ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, April 12, 2016
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Memorial recognizes
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‘U’ students HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Friends, family members offer remarks on campus impact, legacy
LSA sophomore Anna Giacomini and LSA freshman Nathan Wilson host the Mental Health Speakout in the Michigan League Monday.
Experiences with mental health highlighted at event Over 60 share stories at speak out hosted by LSA Student Government
the Michigan League Monday night to tell stories, share experiences and support one another during a mental health speak out sponsored by LSA Student Government. The event came at a time when student demand for mental health resources is on the rise — the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services reported a 17-percent increase in demand for counseling service in 2014-
By ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
More than 60 University of Michigan students gathered in the Vandenberg Room of
2015, more than four times its expected increase. The CAPS report specifies the top five student-identified mental health concerns as anxiety, depression, self-esteem, academic problems and relationship difficulties. During Tuesday’s event, speakers shared their history of dealing with mental illness throughout college and the stigmas they encountered. LSA sophomore Anna
Giacomini, former vice chair of the health committee for LSA student government who helped organize the event, said it was based off a January speak out against Islamophobia and aimed to raise awareness and initiate further discussion about mental health on campus. “We wanted to host an event that provided a safe space and a safe environment for people to talk about mental health See SPEAK OUT, Page 3
By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
The sixth annual Campus Memorial Service — hosted by the Division of Student Life and the Association of Religious Counselors — honored three students who passed away during the academic year with more than 100 students filling the Vandenberg Room in the Michigan League Monday afternoon. The service honored Engineering freshman Tyler Barthel and LSA seniors Joshua Brigham and Benjamin Moray. In her remarks during the event, Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones said the memorial was an opportunity for the entire community to come together to ref lect on how
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SACUA raises questions on grievance rules Faculty body tells Provost Pollack current misconduct policies are vague By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs heard remarks from University of Michigan Provost Martha Pollack and University Enrollment Manager Kedra Ishop during their meeting Monday. After hearing updates from Pollack on the progress of searches for several dean positions, SACUA asked questions of Pollack about the Standards Practice Guide. The SPG is a set of policies and procedures that apply to all University staff and faculty. The Office of Institutional Equity oversees these policies and sanctions. Within the SPG, SACUA has been discussing over the past year the current grievance policy determines by OIE in the case of sexual harassment charges against faculty. At a February meeting, SACUA Chair Silke-Maria Weineck, prof. of comparative literature, said the grievance policy is currently unclear and requires clarification. During Monday’s meeting, Weineck emphasized that the current policy is overly vague and makes it easy for faculty
WEATHER TOMORROW
to be accused of not following the policies. “We’re worried because you could argue that any behavior could violate the SPG,” Weineck said. In its meeting last month, SACUA compared faculty policies on sexual misconduct to the newly released updated sexual misconduct policy for students, which allows students to file grievances on findings of sexual misconduct. Under current policies, University faculty may file grievances against sanctions but not against findings on cases of misconduct. Pollack declined to discuss SACUA’s requests at the meeting and did not comment on the vagueness of the guide, though she noted she was open to conversation in the future. Pollack also said the University wanted to see the student policy roll out before considering a change to the current faculty process. In September, Pollack saidseveral changes had been made to how grievances function for faculty — including a second step in the process and a standardized e-mail template — in response to a SACUA request. “There’s too many moving parts,” Pollack said. “I want to see student policy put in place, and then I am willing to entertain consideration of what we might do for faculty. But I have not had time to entertain and consider what See SACUA, Page 3
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the students impacted those around them and to support one another in a time of loss. “This is a time to come together to remember and to share,” she said. “A time to grieve collectively as a community. The loss of your sons, brothers, loved ones, advisees, students and friends has impacted and forever altered our campus community.” Prior to the service, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel met with family members and friends of the students. He did not attend the memorial itself. Following her opening remarks, Jones read descriptions of the accomplishments of each of the students as a community member and placed a yellow rose next to their photograph in remembrance. Friends and family members of each of the three students offered words of tribute after a musical interlude and See MEMORIAL, Page 3
Accounting prof. chosen for Golden Apple award Students say Ryan Ball’s teaching prepares them for life outside the classroom By NEIL SCHWARTZ Daily Staff Reporter
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, LSA sophomore Christy Finkenstadet, Kevin Graffagnino, director of William Clements Library and Chairman Peter Heydon cut the ribbon to reopen the William Clements Library Monday.
Clements Library reopens after extensive renovations In remarks at ceremony, Schlissel notes importance of research preservation By CALEB CHADWELL Daily Staff Reporter
After being closed for more than two years during a $17 million renovation, the William Clements Library officially re-opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday. The new library, located on South University Ave, includes a structural
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addition of a 3,000-squarefoot underground space for rare document preservation beneath the library’s front lawn. Other updates to the building include a new digitization lab, a relocation of the reading room to the main floor, a redone basement office space for library staffers and a basement space for lectures and presentations. Additionally, the library’s security, climate control, electrical systems and plumbing were updated. University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel gave remarks at the ribbon
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cutting ceremony, speaking on the library’s steps about its unparalleled opportunity for education and research. “The Clements is one of the premier depositories of American history in the entire world,” Schlissel said. “It provides an advantage to the University of Michigan that very few can claim; having access to the materials that we have here leads to a superior learning and research experience.” The library was built in 1923 by William Clements, a University alum who served as a regent from 1909 to 1933. See CLEMENTS, Page 2
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Ryan Ball, assistant professor of accounting at the Ross School of Business, is the 2016 recipient of the Golden Apple Award. Created in 1991, the Golden Apple Award seeks to honor teachers who consistently teach every lecture as if it were their last. As a part of the award, each recipient is invited to speak to the University of Michigan on a topic that they would choose as their “last lecture.” LSA sophomore John Petrie, who serves on the Golden Apple selection committee that determines the winner each year, said Ball’s nomination was a standout among the approximately 1,000 votes the committee received this year from students. “This year it was an easy one,” Petrie said. “Because when you have a record-breaking number of nominations (for Ball), many of which are heartfelt and lengthy, it’s not too difficult of a selection to make.” Petrie emphasized the comprehensive selection process that goes beyond just the quantity of votes each nominee receives from students. “There’s not a rigid criteria See AWARD, Page 3
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and there’s so many organizations fundraising, so we’re constantly coming up with new ideas, whether Phi Delta Epsilon and EkoAmazon “(The chapter president) learned it’s small ones like bake sales or our student convention we had a couple fundraised near the posting wall in all these great fundraising ideas and Mason Hall yesterday for seperate they even met a few of the kids and of months ago, where we brought in nonprofits. saw where our money goes,” Martin some guest speakers.” Pre-medical fraternity Phi Delta said. “They had such powerful stories The University of Michigan’s Epsilon sold Krispy Kreme doughnuts and she came back and shared them chapter of EkoAmazon, a larger in Mason Hall for the Children’s with us. We’re just picking up more nonprofit organization that promotes Miracle Network, an organization fundraisers so that hopefully we can health care sustainability through that raises money for local children’s give more money to our foundation.” education in Peru and villages across the Amazon River, also tabled near the hospitals. Martin noted the group has LSA sophomore Heather Martin encountered some difficulties because posting wall to raise funds for a trip to said Phi Delta Epsilon primarily they are a new student organization. Peru this summer and next year. fundraises for CMN. She added that “Our last founding member is LSA freshman Anu RoyPhi Delta Epsilon’s president recently graduating this year, so we’re about Chaudhary said because their organization has only existed for one attended CMN’s national convention four or five years old,” she said. “We in Florida and found it to be a positive have been fundraising in the past, year, they were not able to take any experience. but it’s a slow process getting started, of their members on the alternative
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feature lectures such as “Becoming cow/becoming horse” and “Animal Language as Prosthesis.” WHO: Comparative Literature WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. WHERE: Tisch Hall, 2021
WHAT: The University of Michigan dining halls will be hosting an annual grilled cheese day in celebration the holiday. WHO: Michigan Dining WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: All dining halls
Ageism and society lecture
Internet culture speech
Engineering sophomore Pearce Reickert performs with the Smile Bringer Singers for Goodness Day on the Diag Monday.
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Goldman Sachs settled to pay $5.06 billion to Illinois, New York, Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Seattle, as well as the National Credit Union Administartion, Reuters reported. The Department of Justice said the decision came after an evaluation of the company’s practices between 2005 and 2007.
Digital Futures Lecture Series, author Geert Lovink will discuss Internet culture in the postSnowden era and online subcultures. WHO: School of Information WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: North Quad, Ehrlicher Room
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Sketch comedy show MadTV will return to television on The CW after nine years offair, Deadline reported. The show originally called Fox home for 14 years and won several Emmys for its cast and writing. Comedians such as duo Key & Peele and “Family Guy” actor Alex Borstein found success on the show.
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Spring Break trip offered by their national organization. Roy-Chaudhary added that the ASB trip, as well as summer expeditions that are offered, allow students to volunteer in different villages along the Amazon. “They get you to interact with the kids; you teach and you also help with sustainability — so bringing water filters down and things like that,” Roy-Chaudhary said. “There’s a huge disparity in water allocation and clean water in Peru.” Roy-Chaudhary said she had taken a trip to Peru during her junior year of high school and was inspired to join EkoAmazon because of her experiences. — TANYA MADHANI
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A newly discovered original of 16th-century Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio may have been found in a French attic, Bloomberg reported. The painting, titled “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” depicts Judith cutting the head of a general and was painted between 1600 and 1610.
