ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Monday, October 23, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Unhappy Valley
The Michigan football team suffered a blowout loss at Penn State, as Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley dashed Michigan’s postseason aspirations.
» Page 1B BUSINESS
Conference touts future of mobility, environment Over 150 faculty and students discussed interdisciplinary research on transport
AARON DALAL
Daily Staff Reporter
MAX KUANG/DAILY
New York Times Op-Ed columnist Charles Blow speaks in Rackham Friday.
Charles Blow discusses role of media during Trump presidency
Over 1,000 gather for talk hosted by Humility by the Age of Self-Promotion organization AMARA SHAIKH Daily Staff Reporter
Discussing the role the media played — and continues to play — in Trump’s election and presidency was the central theme of The New York Times’s visual op-ed columnist, Charles Blow’s
talk “President Donald Trump, Arrogance and Democracy,” Friday evening. Blow was greeted with a standing ovation by an audience of over 1,000 people in Rackham Auditorium after having been invited to the University of Michigan by the Humility in the Age of Self-Promotion Colloquium,
in conjunction with many other local organizations such as the Michigan Radio and the Ann Arbor District Library. Jamie Vander Broek, a librarian for the School of Art & Design at the University and one of the event organizers, explained she and her fellow co-workers felt it was important to invite Blow to speak
because of his in-depth research on the Trump administration. She said she hoped it would allow the community a chance to discuss the importance of humility. “We really wanted someone to talk about Trump because it’s something that last year has become an everyday news topic,” Vander See MEDIA, Page 3A
Though many might think the future of mobility lies in flying cars and jetpacks, experts say the future entails dependence on equity of mobility companies and policy framework needed for a revolution. At least, that’s what professionals in transportation, economics, energy and the environment discussed Friday for the University of Michigan Energy Institute’s fourth TE3 Conference. The conference featured multiple researchers who presented their work and conclusions before the crowd of roughly 150 faculty members and students. Following the presentation of research projects,
there were panel discussions and Q&A sessions for audience members to have an exchange with the presenters. There were also frequent breaks where attendees had informal conversation and networked. The conference brought scholars from other universities like Arizona State University and the University of Chicago to speak about their work in each field in order to present an interdisciplinary view of the future of transportation. Engineering Junior Matt Jankowski spoke to The Daily about the benefits of having the conference include work from a wide array of fields saying, “I’m glad that attention is being devoted to looking at (autonomous vehicles) in an interdisciplinary way, because when new See CONFERENCE, Page 3A
Student organization hosts event on Office of Weekly MI Academic venture capitalism, entrepreneurship state house
ACADEMICS
Innovation has kickoff The new initative offers diverse solutions to many issues facing classrooms ZAYNA SYED For the Daily
Ann Arbor resident Areel Al-Lami, who was born in Ann Arbor but raised in Saudi Arabia, has seen immigrant communities in Ann Arbor struggle with language barriers, false cultural assumptions and a lack of technological literacy, which she believes could be alleviated through diversity initiatives. She attended the Traveling Innovation Hour’s fourth meeting of the year to discuss her ideas with a group of people who could offer diverse opinions and solutions. The Traveling Innovation Hour met Friday morning to discuss initiatives in education with an intimate group of University of Michigan faculty, professors and students. The new initiative is co-hosted by the Office of Academic Innovation and seeks to start a conversation on the issues students and faculty face in the classroom. Traveling Innovation Hour is open to the public and serves as preparation for the Academic Innovation Initiative Summit on November 14. Friday’s meeting See INNOVATION, Page 3A
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GOVERNMENT
UpRound hosts competition to mock pitch and investment consideration process RACHEL LEVY
Daily Staff Reporter
UpRound, a new University of Michigan student organization for any undergraduate student interested in learning more about venture capitalism, hosted its first annual training and a competition on Saturday. Engineering sophomore Jonah Erlich founded the group along with LSA junior David Silverman, Business sophomore Adarsh Rachmale and LSA senior Bradley Baum. Elrich said the group decided to start the organization after competing in a similar one competition at Carnegie Mellon University. “We need to teach the broader university about what venture capital is, and engage the community with what’s going on in the entrepreneurial ecosystem today,” Elrich said. Erlich and Silverman are members of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program and wanted to open up the world of venture capitalism and entrepreneurship to any University students. “We founded this six months ago and it’s been a sprint ever since,” Erlich said. “(The Ross School of Business) ran a similar competition and we came in and said, ‘Look, we think we would do a great job at appealing to a wider audience and getting more students involved that aren’t in Ross,’ and they took a chance on us, and we increased the
application numbers.” The co-founders said they were expecting about 50 applicants, but received over 80. “We hosted three open training sessions,” Silverman said. “Through those three, the dinner and tonight, we will have over 200 different students interact with UpRound in some capacity.” To those involved in the organization, UpRound’s large applicant pool suggests the University might be a growing
hub for entrepreneurial innovation and high growth potential investments. “If you look at Silicon Valley, the model of it is that you have Stanford and Berkeley feeding San Francisco and here we have the power of (the University of) Michigan; we have the research powerhouse to fund Grand Rapids and to fund Detroit,” Silverman said. The UpRound competition serves as a publicity event and training for students because
it brings venture capitalists to the University to engage with students, witness the talent and expose students to successful businessmen and women, many of whom were University alumni. “Bringing them here to see the Michigan ecosystem in addition to having this competition, they’re realizing that this is a place to start investing in,” Silverman said.
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Students participate in the UpRound Conference at the Ross School of Business Saturday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 14 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
legislative wrap-up
Bills introduced this week aim to protect environment, change state vehicle code COLIN BERESFORD Daily Staff Reporter
Each week, The Michigan Daily will be publishing a wrap-up of the most important bills proposed in Michigan Legislature over the past seven days: SB 620: This bill would amend a 1976 law on sexual education to require the teaching of consent in sexual education programs in school, to address sexual assault, bystander intervention and dating violence. State Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, proposed the amendment to the bill, calling it “Yes Means Yes” legislation in the press release on his website. “College-aged women are four times more likely than any other age group to face sexual assault. When we send our kids off to college, we should worry about their grades and how they are going to pay for their books, not if they will be sexually assaulted,” Hertel said in the press release. The bill aims to clarify the definition of consent, including what it looks like in a committed relationship. SB 629: This bill seeks to modify the sexual education See WRAP-UP, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
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Concept: yelp but for study spaces at Umich
NOVEMBER 17, 1979— ANOTHER MSU GAME: A student supporting the U.S. role in the Iranian crisis protests over the charred remains of an effigy of the Ayatollah Khomeini, which he set on fire.
Grant Newsome @grant_newsome Everyone take a breath. We got whooped. It hurts for us too. We will get better and be back stronger. The sun came up this morning.
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Science Writing Panel Discussion
Asian Studies at the University of Michigan: A Brieh History
WHAT: Join the conversation as a panel of female scientists and engineers share their own persepctives and experiences in science writing. WHO: Michigan Earth Science Women’s Network and Graduate Society of Women Engineers WHEN: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. WHERE: Pierpont Commons, East Room
WHAT: Listen to Prof. Donald Lopez, chair of Asian Languages and Cultures, discuss the role of Asian studies throughout history. WHO: Rackham Graduate School Barbour Scholars WHEN: 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Graduate School Ampitheatre
U-M 2117: What Future for the Public University?
The Many Faces of Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance WHAT: Rabbi Brant Rosen, Midwest regional director of the American Friends Service Committee, will present on the history of nonviolent Palestinian resistance. WHO: Center for Middle Eastern and North African studies WHEN: Noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Weiser Hall, Rm 555
What Ken Burns Does Not Human Rights and Show Us about Vietnam Medical Care in Times of Emergency WHAT: U-M researcher emeritus John K. Whitmore will present on the history of the Vietnam War and disuss the docuemntary “The Vietnam War” by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. WHO: Center for Southeast Asian Studies WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Weiser Hall, Room 455
WHAT: Christopher Newfield, a professor specializing in critical university studies, will discuss the future of public universities and higher education policy. WHO: LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery
WHAT: Listen as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sheri Fink discusses what occurs when disasters and conflict limit the availability of health care to those who need it most. WHO: Donia Human Rights Center WHEN: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Museum of Art
Mental Health at U-M: Stories from Students WHAT: A panel of students will share their experiences with mental illness in order to combat stigmas and show solidarity. WHO: Active Minds WHEN: Noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery
REMI MURREY
Daily Staff Reporter
In an effort to increase awareness of opportunities within the communications field and to build alumni involvement with students, the University of Michigan’s Department of Communication Studies introduced its career exploration series event Friday at the Michigan Union. Communication undergraduate students met and engaged with prominent alumni involved in the entertainment media industry. They shared their experiences for students to build future connections and Sudoku Syndication understand what is needed to be successful.
Margaret Mason, undergraduate coordinator in the Communication Studies Department, said this year’s goal was to have more events and networking opportunities for students to attend. “We strived to have more targeted career areas because we wanted the students who came to be really interested in the information being presented to them,” Mason said. “While this is smaller, which is what we expected, I think there will be continued consistent turnout for future events.” Among those present to speak as panelists were Hillary Handelsman, a writer’s assistant for CBS’s “Life in Pieces,” and Rachel Schloss, a director of brand
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Hi @HillaryClinton how many retweets for you to be on the University of Michigan television station?
Bill Goldstein: The World Broke in Two
jorie rutkowski @JorieRutkowski5
WHAT: Douglas Trevor, chair of the Zell’s Writers Program, will join author Bill Goldstein as he discusses his latest book regarding the intellectual journeys of four authors, including Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot, in 1922. WHO: University Library WHEN: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Literati Bookstore, 124 E. Washington Ave.
Career exploration series connects students with alums in entertainment The event increased networking opportunities in the communications department
Sophia Georginis @sophiageorginis
*opens twitter* *sees 87 state fans talking crap* *laughs bc they care when most umich fans don’t even bother looking up who state played*
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Imagine Dragons performs in Detroit last week.
