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The Michigan hockey team is hosting an alumni game Saturday at 7:30 to support former player Scott Matzka, who is in the middle of a fight against ALS. » Page 7
The Michigan women’s basketball team is hosting Ohio State at Crisler Center on Saturday, as both teams look to remain undefeated in Big Ten play. » Page 7
FLINT
Google, ‘U’ launch app to measure water safety DESIGN BY: MICHELLE PHILLIPS
Military health insurance pilot program devised at UM Center
Cost-cutting health care included in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act MADELEINE GERSON Daily Staff Reporter
President Barack Obama approved a insurance design developed by University of Michigan researchers as a provision of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on
Dec. 23. The defense bill, which authorized a $619 billion defense budget, also approved the testing of Value-Based Insurance Design — a health care reform plan that reduces the financial barriers to essential, high-value clinical services — for a pilot in TRICARE, a health care
program for active and retired military members and their dependents. Originally created by faculty at the UM Center for V-BID in 2005, V-BID prioritizes the medications and services that are of highest priority to the consumer. V-BID represents an
effort to shift the health care system from a fee-for-service system with high co-pays and deductibles to one with clinical nuance that considers the needs and health conditions of individuals. The University’s V-BID See HEALTH CARE, Page 3
Aiming to assist Flint residents, the risk assessment tool also evaluates lead levels RHEA CHEETI
Daily Staff Reporter
University of Michigan researchers have released an app that helps Flint residents assess lead contamination levels by utilizing functions related to water testing and providing infrastructurerelated information. The team also worked with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver on data analytics for lead pipe removal. The app, released in early December, gives residents information about distribution centers for water and water filters, locations where lead has been found in drinking water,
areas where infrastructure is being replaced within Flint, the likelihood that water in a home or particular location is contaminated and instructions for water testing. Jacob Abernethy, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was one of the faculty members approached by Google to create an app that would assist those affected by the Flint water crisis, which led to the creation of MyWaterFlint app. “What came about was an idea for an app that would be useful for (Flint’s) citizens to See WATER, Page 3
University professor pens water safety ‘U’ faculty A2 residents sign letter report to Obama following Flint crisis design pins
GOVERNMENT
BUSINESS
opposing Sessions
The report details necessary public safety measures for drinking water quality
Law professors join in against Trump’s pick for attorney general
Last month, a 100-page report detailing measures that needed to be taken to ensure the safety of public drinking water in Flint was delivered to President Barack Obama. The report, written by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, included the collaboration of Rosina Bierbaum, a University of Michigan professor of Natural Resources and Environment. President Obama mandated the creation of the report in the wake of the Flint water crisis and wavering public trust in safe drinking water. The aim was to help eradicate all remaining water quality issues and it called for short- and long-term measures to be taken in order to guarantee safe drinking water for all Americans. As a member of PCAST, Bierbaum co-chaired the group of PCAST members and experts addressing drinking water safety. This working group spearheaded the report, which concluded that, although largely safe, American drinking water quality could be further improved by a few measures, such as more succinct
HEATHER COLLEY Daily Staff Reporter
Over 1,000 law school professors from institutions in 49 states — including seven professors and five assistant professors at the University of Michigan Law School — signed a letter in opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R–Ala.) as U.S. Attorney General. The letter, addressed to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, presented arguments about why the Committee should reject the nomination at the confirmation hearings next week on Jan. 10 and 11. The letter listed areas of concern in regards to Sessions’ politics, which include support for a wall along the country’s southern border, regressive drug and incarceration policies and a questioning of the relationship between fossil fuels and climate change. See SESSIONS, Page 3
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AARON DALAL For the Daily
communication across agencies and real-time water quality monitoring. At the last PCAST meeting in Washington, D.C. on November 18, Bierbaum presentedthe goals of the report. “Our real focus is on advancing science and technology,” she said. “Not to
micromanage how it gets done.” In addition to presenting the research findings Bierbaum included her policy recommendations. “The federal government must lead but must clearly involve state, cities and drinking water experts to improve methodologies
that can do comparative risk assessments of contaminant mixtures and across the complete water system,” she said last November. Bierbaum added that the recommendations should supplement the ongoing measures under the Safe See FLINT, Page 2
BAMN
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Civil rights activms group BAMN draws support for their group at Angell Hall on Thursday.
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for social awareness
Michigan alums seek to raise funds prior to Trump’s inauguration DAVID DORSKY For the Daily
In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election, Ann Arbor entrepreneurs Kate Lind and Nate Stevens started a new project, Pincause, that designs and sells pins intended to raise awareness of social justice issues. Pincause recently released its first pin — a multicolored hand design — in support of women’s rights and the women’s rights marches that will take place across the United States on and before January 21, the days surrounding Donald Trump’s inauguration. “At first we had it as a closed fist that was many different bright colors, and then we decided to open it up and make it into the American Sign Language for love, which I think is perfect because our message is about love and inclusion,” said Penelope Dullaghan, the artist behind the multicolored hand design. Stevens, a University of See PINS, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7
News
2 — Friday, January 6, 2017
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ON THE DAILY: FORMER NFL PLAYER RETURNS TO ‘U’ FOR DEGREE Braylon Edwards, a former NFL wide receiver and University of Michigan student, announced via Twitter he would be returning to the University to finish his degree. In his tweet, he joked that he picked up a rigorous schedule for this semester. Edwards, who attended the University from 2001 to 2004, pursued a bachelor’s degree in general studies prior to his departure for the NFL in the 2005 draft. During his time at the University, Edwards played under Coach Lloyd Carr and set both Michigan career and Big Ten records for most games with 100 or more receiving yards. He was recognized as the Big Ten Conference’s Most Valuable Player and awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football in 2004. Edwards was also a member of the University’s track and field team. He ran in the 60, 100 and 200 yard dashes, in addition to participating in the high jump. Following his career as a Michigan football player, Edwards was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as a first-round pick in 2005. He then moved between several different teams but spent the majority of his career with the Browns. LSA sophomore and avid football fan Daniel DeLuca said he appreciates how Edwards has chosen to return to complete his education, unlike many other football players who enter the professional leagues. “I have no problem with someone coming back to finish their degree,”
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DeLuca said. “I think it’s cool for him to come back. I know a lot of players try to finish but have to leave early for the draft, which makes financial sense. I think it’s good for him.” Public response has been mostly positive, with many fans praising his decision to return to the University and obtain his degree.
Michigan Students @UMichStudents When your first class is a 9 am discussion
SNOW CENTR AL
Rob Dickinson @BeRobNow It’s too cold for slow walkers @UMich JEREMY MITNICK/Daily A view of University’s Central Campus coated in snow on Thursday.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES pasta @baeliepasta
Sexual Harassment in Academia Lecture
Friday Flicks: “The Breakfast Club”
Mammoth Interactive Evidence Demostration
The Sky Tonight: Live Star Talk
WHAT: Julie Libarkin from Michigan State University will discuss the long-standing issue of gender-based discrimination in the workplace. WHO: Earth and Environmental Sciences WHEN: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: West Hall, Room 340
WHAT: As part of a winter movie series, the classic flim focused on a group of high schoolers will be screened. WHO: Center for Campus Involvement WHEN: 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, Anderson Room
WHAT: The presentation will provide an interactive look at the evidence of interactions between mammoths and early humans. WHO: Museum of Natural History WHEN: Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. WHERE: Ruthven Museums
WHAT: Audience members will discuss the current night sky and view planets and other objects in this talk. WHO: Planetarium WHEN: Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. WHERE: Ruthven Museums Building
Larry Cat in Space Cartoon
Senior Flute Recital
#UMich 200 Kick Off
WHAT: Audiences will learn about the night sky from a playful cartoon featuring a space exploring cat that uses his space ship to visit the Moon and a short discussion. WHO: Planetarium WHEN: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. WHERE: Ruthven Museums Building
WHAT: Senior Rachel Johanna Berkowitz will be performing works by Bach, Debussy, Brown and Dello Joio WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: Sunday, 7 p.m. WHERE: Earl V. Moore Building, Britton Recital Hall
Increasing Diversity in Earth Sciences Lecture WHAT: Julie Libarkin from Michigan State University will discuss ways to achieve increased diversity in the discipline through sharing social capital. WHO: Earth and Environmental Sciences WHEN: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. WHERE: Clarence Cook Little Building, Room 1528
WHAT: The University’s Bicentennial celebration will begin with free bagels, t-shirts and other themed gear for students to promote the University’s 200-year aniversary. WHO: Bicentennial Office WHEN: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Haven Hall
here on out,” Heinen said. Heinen also said that Flint’s ties to the University may be at play in getting the attention it needs. “I think the communities of Flint and Dearborn Drinking Water Act. She said she encourages and Ann Arbor — Southeast Michigan — that have collaboration in order to aid the collection and the University of Michigan in their neighborhoods coordination of data, specifically pointing to water are definitely at an advantage,” Heinen said. systems not currently under regulatory oversight. “Because those are folks from the neighborhood When she presented in November Bierbaum that really care about what happens and I think stated that America’s water system is generally it’s imperative that local communities and in good shape but still is not totally sound. She local schools and colleges and universities and detailed measures that can be taken to totally churches and community groups and activists join ensure good water quality, like the engagement of together with a long-range plan and really look at the citizen science coordinator and more detailed this and try to figure out what to do and how they water quality analysis. can help.” “Every agency has a citizen science coordinator, She also said — while this report helps the and we think engaging citizen science is really situation in Flint — the water crisis was still poorly important for two reasons,” Bierbaum said. “One handled and crises of this magnitude always have to educate the public about their water systems a tedious recovery process. and indeed most water systems in the country are “I’m skeptical about anybody that thinks what safe, and second to collect information from taps has happened can be cleaned up easily,” Heinen and well water we might not otherwise procure.” said. “I think it’s a human rights disaster … I think Mary Heinen, a Flint native and University the similarities between Hurricane Katrina and alum and staffer, spoke in support of Bierbaum’s Flint are glaring to me.” work. While Bierbaum’s work on the PCAST report “I applaud folks that are working on this report is an encouraging step in the ongoing Flint water and that are working to try and correct some of the crisis, political gridlock still plagues progress in horrible human rights abuses that have happened resolving the Flint water crisis. in Flint and I respect anybody that is thinking Gov. Rick Snyder delayed the passage of a forward and trying to figure out what to do from bill that aligns with the PCAST report in taking specific measures to ensure adequate water quality. By failing to sign it, Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee (D–5) released a statement on Thursday echoing Heinen’s concerns. “The Governor should sign this bill immediately,” Kildee wrote in a press release on Thursday. “Michiganders are sick and tired of waiting for the governor to step up to the plate and help fix this manmade crisis he created in the first place.” The statement also shared Bierbaum’s intentions of guaranteeing the best water quality possible. “Right now, a common sense bill that would help prevent another water crisis is with the Governor awaiting his action,” Kildee wrote. “The Legislature passed the bill unanimously — a nd a ll SHOPPING ON A BUDGET. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com t he G over nor needs to do is sig n it i nto law.”
