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Monday, April 17, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Sweeping through
The Michigan baseball team continued to roll at Ray Fisher Stadium, sweeping No. 18 Oklahoma and simultaenously notching its first win against a ranked opponent. » Page 1B
GOVERNMENT
Thousands gather for Ann Arbor Tax March Protesters speak out for Trump tax returns on national tax deadline day DYLAN LACROIX Daily Staff Reporter
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Desiigner, Lil Yachty, and 2 Chainz perform at the MUSIC Matters concert at Crisler Center on Friday.
Notable hip-hop artists perform at Crisler Desiigner, 2 Chainz and Lil Yachty headline marquis for annual SpringFest charity concert ANAY KATYAL
Managing Arts Editor
Hip-hop artists 2 Chainz, Lil Yachty and Desiigner finished off 2017’s SpringFest to an enthusiastic student crowd Friday night at the Crisler Center. The trio’s performance marked the first student-run concert at the Crisler Center in 15 years when Phish
performed thanks to a newly minted partnership between MUSIC Matters and Universal Music Group. Hosted by MUSIC Matters, the trio’s performances concluded a day-long series of eventsand activities that took place on the Diag and North University Avenue. Throughout the day, attendees enjoyed performances from local bands Shmongo and The Stellars,
CAMPUS LIFE
Concerts, activities fill the Diag for festival MUSIC Matters draws live performances and UMG representatives DYLAN LACROIX & MOLLY NORRIS Daily Staff Reporters
After months of winter, warm weather finally began to emerge, music could be heard throughout campus and students delayed studying for exams to watch performances with up-and-coming bands and artists, try new food trucks and participate in a number of activities led by student organizations. SpringFest, the sixth annual festival held on North University Avenue and Ingalls Mall, drew in a crowd of over 3,000 on Friday and showcased the work of MUSIC Matters, an organization aiming to See SPRINGFEST, Page 3A
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along with UMG-affiliated artists Ocean Park Standoff, Nightly and Saint Mesa. Other events included music industry-oriented panels hosted by UMG, yoga classes, an MTank-led pitch competition and a rap cypher hosted by Hip Hop Congress. Desiigner opened the later concert in bombastic fashion, climbing the stage and chaotically jumping into the crowd throughout
his performance. He performed recently released singles “Up” and “Thank God I Got It,” while also touting his hit triple-platinum song “Panda” later on in his performance. The atmosphere marked from the beginning remained constant as Lil Yachty took the stage, with the artist running through notable hits such as “Broccoli” and “Shoot Out The Roof” while jumping
around throughout Crisler’s lower bowl for much of his set. In an interview after the concert, Lil Yachty lauded the fervent energy of Crisler throughout the entirety of the show. “I love Michigan, seriously,” Yachty said. “It’s amazing. It’s cold, but the vibes are dope and there’s a lot of positive energy.” Making his second appearance See CONCERT, Page 3A
Rallygoers hoisting signs above their heads stating, “Make Ethics Great Again” and “We Want Our Future Back,” marched Saturday afternoon through the sidewalks of downtown Ann Arbor while participating in a Tax March as the final hours for the deadline to file for federal and state taxes approach. Ann Arbor’s Tax March, organized by Progressives at the University of Michigan and Michigan To Believe In, a subset of Bernie Sanders’s national movement, “Our Revolution,” was just one part in the series of marches occurring around the world on national Tax Day with more than 44 states and five countries getting involved to demand that President Donald Trump release his tax returns over concerns of financial entanglements and conflicts of interest. A larger march was held in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial. The local march was followed by a rally on the University of Michigan Diag with speeches by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D– Mich.), members of Michigan’s House of Representatives and See TAX MARCH, Page 3A
Student political organizers reflect Club shows on a year of protest amid tense climate projects on RESEARCH
Walkouts, demonstrations and vigils draw unparalleled campus participation CALEB CHADWELL Daily Staff Reporter
Following the election and subsequent inauguration of President Donald Trump, the liberal-leaning campus has seen several politically charged protests varying from small vigils to large marches, attracting thousands to the Diag this year. While the political atmosphere directly following the election on campus was extremely active, there has appeared to be a drop in the number of demonstrations, something that postdoctoral fellow Austin McCoy said could be due to the fact that there haven’t been as many directly instigating causes as of late. “We haven’t really seen any precipitating causes that have galvanized people,” McCoy said. “Even if people disagree with a lot of the administration’s policies, they (the Trump administration) haven’t done anything that has provoked a massive response.” McCoy, who has worked with the Black Lives Matter and Collective Against White
Supremacy movements in Ann Arbor, also said he believes part of the drop-off could be the natural cycle of the school year as people are preoccupied with exams and deadlines. “I think part of it is the rhythm of the school year; obviously, we’re coming to the end of the semester and folks are more
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busy,” McCoy said. McCoy said he thinks people were more prone to protest directly after the election as a response to the anger and fear they might have been feeling, but now he said he thinks a lot of longer-term organizing is happening. “There are some people who
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said they weren’t surprised, but there might have been a lot of collective shock and that sort of drove people to organize, because people felt like they wanted to do something,” McCoy said. “It was sort of a short-term response, go out protest, voice your anger voice your fears — now I think what’s See PROTESTS, Page 3A
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 68 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
diplomacy, inequality
Michigan Foreign Policy Conference showcases six groups’ contributions NICOLE TSUNO
Daily Staff Reporter
On Saturday, the Michigan Foreign Policy Council hosted its Spring Conference. The studentled organization comprises undergraduate students who hope to “make meaningful, empirical contributions to American foreign policy” through research. After being introduced by their executive board, the six groups — composed of the club’s 23 members — presented their research projects. The first presentation discussed the impact of Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Syrian civil war. The presenters — LSA sophomores Jessica Ankley, Jacob Roodvoets and Ryan See CONFERENCE, Page 3A
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ON THE DAILY: STUDENT NAILS PORNHUB ESSAY CONTEST If you click past the home page of popular pornography website Pornhub, an entirely different image of the company appears. The webpage, titled Pornhub Cares and adorned with a little heart-shaped icon, is the new side of Pornhub that recently gave a $25,000 scholarship to University of Michigan graduate student Natalie Nevarez, according to the Washington Post. “Pornhub works hard to make millions of people happy every single day,” the website reads. “This is no easy feat and we couldn’t do it without some of the awesome women on our team of developers, engineers and analysts. We do, however, recognize that women are vastly underrepresented in tech, with the latest diversity reports estimating that women are filling as little as just 20-30% of positions in the field.” The application involved an essay and an optional video to discuss the type of work an applicant does. Pornhub Vice
President Corey Price said in a statement that Nevarez, who is finishing her Ph.D. in biopsychology, was a perfect choice for the award. “We wanted to do our part in not only recognizing women’s outstanding accomplishments in the STEM fields, but also encourage them to continue to achieve both their academic and societal aspirations and make the world around us a better place,” Price said. “Natalie embodies everything we were looking for and more. Her academic achievements in STEM really stood out to us as did her inspiring personal story to give back and provide for her community.” This is the second year the scholarship has been offered. It was announced to Nevarez she won the award via video chat with Pornhub Aria, a pornstar and spokeswoman for the website. Nevarez told the Daily she was thrilled to learn she won the award. “To me, it really is for paying off debt and being able to move to a new
city,” Nevarez said. “I know it will educational journey has taken improve my quality of life and it’s her down many different paths. really going to help.” As the daughter of migrant Read more at farmers, Nevarez grew up moving MichiganDaily.com around California and Arizona every six months so her parents could follow the seasonal crops. She knew she didn’t want that kind of life for herself, and looked to education as a way out. “I basically just saw an education as a way to get out of that lifestyle,” she said. “Neither of my parents had finished elementary school, so I knew that was a big contributor to why we had the lifestyle we had. … (Migrant work) is a lifestyle that really takes ROBERT BUECHLER/Daily your parents away from College of Engineering senior Laura Murphy discusses different ways to physically model ideas at a workshop you and I didn’t want at the Onward: A Student Power Summit in East Hall on that.” Saturday. Since then, her
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Thank you so much @UMich #prettygirlsliketrapmusic coming soon
Nathan K Hardenburg @SiemensWhistleb More than 1,300 Trump protesters join in Tax March in Ann Arbor
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES An Olympic Drean: the Story of Samia Yusuf Omar
Polish Wet Monday Celebration
WHAT: This session will highlight research and examples that espouse the importance of diversity in business. WHO: LSA Diverstiy, Equity and Inclusion WHEN: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Literature Science and the Arts, Conference Room 2001
WHAT: This celebration will showcase the Polish studies undergraduate program and the Polish tradition of Wet Monday. WHO: Slavic Languages and Literature WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: MLB, Room 2011
WHAT: German graphic novelist Reinhard Kleist will present his novel about “sports, migration, an a strong woman.” WHO: Germanic Languages and Literatures WHEN: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: MLB, Room 3308
UM Psychology Community Talk with Dr. David Dunning
Pre-Candidate Recital: Eun Young Lee, piano
Senior BFA Acting Showcase
WHAT: Lee will give an end-ofthe-year piano concert. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Walgreen Drama Center, Stamps Auditorium
WHAT: The class of 2017 will present their showcase of scenes in preparation for their Los Angeles and New York showcases. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Walgreen Drama Center, Studio One
Sinaboro 17th Annual Concert: Peculiar Paradise WHAT: This year’s annual concert will feature Korean drumming, singing, dancing and a mystery movie. WHO: Maize Pages Student Organizations WHEN: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
WHAT: Psychology professor David Dunning will give a talk about the difficulty of achieving self-knowledge. WHO: Exploring the Mind WHEN: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Ann Arbor Public Library, Basement
Derek @Derek6801
Daily Staff Reporter
Stephen Kunselman, a former City Council member from 2006 to 2008 and from 2009 to 2015, has declared his intent to seek the Democratic Party nomination for a council seat currently held by Councilmember Zachary Ackerman (D–Ward 3). Kunselman, who is currently an energy conservation liaison for
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Kunselman wrote to the Daily. “I am happy to do my part to ensure the visions and positions of our elected officials get the electoral scrutiny they deserve.” Kunselman named several reasons for running, chief among them his opposition to the Core Spaces building proposal, the closure of the city’s material recovery facility and the city’s redaction of communications with the Federal Railroad Administration regarding a new Amtrak station. “I hadn’t anticipated running again, but it became increasingly clear after talking with downtown business owners, neighbors and supporters, that our City government is going in the wrong direction,” Kunselman wrote. In an email with the Daily, Dave Askins, the former editor of the Ann Arbor Chronicle, wrote Kunselman’s run will bring more diversity and competition to the race. Kunselman’s entry will also raise the number of contested elections this year to three, including in Ward 5 incumbent Chip Smith versus David Silkworth, and Ward 4 incumbent Jack Eaton versus Jaime Magiera. Askins pointed out that each candidate’s victory is contingent on how much they could energize their voter base. The 2015 primary was a close race, with Ackerman winning by 40 votes. “If neither Ackerman nor Kunselman can get a large set of a new kind of voter to go to the polls in August, then the outcome will likely again depend on the ability of those candidates to motivate their existing loyal supporters,” Askins wrote. “Those supporters have a clear geographic distribution – Ackerman has stronger support in the Burns Park area of the ward nearer downtown, and Kunselman enjoys greater support in the parts of the ward farther from downtown.”
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Stephen Kunselman announces bid for seat held by Councilmember Zach Ackerman the University of Michigan, said he intends to submit nominating petitions with the required number of valid signatures early this week. Kunselman lost in the August 2015 Democratic primary to Ackerman and lost the August 2008 primary to the current mayor, Christopher Taylor. “Having served 4 terms for 8 years on City Council, I am proud of the many campaigns that I have won, and lost, in the 7 campaigns I have participated in since 2006,”
Who’s down for a patio night? Asking for a friend.
