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ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Ann Arbor, Michigan

michigandaily.com

The B-Side Senior Arts Editor Jacob Rich explores the ups and downs of indie video game design from the perspective of several new games.

» Page 1B ACADEMICS

Students propose new major on social class

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Ivanka Trump, daughter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks to supporters of her father at a campaign event at the Marriott Hotel in Troy, Michigan Wednesday.

Ivanka Trump talks education and child care in Troy campaign stop

Daughter of Republican presidential nominee visits Mich. days before election TIMOTHY COHN Daily Staff Reporter

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, highlighted a lack of safe, affordable childcare and tax laws that she said negatively impact women returning to the workforce

at a roundtable discussion and community Q&A session in Michigan Wednesday. “Every issue is a woman’s issue,” Ivanka Trump said. “That being said, there are certain areas that disproportionately affect women.” According to a recent aggregate of Michigan polls by RealClearPolitics, Democratic presidential nominee

Hillary Clinton leads the Republican nominee by 6.4 points six days before the election. Despite her lead, both campaigns have made numerous stops in the state, especially in the past few days, in hopes of winning Michigan’s 16 electoral votes. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Donald Trump Jr. were also in Michigan

Wednesday, campaigning for the respective candidates. During the Wednesday event, Ivanka Trump, who is an executive vice president of development and acquisitions for her father’s company, The Trump Organization, emphasized how her father’s policies could help women. See IVANKA, Page 3A

Absence of socioeconomic status in curriculum inspires project RACHEL COHEN Daily Staff Reporter

Last year, LSA sophomore Lauren Schandevel and Sociology Prof. Dwight Lang had an informal discussion about the absence of social class in University of Michigan class curriculum. Schandevel and Lang both noted that though the University has a Women’s Studies Department and a Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, which intersect with social class, there is no major that focuses solely on socioeconomic status. Fast forwarding to tjos uear, that conversation has motivated

Lecturers emphasize challenges of Sanders campaigns passing environmental legislation

Schandevel to recruit a team of students and speak to other faculty about developing a potential new interdisciplinary major specifically for the study of social class. Schandevel said though few programs on social class exist at other universities, the discipline is timely and needed because of the rise in income inequality over the past few decades. According to the Ecnomic Policy Institute, between 2009 and 2012, the the top 1 percent captured 95 percent of income growth in The United States. “I think we’re at a state right now in America where income inequality is at an all-time high,” she said. “There’s really See MAJOR, Page 3A

ELECTION

RESEARCH

for Clinton at Western

Event explores energy and sustainability of both presidential candidates

Study looks at how area is linked to mortality

Senator talks higher education reform on Kalamazoo campus

Wednesday at the Ford School of Public Policy, Public Policy Prof. Daniel Raimi moderated a discussion about the two major presidential nominees’ energy and climate policy plans and addressed whether automated vehicles will have a negative or positive impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The panel, which was sponsored by the University of Michigan Energy Institute and University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, was titled “Energy, Climate Change, and the 2016 Elections.” Panelist Mark Barteau, the director of the Energy Institute and professor of chemical engineering, described the vastly different proposals outlined by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He characterized Clinton’s proposals as drawing on the pragmatism and progressivism that has marked Obama’s presidency and raised concerns about Trump’s policy proposals because of their emphasis on increasing fracking, eliminating energy research and development and selling federal lands. Barteau noted that, however, though policies have been outlined, what happens once a candidate takes office could be different.

LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter

With less than a week until the presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) encouraged students to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Western Michigan University Wednesday discussing key issues of her campaign from higher education reform and rising economic inequality. Sanders’ speech primarily focused on issues he highlighted during the primaries and direct attacks on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. This strategy differs from other surrogates who recently held rallies in Michigan for Clinton, such as Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, who emphasized Clinton’s personal strengths and refrained from mentioning Trump by name. “When we talk about the economy, we have got to talk about the moral economy,” Sanders said. “An economy that works for all not just the wealthy … We have got to rekindle hope in America and create an economy that provides opportunity for all.” See SANDERS, Page 3A

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TYLER COADY

Daily Staff Reporter

“You would expect (Trump) to disassemble the Obama legacy but he likes to be unpredictable, so you don’t know where he might head,” Barteau said. Rackham student Nathan Wood said after the panel that he is not convinced that the political will exists in the United States to push through major environmental legislation. “There are other countries that propose bold policies and even

they have difficulties in trying to trickle them down to the state and local level,” Wood said. “It is a matter of actually implementing changes even though people have grown up, very much so, doing something else.” Panelist Barry Rabe, professor of public policy and environmental policy, said in the last 25 years, nearly every combination of different political party control of the executive and

legislative branch has existed, but no major legislation pertaining to the environment has been passed. He said not only have politics on a national level become increasingly gridlocked, but state politics have become increasingly polarized as state legislatures drift toward higher concentrations of one party or another. “(There is) a tendency to either make states red or blue rather than See ENERGY, Page 3A

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Public Policy Prof. Barry Rabe discusses the upcoming elections at the Ford School Wednesday.

For more stories and coverage, visit

michigandaily.com

INDEX

Negative views found to be more predictive for white individuals ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter

The way an individual perceives his or her neighborhood safety and quality is predictive of their mortality, according to a new study by Shervin Assari, psychiatric research investigator in the School of Public Health. This predictivity, however, differs between Black and white people. The study, soon to be published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, used data from the Americans’ Changing Lives Study, a nationally representative study which interviewed 3,361 white and Black adults 25 years of age and older in the United States. Using this dataset, Assari assessed the different ways in which safety and quality are measured to analyze selfreported evaluations from study participants about their neighborhood. Assari has done similar research in the past regarding the way environmental effects contribute to premature death and mortality impacts white and See NEIGHBORHOOD, Page 3A

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS...............5

SUDOKU.....................2 SPORTS...................5 B-SIDE ....................1B

News

2A — Thursday, October 3, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

BRIEF: FLINT RESIDENTS CAN NOW SUE STATE GOVERNMENT Last Thursday, the Michigan Court of Claims ruled that residents of Flint may sue the state government for damages relating to the Flint water crisis. The crisis began in April 2014, when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality switched the city’s water source from Lake Huron — which also services Detroit — to the Flint River. Because the Flint River water was more corrosive, lead from the popes leached into the water, exposing residents to poisioning. Residents initally filed a suit on January 21 against Gov. Rick Snyder (R) Michigan’s departments of Environmental Quality and Health and Human Services as well as two former Flint emergency managers. In it, the residents stated the parties knew about the crisis for months before taking action. In the decision written by Judge Mark T. Boonstra, the court

dismissed two constitutional challenges brought forth against the state. These charges were in regards to the definition of a “state-created danger” and “fair and just treatment.” However, Boonstra upheld two other legal challenges. One was in regard to the denial of the right to due process clause of the U.S. Constitution, and the other was about the state’s role in the direct cause of personal injury. These challenges that were upheld empower Flint residents to sue the state government. The court also made important jurisdictional distinctions regarding the Emergency Management Law. This law, which empowers Michigan’s governor to appoint an emergency manager to handle the financial recovery of a city, was applied by Snyder in Flint when he appointed Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose as emergency

managers in 2013 and 2015. Boonstra noted that because Earley and Ambrose were appointed by the state to oversee the management of Flint prior to the Flint water crisis, Earley was acting as a state official and

Tweets

not a municipal authority. This, according to Boonstra, made the state open to restorative litigation.

Michigan Students @UMichStudents

Read more online at MichiganDaily.com

“Three of us on the team are doing an independent study with our mentor at the School of Social Work, who is giving us credit to develop a proposal for the course, the capstone and then the proposal itself and throughout that process we’ll be working with faculty from across departments to develop these things,” Schandevel said. We’re going to write a letter and have faculty members sign it and so when we take it to the curriculum committee it’s a little bit more compelling.” Ideally, Schandevel said the group would get a pilot course implemented by next year, which students in it would then evaluate at the end. She said they will conduct focus groups to see what the interest for a program is like to gain empirical data, and to determine if they have enough faculty support to introduce the proposal for implementation around 2018 or 2019. Barry Checkoway, professor of social work and Schandevel’s mentor, said he met her after he wrote a “fan letter” to Schandevel

Thursday, November 3, 2016 — 3A for her column in The Michigan Daily on her initial impressions of social class at the University as a freshman. The two have been discussing social class for the past year, and he supported the idea for the new program when she began speaking to him about it. “I thought that social class is among the most important forces in American society, that there are almost no courses at the University of Michigan that focus on social class, and that if the University of Michigan is trying to recruit lower-income, first generation students, that there’s need for a course or courses that are responsive to them,” he said. The program, according to the group, would potentially be housed in the Sociology Department. Lang said he thinks the Sociology Department would be a logical place for the program, though he said there has been discussion about housing it in the American Studies Department, too, or other departments. “Historically, sociology has always studied social

BOOKS From Page 2A

NEIGHBORHOOD From Page 1A

goes.” So far, these efforts led by Aqel and 10 other students include hosting a film screening and organizing informational tables in University buildings such as Angell Hall and the Chemistry building. Aqel said these efforts aim to both increase awareness of the educational crisis in Syria and find students willing to sign the petition, which in turn strengthens their proposal to CSG. “If this campaign continues to gather signatures, all of that, and even support from various student organizations, that will only make this call for scholarships much stronger,” Aqel said. “And then it’ll show administrators that it’s not just me or my team that are interested in this, it’s this diverse network of students that are very interested in this campaign.” Public Health student Lilah Khoja is another organizer of the efforts at the University who works with the Karam Foundation, another Syrian nonprofit organization co-sponsoring Books Not Bombs. Khoja said the campaign resonated with her view of education as a human right, especially through the lens of her identity as a Syrian-American and her experience working with Syrian refugees. “To ask elementary schoolers, ‘what do you want to do?’ and for them to say ‘well, what can I do? There’s nothing for me’ — that’s really why I feel very passionately about Books Not Bombs and why I think it’s so important to give this opportunity to those who really need it,” she said. She said she felt the University has the potential to set an example for other public universities around the country. “I think if (Books Not Bombs) is a success at the University of Michigan, that will just galvanize other students at other universities to push for the same thing on their campuses,” Khoja said. Khoja also emphasized the importance of the apolitical nature of the campaign. “Education is a human right, and so in a context of war where numerous crimes against humanity and war crimes are being carried out, education is really oftentimes the first thing to be attacked,” she said. “Because education is all about empowering people in communities, it’s important for a campaign like this to remain apolitical, so all communities in Syria can benefit from something like this, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their religion, of their sexual orientation.”

