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CAMPUS LIFE
Student use of nighttime safety efforts sees increase University piloting expansion of SafeRide program NISA KHAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Hispanic enrollment at ‘U’ grows slightly with 2016 freshman class University says socioeconomic diversity also sees boost TIM COHN
Daily Staff Reporter
The the percentage of Black students at the University of Michigan decreased by a margin of 0.51 points for the 2020 graduating class. At the same time, number of Hispanicidentifying students rose by 0.82 percent in this year’s freshman class, according to enrollment statistics released last month — an increase from 344 total students to 428.
The fluctiations followed a long-term trend of low minority enrollment at the University. Kedra Ishop, the vice provost for enrollment management, cites Proposal 2 — which banned Affirmative Action in the state — as a leading cause for low Black student enrollment. However, Ishop noted the University is still investigating other potential reasons for the decrease. “We pursue many courses of action to improve diversity on campus, and some are unsuccessful,” Ishop said. “We
are currently researching this decrease in African-American enrollment. We will be looking at what kinds of students we lost, and why we had fewer African-American students. Was it because of financial aid, was it because of program selection, was it because they got into Harvard? These are all things that we can use to inform us going forward.” The ongoing decrease in Black student enrollment has been a cofus of student activity on campus for decade. It spiked in
2013 #BBUM, where students shared their experiences of being Black at the University on Twitter. University alum Capri’Nara Kendall, former speaker of the Black Student Union, expressed frustration with the low Black and Latino student enrollment in an interview in 2015. “Talk to me when minority enrollment is out of the 4 percent; when we’re looking at more of a 7-percent enrollment for African Americans,” Kendall said in 2015. “We’re looking for more of a SeeENROLLMENT, Page 3
After two crime alerts for hate crimes occurred near the University of Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor last month, Kinesiology sophomore Brianna Kennedy has started taking SafeRide, a free afterhours transportation system, every night to get home after a full night of studying — and she’s not the only one taking extra precautions. “(Walking home alone) is not something I would choose to do if I had the option not to with SafeRide or the bus,” Kennedy said. “I would choose that over walking home because of the recent incidents and all that’s been going on.” On the Friday after President-elect Donald Trump’s win, a female Muslim student was approached by a man who demanded she take off her hijab, threatening to light her on fire if she refused. Days later, another female student
Political science professor predicts LoftSmart aims to ease stagnant future relations for U.S.-China
was pushed down a hill after being ethnically intimidated on campus. As well, several incidents have occured that have not been sent out as alerts. Two weeks ago, an unknown man cut a woman’s face with a safety pin on East Liberty Street, four men assaulted a University lecturer and an Ann Arbor resident found swastikas drawn on his door. Since the incidents and the subsequent increased in student demand for more safety resources, SafeRide has expanded its usual 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. hours to 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., driving students within a onemile radius of the Central and North campuses. “I think it’s helpful,” Kennedy said. “Just with it being winter and the fact that it gets darker earlier. So (the new hours) keep in mind the students.” Steve Dolen, executive director of Logistics, Transportation and Parking, declined to cite the alerts as a reason for the expansion in See SAFE RIDE, Page 3
BUSINESS
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search for A2 housing
David Shambaugh says friction has come to characterize relationship
Study says med. exams aid claims for ayslum
Website launched at University of Virginia expands to Ann Arbor
The U.S.’s relationship with China relationship, fraught with friction and rising competition, will most likely not improve under Presidentelect Donald Trump, according to David Shambaugh, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University who spoke at the Ford School of Public Policy Thursday. About 60 people gathered to listen to Shambaugh discuss his views on the state of U.S.China relations today and their projected evolution over coming decades. His lecture is the first of several organized by the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies on U.S.-China relations over the next year in the context of the U.S. election, as well as upcoming changes in Chinese leadership next fall. Shambaugh began his talk by noting that there is friction between the two nations, especially regarding the past and present U.S. presidents’ wishes to hold China accountable as a world power. Though Shambaugh said the Obama administration implemented policy generally continuous with actions of the Bush administration, Obama’s more left-leaning, internationally based policies lead to greater mistrust from the Chinese government.
CALEB CHADWELL Daily Staff Reporter
LoftSmart, a New York-based startup seeking to connect college students with off-campus housing, is hoping to make an impact in the Ann Arbor market. Sundeep Kumar, co-founder and chief operating officer, said the new website hosts offcampus rental listings in college towns, including information, reviews and the ability to connect with the landlord and sign a lease online. “If you think about it, a lot of students make (housing) decisions based on word of mouth, what friends have told them or what they have seen on street signs and stuff like that,” Kumar said. “At the end of the day, they might not know everything there is to know about that place.” Co-founder and CEO Sam Bernstein formulated the original idea for the site at the University of Virginia and Kumar said he randomly met Bernstein in March of this year at a bar in Austin, Texas. Soon thereafter, Kumar formed a partnership See LOFTSMART, Page 3
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“If there was a shift from Bush to Obama, it was Obama’s even greater embrace of the global governance dimension of the relationship,” he said. However, Shambaugh added that though it is important to recognize the fraught nature of the U.S.-China relationship, there are also several positive dimensions and interdependencies that act as buffers between the
competitive countries — such as billions of dollars in two-way trade, investments and export markets. He also emphasized the strong relationship between Michigan and cities in China. “We’ve got sister city and sister state relationships, including Michigan’s own long-standing relationships in China,” Shambaugh said. “Governor Snyder’s done a great deal to increase that, but it goes
back, in fact, to when I was a student here.” But despite relationships between specific provinces and states, Shambaugh said two-thirds of the public in both countries view each other with mutual distrust due in part to the countries’ differing ideologies, as well as China’s rapidly growing commercial and political presence. He stated See CHINA, Page 3
ELIZABETH XIONG/Daily
David Shambaugh, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, speaks about relations between the U.S. and China at Weill Hall Thursday.
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Vol. CXXVI, No. 38 ©2016 The Michigan Daily
Refugees often struggle to establish proof of trauma, researchers find ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
For the majority of refugees coming to the United States, the process of entering the country is long and difficult, especially for those who have experienced trauma and then have to prove it happened to gain asylum. However, according to a new University study, this burden of proving persecution or trauma is made considerably lighter with the provision of a professional medical examination. Bridgette Carr, law professor and director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan, said refugees have to provide substantial evidence of their persecution or trauma to be granted asylum. Trauma can range from domestic abuse, religious persecution or persecution because of sexuality or nationality. “In America, asylum seekers can put themselves in one of two categories: They can have experienced persecution in the past, and that past persecution can be enough that they get See REFUGEES, Page 3
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Entrepreneurship and franchising discussion
Musicology lecture: Janequin and the French
Pakistan rural development lecture
“Arts & Sustainability” initiative
WHAT: Michael Abrams, founder of Snookers’ Pool & Hub, Mr. Joe’s, and a soon-to-be new restaurant in Detroit will discuss entrepreneurship and franchising in the restaurant business. WHO: Innovate Blue WHEN: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Ross School of Business, room 0220
WHAT: Kate van Orden, a music professor at Harvard, will discuss how the music of French Renaissance composer Clement Janequin supported ethnic differences in Europe. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Earl V. Moore Building, Watkins Lecture Hall
WHAT: Tariq Ali, professor of history at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will discuss his research on a development program that took place in Pakistan in the 1960s. WHO: Center for South Asian Studies WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: School of Social Work, room 1636
WHAT: This event will explore the role of art in the elimination of waste and optimization of resources. Based loosely on Parisian salons, this event will include an origami exhibit, live music and a panel discussion. WHO: Arts & Initiative WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, Willis War Lounge
Professors, campus Democrats not optimistic about Mich. recount LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
Amid an ongoing recount of Michigan’s vote launched by Jill Stein, the former Green Party presidential nominee, University of Michigan professors and local Democrats are saying they think such efforts are highly unlikely to change the results of the election. The race in Michigan was officially certified for President-elect Donald Trump Monday, with a winning margin of 10,704 votes. Stein also filed in Wisconsin last week and is currently attempting to file in Pennsylvania, other states Trump won, for a recount. Stein’s recount efforts are based on a suggestion
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likely affected the Clinton campaign’s hesitancy to call for a recount. “I think the chances are zero,” Traugott said. “That is because administering an election is a fairly complicated administrative activity but a set of procedures have been put in place to minimize the chances of error.” State Republican operatives have challenged the recounts, stating they don’t believe there were any problems with the vote count in Michigan. LSA junior Collin Kelly, chair of the University’s chapter of College Democrats, wrote in an email interview that he does not believe a recount will be effective in changing the election’s results. “While we accept the results of the election, we also understand that recounts are part of the election process,” Kelly wrote. “Increasing transparency and verifying results do not undermine the election or signify doubts about the outcome. Michigan was an extremely close election, and while we don’t expect the results to change, we are happy this recount will provide more transparency in the election.” The University’s chapter of College Republicans didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. The outcome in all three states Stein is attempting to contest would have to be f lipped to Clinton to change the election outcome. Traugott said that in the unlikely scenario, Trump would have no legal grounds to contest the result further though Clinton has conceded.
