Weekly Summer Edition Ann Arbor, MI
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Deer cull City Council considers defunding the controversial initiative.
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Art professor confronts spousal discrimination
>> SEE PAGE 2
NEWS
Social research
Thursday, May 18, 2017
GOVERNMENT
Speakers at conference accentuate principled businesses Faculty and business leaders talked topics ranging from data to personal experiences
Poverty Solutions Director discusses research on challenges of the impoverished. >> SEE PAGE 3
By JENNIFER MEER & KAELA THEUT
OPINION
Summer Daily News Editors
Dating in college “Dating on tinder violated all the rules of the traditional romantic code...” >> SEE PAGE 4 DESIGN BY: MICHELLE PHILLIPS
ARTS
Film: ‘The Wall’
A look at Doug Liman’s unconventional war movie. >> SEE PAGE 7
SPORTS
Sereno’s sweep The senior claimed Big Ten titles in both the 10,000 and 5,000 meters. >> SEE PAGE 11
INDEX Vol. CXXVV, No. 73 | © 2017 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ...............................4 ARTS ......................................6 CLASSIFIEDS.........................8 MiC.........................................9 SPORTS................................ 10
Grievance board investigating claims found promotion process was biased By ANDREW HIYAMA Summer Daily News Editor
A University of Michigan faculty member in the School of Art & Design said she was the subject of discrimination based on her gender and status as a spousal hire throughout the process of consideration for promoting her from associate to full professor in 2016. A University grievance board investigating Associate Prof. Rebekah Modrak’s claims has concluded the promotion process was unfair, and it identified a “climate of bias toward members of the Dual Career Program” in the Art & Design School. Though Modrak, the spouse of Art & Design Prof. Nick Tobier, is not currently pressing charges, Sarah Prescott, her attorney, says it’s an option they will pursue should the University fail to address
their claims. “We have a lot of affection for the University, and we want it to do the right thing without having to be forced,” Prescott said. “So that’s something that’s definitely an option to go forward. It’s something that we’ve really stepped back from, and we’re trying to exhaust any other opportunities or avenues first. The answer is not yet.” Modrak would likely bring the suit under the Michigan ElliotLarsen Civil Rights Act of 1976, which prohibits discrimination based on “religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status,” in employment and education, among other areas. Modrak was hired through the University’s Dual Career Program, which is managed by the Office of the Provost. The program is mainly used as a recruiting tool for faculty, providing spouses of faculty members an inside track for the hiring process themselves. “Having long recognized dual career partner assistance as a crucial element in recruiting and retaining its excellent faculty,
the University of Michigan has developed one of the strongest dual career programs in the country,” the Office of the Provost’s website reads. However, some don’t share the Office’s opinion. According to a statement from Modrak corroborated by a signed affidavit from a colleague, Art & Design Prof. Holly Hughes, at a 2012 meeting regarding the dual-career hiring of a woman to associate professor, said the woman “should be embarrassed” to be a spousal hire. When Hughes was later placed on the committee reviewing Modrak’s case for promotion by Art & Design Dean Gunalan Nadarajan, Modrak raised concerns with Nadarajan about Hughes’s ability to remain unbiased in reviewing her case. Nadarajan, whose wife, Irina Aristarkhova, was the associate professor Hughes said should be embarrassed to be a spousal hire, did not find merit with Modrak’s concerns, and Hughes remained on the committee. Modrak’s case closely mirrors the case of Profs. Scott Kurashige See DISCRIMINATION, Page 3
The fourth annual Positive Business Conference took place at Ross School of Business Thursday and Friday. The conference engaged approximately 400 local and national entrepreneurs in lectures and interactive sessions presented by executives of the nation’s leading companies such as Microsoft to encourage passion and positivity in the business environment. Microsoft Philanthropies On Thursday Mary Snapp, President of Microsoft Philanthropies — a group that heads the technology giant’s philanthropic initiatives, imparting technology and talent, among other assets, to external organizations around the world — discussed the role of philanthropy in Microsoft’s culture. “The Microsoft mission stated is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,” she said. “Unless we address these issues of income inequality and job disruption at this particular inflection point, we will come nowhere close to meeting the mission of the company. It is important for us.” Additionally, Snapp emphasized the importance of companies being involved in their communities— she used their work in Washington state as an example. “Recently we came out with a five-pronged strategy for the last See BUSINESS CONFERENCE, Page 3
2 NEWS
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Deer cull survives City’s half-hearted attempt to defund Council considered eliminating program to fund pedestrian safety and climate action intiatives By ANDREW HIYAMA Summer Daily News Editor
City Council voted 8-3 Monday night against an amendment to the Ann Arbor’s proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year that would have defunded the city’s controversial deer management program in order to fund climate and pedestrian safety initiatives. The program, initiated in 2015, aimed to reduce the deer population in Ann Arbor using lethal means, such as sharpshooting, as well as nonlethal means, such as female sterilization. Its intent is to prevent overbrowsing of local vegetation and reduce deer-
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vehicle collisions. The cull has been the point of contentious debate between city government and residents. Some have criticized the cull for its violent and accused the council of being less than transparent in their public dealings regarding it. Although the city recently commissioneda study from Michigan State University on local attitudes regarding the cull, with the eventual goal of achieving 75 percent
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I think what we’re doing is professional and is thoughtful. satisfaction across the city, the city also conducted a survey in
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Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor at the city council meeting in Larcom City Hall on Monday.
2016 in which 54 percent of the more than 2,000 respondents indicated they approved of lethal methods of population management and 61 percent approved of non-lethal methods. Mayor Christopher Taylor, a sponsor of the amendment, offered little criticism of the cull, but said the resources that went toward it would be better spent elsewhere. “I think that we have come forward with a deer management program that, if we’re gonna have one, in its entirety, is good,” he said. “I think what we’re doing is professional and is thoughtful. For my part, I just don’t think we should be doing it, I think we have better things to do with that money.” Councilmembers Jason Frenzel (D–Ward 1) and Chip Smith (D–Ward 5), sponsors of the amendment and the other two yes votes on the amendment, said they thought it was the best option for a budget cut in order to fund climate action programs. However, Ann Arbor resident David Silkworth, who is currently contesting Smith’s Ward 5 seat, spoke out against the amendment during the public comment portion of the meeting, accusing its sponsors of using the amendment to gain goodwill rather than truly supporting it. “I’m a longtime opponent of using lethal deer management methods within our city,
and I’m a strong supporter of pedestrian safety infrastructure improvements,” Silkworth said. “So you’re probably wondering why I currently oppose Amendment 5. I oppose it because I see it as nothing more than a disingenuous and irresponsible political maneuver intended to endear its sponsors to both anti-cull activists, ardent cyclists, and anyone concerned about pedestrian safety issues.” Councilmember Julie Grand (D–Ward 3), who voted against the amendment, said if it passed, the past two years of funding the cull would have been a waste, and with continued investment the program would eventually require less and less funding. “I feel that it’s just fiscally irresponsible to throw the funding that we put in the last two years toward deer management –– it would just be throwing it away,” she said. “I want us to get to the point where we’re not spending a quarter of a million dollars every year, and the way that we do that is to just deal with the fact that we need to spend this money now, and invest it, and hopefully go forward to the point where we can sustain management practices for a lot less money.” Citing the ecological damage deer do to the city’s wildlife via overbrowsing, Councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1) said she agreed that climate action was a worthy goal, but by voting against the amendment she felt she was voting in favor of the environment.
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Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BUSINESS CONFERENCE From Page 1 legislative session,” she said. “One of the things that surprised most people who read about it was a focus in Washington state by Microsoft on race and justice reform.” Talks on Detroit Business Prof. Jerry Davis facilitated another session titled “The Revitalization of Detroit: A Story of Commitment, Creativity and Partnership,” which brought together four panelists whose work shapes rebuilding efforts in the city. In his opening remarks, Jerry Norcia, the Chief Operating Officer of DTE Energy, discussed the role of DTE in reshaping Detroit. “When we talk about serving with our energy, we’re first talking about serving with the energy of our employees,” he said. “It has a double meaning for us. Without our employees, we’re not able to serve. When you think of our traditional products — we serve with natural
gas, we serve with electricity, which really continues to be the foundation of progress in the communities we live and serve.” In a different vein, Susan Mosey, Executive Director of Midtown Detroit, Inc., a nonprofit planning and development agency, noted collaboration among several large actors in the city. She said years ago Detroit didn’t have a stable system of community development finance institutions — large national players of capital that use foundation dollars and other forms of funding to provide affordable lending to disadvantaged communities. Several large foundations including the Kresge Foundation and Ford Foundation helped the city engage with a large national development finance institution called Capital Impact Partners. Several other national institutions got involved with the city as well under the direction of such foundations to spend their investment and grant dollars in Detroit.
