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CAMPUS LIFE
Murray IQ propaganda printed on racist poster BRIAN AUSTIN KOSASIH/Daily
President Schlissel discusses university initiatives in the Robertson Auditorium Tuesday morning.
Schlissel Leadership Breakfast focuses on DEI, role of faculty
Launches new Michigan Medicine Program using Big Data to analyze illness, disease ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
About a dozen students came to the lobby of Angell Hall Tuesday night for LSA dean Andrew Martin’s Student Town Hall, looking for administrative answers to recent racist incidents on campus.
Almost all the students’ questions revolved around the campus climate with many students expressing worry, lack of safety and inability to focus on school. LSA sophomore Arwa Gayar said coming to events like the town hall was especially important for marginalized students and groups to make themselves heard by institutional
insiders. “I feel like it’s very important to establish those institutional connections and administrative connections because ultimately our voices need to be heard,” she said. “But also I’m just very interested to see what the dean feels is most pressing to talk about right now, considering recent events. I just
want to know what topics he’s going to discuss in general, just gauge what’s on his mind right now, what are his priorities right now?” Austin McCoy, a Michigan Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral fellow who studies protest movements, has emphasized only doing so when it won’t create a See DEI, Page 3A
“Bell Curve” author to speak at ‘U’ next Wednesday, despite controversy SOPHIE SHERRY Daily News Editor
Tuesday morning racist fliers were posted outside Stockwell Residence Hall, presenting the minority enrollment numbers at both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, insinuating gaps in the average IQ of Black and white students. This correlation between race and mental ability was popularized in the late 1990s by Charles Murray, a political scientist slated to speak at the University next Wednesday. The forthcoming event is sponsored by the University’s chapter of College Republicans and the American Enterprise
Institute University of Michigan Executive Council, a public policy think tank where Murray serves as the W.H. Brady Scholar. The event’s Facebook description says Murray will be discussing his 2012 book “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.” The lecture will be followed by a Q&A section “at which students are encouraged to ask tough questions, but engage respectfully with the speaker.” Following incidents of racist flyering at the University in September, the LSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team released a statement disputing theories of biological See AUTHOR, Page 3A
Central Student Government passes Policy talk Possibility examines resolution for UGLi charging stations for state leg.
GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT
character, leadership
Assembly also proposes to stop giving copies of the LSA course guide to freshman
Columnist David Brooks, Historian Ronald C. White lead Public Policy event
Central Student Government met Tuesday night to pass a resolution to place a charging station in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. The assembly also discussed removing the LSA course guides usually sent out to freshmen before they arrive for orientation due to the amount of paper used for a document that the representatives argued is not often utilized by incoming students. In addition, CSG brief ly touched on the racist f liers found on campus this morning. CSG President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, spoke on the possibility amending the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities to address bias incidents, as the current version does not have a policy and thus has no means to punish violators. While Sarkar did not directly address the f lyers themselves, CSG Vice President Nadine Jawad, a Public Policy senior, mentioned the racist incident in passing and thanked those CSG representatives who took photos of the racist f lyers, saying if they received updates from the Dean of Students Office, students would be informed. Returning to the assembly’s agenda, CSG then allocated
ISHI MORI
Daily Staff Reporter
A discussion between two political experts held at Grand Valley State University was livestreamed to a crowd of around 40 attendees at the Ford School of Public Policy Tuesday night. The event, titled “Character and Presidency,” featured David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, and Ronald C. White, an award-winning presidential historian. The event began with former U.S. diplomat Peter F. Secchia presenting a clip from the documentary “Gerald R. Ford: A Test of Character.” The short segment displayed the 38th president’s moral conflict in pardoning his predecessor Richard Nixon, who resigned in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. Secchia said Ford was able to make the decision that cost him re-election because he was able to naturally see beyond short-term results and think about the public good. Character was ingrained in him, he explained. “It wasn’t the water he drank, it wasn’t the religion he had, it wasn’t See POLICY, Page 3A
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MORGAN SHOWEN Daily Staff Reporter
funding for a charging station to be placed on the first f loor of the Undergraduate Library. The $699 charging station would be paid for solely by CSG. However, any costs associated with maintenance and upkeep would be furnished by the library. The resolution was written by LSA junior Ali Rosenblatt, vice speaker of CSG, and was passed unanimously 31 to 0. CSG also proposed the possibility of removing the
LSA course guides from new-student orientation packets. CSG representative Zoha Qureshi, an LSA junior, proposed the idea and spoke on the work she had done with Newnan Advising Center to implement a reduction in the course guide’s production. “It’s a really thick packet of a lot of paper that just gets wasted because a lot students don’t end up using it,” Qureshi said. She went on to advocate
for more student input in the matter of removing the course guides, as well as the reformation of the nowdefunct Student Advisory Committee to LSA Advising. CSG also used the short meeting to recall two Rackham representatives who had failed to attend any meetings throughout the entire seventh assembly. The vote to recall was the first in CSG history under the new rules for representative removal.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
LSA representative Zoha Qureshi discusses the possiblity of designating reflection rooms in the Union Tuesday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 3 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
limits to be lengthened
Michigan Chamber of Commerce seeks to aid efficiency with positions JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is currently advocating for an amendment to the Michigan Constitution, which would change term limits for state legislators. The specifics of the plan for revision of the 1992 state law remain ambiguous, but those behind it seek to provide for more effectiveness and representation of members of the state Congress. According to The Detroit News, in 2019, roughly 70 percent of state senators and over 20 percent of state representatives’ terms will expire, leaving an abundance of seats open for re-election. This also invites the possibility that inexperienced representatives will be given the responsibility of dealing with intricate matters of the previous administration. The amendment, if accepted for reform, would be placed on the 2018 voter ballot. On Sept. 27, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce voted to work with staff in contacting outside See LEGISLATURE, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CROSSWORD...............6 SPORTS.......................8
News
2A — Wednesday, October 3, 2017
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“Older people are coming in and are really excited about the Bicentennial, and it is a big deal. People come in specifically for that kind of stuff. When the bicentennial products first came out we couldn’t keep it on the shelves. People were really excited.”
Steven Sikora @StevenMSikora
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if you ever wanted to cause mass hysteria, try sending an email to a large and outdated UMich club distribution list AARON BAKER/Daily
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES CGIS Study Abroad Fair
IOE 899 Seminar
WHAT: Over 90 companies will be the the University to recruit for summer and full-time opportunities. Come to this firststep event to find out more! WHO: University Career Center WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union
WHAT: CGIS advisors and alumni will provide information about the multitude of study abroad opportunities around the world. WHO: CGIS WHEN: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League Ballroom
WHAT: Molly Moore Jeffery from the Mayo Clinic will dig into the opioid epidemic as a public health emergency. WHO: Industrial and Operations Engineering WHEN: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. WHERE: Industrial and Operations Engineering Building
The Bee Lady Talks
Soul Food Dinner
WHAT: This study group will explore how bees work within a hive. WHO: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute WHEN: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. WHERE: Turner Senior Resource Center
WHAT: The Black Student’s Movement is hosting their first Soul Food Dinner for cooking and community. WHO: Black Student Movement WHEN: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. WHERE: Mason Hall — Room 1448
Local Government Discussion
LQBTQ Monologues
2017 Fall Career Expo Day 2
WHAT: The first annual student performance will give LGBTQ students the playform to share their stories. WHO: Spectrum Center WHEN: 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. WHERE: Michigan Union Pendleton Room
Film Screening: For the Love of a Man WHAT: UMSI assistant professor Joyojeet Pal will present his self-funded and produced documentary on superstar Rajnikanth. WHO: School of Information WHEN: 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. WHERE: North Quad - Space 2435
ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
About a dozen students gathered in the lobby of Angell Hall Tuesday night for LSA dean Andrew Martin’s Student Town Hall, looking for administrative answers to recent racist incidents on campus. Almost all the students’ questions revolved around the campus climate with many students expressing worry, lack of safety and inability to focus on school. LSA sophomore Arwa Gayar said coming to events like the town hall was especially important for marginalized students and groups to make themselves heard by institutional insiders. feel like it’s very Sudoku“I Syndication important to establish those
institutional connections and administrative connections because ultimately our voices need to be heard,” she said. “But also I’m just very interested to see what the dean feels is most pressing to talk about right now, considering recent events. I just want to know what topics he’s going to discuss in general, just gauge what’s on his mind right now, what are his priorities right now?” Austin McCoy, a Michigan Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral fellow who studies protest movements, has emphasized only doing so when it won’t create a confrontation, as he feels the safety of minority students is paramount. “As a university, we create spaces for dialogue, and
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Bittersweet feeling to be walking down the street in downtown Ann Arbor and hearing Tom Petty blaring out of open windows.
Michigan Students @UMichStudents
WHAT: Local government officials will host a discussion outlining Nov. 7 ballot proposals and observe a County Commission meeting. WHO: Ginsberg Center WHEN: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. WHERE: 220 N. Main St.
LSA Dean Andrew Martin hosts town hall to discuss student concerns About a dozen students gathered to hear administrative response, reporting options
Michael Rothstein @mikerothstein
Monday mornings = internal debate of walking to the IM gym or not and then ultimately whispering ‘you’ll get em next week tiger’
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sometimes that dialogue we 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 nathankg@michigandaily.com find horrific and offensive,” Martin said. “But it doesn’t mean that that stuff has to stay up in these settings, and NEWS TIPS ARTS SECTION PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION I think that’s something that news@michigandaily.com arts@michigandaily.com photo@michigandaily.com would be effective.” LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SPORTS SECTION NEWSROOM Martin said he agreed tothedaily@michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com 734-418-4115 opt. 3 with those who commented EDITORIAL PAGE ADVERTISING CORRECTIONS on the University’s lack of opinion@michigandaily.com dailydisplay@gmail.com corrections@michigandaily.com communication on how they are handling ongoing issues. He also stressed the legality of the of the vandalism was not up for debate but also that AMELIA CACCHIONE and EMMA RICHTER it was logistically difficult to Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com release details of an ongoing Senior Photo Editors: Zoey Holmstrom, Evan Aaron, Alexis Rankin, REBECCA LERNER Zach Moore investigation. Managing Editor rebler@michigandaily.com Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Meingast, Katelyn Mulcahy, Aaron “To be clear, I don’t want Baker, Sam Mousigian, Kevin Zheng to have dialogues about what ALEXA ST.JOHN LARA MOEHLMAN happened in West Quad,” Managing News Editor alexastj@michigandaily.com Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com he said. “What happened in Senior News Editors: Riyah Basha, Tim Cohn, Lydia Murray, Deputy Statement Editor: Brian Kuang, Yoshiko Iwai Nisa Khan, Sophie Sherry West Quad was ridiculous. Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Colin Beresford, Rhea Ithttp://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ almost certainly violated Cheeti, Maya Goldman, Matt Harmon, Andrew Hiyama, Jen ELIZABETH DOKAS and TAYLOR GRANDINETTI Michigan ethnic intimidation Meer, Ishi Mori, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com law, and DPSS continues ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY and REBECCA TARNOPOL Senior Copy Editors: Marisa Frey, Ibrahim Rasheed to investigate that event Editorial Page Editors opinioneditors@michigandaily.com and similar events. The DYLAN LAWTON and BOB LESSER Senior Opinion Editors: Anu Roy-Chaudhury, Ashley Zhang, challenge is that one can’t Managing Online Editor lesserrc@michigandaily.com Max Lubell, Madeline Nowicki, Stephanie Trierweiler Senior Web Developers: Erik Forkin, Jordan Wolff be entirely transparent about the investigation BETELHEM ASHAME and KEVIN SANTO ABE LOFY Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com that’s going on. And all it Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Sports Editors: Laney Byler, Mike Persak, Orion Sang, takes is one person with Senior Video Editors: Gilly Yerrington, Matt Nolan, Aarthi Max Marcovich, Ethan Wolfe, Chris Crowder Janakiraman, Emily Wolfe a marker or one person Assistant Sports Editors: Rob Hefter, Avi Sholkoff, Matthew with a poster and a roll Kennedy, Paige Voeffray, Mark Calcagno, Jacob Shames JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG of tape to create a lot of Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com ANAY KATYAL and NATALIE ZAK hurt.” Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Christian Paneda, Adam Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com Brodnax, Halibut Olaniyan, Tanya Madhani, Sivanthy Vasanthan Students later asked Senior Arts Editors: Dayton Hare, Nabeel Chollanpat, him how seriously the Madeline Gaudin, Carly Snider administration was Arts Beat Editors: Danielle Yacobson, Danny Hensel, Erika ELLIE HOMANT Shevchek, Matt Gallatin, Naresh Iyengar taking demands to rename Managing Social Media Editor Senior Social Media Editors: Kayla Waterman and Anna Haritos the C.C. Little Science MICHELLE PHILLIPS and AVA WEINER Building, whose name Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com honors a former president of the University who was an outspoken advocate of CAYLIN WATERS eugenics. Brand Manager “Very,” Martin said. CLAIRE BUTZ EMILY RICHNER “We, as a University, Business Development Manager Sales Manager put a process in place JULIA SELSKY JUEUI HONG a couple years ago for, Local Accounts Manager Special Projects Manager ‘How are we going to SANJANA PANDIT CAROLINE GOLD go about thinking about Production Manager Media Consulting Manager renaming or removing a name from one of our The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the buildings?’ And that was University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a a thoughtful process, that reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. See TOWN HALL, Page 3A
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KEEP CALM AND CARILLON
AUTHOR From Page 1A
CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily Business senior Kevin Yang plays the Charles Baird Carillon under Professor Jeremy Chesman on Ingalls Mall Tuesday afternoon.