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Trump campaign files objection to Jill Stein’s push to check votes by a group of researchers — including J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan professor of electrical engineering and computer science — of potential vote manipulation in the three highly-contested states. She has stated she is aiming to ensure the integrity of the election. The research team had initially attempted to persuade Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to ask for a recount. However, the Clinton campaign has not independently sought any recount. It is participating in the efforts initiated by Stein in Wisconsin. Political Science Prof. Michael Traugott said there is almost no chance of overturning the results in Michigan, adding that this
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REFUGEES From Page 1 asylum, or they can have had no persecution but they can prove that they have a well-founded fear of future persecution,” she said. “If they prove that they truly are at risk, that their fear is well-founded both subjectively and objectively that they will be persecuted if returned, they can receive asylum.” In the United States, refugees
CHINA From Page 1 multiple times throughout the talk that the tension between the two countries should be seen as a new normal. “While regrettable, this negativity, I think, is to be expected,” he said. “We China specialists, or social scientists, should not be surprised by this, and moreover, I think it’s the new normal. We have to get used to it. This is the natural paradigm, not some sort of false, cooperative, harmonious paradigm.” Shambaugh also discussed how Trump’s presidency will
LOFTSMART From Page 1 with Bernstein, quit his fulltime job at Dell and became a co-founder of LoftSmart. Earlier this year, Kumar said the company received $1.7 million in funding from venture capital firms, letting LoftSmart develop into an online platform in which students can complete the whole housing process in one place, including read reviews, apply for housing, get screened for credit and criminal history, sign a legally binding lease and submit a deposit. Kumar said while the company initially gained traction at University of Virginia and colleges in Texas, it has seen increased usage in the Ann Arbor market since launching three months ago, with property reviews on the site growing from zero to about 500 in that time period. “We’ve seen a lot of good
SAFE RIDE From Page 1 hours in an e-mail interview. “I couldn’t speculate that (the ride increase was due to the fear from crime alerts),” he wrote. “The data doesn’t show that.” Dolen wrote the new start time for SafeRide is a pilot and will be evaluated as it progresses. “We will keep track of demand,” he wrote in an email interview. “Whether or not it will be permanent is still (to be determined).” According to Dolen, SafeRide currently has three operating vans. While the University is not looking into adding a fourth van, he wrote that three vans have been enough to cover student demand. SafeRide is generally requested a thousand times per month and increases during the month of November when the weather starts to get colder. SafeRide is not the only transportation system the University offers. Ride Home also runs from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., providing free shared taxis from the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. State Street Ride functions as another service, transporting students to the South State Street Commuter, and runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday. Diane Brown, Division of Public Safety and Security spokeswoman, said SafeRide was derived from an earlier concept of SafeWalk, a campus accompaniment service for those who do not want to walk alone on campus at night, in the early 2000s. The University began offering rides in the SafeWalk program in 2001. She said there is talk of reviving the program again for the upcoming months, but they are not finalized. Students have also been
can apply for asylum for both themselves and their family by filing a Form I-589, which prevents them from being forced to leave. Once an individual is granted asylum, they are permitted to work and live in the United States in the same way as a natural-born citizen. Elizabeth Scruggs, a thirdyear medical student who was the first author of the new study and is a member of the UM Asylum Collaborative, said based on their findings, medical examinations appear to be a
News key part of applying to another country. The UM Asylum Collaborative is a student-led initiative that “mobilizes health professionals to advocate for victims and survivors of human rights violations.” “Our study, given that it’s qualitative, can’t make any definitive or statistical statement, but really every lawyer we’ve spoken to agreed that it’s a key or crucial piece of the application,” Scruggs said. “It’s something that should always be present, but often is
not present simply because of lack of access, lack of resources or simply lack of a physician to perform the evaluation.” Carr, though not a researcher in the study, said she agreed about the importance of a medical exam. “If you’re doing a female genital mutilation case and you don’t have a medical affidavit from a doctor in the U.S. examining your client that says it’s happened to her, if that’s your claim of past persecution, you won’t win,” she said.
affect U.S.-China relations. Though Trump has called for increased tariffs on Chinese goods and the labeling of China as a currency manipulator, Shambaugh noted that the president-elect has offered little in terms of other foreign policy. Despite Trump’s isolationist rhetoric, he said he doubts the president-elect will walk away from a trade deal like the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump said he may do during his campaign. “I would highly doubt a Trump admin will walk away from these alliances,” Shambaugh said. “Isolationist rhetoric would meet resistance, if he wanted to
pull away from Asia and NATO.” Though Shambaugh noted multiple variables behind the increasing tensions between the United States and China, such as rising Chinese national identity and the United States’ position in the Asian-Pacific region, he ended his discussion on a lighter note. “This is a transitional time; the relationship is categorized by rising competition and predominant competition, secondary cooperation but it’s not about to go off the cliff,” he said. “Since 1972, and through nine American presidents and eight Chinese leaders, this is not the first time we have had
frictions. We have had them in the past, and the relationship has continued to endure and grow to both societies’ benefit.” Rackham student Ding He said she felt the talk made a variety of perspectives on the U.S.-China relationship more clear. “I think because I read a lot of articles about the relationship between America and China, so this one is like how the people from the policy committees think about the relationship,” He said. “So actually I’ve heard these kinds of opinions in China a lot, so this is just to confirm some of the ideas and information that I have taken from before.”
traction at Michigan, actually,” Kumar said. “Landmark, the Zaragons, 411, ArborBlu and the Courtyards can all be booked; you can basically take care of that entire process through LoftSmart.” Kumar said the company interviewed students from the University and heard horror stories about problematic leasing in Ann Arbor, including times when students had to pay extra fees, didn’t get their security deposits back or weren’t satisfied with their properties. “Our first and main goal is to help be almost a representative for them and act as a third party where they can sign through us and really gain a sense of security, a sense of trustworthiness and definitely a sense of convenience,” Kumar said. Currently, Kumar said, LoftSmart is focused on connecting students with apartments, but in the future, they are looking to expand into houses and also facilitate greater
relationships between students and property managers. “There are so many opportunities — the goal is to kind of take over that entire rental market in Ann Arbor, get not only apartments but also houses and any other rental units,” Kumar said. “We’d like to also help students manage the relationship with the property managers and allow for a lot more transparency.” He added this philosophy ties in with the goal of making sure students who don’t have experience with signing leases aren’t being taken advantage of. “The housing market for students is very interesting because you’re dealing with people that are newcomers to the market and there is a lot of room to kind of take advantage of them,” Kumar said. “We want to empower students to not only make better decisions but to ensure they are picking places that will take care of them.” Business sophomore Connor Baechler, who recently secured
a house for his off-campus living accommodation next year, said he could have benefited from a more straightforward relationship with the realtor and rental company. During his search, Beachler said, he knocked on the door of the property he was interested in three separate times so he could talk to the current tenants about the property and what their relationship with the landlord was like. “I had to go to the house I was interested in and speak with tenants,” Baechler said. “It would have been much more convenient had there been an easier way to reach out to them.” Baechler said he had never heard of LoftSmart, but thinks it is an intriguing idea and might be inclined to utilize it in the future. “If it catches on I’ll have more trust in a company like that, so I’d be curious to see how it plays out and the reputation they build here in Ann Arbor,” Baechler said.
planning programs similar to SafeWalk, independently organizing walking systems and providing support to others after hours. Emma Kaye, an LSA and Business senior, had been planning for a buddy system night since the beginning of the year in hopes of spreading awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. However, she said her plans changed due to the crime alerts on campus and her sense of heightened xenophobia on campus following the election. “Part way through (the week of elections) ... we started getting those crime alerts and they were talking about things going on campus,” she said. “I think that sparked something within us and in our volunteers as well. Obviously, it is a horrifying thing; we felt like it became more about safety in general on campus rather than only about sexual assault.” Trump’s win sparked negative reactions from many University students over worries about his campaign rhetoric, with multiple student protests on campus in the weeks following his victory. University President Mark Schlissel appeared at one of the events, applauding University students for overwhelmingly supporting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “Ninety percent of you rejected the kind of hate and the fractiousness and the longing for some kind of idealized version of a nonexistent yesterday that was expressed during the campaign,” Schlissel said during the November protest. Kaye said she and three other friends launched a walking night a few weeks after the election. The volunteers, she explained, had 30-minute shifts and worked in teams of two, with both male and female students in the pair. On their first night, she said, the
group walked about 25 students home, the majority of them female. “One of the greatest responses we got was from a guy who came and volunteered and what he said encompassed everything we wanted from the night too,” she said. “He said, ‘Look, as a man, I don’t deal with this or feel this fear. I don’t feel afraid walking on this campus and with everything going on now and especially as a white male, I don’t feel that.’ And he said it was extremely eye-opening to see how much people needed this and to feel to understand what other people went through even if it is a little bit.” Kaye said even a student who declined to be walked home volunteered to help other students and expressed his gratitude for the service. “I didn’t expect the response that it got,” she said. “Probably one of the greatest experiences I have had in this University was having my friends and even these people I didn’t know really back this up and show a lot of support.” The group’s hope was to start a culture of supporting other students, making it a norm to walk others home and check up on friends regularly. “It’s not that this one night was going to solve it,” she said. “It’s not. It was hoping to show that this is a problem. And even if a couple of people started asking if they want to be walked home and even to strangers, I would think that would be a success.” She noted frustrations with current University services like SafeRide, saying she believed it to be a useful resource but, in her experience, there was a 30to 40-minute wait time, leading some students to avoid the service. Dolen wrote there is an application for SafeRide that was
launched this fall that could aid the frustration of waiting for the ride. The app will also suggest other ways to get home that could be faster than the SafeRide. “Another piece that we are just getting launched (in the application) is when you choose a ride it will also let you know when the next bus would be arriving and if it may be closer to you,” Dolen wrote. “So if the SafeRide van can’t be there in 15 minutes, there might be a bus and the bus stop would be just outside if you were to stay in Shapiro. There might be a bus getting there in 10 minutes and it is going pretty close to the same location.” Evelyn Alsultany, associate professor of Arab and Muslim American Studies, is the head of the Islamophobia Working Group, another organization on campus aiming to make the walk home more comfortable for students. The group is currently building a way to have specialized walking systems for Muslim students, as many felt Islamophobia on campus after the female student wearing the hijab was threatened. “After the recent hate crimes, we updated the resource list to include information on safe rides since many students are fearful of walking alone on campus, especially female students who wear the hijab,” Alsultany wrote in an email. “The Muslim Students’ Association is facilitating a system of walking in pairs and groups, especially at night.” LSA junior Haleemah Aqel, part of the Islamophobia Working Group’s student initiative, said she is working with the Muslim Students’ Association representatives to create a walking system for those who feel unsafe walking home at night. “We sent out reminders after the first crime alert like, ‘Hey, remember not to walk home at night. Make sure you are always
Friday, December 2, 2016 — 3
Even in cases where no physical proof of past abuse remains, a medical exam can greatly boost a refugee’s chances of being granted asylum, according to the study. Scruggs said psychological exams play an important role in corroborating a refugee’s story and assessing for the clinical findings of posttraumatic stress disorder. Most refugees aren’t afforded this chance, however, as obtaining a medical exam as a refugee can be very difficult. “You’re not entitled to a
lawyer,” Carr said. “If you are not represented by a lawyer, what you can bring forward might be pretty minimal, and if you’re represented by a lawyer or an NGO that has a ton of resources, then what they can cobble together will be fundamentally different. I would say that for the majority of clients who seek asylum, the majority of their evidence is their testimony.”
