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True Blue Shane Morris came to Michigan as a prodigy expected to lead the program to glory. Instead, he has found something bigger.
» Page 4B CAMPUS LIFE
LatinX event commences month-long celebrations SINDUJA KILARU/Daily
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, speaks at the Michigan State University Union in East Lansing Thursday.
In East Lansing, Chelsea Clinton stresses importance of student vote
Voter mobilization, higher education and Trump prominent topics at event CAITLIN REEDY Daily Staff Reporter
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, visited East Lansing Thursday night to advocate for her mother’s
campaign. Michigan State University’s chapter of College Democrats hosted Clinton in the university’s student union, with 200 people were in attendance. After speaking for 15 minutes at the public event, Clinton took questions from several attendees. MSU junior Dan Eggerding,
president of MSU College Democrats, said Michigan State was honored to host Clinton. He noted the important role such events play in mobilizing voters, especially at this stage in the campaign. “As a student at MSU, I think it’s important that campaigns send representatives from their
respective campaigns to get out the vote — especially now since the October registration deadline is approaching,” Eggerding said. “A huge surrogate, such as the daughter of the former president and hopeful next president, is a really amazing and awesome thing that MSU was humbled to host.” See CLINTON, Page 3A
Speakers discuss goals of inclusivity and community-building on campus NEIL SCHWARTZ Daily Staff Reporter
MATT HARMON For the Daily
At the University of Michigan Alumni Center Thursday evening, about 80 students, alumni and members of the Ann Arbor community attended the first event of this year’s LatinX Heritage Month celebrations. Sponsored by prominent Latino campus organizations and alumni, the event featured speakers who outlined inclusivity goals and stressed the importance of breaking down institutionalized borders for their on-campus
University of Michigan Health System Graduate therapy dogs bring joy, health benefits students
community. The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, along with the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, the Spectrum Center and the Alumni Association are collaborating for the second time to bring a month of activities, including keynote speakers, film screenings, poetry readings and other events that celebrate Latino heritage, to campus. This year’s theme for LatinX Heritage Month is “Sin Fronteras,” Spanish for “Without Borders.” Medical student Mayra Gómez, a member of the LatinX Heritage Month committee, said artificial borders that See LATINX, Page 3A
ADMIN
HOSPITAL
critical of DEI plan
Program aims to improve mental, physical state of patients and staff
Surgeon talks work amid Congo civil war
Second discussion of diversity initiative draws concers about input
When you walk through some University of Michigan Health system facilities, you might meet Anna and Denver, who arrived at UMHS this July. They work full days and make rounds at the hospital, visiting different medical centers and meeting new people. However, the two are neither doctors nor patients — they’re new hospital dogs intended to provide therapeutic services and improve the wellbeing of patients and staff throughout UMHS. Denver, a 16-month-old Labrador-golden retriever mix, and Anna, an 18-month-old golden retriever, are trained service animals cared for by Joel Maier, Mott-certified child life specialist and Rev. Lindsay Bona, manager of the UMHS Spiritual Care Department. The dogs were purchased to supplement the existing canine program at UMHS, through which other dogs and volunteers from Therapaws of Michigan have visited patients on a requested basis since 1987. However, because those resources are somewhat limited due to a high demand, UMHS has been working to expand their canine comfort services over the last year. The dogs were purchased for $30,000 each with a donation from the Laurence Polatsch Memorial Fund. Both Anna
EMILY MIILLER Daily Staff Reporter
At the second feedback forum for LSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan Thursday night, which focused on how the plan relates to graduate students, some audience members expressed concerns about lack of input students had on the plan. The DEI plan outlines prospective goals for LSA programs over a five-year period, including the implementation of a variety of programs including a diversity component of criteria for faculty raises, more funds for application fee waivers and improvements in recruitment processes for graduate students. It is part of a larger campus-wide effort launched by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel last year. The forums, which are slated to address concerns from a number of different groups in LSA, aim to allow student input in the revision process. The majority of the audience members Thursday night, however, were faculty members. Among the students See PLAN, Page 2A
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and Denver also received funding from a “puppy shower” fundraising campaign that was held when they first arrived to raise money for their daily maintenance needs, such as veterinary services and food. The dogs received extensive training prior to starting work at UMHS, including more than a year at the Canine Assistants program and a weeklong orientation earlier in the
summer with their caretakers. At training, the dogs were exposed to different types of social environments — including hospitals, grocery stores and parks — and learned basic dayto-day behaviors. Maier said the goal was to teach them how to interact with various patients and behave in public transportation settings. According to the pet therapy organization PAWS for People,
service animals and pet therapy have a number of physical and mental health benefits for patients, such as lowering blood pressure, diminishing physical pain, decreasing feelings of alienation and reducing anxiety. They can also motivate children and allow them to focus more effectively. For similar reasons, other local volunteers and organizations See DOGS, Page 3A
PAUL AHNN/Daily
Joel Maier, Mott-certified child life specialist and Rev. Lindsay Bona, manager of the UMHS Spiritual Care Department with therapy dogs Denver and Anna speak with a reporter at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Thursday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 140 ©2016 The Michigan Daily
Dr. Mukwege discusses experience aiding victims of sexual violence TIM COHN
Daily Staff Reporter
Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecologist and three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, spoke Thursday at the School of Nursing about his work helping women recover from violent forms of rape in his war-torn home country. Mukwege, who established the Panzi Hospital and Foundations in 1999, participated in a Q&A session with filmmaker Mike Ramsdell, who screened his recent film about the 20-year civil war in the Congo, titled “When Elephants Fight.” The hospital and foundation work to provide a full range of health services to women in the Congo. Nursing Prof. Janis Miller, organizer of the event, said she is involved with a University of Michigan organization that is working in partnership with Mukwege’s Panzi Hospital in Bukavu. She told the roughly 200-person crowd See SURGEON, Page 3A
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Munch performs at a line-up of bands presented by What The Sound at The Bling Pig Friday.
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Therapy dog Denver is petted by patients at Mott Children’s Hospital Thursday.
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Ross junior Jacklyn Kim receives a free plant at EarthFest on the Diag Monday.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Medicinal Chemistry Symposium WHAT: The University’s ACS Medicinal Chemistry chapter will host its inaugural symposium. Topics of interest will include chemicals targeting translation control and a prostate cancer drug target. WHO: College of Pharmacy WHEN: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Graduate School, Assembly Hall
PLAN From Page 1A that were in the audience, some drew attention to the lack of involvement from graduate students. Social Work student Brittney Williams said the scarcity of graduate involvement, both tonight and at other times, was caused by the scheduling of the events. “A lot of students have voiced concern that a lot of events like this happen at times that are more convenient for faculty and staff,” she said. “These are great, but I think there would be more participation and more student input if they were at times that are more accessible to students.” Some attendees also raised concerns of what they described as the fragmented nature of the planning process, noting that LSA released its DEI plan in August, and University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel will release the campus-wide plan on Oct. 6. LSA Assistant Dean Liz Cole facilitated the event and presented specific portions of the plan that relate to Rackham students. She discussed
Bi/Pan/Fluid Celebration WHAT: The Spectrum Center will host a celebration in honor of #BiWeek2016. Students can participate in the #StillBisexual Photo Campaign while enjoying pastries and refreshments. WHO: Spectrum Center WHEN: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, room 3200
improvements in the recruiting process, additional master’s transition bridge programs and partnerships with minorityserving institutions, which are designed to foster a more diverse climate for graduates. She also fielded criticism from students, saying many components of the plan would grow and change as time went on. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about assessments for these different kinds of programs and we do think that there’s a lot of accountability built into the plan,” Cole said. “I can’t guarantee that we will succeed in all our goals in five years, but I think there’s going to be of course adjustments all along the way.” Along with criticism, however, there were also multiple aspects of the plan that the audience members pointed to as positives. Economics Ph.D. coordinator Laura Flak said she particularly appreciated the planned implementation of seminars and tests for admissions officers on bias. “The thing that’s most exciting for me is requiring the
FINDING GAMEDAY OUTFITS. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
“Religious Self” Panel
Curation Presentation
WHAT: A panel of professors will discuss certain “things,” relations and senses — material and ephemeral — that may constitute or break down the “religious” self. They will address how these things allow an interaction with the beyond. WHO: Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies WHEN: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Tisch Hall, room 1014
WHAT: Curators will address the challenges of organizing an exhibition about slavery in Colombia’s Museo Colonial, taking interest in how a state museum should address the history of slavery in a context of institutional transformation. WHO: Museum Studies Program WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Museum of Art, MultiPurpose Room
admissions chairs to attend these trainings on implicit bias,” she said. “Just across the board, from my personal experiences, oftentimes people become chairs because they’ve been around for a long time, have experience that sometimes comes at the expense of being well informed in terms of campus climate and education about implicit bias.” She also said she appreciated the continued attempts to make campus a more open and welcoming space, such as the plan. “I’m excited in the fact that it just helps perpetuate the general feeling of ecology in the University as a progressive environment, as a welcoming environment, a very open environment for all kinds of ideas and thoughts and people,” Flak said. “That just constantly makes me happy, this movement towards being more progressive.” Kinesiology graduate student Elena Simpkins said she was optimistic about the plan,but also noted that she had some doubts, reflecting on both her graduate and undergraduate experiences at the University. “We’ve witnessed pushes for these things before and still felt the same at the end,” she said. “I’m here because I have some glimmer of hope. But it’s still hard because there are times when I feel like things that I hear from the president or other people don’t always line up with actions. And it makes it hard sometimes to fully believe that what is going to happen in five years is going to be different than what we have now.” Williams, who also attended the University as an undergraduate, said while she has experienced little positive change in campus culture, she remains optimistic. “It’s really, really difficult when you’ve got over a decade behind you of observation and experience at the University and it still feels like there’s not as much hope as you wish there were,” she said. “But I do have hope.”