Ok but on the real how do people even try to compare schools like MSU to umich lol
tom @abushofghosts loving my new student employment gig thank u for everything @UMich
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WATER From Page 1 access a central hub of information about the water crisis.” Abernethy said. “(Google) had people who did software development, but they didn’t have people who did sort of data science, machine learning analytics stuff. With the help of a grad student a year and a half ago, I helped initiate this thing through Michigan called the Michigan Data Science Team.” Abernethy worked with a group of students who organized and analyzed the data on Flint’s water crisis. They also worked with other professors and had support from Google throughout the process. “We’ve made a collaboration with professors at UM-Flint, and we basically focus on all these data and analytics stuff and they focus on the software development side of things,” he said. “We’ve had weekly meetings with folks at Google who’ve helped with (user interface) and other issues and give advice on development.” Cyrus Anderson, Michigan Data Science Team member and University alum, said they worked on identifying where the highest lead levels were while developing the app and identifying lead risk levels. “It wasn’t clear what was causing the lead problems in Flint, so what the team first did was presenting where the high levels (of lead) were likely to be,” Anderson said. “From there, we built models predicting these high levels in order to find the risk factors associated with different aspects of the
SESSIONS From Page 1 “Some of us have concerns about his misguided prosecution of three civil rights activists for voter fraud in Alabama in 1985, and his consistent promotion of the myth of voterimpersonation fraud,” the letter reads. “Some of us have concerns about his repeated opposition to legislative efforts to promote the rights of women and members of the LGBTQ community.” The University professors which signed the letter, including Law Professor Margo Schlanger, who researches civil rights, prison reform, torts and surveillance and heads the University’s Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Schlanger opposes Sessions’ nomination because of what she described as an unfavorable
HEALTH CARE From Page 1
Center Director A. Mark Fendrick said V-BID aims to change the national conversation on health care, from how much money is spent to how well it is spent. “The fact that you pay the same amount out of pocket for every drug — whether it be a life-saving drug or a drug that makes your toenail fungus go away — makes no sense to me,” Fendrick said. In a study conducted by V-BID Health and the American Health Policy Health Institutewhich reviewed the spending
The fact that you pay the same amount out of pocket for every drug — whether it be a life-saving drug or a drug that makes your toenail fungus go away — makes no sense to me
of 35 health insurance companies, the results showed that $2 billion of the $10 billion in net funds were allocated for wasteful and unnecessary health care spending. The United States spends more per capita than any other developed nation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Countries, yet there are inefficiencies and disparities that V-BID aims to address. Fendrick has been on the forefront of this effort, working to bring reform to the U.S. health care system. In February, Fendrick testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, explaining the principles and benefits
housing. Part of our project has also been figuring out where exactly the lead pipes are likely to be and predicting whether or not a house will have lead pipes or not.” Abernethy pointed out that lead poisoning is not an issue that affects just Flint; many states do not recognize universal blood testing regulations, resulting in states like Pennsylvania having childhood lead-poisoning rates nearly double Flint’s. “They found that Flint’s water problems are not actually unique to Flint — there are a large number of census tracts in the U.S. that have blood lead levels above the monitoring level,” Abernethy said. “Flint may only be the tip of the iceberg. The belief is that the idea of this information can be applied to different municipalities around the country — we definitely think this is very possible.” The lack of information about the location of lead service lines and discord surrounding the need for partial or full pipelines has hindered the FAST Start program, Mayor Weaver’s pipe removal initiative. Abernethy and his team worked on this initiative as well, using their data science experience to help overcome these issues. “The government of Michigan put forward approximately $25 million to do lead pipe removal in Flint, and one of the big recovery efforts was to get rid of all these service lines,” he said. “It’s quite an expensive process, trying to determine where lead is, and certain parts of the city had a lot more lead than other parts of the city.” Abernethy’s team used the data provided by FAST
Friday, January 6, 2017 — 3
Start in order to provide useful information to those in the program. The group analyzed a variety of factors and have provided access to the data through the app. “And, of course, there are a lot of working variables here, like whether or not the property was occupied or the likelihood of the homeowner replacing the service lines on their own and not informing the government,” he said. “Some of the data that’s been collected from this FAST Start program, we are actually making available in the app.” This implementation can be viewed on the MyWater-Flint homepage. Users can view what infrastructure is being replaced and what is currently being worked on. This can help Flint residents identify which areas have high lead risk levels. LSA sophomore Aliah Richter said she believed it was important to utilize the prevalence of social media and developing technology in situations like the Flint water crisis. “I think the entire concept is really innovative,” Richter said. “We’re so connected by technology today that pretty much the one thing that could connect all of us is phones and computers. So having an app like that and being able to interact with other people in your area that are also being affected by the situation — I think it’s really important for residents to be able to identify areas that are more likely to have high levels of lead, so I really like the idea of this app.”
history on civil rights legislation and allegations of racism towards former staffers in the past. “Senator Sessions has a long history not just of racial insensitivity but of hostility to the vigorous enforcement of the nation’s civil rights laws,” Schlanger said. “That makes him an unacceptable choice to head the Department of Justice, which is the federal government’s lead civil rights enforcement agency.” LSA junior Collin Kelly, chair of the University’s chapter of College Democrats, said he agrees with the letter and believes that the nomination is questionable, especially because of how Sessions’ attitude toward civil rights deviates from the platform put forth by Loretta Lynch, the current United States Attorney General. “Someone being appointed who has been accused of being racist is offensive to the American people,” Kelly said.
“There are laws all over the country, like voter ID laws, that specifically target minority communities and poor
of implementing V-BID. Fendrick said it is rare for legislation, especially health care legislation, to receive bipartisan support. “I brought an idea to the Senate Armed Services Committee that ultimately, with no lobbying or arguing, became law, which hardly ever happens,” Fendrick said. “We feel incredibly fortunate that we are one of the very few health care reform ideas with bipartisan political support.” The pilot of V-BID will involve military individuals and families who are enrolled in the TRICARE program. The NDAA states the TRICARE program will provide high-quality medications and providers to covered beneficiaries while reducing the price of care. Since the creation of the V-BID Center, a number of initiatives that are not limited to health care reform for military members and their families have been developed. The center also works to increase V-BID outreach to state Medicaid or Medicare plans, state employee health plans and specialty pharmaceuticals. The future of V-BID is unknown, as the success of value-based insurance will be seen in the results of V-BID in the TRICARE and Medicare Advantage plans. V-BID has received bipartisan support in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, as insurance companies shift from delivering and financing fee-for-service care to valuebased care. Already, value-based insurance design has been tested in a number of health care plans and is included in section 2713 of the Affordable Care Act. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report there are 11 Medicare Advantage plans participating in the Medicare Advantage V-BID Model. Individuals who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans with specific chronic diseases receive reduced cost-sharing and may be able to receive additional supplemental services. Fendrick said both the TRICARE pilot and Medicare pilot will provide information about the potential of value-based insurance design. “The goods news about both the
TRICARE pilot and Medicare pilot is that if both evaluations are shown to improve quality of care, improve the patient experience and temper health care cost growth,” Fendrick said. “The V-BID principles can be expanded to all 50 states for Medicare and throughout the TRICARE program without any further regulatory intervention”. LSA senior Madeleine Peters works at the University’s Center for V-BID and hopes to pursue a career in health care policy. Peters said her time at the center has been invaluable to her and provided her with a greater understanding of the U.S. health care system. “My time at the V-BID Center has opened my eyes to the world of health care policy and how there is so much that can be changed,” Peters said. Peters traveled to Washington, D.C. to sit in on briefings at the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate that discussed the importance of value-based insurance and proposed legislation. Peters said that her experience with V-BID has fostered her interest and passion in working to reform health care. “During my time working at V-BID, I have expanded my knowledge of the health care system and the opportunities for improvement,” Peters said. “Working at the V-BID Center has also taught me the importance of educating others, advocating for a change, upholding connections and meeting deadlines.” The participants of TRICARE make up just one population V-BID can reach as the center strives to increase access to millions of Americans. Almost 10 million active and retired military personnel and their dependents on TRICARE will now be able to opt for value-based insurance. Fendrick said it is the Center for V-BID’s mission to give people the option to enroll in a health plan with V-BID principles and that expansion to TRICARE is a major achievement for the center. “I am honored to have any role in making the health care for the folks who serve our country better and more efficient from a financial standpoint,” Fendrick said.