WRAP-UP From Page 1A curriculum in schools to ensure instruction includes medically accurate sexuality education that is age appropriate. State Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor, proposed the bill. The proposed curriculum seeks to better prepare adolescents to become sexually healthy adults. “Research continues to show that comprehensive sex education, which teaches both abstinence and contraception, is most effective for young people. Youth who receive this kind of education are more likely to initiate sexual activity later in life and use protection correctly and consistently when they do become sexually active,” Hopgood said in a press release. Currently, state law encourages an abstinenceonly approach to sex education, which, the press release said, has not proved to be effective in increasing rates of abstinence despite $1.5 billion spent during the past decade on abstinenceonly programs. HB 5074: This bill seeks to amend the Income Tax Act of 1967 to allow for student loan tax deductions, which reduces the amount of taxable
CONFERENCE From Page 1A technology comes out it’s not just engineers who help make the transition.” He also added the unique approach provided a broader view that adds meaning to projected impact autonomous vehicles will have. “I think the transition has a lot of potential to make transportation more energy efficient, not just by getting better gas milage or using better materials but by changing the overall role of the car,” said Jankowski. One speaker, Kenneth Gillingham, an associate professor of economics at Yale University, presented his research on how Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards — which are government standards that require car companies to have fuel economy weighted by sales to average 54.5 mpg by 2025 for better fuel economy — and how they affect vehicle safety. Contrary to the belief that more fuel-efficient vehicles are lighter and therefore more dangerous, Gillingham’s research found CAFE standards actually increased safety on roads because vehicle weights became more equal — there were fewer big-carversus-little-car crashes, which are more dangerous. Gillingham also attested to the importance of the conference taking an interdisciplinary approach, writing in an email to The Daily, “ I had the opportunity to speak with stakeholders from several audiences—academia, government regulators, and industry—providing useful perspectives and feedback for further improving the work in preparation for submission to a journal.”
income. The bill would permit taxpayers to deduct up to $5,000 for single filers and $10,000 for joint filers. State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, proposed the amendment, stating in a press release this bill will give some relief to students repaying loans. “The cost of a college education has increased exponentially throughout the years. In addition to providing much-needed tax relief, this bill would provide the state a tool to help retain our talent in a competitive market. In today’s economy, talent is the number one determinant for a major corporation selecting Michigan as a place to do business,” said Hammoud. The bill only applies to those who attend college, both public and private, in the state of Michigan. HB 5082: This bill sets the goal of a 25-percent improvement in water quality by 2025 by amending the 1994 Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, which regulates the use of natural resources, permits people to hunt and fish and controls what is discharged into the environment, among other things. State Rep. Robert Kosowski, D-Westland, proposed the amendment, which requires several government departments work together to reach this goal. “The department,
the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Transportation Department, and the Office of the Great Lakes shall jointly conduct a broad public and stakeholder engagement process across this state seeking input on how to achieve the goal established under subsection (1),” the bill reads. The bill makes no specific mention of the water quality in Flint and improving the city’s water. HB 5085: This bill earmarks liquor tax to go to local community mental health clinics to combat substance abuse. Earmarking money designates it for a specific use. State Rep. Steve Marino, R-Harrison Township, proposed the bill, saying in a press release the taxes would address serious issues in substance abuse in the state. “Substance abuse is a major problem in Michigan. Our local community mental health agencies are in the best position to identify and develop programs to fight the abuse of alcohol, opioids and other drugs. This bill will deliver more resources to agencies on the front lines of this fight,” Marino said in the press release. The bill could provide more than $17 million each year to combat alcohol and opioid addictions.
Researchers grappled with the cumbersome nature of transportation data. Even data on the cost of vehicles is hard to pin down because car prices are often haggled down from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Vehicle attributes can be difficult to compare directly because of the oftendifferent problems cars may exhibit and their customizable nature. Additionally, consumer habits change based on many factors, such as region and owner demographics. Many presentations and panels focused on the topic of subsidies for electric vehicles, as well as the infrastructure needed for their rollout, and political attention that transforming mobility systems — like designated lanes and charging networks — will need. One panelist, Rod Lache, a managing director at Deutsche Bank Securities in the autos and auto parts sector, was optimistic about the onset of autonomous technology. “They’re taking the safety driver out of (driverless test) vehicles in the next few quarters, not years,” he said. Panelists referred to driverless technology being synonymous with shared mobility, saying personal ownership of vehicles may soon be obsolete. Instead, the future could look like subscribing to a vehicle service where people are driven to their destinations and the car would move on to others. Lache added urgency to this principle, too, stating: “Shared mobility is going to happen a lot sooner than people believe.” More panelists detailed the gravity of shared mobility. “If you think about the elderly, they don’t have (mobility),” said Neil Schloss, vice president and chief financial officer of
Broek said. “We wanted someone who has done a lot of thinking about Trump and humility, or the lack of humility, to address the colloquium, but we wanted to open it up to the public.” Blow’s presentation highlighted Trump’s continuous dispersion of false information to the public, emphasized how his grandiosity contributed to his ability to manipulate the public and expressed his exasperation at Trump’s lack of historical understanding. He also said even though the media contributed to Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, their role was even more important now because of Trump’s constant sparring with the truth. “One of the greatest threats we face by the bounty of lying is that is corrupts and corrode the absoluteness of truth,” Blow said. “We now have a president who wants absolute control over the flow of information and dictate his own version of it. Trump is in a battle to bend the truth.” He ended his talk with a reminder about the value of the truth and how the media and public have a duty to continue to demand it. “It may well be that the only thing that can protect America from its own president is a free press and the urgent insistence of the public to demand that the operation of our customs and the concept of accountability are not lost,” Blow said. While much of the audience
INNOVATION From Page 1A focused on student-client challenges in the Ford School of Public Policy and the Law School. Al-Lami workshopped her ideas with a staff member at the Office of Academic Innovation, and brainstormed solutions for problems faced by Ann Arbor immigrants such as creating video testimonials to display during teacher orientation programs and linking translation tools to clientmanagement platforms. “Ann Arbor is not the same as 30 years ago. We need to show immigrants that you are part of this society. We need to show that culture is important,” Al-Lami said. “We need to have classes to let everyone know about other
mobility at Ford. He added this principle has a broader scope than convenience, saying, “Mobility really is a right as we go forward.” TE3 co-chair Ellen HughesCromwick, a senior economist and interim associate director of social science and policy at the U-M Energy Institute, spoke about the work of Fellipe Balieiro, a senior consultant at IHS Markit, which is a London-based consulting firm that advises companies in transportation, energy and aerospace matters. “They have just completed a study to look at what the dimensions are in terms of takeoff of electrified, connected and autonomous vehicles, and they’ve done studies of each of the different markets — Asia, Europe, the U.S., Latin America, et cetera — and what they’re trying to do in the study is look at what the capacity is for the physical production of these units and also what kind of regulatory and policy framework is being developed to either hinder or promote the development and adoption of these new modes of transportation.” HughesCromwick said. Hughes-Cromwick also spoke more generally about the conference’s nature of joining the private and public sectors with academia. “Academics and this research enterprise here combined with teaching provides a really important framework for furthering thought in many areas and it’s a very valuable and necessary part of any kind of analysis that somebody would do whether they’re in the private sector or government, we rely substantially on academic research in these different areas.”
Monday, October 23, 2017— 3A enjoyed the presentation and appreciated Blow’s opinions, some noticed the talk was missing crucial members of the community. For instance, LSA freshman Julia Mati believed there was not much diversity in opinion present at the event. Mati explained though Blow’s message was well received by the audience, it may not have been the audience that needed to hear what he was saying. “I agree with what he’s talking about, but I feel like people who were in there simply because they agreed with what he was presenting, not because they were looking for anything new,” Mati said. Comprehensive studies lecturer Marcy Epstein pointed out another group that was lacking in numbers: the undergraduate student body. She felt the issues Blow discussed were relevant, and was disappointed the youngest group on campus was overshadowed by older audience members. “I found it remarkable for the fact that we had an entirely packed house, we had the underrepresentation of the undergraduate body who goes here,” Epstein said. “It makes me feel that he had excellent things to say to an audience who was missing.” On another note, Epstein praised Blow for his ability to speak beyond the people present at the talk and reach a nationwide audience. “One of the things I most enjoyed was the accessible way in which he could move between audiences — past the audience that was actually in the room — to the audience that is the greater American public who
race, other culture.” The Office of Academic Innovation has been helping the University students and faculty solve problems like Al-Lami’s for the past three years. Formerly called the Office of Digital Education and Innovation, the office has evolved to solve academic problems with technological solutions and with new approaches or processes to learning. Elisabeth Gerber, an associate dean for research and policy engagement and one of the hosts of the Traveling Innovation Hour, turned to the office when she sought to find a way to engage her students with public policy using simulations. “The challenge is that people disagree. That’s why we have public policy, that’s why we have politics,” Gerber said. “That situation lends
needs to consider their president and how he lies.” LSA freshman Giovanna Bautista said she was interested in what Blow had to say about Trump and arrogance, and hoped to learn more about the issues at hand. “The political climate that we’ve been in, especially here at a college campus, these problems aren’t invisible, and it’s something that we have to talk about,” Bautista said. “It’s an important conversation and I really wanted to be a part of it.” Bautista also touched on Blow’s opinions on Trump’s attacks on minority groups and explained it was important for the University community to have more open conversations about these issues to create a more inclusive campus. “It’s an issue here that everyone brings up, but no one has a solid answer,” Bautista said. “I do think that it begins with very simplistic conversations, brutal honesty and acknowledging intersectionalities and understanding that we all come from very different backgrounds. We can’t really know what the next step is until we start with listening to one another and acknowledging our differences.” Vander Broek explained she was excited to see that audience members were still hopeful to create change in the years to come. She also praised Blow for his ability to encourage underrepresented groups to speak their minds. “I was energized to see people thinking about 2020; he represents encouragement for getting more people to the table whose opinions have not been considered before,” Vander Broek said.
extremely well to simulations. Students can get a hand on what it means to come to an agreement with someone even though you might disagree.” Gerber has been developing a tool with the Office of Academic Innovation called Policymaker, which allows instructors to “experience strategy development, collaboration, advocacy, and communication,” according to the tool’s website. Michael Bloom, a clinical assistant professor of law and the other host of Traveling Innovation Hour, also used the office to develop a tool called Praktio. According to its website, Praktio utilizes games and repetitions to “provide instant feedback and explanation” when learning about contracts.