LEGISLATURE From Page 1A organizations and individuals in order to gauge potential support of the amendment. Rich Studley, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, issued a statement explaining the vote and describing how the reform, though still under discussion, might improve internal workings of the legislature. “This government reform effort could focus on revising term limits and other changes to improve the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of the state legislature. The specifics of this government accountability proposal remain to be determined. Chamber staff will report back to the Board of Directors in January 2018,” he wrote.
POLICY From Page 1A just his wonderful parents,” Secchia said. “It was the fact that he grew up in a community that cares. Judging by the numbers, people still care.” The audience was subsequently introduced to Brooks, White and moderator Gleaves Whitney, director of GVSU’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. When asked about the relationship between character and leadership, Brooks recalled a time when he was passionately arguing policy with former President George W. Bush. He said though Bush was fuming at times, the president reminded himself that he was enjoying the argument because his staffers would never directly engage with him. “You’re love-bombed all day by everybody,” Brooks said. “One of the big character challenges in being a leader is how do you deal with that love bomb and how does it not have an effect on you. And I have never seen anybody really immune.” White argued seeing beyond what is said and looking at the speaker’s character can reintroduce civility in public
DEI From Page 1A confrontation, as he feels the safety of minority students is paramount. “As a university, we create spaces for dialogue, and sometimes that dialogue we find horrific and offensive,” Martin said. “But it doesn’t mean that that stuff has to stay up in these settings, and I think that’s something that would be effective.” Martin said he agreed with those who commented on the University’s lack of communication on how they are handling ongoing issues. He also stressed the legality of the of the vandalism was not up for debate but also that it was logistically difficult to release details of an
Wednesday, October 3, 2017 — 3A
While 38 state senators currently represent Michigan, because of rigid term limits, 26 will not have the opportunity for re-election in 2018. Within Michigan’s 110 House seats, 24 will be available for change in candidacy, allowing for a 21.8 percent turnover rate — the second highest among all state Houses. Specifically, 19 Republicans and seven Democrats will be forced to vacate their seats in the state Senate, while 13 Democrats and 11 Republicans will do the same in the state House. While term limits do face opposition among some policy makers, Patrick Anderson, author of the 1992 term limits amendment, argued that term limits provide generational representation and allow frequent waves of new legislators to address the needs of a changing society.
He also stated “a vast majority of citizens are not interested in fixing a portion of the state constitution that is not broken.” “The basic message citizens have given their government for 200 years now has been to have a Legislature full of people who represent citizens,” Anderson told The Detroit News. “To do that effectively, you want to make sure that those legislators are periodically drawn from the citizenry, and term limits ensures that.” At the heart of the debate is the controversy as to whether term limits encourage lawmakers to vote in agreement with desires of their constituents or if their votes face more persuasion from special interest groups within the legislature. Engineering sophomore Lincoln Merrill, publicity chair for the University of Michigan’s College Republicans, stated he feels term limits are beneficial
and they should not change in the state of Michigan. “I think that term limits should be instituted in every state legislature and every state and in the national legislature,” he said. “You’ve seen the backlash against the establishment and the career-sort of politicians that’s happened in the past year, and it just goes to show a lot of the people who are in office nationally for decades and decades at a time, this doesn’t go for all of them, but there’s a possibility that they’re just in it for the job and the money and power, and they don’t necessarily have your good in mind. With regards to Michigan in general, I don’t think they should change it at all … I think it’s a good amount of time where you can get something done, (and) you can move on after that.” College Democrats did not respond for a comment.
discourse and revive engagement between people who have different views. “I think we might want to be in that place where we can disagree with someone’s particular policy … but we can see and value their character,” White said. Perhaps the most pertinent question to students in the audience was the role universities should play in building character. While lamenting the loss of “in loco parentis” after the student movements in the 1960s, particularly surrounding civil rights and issues of racism on campus, White recommended students read biographies of great historical figures to explore their moral development. “(Biographies are) very different from just doing a survey class in American history or European history,” White said. “We need to watch the formation of character in individuals and lift that up as models for young men and women.” Brooks concurred, observing that students these days have an abundance of what he called “résumé words” — traits that make them attractive to employers — they lack in eulogy words such as “honorable”, “courageous” and “capable of great love that truly
shows character.” “We give (students) a series of empty boxes, partly because we’ve grown up in a culture … where the emphasis is all about liberation and emancipation,” Brooks said. “People get lost in their freedom, and they just don’t know how to bind (themselves), and I think that’s a national failure, not just a university failure.” Ann Arbor resident Judith Reiter said she was glad that, in a political atmosphere that at times seems to reward dishonest individuals, well-read men like Brooks and White shared her belief in morality. “I feel so strongly in the importance of morality and responsibility and leadership, and to have my feelings supported by people as verbal and incredible was very heartening,” Reiter said. Others were critical of the speakers’ views. Public Policy student Kristina Kaupa pointed out that though the event title evoked the abrasive personality of the incumbent president, the speakers seldom referred to him. Brooks and White tended to focus on the moral character of presidents like Lincoln, Grant, Truman and the two Bushes. “I was surprised that we didn’t spend more time talking about the current presidency and a
little shocked that they weren’t more willing to engage with that conversation,” Kaupa said. “They still didn’t really challenge the character of the current presidency or even talk about the character of Hillary Clinton as a potential alternative.” Kaupa also found issue with the speakers’ praise of the effects of mothers on sons. She said this implied women cannot have strong moral character because daughters tend to get along with their fathers better instead of their mothers. “In my own personal experience, the strong women in my life never had an easy relationship with their mother,” Kaupa said. “It takes a strong woman to raise a strong woman, and those personalities do not always match.” Public Policy student Jackson Voss criticized what he perceived as the speakers’ assumption that young people do not know anything about character. “That’s a weird opinion to have because it’s not our generation that’s exhibiting all the bad character in government,” Voss said. “It’s not people our age that tend to be the problem.”
ongoing investigation. “To be clear, I don’t want to have dialogues about what happened in West Quad,” he said. “What happened in West Quad was ridiculous. It almost certainly violated Michigan ethnic intimidation law, and DPSS continues to investigate that event and similar events. The challenge is that one can’t be entirely transparent about the investigation that’s going on. And all it takes is one person with a marker or one person with a poster and a roll of tape to create a lot of hurt.” Students later asked him how seriously the administration was taking demands to rename the C.C. Little Science Building, whose name honors a former president of the University who was an outspoken advocate of eugenics.
“Very,” Martin said. “We, as a University, put a process in place a couple years ago for, ‘How are we going to go about thinking about renaming or removing a name from one of our buildings?’ And that was a thoughtful process, that was an academic process with the idea of, ‘Let’s collect all the information, let’s make a reasoned decision.’ “ That information was collected by LSA students and faculty and compiled into a report. Martin said that report is now being reviewed by the President’s Advisory Committee on University History, which can revise or add to the report before a final decision is made by University President Mark Schlissel and the Board of Regents — likely within the next year.
“This is not some sort of, ‘We’re gonna have a process so this thing goes away,’ and it just flies away,” he said. “There’s going to be very sustained engagement on this particular issue. We don’t know about timing, partly because we don’t know how long it’s going to take them to get the information they need to make a decision. My guess is this is something that will be resolved this academic year.” LSA senior Ryan Gillcrist said despite the relatively poor attendance of the event, he appreciated the opportunity to directly connect with Martin in an informal setting. “It’s always hard to get people to these types of events, even with free food, but it’s great to be able to ask him questions in person,” he said.
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superiority of race, directly addressing the “myths” of the “The Bell Curve.” “Over the past 100 years, following a longer trend of scientific racism, some researchers have sought to demonstrate that there is a quantifiable correlation between racial group and mental ability, and that IQ (intelligence quotient) is a singular and innate biological trait,” the statement read. “This has never been proven. Nevertheless, it is one of the oldest cards in the racist deck, dating back to the early 1900s when the modern intelligence test was invented.” After Murray’s visit to the University was announced, Public Policy student Jackson Voss, chair of the Ford School of Public Policy’s Student Affairs Committee, made a post as the Public Policy School’s SAC denouncing the event. In an interview Tuesday, he urged other student leaders and student government figures to do the same. “I think that for me and for others the way that I have started to think about it is that we actually do serve a publicfacing role,” Voss said. “I think it’s our responsibility to make statements about things that are happening, especially things that are happening to our classmates and to the people we say were representing in these meetings and in our advocacy and in our activities.” Voss said he strives to remain bipartisan in his role as a student leader but believes the ideas Murray promotes are problematic, not partisan. “He put on this public persona, but the truth is the ideas he prescribes to and promotes are explicitly white supremacist, or anti-women,” he said. “He is pretty forthright with it, believes that white men are intellectually, socially, psychologically, superior to other groups of people, and that is the definition of being a white supremacist.” If the University’s chapter of College Republicans want to distance themselves from white supremacists, Voss argues they must take direct action. “If Republicans and Conservatives and groups like AEI are generally concerned about these things then they need to prove it, by not bringing speakers like Charles Murray to campus,” he said. Engineering sophomore Lincoln Merrill, publicity chair of College Republicans, says Republicans have been making
TOWN HALL From Page 2A was an academic process with the idea of, ‘Let’s collect all the information, let’s make a reasoned decision.’ “ That information was collected by LSA students and faculty and compiled into a report. Martin said the report is now being reviewed by the President’s Advisory Committee on University History, which can revise or add to the report before a final decision is made by University President Mark Schlissel and the Board of Regents — likely within the next year. “This is not some sort of, ‘We’re gonna have a process so this thing goes away,’ and
an effort to distance themselves from the recent expressions of racism and white supremacy on campus. “All of the posters that came out this morning, those people are ridiculous,” Merrill said. “We do not agree with them at all. With the Charles Murray event, we’re just trying to have an event.” LSA senior Ben Decatur, co-chair of the American Enterprise Institute Executive Council at the University, wrote in an email the Murray event will continue as scheduled, adding that Murray was invited specifically to discuss the 2016 election in the context of his book “Coming Apart.” “Murray’s 2012 book ‘Coming Apart’ in many ways predicts the rise of a candidate like Trump,” Decatur said. “In the book, Murray demonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in behaviors that the upper class is completed isolated from the culture and struggles of less fortunate Americans.” According to Decatur, Murray’s theories on race and mental ability are often misconstrued. “As far as ‘The Bell Curve,’ Murray has denounced the ‘altright’ as vile and any attempts to use his scholarship to justify this so called philosophy,” he said. “Murray, a libertarian, even opposed Trump in 2016.” Voss said there has been talk of protesting the Murray event, though he does not know of any concrete plans at the moment. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the sponsor’s organization has been working with the Center for Campus Involvement to ensure student safety is a priority. “The student organizations sponsoring Charles Murray’s visit to campus have been working with the Center for Campus Involvement, part of Student Life, and the Palmer Commons event staff to plan for this event,” Fitzgerald wrote in an email. “This is the normal process for student groups that host highprofile speakers on campus. Those plans are still being finalized and, as always, community safety is one of the critical elements being considered.” Decatur invited students who oppose Murray to come to the event and engage in discussion with him. “Dr. Murray will devote most of his time to hearing from audience members and we encourage students who disagree with Murray’s worldview to listen to him firsthand and respectfully and frankly engage with him during this event,” he said.
it just f lies away,” he said. “There’s going to be very sustained engagement on this particular issue. We don’t know about timing, partly because we don’t know how long it’s going to take them to get the information they need to make a decision. My guess is this is something that will be resolved this academic year.” LSA senior Ryan Gillcrist, who is also the LSA Student Government Vice President said despite the relatively poor attendance of the event, he appreciated the opportunity to directly connect with Martin in an informal setting. “It’s always hard to get people to these types of events, even with free food, but it’s great to be able to ask him questions in person,” he said.
Opinion
4A— Wednesday, October 4, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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FROM THE DAILY
I
Don’t stop disrupting
f you found yourself at the Central Campus Transit Center, also known as the C.C. Little bus station, last Monday, perhaps you were dismayed your normal bus had been rerouted. If you found yourself walking through the Diag, perhaps you were confused by the crowds of people surrounding a man kneeling at the block ‘M.’ These two protests in response to recent racist incidents on campus intentionally disrupted the normal f low of ever yday life at the Universit y of Michigan. The Michigan Daily Editorial Board is fully supportive of these protests; they challenged the routine of ever yday life, called attention to the hostile climate caused by acts of racism and made the issues at hand accessible to the wider campus and Ann Arbor communit y. Last week’s protests were effective precisely because they were disruptive. It is not every day that the Diag is populated with dozens of students for hours on end, some holding umbrellas to block the heat and others delivering food and water. The students who blocked the intersections of bus routes near the C.C. Little bus station sought to parallel the “inconveniences” racism and microaggressions pose for students of color on a daily basis. Though their protest lasted merely an hour, they had an impact that “inconvenienced” a large proportion of campus. Intentionally disruptive student protests are some of the most effective ways to enact much-needed change on our campus and beyond. And in cases such as these, the nature of the disruption conveyed the message of the protest, especially to student demographics who otherwise would not understand the disruptions students of color
on campus deal with regularly. As such, these types of visible protests not only force passersby to think about the issues the protests are addressing, but they also start important conversations. When routine is broken, students question what is going on, seek more information and have discussions with peers. Furthermore, as an Editorial Board, we believe the fact that these protests began various discussions and debates about the issues the protests sought to address and whether their protest tactics were effective meant they made the issues at hand at least visible. Protests are a critical step that goes beyond simply the desire for change. Substantial positive change requires more than an email from the administration
condemning hateful actions and standing in solidarity with those affected. Emails are all well and good, but they can be brushed aside, archived and, quite frankly, ignored. Protests are exponentially more visible and powerful tools to enact change because they are much more difficult to ignore. Human bodies and minds making observable calls to action can influence and inspire communities and individuals to discuss the issues and act, and it is our responsibility to support and encourage protesters in their work.