Mosey explained Detroit suddenly had a lot of money for real estate and small business development. She said without such programs and collaboration, there wouldn’t be a “viable” Detroit. Whole Foods Market On Friday afternoon, the series of speakers concluded with thoughts on how to augment positive business practices by Walter Robb, part of the Board of Directors of Whole Foods Market. He noted in many communities, such as Detroit, people are hesitant of corporations coming in and attempting to change the culture there. “A lot of people in downtown Detroit have had the experience of corporations coming in and ripping them off,” he said. “It was very humbling to be a large company realizing you have to start at square one with the community.”
Complete story at MichiganDaily.com
Author H. Luke Shaefer presents his research on challenges faced by the impoverished community Lecture hosted by Institute of Social Research meant to impart experience of living in poverty By CHETALI JAIN Daily Staff Reporter
H. Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan and co-author of acclaimed book “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,” spoke to University students and faculty Tuesday afternoon about the stratification of the poor in the United States and the challenges faced by the extremely impoverished. The event, hosted by the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, was meant to teach attendees about ISR and the repercussions of living below the poverty line. According to Shaefer, since 1996, there has been a steady rise in the
number of households with children living in extreme poverty. Furthermore, while the 2000s saw an increase in the number of children on public health care, those at the very bottom of the income ladder were still slipping through the cracks. Rackham student Lanora Johnson, who is pursuing a doctorate in sociology, said she attended the talk to learn about the research being done on low-income households. She also said she feels it is important to convey the complex topic of poverty in terms of data and facts to reach a wider audience. “It’s also good to hear…that it is something that is cared about in a place that seems in a lot of visual ways very removed from (this) kind of background,” Johnson said. To gather information and further context for his work, Shaefer ventured into low-income neighborhoods to see firsthand how poor socioeconomic status affects the people living there. He described how this level of work led him to experiences that data often does not show. “You encounter things that aren’t really visible,” he said.
“There’s a lot that data misses…and it explains what the families are going through.” He told a story of one such family from Birmingham, Alabama who endured hardships and legal red tape in their search for a suitable home to settle down. The mother was forced to uproot her family when her sons were put in danger due to the violence in their neighborhood. Through a whirlwind of unfortunate events including being turned away multiple times from a shelter in Tennessee where she was promised a room, her children were taken into the welfare system against her wishes. She is now fighting to get them back. Shaefer explained the mother got a job and worked 30 to 35 hours a week, only to receive a paycheck hundreds of dollars less than she expected. The Tennessee state government had taken some of it to pay for the child support and had also charged her a 12 percent interest rate.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
DISCRIMINATION From Page 1 and Emily Lawsin, in which they claim the University retaliated against their attempts to report discrimination based on their marriage and race. Though Nadarajan encouraged her to apply for promotion and promised to support her promotion, according to Modrak, he did not keep his promise, and in fact identified one of the external reviewers as unsupportive of Modrak’s promotion, despite the reviewer’s insistence otherwise. Furthermore, the promotion committee removed Modrak’s book “Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice” from consideration in her promotion based on the fact that they had already considered it during her tenure promotion in 2007 –– even though the book wasn’t completed until 2010. The aforementioned external reviewer Steven McCarthy, a professor of graphic design at the University of Minnesota, wrote in a signed affidavit he found the removal highly unusual. “I was surprised to later learn that Prof. Modrak’s important contribution, her book Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice, was not considered in favor of promotion at the University of Michigan,” he wrote. “Excluding, discounting or otherwise not evaluating a practitioner’s complete body of work in this, the ultimate decision toward career advancement, is to my knowledge unheard of in our field of work.” In the affidavit, McCarthy also confirmed his unequivocal support for Modrak’s promotion. “I concluded that her work did clearly qualify for promotion, and
NEWS 3
my letter said so,” he wrote. “My letter as to Prof. Modrak was not written in code or as mere courtesy; it was my true opinion based on my twenty-eight years as an academic, the national standards in the disciplines of art and design, and norms within R1 research universities.” Modrak said McCarthy’s experience was not unique, claiming Nadarajan ignored the advice of every reviewer. Nadarajan did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In addition to a grievance committee, Modrak opened a case with the University’s Office for Institutional Equity on the denial of her promotion, in which she said she was obstructed. “The OIE investigator refused to question my witnesses in writing, explaining that she had already determined, before speaking with them, that they would have no relevant information,” she said. In addition to concluding Hughes brought bias into the promotion process, the grievance board found that the OIE investigation was flawed, and that their arguments against Modrak’s case were “tenuous and lacked true merit.” Modrak is now seeking recourse and sanctions for Hughes through the Office of the Provost. Bringing her case to Robert Sellers, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Modrak said Sellers seemed “concerned but said that he could make no promises.” Modrak’s dossier for promotion is to be reviewed this summer by a new Art & Design School committee, still headed by Nadarajan. When asked for comment, University spokewoman Kim Broekhuizen declined, saying the University “does not comment on personnel matters.”
AARON BAKER/Daily
Social Work professor H. Luke Shaefer presents on living in poverty in America at the Institue of Social Research on Tuesday.
4 OPINION
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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I
the United States, multiple injustices require progressive challenges and independent thinking towards the status quo. Issues such as income inequality, racism, sexism, homophobia and many more all require free thought and experimentation that cannot be undermined by an oppressive government. And despite these strong opinions I have towards the dangers of technologies and the necessity of privacy, I never took my smart watch off my wrist while writing this article, I checked my twitter three or four times, and I sent this piece to my editor over an email sever that I am more than confident the NSA has taken a glimpse at. I love my new watch. —Michael Mordarski can be reached at mmordars@umich.edu.
ANGELA CHEN| COLUMN
MICHAEL MORDARSKI | COLUMN
Finding love in a hopeless place
The dangers of technology
n my participation in the neverending American consumer competition of material acquisition, I recently purchased a fitness tracking smart watch that not only monitors my semi-decent heart rate, but also tracks and maps my outdoor workouts through GPS technology. I enthusiastically wear, use and check this watch with nearly every activity I’m doing. And as I write this very article with said digital monitor fixated to my right wrist, I continue to willingly submit myself to the ever present surveilling technology that continues to grow within our lives. Technology that destroys the concepts of privacy and solitude in the name of comfort and security. For I willingly wear a watch that knows where I go, is connected to a phone that knows what I say, and uploads my data to a laptop that knows who I am. A recent article in Fortune highlighted the consequences associated with the blind enthusiastic use of technology. The article detailed a speech given by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on how modern tech companies should understand and avoid the development of creations with serious society altering side effects. “Technology could be used to create an endless wave of distractions for the public, leading to people living ‘without meaning or purpose’. New societies in which glowing screens could be “used to control and dictate” the masses would become reality. This obligation of the immensely wealthy tech companies to ensure the
comfortable and secure solitude that forces the mind to ponder the status quo allows of the growth of progressive ideas. Freedom, liberty, democracy, destiny — all concepts developed and grown by human beings having the ability to challenge their rulers free from surveillance or observation. The modern American state now has the ability to undermine such freedoms that is sought in secure silence. The ever present technologies now invade these once private realms. It does not take a creative mind to imagine how history would have been altered if oppressive leaders in the past had the surveilling capabilities of the present. The Civil Rights movement, workers’ right and the women’s movement — all would have been monitored, observed and likely repressed. Therefore, the necessity for privacy, for individuals to challenge the status quo is paramount. With the current political climate within
input of morality into development is truly impossible. The advancement of technology by profitable businesses only spurs the creation of more products such as the smart watch or virtual reality headsets. We as a species have already entered into a world of almost total reliance on ever present and intelligent digital technology — which has also invaded our most precious forms of privacy. Yet no government forced such products upon us. No authority dictated the necessity of home security cameras linked to our iPhones, or smart watches which track our every move. We have done so willingly. We ourselves are guilty for allowing the invasions from surveillance, not through force or coercion, but subtle enticement with the seemingly endless gratifications offered from an ever present technology. Smart phones can predict our decisions, watches track our heart rates and fitness patterns, multiple computers, laptops, and tablets flatter us by knowing our shopping habits, TV shows and favorite websites — all of it willingly embraced by us who knowingly expose ourselves to such invasive surveillance. Professor Bernard Harcourt detailed this submission in his book Exposed, “In our digital frenzy to share snapshots and updates, to text and video chat with friends and lovers, to ‘quantify’ ourselves, we are exposing ourselves—rendering ourselves virtually transparent to anyone
with rudimentary capabilities”
technological
And these advantages are all completely superficial, temporary, and more importantly, the sheer magnitude of the costs of such actions are not readily understood. For we now live in “a new virtual transparence that is dramatically reconfiguring relations of power throughout society, that is redrawing our social landscape and political possibilities, that is producing a dramatically new circulation of power in society”. Our willing exposure has created this circulation of power, a circulation that places capitalist telecommunications companies and powerful governments at the top, while further enticing the American people into believing fitness trackers are worth the total surveillance.