WHAT: This workshop for students going to India will serve as an introduction to Indian culture. WHO: LSA Global Opportunities WHEN: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: North Quad, Room 2435
Former city councilmember to try to regain seat in next local election ISHI MORI
Good Time Charley’s @GTCharleys
Touchdown India! Culture and Language Survival Skills
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SPRINGFEST From Page 1A bring innovative and exciting musical performances to the University of Michigan and give back to the community through sustainability. Booths and displays at the event exhibited emerging ideas, products and works of art across the disciplines of the arts, entrepreneurship and sustainability. The event concluded with a nighttime concert featuring performers Desiigner, Lil Yachty and 2 Chainz. Representatives from the Universal Music Group, the nation’s leading music production company, were also in attendance. In years past, UMG has supported the organization by sending artists to perform, but this year decided to send representatives from UMG to campus to host interviews and panels. LSA senior Hannah Tanau, communications chair for MUSIC Matters, described how Sony, another supporter of the festival, and UMG recognized summer music festivals cater to college-aged students, but there aren’t similar events on college campuses. “The summer festival business is really saturated,” Tanau said. “There’s so many, and they’re not on college campuses, so (UMG and Sony) saw what we were doing at Michigan and thought it was really innovative and not being done anywhere else, so they wanted to come and add on to what we had here, and they’re hoping to take that and expand it across all Big Ten schools.” Tanau also mentioned, unlike in the fall semester, when students can take advantage of the numerous campus-wide activities such as football games, there aren’t many traditions or events for students to participate in during the winter term. “We feel like in the fall, we have events like Football Saturdays where everyone can come together and unite over school spirit, but in the spring there isn’t really any event like that,” Tanau said. “There’s so many people here and everyone has so many different passions and everyone is really involved in their own world during the year and there isn’t
CONFERENCE From Page 1A Rosenthal — hypothesized Saudi Arabia and Iran have intentionally escalated the civil war in order to deter each other’s regional influence. They evaluated each country on three variables: increased militarization, socio-religious conflicts and financing. Evaluation of these factors confirmed the Syrian civil war is one of many proxy conflicts between Saudi Arabia and Iran. William Woods, an LSA and Music, Theatre & Dance international exchange student, appreciated the project’s relevance and perspective. “I was interested in the thing about Saudi Arabia and Iran’s support of the Syrian civil war, but that’s because it’s on the news all the time,” he said. “I always want to know what people’s takes are on it, or what kind of information is covered in it.” Engineering freshman Mackenzie Abele, LSA freshmen Brielle Bonetti and Medha Krishen and LSA junior Kawthar Mohamud investigated the effects of international laws and policies in regard to child soldiers. They used case studies from three different regions that had implemented laws to prohibit the use of child soldiers: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar. Their hypothesis proposed these laws aimed at demobilizing and reintegrating child soldiers back into society were not being implemented effectively. Through their analysis, they found significant decreases in the proliferation of child soldiers, but suggested all three nations
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anywhere they can showcase that and share that with the rest of campus, so we really created SpringFest to unite our campus, show people what they care about.” One of the most popular tents was the Sound Lounge, which was run by Sony and UMG. The tent hosted a variety of disc jockeys and panels with people who are part of the music industry. The up-and-coming band Ocean Park Standoff was part of the first panel, along with Cynthia Sexton, the UMG executive vice president of partnerships and content. The panel discussed the industry and the ways bands interact with the people behind the scenes. Samantha Ronson, a member of Ocean Park Standoff, one of the music performances during the day, discussed the importance of one’s dedication to their work, especially in music management. She advised students who aspire to become musicians to find people who want to succeed just as much as they do to support them. “I have had all the best managers and fired all of them, because most managers don’t actually want to work,” Ronson said. “They just want to take a check. If I could give any advice to up and coming people, it would be this: I’ve had every big manager you could have. Don’t get that guy. Get the guy who is going to wake up in the morning and think about you first. You want a hustler. You want someone who believes in you.” Members of the band also talked about how much work has to be done in order to even get a song on the radio, let alone make it big. Lead singer Ethan Thompson said the amount of work has given him a whole new appreciation for all artists. “It’s a lot of work that has made me respect so many artists that have made it to the top,” Thompson said. “Even the superstars are still hustling on a day-to-day basis.” Todd Goodwin, vice president of college and lifestyle marketing at UMG, led an interview with University students about the rebirth in popularity of vinyl records in the Sound Lounge and discussed where he sees the future of the industry heading with younger audiences.
Goodwin stressed music could be shared through experience and through events like SpringFest at the University. “I just got to a point where I wanted to do something different with how record labels specifically reach out to college students,” Goodwin said. “I feel that it’s so important you connect with people through experiences and not handing them products or selling them product, because at the end of the day you’re selling art and it’s someone’s passion project who put blood and tears into that. You don’t want to dissociate that, and what better way to bring that to people than through experiences.” Goodwin also discussed how he wanted to make the event “college-centric” by bringing in college students from around the country who work for UMG, instead of people who have 15 to 20 years in the industry, to remain true to the festival. “They’re doing all the work that you’d normally get a professional crew to do and they’re doing it because they love music and being a part of something that is inherently for them,” he said. LSA junior Pratik Joshi enjoyed much of what the event had to offer, from the startup tent to the food trucks, appreciating how it brought the community together. “I think it’s really good for just getting students engaged on campus, in that we get a chance to really explore some of the things we have to offer and it kind of allows us to connect with the outside community, like with the Detroit Barbeque place, we have a chance to see cool startups that we might not have heard about,” Joshi said. Similarly, Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Cassie Nielsen came to SpringFest to see her friend’s band perform, but got to experience other parts of the event, such as the food trucks and some of the student startups. “It brings a lot of the people from the school to the Diag, and you see a lot of the things people have been working on — like bands and everything — that are on campus,” Nielsen said. “So I think it’s interesting.” Daily Staff Reporter Colin Beresford contributed to this article.
would benefit from improved education. Their results led them to believe, given the complex political environments in these regions, involvement of outside actors would soon be necessary. “Countries have been taking steps which is a completely different thing than they would have done 50 years ago,” Mohamud said. “We have to look towards the optimism of the future.” One project directly discussed the Trump administration. LSA sophomores A’ndre Gonawela, Michael Roth Jr. and William Solmssen and LSA freshman Corrina Lee wanted to understand the implications of President Trump’s plan to diminish the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico by imposing a tariff on Mexican imports. They explored the effects of likely protectionist trade policies under the Trump administration through an analysis of 10 historical U.S. tariffs. They concluded the tariff could be detrimental, and could result in losses in political capital, retaliatory tariffs and rising consumer prices. The fourth project covered the environmental policies of countries in the South China Sea. LSA junior Riley Plamp, LSA sophomore Nicholas Ranger and Engineering junior Ravi Shah created a graded scale to evaluate each country: China, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Their average score was better than they anticipated, though the Philippines was the only country with a positive net score. They suggested that innovative methods of prevention in the Philippines helped them to achieve this score. “One of the more interesting policies that they implemented was they put religious statues underwater to try to stop blast
fishing so it would make people not want to detonate bombs underwater for fear of blowing up the statues,” Plamp said. LSA freshmen Jonah Klausner and Sebastian Leder Macek, LSA sophomore Alexandrea Somers and Engineering student Yifan Yu investigated how transitions from closed economies to open economies affect education levels and income inequality. They hypothesized the transitions in Vietnam, Egypt, Poland and Namibia would show improved education and increased income inequality. The group found openness in trade weakly correlated to better primary education and strongly correlated to better secondary and tertiary education. Furthermore, income inequality generally increased but might not be sustained in the future. “When countries open up to trade, there are policies they can implement to soften the blow, to mitigate the income inequality that can come with opening to trade,” Klausner said. “If a government were to get their hands on our journal, they might know that sponsoring vocational training for folks with lower income can help.” The final project by LSA sophomore Anna Haynes and LSA freshman Martha Abrams were motivated by common speculations claiming the Georgian invasion of 2008 and the Ukrainian invasion of 2014 are linked. They sought to analyze the similarities in Russian war crimes across conflicts. The case studies of Georgia and Ukraine suggested war crimes committed by Russians are significantly similar. These findings, the presenters argued, could help inform policy and strategy for international intervention in future crises.
PROTESTS From Page 1A going on is you (have) a lot of longterm organizing.” Immediately after Trump’s election there were a number of marches on campus, including one led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, while after the inauguration the Ann Arbor Women’s March attracted about 3,000 people in the Diag. McCoy said he sees groups on campus now concerned more with striving to make the campus culture more inclusive and then will protest as a response if something bad comes out of Washington. “A lot of the student groups here seem to be concerned with changing campus culture and campus policies here, and when they perceive something bad to happen that comes from Washington, then there will be a protest,” McCoy said. LSA junior Rowan Conybeare, the chair of the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, personally participated in the Women’s March and said she feels the excitement may have died down a bit, but thinks the desire to resist Trump’s policies is still strong. “President Trump has done a ton of awful things already and he hasn’t even been in office 100 days, and I’m worried that it could become a feeling of normalcy,” Conybeare said. “That’s another one of the goals of College Dems is to make sure we know and students know that this is not ok, even if things continue to happen.” In a similar vein, LSA sophomore Brad McPherson, a co-founder of Progressives at the University of Michigan, said he doesn’t think a drop in the
CONCERT From Page 1A on campus, 2 Chainz closed the night. Last performing at the Hill Auditorium for SpringFest in 2014, 2 Chainz opened his performance with an energetic performance of Drake collaboration “All Me.” Students in attendance were largely impressed with the artists’ energy onstage throughout the concert, in addition to Desiigner and Lil Yachty’s constant interactions with the crowd during their performances. Engineering junior Madhav Sharma said he
TAX MARCH From Page 1A a University Law professor all urging for the release of Trump’s taxes and speaking out against the detrimental effects of the cuts made to various governmentfunded organizations and programs under Trump’s budget proposal. During her speech, Dingell addressed the current propositions made by Republican leaders and Trump to refocus on tax cuts and reform amid the recent failures to repeal the Affordable Care Act, stating the results of these ideas will directly affect working and middle-class Americans. “It’s gotten so bad that we now have to fight to preserve Meals on Wheels,” Dingell said. She went on further to decry the recent increase of military spending under Trump’s new budget — a total of $54 billion — stating the need to prioritize the immediate concerns affecting American citizens before
Monday, April 17, 2017 — 3A
number of protests implies people are becoming complacent to the administration. “I don’t think that the drop off in numbers implies a drop off in enthusiasm,” McPherson said. “Protests in general are a really good message because they show the president that people are still very concerned about what he’s doing in office.” Conversely, students on the other side of the political aisle, such as LSA junior Enrique Zalamea, the president of the University’s chapter of College Republicans, said he thinks a lot of the liberal protests on campus can somewhat undermine the left’s goals by desensitizing people to issues. “It’s kind of an issue of the boy who cried wolf; you have all of these protests where these liberals are accomplishing absolutely nothing except desensitizing the call to their own goals,” Zalamea said. “If you have a protest all the time — which is what they’re doing — it kind of defeats the whole purpose of drawing attention to one particular goal.” Additionally, Zalamea said he thinks some of the protests were actually contradictory in nature, such as when Democratic organizers claim to support both low-income manufacturing workers and extreme environmental regulations. “In fact, that’s probably one of the reasons the Democratic Party is having such a hard time of retaining members — is because they have so many hypocritical arguments,” Zalamea said. “That conflict of interest is very common among liberals and the Democratic Party in general.” Thinking toward the future, Conybeare also said that while protesting and marching is impactful, she believes it will not
directly translate into political success unless people follow through. “I also think we can go further than just protests; they are super impactful and create a ton of excitement, but there’s more,” Conybeare said. “Protests aren’t going to get Democrats elected, so we need to continue knocking doors and canvassing and talking to students.” Speaking about the upcoming Michigan gubernatorial race as an example, Conybeare said just because there appears to be a lot of resistance to Republicans, Democrats cannot just assume they will win office. “Even after what Governor Snyder did to the people of Flint, Democrats cannot just assume it’s ours,” Conybeare said. “As a party, we need to be careful not to take it for granted, but I think it can give momentum in the long run.” McPherson predicted there will be another uptick in protests as midterm elections approach because of the unpopularity of Congress and Trump. “I think as we get closer to midterm elections we’re going to see another ramp up of protests in general as people express their discontent,” McPherson said. Addressing the lack of organized protests by conservative students on campus, Zalamea said he thinks it is the result of a currently a unified Republican government, but also believes liberal college students are more prone to protest. “Maybe it just boils down to the progressive left’s methodology, when something upsets them I guess their go-to thing is to just protest about it,” Zalamea said. “Whereas with conservatives you see discontent mainly just resulting in action right away.”