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Fraternity-hosted event donates funds to Mott Children’s Hospital Alpha Epsilon Pi hosts performance featuring comedy sketches By EMMA PERPICH For the Daily
The Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre was filled with glow sticks, glow in the dark juggling and the laughs of more than 300 community members at the comedy show and charity benefit “Laughter is the Cure,” hosted by Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity Tuesday. “Laughter is the Cure” is a comedy tour group whose performances feature stand up comedy, video skits and juggling performances. Funds raised at the Syndication performances go toward the Sudoku C.S. Mott Children’s hospital. Michigan State University
student Sam Silverstein, who created “Laughter is the Cure,” did much of the comedy alongside friend Nick Tangalia, a Berkeley resident. The two comedians said “Laughters is the Cure” performances allow the audience a night of laughter, while giving back to the children at Mott. ”It was a way to do something greater with comedy, a way to do something better for the world while getting our names out there,” Silverstein said. The two are both relatively new to performing, and said they use the shows as a chance to gain some recognition while also benefitting a greater purpose. “It’s a ‘you scratch our back, we scratch yours’ kind of deal,” Tangalia said. The comedy duo has performed at Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University and other comedy clubs in Michigan. This was their first show at the University of
Michigan. As a visiting Spartan, Silverstein opened with a few jokes to ease the tension between the two rival schools. “You guys have a business school called Ross — I have a drug dealer named Ross who I do business with,” he said. He also found common ground between the two schools when he had the whole audience scream an epithet against Ohio State University. Along with stand-up comedy routines, the performers also used glow in the dark juggling, morphsuits and Neil Diamond sing-alongs to entertain the audience. Education junior Sammy Dean, a longtime friend of Silverstein who attended Tuesday’s show, said he’s been impressed with the success of “Laughter is the Cure.” RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily “I remember when he firsthttp://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Comedian Sam Silverstein during his show “Laughter is the Cure to Life” in the Michigan League on Monday. got started with everything — I didn’t know how it would turn would be going toward benefiting and lobby donations, at the show in the southeastern Michigan out and it was unbelievable,” children in need. to benefit the children’s hospital. area, and said they’re looking to Dean said. “He is just so funny “It was great to see (Silverstein) The proceeds will go toward toys, expand their tour in upcoming and so talented.” and the others doing things that games and other entertainment shows to other universities like Engineering sophomore they love and also doing it for a to make a patient’s hospital stay OSU. Justin Rogers said he both great cause,” Rogers said. more comfortable. “We want to keep the focus on HARD enjoyed the show and Silverstein said they raised a Moving forward, the duo has helping children, on bringing fun appreciated that the funds total of $4,500, not including tips a few more shows on schedule to the kids,” Silverstein said.
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Over the years, the collection has since expanded to include over 80,000 books, letters written by George Washington and Christopher Columbus, as well as maps of the Americas from the 15th through 19th centuries. “Our mission is collecting, preserving and making available for research original primary sources on American history from 1492 through the 19th century,” said Clements Library Director Kevin Graffagnino at the ceremony. © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com Schlissel joked that he was grateful that the noise that came with the library’s
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renovation was finally complete, given the proximity of the president’s house to the construction site. “I live right next door, so, as any neighbor would say, I’m actually delighted that the construction part of this is done,” Schlissel said. LSA sophomore Christy Finkenstaedt, William Clement’s great-greatgranddaughter, said Clement’s contribution to the University in 1923 continues to have an impact today. “Today, with the dedication of this expanded space, the inspiration contained in the collections will continue to be accessible to many future generations of students and historians,” Finkenstaedt said.
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Following the ribbon cutting, Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book division at the Library of Congress, gave an address at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, stressing the importance of libraries such as Clements in preserving original documents. “We must remember that even ordinary objects allow us insight into the emotional and intellectual experiences of those who lived with them, providing visible, tangible links to an otherwise unrecoverable past,” Dimunation said. Dimunation also said the new digitization lab in Clements will allow the past to be better preserved and accessible. Engineering sophomore Javier Taylor said he had always
been curious about the library, and was walking by Tuesday when he noticed it was the re-opening. “I’ve always walked by the library, but for as long as I’ve been here it’s been closed,” Taylor said. “I honestly didn’t know much about it before, but it seems like a very cool place.” Taylor added that he will utilize the Friday hours when the library is open to the public, saying it could potentially be a good alternative to the louder atmosphere of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. Starting this week, the library will be open for research Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.
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Deaths tied to Legionnaires’ disease grows to 12 in Flint area State health officials added two more counts to the number of deaths associated with Legionnaires’ disease — a severe form of pneumonia — in the Flint area, bringing the total to 12, the Detroit Free Press reported. During a 17-month period in 2014 and 2015 there were 91 confirmed cases in Genesee County where Flint is located. In previous years, six to 13 cases generally would be confirmed each year. The outbreak has not been definitively linked to the water crisis in the area, but the increase in instances of the illness began after Flint switched its water supply to the Flint River in 2014. Investigators have been looking at potential exposure sites including hospitals, water and community venues. McLaren Flint — an area hospital — tested for the Legionella bacteria in 2014 while there was an increase in concern over the number of cases and the safety of the water supply. The hospital found low levels of the bacteria, but officials said they responded rapidly with preventative measures. The hospital and several current and former employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are being sued by families who suffered or died from the disease.
Michigan nuclear plant cleans up following oil spill There was an investigation into and a cleanup of an oil spill at a southwest Michigan nuclear plant on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported. The spill occurred at the D.C. Cook nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan after a transformer failure resulted in approximately 25,000 gallons of oil being released. Most of the oil released was contained by a protective berm surrounding the transfomer, but approximately 2,000 gallons escaped to spill onto the ground outside of it. However, there is no current radioactive threat. Oil did not reach the nearby drains or Lake Michigan, so the cleanup is limited to the soil, where the oil will need to be recaptured. The cause of the failure is currently under investigation. The transformer in question is relatively new, so it is unknown why it broke down. The plant has an additional transformer unit, so it will remain operational.
‘U’ to co-sponsor annual e-waste recycling event The University will host a three-day e-waste recycling event in coordination with Ann Arbor Public Schools, working toward campus sustainability goals that focus on engaging the community, according to a press release. As a part of the event, the University will accept electronics such as laptop and desktop computers, tablets, cellular phones and audio and video equipment to be recycled. The event will be open to the public, local businesses and nonprofit organizations. E-waste is currently the fastest growing municipal waste stream in the country. Rapid techonology changes and falling prices have caused surplus waste as individuals quickly switch to new devices, according to the release. Electronics often contain toxic materials, which can leak into ground water resulting in pollution. Proper recycling of technology can curb this risk. —LYDIA MURRAY
SACUA From Page 1 we could do with faculty.” Pollack added that faculty sexual harassment policies are much more complex than student policies. “You can’t just cut and paste because student issues usually don’t have a power imbalance for the most part,” Pollack said. “Technically, faculty are employees so there are a whole bunch of different laws.” In a recent interview with The Michigan Daily, Pollack said Weineck and SACUA were aware the University intended to focus on student sexual misconduct policies before revising policies for faculty and other employees. “I have said to SACUA all along — and Silke knows this, she’s on board with this — that we were updating the student sexual misconduct policy, and when that was done, we would revisit the appealing processes for faculty,” she said. During the interview, Pollack declined to discuss what processes for amending current policies for faculty and staff would entail. SACUA also raised questions about a possible social media policy for faculty during their conversation with Pollack. The University does not currently have a social media policy for
SPEAK OUT From Page 1 and stop the stigma that mental health issues are a bad thing,” Giacomini said. “Because a lot of people suffer from them.” Giacomini noted that she and other student government students are also currently working on initiatives to get CAPS extended to North Campus. She also stressed that given the prevalence of mental health issues on campus, it’s important for students to know they are not alone and have a large student support system available.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016 — 3
faculty to follow. Pollack said she would consider the idea, though she noted many issues stemming from social media could apply to other policies. “You could imagine cases that could fall under other policies,” Pollack said. “For example, if you were threatening a student directly, that would fall under another category.” John Lehmanm SACUA member and Professor of Biology, said governing OIE and SPG go hand-in-hand and said administration should address the issues together. “There’s going to have to be some dovetailing of SPG and OIE discussions,” Lehman said. The committee also addressed recent antiIslam chalkings on the Diag which University President Mark Schlissel and Central Student Government President Cooper KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily Charlton responded to in a SACUA Chair Silke-Maria Weineck, professor of comparative literature, discusses the effectiveness of the administration’s University-wide e-mail last reactions to recent Diag chalkings in the Fleming Building Monday. week. “You have to respect free largely about admissions, as done at a committee level about accepted are committing to the speech no matter how heinous, well explained how faculty is helping us make decisions about University. and also be respectful of the involved in admissions. She students we admit,” Ishop said. “What you would have seen fact some students feel very, also addressed financial aid, During her remarks, Ishop prior to the last couple years very hurt,” Pollack said. diversity on campus and how highlighted how the University was a little bit of a decline,” Ishop, SACUA’s other guest, each of the schools differ in has increased its yield over Ishop said. “What we’ve seen the enrollment manager at the admissions processes. the last year — meaning a in the last two years is a steady University answered questions “The faculty engagement is higher number of the students uptake.”
LSA freshman Michael Sacchetti, current chair of the health committee, said the event was meant to create a welcoming environment for students battling mental health issues. “It’s really important especially to make it aware that students do battle mental health issues on campus,” Sacchetti said. At the event, many students were hesitant to share their stories at first, but eventually one by one — even those who said initially they were not planning to speak — shared stories expressing the need for compassion, awareness, and
increased resources for those with mental health issues. In her remarks, LSA sophomore Lauren Matson expressed frustration with the University’s response to student demands for more resources, though she also acknowledged the work administrators are doing in an interview after the speak out. “Mental health stigma on this campus and on any college campus is so prevalent,” Matson said. “And, because it has been something that I have been constantly dealing with, I really wanted to come and just encourage others that they’re not alone in this.”
Marjorie Horton, LSA assistant dean for undergraduate education, said she attended the event because she believes faculty support was crucial to supporting students with mental health problems. “The event was really valuable both in terms of giving students a safe space to share their stories and also inform other students here about the range of resources and how important it is to support friends who are suffering from mental health concerns,” Horton said. LSA senior Marlee Beckering, who also attended the event, is a part of the
MEMORIAL From Page 1
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Accounting Prof. Ryan Ball discusses winning the 2016 Golden Apple award in his office at the Ross School of Business Sunday.