ENROLLMENT From Page 1 7-percent enrollment for Latino students.” The Black Student Union and Students4Justice both declined to comment. Latina student organizations, like the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin sorority, expressed optimism due to the increase in Hispanic student enrollment. Roxana Taginya, an LSA junior affiliated with Lambda Theta Alpha, noted the importance of enrolling more Hispanic students each year to the Latino community “Given my work with the Latin@ community here on campus, being able to see the enrollment numbers for incoming Latin@s increase has been really amazing,” Taginya wrote in an email interview. “I personally have done a lot of work to build the Latin@ community here on campus and I find that there is strength in numbers.” However, Taginya, despite feeling optimistic about the class of 2020’s increased Latino student enrollment, wrote that she hopes the increasing trend will continue going forward. “Seeing more Latin@s on campus means a stronger network and a larger community through which incoming students can feel welcome,” Taginya wrote. “However, I hope that this increase continues from year to year because I believe there is a lot of work to be done at this school in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a greater presence from the Latin@ community would make a huge difference.” Despite the mixed record of success in increasing representation for all
demographics, Ishop said she thought the University’s efforts to improve economic diversity for the freshman class was reflected in enrollment figures. “We are looking for diversity across all lines,” Ishop said. “This includes socioeconomic diversity as well. One of our goals is to make an education here accessible not just to the wealthiest students, but also to low and moderate income students. In order to achieve this, we put a lot of money into our financial aid departments so that cost — as much as we can control for — is not the reason why somebody who is accepted does not attend the University.” For the class of 2020, the University increased budgeting for financial aid by 10.8 percent, according to a University press release, including a total of $170 million allocated specifically for need-based financial aid packages. One of the factors Ishop attributed to the improvement in economic diversity was the introduction of the HAIL scholarship, which is a scholarship designed for highachieving and low-income students from Michigan. “The HAIL scholarship is a terrific example of our deliberate efforts to bring in people from different backgrounds and of our efforts to inform prospective applicants that a Michigan education can be affordable,” Ishop said. “And this wasn’t necessarily a policy-driven change, but more of a shift in messaging. We want high achieving students to know that you should still apply even if you are unsure of how to pay for college because cost should not be a factor. The University can help you need.”
walking home with a buddy,’ ” she said. The MSA’s Facebook page currently has a list of phone numbers of students willing to walk people home. “I am definitely hoping this is something we can keep for the future,” Aqel said. “I know that a lot of these initiatives have come out of aftermath of the election. But I think in general, safety should be considered. Whatever the politics and climate around our (campus) is, safety should always be something. Because who knows what could happen? Because this could be a great system for the future, maybe 10 years from now.” Aqel said overall, the crime alerts were a sad reminder about the general sentiment toward Muslims in the United States. “It’s sad to say I am not surprised that happened because of the climate not only on campus but in the U.S.,” she said. “Xenophobia is such a prevalent issue in our society. These instances are so ‘Wow I can’t believe this,’ but at the same time I can. It was bound to happen.” Another organized effort to create walking systems, Wolverine Guard, has also launched in the past weeks and has a list of phone numbers on Facebook similar to MSA’s approach. Faculty have also gotten involved — a team of faculty recently launched Teamworks, a Canvas site that provides resources and support for students. Anne Berg, assistant director of undergraduate studies and the organizer of Teamworks, said the site was created after a graduate student told her some of her students wouldn’t come to class the Friday after the election because they were too scared to be on campus. Berg said she attended post-election events to
hear from students as well. “I went to the meeting that Dean Martin organized for students and spoke with a bunch of students there, on the Monday after the election,” Berg said. “And many said that they were terrified walking around campus — that was just after the woman was threatened. … People were really, really raw in general.” Berg said she hopes Teamworks can stay in place for the long term. After presenting the idea to the administration, the site is set to be a trial run to see how students respond to it. “(Students) said that something faculty monitored would give them a better sense of security because what students have done is quickly set up Facebook groups,” she said. The Canvas site currently has 30 members, most of whom are students. Berg said building a community within Teamworks would help create a more comfortable space, adding that the team was interested in planning events to allow more networking. She added that she thought it was the job of students and faculty alike to keep both the walking system and the general climate of campus safe and supportive. “I think what is really important in this political situation is that students of color, minority students, for whatever reason they feel, it is not upon them to stake their claims and be safe,” she said. “But rather it is for everyone on campus to make sure we are a community and we belong together. And the type of rhetoric and actions has no place in Michigan. I think there really is a responsibility of students who do feel safe and faculty as well to offer themselves as a resource and to be there and say, ‘This is our community and we are here to defend it. We won’t let this destroy us.’ ”
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Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, December 2, 2016
ASHLEY ZHANG | COLUMN
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FROM THE DAILY
Stop construction of the DAPL
O
ver the past several months, protests over construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline have grown from a whisper to a feverous roar, both on campus and across the nation. Celebrities, concerned citizens and many University of Michigan students have joined the #NoDAPL movement, which supports the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota who have led the movement. Protesters have been challenging the pipeline’s path, slated to pass under the Standing Rock Sioux’s main source of water, the Missouri River, and through significant spiritual land. Adding to the controversy, growing protest camps in Standing Rock have been met with water hoses and tear gas from police forces. Because of the unacceptable environmental hazards of oil pipelines, the threat the DAPL poses to water sources for the Sioux and the persistent violation of the Sioux’s sovereign rights, we oppose any further construction of the DAPL. The pipeline is being built in what is now an era of dangerously rising global temperatures and contempt for the reality of climate change at the highest levels of government, most recently manifested in President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of a climate change denier to lead the transition at the Environmental Protection Agency. Oil pipelines, in general, present environmental risks, and the DAPL specifically presents deeply unnecessary risks to both local ecologies and a vital water source that runs from North Dakota to Illinois. The International Energ y Agency has found that oil pipelines nationwide spilled three times the volume of oil as trains — another method of transporting oil which carries it’s own risks to local communities and the environment — between 2004 and 2012. A major stakeholder of the DAPL, Enbridge Inc., built the disastrous Line 6B, which dumped 1.2 million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River, and crude oil spills from pipelines have been shown to harm the environment for years after the initial spill. The DAPL threatens the viability of the Sioux tribe’s water intake for 70 miles down the Missouri River. The proven dangers of oil transport pipelines call into question the Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental impact assessment of the pipeline that the federal agency released before building began. Both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for issuing permits for construction projects on and near waterways, and Dakota Access LLC, the branch of Energy Transfer Partners building the pipeline, conducted risk assessments and reported that no significant environmental or cultural impact was found. However, the pipeline assessment relied on an outdated 1985 survey of the land that the pipeline would run through, which the Sioux claim omits important burial sites and sacred land, meaning their risk assessments may be largely invalid. In addition, the Army Corps classified the pipeline in such a way that allowed it to issue a special Nationwide Permit 12. This permit process allowed the pipeline to only be assessed in areas where it crossed federally protected lands, bypassing laws intended to preserve culturally
significant lands and letting it be built with little federal authorization and oversight from the Army Corps. In addition to the damage oil spills inflict on local ecologies, the DAPL represents a step backward in the shift toward renewable energy the United States should continue to make. In 2016, job creation in the solar energy field grew 12 times as fast as overall jobs in the United States and surpassed oil and coal jobs. Though Trump has said he would support the pipeline under the premise it will promote the creation of new jobs and stimulate the economy, furthering the development of fossil fuels is the wrong way to go about
Stopping construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline is vital to the preservation of our environment and to the well-being of the Standing Rock Sioux.
those goals. The DAPL will produce hundreds of temporary construction jobs, but will only offer a handful of jobs in the long run. If Trump truly cares about infrastructure and job growth, he will encourage renewables instead of the economically deteriorating and environmentally dangerous energ y sources like the oil that would be transported by the DAPL. Building the DAPL would not only be environmentally costly, but also continues to perpetuate the U.S. government’s historic and systematic mistreatment of Native Americans. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation states federal agencies must consult with Indian tribes if construction projects take place on or affect religiously or culturally significant land. Yet the Sioux assert that the Army Corps rushed the surveying process with the Nationwide Permit 12 and didn’t make significant
efforts to include the tribe’s input in construction plans. The pipeline’s path over significant tribal archaeological finds, and the threat it poses to the tribe’s water intake, demonstrate disregard for tribal sovereignty and echo the long history of questionable land grabs from native peoples in U.S. history. The Army Corps must cease authorization for the pipeline if it intends to reconcile with a people long abused by the federal government. Moving the pipeline away from North Dakota’s capital of Bismarck and to its current path because of concerns over the city’s water supply further shows disregard for the Sioux nation. Though this was likely seen as a simply utilitarian decision, the shifted plans echo government disregard for people of color, which we’ve seen more locally in Flint, Mich. According to the Sioux, the reroute may violate the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act through the dangers it poses to the Sioux water intake. The government should shut down the DAPL and condemn environmental racism. Recent clashes between protesters and law enforcement officials in Standing Rock further necessitate the cessation of DAPL construction. The Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council has condemned health dangers posed by police brutality, including police forces’ use of tear gas and water hoses in freezing temperatures, and has filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force. This violence stands in stark contrast to the non-violent police response during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by armed white men. The response to the DAPL protests contributes to the problem of excessive police aggression toward marginalized communities. Stopping construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline is vital to the preservation our environment and to the wellbeing of the Standing Rock Sioux. Student activism on this issue is more important than ever, especially in the face of inadequate coverage of the silencing of the protests. We call on the Army Corps of Engineers and Dakota Access LLC to cease construction of the project. For the safety of the local ecology and the dignity of the Sioux community, we ask for a halt to the construction of the DAPL.