thought the energy the artists brought made the concert engaging throughout the night. “I was on my feet the whole time,” he said. “Even though their sets weren’t terribly long, all three artists made up for that by keeping their performances constantly engaging.” LSA senior Alex Bedard praised the energy of the stadium. “The atmosphere of the show was amazing,” he said. “The Crisler Center was a better venue than I had ever anticipated, and the headliners definitely brought their best.” As a part of MUSIC Matters’s initiatives, proceeds from the
night concert’s gate receipts will go toward a summer camp for Detroit youth. The camp, set to occur this coming summer, will be hosted at the University and will involve a variety of workshops and classes meant to promote arts, culture and higher education. In addition to hosting the summer camp, MUSIC Matters’s latest SpringFest will serve as a blueprint for similar college music festivals to be hosted across the country by UMG. With the two organizations’ partnership being the first of its kind, UMG plans on bringing a similar festival model to multiple other college campuses in the coming years.
expanding the U.S. armed forces. “Schools not bombs,” Dingell said. “We’ve got to take care of our own citizens before we increase the world’s largest defense budget.” University Law professor Eli Savit, who currently serves as senior adviser to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, discussed how the deteriorating building conditions of the Detroit public school system are the results of the influence corporations and billionaires have on altering politics. “You see, Michigan, unlike every other state virtually in the United States, doesn’t pay a single dime towards public school maintenance,” Savit said. “It comes back to money and politics. The rich, the corporations, millionaires and billionaires, they can bundle money for legislatures, they can start pacts, they can influence elections, and we don’t even get to know who’s behind them.” Ypsilanti resident Lani Chisnell, who marched and attended the rally, discussed how the Trump’s decision to not release his tax
returns is only one of the many things she believes is wrong with the president. “The taxes, it’s just a piece of a larger puzzle, it’s just a piece of a larger problem,” Chisnell said. She discussed how organizing marches like the Tax March will be the most effective way of continuing the momentum of creating change in the government. “I think we have to keep showing up, we have to keep trying, we have to keep pushing, and I think everything little thing we can do, we have to try and do it. If we can get any sort of traction with this, I think it’s important.” New Hudson resident Adam Belcher, who served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. military in Afghanistan during 2009, discussed why he felt compelled to attend the Tax March in Ann Arbor after choosing to not voting in the 2016 presidential election.
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Opinion
4A — Monday, April 17, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHAEL MORDASKI | 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.
MEGAN BURNS | COLUMN
T
Finding the good news
he end of the semester waited impatiently in front is a hectic time. If of their computers to watch a there’s anything giraffe give birth live on the indicative of this, it’s the fact internet. Well, the wait is over. that I’m writing this After an absurdly column in the notes long period of time, app on my phone as April gave birth I walk to my next to an infant male class. Whether giraffe on April 15 April is plagued at approximately with exams, papers, 9:55 a.m. projects, internship I’m not a huge searches or good sports fan, but old-fashioned I do like social showers, this justice. If you like MEGAN month is incredibly either of these BURNS stressful. I myself things you might have been struggling be pleased to hear with balancing my finals and that the commissioner of pre-final exams — don’t ask Major League Baseball, — so I asked myself what I Rob Manfred, has recently would want to read if I were expressed sentiments for the procrastinating studying, Cleveland Indians to move on the verge of tears or away from its team logo. The both. I decided I wanted to current logo, which features read something interesting, a stereotypical depiction of unrelated to school and what is meant to be a Native something happy or funny. American, has been the subject So, in this column, I’ll be of significant controversy. The discussing some good news. Cleveland team ironically calls Researchers from the Progressive Field its home, so University of California at perhaps its field’s name will Berkeley have discovered the inspire it to distance itself mystery as to why shoelaces from the logo. come untied. Apparently “the Feeling hopeless about the force of your foot striking political scene? Feeling sad the ground and the motion that no one is offering you an of your leg combine to help unpaid political internship loosen and ultimately untie in Washington, D.C.? Fond of the knot,” colloquially known astronomy? If you answered as “walking,” unties shoes. yes to any of the previous Even more insightful, the questions, you’re in luck! orientation of the bow itself Scientists at NASA are saying is important — horizontal and that Jupiter’s moon Europa or even bows are better than Saturn’s moon Enceladus may uneven bows. I personally be our best bets for nearby never learned how to tie my habitable locations. Enceladus own shoes correctly, so I’m in particular has potential, as using this incredibly scientific signs are suggesting that the information to aid me in key ingredients necessary for my quest to loop the bunny inhabitation might be found around the tree. there. The recent discovery of In the age of internet hydrogen inside Enceladus has phenomena, wholesome caused much excitement within content can be hard to find. the scientific community, and Fear not! If you have access to there’s nothing purer than the internet, it’s likely you’ve joyous scientists. heard of April the giraffe and The Huffington Post has her drawn-out, livestreamed a section of their website pregnancy. Though some dedicated to cute dog videos. questioned the morality of This epitomizes good journalism livestreaming a giraffe’s birth, in my humble opinion. hundreds of thousands were Good things are happening fascinated, and a few delved in our own backyard! into the ethics of animal University of Michigan privacy. Day after day, people undergraduate students have
created an affordable and time-saving alternative to measuring hemostasis — or natural blood clotting abilities — in patients before they receive treatment. Timeliness is essential in medicine, and results must be accurate, understandable and quick so that medical professionals can make good decisions swiftly. Margaret Atwood is a mystical, palm-reading spider enthusiast. She is also the author of more than 60 published works, including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which has recently regained popularity as a result of the current political climate. If you’re fond of mysterious old women and you haven’t run out of free articles from the New Yorker, I highly encourage you to read their profile on Atwood. It’s easy to get caught up in finals, and even easier to get caught up in the hype that surrounds negative political, economic or environmental news. These stories are handed to us, appear often on our Facebook newsfeeds and are shared quickly — often with commentary on Twitter. When I started my search for pieces of news to include in this column, I had to look far and wide to find good news, not because there isn’t any, but because the striking taglines and clickbait get more attention, pushing positive stories to the bottom of the heap. I don’t want to encourage people to avoid bad news. Being aware of the state of our nation and of the international plights occurring each day is vastly more important than protecting your feelings. Simultaneously, though, it can be easy to read only disheartening stories, tales of lying, cheating, murder or fraud. It’s imperative that we pay attention, but it’s equally important to see that virtues of kindness, respect and honesty are not entirely missing from the world.
Megan Burns can be reached at megburns@umich.edu.
APPLY TO BE A COLUMNIST OR CARTOONIST Have opinions? Love to write? Draw? Apply as a cartoonists or columnist for the Spring/Summer! Visit http://tinyurl.com/summeropinion to find out more about where you might fit in this summer. NIA LEE | CONTACT NIA AT LEENIA@UMICH.EDU
On yoga and Easter
M
y lack of f lexibility, For here at this university, intense personality and in life in general, I often and acute allow for the darker shades of alcoholism all contribute to my psyche to wage war upon my consistently the rational and pathetic calm elements of performance in the my mind. Jealousy, yoga classes I have insecurity and envy been taking. Every can often consume other day my body me as I blindly and is subjected to a abusively pursue constant torment as temporary goals in I scream internally the hope of satisfying through the desires. Essentially, pretzel-like poses I don’t stretch, I MICHAEL my all-too-calm do too much and, MORDASKI instructor asks me worse, I often to perform. lock myself away with these Surrounded by the healthy, thoughts, never moving as I act flexible, barefoot individuals as the audience to the ongoing all breathing rhythmically to war inside my mind between the tranquil nature sounds pessimism and optimism. that substitute music, I often find myself wondering what in the name of good god did I do to my myself. I feel individual tendons being ripped apart to the soundtrack of wind chimes blowing in the Pacific Northwest. For years I have subjected my body to athletic and aerobic punishments with no thought about the later ramifications. I never stretched. I lifted too many weights. I ran too many miles in a pair of shoes from President Obama’s first term. So, at the young and pathetic age of 21, I was already paying this minor physical price. Yet yoga, even as terrible as I am at it, has already made me And I submit myself to feel somewhat better, more this pathetic mental torment f lexible and recharged when through multiple methods. I I start my day. am jealous over the seemingly If only there were a way incredible lives of specific we could stretch and heal the people, with their overbooked mind, the same way we do social scene and the constant with our bodies. attention directed toward I am reminded every year them. I see what others have with the arrival of Easter and then I just want. And of my annual “sit-alone- these are all common emotions in-church-pew-and-thinkfelt among every human about-yourself ” tradition. As being, yet I will amplify the a pseudo-Catholic, I venture severity of such desires with home on this holiday to join senseless quick fixes with my family for the most holy lack of any true character and central day of my religion. building. I never take the time During this brief time, I to understand my desires, I force myself into a moment simply throw artificial things of pure mental ref lection — at them hoping they’ll work. and recently, I have not been Life cannot be sustained content with what I f ind. through knee-jerk
If only there was a way we could stretch and heal the mind, the same way we do with our bodies.
satisfactions. Instead of actual character building and understanding one’s identity, I have lived before with makeshift qualities and traits pretending to be happy for a night. And yet each time that fails, I seem to never understand the lesson. Many times I have woken up unsatisfied with my life and have yet again submitted myself to blending into the anonymous crowd of the “haves” instead of the “have nots,” and I pretended that with the next bar, the next drink, the next hook up, I’ll satisfy that desire. I’ll feel complete. These are the kneejerk mental reactions to our overall human desires. Life is distracting with money, sex and others’ perceived happiness, so it is understandable that we jump into these temporary artificial solutions to experience some capacity of joy. With yoga, one lesson I have come to understand is that actually engaging in the stretches properly, one must totally relax into a state that is uniquely natural, free from outside distractions and worldly desires. Though I am actually horrible at the physical aspects of yoga, I have succeeded in applying the mental aspects to my life in some respects. The time away from the seemingly endless social competition clears my head. The outside distractions, the artificiality, the temporary solutions are removed for a clearer perspective of what I want to get from life. Life cannot be sustained on just temporary knee-jerk reactions to real goals in life. Cheap movements for easy, temporary results — not results that matter and last. Popularity, alcohol, drugs — nothing like this will sustain a person forever. Yoga is hard.
Michael Mordarski can be reached at mmordars@umich.edu.
KIERAN BAACK AND RISHI SHAH | OP-ED
O
n June 12, 2016, a g unman opened fire in Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. 50 people were killed and 53 others were wounded, marking the shooting as the greatest act of violence against LGBTQ individuals and the largest mass shooting by a single shooter in the history of the United States. While dozens of victims lay in need of blood, the LGBTQ community mobilized to help support them. Despite their best efforts, queer men were left helpless in their attempt to save the survivors of this tragedy — barred from donating blood. Why? Because they are gay. In the 1980s, as a reaction to the HIV epidemic and its portrayal as a “gay man’s” disease, the Food and Drug Administration banned men who have had sex with men from donating blood. When the policy was first put into place, there was a lack of concrete medical information about HIV and AIDS, which led the medical community to believe HIV almost solely affected the gay community. Thus, it was deemed more important to ensure the safety of transfusion recipients than ensuring equality in donations. For this reason, a ban on gay men from donating blood seemed reasonable at the time. However, with modern medical science and a greater understanding of how HIV is spread, an updated policy is necessary. Though a 2010 study found there is a higher prevalence of HIV within the gay community, heterosexual relationships account for 25 percent of new HIV infections annually in the United States. Alternative risk assessment policies, rather than a ban on an entire group of individuals from blood donations, will allow
Just blood? more people to donate blood and also decrease the likelihood of transmitted infections. Though this ban has been altered recently going from a lifetime deferral to the current one-year abstinence policy for gay men, the current policy is still rooted in discrimination. While changing the policy to a 12-month deferral allows gay men to donate blood, it effectively functions as a lifetime ban for most of these men. It poses the underlying assumption that homosexual men are promiscuous and dirty, therefore increasing their likelihood of contracting HIV, regardless of the details of their respective sexual experiences.
