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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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DESIGN BY: KATIE BEUKEMA

Students protected under DACA uncertain of future under Trump

New administration leads to fear of post-grad status and vulnerability of families COLIN BERESFORD Daily Staff Reporter

All three University of Michigan students mentioned in this article requested anonymity due to concern for their own safety and the safety of their family. The country of origin of one of the students is also withheld out of the same concern. All under the age of 5 when they left, memories of home remain vague for three University of Michigan students since arriving in

the United States on now-expired visas. Though protected now under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, uncertainty for the future under the Trump administration looms. The students went without legal protection until former President Barack Obama signed the DACA executive action in the summer of 2012. While the action does not grant a pathway to citizenship for recipients — who are often referred to as “Dreamers” — it provides the ability to work and deportation release.

One of the requirements to qualify for DACA includes arrival in the United States before the age of 16. For one female LSA junior, though her family avoids the topic of their citizenship, she still remembers arriving in the United States. “I arrived when I was four and a half years old from (a South American country),” she said. “I don’t remember much other than saying goodbye to family members and … arriving in Florida. We all left on visas. This is what makes it hard because it’s something that my

parents don’t like talking about a lot, and so … I never know exactly how things are, like really are. Like how did we get here, what did they do to get here. Then again, they didn’t tell me until I was in seventh grade.” It wasn’t until fifth grade, when he started asking questions, that another LSA junior learned of about his immigration status. His family arriving to Detroit from Mexico on a visa when he was 4 years old, immigration and their status did not become an issue until later in his life. “Around when I was 11 or 12, that’s when we started having

more and more anti-immigrant sentiment,” he said. “We started seeing it, both in politics and in life. Especially around the time when the economy started going down.” As these students grew older, enrolling in college became an issue. This was before the University of Michigan decided to allow undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition. For one Rackham student who attended college in Oregon before 2012, applying to college was a challenge before the state of Oregon passed a law in 2013 to allow undocumented students to receive in-state tuition under certain conditions. “Back then when I was going to college, there was no in-state tuition policy, so the only schools that I could apply and even be granted in were private schools,” she said. “On paper, I was a really good student and I was a qualified person to go to college, but given my status, I applied to 15 schools and was rejected to 14 of them because they said, ‘Hey you’re a great student but when you can get this situation figured out, give us a call.’ ” Despite being accepted to one of the schools she applied to, the tuition of a private school was still more than she could afford. As an undocumented student, she could not qualify for any loans or federal aid. “Luckily that with private institutions … they can give you personal grants, so they are able to fund you (through means) not tied to things like FAFSA or Federal Financial Aid,” she said. This allowed her to qualify for meritbased aid. The male LSA junior from Mexico, he graduated from high school in 2013, the same year that the University of Michigan changed its tuition policy for undocumented students, so he was not yet eligible for in-state tuition when he needed to apply to the university. Due to this cost barrier, he spent three years at a community college, and still faced challenges qualifying for in-state tuition when he transferred to the

University. Undocumented students, including those protected by DACA, can only qualify for in-state tuition for up to 28 months after graduating high school, according to the University’s in-state tuition policy. Under that rule, he didn’t qualify for in-state tuition. “I had to jump through a lot of hoops trying to get that sorted out because nobody on the paid staff knew what to do,” he said. “Not (a lot) of people know that that’s an issue. I know a lot of other undocumented undergraduate students who have gone through that, and not just undergraduate, graduate students as well.” In-state tuition for undocumented immigrants varies from state to state; in Michian, the University is the only in the state that grants in-state tuition to undocumented students. According to the Migration Policy Institute, 66 percent of approximately 1.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants have applied to and received the benefits DACA has to offer. Still, despite what DACA can do for undocumented individuals, it is not a legal immigration status. DACA only grants temporary legal presence and the ability to work. While there is a path for some DACA recipients to receive a green card, there is not a clear pathway for many to achieve citizenship. “This whole concept of ‘go back and do it the right way,’ don’t you think if that was the case we would’ve done it the right way the first time?” the undocumented Rackham student said. “I can speak with confidence that a lot of people have been brought here as children and only know the United States as their home … they would love to be citizens,” the male LSA Junior added. Living without citizenship stokes fear and uncertainty for students and mixed-status communities, or even communities where both documented and undocumented peoples live — some as nearby as See UNDOCUMENTED, Page 3A

edX’s Design Jam work to inspire more Former US SOFC aims Attorney to innovation through team building to finance

GOVERNMENT

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

teach at ‘U’ Law in fall

Online open course website got feedback on program through prototypes

Barbara McQuade, also a University alum, will teach criminal law, procedure

The Office of Academic Innovation partnered with edX, a massive online open course provider, on Tuesday evening to hold a Design Jam for University of Michigan students. The event was held so edX could hear from students about its program and get a new perspective on the issues within their platform they want to solve. MOOCs are online highereducation classes available to learners at all levels and with all interests. The University partners with edX, as well as with other providers like Coursera, to create classes taught by University professors for the platform. The event aimed to facilitate the discussion of solutions and creation of prototypes to solve some of the challenges edX faces within their company. According to Rachel Niemer, director of the University’s Gameful Learning Lab and the organizer of the event, design labs are important because they allow students to enter conversations about innovation that are traditionally faculty-based. “Our mission is to create a culture of innovation on campus, and we interact a lot with faculty … but we love to go directly to students and get their fantastic ideas,” Niemer said. “We find that the students, because they are immersed in the act of learning right now, have really unique

KEVIN BIGLIN

Daily Staff Reporter

Effective May 1, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan alum, will join the Law School faculty as a professor of national security, criminal law and criminal procedure. McQuade was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2010 as the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, which, according to the Detroit Free Press, covers 34 counties and 6 million residents. During her tenure, she oversaw over 1,000 cases and over 100 attorneys a year. After resigning from her post following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, McQuade told the Law School she is excited to begin teaching here, especially given the circumstances of the times. “I am honored to return to Michigan Law School to teach the next generation of law students at a critical moment in our nation’s history,” McQuade told the Law School. “Michigan’s unique learning environment opened a See LAW, Page 3A

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MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter

insights.” While the edX lab did not draw a large crowd of students, the handful present were able to interact directly with edX team members and faculty from the Office of Academic Innovation in a collaborative discussion. Iain Kennedy, vice president of product at edX and Ross School of Business alum, began the event with an overview of edX’s history and mission. In the five and a half years since its creation in 2012, edX has gained 10 million registered “learners,” or people who take classes on the site. As a nonprofit organization,

it partners with more than 120 academic institutions — including the University — to create classes that are generally free and open to the public. “Our mission as an organization … is to make the best education in the world available to anyone in the world,” Kennedy said. “What we’re hoping to get out of today is some insight from folks such as yourselves into how we can advise that mission.” After Kennedy’s statement, students grouped together to discuss the questions posed by edX. Some of these questions dealt with increasing interactivity and

communication among learners and making the experience more reputable and meaningful. Students began by brainstorming solutions to the questions edX asked them as they compared and contrasted MOOCs with their in-person University courses. LSA freshman Amar Srinivasan quickly turned the conversation to how questions should be asked and answered in the online format. “If I was in this situation, what would I want?” Srinivasan said. “Open forum would be interesting, one where you can See EDX, Page 3A

S P E A K- A B L E

JULIA LAWSON/Daily

LSA sophomore Felicity Harfield speaks at the speakABLE event to raise awareness for disabilities on campus in Hatcher Tuesday night.

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INDEX

on-campus orgs, events

The Student Organization Funding Commission sees over 400 student requests RHEA CHEETI

Daily Staff Reporter

This article is the second part of an ongoing series of articles outlining specific initiatives of Central Student Government on campus. Providing financial support to more than 300 active student organizations on campus, the Student Organization Funding Commission is the funding body of Central Student Government’s executive commission. Every semester, SOFC receives more than 400 requests from several student organizations asking to be supported by CSG. This semester, the body reviewed about 50 groups each Sunday. SOFC has funded groups such as the Solar Car Team, Dance Marathon and TedxUofM. SOFC Chair Kevin Yang, a Business junior, said though they have a substantial amount of money — about $200,000 — to award to student organizations, the process of reviewing applications is difficult, and requires them to expand and add several positions. “We award about just shy of half a million dollars every single year to these student organizations See SOFC, Page 3A

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7

News

2A — Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ON THE DAILY: GETTING PIE NOT A SLICE OF PIE Students seeking to celebrate Pi Day by consuming massive amounts of pies of all sorts had a variety of on-campus locations to choose from on Tuesday. Pieology Pizzeria offered specially priced $3.14 pizzas at all locations — however, because of heavy student demand for pies, Pieology ran out of dough and was forced to close at 5:30 pm for “a few hours” in order to restock. Tau Beta Pi, a University of Michigan engineering honor society, is no stranger to this predicament. Last year, the group planned to hand out free slices of pizza to students on campus, but ran out in 40 minutes. However, the group was much better prepared for Pi Day 2017. Stationed in the lobby of the Duderstadt Center, they made their slices much thinner than last year to produce enough for hungry students and pi-lovers alike.

Engineering junior Joanna Ciatti, Tau Beta Pi secretary, told MLive the organization bought 100 pies and sliced each pie into eighths. “Last year we had 70 pies and we ran out in 40 minutes,” she said. “This year we got 100 and we sliced them into eighths, so we’ve got 800 slices.” Students who could not make it to State Street or North Campus also had the opportunity to partake in Pi Day at one of the many on-campus dining halls. Michigan Dining celebrated the world-renowned mathematical constant by fueling potential mathematicians with a many pie-themed foods, including savory pot pies and sweet desserts. According to a blurb on its website, the food service calculated that it would need an immense number of pies needed to serve the campus community.

“What day is infinitely better than all the rest?” the blurb read. “Pie Day! All dining halls will be serving pie inspired foods at all meals! We calculated that we’ll need hundreds of pies to satisfy your never-ending appetite for

Malinda Matney @malindamatney

circular foods! Selections include, chicken pot pies, fruit pies, pizza pies, dessert pizzas, and much more!”

Really excited to see how the “teach-out” movement takes shape.

- KAELA THEUT

SPRING INTO ACTION

Zach M. @ZHMGoBlue It would appear the paper cutter at work has decided to team up with the printer in an effort to ruin my day

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Students attend the Spring Career Expo in the Union on Tuesday.

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Willie Nile

Detroit’s Music in 1943

Social Area Brown Bag

WHAT: A concert by Willie Nile, a singer and songwriter who has been active for 35 years, performing songs from his new album, “American Ride.” WHO: The Ark WHEN: 8 p.m. WHERE: 316 S. Main St.

WHAT: A commentary on Detroit’s music in 1943 by Prof. Mark Slobin, which will be performed live by Vincent York’s Jazzistry. WHO: LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Museum of Art, Forum

WHAT: Graduate student Koji Takahashi will present his research on exposure to sexist humor and receptivity to diversity messages. WHO: Department of Psychology WHEN: Noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: East Hall, Room 4464

I Am Not Your Negro Movie and Discussion

Saxophone Studio Recital

CREES Noon Lecture WHAT: Postdoctoral fellow Elana Resnick will give a lecture on the ways in which Romani laborers and residents in segregated communities of Bulgaria survive on spotty infrastructural access. WHO: Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. WHEN: Noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: School of Social Work Building, Room 1636

SOFC From Page 1A on campus, and we consist of a group of around 35 (commission members),” Yang said. The CSG budget comes from the $9.19 each student at the University pays per term. LSA junior Amanda Hampton, a SOFC chair, added SOFC currently has two different types of applications: reimbursement funding and advance funding. Reimbursement funding has traditionally been the most common way for student

WINDAY. PEACE NEW WEEK, OUT, NEW JANUARY. ME.