Someone being appointed who has been accused of being racist is offensive to the American people
communities, and the Department of Justice is expected to investigate that these laws aren’t having negative effects on already marginalized communities. A lot of people are
PINS From Page 1 Michigan alum, said the design originally started as a quest for a identifiable and unique symbol, much like other marches and protests have been affiliated with. “It all started with the idea that the design has to be something really good and that it’s not just enough to have a message,” Stevens said. “The goal for this was to create a symbol. The hippie movement had a peace sign, and we wanted to create something similar for the women’s march and women’s movement.” Stevens explained that he and Lind hope to draw nationwide attention to the project and raise money for women’s and civil rights groups. “The goal for this is to gain national media coverage and to make a symbol that reaches tens of thousands of people marching and to raise $100,000 for each the ACLU and Planned Parenthood,” said Stevens. Lind discussed her dreams for the future of Pincause, expressing a desire to expand to other social justice issues. “We hope that Pincause, in the future, will have other causes, so maybe in the second quarter of the year, we were thinking of making pins that support Flint and Syrian refugees,” Lind said. According to MLive, the pins have already been shipped to 43 states and internationally to countries such as England and Australia.
worried that if Sessions is Attorney General, that’s just not going to happen. If anything, civil rights protections will pretty much cease to exist.” College Republicans did not respond to requests for comment. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Sessions is against workplace protections for LGBTQ people, Black Lives Matter movement and voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and denounces the Voting Right Act. This history, along with Sessions’ racist remarks that caused his failure to be nominated as a federal judge in 1986, are a few reasons why David Uhlmann, director of the University’s Environmental Law and Policy Program, also signed the letter addressed to the chairman and the ranking of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. “I served for 17 years at the Justice Department, during both Democratic and Republican administrations, and care deeply about the Department and its work upholding the rule of law and protecting civil rights and the environment,” said Uhlmann. “During his career, Senator Sessions has opposed most of the essential work of the Justice Department, from fighting discriminating based on race, gender and sexual orientation to curbing pollution and anti-competitive behavior in business.” While Uhlmann believes this massive opposition on the part of law professors across the country is extraordinary, he understands that a Republican majority will likely lead to Sessions’ confirmation. Kelly also applauded the penned statement and said it serves to
continue an important dialogue, especially in a time when political correctness is losing priority among both citizens and government. “It makes me proud of my institution,” Kelly said. “These are professors, not activists, trying to make a political statement. They’re experts in their field, and if they’re saying this, I think it shows how real the problem is.” Schlanger stated that Sessions, despite an overwhelming Republican majority in Congress currently, may be so controversial that he could have a difficult time during the upcoming hearing. “The Senate rarely declines to confirm a current or former Senator to executive office, but Senator Sessions is combining a problematic record with a stunning lack of candor to his colleagues that may actually move a few Republicans to the right side of this contest,” she said. Looking at the future of American politics and civil rights discourse, Uhlmann and Schlanger agree that Sessions could impair very vital civil rights in the United States and would fail to uphold justice if he held a position of such wide discretion. Uhlmann sees dangerous similarities between Sessions’ platform and the extreme viewpoints vocalized and made prominent by the Trump campaign. “The confirmation of Senator Sessions as Attorney General would undermine immigration reform, criminal justice reform, environmental protection and civil liberties,” Uhlmann said. “That is no accident. Senator Sessions will provide a prominent voice to the most extreme views in the United States and undermine the diversity, inclusion and commitment to equality under the law that makes our country great.”
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ROLAND DAVIDSON | COLUMN
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NICHOLAS TOMAINO | COLUMN
Bernie would have also felt the burn NICHOLAS TOMAINO
I
t has been posited that were it not for the Democratic National Committee’s tactics and deep-rooted support for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders would have been the blue candidate and would have been victorious over Presidentelect Donald Trump. Though he, like Trump, would have been a viable “change candidate” in his party and shared similarly nationalistic views, it can be shown that a Sanders presidential campaign would have failed to gain the necessary support to defeat Trump. Sanders ultimately would have faltered, because of the both characteristics that distinguished him from Clinton and their shared similarities. Sanders was unlike Clinton in terms of his pervasive economic view. Sanders is a Democratic socialist and would have been far too liberal to win a national election. He believes in universal healthcare, free public college tuition and a massive redistribution of wealth. Aside from college-educated voters — whose votes didn’t swing the election in Clinton’s favor — my sense from the election results is that a sizable number of voters, independent of party, rejected a Democratic socialist paradigm for the country. While many millennials supported Sanders, it must be known that their turnout is historically low. As National Public Radio wrote about the 2012 election, “millennials continue to have the lowest voter turnout of any age group. Only about 46 percent voted in the last presidential election; compared to 72 percent of the Silent Generation, who habitually punch above their weight.” Thus, despite their support, there was no guarantee that they would have made it to the polls. Moreover, voters in the primary elections are far more radical than those in the general election. Thus, there is no guarantee that Sanders’s radical platform would have been compatible with the electorate in the bigger picture. Since the primary vote would be unreliable in calculating Sanders’s chances of winning the general election, we must turn to polls as the last resource. However, it must be known that polling can be a flawed tool — as evidenced by this election. While the Gravis Marketing poll shows that Sanders would have won 56 percent of the vote against Trump, it cannot be taken as truth. The so-called “shy Trump” voter effect might still manifest itself in this poll, thus proving
it to be inaccurate. While a “shy Bernie” effect might be in play, it would prove to be in far fewer numbers because of Trump’s even more radical and taboo nature. Sanders was similar to Clinton in that he would have been the Democratic Party’s candidate — a fact that would similarly work to his demise. Though an Independent candidate himself, he would have relied on the DNC for support during a presidential campaign and would have advanced a Democratic platform and narrative. Comparisons show that Clinton and Sanders shared more views regarding policy than Trump, but Sanders was even more liberal than Clinton. Since the country elected Trump, it follows then that Sanders’s leftist views would not have made him more competitive than Clinton. An electoral victory for Sanders might have required victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin, which Clinton was unable to achieve. As the Cook report revealed, Clinton would have prevailed in the Electoral College vote had she won 109,000 more votes in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and therefore she would have been elected president. More importantly, if she’d swung Florida and Michigan by about 128,000 votes, Clinton might have emerged victorious save for a relatively small number of ballots. Out of a pool of 128 million votes, 128,000 is one-tenth of one percent — a rounding error. It is a tremendous leap to suggest that this slim margin would have been further narrowed if Sanders had run. As evidenced by a chart provided by Mother Jones, Sanders is the most “liberal” candidate to ever run for the office. Much like Clinton, he too would have failed to get the demographics of moderate Republicans or women. Additionally, Sanders might have made similar miscalculations regarding the morals of Trump supporters and Trump’s appeal outside metropolitan areas, as Clinton did. In essence, his comments that Trump and some of his supporters are misogynistic, racist, etc. would not have fared well. In an interview with The Washington Post, Kathy Cramer examined the mindset of many Wisconsinites. She stated, “people felt that they weren’t getting respect. They would say: The real kicker is that people in the city don’t understand us. They don’t understand what rural life is like, what’s important to us and what challenges that we’re facing. They think we’re a bunch of redneck racists.”
While Trump and Sanders ran similar campaigns in Rust Belt states, it can be speculated that this rural demographic would not have liked being labeled as racists by Sanders. This is ultimately echoed in his tweets stating, “I do not believe that most of the people who are thinking about voting for Mr. Trump are racist or sexist … But some are.” While this fundamentally comments on a minority of people, it is still a generalization nonetheless. After all, Clinton’s comment that “you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables” did not fare particularly well for her. It also may be speculated that Sanders’s religion could have proved to be a liability in the general election. Sandy Maisel, a professor at Colby College who tracks the status of Jews in the United States, has stated that “in some ways, it’s a non-story.” According to the Pew Research Center, studies show that 8 in 10 people say their votes wouldn’t be affected upon finding out a candidate is Jewish. However, while Sanders identifies as a secular Jew without strong organizational ties, this year saw a particularly heightened political climate marked by ethnocentrism. As mentioned above, Trump, along with a great deal of his support base, was labeled as xenophobic, racist and anti-Semitic, among other things. Instances of these biases manifested themselves on numerous occasions at rallies. For example, at an Oct. 29 campaign event in Phoenix, a Trump supporter was condemned after chanting “Jew-S-A!” Similarly, according to recent FBI numbers, more than 57 percent of the 1,140 documented anti-religious hate crimes in 2014 were spurred on by antiSemitism. Though some might state that anti-Jewish bias is not a value the majority of the electorate holds, it might also be said that it would have been brought to life because of some of Trump’s supporters. Thus, while it is merely speculative, evidence seems to suggest that Bernie Sanders would not have beaten Donald Trump had he been on the Democratic ticket this November. In short, while the electorate was looking for change, Bernie’s platform would have been too liberal. In contemporary terms, Sanders would have felt the “burn” if he had run against Trump.
Nicholas Tomaino can be reached at ntomaino@umich.edu.
