ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, April 14, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
In ideal last lecture, prof. emphasizes ambiguities Golden Apple recipient Ryan Ball links accounting, improv and Denmark
MARINA ROSS/Daily
Quavo, part of the rap trio Migos, performs at Hill Auditorum Wednesday night.
Migos closes out SpringFest with high-energy concert “Fight Night” and “Freak No More” excite Hill Auditorium By ALYSSA BRANDON Daily News Editor
Hip-hop rap trio Migos finished off SpringFest to an enthusiastic student response at the University of Michigan
The Atlanta rap trio dabs their way to a seminal Ann Arbor hip-hop moment
in Hill Auditorium Wednesday night. The Atlanta-based rap trio — which is composed of Quavo, Offset and Takeoff — entertained the large crowd with some of their charttopping hits including “Freak No More” and “Fight Night.” Donned in Michigan jerseys, Migos delivered a high-energy performance, at times jumping into the main floor to dance with audience members and throwing water See TRIO, Page 3
By MATT GALLATIN and SHAYAN SHAFII Daily Arts Writers
It’s Wednesday night at Hill Auditorium, and Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is
By RACHEL COHEN Daily Staff Reporter
On Wednesday night in Rackham Auditorium, nearly 200 students and faculty heard Ryan Ball, assistant professor of accounting at the Ross School of Business, talk Denmark, mixed martial arts and improv comedy in his ideal “last lecture” as the 26th Recipient of the Golden Apple Award. Many in the audience were former students, some of whom nominated him for the award. The Golden Apple Award is the only teaching award on campus chosen by students honoring excellent professors whom they believe have left an impact. In the event’s introduction, Golden Apple Co-Chair Erica Mindel, an LSA senior, said the
dabbing onstage. As the ultimate event of Music Matters’ SpringFest, the Atlanta rap group Migos took the stage around 9:30. After a few hours of prep by their hype-man, the audience was clearly ready. The group, consisting of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff, immediately began rolling adlib-rap and tossing verbal alley-oops to each other. Migos are pioneers of that type of repetitive, consistent rap style, now pervasive among Atlanta’s freshman class. See MIGOS, Page 5
GOVERNMENT
ANN ARBOR
Panelists talk misuse of civil forfeiture laws Experts charge that seizure policy largely used by police for profit By KEVIN BIGLIN Daily Staff Reporter
Panelists discussed civil asset forfeiture in a talk Wednesday afternoon at the Law School citing multiple shortfalls and concerns with the policy. The talk was presented by The Federalist Society and Law Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and moderated by Law Prof. Adam Pritchard. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal tool that allows law enforcement officials to seize property they believe has been involved in certain types of criminal activity. The panelists included Ted Nelson, a retired Michigan state police officer; Julie Beck, an assistant U.S. attorney who also serves as chief of
award honors teachers who treat each lecture with the event’s idea in mind. “The Golden Apple Award honors those teachers who consistently treat each lecture as if it were their last chance to impart knowledge on their students, who engage each student to think critically and inspire discourse outside of the classroom, and who do so enthusiastically,” Mindel said. She added that the Golden Apple Award was inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanous, who instructed his students to “get your lives in order one day before you die.” Ball discovered he was the 2016 recipient last month after some of his students asked him to lunch and instead escorted him to a courtyard in the Business School filled with his colleagues and students. He received a recordbreaking 150 nominations from the graduate students he has taught. His lecture, titled “Accounting for Ambiguity: Lessons from See APPLE, Page 2
Ford School holds debate for Council candidates Affordable housing and cleanup of dioxane plume top issues at event
the Federal Forfeiture and Financial Litigation Unit in Detroit and Clark Neily, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. The panelists outlined how civil asset forfeiture happens, from the initial forfeiture by police to the process through the court system to relief available after the forfeiture has been consummated. Neily said civil forfeiture is currently a system of zero accountability, noting that in civil cases, unlike criminal cases, there is no investigation to accuse someone of engaging in illegal activity. Rather, law enforcement can use probable cause to seize property on sight. Because of this, Neil said police often abuse civil forfeiture by taking more from their suspect than necessary. That topic of abuse of forfeiture — and more broadly, whether law enforcement values profits over innocence, Nelson said civil forfeiture cases are tied to the war on drugs. In the beginning, See PANEL, Page 2
By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
SINDUJA KILARU/Daily
Engineering lecturer Debra Levantrosser, chief executive of Shimmy Shack, serves customers at SpringFest Wednesday.
‘U’ festival increases focus on sustainability practices
Biodegradable products and zerowaste push featured at SpringFest By ALEXA ST. JOHN and DESIREE CHEW Daily Staff Reporters
Students gathered on the Diag and around campus Wednesday to celebrate a year’s worth of efforts
in community service, discuss entrepreneurship initiatives and encourage one another through art and music at SpringFest. The annual event, sponsored by the organization MUSIC Matters, took place on the Diag as well as North University Avenue between Thayer and Fletcher streets. Along with innovation and philanthropic efforts, the festival also focused on new sustainability initiatives in an effort to introduce environmentally friendly programs to the event and campus
as a whole. LSA junior Matt Fisher, vice president of MUSIC Matters, said the group organizes the event to encourage a unified student body. “We try to bring together different student organizations, get them to work together, to collaborate with each other, and to give students an opportunity to meet one another and extend beyond the communities that they typically interact with,” Fisher said. See SUSTAINABILITY, Page 3
In a debate hosted by students at the Ford School of Public Policy Wednesday, eight candidates for August’s Ann Arbor City Council primary elections discussed their positions on city issues such as affordable housing and the cleanup of a contaminated plume of groundwater in Ann Arbor. Four incumbents seeking re-election — Kirk Westphal (D– Ward 2), Julie Grand (D–Ward 3), Graydon Krapohl (D–Ward 4) and Chuck Warpehoski (D–Ward 5) — participated in the debate, held in the Annenberg Auditorium. Sumi Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1) — the fifth also seeking re-election — was absent. Only Kailasapathy and Krapohl are currently contested in the Democratic primary See COUNCIL, Page 3
Best of Ann Arbor L
I
T
E
R
A
T
Then and now: your complete guide to shopping and dining in style
IS A ALIT
I
OPEN
I
OPEN
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 63 LO: 37
S A L
» INSIDE I
T A
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Study shows immigration raids affect families MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 110 ©2016 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS...............6
SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS.....................5 SPORTS......................7
News
ON THE DAILY
dedicated their efforts to an environmental organization called Inherit the Earth. LSA sophomore Greek life philanthropy Beta, Delta Gamma and Zeta Tau Becca Berman, Sigma Kappa efforts were included as a part of Alpha sororities all participated. vice president of philanthropic MUSIC Matters’ SpringFest on LSA sophomore Lacey services, said their goal was not Wednesday for the first time in Mendelson, Alpha Phi sorority to raise money, but rather to the five-year history of the event. campus affairs vice president, increase environmental awareness During the day, fraternities said their main goal of the day by encouraging people to plant and sororities had the opportunity was to raise money for women’s violets and take them home. to set up a table for one hour each heart health, with proceeds going “I decided to push towards on North University Avenue to toward the Alpha Phi Foundation. Inherit the Earth because support an organization and cause “Women’s heart health is our it’s one of the lesser known of their choosing. main thing and we send money philanthropies, and I thought According to MUSIC Matters, to women and their families people should know about it,” the Alpha Phi, Sigma Kappa, who have been affected by it,” Berman said. Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Chi Mendelson said. Omega, Chi Omega, Gamma Phi The Sigma Kappa sorority — CALEB CHADWELL
3
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
1
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan (R– Wis.) announced Tuesday that he would not accept the Republican presidential nomination, reported CNN. The announcement comes among speculation that Ryan would seek the nomination if the process is decided by a contested convention.
2
Check out The Michigan Daily’s Best of Ann Arbor 2016 insert in today’s paper! The Daily’s staff writes about your picks for all the top places to shop, eat and hang out in Ann Arbor. Open it up and find out who won Best New Business, Best New Restaurant and even Best Sandwich. (Spoiler Alert: That last one was Zingerman’s.)
“
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC Matters posted video of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh with the Migos trio.
420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com
SHOHAM GEVA
Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 sageva@michigandaily.com
Newsroom
“@CoachJim4UM and @ Migos dab on ‘em backstage before the MUSIC Matters show #GoBlue #SpringFestUM” —@MusicMatters
3
“
2 — Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Detroit Free Press reported that Ford Motor Company unveiled a $1.2 billion plan to redevelop its Dearborn headquarters over the next 10 years. More than 30,000 Ford employees currently work at the Dearborn headquarters, where 60 percent of the buildings there have not been updated in 50 years.