While changing the policy to a 12-month deferral allows gay men to donate, it effectively functions as a lifetime ban. Because of this discrimination, we propose a change in the FDA’s rules on how it determines eligibility for blood donation. Italy, since 2001, has utilized a system where blood donor eligibility is based on an individual risk assessment of sexual behaviors. With this policy change, deferment of donation could not be based upon sexual orientation, but was determined, in detailed interviews from medical professionals, by exposure to risk. In cases where risk is identified, donors are barred from donating for four months
following the exposing event. Following this change, there was no increase in the amount of HIV-positive blood donors when comparing homosexual to heterosexual donors. As heterosexuals accounted for 40 percent of HIV antibodypositive cases in donors, this form of assessment not only eliminated the discriminatory policies toward homosexual men, but also prevented numerous heterosexual HIV-positive donors from contaminating the blood supply. A study conducted by the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law calculated that lifting the ban would result in 360,600 additional donors providing nearly 615,300 pints of blood each year. A 2014 article described how the Red Cross needs 80,000 units of blood a day, but only receives 36,000. Allowing donations from gay men who do not engage in risky behavior would help to minimize this shortage. Luckily, there are ways each and every one of us can help. In February, a group of students put on a blood drive where straight allies donated blood in the name of gay people who were banned from donating. With the University of Michigan wrapping up its 200th year, there are many things to keep in mind. In those 200 years, the University of Michigan has been a constant hotbed of social change, and Michigan Medicine has been a pioneer within the medical field. If we truly are the Leaders and the Best, it is time for our community to take action to change the FDA’s discriminatory policy. Kieran Baack is an Engineering sophomore and Rishi Shah is an Engineering senior. Both are members of the Just Blood team.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
TV REVIEW
Monday, April 17, 2017 — 5A
FILM REVIEW
HBO
Gaga Films Still from “After the Storm”
‘The Leftovers’ presents ‘After the Storm’ a simple yet heartbreaking drama a miraculous final season Plain but stirring “Storm” presents a raw story of struggle The Leftovers returns tonight at 9 p.m.
HBO series returns for its third immaculate and visceral season
ASIF BECHER
NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT Senior Arts Editor
Think about endings. They’re necessary, of course, but suffocating. An ending is a constraint; scripts need third acts, series need finales. That’s the convention we’ve accepted, and it’s one we’ve adhered to, fastidiously. But to consider the thrilling possibility of ambiguity — that maybe not every event needs a logical conclusion, not every question needs an answer — is to entertain the taboo. Is a television show’s final season worthwhile if, by the end of it, some threads remain loose? Does a purposefully reticent final act render the entire journey, well, pointless? Here’s the thing, though: “The Leftovers” is, in every sense of the word, art. And its final season is nothing short of stunning. It’s thrilling and ambitious, frustratingly brilliant and emotionally draining, an artistic achievement that both celebrates and challenges the medium in equal measure. With my sincere apologies to “The Americans,” “Veep” and “Fargo,” “The Leftovers” is unquestionably the best show on TV. So, in short, no — I don’t really care to find out where everyone went on October 14. I’m more challenged by the innumerable new questions the series poses than its original, big one. And by all available accounts, so too is the show. Perhaps Damon Lindelof learned from “Lost” ’s infamous firestorm of an ending. Maybe he, like Kevin (Justin Theroux, “The Girl On The Train”) in last season’s awe-inspiring “International Assassin, ” had to endure some sort of narrative purgatory to come out on the other side renewed, invigorated, ready to confront his demons. This line of thinking, one of closure and acceptance, extends to the show’s characters, as well. Each principal character — from Kevin, who must now reconcile with his bizarre Messiah-like stature, to Matt (Christopher Eccleston, “Legend”), the preacher who seems constantly put-upon by his own God, to Nora (Carrie Coon, “Gone Girl”), from whom life seems to be constantly taking away, and without justification — is grappling with his/her own existential struggles. Just as the show’s creators deny us any form of concrete resolution, so too do the writers refuse to let their characters off the hook. Since its first season, the principals on “The Leftovers” have been stuck in a world that now makes no sense, unforgiving and ultimately devoid of meaning, while everyone around them tries to continue their lives as normally as they can. Death, and dealing with its fallout, is comparatively easy; what do you do when there is no body to bury and no biological process as explanation? What is the point of grief, of trauma,
Daily Arts Writer of this condition of inherent within you. dissatisfaction, when you will It’s a visceral experience, never find the answers you so watching this show. Whether “After the Storm” is a plain movie. It says what it means desperately seek? There are no you find it actively disturbing documented seven stages to or wondrously liberating, it’s without flourish or affectation, squeeze yourself through, and a series that is unafraid to tells its story with no stylistic embellishments and really, it’s “coping mechanisms” take on grapple with big questions new meaning. In the show’s and uncomfortable ideas, in all the better for it. Directed by new season, we’re alternately ways that elicit only the most Hirokazu Koreeda (“Our Little Sister”), “After the Storm” tells treated to people suffocating buried of our emotions. It themselves with plastic bags confounds, but it frees. It’s the story of Ryota (Hiroshi Abe, and slamming car doors on art that agitates; it’s television “Everest: Kamigami no Itadaki”), a struggling detective who is their own arms. that actually “The Leftovers” tries, without trying to relive his former glory It’s all bizarre, and it’s all just to feel pretense, to as a prize-winning novelist. HBO Ryota’s life is a bit of a mess: He something. be something can’t seem to stop himself from And if that reads more. “The Season 3, Eps. 1-3 as unbearably Leftovers” is gambling away all his earnings, Sundays at 9 PM and he subsequently can’t pay pretentious, don’t not a bingeable for his young son’s childcare. worry. Beginning experience. with its second It’s not His father has recently died, so he goes to visit his aging mother season (for what it’s worth, I comfortable, and it takes time still ride hard for the show’s to digest. But what Lindelof Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki, “Sweet oppressively depressing first and his team have crafted Bean”) but Ryota’s sister suspects season; never before has a here, this inimitable artistic that he’s only trying to sponge off season of television so actively achievement, is impossible of her pension. Everybody likes explored and interrogated the to ignore. However the show him, but nobody quite trusts him. notion of grief as a human decides to conclude, whatever The movie is a slow burn. necessity), Lindelof and his meaning we eventually derive We follow Ryota through the team have found increasingly from its thorny questions of most mundane parts of his days, creative ways to make the show religion and closure and the but this apparent slowness is unassumingly, darkly funny. lies we tell ourselves to keep deliberate and careful. We watch The show laughs with you, living, we can rest in knowing him buy a soda from the corner skeptical viewer, whenever it that the journey has been, stone, meet with his detective gets the chance; its mastery without f law, worth it. partner to work on a case, go to of tone is utterly jaw-dropping and downright impressive. Lindelof is fond of his winking religious symbolism (the new season premieres on Easter, hilariously) and astoundingly complex imagery, sure, but there’s also a wordless, slowmotion sequence featuring Regina King (“American RELEASE DATE– Monday, April 17, 2017 Crime”) and Carrie Coon jumping on a trampoline set to Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis (The Jump Off ),” and it’s one of ACROSS DOWN 49 Great Lakes 35 Slobber the best things I’ve ever seen. 1 Drop a line from natives 1 Craze 36 Printing goofs The third season of 50 Beethoven 2 Knot-tying words 38 Newscaster the dock, say “The Leftovers” also revels dedicatee Huntley 3 Drug test 5 Normandy battle 39 Broadway award 51 Algeria neighbor placebo town in the second season’s 55 London 40 Possibly will 4 Beatles’ second 9 Massage targets radical narrative structure. apartment 44 Medit. volcano film 14 Together, 57 Muddy pen 45 Song before the 5 File-renaming Season two was so tightly, musically 58 Fix, as a fight game command, at 15 Chips __!: cookies immaculately constructed that 46 Vladivostok veto 59 Neither here __ times 16 Formal-sounding it seemed almost impossible to there 47 Narrative writing 6 “Supernatural” will? 60 Down Under 48 Boat launching network 17 Friends of man’s repeat, but season three proves bird aids 7 Oscar winner best friend no different. The POV switches Sophia 19 Columbus craft and shifts in perspective still 8 Kvetching cries ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 20 For each one 9 Nile snake 21 Diving lake bird manage to work wonders here, 10 Flu symptoms 22 Knight’s title and when characters get their 11 Asian capital 24 Sport involving 12 “Tiny Dancer” own standalone episodes, some rolling on singer John the grass they are, without fail, always 13 Much street talk 28 QB-to-receiver incredible. The change in 18 Many six-pointer Rembrandts setting, too, provides another 30 Rent-a-car giant 22 Squirrel away 31 Landed gorgeous visual backdrop for 32 TV show shown 23 Loafed Lindelof’s searching narrative; 25 Exposes before 26 Reproductive cell 34 Banned bug Australia is a whole different 27 Cellar reds and spray beast than Texas, and the whites 37 Forgetting the show produces a number of unpleasant parts 29 Gobbled down 32 Tear to pieces 41 “Good” surprises here, from another cholesterol initials 33 New Year’s __ stunning, season-opening 34 “Duh ... figure it 42 Wishes out!” vignette to the return of one 43 Sitting on 04/17/17 xwordeditor@aol.com 44 List of computer of the series’ most mysterious options characters, who transitions 45 “Movin’ right from the shadowy fringes along ... ” 47 Tidy sum that of last season’s plot right to doesn’t sound the center of our characters’ like much 52 Overhead trains stories. 53 Steak order It seems as if there are 54 Contemporary too many “best on TV” radio station named for its designations to bestow upon former “easy “The Leftovers” in its final listening” playlist season: Coon’s consistently 56 Leaves out 58 Highway heartbreaking performance, segment for Max Richter’s magnificent slower traffic ... score (and Liza Richardson’s and, literally, what 17-, 24-, 37music supervision), Mimi and 47-Across Leder’s direction, Lindelof’s each has 61 Used up toying with narrative 62 “So THAT’S what convention, etc. I could go you mean” on forever. But what remains 63 Physics particle 64 Bacon work “The Leftovers” ’s singular 65 Lysol target By Bruce Haight achievement, to me, is its 66 Drive-__ window ©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 04/17/17 ability to provoke some feeling
the racetrack and lose all his his eyes. There’s a heartbreaking day’s earnings. We watch him go vulnerability to his performance back to his apartment, the rent that permeates every scene, for which he can rarely afford, whether he’s shouting at the and watch him go to sleep on a racetrack or sitting with his son mattress on the floor. It’s all so in a playground. With every deceptively casual, even when brilliant flashing smile, you we see him meet with his son can see exactly why Kyoko, his and ex-wife, and try and fail so ex-wife (Yoko Maki, “The Lion hard at being a good and present Standing in the Wind”) fell for father. Koreeda films it all exactly him, and why she ultimately left the same way, with him. “After the no judgment or Koreeda makes affectation. This is absolutely sure Storm” just the way things that we see the are, he seems to whole story, but he Gaga Films say. also never lingers Michigan Theater Really, it’s the too long over a sharp writing that given moment. ties it all together. Koreeda’s It simply unfolds in real time, script, like his direction, is highly making the emotions hit that realistic, with the characters much harder. “After the Storm” speaking like actual people. is a slice of life drama, achingly It’s easy to forget it’s a movie realistic in its portrayal of family at some points because of the and expectations unmet. earnest authenticity. That’s not It’s been a long time since to say that the story isn’t properly I’ve seen a movie this gentle dramatized because it absolutely and careful. It never turns is. It’s just that there’s none of the into a trite morality play or a flash or the spectacle we’re used melodrama. It has no cheap to in family dramas. plot machinations or unearned The performances too are emotional catharsis. It’s a lovely spectacular. In his portrayal of little film, unglamorous and Ryota, Abe is simultaneously unembellished. It is what it is, beaten down and hopeful. He nothing more, nothing less — can make the smallest action and that might just be why it’s so devastating with a slight shift in great.