O
Just normal people
ver Thanksgiving Let’s face it: Hollywood break, I went to see has not properly represented the new coming-of-age my people and our stories. film, “The Edge of Seventeen,” Directors and producers claim expecting to that there are no see myself in big Asian stars to Hailee Steinfeld’s feature in their films awkward, selfish, as an explanation for yet entirely relatable their whitewashing, protagonist, Nadine. but the argument is And I did, doubling circular: How can over with laughter Asians ever establish at her over-the-top themselves as stars if antics and longthey are never even winded wit that are given a chance? ASHLEY nothing but normal Asian Americans ZHANG for a teenage girl. have long seen However, I found themselves erased my endearment unexpectedly or ridiculed in Western media. stolen by newcomer Hayden Take, for example, “Breakfast Szeto, the lone face of color in at Tiffany’s,” the movie I’d a nearly all-white cast (Hailee watched the day prior for my Steinfeld and movie-brother family’s post-Thanksgiving Blake Jenner have Filipino and dinner tradition of watching Cuban roots, respectively, but old Audrey Hepburn movies. they are portrayed as white in In all my times of watching the film). the film, this year was the first Rarely do I get to see an year I realized just how racist Asian face in Hollywood, and and offensive Mickey Rooney’s when I do, they’re usually portrayal of the Japanese Mr. typecast into some variation Yunioshi was. Not only did of the goofy, geeky sidekick Rooney tape his eyelids and who excels in school and wear yellowface (because God maybe takes up martial arts forbid an actual Asian person as an extracurricular. Though play an Asian character), but he Szeto’s adorably nervous, boy- also sported a ridiculous accent next-door character, Erwin and persona that established the Kim, could have easily become “Asian” Yunioshi as nothing but the clichéd Hollywood Asian a caricature, a joke. male, the movie makes it But, Ashley!, one might cry out, clear that Erwin is just “your “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” came average guy,” even poking out more than 50 years ago, long fun at such stereotypes when before all this political correctness Nadine tries to pigeonhole him nonsense came about! That may as a stereotypical Asian with be true, but how can the racist a mother who “owns a small ignorance of the ’60s really restaurant downtown” and a be a defense when Hollywood “quiet, gruff father who never so recently disappointed the says ‘I love you.’ ” Asian-American community by Despite that, Erwin spends casting the white Emma Stone most of the film ignored by as a quarter-Chinese, quarterthe leading lady, who goes Native American fighter pilot in for the cooler “bad boy” Nick, Sony’s 2015 “Aloha” and Scarlett potentially falling in line with Johansson as lead Motoko Hollywood’s emasculation Kusanagi in the upcoming of Asian men. So imagine adaption of the Japanese manga my surprise and delight “Ghost in the Shell”? when he takes his shirt off So Szeto’s role in “The Edge to reveal a swoon-worthy of Seventeen” may seem like a physique that falls in line with small thing to most, but to me, American standards of male an Asian love interest in a big attractiveness and (spoiler box-office movie is the hope I alert) wins the girl in the end. need that Hollywood is taking
a step in the right direction. Of course, Szeto’s portrayal in the film is not perfect. After all, he’s a Chinese actor playing a Korean character, a common occurrence in this industry that perpetuates the racist sentiment that all Asians are the same and that our ethnicities are interchangeable. “Teen Wolf” is guilty of that practice, casting Korean Arden Cho as the Japanese Kira Yukimura in order to tap into Japanese lore, as is “Once Upon a Time” for casting Korean Jamie Chung as the Chinese Mulan. However, that’s a detail I can overlook for the opportunity to see my race represented on the big screen. Baby steps. With the success of ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” the first television show about an Asian-American family in 20 years, and Steven Yeun’s Glenn Rhee being a fan favorite on “The Walking Dead,” there is hope that my children will be able to turn on the TV and see their lives and stories reflected back to them. And I don’t want just one revolutionary show that counts as our “representation.” I want Asians — and all people of color — integrated into mainstream media not as token minorities, but as normal people among a multicultural cast that accurately represents the diversity in America today. Let us be the protagonist. Let us be the love interest. Let us be the hero, the antagonist and the three-dimensional morally ambiguous middleman. What Hollywood needs to understand is that we are all human, and when we’re stripped bare, we bleed red just like the rest of the world. Asians are not all special, super geniuses or completely devoid of sex appeal. No, we are just normal people, and we, too, fall in love, make mistakes and have stories worth sharing. You know, normal people things.
Ashley Zhang can be reached at azhang@umich.edu.
MICHAEL SUGERMAN | COLUMN
The last registration
I
registered for the final party that turns into a trip to classes of my undergraduate Rick’s (or as my buddy Joe calls career Wednesday morning, it, “the Café”) that turns into and only as I wrote a trip to Backroom this sentence did it hit Pizza, where no one me how odd that is. ever knew a crappy Class registration $1 slice could taste is routine — a twiceso good. It’s the a-year activity that, quiet evenings when in its mechanical making a homemade regularity, has meal, playing a game become a subtle of Scrabble and source of comfort. binge-watching a Class registration Netflix show with means that I’m MICHAEL good friends is more returning to Ann SUGERMAN satisfying than any Arbor, and all that night out. doing so entails. After next It’s the Big House. The sea of semester, my routine will maize. The disappointing losses change. That’s jarring. of freshman and sophomore It’s not just the courses I’ve year. The electric revival of taken, the papers I’ve written or junior and senior year. The the all-nighters I’ve pulled. deafening voices screaming in It’s the drive into Ann Arbor unison and echoing across the from the airport, and the swell field. Fire Hoke. Free Jabrill. of joy that comes with whizzing Let’s Go Harbaugh. You Suck. down Washtenaw, past the Let’s Go Blue. The “bullshit” Arborland sign and the Rock and chants the University of South U and the Hill en route to Michigan (and subsequently, finishing a 2,300-mile journey the band) doesn’t want national from Los Angeles to Kerrytown. television to hear. The wave, at It’s my house. The drafty all speeds. The Blues Brothers walls and creaky radiators. dance. Mumbling and making The old futon Casey brought up words to “Varsity” at the from Grand Rapids that has a end of a win because none of us lovable, gaping hole on its right know them. side — which is actually really It’s walking through campus comfortable if you know where and the city. Throwing a Frisbee to put the pillows. The box of to a friend, or a gaze at the fall 175 York Peppermint Patties, foliage in the Arb. Making sure replenished each semester by to hop over the class of 1953’s my grandmother, that sits on the Block ‘M’ at the Diag’s core, and mantle in our living room. The staring down an emboldened, fat stacks of frozen burritos Matt squirrel in the process. Admiring keeps in our freezer, occupying the Bell Tower, and wondering at least 25 percent of the space. why the hell a column with a The dirty coils on our gas stove, clock on it is so beautiful to and all the times we cooked look at as the sun sets. Heading chicken breasts, green beans downtown and strolling around and boxed mashed potatoes on Main Street. them. The porch swing where It’s the winter. The rain, I’ve been content to sit and sway which turns to hail, which turns for hours. to snow, which turns to slush, It’s sangria at Dominick’s, which turns to ice. The wind or a fishbowl at Charley’s. The blowing impossibly in every
direction, so no matter which way you look, your hood flies off and the weather slaps you in the face. The slightly-moreaggressive-than-two-handtouch football game, because the snow is thick and tackling makes it more legitimate, somehow. The late-night sledding with trays smuggled out of dining halls on Palmer Field and outside the Medical Center Plaza. The reprieve of spring, when the ubiquitous white melts away to reveal the green below. The first afternoon when it’s warm enough to sunbathe, even though it’s just 50 degrees. The next week where it paradoxically snows again, just as a small middle finger from the Mitten. Choosing my last set of classes was stressful. Inherently, there existed the pressure to balance picks that satisfy the pesky, remaining distribution requirements and others that stimulate fledgling academic interests I’ll only have time to explore in depth as a college student. Registration is always important, but if we’re being honest, it’s usually a mundane task in which our options are allbut-determined by the context of our majors. This time was different. The choices felt more consequential, because it was the last time I’d be making them — and “lasts” carry the weight of everything that has prefaced them. It’s easy to feel paralyzed by the gravity of moments like these, but I’ve found it’s healthier to consider that the reason they feel so heavy is because the “preface” was so meaningful. All things considered, then, I’m happy. And I’m not just talking about classes. Michael Sugerman can be reached at mrsugs@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
How to find home in the sacred music of religion
Friday, December 2, 2016 — 5
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
The sounds of faith can provide comfort even to the nonreligious SHIMA SADAGHIYANI Daily Arts Writer
My grandmother’s apartment in Tehran has a balcony overrun with various herbs and tomato plants. It runs across the back of the living room, a cozy white platform that overlooks the patchwork quilt of the rest of the city. I like to escape to it right at sunset, when my grandmother and mother are usually in the kitchen, cutting open pomegranates to eat as a snack before dinner. Their voices tumble around green bowls with seeds as red as the sun as it begins to sink beneath the line of the city. From my vantage point thirteen stories up, the constant blanket of dust that floats above Tehran makes the entire city flicker like a golden mirage. It’s my favorite place in the world, this balcony right before dusk, when my toes curl around the edge of the terrace between the pillars of the railing as I crane my neck up and observe the world around me collectively hold its breath. We wait, for this: a call to prayer. It comes in the form of music. Bare, haunting vocals released from local mosques into the open air flow between buildings and plead to the bruising sky, to the women hanging wet clothes from clotheslines, to the men selling fresh kabobs. It is both a reminder that the time for prayer is fast approaching and also an invitation for all to join. Although I don’t consider myself to be a religious person, let alone a devout Muslim, whenever I have the chance to visit my grandmother, I am still inexplicitly drawn to the same spot on her balcony at the same time, day after day. There is a paradoxical intimacy in the recitation, in the way I feel connected to something I barely understand. It is the same feeling I get when I skim my fingers over the pristine pages of my father’s dense Qur’an like I’m skimming my fingers over a lake; I’m aware of the inky depths that disappear beneath the surface, I just have yet to find out what they hold. When the music disappears with the sun, I slip back inside