And what exactly are the costs to our privacy? What is the point of ensuring the protection such rights? The values of solitude and privacy allow for individuals to be able to escape the observation of others to both understand the most personal and private of emotions and to experiment with and ponder new ideas. There is a paramount importance to protecting these abilities for they allow for new forms of human expression to able to be created free and untainted from the influence of capitalist marketing and the oppressive security apparatuses of intrusive governments. And the power to think for one’s own self is central to the progression of society. Privacy allows for individuals to be able to silently challenge the ideas of rulers, kings and masters. The
C
ollege in 2017, it seems, is not quite the place for a hopeless and somewhat obnoxious romantic like me. Ever since the ripe age of 10 years, I’ve clung to a certain idealism, assuming myself the heroine of the cheesiest and most dramatic love stories. In the words of my now boyfriend, I am “dramatic AF.” Though my current relationship is hardly the fairytale love story of my childhood dreams, I’ve learned to recognize the elements that mark it just as romantic — which, to me, seemed “normal”: high school classmates, best friends first, honorary old married couple. I thought what I had was standard, that everyone else was just as devout an idealist as me. In fact, hookup culture and online dating were cornered off into the back of my mind, acknowledged only by TV shows, movies and memes I saw purely as entertainment. It took me months into college to realize how wrong I was. To be clear, this is not in reference to frat party hookups and dorm-room flings (though their prevalence came as a shock to me as well). My romantic standards were for those who were looking not for one-nightstands, but for the companionship and connection of a relationship. Thus, it was seemingly out of
nowhere that a dating app I’ve known of — but never registered as a reality — found its way into every crevice of my social life: Tinder. It’s no secret that Tinder is the classic “hookup app,” but for some indeterminate reason, it gave me another negative connotation. I’ve always imagined the typical Tinder user as a desperate, lonely 40- or 50-something who was past his/her sexual prime, with no other means of kindling a new flame. Hence, it seemed foreign to me that it was so popular among college kids who could, in theory, easily and innocently stumble upon a love interest simply by stepping outside (at such a large and busy university, no less!). I watched, minorly astonished and majorly confused, as my friends swiped left on the guys who weren’t “cute enough,” and right on the ones who “were.” As they compared their “matches” established solely upon mutual attraction to six edited photos. As they flirted online, met a select few in person and were crushed when their knight in shining phone screen was looking for none other than — you guessed it — a hookup.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com —Angela Chen can be reached at angchen@umich.edu.
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
CHARLES WIDMAIER| COLUMN
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DAVID KAMPER| COLUMN
Dallas’s supreme taco
hen cornerback Jeremy Clark was selected in the sixth round of the 2017 National Football League (NFL) Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, Michigan Football set a school record with eleven players being drafted. Ranging from Peppers at Pick 25 to Clark at Pick 197, the numerous selections not only indicate the talent that Michigan had last year, but also that the impact of the 2016-2017 Michigan Football, which will be felt in the NFL for years to come. Some of these players will be granted the opportunity to make their teams to compete for playing time— immediately. Some will excel more than others. Tight end Jake Butt could compete instantly for a starting role in Denver; Ryan Glasgow could be a great defensive tackle for Cincinnati; Jabrill Peppers will be playing all over the field for the Cleveland Browns. While all of Michigan players are in positions to succeed, when looking back on this draft class, Taco Charlton will stand out from the rest. Taco Charlton’s combination of size, versatility and pass rushing skills will allow him to develop into both the star of the Dallas Cowboy’s defense, as well as the star from Michigan’s 2017 draft class. When Taco Charlton went to the Dallas Cowboys at Pick 28, it seemed immediately like a perfect fit. Charlton was selected by a franchise that already had a good defense, but one that struggled at defensive end, where Charlton is projected to play. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke agrees, giving the pick an “A-” grade and saying that it “fills a need for Dallas, and at good value.” By being selected in the first round-which means the Cowboys view him as a potential cornerstone of their defense-as well as being selected by a team with a weakness at his position, Charlton will be given an opportunity to start from day one, a rare feet for a rookie. What makes Charlton attractive to NFL general managers and coaches alike is his unique ability to both defend the run, and rush the passer from the defensive end position. In today’s NFL, there are numerous “specialists” at defensive end; players who can play only on running downs, and players who only come in to rush the quarterback in passing situations. But these specialists
OPINION 5
rarely can do both. Having a player like Charlton who fills both roles at once is a tremendous luxury for any NFL team to have. As a run stopper, Charlton possesses both ideal size (6’6”/275 lbs) as well as great technique. In this regard, Charlton has not only potential, but college statistics to back up his play. Last season at Michigan, he recorded 43 total tackles, including 13 tackles for loss. Given his body as well as his commitment to improving his technique, Charlton should replicate this success at the next level. Despite Charlton’s ability as a run-stopper, he was drafted primarily for his ability as an “edge rusher,” one of the most important positions in the passhappy state of the NFL. As a pass rusher, again Charlton’s 6’6” frame sets him apart, as will his wide wingspan. NFL scouts rave about Charlton’s “freaky athletic traits.” These traits, combined with expert pass-rushing techniques, will give Charlton the edge over the NFL’s lumbering offensive lineman. In college, Charlton led Michigan with a team-high 9.5 sacks this past season. Despite his prospects, the biggest issue scouts had with Charlton was that he appeared to still be growing into his body. While these complaints are accurate, it was critical for Charlton’s draft stock that he played his best football at the end of this past season. Charlton began the season as a solid contributor to a dominant defense; he ended it as one of the defense’s biggest contributors. In the last regular season game against Ohio State, Charlton recorded 9 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. One month later, Charlton added 5 more tackles and another sack in Michigan’s bowl game against Florida State. Charlton made the biggest impact in Michigan’s two biggest games of the season, against the two best teams Michigan played, in the last two games of the season. The arc of his season illustrates not only his improvement while he grows into his enormous body, but also his willingness to work hard to improve his game and compete on the highest level.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com —Charles Widmaier can be reached at cwidmaie@umich.edu.
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Sanctuary cities and the legal leash
iologist Edward Wilson once remarked that biology seemingly holds us “on a leash,” and though we can design and develop our lives, we live within the constraints of human biology. The beauty of a leash, however, is that we are tethered, not immoveable. For example, we still have implicit bias, but through introspection and exposure to different backgrounds, we can change our perspective and stretch our biological and moral “leash.” In my inquiry and approach to the purpose and legality of sanctuary cities, I find this analogy useful to answer the following questions: How much are sanctuary cities, counties and states acting on a “legal leash” with immigration law? When do ethics supersede the law? I struggle with sanctuary cities frequently. I don’t doubt the many instances in which sanctuary cities act as safe havens for people fleeing persecution and bringing otherwise valuable workers to the United States work force, nor do I doubt we are a “nation of laws,” and those who undermine the law must be held accountable. The real debate with sanctuary cities is how long the legal leash should be between the federal government and local government. Though we are familiar with places such as New York City, Chicago and San Francisco as sanctuary cities defying the federal government, the original debate was one between church and state. The initial movement began with a refugee crisis in the 1980s. During this time, Reverend John Fife of South Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz. took in a few parishioners from El Salvador in 1980 who were fleeing the war and persecution from the government. Though he questioned the legality of his initial actions, he believed that he had a moral duty as a Christian to help those in only applying for asylum, not helping them cross the border. He began noticing the increasing conflict in Central America; because of the complicit nature of the United States as well as its support for the Central American dictatorships (the large majority of the guerrilla groups were socialistic; therefore the Reagan Administration feared a communist state in Central America and supported dictatorships as an alternative). Reverend John Fife began recruiting other churches from
across the American Southwest in making a coalition to help shelter and support the thousands of Central Americans crossing the border. His legal defense became one of morality and his belief in the church’s tradition for sanctuary. However, after receiving national media attention for his coalition’s work, the federal government began to question whether his movement was stretching the “leash” too much. During the movement, and today, section 8 U.S. Code §1373 (a) is quoted as a counterargument to the sanctuary city movement. The code is as follows: “A Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.” In fact, Donald Trump’s executive order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” used this clause as the basis to try and remove federal funding from sanctuary places. Though Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Trump’s move unconstitutional, the movement, in my view, has shifted from a religious rights to a states’ rights debate. In confirmation of this change, Orrick states the executive order might be an infringement upon states’ rights, writing, “The executive order attempts to use coercive methods to circumvent the Tenth Amendment’s direct prohibition against conscription.” Even after the ruling, the debate is continually “kicked down the road,” without many solutions on “how” we can fix the issue. One partial solution is allowing immigration law to be amended by the states, not the federal government. The incentives differ greatly from state to state for refugee and asylum policy. If one were to compare the economic and social difference between Minnesota and Arizona with regards to immigrants, it doesn’t make sense for these two states to have nearly identical immigration policies. I do not disregard the need for the federal government to develop immigration policy that ensures
equal protection for immigrants, but a “hands off approach” to states and their policies makes more economic and social sense. The “why” in the sanctuary cities debacle truly racks my conscience. When reading 8 U.S. Code §1373 (a), it is not difficult to see that these cities and counties are, in fact, undermining the law, without much reparation. However, as a person who started a refugee organization on campus named Refugees to College, I cannot in good conscience deny these individuals a place to grow as people. I think we should ask whether immigration law, to some degree, requires a suspension of natural ethics. How much can we extend our biological and moral leash? Before an answer can come, two developments, in my opinion, must take place in the United States with regards to refugee and asylum law. Firstly, the “leash” must gain a true meaning. At the moment, no side truly understands each other’s definition, if there is even one. The federal government, along with the cities such as San Francisco and New York, must define what “sanctuary” means. I have often heard that sanctuary cities undermine those who went through the immigration process legally. However, many of these families, have been in the United States, undocumented immigrants, for decades (66 percent, in fact). It is unwise and ignorant to think that uprooting established families is a beneficial action for our global society. We have not only a moral obligation, but also an opportunity to extend our biological leash. It is in not only our best interest as a country, but also as moral beings. In 2014, an academic paper called ‘The neural basis of the interaction between theory of mind and moral judgment’ was published. In it, humans are described as having an evolutionarily developed system for ethics. The legal leash, in this case, does not take into account these behaviors. Our biological leash is often constrained by legal procedure; therefore, a discussion of the two must come to the forefront of national discussion so that states, counties and cities can work with the federal government in developing comprehensive immigration reform, especially with regard to sanctuary cities. —David Kamper can be reached at dgkamper@umich.edu.