WHAT: A group will meet at Sweetwaters before the screening of I Am Not Your Negro at 8:45 p.m. Following the screening will be an optional discussion of the film. WHO: What the F Magazine WHEN: 8:45 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Theater and Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea

organizations to receive money from SOFC because they are able to present receipts for costs they have incurred while putting on events or organizing activities, and are compensated by CSG for these costs. “This is just a way for us, as an organization, to give out the most money possible to student orgs and make sure that every dollar that is handed out goes toward events that student orgs want to put on,” Hampton said. Advance funding is a new method the commission created this semester. Student organizations can request funds before their events in advance,

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WHAT: The students of Dr. Timothy McAllister will perform solo and quartet works. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. WHERE: Earl V. Moore Building, Britton Recital Hall

providing receipts afterward and return any money not used. “We realized that reimbursement really benefits student orgs that … are financially well off.” Hampton said. “It is disadvantaging to orgs that are maybe brand new, and don’t really have the funds to put on events or afford things they need to rent.” Hampton also mentioned SOFC focuses on ensuring every student organization has equal access to funds. “We’re trying to expand our reach as an organization and help as many student orgs as possible,” Hampton said. “We’ve allocated a certain amount of funds to each week, to ensure that every student org has the same chance of getting funding each wave. Before then, we didn’t do that and so it would end up that the first wave, a lot of student orgs would get a lot of money, and then we’d run out of money by the end of the semester. So we’ve really been stepping up and making sure we are on track with our funds.” The chairs also offer office hours, where they give members of student organizations the option to sit down and talk with SOFC members about their applications. Because SOFC only has a limited amount of money to award organizations and the application process is competitive, the chairs feel this is the best way to receive the maximum amount of money for them. “If it’s a student org’s first time applying and they’ve never gone through a financing process or an on-campus funding body before, a lot of the times we do recommend that they stop by and say hello in office hours,” Yang said. “We want to give them the whole plan of how to go about approaching it as well as point them to other sources of funding available for them. We see student orgs who do that come in with a lot of success in their funding process.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

LAW From Page 1A new world of ideas for me when I was a student there, and I am thrilled to join its great faculty. Helping students to develop a deep understanding of our laws, courts and legal system has never been more important.” Law School Dean Mark West, the Nippon Life Professor of Law, said in the same statement, given McQuade’s work ethic and extensive legacy, she will bring experience and perspective to the classroom. “Her legacy includes an impressive number of important convictions, and our students will benefit tremendously from the experience and perspective she brings to the classroom,” said West in a statement. “I am thrilled to welcome Barb home to Michigan Law as a member of our faculty.” Shelley Rodgers, Chief Communications Officer of the Law School, said in an interview McQuade has a strong reputation as a mentor to students. “As a Michigan Law graduate, Barbara McQuade has had a connection with the Law School since her days as a student,” Rodgers said. “She has a long and distinguished career in practice and teaching and can really make the law come alive for our students with practical legal training that is rooted in real world experience. She also has a strong reputation as a mentor and is dedicated to counseling students to become effective lawyers. We have been hoping to find ways to work to work with her for a while and the timing is right.” Some of McQuade’s other accomplishments include convicting more than 30 public officials in Detroit on public corruption charges, including former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. She also was integral in convicting the Al-Qaeda operative who tried blowing up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. McQuade also has previous experience teaching, having taught criminal law at the University of Detroit Mercy from 2003 to 2009 as an adjunct professor.

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

GINA CHOE | COLUMN

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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

ALEXIS MEGDANOFF | COLUMN

What’s your major?

hen discussing my to success is to plan out every enrollment here second of our future so we at the University always know what the next of Michigan with anyone step is. other than a fellow As a result of this student, I am always pressure, we begin asked the classic to force ourselves to question “What are make choices that you studying?” and I limit our options always hesitate before for the future. We I say, with a cringe, see this in the types “I’m undeclared.” of internships we I quickly follow up choose, the classes with a rushed answer we take and the ALEXIS of what I am planning higher education on declaring. It does MEGDANOFF we pursue. Rather not matter that this than keeping our is my first year, or that I have doors open when searching another year before I need to for jobs after graduation, we decide; it is expected that I are narrowing our focus to have an answer. a one-way track that can fall But there is a problem with trying to force students into a major too quickly. By pressuring myself to have an actual answer for everyone who asks me this, I now have tunnel vision. My constant repetition of this one answer has solidified it in my mind as my only option, and it leaves no room for consideration of other majors. It is like a brainwashing technique I have performed on myself. In addition to needing my major decided upon, I also apparently need to know what job I want, what kind of career apart if one step does not I want to dedicate my life to. happen as planned. This has happened to many For instance, if one wishes to of us. When your answer to become a professor, a Ph.D. is “What’s your major?” is met required. You make it through with more questions like “And graduate school, potentially what can you do with that?” incurring thousands of instead of offering words of dollars of debt, and enter the encouragement for having job market ready to change one part of our life decided, the world by teaching the next we are expected to not only generation. However, based know our five-year plan, but on a study done on the 2014 also our 10-year plan, even U.S. Ph.D. recipients, a little our 15-year plan. less than half with definite Our lives are expected to job commitments said they’d be planned out by the time hold a job in academia. This we graduate, with an outline shows that even after earning that includes not only the first a Ph.D., it’s not unusual for job we have lined up, but also your career plan to change our entire career plan for the and force you to adapt to the rest of our lives. According to new circumstances you find our family and bosses, if we yourself in. do not know where we want With no alternative, we our lives to go, we will forever leave ourselves with no room be wandering, lost with no for the unexpected, no room purpose motivating us to go to adjust to unplanned events to work. We are told our key that can put damaging kinks

We need to accept that there is no one specific path for each of us as individuals or even to get to a specific career.

EMILY WOLFE | CONTACT EMILY AT ELWOLFE@UMICH.EDU

in our tightly wound plans. For example, there is that one class, possibly a few classes, in every major that is critical to moving on to the higher-level requirements. We try hard to do well in those classes, and we tell ourselves if we are meant for that major we should do well in them, but when some of us still end up with a far lessthan-satisfactory grade, that may throw a wrench in the coveted life plan we have been prompted to establish. We begin to question if this major is what we should do, yet because we have only devoted our time and thinking into this one option, we have no backup plan. So, instead of asking students to force themselves into making decisions some may not be ready to make, we should be allowed to consider all options one at a time and not be afraid to diverge from the original plan if necessary. We need to accept that there is no one specific path for each of us as individuals or even to get to a specific career; everyone will get to where they are in life a different way. At one of the workshops during my orientation last summer, we were shown the familiar diagram that links some of the larger majors in LSA to the numerous careers each can lead to. We should refer to this to inspire us, and relieve some of the anxiety of picking a major and deciding upon a career. Therefore, answering the question “What job can you get with that major?” does not need to bring us to our knees in an effort to explain our reasoning for making this choice. We must remind ourselves that a career is not made out of one decision we make when we are 19, and we must trust ourselves to eventually find the job and career path that suits us — something no one can tell us.

Alexis Megdanoff can be reached at amegdano@umich.edu.

Letting go of life’s baggage

pring Break may be over, adventure, I no longer believed but for me, profound in. Since then, when I would experiences remain. hear friends were flying out It was my first time leaving to places such as the Bahamas, and returning to Cabo, Cancun, etc., the country as a it never occurred to green-card holder. me that I, too, could The most salient enjoy the process. moment of my I wanted to travel, trip was coming but I felt restrained. back to the United I wanted to explore, States through but I felt unable. immigration with As a result, such ease. The I avoided any swiftness of the subsequent process startled me GINA CHOE opportunities to because that was not travel by air. And I the case 11 years ago when I became envious of those who first came to the United States led exuberant lifestyles, not from South Korea with a visa. because they flaunted their When I first arrived to the wealth, but because they States, I was 10 years old — embodied something that I quiet, unfamiliarized and didn’t — carefreeness. curious about the new life In 2009, I became a greenahead of me. This anticipation, card holder. From what I however, did not begin with understand, holding a green hopes and dreams but was card makes things easier. sunken by a skeptical Customs People question you less. You and Border Protection officer blend in more with the crowd. who scrutinized me and my Your contributions to the family. At immigration, I country start to be recognized. observed my parents trying I knew these things to be true their best to catch the officer’s because this sense of belonging quick utterances and articulate grew inside of me. back a response with their very While these feelings grew, imperfect English. they were still small and After many questions and incomplete. After years of answers that went back and saying no to visiting friends forth, there came a moment from out of state and family that I’ll never forget. My mom back in South Korea, a friend answered no to a question that approached me to go on an actually applied to us. My dad international trip this Spring corrected the answer but this Break. I was conf licted. confusion put us aside for a bag All the excuses that I’ve search. I observed the people in collected in my lexicon dark blue uniforms take out my swarmed over me — f lights personal items one by one. If are too expensive, planning you don’t know what this feels a trip is hectic and traveling like, imagine being stripped of is just not worth the energ y. your clothes in public piece by Boy, was I wrong. Deciding piece. That’s what it felt like to go on this trip changed my to me, as a 10-year-old in a life. There were challenges strange, new place, naked and along my travel but it taught violated. me many things that may Because of this incident, be trivial to most people but airports quickly became nonetheless invaluable to me. unpleasant and invasive places I learned that I can’t use my for me. What used to symbolize nickname on the travel-agency freedom, bravery and site. Otherwise, I can’t fly out.

(Yes, I missed my flight.) I learned that I have to put my laptop in a separate bin than my backpack for security. In addition to navigating the rules of travel, I learned that a tennis player from University of Toledo was headed to San Diego and takes pride in his bad haircut. I learned that a generous man who let me get in line before him had missed his flight the day before like me. (We exchanged a few chuckles.) These social aspects of a hectic day of travel were delightful. Above all, I learned that it is possible to feel safe and secure while traveling. Coming back, I was g uided to use the mobile passport app to hasten the customs process like everyone else. Passing immigration, I was put in the same line as U.S. citizens, and the CBP officer greeted me with a “How are you?” without one question about my travel. I was stunned at the difference between going through security 11 years ago compared to now. This trip was significant because I was f inally able to experience traveling in the way that people always spoke about. A nd I realized that this was a privilege. I ca me to understa nd how my visa stat us has determined my sense of personal freedom thus fa r. Therefore, I felt proud, a nd not asha med, of my immig ration stat us a nd was humbled by the privilege that ca me with being a perma nent resident in the United States. “Never forget where you come from,” they say. My parents worked hard to come to this country. And this was a special moment for me to remember that fact.

Gina Choe can be reached at ginachoe@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. BEN CHARLSON | OP-ED

Dancing in the face of anti-Semitism

hated Hebrew school. The monotonous repetition of prayer and cultural history always went in one ear and out the other — I found more joy in the laughter of my classmates after I was sent to the principal’s office for intentionally frustrating my teachers. Nevertheless, my parents insisted that Judaism remain a part of my identity, whether or not this learning occurred in a stained-glass sanctuary. What stuck with me most growing up, unsurprising for a kid too stubborn to comprehend the religious significance of the events, was the celebration of holidays. Celebrated last weekend, Purim is one of the holidays that struck a chord with me. While much of my Jewish experience as a kid felt forced, such as my parents making me keep Kosher and attend synagogue on Shabbat mornings, Purim’s festivities never felt this way. Purim, at its core, is a celebration. Barely understanding why, I dressed in elaborate, carnivalesque costumes with my younger sister as we sang and danced in place of traditional prayer. The festiveness of this holiday shines through its customs — eating Hamantaschen (a traditional Jewish dessert), using noisemakers and adults getting drunk (at the judgment of a rabbi, of course). I kind of thought of it as the Jewish version of Halloween. But it was only recently, as I reflected on recent events in our community and country, that I began to grasp the underlying significance of the celebration of Purim.