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Arts
6A — Monday, April 17, 2017
DAILY MUSIC COLUMN
Uncertainty: Isn’t it great? In her last column, Lo talks about music, pain & dancing through it LAUREN THEISEN Daily Music Columnist
“It’s really interesting what happens when your passion is bigger than the tools you have to deal with it. It creates this energy that’s raw. Isn’t it great?” — Abbie Porter That’s how Greta Gerwig’s character describes early punk band The Raincoats in Mike Mills’s “20th Century Women.” They’re not a pretty-sounding band, and they’re not talented either, but they’re not supposed to be. They want to be raw and passionate and energetic and always and forever stay that way. The narrator says, when Abbie
moved to New York, “She learned to dance when she got sad.” In her performance, Greta Gerwig dances to badass punk songs like a prototype of Molly Ringwald in “The Breakfast Club,” swinging her arms and bouncing off the ground with a furious yet elegant energy. I watch and I’m envious. I don’t recommend trying to copy her unless you really want to tire yourself out. I can say that because I’ve tried to dance like Abbie, because I’ve turned my iPod up to full volume and blasted The Jam and The Clash and Talking Heads and other punk bands you can dance to and tried to let go of my feelings through their songs. I’ve done this before and after I’ve come out as
trans. The night a long essay is due and the day after I turn it in. After a great night or a terrible night. It doesn’t matter. I think I’m always going to be doing this, turning to music against my better judgement to solve my problems, looking to dance my way through stress. I’ve tried to make Siouxsie Sioux or David Bowie and Byrne or The Menzingers or just any artist with strong enough vocals coupled with a decent bass line and aggressive enough guitar be my therapists. It doesn’t work. Music never really heals you. I’ve known that, at least part of me has, ever since I tried to ease pubescent heartbreak in 9th grade with a Dashboard Confessional CD. I think there’s
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a slight loss of loneliness through the lyrics and vocals, some fulfillment in moving your body until it’s exhausted. But whatever freaks me out is always still there when the headphones get quiet again. I like to think I’ve actually gotten mature enough that I don’t look to music to solve my problems. I pray, and I breathe and I try to break a situation down into manageable pieces. Sure, maybe I’ll put on The National, but only as background music while I work on whatever I need to. Music can calm me, and it can make me feel great for threeto-seven minute at a time, but it can’t fix anything about me. But I still need songs in order to connect with the rest of the world. The new Father John Misty record is about me and you. That new Kendrick you’re hearing? That’s about us, too. And Abbey Road. And 1989. Your favorite record is about me, whatever it may be. And I hope my favorite record is about you. The way I write and think and talk about these songs, I’m putting in all the emotions that I feel when I hear them, trying to show these artists to you with a piece of me still inside. It’s still the best way I know how to communicate. I put so much of myself into every song I hear. I’ve changed my hair, my clothes, even my name
— but I know that my love for my favorite songs is constant. Even though I know they can’t love me back, and that odds are I’ll never create anything with a fraction of their power. I know that I’m never going to write a song like “Town Called Malice” or “And She Was” or “Train in Vain.” So why am I here? There was a night last summer, when I was only out to a few people, and when my burden felt like it was trying to jump out of me in a daring escape every single lonely evening, when I listened to Against Me’s “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” (the song) over and over again. That track has always fucked me up, has always captured my pain so acutely that I can’t handle it, that I basically fear its power. In listening to it on repeat, I tried to make myself numb, trying not to be the kind of person who feels slashed to her core every time she hears it. I wanted to be immune to Laura Jane Grace’s diagnosis of our condition. I didn’t want her song to affect me like it did. It never worked. I still feel awful and powerful and present whenever I hear that song. And I’m so glad. I’m so glad that another person’s art can have that kind of effect on me, because it must mean that, deep down, we all have within us the unfathomable potential to stir the most intense
feelings possible in someone else. This is ridiculous to admit, but one of my honest-to-God greatest fears is getting to a point in my life where I can’t enjoy new music, where I’ll be stuck listening to whatever the equivalent of classic rock radio is in 2040. I’ll be raving about how Kendrick Lamar will always be the greatest rapper of all time, how no pop star can top Carly Rae Jepsen and how no punk band could ever match The Menzingers’ energy and power. I never want to be stuck like this. I always want to be able to hear what’s next. If I get my way, music will always fuck me up. It will always push my heart up my throat. It will always make me smile or cry, or make my body tremble with anxiety and joy. It will always force me to a point beyond comprehension, and it will always make my body dance and move in a way it physically shouldn’t. The passion I have for the greatest artists will always exceed my capacity to describe them. And whatever name I attach to the art that builds me up, whether when I plug my now-discontinued iPod classic into a computer it says “Adam’s ancient iPod” or “Lauren’s life-sustaining music device,” I look at those songs and I feel ready and OK and at least somewhat prepared for my life ahead of me, even if I can’t even begin to picture it. Isn’t that great?
TV REVIEW
Silicon Valley returns Sunday, April 23
HBO
‘Silicon Valley’ remains both intelligent and witty
HBO’s hit series returns with fresh wit and disaster for the crew CONNOR GRADY Daily Arts Writer
Throughout its third season, “Silicon Valley” sharpened its comedic wit and honed its storytelling abilities to produce a hilarious comedy replete with a compelling and sound plot. There were no missteps or questionable decisions. It became a show that viewers could enjoy purely for how well-rounded it was. Now entering its fourth season, “Silicon Valley” not only maintains its momentum, but advances it. A fitting follow-up to its impeccable third season, the outstanding latest season reveals that series visionary Mike Judge (“Office Space”) is not content to rest on his laurels, despite the show’s plethora of Emmy nominations.
Picking up several weeks after Valley” is the return of venture the events of the end of season capitalist Russ Hanneman (Chris three, the fourth season premiere Diamantopoulos, “The Art of wastes no time in resuming Pied the Steal”), in all his absurd, calfPiper’s meandering journey in the implant glory. After featuring in tech capital of the world. The series only one episode of season three, immediately drops audiences into Hanneman has re-entered the the action as Richard Hendricks show and seems poised for a (Thomas Middleditch, “The Final prominent role in the new season. Girls”) attempts to put his fraud Despite the time off, Hanneman allegations behind him. “Silicon hasn’t lost sight of the important Valley” doesn’t shy away from things in life, telling Hendricks diving back into its plot, and during a meeting at his child’s audiences are rewarded with school: “My fucking nanny got updates on each of the show’s another DUI and lost her license, so central characters. now I’m stuck picking up my own A hallmark of the series’s first kid like an asshole.” three seasons is the constant barbs Throughout this most recent between Gilfoyle (Martin Starr, season’s first two episodes, “Silicon “Operator”) and Valley” maintains Dinesh (Kumail its brand of smart “Silicon Nanjiani, “Franklin yet ridiculously fun Valley” & Bash”). Their humor. The show frequent trade-off of separated itself HBO insults consistently during its initial produces some of seasons through Season 4 premiere the most hilarious employing witty, Sundays at 10 PM moments of “Silicon thoughtful jokes. Valley.” The show This latest season evidently has no continues to depend intention of robbing on this style to audiences of these fantastic produce hilarious scenes, and scenes, featuring a verbal spar in viewers should appreciate “Silicon which Dinesh brags, “I’ll never Valley” ’s type of thoughtful — but underestimate my talents again,” not overly sophisticated — humor. before Gilfoyle replies: “Don’t That’s not to say that the series worry — I’ll continue to do it for doesn’t boast its share of more you.” juvenile humor — it most certainly Another strength of “Silicon does. This quality is especially clear Valley” ’s new season is its in the show’s most recent season, commitment to developing diverse which includes several hilarious, and charismatic characters. With low-brow scenes. Nowhere in a large cast, the series has at times “Silicon Valley” ’s new season is struggled to give equal weight to its this more apparent than in the various, competing narratives. season premiere, which contains In this latest season, however, the a running gag of employees at show strikes an effective balance prominent Silicon Valley firms among its different storylines. The being relocated to offices directly result is more screen-time for some across from bathrooms that make of “Silicon Valley” ’s most likeable — for incredibly awkward and yet underrepresented — characters. frequent eye-contact. More scenes with the eccentric In its first three seasons, “Silicon Gavin Belson (Matt Ross, “Turn Valley” established a high comedic the River”) and his naïve security and entertainment standard for chief Hoover (Chris Williams, itself that appeared difficult to top. “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Still, this latest season manages Story”) are always welcome. to do just that, and provides both One of the best results of these excitement and laughs in equal multiple plotlines in “Silicon doses from start to finish.
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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 17, 2017
April 13 Michigan 5, Oklahoma 2
JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer
Before this weekend, Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich billed his team’s showdown against No. 18 Oklahoma as a “heavyweight fight”. The Wolverines showed they were more than prepared for this battle, sweeping the Sooners in commanding fashion and notching their first ranked win of the season in the process. Over the course of the sweep in which it outscored Oklahoma 25-8, No. 13 Michigan (6-3 Big Ten, 29-7 overall) allowed just 15 hits and a .161 average – the lowest totals the Wolverines have allowed in a three-game series this season. While Oklahoma (5-4 Big 12, 27-12 overall) lacked No. 2 starter Jake Irvin (5-0, 1.30 earned run average) – a potential first-round pick in next season’s MLB Draft – Michigan was also shorthanded. The Wolverines were without junior left-hander
The last word
Max Bultman’s decision to join The Michigan Daily started with an email in June 2013, and despite a rocky beginning, became the best choice he made.
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Michael Hendrickson, a regular weekend starter, who was given an extra day of rest. However, with junior right-hander Alec Rennard’s dominant start on Saturday, that void was filled. On Thursday, junior lefthander Oliver Jaskie recorded seven strikeouts in seven innings – his longest start of the season – while the next
“After that first batter, however many pitches it was, I was like ‘I gotta make the adjustment and find a way to improve.’ ” day, junior right-hander Ryan Nutof rebounded from a threerun first inning to put away the Sooners over five straight
April 14 Michigan 14, Oklahoma 4
scoreless innings. In the series finale, it was Rennard’s turn. The transfer from Santa Rosa Community College has assumed a variety of roles for Michigan this season, including spot starter, long reliever and closer, and against Oklahoma, he made a weekend start for the second time this season. Despite striking out the first two batters he faced, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Rennard on Saturday. He threw 43 pitches through the first two innings – needing 12 pitches to strike out Oklahoma leadoff hitter Ben Hollas – and allowed a run in the second inning on two bloop singles and a wild pitch. “After that first batter, however many pitches it was, I was like ‘I gotta make the adjustment and find a way to improve,’” Rennard said. “You can’t let every hitter go 10 or 15 pitches deep. It was just making better pitches early on so I could get them to swing at it, get them to ground out, f ly out, get them off balance.” Added Bakich: “That’s kind
of a storyline with our staff. We seem to find our groove and find our rhythm and settle in.” Rennard certainly found his groove. Over the next four innings, he threw an efficient 45 pitches, not allowing a hit the rest of the way. Saturday saw Rennard at his best – a self-described “location guy” who lacks the velocity to blow hitters away, he instead relied on his ability to attack the strike zone and force outs by inducing soft contact. “I don’t think I have a power fastball that’s going to blow by you,” Rennard said. “I’m going to beat you by pitching smarter than you, put (pitches) in and out on both sides of the plate, keep it low but try to outsmart you rather than overpower you.” The weekend also saw an impressive performance from Michigan’s bullpen, which allowed just two runs in total. Perhaps the most important contribution came from senior right-hander Mac Lozer. Throughout the season, Lozer
April 15 Michigan 6, Oklahoma 2
– who has allowed just two hits in 8.1 innings – has excelled at
“That’s kind of a storyline with our staff. We seem to find our groove and find our rhythm and settle in.” snuffing out rallies. In both of his appearances against Oklahoma, Lozer entered with runners on base, and left them stranded both times. He finished off the Sooners on Friday with three strikeouts for his first save of the season, and relieved junior right-hander Jayce Vancena to strand a Sooner runner on
second in the seventh inning of the series finale. “Our starters do such a great job, and if they get into a little sticky situation, that’s what I’ve been doing for years,” Lozer said. “Alec had a great outing, and Jayce is one of our best pitchers. I’m glad I could help them out just like any other pitcher.” Added Bakich: “For him, it’s his intangible skill set as much as his physical skill set. He’s obviously a very good pitcher – good fastball, good slider, good command of both. But I think it’s his mindset in there and the attack that he has. He knows he’s coming into a fight.” Hendrickson is slated to pitch Tuesday against Michigan State, and is likely to return to the weekend rotation. But the depth of Michigan’s pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, gives it the versatility that has proven invaluable so far, and it gave the Wolverines the boost they needed to secure their biggest series win of the season.