AWARD From Page 1 as to how the selection goes,” Petrie said. “Some years there’s going to be the person who has the most in number as far as nominations. And some years it’s not, because there are going to be some comments that seem very heartfelt and long.” Originally an engineer by trade, Ball said credited his success as a professor to his wife’s decision to return to school and his accounting professor who drove him to enroll in MBA and Ph.D. programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “In my first accounting class I took, my instructor made a blanket offer to the class,” Ball said. “And he said, ‘Hey, there’s a real shortage of accounting in academics. I would like any of you to come talk to me about a Ph.D.’ So I took him up on the offer and the rest is history.” Speaking to his decision to transition from engineering to business, Ball highlighted the human interaction aspect of business that may not be as large a part of engineering. “Engineering tends to be focused on the known aspect, you design stuff the way you know it,” Ball said. “Whereas in business it’s about human interactions with real financial
models and financial markets. It’s got a little bit of everything having to do with the human race.” Concerning the classroom, Ball said he likes to bring a sense of importance, energy and compassion to both his work and interactions with students. “It’s about bringing energy and enthusiasm and just a little bit of compassion and caring to the classroom that I think goes a heck of a long way,” Ball said. “I think that’s important in today’s environment where business schools are always at the leading edge of innovation.” Attesting to these qualities, Business master’s student Celia Boren, one of Ball’s accounting students, said she enjoys the way Ball makes more convoluted material become straightforward. “He makes the topic (of accounting) extremely approachable,” Boren said. “And something that is complex makes sense to people with a wide variety of experiences.” Ball also cited taking feedback seriously as a vital part of classroom learning. To demonstrate his commitment to it, he asks students to voice that feedback through his own form at the start of the semester. “I distribute my own,
personal mid-course feedback form three weeks in,” he said. “And a lot of time, there are things in there that I can do to change (the class).” Through placing importance on hearing what his students have to say about, Ball said he strives to create a unique dynamic in each of his classes. “Every class is different, so every class requires a different approach,” Ball said. “It’s not that I’m trying to find the one size fits all. What works for one class may not work for next year’s class. It’s always about adjusting and adapting.” Business master’s student Abbey Maglaris, another of Ball’s accounting students, said she now feels more confident in applying accounting material to real life situations. “I think Ryan and his class have given me the ability and the confidence to understand what’s in the content,” Maglaris said. “(I) feel comfortable looking at it on my own or taking a stab at interpreting something that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing before.” Maglaris and Boren both compared Ball to a dolphin, saying he is fluid, energetic, intelligent and very approachable. “He sets the bar high,” Boren said. “But he also never doubts that you can get there.”
the recital of the Litany of Remembrance. Brigham was a member of Chi Phi fraternity who, Jones said, dreamed of graduating from the University with a degree in psychology. She said he wanted to use his degree to work with children, which was one of his greatest passions as a Special Olympics coach. Michelle Leiterman, Brigham’s mother, spoke about her son, recalling his great love for the University. She pointed to the maize and blue tie he was photographed in that had been passed down from his greatgrandfather, and said the day he was accepted to the University was the happiest day of his life. She said the only aspect of Brigham greater than his kindness was his smile. “The only thing bigger than Joshua’s heart was that grin he always wore,” she said. “Looking back it really is a rare photo where he wasn’t smiling.” Jones said Barthel’s professors characterized him as an eager and talented student, noting his passion for robotics and computer science, and that he was a dedicated volunteer at his church. Angela Farrehi, director of the Office of Student Support and Accountability, spoke about Barthel by reading an excerpt from his admission essay for the College of Engineering. Barthel wrote he felt most at peace when using his computer, as it gave him access to countless possibilities. “My desktop is a window into the larger world,” he wrote.
“Help CAPS Catch Up” project, an initiative centered around collecting names from students to later use in letters to administrators regarding requests for increased mental health resources on campus. Beckering said the largest demand “Help CAPS Catch Up” is pursuing is to increase the budget for CAPS, echoing some of the concerns of speak out participants. “(We will be) asking for specific things that we want to see enacted on campus in terms of mental health resources,” Beckering said. “Right now, we are not covering the entirety of our campus.”
“There is nowhere that I feel more content than siting at my computer. When I’m sitting at my computer I can do all sorts of work. I can also have a limitless source of entertainment.” Moray was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon — prior to its disbandment — who was studying screen arts and culture. Jones said he dreamed of one day graduating and rising to the top of the entertainment industry. Business senior Anthony Clewlow spoke about Moray, who was his fraternity brother and roommate. He said Moray was one of the happiest people he knew and had more friends than he could count. Moray was the pledge-class president for Sigma Alpha Epsilon their freshman year. Clewlow said Moray’s confidence and fearless leadership created a strong bond within their pledge class. “Although he only lived a short 22 years, he did more than most people do in a lifetime,” he said. “As a leader he was fearless and above all confident. He turned a random group of 20 guys into friends.” Both Barthel and Moray will be awarded posthumous degrees during the upcoming spring commencement. LSA junior Joel Battsek, a friend of Moray, said he appreciated the University hosting the event to create a space for the community to come together to remember those who have left it. “I think it was really nice that they do this for you,” he said. “It was really touching to hear from everyone, and it’s very important to ref lect not just in the moment but at a later date.”
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Opinion
4 — Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Israel’s punitive home demolitions
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Enhancing course evaluations
E
very semester, I spend hours researching classes and professors before registering for the upcoming term. I read course guide descriptions and old syllabi, talk to friends or alumni who’ve taken the classes I’m considering, scroll through the lists of best and worst classes maintained by several student organizations I’m part of, read reviews of VICTORIA the professors and classes NOBLE I’m considering on Rate My Professors, and ask favorite professors for their opinions on courses and colleagues in their department. But information about some classes is hard to come by. For small classes or those with highly specific subject matter, I often find myself relying on the opinions of one or two people, which can cause problems because it’s almost impossible to tell whether those few students have given me a picture of the class or if they represent the minorities at either end of the spectrum who either loved or hated the class. In other words, do they fall in the red, yellow or green zones of this hypothetical bell chart about a hypothetical class that does not exist? There is, of course, a fairly simple way to solve this problem — make course information available for every class. In late March, the University of Michigan released Academic Reporting Tools 2.0, a new tool for students that does just that. Well … kind of. ART 2.0 provides basic information about the major, year and school distributions, as well as the pre-, co- and post-enrollment data of every student who’s taken the class in the past five years. It also gives their aggregated course evaluation responses to at least two questions: Their desire to take the course and whether or not they learned a lot from the course. For some courses, the site also provides information on whether students thought the class had a heavy workload. The University has been using ART internally since 2006, but, for the first time, in March 2016, they made certain data available to students. Releasing course evaluation data has been extremely controversial among faculty: The Faculty Senate voted in the fall to suspend releasing the information to students until it could draft policies to govern the information. Physics Prof. Gus Evrard, who leads the ART 2.0 project, told the Daily, “Originally, we had some ideas of showing more information, and then in consulting with faculty colleagues we decided to step back … there were some trade-offs that we needed to make in order to get here.” Despite the fact that access to any course evaluation data at all is a win for students — who pay to take these classes — the limited amount of information available through ART 2.0 substantially undercuts the site’s utility. The course evaluation data provided on ART 2.0 is exclusively quantitative and never provides information on specific professors — just classes. The site includes aggregated answers to just two of the four questions asked on all evaluations. Strikingly, the omitted questions are the ones that ask students to indicate the degree to which they agree with the statements: “Overall, this was an excellent course” and “overall, the instructor was an excellent teacher.” The site only reports the percentages of students who “had a strong desire to take this course” and “learned a great deal” from this course. The site only provides one metric that assesses the quality of a course: The percentage of students who polled that they either “agree” or “strongly agree” that they “learned a great deal” from the course. For one thing, I’m not sure that I’ve ever not responded that I “learned a great deal” from a class on a course evaluation, partly because it’s a pretty vague, broad question. Even if a professor graded unfairly, almost never engaged with students and aimlessly rambled during lectures, I think it would be hard not to learn a great deal from a course, as long as my prior exposure to the material was limited and I completed a majority of the required work. I could probably “learn a great deal” from a class just by doing the assigned readings and studying for the exams. But, because “learned a great deal” is not
defined in course evaluation questionnaires, other students may interpret that question differently. Some may respond according to whether they learned a great deal relative to what they learned from other courses. Still, others may give unfavorable answers if they disliked a class’s professor, even if they really did “learn a great deal.” Some students may associate learning with work and mark that they learned a great deal even if they really didn’t, just because the class kept them busy. Because it’s the only metric of its kind reported on ART 2.0, it’s almost impossible to infer what students really meant by their answers. Qualitative data, like students’ comments to written course evaluation questions, would serve as a far better indicator of course quality. Written comments and course reviews would provide a more complete picture of what students did or didn’t like about a class, and why. Students have different preferences and learn differently. A lecture style that allows 85 percent of students to “learn a great deal” from a course might pose a huge barrier to learning for some students. That would be helpful to know before signing up to take the class. The idea that qualitative information would be more useful for students is supported by the fact that — at least according to the survey I unscientifically conducted with 63 University undergraduates — students already express a preference for qualitative information about courses and professors. Thirty-three percent of people surveyed responded that they are most likely to seek information about a class (or a class’s professor) from peers, older students or alumni, while 57 percent primarily use Rate My Professors, a site that offers both numerical rankings and scores on professor quality and written reviews about professors and classes. Given that ART 2.0 went live less than two weeks before I distributed the survey, I did not include it as an answer choice. Eighty-four percent of students said they primarily use qualitative information like reviews when using sites like Rate My Professors. Students who talk to peers, older students or alumni about courses are almost certainly going to get qualitative information like a friend’s description of his or her experience with a class or professor. This speaks to the main concern I have with the new ART 2.0 site: By only providing quantitative data — and not student comments about teaching quality or course material — the site fails to provide students with the information that they find most useful to their decision-making process. There are, however, certain circumstances under which purely quantitative data could be useful — for example, for students selecting a required class taught by several different professors during the same term. In this scenario, rankings of different sections taught by different professors may facilitate easier comparison. However, because ART 2.0 doesn’t provide data by professor, it’s not even possible to see whether more students “learned a great deal” in Mitchell Dudley’s or Justin Wolfers’ section of Econ 101. I understand that professors would be hesitant to support a website that makes it clear that, of all the professors who have taught sections of a class in the past five years, their students ranked them the lowest. But professors can’t prevent students from making enrollment decisions based on professors’ reputations among students. Given that many students will be able to find information about instructor quality by talking to older students or clicking through Rate My Professors, it seems that preventing students from accessing course evaluation data on teacher performance only lessens the chance that students’ enrollment decisions will be based on a representative sample of student opinion. By incorporating more qualitative information and aggregating more information than exists through current sources, ART 2.0 could prove incredibly useful to students. The University has indicated that the user feedback is likely to shape future iterations of the site. I’ve used the site, and the main suggestion I have for its developers is simple: Provide students with the information most likely to help them make the best course decisions possible. Besides, wasn’t that supposed to be their goal in the first place? — Victoria Noble can be reached at vjnoble@umich.edu.