Over the past few months, Jews across the country have experienced a shock with the prevalence of anti-Semitic threats toward schools, synagogues and other Jewish institutions. On March 7, Chicago Jewish Day School, a mere 30 minutes from my house, received a bomb threat. This hit home. Even at the University of Michigan, threats in the form of hacked emails have rocked students like myself who never believed this hatred could exist on our campus. Coinciding with the rise of xenophobic, un-American attitudes and ethnically driven immigration bans, the antiSemitic sentiments come at a time when much of the country lives in fear. Of course, these attitudes are not news to Jews across the world; some have even compared Trump’s rhetoric to Adolf Hitler’s use of the “Big Lie” during the rise of Nazism. And it was not until Feb. 21, after weeks of criticism from Jewish organizations for his lack of interest in the antiSemitic threats, that President Trump issued a public statement about these issues. So, when the highest official in our country neglects to pay proper attention to the dangers of these ideologies, manifested in threats toward our communities, where do we turn? Though we can look to our government for answers, hope for change can be found much closer to home, in the shape of a three-cornered, jelly-filled cookie. Purim celebrates the Jewish victory over Haman, an evil associate of the Persian

King who devised a plot to wipe out all of the Jews. Ring a bell? At no better time does this holiday, commemorating the defeat of anti-Semitism in ancient history, fall on our calendar. No FBI investigation will completely stop the wave of recent threats, and it will certainly not eradicate the pervasiveness of anti-Semitic ideolog y across the country. Purim reminds us that one way to combat the hatred prevalent in our society is to laugh, dance and celebrate. Acting as a festival of sorts, Purim encourages even the least religious people to come together in a joyous, collective motion of pride, identity and hope. Eating the Hamantaschen cookie, symbolizing the threecornered shape of the villain Haman’s hat, represents in a comical yet significant way our destruction of discrimination. So, last weekend, although I did not dress up or attend services with my family, I kept in mind the significance of the holiday. Whether it occurred in the kitchen making cookies or in a sanctuary, Jews across the world celebrated a previous defeat of antiSemitism in an attempt to make change in the present. And in the process, many realized that their Jewish identity is not grounded in education, but in thought and action that lie beyond the constraints of a classroom. Maybe I did learn something in Hebrew school after all. Ben Charlson is an LSA freshman.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 — 5A

FILM REVIEW

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW GROUNDUP MUSIC

Snarky Puppy to take on Hill (keyboards), Justin Stanton (trumpet, keyboards), Shaun For the Daily Martin (keyboards), Cory Henry (keyboards), Bob Eclectic, funk-pop, jazz Lanzetti (guitar), Mark quasi-collective Snarky Puppy Lettieri (guitar), Chris is about to inject some soul into McQueen (guitar), Mike Ann Arbor. Maher (trumpet), Jay Jennings The band itself was formed (trumpet), Chris Bullock (tenor in the college town of Denton, saxophone, f lute, clarinet), Texas while members were Bob Reynolds (saxophone), attending the Nate Werth University of (percussion), UMS presents North Texas. Marcelo Woloski “Snarky Puppy” “I was writing (percussion/ Hill Auditorium music that sat drums), somewhere Keita Ogawa Thursday March 16 between jazz, (percussion/ @ 7:30 PM pop, and Goddrums), Robert knows-what, “Sput” Searight $12 - $20 Students, and asked 9 of (drums), Larnell $30 - $50 Adults my friends to Lewis (drums) play it with me and Jason “JT” every week,” wrote Michael Thomas (drums). League, bassist and bandleader An eccentric force of for Snarky Puppy, in an email sound, Snarky Puppy recently interview. “Things really just won their third Grammy in snowballed from there.” February, taking home “Best Now based in Brooklyn, the Contemporary Instrumental group has evolved to grace the Album” for their 11th record, international landscape with Culcha Vulcha. Their music its innovative sound. has no concrete destination, “I find inspiration in yet it hits every dot on the many, many different musical map. Spontaneous, carefully traditions from around the practiced, huge and miniscule world,” League wrote. “Each all at once, their sound is one one teaches me something like no other. different. Piazzolla tells me to “We never expect to wear the emotion on my sleeve. win awards because we Sufjan Stevens tells me never were unknown for so long. to show it. Stravinsky tells me Although it doesn’t make you to explore the entire universe a better band, it creates new of harmony. Ali Farke Touré possibilities creatively. People tells me that two chords is all trust and value you more, so the you need (if that). The whole crazy ideas that we’ve always universe of music is constantly had in our heads can actually offering you food if you’re become reality. That’s what hungry for it.” I’m most grateful for,” League With strands of everything, wrote. nothing and yet-to-bePropelled by their deserved discovered melodies, Snarky recognition, the group isn’t Puppy rests in profound afraid to take chances. They instances of utter originality, use their live performances as separating them from other a time to delve into what makes contemporary instrumental their music so invigoratingly groups. distinctive. The band is big (both “One of my favorite things literally and figuratively), about Snarky Puppy is the consisting of instrumentalists way in which we improvise Michael League (bandleader, as a group,” League wrote. composer, bass), Bill Laurance “The same song can be almost ARYA NAIDU

HBO

‘Cries From Syria’ gives crisis needed humanity New HBO documentary a laudably sobering look at Syria’s plight do not posit a critique of the Syrian opposition’s treatment Senior Arts Editor of religious minorities or suggest the refugee crisis as You’ve seen the pictures. an indirect result of American Two of them, specifically. foreign policy. The movie You’ve seen the image of is obviously positioned on three-year-old Alan Kurdi, the side of the Syrian Free face down, dead, on the shores Army, but its point of view is of a Turkish beach, lifeless purely ground-level; the only in a bright red shirt and blue voices heard in interviews shorts. You’ve also seen five- are Syrian activists, refugees year-old Omran Daqneesh, and defected army members. painted grey Outside of a in rubble and particularly “Cries From Syria” caked with blood scathing against the stark segment Documentary orange backdrop critical of Putin HBO of his chair. It’s and Russian quite startling, airstrikes, the then, when these images begin film doesn’t aim to persuade to move — when the waves viewers on one political keep crashing into and passing ideology over the other. over Kurdi’s body, when Rather, “Cries From Syria” Daqneesh absent-mindedly subjects its audience to two picks at the blood on his face hours of relentless carnage and examines his arms and and bloodshed, focusing on the feet. war as, objectively, a sickening “Cries From Syria,” Evgeny global crisis. It sounds brutal Afineevsky’s (“Winter on Fire: to watch — and it is — but as Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”) the film makes clear, there is new HBO documentary about no other option. You have the the ongoing Syrian Civil War, luxury to gripe about having is bookended by the footage to endure two hours of misery from these two viral moments. on your TV screen — imagine It’s fitting. The youth — and, by that as your everyday, lived-in extension, Syria’s increasingly reality. uncertain future — are the In fact, what’s most focal point of Afineevsky’s remarkable about Afineevsky’s unsparing film, the prism documentary is that, well, it’s through which he frames not really his. The footage is each chapter and political almost entirely amateur video development. Children, the from activists and citizen movie argues, are the ones journalists as the events took who have lost the most in this place, and consequently, the abhorrent humanitarian crisis film doesn’t pretend to be (one of the world’s largest and concerned with artful camera most urgent), and it’s they angles or an overproduced who stand to gain the most score. Save for what one if peace is to be achieved. assumes was a grievously In the documentary’s difficult editing assignment, most disturbing scene, the the documentarians recede aftermath of the sarin gas into the background, silent, attack in Ghouta is laid bare instead letting the cruelty of for the audience to witness: war and those who suffered Teenagers, toddlers, infants — and still suffer — speak for choking and unable to breathe, themselves. piles of convulsing bodies And as the film is structured strewn about a chaotic hospital chronologically, the final f loor, children whose pupils chapter ends, elegantly, with have rolled back into their an honest look at the refugee heads as their mouths foam crisis in our current political viciously. It’s unwatchable, context. Each chapter, from horrific, utterly depressing — Al-Assad’s appalling cruelty and, at the risk of sounding too in Ghouta to ISIS’ barbaric cliché, morally necessary. takeover of Raqqah, has Indeed, “Cries From Syria” constituted a broad, forceful is, at its most basic level, a argument to bolster this profoundly graphic visual declaration: A piercing document of the atrocities portrait of families stranded, of war. It is not a political separated, displaced and film, insofar as its producers utterly, completely abandoned. NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

There are no easy answers, but it’s clear compassion is the only way forward. Yet as thousands of women and children are rejected, rounded up, or forced on to the streets by supposedly developed countries, we hear testimonials from a number of young orphans. Their families ripped apart, these children have no other outlet with which to air their titular cries. It is sobering, to say the least, to confront your own inaction. Once you remove political inclinations and theorizing from the equation, you are left with nothing but a stark portrait of people less fortunate than you, and for whom you have done so shamefully little to help. What Syrian children, what Syrian women, what Syrian men, what all victims of the Syrian Civil war have endured is, for the most part, a concept in the abstract for many of us, a reality so far removed from our own that to even consider the possibility of a government using chemical weapons on its own citizens is to entertain the ludicrous. When the dust settles, then, when the picture is clearer and the gasbag rhetoric def lated: We will be remembered for a systematic dehumanization of a people who have done nothing but suffer; we will celebrate whatever supposed progress the world makes in the coming years, and it will be irrevocably tainted by the unequivocal shame of Executive Order 13769; we will confront, without pretense, our refusal, both collective and individual, to fight for children who could be our own but, unfortunately, whose names sound too different and whose prayer rugs look too Middle Eastern; we will be forced to reckon with the profound idiocy of categorizing refugees as the terrorists they so desperately seek shelter from; we will, eventually and much, much too late, come to terms with the sadistic moral calculus our leaders feel the need to compute to determine who is worthy of safety and who is deemed a threat to this ethically bankrupt nation. The children of Syria have suffered, and we have ignored them; the cries have fallen on deaf ears, and indifferent hearts.

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unrecognizably different from night to night based on a single thing that a single player contributes in a single moment. Everyone’s ears are open, receptive to the subtleties f loating around the stage from each individual player, but without disrespecting the essential content of the composition itself. This allows us to consistently deliver the emotional content of the songs each night while allowing the music to grow and breathe, creating a unique musical experience each night (for better or worse!).” League’s personal favorite songs to perform live are, “the ones that have the strongest melodies,” he wrote. “‘Shofukan,’ ‘Thing of Gold,’ ‘Sleeper,’ ‘Flood’–– tunes like that. I feel that a good melody never gets old.” Deeply passionate about their work, the group has an undeniably genuine nature. They understand their roots and challenge themselves out of a pure love for what they do. “The band started much more acoustic, much jazzier. We were white college students from the suburbs who had grown up in garage rock bands and got swept away by jazz,” League wrote. “I think this is evident in our first few albums. But when we started playing on the predominantly black gospel/R&B scene in Dallas (and when people like Bernard Wright, Robert ‘Sput’ Searight, Shaun Martin and Bobby Sparks joined the band), the sound of the band changed dramatically. It got funkier. We started focusing more on groove and melody rather than complex harmony. But I think the most important change was that we became more communicative, and consequently, more accessible to audiences.” Fearlessly exploring the limitlessness of their own abilities, Snarky Puppy is set to share their passion with Ann Arbor tomorrow, March 16, at Hill Auditorium.