Black people differently. In this study, Assari ultimately found that while negative perceptions of both neighborhood safety and quality predict mortality, these factors are better predictive of mortality for white people than Black people. Similar research has been conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that social, physical and economic characteristics of neighborhoods are increasingly recognized as having short- and long-term consequences for residents’ lifespan. Assari noted that there are social factors contributing to Black resilience in poorer conditions, such as a history of oppression. As an example, he cited Flint, noting that traditionally, the poorer areas of the city were occupied by low-income Black people, more and more white people have been moving into the area in recent years. Assari connected this to his findings, saying poor neighborhood quality would have more negative effects on the newer, white residents. This is in part due to traditional community support systems Black people tend to have that reduce their neighborhood’s effects. “In the community there are sources of support from community members, from religion, from connection to God which are known to be stronger for Blacks,” Assari said. Assari also noted that an individual’s comparison with social networks can also influence his or her perceptions of a neighborhood environment, saying it should be considered in crafting policy aimed at

stratification and social class has always been part of that,” he said. While it may be housed in the Sociology Department, Schandevel said ideally students could take related classes in any department because of the program’s interdisciplinary nature, noting many existing classes that touch on social class could be incorporated into the potential program. This would mean only an introductory course and a capstone project would have to be created to tie the disciplinary together. Overall, Schandevel said she hopes the major can change students’ views on social class by studying the issue with more nuance. “I grew up in a working-class background so I already have thought about these things and I want this to be available to students who haven’t thought about class in this way, so maybe students from an upper-middle class background could take these courses and go through this program and see the world in a different way,” she said.

improving neighborhood safety and quality. “There might be certain populations that are more vulnerable to the same exposure,” Assari said. “So policies which do not consider these group differences may fail to reduce health disparities because, if you just universally promote safety and just ignore that safety is going to have differential effects for different groups, you would not be able to predict what (these policies are) going to do. Roshanak Mehdipanah, an assistant professor of health behavior and health education, was not directly involved in the study, but highlighted Assari’s findings in terms of her research, which primarily focuses on urban health equity. Mehdipanah said both one’s physical environment — including infrastructure, housing, public transportation and physical access to healthy food sources — and social factors — such as access to clinics, employment programs or employment rates, education opportunities and demographics — all contribute to one’s perception of their neighborhood’s safety and quality. She noted that in many poorer neighborhoods, there is a lack of investment that leads to physical neighborhood issues around safety, lack of resources and higher vacancy, all of which then contribute to social factors. “Because there’s this disinvestment, resources begin dropping out too, so you don’t have as many outlets — for example, for employment opportunities — and so it’s this cycle of one contributing to the other in creating those inequalities between these types of neighborhoods,” Mehdipanah said.

Opinion

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

4A — Thursday, November 3, 2016

ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY | COLUMN

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

SHOHAM GEVA Editor in Chief

CLAIRE BRYAN

and REGAN DETWILER Editorial Page Editors

LAURA SCHINAGLE Managing Editor

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Carolyn Ayaub Claire Bryan Regan Detwiler Brett Graham Caitlin Heenan Jeremy Kaplan

Ben Keller Minsoo Kim Kit Maher Madeline Nowicki Anna Polumbo-Levy Jason Rowland

Ali Safawi Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Ashley Tjhung Stephanie Trierweiler

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.

FROM THE DAILY

Extending term limits favors democracy

ext week, Ann Arbor residents will vote on a controversial ballot proposal to extend the term of office for Ann Arbor mayor and City Council members from two years to four years. If approved, City Council elections would be held at the same time as general elections, meaning Ann Arbor will see increased voter turnout for City Council elections, candidates who will take their positions more seriously and council members who will be able to take on larger projects that will have lasting benefits for the city. For these reasons, The Michigan Daily endorses the ballot proposal to extend city officials’ term limits to four years. However, this ballot proposal doesn’t get at the fundamental problem that primaries are held in August, resulting in a very small group of voters going to the polls to decide who even has the opportunity to run. Though extending term limits is a step toward a more democratic Ann Arbor, it is not an ultimate fix. Proponents of the ballot proposal argue that extending the term limit to four years will increase voter turnout. This is a much needed effort: Ann Arbor’s last odd-year election in 2015 garnered an unsurprisingly paltry 8.7 percent voter turnout, allowing a relatively small group of highly invested voters an outsized voice over the majority of city residents. However, voter turnout more than triples for even-year general elections that coincide with larger national and state-wide contests. Increasing the city officials’ term limit from two to four years would allow local elections to occur concurrently with larger ones and draw significantly more constituents to the polls, ensuring the local government responds to the wants of the broader population rather than small groups of highly invested voters. At the University of Michigan level, even-year elections would likely increase student input because more students vote during larger state and national elections. Input from diverse populations helps ensure that local government is truly representative and accountable for its diverse groups of constituents. Though some argue that those who do show up to vote are voters who are well-educated in city issues, with longer terms, we hope to see candidates who are more serious about disseminating information about their campaigns. Ideally, this will not only increase voter turnout, but also bring those voters to the ballot with more adequate information to make an educated vote for city officials. In addition, four-year terms would likely amplify the productivity of elected

city officials while in office. Holding elections every two years forces officials to divert valuable time away from governing to campaigning. Expanding terms allows council members to focus energy on the types of longterm projects critical to developing cities such as Ann Arbor. Furthermore, it gives city officials time to gain a more nuanced understanding of the city’s constituents and issues. Those opposing the proposal argue two-year terms actually enforce more accountability of elected officials — running for re-election means officials must engage with constituents more frequently, and potentially changing seats allows voters to voice their concerns about quickly changing local events more frequently. Though two-year terms do force candidates to critically engage with voters during election cycles, the small voter pool in odd-year elections reduces accountability to the broader population. This also encourages more pandering to single-issue voters and less independence for city officials to actually accomplish their initiatives for the city. However, increasing the term limit is no panacea. While increasing city officials’ term limits may increase accountability and enhance elected representatives’ productivity, Ann Arbor still must make significant strides toward a more democratic election process. Council primaries occur in August, meaning a very small group of voters (and even fewer students) decides on the candidate pool before the actual election

EMILY WOLFE | CONTACT EMILY AT ELWOLFE@UMICH.EDU

in November. The current partisan primary system also urges candidates to run under a party banner. The fact that no Republicans have held elected office in Ann Arbor in the past 10 years — and exceedingly few even run — exacerbates the partisan primary system’s stifling of choice. Moreover, four-year terms may prompt more voter participation because a fouryear term in office carries greater weight. However, extending terms to four years may encourage straight-ticket voting, as voters associate local officials with candidates at the top of the party’s ticket. This may lessen serious engagement with local candidates and make local issues unnecessarily partisan. In fact, Ann Arbor is one of the only cities in Michigan that still relies on partisanship in local elections and governance. Many local governments have abolished partisan elections to promote meaningful engagement with local issues rather than voting for whichever candidate is associated with a preferred gubernatorial or presidential candidate. Ditching the partisan primary system in addition to expanding terms might significantly improve Ann Arbor’s democratic process. Expanding term limits from two to four years will significantly improve voter turnout across diverse segments of Ann Arbor’s population and increase elected officials’ productivity on complex issues. Though much work remains to be done on improving the primary system, the Daily believes expanded term limits will help significantly strengthen Ann Arbor’s democratic process.

The Flint-Standing Rock connection

istory, unfortunately, the Standing Rock Reservation seems to repeat itself. in North Dakota. Energy When we say this, we Transfers Partners, a natural really mean that we never learn gas company, is constructing from our mistakes. Last week, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Ford School of Public Policy an underground pipeline near held a policy talk on Flint’s water sacred Sioux land. The $3.8 crisis. A panel of community billion pipeline would transfer leaders and a member massive amounts of of the governor’s task oil between states in force discussed the a supposedly safer array of injustices way. However, the Flint experienced pipeline threatens and continues tribal rights as to experience. A construction is near member of the panel, their reservation E. Hill De Loney, the and sacred burial executive director sites. The pipeline of the Flint Odyssey also poses the ANU House Health threat of water ROYAwareness Center, contamination to the said something that’s CHAUDHURY Sioux people living stuck with me the on and near the land. past few days: “There’s not a State officials have assured the race problem in America. There environmental safety of the is, however, a racism problem in pipeline. However, there have America.” been 220 pipeline spills in 2016 The United States prides alone, as well as one in North itself on a unique tapestry of Dakota just three months ago, cultures and backgrounds and a and a pipeline explosion in sense of equality tying them all Alabama this week. The Sioux together. As much as we want people and environmental to believe this is an accurate activists have been protesting portrayal of the country, it isn’t the finishing of this pipeline — and we all know it. Embedded for the past five months, yet inequalities based on race, there has been no agreement ethnicity and socioeconomic made to protect their cultural status are institutionalized and and environmental rights. systematic. Minorities in the Just this weekend, the country are among the poorest situation intensified as police populations. The danger of arrested at least 142 protesters not addressing inequalities and forced others out of land is that people in privileged they had occupied in protest. positions may take advantage The sad irony of this situation of such inequalities. Just as is that it only perpetuates the we saw discrimination that racial injustice Native Americans intertwined people and the have faced since Christopher environment in the Flint crisis, Columbus arrived in America. we see it again in the hills of The limited land that tribes are North Dakota. now entitled to on reservations, In American history classes, we which was allocated by the learned, in a very peripheral way, federal government to begin about the historic discrimination with, is again threatened. I mean, of Native Americans, what century are we in? The same characterized by the systematic history lesson we learned about relocation of tribes westward and Anglo-Saxon colonists pushing onto isolated reservations. This tribes westward and taking their has led to the present 29.2 percent land is reminiscent of what is poverty rate of Native Americans, happening now. An effort to make the highest of any racial group money and expand a business is in the United States. The newly valued over the environmental intensified situation at the concerns of a people and their Standing Rock Sioux Reservation culture — more specifically, the is a testament to their enduring concerns of a minority group. hardships and yet another It sounds unfair doesn’t it? To example of environmental take advantage of an already racism in the United States. disadvantaged group? Well, Environmental justice is defined history shows it happens often. as “the fair treatment and Racism intertwined with meaningful involvement of all environment is at the heart of people regardless of race, color, both situations. The outright national origin, or income, with disregard for the people of Flint respect to the development, due to their races and their implementation, and economic statuses resulted in enforcement of environmental a health crisis that to this day laws, regulations, and policies.” has not been solved. A question In Flint, this type of justice was commonly posed to illustrate non-existent. In Standing Rock, it the environmental injustice of still is nowhere to be found. the city is this: Would this have The Sioux are part of a happened in a predominantly Native American tribe living in white or subsequently richer

city? Probably not. The delay in government action and the neglect officials showed for Flint’s concerns would not have occurred 50 miles down the road in Ann Arbor. At Standing Rock, we can ask a similar question: Would an oil pipeline be constructed near or under a cemetery or church in Ann Arbor or near the city at all? I think you know the answer. Similar to Flint, the people of Standing Rock, who would actually live with this pipeline, were barely consulted — if at all — when it came to the major project. According to Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes, the tribe has said it was not adequately involved in the construction decisions and were not even consulted until after the construction started. In a press release last month, the Sioux people expressed that “the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not hold meaningful consultation with our Tribe before approving construction of this pipeline. They did not conduct a survey of cultural resources.” This highlights a huge flaw in U.S. policy making. Entering a community, whether to fix a problem or unknowingly create one, is dangerous when you have no understanding or consideration of the people who live there. A solidarity movement on Facebook has drawn more attention and hopefully advocacy for the environmental and cultural rights at stake. Situations like the one in North Dakota have the power to shape future relationships between groups and policies on environmental protection. The current disregard for and lack of true consultation with the people of Standing Rock cannot be tolerated any longer. A community’s right to a safe environment is a human right, as is cultural respect. Both are at risk at Standing Rock. The United States has a responsibility to take care of our own, yet we allow the people who have the fewest economic resources to be taken advantage of. There must be a compromise between the Sioux Tribe and Energy Transfers Partners that doesn’t take advantage of the ingrained inequalities of a minority. By playing on inequalities we perpetuate them. If we don’t change something now, if we don’t start a more understanding and compassionate approach to policy, then we run the risk of letting history repeat itself. Standing Rock is a test for the country — and I know we can do better than this. Anu Roy-Chaundry can be reached at anuroy@umich.edu.

JOE GUITH | OP-ED

Head back to business school

ake chances. Take the job other people don’t want and make a success out of it. Get your hands dirty. Listen to those who can mentor you and save you from repeating mistakes made by others. These are the lessons I learned while earning my MBA at the Ross School of Business that have served me well through the turns of my 20-year career in the food service, consumer products, technology and retail arenas with companies including The Coca-Cola Company, KFC, Intel and, today, Cinnabon. One of the key moments of insight came for me during my MBA program when I founded Mcorp, an internationally focused volunteer student organization. At the time, I was simply looking for a way to spend the last Spring Break of my student career. So, I decided to build a new student organization and organize a volunteer trip to Belize. I wanted to unite our classes while raising awareness around social responsibility. I pitched my idea to the administration and was funded $5,500 to get the operation off the ground. Much to my surprise, more than 20 people committed and joined me for a week of philanthropy, self-growth and team building.