734-418-4115 opt. 3
ROSE FILIPP
Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 rfilipp@michigandaily.com
News Tips
news@michigandaily.com
Corrections
Letters to the Editor
Arts Section
Editorial Page
corrections@michigandaily.com arts@michigandaily.com
Sports Section
sports@michigandaily.com
Display Sales
dailydisplay@gmail.com
tothedaily@michigandaily.com opinion@michigandaily.com
Photography Section
photo@michigandaily.com
Classified Sales
classified@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
Laura Schinagle
MANAGING EDITOR
schlaura@michigandaily.com
Emma Kerr
MANAGING NEWS EDITOR
emkerr@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Allana Akhtar, Alyssa Brandon, Jacqeline Charniga, Katie Penrod, Emma Kinery Assistant News Editors: Riyah Basha, Caleb Chadwell, Desiree Chew, Tanya Madhani, Jennifer Meer, Camy Metwally, Lydia Murray, Caitlin Reedy, Alexa St. John. Brandon Summers-Miller
Claire Bryan and Regan Detwiler EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
opinioneditors@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Stephanie Trierweiler
Max Bultman and Jake Lourim MANAGING SPORTS EDITORS
sportseditors@michigandaily.com
Senior Sports Editors: Minh Doan, Jacob Gase, Kelly Hall, Simon Kaufman, Jason Rubinstein, Zach Shaw, Brad Whipple Assistant Sports Editors: Betelhem Ashame, Chris Crowder, Sylvanna Gross, Leland Mitchinson, Ted Janes, Kevin Santo
Kathleen Davis and Adam Theisen
‘Identity Maze’ exhibit promotes awareness Minority experience on campus emphasized by SpringFest display By RHEA CHEETI For the Daily
On Wednesday during the University of Michigan’s annual SpringFest celebration, students watched as large, white screens were assembled piece by piece into a maze on the Diag. Known as the “Identity Maze,” the project showcased artwork and positive messages on 30 translucent panels. The initiative was formed and executed by LSA junior Misba Saleem, Engineering senior Kyle Faulkner, LSA senior Arnold Reed, LSA senior Areeba Jibril and Engineering senior Robert Greenfield as part of collaboration between Blaclist and the Muslim Students’ Association. Saleem, vice president of
external affairs for the MSA, said she thinks the exhibit positively affected students on campus by broadening perspectives on the experiences of minority students. “The Identity Maze is supposed to represent the diverted path that minorities have to take on campus — it’s not that they can’t get where they’re going, but there are obstacles,” Saleem said. “The maze itself is supposed to be symbolic of that path, as well as the artwork that we’re going to have inside, which is going to be from Muslim students, Black students and Latino students.” The art included pieces created by University students, as well as pictures of cultural exhibits and influential protests. Phrases like “Muslim women are NOT oppressed … Muslim women are empowered” and “Are you non-racist or anti-racist?” lined the walls, accompanying other sentiments about race and identity in society. Jibril, who supervised the selection of the pieces, said the
pieces included represented a diverse array of individuals and events. “Inside the maze we wanted artwork that would reflect those individual narratives. So we have art pieces from protests … and also ones showing peoples’ cultures and different cultural shows,” Jibril said. “I think it’s crazy that we actually managed to pull this off — five of us built 30 sections of wall, and we didn’t really have any experience with anything like this before.” LSA freshman Tiana Huang said that she thought the Identity Maze brought up complex social issues on campus and displayed both negative and positive effects of free speech. “I think it’s important to learn about all the other aspects on campus that you might not delve into, just on a daily basis,” Huang said. “We don’t really think about these issues that are prevalent on campus as much as we should.” LSA freshman Victoria Thach also said she thought the project
was highlighting issues on campus, adding that it brought up different perspectives on those issues. “It’s a nice reminder that not everyone feels the same way about issues … people don’t realize that these things are happening right now,” Thach said. Saleem noted that she sees this installation having a positive impact particularly in light of recent anti-Islam chalk messages on the Diag. The maze showcased several images of events featuring Muslim students throughout the year, such as the Malaysian Culture Night hosted by the Malaysian Student Association. Slogans promoting solidarity with Muslim students on campus were also featured in the maze. “I think it’s really important for students to be represented in such a central part of campus,” Saleem said. “This is just my personal opinion, but given everything that happened with the chalkings, this is a great way to reclaim the Diag, and in a sense it’s very empowering.”
floodgates for revenue,” Nelson said. “And I think that opened up the floodgates for policing for profit.” In a forfeiture report released by the Michigan State Police, in 2014 alone $24 million in items was seized by law enforcement in the state of Michigan. Nelson added that eighty-six percent of seizures in Michigan go without judicial review or any court proceedings, which he said allow police enforcement to avoid justifying why they investigated the victim and took their assets. Focusing her remarks on Federal policy discussing the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act enacted by Congress in 2000, which Beck said it was in response to state abuse of civil and criminal forfeiture seizures that act in a system with no prior restrictions. The act, among other reforms, required government bodies obtain a warrant based on probable cause before seizing property. One particular problem, she noted, is that nationally 80 percent of seizures result in administrative forfeitures and go without claims challenging the forfeiture. Claims are normally not made,
MANAGING ARTS EDITORS
Amanda Allen and Grant Hardy MANAGING PHOTO EDITORS
SUDOKU
8
5
6
3
7
1
2
4
4
7
8
3
9
3
7
1
8
3
3
4
6
9
2
9
6
3
8
1
4
9
Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com!
photo@michigandaily.com
Senior Photo Editors: Zoey Holmstrom, Zach Moore, James Coller Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Abdo, Robert Dunne, Sam Mousigian, San Pham, David Song
Anjali Alangaden and Mariah Gardziola MANAGING DESIGN EDITORS
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Arts Editor: Jacklyn Thomas
Karl Williams
STATEMENT EDITOR
statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Statement Editor: Nabeel Chollampat Statement Photo Editor: Zoey Holmstrom Statement Lead Designer: Shane Achenbach Statement Creative Director: Emilie Farrugia
Emily Campbell and Alexis Nowicki MANAGING COPY EDITORS
copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Taylor Grandinetti, Jose Rosales
Nivedita Karki
MANAGING ONLINE EDITOR
nivkarki@michigandaily.com
Senior Web Developers: Dylan Lawton, Bob Lesser
Levin Kim
video@michigandaily.com
MANAGING VIDEO EDITOR
Senior Video Editors: Michael Kessler, Abe Lofy, Emma Winowiecki
Demario Longmire and Toni Wang MICHIGAN IN COLOR EDITORS
michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Sabrina Bilimoria, Christian Paneda, Ashley Tjhung
Michael Schramm Emma Sutherland
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
BUSINESS STAFF Hussein Hakim
Chris Wang
Claire Ulak
Colin Cheesman
Jordan Yob
Anna He
Matt Pfenning
Claire Butz
FINANCE & OPERATIONS MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER MARKETING MANAGER UACCOUNTS MANAGER
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER SPECIAL GUIDES & ONLINE MANAGER
LAYOUT MANAGER
Asja Kepes
LOCAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
even when the person who had the face of ambiguity. He cited APPLE their assets seized was notified. the first Ultimate Fighting From Page 1 Beck said the lack of claims stem Championship in 1993 when from a number of factors, such Royce Gracie, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu he said, asset forfeiture was as because it is too difficult to Denmark, MMA & Improv,” practitioner, unexpectedly won intended as a tool to combat drug understand the notice, since the involved anecdotes about against all of his opponents, who distribution. However, he said he person often does not have money preparing for the ambiguity in all fought with different styles. has seen the law being used by for a lawyer or because the person both accounting and in life. He said Gracie took advantage law enforcement for profit, rather cannot claim their assets because Ball said he thinks of of his opponents’ inability to than for dealing with drug use. it could put them under criminal accounting as a science of adapt, meaning they were too “The war on drugs, which investigation. measurement, which helps those bound by the conventions of their started back when my career Neily echoed Beck’s sentiments, who do not know what’s going particular styles. He used this started, has not been very stressing the complications on around them discern their metaphor as an example of how effective,” Nelson said. “As a surrounding asset forfeiture law. surroundings. to cope with the different arenas matter of fact, we are spending a He said there are also few claims “Measurement is repeatedly in which audience members find lot of money in an area that is not made because lawyers do not have like stumbling around in a dark themselves. having the effect that we thought enough training to take on such room until you have some idea of “You are going to find yourself it would have on drug use in this cases and win. where the furniture is in there,” in ambiguous arenas that you’ve country. It is my belief that the Speaking to efforts to combat he said. “But the darkness is never been in,” Ball said. “This war on drugs has been a failure. possible corruption used with something that never goes away is a metaphor for globalizing The targeting of drug people civil asset forfeiture, panelists and it’s something that all of us economy. What works well in the had more to do with assets emphasized the need for discretion have to grapple with.” U.S. may not necessarily work than it had to do with the drugs among those supervising cases, as Ball said his job is to help as well as a strategy when you themselves.” well as restriction of when it can students prepare for this find yourself competing against Nelson also noted that in 2011 be used. Beck said though cases darkness of ambiguity and a Chinese competitor … how are the Michigan legislature changed exist where seizures go without uncertainty that accounting you going to adapt?” the way asset forfeiture was issue, more oversight must be used cannot measure. In turn, he He finished the story with allocated — instead of the seized in cases where it is not as clear said his lecture would tell an anecdote about when Matt funds going into a general fund what crimes were committed by three stories that show how he Hughes unexpectedly beat to combat narcotics, local police people in roles like hers. approaches ambiguity today. the now-Hall of Famer Gracie forces are able to use the funds as “These are law enforcement His first story featured a in the UFC 60 match. He said they wish. He charged that this tools that can seem very heavy Danish friend and former Gracie had only used his jiu-jitsu Sudokuhas Syndication led to the promotion of asset handed,” Beck said. “They should http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ colleague at the University of skills while Hughes used mixed forfeiture. be used responsibly. And if they Chicago, Hans Christensen, martial arts, a combination of “I think that opened up the are not used responsibly, then the who would constantly complain various fighting styles. As the assets should go back.” about Denmark. standards of fighting changed, Neily, who has worked on Ball said one day another Gracie forgot to adapt. asset forfeiture for five years, former colleague, Eugene Ball said he hoped Gracie’s called it the worst public policy Fama, who won the Nobel Prize story reminds the audience to he has ever encountered because of Economics in 2013, asked constantly adapt to the changing EASY it unjustly targets minorities Christensen how he could be so world. who do not always have the pessimistic about Denmark when “When you get out of school means to make claims and fight it was rated the happiest country and leave this university, back against law enforcement on earth by the World Health make sure that you make the that seizes their assets. Organization. Christensen investment back in the most “I don’t think you could design replied that because Danes have important asset of all: yourself,” a worse public policy,” Neily zero expectations, they are he said. “Don’t stop learning even said. “It routinely victimizes always pleasantly surprised. though your formal education innocent people who, generally Ball said, in the face of may be done; strive to invest by speaking, are minorities and of ambiguity, it is better to set continuously learning.” lower socioeconomic status.” expectations appropriately In his final story, Ball Reiterating that civil asset instead of having none. discussed his first performance forfeiture is now used primarily “Oftentimes our happiness is for an improv comedy class for profit rather than combating tied to how surprised pleasantly he took in 2006. In improv, drug and narcotic use, Neily said or not pleasantly we are, and the performers do not know he thinks the policy should be how surprised we are by things what they will be performing, ended entirely, and, until that depends on two different things,” which Ball said is the ultimate happens, it should continually Ball said. “One is the actual ambiguous situation. Originally be restricted so that fraudulent outcome, the future outcome terrified of public speaking, Ball activity is avoided. that oftentimes is way out of our said he stumbled upon an improv “Most people have no idea control. But the other thing that comedy class and decided to sign what civil forfeiture is,” Neily it depends on is our expectations, up, unaware of the mandatory said. “But when it’s explained how we set those expectations, performances at the end of the to them, 90 percent of people and that is something that’s class. © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com PAY DAY. say that shouldn’t be a policy. within your control.” He said he worried about what So I think we’re moving in that His second story centered he would be asked to do during direction.” around expecting change in his first performance, but once