SINGLE REVIEW

BLONDED

Frank Ocean has made it. If you didn’t believe that after Channel Orange, you do now after Blonde took over the world, sound-tracking that last hour of every party you’ve been to in the last seven months. He’s created a niche that few knew we needed, a mellow, brooding croon that fits better on midnight drives than the dancefloor. Ocean has become a pop titan with only one true radio hit, now bigger than most straightedge pop artists. He is the new commercial. You can recognize this on “Chanel,” his first solo single since Blonde. The track is immediately recognizable as Ocean’s, the pensive piano coupled with a moving, rhythmic syncopation that he mastered so well on Channel Orange. Though he left that pairing behind a bit on Blonde in favor of more guitar and synth, it still

sat beneath the surface of each of those tracks, and “Chanel” offers the perfect bridge to easily understand how Orange and Blonde are two sides of the same coin. It’s

“Chanel” Frank Ocean Blonded also one of his most assured verses in a while, more reminiscent of his verse on Earl Sweatshirt’s “Sunday” — “I mean he called me a faggot / I was just calling his bluff / I mean how anal am I gon’ be when I’m aiming my gun” — than most of the poetic muses on Blonde, which ruminated on love and loss. On “Chanel” he dives into the theme of duality that he developed on Blonde, asserting that he

“sees both sides like Chanel,” a reference to the two-sided Chanel logo. He paints a beautifully jagged and seemingly contradictory portrait of images that never stop to reassess, only to march on. Many have made the oversimplified connection that this refers specifically to bisexuality, even though Ocean has publicly shirked that term. That ignores the dynamism that Ocean has long discussed, the power of ambiguity. He has always refused to be placed into a category. “Chanel” is no different, and like all of his tracks, exists on a plane of its own. It, like Ocean himself, resists easy classification, clear only in the power to mesmerize — the power of perfection. - MATT GALLATIN

Arts

6A — Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SOCIAL MEDIA COLUMN

Flubs & Fury: The online crucifixion of the famous

FOX SEARCHLIGHT

‘A United Kingdom’ is a mess of Bechuanaland, a British protectorate state. They receive Daily Arts Wrtier opposition from both the British government and Seretse’s tribe Feel-good movies about race back home, who see Ruth as an relations are an oxymoron, and yet extension of Britain’s imperialist Hollywood just keeps churning arm, trying to co-opt their years them out, doesn’t it? They’re easy of tradition and national pride. to pick out by virtue The film details the of always having couple’s attempts “A United one “Good White to become accepted Kingdom” Person” amidst all by the people of the “Bad White Bechuanaland Fox Searchlight People.” You know, while grappling Pictures someone kind and with the diplomatic so ahead of their nonsense the Michigan Theater time that they don’t British government even see color and continually throws they’ve always thought racism was at them. bad, see, they just needed a push I’m sure that the real life Seretse to stand up to their “Bad White and Ruth Khama were absolutely Friends.” White viewers watch incredible, wildly interesting these movies, and we identify with people. They led their country to the “Good White Protagonist,” of independence, overcame horrible course. Because we totally would intolerance and devoted their lives have been Kevin Costner beating to serving their people. Their film down the sign in “Hidden Figures” counterparts, however, have all if we had been alive at that time, and the personality of some very pretty we definitely wouldn’t have been blocks of wood. Oyelowo and Pike complicit in the institutionally- are both wonderful, charismatic mandated racism. actors, but they’re not given very Yeah, I didn’t like “A United much to work with here, as their Kingdom” very much. Directed by characters are simple bastions Amma Asante (“Belle”), the film of pure good, free of any flaws or tells the real-life story of Seretse conflicts. They know exactly what (David Oyelowo, “Selma”) and they want secure in the knowledge Ruth Khama (Rosamund Pike, that what they want is just right. “Gone Girl”), a biracial couple They don’t grow or change at all grappling with British imperialism throughout the film, because they in the late 1940s. Seretse is the heir are both perfect to begin with, to the throne of the African country without any second thoughts or Bechuanaland (now Botswana). excuses. Needless to say, watching He meets Ruth, a British secretary, perfect people be perfect together while in law school in London. isn’t very interesting. The two fall in love and decide What is interesting is how much to get married, a choice which the film downplays the actual threatens the diplomatic security romance between the two. There’s ASIF BECHER

Classifieds

a notable lack of chemistry between the leads, a fact which isn’t helped by the movie’s odd pacing that all but skips their initial courtship. They kiss for the first time with no sparks, and their wedding night is perhaps the least sexy sex scene since maybe the one in “Gone Girl” — and someone was literally murdered in that scene. We’re supposed to believe their love is strong enough for both of them to risk their entire families and homes for each other, but I don’t buy it for a second. But perhaps the most offensive thing about “A United Kingdom” is the fact that it’s simply littered with “Good White People.” In fact, the white people are so good that most of the actual intolerance we see is on the part of the citizens of Bechuanaland towards Ruth. It’s really baffling for a movie that is quite literally about colonialism to frame her as the victim of some sort of nonsense reverse racism. The white disgust for Seretse and Ruth’s relationship is only spoken of, hinted even — but never shown. I really wanted this movie to be excellent. It’s about genuinely important, groundbreaking people who made a significant impact on the world. They deserve to have their story told, and told well. They didn’t deserve a schmaltzy, feel-good, watered down version of what happened, too boring to be a good love story, and too scared of offending anyone to be a thoughtful meditation on the history. It leaves the viewer neither empowered nor inspired nor angered. “A United Kingdom” makes you feel nothing at all.

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RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Let’s say a famous person — enough for some people. be it Beyoncé, Chrissy Teigen, Several Twitter users dug Zach Galifianakis or Jason up a 2014 interview with Derulo — made an ignorant Watson that revealed her own comment on social discomfort with media or in an Beyoncé’s “Drunk interview that went in Love” video as a viral. How would positive expression you react? Would of feminism, as you recognize that well as her own that person made a distaste for posing mistake? Or would nude. Again, you criticize and Watson defended attack the person herself, tweeting online, disregarding a screenshot of any possibility of that interview, SAM giving the person a ROSENBERG expanding on the chance to apologize context of her words or clarify first? that had become For most people, the latter diluted by devout Beyoncé seems like the more common fans. response. What’s incredible about Because social media exists this kind of attack against in a vacuum, there is no middle Watson is not just that she ground or room for when a had to defend herself twice person, particularly a celebrity for expressing herself, but that or notable personality, people took her words from an receives vehement outrage article from three years ago for doing or saying something to justify Watson’s so-called wrong. Online users have “white feminism.” It’s almost built idealistic expectations as if people online can’t give for how famous people and famous people like Watson a activists should present break and recognize that their themselves without taking views and beliefs can change into consideration that famous over time. people sometimes make In addition to Watson, mistakes and not everything “Americanah” author they say should be taken at face Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie value. caught some f lak on social Even when celebrities make media recently for comments a statement or do something she made in an interview that isn’t inherently wrong with Channel 4 News. When or malicious, people will still asked about whether or not react negatively if it’s even transgender women should remotely problematic. be considered “women,” Take Emma Watson, for Adichie responded by saying example. This past week, that “trans women are trans the “Beauty and the Beast” women,” a statement that actress stirred some online many, specifically the trans controversy after posing community on Twitter, deemed semi-nude for a Vanity Fair transphobic. “It’s difficult for photoshoot. Folks on Twitter, me to accept that then we can such as talkRADIO host Julia equate your experience with Hartley-Brewer, saw this the experience of a woman,” as hypocritical to Watson’s Adichie said further, “who has proactive stance on feminism. lived from the beginning as a In response, Watson defended woman and who has not been herself in a press tour interview, accorded those privileges that remarking that she was men are.” stunned by misconceptions on After her comments went her photoshoot and reiterating viral on Twitter, Adichie how feminism is “about clarified her position in freedom. It’s about liberation. a lengthy Facebook post, It’s about equality. It’s not — I reinforcing her support for really don’t know what my tits the rights of trans people have to do with it.” and explaining the societal Apparently, that wasn’t privileges and differences

between cis and trans women. Some trans women, including Marit Stafstrom, embraced Adichie’s clarification, but others nevertheless remained bitter. In one particular criticism, trans activist Raquel Willis tweeted in response to the interview, stating: “Chimamanda being asked about trans women is like Lena Dunham being asked about Black women. It doesn’t work. We can speak for ourselves.” Granted, in this case, it’s important to call out Adichie for saying something that may not have intended to be harsh but nevertheless was. In fact, Willis’s thread, which explained at length about the significance of trans representation in mainstream society, was a great, nuanced teaching moment for Achidie. But what is also important for online users is to recognize that we should be open-minded to the idea that someone, celebrity or not, can take responsibility for their actions and realize their mistakes. There are plenty of celebrities, such as Alec Baldwin, Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake, who have been guilty of saying something stupid and getting brutally ridiculed online before they could even apologize. Impact is always more important than intent, but we can’t expect everyone to know that. Social media has condensed information so immensely through sound-bite headlines that we’ve become so accustomed to accepting whatever is thrown at us, especially when it’s taken out of context. There’s this presumption that famous artists and activists should conform to our own system of beliefs and values online. As a matter of fact, it is dangerous to presume that a famous person should simply be morally conscious 24/7; it suggests that we possess moral entitlement and authority over other people. If we don’t take a grain to salt every time someone famous did or said something egregious, then there may be no celebrities left to trust.

FOR RENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Franklin’s faith 6 Civil rights org. 11 Nursery offering 14 More than just saber-rattling 15 Not as well 16 Numero __ 17 1980 Clint Eastwood film about a Wild West show 19 Elton’s title 20 Forward 21 “Isn’t that something” 22 “Hold it right there!” 23 1965 Jerry Lewis/Tony Curtis farce involving flight attendants 26 Prey for cheetahs 29 Little League airer 30 Fishing spot 31 GPS suggestion 33 Milk source 37 Pro 38 Low-budget cinema ... and, literally, the four longest puzzle answers 41 Program file ending 42 Two-step, e.g. 44 College URL ending 45 Lyra’s brightest star 46 Et __ 49 Really dull 51 2005 Christian Bale superhero thriller 55 Jackson 5 hairdo 56 Item under many a top 57 Requiring quarters, briefly 61 __ Mini: Nintendo console 62 2003 Disney animated feature with talking grizzlies 64 Hip-hop Dr. 65 New York mayor before Koch 66 Top-flight 67 “Of course!”

36 Predict using, as 50 Didn’t sleep quietly tea leaves 51 Indecent 38 Banjo legend 52 Burning Fleck DOWN 53 Takes a shot at 39 “Gotcha, man” 1 Puts on gently 40 Special Olympics 54 Cake words Alice 2 Basic French verb abided by founder Shriver 3 Victor’s cry 43 Hunter’s garb, for 58 Düsseldorf denial 4 Shallows hazard 59 Like granola bars short 5 Hip dude 60 W. or LBJ 45 Easily seen 6 Tip of a Bic 62 Management 47 Deep-seated 7 Set straight major’s deg. 48 Using one’s 8 Claim 63 __ Honor passport, say 9 Tabloid subjects 10 Snoop ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 11 Rolls with rice 12 Salad bar sliver 13 Bandanna cousin 18 Like challenging push-ups 22 Go on (one’s way) 24 Comparison phrase 25 Composer’s work 26 Tablet with Mini and Pro versions 27 Flaky mineral 28 Hammer end 32 Genesis matriarch 34 Thoughtprovoking 35 Army vet 03/15/17 68 Asp cousin 69 Robert’s “Out of Africa” role