SkInZ @BlakeSkinz So I’m trying to open up for big Sean October 26th at the university of Michigan hmu if you’d be down to go
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SURGEON From Page 1A about the newly established International Center of Advanced Research and Training, which seeks to improve health education for aid workers in the region. “Tonight we are going to honor Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has both figuratively and literally stitched women who have been victims of violence back together,” Miller said. Miller also noted that the University has developed a special relationship with Mukwege, in part through his son, Dr. Alain Mukwege, who was a visiting scholar on campus. In 2010, Denis Mukwege received the UM Raoul Wallenberg Medal, which is an annual award for work done by humanitarians around the world. “When Dr. Mukwege first came to Ann Arbor in 2010 to receive his Raoul Wallenberg Medal, he took up the rallying cry of that famous University of Michigan alum (Wallenberg) — that even one person can make a difference.” Miller said to the crowd. Following Mukwege’s introduction, Ramsdell spoke about his experiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and his inspiration for creating his documentary. “I believe that if a film — the most powerful media that I can think of — can elicit an emotional response and inspire a deeper intellectual understanding of a topic, then 99 percent of the time, we can get people to work to help their fellow man,” Ramsdell said. Ramsdell also told the
LATINX From Page 1A can divide us are meant to be challenged, an idea she hopes is conveyed throughout Hispanic Heritage Month. “We chose the subject of ‘Sin Fronteras’ to emphasize that despite our differences, we can come together and celebrate,” she said. “So we ask you to be aware of the borders that exist and question them.” University alum Hector Galván, a program coordinator at OAMI, said the title of the commemoration was changed two years ago from “Latin@ Heritage Month” in an effort to be more inclusive, which he added is central to OAMI’s goal of the importance of community at the University. “With a growing number of Latino students at the University, it’s very important that they feel at home, they feel welcome and that they feel this institution recognizes their cultural heritage and the contributions that they bring,” he said. According to the Office of the Registrar’s ethnicity reports, there were 2,028 self-identified Hispanic students during fall 2015, making up approximately 4.6 percent of the campus population. Galván said he aimed to create a welcoming community for these students coming to campus. “A very important aspect
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audience about the personal significance and impact of his time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Once you go to the Congo, you can’t un-Congo yourself — it becomes a part of you,” Ramsdell said. “The Congo is powerful, impactful, painful and beautiful. … But what you see, you cannot un-see. I have daughters, I have a mom, I have a girlfriend, I have sisters. So I made a movie to expose what is happening to this special place.” Following the screening of the 50-minute documentary, which gave a history of the nation and of the protracted civil war that is, in part, over lucrative mineral rights, Ramsdell and Mukwege participated in the Q&A session. Mukwege began by ref lecting on his early career as a doctor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He told the audience that he arrived there after receiving medical training in France as a pediatrician, but once he saw how many women died giving birth each day, he went back to France to become a gynecologist. “After my second training in France, I returned home and set up a hospital and a midwifery school,” Mukwege said. “But then in 1996, the war came to my hospital. It was invaded, and they killed my patients. I couldn’t bear to return to the hospital for another two years.” Mukwege, who has developed an international reputation as a surgeon who specializes in reconstructive surgery for victims of violent rape, said he based
his treatment off a fourpillar program that focuses holistically on patients’ overall health. The four pillars are physical treatment, then mental health counseling, economic reintegration and providing the patient with legal services. Ramsdell stressed the importance of Mukwege’s work as an advocate for victims of brutal war crimes, and also highlighted how Americans can help. “It all is tied to business interests,” Ramsdell said. “The minerals that are at the heart of the conf lict — these are components that go into all of our electronics that power our lives. If everyone were to boycott firms that engage in shady business deals for mineral rights in the Congo, then these business practices would absolutely change.” Nursing sophomore Olivia Hamilton said she knew very little about the conf lict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before Thursday night’s event. She said Mukwege and Ramsdell’s impassioned call to action inspired her to look further into Mukwege’s organization. “I was really impressed by Mukwege’s dedication to the full treatment of women, physical and mental,” Hamilton said in an interview. “I never really considered it before tonight, but, to many, access to this kind of health care is a first-world luxury that is not available to everyone. … I can’t wait to tell more people about this. I was really shocked to learn about this and even more surprised that this isn’t common knowledge here.”
of LatinX Heritage Month is creating a space for people to feel that their culture and their heritage is accurately represented through the University of Michigan,” he said. That idea of inclusivity, he said, is one reason for moving away from the traditional names for this month such as “Latino Heritage Month” or “Hispanic Heritage Month,” which is how the celebration is commonly referred to across the nation. “We realized that some people may not fall strictly on one side of this gender binary,” he said. “So we use the term ‘LatinX’ to be more inclusive of those people that fall somewhere along the gender spectrum.” LSA junior Tania Lopez said she finds the term “LatinX” creates a stage of equal opportunity where all members of the Hispanic community can express ideas without feeling discriminated against by a gender label. “I think it’s very important to have awareness of the LatinX community since we are so small, and we just need our voices to be heard,” she said. Hispanic Heritage Month was originally created as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1988, thenPresident Ronald Reagan expanded the observance to the 30-day period that it covers today, a time especially
significant in the Latino community due to the many Latin American countries that celebrate their independence during this month. University alum Israel Diego said he feels there is a connection across members of the Latino community that transcends other cultural differences. “I like the idea that we are all Hispanic, as in Spanishspeaking,” he said. “So it’s really good to be able to have that solidarity between us and I highly respect that.” Gómez said she finds the Latino community on campus a safe place to share her experiences. “For me, it was a little alienating to be in the Med School where it’s a very elite and privileged group,” she said. “A lot of my classmates come from a lineage of doctors. My mom has a fourth-grade education and my dad has a sixth-grade education, so just being able to connect with people with a similar background with similar situations is very comforting.” Diego also emphasized the importance of building a strong community among Latino students at the University. “I just want other Latinos that still haven’t reached out to reach out and to really get to meet all the other members of the Latino community still in the school,” he said. “It’s really important to engage and to become a stronger people in the University.”
ELIZABETH XIONG/Daily
University alum Hector Galván, a program coordinator at the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, speaks at the LatinX Heritage Month kickoff celebration in the Alumni Center Thursday.
DOGS From Page 1A have also brought their service and therapy dogs to other parts of the University, such as Shapiro Undergraduate Library or the Diag during midterms and finals week. “Dogs bring a different element that we as humans can’t,” Maier said. “When Denver walks in the room, as a dog he’s completely non-judgmental, he’s fully loving. … When he walks in the room, that
CLINTON From Page 1A Clinton spoke about a variety of topics during the event Thursday, with a focus on the value of every vote in this election. She called on MSU students to encourage their friends to register to vote and plan on making it to the polls on Election Day. “This election is relevant to everybody,” Clinton said. “Talk to your friends about college affordability. This election is relevant to all of us.” Discussing the current landscape of higher education, she highlighted her mother’s New College Compact — a plan aimed at restructuring current student debt and establishing tuition-free public universities and colleges — saying it could reshape student debt in the United States. Throughout the night, Clinton also emphasized contrasts between Hillary Clinton and her rival, Republican nominee Donald Trump. After an attendee asked a question regarding the current Syrian refugee crisis and global climate of Islamophobia, she highlighted Trump’s “normalization of hate speech” and her mother’s commitment to her campaign slogan, “stronger together.” With that slogan hung behind her, Clinton charged that her mother’s campaign focuses on bringing people together, while
Friday, September 23, 2016 — 3A
family opens up. He breaks down walls that I can’t.” Anna has traveled throughout the health system while Denver primarily visits patients at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Maier and Bona said. “Quite often I’ll get the response from parents, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen my child smile in a week or two weeks,’ ” Maier said. He added that the dogs have assisted patients anxious about treatment, interacted with families staying with sick loved ones, provided fun and supportive
companionship around the health system and kept the staff smiling on stressful days. Bona said much of this success from having Denver and Anna at the hospital can be attributed to the relationship the dogs have with their owners, instilling a reciprocal sense of trust. “They trust us to keep them safe, and therefore they’re able to be their best selves,” Bona said. “They can sense when patients and people and staff need them, and they just go up and give them love and affection.”
Trump’s focuses on divisiveness. “We have a lot more work to do to keep the progress that has been made and continue the work that still has to be done,” Clinton said. “The president can lead but she can’t do it alone. … (Hillary Clinton is the) only one person running for president who believes that the ‘we’ includes all of us.” Taiwo Dosunmu, communications director of the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, wrote in an e-mail interview that Clinton’s visit to MSU, like Tim Kaine’s recent stop at the University of Michigan, signifies the importance of the student vote. “In the past, Democrats have done well in Michigan presidential contests, but as Tim Kaine alluded to at his rally here on campus, victory in Michigan — or anywhere — cannot be taken for granted,” Dosunmu wrote. “Students and young voters across the state have a great deal of power in this election and we must take responsibility for our future.” Along with Chelsea Clinton and Tim Kaine, many other supporters of Hillary Clinton, as well as the candidate herself, have been frequent visitors to the state. Trump has also had a noticeable presence in Michigan, visiting the state most recently during a Sept. 14 visit to Flint. Trump’s campaign has said several times they plan to take
Michigan in the election, though the state has not been won by a GOP nominee since Ronald Reagan. A recent Detroit Free Press/ WXYZ-TV poll found Trump to be closing in on Clinton’s lead. The poll projected 38 percent of the vote for Clinton and 35 percent to Trump — the rest of the respondents, 13 percent, were either still undecided, backing Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein. This is consistent with national polling throughout the campaign, showing a statistically close race with the two candidates frequently within a few points of one another. The most recent polling, from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey, found that Clinton leads Trump nationally by six points among likely voters. In a statement in response to Clinton’s event, Scott Hagerstrom, the Trump campaign’s Michigan state director, charged that her campaign wasn’t right for the state. “After Hillary let slip at a Wall Street fundraiser earlier this month that she sees half of this country’s voters — including veterans, police officers, firefighters and other hard working Americans — as either ‘deplorable’ or ‘irredeemable,’ Michiganders have one question for Chelsea Clinton on her visit here — does she agree with Hillary’s view of them?” Hagerstrom said.
Opinion
4A — Friday, September 23, 2016
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FROM THE DAILY
L
Create a student regent
ast Thursday, the University of Michigan Board of Regents voted to reinstate a bylaw that encourages student participation in University decision-making removed in 2011. Both former and current Central Student Government presidents have also made efforts since March to allow for more student input during board meetings. While reinstating the bylaw is a good step forward — it clearly communicates to students that the board values student input — the University ultimately needs to make more concrete changes to incorporate student voice. To effectively achieve this goal, the regents should amend their bylaws and create a position for a nonvoting student member on the board. This request is not a new one. Over the years, CSG candidates’ platforms have stressed the importance of increasing student involvement in the higher-up workings of the University. Both former CSG President Cooper Charlton and current CSG President David Schafer advocate for the board’s bylaws to include a student regent. The board’s primary responsibility is to supervise the University and control expenditures from the University’s funds, meaning their decisions directly impact students. This request is also not an outlandish idea: 70 percent of public universities in the United States have a student in such a position. The University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, University of Maryland and University of California system all have a student regent. Universities nationwide recognize the importance of having a student perspective not only in board meetings, but also in regent decisions, as the outcomes do have tangible impacts on students. At the University, for example, the board votes every year on the upcoming academic calendars. For fall semester 2015, the board voted to have the last exams two days before Christmas, leading students to petition to change the calendar. Though the calendars are set in advance, a student on the board could have provided input on the ways in which ending fall semester so late does a disservice to students (and even faculty members). Other important decisions directly affecting students that are left to the board’s authority include approving the University’s annual budget, approving construction projects and determining yearly tuition rates. While it is true that our studentelected CSG president has the opportunity to speak and present at the board’s meetings, the alloted speaking time is just five minutes. A student on the board would have the ability to discuss issues with regents for an extended period
of time and be involved in the decision-making process. Though the board meetings include a small discussion before voting on an issue, oftentimes both discussions and decisions have been made prior to the meeting. In July 2014, the Detroit Free Press sued the University over violations of the Open Meetings Act based on how the regents conducted their monthly meetings. The lawsuit held that based on the Free Press’ year-long analysis, the regents routinely make decisions about the University’s governance behind closed doors, without public accountability. Having a student regent would ensure students are directly involved in these discussions and decisionmaking both prior to and at the board meetings. Additionally, unlike CSG executives, who have many other duties that are more related to everyday student life, a student regent would be able to dedicate their time entirely to becoming an expert regent. Though sometimes issues regents vote upon are similar to CSG initiatives, we feel decisions made at the regent level are specifically different from CSG’s work: appropriating funds, approving building renovation plans and authorizing transactional partnerships, to name a few. A student regent would be able to dedicate his or her time entirely to researching, discussing and proposing solutions to the types of issues that fall under the board’s responsibility. Furthermore, opponents to adding a nonvoting student member to the board argue that a student could not possibly have the expertise to hold such a position. But there are many other high-level positions filled by students at this University, such as CSG president, athletic team captains, presidents of nationwide student organizations, the editor in chief of The Michigan Daily and countless others that are arguably also very difficult positions. It’s important to note that adding even a nonvoting student
member to the board challenge Article VIII, Section 5 of the Michigan state constitution. The constitution states, “The board of each institution shall consist of eight members who shall hold office for terms of eight years and who shall be elected as provided by law,” and only mentions one nonvoting member — the university president. It does not, however, specify whether the president can be the only nonvoting member. Having more than one nonvoting member on the board is not addressed in the constitution, so adding a student to the board seems neither explicitly legal nor illegal. Though if the process moves forward, this issue will have to be resolved. Even so, changing the constitution is not out of reach, as amendments and referendums are not infrequent in Michigan. This being said, we acknowledge it may be very difficult to achieve this goal, given that a change to the Michigan Constitution may be necessary. We advocate to the highest degree for this constitutional change; however, if implementing a student regent is not feasible, it is still vital that student input within the board’s decisions is increased. Firstly, creating a group of students who are dedicated to discussing regent-related issues and allowing representatives from that group time before and during the board meetings to voice their concerns would increase student input. Secondly, scheduling regular meetings between the board and student groups would also increase students’ abilities to participate and have a voice in issues. So while we applaud the steps the board took by adding back in the bylaw that states they will consider more student input, much more concrete action needs to be taken. Implementing a nonvoting student regent and creating more places for students to have clear dialogue with regents are important next steps to take.