6 ARTS
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MOVIE REVIEW
‘Snatched’ gives empty laughter By ARYA NAIDU Daily Arts Writer
NETFLIX
Aziz Ansari peacefully drinking coffee in “Master of None”
‘Master of None’ is once again perfect television By ANAY KATYAL
Auteur-ish creative liberties aside, the tone the program aims to set becomes obvious fairly early-on. Empathy. It’s a badge that “Mas- While the program’s first season ter of None” wears with pride covered the ingrained anxieties throughout its second season. that come with the journey towards While the show’s first run has (in the very least, the concept of) been continually lauded for its keen becoming an “adult,” its second seaability to dissect the simultaneously son makes it a point to highlight the absurd and depressing tropes of very real social and mental anguish modern millennial life, it also had a of modern-day adulthood rarely tendency to adhere to a rather stale explored in television. The Dev thematic formula for our protago- Shah of Season one is a confused nist, Dev (Aziz Ansari, “Parks and actor who doesn’t really know what Recreation”), to convey his malaise he wants out of his life, but the Dev and misgivings about his profession- Shah of Season two is thrust with al, familial and very real, difficult deciromantic future. sions and compromises That isn’t to say he has to make to stay that the triedon the long-term path ‘Master of and-true sitcomhe finally manages to None’ esque format that start forging for himco-creators Alan self. What Dev wants Season 2 Yang and Ansari and what Dev needs are tried to employ rarely the same thing, Review throughout the and these quandaries first season was fashion themselves a Netflix objectively bad — pointed illustration far from it, really. of what adulthood in For what the season was — at its today’s day and age can actually simplest form, a method of living look like. There are laughs, there vicariously through a young man’s are jokes — but there are also very path toward self-discovery and pur- real moments of mental grief that pose — the format found itself at can speak to most viewers’ everyday home. But for the considerably bold- experiences as adults, regardless of er direction that Ansari and Yang creed or color. sought to further move Dev’s story These themes are explored in in, it was only fitting that the show’s a variety of directions throughout second iteration graduated to some- the season — and the multi-faceted thing grander. Hell, Season two’s cast Ansari and Yang employ to opener essentially fashions itself as illustrate these themes manages a modern parody of early-20th cen- to instill an overarching sense of tury Italian film “Bicycle Thieves” — empathy that permeates throughout black and white filmography and all. the program as well. In “New York, Managing Arts Editor
I Love You,” a vignette of storylines involving a deaf biracial couple, a group of African taxi drivers and an overworked Manhattan high rise doorman intersect in a way that sees audiences experience familiar emotions from perspectives they’re rarely afforded exposure to. In the poignant “Thanksgiving,” Denise (Lena Waithe, “Transparent”), a childhood friend of Dev’s, and her mother are shown to slowly come to terms with each other’s differences in personality and identity over the course of a decade of Thanksgiving dinners. Both episodes are the strongest exercise in Ansari and Yang’s creative liberties, and considering the stories they told (and the audience takeaways), they make for gems that represent what much of the rest of the season is all about. All in all, “Master of None” provides no antidote for these very real modern conundrums. You’d be mistaken in thinking that was its purpose, though. The program shows that such dilemmas are genuine and real, and happen to families of color, to young adults, to geriatrics, to gay and straight individuals alike. The program provides no real resolution for its overarching storyline, but its conclusion functions as an exercise in audacity — and it pays off. Ansari and Yang show no hesitance in posing difficult questions in every corner of the show, but it doesn’t seem as if they’re attempting to provide answers. If anything, “Master of None” shows us that coming to an answer may not nearly be as important as dwelling on the question.
Following the blatant wildness of his last movie, “The Night Before” (2015), director Jonathan Levine’s “Snatched” eases up on comic raunchiness, instead striving to be a wild, yet touching, take on a motherdaughter vacation gone wrong. The beginning scenes show Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer, “Trainwreck”) preparing for her upcoming romantic getaway to South America with her boyfriend, Michael (Randall Park, “Trainwreck”). She’s promptly dumped, leaving her begging for her homebody mom (Goldie Hawn, “The Banger Sisters”) to fill the nonrefundable space. Hawn’s Linda Middleton reluctantly agrees, and the disastrous holiday ensues. Emily meets hot stranger James (Tom Bateman, “B&B”) at their resort, and she and her mother get kidnapped because that’s what happens when you try to have adventures with hot strangers in foreign countries. They ride around in trunks, accidentally kill South American mobsters and spend 20-ish minutes designing an escape with a useless and relatively unnecessary Christopher Meloni (“Holding Patterns”) — you know, vacation things. Both leads are Snatched basic enough to Rave Cinemas/ be unsurprising Qualtiy 16 — neither Emily nor Linda have the 20th Cent. Fox character depth to make the film complex — and the film doesn’t have the intricacy to make them any deeper. Schumer is the blunt force fans love her for being, playing the ditzy, social-media-obsessed gal who drinks too much and feels the need to yell everything. Hawn is the cautious mother, never taking risks and being overly-critical of her daughter’s life choices. They have their differences, they argue about these differences with harsh words and poorly-timed wisecracks in an underwhelming jungle scene, one of them sacrifices themselves to prove their love, their relationship is then fixed and they party together forever. Easy. While the heart of the movie is in Emily and Linda, the film’s supporting characters are arguably its best
parts. Ike Barinholtz’s (“Storks”) Jeffrey Middleton, Emily’s agoraphobic and laughably charmless brother, sits at home, repeatedly harassing the State Department via telephone. His never-ending efforts to save his family, combined with the way he chirps “Mama” every 10 minutes, makes Barinholtz one of the brightest talents in the film. Perfectly understated, he earns himself a place among the top funniest actors on camera by not overdoing a plight to get there. Ruth (Wanda Sykes, “Bad Moms”) and Barb (Joan Cusack, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”) are two platonic vacationers who meet the ladies at their resort. They’re eccentric and entirely neurotic, with Ruth barely introducing herself before rattling on about the statistics on being kidnapped. She’s funny, as is to be expected of Sykes’s characters, but next to Barb, it’s hard to concentrate on what she’s saying. Maybe I’m just writing this because I’ve absolutely adored Joan Cusack ever since she tepidly flipped out over Stevie Nicks in “School of Rock,” but she was the funniest part of this film. An elusive badass, she has zero lines because Barb’s past involves her having cut her own tongue out after being tortured for information. It’s a dumb backstory in a dumb movie, and I loved it all. To compensate for her lack of talking, Cusack brings such a gusto to her ridiculously aggressive body language and contorted facial expressions. Silently, she renders the loudest laughs of everyone on screen. Released Mother’s Day weekend, the main pitfall of “Snatched” is that it tries too hard to be more than just a kidnap romp. The focus of the movie is diluted, wanting to be Emily and Linda’s relationship yet overflowing with outrageous situations and the comedic life forces of its focal actors. Stirring lines are somewhat muddled by the brash wit that always seems to exude from Schumer, creating a few moments when the film was reaching too far to be heartwarming. The unbelievable situation these women are in lends itself to crafting a light-hearted summer flick. Sitting safely in this zone, it doesn’t need to strive to be anything bigger. It’s entertaining, and that’s enough.