PANEL From Page 1
arts@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Caroline Filips, Melina Glusac, Jacob Rich, Ben Rosenstock Arts Beat Editors: Matthew Barnauskas, Christian Kennedy, Rebecca Lerner, Natalie Zak
he started he realized there was nothing he could do about it but try to enjoy himself. Now, he said he suggests students take an improv class because it is the best tool for getting used to ambiguity. At the end of his lecture, Ball thanked all of his teachers who have impacted him to teach so passionately. Patrick Craves, a second-year MBA student at the Business School, said he nominated Ball because he was the most energetic professor he has had at the University of Michigan, adding that Wednesday’s lecture attested to his teaching styles. “His presentation today was very Ryan Ball,” Craves said. “I mean, he related Denmark, UFC fighting and improv back to what he always teaches us, and that’s the ambiguity of accounting and how that makes it frustrating and beautiful at the same time.” Another former student of Ball’s, Rafael Frankel, a first-year MBA student, said he was also impressed with how Ball related seemingly random topics back to accounting. “(Ball) was giving some real examples of some things that are not related at all with accounting, but by the end he kind of showed some of the relations with accounting and the business world and how you should take those examples and take some practical things for your life,” Frankel said. “I was really impressed on the example he gave about MMA, which I am really passionate about, being Brazilian and knowing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu … but I never related it to accounting.” In an interview after his lecture, Ball said he was thankful for his students who came to the event and put in the effort to nominate him. “The fact that all of those students who normally don’t leave the Ross Business School would come over here to help honor me this way and to come out of the woodwork and vote like that, even reading the comments that they published in the fliers were absolutely amazing,” Ball said. “And I am just so appreciative of the feedback I get.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
COUNCIL From Page 1 for their seats. No Republicans or independents are currently running for Council. Kailasapathy is being challenged for her Ward 1 seat by both longtime volunteer coordinator Jason Frenzel and local entrepreneur Will Leaf. Krapohl is running against Diane Giannola, manager of the University of Michigan’s startup company, Venture Accelerator, and local attorney Eric Lipson. All eight candidates stressed affordable housing policies as one of the city’s leading issues, though most diverged on how to best remedy the issue. Lipson said rising rent rates threaten to gentrify Ann Arbor and drive out lower-income residents. However, he also acknowledged city policies on the issue must be balanced. “We don’t want Ann Arbor to become an enclave for the rich,” Lipson said. “At the same time, we don’t want to destroy the values that have made Ann Arbor such a great place to live.” Frenzel and Giannola proposed encouraging low-rent housing
SUSTAINABILITY From Page 1 Fisher added that the success of the newly introduced sustainability initiatives came from a push to continue the group’s previous collaboration with other groups on campus. Many Greek life groups participated as student volunteers in the sustainability drive, such as the sorority Sigma Kappa, which set up a table to distribute 200 free flowerpots and flower seeds. LSA sophomore Becca Berman said the initiative was in concert with Inherit the Earth, Sigma Kappa’s environmental program. “One of our national philanthropies is Inherit the Earth,” Burman said. “Today at SpringFest, we decided to sponsor them by providing flowerpots and
News
and accessory housing — small housing units built on existing lots — near downtown. However, Leaf dismissed accessory units as a “token solution” and asserted the only systemic solution is with reforming the city’s zoning protocol to open more land for residential development, which Lipson echoed. “City Council’s challenge is to allow the supply of land to increase in a way that’s acceptable to local residents,” Leaf said, suggesting the city allow for mixed commercial and residential zoning instead of allotting areas only for commercial or residential use. “We can allow more people to move into those commercial corridors and have it be more mixed-use.” Warpehoski also supported a mixed-use zoning proposal, but said it isn’t a sufficient remedy to rising rents. Rather, he said subsidized housing is necessary to create truly affordable housing for low-income residents. “We also need a housing solution that addresses very lowincome households as well, and that’s a situation where we can’t solve that problem without some form of subsidy,” Warpehoski said, acknowledging new revenue sources — such as the sale of a
vacant library lot — would be needed to fund a subsidy. “I think Ann Arbor’s a wealthy enough and inclusive enough community where we should be able to do that,” he added. The issue of the chemical plume — a slow-moving contaminated with a carcinogenic chemical mass of groundwater beneath Scio Township and Ann Arbor that is moving toward the Huron River — was also raised during the debate, with candidates disagreeing over whether to petition for federal intervention and cleanup. Citing a lack of faith in the state’s ability to manage the contamination, Ann Arbor Township, which is a separate municipality from the city of Ann Arbor, recently authorized a petition for the Environmental Protection Agency to designate the plume to a superfund site for cleanup. Ann Arbor city officials have said they are concerned this may hurt local property values but have not yet ruled out supporting the petition. Warpehoski said though he believes the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has failed to contain the plume for the past two decades, he would prefer to work with the Michigan
Attorney General’s office to litigate Gelman Sciences — the original polluter — for a more stringent cleanup using new standards from the DEQ, though he did not rule out supporting an eventual EPA petition. Leaf took a similar position on the EPA position. “We have seen so little action by the state courts and the state Department of Environmental Quality to really do what it’s going to take to address that long-term threat,” Warpehoski said. “I think superfund designation is something we need to have on the table … but we absolutely need to continue fighting, whether it’s through the courts or the MDEQ.” Frenzel also criticized the state’s efforts in managing the contaminated groundwater, but said he would never support a federal intervention, instead suggesting local residents should pressure state officials to take stronger action. “I’m really concerned about superfund designation and its implications socially for our community,” Frenzel said. “It is not to say that I don’t find the DEQ’s actions to be pretty reprehensible at this point.”
flowers for people to take home with them.” LSA junior Elizabeth Morand, senior producer of SpringFest, spearheaded the zero-waste portion of the event this year — a program intended to eliminate trash, encourage compostable products and create sustainable initiatives. “We’re really focused on promoting positive social change,” Morand said. “It only made sense for us to also be concerned about climate change and the environment; it’s just incorporated between the whole idea of social changes.” Morand said she hopes to expand the event and its different components — especially sustainability — in the future. Ideally, Morand said she would like to see the entire SpringFest day become zero-waste.
SonReal, one of the performers at the daytime event, said in an interview he enjoyed his first visit to the University of Michigan, and thought the event was important at a college campus. “It brings a lot of the students together, and I also think it brings the students together in a way that they don’t get a chance to actually do very often, which is bringing them together through art, music,” he said. “That’s the best way to get to know people and be out and about and enjoy your time as a student.” SpringFest also featured a row of sustainability-driven food trucks parked outside the Michigan League. This included Shimmy Shack — owned by Engineering lecturer Debra Levantrosser — Michigan’s first and only vegan and gluten-free food truck. The Ann Arbor staple attracted
crowds of student by selling finger foods like nachos, fries, hummus and pita, as well as a variety of flavored shakes. Levantrosser, who has had Shimmy Shack for three years, said it has always had an environmental focus. “We used 100 percent biodegradable and compostable materials for today’s event. Also, we are vegan, which is environmentally conscious in and of itself, in terms of what veganism does for the environment,” she said. Levantrosser added that it was more than sustainable food practices that made her business renewable, pointing to the back of the truck. Read more online at michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 3
TRIO From Page 1 into the crowd. The trio also brought Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, as well as members of the Michigan football team onto the stage, who all dabbed while Migos perform their hit single “Look at my Dab.” In an interview with the Daily after the concert, Quavo said the group has a deep respect for the University of Michigan, and appreciates always being welcome to campus with open arms. The group previously took the stage with Harbaugh at the “Signing of the Stars” event in March where they also dabbed with former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland. “Y’all have supported us since day one,” Quavo said. “I just like the way you all construct things, and your whole program, I respect it a lot. We’re loyal people, so if you rock with us, we’ll rock with y’all.” Hosted by MUSIC Matters, the group’s performance came after a day-long series of activities for SpringFest, stretching from the Diag to North University. In collaboration with several other organizations at the University, SpringFest featured interactive booths, a fashion show, live performances and other activities. Business junior Kaitlin Smith, who attended the concert, said she thought SpringFest was an overall a success. “I think it went really well this year,” she said. “Everyone who participated this year was really really phenomenal.” As a part of MUSIC Matters’ mission, proceeds from the Migos’ performance will be used toward a Detroit summer youth camp set to launch this summer. During the camp, which will be hosted at the University, Detroit high school students will participate in
workshops, class sessions and other activities aimed at inspiring participants to pursue higher education in the future. Takeoff told the Daily he thought giving back to the community was very important in inspiring more hope in at-risk communities. “It’s positive to give back to the community with the things that are going on, and to let them know that there is still hope,” he said. In addition to planning the summer youth camp, MUSIC Matters also bussed 150 Detroit high school students to the University Wednesday so they could participate in the day’s events. Smith said she thinks interacting with Detroit students furthers MUSIC Matters’ mission, and gives their organization the opportunity to learn about different communities. “When we interact with these schools in Detroit, it not only kind of helps in communicating the importance of education to them, but it also teaches us about the people that live very close to us and people that live different lifestyles,” she said. Overall, students in attendance said they appreciated Migos’ enthusiasm throughout the performance and their continuous interactions with the crowd. In an interview after the show, LSA junior Drew Merrill said he thought the group brought high energy to the stage. “It exceeded my expectations,” he said. “I wish they stuck around a little while longer.” LSA junior Eman Jacksi said she thought the concert was a nice break from the stress of finals, which members of Migos mentioned during their performance. “It was awesome,” Jacksi said. “It was definitely a good break from writing papers and a great time.”