Illustration courtesy of Roshini Ankireddygari
SARAH NEFF | CONTACT SARAH AT SANE@UMICH.EDU
P
Preserving patriotism
rotests in the National Football League took center stage at the end of September as hundreds of players, coaches and owners knelt, raised fists or linked arms during the national anthem in a show of solidarity. Though the national anthem protests date back to last year when Colin Kaepernick first knelt to protest racial injustices, dozens more participated this past week in response to President Donald Trump’s controversial comment that protesting players should be fired. The show of unity drew national news headlines and also elicited sharp criticism from many who claim that the protests are disrespectful and unpatriotic. Others have gone further and trivialized the players’ cause, calling the protest’s pretext of enduring racial biases an “ocean of lies.” These lines of criticism are unfortunate and misguided. While it is understandable why some, especially those who have served our country, would be vexed by demonstrations during the anthem, it is equally understandable why players feel the need to protest. Furthermore, the act of protesting is not unpatriotic; rather, it is a staple of American democracy. Any analysis of the national anthem protests is incomplete without an examination of why the players are protesting. Indeed, the players’ motives have been a central point of debate in the recent days, with some critics claiming NFL players should be grateful for what they have. They point to the average NFL player’s salary, which at $2.1 million in the 2015 season, is nearly 50 times greater than the average American’s salary in 2014. This notion is shortsighted and minimizes the impact of racial injustices, many of which are inescapable and not alleviated by wealth. A 2016 Pew Research Center survey found that 71 percent of U.S. Blacks have experienced racial discrimination, and roughly half reported that in the past year “someone has acted as if they were suspicious of them because of their race.” The wealth of the protesting players does not fully shield them from racial profiling,
nor does it diminish the importance of their message. Furthermore, those criticizing the players as “ungrateful” fail to realize they are advocating for the entire Black community, especially those without a platform to protest against the injustices they face. Despite an abundance of evidence of the far-reaching impacts of implicit racial biases, only 36 percent of whites believe racial discrimination to be a major reason Blacks lag behind whites in education, income and more. Considerable media attention has been devoted to police brutality, but discussions of racial profiling in policing have often devolved into a tedious game of assigning blame, rather than a recognition of the omnipresent biases against racial minorities. Such recognition of the problem is essential for any progress to be made; the lack of recognition compels these players to protest. Efforts to trivialize the motives behind the protests grossly devalue the pervasiveness of racial injustices in the United States and the significance of NFL players’ willingness to stand up to it. However, other lines of criticism have focused on the methods of the protests. Detractors claim the demonstrations are unpatriotic or disrespectful to the f lag. Admittedly, the matter of patriotism is complex and delicate. Kaepernick’s own comments on the protest, particularly his statement from August 2016 in which he explicitly declined to “show pride” in the f lag, are objectively unpatriotic (at least denotatively) and add to the narrative that the protests dishonor the national anthem. While intended to contextualize his budding protest, Kaepernick’s comments unfortunately reinforced a narrow and simplistic view of patriotism. Patriotism is far more than honoring the f lag; regrettably, when it comes to the f lag, some seem to care more about the physical cloth than what it represents. This attitude toward the f lag has translated to the outlook that patriotism
is expressed solely through the veneration of the f lag, when the true hallmark of American patriotism is the defense of our country’s democratic values. To truly care about the f lag is to care about injustices, free speech and political expression. Kaepernick’s protest promoted this more refined view of patriotism by calling attention to the inadequacy of merely honoring the f lag in its physical form. The United States is not held together by a common race, religion or even language. Rather, it is our shared civic values of democracy, justice and liberty that define our national identity. Our nation’s robust civic culture demands a form of patriotism that honors these values. Genuine patriotism is a celebration of liberties and freedoms, which is why there is a subtle, but inherent hypocrisy in calling the protesting players unpatriotic. Patriotism requires a respect for protest. Protest is intrinsically intertwined with our civic values, and it is through protest that so many of the rights we take as selfevident were secured. Furthermore, there is nothing innately unpatriotic about the national anthem protests. By and large, the protesting players are simply using the stage of the national anthem to point out that this nation is still far from achieving many of the virtues the anthem symbolizes. One can be patriotic while acknowledging that our country is not perfect — the two are far from mutually exclusive. American society has many areas where progress is needed. Racial injustice is one. Realizing the promises of equality, justice and liberty for all is an ongoing process, and neither the protests nor the controversy surrounding them are likely to go away anytime soon. As the NFL season continues, it is important to recognize the players are protesting for a legitimate cause and furthermore that protesting is a form of free speech — and there’s nothing unpatriotic or un-American about it.
Noah Harrison can be reached at noahharr@umich.edu.
COREY DULIN | COLUMN
R
Wearing ignorance
ecently at a concert I in our country, from slightly danced in a dark bar obnoxious concert-goers to while cringing at the Donald Trump, see no real guy in front of me. He was in issue in misrepresenting his own world and misinterpreting and wasn’t really symbols and actions. doing any harm With Halloween — but I would coming up, seeing this describe him man in a head wrap left as that person, me in a nervous state. the person who As someone who gets decides that scared easily and has the best place had enough of looking to practice at offensive costumes dramatic and depictions, I am COREY interpretive not looking forward DULIN dance mixed to the upcoming with Beyoncé-esque moves is holiday. I know some student in a crowded concert venue. organizations post guides to But besides the fact he kept let students know if a costume jumping up off the f loor every is offensive or not, but you few seconds, what I remember would think people have most about him was his head enough common sense to know wrap. what is appropriate and what His head wrap looked really counts as offensive. nice; there was a small knotted I thought the head wrap ball at the top, and he put incident was minor and hope lavender plants inside the knot. people will use more creativity But his head wrap was also out and fewer stereotypes to of place. pick a Halloween costume, In the United States, head but appropriation and wraps have been a prominent misrepresentation of identities feature in Black life and style are serious problems. When for centuries. Originally the items of cultural significance or product of sumptuary laws items specific to a marginalized made to shame Black women, group are worn because they head wraps became a way look cool or because people for Black women to express think it would make a good their culture and unique style. Halloween costume, we forget Slaves and other Black women what these items represent. were forced to wear rags and But the problems different turned them into something cultures overcame — and still rich. I never thought I would work to overcome — are not see a white guy in a head wrap, just represented in physical and when I did, I thought it objects like head wraps, was interesting. but also in actions. So when But, at the same time, I athletes take a knee during the could see a little glimmer of national anthem, it is not about problematic behavior. People the flag or for the purpose of
disrespecting the country — it is to call attention to issues in our country. Colin Kaepernick didn’t start this protest to disrespect the flag — he started it to bring attention to the murders of Black men and women at the hands of police. So why Donald Trump calls Kaepernick and every athlete who takes part in these peaceful protests a “son of a bitch” but can’t say much about gun-toting Nazis other than that they “were very fine people” makes no sense to me. He gets angry when people take a knee and act in a way that is peaceful, but when another group incites violence, he is fine with it. Our identities sometimes blind us from the cultural significance of items and actions of other groups. Because of this I feel we should all take a minute to step back and workshop things. We don’t need to go over and check whether every single thing is culturally appropriated, but some things are not only worn for style or done because it’s cool, but because they have an important purpose that needs to be recognized. One way to do this is to talk to others. We can learn a lot by talking to people who aren’t exactly like us. So before calling someone a “son of a bitch” or wearing something offensive to a concert or a Halloween party, maybe consider the implications of what you’re wearing or saying.
Corey Dulin can be reached at cydulin@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
TV REVIEW
ABC ‘Modern Family’ is actually still on TV
‘Modern’ remains same and reaches redundancy
The show keeps its typical tone, forsaes originality in its 9th season CONNOR GRADY Daily Arts Writer
A model of consistency. As it enters its ninth season, that’s what “Modern Family” has become. Each episode, each season, is replete with quality oneliners and self-deprecating jokes. Since 2010, the show has been nominated for — or won — the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series every year. That’s the sterling reputation that “Modern Family” has earned for itself, and, if the season premiere is any indication, the series has no intention of changing its formula. Returning to its tried-and-true brand of zany, yet genuine humor, “Modern Family”’s ninth season offers loyal audiences exactly what they have come to expect, albeit at the expense of originality. Right off the bat, “Modern Family”’s premiere establishes
the series’ trademark tone, with right amount of annoying and selfManny (Rico Rodriguez, “The aware, as he agrees with Claire’s Muppets”) re-inventing himself (Julie Bowen, “Happy Gilmore”) yet again to avoid embarrassment. rant about how he is “a huge Only this time, he’s adopted the reason why I need a vacation.” name “Manuel” as he prepares Although Mande absorbs most to ship off to college. Manny’s of the episode’s verbal jabs, Cam inability to fit in has long been (Eric Stonestreet, “The Secret a running gag on Life of Pets”) the show, and this “Modern Family” still shines in episode does a solid his reduced role Season 9 job of extending the as the episode’s joke. punching bag. premiere Elsewhere, Stonestreet ABC “Modern Family” spends most of introduces us to the episode being Wednesdays at Alex’s (Ariel Winter, ripped apart by 9 PM “Killers”) new Mitchell (Jesse boyfriend, Ben (Joe Tyler Ferguson, Mande, “Parks and Recreation”). “Ice Age: Collision Course”) and Ben is saddled with the unenviable Gloria (Sofía Vergara, “Chef”) task of trying to make the Dunphys for donning a frighteningly ugly and Pritchetts like him, despite white robe and obnoxious amount the fact that they all want nothing of sunscreen to avoid sunburn, all to do with him and his crop-top while insisting to Mitchell, “We pajamas. Throughout the episode, have great taste.” Mande excels at being just the Cam continues to be the ideal
RELEASE REVIEW
2 Fridays ago, Protomartyr released their latest record on a boat in Detroit
DOMINO
Punks on a boat: ProtoMartyr’s release party Revelry and community mark a night of good tunes and good drinks as Protomartyr released their latest last Friday MATT GALLATIN Daily Music Editor
SEAN LANG
Daily Arts Editor
On a Friday night, practically every generation of Detroit punk fans were united in a sea of black and gray jeans, waiting by the dock to board the Detroit Princess Riverboat. There
was a slight disconnect, given the more preparatory-schoollike connotation of a riverboat cruise. That dissonance evaporated when we boarded and the first of seven bars offered us a Pabst Blue Ribbon. It felt very right. Protomartyr, Detroit’s preeminent punk band today, chose this venue to celebrate their fourth album, Relatives of Descent, a week early. The album was officially released on
Friday, September 29, to much acclaim. They brought along with them five other acts in what was an evening long party for the local scene. We caught the tail end of Detroit producer Matthew Dear’s set, a University alum and near legend of the techno world. He is currently teaching a music production class at the University. His was a loud, strange, noise-filled sound that felt hardly contained within the
foil for everyone’s favorite curmudgeon, Jay (Ed O’Neill, “Married with Children”). Cam’s unabashedly optimistic persona meshes perfectly with Jay’s constant cynicism, producing some of the episode’s finest moments. As Jay wallows in his sorrowful realization that he is an unmemorable grandpa, Stonestreet reminds him of the time he so graciously “went to Costco and got me that giant thing of almond milk,” with O’Neill justifying his kindness: “Well you like it and it doesn’t go bad!” The entire scene is a gorgeous example of the type of funny, yet heartfelt comedy that has come to define “Modern Family.” Strangely absent from this whole comedic picture is usual “Modern Family” stalwart Phil (Ty Burrell, “The Incredible Hulk”), who barely receives any screen time in the episode outside of a few hilarious scenes with Claire. It’s an odd decision for the show given that Burrell can carry “Modern Family” with his perpetually neurotic style and that Burrell shines in his brief moments in the episode. Since Burrell is seen as one of the faces of the series, it seems reasonable to expect his role return to its normal size for the remainder of the season. Even without Burrell’s typical zaniness dominating the episode, the episode reeks of the battle-tested “Modern Family” formula. Chiefly, this recipe entails a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor from Cam, laughable paranoia from Gloria, blissful ignorance from Manny and a biting sardonic wit from Jay. This formula has allowed the show to reach the apex of small-screen comedy, it also drags the series down in places because using it lacks any semblance of creativity or innovation in it. While “Modern Family”’s characters maintain some of television’s strongest and most enjoyable chemistry, the show’s own consistency could be its downfall if it continues its dogged dependence on formula.