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW
ARTS 7
ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
Aaron Taylor-Johnson in combat position
‘The Wall’ is atypical By JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
For a movie that is, by all appearances, a war thriller, “The Wall” has an almost anti-cinematic plot. It focuses on a soldier (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, “Nocturnal Animals”) fighting in Iraq in the late 2000s who is pinned down behind a wall and eventually engages the sniper (Laith Nakli, “24: Legacy”) trying to pick him off in a conversation over radio. That’s it. That’s the story. So much of it is reliant on performance and dialogue that it at times feels like a one man play. This is shocking considering it comes from director Doug Liman, the man behind over-the-top action f licks like “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” as well as the less excessive but still action-packed “The Bourne Identity.” Liman shows great restraint here, relying on sound more than his usual hyper-stylized editing. It may sound like an odd thing to compliment a movie on, but the use of sound in “The Wall” — the whizzing of bullets passing by, the cracking of a rif le — becomes very important to both the story and the tension. In an early scene that finds Taylor-Johnson’s Isaac dodging sniper fire, viewers learn to fear the sound of the bullets’ impact even
more than the report that follows it. It is this maturity that first begins to set “The Wall” apart. What ultimately makes this an atypical war film are its Gothic and Romantic undertones. “The Wall” is heavily inf luenced by these genres of classic literature, especially the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, and it wears these inf luences on its sleeve. During the course of their
‘The Wall’ Rave Cinemas/ Quality 16 Roadside Attractions conversation, Isaac and the sniper reference “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven” — a bird that, along with its caw, makes several appearances as the story wears on. A focus is placed on fear. Characters hold dark secrets. It may be missing a classically gothic setting, but that doesn’t make the homages in Dwain Worrell’s (“Iron Fist”) script any less clear. It also bears saying that, for anyone with any doubt left over Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s versatility as an actor, his work in “The Wall” is further proof. Fresh off his awardwinning performance in “Nocturnal Animals,” he
gives a similarly animalistic turn, but driven by a will to survive and outwit his opponent rather than random acts of evil. Credit is also due to Nakli for constructing a terrifying antagonist despite never once appearing on screen. There are a great deal of positives to “The Wall,” which makes the later scenes that undo much of the good work done previously — particularly with relation to Isaac’s character arc and the gothic stylings — all the more disappointing. It’s impossible to discuss in detail without delving into spoilers, but a certain pointlessness seems to settle over the whole affair. Earlier scenes lose their impact, and the script never quite regains its footing going forward. That isn’t to say that “The Wall” is completely ruined by those later scenes, but the lack of any deeper resonance as it rolls to a close does make it harder to recommend. Ultimately, it’s still salvageable, though, if only by the strength of Taylor-Johnson’s performance and the uniqueness brought by Liman’s direction and the unusual inf luences. If you’re looking for a f lashy war movie with explosions and shootouts galore, you may wish to look elsewhere. But for those who want a quieter but no less intense thriller, this is definitely one to check out.
BLACK CEMENT RECORDS
Both members of Tigers Jaw
‘spin’ is a welcomed emo album by Tigers Jaw By SAM LU Daily Arts Writer
When listening to Tigers Jaw’s newest release, it’s pretty obvious that some drastic changes have occurred since the group’s infancy. spin carries the same bright emo spirit that was first introduced with the release of Tigers Jaw’s self titled album, but with a noticeably softer tone; the vocal overlays used in many of spin’s tracks are reminiscent in tune of a more punk version of Oh Wonder’s material. In 2013, when three of its five members left the group, fans thought Tigers Jaw was breaking up indefinitely, but Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins continued the group as a duo. spin is their second release since 2014’s Charmer, and is completely different from any of the band’s discography from before their reform. The album opens with “Follows,” a track that strikes a perfect balance between aggressive emo and weepy angst. Walsh’s voice is effortless and consistent as he sings, “I should have listened to you when you said / Nothing will make this easier,” simple lyr-
ics that frame the easy listenability of the rest of the album. “Favorite,” the second track of the album, has a faster, bass powered beginning. The song expands on the same melancholy wistfulness that first appears in “Follows” and extends to the rest of the album.
‘spin’ Tigers Jaw Black Cement Records
One of the benefits of Tigers Jaw’s reform is the way it emphasizes the contrasts between Collins’s and Walsh’s voices. Like the albums that came before it, Walsh provides main vocals for some of spin’s tracks, while Collins heads some for others; the greatest differences come from the harmonies between their voices. In comparison to the albums from before, spin has more songs where Collins and Walsh have their voices overlaid, such as in “June” and “Escape Plan.”
The layered effect is not only scintillating but also intoxicatingly difficult to stop listening to. spin also makes good use of contrast between songs; “Bullet,” one of the more acoustic tracks on the album, is sandwiched between “Guardian” and “Brass Ring,” two tracks that are sonically distanced from the soft acoustics in between them. Walsh’s sweet tone and deeper octaves in “Bullet” draw out the intensity and smooth reach of Collins’s voice in “Brass Ring.” In “Bullet,” the lyrics are short and repetitive, and have a rhythm characteristic of nursery rhyme: “Bullet to a target / Bulls eye, watch it die / Bullet to a target / Heart crossed twice, caught in a lie.” spin bridges the scary chasm that divides hard rock from tamer genres. There is intensity there — not only in the guitar or other instrumentals, but also in the lyrics themselves. Although the album has a definite disconnect from Billboard hits, it’s both a pleasant introduction to the emo/ rock genre as a whole and a fresh addition to the new wave emo of the 21st century.
8 OPINION
Thursday, May 18, 2015 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.
ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY | COLUMN
Balancing relevance with salience
W
hen a story first breaks, every newspaper, television station and magazine rushes to cover it. There’s a big to-do about it for a few weeks, with round-the-clock coverage that attempts to get at a story
from all angles. Something big has just been exposed and everyone wants to be the among the first to cover the story. But then the next story breaks and we’re onto new headlines. And while reporters continue to cover stories no longer making
Classifieds
headlines, and organizations are created to bring justice to those whom it affected, for the most part, these stories are old news. When the Flint water crisis story broke — though it began arguably long before the story made it to the public — it was all over the news.
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RELEASE DATE– Thursday, May 18, 2017
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05/18/17
You couldn’t flip to a newscast and see anything but the story’s developments. Overtime, however, media attention dissipated, and so did everyday conversations. As much as I don’t like to admit it, my mind certainly began to drift to other breaking events. But after talking about the Flint water crisis in class, I did some Googling and found that the Michigan Civil Rights Commission issued a report in February of 2017, naming “systemic racism” as the reason why the Flint crisis happened and why it went on for so long. As one of the Editorial Page Editors of the Michigan Daily, I thought that it would be an important thing to discuss
I encourage us to ponder, just a moment longer, when someone tells you something is no longer relevant
with our Editorial Board. But as February turned into March, and March into April, and other issues on campus took priority, concerns about how relevant an editorial about the Flint water crisis would be became significant. We never ended up writing an editorial on it, but it got me thinking and there were nights I would lay awake, wishing, even weeks and months after the report was issued, that we’d talked about it. Reflecting, I realize that learning to strike a balance between making sure what we are talking about is current and not forgetting to talk about something that will be constantly important, is something I struggle with as an Editorial Page Editor. More broadly, it made me think a lot about society’s tendency to forget about some issues as new “breaking news” surfaces. News organizations structure their newscasts and lay out their print pages with their readership as a top priority. Stories they think the general public will think are most important go in the most prominent spots on the page. The stories that get the most views will
go first in the broadcast. Therefore, it would be almost impossible to ask for change at an organizational level, when, and rightfully so, they must appeal to the interests of the general public. Wanting to keep takes “fresh” and making sure the stories we are publishing are “relevant” are two main journalistic goals, and important ones at that. In the Opinion section, we must constantly make hard decisions about what we are going to write editorials about. I fully recognize constraints that reporters and news organizations are under. Some stories push others to the back burner, and to attract viewers, you can’t have the same stories over and over again. But just because something such as a new report about Flint, is no longer making front-page news, it doesn’t mean we no longer need to discuss it. The change we seek will not come from news media alone. And while I believe it is important for the news media to constantly reevaluate how they handle tough stories, as a society, we must push back against the need for “relevancy” as we see it now. Society is frequently looking to answer the question “what’s next?”, and “moving on” is a mantra drilled into our heads. But I encourage us to ponder, just a moment longer, when someone tells you something is no longer relevant, or it’s too late or we should move on. The Flint water crisis, and events of this magnitude, are all too important to become issues of the past. This crisis, in particular, has permanently changed the lives of Flint residents who still struggle to obtain clean drinking water, whose children have been exposed to lead and must now grapple with the severe long term health effects. The news media and society as a whole need to begin to think more consciously about what are we sacrificing by feeding into our desire for short soundbites when these events deserve lengthier discussions. We need to continue to pay attention to them even after we have seemingly “moved on” to another story, especially when it is something as important as the Flint water crisis. Otherwise we will continue to perpetuate a cycle that allows critical issues to get left behind. —Anna Polumbo-Levy can be reached annapl@umich.edu.