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COLUMBIA

The Shins revive their sound enjoyable, it can be hard to pick a single track that stands from Daily Arts Wrtier the rest. Still, three songs feel distinct: “Rubber Ballz,” “Dead Alive” and “So Now What.” For over two decades, The Each possesses unique rhythms Shins have been pumping and lyrics that are memorable smooth, altruistic indie jams both in the context of the album into the hands of their fans. and in isolation. Most recently, their fifth studio “Rubber Ballz” begins with album Heartworms, comprised some ping-pong Beach Boysof 11 tracks, proves that The esque vocals; the jubilant, Shins still have a firm grasp upbeat rhythm and safe, PG on that alternative melancholy lyrics work together to paint feel that they a portrait of Heartworms hone so well. nostalgia and Like their better times. The Shins other albums, “Dead Alive” the majority of brings the edgy Columbia Records the songs on melancholy. Heartworms With unique embody a similar sound. instrumentation and an Perfect for background noise undoubtedly catchy rhythm, while studying or chilling, the it feels like an ode to a chilly, asethetic of the album can best mysterious October evening. be described as gypsy, yoga, The most iconic song on the riding my bike through Cali album, though, is “So Now with the wind and beach breeze What,” which was a single on blowing my way. Though the motion picture soundtrack the album in its entirety is for the 2014 critically acclaimed DANIELLE IMMERMAN

film “Wish I Was Here.” Featuring The Shins’ hallmark shimmering instrumentals and ethereal vocals, “So Now What” preys on your emotions in every way music is supposed to. It culls dusty memories to the forefront of your mind, makes you think and analyze again and again. The remaining eight tracks on the album are not auditory flops, but they do lack the distinction of songs like “So Now What” provoke. All in all, Heartworms is a fine album. The thing about The Shins is that all of their albums, when analyzed as a collective unit, aren’t anything amazing. There’s no The Life of Pablo or Revolver; to make a perfect album where each song is great on its own and as a part of the album is rare. Still, The Shins always manage to produce at least two great songs on every album that will stand a decent test of time; at the end of the day, that’s still respectable.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The risk Michigan took MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer On Softball

ichigan junior righthander Tera Blanco struck out the final batter of the game Saturday against Kent State, capping off a complete-game, two-hit, 13-strikeout masterpiece. If that wasn’t enough, Blanco helped her own cause, knocking in three runs with the bat en route to a 5-1 win for the 19th-ranked Wolverines. The outing was what her season was supposed to look like. For a team that came into the season with question marks throughout its lineup and in search of pitching depth, Blanco represented a rare opportunity to provide stability in both areas. So far, Blanco has struggled to juggle the extra responsibility, serving as an example of her entire team’s issues. “It’s a lot to handle mentally, probably, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Blanco said. “Just controlling your mind, and just relaxing, taking one pitch at a time. That’s how I deal with it.” As a stalwart in the middle of the order for last season’s offensive juggernaut, Blanco’s production ballooned, as she posted a .404 batting average, with a slugging percentage (.748) and home run total (12) that trailed only the legendary Sierra Romero for best on the team. She was a key cog, instrumental to the offensive success of a team that made it to the Women’s College World Series. An experienced, productive hitter, Blanco seemed set to match or exceed her strong production from a year ago, and provide a stabilizing force in the middle of the Wolverines’ order that lost much of its veteran presence. But last season is long

in the rearview mirror — the Wolverines already equaled their loss total (seven) from the entire 2016 season — and as Blanco continues to learn, past success does not guarantee future production. She now sports a .218 batting average and managed just two extra-base hits over the first 22 games, prompting a demotion in the lineup as Michigan coach Carol Hutchins tries to find her spark from last season. Blanco’s on-base plus slugging (OPS) sits at a startlingly low .688, nearly half the number she posted in her breakout sophomore campaign (1.285). It’s a small sample size, and Blanco could very well turn her season around at the plate going forward. But maybe we should have seen this coming. Blanco thrived last season in her specialized role: playing first base and hitting behind some of the best players in program history. She pitched on occasion — amassing a total of just 29.1 innings in mostly low-pressure situations. This season, with the graduation of right-hander Sara Driesenga, Hutchins slotted Blanco into the second spot in the rotation, in addition to her regular position at first base. Given her pedigree as a top pitching recruit — ranked the No. 1 pitcher in 2013 in the softball hotbed of Orange County, Calif., according to the Orange County Register — the move seemed natural. And in the beginning of the season, the extra responsibility didn’t concern Hutchins. “I don’t think (pitching and the loss of offensive production) has to go hand-in-hand,” Hutchins said at her seasonopening press conference. “Tera improved last year. She spent most of the preseason pitching, but she was first-team AllAmerican because of her bat. … Tera’s definitely a gamer.”

In retrospect, though, expecting her to match Driesenga’s 130-plus innings with an earned run average near two, while still producing offensively at the same rate, may have been naive. To her credit, Blanco has undoubtedly matched, or even exceeded, expectations on the mound. With an ERA of 2.08, she continues to provide a compliment to senior righthander Megan Betsa to create a formidable rotation that has become this team’s strongsuit. Her efforts this past weekend even earned her the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Award. But the offense — which has mustered just 1.8 runs per game against nine ranked opponents this season — misses her bat dearly, which has shown few signs of life in the beginning of the season. Perhaps that’s just an inherent consequence of Blanco’s expanded role. Fortunately for the Michigan softball team, the story of the 2017 season has yet to be written — nor will it be written for awhile. But it seems hard to imagine a happy ending to that narrative without an offensive rejuvenation from Tera Blanco. That’s no easy task, and the road forward won’t be any easier on the right-hander. There is a certain attention to detail incumbent upon starting pitchers — scouting opposing lineups, mixing pitch selection, recalling past at-bats, etc. — that can inevitably be mentally consuming. When combining that with hitting in the lineup on a regular basis, you invite the danger of spreading a player’s talents thin. Sometimes being a “gamer” isn’t enough. That was a risk the Wolverines were willing to take. Now they’re paying the price for it. Marcovitch can be reached at maxmarco@umich.edu or on Twitter @MMarcovitch10

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 — 7A

A breakdown of the Big Ten race ANNA MARCUS Daily Sports Writer

Last season, the Michigan softball team clinched its ninthstraight Big Ten title after playing like the top team in the conference all season long. This season, though, is a different story for the now nineteenth-ranked Wolverines (14-7-1). Michigan no longer looks like the dominant Big Ten team. Not only is a 10th-straight title not a shoo-in for the Wolverines, but Minnesota — who edged out Michigan, 4-3, for the 2016 tournament championship — appears to be the front runner for the conference crown this year. Michigan’s first encounter with rival Minnesota — the only higher-ranked team in the conference — won’t be until the Big Ten Tournament in May, so the Wolverines will have ample time to improve. Last season during conference play, the Wolverines were upset by both Northwestern and Nebraska. While those losses did not prevent Michigan from taking its 19th conference title, Minnesota is better than ever, and the team with the ability to generate offensive production against both strong opponents and smaller teams — an element the Wolverines have had problems with so far — will be able to come out on top this year. The Daily broke down the teams that have the opportunity to make waves in Big Ten play and compete for the conference title this season. No. 8 Minnesota (22-2) Though it may get cold in Minnesota, the Golden Gophers don’t seem to be cooling down anytime soon. With an elite .341 batting average, Minnesota ranks first in the conference and has collected 227 hits over its 24 games played. The Golden Gophers return ace right-hander Sara Groenewegen, who boasts a 0.71 earned-run average — the best of any Big Ten hurler. Minnesota’s skills aren’t just

limited to the circle, however, with powerhouse infielders Maddie Houlihan, Sydney Dwyer and MaKenna Partain leading the way in the batter’s box. Houlihan earned Big Ten freshman of the year honors last season and posted a .464 batting average during conference play. Dwyer currently leads the Big Ten in runs batted in with 32 and bats a commanding .417, while Partain sports the second-highest batting average in the conference at .486. Early season highlights for Minnesota include overtaking No. 13 Louisiana State University (3-0), demonstrating the Golden Gophers’ ability to hold their own against other ranked opponents — an area in which the Wolverines have struggled. If its performance so far is any indication, Minnesota looks to have the tools to compete for a Women’s College World Series berth and holds the biggest threat to Michigan’s quest for a 10th-consecutive conference title. No. 24 Wisconsin (20-2) Riding a hot 11-game win streak, Wisconsin should not be underestimated entering conference play, boasting its best start in program history and earning a USA Today/NFCA Coaches top-25 ranking as of this week. The team that lost to Indiana in the first round of last year’s Big Ten Tournament appears dramatically improved. So far, the Badgers have suffered just two losses, one of which to No. 12 James Madison. Wisconsin is blessed with a key element that many Big Ten teams lack: pitching depth. Right-handers Kirsten Stevens and Kaitlyn Menz post the second and third best ERAs in the conference, 0.77 and 1.41, respectively. Though only a freshman, Menz has seen 13 starting appearances in the circle. Utility player Chloe Miller leads her team and conference in multiple offensive categories, including a batting average with a .543 clip and hits with 38. Michigan State (15-7)

Michigan State, one of the lowest seeds heading into the Big Ten Tournament last season, now claims the second-highest batting average in the conference at .337 heading into Big Ten play. Individually, outfielder Lea Foerster and utility player Kaitlyn Eveland post top-10 conference batting averages, with .457 and .420 clips, respectively. However, the Spartans have serious concerns in the circle with a 4.43 ERA — one of the highest in the conference — which is likely to hurt Michigan State when it faces conference opponents with powerhouse hitters. Illinois (12-7) Illinois is off to a strong start this season, with a winning record and a majority of its seven losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. Minnesota knocked the Illini out of the Big Ten Tournament in the second round last year, after sitting in the middle section of the conference throughout the season. This season, though, Illinois has already shown its promising future at the top of the standings, sporting the fourth-best batting average at .320, the fifth-best ERA of 3.29 and the second-best fielding percentage of .974 in the conference. Ohio State (10-6) Ohio State’s pre-conference performance has been marred with inconsistency, with tough losses to ranked opponents as well as lopsided victories, often splitting games against the same team. While the Buckeyes sit around the upper quartile of the Big Ten offensively with a .293 batting average, they really thrive in the circle, ranking third with a 2.21 ERA due to right-handers Shelby Hursh and Lena Springer. The pitching duo sport the fourth and seventh best conference ERAs of 1.53 and 2.24, respectively. If Ohio State can foster greater offensive production from players other than outfielder Alex Bayne, who is tied atop the conference with seven home runs, it will have a chance to compete with the top of the Big Ten.

In final season, Christner sheds the pressure MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Writer

Between innings against Arizona State on Feb. 26, the Michigan softball Twitter account posted a video of senior centerfielder Kelly Christner gathered around her fellow outfielders, dancing to Pat Benatar’s 1983 hit, “Love is a Battlefield.” It was the final day of an arduous five-game Mary Nutter Classic, and time had just snatched a possible win against No. 1 Florida State away from the Wolverines. A drop-dead travel rule was imposed in the middle of the eighth inning — just as Michigan had its chance to score a runner from second and avenge its eliminating loss to the Seminoles from the 2016 Women’s College World Series. Visible frustration and disappointment would have been justified to see from the trio of outfielders before the final inning. Yet, there was Christner, waiting for the song’s piano notes to cascade from the field’s speakers. When they did, she threw her arms up dramatically and turned around at the camera behind her, cracking up her teammates. “I looked like an idiot,” Christner said. “But it’s just little stuff like that to try to loosen everyone up.” But Christner hasn’t always been able to carry that relaxing sense of humor on the field. *** It’s the second game of the 2016 WCWS, and Michigan is down by a run to No. 3 Oklahoma. Christner steps up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. The pressure mounted — she could drive in a game-tying or go-ahead run. She takes two balls before taking a pitch down the heart of the plate and pulling another foul, evening the count at two. The fifth pitch of the at-bat is fired home and curves away from Christner, nipping the black of the plate. She never pulled the trigger, as

the voice behind her screams “strike-three.” Christner’s frustration is apparent as she turns to the umpire, arguing the call with just a dejected look on her face. Michigan would never get that gametying run, losing its first contest in Oklahoma City before getting eliminated a day later. *** This season, however, Christner has pulled the trigger on that powerful sense of humor. It comes — just as her game does — from years of practice with her older sister, Katie, who played softball at Wisconsin from 2013 to 2016. “Both of us like to have fun,” Katie said. “You can always see both of us dancing before games, and doing things and doing funny, weird stuff to make our teammates laugh.” The Christner sisters grew up under the tutelage of their dad, a former college baseball player at Cornell. Their love of softball dominated their childhood, creating shared afternoons in the cage and on the diamond. As they grew up with a love for softball, with countless teams, practices and days on the diamond between them, the logical college decision for Christner might have been Wisconsin, where she would get to play with her sister for three years. A visit to Michigan, though, persuaded her otherwise. “The first time Kelly went to Ann Arbor, she fell in love with (Michigan) and its softball culture,” Katie said. “Even though we’re so close and she would’ve liked to have gone to school with me, visiting sealed it for her.” Added Christner: “It would have been so much fun to have

her at college with me, but I wanted to take her out of the equation and make the decision based upon every other factor. When I did that, it was Michigan all the way.” Still, the two found playing one another in the Big Ten schedule quite difficult. “One of the weirdest things I’ve ever gone through is seeing her on the other side,” Katie said. Perhaps the time away from her sister drew Christner further from that enjoyment brought by those afternoons on the diamond with their father. Though there’s no way to know for sure, one thing is certain: that bond from childhood has become vital to Christner’s senior-year resurgence. Her older sister’s perspective and words of wisdom have given her the necessary mindset to start the season so strongly, with less of an emphasis on statistics. “My sister told me: nobody asked what her batting average was, but they ask how it made (her) into a better person,” Christner said. “So, I think all of us have tried to focus on that, working on letting (softball) make us better people.” But in case anyone does ask Christner what better in college — partially thanks to her sister’s advice — she’ll be able to give them a damn impressive answer. *** Christner and fellow seniors Megan Betsa, Abby Ramirez and Lindsay Montemarano all live together in an off-campus house — just as they have since their sophomore seasons. On the field, they have experienced two runs to the WCWS and three Big Ten championships. Off it, friendships and life-long bonds have strengthened like an aluminum bat cooling from a molding fire.