Moments like this can be the building blocks of your career. The positive response to Mcorp showed me that it pays to try something different and to put yourself out there with your ideas. Don’t count on an organization to map out your career. Chart your own path. Experiences like Mcorp are why I decided to take control of my career, starting with pursuing an MBA. Talent and skill separate us from our peers, but learning and implementing the principles of leadership move us to a higher plane in our careers and beyond typical achievements. I took the lessons from Mcorp and other experiences with me as I worked at CocaCola as the vice president of global business development and later as the vice president of vending operations for North America. Trust me, no one was champing at the bit to run the vending business. It was tedious and could easily have become the company’s dinosaur business without some TLC and focus on problem solving by investing in new technology. What most saw as daunting, I saw as an opportunity. We threw out the familiar approaches and reversed double-digit sales declines and franchise losses. The result propelled my career

onto an executive track. My MBA experience also greatly informed me about how to build a team. Too often organizations get caught in the habit of hiring someone with the same experience and skills for a given role without considering someone with different industry experience or from a larger operation. As president of Cinnabon, I am constantly looking to improve the organization by hiring people outside the food service arena with a fresh perspective. Embracing new opportunities, reevaluating existing ones and recognizing the value of diverse teams has defined my career. My MBA experience reinforced these instincts by showing me the importance of teamwork and encouraging new ideas and taking chances. I want people willing to put themselves and their ideas “out there.” So forge your own path, take on challenges that others won’t, recognize the strength of succeeding as a team and you’ll put yourself in a position to meet your current career goals and hit goals you haven’t even dreamed of yet.

Joe Guith is the President of Cinnabon and an alum of the Ross Schoool of Business.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com T E A M

S T A T S MICH

OPP

Points/Game

46.6

11.6

First Downs/Game

23.9

12.1

Rush Yards/Game

249.0

111.1

Yards/Rush

5.4

3.3

Rushing TDs

228.1

120.1

Completion %

63.9%

41.7%

Yards/Pass

8.0

5.0

Passing TDs

Interceptions

74.8

58.1

Total Offense

477.1

231.2

3rd-down Conversions

47.7%

15.5%

4th-down Conversions

66.7%

35.3%

Sacks/Game

3.4

1.4

Kick return average

17.2

20.7

Punt return average

17.9

8.8

Punting average

42.1

38.1

Field Goals-Attempts

9-14

3-7

Fumbles/Lost

8/3

12/5

Penalty Yards/Game

43.4

46.0

Time of Poss

33:48

26:13

I N D I V I D U A L

D-Line gears up for home stretch JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Editor

Passing Yards/Game

Offensive Plays/Game

S TAT S

PASSING Player Speight O’Korn Morris TOTALS

Cmp Att Yds 130 207 1691 11 15 89 4 5 45 145 227 1825

TD 13 1 0 14

INT 3 0 0 3

Att Yds 90 450 53 424 53 403 66 348 12 138 15 131 9 47 19 33 4 29 3 19 2 17 3 15 6 12 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 -1 1 -2 1 -11 10 -15 19 -49 371 1992

Avg 5.0 8.0 7.6 5.3 11.5 8.7 5.2 1.7 7.2 6.3 8.5 5.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 -0.5 -2.0 -11.0 -1.5 -2.6 5.4

Lg 42 57 45 34 33 63 17 4 13 14 10 11 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 63

TD 5 3 6 4 0 3 1 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31

No. Yds 38 664 29 345 20 304 6 114 10 75 4 53 5 33 4 28 2 27 2 24 1 23 10 21 1 21 2 18 1 18 1 15 1 12 2 10 1 7 2 6 1 4 2 3 145 1825

Avg 17.5 11.9 15.2 19.0 7.5 13.3 6.6 7.0 13.5 12.0 23.0 2.1 21.0 9.0 18.0 15.0 12.0 5.0 7.0 3.0 4.0 1.5 12.6

Lg 46 26 35 54 15 33 15 14 21 22 23 9 21 15 18 15 12 5 7 4 4 5 54

TD 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14

RUSHING Player Smith, D. Evans Higdon Isaac McDoom Peppers Chesson Hill Henderson 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 Asiasi Crawford Hirsch Jocz McKeon Harris Bunting Johnson, N. Peppers TOTALS

PUNT RETURNS Player Peppers Jocz Evans Perry TOTALS

No. 15 1 1 0 17

Yds Avg. Long 257 17.1 54 27 27.0 0 15 15.0 15 6 -6 305 17.9 54

TD 1 0 0 1 2

INTERCEPTION RETURNS Player Stribling Hill, D. McCray Thomas Lewis TOTALS

No. 3 1 1 1 2 8

Yds Avg. Long 60 20.0 51 27 27.0 27 22 22.0 22 4 4.0 4 0 0.0 0 113 14.1 51

TD 1 1 0 0 0 2

FUMBLE RETURNS Player Hill, L. TOTALS

No. 1 1

Yds 9 9

Avg. Long 9.0 9 9.0 9

TD 0 0

Yds Avg. Long 168 28.0 55 34 11.3 18 28 14.0 15 6 6.0 6 5 2.5 5 241 17.2 55

TD 0 0 0 0 0 0

KICKOFF RETURNS Player Peppers Lewis Henderson Hudson Hill, K. TOTALS

No. 6 3 2 1 2 14

KICKOFFS Player Allen Foug Tice TOTALS

No. 53 8 3 64

Yds 3392 460 189 4041

Avg. 64.0 57.5 63.0 63.1

TB 28 2 0 30

No. 27 27

Yds 1138 1138

Avg. 42.1 42.1

Lg 56 56

PUNTING Player Allen TOTALS FIELD GOALS Player Allen Tice

FG Pct.

Lg 9-13 69.2% 0-0 5-5 3-5 1-3 0-0 45 0-1 0.0% 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+

LEADING TACKLERS Player Gedeon Peppers McCray Thomas Hill, D. Winovich Glasgow, R. Wormley Gary Hurst Godin Charlton Lewis Stribling Kinnel Clark Watson Metellus Glasgow, J. Hudson Bush Pearson TOTALS

Solo 22 31 18 18 20 6 5 9 7 9 7 7 11 7 6 6 6 6 5 3 3 2 232

Ast 39 17 25 16 10 20 21 13 15 11 13 12 5 8 4 4 4 2 3 5 5 4 280

Tot 61 48 43 34 30 26 26 22 22 20 20 19 16 15 10 10 10 8 8 8 8 6 512

TFL 8.5 12.5 8.0 2.0 5.5 4.0 5.5 5.0 6.5 2.0 4.5 2.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5 71

Thursday, November 3, 2016 — 5A

SK PBU 3.0 2 3.5 3.5 4 4 2 2.0 1.0 1 4.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 4.0 3 7 3 1.0 1 27 28

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Eddie McDoom has 12 carries as a wide receiver for Michigan this year.

McDoom relishes role in ‘M’ offense MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

Eddie McDoom knew they were saying his name, but he had to process it for a moment first. The freshman receiver with a name befitting a comic book hero had never heard a crowd yell “dooooom” before. Not in high school, not growing up, not until 109,000 did it at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 3. “At first it sounds like ‘Boo,’ ” McDoom said Tuesday. “When I’m putting two and two together, I’m like, it’s ‘Dooom,’ but it sounds like ‘Boo.’ ” The truth is, Michigan’s first-year standout hasn’t given anyone a reason to boo. Through eight games, McDoom has already piled up 12 carries as a receiver. He has taken them for 148 yards and added four catches for 53 yards. The bulk of those yards have come via the jet sweep, a reverse or a play designed to look like sweep but evolving into something else. McDoom said his favorite so far was a reverse he ran with fifth-year senior receiver Jehu Chesson last week against Michigan State, but he has also run a play where he mimicked a sweep, only to go out for a pass. McDoom said that when he arrived on campus this summer he didn’t realize he would be so involved so soon. It had been just months since he was playing at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. But Michigan offensive coordinator Tim Drevno saw potential in McDoom right away. “He’s very fast,” Drevno said Wednesday. “Doesn’t say much. Unbelievable worker. You put him out there, he’ll just keep going and going and going. He’s a playmaker, and I knew it when he walked in the doors, just during training camp, you could see he had the speed, he had the skillset that you really like in a football player.” The result has been an impact larger than might have been expected from a freshman with just 16 touches. When McDoom comes into a game, defenses have to prepare for him to get the ball. He said that the variations off the sweep were installed in the beginning, which makes sense, because otherwise defenses could key in on stopping the rush to the edge. But even if defenses did know what was coming, it would be no

guarantee they could stop him. McDoom considers himself the fastest player on the team, though he has yet to race any of the expected challengers. Fifth-year senior receiver Jehu Chesson has long been considered the leader, but when Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked if McDoom was as fast as Chesson, he posited another option. “How is (redshirt sophomore linebacker Jabrill) Peppers not the fastest guy on the team?” he wondered. As a competitor, it’s unlikely McDoom would ever outright concede the title of fastest player willingly. But on Tuesday, he went a step further than nonconcession. “Jabrill is fast,” McDoom said. “But I feel like I can take him.” As fast as McDoom is, he has the confidence to match. He declared his intentions to have a breakout season next year (“I’m pretty sure I’m going to blow up,” he said), and with what he’s shown already, the possibility is hard to dispute. But he stops short of taking full credit for all he has accomplished. When asked about his role as the go-to jet sweeper, McDoom deflected. “It’s not really mine,” he said. “I just, I don’t know, I just show the speed. Show I’m the fastest guy here, that’s how I’m always going to think. Speed is my thing. So when they give it to me, I try to make the most of it.” Going forward, Drevno said, there are “lots” more things Michigan can do out of the jet sweep package, both with McDoom and with others. They’re always looking to get more dynamic, he said, and with McDoom, dynamic seems to be the norm. But Drevno was also sure to clarify that his freshman receiver could do more than sweeps. That speed lends itself well to deep balls, too. Seeing deep balls thrown his way seems to fit with McDoom’s plan for a breakout 2017, but for now, the freshman is enjoying every sweep, reverse or decoy play thrown his way. “I didn’t know I was going to make this much of a splash,” McDoom said. “I’m just taking every day as a gift. I’m just going with it.”

“When they give it to me, I try to make the most of it.”