MERIN MCDIVITT
T
hough Dr. Denis Mukwege was here at the University of Michigan just yesterday, he won’t be staying long. He has to get back to Panzi Hospital, a tall, tan stucco building in the eastern hills of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There, he will treat rape victims — women and children who come to the hospital following attacks by militia groups that roam the DRC. Mukwege has been working in the region for many years. When he returns from this latest trip to the United States, he may treat not only new women who have been attacked, but also women coming back after a second or third rape. Sometimes he treats the children of women he helped years before. For attendees at Mukwege’s talk yesterday, this was a rare opportunity to meet a key human rights leader. Mukwege has received countless awards, including our own Raoul Wallenberg Medal in 2010 and a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. The New York Times called him a “steadying presence among the turmoil” of his region. All too often, these events on campus with such influential people are used as a “get out of jail free card” when it comes to addressing human rights: Invite a few humanitarian heroes, applaud loudly, get a selfie, go home. What starts as an earnest resolution to do better and be inspired ends in a self-congratulatory pat on the back of the University community. For us to feel worthy of handing out human rights awards and looking up to true humanitarians like Mukwege, a closer look at our own humanitarian record, and ongoing complicity in abuses around the world, is crucial. It’s far too easy for us to feel both guiltless and powerless in conflicts far from our leafy campus. But the fact of the
“
matter is, as remote, exotic and inhumane as events in the DRC seem to us, our lives are bound to theirs by a thin, fragile slice of metal: our electronics, which are drenched with Congolese blood and heaped with U.S. dollars. When I examine my own life, a series of strange parallels illustrates our complicity. It’s all in the numbers. On May 1, 1996, I am born; I drool and sleep a lot. In the DRC, the first Congo War starts. U.S. forces and other Western governments installed a dictator decades before, then let him fall when they no longer
All too often, these events on campus with such influential people are used as a “get out of jail free card” when it comes to addressing human rights. needed him. In his place came a new leader, an assassination and chaos. And something new — mass rape as an explicit tool of war. On May 1, 2008, I receive my first cell phone for my 12th birthday; it has a tiny screen and can send and receive texts (that’s about all it can do). It contains tantalum, tungsten and other minerals found in the DRC. Companies like AngloGold Ashanti and Century make deals with violent, abusive militia groups and receive highly favorable mining concessions in return for hard cash. And then there are numbers, larger and darker: 50,000 victims treated at Mukwege’s hospital. Five hundred
Merin McDivitt is an LSA junior and a Daily Arts writer.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
A year later, here we stand. This Congress has not yet acted to provide any relief to a community that is facing the greatest crisis — the greatest disaster — of its history.
”
— United States Representative Dan Kildee (MI-05) on the House floor Thursday afternoon, advocating for Flint funding.
ANNIE TURPIN | CARTOON
EMAIL ANNIE AT ASTURPIN@UMICH.EDU
SUBMIT TO OUR SURVIVORS SPEAK SERIES The Opinion section is creating a space in The Michigan Daily for first-person accounts of campus sexual assault and its corresponding personal, academic and legal implications. Submissions will be published as a series of personal accounts that show an essential perspective: that of the survivor. Please submit pieces to Editorial Page Editors Claire Bryan (claireab@michigandaily.com) and Regan Detwiler (regandet@michigandaily.com) to be considered for publication in this series.
thousand women raped since the Congolese conflict began, according to Human Rights Watch. According to Mukwege, five million Congolese were killed by Belgium during its colonial expansion in the 1800s — half the country’s population. We cannot rely on our own government to address these problems. That’s what we’ve been doing in the past, and it hasn’t worked. So many of the tenets of “American values,” enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, have been thrown out the window when American money was at stake. This is not a hot topic issue, a flash in the American pan. Our connection to these resources makes us responsible, as consumers and as citizens, for this violation of core American beliefs. There is something we can do. Mining companies’ deals are currently as opaque as a pile of shale, that being, they are most definitely not. But they could be transparent, which would mean they would not be able to make concessions or deals with warlords and rebel militias. They’d have to pay a living wage to their workers in the DRC. They’d have to pay a fair amount for the privilege of getting stinking rich — putting money into Congolese education, hospitals like Dr. Mukwege’s, power lines and roads in the areas they are currently exploiting. We, as American citizens, buying these companies’ products, would know whether the people who built our high-speed, hightech world were doing the same in Central Africa, or simply breaking the countries down for parts that we deem valuable. Your voice may seem small, but the University’s isn’t. Speak up, and someone just might listen. Problems do not become intractable until they are met with apathy. Do not let the work of true humanitarians like Dr. Mukwege become compromised by our inaction.
“Elevated Surfaces!!”
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, September 23, 2016 — 5A
AMAZING OR MALAISING
ALBUM REVIEW
How Apple and Spotify are becoming Urban Outfitters for our ears
The artists formerly known as Viet Cong are back and more accessible
The future of ‘For You’ HARRY KRINSKY Daily Arts Writer
In “Amazing or Malaising,” Daily Arts Writer Harry Krinsky decides if a piece of culture is wonderful or trapped in malaise. Apple Music and Spotify have a bunch of problems, but it’s easy to overlook them because only 10 years ago the music industry was hemorrhaging from an epidemic of illegal mp3 downloading. For example: one of the tabs in the Apple Music app is called “For You.” The tab features a constantly updated list of playlists that Apple Music thinks you will like based on the music you already listen to. Spotify has a similar feature. They are both effectively useless. Here are the playlists Apple Music has curated for me and stored in the “For You” section of the app. 1) I Aint Saying She a Gold Digger… 2) Meek Mill vs. Drake 3) Inspired By Lauryn Hill 4) Gucci Mane Essentials 5) Hipster’s Paradise, Vol 1. (Which features hip underground artists like Kanye West, Tyler the Creator, Lupe Fiasco and Frank Ocean.) I have basically never used the Apple Music “For You” section. The only two playlists I have found remotely useful have been “Lil Wayne Guest List 20002010” and “Drake’s Pop Culture Lexicon.” The main problem with these computer generated playlists, is that they have the distinct feel of something made by a computer. They are not mixtapes your significant other made you, or even the “Summer Pregame 2015” playlist your roommate whipped you up. They are the product of algorithms. I recently listened to Gucci Mane’s new album, so they hit me with the “Gucci Essentials,” I listened to Erika Badu the other day. Lauryn Hill. Possibly they know I just moved into an Airbnb in Williamsburg, “Hipster’s Paradise Vol 1.” The point is that the playlists are entirely predictable. It is so clear that an algorithm sucked up my listening data, and spit out some set of lame playlists that I will likely disregard unless they have the words “Drake” and “Lexicon” in them. The “For You” tab is corny and robotic. It’s easy to see where technology came in and pushed the amorphous “soul” of music discovery out. For some reason, though, we don’t look at the tab to the left, the “New” tab, in the same light. While “For You”
features pseudo-personalized recommendations that we see through immediately, the “New” tab helps users find music that’s not just new to them, but new to existence. I think the normal reaction to finding out there is tab that helps you find new music is probably somewhere between excitement and ambivalence, but the truth is, this feature is something every fan of creative, nonhomogenous music should be afraid of. Today, music discovery is so accessible that it’s a legitimate millennial hobby. Like, I spend between 30 minutes and two hours a day scouring blogs for new tracks by new artists. This hobby is so ubiquitous that finding new songs comes with its own sort of social capital. Every friend group has the friend who “always finds music before it blows up.” There are entire websites devoted to supplying readers with new music. I think the music blog sphere, while at times overwhelming, is certifiably amazing. We are in the golden age of music discovery. There are a seemingly infinite amount of tracks scattered across the internet, with no barriers to entry other than access to a computer and time. There is an entire ecosystem of blogs with different tastes they cater too. There are blogs that post every 20 minutes, sharing strange interviews or obscure shitty mixtapes. Then there are blogs like Hypetrak that post less frequently, filter out a little of the garbage, but are often steps behind those high output blogs. Then there are websites like The Fader or Complex, whose posts are more often a validation of fame than a stepping stone towards it. Yeah, it can take two hours of scouring the internet before finding a mildly likable track, but that’s the point. (Maybe you can see where I’m going with this. I’m 21 and I’m already lamenting the loss of a simpler time. But when culture and technology move so fast, it’s a lot easier to get nostalgic.) The first problem with Apple Music’s discovery platform, is it distills the blog scouring process into something anyone can do. More importantly, it distills the blog scouring process into something anyone can do in five minutes. There are playlists like “Apple A-List Hip Hop” or Spotify’s “Rap Caviar” that search the internet for trending songs, and spit out the top 15 most trending songs. Those playlists are then presented to the user in order
of popularity. In other words, it tracks the popular “about to be popular” songs. Yeah, I’m salty that Apple Music has made my literacy with the music blog-sphere a nearly useless quality, but that isn’t why these playlists bum me out so much. Right now these playlists track and identify hype. They notice what is trending and synthesize it. The same robots who made the laughable “For You” tab make the unfortunately legitimate “New” tab. Though, the true reason to worry about these playlists goes beyond the inauthentic distillation of hype. We should worry because the logical next step for these behemoth distribution platforms is for them to manufacture hype, not just track it. It’s important to note that the tab in the center of the Apple Music’s app is the “radio” tab. Similarly, it’s important to note that the only Spotify advertisement I ever hear is for their weekly discovery playlist. The internet is slowly but surely killing radio, so why did Apple Music invest millions in deals with Drake, Zane Lowe and Dr. Dre to produce radio shows? When Spotify was first explained to me, it was pitched as Pandora but with the ability to choose your own songs. So why is Spotify pushing a feature that chooses the songs for you? Why is radio back from the dead, resurrected by the technology that killed it? The Answer, I think, is that the next frontier of these big companies is to control exactly what we discover. In cornering the music discovery space, Apple and Spotify are effectively mass producing trendiness. They are Urban Outfitters for your ears. Most music fans roll their eyes at mega popular songs because they often feel like they were manufactured for radio, but openly embrace songs that haven’t yet become popular, even if they are destined to do so. It used to be that the underground or the yet to be discovered artists were the ones pushing the envelope of music. I think this is still true, but can anything that can be found on the front page of Apple Music’s mobile app really be described as underground? You would never think any of the “For You” playlists are actually for you. Why would you think anything in the “New” category is actually anything new? Internet Music Discovery in 2016: Malaising
Each night this past summer ended with the same routine: me, my friends, Crosby the dog, a couple bags of Tostitos “Hint of Lime” chips, tropical mix HiChews and banana bread (if it was a good night) all adorned by some nice citronella candles in my buddy Matt’s quintessentially Midwestern back yard. Music played, too. Often you hear people talk about their summer “song” or “anthem” or “jam.” Each of those terms are fairly clichéd, but that’s irrelevant. What’s more important is that, for any type of music to become at all emblematic of any amount of time, it needs to seep in organically. It should be there as you’re there — unforced and unprompted. That’s just what happened with Whitney’s Light Upon the Lake. I don’t remember exactly when it started playing or how it was suggested. On the third, maybe fourth night in the backyard, however, someone had to notice. It’s good stuff. Julien Ehrlich’s voice is weepy, sensitive and unlike anything we had ever heard. Former Smith Westerns guitarist Max Kakacek’s gentle touch is quite complementary. It’s not easy to quantify music. In fact, it’s more unnecessary and damaging to the experience than it is productive. That being said,
