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Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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DEFEND THE ‘M’
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Eisenbergs donate to Depression Center at ‘U’ Family gives $10.74 million to fund research projects on mental illnesses CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily
LSA junior Holden Spencer mans Theta Xi’s camp on the Diag. The fraternity will be stationed there 24 hours a day to protect the block “M” until the football game against Michigan State University Saturday.
Members of Greek life angered by mandatory hazing film viewing
Some students leave film portraying violent behavior by fraternities, sororities REBECCA LERNER For the Daily
At a mandatory screening of the film “HAZE” Tuesday, a pseudodocumentary that explores a negative and violent depiction of University of Michigan fraternity and sorority life, more than 120 members of Greek life left after a contentious debate during Q&A with the film’s director, David Burkman. At least ten members of each fraternity and sorority were
required to attend the Office of Greek Life event. Most of the students who spoke during the Q&A voiced opposition toward the violent and graphic images within the film, and said the behavior portrayed in the film is not reflective of what happens in Michigan Greek life. Students also said because the Michigan Panhellenic Association is selfgoverning, there is a system of accountability that prevents intense hazing like that shown in the film. In 2013, Alpha Epsilon Pi was
RESEARCH
accused hazing its pledges and their president was removed, and in 2011 Sigma Alpha Epsilon was expelled by the Interfraternity Council. The film portrays hazing with jarring canted angles and black-and-white shots dispersed throughout. One scene, which was brought up by multiple students during the Q&A, depicted a pledge class violently attacking and killing a dog. The film also staged the portrayal of a pledge member’s alcohol-poisoning-induced death and the sexual assault of a
freshman sorority member. Information senior Sarah Barnitt asked the director about the film’s portrayal of women in the Greek life system, and how much stereotypes surrounding sorority culture played a part in the construction of its characters. “As a member of Panhellenic Executive board, that image that you constructed sorority women is not accurate and it is not flattering, and it’s actually kind of offensive,” Barnitt said. “To be honest, it’s offensive to women as a whole See HAZING, Page 3A
IRENE PARK
Daily Staff Reporter
University of Michigan alumni Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg, as well as the Eisenberg family overall, donated $10.75 million last Thursday to the University’s Depression Center to fund research projects for mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder. Kenneth Eisenberg said in a press release his family’s goal was to find solutions to meaningfully treat this widespread disorder, emphasizing the need to challenge existing negative perceptions held in society. “It is time to put our energy and resources into finding solutions for depression,” Eisenberg said. “Everyone has been touched by a loved one or friend affected by mental illness. Our family’s goal is to remove the stigma associated with this disease and to provide the necessary
financial support to assure that meaningful treatment is accessible.” According to the National Center of Mental Health, depression can reveal itself differently across individuals, with symptoms including persistent sad, anxious or empty moods; feelings of hopelessness and pessimism; and loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies. Data collected from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey the Center for Disease Control distributed from 2009 to 2012, 7.6 percent of people 12 years of age and older in the United States suffered from depression at any given twoweek period. Globally, about 350 million people suffer from depression, and it is one of the main causes of disabilities. The University’s center, located in the Rachel Upjohn Building, was established in 2001 as the first center in the nation to tackle bipolar See DONATION, Page 3A
Researcher places onus of Flint, D.C. A2 officials water crises on government officials talk new CITY
Professor partners on Detroit greenhouse Project utlitizing abandoned homes nears completion KEVIN LINDER
Daily Staff Reporter
On Burnside Street in Detroit, just northwest of Hamtramck, a greenhouse collaborative project utilizing old abandoned houses is only a few short steps away from completion. By the time winter sets in, the small neighborhood greenhouse, named Afterhouse, will be warm enough to grow fruits and other plants that otherwise wouldn’t otherwise be able to flourish in cold Michigan weather. The project was the brainchild of Abigail Murray, a ceramist and Ann Arbor resident who has had experience with community gardening and See GREENHOUSE, Page 3A
Marc Edwards delivers lecture to 100 at Gerald Ford Presidential Library NEIL SCHWARTZ Daily Staff Reporter
Marc Edwards, professor of civil engineering at Virginia Tech, delivered the Walter J. Weber Jr. Distinguished Lecture in Environmental and Energy Sustainability to an audience of about 100 students, faculty and staff Tuesday at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library. The annual lecture, which is organized by the College of Engineering, brings experts in environmental engineering and science to the University of Michigan to share their work and ideas for the future of their fields. This year’s lecture, “The Flint and Washington D.C. Drinking Water Lead Crises: How Scientists and Engineers Betrayed the Public Trust,” focused on Edward’s role in exposing water contamination in Washington D.C. between 2001 and 2004 and the current water crisis in Flint.
Edwards is the researcher responsible for investigating and uncovering misconduct on the part of scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. In his remarks, Edwards talked about the aftermath of exposing the failures of scientists and politicians
in charge of protecting public health during both disasters, saying both times it caused a lack of trust in the government. See WATER, Page 2A
BRIAN KUANG
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Marc Edwards, professor of engineering at Virginia Tech, speaks out about the corruption surrounding the EPA, CDC, and various other government agencies at the Gerald Ford Library Tuesday.
In response to a new discovery last week of the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane in shallow groundwater on Ann Arbor’s west side, city officials are exploring the possibility of new legal actions against the original polluter that could potentially bypass state environmental regulators. Improper wastewater disposal by the Ann Arbor-based company Gelman Sciences — which has since been purchased by Pall Corporation — from 1966 to 1986 has created a large plume of the carcinogenic dioxane toxin underground in the city of Ann Arbor, as well as Scio and Ann Arbor Townships. See DIOXANE, Page 3A
CSG talks Halloween weekend UMPD officer addresses the assembly on campus safety concerns at Tuesday meeting.
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Vol. CXXVI, No. 17 ©2016 The Michigan Daily
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ANN ARBOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT STRUCK BY VEHICLE 16-year-old Qi-Xuan “Justin” Tang, an Ann Arbor high school student, was struck by a car and killed Tuesday morning around 7:20 a.m. He was struck by a car while crossing Fuller Road near Huron High School, according to Ann Arbor Police and Ann Arbor Public Schools. Tang was transported to the University of Michigan Hospital after the accident, where he passed away, according to the Detroit Free Press. Ann Arbor Police Lt. Renee Bush said the driver stopped after the crash and is fully cooperating with the investigation. Tang was a student at Community High School in Ann Arbor, according to an email to AAPS parents from Superintendent Jeanice Swift. “Our hearts and our
thoughts are with his family and friends at this tragic time,” Swift said in the email. “Justin was a highly engaged student
at Community High School, Swift also said grief support an academic high-performer teams will be available to and was very involved in students at Community High Community Ensemble Theater.” and Huron High.
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There is a Harbaugh gif to match every emotion except for tired. Anyways, very glad my night class is over.
brett
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never gotten an A in a umich CS class and halfway thru the semester I have a 99% in both of my CS classes
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Astronomy photographer Brian Ottum, hosts a workshop explaining the art of astronomy photography for the Michigan Photography Club.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Fresh Produce Sale WHAT: Fresh, sustainably sourced local fruits and vegetbles available for students to purchase. WHO: Student Organizations: Student Food Co. WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: Mason Hall
Environmental Studies Abroad Info Session WHAT: Session for students interested in exploring study abroad and research opportunities in environmental studies. WHO: Center for Global and Intercultural Study WHEN: 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Dana Natural Resources Building, room 1040
WATER From Page 1A “We’re talking about a dark side of science and engineering in academia,” he said. “I’m going to tell you today that we have failed miserably in terms of honoring that public trust.” In the first part of his lecture, Edwards described the efforts of several government agencies in D.C. to cover up the effects of the lead outbreak in the water supply, calling whistleblowing efforts partially a way to uphold the duty of scientists to the public good. “This crime was perpetrated by government scientists and engineers,” he said. “It was an EPA regulation that inadvertently caused lead to fall into the water.” In particular, he cited the Centers for Disease Control’s response to the outbreak as deficient, noting the government agency falsified a report denying any effects from the water crisis.
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International Career Fair
Jews and American Comics
Fall Colors Dinner
Gender and Sexuality in the Islamic Culture
Law School Admissions Event
Swing Dancing
WHAT: Opportunity for students to network with professionals and explore international careers. WHO: University Career Center WHEN: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, 2nd floor
WHAT: Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate, will discuss the male-dominated culture in Islamic societies and the second-class treatment of women in these societies. WHO: Islamic Studies Program WHEN: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Graduate School, Amphitheatre
“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control came into town and derailed any hope of holding the perpetrators of this crime accountable,” he said. “In defiance of 2,000 years of human history, dozens of peer-reviewed papers, the CDC found that there is no evidence that kids in D.C. drinking all this water with high levels of lead were harmed.” Edwards compared the mishandling of the D.C. water crisis to the current crisis in Flint, which has had elevated levels of lead in its water for at least the past two years after a switch in the source of their water caused lead from the pipes to leach into the water. “Governments do not do a good job of fixing problems that they create,” he said. “The lead pipes are there because of a bad law that required them. The consumer had no choice.” Edwards also emphasized that the series of steps required to prove to the government and American public that the crisis in Flint was real and had negative
THANKSGIVING DAYDREAMIN’. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
WHAT: Presentation of the history of Jewish-American comics by Dr. Paul Buhle from Brown University. WHO: Judiac Studies WHEN: 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: Modern Languages Building, room 3308
WHAT: Admissions Committee members from Northwestern, USC, Berkeley, Texas and NYU law schools will discuss strategies and give tips for law school admission. WHO: University Career Center WHEN: 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, Pendelton room
health impacts aimed to be both comprehensible and understandable.“We sent sampling kits to Flint residents to sample the water for lead,” Edwards said. “We also did simple experiments that anyone, even a reporter, can understand.” After Edwards conducted several more public experiments following the state government’s refusal to repeat his previous tests, he received the media coverage that attracted the attention of the country to the crisis. “By early October (2014), it was front cover of The New York Times,” he said. “It wasn’t long before all of America and much of the world learned that what happened in Flint, Michigan was an environmental crime perpetrated by our government against one of our most vulnerable populations in this country.” LSA freshman Alec Kefgen, who attended the event, said he was surprised to hear that nobody in the Washington D.C. water crisis was held accountable. He said he was glad several perpetrators in the Flint crisis are being prosecuted. “I heard that the government wasn’t really helping or supporting (the Flint community),” he said. “I was happy to see people got indicted. In the future, people can see what has happened, see the work that (Edwards) did, and be more open to the effects.” Chemical Engineering Prof. Suljo Linic said he thought the audience would benefit from hearing more about the crises directly from those affected. “We hope that many students, faculty and colleagues have an opportunity to hear first hand what really happened, what went wrong and what can be done differently so that these kinds of things do not happen in the future,” he said.
@RachelEchoMarie
WHAT: Special dinner dedicated to the colors of fall as well as local and midwestern seasonal ingredients. WHO: Michigan Dining WHEN: 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Mosher-Jordan dining hall
I pretty much blend in with every other guy at UMich since I wore my Vineyard Vines pullover
Moncerrati
@monce_llanas
WHAT: Opportunity for students to learn swing dancing and meet new people. WHO: Student Organizations: MSwing WHEN: 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League, room D
Need to go to the MDen & invest in some UMich gear for this weekend
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DONATION From Page 1A and depression disorders comprehensively, focusing on medical research, clinical care, education and public policy. The Eisenberg’s gift will mainly be used for medical research. John Greden, founder and executive director of the center, said the gift will help fund projects that aim to uncover the underlying causes of the illnesses, which will allow clinicians to personalize treatments for each patient with depression or bipolar disorder. “Depression and bipolar illnesses probably have multiple different causes,” he said. “If we have multiple causes, we’ve got to treat the underlying causes … one-sized treatment will never fit all. We want to know: Will this type of depression respond to this antidepressant or this anti-inflammatory agent or this new medicine that will alter the genetic message? Then we can choose the treatment that precisely targets the underlying cause.” LSA senior Reid Depowski, secretary for a new student group at the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services, CAPS In Action, wrote in an email interview
GREENHOUSE From Page 1A other design projects similar to this greenhouse. “I had read about Walipinis, which are theses underground greenhouses in the Andes, and they grow things like bananas at crazy high altitudes and crazy high temperatures,” she said. “I think a lot of gardeners in Michigan get depressed when winter comes and wish that they could grow for longer and extend their growing season.” Project co-collaborator Steven Mankouche, Murray’s husband and an associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, said the greenhouse was inspired by a love of gardening. But now that it’s nearing its completion, the potential for more greenhouses in Detroit has become apparent. “The project never started as us wanting to help people; we started the project as wanting to see if this idea would work,” he said. “While I think it does, I hate to talk about the project as if we are out there to help people and as if that were the mission of the work, which is not the case.” The greenhouse plan was conceived of in 2009, according to the couple, but it took a few years for them to find the right house for the project. An additional year of fundraising after the house on Burnside Street was chosen and the plans were laid out in 2013 was also necessary for the project to launch. “We wanted to find an abandoned house that was fire damaged and could not be saved,” he said. “We
that she thinks personalizing depression treatment has the potential to be highly impactful. “Depression is such a widespread illness that not everyone responds the same to treatment or understands their symptoms in the same ways,” Depowski wrote. “Our Depression Center intends to focus on the personal development of those seeking treatment for their depression, which I think is a great step in the right direction to clientfocused therapy specifically to that client.” Depowski also said the gift could spark conversations on campus about the necessity of research and the importance of mental health for everyone. “That’s the goal of our group — to destigmatize mental health, mental illness, and make it normal to talk about,” she wrote. The gift also established the Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg Professorship of Depression and Neurosciences. The first recipient of the professorship was Psychiatry Prof. Srijan Sen, whose goal is to develop more effective and personalized treatments for those who suffer from depression. One of Sen’s ongoing research projects focuses on the
wanted the house to be in a neighborhood that wasn’t a fringe neighborhood with not much around it; we wanted it to be in a neighborhood where people lived but that was still struggling.” Mankouche said the neighborhood, informally called by the primarily Bangladeshi residents “Banglatown,” seemed to be a good fit because there was still what he referred to as a “neighborhood fabric” intact in the area despite the burned and derelict houses scattered amongst the houses of the residents. Now the project is coming close to a conclusion, with several final steps remaining. The last touches include installing stairs that will lead to the sunken lower level of the greenhouse, which was completed last week, and bringing in and spreading soil. Mankouche said after soil is spread inside Afterhouse, it will be ready for the first round of planting. Some of the first plants will include small trees that require warmer temperatures that are not available during Detroit winters, including bananas, olives and pomegranates. Mankouche said the house is roughly 600 square feet with a completely open interior. The sunken base is approximately five feet below ground level. “We removed the house from the foundation up, and in that process of demolition we salvaged all the structural lumber from the house,” he said. “We were left with the bare foundation wall, which was concrete block wall, which required a lot of repair work.” Murray said an underlying concern within the project was
The contaminants in Waterworks Park were in concentrations of 2 to 3 parts per billion. 1,4-dioxane carries carcinogenic risk at 3.5 parts per billion, according to Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. City Councilmember Chip Smith (D–Ward 5) — whose constituency includes Waterworks Park — said he hopes new legal action, either to make the city a party to the state’s lawsuit or a new suit altogether, could allow it to bypass the MDEQ and possibly push for a full cleanup. He added that he considered the MDEQ unreliable in managing the contamination. Smith confirmed this option was discussed, among several other legal options — including a petition to the EPA for superfund designation — during a closeddoor special session of City Council Monday night, though he declined to offer more specific details. “I believe that we need to be somehow as a party in some of the judicial actions,” Smith said. “(Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Donald) Shelton said 10 years ago … this is between the DEQ and Gelman. I believe that is a flawed way of thinking since it’s the people of Ann Arbor who are most directly impacted by this and the DEQ clearly has not represented the citizens here adequately.”