low-ceilinged room. That was around 7:00 p.m., and the crowd dissipated and filtered through the multiple floors of the boat afterwards. Each floor was, naturally, complete with a bar. On the quieter third floor, where the merchandise was located, seats and tables were arranged in front of a screen showing “Waterworld” with Kevin Costner. Tables were also selling physicals of the new Protomartyr album. The cover features a stark image of a woman in a white head cloth in front of a pink background. We moved to the deck for some fresh, cigarette-filled air, and a DJ alternated between upbeat sounds and Beach House’s Teen Dream, which felt fitting looking down the river that separates Detroit and Canada. There was a calm on this level that felt odd for a punk show, but enjoyable nonetheless. Some even brought their Moleskines for some quality time to think. The boat set sail shortly after, and Tyevk and ADULT. both played strong, energetic sets during the sail. The stage room didn’t truly fill until we docked again for the final two bands, and then Preoccupations (formerly known as Viet Cong) played to an enthralled crowd. Their set, which opened with their hit “Anxiety,” was characterized by improvisation and pure, unbridled emotion. At the tail end they spent over ten minutes slamming out the same final chord, each time seeming like the last. It was a game with the audience and it worked — the room vibrated still after. The climax of the evening was clearly Protomartyr. Part of their cult fandom comes from the sheer energy of their live shows. Joe Casey will, without fail, quite literally sweat on you if you’re close enough. You can usually see it drip down his forehead by track four, and he certainly went headfirst into this performance. The luckiest among us were spat on. They played through their new album from front to back, and added a few crowd pleasers in between, like “Cowards Starve,” dripping out the words “I’m going out in… style!” with disdain and immediacy. It was entrancing,
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 — 5
DAILY FILM COLUMN
What to watch this October
Film Columnist Madeleine Gaudin tells you all about essential horror Every season is horror composition that usually fall by season when you’re living in a the wayside in horror. wasteland of violence and lateMaybe I’m biased. Witches stage capitalism, but if I had are the most appealing part of to pick one month that most horror culture for me. I’m here embodies the genre it would, for cauldrons and spells and of course, be October. Horror’s black cats. I’m especially here tricky — when it’s good, it’s for covens and sisterhoods and good. But it can be difficult the part when a girl gets really to begin when everything’s mad and the weather gets bad. a remake of a remake or part But “The Witch” brings the of the “Saw” franchise. And subgenre back to its historical that’s such a shame, because origins and contextualizes the horror has so much capacity plight of a woman whose power for beauty, humor transcends the and compelling limitations of Puritan narrative. If you life. want to be scared It’s a beautiful and unsettled and meditation on blown away, here’s girlhood, family and what I recommend dark magic. It also for the most happens to have the wonderful time of single greatest jump the year. scare of all time *** (that’s a fact). If you MADELEINE only have time — or The Witch Last year’s the stomach — for GAUDIN standout horror one horror movie this landed itself a number 10 spot month, make it “The Witch.” on Daily Art’s coveted Best of “The Witch” is available to 2016 list, and was even higher stream on Amazon Prime. on my personal list. When a Texas Chainsaw Massacre Puritan family living on the If you didn’t go back and outskirts of a New England watch (or hopefully rewatch) settlement begins to implode— Tobe Hooper’s classic slasher dead crops, missing babies— film when he died in August, their eldest daughter (played now’s your chance. This is by the incredible Anya Taylor- probably the closest this list is Joy “Split”) seems to be at the going to get to canon or classic center. horror. Robert Egger’s directorial This movie is beautiful — debut is stunning and absolutely stunning. It’s also horrifying. Egger — who’s set incredibly campy, the kind of to direct the remake of 1922 low budget horror that amuses silent classic “Nosferatu” next as much as it scares. — is a production designer by SEE FILM trade, so “The Witch” has the On Page 5 kind of meticulous beauty and
it was angry and it was head banging. The mosh pit opened quickly and sustained a good tempo through the show, and it never became antagonistic — the crowd was in sync with itself, and with the band. When someone dropped their purse, everyone stopped and let her pick it up. And the boat remained af loat among the communal noise. — MATT GALLATIN On a warmer-than-usual mid-September Friday, three friends and I drove to the Michigan-Canada border for a miniature cruise aboard the Detroit Princess, a riverboat whose existence, I must confess, I wasn’t even aware of until Detroit punks Protomartyr booked it for their record release show. After parking on the Cobo Center roof, we made our way down to the channel to wait with hundreds of others in line. The crowd was about what you would expect, an interesting mix of yuppie, grimy and old-timey, but nothing if not brimming with excitement. Meanwhile, Graeme Flegenheimer — owner of Detroit’s El Club, who helped curate the event — anxiously paced up and down the line, reminding people to have their IDs ready and that the boat was shoving off promptly at 7:15 p.m. Though billed as a show, the event was more like a festival. Sets started at 6:30 with special guest Matthew Dear and featured more-or-less local acts — Detroit rockers Tyvek and ADULT. as well as Protomartyr alongside Calgary-based post-punks Preoccupations and Toronto noise rock band METZ, whose new album also happened to be released the day of the event. The shows were all held on the first f loor of the boat, but plenty of entertainment could be found in just about every corner of the five-story ship. Movie screenings took place throughout the night on the second f loor, with food and band merchandise on the third f loor and myriad bars throughout the entire venue. It wasn’t until we had reached the fourth and fifth
f loors, though, that I decided I would one day be doing everything in my power to have my wedding — let’s hope I can manage to get married one day, anyway — on the Detroit Princess. It’s difficult to describe precisely the feeling I felt when we first stepped out onto the fourth-f loor deck. The temperature, oppressively hot and humid earlier, was a perfect 70 degrees, tempered by the river’s coolness. Four stories up was also just high enough to see at least a portion of Detroit’s (and Windsor’s) sprawl under the setting sun, itself a beautiful menagerie of oranges, yellows, purples and soft blue-grays. When the Princess started moving, it was hard not to feel like one of the luckiest people alive, and for only $20! (This still blows my mind.) As the night progressed and the boat ran out of food — arguably the only hitch in the entire evening — a rotating set of DJs spun smoother, poppier tunes on the deck while the punks set fire to the first f loor. (Not literally, of course; Pitchfork actually published a piece titled “Detroit Punks Charter a Riverboat. Somehow Nothing Gets Trashed.”) When Protomartyr finally took the stage, the crowd was no less energetic than it had been two or three hours earlier, and the band brought the heat to match — frontman Joe Casey actually kept a full-size bath towel on his mic stand, citing his imminent sweatiness. The band’s set was composed of new material from Relatives in Descent — the album wasn’t officially released until the week following the show — as well as songs from all three of their previous albums. Though the audience’s unfamiliarity with the new songs threatened to kill momentum at times, favorites from Agent Intellect and Under Color of Official Right ensured success through and through. At the end of the night, I had only two remaining coherent thoughts: first, I cannot wait to have this album and second, how the hell does anyone still have the energy to go to the aftershow? — SEAN LANG
Arts
8 — Wednesday, October 4, 2017
FILM REVIEW
SONY PICTURES It’s unsurprisingly disappointing
‘Flatliners’ fails completely The remake disappoints, just like everyone thought it would JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
Let’s get the lie at the center of “Flatliners” out of the way first. This 2017 film, billed as a sequel, is just a remake of the 1990 film of the same name. Despite comments director Niels Arden Oplev (“Speed Walking”) has made and the casting of Kiefer Sutherland (“Designated Survivor”), who starred in the original, “Flatliners” does little more than copy the original’s story nearly scene for scene, occasionally even line for line. What little novelty there might have been in expanding the original’s ideas is almost completely drowned out by a story that seems to go out of its way to be
a boilerplate imitation of an already plagued the original: The central mediocre film. conceit is too good for the movie For those unfamiliar with the that follows. There is limitless original, “Flatliners” tells the story storytelling opportunity to the idea of a group of medical students who of scientists proving the existence of — in a series of attempts to probe an afterlife, but neither the original the afterlife — kill themselves nor the remake go anywhere temporarily and particularly special have their colleagues with it. There are “Flatliners” resuscitate them a few nebulous after an allotted definitions thrown Sony Pictures time has passed. out (“It was like Ann Arbor 20 + Once they’re back pure energy,” “It IMAX, Goodrich in the world of the was kind of sexual”) living, they begin and an attempt to tie Quality 16 to experience into a greater story hallucinations that about redemption, seem to imply some part of the but everything about the afterlife afterlife isn’t done with them yet. and its nature and capabilities is so Ultimately, this remake’s biggest poorly defined that it’s impossible problem is the same one that for any stakes to develop.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
That means that when it comes to the horror, it’s hard to be all that scared because it hasn’t been established what audience members are supposed to be scared of. In “The Conjuring,” we’re scared of the Bathsheba’s hold over the Perron family. In “It,” we’re scared of Pennywise and the other forms It takes and the way it feeds off peoples’ fear. In “Flatliners,” we’re just scared of the next inevitable blast of loud noise. Oplev, who directed the excellent “Mr. Robot” pilot, wrangles some atmosphere into a few scenes, but for most of the runtime, the script seems to be actively working against him. To the movie’s credit, it tries to set up characters with unique problems and personalities. There is an effort made to base the story around the characters’ struggles. One character in particular is given an interesting arc with a shocking ending, and it’s no coincidence that this storyline represents the biggest departure from the original. The cast does their best, and while results vary — Diego Luna (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) suffers through some of the worst dialogue of the year — it’s hard to say that anyone is outright bad. It’s not as if the original “Flatliners” was a great movie, or even a good one. It’s tediously slow, features effects and scares that have aged incredibly poorly and is mostly notable for its cast and being directed by a pre-“Batman and Robin” Joel Schumacher. Still, it’s hard not to be disappointed at having to watch this remake take the same ingenious idea and waste it in many of the same ways. A good cast and a few moments of atmosphere can’t overcome the slavish devotion to the source material without even an attempt at reconciling that movie’s flaws.
another turn, this time into a more relaxed, slightly popinfused composition. The muted simplicity of background harmonies calls attention to the bounce in Rowsell’s delivery of “Hannah! She lives! She breathes! / She’s beautifully unconventional.” Breezy and unaffected, this song is less substantial than “Yuk Foo” but more approachable: superficially catchy. The rest of the album continues to leapfrog in the same erratic manner. Breathy, half-finished speculations stand next to relentless tempos that oddly cut into the acoustic pluck of “After the Zero Hour:” Wolf Alice manages to fit a lot into twelve tracks. Although the songs rarely falter in delivering originality, each arrangement distinctive and multifaceted, the discombobulated complexity can oftentimes become overpowering.
ALBUM REVIEW
FILM From Page 5 Like “The Witch,” “Chainsaw” treats it’s monster — Leatherface — with an unexpected tenderness. Every minute is amazing, but it’s worth sitting through even if you’re horror averse for the final shot. It’s poetry spun from what could have been just a dirty bloodbath. Hooper’s eye is unmatched and the emotional core of film is unrivaled in modern horror. This is master class horror. This is why I love movies. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is available to stream on Amazon Prime. It Follows “It Follows” is just further proof of what I hope has already been made clear at this point: Horror can be beautiful. This movie does to home invasion narratives what “The Witch” and “Chainsaw” do to their respective subgenres. It reimagines what it means to be followed while playing within
the rules. A not-so-subtle metaphor for STIs, “It Follows” tracks a demonic spirit that manifests itself as different people, visible only to the person possessed, who follow you until they can reach and kill you. The only way to pass the demon off to someone else is by having sex with them. It’s eerie and terrifying and a surprisingly poignant portrait of teen culture. Filmed in and around Detroit, it’s beautifully dark. This is the kind of horror that sits with you, crawls under your skin and unsettles you for days after it ends. “It Follows” is available to stream on Netflix. *** Okay, if you’re still looking for an ease-in to horror, the teen fare of the 90s and early 00s is a good place to start. The “Scream” franchise (especially 1 or 4) blend humor and horror, and “The Craft” does horrorlite unlike any other movie out there. Go forth, get scared and please (please, please, please) watch “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Please.
It’s eerie and terrifying and a surprisingly poignant portrait of teen culture
DO YOU LIKE CLOTHES, STLYE, FASHION AND RECOGNIZING ANIME REPRESENTATIONS OF LOUIS VUITON BAGS ON SIGHT? DO YOU LIKE READING AND WRITING AND WRITING ABOUT READING? THEN JOIN STYLE AND JOIN BOOKS E-mail arts@michigandaily.com for information on applying.
RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
DIRTY HIT Wolf Alice’s new album wows
And for once, an Alt-Indie rock band that isn’t sad
The latest from the band continues on what the last album started: unexpected yet melodious arrangements of sound and feeling SHIMA SADAGHIYANI Daily Arts Writer
In 2015, Wolf Alice burst onto the British alt-rock stage with their first album, My Love Is Cool. With tracks like “Bros” and “You’re a Germ,” the fourmember band effortlessly blended acoustic riffs and melodious vocals with pounding bass and grating yells. A delirious explosion of sound, My Love Is Cool is f lighty; it jumps from speakers with vitality, spinning into a kaleidoscope of emotion and never lingering too long in one place. Wolf Alice’s latest release, Visions of a Life, introduces nothing new but rather expands on their debut’s unpredictability. The album’s songs are like full-color illustrations of different moments in a person’s life. A
scattered collection of photos faintly bound together by the barest glimmer of thread, what they lack in cohesivity, they make up for in expressiveness. The initial track, “Heavenward,” begins in a hazy nebula of ambient synth; grey matter that transforms
Visions of a Life Wolf Alice Dirty Hit into a rhythmic instrumental background that rises and falls under the line of lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s voice. The echo of her vocals are almost lost in translation: a nearly indiscernible chorus of “Go heavenward / As all Earth’s angels should” unravels the edges of the song. Frayed and obscure, “Heavenward” sits at
the edge of consciousness — a half-forgotten memory. In contrast, the succeeding track, “Yuk Foo,” seems to come from an entirely different band altogether, one that doesn’t give a “shit, shit, shit.” Rowsell’s aggressive screams backed by a raucous medley of punk rock anger gives the middle finger to the modest “Heavenward.” As “You bore me to death, well deplore me / No, I don’t give a shit” scratches nails down the chalkboard of prepubescent angst, Visions of a Life jolts from one sentiment to another. With little to no warning, a metamorphosis occurs: whimsical experimentation into belligerent rage. Open up the fucking pit, Wolf Alice. The last lingering clamor of “Yuk Foo” mellows into “Beautifully Unconventional,” and Visions of a Life takes
Open up the fucking pit, Wolf Alice The various components of Visions of a Life seem to stand independent of each other; a spilled jigsaw puzzle with mismatched pieces, it’s hard to see the overall picture with songs that just don’t fit together. It is almost impossible to form the flurry of contrasting sound, clashing harmonies and jarring juxtapositions into sequences that are easier to follow. After all, in choosing to focus mostly on individual track development rather than establishing an overall coherent flow, Wolf Alice creates a labyrinth: A cacophony of disconnected personal exclamations that can be easy to get lost in. But even so, this isn’t an album that is meant to lock neatly together. Within the disarray, each song becomes an abstract mosaic of Wolf Alice’s distant memories; a chromatic jumble that transforms Visions of a Life into a poignant exploration of human emotion.
ACROSS 1 Fancy parties 6 [This is gonna be really bad!] 10 OutKast rapper Big __ 13 Hi in Hawaii 14 Senior golfer Aoki 15 Lends support to 16 Likely to speak out 17 *Vodka cocktail often served with a sugared rim 19 Text update from an Uber driver: Abbr. 20 Trippy ’60s drug 22 Milked for all it’s worth 23 Mai __: rum drinks 25 Post-CrossFit woes 26 With 49-Across, it keeps repeating itself ... and, based on the first and last letters, an apt description of each answer to a starred clue 28 “__-ching!” 29 Down with the flu 32 NFLer again in 2016 33 Early American furniture style 36 Casino cash source 37 Oft-injured knee part, for short 40 Bit of texting tact 41 Sine __ non 42 Interest-arousing promo 45 More accurate 47 Mud bath offerer 48 Night before 49 See 26-Across 50 Burton of “Star Trek: TNG” 52 Wild swine 53 Win out 56 Tiny drink 57 Go wrong 60 *Largely bygone penal colony 62 “Paper Moon” girl 64 Notable times 65 Mideast dignitary 66 Brownish gray 67 Susan of “L.A. Law” 68 Fix, as a feline 69 Promoted heavily
DOWN 1 Conceded, with “up” 2 Tons 3 *Store website feature 4 “I thought so!” 5 Education financing company, familiarly 6 Coat, as jewelry 7 Put in the game 8 *Shari Lewis puppet 9 Place for a break? 10 Dove or robin 11 Campfire attraction 12 Kids’ game for car trips 15 Includes 18 Maiden name intro 21 Nine-digit ID 24 Wanted poster letters 25 Duke’s conf. 26 Cry from a sheep 27 Motel postings 30 *Totally drunk 31 “Today” co-host Matt
34 Manipulative health care practitioner 35 Pie crust fat 38 Mountain climber’s piton spots 39 *Light source with hypnotic bubbles 43 Artillery bursts 44 Essen article 46 Electronics giant
49 Hitter’s stat 51 Sound-detecting organ 53 Claimed in court 54 Hard to find 55 “Buy It Now” site 56 Agile 58 Like orange or red persimmons 59 Marsh plant 61 Athletes for Hope co-founder Hamm 63 Calendar square
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By C.C. Burnikel ©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/04/17
10/04/17
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 — 7A
9/2
9/9
9/17
9/23
10/7
10/14
10/22
10/29
11/4
FLORIDA
CINCINNATI
AIR FORCE
PURDUE
MICHIGAN STATE
at INDIANA
at PENN STATE
RUTGERS
MINNESOTA (2-0)
12 p.m. EST, Bloomington IN.
TBD Penn State
W, 33-17 (1-0) W, 36-14 (2-0) W, 29-13 (3-0) W, 28-10 (4-0)
7:30p.m. Michigan Stadium
12 p.m. Michigan Stadium
TBD Michigan Stadium
11/11 at MARYLAND TBD @ College Park MD
11/18
11/25
at WISCONSIN
OHIO ST.
TBD @ Madison WI
12 p.m. EST Michigan Stadium
Notebook: Wolverines talk O’Korn, Michigan State TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
In the final days leading up to Michigan State’s first appearance in Ann Arbor since the infamous botched punt, the No. 7 Michigan football team (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) spoke to the media and discussed the rivalry, the offense and how fifth-year senior John O’Korn has adjusted as the new starting quarterback. Stay up to date with the Wolverines in this week’s notebook. Gentry’s improvement at tight end The tight end group stepped up against Purdue, with two players — sophomore Sean McKeon and redshirt sophomore Zach Gentry — combining for 130 yards on eight total catches. “We (the tight ends and O’Korn) have a strong chemistry,” Gentry said. “Everyday after practice we stick around with the quarterbacks and get some extra balls and run some extra routes for them. The tight ends, we’re a hardworking group and we’ve got a lot of guys who can contribute. “... (O’Korn) was able to find us last game, and everything just worked out. We just got to hope he keeps hitting us a little bit.” Gentry, a former quarterback who converted to tight end, caught his first career touchdown pass against the Boilermakers. The conversion to tight end wasn’t easy for Gentry. He didn’t get much playing time at his new position early in his career, but now he’s a key player for Michigan’s offense and a
Lommer takes home title at Wildcat Invitational ADAM RICH For the Daily
“Game, set, match Lommer,” the loudspeaker rang over a brisk Sunday afternoon in Evanston. In the Blue Flight of the Wildcat Invitational, Michigan sophomore Chiara Lommer took home her first individual collegiate championship. Lommer, ranked 115th in the nation coming into the competition, dominated all weekend behind her improved offense and aggressive approach, and as a result never dropped more than four games in a set. “This weekend was a pretty good weekend competitively because I was really going out there every match and staying in the points and not giving away free errors, which are common at the beginning of the fall,” Lommer said. “Just trying to be competitive all weekend was my biggest goal.” And with her stellar play, Lommer aced her goal. On
favorable target for Michigan’s quarterbacks. Gentry has improved most in pass protection and blocking, a part of the game that was completely new to him after switching from quarterback. “(Blocking was) something that was completely foreign to me,” Gentry said. “I mean, usually, I was the guy in practice that you weren’t allowed to touch. Having to block (former Michigan defensive linemen) Taco Charlton and Chris Wormley was something else. … I was pretty bad at just getting down at pad level.”
per game, two touchdowns) and junior Karan Higdon (34 yards per game, two touchdowns). Isaac, who suffered a minor injury against Air Force, is back to full strength after the bye week. He started against Cincinnati and Air Force, but didn’t get the start against Purdue. “Hopefully we can dial some stuff and get the run game going,” Isaac said. That may be easier said than done. The Spartans shut down Iowa’s running game last weekend, holding the Hawkeyes to just 19 yards on the ground.
Onwenu familiar with Spartans’ defensive line Sophomore right tackle Michael Onwenu, a Detroit native, has plenty of connections to Michigan State. His sister, Stephanie, and one of his cousins both attend Michigan State. But outside of the family, he knows plenty of players on the Spartans’ roster. “That D-line, I probably went to camps with the majority of them, especially the interior guys,” Onwenu said. “So I know how they play. It’s gonna be a game to watch.” While he was in high school,
he didn’t play directly against any future Michigan State defensive linemen, but he went head to head with them in summer football camps. They played with less contact in camps, but he became familiar with how some of them like to pass rush. He also watched Michigan State beat Iowa this weekend to get a better idea of how the Spartans like to line up on defense. Michigan State has tallied just nine sacks this season — half the amount that Michigan has — but Onwenu and the Wolverines’ offensive line will be challenged nonetheless.
The Spartans will challenge the young right side of Michigan’s offensive line. It features Onwenu inside at right guard and a mix of redshirt sophomores Jon Runyan Jr. and Nolan Ulizio at right tackle. Those guys will have to step up as the Wolverines move into the thick of their Big Ten schedule. Onwenu appears up to the task. This week, he’s not been in contact with any of his counterparts at Michigan State. He’s focusing solely on getting ready for the rivalry game. “They might be avoiding me,” he said. “They don’t want to get hit.”
Isaac ready for blitz-heavy Michigan State defense The Spartans will be the toughest defensive test Michigan has faced yet, and if O’Korn struggles during his first start this season, then Michigan will have to turn to its running back rotation for offense. The Spartans rank 16th in the nation and third in the Big Ten for rush defense, allowing just 96 rushing yards per game. “(Michigan State has) a really tough front seven,” said fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac. “They do a lot of run blitzing, so we’ve definitely been watching on film and practicing those looks having had an extra week of preparation.” With a trio of rushers, Michigan’s running backs have proven they might have more depth than any other position group. Isaac leads Michigan with 89 rushing yards per game and one touchdown. Trailing him are sophomore Chris Evans (56 yards
Redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry is entering the rivalry matchup against Michigan State after a breakout performance against the Boilermakers.
Friday, Lommer cruised to a straight set victory against Utah’s Margo Pletcher. She followed up her opening round win with another dominant performance against Kentucky’s Sedi Jacobs and advanced into the championship round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. In the championship match, Lommer decisively defeated Notre Dame’s Allie Miller, 6-3, 6-4, to close out a spectacular weekend of play. “(This summer), I really worked on my return and trying to get a lot of depth on it,” Lommer said. “I also really worked on my forehand and approaching the net, so just a lot more offense.” Lommer’s improvements were apparent en route to her finals win, and they will surely serve her well in future contests. Also participating in the tournament for the Wolverines were sophomore Lera Patiuk and freshman Bella Lorenzini. To begin tournament play, Patiuk overwhelmed Notre Dame’s Caroline Dunleavy in straight sets. Unlike Lommer, however, Patiuk was unable to advance to the championship round in her division. She fell Saturday at the hands of Michigan State’s Aslina Chua. In her last match, Patiuk edged out a victory in the Red Flight third place contest over Utah’s
Victoria Robinson, 6-1, 2-6 and 6-3. Lorenzini, on the other hand, struggled to get off on the right foot. In her opening match, she lost to Notre Dame’s Cameron Corse, and on Saturday, she fell to Michigan State’s Samantha Memije. Unfazed by the results from her first two matches, Lorenzini rebounded Sunday to defeat DePaul’s Marija Jovicic in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 and 7-5. In addition to playing in the singles draw, Lommer and Lorenzini played together in the doubles draw. “Doubles helps me be more aggressive in singles,” Lommer said. “It helps me stay in the mindset where I’m trying to come to the net and finish the point rather than staying back and just rallying.” In their preliminary match, the duo topped Florida State’s Nandini Das and Ariana Rahmanparast, 6-4. Saturday, they dropped their match to host school Northwestern’s Inci Ogut and Julie Byrne, 6-1. Later in the afternoon, the Wolverine duo rallied to defeat Chicago State’s Maria Kostyuk and Iesha Shepherd, 6-4. For the final doubles match of the weekend, Patiuk played in place of Lorenzini in the consolation second round, where she and Lommer overcame Utah’s Leah Heimuli
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein watched as sophomore Chiara Lommer put forth a dominating performance.
and Briana Turley, 6-4. “I think the individual play in the fall allows us to go out there and have less of an expectation
to win for a team,” Lommer said. “We’re also able to keep working on stuff that we did in the summer without as much
pressure as in a dual match. It allows us to keep getting better and developing our game so it is 100% for January.”