guitar line in “Continental Shelf,” and the “Silhouettes” bass line is still without equal, Following a brief period of but there are flourishes of namelessness, the four-piece intense accessibility sprinkled post-punk outfit hailing from throughout the album. It’s hard Calgary, Alberta to disagree with have returned the aforemenwith a glossier, tioned synth line more accessible of “Anxiety,” and sound. Originally for the first ten Preoccupations known as Viet seconds of “StimPreoccupations Cong, the band ulation,” Preocelected to change cupations does Flemish Eye their name folan impeccable lowing protests impression of The and at least two canceled book- Strokes (after which a discorings — both of which were in dant guitar puts an abrupt end response to accusations of cul- to the façade). It’s difficult to tural appropriation, racism and argue that any song off of Viet glorification of the Vietnamese Cong aside from “Silhouettes” guerilla army. Playing shows as or “Continental Shelf” ever “Matt, Mike, Scott, and Daniel” had a sliver of hope for main(their first names) for several stream success. Almost all of months, they settled on Preoc- them threaten to scare away cupations after a friend wrote less open-minded listeners with them a list of name suggestions. prolonged, droning builds — Returning now with their sec- see the first three minutes of ond eponymous release, Preoc- “March of Progress” — or browcupations debuts a tighter, more beating percussion (or both). organized and vocally-centered On Preoccupations, however, sound that’s less fixated on the band seem to have acknowlbeing loud than it is on dupli- edged (or at least subconsciouscating the same uneasiness that ly realized) this risk, and while permeated their 2015 self-titled songs like “Monotony” and release as Viet Cong. “Zodiac” aren’t likely to draw Opening with leading single listeners in, neither should they “Anxiety,” Preoccupations does turn anyone away. just that. With an ambient, More than just being accessicreepy introduction just over ble, some moments — especially one minute in duration, drums “Fever” and the four-minute and guitar break the silence mark of “Memory” — explicsuddenly and forcefully. Fol- itly recall new wave. A third lowing shortly is vocalist/bass- of the way through “Memoist Matt Flegel’s grating growl, ry,” the band emerges from an an instrument just as central to impatient percussion line in the Preoccupations sound as the a moment positively reminisjangly, hollow guitars that hang cent of New Order. Propulsive over the percussive musings of yet subtle bass and synthesizer drummer Mike Wallace. Tied build into Dan Boeckner’s featogether by a simple, melodic ture (the sole feature on the synth line that frequents the album). With his nostalgic, remaining three minutes of Bowie-esque voice, Boeckner the track, “Anxiety” is a call to strengthens this New Wave arms, and its most readily quot- impression and provides an able lyric is a reminder of the intriguing (and welcome) conurgency of life: “I’m not here trast to Flegel’s generally harsh purely for the sake / Of breath- vocals. Though it’s tempting to ing, I am wide awake.” try to equate “Memory” to Viet No single track matches the Cong’s “Death” – both function For the Daily
A-
Classifieds
as anchors for their respective albums, each clocking in at just over 11 minutes long – “Memory” is pared down, less frantic and more ambient. It’s a good summation of the album as a whole. Where “Death” rails listeners with relentless pounding and wall-of-sound jamming, “Memory” spends its last four minutes fading slowly into nothingness, as memories themselves tend to do. Following “Memory” is the second single, “Degraded,” in which synthesizers are unabashedly front and center and Flegel, in a rare (and brief ) moment of indulgence, sings about relationship woes: “Wondering how long it might take to leave you / I can’t improve.” “Degraded” is certainly a stylistic exploration, but the final quarter of the album is where things get interesting. “Sense” is uneasy but pleasantly ambient, with Flegel trading his typical growl for a falsetto, and segues directly into its other half, the low-key “Forbidden,” whose final seconds are intriguing but wholly unsatisfying. The album is closed out by guitar-heavy “Stimulation,” during which Flegel observes that “We’re all gonna die,” and “Fever,” a pulsing, powerfully repetitive outro on which the synthesizer, in tandem with Flegel’s voice, takes center stage. Whether or not there was actually speculation that their “identity crisis” would have any effect on their ability to put out quality material, their official return should dispel any worries that listeners may have had. Though some may be displeased with the general departure from the unforgiving intensity of Viet Cong, Preoccupations is an album by the same band as the former, minus their more violent tendencies. Whether or not it is an indication of maturity is unclear and irrelevant; the band is back and they know who they are.
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RELEASE DATE– Friday, September 23, 2016
FOR RENT
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
My summer of ‘Light Upon the Lake’ Daily Arts Writer
SEAN LANG
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
JOEY SCHUMAN
Preoccupations ushers in a new era for controversial indie band
looking back on it, each night now seems numbered, compartmentalized to its own tracklist. The first night we went to the backyard? That was definitely a Light Upon the Lake night. The night we sent our Elder friend off on his two year Mormon mission? “Golden Days” worked. Undoubtedly the best way to get a grip on what was happening was to embrace the soundtrack behind it. Whitney simply made too much sense for us to ignore. On “The Falls,” for example, Ehrlich sounds confused, admitting, “Cause I’m not too sure I know / Which way the rising river flows / On the night I lose control / Oh dear, don’t you let me go,” stirring in all of us a dangerous cauldron of college-aged fear and anxiety. He also simultaneously highlights his own understanding of our need for togetherness — in that defining moment (whatever and whenever it is), in the uncertainty leading up to that moment and in the aftermath. Maybe it’s that sort of wisdom that makes me giggle a little bit and even shed a tear whenever I talk about Whitney’s influence on our summer, until I realize that I’m acting like everybody’s grandfather. But that’s a really good thing; it speaks to the enduring quality of the album. However great our summer was, the ten tracks on Light Upon the Lake enhanced it on
another level, and they followed us everywhere, in the best type of way. Whether it was the delicate jam of “Dave’s Song” (“And I know how to keep you hung up but I won’t do it again / Oh I know I wish you were my friend”) or the adventure that is “No Matter Where We Go” (“I can take you out / I wanna drive around / With you with the windows down / And we can run all night”), there was a mood for everything. We heard it after coming home from a Fourth of July party, during which we saw “acquaintances” from high school who we definitely had no desire to see again. We heard it while camping at Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin. We most definitely heard it at Pitchfork Music Festival, where they played 20 feet in front of us. And most importantly, we heard it at Matt’s house with the chips and Hi-Chews and dog and, most importantly, us. I hope to hear Light Upon the Lake for a while even after this year. I’ve been listening as I walk around campus, but it isn’t quite the same. Whitney preached that “When it’s coming to an end, at least the rain won’t come again,” and it sure seems like something came to an end. I guess I’m just hoping something hits me again. I’d even take rain.
ACROSS 1 Out of practice 6 Blue stone 11 It doesn’t last long 14 Casual opening 15 Saudi neighbor 16 Part of un giorno 17 Crayfish habitat 18 Employees 20 Seminal discovery by sports historians? 22 Newspaper supporters 25 LAX stat 26 “You got me there” 27 Comprehensive text on mints? 32 Card game 33 Certain crosscountry traveler 34 Crane’s construction 36 “One Mic” rapper 37 Reaction to Bugs’ continued evasiveness? 41 Common ID 43 Soaps actress Rylan 44 Some kissing sounds 47 Snap 48 How a snail moves? 51 Lend __ 54 “That’s so cute!” 55 Brine-cured delicacy 56 “I plotted against Caesar completely on my own!”? 61 “Doubtful” 62 Be enamored of 66 Relative of -ista 67 View from the Eiffel Tower 68 Traction aid 69 Cold and wet 70 Fragrant compound 71 Quite a while
9 Calligrapher’s array 10 Searches (through) 11 Philatelist’s source 12 Peloponnesian region 13 Nature spirits of Greek myth 19 Plains tribe 21 List substitute: Abbr. 22 Cadillac model 23 Hägar creator Browne 24 TV’s “Through the Wormhole,” e.g. 28 Invoice heading no. 29 Initiation 30 Ryan of “Sleepless in Seattle” 31 Night sch. staple 35 Bit of adverbial wordplay 38 Confessional music genre 39 LBJ’s successor 40 Real head-turner in the animal kingdom 41 Deeper into la-la land
DOWN 1 Kid 2 A, in Acapulco 3 Mess metaphor 4 Canter cousin 5 “Am I clear?” 6 Dieter’s choice 7 Milwaukee : mine :: Marseilles : __ 8 Last of three By Jeffrey Wechsler Catherines
42 “From Here to Eternity” Oscar winner 45 Coverageproviding org. 46 __ symbol 49 Bit of equestrian gear 50 __ Beach, Hawaii, home of the 2005 Little League World Series champs
52 “__ suspected!” 53 Salon procedure 57 Hawaiian strings 58 Agitated state 59 Pothole warning 60 Farm female 63 Org. assisting museums 64 Amtrak unit 65 QB’s stat
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Arts
6A — Friday, September 23, 2016
EVENT PREVIEW
Adams starts USO season
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALBUM REVIEW TV REVIEW
The American composer sets the tone at Hill Auditorium ist, a role he also filled at the premiere of the concerto in 2013. “I met him because the Los Performing an orchestra con- Angeles Philharmonic brought cert takes a considerable number him in to play the solo sax part in a of people. It takes an orchestra’s piece I’d written for the first conworth, of course, cert with [Gustavo but behind the Dudamel] as music scenes there are director, a piece University even more indicalled ‘City Noir,’ Symphony viduals working ” Adams said in an Orchestra to to manage all interview with The perform Adams of the logistics Michigan Daily. and Gershwin of such a large “There’s a sort of endeavor. jazz inflected part September 23rd, Understandthat was very difably, it’s difficult, ficult, and they 8 PM; pre-concert and in this model, felt that nobody in lecture 7:15 PM it becomes useful the LA area was Hill Auditorium to rely on pieces really appropriate of music which to play it, so they Free are mostly known brought Tim in, and to the musicians, I was absolutely pulled from a colentranced by his lection of standard repertoire talent and his skill. So I decided which has crystallized over the to write a concerto for him.” last century and a half. Playing The saxophone is not generally new and contemporary work pro- thought of in the context of classivides challenges, and most living cal music. Most people first came composers have their orchestral to know it through the iconic music performed quite rarely. sound of jazz music, and Adams is But most composers aren’t John no different. Adams. “I discovered the saxophone On Friday the 23rd the Univer- largely through listening to a lot sity Symphony Orchestra, under of great jazz players, and I think the direction of Kenneth Kiesler, I had that sound and that kind will be giving their inaugural of spontaneity in mind and was performance of the year, featur- trying to translate that into a ing music by John Adams and work which, obviously, has more George Gershwin. formal outlines,” Adams said. “I Adams is perhaps the most didn’t want to write a piece that famous living American concert called for the saxophonist to composer. He is more frequently improvise his or her own ideas, performed than any other Ameri- I wanted to make a work that can composer alive and has been sounded or felt like it was largely the focus of national and interna- improvised but at the same time tional fame for the better part of was very specifically notated.” three decades, since the premiere This sense of jazz-derived libof his well-known opera “Nixon erty appropriately links the “Saxin China.” On Friday the USO will ophone Concerto” to Adams’s be playing two pieces, spanning earlier piece, “City Noir,” which from his “Nixon in China” era to was heavily jazz influenced and the present decade. was how the saxophonist McAlThe larger of the two Adams lister and the composer Adams pieces being performed is more first met. Decades before either recent, his “Saxophone Con- of these pieces, however, Adams certo,” which will feature Music was writing a very different style Prof. Timothy McAllister as solo- of music, as the other Adams piece DAYTON HARE Daily Arts Writer
on the program, “The Chairman Dances,” demonstrates. “I think my work has evolved,” Adams said. “I think a work like ‘The Chairman Dances’ is probably a little more — parts of it — are a little more pulse-driven. You don’t quite feel that consistent, inevitable pulse in the sax concerto that you feel in ‘The Chairman Dances.’ ” “The Chairman Dances” is an example of Adams’s earlier style, which has been described as postminimalism, though the composer has eschewed that term in favor of “post-style.” Given Adams’s artistic evolution over the years, this latter term does indeed seem to be the most accurate description of his work as a whole. “Each piece is its own little world,” Adams said. “I don’t like to repeat myself. There are a lot of artists, and painters and even some composers who find a successful template and they tend to repeat it, just slightly altering it. But I try to — for lack of a better term — develop an entirely unique DNA for each piece. I think each one of my pieces is uniquely different from all the others.” Complementing Adams’s partially jazz-inspired selections is the rest of the evening’s program, which is comprised of two pieces by the extremely famous 20thcentury American composer George Gershwin, who is known for his fusion of the jazz and classical genres. The concert will feature Music Prof. Logan Skelton performing Gershwin’s 1925 “Piano Concerto in F” — which is the composer’s second most known composition for piano and orchestra, after his universally recognized “Rhapsody in Blue” — and his symphonic poem “An American in Paris,” which is based on the composer’s experience abroad in the French capital of the 1920s. Both of the Gershwin pieces are new critical editions, and this will be the first time that these editions will be performed.