MICHELLE SHENG | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT SHENGMI@UMICH.EDU
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Learning between the lines
here’s often a sense were to align with the party line among educated, liberal regarding global warming. That elites that there just aren’t is, conservatives with a strong enough of us. If only everyone went understanding of science are more to college, then we could really get likely to believe global warming at solving the world’s isn’t happening, while problems. If only scientifically literate those people read liberals believe global “The New Jim Crow,” warming at much then they would higher rates than understand racial their less-educated segregation and be counterparts. on our side. This elite Almost a year ago, I mindset imagines a wrote about a similar world where societal phenomenon that dysfunctions like caused partisans to ROLAND bigotry and apathy seek out information DAVIDSON can be cured by some that confirmed their good books and four years of existing opinions. But this goes instruction. beyond that. People with strong This is true to a certain extent. identities will actively reject Many studies have found that information that doesn’t confirm going to college diminishes racial their biases. Additionally, people prejudice. While no one thinks with strong partisan identities form that college is a cure-all, popular partisan opinions more quickly imagination contends that and more often when presented education and a populace having with unfamiliar scientific more knowledge get everyone on information. For instance, giving a the same page. set of Republicans and Democrats Think about something as with little agricultural knowledge “mundane” as people’s attitudes facts about the health risks of toward global warming. Belief genetically modified organisms in global warming should and telling them that Democrats theoretically be universally are more likely to believe that improved upon by a good GMOs are harmful will cause both science education. The typical groups to join the party line. understanding of that dynamic is This is particularly troubling that global warming is happening given the increasingly polarized and those who don’t believe in it state of American politics. A lot has just don’t know enough (or are been made of Americans living in corporate shills). Unfortunately, a “post-fact” reality where facts no this isn’t the case. longer carry persuasive currency. In a recent study, Yale professor This can be true, but it seems as Dan Kahan recorded respondents’ though even having those facts political beliefs, measured their doesn’t bring our society closer “science intelligence” (a metric together. While Kahan’s study recording of their scientific focused on climate change, we knowledge and quantitative can expect this dynamic exist reasoning abilities) and whether or in all sorts of domains. Welfare not they believed that “there is solid reform, social justice and news evidence of recent global warming coverage are all subject to this bias. due mostly to human activity such Suddenly, it seems as though more as burning fossil fuels.” He found education and more facts won’t that the more political knowledge help bridge the gaps in our society. someone had, the more likely they But there is hope. In another
study, Kahan found that people with high levels of intellectual curiosity are willing to buck their party’s consensus and accept science’s consensus. So, it is possible to fix this rampant bias toward contorting facts; our society needs to reinvigorate a desire to learn and a belief that learning starts, not stops, at the classroom’s door. We can look within our community for ways to do this. The University of Michigan wants to inspire leadership, but there needs to be more. Teaching students to be lifelong learners is imperative. I think there are a lot of ways to inspire this sort of intellectual curiosity. As a University, we can move away from tests and research papers as the primary ways of measuring a student’s mastery. I appreciate that with large weeder courses like Econ 101, there are few opportunities to assess students’ understanding outside tests, but there are many seminar-style courses where the final project could draw directly from other disciplines. Shakespeare classes could combine literary analysis with interviews with scholars; math courses could challenge students to find ways to take the techniques they’ve learned in class and apply them in their own lives. Let students do independent projects to round out courses rather than following a narrow set of guidelines. This paradigmatic change is a large undertaking, but the rewards are well worth it. Universities have an obligation to our civic society and creating students whose love of learning continues long after graduation only serves to better the lives of everyone around them. Let’s try to be a model for the rest of society by being the learners and the best. Roland Davidson can be reached at mhenryda@umich.edu.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. IBRAHIM IJAZ | COLUMN
More unity, less division
IBRAHIM IJAZ
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n Mark Zuckerberg’s annual “year in review” video, one quote stood out to me: “Even when we seemed at our most divided, we were still connected.” There’s a dynamic presented here between connectivity and divisiveness. As our society is quickly adopting ultraconnectivity, are we losing our ability to be unified? As we continue down this path of increasing technological proximity, we have a responsibility to work toward more unity. The advent of the new year is a lot like going to the barber for a long overdue haircut. We need to reflect on what made 2016 a year of widespread disunity in order to get a fresh 2017 cut. Perhaps our issues with unity lie in our obsession with labels. Last month, Tomi Lahren embodied my issues with labeling during an interview with Trevor Noah. Noah asked Lahren if she was a conservative, to which she responded: “I do … I mean I’m a millennial so I really don’t like labels.” The sheer irony involved in Lahren dropping one label for another aside, the picking of one’s own labels hints at a greater issue: group attribution. For example, I’m a Muslim, but that doesn’t mean that all of my opinions are the opinions of Islam or that my actions represent the whole faith. While I would like to think my actions reflect Islam, they don’t. They simply reflect the perception I have of Islam. However, the very nature of labels convinces us that the label holder is a representative, an ambassador of sorts. Why does this matter? Critiques lodged at groups, whether racial, religious or political, often stem from the actions of a few of the group’s members. As recent graduate Areeba Jibril was quoted in a flyer
for the University of Michigan’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program, “Diversity is speaking for myself without being seen as the spokesperson for all individuals who share my identities.” It’s not that labels aren’t necessary in society. In many cases, they benefit individuals, especially those who are a part of marginalized groups, like with increased efforts to admit non-white students into higher education programs. But most of the time, labeling’s negative side effects, like group attribution and blame redirection, are just plainly counterproductive. Take ISIS as a prime example. Instead of focusing on the political roots of the terrorist group or on the poverty many of its supporters face in Iraq and Syria, many falsely believe the group represents Islam. Even by continuing to be labeled as the “Islamic State,” their status as representatives of the religion is further validated. The same goes for the debate about calling radical extremism Islamic extremism. As President Barack Obama said, “We must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek.” As a result, we have not yet learned about their origins in a way that will affect future foreign policy. Labeling, in a sense, is a cop out. It allows us to say, “Well, they’re a part of that group, and that group has some intrinsic problems which we can’t do anything about.” We saw this right after the 2016 election as well. Many supporters of Hillary Clinton described the entire red portion of the electoral map as racist, sexist or bigoted. Labeling all Donald Trump voters as illogical and narrow-minded does nothing but ignore the real issues at hand. A common sentiment among those who
voted for the president-elect was a feeling of exclusion from the political climate for the eight years since President Obama took office. The problems they see with the United States, like job-access and untrustworthiness of government, should concern all Americans, but when Democrats stop listening before Republicans open their mouths, then the country stands to suffer. When we label, we’re automatically categorizing based on these surface level characteristics. But when we dig deeper, we see that people share a lot of the same fundamental morals, goals and struggles. If we stay on this path of letting labels be the end of the conversation, then we won’t be able to solve our problems. Labeling is counterproductive, keeping the two sides of the aisle far from each other and strengthening the disunified forces at large. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a nation devoid of this disuniting labeling, where we are judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin. And we, as a society, need to unify now more than ever. A recent Washington Post article explains this Congress is more polarized than it has been in over 100 years. When we’re polarized, we find fewer reasons to listen to each other and fail to progress as a result. So as we walk in with our messy haircuts to the barber shop this new year, let’s consider our options. We can vaguely hope for a good outcome and squirm in our chair as the barber botches the hairdo, or we can confidently set limits and guidelines for our hairstylist and leave looking fresh for 2017. Let’s come together in 2017 and limit our divisive labeling while opening our ears to further discourse and conversation. Ibrahim Ijaz can be reached at iijaz@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, January 6, 2017 — 5
TV REVIEW
TV REVIEW
COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.
“Jackie” baits in its beauty and mediocrity Pablo Larraín’s visually arresting drama is a sleek but safe offering the White House and was a style icon ASIF BECHER to millions. And then there’s the Jackie Daily Arts Writer behind the camera, who speaks in a register about an octave lower than Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink Chanel the first: tough, determined and made suit and pillbox hat may be the most of absolute steel. It’s the second Jackie famous outfit in recent history. It’s the audience sees for a majority of the almost like the Coke logo or Marilyn film. We follow her as she arranges Monroe’s face — a quintessentially the funeral and moves out of the American image burned into collective White House, all while confronting memory. Like the hungry press, the allmost symbols of too-eager Lyndon Johnson classic Americana, and the task of determining it was gruesomely how her husband will be distorted. When her remembered. “Jackie” husband was shot, The film is a deeply Fox Searchlight Jackie refused to personal one. Tight closeclean the blood off up shots and shaky camera Pictures her perfect pink work dominate as the Michigan Theater suit, and reportedly audience is given entry into regretted washing some of the most intimate it off her face and moments of Jackie’s hands. “I want them life. This allows Natalie to see what they’ve done to Jack,” she Portman’s performance to shine as it said. takes center stage, but unfortunately This is where “Jackie” begins. relegates all the other characters Directed by Pablo Larraín (“Neruda”) and conflicts to the background. The and starring Natalie Portman (“A movie is hyper-focused on Jackie, both Tale of Love and Darkness”), the film figuratively in terms of its story, and is an exploration of the First Lady’s literally. She is in every scene, and the reaction and response to her husband’s camera follows her closely. The effect assassination. “Jackie” is the latest is unsettling, but maybe not in the way in the recent trend of biopics such as the filmmakers intended. “The Social Network,” “Lincoln” or “Jackie” was clearly meant to be “The Wolf of Wall Street” that turn an intensely affecting film. We’re historical figures into traditional thrown into the psychology of this fictional characters instead of merely very interesting person in order to pointing to the significant moments of see the world the way she saw it their lives. during that awful week following the There are two Jacqueline Kennedys assassination. All of the elements are in “Jackie.” There’s the poised and regal technically in place for the audience woman who painstakingly redecorated to be fully absorbed and ready to
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empathize with Jackie. The score by Mica Levi (“Under the Skin”) is hypnotic, Portman’s performance is subtle but powerful, and the camera work is intimate, to say the least. And yet, none of this comes together. The story just isn’t quite functional, meaning that none of the rules of drama that would make it actually resonate are put into place. None of the choices the character makes are contingent on each other. Plot elements just sort of happen, with no build or release of tension. Instead of being a story built on cause and effect, it’s a story based off of the principle of “and now this is happening.” And that’s just no way to invest viewers in a narrative. It doesn’t matter how pretty the score or how perfect Portman’s accent. It also doesn’t matter that most of the plot points of the film happened in real life. We need actual character motivation and good dramatic storytelling to register emotionally what is happening. “Jackie” looks great. Its period setting is visually perfect, the score is unnerving, it’s filmed in a seemingly artful way and the acting is high quality. But underneath the glossy surface, it’s a hollow shell of a story. The real Jacqueline Kennedy, both the public and private versions, deserved far better than this. She too had a pretty surface that looked nice on camera. Unlike her biopic, however, the real Kennedy had depth, intention and layers. For this, Jacqueline Kennedy’s legacy will endure. “Jackie” will be lucky if it makes it past the next Oscar season.
COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX
Shame. Shame. Shame.
“Assassin’s Creed” an unmitigated mess Video game adaptation fails to meet even the slightest standards of success Callum Lynch. However, in the rush to get to more scenes of Cotillard and Daily Arts Writer a sadly underused Jeremy Irons (“The Lion King”) vomiting exposition It’s one of the few absolutes in film: everywhere, the script forgets to there has never been a good video give Lynch any humanity or depth game movie. In the 23 years since whatsoever. The audience is stuck “Super Mario Bros.” was released to with an unappealing, uninteresting resounding vitriol, not one film in character. the genre has crossed the line into After what feels like an even mediocre. But as “Assassin’s interminable amount of time, Lynch is Creed” approached, finally put into the Animus, it seemed like it a virtual reality machine, would be the one to live out the memories of to break the mold. his ancestors. This is what “Assassin’s Creed” Justin Kurzel, who fans of the series have been helmed last year’s waiting years to see. The 20th Century Fox visually astounding idea of seeing it on screen Rave, Quality adaptation of is likely what brought the “Macbeth,” signed vast majority of viewers on to direct. He to the theater, and yet it brought with him is possibly the worst part Michael Fassbender (“Inglourious of the whole ordeal. To be sure, the Basterds”) and Marion Cotillard scenes in the present are boring and (“Inception”), two actors who not far too long, but at least they were only add credibility to their chosen competently made. The scenes in projects, but who have done great 15th century Barcelona, a city which work in genre films in the past. All was apparently constantly cloaked in the pieces were in place for a great a CGI sandstorm, are so poorly put video game movie to finally happen, together that it’s mind-boggling. but somehow everything still went Most of these scenes are made wrong. up of a series of action sequences in “Assassin’s Creed” opens by order to give the plot some illusion of introducing the audience to its momentum. To be fair, there is some sympathetic, likeable main character, fantastic stunt work on display here, Fassbender’s convicted murderer but it’s ruined by some of the most JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
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atrocious editing of the year. As it turns out, “Assassin’s Creed” works best when looked at as a cautionary tale about the importance of editing. The constant cutting back and forth between something that might be considered exciting in the past and Callum miming his ancestor’s actions in the present results in some seriously laughable imagery. Even when the film stays in one time period for more than three seconds, it still cuts between shots and locations so often that there’s no tension, no intensity, no excitement. There’s just incomprehensible “action shot” after incomprehensible “action shot” and an Academy Award-nominated actor miming said action shots. It would be utterly hilarious if it wasn’t so damn infuriating. Finally, after another hour of overwrought exposition scenes and mystifyingly subpar action scenes, “Assassin’s Creed” ends with a rushed climax and resolution that bait a sequel that, God willing, will never see the light of day. It’s awful, but by that point, it’s to be expected. This was supposed to be the film to finally change the tide of junky video game movies. Instead, it became a part of the epidemic itself, perhaps the final nail in the coffin for video game fans who dare to hope.
COURTESY OF BBC
Ay gyal you a bad ting.
“Sherlock” mostly works Of course, Sherlock (and Watson) find her — but so does Mary’s Book Review Editor would-be assassin, a previous coAfter a hiatus that lasted long worker in her line of secret agent enough for some “Sherlock” work. While he is unsuccessful fans to graduate high school in his mission there, in the end and forget about the show, the of the episode there is a shockmodern mystery solver is back. ing death; but it feels, somehow, The premiere of ungenuine. Either the long awaited a major characSeason 4, “The Six ter has just been Thatchers,” began killed off in a very with the funny hasty way, or in the “Sherlock” self-proclaimed next two episodes Season 4 “sociopath” tweetthere’s going to be ing on his phone “The Six Thatchers” some miraculous despite being in return from death BBC the middle of a — again. One would Really Important hope that the plot Secret Meeting, maneuver would lulling viewers into only be employed a relaxed amuseonce, though there ment, tinged with anticipation. are also allusions to another vilThis didn’t last long: the plot lain who was killed in Season twist of the final 20 minutes 3 maybe making a return. The left me — and most of Tum- hints read neither as red herrings blr fandom, where many of the nor feasible plot points, making show’s fans reside — alternating for a disjointed episode. between a confused daze and Throughout “The Six Thatchsuspicions that there might be ers,” there are moments of humor: genius somewhere in it. I happen Sherlock trying to explain things to lean towards the former. to a baby, Sherlock outsmartThe arc of the mystery in “The ing people and being rude about Six Thatchers” falls slightly it without meaning to, Sherlock short, deriving more of its ener- choosing Mary and a dog over gy from the action than from a Watson as a sleuthing partner clever framework of the case and for an expedition, and of course the clue-by-clue sleuthing, one of the bitter banter between Sherthe main draws of the first two lock and his brother. But though seasons of the show. Sherlock those feel familiar and comfort(Benedict Cumberbatch, “The ing, they’re not enough to carry Imitation Game”) first solves a the episode. The show itself is a mysterious death that Watson complex modern mystery, with (Martin Freeman, “The Hob- weaving and dodging parts; the bit: The Desolation of Smaug”) pacing — and the protagonist — later blogs about, of course, but can make you feel foolish if you one of the clues from that case can’t keep up. But despite that, provides the link to the next — even if the confusing elements which has something to do with were confusing intentionally, Mary (Amanda Abbington, “Mr. the overall episode doesn’t quite Selfridge”), Watson’s wife. Once live up to the hype that a threeagain, we are plunged into con- year hiatus inevitably creates. fusion about whether to trust Hopefully the next episode Mary, who runs away across the reconciles Sherlock and Watson, world, purportedly to protect her because while conf lict makes for husband and daughter from her good TV, shots of Benedict Cumprevious identity and the dangers berbatch being sad and alone that come with it. don’t. SOPHIA KAUFMAN
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PEOPLE IN SCHOOL TELL ME, ALWAYS IN THE BARBERSHOP, CHIEF KINERY AIN’T ABOUT THIS, CHIEF KINERY AIN’T ABOUT THAT, MY BOY AN EDITOR ON MAYNARD AND THEM, HE — HE SAY THAT GIRL DON’T BE PUTTING IN NO WORK. SHUT UP. Y’ALL DON’T KNOW NOTHING. ALL Y’ALL TALK ABOUT CHIEF KINERY NO HITTA CHIEF KINERY AIN’T THIS CHIEF KINERY A FAKE. SHUT UP. Y’ALL DON’T LIVE WITH THAT GIRL, Y’ALL KNOW THAT GIRL GOT CAUGHT SUCCEEDING AT NBC AND THAT GIRL BEEN SOARING SINCE I DUNNO WHEN! WRITERS STOP PLAYIN’ HER LIKE THAT. THEM WRITERS SAVAGES OUT THERE IF I CATCH ANOTHER ONE TALKING SWEET ABOUT CHIEF KINERY I’M HIRING LAWYERS! I’M NOT PLAYING NO MORE. Interested in applying to Daily Arts? E-mail us at npzak@umich.edu or anay@umich.edu for an application and a copy of Chief Keef’s discography.
Arts
6 — Friday, January 6, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
“Fantasy XV” is a fresh primer for the roadtrip video game genre Most recent iteration of long-running game series breathes new life into the franchise great distances and make stops in fascinating little towns. It’s Daily Arts Writer a formula for success. So “Final Fantasy XV” is Have you ever pressed ‘A’ on most certainly not the first a TV in a Pokémon game to see road trip video game, but what was playing? it’s the first video game to “There’s a movie on TV,” the literalize the concept into text box reads. “Four boys are gameplay. We open on a dusty, walking down railroad tracks. western highway, on which …I’d better go, four gorgeous, too.” primped anime This is, boys are pushing of course, a a broken-down Final Fantasy XV reference to luxury car “Stand By Me,” towards a gas Square Enix the 1986 Rob station. As they PS4 (Reviewed), Reiner film banter among adapted from themselves and Xbox One Stephen King’s the player takes “The Body.” The control of the carfilm and the pushing effort, a book it’s based on are seminal Florence + The Machine cover texts that explore working of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” class heteromasculinity; song swells in the background they’re favorites among those (it incorporates a bit of who grew up in the ‘80s — the classic “Final Fantasy” those who have a fondness title screen music into its for an era with less parental orchestration, a nice touch). guidance and a larger, more Could it be clearer what mysterious earth to explore. we’re supposed to be thinking While it’s difficult to say about? This genre. That movie. whether the original Japanese Angst. Coming-of-age. That text made such a reference childhood desire to pack up an or whether the English old-timey knapsack and head localization staff embellished out to the Yukon, “Calvin and the nod, it’s equally difficult Hobbes”-style. not to wonder whether “Stand The anime boys in question By Me” had a profound are Noctis, a prince, and inf luence on Japanese Role- his three confidants Ignis, Playing Games — youth Prompto, and Gladiolis. abandoning their hometowns Those familiar with “Final to go on a parent-less adventure Fantasy” shouldn’t balk at is quite nearly a cliché in the the Latinesque nonsense that genre. “Chrono Trigger,” comprises their names, but for “Kingdom Hearts,” “Secret everyone else, hearing names of Mana,” “Earthbound” and like this spoken very seriously most certainly “Pokémon” all out loud will take some getting introduce their narratives in used to. this way. And even if they’re But there’s not much else framed around a different about “FFXV” ’s introductory concept (“Final Fantasy VII” sequence that “Final Fantasy” following a group of radical die-hards will expect. There’s ecoterrorists is an example) no daring bombing mission. No many more of these games are epic swordfight. No futuristic structured like road trips. A water polo game. Rather than group of friends travel across being shoved headlong into a JACOB RICH
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COURTESY OF SQUARE ENIX
When ya fridge be empty.