Sports
8A — Wednesday, October 4, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Marody eager for first full season on the ice ANNA MARCUS Daily Sports Writer
Fifty-three seconds into the third period Saturday night, Cooper Marody paused, just momentarily, after receiving a beautiful setup from junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi. Within seconds, he knocked a one-timer into the bottom right corner of the net, beyond the outstretched reach of the Western Ontario goaltender. The junior forward’s textbook goal — which came during the Michigan hockey team’s season-opening exhibition — is simply a microcosm of his style of play. His patience and ability to drown out surrounding noise while on the rink is a special characteristic of his game that many players find difficult to master. And his new head coach, Mel Pearson, was quick to note that Marody’s style of play stands out. “He’s so patient,” Pearson said. “He’s so smart with the puck, and he sees things that maybe even a person sitting in the stands wouldn’t see, let alone a person on the ice with all the commotion going on. He has a way of just slowing the game down, even when everything’s going crazy.” Marody’s offensive prowess in the game extended beyond his goal, as well. He registered an assist in each period, characteristic of a seasoned forward who knows how to crisply set the puck up for his teammates in a way that is almost second nature. As a veteran Wolverine, entering his third year on the team, it makes sense that Marody has the innate capacity to create these opportunities on the ice. There is something glaring, however, that sets Marody apart from his upperclassmen counterparts:
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Junior forward Cooper Marody netted a goal and notched three assists in the Wolverines’ season-opening exhibition against Western Ontario on Saturday.
he has yet to play a full collegiate season. And last year was the most extreme case of that, as his sophomore season was slashed in half. It’s safe to say Marody didn’t expect his career at Michigan to take the course it did. In the midst of his elite freshman campaign — when he netted 24 points and played in 32 games — Marody fell ill with mononucleosis in mid-January, taking him off the ice for an entire month.
Though he was able to finish out his first season once healthy again, the illness resulted in a serious ramification for his sophomore year: he was academically ineligible to play for the Wolverines during the fall semester. While Marody still practiced every day with the team, the time away from the sport he loved was painful. “Any time a sport you love gets taken away from you and you can’t play, if you’re a competitor you feel it,” Pearson said. “And I think
He has a way of just slowing the game down.
(Cooper) felt it. I think it was tough on him last year. Now, he’s reenergized and he knows if he continues to do the things that he needs to do that he’s going to play and play all year, and be a big part of our team.” Added Cecconi: “I’ve known Coop since before I got to school, and it definitely hurt him a bit not being able to play the first half of the season,” he said. “The first couple games of the season are times to adjust and get back into hockey. And for him not to have that was kind of a blow
to our team and himself, but he came back strong.” And come back he did. Starting with the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 29-30, Marody played out the final 18 games of his sophomore season. He notched 15 points through the end of the year, en route to being one of the standouts in an otherwise relatively lifeless Michigan offense. Marody’s hat trick in the Wolverines’ 5-4 victory over Ohio State on Feb. 3 epitomized
It was an unfortunate situation, but it’s over now.
his resurgence. It was the most goals anyone on the team scored in a game last season. Ref lecting back on last year’s adversities, Marody couldn’t be more ready to move on and begin what he hopes to be his first complete season on the Wolverine roster. And a goal paired with three assists in the exhibition game is certainly not a lousy way to start. “It was an unfortunate situation, but it’s over now,” Marody said. “I’ve learned a lot of valuable things from it, and I’m just looking to move forward from that. It’s obviously tough, but if you learn from it, and move forward. You’re a better person because of it. “Hopefully, I’ll stay healthy the whole season. It will be my first full season here at Michigan, so I’m very excited about that. It will be good to continue to develop that chemistry with my linemates, and I’m just very, very excited to play a whole season.” Marody had no way of foreseeing the path his collegiate hockey career was going to take, and without a doubt would have preferred for his sophomore year to take on a different narrative. That being said, Marody’s rare circumstance allowed him to gain perspective — not just on this season, but for the rest of his life as well. “(I now know) that it could always be worse,” Marody said. “Like if you have a bad day at practice, you’re just lucky that you’re healthy and able to play. So if you don’t have a good day, if you don’t have a good shift, if you don’t have a good game, you can just be thankful that you’re playing and healthy. And then nothing else that’s wrong is that big of a deal. So to just keep that positive mindset, every day coming to the rink, no matter what happens.”
VOLLEYBALL
Michigan sets new volleyball attendance record at Crisler BENNETT BRAMSON For the Daily
With 8,137 spectators in attendance, the No. 23 Michigan volleyball team drew its largest crowd in team history as it took down rival Ohio State, 3-1, at Crisler Center on Friday night. The Wolverines more than tripled their previous record attendance of 2,673 from 2009 and more than quadrupled the maximum attendance in their normal arena — the 1,800 seat capacity Cliff Keen Arena. This was Michigan’s first and only match to be played at Crisler Center this season and its first regular season match played there since a 3-1 defeat against Nebraska in 2015. Last season, the Wolverines hosted two NCAA Tournament matches there against American University and Oregon, both victories for the Wolverines. Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright remembers those games well. She appreciated the atmosphere the fans created then, even though it paled in comparison to Friday night. “The last time we played (at Crisler) we had the first round and the second round of the NCAA Tournament,” KiefferWright said. “I felt like the vibe was going [then], but tonight was just an extra step up.” For those 8,137 fans in attendance — in addition to the 15 Michigan volleyball players — it was clear that Friday’s match was going to be a special one from the moment of the first serve. The Wolverines’ student section was filled to the point that students had to find
seating elsewhere. They were seen sprinkled across the upper section of the arena, still vigorously cheering along and enjoying the match. While the fans were very enthusiastic during the course of the entire match, the mayhem reached its pinnacle in the fourth and final set. Michigan was down 17-11 and went on a 6-0 run to tie the set. At that point, for every subsequent point the Wolverines scored, the fans went wild until the victoryclinching point. The entire arena erupted in a collective cheer of approval louder than any other moment during the match. During the Wolverines’ final run, players were also getting in on the fun as they were shown dancing on the big screen during breaks in play. Kieffer-Wright, who was too focused on the match to get caught up in the dancing, thought that the environment pushed the players to win the match. “It (made) the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” KiefferWright said. “You just feel good and feel like comfortable and like, ‘OK, they’re ready for this next point and they’re ready to see us win.’ It’s just incredible. I love it.” Kieffer-Wright led the Wolverines to victory after recording team highs in points, hitting percentage and blocks, with 19, .375 and nine, respectively.
It (made) the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Michigan coach Mark Rosen also noticed the impact of the crowd. The energy the fans brought was unlike any other home match Rosen had ever experienced during his time at the helm of the program. While he loved the overall support of the fans, he specifically loved the student support and wants to see more matches with this type of turnout. In order to make that vision a reality, however, Michigan will first need to catch up with the rest of the Big Ten in terms of its volleyball arena size. “We see this [crowd size] all the time,” Rosen said. “Michigan State has that kind of crowd, not consistently, but they’ve had that before. Nebraska has it, Minnesota has it, so in our conference we play in front of that all the time.” The team sold out Cliff Keen Arena for about half of its 16 home matches last season, and Rosen believes that the team is easily capable of generating an attendance well above Cliff Keen Arena’s maximum, as shown by the turnout for the Ohio State match. “There is work being done behind the scenes to try to get us into a bigger place,” Rosen said. “Hopefully we can keep pushing the agenda to get that done because we’ve outgrown Keen. There’s no question about it.” For now, though, the Wolverines will take what they can get in terms of attendance and appreciate the amazing turnout they received for one match. “It’s a feeling you’ll never be able to replicate,” KiefferWright said. “A rivalry, just a great home crowd. …It just feels good to have the support of Ann Arbor and Michigan students.”
It just feels good to have the support of Ann Arbor.
statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | O C TO B E R 4 , 2017
“Anybody have a problem with that?�
Leading a fraternity as a gay man
2B
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | O C TO B E R 4 , 2017
Managaing Statement Editor: Lara Moehlman
Editor in Chief: Emma Kinery
Managing Editor: Rebecca Lerner
Deputy Editors: Yoshiko Iwai Brian Kuang
Design Staff: Michelle Phillips Hannah Myers Emily Hardie Erin Tolar Emily Koffsky
Copy Editors: Elizabeth Dokas Taylor Grandinetti
Photo Editor: Alexis Rankin
Empath in the Wild: Free to feel BY REGAN DETWILER, COLUMNIST
I
n U.S. politics, the call for tolerating differences between people — based on class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or most any other identity — has been assigned to the realm of liberalism, generally speaking. But when liberals have called for a wider definition of “hate speech,” people have accusedthem of intolerance. This idea of “tolerance” is connected to the idea of empathy. Liberals call for empathizing with marginalized groups — and therefore tolerating them — but when it comes to conservatives they make no such calls to action. In the media, this issue of liberal (in)tolerance of conservatives isn’t new, but I believe the intensity of the problem has been underemphasized. The conflict between the call for more empathy and tolerance toward others, on the one hand, and the call for more restricted speech, on the other hand, exists on a philosophical level — it has to do with beauty and justice, two values that are most important to society. Empathy has, from the beginning, been tied to the realm of aesthetics, the field of philosophy concerned with the appreciation of art, beauty and good taste. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term first appears in English in the work of Vernon Lee and Clementina AnstrutherThomson, two prominent late19th-century scholar-artists who lived together openly as lovers, friends and co-authors.
In their most prominent book, “Beauty and Ugliness: And Other Studies in Psychological Aesthetics,” they define empathy as an “aesthetic sympathetic feeling.” The emergence of empathy in the English lexicon during the early 1900s, in Western Europe, coincides with the rise of modernity and the first artworks famous for their
define as a word, as described in its really long entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia. I like to define the beautiful as something that “makes sense,” or speaks to some truth. Whether the thing the empathizer is trying to feel into is beautiful or ugly, the empathizer is still making sense of something. But I can only empathize with someone if that person expresses him or herself outwardly. Once I can empathize with someone else’s emotions, I can ILLUSTRATION BY REGAN DETWILER determine ugliness. A great example is whether those emotions are Marcel Duchamp’s statue ugly or beautiful. Prominent “Fountain” (1917), which is art critic Arthur Danto claims literally a urinal signed with a an ugly work of art can still pseudonym. be artistically right, in that The viewer of a work of the work’s ugliness allows art can empathize with the it to successfully convey the artwork and find it beautiful artist’s intended message. — or empathize with a work In the context of human of art and find it ugly. Theodor emotion, I could empathize Lipps, one of the most famous with someone and determine scholars on empathy, calls the whether their ugly or beautiful former “positive empathy” and emotions are valid. the latter “negative empathy.” Take, for example, the While I can empathize white supremacists and neowith a work of art and find Nazis who protested this it ugly beautiful (or however August in Charlottesville, Va. else a work of art could be I can empathize with these described), I argue that the people’s emotions. By this, I work of empathizing is in itself mean I can understand what beautiful. What do I mean by it feels like to be angry or beautiful? Well, I don’t really feel disenfranchised. I, by know. It’s almost impossible to no means, am endorsing or
condoning their actions, but the principles of empathy allow me to understand their emotions according to how they’re expressed. Simultaneously, I can reach my own conclusion that their intentions and actions are morally wrong and are an impediment to the furthering of equality and justice in this country. I can empathize in the same way with Dana Greene, who last week knelt in the Diag for nearly 24 hours in protest of anti-Black racism, going through the same emotional and moral process. To make myself clear, I want to emphasize that the actions on the part of white supremacist and neo-Nazi protesters are in no way equivalent to Greene’s — the former incited violence and advocated hate, and the latter advocated for justice and peace. The process of empathizing allows me to recognize Greene’s emotions as valid because of the life experiences that led to them, and then reach my own conclusion that his actions and intentions are morally justifiable and align with my own vision of furthering equality. If empathy is in itself beautiful and beauty furthers justice in the world (as I postulated in my first column), then I could say empathizing is a morally right thing to do. But in order to empathize, I must have someone to empathize with, which requires free expression. Here, we reach the
entanglement of empathy, beauty, justice and the right to free speech. Empathy requires individuals to express themselves, whether in the form of creating works of art, writing op-eds, protesting or engaging in other expressive activities. And empathy also requires people to receive the emotions of others, putting it at odds with calls for safe spaces, specifically on college campuses. When individual expression fits a given definition of “hate speech,” that expression becomes morally indefensible, unjust, etc. The liberal call for more empathy seems to be at odds with calls for restrictions on hate speech and more safe spaces. What kind of expression is defensible? And who can be expected to “receive” the emotions of others? If we restrict certain forms of expression, are we limiting our ability to empathize with others? To me, the answer is yes. I suppose the greater question is: What’s more just — allowing individuals to continue writing anti-Islam messages on the Diag, or restricting that kind of expression and approaching the problem of, in this case, Islamophobia, from a different angle — say, through more inclusive messages and greater cultural awareness being taught in public schools? While, logically speaking, restricting expression limits empathetic possibilities, it may be a necessary compromise to achieve a more just society.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
3B
Soundtracking: Tailgate season
BY MATT HARMON, DAILY STAFF REPORTER
I
woke up Saturday morning not to the sound of birds chirping outside my window, not to the smell of pancakes and eggs wafting into my bedroom from the kitchen, but instead to the muffled sound of a shotgun race and ’07 Yeezy playing down the street. “Good Morning” — Kanye West Game Day: an autumn event at Michigan in which we can all come together and choose to forget every lesson we learned from Will Smith’s “Concussion” (2015). A day when students get to the Big House 30 minutes early, a stark contrast to being 20 minutes late to lecture. A day where fans can set aside their differences and fight with out-oftowners about the physical aptitude of college students. When I was woken up by the mastermind behind the line “You left your fridge open, somebody just took a sandwich,” I wasn’t annoyed with the frat house’s PA systems on full volume at nine in the morning. I was overjoyed. Even though I was never really into football growing up, my cousin made me play catch with him a lot. He used to throw me perfect spirals, hurting either my hands or my stomach as I let the hard leather smack my body. Because of this constant barrage of football growing up, it’s probably the one sport I can both understand and enjoy. But before the game, the tails have to be gated, or whatever that means. I threw off my sheets, realizing it was already 9 and the game started at noon and ran to the bathroom, with my toothbrush in one hand and paste in the other. Playing music from my phone, I was more than ready to get sunburned and vibe to early 2000s throwbacks at some frat on Central Campus. But first, I couldn’t head out completely sober. I wasn’t a madman. Looking in my fridge, all I had was gin and some Diet Coke from the week before. Welp. Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. The shot went down the hatch with the Diet Coke chase close behind. My gut wrenched. Was that a rum and Coke chaser? “Mistakes” — Lake Street Dive “Look at what mistake I’m making now …” With that mess behind me, I threw on every yellow piece of clothing I owned. Yellow corduroy shorts I bought pre-cut from Value World? Check. Yellow checkered shirt that looks as if it belongs in the rejects pile from the “Saved By The Bell” costume room? Check. Yellow socks that cut off circulation to my feet from shrinking in the wash? Definitely check. Walking gingerly to the kitchen because I could feel my toes already going numb, I toasted a bagel and chowed down as I headed toward the door. As I laced up my sneakers, which are falling apart at the seams just as I will be around the middle of November, I remembered to grab a bucket hat and sunglasses. The sun is your worst enemy on