“I needed to just have more fun with it. It is just a game.”

“A lot of people think we get sick of each other because we’re literally with one another 24/7,” Christner said. “But we’ve gotten to know each other so well now that we know how to handle one another in certain situations. I think that helped on the softball field and helped us come even closer together.” The roommates have learned each other’s quirks — Christner knows “almost every song” or the story behind Ramirez’s walk-up track, “Gasolina.” But the willingness to speak bluntly is one of the first things her teammates will concede about Christner’s personality. “She’ll tell you how it is,” Betsa said. “She doesn’t sugarcoat things, so you don’t have to worry about that.” As her senior year progresses and Christner continues to pick her spots to be blunt, she’s forced to ref lect on her career. And having gone through a final season herself, Katie knows exactly what will become most nostalgic for her sister. “I think she’ll miss the fun times with her teammates the most on and off the field,” she said. “The bus trips — and everything that doesn’t look too enjoyable on the surface — you realize were fun.” Maybe her three senior housemates were the perfect catalyst to help her remember that this season, following a year in which the fun had escaped Christner entirely. After Christner broke out to hit .393 with 21 home runs and 67 runs batted her sophomore season, the accolades — including All-American honors, a place on the All-Big Ten First Team, and a nod for NCAA all-tournament team — piled as high as expectations for the next year. And following a national runner’s up finish and a

return of a plethora of key players, the pressure stacked upon Christner and the rest of the Wolverines in 2015. But the stress of reliving a breakout season affected her, as a focus on matching statistical benchmarks backfired. Christner’s average dropped 80 points, and she hit just six home runs in her junior season. “I think she put a lot of pressure on herself,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “You feel like you’re supposed to be hitting .400, hitting home runs, and be an All-American. And she allowed that to build into the expectations.” Added Christner: “This past summer, I looked at my sophomore year to junior year, and I saw obvious mistakes that I made last year. So this summer, I really worked on getting back to that swing I had sophomore year.” With her sister’s advance and swing new changes, 2017 has

been a renaissance of sorts for the senior. Twenty-two games into the year, Christner is hitting .476 with for home runs and 22 runs batted in — on-pace for the team’s triple crown. “I think it’s hard to watch anyone struggle,” Megan Betsa said. “You want to see them do well but can’t do it for them. She did a good job working through it, as you can see her performance now.” *** Fast-forward to that Mary Nutter Classic last February. The Wolverines find themselves in a similar position — down in the latter innings — against an inferior team in New Mexico State. A loss could have had demoralizing effects. With runners on first and second and Michigan trailing by two runs, Christner makes a return to the plate. But this time, she remembers the joy of playing softball — the type she felt on the empty Illinois field with her sister and dad — and she ignores the pressure. The pitch comes toward home. Christner picks the bat off her left shoulder and takes an aggressive cut. The softball blasts through the air and clears the fence, giving the Wolverines a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Kelly Christner is just playing softball now — maybe more dancing in centerfield has its rewards. “I needed to just have more fun with it,” she said. “It is just a game.”

8A â€” Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Michigan Daily â€” michigandaily.com

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | M A RCH 1 5 , 2017

the

literary issue 2017

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

statement

Managaing Statement Editor:

Photo Editor:

Managing Editor:

Lara Moehlman

Alexis Rankin

Rebecca Lerner

Deputy Editors:

Editor in Chief:

Copy Editors:

Yoshiko Iwai

Emma Kinery

Danielle Jackson

Brian Kuang

Design Editors

Taylor Grandinetti

Erin Tolar

T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | M A RCH 1 5 , 2017

Emily Hardie

Catalyst

Letter from the Editors Reader,

BY KEEGAN MCGUIRE, LSA Sophomore

My whole life I had been told That there was but one substrate I could hold A substrate in every way perfect for me Together an enzyme-substrate complex we would be

Jane Austen once wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single person in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of The Statement’s annual Literary Issue.” Actually, she didn’t. But we think it’s true. In this issue, you’ll find everything from love, sex and science to almonds — yes, almonds.

Oh how I dreamt of her every night Desperate to fill the void in my active site For a time I didn’t mind the wait Knowing somewhere out there was my structural mate

We hope these poems and short stories open your mind to the creativity and imagination that live on our campus and within our writing.

But time grew cruel, and I began to question my conformation Was it possible that mine was a mutation What if there was no product for this reaction No substrate with whom I could share my attraction

Welcome to the Literary Issue. We hope you enjoy,

Was mine a lineage without nomenclature One destined for a slow denature I had been burned before A competitive inhibitor known only as whore She’d taken my active site For which she had no reason but spite My faith was waning, My beta pleats tired from straining But then I remembered what my RNA had said Perhaps I wasn’t better off dead See he had told me of a way to adapt A way to harness my potential that remained untapped All I needed was to induce a fit I could find another substrate to permit And so I did, a dazzling 6 carbon carbohydrate Though she could easily have been an eight Like a lock and key we meshed I’d never felt so blessed Yet as quickly as she had come, she left Leaving behind an empty cleft I was devastated until I saw A grand sucrose without a flaw I soon learned, that together glucose and me Had created something of a larger degree Our love had given the world a disaccharide And I couldn’t feel a thing but pride Love I had learned was fleeting But with a little heating It would find me again soon Another substrate to make swoon

Lara Moehlman Managing Statement Editor ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

Scientist

BY NIKKI HAGGERTY, LSA Sophomore I am a scientist. I believe in method and procedure. I only see what is in front of me. I draw conclusions upon proof. Science has given me reason.

Brian Kuang Deputy Statement Editor Yoshiko Iwai Deputy Statement Editor Alexis Rankin Statement Photo Editor

There is a rule in science: Three trials make your findings significant, For someone to acknowledge that your attempts have meaning. I have known this rule since I can remember. But I look back, And I remember that you have broken my heart four times. Four times I have had you and lost you. It happened once, twice, three times, and then four. You have destroyed me from the inside out. There has been cause and effect. I have seen it with my own eyes, I have felt every vessel in my heart get torn by you. I have learned That science does not apply to love. That science is for the real world. And that love— Well love doesn’t exist in the mind where science lies. Love is not made by the brain. Love is not the set of chemical reactions I have learned it is. Love is waking up every day Desperate for a fifth trial.

Tigress BY ZOYA GURM, LSA Freshman And in that moment I was a tiger, my prey’s blood matted into my fur as I carried you, dangling between carved fangs, afraid and afraid. The days passed maliciously since our lips had met in comfort; but here I was deafened and defeated by the way you stroked my hair, fingers braided into tangles and knots. And in that moment I was a tiger, and I kissed the earth and her leaves. the greens dissolved on my tongue, the meat and the veins as they fell from the sky quivering at my sight. Spirituality sang in cycles, drifting and wavering. Excuses always came easy to us. We left each other in favor of a silicone meditation, where thoughts ran endlessly and affectionate rivers dry. But in that moment I was a tiger, and I danced to the jungle’s songs, a humming rhythm as you fell into my grasp; limb by limb, consumed.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

In a place of space BY MILES GROFSOREAN, LSA Senior He went to fill the space again once more, Noticing there was more room than before; The light was gone that made his life so keen, Before the boy had reached the hollow scene. He stretched his hands as far as they would go, He threw his love as far as he could throw; But she had gone her way beyond his gaze, And he was left to drift under a daze. “All must be,” he cried within his heart, “Whether they live together or apart.” The thought of life and death seemed all the same, Once he had acquiesced, and laid his claim, And more so contrasts between nil and naught, Seemed to be more worthy of his thought. But before he could plunge into the dark, It caught his hand and showed what it had marked

Fugitive, you said from between my teeth. my tiger teeth.

Forth from its depths the planets did expand, A bounty more than any could demand;

And in that moment I loved And in that moment I loved And in that moment I loved.

Of beasts and fish and birds, the day and night, Of love and hate and peace, the dark and light. She cupped his cheeks, and brought his eyes to hers, To bear witness. Suddenly, in a blur The herald of the void at once let go Of his hand and quickly started to grow On and on, this way and that, ‘twas obscene! Till only space between her dust was seen.

Gaze

ILLUSTRATION BY CAROLINE KIM, LSA Junior

But when the boy looked up and fixed his eyes, He saw her glittering ash adorn the sky; Her spirit thusly kindred to the stars, Felt almost as near as it did afar. And so it was that she led him to see, He too was from the nothingness as she; A truth that shook his being to the bone, So that he would no longer walk alone. “All must be,” the boy hummed in his heart, “Whether they live together or apart.”

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

A Peculiar Love for Nuts a short ficton story b y B e n R a p p o p o r t , LSA Freshman

ames Jameson? Yeah, I know him. He works with me at the office. Gotta feel bad for a guy with a name like that; his parents must have hated him. I think he runs numbers for the guys upstairs. I guess management thinks he’s hot shit or something. A while ago he threatened to quit unless he got a promotion. They gave him an intern who gets his coffee once a week, and that shut him right up. Yeah, I’d say James has always been a little bit nutty. No pun intended. A real nut case, ha. You can sorta pick up on that just from talking to him. He had these … mannerisms. One is this twitch in his eye. He’ll be talking to you and then he just starts winking at you. First time it happened to me I thought he was coming on to me. I said nuh-uh, sir. There’s nothing wrong with that way of life, but that’s just not the book I’m reading if you get what I mean. Later I found out about his twitch from someone at the watercooler, and I felt kinda bad about the way I acted. I came by his cubicle to be polite and to welcome him to the office and did a sort of half-assed knock on the wall with my third and fourth knuckles. He looked up from his computer, and that’s when I discovered his second mannerism. He had a mouthful of nuts — I mean full to the brim. He looked like a goddamn squirrel stocking up for a long-ass winter, “Day After Tomorrow” shit, you know what I’m saying? He had another fistful of nuts ready to pop in as soon as he was done with the current set. Pistachios, cashews, almonds, peanuts, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts overflowing out of his lanky, crooked fingers — I could tell this man loved his nuts, but I didn’t realize just how much he loved nuts. How could I? You see a man with a face and fist full of nuts you just think, damn, this guy really likes nuts, then you move on with your life; that’s just what you do. My office had a window. I thought I made it big: my own office, my own window, my own door with my own name on it. Then one day, this GODdamn bird flies into my office through my open window — it was such a nice day, I had to open the window — and it trashes my whole office. This two-pound ball of shit and feathers slammed into all of the family pictures that I had just hung on the walls — shattered the glass. It knocked over my computer monitor, scratched my nice leather office chair that I bought with my own money, and took a fat-fucking shit on my desk. Then it flew back outside like nothing even happened — like it coulda popped out any time it wanted to — like it just flew into my room to shit on my desk and ruin my day. Management made me move out of my office for two weeks so some fed dipshits in hazmat suits could kick it in there for a few hours and come out each day claiming