the apartment and pass my grandmother as she makes her way to her bedroom, to where I know her prayer rug is sitting at the foot of her bed. Her call is to prayer. I’m on the way to the kitchen. My call is to pomegranates, and the fruit, as it breaks open in my mouth, tastes like sweet familiarity. I suspect her prayer tastes like somewhat of the same thing. I haven’t had a chance to visit my grandmother or her balcony in years, a fact that is a constant weight on my chest. I can’t imagine what it must be like for my parents, as immigrants in a foreign world. My mother holds tight to the music of her childhood, playing traditional songs as she sashays around the kitchen in the evenings. My father holds tight to a different kind of music: the rhythm of tradition. Every year, during the fasting month of Ramadan, my father breaks his fast two times a day. During both times, the sky’s pre-dawn or post-dusk blue black sky watches from the window: while my mother commanders the main course on the stove, he assembles bread, yogurt and cheese on the table and waits with one eye on the clock, counting down the seconds until he can eat. During both times, he plays a prayer from his phone, and the dua as it comes through the tiny speakers fills our kitchen with peaceful reverence. The quiet words unfurl like flowers, revealing petals upon petals of history, with roots that slip down my father’s chair like ivy, turning into ley lines that connect him to the family he left behind. My old friend’s house in Rochester Hills, Mich. has a balcony bereft of any decoration except for a few wooden chairs haphazardly scattered around. It runs along the entirety of the back of her house, a bleak wooden ledge that overlooks the rolling expanse of her lawn. It was here that I found myself sitting one day in the middle of the summer between middle school and high school with my friend sitting opposite, pressing a small bible into the palm of my hand. I took it with reluctance, because the edges were unfamiliar and bit into the creases of my fingers. She
took out her own copy and held it easily, worn down edges molding perfectly to the cadence of her grip. It was here that I received my first lesson of Christianity, an idea born through the marriage of her constant desire to talk about the religion that meant so much to her family and my endless boredom of repetitious summer days. I was sure that the day would be taken up by extensive lectures and readings, but instead she pulled out an iPod shuffle from her pocket, which, according to her, was filled with different Christian songs of worship. We spent the rest of the afternoon going through the entirety of her collection, and while many of the songs went over my head, glossy with a decadence I wasn’t used to hearing from religion, I focused instead on how my friend listened to those songs: eyes closed with her head tilted up towards the sky, like the sun and songs she knew by heart had come together to form a perfect harmony, a call to home. I am not a religious person. But I still have the Bible my friend gave to me all those years ago resting in a drawer. I like to take it out sometimes and rifle through the pages. It reminds me of the absolute joy she found in a chipped blue iPod Shuffle. I am not a religious person. But some days at sunset I like to lean my head against the glass of my apartment window as the familiar call to prayer echoes through my speakers into the empty corners of my room. It transforms into my grandmother’s balcony and instead of the city of Ann Arbor, I am looking at mountains that stretch up from the horizon like earthy heart lines. I still don’t understand why my feet constantly bring me to the same spot on the same balcony. I don’t understand, but maybe I don’t need to. Maybe all I can do is quietly, simply, listen — to a friend as she sings the church hymns her mother taught her, to a father as he breaks his fast to a prayer he remembers his father reciting a thousand times in the past, to the music in religion because it can sometimes be the music of home, wherever that may be, whatever that might sound like.
EARDRUMMERS
“Hey! You! Give us our shirts back!”
The state of rap in 2016: A need to balance the style and the substance The most iconic hip-hop songs of the year had memes, lacked meaning JOEY SCHUMAN Daily Arts Writer
Looking back to 2014, the year brought us Vince Staples’s Hell Can Wait. In the years following, 2015 gifted Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and 2016 brought, uh, 21 Savage’s Savage Mode? Yeah. And Kodak Black, D.R.A.M., Lil Yachty and the like. Socially conscious rap seemed to have peaked in 2015. Lamar warned us of political divide in the form of “DemoCrips and ReBloodicans,” Lupe Fiasco talked of “watching Gazans and Ashkenazis ride roller coasters” and Vince Staples questioned “Black sellin’ crack for the white man.” For a genre arguably founded and bolstered early on by the moral implications of its content, such lyricism marked the final stages of a healthy evolution. That being said, objectively “good” rap doesn’t need to be socially conscious. Listening gratification certainly comes from a nuanced perspective on a type of American life foreign to the majority of the audience, but it’s possible and likely more plausible to derive pleasure from purely enjoyable music. Important rap, however, does need to have substance, and substantialism hasn’t exactly defined this year’s
releases. For instance, “Black Beatles,” Rae Sremmurd’s hit, has gained more notoriety for its accompaniment of the viral “Mannequin Challenge” than for its actual musicality. Not even a Gucci feature can save the rest of the track’s underwhelming flow. It now seems like singles earn their mainstream badge based on meme-ability. Put into more collegiately relevant terms, everything popular, everything “playable” from this year, would make for an unbelievable pregame playlist. You know, not the type of stuff you listen to for fulfillment (or enlightenment for that matter) but the boileddown bangers, songs like Yo Gotti’s “Down in the DM” and Yachty’s “Minnesota.” Jump on a table, maybe throw some shit, do some funny dances. This mood necessitates a basic criterion: a vibey beat, an infectious hook and a chant to mouth along so as to not look stupid. 2016’s offerings pass that test, they just might not pass a more enduring one. This may sound completely old, crotchety and pretentious. Hell, it pretty much is old, crotchety and pretentious. Not to mention, to function within a generalization, especially when it comes to music, is bad. It’s just that increasingly, “meaningful”
music seems like an exception. Indeed, rap as a whole seems comfortable on its current trajectory toward a singularly “bumpable” genre, and 2016 helped solidify that. While the virtuous persevere — A Tribe Called Quest’s We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, Vic Mensa’s There’s Alot Going On, Isaiah Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade and even Schoolboy Q’s Blank Face LP, all releases from this year, expand upon Lamar-esque tensions — to an increasing extent, we’re listening for fun and not fulfillment. To be sure, the visibility is what seems different. Last year, emotionally-charged anthems like “King Kunta” and “Alright” got airtime, whereas this year, nothing remotely related to the public affairs of this country has successfully crossed over into the mainstream. And it’s November. There’s a mix of guilt-free bangers and meaningful statements filling out the landscape of rap at this moment, but the imbalance in exposure is what defines its current climate. Maybe that’s the point. Trap, drill, bounce, cloud, whatever — they’ve always coexisted. Variety gives the genre its most potent flavor. Ultimately, it’s our obligation to find our own happy medium.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
The beautiful frustration of creating If making art were easy, we wouldn’t enjoy it as much as we do
TV REVIEW
Netflix’s ‘3%’ transcends its YA roots Thrilling Brazilian series breathes new life into old tropes wealth. The series opens on the 104th Daily Arts Writer year of the Process, as 20-yearold hopefuls make their way Maybe you’ve sworn off from their torn-down favelas dystopian thrillers. “That to the cold, empty evaluation was so middle facility, which acts school,” you say. as the primary The genre had setting for the its renaissance, show’s first season. “3%” after all, and Sci-fi gadgets and now you’ve put gizmos set up the Episodes 1 & 2 your Mockingjay futuristic feel as Netflix pins to rest. But the series paints with a brilliant a stark contrast cinematographer, between the a fresh setting and a punchy progress achieved by the elite eight-episode arc, Netflix’s new and the poverty endured by the original series “3%” sucks you rest of the society. into the craze all over again. Despite “3%” ’s relatively low The streaming giant’s first all- production costs, especially Brazilian production breathes when compared to recent new life and energy into the releases in the genre on Netflix genre, perfect for the older, (like “Black Mirror”), the more intellectual you — and not minimalistic setting still works. just because you have to read Although visually bare, it’s subtitles. always intriguing, as OscarIn a futuristic society, the nominated cinematographer vast majority — the 97 percent César Charlone (“City of God”) — live a poverty-stricken lends his genius to “3%.” The existence. Each year, the camera has impressive range, population’s 20-year-olds have moving so uncomfortably close a chance to elevate their status to a character that you can by going through the Process, see every pore, or flying out an elimination procedure to show an impressive view characterized by mental, of the broken city below. The physical and emotional tests viewer’s experience is more (think “The Hunger Games,” than engaging: it’s exhilarating. but less gory). Only three As the audience tries to figure percent will be chosen to live out the rules and constructions out the rest of their lives on the of the dystopia, the camera soars Offshore, a mystical, utopian to make them want to live it land of progress, safety and themselves. DANIELLE YACOBSON
B+
Perhaps what makes “3%” so captivating for a mature audience is the depth of its characters. The candidates the series focuses on are both collectively and independently compelling, establishing intriguing relationships as their own stories, motivations and secrets surface. Primarily, the series tells the story of Michele, a strong, vengeful young woman played by Bianca Comparato (“In Treatment”). “3%” also features a captivating performance from João Miguel (“Cinema, Aspirins, and Vultures”) as the deceptive leader of the Process, who has a few secrets of his own. At times, like the dystopian-thriller genre in general, the show can venture into soap-opera territory — due to the life and death of it all, perhaps. But paired with well-developed and intriguing characters, the overly dramatic acting is not so much a turnoff, but rather another step in establishing the intense and binge-worthy feel of the series. Considering today’s extreme political and social climate, fantasizing about another world is not so crazy. So whether you’re seeking full-bodied escapism or just an hour-long distraction, the gorgeous Portuguese dialogue and the vision of a brilliant cinematographer begs “3%” to be your next break from reality.