desperate scenario, the game quietly picks up with four kids driving around, listening to an indie singer and talking about things. It’s jarring, to say the very least. “Final Fantasy” has blended modern and future technology
visual. Like last year’s “Metal Gear Solid V,” “FFXV” represents a massive left turn for a franchise that’s been around for decades — abandoning the precedent of narrative linearity that was held very closely to in the last singleplayer “Final Fantasy game in favor of a questbased open-world structure. It’s a lot like “The Witcher 3.” The player can progress through a singular “main quest” storyline, complete standalone side quests for experience or take on lucrative bounty hunts involving tough fights against “daemons,” mindless wild beasts emboldened by mysterious antagonists. While I wish the side quests were more complex (most of them are simple MMOstyle fetch quests), they provide a meaningful alternative to traditional grinding since each of them provides experience points and reward items. Those comparisons aside, the game “FFXV” shares the most DNA with is “Kingdom Hearts.” Before a massive team transition in 2014 in which Hajime Tabata took over development as director, “FFXV” was to be the first main series “Final Fantasy” game to be directed by Tetsuya Nomura, the guy who directed the first two Kingdom Hearts games. His inf luence shows itself blatantly in the game’s combat. Fighting in “FFXV” is essentially an expansion of the actionbased combat in “Kingdom Hearts,” the primary differences being the ability to hold the attack button rather than mashing it, and an emphasis on maneuvering to the backs of enemies to do with classical high fantasy extra damage. Magic and summoning are also overhauled. aesthetics in the past, but never like this. “FFXV” drops Magic involves charging spells by using our Anime heroes into a resources picked up in the environment, and deploying them as massive area-of-effect attacks world of Western Americana, complete with diners, gas that one would use much like a grenade in a firststations and a whole lot of person shooter. It never really clicked for me as useful, but I’ve seen other gamers on YouTube desert. It feels new. And there’s more Western harness it quite effectively. Really, it’s a matter inf luence than merely the of preference. Summoning is strange. Essentially, the player can call gods down from the heavens to do massive damage to everything in the area, but only when the gods feel like helping? The criteria for when a summon appears feels inconsistent. It’s not at all reliable, but its Call: #734-418-4115 rarity makes it admittedly very cool whenever it happens. Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com But what really keeps the combat in “FFXV” entertaining over the course of its runtime (about a 15-hour campaign with about three RELEASE DATE– Friday, January 6, 2017 times as much side content) is its extraordinary enemy variety. I constantly marveled at the creativity expressed in the often gigantic Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis creatures Noctis and company were tasked 54 Kolkata cash ACROSS 6 Harmful ray type 39 “Jeopardy!” with hunting them down. Some of the later1 BEDROOM APTS Near N. Campus 55 Slangy refusal staple 1 Carnival Cruise 7 More than 70% Fall 2017‑18 ‑ $900/m + $25/m Utilities game fights against screen-filling monsters 56 Wafer brand Line of Earth’s surface 42 Flaws and all are breathtaking — highlights of an allEach unit has one parking space. 45 Is for everyone? 57 Place to find a 8 Lab greeting headquarters flag 46 Bikini in the 909 & 915 Wall St. 9 “Ars gratia artis” 6 Net gain? around excellent single player story that shifts 58 Le Pew’s Pacific, e.g. is written in an Deinco Properties 734‑996‑1991 10 One often taking drastically as it progresses. defense 49 It starts a bit arc around his a bow before Christmas 59 Dish list “FFXV” goes from road trip to head 14 How many 2 BEDROOM + Study Fall 2017 51 Astronauts’ gear 63 Limit 10 Zoom along crosswords are intercontinental boat trip, to train trip, even 2 Parking Spaces Washer/Dryer 64 Jackie O’s 53 Channel with a 11 “Time for me to solved Max occupancy is 4 to a secret mode of transportation that only second “Congressional split” 15 Plot to plow 935 S. Division ‑ $2250 + Utilities Chronicle” online 65 “Shirt Front and 12 Smoke passage 16 Creepy look unlocks after you beat the game. The constant Cappo Mgmt 734‑996‑1991 Fork” artist archive 13 Gull relative 17 Bridge shifting of tone and structure in the game’s 18 Carrying, so to 20 Young campaign might feel incoherent to some, but to 2017‑2018 LEASING speak ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Skywalker’s Apartments Going Fast! 19 Hen holders nickname me it provided much-needed variety to a genre Prime Student Housing 24 Common street 21 “At Wit’s End” that’s often held back by homogeneity. There’s name 761‑8000. www.primesh.com columnist really only one part of the game’s campaign that 25 Strait-laced Efficiencies: Bombeck 26 __ ejemplo 22 Like Cheerios 344 S. Division $855 isn’t a blast — a lone chapter that drastically 29 Geometric art 23 Bridge 610 S. Forest $870 ‑ 1 Left shifts tone to emulate survival horror gameplay. style 27 Liked a lot, with 1 Bedrooms: 30 Several It’s a nice idea, but it’s not executed in a way “up” 511 Hoover $1045/$1065 31 Start of a 28 Taqueria order 508 Division $945 that’s fun to play. subordinate title: 31 A3 or Q7 *Varies by location: Full Furnished, Besides hunting monsters and traveling, the Abbr. 34 Leave Parking Included, Free Ethernet 32 “You meant 8 37 Whistle-blower player can also engage in one of my favorite
We open on a dusty, western highway, on which four gorgeous, primped anime boys are pushing a broken-down luxury car.
Classifieds
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01/06/17
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fishing minigames I’ve ever played in a video game — rivaling even that of “Twilight Princess.” It’s a blast to take a break from the action and level up Noctis’ fishing skill. The other party members have special skills too, but they’re more passive — Prompto will take pictures over the course of the adventure that you can save to your hard drive, and Ignis will cook meals at campfires that grant helpful stat buffs. They’re fun little touches. This game has a lot of those. I’m somewhat conf licted about how “FFXV” represents gender and race. Both the male and female characters are sexualized relatively equally (breasts, biceps and abs hang out EVERYWHERE in this game), which I’m more than fine with, but it seems like a missed opportunity to make every character in the party a light-skinned straight dude. What kind of dynamic would it bring if one of these beautiful anime boys liked other guys? How much would it have changed if one or more of the party was a girl? Why are there only two or three people of color in the entire world? But at the same time, I’m proud of the way that “FFXV” portrayed a nontraditional sort of heteromasculinity with its main characters. It allows them to show love for each other, dress in risqué black leather and talk to each other about their feelings without writing off any of those things as something not okay for straight guys to do. Over the course of the campaign we’re allowed some real insight into the interpersonal relationships of the four boys, even beyond the (well-written) banter that’s frequently spouted
It felt like there were tangible emotional highs and lows among the characters. in the car and on quests. There are social quests that very occasionally pop up that provide muchneeded breaks in tone — they kind of feel like the filler episodes of an anime where everyone goes to the beach for no reason, except they’re actually good. A scene that pops up randomly when you’re staying at a certain hotel between two of the boys is an emotional one that I’ll not forget for some time. There are times when the characters fight, make up, split off from one another and come back together again. It felt like there were tangible emotional highs and lows among the characters — I can’t think of another game where that’s been felt in recent years. I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed spending time with Noct, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto. I would be remiss not to note how meme-worthy their dialogue can be at times, with Ignis in particular lending his voice to one of my favorite twitter memes I’ve seen in a long time. It’s strange. On paper, “FFXV” is a number of combat encounters strung together with only a few interruptions from fishing minigames and sequences of travel. It doesn’t sound all that compelling. But because the game’s story is so excellently creative, its visuals so gorgeous, its style so unique, it becomes something much greater than the sum of its parts. It goes to show how far a dedication to world-building can go in making a superb video game.
MUSIC! FILM! THEATRE! AN IMPENDING SENSE OF DOOM! TV! STYLE! E-mail us at npzak@umich.edu or anay@umich.edu to join the Daily Angst Section.