UPCOMING GAMES

11/5

11/12

11/19

11/26

MARYLAND (5-3)

at IOWA (5-3)

INDIANA (4-4)

at OHIO ST. (7-1)

3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium

8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa

Michigan Stadium

Noon, Columbus, Ohio

At this time last year, Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison had to deal with injuries on a line that had a lot of talent but questionable depth. With Bryan Mone out all of last season with a broken leg and Ryan Glasgow sidelined mid-season with a torn pectoral muscle, Mattison had to scramble to find capable bodies to fill run gaps. Those problems became paramount last November, when running backs like Indiana’s Jordan Howard and Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott — both of whom are now starting in the NFL — ran roughshod over the Wolverines. A year later, though, Mattison’s biggest worry was whether his beloved Chicago Cubs would win Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night. “I don’t want to jinx them,” Mattison said. “I just know last night, in the seventh inning, my wife tried to talk to me and I wouldn’t speak to her. ‘Let me concentrate on this.’ ” Stress levels have been through the roof for Cubs fans the past few weeks, but Mattison now has plenty of time to join them — his work life couldn’t be going much better. In recent terms, Michigan’s defensive line is as healthy as it has ever been this late in the season. Other than Mone, who is still practicing but has battled through nagging injuries all year, the Wolverines’ four-man line has a completely healthy two-deep rotation. Those eight players make up what might be the best defensive line in the country, accounting for 33 tackles for loss (for perspective, that’s as many as Iowa’s entire defense). More strikingly, there often appears to be no noticeable dropoff from the starters to the backups. Redshirt sophomore Chase Winovich leads the defensive line in tackles, and redshirt junior Maurice Hurst leads it in tackles for loss, despite both playing mostly second-team snaps. Given the injury struggles Michigan has faced both last

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Ryan Glasgow is healthy for November after suffering a pectoral injury in 2015.

year and in years past, Mattison is very pleased not to have to worry about his position group’s health again. “It’s as well as can be expected,” he said. “These kids are very, very physical football players, and they’ve gone against some big offensive linemen, some physical offensive linemen. Having the ability to rotate them has allowed for them not to have 60 or 70 reps. Getting off on third down has allowed us not to have to play 10, 12 extra reps.” The line has been so effective that none of the players had to overexert themselves through the first seven games of the season. Playing Michigan State last Saturday was one of the first times they were tested, as Spartan running back LJ Scott did some damage with 139 yards and a touchdown. By the end of the game, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh saw a few cracks in his defense’s armor. “I do feel we have some things that we can address and coach and be better at,” he said. “I thought

Classifieds

we got a little tired up front. … Throughout the team, it was good for our defense to be tested.” According to Mattison, the defensive linemen didn’t need to be told that. They felt like stopping the running game was their responsibility, and they recognized that they were missing tackles and playing too high up front. As it works to correct those mistakes, the defensive line is showing that its late-season freshness is more than just a physical advantage. “Mentally and physically,” Mattison said. “They (all) come to meetings every day ready to go. They all practice with the kind of intensity that we want, the alertness we want. It’s a special group. … They love playing together, they have respect for each other. They know the bar’s very high for them. “Some people, when people gain a few yards every once in a while, they’d say, ‘Ah, no big deal.’ This group takes it to heart, and that’s what I think separates them.”

Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, November 3, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

HELP WANTED

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Workbench gadget 6 Antlered beast 10 Glasses, in ads 14 Popular depilatory 15 Campaign staffer 16 Rochester’s bride 17 Part of the soft palate 18 Lady of the knight 19 Concussions generally aren’t visible on them 20 Goal for some college-bound students 23 “What was __ was saying?” 24 Tie __ 25 Rat Pack member 29 Growing concerns? 33 Like a used hibachi 34 Record-setting slugger in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame 38 General on a menu 39 Gadgets 40 One of 34Across’ 2,170 41 Ocular organs of cephalopods, say 43 Aspirin target 44 Nocturnal carnivore 45 Perambulates 47 Piece of cake 51 Poet’s contraction 52 Period needed to fulfill a request ... and a hint to words hidden in three long puzzle answers 58 Homey 59 Pack firmly 60 “__ making this up” 61 Spigot issue 62 Site with tech reviews 63 Trilateral trade agreement, briefly 64 Tag line? 65 Grinder 66 Speed units

DOWN 1 Mötley __ 2 Fiery flow 3 Bleu hue 4 Placate 5 Beseech, as a deity 6 Anti-DWI gp. 7 Venetian valentine message 8 Ones in charge, for short 9 Sixth-day Christmas gift 10 Workshop 11 One who likes to light up? 12 “__ go bragh!” 13 Chooses, with “in” 21 Two-front, as a Coast Guard rescue 22 Divans 25 Trunk piece 26 Put a value on 27 Words before “Yeah, you!” 28 Brubeck of jazz 30 Like much of New York 31 Company with a longtime travel guide

32 They often have guards 35 Self-help letters 36 Super-duper 37 1959 Ben-Hur portrayer 39 Let out gradually 42 Use an Enigma machine, say 43 “Black Swan” Best Actress Oscar winner

46 Bad bottom line 48 “No prob!” 49 Origami staple 50 Reason to trot 52 Corrida beast 53 Israeli weapons 54 Until 55 Scoop 56 Suffragist Lucretia 57 RR station predictions 58 Govt. health org.

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Enjoy the Sudoku on page 2

Sports

6A — Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines set for exhibition against Wayne State Michigan women’s basketball to see first action of 2016-17 on Thursday ahead of season opener Nov. 11 against Oakland NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer

With all the high-profile events in which the Michigan women’s basketball team has participated this preseason Wayne State — the Jumpman at Michigan uniform unveiling, the Matchup: kids clinic Wayne and the open- State 0-0; Michigan 0-0 practice 3-point shootout — When: it is easy to Thursday 7 P.M. forget that the Where: Crisler Wolverines have to yet to Center play a game. That will change Thursday night when Michigan hosts

Wayne State, a Division II team, in an exhibition contest. The game will be a rematch of the Wolverines’ 2013 season opener, when Michigan topped the Warriors, 81-55. And with the season around the corner, excitement has built. “I’m pretty thrilled with how practices have been going,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “A lot of ups and downs with the beginning of the season, but the enthusiasm and the excitement is really high.” On paper, Wayne State appears to pose little threat to Michigan. The Warriors lost six letterwinners from their squad that finished 12-16 last year and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference’s preseason

rankings have Wayne State finishing sixth out of eight teams this season. The Warriors are not completely devoid of playmakers, though. Guard Shannon Wilson returns this year after averaging 13.6 points and four rebounds in 2015-16. Transfer guard Ja’Nee Williams came to Wayne State after averaging 10.9 points last year on an IUPUI team that tallied a 29-2 record.

Wilson and Williams will test a Wolverine defense that Barnes Arico believes has improved from last year. Thursday’s contest will also give Michigan a chance to show off its offensive weapons, the most noteworthy being junior guard Katelynn Flaherty. Flaherty was the Wolverines’ leading scorer last season, accumulating 22.1 points per game and scoring at least 10 points in

“I’m pretty thrilled with how practices have been going.”

34 of 35 contests. Already this season, she defeated senior guard Duncan Robinson of the Michigan men’s basketball team in a three-point shooting contest. Flaherty made 21 shots compared to Robinson’s 20. “I know he’s a great shooter,” Flaherty said of Robinson. “I think it was very exciting. I think I made every shot up until the last ones. It was great to have a good atmosphere.” Thursday will also be the first in-game action for freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick. She enters this season with high expectations after averaging 40.5 points for Benton Harbor High School last year, including a 72-point performance in a playoff game,

a Michigan state record. “We have an incredible freshman in Kysre Gonderzick,” Barnes Arico said. “She was Miss Basketball in the state of Michigan. We now can go 8 or 9 deep without losing a beat.” While Wayne State shouldn’t pose much of a threat to Michigan — barring a stunning upset — the Wolverines are just excited to finally play an actual basketball game against another team. “Preseason becomes long, especially with how hard we go every day,” Flaherty said. “You just have to realize that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s all going to pay off. I think we’re just really excited knowing how well we can do this year.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Guard Katelynn Flaherty begins her junior campaign Thursday night with an exhibition against Wayne State.

ICE HOCKEY

Breaking down the stats behind Michigan’s slump Though goaltending has improved, Wolverines getting outshot by their opponents after excelling last season LANEY BYLER

Daily Sports Writer

Seven games into the season last year, the Michigan hockey team was working with a 5-1-1 record. It was an early indicator of the potential it had that would lead it all the way to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final. The Wolverines hadn’t even created their lethal first line consisting of forwards Tyler Motte, Kyle Connor and J.T. Compher, but they still managed to rack up five wins in their first seven games. This season, though, Michigan is off to a slower start. The No. 17 Wolverines sit at 3-3-1 roughly a fifth of the way into their season. They have three losses at the hands of Union (three weeks ago) and Vermont and Dartmouth (this past weekend). In certain areas of Michigan’s stats so far, the reasons for these losses are evident. The Wolverines have totaled just 156 shots so far this season, while their opponents have generated 256. In the same span last year, they had won the shots battle, 285-195. They’ve totaled 42 penalties in seven games, with an average of 6 per game — 50 percent more than early in last year. However, their opponents combined have scored just 36. And for two of these three losses, Michigan wasn’t able to hang onto an early lead to clinch a win. These traits have been clear since the season opener against Union, and they were still present in the Wolverines’ most recent game. Against the Big Green, Michigan ended the game trailing by 11 shots. And despite tying up the game in the second

period, the Wolverines allowed a late Dartmouth goal, securing their third loss of the season. “We just kind of said we’ve done way too much talking this year and not enough showing it on the ice and showing it in our play,” said senior defenseman Nolan De Jong. “I think, like I said, we did a really good job. We did. Especially in that first play coming out and showing that we had something to prove, and we obviously couldn’t maintain that style of play throughout the entire game. But we did come out with some excitement and we did come out like we had something to prove. So, like I said, it wasn’t the entire 60 minutes like we needed, but it was a good sign going forward.” Despite these problem areas, though, Michigan is capitalizing on its silver linings. The Wolverines’ goaltending, for example, boasts a .934 save percentage overall, much better than their opponents’ .885 and their own .882 from the first seven games of last season. All three Michigan goaltenders that have seen action this season have above a .900 save percentage, with a collective total of 239 saves this season. Penalty kills have also been a high point for the Wolverines this year. Just this past weekend, senior forwards Alex Kile and Max Shuart both found themselves in the penalty box during the second period against the Big Green. Even

though Dartmouth had a twoman advantage, it wasn’t able to capitalize. In these tight plays, the Wolverines have shown that they can secure the defense. Michigan has a lot it needs to work on, but it’s not without its strengths. And since the Wolverines have acknowledged their downfalls early this season, it gives them a chance to fix their mistakes and capitalize on their positives before the bigger games roll around later in the season.

“We just kind of said we’ve done way too much talking.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Michigan Hockey, 2016-17 vs. 2015-16

2.57

Goals per game for Michigan through the first seven games this season (the Wolverines are 3-3-1)

4.43

Scoring average for Michigan through the first seven games of last season, then second in the nation

22.3

Shots per game for Michigan through the first seven games this season, against 36.6 for its opponents

40.7

Shots for Michigan through the first seven games of last season, compared to 27.9 for its opponents

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, November 3, 2016

Three independent game developers talk stress, inspiration and passion for their craft Cooper Riehl wants to make video games. He has wanted to since middle school, when he played GameCube and RuneScape and discovered how to program text adventures onto his TI-85 calculator. Now, he’s a senior at the School of Engineering, and he’s putting that dream into motion as a programmer and webmaster for Wolverine Soft, a student-run organization dedicated to fostering game development talent. “I would love to do it professionally,” Riehl said in a Skype interview with The Michigan Daily. “I haven’t decided what I want to do finally when I get out of college, but I would love to work at a bigname studio or a small indie studio with a couple of friends, as long as we were making enough to support ourselves. It’s definitely a big passion of mine.”