SAMANTHA LU Daily Arts Writer
The first time I tried composing, I severely underestimated the difficulty of the task at hand. My fellow seventh graders and I had been tasked with creating personal melodies that were to be performed in front of the entirety of the middle school orchestra, and I jumped at the opportunity to display my self-proclaimed musicality and artistic prowess. I wanted to make something beautiful, some sort of neverbefore-heard chord progression that would latch onto heart and soul, tracing shudders into the spines of all who heard it. But no matter what combinations I tried, I couldn’t spin my sky-high expectations for my composition into reality. My beginnings fell flat, clattering to the ground in soft puffs of dust instead of blooming into sparkling life like I’d hoped they would. Notes that I’d never paid attention to before my musical tinkering took on ominous visages of their own, radiating a stubborn aversion to any sort of cooperative union despite my pleading. Everything I tested sounded awkward and out of place, as if I’d somehow managed to discover the musical representation of a gracelessly gangly calf. Even more paralyzing was my acute fear of accidentally plagiarizing music that already existed. In the rare instances when I thought I had the start of something even remotely acceptable, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the reason the tune seemed familiar was because it was similar to a long
forgotten television jingle or, in one instance, the theme song to “Mr. Bean’s Holiday.” I don’t know how I settled on a final version to perform. I remember going back to my seat with my cello in tow, filled with an all-consuming dissatisfaction with my piece and what I once considered to be a natural musicality. When the grades came out, I was surprised to have gotten full marks on the assignment, but even that didn’t do much to dull the slight bitterness I still had at myself for being unable to meet my own standards. I haven’t tried to compose in the years since, mainly because I’m more focused on writing for my artistic outlet now. However, I still encounter the same dilemma whenever I’m stuck with writer’s block. There’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like your creativity has been trapped behind a very thick, very tall and very concrete wall that exists for no reason at all. For people like my parents, who appreciate my writing ability but are immediately dismissive of anyone who chooses to pursue a career in the humanities, writer’s block is laughable, even more evidence that there’s barely any distinction between those who study the art of the word for years and mere students. They don’t understand the indescribable, thriving nature of creating, because it has never played much of a role in their lives. The problem is made worse by the fact that creativity is not a definitive subject with specific rules and regulations; the concept of creativity itself heavily relies on its immeasurability. I think of creativity like a rice
paddy — the more rice you plant, the richer the soil gets. Being a part of an environment that actively encourages creativity not only has a positive effect on my mental state but also my productivity overall. Writing is a very personal activity that I take a lot of joy in, and it’s not only hurtful but also disheartening to have something extremely meaningful to me treated so indifferently. The problems that I faced when I first started out with my seventh grade composition still pop up every now and then when I sit down to write. Sometimes I can’t get my sentences to flow the way I’d like to, and they’ll sound as wispy and formless as an unrosined bow over clean strings. Other times, I’m simply unable to convey the exact picture I’m trying to paint no matter how many phrasings I try. Worst of all is when I can’t even fit sentences together. I’ll sit in front of my laptop for hours at a time, feeling the exact same way I did six years ago when I was cramming random notes against each other, desperately hoping that the sharps and flats would assemble into some semblance of a satisfactory song. However, if writing were easy, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do. Part of the allure of writing is the uncertainty surrounding the end result; even when I have a clear idea in mind of what exactly I want to create, I have no way of knowing precisely what’s going to show up on the page. I’ve changed and grown in countless ways since that 20-measure composition, and one of the most important things I’ve learned is that obstacles such as writer’s block never truly go away, even as you get older. The only thing you can do is keep on trying.
Arts
6 — Friday, December 2, 2016
FILM INTERVIEW
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TV NOTEBOOK
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
You say Mo-anna, I say Mo-ahna.
‘Moana’ animator talks film, female leadership MADELEINE GAUDIN Daily Arts Writer
The latest feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios was born out of the rich oral traditions of Oceania. For centuries, the people of Oceania were sailors and navigated the waters of the Pacific. But, for reasons unknown to historical scholars, their voyages stopped around the year 1000 B.C., and they stayed put for almost a millennium. “Moana” aims to, at least partially, answer the question of why these voyages stopped by following Moana, a teenage princess, as she sets sail beyond her island shore for the first time in hundreds of years. Amy Smeed, the head animator for the film, came to the University of Michigan earlier this month to talk to Screen Arts & Cultures and Art & Design students about the creation of the film. Smeed oversaw the animation for many of the human characters, but was particularly fond of the heroine, Moana. “She’s very courageous and fearless, and I love that about her,” Smeed said in an interview, “And she’s very athletic … The scenes that I got to animate, I picked Moana.” Smeed said Auli’i Cravalho, the young actress who voices Moana, landed her the role alongside seasoned actors like Dwayne Johnson and Temuera Morrison
because of her tenacity and spirit. Having her on set helped Smeed and her team of animators visualize Moana’s energy. “As animators, when we’re out in the world, we’re constantly observing — watching movements and mannerisms of teenagers and what that energy is,” Smeed said. Smeed began her career as a painter. She attended art school at Western Michigan University but transferred to School of the Art Institute of Chicago after she was sent a disc advertising their animation program. After discovering animation and finishing her studies, Smeed went on to become an animator at Disney, working on animation for projects from “Meet the Robinsons” to “Frozen.” For “Moana,” Smeed served as the head animator. “When I was living here in Michigan, I loved painting, and I wasn’t really sure what to do with it as an actual career,” Smeed said. “For me it was always trying to figure out, within art, what can I do with that? So when I found animation, I really do feel lucky.” Even though Smeed doesn’t spend much of her time painting and drawing anymore, she stressed the importance for young artists and aspiring animators to keep pursuing art in a more traditional, pen-and-paper kind of way. “I think sometimes there’s a misconception that now that everything is in the computers,
you just do it in the computer,” she said, “But there’s so much drawing that actually takes place, even in a computer animation film. “ Smeed has found tremendous success working at Disney, but noted that animation, like many other fields, can be a little bit of a boy’s club. “I don’t know why that is. I’m trying to figure that out, and that’s one of the reasons I love coming to talk to students, because I’m hoping that it will inspire other women … to know they can do this career,” she said. “When I was in art school, there weren’t many women in our classes, so it made sense to me. But now there are. I see a lot of women in the classes.” The content of the studio’s most recent films, she said, reflects the increased, albeit still slight, role of female leadership and involvement. Storylines are moving away from traditional love stories and are focusing instead on strong, independent female leads. That trend continues in “Moana.” Moana and Maui traverse the ocean and fight magical creatures without the slightest hint of romance. “It’s great to see the two of them together and how they interact with each other. But I love that … she’s not in love with him, he’s not in love with her,” Smeed said. “Moana” hit theaters right in time to relieve Thanksgiving tables of tension and political debate.
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Friday, December 2, 2016
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Where you lead, I will follow: My adventure with Rory and Lorelai New episodes of ‘Gilmore Girls,’ while welcome, leave me conflicted MADELEINE GAUDIN Daily Arts Writer
Anywhere that you tell me to. Through Rory dropping out of Yale and the big fight with Lorelai. Through the season four finale. Through the Luke and Lorelai will-they-won’tthey mess. Through any episode with April. Through the last ten, Gilmore-less, years. And now, all the way to Netflix. This Thanksgiving between turkey and debates over deflategate (yep, mine is still having those) I found time to watch — and rewatch — the “Gilmore Girls” revival. I was excited, and a little terrified, to watch the show when it dropped on Netflix last Friday. I’m a fan. But I’m one of those second wave fans that found Gilmore Girls after the show stopped airing on TV. Even before the days of Netflix, I had the box-set of Gilmore Girls DVDs and watched and rewatched them a hundred times. I was scared that the revival would fall into “Fuller House” territory, that it would feel false and gimmicky. But it
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wasn’t. It was flawed, but it was pretty wonderful. Part of that comes from the fact that creators Amy ShermanPalladino and her husband Dan knew exactly the audience they were writing for. They were writing for their fan base. They were writing for people who were going to watch the revival no matter what. The queen of the revival was Emily, which is surprising given the show’s primary focus on the relationship between Rory and Lorelai. But here, it’s Emily who undergoes the most interesting character change. Lorelai is pretty much the same (Lauren Graham has not aged a day; it’s remarkable), Rory is a mess, but I’ll get into that later. When the revival begins, Emily is floundering after the death of her husband, Richard. She sells all her belongings, tries going to therapy, fights with her daughter and ultimately decides to move to Nantucket and start fresh. She takes on an unexpected role as the voice of reason across the four episodes and demonstrates the most strength and resilience. The oddest part of the revival is how little it lets its women grow. The original series was full of strong young women with ambition and passion — women, like Rory or Paris and to a lesser extent Laine, who were smart and set on cutting their way to the top of a world that valued their male classmates above them. But now, in the revival, all three women — especially Rory and Paris — seem less mature and more aimless than ever. Rory is adrift, riding on a trust fund and a couple New Yorker bylines. She gives off the illusion of drive with her “business” trips to London, but even those seem more focused on seeing Logan than advancing her career. Paris has set up a multimillion-dollar company but melts at the sight of her high school crush, Tristan (who isn’t even played by Chad Michael Murray anymore!). It’s disappointing, although not wholly surprising, that the show prioritized an avenue to a neat Stars Hollow reunion over the success and passion of its female leads. I’ve been waiting so impatiently for those last four words. I thought that maybe they were going to be the key to redemption and progress for our stunted heroine. Besides “the zombies are here,” there wasn’t much that I’d ruled out, so I can’t say I was totally surprised by the four that were chosen. I did have to rewind the last minute a few times to make
sure I heard it right. Rory’s pregnant — that makes sense, it keeps with the trend of coming full-circle that’s especially apparent in the “Fall” installment. Lorelai has to make a bargain with Emily in exchange for a loan, Rory is writing a story — probably the story we just spent seven years and six hours watching. Everything seems to be ending where it began. Rory, now 32, is now the same age Lorelai was when the series began. It’s spooky how well all the timing worked out. It seems pretty clear to me now that the Rory/Lorelai parallels go further than that. Logan seems to be the most obvious contender for the baby’s father. He takes on the role of Christopher — wealthy, absent but well intentioned — while the path has been cleared for Jess to step into the role of Luke. The look he gives Rory through the window late in the final episode confirms what viewers have been suspecting and hoping for — he’s still in love with Rory. But is Rory ready for a guy like Jess? As of the end of the original series, I would say no. And at the end of the revival I would still say no. While Jess has matured into a mildly successful writer/publisher, Rory is still directionless. She’s emotionally stunted — making many of the same mistakes she made at 22, the last time we saw her. Even at 32, Rory has a lot of growing up to do. She still uses Logan — despite his engagement to someone named Odette — as a crutch, leaning on him for emotional fulfillment and companionship. Two things he can’t give her. I’ll admit, I’m biased. I’ve been stubbornly team Jess since he came into our lives back in season two. I still hold out that the Rory/Jess kiss at Sookie’s wedding is one of the best kisses in TV history. The dance marathon episode is the best episode because Rory finally realizes Jess is a million times better than Dean, who is actually the worst character ever. So now I’m conflicted. More episodes seem well within the realm of possibility; I just don’t know if I want them. No matter how much she annoys me, I would love nothing more than to see Rory healthy, happy and successful. But sometimes — especially in the world of sequels — less really is more. I can only hope that “Gilmore Girls” takes notes from TV shows that tanked in quality in their final seasons (“The Office” is a great example) and learns when to quit.