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Opinion
4A — Monday, October 23, 2017
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FROM THE DAILY
The importance of #MeToo #MeToo
#MeToo
#MeToo
M
eToo has been tweeted over 800,000 times since Alyssa Milano brought it to the forefront of Twitter in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations. This movement originated with activist Tarana Burke over 10 years ago through her foundation Just Be Inc., with the aim of raising awareness of the magnitude of sexual assault. This gives survivors a community of support, and the reach of a social media campaign that has the ability to flood people’s timelines can effectively demonstrate the extent of the issue. The Michigan Daily Editorial Board believes that #MeToo functions as a strong solidarity movement, and though this campaign will not solve the serious problem of sexual assault, it is a reminder to be supportive of all survivors. As Facebook reported, within 24 hours of its resurfacing, #MeToo has started appearing on the social media feeds of nearly everyone in the nation, with approximately 4.7 million people posting, commenting and reacting over 12 million times. This range of visibility is reaching the breadth of even the most successful social media movements, including the similar #YesAllWomen, which gave women a space to discuss instances of misogyny and violence. #YesAllWomen has produced over a million tweets on its thread since beginning in 2014, and #MeToo has quickly accumulated similar attention in only a few weeks. Even further, this movement has sparked conversations among all generations. As an Editorial Board, we noticed posts not only from our college-aged peers, but also from those we know in generations above us, like our parents and former teachers. Seeing attention being given to #MeToo by all generations frames the issue in context: Sexual harassment and assault has affected, and still affects, people of all ages. And, by talking about the problem, we are giving it much-needed attention and providing crucial support for survivors. #MeToo has been so successful
in part because it allows people to recount their stories in a manner that necessitates very little detail. Experiencing sexual misconduct is traumatizing, and having to relive these moments can be very painful. Furthermore, the sheer volume of #MeToo posts provides survivors with a space where they know they are not alone in their experiences. In this sphere, survivors know that they are understood, supported and, most importantly, believed, because they see that there are so many others who have experienced similar traumas. Survivors can support one another and remind each other that they’re not alone. It is difficult to talk about sexual harassment and assault, but survivors feel more comfortable among others who truly understand. Though #MeToo began to gain attention due to the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal, it has persisted as a strong movement because of the thousands of survivors who saw it as a good platform to discuss sexual misconduct. In the media, these issues can be presented with “storybook villains” like Harvey Weinstein — painting a picture of sexual assaults as isolated instances. Often, discussions of sexual assault concerning public figures are easier to rally around than instances of assault that
involve everyday people in our lives who are not in the public eye. While it’s easy to rally against someone whom we do not have personal connection to, we must remember most perpetrators are not famous figures; rather, they can be anyone, perhaps even people we are close to. It’s important we stand by and believe survivors of sexual assault and harassment regardless of the fame of the perpetrator. This is especially important considering only 310 out of every 1,000 people who have experienced sexual assault report it to the police, illustrating the silence that is associated with assault in our society. #MeToo brings attention to, and solidarity with, those who have experienced assault and is a step toward breaking this silence. #MeToo is a strong reminder that survivors are everywhere, and we must listen, understand and believe them. As an editorial board, we agree that sexual harassment and assault won’t end through a social media movement, but #MeToo is an important step in educating the public on the magnitude and effect of this issue. #MeToo provides a space for solidarity among survivors and sparks a conversation that we all need to be a part of.
FRANNIE MILLER | FRANNIE CAN BE REACHED AT FRMILLER@UMICH.EDU
A
Losing my religion
ctually, I don’t believe in God.” After three and a half years, the words still feel alien as they leave my mouth. When people ask me about my background, I tell them I was “raised Catholic.” The Church has always been a defining feature of my life: I was baptized as a newborn, and I learned about the love of Jesus and Mary every week at Sunday school as a preteen. From ages 11 to 18, I went to Catholic school. Every day for seven years I attended religion class, prayed along with the school announcements and was surrounded by other Christians. This experience shaped me to an extent I may never fully understand. The Catholic Church gave me my morals, my ethics, my sense of community, my desire to positively affect the world. I will forever respect the amazing people within the Church and the good they do, but I can’t call myself a Catholic anymore. About my sophomore year of high school, my questions started outpacing the Church’s answers. The more I learned about science and the world around me, the more contradictions I saw within my religion. The Church asks believers to have faith, to embrace God’s mysteries. But why would God create the most intelligent, infinitely inquisitive creatures in the history of the planet, only to tell them that faith is enough? How could a single sin of Adam and Eve condemn all human posterity to suffer and die? Eventually, the lack of answers became too much. I finally acknowledged I didn’t believe during my senior year of high school. I identify as agnostic: I accept I may never know if God exists. I bristle at the label atheist. I feel quite sure that no bearded Abrahamic All-Father guides the universe from above the clouds, but who’s to say no cosmic force exists at all? However, sometimes I think my aversion to atheism runs deeper than uncertainty. I grew up feeling connected to an ancient, global, spiritual community. Atheism feels so
final, like cutting the last cord to a community I used to cherish. It’s a deep dive into the unknown. I know I’m not the only one who has struggled with leaving religion. A third of Americans under 30 have no religion, and the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has only grown in recent years. A great deal of physical and emotional strain has accompanied this growth in deconversion. Studies have shown that the religiously unaffiliated report worse physical health, more suicidal thoughts and less healthy behaviors. Psychologist Marlene Winell has even coined the term RTS, or religious trauma syndrome, to describe the negative health effects some undergo when losing their religion. I can understand why losing religion may be traumatic. For many, religion ensures a strong sense of community, an unshakeable sense of purpose and an assurance that all the struggles of this life will eventually dissolve into eternal joy in the afterlife. Who wouldn’t be devastated after losing these lifelong safety nets? Although leaving Catholicism didn’t leave me with RTS, it did leave me with a bit of a void. I questioned my purpose in life, my moral system, my sense of community. Could I believe in Christian values without believing in Christ? Why be good? What’s the point of even living if it all ends? I sometimes found myself wishing I could force myself to believe, that I could turn off the part of my brain that never stops asking questions. It took a while, but I came to cherish the freedom and joyful cognizance irreligion can bring. Losing my religion allowed me to live in the present. Catholicism perpetually trapped me outside the current moment. I was always preoccupied with either the past or future. The past held all the answers: the revelations of the prophets, the teachings of Christ, the sins of my ancestors that have been passed down to me — these all occurred thousands of years
ago. The future was the only thing worth living for. All good deeds were done in preparation for an afterlife or out of love for God and his kingdom to come in the distant future. I came to realize that the idea of a world without God may be more ecstatic and beautifully absurd than I could have imagined. How impossibly fortunate are we that the trillions of atoms that make up our bodies randomly combined in just the right cosmic combination that allows us to see and feel a sunrise, to taste ice cream on a warm summer night, to see art and to hear music? I’ve learned to find gratitude for the absurd fact that I’m alive at all, rather than despair at the idea of death. I’ve also learned to find more joy and meaning in my relationships. I live for my friends and family rather than the idea of God. I live for the love of those around me and appreciate conversations and memorable nights as I’m having them. I feel free to do good deeds for others not out of fear of sin or respect for moral authority, but because I cherish the people in my life and want to help them. I learned to find meaning in my everyday work. Catholicism teaches the idea of a vocation — a calling from God to a certain career or role in life. I’ve embraced the idea of a secular vocation, the idea that I can craft my own meaning by making positive impacts in my school life, in my career and in my everyday actions. I’ve focused on building a career in which I can benefit my community through practicing law and improving government policies. I’m trying to find purpose in the small accomplishments and dayto-day victories. I’m not saying I’ve reached enlightenment. Far from it — most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing. But, I’m learning. I’m learning to live without easy answers and hope in a higher power. It’s not easy, but I’m learning. Tom Aiello can be reached at thomaiel@umich.edu.
DAVID KAMPER | COLUMN
B
How do we protest?