BOOK REVIEW
‘Jupiter’ a riveting tale of religion KATHLEEN DAVIS
The novel switches between three seemingly separate stories, slowly weaving them into each How far will someone go to other as the text goes on. We first uncover the truth? This is the meet Nomi, a young filmmaker central question in the excel- trying to piece together the hislent second novel tory of her trauof Anuradha Roy, matic childhood on “Sleeping on “Sleeping on Jupiassignment in JarJupiter” ter.” The book has muli. On the train received nearly there she meets Anuradha Roy universal praise, three older women winning the preson holiday, longGraywolf Press tigious DSC Prize time friends eager Published Sept. 6 for South Asian Litto enjoy one last erature and being adventure together. long-listed for the Once in Jarmuli, Man Booker Prize. The work of fic- the women are shown around an tion critiques hypocrisies in Indian ancient temple by Badal the monk, culture in the context of the small who struggles over his lust for tourist town of Jarmuli, which is the boy who works at his favorite famous for its ancient temples, but tea stand. The three stories are is also hiding dark secrets of abuse brought together by chance, but and misogyny. end up having immense conseManaging Arts Editor
quences over each and every person involved. Indian-born novelist Roy crafts a riveting tale of religion, family and violence that is nearly impossible to put down. Central to this book is a damning portrayal of religious tourism, painting Badal as one of many temple guides who rip off their patrons under the guise of a higher power. Nomi’s background is a disturbing critique of religious zealots, an unwitting victim of a civil war and repeated sexual abuse at the hands of a religious guru, who, ironically, is treated as a god by the Western tourists who visit his ashram. The novel sometimes falls into unreliable narration. However, this is not a disadvantage for the text. Rather, it serves as character development. Gouri, one of the elderly woman, is slowly losing her memory, and her forgetfulness as a narrator is all too familiar for those who have seen a grandparent fall into the same patterns. Nomi’s understanding of what happened to her as a child is peppered with holes, mainly due to her young age at the time of her trauma, as well as the purposeful repression of disturbing memories. “Sleeping on Jupiter” is not a happy book. It does not answer questions about the fates of the characters, or the reasons why certain actions are taken. But that’s okay. The novel is a peek into five days in the lives of a few truly unordinary people. Much of what we learn about the characters is accumulated in pieces, through dialogue, reminiscing, and in the case of Nomi, occasional flashbacks. As readers, Roy wants us to know we are not entitled to the knowledge of what happens after the five days are over. If anything, we should be happy we were even given such an intimate look in the first place. Brilliant choices like these are what gives “Sleeping on Jupiter” so much weight — speculating what happens to the characters is enough to keep a person up at night.
WARNER BROS.
Did Ariana meet him at a gas station?
Mac Miller is back, weirder and a lot cooler on new ‘The Divine Feminine’ The former teenage favorite tries to show off how he’s changed HARRY KRINSKY
been good. Described as a concept album, The Divine Feminine is The fact that Mac Miller is as supposed to be about the journey relevant as he is, and command- that is falling in love. The phrase ing the specific type of rap cul- “Divine Feminine,” is a nod to the tural relevance that spiritual concept he does, is someof a female enerwhere between gy governing the a small and large world or, as Miller The Divine Feminine miracle. Early Mac paraphrases, “you Mac Miller sucked (though know, like, Mother as a 15-year-old, Nature” (Red Flag). Warner Bros. I secretly loved TDF does just him). He was more about everything of a radioactive to perpetuate Mac’s byproduct of the internet’s effect “I’ve Changed” narrative. The on rap music than a notable con- album art is minimalist, mostly tributor to its sound. He was pink and gives off the aura of prowhat old people at Rock the Bells fundity. The lead single off the would complain about. In the six album, “Dang!,” has Anderson years between when Mac’s stand- Paak on it and is blowing up as I out pop-rap mixtape K.I.D.S hit type this review. From top to botdatpiff and today, Mac has had tom the album is packed with in seven Billboard Hot 100 tracks, vogue features, expensive producbecome completely addicted and tion, and trumpet tracks recordun-addicted to promethazine, ed by Julliard students. I mean, produced an entire Vince Staples come on, it’s a concept rap album mixtape under the stage name ostensibly about the worshiping Larry Fisherman, infiltrated the of female energy, it’s nearly satiriinner circles of both Odd Future cally progressive. and TDE, slept on Rick Rubin’s Unfortunately, it doesn’t take couch, moved to DUMBO (lol) and more than 15 minutes into The released two critically acclaimed Divine Feminine to realize that albums (Watching Movies with the Mac does not deliver on many of Sound Off and GO:OD AM). the album’s promises. There is Part of the appeal of new Mac very little worshiping of female Miller is that he has made mis- energy in The Divine Feminine. takes, and he owns them. Inten- There is much talk about Miller’s tionally or not, new Mac plays up lust over the various women in his his personal and sonic growth life, and the problems he has with with introspective lyrics and cre- them, but no divinity conveyed. In ative production, and it’s really other words: It’s a lot of Mac Millgood. Old Mac crooned over sim- er talking about the girls he has ple synthy choruses and talked sex with, and that is a gentle way about smoking weed at pool par- to put it. ties. New Mac is warier, weirder Miller’s lyrics are unambiguand a lot cooler. ously misogynistic. He raps “Okay The Divine Feminine, with its your legs like a store they open up. captivating title, should have And you got people in the aisle” Daily Arts Writer
C-
and later adds “First prize, Nobel, get a piece. Your clothes off, turn around, let me see. (In between Miller’s verse’s Ty Dolla $ign adds Aaron Carter-esque nuggets like “Parents they just don’t understand.”) For a second, if we forget about the insincere and misleading title and concept, the album does sound good. The production fuses lighthearted funk, complex jazz, and Miller’s darker and poignant rap. The tracks change abruptly, and each song melts into the next. “Dang!” is an absolute hit, with an energy you can’t quite wrap your brain around. The song is complicated, maybe, by the fact that Paak originally wrote the song in response to the death of a loved one. There are also flashes of not divinity, but at least relatable, semi-profound lyrics. On “Congratulations,” Miller paints a heartbreaking image, rapping about changing relationships, sex and love lost, before hopping right into “Dang!” and giving a slightly different, though thematically linked perspective. The Divine Feminine is a wellproduced album, with an exciting progressive concept, and a frustrating lack of integrity. I do not mean to take on the lack of certain progressive ideals in rap as a whole — that is an entirely different discussion — but the false promise of progressiveness in The Divine Feminine is deeply disappointing. New Mac Miller is a good, if not a great artist. He’s also only 24 years old. Regardless, the Mac Miller of The Divine Feminine needs to do some serious soul searching before he tries his hand at another “progressive” concept album.
FILM NOTEBOOK
The film podcast you have to hear DANIEL HENSEL Daily Arts Writer
A few weeks ago, my friend and Daily Film colleague Jacob Rich wrote an impassioned plea for us all to listen to The Canon, a movie of the week podcast in which two film critics, Devin Faraci and Amy Nicholson, debate whether a given movie belongs in the “canon,” a collection of “the great films to live on forever,” whatever that means. For Jacob, listening to a new episode of The Canon is something of a weekly ritual, and I don’t blame him for it; there’s something magical about having your film agenda defined by “enlightened” film-watchers. But I’m not as convinced by the strength of The Canon. Jacob is right to note that the podcast’s defining feature is the banter between its two co-hosts. They are certainly far from a myth of public radio personalities that can verge on sleep-inducement, but Jacob clearly doesn’t listen to the right public radio. Folks like Elvis Mitchell and David Edelstein match Faraci and Nicholson in their passion, but it comes out more in their words rather than their tone. Plus, these public radio critics maintain some semblance of decency in their commentary that doesn’t demean their coworkers or, worse, their listeners. The conversations in The Canon, meanwhile, invariably feature an extremely arrogant and aggressive Faraci constantly speaking over and launching ad hominem attacks at a quiet and always-wrong Nicholson. Nichol-
son’s research seems to be lifted from IMDb trivia pages and Faraci’s “textual analysis” seems to be less a detailed train of thought and more constantly referring to himself as a New Yorker even though it seems like the last time he lived there was in his childhood. It’s infuriating: I want to root for Nicholson because Faraci is so profoundly an affront to respectable human interaction, but I find her film tastes so poor that I am constantly let down. Ugh. If Jacob wishes to question long-standing academic notions of film, like the auteur theory, perhaps he should also question the desirability (and, frankly, possibility) of having a “canon.” In The Canon, any time one host questions how to define the qualifications for entry into the canon (Importance? Quality? Impact?), the episode inevitably becomes a referendum on the point of the podcast itself. That both hosts use self-serving arguments surrounding qualifications in each episode to justify a film’s inclusion or exclusion proves the idea of a canon is arbitrary to its core. I’m a proponent of debate, but the act of defining terms, especially defining the central idea of the whole podcast, should precede the podcast. Plus, the podcast only serves to divide the world of film into “haves and have-nots.” Let’s make the reasonable assumption that the end goal of this podcast is to create a final list of films in the canon, while noting which films did not enter the canon. Wouldn’t that dissuade a budding and curi-
ous film audience from watching those movies that didn’t make the cut? All movies offer us something. Even poor films can serve a purpose; we can use all films to trace techniques, moods and themes to construct a meaningful narrative of the human experience since the birth of the art form. I offer an alternative: it’s another film of the week podcast, with bickering that remains within the realm of respectability. Each pair of episodes (bi-weekly twoparters) contains a current release and a film from the past that can teach us something about the current release. Recent episodes include the first and latest “Star Wars” films; “The Neon Demon” and “Suspiria,” an Italian horror film with similar themes and styles; and “Finding Dory” and “Memento.” Safe to say, the film choices run the gamut from mainstream to arthouse, domestic to foreign, old to new, good to bad. The podcast is The Next Picture Show and it was started by alumni of The Dissolve, a beloved website that offered some of the greatest film writing I have ever read. To quote the opening mantra repeated in each episode, “No film exists in a vacuum. All culture is more interesting in context.” That’s not debatable. Film is a medium that exists to transport us through time and space. When we talk about film, we talk about what it copies, steals, alludes to and references. The Film School generation and the current postmodern film landscape of directors all abide by this principle. Why shouldn’t our podcast tastes?