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“S
o the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham
remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? … Far be it from ZAK you to do such a thing, to slay the WITUS righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?’ ” — Genesis 19:22-25 One person should not be punished for the acts committed by another. Most people, regardless of whether they abide by the moral codes of the Abrahamic religions, probably agree with this basic moral principle and therefore exclude collective punishment from their conceptions of justice. Unfortunately, the Jewish state, the Judge of all between the Jordan and the Sea, has regularly imposed collective punishment on the Palestinians. We could cite many examples, from the killing of more than 50 inhabitants of the Palestinian village of Qibya in October 1953 to the two major Israeli assaults on Gaza since my Bar Mitzvah, in 2008 and 2014. But the example that I want to highlight here is Israel’s policy of punitive home demolitions, whereby the Israeli military, the Israeli Defense Forces, demolishes the homes of Palestinians suspected of crimes against Israelis. The IDF began demolishing Palestinian homes as punishment in 1967, when Israel first occupied the West Bank and Gaza. By the outbreak of the first intifada (i.e., Palestinian uprising) in December 1987, the IDF had demolished almost 1,400 housing units. During the first intifada, Israel increased the rate of punitive home demolition, destroying 431 housing units as punishment in just four years. From October 2001 to November 2004, during the second intifada, also known as the al-Aqsa intifada, Israel demolished 628 housing units. These 628 units were demolished because of the acts of 333 Palestinians, but they were the homes of almost 4,000 people. Roughly half of the homes demolished were never home to a Palestinian suspected of attacks against Israelis. According to the Israeli human rights nongovernmental organization B’Tselem, in only 3 percent of cases did the IDF give the occupants prior
notification before demolishing their homes. To its credit, the IDF temporarily stopped demolishing homes as punishment in 2005 after an Israeli government report found that it rarely worked as a deterrent for terrorism — the avowed purpose of the program — and instead only further inflamed hostility. However, the memory of its own governmental report apparently faded, as in 2009 the IDF sealed two housing units and demolished another in East Jerusalem, causing 28 people to lose their homes. Since the summer of 2014, after three yeshiva students were abducted and killed, the Israeli government officially decided to re-implement the ineffective policy. In July 2014, the IDF demolished the homes of two Hamas men suspected of carrying out the attacks, leaving eight people homeless, including four children. By year’s end, the IDF had demolished four homes, leaving 27 people homeless, including 13 minors. In 2015, 11 apartments were demolished by official order, rendering an additional 14 nearby apartments uninhabitable, leaving 85 people homeless, including 43 minors. Since last October, the IDF has demolished and fully or partially sealed 36 homes. Just last week, the IDF demolished four families’ homes, punishing 28 people, including six minors, for the actions of three Palestinians, who were already dead at the time of the demolitions. Please pause to reflect on these numbers. How does Israel justify its return to this policy? In November 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to demolish the homes of more families of east Jerusalem attackers. He said, “We have nothing against the residents of eastern Jerusalem, but we will not tolerate attacks on our citizens and we will act against those who do these things and against those engaged in incitement … With a determined and vigorous hand, we will restore security to Jerusalem.” That same week, the IDF released this statement: “The destruction of terrorists’ homes sends a sharp, clear message to those who wish to harm Israeli civilians and security forces, that terrorism and causing harm to innocents carries with it a heavy price.” A moment’s reflection reveals how these justifications are totally bankrupt. Rarely do these home demolitions amount to acting directly against those who attack Israelis, because typically the assailants aren’t living in the homes at the time of demolition, as
Netanyahu is no doubt well aware. Furthermore, home demolition itself, the “heavy price” imposed by the IDF for terrorism and causing harm to innocents, amounts to terrorism and causing harm to innocents. Hence Israel cannot pretend to hold the moral high ground over Palestinians terrorists when it, too, engages in terrorism and harms innocents. Aside from transgressing conventional morality, Israel’s policy of punitive home demolition violates international law (see here, under the headings “war crime,” “collective punishment” and “denying the right to due process” for further discussion). The United States, for our part, supports Israel as it runs afoul of international law, to the tune of billions of dollars in annual aid. So long as the United States continues to support Israel, you and I, insofar as we pay our taxes, bear personal responsibility for these illegal and immoral punitive home demolitions. Lastly, a personal note: As a Jew, I am acutely aware of how antiSemitic regimes throughout history — in Czarist Russia, Nazi Germany and elsewhere — denied my people our right to housing, and so I believe it is a moral imperative to speak out when this right is denied to others, especially by the Jewish state. During our Passover seders in a few weeks, we Jews will both celebrate the Israelites’ liberation and our current freedom as well as observe how today people throughout the world still live in slavery and oppression. It has been my understanding throughout my Jewish upbringing that, as Jews, we are meant to feel others’ oppression as our oppression, since we, too, know what it is like to have been slaves, to be forced from our homes in Russia, in Germany, Poland and elsewhere. Perhaps one might argue that it is not our duty, Americans and Jews alike, to eradicate oppression from the world. Very well, but let us at least not participate in it. Let us, the Jews, not repeat the crimes of our historic oppressors by denying the Palestinians their right to housing, among so many other rights that Israel denies them. We should demand that the government of Israel immediately cease demolishing homes as punishment. In 1953, following the Qibya massacre, the United States temporarily suspended all economic aid to Israel in order to express its disapproval. The United States should do so again now until Israel agrees to end its policy of harming the innocent for the crimes of the wicked. — Zak Witus can be reached at zakwitus@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Gracie Dunn, 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
W
hen I get home, my daily routine usually involves throwing my phone on the charger before it dies, figuring out what I am going to eat and starting on whatever homework awaits me for the evening. Given recent advancements ELLIOTT in charging RAINS technologies, my phone reaches 100 percent before I even sit down to eat. Despite nearing the brink of a dead phone battery every day, I cannot remember the last time my phone actually died. However, I can tell you about the exhaustion I feel every day when I finally sit down for dinner. It is a known fact that college students sleep less than the general population. As extracurriculars, student jobs and GPAs become more important for getting a job after graduation, this trend seems to be here to stay. In fact, it is quite commonplace for me to hear my friends discuss pulling multiple all-nighters in the UGLi during finals week. The technology we rely on to conduct such exhaustive work has advanced to a point that exceeds our bodily output. While I sit on my couch at 8 p.m., writing a paper and fighting off the urge to sleep,
Dead batteries my phone and my laptop sit plugged in, fully charged and ready to keep working. As my roommate downs a can of Red Bull in a computer lab on North Campus at 2 a.m., the computer he is using stares back at him, seemingly unaware of the concept of exhaustion. This dynamic of always-on, always-ready technology has created a society that never sleeps. Students clamor to work for technology companies despite the impending more-than-full-time workload they know awaits them. In the off chance we do catch some Z’s, our phones often lie on our nightstands, alive and ready for work the moment we wake up. While human beings physically need eight hours of sleep per night to function properly, I cannot tell you the last time my phone sat docile and in a state of sleep for more than eight minutes. As finals approach, this situation will only get worse. The nature of high-pressure, high-reward exams forces college students to overwork their power cores. In this context, it is understandable to think of our brains as computers; we try to cram as much information into them every day without stopping to think about the recharge cycle necessary to power our internal batteries. However, it is important to remind ourselves of the ramifications of these actions. Consider your current phone. Odds are good that you bought that device within the past two years.
With the way cell phone upgrades go, the odds also suggest you will replace that device within the next two years, if not sooner. Though the batteries on these devices may seem invincible while you use them, they will be thrown away in less than one-fortieth of the average lifespan of a human heart. Unfortunately, humans cannot swap out their hearts for the iHeart 6S next year. In order to maintain the condition of our one and only battery, we must turn off. Much to our chagrin, there is no quick charging, wireless charging or battery swapping allowed. Sleep is the only way to adequately recharge our batteries for proper functioning. As much as we like to believe energy drinks, coffee and Adderall can replace sleep, these only serve to attack and weaken our batteries themselves. It is tempting to compete with our electronic devices and their never-ending persistence, but we must cede the battle and shut down every day. As I type this, my eyes are beginning to tire and my thoughts are starting to fade. My laptop’s battery reads full, but I know there is no way I can keep up until it dies. I’m asking you to consider your battery the next time you ponder an all-nighter. After all, if it dies, there will be no way to plug it in and recharge for your exam next week. — Elliott Rains can be reached at erains@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts LITERATURE COLUMN
FILM REVIEW
I UNIVERSAL
“This is for ‘Veronica Mars’ Season 3.”
Please fire ‘Boss’ McCarthy is talented but needs better movies. By ANA LUCENA Daily Arts Writer
Melissa McCarthy (“Spy”) is hilarious, but sadly, most of her movies aren’t. In “The Boss,” she once again stars as an Dover-thetop charThe Boss acter on a journey Universal Pictures filled with Rave & Quality 16 poor humor and no purpose. This time, she’s the boss — Fortune 500 CEO Michelle Darnell. She looks ridiculous, always wearing turtlenecks and a ginger haircut that says “I want to speak to your manager.” But don’t be fooled: Michelle has built an empire through sheer strength of will, and swears like a sailor to boot. It’s very jarring when she does so around children. Though a tragic backstory is presented to explain her difficult nature (she kept being returned to an orphanage as a child), it’s not enough to make her wild personality feel plausible. She doesn’t back down to anyone. Her ex-boyfriend Renault (Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”) brings Michelle’s world crashing down when he exposes her illegal insider trading. After a short amount of time in a comfortable jail, Michelle looks for someone to help her get back on her feet. At this point, I wondered if “The Boss” was aiming to satirize certain influential rich people whose egocentric ruthlessness
Tuesday, April 12, 2016 — 5
propelled them to such highs and lows in their careers. The film’s faithful focus on Michelle, at times treated like an antihero, makes it impossible to tell. Is this a cause of bad character development, or an over-reliance on cheap humor? Who knows. Not surprisingly, no one helps Michelle until her kind assistant Claire (Kristen Bell, “Veronica Mars”) takes her in. Michelle is as rude and unappreciative as ever, complaining that the accommodations do not meet her five-star hotel standards. The fact that Claire is a single mother does not interest the washed up boss until she invites her ex-employer to her daughter’s Dandelions (read: Girl Scout) meetings. Once there, Michelle finds her passion of business again. She tries to start a new venture by selling Claire’s homemade brownies through the Dandelions, and aggressively directs the girls to maximize profits. McCarthy’s titular “Boss” character is, in general, unlikeable. That’s the joke, but it’s not funny after being repeated for nearly two hours straight. In a similar vein, some of the jokes are just plain mean-spirited. One that particularly rubbed me the wrong way (and is featured in the trailer to attract viewers) is when the Boss introduces Claire as her partner at the first Dandelions meeting, and then cries “no homo.” “No girl-on-girl action,” she insists. When a wide-eyed girl asks what she means, she answers that it’s “something you’ll dabble in in college and never do again” (She then points to another Dandelion girl for whom lesbianism will fit “like a glove”). I know Melissa McCarthy is not homophobic and is trying to show what an uncompassionate person
Michelle is. Hell, she crashed a huge lesbian party in the similarly ridiculous “Tammy” just to say how much she admired lesbians’ strength. But such derisive comments stuck with me as both North Carolina and Mississippi pass anti-LGBT legislation. It also hit too close to home, as about 25 percent of my own Girl Scout troop was queer (and proud of the organization’s tolerant policies). This is the second collaboration between McCarthy and her husband, the first being the aforementioned “Tammy”. That was a red flag before I even started watching. Director Ben Falcone does not do much directing. His shots and scene transitions aren’t strong or attentive to detail, let alone interesting. And he certainly doesn’t inspire the cast to match the comedic prowess of his wife. The husband-and-wife team also wrote the script together, to poor results (again). The plot is poorly developed. Each scene feels like a separate gag about the same horribly unlikable woman. The characters stubbornly stay the same even as they interact with strikingly different personalities. Why does Claire bother to help such a nasty woman after working for her for only a short period of time? Only McCarthy makes this film palatable. And the premise of Michelle making a comeback after a high-profile crime through Girl Scout cookies isn’t sound in the first place. Melissa McCarthy deserves much better than this. She is a talented comic actress, as demonstrated in “Bridesmaids” and “Spy”. But until she lands in better movies where she plays a genuine human and not a cartoon character, her talent will be wasted in such silly roles.