lest are they / the poor in spirit / theirs is the kingdom of God.” I remember singing this line from Hymn #624 during Mass many times in my youth, and I continue to sing it when I am in St. Mary’s Student Parish. I am not one to quote Bible verses, so do not see this as proselytizing Catholicism. (In fact, this might be the first time I have ever done so publicly.) Nevertheless, it has been the verse that runs through my head when I ponder debate, protest and morality in this modern age. This past week, Charles Murray, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the co-author of the “The Bell Curve,” came to the University of Michigan campus. People protested because of his highly debatable scientific rhetoric on IQ and race, where he claims that whites are simply intellectually superior. After passing by the event Wednesday evening and recalling the recent rise of racist incidents in the Ann Arbor community, I found myself thinking about debate and protest in a broader sense. Recognize that I am not questioning whether protesting such speeches is important, but rather asking how one protests illogical conclusions. As a logical person, how does one use rationale to overcome illogic? More importantly, how does one debate individuals such as Charles Murray for an “improved societal morality,” however ambiguous that might be? Has the debate on morality — or lack thereof — added to the gridlock and divide we see today in the United States? I previously wrote that my Catholic education, though somewhat divisive in today’s more secular society, was beneficial because it increased existential thought and improved introspection. I neglected to mention that as a result of this education, I have come to question morality more consciously, on which, I would argue, most of the faith is based. My biggest struggle as a Catholic is that I am constantly questioning the words in the Bible, and how they pertain
to today’s moral standings. In this vein, I posit that most morality is based on faith — which, in my own definition, means suspending rationale in support of something that cannot be conclusively determined. Therefore, when we attempt to engage with people like Charles Murray and other white supremacists, I am conflicted, as I might be in faith, on whether these individuals have morals. Just as my logical, “atheist” brain might say, “Their conclusions are unfounded; therefore, their pseudo-science is not worth engaging in.” But believing they have morals, I say in the same breath: “These influencers are not going away. These individuals have devout followers and advocates. Though they have not shown actions in the past which might yield a sense of morality, we must engage with them, sit down, try to ask how and why they came to such conclusions. We must believe they can change their ideas.” So as to think about these opposing views, I would start by reasoning that protests in general lie on the fact that we find the person or group to be wrong: logically and, more frequently today, ethically. However, I also think that if we are motivated to change the mind of the opponent, we must begin to think about our own sense of morality. Through some of my own introspection, I have realized that a large issue in our country is a “debate crisis.” One of my biggest questions is if humans possess an innate moral compass that is neurologically written into our genes and brain makeup. I think this “debate crisis” lies in the fact that our views on morality have shifted, without much notice, from a place of constant question in “average” society to subconscious definiteness. In other words, we have come to believe there is a rather subjective, but firm line of morality, and either you exist on the “good” side of that line or you do not. In popular society, I find people see very little gray area in this. As a consequence, people more frequently blame large
and small issues not on poor logical conclusions, but rather a severe lack of moral reasoning. Moreover, our hyper-individualistic population has increasingly begun to define morality by one’s own standards. Though not a defined fact of nature, we have come to subconsciously declare that since you and I are human, we must have a sound moral compass. Therefore, when we engage in the increasingly partisan politics of the modern era, regardless of what political leanings we might have, we individually deem ourselves morally superior. Since a sense of morality is fundamental to the justice and progress of society, some call those opposing us on a variety of different viewpoints illogical, corrupt and beyond reach. This is highly problematic since we have, without even realizing, declared there are no grounds to question and engage a viewpoint, nor do we wish to delve into why morally questionable rationales exist. I completely understand and agree that people like Charles Murray and other white supremacists are morally problematic. There’s little debate there. And honestly, I don’t know the complete answer to debating morally questionable people. However, may I suggest the problem partially lies in that we don’t recognize such speakers and supremacists most likely believe they are morally superior, just as you and I might find ourselves to be morally superior. Call me optimistic, but pure logic must win when talking and engaging with individuals such as Charles Murray, simply because it has for millennia. In addition, I doubt that they are void of changing their perspectives. Are they “poor in spirit?” Certainly. Is “theirs the kingdom of God?” I’m not sure. However, by “graying” morality in our modern society, not ignoring why they came to their perspective and asking them to look inside themselves, hopefully, change will happen. David Kamper can be reached at dgkamper@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
CONCERT REVIEW
Monday, October 23, 2017 — 5A
CLARA SCOTT For the Daily
DAILY ARTS WRITER Mac Demarco performed at Hill Saturday night
Mac DeMarco is one of us The singer gave a solo performnce at Hill this past Saturday night
TV REVIEW THE CW ‘Riverdale’ is the best show on television
‘Riverdale’ is absurdly engaging in new season
Let’s just start with one very true statement: Mac DeMarco is a man for and of the people. At Hill Auditorium this Saturday, he walked onto the stage in his classic getup: A red t shirt, stonewashed vintage jeans and, of course, his trademark baseball cap. Watching DeMarco greet the audience was almost like seeing a good friend on the sidewalk after years of separation. There’s just something about the guy that soothes your soul, whether it be his warm friendliness or his smooth, virtually perfect singing voice. This show was even more intimate than others; he performed sans band, armed only with an acoustic guitar and his goofy wit. “You may ask,” he said to the excited crowd, “Where’s the band?” The audience erupted into laughter, for what would certainly not be the last time during his hour-long set. While other artists may have been lackluster with such a minimal set-up, DeMarco’s inviting personality and huge stage presence made up for it tenfold. It became clear in the first minutes of his performance that the show wasn’t just about the music: It was a conversation between the musician and the audience, so comfortable it felt like the crowd was sitting on his living room couch. “Make yourselves
way that no genuine person would ever say. Mr. Andrew’s claim that he “came back” for his son is typical and cliche, and Perry’s delivery of the line was subpar at best. Not to mention Archie’s newfound duty to sit on the stairs of his home with a baseball bat every night in case the ski mask shooter comes back — really? The one thing this episode did well was offer closure on two accounts. First, we finally got to see the elusive Mr. Lodge (Mark Consuelos, “The Night Shift”). The drama in that scene was justified, as his arrival was long awaited and anticipated. Mr. Lodge sits in the back of the room, rather Godfather-esche,
comfortable,” Demarco offered all who sat in the auditorium, “enjoy this, be respectful, love each other.” That said, he continued into a show that could easily be deemed “legendary” by anyone who sat in Hill Saturday night.
This show was even more intimate than others; he performed sans band, armed only with an acoustic guitar
DeMarco brought the house down song after song, playing old and new tunes alike, often relying on committed frontrow fans to feed him some of his earlier lyrics. It was clear that the audience felt at home, as they crooned out favorites like “Salad Days,” “Let Her Go” and “Ode to Viceroy,” with every lyric obviously loved. DeMarco’s
with little lighting on his face so he is unrecognizable. Instead of a happy reunion between father and daughter, the scene
The one thing this episode did well was offer closure on two accounts is tense and uneasy. The second is the answer to what happened to the creepy music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel, “Atomica”). Episodes ago,
Classifieds
solo guitar accompaniment allowed his crystal-clear voice to shine through, only enhanced by the auditorium’s worldclass acoustics. It was almost unbelievable to watch DeMarco stand there alone and knock out every song with impeccable showmanship; every note soared, and the crowd ate it up in amazement and admiration. DeMarco made jokes about the Jamaican Jerk Pit (“I tell ya, the hot sauce: bellísima”), and Nirvana at the Blind Pig, playing to the Ann Arbor audience with a laugh at every turn. Crowd requests like “My Kind of Woman” and “Let My Baby Stay” echoed warmly through the venue, as hundreds of crowd members sung with him, turning each acoustic song into a fully fleshed out experience. As the show came to a close, DeMarco dedicated the last song to his girlfriend in L.A., and began to sing “Together,” making it easily the most touching tune of the night. The audience supported him in each word, as he began an encore solely based on their “la’s” and organized people closer and closer together. As voices filled the venue, DeMarco did what could only be the best show closer of all time: The man crowdsurfed. As Demarco’s joyful spirit meshed with the youth of his audience, the often classical Hill Auditorium morphed into something different for the night: A place for genuine fun.
Ms. Grundy had an extremely inappropriate relationship with Archie that was glossed over because attention centered on Jason. She simply disappeared and was never mentioned again. However, the final scene of this episode — and cliffhanger — reveals Ms. Grundy’s murder by no other that the man in the ski mask. Although this show has it’s fair share of aspects to poke fun at, it ironically keeps viewers engaged. Mystery hooks people, and “Riverdale” has proven to capture a large-scale audience. While its acting is weak and lines are corny, the desire to know whodunit keeps viewers sticking around.
Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
FOR RENT
The hit TV show returns for another thrilling, shocking season OLIVIA ASIMAKIS For The Daily
Fake blood either awards authenticity or warrants mockery. There is something about the believability of fake blood in TV shows that makes it corny or passable. Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa, “A Dog’s Purpose”), however, looks like he rolled around in some red paint and called it a day. I mean, it wasn’t even close to the right color. This is how the season two premiere of “Riverdale” starts, and the ridiculousness of the show manages to maintain amusement throughout the rest of the episode. Originally, the mystery that plagued the small town of Riverdale was who killed Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines, “The Fosters”). Now that the murder has been solved (spoiler — he was killed by his own father) the show must shift to a new plot and new set of riddles to unravel. The new focus appears to center around Fred Andrews (Luke Perry, “Body of Proof”): Why was he shot in the local diner, and by whom? The focal point of this episode is Fred’s condition. There are many questions swarming in the viewer’s mind, but the concern is distracted from Fred’s life because of Archie’s clothes. They are a huge sore spot in the middle of the content of the episode. The clothes are covered in unrealistic blood (from his father’s wound), and in today’s
market, with all the resources special effects offer, there should be no reason the blood is so unbelievable. Then, he doesn’t even bother to change out of once he returns home. I’m not sure what angle they were going for there — maybe, “My dad is dying, so staying in my bloody clothes will surely help.” Whatever the questionable logic may be, the phony blood seems to take up about 60 percent of the screen time. There are many predictable side effects to TV shows broadcasting the improbable,
“Riverdale” Season 2 Premiere The CW Wednesdays at 8pm
like Veronica’s (Camila Mendes, “The New Romantics”) perfectly dry hair and untouched smokey eye after a steamy shower scene with Archie. I can get over that. It happens in basically every TV show and movie ever made. But I cannot seem to wrap my brain around 15 and 16-year-old high school students wearing fiveinch stiletto heels everywhere, including the hospital. Or that two teenagers can easily waltz into the scene of a crime, as Becky (Lili Reinhart, The Good Neighbor) and Jughead (Cole