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR 9
PHOTO BY JIN KIM
Adam, his birth mother, his biological brother, his sister-in-law
To the mother who birthed me By ADAM BRODNAX
T-shirts. I’m not sure if it was
Senior Michigan in Color Editor
Dear Me, It’s been only six days since you came into my life and I keep replaying those 20 minutes the hospital gave us to breath in the same air. Once I learned the news that for certain you and the rest of my immediate family were alive, I wrote to myself that I was scared. I kept projecting and fantasizing about the visit. I began layering moments and expectations of what my imagination could drum up. Then, I realized that there was nothing imaginable that would prepare me for the physical, mental and emotional shouldering this would bear. It wasn’t until a few days before my f light where I chose to just be during my visit. The U.S. has gotten me into this habit of always going and while in Vietnam, I needed to just be. Yet the consequences of that decision have been overwhelming these past couple of days as I continue this cycle of emotional pushing and pulling. Before I left for my f light, I had to steady myself. So, I did simple things — I cut my hair short, I bought contacts, I packed plain
I do want to let you know that I am happy. more for you or more for me, but I did it to push away what America gave me. Growing up, I’ve always had to negotiate which parts of my identity I bring in and which parts I suppress. So, for our visit, I did these simple things just to get closer and to make myself more accessible to you. Recollecting my arrival, I didn’t realize the immense weight of my visit. It was filled with jubilation and celebration, but also, with the unpeeling of an emotional scar. I was meeting family member after family member. I was posing for photos, people were feeling my face and my brother referred to me only as “baby.” There was a living narrative in the town that I had returned home and that the family had been unified. I remember
being asked by my sister-in-law if I was going to come home after school to work here and take care of you. I had a hard time articulating the many emotions pulling me in that moment, because I hadn’t even begun to think about visiting again and if I did, I knew it would only be temporary. Me, this visit was unfair to you. Of the 14 hours I was in Thái Bình, the circumstances of our lives only gave us 20 minutes to fit an entirety of a life. The security nearly didn’t let me in, if it hadn’t been for the des-
peration in my family’s voice. I began to juggle what I wanted to ask you. I became anxious to tell you about my American life. I wanted to tell you about my mother in America who is so strong and raised me to be the person you met. I wanted to tell you what American air felt like. I wanted to tell you about the homes I grew up in and about my two siblings I love. There was no way to satisfy the many thoughts I had with the slight time we got to share. While I had this running list of questions, you man-
aged to encompass so much of it with the motherly wisdom I had always lived without. You only asked me three things: was I married, was I in school and did I eat every day. And to you, these three questions would just confirm the one thing you wanted to know — if I had happiness. When I walked into the room, I didn’t mean to make you cry. Dad had prefaced that you were very ill and in physical pain so the last thing I wanted was to add a layer of emotional pain. You had so much trouble looking at me. The emotional scar I left you began to bleed again. The interpreter told me that you were having difficulty speaking to me, because it brought back the painful moment when you decided you couldn’t keep me. You told me how difficult it was because you were physically too weak to take care of me and that at the time, you didn’t have the means to feed me either. You named me, “Ocean,” because I was so big. You told me you could only care for me for 10 days. I just want to let you know that you didn’t fail, mom. Giving me up was the most courageous and profound decision that any mother ever has to make. I will never be able to suffice for the life you gave me. I can never even conceive the process of emotionally detaching yourself just enough to let me go. I do want to let you know that I am happy. Because of you, I have the immeasurable privilege of being happy. Happy Mother’s Day. Yours with all the love I have, Nguyên Đai Duong
10 SPORTS
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BASEBALL
Michigan ends regular season against Spartans JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
“Pleased, but not satisfied.” For Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich, that’s been the theme all season. And with the 16th-ranked Wolverines (40-12 overall, 14-7 Big Ten) having reached the 40-win plateau for the first time since 2008, those words may not be more applicable than they are right now. “In college baseball, when a team achieves 40 wins in a regular season, I think you look back and probably say that they did pretty well,” Bakich said. “But it’s not a landing spot. It’s a place to catapult off from and keep moving, keep growing, keep getting better.” And there aren’t too many teams more likely than Michigan to heed the call for continued improvement, even as the Wolverines prepare to finish off one of the most successful regular seasons in recent program history. After all, they know better than anyone that nothing is ever set in stone, especially after their 2-9 finish last season knocked them out of postseason contention. Michigan finished the 2016 regular season with a record of 36-21. Its worst possible finish this year is 40-17 — a record which would likely put it in the NCAA Tournament regardless. Most current projections have the Wolverines as a No. 2 seed in an NCAA regional. But to Bakich, those predictions mean little, especially considering what happened last season. “I see the websites, but I don’t put any stock into (projections). It doesn’t have any impact,” Bakich said. “I think we’ve learned our lesson for looking ahead. We paid a pretty hard price looking ahead last year. That stuff will take care of itself, we’ll be in a fine position for all that stuff, but we’ll get there when we get there. Right now, it’s just Michigan State.” Michigan’s regular season culminates with a three-game series against the Spartans, and there will be plenty at stake. A conference title will be on the line, as the Wolverines sit a half-game behind Minnesota in the Big Ten standings. Friday’s contest — sandwiched between two games in East Lansing — will, in all likelihood, be the last time the Wolverine seniors take the field at Ray Fisher Stadium. And, of course, the in-state rivalry
will generate extra intensity. “They’re our rival,” Bakich said. “We’d play them in the parking lot if we could.” Michigan and Michigan State (2821, 9-12) have already met this season, a 12-4 Wolverine victory on April 18. But that game was a midweek, non-conference showdown — the atmosphere is undoubtedly different now. Not only will Michigan State look to play spoiler for Michigan’s conference title aspirations, it will be fighting for its own postseason life. Northwestern and Purdue currently are tied for the last two spots in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. The Spartans are one game behind them — if they don’t take at least one game from the Wolverines (and likely multiple), their season will come to an end Saturday. Michigan State is certainly capable of doing so, however, with a potent lineup that possesses four players batting above .320. The offense is led by outfielder Bryce Kelley’s .352 clip, and has a conference-leading slugging percentage of .445. The Spartans’ pitching staff, led by lefthander Alex Troop (7-3, 2.62 earnedrun average), ranks third in the Big Ten in ERA. Without a doubt, Michigan State possesses explosive potential, and has the talent to go toe-to-toe with Michigan, especially considering the numerous external factors — the rivalry, the emotions the home finale will bring, the postseason implications. But of course, the Wolverines are aware of that. All season long, in pivotal moments, Michigan has thrived. It swept Oklahoma in its first matchup with a ranked team this season. It took off on a four-game winning streak after suffering a blowout loss to Rutgers and an outfield collision that injured outfielders Miles Lewis and Johnny Slater. And with its offense in a funk last week, having scored just 18 runs in six games, Michigan traveled to Purdue and completed a resounding sweep of the Boilermakers. And this weekend, the Wolverines will have another chance to rise to the challenge and finish strong. But no matter what happens, Bakich and his team probably won’t be satisfied.
Wolverines advance to Sweet Sixteen
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior Alex Najarian scored the point that clinched Michigan’s advancement to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.