City Councilmember Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1), who serves on the City Environmental Commission, was also open to the possibility of a new legal action against Pall. Briere told the Daily before Monday night’s special session that the new discovery of contaminated shallow groundwater may grant the city grounds to pursue this option. “Until 1,4-dioxane was found in shallow groundwater, the city had no evidence of immediate risk to the health of the community,” Briere said. “Now, with the discovery of 1,4-dioxane, that may change.” When asked about specific legal strategies the city could take and what was discussed during Monday night’s special session, Chief Assistant City Attorney Abigail Elias declined to comment but reiterated that the city is considering all available options. Several other city council members also declined to discuss the proceedings of Monday night’s special session when reached for comment. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions in the county — including Ann Arbor Township, Scio Township and the County Board of Commissioners — have sought to bypass the MDEQ altogether.
in that you constructed them as sluts and bitches who are there to entertain men in fraternities. I just wanted you to know that is not Greek life at Michigan.” Barnitt’s comment was met with applause and catalyzed the departure of most of the audience. “What I hope to accomplish tonight is to get a conversation going about what we can do to prevent this from happening,” Burkman said as students exited the auditorium. “So if you’re not willing to have the conversation at all, then you’re not open-minded. I don’t want to offend anyone and (Barnitt) is perfectly entitled to her opinion, but I think everyone is entitled to their opinion, including me. I firmly believe that this is a powerful tool for constructive change.” Producer Jayme Aronberg expressed surprise and disappointment at the reaction of the majority of the student audience to the film, which has won multiple awards, including the D.C. Independent Film
Festival’s best feature film, and has been screened at dozens of film festivals and college campuses across the country. “This is the first time that we’ve ever had this reaction,” Aronberg said. “First time. Maybe the truth is that Michigan does an exceptional job at not having (hazing incidents) happen. If that’s the case, then that’s amazing. But it is also important to recognize that’s not the case everywhere. And that’s disturbing.” The makers of “HAZE” have been traveling around the country screening the film exclusively at universities before the commercial release, which is slated for the spring of 2017. In an interview with The Michigan Daily before the screening, Burkman said he hadn’t initially planned to tour the film to college campuses. “When we set out to make the film, it was not with any specific agenda in mind other than to make an entertaining, thoughtprovoking, illuminating feature film,” Burkman said. “The film has taken on an unexpected life of its own by virtue of its subject matter.”
Burkman, an Indiana University alum, was invited to screen the film at his alma mater and said he was struck by the effect that the film could have in generating conversation around the problems in Greek life and hazing. After the film started a dialogue at Indiana University, Burkman decided to screen the film exclusively at colleges before its commercial release. “It wasn’t our original intention, but when we went to Indiana, it was really fascinating to see what an incredibly productive tool the film could be in generating a kind of constructive conversation.” Burkman said. He acknowledged the disturbing nature of the film, but said he felt it necessary to fully relate the horrors of hazing to the audience. “Our hope is that the conversation doesn’t end when we leave campus, when the lights go up and the film is over,” Burkman said. “I think it’s important to have a film that shows this thing in a realistic way, that upsets. While I do not want to upset people and traumatize people, we made this film with the hope that it would get under people’s skin.”
design helps it fit into the neighborhood, and the approach that they’ve taken — demolishing the house but retaining the original foundation — allows for a variety of different community-oriented designs to be incorporated into future projects, such as residential scale swimming pools or skate parks. On top of potential for other uses, Mankouche said the completed Afterhouse is not necessarily the final product and that the maintenance of the original foundation means that the structure could be repurposed again for something else. “It allows for a future for the house,” he said. “It’s like putting a cap on the house; there’s nothing that would stop someone from converting Afterhouse back into a house again.” “I think that it can have a very positive effect on the neighborhoods and the reason is because it’s not a big structure, it pretty much replaces a house unlike, let’s say, a large greenhouse and things of that nature, and so just because of its residential scale and the fact that it is in the location of a house itself, it tends to have a different type of rapport as a piece of architecture than a piece of art would,” he said. University alum Travis Williams worked with Stephen and Murray on the Afterhouse project through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. He has volunteered throughout the entire project, including during the initial design phases, and despite graduating this past spring, plans to help until the project is completed.
A native Detroiter, Williams said he was excited by the idea of working on a project that would revitalize a home that had been completely abandoned and left to break down among the houses of residents in the neighborhood. “The way it served as an intermediary between blighted out homes and new home owners, I was delighted to work on it,” he said. “Seeing it go from a dilapidated home that was firebombed and complete desolation to seeing what we could deconstruct and salvage and completely rebuild it to a whole new design and use, it’s been enlightening.” An aspiring architect, Williams said working on the project has helped him understand how to bring in community input to influence design and planning, as well as the role that communities themselves play in efforts to rebuild the houses and neighborhoods around them. “(Steven) was more receptive and took more of a participatory role from the community itself and the people that it would actually house and serve, and listened to their thoughts,” he said. “That was a very big teachable moment, where it showed me the role that communities can play in their own reinvention, and have to play in their reimagining.” Mankouche said since the project is nearing completion, he is interested in reaching out to other communities and working with others on similar projects in the future, though he said he does not want to be the one who build them anymore. The couple believes the precedent set by the project has the potential to change
the approach that the city of Detroit takes to demolishing old and broken houses. Beyond the risks and technical knowledge required to safely demolish a house, Mankouche said it is feasible for communities to come together to construct new buildings using old foundations in the way that Afterhouse does. “I think it absolutely is a project that can be done by smaller communities,” he said, mentioning that several people from the immediate neighborhood surrounding the Afterhouse project volunteered time to help build the structure. To demolish and rebuild the house cost Murray and Mankouche approximately $5,000 in total, a process they contracted out. According to an article written by The Atlantic, it costs the city of Detroit roughly $12,000 to fully demolish a derelict house, which includes removing the foundation and filling in the hole in the ground that is left behind. Both Mankouche and Murray noted that one obstacle relevant to demolition projects for both the city of Detroit and the Afterhouse project is that without the proper permits for renovation, the city doesn’t allow for partial demolition. This means that to reduce costs by saving the foundation of houses, Detroit would have to take a remodeling approach, rather than demolition. “If the city changed the ordinance in such a way that one was allowed to demolish and leave the existing first floor intact, because all these houses are platform framed, you could then go about it quite safely and give time to the community to go about rebuilding a house,” Mankouche said.
DIOXANE From Page 1A
Division of Public Safety and Security officer Justin Berent discuss safety concerns during Halloween weekend at the Central Student Government meeting in the Union Monday.
relationship between stress and depression in medical interns. Sen said medical interns are appropriate models for his research because they suffer from high stress — working 80 to 90 hours a week, suffering from sleep deprivation and dealing with life and death situations with their patients for the first time. Sen said he hopes to further his study with the medical interns through his newly received professorship by utilizing mobile and wearable technology, which will allow him to get real-time and more reliable and objective data from his subjects. According to Sen’s research, the rate of depression increased from 3.9 percent in the beginning of the internship to almost 27.1 percent during the internship. He added that depression in interns presents a risk to patients, noting that the young professionals are more likely to commit medical errors. “Rates of depressions are very high, especially in (the medical intern) population,” Sen said. “It is important for health care to understand what’s causing the high rate of depression — finding ways to decrease it is important for them and for their patients.”
building a lasting infrastructure in the area and finding residents that would continue to use the final product well after it reached completion. “One of the things that was always really important to us when we were looking for a site and looking for the right partner to work with or give it to was that it would be useful and wouldn’t just be another thing that’s falling down,” she said. “We will help maintain it over the next couple of years to make sure that everything is working and to troubleshoot problems.” As of right now, Afterhouse will primarily be used by Burnside Farms, the community garden that operates across the street from the greenhouse. The garden will use the greenhouse to extend its growing season through the winter. Mankouche said he thinks that the greenhouse can give back to the community by enabling the farm to continue growing throughout the winter that it can give to members of the neighborhood. Burnside Farms could not be reached for comment. Murray said from her experience working with members of the “Banglatown” community, there’s high potential for growth in community gardening. “There are a lot of structures that can be repurposed that way, and there are a lot of people who are using gardening and growing their food to empower people,” she said. “If you live in a place where fresh fruits and vegetables aren’t that easy to come by, they are easy to come by in your backyard.” Mankouche also noted that the small size of the Afterhouse
3A — Wednesday, October 26, 2016
The gradually expanding plume, first discovered in 1985, has contaminated groundwater, forced the closure of more than 100 private residential wells and is expected to reach the Huron River in the coming decades and potentially contaminate Ann Arbor’s water source at Barton Pond, according to several projections. In 2006, a court ruling denied the city of Ann Arbor the right to be a party in a state of Michigan lawsuit and 1992 consent judgement against Pall Corporation, which mandated the corporation undertake the monitoring and remediation of the contamination. Because Ann Arbor was denied involvement in the lawsuit, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, not the city, is primarily responsible for overseeing the polluter’s remediation efforts. However, the discovery last week of 1,4-dioxane in the shallow groundwater at Waterworks Park by the MDEQ has sparked new concerns of human exposure, and some city officials are now entertaining the possibility of a new legal action against Pall Corporation that would make the city of Ann Arbor a party.
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4A — Wednesday, October 26, 2016
CAITLIN HEENAN | OP-ED
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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
MAX RYSZTAK | COLUMN
Policy still matters
A
fter a long, hype-filled message based on their own summer prepared us proposals. This type of rhetoric for the showdown highlights their desperation to between Donald Trump and win for themselves and not for Hillary Clinton, we are finally the people. done with presidential debates The only positive moment for the 2016 election season. from all three debates was Unfortunately, these debates, when the candidates were if anything, hurt asked to say one the morale in this thing they respected country and severely about the other. damaged our Clinton referred to political credibility. Trump’s children, In what are symbolizing his typically policystrong role as a intense, mature, father. Trump called educated discussions Clinton someone about the direction who can “fight hard” presidential and “doesn’t quit.” MAX candidates wish to This was one of the RYSZTAK few times in any of take this nation, this year’s debates lacked substance the debates when the candidates or meaningful discussion. came across as respectful. It While in past cycles one- shows what this country and liners often stole the show, what our politics have the the debates themselves were potential to be, but sadly, the usually extremely detail- candidates went back to the oriented and professional. same old tactics the next day. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama’s 2012 debates were intense, but policyoriented. Their discussions always remained civil and constantly referred to certain tax percentages, specific legislation or their differences when it came to policy. Not this year. Unfortunately, with Trump and Clinton, we arguably endured the three most immature political debates in Our debates demonstrate, this nation’s history. The two on a larger level, the increasing candidates attacked each other irrelevance of policy in personally. Petty bickering politics. When our presidential drowned out what little real campaigns and debates largely policy was discussed, like when focus on personal traits or Trump referred to Clinton as actions, and not on policy, we “the devil.” Candidates spoke don’t get to hear the candidates about topics ranging from each talk about the real issues. We other’s marriage fidelity to deserve debates in which we Clinton’s email scandal, and it’s learn what they actually want to embarrassing. do on topics that will affect each It seems as if both candidates’ and every one of us. strategies were to tear each other When politics aren’t focused down, to argue against the other, on policy, it affects all of us down instead of running on a positive to the most grassroots level.
When politics aren’t focused on policy, it affects all of us down to the most grassroots level.
We are faced with heightened tensions in our communities, in our classrooms and all over campus because all we hear our leaders do is attack one another on anything but their ideas. I’ve seen political differences strain relationships on this campus, peers judging others for their disagreement, students calling one another names because they think differently. A lot of this is fueled by Trump and Clinton’s campaigns. They divide us more than they unite us, which many are failing to recognize. So where do we go from here? While it seems too late to change the tone of this campaign, changing the political discourse starts with us, with those involved at the grassroots level of politics. Having educated discussions on policies and ideas, and not on candidates, will serve those beyond our campus. We should seek out conversations in which we can learn others’ justifications for their opinions. Learning how to deal with the opinions of the opposition in a respectful and informed way can quickly spiral into a meaningful change of discourse. For now, we just have to get through the next few weeks of this election and suffer for only a little while longer through an embarrassing political cycle until we can look forward to the next election. Hopefully, by then, we will have learned from our collective voting mistakes this year. Maybe we can even become more diverse in opinions and more educated on actual solutions. And, hopefully, we will nominate and have the opportunity to vote for candidates with real and positive proposals for this nation, because policy still matters.
Max Rysztak can be reached at mrysztak@umich.edu.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
At its core, this predominantly African-American and high-poverty community has been deprived of all ability to influence the most basic decisions affecting its health and safety at enormous human and economic cost. — U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Debbie Dingell, Dan Kildee, Brenda Lawrence and Sander Levin in a letter to the U.S. Justice Department pushing against the Receivership Transition Advisory Board, which could limit the City of Flint’s ability to sue the state.
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No time for troubles
eeing the classic call me when you get a sec text from my stepdad Tuesday morning, I knew my day was about to get much worse. Walking out of East Hall to a quiet place to call him back felt like a lifetime. I was soon informed of a series of events that led to my mom in the ICU after her salt levels fell dangerously low sometime late Monday night. She had tremors, couldn’t speak and her doctors were concerned about possible brain damage from the drastic change in equilibrium. After I hung up the phone with my stepdad, uncertain about the true gravity of my mother’s physical state, all I could think about was how lucky I was that it was raining and my tears would be hidden as I walked back to my apartment. Upon arriving home, I had exactly one hour to bawl my eyes out, collect myself to continue on with my day and make myself presentable. All my friends were in class, so I was very much alone with only thoughts of the worstcase scenarios. Even worse, I felt guilty for feeling sad and spending so much time thinking about how my mom was doing because I had homework to do and office hours to attend. Though my mom will be fine and was released from the hospital on Monday with high hopes for her mental capacity after a bit of therapy, I can’t help but question my instinct to hide emotions and attempt to power through my classes and extracurriculars
like nothing ever happened. There is something about the college environment and fastpaced lifestyle of trying to succeed in life that seems to be incompatible with, well, life.
I can’t help but question my instinct to hide emotions and attempt to power through my classes. The activities and classes we have to complete to advance ourselves into a future career hinder our ability to live as human beings and experience pain in the ways that are necessary to carry on with the day. How could I continue learning organic chemistry and taking care of the cells in lab and volunteering if I wasn’t capable of taking care of myself and my own mental state first? I couldn’t; I was dysfunctional and my work ethic suffered. I should’ve taken the time to allow myself to cope with the realities of my family life before I continued trying to go about my school life. However, this is easier said than done. These hindering pains in life don’t have to be catastrophic either. Seemingly insignificant
hiccups can have negative consequences for our everyday lives. I can’t tell you how much time I have wasted on being upset after getting a point off one quiz. Sometimes it takes hours for me to truly grasp the fact that the one point I lost out of 400 will not be likely to hurt my grade. But this is the environment we live in, one focused on achieving and striving, sometimes forgetting about simply living and surviving. We walk around each and every day together on this campus, each with our own problems and thoughts, unaware of what the people around us are feeling or experiencing. I doubt any of the people I encountered over the past week would’ve guessed I was struggling internally and, in their defense, I tried my best to hide any indication that something could be wrong. As human beings, we should allow ourselves to break down sometimes, to be dysfunctional, even with the most mundane of things. We should allow ourselves to experience the pain and stress of our lives and not drown in responsibility. We should actively create an environment — not only for ourselves, but also for others — where mental health and emotional wellbeing are just as important as the grades and accolades we strive to achieve.