Sprouse, “The Suite Life on Deck”) do at the diner, without any caution tape or police officers in sight. Glamorization in Hollywood is expected, until it becomes so unrelatable that it forces me to lose interest in the show, which is exactly what “Riverdale” risks by continuing to incorporate far-fetched ideas of norms. The plot complicates with many moving parts. At one end, Becky and Jughead have to face the reality of their relationship under Mrs. Cooper’s (Mädchen Amick, “Twin Peaks”) disapproving eye. Jughead struggles with his father’s imprisonment. Veronica accuses her mother of putting a hit on Fred. Cheryl’s mother suffered serious third degree burns as a result of the fire she started and is now in intensive care. Archie is plagued with the memory of the shooter and is distraught over his father’s condition. All of these subplots come across forced, arguably more so than the first season. The constant “looming danger” is exhausting to keep up with, and it’s as though the producers are jam packing all of these twisted plots into one episode, and it just doesn’t fit. Actually, it makes the show convoluted and rather unconvincing. Fred Andrews unsurprisingly wakes up, but the heartfelt moment is inevitably ruined by the tacky and laughable dialogue. The fatherly love Fred feels for Archie isn’t appreciated in that moment — it loses all credibility because the writers wrote it in such a
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Arts
6A — Monday, October 23, 2017
FILM REVIEW
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTIST PROFILE
UNIVERSAL PICTURES ‘The Snowman’ did not experience box office success
‘Snowman’ disappoints in nearly every way & shape New horror film fails to captivate the audience, melts in shame MAX MICHALSKY For the Daily
If you’ve ever been in an airport convenience store then you’re probably familiar with the brand of Scandinavian crime-noir bestsellers from authors such as Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbø. Adapted from Nesbø’s novel of the same name, Tomas Alfredson’s (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) “The Snowman” follows the unfortunately named Inspector Harry Hole as he chases a body-dismembering, snowman-building serial killer. At first glance, “The Snowman” has all the makings of a crime-thriller blockbuster; its cast is laden with talent, including Michael Fassbender (“12 Years A Slave”) and J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”). The source material is an international bestseller, and director Tomas Alfredson has proven capable on past projects. The result, however, is a two hour long mess that stumbles haphazardly through its story while managing to remain as turgid and lifeless as the icy landscapes it portrays. The film’s cardinal sin is its dialogue and character interactions, which are uncomfortable and clunky. Fassbender plays Harry Hole, a grizzled, rules-averse detective with a penchant for sleeping on the ground in public and generally behaving like no other person in the history of the human race. In one particularly laughable scene, the solemn and stoic Inspector Hole walks to his ex-girlfriend’s place of work so he can stand outside her window and … stare at her? In another, a Bergen detective played by Val Kilmer (“Top Gun”) stares silently at a
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murder witness while she Snowman” is that it has one recounts her story. When or two visually compelling Kilmer does reply, his voice has moments, however even these been dubbed over and the audio feel stylistically out of place. doesn’t quite match his lips. The opening sequence features Just about every interaction in a chase scene with side shots “The Snowman” is coated in a of cars crossing a bridge that thick layer of awkward — and feels as if it were ripped from the cast, for all its raw talent, is a Wes Anderson film. Later unable to salvage the film. in the film, a conversation If this weren’t enough, the is shot from the outside of a story is a tangled mess of red moving train. Scenes like this, herrings, loose ends and utter while impressive on their nonsense. The pacing feels own, feel less like valuable as if there were additions to the entire scenes cut film and more like out from the film, reminders that ‘The which Anderson cinematographer Snowman’ confirmed — Dion Beebe (“Edge nearly 10 to 15 of Tomorrow”) GQT Quality would percent of the rather script was never be working on 16, Rave filmed. This something else. Cinemas is made even These scenes seem stranger by the to jump out of the Universal fact that much of texture of a film what is present that is otherwise Pictures feels completely visually bland. non-essential While there are — most of the occasionally film is just people talking pleasant shots of Norway’s and Michael Fassbender fjords and mountains, the trudging sulkily around Oslo. majority of the film is bogged The actual “action” scenes down in a version of Oslo are frustratingly deja-vu plagued by an omnipresent inducing as several women color palette consisting almost are marked for death with entirely of white and gray. omens that, no matter how At its conclusion, “The starkly portrayed, are more Snowman” sees Harry Hole laughable than scary. These back on the Oslo police force, include building a snowman volunteering to take up a case outside a victim’s house, or that some poor, misguided throwing a snowball at her producer likely hoped would as she walks home. The film turn into a sequel. Fortunately, seems unable to consistently the film’s underwhelming follow its own story, often box office performance of $10 introducing characters only to million worldwide means that have them never appear again, this is likely the last viewers or having Harry Hole recieve will see of Fassbender’s Harry cryptic riddles from the killer Hole; a fate that is decidedly that are never solved. The film for the best. Tomas Anderson’s repeatedly makes massive perfect storm of disastrous jumps in logic and reason, storytelling and writing will leaving its audience in the dust. at best be remembered as Perhaps the only thing that “hilariously bad.” can be said in favor of “The
CONGRATULATIONS To our 31E scholars on the
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35th anniversary
of our class of 1931 Engineering Scholarship Program The class of ‘31E and its Scholarship Selection Committee Congratulates and welcomes their SIX new scholarship winners for the 2017-2018 academic year: JOSEPH COSTELLO ERIN DEUTSCHMAN TAYLOR FEDDERSEN
AMBRIA HOPFE MICHAEL KLETTNER JOSEPH TAYLOR
They will be joining the ‘31E HONOR SOCIETY and our THIRTEEN current scholars: ADONIS JOHNSON JOCELYN MARCHYOK HALEY PROUT GRAYSON RICE ARIEL SANDBERG CODY SYMONS GARRETT ZUCK
DOMINIK KONIK DANIEL PIPPEN ROHAN PUNNOOSE MARIO RUSSO RAYMOND SMITH-BYRD PHILLIP YANG
All of these scholarship winners will be honored at the 86th Annual Reunion Dinner of the Class of ‘31E, which will be held at the Four Points Sheraton Inn, Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday evening, October 27th, 2017 at 5:30 PM. Since the establishment of the ‘31E Scholarship Program in 1982, more than 200 aspiring engineering students have been helped to experience a University of Michigan education and have gone on to rewarding careers. George E. Anderson | Director of Media Relations | Class of 1931 Engineering
Brian Stella is the lead singer and songwriter for The Front Bottoms
FUELED BY RAMEN
Brian Sella of The Front Bottoms on ‘Going Grey’ The singer and songwriter talks growth, tours & the new album DOMINIC POLSINELLI Daily Arts Writer
Watching the popularity of The Front Bottoms rocket over the past year has been downright jarring for me to watch. A band marked by their quirky and warm lyrical stylings, they were the last group I expected to end up opening for massively popular bands like Brand New and blink-182 when I discovered them nearly six years ago. I say this not out of malice, but rather because they felt like such a niche secret deeply nestled into my adolescent music taste. Now as a junior in college, I’ve seen The Front Bottoms grow from playing
When we first started playing them there would literally be one to 10 people there
club shows to massive music festivals with thousands of people singing along. Last Thursday, The Michigan Daily spoke with lead singer and songwriter Brian Sella about the band’s newest record, Going Grey, and their current headlining tour with diverse support from the UK’s best punk rockers in Basement and beautiful ambient indie rock from Bad Bad Hats. The Michigan Daily: To start off, could you tell me a little bit about your experience with watching your crowds and fan base grow as you’ve transitioned from playing clubs to theaters, festival stages and opening for bands like blink-182? Sella: Yeah, absolutely, it’s been incredible. It’s been sort of a slow build. It’s been easy kind of to adjust to. You know, you always get nervous, but like you said, we played in basements, in small clubs, in small bars. And then it was like we’d play those same stops for like years, years at a time, like four or five years. And when we first started playing them there would literally be one to 10 people there. And by the time we put out more material and came back a few times, all of a sudden there’d be a few hundred people. That kind of just feels great, you know, to make an art project and then go out and play it for people
and have people appreciate it and respect it enough to like come out and take their time to enjoy themselves at a show. And now we’re playing today at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts, and I think it’s a sold out show. It’s just like a total trip. I feel so lucky to be able to do it… it’s really insane. It’s sort of hard to explain, but it’s a very nice feeling. It feels very positive, and I feel very lucky that it’s grown to the level that it’s at. And it’s not like a ridiculous level, you know, it’s not like thousands and thousands of people coming to see us play. So, it’s nice, you know, it’s a nice sort of, it’s a good vibe still. TMD: Are there any songs you’re excited to play live? Sella: We’re going to open the set with the first song on the new album, “You Used to Say,” and we’re going to close the set with the last song (“Ocean”) on the new album, so I’m very excited to be able to sandwich the set. And in between that we’re going to play 20 songs from all the albums. I’m excited to do “Ocean,” “Holy Fuck” and then also I’m very excited to play “Grand Finale,” because it’s going to sound very big, and it’s going to fill up the room. So, I’m definitely excited about playing those. TMD: Going off of bookending your sets, I noticed Going Grey is bookended with coastal sounds like waves and birds. Is there any overarching narrative or theme to the album that you feel isn’t immediately obvious? Sella: I feel like it is pretty immediately obvious. I thought it was pretty punk rock to have a very long, sort of cinematic intro to the album. Basically the idea with that was like the themes of vacation: “Vacation Town” that whole idea… and how it ends with the song “Ocean.” So that was kind of the idea behind that, to do like a cinematic, kind of book end the front and back of the album. If you play it on a loop, it’ll sync up perfectly so it’ll be a perfect loop around. Also, the song “Vacation Town” has a little weird intro that if you play that song on loop it’s a perfect circle. You won’t be able to tell where the start and end is. So it was kind of just an artistic idea that I think kind of added a lot to the atmosphere of the album and kind of puts you in that mindset when you hear those seagulls squawk, and you can kind of like paint the picture in your own mind. That’s how you can listen to the album as an individual. TMD: Were your goals for this album different than your first release (Back On Top) on Fueled By Ramen? Sella: You know, I never
really know what the album is going to sound like when I start recording it. So it’s sort of hard to have a vision or goals. I think I just wanted to keep expanding. I wanted to develop naturally. I didn’t want to force anything, and I wanted to make songs that we could come out and play live. That’s the most important part. That’s really the most important expression is playing it live. And I think that we did that. TMD: Did you have any inf luences while writing Going Grey? Sella: I listen to a lot of radio, like kind of top 40 radio. Some old school pop music. I was trying to make a modern
I was trying to make a modern pop album to be honest. That was kind of like the vibe and inspiration I was going for
pop album to be honest. That was kind of like the vibe and inspiration I was going for. The way we were recording it was in three day sessions. So that was kind of the most comfortable type of music to make. It was just kind of like fun and relaxed. It was good, and I liked it. I keep the lyrics freaky, that’s kind of my signature thing, but that’s kind of how it went. TMD: To close out, if you could can you describe a Front Bottoms performance to someone who has never seen your band before? Sella: I would say fun, and I would say loose. I think that nowadays with live performance, because a lot of people are using tracks, and a lot of “bands” quote-unquote, you know they’re not — it doesn’t seem like they’re really up there, whatever, having a good time. For us, when we get up on stage, we’re straight up. We’re up there. We might as well be in the audience, because that’s kind of the loose style that we have. If the song’s not going good, I’ll stop the song, and we’ll play a different one. It’s just very loose overall. We want to have fun. We want to have as much fun as the people in the audience. That’s the atmosphere that we try to create.