Not that kind of ‘Bossypants’
n September of 2015, comedy queen Amy Schumer (“Inside Amy Schumer”) sold a memoir to publishing house Simon & Schuester for 8 to 10 million dollars. She’s in good company — in the past few years, comedians have been flocking to REBECCA literature LERNER from television. It started, as it always seems to for me, with Tina Fey (“Sisters”). The year was 2011, and the television show “30 Rock” was teaching me everything I needed to know about insults, gender, mentor-mentee relationships and Ronald Regan. And then I heard about Fey’s memoir “Bossypants.” I got it immediately. I read it roughly twelve times before I got the CD audiobook. I listened to it every night before bed for months, often falling asleep to Fey teaching me about the patriarchy and telling me to “do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” Fey’s twenty year long career in comedy permeates every page of “Bossypants.” The skillfully written vignettes, which range from detailing her awkward childhood to the success of her professional life, are composed with the same carefully planned, taut, comic dexterity of an episode of “30 Rock.” The ensemble cast of “30 Rock” averaged over 100 verbal jokes for every twenty-two minute episode and “Bossypants” achieves similar wit, with interconnected callbacks, reveals and cultural references spanning all chapters of the memoir. In the same vein came “Is Everyone Hanging Out with Me?.” The memoir, by Mindy Kaling (“The Mindy Project”), so closely resembles Fey’s that she calls herself
out on it within the first few pages. “Why isn’t this book more like Tina Fey’s book?” asks an imaginary reader. To which Kaling responds “I know, man. Tina’s awesome.” Kaling, whose book the press dubbed ‘the little sister to Bossypants’ writes less like Fey and more like the content to which her millennial readers are accustomed. There’s a blog-esque feel to the short chapters, with a few listicles masquerading as chapters — she calls them ‘pliests,’ a contraction meaning “a piece with a list-y quality.” Kaling persistently hurls jokes at her readers, sticking to what she knows; the virtues of cheap Forever 21 coats when pulling an Irish good-bye at a party, the perils of dating and the occasional name drop that cues a collective reader swoon. After “Bossypants” and “Everyone” came out, they were everywhere, at least among my friends from home, self-identified fellow feminists and book-lovers. I couldn’t walk into a bedroom without seeing at least one of the distinct covers — Fey’s has her face iconically photoshopped onto the torso of a furry man in a tie, while Kaling surrounds herself with pink and florals to complement her side eye. This ubiquity makes sense when you consider that Fey sold almost four million copies of “Bossypants” and Kaling stayed on the New York Times Bestseller List for months with “Everyone.” The memoir cycle continued with “Yes Please” by Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”). Poehler’s memoir, especially when compared to those of other writers, feels forced, which she recognizes fully — in the preface, she acknowledges that she “had no business agreeing to write this book … it has been like hacking away at a freezer with a screwdriver.” We get it, Poehler is a busy lady. With two sons, a prolific film and television career and her extensive
philanthropic work, she has other things on her mind. But there’s a lot of filler and not nearly enough substance in the memoir, which pains me to say. Poehler is a hugely talented and intelligent woman, but literature isn’t her medium. Everyone I think of who has written a memoir like this is a phenomenal TV actor (Poehler, Fey, Aziz Ansari) and even though it’s not always the right fit, every one of them is so successful. These books are popular because they’re easy, in every aspect — sentence structure, ideas, jokes. They don’t make us labor for meaning or substance. When they work, they’re relatable and fun. When they don’t, it’s forgivable because these aren’t authors we want to harshly judge; they’re fan favorites we want to cheer on. We’re also willing to forgive mediocre writing because this isn’t the principal work of any of these authors. Yes, Aziz Ansari spent years interviewing people and researching the cultures of different cultures for “Modern Romance,” but if you ask almost anyone what he’s been up to in the last year and half, they’ll most likely say “Master of None.” The transitory state of medium for these comedians means that these books will all be listed under “other work” for their Wikipedia pages. They’re thought of as side projects. That’s a mistake. Speaking from the perspective of an English major, literary columnist and passer of ECON 101, comedian memoirs have huge potential. The huge compensations for these memoirs, including Schumer’s and Lena Dunham’s 3.5 million dollars for her hilarious and confessional “Not That Kind of Girl,” prove that though the content of these memoirs may be funny, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them seriously. Lerner is prepping her “SNL” audition. To request a demo tape, email her at rebler@umich.edu
EVENT PREVIEW
Xu Weixin paints a Ramakers lectures real portrait of China on artistic passion EVENT COVER
By MERIN MCDIVITT Daily Arts Writer
By ERIKA SHEVCHEK Daily Arts Writer
Amsterdam native Renny Ramakers made her first visit to Michigan Thursday as a Penny Stamps distinguished speaker. The co-founder of the design company Droog, meaning “dry” in Dutch, Ramakers presented her business’s work to the people of Ann Arbor. However, her designs were the complete opposite of “dry.” Eclectic and energetic, Ramakers creates functional pieces of art and open design spaces for others to access. “Droog is a paradox,” Ramakers said during her presentation. “It’s taking what is simple and making it not so simple.” Whether you’re a tea-drinking human or even a tiny goldfish, Droog considers all beings. Projects like House of Droog, a modern Amsterdam exhibit that flips the ideas of a hotel or Studio Droog, the birthplace for the adornments, products and furnishings created by Droog designers (including a restaurant design for a fish tank) all carry the same theme: “function and fiction.” “It is out of the box and playful, but very serious,” Ramakers said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. With a strong focus in contem-
porary design, she presented on many of her impressive projects through the years, such as the New York-based Museum of Sex’s exhibit “Splendor in the Grass,” a camping-themed, hands-on experience that educates patrons on eroticism and sexuality. Starting up in 1993, Ramakers’s “Droog” created the platform for further projects like “The New Original” in Shenzhen, China and “Open House” in the suburbs of New York City. With inspiration from the common people and an urge for a domestic change, Ramakers found the perfect project that she titled “Design+Desires”. Design+Designers, Ramakers said, was about depth. “How can we (the design team) create a city in which the diversity of desires could be brought together?” she asked. The company started their efforts in the impoverished city of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, in which they hoped to improve living standards artistically. “People over there sent us away … They didn’t believe we could be any meaning for them,” Ramakers said. Nonetheless, Ramakers and her team were determined to start up a social and urban project, thus leading to Social City — an online space in which people
can create avatars, shape their living situations and share their dreams and wants for their perfect lifestyle. With more ideas and people on board, Social City hopes to transform these dreams into a reality. “I wanted to bring people’s desires into Social City,” Ramakers said. “Some don’t have the imagination to think further than things around them. So, we as designers need to be creative, go further and be innovative.” When asked where she got her inspirations, Ramakers said she didn’t know. “Everything can inspire me,” she said. “An article, a product, a movement, something.” But she also believes that “imitation can be inspiration” and she hopes that people are also getting inspired by Droog projects. These inspirations were evident to the audience when Ramakers displayed her vibrant and eccentric designs on the screen. “I want people to understand why I am doing what I am doing … celebrating imperfection,” she said. And although Droog and Design+Desires feels like an idea beyond imagination, Renny Ramakers proved that with resilience and passion, any exotic design can be brought to be a reallife function.
Many a Chinese artist has painted a portrait of Chairman Mao, the country’s leader during and after the “Xu Weixin Communist Monumental Revolution. His like- Portraits” ness, which UMMA adorns buildings, Feb. 20 through Tiananmen May 29 Square and an enor- Free mous gold statue, even inspired an Andy Warhol portrait still on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts. But contemporary painter Xu Weixin’s take on the famous leader is a little different. Viewed on its own, his portrait of Mao looks similar to more conventional depictions — painted on a grand scale, the monumental portrait seems to reflect Mao’s stature in Chinese society, accompanied by a small plaque with a brief biography of his life. But in the context of Weixin’s exhibition “Monumental Portraits,” his American debut, the Mao painting takes on a greater significance. Next to Mao’s portrait is another portrait, identical in size and style, depicting a young boy. As you turn away from the wall and scan the gallery, you take in dozens of these paintings, all the same larger-than-life size,
portraits of miners and schoolteachers, politicians and businesspeople. The paintings come from one series in which Weixin painted contemporary Chinese miners, and another in which he depicted figures from the 1966 Cultural Revolution in China based on old photographs. There is something immensely powerful about standing in the gallery, surrounded by faces and figures, many unknown or marginal even in China, on such a monumental scale. Weixin paints in a realist style infused with pathos, his muted color palette reflecting the melancholy air of many of his subjects. Taken on their own, unaccompanied by the text on or beside each painting, they remind me of Dennis Hopper’s work — the loneliness of humanity etched in each line on the faces of the solitary figures. Weixin has a real gift for capturing the nuance of facial expression, and I often recognized myself or someone I know in the mischievous sparkle in a child’s face or the worn-out frustration of an overworked bureaucrat. But the text, as in Mao’s portrait, provides a short and dispassionate biography of the subject’s life which packs a huge emotional punch. These figures, seemingly anonymous and distant, are revealed to be as enormously, overwhelmingly human as their oversized visages. Weixin chose to paint figures from all facets of the Cultural Revolution, which remains the most contentious
period in modern Chinese history. The 1960s saw a change in government policy and grassroots actions which sought to purify the country of any remaining non-Communist, pre-modern influences. Weixin paints top party leaders like Chairman Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing, but also supposed “nobodies,” from emigrants who left China to victims who died during the era’s political purges. Many landholders, intellectuals and political dissidents died during the time period at the hand of the Red Guard, teens and college students who wanted to cleanse China of dissent. Weixin doesn’t leave any of these stories out. He paints victims, like a Peking University professor who was beaten to death by her own female students, or a fifth grade girl who was “re-educated” after she wrote a letter asking the government to put an end to the violence. And he paints Red Guard leaders, telling their stories of youthful optimism that fueled periods of militant violence, but also of times of hard labor and incredible achievement. The United States doesn’t have a particularly nuanced view of contemporary China, the Cultural Revolution or even Chinese art. Weixin’s diverse, multifaceted portrait of his country’s history is a poignant reminder of the complexity of the human experience.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
GENDER & MEDIA COLUMN
ALBUM REVIEW
A new hope
GOOD MUSIC
“My name’s Blurryface and I care what you think.”