For Riehl, making games is an opportunity to have a career as a software programmer in a field that brings people joy. “I do think games are an art form, but for me it’s more about programming something exciting rather than some boring old system in a bank somewhere,” he said. “I like the idea of writing code to create something that people actually enjoy using rather than just another random application.” He’s not the only one around campus who dreams of making video game development a career. According to Riehl, more than 80 new members signed up for Wolverine Soft this semester alone — the biggest uptick in membership since Riehl joined the club three years ago. It’s not hard to understand why independent game development is currently such an appealing

career venue for young programmers, artists and musicians, as both mainstream and game-industry-specific journalists have brought monumental attention to indie success stories. In 2012, Lissanne Pajot and James Swirsky’s acclaimed documentary “Indie Game: The Movie” told the story of four independent developers whose projects turned into landmark commercial and critical successes, simultaneously making each of them millions and skyrocketing them into avant-gardist wunderkind status among their industry peers. The New Yorker and The Atlantic have also published extensive profiles of developers Rami Ismail and Jonathan Blow, respectively, highlighting their near-overnight successes, their road-hitting indie hero lifestyle and their thorough dedication to their art. Continue on Page 2B Writer: Jacob Rich, Senior Arts Editor Design: Katie Beukema

the b-side

2B — Thursday, November 3, 2016

INDIE GAMES From Page 1B More recently, the runaway success of Toby Fox’s “Undertale” has grabbed the attention of young game developers. A heartfelt, character-driven role-playing game with simple graphics and beautiful original music, “Undertale” was Fox’s very first video game (he had previously worked on free modifications for other games), developed in GameMaker: Studio using Kickstarter crowdfunding. His on-the-first-try breakout hit is one of the reasons aspiring developers like Riehl are so dedicated to indie success. “That one (‘Undertale’) was huge for a lot of people, and I’m certainly included in that,” Riehl said. “The impressive part is that Toby Fox is just this one man. I mean, he had like a few people supporting him, but this small development team made this huge successful game that everyone has been talking about.” It’s estimated by some sites that the 25-year-old Fox has made eight-figure profits from “Undertale.” But for most independent developers, it’s certainly not just about the money. As artists, indie developers are given the freedom to experiment and implement their creative visions exactly as they want to. They often work on their own schedules, and are given agency to choose exactly with whom they’d like to work. According to Ye Feng, a developer at the new Shanghaibased indie studio, Pixpil, there’s simply a lot to love about working as an indie developer. “That’s too many to list,” he wrote in an email interview with The Michigan Daily. “Essentially everything you can imagine about doing your stuff rather than your boss’s.” Pixpil is currently working on a post-apocalyptic action, role-playing game called “Eastward,” which has recently garned a ton of buzz on Twitter. They’re a team of eight, and a lone third-party investor is funding them independently. Their game is inspired by games like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Earthbound,” as well as Studio Ghibli’s unique visual animation style. They’re keeping details about the game’s plot under wraps. “In ‘Eastward,’ there’s a middle-age man (who) travels with a mystery white-haired teenage girl, but that’s all I can say for now,” Feng wrote. “Sorry.” Eastward’s pixel art is haunting, stylized and uniquely animated and lit, and the beauty of its design has caught the attention of thousands of fans on Twitter. GIFs of Eastward’s pixel art frequently go viral on gamesfocused corners of Twitter. “Yes, sometimes we feel just lucky on Twitter!” Feng wrote. “To be honest, Twitter is more developer friendly and gathered quite a lot (of) pixel artist and retro-style-lover-gamers. As a niche market, people are so eager to see something awesome or done in a new twist. For example, we have an in-house engine (that) enables dynamic lighting, and sometimes (Pixpil designer) Tommo will make some neat little animation to make the scene look ‘alive.’ I think that’s basically why we’ve got some warm welcomes on Twitter.” Feng told me that Pixpil accomplishes their beautiful 3-D lighting effects using tools written for Moai, a popular opensource game engine. He credits widely available engines like Moai, Unity and GameMaker with leading a wave of brand-new indie developers making great games. “If you take a look into human history, every time a true revolution/evolution happened, there was always a kind of massively-easy-to-use technology behind it,” he said. Riehl agrees. “It’s become so easy now to get into the game development field if that’s something you want to do,” he said. “Obviously it’s not for everyone, but if you’re a programmer and you’re interested in game design, it’s really easy to just go download Unity and just start looking up tutorials on how to use it. And after you spend a few hours, you can make a simple platformer where you, like, jump around and grab a star, or something. So I definitely think the availability of these tools has led to an increase

in volume of indie games and possibly quality. Now we have people that might have great ideas, but before they couldn’t get into the field. Now it’s really easy for them to get a hand in game design.” Some independent developers, though, prefer to write their own engines. Chevy Ray Johnston is the architect of the FlashPunk creation library, a set of tools designed for assisting developers creating games with Flash. Johnston is an indie development renaissance man, to say the least — he’s also the artist, writer, designer and programmer of the upcoming indie RPG “Ikenfell,” an adventure set in a school for witches and wizards. Johnston is coding the engine for “Ikenfell” from scratch in C#. “I absolutely love writing tools and software, maybe as much as developing games,” Johnston wrote in an email interview with The Michigan Daily. “After ‘Ikenfell’ is done, I plan on ramping up the software portion of my company as well, selling some cool developer apps. I got into it through making games. Different games have required different editor tools in order to design them, so building those tools helped me find something else that I love doing.” The game looks incredible — the art style feels quirky and original, the battle system looks like a unique combination of “Paper Mario” and “Fire Emblem” and the setting seems like a brilliant opportunity to tell stories of teen angst, explore hidden secrets and live out classic “Harry Potter”/“Carry On”-style magical fantasies. Gamers are showing no shortage of excitement for “Ikenfell.” Johnston received $61,787 in funding for the game on Kickstarter against a $25,000 goal — that’s more than Toby Fox originally received for “Undertale.” He’s even managed to attract aivi & surasshu, the composers for Cartoon Network’s “Steven Universe” (Johnston’s favorite cartoon), to write the game’s music. “I’m so excited about this,” he said. “They’re game musicians, and I’m a fairly well-known game developer, so we crossed paths eventually. We didn’t know each other that well, but I cold-called (because I adore their work on ‘Steven’) and (sent) them a bunch of screenshots and details about the game and asked if they were interested. They haven’t started working on the soundtrack yet, but I’ve told them I want them to experiment and try some things they don’t normally get to try. I want the music of the game to have a voice of its own. You can expect vocals in at least a couple of the game’s tracks.” “Ikenfell” and “Eastward” are both superb-looking projects that have managed to secure enough funding to last through the course of development. But if you’re planning on getting into game development to make money on easy street, you may want to look more deeply into the realities of the industry. Recently, Vice’s Waypoint published extensive interviews with several game developers about the harsh lifestyle that comes with game development, and the sheer difficulty of managing large-scale projects and experimenting with new kinds of game mechanics. To make matters worse, other journalists, such as The Verge’s Casey Newton, have grown concerned about the financial viability of the independent market — especially on mobile platforms. Both of the developers I spoke to acknowledged the daunting challenges behind indie game development, and the behindthe-scenes stress that goes with it. Feng said the more management-related aspects of game development are the toughest. “(The) first (challenge) is to decide when to stop and when to polish,” he wrote. “There’s always (room) for improvement but you have to stop somewhere. Knowing when to stop is important. Second is to hire the right person. It’s quite hard here.” Johnston says it’s the complex systems behind certain game mechanics that are the most challenging to deal with. “Balancing combat is ridiculously difficult, and I’m still working on it,” he wrote. “I’m actually just trucking through

story, cutscenes and level design right now. Once I’ve done all that in an area, and I’m comfortable with the progression, then I go back over it and balance out the battles. Balancing it is basically just constantly tweaking, testing and thinking outside the box until it feels fun. It’s so much work, and even slight changes can have a massive butterfly effect in how the game feels. It will be a struggle until the very end.” “Doing all the art, programming, design and writing for such a large game is such a vast amount of work I can barely even comprehend it sometimes. I just hunker down, put on music and work all day,” Johnston wrote. Independent developers are also prone to receiving alarming amounts of hate for their projects. “Fez” developer Phil Fish, one of the subjects of “Indie Game: The Movie,” infamously quit the video game industry after being the victim of coordinated attacks from #GamerGate (a movement against increased gender inclusivity in gaming culture) after expressing his vocal support for Zoë Quinn, another independent developer who made international news after being subjected to daily harassment and threats from #GamerGate. More recently, the developer of the extraordinarily promising-looking RPG “Knuckle Sandwich,” Andrew Brophy, has been the victim of what appears to be a coordinated hate-campaign from 4Chan’s /v/ imageboard, posting swarms of negative comments on a recent promotional gameplay video uploaded to his YouTube channel. But despite the challenges inherent to the profession, the independent development community shows no signs of slowing down. The in-development games featured in this article, “Ikenfell” and “Eastward,” are merely the tip of the iceberg for excellent-looking, ludicrously creative video games being made by small teams. Johnston recently pointed me toward “Cryamore,” an animeinspired action-RPG with beautiful pixel art that received nearly $250,000 in funding on Kickstarter. Gabe and Michelle Telepak, the couple behind the adorable puppy-themed exploration game “Butt Sniffin’ Pugs” is so close to hitting their $60,000 Kickstarter goal, with less than a day left to go. And only Tuesday, a Norwegian indie development studio released “Owlboy,” a game nearly a decade in the making, to overwhelming acclaim. I suppose that I should admit to you that I’ve been working on my first independent game project since summer semester. It’s a role-playing game themed around sexual stigma called “Post Modern Girls.” And while I’m working with some excellent people on the project — Music, Theatre & Dance junior James Fischer is composing the music, and Eastern Michigan University art student Jane Hodges has provided some incredible artwork — I’m still nervous about so much. Am I actually a competent enough programmer to make the project work? Am I going to be able to get funding somehow? What if I do a Kickstarter and it fails? What if I get hate? What if I’m not talented enough to make video games after all? I pestered Johnston to give me some advice. His words were stern but salient — and I think any independent developer could draw something helpful from what he had to say. “Keep it simple, and don’t add all this complexity to the game. It’s way too tempting to add new features because you feel like the gameplay isn’t deep enough, but adding more stuff is not the solution to that. All that does is water it down. Find the strongest aspects of the system and see what you can do with them, how you can bend and stretch them and create new puzzles and problems out of them. ‘Portal’ isn’t fun because they kept adding new guns, it’s fun because one gun is all you really need. I think if more RPG developers think this way, we could see some really interesting new games.” Wolverine Soft holds open meetings every Monday from 7-9 p.m. in 3150 DOW, and encourages first-time game developers to attend. “Ikenfell” is expected to release in June 2018. The development of “Eastward” is chronicled on Twitter @ pixpilgames.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM COLUMN

The right kind of screen violence The best kinds of horror movies don’t go with senseless, glorified gore

his column contains whole plotline hinges on who has spoilers about the power and who is powerless, the seventh season of “The person in power being the perWalking Dead.” petrator of violence. What’s more Last Sunday, telling is that Negan “The Walking becomes the cenDead” returned for ter point of the epiits seventh season, sode. The plot exists carrying with it because of him, waits the promise for the for him and then folresolution of season lows his actions for six’s cliffhanger — the remainder of the who does Negan, episode. Negan is so the show’s latest much the episode’s murderous villain, that he almost MADELEINE star kill? There are so becomes the hero. GAUDIN many reasons why He’s good looking, that’s a bad cliffhanger, but that’s smooth-talking and easily misanother column. taken for an actual badass. Negan’s first victim is revealed He’s the kind of villain that can early on in the episode. Abraham easily be mistaken — especially — a middle-tier character on the by people who get most of fan favorite scale — gets a barbed- their violent imagery through wire-wrapped baseball bat to the first-person video games and head. It’s gruesome and hard to television — as the sort of Heath watch. But it’s nothing compared Ledger in “The Dark Knight” to the next beat down in which antihero. A clear antagonist who the show returns to its source steals the show with his charm material and has Negan kill and complexity, which makes you Glenn (who barely escaped death — if only for a second — almost last season) like he does in the root for him. comic books. The scene is horriBut, there are ways to show ble and unnecessarily so. So much violence that are much more visual time and space is given to intentional, more careful and Glenn’s bloody head. Even after less problematic. “The Walking he is reduced to a pile of essen- Dead” has done it before. But, tially meat pulp, the camera con- I’ve already spent enough of this tinually returns to his corpse. “film” column talking about TV. Intense violence is not new Coming out of spook season, in “The Walking Dead,” or any- I’ve seen — and worn — a lot of where on screen for that mat- fake blood in the past week. One ter. I’ve heard it preached for direction, and really my favorite years that violence on-screen direction, that good gore can go is makes kids more violent because absurd. Slasher films of the 1970s it desensitizes them to it. And overflow with the cherry-red that’s true, but it’s important to blood of over-the-top gore. acknowledge different repreA standout for its blood sentations of violence and gore to enjoyment ratio is “Texas on film. The kind shown on the Chainsaw Massacre.” As a kid season premiere of “The Walking growing up in Texas, I quickly Dead” is some of the most dan- became familiar with the plot gerous. on the slumber party circuit. It’s dangerous because it is It has a very classic (duh, both senseless and glorified. The because it is a classic) plot. A