A dream come true Jake Lourim dreamed of writing for The Michigan Daily since he was 6 years old and went to sleep thinking about Michigan sports.
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SportsMonday
2B — April 17, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
M
How my dream came true
y first walk started on Sybil around 7 a.m., five hours before the home opener kicked off two years ago. Around 7:40 outside the stadium, a fan saw Jon Jansen across the street and JAKE yelled, “How LOURIM ya doin’, Johnny?” So Jansen smiled and answered, “Can’t wait for kickoff!” “Me too,” the fan replied. “I couldn’t wait for kickoff last Monday.” I couldn’t wait either. I couldn’t wait when I was 6 years old. If I hadn’t seen anything on that walk, I might never have gone for another one. But I saw everything I ever dreamed of seeing: the sun creeping over the scoreboard at Michigan Stadium, the band warming up in the dark at Elbel Field, the Michigan legends walking the streets. Players and coaches often describe moments in sports as some variation of “the shot you dream about when you’re playing in the backyard as a kid.” Well, this was my dream. On summer days growing up, I’d research the upcoming year’s Michigan football team and project the season. On walks to school, when I could see my breath in the cold air, I’d whisper to myself a broadcast call of that weekend’s game. One day a year, the best day, my dad and I would make the trek down to Ann Arbor and spend the afternoon in the Big House. But the story starts much earlier, with some late nights, a house in Troy and a tired 6-yearold. When I couldn’t sleep at
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
I
went through some old emails today. Found one I sent in June 2013. I introduced myself and said I was interested in joining the sports section of The Michigan Daily. It would be a great way to combine my loves MAX for sports BULTMAN and writing, I wrote, “while also enhancing my on campus [sic] experience.” I must have thought that was a killer line back then. The truth was, the Daily’s New Student Edition had just arrived at my house, and I had been thumbing through the pages in my porch. I had seen all the places the Daily had sent writers — all the things they had seen — and couldn’t believe it. Someone from the Daily was really there when Trey Burke made ‘The Shot?’ It sounded like the coolest job in the world. I fired off a shoddy email with a couple of typos and figured I would see what came of it. I’m sure many others did the same. The first response came from Zach, who was polite enough not to mention my typos. He told me there was no interview process to join. If I wanted to write, I could write. Greg responded a few days later. He told me I’d need to submit a hair sample, my social security number and my facebook profile info. If he’s reading this, I bet he’s still laughing at that joke. Anyway, he told me what the process would be and that he’d love to show me around during orientation. I told him I’d be sure to stop by as soon as I got to campus. And then I didn’t. It’s not that it took me
night, I’d go downstairs to see my parents. My dad would tell me to go back to bed and imagine I was in the press box covering the Michigan football team. I’d do that and go right to sleep. The last Michigan game I attended with Dad, we sat near the 20-yard line on the east side of the stadium. Before we left, we gazed across the field at the press box, counting from the right to try to figure out where the Daily writers sat. We dreamed that I’d one day sit there, too. When that day came, I started waking up early every Saturday to walk around. Sometimes I’d see a lot of stuff. Sometimes I’d see old friends, or meet new people. Sometimes I wouldn’t see much at all. Sometimes I’d just feel. I exposed myself to a fair amount of ribbing from friends. Why, they wondered, did I set my alarm and wake up before sunrise on a Saturday to go … walk? Sometimes for as long as four hours? Nobody understood. Really, it just felt right. All I’ve wanted since I was a kid was to be a part of this. I’d visit the golf course and watch kids throw footballs back and forth. I’d stop and see Tom grilling hot dogs at the tailgate at Main and Pauline. I’d say hello to Ruth and Rhonda, the elevator operators in Levine Tower, and wish them a happy game day. I’d hear the band warming up at Elbel. I’d soak in the energy of State Street as kickoff neared and the tailgaters awakened. And the best view in town, in my opinion, is from the bridge on Stadium Boulevard, overlooking Ocker Field, the football practice facility and the rest of Ann Arbor in the distance. I’d start walking at dawn and leave the press box at dusk, eager not to miss a minute. Each walk starts and ends at the same spot,
COURTESY OF JAKE LOURIM
Former Managing Sports Editor Jake Lourim has always been fascinated with the Michigan football team, and the Daily fulfilled his dream of covering the team.
but in between there is only one rule: You cannot rush. There is no rushing a dream. Once, in high school, I went to see Lloyd Carr speak in my hometown. I shook his hand afterward, and he asked if I was coming to Michigan. So I told him I wanted to be a sports writer, and he told me about a great newspaper they have in Ann Arbor called The Michigan Daily. Then he signed a piece of paper that’s still at home somewhere: “Jake — See you at Michigan,” he wrote, and then he did, when I started working for the newspaper he once told me about. Oh, yeah, I always stop there on my walk, in the brick building on Maynard Street with the
stained-glass windows and wooden doors. When I first came in during high school, it was love at first sight if ever there was such a thing. That day may have changed my life more than any other. The next morning, I woke up at home, went across the hall and told Mom and Dad, smiling from ear to ear, “I’m going to be a Wolverine.” I first came to production on the first Thursday night of freshman year, and it was the most magical thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t ever want to leave. So that became my college experience — working five nights a week, from 6 p.m. until “We made a paper,” sharing a place with people who loved what I loved. We watched sports
and played chair monkey and invented more newsroom games and made papers. I laughed all night with Max and Max, sent our pages in a different language each night, told Emma what was new, answered Shoham’s bell and waited all night with The Thursday Night Crew. And I learned this: As it turns out, the best parts of a dream are the ones you can’t even dream yet. One day, of course, it was time for my last walk. I made it my best one, circling campus a few times, watching the team get off the bus outside the tunnel, standing on the field until they kicked me off. I came down from the press box to watch the players touch the banner, and again to watch the band at halftime. I
watched the snow transform the Big House into a wonderland. After it was over, the last stories published, we went down to the field to enjoy the final scene. We threw the football around and made snow angels and ran out of the tunnel. Then I stuck around and sat in the stands of Michigan Stadium, dark and empty and beautiful. I cried. I had lived my dream. It was pitch-black by then, so after a while I stood up, grabbed my briefcase and started to walk. It takes many people to make a dream come true, and if you’re reading this, you’re one of them. Lourim thanks you for everything. He can be reached at jlourim@umich. edu and on Twitter @jakelourim.
Beginnings and endings
COURTESY OF MAX BULTMAN
Former Managing Sports Editor Max Bultman began his career at The Michigan Daily with an email in June 2013, and since then, it has become a lot more.
terribly long to join — I think I still made it in by the end of September — but, looking back, I can’t believe I waited that long. I clearly wanted to be part of the sports staff, but, for whatever reason, I didn’t actually nudge myself through the door. Having since had access to that same sports editor email account, I know how many people send the same kind of email before their freshmen years. I know how many never show up. I don’t fault them for it. I only feel bad that they
don’t even know what they’re missing. *** Sometime early this semester, John said something that caught me off guard. I don’t remember where it came from, I just remember the unexpected weight of it: “All beginnings are hard.” I’m sure there was a relevant reason for him saying that particular sentence at that particular moment, but I wasn’t paying very close attention. Instead, I was thinking about all my botched beginnings. I remember my first State
News practice, when I hurled some irrelevant dig at Jake and he responded with the verbal embodiment of a second chance: “What did you say?” He’s now one of my best friends in the world. I remember my first date with Allison, the panic attack, and the certainty that there wouldn’t be a second. I wrote parts of this column on the way home from visiting her in Cleveland, two years later. I remember my first ever sportswriting internship, where I knocked a plate out of Roy Williams’ hand, botched a bunch of names and got my stories torn
to pieces by a grizzled editor. (There’s no present comparison here. I just sucked.) In that moment in John’s classroom, I just sort of nodded back at him, searching my mind for an exception to his rule but finding only confirmation. Those emails with Greg and Zach never came to mind, but, looking at them today, they too were part of a rocky beginning. So was the fact that it took me months to follow up on them. But what Greg and Zach never mentioned in their emails was how the Daily would change my life — how
Max, Alexa, Alejandro and I would chase Jim Harbaugh’s car from a private hangar to the Detroit Metro Airport; how my roommate and I would tape every article we wrote our freshman year to our dorm wall; how I would stay up all night waiting for the paper to be delivered one night; how, before I knew it, all of this would be over. *** I put off writing this as long as I could because I couldn’t convince myself to start. The beginning of this column would be, quite literally, the beginning of the end. Nothing seemed like the right topic. No one idea seemed worthy of being the last thing I said in a newspaper that has meant the world to me. Somehow, I got it in my head that I should look for that email I sent four years ago. It was a good reminder that the end of my Daily career doesn’t need to be magnificent and special; the beginning wasn’t, either. What really mattered was in the middle: broomball; El Azteco; chair monkey; medieval baseball; Thursday nights; free press food; those 12 Big Ten cities; those nights in Chicago; all of the people who were there for all of it. Right now, I’m watching Kevin give edits to a kid who is writing his first story. I have no idea whether he will ever come back — whether this is his last story, too, or whether it’s only the beginning. I don’t know whether he’s going to experience all these feelings and places and people who make this place so special. But he walked in the door, and he started. Sometimes, that’s the hardest part. Bultman will be pretty bored starting now. He wants to thank you for reading all these years, and you can email him at bultmanm@umich.edu or tweet at him @m_bultman.
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
April 17, 2017 — 3B
Wolverines salvage series victory on the road Though trending up, MEN’S LACROSSE
MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer
Heading into the seventh inning Sunday, the Michigan softball team stared an unpleasant fate square in the face. Just three outs stood in the way of an unimaginable series loss to the Big Ten bottom dweller Maryland (2-9 Big Ten, 9-30-1 overall). A two-out, two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth off the bat of outfielder Sarah Calta gave the Terrapins a 3-2 lead, leaving the Wolverines (11-2, 31-9-1) with just three outs to salvage at least a run to extend the game. The plucky Terrapins had nothing to lose and everything to gain — seeking little more than to play spoiler. Michigan, on the other hand, needed the win to stay within a game of Minnesota (10-1, 38-3) atop the Big Ten standings. A loss would have all but extinguished Michigan’s chances at its 10th-straight Big Ten regularseason title.
With “better energy,” as Michigan coach Carol Hutchins described, the Wolverines managed to piece together a rally. After Maryland left-hander Hannah Dewey walked the bases loaded, senior centerfielder Kelly Christner came through with a single that dropped into shallow left field to tie the game at three. Sophomore outfielder Coutney Richardson then came through with a long sacrifice fly to the right field warning track to grab the lead. Senior right-hander Megan Betsa shut the door from there, closing out the game and claiming the series with a scoreless seventh. Overall, Hutchins was pleased with her pitchers’ performance on the weekend, even when the offense sputtered. “Megan’s been a rock for us,” Hutchins said. “She’s our leader. She’s throwing right now with an offense that’s underperforming. So she’s got to have nerves of steel, and I was really proud of her. I thought she really had a gutsy
performance today.” After cruising to a 5-1 victory Friday evening behind another stalwart effort from Betsa, the Wolverines headed into Saturday looking to take control of the series. Instead, Michigan was held to only one hit in its first six innings, heading to the final frame down 2-0. The Wolverines looked primed to sneak out the win in the seventh inning, though, when Richardson knocked home freshman outfielder Thais Gonzalez with nobody out. An offense that had otherwise been anemic all day came to life in hopes of salvaging an eighth-straight victory over the Terrapins. But the comeback on this day wasn’t meant to be, as the rally would halt there. With runners on first and second base for Michigan, Hutchins called for a sacrifice bunt from sophomore catcher Katie Alexander to move both runners into scoring position with only one out.