Lame ‘Twenty88’ By MATT GALLATIN
the eye, and TWENTY88, their joint project, finds the two realizing this deficit. This helps explain the sole focus of this project: the romantic life of twenty-somethings. There seems to be little else the two can find common ground on, and thus they settle on cultivating a pretend, media-tailored relationship, reminiscent of the fake marriage between Drake and Nicki Minaj. It’s reality television meets the music industry. Tabloid-pushing aside, there are moments when the chemistry works nonetheless. Opening track “Déjà Vu” sees Aiko and Sean playing into each other’s strengths, Aiko’s no-games mentality (“Tonight you gon’ learn / it’s your turn”) balancing Sean’s playful-to-afault worldview (“No but for real, how’s ya sister / Hit her up, tell her I miss her”). While “Beware” kept their voices on separate planes, they melt into one another here, sharing the spotlight. But that interplay begins to feel tired as the project progresses, teetering on dull. There’s only so much they both have to say, no matter how much surface-level innovation they attempt to bring. Take “Talk Show,” for example, where Aiko and Sean act as a couple appearing on a television talk show, arguing back and forth. The concept is interesting on paper, and is unique enough to break up the monotony the album
Daily Arts Writer
Big Sean and Jhene Aiko live in the shadows. I don’t mean that in a positive, atmospheric sort of way. Aiko is undoubtedly best C+ known for TWENTY88 her features — either TWENTY88 (Big for quality, Sean and Jhene Aiko) like Drake’s GOOD/ARTium/ “From Time,” or for Def Jam topical gimmicks, like Omarion’s “Post To Be” (“he gotta eat the booty like groceries”). Sean, on the other hand, seems to thrive on the fringes of his own projects, his biggest moments arriving as tag-alongs to more prominent artists, like “Blessings,” which buzzed thanks to Drake and Kanye, and “Control,” which is memorable only for Kendrick. Sean and Aiko have a habit of appearing like decorative bows on the successes of others, colorful, if non-essential. With both artists inhabiting similar spaces, it makes sense that Aiko and Sean have shown chemistry before. “Beware” from Sean’s Hall of Fame, was a momentary highlight from the two, a side by side love-lament as they do best. But the two have less in common as artists than meets
falls into. After a single listen, though, there’s little to come back to, its new toy shine worn out. Any hope that these artists would push each other to new heights now seems ill-conceived. Aiko is at her best on airy, impressionist tracks, her voice occasionally bringing a lingering, ethereal quality, as on “Wth” and “The Worst.” That atmosphere is never even attempted here, as she grounds herself to equate her voice with Sean’s. For Sean’s part, this joint project feels like a reach toward R&B. He leaves behind his base of almost joke rap, which produced some of his best works (“Paradise”), bringing along the lyrical clunkers, but too often without the confident flow to accompany. On “Selfish,” he half-sings “You know I’m from a tribe called questions / I need them answers now like it’s test time.” It’s lazily constructed and awkward, indicative of the level of rapping Sean reaches on TWENTY88. The sum is a frustratingly reductive album, a result found far too often when major artists collaborate on joint albums. Ideally this should work: “Let’s take two famous artists, throw them together and figure something great will happen!” But the compromises in style that must be made can be too great to transcend. TWENTY88 falls into this trap.
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
There are a lot of things that make me sad. When my avocados turn brown before I have time to eat them. The 2000 film “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.” The fact that Huma Abedin is married to Anthony “Carlos Danger” Weiner. NATALIE What GADBOIS makes me saddest though, is the answer my mom gave to a question I asked her a few weeks ago. In anticipation of this, my final column as the Gender and Media Columnist for The Michigan Daily, I asked people in my life what in pop culture gives them hope for the future of feminism. Her answer? “Nothing.” In some ways, she’s not wrong. We have a woman running for president being attacked left and right because of her “ambition.” Of the top 250 highest-grossing films that have been released in the past two years, only 9 percent were directed by women. Last week, Donald Trump said that women who had undergone abortion procedures should be punished. Olivia Wilde was considered “too old” (she’s 32!) to play Leonardo Dicaprio’s wife in “Wolf of Wall Street.” My mom may be cynical, but she has a point: it’s still hard out there for us ladies. But even though there’s a lot to bemoan about the status of women in American society, I am more interested in the small, bright sparks guiding us to the light at the end of the tunnel. Because despite the obvious uphill battle towards equality and equity ahead of us, I do find hope for women. I find hope in the complex, fully-charged, dynamic female characters peppering television; from Alicia Florrick on “The Good Wife” to “Mad Men” ’s Peggy Olsen to Sarah Paulson’s intensely humanizing
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take on Marcia Clark in “The People vs. OJ Simpson.” Despite the murky muck that is the current political landscape, I find hope that we do have a woman running for president, even if her run is breathtakingly more difficult than those of the men around her. At least she has the chutzpah to fight on. I find hope in the fact that our maple-syrup sweet neighbor to the North is led by a man who insists he won’t stop calling himself a feminist, and who urges other men to say the same. (I also find hope in the fact that men like Justin Trudeau even exist, let alone run a country — have you seen the gentle, Paul Rudd eyes on that man?) I find hope in artists like Lady Gaga and Hozier, who bravely use their platforms to speak out against sexual assault in personal and powerful terms. Gaga’s Oscars performance, in which she surrounded herself with survivors of sexual assault, was a urgent reminder to the world that this epidemic has faces and names, and stories to go along with it. It gives me hope that this charged performance was introduced by the Vice President of the United States, a man whose complex relationship with women’s issues may be changing for the better. I find hope in “Star Wars,” which I saw in theaters three times, mesmerized by the woman unapologetically at the forefront of the film. Rey is unlike any woman in the sci-fi genre: obviously strong and scrappy, but also emotive and joyful. Sensitive but brave, smart but not faultless. Never sexualized. Daisy Ridley’s Rey proves that movies are better, and can even make more money, when they don’t resort to limiting stereotypes and ways of silencing women. “Broad City” gives me hope for the power of female friendship, and for greater recognition of the tender impact women can have on each other’s lives. Abbi and Ilana’s relationship is one of the strongest on television, and the lack of a man in that dyad cannot be ignored. Rebecca Traister’s book “All the Single Ladies,” which lays out the positive political and social implications of a society in which women delay, or even opt out of marriage, gives me similar hope.
I find hope in artists like Lady Gaga. Just as I’m hopeful about the world out there, the world of real jobs and scary choices and adult implications, I’m grateful for the world in here, the small spaces filled with stunningly smart, kind and empowering people in which I’ve been lucky to spend my life. So many other people contributed to this list, others that too, give me hope. My teachers and mentors, who showed me how to write and then let me break the rules when I wanted to. Professors who taught me the nuances of feminism and gave me the space to babble in their classroom. Others still that let me teach them, who gave me respect when I told them I thought they were wrong. Hope comes from the women who came before me, who had it so much harder in their battle against the patriarchy. Even as I sat here and wrote this, two Daily alums in their sixties walked into the newsroom to hand out fliers about National Equal Pay Day. They came up to me and asked if I know women still get paid 25 percent less than men. I can’t help but smile, grateful that women like them are still fighting after so many years. Hope comes from my Daily co-workers, who sang
JoJo with me and bought me cupcakes on my birthday and even now comfort me as I stand, paralyzed, at the edge of college. They were the ones who let me begin this column, who gave me constant fodder for ideas and who made me feel like I could do it. They lit the small fire in my head, the thought that I might actually be good at this. My friends, smart and savvy almost-graduates, who poured in new perspectives and ideas, showing me how potent women can be when they support each other. They were there for me in these last moments as they have been from the beginning, letting me rant about something long enough that it finally coalesced into an idea for a column, bringing me coffee and snacks when needed (and when not), and giving me the strength to write about things that are personal, to write about things that frightened me. Knowing that women and men like them are entering the world, with the power to make change both micro and macro, gives me hope. Knowing that they will always be with me gives me more. I wrote about my dad in my very first column, using him as a scapegoat for unenlightened men everywhere. I’m lucky that he let me make him that scapegoat, that his support included letting me throw him under the bus. He is never stingy with his pride in me, even when I’m railing against the entirety of his gender. That kind of support is more than rare, and I think it has buoyed me more than I’ve given him credit for. When I asked my mom that original question about her hopes for feminism, and she gave her original answer, I laughed. That kind of sharp, intellectual cynicism would make sense for a woman who has been defying the status quo her entire life. The obstacles she has had to overcome in order to be the woman she is have allowed me to be optimistic in a way she can’t be. But she always surprises me, and she soon sent a barrage of texts about her hopes, giving me new ideas and avenues to pursue. All that I am — a pop culture obsessive, a planner, a businessperson, a good friend, a dreamer, a feminist — I am because of her. Mom, thanks for letting me pretend for even a second that I achieved any of those identities on my own. It’s all because of you. Last Saturday, before going to Rick’s with my roommates to revel in our final weeks in Ann Arbor, I hid in my room and watched “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” I had always identified as a Carmen, resonating with her pluck and her anger, her insistence that people care about her as deeply as she cares about them. Watching it again ten years after it first captivated me, I began to weep. How much my life has changed since I was a fifth grader, dreaming of meeting a Kostos on a Greek island and road tripping with my best friends who knew me better than I knew myself. How powerful it is, that a movie about four young girls, a movie that emphasizes friendship, came out when I was ten and just beginning to understand the prices and joys of being a girl. How powerful too that last year, when my best friend and I flew across the Atlantic Ocean to traverse Europe, on a whim I carried a copy of the “Sisterhood” book with me. That’s what gives me hope as I move across the country, away from my family and friends. Yes, we’ll talk every day and visit one another and develop new memories, but it will be their years of support and empowerment that strengthen me — as a friend, a student, a sister, a daughter and as a feminist. I’ll carry them with me, like a well-worn book. Gadbois is going to be missed very much. If you miss her already, email gadbnat@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, April 12, 2016 — 7
MEN’S TRACK
Throwers fuel ‘M’ By MIKE PERSAK Daily Sports Writer
The field events have led the Michigan men’s track team recently, with the throwers especially finding success. This past weekend was no different, as the Wolverines traveled to Auburn, Ala., to compete in the Tiger Track Classic. Junior thrower Grant Cartwright continued to shine in the field events by setting a new personal record in the shot put with a throw of 18.44 meters. The throw placed him in second for the event. Being at the top of the leaderboard is something Cartwright has gotten used to since the outdoor season began. He suffered an injury in December and spent a majority of the indoor season trying to get ready for the outdoor season. “As we’ve moved outdoors, he’s been able to train a lot differently,” said Michigan coach Jerry Clayton. “We had to cut some things out to get (Cartwright’s injury) calmed down. So now he’s back into training and getting really consistent, which is what we’re looking for this time of year.” Not to be outdone by Cartwright’s success, senior decathlete Steven Bastien separated from the rest of his team to compete in the Bulldog Decathlon/Heptathlon meet in Athens, Ga., on Thursday. Not only did Bastien finish in the top 10, but he also set a school record in the decathlon and posted the ninth-best national score in the event this year. The meet marked the first time Bastien had ever competed in the decathlon for the Wolverines. However, the senior has been training for the event for a while.