Caitlin Heenan is a senior opinion editor at The Michigan Daily.
ANTHONY COZART | OP-ED
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Vote with your feet
arlier this month, a Walmart executive gave a surprising campus talk. Chief Sustainability Officer Kathleen McLaughlin outlined how the company is raising wages, reexamining relationships in its supply chain to limit environmental degradation and working in communities to broaden economic opportunity. I was impressed, yet while walking out of the Ross School of Business, I wondered if other businesses — like an independent shop on South U — could have the opportunity to act for environmental, social and economic justice. Walmart must be an exception, I thought. It’s so large and successful that it dictates business terms. Its success translates into having money to spend on new initiatives. I felt unconvinced others could, or would, follow their lead. This skepticism was deflating, producing a sense that nothing can change. It led to another feeling that many students and adults, particularly those just entering the workforce, might relate to: In a world with more than 7 billion people, there’s little one can do to make a net impact. Bernie Sanders’ visit to campus, however, served as a counterpoint to this way of thinking. Smaller businesses alone may not affect environmental, economic or social structures, but individuals can. Young people have made Bernie’s campaign a success by collectively expressing principles they value and demanding change on issues like college affordability. Economists call what many Bernie supporters have done “foot voting.” The original idea said that individuals with preferences for taxes and services move to the cities within a region where
the taxes they pay and services they purchase have maximal utility for society as a whole. One’s location reveals what he or she wants and values, and other actors in the market see this and adjust accordingly. Critics, like The New York Times’ op-ed contributor Mark Schmitt, have argued Bernie’s campaign displays the limits of collective action by young people. His supporters shouted loudly, but the campaign likely accomplished little in the long run. Others might conclude the issues that young people can affect are limited. They can demand ethically sourced products, yet have little influence on larger issues like the minimum wage or trade agreements. Business students might echo this point, arguing bottom-line analyses determine business decisions, not aspirations or values. But the reality is starkly different, both on and off campus. Many of us already vote with our feet every day when making routine purchases. For example, Espresso Royale serves fair trade coffee, in part because many students care what goes into their cups. A similar story explains Chipotle serving “responsibly raised” meat. Demanding products that are fair to individuals, and to the communities that produced them, doesn’t have to be a luxury either. McDonald’s is removing GMOs and antibiotics from its foods, largely in response to changing consumer awareness and preferences. Target has aisles of sustainable supplies. As more people think about the origin and impact of their purchases, what originally seemed like smallscale activism transforms into systematic changes: Companies like Walmart adapt. Others will
follow or be forced to follow. Though purchases are likely the most common way students vote with their feet, the most impactful choice we make may be what we do after graduation. Thousands of businesses recruit University of Michigan graduates each year. We’re in demand, and in this way, we’re not unlike Walmart in that we have bargaining power. Campus recruiting is an opportunity to exhibit your priorities and influence those of large businesses. When sorting career opportunities by prestige, salary or visibility, also consider asking questions that reflect your values, like “What is its impact on local communities?” or “How are employees addressing discrimination?” Employers will notice which booths are the most popular at career fairs and adapt. What we do after graduation can create a ripple throughout the labor market. But small-scale activism on campus doesn’t have to be restricted to older students thinking about post-college plans, or those with spending money. Project Callisto, a sexual assault reporting system, offers another example of students effecting meaningful change. It started last year with two schools where students advocated for new solutions to the sexual violence endemic on campuses. Now in its second year, it’s working with many more universities, receiving funding from Google and influencing policy in Washington. As students, we should vote with our feet more often, on more issues, even after the November elections.
MICHELLE SHENG | CONTACT MICHELLE AT SHENGMI@UMICH.EDU
Anothony Cozart is a graduate student in the Ford School of Public Policy.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 — 5A
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Reevaluating fan culture in the age of Justin Bieber and One Direction As megafans get increasingly aggressive, artists have a dilemma MEGAN WILLIAMS For the Daily
20TH CENTURY FOX
Okay, but in what universe does Zach Galifinakis land Isla Fisher?!
Don’t bother ‘Keeping Up’ Greg Mottola’s latest isn’t as good as ‘Superbad’ or ‘Adventureland’ of Justice”), charm everyone around them, who all work for the same company with Gaffney, into revealing critical secrets. George Lucas, the brains The film, miserable as it behind the “Star Wars” is, does deserve some credit. franchise, purportedly hung up An exhaustive list of its attria release date for butes include: a “The Phantom decent (but very Menace” while brief ) title credfilming. No matter its sequence, a sly what, he told his Nigerian prince “Keeping up with cast and crew, reference, three the Joneses” the film would “Veep” cast mem20th Century Fox be released on a bers, a Busby specific date. It Berkeley-inspired Rave & Quality 16 can’t be much of a indoor skydiving surprise that “The sequence and two Phantom Menace” good songs (one lacked the nuance and heart that by Blitzen Trapper, another by defined the earlier films, since Anderson .Paak). That is, unforLucas’s team didn’t have the tunately, the end of the list. freedom to think through the The film certainly defies film before its release. expectations to the extent that I That same predetermination, expected to see an action comeand its accompanying general dy. Rather, we are left with a film disregard for the craft of constructed from the tropes left filmmaking for profit’s sake, is behind by other superior films. vividly on display in “Keeping Up There is one action sequence with the Joneses,” a spy action and fewer laughs. The predecomedy from 20th Century cessors of “Keeping Up with the Fox and the latest project from Joneses,” films like last year’s “Adventureland” and “Superbad” brilliant “Spy,” “The Other director Greg Mottola. Guys,” and even “Date Night,” Jeff Gaffney (Zach are funnier while being more Galifianakis, “Birdman”), a nerdy drastic and creative in throwing and relatively socially inept HR average Joes into high-stakes manager at a large industrial action stories. They are simply facility in suburban Atlanta, and more entertaining. his wife, Karen (Isla Fisher, “The But “Keeping Up with the Great Gatsby”), become caught Joneses” is nothing more than up in an espionage plot when they a failure. The film is beyond discover their new neighbors are predictable, wearing its foregovernment agents. The smooth, shadowing on its sleeve. The suave and stylish neighbors, Tim score, written by Jake Monaco and Natalie Jones (Jon Hamm, (“Dinotrux”), seems to be stolen “Mad Men,” and Gal Gadot, from other action comedies. The “Batman v. Superman: Dawn story is dull, using a slow reveal DANIEL HENSEL Daily Arts Writer
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of facts (which, by the way, could be deduced by watching the trailer) until the plot is made clear way more than halfway through the movie. Galifianakis, Fisher and Hamm have all proven their comedic chops but they are all each given just one joke to continue throughout the film; they lack complexity and the film just lacks fun. Gadot, or at least her performance, lacks any sense of comedy and she is reserved as simply a sex object, surely at the studio’s request. But what’s most frustrating about the film, even more than its abject failure at simple filmmaking technique (the film is horribly lit), is its unearned confidence. Scenes that are meant to be clearly funny moments feel completely distant, as if studio executives thought, “Oh, this will surely get the audience laughing. Let’s stylize it, throw in some slow motion to capitalize on those laughs.” What is most troubling is that Mottola’s earlier films, especially, for me, “Adventureland,” strongly succeeded where his latest fails: comedy should flow naturally, not calculatedly or mechanically. The film’s marketing campaign included an appeal as a great date movie. It can only be assumed that it would suit those who pay to see a movie then turn away from the screen and make out the whole time. I suppose, then, it fulfills the base requirement of a date movie in that it is, in fact, a movie. In other words, distracted audiences are encouraged, all others should avoid.
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Festival will feature a variety of jazz artists from all over the country when students get the chance to play his music, it’s pretty special.” Although the Michigan Jazz Ensemble will only be performing one night, Edgefest will be filled with iconic jazz artists, performers and composers throughout the week. The performances range from individuals to small quartets to entire bands. “This year’s lineup is stacked. We are a lot more interesting as improvisers and composers,” Rowe explained. Edgefest is unique to the Ann Arbor community because it only comes around once a year, and it allows room for non-traditional jazz artists to present their work. Rowe noted that “contemporary, improvised jazz is not generally on people’s radios, and they are not getting exposed to it. Some people have not experienced it.” However, Rowe believes that it’s vital for people to hear this type of music and specifically, this type of jazz, adding that Ann Arbor often provides that. “Ann Arbor has been somewhat of a leader in the country for presenting real contemporary music,” Rowe said. Edgefest is a prime example of that kind of presentation.
other people listen to. I find nothing more satisfying than finding a new band and going through their albums, especially if someone has suggested their music to me. Discussing music has generally always been a safe conversation topic, and people are normally respectful. However, often hearing how other people in the music scene refer to fans of other bands, I wonder if this is becoming less true. Artists themselves are now more open about their likes and dislikes of other artists on social media, and this can lead to “fan wars” or straight up cyberbullying between groups. I believe that musicians have a responsibility to be role models. Even if they are a small local band, there are still people paying to see them play and who look up to them. There is a built-in part of this that involves showcasing politeness and respect to others in the music industry, and with social media allowing artists to have such contact with their fans, this is now more important than ever. The music industry is bigger than ever. It has the ability to bring thousands of people together at one for their love of music, yet it is also so divisive. It would be so much easier if people saw this difference as a great positive, instead of something that needs to be argued about.
THE CW
When he says if you had a twin he’d still choose your twin.
‘Ex’ shifts from loneliness to love The CW’s musical comedy explores new themes in season opener not supportive of the relationship. And what exactly is Rebecca and Josh’s relationship? It can best be described as a “live-in booty When it premiered last year, call.” They’re having sex and it’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” seemed to clearly on Josh’s terms … despite be nothing more than a whimsical, the fact that he is now living goofy TV show about a with Rebecca. girl who takes a crush His refusal to too far. As the season sleep in bed progressed, it evolved with her is the into an unorthodox first red flag “Crazy Exlook at mental health that although and relationships. Rebecca finally Girlfriend” Buried in the silliness gets to be with Season Two of each episode were Josh, she’s Premiere moments of truth. still in denial Season one of “Crazy about the Fridays at 9 p.m. Ex-Girlfriend” was a truth. “Love The CW fresh, witty profile of Kernels,” people desperate for a hilarious companionship and, homage to more importantly, Beyoncé’s love. “Lemonade,” further explores the Season two moves away from nature of the unequal relationship. the crazy things people do to find Rebecca is so desperate to keep a relationship to the even crazier the relationship alive that she will things people do to stay in one. trick herself into believing a 3:00 The theme song, historically a.m. “You Up?” text means love. serving as a thesis statement for Both songs in the episode the season, begins with “I’m just a focus solely on Josh and Rebecca. girl in love.” Clearly, this season is This raises the question of all about being together, not apart what kind of season this will — whatever it takes. be. The songs usually heighten Surprisingly, the first healthy the main storylines of each relationship shown in the episode; “Love Kernels” and episode is Paula (Donna Lynne “We Should Definitely Not Champlain, “Birdman”) and Have Sex Right Now” make it Scott (Steve Monroe, “Miss apparent that Rebecca and Josh Congeniality”), whose marriage is the most important storyline. was on the rocks for much of the Season one spent so much time first season. In their kitchen, they curating relationships and quirky talk about normal, happy, healthy characters that it’s important to couple things like the arrival of see the payoff in season two. Will their sex harness from Amazon a relationship-themed season Prime, kids and of course, Rebecca allow for that, or will it hurt the (Rachel Bloom, “Robot Chicken”) ensemble quality which makes and Josh (Vincent Rodriguez, the show so special? “Donny!”). For the first time since Specifically missing from the Paula joined Team Rebecca, she is first episode were two of those EMILY BICE
Kerrytown’s Edgefest festival to feature Michigan Jazz Ensemble and lead her own jazz quartet. ERIKA SHEVCHEK The Arizona Daily Star praised Daily Arts Writer her when as a “rare ‘triple threat’ of pianist, composerMichigan’s Jazz Ensemble arranger, and teacher ... the best will be playing at this year’s possible role model …” 20th Annual Edgefest in Not only is Rowe the director Kerrytown. With a heavy lineup of the University of Michigan of performers and Jazz Ensemble, presenters, this but she also works Edgefest year is expected as the professor to be bigger and chair of Jazz Saturday at 8:30 and better than & Contemporary p.m. in years past. Improvisation. Originating in The Michigan St. Andrews 1997, Edgefest has Jazz Ensemble Episcopal Church premiered a wide has been $15 General variety of jazz preparing for artists from all Edgefest with Admission, over the country in other professors $5 Students the decades since and composers. its inception. The members Jazz pianist of the band and composer Ellen Rowe has are required to practice been a part of Edgefest since individually, in addition to the beginning. However, her rehearsing with their section passion for jazz and her career and with the band altogether. began much earlier. The first half of their concert “In junior high and high this Friday will be a jazz piano school, jazz was more unique concerto with composer and … not a lot of other musicians, performing arts technology especially women, were Professor of Steve Rush at the pursuing it,” Rowe said. “It was piano, with additional soloists creative and allowed for a large from the ensemble. The second degree of self-expression. I just half will be a collaboration with loved the spirit and sense of award winning percussionist community.” and composer Jon Hollenbeck. Rowe went on to create “He is in town once every compositions and arrangements couple years,” Rowe said. “So
For many an awkward teen, myself almost certainly among them, music is often a way of feeling part of something, and is a way of escaping everyday life. Being a teenager is that time in your life when you’re teetering on the edge of finding out who you are and what you like. You’re figuring out what kind of clothes you like to wear, what kind of jokes you find funny and arguably one of the most important, you find out what kind of music that you enjoy. A lot of our music taste comes from those near us, especially those that we look up to, including our friends and what we see people listening to on the internet. Often there’s the singer (or band) of the moment, with prime examples being Justin Bieber and One Direction, who are known as having fanbases made of pre-teen girls. Whenever this is talked about, it is often derogatory, as if it’s bad to have this kind of fan. There’s several things that I find unsettling about this frame of mind, and it’s taken me a long time to digest and even realize that there’s something off with this way of thinking. These young girls are no less a fan of music as anyone else on this planet is. Does being young make
them less of a fan? No — as boys seem to never have this problem. Am I trying to insinuate that this is some form of sexism? Maybe, but I don’t want to detract from what I’m really trying to say. Why do we view young girls as lesser fans of artists? It can’t possibly be due to the amount of money that they spend on the artist — think of the sheer amount of One Direction paraphernalia that has been floating around from the very inception of the band. Parents are never more willing to spend money than when it involves indulging their children, and getting them lots of merchandise of their favorite band would definitely be a part of that. Is it a way of insulting the artist, by referring to how all their fans are young? Again, why is it so terrible to have a large amount of loyal fans, regardless of their age and gender? Surely, the blatant stereotyping of fans in this situation is something that is unhealthy and shouldn’t be something that’s so commonplace in the world of music. Music is often a form of escapism and allows people to express themselves and what they’re interested in. Theoretically, this should be an environment in which other people’s opinions and passions are accepted and we can learn from each other by seeing what
For the Daily
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charming supporting characters, Darryl (Pete Gardner, “Project X”) and White Josh (David Hull, “The Middle”). Their storyline was in the episode just enough to make sure viewers didn’t forget about them. However, the purpose of their presence, to cement the theme of “crazy for love,” was all they contributed to the episode. Similar to Paula and Scott, Darryl and White Josh are another established, happy couple used to represent the overall shift from loneliness to love. The only lonely person is probably the show’s most sympathetic character, Greg (Santino Fontana, “Frozen”). Greg’s discovery of his alcoholism was an unexpected twist, handled with exactly the level of humanity viewers have come to expect from “Crazy ExGirlfriend.” His underlying issues — anger, escapism, self-deprecation — from the first season finally come to fruition. If anyone in the cast is immediately set up for large personal growth, it’s Greg. In his poignant speech at Alcoholics Anonymous, he shares that he is already “less angry.” This is huge for anyone who knows Greg. It looks like “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is poised and ready for another season of finding love and happiness through the worst possible methods. Already, Rebecca has taken a normal gesture (giving someone a drawer) to unreachable heights (installing “The Entertainer” to play in said decked-out drawer). It’s exciting and a little scary to see what is in store for the characters.With Rebecca Bunch, a little goes a long way (from New York to West Covina, for example). Where, oh where, will she take viewers this season?