September 24, 2016: Penn State
SHANE MORRIS STAYS
BLUE
2016 Schedule
Michigan made it through its non-conference schedule by winning three tune-ups, each a bit more challenging than the last. Now comes the Big Ten season, and the fourth-ranked Wolverines have their best chance for a conference title in years. The first test is Saturday at Michigan Stadium against a Penn State team that comes in as another double-digit underdog.
Max Bultman, Jacob Gase, Kelly Hall and Jake Lourim
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 4 7
Saturday’s game is the first stop on what Michigan hopes will be a Big Ten title run. Shane Morris was expected to resurrect a program by finding the end zone. Instead, he has found himself. The Wolverines again have more talent than Penn State on both sides of the ball.
Hawaii (Sept. 3): Alohahahahaha.
Illinois (Oct. 22): No matter what happens on the field, both teams will (hopefully) take Champaign showers.
Central Florida (Sept. 10): Is that what it looks like to get outhit?
Michigan State (Oct. 29): It’s setting up to be the most exciting Michigan-Michigan State game in years.
Colorado (Sept. 17): Colorado figured scoring 28 would be plenty.
Maryland (Nov. 5): Congratulations, DJ Khaled Durkin, you played yourself.
Penn State (Sept. 24): Michigan deserves a real opponent — Pittsburgh.
Iowa (Nov. 12): With a win, Kirk Ferentz receives ANOTHER contract extension with a special clause that names him lifetime governor of Iowa.
Wisconsin (Oct. 1): We were going to try and be funny, but the dumplings in Madison are no joke.
Indiana (Nov. 19): We’re here for the chaos. We’re always here for the chaos.
Rutgers (Oct. 8): The Ahmir Mitchell Bowl.
Ohio State (Nov. 26): Who schedules a game two days after Thanksgiving? No one’s gonna go to that.
STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers pick against the spread to predict scores for the top 25 and Big Ten in the 2016 football season.
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Kelly Hall
Jacob Gase
Max Bultman
Emma and Demario,
Jake Lourim
Best Friends
No. 4 Michigan (-18.5) vs. Penn State
Michigan
Penn State
Michigan
Penn State
Penn State
No. 1 Alabama (-44) vs. Kent State
Alabama
Alabama
Kent State
Alabama
Kent State
No. 3 Louisville (-26.5) at Marshall
Louisville
Louisville
Louisville
Louisville
Marshall
No. 5 Clemson (-9.5) at Georgia Tech
Clemson
Clemson
Clemson
Clemson
Clemson
No. 6 Houston (-34.5) at Texas State
Houston
Houston
Houston
Houston
Texas State
No. 7 Stanford (-3) at UCLA
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
No. 8 Michigan State (-5.5) vs. Wisconsin
Michigan State
Michigan State
Michigan State
Michigan State
Wisconsin
No. 9 Washington (-11) at Arizona
Washington
Washington
Washington
Washington
Arizona
No. 10 Texas A&M (-6) vs. No. 17 Arkansas
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
No. 12 Georgia (-7) at No. 23 Ole Miss
Ole Miss
Ole Miss
Georgia
Georgia
Georgia
No. 13 Florida State (-5.5) at South Florida
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State
South Florida
No. 14 Tennessee (-6.5) vs. No. 19 Florida
Florida
Florida
Florida
Florida
Tennessee
No. 16 Baylor (-8.5) vs. Oklahoma State
Oklahoma St.
Baylor
Baylor
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
No. 18 LSU (-3.5) at Auburn
LSU
LSU
LSU
LSU
LSU
No. 20 Nebraska (-7.5) at Northwestern
Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska
No. 24 Utah (-3.0) vs. USC
Utah
Utah
Utah
Utah
USC
Minnesota (-17) vs. Colorado State
Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota
Colorado State
Purdue (-5.5) vs. Nevada
Nevada
Purdue
Nevada
Nevada
Purdue
Rutgers (+13) vs. Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa
Indiana (-7) vs. Wake Forest
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Wake Forest
Duke (+20) at Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Duke
California (+4) at Arizona State
Arizona State
Arizona State
Arizona State
California
Arizona State
Pittsburgh (+7) at North Carolina
Pittsburgh
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
North Carolina
North Carolina
Slippery Rock vs. Gannon
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock
Opening coin toss
Tails
Heads
Tails
Tails
Tails
Last week
13-13
11-15
14-12
13-13
N/A
Overall
32-26
32-26
34-24
36-22
N/A
FootballSaturday, September 24, 2016
Wolverines prepare for first conference game against Nittany Lions on Saturday No. 4 Michigan looking to earn first win in Big Ten title chase against a shorthanded Penn State team KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan football team opens up conference play on Saturday against Penn State (2-1), a team desperate to prove its worth. Penn State The Nittany at Michigan Lions finished last season Matchup: Penn State 2-1; 4-4 in Big Ten Michigan 3-0 play, and after two mediocre When: Saturday seasons under 3:30 P.M. coach James Franklin, Penn Where: Michigan State is in need of Stadium a pick-me-up. A win over the TV/Radio: ABC fourth-ranked Wolverines would do just that, but after struggling against Temple last week — ultimately pulling through to win 34-17 — and losing to in-state rival Pittsburgh the week before, it’s not likely Penn State will be able to pull it off at Michigan Stadium. The Nittany Lions have a
BY THE NUMBERS Michigan vs. Penn State
10.5%
Third-down conversion rate for Michigan’s opponents this season, including 1-for-13 last week
276
Passing yards per game so far for Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley, a first-year starter
1
Penn State win in Ann Arbor since 1996 (the Wolverines are 5-1 in home matchups in that time)
89.4
Michigan’s special teams efficiency, ranking second in the country behind Temple
few key players absent due to injury, complicating that effort even more. Three starting linebackers are injured, with Nyeem Wartman-White definitely out against Michigan. He will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury against Temple. Fellow starting linebackers Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda are injured as well, with their statuses for Saturday’s game unknown. Wide receiver Saeed Blacknall, who had two receptions in Penn State’s season opener, has also been absent since early September. On the other side of the ball, the statuses of Michigan senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis, senior defensive end Taco Charlton and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Mone are still unknown. All three are starters on the defense, and it would be valuable to have the trio back to begin Big Ten play. Senior cornerback Channing Stribling indicated that Lewis practiced on Tuesday, but it is unknown if Mone or Charlton are practicing. Michigan’s biggest challenge will come against the Nittany Lions’ offense. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley leads the Big Ten in passing with 828 yards over three games. Recently, against Temple, he went 18-for-24 and showed off his deep ball on a 52-yard touchdown pass. “Penn State’s offense, they’ve got a very good quarterback, they’ve got a very good running back, they’ve got very good players that I think are very good for that (no-huddle system),” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “So it’s another challenge for us and why we treat every game like it’s a championship game. It’s a big game. Every opponent on our schedule comes in with a strong will to defeat us and good coaching and good players.” Running back Saquon Barkley has already collected six rushing touchdowns this season, so expect Michigan to give him special attention early. Against Temple, the sophomore averaged 7.6 yards per run and recorded a 55-yard
FILE PHOTO/Daily
touchdown. Last season against Michigan, Barkley racked up 68 yards but still underperformed compared to his season average of 97.8 rushing yards per game. Monday, senior linebacker Mike McCray said he was looking forward to facing the challenges Barkley would bring. “He’s a great back,” McCray said. “He’s going to be a good challenge for us, to go against one of the top backs in the country. We’re up to the challenge, though.” While Penn State won’t be Michigan’s toughest Big Ten competition this season, Harbaugh is maintaining his attitude that every game should be treated the same. “The way we’ve looked at it, we were out to be at our best every single week,” Harbaugh said. “As we assess the schedule from the start of the schedule, every opponent that we play was going to have to be treated with the utmost respect. Preparation was going to have to be precise and locked in and focused to give ourselves the best chance to be successful in the football game. … Every game is a big game. Every game is a championship game.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh (bottom) opens his second Big Ten season Saturday, and he expects to have senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis (top) back from injury.
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
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Shane Morris Stays Blue Jacob Gase, Daily Sports Editor
Standing in the parking lot outside the tunnel of Michigan Stadium on a June afternoon in 2015, Shane Morris spoke with arms folded and a smirk creeping up on his face, exuding the same confidence he had when he first arrived on campus in 2013 as an elite high school quarterback with a cannon for a left arm. The long-presumed heir to the Wolverines’ offense was serving as an instructor at coach Jim Harbaugh’s Aerial Assault quarterback camp, and he was fielding questions about his latest competition for the starting job: Iowa graduate transfer Jake Rudock, who had arrived on campus two weeks earlier. “Right now, it’s my job to lose,” Morris said. “He came here to take my job, and I’m just not gonna let it happen.” Morris delivered the words with all the conviction of somebody who had already been handed the keys. Even with just two starts under his belt, an experienced quarterback to compete with and a new head
4
coach to boot, it was almost as if Morris couldn’t believe anyone was questioning his destiny. Anointed as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks when he was just a high school sophomore at Warren (Mich.) De La Salle, Morris knew how talented he was. As a lifelong Michigan fan who rejected numerous other offers from better programs to come to Ann Arbor — including Nick Saban’s Alabama — he was born for the job. Most of the Wolverines’ fanbase knew his name long before he set foot on campus. In most of their minds, he was going to be the quarterback to usher in a new golden age of Michigan football. It just never panned out that way. Fast forward to August 2016, at Michigan’s team media day, and another quarterback competition rages on. But now Morris sits alone at his locker, while a throng of reporters first gathers around redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight and redshirt junior John O’Korn. Morris didn’t beat Rudock for the
FootballSaturday, September 24, 2016
job last season, and now he’s being written off as a distant third-place finisher for the coming season. By the time reporters finally approach him — and when he speaks to a slightly larger crowd a few weeks later — it first appears that not much has changed about the now-redshirt junior. The confidence, the fire and the devotion to football are all still there. The familiar smirk even shows itself when he says he’s capable of being the starting quarterback, and that he’s right there in the race, no matter how the media views it. But what is missing is the sense of entitlement. The same player that once implied that Rudock would be taking not just his job but also his “livelihood” now speaks as a gracious competitor, not the Wolverines’ Chosen One. “I’m not really focused on just being the starting quarterback and making the perfect play,” he says. “Other things in life matter.” Morris’ path in Ann Arbor has not gone the way most people expected. The hotshot 18-year-old who was
supposed to be the face of the Brady Hoke era has become a humbled and hardened 22-year-old after enduring years of public scrutiny. He’s had rival high school crowds bitterly taunt him, diehard Michigan fans bark at him from behind keyboards, and television cameras camp out on his family’s street for all the wrong reasons. This was the same elite recruit who arrived on campus with the expectation to take the reins as soon as he was ready, but he never quite reached his ceiling. That’s why it’s so interesting to hear how he sums up his experience, just weeks before he begins what could be his final season at Michigan. “It’s a dream come true for me,” Morris says, “and I couldn’t ask for anything more.” *** Morris made his debut in his first game on campus, against Central Michigan on Aug. 31, 2013. He wasn’t handed the quarterback
job — Devin Gardner was the wellestablished starter — but in the third quarter of a blowout game, the jumbotron at Michigan Stadium showed Hoke place his hand on the back of Morris’ No. 7 jersey and send him onto the field. He promptly led his team right down the field on a touchdown drive. “It (was) very overwhelming,” said Jennifer Morris, Shane’s mother. “I know I remember crying when he ran through the tunnel for the first time. To watch him and to see his dream come true out there was just unbelievable.” Morris spent all of his first season sitting behind Gardner before a golden opportunity appeared at the end of the season. Gardner was ruled out for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against Kansas State with a broken left foot sustained in the regular-season finale against Ohio State, and Morris got the call to make his first start. Despite losing to the Wildcats, 31-14, Morris completed 24 of 38 passes for 196 yards and showed
off his athleticism with a 40-yard run late in the game. It wasn’t a particularly flashy performance, but it was a showcase of his skills and a promising sign for the future. Morris even got to bring his family along for the game, resulting in what his father called “one of the neatest times we’ve ever had with him as an athlete.” As the family took advantage of one hour of free time during bowl week to hit a drive-through restaurant for dinner, the excitement of the Michigan experience finally hit them. “We sat in the car, the whole family just kinda talking about it and laughing and picking at him and just enjoying it,” said Shane’s father, Bruce. “It was exciting — he was very excited. From the bottom of his heart, he loves that university and he loves that program.” *** Just nine months after that moment, everything came crashing down. Reporters are parked outside the Morris family’s house. They’ve come by so often that Jennifer Morris has to call her husband on her way home from work to ask if they’re gone. They aren’t.