B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | October 23, 2017
K R A B MICHIGAN
42 PENN STATE
13 AMELIA CACCHIONE/ZOEY HOLMSTROM/DAILY
Penn State deals Michigan knockout blow in 42-13 rout Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley proved too much for the Wolverines’ top-ranked defense to handle Saturday. ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
Saquon Barkley took the direct snap, cut away from the teeth of the defense and ran off into the night. All week, Michigan’s vaunted defense was billed as a potential roadblock for one of the nation’s most electric players. Barkley stomped all over that notion on the second play from scrimmage. On a play where he and Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley swapped spots in the backfield, Barkley made it clear the Wolverines wouldn’t dictate the terms Saturday night. He ran it right at them — and then blew right past them for a tone-setting touchdown in the Nittany Lions’ 42-13 win in Happy Valley. The loss dashed
The new reality
A loss to Penn State has forced Michigan to accept that the College Football Playoff is out of reach, as is a conference title. » SportsMonday Column, Page 2B
any realistic Big Ten title hopes for Michigan and closed the curtain on any pretense that 2017 wouldn’t be a rebuilding year. “They made the big plays,” said Wolverines’ quarterback John O’Korn, “and we didn’t.” Michigan’s top-ranked defense entered Saturday having shut down any and all comers. But none of those teams had McSorley or Barkley. Before Saturday, the Wolverines allowed an average of 85.8 rushing yards per game. It took Barkley three carries to eclipse that. Michigan entered the game with the nation’s secondranked passing defense. McSorley threw for 282 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 76 yards and three more scores. The two were dangerous on
their own. McSorley hit tight windows all night, exposing Michigan’s secondary for the first time all year. Barkley was simply unstoppable, averaging over seven yards per carry while leaving defenders grasping at air. The Wolverines had no answer when the two worked in tandem, either. On the second drive, McSorley drew a defender in before pitching the ball to Barkley, who waltzed in for a score. Later, in the third quarter, McSorley saw a linebacker isolated in coverage and lofted a ball down the sideline into Barkley’s hands for a 42-yard touchdown. “I thought their offense played extremely well — (that’s an) understatement,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “They were hitting on all cylinders. Their back (Barkley)
is really good, as advertised, and the quarterback, McSorley, played extremely well. Quarterback was hot and receivers made plays downfield. It was impressive.” There was a slight glimmer of hope in the second quarter, when sophomore cornerback David Long intercepted an errant McSorley pass. Michigan drove down the field, capping off an impressive 59-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown from running back Karan Higdon on 4th-and-goal. Two possessions later, running back Ty Isaac followed his blockers into the endzone, cutting Penn State’s lead to one point and temporarily quieting the home crowd. The Wolverines wouldn’t score again. Led by McSorley, Penn State put together an impressive
response. A well-placed throw to DaeSean Hamilton picked up 36 yards. A back-shoulder fade to Gesicki gained 17. And then McSorley kept it himself and ran in unscathed for a threeyard touchdown that stretched the lead back to eight entering halftime. As the Nittany Lions picked up steam, Michigan’s offense ran out of gas. Dropped passes, missed blocking assignments and poorly-timed penalties ended several promising drives. McSorley continued dealing, Penn State’s defense clamped down and the rout was on. After the game, O’Korn drew a comparison. Last fall, it was the Nittany Lions who were left reeling after a blowout loss at the hands of the Wolverines. That Penn State team would go on to win the Big Ten. This Michigan team, O’Korn argued,
could do the same. But with two devastating losses in conference play already, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where the Wolverines still accomplish their preseason goals. Contenders don’t usually get third chances after they’ve already been knocked out twice. Michigan’s season was irreparably damaged by its loss Saturday night, and based on cornerback Lavert Hill’s glum reaction, it’s safe to say many Wolverines already understand that. When asked what he had left to play for, Hill didn’t mention a Big Ten Championship or the College Football Playoff. He and his teammates have nothing left to play out but the string — and that’s a cold, unfamiliar reality that the Wolverines will have to learn how to deal with for the rest of the year.
Heisman worthy Saquon Barkley has been a star all year, but his performance against Michigan could go down to as his Heisman moment.
» Page 3B
SportsMonday
2B — Monday, October 23, 2017
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
This should come as no surprise. As Saturday’s 42-13 blowout loss demonstrated, the Wolverines are not in the same league as No. 2 Penn State. And they never were. Though Michigan’s 4-0 start planted seeds of optimism that the Wolverines could be better than what they were projected to be, it’s time for the BETELHEM harvest and ASHAME the crops haven’t grown. Michigan is no longer in the Associated Press Top-25 poll. That’s a long fall from grace for what was once considered the seventh-best team in the country. Maybe that ranking made sense at the time. It doesn’t now. To put it in perspective, Penn State was ranked No. 7 at the end of last season. That came after a year in which the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten and would have won the Rose Bowl over Southern California if not a lastsecond field goal. Of the five opponents Michigan has defeated this season, not one currently owns a winning record. The best of the five — then-No. 17 Florida — might have been blown out 33-17 in the season opener, but seven weeks later, the Gators are just 3-3. Saturday night, while sitting in the visiting media room, fifthyear senior quarterback John O’Korn tried to take a positive spin on the outlook of the Wolverines’ season. “We can be as good as we want to be,” he said. “We’re gonna need some help now to
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
No surprise
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray maintains that Michigan’s goal is to win out, but that’s easier said than done with Wisconsin and Ohio State left to play.
accomplish all of our goals but … it’s up to us to make a decision to make this season what we want it to be.” Before the year began, Michigan insisted that its goals centered on winning a Big Ten championship and contending for the College Football Playoff. Even though the Wolverines lost the majority of their starters on both offense and defense, they asserted that they were still capable of putting together that kind of season. But maybe those shouldn’t
have been the goals for a Michigan team with so much roster turnover. Even those Wolverines — the team with the most players selected in the NFL Draft last April — blew out the mediocre competition before falling short when faced with more challenging opposition courtesy of Iowa, Ohio State and Florida State at the end of the year. At the start of this season, Michigan may have surpassed some of its expectations, thanks in large part to its No. 1 overall
The fake love’s gone. There’s no bandwagon. It’s us
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defense. Maybe before seasonending injuries to redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight and freshman receiver Tarik Black, its offense would have had a better shot of doing the same. But at this point, with contests against No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 6 Ohio State still to come at the end of the year, an 8-4 season seems to be the most likely outcome for the Wolverines. After the game, O’Korn was asked what message Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh had for his team given that strong possibility. “The fake love’s gone,” he recalled. “There’s no bandwagon. It’s us. ” Fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray backed him up, maintaining the belief that Michigan’s goal is to win out. As important as a confident mentality is, so is a firm grip of reality. Just two weeks ago, the Wolverines said the same after an unexpected loss to Michigan State. They argued that one loss
We’re gonna do better. We’re gonna regroup, come back
wouldn’t change their course of their season. But it essentially did. Coming into the year, it was expected that Michigan would have to beat either Penn State, Wisconsin or Ohio State in order to prevent a step backward for the program. Not many people accounted for an additional loss, especially to a Spartan team coming off a 3-9 season. Now, with two losses already, it would be bold to predict that the Wolverines will finish with fewer than four. For Harbaugh, it would be the most losses of his tenure. After the game, he insisted that the Wolverines’ problems can be solved. “We’re gonna do better. We’re gonna regroup, come back,” he said. “ ... We solve it with our team, and nobody can help us but us. We put our best people on it — our players and our coaches.” When asked if they can be solved this season, his answer was a blunt: “Yes.” I’m not so sure. Most of Michigan’s problems have to do with their youth and inexperience, important factors that somehow disappeared from the public consciousness after victories over teams that now look headed straight for nowhere. Even those wins, from turnovers and penalties to bad decisions and halftime deficits, showed that the Wolverines have a lot of room to grow. Those games should have been the warning signs. While the experiences will be helpful for the future, that future involves buying a 2018 calendar. That should come as no surprise. Ashame can be reached at ashabete@umich.edu or on Twitter @betelhem_ashame.
‘M’ wins Big Ten championship in 1-0 victory over Northwestern AMIR ALI
For the Daily
For the first time since 2011, the Michigan field hockey team is the outright regular season Big Ten champion. Friday afternoon, the fourthranked Wolverines (8-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) took on No. 8 Northwestern (5-2, 12-5) and earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory. In the first half, Michigan outshot the Wildcats 8-3 and notched three penalty corners to Northwestern’s one. The Wolverines, however, were unable to convert their chances, and the two teams entered halftime in a scoreless tie. The second frame, though, told a different story, with the Wildcats determined to increase their offensive aggressiveness. Northwestern’s pressure resulted in two green cards for Michigan just two minutes into the second half. The Wolverines struggled to maintain possession, only worsening the situation. But senior goalkeeper Sam Swenson came up big — as she has throughout her career — and saved the Wildcats’ three shot attempts. And as the half continued, the Wolverines began to find their footing. Around 20 minutes in, Michigan flipped the script and put Northwestern on the defensive. The Wolverines earned six penalty corners in the second half. They converted those into only one shot on goal. But that one shot proved to be the difference. Just 10 minutes remained in regulation when junior defender Maggie Bettez pushed the ball out to sophomore midfielder Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort, who laid the ball off to senior midfielder Katie Trombetta. Trombetta’s shot was low and powerful, but a deflection sent it over the sprawling Northwestern goalkeeper to give the Wolverines the lead. “Northwestern’s a great team and has a great defense,”
said Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz. “We had a couple of opportunities, and we were just trying to stay patient and execute under pressure the best we can and it worked out.” It was a dream finish to her regular season career for Trombetta, as her goal proved to be the decisive blow that pushed Michigan to the conference title. “I mean, there are really no words to describe it,” Trombetta said. “We were just giving everything we got and to finish it off was just truly an incredible feeling. It just really amped us to finish those last nine minutes and not give them anything.” The Wolverines controlled possession after they took the lead, but as time expired, Northwestern had one last chance off a penalty corner. Still, Michigan’s players held off their celebration and stayed composed in order to prevent a game-tying goal. “Don’t let them score, don’t let them get anything,” Trombetta
said, describing her team’s mentality. “Just get it out and just give it all you goalkeeper your head down and keep your feet out the way.” The Wolverines had clinched a share of the title last weekend with wins over Iowa and Indiana, but they maintained their focus on Friday and were able to win the conference outright. “It’s a lot of pressure and they just stayed poised and tried to execute the gameplan,” Pankratz said. “They played as hard as they could, and I was just really proud of them.” The Wolverines celebrated their championship at Ocker Field on Friday evening, but the team knows its season is far from over with the Big Ten Tournament coming up next weekend, and the NCAA Tournament soon thereafter. “We want to work harder, and we want to win another championship,” Trombetta said. “It’s just going to keep pushing us to work as hard as we can.”