“Coach Clayton has had it all planned out pretty well,” Bastien said. “I think it’s been planned out since the beginning of the season, even. We just throw a little bit every week. We do jumping and pole vaulting every week. I run two times a week, one day a (400meter) workout and the other day is more of a (1,000-meter) or (1,500-meter) workout. “I guess the training is designed to make it so you keep in touch with each of the events and are able to build on things you’ve worked on in prior weeks.” In addition to Clayton’s help in preparing for the decathlon, Bastien could also turn to his previous coach. His father, Gary Bastien, not only coached Steven, but also ran the decathlon in college with Eastern Michigan. In fact, according to decathlon historian Frank Zarnowski, the father-son combined score of Gary and Steven is the highest such score of all time. “Since I’ve gotten to Michigan, (my dad) has really let Coach Clayton do whatever and coach me entirely,” Bastien said. “I wouldn’t say he’s (like) any parent, because he knows so much about it. But his role as a coach isn’t as much as it used to be.” Despite the success of Bastien and Cartwright, the team still has work to do before it reaches the postseason tournaments. According to Clayton, though, this weekend was a step in the right direction. “What we did in the first two (outdoor) meets, those were scoring situations very similar to what you get at the conference meet, the preliminary rounds and the NCAA Championships,” Clayton said. Though the team can revel in the building success with each passing meet, its focus is firmly on the future, and more specifically, the end of the season.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
The Michigan rowing team lost to Ohio State, but beat Rutgers at the Big Ten Double Dual in Princeton, N.J., on Saturday.
Buckeyes dominate B1G Double Dual By MATTHEW KENNEDY Daily Sports Writer
For the past few seasons, Ohio State has had the Michigan women’s rowing team’s number. Saturday, that trend continued. “Ohio State is the defending national champs and is a really good program,” said Michigan coach Mark Rothstein. “They got the better of us.” Competing at the Big Ten Double Dual in Princeton, N.J., which featured the sixth-ranked Wolverines, Michigan State, No. 3 Ohio State and Rutgers, Michigan rowed against the Buckeyes in the morning before matching up against the Scarlet Knights in the afternoon. In the morning meet, the highlight for Michigan was the second varsity eight race. The
boat narrowly won the race over Ohio State, finishing with a time of 6:49.6. The rest of the meet, though, was all Buckeyes. Ohio State’s first varsity eight handily beat Michigan, defeating the Wolverines by a full eight seconds with a winning time of 6:34.8. The Michigan first and second varsity fours also both lost to their respective Buckeye counterparts. While the first varsity four narrowly lost by under two seconds, the second varsity four was not as competitive, losing by almost six seconds. “I was pleased with our second eight beating Ohio State, and I thought our first eight learned some things in the morning and did better in the afternoon,” Rothstein said. “I thought our first four, even though they
came up short, raced well in the morning against Ohio State. It was a good day, good learning experience.” In the afternoon — with strong winds slowing all four teams — the Wolverines had a much better showing. In the first varsity eight, Michigan trounced Rutgers, finishing with a time of 7.14.5 for a 40.2-second margin of victory. The second varsity eight was even more dominant, jousting the Scarlet Knights by 44.1 seconds with a winning time of 7:27.6. Both of the Wolverines’ varsity fours were stellar in the afternoon as well, defeating Rutgers by huge margins. The first varsity four won by almost a minute — 8:29.1 to 9:23.6 — while the second varsity four won by just 50 seconds, 8:03.56 to 8:54.3.
While the higher-ranked Buckeyes tripped up Michigan, Rothstein was happy to be able to compete against another good team, especially with both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships quickly approaching. “We need to evaluate what we did well and areas that we need to shore up,” Rothstein said. “I think the biggest thing is just to practice really hard over the next week. We’ll see some fast teams in Clemson (next weekend), so we’re excited to go down there, and it should be really good racing.” Though Rothstein is optimistic for the future, he is still careful about getting his hopes up for the end of the season. “It’s a fast conference,” Rothstein said. “We’ll see how we perform.”
Two years in, players love Leonardi Weather shortens MEN’S GOLF
tournament as ‘M’ finishes in seventh
By TYLER SCOTT Daily Sports Writer
When Marcelo Leonardi was hired as the Michigan water polo coach, he didn’t expect to reach this point in less than two years. Saturday at Canham Natatorium, the eighth-ranked Wolverines entered their contests ranked ahead of their conference foes, No. 13 Harvard and No. 16 Princeton, and went on to beat them in back-toback games. But before all that, Michigan wrapped up the last home invitational of the year with a short ceremony to honor the team’s graduating seniors. Before the game against the Crimson, senior attackers Ali Thomason and Emily Martin, utility player Emily Sejna and goalie Julia Campbell stood on the edge of the pool deck, draped in bouquets and surrounded by balloons. Leonardi gave a short, emotional speech in front of a crowd several hundred strong. He thanked his seniors for doing the work of “rebuilding the program,” but paused when his voice shook. “I’m proud of you all,” he said. Thomason followed up by scoring four goals in the ensuing match. Martin added three and Campbell made critical saves late in the game that secured Michigan’s victory. The seniors showcased the type of play indicative of a team sitting at the No. 8 spot in the national polls. The Wolverines seem to have worked through any transitional period since Leonardi’s hire, and found success in the process. They have more wins this year than either of the past two seasons, with a week of regularseason play still on the schedule, not to mention postseason tournaments. “My past few years here have been rough,” Martin said. “We haven’t really done the best. This year, we’re really performing. We’re a great team.” Martin and the three other graduating seniors were originally part of a 13-member freshman class. After Michigan appointed Leonardi, several
By LANEY BYLER Daily Sports Writer
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Marcelo Leonardi has the Michigan water polo team ranked eighth in the country in his second season as coach.
players transferred. Campbell, Sejna, Martin and Thomason were the ones who stayed. Saturday was the first time Michigan has been able to beat Princeton in four years, including a 9-7 loss late last season. The Wolverines have also failed to reach the NCAA Tournament every year since 2009. Leonardi installed a system that was entirely different from what his four seniors — just sophomores at the time — were accustomed to. He immediately reworked the schedule to give the Wolverines tougher competition for future seasons, even though it meant Michigan would only host one home contest that first year. But Leonardi didn’t stop with the schedule. He changed everything for his players across the board — from how they practice to how they eat — standard protocol for an incoming coach. But Leonardi’s changes brought results in his second year — results that have
led to more wins in the record book and more satisfaction to the minds of his players. “We have a base of culture,” Thomason said. “We know everyone’s working hard, and everyone has put in the work this year. “He’s only been our coach for two years, but all four of us (seniors) have formed this bond with him. He took us under his wing and helped this program transform into something that the four of us envisioned for it. It truly means a lot to us to see that our love for the game and love for everyone around us is reciprocated in how he feels.” The exposure of being nationally ranked could give the Wolverines a recruiting boost, as long as they keep winning. Current senior leadership is already going a long way to help sell Leonardi’s message to the underclassmen. Freshman attacker Kim Johnson is Michigan’s second
leading goal-scorer with 48 so far this season. She chalked up five more goals against Princeton. “One of the reasons why I came (to Michigan) was because I wanted to be a part of building this program,” Johnson said. “I love being on an underdog team who comes back, builds up and surprises everybody. And I felt like that’s really what we’ve done, and I feel like we’re going to stay on top the rest of my time here.” Leonardi admits that while he expected to be competitive in conference play, he didn’t expect to become nationally ranked so quickly. In the quest to build a winning, competitive program, Leonardi is ahead of schedule. He credits much of that to his seniors. “Those are the four that bought in,” Leonardi said. “(They) really helped me change the climate and the culture of the program. They were the first ones on the bus.”
Almost four hours past the official start time Saturday, the Michigan men’s golf team finally received word that the Kepler Intercollegiate Golf Tournament in Columbus would begin. At one point, it didn’t even look like there would be a tournament at all. The possibility of rain and snow had been threatening the competition all morning. The Wolverines had been hoping that the tournament would go on as it was the last regularseason tournament before the Big Ten Championships. And they got their wish, albeit without the results they hoped for. Michigan finished the two-day tournament at seventh place with 599 strokes. “Our guys knew they had to be ready whenever we decided it was time to play, and we didn’t know when that would be exactly,” said Michigan coach Chris Whitten. “We wanted to play this tournament, and at one point in the morning, it was looking like we wouldn’t play any golf. We were happy just to have an opportunity to play.” Bad weather wasn’t the only setback the 16-team bracket faced this weekend. The original 54-hole tournament was reduced to 36 due to weather, and that reduction left little room for errors. Despite the circumstances, sophomore Kyle Mueller wasn’t deterred. On day one of the tournament, he led the Wolverines with 73 strokes, placing him among 14 athletes tied for ninth after the first day. On day two, he jumped one spot in the standings after shooting another 73. Mueller was the Wolverines’ biggest
contributor, finishing with an overall score of 146. Freshman Nick Carlson trailed closely behind Mueller with Michigan’s second best performance, tying for 23rd on the first day after shooting a 74. He mimicked this score on the second day, tying for 13th with 148 strokes. The Wolverines settled into the middle of the pack after the first day, tying for eighth with West Virginia with 302 team strokes. Additional help from senior Chris O’Neill and juniors Reed Hrynewich and Tom Swanson bumped Michigan to seventh place on day two, where the Wolverines tied Kent State with 599 strokes. “The guys were really battling to make the best of the round they had in front of them,” Whitten said. “The conditions were so extreme this week. I really don’t remember a tournament in 10 years of coaching where it was this cold and this windy all at the same time.” Hrynewich scored a 77 on the first day, with Swanson trailing two strokes behind him. They both improved on day two, each scoring 75. Hrynewich ended day two with a final score of 152, and Swanson finished with a score of 154. O’Neill rounded out the team, shooting a 78 on both days. He ended with a score of 154. As the regular season draws to a close and the championships begin, this tournament gave the Wolverines a good idea of what they need to work on. “I know that we’re going to have more normal weather (at the Big Ten Championships),” Whitten said. “Obviously that’s a more important tournament for us. I think we need to reset and get back to some fundamentals before the Big Ten.”