van full of teenagers runs out of gas in rural Texas and slowly become victims of Leatherface, whose weapon of choice is, you guessed it, a chainsaw. It’s a very violent movie, but the violence is exaggerated to the point of absurdity. The characters are chainsawed, impaled on meat hooks and otherwise hacked to death. “Scream” pretty much does the same thing. Its opening scene is horrifically bloody, but it monopolizes on its own absurdity — this time in a far more selfaware way — to draw a fine line between whose actions are deemed heroic. It pulls us into the violence only to push us, leaving us disgusted by the brutality and our momentary sympathy with it. Where “Scream” finds humor, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” finds moments of real cinematic beauty. The final two shots, of the blood-soaked sole survivor being carried to safety in the back of a pickup truck and Leatherface swinging his chainsaw against the rising sun, are oddly beautiful. They remind the audience why good horror movies are scary — they make us want their characters to live, while shows like “The Walking Dead” tell us we should want to watch them die. Perhaps “The Walking Dead” has fallen victim to its medium. No matter how gory or gruesome horror movies get, most don’t last longer than two hours. “The Walking Dead” has already run for over 80 hours with no end in sight. There’s no condemnation of the violence and it instills no fear in its audience because after 80 hours of antagonists that are either one-sided or literally braindead, the audience has been told “This is the way things have to be.” Good gore tells its audience instead, “This is way things are, but not the way they should be.”

THE VAULT | ‘JENNIFER’S BODY’ (2009), 20TH CENTURY FOX

‘Body’ mixes teen angst with horror It’s time to reevaluate the over-the-top Megan Fox demon film ASIF BECHER Daily Arts Writer

One of the essential truths of this world is spoken in the first minute of “Jennifer’s Body:” Hell is a teenage girl. Teenage girls themselves will be the first to tell you this is true. Their teenage years are a time period of endless oscillation between viciousness and vulnerability, kindness and cruelty. It’s no coincidence that teenage girls are the stars of most of our modern popular horror and dystopian fiction — nothing captures the melodrama and awe and ruthlessness better than an environment to match. Bearing this in mind, “Jennifer’s Body” ranks among the most definitive portrayals of teenage girls navigating the mess of high school. It’s not “Mean Girls” or “Heathers,” but I’d argue it almost deserves a place among their ranks. This might be surprising, given that “Jennifer’s Body” is a largely unnoticed movie from 2009 that barely recouped its budget, despite starring Megan Fox at the peak of her post“Transformers” uberfame/overexposure. It’s always seemed strange to me that this movie never attained legend status, because it has all the elements of a cult classic: killer soundtrack, poor box office performance and critical reception, questionable special effects, a silly story and a genuine emotional core grounding the whole affair. And yet, here we stand. Another Halloween season passes by and “Jennifer’s Body” still isn’t getting the glory it deserves. “Jennifer’s Body” tells the story of Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried, “Love the Coopers”) and her best friend Jennifer, played by Fox. Needy is the beta to Jennifer’s alpha, put-

ting up with all kinds of nasty jokes and power plays in the name of friendship. Despite this, Needy is very clearly in love with Jennifer. One night, the girls go to a local bar to see an indie band, Low Shoulder. Later that night, the band kidnaps Jennifer to use her in a virgin ritual sacrifice to Satan in exchange for fame and success. The only problem is that Jennifer isn’t a virgin at all, so instead of dying, she’s possessed by a demon that turns her into a murderous cannibalistic monster. Despite all the supernatural top-layer shenanigans, “Jennifer’s Body” is maybe one of the most painfully honest movies I’ve seen in its representation of the nastiness of adolescence. Not in the sense of what happens, but in how it’s motivated and in the precision of the characterizations. There’s the the indie pretentiousness of the members of Low Shoulder, matching crescent moon tattoos and all — “Do you want to work at Costa Coffee forever?” asks the lead singer to his hesitant drummer when he voices nervousness about actually murdering Jennifer, “or do you want to be rich and awesome, like that guy from Maroon 5?” There’s the dopey apathetic faux-concern of Needy’s boyfriend, who repeatedly fails to believe her when she warns him about Jennifer being a demon. “Needy, I care about you as a person” he says, “not just some girl I made love to for four minutes the other night.” Then, of course, there’s Jennifer. She’s mean and callous even before the demonic possession, but she’s first and foremost vulnerable. You see it in the way her voice rises an octave as she flirts with the older, more sophisticated band members of Low Shoulder, in her inability to ever hurt her best friend despite her all-encompassing demonic

urges and in the hurt she feels when Needy throws her out of her house. There’s a scene late in the movie in which Jennifer is getting ready for the big dance. We see her reflection up close in a small mirror on her desk. She’s smearing makeup on her face, and the look in her eyes is unmistakable if you’re at all familiar with the feeling: she’d give anything to be anybody else in this moment. Perhaps the most truthful element of “Jennifer’s Body” is the relationship between Needy and Jennifer. They’re deeply devoted to each other in the obsessive, intensive way that’s so specific to the friendships of teenage girls. Their power dynamics shift continually from scene to scene, minute to minute. They love each other, they hate each other, they try to kill each other. It’s deeply complicated and ridiculous in the way only high school can be. The main issue critics took with “Jennifer’s Body” was that it wasn’t scary enough to be an effective horror movie. Now, it’s not that the critics were wrong, per se, just that I think they might have misunderstood the movie’s intentions. The movie never intended to frighten with jump scares or monster makeup. “Jennifer’s Body” was about the visceral, heart-pounding brutality with which teenage girls tear themselves and each other apart — all bared teeth, sharp smiles and the awful emptiness of wanting everything so very deeply and for far too much. So, the weak humor and horror actually matters very little — it’s funny in the ways it needs to be, in ways that are true to the characters. And it’s scary in ways that are true to life. Nothing is more terrifying than a teenage girl willing to do whatever it takes to get exactly what she wants.

the b-side

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ARTIST

PROFILE

Katzman said. “I didn’t feel like a jazz player even though I liked Daily Community Culture Editor jazz a lot … I was always kind of trying to start a rock band.” “Led Zeppelin, ‘The Ocean.’ I Not exclusively rock, My Dear heard it and I totally freaked out. Disco/Ella Riot was a product I told my dad I had to play drums. of this pursuit, where Katzman He told me I stuck my finger played with future Vulfpeck right in his chest and said, ‘I’m a members Joe Dart and Joey drummer, man.’ ” Dosik. After This is Theo touring with them Theo Katzman Katzman — for three years, drummer, guitarist, Katzman sought & Joey Dosik singer and 2007 his own solo Saturday at 8 p.m. graduate from the career, beginning University’s jazz work on his debut The Blind Pig program — best album Romance $15 advance, $17 known around Without Finance in day of show Tree Town for his 2009 and releasing work with the funk it in 2011. While 18+ group Vulfpeck and on tour, Katzman former electro-pop performed with group, My Dear Disco, currently Love Massive, a band that also on tour for his next solo album, included Dart, after releasing due for release in January. For the the first full-length album from first time since 2011, Katzman is Vulfpeck that same year. returning to Ann Arbor for a solo And with The Beautiful Game, performance at the Blind Pig this Vulfpeck’s second LP, coming out Saturday, Nov. 5. only weeks ago, Katzman has once It has been a swift climb to again hit the road to promote his popularity for Katzman, who for next solo album after writing and six years has been collaborating producing both albums over the with Vulfpeck, while concurrently course of the last two years. Two working on his own projects. different sounds at the exact same Since graduating, he has been a time, but with a similar range part of the aforementioned My of artists collaborating — Dart, Dear Disco, written and produced Dosik and Julian Allen, the three music with the likes of Darren of whom will be at the Blind Pig, Criss and Ann Arbor’s Charlene along with Woody Goss and Tyler Kaye, released his first solo album Duncan, a producer who recorded Heartbreak Hits and collaborated much of the album at his home on six Vulfpeck projects — four studio in Ann Arbor. The uniting EPs and two full-length albums. thread between all of these Impressive, yes, but even more absurdly talented artists? Just that so when considering the broad — absurdity and Ann Arbor. array of genres encompassed “It’s sort of like in each different under all these projects. From project there’s been different funk to rock to pop, Katzman has levels of going back to Ann Arbor,” covered and mastered it all in his Katzman continued. “It’s a scene. written and collaborative work. Ann Arbor is a great breeding Vulfpeck brings the funk and ground for the future arties of the Katzman comes in solo with the world.” pop and rock, not to mention a So let’s bring on the rock moment of Irish-American fusion now, because despite Vulfpeck’s when he toured with The Olllam undeniable mastery of funk, in 2014. Katzman’s here to play a rock “Nowadays I’m making the show and give some advice about kind of music I want to make both life and the blind chances he takes with my solo project and with as a multi-instrumentalist in it. Vulfpeck,” Katzman said. “But my His next album is “more rock and thing is more of a rock thing, and a little heavier” than the acoustic Vulfpeck is more of a funk thing.” lightness of his first; it’s more rock Originally from Long Island, ‘n’ roll. Katzman grew up surrounded “I’m hoping people think (the by music. A professional jazz different genres are) interesting trumpetist, his dad played in the and not just confusing, but that’s studio band during the Johnny the risk you take by just being Carson years at “The Tonight alive,” Katzman said. “People Show,” and his grandparents, project sometimes that they’re classical musicians, performed trying to fit into a particular in orchestras like The Detroit mold because maybe it seems Symphony and The Philadelphia like it’s more marketable. But Orchestra. Music obviously runs our generation will be testing in his veins, but Katzman insists the limits of this because we are there was nothing forcing him the iTunes generation. We’re the into creative arts; he simply found kids who grew up listening to himself there by the booming all different kinds of music, who progression of John Bonham’s grew up listening to the greatest groove. hits.” “(Because of my dad) I knew And he’s right. In the digital it was possible to have a life in age, we have every kind of music music. A lot of kids don’t know at our fingertips for the first time it’s possible, and that makes a big in history. Not only does this difference in whether you take the give us unbelievable power to step to try to focus on it,” Katzman converge different sounds, but said. it also encourages the testing Katzman formed his first band of limits with what can be in high school — a little indie mixed and messed with. There’s thing by the name of Lovango. boundless opportunity to derive They were deep underground, influence from Funk Brothers too big for Myspace or Bandcamp, and Frank Ocean; there are but not too big for inexplicably endless occasions to match wits strange names. From there, he with James Brown and Jimmy entered the University’s Jazz and Page, as long as there’s something Contemplative Studies program, to hold the sounds together. For where he contemplated jazz with Katzman, that something is the a focus in drums — his weapon of lyrics. choice. “What will glue everything “I was in the Jazz program, and together is good songwriting. If I was definitely a lost soul there,” the songs are good it shouldn’t NATALIE ZAK