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Sophomore outfielder Courtney Richardson had a strong weekend at the plate to help Michigan top Maryland twice.
Though senior third baseman Linsday Montemarano followed that up with the single the Wolverines needed, Richardson was subsequently thrown out at home. Freshman shortstop Madison Uden then grounded out to third base, ending the threat and giving the Terrapins their first win over the Wolverines since Feb. 17, 2012. Hutchins knows Michigan’s offensive production — scoring just 10 runs all weekend against a team that came in allowing 6.57 runs per game — won’t cut it. Her decision to jumble the lineup Sunday — moving sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield to the leadoff spot, Alexander to fifth and placing sophomore outfielder Natalie Peters in the ninth spot among the fray — conveyed as much. “We’re counting on people to do their part. If people don’t do their part we’re gonna move people around, we’re gonna put other people in,” Hutchins said. “I believe that any one of my kids can get it done at anytime — I believe in all of them. I just need them to believe in them. They need to believe in themselves.” Richardson, though, was a bright spot amongst the offensive turmoil. Her double Saturday accounted for the team’s only run, her solo home run gave the Wolverines an early lead Sunday and she capped off a banner weekend with the go-ahead sacfly in Sunday’s win. On the weekend, the Wolverines will breathe a sigh of relief on the way back to Ann Arbor. They skirted potential disaster, conquering two of three on the weekend in advance of a midweek game against Michigan State. But in the long term, the unforeseen weekend-long fight highlights a sporadic offensive output that has plagued the team all year — a reputation it will try to, and need to, shed if it harbors any hopes of a Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament run.
‘M’ loses the Battle JAKE UCHITELLE-COHEN Daily Sports Writer
In the Battle of the Big House, Ohio State showed why it is a top-ten team in the country. On Saturday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 18,588, the Michigan men’s lacrosse team (0-3 Big Ten, 8-4 overall) couldn’t contain its rival’s elite offense in an 18-7 loss to the ninth-ranked Buckeyes (2-1, 11-2). That crowd — a mix of spring football game attendees and newfound hype for the lacrosse team — saw an inexperienced team, but also evidence of the strides the team has taken in its sixth varsity season. With one game left in Big Ten play, the Wolverines have already reached a new season-high win total with eight, a season-high goals per game average at 10.50 and a season-high team assist total with 75. They also beat a ranked team for the first time in program history. The Buckeyes, though, exposed how much more room Michigan has to grow. While the Wolverines have scored 58.2 percent of their shots on goal this season, against the Buckeyes, Michigan converted just 31.8 percent on 7-for-22 shooting. Despite having more shots, committing fewer turnovers and fewer penalties, the Wolverines could not capitalize Saturday. “It comes down to execution,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “They’re executing at such a high level right now, that’s a Final Four-level team you’re
seeing out there. They turned the ball over a lot more, we cleared better. You take a look at these (stats) and you’d think, ‘Probably a pretty close game.’” The face-off circle was one area where Michigan really struggled this weekend. On the season, the Wolverines are undefeated when controlling the draw. Ohio State, however, controlled the face-off circle, winning 22 of 29 Saturday. Of its seven wins, four directly followed goals for Michigan. Despite the loss, the Wolverines still had some positive performances. Sophomore midfielder Decker Curran recorded a career-high four goals and this season, Michigan’s second, third, fourth and fifth point leaders are all sophomores, which bodes well for Michigan’s future. With his four goals, Curran surpassed his season total from last year. As a freshman, Curran started eight games and led all freshmen in scoring. This season, Decker has tallied 13 goals and six assists, putting him in fifth place for overall scoring on the team despite playing in just 10 of 12 games. “We know where we are and we know where we want to get to,” Paul said. “We know how much we’ve improved this year over years past, and we just have to have resolve, come back and have a good week of practice to get ready for (Johns) Hopkins.” Against Johns Hopkins, the Wolverines will look to secure their first Big Ten victory since 2015, and build upon the potential they have shown all season.
“We know how much we’ve improved this year”
Wolverines throttled by Buckeyes Michigan falls short of Super Six CHRIS CROWDER Daily Sports Editor
An airplane boasting a banner that read, “Ass Kickin’ Hot Sauce” flew above Michigan Stadium on Saturday morning. That same day, Ohio State’s men’s lacrosse team matched the condiment’s fiery intensity. In the Battle of the Big House, the ninth-ranked Buckeyes (2-1 Big Ten, 11-2 overall) scored first, just 13 seconds into the contest. Their efficiency set the tone for the rest of the game en route to an 18-7 victory. The visitors kept their momentum going with another goal just over a minute later by attacker Jack Jasinski. Michigan (0-3, 8-4) stalled to step up their aggressiveness on the offensive end, firing its first attempt four minutes into the first half. The Wolverines finally scored with 9:57 left in the period after senior Ian King weaved through the Ohio State defense to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Buckeye defense remained stingy, which transitioned into efficient offensive play. Michigan’s shots on goal were either blocked
by the goalkeeper or flew just outside of the net. By the time the Wolverines scored their first goal, Ohio State had been 3-for-5 in scoring its shots on goal while Michigan was just 1-for-7. From the third goal of the game until halftime, the Buckeyes scored on every one of their shot attempts except for their final try in the waning seconds of the first quarter. Ohio State scored once in each of the last four minutes of the quarter, going 7-for-10 before the second-half faceoff. “It just comes down to execution,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “That’s a Final Fourlevel team you’re seeing out there. They’re clicking. … They’re executing at a really high level.” Buckeye attacker Tre Leclaire led the charge for the away team, picking up two goals and three assists before the midway point of the second quarter. One of his goals came after an unnecessary roughness penalty by the Wolverines that gave Ohio State a man-up advantage. After the team fell behind by eight goals, Michigan replaced junior Tommy Heidt with senior Robbie Zonino in goal, needing
SINDUJA KILARU/Daily
Sophomore midfielder Decker Curran scored a career-high four goals.
an offensive catalyst. Sophomore midfielder Decker Curran had the hot hand. He scored twice in two minutes to cut the lead to 9-3 with 7:22 left in the second quarter. However, Buckeye midfielder Christian Feliziani scored shortly after for his first goal of the season, and Ohio State tacked on one more goal to end the half ahead, 11-3. The Buckeyes continued their scoring barrage in the second half, scoring just 17 seconds into the third quarter. Their success on faceoffs came from midfielder Jake Withers, who ranks fifth in the country and has a faceoff win percentage of 66. Ohio State scored again two minutes later to widen its lead, 13-3. The Wolverines notched a point with 10 minutes remaining in the quarter by junior midfielder PJ Bogle, but Leclaire struck once again to push the lead to 10. “Especially early in the game, we struggled,” Paul said. “Their faceoff guy is the best in the country. But I thought we did a really good job getting the ball into ground ball situations and not letting them win stuff clean.” Again, the Buckeyes’ efficiency was remarkable. By their 14th goal, both teams had attempted 22 shots — Michigan had made just four goals. The Wolverines’ inability to score was due in part to Ohio State’s fourth-ranked defense that allows under eight goals per game. Curran remained a bright spot for Michigan, though, earning a hat trick in the third quarter. He ended with a career-high four goals. The Wolverines also committed 10 fewer turnovers. Though the Wolverines ultimately outshot the Buckeyes, 49-34, Ohio State left Ann Arbor with an overwhelming victory. Michigan simply couldn’t execute on the offensive end, as the Buckeye goalkeepers combined to stop 15 shots. It was Michigan’s third loss in three Battle of the Big House contests. “I liked what our offense was doing and what our offense was getting,” Paul said. “We just weren’t finishing the same way they were.”
LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Editor
The final score was 196.4625. It was illuminated on the scoreboard, it showed up on the monitors, it sat on the record sheet. It was a decent score, good enough for a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Semifinals. But for the Michigan women’s gymnastics team, it wasn’t enough to send the team to the Super Six. And for seniors Talia Chiarelli and Nicole Artz, it marked their final meet as Michigan gymnasts. “They’ve been my role models, they’ve been my sisters, my best friends,” said sophomore Olivia Karas. “I mean, anything you could possibly say about two people. … I could go on for hours about what they’ve done for this program, this team, the people on this team, the people before me on the team. “It’s just been like a whirlwind of things they’ve done. They’re the best two captains I could have asked for. You can’t ask for much more in senior captains and friends and people, and I’m so lucky I got the opportunity to get to know them as well as I did.” Out of six teams in a bracket stacked with top-ranked teams, the Wolverines finished fifth. Only the top three teams in the session move on to the next round, and those spots were claimed by Louisiana State (198.2750), Florida (197.8125) and Alabama (197.6000). Nebraska also topped Michigan with a score of 197.2125, while Georgia rounded out the bottom of the bracket with 195.8000. Artz, Chiarelli and junior Brianna Brown were the only gymnasts on the roster with previous NCAA Tournament experience. Artz finished her final season with eight AllAmerican honors, including second-team honors on bars and floor, where she tied for ninth and 15th, respectively. Brown also tied for ninth on the bars and received secondteam honors for the event with
a score of 9.9000. Sophomore Olivia Karas, one of four athletes who participated in the all-around, tied for 11th and finished with a score of 39.4250 and received secondteam honors for vault, where she tied for fifth with a score of 9.900. The Wolverines — who came into the meet with Big Ten, Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Regional titles — stumbled in their early events and were unable to come back with enough firepower to make up for where they fell short. Paige Zaziski, a junior allaround transfer from Arkansas, initially fell on the bars, resulting in a 9.1375. The score wasn’t counted, as five other routines were hit on the bars, and Zaziski made a comeback on the beam with a team-high 9.8875. The rest of the beam scores weren’t as beneficial, though. Chiarelli lost her balance on a side aerial and suffered a fall, resulting in a 9.3250. Freshman Lexi Funk fell as well, forcing Michigan to take one of the two falls. “From the very first event,
our last person up missed a bar routine,” said Michigan coach Bev Plocki. “That was not a fall we had to count, but in a competition like this, every single tenth counts. We ended up counting a 9.825 instead of probably a 9.900, so that wasn’t devasting, but it was like the first break of the meet. And then we went to beam … and we counted a fall there.” A lackluster vault rotation didn’t help the cause, either. Karas and sophomore Emma McLean were the only gymnasts to hit above a 9.8000, with a 9.9000 and 9.8375, respectively. “We just did not vault anything near what we’re capable of vaulting,” Plocki said. “There was no one error that made the difference, it was a combination of things.” Even though the floor scores saw improvement, the damage had been done. The Wolverines knew in the last rotation that mathematically, a berth to the Super Six wasn’t an option. Their season was over. As Plocki put it: “Just not our night.”
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Senior Nicole Artz’s Michigan career came to an end at NCAA Semifinals.
SportsMonday
4B — April 17, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BASEBALL
‘M’ sweeps Oklahoma Five Things We Learned: Spring Game with sixth-inning rally ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
ROBERT HEFTER Daily Sports Writer
Junior centerfielder Johnny Slater started what would become a five-run rally in the sixth inning with a hard-hit double to left field. Behind that high-scoring frame, OKLAHOMA 2 the No. 13 6 MICHIGAN Michigan baseball team (6-3 Big Ten, 29-7 overall) earned a 6-2 victory Sunday to sweep its non-conference adversary, No. 18 Oklahoma (5-4 Big 12, 27-12 overall). After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Sooners got on the board first with a duo of singles off junior right-hander Alec Rennard in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Michigan was quick to respond, though, with a run in the third. After sophomore right fielder Jonathan Engelmann singled to left-center field, senior catcher Harrison Wenson walked and, with an infield hit from sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas, the bases were loaded. Junior centerfielder Johnny Slater launched a sacrifice fly into the outfield to bring Engelmann home from third to tie the game, 1-1. Neither team produced runs in the fourth or fifth innings, highlighted by groundouts and flyouts. “The conditions played a factor,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “You knew there weren’t going to be any long balls today with the wind howling in. So it was going to be a game that probably was going to come
down to some two-out hits, some situational hitting, some bunting, some stealing, pitching and defense.” When Slater doubled off the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior shortstop Michael Brdar followed it up with a double of his own to give the Wolverines baserunners on 2nd and 3rd. After intentionally walking redshirt sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis, Oklahoma hit junior first baseman Jake Bivens by a pitch for the second time to send Slater home for Michigan’s first run of the frame. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Poirier then forced a walk, sending Brdar home. With a two-run lead already in hand, Engelmann singled to left field to send two more runs in. Wenson finished up the scoring with a sac fly to left field, forcing Poirier home to give the Wolverines a 6-1 lead. Junior right hander Jayce Vancena relieved Rennard in the top of the seventh inning, but as Oklahoma tacked on a run on an RBI double from catcher Brady Lindsly, Bakich substituted senior right hander Mac Lozer in. He would go on to retire the side on two groundouts. “I’m glad I could be there for my guys,” Lozer said. “We took three games away from a really competitive and really good Oklahoma team.” While the Sooners were missing some pivotal characters from their squad, such as Jake Irvin, who boasts a 1.30 earnedrun average over 34.2 innings pitched, the Wolverines have to be pleased with three wins over a highly-touted opponent.