Opinion
4 — Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
HAFSA GHIAS | OP-ED
Using creativity to build bridges
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com SHOHAM GEVA EDITOR IN CHIEF
CLAIRE BRYAN AND REGAN DETWILER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LAURA SCHINAGLE MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
I
Schools as community spaces
n Detroit, 195 public schools have been closed since 2000. But the mass liquidation of neighborhood schools is not unique to Detroit. Several urban communities are restructuring their public education systems to suit the needs of changing demographics. The rapid pace of school closures raises questions about its impacts on neighborhoods and their ALEXIS residents. Research FARMER suggests that closing neighborhood schools increases the likelihood that neighborhoods around them will deteriorate. In conjunction with challenging neighborhood conditions, poorly performing schools accelerate neighborhood decline by hindering the preservation of stable residential communities. With a loss of a community anchor, school employees are displaced, property values decrease and businesses lack incentives to develop in neighborhoods. Detroit has a number of vacant school buildings scattered around the city. According to a 2015 report by a public data company called Loveland, “Out of the 195 schools that closed between 2000 and 2015, 81 of the buildings are currently vacant and unused.” Vacant school buildings can be locations for crime, such as scrapping or drug dealing. As large architectural structures dilapidate, their presences subtract from the aesthetic of a neighborhood. Instead of closing these structures, Detroit Public Schools should consider repurposing school buildings to develop mixed-income housing or maintain operations of the school, and increase their usage as communitycentered buildings. Instead of spending exorbitant amounts of money on demolishing architecturally sound school buildings, the city can encourage new and mixed-purpose buildings. Some closed schools have been redeveloped into residential apartments, movie theaters and churches. The city should encourage housing developers to create mixed-income housing structures within vacant school buildings. Mixed-income housing increases benefits and resources within schools and ultimately improves student achievement. Neighborhoods with mixed-housing prices are three times more likely to have highly rated schools than affordable neighborhoods. Mixed-income housing, however, can be used as a veil for gentrification, and only serve the poor who are “most likely to succeed.” Detroit City Council should invent specific protections, such as lowinterest mortgages and down payment assistance for specific income brackets, in housing developments that surround neighborhood schools. “Education policy is constrained by housing policy,” claims Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute. “It is not possible to desegregate schools without desegregating both lowincome and affluent neighborhoods.” Schools are influential institutions in determining where people live. A 2015 study administered by the National Association of Realtors Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends found the quality of the school district was the sixth-most-important factor affecting neighborhood choice for homebuyers. Researchers found a direct correlation between school quality and home values: Schools receive a substantial portion of their funding from local property taxes, thus, highly valued homes are critical to supplementing school funding. The disparities between Detroit’s and its
suburban counterparts’ home values is stark — the average home value in Bloomfield Hills is an estimated $400,000; in Detroit, the average home value is just under $40,000. “As a result, Detroit must levy a property tax 10 times higher than Bloomfield Hills to raise the same amount, per home, for a school maintenance or improvement project,” MLive reported. As Detroit resurges from financial troubles, city leaders must make it a priority to conjointly create quality schools and build solid districts to attract more residents to populate the neighborhoods. Schools are prominent community anchors, and when their facilities are accessible to the surrounding community, their public utility and value increases. Twenty-one DPS schools have been named 12/7 Community Schools, which are schools open beyond the traditional school day hours to offer services such as child/elder care, job skills training, financial literacy training, food distribution and medical care. Facilities that accommodate community members and expand opportunities for students provide a positive impact on the neighborhood as a whole. For example, Priest Elementary-Middle School is a 12/7 community school that hosts a Parent Resource Center: a community gathering space with computers, phones, small libraries, play areas for children, workshops, GEP support, book support, college information, etc. Homeowners would value amenities schools can provide, such as community spaces, libraries, swimming pools and playgrounds. Open school buildings facilitate democracy because community members can decide the best uses for the buildings. Schools can provide a sense of community ownership and can encourage community members to be more invested in the quality of the educational activities for students. With authentic parent and community engagement in school facilities, there is an equal stake in ensuring school facilities are maintained and accessible to the public. 12/7 community schools are examples of a best practices approach that enhances school value to the neighborhood. Revitalizing Detroit’s landscapes will require a commitment to providing quality education and living conditions for students and their families across the city. Detroit’s past economic, political and social history has made meaningful development difficult. Racial tensions, population declines and restrained budgets have challenged the city to transform its school system and its operations, and envision a new city design. With new leadership and restored power to residents, Detroit neighborhoods and the public school system have the potential to revive Detroit’s urban vibrancy. Urban planning and educational policy leaders can and should work in tandem with each other to streamline neighborhood revitalization. Communitybased education models can enhance student achievement and improve neighborhood conditions. Preserving Detroit’s neighborhood schools ensures their presence as valuable community establishments for all members. A school-centered community revitalization effort depends on safe and affordable housing that is attractive to families with children, retains current families and improves the academic quality of neighborhood schools to sustain Detroit’s renewal. A close partnership between school leadership and city planners can create school-centered communities across the city that will transform the quality of our urban schools and communities.
Facilities that accommodate community members and expand opportunities for students provide a positive impact on the neighborhood as a whole.
—Alexis Farmer can be reached at akfarmer@umich.edu.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
Foreigner. Conservative. Oppressed. America, 2016: I find myself placed into a seemingly indestructible box with steel reinforcements because of the cloth that lies purposefully on my head. I wear my hijab by choice, and yet those around me see me as a helpless, weak woman. As Islamophobic rhetoric has skyrocketed, so too have my feelings of helplessness. I watch this bloodthirsty beast rear its head, straining to break the chains that keep it from losing control. As a visual artist, I often express my frustration through a flow of colors onto my canvas. I do this in hope that art might crack the stereotype I find myself defined by, that my work might help someone choose love over hate. Last year, as a senior in high school, I began combining my artwork into a portfolio I titled the Peace Initiative. And within a year, the Peace Initiative has grown into a movement greater than I would have ever envisioned. It has become a campaign to advocate for social respect and equality using different mediums of creative expression. The goal is to put up art in public places around Ann Arbor and start an online campaign through Facebook to reach out to those who normally would not push themselves to meet new people. Just a few weeks af ter I arrived on campus, my friend and I were walking by the Diag when we saw a table for optiMize — a social innovation organization on campus. I didn’t think I had any ideas for their Social Innovation Challenge — I never thought of myself as an innovator, but my friend wanted to check it out, so I was
reluctantly dragged into going up to the table. As we walked up, I met Jeff Sorensen, a co-founder of optiMize. When he asked me if I had any ideas, I told him I didn’t. But then he asked me another question: “If you could change one thing to make the world a better place, what would you change?” And that got me thinking. We spent the next 10 minutes talking about Islamophobia and discrimination. When I told him about my art portfolio, his response surprised me: “Well, why don’t you apply to the Challenge to work on that?” Suddenly my passion project became a social venture. I reached out to two of my good high school friends, Limi Sharif and Halimah Ahmad, as well as a friend I met in one of my lectures, Mariam Reda. As freshmen, we came together to channel our passion for art as a medium to inf luence social change. Over the next seven months, the optiMize Challenge gave us a chance to begin creating a community of individuals passionate about social justice and artists who believe art can break barriers. Through this journey, we have realized that Islamophobia is part of a larger issue of tense relations between differing cultural groups who have not been able to relate to one another. A lack of interaction between groups, because people remain in their comfort zones, leads to the rise of stigmas and stereotypes. Our theme for next semester is the “implications of societal trigger words” such as feminism, racism, activism and all the connotations these words carry with them. We are a student organization that welcomes all artists who want to use their art to replace fear
and hate with compassion and understanding. Together, we are the Peace Initiative. Developing this initiative has been the most difficult thing I have tackled yet, but it has also been the most spiritually rewarding. The electric positive energ y f lowing through each member in optiMize has been contagious. I leave each workshop feeling refreshed, empowered, inspired and powerful enough to tackle all the negativity in the world, without allowing it to pull me back down in its endless pit. This project has sparked a thirst in me to learn as much as I can about social justice. I’ve found a purpose for my education. Instead of watching Netf lix, I spend late nights poring over scholarly articles on topics like race, discrimination and Islamophobia. As I delve deeper into these topics, I realize I want to continue pursuing similar endeavors throughout my life. Graduating high school with a class of 70 students, I felt lost in the crowd when I arrived on campus. I do not feel lost anymore. Thanks to the optiMize community, I go to bed every night feeling confident in myself and what I am doing. I wake up every day feeling loved and appreciated by the most inspiring group of people I could have ever imagined. I do not know what the future holds, but I know my friends and I will help shape it. optiMize and the Peace Initiative have taught me that while some people will try to trap me in a box, others will see that I have wings and encourage me to fly. Which would you choose? —Hafsa Ghias is an LSA freshman and was recently honored by the Daily as a student of the year.