Arts
6A — Wednesday, October 26, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SOCIAL MEDIA COLUMN
Perils of YouTube fame The mysteries of who gets famous and why on the Internet
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everal months ago, I times, it all depends on luck, timwrote a piece for The ing and relevance. Having a social Michigan Daily about media account would also be great“the Damn Daniel dilemma,” a ly beneficial. You could make the phenomenon in which ordinary world’s funniest video, but no one social media users would see it unless become overnight you uploaded it to Internet sensations, YouTube, Vine or like the two highSnapchat and shared school aged guys it incessantly over behind the Damn Facebook, Twitter Daniel clips. After and any other intertheir video went active social netviral on Twitter, they working site. received a special Take, for example, mainstream media “Gangnam Style,” SAM treatment: a guest the unexpected 2012 spot on Ellen DeGeROSENBERG viral hit from K-pop neres’s talk show, an star PSY. It began appearance at a movie premiere to spread virally through the virand a lifetime supply of white Vans. tual stratosphere when rapper Their spontaneous fame made T-Pain linked the video to a Twitme ponder: How is it that the ter status in July 2012. Slowly but online community becomes so surely, “Gangnam Style” gained obsessed with ordinary people traction and soon, more celebrities doing strange, funny things? But like Katy Perry, Tom Cruise and digging even deeper, I ask myself: Britney Spears saw the video and why do some people go viral and encouraged others to do the same. become famous right away and As it garnered an impressive two others don’t? billion views, the video sped up to Of course, this idea of “short- the most liked video on YouTube, term” versus “long-term” fame which also earned PSY a spot in the isn’t a new concept. It traces back Guinness Book of World Records. way before social media became An online celebrity was born the catalyst for celebrity. When and, as with every Internet sensaYouTube was created in 2005, tion, PSY was immediately thrust it was just a rudimentary video- into America’s version of fame. His sharing site, gradually churning song topped the Billboard charts. out clips of Rick Astley singing and It spawned imitators, spinoffs and shrill-voiced oranges that garnered mashups. PSY even got a Pistachio thousands of views. But with the commercial out of it, for Pete’s rise of social media and expansion sake. And all of this fame, fortune of the Internet’s accessibility, You- and notoriety was because another Tube started to function as a well- famous person tweeted about his oiled business for inspired content song. creators waiting to be discovered. PSY attempted to make another It’s where people like Bo Burnham, hit with his 2013 single, “GentleRachel Bloom and Issa Rae all got man.” Though the music video their start. racked up to almost 1 billion views, Still, it’s hard not to see how it failed to reach the monumental absurd it is that some people, such viral heights of “Gangnam Style.” as the Damn Daniel duo, get acci- Thus, the name PSY became a disdentally recognized by all of social tant memory and now it seems as media. Is there some sort of natu- though the South Korean pop star ral selection algorithm for their has found himself in the virtual rapid success? Is it because they’re void of other forgotten viral clips. attractive? Young? Wealthy? Clev- Trends come and go. America er? Talented? laughed, danced, sang along and It’s possible that people who now, we’ve moved on. receive short-term fame embody But the question still lingers: all of those qualities. But some- What is it about Damn Daniel,
Classifieds
“Gangnam Style” and other popular videos that make them go viral? Bo Burnham, Issa Rae and Rachel Bloom all are immensely talented people, but somehow it took longer for them to achieve the same level of success. They were definitely well-known among the YouTube community, garnered a healthy amount of views and developed loyal fan bases, but they never got the same treatment the Damn Daniel guys received. That may have been for the better, though, considering that each of their individual journeys to stardom were ultimately worthwhile in the long run. Bloom won a Golden Globe for the CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”; Burnham created three acclaimed live stand-up specials; Rae just got her big break as star, creator and writer of the HBO comedy “Insecure.” Then again, there could be multiple reasons behind what dictates the duration and lasting effect of an online person’s fame. Perhaps it’s sensationalism created by mainstream media or our generation’s constant yearning for the spotlight. It may be as simple as how silly and strange the video is and how willing we are to share with our friends. Who’s to say who gets to be famous on the Internet and who doesn’t? Are there Virtual Powers That Be that exist? Is this the work of the Illuminati? Sometimes, short-term fame can sustain for a bit, especially given that the Damn Daniel dudes are still somewhat active — they recently partnered with LG USA to star in a cutesy, R&B-tinged commercial that nods to their infamous catchphrase. But for the most part, online fame is fleeting. Yet, it still happens all the time. The Internet is a strange and infectious place, a virtual expanse that has redefined what it means to be relevant, to exist beyond and transcend the barriers of celebrity. It’s within our nature to discover and obsess over something fun and interesting, but we also possess the power to either keep it fun and interesting or let it falter into the cracks of utter nothingness.
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RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
HELP WANTED
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Wander (about) 4 Fragrant bloom 9 Utter disorder 14 Second person in Eden 15 Kitchen sponge brand 16 Full of moxie 17 Like many a gray day 18 Peanuts 20 Sales meeting aid 22 Feel crummy 23 Coal __ 24 Most populous continent 25 Date night destination 28 One of a gallon’s 16 30 Like a successful business, presumably 32 Stand against 34 Northern California city 37 Birch family tree 38 Peanuts 41 Hardly fresh 42 Bit of photography equipment 43 Southern California team 45 Inside information 49 Copper source 50 Hits the road 53 Albany-to-Buffalo canal 54 Former Air France jet 56 Geologist’s division 57 Tops by a slight margin 58 Peanuts 62 Picnic invader 63 Ready to hit the hay 64 Invalidate 65 Maiden name preceder 66 Used up 67 Pond critters 68 Mexican Mrs. DOWN 1 Gaudy trinket
2 Opposed 3 Enlargement advantage 4 Scot’s swimming spot 5 German “I” 6 Welcoming wreath 7 Highway through the Yukon 8 Newswoman Roberts 9 “Erin Burnett OutFront” channel 10 Pick up with effort 11 Geographically based trio 12 Makes trite, in a way 13 Hoff who wrote the “Henrietta” children’s books 19 Red “Sesame Street” puppet 21 Light beer? 25 Biceps exercise 26 Not at all handy 27 “Trainwreck” director Judd 29 Pay-__-view 31 Kings, e.g. 33 Lumbered
35 “MASH” setting: Abbr. 36 Lopsided 38 Sci-fi fleet vessel 39 Leave no doubt 40 GI addresses 41 __-mo 44 What a freelancer may work on 46 Hearts, but not minds 47 Ballpark snack
48 Lipton rival 51 Lindsay of “Mean Girls” 52 Foolish 55 Anticounterfeiting agts. 57 Slim swimmers 58 Euro divs. 59 West Coast hrs. 60 Houston-toDallas dir. 61 Belly
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10/26/16
‘Jane the Virgin’ ’s third season maintains true emotion of the series Though it takes fewer risks, season three premiere stays heartfelt sending their mother to prison. Where this premiere succeeds is in its emotional evocation. The episode spends most of its time Nearly every time I tell with Jane and her family in the someone my favorite show is hospital, waiting for news about “Jane the Virgin,” I get some Michael. Watching Rodriguez’s sort of laugh, like heart break breaks I’m telling a joke. my heart, as Jane Still, after two deals with the excellent seasons, possibility that I have to explain Michael might “Jane the Virgin” why a show that die. The show Season Three starts with a occasionally Premiere virgin getting touches on grief, accidentally and every time Mondays at 9 p.m. artificially they do it’s filled The CW inseminated is with raw emotions, one of the best on as everyone deals television right with it in their own now. Everything way. The series this show does is a high-flung illustrates this strength with tightrope act. It could easily go off Michael’s mother (Molly Hagan, the rails in a second, but nothing “iZombie”). She tries to take over in the brilliant season three the decisions involving Michael’s premiere suggests that’s going to health, much to Jane’s chagrin. happen any time soon. Through Though the resolution is slightly its resolution of the cliffhangers forced, the story makes its point from last season as well as the in a creative way. perfect way it hits its emotional “Jane” usually uses flashbacks beats, the episode reminds me as a framing device, and this exactly why I love this show. episode is no exception, as the “Jane” ’s season premiere show frames the question of picks up exactly where season whether Michael lives with two left off, with Jane (Gina the story of Jane and Michael’s Rodriguez, “Deepwater past. We’ve already seen the Horizon”) finding her new initial meeting where Michael, a husband Michael Cordero (Brett cop, gets called to at Jane’s 21st Dier, “Ravenswood”) shot in the birthday party, where the two hallway outside their hotel room. share a kiss. But, after that night, As doctors at the nearby hospital Jane goes on a date with her longtry to save Michael, the series time crush at the time. Although, flashes back to the beginning of as the episode told us, we knew Jane and Michael’s relationship. how the story would end, it was Last season also left us with Petra still compelling to see a piece (Yael Grobglas, “Reign”) being of their relationship we haven’t “Petra-fied” by her sister Anezka seen. (also played by Grobglas), who At its heart, “Jane” is an takes over Petra’s life in an effort expertly crafted parody of to exert revenge against her for the telenovela while being a ALEX INTNER Daily Arts Writer
A
WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.COM 734‑332‑6000
perfectly executed telenovela in and of itself, and the premiere continues that trend. Petra’s story involves an evil twin and a failed attempt at romancing the good twin’s love interest, Rafael (Justin Baldoni, “Everwood”). These developments are two very common telenovela tropes, but they’re so wonderfully executed. Though Petra may be in a hospital bed with no ability to move, I’m excited to see where they take this story in future episodes. There’s also the love story between Rose (Bridget Regan, “White Collar”) and Louisa (Yara Martinez, “Alpha House”), which took another twist in last year’s finale with Rose emerging from the dead and taking Louisa away with her. The big final twist of the premiere is Louisa waking up to find out she’s underwater. It’s the kind of “WTF” twist the show has pulled off so many times before, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they justify it. All this is colored with elements of “Jane” which are familiar, but so strong. Anthony Mendez’s (“The Unexplained Files”) work as the “Latin Lover Narrator” remains stellar, as he guides us through the journey into Jane’s past and Petra’s tough situation. There’s also the clever onscreen text that helps insightfully push the story forward. The season three premiere of “Jane the Virgin” wasn’t radically different from any episodes that came before it, but that doesn’t matter. It had the pure love and emotion that has defined it for its entire run, as well as the telenovela-esque twists and turns that I’ve come to expect from it. I love this show, and this episode was another reminder of why.
BOOK REVIEW
Valenti adds to the feminist canon In ‘Sex Object,’ the author navigates contemporary womanhood SOPHIA KAUFMAN
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THE CW
It’s not a CW show until someone’s husband gets shot.
it was like to go from feeling ugly as a young girl to being sexualized “Yet despite all these things we as she developed breasts early. know to be true — despite the pre- She devotes a large portion of her ponderance of evidence showing writing to detailing how sexual the mental and emotional distress objectification and harassment people demonstrate on the streets in violent and harasstakes a toll. Over “Sex Object: A ing environments time, she writes, Memoir” — we still have no women develop name for what hapa strategic abilJessica Valenti pens to women living ity to gauge what William Morrow in a culture that hates kind of reacthem.” tion they can get Publishers This is the driving away with — if issue of Jessica Vala middle finger, enti’s first memoir: disgusted eye roll “Sex Object; a Memoir.” One of the or a “fuck off!” will be enough to newest books to join the feminist send the guy who yelled disgustshelf, this memoir sets itself apart ing comments at her after them. from books like Rebecca Solnit’s Valenti, who founded the award “Men Explain Things to Me” or winning website Feministing. Andi Zeisler’s “We Were Femi- com in 2004, does a phenomenal nists Once: From Riot Grrl to Cov- job of describing the pressure to erGirl®, the Buying and Selling of be a “cool” feminist, who uses a Political Movement” in that Val- barbed and witty banter to hold a enti doesn’t bother with statistical mirror up to society, rather than evidence beyond the absolutely the “angry feminist” stereotype rudimentary. She is not interested — because she notes, anger gives in proving that feminism is still enemies ammunition to dismiss needed or that we live in a society her as hysterical or emotional. that hates women. She has lived She argues these successful mainin it enough to know that both of stream feminist literature or those are unequivocally true. comedy routines, often utilize a “Sex Object” is divided into silver lining to garner support or three parts, as Valenti writes about approval, because no one wants to childhood and adolescence, young hear about a problem that isn’t getadulthood and finally marriage ting better as quickly as some peoand pregnancy. She details what ple say it is. As well, she describes Daily Arts Writer
the toll that being the cool girl has taken on her over the course of her life, and how she can’t do it anymore. It’s too exhausting to try and make frustration and anger palatable to the masses. Those emotions are palpable in her acerbic writing; she doesn’t coat her words. “Sex Object” isn’t written for people who still demand proof of the wage gap or argue that women don’t go into STEM fields because they simply don’t want to. If that’s something you or a friend may need, I’d suggest reading her other book first: “Full Frontal Feminism; A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters.” This memoir isn’t groundbreaking or shocking, though the stories of her encounters on the New York City subway might be to some. But if you think her work is in any way unnecessary, flip to the back of “Sex Object,” in which she has pages of comments on her blogs or emails sent to her about her books that she has been receiving every day for a decade. They are full of rants that range from condescending, to disparaging, to cruel, to threatening. Many of them tear down her physical appearance or her intellect, and a few of them are misguided and misspelled rages against feminism in general. There’s nothing Valenti could have used to prove her point more effectively.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com T E A M
S T A T S MICH 48.7 23.9 257.1 5.5 28 225.9 63.9% 7.8 14 2 75.9 483.0 48.5% 63.6% 3.6 17.8 18.6 42.3 6-11 8/3 40.7 34:18
Points/Game First Downs/Game Rush Yards/Game Yards/Rush Rushing TDs Passing Yards/Game Completion % Yards/Pass Passing TDs Interceptions Offensive Plays/Game Total Offense 3rd-down Conversions 4th-down Conversions Sacks/Game Kick return average Punt return average Punting average Field Goals-Attempts Fumbles/Lost Penalty Yards/Game Time of Poss
I N D I V I D U A L
OPP 10.0 10.6 96.0 2.9 2 111.0 40.9% 4.7 6 7 56.4 207.0 13.0% 38.5% 1.6 20.6 10.0 37.9 2-5 11/5 44.4 25:42
S TAT S
PASSING Player Speight O’Korn Morris TOTALS
Cmp Att Yds 114 182 1447 11 15 89 4 5 45 129 202 1581
TD 13 1 0 14
INT 2 0 0 2
Att Yds 49 416 79 412 43 359 63 332 10 107 10 85 8 49 4 29 15 25 3 19 2 17 3 15 6 12 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 -1 1 -2 1 -11 9 -13 15 -47 270 1530
Avg 8.5 5.2 8.3 5.3 10.7 8.5 6.1 7.3 1.7 6.3 8.5 5.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 -0.5 -2.0 -11.0 -1.4 -3.1 5.7
Lg 57 42 45 34 63 19 17 13 4 14 10 11 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 63
TD 3 2 6 4 2 0 1 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25
No. 30 26 18 6 9 4 5 4 2 2 1 10 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 129
Yds 499 310 275 114 73 53 33 28 27 24 23 21 21 18 15 12 10 7 6 5 4 3 1581
Avg 16.6 11.9 15.3 19.0 8.1 13.3 6.6 7.0 13.5 12.0 23.0 2.1 21.0 18.0 15.0 12.0 5.0 7.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 12.3
Lg 46 25 35 54 15 33 15 14 21 22 23 9 21 18 15 12 5 7 4 5 4 3 54
TD 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14
No. 14 1 1 0 16
Yds Avg. Long 249 17.8 54 27 27.0 0 15 15.0 15 6 -6 297 18.6 54
RUSHING Player Evans Smith, D. Higdon Isaac Peppers McDoom Chesson Henderson Hill Morris Davis Crawford O’Korn Hirsch Wilson Beneducci Hewlett Gedeon Allen TEAM Speight TOTALS RECEIVING Player Darboh Butt Chesson Perry Hill McDoom Poggi Evans Wheatley Ways Henderson Smith, D. Isaac Crawford Hirsch Jocz McKeon Harris Bunting Peppers Johnson, N. Asiasi TOTALS
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 — 7A
Horse blinders key for Speight, Michigan JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Before he became such a potent weapon as the Michigan football team’s starting quarterback, Wilton Speight received a message from assistant strength and conditioning coach Mark Naylor. The only content was a photo of a racehorse wearing blinders. There was no text. There was no further explanation. But Speight heard the message all the same. Speight went to the same high school, Collegiate in Richmond, Va., as two current NFL players, Russell Wilson and Jake McGee. Wilson is a Super Bowlwinning quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, and McGee is a converted quarterback and rookie tight end for the San Diego Chargers. Speight followed both of them as Collegiate’s starting signal-caller. That’s when he developed his own set of horse blinders. He constantly faced comparisons to both players. Opposing fans chanted that he wasn’t as good as either. News coverage made the same statements. Speight learned not to listen to any of it. “And then here as a redshirt, I’ve kind of been written off as being the guy by everyone,” he said. “I’m just kind of natural at it now.” Seven weeks into his career as Michigan’s starting quarterback, Speight seems to have mastered the focus on himself. Two weeks ago, he spent his bye week watching film of each of the 159 passes he had thrown in the first half of the season. After video coordinator Phil Bromley and his team compiled all of the clips, Speight first watched the tape one time
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight learned at an early age to keep his focus on the path ahead of him.