matter what the styles are; you should be able to pull from anywhere in that realm,” Katzman said. “Lyrics are my favorite element of writing, and they’re usually where I get my musical ideas. I try to get a concept and go from there.” Maybe that’s why Katzman has perfected the pop-rock song. Listen to “Backpocket” off of Vulfpeck’s Thrill of the Arts, a track Katzman wrote, and tell me you don’t want to dance. Now listen to songs like “Hard Work” and “Brooklyn” and tell me you don’t want to dance harder. It’s not the same funk of the Vulf, but it’s the rock Elvis brought when he started shaking his hips. It’s popular music done right. “I think quality music is becoming very popular based on its own merit again,” Katzman said. “The independent artists movement is finally starting to get its own footing with the Internet now that streaming is more widespread and the technology is more readily available to create art for everybody. I think good music’s coming back.” This isn’t your Top 40 pop that strains the ears with every repetitive chord progression after the next. This isn’t your New 98.7 radio trash. This is your “White Picket Castle” crying self who wants to feel those deeply buried emotions in the pit of your stomach, in your gut; it’s the person who wants to shamelessly dance to a modern rock song without the sub-genres’ smirks lingering in your peripheral. This is music that makes you want to feel expressively and unrelentingly. “I want people to feel something. I want people to feel inspired and moved into their own creative power,” Katzman said. “I think inspired art inspires, and I try to make music that emotionally resonates with me and try to extrapolate real feelings that are human whether it’s my own feelings or someone else’s and turn that into a compelling piece of art. So when I play live I really aim to transfer that to the audience, the same kind of emotion that went into making the music.” And sometimes that feeling requires one to sell one’s soul to Billy Joel — c’est la vie. But no matter the cost, come join Katzman, Dosik, Dart and Allen in their journey to rock. Try and see it as a humanitarian effort or a certain kind of charity work. “Live performance of music specifically can bring people together; it can bring people in better harmony with themselves. Not that I’m doing it for humanitarian reasons, I just love to rock, I’m a rock dude, and I need to play — that’s not the same as real charity work. It’s rock n’ roll.” Listen to Dosik sing his soulful tunes and witness Joe Dart tug at the bass like he’s playing strings of a heart as Katzman reminisces on his time passing out in the green room of the Blind Pig after “I-don’t-even-know what concert.” Come for the music, stay for the living proof that some unbelievably talented individuals survive to tell their tale of the University, even if they lost their documented proof. “I can’t find my diploma, so I hope that I don’t actually have to present it to anyone,” Katzman concluded. “Trust me though, I did college.”

SINGLE REVIEW A“After the Afterparty (feat. Lil Yachty)” Charlie XCX

Charli XCX is no newcomer to the pop scene, and she’s not pulling any punches in “After the Afterparty.” Featuring Atlanta-based rapper Lil Yachty, the song jumps from sickly sweet piano pop song to rampant party anthem in a matter of seconds. This is

an unashamed, straight-tothe-point ode to partying all night and not regretting it the next morning. Similar in tone to Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop” (in fact, both videos are directed by Diane Martel), the lyrics capture the true essence of partying, albeit without the most quotable words. The chorus is definitely the highlight, with repetitions of “we’re all in love” — destined to be repeated at many a house party in the next few months. Charli XCX’s voice is nearflawless for this kind of music;

the harmonies and overlaying vocals really add to her appeal as the best party friend that you could want. Even Lil Yachty’s verse fits well, and the inclusion never seems forced, like many rap verses in pop songs do. References to Rihanna and partying all weekend mean this song was likely never something serious. Charli XCX is known for her tongue-incheek electropop, and that’s just what you get from this high-energy collab. - MEGAN WILLIAMS

Thursday, November 3, 2016 — 3B

FOOD COLUMN

Knead to know — mixing spirituality and cooking Prepping Shabbat dinner with Michigan Hillel’s Rabbi Lisa Stella SHIR AVINADAV

Daily Food Columnist

Do you ever think about where the loaf of bread you just bought comes from? Who grew the wheat and grinded it into flour? Where was it baked and by whom? If you’re like most people, then the answer is likely “No.” In today’s world (the first world that is), food is pervasively readily available for consumption. We don’t necessarily think much about where our food comes from, because we don’t have to. Society has become fixated on and structured around the practicality and ease of mass consumption. We have fast food and cupcake vending machines, frozen meals and restaurant take out. But when asked to recall what some of our most meaningful experiences around a table are with friends or family, we’ll likely answer with “eating a meal.” At least that’s what the students who attended the first of three cooking workshops hosted by the University of Michigan Hillel’s Rabbi Lisa Stella this past Sunday would tell you. Before I go any further, I’d first like to say that I’m by no means a religious or very spiritual person and my intention here isn’t to proselytize. I was approached with the opportunity to share my love of cooking while also exploring its connection to my cultural roots through Rabbi Lisa’s cooking seminar. The seminar itself is intended to help students interested in hosting others for Shabbat meals feel comfortable cooking by giving them the tools and recipes to create both a meal and welcome others into their homes, while also exploring Jewish studies related to cooking and hospitality (for those interested in coming to the next session, you can sign up here). Shabbat is the weekly day of rest, which different Jewish families celebrate differently. I gladly took on this opportunity to examine food through a different lens. After all, I am a food writer and examining different cultural practices surrounding food is part of the job. And through the inextricable link between food and culture, I have gained a new perspective on not only the way I

cook and consume food, but also the way I share it with others. In the first session, students gathered together to learn a challah recipe (a Jewish egg bread) and discussed the symbolic meaning of bread as sustenance. While we kneaded, mixed and waited for our bread to bake we learned to make a few easy dips for the bread (recipes below). We roasted a head of garlic, smashed chickpeas and combined them with tahini and green onions for a salad and blended white beans with garlic and oil for a creamy hummus-like dip (all in under 20 minutes!). After our rolls turned golden brown in the oven and the kitchen was filled with the sweet, rich smell of baked bread we sat around the dining room table, enjoyed the product of our culinary labor and discussed some Jewish texts. I was surprised by what I learned. I hadn’t known what to expect, considering the last time I was exposed to any sort of Jewish learning was back when I still had braces (at the age of 13, prior to my Bat Mitzvah). We began by discussing the significance of the blessing over challah (or the “Hamotzi”) — something my mother had instructed me in saying at every Shabbat dinner when I was younger. I’d never considered what the rhythmic words actually meant. It was just something I had to do before eating on Friday nights, a measure put in place before I could indulge in our meal. I learned that bread in Judaism is a spiritual food. It represents our ability to create something from nothing to sustain ourselves — something we don’t often recognize when we purchase bread at a bakery without seeing the work that went into making it. How we get our food now, for the most part, is so removed from the ways in which it’s grown and made, especially if we don’t cook it ourselves. This underappreciation of food in our society makes us forget the precarious balance of our position within this world. Whether you’re religious or not (like myself) there’s great value in recognizing that our food comes from somewhere and had to be made by someone. Although cooking is one way

that helps remind us of this labor, the simple practice of mindfulness when we eat — sharing a meal with others, setting apart a time and space in our days for a meal or simply taking a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the food we’re eating — helps keep us grounded. When we’re able to examine the seemingly trivial aspects of our day-to-day lives, we’re then able to consider phenomena of greater importance. Recipes: Challah (recipe from notderbypie.com) Makes 2 small loaves or 1 large loaf. ½ cup warm water 1 packet (2 ¼ tsp) yeast 1 tsp sugar 3 tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 3-4 cups flour 1/3 cup vegetable oil ¼ cup water 2 eggs For brushing: 1 egg 1 tbsp honey (or water) Directions: Proof yeast in ½ cup water. Mix flour, salt and sugar together. In a separate bowl mix together wet ingredients: eggs, oil and water. Add wet ingredients to the yeast and stir. Add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture, mix well, then add the remaining flour. Knead well for about 5-7 minutes. Cover and let rise 45 minutes. Braid or knot challah and let rise an additional 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375º F. Brush with egg wash and bake for 20-22 minutes until the top is golden brown. Rav Lisa’s White Bean Dip 1 can of Cannellini beans 1-2 cloves garlic ¼ cup olive oil (plus more for drizzling on top) 2 Tbsp water Salt to taste ½ teaspoon dried thyme (or any other herbs you have on hand, optional) Directions: Pulse together the garlic and oil, and about half of the can of beans to blend well. Add the remaining beans and herbs and blend on low for 15 seconds. Add water if needed for desired consistency. Serve with drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of coarse salt.

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

Safran Foer discusses new novel Zell Writers series to present the acclaimed author at Rackham “I wouldn’t say they’re autobiographical or cathartic Daily Arts Writer or therapeutic, but that they’re expressive,” he said in reference When God called out to to his novels. Abraham, Abraham responded “Here I Am” is a departure simply, “Here I am,” a response from Foer’s earlier work. 11 years that brings equal later, he’s much parts clarity and closer to being the Jonathan Safran confusion. It’s so second-coming Foer simple and yet of Philip Roth his provokes questions critics always said Friday at 7 p.m. like, “Who is he?” he should be. and “Where is “When I was Rackham here?” and “Why is younger I was Auditorium he there?” more into magi$12-$32 Those words, cal realism and and the mess they big visuals and bear, serve as the title of Jonathan big voices and now there’s someSafran Foer’s latest book. It’s the thing about a certain kind of prefirst novel in over a decade from cision … and dialogue that I like Foer, who will be at Rackham more,” Foer said. Auditorium on Friday for a His first two novels, “Everyreading and conversation with the thing is Illuminated” and director of the Helen Zell Writers “Extremely Loud and IncredProgram, Douglas Trevor. ibly Close,” have a whimsical and “Here I Am” follows the Bloch winding style. “Here I Am” has family — most closely, its boys, its feet more solidly on the earth; men and almost-men — as the it’s grounded and sharply real. family navigates death, divorce Foer painstakingly paints the and bar mitzvahs. “Here I Am” is lives of the Blochs, from their all about the placement of things. “Miele vacuum, Vitamix blender, Physical place, emotional place Misono knives” to their conand historical place mix and mess sumption of “Freudian amounts with each other. of sushi.” He creates, through “There’s a funny way in which a these meticulous details, a world book can be an expression of one’s that is so closely related to the emotional place but it can also present world. A world where the place you emotionally. It works bodies of Syrian children wash in both directions,” Foer said in a up on beaches and Rihanna lyrphone interview. This emotional ics can be a personal ethos. placement, he continued, is “I don’t know that I’m any something he strives for in all his better at life than I was before work. I knew anything. Sometimes MADELEINE GAUDIN

knowing things makes it harder,” Foer said in regards to the former image. The book grapples with the reconciliation of mundane tragedies — divorce, getting in trouble in Hebrew school, the death of an internet avatar — against the tragedies of the rest of the world. As the main character’s marriage unravels stateside, the Middle East unravels following devastating earthquakes hitting Israel and the West Bank. With “Here I Am,” Foer creates quite the tangle of character and storylines, of ideas and questions. But it is not his intention to untie the knot their lives and issues create. “I think for me a book is not like coming upon a jigsaw puzzle in the forest and saying, ‘Oh, let’s see if I can put this thing together,’” he said. “It’s more like coming upon … a leaf or a feather in a forest and saying, ‘What is this? Where did it come from?’” The success of the novel, for Foer, lies not in its ability to answer big questions or solve big problems, but in its ability to capture him emotionally. “I don’t really have any definition of good that I care about or even aim myself toward other than the book being a kind of expression of where I am in that period of time emotionally.” Thus, the answer to the questions raised by the book’s title easily could be both Foer’s dining room in Brooklyn and the book itself.