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 MICAH NELSON | OP-ED
Altruism in philanthropy
Every Thursday morning, I walk into Weill Hall, climb three flights of stairs, open the door to a boardroom overlooking State Street and am transformed from a fourth-year college student into a member of a philanthropic foundation tasked with distributing $50,000. Endowed with a grant from The Philanthropy Lab, a foundation dedicated to charitable education, Public Policy 475: Philanthropic Foundations (the section taught by Megan Tompkins-Stange) explores what it means to give away money. My 14 classmates and I dissect standards for giving, who is “worthy” of philanthropic funding and how we see ourselves giving in the future. Across the country, there are 13 other universities exploring these same themes, all to the tune of a very real $50,000 to be given away at the conclusion of the semester. I am a senior now, and I am planning on working in the nonprofit sector, so this course aligns perfectly with my own career aspirations. However, it flips the script on my ambitions — I anticipate I will be spending the next few years of my life raising money, rather than giving it away. I have come to the conclusion that it’s a lot more fun to be giving away money for a cause than asking for money for a cause. As a donor (rather than a fundraiser), I feel immensely powerful. I have $50,000 burning a hole in my pocket, and it’s my decision who gets to take home a slice of the pie. Ever y Thursday morning, I walk into this class and I feel powerf ul and important. This class has more g ravitas than any other that I have taken here, with real money and the potential for substantive social
change on the line. But how should philanthropy operate? Metaphorically speaking, altruism gives me glowing, clear skin. Naturally, helping others makes me feel good about myself. Yet, acknowledging those benefits I gain from giving away money makes me squeamish. The social expectation is that we help others without any selfish motivations. Truthfully, I give away money for selfish reasons all the time. I pull out a few coins out of my back pocket for a person who is homeless on the streets of Ann Arbor, knowing full well that my friends are watching, with me secretly hoping they think I am generous and self less. And, like Carrie Bradshaw before me I can’t help but ask myself: Does it demean the gifts I am giving because my motives are not entirely pure? Despite my best intentions, could this form of paternalism hurt more than it helps? I honestly don’t have the answers to these questions. But every Thursday morning, I am surrounded by supportive classmates who ask the same questions and worry about how to leverage privilege and money to build a future focused on social justice. If I were ever to meet one of the writers of those ubiquitous think pieces about millennials and our perpetual self-absorption and complacency, I would point them to this classroom. Sure, my peers are idealistic, perhaps naive and probably indebted to a personal foundation of various forms of privilege. But we’re also questioning what we have been granted. We are poring over nonprofits’ tax returns, critiquing concepts about international development and exploring how to revitalize Detroit without gentrifying
blighted neighborhoods. The policy concerns of our generation are perfectly encapsulated in Public Policy 475 — our commitment to economic, racial and gender justice come to the forefront of every discussion. We don’t all agree on the best approaches to these challenges, but our commitment to positive change unites us. It also unites the final five organizations that have made it past our rigorous preliminary debates and research. Of these organizations, according to the stipulations of our grant, we can only choose a maximum of three. Furthermore, we must choose what percentage of the pot will be allocated to each organization, and whether the funding will be restricted to a specific project or program. The process of eliminating nine of the orig inally nominated organizations was hard enough. I can already tell that these f inal decisions will be the toughest — my conscientious classmates and I do not take this mandate lightly, and we are eager to responsibly distribute our f unds. At the end of the day, the collective emotional investment in the learning happening in that boardroom in Weill Hall is one of the most profound experiences of my college career. Whatever organizations make the final cut will be forces of change, but it is not the end goal that has already empowered and changed me. It is the community 14 other millennials and I have built, founded on a thoughtful process of dialoguing and questioning that inspires me beyond the classroom. —Micah Nelson is a senior in the Ford School of Public Policy.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
EVENT PREVIEW
‘Guys and Dolls’ 2 brings NYC to A SMTD celebrates Frank Sinatra centennial with classic musical By MERIN MCDIVITT Daily Arts Writer
As the world celebrates Frank Sinatra’s centennial, songs, tribute concerts and even figure skating routines paying homage to the Guys and beloved Rat Dolls Pack member are every- 7:30 PM Thurs., where. But 8 PM Fri. and the School of Sat., 2 PM Sun. Music, Theatre and Dance’s Apr. 14 to Apr. 17 nod to the leg- Power Center endary crooner $12 with comes in a different form Student ID altogether. This weekend, the Power Center will usher audiences into a different era, where the bright lights and shadowy side streets of New York City give way to Prohibition-era Cuba, swaying with Jazz Age rhythms. After taking on “American Idiot” last fall, the musical theater program was ready for a blast from the past. “We wanted to do something with more traditional musical theater to balance it,” said director Mark Madama, an associate professor of music. “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be colorful. It’s going to be exciting.” The classic musical showcases
Sinatra’s talents alongside those of Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in its 1955 film version, but the show’s real origin lies a little earlier, in 1950, when it debuted on Broadway. “Guys and Dolls” charmed audiences and swept the Tony Awards, worming its way into the American zeitgeist in a way few cultural phenomena ever do. Its vivid portrayal of the seedy underbelly of New York City has inspired countless imitations and riffs. It popularized the multi-ethnic slang of this colorful era in Manhattan, bringing words like “fly-by-night” (a short-lived romance) and “the heat” (the police) into popular consciousness. So deeply is “Guys and Dolls” intertwined with American culture that if you’re ever near Detroit, you can stop by Little Guys and Dolls Preschool on Six Mile Road. One can’t help but imagine tapdancing toddlers playing craps or maybe a couple of kindergarteners placing bets at the races. The spirited world of “Guys and Dolls” will be on full display at the Power Center thanks to set designer Edward Morris, an alumnus who has worked all over show business since his time at the University of Michigan. The click-clack of tap shoes will echo through the theater as the set flashes and shimmers with an overwhelming profusion of neon signs that has rendered the stage almost unrecognizable — a bustling metropolis in the middle of a college town. One of the show’s many unexpected delights is the highquality writing — in addition to
captivating musical numbers, the show packs jokes and references slung at the audience as rapid-fire as a sawed-off shotgun in a Havana alleyway. The script was so well-received that it nearly won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Sadly, writer Abe Burrows was under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee, an investigative Congressional committee whose activities during the time mirrored then-U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist push. That push ruined many a career in media. Burrows continued to write, but his Pulitzer aspirations were dashed forever. His script for “Guys and Dolls,” however, remains one of the best in the business. “I love the idea of doing a traditional musical comedy that has a great book,” Madama said. Before television took off in a big way in the late 1950s and variety shows began to dominate the airwaves, Broadway musicals were an outlet for some of show business’s most talented writers. Dialogue was snappy and inventive, leaving performers plenty of wiggle room to bring life to their characters. “Every character that gets played by a different person brings a different interpretation to that character,” Madama said. “They have to bring their own personality.” From salsa to tap, romantic duets to an athletic “crapshooter’s ballet,” “Guys and Dolls” is as engaging, relevant and just plain funny today as it was when the Chairman of the Board held court at the Rainbow Room.
FILM REVIEW
Netflix streams the sci-fi ‘Advantageous’ By VANESSA WONG Daily Arts Writer
The most terrifying science fiction is not the stuff of nightmares, but of reality: dystopian worlds that actually A loom ahead. Set in a nearAdvantadistant future where automa- geous tion squeezNetflix es humans Exclusive — especially women — out of jobs, the factors that lead up into the world in “Advantageous” have already been laid out today. It’s just a matter of following the threads into years ahead, and watching order unravel into quotidian chaos. Facing increasing pressure to look younger and more racially ambiguous, Gwen loses her job (Jacqueline Kim, “Red Doors”) as the figurehead of a plastic surgery company (ironically named the Center for Advanced Health and Living). The timing couldn’t be worse. She struggles to pony up tuition for her daughter, Jules’s (Samantha Kim, “Futurestates”) expensive prep school, her only shot at staying in the rapidly disappearing middle class. To get her job back, Gwen agrees to undergo an invasive full-body transplant at a major sacrifice to herself. The film follows how the decision impacts Gwen and Jules’s close relationship.
The world of the future is assembled quietly. Director Jennifer Phang (“Half Life”) economizes her shoestring budget, using minimal CGI for a realistic blend of present day and high-tech urban skylines. Overly precocious children and stiff dialogue reveals an evolved communication form that prioritizes facts, speed and logic. Throwaway dialogue hints at an AI economic takeover, as well as possible terrorist uprisings and rising child prostitution due to soaring unemployment rates – all events that could reasonably occur in the near future. Still, nothing is ever explained outright; the viewer draws the connections themselves. The expository narrative is revealed seamlessly, leaving the dialogue nimble and the focus on Gwen and Jules’s relationship.
The most terrifying sci-fi is the stuff of reality. With glacial lighting and elegant cinematography, the pacing is deliberately restrained so that the nuances in the relationship between Gwen and Jules can flourish. Gwen faces a catch-22 where she must sac-
rifice herself to give her daughter a leg up in the capitalist rat race, but to do so would rob Jules of an intimate relationship with her mother. The film questions what it truly means to be “advantageous” in a changing world. The only pitfall is that for all its careful buildup, in the last half-hour, the film feels anxious to race to its finish line. Directed by an Asian-American woman and featuring a diverse cast, “Advantageous” also marks a successful leap in media representation. It questions the pressures that society places on women, features middle-aged characters actually played by middle-aged actors, and gives Asian actors non-stereotypical, multi-faceted roles. The story “Advantageous” tells is ultimately its own, not one where identity is used as a plot point. Like any science fiction film, “Advantageous” occasionally questions the humans-versustechnology distinction. But above all, it’s first and foremost a story of mothers, daughters and providing for those you love. Situated among technologies that can perform faster, and more efficiently, characters ask themselves, “why am I alive?” and overwhelmingly, Gwen’s fierce love for her daughter is the answer, grounding the reason for life in emotional connection. Advantageous is streaming on Netf lix.
CHECK OUT BEST OF ANN ARBOR! IT PROBABLY FELL ON THE FLOOR WHEN YOU OPENED THIS PAPER! (YOU’RE WELCOME.)
Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 5
FILM REVIEW
CBS FILMS
“What do you say we get out of here and head to my Love Shack?”
Teller and Kendrick make a terrible film By RACHEL RICHARDSON Daily Arts Writer
Remember those kids in high school who, despite being given all the tools for success, refused to put forth an effort to make a F decent project? Whose Get a Job final prod- CBS Films ucts ended up being so Video on Demand god-awful they must have exerted effort to make them that horrible? It seems that these kids maintained their passion for awfulness, moved to Hollywood and produced “Get a Job.” From the giveaway title to the rudimentary dialogue, there’s no question as to what this film is about. “Get a Job” details the struggles of Will (Miles Teller, “Whiplash”) as he tries to improve life for himself and his girlfriend Jillian (Anna Kendrick, “Pitch Perfect”) by seeking employment as a videographer. Will is a pathetic excuse for a human being, but his three bizarre, unsanitary and substanceabusing housemates, Charlie (Nicholas Braun, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), Ethan (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, “Superbad”) and Luke (Brandon T. Jackson, “Triple Thunder”) make the millennial generation appear absolutely despicable. If you were looking for an older, wiser parental figure to teach these helpless clowns how to get their lives together, you won’t find one — Will’s father, Roger (Bryan Cranston,
MIGOS From Page 1 New Atlanta is no doubt indebted to their ubiquitous triplet flow. Quavo, likely the group’s most known member on account of his features (gracing Donnie Trumpet’s Surf and a number of Young Thug’s tracks) was at the lead as the night took off. He posed for pictures, hyped up the crowd, and represented the University of Michigan in a Denard Robinson jersey. Offset was the only member not donning Michigan attire,
Water bottles flew and kids threw their faces into arms. but his Mike Tyson Supreme tee was more than acceptable for the occasion. Most of their first raps went unrecognized by the audience, as they bobbed best they could in the unfriendly-to-standing Hill auditorium. The venue was admittedly
“Breaking Bad”), becomes completely delusional on his quest for employment. The collective strangeness of characters and plot suggests that “How Not to Get a Job” would serve as a more accurate title. Once we listen to a few of the characters’ conversations, it’s obvious why no one wants to hire any of them. Their vocabulary is limited to sexual lingo, with “dick” “fuck” and “come” being among the favorites. Then, during the last 20 minutes, there’s a dramatic tonal shift. Suddenly the film is trying to take itself seriously by having each character, in his own weird way, preach the same idea: it’s not just about feeling special, but actually being special.