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Sports
Friday, December 2, 2016 — 7
What to watch this weekend KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
When the then-No. 3 Michigan football team lost to No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday in double overtime, its chances of making it to the College Football Playoff plummeted, but they weren’t completely put to rest. The Wolverines no longer control their own destiny, but given that the CFP committee placed Michigan at No. 5 on Tuesday night, there’s still a chance the Wolverines will crawl into the top four after this weekend’s conference games. With victories over No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Penn State and No. 8 Colorado, Michigan has a rooting interest in multiple games this weekend. Don’t be surprised when players and fans cheer extra hard for Colorado and Virginia Tech on Saturday. Assuming the winner of the Big 12 Championship won’t affect the CFP committee’s top four (No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 Oklahoma State look to be just out of reach), here’s a breakdown of how the conference championship games could affect the Wolverines’ ranking. Big Ten Championship: No. 6 Wisconsin (7-2 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) vs. No. 7 Penn State (7-2, 10-2), 8 p.m. Saturday This game is less clear-cut for Michigan fans. Because the Wolverines walloped Penn State 49-10 back in September and cut it close against Wisconsin the next week, winning 14-7, common intuition would lead Michigan fans to believe that a Nittany Lions win would hold both the Badgers and Penn State out of the CFP. If you take a closer look at their records, though, it’s not too hard to make the case that
the Nittany Lions have a better resume. They toppled Ohio State in overtime, 24-21, giving the Buckeyes their only loss of the season. Wisconsin did lose to both Michigan and Ohio State, but held it close in both games and took the Buckeyes to overtime as well. Given the Badgers’ impressive schedule and tight losses, it seems that they’re more likely to make it to the CFP with a victory. If that’s the case, then a Penn State victory might give the Wolverines the push they need for a playoff berth if Washington or Clemson loses control. ACC Championship: No. 3 Clemson (11-1) vs. No. 23 Virginia Tech (9-3), 8 p.m. Saturday The Tigers have looked convincing all season, but their strength of schedule has also been called into question. They have wins over No. 12 Florida State and No. 13 Louisville — which lost last week to unranked Kentucky — but also had questionable performances in some of their victories. N.C. State (6-6) battled Clemson in overtime, only to fall short, 24-17. Clemson’s only loss was on Nov. 12 after Pittsburgh scored nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win, 43-42. Despite the worries about the Tigers, they still finished the regular season 11-1. Virginia Tech will have to play its best game of the year if it wants to beat Clemson, and with losses to Tennessee, Syracuse and Georgia Tech, it seems unlikely that the Hokies will upset the Tigers. If Clemson fell, then Michigan would most likely compete for its spot with the Big Ten Champion. Pac-12 Championship: No. 4 Washington (11-1) vs. No. 8
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Wolverines blow out Georgia Tech on road NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer
Entering Thursday night, the Michigan women’s basketball team was ranked 27th in the coaches’ poll and MICHIGAN 92 52 GA. TECH 33rd in the Associated Press poll. Georgia Tech’s respective rankings were 29th and 31st. While those placements would suggest a close contest between the two teams in Atlanta on Thursday night, the Wolverines had very different plans. Michigan (7-1) rode multiple double-digit scoring runs en route to a 92-52 victory against the Yellow Jackets (6-1). Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty led the Wolverines with 25 points while junior forward Jillian Dunston nabbed a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, “Definitely didn’t expect it,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico regarding the blowout. “We came out of the gate and jumped on them right away. We never really looked back. We kicked their butt and I didn’t think we were going to do that coming into someone’s home court, especially a team that was 6-0 and had some real quality wins.” Michigan dominated from the start, scoring the first nine points. Sophomore center Hallie Thome accounted for four of the Wolverines’ early points with her two layups, while senior guard Siera Thompson and Flaherty accounted for three and two, respectively. “I thought Hallie was great,” Barnes Arico said. “She made their defense really difficult because she ran so well. When our guards are shooting that well, they were trying to pick, ‘Ok, who am I going to match up with?’ and Hallie was able to get some easy buckets.” Georgia Tech showed much more fight in the remainder of the quarter, scoring five consecutive
points at the end of the period to trim its deficit to 23-16. It seemed like the expected dogfight between the Wolverines and the Yellow Jackets was on. But Michigan quickly put any illusions of a close game to rest in the second quarter. Nursing a 27-20 lead with 7:25 left until halftime, the Wolverines put together a 12-0 run, during which freshman guard Kysre Gonderezick put up seven points. Gonderezick finished the game with 15 points, and Michigan took a 45-28 advantage into the intermission. The gap between the two teams only grew in the second half. Already holding a 47-31 lead with 7:54 remaining in the third quarter, the Wolverines went on a scorching 19-0 run to put the contest far out of reach for Georgia Tech. Flaherty accounted for nine of Michigan’s 19 points in that stretch. “Just getting to the rim was important,” Flaherty said. “My outside shot wasn’t really falling tonight. But I hit all of my foul shots, which was big. That was a big confidence booster for me.” With Thursday night’s win, the Wolverines now have two victories over opponents who have received votes in the coaches’ poll — they defeated then-No. 25 Gonzaga, 78-66, on Nov. 24. These victories might be enough to propel Michigan into the top 25 on Monday. But the Wolverines will have to not let potential rankings go to their heads, especially with three more road games before their next matchup at Crisler Center. They were in a similar position last year, but a 74-57 loss at Princeton on Dec. 6 prevented them from cracking the top 25. “I think we can play with any team,” Flaherty said. “Tonight, coming in and beating a 6-0 team what has some pretty good wins by 40 points should make a statement. But we need to keep a level head, stay humble and continue to work hard.”
ICE HOCKEY
Michigan falls to Penn State in Big Ten opener MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Jim Harbaugh’s team will be hoping for upsets in the games this weekend.
Colorado (10-2), 9 p.m. Friday The Wolverines are quite familiar with Colorado. The Buffaloes startled Michigan in September when they came out firing on all cylinders. After the first 15 minutes of play, Colorado was up, 21-7. The Wolverines calmed down and gained control in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-21 lead. Michigan found its groove moving forward and won convincingly by 17 points, but for a few minutes, the Wolverine faithful were shaking in their boots. Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau was impressive, throwing 16-for-25 for 246 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the
third quarter due to injury. The Buffaloes suffered their only other loss on the road at Southern California, where they fell, 21-17. Washington will be challenged more by Colorado than it has been in a while. The Huskies also fell to USC, losing 26-13 after going scoreless in the fourth quarter. The Trojans were the strongest team Washington faced this season. Utah (8-4) was arguably second-best, and the Huskies won, 31-24. It’s hard to predict what will happen in this game, but if Colorado wins, it will probably knock Washington out of the playoffs and give Michigan an added boost.
STATE COLLEGE — Last season, the Michigan hockey team accrued a 5-0 record against MICHIGAN 1 Penn PENN STATE 6 State, outscoring the Nittany Lions by 26 goals. In the first meeting between the teams this season, that was not the case. After allowing one goal in the first period off a scramble in front of the net, the Wolverines (0-1-0 Big Ten, 6-6-1 overall) entered the second period trailing. And with 15:18 remaining in the second half, the Michigan defense showed another sign of weakness. Sophomore defenseman Nicholas Boka chased down a puck in the defensive zone and tried to send a no-look pass to a teammate, but was intercepted by Penn State forward Liam Folkes. Folkes then took the puck across the crease unimpeded and fired a backhanded goal past senior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort. From there, the Nittany Lions (1-0-0, 12-1-1) and their nationleading offense took over. Penn State outshot Michigan, 48-29, en route to a 6-1 victory. “It starts in the offensive zone,” said senior defenseman Nolan De Jong. “We can’t let them build off that speed. We know they’re going to be a fast, hard team, so we’ve got to be able to forecheck, be able to pinch down and kind of slow those guys up. That starts with fore and backchecking, it starts with (defense) having better gaps.” Though Nagelvoort did give up four goals before being replaced in net by freshman
Jack LaFontaine, the senior was put in tough positions throughout the game. With 1:38 remaining in the second period, the Nittany Lions cleared a puck all the way down the ice for what was almost an icing penalty. But junior defenseman Sam Piazza was unable to get to the puck first, as Penn State forward Zach Saar maneuvered around the Wolverine blueliner and fired a pass to forward Ricky DeRosa, who buried a onetimer past Nagelvoort. “I didn’t think our team had a good game in front of our goalie,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “I thought Zach Nagelvoort kept us in the game. But they got behind us, they got through us, our forwards weren’t picking up men. I mean, give Penn State credit. They won all the races, and they won all the battles and they got all the goals.” The lone Michigan goal came from junior forward Tony Calderone, who has scored three goals in the last three games. But by the time that tally came, the game was already out of reach, with the score 5-1. Beyond that, the Wolverines found it hard to get many good chances against Penn State goaltender Peyton Jones. They will take on the Nittany Lions again Friday night, looking for the answer to Penn State’s speed and physicality that they couldn’t find on Thursday. “We have to be a better team tomorrow night,” Berenson said. “Now they’re a good team — they’re one of the best teams in the country right now — and we didn’t measure up tonight. We’ve got to be better tomorrow. Simple as that.”