that my office is “uninhabitable due to the possibility of the excrement contaminating the air with a viral disease” or some shit. I don’t know why they couldn’t just spray some Lysol up in there and call it — probably too tantalized by the fat government check cushioning their wallets. As it turns out, I later found out from Biff (he’s got the office next to mine) that Jameson had been by my office earlier that day looking for me — that he’d come by with his fistful of nuts and poked his head in my door, and when he hadn’t found me he stuck his head in Biff’s door and asked where I was. Don’t know what he needed me for. Biff said the guy just wanted to see me. Anyway, Biff told me he suspects that James dropped a few nuts in my room when he did poke in, cos that’s what he did in Biff’s office, and a bird musta seen the nuts through my open window or something and decide to come and get a snack. Well sure enough I found a few cashews lying by my door when I was finally let back into my own office. Till then though, I had to work in a cubicle that shared a wall with Jameson’s. That was just great. Obviously I was still bitter about the nuts he left in my office, but what am I gonna do, bully the new guy? During those two weeks, I saw James every single day. Every day when I’d get up from my cubicle to go to the watercooler I’d peek at him when I walk by, not in a spying sorta way, but a curious sorta way, and every time he’d have his mouth full of nuts and a fistful waiting its turn. When I’d get up to go to the bathroom, mouthful and fistful. When I’d go to lunch, fistful and mouthful. He must have gone through at least a pound a day. Though on the fourth day — maybe it was the fifth — I walked by his cubicle and this time he wasn’t munching his nuts. This time he only had one nut in his hand (an almond I’m pretty sure) and he was holding it up like so, like he’s trying to suffocate the tiny thing with his thumb; and he was holding it up to his ear and squinting his eyes like he was dead-ass focused on something. I thought what a weirdo and got on with my life; that’s just what you do. Some people are into weird-ass shit; you just gotta carry on. He wasn’t holding it anymore when I got back to my desk. He wasn’t munching his nuts either. Here’s where this shit started turning into a real chin-scratcher. The first time I actually wondered if Jameson had fallen off his rocker was when I heard him murmuring through the cubicle wall — those things ain’t soundproof for shit. Now that in and of itself wasn’t that weird. You know, I get it. Some people talk to themselves when they’re working — helps their train of thought or whatever. My wife, she does it when she’s especially stressed; that’s how I know when to order pizza for dinner. Anyway,

I hear him murmur and mumble and it starts to grind my gears after a while. I’m about to put on my headphones just to block it out but not without walking past his cubicle and shooting him a dirty look so he knows what’s up — I’m petty like that. I walk up to his cubicle and set the nastiest look on my face — my mom used to tell me not to make faces or they’ll get stuck; if my face had gotten stuck right then I’d have been screwed — then when I come around the corner, I see James holding the almond in the palm of his hand right up close to his face. He doesn’t seem to notice me standing there staring at him — he’s too busy whispering sweet-fucking-nothings to this nut. I swear to God, I’m telling you, this is some weirdass shit. I didn’t know what to say; I didn’t say anything. I walked back to my cubicle and sat my ass down, put my headphones in and went on with my life. Cos that’s what you do, right? None of my business. I shoulda kept thinking about it like that: “none of my business.” Curiosity killed the cat, they say. I wish I’d forgotten all about it and never looked into his cubicle again. The very next day, I walked by his cubicle, and I just glanced over my shoulder and James — I swear, you can’t make this shit up, I swear to fucking God you can’t — James is holding this exact same almond to his lips, puckered like a fish. Now if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was just kissing this nut. Crazy, right? Batshit! He caught me looking though. He dropped the nut like it just burnt him or something and he turned hot red. He didn’t say anything though. I didn’t say nothing either; just walked on by. But tell me, how the hell am I supposed to just move on from that shit? I couldn’t

help myself from thinking: was Jameson just kissing a fucking nut? You can’t tell me that I needed to get over it — just don’t think about it, right? How could I not think about that? I kept thinking about it after I went home. My wife was talking to herself that night, but I didn’t order pizza. I just couldn’t stop thinking about what the hell happened in the office that day. Sherry got mad at me — that’s my wife — guess she wanted me to order pizza or ask her about her day or whatever it is women want; I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening. I spent a lot of time at the watercooler the next day, mostly because I couldn’t focus on my work, but also because I wanted to avoid seeing James do any weirder shit. A few of my coworkers stopped by to take a break, and I chatted with them. I asked the usual shit like, “How’s the wife,” even though I didn’t care and what’s the weather look like for tomorrow even though I already knew. What I really wanted to know was if anyone else picked up on James acting strange lately, but nobody seemed to notice anything different about him. I didn’t bring up the nut thing; I didn’t want them to think I was the crazy one. I had half a week left in this cruddy cubicle next to James, and dammit I needed to figure out just what the hell it was that he was up to. Last few days, I remember, he’d starting eating lunch in his cubicle, but he stopped eating nuts. I saw him eating salads, sandwiches, spaghetti — normal shit. Maybe he pulled himself together, I thought at one point. Maybe it was just a phase — an adjustment period. I invited him out to lunch one of those days, told him I knew this great deli that had just opened down the block; they’ve got

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

this apple-brie melt that’ll make your heart melt. I was hoping that we’d talk over lunch and that he’d say normal shit, and I’d be like damn I was wrong, he’s no weirdo after all. Turns out, I was wrong about being wrong. I asked him to lunch, but he politely declined, saying he already had made plans for a lunch date today, and maybe we could go some other time. Whatever, that’s fine. It was just a gesture anyway. Except, when I walked by again in an hour, I saw him eating a plate of pasta, two forks on the plate. Across the plate, he — I kid you not — he put that same almond on this, this chair that he made out of a cotton ball and a tissue. He was on a lunch date with an almond. Lemme say that again, a lunch date with a fucking almond. I went home from work early that day — told my boss I was feeling sick and I wasn’t lying. Felt sick in the head for the rest of the day. Barely said two words to Sherry that night, even. I think she went out and got pizza by herself. Not sure; I went to bed early. When I came back to work the next morning, James said “morning” and I gave him this half-assed smile ‘cause I had nothing to say to him. A little while later though, I’ll admit, I came around the corner and asked how his date went. He smiled this toothy smile like he’d been with Olivia Wilde and she was all over him. “I think I’m in love, Michael.” I got an invitation in the mail three days later. You wanna know what it said? James Jameson & Almonda Nutt Cordially request the pleasure of your company on the joyous occasion of their marriage. Now picture me going through my mail: bill, catalogue, ad, bill, ad, almond wedding invitation. At this point I don’t even know what’s going on. This nut is getting married … to an almond. Is that legal? How did he even find an officiant who’d agree to do that? Is this not concerning to anybody else? Is he planning on having kids with this lady? Has he met her parents? How are they going to have sex on their honeymoon? If they don’t have sex will their marriage be consummated? How are they supposed to have sex? What? Of course I went. How many times in my life am I going to have the chance to see a man get married to a nut? Jameson’s guests all had this look — some combination of pity and concern — not the kind of look you’d want your wedding guests to have. Almonda’s guests were all nuts; not sure what I expected there. The usher carried a bowl of mixed nuts with him and placed each one in a seat. Jameson’s vows were heartfelt; I’ll give it to the guy, he honest to God cares very deeply about his bride. He talked about how he had always turned to nuts in times of hunger and boredom, that is, until he met Almonda. She opened his eyes to see that eating nuts is wrong, and she showed him how to love. A guest from James’ side was sniveling audibly by the end of it. The minister’s invitation for Almonda to share her vows was met with silence. Somebody coughed and then they were pronounced husband and wife. I’ll be damned if the couple’s first dance wasn’t the sweetest strange thing I’ve ever seen. James was just beaming as he held onto his wife and swung her around in the spotlight. After dinner, I spied James trying to feed Almonda a piece of cake. He was failing of course, but it was kind of cute. And he was happy. Me and Sherry were sitting at a table with some of my co-workers and their wives. I remember Rob’s wife cooing about how cute the newlyweds looked together, then she asked Rob if he remembered their wedding night and how in love they were. Sherry wasn’t having a good time that night. I asked her when we were alone for a second how she felt about the marriage and she made some comment about how ridiculous this whole thing is and a waste of money and peoples’ time. I don’t see it that way, but I guess I know where she’s coming from. I came to this wedding feeling a bit like she did, but James was happy with his wife — dammit, happier than I am — and I don’t think it’s my place to look down on him for that. It’s a pity that Sherry can’t see it like that. After the wedding we went home and went to bed. Then the next morning the sun came up and we got on with our lives; that’s just what you do.

Ode to the Grandmother in Me BY MARIA ROBINS-SOMERVILLE, LSA Senior To the grandmother in me who rocks in her chair her bones creak and she still, frets. Her knitting needles scepters, pointers of the getting and fetching and hurry and less salt please. The grandmother in me always asks when will I bring my boyfriend home for thanksgiving and when I do she’ll forget to set a place for him because passive aggression is just her way. When I am angry full of exuberant rage, the grandmother in me is just stern, her mouth in a tight frown, dentures cooling in a bedside jar because those who “chomp gum so unladylike are asking for it,” she says. She regards my reluctance to sunscreen as the abominable sin but refuses to rub my back in because she finds my posture unsatisfactory.

ILLUSTRATION BY YOSHIKO IWAI

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

First Day

eet shuffled across the courtyard, sneakers and flip flops and sandals against the scorching black pavement. Voices rose and fell periodically, calls of “Hey!” and “How was your summer?” rippling through the air. Hands reached out to tap shoulders, heads turned around in greeting, arms circled each other in hugs. In the middle of it all, a girl stood alone. Her hands gripped the straps of her teal backpack. She turned her head from side to side, watching as kids talked about their camping trips and trips to Disney World and world-traveling to London or Paris or Barcelona. The bell rang, and the students moved forward to the open doors, jostling the girl a little as she followed them into the belly of the beast, where she would have to navigate on her own through the unknown hallways and classrooms and students. *** “OK, everyone, settle down, settle down.” The kids all plopped down into their desks, watching their homeroom teacher for the new year, Ms. Smith, pull up the attendance sheet. “Ah, it looks like we’ve got a new student this year!” She lifted the paper closer to her face, eyes squinting slightly as she adjusted her reading glasses. The girl with the teal backpack gulped, already waiting for what was coming, what every new teacher she had at her old school went through. “Jee — Ji? — Ji yee own Lee?” “It’s Jiyeon,” her voice squeaked, and everyone turned around to stare at her. She said it like Jee-yun. “But you can just call me Jen.” “Ah, Jen! Much easier. Well, welcome to Brook Hills Middle School, Jen. I’m going to go through the rest of the attendance, so please let me know if anyone else wants to be called something different or have a nickname you’d like to be called.” Jen slumped in her chair, taking a deep breath as Ms. Smith read through the list. Her face felt hot. “OK! Now for some icebreakers. I want you all to turn to the person next to you and talk about something fun you did this summer.” Jen turned to the boy to her right, who was wearing a New York Yankees hat. He pointed to the hat. “I went to a Yankees game this summer. It was really cool. My dad and I got to sit in like really close to the front probably like four rows away from the field, and Derek Jeter hit a homerun, and they won.” “That’s cool,” Jen said. She didn’t know much about baseball, but she did know who the Yankees were. Everyone knew who the Yankees were, even her parents. “I went to summer camp at the YMCA for a few weeks this summer.” “Cool,” he said, though to Jen it looked like he was still thinking about Derek Jeter’s home run. There was a pause. Then, “So where are you from?” “Oh, I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania. It’s only a few hours away from here.” The boy looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched together. “No, I mean, like, where are you actually from?” Now it was Jen’s turn to be confused. “Like, in Pennsylvania?” The boy threw his hands up in the air. “No, I mean like, in Asia. Like are you from China?” “Oh,” Jen understood now. “I mean, I was born in Pennsylvania but my parents moved from South Korea two years before I was born.” “Oh,” The boy said. They were both silent. “OK! Looks like everyone’s done with the icebreaker.” Ms. Smith, thankfully, broke up the silence before it could grow any longer. “Make sure to meet back here every morning so we can take homeroom attendance.” The bell rang. “Have a good rest of the first day!” *** The rest of Jen’s classes before lunch went basically the same way. Teachers and the trouble with her name, other students asking where she was really from, awkward silences. She couldn’t wait until lunch, so she could have a break from it all. She went to her locker and pulled out her lunch box, a bright pink one to clash against her bright teal backpack. The girl at the locker next to her turned to her and scrunched up her nose, making a face. “What is that smell?” Jen could feel her cheeks getting hot again. “Oh, sorry — I think it