The jokes can be described best as downright digusting. While crude humor may have been the intent, the material can better be described as downright disgusting. Director Dylan Kidd starts by testing viewers’ stomachs as they are subjected to watching Luke chug a mason jar full of deer semen in order to obtain his own desk at the office. More worrisome is the scene where a young Asian boy ends up unconscious on the gym floor after Charlie lobs a basketball
unfit for this kind of high-energy hip-hop show, but the energy picked up as the group segued into more known territory. The drop of “Hannah Montana” was synchronized with a not wholly unexpected Jim Harbaugh appearance, who jumped around stage for a bit and, of course, dabbed — much to the appreciation of the crowd. Water bottles flew through the air as kids threw their faces into their arms. That moment was the clear highlight for the night, where Migos and the audience seemed most in sync with one another. The majority of the night moved quickly back and forth between those kinds of radio-hit highlights, and slower moments when the members called out their raps like lists, leaving the audience to stand back and appreciate (or check their phones). The front of the venue was filled with kids dabbing with one hand and taking a selfie with the other. To Migos’ credit, they seemed to gauge the room relatively well, doling out popular tracks when they were needed and interacting with the audience when the performance slowed. That was clear during the DJ Carnage-produced track “Bricks,” as the lights shut off and the group called for the room to turn on their phones
at him. No one, not even the surrounding parents or one of his classmates exhibits any sign of concern. Another disappointing aspect of the film is its portrayal of women in power. Roger, the old timer in despair, basically begs the young barista, Cammy (newcomer Mimi Gianpulos) to fix him. Sure enough, a few scenes later, his once-graying hair is now solid black and Cammy’s constantly hanging onto Roger, indicating that she’s providing him with something more than caffeine and hair dye. Meanwhile, his son is being controlled by a conniving older woman, Kathleen Dunn (Marcia Gay Harden, “Into the Wild”), who openly admits that she’s only promoting Will so she can have more control over him. Of course, this wouldn’t be a film about the 20-somethings of America if substance abuse wasn’t prevalent. While a little party never killed nobody, the presence of beer and weed is so overwhelming in this film it might as well be a painfully long advertisement. Alcohol isn’t just used to alleviate misery and heighten euphoria — it’s viewed as the key to professional success, as demonstrated by Will’s insistence on Roger getting hammered before Will records him for his video resume. No amount of alcohol or marijuana will ever allow watching “Get a Job” to be a non-torturous experience. At least those who make the drunken mistake of pressing play can mostly forget the ordeal the next day. I wish I was so lucky.
(lighters are out these days). Dim iPhones waved around as the members rattled off their verses and jumped with the crowd, another high-energy point of the show.
A Harbaugh dab. Sometime around “Handsome and Wealthy,” the group jumped off stage and into the crowd. Takeoff climbed over a row of seats and danced with the students for most of the track, much to the disapproval of the classically-trained security team. Not too long after that highintensity crowd interaction, Migos left, possibly mid-song, and the slightly confused audience tentatively filed out, to murmurs of “Wait, is it over?” It was a fitting ending to a very stop-and-start event. The peaks of the night, though, still remained. Daps were exchanged and Migos left with a salute, their work here still unfinished. For those wondering, they were, apparently, headed towards Rick’s for an afterparty.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 6
FILM NOTEBOOK
FILM REVIEW
The best lessons of a Screen Arts degree By LAUREN WOOD Daily Arts Writer
This could be the last time I write about film. After four years of film studies, I’m left feeling a bit lost. Looking out into the real world, I see a wide range of careers that are exciting and bright and possible — I see many less that match up with the knowledge base I’ve spent my college career building. So I’m left wondering, where is the value in what I’ve spent my time in Ann Arbor learning? When will I find the purpose in watching every single movie with a (maybe too) Freudian lens? Is it worth four years of tuition to be able to detect the Truffaut reference in a Childish Gambino lyric? Do I sound pretentious when I refer to movies as “films?” Boiling down all of the testcramming, paper-writing, big-book-reading and class-discussion-navigating, I can really only come up with two main ideas. One: Film is everything around us, all-encompassing and reflective. Two: Our opinions are the most and least important part. It’s an upside-down and insideout and very non-deductively valid argument. But I’m going to try. Premise one: Everything we are is reflected in film. Give people a camera, a projector and time, and they have the tools to explain to anyone watching what makes up the important stuff of their lives. We tend to think of the world from our classic, Hollywood-centric bubble, but there is a national cinema to represent nearly every country and an identifiable impor-
SHOWTIME
“It’s okay. You can still watch season one on DVD.”
‘Shameless’ finale can’t tie the knot Sixth season of Showtime series ends on down note By SHIR AVINADAV Daily Arts Writer
“Shameless” doesn’t shy away from darkness. In fact, it embraces it. The Gallagher family’s misfortune, and their ability to bear Bit in some Shameless of the most unimagiSeason 6 Finale nable ways, Sundays at 9 p.m. is central to the series. Showtime The season finale is no exception to this theme. However, the execution falls flat. With each finale comes time to reflect on the trajectory the lives of each character have taken. And this season, their stories have diverged quite a bit from one another, furthering the narrative from what holds it all together — the family’s relationship. Lip (Jeremy Allen White, “Afterschool”) works his way down a self-destructive path at college. Frank (William H. Macy, “Fargo”) is preoccupied with his old flame Queenie (Sherilyn Fenn, “Twin Peaks”). Ian pursues a career as an E.M.T. alongside his new, surprisingly normal boyfriend Caleb (Jeff Pierre, “Drumline: A New Beat”). Debbie (Emma Kenney, “Epic”) veers out on her own to look after her baby. The family has become a decentralized unit with Fiona (Emmy Rossum, “The Phantom of the Opera”) left desperately trying to anchor it down in time for her wedding. Every once in a while, Fiona catches a break — an opportunity to be happy without having to consider anyone else’s needs but her own. Sean (Dermot Mulroney, “The Grey”) serves as not only her break, but as a source of comfort to guide Fiona through the aftermath of her imprisonment, arguably her lowest point in the series. Though his presence provides a sense of stability in the constant flux that is the lives of the series’s characters, he brings his own set of problems to the table. A former drug addict, Sean must deal with the consequences of his harrowing past while building a relationship with Fiona. Though Sean hired Ian (Cameron Monaghan, “The Giver”) when no one else would and helped Carl (Ethan Cutkosky, “The Unborn”) cut his ties with a neighborhood gang, Fiona’s fear that he’ll fall off the wagon lurks in the part of her mind that tells her she can’t have a happy, stable relationship. This anxiety is understandable, given her pattern of falling into doomed relationships. When the two hastily decide to get married, we can’t help but feel that Fiona is headed towards yet another letdown. This feeling pervades the prenuptial bliss that Fiona and Sean artificially act out — buying wedding bands, taking dance lessons and discussing their future
lives together. Her eager wedding preparations seem stilted, almost too happy — as if we’re being strung along to believe their wedding will go as planned even though (given the show’s history), we know it likely won’t. This feeling defines the show’s appeal. Its ability to draw us into its story, forge our attachment to its characters, then snatch it all out from under us just often enough to instill a nagging sense that at any moment anything can take a turn for the worse. And then it does. Frank comes barreling in to the ceremony with the news that Sean is still using. Fiona’s devastated, Sean’s relationship with his son is irreparably strained and Frank is once again happily the root of all this. The subtle poignancy of this tragic moment for the show’s protagonist contrasts with the building tension leading up to it — as we’re led to believe Frank is going to kill Sean when he buys a gun earlier in the episode. Even the beginning of the episode conveys a drastically different tone through its slow camera movements, which slowly pan through the Gallagher house as Frank urinates in Sean’s shoes and steals his money. Frank’s irrational longing to destroy Sean after a showdown between the two in Fiona’s home is like nothing we’ve ever seen of his character. His motivation, usually a greedy, alcohol-fueled lust for some self-serving outcome, is unclear. Whether he’s stung that his family is finally refusing to put up with his egotistical antics or has his daughter’s interests at heart is blurry. Regardless, his actions carry the impact they always do — a muddled trail of heartbreak and devastation. And just like that, a relationship we’ve been rooting for all season is curtly put to an end. The most disappointing part of it is that Sean doesn’t even try to explain himself or win her back. He simply subsides into the long list of disappointments that characterize Fiona’s love life. The finale ends with one of the most pivotal questions in the story: what’s Lip going to do? His slow decline down Frank’s alcoholic path culminates in a meltdown that’s been a long time coming. In each episode, we only glimpse a small misstep on Lip’s way to completely screwing up his life. The impending feeling that Lip is going to end up back where he worked so hard to get away from creeps up on us throughout the season. Though it isn’t surprising that Lip is the root of his own undoing, it raises the question: “why now?” His self destructive behavior has always been one of his most salient traits, one that is put to the test when his professor pays for him to go to rehab. However, we are left with him standing outside — whether he goes in or not is question to be answered by the next season. The season finale is a disappointing end to an even more disappointing season. The series seems to have run Frank’s course. The dramatic tension
he provides is arbitrary, and at times even frustrating. By leading Frank through the motions of preparing to kill Sean, then destroying his relationship with Fiona in one fell swoop instead, the show points to its own desperate attempt to produce a compelling ending that leaves the characters reeling yet again. Rather than sharply honing in on a dramatic plot point with the greatest potential to develop into the next season, the show lazily repeats past narratives and kicks down its protagonist once again — this time, with seemingly nowhere to move forward.
tance in doing so. In the 1960s, the French government initiated a program that paid screenwriters big money just to write a script and potentially shoot it. Documenting their young people’s voices and exporting them to the world as an image of what it was to be French was a national priority. In Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and early Communist China, propaganda film schools sprung up with government funding. The power of moving images was recognized as an invincibly strong force in regimes known most for their extreme violence. Writing with your camera, referred to in some theory as the caméra-stylo, gives a somewhat invisible strength to those filming, wielded both positively and negatively. Premise two: Our opinions towards a given film are the most and least important part. No type of movie is objectively better than another, and no matter what you think, it’s impossible to distill what we see on screen in terms of what’s “good” or “bad.” I’m one of the worst offenders of this. As a film critic, I spend my movie-watching time judging what works and what doesn’t, what you should like or disown, what letter grade to give a work that people have spent years of effort and millions of dollars on. But in the end, everyone’s a critic. The reasons you like or dislike a movie are entirely personal, and it’s futile to judge those that have won awards or had successful runs at the box office as inherently better or smarter. I once watched acclaimed writer Nick Delbanco be unable to control his loud laugh through an entire screening of
Classifieds
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, April 14, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Tousle 5 F and G, e.g. 10 Soaks (up) 14 Bad thing to be caught in 15 Spells 16 Virginie, par exemple 17 “Need You Tonight” band 18 Start of an old news announcement 20 Frequent Lemmon co-star 22 Chimney 23 Dublin-born poet 24 AWOL trackers 26 Tiny 27 Shine, in Cambridge 29 Ammunition dumps 31 Request to Sajak 32 Stipulation on le menu 34 Numerical prefix 36 Progressive pitcher? 37 When there’s no turning back 41 Where gas and lodging may be found 46 Tulsa sch. 47 Brings to light 50 Pitcher, for one 52 Cambodia’s Lon __ 53 Enzyme suffix 54 Moisten, in a way 55 Northeastern octet 57 Old but coveted 60 Nachos, e.g. 64 Peach __ 65 Landed 66 Ken Jenkins’ “Scrubs” role 67 CVI halved 68 Old map divs. 69 “Dallas” Miss 70 North-of-theborder gas DOWN 1 Injure badly 2 Radius neighbor 3 Historic Chicagoto-Santa Monica route 4 Largish combo
5 Proctor’s concern 6 Infiniti competitor 7 No. after a phone no. 8 Not agin 9 Fed. benefits agency 10 Stimulating message 11 Senators’ home 12 Part of UPS 13 Betting specifications 19 County bordering Suffolk 21 Dwell annoyingly (on) 24 “Fantastic” Dahl character 25 Initials on a radial 27 “Well, __-di-dah!” 28 Lyon article 29 Weigh station counts 30 Composer Rorem 33 “__ shoe fits ... ” 35 Literary assortment 38 When translated to English, beer brand that hints at the common feature of the five other longest puzzle answers
39 “We __ Marshall”: 2006 film 40 Brynner of filmdom 42 Wipe off 43 Some Cadillacs 44 Scott classic 45 Try 47 Hall of Fame Colts quarterback 48 Grisham output
49 Potion 51 Suppress 54 Low voices 56 First responders, initially 58 Israeli arms 59 Opera star Pinza 61 Classic Jag 62 “Small Wonder” state: Abbr. 63 In need of treatment
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
FOR RENT
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
! NORTH CAMPUS 1‑2 Bdrm. ! ! Riverfront/Heat/Water/Parking. ! ! www.HRPAA.com !