through, observing only himself. Then, he went through again and broadened his attention to the play. He took notes on how each throw developed. With that newfound perspective in mind, Speight shifted his mindset to the second half of the season and delivered — in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s mind — his best performance of the season. His completion percentage of 69.6 was his best since the season opener against Hawaii. He netted 15.8 yards per completion. And for the fifth time in seven games, he did not throw an interception. Speight agreed with Harbaugh’s assessment and said that, except for a couple of instances here and there, he threw the ball to the right spot. For the most part, he improved
what he set out to improve after his comprehensive film study. “I thought there was a few times earlier in the year when I was aiming the ball, and that’s a quarterback’s worst nightmare, is when you’re sitting back there with guys collapsing around you and you’re worried about aiming where the ball goes,” Speight said. “Whether it’s a five-yard pass, 10-yard pass or a deep ball, you just gotta let it rip.” Now, Speight looks ahead once more to this weekend’s game at Michigan State. He knows how important it is, and he knows it will be a tough one despite the Spartans’ current five-game losing streak. If Speight can continue his improvement in the second half of the year, he will be Harbaugh’s second straight quarterback to
do so, after last year’s starter Jake Rudock made major strides down the stretch. Speight’s numbers have been better as well, and his teammates notice the same trajectory. “He’s really trying to solidify his leadership position on the team, and guys are really just looking up to him to make plays,” said fifth-year senior wide receiver Jehu Chesson. Speight issued the same refrain as his head coach and teammates about treating this week’s game as a championship game like any other. That goes back to his horse blinders. A couple of times this season, Harbaugh — perhaps as a sign of Speight’s evolution as a leader — has called the quarterback in front of the team to lead an edition of “Wise Words,” the
session at the end of practice in which one player gives some advice to the team. Once, Speight used horses’ blinders as a lesson. “That’s for a reason — they don’t worry about what’s going on in the outside world,” Speight said. “What the media’s saying — no offense to you guys — what the media’s saying, what other coaches or other players are saying on Twitter. They just worry about their own lane. That was kind of my message to the team.” Maybe that’s why, when Speight was asked Tuesday about the coming trip to East Lansing, his answer meant a little more. “It’s the biggest game and the biggest start of my life,” he said. “Because it’s the next one.”
PUNT RETURNS Player Peppers Jocz Evans Perry TOTALS
TD 1 0 0 1 2
INTERCEPTION RETURNS Player Stribling Hill, D. McCray Thomas Lewis TOTALS
No. 3 1 1 1 1 6
Yds Avg. Long 60 20.0 51 27 27.0 27 22 22.0 22 4 4.0 4 0 0.0 0 109 18.2 51
TD 1 1 0 0 0 2
Yds 9 9
Avg. Long 9.0 9 9.0 9
TD 0 0
Yds 153 28 21 6 5 213
Avg. Long 30.6 55 14.0 15 10.5 18 6.0 6 2.5 5 17.8 55
TD 0 0 0 0 0 0
FUMBLE RETURNS Player Hill, L. TOTALS
No. 1 1
KICKOFF RETURNS Player Peppers Henderson Lewis Hudson Hill, K. TOTALS
No. 5 2 2 1 2 12
KICKOFFS Player Allen Foug Tice TOTALS
No. 47 8 3 58
Yds 3007 460 189 3656
Avg. 64.0 57.5 63.0 63.0
TB 25 2 0 27
No. 24 24
Yds 1016 1016
Avg. 42.3 42.3
Lg 56 56
PUNTING Player Allen TOTALS FIELD GOALS Player Allen Tice
FG Pct. 6-10 50.0% 0-1 0.0%
1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Lg 0-0 3-3 3-5 0-2 0-0 39 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0
LEADING TACKLERS Player Gedeon Peppers McCray Thomas Winovich Glasgow, R. Wormley Gary Hill, D. Hurst Godin Charlton Stribling Kinnel Lewis Clark Hudson Watson Bush Metellus Glasgow, J. Pearson TOTALS
Solo 21 27 14 18 6 3 9 7 10 9 7 4 4 6 7 6 3 4 2 6 4 2 196
Ast 35 13 21 15 18 20 13 14 9 10 12 11 6 4 3 4 5 4 5 1 2 4 250
Tot 56 40 35 33 24 23 22 21 19 19 19 15 10 10 10 10 8 8 7 7 6 6 446
TFL 9.0 10.0 5.5 5.5 3.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 6.5 2.0 4.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 64
SK PBU 3.0 2 2.5 2.5 4 4 2.0 1.0 1 4.0 1.0 2 3.0 1.0 4.0 7 3 3 1 1.0 25 27
2016 SCHEDULE
Past beatings from Spartans not forgotten Magnuson on recent losses to Michigan State: ‘You get kind of sick of getting beat up, you know?’ JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
Thinking about his last two visits to East Lansing, Erik Magnuson can only smirk and shake his head. Matt Godin’s voice is filled with frustration when he talks about it. The last two times the Michigan football team played at Michigan State, in 2013 and 2014, the Spartans outscored the Wolverines a combined 64-17. Magnuson was part of an offensive line that allowed Michigan State to sack thenquarterback Devin Gardner nine times in two years and hold Michigan to negative-48 yards rushing in 2013. Godin was on the defensive line at the end of the 2014 contest, when he felt “disrespected” by the Spartans allegedly trying to run up the score. Neither of those players nor the rest of the Wolverines’ current upperclassmen have any interest in pointing fingers, however — they put the blame squarely on their own shoulders. “I remember being embarrassed,” Magnuson said. “Last time we played there was, overall, just embarrassing. We couldn’t run the ball, we had trouble pass protecting. We think that is embarrassing, and the time before that was even more embarrassing. Those memories definitely stick in my head.” Two years later, the two teams appear to be moving in opposite directions as they approach their matchup this weekend. Michigan is 7-0, ranked second in the country and aiming for a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Spartans are on a
9/3
9/10
9/17
9/24
HAWAII (4-4)
UCF (4-3)
COLORADO (6-2)
PENN ST. (5-2)
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Fifth-year senior right tackle Erik Magnuson (#78) has painful memories playing in East Lansing from 2013 and 2014 that he is hoping to avenge.
five-game losing streak and in jeopardy of even reaching a bowl game. But, having been on the losing end in seven of their last eight meetings, the Wolverines refuse to write off their in-state rival. “They’re a good team,” Godin said. “Their record doesn’t show how good a team they are. We know they’re gonna come out swinging, come out playing hard.” Some of the youngest members of the team don’t even know what it’s like to experience failure. Players like freshman offensive lineman Ben Bredeson weren’t even on the sideline last year, when Michigan appeared to have Michigan State beaten
10/1
10/8
WISCONSIN (5-2) at RUTGERS (2-6)
before the last 10 seconds changed everything. The seniors haven’t forgotten anything, though. Tuesday, Magnuson said he and fellow fifth-year senior offensive lineman Kyle Kalis watched all three games they had played against the Spartans. As they watched numerous plays where they “just didn’t do (their) job,” two of the most outspoken personalities on the Wolverines’ roster were reduced to silence. This week, the seniors on the O-line took it upon themselves to make sure their younger teammates knew how much another loss like that could sting. “Some of the younger guys
10/22 ILLINOIS (2-5)
W, 63-3 (1-0) W, 51-14 (2-0) W, 45-28 (3-0) W, 49-10 (4-0) W, 14-7 (5-0) W, 78-0 (6-0) W, 41-8 (7-0)
10/29
kind of take this season for granted,” Magnuson said. “They came in here and we’ve been winning ever since and everything like that. So they kind of haven’t been through the downs, and the bad times kind of make you a little bit tougher. … We try to remind them that just ’cause we’re 7-0 doesn’t mean that they’re gonna lay down and give it to us.” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has said all year that his team is approaching every game like a championship game, and most of his players say that this week has been no different. Still, many of the Wolverines who have been around for
11/5
at MICH. ST. (2-5) MARYLAND (5-2) Noon, East Lansing, Mich.
3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium
several years feel they’re in a better mindset heading into the rivalry game this year. Godin said the Wolverines are ready to go. Thanks to the championship-game mentality, Magnuson thinks this is the most mature and mentally prepared team he’s ever been a part of. The on-field preparation may be the same, but the problems of the past are fueling the fire. “You get kind of sick of getting beat up, you know?” Magnuson said. “Like the kid on the playground who gets beat up all the time — eventually you’re gonna get sick of it, and you’ve gotta get personal sometimes and stand up for yourself.”
11/12
11/19
11/26
at IOWA (5-3)
INDIANA (3-4)
at OHIO ST. (6-1)
8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa
Michigan Stadium
Noon, Columbus, Ohio
Sports
8A — Wednesday, October 26, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Barrage leads Wolverines past Oakland Michigan gets glimpse MEN’S SOCCER
of the future in victory
MARK CALCAGNO For the Daily
In the final non-conference match of the season, Michigan’s offensive attack showed no mercy. Following three consecutive scoreless outings, the Wolverines’ men’s soccer team (3-9-4) converted 1 OAKLAND 5 MICHIGAN five times — its most since 2013 — against Oakland en route to a 5-1 victory Tuesday night at U-M soccer stadium. The Wolverines’ goal bombardment was led by sophomore Francis Atuahene, who finished with two scores, including the game-winner: a conversion off of a deflected Marcello Borges shot that Atuahene keenly poked into the back of the net during the 47th minute. The second goal was a beauty, as the forward’s luminous yellow cleats launched a perfect blast from 20 yards that tucked just inside of the right post. “When you’re a goal scorer, confidence is king,” said head coach Chaka Daley. “(Francis) scored one that was a little bit of a scrum, but the second was top-shelf.” Atuahene added the 10th and 11th goals of his sophomore campaign with the effort against Oakland — good for the team’s best in that category. Senior forward Yamann Sahlool added two tallies of his own, the first of which came off of a penalty shot following a foul inside the box by an Oakland defender and the second via a header off of a set-piece from midfielder Tyler Anderson. “We still want him to be a little bit more dangerous and in the box, and you noticed the two goals tonight were in the box,” Daley said. “And around the goal, he’s probably our best finisher.” Michigan scored the game’s first goal thanks to a cross that evaded the Oakland defense
MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
The Michigan men’s soccer team cruised to a 5-1 victory over Oakland on Tuesday at U-M Soccer Stadium.
and found its way to the foot of sophomore Robbie Mertz, who sent a ball passed the reach of Grizzlies’ goaltender Zach Walker for the Mertz’s third of the season. However, Oakland’s pressure eventually broke down the Wolverine defense, as a tilted shot total midway through the first half led to a score from Popovic Nebojsa in the 26th minute, knotting the game at one, the score with which the teams would enter the halftime locker room. The flow of the game changed when a tongue-lashing by the Michigan coaches charged the
team, according to Atuahene: “We had a lot of chances that we should’ve taken (in the first half ). I get fired up when the coaches talk to us, scream at us — it pushes me up and gets the best out of me.” This motivation allowed the Wolverines to score a total of four goals in the second half, turning a competitive match into a decisive victory. “In the second half, we didn’t keep the ball very well, but we were dangerous,” Daley said. “I rather have the second one, when we’re starving for goals and results. I think we showed Oakland a great deal of respect
“When you’re a goal scorer, confidence is king.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Five Things We Learned: Practice BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer
Fans got their first glimpse of the 2016-17 Michigan basketball squad Tuesday at the team’s annual open practice and “selfie” night. Michigan coach John Beilein led several drills with his 16-man squad before holding a 20-minute 5-on-5 scrimmage. With the Wolverines’ exhibition against Armstrong State just over a week away, The Daily looks at five things we learned from Michigan’s open practice. 1. Everyone’s healthy The Wolverines may be the healthiest they’ve been in recent years heading into a season. Injuries have hampered the Wolverines’ preseason progress in previous years, including last year when senior guard Zak Irvin and now-Purdue guard Spike Albrecht were both still recovering from off
season surgeries. Beilein coached all 16 of his players all night, with no one apparently limited by injuries. Maintaining that level of health will be essential as Michigan faces a difficult non-conference schedule. 2. Wagner a deep threat? Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner’s decision to spend his summer in Ann Arbor developing his game looks like it will pay big dividends for the Wolverines. Wagner showed off to the Crisler faithful his much-improved perimeter shot from the start of practice. In Michigan’s first drill, a 3-on-2 fast break simulation, Wagner made himself open in the corner, and drained his first two 3-point attempts. Wagner carried his shooting confidence into the scrimmage, where he made a couple outside shots as well. Expect Wagner to quickly surpass the mere 12 3-point
attempts he took last year and force defenders into tough situations if he can carry his accuracy into the regular season. 3. Freshmen adapting Freshman guard Xavier Simpson is expected to log big minutes for Michigan from the start, and he showed he has all the ability to live up to those expectations. Simpson wasn’t afraid to take on his taller, bulkier teammates at the practice, putting together a couple of strong drives to the hoop in the 20-minute scrimmage. Also impressive was freshman guard Ibi Watson. Like Simpson, Watson showed his aggression to get to the hoop and put together a couple fine plays doing so. Watson won’t feature in Beilein’s plans as prominently as Simspon, but from what he showed on Tuesday, he could offer the Wolverines more depth coming off the bench. 4. Robinson vs. Flaherty Beilein kept labeling senior guard Duncan Robinson as “the best shooter in America” throughout Tuesday’s practice. But he wasn’t even the best in Crisler Center that evening. Robinson faced off with junior guard Katelynn Flaherty from the women’s team in a 3-point contest at the end of practice. Flaherty put massive pressure on her male counterpart after going first and putting on a nearly flawless performance, draining 21-of-25 shots. After a couple early misses from the right elbow, Robinson came back and sank nine consecutive 3’s to give him the chance to tie Flaherty on the final shot. With his teammates ready to mob him, Robinson released his last shot from the left corner, only to watch it bounce off the rim. 5. BOLD PREDICTION: Wagner and Mark Donnal will start a game together Wagner seems to have grown more than any other player over the summer, and the addition of a perimeter game will make him a much more versatile player. If Wagner can find consistency in his 3-point shot, he could challenge Irvin as an option at the ‘4.’
tonight. Certainly, the goals fell for us — we didn’t hit post, we didn’t miss our easy chances — we took our chances really well and scored two or three spectacular goals.” Despite the success of Tuesday’s result and an upcoming game against Maryland this weekend, Michigan is locked into the eighth seed in the Big Ten Tournament and matchup against Rutgers for the right to play the top-ranked Terrapins the next day. But Daley remains optimistic in his team. “We still believe in our group — very, very much.” Daley said. “We know it’s an uphill battle, but we still believe — based on the results and competitive nature of the guys, and the quality of their characters. We’re still going to be competitive until the end. It’s certainly not over.”