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Senior midfielder Katie Trombetta scored the goal that won the game and title.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
October 23, 2017 — 3B
Five Things We Learned: It’s officially a rebuilding year ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
Just last fall, it was Michigan celebrating a lopsided victory over Penn State. The Wolverines were the toast of college football, poised to contend for a national championship. What a difference one year makes. The two teams have seemingly switched places. The Nittany Lions recovered from that loss and went on to win the conference title. Michigan ended the year with three losses in four games — and has now dropped two of its last three. “We’ll find out a lot about this team, about this program over the next few weeks,” said fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn. That’s certainly true. But we discovered a lot about the Wolverines in their 42-13 loss to Penn State, as well. Here are five things we learned from Saturday night’s game. 1. Wolverines are rebuilding, not reloading
Urban Meyer won a national championship in his third year at Ohio State. So did Nick Saban. It’s safe to say now that Jim Harbaugh won’t do the same. And, given everything we knew about this team, perhaps that shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, Michigan brought back just two starters on offense in redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight and senior offensive tackle Mason Cole. On defense, fifthyear senior linebacker Mike McCray and fifth-year senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst were the only returning starters. It’s exceedingly difficult
for teams to replace that many departures — and even more difficult to replace them with players who are in their first and second years, like Michigan has been forced to do. The depth from players who are now upperclassmen — those who joined the team in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes — is severely lacking. No matter what the Wolverines said in the offseason, it was always going to be tough to keep things running as smoothly as they had last year (at least through November). And now, with two losses in conference play and the Big Ten Title and College Football Playoff both out of sight, one thing has become very clear: this is a rebuilding year for Harbaugh and Michigan. 2. Matchups won the game for Penn State In the third quarter, Michigan’s 6-foot-4, 248pound middle linebacker found himself in pass coverage on Saquon Barkley. Predictably, things didn’t end well for Mike McCray on that play. But that isn’t his fault — that’s just better work by Joe Moorhead, Penn State’s offensive coordinator. Moorhead put his players in positions to make plays all night, whether that was feeding Barkley the ball, giving receiver DaeSean Hamilton favorable matchups out of the slot against Michigan’s safeties or allowing McSorley to make easy decisions with run-pass options. Michigan, meanwhile, was unable to do the same on offense. The Wolverines’ lastditch attempt on fourth-andeleven ended with O’Korn on the ground, only one of the seven times he was sacked on the night. Because O’Korn had
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is facing the prospect of a third consecutive season in which his Wolverines finished third or worse in conference competition.
to sell the play action, he had his back turned for most of the play, and Michigan didn’t leave any extra blockers in to help with pass protection. He never even had a chance. 3. Quarterback play wasn’t the problem O’Korn’s performance as the starter this year has come under criticism, and rightfully so. Before Saturday, he was averaging under five yards per attempt as Michigan’s pass offense scuff led along. On Saturday night, though, he played much better than he had against Michigan State or Indiana. O’Korn completed 16-of28 passes for 166 yards, approaching six yards per attempt — and that number
should’ve been higher, as several of his passes were dropped. O’Korn consistently made plays with his feet, as well, ripping off several scrambles and picking up first downs when things broke down in the pocket. It wasn’t a perfect performance. But it was still a step forward — and if O’Korn remains the starter going forward over redshirt freshman Brandon Peters, it’s the type of performance he’ll need to replicate for Michigan to win games. 4. Michigan’s defensive line needed to play better The Wolverines needed to make big defensive plays to have any chance at pulling off the upset. And while David Long
did make a big interception and Lavert Hill recorded a crucial pass breakup on fourth-andseven, the defensive line was uncharacteristically silent. None of the starting defensive linemen — Hurst, sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary, redshirt junior defensive end Chase Winovich or redshirt junior defensive tackle Bryan Mone — recorded a sack. The Nittany Lions managed to stay away from Hurst and Gary most of the game, while Winovich’s effectiveness was limited — perhaps due to an injury he suffered that took him into the locker room. Either way, Michigan desperately needed a big game from its fearsome defensive front to slow down the Penn State attack, and that didn’t happen.
5. BOLD PREDICTION: Brandon Peters starts seeing time next week Asking the redshirt freshman to brave the hostile road environment at Happy Valley might’ve been too tall of a task. But now, Michigan may have no choice but to roll the dice with Peters. The Big Ten title is out of reach. So are the playoffs. O’Korn won’t be back next year, and Speight’s future remains unknown. The Wolverines have nothing to lose by giving Peters time in the upcoming weeks in preparation for a larger role next year. After all, Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland are hardly Murderers’ Row, and Michigan can still give O’Korn a majority of the snaps while still integrating Peters into the offense.
McSorley, Hamilton dominate Third period key for ‘M’ in sweep Michigan’s safeties in blowout Behind Josh Norris and Jake Slaker, the Wolverines used ICE HOCKEY
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE — Trace McSorley knew he was going to face man coverage. His receiving core did too. And every passing offense that has faced Michigan since Don Brown’s arrival in 2016 has known the same thing. The difference, though, is that McSorley — along with wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton — were the ones to beat it. And they beat it badly. For all the shine that this unit has received, for one night in State College, the Wolverines’ defense got punched in the mouth. It conceded 42 points — the highest total since Ohio State hit the same mark in 2015. And it gave up 506 yards, 282 of which came in the air. “I think we just did a really good job of manipulating our matchups and taking advantage of them,” McSorley said. “Our guys did a great job winning versus man. We knew we were gonna get that. And we really kind of took to heart — the receiver group — if someone wants to try to man you up, say ‘Our guys are better than your guys.’ “That’s not a disrespect thing, but it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge that you’ve got to step up to and be ready for. And I think that’s something
that our receivers really took to heart, like, ‘Alright we’re gonna get man coverage, let’s go.’” That’s exactly what the secondranked Nittany Lions did, none more so than Hamilton. The senior receiver finished with six receptions for 115 yards, and made a Michigan secondary that was ranked second in the nation before Saturday night’s contest look lost. And in large part, the result came from Penn State’s clinical assault on the Wolverines’ safeties. That attack started on Penn State’s fifth drive of the game. Hamilton beat junior safety Tyree Kinnel badly before catching a pass for 27 yards. It was just a glimpse of what was to come. On the Wolverines’ next defensive possession, McSorley went to Hamilton again. The ball was underthrown by an inch, but Hamilton left no doubt as to who would be coming down with the ball — adjusting his body to nab a 36-yard reception over Kinnel’s head and jumpstarting Penn State’s touchdown drive at the end of the half. “I thought the play that he made on their sideline where he went up and, the ball was a little short, and he went up and caught it in traffic — they’re the plays you have to make in these types of games, especially
against this style of defense,” said Penn State coach James Franklin. “You’ve gotta be able to make them pay for playing so aggressive.” The Nittany Lions did so for the rest of the game. Kinnel got beat once more. Sophomore safety Josh Metellus was beat twice for 49 yards. And it all came from the first-half ripple effect. As Franklin explained, he saw a Wolverine squad on film that emphasized outside leverage and tried to funnel everything toward the safety. He’s not wrong. But with Hamilton’s early success on the deep ball, Michigan’s coverage made the field even wider. From there, Penn State had the Wolverines right where it wanted them — implementing designed slants at halftime that were never meant to factor into its game plan. “After I had a few inside fades on them, they started pressing me more,” Hamilton said. “They were just trying to slow down at least the timing. … Once we saw that, I was able to fake as if I was gonna go run an inside fade, and that would open the inside a lot more. That’s why we were able to connect on some slants.” Those slants proved to be the body blows. The deep balls were the haymakers. And in the end, Michigan’s defense had a long fall to the mat.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley scored four touchdowns Saturday night, all while throwing for 282 yards.
the third-period to help lead them to a sweep over Vermont BENJAMIN KATZ Daily Sports Writer
As the horn sounded at the end of the first period Friday night, freshman forward Josh Norris was down on the ice and unable to stand. He had been blindsided by a Vermont player between the circles and was writhing in pain. Norris couldn’t walk off under his own strength. With his arms wrapped around two teammates’ shoulders, he skated off to the dressing room, having only a missed penalty shot to show for it. Fast forward to under five minutes into the third period, and the Michigan hockey team was up 2-0. Having shrugged off the pain, Norris received a leading pass in the middle of the ice from sophomore forward Jake Slaker and found himself one-on-one against Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas. The left-hander wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, deking the netminder and driving the puck into the net, glove side. Less than three minutes later, Norris scored his second goal, a backhander in front of the net off a pass from fellow freshman Quinn Hughes. Bouncing back from an underwhelming first two periods in a game the Wolverines eventually won 4-1 on Friday, Norris became the first Michigan player to score twice in his home debut since Kyle Connor in 2015. Saturday night was a different story for Norris and the Wolverines, entering the final period trailing 2-1. With limited shots on goal through two periods, Michigan was 20 minutes away from splitting its second series in as many weekends. Skating off the ice after the second period, the Wolverines were visibly frustrated about failing to capitalize on scoring chances.
But with under five minutes to go in the third, Slaker stepped up when his team needed it the most, scoring the equalizer from the right faceoff circle to tie the game at two. Then, with just 54 seconds left, Slaker delivered another wrist shot that sailed into the back of the net to clinch Michigan’s third win and first weekend sweep on the season. “It’s good they get rewarded for staying with the game plan and hanging in there,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson after Saturday’s victory. “Our third periods have been pretty good this year so far, so it’s good
It’s good they get rewarded for staying with the game plan and hanging in there. to see that we’re a third-period team.” Norris and Slaker followed eerily parallel paths in consecutive games. After four straight periods without a goal, the 18-year-old Norris had to mentally put aside his disappointing start and refocus before he finally broke through. Less than 24 hours later, Slaker also had to discard from his mind the uninspiring hockey played through the first two periods to get the offense back on track. “I think you just have to keep pressing,” Norris said Friday. “I was frustrated with myself, had some really good opportunities in the first and second. My teammates made some great
plays and I wasn’t converting, so I knew I had to bear down and eventually I knew something was going to go in, so I was happy that happened in the third.” Added Slaker on Saturday: “We just try to stay focused and it doesn’t matter if they score within the first five minutes or in the first 20, we still have 40 minutes left to play after that. … We just keep playing our game.” Pearson’s praise of the two was oddly parallel, too. “(Norris) stepped his game up even from two weeks ago,” Pearson said. “He looks like a different player than he was. … He’s a character kid, he’s got a lot of character. I thought he had a strong game. He plays both ends of the rink and he got rewarded.” One night later, the same could be said about Slaker. “You see what Jake’s all about, he can play any way you want,” Pearson said. “He can play a skill game, he can play a physical game, he can play a skating game, he’s got it all. He’s one of our hardest workers in practice and in games, so it was nice for him to get rewarded.” Pearson emphasized the word “rewarded” countless times following both Friday and Saturday’s contests against Vermont. For Norris, Slaker and the entire team, Pearson chalked the victories up to being rewarded for hard work on both sides of the ice, playing through adversity and for sticking to the game plan. Pearson admits that some nights the puck simply doesn’t bounce in his team’s favor. But he also knows that if the Wolverines can continue to dig deep and fight past early setbacks, it’s the later moments of the game when they will capitalize and squeeze out important wins. And if they can do that, they will certainly be rewarded.