Saturdays. I stopped and looked at my outfit in the fullbody mirror. What I saw looking back at me was the equivalent of a highlighter from the ’90s, and I could not have felt classier. I left the house. “Dapper” — Domo Genesis feat. Anderson .Paak The bump and rhythm of Domo guided me down the street. I couldn’t help but dance and bop on my way to meet some friends. Who cares what you look like? Sometimes you’ve just gotta dance. Everyone
walking by, a playlist forms. As I walked, I heard Soulja Boy followed by Fountains of Wayne and Lil Boat with a few EDM tracks sprinkled in here and there. Ann Arbor truly is a mixtape on Saturdays, and we’re all here to dance along. “Land of 1000 Dances” — Wilson Pickett If I’m gonna move my feet, I’d rather be dancing than going for a run. Your body needs to move when a beat comes in. You tap your foot. Your heart matches a tempo. The only time I don’t feel in control of my motions is when I want to dance. I saw the same thing at the tailgates that day. Everyone was screaming lyrics and jumping and sweating every bit of alcohol out of their bodies. It’s the dudes who weren’t dancing who made me nervous. How were they going to get sober without working off the buzz? That’s their secret. They’re fixin’ to die at this point. “Fixin’ To Die Blues” — Bukka White “I’m lookin’ funny in my eyes and I believe I’m fixin’ to die ...” Two-liters of orange pop in their left hands. Half-gallons of Kamchatka in their right hands. I had never seen people who symbolize and personify the “Carrot or Stick” until that moment. I couldn’t look away, ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MYERSbut I needed reprieve, like when you peek out from behind your was probably too drunk to care or judge by that hands at a horror movie. It hurt to watch. It made point. me feel like how I did that morning right after the Tailgates are like the radio edits of frat parties. infamous gin-and-rum incident. If the music is There’s less making out, less puking and more what drives the entire tailgate, why put your body bouncy houses. But the main elements stay the in danger like that? There’s a line and I still don’t same. Brothers spray beer everywhere, much to the think some have found it yet. dismay of almost everyone around them. Elevated I found my friends, joined a crowd, and headed surfaces and Solo Cups are strewn about on front down State toward the Big House. As we collectively lawns. The sight was familiar. took a left down Division, I saw a man drumming As I looked ahead, I saw the biggest smiles on a on a plastic bucket. As fans passed by, I saw their lawn packed full of guys and girls ready to seize the heads bob and feet move with a little more pep and day — and drink away their papers due Monday. rhythm than usual. “Sea of Love” — Phil Phillips We were back in the midst of sound and we While the blue tarp in front of the frat started to walked to the beat. collapse, exposing the sea of fans to the world, the cars “Dancing in the Street” — David Bowie and Mick driving by got a glimpse into the microcosm that is a Jagger tailgate. You have different types of tailgaters like you Passing pizza stands and guys selling water out of have different species of fish. coolers and that preacher yelling at football fans about As the Naked Brothers Band said, there’s “so many the deadly dangers of homosexuality, we marched on to fish in the sea.” the stadium. While most of us were probably starving At any given party, you’ll most likely see brothers, since we did not properly carb up for a morning, we PGP sorority members, parents reliving the glory days, soldiered on, pulling ourselves up by our mud-soaked slapping wine bags and chugging beers while the rest bootstraps. egg them on. I looked out over the student section at Michigan Walking past the many frats while on my Stadium. One whole year at UMich already gone, I gameday adventure, the music guided me. Every knew where I was. I knew where we all were. house plays the same music, but when you keep “Where You Belong” — Jay Prince
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
“Anybody have a problem with that?” Leading a fraternity as a gay man
by Avi Sholkof f, Public Policy junior Daniel Greene remembers one of the first fraternity rush events he attended as a freshman. “I walk into the house, and the first thing I hear, is ‘that’s so gay,’” Greene said. “Some brother is repeating ‘that’s so gay.’ That’s literally the first thing after I checked in I heard.” The phrase was thrown around so many times Greene was convinced someone in the fraternity spread word of his sexuality. “So I thought, ‘OK, maybe not the house for me,’” he recalled. Greene went to a few more fraternity rush events before finding his place at a house on the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Hill Street: Lambda Chi Alpha. “I told them during one of the first two rush events, ‘Hey, I know this has nothing to do with anything, I don’t know whether you’re going to give me a bid, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m openly gay.’” Then LSA junior CJ Motley, who was in charge of Lambda Chi Alpha’s
Daniel Greene
Daily Sports Writer
recruitment in the fall of 2015, said his personal reaction to Daniel’s announcement was shame. “That he would have to think that would have to be an issue or a problem, it was kind of disheartening.” He recalls that Greene seemed immediately like a great fit for the fraternity after meeting him at a mass meeting. “I felt good that he could get along with us, be comfortable being around us, but at the same time, I didn’t like the idea that he felt like he wouldn’t fit in because of who he is.” As a freshman, Greene never could have imagined himself in a fraternity, much less a president of Lambda Chi Alpha. When he was in middle school, he never thought he’d be able to get married or have children. He expected to live a “different” life because of his sexual orientation. Thankfully, Greene’s right to marry is no longer up for discussion after the June 2015Obergfell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex mar-
riage in the United States. And yet, serving as the president of a fraternity, Greene continues to face prejudice because of his sexuality. *** Historically, the Michigan Greek life community has attempted inclusivity of LGBTQ members, but the reality is often murky. A 2005 “Statement for Human Dignity” — signed by the all the major Greek life organizations — affirmed the houses would “not tolerate discrimination of any kind” against LGBTQ members, among other marginalized groups on campus. Yet in October 2016, LSA senior Emily Kaufman — who is a transgender-female — drew national attention after she dropped out of sorority rush after perceived exclusion. Back in 2010, a Daily article found many LGBTQ fraternity members were wary of coming out to their brothers due to perceived social stigmas. Four fraternity brothers who went on the record to talk about their experiences as gay men in Greek life preferred to remain anon-
ALEXIS RANKIN/DAILY
ymous because they never came out to many, if not all, of their fraternity brothers. “I think at the group level, kind of a pack mentality (exists),” one anonymous fraternity member told the Daily in 2010. “Whenever someone starts jerking around and saying (homophobic) things, but not necessarily meant to be derogatory, that kind of feeds into those perceptions.” Seven years after this article was published, Greene ascended to the leadership of an IFC fraternity as an outwardly gay member, ref lective of a societal shift toward acceptance of homosexuality. In 2006, Pew found that 54 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage, with only 37 percent in favor. Nine years later, the Supreme Court would codify a right to same-sex marriage, and that figure f lipped by 2017, with 62 percent of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage and 32 percent opposed. *** Greene is busy on campus. A selfdescribed nerd, he’s an LSA student representative in Central Student Government as well as a peer group leader within the Wolverine Support Network, a student-led organization that promotes mental health. In grade school, Daniel tried to hide who he was. Some of his fellow elementary and middle school peers would ask if he was gay, and he would always respond with a no. It wasn’t until November of the sixth grade that he finally answered yes. Within a day, everyone at school knew. And Greene feels especially privileged that, in his words, his school was “super accepting.” However, Greene couldn’t say that all members of his community accepted who he was. That year, he tried joining the football team as a way to fit in. The coach at the time asked, “What are you a fucking girl?” in response to Greene’s high-pitched voice. *** “I think that there are instances where [Greek life is homophobic]. There’s always room for improvement, but I think it’s trending in the right direction,” Greene said. “I think that the critics are legitimate, but as a whole — from my experience — it’s been a great time; a learning experience for myself and for fraternities.” After he was elected president of
Lambda Chi Alpha in December 2016, some members in his pledge class — as well as others from the pledge class that followed — were uneasy about a gay man at the helm of their fraternity solely because of his sexuality. While the supermajority of his brothers affirmed his election, some were expressly opposed. “There are people who, if it were left to them, they would ensure there was no openly gay brother again,” Greene said, emphasizing that this conf lict took place in a house he felt mostly accepted in. At the same time, though, Greene was met with acceptance among members of fraternities at which he never expected to find inclusivity. He’s made friends with members of all different houses. As president, Greene had to confront misconceptions about members of the LGBTQ community in Greek life, tackling it through two lenses: as an openly gay man and as the leader of a fraternity. “For someone who is openly gay, you have to show that it’s normal,” Greene said. “And you can still be as functional and great as a fraternity and foster the brotherhood and social life and ideals as other houses, but I have to come at it from a weird dynamic. I have my own feelings and views as an openly gay man, and I also have separate objectives and obligations as president. You learn if you ignore them, people start to realize the stereotypes are wrong, but it’s different when you’re the president.” In other words, Greene doesn’t normally take a proactive approach to combatting anti-LGBTQ stereotypes, but as president of Lambda Chi Alpha, he realized he had to. Confronting stereotypes is nothing new to Greene. Until 10th grade, when he’d answer his home phone, callers often assumed his mother was on the other side. Some people would comment on his hand gestures and articulation of words. Rather than calling out each of these commenters, Greene has an alternative approach that has resonated and allowed him to succeed. “It’s the willingness to not budge or show fear or show embarrassment or show vulnerability to stereotypes,” Greene said. “In the long term that’s going to help those people realize that (the stereotypes) are not only wrong, but that their perceptions are just off.” Sometimes, though, Greene feels he needs to alter his personality to fit in with a particular group, such as the board of Interfraternity Council presidents, where Greene felt he “stuck out” among the other members. He discussed how certain individuals in attendance responded consciously and subconsciously to his being gay. “When you’ve been openly gay for 10 years, you can spot someone not liking your personality and someone not giving you the time of the day because of that … there are subtle differences,” Greene
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said. “Do I think that IFC is homophobic? No. Still, I think that there are people in that room who wouldn’t befriend me, or steer clear of me if they could, just because I’m gay.” For example, Greene said some people would move their name placards to avoid sitting next to him. Others would make subtle jokes behind his back about his sexuality they didn’t think he would overhear. In several written statements to the Daily, LSA senior Joey Insalaco, IFC president, said the council is working closely with the University of Michigan’s Spectrum Center to collaborate on additional support programs for LGBTQ Greek life members in the future. Insalaco did not want to elaborate until the details are finalized, but he emphasized there will be some fraternity- and sorority-specific support for members of the IFC and Panhellenic communities, respectively. Insalaco worked with Greene throughout his tenure and described him as selflessly dedicated to his chapter, earning him Chapter President of the Year at the Go Greek Awards at the end of this past semester. *** Engineering junior Trevor Gullstad had never come out to anyone before college. In high school, he attended dances with girls, taking them solely as friends. It really wasn’t until he met Daniel that he opened up about identity. He never envisioned bringing another man to one of his date parties during freshman year, and even had doubts he would do it all throughout college. To his surprise, though, his Delta Chi fraternity brothers supported him when he told them he would be bringing Daniel to one of his first date parties freshman year. “I said I was going to bring my boyfriend to our date party,” Gullstad said. “And a senior brother said, ‘Anybody have a problem with that?’ And everybody said no, and that was that.” “That was a big emotional release at that time. I was definitely glad that I got to tell everyone that I was bringing a boy to the party before so he didn’t have to deal with people suddenly wondering once he was there. (I wanted) to make them aware of the full context.” Greene said the experience was similarly positive. Greene also brought Gullstad to Lambda’s date party. He believes it is extremely important for gay couples to attend these parties to show their visibility and maintain a presence. “I wanted a place where I could bring home a guy, or bring home a boyfriend or a male to a date party,” Greene said. “Not only could I do it, but I wouldn’t have to think of the implications of doing it. I’m pretty sure, that I was — even though I felt comfortable — the first guy to bring another guy to a date party in recent Lambda history.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Trevor Gullstad
“I can genuinely say that almost all my fraternity — if someone did something shitty to me, or somebody did something homophobic — they would not hesitate in standing up for me,” Greene said. “And not ‘because I’m a liberal so I must do this’ urge, but because they genuinely care for my well-being.” Still, while the overwhelming majority welcomed Greene and Gullstad, there were some sneers. “There were definitely some people who were taking pictures of us, Snapchatting in a negative way. You could see them from across the room,” Greene said. Gullstad described himself as “the person to freak out going into social situations” in an email to the Daily. He greatly admired Greene’s tremendous confidence during their dates and “put himself on the line again and again,” to advocate for people to express their true identities. “(He taught me) about being visible and being super open, showing me that you could be out and proud and have lots of friends who were interested in different activities and different types of people and not have it negatively impact your life,” Gullstad said. *** As a freshman, Greene only entered the IFC fraternity rush process because he wanted to experience every opportunity offered on campus. Some friends in South Quad Residence Hall went to the meetings, and he chose to tag along. Two
years later, he is a proud past president of Lambda Chi Alpha. Grateful for his experience, he still wonders how different his college experience would’ve been had he entered college five or six years ago when the national and campus climate was less accepting of the LGBTQ community. Greene was fortunate enough to find a house that embraced him for who he was. He stressed that while being LGBTQ is significantly less stigmatized than just five years ago, there is still work to be done. But he encourages the LGBTQ community to approach IFC members with an open mind. “A lot of the openly gay people who feel they aren’t accepted in Greek life — not saying that they’re not facing adversity or obstacles, because they are — but some of that has more to do with their perception, and their unwillingness to give people a chance,” Greene said. “Unfortunately as a minority, you’re always going to have that burden of breaking through that ceiling or going over that bump when it comes to meeting new people.” Just a month into his junior year, it’s clear that Greene has left his signature on campus. Ask Trevor Gullstad, CJ Motley or Joey Insalaco. He never imagined as a sixth grader gossiping on the sidelines during P.E. that he would break barriers within the University’s Interfraternity Council.