The result of the game hardly mattered. The Michigan men’s soccer team (3-9-4) had already sealed its spot in the play-in game for the Big Ten Tournament. No performance against nonconference foe Oakland would change the heart-breaking results that have defined this season. But Michigan coach Chaka Daley believes the Wolverines’ 5-1 victory over the Grizzlies will serve as a building block. Possibly a building block for a potential cinderella run in the Big Ten Tournament, or maybe the first brick in a late-season offensive renaissance. Or perhaps it could serve at the start of a foundation for the future. Between sophomore midfielder Robbie Mertz, sophomore forward Francis Atuahene, freshman forward Jack Hallahan and others, Michigan has largely been reliant on underclassmen to carry the offensive burden. All three have logged over 1,000 minutes on the season. And while that has led to growing pains throughout the fall — the Wolverines came into the match with just 11 goals in 15 games — they may just be starting to reap the benefits of that young talent. “We believe very much in Francis, Jack and Robbie,” Daley said. “Those guys are good, young players that are the future of Michigan soccer.” Mertz looked dangerous all night, calmly weaving through defenders with crisp ball control, making pinpoint passes out wide and offering several chances on net. In the 20th minute, he found himself on the end of a cross into the box and deposited the ball through the keeper’s legs to open
the scoring. “I think we finally found a good spot for Robbie — in there centrally as a number 10 — and he does a great job for us connecting the game.” Added Mertz, on his new role: “I played that all growing up, so I was hoping last year, and coming into this year, that would be something that I would get into in the future. They are starting to get more comfortable with me there, and I certainly like to play there. I have a lot of fun playing that position.” Fellow underclassman Atuahene broke the 1-1 tie early in the second half, slotting home the goal after a shot deflected off the keeper. It was the combination of Mertz and Atuahene that led to the highlight of the night, as Mertz found Atuahene on the edge of the box. From there, Atuahene did the rest, whipping his leg through the ball and bending the strike over the keeper’s outstretched arms, and adding an exclamation point to the long-awaited offensive outbreak. “When you’re a goal-scorer, confidence is king,” Daley said. “(Francis) scored one, which was a little bit of a scrum, but the second goal is top-shelf. If we can get some confidence and get him going, get Jack going, get Robbie going, I don’t care who we play, to be honest.” It’s that finishing talent that has been sorely lacking from the squad throughout the season. But the goal offered a glimpse into the team’s potential in the coming weeks and years. Young attacking talent abounds. As the clocked ticked down Tuesday, the players joined together on the field, smiling ear to ear and exchanging handshakes and hugs. Try telling them the result didn’t matter.
‘M’ thriving in crunch time AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer
Two weeks ago, it was Sam Piazza with four minutes left. Friday night, it was Will Lockwood with a minute to go. Saturday night, it was Cutler Martin taking advantage on the power play. Those players stepped up when a battered and struggling Michigan hockey team needed their assistance. As the 11th-ranked Wolverines head to the East Coast this weekend, they are hoping to avoid having the need for another lucky goal. “(These goals are) luck,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “We’re not finishing games the way we need to finish. “Getting a good start has been part of our history at Michigan. We’ve had the lead going into most of third periods (this season), maybe just about every one.” In their first game of the season, the Wolverines blew a 3-2 lead late in the third period and allowed Union to walk away with a come-from-behind victory, setting the tone for a recent stretch in which many games have been decided by one goal. Junior forward Dexter Dancs notices the intensity shift in the arena atmosphere from the first to the third period. For him and his fellow Wolverines, though, they strive for the same approach throughout all three periods. Dancs will only occasionally look up at the scoreboard during games, but when he does, he seems to ignore it. He has a game to win, a backcheck to induce and a puck to control. “You’re just playing and then they’re times when you’re in a tight game and it’s 15 minutes left in the game, and then you look up, and there’s three minutes left in the game and it’s still tight,” Dancs said. “If it comes down to crunch time with five minutes left in the game … then yeah, it starts to get intense and really fun.” For freshman goaltender Hayden Lavigne, who allowed a game-tying goal Friday night
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
The Michigan hockey team has found a way to emerge from close games.
before Lockwood bailed him out with a minute left, these late-thirdperiod scores alter his approach. Rather than thinking of the final outcome for these few minutes, Lavigne assesses the opponent’s opportunities shot by shot. And in a season in which the Wolverines have struggled to clear the puck out of their own zone, Lavigne has faced his share of chances. To prepare himself for these intense moments, Lavigne has developed techniques to relax himself in heightened moments when a single mishap could lead to a loss. “You have to shake it off right away, because then the last three minutes of the game become that more important,” Lavigne said. “Instead of it being a tying goal, it becomes a losing goal. My key thing is just breathing deep. (It) calms down my whole body and my mind at the same time.” Lavigne takes advantage of late-game stoppages to speak to his blueliners. They speak about strategy in their own zone and share tips on how to combat the opposition’s top scorers. These
conversations are pivotal, because the Wolverines have had to adapt a more defensive-minded approach after the departure of nearly twothirds of its goals to graduation or the NHL. Even Berenson acknowledged his team lacks depth in certain areas this season. While the goaltending has kept Michigan close late in games, Berenson believes the Wolverines must improve their shots against. “We’ve been outshot in every game, particularly in the third period when we’ve had the lead,” Berenson said. “And the third period was one of our best periods last year.” This weekend, Michigan plays Vermont, the seventh-ranked scoring team that averages four goals per game. Its most prolific period: the third, in which it has netted eight goals. Should the Catamounts score a goal in the third period, Dancs might even enjoy the intense atmosphere, and Lavigne might resort to his breathing exercises. Maybe, the Wolverines will need a late goal. They’ve shown they can get one.
2B
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 / The Statement
t h e s t at e m e n t Magazine Editor: Karl Williams
Editor in Chief: Shoham Geva
Deputy Editors: Nabeel Chollampat Lara Moehlman
Managing Editor: Laura Schinagle
Design Editor: Shane Achenbach Photo Editor: Zoey Holmstrom
Copy Editors: Emily Campbell Alexis Nowicki Taylor Grandinetti
Creative Director: Emilie Farrugia
l e t te r f ro m t h e e d ito r s There’s something scary about the pronoun “I.” When we’re first taught to write essays, we’re told to avoid this word like the plague. “I” is by turns informal and inappropriate, both unworthy of the form and too intimate in its implications. But what’s so wrong about the intimate? Is it so dangerous to reveal oneself to the reader? Why the hesitancy? Within these pages, you’ll find seven personal essays from staffers throughout The Michigan Daily. These range from the comical to the revealing to the genuinely optimistic — but they are all honest. In these stories, you’ll find genuine pain, happiness and insecurity. Our writers will take you on their summer travels and to the memory of an impromptu comedy-show gone awry. But wherever these writers take you, they’ll all bring you back to what they’re really trying to understand: themselves. Magazine Editor, Karl Williams Deputy Editor, Lara Moehlman Design Editor, Shane Achenbach Creative Director, Emilie Farrugia Photo Editor, Zoey Holmstrom Deputy Editor, Nabeel Chollampat
Lessons From the Morgue B Y M AYA S H A N K A R , D A I LY S TA F F R E P O R T E R
“
You can come closer,” the pathologist said, gesturing with his head to the dead body lying on the table in front of me while he gripped the bone-saw tightly. I was in an autopsy, one of the many procedures I signed up to shadow in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the medical field. I’ve always been determined to be a doctor, an aspiration that stems from my desire to make a difference. In my 10th grade American Literature class we read a poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” in which T.S. Eliot writes of a protagonist who wonders if he should dare to “disturb the universe.” I love this phrase; I think it’s such a beautiful way to say “change the world.” For a long time, I thought that to disturb the universe — to transform the world — we would have to somehow initiate a great change: eradicate a disease or create the next sustainable source of energy. I believed that it was only after I became a doctor that I would have my opportunity to disturb the universe. We, as pre-med students, are told to shadow many different health care professionals. This makes sense: It exposes us to the industry and allows us to make educated decisions about the careers we plan to pursue. So, the Spring break of my sophomore year of college was spent shadowing as many doctors as I could. That was how I found myself in the morgue of a hospital at 7 a.m. on a cold March morning, being told to step closer to the body. Autopsies are incredibly methodical procedures. The pathologist starts by examining the patient, cataloguing tattoos and scars, before extracting samples of bodily fluid to be tested in the lab. The first part of the body to be opened — at least in the autopsies I shadowed — is the chest. The doctor observes the chest cavity, noting down the position and state of the organs inside, before taking out the heart and a lung. He measures and weighs the organs before slicing a piece from each and placing the rest back into the body. A pathologist never takes a whole organ from the patient if they can help it because many people believe that they need all their organs to transition to the afterlife. After the chest, he moves on to the pelvic area and then the head, carefully measuring, categorizing, cutting and replacing all the organs as he moves through the body. As I stood there, watching this doctor cut into someone else’s
body, I was reminded of how easy it is to die. At 20 years old, I sometimes forget that we, as human beings, are not invincible. We’re college students; staying up until 5 a.m. studying, and then waking up in time for our 8 a.m. lectures. We survive on meals of mac and cheese and frozen waffles. We walk for 20 minutes in blizzard conditions to get to that one class that we can’t miss, lest we lose out on those precious attendance points. We spend nights in beds that aren’t ours and indulge in drinks we probably shouldn’t drink. We do things that might not be good for us but we survive it all. We even thrive. It’s easy to take that for granted sometimes, that feeling that no matter what we do we’ll be OK. It was jarring to see proof of the fragility of life laying right in front of me. That morning, witnessing an autopsy, I was struck by both the vulnerability and strength of human beings. I was able to hold a human heart that had been beating just a few hours earlier. The brain that created the personality and held the memories of a real person was resting in my hands. It was humbling to be able to touch the parts of a person that made them who they were, and it was inspiring to see the strength and respect with which the doctor performed the procedure. He was an artist, cutting and sewing in exact lines. He was a detective, studying the clues within his patients. He was a reader, learning the stories their bodies told even after they were gone. In the basement of that hospital, standing in a cold, windowless room where the dead far outnumbered the living, I discovered what it really meant to disturb the universe. Changing the world doesn’t require a grand gesture. The patients who were lying in front of me had changed the world. Their hearts had once beat, their minds had once thought and, even after they were gone, their bodies were communicating their stories to us. They had lived, and, in doing so, regardless of how small of an effect it may have been, they had made their mark; they changed their world simply by existing in it. So sitting here, in this warm library with lots of windows surrounded by other students who are breathing and thinking and feeling, I am reminded of the lesson I learned in the morgue — that we are alive and we are disturbing the universe.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 / The Statement
3B
The Importance of Being B Y R E G A N D E T W I L E R , E D I TO R I A L PAG E E D I TO R
W
hen I came back to Ann Arbor after a spring term spent in lakeside cabins, I began to feel awkward in normal conversations. Something that had felt regular before now seemed peculiar to me: that people were always asking me what I was doing, whether I had a job, whether I was taking summer classes, what I’m studying and whatever else. I had had these kinds of conversations countless times before and never thought anything of it — it was just normal. We ask each other these questions for legitimate reasons: Details like what you’re studying, where you work and what brings you to this school are important and can be revelatory in and of themselves about certain attributes of a person. We’re at a big school; there are a lot of people here and as a result there’s a wide range of possibilities as to what someone could be doing here. These conversations about what we’re doing here at the University of Michigan are inherently careeroriented because that’s what most of us are here to do — to build skills that will help us make money in some way or another. This means our conversations are really about commodities and what kinds of commodities we’ll be offering to the world economy when all is said and done. Pretty dehumanizing, when you think of it that way. On one hand it’s natural: What we spend our time doing greatly influences what we talk about. But sometimes we lose sight of how to just be with each other, not talking about school, about jobs, about what seven
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA
different organizations we’re involved in. What may seem obvious, but didn’t become clear to me until this summer, is that in these conversations people won’t tell you what they’re about — their sense of humor, their temperament, what makes them tick. During the spring semester I spent in the woods, the conversations I was having with people did bring these things out — what I didn’t understand was why. That spring I was lucky enough to participate in the New England Literature Program, which brings 40 University undergraduates and 13 instructors to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, to stay in cabins, hike and live like transcendentalists — kind of. The program allowed me to make some of the best friendships of my life, taking courses on literature from the region and doing lots and lots of writing. Just 53 strangers, six weeks and all that writing done in a journal that becomes the culmination of your personal and academic experience, both of which will become inextricably, inexplicably intertwined. We had no phones, no computers, no recorded music, no Internet. The screens weren’t digital, they only framed images between window panes — tall trees against waves of the water; when you tapped them only a little dust and dirt shook into the air. It takes a certain kind of person to want to do that kind of thing — a certain kind of student who’s had a certain kind of experience at the University. Everyone who went to NELP was looking for something new, and some were looking to escape, for that’s what NELP inherently is. The program is heavily influenced by
transcendentalist ideals, partly because of the setting and partly because we read lots of Emerson and Thoreau, who escaped an industrializing Boston when he wandered into the woods some 200 years ago. There’s a lot to say about Thoreau: He was a fake; he was an artist; he was a privileged white dude who wandered into the woods while slaves and ex-slaves were trying to gain basic human rights. While all these perspectives are crucial, I also like to think of Thoreau as a rebel. He rejected the mechanization of life and the conventional practices of that region’s Christianity, talking about the glory of God in the trees and the wind and the water. A huge part of NELP was being weird, doing something because you want to, because you believe it’s what’s right or is somehow justified. We made paintings, sang sentences, wrote poetry, and had class sitting on logs because it was the only thing we could do. This — the no screens, the no social media, the lack of a University setting and no oppressive classroom desk arrangements that alienate us from one another — all meant our interactions were stripped down, devoid of so much superficiality that was so ubiquitous in my life in Ann Arbor. At NELP, we didn’t talk about all the clubs we’re in because that wasn’t relevant. We were all doing the same thing there, which allowed us to skip the surface and just be human with one other. We defecated in the woods and next to each other in stalls; we swam in our underwear and read Frederick Douglass, thought about who we were together and carved out parts of our identities. Back in Ann Arbor after that dream of a time, I felt uncomfortable in these talks about what we were all doing here because those weeks in the woods gave me the choice to just be. It’s easy to understand that how we spend our time influences what conversations we have, but we need to see past the surface stuff, not forgetting how to just enjoy each other’s company. Focus on the song that’s playing that you like, on the weird hat that guy across the room is wearing. Simply being together takes courage here at this school where grades are important and everyone has several online profiles, an image or agenda that they’re trying to promote. But now simply being — with myself and with others — is all I can do anymore to feel any semblance of being grounded.