4B — Thursday, November 3, 2016

the b-side

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM INTERVIEW

Director talks activism

‘Agents of Change’ explores racism on college campuses REBECCA LERNER Daily Film Editor

“What happened is that the world changed in the last 18 months,” said Abby Ginzberg, the co-director and co-producer of the new documentary, “Agent of Change,” in a recent phone interview. “Between Black Lives Matter and college campuses really reacting and having their own demonstrations, it became another activist moment. It connected the story we were telling to the present, and it totally transformed the film.” The documentary “Agents of Change” looks at the untold story of the struggle for a more meaningful education for Black students on college campuses nationwide in the late 1960s. Ginzberg and her co-director and co-producer, Frank Dawson, were on the campus of Cornell University during a pivotal moment in the movement to expose racism in higher education — a 1969 takeover of a campus building by Black students in protest of recent discriminatory events. They joined forces to create a film documenting the experiences they had and witnessed during the demonstrations. “The film’s characters were caught at the crossroads of the civil rights, Black power and anti-Viet-

nam war movements at a pivotal time in America’s history,” Ginzberg said. “Today, over 45 years later, many of the same demands are surfacing in campus protests across the country, revealing how much work remains to be done.” Ginzberg asserted that the experiences of the characters in the film were not unique to Cornell or San Francisco State University — demonstrations and demands for more Black students and professors took place at colleges across the country. She and Dawson felt the need to tell the story through the film because of its lack of representation in the media and in history as a whole. “I don’t know why the story hadn’t been told before,” Ginzberg said. “Each generation finds something in the generation that preceded it that needs to be told, and it hasn’t been told as well as it should have. There are blackouts throughout incredible parts of American history. I think this is just one example of it.” The film aims to inspire its collegiate audiences to look at the representation of their own schools and consider the racial dynamics of the classrooms and the dearth of spaces for people of color. Ginzberg said she thinks the film especially has the potential to create open dialogue because of the partnership of herself and

Dawson, as a white woman and a Black man. “We reflect different aspects of what the struggle was like, at this case in Cornell. The reason San Francisco State and Cornell were successful was that, over time, they were supported by a majority of white students,” Ginzberg said. “Down the road, there was an alliance between the majority of the white students and the demands of the Black students. That story is told visually in the film, and I think that’s an important aspect to this.” The film’s ability to start a conversation after it’s over is also contingent on the group of people. Ginzberg emphasized the necessity to have both Black and white students, faculty and administrators committed to the issue to have a productive dialogue and facilitate change on a larger scale. “We want all people who care about issues of race on campus. It’s been important that we have representations from across the campus present at every screening because the film evokes a dialogue,” Ginzberg said. “We’re hopeful that the film begins a dialogue that can continue long after the film screening is over. The film is designed to link up with the struggles that are taking place today, even though on each campus, it’s a different story.”

BEST CONCERT EVER

The explosive live energy of PVRIS SAMANTHA LU For the Daily

In this new miniseries, Daily Music Writers reminisce on the best live show they ever saw. If I had asked 14-year-old me what I saw myself doing the day before graduation, my younger self would probably have thought I’d be burning all of my homework assignments or doing something equally exhilaratingly destructive. Instead, I’m sitting on the sun-baked pavement outside of St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, trying to keep the loose shards of gravel scattered about from slowly migrating up my shorts. The exterior of the building is worn, slightly graffitied, infused with the ghosts of concerts past, as if the furious energies of those countless nights have bled straight through the walls of the hall. I’m sweaty and hungry, but the anticipation pumping through my veins fuels me, keeping my limbs restless and my mood bright. It starts raining 30 minutes before doors open. A few lucky people take cover under the awnings that poke out from the building next door, but most of us are vulnerable, left to conquer the weather with nothing but the contents of our bags. When I finally inch into the hall, the air conditioning washes over me like a calm, fresh wave.

I find myself shivering uncontrollably, partially because of the excitement and partially because of the rain that has dampened my head and back. I head straight for the front, delving deeper into the mesmerizing fog and dancing lights with each step. I end up right at the barricade, mere feet away from the edge of the stage. People mill around, bodies compacting closer and closer together with each consecutive opening act. The wait is long, but PVRIS finally comes onstage in a flurry of sound and flashing light, diving into “Smoke” to lead off the night. I’ve listened to their album, White Noise, countless times, but never like this, with the world feeling like it’s exploding apart and the decibels roaring so loudly that my very bones vibrate. Lynn Gunn’s singing isn’t perfectly polished the way it is on studio recordings, but the tiny imperfections and spontaneous embellishments she adds to the songs develop them into entirely new works of art. I scream along as loudly as I can, and when my throat starts to feel hoarse, I double my volume. In between songs she speaks to us, her voice warm and sweet, a clear contrast to the vivid energy of the music. She orders us to jump and we do, flashing brightly as the lights onstage cheer us on. The crowd becomes one boisterous, thrashing organism and I feel as if

my body cannot possibly contain all of the life I’m experiencing. My favorite part of the night is right at the last song, when she leaps down from the stage and walks through the pit, along the boundary that divides the hall between her domain and ours. Her voice grows ever powerful as she stalks along the line, buoyed by the watchful gazes of the burly security guards that stand vigilantly within arms reach and the force of our fevered screaming. She reaches out for us and we reach back, still awestruck that this lioness is here in the flesh. Her hands are small, warm and somehow dry despite the heat and the effort she’s putting into the performance. The concert ends far too abruptly; they finish with their most well-known song, then catapult off the stage with a bang. We pour out of the space in a mess of bodies, and I find myself back at the same spot of pavement, slightly unsteady on my feet. When people ask me about my favorite band, I tell them about the bass, the drums and Lynn’s wonderful voice, but I never mention the academic, personal or mental struggles that PVRIS has helped me through. The night leaves me bittersweetly nostalgic yet hopefully euphoric, ready to face college and all that the next year will bring.

I MISS YOU DAD

The Facebook group was created by two Welsh sisters looking for a place to grieve.

How two sisters created a dialogue about death and family via Facebook ‘I Miss You Dad’ provides forum for grieving daughters, family members JACOB RICH

Senior Arts Editor

I want to tell you about a meme I saw the other day. I’m usually pretty skeptical of memes. For some reason, it seems that under the shadow of the presidential election, memes have been co-opted into a lazy form of political dialogue. I do not claim to understand why Minions, the little yellow cartoon characters, are frequently juxtaposed with strange, conservative ideological statements. Nor do I claim to understand why the “Pepe the Frog” meme became a war-banner for Donald Trump’s alt-right movement. And it’s not just conservatives that use viral images in such a bizarre way. I’m sure anyone from any political background has seen their parents’ friends post unsettlingly strange memes on their Facebook walls. Usually I just ignore them, because most of the time they’re meaningless or vexing. But I saw a meme the other day that completely and utterly stopped me in my tracks. A girl from my hometown of Dexter, Mich. posted an image that was completely black, save for white text. It read: “i miss my dad so much.” That was it. No Minions. No Photoshop-derived garnishes. Just that simple, heart-wrenching statement — “i miss my dad so much.” Suddenly, I wondered how this young lady must have been feeling when she shared the post. What was initially bewilderment at the fact that such a horrific and depressing statement was shared via a meme — a theoretically meaningless, vexing meme — quickly dissolved into empathy. We’ve all lost a family member. This girl just had the misfortune of losing one of her closest, and at a way too young age. And then she posted on Facebook about it. I felt really bad. Maybe she needed someone to talk to. To my further surprise, this image was by no means the only one of its kind. As I clicked through to the image’s page of origin, simply called “I miss you Dad,” I found dozens and dozens more posts just like it, and thousands and thousands of likes and comments, all about deceased fathers. Every single one. “Was this time last year Dads chest X-rays came back (sad emoji),” read one comment. “The beginning of a heartbreaking journey. Wish we had had more

time together x.” “My dad has been in heaven for 3 years now and i miss him very very much,” reads another. “Its very hard for me this time of year because he was my hunting buddy, and we had a lot of good times. I love you dad and miss you. Thoughts and Prayers to all who lost their dad.” The page has 484,002 followers. “We were very close to our dad,” said Rachel, one of the owners of the page. She runs it with her sister, Michelle. “He wasn’t just our dad, but our best friend. We could speak to him about absolutely anything.” Rachel, who declined to give her last name, wrote in a Facebook message conversation with The Michigan Daily that she and Michelle grew up in a little town in Wales. Rachel works as a carer in the UK, and has mostly grown-up children with her spouse. She said, the sisters were devastated by their father’s early passing from cancer, following a heart attack at the age of 39. “When dad was diagnosed with cancer, it felt like our world had been blown apart,” Rachel wrote. “My sister and I moved in with him and cared for him throughout his illness, until the end came … We were with him when he passed.” That’s when Rachel and Michelle turned to Facebook. “In the months following dad’s death, we searched Facebook for others that had been through the same as we had and took comfort in reading different quotes,” Rachel wrote. “We found we could relate to a lot of the posts and saw that there were others who had lost parents, partners and, heartbreakingly, children. We wanted to make a page for us. A page where my sister and I could post our feelings through quotes and pictures.” And so they did. What they didn’t expect was their page to get nearly 500,000 followers, and dozens of comments on every post. Along with their administrators, they still post images that go viral almost every day. One recent image was a photo of an autumn-tinged forest, with the caption: “Honestly — I spent today missing you and that is probably how I will spend tomorrow, and the day after that, and all of the days after that, too. #missingyou.” The comments? Stories from people, mostly women, from every background, about their fathers. A father that died in a car accident. A father that died from cancer. Heart attack. Truck wreck. A baby girl dying at five weeks. A

father dying on his son’s birthday. A woman pledging to sleep next to her father’s metal detector. “The pain will be with me until it’s my turn <3.” “My dad has been dead for 58 years.” “I can’t even describe it.” Though many of the images make references to heaven, “better places” and other places of eternal rest, Rachel told me that she and Michelle are not religious women. “We respect other religions and are aware other people might be/are religious,” she wrote. “We speak with and help people from all over the world and have met with some unusual traditions and interesting ones too. Religion plays a role on the page for those who find comfort from it.” One of Rachel and Michelle’s administrators has of late started a small business on the page selling charms. After receiving requests for charms to remember their loved ones by, the admin began selling metal charms to members of the group. According to Rachel, the initiative is a new, but successful, venture. But it’s not about the money for Rachel and Michelle. For Rachel, the true value of the page lies in the connections she makes with people around the world. “There are so, so, many (stories and) they are all touching in different ways,” Rachel wrote. “I’ve had a few that have made me cry. One young man saw his dad killed by a gang … He was very descriptive and his words will haunt me forever. A lady wrote a story about her life with her dad, her life after her dad and then being diagnosed with cancer herself and having to leave her own children behind. It was beautifully heartbreaking. “People message me because they feel suicidal. Others need support or advice. I have made a few friends on the page. Though we don’t talk away from the page, we chat in general and share common interests, etc. The comments and likes on the page? Yes, the comments have helped with my own tragedy. Talking to others and helping others has helped me work through some of my pain. The likes? I guess it’s nice to know people like what you do, but I’ve never been big on likes. “Actual words of support, I find, are better,” Rachel said. Rachel and Michelle’s page can be found at @Imissyoudadmemorypage on Facebook.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW A “Forever” Code Orange

There truly could not have a been a more wonderful surprise for metal/hardcore enthusiasts to wake up to on Halloween than a new music video from Code Orange, announcing their upcoming album Forever. The music video for this title track looks like it came straight out of a horror movie, as it depicts rebirth through death. It’s no secret that Code Orange is a band known for abrasive tunes and violent

songwriting, and “Forever” holds true to the status quo. It’s exceptionally gritty, completely absent of all color except blood red. The video quickly cuts between shots of the band aggressively jamming out and ritualistic imagery: a circle of candles, a bucket of blood and figures in cloaks. It’s the perfect video for the Halloween season and horror fans, and additionally honors the band’s past. The ritual contains a lot of symbolism about the band’s direction with the new album. Inside the candle circle, the words “It’s Almost Forever” are spelled. Figures in faceless red suits

violently destroy a crown with hammers. A girl rises from the bucket of blood. In closing the video, a body bag is dragged outside and cut open, revealing “I Am King” engraved on the victim’s forehead, which is the title (and literally the album art) of their previous album. Code Orange has effectively set the stage for the January release of Forever with their new video, and have left fans eager for what’s to come in the next few months. It’s almost forever, and Code Orange doesn’t care if you’re ready or not. - DOMINIC POLSINELLI