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
Personal Statement: A graduate student’s quarter-life crisis by Irene Park, Daily Staff Reporter
“
What do you want to be when you grow up?” This is a pretty common question for kids, but to someone who is almost 30? Actually, I often ask myself that same question, although in a slightly different way: What do I want to do with my life? My career trajectory has never been linear. My goals changed constantly growing, shifting from actress to physician and everything in between. I started out as a pre-med biology major while an undergrad because I liked biology and I liked how medicine could make positive contributions to the society. But after researching at a plant pathology lab during my sophomore year, I realized I liked asking questions and finding answers in a lab more than learning from lectures. I was no longer looking up information about MCATs and medical schools but instead looking into doctoral programs and taking as many advanced, more focused biology classes to try to find my niche in biology. Of all branches in biology, genetics interested me the most, and so I decided to apply and join the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan. I thought: The decision was a drastic change in my plans, and I was set for life. All I needed to worry about was doing great science, and I would get to where I want to be. But like many things in life, it turns out you don’t really learn what a specific job entails until you’re fully immersed in it. As a graduate student, I am expected to do much more than work on my thesis. I had two years of classes before I could even obtain my Ph.D. candidacy and work full time on my thesis. Achieving candidacy marks the transition between learning about your field from lectures to producing a body of cutting-
edge work to push the field forward. Becoming a Ph.D. candidate is not an easy feat. For my department, students have to write a six-page grant proposal answering a question that is unrelated to their thesis projects. We have about a month to do background research, write a proposal and present the hypothetical project to five faculty members, who then grill us with questions for two hours before concluding whether a student is competent enough to pursue the track. I passed, but it is still a mystery to me how I survived the process without quitting or breaking down (although I did have a couple of panic attacks). Looking back, I think what got me through was the hope that I could finally work on my thesis project after this grueling process. But after finally becoming a Ph.D. candidate, other obligations ensued: departmental activities like seminars, retreats and new student recruitment, fellowship applications, conferences, meetings with faculty members, and training junior lab members. With these overwhelming administrative tasks and other non-thesisrelated obligations, I simply did not feel as if I were in school to ask questions, perform experiments and learn science anymore. Most of all, I felt extremely uninspired. Doing research became more tolerable as I became more used to the system, but that was it — a tolerable day job. I felt like a robot. In the middle of my third year, I began exploring career
options outside academia. I evaluated why I was unhappy. First, I was expected to work on only a couple of projects for almost six years. Second, I was too focused on one specific topic — I was actually interested in many different topics in biology, not just one. My thesis project is about how cells minimize DNA errors,
but I’m interested in other branches of biology too, like neuroscience. For instance, I love coffee, so I’ve written a couple times about how caffeine affects the brain. Last, I felt awfully isolated since only a few people in the world fully understand my thesis project. When work is such a big part of my life, not being able to talk about and share the same enthusiasm with most people is quite depressing. One alternative route I thought of was science writing, specifically writing for the public. Writing has a
shorter timeline — I can write about many different scientific topics, not just on topics that pertain to my thesis project. And my work will be read and understood by more than just a few. Plus, I’ve always liked writing and I’d begun to realize the growing need for clear, accurate and engaging science to general audiences.
at the University to see if they knew anything about science writing. While many responses were rather supportive (“It’s great to see a scientist interested in science writing!”), most couldn’t help (“But I know nothing about the field, so I cannot help you. Sorry!”). The help came from somewhere unexpected. A friend of mine, whom I met during a graduate school interview, quit school to pursue science writing full time as a freelancer. We’d kept in contact on social media even after the interview, and when she saw several statuses about my quarter-life crisis, she contacted me. We had a conversation over Facebook and email, and I decided to give it one PHOTO COURTESY OF IRENE PARK last try — I cold-emailed This is especially true now, as one more person, the current “alternative” and nonscientific summer managing news facts (i.e., false statements) editor at The Michigan Daily. Since then, I’ve been are readily accepted: climate change denial, the anti- involved with the Daily for vaccine movement, GMO almost two-and-a-half years fearmongering and even the as a news reporter and editor. faux benefits of a gluten-free Before I decided to leave to diet. focus on my thesis project, Even though Ph.D.-holders I covered a broad range of are pursuing nonacademic topics from cutting-edge careers at an increasing cancer research to a candlelit rate, many programs Black Lives Matter vigil at are unequipped — even the Diag. I also helped launch unsupportive — of students MiSciWriters, a student making that transition. I organization that focuses on have sent countless emails science writing and maintains to people I’d never even met a blog for trainees to practice
writing and editing about science accessible to the public. Some graduate students have told me that I am courageous (or insane — I’ve heard both) since being a graduate student is more than a full-time job, and being involved in extracurricular activities does not help me complete my thesis. But these extracurricular activities offered me one big component that scientific research alone cannot offer: people. Scientists are people; we have to deal with human problems during our research — having other obligations outside work and school, getting sick, making mistakes, and having feelings and bias. Perhaps what really excites me about science writing is the opportunity to develop and hone my people skills on the job — the ability to share cool scientific facts, start discussions about controversial topics in science and portray scientists as people with feelings and problems, not callous robots. I’ve met many fantastic people in my effort to transition into writing from academia, and they are the driving force behind my thesis work. Sometimes hearing supportive words or talking to inspiring people motivates me more than seeing numbers on an excel sheet. Documentaries, books, shows and other forms of storytelling inspired me to go into science — not numbers or graphs. What do I want to be when I am done with my Ph.D.? What do I want to do for rest of my life? If you really think about it, the two questions are the same. We don’t expect an answer like “I want to be a good person” to either question. Instead, we expect to hear specific careers. But if you ask me right now, I can’t give you a normal answer. I don’t know what specific position I want, but I know I want to feel a little more human.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
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Personal Statement: Climb every mountain by Alexis Rankin, Senior Photo Editor
T
he first mountain I climbed in Wyoming wasn’t even really a mountain. Mt. Ann is located directly behind Camp Davis, the Rocky Mountain Field Station owned and operated by the University of Michigan where students of all majors can take earth, environmental, American culture and ecology classes during the summer — so it’s a typical first hike for new students. When my class of about 20 students arrived after a two-and-a-half-day crosscountry caravan trip, we were told that we would be the next group to make the inaugural climb and that it would be an easy hike — the perfect starting point for a month of intense summits. The hike began with our professors taking the lead while the class fell into a single-file line behind them. Our GSIs rounded up the back, carrying a cumbersome whiteboard for field lectures and prepared with bear spray and satellite radios. To my embarrassment and surprise, I found myself literally huffing and puffing after the first five minutes. All I could think was: “When will this incline end? It has to flatten out eventually. I can’t breathe!” Our professors noticed our sluggish pace and made several educational stops where we identified flowers and trees. For me, the breaks were never long enough. As we climbed, I started to doubt myself. If this were supposed to be our easiest hike, how was I going to survive the rest of the month? Worst-case scenarios were playing through my head, the most dramatic of which involved me calling home for a plane ticket back to Michigan. I had never been so relieved and proud as the moment I reached the top of Mt. Ann after six hours of hiking. Surrounded by bright-yellow wildflowers and a view of the Grand Tetons in the distance,
we sat down and had class right there on top of the mountain. The rest of my month at Camp Davis was spent climbing actual mountains, as I would later learn to differentiate between the “glorified hill” that is Mt.
was a palpable excitement as we all took photos, gathering for a group picture with the block ‘M’ Michigan flag prominently featured. We still had a quick lesson, scribbling in our orange field notebooks as our professor described the life of 500,000-year-old
and had chosen to camp in the Gros Ventre range and spend the Fourth of July in the Tetons. The crowds were intense due to the holiday, but we were determined to make it to Phelps Lake, where there was a perfect rock for cliff jumping. The class had
to gain some confidence from their experience. Every time I approached the edge I was pulled back by the sight of the water 20 feet below me and the jutting edge of the rock — I’d have to propel myself forward to avoid it. When I finally made the
Ann and the overwhelming monstrosities which are the Grand Tetons. We hiked to an elevation of 11,000 feet on our first Teton hike, which dwarfed Mt. Ann in elevation and distance. As we walked, the trail transformed from forest, to open flower covered hills, to snow covered inclines that lead to snowball fights, belly slides, and a dramatic slipand-slide trip back down. Making it to the top was even more rewarding than Mt. Ann and the view made every mile worth it. There
stromatolites that were still present at the top. I was exhausted by the time we made it back down, but I could already tell I was becoming acclimated to my new life in Wyoming. My tolerance for the thin air was growing, my body didn’t protest like it had on my first climb and I wasn’t plagued with thoughts of self-doubt, but was instead surprisingly impressed by my accomplishment. On our second free day, we were fresh off a four-day camping trip in Yellowstone,
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXIS RANKIN split into groups for various jump after at least 20 false activities, but each of us starts, I was rewarded by made it to the rock at some cheers and applause that point that day, all with the drowned out my scream. I intention of jumping into collided with the icy water the freezing glacial melt. in a discombobulating blast. My stomach had been The fall was disorienting as turning all morning in the high drop leaves you in anticipation and my anxiety the air far longer expected. grew rapidly as I watched my I came out of the water to friends jump off one by one, another round of applause some more gracefully than (I’m sure the other tourists others. By the time it was were just happy that I was my turn, I had already been finally off the rock) as I sitting at the top for what felt swam to the edge where my like hours, nervously talking classmates were waiting. to people who had already Like most of my Camp jumped several times, trying Davis experiences, I was
surprised by and proud of myself. Just as I would have regretted not going to Camp Davis or not finishing the first hike, I would have left Phelps Lake hating myself if I were the only person who didn’t experience the jump. While not all my challenges in Ann Arbor can be equated to those at Camp Davis, it is comforting to think that if I jumped 20 feet into an icy lake or hiked to 11,000 feet I can pretty much do anything. On the last day our class we hiked Mt. Ann together one last time. We had just taken our final exam and spent the day relaxing in Jackson. We all wanted to end our trip the way it started. It had been just over three weeks since our first hike, but everything had already changed drastically. The hike was familiar yet entirely different as the trail had grown over and new wildflowers had come into season while the old ones now towered above our heads. But we had grown too. What had once been a challenging six-hour endeavor was now a relaxing and nostalgic conclusion that barely lasted an hour and a half. While I had been looking forward to attending Camp Davis since high school, I was still nervous about the challenge that committing to a monthlong class in Wyoming with 20 strangers would bring. Everything about it was out of my comfort zone, but I knew that not only did I have to do it — it’s one way to fulfill the practical experience requirement for the PitE major — but I wanted to do it. As stressful as those first few days were, I am so thankful that I didn’t let my fear and anxiety hold me back. My time at Camp Davis reinforced my passion for the environment and my confidence — personal and academic.
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
V I S UA L STAT E M E NT
ZINGERMAN’S PAELLA Photos by Max Kuang On September 24, I took a trip to Zingerman’s Deli to witness the making of paella, a traditional Spanish dish. My first sensation when photographing paella was intense heat — in part because I was standing under the sun without cover, but also because I was standing two feet from a burning charcoal grill. But as the fresh shrimp, bomba rice, seasonal vegetables, and saffron were added into the round paella pans, I no longer thought about the heat. Instead, I thought of the flavors and smells rising from the grill. I made the mistake of photographing on an empty stomach, and — yes — my mouth was watering the whole time. Shrimp is sauteed in olive oil in a large paella pan over mesquite .
Green beans are then added to the pan.
Green beans and chicken are sauteed in the pan.
Dry bomba rice is added to the paella pan.
A tomato and saffron based sauce is added to the mix.
Chicken stock is poured into the pan, and the paella is left to simmer without stirring.
The finished paella is presented before it’s let to rest for ten minutes.