COVER DESIGN BY SHANE ACHENBACH
4B
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 // The Statement
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 // The Statement
Tears of a Clown
Jack and Maria
by Nabeel Chollampat, Statement Deputy Editor
by Maria Robins-Somerville, Daily Arts Writer
T
o examine oneself — as one usually does in “Personal” “Statements” — a good place to start might be one’s online presence. Let’s see. Functionally, my Facebook serves little purpose other than to like ClickHole articles. LinkedIn, for me, is a place to privately endorse my friends for things like “Tight Gas” and “Stretching.” My Twitter is purely a farce: I do nothing but retweet from the deepest recesses of that strange, esoteric phenomenon known as Weird Twitter. When you (I) put it like that, this examination has been incredibly depressing. But I promise I’m normal. I guess it makes sense, though. This resume of online fuckery is of a piece with my general reputation as “the funny one.” That’s a nice moniker to have. It suggests I may serve some social purpose after all, and who doesn’t love to laugh? To be sure, this is an astoundingly arrogant essay to write. I’m working under the precarious assumption that other people think I’m funny, as well as the implicit acknowledgement that, yes, the fact that I’m writing this means that, on some level, I’d like to think I’m funny, too. (It’s better not to mention the third presumption: that people are still reading this.) But no matter: Writing to be published on the internet is itself little more than a pathological need for external validation, so let’s ignore that shit. I remember once performing stand-up — I use the term lightly — at the tender age of 12. My mother’s college reunion seemed, to her, to be the perfect venue to force her middle-school son to do something he is in no way qualified to do. I was too naïve to realize either my status as child prop or how utterly embarrassing this would be. I got up there and dutifully read off a printed Word document of what some (no one) would call “jokes.” This lasted for 10 excruciating minutes. When it was all said and done, I should have been convicted for war crimes: This was, by far, the worst comedic performance the world has ever witnessed. Years later, I would recognize this moment as the one that broke me as a mortal being and has rendered me incapable of feeling anything. Thanks, Mom. But what pitied laughs I received during that Tight Five, I could recognize as some form of appreciation. No one was laughing because I had, in that moment, channeled a young Richard Pryor. They were laughing because, hey, look, there’s a poor little kid trying to tell jokes because his mom forced him to, the least we could do is make sure he doesn’t cry. Reader, I cried (eventually). Here I was at an odd emotional crossroads. This supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again had led to an unfathomable bout of pre-pubescent crying. I didn’t know why then, but I think I might now. From then on, the two emotions became, to me, inextricably linked, conflated in the worst possible way. When Robin Williams passed away in 2014, the media landscape (that’s a horrible phrase, isn’t it?) was inundated with, among other things, variously titled riffs on the “Sad Clown” narrative. This trend was annoying for many reasons, but chief among them was this: that weeks later, the discussion had subsided
in favor of broader, more accessible eulogies. No one wanted to read any more about that knotty buzzword “mental health.” The link between mental illness and comedy is a thorny subject to broach, and I make no claims, of course, to successfully analyze one or the other. I barely understand either. Rather, it’s that disquieting relationship between other people’s joy and your own sadness, between the optics of your smiling friends and your own downturned head, between the surfacelevel satisfaction of making someone else laugh and the emptiness that comes with wondering why you can’t feel that way yourself — this is what I’ve tried to figure out for so long. What does it mean, really, to be “funny?” What it means to be funny depends on who you’re asking. To everyone else, Nabeel’s hilarious. Nabeel’s that guy. Nabeel’s always armed with the clever retorts and the spur-of-the-moment wit (which, in fact, is often less impeccably well-timed and more embarrassingly planned out). I am nothing more than a random joke generator. I am not allowed to get serious, or say something unironically, lest that permanently off the switch on everyone else’s pleasure. I am not a person harboring wants and complexities and dissonant emotions, but rather a curious object. I am not a human to be wanted, desired, loved. Nabeel’s so funny. To yourself, you are even more curious an object. You are impressed, sometimes, by your own ability to turn
a phrase, to come up with a response that’s agreeable or pleasant or — best-case scenario — funny. You are, however, incurably removed. You recognize that, yes, other people find this shit funny, but you can’t bring yourself to smile. Once the cheap thrills of an earned laugh subside, there is nothing left. No, there is something: It is simply emptiness — and with it, sadness. Truly, there’s little difference between occupying this role of the standard social group and being the token minority friend (double whammy!): I am not afforded the same agency as everyone else. I know who I am: I am by turns snarky and sad, measured by cheerfully dark sarcasm and tempered by toxically low selfconfidence, equally steeped in both heavy irony and incredible loneliness. But my reputation is “the funny one.” Wow, this got needlessly dramatic, didn’t it? Objectively, there’s nothing quite as satisfying than making someone laugh. And complaining about this ability — whether it’s imagined or not — might be a bit hypocritical. After all, what is being funny if not a desperate craving for attention? And now I want, well, more? Fuck off, man. I probably cried that night because I was embarrassed. There’s nothing probing or insightful about that. But that doesn’t change the fact that I will never be without my sense of humor or my inherent sadness. There is not one without the other. Funnily enough — I don’t know what that means.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMILIE FARRUGIA
“
I am a twin” is the perfect fun fact. Something relatively uncommon that doesn’t change. I hear little gasps or whispers — like they’re wondering about a parallel me that exists, or whether we parade around in matching outfits finishing each other’s sentences. I often get the question “Does your twin go here?” to which I could simply respond, “No, he doesn’t,” but these days my response is prepared and longer. “No. Jack has Asperger’s, a high-functioning form of autism, and he goes to a small school in Massachusetts for kids with learning and developmental challenges. He takes classes at a nearby community college where they help him with social skills and job readiness.” Usually the other person is quiet. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but maybe they envisioned some “Parent Trap” scenario. Maybe they imagined us running in similar circles of friends or having dual graduations, hitting all the big milestones at the same time. They imagine us both like me, neurotypical — a word that describes people not under the umbrella of those diagnosed with Asperger’s, other autism spectrum disorders or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behavior. It’s hard for me to explain what exactly separates the way Jack thinks from the way I do; the only way to explain it would be to conjure him up, as everything I say feels reductive or vague. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s when we were toddlers. Though we developed verbally and physically in time with each other, my mother noticed a few significant differences between us. Jack seemed less connected and he engaged in repetitive behaviors that he couldn’t seem to control. In 2013 the Asperger’s diagnosis was replaced by the umbrella term autism spectrum disorder, but it is still the way Jack identifies himself. It’s a diagnosis that includes high intelligence, socially awkward behaviors and repetitive or restrictive interests; I’ll be honest in saying that this definition doesn’t really mean anything to me. People on the spectrum are so different from each other, much of the criteria is fuzzy and Jack both does and doesn’t fit the textbook definitions. I could tell you that Jack has always been a little unlike most of the guys my age. He is often quiet and almost always compassionate, rarely expressing dislike for anyone. He isn’t competitive and has encyclopedic knowledge of certain music and television facts that he reveals randomly and surprisingly. He likes routine, SpongeBob and his iPad. He is incredibly sensitive and often mistakes intent to correct behavior for a jab at his whole character. Yet he has a grasp on sarcasm and forms of nuanced comedy that is thought atypical of those on the autism spectrum. Jack is a man of few words so we don’t talk just to fill space. In “The Curious Incident of Dog in the Nighttime,” a book both Jack and I love, the protagonist is Christopher, a young man on the autism spectrum who dislikes small talk. We joke, calling this “doing chatting,” and Jack says he doesn’t like it either (I assume most neurotypical people also dislike small talk and are just better at hiding it).
Academic professionals told my parents Jack might never be able to read, let alone graduate high school or live alone. Today he reads well and often; however, reading comprehension and articulating his thoughts about a text through verbal or written language is incredibly challenging. He has navigated the complex New York subway system for six years as if with an internal GPS, committed his time regularly helping kids with Down syndrome and serving at a fast-paced soup kitchen in Lower Manhattan. He’s lived away from home for over a year. Aside from an occasional harsh tone or F-bomb to an annoying sister, I can’t remember a time when he was unkind. Though Jack loves to jokingly remind me that he was born six minutes earlier and is therefore the oldest in our family, questions of birth order are complex. Measuring age by rotations around the sun doesn’t really work for us. When I was the first to leave for college, I knew that in a functional way, I was the singular oldest child. It was never a question whether I would go to college, but rather which competitive and well-respected college I would choose. I have always had standards — for friends, grades, writing, morality, all of it — to a maybe impossible level. I overschedule, overextend and work quickly. Despite normal bouts of laziness or procrastination, I admit reluctantly that I hardly cut myself slack. What I mean to say is Jack and I are close, but we exist in seemingly different worlds. Since preschool he had always been in a smaller class than me, cloistered away. He often practiced echolalia, a pretty word for repeating common phrases to himself, a calming mechanism, unsavory to the public. He would ask people how many doors their houses had and how old they were, something that was endearing at age 4 but soon became inappropriate. In elementary school, when kids would ask me why he was the way he was or why we didn’t go to the same school, I would turn red, finding myself at a loss for words. I remember being 5 or 6, when Jack and I sat glued to “Arthur” or “SpongeBob SquarePants.” He would cover his ears during the theme songs but be entranced by the cartoons the whole time. For a long time, he insisted on only wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts during the
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summer. Mental health professionals think people with autism have heightened senses. Some compare it to being inside a fun house. This explained some of the clothing particularity and why he would cover his ears, and even maybe the perfect pitch in his singing voice that brought people to tears when they heard Jack singing Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon” on our answering machine in the early 2000s. Maybe it explains his desire to spend time alone. It is thought that kids like Jack go somewhere else, to another headspace, when the sensory overload gets takes over. I’ve had trouble with this idea of “somewhere else,” even as a self-proclaimed daydreamer and a cultivator of an imaginative life. A stubborn part of me questions this other world despite an otherwise open mind. I think I buy into the twin clichés sometimes, wanting our minds to be in perfect sync with each other, a cosmic pairing no one else would understand. In the space of Jack’s certain quietness in a loud and chaotic world, I sometimes notice things about him that I only know how to explain by the fact that we are twins. Though he never expressly said anything to me about it, I urged my parents to give Jack more independence when we were teenagers because I had instincts that he was ready. I don’t mean to speak for my brother or assume access to his every thought, but I know he has grown my capacity for empathy and a critical eye toward a world that often discounts an “unconventional” mind. More than wishing that my brother were different, I am stubborn in wishing that the world were, that I didn’t have to think of an ableist slur or a punch hurled at Jack when he gets flustered or overwhelmed. I wish such a narrow-minded achievement model didn’t loom over us both, disproportionately affecting people like Jack who learn and develop in ways deemed abnormal or unconventional. I feel a twinge of guilt when I think of a confused 9-yearold me — her quietness about Jack. I think of how I wish I could say to her, “Your twin brother has a boundless bravery and compassion that I wish you could understand.” I think maybe that shame left somewhere around seventh grade, when I tried to comfort Jack one night when he was distraught over being bullied at school, a systematic problem that the school had been neglecting. I knew that my quiet brother was much wiser inside than he was able to let on and had a capacity for astronomical feeling. Jack proves daily that our minds are mysterious, varied and without need to show themselves ostentatiously. He reminds me to be goofy and patient and often forces our family to lighten up when the mood gets heavy. He is incredibly affectionate and remembers the silliest moments of our childhood that will always make me smile, half because of what they are and half because it is Jack telling them in his way. I think we’ve come to know that our developmental milestones look different, and that it’s OK because it has to be and it should be. I wish to embrace the fun-fact twin answer so fully, in all of its complexity and nuance, something only made possible by pulling my brother into the circle with me — so that everyone in the room can feel how lucky I am to have him as my other half.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016 // The Statement
An American in Dublin
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y way of introduction, I feel obligated to inform you, the reader, that I’m not really quite sure how to go about writing this — the knowledge of which might mean, conversely, that in some way you’ll be more sure of how to go about reading it. The first unforeseen (though obviously easily foreseeable) challenge is that I wasn’t exactly just sitting around looking for things to do. In fact, it took me about six weeks to find a few spare hours in which to work, which led to the production of this essay’s first draft in a spurt of frenetic, caffeinefueled typing in a German cafe, where I vainly hoped that with my few days respite before I went on the road again I might be able to sputter out a few thousand words of genuine, semi-coherent writing that at least someone might deem worth reading. Not to mention that I feel as if this whole thing should probably be more than a catalogue or chronology, i.e., should have some sort of overarching thesis, raison d’être or “point,” the substance of which I’m really hoping I’ll discover as I go along. The second and only slightly less obvious difficulty is found in the necessity of presenting my trip as the intensely individual experience it was without simultaneously lapsing into excessive solipsism. Somehow, I need to be both authentic to my emotional memory and engage you in experiences which are not your own — all while scrupulously avoiding the irksome “look-at-all-the-coolthings-I’m-doing” tone which would drive you to rapidly abandon reading the remainder. A regular Scylla and Charybdis, as you can see. For those of you still here, I promise I’ll get to the actual point of the piece relatively soon. But first, I think it would be fruitful to talk a bit about myself in a more specific way. After all, most narratives featuring a nameless or nondescript protagonist about whom we know nothing tend to lead to a state of indifference or sink us into a mental sopor, with the notable exception of nameless characters to whom horrible things happen, who — at least for me — tend to induce a general sense of extrapolated existential dread. And in this context, it’s probably best to think of me, the author, as a mostlynon-fictional character. Anyway, if you check the top of the page, you’ll notice that my name is Dayton Hare. I am a sophomore at the University of Michigan, where I’m a music composition major (and will soon add a second degree in English). With that in mind, more than anything else I am a composer, and I like (rather vainly, I suppose) to think of myself as young artist/intellectual. I love books (the type you can hold), history, poetry and modernist literature. I love the electric charge of the air before rain, and the smell of soil after. I like long walks on the beach as much as anyone, though I find the inevitable accumulation of sand on one’s feet to be incredibly irritating. My flight was on 19 June, from Atlanta. My fellow traveler was my younger sister Fiona, who was traveling to Europe to study Shakespearean acting in London, just as I was going to study music and composition in Paris. During a layover in Washington D.C., we coincidentally ran into a mutual friend of ours from high school, who was travelling to Morocco to study Arabic. Small world, really. We boarded the plane in late evening, and somewhere over the North Atlantic I watched the warm heat of a parabolic dawn consume the thousands of stars burning coldly above us. Our first sight of Europe was the deep green coast of
by Dayton Hare, Daily Arts Writer Ireland as we descended toward Dublin (it turns out, after all, that the term “Emerald Isle” is not a misnomer). The first indication that we weren’t in America anymore came in the form of the airport signs, which were written first in Irish and second in English. The Irish capital itself was cool and grey, and people hurried about incessantly. My sister and I joined them, eager to see as much of the city as possible before we had to fly to Rome in a couple of days. Strolling through the city, we quickly fell into the local habit of jaywalking recklessly. I found myself casually wondering if dashing across the road involved the same sort of collective rebellion of spirit as led to the Irish War of Independence of 1919 (though I quickly dismissed this as a mind-boggling oversimplification and an idea that was frankly rather stupid). Later in the day, we visited the Garden of Remembrance, constructed as a memorial to “all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom.” To me Dublin has always been the city of Joyce, and this wasn’t changed by visiting it. We came across a statue of the author on the street, and I posed dramatically with him as my sister snapped a photo. I love Joyce, and I’ve always felt a certain empathetic connection to him, as if we were similar in some way (a bit conceited, I know). Perhaps it’s just the fact that we were both youths of artistic temperament growing up in places we felt to be culturally oppressive in some way (in his case, Ireland; in mine, the American South). I don’t really know why, but I’m ceaselessly fascinated with him. Part of the reason for these sorts of journeys always seems to be that of selfdiscovery, and I suppose that this Joycean encounter contributes to that as much as anything. It’s not as if I experienced some sort of dramatic artistic or personal
revelation à la Beckett-in-mother’s-bedroom, but walking in the same place as an artist I’ve long admired walked, inhabiting the same space he inhabited, separated only by temporality, made that particular part of my identity feel more connected or “real.” Or perhaps that’s all nonsense. I’ve always considered the “self ” to be relatively unknowable, but my compulsive need to acquire concrete knowledge always drives me to try to make sense out of these sorts of things, even when I can cognitively acknowledge that it’s probably a waste of time. After seeing Joyce’s statue, we visited the Dublin Writers Museum, which was next door to a gallery of Irish art. Walking through the museum after a peek at the gallery, we saw first editions and manuscripts and letters — the lot. Before leaving the city, we strolled across the grounds of Trinity College, gazed at the illuminated pages of the Book of Kells, breathed in the paper-laden aroma of Trinity’s library, became lost no fewer than four times and unexpectedly consumed the spiciest Thai food either of us had ever encountered. By the evening of the second day, we were on a plane bound for a very different city, one that — like Dublin — was allegedly founded by a ship-borne people, but has a history nearly two millennia longer and a cultural footprint felt across continents. Before we left for Rome, we took a final walk through the city. We strolled around St. Stephen’s Green, past St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the Irish are remarkably Catholic, aren’t they?), down through the Temple Bar district and across the river. As we passed over a bridge, I looked down at the waters of the River Liffey. The flowing mass was too active to form a mirror — I could see nothing of myself. I thought it a pity. What a great metaphor for selfreflection that would have made.