PAIGE VOEFFRAY Daily Sports Writer
Approaching the net, Alex Najarian half-volleyed the ball over the net, split stepped and prepared for the next shot. The junior scooped the ball and the backspin forced the ball to fall dead — clinching the No. 10 Michigan women’s tennis team’s advancement to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. The beginning of the long road to a national championship began for the Wolverines when they opened up the first two rounds of NCAA Tournament play over the weekend. After a swift 4-0 win over Youngstown State on Friday, Michigan took on Kentucky and came away with a 4-2 victory. The Penguins didn’t pose much of a threat to the Wolverines. After clinching the doubles point with a win at No. 1 and No. 3, Michigan moved on to singles with an advantage. Apparently it didn’t need it though, as Michigan took all six first sets. Sophomore Kate Fahey had an impressive day, dropping only one game. Najarian and Fahey dominated the No. 1 doubles matchup after falling into a 40-0 hole in the first game. They rallied back to take the game and closed out the match, 6-0. Fahey followed suit in singles, taking the first set, 6-0, after a long rally which forced Youngstown State to mishit the ball into the net. Fahey almost finished her day without allowing her opponent to earn a single game, but made an unforced error on match point to make the score 5-1. However, Fahey didn’t seem phased, as she won every point of the next game and took the match on a
double fault from Dominika Lackova. With Fahey swiftly off the court and freshman Chiara Lommer not far behind with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4 doubles, it was a race to see which Wolverine could punch Michigan’s ticket to the second round. In the end, the honor was left to Najarian. After controlling most of her match, she struggled to close it out in the end. It took her three match points, but Youngstown State’s offensive shot sailed wide, giving the Wolverines their fourth point. Saturday’s matchup was sure to be a bigger test for Michigan as they faced the 17th-ranked Wildcats. The doubles point was highly contested and all teams took turns in the lead. It appeared that No. 2 doubles was going to be the first off the court. The pair of sophomore Brienne Minor and freshman Chiara Lommer had a 5-2 lead and match point, but Minor approached the net and volleyed it long. The Wolverines didn’t seem worried, though, until Kentucky stormed back and won the next five games. Minor had to serve the deuce point to send it to a tiebreaker or give the Wildcats the match, and she double faulted. Kentucky took the match, 7-5. The No. 3 doubles pair of junior Mira Ruder-Hook and freshman Valeria Patiuk was the next off the court, just not with the result they wanted. Their Wildcat opponent intercepted the baseline rally and put the ball away at Ruder-Hook’s feet, taking the match, 7-5, and securing the doubles point for Kentucky. Winning four of the singles matches was a tall task, but Michigan welcomed the challenge. “We’ve lost a lot of doubles points
this year, we’ve kind of figured out how to get four singles,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “I feel like we gave it away a little, especially at two (doubles)… the (doubles) point, while it’s big, it’s just one point and there’s six points out there and I felt like we could still do it in the singles and that’s what I told them.” The matches started off close, but Ruder-Hook and Lommer were the first to pull away, winning 6-2, 6-1, and 6-0, 6-4, respectively. While the Wolverines had won four of the six first sets, it wasn’t guaranteed that the matches were going to stay that way. Minor fell into a hole early in her match, but after Kentucky lost a long rally and hit the ball wide to make the score 4-3 instead of 5-2, the match turned around. Minor took the first set, 7-5, and rolled to a 6-4 second set win. Clearly frustrated throughout her match, Minor was elated when her Wildcat opponent tried to run her back and forth on the baseline and ended up sailing it long. Strapped with a 3-1 lead, Michigan needed one more win to advance. It seemed as if Najarian was going to close her match out easily — but faltered and was forced into a tiebreaker. Fortunately for the Wolverines, Najarian cruised in the tiebreaker, winning, 7-3. She turned to the crowd and raised her arms in celebration. “I mean, it was exciting,” Najarian said. “But it’s a whole team effort. It’s not just me ever, and even when I clinch it’s a whole team effort. Everyone watching, everyone playing, everyone’s giving their best effort. And that encourages me to play my best.”
SPORTS 11 Sereno claims Big Ten distance sweep Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
Bastien, Ellis win Big Ten titles for Wolverines JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
With one event left in the decathlon — the 1,500 meters — at the Big Ten Championships, Steven Bastien sat in second place, trailing Nebraska’s Cody Walton by 137 points. So the Michigan senior met with one of his coaches to formulate a plan. “(The plan was) based on his personal best and based on what I needed to run, the type of splits I would need to run for each lap, and I just tried to execute that plan,” Bastien said. “(My coach), as the javelin finished, he immediately was like, ‘You have to beat Cody by 20 seconds if you want to win’.” A little less than halfway through the race, Bastien was well on pace to do so, with a 12-second lead over his Cornhusker rival. Coming into the final lap, Bastien had reached the margin he needed, ahead of Walton by 23 seconds. And he didn’t let up, as he cruised to a time of 4:36.01 — 13 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Huber of Indiana, and 40 seconds ahead of Walton. With his dominant performance in the 1,500, Bastien became just the second Wolverine to claim a conference title in the decathlon, with a score of 7,713 points. His decathlon championship, along with a record-breaking victory from sophomore Joe Ellis in the hammer throw, highlighted the Michigan men’s track and field team’s eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State. The Wolverines scored a total of 64 points, 53 behind the victorious host Nittany Lions. The decathlon victory is just the latest addition to Bastien’s legacy. The Saline product already holds Michigan program records in the heptathlon and decathlon, and won the heptathlon at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in 2016. He also has earned first-team All-American status three times, and qualified for last year’s United States Olympic Trials in the decathlon. But Bastien says that these accomplishments pale in comparison to what it means to him to be a Wolverine. “Just running for Michigan and having success here has been an accomplishment that’s been really enjoyable,” Bastien said. “I don’t think one (accomplishment)
stands out above any other. It’s just that being able to have success at Michigan has been really rewarding because of the history the school has, the individuals on the team and the coaches that I have. The whole atmosphere that Michigan offers is a fun place to have success.” The running and jumping events proved most successful for Bastien. Along with his 1,500 victory, he won the 100-meter dash by .22 seconds and the 400-meter dash by over a second, while outjumping his competitors in the pole vault as well. He also set a career-high in the javelin, while tying his career-best in the 110-meter hurdles. He even could have potentially recorded a larger score had it not been for unfortunate fouls in the long jump and shot put. Ellis’s hammer throw title was the first time a Wolverine had won a conference crown in that event in 87 years. And he won it in dominating fashion — with a heave of 70.98 meters, he broke the program record — which he himself had set just two weeks ago — by 1.68 meters. Ellis wasn’t the only highlight for Michigan’s throwers, who had an impressive showing as a unit. Junior Grant Cartwright set career-bests in both the discus and hammer throw, finishing third and fourth, respectively, in those events. He also finished fourth in the shot put, right behind redshirt freshman Andrew Liskowitz. “To have my family here watching and supporting — for them being here all the way, my dad’s seen pretty much all my (personal records) from high school in the weight and hammer and now here,” Ellis said. “To have them and two of my brothers and my mom, words aren’t enough.” Added Cartwright: “It’s just really special. The biggest thing is to be here with Joe — we’re brothers, we train together, we do everything together.” The Wolverines’ distance contingent also made several key contributions, beginning with junior Ben Flanagan, who finished eighth in the 10,000 meters in his outdoor season debut. Graduate senior Ned Willig scored in two events — placing fourth in the 1,500 meters and fifth in the 800 — while junior Brennan Munley was eighth in the 800. Junior Connor Mora aided the effort with two sixth-place showings, in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and 5,000 meter run.
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Senior Gina Sereno became just the second woman to win a Big Ten title in both the 10,000 and 5,000 two straight years.
JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
Just 200 meters separated Gina Sereno from history. The Michigan senior had already won the 10,000 meter race Friday at the Big Ten Championships. And if she could pull away from a pack of seven on the final straightaway of the 5,000 meter race, she would become just the third woman in history to claim conference titles in both races in consecutive years. “I said, ‘if you want to go, you gotta go now’,” Sereno said. “And I just gave it everything I got.” It turns out that was enough. Sereno surged into the lead out of the final turn, and outdueled Indiana’s Katherine Receveur to the finish to win the race with a time of 16:23.24, just five-hundredths of a second ahead of her Hoosier rival. “I had no idea (that I won), honestly,” Sereno said. “I made the first move, and she made the last move. It’s hard to tell because I was just looking forward, and I don’t know if she let up or I surged.” Sereno’s victory Sunday closely mirrored her 10,000 meter win from two days earlier. She stayed solidly in the lead pack for the majority of the race, and maintained her position at the front as the pace began to drop with a mile to go. She then made her move with half a lap left — a move she would repeat from the same spot Sunday — and outkicked Penn State’s Jillian Hunsberger and Indiana’s Margaret Allen to win with a time of 33:53.02 and a two-second margin of victory. “The last 200 meters I never really
know what to expect,” Sereno said. “I always tell myself to just push harder and harder and harder until there’s nothing physically left in the tank.” Sereno led for most of the 5,000 meters, but surrendered the lead to Penn State’s Tessa Barrett, and later Receveur, late in the race. Despite her opponent’s surge, and possible fatigue from her efforts Friday, she maintained her composure and place in the pack, and was able to position herself for the home stretch. “I just tell myself to keep my eyes on the back of the jersey in front of me and not let the distance increase between myself and that jersey,” she said. “I kind of imagine there’s a string between my forehead and the back of someone else. It’s about keeping a level head and maintaining focus.” Not only did Sereno become the first woman since Michigan’s Mindy Rowand in 1989 and 1990 to win the 10,000 and 5,000 two straight years, her distance sweep powered the Michigan women’s track and field team to a fifth-place overall finish at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State this weekend. The Wolverines’ score of 79 points was 54 points behind the champion, Purdue. Michigan’s performance was most impressive when considering it came into the meet fairly shorthanded, with injuries sapping the team of its usual depth. Perhaps most notably, junior Erin Finn — the runner-up in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year — did not compete due to injury. “We didn’t have what we normally have, but the kids at the top did very well,” said Michigan coach James Henry. “That small group of young
ladies held it down.” That group — consisting of Sereno, juniors Claire Kieffer-Wright, Aaron Howell and Jaimie Phelan — contributed 50 points to the Wolverines’ total with five individual victories. Kieffer-Wright took home the high jump title Saturday in a downto-the-wire battle, needing all three attempts to clear the barrier on three of her final four jumps. She set a personal best with her winning height of 1.84 meters (6.075 feet) — the first time she has surpassed six feet since high school. In the heptathlon, Howell didn’t place first in any individual event, but claimed the title with a score of 5,359, winning by 36 points over Maryland’s Peyton Wade. Howell sealed her victory with a third-place finish in the final event, the 800 meters, while also placing second in the javelin. Phelan continued Michigan’s distance dominance Sunday with her title in the 1,500 meters. After a conservatively-paced first three laps — no lap was run faster than 70 seconds — Phelan took off, running her final lap in 62 seconds to finish with a time of 4:21.17, just over half a second ahead of Penn State’s Danae Rivers. Just an hour after her victory, Phelan capped off her meet with a third-place finish in the 800 meters, just ahead of junior Jamie Morrissey in fifth. Michigan’s five individual conference champions tied for the second-most in program history. But now, the Wolverines will seek to get healthy as the NCAA Preliminary and National meets approach, and they will hope for a total team effort at full strength.
12 SPORTS
Thursday, May 18, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Offensive explosion Foerster conquers Betsa in upset propels Wolverines Spartan centerfielder wins all-conference battle
BASEBALL
PAIGE VOEFFRAY Daily Sports Writer
Tuesday night’s matchup between the No. 16 Michigan baseball team and Eastern Michigan made their previous matchup seem like a distant memory. The previous defensive slugfest, a 2-1 win in 13 innings, was put in the past, and the Wolverines (4012 overall, 14-7 Big Ten) rallied for a 12-4 victory. “A form of toughness and being gritty and the things we talk about are being able to compete as hard as you can every game you play, regardless of if it’s in or out of conference,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “You got an opportunity to play, an opportunity to compete, a tough team is able to line up and go as hard and fast as they can with their best effort and best intent.” The Eagles (21-32 overall, 12-9 Mid-American) were the first to strike in the second inning when senior centerfielder Johnny Slater made an error and allowed John Montgomery to reach second base. It was followed by another double that went underneath junior third baseman Drew Lugbauer’s legs. Another line drive to centerfield would tack on another run for Eastern Michigan, but the Wolverines managed to escape with just a 2-0 deficit. Fortunately for Michigan, it made up for its defensive mishaps by tying the game in the bottom of the second inning. Redshirt sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis notched the first hit — his first of four on the day — of the inning with a single to a diving second baseman. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Poirier followed Lewis with a bouncing ball that sailed just over the head of the second baseman, earning Poirier a single and a run batted-in. A sacrifice fly would later bring Poirier home to level the game. It appeared the game was going to stay close, especially when Eastern Michigan added another run in the third inning with a solo home run over the left field wall. After giving up four hits and three runs in just 11 batters faced, junior right-hander Jayce Vancena was replaced by sophomore left-hander
William Tribucher. Tribucher faired much better than Vancena, giving up just two hits and earning five strikeouts through four innings. His stellar work on the bump propelled the offense to follow suit. Impacting the game the most was Lewis. He went 4-for-5 with two doubles to right field and two singles — earning him three runs and an RBI. “Just being confident out there,” Lewis said. “Just attacking the ball instead of letting the ball attack you. …That’s the thing that kind of clicked for me tonight.” Lewis wasn’t the only one leaving his mark on the game as four other Wolverines managed two hits each. Sophomore right fielder Jonathan Engelmann garnered a hit and an RBI with one swing of the bat as he had a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning — his second of the season. The Eagles’ left fielder clearly thought the ball was foul, but after Eastern Michigan’s coach had a word with the umpire, the call stood as it was. Michigan managed to score in five of the eight innings where they were on offense, and the sixth inning was the most eventful. Five batters stepped up to the plate before Eastern Michigan could record an out, and four more runs were added by the end of the inning. With the Wolverines up 12-3, it allowed them some room to make defensive changes. Five nonstarters saw the field against the Eagles and freshman outfielder Dominic Clementi and junior catcher Brock Keener both notched a hit to improve their batting averages to .474 and .429, respectively. While the victory against the Eagles means the Wolverines have reached 40 wins — something that hasn’t the program hasn’t accomplished since 2008 — it doesn’t mean they are stopping. “It’s not a landing spot. It’s something to catapult off from, keep moving, keep growing, keep getting better,” Bakich said. “It’s been a season where the words ‘Pleased, but not satisfied’ have been said a lot and ‘Finished strong’ has been said even more than that.”
MIGUEL MARTINEZ/Daily
Senior right-hander Megan Betsa allowed Spartan centerfielder Lea Foerster to reach base in all of her at-bats Friday.
MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer
Two first-team All-Big Ten players. Four plate appearances. Lea Foerster vs. Megan Betsa. It was the game within the game during Michigan’s dramatic 5-4 defeat at the hands of Michigan State in Friday’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal. Foerster’s unstoppable bat against the Wolverines’ ace proved the difference in arguably the biggest win in Spartans program history. In the second regular season matchup between the teams, Betsa got the best of Foerster in a big spot. With two outs and the bases loaded in the matchup in April, Betsa blew a 2-2 pitch past the Michigan State centerfielder to end the threat on the way to a 5-1 Michigan victory. “The past two games this year against (Betsa), she’s gotten me out of my zone,” Foerster said. “I’ve struck out quite a few times.” In her two starts this season before Friday against the Spartans, Betsa totaled 31 strikeouts and just two runs in her 14 innings of work in two convincing wins. But on this day, it was Foerster getting the best of Betsa, proving
a menace atop the Spartans’ order — reaching base in all four of her at-bats — and paving the way for the win nobody could have seen coming. She got the afternoon started by working a full count, finishing off her seven pitch walk with a defiant clap of the hands and gesture to her boosted dugout. Her approach and demeanor set a clear tone: Michigan State wasn’t here for a moral victory. With one swing of the bat in her next at-bat, Foerster changed the entire game, shooting a deep fly ball to left field that just outreached a leaping effort from sophomore outfielder Natalie Peters. The ball ricocheted off the wall, scoring a runner from first. Foerster scampered into third base, and just like that the Spartans had a lead and, maybe more importantly, hope. In her third plate appearance, Foerster continued her dominance of Betsa, lacing a line drive into right field for a clean single. “I think typically things start (in your head) and then they affect your mechanics,” Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said of Betsa’s struggles. “Whether you’re trying too hard, whether you’re trying to be perfect, whether you’re “Wow, you’re a good hitter, I better
throw around her,” I’m not in her head, but I didn’t think she was herself tonight and I think she can throw better than she threw. But give credit to Lea Foerster and some of those kids, they were outstanding.” Betsa struck out just six hitters, her lowest total in a six-plus inning outing all season. In total, Betsa threw 18 pitches to Foerster, and got just two strikes past her. Foerster reached a full count twice on the Wolverines’ right-hander, including an epic seven-pitch battle in the top of the seventh inning. With the first two runners in the inning reaching base and Michigan leading 4-2, Foerster lined an RBI single into right field and advanced to second base on the throw. She would later score the game-winning run on a single from third baseman Kaitlyn Eveland. Hutchins is famous for her depiction of softball as a “onepitch” game, intending to convey the scope with which a given game can change on a given pitch. But this game was determined in four at-bats. In 18 pitches. It was a battle of two all-Big Ten players, but Friday, only one of them proved that distinction.