SUMMER NANNY NEEDED Newborn Boy, West Ann Arbor home References req., erikamowers@gmail.com
1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apts on Arch Avail Fall 2016‑17 $1050 ‑ $2500 + electric contribution CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991
WORK ON MACKINAC Island This Summer – Make lifelong friends. The Island House Hotel and Ryba’s Fudge Shops are looking for help in all areas beginning in early May: Front Desk, Bell Staff, Wait Staff, Sales Clerks, Kitchen, Baristas. Housing, bonus, and discounted meals. (906) 847‑7196. www.theislandhouse.com
1327 WILMOT ‑ 1 & 2 Bedroom Apts Avail Fall 2016‑17 $975 ‑ $1575 Plus Electric to DTE Coin Laundry Access, Free WiFi Parking Avail $50‑$80/m CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991 2, 3 & 4 Bedroom Apts @ 1015 Packard Avail for Fall 2016‑17 $1400 ‑ $2700 + gas and water; Tenants pay electric to DTE; Limited parking avail for $50/mo; On‑site Laundry CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991 4 BEDROOM APARTMENT Available Sep 2nd 1116 White Street $2580 Laundry and Parking on site Campus Management 734‑663‑4101 4 BEDROOM APT Fall 2016‑17 $3250 + $100/m Gas & Water + Electric to DTE, 3 parking spaces 1014 Vaughn #1 ‑ multilevel unit w/ carpet CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991 4 BEDROOM HOUSE NORTH CAMPUS/HOSPITAL 1010 CEDAR BEND ‑ $2400 + utilities PARKING & LAUNDRY 734‑996‑1991 4 BEDROOM HOUSE North Campus near hospital/music school Available Sept 2nd 1030 Cedar Bend $2600 Includes 4 practice rooms Campus Management 734‑663‑4101
xwordeditor@aol.com
04/14/16
ARBOR PROPERTIES Award‑Winning Rentals in Kerrytown, Central Campus, Old West Side, Burns Park. Now Renting for 2016. 734‑649‑8637. www.arborprops.com LIMITED CENTRAL CAMPUS APARTMENTS FOR FALL 2016 Remaining apartments starting at $880.00. Call 734‑761‑2680 or Info@u‑towers.com NEAR CAMPUS APARTMENTS Avail Fall 16‑17 Eff/1 Bed ‑ $750 ‑ $1400 2 Bed ‑ $1050 ‑ $1425 Most include Heat and Water Parking where avail is $50/m Many are Cat Friendly CAPPO 734‑996‑1991 www.cappomanagement.com
HAPPY THURSDAY! By Mike Peluso ©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/14/16
“Clueless.” I’ve learned my most valuable lessons from professors who spend years analyzing big ideas, like the impact of nations’ underground cinema movements on colonialism, and then easily turn around and geek out over the latest “Transformers” blockbuster. Films hold the value we impart on them. They give us a lens into ourselves, and yes, maybe some are uncomfortable and scary and weird. But there’s a reason you feel this way, so let’s explore it. Filmmaking is such an exciting mix of the most basic, traditional storytelling and the wildest, most advanced technology, so let’s do whatever we want with it. There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure movie, so let’s watch everything. Looking at these ideas, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that, like many degrees, the value in studying film lies primarily in the ability to learn. The film major at the University of Michigan is not called a film major; it’s deemed “Screen Arts and Cultures.” It took me a while to figure out why this was. Film teaches us that there is no sense of normal in the world, and that our personal backgrounds each represent only one of a world of experiences. By watching and digesting the images on screen, we learn how to learn from other cultures, people, lives. We revise our idea of what it is to see, we dip through different time periods and nations on screen, we spin into trails of thought and connection we never before thought to try and understand. And hopefully, all this watching equips us to handle an equally unexpected world. I’m pretty sure I’m ready for that.
Enjoy the Sudoku on page 2
SERVICES THESIS EDITING, LANGUAGE, organization, format. All Disciplines. 734/996‑0566 or www.writeonA2.com
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines blank Michigan State By AVI SHOLKOFF Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING — It took five innings, but the No. 2 Michigan softball team finally found its trademark 3 offense. MICHIGAN MICH. STATE 0 After four frames, the Wolverines’ offense looked lost against Michigan State (2-8 Big Ten, 20-20 overall). Michigan reached base just two times — once on an error and once on a single — and failed to get a runner in scoring position. It seemed uncharacteristic of a team sitting at the top of nearly every offensive category in the Big Ten. Once the fifth inning began, the Wolverines (8-2, 30-4) took a lead they would never relinquish, defeating the Spartans, 3-0, on Wednesday at Secchia Stadium. Junior Lindsay Montemarano started the offensive surge by lining the first pitch up the middle. Michigan’s next two batters reached base on singles. After a fly out, the Wolverines had the bases loaded with only one out. Abby Ramirez then stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball up the middle. Spartan shortstop Jacquie Reiser made an impressive diving play, stopping the ball in the infield. But Montemarano still scored, giving Michigan its first run. Later in the inning, through a fielding error and a wild pitch, the Wolverines scored twice more to give them insurance runs. While the offense struggled early in the game, junior righthander Megan Betsa stymied Michigan State’s hitters. She struck out 13 batters in seven innings for her fifth shutout of the season and walked just three. Betsa maintained control over the Spartan lineup and it took until the sixth inning for Michigan State to put two runners on base. Each of Betsa’s strikeouts came
Standing in the spectator area at the Varsity Tennis Center, Ronit Yurovsky looked up at the ceiling. She had just been asked how she wanted to be remembered as her four-year career comes to a close, and she was exclaiming that she couldn’t believe her college career was almost over. Then, Yurovsky paused, deciding how to answer. In her time at Michigan, Yurovsky has earned a top-50 singles ranking in all three of her seasons, earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and ITA Midwest Rookie of the Year in 2013, is a two-time Academic All-American and has earned three invitations to the NCAA Singles Championships. But instead, when Yurovsky’s long pause ended, none of those accolades made their way into her answer. “I just want (people) to know that I competed so hard on the court,” Yurovsky said. “Every time I stepped on the court, I gave it my all. I played for this school and represented the block ‘M’ on my shirt, because that’s the only thing that really matters. I just hope people know that when I was out there, that I would have given everything that I have.” A lot was expected of Yurovsky even before she arrived at Michigan — she was the 2012 NHSCA Senior Athlete of the Year for tennis. Now in her senior season, she has also had to take on a leadership role in addition to her job as one of the team’s anchors. After the 201415 campaign, the Wolverines lost three seniors: Emina Bektas, Sarah Lee and Kristen Dodge. All three were looked to as leaders of the program by everyone on the team, including
Hutchins brings fire to Michigan huddle Daily Sports Writer
KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily
Carol Hutchins fired up her team before a three-run fifth inning in Michigan’s 3-0 win Wednesday over Michigan State.
from swings and misses and she frequently got two strikes on hitters. After struggling in her last start against Nebraska on Sunday, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins took Betsa out of the game in the first inning. She later returned to the game in the third inning as a replacement for fifth-year senior Sara Driesenga and earned the win. In relief, she allowed only one baserunner. “I found my rhythm and they didn’t get any hits (Sunday at Nebraska),” Betsa said. “I think I found my groove the second half of that last game, I felt good. My spin was really good today, it was moving, and I felt confident in the circle.” Michigan, which constantly scores first and often sees runners reach base in the first inning, did something its offense had not done
since its game against Washington on February 27 — The Wolverines went down in order. Betsa, though, remain undeterred despite her hitters’ early troubles. “(I wanted to) spin the ball through the zone and put zeroes on the board,” Betsa said. Michigan attained a necessary Big Ten win, but it still showed some of the mistakes on the basepaths that it did last weekend. In the second inning, Montemarano hit a line drive to the first baseman who gloved it and immediately tagged first base to double off senior outfielder Mary Sbonek. It could explain why Michigan coach Carol Hutchins chose to hold up Montemarano at third on the fly ball in the fifth inning, taking a more conservative approach. The Wolverines were pleased
Yurovsky’s accolades only part of her legacy Daily Sports Writer
SOFTBALL
By BETELHEM ASHAME
WOMEN’S TENNIS
By MIKE PERSAK
Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 7
Yurovsky. With their departures, it was Yurovsky’s turn to step into the role of team captain. “(Naming Yurovsky team captain) is not just because she’s our senior,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “Obviously she’s a great player, but she’s even a better person. She represents what we’re all about.” This year, a new wave of younger players has entered the fray. Six of the eight members on the Michigan roster are freshmen or sophomores, including freshmen Brienne Minor and Kate Fahey, who — like Yurovsky — have earned individual national rankings in their debut seasons. But part of the Wolverines’ success, both as a team and as individuals, can be attributed to the experience of Yurovsky. Her attitude both on and off the court have set an example for the rest of the team. “She’s laughing, she’s happy, she keeps people loose,” Bernstein said. “The kids know once she steps on the court, she’s all business. But off the court, she’s just great to have around.” Added sophomore Alex Najarian: “She is always wanting to help us do better on the court and off the court … She just wants the best for everybody around her in everything that she does, whether or not it seems like it’s in your best interest at the time.” For a player who has had so much individual success, Yurovsky reflects most fondly on the success that the team has had in her time with the
Wolverines, especially last year, when Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament Championship for the first time since 1997. “That was pretty special when we finally won it,” Yurovsky said. “We beat Ohio State in the finals, which was pretty good. That was so memorable, because we were the (regularseason) Big Ten champs, but winning that tournament was pretty special.” But now, Yurovsky’s time with Michigan is running out. With just four matches left in the regular season, it won’t be long until the Wolverines will have to move on. That won’t be easy. As evidenced by the way with which people in the program talk about her and her impressive resume, Yurovsky has left an indelible mark on the program. “It’s her character,” Bernstein said. “She’s competed so hard for us, but it’s more the person that she is. I have complete trust in her, and you never doubt her intention in anything.” That hard work and those good intentions are in the back of Yurovsky’s mind, too. Back in the Varsity Tennis Center, as Yurovsky considered her ideal legacy, she added: “I wasn’t going to walk off the court unless I gave it my all.” In just over a month, the women’s tennis season will be over. Yurovsky will have walked off of the court for the last time, leaving a sparkling career behind her. And though her statistics may be forgotten, the example she has set and the impression she has left on her teammates and coaches is built to last.