ILLUSTRATION BY ELISE HAADSMA
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 // The Statement
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Dancing Like Nobody’s Watching
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nyone who knows me well enough knows that I love to dance, whether at a party or even in the most mundane setting. For the record, I’ve never taken a dance class in my life — nor have I ever been interested in being a professional dancer. And yet it’s a quality about myself that most people note immediately once I start moving and grooving. Anything with pounding bass and wobbly synths, a pop or hip hop number, I can dance to. I’m all for uptempo songs, and my favorites include the typical Top 40 bangers: Outkast’s “Hey Ya!,” Usher’s “Yeah!” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” to name a few. I’d like to think that my dancing skills stem from my maternal grandparents, who were known to always be the first and last ones on the dance floor at any occasion. But the truth is that my passion for dancing derives from trying to escape social awkwardness growing up as a shy, sensitive and mostly introverted kid. It was my cousin Alex’s bar mitzvah party in 2006 that changed the trajectory of all that, transforming me from a restless, socially inept kid with an inferiority complex into a more self-assured young adult. The night of the bar mitzvah party, I recall the evening starting off on a bad note. Entering the event, I immediately felt out of place. I was dressed in a black shirt too big for my torso, gray slacks that felt too long and leather shoes that seemed too fancy for the party. There were a variety of activities, including a pop-culture trivia tournament that I thought I’d try out. After waiting a while, it was my turn, my opportunity to stand out among the crowd. Up against four other partygoers, I did my best to answer the question as soon as it was asked. But alas, I missed my moment: My cousin Austin buzzed his button before me and gave the wrong answer. That was that, and my turn was over. My 15 seconds of spotlight faded and I wallowed back to my seat, feeling defeated and disappointed. During the rest of the evening, I sulked outside the main ballroom, where all the customary bar mitzvah party traditions were taking place. I missed the Hava Nagilah, the corny candle-lighting ceremonies, the sentimental speeches. But I didn’t even care. Still upset about the trivia tournament, I was fuming with angry silence, staring down at the ground and sitting in a rigid, crisscross-applesauce position. It wasn’t until hours later that I finally decided to join the party, where I sat at a table by myself in the midst of it all. To this day, I have immense gratitude to one of the female, referee-jersey-wearing entertainers, who approached 9-year-old me, sitting by my lonesome, and asked if I’d like to dance. Stubbornly, I declined her offer at first. But as the night dragged on and the music got funkier, I thought, “What the hell? I’m 9 years old. I’ve got nothing to lose.” (I didn’t actually think that, but I assume that’s how I felt in the moment). And thus, Sam Rosenberg the Dancer was born. As my legs wobbled and my hips gyrated to the thumping beats blasting from the speakers, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my pre-teen veins. I got such a rush, simply from taking the risk of dancing along to whatever mid-2000s pop hit roared over the speakers. The entertainers would pass out glow sticks, goofy glasses and silly hats to every kid and I made sure to wear and flaunt each and every item I could get my hands on. My cynicism of the night changed quickly into optimism. I no longer felt insecure about whether people would care about what I did; I liked this new side of myself and wanted to continue to explore this aspect of my personality. As I entered middle school, dancing gave me a space to express myself, even at my most self-conscious. I’d often be the only boy at a bar mitzvah party who was dancing to the rhythm of the music, instead of just jumping up and down in a circle like the rest of my male peers. Sometimes, I would get strange looks and when I did, I would immediately notice and stop dancing. But other times, people would encourage it and even ask me to give them some tips on dance moves. I recall a specific moment at my middle school social in sixth grade when I got the attention of an attractive seventh grader after I
rapidly moved my arms in a wave-like formation. It was stupid and weird, but for some reason, people liked it and that’s all that mattered to me. High school came and I continued to glide seamlessly into the party scene, shaking my shoulders, inventing spontaneous dance moves and letting the beat carry me at every homecoming, prom and function I attended. College has been an even better experience for me, with almost every party offering a comfortable capacity for me to dance. Personally, dancing has always been a way for me to deal with social anxiety and to boost my self-confidence. But I also consider dancing to be a beautiful expression of human behavior. We don’t often think about how ubiquitous dancing can be and how fun it is to just let loose and groove with your friends and family and even strangers. And the best dancing is the one where you don’t care if you look stupid. Whatever the song, you can shimmy, shake, twerk, bounce, whip, nae nae and milly rock without being judged. Despite what most of my friends say, I don’t consider myself an exceptional dancer. I don’t know how to salsa, box step or moonwalk. I can’t do the Worm or the Running Man. I’m not trained to perform or do dance-offs like the dancers from “Step Up,” “You Got Served” and “Stomp the Yard.” When people spread out to make a circle at parties or music festivals, I’m always hesitant to step in, thinking that my brain would freeze in the moment and I’d do the same dance move over and over like a broken record. Nevertheless, it’s always comforting to know how much confidence dancing has given me over the years. I may still feel somewhat overwhelmed whenever the spotlight is cast on me, but when the opportunity comes, I do my best to not miss it, and I just dance like nobody’s watching.
ILLUSTRATION BY SHANE ACHENBACH
by Sam Rosenberg, Daily Arts Writer
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016 // The Statement
Still Making a Statement B Y T O M H AY D E N , P U B L I S H E D O C T O B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 2 Editor’s note: Two days ago, the University of Michigan community lost one of its most inf luential members, Tom Hayden, who died at 76 in his California home. A former editor in chief of The Michigan Daily, Hayden began his career as a political activist as a University student, and soon after his graduation founded the Students for a Democratic Society, one of the most important groups in the New Left movement. More than 50 years ago, while jailed in Georgia after participating in the Freedom Rider protests, he wrote the Port Huron Statement, a manifesto for left-wing student protests that shaped a nascent generation of activism. He was at the vanguard of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s, leading protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He leaves a legacy of fervent activism for participatory democracy and a commitment to galvanizing student political engagement. The Statement is named in part after Hayden’s manifesto. To honor his life and work, we are reprinting a piece he submitted to The Statement in 2012, written for the 50th year anniversary of the Port Huron Statement. A half-century couldn’t quell his indefatigable belief in the power of the people to enact change.
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ew Ann Arbor residents know that The Statement, the Daily’s weekly news magazine, is named in memory of the Port Huron Statement, drafted by myself as the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society 50 years ago. This week, the University will host a conference to explore the legacy of what many Ann Arbor students birthed half a century ago. The vision of the Port Huron Statement lives on. The first principle of last year’s Occupy Wall Street movement was a call for participatory democracy, the guiding concept of the Port Huron Statement. From SDS to Occupy, students have led movements demanding a voice. We believed in not just an electoral democracy, but also in direct participation of students in their remote-controlled universities, of employees in workplace decisions, of consumers in the marketplace, of neighborhoods in development decisions, family equality in place of Father Knows Best and online, open source participation in a world dominated by computerized systems of power. The Port Huron Statement represented the dawn of an era, which began with the student sit-in movement and the Beat Generation, and didn’t end until 1975, with the fall of Richard Nixon and Saigon. Students in Ann Arbor played a leading role in defining this era. One year after graduating from the University, where I edited The Michigan Daily, I drafted the 25,000 word Port Huron Statement that served as a manifesto for “participatory democracy,” which initially came to us from a University faculty adviser, Arnold Kaufman. The Students for a Democratic Society founder, Al Haber, fostered a hotbed of debate between 1961 and 1963, before our vision came to fruition in Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement and the first national Vietnam teach-ins organized at the University. Ann Arbor was also a central site of the New Frontier. University students, myself included, approached Sen. John F. Kennedy in October 1960 to request that he endorse international service as an alternative to the military draft. He read our letter and, over worries from his advisers, proposed the Peace Corps on the steps of the Michigan Union that night. As an example of what might have been, President Lyndon Johnson proposed a “Great Society ... where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods,” at a 1964 University commencement address. The author of LBJ’s speech, Richard Goodwin, credited the Port Huron Statement as being a major inf luence. Goodwin later wrote a note “to Tom Hayden, who ... without knowing it inspired the Great Society,” referring to participatory democracy and the administration’s anti-poverty programs. JFK’s assassination staggered us, but his signing of the nuclear test ban treaty before his death made us hope for a thaw in the Cold War arms race, which almost
obliterated millions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I left graduate school at the University in summer 1964 to begin community organizing in the slums of Newark, N.J. As a member of about 200 SDS activists who planned to devote our lives to a nationwide equivalent of the Mississippi Summer Project, I believed that “an interracial movement of the poor” could empower a new constituency demanding jobs and economic equality. The United Auto Workers, which was led by Walter Reuther, gave us the Port Huron Conference Center courtesy of a top officer, “Millie” Jeffrey, whose daughter was an SDS leader at the University. The UAW also donated funds to the SDS community organizing projects, as well as major resources for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the United Farm Workers and the early activists of what became the National Organization for Women. In that brief period, our hoped-for coalition seemed to be coming together. The final sentence of the Statement warned, however, that “If we appear to seek the unattainable, let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable.” The unimaginable was about to happen. The Cold War was the mountain we could not climb. Much like today’s War on Terrorism – the official Cold War assumption was that nothing could be spared to protect Americans from conspiratorial threats. The paranoid Cold War assumption was that the Soviet Union now was plotting to take over the world. Small countries like Vietnam were seen as pawns in this global plot. Peace and civil rights groups at home, even leaders like Dr. King, were surveilled as The Enemy Within. The Port Huron Statement challenged all that, proposing nuclear de-escalation and disarmament. We did this not because we were “pro-Communist” but because we knew that militarized and unbalanced anti-Communism would divert America’s attention away from our needs at home. In 1961, the eminent professor Robert Angell told me soothingly over breakfast that I could trust Kennedy’s new defense secretary, Robert McNamara – he called him Bob – because he was “one of us,” a liberal intellectual who lived just off Geddes Avenue and drove into his Ford Motor office in Detroit every day. On June 9, just as the Port Huron convention was opening, McNamara gave a speech in Ann Arbor defending what he called a “centrally-controlled campaign against all of the enemy’s vital nuclear capabilities” in the event of a crisis. It foreshadowed our greatest fears, which almost came true in the Cuban Missile Crisis just months later. Tragically, the Cold War led liberal intellectuals like McNamara, along with our key allies in the UAW, into the bloody quagmire of Vietnam. McNamara channeled his personal brilliance into propaganda when he asserted in August 1964 that the bombing of North Vietnam was due to “naked aggression” by Hanoi, a claim he privately knew to be false. When LBJ pledged “no wider
war,” only two Democratic senators opposed the Gulf of Tonkin war authorization. After promising not to send American ground troops during his presidential campaign, there were 184,000 Americans deployed to Vietnam by late 1965. Nothing turned out as I once imagined. There was one constant: the tides of movements and counter-movements kept churning. Movements based on participatory democracy eventually gained some meaningful reforms: voting rights for southern black people and 18-year olds, the fall of two presidents, amnesty for 50,000 war resisters in Canada, the Freedom of Information Act, democratic reforms of the presidential primary systems, collective bargaining rights for public employees and farmworkers, the Roe v. Wade decision, the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts, a long list of reforms gained in less than a decade. Social change did occur, precious inch by bloody inch, becoming sacred ground that had to be protected, decade after decade, from both reaction and oblivion. Underlying all of this tumultuous history lay the rocky river of participatory democracy – “the river of my people” – which kept f lowing. Now, to paraphrase Port Huron, we are the elders of this generation looking uncomfortably to the world we leave behind as inheritance. The reforms we achieved are under constant assault from the right and stagnating with the passage of time. We are in the process of a new beginning, signaled by the deep American discontent with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the threat of more wars to come and the immense diversion of trillions of tax dollars from our needs at home for health care and affordable education. Like the ‘60s, another imperial presidency is on the rise, unleashing covert military operations in multiple countries without serious congressional oversight or civic awareness. Like the ‘60s, the long war leaves greater economic inequality and environmental depletion in its wake. Perhaps most disturbing of all, “The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of all personal shares of stock,” just as we wrote at Port Huron. That unchanged economic inequality threatens political democracy at the core. What can one say in the face of these terrible challenges, so reminiscent of yesteryear? Perhaps, just perhaps, the ripples of today’s student protest movements foreshadow a coming revolt of those who will not settle. Or perhaps today’s generation will accommodate and live the rest of their lives in a defensive crouch. Who can be sure? We know that movements begin unexpectedly. Rebellion begins anew, like a first f lower forcing winter’s passing, as it happened in Ann Arbor in that springtime long ago. The Port Huron Statement is a message sent in a bottle, and participatory democracy a tradition for future rebels to drink from.