficult position. But in Bloomington, Sobczak regained her starting spot, played solid defense, notched two hits and gained back the trust that Hutchins endowed in her to start the season. With the catcher position in increasingly sound hands, Michigan is looking devoid of any weaknesses. From Hutchins to her players, the Wolverines outplayed Indiana and put their faults behind them. They made their coach the sport’s all-time winningest and sent an ominous warning to their Big Ten rivals that this conference is firmly in their control.
Erik Bakich refuses to look ahead. The Michigan coach preaches consistency, and to do that, a single-game perspective must be kept. That attitude Michigan at has resulted in an impressive Notre Dame record — 3-0 in Matchup: the Big Ten and Michigan 20-5 overall — 20-5; N.D. the Wolverines’ 14-11 best start When: through 25 Tuesday games since 6:05 P.M. 1987. Now Where: Frank ranked No. Eck Stadium 17 nationally, TV/Radio: Michigan will ESPN3 hope to build upon its ninegame winning streak as it faces Notre Dame and Bowling Green on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. “We go into each game knowing we’re going to play as hard as we can,” Bakich said. “We’re going to give the best effort with the best energy while executing. I think the buy-in to that type of mindset is what we’re seeing and the success is a product of that attitude that (the athletes) bring.” With seven weeks of Big Ten play ahead, it would be easy for Michigan to get wrapped up in scouting reports. But Bakich emphasizes the need to view every game as a “one-game series.” This week’s contests will be the first and only time the Wolverines will face the Fighting Irish and the Falcons. And spirits are high after Michigan’s sweep at Northwestern. Senior Matt Ramsay was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after a standout performance
in last weekend’s Big Ten series opener against Northwestern. He finished the weekend with eight runs on seven hits and garnered a team-high nine runs batted-in, something Ramsay attributes to the strength of his team. “I think we don’t really give the (opponent’s) pitching staff a time to take a breath and I think that’s remarkable,” Ramsay said. “We learned that we can take a punch and we can bounce back especially with our offensive. We learned to just have confidence.” Ramsay is the first Wolverine to be named Player of the Week, but two of his teammates have combined to win three Big Ten Pitcher of the Week awards — two for sophomore left hander Oliver Jaskie and one for junior left hander Brett Adcock. “It’s nice to get some recognition for hard work,” Bakich said. “But we’re really just focused on how we’re going to continue to move the program forward.” Notre Dame (14-11) is hosting Michigan after a three-game series against Wake Forest in which it won two of three games. The Fighting Irish are currently fourth in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coastal Conference and tied for fifth place in a league with No. 14 North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia. Bowling Green is traveling to Ann Arbor with a 11-17 record and having won its last two games, both against Toledo. But Bakich insists he doesn’t care who the Wolverines play so long as they stick to their game. “No matter who we’re playing, we’re going to do whatever we have to do in that game to come out on top,” Bakich said. “I don’t think there’s a need to say anything different. As long as we stay consistent.”
Berenson explains decision to stay Powerful offense driving Michigan BASEBALL
By KEVIN SANTO Daily Sports Writer
By ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Writer
Against Central Michigan on Tuesday, the then-No. 20 Michigan baseball team needed timely and quick baserunning to pick up the victory. But at times in the Wolverines’ three-game series against Northwestern this weekend, the batting order didn’t have to do much running at all. This was especially true for fifth-year senior left fielder Matt Ramsay, whose play last weekend warranted a selection as Big Ten Co-Player of the Week with Minnesota’s Matt Fiedler. Ramsay spent most of his time jogging around the bases in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, hitting a careerhigh three home runs in Michigan’s 12-3 victory. Prior to the series against the Wildcats (1-5 Big Ten, 7-21 overall), Michigan (3-0, 20-5) had just six home runs as a team all season. To go along with his three homers, he finished the day with five hits in six at-bats, seven runs batted-in and four runs — all single-game seasonhighs for any Wolverine batter thus far. But it wasn’t just Ramsay who was enjoying the performance. “After the second (home run) they gave me the silent treatment in the dugout,” Ramsay said. “I put my stuff down and then they mobbed me. After my third one, I was met by (Wenson) at the plate and he just said, ‘Who are you? What is going on right now?’ They were great.” Added Michigan coach Erik Bakich: “I haven’t seen a game like that since I was a player. I haven’t seen it in 20 years. It’s a memorable day and one he’ll never forget. The contributions he’s made have been outstanding.” Aside from Ramsay’s success
in the series’ second game, Northwestern also had trouble keeping him off of the basepaths in the other two games. Despite going 0-for-3 in the opener, Ramsay still managed to get on base three times as a result of two walks and a fielding error. In Sunday’s game, Ramsay remained disciplined at the plate, collecting two walks and an infield single to get him to first base three times again. Throughout the weekend, Ramsay got on base 11 times in 17 plate appearances and scored eight runs. Ramsay’s ability to get on base was crucial to setting up the middle of the order to drive in runs, namely junior catcher Harrison Wenson and junior center fielder Cody Bruder. Wenson got to showcase his power once again, going 6-for12 in the series with 10 RBI, including three extra-base hits, while Bruder had his best offensive performance of the season during Sunday’s game. Bruder went 3-for-5 and plated a game-high four RBI in the Wolverines’ 11-9 win. But Bruder was overshadowed by Ramsay’s electrifying weekend. “We didn’t let the (opposing) pitching staff take a breath, and that’s the mark of a high-quality offense,” Ramsay said. Ramsay’s career day was emblematic of Michigan’s potent offense against Northwestern, which was dominant in all facets. As a whole, the batting order combined to score 33 runs on 43 hits, 21 of which came in game two of Friday’s doubleheader. At the beginning of the season, the pitching staff had to anchor an inconsistent offense. But the Wolverines have been clicking in all phases of the game as of late, and their recent power surge on offense has carried them to its best 25-game start since 1987.