“I just want (people) to know that I competed so hard.”
with Betsa’s effort, regardless of their offensive struggles. In Wednesday’s game, though, but Michigan maintained its lead, its players weren’t entirely satisfied with its offensive output. “We’re always confident in each other, that’s one of the great things about this team,” Montemarano said. “We have the mindset that it’s OK if you don’t get it done, my teammates behind me are gonna get it done. I think we really had confidence that Megan could get it done, but we’re never comfortable with one run, two runs, 10 runs, 20 runs, we’re always going up there looking to get more runs.” The Wolverines didn’t score 15 runs as they did against South Carolina early this year. They didn’t even mount the eight they tabbed against Nebraska last weekend. But they did just enough to win.
EAST LANSING — After four innings of back-and-forth play, the score sat deadlocked at 0-0, and the No. 2 Michigan softball team found itself in unfamiliar territory. Accustomed to scoring early and often, the Wolverines’ bats had fallen cold against the Spartans. Inning after inning passed, and Michigan simply couldn’t put runs on the board. Watching her team struggle to make solid contact and string hits together, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins needed to rally the troops. Hutchins regularly huddles up with the team between innings. She opens the conversation in the center of the huddle and then walks out, leaving the players to finish it before they take the field or enter the dugout. Her comments are typically short, sweet and to the point. But before the top of the fifth, she took an extended period of time driving her message home, seeking to light a fire under her team to push them forward. “Things weren’t going our way offensively and I was mad about it.” Hutchins said. “I did not like our energy at the plate, but I said, ‘Look I’m going to get over it because we still have an opportunity in front of us and we need to focus on that. So I’ll get over it if you’ll get over it because you’ve got to get over the past.’ ” When the Wolverines broke the huddle, a revitalized Michigan emerged. Junior third baseman Lindsay Montemarano stepped into the batter’s box first and took all of one pitch to lace a single into right field. After junior left
fielder Kelly Christner laid down a bunt, sophomore designated player Amanda Vargas sent another single to right. In just three at-bats after the timeout, the bases were loaded with no outs, and the Wolverines were in business. Junior shortstop Abby Ramirez took advantage of the situation with an infield grounder to second base that rolled just slowly enough to allow Montemarano to race home from third base. Michigan had finally broken the deadlock, and it was just warming up. The bases were loaded again with two outs, and the Wolverines were in prime position to do major damage with senior second baseman Sierra Romero coming up. Romero smacked a hardhit ball toward the shortstop, who couldn’t corral it, allowing Christner to score. Moments later, a wild pitch gave Michigan its third and final run. After four innings of subpar hitting, the Wolverines broke through for the 3-0 win. “We were playing a little tight, we weren’t being super aggressive and we weren’t putting good cuts on the ball.” Montemarano said. “Hutch reminded us that we’re good hitters and that we need to trust our preparation. “If we could just trust our process and be aggressive and go up there looking for something in the zone — not looking for a perfect pitch — good things will happen.” When Michigan needed to get its motor running, Hutchins took her time in the center of the huddle. Her message resonated with the Wolverines, and in a close encounter, that made all the difference.
‘M’ tops Eastern Michigan By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
Coming into its Wednesday game against Eastern Michigan, the Michigan baseball team was in a rough patch. 3 EMU MICHIGAN 19 It had suffered its first home loss this past weekend, had been pummeled Tuesday in East Lansing and had been struggling to hit. The Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 22-9 overall) were ready to take out their frustration. Not only did they best the Eagles (13-17) at Ray Fisher Stadium, they won, 19-3. Matt Ramsay started the damage in the first inning with two consecutive stolen bases and the first run of the day — sparking the team’s early 4-0 lead. “I love stealing bases — that’s part of my game,” the fifthyear senior said. “We picked up on some of their tells early on in the game, and (the Eastern Michigan pitchers) were pretty slow to the plate. So I knew if I got on base early I would have the opportunity to steal some bases. Luckily, I was safe.” Senior centerfielder Cody Bruder led the team’s charge with five runs batted in and 4-for-5 hitting. Other impressive performances came from four pinch-hitters Bakich put in the bottom of the seventh. Two of the pinchhitters were freshman Jimmy Kerr, who had two runs, and sophomore Matt Ross, who got his first collegiate hit. “I’m happy we won, but I’m more pleased with the way we played,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “(Ross) has been patient for 30 games and was finally able to play in the 31st (of the season) and then gets his first hit. You can’t draw it up better than that. (Kerr) delivers a quality at-bat that’s resulted in a base hit every time. Maybe we need to start giving them more opportunities.” Added Kerr: “I want to take every opportunity to get on base and to get an RBI. I wanted to keep the inning going and just get to the next guy.”
ELIZABETH XIONG/Daily
Matt Ramsay stole two bases in the first inning Wednesday against the Eagles.
Eastern Michigan made six pitching substitutions, starting in the top of the second. Freshman Gary Clift Jr. made his first career appearance and struck out Michigan’s first batter, freshman Ako Thomas, keeping Michigan off the board in the inning. In the bottom of the third, the Wolverines extended their lead by four more runs, including a bases-clearing double to left field by fifth-year senior Dominc Jamett. The Eagles were still scoreless in the top of the fifth, so Bakich took the opportunity to substitute in freshman pitcher Troy Miller for Nutof. “It was great to put the game away early,” Ramsay said. “I think a lot of it has do with the pitchers, (Nutof) did a good job of staying in the zone and being low in the zone and incorporating his defense by staying low in the strikes. I think when you have pitchers filling up that space it just makes the defense better.” Eastern Michigan got on the board in the seventh inning when
Eagle junior catcher Jeremy Stidham tripled to right center. Stidham scored the first run of the day for his team — it just wasn’t nearly enough. Michigan finished with 19 runs and nine Wolverines scored. Junior catcher Harrison Wenson, Benedetti and Bruder all scored four runs each. But though Jamett — who played as catcher later in the game — didn’t tally any runs, Bakich thinks the designated hitter was instrumental to the team’s success despite his minimal playing time this season. “He’s a senior, he’s a captain and he stands for all the right things,” Bakich said. “He represents everything that’s great about Michigan. He’s cemented into the foundation of the program. I thought it was an opportunity he deserved. He knows that he just wants to make a positive contribution anyway he can and he was happy to take advantage of that today.” Bakich made it clear that he felt Michigan not only won the game, it won each inning. That’s a feeling he’s happy to get back.
“It was great to put the game away early.”
Sports
8 — Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Jordan says goodbye to ‘M’ at end-of-season banquet By LEV FACHER Daily Sports Writer
A newly minted head coach, LaVall Jordan walked onto the floor at Crisler Center on Wednesday for the Michigan NOTEBOOK men’s basketball team’s postseason awards ceremony. He made a beeline for John Beilein and gave his former boss a hug. After six years on Beilein’s staff, Jordan says he finally gets it. “It comes at you quick, and there’s decisions to make,” Jordan said. The move “26 inches over,” from the assistant coach to the head coach’s seat, has changed Jordan’s perspective ever since he accepted the head-coaching position at the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee last week. There’s simply a level of accountability at the head-coaching level that’s impossible to envision or prepare for, Jordan said. So after years of trying to understand the inner workings of Beilein’s mind, Jordan finally got a real glimpse inside. Though he’s spoken with Beilein daily since accepting the Milwaukee job, the hug was still necessary. Jordan will have a familiar face alongside him as he takes over at the Panthers’ helm. Pending a few dotted Is and crossed Ts, Michigan video coordinator Will Vergollo will become one of Jordan’s first hires. The loss of Jordan, known as something of a guru for backcourt players, is a big hit to Beilein’s staff, which has remained perfectly intact for the last six
seasons. “In my opinion, he’s one of the best in the business at what he does,” said senior guard Spike Albrecht. In Jordan’s absence, director of player personnel Chris Hunter will hit the recruiting trail alongside Beilein. In the last week, the rest of Michigan’s staff gave Hunter the go-ahead to actually coach players during workouts, and Beilein said Hunter impressed immediately with an observation about rising sophomore forward Moritz Wagner’s mechanics. Beilein didn’t rule out considering Hunter for the position, but said he’s in no rush to make a decision. “Measure twice so you only have to cut once,” Beilein said, saying that even the Pope would have to go through a
background-check process were he to apply for the position. The vacancy could soon gain a twin, as Michigan assistant Bacari Alexander remains among the rumored candidates for the stillunfilled head-coaching position at Detroit. But in the meantime, it’s business as usual. “He’s going on the road (recruiting) this weekend,” Beilein said. In terms of players, Beilein still doesn’t expect further attrition after Ricky Doyle and Aubrey Dawkins announced their departures from the program last week, and says he’s checked in with everybody on the roster regarding their status for next year. “That’s the plan with everybody right now,” Beilein said. Wagner was among the
LEV FACHER/Daily
LaVall Jordan will be the next head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee next season.
players whose summer plans were most in flux, but he appears to have solidified them: Beilein said Wagner will spend the early months of summer at home in
Germany before returning for July and August to participate in “Camp Sanderson,” strength coach Jon Sanderson’s famed summer workout series.