“You knew there weren’t going to be any long balls”
It was both a good and bad day for the Michigan football team, depending on how one would look at things. On one hand, the Wolverines won. On the other hand, the Wolverines also lost. Such is the result of Michigan’s annual spring game. Saturday’s game was certainly more exciting than those of past years, featuring a late comeback from one team before a well-executed drive by the Maize team gave it a 31-29 victory. Here are five things we learned from Saturday: 1. Wilton Speight’s backups are pretty talented The quarterback competition seems fairly decided in redshirt junior Wilton Speight’s favor. After all, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh went on the record on April 10 in saying Speight is the starter. But on Saturday, it was Speight’s presumed backups who dazzled. Aside from one key mistake — an ill-advised throw that resulted in a pick-six — redshirt freshman Brandon Peters was outstanding. He displayed poise in the pocket while also showing off a cannon for an arm. He even led the Maize team on the game-winning drive, which included a deep bomb to redshirt freshman wide receiver Nate Schoenle. Peters finished 9-of-17 for 160 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception, and even scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Fifth-year senior John O’Korn was impressive as well, although much of his success didn’t come until late. O’Korn, who started against Indiana last season when Speight was hurt, ran three times for 42 yards while completing three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. 2. The Glasgow family name is in good hands Graham is already in the
NFL, and Ryan will be soon. Meanwhile, Jordan — the youngest of the three Glasgow brothers — continues to carve out a role for himself in Ann Arbor. Glasgow earned a reputation as being a special teams dynamo last year, and appears poised for a breakout season this year. He has been practicing mostly at the VIPER position vacated by Jabrill Peppers. In the spring game, however, he was exceptional at safety, flashing excellent ball skills throughout the day while coming up with the biggest play of the game, a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown after picking off Speight in the endzone. 3. The kids might be alright Youth has been a common theme for Michigan this offseason, as the Wolverines seek to replace over a dozen graduated starters from both sides of the ball. Key among those are the receiver and tight end spots. The trio of Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson and Jake Butt graduated and is off to the NFL, while sophomore wide receiver Grant Perry — who would be one of the most experienced returning players — remains in limbo while he faces four criminal charges and an impending court case. On Saturday, though, several key youngsters stood out at each position. At receiver, early enrollee Tarik Black impressed the most, snagging several balls down the sideline, including an 11-yard touchdown reception from O’Korn. At tight end, meanwhile, Zach Gentry and Nick Eubanks played well. Gentry, converted to the position from quarterback, scored the first touchdown of the game, catching a pass up the seam before making a safety miss and taking it to the house for a 55-yard score. His counterpart Eubanks looked smooth as well, making two catches and nearly hauling in a deep ball down the sideline that popped loose from his grasp at the last second. 4. No Kenny, no problem?
EVAN AARON/Daily
The Michigan football team showcased its youth, particularly at receiver.
Michigan graduated kicker and punter (there’s a recurring theme here) Kenny Allen after last year. Allen was adept at both of his jobs, knocking in 37 field goals at an 82-percent clip over two seasons while averaging 43.3 yards on 54 punts last year. But like at other positions, there may not be too much of a drop-off from Allen’s replacements. Quinn Nordin, formerly the No. 1 rated kicker out of high school, knocked in a 48-yard field goal that would have been good from 50-plus, and Kyle Seychel kicked the gamewinning field goal (even after an attempted icing) to give the Maize team steak for dinner. Will Hart handled punting duties for both sides, kicking it eight total times for an average of 39.5 yards per punt. 5. The defense still looks good The Wolverines have said it many times over through the offseason: they expect there to be
little drop-off between last year’s defense — No. 1 in the nation — and this year’s unit. Game action against real opponents will tell whether that is the case, but for now, this year’s defense does indeed look pretty good. The defensive line and blitzing linebackers created problems in pass protection, beating the offensive line for five total sacks. Meanwhile, there were three total interceptions — two of which went the other way for touchdowns — made on presumed starter Speight and Peters. Players such as sophomores Khaleke Hudson and Devin Bush Jr. laid the wood, and defensive coordinator Don Brown was as aggressive as ever with his play-calling. There will be some struggles along the way as this youthful unit continues to develop and gain experience — after all, the offense did record several big plays on the day. But the ceiling for the defense remains as high as ever.
Peters leads Maize to victory Bush shines on defensive side BETELHEM ASHAME Managing Sports Editor
At the start of last season, Jim Harbaugh didn’t know who his quarterback would be. Redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight and redshirt juniors John O’Korn and Shane Morris all presented compelling cases for the starting job. But on the first Saturday of September, Speight stepped onto the field at Michigan Stadium to take the first snap of the 201617 season and never looked back. Starting all but one game — due to a shoulder injury — Speight threw for 2,538 yards and 18 touchdowns with a 61.6 completion percentage. Coming into the 2017-18 season, it would be safe to assume that the now-redshirt junior would take the field for the Michigan football team in its season opener at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. But that’s not the way redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters sees it. After the Wolverines’ annual spring game Saturday, Peters was asked if he was trying to be the starter for this season opener. “Of course,” Peters said with a smile. “Why would I not want to?” His performance Saturday proved that sentiment. As the starting quarterback for the Maize team that topped the Blue team, 31-29, Peters tackled the competition against Speight and O’Korn, both of whom led the Blue team, head on and came out on top. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 160 yards and tallied both a touchdown and an interception. Meanwhile, Speight went 9-for-26 for 78 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns, and O’Korn went 3-for-6 for 60 yards and a touchdown. Peters struck first halfway through the first quarter, finding junior tight end Zach Gentry wide open in the middle of the field. Gentry returned the favor, making junior defensive back Louis Grodman miss and taking it to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown. It wasn’t until the third quarter
that Peters made his first mistake. Off balance, he threw the ball to no one in particular, and senior cornerback Brandon Watson pounced on it. Peters tried to stop him, but Watson took the pass straight to the end zone for a picksix, giving the Blue team its first lead of the game. “As soon as I let go of it, I just followed the play,” Peters said. “... I didn’t really see him when I threw it.” Eager to make up for his error, Peters quickly marched his side down the field, and then handed the ball off to sophomore running back Kareem Walker for what looked to be an easy score. But an illegal formation penalty negated the touchdown right before the end of the quarter. Peters didn’t let that drive go to waste, though. Just eight seconds into the fourth quarter, he scrambled into open space and rushed 12 yards into the end zone to retake the lead at 21-17. “I just felt the pressure and my read wasn’t there, so I made myself check down and made a big play,” Peters said. Though the game looked to be over when junior safety Jordan Glasgow intercepted a pass from Speight in the red zone and took it 100 yards to the opposite end zone, O’Korn came into the game with just under five minutes remaining and made his presence felt. Leading two straight scoring drives, one in which he threw an 11-yard touchdown to freshman wide receiver Tarik Black and another in which he handed it off to junior running back Karan Higdon for a twoyard touchdown, O’Korn carried the Blue team to a 29-28 lead. With just 1:38 left on the clock, it looked like O’Korn had sealed the comeback victory. But the day belonged to Peters, and he made sure of it. “The first play, I was like, ‘Let’s call a deep shot,’ ” Peters said. “And (offensive coordinator Tim Drevno) was like, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ ” From his own 40-yard line, Peters unloaded a rocket pass toward sophomore wide receiver Nate Schoenle, who was running down the right sideline. The
ball came down perfectly into his grasp for what looked like a 50-yard completion. “I saw it was man coverage and that route is perfect for man coverage, and we just executed,” Peters said. Strategically moving the ball and calling timeout in a four-play sequence, Peters set junior kicker Kyle Seychel up for a chance at the game-winner with just a few seconds left. Seychel left no doubt about it, nailing the 31-yard field goal as time expired. Peters — ranked as the sixthbest pro style quarterback nationally in his class in the ESPN300 — didn’t take part in the quarterback competition last year, eventually redshirting in his freshman season. Though a quarterback battle hasn’t been expected to take place this year, he acknowledged that Harbaugh preaches competition above all else. And while Speight is undoubtedly Michigan’s starter, Peters made it clear that he intends to turn it into a competition.
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
When Devin Bush Jr. came to Michigan, waiting wasn’t an option. As defensive coordinator Don Brown recalls, the Wolverines made Bush the second-string WILL linebacker “virtually when he walked in the door.” And on Saturday afternoon, almost a year after walking in that door, it was easy to see why. Bush finished with three tackles on the day, serving as one highlight of a Michigan defensive unit that put Wilton Speight under pressure during the entirety of the spring game. The redshirt junior quarterback took three sacks — a number that could have been inflated if not for Speight’s own evasiveness — and threw two interceptions, one of which resulted in a 100-yard picksix in the fourth quarter. If the Wolverines weren’t barred from tackling the men behind center, Speight would probably be hurting, and Bush
would have been a big reason why — accounting for two of the three sacks himself (for a loss of 21 yards) and showcasing his ability to blow up plays in the backfield if Brown calls for such. More importantly, though, Bush’s performance Saturday afternoon was a microcosm of the accumulation of factors that contributed to his development over his first year in Ann Arbor. And that first year of development was a busy one. Though the sophomore linebacker was featured at the WILL linebacker spot during his freshman year, he lined up as a starter at the MIKE position during the spring game. Contributing early on at the WILL had benefits in and of itself, as Bush was given the opportunity to learn behind Mike McCray, the early de facto leader of this Wolverine defensive unit. “Mike’s always gonna be there when I need help,” Bush said. “He’s always gonna correct me when I’m wrong. He’s hard on
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
The Michigan football team played its spring game Saturday, and the Maize team overtook the Blue team, 31-29.
me too. He wants me to make the play that no one thinks I can make. “We’ll be in meeting rooms, I’ll probably drop a pick, he’ll turn back, look at me, and just stare at me like, ‘Why ain’t you catch the ball?’ ” But as Bush explained, being forced to learn the responsibilities of both roles slowed the game down for him and allowed him to quickly acclimate himself within Brown’s system — pinpointing the Orange Bowl as the moment that things finally clicked into place and he began feeling comfortable in meetings for the linebacker corps. “I think he’s just more comfortable because he’s been here since last spring, been here for a whole year now,” McCray said. “It looks like he’s just more comfortable out there and just having fun.” Outside of the on-field improvements and the mentorship he received from McCray, though, Bush has evolved physically as well. Despite being only four pounds lighter than he was at the beginning of Michigan’s spring practices — something Bush joked was a byproduct of eating more salad and grilled chicken — he says he has still dropped fat and added muscle. And Brown has taken notice of his sophomore linebacker’s new physique. “I mean, just look at him,” Brown said. “I teased him yesterday — he walked by me and he didn’t have a shirt on — I go, ‘I remember last year, you were a short, pudgy guy.’ And he’s chiseled. He’s got a Division I body now.” That “Division I” body, coupled with his newfound comfort on the defensive side, could make Bush an enticing marvel come the fall. After all, Brown is looking forward to seeing it himself. “It’s so nice when you have a young guy like that and he can play two spots,” Brown said. “You could ask some guys to do that, and they’d look at you like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ But he handled it really with ease. “We’re excited to see him when it’s live and in color, for sure.”