It’s the last week of September 2014, and Shane’s image is plastered over almost every major television network in America. By now, the details of Morris’s second career start on Sept. 27 are practically common knowledge. Morris struggled early in his attempt to spark the scuffling 2-2 Wolverines against Minnesota, and then a pair of hard tackles left him with both a severe ankle sprain and what would later be infamously labeled a “probable, mild concussion.” Morris was briefly left in the game after both injuries despite nearly collapsing in offensive lineman Ben Braden’s arms, and he later was reinserted into the game for a play after Gardner had finally relieved him. ESPN’s commentators lambasted the coaching staff on live television for appearing to endanger their quarterback, and the rest was unfortunate history. In a bitter twist of fate, the presumed poster child for the Hoke era of Michigan football suddenly became unwittingly painted as a symbol of the program’s dysfunction.
It was a rough time for the entire Morris family. “Good Morning America” came to the Morris house three times in a week. Bruce had his phone blow up with calls from multiple media outlets. One network reporter even told the family that the public “had a right to know” what they were thinking. But for Shane’s parents (who maintained communication with Hoke and the team trainer, among other Michigan officials, but never spoke to the public), the concern wasn’t about the scandal, but about their son’s mental well-being. Not only was Shane worried about the university he loved coming under fire — his “biggest concern in the whole deal,” according to his father — he also was afraid it meant the end of his dream. “I got the sense that he felt like he would never get another shot,” Bruce said. “Like he took that burden, he kind of put that whole burden on himself of that game. Which is, that’s what you’re supposed to do as a quarterback, as a quote-unquote leader, and a guy in that position.
“He loves that university and he loves that program.”
I just kind of tried to, not take that away from him, if you will, as far as not completely dismiss that — I just kind of wanted to put everything in perspective. ‘At the end of the day, you’re still a part of this team and you all still have work to do.’ ” Neither Hoke nor Athletic Director Dave Brandon would keep their jobs through the end of the year, leaving Morris as the only remnant of the debacle. Even though it was, to date, his final start at Michigan, the young quarterback leaned on his support system and found a way to remove himself from the fire. In the end, it may have been that guidance that saved him. “It was a tough deal,” Morris said. “Obviously it got to me a little bit, having to go through all that. But my teammates, my roommates, my parents and the coaching staff did a great job kind of keeping it away from me, keep me away from it. They didn’t make me do any interviews or anything like that, so I was never directly involved in it, and I think that helped a lot. … It’s the past of my life. I don’t really think about it at all anymore.” *** As he battled with Rudock for
the starting job the following season, Morris started to let some of the pressure go to his head. When he threw a pick in practice or overthrew a receiver, he said he would immediately let the mistake ruin his day and start throwing the ball all over the place. He maintained his confidence in interviews off the field, but he found himself struggling to rebound quickly from football mistakes. To make matters worse, he was struggling to learn his third offense in three seasons, and the head coach who brought him to Michigan was gone. Despite his successes in high school, Morris just couldn’t find a way to play up to not just the fans’ expectations, but his own. “I think all quarterbacks have it — when they make a mistake, it gets in their head, just like any player,” said Paul Verska, Morris’ coach at De La Salle. “You try to tell them that the most important play is the next play and it’s part of the growing process where you have to let it go. … Being able to shut it out is a tough thing to do, but it’s something you do and mature.” After Morris lost the job to Rudock and was written off again this season, though, a curious thing See MORRIS, Page 6B
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Redshirt junior quarterback Shane Morris has never managed to take hold of the starting job at Michigan after arriving as one of the top recruits in the nation, but he feels content with the way his college career has ended up.
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MORRIS From Page 5B happened. Instead of letting the frustration ruin him, Morris let the burden that he had carried on his back since he was 16 years old slowly slip away. His world didn’t crumble — if anything, he learned that his world and football were not always one and the same. Part of that realization came from having a strong foundation of loved ones to back him up. Morris still calls or texts his parents every day, and he mentioned that his girlfriend of two years, Irene, a recent Michigan graduate, is always there after games. (“She’s a keeper,” he said with a smile.) “As college has gone on, you kind of learn to put things in front of yourself and not make yourself the most important,” Morris said. “Kind of realize you’ve got other things that are way more important, like other people. … I feel like I’ve done that. I’ve become a much happier person, enjoying life and really taking in all it has to offer.” It’s not clear when, exactly, Morris’ mindset shifted. Bruce Morris isn’t sure it ever did, but thinks rather that Shane simply decided to “(wear) it a little more on (his) sleeve.” In any case, the constant competition has helped Morris’ game on the field just as much as it maintained his confidence off of it. No longer does he cringe when he throws an interception in practice or dwell on the fact that he’s not the first player taking snaps on Saturdays. He’s also managed to solve the one problem that a number of players probably couldn’t: separating his love for Michigan from his love for football. “He approaches things differently, I think,” Bruce Morris said. “His team is very important to him. He loves them guys, he truly loves his teammates and the guys. That’s one of the things, I think, that keeps a lot of those guys going when they feel like they should be the starter, if you will, because every one of them do.” His teammates have noticed, too. Wilton Speight was an early enrollee during the second semester of Morris’ freshman year, and Morris took him under his wing as soon as he got on campus. Now, over two years later, Speight holds
the starting quarterback job that Morris coveted, but he still finds ways he can learn from Morris. “That kid’s been through a lot,” Speight said. “With the whole Minnesota debacle, how much hype he came in with, the coaching changes and stuff — he’s stayed very level-headed through it all. He’s never gotten too down, he’s never gotten too high. He’s just a really chill dude. And I see that if he can maintain that roller coaster that he’s been through and been just the same dude, then no matter what I go through this season as the starter or not, hopefully I can remain a chill dude, too.” *** It’s unclear what the future holds for Shane Morris, but he has no regrets about his last four years, no matter how it played out. “When I was 17, 18 years old, you can kind of let (the hype) get to you and start to think you’re expected to do these things, when in reality you’re not expected to do anything,” Morris said. “The fact that I’m here playing football at the University of Michigan and getting a degree from here is amazing enough in itself. You’ve gotta kind of realize that as you get older. “I just turned 22 (on August 4). You grow up and you kinda realize how life works. All you can do is go through life, and I believe everything happens for a reason. Just keep fighting and work as hard as you can.” There was a time when Morris probably couldn’t have imagined life after football. But in April, he will graduate with a degree in sport management and may leave it behind forever. There is no set alternative in mind, but his father speculates that his love for getting to know people might lead him into something like business or coaching. Still, the fact that Morris took a redshirt year last season leaves him with an opportunity to play his final year of eligibility next season either at Michigan or as a graduate transfer somewhere else, a la Rudock. Even Morris’ own parents have heard rumors from strangers that their son might be transferring. But for the Morrises, it’s easy to laugh that off. As of now, they say there has never even been a discussion. “He’s blue, let me tell you,” Bruce said. “He would have left a long time ago, would he not have?”
“It’s the past of my life. I don’t really think about it anymore.”
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FootballSaturday, September 24, 2016
Behind Enemy Lines: Brandon Bell KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
Last season, then-No. 13 Michigan quieted a raucous Happy Valley when it defeated the Nittany Lions, 28-16. Though the Wolverines controlled Penn State throughout all four quarters, the Nittany Lions did hold them to just 87 rushing yards for an average of 2.9 yards per run. Senior linebacker Brandon Bell led his unit’s attack on the running game, recording five total tackles, one for a loss of seven yards. More memorably, he recorded his second career interception in the first quarter, returning it 25 yards into Michigan territory. But Penn State failed to take advantage, going three-and-out on the following drive. Later in the game, Bell gave his teammates favorable field position once more when he stripped quarterback Jake Rudock and recovered the fumble on the Wolverines’ 42-yard line. Bell’s recovery resulted in a field goal, putting his team within eight points of Michigan, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. This Saturday, when the Nittany Lions (2-1) travel to Michigan Stadium, Bell may not get to see the field, posing a large problem for Penn State. In his first two games of the season, he posted eight and nine tackles, respectively, before being sidelined with an injury last week. In July, the Daily spoke with Bell at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago to discuss his valuable role last season, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and rivalries.
The Michigan Daily: I know you had a big game against Michigan last season, but it didn’t end in Penn State’s favor. What was that game like, and what are you going to do differently this time around? Brandon Bell: That game was fun. I mean, I was looking forward to playing Michigan again for the second time in my career — third time, but not really (playing much) the first time. I think we definitely have to be more consistent. I think Michigan was more consistent than we were. When it came down to the end of the game, they made the plays that were presented to them. If we (are) more consistent, we have a chance of making those plays. TMD: What will it be like to play in the Big House this time around? BB: I think it will be great. I’m looking forward to it. It’s my last chance to play there. I have a few friends on the team, so I’m looking forward to it. TMD: Who are your friends on the team? BB: Freshman Ahmir Mitchell. He’s like a little brother to me back home, same (home) town. I know his older brother. He’s been talking a little trash to me, so I’m excited. (Note: Mitchell left Michigan prior to the start of the season in early September. He transferred to another Big Ten East team, Rutgers, but will sit out this season due to transfer rules.) TMD: He’s talking trash already? BB: Yeah, just a little bit. TMD: Do you think you’ll be seeing him play as a freshman? BB: I hope I do! I mean I’m not sure how he’s been doing, but if he gets a
chance to get on the field, I hope I see him. TMD: What do you think of all of this Harbaugh mania and everything? Do you like playing against all of that? BB: Yeah, I kinda like it. I mean, I don’t — he’s kinda funny. Just watching him today, some of the things — I think it’s real, which is a big thing, for the people that might be skeptical. I think that’s really who he is, so I love it. At the end of the day, we’re just playing football. Question: A lot of your success, of course, is going to be judged by games against Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and even Pitt, an in-state rival. Do you sense that, that in order to get to that next level that fans want to be at, do you feel that this is kind of a big year for you to make a bigger step against those teams? BB: I mean definitely. Every year and every game is a big step. We don’t wanna go out there — we’re not playing to lose. So I mean, definitely with Pitt, it’s kind of a fan game. A lot of Pennsylvania people go to each school, so it kind of has become a rivalry. In terms of Michigan and Ohio State, those are the top-tier teams, and those guys have the target on their back that everyone is shooting for. Q: Coach Franklin says you guys have expectations this year. What do you think they are? BB: I say, Big Ten — get to Indianapolis. I mean, when you’re playing against Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, that’s what they’re shooting for. That’s the top tier. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be right there with them.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Penn State linebacker Brandon Bell (11) played a key role in last year’s game against Michigan, but he’ll miss Saturday’s matchup.