01/06/17
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, January 6, 2017 — 7
Michigan hockey hosts alumni game with Red
Wings to support former Wolverine Scott Matzka MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor
When Scott Matzka committed to play hockey at Michigan before the 1997-98 season, he didn’t know what kind of culture he was joining. All he knew was the Wolverines had won the NCAA Championship in 1996, and it was widely known that they were a premier hockey program. In Matzka’s first season, Michigan further cemented its place at the top of college hockey, winning another NCAA Championship over Boston College. It was the Wolverines’ ninth national title, which still stands as the most all-time. But while Matzka had experienced much success in his collegiate career, he wouldn’t come to fully understand how impactful the Wolverines’ hockey community would be until more than a decade after he was done playing — namely, this Saturday night. *** In 2014, Matzka spent a lot of time in the car. He was working in automotive plants and had been making drives to and from those plants since he had retired from playing hockey the year before. But over time, Matzka started to realize that something wasn’t quite right with his body. When he reached to grab a pack of gum, his forearm would sometimes cramp up. When he would make a fist, it would sometimes be difficult to uncurl his fingers. “I felt like — especially as an athlete — I understood my body pretty well,” Matzka said. “I was very active at that point. I was still working out at the time. I just knew something was off, but it was very, very early on at that point.” So Matzka began doing research on his symptoms, and a single result kept coming up: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach Red Berenson and the Wolverine hockey community has shown up in a major way for former player Scott Matzka in his battle with ALS.
When his cramping and stiffness worsened, Matzka decided that it was time to see a doctor. But preliminary results from his general practitioner came back normal, and Matzka was referred to a neurologist to further examine his health. Throughout August and September of 2014, Matzka travelled around Michigan seeing different doctors. He eventually ended up at the University of Michigan, where a neurologist confirmed Matzka’s fears, and he was officially diagnosed with ALS. From there, Matzka began to realize the road ahead of him. “It was probably 16 months before we sat down and started thinking about what we could do to be advocates for the disease,” Matzka said. “By that point, we started understanding some of the things we were going to face physically and financially. So we were really at the crossroads of
‘OK, we want to do all these things.’ And by that point, we knew that my symptoms were severe enough that we had to, basically, shit or get off the pot.” One of Matzka’s former employers created a website to help the Matzka family, where people could donate money to help with the costs of caring for an ALS patient. To date, Matzka estimates that the website has raised about 33-50% of his family’s goal of $500,000 in the last six months. For his own part, Matzka has taken it upon himself to spread awareness about ALS. “We decided that my biggest impact was going to be in helping to spread awareness,” Matzka said. “So what we’ve done is, for the most part, we’ve spent time trying to tell my story everywhere that we can, and use that as a tool to empower everybody around us and other people, and then spread awareness about ALS, but then raise money towards the family.”
Matzka’s journey to spread awareness has taken him all around the world. Last October, he took part in an honorary puck drop prior to Michigan’s hockey game against Union, which was deemed an ALS Awareness game. Soon after, Matzka travelled to the United Kingdom to attend a fundraising game put on by another one of his former teams, the Cardiff Devils. “It’s really an honor for us to be a part of things like that,” Matzka said. “There are 20,000 people facing this in the US right now, and every 90 seconds someone is newly diagnosed. So we’re not the only ones that are facing this, but we’re obviously in the unique position that we’ve been and done things that most people haven’t been able to do. “I’m honored to be the one. Unfortunately, I hate to be the one. But until this disease is figured out, somebody’s got to do it, so I feel like I’m a good person to do that right
Wolverines travel to Columbus for a contentious encounter with Ohio State MAGGIE KOLCON Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women’s basketball team is heading to Columbus this weekend to face one of its fiercest competitors yet — Ohio State. The Buckeyes (3-0 Big Ten, 13-4 overall) are ranked 11th in the Associated Press poll and 13th in the Coaches Poll, while the Wolverines (2-0 Big Ten, 13-3 overall) have failed to crack the top 25 in either. Yet, the two teams have nearly identical records and Michigan sits six spots ahead of Ohio State in the NCAA RPI rankings. The Buckeyes are favored, but the Wolverines have an opportunity to prove their superiority. “Ohio State is led by a young lady named Kelsey Mitchell,” said coach Kim Barnes Arico on WTKA radio. “She’s an AllAmerican. She’s arguably the best player in the country. She’s a guard averaging about 26 points a game.” While the Wolverines don’t quite have a scoring equivalent of Mitchell, they do boast one
of the deepest teams in the country. Seasoned junior guard and leading scorer Katelynn Flaherty averages 17.9 points per game, but it’s freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick who bolsters the depth. Gondrezick broke into the Wolverines’ starting lineup against Rutgers on Dec. 28 — a decision made based on her ability to score from the outside. Her uncanny ability to hit 3-pointers — she is shooting 46.1% on the year — makes her tough to defend against. “Earlier in the season, or especially last year, we felt if Katelynn had an off night we weren’t able to be really successful,” Barnes Arico said. “Now, Katelynn has drawn so much attention to herself. She’s usually guarded by the other team’s best player, and sometimes two people are running at her, and she faces double teams at times and faceguarding at times. “It’s great to have other options and people that can take that pressure off of her, and Kysre has definitely provided that.”
Gondrezick put up big points in Michigan’s first two games of conference play, and shows no sign of slowing down. She had 18 points and seven rebounds against Rutgers and another 16 points, including three 3-pointers, in the Wolverines’ latest matchup against Wisconsin. Sophomore forward Hallie Thome is the third offensive threat the Buckeyes will need to watch out for. Coming off her recordbreaking 37-point performance against the Badgers, in which she tied for second highest points per game in Michigan history, Thome has shown that she can be extremely dangerous down low. “I watched the film with my own children because they wanted to see,” Barnes Arico said. “And they were like, ‘Mommy it’s almost like a layup
drill for Hallie.’ Every time down the floor, it felt like she was scoring the basketball.” If Thome, Flaherty and Gondrezick all perform at their peak, Ohio State will have to decide which Wolverine it needs to defend the most: the dangerous outside duo of Gondrezick and Flaherty or Thome’s long reach in the paint. But, the Wolverines will need to return to their highscoring ways from the start of the season if they want to keep up with the Buckeyes. Not only has Ohio State matched Michigan’s record of three games in triple digits this season, but the Buckeyes have scored fewer than 80 points in a game just twice. The Wolverines have played nine games in which they haven’t cracked that magic number. With a serious defensive effort, Michigan is certainly capable of winning its third Big Ten game in a row. The Wolverines have lost to both No. 10 Florida State and No. 9 UCLA, but both games were close. Michigan played each team after long flights to the Virgin Islands and California, putting the Wolverines way out of their comfort zones. A threehour bus ride to Columbus, could make conditions more favorable for Michigan. The Wolverines have a solid chance at beating Ohio State, and their excitement shows. “Our games with them the past few years have really been high-energy, high offense, fun to watch,” Barnes Arico said. “I think the rivalries between (us and) Ohio State and Michigan State are incredible. I don’t think anywhere in college athletics you have those rivalries like we do here at Michigan.”
“She’s a guard averaging about 26 points a game.”
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick is shooting 46.1 percent from three to give the Wolverines depth on the perimeter.
now.” *** Saturday, Matzka will witness another hockey game in his honor. But this time, he will be watching some of his former Michigan teammates — along with other Wolverine alumni — take on former Detroit Red Wings players. It was an idea brought to Matzka by former teammate LJ Scarpace, who, along with the Michigan hockey team, went to work inviting retired players to return for the game. “Really, we just sent out an e-mail asking for the guys that would like to play, to (former Michigan players),” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Clearly we got a great response.” And while there are many occasions when Wolverine alumni come back to Yost, this one will be a bit more somber. But that doesn’t mean that Michigan alumni won’t be attending in force.
“It seems like we’re always having a reunion of a championship team or an anniversary of something special,” Berenson said. “But it’s not very often that we have a needy, or a sad or a real challenging situation like this one. And when you do, it’s amazing how the Michigan hockey family comes together. I mean, we have a lineup. We’ve got probably too many players. We have more players than we need, but good for them.” And no matter the result, both Berenson and Matzka realize that the final score doesn’t matter. For them, the heavy response from former Wolverines has already made Saturday’s event a successful one. “What it means to me is it just makes me proud to be a part of the Michigan hockey family, and the Michigan family, period,” Berenson said. “I know our fans are going to support this event, and I know our team, I think, will support it, and obviously the community. So it’s not a happy thing, but it’s an important thing.” Added Matzka: “We’re going to have a ton of people that are going to get a chance to learn more about ALS, and are going to Google it and hopefully have an opportunity to take part in some of the events to raise money for the cause.” In addition to simply raising awareness about the disease, Saturday will also serve as an opportunity for people to support Matzka himself, as all proceeds from the event will be donated to his personal fund. Matzka knows how much of a difference those donations can make. “It’s going to help provide us with the opportunity to make quality of life choices versus making financial choices,” Matzka said. “We have to say, ‘Do I want to live with this disease and see my kids grow up a little bit more, or not have that ability?’ So that’s really what we’re looking for.”
Hayden earns ninth at National Championship MATTHEW KENNEDY Daily Spors Writer
For many competitors, the USA Diving Winter National Championships is a reprieve from the stressful academic and athletic workload that student athletes across the country face. With final exams in the rearview mirror, competing divers can put blue book essays behind them and focus solely on gold medals. That is, unless you’re Michigan freshman Kristen Hayden. Hayden traveled to Columbus on Monday, Dec. 19 as the only Wolverine diver competing at the meet. Hayden had qualified for three events at the Championships, but because she had finals over the previous two weeks, she could only compete in the threemeter springboard event. “Going into Monday, my expectation was basically to dive the best I could, the way I’ve been practicing,” Hayden said. “Then hopefully that was good enough to allow me to make it to finals on Wednesday.” While she scored just a 218.85 in the preliminaries,
Hayden successfully improved her score to a 243.10 in the semifinals — good for ninth place overall, and enough to earn a spot in the final round of the event the following Wednesday. Many divers were able to use the time off to focus on the competition. But Michigan’s finals schedule forced Hayden to quickly change her mindset after she got out of the pool. “I had papers due after my semifinal, so that was a little bit different,” Hayden said. “I couldn’t just relax and focus on the meet, I also had to do my papers. The day before the competition, I was sitting at the pool typing a paper.” Wednesday, Hayden stayed the course of her previous routines, scoring a 678.00 in the final round of dives. Overall, the performance put the freshman diver in 10th place for the event. “We’re definitely using this meet to get ready for Big Tens and NCAAs,” Hayden said. “We’ve already talked about what I need to work on, and this is going to shoot me forward and get me ready for the rest of the season.”