Red Berenson stood up from his chair, black coffee in hand, and headed toward the door. He cracked it open before stopping himself in the doorway, glancing back and cracking a smile. “My wife is happy,” he said. It was Berenson’s concluding statement after he spoke to the media for the first time since he announced Sunday that he would be returning as the head coach of the Michigan hockey team for the 2016-17 season. The Wolverines’ coach for the past 32 seasons explained that three factors ultimately influenced his decision to return to Yost Ice Arena. The first was the seasonending player meetings he has with each member of the team. For the first time in his coaching career, his players had to ask if he would be behind the bench for the Wolverines in the coming year. That led Berenson to the realization — if he was going to make the decision, it would be better to do it sooner rather than later so that he could be up front with his players. “(I wanted to) let them know that I’m all in if that’s a concern for them,” Berenson said. “I’d hate for a kid to leave school because I’m leaving. I don’t think it should happen, but it could happen. If that would be the tipping point … I thought that was important.” The second factor, and a critical one according to Berenson, was his conversation with Athletic Director Warde Manuel. One of Berenson’s biggest concerns was standing in the way if Manuel thought it was an appropriate time for the program to appoint a new head coach. But that prospect was far from Manuel’s mind. “He was really good and he was all for me coming back,” Berenson said. “That made me feel good, too. Not that I didn’t feel wanted. I wanted to feel like it was right for the team — from the players’ standpoint,
from our staff and from our athletic director.” And the third factor came from someone far from the annual team banquet in Ann Arbor on Sunday, where Berenson officially announced he was returning. While deciding his future, Berenson received a phone call from a former player that played on his 1996 team. The former Wolverine reminded his old coach that on that same day 20 years ago, Michigan captured its first NCAA Championship under Berenson’s command. But nostalgia didn’t bring the veteran coach back. “We had a short talk, and then he said, ‘By the way coach — I just want to let you know that changed my life, thank you for recruiting me,’ ” Berenson said. “ ‘Michigan changed my life. I’ll be forever grateful.’ “That kind of put me back — this is why you’re coaching really, is for kids like this. Right away, I thought, ‘You know what? That sounds like me.’ When I came to Michigan as a player, it changed my life. … If I’m even on the fence, I can do this for one more year and we’ll go from there.” Despite agreeing to return, Berenson has yet to sign paperwork to officially establish his contract terms. He has only agreed to continue coaching for this season, but that doesn’t mean 2016 will be a farewell tour. Berenson stated he will take it year by year, as he has in recent seasons. More than anything, the program’s patriarch simply isn’t ready to give up coaching college hockey. It’s been his passion since his inaugural year in 1984, and that flame hasn’t been extinguished yet. Berenson revealed that he had offers to leave Ann Arbor for NHL coaching opportunities in the past, but had a simple explanation for why he turned those chances down: He thinks Michigan is where he belongs. It fits, then, that Berenson’s most fulfilling life memory was not a heroic goal or win, but a moment in a Michigan
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Red Berenson will remain the head coach of the Michigan hockey team.
classroom. “Outside of after being here for a while, and winning a championship or doing this and doing that — my most fulfilling day in my hockey career was we won the Stanley Cup,” Berenson said. “They had the parade the next day. And the next day I was sitting in the business school starting on my MBA. I felt so good about that because I knew I wouldn’t be a hockey player much longer. … Was I ever glad I was gonna get my MBA. That’s how I’m wired. Not many people would point to that being their best day, but that was my best day.” Berenson has consistently been a relentless proponent of college athletes, first and foremost, receiving a degree. He admits he won’t hold players back if they’re ready for the professional level. But to him, if an athlete is talented enough, the NHL will be waiting for them after they cross a stage at graduation. After all, he marked adding credibility to college hockey as his greatest success as a player and a coach. When he suited up
for the Wolverines as a player, he was told if he went to college, he wouldn’t make it to the NHL. Yet he proved those people wrong, playing professionally for 17 seasons. Even when he returned to coach at Michigan, not much had changed. People still said if players went to college, they wouldn’t be drafted. But Berenson helped pioneer a new path. Gradually, the narrative changed. First, it changed to, “If you go to college you won’t be drafted as high.” Eventually, though, it became an option for someone with the dreams of playing in the NHL to add a college degree to their resume, too. “I’ve always been big on life after hockey,” Berenson said. “I was kind of brainwashed that way from when I was young. I met these former pros and they said, ‘Go to school kid, don’t be a hockey bum like me.’ That really connected with me.” Now, Berenson has at least another year to instill the same values he always has. He doesn’t have a life after hockey. Not yet, anyway.