SportsMonday
4B — October 23, 2017
Barkley deserves the Heisman S TATE COLLEGE — Beaver Stadium trembled as fireworks burst over Happy Valley. A regular season game with a Super Bowl atmosphere. The night was fit for a superstar, and the superstar that delivered was the one TED everyone JANES expected. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley carved up the nation’s No. 1 defense in the Nittany Lions’ 42-13 win, validating his case as the best player in college football. He didn’t set a career high in rushing yards, receiving yards or touchdowns, but he did something that no other tailback could — run successfully against Michigan. Nobody had run like him against the Wolverines. Prior to Saturday, not a single player on any of Michigan’s previous six opponents had over 100 rushing yards, and as a unit, the defense gave up an average of just 85 rushing yards per game. Barkley alone surpassed that in the first quarter. “A lot of running backs were able to get open (against Michigan), but none were able to finish it or find a way to get into the end zone,” Barkley said. “That’s something I took ownership of this week.” He called it a “heavyweight fight.” Sometimes Michigan’s defense would get the stop, and other times Barkley would punch back for a short gain. When either side could land a knockout punch, they had to take it. Barkley accepted short gains all game long. Four-yard
rushes, two-yard rushes and even negative-yard rushes. But when he got the chance to split the gap and break through, he pounced. On the second play of Penn State’s opening drive, Barkley lined up for a direct snap and ran the ball 69 yards straight into the end zone. He burned Michigan’s secondary, outrunning the linebackers, the cornerbacks and the safeties. Nobody could catch Saquon Barkley. It was one of those plays that will be on the highlight reel when Barkley suits up for the Heisman ceremony in December. “We haven’t seen that on film,” said fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray about the direct snap to Barkley. “He’s a great player, got to give a lot of credit to him.” And four minutes later, on the Nittany Lions’ next drive, he caught an option pitch and dashed to the goal line again to give Penn State a 14-point lead. “The back is really good, as advertised,” Harbaugh
said of Barkley. “(Penn State) hit us on quite a few plays we’ve defensed well this year. Their execution was really good tonight, right from the beginning.” The Wolverines have stopped mobile quarterbacks and quality running backs already. Other teams simply couldn’t run as fast as Michigan. Sophomore linebacker Devin Bush prides himself on his speed, and he’s one of the Big Ten’s best linebackers because of it. But not even Bush could keep up with Barkley. On his 69-yard touchdown run, Barkley clocked in at 22.9 miles per hour. He ran to the end zone faster than a highschooler in his first Drivers Ed class. But it’s not only Barkley’s speed. He’s got all the right mental components, too. In the second quarter, Barkley was wide open on a route and had eyes for the end zone, but when the pass came in his direction, he couldn’t hold on. A completion would
have put the Nittany Lions up 21-0, but for just one moment, he had lost focus. And that’s the play Barkley said will stick with him most from this game. Not either of his rushing touchdowns, and not the juggled receiving touchdown in the third quarter. He doesn’t worry about the highlights. He remembers the plays where he could’ve done better. “Sometimes I overthink and put myself in bad situations. … I was thinking ‘score,’ ” he said. “It humbles you again. Makes you realize that you got to put a little more work in and find the way to make those plays.” Combine Barkley’s workhorse mentality with his blistering speed, and you’ve got one hell of a football player. There aren’t many players like Saquon Barkley, so when he gets on the field, make sure to be watching. But don’t blink. You might miss him. Janes can be reached on Twitter @tedjanes7.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Penn State running back Saquon Barkley built on his Heisman campaign with 108 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FOOTBALL
The good, the bad and
the ugly: Penn State KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
For all of the theatrics that came with Saturday night’s contest in Beaver Stadium, No. 2 Penn State’s performance still may have warranted more. Michigan was punched in the mouth from the get-go, Saquon Barkley looked every bit a Heisman winner and the Nittany Lions provided a very convincing argument that their standing among the nation’s best is warranted. The Wolverines, on the other hand, had little to nothing to show for a trip to State College and are now faced with the discouraging task of finishing a season void of much meaning. The Daily breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly from Saturday’s 42-13 blowout: The good Well, the Nittany Lions didn’t get their shame-inducing touchdown. And that’s about it. With four seconds left in the game, Penn State had the ball on Michigan’s six-yard line. James Franklin could have told his team to take a knee and ride quietly into the night with a 29-point lead. Instead, the Nittany Lions sideline pleaded for a chance to put an exclamation point on the blowout. Penn State got the snap off in time, and sophomore running back Miles Sanders was given the ball with a chance to run up the score and rub salt in Michigan’s wound. Thanks to Khaleke Hudson and Michael Dwumfour, Sanders was tackled for a four-yard loss and a game that had long been over finally came to a close. The bad Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn didn’t mince words. “The fake love’s gone,” he said. “There’s no bandwagon. It’s us. That’s what we want. Whether we’re doing great or bad, it’s just
all about us, and from here on out, that’s what it’s going to be about.” O’Korn couldn’t be more right. For four weeks, Michigan convinced its fan base that a year intended for rebuilding could turn into something special. A loss to Michigan State dented that outlook. And last night’s thrashing in State College undoubtedly brought everyone back to reality. Michigan’s College Football Playoff hopes are dead. A Big Ten championship would be an act of divine intervention. It seemed likely that, eventually, the Wolverines would lose their second conference game. But the loss of their preseason goals stings a lot more given that it came in just week seven. The Wolverines have five games left on their schedule, and they’ll be playing for nothing more than pride. The ugly What was once ranked as the No. 1 defense in the nation was battered, bruised and bludgeoned Saturday night. It started with a 69-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley on the second play of a game. It ended with quarterback Trace McSorley trotting nine yards into the end zone before Franklin put in the reserves. And there was plenty of damage done in between. Barkley totaled 108 yards and two touchdowns, McSorley tore apart the Wolverines’ secondary to the tune of 10.8 yards per attempt and wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton posted a 115yard performance. The Nittany Lions became the first team to score 42 points against Michigan since Ohio State did so in 2015, and the Wolverines gave up 506 yards on the night. McSorley said that the Nittany Lions took Michigan’s man coverage as a challenge. Saturday night, that certainly appeared to be the case.
Offenses a mismatch in State College BETELHEM ASHAME Managing Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE — It was the impossible test waiting to happen. Coming into a matchup against No. 2 Penn State, the No. 19 Michigan football team knew what it needed to do. Its top-ranked defense would likely be canceled out by the Nittany Lions’ ninth-ranked unit, so it would be up to its offense to play up to par with Penn State’s. But matching the offensive firepower of quarterback Trace McSorley and running back Saquon Barkley is a tall task. Saturday night, in a 42-13 loss, it proved to be too much to ask. The Nittany Lions entered the game averaging 39.7 points per game, while the Wolverines were averaging 27.2. Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn and junior running back Karan Higdon needed to lead the effort in closing the gap, but when Penn State hit them, Michigan couldn’t answer back. The opening five minutes were a microcosm of the game as a whole. The Nittany Lion offense scored two touchdowns. The Wolverine offense went three-and-out twice. They both ran six plays, but to
completely different results. On Penn State’s first drive, McSorley completed a six-yard pass and then Barkley took a direct snap 69 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. On Michigan’s initial drive, Higdon rushed twice for three yards before O’Korn was sacked for a loss of five. For the Nittany Lions’ second act, Barkley rushed for five yards, McSorley rushed for 23, McSorley threw for 35 and Barkley ran the last 15 for another score. For the Wolverines’ follow-up, Higdon rushed twice for three yards again before O’Korn completed a pass for a loss of six. Where Penn State looked explosive, Michigan looked static. If it weren’t for a momentum-stopping interception from sophomore cornerback David Long, the Nittany Lions may have kept the ball rolling and the Wolverines may never have found life. “I thought their offense played extremely well. Understatement,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “They were hitting on all cylinders.” Michigan responded to the pick with a renewed sense of vigor, scoring 13 unanswered points in the second quarter.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn finished with 166 yards Saturday.
On the first scoring drive, O’Korn threw for 21 yards and rushed for 12, while Higdon rushed for 12 and the touchdown. On the second, O’Korn passed for 41 yards and rushed for 14, while fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac rushed for 11 and the score. With 1:45 left in the first half, the Wolverines had managed to cut their deficit to 14-13. It looked like Michigan’s offense could go toe-totoe with Penn State’s despite the early shot to the face. But in a mere 52 seconds, McSorley and Barkley showed why the Nittany Lions are on a level the Wolverines haven’t reached. McSorley completed a 12-yard pass and then a 36-yard bomb. Barkley ran for another nine. And then McSorley sealed the deal with a 17-yard completion and a three-yard rush up the middle. With 53 seconds left in the half, Penn State stretched its lead back out to eight. Michigan didn’t score again Saturday. “To me, that was the biggest thing,” O’Korn said. “They made the big plays and we didn’t.” After the Wolverines went three and out again, the Nittany Lions got the ball back with six seconds left. They had enough time to take a deep shot at the end zone. With the success of their big plays on the night, it would have been expected for them to at least try. They took a knee instead. Michigan didn’t give them a reason why they shouldn’t. Penn State went on to score a total of 42 points, which is the most the Wolverine defense has given up under coordinator Don Brown. After the game, fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray spoke on behalf on his unit. He was at a loss for words. “(It was) pretty much everything we’ve seen,” he said. “They had a great scheme.” That pretty much said it all. Michigan’s defense couldn’t contain the Nittany Lions’ offense, despite knowing what was coming. But just as importantly, the Wolverines’ offense couldn’t match up with it. Michigan brought a knife to a gun fight, and after taking multiple shots, the Wolverines simply couldn’t get up.
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