BY MONICA KIM, LSA Freshman might be from my lunch.” The girl pinched her nose. “What could you possibly eat that would make it smell like that?” Jen shrugged, throwing her lunchbox back into her locker and closing the door shut. “Maybe the heat’s making it smell like that,” she said, though she knew that wasn’t it. The girl fanned the air in front of her face. “Well thank God you closed that locker door.” She walked away. Jen waited a few seconds before walking behind her, to the crowded cafeteria. She found herself alone, again, in the middle of a crowded room, students passing her by with black trays filled with pizzas or hamburgers or salads, or kids clutching lunchboxes or brown paper bags. They all turned to glance at her and her lunch-less hands, but soon turned away to go find others to sit with. A girl with curly brown hair came to her side. “You’re Jen, right? The new girl?” Jen nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. “Do you want to come sit with us?” She jerked her head toward a round table near the cafeteria doors, where three other girls sat, talking animatedly. Jen felt a wave of relief course through her and nodded, smiling at the girl. “Yeah, that would be awesome.” “Cool,” the girl smiled back, and they walked toward the table. “I’m Callie, by the way.” “Nice to meet you, Callie,” she replied as they sat down at the table, the other girls looking at them. “Everyone,” Callie announced, “this is Jen. She’s new and in my homeroom class. Jen, this is Mary, Leslie and Julia.” “Hi,” Jen said, smiling at each of them. “Where’s your lunch?” The girl called Leslie asked, taking a bite out of her pizza. “Oh,” her stomach dropped. “I forgot it this morning. Almost missed the bus.” “Aw, that really sucks,” Callie said. “You can have one of my cheese sticks if you want.” She held one out to her — the twisty kind that Jen always ate. Her stomach grumbled, but she shook her head. “That’s OK, I can wait until after school.” She stopped for a beat, then remembered: “Thank you, though.” *** “Hi, Jiyeon, how was your first day of school?” Her mother kissed her on the cheek as she plopped down to sit at the kitchen table, legs splayed out in front of her. “It was OK,” she answered, rubbing her eyes. She heard her mom unzip her backpack, and before it was too late, she had already taken out her untouched lunch. “What happened? Why didn’t you eat your lunch?” Her mother held the pink lunchbox out in front of her, dangling it like a cat’s toy. Jen gulped. “Sorry. I wasn’t really that hungry.” Her mother tsked. “Not eating on the first day! That’s bad for you. You must be so hungry now. Here, eat it.” She slid the lunchbox across the table. Jen opened it up, feeling bad. She knew her mother woke up at six o’clock every morning — she did this at her other school — taking time to cook the rice to fluffy perfection, fold the kimchi into a different container (she liked to eat her foods separately), and pack it with a different kind of banchan — side dish — every day. She quickly ate the rice and kimchi, soothing her growling stomach. “Did you meet some nice kids? Make any friends yet?” Jen swallowed, the rice sticking a little too long in her throat. Images of the boy in the Yankee hat and the girl at the locker flew by in her mind. But she also remembered Callie. “Sort of,” she said, chewing. “Yeah.” Her mother nodded, kissing the top of her head. “That’s great to hear. Well, I’ve got to get back to work in my office. Call me if you need anything.” Her mom left, and once she heard the front door close and the car’s engine rev and the wheels of her mom’s car skid out the driveway, she let her first tear fall.

Blue and Green Love BY JANICTON FRAME, MBA Student Runs through the book is a dark poem The black foot that throttle Drinking Grumbling Brawling Troubled brother who lived At more intimately full rivers Trout and flying fish But more tragic death The story brutal beating His body left in a dark alley About the family who loved him But couldn’t save him Haunted man being Found the book published When he was 73 Drawn from personal experience In my family flying fish Are spiritual dimensions Communicating in disasters He talks About going to the river Because he couldn’t stay anywhere else Do you remember the last time you went fishing with your father? Tears in his eyes Drove up a road that spirals high above the river We stopped The Black Foot runs straight Erupts Rifles Then slams into the mountain After crawling to a deep hole Repeats its cadence Away in time The book is written To this rhythm Finished my question About father’s last fishing trip He sat down Tired I could get you something To drink for him A drink I fixed it Didn’t taste good to him Old fisher man Silent in movement He’ll never land He was silent Trout fishing Learn To Read The ILLUSTRATION BY ERIN TOLAR Water Cruising fish makes soft kiss A rise Beneath the surface Rings mark The soft kiss Rise

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

Black or Deep Violet Plumage

Crematory

BY ZOYA GURM, LSA Freshman

n the once pearlescent edges of fleshy pink, there was decay, like that on the teeth of young boys and girls who dread nothing more than the taste of toothpaste. There was now a numbness where they had been filled with thought: the edges, consisting of those sensations of falling asleep or being woken up, now startled but unable to process. “Are they in pain?” His wife looked at the lined hospital beds, each sectioned portion a more vibrant and clean white than the last. “I don’t think so”, the doctor responded, his mask drawn up over his nose and lips. If anything, they are in the opposite, just numb and euphoric. She walked home in a purplish haze. Her eyebrows were furrowed with worry; her husband was left there, that maze of pristine hallways that felt like a clean pair of dentures — mechanical, pretending to function like nature’s intention. Someone must come up with a word for that, the opposite of pain. I’ll ask him to think one up when he comes home. He’s felt it, anyway. The more you try to filter your thoughts, the less filtered they become, as if it is the brain’s way to exert its dominance over itself, over its container of a body and the burdens that came with it. It’s an inconvenient thing, the universe. Why can’t it leave me to think? I have such endless capacity restricted by the time and place. “The skies look less blue to people with tinted eyes”, she said, staring upward at violet clouds, violent delights. Her free hand pushed her black fringe from her olive-toned face, her other hand held blindly onto the idea of fate governing those numb minds, fixing the disease so carelessly described as Mother Nature’s anesthetic for the mind. It will be all right, she resolved. The clouds in the skies were lightening to a lilac, more white brightening the gloomy blossoms. Her mother had planted the seed of anxiety in her daughter when she gave birth. Could it have happened similarly to her husband? Maybe his father’s mind had faded at the edges, dead weight with the consistency of a well-used coffee filter. They had no way of knowing — he barely lived a breath past 30. But young men and old men are different — their bodies, their frames of mind, how could this have happened? The clouds had lightened considerably since she had begun her walk, brightening the sky along with them. Birds with ravenesque colors and forms became visible; though they once swooped past her dizzied head unseen, they now soared in the sky as visibly as the sole light in a dark night. It had been quite a number, the bustle they moved in, uncomfortably exposed as their camouflage had been lifted. She too felt exposed to an open field of spectators. She had heard all the questions — how did he lose his job, why couldn’t he function in the mechanical way he once had, why did his language turn so foul and his communication so weak? She had asked them herself. But now she had an answer, and it would inevitably circle through the community, who had excitedly watched the dark situation unfold as she lost her grip. She wanted the sky to return to a deep and violent violet. She wanted to be engulfed by the heroic clouds, housing the least refreshing precipitation to grace the earth. She wanted to be up there, hidden in the wings of the raven birds. She wanted to be something else. “I seldom have reason to feel anything but happiness”, she told the doctor, his mask drawn up to cover his nose and mouth. “Yet lately, I have been praying that my brain go numb as well. When she arrived back home she shut all the blinds, afraid of any small beam of light. She sat in a wooden arm chair and stared at the blankest wall. One of these days”, she thought as she buried herself in the plumage of a feather cushion, “one of my prayers will be answered.”

we could make beaches of the ashes we burnt those summers. ashes to ashes my sister told me nothing was worth keeping, don’t hoard memories or places or people. ashes to ashes the crematories rose with white petals and thorny stems, men with dark beards carrying them between their teeth. ashes to ashes my mother caressed another child’s face. we lost the days we grew up in, we lost the sock puppets that covered our scorched fingers. ashes to ashes piled up under clouds of smoke with the consistency of milk, at our feet and plastered to the skin, melted under the heat of the real sun and our manmade one. haunted beaches, but beaches nonetheless.

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY HARDIE

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement

Youth

BY LAUREN RANUCCI-WEISS, LSA Sophomore

If at some point we all succumb For goodness sake, let us be young. ‘Cause time gets harder to outrun, And I’m nobody, I’m not done. -The Vaccines I respect youth. I value it, fight it, fear it. Having completed only my first year of college, I’ve not been responsible for a career, a home, another person. I’ve never worried about angering a boss for fear of losing my job and my income. I’ve never worried about losing my home, failing my children. The only things I am responsible for at this stage in life is myself and my own future. I possess vitality and exuberance (when I get enough sleep). I have the energy to go to class, then the gym, then to parties. I can stay awake through the night to write an essay. I can drink enough to drown most women of my stature and still function pretty well. I can do this for a few days in a row and still enjoy it. I have the opportunity to learn about anything — Buddhism, cells, the stock market. There are so many professors who want to teach me how to write or how to conduct research. I revel in the company of my friends, hoping that nights with them will be eternal, that naïve political debates and deep concern for the future of our civilization will never wilt. I desperately hope that I will always feel anger, nervousness, joy, and love as powerfully as I do now — love for friends, family, strangers. That I will continue to wake up most days with excitement. And yet, I crave maturation. There sits within me a deep-rooted desire to fall in love. Instead of appreciating my independence and self-sufficiency — my opportunity to play by my own rules, to not worry about someone else’s reactions to my personality and choice — I search desperately for love. And while I search as if love would deliver me from suffering, I live a paradox. In the darkest recesses of my mind, I don’t resent this or any suffering. It will help me grow. And grow up. Living in an apartment, I’ve started to understand what it’s like to have my own place. While the decision to live off campus was partly compelled by a desire to live with friends far away from security, I also wanted to learn to pay electric bills, cook my own meals, and clean my own house. I want to be responsible for something larger. I wanted to cultivate the feeling of being home away from my parents, and now I wonder what it would be like in a house where my friends are replaced by my children. I look forward to rising up a branch on the family tree (when / if I’m ready) and being shrouded in its foliage rather than hanging off of the lowest limb. Again, I crave maturation. As a young person, I wish that my optimism would be appreciated rather than mocked. I wish that my thoughts and opinions would be taken seriously- that I would be respected for what experience I have and accepted for that which I do not. Another paradox — I fear age. I fear that I will not be able to do all the things I want to do, say the things I want to say. There are so many people that I want to befriend, to love, and simply not enough time to do it all. I fear losing my optimism and my energy. I forever want to be able to socialize with my friends, get to know them more deeply, meet strangers. What happens when I start to discuss the weather with others more than I discuss life? What kind of identity will I possess then? I fear that age will change me in unnatural ways, that I will lose myself — this self that I have worked so hard to cultivate and to love. I beg you — youth, age, be gentle with me.

God Bless America

PHOTO BY BHARAT CHOPRA, LSA Freshman