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan coach Mike Bottom prepares his athletes to compete nationally.
Sports
8 — Friday, January 6, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Surprising outcomes throughout the start of the Big Ten season could give Michigan better shot in the conference KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
The Michigan men’s basketball team may have a fighting chance in the Big Ten after all. The Wolverines started their conference slate with an 86-83 overtime loss to Iowa, before notching a come-from-behind victory against Penn State at Crisler Center on Wednesday night. If not for a handful of wasted possessions in Iowa City, Michigan (1-1 Big Ten, 11-4 overall) could be sitting in a three-team tie for second place in the conference standings. But the Wolverines don’t have the luxury of wondering what could have been, as they will play their third Big Ten game of this week against Maryland on Saturday. Though the Terrapins boast a 13-2 overall record, the majority of those wins have come against inferior competition. And Maryland’s losses to Nebraska and Pittsburgh — the latter of which was a 73-59 blowout — have shown that it is vulnerable. Still, led by guard Melo Trimble, who is fourth in the Big Ten with 17.8 points per game, the Terrapins should prove to be a significant test for Michigan. Maryland’s loss to the Cornhuskers is one example of an early and chaotic conference landscape, but it’s worth noting that Big Ten play only began Dec. 27. Either way, those surprises have given Michigan a confidence boost that it can play with any of its opponents. “We make sure we know that, we look at that,” said Michigan coach John Beilein on Tuesday. “…So I think the thing is that, you know, this is a long season and anybody can beat anybody, and that you better be ready for every game.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein will lead his Wolverines against Maryland after they split their first two Big Ten games amid a chaotic start to the conference season.
“And that there’s a lot of teams will start slow. Sometimes (it’s) just scheduling, sometimes it is just a matter of just not being ready or injury or something like that.” Added redshirt sophomore forward DJ Wilson: “I think it just shows how good the Big Ten is, and there’s not really a big drop off from the first and last. It’s all kind of just even, and I think that’s something we just need to take our chances and kind of just attack it, get as many wins as we can and take advantage of it.” While the Big Ten season is still young, the quest for the conference title is shaping up to be an unpredictable battle, and with that, the Daily breaks down what has happened across conference play so far. Michigan State (3-0, 11-5) Tom Izzo’s Spartans fell prey to tough scheduling in the early part
of the season, as they dropped games against No. 2 Baylor, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 8 Duke and No. 17 Arizona before swallowing a bad loss to Northeastern. The start of Big Ten play, though, seems to have helped Michigan State return to its expected form. The Spartans have rattled off three wins against Minnesota, Northwestern and Rutgers, a stretch during which they are averaging 76.3 points per game. Through that three-game stretch, Michigan State has showcased an ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Forward Nick Ward posted 22 points against the Golden Gophers, guard Alvin Ellis III notched 16 against the Wildcats and guard Eron Harris recorded 24 against the Scarlet Knights. Even more impressive is that the Spartans managed to start conference play 2-0 without their
freshman phenom Miles Bridges, who sustained an ankle injury in the matchup against Duke that sidelined him for over a month. Despite the injury, the young forward is averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. With Bridges healthy again, and a versatile offense coming into its own, Michigan State looks poised to maintain its status among the Big Ten’s best. No. 13 Wisconsin (2-0, 13-2) This season has gone as expected for the Badgers so far, as they have just two losses on the year. The first was against then-No. 22 Creighton, but that loss looks a lot better now that the Blue Jays have jumped to 10th in the AP Top 25. The second, a 71-56 blowout, came against then-No. 4 North Carolina. But the Badgers dismantled Rutgers in their conference opener before beating Indiana in
Bloomington. Wisconsin returned all five starters this year, and through 15 games, each has continued to produce at a high level. Forward Ethan Happ is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, while guard Bronson Koenig and forward Nigel Hayes are averaging 14.3 and 13.7 points, respectively. While it’s still early, it appears everything is going according to plan in Madison. Nebraska (2-0, 8-6) At the beginning of the season, the Cornhuskers were an afterthought in the Big Ten. As their non-conference schedule rolled on, that sentiment seemed to gain more validity. Granted, Nebraska’s schedule was difficult — it faced No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 UCLA, No. 10 Creighton, No. 21 Virginia Tech and Clemson. But after losing
each of those games, in addition to another against Gardner-Webb, the Cornhuskers certainly weren’t turning any heads. Their start to Big Ten play, though, has made some noise. Nebraska opened with a win at then-No. 16 Indiana, before toppling Maryland in College Park. While the Cornhuskers won both games by a combined margin of just nine points, those wins have been both impressive and unexpected. Over the two contests, guards Glynn Watson Jr. and Tai Webster averaged 21.5 and 19.5 points, respectively. There’s no way of telling if that kind of production is sustainable, but if it is, Nebraska may turn the Big Ten on its head. No. 25 Indiana (0-2, 10-5) The Hoosiers couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the season. After winning two exhibitions, Indiana toppled No. 3 Kansas at the State Farm Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu and notched a win against then-No. 3 North Carolina on Nov. 30. But since those marquee victories, the Hoosiers have struggled. They faltered against No. 18 Butler and are currently on a three-game losing streak — dropping two Big Ten matchups against Nebraska and No. 13 Wisconsin, and another against No. 9 Louisville. Still, it doesn’t appear to be time for Indiana to hit the panic button. Nebraska and Wisconsin are undefeated in the Big Ten, and guard James Blackmon Jr. is still sixth in the Big Ten in scoring with 16.8 points per game. While their start has come as a shock, with guard Robert Johnson, center Thomas Bryant and forward OG Anunoby each averaging double digits surrounding Blackmon, the Hoosiers appear to have the pieces in place to right the ship.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Behind Enemy Lines: Talk with Maryland coach Mark Turgeon
The Daily sat down with the head coach of the Terrapins at Big Ten Media Day in October to preview their new season. BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer
The Maryland men’s basketball team will visit Crisler Center on Saturday for just the second time as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Matchup: Coach Maryland Mark 13-2; Turgeon, Michigan in his third 11-4 season in the When: conference, Saturday has 3:15 P.M. overseen the Where: Terrapins’ Crisler transition Center from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten. Maryland has one of the youngest rosters in the conference this season, as 10 of its 16 players are underclassmen. Turgeon gained experience coaching younger players last summer. He was an assistant coach on USA Basketball’s under-18 national team that won gold at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. The Daily sat down with Turgeon at Big Ten Media Day in October to discuss the Big Ten Tournament’s move to Washington D.C., his experience coaching with USA Basketball and the challenges Maryland faced switching from the ACC to the Big Ten. The Michigan Daily: Coach, you talked previously about how excited you are about having the Big Ten Tournament in Washington D.C. What does it mean to have the tournament here next March? Mark Turgeon: As far as I can remember, Maryland fans
Maryland at Michigan
have always had to travel for their tournament. So it’s good to have it here. It was part of the promise when we went into the league that we would have a tournament here in DC and in New York. It’s good it has happened so quickly. I’m really happy for our fans not having to travel as far, to save a little bit of money and getting to see quality basketball in their backyard. TMD: When you coached the USA under-18 team over the summer, what, as a coach, do you gain coaching at the international level and outside Maryland? MT: I think it was just great to be a part of USA Basketball. That was fun. I got to hang around other coaches in (Texas coach) Shaka Smart and (Connecticut coach) Kevin Ollie
“There is a learning curve in everything you do.”
and be around great players, and then travel the world a little bit. It was a good experience, as far as we won the gold, so it was a good time. TMD: What experiences can you particularly bring back from the under-18 tournament and instill at Maryland? MT: You steal a little bit from Shaka Smart, you steal a little bit from Kevin Ollie, and I’m sure I helped them a little bit too.
Then you’re dealing with the best players who are under 18 and you realize you have pretty good players too (at Maryland). Just the experience (of ) being with the coaches and being in tournament play and preparing guys in a short time, it all helps you as a coach move forward. TMD: Has there been a difference for you between how basketball was played in the ACC and the Big Ten? MT: I think basketball is basketball. Every league is different, yet every league is the same. What I mean by that is, there’s 14 teams, so you’re going to have a lot of different teams. You’re going to have coaches that play fast, coaches that play slow, teams that are really physical and teams that are finesse. And you have that in every league. I think the biggest difference in the leagues is just the venues and the crowd support. It’s just amazing in the Big Ten, and it’s hard to win on the road. TMD: Was there any learning curve for you in your first couple years in the Big Ten? MT: I’ve been in a lot of leagues as a coach. I’ve been able to adjust everywhere I went. I think I had an advantage the first year because none of the teams knew my system and we had a great year (finishing) 14-4. In terms of the learning curve, are we much better guarding Michigan’s stuff than we were when we first entered the league? Yes, it’s a complex offense. There is a learning curve in everything you do. They also had a learning curve with us to learn our system. We feel pretty locked in, pretty comfortable with where we are and our understanding of the teams.