Michigan looks to bounce back again Wolverines coming off tough loss to Virginia Tech heading into Saturday’s game BETELHEM ASHAME Daily Sports Editor
Over the course of a college basketball season, the schedule typically doesn’t let up between games for teams to recover from a Kennesaw poor outing or State at a disappointing Michigan finish. But after Matchup: a dismal Kennesaw State 3-5; performance Michigan 5-2 last Wednesday night at South When: Saturday Carolina 1 P.M. resulted in its first loss of the Where: Crisler season, the Center Michigan men’s TV/Radio: basketball team BTN Plus had two days off before returning to action at Crisler Center against Mount St. Mary’s. While the Gamecocks were a relatively even match for the Wolverines — both had 4-0 records at the time — the Mountaineers had won only once in six tries and looked likely to be no match for Michigan. And that proved to be the case, as the Wolverines bounced back from a humiliating 15-point loss behind an offensive resurgence that saw them shoot 43.6 percent from the floor and 11-for-27 from beyond the arc to earn a 17-point win. The stage has been set for a parallel situation to occur Saturday when Michigan (5-2) takes on Kennesaw State (3-5). Wednesday night, the Wolverines suffered a stunning 73-70 defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Though they spent much of the game in cruise control, leading for all but 2:18 of regulation, the Hokies gradually inched their way back as Michigan’s shooters went cold. The Wolverines had their largest lead of the contest — a 15-point margin — halfway through the first half, but Virginia Tech whittled it down
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein’s team will look to recover from a loss Wednesday in which it gave up a 15-point lead.
to nine at the break. Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Hokies had tightened it all the way to one. But after Michigan pushed it back out to 10 with seven minutes left to play, Virginia Tech went on a 16-5 run in the next five minutes to take a one-point lead it wouldn’t relinquish. With 5-1 records, the Wolverines and Hokies were also fairly even in their matchup, but after two days off again, that won’t be the case when Michigan faces the Owls. Kennesaw State will travel to Ann Arbor coming off a road trip in Florida, where it secured a two-point victory over Florida A&M for its first road win of the season after falling on the wrong end of another two-point encounter against South Florida. The Owls may be riding
some momentum, but it likely won’t be enough for them to overtake the Wolverines. That is, if Michigan can repeat the type of performance it put on to right the ship against an inferior opponent in Mount St. Mary’s last Saturday. On the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines are in good shape to replicate their dominance. They posted 70 points on Virginia Tech, a major improvement from their 46-point output against South Carolina. But after giving up a season-high 73 points, the defense is in a different state of affairs. “The biggest thing to take away from this is we gotta be able to finish on the defensive end, not really on offense,” said senior forward Zak Irvin after the loss to the Hokies. “Defense wins
“Defense wins games, and we didn’t do that and we lost.”
games, and we didn’t do that and we lost.” Against a Kennesaw State team that is averaging 75.8 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the floor and 37 percent from beyond the arc, the defense will now need to be the unit that steps up to help the Wolverines bounce back from another tough loss. Michigan closed out the victory over Mount St. Mary’s on an 11-2 run, while the opposite occurred in the loss to Virginia Tech. “Most importantly, we gotta be able to finish. We didn’t finish tonight,” Irvin said. “This one’s gonna haunt us. Obviously, we gotta learn from it tomorrow, we gotta put it in the back of our head, but this is definitely one that’s gonna take a little bit to sink in.” The Wolverines have been fortunate to be able to rebound against easier opposition after their two losses this season, but when Big Ten play rolls around, they won’t be so lucky.
Sports
8 — Friday, December 2, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘M’ wins opener: ‘Five more rounds’ Michigan cruises in first round of NCAA tourney MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer
It started with a block on the left side, followed by another on the right. When American gathered AMERICAN 0 for a third MICHIGAN 3 attempt, the Wolverines swatted that one, too, this time into the floor to take a commanding 12-5 firstset lead. The towering front line of sophomore Claire KiefferWright, sophomore Carly Skjodt and freshman MacKenzi Welsh rejoiced along with the hometown Crisler Center crowd. It was that kind of night for the Wolverines, who made quick work of the Eagles in their 3-0 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Nearly three months ago, the Michigan volleyball team (11-9 Big Ten, 23-10 overall) defeated American (15-1 Patriot League, 27-7 overall) in the Panther Invitational, 3-0. Thursday night, the Wolverines picked up right where they left off. No. 12 Michigan came out in its NCAA Tournament debut with a 25-13 first-set victory behind the strong play of Kieffer-Wright and senior outside hitter Kelly Murphy, who each tallied five kills in the set. “It’s always hard in that first match of the NCAA Tournament to see how the nerves are going to be for the team, how we’re going to get into a rhythm,” said Michigan head coach Mark Rosen. “And I thought we did that really well.” In the second set, though, the Patriot League champions fought back. Trailing 17-14 and later 20-17 in the second set, Rosen was forced to call timeouts to get his team refocused. “I don’t think in timeouts it’s about what we say, it’s more giving them a break, them talking with each other and just calming down,” Rosen said. “I think they responded really well to the change in momentum (at 20-17).” From there, the Wolverines came back to win the second set, 25-23, and cruised to a thirdset victory, 25-12, completing a win full of power and efficiency. Michigan finished with 51 total kills, only one shy of its seasonhigh in a three-set match. The attack was multi-dimensional, with three different Wolverines in
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
The Michigan volleyball team took an early lead in the first set and then overcame a late deficit in the second, coasting to a first-round win against American in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
double-digit kills — senior middle blocker Abby Cole (10), Murphy (10) and Kieffer-Wright (13). Going forward, Michigan will face Oregon on Friday night at Crisler Center again, with a potential showdown with fifthseeded Kansas looming afterward. “We’ll spend a lot of time in the next 24 hours preparing for (Oregon),” Rosen said. “They’re fast, they move around a lot. They’re very elusive in the way they come at you, and they’re athletic.” But Rosen and his team don’t seem to be intimidated by any opponent going forward. They believe playing in the Big Ten — the conference with each of the top three seeds in the tournament and six of the top 16 — has been the ultimate primer. “I think playing in the Big Ten is the best way to prepare for the tournament,” Kieffer-Wright said. “I really think that the teams in the Big Ten are the best you’re going to see all year.” It was a routine win that took a bit of resiliency for Michigan. But after the game, Rosen and his team clearly had their sights set on bigger things. In case there was any doubt, the Wolverines harbor the ultimate goal. “National champions,” Kieffer-Wright said. Added Rosen: “Five more rounds.”
“I think they responded really well to the change.”
Diverse attack leads Wolverines to their second-highest kill total of the season JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer
In its first home NCAA Tournament match since 2009, the Michigan volleyball team put its offensive balance on full display. Fifth-year senior outside hitter Kelly Murphy or junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt would rise up from the left side of the court to power a shot past American’s front line. Or senior middle blocker Abby Cole or junior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright would elevate and thunder a kill down the middle. Anything the 12th-ranked Wolverines tried offensively worked against the overmatched Eagles on Thursday night. The first time these two teams met — in September at the Panther Invitational in Pittsburgh — Michigan swept American, 3-0, recording its most kills of the season for a three-set match with 52. They nearly equaled that total Thursday night, registering 51 kills to the tune of a .406 kill percentage. “That’s a lot of earned points,” said Michigan coach Mark Rosen. “You’re going to get a certain number of points from your opponent making mistakes or from errors, or you’re going to get points from blocking or serving aces. But 51 kills in a three-set match is a big number. That just tells me how smooth we’re playing on
offense.” It was that way from the beginning of the game. Cole, a unanimous All-Big Ten selection and the Wolverines’ leader in kills per set at 3.16, didn’t add to the kill total until the Wolverines were up 20-8 in the opening set. Instead, it was Murphy, Kieffer-Wright and Skjodt who carried most of the responsibility on offense. But a player of Cole’s caliber was never going to stay silent for long. “She was playing fine, we just didn’t set her much,” Rosen said. “Had we set her, she’d have been fine. We were creating some other stuff that then opened her up for later.” It was clear that the third set was Cole’s turn to dominate, and she did just that. She opened the set with a kill and tallied another four points in close succession midway through the set to help the Wolverines pull away for good. Overall, Michigan saw three players with double-figure kills – Cole, Kieffer-Wright and Murphy with 13, 10 and 10, respectively, with Skjodt chipping in with eight of her own. All told, it was one of their most well-rounded attacking efforts of the season. “We did a great job with rhythm and tempo,” Murphy said. “All the hitters did a great job tonight.” While American came in with just two players averaging at least two kills per set, five
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Michigan’s offense spread the ball around throughout the night Thursday.
such players — Cole, KiefferWright, junior outside hitter Adeja Lambert, Murphy and Skjodt — can be found on Michigan’s roster. The contrast between the two teams in this regard was evident Thursday night in Crisler Center. When the Wolverines managed to limit the production of sophomore Aleksandra Kazala,
who came in averaging 4.37 kills per set, the Eagles didn’t have anywhere else to turn. Judging by Thursday night’s performance, as well as the entire season, the multitude of attacking options appears to be one of the Wolverines’ greatest strengths, and they hope that it can lead them on a special run through the tournament.