Sports
8 — Tuesday, April 12, 2016
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
‘M’ ready to end WNIT streak in 2017 A fter four seasons at the helm, Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico has made the NCAA Tournament only once — her first season when she took over the head CHRIS coaching job in the 2012CROWDER 13 season. However, over the past three seasons, the Wolverines have failed to make the Big Dance, instead settling for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Now in Barnes Arico’s fifth season, she’ll finally have a team consisting solely of players she has recruited. And in the 2016-17 season, Barnes Arico will have the right pieces to lead Michigan back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. Last season, the Wolverines had the 14th best recruiting class in the nation, according to ESPN. That class was highlighted by center Hallie Thome and guard Nicole Munger, who were ranked as the 64th and 68th best recruits in the country, respectively. Thome lived up to the hype, racking up the second best field goal percentage in the country while averaging 14.4 points per game. Munger averaged just under five points, but showed flashes of potential. Others from the class, such as guard Boogie Brozoski and Sam Trammel, displayed promise as well in their positions and will likely gain more playing time next seasons with the graduations of guard Madison Ristovski and forward Kelsey Mitchell. This incoming recruiting class isn’t as highly touted as last season’s, but it is talented in its own right. The class includes four-star forward Kayla Robbins, three-stars KeAsja Pierce and Akienreh Johnson, and guard Kysre Gondrezick, the No. 70 recruit in the nation, according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz. Gondrezick was named Michigan’s Miss Basketball and is the first winner of the award to attend Michigan since Ristovski first came to Ann Arbor. Like Ristovski, Gondrezick could leave a lasting mark on the program after changing the state of Michigan high school women’s basketball records when she was the first player to ever average over 40 points per game during her senior season. She even put up a 72-point performance in the first round of the district playoffs. If Gondrezick continues her stellar play into college, she could earn playing time alongside the Wolverines’ best player — rising junior guard Katelynn Flaherty. Flaherty is coming off a season in which she garnered Honorable Mention All-American honors after averaging 22.1 points per game
— good for 10th in Division I. She shows no signs of slowing down, hungry to get her team closer to a Big Ten title in her third season. While that goal may be tough with Maryland, Ohio State and Michigan State having had the Wolverines’ number, this upcoming season is Flaherty’s best shot yet at finally leading Michigan over the WNIT hump. While the Wolverines showed last season that they are capable of stepping up to win a game if Flaherty has an off night, they’ll still need Flaherty to lead the way to reach their full potential. Thome will have a year under her belt, more experience and be stronger, helping her dominate the paint on both sides of the ball. Guard Siera Thompson will be a senior, looking to continue to be one of Michigan’s best perimeter shooters while locking down the opposing team’s best scorer. Players like rising junior Jillian Dunston, rising senior Danielle Williams and Munger should continue to pull down rebounds, take charges and step into any role to give the team a boost like they did last season when Michigan needed it most. Dunston, Williams, Munger, Brozoski and Gondrezick will likely battle for the final two starting spots behind Flaherty, Thompson and Thome. No matter who is chosen, the Wolverines have depth and experience on the bench, which is needed in the scrappy Big Ten conference. Michigan picked up only one more win this season than it had in the 2014-15 season, finishing 21-14 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten. However, in this past season, Michigan averaged 8.7 more points (78.6) than the season before with a team that featured just two seniors playing consistent minutes. Now that the Wolverines will be older while still bringing in young talent, they’ll be in great position to end their WNIT streak after ending their season in the semifinal round of the tournament the past two seasons. Fans, players and even Barnes Arico have preached a NCAA Tournament-orbust mentality. Falling to the WNIT again would be a severe disappointment. A deep run in the NCAA Tournament may still be a few years out, but simply playing in at least one game in the Big Dance is a step forward for the program. It’ll give Michigan more exposure in the women’s basketball spotlight while giving the returning players more confidence for the next year to make it back again. Next year, the Wolverines won’t likely win the Big Ten title or the WNIT or hoist their first banner in Crisler Center. But Michigan is poised to accomplish something more that it can rest its laurels on, paving the way for the teams that will come after it.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan readying for Spartans By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
After a disappointing weekend, Michigan’s anticipation is running high to reestablish itself near the top of the Big Ten Michigan pecking order. The at Michigan Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 21-8 State overall) — who Matchup: dropped out Michigan 21-8; of the national MSU 21-6 rankings after When: this weekend’s Tuesday 4 P.M. two-loss performance Where: McClane against Minnesota — Stadium will head into a TV/Radio: pair of midweek Spartan Sports games against Network Michigan State and Eastern Michigan hoping to end their losing streak. “We’ve played at a high level consistently,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich last week. ROBERT DUNNE/Daily “You’re not always gonna have your ‘A’ game, you’re not always Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich will hope to lead his team to a bounce-back win over Michigan State on Tuesday. going to be 100 percent, so I think scheduled just five days ago. The and first in team pitching with an of 9.9 hits per game is comparable our guys have done a good job of two teams will have a chance to earned-run average of 2.36. to the Spartans 10.7 hits per game. responding to the adversity we’ve compete again the last weekend The key Spartan that Michigan The second matchup of the experienced.” in April in conference play. will have to watch for is junior week will be back at Ray Fisher The weekend series against The last time first baseman Stadium against the Eagles, who the Golden Gophers (4-1, 18-10) the teams met Jordan boast a win against Michigan fell short of expectations as was last season Zimmerman, State from last Tuesday. the Wolverines were fraught at Comerica who ranks in Left-hander Tyler Butzin is with unexpected adversity — Park in Detroit, the top 10 in currently leading the Eagles with Minnesota won both games in where the the conference a 2.11 ERA. The freshman hasn’t Friday’s doubleheader — and Spartans took in batting allowed an earned run in his last unexpected weather. Michigan’s home a 4-2 average, four starts through 28 innings. last chance at redemption in win. Though slugging But neither Tuesday’s nor the third game of the series Michigan percentage, Wednesday’s battles will irk was cancelled due to cold leads in the on-base the Wolverines steadfast motto: temperatures, and it won’t get all-time series, percentage, getting better each day. another chance again this season Michigan runs, hits, total “We just talk about getting against the Golden Gophers. State has gone 8-6 against the bases and doubles. Most notably, better,” Bakich said. “We The Wolverines’ first contest Wolverines under current head he’s ranked first in batting average talk about today. Today’s our this week will be against the coach Jake Boss Jr. since 2008. (.437) and second with on-base opportunity. Everything in Spartans on Tuesday, but will Boss’s team will host Michigan percentage (.521). the future will take care of count as a non-conference at McLane Baseball Stadium in Despite the less-than- themselves and will only happen matchup. Michigan has had East Lansing. The Spartans are stellar hitting performance as a byproduct of attacking each three games cancelled so far this currently ranked second in the the Wolverines had against day. That’s what we’re going to season, and the rivalry game was conference in batting average (.311) Minnesota, Michigan’s average do.”
“You’re not always gonna have your ‘A’ game.”
MAZIE HYAMS/Daily
Senior outfielder Olivia Richvalsky was tagged out at third base to end the Wolverines’ 1-0 loss to Nebraska on Friday.
Small mistakes hamper Wolverines By AVI SHOLKOFF Daily Sports Writer
The No. 1 Michigan softball team entered its Friday game against Nebraska as the highestscoring team in the country. In its previous Big Ten series, the Wolverines swept Indiana, outscoring the Hoosiers, 31-9, driving its ascension to the top spot in the national rankings. Friday, though, the Wolverines’ offense tallied only one extra base hit. They reached base just eight times, a far cry from their previous nation-leading offensive output. And present throughout the game were subtle errors that added up to a 1-0 loss to the Cornhuskers. Trailing by one in the seventh inning Friday, Michigan (8-1 Big Ten, 29-4 overall) made a baserunning error that cost it a chance to tie the game. While the top of the order awaited the chance to tie the game or take the lead, senior outfielder Olivia Richvalsky entered the game to pinch-run for sophomore infielder
Aidan Falk at second base. As senior second baseman Sierra Romero — who leads the team in most batting statistics — stood in the on-deck circle, senior centerfielder Sierra Lawrence hit a ball to left field. Richvalsky chose to tag up on the fly ball and found herself out at third thanks to a pinpoint throw from Cornhuskers’ left fielder Gina Metzler. Game over. As well as the Wolverines have performed this season, their past series against Nebraska (6-5, 25-14) made them appear, well, normal. In its two victories, Michigan defeated the Cornhuskers by just a combined five runs. Part of this struggle can be attributed to its troubles on the basepaths throughout the series. Richvalsky’s mistake proved to be the most costly, but she was not the only Wolverine to have a base running error. Saturday, sophomore outfielder Nikki Wald attempted to steal her first base of the season, but was thrown out. The Wolverines failed to mount
an attack the rest of the inning and maintained a slim one-run lead until the seventh when Lawrence hit a two-run home run. Michigan will focus on base running and communication this week in practice before facing Michigan State on Wednesday and a weekend home series against Ohio State. Lawrence emphasized that in order to perfect these techniques on the basepaths, players must change their mentality. “(It’s) important to look up as you’re rounding the base, see if (Michigan coach Carol Hutchins) is gonna send you or hold you up,” Lawrence said. “(Hutchins) likes to hold you up at the last second, so you gotta go hard all the way around third and then brake if you need to.” In the third game of the weekend series, with the Wolverines holding a 6-5 lead, junior third baseman Lindsey Montemarano walked up to the plate with runners on second and third with one out, eager to extend the Wolverines’ lead.
Unfortunately for Michigan, another costly base running error doomed its rally. Montemarano hit a hard line drive to third base caught by Cornhusker MJ Knighten, who tagged out Lawrence, who was slightly leading off. Though the Wolverines came back to win in their past two games, the closeness of the final score is cause for concern. Hutchins said Sunday that the game felt similar to a postseason matchup. Hutchins need not worry about her team scoring runs, as Michigan leads the Big Ten in nearly every offensive category and consistently gets on base. But the Wolverines sometimes show lapses in these minor yet equally important areas: running on the basepaths and tagging up. The Nebraska series demonstrated that Michigan’s bats know the opportune time to come alive. Still, the Wolverines’ activity on the basepaths — while not the primary focus of the game — can clearly affect its result.