Breakdown: Michigan vs. Penn State Wolverines own advantages up front on both sides of the ball; Peppers an impact player on special teams JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
In the last meeting between Michigan and Penn State, in State College last November, both teams scored four times. The difference in the game was that Michigan’s four scores were all touchdowns, while Penn State stalled for short field goals three times in a 28-16 loss. The Nittany Lions finished 3-for-14 on third down with just nine points on three red-zone trips. That might well be the story when the teams match up again Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The Big Ten East foes’ stats have many disparities, but the biggest one is this: Penn State ranks 118th in the country on third down, converting 27.3 percent of its chances, while Michigan leads the country in third-down defense, allowing a 10.5 percent conversion rate. The Nittany Lions have to do much better to have a chance Saturday, but they will likely still be the toughest opponent the Wolverines have faced. Here’s how the teams stack up: Michigan rush offense vs. Penn State rush defense Michigan’s ground game eased some of the concerns last week against Colorado, rushing for 168 yards on 4.1 per carry with three touchdowns. Senior De’Veon Smith played his best game of the season, carrying 11 times for 87 yards and a score, and the unit had just two negative rushes, not counting sacks. Last year, the Wolverines totaled just 87 rushing yards against Penn State, but in this matchup, the Nittany Lions’ front seven is hurting. Since the season opener, Penn State has lost all three starting linebackers — Brandon Bell, Jason Cabinda and Nyeem WartmanWhite — to injury. Manny Bowen, Brandon Smith and Jake Cooper will start in their places, respectively. Once considered a position of strength, that’s a severe depth issue for a unit that will match up with Michigan redshirt junior fullbacks Khalid Hill and Henry Poggi in the run game. As a byproduct of those injuries, the Nittany Lions now rank 92nd in the country in rush defense at 176.3 yards per game. Their two leading
tacklers are in the secondary, and their next two are injured, though they have had 28 tackles for loss from 17 different players. Michigan may try to pound the ball against that undermanned front. Edge: Michigan Michigan pass offense vs. Penn State pass defense For the first time this season, Michigan’s passing game looked out of sync on Saturday. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight completed just 53 percent of his passes (16 of 30) and took three sacks. Top wide receivers Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson combined for just two catches. And the multiple deep balls the Wolverines hit against Central Florida the previous week weren’t there, as Speight completed just one long pass. Offensive coordinator Tim Drevno on Wednesday acknowledged areas for improvement in every facet of that game, from pass protection to route polishing. One constant has been senior tight end Jake Butt, who was the team’s leading pass catcher again Saturday with seven grabs for 87 yards. He, Darboh and Chesson combined for 203 of Michigan’s 256 yards last year against Penn State. The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, have been tough on opposing quarterbacks. Pass defense is their statistical strength, tied for 22nd in the country at 168.7 yards per game. And while Speight should be the most talented opposing quarterback Penn State has faced, the Nittany Lions have picked off the other three four times, broken up eight passes and made 10 sacks. Despite its success, Penn State’s secondary has been inconsistent. After Kent State and Pittsburgh combined to pass for just 220 yards in the first two games, Temple piled up 286 against the Nittany Lions on Saturday. Penn State will have to make some adjustments to avoid letting Michigan do the same. Edge: Penn State Penn State rush offense vs. Michigan rush defense Talk around Schembechler Hall this week has been focused
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior defensive end Taco Charlton (33) appears likely to return from an ankle injury Saturday against Penn State.
on Michigan, as usual, but the one Penn State name that has surfaced is Saquon Barkley. The Nittany Lions’ sophomore running back blends speed and power at 5-foot-11, 223 pounds, and is the team’s biggest offensive weapon. He led Penn State in each of the first three games with 105, 85 and 68 rushing yards. The Wolverines limited him to just 68 yards on 15 carries last year, and 56 of those yards came on a single run. The only other Penn State rusher with more than eight carries is quarterback Trace McSorley, who has 32 rushes for 38 yards, in part because of five sacks. He will run the spread offense out of the shotgun and be a threat to scramble, but his speed isn’t anything Michigan hasn’t seen before. Overall, the Nittany Lions’ rushing offense ranks 113th in the country. On the defensive side, the Wolverines cleaned up some of the long runs that plagued them against Central Florida, giving up no rushes of more than 15 yards to Colorado. Their rush defense still sits at 57th in the country, but the UCF game skews that number. The Nittany Lions have struggled up front in recent years, which isn’t a recipe for success against Michigan’s defense. More importantly, the
Wolverines are nearing full strength. After losing two members of their defensive line to injury in the opener, they hope to get senior defensive end Taco Charlton (ankle) back this week. Charlton made three tackles for loss and two sacks last year against Penn State and will be a handful again if he plays. Edge: Michigan Penn State pass offense vs. Michigan pass defense The Nittany Lions will be the third consecutive up-tempo spread offense Michigan has faced, so the Wolverines are now accustomed to it, and defensive coordinator Don Brown vowed to have his team prepared. He’s familiar with this particular offense, having been the defensive coordinator at Connecticut in 2011 while current Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was the quarterbacks coach. First-year starting quarterbacks like McSorley don’t have a good track record against the Wolverines’ suffocating defense in recent years. But McSorley has gained experience quickly this season, being the only Nittany Lions quarterback to throw a pass and averaging 276 yards per game. He has thrown four touchdowns
and two interceptions against some decent defenses. Michigan’s stifling defensive backfield lost some ground Saturday when it gave up several big pass plays against Colorado. This should help: The Wolverines hope All-American senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis will make his season debut Saturday after suffering a couple of minor injuries. Lewis was excited four weeks ago to get his final season underway, so he should have plenty of energy Saturday. Elsewhere, Michigan should recover from a lackluster performance Saturday. Fellow defensive backs Channing Stribling, Jeremy Clark, Dymonte Thomas and Delano Hill are all seniors who know how to learn from their mistakes, and Penn State doesn’t have the weapons that Colorado did. Edge: Michigan Special teams The Wolverines have Jabrill Peppers on their team. That’s enough. The do-it-all star finally returned his first punt for a touchdown last week, going 54 yards to secure a Michigan victory. With 278 all-purpose yards, he would rank See BREAKDOWN, Page 8B
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BREAKDOWN From Page 7B second on Penn State’s team — and he has seen two plays of offense all season. The Nittany Lions kept him in check last season, but he’s always a threat to make a big play. If that weren’t enough, the Wolverines have also tipped two punts and blocked a third and returned it for a touchdown in the past two weeks. Penn State’s special teams have been routinely successful this year, with kicker Tyler Davis hitting all of his five fieldgoal attempts with a long of 40 yards. Kickoff specialist Joey Julius has 16 touchbacks in 21 tries as he tries to limit Peppers’ opportunities. Outside of one 59-yard punt return, the Nittany Lions haven’t broken many big plays in the return game. The only hiccup lately on a terrific Michigan unit that ranks second in the country in special teams efficiency was the kicking game against Colorado. Senior kicker Kenny Allen missed two of his three field-goal tries, from 37 and 44 yards. But again: The Wolverines have Jabrill Peppers on their team. Edge: Michigan
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers returned his first punt for a touchdown last week against Colorado and will attempt to give Penn State similar headaches.
What to watch for on Saturday
Speight looks for rebound performance, Michigan’s defense tries to limit big plays
Intangibles The Big Ten season kicks off Saturday, starting the title chase for these two East division opponents. For now, the championship is a more realistic goal for the Wolverines, who will be fired up to start the conference season off right. They’ll also have home-field advantage for the fourth straight week. On the other side of the ball, Penn State fought back from its first loss with a 34-27 victory against Temple last week, and the Nittany Lions will be trying to avenge a home defeat against Michigan last season. The biggest intangible, though, may be the players returning for the Wolverines, especially Lewis. The senior is one of the emotional leaders of the team, and besides being able to shut down the opponent’s best receiver, he also brings a mental edge to the defense. His teammates admit his trash talk on the field fires them up. Edge: Michigan Prediction: Michigan 37, Penn State 20
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MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
With non-conference play over, the No. 4 Michigan football team’s road is about to get tougher. Coming off a 45-28 win over Colorado last week, the Wolverines will open Big Ten play when they host Penn State at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. The teams find themselves in very different places, with Michigan in the national title picture and the Nittany Lions out to re-establish their position as a contender in the Big Ten East. Here’s what to watch for when Penn State and Michigan kick off:
and hamstring. Coaches and teammates have said Lewis has been his usual swaggering self in practice and on the sidelines, and if he can carry that over to the playing field, he could boost a secondary that, while highly graded early on, has given up a handful of big plays. Charlton went down in Michigan’s opener with an ankle injury, but his potential coming into the season has many excited for what might happen upon his return. Playing on the edge of a line that includes fifth-year seniors Ryan Glasgow and Chris Wormley, Charlton would bring even more veteran presence to one of the Big Ten’s best units.
1. The injury report: Saturday could mark the return of some of the Wolverines’ top defensive playmakers. While the status of redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Mone remains unclear, Harbaugh has publicly conveyed his belief that senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis and senior defensive end Taco Charlton could return to the lineup. Lewis has not yet played this season, missing the first three games with a nagging injury that has affected his back, quadricep
FootballSaturday, September 24, 2016
Michigan special teams coordinator Chris Partridge said Wednesday that if teams do stop kicking to Peppers, the Wolverines’ field position would be “incredible.” How teams choose to weigh the balance between the field position battle and avoiding the potential for a massive play is hard to predict, and it becomes even more complicated when you factor in Michigan’s success in punt blocking. Through three games, the Wolverines have affected at least four punts. So when teams are deciding how to approach Peppers, their focus also has to be on simply getting the punt off. 3. Will Speight bounce back?
2. Will Penn State punt to Peppers? Could you blame them if they didn’t? Peppers scored his first career punt return touchdown last week against Colorado, and he currently leads the nation in total punt return yards with 173. After a 2015 season that saw him come within one or two missed tackles of the end zone multiple times, Peppers has now broken through. What happens next will be interesting to watch.
After he took a huge hit in the first quarter against Colorado, Speight was noticeably less potent than in his first two games. The Wolverines still salvaged a strong day on offense, but Michigan will want its starter back in form for Big Ten play. There was no word on whether Speight is still feeling the effects of that sack, but he did say after the game he had never been hit like that. Part of the issue could have been the Buffaloes’ defensive backs, who were roundly praised by the
Wolverines this week. Fifth-year senior receivers Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh were held largely in check — though each scored a touchdown — and will be looking for a bounce-back showing as well. But they’ll need Speight to get them the ball, and if his performance lags, Michigan’s offense could be in a little trouble. 4. The big play: It’s possible that it’s entirely too early to pinpoint this as a serious weakness, but for two straight games, Michigan has been burned on a handful of big plays. Against Central Florida, it was on the ground. Against Colorado, it was through the air. Against Penn State, Michigan would benefit from shoring those issues up. Lewis and Charlton returning would likely help, but even the best teams in the country can find themselves in trouble if they can’t contain the big plays. Penn State’s spread offense should give the Wolverines a familiar up-tempo look from their past two contests. If they can adjust off of their miscues from those games, Michigan can finally let its defense shine.